MKSIV's Fan Club

One of our favorite things to do while in Utah is visit with family and friends. It was fun to show off Matthew to so many people that love him!

Aunt Jean. We love going to Aunt Jean's house. She always makes the BEST food!

Uncle Dick. Matt could talk to Uncle Dick for hours. He always has great stories.

Nancy - our neighbor in Trellis. She LOVES Matthew and would hold him all day even he were screaming. She is one of the sweetest, kindest people I know.

Mandy (due with #2 on September first) and Asher met up with us at In-N-Out.

Brianne came over before we headed out to meet our Ann Taylor friends for dinner. Brianne usually doesn't like babies, but she LOVED Matthew.

Pam with Matthew - she was so nice to walk around the restaurant with Matthew when he got fussy. She got lots of attention from everyone admiring our sweet little guy.

Nicola withe her beautiful little Nicole. It was SO fun to meet Nicole. She is just perfect!

He is all smiles with Susan! Boy do I miss these girls!

The primary reason we flew out to Utah was for Joshie's baptism. He is the first family member on Matt's side to get baptized at 8 years old. We are so proud of him!

This is Kylan with Matthew. He is the son of our good friends, Leslie and Greg Friel. He is such a good boy. We were impressed by how well he ate at dinner - lots of veggies.

Bowling

I'll let the pictures tell the story!

Matthew's First Trip to Idaho

This picture was taken at a gas station on the way up. We stopped to feed Matthew. It was super windy outside and my mom had to walk Matthew outside for a minute. She put his swaddling blanket over him to protect him. I was laughing so hard. I love his eyes!
The Casos girls with Matthew - Danielle, Capri, and Kristina. The two older girls just new contacts just before we saw them! They were very excited and barely managed not to lose them the first day.

My girlfriend Chelsey with her baby Braxton and Matthew. We went to Tristan and Matt's house in Kuna for a BBQ and to meet their new baby, Beck. Somehow I didn't get a picture of them!

Uncle Steve and Danielle playing with baby.

Steve put Matthew on the Lazy Susan and he went spinning around and around.

The girls helping Matthew during meal time. Still getting used to eating solids.

The three younger girls showing me the dance they made up to Miley Cyrus's Party in the USA. That song was stuck in my head for weeks!

Sticking out their booties!

Meeting Miss Ruby

Well, Matthew held on to the title of newest grandchild for as long as he could. In the Shipley family, that's never very long. Little Ruby is about 3 months younger than Matthew. She belongs to my little brother Jon and his wife, Jess. She is a doll. I can't wait to move back to Utah to watch these two grow up together.

Graeter's

Matthew and I accompanied Matt on a business trip to Columbus, Ohio. While we were there I was having a craving for some ice cream. I put our trusty GPS to work and found a Graeter's nearby. This is my sister, Holly's, FAVORITE ice cream. I called her on our way to rub it in a little and ask for some recommendations. Her favorite - Black Raspberry Chip. We thoroughly enjoyed every bit!


My ice cream cone was about as big as Matthew's head! Matt got the same size cone and mine looked about double his. I think it's the biggest ice cream cone I've ever eaten.


Checking out of the hotel.

First Sleepover

We had our good friends, Sarah and Ainsley stay the night. Sarah is a close friend of mine out here in Pennsylvania. I moved into the ward about two months before she was due to have Ainsley. Sarah and her family moved to Alaska in May. Her husband, Ryan went up early to start his new job and Sarah stayed behind to pack up the house and get it ready to sell while taking care of their 9 month old and dog. She is amazing! We decided to have a sleep over while Matt was out of town. We rented The Blind Side and got ice cream from Handel's.

Matthew and Ainsley taking a bath. Here, Matthew's looking quite happy and Ainsley's not so sure about this.

This was hilarious. I was in the other room for a moment while Sarah was watching them and I hear Sarah say, "No Ainsley don't touch that." Right after she said that Matthew peed - a common occurrence in our bathtub. We were laughing so hard. I then put the washcloth on top of him so that she didn't get too curious.
After both babies were all cleaned up we let them play. Ainsley was splashing away and Matthew was getting lots of water in his eyes. He's not used to that.

