Matthew's First Birthday

Monday was Matthew's first birthday. It seems like it was just yesterday Eric and I were racing to the hospital when I finally realized I was in labor. On the other hand, I can barely remember what our little family was like before this precious, giggling boy joined us last year. We have been blessed beyond measure.

It was the birthday party that almost never was. 4 out of 5 Greers spent the weekend before with a really nasty stomach bug. Matthew kicked it off on Thursday. I got it about midnight on Friday. Ethan started about 5 am on Saturday and Eric started right at kickoff on Saturday evening. Fortunately Ella was spared. She tends to have a stronger immune system, so when we saw she was ok on Saturday morning, we shipped her off to Mimi and PaPa's to keep her well. We were all better by Sunday morning but it took us another day just to get our strength back. Although we thought we played it safe by pushing back his party, we still managed to share our crud with the Crazy Cousins and poor Aunt Amy :(

We had a great time at the party though. All the cousins played together (and apparently shared germs). Matthew was spoiled with lots of cool gifts. He REALLY enjoyed the cake.

Here is us singing Happy Birthday

Matthew Enjoying Cake

Daddy gets the blame

Now we get to do it all over again in 10 days for Ethan and Ella's 3rd birthday!

First Day of Preschool!!

Yesterday was the first day of preschool for Ethan and Ella. Since we got them potty trained, they were able to go ahead and be in the 3 year old class despite their late birthday. They were so excited to go back after their break in August. This time they will go on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I am looking forward to them learning a lot this year and making new friends. I am also looking forward to some one on one time with Brewser/Matty/Brewster/Baby Matthew.

It was hilarious when I took this picture. Their backpacks are too heavy for them to carry at this point. Maybe by the end of the year. But I had to get the standard backpack picture by the front door. I put the backpacks on them and had them walk 8 or so feet to the door. They could barely walk straight from the weight of it. I got a real laugh at their expense : )

Catch Up

So I have fallen off the blogging wagon AGAIN. I have really really good excuses though.....

1) Eric's crazy work hours. Starting in June, Eric started working really long hours. His company, Emdeon, was going through their Initial Public Offering which means a lot of filings with the SEC. He wouldn't get home until after 10 and sometimes it was well after midnight. He worked really hard and I am proud of him. You can read more about it here (http://www.cnbc.com/id/32362316).

It really was a great experience for him and a good resume builder! So since he was working all the

time, that meant that I was working all the time too. When naptime or bed time came for the kids,

I crashed too! It was a good experience for me too. Now I know that I can do it all on my own if I

need to!

2) Beach Vacation. On the last week of July, we went on a wonderful week long beach vacation. We

went to Inlet Beach, FL with Eric's family. It was awesome. We had a big house with a pool that was

right next to the beach. The kids LOVED playing in the sand and warmed up to the ocean pretty

quickly. In fact, we couldn't hardly sit down because they wanted to go play in the water so much! Of

all the kids though, I think Matty liked it best. He was ready for us to just throw him in there and go for

a swim!

3) Potty Training. I decided if I wasn't well rested enough after a week at the beach, then I would never

be relaxed enough to tackle potty training. So Monday morning we jumped into potty training with both

feet. The first day was horrible. I cleaned up pee off the carpet, the hardwoods, Ethan's booster seat,

and our couch (not the leather one either!!!) I sat at the kitchen table and cried at dinner. I prayed

"Lord I know I probably shouldn't pray for something like this but I need some kind of hope please!!"

Then I heard Ella yell from the bathroom "Mama I poo pooed!!!" Finally it started to click. My sister and

her girls came the next day and that was a HUGE help! Everyone got into the cheering when they went

potty. Ella is now 98% potty trained. She still wears a pull up at night just in case. Ethan is about 85%

there. He is struggling with #2. He can't be bothered to sit and wait on the potty, so he usually is

running when it is too late. We are getting there though. We had a "potty party" on Sunday night to

celebrate all our progress. I made cupcakes. We lit a candle for each then sang "Happy Potty Day"

before we blew them out. We even had little presents.....Dora for Ella and Buzz & Woody for Ethan.

