SNOW!

On Friday, schools were canceled for a 'Snow day'.. Hilarious... we waited and waited and all it did was rain and rain. Then just after noon... it snowed! Just for about 30 minutes... but it did... here is proof...



It melted immediately and lasted about 30 minutes... my kind of snow... enough for hype and schools closing.. and then OVER!

1/2 way done!

I am now 20 weeks prego with baby number 2! I can't believe that I am already on the downward slope of this pregnancy... It seems like just yesterday I was telling people I was pregnant...

We have already begun the name discussion, now that we know that we have a son, it is seeming a much harder decision than Zoey's name was... You can't name a boy anything too sissy.. and when he is little the name might be cute, but then he has to grow up and be a MAN with that name.. so we are batting around a few names... but no decisions made, other the middle name of Andrew (Gary's middle name). There is one guarantee... there will NOT be another Gary Andrew... we don't make enough money to have a third... and let's be honest, the two Gary's we have are quite enough. So we will let you know when the name has been decided on... We aren't the type to keep it secret until the end.

Pregnancy this time around is going well..(only 1 pound of weight gain) I think I am trying to enjoy every moment this time, since this will be our last... The lil' boy is moving, but I don't feel him as much as Zoey because he is laying awkwardly. His back is laying near the front of my body, so when I feel him move its more like he is kicking my bladder. I went and had another ultrasound at the ultrasound school.. I am obsessed with that place! Once again his hands were by his face.. adorable!

Needless to say I am excited to snuggle this little boy... still a little nervous about life with two...

Oh Zoey!

When zoey left for school today, she saw me grab my purse, and then she ran to grab her's...

then she said 'bye' to everything... the door, tv, dogs...

precious little girl!

adorable....

This morning she serenaded me over the monitor with "Twinkle Twinkle" and "Monkeys jumping on the bed"...

Zoey's first haircut...

Zoey's bangs were getting a little out of control... she already had a mullet looking hairstyle, and now her bangs were CONSTANTLY in her face. Especially on the weekends when I didn't do her hair. So last Sunday I grabbed the scissors and cut...




Not too bad, for bangs.... it makes her look so much older. Where did our little girl go?

'ABCs' ................... sorta

... she did have a doughnut in front of her.. pretty good concentration I would say...

Our Baby Boy!

Precious little face!


It's a Boy!


Baby feet!


We are sooo excited! I already made my first little baby boy purchase! I couldn't resist!

It's a boy!

We are soooo excited! The baby boy is healthy and happy! Kicking and moving all over the place.. Just like Zoey his little hand was up by his face! More pics to come!

Month 20 and 21.....

I can't believe how big our little girl is getting! Everyday she does something new that makes her seems more and more like a little person instead of a baby... where did our baby go??

Zoey likes...
- doing it herself "do it self" she says ALL THE TIME!
- playing outside
- french fries, fruit, cookies, chicken nuggets, cheese
- books - especially 'fox in socks' 'spot' 'goodnight moon'
- talking on mom and dad's cell phones
- looking at the pictures on mom and dad's cell phones
- singing songs
- going to school, except the drop off part...
- tv - Sesame Street, Dora, Diego, Super Why and Nemo of course
- coloring
- taking mom and dad into her room
- playing with friends
- Asking where people are... there is a list of people she asks about all the time
- Talking on the phone with a select group of people
- anything to do with transportation, trains, buses, cars, trucks, tractors
- playing with/chasing the dogs
- dancing
- baths

Zoey can...
- say 3-4 word phrases
- say 'may i have some more _______ please?'
- throw a temper tantrum in 2.3 seconds
- change the settings on our cell phones in 5 seconds
- count to 13... she can say all the numbers in order, but can't stop counting objects
- say her ABC's.. sort of..
- recognize almost all of the letters in the alphabet
- sing a ton of songs, with hand motions- favorite is 'monkeys jumping on the bed' 'wheels on the bus' 'funny clown'
- say please and thank you when she wants and gets something
- sign about 20-25 words

Zoey doesn't like...
- being told no
- not getting her way
- leaving mom
- washing her hair out while in the bath... love the bath.. just not that part.
- not being able to do what Zoey wants
- veggies

This little girl amazes us each and every day! I am lucky to be her mom, and can't wait to see what she does tomorrow.. We love you baby girl!

Body Movin'...

