We did it!

We found a house!!!! We went house hunting two weeks ago and found a house we really liked and after a week of negotiating.. they accepted our offer! WOOHOO!! Its 3 bedrooms and 2 baths (which might be the best part..) It's also a BRAND NEW HOUSE! We never thought we would be in a new house! SO needless to say we are stoked! So now we are waiting for all the finance and such but we should be closing on February 15th! Below are some pictures...

27 Weeks...

It frieghtens me that I will be getting bigger... pregnancy has definetly taken over my body! Which is not a bad thing considering I am still eating everything I want... but I could do with out the back pain, waddling, and literally rolling out of bed... It all worth it though to think of that little girl in my arms in a couple of months!! SO EXCITED!

1000 visitors!

We made it... 1000 visitors to the Mattes' blog... I am just happy that people actually read this thing... although i know most of the hits are from me as this is my only source to go to other's blogs.... so oh well we hit the number and that what's important...so thanks for your interest and keep checking back!!!

We have decided on a name for the little one... Zoey Elizabeth Mattes will be arriving in April, and deciding on a name only makes this whole experience all that much more real!

In other news, school has started back up which now only makes 87 more days of school till summer! and even less for me thanks to our little girl! I'm soo looking forward to the time off, even though i know it will be crazy and hectic! So as we get back into the swing of things, we also started looking for a house!!!! HOORAY! It will be nice to be in our own house with our furniture! Its been so long that I have forgotten what it looks like! SO wish us luck and keep checking back!

6 down and some more to go....

Tampa and back....

It's good to be home in Pensacola... this past week we spent time back in Tampa hangout with family friends and loved ones! We has a blast and could not have asked for more... thanks to all the family and friends who let gary and I crash at their house.... we drove into tampa on Sunday night and spent the night with my dad and stepmom and lil' bros.. its amazing how huge your lil' brothers can get... Then it was off to tampa to visit with Abuela and mom... i love how grandparents are crazy.. but not a bad crazy... good crazy.. We spent a quiet New Year's with Gordon and Paulette and became OBSESSED with WII... if you have not played I highly suggest it! Its awesome! I think the Mattes household will be acquiring one in the very near future... NOT TO MENTION THE AMAZING JEWS WHO FED ME THEIR NEW YEAR'S EVE TRADITIONAL FOOD OF LOBSTER AND FONDUE!! AND BECAME A BIT OBSESSED WITH THE SIMPSON'S PUZZLE!!! (added in caps for my jewish friend) Then it was off to Lakeland to see the Roses and eat AMAZING FOOD!! I was stuffed and it was wonderful to see everybody there... Back to Tampa we headed to my cousins to celebrate my cousin's 1st birthday! The next day Gary and I parted ways, he headed to Gainesville for his soccer tournament where his team finished 2-1, not bad considering we didn't think that was possible... and I stayed in Tampa and saw old friends from Leto and High School... and thanks to Jody our child will never need an article of clothing! HOLY COW... she gave us sooo much stuff...It was nice to see everyone.. and crazy to think that the next time we see everyone in Tampa we will have a daughter in tow.... So after one looong week of traveling like gypsies we are glad to be back in pensacola leading our slower paced life! We hope the holidays have been as wonderful for you as they have been for us... If we were to send a Christmas card out this would have been our photo... sorry maybe next year...

2007... come and gone....

Merry Christmas from the Mattes!!! We enjoyed our last Christmas without a child, and looked forward to the next one when Christmas will be even more exciting... but don't worry the lil' girl didn't get neglected at Christmas and in fact made out like a bandit for someone who isn't even here yet... it was a wondefully relaxing day....

2007 has been quite the year in the Mattes house.... and from what has been kicking inside of me... 2008 proves to be even better... here are the highlights....

1. Finding out we were pregnant and counting the days until the lil' girl makes her appearance!
2. Moving to Pensacola..
3. Finding jobs in Pensacola... especially Gary's coaching job...
4. Finally, renting our house in Tampa..
5. NUMEROUS completed house projects... deck... sod... sprinkler system...
6. Trips to Philly, New York, and New Orleans..
7. Engagements, weddings, and babies throughout friends and family...
8. 2 dogs that know they are spoiled and don't know that they are dogs...
9. Celebrating one year of marriage to my best friend in the whole world!
10. Being happy and healthy for another year with so many to look forward to...

SO kill me..

I'm obsessed with my child... and to make matters worse than they probably would be already.. we have an ultrasound school in Pensacola where you can go and get a free ultrasound as many times as you want... so I have fed my obsession and gone to get pictures of our lil' girl... so of course I will share them with you... as I know you will be as obsessed with our child as we are... well as I am...

She is sucking her thumb... so cute!

21 Weeks.. and growing....

Getting bigger...I took this with a self-timer and it was my first try... pretty good for kneeling on the floor... I was pretty impressed with myself....

