Camping

Hello! We are excited to take Matthew camping for the first time! We are setting up camp tomorrow! We are not going that far from home. Only to the Gull Lake Recreation Area! This is an annual event started by Scott's aunt, Karyl. I believe it was started 23 years ago. Of course, over the years it has grown to include more and more people. We are actually setting up a day earlier than most of the group. We decided that we didn't want to "rough" it with a little one so we are borrowing my mom and stepdad's motorhome. The pack-n-play fits in just right (per my mom-she showed us just how to set it in there and still have room). She takes my nephew camping with them.

I'm glad we are not that far from home just in case. Matthew has never slept in his pack-n-play or away from home. I am a little nervous but excited at the same time. The nap thing is the thing that worries me the most. He is still taking 2 naps a day and if he doesn't, he gets pretty onery. Also what if I forget something! I have been making lists for days to make sure that I get everything but it is always the small things that always seem to be forgotten. We have to come home each day anyway so that our cat can get fed so if we do forget anything, we can get it then. Do all new moms worry about forgetting things when they go on vacation/camping? Whew I think we will all be dead tired by the time we come home.

I will be posting LOTS of pictures when we return! Well I better finish getting everything ready and try to get some sleep tonight in MY bed! Hope everyone has a great week!

New Temper Tantrum

This is the result: Of This:

This is Matthew's new thing. It started out of the blue yesterday! We have no idea what he is so mad about! Probably wanted to be picked up! What a silly boy!

New Family Pictures

Here is a couple new family pictures that we took this morning before we went to church. We took 5 of them I think but these two are the cutest one!

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?

Nature & Kids

(okay one little kid and one big kid Hehehe!)

We built our house 4 years ago and are just getting our lawn in this year. It is amazing to watch God's creation work. It started out like this:

(Front Yard View)

We had 5 loads of this beautiful black dirt of God's creation hauled in.

(5 loads + 20 yards each=Lots of work-It took almost the entire month of June to spread)

Black dirt was all spread and packed down (June 29, 2009)
Watering and more watering. Never fails, I always get wet when I move the sprinklers. Scott makes it look so so easy. (July 10, 2009) God has answered my prayers in the last week or so and has sent rain and lots of it.
Scott and Matthew cleaning out the bird bath/pond. Matthew loves being outside so we are glad that we got the lawn in. Even though he still gets plenty dirty from the black dirt where not all the grass seed has taken, he loves to be out there. (July 21, 2009-It had been mowed for the first time a couple days before this picture below had been taken)
Matthew then discovered the rocks! I love how he is studying that rock. Each rock in the bird bath is unique just like each and every one of us. God made us just how he wanted us to be.



As I sit and watch Matthew explore and be curious about everything around him I am often catching myself looking at things from a new perspective and really appreciating and enjoying the simple things in life=God's masterpiece. God's fingerprints are everywhere! Do you see God's fingerprints around you? To see other Fingerprint Fridays or to join in go to Pampering Beki's Blog.

Playing Outside

Yesterday we decided to fill the pool and play for a bit. Matthew got a new toy from Mamma (Anissa) and we wanted to check it out. It is a hippo in a round case with a small shower head. It sprays water out the shower head and turns in circles so you have spraying water. See all the water droplets on his face! He was holds the hippo at an angle and water was spraying him in the face. Hehehe!!! He thought is was so much fun! See the red spot above his eye. Yep our little climber took a digger!!!! It is a little carpet burn from falling off one of his little chairs. Last night after we got home from supper, we played outside in our new grass for a little bit. Matthew got pretty dirty since the grass is not filled all in and there is still a lot of black dirt exposed. He loves to be outside. He was even trying to help daddy clean the bird bath until he got to close and got wet by the hose (which is VERY cold water).
As you can see he didn't like the cold water getting on him! He was so dirty that Scott handed him to me over the deck railing and I put him in the swimming pool to rinse him and his clothes off. I then striped him down on the deck and brought him in to a warm bath.

We have a Climber!

