The Matthews Family

Daddy/Daughter dance

2012-02-11T00:53:00.001-05:00

Mikayla’s school had their annual father/daughter dance this evening. Jeremy always tries to make it a special day for her. He had a McDonald’s lunch with her at school – she was so excited. It was apparently the first thing that she told her teacher about this morning. Then after school, Jeremy sent Kayla and I off for a manicure and pedicure so that she could get ready for the dance. It was so nice to have an afternoon with my big girl (plus a foot massage!).

We came home, curled hair, put on a little makeup and Kayla was ready for her date with Daddy. I don’t know who was luckier. Jeremy was so handsome and Mikayla was just beautiful….she is growing up way too fast.

Jeremy had to have a picture with me, since we were having a date night at home. : ) Our evening was filled with Pokemon and Super Mario Brothers. Fun times with my sweet boy!

A little excitement for the New Year

2012-01-30T00:19:00.001-05:00

Well, we had a pretty normal New Years Eve and Day. Jeremy and I stayed up on New Years Eve and watched the ball drop. We had church on New Years Day. The kids met their new teachers at church (they have some really good ones) and we had a relaxing day. On the 2nd, everything was getting back to normal after the craziness of the holidays. Jeremy was at work so it was just me and the kids. We had dinner and then it was time to get them to bed. I put Mikayla in the shower in our bathroom and Brooke in the Exersaucer. I started a bath for Gavin and then went up into the attic to get a couple of baby items. Nothing big, just a couple of things that I could throw down the steps. As I was climbing down, I missed a step, fell back about 4-5 steps and hit the back of my head. I remember having an instant searing headache when I did this. That is also the last thing I remember for probably about an hour. I did not pass out (according to Gavin at least who saw the whole thing), but I definitely had some memory loss. According to Gavin, I got up, closed the attic steps and turned off his water. I then called Jeremy, twice apparently, I told him I had hit my head and that I needed him to come home. He knew something was wrong since I don’t ever do this. He was quickly trying to close up the warehouse and make the 45 minute trip home. After calling him, I called my parents. I told them the same story that I had Jeremy and they quickly started driving. It’s a 30 minute drive and I apparently was impatient and confused because I called them at least 2 additional times with the same story. They had my youngest sister stay on the phone with me to make sure I was generally okay. They also prompted me to call a neighbor from church. This is when I started remembering things. I remember opening the door for my neighbor. Its weird because, I didn’t remember calling her, but I knew exactly why she was there. During all of the conversations with my mom, she kept asking if I needed to call an ambulance, and I kept saying I didn’t. As I was sitting down on the couch, with my children now safely in the care of my neighbor, I started putting things together. I had no idea when it was. I knew it was Christmas time because of the decorations, but I honestly couldn’t remember celebrating it. This is when I got really scared. The downside of being a nurse, is that I started thinking about all of the bad things that I could have done to my head…do I have a subdural bleed, and epidural bleed, a skull fracture. This is when I decided that I needed an ambulance. I called them…I’m surprised that I knew what to tell them. I barely remember making the call. Thankfully, the firehouse is right around the corner, so they were there very quickly. My parents arrived shortly after the ambulance did and my dad was able to give me a priesthood’s blessing. I was very grateful for this. It helped me to feel less scared about everything. I was taken to the hospital and long-story short, they did a CT and everything was okay….just a pretty bad concussion. I took a week off of work to recuperate and now I am mostly back to normal. I am still having some problems with my memory, but nothing horrible…its getting better and better each day. I was amazed at how long it took for me to be able to think quickly and clearly afterwards. I look back on this situation and I am so thankful that my children were protected during all of this. I somehow knew to turn of Gavin’s water and I knew to call for help, even with all of my apparent confusion. I keep thinking about how differently everything could have turned out, but I firmly believe that my Father in Heaven was protecting my children and I. I am so profoundly grateful for that.

Here is a picture of my view from the stretcher in the trauma room at Northside Forsyth….

That is the PALS algorithm that is used in a pediatric code…it was nice to see something familiar. ; )

Some random November and December pics

2012-01-29T23:35:00.001-05:00

I had aspirations of doing monthly updates of the comings and goings of Brooke. Then I remembered that I have three children and life is crazy.

She had her 6 month check up about 2 weeks ago. She weighed 12 lbs even (<5%) and was 26 inches long (50%). She is a tiny little thing! We are actually watching her weight, but I’m not too concerned. She’s healthy and has a good general appearance. She is learning new things and progressing as she should. She can roll over and can sit unassisted for about 10-15 seconds. She could probably do it longer if she would stop arching her little back! She loves the Exersaucer and Jumperoo. She has strong little legs. She loves to stand up in my lap and bounce up and down. She is a sweet, sweet girl. She rarely cries…pretty much only when she is tired or hungry. She loves to play peek-a-boo and we get the biggest belly laughs when she is tickled. My only regret with her is that she is just growing up sooo fast. I feel like this year is flying by and it just makes me sad to think about. I am enjoying the ride, though, even if it is a little speedy.

I hope you have enjoyed the photo spamming. There were just too many good ones to not share. : )

Four generations

2012-01-29T22:56:00.001-05:00

We met with my Grandaddy and Aunt the day after Christmas at Olive Garden for a little post-Christmas celebration. I don’t get to seem them nearly as often as I would, so it was such a treat to see them. This was also the first time they met Brooke. We decided that a picture of the four generations together was a necessity. I will always treasure this picture.

Christmas Day

2012-01-29T22:50:00.001-05:00

Well, I will go ahead and apologize that this post will be low on pictures. My absent minded head left my camera at home, but I was able to ~~steal~~ borrow some from my sister-in-law’s Facebook album.

After the excitement of Christmas morning, we had breakfast and then got ready to go to Jeremy’s parents to celebrate Christmas day. We had a lot of fun there! Kathy prepared a wonderful meal. We are so lucky to have so may wonderful cooks in our family. After lunch, Mikayla did a little impromptu performance of the Christmas story and then we opened our presents. The kids had a blast!

Gavin in all of his craziness and glory.

Mikayla during her Christmas story performance.

Ashley had some friends of her there to celebrate with us, so we were able to get a family picture. That was a special treat!

Sadly, after all of the fun we had to go home so that I could go to work. I shouldn’t complain, though. Thanks to the ability to trade and maternity leaves, this is the first time in 10 years of being a nurse that I have ever had to work Christmas day. Also, I didn’t have to start until 7pm, so I was still able to enjoy the bulk of the day with my family. That was the best part!

Christmas morning

2012-01-29T22:31:00.001-05:00

Christmas morning with children is just magical. I just love the pure excitement that they have, wondering what Santa has left for them while they were sleeping. I hope that magic stays in our home for a long, long time.

Santa’s load before the kids had a chance to rip into it.

I think they were excited to get into everything.

The big kids showing of their Happy Nappers, the most requested present this year. I also feel I mest explain why Gavin is all dressed on Christmas morning. That child has a slight obsession with getting dressed down to his shoes as soon as he wakes up. I was unable to convince him to stay in his jammies…at least he picked out a Christmas shirt. ; )

Here is Brooke playing with two of her presets from Santa. She loves them both!

The Christmas morning aftermath. It would probably make more sense to clean up as we go, but this is just much more fun.

Christmas Eve

2012-01-17T23:25:00.001-05:00

Christmas Eve was spent at my parent’s house this year. It was a full house this year! The only ones that weren’t able to be there were my sister Emily and her family. We missed them terribly, but know that they thouroughly enjoyed their White Christmas in Maine.

That is one full table!

The kids had the HARDEST time containing themselves from ripping open all of these presents. They thought dinner should have been the last portion of the evening.

This was Brooke’s first Christmas which necessitated a super cute outfit and a mini photo shoot. ; ) I had the hardest time finding a first Christmas outfit that was feminine (not usually a problem). So, I found a cute onesie. I paired it with some tights and a handmade tu-tu and voila…..super cute Christmas outfit!

This is my favorite picture of my three kids. It just shows each of their little personalities so well.

Brooke hanging out with Great Grandma and Great Grandpa. I feel so blessed that they have been able to know each of my children and interact with them often.

I had a hard time finding matching Christmas jammies for the kids. I was able to find some for Gavin and Kayla, but none for Brooke. So, I took matters into my own hands and made them matching jammie pants. I was so pleased with how they turned out and I may have to make this a yearly tradition. I may add in pants for Jeremy and I next year!

My big girl is 7!!

2012-01-12T09:35:00.001-05:00

Seriously, how did this ……

(don’t mind her labor battle wound)

Turn in to this so dang fast!

My big, sweet girl turned 7 this year. I can still so vividly remember the day that she was born. I can honestly say that is one of the absolute best days of my life. She made my dream of being a mother come true. I love her so much and am so grateful for her.

Her birthday fell on a school day, so, as you can see from her picture, we made sure that everyone at school new it was her special day.

I had lunch with at school and we shared some treats with her class. I really think she just loved being the center of attention.

Later that night we got together with our friends the Kreugers, Their son Matthew is Mikayla’s best friend, and according to Mikayla, her future husband. : ) We took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese – that was quite the adventure. Mikayla had a great time, and that is all that matters, right?

It was a fun night!

The next day, we got together for a little family party at my parent’s house. Mikayla is such a lucky little girl to have so many people that love her!

I don’t have pictures right now from her family party (my little sis did all of the picture taking and I haven’t had a chance to get them from her yet). I will update this post once I do, though!

Mikayla is growing up so fast and is really turning into a sweet and thoughtful young girl. She is a WONDERFUL big sister! I love just spending time with her and hearing all of the fun stuff that is on her very imaginative mind. I love her so much!

Merry Christmas to our family and friends!

2011-12-24T10:44:00.001-05:00

I had full intention of mailing out Christmas card this year. I had pictures taken, I begged my sister to design a fabulous card for us, and I even had them printed. They were delivered two days ago and the printing came out totally wrong. They were printed in a new “digital” format that apparently cuts 1/2 inch off of your photo, which was a good portion of Brooke’s head. So, once again, I decided to send them out in digital form. That’s better than not sending them at all, right?

This has been a fabulous year for our family.

Jeremy is still employed at The Mattress Firm. We are so grateful that he has a stable and steady job right now, especially when so many have so much uncertainty with their own employment. He spends most of his free time being an awesome father to our children and working out at the gym. He inspires me to be active!

I continue to work in the ER at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. It’s a great place to work and I work with some really amazing people. My favorite job is still the one I do at home. I feel so blessed to be an active participant in the life of my children. They are wonderful little people and make me smile each and every day.

Mikayla started first grade this year. She is a very good student! She does most of her math homework in her head and is reading chapter books now. She is growing up to be such a sweet and caring little girl. She is a wonderful big sister and is always looking out for her brother and sister.

