Happy birthday to our sweet little girl!

It's official - our sweet precious Matea is one year old! The year has gone by so quickly and yet it's hard to even imagine life without our little girl. Even Elijah says he doesn't remember when Matea was not around. It is a joy to see Eli hug Matea and tell her he loves her, and to thank God for her in his prayers. We didn't know, a year ago, if we could really be parents to two children and have enough love to go around, but now we know that when it comes to love we don't have a finite amount available to give. Instead our love grew exponentially with the birth of Matea, and we have an endless supply available for both of our children. Love is a miracle!

Matea, you are living up to the meaning of your name, and truly our our gift from God. You are a blessing and we are so thankful for you. You are fun, and funny, and quirky, and have so much personality that your little body can barely hold it all. You are opinionated (wonder where you got that?) and know what you want (and aren't afraid to tell us!). You love being outside and love being around people and are a happy little girl. You already have a daredevil personality and we can't wait to see what the next year brings as we try to keep up with you. :) You are our treasure and we love you, princess.  Happy birthday sweet girl!

Love,

Mommy and Daddy and Elijah

The boys rockin' out.

While Nathan and Andrew were here last week, Uncle Jon had a special "boys" night where all of them stayed over and played Wii and video games together. The boys had a great "boys" night (and yes, even Aunt Missy who loves Rock Band wasn't allowed to play!). We captured this picture of them playing Rock Band . . . with Uncle Jon rocking out on Matea's new baby grand piano. Priceless. :)

Matea's Birthday Party!

Our sweet angel is now one, and last weekend we had a big birthday bash to celebrate! All of Matea's family was there, which made the party very special, and we had a great time. The party was, once again, in the basement of Grandpa Bob and Grandma Sherry's house which worked out awesome.

We opened presents first, and Matea didn't really know what to do at the beginning. She was much more fascinated by the cards than by the presents. I was a little surprised, since she loves to rip paper I thought she'd dive right in, but she was more restrained. She finally decided she wanted the bow off one of her presents and was persistent in getting in and then ripped the paper off of that gift, but before that and after she wasn't interested in the unwrapping so much.  She liked the gifts though!

Matea got all kinds of awesome presents which she is really enjoying already. We've used her picnic table outside, she loves to get pushed around on the pink pony she got, all the kids use the talking tea set (Matea loves to open the top and hear the sayings), Eli and Matea actually play together with her polar bear house, she loves her bouncing zebra, and the piano that Mommy and Daddy got her is her (and Eli's) favorite new toy. It's fun to see her enjoy the presents!

When it came to cake time we were thinking that Matea wouldn't be shy, and we were right. There was no hesitation in touching the frosting, and once she got a taste she just wanted more more more. Pretty quickly it turned in to a two-handed gobbling affair, with no holds barred. When Daddy tried to move the big cake off of her highchair, Matea moved as quick as lightning and grabbed two big handfuls! She stuffed it in and would have kept eating if we hadn't limited her. She's my girl, that proves it! :) She also thought it was fun to get frosting in her hair, the stinker.

After getting her hosed off from the frosting mess we changed her and she got down to playing with more of her toys. Her favorite was when Daddy wheeled her around in her new pink buggy. What a princess!

We had a great day and are so thankful that all of Matea's aunts and uncles and cousins and grandparents could make it (especially considering the long drives!). Matea is truly a blessed little one year old!

Matea the hair puller.

Jon found that Matea thinks this is hilarious . . .

So if Matea ever tries to pull your hair she's not trying to be mean, she's trying to get a laugh. :)

Walking Pictures!

Well, we finally got the sense in our heads to take some pictures of Matea walking (with the second kid all that stuff flies out the window or drops out of your head apparently!). So we had a walking photo session of our girl. And did she put on a show for us! She is getting much better walking very quickly and can now, if she focuses instead of being distracted or excited, walk all the way across the living room by herself. Of course, most of the time she flakes out and gets beside herself for some reason or another and just falls backward as stiff as a board, but she can make it if she wants to! We have proof!

I'm concentrating hard so you better watch out. Here I come!

