Birthday

Yes I realize that Matthew's birthday was well over a month ago but I finally had a few minutes to upload the pictures and give you a glimpse into how much fun we had.  Matthew had lots of fun this year with his birthday.  He requested that we go to the park and have a picnic lunch so that is what him and I did for lunch.  On the way to the car, he tripped and fell and skinned both knees a little.  We had fun playing at the park.  Then we went for ice cream. 

The night of his birthday, he wanted to go to Burger King.  With the help of Daddy before anyone else got there, he learned how to climb up the playland.  Yes Daddy actually went into the playland with him!  It was quite a site!  No I didn't get any pictures!

Here are a few pictures from the night of his birthday and his birthday party which was a couple of days later:

He loves his tractors!

I love how his feet our sticking out from under the present!

 He got a Lightening McQueen guitar.

 He got tools and a workbench with more tools!

 He requested a tractor ice cream cake!

Hahaha!  Wearing his goggles from his chainsaw upside down!

Yes they are all fogged up!

 Cutting down the tree with his new chainsaw!

Remember this post!  Scott and I thought he was like his own chainsaw.

He loves it!  He has almost "cut" down all the trees in our yard!  Hahaha!

 He plays his guiter and sings his favorite song!

"Life is a Highway" Can you guess where he gets that song from?

 I made this cute banner for his birthday.

His invitations also had polka dots on it.

 All the cupcakes had different color frosting to match the polka dots on his invitation.  I forgot to get a  picture of the cupcakes.  On Matthew's cupcake you can see the polka dot paper(same paper as the invitations) with the number 3 cut out but all the other cupcakes had circles (variety of colors to match the polka dots) attached to sucker sticks with different pictures on them.  Sorry no pictures of them.

Next year, I am going to hire someone to take pictures or ask someone to be in charge of my camera because I didn't get a whole lot of pictures this year.  I did finally put my sister in charge of the camera and she got some great pictures.

 Like his cute "Birthday Boy" shirt?  Can you believe that it is the same shirt he wore last year on his birthday?  Either it was big last year or he hasn't grown much.

 He must have asked a million times about opening presents.

We always have everyone eat, the cupcakes and ice cream and then presents.

He was in heaven when he finally got to open the presents.

He got lots of fun things.

Here are just a few:

 A talking Mater!

 A hoodie with a "John Deere" tractor on it!

 Some farm animals.

 He had to set the fence and animals up before he could open anymore gifts!

This was one of his favorites.  It is a tractor/front end loader.  This tractor went with us everywhere for a week or more!

He had a great birthday and party!  There was a total of 71 people.  Yes you read that right-71.  We do one big party which includes my family, Scott's family, Matthew's birthmother and her family and Matthew's birthfather and his family.  We had smoked pulled pork sandwiches (Scott smoked the pork roasts the day before which took about 12 hours), chips, fruit with fruit dip, my mom's yummy potato salad, home grown cucumbers and tomatoes (from Matthew's biological great grandpa's garden-Adie's grandpa) and cupcakes and ice cream.

Our garage at our new house worked awesome for the birthday party!

Happy 3rd Birthday Matthew!

Matthew is 3 years old today!  Where did the time go?  It is hard to believe that 3 years have gone by since we first met our little man.  Life sure changed when he came into our life.  We wouldn't change it for the world!

We've had our share of ups and downs the past three years but I can't imagine our life without him!

I remember our first time at church with him.  He was born on a Monday and the following Sunday we were scheduled to be greeters at church.  What a great way to introduce our little man to everyone!  When we went up to church, Grammie and Papa were there and one of them wanted to hold him.  After a few minutes, he started crying so they passed him to me.  As soon as he was in my arms, he stopped crying.  What an awesome feeling knowing that he just needed his mama!  I truly felt like a mama that day!

Now of course, he is much more a Daddy's boy!

I remember the first day that Scott had to return to work after Matthew was born!  We talked several times that day!  If I remember correctly, Matthew and I even went to the jobsite to visit him. He was working at our former neighbor's house.  That night when Scott go home, he loved up his little man!  Matthew just grunted and stretched!

Now when he wants my attention, he says, Mommy Daddy or if he is trying to get Daddy's attention he says, Daddy Mommy.  Guess he wants to make sure both of us respond.

It is so amazing what a baby learns that first year!

Oh and do I remember the pucking!  It was a good thing that we had a washer and dryer because we did a lot of laundry!  He spit up all the time!  We tried several different formulas but none of them made any difference.  When we started him on cereal that helped a little bit!  He was almost a year old when he started him on whole milk and the pucking stopped almost instantly.

It was a sad day when we had to sell our home that Matthew came home to!  But we were a family and it didn't matter where we lived, we could make anywhere a home.  It was a big adjustment for all of us when we moved into a small apartment.  We are so happy that we finallly have another house to call home which we will be moving into in a little over 2 weeks.  We are going to celebrate Matthew's birthday there so everyone can see our new home that is a remodeling work in progress!  We are far from being done but it is time to move!

