Spit Bubbles

Matthew has started to blow spit bubbles. He did it purposefully for the first time yesterday, and today we had many more spitting episodes. He likes to blow spit bubbles when he is in a talkative mood. Steve and I couldn't be more proud.

Steve was in Water Valley today. He just told me he saw a portrait of Miss Watermelon Festival. Apparently it made quite an impression on him. In light of that, I don't believe we will be making the Watermelon Festival this year.

We are looking forward to a great weekend. Hopefully we will get some work finished around the house. Happy Weekend to Everyone!

Destin Photos

I finally went to Wal-Mart to get the pictures developed...


Matthew and his Mate


Singing an old irish tune


It was an "all smiles" kind of trip!

Hot Hot Hot

We made it home yesterday! Our trip was great! We really enjoyed hanging out with family and friends. The heat kept us inside most of the time. We did not go to the beach or the golf course, but the object of the trip was for Matthew spend time with family and that mission was accomplished.

Matthew couldn't have been a better baby. He cooed and smiled on cue and was perfectly delightful. He absolutely adored Nancy, Rinnie, and MaMa in Jackson and Mike, Joni, and Glyn in Destin.

He was also quite a little trooper in the car. I was dreading the trip home, but that was our best day. He slept and slept and slept some more.

We are happy to be home. Thank goodness a cold front is on its way. I plan on lots of stroller rides!

Oh - You know how one thing is always left behind when you go on a trip. Well, I left the digital camera. I will go to Wal-Mart tomorrow to have the million dollar disposable camera developed and put on a disk. So hopefully we will have pictures on the blog tomorrow.

To Jackson and Destin

We are leaving in a short while to go to Jackson and Destin. We are spending the night with MaMa tonight. Nancy and Rinne are coming over for dinner. This will be the first time Matthew has met them! Saturday morning we are taking off for Destin. We are looking forward to spending time with Mike and Joni.

Now that the camera is up and running, we will take lots of photos!

Pictures!!!

Here you go -






Second Cousins Patrick and Thomas came over for a visit. Matthew loves them!!


Paying homage to the Queen


Redneck baby says "Look Papa!"


Big Smile!

We're alive

Well, we made it back from vacation and didn't get a chance to make any posts last week. Kiawah was great. Great weather, food, company and golf. I had to leave early Wednesday morning to go to Green Bay for business and came back late Thursday night. Anne Clark flew to Destin early Friday morning for Caroline's bachelorette party. So you guessed it, that left me solo with Matthew for three days and flying home alone on Saturday. All I have to say is thank God I have a good baby. We did fine, but really needed his mother by the end of the third day. I now realize what a full, full time job this is and have a lot more respect for the job that Anne Clark is doing. She is a great Mama.

We are more than ready to be in our house now after living out of a suitcase for a month. It looks like tomorrow night may be our first night in the house, we are very excited. The painting is all done and the floors are finished. Our new fridge, washer and dryer were delivered today and Anne Clark has been unpacking. We made major progress shuffling things tonight and look forward to finally having our own house again.

Matthew is growing really fast and seems to change everyday. Anne Clark swears he grew over the weekend. However, that has nothing to do with rice cereal because he doesn't eat much of it and judging by the faces he makes, he doesn't like it very much.

4 month shots

We found a doctor for Matthew and took him for his four month visit yesterday. Dr. Ram ordered four shots for the boy. He cried when he was stuck, but then was just fine after I picked him up. His poor little legs are sore, and he is running a little fever, but the tylenol is working and he is fairly comfortable. He is just a little fussy though. We are starting him on rice cereal today. In fact when he wakes up from the nap he is taking right now, I will give the cereal a go! I will let you know how we do.

The rest of the doctor appointment went well. Matthew weighs 11 lbs, 12 oz. and is 25 inches long. He had a clean bill of health. I guess Steve and I are doing something right!

Finding Feet

Matthew has found his feet. He will look at them and play with them. He thinks they are as wonderful as we do!

The house is coming along nicely. The fence out front has been torn down and the overgrown shrubs have been ripped out. The floors are now covered with paper and the painters have begun their work. The sand for the patio is almost complete. John Barnes, our family friend and architect, has suggested a patio shape among many other things.

We are still at Mama and Daddy's house. We will probably be here another few weeks until they wrap up the floors and the paint.

The McLaurin's have been visiting for the past few days. I LOVE BEING SO CLOSE TO FAMILY!!!!!

I am sorry there are not any pictures of the house or Matthew. Once we get moved in I will fill the blog with pics.

Whew

So much going on...

- Closing on the house here did not go according to plan. Apparently Mrs. Easley did not remember adding her children to the deed. So, we needed all three of her children's signatures on the deed in order to pass it to us. Two were in town, but the third was in Louisiana. We should have it all wrapped up tomorrow.

- The house was thoroughly cleaned yesterday. Dust had collected in corners for 10 years. It was so nasty, but now it looks great!

- The moving truck arrived this morning. The two helpers were hired from the fire department. They both know Robert and Little Robert well, and they still didn't drop anything!

- We are having the hardwood floors sanded and refinished. That work should start Monday, then the painting should start Wednesday. Needless-to-say we are still living at Mama and Daddy's. That is just fine with us because Mama has been cooking!

