Stone's Stories

Halloween 2010

2011-07-01T20:41:00.000-05:00

For 2 years now our small group has had a "Front Yard Festival" for Halloween. Our church encourages small groups to hold these festivals in one of our yards so we can meet our neighbors and be a presence in our neighborhoods. It's pretty easy for our group to be a presence in the neighborhood since 3 out of the 5 of us live in it, with two of us living next door to each other. The festival is primarily held in the Renshaw's front yard but occasionally we spread out a little bit into ours. It's a lot of fun because our group gets together early in the evening for a cookout and we have a fire pit we sit around. Then when it gets dark and trick-or-treaters come by to visit we offer smore materials for them to make their own smores in addition to our candy.....parents just LOVE us ;)

This year the ladies of the group decided to go 80's style.

Kenee', Kristan, Meagan, and Me

We decided Kenee' and Meagan were the preppy girls

Kristan was the sporty girl

and I was the artsy girl.......ha ha!!

Matthew and Me

Bryan in charge of grilling the meat.....yummmmmm!

Once it got dark Matt stood over Bryan with a flashlight so Bryan could see if our meat was finished cooking

Neighbor's gathering around the fire pit to make their smores.

Bryan's mom showed Matthew how to make a smore.

Some of us decided to go say Hi to the Brewer group across the street

Matthew going Trick-Or-Treating for the first time!!

I'm helping him pick out candy, aka the candy I like :)

Member's of our small group at the Festival

Matt and Kenee' Dover, Jon and Meagan Dover, Trey, Kristan, and Kailey Renshaw, and Us

Mark Stigers came as Big Bird for the 2nd year (he's in the Brewer small group across the street), he's a huge hit!!

Bryan, Matthew, and I

Matthew with Bryan's parents

My sweet boy

2011-07-01T19:57:00.000-05:00

While sitting at my computer today working on this blog Matthew crawled up into my lap. He likes looking at all the pictures and naming the people he see's in them. As we were sitting there I thought it was a great photo opportunity so I grabbed my phone.

Here are a few photo's I took (please disregard the ugly yellow hue behind us!!)...

He doesn't look like he's enjoying this too much, ha ha!! :)

But then, as soon as I finished kissing him on the cheek he did this all on his own, no prompting!

SOOOOO sweet!!!!

Even on those difficult days when Matthew is acting his 2 year old self, it's nice to know he loves me :)

The Dallas Zoo, April 29, 2011

2011-07-01T14:05:00.001-05:00

On Friday, April 29th, Bryan took the day off from work so we could take Matthew to the zoo. We figured going during April would mean cooler temperatures and visiting during the week would mean the zoo wouldn't be that crowded. Makes sense right?!?! Boy, were we wrong!! The temperatures weren't that bad, a little on the warm side, but totally doable. However, I'm pretty positive we were in the park with every elementary student in the city of Dallas!!

As we were nearing the exit for the zoo on I-35 traffic came to a standstill. I figured there was a wreck or construction but as we got nearer we noticed all the cars were trying to exit the same exit as the zoo, along with SEVERAL school buses. I looked over at Bryan and said, "You realize what's going on today don't you? It must be field trip day." We decided to go on ahead and go to the zoo since we were almost there, we packed a lunch, and we had been talking to Matthew about it all morning. When we were paying for parking I was curious and asked the worker how many schools we would be sharing the zoo with that day and his reply was 16. He said everyday that week they had about 2-3 thousand students come to the park, WOW!! But, we forged ahead anyway! After we parked we were standing near our car putting sunscreen on and packing all our stuff in Matthew's stroller when another family walked by. The dad looked at Bryan and said something to the effect of, "We must be the craziest people trying to go to the zoo today." My thoughts exactly, but it was sure to be a memorable day!!

Bryan and I took Matthew to the zoo last year but he was too little to get what was going on, he just enjoyed getting out of the house ;) While we were there we did the right part of the zoo which has farm animals, birds, tigers, small monkey's, rino's, etc. On the left side was a new exhibit called, "Wilds of Africa". We didn't go through this part last year because we ran out of time so we were going to head to that side first! I was REALLY excited to see this exhibit because I love seeing animals from Africa. I've told Bryan my dream vacation is to go to Africa to see Victoria Falls and to go on a safari!! We'll go one day, I promise!!

Matthew loved looking at all the animals!!

The scenery around the animals was really pretty too.

This little adventure happened right after Easter. As we were getting the stroller out of the back of our 4-Runner an egg rolled out as well. Matthew insisted on carrying it the entire day :)

We took a time out for a family shot!!

The Dallas Zoo has a really cool Giraffe exhibit! It's a lot like Abilene's where you can feed them, Dallas' just looks prettier.

After we looked at the giraffe's, elephant's, and lion's we went through the gorilla/chimpanzee exhibit. This part is fairly large and it is all enclosed in trees and bushes. There's a trail you follow that does a loop through the entire exhibit; basically once you enter you don't leave until you have walked completely through. When we entered this part of the zoo I noticed 2 police officers drive up in a golf cart. I didn't think anything of it because I just thought they were there due to the TONS of kids there that day. As we walked through the trail we enjoyed looking at the monkey's and all the crazy things they do. When we were about halfway through I saw 2 zoo employees emerge from behind an "employees only" door carrying their walkie talkie's. Again, didn't think anything of it, until they stopped us and told us to follow them to a secured area because they had a "situation". Now, if you remember, when the Wilds of Africa exhibit first opened they had a chimpanzee get out of the cage and it ended up hurting some visitors at the zoo. So I become extremely irritated because I assumed another animal has gotten out of their cage. At that moment I swore off the Dallas Zoo, I was going to leave as soon as this ordeal was over and I was NEVER coming back!! However, Bryan, the rational one of our pair, asked the zoo worker what was going on. She told us there was a robbery suspect who jumped the fence and was now avoiding cops by hiding in the zoo. He was somewhere in the Wild's of Africa so the police officers had asked the employee's to take all the zoo visitor's to a safe place.

Here's the group of people we were with walking to a "safe place"

We ended up going through that "employee's only"door I mentioned earlier to the backside of the park. This looked like where employees parked their cars and where the monkey's were housed during the evenings. At one point our group was split in half. One group contained the students and their chaperones who locked themselves in the white building in the picture below with one of the employees. The rest of the group (including us) turned around and headed the opposite direction with the remaining employee. She said we were going to go into one of the monkey buildings. As we were walking she was trying to lighten the mood by giving us a "behind the scene's tour", she was really funny and did a great job of keeping everyone calm! Bryan was really worried because we had no idea what this suspect was capable of or if he was armed and we were in a perfect hostage situation, according to Bryan. I became a little scared when I saw cops looking in all the parked cars with guns drawn as we were walking.

There were several police choppers circling us, and of course I had to take a picture of it!!

As we walked further the employee got a message on her walkie talkie telling her to lead us to the front part/right side of the zoo. They were going to completely evacuate and secure the Wild's of Africa exhibit. So here's a picture of everyone fleeing the scene! A little blurry but you get the idea...

Needless to say Bryan and I decided it was a great time to break for lunch. We ate in the big restaurant area and it was funny to watch everyone on their phone's looking up what was going on and to over hear all the chatter.

After lunch we quickly walked through the other part of the zoo because it was getting close to Matthew's nap time. Matthew was really cute as he walked through the farm area. He named all the animals and the sounds they make and was really proud of himself!

As we walked towards the front gate we noticed the other part of the zoo was still blocked off by employee's and security and the choppers were still circling above us. All the zoo exits were closed except for one that had a security guard standing infront of it. There were news camera's and reporters lined on the other side of the gates. The camera's taped us walking out and a reporter approached us asking, "Is everything okay in there?" Bryan and I both froze, I didn't want to be on the news so I just said, "Yeah, they're handing everything okay." and then we continued to walk to our car. The further we walked the more we wished we would have said something better, but oh well!

It turns out the police never found the suspect in the zoo and they aren't even positive he was ever in there to begin with. So, a LOT of fuss over nothing; however, I'd much rather be safe than sorry!!

In the end we had a great time despite the heat, thousands of kids, and fugitive and it turned out to be a zoo visit I will never forget!!

Catching Up

2011-07-01T11:12:00.001-05:00

I was just looking through all my pictures I have saved on my computer and realized I have missed several good blogging opportunities! SO....the following posts are going to be random and in no particular order. I may blog a lot today and then not for several weeks....that's life. I've just realized a lot of life has passed by that I would like to record :)

Beaver's Bend 2011 - Part 2 (finally!!)

2011-06-22T18:49:00.000-05:00

Traveling Day - Thursday, March 24th

Ben, Janet, Bryan, and I loaded up the van before picking the kids up from Mother's Day Out. I have to admit I was a little skeptical if ALL our stuff would fit. We had 4 adults and 2 kiddo's worth of luggage, 1 Pack-N-Play, a wagon, a child carrier backpack, sports equipment, and 2 bikes! As I shared my skepticism Ben said, "Don't worry, I'm a master packer!"

Here's the "Master Packer" and Bryan working their magic

Everything fit like a glove, why did I ever doubt the Master Packer!!

As our van pulled into the Christ United Methodist Church parking lot we received a few funny looks. Here we are on a Thursday afternoon rolling in with suitcases on top of a big van and 2 bikes attached to the back! Never the less, Janet and I hoped out to pick up Marin and Matthew from their classrooms. As the kids were walking down the hall and outside they were saying, "Yay Beavers Bend!".

Here's Marin and Matthew all loaded up and enjoying a drink before napping during the 3/3.5 hour drive

After making a pit stop half way through our trip we arrived in Beaver's Bend a little after 6:00 and headed straight to the Brewer's, Brewer's, Caffey's, Arthur's, Burnett's, and Griner's camping area for a group fajita dinner. The food was really yummy but the company was even better! It was neat watching all the kids chase each other around in the woods, they had so much fun. What a great start to an awesome weekend!!

Once we were finished with dinner and hanging out we headed to our cabin to unload the van and to put Marin and Matthew to bed. Janet and I then headed into town to get groceries at the Super Walmart while Ben and Bryan started our first camp fire of the weekend. I have to say after going to Beaver's Bend for many years we now have it down to an art form. Janet and I have a packing list we share every year to make sure we don't over pack. Since we stay in the same cabin every year we know what items are already there (i.e., plates, cups, bowls, coffee maker, cutlery, pots, pans, sheets, towels). We also know the layout of the Walmart so we don't waste time wandering around trying to find things. I'm impressed with our efficiency as we have learned what works and what doesn't work over the years!

Friday, March 25th

Friday morning Bryan and Ben offered to make Breakfast for anyone who wanted to join us. Ben made the bacon and Bryan made his specialty, Blueberry (and plain) Pancakes. We enjoyed eating with David, Tracey, and Zachary Griner and visiting with Kristin Brewer. Again, the food was very yummy!!

Since the boys made the grub us women offered to clean it up....

After breakfast we went outside to hang out infront of our cabin. Jeremy, Stephenie, and Sierra; Kelly, and Riley; and Mark, and Amanda came to hang out with us as well! We stay in Cabin 48 or "The Specialty Cabin" as our group has named it and it is secluded from the other cabins. Well, secluded meaning there isn't a cabin right next to it. There is a dirt road that leads to our cabin and the only people who drive on it are the ones going to our cabin. So it's really nice for the kids to play on since we know no one will be passing through!

We enjoyed the cooler weather while hanging out, playing various sports, and pulling the kids in the wagon!

Jeremy, Sierra, Ben, David, and Marin

Bryan, Ben, Marin, and David pulling Zachary and Matthew

The wagon is a HUGE hit every year, I'm really glad Matthew's Great Grandparents, Mawmaw and Pawpaw and "The Greats" (Aunt Piper and Uncle David) got it for him for his first birthday!

David pulling Zachary and Matthew with Sierra in the background

Marin, Matthew, and Sierra

Amanda trying desperately to make Riley smile....ha ha!!

Matthew

Jeremy pulling Zachary and Sierra

Matthew took a brief time out from playing so we could take this family photo!

And when I say brief I mean BRIEF ;)

Matthew, Sierra pulling Zachary, Bryan, Tracey, and I

Sierra pulling Zachary while Matthew pushed from behind

Of course I had to capture as much as I could on my video camera!!

David Griner documented this moment on his camera :)

Jeremy and Zachary

Zachary and Matthew

Matthew, Jeremy, David, Ben, and Me in the background pulling a few kids in the wagon - I can't tell which ones though

Amanda, Me, Kelly, Riley, and Tracey

Bryan and Matthew

Me pulling Marin, Matthew, and Sierra

Amanda, Kelly, Riley, Janet, Stephenie, and Bryan are in the background

Amanda, Riley, Kelly, Janet and a nice action shot of Stephenie!!

A few photo's of the adorable kids!!

Matthew Stone

Marin Wheeler

Riley Baker

Zachary Griner

and

Sierra Brewer

After everyone was finished playing at our cabin we all went our separate ways for lunch. The Wheelers and us decided to pack up a picnic lunch to take to the park to eat. Once we were finished eating we played on the slide for a little bit until it was Marin and Matthew's naptime.

