Confessions

Hello. My name is Matthew and I can't stop lining up and organizing things. I just can't help myself. No matter the object(s) I want to make them neat and orderly. Mom got a huge bag of Halloween candy last week and I have lined them up several times. Sometimes I say I'm having a candy party.Other times I line up my letters into one really long word and then try to pronounce it. I get angry when Will scoots over to them and then puts them in his mouth. I tell him to stop. I also don't like it when Moses bats them around all over the place, especially when they go up under the refrigerator. I tell him to stop it, too.Today while Mommy was taking her turn on the computer (she says we have to share it) I took all the pumpkins and candles I could find, along with the candy and decorated. I finished and said, "I'm all done decorating, Mommy."That boy is funny. I love what he entertains himself with. Yesterday I picked up Matt from school and we got in the car to come home. He requested we listen to the beach music on the way home and I of course obliged. I turned down the music at one point so I could talk to him:
Me: "Matthew, how was school today?"
Matt: "It was good."
Me: "What did you do today?"
Matt: "I played. And I went to chapel."
Me: "What did you do in chapel?"
Matt: "I watched a video."
Me: "What was the video about?"
Matt: "Friends put others first. Can you turn the music back up now?"Hilarious. Just like his father. I took the kids to the pumpkin patch on Saturday so we could pick out a pumpkin to carve, and because I knew how much Matt loved running around that place. And run he did. I had to threaten to take away all his candy at home to get him to leave finally. He didn't appreciate that. At least it worked. Matt did a good job holding his brother and showing him all the pumpkins. I know Will enjoyed himself too. He kept grabbing handfulls of hay and shoving them in his mouth. Mmm.Will had his 9 month check up today. He's 14 lb., 12 oz. and 24.5 inches. Still off the charts, but Dr. Brown was very pleased with his weight and thinks he's doing great. He clapped for her and babbled a lot and tried to show off all his tricks. He did a great job. And Matthew was a patient big brother today. He did well sitting in the Dr.'s office with me. We are gearing up for Halloween and the season of many, many birthdays to be celebrated. I love this time of year!!!

Catching Up

We've had a fun week! It started with celebrating Tim's birthday on Monday. We had some great mexican food and watched Monday Night Football. My fantasy team also lost to Tim this week so...you're welcome, Tim. Happy Birthday! Matt got to put the candles on Tim's cake, and he lined them all up closely together in a very neat row. It made for a pretty impressive blaze.Steven's parents have been in town this week so we've been enjoying having them around and visiting with them. Matthew got to spend the whole day with them on Wednesday, and I know he had a great time. Joyce found an old Dick & Jane book that she thought Matt might like to begin reading from so they've been working on that this week. Matt has a lot of words memorized and can easily recognize them even after only seeing them once. He has flown through that book--it is absolutely crazy to me that he can read it. Behind Will on the fridge Matt spelled William's name and fun. He was very proud of himself.Speaking of William, that little boy is learning everyday how to get around better and quicker. And get into things. He'd much rather play with Matt's toys than his own and is curious about basically everything. His crawl is more like a tummy scoot at this point, but it gets him where he wants to go. The other day he scooted up to the blu-ray player, turned it on and opened it. Now my real parenting job begins!You may be able to see his little tooth on the bottom there in this picture. The other one is beginning to break the gum so it isn't far behind. William is 9 months old today! Wild. He's still a happy, energetic little baby with a really fun personality. This week he has learned how to clap his hands and is very impressed with himself.Matthew Thomas. I picked him up from school yesterday and was chatting with his teacher about his day. Another mommy walked in and proceeded to tell me that her daughter talks about Matthew at home all the time. And that she tells her she's going to marry Matthew. The teacher piped in and said that they had a conversation about marriage today and that Ava again reaffirmed that she was going to marry Matthew. Matt just grinned. That night I asked him about it, and he said, "Yeah, but I like Amelie. She's a fun girl." Dun, dun, dun. Girl drama already. It was a funny conversation.
This weather is seriously beautiful! I love it. Hopefully we can make it to the park this afternoon. Then home to watch the Horns. Hook'em!!!

Whew!

Oh my stars that football game was stressful! Thankfully the Longhorns came out on top and we could all enjoy the rest of our weekend (and football season). We spent our TX-OU game day at the Hampton state fair enjoying the day with our friends. Those Hamptons go all out with corn dogs and all kinds of yummy goodies. While we adults were screaming inside and being tortured by all manner of emotions while watching the game, the kids were having a blast. Matt was giving wagon rides.Then the pillows came off the couches and there was a free-for-all. Lots of tackling. Only a few tears.William decided he didn't want to nap there. I tried probably three different times and he screamed as if a bear was in there with him. He played nicely with the big kids and finally gave it up for a short little nap with Aunt Joy. I hope little Hank didn't mind too much that he was getting smooshed.After the game, and once we all exhaled, we went outside to watch the kids whack at a pinata. That is always a good time. There was candy for days. Matt came home with two bags full of it. Thankfully, he has been sharing it with everyone he sees.It was a gorgeous day, so when it was all said and done we walked over to the park. Matt mainly enjoyed making friends with a new kid he met there and playing with sticks. I think William was glad I wasn't putting him back in that pack & play to scream again. Everyone slept well that night. What a great day it was! Good job Longhorns!
And this is probably a little inappropriate to post, but I'm going to anyway. This is how Matt put his underwear on. He was so preoccupied with his music that he didn't know nor care that his underwear were backwards or riding up his cheeks. Hysterical.