- We bought a car. Steve will frequently be driving to the airport in Memphis so we needed something he could put a lot of miles on. Plus, air conditioning helps and the Jeep does not have that.

- Utilities, bank account, etc - lots to set up when moving to town, but we are almost finished

- We were accepted in the country club! We meet with them tomorrow to get a grand tour. Fun!

The past few days have been busy. It still feels like we are just visiting, but now that our stuff is here I am sure reality will set in soon!

Home Again!

Matthew and I are in Clarksdale! Yesterday was a long day, and we arrived in Memphis around 8:00PM. Steve made great progress yesterday. He spent the night in Alma, AR and should be in Clarksdale around 4:00PM today.

Matthew was wonderful yesterday! He is such a good little traveler. He slept on both flights (we connected through Atlanta), and was delightful on our way from Memphis to Clarksdale. Then he slept late this morning - he woke up around 9:00AM!

I am so happy to be home and cannot wait to take possession of my new house. That will happen Wednesday. I will keep you posted!

Not Finished

It is almost 10:00 PM and the movers and Steve are still at the house while Matthew and I are resting comfortably at the Brown Palace. Apparently the moving company should have sent 3 packers instead of just two, and it would have helped if they sent the packers yesterday as planned. So, the movers couldn't get started until around 1:00 PM. Anyway, the packers finally finished around 5:00 PM, but the movers are still at it. Since it is getting so late they will call it quits for the night and return tomorrow morning. I guess moving is never easy. Poor Steve.

Loading Day

The packers did show up today and are doing a great job, we also have a big Atlas Van Lines truck parked in front of the house and they have told us that they will be done today. We are a little worried because today technically ends at midnight. We were looking forward to checking into the Brown Palace and going to bed early, but oh, well. We also closed on the house this morning. Everything is going pretty okay, but it will be nice for this part to be over.

2004?

Well the packers did not show up. Our paperwork accidentally noted the date as 2004 instead of 2005. So the packers and movers will all be here tomorrow. Other than that, so far so good. We will keep you posted on our progress!

Last Trip to the Mountains

We went to Rocky Mountain National Park on Sunday. Trail Ridge Road opened early due to the recent heat. At first Matthew was very impressed...

Later he woke up and saw the mountains...

Then we were lucky enough to see a coyote with a herd of elk.

The roads were clear, but we were still able to see how much snow they get up there.

With all the bright snow we knew we needed to protect the boy's eyes. Isn't he the coolest??!!

So six days until the move - we are going to miss this part of Colorado.

Spyware

According to the Geek Squad member at BestBuy, my computer is very sick. It has a few viruses and has been infiltrated with spyware. We have been having issues with the computer for quite a while and after many late nights trying to rid it of the wretched spyware, we decided to seek professional help. My CPU is now with the Geek Squad. They are going to "clean" it up for me, and they promise it will be like new. Very exciting! But our battles with spyware will continue - this time we will be armed with SpySweeper and Adware. Our Geek assures me that these programs will keep my little computer safe. We will certainly see...

My computer should be ready in a few days, and I will post new pics of the boy then. I just took some new ones today. He is just so darn cute! I can brag on my own little one, right?

New Pic

Today I took some pictures of Matthew in the family heirloom christening gown. He was baptized a few weeks ago, but we didn't get pictures of him up close. He was great in the gown when we had him baptized, but today he wasn't such a fan of the gown. I think he took it to heart when his father told him that the baptism would be the last time he would have to wear a dress. Anyway, here is one of the few good ones -

Play Time

Matthew is no longer a blob, and play time is not as one-sided anymore. He smiles and coos at us when we make silly facial expressions and noises. We have been using rattles with him too, and he loves them. He is also crazy about his hands. They are usually in his mouth. He is getting better at sucking his fingers, but hasn't favored one or two yet. So far he is not a thumb sucker, but Mary Margaret hasn't lost hope!

The Weekend

It has been a good weekend so far. Steve is on his annual "Man in the Woods" trip with his buddies from Atlanta. Every year they go up in the Georgia mountains (those would be hills for Coloradans) and goof off like a bunch of teenagers. He returns tonight, and I am ready for him to get home.

Matthew and I went to the birthday party of my former coworker's one year old. Matthew is usually not very good at social gatherings, but he was a little darling yesterday. I was so pleased with his performance!! Two balloons popped right in front of him and he didn't cry. In fact he barely flinched! What a stud.

The weather is gorgeous in Denver. Matthew loves a stroller ride. We try to get out everyday and walk the neighborhood. I need to get out as much as possible because these lily white legs will blind all of Clarksdale if I don't get some sun on them!

Here is an update on the move: The packers come on Thursday the 26th and the movers on Friday the 27th. Closing is Friday the 27th. We are staying in Denver for Heather Bauer's birthday party on the 28th. Matthew and I fly to Memphis Sunday morning while Steve is driving the Expedition with the Jeep in tow. The closing on the house in Clarksdale is scheduled for Wednesday, June 1. We will be shacking up with Mama and Daddy for about a week because the moving truck should arrive sometime around the 6th. I cannot believe we will be leaving Denver in two weeks!

Just Getting Started!

This is my first stab at my own blog. I hope this will keep y'all in touch with what is going on from day to day with the us. In order for this to work, I need to create posts as frequently as possible. I should have some time on my hands when we move to Clarksdale, so this just may work. We'll see...

Here is a new pic of the boy!