deck building take two...

Yes, yes.. Gary finished building our second deck in two years.. almost on the anniversary of the building of the first in Tampa. This deck is definetly supercharged compared to the last... its awesome and now gary has his "man deck."

Stage One...


Stage Two...


Done..


and done..


Gary vowed to never build another one... until the next house.

For Papa...

11 month old girl

Zoey is 11 months old today... which is the scary realization that in a month she will be a year old.. i can't believe how fast time has past.. and while gary is feeling old.. i am excited for all the things zoey can do and is learning.. it seems liek we show her how to do something a couple of times and she knows how to do it... she's the smartest kid i know.. smarter than my students...

Zoey can..
- WALK!!!... she still gets around mostly by crawling.
- blow kisses and give kisses
- say "bye-bye", "papa/pop", "uh" (uh-oh), "og" (dog), "baba", "dada", "mama"
- say a ton of other giberish
- try to repeat words we say
- dance and twist when we sing
- bounce while holding on to something
- play telephone and hold the receiver to her ear - told you she was smart
- drink from a sippy cup
- eat real foods and feed herself
- sign "more" - just started.. still sparatic
- point at pictures and words while we read them
- point out where noses are... on a bear and on people...

Zoey likes..
- Food
- books.. will still read them for awhile..
- playing with her toys
- her friends at school
- walking.. trying to run
- playing with the dogs
- computers/remote controls/buttonsand tons of stuff se shouldn't have

Zoey does not like...
- sleeping
- mom and dad telling her "no"

Not her best walking but its all i can get.. when she sees the camera she stops whatever she is doing and tries to grab it...

2 years and counting...

We (I) have been blogging for 2 years this month.. and it just made me realize how much our lives have changed in those two years...

2007 to 2009
Newly married --> old married couple!
24 --> almost 26
33 --> almost 35
no kids --> one kid
Tampa --> Pensacola
1 teacher --> 2 teachers
2 spoiled dogs --> well somethings are the same...

Other events in the past two years...
- 2 decks built (1 almost done)
- 1 new car
- 2 trips to Philly
- 1 trip to NYC
- 3 trips to New Orleans
- too many trips to Orlando

Needless to say I don't think we could have imagined how our lives would change in two short years.. especially since our first blog mentioned that we would not be having kids anytime soon.... yes, 5 months later we were pregnant but we weren't necessarily planning on that at that time.. Zoey was not a mistake.. medical issues pushed our plans ahead a couple months.. We are loving life.. and all the ups and downs that it brings..

we are glad that you have loved us this long to keep up with Zoey and her parents! We love you and your care for us!

Best friends and parents...

2 spoiled dogs!

The best thing about life...

Sleepy Baby...

This poor girl has been fighting naps at home and at daycare so this is what we have been seeing a lot of lately..


This was posted while in the middle of a nap at 5:45 at night...

Zoey walked this weekend! She has been taking steps for the past couple of weeks.. but it was a few here and there.. but this weekend she decided it was time to go... and she went.. taking 5-6 steps at a time! Now i feel confident enough to say that Zoey is a walker... (not to be confused with the Mike and Julie kind of walker...)

a lot of nothing...

Literally nothing exciting has been going on.. but since i can hear the phone ringing with requests i have added some pictures for the g-parents...

It was too beautiful of a day outside to not go out and take some pictures... and thankfully zoey is extremely afraid of GRASS, she sat there for at least 30 minutes since she was scared to move... excuse the number of pics.. what can i say... she is cute and i love taking pictures of her...











oh this girl and her expressions... such a "tough" girl...


a rare mom and zoey picture... that i allow posted..


such a sweet puppy...


for uncle paul..


she finally learned how to bust out of the living room.. we solved it though...

Why is zoey so happy?

...Cause her nana, papa, and uncle brett and steven were just here... My parents and lil' brothers came into town for a couple days.. just long enough to spoil her rotten! which is what grandparents are supposed to do... of course... they let zoey play hooky from daycare and took her to the air museum and beach! Man i was jealous.. but duty called. They had a blast and we loved having them! Come more often...


Zoey and uncle brett


Zoey and nana playing telephone

I swear papa and uncle steve were there.. but i didn't any pictures.. unless you want to see papa asleep again...

- nana, i need some of your pictures!

ps - zoey has learned some new dance moves and can do the wipers on the bus... videos to come..

Tennis anyone?

Does she look like she is ready to play tennis?