Baby #2 made its self known last night with some pretty good movements!! Woohoo... that has to be the best feeling in the world! Can't wait to see the baby on Monday!

Learning to Ride a Bike...

Papa and Nana got Zoey a bike for Christmas... She loves it! BUT....



one day she will get it right and realize its more fun to actually sit on the bike...

Hilarious!

Amazing how 30 seconds can brighten your day!

"C" is for Cookie!

Carrier Monkey..

That would be Zoey! She is feeling better and now WE are feeling worse! ARG!!!

So officially Zoey is a carrier monkey for RSV!

What to do...

So I have been trying to find fun things for Zoey to do inside...

Mostly she looks like this...

This is what Finding Nemo does to my child...

Then I got a little creative... and made homemade play-doh...


I was pretty impressed with myself... completely edible, flavored with crystal light.



Zoey loved it! She needs to practice with play-doh since they use it all the time in her new 2-year old classroom (which is where she was for 9 days.. until she got sick)

Well we have been inside for 4 days! We did venture out twice once to the doctor and kohls and then once to target... I was going stir crazy! Other than that its been Digeo, Dora, Sesame Street, and Finding Nemo... at least once a day!

Poor sick baby...

This was from Monday.. after 6 hours in the ER, 4 hours of sleep... finally a nap!




She is feeling a ton better now, but is still not completely better... that means more cuddle time with mom!

Zoey's First trip to the ER...

Yesterday afternoon just as I put zoey down for a nap, I updated Facebook with a status of "a lazy Sunday afternoon... i love it"... then God laughed in my face...

Zoey woke up coughing and crying because she threw up while trying to nap.. pregnancy and baby throw up.. not a good combo. She coughed pretty much the rest of the afternoon and had a low grade fever.

SO needless to say she didn't nap.. so at 8 we put her down in our bed, after another throwing up incident, and almost immediately fell asleep, after a couple of hours, she was still coughing, having trouble breathing, and spiked a fever of 102.5.

We called the Dr. and she said that 90% of what they are seeing is RSV. So we decided to be safe rather than sorry and take her to the ER. We got there at midnight, and left around 5:30 am! After a chest x-ray, they said she had RSV.

So now we are home for the week, she seems to feeling better.. hopefully she will be after a bottle of tylenol and some TLC.

Second Child Syndrome strikes early!

This kid is already suffering from second child syndrome.. you know the one where no one pays attention to the second child and there are no pictures or memorablia to speak of... (I know this occurs from personal experience... just look at my baby book)

I haven't kept up a very good baby log (although I am sure you were really upset)... but since this as much of a journal as I will ever have.. I need to make sure baby #2 gets equal representation. So here you go... (feel free to skip this post.. I promise more adorable pictures of Zoey in the next one)

This pregnancy has TOTALLY different than Zoey! I am 15 weeks thus far. Nausea definitely is playing a huge role! I am way more sick this time around, and still continuing! I feel sick if I don't eat every couple of hours, and I can't eat huge meals, so literally every couple of hours I have to eat something! Its crazy.

I feel like I am showing tons already, but am definitely still in the "Is she fat or pregnant?" stage... but no maternity clothes yet which is very exciting!!! On a similar note... I haven't gained any weight!! WOOHOO!! Hugely excited about that!

Other than that things are going well.. We find out February 1st what the baby is.. so stay tuned (and vote on the side)! Then we will start the baby name debate... any suggestions cause we are stumped???

You shouldn't ...

...laugh at your child when she puts a towel on her head and takes off running and then runs into a wall...

But I did!

Christmas with the Mattes'

We had an AMAZING christmas this year! Zoey had sooo much fun and we LOVED watching her enjoy all the fun of Christmas!

We gave in a bit early and decided to let Zoey open a gift...


A little big for our house... but she loved it!






Christmas Morning! (After Grandma dropped of her presents)Unfortunately Grandmas was sick for Christmas so we skyped her in so she could watch Zoey open all her presents!


Zoey couldn't contain herself... and had to open her stocking!



The aftermath! This doesn't even include all of Zoey's presents...


Zoey LOVES her bike from Papa and Nana!


Gary and I really enjoy Zoey's basketball hoop!.. Zoey likes it too!


Christmas Dinner... Zoey's outfit from Grandma...


A cute one with her daddy!


All-in-all an amazing Christmas! Topped off with a week long visit to Tampa... details coming...