Today we celebrate Matthew!

He requested a picnic lunch at the park!

Then tonight we are going to swing into Burger King for supper with family!

Just a short story about swinging into Burger King: About two months ago, Matthew and I had to go pick up Uncle Kyle and as we were driving through town, Matthew said, "I starvin.  Let's swing into Burger King."  Oh and Matthew and his Papa swing into Burger King when Matthew is hungry and needs a cheeseburger!  His Papa has him just a little spoiled!  Occassionally now, when Matthew is trying to get our attention, he thows Papa's name in the mix with Mommy Daddy.

We Love You Matthew!

PS Can you please slow down on growing up! 

(None of your pants fit you anymore!)

I also want to thank Matthew's birthparents for choosing life and for choosing us!  We have had an awesome 3 years of life with Matthew in it and are so glad that you and your families are a part of this wonderful life! 

 Thank You Thank You Thank You!

Matthew means the world to us!

You made our dreams of parenthood a reality!

We LOVE you Adie and Sebastian!

P.P.S. The pictures above are the best we got from our latest birthday photo session!

He is so cute!!!!!

3 Years Ago

3 years ago today, we meet a young man who helped our dream of becoming parents a reality.  We had met Adie first about a month before and she had told us about Sebastian and had even given us a picture of the both of them.  Meeting Adie and Sebastian were the most nerve wracking meetings we had ever had to do but oh so worth it.  I don't remember all the details of that first meeting but we shared a little bit about us and Sebastian shared a little about himself and Grandma G shared a little bit too.  Then we talked a little bit about the future-would the baby go to daycare or would I stay home and names for baby  I also remember that I was a bit embarrassed too because I started crying.  It is amazing how our relationship with both Adie and Sebastian and their families has become so natural and wonderful.  We enjoy the time that we spend with both families and hope that they feel the same.  When we first had to make contact agreements we had no idea how our relationships would evolve.  We do written updates, we started the blog, we send pictures, we get together several times a year and they are welcome to call or stop by to visit whenever we are available.  I know this year I have gotten a little behind with our house remodel with getting pictures and updates out but I know that they understand.  We also love texting!  If Matthew does something or makes a little face or anything that reminds us of his birthparent or any of their family members, we send pictures and stories by texting.

  I can't believe that in a little our 2 weeks we will all be getting together to celebrate one special little boy who is turning 3!!!  I know I can't believe he is 3 already.  Matthew's birthday has become my favorite "holiday" each year.  I love planning his parties!  And let me tell ya, we always have one heck of a birthday bash.  I take lots of notes while planning and I try to write down all the details after like how many people, what food went and how much and as much other details as I can remember.  Of course, I try to take lots of pictures to remember the event!  This year we get to have his party at our new house!  We are go excited to show everyone all our hard work so far!  We will be moving to our new house in about 5 weeks.  Since the project has become so much bigger that we anticipated, we are working at getting the basement set up to a livable arrangement until we can finish the upstairs.  The bathroom downstairs was not originally designed very well so we have had issues but I think we have come up with a solution.  We need to check on prices and availability for a few things before we know for sure.  Yep that is on my to do list tomorrow as well as getting clothes washed and packed for camping, grocery shopping and cooking and packing up my mom and stepdad's motorhome.

Yes we are actually taking 3 whole days off from the house to go camping with family.  This is our annual camping trip with Scott's aunt Karyl which was start I think 25 years ago.  Matthew is also excited that he gets to use his SpongeBob SquarePants fishing pole.

Bowling with Adie

I know that it has been awhile to get these pictures upload to show you:

To celebrate Mother's Day with Adie (Matthew's birthmother=just in case you are new to the blog), we went to dinner at Pizza Ranch and then went bowling.  We were suppose to go to Arrr Matie's Cove (Matthew's name for our local Pirate's Cove mini golf) but it was raining.

Matthew cheering himself on:

Scott showing us what he's got:

Adie bowling:

Matthew had to carry his own ball:

(He is in that stage now where he has to do everything himself)

Matthew helping Adie:

Scott even had to get a picture of me:

We had so much fun!

I can't imagine our life without Adie! 

She is wonderful!

We are blessed that she chose us to be Matthew's parents!

How does someone thank someone else for such a wonderful gift!

Even though there are days that I want to change my mommy name to Nick or Sally or something else, I wouldn't know what to do without our little blessing.

We love you Adie!