Changes

William Henry. He has gotten all fancy on us this week. He's decided he needs some new moves. One morning a few days ago we woke to him chattering sweetly like he does and then it slowly escalated to annoyance and finally into an ear piercing scream. He had pulled himself up into a standing position and you could tell it freaked him out and he had no idea what to do next. So, Steven lowered the mattress down. I like this one...it's like he feels we're ruining his bed.Last night right before bedtime I was playing with the boys in Will's room. Whenever we're in there Matthew always pulls a book off the shelf for me to read. And Will is always after it. He was so determined. Matt kept jerking the book away from him and scooting farther and farther away. Will persisted. He scooted his little body across the whole floor! Our little baby is crawling. Maybe rudimentarily, but he's getting around. I expect his technique will improve.Matthew Thomas. He's growing up. Most of you will think this is ridiculous, but until this point Matthew has stayed in his bed, literally, until we come in to get him in the morning. He doesn't get up. He won't even hop down to get his blanket if it's fallen. No matter how long he's been awake he'll wait until we open that door to get out of his bed. Not this week. For the first time the other morning we heard soft little footsteps make their way to our door. He ever so lightly tapped on the door. And then tapped again. Steven told him to come in and he did. He told us in a small little voice but with a big grin that he needed to go potty. So, everyday this week he's made his way to our room in the morning. Times they have changed!

Fun, Cont'd

Last Thursday Steven, Tim & I attended the Wilco concert. It was something I had completely forgotten about since we'd planned it months ago. Sweet, wonderful, awesome Pam took care of the kids that evening (and stayed up really late on a weeknight!) so that we could go enjoy the show. And enjoy it we did. Especially after the couple that was making out in front of us left their seats.Friday morning we went over to Aiden's house to celebrate his 4th birthday. Matt was thrilled to get to see Aiden and go to his new house. Those two started racing trash trucks immediately. After lunch the kids got to decorate their own cupcakes. Leslie's table was covered in sprinkles by the time they were done. Matt played for hours, and even took in a game of Hungry Hippos before we had to head home for naps.Friday evening it was actually cold enough for Matt to wear his new footie pajamas. He was SO excited to get to put them on. I told him they were monsters on his pj's but he kept telling me they were dinosaurs. Whatever, he loved them. I just love how goofy he gets over them. In one of those pictures you can kind of see the remnants of Matt's bruised right eye. The previous Friday he told me he ran into a table at school (he didn't cry he said, and his teachers never told me about it), and then while we were in Dallas he bumped his head going down a slide with Josh. I think it's finally all healed. It never bothered him though.Friday evening also began my college roommate reunion weekend. 5 of us ladies that all lived in the Casa Rosa apartment complex while attending UT. Saturday we got our nails done, visited several impressive and beautiful houses on the Austin Home Tour, and ate lots and lots of good food. It is so easy to be around these beautiful, sweet girls that I have known for over 10 years now. Their friendships mean so much to me. We had a great time laughing and talking together just like we did in the old days--over multiple bowls of queso--just like the old days!Steven took wonderful care of the kids while I was away. It turned out to be Daddy day care over here at our house...Zach and Ava came over as well as John, Tyler and Ryan. I hear chef Steven made mac and cheese for all the kids. Sounds like everyone had a great weekend!!

Time of his life

Wow, it's been busy around here! There's a lot to talk about so I'll start with one event and save the others for another post. Last Sunday I took Matt & Will up to Dallas and we stayed with our very good friends Chris and Alison and their son, Josh. Matthew had been looking forward to that trip for months and months. We spent Monday morning playing at an awesome indoor playground--the thing was HUGE--two stories high and full of slides, tubes, climbing walls, etc. Matt & Josh had a blast. We hit up Chick-fil-A for lunch and then naps for well...all of us. That afternoon we went to a very cool park nearby Alison's house. Matt had no problem finding the state of Texas on this map. Nor where Austin was. I'm so proud!!Tuesday was Fair day. We met up with Ava and Joy and took all of us to the State Fair. We got a corn dog as soon as the booths opened. All the kids enjoyed them. What's not to like?? Mainly, our next few hours revolved around riding rides, eating delicious fair food, feeding animals, and visiting the on-site Children's Museum. Y'all, it was a big day!William, bless his heart, did SO well all day. I had him in the Baby Bjorn most of the day and he was so content to watch the big kids play and to observe all the splendor around him. Here's proof that he was there... What I love is comparing Matt vs. Will in that stroller. Matt is spilling out of it and Will's legs don't even reach the end of the seat. HA!Matt thoroughly enjoyed the rides. He couldn't get enough of them. He wanted to try them all! I've included a lot of pictures because, well, they're all just so darn cute. The sheer joy on their faces is so adorable. Matt & Josh rode on the race car ride together and it whipped them around the corners so fast and they absolutely loved it. They giggled the whole time. It was also funny to watch Matt jockey for position on the rides. He did his very best to sit next to Ava each time. His favorite ride was the boat ride. He did that one twice. We fed the animals, and Matt did much better this year feeding them. He neatly poured the food onto the shovel and gently approached the goats. Until he lost patience and then dumped the remaining food from his cup onto the ground in the pen. Oh well! I'm sure they found it.
After the animals we had an ice cream break. An orange push-pop for Matt.The museum was another hit again this year. It was a nice refuge from the rain that was starting outside. The kids hit all the same highlights. After digging up the dinosaur bones we decided it was time to head home. Home as in back to Austin.Matt snacked while I fed Will in the car and then we took off. And I'm not kidding you, once Matt finished his snack and picked up his blankets, he closed his eyes and he was asleep. This was as we were leaving the Fair parking lot. Will was out as well. It made for a very pleasant drive home. I have the sweetest boys! They were so good and traveled so well. I had so much fun with them. When we got home Matt told Steven all about our adventures. He even re-enacted some of the rides. It was awesome. We can't wait to go back next year!