The tongue's out as usual. Goofy.

High stepping with good form and playing a pretend trumpet?! A future Michigan Marching Band member? :)

Yeah, I've got this down!

And here's a video compilation of some of Matea's best moves. :)

Turtle!

After the rain storm Monday night I was headed outside to take a picture of the beautiful sky over the barn across the street, but when I got near the end of the driveway I found this . . .

A HUGE TURTLE!!

I called Jon and Eli right away to come and check it out. This guy was one of the biggest "non-zoo" turtles I've ever seen, and it's kind of neat to think that he's living in the pond. Eli said, "Awesome! That's the biggest frog I've ever seen!" I corrected him that it was a turtle and he said, "It's the biggest turtle I've ever seen too!" A few weeks ago Jon and Eli saw a frog as big as Jon's fist down at the edge of the pond, so apparently we're growing 'em big out here in the country. :)

How close can I get Mommy? Eli would have hugged it if he could.

We sat and looked at the turtle for a while, but then we had to go back inside reluctantly. Eli really wanted to stay by the turtle, but had to say good-bye. The turtle was gone in the morning so hopefully he found his way back to his home.

Wind!

Ever since Matea was little she has loved to be outside, and loved the wind. It doesn't take her breath away or anything, she just gets a big smile and opens her mouth, and usually sticks out her tongue.

For example . . .

 

Well, we have an allergen removing unit in Eli and Matea's room that I usually keep on level 1 or 2 to help with Matea's suspected allergies. A few weeks ago Eli discovered that putting the machine on 4 puts out A LOT of wind. One night before bedtime Eli wanted to show Matea the wind. She LOVED it! Eli would turn the unit off and then back on to 4 and Matea would squeal when the wind hit her face. Eli would talk in to the unit and his voice would sound funny, another big hit with both of them. And Matea would open her mouth wide and try to catch the air in her mouth. It was so cute! And don't worry, Grandmas and Grandpas, there are no moving parts anywhere near the grates, so even if they stuck their hands through (which they couldn't) they would not be able to touch anything. :) Eli and Matea played in the wind for probably 15 minutes together. It was adorable!

Catching the wind with my mouth!

I love playing in the wind with my brother!

And here's a video, I think . . . I can never get these videos right, but I'm giving it a shot. :)

Solo steps!

Matea had a big milestone this week as well - she took her first solo steps! She loves walking holding our hands, and last week I convinced her that walking holding only one hand was great (and now she doesn't want to hold my other hand). But she hadn't really done any steps on her own. She would just freeze up when you let go of her hand and then screech at you and fall backwards.

Yesterday though (June 4 for the baby book), she seemed really steady when I was walking with her, so I simply let go of her hand. And she kept going! She took about 7 steps and then fell sideways. But she knew she had done something different. She squealed and had a huge grin!

The second solo attempt didn't go quite as well -  she took a few steps and then fell sideways again but my hand slipped grabbing her and she took a header in to the wall. Ouch. She cried but it didn't deter her. When Jon came home we spent a while just having her walk back and forth between us. Matea knows she's doing something cool though. She almost shakes she's so excited and then takes three or four super-quick steps with absolutely no balance, and ends by flinging herself headlong at you. It's an adorable, if not an effective, way to walk. If she'd slow down she'd have it but she's just too excited. She knows she's walking all by herself, and she likes it!! :)

4 year stats!

Eli had his 4 year old doctor's appointment today and everything looks great! Eli is now 42 and a half inches (90th percentile) and 39 pounds (75th percentile).  For comparison, at 4 years old Jon was 43 inches tall and 43 pounds (what a chunk, hehe). So it looks like Eli is still very similar to Jon. Still long and lean!

A few days ago Eli fell at the park and cut his lip so the doctor checked that as well. Turns out his tooth did go through his lip and the pushed in tissue is now hanging on the inside of his lip (ick I know).  If it doesn't come off by itself in the next week then we get a return trip to the doctor's to snip and cauterize the hole. Since no 4 year old I know would like to be cauterized I'm praying that Eli's spare tissue falls off of its own accord this week! We did get a course of antibiotics since the lip was looking a little plump and red and the doctor said it was at high risk for infection.

