Matthew's first Birthday Party!!

We celebrated Matthew's birthday on July 2nd (only 13 days early..) However by celebrating it early we were able to have a big party out at Mason Lake, my grandparents have a house out there that used to belong to my great grandparents and I spent many summer days there.
I spent a few days leading up to the party making favors and finding the perfect plates and decorations for his party. It was a lot of fun to plan, and everything came together really well I think. I forgot to take a picture of the favors I made :( which makes me sad because they turned out really cute. I made rice crispy treats and brownies and shaped them like Popsicles, put them on Popsicle sticks, and then dipped them in chocolate and sprinkled them with fun sprinkles. I wrapped them in a treat bag and tied a ribbon around the stick and put a tag on it that said, "Thank you for coming, It's what should be said, But I can't so here's a "popsicle" instead."
Matthew loves the presents he got and really liked eating the cake of course. The party turned out great, and I think it was an excellent first birthday!

After the cake

The decorations

Matthew's first birthday cake, we think it turned out really cute. We had safeway make it because it was too hard to make it while traveling. We called and told them the toys we had to put on, and asked that they make him a cake with a dirt track. Then we added the cars, ribbons, and candles.

Safeway gives you a free baby cake when you order a first birthday cake through them, his got damaged in the box, but it still tasted good. He started by poking the cake and licking the frosting off his fingers... he did this for about 12 minutes :)

I finally cut the cake so that he could see there was something besides the frosting.

Digging in!

A June Wedding!

We were very excited to travel to Reno, NV to be with Chris's Sister as she was married and we welcomed another family member into the family. We closed the daycare early and headed up to the Spokane Airport, before we got on the plane we were able to spend some time with our friends who live in Spokane (the Roe's), they then drove us to the airport. Matthew did really great on the flight down to Reno, I was worried because he has not flown since he was 3 weeks old which is much different than 11 months, but I worried for nothing he did just fine.

We made it down there and were able to spend the weekend with lots of family, we stayed at The Nugget hotel in Reno. It was nice but they charge you for everything, their complimentary water was even $2.00... silly. Saturday morning Dan, Chris, Matthew and I went swimming in the hotel pool, then boys and girls split up. I went with all the girls and we got our hair and makeup done for the wedding, it was fun to spend the whole day helping Mandy get ready for her big day. Chris, Matthew, and the boys helped set up the reception.

The wedding turned out beautifully it was outside in a park and they all looked amazing! The reception was also a ton of fun with a candy bar, an awesome cake, and with a really good BBQ, and lots of games to play. Here are a few pictures of the happy new family! I am not sure why they came up sideways and at this point I don't know how to fix it, so just turn your computer, or lay down and look at them :)

11 Months!

Matthew turned 11 months on the 15 of June, here are a few pictures from the day :)

So I Realize...

I have been noticing lately that everything I post here and on Facebook is about Matthew, there are very few times in the last year that I have posted about anything else. It is because my little Matthew has become my world, everything in my life revolves around him. What a lucky kid huh?
Of course there are many other things that we do on a daily basis. Chris is taking summer classes and has been doing very well in those. He is a trooper, he has been going to school with no breaks since he started and I know how hard he is working. In addition to school he comes home and helps me get through lunch with all the kids and start nap time. The middle of the day seems to be my crunch time, when I don't have enough hands to help everybody, it is also the time when both babies are ready for their bottles (it is hard to feed them both at one time..) He is also a wonderful Daddy to Matthew, our little boy loves him so much! He has started getting sad when Chris leaves for school in the morning, and when Chris gets home Matthew is in his arms before he even gets through the door. I love watching them play together. Chris has also been very busy getting ready to take the OAT (Optometry Admissions Test). This test is a big deal and will be a huge part of his acceptance into his Optometry program.
I have been busy running the daycare, trying to figure out how to keep up on the housework, and paperwork, while caring for all the children. I love having so many different ages here, but it does make the day somewhat challenging also. I love being able to be home with Matthew, and also having such a close relationship with the other children and their parents. It is much different than working in the daycare center, in that I really feel that I get to know the children and their families much better. I love that connection, because I really love the kids I care for and I think parents really can see that I care and enjoy my work. I feel like Heavenly father really did prepare me for this job, if I had not taken the path I had, this would be so much harder and more intimidating. All the schooling I have had and the different jobs I have had really gave me the experiences that I needed to become a good teacher and business owner. Some of the jobs I worked were not my ideal and I struggled to enjoy them because of various circumstances present in each one, but I can see how each one was necessary. Each job taught me an important lesson or skill which makes where I am now possible. It is very cool to see God's hand at work in my life, to see the result of so much frustration and hard work pay off, and really benefit me more than I could have imagined. He truly does know and love each of us.
I have to say that I love each and every day that I get to be Matthew's Mom. He lights up my world :) I also love that I have an amazing husband who I love more than words can say.
Now onto Matthew because I have to write about him! He is doing great, we have been having fun planning his first birthday, I am so excited for it :) He has walked across our living room, but he is not confident yet and so would rather crawl everywhere still. He is a silly kid and loves to crawl under tables and chairs, he loves to chase balls around, play with cars, and his recent love is putting things inside buckets ect.. I find many interesting items inside boxes now days.
That's all for now, we are busy and loving life as parents, business owners, and students.