Gavin is in preschool this year. He LOVES school! He loves telling me about all of the adventures he has with his friends and his teachers. He is my cuddly little boy…I can always count on him to crawl in bed with me in the morning and just lay with me. He is a wonderful brother to his two sisters and always tries to make them happy.

Miss Brooke was born on June 27th. She is such a joyful little girl. She is my best sleeper (started sleeping through most nights at around 10 weeks old) and is a very laid back baby. For the most part, she only cries when she is tired or hungry. She loves watching the crazy antics of her older siblings. She has brought so much joy and happiness into our home. I just can’t imagine life without her!

I hope and pray that each of you are having a wonderful Christmas season with your families. There is NOTHING better than being able to just spend time with those that you love.

My hope is that each of you will feel the blessings of our Savior during the upcoming year. May the Lord bless each of your lives. We are grateful for His blessings in ours!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to each and everyone of you.

Love,

Jeremy, Rachel, Mikayla, Gavin and Brooke

Random November Pics

2011-12-16T00:29:00.001-05:00

November was a pretty low key month, but I thought I would share some pictures of the kiddos. I just love them.

Gavin’s Thanksgiving Program

2011-12-16T00:19:00.001-05:00

Gavin’s school always puts on such cute little programs. This year our little Indian did a great job. I love watching him in these things. He really gets into each of the songs – he loves to perform! Such a difference from Mikayla who would usually just sit there and stare out at the audience. : )

Brooke patiently waiting for the program to start.

Gavin performing one of the songs…..

The little Indian at the Thanksgiving Feast. Nothing better than chicken nuggets at 10:30 in the morning!

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-27T00:37:00.001-05:00

We had a great Halloween this year! This big kids were out of school, so we were just able to relax throughout the day and get ready to have our families over for some Trick-or-Treating fun.

My Halloween girls…Gavin was more interested in wearing a myriad of old costumes in preparation instead of his Halloween shirt for a picture.

Yes, she IS the cutest pumpkin in the patch. : )

Spider Man and Spider Girl showing off some of their moves.

My little ladybug. : )

The little Trick-or-Treaters. We went to so may houses this year. Brooke fell asleep half way through and Gavin got tired towards the end, so he went back to the house with Brooke and I. Jeremy and Kayla finished up the street and then brought back their very impressive candy load.

My parents, Jeremy’s parents, my youngest sister and her hubby and my sister in law came to our house for some baked potatoes and chili and to see the kids in their costumes. It was a fun night spent with everyone.

I also just wanted to share a pic of our pumpkins. We carved the big one in the shape of a skeleton. We used some Mr. Potato “Pumpkin” Head kits that picked up. These were great because the kids were able to easily decorate their own pumpkins.

Pumpkin Patch Fun

2011-11-27T00:19:00.001-05:00

Shortly before Halloween, we made our annual trip to Kinsey Family Farm to get our pumpkins and to go on a hay ride. We look forward to this family outing every year. The kids had a blast and Jeremy and I had a good time with them as well.

We tried a couple of times to get that perfect fall picture of all three kids together. As you can see, that was a bit of a challenge. I need be better at getting Brooke to pay attention! ; )

We did get a pretty good pic of Brooke by herself. This was on her four month birthday and since I forgot to post that day, I wanted to make sure to post a pic of her on that day.

We picked out three pumpkins….can’t wait for you to see the carving results.

Gavin is four!

2011-11-17T00:58:00.001-05:00

I can’t believe that this sweet baby….

…is FOUR! He is such a sweet and animated little boy. He is very set in his ways and it isn’t easy to change his mind when it is set. However, he is also the sweetest, most loving little boy. He gives lots of hugs and kisses and is always saying “I love you” for no reason at all. I just love him so much.

His birthday fell on a Saturday this year, so we were able to have his birthday party on his actual birthday. We held it at a local park and had SUCH a great time. It was wonderful to just relax and spend time together. The kids could run around and I didn’t have to clean my house, so it was the perfect party.

He got some great presents this year. We are so fortunate to have so many people that love our little people.

My mom made the cupcakes and Gavin actually ate one with frosting - this is a new thing for him. (we weren’t sure, so you will notice that the top cupcake is unfrosted).

Me and my sweet boy.

Brooke past out during the party – she was such a good girl and got tons of good Nana cuddles.

It was a wonderful day. I really love spending time with our families and am so glad that we live close by them. Such a blessing!

Preschool Pumpkin Patch

2011-11-17T00:25:00.001-05:00

The church that Gavin goes to preschool at has a huge front lawn that they sell pumpkins from. All of the classes have a “field trip” there each year. They get to run through all of the pumpkins and then they get to take a little one home. Brooke and I had a fun time joining in on the fun.

I can hardly believe how big this guy is!

Afterwards, they only had about 30 minutes of school left, so Brooke and I hung out in Gavin’s classroom. Gavin really loved showing his “Baby Brooke” off. His friends enjoyed looking at her, too.

Cumming Fair Fun

2011-11-13T01:12:00.001-05:00

The annual fall Cumming Fair is one of our favorite family events. We all look forward to it each year. This year we had such a great time together. The kids rode lots of rides and we all ate way too much food (gotta love fair food!).

My three little sweeties.

When we first got there, they were having an alligator show. The kids were really excited about this one!

Brooke spent most of the time doing her new found past time….sucking on her fingers.

The alligator tamer….the kids really enjoyed this show!

I think the most fun part of the evening for the kids was the face painting. Mikayla was an LSU Tiger ( I swear Jeremy has brainwashed her!) and Gavin was Spiderman. I might add that this was the beginning of Gavin’s recent obsession with all things Spiderman.

They also got to ride lots of rides together. It was so fun to see them really enjoy spending time with each other. Mikayla was really good about making sure Gavin was safe and was having fun. She is a wonderful big sister!

It was another fun family night at the fair – it never disappoints us. I can’t wait for next year when Brooke can take part in the fun, too!

Conference Weekend

2011-10-03T00:15:00.001-04:00

This weekend our church had their Semi-Annual General Conference. I LOVE general conference. Not only do you get to hear our wonderful church leaders speak, you also get a little relaxation time with the family. My little family was out of town, though. Jeremy was super brave and took Gavin and Mikayla to Louisiana to visit his Uncle Buddy. As much as I missed them, I will admit that it was really nice to have some alone time with Brooke and to actually be able to listen to conference.

On Saturday, Brooke and I watched conference while I sorted through the ever growing collection of toys. I ended with two bags of stuffed animals for Goodwill and three baskets of toys for the consignment store.

On Sunday, Brooke and I drove to Ellijay to watch conference at my grandparents mountain house. Aside from the fact that I got horribly lost on the way there (Google Maps was NOT my friend), I had a wonderful time. I hadn’t been there in years and I forgot how beautiful and peaceful it is there.

While there, my sister Laura took some pictures of Brooke and I. My husband doesn’t take pictures unless I ask him to, so I was happy to have some picture of the two of us.

I just love how Laura can take something as “ordinary” as holding my baby and make it look so beautiful.

She also captured some absolutely priceless pictures of Brooke and my Grandma. I love the joy that my grandma has when she holds Brooke. I feel so fortunate that my children are able to know her and spend time with her.

Day at the Park

2011-10-02T23:51:00.001-04:00

We decided to enjoy the gorgeous fall weather and take the kids to the park the other day before I had to go to work. There is a great park near us that has a little playground and a nice walking path that goes over a covered bridge and down to a stream. The kids loved it! I love spending time with all of these little people.

An afternoon with Gavin

2011-09-29T00:44:00.001-04:00

We have been having some gorgeous fall weather lately. A couple of weeks ago, while we were waiting for Kayla to come home from school, Gavin and I just sat down at the table outside and just had fun with each other.

The cast of Toy Story joined us outside and Gavin insisted that they have a photo shoot.

I just love this picture! Gavin grabbed a baby wipe and stuck all of Mister’s pieces into it. I love his imagination!

I just love this little boy and I love the quiet time that we have in the afternoon while Brooke is sleeping and Kayla is at school. I have learned that this time goes by WAY too quickly!

Three months old

2011-09-29T00:36:00.001-04:00

Dear Brooke,

You are three months old now. I guess this technically means that you are no longer a newborn. : ( You are growing so much each and every day.

Your are wearing 0-3 month clothes now and have just graduated to size 2 diapers.

I started back to work about 3 weeks ago. You have been so good for your daddy. You are taking bottles from him and are being so cooperative for the crazy afternoon and evening dash that we go through every day now that Kayla is in school.

You are such a good sleeper. You go down between 8 and 9 every night and, for the most part, sleep until at least 4am. Sometimes, you will sleep all the way until 6 or 7!

I tell everyone what a good baby you are. You are fairly easily entertained now. You don’t cry too much unless you are hungry or sleepy.

You are starting to play with your toys a bit more. You love the things that hang down from your activity mat and your bouncy seat. You also really like the activity bar that we put on your car seat.

I just love you so much! I love you sweet smiles, especially first thing in the morning. You look so happy to see me (and I am so happy to see you!). You are having fun playing with your brother and sister. I love to see the three of you interacting together. Thank you for making your mommy so happy!

Love,

Mom

My girls

2011-09-29T00:19:00.001-04:00

You can definitely tell that these two girls are sisters. The definitely have their own individual looks, but they also have a lot of similarities.

I also forgot what a roly-poly baby Mikayla was. She had the cutest rolls on her thighs and the most pinchable cheeks. Brooke is definitely a petite little girl!

Fun Run!

2011-09-28T23:58:00.001-04:00

A couple of weeks ago, Mikayla participated in her school’s fundraiser, the Fun Run. Her family and friends sponsored her and she got to run laps. It was a sunny and cool morning – perfect running weather. Gavin, Brooke and I went to go cheer her on. Gavin mainly played on the playground and Brooke slept in on me in her wrap.

Kayla with her classmates…I didn’t realize how short she was until she was with everyone. Follows after me in that department!

She had a great time!

Gavin ran a couple laps with her. Actually, so did Brooke and I. Running with a sleeping baby is a bit challenging, but it was fun. It was fun to share the day with her. : )

First Day of Preschool

2011-09-21T00:19:00.001-04:00

Gavin started preschool on September 6th. Mikayla had been in school for nearly a month and he was more than ready to go to school, too. He was so excited that he came in to our room at 6:30am all dressed and ready to go. : )

Does that little face not just scream excitement? He was so ready. He jumped out of the car and ran into school without a look back. I’m so happy that he is so confident and comfortable at school. When I picked him up, he was all smiles and had so much fun telling me about his new teacher and new friend. Such a sweet little boy!

