Sunday Afternoon Stroll

Just some shots of our walk. Nathan got a new hat.




ha ha.


This is Cotton Wood Creek Trail. I usually post pictures of this trail that goes north from our apartment...the dirt trail. But the trail extends south as well and it is paved this direction. Matt and I used to ride bikes here. It's a really pretty walk. It goes right by a small church that we attended for awhile when we first moved out here.


I always try...but I can never really capture the mountains very well on camera!








All done. Let's get this hat off! :)


He kept propping his feet up on this tray on the walk...and then would take them down when I'd get my camera out.






He likes to go for the glasses, or earrings, or...just your face!


Hanging out while daddy puts the stroller back in the back.


"Oh, what a nice family!"


Back home that night after a little shopping trip.




He loves to chew on our water bottles.


What a good day.

Hanging out at Home

To start, a video of Nathan laughing at me for coughing/choking on one of his cheerios.

And some pictures of Nathan at home:

He LOVES to flick this door stop...he does it all of the time, and keeps going back for more :) You should see him in my bathroom where there are two within arms reach. He just goes back forth flicking one and then the other!



Matt posted this video of him doing it here.

Nathan discovered the kitchen cabinets last week. He crawled to one, opened the door, took his loot, and then just squealed on the floor with his new prize :)


By the way, he has two top teeth now. 5 total! I tried to majorly zoom in the above photo so you could get a peek.


Another new thing: he likes putting his arms (and whatever might be in his hands) above his head like this!

Here's a video of him enjoying his plunder.

Just playin'


Whatcha doin'?


Hanging with daddy after work


He absolutely LOVES to sit on anyone's knee and bounce up and down uncontrollably. Your leg doesn't have to do a thing...he does all of the work!


Another favorite place of his


I had to make room in the cupboard for Nathan's recent eating habits. He is a big fan of solids!

Here's a video of him enjoying his turkey rice dinner! We took it because he was making funny faces when we started, but I guess he decided he liked it.

Service Project

At our church, Woodmen Valley, they have been doing a lot of service projects this month. Our small group went to a lady's home who has two little boys with special needs. She wanted us to put up a play set and seed her backyard. The older boy, Joshua, was outside with us for most of the time so we got to hang out with him. He is autistic, but he is high functioning and we were able to interact with him a lot.

My camera battery died so I only got a few pictures at the beginning. Unfortunately, Jen and I missed seeing the final product of the play set finished since we left a little early with the boys and headed back to our place. (It was getting COLD!)

But here's what I have:
Jamin & Nathan playing in Jamin's playard






The very beginning of putting up the play set. They did a great job! It took a lot of time even with all of them working...who knew it took that long to put up a play set!


And Jen, a pro-seeder. I had no idea what I was doing, thankfully, I had her guidance! I love her face here, I think she was telling me a story. I was going to take another picture, but then my battery died!!!


We all met up at our place for Louie's pizza afterward.

Random Nathan

Sleeping in his crib, one leg out.

It was actually sticking much further out of the slot, but when the flash popped up he is actually pulling it back into the crib here!

This kid loves to put EVERYTHING in his mouth, but he especially loves shoes.


Ok, I'll take a break to pose


And back at it!


Taking his dirty diapers to the trash with Daddy...eww! Don't eat it Nathan!


Story time with mama.


This was hilarious. Nathan has this book from his Grandma Witt that is cloth and unfolds to be pretty long. Well, he found the felt ears of a doggy in it and he started sucking on it. But, he wouldn't let go of it! Even when Matt picked him up and brought him to our bedroom he held on tightly with his mouth.


And continued to do so even as he crawled around the floor! Notice the lid to my cup by him too...he loves that straw as well. He insisted on keeping that with him too.


He looked like a doggy, himself :)


Another trash run. He goes through these fast! I thought he looked cute in his gloves.


Sneaking in to his room to take a picture of him sleeping again...and praying he doesn't hear me and wake up!!

Nathan in the Cabinet!

