Our Little Bumblebee

Getting a picture with the cute pumpkin that Daddy carved.

Our beautiful bumblebee at a costume birthday party. :)

Waiting to bob for apples at the party.

She got one! I was so impressed!

Bumblebee and her Hope cousins.

:)

With cousin Addie Brown the peacock. Her costume was awesome. :)

We had a great time dressing up our little bumblebee for Halloween. She loved wearing her costume. At our church's fall festival she LOVED sliding down the giant blowup slide with her Daddy. I wish we would have gotten her on video.

News with our other baby girl: At my 33 week checkup I was dilated 1-3 cm. The doctor told me to do as "little as possible" for the next two weeks to try to stop labor. He also gave me two rounds of steroid shots to help mature Ivey Kate's lungs just in case she does decide to come early. I will go back to the doctor at 35 weeks to find out if there has been any change. We're praying she will wait to make her appearance until she is full term. I can't wait to meet her but I would rather her not have to spend her first few weeks in NICU.

Fall Fun and New Developments

Our big girl at the Pumpkin Patch.

One year ago at the Pumpkin Patch. I can't believe how much she has grown!

Having fun with Daddy after picking out her pumpkin.

Asking the driver of the hayride "Please?" while we were waiting our turn to ride.

Climbing to get a better look at the hayride.

Mattilee found her pumpkin!

She looks like such a big girl!

My growing family; what a blessing these two (three) are to me!

This picture makes me laugh every time I see it! Every child is just doing his or her own thing while the parents are doing all we can behind the camera to get them to sit still and smile. So funny! :)

Our precious small group minus the Flows...although we aren't really "small" anymore.:) I love these families so much and I'm so thankful for them.

What a difference a year makes....We went to the Pumpkin Patch with our sweet small group again this year and it has amazed me to look back on last year's pictures and how much Mattilee has grown and developed. We had a wonderful time again this year. I truly cherish my precious small group and thank God for sending them into my life to help sharpen, encourage, and journey beside my family in our pursuit to know Him more and raise our family to glorify Him.

At 19 months now, Mattilee repeats EVERYTHING we say. It's amazing how much her vocabulary has exploded these past few months. She is also doing very well with potty training. I, on the other hand, have learned that I am not a great "potty trainer." She does a great job of telling me when she has to potty and we race to the bathroom to sit on her tiny pink potty. So when we are home, going to the potty is no big deal. When we aren't home is when I really mess things up. I totally forget to take her to potty and since she's not at home with the convenience of her little pink potty she gets distracted and forgets as well. I've got to do better about remembering to take her to potty away from home or either just stay home for the next 3 weeks or so. I'm still not putting too much stock in this potty training thing. Although it would be wonderful to only have to buy and change diapers for one baby when baby sister arrives in December, our pediatrician did tell me that a lot of times older siblings will resort back to their old diapering days when new baby arrives. So we'll just wait and see.

Matt and I think we have a name for our bundle of joy on the way: Ivie Kathryn. Ivy is a family name from my side and Kathryn of course is my name. Ivy means climbing, clinging, binding which we are praying will be exemplary of her relationship with our sweet Lord...that she will always cling to Him and aspire and strive (climb) in her knowledge, awe, thankfulness, and love for Him. Matt really wanted to use Kathryn and I've always loved its meaning which is pure. We are probably going to call her Ivey Kate. The double name may not stick, we may end up just calling her Ivey or she may just want to be called Ivey, and that will be fine. But I do like the two names together so I think that is what we will start off calling her. We are still trying to find family names from Matt's side to use. We just don't know much about his family history. So if before this baby makes her appearance, we come across something from his side that we both love, we will use it instead. But for now we are thinking Ivie Kathryn is it. I'm having trouble deciding on spelling as you can see... that's why I keep typing it differently. I like to see the different spellings typed and written out. I don't really want to use Ivy; it makes me think of the plant. But I really like Ivie, Ivey and even Ivee. Any suggestions?