Something we've enjoyed each year (weather permitting) is hiking through the trails around the state park. We've walked through several of the trails however this year we tried a new one. Every Sunday we conclude our trip by hiking up a trail to a spot that overlooks the river for a devotional. This trail makes a circle and we have always only gone as far as the river overlook. So after the kids woke up from their naps we decided to start at the other end of the trail and end where we have our traditional devo.

Matthew loves to be lifted up into a jump while holding our hands. The other day I observed him holding his Mickey Mouse stuffed animal saying, "One, Two, Three, Jump" and then he lifted Mickey into the air like we do with him......monkey see, monkey do!!

Bryan proudly carrying Matthew on his back

The Wheeler's

Okay, so, this picture does NOT do the trail justice! Janet took this picture to document how steep the terrain was; however, it doesn't look that bad here. We hiked up an incline for a good part of the trail. At one point we had to walk in a line because it dropped off on one side and went straight up on the other. By the time we reached the highest point of the trail I was a little winded ;)

At the top, isn't it beautiful?!?!

Bryan and Matthew admiring the view

This is the river we typically go canoeing down at some point during the weekend; however, we didn't do it this year

Ben, Janet, and Marin at our traditional devotional site

Bryan and Matthew walking down the trail to our car

Janet and I hung back to take this picture. We said we're pretty lucky to have husbands who are such great dads!!

After our afternoon hike we met the rest of the group at the park and then headed into town to eat dinner at Arby's. I don't think Arby's knew what to think about us, we had 16 adults and 7 kids and took up about 3/4 of their restaurant!! They were appreciative of our patronage but were probably not sad to see us go!!

Once we got back to the cabin Bryan, Ben, Janet, and I had a deal....the girls would bathe the kids while the boys started our camp fire, then the boys would put the kids to bed while the girls tended to the fire.

Here's our little monkey's playing around before bedtime.....

By the time we finished taking pictures and switching duties, the fire left very little to be desired. Neither Janet or I had ever built a fire so we started "winging" it. We found sturdy logs and started to make a teepee. Then we found smaller branches to put underneath the teepee to get the fire started back up again. By the time the boys came back from putting the kids to bed this is what our fire looked like. Janet and I were so impressed I figured I needed a picture to document the occasion ;)

Saturday, March 26th

As tradition holds, most of the boys play golf Saturday morning while at Beaver's Bend. This year all the boys played except for Jason and Ben, they went running instead. At the time Jason was training for a half marathon and Ben wanted to run with him. During and after running Ben realized he missed running and decided to train for the marathon with Jason. I'm so impressed with people who run long distances. I would LOVE to do that some day!!

While the boys were entertaining themselves with their sports, most of the girls gathered the kids together to play.

We played with PlayDough

We played cards and with other toys

Then it came time to try to gather the kids for our yearly group photo. At this point all the kids were playing outside and since we were all in the same place (not scattered throughout the cabin) we thought it'd be good to take a break for a picture.

Most of the kids cooperated

Sutton, Zachary, Clara, Sierra, and Marin

But as you can see Matthew did NOT want to stop playing

Sierra and Marin

Sweet Friends!

After the first picture attempt we decided we'd let the kids play more and try again later. All the kids had a lot of fun riding their bikes/scooters, being pulled in the wagon, running around, and just being kids! It's really neat watching all of them becoming friends themselves, I guess they really don't have a choice though ;) This whole group has meant so much to Bryan and I through the years and it's really cool to watch our group dynamic change year to year as more kids are added and as the current ones grow up!

Here we are attempting a group photo, again!! Sometimes I wonder if the dads think the kids just wander over in a group and we shoot the pictures so I decided to post the process :)

Step One

Stephenie with Sierra and Marin

Step Two

Tracey added Zachary

Step Three

Laura brings Clara and Matthew over in the wagon

Step Four

Kristin adds Sutton to the Wagon

Step Five

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!

All the moms run over and start shooting pictures with their cameras (look at our reflection, ha ha) as we sing, chant, make crazy faces, whatever it takes to get them to smile and STAY STILL!!

Clara, Sutton, Matthew, Zachary, Sierra, and Marin

I'm imagining Sierra tell Zachary, "They make us do this every year, next year we're revolting, okay?!?!"

Right after we took the last photo Matthew got hit in the head with something, he wasn't hurt, he was just stunned so he started crying. Plus it was lunch time and nap time so it didn't take much to upset him! Zachary became really concerned for Matthew and asked his mom (Tracey) if he could pray for Matthew. Tracey picked Zachary up and took him over to Matthew, Zachary put his hand on Matthew's shoulder, and Tracey began to pray for Matthew. SO sweet, brought tears to my eyes!

This is one of Elena's friends who came with her on the trip. She enjoyed pulling all the kiddo's around in the wagon. At one point I told her she's good at entertaining the kids and she told me, "I get that all the time"!! I had to struggle not to laugh, especially since I saw Janet smirking out of the corner of my eye ;) She was really cute!! She kept telling me she liked Matthew because he just sat in the wagon and let her pull it everywhere.

After play time it was time for lunch and naps!! Janet, Marin, Matthew, and I enjoyed eating with Tracey and Zachary at our cabin while the rest of the group went back to their own cabins. This is the Griner's first Beaver's Bend experience and it was really good to have them there! Over the past year I have had several opportunities to get to know Tracey better and I know my life is better for having her in it!

Once the kids woke up it was time to go ride the train, one of the highlights of the trip!! The park has a train that goes through the woods along with horseback riding. This was right before Matthew's "choo choo train" obsession so it'll be neat to see his reaction to the train next year!

Clara, Matthew, Marin, and Sutton waiting for the train

Front Side

Back Side :)

Clara, Matthew, Marin, Zachary, Sutton, and Sierra

It's Here!!!

We had the whole train to ourselves!

Me, Bryan, and Matthew (showing his goldfish, gotta love boys!)

Janet, Marin, and Ben

Ben and Marin

There was a park across the street from the train depot so we decided to go play a little bit before our annual cookout....

Laura, Clara, Ben, and Marin swinging on the swings

Everyone playing chase through the playground

The girls watching the boys being chased by the kids!

After playing in the park everyone came over to our cabin for the cookout. This is a fun tradition that gets the whole group together since we are spread out doing our own things throughout the weekend. The kids have fun playing with each other and I enjoy talking with all the ladies about various things.

Bryan, Matthew, and I by the river outside our cabin

Matthew playing

The men around the grill

Ben, Mark, David, Jeremy

An action pose...I think I have a picture of Ben like this every year!

Angie and Rebecca

This was their first year at Beavers Bend too!

And their husbands lovin' on each other :)

The Wheeler's

The Griner's

The Brewer's

I absolutely LOVE this picture so you get to see 2 family photo's of them!!

The Arthur's

The Stiger's

The Caffey's

That night after all the kids were put to bed the group decided to have a girls/boys campfire. All the girls gathered at our cabin for our fire while the boys gathered at the other group's campsite where we had our fajita dinner the first night. I had SO much fun talking with all the girls. You just never know what's going to come out of some of their mouths...Laura...JUST kidding!

Laura and Tracey

Stephenie

Oh, how sweet

Me, Stephenie, and Kristin

Me and Stephenie

Janet, Amanda, and Kelly

It was really cold that night and our fire's smoke was blowing everywhere.

Here's Tracey taking cover, ha ha!!

Okay...so...it's like this...we ran out of dry wood for the fire so Laura was trying to break a big log in half. She first tried slicing it in half with the ax we had, which didn't work plus it was a major bad idea as far as safety is concerned. So, Stephenie and Laura had the good idea of putting the log in between these 2 trees to try and break it in half.....

Except it didn't break...

Laura stood on it instead and tried to shimmy it down until it wedged between the trees and broke because of the pressure.

And it still didn't break :)

Needless to say we ended our fire but had a lot of laughs anyway!!

Last Day - Sunday, March 27th

Like I've said before, our group ends our time together by having a devotional at an overlook on a hiking trail. However, Sunday morning we woke up to drizzle and 30 something degree weather. No one wanting to hike and sit outside for an hour or so in that kind of weather. So we improvised by having the devotional in our cabin since we have the large meeting area.

Ben just happened to have a song hymnal in the van. It was fun looking through it and singing old songs we liked. We had ourselves a good 'ole fashion sing along, which was good entertainment while Janet and I packed up our stuff!

Here's Ben song leading to an audience of 1 :)

After everyone arrived we settled into our spots. We had a line of kiddo's on the floor....

Bryan, Matthew, and I

Jeremy starting our devotional off with a few words

After Jeremy spoke we sang a few songs. Ben recorded us singing 728b which sounded awesome in the big room, you can listen to it by clicking here!!

A sweet picture of Janet and Marin!

Another tradition (among all the many others) is to take group pictures after our devotional before heading home!

Here's the Wheeler's and us, except Matthew was being a little camera shy

Janet and I

The Baker's Small Group

Baker's, Caffey's, and Arthur's

It was so nice to have the Caffey's and Arthur's with us this year!! I hope we didn't scare them away and they come back next year!!

Stephenie, Sierra, Kelly, and Riley

Our group this year, look at that size! SO awesome!!

After everyone left Janet and I finished packing and cleaning our cabin while the boys took the kids to check out for the weekend and reserve our spot for next year. Once the boys and kiddo's came back Marin and Matthew started playing basketball with a beach ball and aerobie....

Then they decided to sweep up all the dirt outside like their mommy's were doing inside, too cute!!

This is the final shot of the weekend and only one word sums it up...SUCCESS!!!!!

Thanks again group for a fabulous trip this year, already looking forward to next year!!

Beaver's Bend 2011 - Part 1

2011-03-29T18:00:00.001-05:00

This past weekend (March 24-27) we headed to Broken Bow, Oklahoma for our 7th Beaver's Bend vacation. I CANNOT believe we have been doing this for 7 years. We have such a great group of friends and enjoy spending the weekend "camping" with them each year.

The week after Beaver's Bend all the girls download their pictures and share them with each other. As I wait for all the photo's I wanted to commemorate our 7 years together! Stay tuned for a HUGE post with pictures from all our activities.

2005

Baker's, C Brewer's, J Brewer's, Stone's, Wheeler's, and Eagan's

2006

Burnett's, Baker's, C Brewer's, J Brewer's, Wheeler's, Stone's

2007

Baker's, J Brewer's, Stiger's, Burnett's, Stone's, Wheeler's, C Brewer's

2008

Burnett's, Stiger's, Baker's, J Brewer's, C Brewer's, Stone's, Wheeler's

2009

(The weather was REALLY cold that year and we left early because of Matthew's Baby Dedication Sunday so we missed the group photo)

2010

Baker's, Stone's, Burnett's, Wheeler's, J Brewer's, C Brewer's, Stiger's

2011

Baker's, Caffey's, Griner's, Burnett's, J Brewer's, C Brewer's, Stiger's, Wheeler's, Arthur's, Stone's

I'm an Aunt, well, sort of!!!!

2011-03-19T14:11:00.000-05:00

On Wednesday, March 16th, my cousin Dustin and his wife Amber went to the hospital bright and early at 7:30 to start the induction process. After being on bedrest for a little over a week, I know Amber and Dustin were very anxious to meet their little girl, as were the rest of us!!! I could not wait to see the little angel who was going to go home in this outfit!

At 9:00 I dropped Matthew off at my friend Janet's house (we were trading babysitting days since we didn't have Mothers Day Out because of spring break) and headed to the Medical Center of Plano. As I pulled into the parking lot I saw Dustin unloading things from their car....

After taking a few pictures with Amber we all got comfortable as we waited Adeline's arrival. (For some reason I didn't take any pictures with my camera, I'll have to get copies from my aunt to post)

Here's Dustin and I hanging out on the floor. There were only 3 seats so we all rotated sitting in them throughout the day :)

Around noon Dustin decided to take a nap, he needed to be fully alert when his daughter arrived. Amber did awesome through her contractions, you hardly knew she was going through them!

However, unfortunately around 12:45 I needed to leave so before I did I gave everyone hugs and told Amber to push hard ;) I asked her friend to text me with updates because I knew I would be sitting at home waiting anxiously for news!!

At 3:30 JoAnna sent a text saying Amber was going to need a C-section. Her body was not progressing as fast as the doctor would have liked and the baby's heart rate started to go down, which is why she was on bedrest the previous week. In the end it was the best decision for Amber's and Adeline's health - doctors know best!! Click here to see a website Dustin created for their special day and to read Amber's thoughts about Adeline's birth!

Introducing Adeline Mae Autery

Born Wednesday, March 16, 2011 at 4:03 PM

6 pounds 1 ounce

18 3/4 inches

and of course PRECIOUS!!

As soon as Bryan got off work that evening we headed back up to the hospital. Amber was still in the recovery room so all the family and friends were hanging out in the suite Dustin reserved as a surprise gift for Amber. My Uncle David and Aunt Piper gave Dustin this gift (my other cousin Ryan is in the background leaning against the sink)....

