Little D and Mathias

Tonight, Jami, Davy, and Little D came over and hung out for a little bit. We have not really hung out with just them so this was kinda fun. The boys had a blast playing together. They played cars, wrestled around, and then Davy came up with the great game of jumping from the bed to the couch and back. I wish I had my camera out when little D tried it for the first time. He feel right in the hole and was folded in half, it looked pretty funny. We then stuffed pillows between the two to make for a softer landing next time.

You can just see the wheels turning in Mathias' head, thinking, "hey that looks fun - but do I dare?" You can also just see the determination in Little D's face!

For those of you wondering why our bed is in the living room, it is because they are finally fixing our walls in the bedroom. That is a whole other post in the future!

read!

Mathias is seriously such a little book worm. He loves having his daddy read to him. Here they are reading "Dizzy Dragon" for the millionth time.

(doesn't Dev have the most gorgeous eyelashes! Like father, like son!)

He is even reading it during his one and only show that he loves to watch: Meteor.

What, mom, can't you see I'm reading?

And again, they read it right before "night night." Gotta make sure you have the "oo oo aa aa" (his monkey). This has been the one thing he has had to have in bed with him in a certain spot for the past couple of weeks. Too cute!

Pizza!

Mathias has been kind of a picky eater lately and has not been eating all that much. When we told him that we were having pizza for dinner, he got all excited. That excitement quickly faded when he realized that we still had to cook the pizza and he could not eat it right that second. When it was all cooked, however, and we told him "lets take off your shirt and go sit in your high chair," he ran to his chair with his shirt half over his head. That was pretty funny to watch because lately he has been very stubborn and has not been willing to take his shirt off to eat. (I just don't want stained clothes!) Mathias ate three whole pieces by himself!
When I took this picture he said "MESSS". You have to hold out the "s" to sound like a snake when you say it.

Park?

The weather has been pretty nice the past couple of days and Mathias has really enjoyed playing outside. He especially likes playing over at Aunt Kelly's house in her back yard when she watches him. I was kinda excited when I got off early today (not nice for the bank account but...) because it was a nice day and I wanted to go play at the park with Mathias. When we got home I put all of our stuff inside and then told him "lets go play." He was all excited to go play except.....

When we went towards the park, he threw down his sippy and started crying saying "buh bye." He wanted to go for a car ride instead of play at the park. Weird. So we went to put some gas in the car and get some "nacks," then we drove down to the park by Grandma Brower' s house. It even took some convincing to get him to play there. I think this park is for kids that are a little bit older, but we still had some fun. Not sure what the deal was today, I have never seen him refuse to play at a park!

We also discovered a few new "nacks" today. I got him some juice that comes in a little squirt bottle, I figured he would love this since he always wants to drink from Mema's water bottle. I also got some Reeses today and he loved those, but honestly, who wouldn't?! That is what is in his hand in this picture.


This is a little tunnel you had to go through to get to some slides. He was kinda scared of it and would only go through it once and that was because I put him in it. Apparently this tunnel is ok to go through if you stick your tongue out!

ranch chicken

(tastes better than it looks , I promise)

• 1 cup ranch dressing

• 1/4 to 1/2 cup flour ( sometimes the consistency varies )

• chicken breasts

• Shredded cheddar cheese

Mix flour and ranch until you have a creamy paste. Smother chicken then top with the cheese. Place it in the oven at 325* for 45 minutes. Very easy, fast to prepare, and yummy.

talk, talk, talk

(nice cheeser, huh)

For a while I worried about Mathias' speech, that he was not talking that much. Well, the week before he turned two he started to mimic everything. Not only what everyone said but every sound as well. He is still doing this and I swear his speech has more than tripled since he turned two, not quite a month ago. It is like some switch in his brain just automatically switched when he turned two. This is pretty funny, cute, and at sometimes scary because you have to watch everything that comes out of your mouth. He now tells us when he is hungry or thirsty, he will say "eat" and either go to the pantry or high chair, or say "milk" when he wants something to drink. He has also started to put together more two word phrases and tell us what he wants or does not want. Some of them that are kinda funny are:
daddy jeep
mama car
mema car
Shoe on :when it comes off or he wants to go somewhere.
light on: at bedtime he wants the hall light left on
kitty down: when he thinks she should not be on something
mom up: when he does not want me to lay down on the couch
Walk : (not a two word phrase I know) he will say this either when he wants to walk or when he is sick of walking and wants to be held.