Since they are potty trained now they can be in the 3 year old class at their preschool. Since they have

an October birthday they miss the cut off so they would have had to be in a 2 year old class. I am real

excited they can be in the 3 year old class. They are so verbal. I would really rather them be in a class

with kids that are a little older than younger.

The VonGreer Family Singers

Ethan and Ella LOVE to sing. Before nap and bedtime at night we have to sing a song. Ella sings "Jesus Loves Me." Ethan sings "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" once in his rocking chair and once in bed. Lord help you if you forget to do it in the rocking chair too! Besides their bedrooms and the Greer Mini Van, their favorite venue for performing is the dinner table. Now I know that Miss Manners says that singing at the dinner table is a No No, but she hasn't seen how cute my kids are!!!!

For your viewing pleasure......

Ella sings "Jesus Loves Me" It melts my heart every time!!



Ella's medley and Ethan's "Twinkle Twinkle" and Matthew thoroughly enjoying his ravioli



Seriously, how did I get so blessed???

"From the fullness of His grace we have all received one BLESSING after another." John 1:16

Oh yeah.... Jesus Loves ME!! : )

Meet Bruiser Greer

We have been trying to find just the right nickname for Matthew. Ethan & Ella have nicknames that have really stuck. We call them Buddy & Sissy nearly as much as we do their given names.

When I was pregnant with him, we all called him Peanut. That didn't really stick once he was born. I refer to him as Matty when I write but rarely do I ever say it outloud. (Which actually is funny because I had to campaign with Eric to be "allowed" to call him that. I got permission until he was in kindergarten but not after : ) Over the past couple of weeks, his natural nickname has become clear.

Meet Bruiser Greer. Bruiser is a rough and tough little guy. When he sees something he wants, he crawls full speed ahead grunting and giggling the whole way. If there is a toy, person, or dog in his way he just plows right over it. He can't be bothered with going around anything. This morning he has ripped the glass door off the fireplace TWICE. Then when I was singing to him before I laid him down for a nap, he yanked his mobile off his crib. He can eat like a champ too. He just started table food last week and is already eating more than his Buddy & Sissy! He has a very healthy appetite. That works out well because he doesn't tolerate taking a bottle much. He simply can't be bothered laying still like a baby for the 10 or so minutes it takes to feed him one! The whole time I am giving him one, he is wiggling around or playing with his foot. His favorite position is to grap his left foot and to play with is up by his ear.

He is growing well. Last week at his 9 month appointment he measured at 18 lbs 1 oz. That is almost 2 lbs heavier than Ethan was at the same time. We tend to think that Bruiser is so big, but he is still only in the 14th percentile! I guess we Greer's have skewed view of baby sizes after 5 preemies in the family : )

All about Matty!!

It has been a while since I have given a good update on our baby boy! It is amazing how much he is growing and changing every day. Matthew turned 8 months old on the 5th. He is such a happy baby. I can't take him out without someone commenting on that and his big beautiful smile. He is such the little flirt. He has FOUR teeth now and loves to show them off. He got them early and likes to grow them in pairs. He got his first 2 at 5 months and the second 2 at 7 months. So he should probably be getting another couple in the next few weeks by his routine :)

I weaned Matthew last month. I think it was harder on me than it was on him. He hardly skipped a beat. Eric is enjoying being able to help with it more.....especially since he is sleeping through the night now! Really Matthew would much rather we just plop a big ole steak down on his tray. He LOVES to eat. He really likes trying to feed himself too. He has been self feeding with Puffs and little chunks of fruit and is really pretty good at it. We will start to do more finger foods when he turns 9 months. Goodbye pureed baby food!

