ABC song

In the past 4 months my little man has started talking and singing and I love it!!

Crawling, Teeth & Blueberries

I'll give you one guess what ties all these things together...OH!! You're right...little Mattie!! July was a marker month for Mattie in many ways! Two little pearly white teeth broke through her gums during this past month. She  handled the teeth coming in fairly well and to our surprise she has taken a liking to pacifiers & orajel! Crawling was next on her to-do list and she mastered the skill very quickly, because within 6 days she started pulling up! My favorite memory of Mattie learning to crawl is her crawling out of her room to look for me & DB! She was sitting in the hallway trying to decide which way to go...and now she follows us everywhere!! Now, for a food update!! Little Miss Mattie loves sweet potatoes!! Squash and green beans are OK. Fruit has been a different story, until today!!! We had a major breakthrough this morning with a blueberry/apple mix (Gerber) that she really liked!!! AKA...she didn't push the spoon away and make funny faces!! It's so fun to get excited about the little things!! Here are a few (or 14) pictures of life happening! Enjoy

Mattie getting ready for the 4th of July parade!

Dad & DB in their patriotic gear

Checking out a friends tricycle!

the parade in action!

What happens when you ask the cousins to pose for a picture on the 4th of July??? HAHA - we actually got a decent picture of the group, but this was the only one on my camera...and I thought it would make a funny post and give a good chuckle in the future!!

Visiting the Naval Air Museum

Standing UP!

The full parade line-up

Friends!!

Some cute kiddos...and their dads.

Dad teaching me to walk!

Crawling and my tongue sticking out! 

Our good friend Amy told us about this awesome event called Touch a Truck! It was a huge hit with DB! Our favorite was the fire truck!!

One sad part about July was saying good-bye to Uncle '--OTT'! We miss you!!!

6 month comparison

DB @ 6 months

Mattie @ 6 months 

Tonight I wanted to look back at DB's baby pictures to see how similar/different he looked from Mattie. They both have chubby cheeks, but they look pretty different to me! 

The number 5 (plus one)

There seems to be a common thread connecting my blog with the number 5...meaning I take a five month reprieve from blogging after having a baby. Kind of like a maternity leave of sorts. But the number five also has another significance this year. Five years ago I married an incredible man and he has made me so happy! I love you, sweetie! Thanks for believing in me and loving me...even though we all know I can drive you crazy!

Miss Mattie Elizabeth entered our world on December 28th and life has never been same!! She is full of life, energy and smiles!!Her sparkling personality has already made our home a happier place! From the beginning she has been a 'talker.'  Although we aren't fully aware of what she is telling us, we listen closely because we know she has stories to tell! Here are some milestone/Mattie-isms:

a. roll over - 2 months
b. sat up at 4.5 months
c.  first tooth - 6 months
d. likes her bottle warm
f. likes to roam the house in her 'car'
g. likes to follow her brother...everywhere
h. loves to smile at people
i. not a huge fan of the pacifier, but she is taking it at night ;)
j. likes country music
k. is a messy eater
l. likes to face outward when being held

DB adjusted really well to Mattie (thankfully). He calls her 'Ma Ma' now and says it so sweetly! He normally asks for her in the mornings, enjoys commentating on her nap schedule during the day and kisses her good night before bed. I hope they will always be sweet to each other! And they are sweet to each other, well, most of the time. We are currently entering the 'toy sharing' era where Mattie wants all to play with big brothers trucks, tools and toys. DB is verbal enough to object, but is always overruled and most often complies with the verdict. Speaking of law terms, Uncle Scott is staying with us this month while working at his internship. We love having Uncle Scott around!

That's all for now! I'm going to post this before I need to add another number to the title!

Almost forgot how to sign in

Finally updating the blog at the 11 hour! 2010 has been a fun, busy, exciting year...and its not over...its about to get crazier at midnight tonight! One reason I haven't been updating the blog is because I haven't been about to get any decent pictures with my camera. Well, Santa Dean solved that problem. ;) Sadly I haven't finished reading the uploading portion of the new camera's manual, but trust me the pictures are really cool! Here are some pictures with the old camera for now.

Tomorrow is DB's 16 month birthday and his gift is a little baby sister! We aren't completely sure he understands, but he does know that Mattie is in my tummy! Pretty smart dude! DB has become a "little helper." He loves to help with the laundry, organizing and cleaning of the house (mainly the vacuum cleaner). He still loves to read books and really enjoys puzzles. He LOVES anything electronic...phone, tv remote, cameras...and he knows how to work most too!

We are heading to the hospital tonight in hopes that Mattie will be born early tomorrow morning! We are praying for a healthy, happy little girl to welcome into our family!

More tomorrow...

Yes, Santa ate the cookies!!

This is interesting!!

Family pic

Belly pic...39 weeks + 2 days

Halloween

Randomness from the past few weeks

Life is a little busy right...OK a lot!! Each day brings us closer to moving and although we are extremely excited about the move...it also seems like there are many things that have to happen before we pack our bags. Little DB is getting so BIG and changing so much each day. He started walking right around his birthday, but is mastering the skill more and more each day. I've taken a couple of videos and can't wait to share them. His vocabulary skills impress me everyday. He knows so many words (head, nose, belly button, toes, shoes, giraffe, dog, hot, book, etc.) and learns more each day. He sticks to saying "Mama" "Dada" "GabGab" and pretty much everything else right now is "Baaa" or "Buuu"...although he has been known to make the sounds of 'K' and'H" and "G." We have worked with the child for 6 months on clapping his hands together (he would just bang them on the table) and I turned around tonight and he was walking along and clapping his hands!!! CAUGHT! He's known how to do it for sometime now just didn't want us to know. He had the biggest smirk on his face....little turkey. Without further ado...I'll leave you with some recent pictures.

Photo shoot day after birthday

say cheese

Where is DB's head??

We have visited dad at work a few times because he has been working such long hours

Here I am walking

Dean and I at the Helo Ball

We spend a lot of time watching the bulldozers outside our windows because they are replacing the sewer lines in the neighborhood. Gabby & I are not sure how DB sleeps through most of the noise, but we have been fairly lucky b/c our house shakes most of the day!

ONE

Our baby is ONE!! What a wonderful and precious year it has been. DB is such a happy, sweet loving little boy and FULL of energy! Here are some pictures of his first birthday - baseball theme party!

Really enjoyed opening the cards

The perfect toy to help him learn to walk

Mickey's walk & ride airplane! He LOVES it!

OK - the Cake pictures are out of order - sorry!

First birthday cake - chocolate chip pound cake with butter cream icing

YUM YUM!! Not shy about digging in

A little help blowing out the candle

The 'extra' cake that the rest of us ate!

'All for me???'

His face says it all - we were a little out of tune for the song!!

Dad & DB

Birthday morning w/ balloons

Table

Opening gifts!!

The cake! Not too bad for homemade

Family picture with cake

Hank & DB @ the party