Geaux Tigers!!

2011-09-21T00:10:00.001-04:00

So for my last weekend off before heading back to work, we decided to have a crawfish boil with some family friends of ours. It was a great day filled with lots of yummy food, good friends and FOOTBALL! I’m not a huge fan, but my hubby is a very big football fan. He has definitely brainwashed our children into having a deep love for all things associated with LSU football. For the opening game, I really wanted the kids to “look the part.” Gavin has plenty of game day apparel, but I didn’t have much for the girls. Kayla has some t-shirts, but I really wanted something…well…cute. So, I went to my mom’s and we made some pillowcase dresses with some fabric that my sister was able to find in Athens (land of the Georgia Bulldogs), of all places. I was so pleased with how they turned out.

I also made matching hairbows. : )

This is a pic of them on game day. Brooke did not want to be held…maybe she was nervous as Jeremy and I were about Mikayla holding her all by herself.

This is a pic of Brooke in Jeremy’s lap…she was fixated on the football game. Made Daddy quite proud. : )

2 month stats

2011-09-20T23:08:00.001-04:00

A little late (seeing as how her appointment was on September 1st), but here it is:

She weighed in at 9 lbs. 15 1/2 oz. (25%), was 22 1/2 inches long (50%) and had a 39 1/4 cm head (60%).

She was not a fan of her shots, but with the help of a little Tylenol, she did great. Naturally, she was cooing and smiling all morning before her appointment. It always seems to work out that way.

May we never forget…..

2011-09-11T13:24:00.001-04:00

I have some blogging catch up to do, but I just wanted to share some images from September 11th, 2001 that have always resonated with me. Its been 10 years since that fateful day and I will never forget where I was and how I felt that day. I hope that we never forget the feeling of national pride that followed.

I’m still speechless when I see this….how could something so big and seemingly indestructible just crumble?

Seems so peaceful, yet filled with so much pain and destruction.

My favorite.

Two months!

2011-08-28T11:13:00.001-04:00

Dear Brooke,

Yesterday was your two months birthday. I can’t believe that two months have already flown by. I go back to work in just a week and a half which makes me a little sad. I just love being with you, but I know you will be in the best hands while I am at work (your Daddy!).

You have graduated from the newborn clothes and are wearing 0-3 month now. You are still in a size 1 diaper, but I think we will probably move to size 2 before you turn 3 months.

You are still doing great with breastfeeding. We survived the dreaded six week growth spurt. You are not crazy about a bottle yet, but you will take one, begrudgingly. Your dad and I are relieved that you will at least take one, because it will make me going back to work much easier.

You are getting better at sleeping. I can usually count on at least one four hour stretch, but that will sometimes be as long as six hours. Your napping pattern is starting to be a bit more predictable which is helping me gain a little more sanity.

You are one smiley baby! I just love when I go to get you out of bed from a nap and you beam at me with your gummy grin. You also do that when you are done nursing and have a full tummy.

You are such a sweet and easy going girl (unless you are hungry). We love you so much and are having so much fun with you. We are so happy to have you as a part of your family.

Love, Mommy

First Day of School

2011-08-11T10:18:00.001-04:00

Mikayla started first grade today! I absolutely can not believe how big she is getting. It is going way too fast! She has had mixed feelings about going back to school. She is excited to see her old friends, make new ones and get to know her new teacher, Mrs. Tenuto. However, she keeps saying how much she will miss being at home and spending time with her family. I tend to agree! I am excited for her to learn and discover new things, but man, I miss that girl and her infectious smile!!

She looks like she is ready to conquer the world! I am so glad that she has so much confidence. I know that she will have a great day….I can’t wait to hear about it!

Blessing Day

2011-08-11T10:12:00.001-04:00

On, Sunday, August 7th, Brooke was blessed at our church by my dad. She kept up with the tradition of her sister and brother and was a complete angel during the blessing. It was such a special moment for our family. I am so happy that we were able to have most of the members of our families their. It was such a good day.

Brooke had lots of hands that went into making her blessing ensemble. Her dress was sewn and smocked by Jeremy’ mother. My mom crocheted the the blanket that she was wrapped in during the blessing. My sister, Emily made the flower that was in her hair and the shoes that were on her tiny little feet.

Our family

My three sweet children – so many blessings.

Sleeping Sweeties

2011-08-07T22:04:00.001-04:00

Mikayla wanted to cuddle with Gavin the other night. Summer is winding down, so I knew we won’t be able to have nights like these for much longer. I went up to check up on them and this is what I saw. So sweet!!

Old Soldier’s Day Parade

2011-08-07T22:00:00.001-04:00

I love this parade. It is your typical small town parade. I was in it a couple of times when I was in high school. I love taking my children to something that is a part of my personal history. They had a great time. Mikayla and Gavin had a blast getting candy ( and a ton of it!) and Brooke slept in the carrier for the entire parade. She stirred slightly when the fire engine blew its horn, but that was it. It always amazes me that babies can sleep through that, yet they seem to wake at the slightest sound in the middle of the night. :/

One month check up stats

2011-08-02T22:12:00.001-04:00

Brooke had her one month check up today. She now weighs 8 lbs 13.6 oz (50%), is 21” long (50%), and has a 14 3/4” head circumference (75%). She is meeting all milestones and growing quite nicely. She did have to get one vaccine, which was pretty pitiful. I was glad that, all in all, though, everything went well. Oh! She also started smiling last week! They aren’t a frequent appearance yet, but I just love seeing them. : )

One month old!

2011-07-27T17:37:00.001-04:00

Brooke! You are one month old today! This month has flown by so fast.

You started out at 7 lbs and 19 1/4 inches long. I can’t wait for you one month check up to see how big you are. I think you will be a good bit bigger. You are really starting to fill out and have the cutest little chubby cheeks! : )

You are still wearing newborn clothes, but I think our weeks are numbered with that. You are in a size 1 diaper (grew out of the newborn diapers after about two weeks).

We had some road bumps on our breastfeeding journey, but now you are doing great. So much so, that now you don’t want anything other than me – no bottles or pacis! We are working with you on that and hope you get it figured out before I go back to work in six weeks.

You are a pretty good sleeper and we have a couple nights here an there where you will go four hour stretches. Some nights its every 2-3, so you definitely aren’t predictable yet.

You have followed in your siblings footsteps and seem to have reflux. You are currently taking Prevacid which has seemed to help. You are still fussy in the evenings, but I think that is just a bit of your personality.

Your whole family loves you so much. Your brother and sister want to be with you all the time. Your dad and I are loving having a baby again and watching you discover the world around you. You are such a wonderful addition to our family. We love you!

Love, Mom

Bedroom Redos

2011-07-26T22:05:00.001-04:00

With the addition of a new little person into our home, we had to do some redecorating of the kids’ bedrooms. We have a three bedroom house, which meant that two of the kids needed to share a bedroom. Originally, we had thought about having Gavin and Kayla sharing a room for a bit until the baby was older. However, when we found out that the baby was a girl, we decided to go ahead and have Brooke and Mikayla share a bedroom. Mikayla is a super heavy sleeper, so I know she will do fine sharing her room with a baby that may wake up in the middle of the night.

We had a difficult time finding bedding that had a crib set and twin set that matched. Thankfully, Target came through and we were able to find something that everybody liked. It’s the perfect combination of sweet little girl bedding without looking too baby-ish for Mikayla.

I also made these bow holders to put on the back of their door. With two girls, I have had NO trouble filling it up.

Gavin gave up his crib and traded it in for a brand new big boy bed. I’m not big into character bedding, but I figured if it would get him to sleep in his bed without argument, then I would do whatever it took. He LOVES his Toy Story bedding. I was also able to find some stickers at Target (love that place!) to put on the wall.

It was fun getting to decorate the kids’ rooms. The best part is that we didn’t have to repaint anything. We were able to make the colors that were already up work. I’m sure Gavin will be getting a change in the next couple of years after he tires of Toy Story. We will probably also redo the girls’ room in about 2-3 years when Brooke moves to a big girl bed – we can take our time on that, though.

First photo shoot

2011-07-17T21:42:00.001-04:00

My sister, Laura is trying to get some experience with photographing babies and children. Thankfully, for her (and me!) I am more than willing to volunteer my children for the sake of helping her build some experience. Her and my mom (for much needed moral support) came to our house this past Friday and we got some pictures done. The main subject was Miss Brooke, but we included me and her siblings (Jeremy was at work). It was pretty exhausting getting a very active six and three year old to cooperate. It was even more exhausting to get a 2 1/2 week old that was NOT a happy camper to cooperate. However, we were able to get some just beautiful pictures done. It was definitely worth the work.

Here is a small sample of the beauty…..

Week Two

2011-07-12T13:47:00.001-04:00

I can’t believe two weeks have passed already since Brooke was born. Time is flying by way too fast!

Breastfeeding is going great! We had some definite hurdles that first week, but now she is a nursing pro. We have had some issues with fussiness after feedings, so I took her to the pediatrician this morning. They confirmed just what I thought – reflux. Mikayla and Gavin both had it, so I was not at all surprised. We started reflux – hopefully that will help to make her a happier baby.

They weighed her today and she was 7 lbs. 8.8 oz. She is packing on the weight! I’m hoping this will lead to the ability to sleep longer than 3 1/2 hrs at a time soon….

Here are some pics from this week for you:

Sisters!

I caught a sleep smile!

Sweet girl

Proud big brother

She wiggled an arm out of the swaddle – too cute!

Kayla, with permission, painted her finger nails and toe nails all by herself. She did a pretty good job and was very proud of herself.

Week one

2011-07-07T08:23:00.001-04:00

I can’t believe this little girl is already one week old. She is a such a blessing to our family. Gavin and Mikayla have adjusted very nicely to having a new baby in the house. They both just love to hold her and love on her.

We had her one week check up on Tuesday, July 5th (my due date!) She weighed 7 pound 1 oz, was 19 3/4 inches long and had a 14 inch head circumference. Everything checked out perfectly!

We are having some issues with breastfeeding which have been a little frustrating for me. We met with a lactation consultant yesterday and I got lots of helpful information. We had one really good feeding, but then met with some challenges after that. We are still working on it and at least I know that Miss Brooke is capable of breastfeeding. We’ll get it!

He are some pics from her first week:

First bottle from Daddy – I just love watching him with our children.

We are ready to go home from the hospital!!

First bath! (She was not a huge fan.)

Great Grandma and Great Grandpa get some good cuddles with Miss Brooke. I think my grandma could have held her for hours.

Happy Fourth!