We love our little man!

Sometimes these things happen...

So I have been going back and forth as to whether or not to post about this topic, on one hand it is very personal and I don't really enjoy talking about it. On the other it is part of life and I have many friends and acquaintances who at some point may go through this also, I think it helps to know that you are not alone, and so here it goes.
Wednesday May 11th I had a miscarriage, now mind you I didn't know I was pregnant, and I have never had a miscarriage before so I was very confused. I called the doctor that evening and asked what could be going on and he asked if I was pregnant and I told him that I didn't think so, but I have a very irregular cycle and things happen so you never know. He sent me to the store to get a home pregnancy test, which I did and it was positive so then he sent me to the hospital to have a blood test done, which also confirmed the pregnancy. Now I knew for sure that I had a miscarriage. They did an ultrasound to make sure that it was not an ectopic pregnancy or anything like that which would need to be addressed immediately. Everything in the ultrasound looked alright, just lots of blood which is fairly normal from what I understand. The doctor ordered one more blood test in 2 weeks to make sure the HCG Levels are continuing to decrease. I never even went in and saw a doctor for this event which seems weird to me, but as long as my body clears everything out I don't really need to.
So that is the nuts and bolts of everything, emotionally I am handling it great. I think it helps a ton that I had no idea I was pregnant, I would have been 2-3 months along (about 10-11 weeks), which seems crazy that I would not have figured it out by then. I kept making comments about how I felt pregnant, and now we can look back and point out all the signs, but we never thought I was because last time it took so long to get pregnant, and we were not even trying this time.I am thankful that I didn't know, because there would have been an emotional bond already forming and I believe it would have been much harder emotionally. As it stands right now I can look at the whole situation logically and be thankful that my body knew that the baby would not survive and be healthy, sometimes it just happens. When I think we could have been having another baby I get sad, however when I think about the fact that if I had not miscarried that child would have had a very hard life if it even lived long enough to be born, and I am thankful that I do not have to go through that trial right now.
I really felt like I needed to share this because these things happen and they are hard to go through and they are sad, but they are a necessary part of life. I feel that other people need to know that they are not alone and it is nothing to be ashamed of, the majority of the time there is nothing that can be done to prevent them, and you can go on to have more healthy children after the fact. Heavenly Father knows what he is doing and we need to trust that he has a plan for us and our families.

I Am A Child of God

I love the Mormon Messages videos on YouTube because they stand as little daily reminders of beliefs and inspiration for our daily lives. whether you are LDS or not they are wonderful reminders that there is more to life than our daily struggles here, it is all for a reason, and it is all worth it in the end!

Some Pictures..

His favorite game is peek-a-boo, he will play it every chance he gets, if he can hide his eyes he will play. It is really funny when he is crawling so fast trying to get to you and all of a sudden he stops and puts his face down on the floor and then looks up with his big cheesy grin :)

He is all boy, loves to play in the dirt and grass, but I think his favorite thing to do outside is eat leaves and dandelions. Although he really likes to chase the other kids, the balls, and be pulled in the wagon! This summer should be a lot of fun with Matthew around to play with!

