Monday, December 26, 2011

Thanksgiving 2011

I know I'm probably about the last person to blog about their Thanksgiving, but I couldn't do a Christmas post before my Thanksgiving post, so better late then never!

We have so much to be THANKFUL for!

This year, we flew to Colorado with my parents and my grandma, Bami, to spend Thanksgiving with my brother and his wife, Adam and Willow!

We were a little nervous how Matthew was going to do on the airplane, but he ended up doing great! He has been on a plane twice before, but not since he was a little baby, so we didn't know how our busy 9 month old was going to do. Thankfully on the ride to Colorado, it was bedtime, so he was able to take a bottle, and fell fast asleep in my arms for the entire trip!

Here are the highlights from our trip to Denver...

Thanksgiving morning, we walked to the park by Adam and Willow's house, enjoying the 65 degree weather! It felt amazing considering we left behind a very wet and cold Seattle!

 This kid has his Grandpa and Grammy wrapped around his fingers...and toes!

 Climbing on the toys with Aunt Willow


Matthew loves shoulder rides....especially from Daddy!

 On Thanksgiving afternoon, we headed over to Willow's sisters house for a wonderful dinner! Thanks for hosting Rainy! Matthew LOVED swinging in the backyard!

Adam and Willow's other Nephew, Noah!

 Silly Uncle Adam!

Such a cutie!


 This kid was never short on getting attention!

 Willow's mom, Sally, with my mom, Bami, Adam and Willow before the feast begins!


 All 18 of us!

 Matthew woke up from his nap just in time to enjoy his very first Thanksgiving!

 I'd be scared too....

Dessert was his favorite part of the meal!

Yummy leftovers!


The rest of our trip, we got to just spend time together as a family! We went shopping, on walks & out to eat. We toured downtown Denver, and also got to see Adam and Willow's new house that is being built! We watched the Husky Football game, and enjoyed plenty of food! It was such a relaxing and fun few
days that we got to be together!



We found a fun tunnel for Matthew to crawl through while we waited for Starbucks!



Family picture in front of the Denver Art Museum!



I love this picture! Matthew was quite smitten with his goofy Uncle Adam!

Walking by the Capitol in Downtown Denver


Nothing better then a hot Starbucks on a crisp, cold day!

We even celebrated Bami's 81st Birthday with some delicious cupcakes!
I love my Grandma so much. She is such a help and a blessing to our family!

 At the airport, Matthew loved watching the airplanes going by!
How did my baby grow up so fast?!?!


Love this picture of my boys on the airplane!

It's always so bittersweet to leave! We loved our time in Colorado,
and look forward to the next time we get to see eachother!
We love you Uncle Adam and Aunt Willow!

Sunday, December 4, 2011

9 months

Matthew Jay you are NINE months old!

What have you been up to these days???

You are still my long and lean little munchkin! You love to eat, but you are so active during the day, that I think you burn off about every calorie that you take in!

 At eight months old, we were able to start a whole bunch of new foods...now you can practically eat everything, even meats and dairy (except milk)! But just because you can eat everything, doesn't mean that you will! We are defiantly seeing you become pickier in the things that you eat! You used to love eating avocados, and now you spit the out! We started you on cottage cheese. For awhile you would eat it, especially when we mixed it with a little applesauce...now you eat the applesauce, but spit out the cottage cheese curds! Your favorite foods are Eggos with syrup, toast with jam, banana, yogurt (you would eat this every meal if I let you!), and any sort of fruit! You also really like squash, and sweet potatoes! Of course, you LOVE when you can get a lick of mommy or daddy's desserts or something yummy like that!

I still nurse you about 4 times a day (morning, lunch, dinner and bedtime). You eat 3 meals a day, and 1 snack after your afternoon nap.

You sleep from 7 pm to 7 or 8 am! You still nap from about 9-11, and again from 2-4. You LOVE to sleep...and we are thankful for that!
One of the best things about sleep this month is that you are NO LONGER SWADDLED! It only took 8 months, but it is officially over! One night we layed you down in your crib all bundled up and ready for bed, and we looked in the video monitor, and you were unbundled, sitting up in your crib and playing! A few minutes later, you layed down and put yourself to sleep! After we saw that, we knew our days of bundling you were over. You haven't missed it since!


Now, I nurse you, and then Daddy and Mommy take you into your room, give you lots of love and kisses, and lay you down in your crib. You LOVE to have 2 binkies when you sleep...One for your hand and one for your mouth! When we first lay you down, you roll over to find your other binkie, and when you find it, you switch it with the one you already have in your mouth! We turn on your white noise machine and say goodnight. Sometimes you play for awhile in your crib, most of the time you go right to sleep, and sometimes you fuss for a few minutes before falling asleep for the night....BLISS!


You get so giddy for bath time! You can be in the other room, but as soon as you see the bathroom light go on, and hear the water starting, you come crawling right into the bathroom and pull yourself up on the side of the bathtub, SO excited to get in! Your favorite bath time toy is your rubber ducky!

You officially have your top two front teeth! Your little grin is so cute with 4 teeth starting to show!

This month, you started to smack your lips ALL the time! I don't know where you learned this from, but you look like an old man without his dentures in when you smack them! You especially love to smack your lips when you are with Daddy!


Separation anxiety. It's bad right now. All you want is Mommy, Daddy, or Grammy.
I think that's enough said.

You had your first Halloween! You were the CUTEST little monkey around!

You say Mama...mama...mama ALL THE TIME...Especially when you are tired, hungry, or want me! It's very cute, but I can't wait for the day when you start to say Dada!

This month, you love it when we sing "Old MacDonald". You love all the animal noises! You are starting to like playing Patty Cake too.

You LOVE to play with anything that has a buckle. You are fascinated with your car seat, the buckles in your swing, and the buckles and snaps on your high chair.
You are quite the cruiser on your walk-along. I turn my back and next thing I know you have walked all the way down the hall with your walk-along. You love it until you get it stuck in a corner or up against the wall.

You absolutely love your puppy Lexi...if only the love was reciprocal! You are so sweet with Lexi, but she would rather have nothing to do with you! When you wake up in the morning, we always look for Lexi when we come downstairs. You get the biggest smile and get so excited when you find her! You started this new thing, that when we hold Lexi, you will crawl over to us and just lay your head down on her. You don't grab her or anything....just rest your sweet little head on your favorite puppy!

You don't watch very much TV, but every morning when you wake up, we cuddle, while you watch a couple of TV shows. Your favorite is Little Einsteins. Whenever you hear the Little Einsteins theme song, your little legs start pumping in excitement and you get the sweetest smile on your face! Mommy and Daddy like the show too...we just have to live with having the theme song stuck in our heads ALL DAY LONG!

Matthew Jay, you are growing up so fast...I wish I could just freeze time. We are loving every day with you and could not thank the Lord for a sweeter little boy!

Mommy and Daddy LOVE. YOU. SOOOO. MUCH!!!