Cole Matthew

Cole Matthew arrived on Sunday, September 28th at 2:05 p.m. weighing 6 lbs. 5 oz. and 19 inches long. My labor was very easy and everything went great. We are all doing well and enjoying our family!

18 Months Old

Brookelyn will be 18 months old this week! I can't believe how fast time flies and that we really have a 1 1/2 year old. I still remember being in the hospital when she was born, like it was yesterday. 18 months is such a fun age though. She talks all the time and repeats everything we say. We are learning to watch what we say in front of her... Grandma accidentally taught her to call the dog "dumb dumb" the other day.

She is also sleeping in a big girl bed now and doing great. The first night she cried for a few minutes and one other night she tried to get out and come out, but couldn't get her bedroom door open so she got back in. Another night, right after we got it, she must have somehow rolled past the gate and under her bed without waking up, because when I went in to wake her the next morning I couldn't find her. She was sound asleep under her bed. I went to get the camera and take a picture and then she heard me and woke up and said, "Mommy I stuck."

18 months also means very independent. She will not sit in her high chair and will not let anyone help her with anything. On the flip side, she is also very good at retrieving items and throwing things away for us :).

A couple nights ago we were at the park playing volleyball with some of Matt's friends and she was over at the playground and fell and cut her eye and lip open, but 10 minutes later she was ready to go back. She also loves to "drive" and has learned how to turn the cars on if we leave her in the drivers seat with them in the ignition. Watch out mom and dad!

Summer is Over!

Summer at our house is officially over. It has been far too long since I have posted, but things have been crazy at our house the last month. I really haven't been home much.

I officially started my new job in Ogden about 2 weeks ago and I've also still been helping out at Sky View because they haven't replaced me yet. It is going great so far-- I teach at 2 elementary schools in downtown Ogden, although that mean means I have no white students. Nope not a single one. At this point I really wish I spoke fluent Spanish. This will actually be our first week with students, the last 2 weeks have just been for prep and meetings and boring stuff. Working full time has definetly been an adjustment and I wish it was closer to home, but the drive hasn't been that bad and I'm really enjoying myself, but I spend most of the weekend sleeping :). It is still scary to think that I'm actually having to use everything I learned in school to help kids learn how to talk!!

Everything is still going great with my pregnancy. Last week the doctor was a little worried about me going into pre-term labor because the baby's head is already down and engaged but he said as long as I'm not having contractions everything should be fine. I am now 34 weeks, so only 6 more weeks to go.... although 4 would be great with me :). I still run about 4-5 miles a day and I think that really helps with my energy level and keeps me feeling good. I have to say, my 2nd pregnancy has been a lot easier than my first. I'm not sure if its just because I knew what to expect or if this pregnancy is really just easier. I'm sure it is quite a site to see me on my treadmill with my big belly and I will never admit it, but Matt says I waddle... thankfully I have my treadmill and no one but Matt has to witness such a site :). Next weekend we are going to clean out our spare bedroom and move Brooke into a big-girl bed so we can get the baby's room set up and ready to go. Wish us luck... she still says she wants to sleep in her baby bed.

Brookelyn has been switching off between my cousin Annie's house, Grandma Karen, and my Grandma's while I've been at work because her new babysitter is in New York. She loves to go play! Every morning she is so excited to wake up and play with Bentlee or Macie or Nanny. I wish Annie could keep her all the time, but I am soo glad to have her there to help when I need her!! I'll keep you updated on how things go with the new sitter next week... I'm a little nervous about leaving her since she can't even stay in nursery for more than 15 minutes without bawling. And, her babysitter is really expensive, so if anyone knows of someone that is reasonably priced and great with kids... please let me know!!

Matt finshed up a great baseball season with the Wolverines last weekend. They won the championship and ended on a 29 game winning streak. At the first of the season I hated him being gone so much, but I'm glad he got to play and I got used to spending my nights at the ball park and even had fun being out with other moms. Tomorrow he starts school again... boy am I glad it is not me :)!!! Only 1 more year to go though. I think he is trying to adjust to me working too. He is not used to having me awake when he gets up in the mornings and bossing him around. Nor is he used to me getting home late and then wanting to run so he has to watch Brooke.

Things are going great for all of us, but the lazy days of summer are definetly over for another year, now we are just waiting... somewhat patiently, but more anxiously than not... for baby #2 to arrive.

P.S. We had finally decided that the new baby would be Bailey or Kaison and then we found out that Matt's cousin has a daughter named Brooklyn (which we already new because she is about the same age as our Brookelyn) and their older son is named Kyson, so we are now back to square one with boys names and would greatly appreciate some suggestions because we just cannot seem to agree on anything!!

Lots of Camping

We have been camping twice in the last week. Last weekend was my family campout so we went up to Franklin Basin Saturday. Brookelyn had a blast and went from the horses to the 4-wheeler to the horses. She was sooo dirty when we came home! (After the Bear Lake episode we made no attempts to sleep over :))

Last Monday Matt's family all camped up at Tony Grove so we went up for dinner. Brookelyn LOVES to play with all her cousins. This time we actually took some pictures...

5 Cousins

This is our attempt to get a picture of all 5 grandkids together. As you can see Brooke was not cooperating. She kept crying and running to me -- or someone else was crying. Sorry Grandma, we did our best!