The shirt says "Addie's Daddy", WAY cute!!

As we waited for Amber, Matthew was entertained by playing basketball

This is a picture of Amber and some of our family watching Adeline in the nursery. Her room was at the end of a VERY long hallway and this is as far as my zoom would go ;)

Here's Amber being wheeled into her room for the first time. I was waiting to take a picture of her face as she realized it was the suite, but with the overwhelment of the day and ALL the people standing in her room starring at her, it took her a little bit to realize where she was.

Adeline's first bath! I thought it was really cool Dustin could be standing there next to her!

He's such a proud Daddy!!

Bryan, Matthew, and I left after watching Adeline's bath and visiting with Amber a little bit. But that didn't stop me from coming back the next evening! Bryan needed to stay home and study for a couple of tests he had the following week (he's getting his MBA) so I was able to go up to the hospital by myself.

The VERY proud Grandparents

Sweet Adeline

The next day, Friday, I took Matthew to meet his new cousin.

He wasn't quite sure what was going on so he took Dustin into the other room to play basketball.

The proud grandmother! Luckily Adeline was born during spring break so Aunt Piper was able to spend a lot of time with her!!

Isn't this outfit adorable?!?! Look at that cute bow!!

We tried introducing Matthew to Adeline again but he still wasn't interested

So he played basketball....again....

I thought this picture was funny! Dustin laying on his bed on his iPhone with Aunt Piper holding Adeline in the background. Amber's bed was across from Dustin's but I couldn't fit it in the picture. She was working on writing her thoughts for their family website.

I FINALLY got my turn to hold Adeline (just kidding Aunt Piper!!) and only then was Matthew interested in her. He quickly came over to see who his mommy was holding. He kept saying "baby, baby, baby" or "baby A-e-ine" inbetween bites of his bagel ;)

Matthew either wanted a closer look or wanted my attention focused back on him. I'm betting on the latter!!

That evening Bryan, my sister, and my mom visited Dustin, Amber, and Adeline.

My mom holding her great/grand-neice for the first time!

My sister holding Adeline for the first time!

Cassie was telling my mom to be quiet...she might have been singing a song about Adeline meeting her great Aunt Penny or having a great Aunt Penny, I can't remember, but there was a song!!

Bryan holding Adeline for the first time!

Adeline, you are a precious gift from God and you have LOTS of people who love you. I cannot wait to watch you grow up and I especially can't wait to watch you wrap yourself around your Daddy's little finger!!

You're Never Too Old For a Tea Party!

2011-02-17T17:12:00.000-06:00

My cousin, Dustin, and his wife, Amber, are having a little girl towards the end of March and we are really excited to meet little Adeline! Amber's cousin, aunt, and friends threw her a shower on Saturday and it was one of the BEST showers I have ever been too!! It was so creative and so, so, so much fun. Those girls (and a few guys) know how to throw a party!!

This was the invitation each of us received in the mail......

I don't know if you are can read it or not but it says, "You are cordially invited to a Mad Hatter's tea party to celebrate Amber Autery's very merry baby shower." A little further down the invitation it says, "Please wear a hat & follow the White Rabbit to....". At the bottom it asks us to RSVP or "Off with your head!"

Once I walked into Amber's cousin, Jessica's, house I was in complete awe of the decorations. First of all her house is A-mazing! It looks like it belongs in a magazine, it is decorated perfectly. They put it on the market and it had 3 offers two days later!

But anyway, back to the decorations! Look at the table where we had our tea party...

Everyone had china place settings with their own tea pot sitting on their main plate...

One of Amber's friends looked up "Vintage Tea Pots" on Ebay, which is why all the teapots are so unique!

We had cucumber sandwiches, chicken salad on endive lettuce leaves, ham/turkey sandwiches (I think, I didn't eat one of these), cookies, and some other pastries - ALL home made. Then we had hot tea straight from London with cream, sugar cubes, and lemon slices. Yummmmmmmmmm!!

Here's the desert table...

The drink station...

This is where I sat and the tea pot I began the tea party with (I'll explain more later)...

The guest(s) of honor!!! Look at that feather on her hat :)

My Mom and My Grandmother

My Grandmother and I

Cassie (my sister), Penny (my mom), Mawmaw, Amber, Piper (my aunt), and Me (I look HORRIBLE in hats, don't judge!!)

Jessica painted the sign behind us and it is now hanging over Adeline's crib...so cute!!

A look at the table as everyone sat down for tea. Aren't their hats awesome?!?! We even had 2 guys join us - one dressed as the White Rabbit and the other was the Mad Hatter!!

As we drank our tea and ate our pastries we played a really fun game. We were asked 10 questions about Amber and her pregnancy. Whoever knew the answer just yelled it out, which was frustrating for the few teachers in the room....Aunt Piper ;) Once someone said the correct answer they were allowed to "steal" someones tea pot and give them theirs. Then the person who had their tea pot stolen could either keep the one they just got and pass their turn to someone else or they could steal another persons. This happened 3 different times in between questions. The frog, ladybug, monkey, and duck were a few favorites. Then after we answered 5 questions everyone was instructed to look under their chairs and find a playing card. Whoever had the queen of hearts was allowed to pick from a set of gifts. Amber's aunt ended up getting the queen card and chose Bath and Body Works lotions. After this we finished the question game. I started off with the green tea pot with a frog and flowers on it. During the course of the game I had the duck, the monkey, and humpty dumpty - which is the tea pot I came home with. After the tea pot game several people were handed little wrapped presents based on certain questions (i.e., the oldest person, the one who traveled the furthest/least) then Sara (Amber's friend) read a story containing the words "Left" and "Right". Whenever she said "left" or "right" you had to pass the gift that direction and when the story was over whoever had the gifts were allowed to keep them!

After the games we moved into another room and Amber opened all her gifts then the shower was over.

Here's my Humpty Dumpty tea pot next to the roses Bryan got me for Valentine's Day ;)

Thanks Amber for inviting me to your awesome shower!!!

What a difference a week makes!!

2011-02-11T11:56:00.000-06:00

The weather here as been CRAZY over the past few weeks!!! Friday, January 28th we visited the park with our friends (and neighbors) Kristin and Sutton. It was nearly 75 degrees outside........

Say Cheeeeeeese

Then the NEXT Friday, February 4th, we woke up to find this in our yard......

Sutton: "Dude, it's cold out here."

Matthew: "It sure is, and they have us in this darn wagon....again!"

At this point Matthew had enough pictures, he either wanted to be out in the snow playing or in the warm house, NOT in the wagon

The front of our house. I was standing in the middle of the street taking this picture. You can barely see where the sidewalk/curb ends and the street begins.

I don't think Matthew will be swinging in his swing today!

Our backyard after the dogs ran through the snow. The bricks around the trees are stacked 2 high and they are almost covered in snow!

Bryan and I have 2 friends who live on our street. The Brewer's live diagonally across the street from us and the Renshaw's are our next door neighbors. Several of our other friends live in the neighborhood as well. After some of us ate lunch together and hung out the boys decided to take Ben Wheeler's jeep out and "explore". Ben, Bryan, Chris Brewer, and Trey Renshaw loaded up in the jeep and headed out in snow gear and a turtle shell sled.......trouble!

Here's a picture of one of the guys (I can't really tell who it is, but I think it might be Trey).

Yes that's 635 behind them...

Yes I'm really glad I did not hear of their adventures until they were safe and sound at home...

No nobody got hurt...

Yes they did get stuck but were able to get free...

Yes a cop saw them but he just waved at them...

BOYS WILL BE BOYS!!

It's Final.....

2011-02-02T17:35:00.000-06:00

Since I have blogged about this subject in the past I feel I need to give an exciting update! Russell (my cousin) gave Purdue a verbal commitment during the summer to join their football team in Fall 2011. However, a few weeks ago he was approached by the University of Michigan with an offer to their school. After visiting with the coach, visiting the school, after LOTS of consideration and I'm sure many prayers, he decided to change his commitment to Michigan. He signed with the school this morning! Here's an article from ESPNs website with some details......

Michigan's call answered by Arlington Martin QB

February, 2, 20

By Randy Jennings

Damion DrigginsArlington Martin quarterback Russell Bellomy already has learned about Michigan's fanatical following.

It didn't take long for Russell Bellomy to learn just what it means to be a quarterback recruit at the University of Michigan.

Returning from a recent recruiting trip to Ann Arbor, the Arlington Martin senior turned on his phone after stepping off the plane and had 50 new Facebook friend requests and about as many messages.

Bellomy’s highlight video went from 700 views to 5,000 in a day’s time and now it is up to 11,000.

“I’m learning just how many Michigan football fans there are,’’ said the 6-foot-4, 185-pounder who capped off a whirlwind recruitment by signing a letter of intent with the Wolverines on Wednesday.

Bellomy committed months earlier with another Big Ten school, Purdue. Then came a coaching change at Michigan and a two-week recruiting window for the new staff.

A Michigan coach visited with Bellomy 12 days ago, had a dinner with his family that night and offered him a scholarship before leaving the area.

Bellomy kept the Purdue coaches apprised of his visit and then his decision to go with the Maize and Blue.

“Michigan was always on my dream list of schools I’d love to attend,’’ Bellomy said. “On my visit, it was everything I thought it would be.’’

The Wolverines are getting a quarterback who threw for 1,564 yards and 15 touchdowns and rushed for 804 yards and nine scores as a senior on a team that went three rounds deep in the playoffs.

“We’re a run-heavy offense,’’ said Martin coach Bob Wager, “but I think what impressed Michigan was the fact that Russell accounted for something like 45 touchdowns in his career and only threw five interceptions. He’s smart and he takes good care of the ball.’’

Four others in an illustrious Martin senior class have been recruited, including running backDanzel Williams (No. 64 on ESPNU 150) to Oklahoma.

My Precious TWO Year Old!!

2011-01-19T14:34:00.000-06:00

Sweet Matthew, I CANNOT believe you are 2 years old today! It just doesn't seem real! You have accomplished so many things already:

~You love to study your toys and figure out how they work.
~ You are talking much more these days. I love listening to everything you have to say. Your favorite words are "Uh oh", "Buyeeeee" (Bye), "Nigh Nigh" (Night Night), "Da Da" (Daddy), "Momma", "Ibel" (Bible), "Eeeese" (Cheese), "Ball", "Anana" (Banana), "Oh-ur" (Yogurt)....The list goes on and on but those are just a few.
~When I say "One" you follow with "Two". We can do this all the way to number ten!
~You LOVE music. You enjoy listening to your children's CD and sometimes I catch you humming along with the songs.
~You do all the hand motions to "Itsy Bitsy Spider"
~"The Farmer and the Dale" used to be your most favorite song. Now when I sing it you fill in the blanks for me ("The child takes the.....dog", "The dog takes the.....at (cat)").
~You have such a sweet spirit. You are so gentle with all your friends. When one of them is upset you go to them to make sure they are okay.
~You share your toys with your friends and your mommy and daddy ;)
~You absolutely love, Love, LOVE sports!! You love watching them and you love playing them. Right now your favorite is basketball. When it's warm outside your daddy and you shoot hoops in our driveway. Now that it's cold you play with your "Little Tikes" goal in the house, and you're pretty good! Your daddy and I often contemplate what sport you will choose to play when you get older.
~You like to help me around the house which is something I really enjoy! Whenever I clean you like to have a dust rag too and yesterday you helped me sweep! I just hope this continues as you get older :)
~You are such a good sleeper. You sleep around 12 hours each night with a 2 hour nap during the day. You will go to sleep anywhere, which allows your daddy and I to visit our friends in the evenings.
~Whenever I get you out of your car seat you will lean over and give me a kiss, absolutely makes my heart melt!!!

I could go on and on about the great things you have accomplished! I love you so much!! I had NO idea how much my life would change when I had you. Your daddy and I have had so much fun watching you grow and learn these past 2 years.

Here you are just barely an hour old

1 Day Old

On Your First Birthday

You're Two!!

Yup.......you're two.....

Being silly...

Happy Birthday Matthew Clark Stone!!

I love you SOOOOOOOOOOO much!!

Christmas 2010

2011-01-18T21:53:00.000-06:00

Matthew really enjoyed his 2nd Christmas! Last year he was old enough to tear the paper off his presents but he didn't really get the idea unless he was prompted, A LOT. This year he knew how it went! Anytime you laid a present infront of him he would tear into it without anyone saying a word. It was really neat watching him opening all his presents.

Matthew loves this new toy from Uncle Tim! It has the alphabet, animals, numbers, a clock, and music....all of Matthew's favorites!

The hot item in our stockings this year was lottery tickets. Matthew decided he'd like to help me with mine...

We spent Christmas afternoon/evening at Bryan's cousins house who lives about 20 minutes outside of Abilene. They have a few farm animals and Matthew really enjoyed "playing" with their horse. Anytime we went outside he ran over to the fence.