Miscellaneous Stuff

I am sorry that I haven't posted anything lately. 
We have been outside enjoying this beautiful weather.
On Tuesday this week, Matthew helped me transplant some plants that needed replanting and he also helped me plant some seeds.  We are going to try growing onions and rosemary.
Thursday he got to play with his new bubble machine.
Bubble machine you ask?  We used a little bribery to get him to go poop on the potty.  First time we bought it and he only gets to use it on the days that he goes poop on the potty.
He also doesn't want you to watch him while he is in the bathroom.
He says "Ouk" for Out!
He started this new thing where he thinks he has to ask the same question over and over again.  He repeats it faster than you can answer him.
He also answers your questions with the same questions.
We have a mini golf course in the area called Pirates Cove and Matthew calls it Arrr Matie Cove!
He says toe gram for toe jam!  He hates toe gram!  As soon as his socks come off he is looking between his toes and removing it.
He loves napping on the couch with daddy!  I know daddy loves it too!
He loves to help around the house!
He enjoys playing outside!
He likes to build "fires" as he calls them!  He piles up sticks and whatever else he finds and says he is making a "fire".   
He snores!
We'll be moving to a new house in about 2 months!  So excited!  Matthew loves playing out in the yard at our new house!
We had a great time last weekend when we celebrated Mother's Day with Adie!  We went to dinner and then went bowling.  I'll post pictures soon!

Time with Adie

Last weekend we were invited to dinner with Adie and Anissa.

Mamma (Anissa) bought Matthew some things to play with at her house. 

They had lots of fun playing with the play-doh.

They were making snakes.

This bottom picture is so cute.

He looks so big sitting on the stool.

Thanks Anissa for dinner!  It was awesome!

We had a great time!

We love spending time with Matthew's birthparents and their families.

When we started our adoption journey, we never would have believed that we would become a part of two wonderful families.  We have the most amazing relationship with Matthew's birthparents and their families.

Time with Bash

This post is a tad bit late but life has been crazy busy!

We were finally able to get together with Sebastian and his family almost 2 weeks ago.

We had so much fun!

Matthew was being a silly boy and very shy towards Bash. 

These two crack me up. 

They played very good together.

Loa is just under a year older than Matthew.

Did I tell you that Loa is Matthew's uncle?!

Matthew would barely give Bash five.

Trying to get Matthew to give him knuckles.

Matthew decided to give Auntie knuckles.

Finally giving knuckles but still not happy about it.

He Gave Grandma G hugs no problem.

Thanks Grandma G for dinner and for a great night!

A Christmas Celebration

On Friday night, we had Matthew's birthmother, Adie and her family (well most of her family) over for dinner.  They spoiled Matthew with lots of Christmas gifts.  He loves everything gift that he got!!

We had a wonderful dinner!

Matthew giving his Adie a kiss!

Matthew snuggling with his Adie and playing with his new train.

Playing with his new train set on his new art table with Adie and Mamma!

We always have so much fun and it seems like time flies when they are here.

A Day I'll Never Forget

July 18 is a day we will never forget!

It is a day that changed our lives forever!

Two years ago today, Scott and I were chosen to be parents!

Two years ago today, we met Adie!

Two years ago today, Adie let us feel the baby move (baby even had hiccups)!

Adoption is so amazing especially open adoption!

To celebrate, we had Adie and her family over for dinner last night!

We had a great time!

Matthew was shy at first!

At dinner, he warmed up!

After dinner, he was a HAM!

He's down to his diaper because he got filthy at dinner!

Thanks Adie and family for coming to dinner!

Dinner

We had a fun evening!

Last night, we took Sebastian (Matthew's birthfather) out to dinner to celebrate birthfather's day. 

Yes we are a week behind but he was busy last week.

It is such a blessing to have him (and his family) in our lives.

Matthew loves to be a little show off too!

It is always so fun to see the connection that Matthew and Sebastian have and to see them interacting with each other.

There are often times during everyday activities that Scott or I will stop and comment how much he looks like Sebastian.

I love seeing that!

Matthew sure missed seeing Grandma G last night.

She was working :(.

PS Sorry that I don't have a picture to share but can you believe that I forgot the camera.

Graduation

It was awesome to watch graduation last night as both of Matthew's birthparents received their diplomas.

Sebastian

Adie

During graduation, they presented roses to their parents.

Adie also gave one to Matthew.

Giving Sebastian a kiss after he presented his rose to his mom.

His rose from Adie kept him entertained for a little bit.

Smelling his rose.

Then it became his sword and the stem broke in several places.

Shortly after the stems were broken, they began to fly around (even getting the people behind us).

Adie and Sebastian were even nice enough to stand by each other so we could get a picture of them with Matthew.

Matthew loved playing with their tassles.

Adie and Matthew

He sure was giving out the kisses last night!

We are so proud of Adie!

We love you Adie!

Matthew and Sebastian

We are also so very proud of Sebastian!

We love you Bash!

It was a fun night!

Open adoption is amazing!

We are so glad to have both of these wonderful people and their families in our lives.