Alleluia!!

After 3 and 1/2 years with the butterflies, they are finally gone!! Our master bathroom had these lovely butterflies on the tiles along with all original everything from the 60's so we are super excited about our bathroom redo. I am so proud of Paul because he did most of the work himself and with his dad. It looks great!! Thanks guys!

Before, please notice the butterflies :)


After :)



Since Paul had been working so hard on the bathroom, I decided to surprise him and take he and Matthew to the aquarium in New Orleans. I thought it was a great idea until the next day, Matthew started throwing up. I think he picked up a virus while we were there...Must have been those turtles and fish I let him play on even though I cleaned off his hands when he finished!! Paul and I started not feeling well a few days later, but we are better now. I think Matthew is still trying to recover some :(


Matthew at the aquarium.



Paul and I are also having another baby!! That's right, another one. I am due Feb 22nd, and we are excited! We will have our hands full because they will be 16 months apart, but we can't wait. I am excited about the idea of Matthew having a brother or sister so close. Hopefully they will be best friends!

I love this boy!

I got brave the other day and decided to let Matthew play with his food. I was feeding him and he kept reaching for it, so I gave in and just let him go to town! He was loving it and laughing as he slid the bowl from side to side across the food on his tray. It was all over his hands, face, clothes and everything! Needless to say, he did not enjoy the cleaning up part. He is so much fun the days and is getting braver and braver. He has taken a few steps without holding on to anything, so I think he will be walking fairly soon!






Roscoe just turned 3! Every year I make him a "dog cake" with the best wet dog food I can find (he always get the boring, dry dog food and maybe a few scraps from me every now and then) I also put a milk bone in the middle. He LOVES it and wishes every day was his birthday! He has been a pretty good dog with Matthew. He doesn't bother his toys and he mostly leaves him alone. He does try to play with him and Matthew LOVES it. We do have to watch them because Matthew will sneak up on him and scare him and he does not like it at all!!!

Update

I haven't really been doing a good job lately of taking pictures of Matthew and updating our blog. We have been pretty busy. Paul's sister and her family came to visit last week, and my parents came down this weekend. It was great to see everyone!I wish I had taken more pictures :( We are also in the process of a much needed remodeling of our bathroom, so our house is a complete mess! We should hopefully finish up this weekend or be close to it. Matthew had his 9 month appointment a week or so ago. He is still going great. He weighed 18 lbs and was 27 inches long and yes, he is still in the 10th percentile for both :) He is cruising everywhere and loving it. He will be walking before we know it. I start back to school in about a week and a half, so Matthew will be back to daycare soon. I think he will enjoy having babies to play with all day though.


Matthew and his cousin Whitt playing with the train. Whitt LOVES trains and Matthew kept stealing the bridge from the track. Whitt kept getting on to him :)


Matthew with his dump truck. He loves pushing it around everywhere.

4th of July

We went to Gulf Shores with the Massey family for the fourth and had a great time. We just hung out, went to the pool a little, and ate a lot :)They had a nice firework show for the fourth right outside our balcony and yes, the babies slept right through it :) The weather was nice the whole time we were there and there wasn't as much oil as I thought there would be. We didn't really go to the beach any.
They also had a petting zoo one day and all sorts of activities for kids that were a little older. It was nice to get away and relax. Paul was great about helping out and letting me enjoy our vacation. Thanks Paul and love you!

What has been going on

Sorry for not posting for a while. An update on Matthew: he is getting his 2 top teeth, still pulling up and walking around on anything he can hold on to, got tubes in his ears and is feeling much better, can self feed now, and his mom totally wears him out...see the pictures below :)

Trip to Arkansas

We made the long trip to Arkansas last weekend to meet our friends at Gene's Trout and Fishing Resort. We had a great time, and Matthew got to meet James Glass who was born the same day he was. They had a good time playing together. It was fun watching them. They would go towards each other with their mouths wide open ready to bite. I think they enjoyed having a friend to play with. Paul and Randall caught a lot of trout for us while Kim and I just hung out around the cabin and tried to entertain the boys. It was great to see you: Kim, Randall, and James :)

Home for the Summer :)

Well I am out for the summer. I am looking forward to being home for the next two months with Matthew. He is crawling all over the place now and standing up on everything. I can't get over how fast he is growing, it really makes me sad. We have been battling ear infections for the past 3 weeks now, and yesterday he came home with a virus. Hopefully, he will begin feeling better soon so we can enjoy the summer. Despite the fact that he has been sick, he is always smiling and happy. His smile just melts my heart.
Here are some recent pictures.



"Hey mom, you just thought I was asleep ;)"



"Help, I am in baby jail."



Matthew went to visit his cousin, Ava Greear, this past weekend. They had fun playing together.



Ava Greear is reading to Matthew. Do you think she might be a teacher when she gets older like her mom?



Matthew was helping me with the laundry. What a good helper!