Not my best picture (or even close) but Bryan and Matthew look good so I'm putting my vanity aside to share a good photo of them ;)

Matthew feeding the horse acorns

Yes it was cold that day, No Matthew doesn't have any gloves or mittens, Yes we tried taking him inside once we saw his hands were bright red, YES he screamed his head off because he didn't want to leave the horse...

Mam-maw with her grandchildren, and great-grandchildren

The Stone Family (minus a few others)

Since Christmas was in Abilene, I visited my Grandmother in Arlington once we got back. Cassie (my sister) and Melissa (my cousin) met us at her house. We opened presents and ate lunch at Olive Garden, yummmmm!

Matthew loves his new Elmo guitar!

After lunch we tried taking pictures but Matthew was having a hard time sitting in anyone's lap. It was past his nap time and I think he was just worn out from being out of town for a whole week. We got back into town on Monday around 11:00 PM and we went to Grandmomie's house on Tuesday morning so he didn't get a lot of time to readjust to being home.

Here's Melissa trying to get a picture with Grandmomie's camera. I thought it was funny Grandmomie got on the floor with him :)

That next Saturday my moms family came over to our house to celebrate Christmas with Bryan, Matthew, and I. They all got together Christmas Eve but they waited for us to do the gift exchange. Right before we ate lunch we gathered in the living room for a prayer. Matthew held onto my grandmothers and my moms hands during the entire prayer, he was such a good little boy! My aunt wanted to get a picture of it so we did a "do over" prayer. Only difference was when Matthew saw Aunt Piper holding the camera he looked at her and said "cheeeeeeeese"! Of course my mom thought this was hilarious...

Pawpaw and Mawmaw enjoying lunch with their great-grandson. They are about to be great-grandparents again to a baby girl, Adeline, in March!!

Matthew opening his last Christmas present

He got these awesome trucks from Pawpaw, Mawmaw, and The Greats (my Uncle David and Aunt Piper). The dump truck and cement truck are made out of real metal so they are really sturdy and will last a while! Matthew likes wearing his construction hat. Sometimes I'll catch him wearing it around the house while he's playing with other toys.

Christmas 2010 was a great one. We are so blessed to have such wonderful family!!

Grace Children's Museum

2011-01-18T14:24:00.000-06:00

This year we were able to spend an entire week in Abilene for Christmas! Before our good friends, the Bailey's, left to go out of town, Jessi and I took the kids to the Grace Children's Museum. I've never taken Matthew to anything like that so I was curious to see how he would take it all in.

As soon as we walked in there was this wall with wooden carvings. If you pressed down on them they would make different musical sounds. Here's the boys trying figuring it all out....

After we had all the fun we could have with the wall we went to the actual museum part. Matthew, Brayden, and Boston had so much fun playing together! We had the whole place to ourselves (it was REALLY cold and rainy outside and it was a weekday) so they were able to run around and Jessi and I didn't have to worry about them getting in anyones way, score!!

The kids loved playing on this huge "Operation" table, it even made the buzzing noise if you hit the sides of the holes!

Brayden, Matthew, and Jessi watching the tornado form

They had an ambulance in the middle of the room with a plastic dummy inside. Brayden put on the doctor's jacket and pretended to "work" on his patient.

Dr. Matthew, Dr. Brayden, and Boston

They didn't have 3 jackets :(

Boston and Jessi driving their patient to the hospital.

Whew, they got there just in time! ;)

After playing doctor for about 30 minutes, Brayden wanted to put on a play/musical for us

Boston and Matthew couldn't get into the show so instead they decided to climb on all the foam pieces behind us

Stan got off work early and met us at the museum. We decided to take the kids to Chick-Fil-A for lunch and apparently so did ALL of Abilene. That place was packed! There was not one table available as we were ordering. Luckily as I was scanning the room I saw a family start to get up in the far back corner. Jessi was with the her kids looking at the playground and Stan was getting something at the counter. Since I had my food and Matthew I didn't think I could get to the table fast enough so I called out Stan's name (or possibly yelled it....I was just too excited!) and told him to run to that table! We were able to snag the table just before someone else!! Who knew it would be so crazy?!?!

After we ate lunch we had to say our goodbyes. We miss them soooooooo much and wish they lived much closer!!

Christmas Traditions

2011-01-14T15:38:00.000-06:00

Bryan and I love Christmas and all the preparation and excitement it brings. After we purchased our house in the summer of 2005 we bought our first Christmas tree. We didn't want to have one in the apartment since we didn't know how tall our ceilings would be in our future house and we weren't too big on the idea of moving it around with us as well. Now that we have a house, every year we look forward to putting it up and every year we have a "discussion" about where it will go. The first few years we had it in our living room but for the past 2 years Bryan has wanted it in the dining room. I wasn't big on the idea since I like looking at it all lit up and decorated as we hang out at night. If it's in the dining room we wouldn't be able to see it very well. So we agreed that we would switch locations every year - one year in the dining room, the next in the living room and so on. Well, the first year we had it in the dining room we got all sorts of compliments about how it looked next to our fireplace. Now Bryan doesn't want it any other place and says that "everyone agrees with me" and then he adds, "Court, I'm just a better decorator than you"........ugh, I hate it when he's right (that it looks better by the fireplace, not that he's a better decorator).

The Christmas tree in our living room

(with my parents before their work party)

The Christmas tree by our fireplace

(not the best quality, but you get the idea)

This year Bryan unpacked and fluffed the tree while I picked out which ornaments were "safe" to put on the Christmas tree (i.e., plastic unbreakables!!).

Matthew decided he'd like to help his daddy!

Each year before Christmas Bryan and I will find any excuse to go to Northpark Mall. We enjoy walking around looking at all their decorations and seeing/listening to the entertainment throughout the mall. Last year they had an electric string quartet and we really enjoyed watching them play. This year there was a small band and a woman dressed up in a formal singing. We decided to get a closer look and when we walked up we realized the band consisted of elderly adults. It was kind of humorous to see all these old people play their instruments. We specifically enjoyed watching this older lady play her drums, she was rocking out with her gray hair just a movin' and a groovin'.

After we walked around a bit we decided to take Matthew to see the train exhibit. We have never been before and weren't sure how Matthew would like it but thought it was worth a try. As it turns out, Matthew LOVED it, he just didn't like wearing his conductor hat.....

Every year Bryan just loooooooves to take me to look at at Christmas lights ;) He's good with going down 1 or 2 streets but not me!! I really enjoy looking at how everyone decorates their houses and the rich people leave their blinds open so I can look into their houses and daydream of how it might be to live like they do! Anywho, we usually start out our evening by going by the house in Farmers Branch that has the "dancing lights". This guy puts TONS of lights on his house and yard and choreographs them to music you listen to on your radio. Matthew just stares at the blinking lights and ever so often points to it and says "lighs". After we see the dancing lights we go over to Greenville Ave. and get a coffee from Starbucks; however, this year since we did the trains we saw the lighted house first, then the trains, and then we went to Starbucks (I know you don't care what order we did things in but this is just for my documentation sake:) After we got our coffees we drove down to Swiss Ave., which is a landmark street in Dallas. There are several HUGE mansions that have been there for years and years. The street is wide enough it has a median so we go down one side and then up the other just to make sure we don't miss anything (again, Bryan loves this!!). After Swiss Ave. we headed over to Preston Rd. to go through the Highland Village homes. This was our first year to go through this neighborhood and it was really impressive. Apparently if you're willing to spend a little under $200 you can rent a horse and carriage to take you through the neighborhood! But that wasn't in our budget and we enjoyed being in our warm car anyway!! As we were driving through the neighborhood it really felt like Christmas. There were families walking down the streets looking at lights, there were several horse and carriages, and we followed a line of cars that were weaving down the streets. It reminded me of driving through Interlocking as I was growing up. Interlocking is a neighborhood in Arlington that is required to decorate their house during the Christmas season. Cars will wait hours to drive through and see all the lights. Each year my family would pack up in the car with hot chocolate and wait our turn to drive through the streets.

I'm really excited about our new family Christmas traditions and can't wait to do them again next year!

Here's Matthew waiting in the car to see some "lighs"

Ms. Laura B's Music and Movement Class

2011-01-12T18:00:00.000-06:00

My good friend Laura Burnett is a very talented singer. This year she started her own music class for kids ranging from newborn to young elementary age (I'm not positive of the age range for the oldest class). Matthew LOVES going to his class. It has taken him a few months to get used to the idea of sitting through a 30 minute class without wandering around outside of the group activities. The classroom is the same room his Sunday school class is in and it was hard for him to distinguish the fact that he didn't "play" in there on Friday mornings. But even as he was wandering around he was soaking in the music. There are a few songs I can sing at home and he immediately stops what he is doing and starts doing the hand motions, it's really cute! We look forward to continuing the classes this next semester!!

Laura and her daughter, Clara, Matthew and I

Matthew and Marin hugging goodbye

Bryan's Work Christmas Party

2011-01-12T17:47:00.000-06:00

For the past 2 years Bryan has worked at TXU in Las Colinas. He loves being so close to home, only about a 15 minute drive which is great for the metroplex! He also enjoys his job and the people he works with, which is a huge bonus.

Last year the company did not have a Christmas party due to the economy but they resumed with their partying this year! I was really nervous since I've only met 3 people from his work and this was a cocktail event. I'm more of a t-shirt and jeans kind of gal! As you can imagine, I waited until the last possible minute to buy a dress but luckily I found one I loved pretty quickly!!

In the end the party was a lot of fun! Cassie (my sister) came over to spend the night and take care of Matthew. After taking pictures Bryan and I headed off to The Sheraton in Downtown Dallas. As we were parking we rounded and rounded and rounded the parking garage until we were pretty close to the top. It was a bit chilly outside so we hurried to the elevator and found the party. As we walked in I became completely overwhelmed. The ballroom was really dark and there were tables with people EVERYWHERE. Bryan and I kind of stood there a second while he tried to see if he knew anyone. We eventually headed over to the buffet and fixed a plate of food. As we winded through the tables Bryan decided to sit at an empty one since he didn't see anyone he recognized yet. This was fine with me since I needed a minute to get ready for some small talk (I hate small talking with strangers, you know what I mean?!?!). After about 5 minutes a gentleman who knew Bryan came over with his wife. They introduced themselves to me and proceeded to sit next to me at the table. The table filled up with 2 other couples Bryan worked with (one being his boss who I had met at the White Rock Marathon) and as they were making small talk Bryan leaned over and told me the couple sitting next to me was the CEO and his wife. WHAT?!?! The CEO, I have to small talk with the CEO......Oh geez, now I'm really nervous. I felt that if I said anything wrong it would reflect poorly on Bryan. I know, not the best logic, but it's what I felt at the time. Eventually the CEO's wife and I started a good conversation and by the end of dinner she was asking her husband if they could hang out with us while we went to the gambling tables. Bryan was impressed that I hit it off so well, and I was too. I felt like I was in High School again being accepted by the "cool kids" :) The rest of the evening was spent gambling for tickets for the raffle at the end of the night. Bryan and I stayed at the craps table and when they announced the last roll Bryan put 1000 on a one time roll. It ended up working out for him because he won like 14000 on it! However, needless to say, we did not win the raffle.

After the party was over we headed to the parking garage only to realize neither one of us payed attention to where we parked. Uh oh....by this time it was frigid outside and I didn't have a jacket (it didn't go with my dress :) So I was really kicking myself! We decided to just ride the elevator up and then walk down until we saw our car. We knew the car was more likely to be towards the top of the garage than at the bottom and we would rather walk down the ramps than up!! We eventually found our car and warmed up!

Bryan used to work for Price Waterhouse Coopers and we knew they were having their Christmas party at the Neiman Marcus downtown but we didn't know if was that night or Saturday night. We decided to drive by the store to see what was going on and if we saw anyone we knew. It turned out that their party was the next night but it was really cool to see the store at Christmas time, it looked really pretty all lit up!

I'm really glad we went because we both had a lot of fun and I look forward to the next party!

Here's some of the photo's we took before leaving

Thanksgiving 2010

2011-01-12T16:34:00.000-06:00

This year Thanksgiving was spent at my Uncle David and Aunt Pipers house. We had such a yummy meal and when it was all finished a few of us spent the afternoon playing Play Station. Dustin (my cousin) brought Rock Band and a few other games. I had a lot of fun playing Rock Band with anyone who would play with me even though I wasn't so good at it!

Here's Matthew using a wooden spoon as he "helped" me play botchy ball

P.S. I'm not sure who's foot that is in the bottom corner but I would just like to clarify that it is not mine ;)

Then he decided he had had enough and hung out with his Grandpa on the couch!

Here's my mom "practicing" while Dustin was hooking up Rock Band. She kept singing "duh nun nuhhhhh, duh nun nuhhhh (in a little lower voice). We joked around that she didn't even need the game!

Dustin, the dad to be!, and my mom playing Rock Band

Matthew LOVES all things music so he was showing us his dance moves while people were playing. Isn't he sooooooooooo cute?!?!?!?

