Matthew the musical baby

Here is Matthew's first piano recital. He is quite impressive!

New Camera

Here are some of our first pictures taken with our Canon Rebel T3. I'm sure once we learn how to really use it we will capture some sweet expressions. The color is so crisp!

Matthew has started biting his bottom lip this week and making an "mmmm" sound. I think he is trying to say mama, but I'm not sure many people agree with me.

First Thanksgiving with our little Butterball

I have found that nothing makes me feel more blessed than when I am sitting quietly with Matthew at the end of the day. I just look at every inch of his sweet body when he is curled up with me for his last feed of the day. As I stroke his hair and take in his sweet smell I am in disbelief that I have everything in life I ever wanted. Holding your baby makes you feel like you are the most blessed person on the planet and you wonder how you ever got to be so lucky. These are the blessing we continue to count every day, but especially on this holiday:

• Thankful for a happy, growing baby, who enjoys his days and sleeps well at night
• Thankful for my time off from work, which allows me to see how much Matthew grows and changes from week to week, in addition to loving on him all day
• Thankful for Matthew's good health and growth and all that he is learning to do each day
• Thankful for good health for all of our family, including us and our parents and brothers and sisters.
• Thankful for a great daddy for my son, a man who is creative and loving in his play with Matthew and a daddy who will help Matthew grow into a man of great integrity and character
• Thankful for a husband who works hard for us, provides for our family, and will someday show our son the value of hard work, dedication, and responsibility.
• Thankful for good jobs for both of us, jobs that allow us to provide for our family but also jobs that give us a lot of time off to be together and spend time with Matthew
• Thankful for a wonderful extended family who loves us so much. Thankful for giving and selfless grandparents and aunts and uncles who are so good to Matthew and to us.
• Thankful for my mom being so close and having her here when I need her as my mom and when I need her as Matthew's grandmother. Thankful for her big heart and how wonderfully enthusiastic she is to help take care of Matthew.
• Thankful for a safe and comfortable home, when so many people have struggled to stay in their homes.
• Thankful for good friends who treat us like family. Friends who are considerate and selfless and remind us how to enjoy life with laughter.
• Thankful for our freedoms that so many have fought and paid for both in the past and in the present.
• Thankful for our church and the comfort and peace I feel when my husband and I listen to sermons together, and for a church that takes good care of Matthew for us while we are there.

We went to Boca Raton to celebrate all the blessings for which we are so thankful this year. All of Matthew's Moran aunts and uncles (or tios and tias as they are called on this side of the family) and his Grandparents were happy to welcome him home for a nice family get-together. Matthew's MamaAdina had prepared a wonderful little home away from home for Matthew and for us. She had the master bedroom set up for us to use, complete with a full-sized crib for Matthew and a chair for me to nurse him in, and the adjoining bathroom had a changing pad and bath tub to use so we had all the comforts of home. Everyone was happy to hold and play with Matthew, play with his toys with him and read to him, take him outside and on walks, and pretty much love on him all they wanted!

We had a nice meal with not only a turkey, but pork and fish too. Rachel and I worked on some side dishes and desserts and Adina added a few of her Peruvian-spin Thanksgiving dishes too. We played games at night after Matthew went to bed and even made it out to go bowling one night while MamaAdina and Tia Suzy babysat with Matthew.

On Thursday late at night daddy went out to Best Buy to fight the Black Friday crazies in search of a nice DSLR camera so we can get some great pictures of our fast-moving little cutie. He found a great deal and was lucky to get a camera with just what we were looking for. We recently bought a camera but decided we wanted to upgrade so we can get some really quality shots of Matthew, especially since he often moves too quickly for us to get him with the camera we have now. It takes great pictures if he is sitting still. In addition to our new camera, Grandpa Neno bought us a video camera, which has a lot of cool features, including being waterproof and a "Share" button for quick uploads to Facebook or YouTube.

On Friday we went to have Moran Family portraits taken. We got some really nice shots of the whole family, and a couple of Matthew by himself too.

Interacting with Daddy

Matthew has been so expressive lately. It is fun to see the wheels turning in his head when he watches things happen or when he has his conversations with his daddy. Here is video of the boys playing with trucks. Notice Matthew is sitting up, a new trick mastered within the last few weeks, and is tracking fast moving objects with his eyes and ears.

