Virgin Islands

I just couldn't have a post without a couple of pics of my sweet baby girl! I took these two the day before we left for St. Thomas and probably looked at them a thousand times during our trip.

The amazing girls I got to spend the week with!

A friend took this pic while we were there and shared it with me. This was taken from our hotel. It looks like a postcard!

We toured St. John and it was the clearest water I've ever seen!

Nikki and I at the farwell dinner. So glad I got to spend time with this girl! She's so much fun!!


The guys snorkling at St. John.

The whole gang!

Out to dinner at Fishtails.

The infinity pool overlooking the beach at the Ritz. So beautiful!

Overlooking St. John

Matt and I had the opportunity to go to the Virgin Islands mid October. Matt works so hard and because of his efforts he earned this trip through his company! His company paid for our flight and stay at the Ritz Carlton so as hard as it was to think about leaving our sweet girl for five days, we couldn't pass it up. We went to St. Thomas and it was the most beautiful place I'd ever been. We went with some other couples from his company that also qualified for the trip and we had so much fun hanging out with them! It was such a fun group of people and I'm so glad I got to spend time with them. It was weird not having to think about feeding and nap times and I really missed Mattilee but it was great for Matt and I to get to spend some time together. Mattilee spent the first part of the week with my parents and the second half with Matt's parents. She did great! Both grandparents said she was perfect, so hearing that helped when I would call to check on her. I also got them to text me pics periodically so I could see what she was up to. I'm really glad that both sets of grandparents got to spend lots of quality time with her and I know they are too!

Fall Fun

We went to the pumpkin patch with our small group and had so much fun!

Here's Matti with her pumpkins:)

Petting Zoo!

I made this dress for her and my sweet friend Courtney monogrammed it. I'm hoping that at Christmas time I can put a red shirt underneath and maybe in the spring a pink shirt. As long as she doesn't grow too quickly we should be able to get a few good wears out of it.

She's getting to be such a big girl!

The picture below is of the kiddos from our small group at the pumpkin patch, minus a few.

Matti and Willa are a little outnumbered by our boys:)

This is a picture of my twin brother Pat and his sweet fiance Ashley at a wedding shower for them. They are getting married Nov. 20th; just another reason this fall is so much fun!

Mattilee is now 7 months old. Everyday is so much fun with this little angel. Her fun little personality is showing more and more each day. Her latest thing is to get on her hands and knees and rock back and forth. She usually ends up scooting backwards. I feel like she's going to crawl any day now. Matt and I are going on a trip soon and leaving her with my mom for half of the time and Matt's mom for the other half. I told them not to let her practice crawling too much or if she crawls to just not tell me about it so I'll think she did it at home with us for the first time:)

Fall is such a great time of year! I love the sounds and colors of fall and since Mattilee loves to be outside the nice weather makes it so much more enjoyable. We've already had so much fall fun and it's only the first of October!

One Last Beach Trip

At dinner hosted by Matt's company

Having fun with Nikki and Lyndsey in the pool!

With her new buddy Clay. I've been told that all babies and kids love Clay, and Matti is no exception.:)

Baby got back:)

Having fun with Daddy in the pool

Matt's company had it's annual agency retreat in Destin and Mattilee and I got to go along! It was so much fun getting to spend time with other families and enjoying the pool and the beautiful beach atmosphere all the while. Mattilee had so much fun in the pool. This baby girl LOVES the water! When we would get close to the water her legs would start kicking and she'd wiggle all over with excitement. The pools where we live are pretty cold so I'm glad we got to squeeze in one more beach trip so that she could enjoy the water. Mattilee was PERFECT the entire drive there and back. She isn't the biggest fan of being strapped in her car seat so we were so excited that she enjoyed the long ride. A sweet friend, whose husband works with Matt, is a professional photographer and took some pictures of Mattilee on the beach. I can't wait to see them! I'll post them for everyone to see when I get them back.

6 Months

Erica, the baby girls, and I surprised Gigi at work on her birthday! She was so excited to see her grand girls. In the picture above they are playing in Gigi's floor at work.

We also brought Gigi a famous peanut butter cake made by Erica's aunt. When we sat the girls behind the cake to get a picture, Mattilee immediately reached for it and got it on her hand. I don't think we'll have to worry about this one diving into her birthday cake when the time comes.


