Matthew and I

Yesterday the family was playing outside together and Phil got ahold of the camera and took pictures of Matthew and I playing. I don't know why it is that every time someone wants to take pictures of me I'm not wearing any makeup and I'm wearing clothes that are cleaning clothes. But there it is. That's the way it is. If I'm looking cute, the camera never comes out.

Chase me Mommy!

I'm going to get you Mommy!

I'm going to get you!

I gotcha and now Scampie boy is going to get you!

A human tunnel and Mommy is worn out.

Another weekend of no accidents. We've thrown more pullups away from falling apart then actually being soiled. I think we are about to be able to declare complete independence from diapers! Yea!!!!

Flowers and the weekend

It bloomed today! 4/12 is by far the earliest I've ever seen an iris bloom. 5/8 was the earliest date last year. Of course I didn't have this particular iris in the garden last year. Anyway, isn't it a beauty! It's such a dark purple it's almost black and has lovely bright blue beards.

My almost black hyacinth and pinkish tulip with my parrot tulips that are red! this year. Last year they were more of a yellow. You just never know do you?

Matthew and I journeyed up to visit Phil this weekend. Saturday we went to a bowling event to benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters. I would have taken pictures, but I couldn't get my camera to work right, probably due to a low battery. So the pictures you see here on out, were taken Sunday at Auntie's house. Matthew (and all of us) had a ball. *Photo taken by Auntie

He was so excited to ride the yellow tricycle. *Photo taken by Auntie

Me sporting my new do. *Photo taken by Auntie

Auntie has the coolest kid sized bowling set that Matthew really enjoyed playing with. All I heard the night before was, "I want to play." And having to say over and over, "I'm sorry, only the big girls and boys are bowling tonight." got really old.

I love this action shot!


All weekend long Matthew pooped in the toilet! Yesterday, same story. Today, well, I guess 3 out of 5 isn't bad...after all going 5 times is rather alot. I'm guessing we are almost ready to give up pullups. Yesterday I threw away a pair because it'd been worn for 24 hrs and was literally starting to wear out. They aren't meant to stay dry of long and be pulled up and down so much.

Tonight, as I was digging nasty weeds out of my flower bed, a tractor went by. Matthew was thrilled, until Scamp decided to run down the road chasing it/running along aside it barking loudly. Matthew and I tried to call him back but after we lost sight of him, he disgustedly announced, "We need to get a new Scampie dog." I giggled to myself and decided that this quote would make the blog! Now before you feel too sorry for Scamp, just know that he came back a minute later and was received with open arms by the boy! And I continued digging nasty weeds.

An assortment of pics

While my family was celebrating Easter and enjoying being together, another family's heart was breaking as they lost their son, dad, brother, friend. A very generous guy I met last year died Easter Sunday at the young age of 41. My son doesn't take to many people right away, but he really liked Ed and asked him to hold him. And Ed in return taught Matthew to do knuckles, something he spontaneously does today. Here they are together. *Photo by Christy

Panner decided that she really likes having her toy basket empty.

The storm Tuesday's cloud from our house.

Not only did Auntie bring yard toys for my parents house, she brought a set for our house as well. And I think everyday Matthew has gotten them out of the garden shed to play with them. What a great gift!

As I was trying to make a detailed map of where every plant and bulb is in my flower bed, I was shocked to see an iris ready to bloom! I wasn't looking for iris to bloom till next month. I still have tulips blooming and daffodils!

Duc Van Tol Rose from 1700.

Grape hyacinths that are supposed to be all exploding and frilly, have I been duped or am I rushing them...stay tuned...

Phlox in my Mom's garden.

Matthew has been working really hard on toilet training. So much so, that he got me up in the middle of the night so that he could go potty. I remind him to go, but he is starting to know when he has to go himself. I love every time he announces, "I have to go potty!" and runs off to do it! He has had some toilet success with #2's and even went outside. We are down to 1 or 2 pullups a day. Another thing he is loving to do at the moment is sing the ABC's to anyone and everyone. And most of the time he's getting it right with no to few errors. And that's the way the world spins around Matthew!

