Happy Mother's Day...

Last Sunday was my first Mother's Day with Matthew actually "here". Well, I guess last year was really my first Mother's Day because Matthew was "alive", but actually experiencing him outside of my belly was even better.

My day began like any typical day. I was greeted by my hubby and Pauli, with Matthew crying in the background in hopes to be rescued from his crib. But, instead of going to get my precious boy, Mikey rose to the ocassion and went to get him. Then, there was silence. Matthew, Pauli, and and daddy all went for a car ride. I was told to "sleep in" and that they would be back soon. I must have gotten about twenty more minutes of precious shut eye, and then I was awoken by the amazing smell of Starbucks coffee, my favorite "assalicious" blueberry, apricot muffin, and a huge boquet of flowers. And, the best part....Matthew's big blue eyes staring at me. So surprised, Mikey handed me two cards...One from Matthew and one from him. They were the two most lovely cards I had ever read. And, the one from Matthew had a gift certificate to Massage Envy, my newest and most favorite hang-out.

We spent the entire day as a "family day" and Mike told me he would do any and all pending "honey do's". WOW! "Wake me up, please"! I think I am dreaming!

Then, my parents came over later in the day and my mom and I spent the rest of the day at Burke-Williams. And, when I came home, Matthew was sleeping soundly, AND.....THE DISHES WERE DONE! OMG!

All in all, I could not have asked for a better day. Being a mother is by far, the most amazing, hardest, awesome, rewarding, thankless, trying, lovely, most difficult, did I mention, AMAZING.....job in the world. Matthew is the most amazing thing that has ever happened to me. As the meaning of his name in The Bible, he truly is "A gift from God".

Happy Mother's Day to all of my mommy friends! WE ROCK!

Dinner for Two...

Dinnertime takes on a whole new meaning when Matthew and Pauli are involved. Matthew loves to feed Pauli his dinner. And, of course, Pauli loves just sitting and waiting for Matthew to do so. She fares well with just waiting for the crumbs to drop on the floor as well. What a funny site!

Matthew's Racecar...

Matthew gets so excited to go to Grandma and Grandpa's house in La Verne because there are so many new toys to play with. We spent the day there last week and I had a blast watching him push his racecar next to Lucy.

Our Trip to Needles...

Last week, Mike, Matthew, and I headed to Needles for some much needed rest and relaxation. We rented a house with five other couples. The weather was perfect and it was so much fun watching the kiddos play together. Matthew is getting so big and is really enjoying the company of other kids. Going to the river is one of our favorite things to do. We are so happy to see that Matthew enjoys himself as well.

Matthew loves driving his daddy's boat

Drinking and driving

Such a cute photo! Matthew loved Ryan. He would laugh histerically at him everytime he would see him.

Mom, I'm thirsty!

Matthew and Mikey at breakfast in Topoc

Kara and I

The boys

Fun in the sun

Boys will be boys!

Our little beach bum

Me and my sleepy dude

Our fam

My boys

Matthew and Hudson playing

Matthew loves boats, just like daddy

"Party Time" in Jeremy's boat...Matthew behind the wheel, Kaylee sippin' on a beverage, and Hudson dancin'

The Girls...Me, Nicole, Katie, Lori, & Kara

Chug-A-Lug

Matthew's First Steps...

Matthew is ten months old today!!! Hooray! And, he took his first real steps as well. I was outside in the backyard with him today. He was doing his most favorite thing in the world...playing with the hose. He literally will play with the hose for hours. He has been standing independently for about two weeks now. He loves to stand and hold the hose, and watch the water splash onto the ground. But today, he thought he was a "firefighter". He started dragging the hose all around. He first took three steps with the hose, and then four steps after falling in between. Okay, I will confess now. I got a couple of tears in my eyes. It was the most amazing thing I have yet to see him do. I plan to get a video of him doing it. I hope he will continue his stepping discovery again tomorrow. To be continued...

Matthew's Nine Month Pediatrician Visit...

Matthew had his nine month well-baby check-up with his pediatrician last week. He did very well. I was wondering if he was going to be "fearful" this time, since he is so more aware of what is going on....And, everytime he goes, they poke him. But....He did great! Matthew is just so loving and so outgoing. He has not shown any real signs of fear with anyone, including strangers. Interesting! Everything checked out well. Matthew's growth has really slowed down. He is still in the 90th percentile for height, and is now 29 3/4 inches long. However, his weight has dropped to the 60th percentile. He now weighs 20 pounds and 12 ounces. Matthew is doing well and reaching all of his developmental and cognitive milestones. He is still "cruising" all over the place and desiring to walk more and more everyday. I love taking him out on walks because he points at everything. The other day, he pointed to an airplane. I was amazed that he was able to spot it out. He still has a very minimal vocabulary. He says "mama", "dada", and "ugh oh". His daddy taught him to say "ugh oh", as this is his favorite utterance. He says it everytime he drops something, which is pretty much all of the time.