We're in trouble now! Nathan figured out how to open the cabinet door and pull himself up into it in order to grab it's contents this week. Guess it's time for safety locks!

Here's the progression for your viewing pleasure:
(And yes, I sat there and snapped pictures while he got into mischief! :) He needs to have some feelings of conquest! Plus, the grandparents might want to see it.)












And the prize!!!

Ok, time to put the camera down and take his prize away!

The good news is this is the only cabinet door he has tried to open. He hasn't touched any of the others yet. I won't tell him the others work the same way if you don't :)

My First Mother's Day

Sunday was a special day for me...my first Mother's Day!

People always told me that motherhood was great but there is just no way to describe or understand it until you have experienced it firsthand. Last Mother's Day I could only dream of what it would be like. And, I had no clue what I was in for! It is much sweeter than I could have ever imagined.

I didn't know that Matt and I, every night, would tip toe into Nathan's room together, just to gaze at him sleeping in his crib. Sometimes we stifle our laughter when we see his face planted against the mattress, or his little legs propped up on the crib bars. And the times when he moves around from sensing our presence (or hearing our whispers!) we race as quietly as possible out of his room as not to wake him!

I had no idea that when I run to the gym while Matt watches him in the evening, that it wouldn't feel quite right in the car alone! Out of habit, I glance in my rearview mirror to check on him in the back seat. Or when I come to a stoplight I find myself wanting to turn around and make faces and talk to him to get him to smile back at me in his mirror! I delight in these times in the car and almost miss them when he's not there. Yet, before him, especially in my marketing positions, I knew nothing about having a passenger riding in the car with me!

People said my life would change and I could never go back to how it was before. They were so right. And I'm glad they were! I'm exceedingly grateful this Mother's Day for an incredible husband whose desire is for me to spend my time raising our little boy. Who is willing to make the sacrifice for that to happen instead of thinking of all of the material possessions he is missing out on in the meantime. He is such a wonderful daddy that gets down on the floor and plays with Nathan. He comes home at the end of his work day happy to change diapers or feed him supper. And to watch him while I go get some exercise! And he made sure my first Mother's Day was special. He had Nathan all ready to go in this "My Mommy Rocks" onesie! It made my heart melt when I saw Matt carry him into our bedroom with this shirt on and a present for me.


Indian giver. Tries to eat my card after he gives it to me! :)




Reading the card together:


Daddy & Nathan's card is on the left.

My mom sent me the one of the right, and my very funny sister 'n law, Age, sent me the one in the middle! Notice what it says on the outside "I can't walk, or breathe, I'm dizzy, and my feet are numb, but I'm BACK in the pre-baby jeans!"

Here's the inside


And then she put a P.S. that told me to check the back.

ha ha! This card cracked me up. It is so true!

The gift bag had pajama jeans in them! I had seen these on TV and Jen and I have been talking about them ever since! They look like jeans but feel like pajamas. The looked so perfect in the TV ad. Then mom told me that Wal-Mart carried them and Matt got them for me for Mother's Day! Bad news, though. They looked TERRIBLE on me. More like "Mom Jeans". Matt suspected this would be the case, so he had a back up plan. Nathan and he bought me this watch that I love:


We went out to lunch after church with Andy & Lauren & our friend Ashley. We snapped some Mother's Day pics on the porch when we got home.

Family shot (Matt and I got a little too much sun on Saturday!)


My boys


One happy mama and her baby boy









Do you remember this dress, mom? I think I have owned it for 8 or 9 years! We got it in King of Prussia and it has since been altered by the one and only Tony probably 5 years ago! :) I still love it! You have good taste.

Speaking of my mom, Happy Mother's Day to her! Thank you for loving me sacrificially, being patient with me and truly being the best mom I could ever ask for. I watch you with Nathan, and I take notes :) You are a natural and I'm striving to love my kiddo as much as you love us! I'm also praying to God for your patience :) Though you probably achieved your level of patience by raising me! I'm hoping to not get it that way! ha ha. Love you so much Mom!!!