2011-07-07T08:06:00.001-04:00

Jeremy had to work on the Fourth of July, so he dropped the kids and I at my parent’s house so that we could have some fun (and I could have some help with three kids!!) We all got together for a nice barbecue that evening and then the kids were supposed to go see fireworks, but unfortunately a big thunderstorm rolled through and derailed those plans. My mom did let them throw some “Pop-its” in the garage and they used some glow in the dark necklaces and wands to put on their own personal firework show (it was VERY good !)

We were also able to capture a picture of our little Fourth of July cuties. It is a typical picture that you would expect with three kids. I’m glad to have it though. I still can’t believe I have three kids!

I hope you all had a great Fourth of July, too!

SHE IS HERE!!!!!

2011-06-29T15:30:00.001-04:00

So we have had quite the eventful week here. I was scheduled to have our little girl by c-section on Thursday, June 30th. Well, apparently, she had different plans.

Sunday morning, I woke up to get ready for church and noticed that the baby was not moving around as much as normal. After eating breakfast and taking a shower, I still didn’t feel anything, so I decided to call the doctor. The on call doctor told me to come down to get monitored. Jeremy was at work, so I called my mom to come pick the kids and I up and then drop me off at Jeremy’s work so that we could go down to the hospital together. I hadn’t packed anything, so I quickly packed a bag for the kids and I (just in case, which was apparently a good call!).

Jeremy and I arrived to the hospital and I was hooked up to the fetal heart monitor. Thankfully, they were immediately able to pick up her heart beat. However, she still wasn’t moving. Now if you’ll remember from a previous blog post, this baby did NOT like to be monitored. She always got very active and moved away from the sensor. However, this time, it took about 30 minutes before I felt any movement, and even then it was nothing like I was used to. The OB doctor on call decided that I needed to have an ultrasound to make sure everything was okay. The ultrasound showed that my amniotic fluid level was low, so the decision was made that I would be monitored overnight and have a c-section the next morning.

I got to stay at the hospital in a labor high risk room, which I am pretty sure was in the dungeon of the hospital. It was quite a maze to get there and we had no cell reception. My parents brought Gavin and Mikayla down to see me. These are our last family pictures of me with my two children (with my BIG belly in the middle) and our little family of four.

After waiting for quite some time Monday morning (or at least it seemed – I was anxious!), they finally found a spot for me to have the c-section at 10:45am.

On June 27th, at 11:19 am,

Brooke Eliza Matthews

was born. She weighed 7 lbs and was 19 1/4 inches long. She has a normal sized head ( a first for one of my children) and is just a perfectly, petite little girl.

Isn’t she precious?!?!

This is my first up close look at her. It’s hard to believe that she was JUST inside of my belly.

An OR picture of the three of us, thanks to the anesthesiologist.

When we got to recovery, Brooke was very hungry (I hadn’t eaten in about 12 hours prior to surgery), so they were able to put her up to my chest, skin to skin, and she immediately nursed like a champ. After she ate, I got to hold her on my chest for quite a while. I forgot how soft and sweet newborns are!

Daddy and his little princess.

Jeremy and I got some good cuddle time with Brooke prior to being moved to a room. It took us about 4 hours to get up to a room – the hospital was packed! Don’t you love the hat that the nurse made for her? So cute!

Gavin and Mikayla waited in the hospital atrium for about two hours prior to us getting to our room. They were obviously anxious to see their sister, but according to the grandparents, they were very well behaved.

These are the first pictures of Mikayla and Gavin holding their new sister. We got to spend about 30 minutes together before the rest of our family came into our room. They both just love her so much! I knew Mikayla would do wonderful ( and she has ), but we have been pleasantly surprised with Gavin’s reaction. I thought he would be indifferent with her, but I was so wrong. He keeps telling me “ I just love Baby Brooke! “ He loves to hold her and is in fact a little possessive of her. Mikayla is such a natural and loves to help us with her. She is such a good big sister.

I can still not believe that I am the mother to THREE children. I feel so incredibly blessed!

Our attempt at a family pic – LOL!

She is such a sweet girl. I am so happy that she is here, healthy and happy. We are loving this time with her and can’t wait to bring her home!

Last Day of School!!

2011-05-27T16:55:00.001-04:00

This past Wednesday was Mikayla’s last day of school. I decided to make it a fun day for her.

I first made her lunch and decided to make it look a little fun! Mikayla loved it!

Mikayla on her way to her last day of school – I can’t believe how much she grew up in just a year. :*(

When Mikayla got home, I had this sign posted on the front door for her to see. Unfortunately, it didn’t bring a lot of smiles. When Mikayla got off of the bus, she was not running and yelling for joy like all of the other kids. Instead she was walking very slowly and sadly. When I got to her, her eyes filled with tears and she asked me “Why do I have to leave Kindergarten?” I brought her inside and just held her. My poor sweet girl is just so tenderhearted. She loved Kindergarten and her teachers so much. She is not keen on change. I reminded her that first grade would be so much fun and that she would still get to see her friends and teachers. She perked up and after a trip to the pool she was all smiles. I later found out from her teacher that she was pretty tearful at the end of the school day as well. She ended her school day crying in her teachers lap. Thankfully, she has made a full recovery and is really enjoying summer vacation so far.

Kindergarten celebrations

2011-05-27T16:29:00.001-04:00

With the school year ending, Mikayla’s class had a little end of year celebration. It started with all of the Kindergarten classes performing some musical numbers together. They did such a great job!

This is Mikayla walking in and catching a glimpse of me.

The Kindergarten class of 2011 singing their best!

After the performance, everyone went to their respective classrooms for a little party. The teachers presented each child with a certificate for doing such a great job over the past year.

This is a picture of Mikayla with her parapro, Mrs. Warren and teacher, Mrs. Brown. I could not have asked for better teachers for her. They were the perfect balance of loving and caring along with being structured and discipline. Mikayla learned so much this year! She is now a confident reader (which I just love to listen to) and a little math whiz. I am so grateful that she has been given such a good foundation by such wonderful teachers to carry her throughout her educational years.

Last Day of Preschool

2011-05-27T16:14:00.001-04:00

Gavin had his last day of preschool last week. They started off the morning with a musical program, which Gavin rocked! He sang all of the songs, did all of the motions and had a smile plastered across his face. He was happy to be able to see us in the crowd of parents and took great pride in waving at us from time to time.

Afterwards, the kids had a little luau to kick off summer. Is that not the face of pure happiness??

The had a bubble machine set up outside which Gavin just loved. I think he could have stayed out there for hours.

The also had a limbo dance, preschool style. This just basically means that they all dunked under the stick. Pretty cute, though!

Gavin with his class and then his teachers. Gavin had the best teachers this year. He loved going to school and playing with his friends and teachers. I know he will miss it this summer (me, too!)

Field Day!

2011-05-27T16:05:00.001-04:00

Mikayla recently had a her first Elemetary School Field Day. She had a blast! I was able to go see her in the morning while Gavin was at school. Even though it was so hot and I was very pregnant, it was a lot of fun.

I loved getting to see her with her friends. She has a great group of classmates this year. I had to go to work in the afternoon, but Jeremy and Gavin went and watched the afternoon session. They even let Gavin join in on some of the fun! I heard that they had a lot of fun together (which always makes a mommy super happy!).

Strawberry Picking Fun

2011-05-27T15:54:00.001-04:00

At the end of April, Mikayla had a teacher workday, so we decided to drive out to Athens and spend some time with my sister and nephew. There is a local farm near her that grows strawberries and they were in season, so we decided that would be a fun activity for the kids.

Our attempts to get some pictures of the kids at the farm prior to going out and picking some strawberries.

The farm uses a system with these pink flags to mark where the strawberries have been picked. You go down to a pink flag, pick it up, start picking strawberries down the row, and then place the flag at the end spot where you stopped picking. The kids had a LOT of fun with these.

Mikayla quickly turned into an expert berry picker. She was very good at picking out ones that were perfectly ripe and picking them from the plant without demolishing them.

Gavin, on the other hand, was not as enthusiastic about picking the strawberries, at first. He did eventually come around though.

Mikayla and Gavin ended up working very well together to fill their bucket.

Ah, the fruits of our labors! (And I mean labor!!! It is not that easy to bend down and lean over to pick strawberries when you are 7 months pregnant!)

As we were leaving, the kids spotted this tractor and begged to sit on it. Emily and I thought it was a good photo opportunity, so of course, we let them.

After baking in the sun, we decided to go swimming. Thankfully, Emily’s complex opened their pool pretty early. I don’t think I have ever been swimming in Georgia during the month of April. The kids were super excited! It was a perfect ending to a very fun day.

This is a small picture of what 10 pounds of strawberries look like all washed and hulled and ready to be used in lots of recipes. I spent all week using these things! We made freezer jam, strawberry syrup, strawberry bread, and strawberry leather (which was a total flop!). We still had plenty of strawberries left to just snack on, too. It’s amazing the difference in taste in freshly picked berries – they were just delicious!

We had such a great time doing this. It is something that we will definitely have to make an annual trip of.

Easter fun!

2011-05-27T15:32:00.001-04:00

We had a nice Easter weekend several weeks ago. It was a little out of the ordinary, because I had to work on Easter Sunday, but it was a nice weekend, nonetheless.

On Saturday, we went to my parents house for an egg hunt, dinner and some Easter fun. It was so nice to be able to spend time with everyone.

The kids had a blast hunting for eggs this year. Mikayla was real good about letting her younger brother and cousin have plenty of eggs to find. She had fun showing them where they could find some.

After dinner, we let the kids dye some Easter Eggs. This is a picture of Mikayla dying an Easter Egg blue. What I don’t have a picture of, is her accidentally spilling that blue dye all over the place.

Mikayla’s leg was dyed blue and well as the bar stool she was sitting on. Thankfully, it came off of my mother’s hardwood floors. Mikayla’s leg returned back to normal after about two good scrubbings in the shower. The bar stool, however, is still tinted blue. I’m glad Mom was thinking of repainting them sometime soon anyways!

Our Eater eggs…notice there is one lonely little blue egg.

On Easter morning, the kids had fun opening there Easter baskets and playing with some of their goodies. We had cinnamon rolls for breakfast and spent about an hour together before I had to get ready and leave for work. Mikayla was a little bummed that I was leaving, but I explained to her that unfortunately, kids still get sick and hurt on holidays and someone had to be at the hospital to take care of them. I told her that all the nurses took turns working on holidays and this year, it was my turn. She seemed okay with this.

After I left, Jeremy got the kids ready and they went to my in-laws house to have another egg hunt and an Easter lunch. I am so grateful that we have so much family close by to celebrate these holidays with. It made me not being with them a little easier, because I knew they were still with family and having a wonderful day.

My sassy little girl

2011-05-09T13:36:00.001-04:00

Okay, I know I still need to blog about Easter, Mother’s Day and some other fun adventures, but I just have to intercept with something fun that happened today.

