My New Hobby

Heather doesn't like it when I 'show off' but I have a new hobby (woodworking) and I finished a Christmas Tree that I've been working of for a little bit and I wanted to share. I carved it from one of the branches of our Aspen tree that fell over this summer. And just so we are on the same page, I'm not 'showing off' I'm just excited that it turned out okay.

Some Matt Updates

Here are some random things about Matt....

He liked to be in the snow a few weeks ago, but didn't like to touch it. He now can say "shnooow".
He developed some weird rash on his stomach this week. The doctor called it erythema multiforme....a sort of allergic reaction to a viral infection. Its getting worse but he doesn't seem bothered by it.

He is trying to bring carboard box hats into style :)

P.S. He didn't have pants on in these pictures because he refused to put them on this morning. He kicked and said "NNNOOO" over and over.

He sure is fun these days. He can communicate more with me and likes to help me do whatever task I am working on. I love my MATT!

Happy Halloween, Part 2

We had a fun Halloween with Matt last night. It was his first year of trick or treating. We got dressed up and went to our neighbors to show off our cute little boy. He quickly figured out that when you go up to a door you knock (while saying "knock knock", he never really got the trick or treat saying down) and when someone holds out a bowl you reach in with your whole fist and grab as much candy as possible! We had to take a few pieces out of his hand each time just so the other trick or treaters would have some candy later on.
So, drumroll please..... This year as a family we dressed up as the Teletubbies (thanks to the Fords for the awesome costumes!). Josh was the purple one, Tinkie Winkie. I was the red one, Po. Matt was the little baby in the sunshine that always laughs and giggles. Well, we got lots of strange looks and a good bit of chuckles from passerbys. It was fun to drive around in the costume and see other drivers do double takes. We went over to our friends, the Smiths, for a yummy dinner and more trick or treating. Their little kiddos had cute costumes and Matt really liked playing with them (and all their cool toys!). Then we came home to answer doorbell rings and pass out candy for another 30 mins or so. All in all, a fun day with the family.

Happy Halloween!

Click here:
Happy Halloween from our family to you!

Matt got stung by a BEE!

Yesterday morning Matthew and I were out planting some perrenials when I heard a buzzing noise close by. All of the sudden the buzzing stops and Matt starts screaming. He was rubbing his right eye so much at first I thought the stupid bee stung his eyeball...but the sting was really on the inside of his eyebrow (next to his nose). We get inside the house and I try to put some ice on it, a few mintues later this is what it looked like...SCARY!It was red and swollen and he was a sad boy most of the afternoon. Well, this morning I go into to get him from his crib and I expected to see the swelling gone down....but to our dismay it had gotten worse! It is so swollen Matt has a hard time seeing where he's going. There's been a lot of bumping into things today. The redness and swelling has moved on to his left eye now. The doc had a look and gave him some antihistamine and said to keep an eye on it in case it turns into an infection. So that's what we are doing today...keeping an eye on Matt's eyes. I feel so sad for my little guy! He seems happy and fine today despite the puffiness. He sure is tough. I would need constant cuddles and attention if it were me!

The Swing and the Tree

Took Matt out to swing the other day and I jumped up and grabbed a branch because sometimes I get bored just pushing him. Well, turns out he finds me grabbing tree branches extremely funny so I thought I'd share.

Matt's many faces

So we were trying to take some family photos on Sunday and Matt was pretty hilarious. He was not really patient or interested in smiling for the camera.... here are somre cute examples.

We did get a couple pics of his adorable smile.

FuN iN cIrCLeS

Matt discovered turning around in circles today. It is cute to watch him turn around and laugh at himself for doing something fun. It seems like there is a new discovery everyday for this curious boy.

The long awaited video of Matt walking

Here is Matt taking some steps. Notice how his arms are above his head, I guess this helps him balance because he always holds them up there. Its fun to see him become more confident and daring the more he walks.

Fun in August

We've had another fun filled month. Matt loves to help me out at home, from laundry to making dinner. He is picking up on things so fast these days, its so cute to see him learn new things. He is walking more these days and can go for a whole room's distance before he decides to sit down and continue crawling. We helped Amy and Justin move to Pleasant Grove into their new condo. They didn't have very much to move since they moved all of the small things earlier that week. There were no big appliances just some furniture. Matt and I cheered all the movers on as there wasn't much for us to lift.
We had a mini-emergency last Monday night. Josh was doing some wood carving and I startled him as I came outside to see him. His chisel missed the wood but carved into his thigh instead. We headed to the instacare where the 3 inch gaping tear got stitched back up (There are some pictures of it on our site but they make it look so small).Josh and I backpacked into East Shingle Creek Lake last weekend. It was as hard to find as it is to say. Luckily, we made camp before dark and Josh even had time to catch a few fish.
We went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Dedication on Sunday which was such a neat experience. I love President Monson! We baby swapped with Ashlee and Mark (Matt for Blueberry). She is such a cutie pie, but she got a little angry when Josh tried to hold her.
Anyways, here is a link to a photobucket album. I can't get the slideshows to work anymore.
http://s632.photobucket.com/albums/uu42/hnf04/August%2009/

Another Matt video

I was having a hard time posting more than one video on the same post, so I thought I would make a slideshow. Hopefully this works!