Our little country girl enjoying some corn on the cob and cheesing for the camera.

Matt says that her statement here is "I'm formal but I'm here to party." A line from a movie.:)

At the doctor's office for 18 month checkup. While waiting on the doctor she wanted to walk around so of course I made her put on her shoes and she wanted to wear her rain jacket as well.

Showing off a new dress Mommy made me.

I know I'm biased but isn't she beautiful!?!

My sweet loves and me. :)

So Mattilee is talking up a storm and turning into such a little "person." I'm amazed every day at her development. Every day brings new adventure with her. Some adventures are more enjoyable than others. For instance, her bringing me my keys dripping wet and the only water source within her reach is the toilet. I guess I should be thankful that she didn't flush. :) I love how literal she takes everything right now. Like blowing on a picture of the burning bush when we were reading the story of Moses and I told her the fire was hot. Or shaking her sippy cup of milk when we mentioned going to get a milk shake. It's funny to see her little mind trying to understand and make sense of things. At 18 month appointment Mattilee was in the 75% for weight at 22lbs and 8 oz and 25 % for height at 32 1/4 inches. Matt and I had lots of questions for our doctor at this visit and he does such a great job of answering them completely without making us feel like overbearing parents or like he is rushed for time. I think I've mentioned this before but I love that he takes his time with us. He asked all about the new baby on the way and gave us some helpful advice and realistic expectations for having two little ones under two. Mattilee has taken an interest in the potty this month. I wasn't planning on starting for a little while longer but she keeps asking to use it and telling me when she has to go (of course half of the time it's too late by the time we make it to the potty) but I guess I'm going to follow her lead and really start trying to train her soon. It would be GREAT to get her potty trained before baby girl number 2 arrives.

At my 26 week prenatal visit Baby Hope's heartbeat was 142-144. I also had my glucose test at this visit, which I passed. So thankful that I've been blessed with healthy, easy pregnancies. I'm getting really excited about meeting our new baby girl (we still have yet to decide on a name) and also a little anxious about getting everything (and every one) ready for her arrival. We will be keeping the nursery the nursery (just changing a few things to make it baby number 2's like the crib bedding that Matt's mom is making for us that I'm really excited about) and putting Mattilee in a "big girl" room. I ordered her furniture last week and while I'm excited about this new transition and I think it's going to be so fun to decorate her new room, I can't believe my baby girl will be in a "big girl" room and sleeping in a "big girl" bed soon. Well, we hope she'll be sleeping in her new bed... She LOVES her crib and sleeps so well so if the transition to new bed isn't easy we may just let her stay in her crib a little longer and let new baby girl sleep in pack n play or try to find an inexpensive crib until Mattilee is ready. I think she's going to think the new room is really fun so hopefully it will be enticing enough to keep her in her bed if she ever wakes up in the middle of the night or early before time to get up.:) We'll see.

How Can it Get Any Better?

Mattilee is such a great sleeper. Like at least 12 hours a night and usually 2 naps a day kind of sleeper but she sleeps lightly. Just quietly opening the door to her room usually wakes her up. So on this day, when she didn't wake up with me coming in the room, I just had to snap a picture of our sweet sleeping beauty.

Gigi bought both her granddaughters a Dora doll and they both love their doll. Now Gigi bought them both purple backpacks like Dora. :) Mattilee LOVES her backpack. She wears it around singing "Backpack, backpack."

Mattilee isn't that messy of an eater so I wanted to document this particular run in with watermelon.

She managed to get these paper towels out of their package (which was already open) and unroll them within about 3o seconds or so. It's amazing the mess she can make so quickly!

Trying to show off her toenails after Mommy gave her her first pedicure.

Her daddy asks me to text a picture pretty much every day while he is at work. One day he asked me to send him one when she got up and I completely forgot. I got a call while we were in the grocery store inquiring about his picture so I took this one and sent it to him. :)

I think this one was taken a month or two ago, but she just looks like such a big girl I wanted to post it on the blog to remember.

