Monday, November 30, 2009

Me and My Pop-pop!

From the time Matthew was a little bitty boy he's loved his Pop-pop. He was always happy when in his arms and he could always get him to laugh.

Of course he went through a period of time when nobody could hold him, not even Pop-pop, but he's over that hump, thankfully.

Last week we went to Matt's parents house for Thanksgiving. We had a great time and celebrated Pop-pop's birthday along with Thanksgiving.

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Matt and I also got a lot of Christmas shopping done. But Matthew was in heaven because he had 5 whole days of Pop-pop. He sat in his lap to watch tv, he followed him around the house and "talked" with him on the phone.

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He also learned a fun new game with Grammy. He learned the endless love of a grandmother and how she'll pick you up 5001 times, especially if you give her a kiss every time she does it.

Yesterday we were outside, helping them put lights up on their house and Pop-pop got out the rake to try and get the last of the leaves. And as Pop-pop would make a pile, Matthew would slosh through it. Pop-pop didn't mind though, he'd just keep raking.

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It's fun to watch him with him. To see a boy who's over the moon for his Pop-pop. And I bet Pop-pop thinks Matthew's pretty special too!

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Two for Tuesday

I bought Matthew a winter coat today.

And then tried to get a picture. Apparently I started a new game called "chase the toddler around the house."


There he goes!
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Here he comes!
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A quick pause to check out the Christmas lights outside..."ooooooh pity!!" he said.
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Check back later for video of our game...photobucket's being a pain!

Decking the Halls

I've never been one to wait to put up my Christmas decorations. As a little girl and teenager I would beg my mom every year to put the tree up earlier and earlier. But she was adament about waiting until a couple weeks before Christmas. And on New Year's Day it was all packed away into boxes.

Now that I have my own house I can put it up when I want. I'm starting to realize what a challenge this year will be with my own little "elf" in the house. He's very helpful and loves to look at the lights. But he's got the grace of a bull in a china shop.

That's okay though. There is something magical about the joy of a chiild during the holidays. The lights and music cast a spell on him and makes it more fun than I ever imagined!

Last night we started putting the decorations on the tree. And he was so excited to help. He handed the ornaments to Daddy who then handed them to me.

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It started out well but quickly disintegrated as bedtime set in. He began to throw the ornaments over the baby gate and then it was pretty much time to call it done. He came over to the tree and helped put his ornament on that we had made for him last year.

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He loved to look at the lights and all the ornaments. We put ones he can't break or hurt himself on the bottom.

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Finally he helped Daddy put the topper on the tree. This topper is very special. It was my grandmothers and I always loved it as a little girl, and love it that much more as a grown-up. It's filled with love and memories and it thrills me to now have a little boy to make memories with.

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Sunday, November 22, 2009

What Happened to My Life?

I used to spend my day surrounded by adult conversation...now I try and get a one year old to "use his words" as I sing the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme song in my head.

I used to spend Friday nights out to dinner with my husband and browsing through Lowe's or Home Depot planning our next house project...now we eat places based on how well Matthew likes the meals and go to Toys R Us.

I used to sleep in until 9 or 10 on Saturday mornings and spend the day watching cooking and home improvement shows...now we watch Nick Jr and Disney channel and we're up by 8.

In the car we used to listen to a radio show with a lot of bad language...now it's the XM kids station.

I used to live for Thursday Night TV and watching the comedies...now the laughter of a toddler fills my world.

We used to eat dinner in front of the tv and *maybe* it would include two of the food groups...now every meal has a fruit and a vegetable.

Life used to be different before, that's for sure. Not sure when it all changed, I just turned around and it was all new.

But it's never been better.

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Thursday, November 19, 2009

A Yummy Dinner

I struggle sometimes to come up with new meals. Like most moms I feel like I make the same things over and over again. I'm a vegetarian and Matt and Matthew are not so coming up with something we will all eat can be difficult. Luckily I've been blessed with a husband who doesn't mind eating the vegetarian soy crumbles. Tonight I decided to try something new. Beef strognanoff made with it.

I was apprehensive myself about trying it. See not only do I not like meat, I don't even want the consistency of it. But this was really good!

Matthew had a hard time deciding he was going to try it. Which made us laugh. Because it's noodles, and he loves noodles. So how did he know it was something he never had before. But the little booger ate his peas, his applesauce and even drank half his milk before he would try the stroganoff. It took me putting it on a big fork instead of his toddler one. But he did try it. And loved it. Ate his whole plate full and still wanted more!

Phew! I realize how far I've come in my life when I've overjoyed at the thought of adding a new meal to my rotation.

(excuse the quality of pictures...Matthew was "playing" with my camera this morning and it appears it's gone missing so this is taken with our video camera)

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36 Days Left!