Sporting her new clogs.. the only shoes we could find to fit her chubby feet...

My how things have changed....

...all in 9 short months...

10 months old?

Since there is no February 29th, except every four years.. we have made today Zoey's 10 month birthday...it works for me.. more than anything Zoey has learned soo much this month, and is really becoming more and more like a little person rather than a little baby.. so here is 10 month Zoey!



Zoey can...
-eat anything off a spoon and feed herself
-do "so big"
-give high fives
-dance and twist
-bounce in place
-take a step or two
-play by herself for expanded periods of time
-hold her own bottle and it by herself(with us close by.. of course)
-drink from a sippy
-make the elephant noise.. or try to
-give kisses
-say "dada", "mama", "og"(dog), "uhhh"(uh-oh), "gaga", "nana", "baba"

Zoey likes...
-food.. cheerios, puffs, goldfish
-making noise and banging things together
-playing on the couches..so that she can watch the dogs...
-knocking towers down
-cleaning up her books
-"reading" her books - basically turning pages
-formula
-her mom.. seriously
-tv.. sesame street.. really anything

Zoey "reading"...

Crawfish Boil

A couple weeks ago our friends invited us over for a traditional southern crawfish boil.. it was sooo great! There was a ton of food, friends.. and good times! One of the people we met there must have taken a million pictures of Zoey.. who can blame her.. she is pretty darn cute... So i take no credit for these pictures....

Zoey doing her best Gary impression...


Probably the best family pictures we have... so sad but true...



Too cute kid!


All of the kids playing in the tub of crawfish...

I could get used to this...

So Zoey is home sick today... which means I am home today too...
she has hand-foot-mouth which from what i've heard is a very common disease especially for kids in daycare.. she is fine and should be able to go back to daycare Friday..grandma is taking care of zoey tomorrow...

But being that i am home all day its nice to imagine my life as a stay-at-home mom..even if it is just for a day.. Zoey and I wandered around Target for an hour or so.. which is the best way to go to Target, NO ONE is there! NO ONE.. there were no whiny kids, crowded aisles, or long lines to check out! It was lovely! I only fear the amount of money i would spend if i were there more often.. i seriously have an addiction... but today i only spent $8.87.. and that was on formula for Zoey...

Upon return, i realized that since zoey's illness can be contagious upon contact i needed to sanitize anything that Zoey has come in contact with... hence the picture below... we are now germ free.. at least i hope so...


So now i have the rest of the afternoon to do whatever I want! no schedule, no requirements! just me in my yoga pants and my girl hanging out... i could seriously get used to this...

Zoey trying to show off her teeth.. 4 have popped through and one is close

Zoey's week... and update on the us part...

Just a few happenings around the Mattes house... sorry for no post last Monday.. that video was just too cute.. and since now she does it everyday i feel ok pushing it down on the blog...

A girl and her dada...


Zoey and her "og" (dog)


Zoey learned "so big" this week... a couple action shots...


She can also give high fives...

Zoey sat on the couch by herself to drink her bottle.. she's getting too big!

(don't worry i was next to her)

Such a tiring week!

Yes, she fell asleep on the floor..


Update of us:
- Gary's soccer season is over.. and ended a lot better than we expected, they made it to the regional semifinals! woohoo! it is definitely nice to have Gary home afterschool, especially since he gets to pick up zoey and get a little daddy/daughter time!
- We have now officially lived in our house a year.. and while we still love it we are constantly figuring out ways to make it more and more like home.. i guess that will never end. Our (Gary's) next big project is a deck outside...
- I am already counting down till summer..61 days left ... Ever since Zoey it has been soo much more difficult to go to work everyday and deal with annoying kids knowing that i don't find my own to be annoying...i wish i could stay home with here.. but remind myself that it is good for her to be social.. and daycare has been a great thing for her.
- Gary and i have both kept our new year's resolutions to shed a few unwanted pounds.. both of us were still carrying "baby" weight around so we figured it was no longer acceptable for us to use the excuse that I had just had a baby! I have lost 14lbs and gary 20lbs! but more importantly than how much i've lost...drum roll please... i can fit into PRE-PREGNANCY PANTS! woohoo for me and woohoo for us... now all i want to do i eat a big bowl of ice cream in celebration..

PEEK!

Zoey loves...

Her bottle...


Her thumb...


Her toys.. she found a more efficient wayof getting all of her toys out...


Playing with her dogs...


I love this kid... she is the best present for any holiday!