I have truly loved every stage of Mattilee's life and feel so blessed to be get to be a part. Every stage is even more fun than the last and I'm wondering how much better it can get. Does it keep getting even better? Or does the fun fizz out with the terrible twos? I know I will always love her unconditionally but will I always be overwhelmed with how in love I am with her? Will that fade as she becomes a teenager and doesn't want much to do with me? I guess I shouldn't spend much time pondering these things and just soak up every sweet moment I'm given with her for now.

Matti is talking up a storm. She says so many words and adds to her vocabulary every day. She's been putting words together like "juice please"when she is thirsty or "Mama, on please" when she's riding in the car and would like the DVD player on. She says Mama and Daddy probably 50 times a day but we love hearing her call for us, for now.:) She has the sweetest voice and I'm loving listening to her talk all day. Her Gigi taught her that an elephant says "Roll Tide" and it's the cutest thing. Even though her Daddy is an Auburn fan, he too finds himself asking her what the elephant says because it's just so cute. He's tried a few times to teach her that the tiger says "War Eagle" but she isn't catching on quite as well to that one. She has such a fun little personality. She loves to have every one's attention and loves making people laugh. She is also still so loving, she loves to give hugs and kisses away. I hope she'll always be affectionate with us. She will say "love you" in response to Matt and me telling her that we love her. But the other day, while putting her in her car seat, she said "Mama, I love you" so clearly. It was the sweetest thing and completely melted my heart. Words can't express how much joy that little girl bring to our lives.

Summer Fun and Exciting News

We went to the beach with Matt's family in mid July and had the best time!! My brother in law, Robert is a talented photographer among many other things and took these great pics on the beach.

All of the grandkids. We'll have two more by the end of the year! Aren't they all beautiful?? The Lord has blessed this family with healthy happy kiddos.

We went to dinner and to watch fireworks with the sweetest friends for the 4th of July. Here Matti is enjoying a snow cone with her daddy.

She's showing off her glow-in-the-dark bracelets as we wait for the fireworks to start.

Happy 4th of July!

We found out on July 12 that we are having a girl!! We got to see her playing with her ear and moving all around as well as that precious heart beating on the ultrasound. It's so amazing...I really don't see how anyone can go through a pregnancy and birth of a child and not believe in our perfect Creator. We don't have a name picked out quite yet. There is one I'm leaning toward, but I just can commit to nailing it down. I'm not a very decisive person, so trying to give my child a name which she will be stuck with and identified by the rest of her life is a little overwhelming to me. I'm hoping to use another family name like I did with Mattilee. That way I won't second guess myself, knowing that it has special meaning.

Mattilee really isn't quite old enough to really know what is going on or that her world is going to change drastically in about 4 months. She knows that Mommy has baby sister in her tummy and she will kiss my tummy. We also pray for baby sister with her but at 17 months I really don't think she understands what having a baby sister means. I'm hoping she adjusts well. She loves her baby dolls and strolling them or rocking them and is very interested in her baby cousins. I know she'll be a great big sister, it may just take a little while for her to adjust to sharing Mommy's time and attention with another baby. :)

15 Months

After meeting my family for dinner, Mattilee held Addie Brown's hand on the way to the car. She giggled and squealed the entire walk. She loved holding her cousin's hand!

Helping Mommy bake. I love that there is a little bit of chocolate on her tummy. That is exactly why I took off her dress before getting started.

Yummy!

We spent a weekend at Liberty Day festivities in Columbiana with great friends and this is the only picture I have of the entire weekend. :(

At the lake, Jackson and Mattilee loved sitting in this big rocking chair. I love this sweet boy, and he is so great with Mattilee.

At Mattilee's 15 month checkup she was 31 inches and weighed 20lbs and 14 oz. She was in the 75% for height and the 25% for weight. She showed off for the doctor by signing some words to him and showing him where body parts were and animal sounds. We've had a wonderful month getting together with friends and visiting family but I regret to say that I haven't taken many pictures. I've got to get better about that.

