Fourth of July

You can tell how far behind I am in my posts, if I'm just getting around to my Fourth of July post in mid-September! At least I'm slowly catching up!

Matthew celebrated his first Fourth of July this year!

We had a wonderful day!

We started the day by having a quiet morning at home. Then we went over to Grandpa and Grammy's house for lunch and to spend the afternoon playing! That evening, we went over to our friends house from church for a wonderful BBQ, time of fellowship with friends and family and an awesome firework show!

Matthew got a taste of his first Otter Pop. He loved it!

 Absolutely LOVE this kid. Caleb holds a very special place in his Aunt Cammie's heart!

 Love. This. Man. So. Much.

 Matthew did amazing during the fireworks. He was so mesmerized by them!

 Watching the fireworks with Daddy. I know he looks scared in this picture, but he really wasn't!

 It was so cute, because he was just stare at every firework that went off!

Matthew watched the firework show for about a half hour and then fell fast asleep on Daddy!

Thanks to the Mike and Katrina for hosting a wonderful

 Fourth of July bash!

South Carolina

After a week in Washington DC, we spent another week visiting Matt's brother and family in South Carolina. We LOVE spending time with Nathan and Kacy, and I adore my beautiful nieces Adria and Hannah.

 And of course, this trip we got to introduce them to their newest cousin, Matthew!

We ended up riding the train from Washington DC to South Carolina!

 It was a new experience for us, and we loved it! The seats were so roomy and comfortable. We had plenty of room for Matthew to sleep between us, and lots of room to get up and walk!

After an exhausting week in DC, the 12 hour train ride was the perfect time to rest and relax together!

We met another family on the train who was traveling with grandma, mom, daughter, and grandson.

The grandma was this sweet old Southern lady from Georgia.

 There were times on the train when Matthew would fuss a little bit because he was getting tired, or just needed a change of scenery...and because he is a baby! Whenever Matthew would start to fuss, she would lean over to us and say "I think that baby needs a bottle with milk." Or she'd say "When was the last time you gave that baby a bottle with milk?" I told her that we were feeding him and he was just fine. Her granddaughter was mortified, and kept telling her "Grandma they are fine. STOP!" About the fourth time that she said that, I leaned over and very politely told her, "Mam, I'm breastfeeding him, so he doesn't take bottles." And she goes, "Oh I haven't heard of that in a long time! I didn't know people still did that!"

 We got such a good laugh about it!

 To this day, when Matthew fusses, we will joke around and say, "I think that baby needs a bottle with milk!"

We had a very special week in South Carolina, and cherished the time that we got to spend together. While we were in Washington DC, we got news that Kacy's mom, Jolene, who also lived with them, was ill and in the hospital. Unfortunately, Jolene passed away the day that we arrived in South Carolina. Matt and I felt privileged to be able to be there for the family during this time, and help with the girls in any way that we could. Although this trip was obviously different then the other trips we have had back to South Carolina, we loved just being able to be with our family during this difficult time.

Here are some pictures from our trip:

The girls were SO sweet with Matthew. They gave him his first cousin bath!

Hair by Aunt Cammie! I also learned how to french braid their hair! Aren't they absolutely gorgeous??

Getting ready to go swimming in a pool for the first time! Seriously, could this kid get any cuter?

What a stud! Styling shades, sucking on a binkie, and sporting a stylin' ride...Daddy!

Swimming with Daddy! He LOVED the pool...even though these pictures don't really show that!

Daddy showing baby that he still has hops!

Matthew would be happy swimming for about 30 minutes, and then would be exhausted! So we would bundle him up and he would crash while we finished swimming and laying out at the pool! Bliss!

The girls and Matthew

Can you tell these two are brothers? Not only do they look alike, they both have careers in education, played and coached baseball, walk, talk and run alike, and have very similar personalities. Matt is so thankful for a brother who is also one of his best friends. Nathan was Matt's best man in our wedding, and Matt always looks forward to time spent with his brother. Kacy and I joke, because when these two get together they talk non-stop about education, sports and politics. Kacy and I took this time to go shopping with the girls and leave these guys at home!

Nathan, Kacy and the girls actually had to leave for Ohio a couple days before we came home, where the memorial service for Jolene was being held.

Matt, I, and baby took this time to explore the beaches, towns, and took a day trip to Savannah!

First time at the beach!

I could kiss this sweet face all day long!

 ...oh, and that one too!

We ate ice cream, while sitting in rocking chairs at Harbour Town...good ole' Southern Charm!

We took an old passenger Ferry Boat over to old town Savannah, Ga. So fun!
We were defiantly missing the family though...