The real shake up in the household came about a month ago when Matthew started crawling. He went from rocking to rocketing across the floor over night. We thought we had the house sufficiently babyproofed and he quickly prooved us wrong. Every day I find something else I need to move out of his reach - then he reaches a little higher. He is already pulling up and I am afraid that he will walking before we know it! Here is a video I shot this morning of him crawling around. He was enjoying playing with his big brother and big sister away at school.

First Day of Preschool

Last Fall we were going to start Ethan and Ella in a Mother's Day Out program at our church. When we thought there was a good chance of Matthew being premature, we decided to delay their start. We thought there would be too much change all at the same time for them. Not to mention, their little immune systems being tested while we had a newborn at home.

I was excited when I found out that Harpeth Heights Baptist Church has a summer program. They are enrolled on Tuesdays in June and July. Since they are going to go 2 days starting in September, I thought this was a good way to ease them into it.

Tuesday was their first day of preschool. We have been talking it up for weeks. We went to Target and they got to pick out their lunchbox and backpacks. Ethan got a Spiderman lunchbox and Batman back pack. Ella got a Tinkerbell lunchbox and Princess backpack. Their backpacks are hilarious. They have to be big to fit everything they have to bring everyday. I swear they are half the size of them!

I think (actually I know!) I was more nervous about it than they were. When I dropped them off, they just marched right in like big kids. They didn't hesitate and hardly looked back to say goodbye. When I went to pick them up, they were still playing. They were happy to see me, but I didn't get the impression that they had been missing me much. They had a ball. Their little hands were covered in marker and they chattered and sang the whole way home about preschool.

Matthew and I had a good day too. We went to the pool for an hour and had some quality Mommy/MattyG time : ) Honestly, I don't know what I am going to do with myself once they start 2 days a week!

Zoo School

For the last couple of months Ethan and Ella have spent every Wednesday morning taking a class at the Nashville Zoo called "Zoo Twos." They thoroughly enjoyed it and asked every morning when I got them up if they were going to Zoo School today.

It was really a neat program. At the beginning all the kids would sit in a semi circle on their carpet squares and listen to the days lesson from Ms. Julie. She would ask lots of questions and the kids would yell out the answers. It was neat to watch Ethan and Ella get braver and braver through the class about answering the questions. After the lesson, they would get a chance to meet 2 different animals. We met lots of neat ones - a boa, a turtle, a sloth, and Ethan's favorite - a Macaw!! Ethan about came unglued when the Macaw came out. They would hold out one finger and pet each of them. Much to my delight, Ms. Julie's assitant followed right behind with Purell :) After they met animals, they would have a craft. Usually it was Mommy racing to finish 2 crafts while they colored on the butcher paper covering the table. Then they would go back to their carpet squares for a story and snack of animal cookies. They ended the class holding hands and sining their zoo song. They loved it and would sing it all the way home.

I am so glad we got a chance to participate in this. We may even sign up for the next one in the Fall!

Sunday Funnies

God not only blessed me with 3 adorable kids, He also blessed us with 3 very funny kids. They say things all the time and I think "I need to write that down so I don't forget it." I am going to try to be a little better about doing that here in our blog. Here are a few quick funnies to get us caught up

* We were sitting at the table eating lunch after church last week. Our little lady, Ella, really let one rip. I gave her a stern look, she grinned and said "Excuse me!! My heinie burped!" Eric and I usually try to hide our laughter when they say something funny but unappropriate....not a chance this time. We were in tears!

* We were reading a book over at Mimi & PaPa's that had an elephant in it. Ethan pointed at it and said "Roll Tide!" (To clarify for our non-TN family that reads this, this phrase is something that should never be said.) I had to ask him to repeat this because I couldn't imagine where he would here this. I called Eric on the way home to tell him. Who would teach our precious boy such a vile phrase? Eric was convinced it must be a Sunday School teacher and that clearly we would have to pull them out of church ; ) When I told PaPa he started laughing really hard. Apparently, he made an off hand remark to Ethan a few weeks before when they were looking at the elephants at the zoo. What a memory! Eric has considered revoking grandparent rights in light of this. I have been working to deprogram since then. I am not entirely sure what an elephants says. So if you ask my kids what an elephant says now they will say in a high pitched voice "I'm an elephant!"

