Mail Time

We got a package from my mom last week and Matthew was really excited by it, so we gave it to him and this is what he did with it.

Thank you mom for the cool stuff! After Matthew scratched at it long enough he wanted to play hide and seek/peek-a-boo with his blanket. He lifts it up on his head (or we put it on his head) and then he wiggles around until it falls off.

I think it's his new fvorite game.

October is Almost Here

This weekend was National Alpaca Farm day so we went to celebrate by visiting some Alpacas in Raphine, VA. As it turns out, our primary president happens to be the owner of the farm that we visited and it was really cool to see what she and her family do all the time. Matthew was very interested with them and obviously not afraid of them at all. Be prepared...there are lots of pictures in this post.
Perhaps the good thing about having a large hairy dog to play with is that Matthew, so far, isn't afraid of big animals. Of course that might change when he learns how to walk and discovers his own perspective of them...

Of course everything that he feels needs to be eaten and tasted as well but don't worry. Fortunately the Alpaca didn't want to be drooled on but was curious about Matthew as well.

They were surprisingly nice animals, after all the things I've heard about Llamas I had some doubts, but these guys were nice, they didn't spit, and they were very friendly.

There were also some goats and chickens outside of the barn that the Alpacas were in so we took Matthew over to see them.

He wasn't quite sure what to think...

The next two pictures are a persuasive argument for Virginia in the fall and winter seasons. After the Alpaca farm we drove around to some local places. This was a beautiful little house that had a yarn shop and an antique store (the barn in the next picture is the antique store). It was a beautiful rainy cloudy day and the scenery was breath taking. I love fall, winter, and spring here. Summer is a different story.

The yarn shop is in the next picture on the left. It was a cute store and had really beautiful yarns and sooo many colors. It was a nice way to spend a Saturday.

This is part of the same property and I just thought it was beautiful.

I just wanted to add this one in on the post. This was after church today. Matthew can sit on his own for several minutes now and play. He was particularly proud of himself this afternoon.

Family Night at SVU

This past weekend we had a chance to have some fun. Ben's mom invited us t an SVU family fun night for faculty/staff and their families. There was a hot dog and hamburger dinner, games to play and an big inflated projector screen thing to watch a movie on when it got dark. I accidentally put the pictures in the wrong order so they start with the latest that night and end with the beginning of the evening. This was Matt and Ben getting ready to watch "Forever Strong", an inspirational movie about rugby, at the end of the evening.
Matt was in an amazingly good mood the entire night and when he needed to go to sleep he fell asleep and slept through most of the movie, which was impressive because it was kind of loud. He did a really good job that night.

The event was up at the school's new athletic fields but I didn't think to take a picture of all of them. Matthew has been wanting to stand up on his own for a long time so we help him feel a bit more grown up. I don't think he likes the grass though. Whenever it tickled his legs he started to cry...we'll work on that.

This was also the first time he's ever worn a jacket in his life. I think it looks adorable on him.

This is my new favorite picture of our 5 month old adorable giggle fit machine.

He had a really good time, we all did, and we were really glad we went.

Some Pictures I've Been Keeping

I've been greedy with some pictures and felt like sharing some that I've taken over the last few weeks. There hasn't been a lot of events to go to so I've photographed some of the things that go on at home, which are always cute. Enjoy!

We've been trying out "real" baby food with Matt and he's been enjoying it. This was one of the first times he had carrots and he likes them. He's not a picky eater yet. I think he's just enjoying the change of flavor - anything that's not formula must be really interesting.

He's learning to sit up by himself and is really really close to not falling over. A plus and minus is that he doesn't mind falling over so he isn't intensely motivated not to fall over. But the good part is that he doesn't care if he falls...he's 100% boy for sure.

This is one of the outfits/vests that Matt is quickly outgrowing. I wanted to make sure that he wore it before it became impossible so this was what he wore to church two weeks ago. He looked very handsome.

Matt loves baths and always looks adorable afterwards all wrapped up in his towel, I love hugging this toweled baby!

Matthew and the Pacific

Back in July while we were in San Diego for Mike and Ashley Griffin's wedding, we decided to take Matthew to see the ocean for the first time. It was great because it was only a short walk from the house Ben's mom had rented for us for the week.


Matthew seemed to think it was really great, and we went at a pretty good time in the morning. It wasn't packed and it was a very spacious beach with lots of sand.



Even though the water was a little cold on our feet, it still felt really good to be by the ocean again.

Of course we had try to get Matthew a little closer so he could see what the big deal was all about...

...and we thought he needed to feel the Pacific ocean for himself. He was a very good sport.

8 Years and 5 Months

Today has two meaings for our family. Of course it has been eight years since September 11, 2001. Today also means that Matthew is five months old. It is spectacular to see how much he's grown. He's gone from this little tiny person...


...to being able to sit up by himself almost totally on his own. I took these pictures this morning in the cute little tye-died outfit that was a gift from Jean, John, and Maggie Coggins. He wears it really really well!



He is so observant and attentive. He's already wanting to multitask because there are so many things he wants to do.

He has the most adorable giggle we've ever heard and is such a happy baby. He sleeps through most nights and is always excited to see us when he wakes up. He is always in a good mood

and loves to smile. He's trying to figure out how to crawl and we think he has figured out what he's supposed to do, but he's still working on making it get him accross the floor. He rolls over now which gives him a little bit of freedom that he really likes.

I still have trouble realizing that it's already been five months since he was born. We've really lucked out with such a happy and easy baby.