Visiting Grandparents at Work

2011-01-12T13:44:00.000-06:00

Before Christmas my parents invited Matthew and I to come to their work to have pictures taken with Santa Clause. Southwest Airlines was going to have Santa at some of their airports for families to take pictures with while they waited on their flights during the holiday season. They wanted to work out all the kinks and the employees families were invited to help out.

Now, if you knew me when I was little you know that I HATE caricatures. I was terrified of them when I was little and they still kind of freak me out, I'm not gonna lie! I NEVER had a birthday party at Chucky Cheese and I did not like going to them. One summer my grandfathers work had a family day at Six Flags. During lunch they had all the characters walk around and see the little kids. I saw Bugs Bunny coming near and I crawled under the table and cried. My grandfather had to go ask him not to come over to our table....that's how bad I was. So, to avoid this I tried to talk with Matthew about Santa before we arrived. I showed him pictures in books and told him he delivers gifts to good little boys and girls at Christmas. I explained we were going to see him and he was going to sit in his lap while his picture was taken. I know he's a few months shy of being 2 so he's probably not understanding everything that was coming out of my mouth but I wanted to try anything I could. It made sense in my mind. Any guesses on what happened once he saw Santa?!?!?!

As soon as Santa walked out (we were first in line), Matthew started looking at him nervously. Then Santa walked over to us while the employees were still trying to get everything ready. Matthew started to do a whining cry and proceeded to try and crawl over my shoulder and down my back. I'm not really sure where he was thought he was going but he DID NOT want Santa touching or even looking at him. Santa quickly turned around and walked back to his chair. Matthew just looked at him curiously until it was our turn to sit in his lap. I tried to see if he would sit there by himself but he wasn't having it. Then I tried standing next to Santa and his chair with Matthew in my arms and Matthew was still upset. Finally they had me sit in the chair while Santa was behind the drop cloth behind us. At the last second Santa came out from behind the curtain and stood next to us without Matthew knowing it. It was quite the ordeal!! Once I figure out how to scan pictures, I'll add it to this post.

After we had our picture taken we went downstairs to see my mom. She's in the People Department and that day she was answering phones at the front desk (my dad is a computer programmer for Southwest).

Matthew enjoyed sitting in my moms lap while she worked.

Then he discovered the elevators behind her....

My dad decided to take him for a ride. He and Matthew did this MANY times. Matthew loved pushing the button to open the door and then selecting which floor he wanted to go to!

Quick, name that song..........

"The itsy bitsy spider walked up the water spout..."

"Down came the rain and washed the spider out..."

(imagine it in your head, my camera wasn't quick enough)

"Out came the sun and dried up all the rain..."

"And the itsy bitsy spider climbed up the spout again!"

After eating lunch with my mom we headed home. Matthew was so exhausted he had fallen asleep before we even pulled out of the parking lot! It was a great morning!!

I'm Proud to Call This Guy My Cousin!

2011-01-11T16:35:00.000-06:00

As many of you know Bryan and I attended many football games this past season. My cousin Russell is a Senior at Martin High School in Arlington and has been the Quarterback for their Football team the past few years. He received many offers and visits to colleges (not quite sure the correct lingo for that but you get the idea) and has recently committed to play at Purdue University (he's going to be red shirted - again, not sure of the correct wording but you still get it). I had such a great time watching him play football and I'm going to miss it terribly next year!! Not only was it fun to watch football, it was a chance for me to see my family each week, which I really enjoyed! Here's a video highlighting his senior year. If you look real close you can see me in the stands ;)

Park Fun

2010-11-09T18:10:00.000-06:00

A couple of weeks ago Bryan's parents came into town and we took Matthew to the park. Here are a few photo's of the fun morning...

My Favorite!!

He LOVED this big slide

Sig Shack "Family" Vacation 2010

2010-11-01T16:29:00.000-05:00

During college Bryan lived in a house that was called the "Sig Shack". It was a house passed down between members in their club, Gamma Sigma Phi. During his Junior and Senior year he lived with the same group of guys - Stan Bailey, Jason Hindman, Jake Hogan, Nic Belcher, and Ben Blake. These guys are SUPER close, and that might even be an understatement!! Through the years since college each of the guys have married or are about to marry great women. I feel so blessed to have each and everyone of them in my life! We often talk about how lucky we are to all get along so well since only a couple of us knew each other in college.

For a few years we have thrown around the idea of going on a "family" vacation together and this year we made that a reality. On Friday afternoon the Bailey's, Belcher's, and us headed to a small town called Peoria, TX just outside of Hillsboro to stay at a lake house near Lake Aquilla Friday through Monday. The ladies had such high hopes for this trip. We spent the days prior to the trip visiting Target, Walmart, and Dollar Stores buying activities for the kiddos to do during our "down time". We had coloring, play dough, pumpkin carving, bubbles, and other fun stuff. After being in the lake house for a few hours we figured out we were way over our heads with entertaining all the kids in such a small space! I give us an A for effort though!!

Bryan and I were the first to arrive so Bryan took Matthew on a hike around some of the trails

Here's a look at our refrigerator and pantry after all 3 families emptied their coolers. Each family was in charge of making one breakfast and one dinner during our trip and we all brought our own lunch items. We decided next year we'd talk a little more about what exactly we were bringing to avoid having 7 bags of chips and 3 or 4 loaves of bread!! Look at all that lunch meat on the second shelf :)

Matthew and Boston (Stan and Jessi's youngest son) exploring the woods together. While Jessi and I took the boys through some of the trails Bryan and Stan went to the lake and laid out a trout line. They just knew they were going to catch a huge fish!!

Hanging out at a picnic table beside the campfire site

Here's Jessi and Boston swinging on a rope swing with a tiny board on it. This swing was a great workout, it took a lot of muscle power to keep the swing seat straight!!

After exploring the trails, Boston and Julianna (Nic and Ashley's daughter) decided to dance with Nic

All the kids got baths the first night. But before Bryan had a chance to drain Matthew's bath water Boston decided he'd like to take another bath with his pajama's on!! Ha Ha!!!!

After the "babies" went to bed all the "big kids" stayed up and had a camp fire. Here's Stan and Brayden (the Bailey's oldest son) roasting marshmallows for their smores!

Nic, Ashley, and I enjoying the fire

Jessi, Brayden, and Stan

After our campfire and playing games, late Friday night Bryan and Stan thought they might want to sleep in the loft above the living room but ultimately decided against it.

Here they are trying it on for size...

Saturday morning after breakfast we loaded the kids in the wagon and hiked down to the lake to check the trout line. Everyone was excited to see what the boys had caught!!

Stan and Brayden had to stop by the shed on the way to pick up something. Brayden was so cute the whole weekend. He was definitely enjoying spending a lot of time with the boys doing "manly" things.

On the way to the lake we had to cross over this ladder. The boys would hand over each kid and then pass the wagon over.

Here's Bryan and Nic trying to guide the wagon slowly down this hill to the lake.

Bryan, Stan, and Brayden checking the line - they didn't catch anything :(

Matthew and I waiting on the shore for the guys to get finished

Jessi, Ashley, and Me

When we got back to the lakehouse Bryan and I were playing Stan and Nic in fooseball (sp?). At one point Matthew wanted to watch so Bryan picked him up and tried playing one handed. That obviously didn't work and we were having a very competitive game so we problem solved. Matthew loved watching us play, he would laugh and clap for us!! So stinkin' cute!!

All the kiddo's sitting around the table eating their lunch. Nic and Bryan were helping them while the girls got our lunch ready.

HA HA!! On Friday night Bryan and I made taco's for dinner and we had enough left over to eat it again for lunch on Saturday. Ashley said we could just snip the corner of the bag of beans and squeeze them out that way and this is what we got. Yummy!!

**After lunch is when our fun family vacation turned into a scary experience. **

After we finished eating the girls started to clean up lunch and the guys were getting things ready for the kids naps. Matthew and Boston were playing in the living room beside the couch, just out of eye sight of the adults. Matthew started crying and when Bryan went to get him he noticed Boston was on top of him. Ashley picked up Boston and Bryan picked up Matthew. At this point Matthew started holding his breath. At first we just thought he was hurting bad and would let out a scream cry but he never did so we started panicking thinking he was choking on something. I grabbed Matthew out of Bryan's arms and started trying to do the Heimlick maneuver. After a few seconds Matthew went limp and doubled over in my arms. Ashely quickly grabbed her phone and called 911 while Jessi went to find Stan and Nic. I started freaking out so Bryan took him from me. When Bryan grabbed him I noticed Matthew's eyes rolling in the back of his head and he was turning really pale. Bryan tried doing the Heimlick, then did back blows and Matthew was still not breathing. Nic came in the room and tried finger sweeping his mouth. The second time is when Matthew started opening his eyes a little bit. At this point Stan runs in the room and started giving him a few breaths by mouth to help him "come to" a little faster. All the while I was running in circles screaming in the living room - not my finest moment! In the end Matthew stopped breathing for 30 to 45 seconds but he was really pale and very lethargic. The volunteer fire department arrived shortly after he started breathing again and a few short moments later the ambulance arrived. We ended up taking Matthew to the Hillsboro hospital by ambulance. He was awake but just not acting himself so we wanted to be safe and get him checked out by a doctor. The hospital did a chest x-ray to make sure he didn't aspirate anything into his lungs, a CT scan to make sure he didn't have any brain damage, and blood work to make sure he didn't have a seizure. In the end all tests came back normal so the doctor guessed he either had the wind knocked out of him and before he could recover he passed out or he was stunned after being knocked down and held his breath long enough to pass out. However, just to be safe they told us to act like he had a concussion and wake him up every 2 hours that night to see if he was still breathing okay.

We were very impressed with the emergency response paramedics/fire department and the hospital. They were extremely concerned for Matthew and helped calm us down in this stressful situation!

After all was said and done we decided to stay the rest of the weekend. Matthew was responsive every time we woke him up and he acted like nothing ever happened the next day. So we decided to stay and make good memories instead of leaving on a negative note and we were really glad we did!!

After we got back from the hospital we decided to put in a movie to kind of "wind down" after all the excitement. Here's a picture of the kids relaxing in the living room (plus Bryan and Nic!).

Sunday morning Nic took all the kids into their room and had them sing songs. I think they were singing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" when I took this picture, it looks like Julianna was "washing the spider out"!!

After breakfast on Sunday we decided to make another trip to the trout line

and go hiking on some of the trails. Here's the "babies" waiting in the wagon.

Stan and Brayden caught............ A Rock!!!

Here they are showing their muscles with their great catch!

Bryan and I by the lake

Boston and Matthew were great friends!!

Ashley, Jessi, and Me.

Keep in mind we were "camping" so we didn't have make up on and I'm pretty sure that was before my shower!

Stan, Nic, and Bryan

(there were only 2 life vests so Bryan was out of luck if they turned over!!)

Brayden wanted to help pull the wagon

Here's Brayden walking with his walking stick

The group going through a field. Bryan is at the front with Brayden's walking stick knocking back the grass to make sure we didn't come across any surprise wild life!!

The gang getting ready to walk over the ladder by the lake

On the way back to the lake house Boston was so relaxed he decided to take a little snooze!

Ha Ha!!

Sig Shack Family Vacation Photo 2010

Bryan, Me, Matthew, Brayden Julianna, Nic, Ashley, Boston, Jessi, and Stan

Beavers Bend

2010-10-13T17:16:00.000-05:00

Bryan and I have been blessed to be apart of a small group bible study for the past 6 years. The people in our group have changed over the years but I am so grateful for all the friendships we have made. The week we started going to Farmers Branch Church of Christ we started a small group. The group had several people from ACU that we knew a little but not a whole lot. Over the years we have grown together - we've moved from apartments to houses, have had kids, and have had our fair share of struggles. I don't know where we would be without these friends!

Each year we go on a "camping" trip together to Beavers Bend State Park (we stay in nice cabins, so camping is a lose term!). Each of us look forward to this trip every year because it's a time we set aside to just be together and to not be distracted by the worries of our everyday life. Since we started attending the small group we have had to split 3 times because our group had gotten so big. So this camping trip is really special because it's a time where we can all be together as one BIG group!! Here are a few pictures from over the years.

2005

The Girls: Kelly Baker, Kristin Brewer, Stephenie Brewer, Me, Janet Wheeler, Andrea Egan

The Boys: Bryan Stone, Chris Baker, Chris Brewer, Ben Wheeler, Chris Egan, Jeremy Brewer

Bryan and I by the river

Kelly and I

2006

The group after a canoeing trip

Bryan and I, Jeremy and Stephenie Brewer, Chris and Kristin Brewer, Chris and Kelly Baker,

Jason and Laura Burnett

Laura, Kelly, and Me infront of the foggy river during our cookout

Bryan and I standing at our Devo spot. On Sunday morning we hike to this lookout point and have a devotional before packing up and heading home.