Matthew is a climber! I bought that cute little blue chair at a garage sale for a quarter and Matthew loves it. He also uses to climb up so he can look out the window. This top picture was taken just before he took a spill. Do you think that he learned?Nope! He was back up on it this morning! He loves to watch the birds, chipmunks and the squirrels at the bird feeder.
He is a mover and a shaker! Yesterday he was playing and pulling himself up on the walker. He dropped his sunglasses down in the seat (they went through the leg hole and landed on the floor). He crawled up and laid across the walker to see if he could reach them. I'm sure that it will not be long before he learns to crawl up on the couch or in our dining room chairs.

One Year Ago!!!!!!!!

One year ago today we were chosen to be parents! To celebrate we had Adie and her family over for dinner! Matthew was hamming it up at dinner!

Adie and Matthew

Matthew giving Mamma (Anissa) a hug!

Matthew hamming it up once again! Looks like Matthew's aunt Carrin (Adie's sister) is also being silly! Love your silly face Carrin!!!!!!

We had a wonderful visit! Matthew did get a little grumpy towards the end of the evening but he was getting a little tired!

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?

We have been touched by God's fingerprints in the people that we know and have met in the past year. Tomorrow July 18th marks one year since we were chosen to be parents! I remember the day so clearly. How could a person not remember such a wonderful life changing day. It was early afternoon while I was trying to catch a nap because I had a sinus infection when my cell phone started ringing (and you know how it is when you are awakened by a ringing phone-you are not fully aware of your surrounds or that is how it is for me anyway). It didn't take long for me to be full awake when on the other line Anissa, Adie's mom, was saying we would like for you two to be the baby's parents. (A special Thank You goes to our wonderful friend Kathy who helped bring us together!!!) I was thinking am I having a wonderful dream or is this true but wait I am fully awake now. I told her that we needed to meet and talk but the next day we were going north for a family reunion so I thought it would have to be Sunday. After I got off the phone I ran outside to where Scott was working on our landscaping and said WE ARE GOING TO BE PARENTS! We were both very excited! Scott asked when we were going to meet them. I said I'm not sure since we have the family reunion tomorrow. He said call them back and see if they can come for dinner tonight! I called Anissa back and she said that they could come for dinner. OH MY! I had lots to do in just a short few hours. I have to clean the house fast and figure out what to make for dinner. Scott wanted to grill chicken and I want to make lasagna but either way I have to run to town to get a few things. We decided on lasagna which was good because it is one of Adie's favorites. We spent 6 hours that evening visiting and getting to know one another. What a evening! It was amazing! After they left Scott and I just couldn't believe how much they felt like they were meant to be a part of our life. It was about 2 to 3 week later that we met Sebastian and his mom. I will go into more about them on the 1 year mark of meeting them.

Here is God's fingerprint!

Our amazing son who has LOTS of people in his life that LOVE him so very much!

Remember in my last post about the new funny face that he makes! The picture above shows just how cute and funny he is!

This picture he is just being his cute self!
And his cute little feet with his new sandals on from his Grandma G (Sebastian's mom)!

Look around you and see where you can see God's fingerprints! To see other Fingerprint Fridays or join in go to Pampering Beki's blog.

Still no Bumps

Matthew still has teething symptoms but still no bumps. He will not let us feel in there so we can only look when he is smiling or making his new funny face. I will post a picture when I capture on camera. He DOES NOT like baby orajel. This whole teething time is throwing his sleep patterns off. He still falls asleep good but it is later than normal. He wakes 2 to 3 hours later screaming and the only thing to do is rock him until you can put him back in the crib without him waking up. Last night he didn't want anything to do with me and had screamed harder until daddy came in and took over. Sure makes me feel horrible but I just have to realize that he is a daddy's boy and always prefers daddy over mommy. Then he is up 1 to 2 hours earlier than normal. It is also affecting how he feeds. This morning he didn't want to eat and then fell back asleep about an hour after he got up. I wonder how long this will go on. I hate to see him in so much pain. One good thing though is he has been very snuggly during the day and since daddy's not here, he does snuggle with me. Needless to say the last couple days I have not got much done around the house but he will only be little once and the housework will always be there. He has also been saying Mama a lot lately which melts my heart everytime he says it. On occassion, if you ask him to say a word he will repeat it. Just last week he said crocodile.