All about Matthew

I've put alot of pictures on of Matthew and said a little about what he is up to, but I haven't said any of his catch phrases for a long time. He says alot of, "Ok, go ahead" "Yeah, me think so" "Me no tired" "Not naptime, no not naptime." He has worked really hard on toilet training this last month. He has started being able to tell me the words on each pg of his favorite books. (Some of the books we just got in the last week or 2.) Mom informs me this is a pre reading skill. He threw his winter coat into the wet paint, the last day of painting, and now has yellow on it I can't get off. He has been very, very active and cooped up with all the bad weather. He can put a 24 piece puzzle together by himself. He is very into "2v" as he calls it. I have to work hard to limit his screen time everyday. The TV did me a favor by breaking today, so he is very limited! Thanks to our generous cousin, Tiffany, he has a ball deciding which pair of shoes to wear everyday. (Thanks Tiff, I love watching him have fun with it!) Matthew used to be an extremely picky eater, but he's really started opening up and eating more food. It is so much easier to cook now because 90% of it he'll eat. He has finally cut ties with his apple juice addiction and moved to milk. For a little boy that used to be such a picky eater, this child has never met a flavor of candy he didn't like! At school he loves to push a baby in a baby stroller. This may seem like an odd thing for him to do, but he goes to school with 4 boys and 9 girls. 2 of the boys are babies, barely starting to crawl, so it's the in thing to push babies right now. And the boys all fight for the strollers too!

I guess that about summons up where Matthew is right now. He does so many cute things everyday I haven't bothered to remember to post them. I think I have the winter blahs. It keeps getting super cold and snowing, then it melts and it's super muddy, then it snows, then melts, repeat for the last 2 months. I hope by April it will be better consistently nice and we can go outside and RUN daily. Not to mention, flowers! Anyone else have the winter blahs? If so, I'd love to hear how you beat them back and have fun and inspiration.

Where did January go?

I'm helping Daddy paint!

Matthew the Indian on his swing.

Caring for a baby at school.

Matthew pretending he IS a baby. I'm surprised he didn't break this poor bouncer.


Where did January go? Well, since the last time I posted, I've had severe heartburn for a week, Matthew and I got the 24hr flu, we've hung out with Phil, and Matthew went #2 on the toilet for the first time. It's been a week. This is the 1st time in a week I actually feel perky. The weather has taken a nosedive again, but I'm still waiting for spring and the beginning of flower season. I have seen the tips of bulbs coming up here and there. I planted some earlier varieties, so I have no idea when they will make their appearance this season.

Phil has been hard at work painting the dining room and he has decided that it's too yellow. I predicted this and believe that it will be ok. It is a soft enough yellow that it's not going to scream NEON and GLOW-IN-THE-DARK. I can't wait to see it all done, even if it is too yellow for me.

Potty training and truly his father's son

All day yesterday found my son running around in his new big boy underwear and a shirt. He was so proud of his Spiderman underwear that he didn't have a single accident all day. Man were we proud! As in Phil and I. But apparently Ironman doesn't have the same appeal, because within an hour of putting it on, Matthew had a huge accident in it. Sigh. We'll get back on track a little later today. Mom needed time to regroup! And you ask, why is he truly Phil's son? You already know they look alike and both have quite the sense of humor, but last night was the final proof I needed. Matthew hitched up his little butt check and squeezed out a fart! Matthew is NOT my son! 100% Dad's.

The busy season

It's the busy time of year again where you are scrambling to finish shopping and making cookies, planning menu's and cleaning house, and if you are nuts like me, moving your furniture around and sorting out cookbooks. I moved our kitchen hutch all by myself Monday night. Since I moved it, I've been weeding out cookbooks. So far I've eliminated some. I had two shelves full and my goal is to have only one shelf full. I hardly ever remember to crack them open anymore, even though I love to cook. Isn't that sad? (Even more sad I can never think of a thing to make for dinner.) So that's what I've been doing all week.

