A busy weekend

Last weekend we jam-packed our days. It started with an early morning 5K walk to support our friend Anne, who is battling brain cancer. The walk was called Miles for Hope and Jocilyn and I walked with Matthew through downtown Clearwater and over the bridge to Clearwater beach. Our team, Anne's Angels, had over 100 members including this little cutie, who proudly wore his Anne's Angels onesie.

Then we went home and Matthew surprisingly went down super easy for a nap just in time for us to leave to a party. So we waited until he woke up and then it was off to Piper's 1st birthday party. She is one of the teacher babies, and has the hots for Matthew.

We saw our friends Ella, Cohen, Jane and Kate, and Cade there too, and met a new friend, Mrs. Sullivan, who is a retired McKitrick teacher and the grandmother of one of my favorite former students. She of course was just dying to hold this handsome devil, and he happily hung out with her for quite some time.

On Sunday Jenn and I threw a bridal shower for Bonnie and had a nice time with the girls. Matthew came with me to hang out while we got the party set up before Alex got home from work. Then right as things were nearing crunch time Matthew decided to blow out a diaper in Shepherd's bumbo, and in my efforts to clean him managed to get a nice long streak of poo all down my white capri pants. I called Alex and he brought me clean clothes and then he took Matthew home for some male bonding while we did girly things. They came back to Jenn's house in the afternoon and we had a nice time just hanging out with some of the party lingerers and some daddies and babies who were welcomed back into the house.

Side note... I think Matthew thinks the bumbo is a toilet. He blows out the biggest poops when he sits in there! I have cleaned out that thing no fewer than 4 times (although someone, either Jenn or Sean cleaned it out for me this time as Matthew had nastiness running down his legs)!

Matthew meets Wade Fenton

The Fentons welcomed their first child, Wade Robert Fenton, on September 16, 2011. We went to meet baby Wade last week and took new mama Chelsea some yummy lactation cookies. Wade's daddy Robert is one of my best friends and has been since college. After he met Chelsea he became even more desirable to hang out with! No doubt our friendship revolves around two of my favorite things- sports and the Gators, and now we can add my NEWEST favorite thing... BABIES! I know with Matthew and Wade being only 3 months apart that they will grow up playing together while we watch Gator games or play Ultimate Frisbee together, and someday hopefully we'll watch and cheer when our boys are finally doing the playing of the sports.

Here are these two young buddies, Matthew and Wade hanging out in the pack n play.

Here are the proud daddies, holding each other's baby.

And holding Wade almost makes me ready to have another tiny baby... although I realize they only stay so tiny for about a month!

Our BEST DAY yet!

Tuesday, September 20, 2011 was our best day so far. We didn't do anything super fun or spectacular but it was a lot of things that all fell into place in the same day. We did NORMAL things that people do that we have not been able to do for a while. Matthew was in great spirits all day. Here's what we did:

• Went for 2 walks with Matthew and Maggie.
• Matthew took a short morning nap and two sizeable afternoon naps- put down awake in crib and just fell asleep without much fuss (this is what really made our day!).
• Alex was able to hit up Publix
• We went to meet a new friend
• Alex made a great lunch
• I went to the gym and actually lifted a weight for the first time in who knows how long, ran on the eliptical, and hit some racquetballs.
• I got TWO showers in one day!
• I went to tutor and Alex babysat
• Matthew rolled over for the first time- of course when I was gone tutoring
• I came home to Alex's dinner- London Broil, which Matthew let us eat together!
• Alex made it to the gym to play racquetball with friends and later went running with Maggie
• We actually made time for each other and did a little somethin-somethin
• Matthew enjoyed playing in his new bouncer

Matthew's first visit to Boca Raton

We went to Boca for the first time since adding Matthew to our family. We were also headed down there to get Maggie, who had been there visiting Halo since early August. After our last road trip to St. Augustine we decided to try to travel at night. So we gave Matthew a bath and made like it was bed time and then left around 7:30. Naturally, our boy was a champ and slept the whole way. We did the same thing coming back and it worked too.