So I walked into the living room....

and this is what I saw.....
yes, that is my mother-in-law vacuuming our dogs... and they LOVED IT! as you can tell....

WE HAVE TENANTS!!!

As of today, we have tenants renting our house in Tampa! After months of trying to sell the house and no luck, we decided that with a little on the way we should do whatever we can to get our own place before the lil' girl comes... So we put our house up for rent at the end of October and a month later it is rented! Woohoo.. this has to be the best news since finding out we were prego! And it completed my goals for 2007, which i set in July... (1) Move to Pensacola (2) Get pregnant and (3) Sell or Rent our house! 2007 can now officially end for the Mattes household....2008 can only be better since we have a lil' girl to look forward to....

1/2 Way.... Call for help!

5 months.. and half way through this pregnancy thing.. and I must say I love being pregnant.. it is soo fun... (1) New clothes... prego clothes are so comfy and big and wonderful (2) food.. after learning that I am doing perfectly on my weight gain I am confident that I can continue to eat the way that I have and not be too awful.... and the best part is no one looks at me like "wow, she should stop eating" it's great! and please holidays and being pregnant could there be a better match in life! (3) getting stuff... everyone is so willing to help you out and get things for you.. especially my wonderful husband.. he has been the best and will gladly go and get me stuff even when I don't ask! Last night I said I wanted french fries and he OFFERED to go get McDonald's ... i know he's wonderful! (4) the pure excitement of having a baby! since we found out what we are having i think it has only increased my excitement by 1000. I can't wait to see her and find out her personality... man 4 months seems like sooo long!

Which brings me to my call for help... we need a girl name... we had a boy's name picked out and ready to go.. and now we need help... So please give us any suggestions.... Here's my problems:
1. I like names that can be shortened for nicknames.
2. I like names that are or could be last names.
3. The name can't be too girly... no chloe or sophie... our girl will not fit the bill for a girly girl
4. I have a HUGE extended family with so many names....
5. My huge family has a lot of repeat names or names that are similar. so a unique name would be preferred...
6. No over used names Jennifer, heather, or any 80's names.......

So that is your assignment....... HELP!!!

In other news Gary's soccer team has been getting better... last week they had 2 ties and 1 win! The first of the season!!! woohoo! so things in that department are getting better... thankfully!

Just when you thought...

Just when I thought I had this whole baby thing figured out... NOPE... we have thought we were having a BOY but after the ultrasound today we found out we are have a BABY GIRL!!! Break out the pink and ribbons... holy crap the Mattes are having a girl.. We are excited but a little shocked.... As well as most of the people we have told!... who knew? Well I guess the baby knew all along... SHE IS SOOO BEAUTIFUL!!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

We here in the Mattes household have had a wonderful Thanksgiving break, especially since we have had an entire WEEK off of school... Kimber, TJ and Alex came into town which is always great, so we had soo much fun with them. And the girls even braved BLACK FRIDAY to go out spend some money and do some shopping. Unfortunately Gary got tonsilitis this week and has been miserable since Wednesday, He is starting to get better but is still pretty miserable. Last Saturday was Alex's 3rd birthday so his grandparents had a birthday party for him on Saturday which is always a blast... Although I think our dogs enjoyed Alex's presents just as much as Alex...


Unfortunately, now we are looking at going back to school tomorrow which none of us are looking forward to but thankfully there is only 3 weeks left until Christmas vacation! Which by the way we will be in tampa for at least part of the time... more than likely we will leave here around the 29th or 30th and then Gary we leave for his tournament in Gainesville and I will be there until the 5th.

Finally, here are pictures of my belly and Kimber's belly(she is due in the beginning of March).

Emily -18 weeks Kimber - 24 weeks

Check back this weekend to find out what kind of critter we have.... our ultrasound is Friday!!!!

Registry...

We have registered.. well I have registered... we are registered at Baby's R Us and Target. The lists are pretty similar but they do have some differences. With Christmas coming I figured this was the easiest way.. since all we want for Christmas is baby stuff......

Moving...

I bet you thought this was going to be about how we have sold our house and are moving into a new house in Pensacola.... WRONG!!! We have no word on our house and no one even wants to rent it apparently... my brother might have found someone to rent it but who knows...

BUT... I felt the baby move this week.. EXCITING!!! it is such an amazing feeling that unless you have experienced it there are no words.. i love it! and now i find my myself putting my hand on my belly just to see what will happen... the baby seems to already love Gary because it seems that whenever Gary is in the room or has his hand on my belly or kisses my belly the baby moves.. which i suppose is a good thing... by the end of this week the baby will be between 5 - 5 1/2 inches and weighs almost 5 ounces and can yawn, twist, kick, and roll... so cute! my belly is definitely a testament to the size of this baby! i think we are going to be looking a Gary baby (8lbs 13oz.) as opposed to an Emily baby (6lbs 6oz.)...