Some of my favorite things he says are :
cuck or big cuck = truck
berry hoT= very hot (with extra emphasis on the "t")
momocycle = motorcycle
messss = when he makes a mess
1,2,3,5 (fibe),eight niNe (make sure you say the "n") 10 (men) his version of counting
EIEIO moo, moo, moo= his version of old mcdonald
Lub (love) mom or dad. If we just say love then he will say it but if we say love you then he will focus more on the you part. so for now it is just love___.
Those are the ones I can think of right now. I just love that he is starting to talk. Now, however, we can't get him to be quiet sometimes - I know, we asked for it.

Cherry-O Cream Cheese Pie

A family tradition for birthdays and holidays. It is so delicious and very easy!

1/3 cup lemon juice
1- 8oz. package of cream cheese
1- 14.5oz can of sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 can of cherry pie filling
1 graham cracker crust

-let cream cheese sit till room temperature
-then mix cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk together
-mix in the lemon juice till mixture is smooth
-add vanilla
-pour into graham cracker crust and refrigerate till cold
-add cherries before serving

Book tag

So...here's the tag:

• Pick up the nearest book (one with at least 123 pages)


• Open to page 123


• Find the 5th sentence

• Post the next 3 sentences


• Tag 5 people (or as many as you'd like)

I have been tagged by my friend Betsy. I have not read an adult book in awhile. I decided to give the Twilight book a try since I am probably the only female in Utah that has not read it. I am only a few chapters into it but so far so good.



"That's Sam-- he's nineteen," he informed me.
"What was that he was saying about the doctor's family?" I asked innocently.
"The Cullens? Oh, they're not supposed to come into the reservation." He looked away,out toward James Island, as he confirmed what I'd thought I'd heard in Sam's voice.
"Why Not?"


Tags: Jeri, Jana, Jamie,Emily, Melissa

Two-Year Check Up

Yesterday Mathias had his two year check up. When we got there I had to fill out a survey/questioner thing, and while I did that Mathias was looking at the fish. When that got old, he decided to go and flirt with the ladies behind the receptionist desk. They absolutely loved him and kept saying how cute he was. Man, are we in trouble already! Then the nurse called us back, pronouncing his name wrong, as usual. Seriously, how hard is it?! We have only had one nurse say it right. They always say MATHeus. Seriously people! Anyways, by the time we got back to the room with the nurse he became clingy. When the doctor came in, he really started to get upset. After an all night stay in the ER and a two night stay at the hospital last year he is not a big fan of nurses or doctors, but I can't blame him. The doctor said he is doing great and that he is right on track. They also said he is a really big boy but to remind people that he is still two and not four (a lot of people seem to think he is older than he is).

Now for the stats:

• Mathias is 32 lbs and 10 ounces (90%)

• He is 37 inches long (95%)

• His head is 49 cm (54 %). I am not sure how accurate this is since he would not really sit still for her to put the measuring tape around his head. This also surprised me because we always joke that that he has a big head. We have to get hats that are like 4t or 5t

Anyways, I am glad to hear that he is on track and that everything is going well. I thought he was pretty tall but I did not realize just how big he is.

How did you get that?

(Great picture huh! It totally captures the moment)

When I walked out of the room today for seriously no longer than 30 seconds, Mathias came running to me with a mouth full of four big conversation hearts (Valentine's candy) and three more in his hands. I took the three away (as he screamed) and found the bag on the floor. I have no idea how he got them. The bag was in the middle of the counter where I thought he could not reach them. I know he is tall but holy cow! Guess I will have to be better at putting stuff away.

Peek a boo....

I see you!
This is where Mathias usually is when I get on the computer.

(Wow, 100 posts already! How time flies)

Spring fever

Man, we have spring fever around here! Mathias got this tricycle for his birthday. He is still a bit too small for it, but I can not wait till spring comes so we can get out and get some fresh air and have some fun!

Who dressed me?!

I took pictures of Mathias after he was dressed by Tanessa to prove I'm not the only one that has made bad judgment calls on outfits.