There are 36 days left until Christmas! Do you still need a card?

Click on this link and it will take you to Sunday Girls which is a business owned by me and my cousin Sarah! Buy a card! Help me stay home with Matthew longer so I can write you funny blogs!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/SundayGirlsDesigns

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

A Blog Makeover!

I wanted to change the look of the blog. I was going with a Christmas theme and then remembered the cute Thanksgiving jammies Matthew has so decided to go with that for a week.

Getting a good picture of him in the jammies turned out to be quite an ordeal. I knew it was too good to be true when I snapped the first picture and...boom...perfect! Until I looked closer and realized you couldn't read the pajama tops. Which was the driving force behind the blog change.

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The look on his face is just precious and I'm actually stupidly upset I couldn't use it as my header picture.

Trying to get a one year old to cooperate with you on a picture, in a time crunch and close to bedtime can be likened to giving a cat a bath. A lot of sweat, tears (mine and his) and 5000000 pictures on the camera (thank God for digital) and finally...perfect? Well not really, but good enough.

Here are some out-takes!

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Monday, November 16, 2009

Their Memory Lives on

When I lost the twins my Uncle Herb and Aunt Dale found me roses. The breeds were called "Daniel" and "Hope". They thought we could plant them and then whenever they bloomed it would bring us a little joy. It would be a great way to never forget the passing of their little spirits.

Due to a bad growing season last year it took longer than expected for them to arrive. But they finally came in last week.

Yesterday was a beautiful day and we got them planted in the ground. I'm excited to watch them grow and thrive and bloom every year. And I'm so thankful for my Aunt and Uncle and their amazing gift.

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Watch for an update to this post when they bloom next summer!

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

He's Getting So Smart!

I'm skipping Wordless Wednesday this week because Matthew did something today that was so smart I just had to share.

We have a side by side fridge with water and ice in the door. Tonight I got drinks for dinner and put them on the counter and turned to find Matthew touching the water dispenser levers. I instantly ran over and hit the lock button. I was a bit in shock that he could reach that already!

I knew he was getting taller as I've seen him come into the living room with various things from the dining room table or the kitchen counters that I thought were out of reach. You know, like the salt shaker, a spatula, his cups. But I didn't expect him to be able to reach the ice and water dispenser. Thank God there is a lock option.

Well after I locked it I was bustling around getting dinner pulled together since Matt was on his way home and I notice Matthew is bustling right behind me. He went over to the basket the tupperware sits in and grabbed a cup out of it and ran over to the water dispenser and put it up against it! He figured out you need to collect the ice/water in something!!

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So then I decided to test out smart he was. And did this.



Isn't he so smart? It's amazing what they're learning just from watching.

Monday, November 9, 2009

Happy 16 Months!

This was Matthew last November

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It's amazing what a difference a year can make in the life of a child.

He is learning things so quickly it amazes me on a daily basis.

For example, today I paused the tv and Matthew grabbed his play remote and said "uh-oh" and ran to the tv to try and fix it.

He loves to give kisses and real loudly says, "mmmmmmmuuuuuuhhhhh" when he gives them.

He can show you his: eyes, ears, mouth, nose and tummy.

He knows to sign "more" when he wants more food without being told to "use his words".

He is completely overjoyed at the sight of one of the kitties that live in this house.

He loves to eat watermelon.

He is very good at cleaning up. One of his favorite games is to dump all of the tupperware and lids out and then proceed to pick them up and put them in a wire basket that sits outside the kitchen.

He really does just amaze me every day of his life, and I am eternally grateful that he is mine.

Friday, November 6, 2009

Matthew and the Leaves

Matt and I don't have a rake. We don't need one because our lovely monthly fee to live here includes all lawn care. Which is a definite perk.

But when you have a kid and the leaves are on the ground you kind of want a rake so you can pile them all up and throw him in it.

We were going to get a rake last weekend but it rained the whole time, and you don't really want to throw said kid into a wet pile of leaves.

On Wednesday the lawn people came around to rake up our leaves and left big piles in our backyard and then left to do another area of the development. I saw my chance and bundled Matthew up and out we want.

He was very distracted by everything he saw and kept escaping down the sidewalk

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We walked down to get the mail, which is a pretty far walk for a not yet 16 month old!

When we got back he finally started to show a little interest in the leaves that we went out to play with.

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Finally I picked him up and threw him in one of the piles on the ground. He was not thrilled.

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Not one bit.

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But he still obliged me by letting me take some good pictures!

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I'm glad we didn't go buy a rake!

On our way inside he found a little friend in the garden. It's a hose guide so when we water the garden it doesn't knock our flowers out of the ground. He bent down to look at it and with complete and utter amazement said "Ooooh...what's this?"

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