Matt video

Here is a random video of Matt. This is from our backpacking trip to Fehr Lake. Enjoy :)

Catching up the blog

Summer has been fun this year. Matt is enjoying playing outside and we've been able to do some fun things with him.
We met Josh at a park for a lunch playdate last week.

Matt loved the slides and tunnels.

Last Thursday, there were some really strong winds ( is there such a thing as a wind storm?) in SoJo. We lost our biggest Aspen tree :( That night was spent chopping up wood and clearing branches out of the yard, roses, and street.

Last night, we went for a hike up to Lower Bell's Resevoir. It was completely uphill as we had to climb to the top of a ridge to where the lake was. Matt was a trooper. He loves being outside and does well in his backpack. He was mostly interested in throwing rocks in the lake. "Sorry Dad and Grandpa for scaring away the fishies." Matt told me to type that.

This morning Matt and I went to the Gale Museum in South Jordan as part of an Enrichment activity. The museum has an exhibit on the early settlers of this area. There were several ladies that came and half of them had small children. Matt was the least interested in the tour until we came to the hands on part of the museum. He was sad when we had to leave. He got to milk a cow, collect eggs from a chicken, catch fish, and drive an old car. He would have liked being a pioneer.

Matt eating lunch

This is one of Matt's favorite video to watch. He is eating chicken tenders for lunch all by himself. Too cute!

Matt's 1st Backpacking Trip

It's been so fun to have "first" things with Matt as he's grown over the last 15 months. Just about everything is a first, but it's exciting as a parent to see the excitement in Matt for a new activity or experience. So Thursday night we drove up to our favorite mountains, the Uintahs. We packed in a whooping .5 miles to Fehr Lake and setup camp that night. Matt absolutely loved being carried in his backpack, playing in the dirt, and throwing rocks. We watched Josh fish for a while. We played at our campsite and fun around the fire. I know its hot and its summertime, but a fire is an absolute must (if allowed) when camping. Plus, it helped smoke all the buggies away.

We walked around the Fehr lake, its was gorgeous and fun to be in the outdoors. Josh gets this like primal, manly energy when he is in the mountains. He wants to scout out the area, fish, climb around, basically anything but sit and relax (which is what I love to do on our backpack trips). He is the happiest guy in the world when he is outdoors.

Matt didn't sleep the best in his sleeping bag, didn't let him roll around easily. So we weren't very rested when the sun came up at 6am Friday. But we ate breakfast, and packed up for our hike to Shepard Lake. It was about another mile from our camp, but it was all downhill going (uphill coming back, ahhh). It was worth the effort. There was a waterfall that fed into the lake, which was significantly bigger than Fehr Lake. Josh fished for a bit and caught 3 or 4 brookies. It was so much fun for him, he hasn't fished in ages! Matt liked watching Josh fish and would point to his rod like he wanted to hold it and cast himself. Matt got to hold onto the rod when a fish was on the line and Dad pulled it in. Then Josh held the fish close so Matt could get a feel. Look at his poor, dirty hands in the picture. My baby loved the dirt soooo much! I could only wash and wipe those hands so much while camping. Anyways, we had a great first experience with Matt and backpacking. Who knows, there might be another one in store this summer for him!?!? P.S. Josh has been growing his mustache out for 2 weeks, a buddy dared him. (Thanks Mike!) So that is the reason his upper lip looks shady and dirty looking. It is gone now, WOO HOO!

July At Our House

Here's whats been going on at our house this month:

Matt eats adult food spaghetti all by himself for the first time....what a mess!

Matt figured out he could throw all of his stuffed animals and blankets out of his crib. This is the first of such daily episodes. He was mad that I wouldn't pick him back up to rock him back to sleep after he woke up a few minutes into his nap...so to show me how mad he was he threw everything in reach (which is usually how he shows his temper). I thought this was so hilarious that I grabbed the camera and then he thought it was a fun game to throw things out. And of course, I picked him up and gave him love.This was Matt helping dad work around the house. Guess who Matt looks up to? (haha, cheesy joke)

The headlamp was so much fun to wear, Matt had to have to see his cheerios the next morning.

We celebrated Rob's 30th birthday with his family and a game of kickball. It was a blast!

Josh and Matt after kickball. Matt has a hilarious expression and no, thats not sweat running down his forehead, its water.

We went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House. It is a gorgeous temple and we are so blessed to have it within 2 miles of our house!

Matt helping dad water the flowers in the yard. He is such a good helper.