* The kids love Dora the Explorer. It is an interactive cartoon that teaches them many Spanish phrases. We were stuck at a roadblock on the way to the Y and not moving. Ella started yelling "Go in Spanish! Go in Spanish!" at me. (Instead of Vamonos : ) She also got very excited when she saw 2 little Mexican girls at the grocery store. "Look Mama! TWO Doras!!!"

I am sure there are more, but this is all I can think of for now. I wonder why...

Sissy the Fashionista

On Saturday Ella was in a dress review for Old Timer's Day in Dickson, TN. Mimi signed her up for it with some ladies from her quilting shop. She wore a dress that Mimi made her last summer. Yes....it still fits the little thing! It is Ella's favorite dress. It has lots of ruffles that twirl and twirl when she spins. Mimi & Aunt Sharon made all the girls the same dress in different colored polka dot fabrics. Unfortunately we haven't been able to get them all together for a picture since we are so spread out. What a great picture that would be!

We all practiced our walk and spin on Saturday morning. Good thing we did because Ethan decided he needed to be up on stage with Sissy too!




To reward their participation, Granny B gave them suckers. Since I have kept them in a very clean bubble most of their lives, this was their first one. We'll see if their will be a second.

It seemed every kid there had a balloon and it took us forever, but we finally found where to get them one too. Oh the little things.....

Buddy & Sissy's First Fish Fry

A couple of weekends ago Ethan & Ella got a special treat and went to spend the weekend with their Nana & Papa in Paris, TN. Every year they celebrate the "World's Biggest Fish Fry" there. They thought they would really enjoy the parades and festivities. They thought right! They went to a parade on Friday and another on Saturday. Sarah told me that Ella had her parade wave down pat. Why am I not surprised?

Eric and I got a very cool treat that weekend too (aside from the whole 3 down to 1 kid thing) We are HUGE "24" fans. The actress who plays President Taylor, Cherry Jones, is from Paris. She came home for Fish Fry. Earlier in the week, they had an auction for charity with props from the show. Brent got us a script from an episode, a folder used by the Joint Chiefs in a scene, and shell casings from a gun shot by THE Jack Bauer!!!!!! I am not exaggerating one bit when I say I cried when I got it. Absolutely the coolest thing that has ever happened......at least we thought. Sarah called me from the parade on Friday and she got a picture of Ethan and Ella with President Taylor!!!!!! Ous kids are officially the coolest kids ever. I am so not missing Fish Fry next year even if I have to eat a piece of fish.

Happy Easter

We had a great Easter this year. We traveled to Paris to spend the holiday weekend with Nana, Papa, Uncle Jamie, Aunt Amy, and the Crazy cousins. We had fun playing with all the kids. On Saturday afternoon we went to visit with some of Eric's friends from high school for a little bit. It was great to be able to get all the kids together. Sunday morning we all went to church with Nana and Papa. Let me tell you.....getting 6 kids and 8 adults all ready and to church by 8:30 is no easy chore but we did it! We made it a full 20 minutes before we had to leave the service because Ethan was being too loud. The whole way down the steps he was saying "Houston come down! Where is Daddy?" And Ethan only has one volume - LOUD. They really enjoyed playing in the nursery once we got there! We had a big egg hunt and a wonderful Easter lunch prepared by Nana. On the way home, we stopped and Mimi and Papa's to see Grandma and Papatch. It was so good to see them!