Teething

Matthew has been grumpy lately. His gums are slightly swollen but no spots yet. Last night Matthew did not want to sleep in his crib. He would be sleeping hard while we were holding him in the rocking chair (even Snoring!) but everytime we tried putting him in the crib he woke up screaming. Scott ending up sleeping on the couch with him and it was a rough night for both of them. Matthew couldn't get comfortable and cried often. Finally at 4 this morning I woke up to Matthew screaming and Scott telling me it was my turn. I tried everything. So when Scott got up at 5, we had breakfast. By 6 Matthew was sleeping in his crib so hopefully he will wake up in a better mood.

To ease the pain of teething I put an ice cube in his mesh feeder (by Munchkins). He loved it! He also loves freeze pops too! They are a little bit messier than the ice cube though.

Emma's Birthday Party Fun

Our niece, Emma, turned 4 years old on July 9th. On her actually birthday she decided she wanted to go to dinner at McDonalds (of course the playland one).

Then on Saturday was her party.

Matthew is almost always a tad bit grumpy at parties when he is handed off to someone. He is a daddy's boy or mommy's boy if daddy's not around. He also doesn't quite like the feel of the grass yet. The 2 girls in the picture with him are Ashley and Whitney. Whitney (she is the one in the dark blue shirt) is Scott's goddaughter.

The Birthday Girl! Trying really hard to blow out all the candles but they would start right back up again. Gotta love trick candles.
The birthday cakes had gumballs all around them and gummy butterflies also.
Matthew making his new funny face at Grammie! He started this new wrinkle up the nose look and then snorts at the same time. It is the funniest thing!!!!

Still giving Grammie the new look and listening to her.

Emma got a new pool for her birthday! All the girls were enjoying the pool. It has a small slide which the girls are sitting on and on the other side it has a section where water sprays down.

(Left to Right: Eva, Alexa, Emma)

Kyra being weird. Actually in her hand she has a peacock made out of a dollar bill. You might have to click on the picture to enlarge to get a better look.

Emma's new scooter from us!

Her most favorite present of all was the 3 wheeled moped from Grammie and Papa. The first few minutes all she could do was go in circles but it didn't take long to get the hang of it.

Alexa giving Matthew a huge before they left. Matthew loves Alexa and Eva. He always babbles to them when we see them.

Matthew saying Good Bye to Eva!

Later in the evening Matthew got ahold of Emma's water bottle (when Emma was on a tractor ride with Scott) and he actually tries to drink from it. Not sure why he will hold that but not his regular sippy cup.

We had a fun week and weekend! Today Matthew was a very tired boy! He fell asleep in church and slept almost 2 hours. He did wake up when we had to put him in his carseat but soon feel back to sleep. Then this afternoon, he took a 3 1/2 hour nap. He woke up grumpy from his nap though. We are starting to think that his teeth may be coming in. He is always using his tongue to rub the gums and he has been pulling on his ears (which the doctor said could happen).

We had a super busy week so I am sorry that I have not posted pictures this week. I promise some will be posted either Sunday or Monday. As you know from my last post, we had Vacation Bible School at church this past week. I had so much fun! And I learned lots too!

On Thursday, we also had a special event. Our niece Emma turned 4 years old! She decided that she wanted to eat at McDonalds. Matthew loved the chicken nuggets. After dinner we went to Kyra and Emma's so that Emma could open presents and we had ice cream cake. Then today was her party. We had fun! Matthew was a really good baby and didn't even get crabby around the time he usually naps. When we left, I don't even think that we made it a mile and he was already sleeping and slept almost 2 hours.

10 months Old

Hello! Sorry I haven't posted for a few days but life is crazy this week. I volunteered to help out with Vacation Bible School (Crocodile Dock) at our church this week. Matthew has been spending a few hours each day this week with Papa while I volunteer at VBS. Today I was trying to get him to wave good bye to me while Papa was holding him and all he would do was smile. He LOVES his Papa!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On another note: Can you believe that Matthew is already 10 months old today? It is hard to believe. It seems like he was born just a few days ago. Time sure goes by fast.