The weather has been so nice! Mattilee and I have enjoyed time outside. She loves to go outside and she really loves playing with our dog Molly.

We just moved up from our infant carrier to our new car seat. Let's hope she's always this happy in it:)



On Labor Day we went to the pool with friends Matt and Heidi and their two precious girls. The water was cold but Matti loved it and played with her daddy in the pool for a long time. All the fun wore her out so she napped while we enjoyed spending time with the Cockrells.

It doesn't seem like we have had Matti with us for 1/2 a year! I can't believe she is already 6 months. We went to the doctor for her checkup on her 6 month birthday. Our doctor told us we were boring, by boring he meant healthy since he has only had to see us at checkups.:) We are very thankful to have been so healthy so far. Matti weighed 15 pounds and 7 ounces and was in the 50% for weight. She was 26 1/2 inches and this put her in the 90% for height. Doc said she was tall and skinny and Matt and I just laughed...no one had ever referred to her as skinny before. With her chubby little legs and round tummy it makes me wonder what a 6 month old in the 100% looks like!

Mattilee started babbling something that sounds a lot like dada. It's actually dadadadada. Although we're not sure if she knows she's saying dada, it sure makes Matt happy that the first word we can make out is dada:)

A couple of weeks ago Mattilee and I were waiting in the custom framing section at Hobby Lobby when Mattilee spotted an elderly man standing near us who was also waiting for assistance. She kept laughing and smiling at him. She'd look away and then look back at him and laugh out loud. I guess she was playing peek-a-boo with him or she thought he was just really funny. This went on for about 10 minutes. The man would smile and laugh back at her and he finally said, "I believe that's the happiest baby I've ever seen."

While I was pregnant, I prayed that she would be happy and bring joy to others. Her middle name came from my great-grandmother's name Eliza. We spelled it with an A because Aliza means joyful; cheerful. Thinking about this caused me to look back in my prayer journal to see what I had prayed for while I was pregnant. It was amazing to me to check all of my requests off as I thought about how healthy she is, her sleep habits, her sweet personality, etc. It's just so sweet to know that the Lord not only gave us this precious gift, he also created her with our desires in mind.

Five Month Firsts

She loves her exersaucer!

I take her pic next to this animal every month to see how much she has grown.


Matti and I spent a few days at my mom and dad's while Matt was out of town. My mom taught her to stick her tongue out during our visit. Thanks Gigi. :)


Pretty Girl:)

So much fun!


Look Mom, no hands:)

We are only a week into month 5 and it has already been my favorite. Don't get me wrong, I've LOVED every stage but this age is so fun! Mattilee smiles all the time and she giggles and laughs out loud at everything! She loves to be tickled, she thinks Molly our dog is the funniest thing ever, and sometimes just looking at her or talking to her makes her laugh out loud. When we go in her room to get her up in the morning or from a nap, as soon as she sees us she just giggles so loud and smiles and her whole body wiggles with excitement. I told Matt, that it's sad to think that she won't always be this excited to see us, but we've got it on video so we can always remember it.:)

Matti's been rolling over from her tummy to back since 6 weeks but she just started rolling from her back to her belly. She also realized that she can grab her feet and that she can put her little toes in her mouth. This is her favorite thing to do during diaper changes.

Right at 5 months and 1 week, I felt her first tooth coming in. I'd felt like she had been teething for a while because anything she could put in her mouth she just really gnawed on. Now it has broken through her gums and it's a sharp little thing. Since she is a thumb sucker I'm curious to see if she'll stop sucking her thumb after she bites down on it a few times or if she'll find a way to work around it.

Matti officially started sitting up on her own this week! I couldn't believe it...she just doesn't seem old enough to be sitting up. She's still a little wobbly and topples over from time to time so I make sure I have the area padded with pillows. Yesterday I went to answer the phone and left her sitting up surrounded by pillows. When I came back a few minutes later I totally expected her to have toppled over but she was still sitting there and played for a good 10 minutes before falling over.

She's just growing and changing so fast! Sometimes I wish I could slow it down but I'm just trying to enjoy every minute with her. School started back this week and that means I would have been starting back to work. I can't describe how grateful I am for the opportunity to stay home with her. My husband works so hard to make this happen. I know we will have to make sacrifices but they are completely worth it to us. Staying home isn't for everyone, I've got friends that say they are better mommys when they work, but for me it is the greatest blessing.

