A Whirlwind Update in Pictures

I am WAY behind on the blogging, so I'm just going to post some pictures with captions to catch up on everything that's been going on!
Matthew really enjoyed watching his first Gator game. So far he is undefeated as a Gator fan!

Matthew also participated in his first golf outing! His grandparents were very proud of him for making it all 18 holes! He did sleep from hole 7 to 16, but he was very good!

We love making our little man smile!

Four months old! Wearing my first pair of jeans too.

I just rolled over for the first time and am so proud of myself!

Back to Work and Other August Adventures

Well, I started back to work part-time at the end of August. I'm working from 9:15 to 1:15 every day, and I spend two hours in a 3rd grade class and two hours in a 2nd grade class. I'm very happy that I made the decision to work part-time, because I don't think I could stand being away from Matthew all day every day. I was also fortunate enough to be able to share a sitter with our friends Casey and Jeremy, so every other week Matthew stays at our house while I'm gone. Having a sitter every day was definitely an adjustment and I finally had to realize that no one is going to take care of him the way I do, and that he is perfectly fine while I'm gone. Here are a few pictures taken toward the end of August.

We can't believe how big our little boy is getting already!


We were very excited to have Brad come visit us at the end of August! He got to meet Matthew for the first time, and then he, Brian and Jim went on a guys trip for the weekend.


While Brian was gone on his trip, Cherie came to visit! I was so excited to meet Tyler, and we can tell that he and Matthew are going to be great friends :o)


Matthew really enjoys his play mat, and has become quite good at squealing and laughing while playing!Even though you can't tell from this picture, Matthew has started to enjoy hanging out on his tummy!

The Zoo!

We had a very busy day today! After having a yard sale in the morning, we went to the North Carolina Zoo with our friends Casey, Jeremy and their daughter Taryn, and Kevin and Lauren. It was ridiculously hot, but we still enjoyed seeing all the animals! Matthew did very well. He rode around in his stroller, and of course spent time up on one of our shoulders when he got fussy. He has been lots of fun lately, starting to talk and coo, and smiling and laughing a lot. On the way home we ate dinner at America's Roadhouse. We were slightly skeptical when we pulled in and saw a giant eagle on the front of the building, but there were lots of cars in the parking lot so we figured it had to be good. It was, and it was really cheap too!

Family Photos

As a shower present, our awesome friend Rachel gave us a free photography sitting. We went to Graylyn early on Saturday morning, and she took lots of pictures for us. Here are just a few of our favorites. Thanks Rachel!

Videos

One of the things Matthew has enjoyed lately is playing on his mat. He especially likes the light-up ball that you see in the video. While we have found that the sound the ball makes can be rather annoying after 20 minutes, at least it's not a song that gets stuck in your head!

He has also begun to smile and laugh recently! We're not sure he always knows what he's doing, but he seems to in this video.

Matthew is a Month Old!

I'm not quite sure how it happened, but Matthew has already been here for a month! Everyone always says how fast the time goes, and now I know what they mean! At his one month doctor's appointment he weighed 11 lbs 6 oz and was 23 inches long! Matthew has had lots of new experiences this past month. He has been to several stores and restaurants, gone to church, attended his first concert, had his first real bath, stayed with a babysitter, visited his other baby friends, had lots of visitors, and strolled around downtown Winston-Salem. He has also begun holding up his head during tummy time, tracking things that make sounds, laughing and smiling randomly, and perfecting his "I have a gas bubble" scream. He is only waking up once at night now, and is going right back to sleep afterward which makes his mommy very happy :o) Here are some photos of his recent adventures.

Adventures in Parenting Begin

Brian and I have been making the transition into parenthood the past few weeks. We have learned that babies can fart louder than adults, sometimes they cry for no good reason, and they make really funny faces when they're sleepy. While we are both tired, we are enjoying our new roles and our little man. When we went to the pediatrician on Friday he weighed 9 lbs 12 oz, which was 11 oz more than he was a week ago! Needless to say, he has the eating thing down. It was also great to have my mom here this past week. She was a tremendous help with things around the house, and had the magic touch to make Matthew stop crying! Here are some pictures from the past few weeks.