We do what we usually do when in Boca- hang out, eat, sleep, eat some more, watch some TV. We went to our favorite breakfast place, the Original House of Pancakes. Matthew was asleep through the ordering process, but decided he wanted to be part of the action just as the food arrived. Luckily, he was happy and just wanted to see what was going on. As we were leaving the woman in the booth behind us was making eyes at him and he was smiling and laughing at her, and then did the same with the woman in the next booth over. This was his first time he really laughed at a stranger, or interacted with one at all for that matter. By the time we exited the restaurant Matthew had interacted with about every woman in the shop. He was quite a flirt and all the old ladies found him just delicious!

Here he is flirting with a woman on our way out of the restaurant

The next night we went to a mexican restaurant. I asked for a table in the back in case Matthew became fussy or needed to be fed. This restaurant was HUGE and had about 50 empty tables, with about 4 tables occupied. They took us to a tiny 4 person table and said that we wouldn't be able to put the carseat on the aisle due to code violations so we'd have to squeeze the carseat in between 2 chairs. I asked if we could sit at one of the many 6 seater tables, and she said they save those for parties greater than 4 people. HELLO!? We have 5 people- Matthew is in fact, a person!, who takes up more space than most with all his gear. She huffed and puffed acting like she was doing us a huge favor. I mentioned to her that it was Sunday afternoon at 4:30 and the place was empty. Oh well- I of course got my way and ended up nursing him hoping to spite her. The old ladies there for the early bird special at the table next to us thought he was just precious.

Alex and I also made it out to our first movie since Matthew was born. We haven't done a night time babysitter yet, but a late afternoon show worked out well. Matthew stayed with both grandparents, who thoroughly entertained him. They sang to him and played with him, and took him for a walk outside- of course, to show him off to the neighbors. He took a bottle and held it himself (with some support) for the first time. He even went down for a nap sans tears. They took lots of video, and it was the cutest thing and helped put my fears about leaving him with others to ease a bit seeing that he was happy without us, actually he looked a lot happier than he was with us previously-- he cried for a bit in the afternoon.

Alex's parents have been stocking up on baby gear since about a year before I got pregnant. I think they have more toys than we do. Here are some pictures of Matthew enjoying his time in Boca.

Ultimate frisbee Champs

Team Grundlesweat

We have had a group of "friends" (on most days) who get together each weekend for the past 7 or so years to play Ultimate Frisbee for fun and exercise. Tampa Bay Club Sport opened up an ultimate league this summer and we entered a team. We were pretty confident in our athletic ability and have all improved our throwing over the years, but we were up against some competition that included veterans of the sport and tournament and club players, some of which have come out to our weekend game for the past year or so.

We ran the table with a perfect 10-0 season, including an impressive 3 times in 3 weeks beat-down of our rivals and the only other real competition in the league. We were a dominating force and we all won sports bags as our trophy as pictured below. This was my first sport back since having Matthew and it was so fun to feel like an athletic person again for an hour a week. In the beginning of the season he slept through the whole thing but now as a big boy he wakes when fun stuff is going on, so this will be our last weeknight league. Matthew was the unofficial mascot and here he is completing our championship pyramid.

And to prove I was on the team and not just Matthew's seat...

Hanging with the Chamberlin girls

We went down to Ellenton last Friday to meet Aunt Anne for lunch. We took pictures and stories to share, and Aunt Anne shared about her vacation in China last month. We talked for hours; I think we were there for 3 hours and Matthew held up like a champ. This was the first time we went into a restaurant when he was awake. Usually we go when he is asleep and try to get out before he wakes up. He was alert and enjoying his Great Aunt Anne's company the whole time, and when he was finally tired he fell asleep in his car seat.

Then we went to the Ellenton outlet mall to walk off lunch. We made it to Baby Gap where I had a gift card. They had some cute Halloween shirts and Anne bought us a couple. I am so excited to see him wear them when the weather cools a bit. They had some pajama type costumes and we thought this cow hat was adorable. The costume would have been really hot and my boy needs a more manly animal costume than a cow, but we managed to get the hat on and draped the costume over him while he slept. Cute baby cow.