The Girls: Stephenie Brewer, Kelly Baker, Janet Wheeler, Kristin Brewer, and Me

The Boys: Ben Wheeler, Chris Brewer, Jeremy Brewer, Chris Baker, and Bryan

Our group on Friday night eating at Abendego's

2007

A view of the river in front of our cabin

Our cabin

The girls before our cookout: Kelly Baker, Stephenie Brewer, Amanda Stigers, Laura Burnett,

Me, Janet Wheeler, and Kristin Brewer

This isn't the highest quality picture but here's a look at what our camp fire usually looks like. After our cookout we'll sit by the fire eating smores and share whatever stories come to our minds. A lot of funny moments have been shared by the campfire!!

Of course the campfire would not be complete without Ben yodeling!!!

Our Devotional

Bryan and I at the Devo site

The girls: Me, Stephenie, Laura, Kelly, Amanda, Kristin, and Janet

The boys being, well, the boys: Chris, Bryan, Ben, Jeremy, Chris, Jason, Mark

A better shot of the boys!

2008

This year was the first year the "Specialty Cabin" was available.

We stayed here with Ben and Janet Wheeler and Chris and Kristin Brewer.

Nice face Stephenie!!

Bryan and I by a pretty tree in front of our cabin

Bryan and I at Abendego's

The group hiking. This was the first year we had kiddos with us. Jason and Laura brought Bonnie and Elena, their nieces who live with them. It was really neat to see Beavers Bend through their eyes.

Bryan and Stephenie

Kelly, Amanda, and I

A few people stopped to have a stick race

Taking a time out for yet another picture!!

Here's the 3 who fell in the water :)

After our hike we decided to go canoeing. The Burnett's and us were having a race back to the docks. Looks like they won!!

Jason, Laura, Elena, Bonnie, Bryan, and I

Kristin, Amanda, and Kelly making their way to the dock

Bonnie and Elena

Bryan and I

The girls: Laura, Amanda, Kelly, Stephenie, Me, Kristin, Elena,

Bonnie, and Janet (pregnant with Marin)

The boys: Bryan, Mark, Chris, Ben, Chris, Jason, Jeremy

Hanging out at the campfire!!

Rex decided Kelly's lap was more comfortable!!

Since Janet was pregnant, Ben, Janet, Bryan, and I headed to our devo spot early so we could take our time walking up the hill. Whenever we got there it started raining and lightning so we ended up having to go back. We snapped a photo before heading down! This year we had our Sunday devotional at our cabin instead.

A group shot of the girls and boys before heading home

Janet and I

Little did we know how many future play dates we would go on!!

2009

This year it was bitter cold outside so most of our days were spent inside hanging out and playing games!

Bryan, Ben, Janet, and Debbie and Kevin Harris (and me) playing Settlers of Catan

Chris, Bryan, Me, Kelly, and Kim and Gary Bones playing Phase 10

This was Matthew's first trip to Beavers Bend. He was just barely 2 months old!

Janet and Marin playing. This was Marin's first trip to BB as well!

Bryan, Matthew, and I. Isn't he a cutie in his bear outfit?!?!

Kelly and Me

Here's Matthew helping Bryan hold all his cards

A photo on the deck. Matthew was NOT happy to be taking this picture since it was so cold outside.

Kim, Matthew, Elena, and Laura during our cookout Saturday night

Since Sunday was Baby Dedication Sunday at our church, we had to leave Saturday night and therefore missed our yearly group photo at the devo site. Laura was helpful and held Matthew while Bryan and I packed up the car. She's giving a thumbs up because she was able to get him to fall asleep after him fighting it for so long!! She had good practice for little Clara who was born a few months later!

2010

Be Warned!! This is the first year we have had all the kiddos at Beavers Bend and it was warm enough for us to do outside activities. There are TONS of pictures!!!!!

This year Janet and I headed to Beavers Bend Thursday afternoon right before the kids naptime. Here's what our load looked like. I was really impressed with us! We were able to pack both of our families items into one car PLUS a wagon and a jogging stroller for Chris and Kristin Brewer!!

When we got to the park we just relaxed in our cabin until
the rest of our friends arrived later that evening.

Marin and I reading a book

Janet, Marin, Matthew, and Bryan playing

Marin enjoyed running in circles through our cabin out onto the patio and back into our cabin through another door. Matthew enjoyed watching her through the window!

It wouldn't be Beavers Bend without a picture on our patio!
Matthew is just a little bit bigger than last year :)

Bryan teaching Matthew how to put the shapes in the shape sorter and
how to knock over the stack of cups.

Our first wagon ride of the weekend!

Our traditional dinner at Abendegos has been changed to Pizza Hut due to families going down to one income. Here we are chowing down on our yummy pizza! This is only half of our group, the rest of them arrived the next day.

After dinner and a brief visit to our campfire, Matthew and Marin took a bath.

They REALLY enjoyed splashing the water around!!!

On our first full day the wives took the kids to the park while the husbands played golf. Here's Matthew and me about to slide down the slide!!

All the kiddos
Outside Wagon in back: Sierra, Elena, and Marin
Inside Wagon: Sutton, Clara, and Matthew

527 pictures later these kids were ready to get out of the wagon!!!

Such a sweet picture of Matthew looking up at Elena. Elena was so good with Matthew, she even took him down the slide!

Too cute!!!

After our trip to the park it was back to the cabin for lunch and naps!

Once the kids woke up from their naps we made a trip to the train station. This "kiddy" train took us through part of the park where we saw some deers and other wildlife.

Laura and Clara, Kristin and Sutton, Amanda and Elena, Me and Matthew, Janet and Marin,
Kelly (and baby Riley), and Stephenie and Sierra

Here's the crew before our train ride started

It was such a beautiful day we decided to go to the park again after our train ride.

Marin and Sierra enjoyed playing Ring Around the Rosy!

The next day we went hiked through some of the trails. Kevin got us this backpack carrier for Christmas and it is really cool, Matthew loves it!!!

A hike wouldn't be a hike without someone falling in. This year Chris Baker was our casualty. We were trying to figure out how to cross this creek and as Chris was making his way across he slipped and fell into the water. However, he was able to keep the camera on his back out of the water, impressive!!

Ben and Bryan playing poker but betting Marin and Matthews toys instead of money!

It was the girls turn to get some time away from the kids and we decided to go canoeing!

Here's Kristin and Laura - it's amazing they didn't turn over! I don't think they ended the trip very dry though! Amanda and I were in a canoe together and we tried our hardest to stay away from their line of fire!! :)

Half way through the trip Elena decides to hold on to their canoe!

The master canoers Janet and Kelly. They made it seem so easy!!!

Me and Amanda

Ben and Marin around our campfire

Janet, Marin, Matthew, and Me

Mark and Amanda

Bryan, Matthew, and Me

Chris and Kelly (and baby Riley)

Ben, Janet, and Marin

The boys cooking our meat on the grill

Ummmmmmm.....

A group shot after our cookout

Kristin's camera will take a series of shots consecutively in a row and our attention spans thinned out by the time the camera was finished taking all the pictures. I think this picture captures the "real us"!!

Bryan, Matthew, and I at the devo site. (Plus Jeremy admiring the landscape!!)

Our group shot before heading home once again

Thank you Jeremy, Stephenie, Chris, Kelly, Ben, Janet, Chris, Kristin, Jason, Laura, Mark, and Amanda for all the fun memories and being such a constant presence in our lives!! We would not be the couple or the parents we are without your love and support! We are looking forward to another fun year at Beavers Bend in 2011!!!!!

Football!!!

2010-10-02T14:49:00.000-05:00

It's that time of year again!! Last night was our first time to see my cousin Russell play football this season. There have been a few illnesses going around in the Stone household that have kept us from doing much of anything the past 4 weeks. So we were really excited to head to Arlington for the Martin vs. Arlington football game!

On the way in the gate we ran into my good friends Lance, his wife Tayler, and Tyler Parrish. I grew up with Lance and Tyler and Lance is now the youth minister at our home church, Pleasant Ridge. Weird huh?!?! The youth group has this thing called 5th quarter where they go to a football game and then have a devo afterwards at someones house. They decided to go to the Martin/Arlington game since it's a pretty big rivalry. I didn't know they would be there so it was a nice surprise to run into them!! They ended up sitting with our family (which they are practically apart of anyway) and we chated the whole game. They made fun of me and my sister since we were sitting on the Martin side after graduating from Arlington. :)

Martin ended up winning the game by 20 points! Here's a picture of Russell and Matthew taken after the game around 10:45, WAY past Matthew's bedtime. He had been a trooper the whole game so I wasn't surprised he got fussy once it was over.

I am so proud of Russell!! He has awesome grades, is involved in extracurricular activities, and has recently committed to playing football for Purdue!! It'll be sad not being able to watch him play every Friday night next year but I am really excited for opportunities he will have while in college!! It's hard to imagine my youngest cousin is old enough to go to college. Seish I'm getting old!

First Day of School...Well, Mothers Day Out!!!!

2010-09-09T11:18:00.000-05:00

We hit another milestone today!! Matthew is now attending a Mother's Day Out program at a local church. My good friend, Janet, recommended a school at the Christ United Methodist Church since our church does not have a Mother's Day Out. Her daughter Marin attended the program last year and loved it so I thought Matthew would have a great time as well!

This morning was filled with rushing around trying to get Matthew and myself ready but we paused for a few pictures! Here's Matthew with his new backpack and lunch box.

While we were waiting in the car I snapped a few pictures of him holding his lunch box.

Here's Marin and Matthew before heading inside!!

I tried to get Matthew to stand in front of the school bus painted on the wall but he didn't want any part of it!!

Here are all the names of the kids in his class, lots of boys!

Here's Matthew and his teacher, Ms. Kate. As soon as he saw his classroom he walked in and then ran out to play in the hallway a little more. When I picked him up to take him back to his room he started crying and he didn't stop until she turned on some music, any guesses on what song played first????? Luckily for Ms. Kate "The Farmer In the Dell" was the first song and it worked like a charm!! I'm hoping he cheered up once more kiddo's showed up, we were the first ones there. This is a good shot of his classroom - thanks Janet! (I was hiding around the corner)

This picture means so many things......

1. Yea!!! He's off to his first day!

2. Yea!!! We made it through the rush of the morning!

3. Yea!!! I didn't forget anything!

4. Yea!!! I have 5 hours to do whatever I want to do!

5. And most importantly, Yea!!! I didn't cry!

My sister and I had a bet on if I would cry or not...I WON!!! But I have to admit, if we didn't have that bet I probably would have shed a few tears!

I'm praying he has a good time and has fun with all his new friends!! I can't wait to see what this year will bring!

Mission Organization and a Humbling Experience

2010-09-02T20:33:00.002-05:00

If you know me just the slightest bit you know I am a little obsessed with organization. I like things clean, orderly, and labeled. My house definitely follows the motto, "A place for everything, and everything in it's place". Before we had Matthew all our "stuff" was evenly distributed between our 3 extra bedrooms and their closets. After we decided which room was to be the nursery we had to do a major reshuffle of furniture and the other items to get that room and it's closet empty. Ladies who have been pregnant will understand when I say I have never known exhaustion until I got pregnant. I had NO idea how much energy it takes to grow a baby! So as we were reshuffling things I didn't have the patience to organize it all and ended up just shoving everything into the 2 remaining closets.

Now that Matthew is a year and a half I have decided it's time to bite the bullet and dive in to my closets. I have purposely not looked in them too much because it stresses me out to see everything in them. I wanted our guest bedroom closet to be empty except for the infant swing, infant car seat, and a few toys Matthew has outgrown. So that meant everything that was in that closet needed to come out and go somewhere else. Plus I needed to reorganize the study closet. Our study is a computer room, guest room, and scrapbook room rolled into one. In the closet I had 3 different, very large, cardboard boxes with memorabilia in them (high school items, college items, and wedding/married life items) to use with my scrapbooks. I have saved EVERYTHING! I have movie ticket stubs from 12 years ago, sorority newsletters from my college years, friends wedding invites and their baby shower invitations/announcements. It was my plan to include all these things in my future scrapbooks. However, I have come to the sad realization that I just don't have enough time to make extensive scrapbooks like I would have liked. So instead of keeping the boxes in the closet and having them take up much needed space, I went through them all and condensed them into 2 quite smaller plastic tubs. I could probably put all the things I have in both tubs in one of the cardboard boxes and still have some room left over in the box. I wish I would have taken a before and after picture to show you just how large the boxes were. But anyway, I'm extremely proud of myself for throwing stuff away, it was not an easy task!!