Swim Party

With Carrie visiting from North Carolina, there have been lots of activities going on. We had a big swim party with all the cousins up at Mike and Karen's. Brookelyn had so much fun following all the big kids around and I had fun visiting with all Matt's sisters and cousins.

All the kids... there are too many for me to name :)

The cousins... Angie, Kristie, Candice, Me, Carrie, Cammie

Lagoon

Matt's sister Carrie and her girls are visiting for the summer from North Carolina. We don't get to see them very often (the last time was before Brooke was born) so we decided to take a family day and go to Lagoon. It was a lot of fun, even though I didn't get to ride rides. The doctor said it would take a lot to hurt the baby so I would probably be ok to ride but, I went on 1 ride and I was so sick when I got off I wanted to go on no more! It was lots more fun to watch Brookelyn -- she LOVED it. She would sit on the rides and smile and wave. Her cousins weren't so sure... they mostly cried, but we all had a great time!

The only pictures of all 5 grandkids (soon to be 7)... David and Macie kept crying for their moms, but we got a couple of pretty decent ones.

Her first ride... Bulgy the whale

Driving the car... Macie was bawling

Flying the airplane... Brooke was pulling the stick to make it go up and down, Macie again, bawling

Riding the train... she loved all the tigers and bears and big animals

Driving a boat... she kept leaning out to touch the water

Riding the horse on the carosel. She wouldn't let me hold her

Bear Lake

Last weekend we spent... or attempted to spend... the weekend in Bear Lake with Candice and Rick and their girls. I was running in the marathon on Saturday, so Candice and I took the girls up Friday afternoon and we were going to spend all weekend playing and hanging out.

We got up there about 3:00 and had a blast swimming with the girls, even though the water was freezing. We layed a blanket outside in the grass and let the girls play a little longer until Matt and Rick got there after work. The three of them play so well together, I'm so glad they get along. Brooke wants to do everything Payton does, even though she's not quite big enough. Bentley has her own spunky personality and she lets us know if one of the bigger girls does something she doesn't like :).

At about 6:00, we left to go pick up my race packet and meet Matt and Rick for dinner at La Beau's. As we were standing in line, Candice noticed that Bentley had little red bites all over her head and checked Payton. She had them too! So I checked Brooke and sure enough, she had them too! There was some sort of little tiny black bug in the grass and got into the girl's hair and bit them!! We had no idea and we felt so bad! Candice and I were soo grossed out that we loaded the girls back into the car and took them right back to the trailer and bathed them and both of us had to shower!!

Matt and Rick brought dinner back to us and we were having a great time until bed time came. We figured the best thing would be for Candice and I to sleep in the bedroom with the girls and Matt and Rick were planning to stay up all night playing XBox. We took Bentley and Brooke in first and layed them in the pack and plays, figuring we'd just let them cry it out. After 15 minutes, Brooke was still screaming... bloody murder. I went in to try and rock her, but she wanted nothing to do with sleep. We finally decided to put her in the car and go for a drive. She fell asleep after about 20 mintues so we took her back and put her down again... but as soon as I left the room she and Bentley both started screaming again! This time, Candice and Rick decided to take their girls in the car and see if we could get Brooke to sleep. Well, I tried EVERYTHING I could think of. She just would not go to sleep. Finally, after Matt had taken her in the car a second time and still no sleep, he asked her if she wanted to go home. She got so excited. "Yeah, yeah" was all she could say!

So, since it was already 11:00 and we weren't getting any sleep, we decided to just go home. I wanted to run, but sometimes kids just have to take priority. Matt and I packed up and headed home. It took Brooke forever to fall asleep, but she did just before midnight. We made it home and I decided to set my alarm, just in case I decided to get up .

The next morning, 5:30 rolled around and I was already wide awake. I had dreamed all night about bugs in my bed so I didn't sleep. I figured I might as well get up and go run. So, we threw Brooke back in the car, dead asleep, and headed back up to the lake. The busses were supposed to leave at 6:30 so we made it there just in time for me to hop on.

Well, the busses ended up leaving late! We could have slept for another hour. Finally, at 8:00, we started (almost an hour late). The race was awesome!!! I never saw anyone I knew, so I ran by myself, but I had so much fun, I can't wait to do another one. I only had to stop once to pee fast, which I was very proud of, at 6 months pregnant, that in itself is an accomplishment. I finished in about 1:54, and in the top 5 of my age category so I was very happy.

My legs have been a little bit sore since the race and I got a bruise on my belly from where I have to wear a support belt to help support my pregnant belly, but I really don't have any major complaints! I was a little worried since I've heard horror stories about people not being able to run for weeks after, but I'm back to running my normal 6 miles a day and still feeling great! It was a way fun day and I'm so glad I did it! We're all still catching up on sleep and our weekend didn't turn out quite like we thought it would, but all in all it turned out ok!!

FYI... I hate these pictures of myself or for that matter any pictures of myself when I am pregnant. I look fat, even my face looks chubby!

Taking off my shirt at 5 miles to go... it was hot!
Matt, Rick, Candice, and the girls were waiting to see me at mile 8

Coming down to the finish line

Just finished and waiting to get my time and medal