Matthew....

Just in case there was any doubt....Mike IS the father of Matthew......My dad took these pictures the other day and I thought that Matthew looked so much like Mike in these pictures, I just had to share....so sweet!

Stickers and Shenanigans

it feels good to be "caught up" on the blog. I couldn't end tonight's postings without mentioning Peter's latest fixation: stickers.

He loves stickers!! He loves to put them all over his face, shirts, pants, etc.

I bought him a bunch of cat stickers for his birthday (195 to be exact). I was storing them in the entertainment center in a box. Each time he asked for more stickers, I would go to the entertainment center to get them. By the time he finished the box of stickers, he was convinced that cat stickers came from the entertainment center. For at least a week, he kept going to the cabinet and pointing. Basically saying, "I would like some more cat stickers." It was pretty funny.

Anyways, stickers are a great way to kill time. He will play with them for 10-15 minutes--which is a lot in mom world.

Sometimes the stickers end up in places they shouldn't go....

Peter is not a very sneaky kid....but the other morning he did surprise me. I had brought Matthew into the nursery and told Peter to come in there so that I could change his diaper.

I was busy pulling Peter's clothes out for the day when he finally came into the room. I turned around only to see that he was pouring apple puree all over Matthew's belly. Matthew was quite entertained and I just decided the best thing to do would be to take a picture. :) I also decided that Peter was just trying to feed Matthew....right???

Matthew--6 months

Matthew turned 6 months old...a month ago. It has kind of flown by in some ways...and in others it seems like September 24th is a loooong time ago.
He is super chunky. 20lbs. He smiles and laughs all the time. He is soooooo sweet!
He started solids around 5 1/2 months and now enjoys squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, bananas, applesauce, and other fruits.

He went through a very frustrating period before solids of not napping well. But once he got into the solids, he started napping great. He also just dropped his 10pm feeding, which is really exciting for us!!

look at my chub!!

cute little toes

he loves Peter! Peter already knows how to make Matthew laugh in a way that none of us can. My sister does the same thing with me, so it has been fun to see that humor between the two of them already.

not a huge fan of rice cereal, but smiling anyways....

feeding is very serious business for daddy

hanging with Henry

Easter

We had a great Easter...several weeks ago...I know, I know. I am so behind in posting pictures. Sorry.


We went to my parents' house and we were all super excited to go on an Easter Egg Hunt. My mom put together some really cute baskets and my parents also put together a great easter egg hunt for Peter.

We have fond memories of past egg hunts with me and my sister in this backyard. It was so fun to see Peter explore the same territory that we once did.....

He was pretty good at figuring out the concept.....

After lunch, he led us all outside by the hand and thought that since we were all outside together again--that must mean there are MORE eggs to find. I quickly went inside and gathered a couple and then secretly hid them again when he wasn't looking. He had fun finding them again. and again. and again.

Matty was still too small to go hunting, but he enjoyed tasting this egg.

This is kind of a random picture to post, but I liked it because I thought it captured what a fun day we had.

Dogs

At the beginning of 2010, we made a big decision. We decided that it was time to say goodbye to our bassets, Millie and Maggie. Millie turned 7 in February and Maggie turned 6 in March. As our family has expanded in the kid department, it seemed an increasingly difficult task to care for the dogs. So we decided the best thing would be to find them a new home.

I thought I would post some pics of the past 7 years....

Maggie hanging out on the couch with us at the old house...

Millie was always a good sport about wishing people "Happy Birthday"

One of our nephews, "enjoying" Maggie...

is there nothing sweeter than a boy and his dogs?

Millie

We contacted our breeder and she was able to find a wonderful couple in Flintridge that were interested in taking in 2 bassets! They have raised bassets over 25 years and have 2 bloodhounds too boot. AND they live in a huge house. Millie and Maggie are definitely moving on up!



When the owners took the dogs to the vet for the first time, the vet found a tumor in Maggie's neck. Maggie has an advanced form of thyroid cancer. The vet said that these kind of cancers can appear "overnight" in a dog. The tumor has grown significantly since we gave the dogs to the new owners two weeks ago. The new owners said that Maggie's breathing is already labored. They said that they would do their best to make sure Maggie is comfortable, but in the end they will be putting her to sleep.

We are so thankful that we were able to find good owners for our dogs. We know they are in good hands and that is very comforting; especially when we think about what Maggie is going through.

our last goodbye...(i think Matthew was really tired)

We will always have fun memories of our doggies. Mike had never had dogs before, so it was really exciting to have pets in our home. He spent many evenings in our Pedro house with them on the sofa.....of course...I won't miss their permeating basset smell....:)

I think one of the hardest things about saying goodbye to them for me was that it was a symbol of sorts that we are in this new phase of life. I felt like I was saying goodbye to my life without kids. Not saying I don't love my children or anything like that...just saying that I am finally getting comfortable in our "new" life as parents.....