But that leads me to the second part of my title. As I was cleaning out the High School box I ran across pictures from a youth group mission trip to Maine. One afternoon during our free/fun day we went on a whale watch and as the boat was making its way back to the shore a bunch of us gathered on the top deck to hang out. A few people fell asleep and others of us just relaxed with the swaying of the boat. I like this picture because no one is posing, it's just a still shot of everyone hanging out. As I looked at it I focused on individual people and started to reminisce about different things that happened on that trip or fun memories from other events. But then I started thinking about all our lives since we have "graduated" from the youth group. One girl lost her brother in a car accident, one guys wife has had several miscarriages and finally was able to have a baby girl, another girl has had many miscarriages as well. A friend of mine was killed in a car accident during my sophomore year of college, it was her freshman year. And just recently one guy has battled cancer. As I think of all these things I can't help but feel extremely blessed by the life God has provided me. Sure, my life has had it's road bumps and detours, but nothing compared to what some of my other friends have experienced! The annoyances I am experiencing that I once thought were big don't seem that bad after all. I am thankful for this reminder!!

Spray Park Fun!!

2010-08-18T13:06:00.005-05:00

After Breakfast on Tuesday morning Matthew and I packed up the car and headed to Allen to hang out with our friends Ashley and Julianna Belcher. Julianna's daddy, Nic, and Bryan were roommates in college and now Ashley and I are good friends.

Once we got to the Belcher's house, Matthew and Julianna ran around and played with her toys. Lately Matthew has been shy when we are with groups of friends or if we are in new environments; however, as soon as we walked through the door he was wanting to get down. Julianna ran up to him and excitedly said "Map, Map" so Matthew knew it was okay to get down and explore! As the day progressed Matthew's name went from "Map" to "Maphew", it was really cute!! Of course I was "Corty".

After about 30 or 45 minutes of playing and catching up, we left for the local splash park. I was a little hesitant because I didn't know if Matthew would enjoy it. We go to the local malls to play on their playgrounds but he usually sticks close to me and doesn't want to venture out by himself. I wasn't sure if adding water to the equation would help!

I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story!!

Here's Matthew's first few steps out into the splash park. He's not quite sure just yet...

But he quickly realizes it is a lot of fun!!

Julianna lost her shoe

Matthew and Julianna liked the middle where water shot up in the air

You'll notice a few of these pictures are of Matthew's backside. I wasn't fast enough to take pictures infront of him! He was having too much fun to slow down for pictures!!

The orange and red pipes behind Matthew shot water out when you pushed the button on the pole. One of them had a snake head on it and made noises when the water shot out.

We tried getting the kiddo's to pose together but that became too difficult. Julianna was trying her best to hold Matthew's hand for a picture but he was wanting to walk through the mist instead.

I'm not kidding when I say he had a blast! I could NOT get him to leave. Even after I dried him off he climbed off the park bench and wanted to head back out into the water!

Walking through the misters

On top of this pole were little buckets that would fill up with water. Once they were full they would topple over and the water would fall out. At one point Matthew was standing right under a bucket at the perfect time. He really liked getting the water dumped on him! He kept walking back over there to see if it would happen again.

When I asked Matthew if he was having fun he signed "more"! I think he thought we were about to leave.

Two cute kids having lots of fun!!

When we were finished we went back to the Belcher's house for lunch.

Matthew had SO much fun and I enjoyed watching him having a good time. It's amazing how your heart warms when you watch your child enjoy what they are doing!!

After lunch Matthew and I headed back home. By the time we got to the end of their street Matthew was passed out in his car seat. He ended up sleeping 3 1/2 hours that afternoon (he usually naps for about an hour and a half - TOPS)! Ashley and I decided this play date is a definite must for the future!!!

Time is never lost with great friends!

2010-08-11T10:05:00.010-05:00

This past weekend we were able to spend a few days with our friends Ben and Herdis who were visiting from Norway! Two years ago Bryan and I packed our things and headed to Bergen, Norway to see them get married and, unfortunately, we haven't seen them since. However, when we gathered Friday night at Matt and Makinzie Heard's house in Denton it was like no time had passed at all! We enjoyed seeing Ben and Herdis Blake, Amanda Musick, Matt and Makinzie Heard, Ryan Komo (not sure how to spell the rest of his last name), and meeting Janet (don't remember her last name). Bryan was also excited to have everyone meet Matthew for the first time. The really neat thing about this group of friends is Ben, Amanda, Bryan, Matt, Makinzie, and Ryan all grew up together in Abilene and have known each other since elementary school.

On Saturday my parents came over to keep Matthew so we could go back to Denton kid free. Bryan and I stopped at Cracker Barrel on the way up to enjoy dinner together before meeting everyone (the other group had a late lunch). Once we arrived we decided to go bowling-girls vs. boys!!

-- Side Note: Mark "Rex" Gibson joined us on Saturday night. I like it when Mark is around because he is HILARIOUS, I could just sit and watch him for hours.--

Well, as you can imagine, the boys creamed us in bowling! Despite having a team name, the girls really stunk, our only good player was Amanda! After admitting defeat the group decided they were hungry so we all gathered at Fuzzy's Taco's after meeting Ian McDonald. Bryan and I didn't eat but we enjoyed their good sweet tea and a Dr. Pepper. I definitely want to go back to that place because it looked really good.

After dinner we met back up at the Heard's house. Makinzie is an awesome hostess! She had all her outside furniture in a circle with a table of snacks and drinks in the middle. There were tiki torches surrounding the furniture to keep the bugs away, well as much as you can keep them away during the summer. Bryan and I had a lot of fun reminiscing about our trip to Norway (most of the group was there as well) and catching up with everyone. But all good things have to end and around 1:00 AM we decided we should leave. We really did not want to leave but knew we had to get up early for church the next morning so we said our goodbye's. Hopefully we don't have to wait another 2 years to get together!!

Here are a few photo's of our trip to Norway

The guys being guys at the rehearsal dinner

The Bride and Groom: Herdis and Ben

Some people decided to jump off this Fjord (kind of like a cliff). Here's Bryan (and Matt and Ryan) waiting for the jelly fish to clear out so he could jump. Looking back I'm not sure why I approved this adventure!!

Ready, Set, GO!!

Bryan said the water was FREEZING!!

Here's Bryan climbing out of the water.

Ben and his brothers (David and Matthew) decided to jump together!

Can you believe the picture below was taken around 11 PM?!?! Since Norway is so far North, during the summer the sun hardly sets. The sky would look like dusk for a few hours and then the sun would come out again.

Please excuse our tired faces, we had flown in that afternoon! At that point I had only had 4 hours of sleep in the past 36 hours, I was 3 months pregnant and not feeling great, AND the airlines lost my luggage - I had to go to the rehearsal dinner in my black pajama pants and a t-shirt. What a great first impression!!

After the rehearsal dinner we all went back to the apartment most of the group was staying at and Makinzie was soooooooo nice in letting me borrow her shower stuff so I could shower. When I was finished this is the scene I saw in the living room. Everyone grabbed a musical instrument (or made one up) and they were singing songs together. So cool!!

From left to right: Erlend Helland, Adam and Angie Willis, Ryan Komo, part of Matt

From left to right: David Blake, Dan, Erlend, Adam

From left to right: Close up of Matt Heard, Leah Green, Makinzie Heard, Amanda Musick (with an awesome face!), Matthew Blake, David Blake, Dan

Thankfully after Bryan and I made our way back to the Bed and Breakfast where we were staying, we found my suitcase sitting in our room!!!

Here we are waiting for the wedding to start!

The Ceremony

Erlend was her "Man of Honor"!

Some of Herdis' family wore the traditional outfits

This is Herdis' brother who we stayed with while we were in Oslo

Can you believe the church they were married in was built in 1160??

Bryan and I outside the church

They rented a tour train to take us to the reception!

Here's Bryan, Me, Angie and Adam Willis, and Matt Heard

On the way to the reception the driver stopped at this photo spot. Isn't it Beeeeutiful!!!

Ryan Komo

The sweet couple dancing

Sooooo, after the reception we decided to take pictures since Bryan and I were leaving for the rest of our vacation early the next morning. The girls had no problems posing! The boys on the other hand......

From left to right: Angie Willis, Amanda Musick, Makinzie Heard, ?? Peterson (I can't remember her name-I had only met her during that trip), and Me

Here's our "sorority" group pose. We were really just trying being silly!!

And now for the MANY photo's of the boys since they couldn't seem to get their act together!!

Adam and Matt Peterson (He's married to the girl I couldn't remember the name of)

Adam, Matt, Matt, and Bryan down front - I have NO idea what he's doing

Adam, Matt, Matt, Bryan, Ryan (I love Adam's pose in this picture!!)

This one is better

Ryan, Matt, Adam, Bryan, and Matt

And Finally!!

Matt , Bryan, Matt, Adam, Ryan

Yeish!!!

I started blogging after this vacation. I'll upload some pictures from our entire trip later. After Bergen we visited Flam and Oslo in Norway, and Copenhagen, Denmark!! We had tons of fun!!

Family Fun!

2010-07-29T16:40:00.000-05:00

Matthew and I have been busy this week visiting my grandparents, cousin, aunt, and sister!

On Tuesday Matthew and I drove to Arlington to hang out and eat lunch with Grandmomie, Aunt Cassie, and my cousin Melissa. We spent some time at Grandmomie's house where Matthew decided he'd like to take a picture with my camera.

After we hung out a for a little bit we decided to eat lunch at Grandmomie's favorite restaurant, The Black Eyed Pea. Matthew did not want ANY of his lunch, all he wanted were the rolls. So, I had to get a little sneaky by hiding his turkey and green beans inside the pieces of rolls I was giving him. After we all finished eating Matthew enjoyed playing cars with Grandmomie.

When we were finished eating we went back to Grandmomie's house to spend a little more time together before heading home for a nap. Matthew liked sitting in Grandmomie's lap and petting her dog Lucky. The fact that Lucky let Matthew pet him is amazing!! This dog does not like anyone to touch him except for my grandmother. The moment you reach down to try and pet him he runs away.

Matthew has recently started walking everywhere so I took a few snapshots of him exploring Grandmomie's house on his feet.

Around 1:00 we headed home for a nap except Matthew was asleep by the time we stopped at the red light at the end of Grandmomie's street!

On Wednesday Matthew and I headed to my Aunt Piper's house in Richardson to see her, Pawpaw, and Mawmaw. At Aunt Pipers house Matthew enjoyed throwing his ball to Pawpaw but I think his favorite part might have been (unfortunately) discovering the cabinet that had all the dog toys and remotes in it. After he found this cabinet it was hard to distract him with anything else but it was time to head to lunch anyway!

I think Matthew made up for lost food that day! He ate green beans, turkey, cheese, Aunt Piper's roll, an onion ring, and a few of Pawpaws french fries. He was a bottomless pit!! After eating this feast he showed Pawpaw how to roll his cars on the table.

After lunch we headed home!

Today we spent the morning with my friend Meagan and then tomorrow we are spending some time with Janet and Marin Wheeler! This has been quite a busy week but it has also been a whole lot of fun!! Matthew enjoys seeing all his family and good friends (and I do too)!!

Girls Weekend and Happy Feet!!

2010-07-27T08:50:00.001-05:00

At least once a year a group of my friends from Pate Rehab. get together for a weekend girls trip. This year Mary, Sarah, Stacey, and I decided to have our weekend in Dallas. Friday night we met up at Manny's Mexican Restaurant in Uptown Dallas and had some really good food. After dinner we headed to our hotel, The Crescent. The hotel was so fancy! They had turn down service and they left a note on our bed telling us the weather forecast for the next day and whether we needed sunglasses or an umbrella. When we first arrived we decided we didn't want to sleep the day away on Saturday (even though we really wanted to!). But after staying up until 2:00ish we decided to just get up when we got up! By the time all of us woke up and got ready it was nearly noon. It was really nice to just get up and get ready! Usually the first thing I do when I wake up is get Matthew fed and ready for the day. On Saturday I had no one to worry about but myself!!

For Brunch we decided to walk to Dream Cafe, which was a few blocks away. There we feasted on Breakfast Taco's, Pancakes, and Fruit. After brunch we headed up to Allen to shop at their outdoor mall. We had a lot of fun looking in all the stores and eating Frozen Yogurt, yummy!!! After shopping we decided we'd like a pedicure after all that walking in the Texas summer heat! On our way back towards downtown we were discussing where we should go and no-one could decide. Stacey remembered the girl who cuts our hair had previously suggested a nail place called the Hawaiian Nail Bar, so we decided to check it out. Man am I glad we went there!!! Here are a few pictures hi lighting our experience.

This is what our feet soaked in at the very beginning. Orange slices, Lime slices, and rose petals!

We each got the Aloe Vera Pedicure and these are all the different scrubs/lotions they used during the course of our 2 HOUR pedicure, that's right 2 HOURS!!!!!

First they put this purple stuff in the water to make the water smell good and soft. After our feet soaked in the water for a bit the nail technician came over and started scrubbing the dead skin off our feet. For me this took a while since I walk barefoot on our concrete floors all day and don't take good care of my feet. I believe Mary said it looked like the lady was "grating parmesan cheese". Gotta love a friend who's honest with ya!!

After the scrub the technician put Aloe Vera all over our feet and legs. The leaves were what was in the bowl of ice on the tray from the picture above. My lady said the owner grows all the plants and makes all their lotions/scrubs and everything is organic.