This video is of the boys laughing together. Matthew loves to imitate his daddy, and pretty much thinks he is the funniest thing on earth.

Matthew and friends

We have had a bunch of visits with friends over the last few days. We went to see our buddy Wade Fenton and his daddy Bobby to watch a Gator game. It was dreadfully awful. We squeaked out a meaningless win in a pathetic season. At least the babies we cute and entertaining.

On Friday Devon and the kids had the day off from school/work so we went to Lettuce Lake Park. It was a gorgeous day and we all had a picnic lunch-- well Matthew had a boobie lunch-- then he had a great time watching all the kids on the playground. I remember very fondly spending LOTS of time there as a kid, and I know Matthew will have tons of fun some day on the playground and walking the boardwalk along the river.

Then on Saturday, Jocilyn came over to hang out with Matthew in between naps. He was all smiles for her and showed off his newest trick, sitting up. She danced for him and he was impressed with how she moved. He laughed when I stood him up on his changing table. He was taller than her and felt like a big man.

Later that day Granna came over to watch Matthew so I could go watch one of my students in her cheerleading competition. They enjoyed one of Matthew's new favorite activities, reading. He loves it! He likes to hold the books and turn the pages. I think he wants to flip the pages quicker than we can read the words. He also showed off his jumping skills for Granna in his jumperoo.

Matthew, my "gift from God"

Matthew is such a blessing. I must pinch myself 20 times a day in awe of how in love I am, what a gift from God he is to us. We went to church again today, and Matthew went to the nursery during the service which was nice because I was able to focus on the sermon and not distracted by his every move. This was the first time we left him with someone other than one of his grandmas, and I only checked the pager they gave me every few minutes to make sure the blinking light was still green and not red.

I am so glad we went. Every time I hear our pastor's sermon he always speaks right to my heart. Matthew is such a happy baby these days. His life is simple, he loves his parents and we love him, he is well cared for and has a safe and happy home. I see the innocent joy and peace in his expressions and I can't help but know that he will experience hurt and heartache at some point in his life. As his mom I want to do everything to keep him from anything that robs his joy or crushes his spirit, and I never want him to know pain. I know that is unrealistic and I know my heart will break for him some day, probably many days.

The sermon today was on John 16:31, I have told you all of this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world. Pastor Matthew said that even knowing God does not mean we will go through life in a bubble protected from trials and heartache, but that when we do go through trials He will be there with us, and in us. I can take heart in that, and know that one of my most important jobs as a mom is to raise my Matthew to know the Lord so he can have peace in a world that will often beat him down, and that he can overcome anything in knowing his Savior walks with him.

We had a nice day with our little family today after church. Matthew went on a walk and played with his daddy and then watched some football with his mommy. Here's a picture of Matthew and his new favorite past time, banging away on the computer.

Longboat Key with our Cousins

Our family including Granna went to Longboat Key for the first time with Matthew. He got to see his Great Aunt Anne for the third time, and got to meet his second cousins, Logan and Griffin, who are my cousin Deb's kids. It is so much fun seeing our family grow, one that used to be so small and full of girls is now getting bigger and bigger and has added 4 boys in the last 2 years.

My cousin Deb is such a good mom. She has been a very big support to me during the last few months and has given me lots of advice and encouraging words when I needed them in Matthew's first few months. It was good to see her and give her a big hug! The boys had plenty of toys to entertain themselves with. It was a beautiful day and we had a very relaxing time down there, as always. Somehow all three boys took naps at the exact same time and slept for at least 2 hours, while the adults had lunch and caught up.

After naps we sat out back on the canal and then went to the beach for the sunset. There were too many clouds for a nice sunset but it was beautiful as always and I am reminded of how incredible the beach is when it is cool and how great the sand feels under your feet in the winter time. We got some great pictures and Matthew was in happy spirits for his first trip to see the Florida white stuff.

Today was a big day for us. Matthew sat up for extended periods of time without using his hands for support. He was so cute, holding his arms out for balance. He's getting so big, one day at a time.