10 things that Matthew is doing now:

~ Always wants to feed himself

~ Pulls himself up

~ Walks around furniture

~ Has a temper

~ Has temper tantrums already (He stiffens out and screams)

~ Sleeps thru the night

~ Stands up in his crib

~ Crawls fast

~ Plays in his swimming pool (and LOVES it)

~ Loves beings outside (We almost have grass/yard for him to play in-I will post pictures soon)

Hope everyone is having a great summer! If you are bored, come over and visit. We are always open for company.

Sorry I don't have any pictures to post today!!!!

Matthew's First 4th of July

We had a wonderful 4th of July celebration. We started our day out with this cute picture!We went to my mom's house in Crosby to watch the parade and eat!

Matthew and Old (great) Grandma playing with the pinwheel.
(Great) Auntie Kathy letting Matthew play in the dirt without mommy knowing! Mommy didn't want Matthew to get to dirty before we went to our other party.

Matthew just wasn't sure about the gravel on his feet. Oh yah (great) Auntie Kathy had to clean Matthew up. Don't worried I let Matthew get plenty dirt at our other party.

Getting ready to see the parade. Grandma Lucy and Grandpa Jerry live right on the parade route. But before the parade Grandma Lucy had to show off her two grandsons to her friend Charlie. They have been friends every since I can remember.

No they are not cruel for putting my nephew Austin in a harness. He is a bit of a wild man and can move rather quickly.

Getting to our spot on the curb.

But first Matthew needed some more sunscreen on his nose and in his hair because I had a hard time keeping his hat on. Once the parade started he kept it on. Oh and he didn't get his morning nap so the nuk was keeping him somewhat happy.

The Beginning of the Parade!

The old police car with a blue gorilla in the back seat.

The fire trucks! The first fire truck to go by hit the sirens just as they got in front of us and scared Matthew.

Covering Matthew's ear when the fire trucks would hit the sirens. It was pretty loud!

There was LOTS of fire trucks (Crosby, Brainerd, Emily, Mission)

Then Matthew got to give John Ward a high five!

This one here was Daddy's favorite one of all! It was the only John Deere tractor. There was lots of other tractors but they were all Farmall tractors.

There was this old car too! Look really close at the picture or even click on the picture to enlarge it..............you will see Matthew waving at the people in the car.

The parade is all done! It lasted about an hour and we seen lots of other things to................C-I High School band, a dance line, horses, lots of tractors, a great big tall mud truck, a semi truck with lots of equipment and a train.

Matthew's (great) Auntie Judy is crazy! She is the clown in the picture below. (Today {July 5t} is her birthday. [Happy Birthday Auntie Judy!!!!!!!!!!]

After we had lunch and Grandma Lucy and Grandpa Jerry's house, we went to our other party in Brainerd. Matthew was sleeping within a few minutes of leaving Grandma and Grandpa's. When we got to the other party we let the car run so it would stay cool inside so Matthew could finish his nap. He didn't sleep long after we got there though.

In this picture is Scott's aunt Laraine with her grandson, Logan!

Logan's mom, Mallory, wanted to get a picture of the boys together. Matthew decided that he wanted to give Logan a kiss. (Side note: Matthew has been really getting into give kisses lately-the wide open mouth kisses).

Can you tell that Logan really didn't like the kiss? Logan is 3 months older than Matthew.

Logan with his daddy, Jim. Jim and Scott are 1st cousins.

RaeAnne and Emma swinging together. RaeAnne and Scott are 1st cousins.

Matthew had LOTS of fun playing in the dirt. His cute little white shirt was not so white by the end of the afternoon.

Matthew and Papa sharing a moment together.

Looking up at the airplane or helicopter. There was a lot of air traffic yesterday.

(Great) Uncle Wayne trying to get Matthew to let him pick him up. Matthew did use Uncle Wayne's hands to asisst himself at standing up.

Looking at mommy and trying to see what other mischieveous things that we could get into.

He was getting really tired but late afternoon Scott got him to fall asleep. (Great) Auntie Debbie wanted to hold him when he was sleeping.

He woke up after a short nap so we decided to go home.

It was getting late anyway.

His bath water was terribly dirty when he was all done.

He slept really good last night.

Hope everyone else had a wonderful 4th of July celebrations!