Ella's Parisian Chambre

A few weeks ago, Eric and I had a marathon DIY weekend to transform the kids' hodgepodge rooms into their big kid rooms. Since we got Matthew's room together last summer, we have just shifted furniture from here to there and back again. They both had a twin bed and a crib in each of their rooms forever. Once they kicked the crib, I was ready to get their rooms in order!

Ella's room has a Parisian theme paying tribute to her Daddy's hometown. Of course if her Daddy was from somewhere less glamorous, we probably wouldn't go that route. And I should probably clarify that he is from Paris, TN not France....much better in my opinion!


Here are some pictures of our Princess' Big Girl room : )


Let me brag for a minute. I painted Ella's room. Eric didn't think I could, but I did it!!! Not sure if you can tell or not, but we did tone on tone stripes on this wall with a different sheen but same color. Eric helped with the taping and it was an big undertaking, but it was so worth it! I love how it turned out. The pictures over the bed are from Mimi and Papa's trip to Paris a few years back.





I put some sentimental pieces on Ella's dresser. The doll was mine when I was little and my Aunt Sharon made the purple dress she is wearing. The shadow box was made by my Pepa. In it is a porcelain shoe and tea set my Mema made. It also has a jewelry box my Uncle Wade made, a lamb made for her from Miss Linnie, a block from Miss Jodi, and the bear we got her when she was born. The porcelain little girl to the left of the shadow box was my nightlight when I was little. Mema made that for me too. I am so glad that she will grow up knowing these wonderful people whether she had the privilege to meet them or not!







I got this Eiffel Tower decal off of etsy.com. It is a website that has handmade crafts from everyday people. Very cool! Ella loves to sit in her rocking chair. She sits in it, rocks, and says "rocky ocky ocky!" It is key to our nap ritual. She sits in her rocker while I got lay Buddy down, then I get her out and lay her down.










This mirror was mine when I was in college. I spray painted it black and used a couple of other vinyl decals I got from the same person. One is a smaller Eiffel Tower and the other says "Oh La La!" Very appropriate for my little Sass Britches!






Getting the rooms done really was a whole family effort. Ethan and Ella spent the weekend with Nana and Papa having a ball. Mimi helped watch Matthew on Friday, taped both the rooms, and did the trim too. Matthew helped out by being the best little napper, so Mommy and Daddy could get their work done in time.

Ethan's room is just about done. Eric painted his room a color called Latte and that is exactly what it looks like. His room is a Baseball theme. I am picking up some of his Daddy's Baseball memorabilia this weekend to add to his room to finish it up. I will do a separate post when it is complete!

Dinner Time with the Greer Kids

Having two 2 years olds is a lot of work. But having two 2 year olds is also thoroughly entertaining!! Ethan and Ella have always been very verbal kids. They are now quite conversational. It is fun for me to sit back and listen to them talk to each other.

Some of our best conversations happen at the dinner table. Our topics typically include: the weather (and if it is warm enough to swing or not), where all the cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents are that day, Daddy going to work, and last but not least the difference between girls and boys. Yes there are some repercussions to having boy/girl twins. One of them is that they learn about this at an early age. Blame it on the "props" at bath time : )

So I am sorry to say, if my kids have ever met you then it has been discussed whether or not you have a "wee wee" and if you are a girl or a good boy. (Always a good boy not just a boy :) I shutter to think what they say at Sunday School yet again...

Spring Break with the McCollums

Last week was Emily and Meg's Spring Break so they made the long drive with Amy from Texas. We were so exicted to see them! We stayed busy the whole time they were here. We shopped, played and went to the zoo. PaPa bought 20 tokens for the carosel so all the kids got to ride it over and over and over and over and over again. I am making PaPa go with us next time so he can explain why they can't ride it a million times every trip to the zoo!!

Here are some pics from our fun day at the zoo

Three Little Monkeys

We have a really cool indoor playground in Bellevue called the Monkey's Treehouse. The kids absolutely love to go there. Here are a few pictures of when we went a couple of weeks ago.....

