News from Matthew.com

:: Matthew had his 18 mo. check up this afternoon. He will be 18 mo. on Sun. He now weighs 28# 10 1/2 oz. and he is 34 1/2" tall. Giving my little Alyssa a run for her money. He also had to have 2 shots; that was traumatic, crocodile tears even! Doctor said she thought we could start potty training if we wanted to. I have known for a while now that he knows when he is wet as he tries to get me to change him (he pats his diaper and takes my hand to lead me down the hall to the nursery) However, he hides when he poops his pants, behind the rocking chair or behind the door to the armoire. Dr. also said once the infant Tylenol was gone, we should switch him to children's. (now he should get 2 droppers of the infant when needed)

:: Not really that cold here but all the snow we got in the last few days has blown around so that at times we could not see across the street. Wind seems to have died down and the sun is shining. However, there was an accident and a pole was down and our electricity went out. At first it was just for a few minutes and came back on just in time for the Backyardigans. Half way through the theme song, and Matty's dance, it went off again. He was very upset. Climbed up in the chair to get the remote and kept pushing the power button. He finally gave up and we read and played and watched the birds but every few minutes he would pick up the remote and try to turn it on again. I told him it was broken and everytime he tried to turn it on, he would shake his head and tell me "broke".

:: My intention for this afternoon was for me to make a roast, do some laundry and work on the other blanket for Lauren. So much for good intentions. The power is on now, the laundry started and the roast is in. I will work on the blanket when I finish here.

This is one of the blankets I am making for Lauren Jessa. It is 45" x 45" so it works well for nursing. I made Alyssa 2 when she was born but back then there was no pink. Anyway, I am happy with the way it came out and I love the little rosebuds. (so glad Jackie changed her mind about no pink)

worth a thousand words????

I think the pictures of Anthony's party will speak for themselves.



Here is Anthony's Bob the Builder cake.
(like you needed me to tell you)








Yes, he did get golf clubs and these are not plastic toy ones.....they came from Dick's (from Grandpa and Uncle Roy)













Matty at the party. No big smiles but taking it all in!

rambling on and on

:: All I seem to do is ramble on about my corner of the world. I am no doubt boring everyone. I am considering not blogging for a while.

:: Matty is obsessed with brushing his teeth. I moved the wooden stool out of the bathroom and into the hallway next to the washer/dryer. He picks it up and carries it back in so the can reach the sink and brush his teeth. It does not have to be just after he eats anymore......it is every time he walks down the hall to the nursery to get his pants changed or take a nap. I am sure this will wear off after a while but until then ................

:: We got quite a bit of snow in the last few days and it has become much colder.....OK, not NNY colder but cold nonetheless. I am so looking forward to spring....yes, I am aware we just got our winter weather, doesn't mean I like it. They had snow in Raleigh last week and it was gone by 10am. (sigh)

:: Tomorrow is Anthony's second birthday party. This year it is for the family (you will remember that last year, they invited 40 people besides family and had it catered) .

:: We are doing a financial series through church. Wm. has also been reading a book called Money Road Map. We were never on a strict budget before. I know it is what God has been speaking to us, but I can tell you I am not sure I like it. Yes, I am aware that I need to be able to listen to Him and change my life accordingly and I will be stretched in the process. I know this is a good thing. I was a little surprised when he began speaking to me about giving up my coolatas last week and then an example Pastor Lee used in church was about lattes and how having one a day meant you were spending $1200 in a yr. Ooh, that is eyeopening.

Edit: forgot to mention that I went to the doctors for my 8 week check up on my knee. He pronounced me "healed". That seemed like the longest 8 wk. of my life. (OK, maybe a slight exaggeration)

more musings

:: It is snowing again, here......surprise, surprise. I knew the time would come when it would stay on the ground; but there always was that glimmer of hope. I've said it before, I always thought we would retire to somewhere it was warmer than this in the winter. Wm. keeps saying we are done moving.



:: I guess it would not be my post if I did not mention Matty. (Well he is the only one I am with all day 5 out of 7). His new "thing" is brushing his teeth. I remember how Lael loved to brush hers too. Anyway, he brushed them after breakfast and after lunch, then any time he ate anything, he wanted to brush again. (we are talking after every cheerio, and no we did not)



"Look guys, I think I may have found another purpose for these pull-ups. What do ya think?"

You know your're in trouble when........

:: You know you're in trouble when your 17 month old grandchild gets down on his hands and knees, looks under the armoire for the TV and then under the couch only to announce "ooh, kaka" and proceeds to get a toy broom, get back down and sweeps out the dust. (we moved both the armoire and couch last week when we cleaned the laminate floor)

:: You know you're in trouble when the only song that keeps running through your head is the theme song from the Backyardigans.

::Yes, I'm in trouble. My defense? Matty is Mr. Clean's son and we do put the Backyardigans on after lunch......he loves to dance with them. Not much of a defense I know. Like I said.....I am in trouble!

musings

:: The weather was sunny and warmer today and a lot of our snow melted. Tomorrow, however, more lake effect snow is predicted for the area. :-(
No, I am not any more pleased with the fact that we actually have to endure winter than I was.

::Work is slow for my DH, so he has decided to stay home tomorrow unless they call with a big job. Usually they have more work on Friday's than any other day but there is nothing on the schedule for tomorrow. (selfishly, I am glad he will be home)

::Susan is back from NJ where she went to meetings and training for her new job......they still have not found someone they wanted to hire for her old one.
She is currently covering both.

