'Tis the season

What a fabulous day!  Christmas music played all day long in our home, and the Christmas decorating began.  I got quite a bit done, although there's still some garland and stockings to hang, as well as the outside lights to put up (Mike's job for sure).

I was so nervous what was going to happen to the tree when Matthew got up from his nap, quite certain of immediate mass destruction.   Boy was I wrong.  So far, he has been enjoying looking at the tree and the lights, but hasn't pulled a single ornament off yet.  I'm sure it's in the future, but for now, I'm impressed with his self-control.

As I was decorating, I found some ornaments that needed pictures from last year in them (we buy a new one each year).  Anyway, this led to me looking through the old pictures on the computer to find something suitable.  After flipping through the "december" file, I stumbled upon Matthew's hospital and coming home pictures.  Little nugget! I got lost in the pictures, remembering how little he was.  He looks like a giant now.

Here are a few of my favorite ornaments:

Our first Christmas as a married couple.  The Mickey symbolizes how we spent Christmas Eve (Disney Land) and the picture is us with our disney santa hats on while we were at the park. (I was also 2 months or so pregnant here).

Matthew's 2008 ornament with his 5 month picture in it.

Since they came as a set, the next Mommy with Matthew.

And finally, Daddy and Matthew, Christmas 2008.

An ornament given to Matthew last year by his Great-Grandma. I love it because it reminds me of his first Christmas, and is his very first Christmas ornament.

A beautiful handpainted ornament given to me by my best friend Rose.  It has Fells Point (Baltimore) painted on it and reminds me of a city I had a blast living in!

Now, I'm enjoying some yummy peppermint tea and enjoying the festive decor in my home.  Ahhh...

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a quiet, yet wonderful, Thanksgiving at home.  Although I may have gone into it a bit sad to have no other family around us, it really was perfect.  We just hung out as a family all day, watched football (Go Cowboys!), played, cooked (well, just me).  We had way too much food, because, quite honestly, it's really difficult to make all the good parts of a Thanksgiving meal for only 3 people (one of them being a toddler).

Matthew LOVED the food.  His favorites, by far, were the stuffing and cranberry sauce (ironically, the two items that I "cheated" on by using canned and prepackaged).  He also ate up quite a bit of turkey, which actually surprised me.  I made a delicious broccoli casserole that he seemed to like the first bit, and then the second bite he gagged and spit it out.  Must not have had any brocolli in the first bite.

(enjoying his meal)

After being stripped of his cranberry covered clothes, he played and played the night away.  He was so tired at bedtime, he just laid down on the living room floor with his lovey and almost fell asleep.  Took seconds for him to fall asleep.

What a great day!  I am so thankful for this little family of mine.  My guys are the light of my life for sure.

I love them:

Sickie sickie's

Sorry for the lack of surgery update, however the update is that there is no update.

So, Babci came to visit this week.  She flew in last Wednesday.  Thursday morning we get up and Matthew is sick.  Runny nose, coughing, sneezing.  We stay home.  Friday morning we get up and Matthew is just sleepy/laying around, congested, fever.  We stay home.  Saturday more of the same, with a brief outing out of the house without Matthew.  Sunday we wake up and Matthew is fine, I however am achy, congested, miserable.  You see where this is all going by now, right?

Matthew's surgery was cancelled since he had been sick just a few days prior.  Since we already had a hotel room booked, my mom and I drove out to Portland Monday evening.  Mike stayed home with Matthew and I had a little mommy-break.  It was really nice to get away, although I was sick the whole time. 

Finally, the aches are gone, just congested and coughing.  Matthew is congested a bit still and teething something horrible.  It's tons of fun around these parts.

Surgery is re-scheduled for December 1, so we hope to all stay/get healthy until then.

Here's pretty much how Friday went:

A few weeks ago we had some pictures taken by a local photographer.  I have loved her photography since Matthew was born, however it has always been out of our budget to get some done.  She offered a holiday mini-session for a lower price.  When we stopped in Vegas, I had little time to gamble, but managed to win some loot on a slot machine.  Perfect- I used the winnings to sign up for a mini-session.

Anyway, here is the link to the "sneak peak" of the session: Defining details blog (Matthew is the last row of pictures).

Scattered brained post? Yes.  Hope you enjoyed.

Still here.

I mean, what a fabulous blogger I've been, no?

Hopefully you can guess that a 16-month-old maniac child does keep me away from serious blogging a lot of the time.  He is laying down for his nap, so I figured a quick update was in order.

Last week Matthew had his 15-month-appointment (although really he was a day over 16 months, but who's counting?)  All went well.  Matthew is finally up to 10th percentile for weight!! No more hovering at 7th, he's a whopping 10th.  Weight= 22 lbs.  Heigh= 30.5"   Not bad...keep up the good growing my dear.