Having a ball in the Ball Pit!

Mama and Baby Matthew

Old DcDonald's Adventure

Yesterday morning the kids were a little squirrley. Being cooped up inside all winter will do that to you. It was too cold to go play outside, so I thought I would do the next best thing. "Hey Kids! Want to go get some Old DcDonald's (aka McDonald's) for lunch?" Lots of whooping and hollaring followed to answer this question : )

So we loaded up the GMV with Mama and all her little ducklings to go get some Swinchy Sries (French Fries) from Old DcDonald's. The whole way we sang Old McDonald with every animal you can imagine whether they were bardyard dwellers or not. Cows, Pigs, Ducks, Frogs, Monkey, etc. We had a minor meltdown when they realized that Mama was taking the easy way out and going through the drive thru and not actually going in.

As I was pulling around to the first window, my heart dropped to me feet. Oh My Gosh. I forgot my wallet on my desk at home! NO!!!!! Instead of doing the noble thing and telling the person at the window about my mistake, I wimped out and high tailed it out of there. I grabbed my cell phone to call Eric and frantically whispered my situation to him. What was I to do? They hadn't noticed yet that the salty aroma wasn't filling our GMV. I didn't have much time and I had to come up with a plan before I had a full out war on my hands from my precious Swinchy Sry loving kids. Eric was no help. He laughed and said "Good luck with that."

First I tried to just redirect their appetites. Want some Hot Dog Diggity Dogs? NO!! Want some Papa Bologna? NO!! Swinchy Sries!!! I realized I had to man up. I told them I had to go home to get my money so we could get Swinchy Sries and that Mama was loosing it. To which Ella replied "Oh that would be so sad." So the whole way home Ella continued to remind me that I needed to get my monies and Ethan reminded me to change my batteries. 20 minutes later we were on the road again going to another neighborhood Old DcDonald's. I couldn't bring myself to go back to the same one because I just knew they would remember my order and give me 30 lashes : )

So our little outing was over an hour, 20 + verses of Old McDonald, 30 miles of driving, $12 in food and ended with 2 very happy little Greer kids, 1 exasperated Mama and fortunately a very clueless baby.

Matthew's first Meal

Matthew started eating cereal for the first time last night. Boy has he been ready. He has been staring at us for weeks as we eat. In fact on Friday, he finally cut his first tooth. Now he is really ready to chow down!


Before.....









During.....

Just give me that Spoon!!!!

Ahhh! A full belly & bib!

And the bonus came last night when he slept for NINE straight hours! Yahoo! Too bad his big brother didn't.....

Bye Bye Germies!

Wow has it been a long 2 weeks. The Greers are still fighting to get over our nasty colds. Ella got an ear infection 2 weeks ago. We all got snotty that week. Ethan waited until this last Sunday night to get a double ear infection. I didn't manage to have time to get myself to the doctor until today when I found out I had an upper respiratory infection and a sinus infection. Luckily, Baby Matthew has managed to keep his to just a cold. I got my doctor to take another peek at his ears today just to be sure. As usual, Eric made it through this virus unscathed. He never gets sick. I was glad to have his help at night. Nana came to help a couple of days this week too. Mimi and Papa were fighting the bug too but when they had enough strength they came over to help.

I think that when your kids are all sick at this age that is when it is the toughest to have more than one. They all want Mama to "hold you" (oh and they say it so so pitiful!) They have started to not want to share me! It just made me miserable to not be able to do it with each of them all day. But alas Mama has to hold Buddy, Sissy, & Baby Matthew. Oh yeah and fix breakfast, lunch, dinner, do 20 loads of laundry a week, be the sole nutrition source for Matthew, ya da ya da ya da. : )

