Happy Birthday, Matthew!

It's hard to believe our baby is turning four! He's getting to be so grown up and so many times surprises us with his maturity (but don't get me wrong, he's still only 4 and has 4 year old moments!). He can be so thoughtful of others, loves to cuddle, LOVES to read (we've started reading chapter books and he really enjoys it), loves people, loves babies...loves lots of things. He is always asking to be with friends. We'll leave one event and he'll ask what we're doing next and if he can have a friend over. His favorite food, he'd probably say, is broccoli. He did say that for school this year. And when I was planning his birthday party menu, the only food he requested was broccoli and carrots (but NOT cooked carrots...he won't eat those!) He also loves berries - especially black berries. He's doing amazing with learning how to swim. He took one session of swim lessons and the YMCA and loved them. He was so brave. He was the only one in his class who would jump in all by himself off the side of the pool. He also took a week of CHPC's swim ministry (totally recommend it!) He started out the week having a hard time and wanting mommy, but on the last two days he (after being bribed with a date with mommy) got so brave and passed his first level, which includes diving for things on the bottom of the pool. We're so proud of him. This summer he also took a tumbling class at the YMCA and enjoyed it. He's asking when his next class is...sorry buddy, too expensive to do it all the time! He's going to take dance again in the fall and is excited about that. We considered soccer, but, again, decided it was too expensive. He wasn't asking to do it - we were just going to put him in it. So maybe we'll wait another year until he wants it or something else. So those are a couple random thoughts I have about Matthew. I wasn't going to write all that...it was all off the top of my head. I'm sure I'll think of other things to add later. But for now, here are a million pictures of his party. He had a blast. I think he's forgetting that his actual birthday hasn't happened yet. It's next Monday.










I was going to do more, but our internet is spotty due to a storm. Check back later for more!

New Camera

My mom and I recently got a new camera as a present from Grammy - something to remember her by. I had to convince my mom that this would be a good present. She wanted something that would last forever, so I could always look at it and think of grammy. While I know the camera will not last forever, my pictures of my family will! I was finally able to talk her into it (and a set of chairs to go with the table my other grandma gave me - that we've been using a hodge podge of random chairs for, some of which are folding chairs!) I LOVE the new camera. While I'm still definitely learning how to use it (especially at dusk and at night), here are a couple of my favorites I capured.



Everything is just so sharp and it takes pictures so quickly (my favorite part). Now I am less likely to miss those kodak moments that I always miss with the point and shoot camera!

MIA

Sorry I've been MIA for about a month now...honestly, I just kind of forgot about the blog :) Guess that means we've been having fun. We have been up to lots and lots, so here is a glimpse! Vacation Bible School The boys and I did Northminster's Vacation Bible School. Matthew goes to preschool there. I knew DAvid would be taking classes all day, so I offered to help. I'm so glad I did. I really had a blast with the 4 year olds. I would have preferred to do it without a toddler on my hip (Jacob wouldn't leave my side!), but really, it went well. I loved watching Matthew, in particular. It's just fun watching him have fun with other kids, and to be under the instruction of other adults. My favorite part was watching him sing. This was the first time that he was old enough to join the "big kids". At the end of the week they had a performance, singing their songs they learned throughout the week. Matthew was working so hard at the motions with the songs. He was so serious about learning to do them. It's neat watching your child be eager to learn and eager to do something well. Here is a clip of their performance.
Summer Sunday Nights So far this summer, our church has had two "Summer Sunday Nights". The first had a fishing theme. The kids got to go fishing in the lake on the church property. The bait: hot dogs. Aparently the fish love them, and it's cheaper than night crawlers. We were among the first on the scene to fish. Jacob found the box of hot dogs and said, "hot dog". It was his first two-word combination. Part of me was excited that he put two words together, and part of me was bothered that it had to be the words for a random assortment of pig byproducts...But anyway, Matthew really enjoyed fishing. He has been asking to go fishing for a long time. While we didn't catch anything (no one did), Matthew at least satisfied his curiosity for fishing for now. Here is a picture of Matthew with his really good friend, Linnea. They are pretty cute (and can be double trouble together, for sure!)

I have plenty more to write, but I need to let David write his paper....priorities....

First Dance Recital

Here is a video clip of Matthew's dress rehearsal last night. He has been taking classes all year at the studio where I work (and where I danced growing up!) I am so proud of how well he did. He was so funny on stage. They got positioned and he saw one of the teachers up front in the first row and got so excited that he ran forward to the front of the stage to say hello. I also heard him say, "Where is everybody?" The lights were bright and you can't really see the audience from the stage. While they were dancing, I heard him coaching the rest of the class. They were in a circle and I heard him go, "Now bend, bend, and break!" When he came off stage he said to me, "I thought the audience was going to help us!" His teacher had told him that she would be in the audience to help them! So cute. He had no fear. He had to spend a lot of the night with all the boys, and not his group, so I'm proud of my little buddy for choosing to have a good time regardless. I can't wait to have him do it again tonight for the real show!

Finally

I finally have someone in my family to ride roller coasters with me!!!! Growing up, my mom would never ride roller coasters. David hates them too....so I'm always odd man out to ride the big rides and Kings Island. Not anymore! I now have a roller coaster riding buddy!

And I'm pretty sure this little guy would have joined us if he had been tall enough. Here he is, staring longingly at a ride Matthew was riding. He threw several fits over not being able to ride something he wanted to! The Scrambler was the biggest fit.

One ride he was big enough to do was this little cars ride. Matthew got on, and Jacob was, of course, bothered that he wasn't with him. I realized that there was no minimum height requirement, so we put him on! He LOVED it and got so upset when they made him get off. He screamed as I carried him around to get in line again, but was relieved to get back on. He rode several times.

And a precious picture to end the day:

Milestone??

We had another milestone last night....if you want to call it that. We had our first child to climb out of his crib! Matthew never did it. He moved himself to a big boy bed before he tried. But last night, our little Mr. Adventure, accomplished the big trick. I put him in bed, much to his dissatisfaction. He was screaming for a couple minutes, and suddenly, I could hear his crying moving throughout the room. I was in Matthew's room, but could tell Jacob was at the door. For a long time, he has been able to climb into his crib if the side is down, and has started attempting to get out if the side is down (and just the day before had been caught putting his leg over the rail when it was up). I never heard a boom, which means he did it without falling. Oh, our little climber....

Jacob had been in a toddler bed for a short time, but bedtime became a struggle, so we figured it meant he wasn't really ready to stay in the bed. We moved him back to the crib, where he has been happy for awhile. We'll see what happens in the next week!

Face Painting?

Who knows what he was doing....it started with a cup of yogurt and a spoon. It turned to drinking yogurt out of the cup. And then this...