11 Months Old

Ok folks, seriously, one more month and we'll be celebrating Matthew's first birthday! It's unbelievable how fast this mommy and daddy thing goes. Anyways, let me tell you guys what he's been doing lately. His personality is really starting to develop. He loves to laugh, especially at Josh or me, when we're acting silly. But trust me, Matthew does his fair share in acting silly as well. For instance, take a look at the picture below.

Yes, he keeps us laughing every day. I guess the world looks more interesting when you're upside down. Just today he was in this position, and he worked his head and hands closer to his feet. And the next thing he knew, he was sitting on his butt, and it kind of startled him. I was cheering him for a job well done, but he fussed a little. Maybe it hurt when he landed, but it was also just before dinner, and he's usually whiny around that time.

He looks so innocent in the one above, doesn't he? He's a sweet boy, except when he's getting dressed. He hates to have his clothes changed now. He'll try to roll over on the changing table and he'll fuss and be generally uncooperative. Oh yeah, it's great fun.

He's been eating chunkier foods these days, which I guess includes nibbling his toe once in a while. This morning he ate about a fourth of a banana. I broke off the piece to feed to him, and he scraped off bites with his teeth. He also reaches or points for things that he wants. So far he's been patient if we can't figure out what he wants right away, but I'm guessing that will change as time goes on. But on the plus side, with time comes language, so he'll be able to actually tell us what he wants. Whoo-hoo, a silver lining!

Aww, what a nice face, little boy

And, not so nice. What a booger.

Ok, where was I? Oh yes, he loves to listen to me sing. If he's crying in the car or when he's getting dressed, usually he'll stop crying if I'm singing. It's an easy tactic/distraction, and I'll keep using it as long as I can.

He's getting so big. He's outgrown most of his 12-month overalls. We've got him in 18-24 month stuff, and some of it's still too big, so I guess he's between sizes for now. Oh, a few weeks back we introduced him to his ball popper he got for Christmas, and at first he was scared of it. It's got a loud vacuum noice to move the balls around, and I think that's what he didn't like. But he got used to it, so he likes it now.

Look, Ma, Bullwinkle antlers! No, actually, we were doing the "so big" game here. He just caught onto it this week, and I got it on camera.



See? Isn't he cute? Ok, I'm biased, but so are you all, since you're related to him :) Ok funny story now. Has anybody ever had a pea facial? Oh yeah, I had one today for lunch, and it's not as glamorous as it sounds :) I put the soupy spoon of peas into Matthew's mouth, and without warning he sneezed all over me! There was no scrunched up nose or squinty eyes or anything to indicate it was coming and man, I got it good. There were green spots on my glasses, in my hair, on my shirt. And I'm trying to clean myself up and Matthew's just looking at me with a big smile on his face. He better not have done it on purpose.

Sorry if my writing is a little disjointed. I had this list of things to write about so I wouldn't forget, and it doesn't always come out smooth on, er, paper, for lack of a better word. Well, if you survived my stories and updates, then I guess I can leave you with a video. Keep in mind, Matthew's a goofball who loves to laugh. And he'll laugh at the silliest things.

Valentine's Day

Before I talk about V-day, I wanted to share a video with you. This is what Matthew thinks of getting his nails cut...

(Sigh) He used to be so good with it too. He'd hold really still and watch me clip away, but now he has to give me a major 'tude about it. Oh well :)

Valentine's Day is probably Josh's least favorite holiday. Not that he hates to love me or anything. It's just not Christmas or Easter, and a lot of money is spent for cards and flowers, stuff that gets thrown away eventually. Needless to say, he's not all that enthusiastic about it, and I had to remind that it was even coming up. I don't care that he doesn't go all out, cause I know he loves every day of the year, but I do like to get a restaurant meal out of it. What can I say? It's a good excuse to get a babysitter and have some couple time. We ate at Texas Roadhouse--yum! They had great steaks, excellent rolls, and the best honey cinnamon butter you could ever slather on anything! And then we walked around the mall for a little bit to work off our lunch. See? Nothing extravagant, but still nice.

Matthew made me a Valentine's Day card, but not without some help, of course.

Look at me, Mommy! These crayons are so cool!

Ok, let's get down to business.

Josh picked up a vased flower arrangement for me.

And here's my new leather jacket I was telling you about. It easily became my V-day gift.

I ordered Josh one of his favorite indulgences, Cheerwine. It's a cherry-flavored beverage, and they don't make it where we live, so he's happy to have it around.