BIG CONGRATULATIONS TO COURTNEY!! I hope I can be at the wedding... either way you will be the most beautiful bride Utah has ever seen!

16 weeks...

4 months down! we have reached the point that there is definitely no denying that i am prego... my belly is popping out ... and as i walked yesterday in the sun my shadow couldn't even hide my belly... its soo crazy... I have been trying to get pictures of the side view but gary has been a little more reluctant to take them... so i will continue my efforts and maybe my mother-in-law will be so kind.... i got to show off the belly i keep speaking of... its only fair..... we had our doctor's appointment today and got a good report the best part was i had only gained a pound!!! i was soo excited... normally when you notice your belly getting larger you believe it is time to start a diet because you have put on a good 5 to 10 pounds which is what i feared... and then they weighed my and only a pound!! woohoo!! which makes 5 pounds total... pretty darn good... in about 3 weeks we have our ultrasound appointment to find out what kind of critter we have.. so keep lookin and i will definitely keep you posted...

we had our first frost this week.. i know weird we live in florida.. but it been freakin' freezing. not to mention that we had two soccer games this week on the coldest nights of year of course... and since they were both losses it only made the cold that much worse... bummer...

Best Invention Ever!

So after speaking with my good friend Jen about the joys of pregnancy.... she suggested that my clothes fitting problem might be solved with the Bella Band... so my interests were peeked and after doing some research (shopping) on-line i made the purchase and waited with anticipation... Yesterday... it came.. Today I wore it to school with my favorite pair of Bermuda shorts.. and I am now in LOVE!!! So if any pregnant people read this or if you know a pregnant person let them know about the Bella Band.. its wonderful.. now i can wear all of my pre-pregnancy pants without buttoning them.. its wonderful!!

In other news I found out that my friend Jessica is 10 weeks pregnant!! I am soo excited.. someone to talk about the joys of pregnancy! Congrats Jess and Matt!

And even more.. Sunday will be Gary and I's one year anniversary!! I can't believe its already been a year! CRAZY! but with two soccer games Friday, a car wash for the soccer team on Saturday, Gary working on the field, and Gary being sick .. I don't know how much of a celebration there will be.. but being with the best husband on earth will definitely make me the happiest girl for the rest of my life! And if the first year is supposed to be the hardest... i think i am going to love the rest of my life!

My secret obsession....

Ok so I think its time to admit to the world the I am completely obsessed with one television show to the point that if I miss the episode I go into work early and watch it online... what show could this be... THE HILLS.... I do.. I do... its soo great and wonderful and I can't get enough of it... If you like stupid reality shows this is the show for you.... warning don't watch it around husbands or boyfriends.. they just don't understand...

In other news... soccer season has officially started.. which means for the next 4 months I will be a widowed wife... I do enjoy the quiet time after school... but I won't enjoy game days when my husband won't get home until 10 o'clock at night... I guess its all in the name extra pay... I mean enriching the lives of young men....

Baby update: The young whipper snapper is now about the size of a peach (I love the fruit analogies they provide....) and half the size of the baby is taken up by the head. The vocal chords are forming preparing for the long days and nights of crying.... and most importantly the outside boy or girl parts are beginning to form... hopefully by December we will be able to know what we got inside of there.... but either way we just want a healthy baby!

12 down...

Now in my 12th week of pregnancy and things could not be going any better... well at least I think so... the baby is weighing in at a mighty half an ounce.. which unfortunately means that all the weight that I have gained has really nothing to do with the baby's size or weight.. oh well.. the baby is also the size of a small lime and has all the features and systems that it needs... it now only needs to get bigger and stronger...

Other than the all consuming baby things are going really well.. my Dad and Stepmom dropped by Pensacola last Sunday for a quick visit.. which was awesome to see them.. we took them to the beaches and of course my favorite place McGuires... a Pensacola standard.. if you are ever in the area.. you first better call me and then we can go to McGuires together... but sadly they had to leave the next morning ... it was fun to see them and nice to see some family... even if it was only for a short time...

I'm totally one of those moms....

It's true.. I have come to terms with it.. and my child is barely the size of a strawberry...

So last night, I started having this annoying pain in my abdomen, so I called the number and asked what to do.. almost in tears... the nurse said its probably nothing, but if its there in the morning call us and we will get you in to check..... Well morning came and the pain was there ever so slightly.. so of course I call panicked that something has happened... I go in and they say that its my muscle... I felt soooooo dumb... but better safe than sorry right???? someone back me up...

The highlight of this trip and paranoia is REALLY good ultrasound pictures, the nurse said they were some of the best (I'm sure she only said that to me)!!! Which brings me to my second point as to why I am one of those moms.... already obsessed with my child.. sorry such is life...

You can see the foot, hand, mouth, nose, and eyes... my child is so advanced!!!

Also, a BIG THANKS must be given to the givers of our first baby presents.... my dad and step-mom and Judge Judy.... SOOO CUTE!!!!