I have a sassy little girl. You may think I am talking about Mikayla ( I very easily could be, goodness knows she is one sassy girl!), but no, I am talking about the little girl that is growing inside of me.

I had a doctor’s appointment this morning. I will be 32 weeks tomorrow and am scheduled to have a c-section on June 30th at 7:15am. I’m at the point where my appointments take all of about ten minutes. When they were checking her heartbeat they noted that it was only about 115 beats/minute. Normal is 120-160. I had an early appointment (she is definitely less active in the morning) and I had not eaten breakfast yet. My doctor was pretty sure this was the reason for the low heart rate, but just to be sure I had an impromptu non-stress test.

When they put the fetal heart monitor on, well lets say the baby did NOT like it! She has never been a fan of the doppler, so I was not surprised. It was pretty funny to watch and feel though. She was literally kicking the monitor and trying to move away from it. The nurse and I were laughing. I had to push a little button every time she moved, and I think I was pushing it about every 30 seconds. Needless to say she woke up, perked up and had a heartbeat of 130 with good accelerations. While I wasn’t super concerned, it was nice to have the reassurance.

I have to say how good Gavin was through all of this. He doesn’t come to a lot of my appointments, but as luck would have it, he was with me on the very prolonged appointment. Other than my iPod for entertainment, I was not prepared to be there for more than about 20 minutes. Thankfully, when the nurse got me some apple juice and a NutriGrain bar she also got Gavin some Goldfish crackers. Gavin was a little concerned at first when they hooked up the monitor, but I assured him that nothing hurt. He really enjoyed listening to his baby sister. He kept saying “She’s loud!” (you could hear the kicks very well over the monitor since she was giving it some direct kicks). He also climbed up on the table and would lean down and kiss my belly. Such a sweet boy!

I love to see the Temple….

2011-04-28T00:05:00.001-04:00

For those of you that may not know, we belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. As a church community, we have had a special opportunity these past couple of weeks. The Atlanta Temple closed its doors just a little less than two years ago for renovations. Well they have finished them and the temple opened its doors to the public prior to its dedication this coming Sunday.

Jeremy and I have crazy schedules, but we were glad to be able to find one night last week that we could take the children down to walk through the temple. It was absolutely magnificent inside. I was so grateful for the opportunity we had to do this tour as a family.

This is a pic of the front of the temple just before we went inside.

My dad to this picture of us after the tour. We didn’t expect to see him there, so that was a special treat for us. The kids were so happy for a surprise visit with Papa!

My sweet little children….I can’t wait until there is another little girl in that picture with them!

Circus Day Fun

2011-04-27T23:38:00.001-04:00

Gavin’s preschool held their annual Circus Day. This was Gavin’s first one, and he was so excited to go!

Their “admission” to the circus is a costume. Does he not make a cute little Woody??

I think his favorite part was the pony ride – very fitting for my little cowboy.

The bounce house was also a hit!

They had tons of games that Gavin had a lot of fun with. He got prizes with each one and left with a bag full of treats and trinkets.

Jeremy and I had so much fun getting to hang out with our little man. He is getting so big! I just love watching him play and listening to him talk. He says that funniest things these days. It was a fun morning!

Ikea trip

2011-04-27T22:43:00.001-04:00

I needed to make a trip to Ikea to get some furniture pieces for the house. The kids had been wanting to go down so I thought we would make an outing of it.

We first started with some lunch at the Café. We were excited that it was Kids Eat Free weekend – nice little bonus!

Ikea has a Kids Club where you can drop off the kids for 45 minutes while you shop. Gavin and Mikayla thoroughly enjoyed themselves there – I enjoyed getting to look around the showroom and pick out my items without my little helpers.

This is a pic of the kids sitting on the dresser and dining room chairs that we bought. The were super patient while we waited in line.

I decided that their excellent behavior deserved $1 frozen yogurt cones. We also treated ourselves to a tray of their super yummy cinnamon rolls (we ate those over a couple of days once we got home).

It was a fun day together and a nice way to close out Mikayla’s Spring Break. I loved having the opportunity to spend some extra time with both of my children. With Mikayla in school now, I miss some of the time with her that we used to spend together. It was a good week!

Spring Break at the Zoo

2011-04-27T21:53:00.001-04:00

Pay attention to the title because you will never see that combination of words on this blog again! While Mikayla was on Spring Break, Jeremy took a couple of days off so that we could have some good family fun together. We decided a day at the zoo would be a lot of fun. We had great weather, so it seemed like a good plan. Now, we knew it would be busier than we were used to, but we were totally unprepared for how busy it truly would be. When we got there, we quickly realized there was NO parking at the zoo, so we parked about a half mile (maybe more) away and then walked through Grant Park to get to the zoo. Thankfully we had pre-purchased our tickets so we didn’t have to stand in the crazy long line to get inside the park. After we got in, there were people EVERYWHERE. So one would think we wouldn’t have enjoyed ourselves. However, we had a great time. The kids were so well-behaved and listened beautifully. The animals were out everywhere and the kids really enjoyed seeing them. Despite the crazy crowds, we had a really nice time together as a family.

Spring Time fun

2011-04-27T21:37:00.001-04:00

Playing catch up…again! We have been having a good bit of fun which I guess has not left a lot of time for blogging.

We have had a beautiful spring here in the south. The temperature has just been perfect! The kids are outside almost every afternoon. We have thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. (as you can see!)

Circus Time!

2011-02-26T22:27:00.001-05:00

We made our annual trip to the circus again this year. And again, we had a blast! We were a little worried that we weren’t going to be able to go after Mikayla vomited the night before the circus. Thankfully with some Zofran and resting her tummy, we were able to make it! We did avoid most of the circus food, however (except for the cotton candy!), just to be safe.

This was the first year we took Gavin. He was so excited! As we were walking up to the Gwinnett Arena and he saw all of the lights, his face was just lit up with pure excitement. It was so fun to see! He really enjoyed himself and really liked watching all of the acrobatic acts the most. He picked out some little binoculars as his souvenir – those were a hit, too!

He is Kayla with her souvenir purchase. Surprise, surprise she picked out a Bengal tiger. She has gotten one for the past three years – she has quite the collection!! You could tell she was pretty worn out from having been sick the night before and having had very little to eat that day, but she also seemed to have a very nice time.

We got great seats (at an even better price!) through my job. We had no problem seeing everything.

This is always Mikayla’s favorite part of the circus. She loves seeing the powerful tigers do their tricks.

This is Mikayla showing off all of her goodies. Her tiger, the cotton candy, and the hat that came with the cotton candy. She was one happy kid!

This is MY favorite part of the circus. I love watching the elephants do their routine – it’s amazing to see such big animals do such intricate tricks.

As you can see, we all had a great time. I love being able to see the joy on my children's’ faces during activities like these. It makes for one happy mommy!

Happy Valentine’s Day?? Maybe next year….

2011-02-19T22:46:00.001-05:00

I typically love spending Valentine's Day with my family. We have a fun time spending time together and making a real day of it. This year started of with the best of intentions for this. Jeremy had to work late on Valentine’s night, so we decided to have a nice dinner together as a family the night before. The kids gave Jeremy the card they decorated and Jeremy and I exchanged cards as well. I gave the kids some small little presents…socks and candy for Kayla and a book and some candy for Gavin. Jeremy also got me these beauties.

It seemed to be the beginnings of a very nice Valentine’s Day. As we were getting Gavin ready for bed, I did notice that Gavin felt warm, so I checked his temp and it was 101.2. He had a little cough, so I figured he was developing a bad cold – no biggie.

On Valentine’s morning, we woke up and started getting Mikayla ready for school. I made her some eggs and some heart-shaped toast.

Mikayla headed off to school, excited to celebrate Valentine’s Day at school.

Mikayla’s teacher asked me to help out with their little Valentine’s celebration. Jeremy was home to be able to stay home with Gavin, so I jumped at the opportunity. When I left, Gavin still had a little fever and cough, but was general happy and playful.

I had a great time at Mikayla’s school. I always love being to help out.

While I was at school, Gavin took a little turn for the worse. He spiked a temp close to 104 (despite being given Motrin) and threw up. I decided to take him to the pediatrician where he was diagnosed with the flu (little frustrating since he had the flu vaccine). The prescribed Tamiflu and we rushed home to meet Mikayla off of the school bus. After Gavin woke up from his much needed nap, we headed to Target to get his prescription filled only to find out they were out of it. After calling several pharmacies we finally found some. By the time I got there and got the script filled it was 6:30pm. So instead of the heart shaped pizza that I had intended on making, we drove through McDonald’s for our Valentine’s dinner (which I noted was dead even at peak dinner time). We finally returned home, ate and went to bed – I was beat!

Instead of going to Gavin’s Valentine’s Party at school on Tuesday, I spent the day cuddling with this…

and watching him do this…..

He was just pitiful. We have been very blessed to have healthy children and I have to say that this was his first significant illness. Usually he has a slight fever for a day or two, but to look at him you would never know he was sick. This wasn’t the case this time. Whenever his temp would reach 102, he would start crying that his head hurt and that it needed a band-aid. It made my heart hurt. Thankfully, the Tamiflu started to do its job and he was well on his way to recovery by Wednesday.

Well, on Tuesday, Mikayla got off of the school bus where she apparently had fallen asleep. This is definitely not normal for her! She kind of laid around all afternoon. She didn’t eat much dinner and asked to go lay down after she finished because she was a little sleepy. Then she nearly fell asleep in the bathtub! For anyone that knows Mikayla, she is a little ball of energy so I was definitely concerned that she was starting to get sick. Just before bed, I checked her temp and it was 101.4.

So, the next morning we headed to the pediatrician, confirmed the flu diagnosis, and got some Tamiflu for her (I called ahead to pharmacies this time!). She spent much of that day laying around and enjoying getting to stay home a little bit.

I was sorry that she felt bad, but I loved being able to watch her sleep and getting lots of good cuddles. This girl does not sit still long and I loved soaking her up!

By Friday, both kids were well and life was back to normal – thank goodness!!

Daddy and Daughter Fun

2011-02-11T19:25:00.001-05:00

Mikayla and Jeremy are currently off on a date. Mikayla’s elementary school is holding a Daddy/Daughter dance complete with pictures, dancing and games. Mikayla is so excited to have a special night with her daddy. (:

Mikayla loved getting fancy for her special night out. I even let her wear a little bit of makeup (emphasizing that we only wear makeup for super special occasions!).

These two love each other so much!

As for Gavin and I, we are sitting at home watching Toy Story 3. (:

So in case you have been waiting on the edge of your seats…….