Oh, I forgot to mention that Josh and I decided to make cards for each other this year. He liked that idea much better than spending $4 on a card from the store, and we all had fun making them. Josh's card to me is the red one, Matthew's is in the middle, and mine for Josh is to the right. I went with a Cinderella-themed card, which is why you see the blue on it. Behind the cards is Matthew's gift from Grammy. She got him a spring jacket with sailboats on it.

I'll close with my favorie picture above. After our lunch we spent pretty much the rest of the day at Josh's parents' house. We hung out with Hannah and Matthew, and when Beka's b-ball game was over, we celebrated her birthday with cheesecake.

Ooh, cheesecake...that makes me want to take a trip to The Cheesecake Factory ;)

Mostly About Me

I've been having bad dreams this week. Every night it's something different, and I really wish it would stop plaguing me. Josh likes to watch a show on History channel called Monster Quest, and these experts are looking for myths, like the Loch Ness Monster or Big Foot. It's not really scary to me, but then I had a bad dream about it. I thought if we skipped that show, I'd be dream-free, but not the case. I usually have a snack in the evenings, so I thought if I gave that up, it would help too (typically if I eat right before bed, I'll dream a lot). But last night I still had a bad dream. Oh well, they can't go on forever, so I'll just endure them for the time being.

Research shows that mothers who take time for themselves away from their children, whether it be daily, weekly, or monthly, become better mothers. They get a chance to break away from the daily grind and do something for themselves, like shopping, or exercising, or taking a luxurious bath. They get to relax and refocus, and as a result they have more energy and a more positive attitude when they come back to their mothering duties.

That's what I needed yesterday. It was just one of those days. I had a headache most of the day, and Matthew was extra whiney and clingy. I tried to watch a movie, and he wasn't content to play by himself. I'd try to interest him in a toy, and he would just push it out of the way and reach for me. So then I'd hold him, but he'd want out of my arms almost immediately. It's tough when we don't know what our kids want, and it sure doesn't help matters when they don't know what they want either.

My break came at church. I passed him off to the nursery workers, and he had a good time with some different people and toys while I watched a video on Debt as Money. It wasn't a long separation, but it was long enough for my baby-free time. Experts say you should specifically carve out your alone time or you may not ever get it. And I really should do that, but a lot of times I just take it when I feel I need it. Even if I can leave Matthew home with Josh while I grocery shop after dinner--that's enough for me most of the time. Though I'm sure as our family grows, I will have to plan ahead for some me-time.

Blogging is another avenue of escape for me, sort of. I mean Matthew's right here on the floor next to me, but since I'm writing mostly about myself, I guess I'm getting a mental break from my darling little boy.

Let's see, what else can I tell you about myself? I bought some new makeup recently. I don't wear makeup everyday. Once a week is my norm, cause I wanna look a little more presentable for church on Sundays. I was pretty much out of powder, I hadn't had any blush in months, and I needed more concealer. So it was off to Target to search my favorite brand for my items. I like Almay. They have eyeshadow combinations that complement different eye colors, so it takes the guess work out of knowing which shade is right for you. I like simple stuff like that--complicated makeup is just that--complicated. And I don't have time for that. Almay has also recently come out with a line called Pure Blends, and 95% of the ingredients are all-natural. They are doing it for environmental purposes, but I'm using it cause I think it will be good for my skin.

And speaking of skin, mine is very sensitive. I have yet to find a face wash and lotion that works well for me. I tried Mary Kay, and I must say their Velocity lotion is about the lightest and most non-pore-clogging I've used. But that also means it doesn't give me all the moisture my skin needs. Plus it's a little inconvenient to have to order it from a consultant. I'd rather be able to pick up my stuff at the drug store. Now I'm trying Dove's face wash, and it's not too harsh, but it doesn't seem to control my break-outs very much. So while it's keeping me clean, it's just not doing enough. And the lotion that matches feels greasy. Usually any face products I try will work for a week or two, but after that it starts to dry out my skin and clog my pores, yada yada.

Now that I've explained my dilemma to you, I recently saw a commercial for Neutrogena's new idea, called Skin ID. You go online and answer a bunch of questions about your skin type and your type of acne and what kind of skin you have, and after that they evaluate your skin and give you a skin care regimen designed just for you. I think I'm interested in trying this out. They guarantee it will work (I know, I know, don't believe everything you hear), but they do give you a 60-day money back guarantee. By then I'm sure I'd know if it was working for me, so at least I could get my money back. When I was looking on the website, it seemed that you get three products, and it will cost about $40. I'm sure there's a shipping charge too. That's a pretty good chunk of change, but it might be worth it if my skin gets happy.