After she washed off the Aloe Vera she wrapped my legs in warm towels and put my feet in bags of paraffin wax!!

After the paraffin came the BEST part of the entire process....a 20 minute foot and leg massage! She massaged my knee, behind my knee, up and down my leg, my heels, my feet, and each of my toes. I was so relaxed I almost fell asleep!! When our massage was finished we had our toenails painted and here is the final product (unfortunately Mary had already left when we took this picture Sunday afternoon)....

After our A-mazing pedicure we went to dinner and then went back to our hotel and hung out a little more before going to bed. Sunday morning Mary had to leave first thing to get a few things done before she flew out that afternoon for work. So Sarah, Stacey, and I grabbed breakfast at Paradise Bakery before taking Sarah to the airport and heading home.

The weekend was so much fun and incredibly relaxing! I cannot wait to spend another great weekend with great friends!! Rockport perhaps??????

18 Month Check-Up

2010-07-22T09:24:00.001-05:00

This past Monday Matthew turned 18 months old! Man, where has the time gone?!?! He is getting so big and is a lot of fun right now. He continues to intently observe people and things around him. He will watch everyone else try to figure things out and then do them perfectly himself during his first few attempts. I thought he would never pull to stand, cruise around furniture, or walk. But one day he pulled up next to the coffee table then walked around it like it was no big deal. A few weeks ago he started walking with Bryan and I coaxing him with his favorite toys and acting really excited as he walked. Then last week as I sat at the kitchen table working on his baby book (yes, I realize I'm behind!) he walked around the dining room and kitchen without us having to bribe him!! Each day he takes more steps than the day before and I know he'll be running around the house in no time!! I'm just amazed at all he has learned in one year! I have so much respect for him and other little kiddo's who have to figure out this world and how everything works!!

Here is a picture with his pediatrician, Dr. Blair, who was just named as one of Dallas' best pediatricians. He's great and we love going to his practice! During the doctor's visit they measured Matthew and he is growing quite nicely. He is 26 pounds 8 ounces (60th percentile), 34 1/4 inches long (97th percentile-go figure!), and his head is 18 7/8 inches around (70th percentile). Good job Matthew!!

Swim Lessons

2010-07-06T10:27:00.001-05:00

This past June we were incredibly lucky to be able to take swimming lessons at our local recreation center with a group of friends. Matthew and I donned on our bathing suits, lathered ourselves in suntan lotion, and headed to the pool every morning for a 30 minute swim lesson. There he learned how to kick his feet, make scoops with his arms and hands, and blow bubbles. It took him a few minutes to get used to the water, but once he adjusted he loved splashing around! His favorite was going down the slide! They had a "kiddy" slide that looked like a frog. His face would light up with the biggest grin as he went down and landed in the pool. On the last day we were able to go down the more "grown up" slide, which I was really excited about!! It is a slide that's tall and winds around in circles that eventually dumps you out in the pool. It was sooooo much fun!! My friend Kenee', who was 6 months pregnant at the time, was gracious enough to come sit in the heat and take pictures of us. Here are a few moments she captured....

Matthew "walking" on the wall towards the ladder. Once he reached the ladder he climbed out of the pool to his swim instructor and jumped back in the pool.

After splashing around, Matthew enjoyed eating the bubbles. It was HILARIOUS!! He ate the air like they were cheerios!!

Here's Matthew trying to reach for the toy by scooping his arms in the water.

Our group shot. So many cherished friends!!

Yup, I've done it AGAIN!

2010-06-03T22:48:00.001-05:00

When I started this journey I mentioned I'm not the best "journaler", whether online or the good 'ole fashion way. But as Matthew gets a little bit older I look back and wish I had written down some of the funny moments, his milestones, or just something exciting I had done that day. So here's my new resolution....I am going to take advantage of this blog thing! I'm going to do regular updates of our "going ons" and post pictures here and there. I might even post a video - if I ever figure out how! This blog is not meant to be used as a bragging tool, just simply something for me to record our family memories on and a way to share good stories to other family who do not live near us. Recently Bryan and I started sending daily photos of Matthew to our family. While some days are missed, and getting him to pose (or not to pose) for photo's can be daunting at times, I'm really thankful we have made this a habit. I have enjoyed looking back at all the photos and our families are really thankful they get to watch him "grow up" and are included in our daily activities. Hopefully this blog can be used like that as well....hopefully!! :)

So, to start off I'll describe some good memories from today! This morning I woke up to Matthew calling out for someone to come get him. He no longer cries when wakes up and is ready to get up, he yells out "Dada". I'm working on the "Mommy", "Mama", or simply "Ma" but in the morning he calls for his "Dada". He is all about his dad right now and Bryan is loving it!! A few weeks ago when Bryan was traveling Matthew pulled to stand at our garage door, looked back at me, and asked "Dada??" - too cute!!

After getting him ready and myself ready we played with his toys for a few hours. His favorite toys right now are his stackable cups, ACU basketball, ball blower toy (not sure how to describe it), wooden blocks, and a drum that sings the Alphabet and other songs in English and in Spanish. Believe it or not Spanish is his favorite channel and if it is on English he will switch it over himself! So this morning we stacked blocks, then knocked them down, stacked cups, then knocked them down, rolled the ball back and forth, stacked blocks, then knocked them down, played the drum, stacked cups, then knocked them down....... Eventually he became bored with this (go figure!!) so we went outside to swing in his tree swing.

Around 11:00 my friend Janet and her daughter Marin came to pick Matthew and I up for a lunch date. Yummy Cheesecake Factory!!! We decided to splurge a little bit and it was REAL good!!! It always amazes me to watch Matthew interact with other kids, him and Marin have so much fun together! During our car ride they decided to scream out loud to each other, much to our dismay!! One would scream then look at the other, and then the other would scream back and wait for the other ones scream again. They loved it! They were both smiling and laughing during this fun little exchange. Janet and I tried really hard not to laugh, but I will admit it was kind of cute! Since our "no's" weren't working we decided to just ignore them and the screaming eventually stopped...thank goodness!! :)

Here's a picture of Matthew and Marin playing at the Galleria last week

After all the morning excitement, my day ended with laundry, dishes, and errands. However, I did have yummy left-overs for dinner!! Now it is time for bed and I get to wake up and do it all again tomorrow!!

More Updating and Lots of Pictures!!

2009-12-03T10:23:00.000-06:00

Well, brace yourselves...I came across a lot of pictures to let you know what we have been doing these past few months. We have been so busy, it's no wonder the blog hasn't been updated!! It is amazing to see how much Matthew has grown in just a few short months! He is now crawling everywhere and just yesterday he tried to pull up to stand next to the couch. I was enticing him with the remote control (he likes to push the buttons). He is eating all kinds of fruits and veggies. We are practicing eating more solid foods such as banana's, steamed carrots, puff crackers, and raisins; however, Matthew is still trying to get used to the texture. He is babbling a lot and will attempt to repeat what you say to him. Most recently he has started to say "Momma"; however, I'm not sure he associates it with me, probably not yet!

The pictures below start from when he was just 4 months old and go up to our Thanksgiving holiday. Enjoy!!!

Here Matthew is at 4 months old wearing his Southwest Airlines onesie

We visited the Dallas Zoo on June 5, 2009.

Matthew decided he wanted to help me cook chicken salad sandwiches one afternoon

Hanging out with Grandpa and Grandma Bellomy (we're not sure what Matthew will officially name them!)

Taken on July 13, 2009

I wanted to get a picture of him in this onesie before he outgrew it!!

Mawmaw (my grandmother) gave Matthew this bear hat before he was born. He was finally big enough to wear it so of course we had to get a picture of him!

June 19, 2009

Matthew's first day in the church nursery. He has so much fun playing with the other kids and being spoiled by the workers!

Matthew LOVES bathtime. He likes to splash.....a lot!! By the end of his bath he's wet, we're wet, and the floor is wet - but it is awesome watching him have so much fun!! If you look closely you might be able to see Matthew's two bottom teeth.

During the Fall season we visited the Arboretum many times. This is a family picture we took on October 24, 2009. I am going to wait to post the Christmas pictures we have taken until our Christmas card is mailed out - I don't want to spoil the surprise for everyone!!

Here is our little pumpkin! Bryan's mom and dad bought him this Halloween costume. Bryan dressed up as a pumpkin when he was little. I'll have to scan the picture and add it to this post later, I'm sure Bryan will LOVE that!!!!!!!

Showing Mawmaw she has a button on her shirt, Matthew loves to play with buttons and other small objects. He has awesome fine motor skills, unfortunately that means I have to keep my floors extra clean!!

This fall we had a great time watching cousin Russell (my cousin) be the quarterback for his high school football team, Martin High School. They played 3 playoff games! We are so proud of him!!

Cousin Russell on the Jumbo Screen in Cowboys Stadium!!

Matthew supporting the team!!

Here is Matthew hanging out with Grandmomie at her house the day before Thanksgiving.

Grandpa Bellomy offered to keep Matthew while I ran some errands before heading out to Abilene for Thanksgiving.

Matthew in his Thanksgiving Day outfit

Matthew enjoyed playing with Uncle Tim (Bryan's uncle)

Matthew wanted to help Uncle Kevin play Boggle

Hanging out with Grandpa and Grandma Stone

With all this activity Matthew needs his rest. It's rough being a kid!!

How is it that time can go by so quickly?!?!

2009-12-02T16:41:00.000-06:00

Well, my last post was about Matthew's 4 month checkup and he is now 10 months old so....I'm a little behind!! Things have been really busy for us the last few months, here are a few pictures to fill you in on the details....

~ I was able to spend a weekend in St. Louis with my good friends from Pate Rehab., Sarah, Stacey (baby Diego), and Mary. Sarah lives in St. Louis and Mary lives in Oklahoma so it was good getting together and catching up. We enjoyed an art fair, people watching outside Sarah's window, visiting the arch, and good food!!!!

~Bryan got a new job, he now works at TXU. When he put in his 2-weeks notice he had a week off before he started the new job. So we decided to go to.......

ROME!!!

We left Matthew with the grandparents and took off for Italy. It was a once in a lifetime trip - we had the time, the price was awesome, and Matthew was only 5 months old so he wasn't old enough to understand we were gone. We had an awesome time seeing and learning all the history. We visited the Colloseum, the Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, the Vatican City/Sistine Chapel, the Catacombs, and much, much more. It was so much fun but by the end of it we were definately ready to get home and see Matthew!

~Matthew started eating solids. He didn't like it too much at the beginning but he soon got the hang of it and realized there are other tasty things besides milk!

RICE CEREAL

VEGETABLES

FRUIT

~We have had several trips to Abilene to visit Bryan's parents and our good friends Stan and Jessi Bailey. Matthew enjoyed playing with their two sons Brayden and Boston.

~Matthew experienced his first ACU Homecoming!! We had so much fun hanging out with Bryan's college roommates and their families; however, we are missing one roommate and his wife who live in Norway. Here are a few photo's from that weekend...

Our traditional "Family" photo after the parade. I LOVE these people!!!

The kiddos! Helen, Isaac, Brayden, Julianna, Boston, and Matthew. It took a whole lot of singing and dancing to get these poses, they are such troopers!!

The boys: Nic, Bryan, Jason, Stan, and Jake

The girls: Me, Ashley, Angela, and Jessi

Me and one of my favorite little girls, Helen

Okay, well, it's taken me a lot longer to post this than I had planned. I am going to have to finish updating tomorrow. Stay tuned for pumpkin patch pictures and pictures over the months with the family!!

Four Month Check Up

2009-05-21T15:42:00.000-05:00

Matthew had his 4 month check up on Tuesday and his pediatrician was excited to see how well he is doing! Matthew now weighs in at 16 pounds and 13 ounces (90th percentile) and he is 26 1/2 inches long (97th percentile), which explains why we are wearing 6-9 month old clothing. Dr. Blair referred to him as "chunk" and I agree with that statement!! Can you believe we were so worried about his weight gain during his first three weeks?!?! Dr. Blair also said we could start experimenting with eating rice cereal and veggies, which I have mixed emotions with. I am excited for this next stage in his life but am sad because it means he's not my "little" baby anymore, he's growing up.

Speaking of growing up, Matthew is learning new things everyday. He is grasping objects tightly now and he is purposely grabbing at things. This morning I watched him take his pacifier out of his mouth and try to put it back in, he's getting so close but can't quite put it in correctly yet. He has discovered one of the buttons that plays music on his activity mat and will push it and smile at it while it plays the music. He recognizes his bottle and will open his mouth when I put it infront of him. Matthew hasn't learned to roll over yet because he HATES tummy time but we are working on this!! He has pushed up on to his side...but only once. He continues to sleep 10 to 12 hours a night; however, his naps during the day are getting shorter which means I get more time to play with him!! And my favorite is he is smiling, laughing, babbling, and he recognizes his mommy and daddy!!

So enough talking, here are some pictures of our "chunk":

Matthew's first Ranger's game, May 12th

Watching the Maverick's game with Pawpaw

Hanging out with Daddy outside