Food

Last night for diner I made alfredo. Matthew LOVES alfredo. Scott could not feed it to him fast enough. Scott couldn't even make it back to his plate to cut more noodles up and Matthew was screaming for more. When he gets mad he spits. It is so funny. Matthew was one hungry boy that night. He ate lots of alfredo, some crackers and a jar of bananas. It is so much fun to watch him eat crackers. Most babies would suck on them but not Matthew. He chews them and they crunch. He is pretty fast at eating crackers too! After his alfredo and all the other food he ate Daddy gave him a bath! Giving in a bath in the regular tub has been going alright. He somes has the idea in his head that he does not want to sit up so he will straighten his back out. All you can do then is lay him down in the water. Last night, Scott did get him to sit up for a little tiny bit.
What a Silly Face!!!!!!! Scott was wringing out the wash cloth so that water would drip on his tummy!

He sure loves his daddy!

PS Yesterday while at Papa and Gram's house, Papa said that Matthew rolled over on top of a toy and he pulled his knees up and was on all fours. I wasn't surprised because in the morning before we left, he rolled to his side and pulled his knees up and rolled again so that he could move forward (he wanted to get to the cat). He will probably be crawling soon! It is exciting and sad all at the same time. It is exciting because he is learning so many new things but sad because that means he is growing just way to fast.

Miscellanous Things

Matthew changes so much every day! A few of his new things:

• He rolls everywhere!
• Just this morning he tried really hard to move forward while on his tummy! (He wanted the cat who was just out of his reach.)
• He is finally sleeping through the night. (Okay so we still have nights that he needs his nuk once or twice).
• He is a early risers (Usually up between 6-6:30 am)
• He most likely is sleeping by 8-8:30 pm.
• He naps 2 times a day but his naps are usually 1/2 to 1 1/2 hours long.(occassionally 3 times)
• He still doesn't have any teeth.
• He LOVES to jump!
• He loves to eat and loves to try new foods.
• He is almost always smiling.
• He IS VERY spoiled!!!!!!

Hope everyone has a great day! Thanks for following our blog!

Pizza

Today for lunch we ordered pizza from Northwest Pizza. They have the yummiest chicken ranch pizza and bbq chicken pizza. We also tried their cheeseburger pizza. That was pretty yummy too. Matthew also thought it was really yummy. There was not much left of his piece of pizza when he was finished.

Can you tell that he thoroughly enjoyed his piece of pizza. There was only a few small pieces of crust left. It was pretty funny how he got it too. Scott was trying to just give him a bite but he decided that he wanted the whole piece so he took it out of Scott's hands. Matthew had a death grip on it and would not let go.

Sisters

Today my dad and my sisters came for a visit. We had lots of fun. This is the first time that my sister Amanda had met Matthew.

Fingerprint Friday

There is a song by Steven Curtis Chapman that says:

I can see the fingerprints of God

When I look at you

I can see the fingerprints of God

And I know it's true

You're a masterpiece

That all creation quietly applauds

And you're covered with the fingerprints of God

So look around you and see where YOU can see God's fingerprints. Is it in nature? Kids? Animals? Where do you see them?

I see God's fingerprints every day when I look at our son, Matthew. Matthew is definitely a masterpiece and a gift from God. The two young people in this first photo is Matthew's birthparents. I know that I have said it before but how can I not say it over and over again what a blessing it is to have these two wonderful people in our lives. They gave us the most precious and wonderful gift of life that God created. They made the difficult decision to make an adoption plan for their child. They made us the proudest parents of the happiest baby boy who is growing way to fast. How to do thank someone for such a gift. I know that they know how thankful we are but I just need to say it again. THANK YOU ADIE AND SEBASTIAN! Oct 12, 2008 at Matthew's Baptism L to R: Sebastian, Joanna, Matthew, Scott & Adie

God has a plan for each of our lives and it may not goes as we plan but he knows best for us so that is why we need to follow Him.

He also puts people in our lives when we need them.

In the photo below left to right: Adie, Joanna, Matthew, Scott, Kathy and Anissa. We have known Kathy since we became involved in our Sunday School program at church back in 1998. One Sunday in 2007, Kathy asked us if we had ever considered adoption. (Quick note: Not many people knew that we had struggled with infertility. Everyone had their susipions because we LOVE kids and we weren't having any babies and the fact that we had been married almost 10 years.) So here is the crazy thing, we were already in the process of adoption so we told her that. For some reason deep down in my heart I knew that God would use Kathy as His tool to make our dream of being parents come true. Here is the miracle-Kathy called me on July 16, 2007 she called and asked if she could give our names and phone number to Adie and Anissa (Anissa is Adie's mom) and of course I said YES!!!!!!!! (Read the rest of our adoption story on our November 8, 2008 blog post.) So God put Kathy in the right place at the right time. Thank you Kathy for helping us find our little masterpiece of God!!!)

We are blessed to have so many wonderful people in our lives.

Matthew has and always will bring us lots of happiness and joy.