2011-02-11T19:19:00.001-05:00

It’s a….

GIRL!!

We had our ultrasound this past Wednesday and we confirmed that our little angel is a girl. We have actually had an idea that it was since our ultrasound at 12 weeks. I was hesitant to announce, though, since she was still pretty little. We are all so excited, though, I’m pretty sure we would have been just as excited had we found out it was a boy. (:

Here are some pics of our little one for your viewing pleasure….

This is a view of her face with her arms and hands tucked around her face. You are looking at her from the bottom of my tummy. She was curled up on her tummy.

Precious foot

Little leg

I have already purchased a couple little things since the season of clothes between this one and Mikayla will be different, but I am forcing myself to not go crazy! Hopefully I can stick to that!

Unexpected snow vacation

2011-02-08T22:45:00.001-05:00

On the night of Sunday, January 9th, snow started to fall at our house. It fell very quickly and by the time Jeremy and I went to bed, we had almost 3 inches of snow. When we woke up, there was about 6 inches on the ground. Needless to say, school was cancelled (which made for a very happy Kayla). Another bonus was that both Jeremy and I were scheduled off that Monday and Tuesday. It was nice to not to have to worry about whether Jeremy was going to work or not and how I was going to try to get to work (since there are no snow days for nurses). We had wonderful couple of days off together and really enjoyed being snowed in.

We were out pretty early Monday morning and then again that afternoon. The kids had so much fun running around, throwing snowballs and sledding.

I loved the thick blanket of snow. It was so pretty! I am used to snow where the grass is still peaking through. It makes a very nice backdrop for snow pics!

Mikayla and Gavin making and throwing snowballs and Daddy. Mommy was off limits because of the baby in the belly.

Mikayla taking part in her favorite snow activity – snow angels!

This is the top of our grill – it gives you a better idea as to how high the snow was.

I love the way my house looks covered in snow.

Everyone had a lot of fun pulling each other on the sled. Jeremy was the only one that had a lot of success.

This is our snowman that we…er…I built. It was not an easy task. After the snow, we had a period of some sleet that created a nice layer of ice over the snow. This made the snow pack together fairly nicely, but it was impossible to roll the snow into a ball. So with Jeremy’s help, the snowman is more of a snow pile that was carved into the shape of a snow man. It took some time, but I was pretty proud. The kids were happy with it, too!

Jeremy and the kids had a very heated snow ball fight with our neighbors.

Our driveway was pretty slushy, so it was impossible to slide down. The street had a pretty thick layer of ice that Jeremy would pull Mikayla around on really fast and then let of the sled so that she would slide for a distance. My little daredevil loved it!

The kids had fun putting their backyard toys to good use in the snow.

I just love the looks of pure joy on their faces!

So, the snow wasn’t a huge weather issue, but the very thick ice that was left created some very big problems for the Atlanta area. The city was virtually shut down until Thursday and school was cancelled for the entire week. We lost our mid winter break, but I really didn’t mind. I had so much fun being at home with my family during our snow break. I was very glad to see the snow go, though – I like it, but in small doses. I am definitely a southern gal!

First Easy Bake Creation

2011-02-08T22:05:00.001-05:00

For Christmas, Mikayla got an Easy Bake Oven from my mom. While on Christmas break, we decided that we needed to make a little cake. This is Mikayla with her first culinary creation. She did a great job and I think she has a great baking future!

We did it!

2011-02-08T01:07:00.001-05:00

As you probably know, my youngest sister Laura lives in China. It is a temporary situation while my brother in law completes his education, but we still miss her terribly. A couple months before Christmas, Lollie found a good price on an airline ticket and she decided to give Mom the best Christmas present ever. She booked a ticket to fly in the day after Christmas. Everyone, except Mom, knew of the plan. The plan was to fly in the day after Christmas. Jeremy had to work that day and got off just in time to pick her up from the airport. He was going to bring her to our post Christmas family celebration and Laura was going to completely surprise my mom.

There was a little hitch, though. Laura had a connecting flight in New York. New York decided to host one of their biggest blizzards in history. Laura’s flight got cancelled and minor chaos ensued. I still am shocked to this day that Mom didn’t figure out something was going on. During our family celebration, Emily and I kept ducking away to field phone calls with Laura in an attempt to figure out how the heck we were going to get her to Georgia. This even involved many text messages during our family dinner – this is something I would NEVER do. We managed to get her a hotel room and a dear family friend was able to get her a flight home….three days later. To get, her side of the story, you have to read my sister’s blog post about it. It is HILARIOUS!

So we figured out how to get her home, but now we had to come up with a new way to surprise mom (who was still clueless). We casually brought up that we needed a family lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant. Dad picked Laura up from the airport and drove to meet us at the restaurant. Initially, dad just came in and sat down and we proceeded to go about our lunch. At this point, Laura casually walked in and sat down to Mom. Mom’s back was turned, so Laura tapped her on the shoulder. My mom initially greeted her like everyday and then it hit her that Laura lives on the other side of the world and is now sitting here in front of her. The look on her face was priceless! It was a great moment!

I brought Mikayla to dinner with us. She had no idea either (I feared that she would blab to mom). I think she was just as flabbergasted as mom was!

We had a such a great time with Laura while she was here. I think we ate at nearly every restaurant and fast food place in Alpharetta. For most, that wouldn’t be bad because you know you can diet and return to healthy eating and drop the extra weight. Yeah, when you are pregnant you don’t have that luxury. I did go back to healthy eating, but did not lose any weight. Oh well, I can do that later!

Ironically enough, Laura got stuck in Atlanta at the end of her trip thanks to another snowstorm in New York. We decided that Laura needs to steer clear of New York layovers during the winter and that she should never fly without her husband.

Adult’s Night Out!

2011-02-08T00:09:00.001-05:00

I was very fortunate to be able to have a night out with my family the week after Christmas. My parents treated us to tickets to see Manheim Steamroller’s Christmas concert at The Fox. They have always been one of my favorite groups to listen to at Christmas and it was such a treat to see them live. It was also nice to have an evening with my family without my little ones. I love them dearly, but I love me some adult time, too!

It was a fun night for all!

Christmas Snow Fun!

2011-02-07T15:21:00.001-05:00

So, due to all of the Christmas festivities, we didn’t actually go out and play on Christmas Day. However, the day after Christmas, church was cancelled, so we headed out early to play before Jeremy had to go to work.

Mikayla LOVES to make snow angels. I wish she would save this until later in the playing time though because she gets so wet!

My little snow sweeties!

Our driveway was one big ice slick, so it made for some great sledding. Gavin only made one trip, but Mikayla made several.

After a morning filled of fun in the snow, Mikayla decided she needed some warm chocolate and a seat in front of the fire. Sounds like a good place to me!

Later that afteroon, the kids and I headed down (very slowly!) to my parent’s house to celebrate Christmas with my dad’s side of the family. I got there a little early so that the kids could play in the snow some since it was starting to melt. We made a snowman while we were there. I should say I made a snowman, which probably accounts for why it is so short. Pushing around a snowball when you are pregnant is not a lot of fun. The kids were thrilled with him, though. That’s all that matters, right!

The snow made this Christmas vacation so much fun. It really added to the fun of the season. I hope that they remember this, because this is not a frequent occurrence here in the south.

Christmas!!

2011-02-07T08:58:00.001-05:00

Okay, I usually break this up into about three posts, but since I have been slack on my picture taking and I’m in a bit of a rush to get caught up, this will all be combined into one.

On Christmas Eve, we had our traditional dinner at my mom and dad’s house. It was a little sparse this year . Dan and Kim are living in Salt Lake and didn’t make it home this year, and Laura and Chris are in China and the definitely didn’t make it home. We missed them all dearly, but we still had a very nice time celebrating Christmas together.

This Santa brings back lots of memories. My parents had it up every year while I was growing up. Emily found it in the attic and pulled it out this year. It was fun to get a picture of the next generation with it.

After a super yummy dinner, we talked about the Christmas Story. I loved seeing my sweet Mikayla set up each piece of The Nativity and talk about each individual in the story and their importance and purpose.

After the important stuff, we moved on to some of the more silly stuff. My mom found these cute reindeer ears and noses for the grandkids.

Mikayla was super excited because she had specifically asked my mom for a reindeer costume. She got her wish!

Gavin loved being Rudolph, too. He walked around and kept saying, “I Rudolph!!”

Andrew was not quite as thrilled with the costume.

Me holding my little reindeer.

On Christmas morning, the kids let us sleep in until about 7:45. I think as Mikayla is getting older, that probably won’t be the case for years to come, though.

Both of them loved the Pillow Pets that Santa brought. They were a hit!

Gavin, the Toy Story fanatic, was thrilled with the Buzz and Woody costume box that Santa brought. He immediately put on the Woody costume and wore it all morning.

He also loved his Rex doll. I think we are getting close to having the entire cast of Toy Story 3!

Mikayla got a little vet hospital that she was very happy about. I would not be shocked if she ended up being a vet one day – she loves animals!

While I fixed our traditional Christmas morning breakfast of Monkey Bread, the kids watched a Mickey Mouse Christmas special in the new chairs that Santa brought them.

We also had a little Christmas bonus! For the first time in over 100 years, Atlanta had a White Christmas. It started snowing around 9am Christmas morning. By the time we left to go to Jeremy’s parents around 2pm, this is how much snow we already had on the ground. It continued to snow through the day and we ended up with about three inches. When we were headed home from Jeremy’s parents later that evening, Gavin asked if we were going to The North Pole. I’m sure it felt that way!

Now, I have no pictures, but I didn’t want to forget to talk about the wonderful time we had at Jeremy’s parents house. We had a great dinner and had a wonderful time spending time with each other.

I feel so blessed that we are able to spend time with all of our family during the Christmas season. Its nice to not have to pick who we see. I’m so glad that my kids are able to see everyone!

Mikayla’s SIX!!!

2011-02-07T07:57:00.001-05:00

I cannot believe that I am the mother of a six year old! She is such a sweet big girl. I love her so much!

We got a little bonus on her birthday. The night before, we had an ice storm, so school was cancelled. Originally, Mikayla was upset because she thought she wasn’t going to get to wear the birthday crown at school. When I assured her that this was better, because now, she was going to have and EXTRA day to celebrate, who mood quickly changed.

It was so nice to have a relaxed morning and fix Mikayla one of her favorite breakfasts…cinnamon rolls! Since we had time, I added in some eggs and bacon, too! Later that day, when the weather warmed up and the ice melted, we met with Mikayla’s best friend, Matthew at an indoor jumping place. That evening, when Jeremy came home, we went out to eat Mexican, on of Mikayla’s favorites! She can put down some cheese dip! It turned out to be such a nice day spent with my big six year old. I just can’t believe that she has grown up so fast!