Matthew has been being a wild man from lack of outdoor time. Last night he announced it was bedtime and put himself to bed. Oh, I should have mentioned that Phil also converted his crib to a toddler bed, before he left. This means that Matthew has fallen out 2 times, lost all his covers twice, and had to sleep with me once. It's been an interesting week. Matthew also has peed on the toilet several times today, but I think the only motivation was for the candy treat. A night ago he wanted candy so he went and peed on the toilet. When asked if was going to start going on the toilet he replied, "Oh no!" Like silly mommy, I just want candy at the moment.

Running on no nap

*photo taken my very own mother, Beth


This little man decided that he did not need a nap today at daycare. My did he get tired this evening. But I have to admit that he did much better then I thought he would. I sure was tired by time I left too. 8 hours at a daycare is a long time.

Matthew, over the weekend, really got on a roll of saying to Phil or me, "There you go!" I guess I tell him that alot. I'm still not tired of the way he says "Ohhh yesss." I am tired of hearing him yell, "I do it" for every little thing. I love that he wants to help and be independent, but sometimes it's just better for me to do it and here I have a little 2 yr old trying to bowl me over to get there first! No one told me I'd have to race my child at times to do boring things! Today he bumped my head with his head and announced, "Matthew knocked heads." I had no idea he even knew the expression "knocking heads." I'd say he must have learned it at daycare, but I'm there every day with him!!! For the second time he announced he needed to go potty and did it. This time it was at daycare so he got an M&M. He liked that. Today he threw a toy down and I told him not to do that because he would hurt it. What do you think he did? Brought it over, held it in my face, and solemnly said, "Kiss." Yes, I had no choice but kiss the toy's boo-boo. So I did.

That's all I can think of for today folks. Gotta get some sleep so we can do it all over again tomorrow!

The Scoop

Phil got his MRI results and announced his back was much worse than he thought it would be. He has 3 bulging discs, 1 slipped disc, 1 slightly ruptured disc, and a nerve that is pinched. That's a list. The good news it's not bad enough to need surgery, so they are sending him off to pain management and to have tests done on the nerve. Since it affects his walking they want to see what all it's doing.

Matthew also had a big day. He acted like he needed to potty, so I asked. He confirmed it and we went and sat on the potty. And went right away. When the potty announced, "You went potty," I cheered. He got up and hugged me. But of course, we've refused to go on the pot again, but it's a start. Then later we went to work. He didn't like the idea of daycare. (Maybe because yesterday was a rough day and I discovered a sippy cup issue.) So he stayed with us and helped the kids plant marigold seeds for Earth Day. Later I made him go for the last hour and 1/2. Apparently that was a bad idea. A little boy named Shawn and him have issues. Today Shawn announced, "No Matthew, I'm not sharing my toys with you." Matthew gave him the eye, slapped him, and said clear as day, "No Shawn." He was promptly put in time out, but this did not cut off the urge to say "No Shawn" for the rest of the day. As I related this story to my Mom and his Dad, he felt the need to show he could say the new word, Shawn. Refuses to say Matthew. Gotta love these terrible 2's.

A full day of the outdoors

I'm sleeping with you tonight Dad.

See, I'm all tucked in.

Thanks Dad!

I've heard blue lips were all the rage when Mom went to high school.

The hunt...





It was another big day in our household, but not because we made history. (We've refused to potty in the big boy potty again for the last 2 days, but I'm hopeful.) We got up as early as we could, considering that Matthew kept us up half the night, and went to the Easter egg hunt. It was fun watching him. I told him to get the eggs, so he picked up one and wanted to examine it instead of running to get another. I told him to run and he ran past the eggs. But he managed to pick up a decent amount. After that we went to sign taxes so they could be sent off and stopped at the parents. Mom and I worked on her front flower beds and managed to move 2 of her big plants that were too big to be right next to the sidewalk. 2 down, 2 to go. After we left their house, we came home and worked on some outdoor stuff here. There's always so much stuff to do isn't there?

BIG news!

We made history in our house tonight. Today April 9th 2009 will go down as the first night that Matthew used his big boy potty! We are sort of on the road to potty training. Oh happy day!