A little background on our friendship: Sarah worked up until about two weeks before she had Ainsley and she and I started hanging out about as soon as she stopped working so that she wouldn't go crazy with all of her free time. I really enjoyed getting to know her and we found out we had a lot in common. We went shopping at the outlets, to get pedicures, to eat ice cream (several times) and to relax at the pool. This was during the time that Matt and I were sharing a car. Matt was gone a lot for hearings, so Sarah ended up picking me up nearly every time we hung out. I joked around that she was my Taxi. I remember one time that Sarah had to stop at the store to grab something and she let me do my grocery shopping for the week as we were out of food and Matt was out of town. I think we were both needing a good friend at the time and praying to find a good friend. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father placed us in each others' paths. We sure miss our friends.

The next morning. Hanging out and doing some baby yoga!

The four of us at Sarah's farewell luncheon.

4 Month Check

I took Matthew to his 4 month check on April 1st. He was so happy, rolling all over the table and laughing. He loved the sound of the paper underneath him. Little did he know the doctor was about to come in and poke him a few times! That is the worst part about these checks - immunizations. He weighed in at 17 pounds 4 ounces - 75th percentile. His height is 26 and 3/4 inches - 90th percentile and his head is at 44 centimeters - 90th percentile.

I told the doctor that he is still getting up 2 or 3 times a night and she said that there really is no reason he shouldn't be sleeping at least 8 hours at night. She encouraged me to start sleep training before he developed long-lasting habits of night waking. She also said that unfortunately, letting him cry it out at night is the best way as anything else is too confusing for baby. So, we started up on a Saturday night. His first waking, he cried 45 minutes before going back to sleep. Matt slept well that night with his earplugs, while I listened to our sweet baby struggle through it. It was tough, but the next few times, he only cried 5-10 minutes. He has progressively gotten better and better and one week later, he is sleeping through the whole night from about 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. It is amazing and I am so happy to finally be getting a good night's sleep. It's been a LONG time! He is also napping much better as a result and his 30 minute naps have turned into a minimum of 1 hour and sometimes 3 hours.

Doctor also told us that he is ready for solids! This is a whole new adventure. We started with rice cereal. So far he has tried bananas, pears, and apples. I want to make my own baby food, but the doctor suggested getting a few first foods from the grocery store so that I could get a good idea for the consistency. I ordered a baby food book from Amazon today and can't wait to get started! I did put a banana in the Vita Mix tonight and he ate the entire thing!

Some fun things about Matthew:

He smiles when I put the nose aspirator up his nose to clear his boogers.

He laughs when I clean his hands with a wet wipe.

He laughs when I whisper in his ear.

When he gets tired his lower lip juts out and a his cute cheeks sag.

He has learned to smile for the camera, even when he's tired, so I can't capture his tired face.

Matthew at 4 months old.

Matthew wants to sit up. He is getting closer and closer to being able to sit up by himself.

He got his first two teeth the day we flew home from Savannah. This is the first shot I took where you can actually see them.

Matthew all ready for his first taste of solids. He had rice cereal. I think he may have been more interested in eating his bib than the rice cereal, so for now we have decided to feed him with his shirt off. It is really messy, but he gets better each time! Tonight, he actually ate an entire banana that I pureed in the Vita Mix. He was so excited about eating it and was opening his mouth and making noises to let me know he wanted more. He sure likes the real thing better than the processed bananas he had from the jar.

I resorted to putting the bumper in the crib. The doctors tell you not to, but this guy moves around on his tummy and ends up bumping his head on the rails and getting limbs stuck in between.

Daddy posing with Mr. Baby. My boys sure are good looking!

Matthew is always happy after bath time - that is until we start putting on the lotion and getting him dressed. He still hates getting dressed and cries like we are torturing him. I can't wait until he outgrows this.

Ready to go hit the town in Savannah. It has been so nice to have some warmer weather out here. We hit 90 degrees two days in a row last week. He has outgrown his 3-6 month clothes and I don't have too many 6-12 month clothes for cooler weather, so we are really hoping the warm weather sticks around! And here's hoping it stops snowing in Utah because we are headed there in one week.

Matthew loves chewing on Sophie's legs. They are becoming fast friends!

He has really discovered his hands in the last month and loves watching them and putting them together. He also thinks that all 10 fingers should fit in his mouth at the same time. Hands and fingers provide hours of entertainment!

Matthew trying out his new travel cot. I ordered this so that we would have something lightweight to take on our airplane trips. He has been sleeping in here (with the side zipped up) for his naps the last few weeks so that he is used to it by the time we go to Utah.

Matthew is laughing more and more. It is one of the most delightful sounds I've ever heard :)