10 Months

Having fun!

10 Months and Pea Crazy

So I have not taken a 10 month picture, he just turned 10 months yesterday, maybe tomorrow I will be able to get a picture. The last few days all he eats out of his dinner is peas, he pokes everything else, and then just eats the peas. I think it is funny because he used to eat everything but now unless it is green and round (lima beans are okay too) he won't eat it. What a funny boy we have!

Matthew's first Easter

 

 

On the steam train getting ready to leave.

Dan and Matthew

Us in the front of the train

Matthew picking up his first Easter Egg!

Looking around after he picked it up

He was so excited about his egg and he played with it the rest of the day! I was surprised because I didn't think he would care about it :)

Mommy and Matthew

Matthew and the Easter Bunny after the egg hunt.

Matthew holding his egg with the Easter Bunny

For Easter this year we went back to Gig Harbor and spent it with my family, it was great to see everyone again because it had been so long since we were able to come back. On Saturday we went to Chehalis, Wa and went on a Easter Train ride, it was on an old steam train which was fun. After the train ride they had a huge egg hunt. We took Matthew out and fended off the crowds of people and managed to get him one egg. He was really happy with his one egg though. The eggs were gone in like 2 minutes, it was crazy. Then on Saturday night we went back to Mom and Dads and had a yummy pre-easter dinner together. On Sunday we had lunch and visited with the rest of the family. Then we made the long drive back to Pullman.

It was a great weekend and Matthew had so much fun on his first Easter! I think the next few years will keep getting better, as he begins to understand more about Easter.

9 Months

My Beautiful Baby is 9 months old! He is almost 18lbs and 28.5 inches long, He is very busy these days, playing, crawling all over and pulling himself up on everything he can find. He also has become very clingy to me (Mom) and cries if Dad has him and I'm in the room, however he cries if Dad leaves the room even though he wants to be with me... Silly boy thinks we both should be with him all the time.I love all the extra cuddles I have been getting though!

Stay 'n' Play Preschool

Well we have been busy with the preschool lately, but I am happy to report that we have full enrollment for this summer and are starting a waiting list! It is really neat to see it all come together and be successful, I worked so hard at getting everything ready and licensed and it is finally paying off! Happy Days over here at Stay 'n' Play Preschool :)

Lets go to the park!

Pullman has some great parks, one day after work we ate dinner quickly and took Matthew to one of the parks close to our house. It has been a long winter and it was a nice warm day finally. The following pictures document his reaction to the slide and swing at the park, a week or so later we took him to the park again between sessions of general conference and he loved watching the ducks (we don't have pictures of that trip).

He has no idea what is about to happen

Daddy started letting him slide down, you notice he is holding on tightly to the side of the slide, Chris then pried his hand free to continue down the slide slowly.

At the bottom of the slide - Poor kid

The swing went much better, he was smiling and laughing the whole time.

It is a little blurry, but he is just so stinkin' cute!

I love this picture drool and all, he is teething right now so he is drooling all the time.

What a Difference 6 Months makes!

The top picture is of Matthew at 2.5 months and the bottom picture is my little man at 8.5 months. What a big difference. I still think he is the cutest baby in the world, but he is growing so fast! I have had the sad thought occur to me this week that he will not be a baby much longer. Don't get me wrong I am excited every time he learns something new, and each milestone we reach. I'm just not sure I am ready to say goodbye to him as a baby just yet...

Where will we be?

These are just a few of the places that have Optometry schools that Chris will be applying for this summer, I wonder where we will end up in fall of 2012?

Forest Grove, Oregon

Houston, TX

Bloomington, Indiana

Memphis, TN

San Antonio, TX

 These are in no particular order, just some of the options. Almost all the optometry schools are in large cities, so it is going to be a much different way of life for us. I'm sure we will learn a lot, and get to experience some new and different areas of the US. I am excited that Chris has made it so far, and is doing so well in school, I am also very happy that he is getting ready to start applying for schools.