And since I'm on a outward appearance discussion, I'll continue it by telling you all that I bought a leather jacket two days ago that I just love! It was $400, but JCPenney conveniently had it on final clearance for $50, which is much more reasonable. It's a dark brown, and the leather is soft and buttery. And I'd like to also mention that when I put it on I feel really good. It's ok if your clothes make you feel attractive, right? Well, this jacket does the job for me.

Oh, my new favorite cereal is Multi-Grain Cheerios. If you are a Cheerios fan, you will like these I think. They are really tasty, and they are good for you too. Try 'em--they're really yummy :)

House update: Remember when I talked about that first house possibly being "the one"? Well, it is. We looked at a couple more, but the Lord kept drawing us back to this one, so we went for it. We just found out that they officially accepted our offer yesterday, even though we thought it was accepted a couple weeks ago. Apparently someone made a higher bid on this house, but they've decided to go with us because our finances are better. Whoo-hoo! So we've been promised that the paperwork will take a couple weeks, and then we should start to see some agreements in writing. We've been praying for patience this whole time, and most days it's easy. But Josh and I both have our days where we just want to get packing and move on outa here.

Oh, and do you want to know a neat story about this house? When we first checked it out with our realtor, one of the bedrooms had a keychain hanging from the ceiling fan, and the keychain said Matthew. Coincidence? Or a sign from God? You be the judge ;)

And as my sister has said before in her posts, if you've read through all that stuff, you deserve a reward, like a Matthew picture for instance. His hair has gotten really long, and Josh got a little creative in the bath tub the other night.



Thanx for listening, er, reading this post. I'm sure it's all you wanted to know about me and even more. I suppose I should have put at the top that the only Matthew-ish thing was a picture at the end, but who am I to deny you the pleasure of learning about my dreams, my skin, and my clothes? You see, I've covered the mental, the physical, and the superficial. Oh, and the spiritual, since I talked about church. At least I'm thorough ;)

Winter, Winter, Go Away!

Is anyone else sick of snow? Don't get me wrong, I love winter, and I love snow for Christmas, but when storms come in February, I'm ready to see green trees and pretty flowers once again. The apartment feels so small when we're cooped up all day. I look forward to my weekly grocery shopping, just cause I know I can get out of the house. But when I have to watch my step while holding Matthew for fear of slipping on ice, the journey isn't as pleasant. Spring brings warmer and longer days, which means family walks after dinner and trips to Coldstone to satisfy my sweet tooth. Yes, spring needs to come soon :)

Even though we don't have a lot of room, Matthew seems content to explore the space we have. No, he's not crawling yet, but he can get up on all fours. And when he's on his belly, he can advance, retreat, and even rotate (like a lazy susan). He still loves to stand, which he's getting stronger at, but he's hesitant to take steps.

He's so talkative now. It's more than just da-da and na-na. He's experimenting with other vowel combinations and sounds like he's really trying to say a word sometimes.

This pic is for Great-Grandpa Trew. We thought Matthew looked like a farmer in this outfit.

I taught him this a few days ago, and I kinda regret it. He was in his crib one morning. Or maybe it was afternoon after a nap. I can't remember exactly. But anyway, he was whining a bit cause he couldn't see me, so I slowly lifted up the bottom of the bumper, and he was so delighted to see my face right there. A game of peek-a-boo ensued, and the next day after he woke up from a nap, I found him pulling on it all by himself. I'll bet once we take the bumper away, he's gonna have a hard time going to sleep. It's sorta closed him in and kept him from seeing the other things in the room. Now there'll be so many things to look at. Who wants to sleep when there's exploring to be done?

The other night Josh was playing with Matty while I went to the store for a few things. When I came back, he told me that he'd shot 42 shots in a row without any help from daddy. Needless to say I was pretty impressed. I mean, he likes his basketball hoop, but he usually loses interest after a few shots. This video is a small sample of his "mad skills."

He has this tongue hanging out of his mouth all the time and licking his chin. It must taste pretty good. For this picture, I was trying to get a shot of him on all fours, but he belly flopped before I could get it.

Then he decided to be goofy and reward me with a face only a mother could love :)

Not looking at the camera, but on all fours like I wanted.

My new favorite picture. I just love his smile right here. He looks so sweet.

Well, I guess that's all I have for you guys right now. Not too much to say. We're just enduring what Winter has left to give and looking forward to Spring rearing it's lovely head. Stay warm everyone!