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 :)

George Washington Reality Tour

I recently became a huge fan of our 3rd President, George Washington. I read a biography on G-dub by Thomas Flexner entitled "The Indispensable Man," and immediately developed a man crush on the greatest American who ever lived. Being that we're so close to some of George's old haunts, the Steens decided to take advantage of the wonderful Spring weather and go on some mini road trips.

First stop: Valley Forge. The Continental Army encamped there (just outside Philadelphia) in the winter of 1777. It was bitter cold and there wasn't a lot of food. Good times were had by none.

This is a recreation of the little huts that Washington's troops made that winter. I think they look pretty cozy, but they probably weren't made as well back in 1777.


There really wasn't much to see at Valley Forge, but the place was teeming with deer. We counted at least 20 in one herd, or pack, or school, whatever they run in. I thought I heard the ghosts of starved Continental regulars whisper on the wind, "where the freak were those when we were starving to death?"


Here is baby Maffew hamming it up as Baron Von Steuben, the irascible German drillmaster who helped instill a little discipline and skill into Washington's rag tag troops. Or it could just be some generic cut out of any old soldier. Either way, baby is in perfect character for the hardship experienced at Valley Forge.

After Valley Forge we went to GW's old favorite inn: The Cheesecake Factory (courtesy of a gift card from my favorite sister, MARY). We had George Washington's favorite flavor of cheesecake: blood pudding and mince meat regalia. Awesome.

Last weekend was the real treat: Mt. Vernon. We first drove through Washington D.C. to shake our fists at the White House and see the cherry blossoms, which I found pretty overrated. They were nice, but they are just trees after all. There were so many people all over the place that we decided to just admire the trees from the car and head to Mt. Vernon.

For those of you who don't know much about Mt. Vernon, it was originally built by George Washington's brother and named for his brother's commanding officer, something Vernon. Then his brother died and George Washington got the place. Now some pictures:


The Sacred Cherry Blossom.


The Washington Monument. BOINNGGGGGG!!!!


Robyn and me in front of Mt. Vernon.

The weirdest part of Mt. Vernon was the video we watched in the visitor's center before touring the place. It was narrated by none other than Pat Sajak. The line to get into the house was huge. I waited patiently in line for over an hour while mom and Robyn entertained baby in Washington's front lawn, or "bowling green" as they call it. To the untrained eye Mt. Vernon looks like it's constructed of stone. Not so. It's wood made to look like stone using a technique called distressing (I think). The wood was cut into blocks the size of stones, then painted with sand thrown in. Looks pretty real, at least from far away. Pictures weren't allowed inside the house. The most interesting part was walking through his parlor where Washington liked to entertain and where he and his advisors planned the battle of Yorktown.

Out the back of the house was a wonderful view of the Potomac.









Washington had a huge estate of 8,000 acres. As mom astutely noted, "it's a good thing he had all those slaves to help out."

This was the original Washington family crypt. Washington in his will asked for a new one to be built because this one was in bad repair and probably because he knew he was too awesome to be buried in something that looked like a wine cellar. A few years after his death he and Martha were moved to this one:




The final resting place of the first American, the Father of his country, George Washington (on the right). On a still day, if you listen very closely, you can hear him spinning.