The Fun Continues

Happy Girl

Lying down for a nap at Granny Hicks' house:)

Happy 4th of July!

My friend Courtney monogrammed this cute little dress for her and I just had to get some pictures with her in it.

First time eating baby food. We had pears.

This may be my favorite pic of her so far. After our first encounter with sweet potatoes, I went to run her bath water for obvious reasons. When I came back she was laid over with her thumb in her mouth. All that work was exhausting:)

At Mattilee's 4 month check up she weighed 13lb 7oz and was 25 inches long. She was now in the 75% for weight and the 70% for height. She had to get another round of shots but again, she did great. She barely cried at all and seemed to forget all about them within a few minutes.

This month the doctor said we could start trying baby food if we wanted to...and of course we wanted to! At first she could take it or leave it but within a week or two she really started to like it and would get excited when she saw me getting her food ready. So far we have tried all of the 1st foods except green beans and she likes them all! Or let me rephrase that, she eats them all. Sometimes she eats so quickly, I'm not sure she had a chance to taste.

She really started being purposeful with her little hands this month. She began to grab anything she wanted and swap toys from hand to hand. Everything, I mean everything goes straight to her mouth.

Up to this point, Matt and I had given her a paci at night. One night she took the paci out of her mouth and replaced it with her thumb. Now she wants nothing more to do the the paci and she loves sucking her thumb. I know that we will probably have trouble one day getting her to quit sucking her thumb and that we can never take it away from her -it is attached to her body! But she looks so stinking cute and she soothes herself. No more going into her room to put her paci back in her mouth or worrying if we remembered a paci when we go out. And did I mention how adorable she looks? I can deal with it for now:)

Summer Fun

Fun with Daddy in the pool!

Family pic



Sweet Baby Girls

Beach Babes

Gigi feeding Addie Brown at the pool.

Worn out from all of the fun in the sun.

Ready to go!

Matti's 3rd month was so much fun. For starters, Mattilee started sleeping through the night! Up to this point she would wake up one time during the night for a feeding and go right back down to sleep. She's always been a GREAT sleeper and every once in a while she'd sleep through that middle of the night feeding. But at 9 weeks she slept all the way through the night and has done it ever since. Most of the time I have to wake her up to feed her. I prayed for a sleeper and the Lord definitely gave me one!

We started out the month of June by attending VBS at church. I was teaching a preschool class, so that meant Matti had to stay in the nursery. I was a little apprehensive about this, since I had never left her with anyone besides her grandparents. Even on Sunday mornings she stayed with us in worship and slept. But she did fine and the ladies loved her. She was the youngest VBS attender so they all raced to get her when I brought her in. She didn't care for the initial hand off but it didn't take her long to warm up. I was right down the hall so I'd sneak a peak every once in a while to make sure she was okay.

Toward the end of the month, we went to the beach with my family: Gigi, Pop, Uncle Grady, Aunt Erica, Cousin Addie Brown, Pat, and Ashley. We had a wonderful vacation. We stayed at Carillon Beach in a beautiful house. The weather was beautiful and so was the water. We saw no sign of oil.

It was so nice to spend an entire week with my family. We spent most of our time during the day at the pool, which we quickly discovered is more baby friendly than the beach with all of the sand. Matti and Addie Brown both loved the pool. They were too young to enjoy the sand and the waves, but next year I'm sure we'll be spending a lot more time on the beach.

We visited the outlet mall and lots of great places to eat. We rode bikes, played cards and games, etc. Grady built a washer game which is kind of like corn hole and brought it to the beach. This and golf kept the men completely entertained. They all needed time off from work; I think this relaxing vacation was great for them.

I loved getting to spend lots of time with Addie Brown and watching Matti and Addie together. They were so funny. Addie Brown is about 4 months older than Mattilee and wanted anything that Matti had in her hand and since she was so much better at reaching and grabbing for stuff than Matti, before we knew it Addie had commandeered all of Matti's toys. Matti didn't mind at all, she just loved watching her older, more resourceful cousin. We are going to have so much fun with these two being so close in age. I can't wait for the many more family beach trip and vacations.