Fall 2011

Beware! Total picture overload! At least I warned you!

I'm probably about the last person to finally get around to posting Fall and Halloween pictures, but better to  be late then never! These are some of my favorite pictures from a couple different days we were out and about this fall, the pumpkin patch, as well as our Halloween pictures!

Look at his two little teeth peeking through!

I am blessed beyond measure to be called this little boy's Mommy!

Matthew LOVES the swing!

Our first trip to the Pumpkin Patch as a family! 

He loved his pumpkin!

Such a silly, smiley boy!

The cutest little pumpkin in the whole patch!

Matthew's First Halloween!

Just about the cutest little monkey around!

Except the fur on his costume "shed", so by the end of the night, he was really itchy! Poor kiddo!

Every year we go to Trunk-or-Treat at our church! People will hand out candy from the trunk of their car as

kids come by...some get really creative and decorate their car too!

Then, inside the Church are bouncy houses, games, treats and more!

Such a FUN, safe night where kids can get tons of candy and learn about Jesus too!

Here is a picture of Matthew visiting his Grandma's car. I love the way he is looking at her! Too cute!

Matthew LOVED playing and crawling in the Bouncy House!

This kid is growing up way too fast!

Matthew loves his cousin Caleb, but obviously didn't recognize him! Ha!

Cousins are the best!

Of course we had to stop by Grammy and Grandpa's house!

More and more in love with these boys everyday!!

Bath time story

I thought this was too funny and too cute not to post!

Usually I keep the naked baby pictures off my blog, but I couldn't resist!

 One night Matt took Matthew upstairs to give him a bath while I finished up the dishes from dinner. Longc before I came upstairs I heard the tub drain, and I figured I would walk upstairs to

 find baby in his PJs playing with Daddy.

Instead, I found this.....

Matthew was happy and content as ever playing in the buff in his playroom....Daddy was down the hall watching ESPN in the bonus room! HA!

 Crawling over to greet me! When Matthew doesn't have pants on, he does a bear crawl instead to stay off his knees...too cute!

 This boy was quite proud and loved being in the nude!

I can't complain....at least he was bathed, clean, and almost ready for bed!

Oh how I love my husband and baby and all the times they make me laugh!

Family Time

Matt and I have been so blessed with amazing families! Sometimes I think we take for granted just how precious they are to us, and the time that we get to spend with them! A few weeks ago we had Matt's family over for Pizza Night!

Here are all the boys at the dinner table. We seriously need some girls in this family!

 So thankful that our families aren't just our families, but also some of our very best friends!

These two will be best friends one day! Matthew and Joshua were so cute playing the "drum" together!

 Poor Lexi just got shaved. She was a little embarassed.....

Uncle Matt and Uncle David played "airplane" and wrestled with the boys.....

Someone always gets hurt.....poor Landon. He was just too cute to resist taking a picture!

We played the Kinect!

Brothers! Can't convince either of them to grow their hair out...!

We celebrated Matt's birthday with his family. Cherry cheesecake....a birthday staple made by his mom!

 I didn't realize that I had no candles or matches....so we pretended to blow them out instead!

So thankful for time with family!

The Quest for a Toy

And all he wanted was the rubber foot to one of his toys....determined little boy!

Eight months

Matthew Jay you are 8 months old!

What are you up to these days??

I always thought that I would have a chunky baby, but I was so wrong with you!

You are my long and lean boy!

 You are wearing anywhere from size 9-18 months.

You need the length of the bigger clothes, but you don't have a waist to hold them up!

You are wearing size 4 diapers!

You sleep from 8:00pm-7 or 8am. You take two, 2 hour naps during the day.

We are starting to "wean" you from bundling. We now bundle you with one arm out. It's so cute because we have a new bedtime and nap routine, where we bundle you up, and lay you down in your crib with a binkie in your mouth and an extra binkie laying beside you. You roll over on your side, grab the extra binkie, and switch it out with the binkie that is in your mouth. We say goodnight and give you kisses, and you put yourself to sleep! Sometimes you think it's more fun to play in your crib for awhile, or fuss a little before you go to sleep, but you are always able to calm yourself down and put yourself to sleep.

You love to play with the buckles in your car seat. Riding in the car is getting much better!

When you first turned 7 months old, you were just starting to pull yourself up on things. But you were still unsteady and didn't know how to get back down once you were standing. Now, goodness gracious, you are into anything and everything you can get your hands on! You are crawling ALL over the place, and pulling yourself up on EVERYTHING! We got you a walk-a-long, and you LOVE to push it and walk behind it!
You pull yourself up in your crib too!

 Baby boy, you are growing up way too fast!

You are fascinated with anything that has a cord, or lights (ie: cable box, Internet modem!) This means you are quickly, well maybe not so quickly, teaching you the word NO! When you are happy, we will tell you "No" and you will just look at us and grin, like you have no idea when we are saying!

However, when you are tired and we give you a stern "No" you will get a big pouty lip and start to cry...either of them are so cute....for now!
We are defiantly learning how tiring and exhausting it is to be consistent with your kids!

You know your name and respond when we say it!

You are saying your first word! We really wanted you to say "Dada" first, but go figure, your first word is...."Mama". For now, you are really only saying it when you are tired or hungry.

You are such a big eater! Now that you are 8 months old, we are slowly introducing you to cheeses, and meats! You even had your first piece of pizza and LOVED it! You also are eating Eggos with jam, Greek yogurt (you LOVE it!), cottage cheese (you aren't crazy about the taste of cottage cheese by itself, but love it mixed with applesauce), a little chicken and beef here and there and of course all your good ole fruits and veggies! Oh we tried grilled cheese too!

We also gave you spaghetti for the first time. To say you loved it is an understatement.....you inhaled it!

Last week, Grammy and I took you to Panera Bread and got you white mac and cheese. You hated the Parmesan cheese in the pasta! I also tried cooked egg yolks (you can't have egg whites yet) and you were not too fond of them either. I think those are the only two things you have tried that you didn't like!

You are experiencing separation anxiety when we drop you off in the nursery at church!

Sundays continue to be a challenge. It is your nap time during church, and you are exhausted...but you don't sleep well in the nursery. Add that to some separation anxiety, and we have a mess of a baby. I think the nursery workers probably dread you coming into the nursery! Of course, when mommy, daddy or Grammy have to come get you, the tears stop immediately! Oh it's such a struggle...I have to keep telling myself that it is just a stage you are going through!

You started clapping! (I'll have to post a video soon because the way you clap is adorable!)

You are a motor mouth! You babble all the time.

You got your first two teeth! You got your first tooth on 10/3, and your second one popped through the next day! Teething has been a breeze for you!

You LOVE when Daddy comes home from work! One day, we were getting the mail when he got home. You drove into the garage with him and thought it was the best thing ever!

I love your expression!

You absolutely love just being at home.
 You are so happy and content when you can just crawl around and play with your toys.

You spend 2 mornings a week with Grammy, before Mommy gets home from work. Daddy has to wake you up at about 6:15-6:30. You are tired at first, but always end up giving big smiles. Such a trooper! You love to spend time with your Grammy and we are so thankful for her!

Matthew Jay, WE LOVE YOU SOOOO MUCH!