I know this is all because they have weak immune systems. We joke that they are bubble kids. Let me defend myself a little though. I am not a complete crazy mom. When Ethan and Ella were born, they were born right at the beginning of cold & flu season. Since they were preemies, they spent 5 long weeks in the NICU before they could come home with us. We were lectured by the neonatologists and the pediatricians about keeping them at home so they don't get sick. They easily could have landed back in the hospital for simply getting a low grade fever. It wasn't until Spring when we felt it was safe to start to take them out. Honestly, it was such an ordeal I didn't do it as much as I probably should. It was so much easier to get Mimi to come over and things done in a quarter of the time. They started to get more mobile and that made it easier so we started to venture out more. Then I got pregnant with Matthew and was told I couldn't hold them. So that nixed that. They were walking, but still needed to be held after a little while. So here we are......cold and flu season again....newborn. I do venture out with the 3 of them by myself every once in a while. It is tough, but I am so proud of myself when it is over. I am trying hard to balance the need/desire for us to all get out versus the fear of us all gettting sick because it is so miserable. Next Fall Ethan and Ella are starting Mother's Day Out 2 days a week, so that should be really fun! I guess that will be baptism by fire germies!

So today Ethan and Ella went to Mimi and Papa's to escape a little bit. Before I went to the doctor, I went to war with the germies living in our playroom. The kids made sure they slimed every last toy in that room. I gathered all the plastic non-battery toys, tossed them in tub and douced them with Clorox and hot water. I took the below picture because I thought it was funny.

Matty Gs 4 months!

I have a really good reason for my lack of posts (aside from the whole 3 kids 2 and under thing...) We all have a really crummy cold. It started last week with Ella and a cough that led to an ear infection and slowly it trickled to each of us. Eric is unscathed as usual. I guess it pays to be out in the germy world everyday ; )

Matthew had his 4 month appointment today. It was good to have his chest and ears looked at since he has a cold. Fortunately, everything is good! He is a whopping 13 pounds 4 ounces and a full 2 feet tall. He just giggled and talked to the pediatrician the whole appointment. It is amazing that the bulk of our last appointment a couple of months ago was about his colic. In the last week, we (read that as Steph) have really made great strides with his sleeping. I am able to lay him down in his crib awake and he will fall asleep with very little fussing. That is a huge accomplishment for us. I really struggled with getting him to sleep while still watching Ethan and Ella. Now that isn't an issue. Since we have started this, he has slept so much better and is a much happier baby. And that makes for a happier Mama!

Happy Birthday Daddy!!

Monday was Eric's 31st birthday. We celebrated all weekend long. On Saturday night I surprised him with a dinner with some of his friends. On Sunday we celebrated with his family with a cookout. We had wonderful weather so it was perfect for playing outdoors! Ethan was thrilled to see some candles again on Daddy's cake ; )

When Eric was opening his present from the kids he said "this isn't another shirt like last year is it?" (See Blog entry Feb 8, 2008 - that is how I told him I was pregnant with Matthew!) No - not this year. But he did get a Life is Good T shirt. And how!

A Little Vitamin D

We finally got a little warm weather and sunshine this weekend. We have had some serious cabin fever this winter, so it was great to get outside and play. Poor Matthew slept through the recess but maybe he can join us next time!

Exersaucer Fun!

Matthew is just growing up too fast! He has had really good upper body strength since birth really. He always has to have his head up looking around. He doesn't want to miss a thing! We decided to clean off the old exersaucer and let him give it a whirl. We had to put some blankets underneath since he was a little short, but it worked pretty well! He really enjoyed, but I think his big brother and big sister enjoyed it even more!

Our Little Man

Last Friday night we decided it was time to move Matty into the nursery and out of our room at night. Eric made fun of me when I teared up as I stood up to walk to the nursery. "He is just going upstairs not away to college!" He stayed up there Friday night and has been back in our room since then : ) I mean look at that face. Wouldn't you like to look over and see that when you wake up in the middle of the night?? We are going to attempt to move him into his room again this Friday. So I guess we will enjoy this last night with him close by....