Other then that, the day was fairly routine. The puppy went in for his "gentlemen's surgery", so we hung out with Poppa for the morning and met Grandma for lunch. Tonight we played with Matthew on our bed. We both pretended to be asleep at one point. So when we decided it was time for Matthew to brush his teeth, he flopped over and pretended to snore. Gotta love a sharp kid.

Big decision

The big decision of the day is Phil's. It's live altering. It's "shake you to your core" serious. The lady who cuts Phil's hair is going to be on vacation for the next 3 weeks. That means by time she gets back he'll have gone at least 5 weeks, if not closer to 6. It will be really shaggy and not in keeping with the army regulations by then. The big decision is whether or not to let one of the other ladies in the shop touch his hair. (You see, no matter who it is that touches his hair, it always goes bad. No one else seems to be able to cut it right and that's the truth. He isn't making it up. I've seen what other people have done to his hair and it isn't pretty.) He really wants to wait it out, but I don't think he'll be able to. Tune in later to see what he decides!

We've gotten alot of the ceiling frame work taken down tonight. Matthew wasn't sure he liked us doing it. What a difference it makes in the feel of the room already. I suppose next week I'll be busy steaming off wallpaper.

Helping dad. Every time Matthew could escape into the dining room today, he was climbing the ladder. He'd go all the way to the top and only climb down because someone caught him and made him.

The ceiling when I got home.

How it looks now.

Matthew is busily working on saying more words. Tonight he copied Phil and said five and three. He told a girl at afterschool, "I don't know." For the first time tonight he actually sat on his potty chair for awhile twice! It was a real shame he didn't pee. If he had, he would have really understood what it was all about. But I was really proud he tried. I had him try because in an attempt to distract us from the ceiling, he had pulled down his pants and his diaper. Hopefully, he'll actually get on a roll soon. I'd love to have him potty trained by 2.

A day of 1st's

Pushing the buttons on our tank. It moves forward and backward.

Riding our horse one last time before bed.

Here is Matthew sitting on his great and wonderful potty chair. He will mimic what he's supposed to do, but he will not allow you to put him on to actually potty. It sings and he knows exactly how to turn it on. So most days he is just making it sing it's songs. Today I got tired of him playing with it and turned it off. Right before I took this picture, he'd carefully pulled it out from the wall enough to turn it on (this is why it's at an angle), and carefully sat on it (after raising the lid) to brush teeth. After the picture was taken he put the lid down, carefully turned it off, and attempted to push it back against the wall. I had to smile at how clever (and tidy) he is.

Here he is (brushing teeth once again) on his swing. Over the weekend he learned how to get on the swing by himself and push himself. I was trying to teach him to not drag his legs and as you can see he's got it now. He really raises them up. He just loves this inside gym. What a blessing to have it.


We went and got Matthew's shots this morning. He cried while they were sticking him, but as soon as I was pulling his pants up the crying stopped and he was just fine again. He is such a trooper. He won't have anymore shots until he is 4.

Our first day back to work and daycare went ok. Matthew refused to take a nap again today, but was remarkably well behaved. I am really hoping we can get back in the swing of napping. Stupid holidays, they mess up everything!

Matthew has finally decided that he loves his new tank and isn't afraid to push it's buttons anymore. He was sortof scared of it at first, then he decided it was ok, but he wasn't going to touch it. Then he decided he want to watch it move, but a parent had to do it. I was getting real sick of hearing it making it's noises by time he went to bed! There is no off switch on it, although Matthew is very good at finding them and turning them back on so it probably doesn't matter.

Remarkably Matthew ate his supper really well tonight. He ate his chicken and green beans. I was so excited I almost started doing backflips, but I held it in. Since he did so well, I thought I'd give him the mini box of Nerds I said he could have if he ate his dinner. I opened the box for him and handed it over. I'd left the bowl of leftover food on his tray. You can see where this is going. He poured his Nerds in with the last bits of green beens, corn, and chicken chunks. Poor guy. He didn't fuss though and valiantly attempted to get them out to eat one by one. Finally I told him he'd done well enough and said I'd get him a new box while taking the bowl away. He howled in protest till he saw the new box. This time I just poured it out on his clean tray. It worked much better.