September 11- Ten years later

We went to church for the first time as a family this weekend- all 3 of us, including Granna. Our church always does a great job recognizing and praying for people at times throughout the year; active and retired military veterans on Veterans' Day, teachers at the start of the school year, mothers and fathers at the respective holidays, etc. On this September 11th tenth anniversary they recognized first responders and preached on how to experience triumph over terror. It was a powerful ceremony and a great way to commemorate this special weekend. At one point in the service they asked all firefighters, paramedics, and police officers to come to the stage at which point they shared their appreciation for the sacrifices these men and women make and prayed for their safety, strength, and wisdom on the job. Then Pastor Matthew thanked each one with a handshake and asked that each one of them not leave today with less that 25 hugs. Alex had been holding Matthew prior to this point so when they asked the guys to come forward Alex took Matthew, which was only fitting since he was adorable dressed in his fire chief shirt. I'm not sure if Alex got his 25 hugs, but Matthew sure did.

It was a nice moment for Alex but was really special for me as well. I got to see Alex stand on the stage in front of hundreds as a person in our community who works to help people when they need it most. After working so hard in school the past few years and dedicating himself to this profession it was nice to see him up there. Then on the other side it made my heart happy to see what a good man and proud father Alex has become- one who takes his family to church and who held his son in front of all those people. It gives me peace to know Matthew will be raised by parents who take his spirituality seriously. And I was especially at ease knowing that there are people in the church who pray for the safety of first responders every day, because Alex can use all the prayers he can get.

Here are my strong, brave boys- singing away during praise and worship

Mr. Matt is 3 months old!

Happy birthday, precious baby!

Matthew turns 3 months old today and is really changing so much. He is so fun and daddy and I love him so much more everyday. Now that Matthew is such a big boy he is able to do so many things. He is becoming very strong. He likes to stand and do little jumps, do baby sit-ups and has an arm workout routine. He is doing better and better push-ups everyday and is close to rolling over from his tummy to his back. He loves to kick his foot piano and hear the music is plays. He talks to us all day and smiles and laughs when interacting with us. He is quite the charmer when he sees himself in the mirror. He has opened his hands more and is liking to touch and feel things more. He found his thumbs and will suck on them to put himself back to sleep when he wakes in the middle of the night. He is so much happier than last month and is very content to ride around on mommy's hip and see what's going on around him. One of his biggest accomplishments.... sleeping through the night until 6:00am (if mommy keeps a good schedule during the day).

Teacher babies playdate

We went to Cohen's house today to have a playdate with some of the teacher baby mamas who are on maternity leave. Today is Matthew's 3 month birthday. Cohen is almost 4 months. And Anthony is 7 weeks.

I guess the boys decided eating their hands was way more fun than playing with any toys.

Playing who is that baby in the mirror

Here is my adorably happy baby. I could take a bite out of those chubby cheeks!

Matthew and his buddy Shepherd

We had a very active Labor Day weekend. First we celebrated Shepherd’s first birthday with a big-time party. Matthew got to see a lot of his baby friends, including Shepherd, Owen, and Stella.

He met a new friend, Shepherd’s grandpa Rick, who held Matthew for a few very content hours!

Matthew was pretty happy even though we were there a long time and he didn’t get his regular nap. Mathew also experienced the pool for the first time, sitting here in his cute bathing suit and cooling off his chubby toes.

Then on Monday after Frisbee the Duffs had to get rid of all the party BBQ leftovers. Who better to call than Alex?! So we went back over there and hung out for a bit. We went to the park this time, and Matthew got to swing for the first time. He mostly liked it, but the swing was way too big! He sure looked cute anyway!

Sweet expressions

When we were in Raleigh Lori's friend, Susan, came over to take some pictures of the babies. She did a bunch of maternity photos for Lori. These shots make me really want to buy a nice camera and take a photo class so I can capture these precious expressions everyday. Matthew was almost 11 weeks in these. He is my heart!