Matthew Booger Boo

Matthew - Colicky Baby! Matthew - Happy Baby!

It seems we have turned the corner with Matthew. Hooray! He definitely still has his mad moments, but they are getting fewer and farer between. We have also figured out his "combination." The key is that he has to be facing out. He hates not seeing everything that is going on! When he gets mad, we walk with him facing out and walk and bounce. It takes a lot of coordination but we have it down pat. He really is generally pretty happy now. He has a beautiful smile. He likes to stick his little tongue out between his gums when he smiles. It is just precious. He also is babbling quite a bit. We have another talker on our hands!

He has grown so much. He is twice his birth weight now. I swear he put most of it on the last couple of weeks. I guess Christmas did a number on him too! He is really strong too. He rolled over for the first time when he was a little over 2 months. I never know where I will find him when I get him out of his crib. He likes to take my hands and pull himself into a sitting position. I think he may sit, crawl, etc earlier than usual. What a new experience for us!

We continue to struggle with him taking a bottle. He is quite stubborn. We know he can do it because he has before. He just chooses not to. He is going to need to someday because this Mama needs to be able to leave the house alone for more than an hour!!

Ella, My sweet Girl

I am so thankful God blessed me with my sweet girl, Ella. Sometimes I am very thankful that He only blessed me with one sweet girl when she is throwing herself on the ground in one of her 2 year old moments : )

She is a girl of extremes. My favorite thing to hear is he to say "I low Choo Mama" (I love you Mama) One of my least favorite things to hear her screech is "Watch Barney!!!!!" She has developed quite the little personality. The other day I was a little brain dead and she told me that I needed new batteries. Where does she come up with these things????

Ethan is Candle Boy!!

Christmas was a fun time for Ethan. For a boy that is OBSESSED with candles, Christmas is.... well like Christmas for him! He had his grandparents pulling candles from all around the house to sit in front of him while he ate. The whole family would join together to count to 3 after each meal to blow them out. He handled us taking down all the decorations and his precious candles much better than I thought. Now if he can't find something then he just nods his head and says it is in storage.

He was spoiled rotten by the family and Santa. He and Ella got a kitchen complete with a grill like Daddy's. They love it! They can't wait to get upstairs to play with it every day after breakfast. Of course he calls his jar of peanut butter and jelly his candle, but anyway....

Whew! Christmas is over!

Again I have fallen way behind on my blogging. In an attempt to get caught up, I am going to do a post on each kiddo. But first, I will do a quick one about Eric and I. (Of course I know most just look at this blog for the pictures of the kids!)

As much as I love love love Christmas. I am glad it is over. We had a wonderful Christmas, but it is exhausting with kids! Amy, Dan and the girls came a spent a few days with us. We really enjoyed the visit. We also made a couple of trips to Paris to Nana and Papa's. We had fun playing with all the cousins.

Now I am getting back into the routine at home with the kids. Well actually we are still trying to figure out the routine! But we are getting closer every day. I completely underestimated how hard it would be to take care of all 3 by myself. The most challenging times are meal times and nap times. It never fails that Matthew wants to eat when I am trying to get breakfast or lunch together for Ethan and Ella. I have learned to listen to his cries and the kids have learned to enjoy Lunchables more! Matthew's morning and late afternoon naps are also tough. It is hard to help him wind down for a nap when Ethan and Ella are running about. But we are figuring that out too.

Eric was only able to take a week off at Christmas because he started a new job last Monday. He is now a Senior Finance Manager at Emdeon Inc. I really don't know anymore about what he does every day than I did before. But I do know that this is the direction he was wanting to take with his career. We are so thankful that God provided this opportunity for him. So far he seems to like it. Of course most of his co-workers were still on vacation last week! The only drawback is the long commute but we can certainly deal with that!

Eric rocking it out on the Wii with his nieces, Elizabeth & Madeline, and nephew, Houston. He really needs to brush up on his Hannah Montana!