The pediatrician wasn't too concerned about his lack of talking.  Let me be more specific- he talks.  A lot. Jabbers all day long.  Only problem is no one, except for him, has any clue what he's saying.  He has said a few words, I would swear my life on it, but they come out once or twice and then we don't hear them again.  She gave me the low-down on how many words they are "supposed" to have at age 2 and if he's still way behind, we'll address it then.  I'm not really thinking too much about it, and the last few days he is quite obviously trying to repeat words back to me.  Car sounds like "ca".  Water sounds like wa.  Cracker sounds like "ccc".  We're working on it.  We read a LOT of books, so I figure one of these days he's just going to explode and I'm going to want to shout "zip it kid".

Matthew continues to be a fairly good eater.  It is sometimes frustrating because one day he'll love something and then the next time I serve it he acts like I put last weeks trash on his plate.  Oh well- for the most part he's eating healthy foods in decent quantities.  For sure, if it was up to him, he could live off of homemade mac and cheese, banana, cheese of any kind, mandarin oranges, and scrambled eggs (with cheese, of course).

Most exciting thing happening--babci is coming to visit!! My mom called the other day and had found a really good deal on a flight out here and decided to just do it.  I am excited! As the holidays get near, and we face another Thanksgiving and Christmas away from all our family because we're so far away from everyone, I always get sad about not being able to have that for Matthew.  Some of my best memories as a kid are the big holiday get togethers when all the family is together.  I loved it.  I know we will make solid memories for him, it just makes me sad that he isn't a part of something like that.   In any case, it makes me all the more excited to get to see Mom now.  I'm thinking a pre-thanksgiving dinner is in order!

Matthew is having his surgery next Tuesday in Portland (for his undescended testicle).  Should be a quick, easy fix, but of course it's always a bit nerve-racking when it's your child getting put to sleep and cut on. Yuck.  It'll be fantastic to have it done and over with for sure. 

Time for this mama to get lunch and a shower.  Nap time really is the best time of day, isn't it?

Boys will be boys?

Honestly. I really want to know. What is it about being a boy that intrinsically means rough and tough? Ok, this is somewhat in jest--I do realize girls are perfectly capable of head bonks and such, but man, when I watch Matthew (or even Matthew and his two little friends) play, I can't help but think "what the what are they doing??"

On our recent trip to Texas, the boy/girl, nature vs. nurture thing came and slapped us in the face. We were hanging out with my friend Kellye and her darling little girl, Brenna-Marie. Brenna-Marie is about 2-3 weeks older than Matthew. Brenna-Marie, so delicately places toys down on the floor, hands things to mama, steps around toys on the floor to walk a clear path from point A to point B. And then there's my son. MY son barrels through whatever is in his way, nose-diving onto a barn he just had to play with, throws toys to get them out of his way, runs wild through her living room. And while I should have been slightly mortified at his behavior, I was more intrigued by the delicacy with which Brenna-Marie was playing. It was like watching 2 kids play and one was screaming BOY! while one was screaming GIRL! We all had to laugh at this little life lesson...yes, sometimes, they are just born this way.

A few days ago we had a little morning playdate/brunch at our house. Matthew and his little friends played together- which was fun in itself. It's been a while since they've played and it was obvious how developmentally different they are in a month's time. While they used to be quite content playing in the same room together, this time, they were actually interacting together! Matthew's friends are Paul, 2 yrs., and Keegan, 20 months. And then there's little itty bitty Matthew. Only 4 months younger than Keegan, but their size difference will amaze you. (I can only put it into sizes to illustrate this point- Matthew wears size 12 months, but honestly can squeeze into some 9 months shirts and such. Keegan wears 3T. Matthew wears size 4 shoes. Keegan, size 8.) Anyway, that's not the point. The point is, they were wrestling. Really wrestling. Like rolling around on the floor wrestling. And Matthew looked so funny there underneath Paul on the floor. And Matthew laughed the entire time. He loved it. This has GOT to be a boy thing, right?? I don't remember loving wrestling as a kid.

Anyway, all this to say- I don't beat my kid. I swear I don't. He is on his second goose egg. He got a little cut when he whacked his head on the window sill. He got a bruise on top of a bruise when he walked right into the door frame. He runs. He trips. He falls. He doesn't watch where he's going. He climbs. He jumps. He barrels. He wrestles. He is my boy. And as foreign as all this "boy" stuff is to me, he is my life. I love him way more than any words could describe.

Just watch out if you're around--he just may come barrelling your way! And when he does, don't say I didn't warn you.