Kisses from Daddy!

Nathan and Kacy, we had a wonderful trip visiting South Carolina.

 Despite the circumstances not being ideal, we were so glad just to be there for you guys, spending time together as a family. And hopefully baby Matthew was a good distraction when you needed it!

 Kacy, we will all miss your mom, but are celebrating that she is now made whole in Heaven!

 We love you guys so much and look forward to our next visit together!

Washington DC

We had such an amazing time in Washington DC!

While I was pregnant, Matt and I started talking about the possibility

 of taking a trip as a family while I was on maternity leave.

We talked about going a few different places, but my husband has always wanted to visit all the sites,

 and see the vast history of Washington DC.

So...we booked our tickets and started planning our trip!

We spent 1 busy week in Washington DC seeing almost everything you could see while in DC!

Matthew Jr. was 4 months old when we went, and it was the perfect age for a cross country trip!

Really, all he needed was a clean diaper, a stroller to sleep in,

a moby wrap to be carried in, and mommy to feed him!

He was an absolute DREAM to travel with! He did amazing on the airplane! We were even able to bundle him, lay him down on the floor by our feet, and he slept great!

While in DC, he was such a trooper...staying up way past his bedtime, bearing the heat and humidity, riding the Metro Subway, and going here and there all day long!

Here are some highlights from our trip!

Matt and I were absolutely amazed with the architecture...so detailed and beautiful!

"Lunch" on the steps of the Jefferson memorial!

Visiting the FDR memorial



All smiles at the WW2 Memorial. The memorials and monuments are SO gorgeous!

The Reflecting Pool was under construction. Not a very breathtaking view to say the least....

Vietnam Vetrans Memorial

Love. These. Guys.

We took an Old Town Trolly Tour a couple of the days which took us all over DC, let us get on and off to see the sites, and told us so many interesting facts about it all! Matthew was great, but we did have to take him in and out of his stroller to get on and off the trolly. There were a couple times where he was sleeping and we knew he absolutely exhausted, that we decided to walk the extra distance so we didn't have to wake him up. Otherwise, he was all smiles for Daddy and Mommy!

We just thought these were plain funny. It was a random statue in DC.

We thought they looked like chewed up Gummy Bears!

We visited the National Cathedral. It was a.m.a.z.i.n.g and absolutely HUGE!

This was just one of the side cathedrals!
This front structure was carved by hand from one solid piece of stone! Increadible!

While in Georgetown, we went to visit Georgetown Cupcakes, home of DC Cupcakes, a show I watch on TLC. I was a little excited to say the least! We shared a red velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting and a chocolate cupcake with mocha frosting. They were very good cupcakes, but I still think that a cupcake is just a cupcake. We ended up throwing about half of it away because it was SO hot and humid outside that a cupcake really didn't sound appetizing.  Well worth the experience though!

This picture was from the Arlington House at Arlington National Cemetary. Such a beautiful view!

This was the hottest and most humid day of our trip...Matthew had a tough time at the Cemetary.

This was the only place where we felt like we didn't get to spend as much time as we would have liked.

 At the Museum of Natural History. Daddy sporting the Moby wrap!

HA! Do people seriously believe this?!??!!?

Matthew went to his second major league baseball game.

The Washington DC Nationals were playing the Seattle Mariners!

While we were in DC, we rode the Metro everywhere. It was quite an adventure! The Metro system in DC is made up of different colored lines that go to various places in the city. To get National Stadium for the game, we had to ride the blue line. The blue line is the only metro that goes to the stadium. We had no idea what we were in for! I have never seen SO many people trying to get onto the Metro. We had to wait for a few trains to come before we could squeeze and push our way onto the Metro with a sleeping baby in the stroller. We were literally standing face to face with others in the subway...to say it was a bit claustrophrobic is an understatement. Luckily, we survived and Matthew slept the entire time, completely oblivious to what he just experienced!

 The Library of Congress was gorgeous! Matthew wasn't too impressed...

We put Matthew down on the ground for a few minutes in the Museum of American History. I think he was excited to have a little freedom! Our little man loves to move, and he spent so much time in the stroller or being held this week.



We visited George Washington's house. Stunning views and an amazing piece of property!

 Seriously. Love. My. Family.

First time exploring GRASS! He was very interested in it!

Because it was so hot and humid, we gave Matthew bottles with cold water in them.

He learned how to hold them himself!

Matthew also learned how to put his feet up on the bar in his stroller. Seriously adorable!

God has blessed me beyond measure! So in love with these guys!

We created so many memories as a family this week, and I treasured the time I got to spend with them exploring this amazing city!