Mattilee is almost 16 months now and learning new things everyday. It's such a joy to watch her develop and figure things out and how excited she gets about little things. I'm amazed at how much she understands, remembers and can do. She can tell you where anything is on her body. When asked where something is she usually wants to identify it on everyone else after she identifies her own. So if I ask her where her nose is, she touches hers and then makes her way to everyone in the room touching their nose. It's usually this same way with kisses; if she gives one person a kiss, she wants to then go around the room and give one to everybody. :) She can tell us what almost every animal says or she can do a motion to signify the animal. Like when asked about a giraffe, she touches her neck to say it has a long neck, or for a flamingo she stands on one leg. She's added a few new words to her vocabulary. She loves to sneak up to you and say "boo." She identifies everyone's booboos, she can say car, book, shoe, brush, hot, cold, cup, butterfly, etc. But honestly, she would rather point to something than say it. We have to ask her to actually say what she is pointing at otherwise she just grunts and points. Anything she likes she says "ooooh." Its mostly about pretty, girly things; she's such a girly girl. She can go get almost anything I ask her to. Last night I asked her to bring me the book Goodnight Moon and she brought it to me! She has tons of books so it's so cool that she is learning to differentiate things. She can identify and remembers so many people. In the car recently I told her that she was going to see friends Grayson and Hayes (she loves them both so much) and she squealed with excitement, and then squealed again when she saw them. She is so much fun and I truly love every day at home with her. I'm so thankful for this time.

We find out in less than two weeks if Mattilee will have a baby brother or a baby sister! We're so excited to find out and can't believe it is already time. This pregnancy has flown by! I guess because she keeps me so busy. :)

Memorial Weekend Beach Trip 2011

The wonderful crew that we went to the beach with Memorial Weekend! This is the only picture taken all weekend with the whole gang. I can't believe every one of the kids was looking at the camera! That never happens! :)

Mattilee bumped her head the first night in the condo and had this pretty bruise for all our beach pics.

This is how Mattilee "gives kisses." Its so sweet! She was obviously wanting to give me a kiss while I was taking her picture.

Such a happy girl!!!

All of the kids with the wonderful daddies.

At AJ's for dinner. The "big kids" had a table right beside us.

Sweet Girl:)

All of our precious sweethearts!

Family portrait. We don't do enough of these.

Mattilee having fun with Daddy in the pool.

Another family pic. I think it's been Christmas since we've gotten a picture with all three of us. I've got to do better about that.

My precious beach babe.

This year we got to spend the long Memorial weekend at the beach with some of our sweetest, closest friends. It was kind of a last minute decision to go which led to our last minute reservations, but it ended up being the best trip! We stayed in a condo with three other families with a total of eight adults and seven kids. The kids were all precious the entire weekend!! I couldn't believe how well behaved they all were and how well they all got along. Our little diva, Mattilee who likes complete quiet and darkness when she sleeps, had a little trouble sleeping in the condo with fourteen other people but we were eventually able to get her to settle down every night. Even though she was running on a lot less sleep than she usually gets, she was in the best mood the entire time and had so much fun. I think she just loves being around the other kids and of course, she loves the water! We spent each day at the pool or on the beach and stayed until it was time for lunch. We'd all go up for lunch, and naps for the little kids, and then head back out for more fun in the sun. The first night we all went out to eat at AJ's and it was delicious! Then we went to Dippin Dots and to this place called The Track with go carts, a train, a carousel, etc. The second day we decided not to go out to eat so that the kids could have more time to play in the pool without having to go in early to get ready. So, our wonderful husbands did a shrimp boil with corn and potatoes and it was the perfect meal! Every night when the kids were asleep the wives just hung out and talked (and made one late night Krispy Kreme run) while the guys played poker. It was such a great trip; Matt and I really enjoyed getting to spend so much time with such great friends and their sweet kiddos. These families are such a blessing to us and add so much to our lives. We hope we can all go again!!