::My sweet Matty has been wild the last few days......not playing with anything for more than a couple of minutes, short or no naps and drooling up a storm. Hopefully his eye teeth will finally come in. He has some premolars and spaces where his eye teeth should be. I don't remember this with the other kids, but maybe I just don't remember and this is absolutely normal.
Yes, I know every child is different.

::Well, just about a month until grandbaby # 5 makes an appearance. His due date is Feb. 15th. Jackie will give us grandbaby #6 soon after that. Oh, so exciting, I love being a grandmother.

::Speaking of grandchildren, did you all check out the latest video of my northern princesses on Jackie's blog? If not it is definitely worth a look!

ice and sleet

:: We got some snow on Thurs. that turned to rain on Fri. By Saturday evening the rain had turned to sleet and ice. Driving was treacherous (NO, we did not go out) and there was 30 car pile up on 81 yesterday. Most of the schools in the area were closed today for MLK day but those that were not were closed because of the weather.

:: Susan has gone to NJ through work for a few days. Tom is the #1 care giver......he brought Matty over and picked him up (as he will for the next few days)

:: Uncle Roy is having surgery on January 23rd. I am asking that you would all put this on your prayer lists. (thanks)

:: Susan has graciously agreed to take Matty and fly with me to Raleigh in Feb. Wm. was planning to go but he used up his vacation when I had my surgery. We are only going for a long weekend. (thinking about Fri - Mon). Morrigan's birthday party is Feb. 24th and Max will be born on the 15th.
We have always gone down for Morrigan's birthday and she is looking forward to it. (Did I mention how much I hate to fly?)

Matthew.com

It has been a while since I just posted about Matty. (Josh this is just for you as I know how you think every post is Matty oriented) I only have a few minutes here but I wanted you see a couple of new pictures.




Here he is after his new haircut.
Where did the baby go? He looks like
a big boy.









He loves books, for which I am very grateful. Here is a picture his mama snapped at home of him reading in his new chair. Anthony got a recliner for Christmas and Matty liked it, so Tom wanted him to have his own. He sits in it quite a bit. It is much easier than trying to climb up on the couch.

Winter wonderland?

Well we finally got our share of the snow over the last 24 hr. Not really a winter wonderland, more of a huge nuisance (OK, that is my opinion) I told you I was happy with the green grass and felt no need to stand on tradition that central and northern NY should have snow. All the area schools were closed as well as other services.....you would think we had never seen snow before.

On a lighter note, Wm. was home today and he watched Matty so I could make cookies. Matthew kept standing on the gate and calling me and when I asked him what he wanted, he said cookie, cookie!

Here he is trying to fill Grampa's shoes.

He was supposed to get a haircut tonight but that got changed to tomorrow

more ramblings........

No sooner than I am able to see some progress with my knee than I come down with this cold. Until yesterday it was just a head cold but now it has moved to my chest. YUCK. I feel horrid. I did not have Matthew today, his other grandmother did. Susan, Tom and Matthew had this cold between Christmas and New Year's (while on vacation) Wm. had it last week, so I knew it was inevitable that I would come down with it. I just seem to go from one thing to another. It always bothered me that my mother always seemed to go from one thing to another. My sister and I used to think she was a hypochondriac. Maybe not! I don't want to think I am one......so, family, please do not comment on whether or not you think I am. I can live without that information.

Snow has been coming down to the north and south of us......we, however, are still seeing the green grass. Not for much longer I guess but every day without snow is a bonus in my eyes.

randomness

I thought I would put a few more of the Christmas pictures up. These are better as Susan and/or Tom took them. They have been the family photographers since I can remember.


Yes, you are seeing what you think you are.

Matty is sitting in the fridge.

(cooling his jets)

Alyssa is
excited with this ,
eh?

Matty got reindeer jammies for his Christmas Eve tradition from Gramma and Grampa. The girls jammie pictures are in with the Flickr photos.










Princess Lael (Aurora) opening some books.

check it out

Matty doesn't have a huge vocabulary but he is constantly adding new words.

Cheese, cookie, cracker, and his new one today popcorn. (are you beginning to see a pattern to his vocabulary?) :-)

This afternoon he wanted popcorn. He loves popcorn. OK, I know he got that from me but it could be worse, I could be a chocoholic. Here is a picture we took today when he realized that once the popcorn was nearly gone, he could stick his head in the bucket and talk and create an echo......I love this job!

Happy New Year

Well another year has slipped away. 2007 is here. We did manage to stay up until the "ball dropped", but by a little after midnight we were all scrambling to our beds.

Betsy and Kenny came down for the weekend. That was great. It was like old times. I got a haircut too. We had a chance to chat and catch up, something we used to do every week and since moving down here......well, there are trade offs. We went to Red Lobster on New Year's eve. It was very crowded. When we were being seated, they were telling people coming in that it would be at least a 1 1/2hr. wait. (and they were waiting) They went to church with us too. We went to just the morning service. A New Year's Eve service at Faith Chapel......well, it wasn't like CFC. They went bowling at 6pm and had a worship service at 9:30.

Today we had dinner here before the Ashley's left for home. Susan, Tom and Matty and Uncle Roy joined us. Weather here was fantastic today. In the 50's; not bad for upstate NY in Jan. We talked to Jon, Donna and Morrigan today and it was 68 in Raleigh! Hey, they expect that kind of weather there in Jan. I really am liking that the temps are in the 50's and there is green grass where we would normally have snow. I am not so naive to think this will last; but I am enjoying it while I can.