On Saturday, our family and some close friends came over to celebrate her birthday. Mikayla, Matthew and Gavin were absolutely wild that night. You could tell that Mikayla was super excited for her third day in a row of birthday celebrations! (Isn’t that how it should always be?!?!)

Apparantly, it does take three children to open the presents.

My in-laws got Mikayla this LSU shirt – her daddy has completely brainwashed her into being obsessed with this football team. She makes her daddy so happy!

I love the look of pure joy that Mikayla gets sometimes. She got a little penguin that makes sounds when you give it a bottle – she was absolutely thrilled with this (as you can see).

Mikayla blowing out her candle. I’ve decided that I really like doing cupcakes for birthdays. I know we won’t always do this, but whenever I can encourage it, I will. It is so easy!

I hope Mikayla had as much fun celebrating her birthday as I did. I just love sharing these moments with my children.

Christmas programs

2011-01-21T23:54:00.001-05:00

One thing I have learned since Mikayla has started Kindergarten is how much more hectic my schedule is now! With two children in two schools, the weeks before holidays get pretty busy. I can only imagine how crazy things will be once we add #3!

At Mikayla’s school, the entire Kindergarten sang a variety of Holiday songs. I loved watching Mikayla actually participate – she is historically known for just sitting there during programs and not joining in too terribly much.

She was one happy little girl that Grandma was able to come. Gavin came to this program, too. I wizened up this time though! The program was first thing in the morning in the cafeteria. I opted to buy Gavin a breakfast (even thought he had already eaten at home) – it kept him quiet and occupied.

After the program, the children went back to the classroom for their little party and some crafts.

I love that her teachers are always offering to take pictures of us together. I don’t have too many of those!

The next morning, Gavin had his Christmas program. Jeremy was able to join me for this one which was so nice for me!

My little angel did a great job singing. I was a little worried at one point when he caught site of Jeremy and I. I was just sure he was going to run from the stage to me. He was satisfied with lots of smiles and waves, though. (Thank goodness!)

Afterwards, the children returned to their classroom and did a little craft and then had some yummy treats. Gavin did a great job on his gingerbread man – he insisted on doing it all by himself!

It’s always fun seeing my children with their peers and performing fun songs. I just love it!

Nights of Lights

2011-01-21T23:37:00.001-05:00

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is going to Lake Lanier to see “The Magical Nights of Lights” Christmas light display. It is something that we all look forward to.

After we get through the gate, we let the kids sit in our laps while we drive through the park. They love getting to do that!

We were able to get some pictures with the Coca-Cola bear – a true Atlanta Christmas icon!

After we picked out our family ornament (which I never took a picture of…grrr!), we went outside to the firepit to roast some marshmallows.

Mikayla had a lot of fun stuffing her face full of “roasted” marshmallows. Mikayla is not much of a true (in my eyes, at least) roaster. She likes to stick it in the fire for about two seconds – I’m not sure it even warms it! She likes there to be NO black on there ( in my opinion, the more charred the better!). Oh well, she has fun and that is all that matters.

Now, Gavin LOVES to roast the marshmallows, but he will not eat them ( or much of anything else, for that matter! ). Again, as long as he is having fun!

I love creating these kind of memories with our growing family – I hope this tradition is one that carries on for a long time.

Thanksgiving Programs and Feasts

2011-01-21T23:21:00.001-05:00

Sorry I am still so behind – I am hoping to be caught up by the end of January!

I had so much fun watching both of my children in the Thanksgiving programs this year.

Gavin was a little turkey – and a very cute one at that! This was his first official program at preschool. He did such a great job!

Sorry for the less than stellar picture quality – it’s hard to get a really good picture in the Sanctuary at the preschool.

Afterwards the preschool had their traditional Thanksgiving “Feast”….at 10:00am! They even had food for the parents – I didn’t think I could stomach chicken nuggets that early! Ha!

Me and my sweet little boy.

Later that week, Mikayla’s Kindergarten held their own Thanksgiving Feast and program. Mikayla was dressed as an Indian. I think by the end of the day she wished she had picked to be a Pilgrim. She felt that the grocery bag vest was too uncomfortable – I thought she was cute!

Their feast was actually during their lunch time. It was a good meal, too! They had turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, plenty of veggies, bread and some very yummy desserts! Gavin and I snacked on some bread and cookies.

Mikayla loved having her brother there at her feast – it was a little difficult on my end. It is definitely much easier when I am able to leave him at home with Jeremy. The room can get crowded pretty quickly and Gavin can be a little impatient at times.

This is Mikayla with her classmates singing some Thanksgiving songs. Doesn’t her teacher look fun? Well, she is!

After their program, the children split up into groups and did some fall and Thanksgiving crafts. We have some very creative and hardworking Room Moms.

Mikayla showing off some of her handiwork.

I’m so grateful that I am able to be at all of these school functions with my little ones – it definitely makes me a happy mommy!

First Field Trip!

2011-01-11T13:42:00.001-05:00

Back at the beginning of November, Mikayla’s Kindergarten went on a field trip to the INK Children’s Museum. I was so happy that I was able to chaperone and go with her. It was so fun to see her with her friends and teachers.

Mikayla and a friend of hers milking a cow.

Mikayla and some of the other students cleaning their teacher, Mrs. Brown’s, teeth.

Mikayla getting a great hair style from a little boy in her class.

Playing with the musical instruments.

They had a very old (like probably early 20s) fire truck that had a little Dalmatian in the front. Mikayla really enjoyed this.

Mikayla driving the police cruiser.

I was so grateful that I had the opportunity to share this “first” with Mikayla – I will never forget it!

Halloween

2011-01-11T10:31:00.001-05:00

This year, I had to work Halloween night (the downside of being a nurse). So that I could see my cuties in their costumes we went down to my parent’s house for a little dinner and I left for work just before they went trick-or-treating.

Buzz Lightyear

Super Girl!

My little ones with their cousin, Andrew. He’s a cute little raccoon isn’t he. My sister made the costume!

I am not big into dressing up, but when you work at a children’s hospital it is kind of required. So I donned some butterfly wings and lots of glittery hairspray. I loved getting hugs from my little trick-or-treaters before heading into work.

Halloween Parade

2011-01-11T10:17:00.001-05:00

This year, at the preschool, they decided to have their annual Halloween parade outside. Gavin was having a great time showing off his Buzz costume…until he caught sight of Jeremy and I. After that, I had to finish the parade along with him.

This is Gavin holding on to Jeremy for dear life!

Afterwards, his class had a little party and then they went trick or treating to all of the classrooms. He almost stopped after he got that first sucker. He’s easily pleased!

Pumpkin Patch

2011-01-04T23:48:00.001-05:00

We made our annual trip to our local Pumpkin Patch shortly before Halloween. It was unseasonable warm which was nice, but it didn’t feel like a good fall pumpkin patch visit. We had a great time though.

This year they had some of their animals at the end of the covered area where the pumpkins are. They were very calm animals that seemed to tolerate all of the attention. Gavin loved the goats and Mikayla was mostly intrigued with the cow.

Mikayla cooperated quite nicely with letting me take a “pumpkin” picture….Gavin, yeah, not so much.

We went on the hayride around the farm – the kids always love this activity.

I just love these two little people!

About half way through the hayride, the let you stop at their pond that is full of very big catfish. They have food that you can give them which just brings the catfish all around the dock. There is definitely no question as to what makes those catfish so big – they probably get fed about 20 times a day!

See! They do love each other!

I always love these opportunities that we have to go on a fun family outing. With our busy schedules, it doesn’t happen as often as I would like. That just makes me appreciate these moments that much more.

Happy 3rd Birthday Gavin!

2011-01-04T16:19:00.001-05:00

Well, now that the craziness of the holidays is over and I am starting to feel human again, I am going to attempt to get caught up on how we rounded out 2010.

On October 22nd, my sweet boy turned 3! He has grown and changed so much over the past year – it just amazes me. One year ago, he said maybe 5-10 words – now I can’t get him to stop talking! He is such a fun and energetic little boy. He brings so much joy to our family and we love him so incredibly much!

Gavin had a breakfast of blueberry muffins – he just LOVES “cake.”

The best close up picture that I could get of the birthday boy at his party. He was just too busy to sit still.

My crazy and sweet little kiddos.

Gavin starting to open his presents…..

He got some Buzz and Woody Potato Heads from his Aunt Ashley. The were a big hit! (Almost too the point where he wouldn’t open anything else!)

We were able to encourage him however to move on to the others.

This is another grouping of some of his faves. He got some Buzz wings from his Grandma. Jeremy, Mikayla and I got him a Buzz and Woody that talk. He LOVES them and still plays with him daily.

Birthdays with my children are always bittersweet. I just love to see them grow and develop into little people….I just wish it wasn’t so fast!

Fun side note for personal documentation….it was the very next day that we found out we were pregnant! I woke up the next morning throwing up. I knew there was a possibility I was pregnant, but it was still a little early for a home pregnancy test. I went to the doctor’s office where I found out I had a kidney infection (the cause of the vomiting) and that I was pregnant! It was a pretty nice way to find out I was sick…I just didn’t seem to care as much anymore.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-21T13:12:00.001-05:00

I did not mail out Christmas cards because I just ran out of time. Here is a copy of an email, though that I did send out. :)

Well, have you ever looked at your ever growing to do list and just knew that something had to go. Well, this year, it has been mailing out Christmas cards. My sister made this beautiful card for us, but I have just come to realize that I do not have enough time to get them printed, address the cards and get them out before Christmas.

It has been another wonderful year in the Matthews household.
Jeremy continues to work at The Mattress Firm. I can hardly believe that he has been there for 15 years. In a time of so much employment uncertainty, we are so grateful that he has a stable job that provides so well for us. I am still working in the Emergency Department for Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. This January, I will hit my 10 year anniversary with this great hospital. I love having a job where I can add a little income to our family, but still be home during the day with our children and not miss any of the fun of being home to raise them. Mikayla started Kindergarten this year! She loves her teachers, Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Warren. She is already reading and has some excellent math skills. She loves school (thank goodness)!! Gavin started preschool two days a week this year, as well. At first, he wasn't too keen on the idea, but now he cries when we don't drop him off at "Gavin's school." He is always excited to go play with Mrs. Theresa and Mrs. Vicki.

The kids have had a very healthy year free of much illness, but 2010 has proven to be our year of injuries. On the day after Christmas, last year, Mikayla fell and broke her arm. That fall resulted in the first Matthews trip to my work for some xrays that showed a break to both bones in her forearm which had to be reset in the ER and put in a cast for about 10 weeks. She was a great sport about it, though. Nothing slows that girl down! Gavin rounded out the year with a broken foot in September and then stitches to his forehead the day before his 3rd birthday. I hope that we can take a break in 2011.