In my defense, when I put him down for a nap, he refused to lay down without pants on (it's a weird phase he's going through, he'll randomly be attached to any certain article of clothing at any given time). I thought that pajama bottoms would be more comfortable to sleep in than church pants so this is what I grabbed.

lights out

So suddenly Mathias is acting as if he is afraid of the dark. He has always had a night light in his room but it has not been working for a while so we thought he would be fine in the dark. Suddenly Mathias turns two and he is afraid of the dark. We realized this one night when we shut the door after we laid him down and turned off the hall light. He started screaming but we didn't know why. When we turned it back on to go find out what was wrong, he would stop crying. We then flipped the switch a couple of times to test this and sure enough, the instant you turn on the light he is quiet but when you turned it off he would scream. We thought it was pretty funny. Now once we put him down and close the door he will repeatedly yell out "Light! Light!" until we turn the hall light back on.

chocolate chip cookies

We can not bake cookies for the life of us but this is a friends very good recipe.

Mix these ingredients until creamy.

• 2 eggs
• 1 1/4 cups shortening
  
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup regular sugar

add:

• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp vanilla

Than add 1 bag of milk chocolate chips.
Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Take out while still a little gooey and let bake on the pan a little then cool on the counter.

invites,decorations,cake

I had the hardest time finding any cute car stamps, so I finally just went and bought the stickers for his Mat's birthday invitations. They were a little more expensive but kinda nice because it was less work to make them.

Apparently 'Cars' is big for birthdays right now. The store was all out of the Lightning McQueen balloons but they had Mator.

Mathias loves his "2" balloon. In fact he got two of them, one for this party and another from when mema brought him one on his birthday (Monday). I still can't believe he is two.

Here is the whole cars themed stuff. This cake is kinda fun because it is actually individual cup cakes. I love that you don't have the mess of cutting the cake and you can serve it in seconds.

Birthday party

Saturday we had a few of Mathias' friends over for a 'Cars' themed birthday party. I think it is so fun to get all the kids together and watch them play. I am glad he has so many friends that are close in age that live close to us. Thanks to everyone that came and thanks for all the wonderful presents, he loves them all. Oh and Dallas just you wait until Cohen's birthday arrives, I am going to find the loudest toy out there that does not have an off switch :)!

Mathias and his big car from Betsy and Danny. This was the first present he went for.

Can you tell Christmas was not that long ago? I believe he thinks that the bow actually goes straight from the present to your head.

boys, boys, and more boys!

Mathias finally got distracted enough from his bebo (motorcycle) to open his tricycle.

Darcy opening Mathias' presents while he watches. She's got opening presents down!

Mathias and daddy playing with his new bebo

Aw, the cake. It was pretty fun to watch him eat his cake this year. Last year he would not touch it at all and this year he just wanted to lick all of the frosting off! Love the red beard!

Sunday Milestones

Today's Milestones

1. We actually WENT to church (sacrament meeting), which is during Mathias' nap time.
   
2. We were on time! I don't think this has happened since we have lived here, almost a year.
   
3. We did not have take Mathias into the foyer during sacrament because of unruly behavior. Huge accomplishment!
   

Stubborn

(please excuse the hat hair and Dev's foot giving him a little 'persuasion' to get out of the kitchen)

I swear, as soon as Mathias turned two, a little switch went off in his head. He has become a bit more stubborn! For some reason lately he will not let us take off his jacket, coat, and, on occasion, his shoes. Yesterday Dev went on a walk with Mathias while I ran a few errands and when they got back Dev took off Mathias' hat and shoes but Mat fussed while he took off his coat. So Devin just gave it back to Mathias and we went on with our business. Then we turned around and found Mathias like this. I thought it was pretty cute and funny. I guess you just have to have fun a little bit and pick your battles, I am still learning how to do that.

Valentines

My sweet husband surprised me by making plans for the night. He told me earlier that we would just stay in and rent some movies since we probably could not get a sitter and everywhere would be packed, not to mention the fact that we are broke right now. Anyways, Thursday afternoon he told me to get ready because earlier in the week he had set everything up with out me having a clue. He got a sitter lined up so we went to Goodwood for dinner and then saw the movie Juno. The best part about our date (besides that fact that it was just him and I, that has not happened in a long time) was that it was basically free. We had gift cards from Christmas, so the only thing we had to pay for was the tip for dinner. Thanks babe, you are the best! I love you!