If you would like to see other Fingerprint Fridays or would like to join in please go to Pampering Beki's blog.

Just one more thing, I found this verse on another blog and I thought that it pertained to this blog post.

"So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold…" (I Peter 1:6-7, NLT).

Big Bath Tub

Tonight was Matthew's first time taking a bath in the regular bath tub by himself. I figured that I would try it since he is doing really good with sitting up. We did have a little slip and he got a face full of water, which I feel terrible about. He is always our happy boy.Getting his hair washed.
This picture should be the other way but when it downloaded it turned.

As you can see Matthew loves bath time.

We just hope he likes swimming as much as he likes baths.

Mountain Dew

Okay I know that he probably shouldn't have Mountain Dew but whenever we have something he ALWAYS wants some so Scott let him try some. Look at the wide open mouth and the drool.Tongue sticking out!
Enjoying a drink

After a couple of sips I made Scott quit but of course Matthew was not happy with me. We did side track him with something else.

Matthew & Adie

This was another picture that I took while at the LSS Domestic Adoption Works open house. Matthew was fully dressed when we got there but he got warm and the only way to make him happy is to undress the little man. First it was just the socks and shoes but then the pants ended up coming off too.

Domestic Adoption Works

Yesterday we were in Minneapolis, Minnesota at Lutheran Social Services (LSS) at a open house called Domestic Adoption Works. We "hosted" a table and people could come to our table and ask us questions, hear our story and look at our pictures. Adie, Matthew's birthmom, was there with us. We had a great time with Adie. It is always so much fun to spend the day with her. We all had a great time at the open house and we got to meet other families that have adopted through LSS. I wish that we could have been able to talk to the other families a little bit more. Matthew had lots of fun too! The three pictures below are Matthew and Jada. She is a little over a month older than Matthew. They played really good together and as always Matthew squeels at the girls. To read Jada's story go to Jodi's blog.

Fingerprint Friday

There is a song by Steven Curtis Chapman that says:

I can see the fingerprints of God

When I look at you

I can see the fingerprints of God

And I know its true

You're a masterpiece

That all creation quietly applauds

And you're covered with the fingerprints of God

So look around you and see where YOU can see God's fingerprints. Is it in nature? Kids? Animals? Where do you see them?

FRIENDSHIP It is amazing how Matthew reacts to other children. Every other Thursday I watch my friend Lori's son Aidan. Aidan just turned 4 in February. Last night we spent some time of the deck blowing bubbles. Matthew just watched in awe as Aidan blew the bubbles. Aidan is so funny. One Thursday when I went to pick him up from daycare another little boy was asking me about Matthew and Aidan came up and said that Matthew was HIS baby Matthew.
Big Bubbles!
Matthew had so much fun just watching the bubbles. Matthew also loves to be outside. We were on the deck last night and I didn't think Matthew could get his walker to move because of the grooves but he amazed me and was able to move the walker backwards which is the only way he can go in the house too. He hasn't figured out how to go forward yet.
Matthew so interested in the bubbles!

Thank you to Pampering Beki for hosting Fingerprint Friday each week! Everyone is welcome to join. To see how to join, as well as find links to other Fingerprint Friday posts, visit Pampering Beki's blog.

1st Time at the Park

Yesterday since it was so nice outside we decided to go to the park with Aunt K and Emma. We went to the park at Whipple Beach. It is a really nice playground.Matthew loved the swing!
Emma says this was the baby slide!

Emma and Matthew on the big slide!

Aunt K and Matthew on the slide. He was not crazy about the slide.

Emma on the swing!

Another ride in the swing since he didn't like the slide.

All the excitement and fun wore him right out!

Sleeping baby in the swing!

Time to go home!

New Noises

Matthew has been making weird noises and I finally got a couple of them on video yesterday! On Tuesday night he said what sounded like mama but whenever I try to get him to say it again he just moves his mouth like he is saying dada but nothing comes out. He is just to funny!

Austin's Birthday

Yesterday was my nephew Austin's birthday. He turned 2! These first two pictures were taken yesterday afternoon at a park in Ironton. Matthew and I didn't go to the park with them but we did go to lunch with them at McDonalds yesterday.What a silly Grandma!
The Birthday Boy!

My sister Patty and me. I was playing with Austin's new SpongeBob toy!

My sister Susan

Austin trying to give Matthew a kiss!

Austin, Matthew with "Old" Grandma. This is their Great Grandma.

Austin, Matthew and Grandma

Matthew sitting on Ronald McDonald's lap. Austin freaked out each time my mom tried to put him in Ronald McDonald's lap so we only have a picture of Matthew

We had a fun day yesterday! Thanks Mom for the pictures!

Eastor Visitors

Matthew's birthmother and birth grandma stopped by to see us yesterday! It is always a pleasure to see Matthew's birthparents.Adie & Matthew

This is Anissa (Adie's mom) who we call Mamma. She was blowing on Matthew's neck and he was just loving it! It was almost putting him to sleep.