We had a wonderful family reunion in Destin, Florida with my mother's side of the family. It was a fun filled week at the beach with 21 adults and 9 children, ages 1 year to 7 years, in one large (thank goodness!) beach house. It was so nice to spend some time with family that we don't get to see very often. We are so grateful to Grandma and Grandpa Scott for renting the house and also hiring a photographer to help document the fun week. We are so indebted to them for the creation of many great memories over our lifetimes.

Finally, we have some exciting news (which is largely responsible for me not having time to mail Christmas cards). We will be adding a new little one to our family next year. I am 12 weeks pregnant with the newest little Matthews' baby. We expect this blessed angel to arrive sometime shortly before July 5th, 2011. Other than a little bit of nausea and the desire to sleep 24 hours a day, I have had a pretty good first trimester. I have had a couple of ultrasounds which show a very healthy and active little baby. We ask for prayers that this continues.

Well, in closing, I hope that each one of you has a wonderful Christmas season. We pray that you are able to spend it with the ones that you love and that your are able to feel the love that the Savior has for each one of you. We love each one of you and pray that you have a wonderful year.

To keep up to date with all of the exciting things to come this year in our family, follow our blog www.jeremyandrachelmatthews.blogspot.com .

Merry Christmas and a very blessed New Year!
Love,
Jeremy, Rachel, Mikayla and Gavin

Well, I hope you didn’t think I fell of the face of the blog world. As you can see, I have had other priorities. :) After, Christmas, I promise to update everyone with the birthdays and holiday fun that we have taken part in over the past 3 months.

Last night as a two year old…..

2010-10-22T00:51:00.001-04:00

Well, Gavin decided he needed to have some excitement for the last night of him being a two year old. As we were just about to finish bath time and head to bed, he slipped in the tub and cut open his chin. Thankfully, it was not a big cut, but I knew he needed a few stitches. So, I loaded him and Kayla in the car, dropped Kayla off at my parents and headed down to the ER. (For the second time in less than 6 weeks!!)

Gavin hanging out in the waiting room with his numbing jelly on. He was so active and busy! You could tell he was up way past his bedtime. (Which results in him getting hyper) After his stitches, Miss Keri got him a popsicle. He was very happy about that. I would like to say that Gavin was a trooper and super brave, but well, he pitched a major fit. He did NOT like being held down. He screamed ( high-pitched, glass-shattering ) the whole time. Thankfully the plastic surgeon was super quick. As soon as we let go of him, he immediately quieted down.

He got about four or five stitches an they put a steri strip over it so that he wouldn’t be able to pull the sutures out. I thought we deserved some Steak and Shake on the way home. I did this with Mikayla when she broke her arm. I think it is a nice tradition. Hopefully, we don’t have to make it a frequent tradition, though…. I don’t think my waist line could handle it!

Fun Run!

2010-10-16T10:35:00.001-04:00

Mikayla’s elementary school holds a fundraiser “Fun Run” each year. Family and friends can donate flat donations or pledge money per lap for her to run. The parents come cheer them along. It was really a fun little event! This is Mikayla right before the big run. She was so excited!

She was also happy to have Gavin and I there to cheer her along. They had some dancing and cheering beforehand – they had a great time doing that together. Mikayla the runner! She did great!

Gavin entertained himself by playing with his shadow. :)

30 laps!!! I was so proud of her.

One of her teachers, Mrs. Warren, took our picture. I was happy to be able to be there for Mikayla’s first big event at her school (even if it was preceded by a night of work and 3 1/2 hours of sleep).

Fair time!

2010-10-16T10:18:00.001-04:00

This has become a fun family tradition for us. Every year, Jeremy and I look forward to taking our children to the Cumming Country Fair. It is such a fun event and we love watching our little ones have a great time. There was a robot that greet the fair patrons near the front gates. Mikayla was super excited to meet a “real” robot. :)

This year, Mikayla decided that she wanted to ride the ferris wheel. Jeremy is not a huge fan of heights, but I am love the thrill of going high, so I was super excited to go on it with Mikayla. This is a picture of her just as we got into the cart right before we went up. Isn’t she the picture of nervous excitement?? This is a picture looking down as we start to go up. We were the first to get loaded on the wheel, so we got to take a slow trip all around as they loaded it up.

This is our view from the top. We were so high! I have to admit that I was a little nervous as we were going up. I started second guessing my decision about thinking it was a good idea to bring my wiggly five year old onto a ride with no seatbelts (there was a safety bar. Thankfully, she understood how important it was to be still and to sit back. A picture of us as we went around and around! I was so proud of her. I could see that she was a little nervous as we went around the first time, but after that she just had fun and enjoyed the view. I will never forget this “first” for her. :) This was the first year that Gavin could really ride most of the “little kid” rides. They decided to tackle this little roller coaster first. As you can see, they both loved it!

They really had a great time riding everything together. Mikayla was so kind and let him pick where they sat. She is such a thoughtful sister.

They also had a petting zoo there. It was filled with mini kangaroos (aka joeys), a llama, a zebra, tortoises, birds and several other animals. Mikayla also had the opportunity to feed a camel and many goats. Gavin wasn’t too keen on the idea of letting them eat out of his hand. He did throw food at them, though. :) This was a little obstacle course that the kids did together. Last year, Mikayla froze on this bridge and had to be guided off by one of the workers. Well, this year, she was still pretty timid and got a little frustrated when other kids made the bridge move, but she did finish it all by herself. She was apparantly a little slow, though. When given the chance, Gavin pushed right by her and ran ahead. That boy has no fear! The final ride of the night was the merry go round. They both loved it and loved that Jeremy and I could go on it with them.

We had such a great night together…I can’t wait for next year!

Big Girl Occasion!

2010-10-07T17:03:00.001-04:00

Mikayla has been talking about getting her ears pierced for a little bit, but it has just basically been in passing. I told her that whenever she felt ready I would be happy to take her. Well this past Sunday, she decided that she wanted to have them pierced. I explained to her in GREAT detail how she would get her ears pierced. I also told her that she would have to let me clean her ears and turn her earrings several times a day for a very long time (6 weeks is a very long time for a 5 year old!). She was still set on getting her ears pierced so after school on Monday we headed to the mall.

I was SO IMPRESSED with how wonderful she did. She never wavered in her decision. She picked out some cute little multicolored floral studs. When they pierced the first ear, she did get a little teary (understandably), but she never yelled or fussed. She was a little apprehensive about getting the second year pierced, but she held on tight to me and we got it done. I think I may have been a little more emotional about it than her (at least on the inside). I was just sitting there holding her with amazement in how fast she was growing up.

My big girl with freshly pierced ears! When we got home Gavin wanted earrings too. :) Thankfully the single Mrs. Potato Head Earring that made him look like a pirate was enough!

Gavin’s injury….continued

2010-10-07T16:54:00.001-04:00

Well, after wearing the long leg splint for the prescribed 48 hours, Gavin was still not wanting to bear any weight. He was starting to show more tenderness to the foot/ankle area, so I decided to take him to the pediatrician for a recheck. They ordered some foot films which showed this….

Poor little guy has a broken foot :( . There isn’t a ton that you can do for this unfortunately. We spent a couple of days of me carrying him around (EVERYWHERE!). After seeing very little improvement we decided to see the orthopedist to see if anything could be done to make him feel a little more comfortable. They put him in something called a “Wee Walker.” I unfortunately never got a picture of him in it, but it is basically just a cast of sorts that Velcros on (which means we can take it off for baths and sleeping). It has a hard bottom which made it much easier for him to walk around in. He wore this for a little over a week and we have now graduated to just a hard soled shoe. He still has a pretty good limp, but he is doing great. The only down side of all of this (other than the four trips to doctors offices and x-ray facilities and the $300+ spent on everything) is that any advances we had made in potty training were completely lost. Not being able to walk and move around made that very difficult. Since he is now walking more normally, we are getting back on track with that and will hopefully be back to a daytime PullUp free existence by next week!

Fun times in the ER

2010-10-06T23:48:00.001-04:00

About two and a half weeks ago, Jeremy was out of town for a boys weekend. I had to work on Friday night, so the kids spent the night at my mom’s house. I slept Saturday morning at my mom’s and then got up so that I could spend some time with the kids. My mom and I were in her kitchen when we hear a jump and then a cry. This isn’t highly unusual with two rowdy kids, but the crying persisted. I ran upstairs and Gavin was crying and not wanting to walk on his right foot. Apparently, he had jumped off of the bed (with no assistance from his sister, or so I am told….). Gavin is not one to cry for long after he is hurt. It is actually a little bit of a running joke that all he needs is a kiss and it is instantly “all better!” This time, however, the kisses did not heal all wounds. Gavin cried (really hard) for at least 45 minutes and he still refused to bear weight. So, after just having left work in the ER about 8 hours earlier, we headed down to the ER to get Gavin checked out. Aside from the complete fit (and I mean MAJOR) he threw in triage because he couldn’t hold the Buzz Lightyear doll that was out there, he did pretty well. The Child Life Specialist showered Mikayla and him with lots of activities to do.

This is a picture of Gavin watching Toy Story. He is a little obsessed with Toy Story (wait for a whole blog post on that!) and that movie came on at the perfect time. Our visit in the ER cut into his nap so he was a little whiney. This is a picture of Mikayla with all of the stickers that she was given. I think I remember her commenting on how fun it was to come to mommy’s work. (She just needs to keep it at social visits though!)

This is a picture of the three of us taken by my mom (thanks for coming and keeping me sane!) on my camera phone. They did an x-ray of his leg which showed no fracture. However, since he still refused to bear weight the decided to put him in a long leg splint. As you can imagine, he was a little less than thrilled about wearing that. I wish that was the end of our story, but that is for a whole ‘nother blog post!

First Day of Preschool

2010-09-30T17:49:00.001-04:00

So, I hope that Gavin doesn’t have a terrible case of “second child syndrome.” He started preschool a month ago and I am just now blogging about it. As we were talking to him in the weeks prior to starting, Gavin would usually say, “I no want to go to school!” Needless to say, I was a little nervous about he would do.

When the first day arrived, Gavin was actually pretty excited. He was excited to go to school “like See-kah.” :)

Isn’t he a handsome little man?

When we dropped him off, Gavin, he was less than thrilled to be taken out of the car in the car pool line. When I picked him up, however, he kept telling me how much fun he had. So all in all, I think he had a great first day of school.

After school, we went by McDonald’s at brought it back home. The weather was just wonderful, so I decided that we should eat it on the back porch. It was a nice little lunch date with my little man