Easy chili

Since I am a working/busy mom (like most) and don't have a lot of time to prepare some huge elaborate dinner, I am always looking for easy things to make that have a little more nutrition than mac and cheese. I found this chili mix by the gravy packets at the store. On the back it has three different ways you can make it, and suggestions about stuff to add depending on the type of chili that you like. Basically you just thaw out two pounds of hamburger, cook it, and then throw whatever else you would like in it. The packet comes with the seasoning, salt, cayenne pepper, and masa flour. Depending on what type of chili you like, you can cook it anywhere from 8 to 20 minutes. Good. Easy. Fast.

Love......

Hope you all have a wonderful day filled with LOVE!

I saw this on another blog and thought it was cute and just wanted to share."What Love Means to a 4-8 year-old."

'When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love.' Rebecca- age 8

'When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.' Billy - age 4

'Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.' Karl - age 5

'Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.' Chrissy - age 6

'Love is what makes you smile when you're tired.' Terri - age 4

'Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.' Danny - age 7

'Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss' Emily - age 8

'Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.'

Bobby - age 7

'If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate.'

Nikka - age 6

'Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday.'

Noelle - age 7

'Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.' Tommy - age 6

'During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore.' Cindy - age 8

'My mommy loves me more than anybody You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night.' Clare - age 6

'Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.' Elaine-age 5

'Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford.' Chris - age 7

'Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day.' Mary Ann - age 4

'I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.' Lauren - age 4

'When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you..' Karen - age 7

'Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross.' Mark - age 6

'You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.' Jessica - age 8

And the final one...

From a four-year-old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, 'Nothing, I just helped him cry'

my baby....

(the day he was born)

My baby is 2 today and officially a toddler. I can not believe that two years have gone by already. I now know what people mean when they say enjoy this time while you have it because it goes by too fast.

(his first smile at two weeks. My BIL was tickling his nose and got him to smile.)

I have to admit that I was a little sad that my baby was turning two today. He is officially no longer my baby. He is definitely turning into such a little guy all of the sudden and his little personality is just exploding. He has just started talking all of the sudden. I have felt that he has been a little slow at this and everyone has assured me that it will happen and when it does it will happen all at once. Man alive were they right. Mathias will try to mimic almost everything that you say. I just love it. I love the little kid accent that comes with it. Just yesterday he said "I love you" for the first time, man talk about melting your heart. The other thing that I love that he says is "cute mom," courtesy of Dev.

(first birthday party)

It feels like just yesterday we had his "Baby Einstein" first birthday party. I can't believe the difference in just a year!

I love this picture. It totally looks posed and it just screams "I am a big boy now!" He loves balloons and loves to try and pop them. This drives me crazy because it is like nails on a chalk board .

Here he is wearing daddy's shoes and the hat that he would not let us take off. In fact, he HAD to wear it to bed tonight. He's also trying to hold up his fingers to show us that he was two.

On a side note, "2" is Mathias' favorite number. He will come up to us holding two cars and say two or point at the two candles on our table and say two. Also if he sees any letters or numbers they are automatically a 2.

yummy steak

I have decided that things needed to be switched up a bit on here since I am sure everyone is sick of hearing about Mathias all the time. Also, I love it when people post good, easy recipes on their blog so that I can switch up our boring dinner routine. So I am going to post some easy recipes every once in a while. I hope you enjoy!

• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 tbsp red whine vinegar
• Montreal steak seasoning(to taste)
• 1 pound of steak (we prefer tri tip)
  

Put all ingredients in a zip lock bag and put it in the fridge for a couple of hours. Then throw it on the grill and cook to your liking.

Super Bowl!

Dev and I are not really all that into football, but we do look forward to Super Bowl Sunday. We just love to hang out with all of our friends and eat all that yummy, unhealthy food. The Super Bowl is also kinda special for me because that is when I meet all of Devin's friends for the first time just four years ago.

(Jeri, I just love how different our husbands are. While yours tries to make himself look buff, mine sticks out his belly to appear chubbier. Oh my.....)

Monster Trucks

Well I did it, I found a show that Mathias will actually pay attention to and watch for more than thirty seconds. The other good thing about it is that Dev and I can stand to watch it too. Not that I want him to be a tv junkie, but it is nice that he will actually sit mostly still for a bit so that I can get something done. It is on Discovery Kids and I am not sure what time it comes on because we Tivo it. It is called "Bigfoot Presents: Meteor and the Mighty Monster Trucks."