We also found out that Eli can move to a booster seat in the car! Technically it's supposed to be 40 pounds but the doctor said that with Eli's height he'll be just fine. So I'm looking forward to that.

All in all the doctor thought Eli was growing great and looking good, plus no shots, so we had a great visit!

Edit: I forgot to mention that at the end of the visit when Eli got to pick a prize he picked out a pink bracelet, which I thought was odd. Until he came back to Matea and handed it to her! :) He said he picked out a jewelry for Matea because he knew she would like it. Awww. The doctor let him pick out another prize and a sticker and he proceeded to pick stickers for Lexi and Tori and not for himself. The doctor was surprised at his thoughtfulness and insisted that Eli actually get a prize as well.  What a generous 4 year old. Mommy's proud. :)

Eli's Mario Cake!

Eli requested a Mario themed birthday cake this year, and at first I thought there was no way I could figure that out. Then I got some inspiration from examples on-line and thought I could pull it off for him. Jon sketched out what Mario things should be on each level and then I translated them to the cake. We bought the figures on e-Bay, shipped all the way from Hong Kong (!!), and they were still pretty cheap. Eli got to decide the placement of all the figures once the cake was assembled, with only moderate direction from Mommy. :) All in all I think the cake turned out really well. Elijah LOVED LOVED LOVED it, so that was what really mattered. I love you my little Mario-loving four year old!

Mommy and Eli posing with the finished creation! Eli's so happy!

The "front" of the cake, with Mario, Luigi, and Peach. 

I love the fire flower, and the way the hills turned out.

The 4 coming out of the pipe was a last minute addition which I really liked.

Eli loved his name on the coins and the pirranha flower.

Jon sketched the layout similar to the original Mario game . . . so those are the steps heading to Bowser's castle.

Happy Mommy, all finished! It was worth it, and really fun to make too!

Eli's Birthday Party!

This year, Eli's main birthday party was held at Grandpa Bob and Grandma's Sherry's house, in their new finished basement, aka "the party room." We stopped at the outlet mall on the way over to pick up balloons and a special giant balloon for Eli - which he chose to be a princess castle. It was his birthday, so we didn't try too hard to talk him in to the Thomas balloon or Lightening McQueen. The princess castle really was the coolest one anyway. :)

We really had an awesome day and had so much fun. The weather was great, so the kids got to play outside together, and Eli got so many really fun presents, that's he's going to be busy for a long time! No talk of being bored - he's got tons of new things to play with. From golf sets to new games, train duplos and new Thomas bridges and signals, to a knight's outfit and superhero cape and a brand new bicycle. Elijah was spoiled rotten once again (a family tradition, hehe). :)

After present opening and eating we coerced Eli in to blowing out the candles on his cake (he really didn't want to, he wanted to keep on playing, but it was getting late). Eli requested a Mario cake for this year, and I had a lot of fun making it. The day was much too short though, and before you knew it it was time for everyone to go home. Eli had the "best birthday party I've ever had, Mommy," so I think it was a success!

A "hockey" set! (That's what Eli has been calling golf)

Puppy bingo (or you could just snuggle the puppies as you go to sleep too.)

Lexi and Tori drew some pictures for Eli. He didn't know what to do with them but I do - in to the keepsake book they go. :)

Matea took an instant dislike to the big green koosh ball and screamed whenever it came near her.

An over the track signal - "This is just what I've been wanting!"

A bike! (That he saw on accident several weeks ago, and then spotted under the blanket in the car too, so I was surprised that he was excited at all when he saw it!)    

Taking it out for a spin!

Eli got a knight's outfit, complete with sword, axe, shield, helmet, and "armor."

Do I have it on right?

Eli also got a superhero cape that Jon's Mom had made for Jon and Jeremy when they were younger!

The brave superhero knight in action ! 

Taking on his first foe - cousin Noah!

Cake time!!   

The birthday boy blowing out the sparkler candles that didn't sparkle but were kept relighting! 

I'll cut the cake!

Happy birthday Elijah! We love you!