Halloween

 Happy Halloween! We've had a lot of fun with the festivities this year - parties at the university and at church. Matt enjoyed his first real taste of candy - too much, I'm sure. It appears that M&Ms are the favorite. (I apologize that the pics are sideways - for some reason, it won't let me rotate them. Grrr!)

18 Month Pictures

A good friend is practicing her photography and asked if Matt would model for her. How could I pass that up? Thank you Kiya for the amazing 18-month pictures of my Little Man!

Pure Randomness

I have a variety of random pictures that just don't seem to fit any other particular post, so here you are.

Obviously this is a little bit older  - this appears to be a newly shaved head. My son has a few quirky habits that are worthy of mention. This one, for instance. We've always used a spray bottle for disciplining Buddy. Most of the time just the sound of it being shaken is enough to remind Buddy to behave. Matt loves the spray bottle, but not for discipline. He likes to be sprayed in the mouth. He thinks it's hilarious. Now he'll randomly find it and start sucking on the nozzle when he's thirsty. Strange child of mine!  (...yes, I do always have a drink available for him, so it's not that he's being neglected)

He loves our phones, but has also taken to talking into pretty much anything. He'll chat with the remote, the a toy, a suncreen bottle. Doesn't matter. However, if he can get his hands on a phone, you're doomed to never get it back.

Why is this automatically the first thing a child does when introduced to a funnel? Lol! Cracked me up!

Chillaxin by the pool! I think he must have been pretty tuckered out, because he won't usually sit still that long.

I decided to attempt a  SuperMom activity - playdough. The dough turned out great! It only held his attention for about 20 minutes, so I'm not sure I can call it a success.  Oh well. Maybe next time.

Grandpa & Grandma gave him a set of blocks when they came to visit. He got to play blocks with his cousins the month before and seemed to really like them, so we knew they'd be a hit. :)

Look who I found hiding in the corner! Apparently he couldn't wait for dinner.

He's inherited his love of olives from my side of the family. :)

His first-ever ride in a shopping cart car! I'm telling you, if I could afford to shop at a store just because they have these silly things, I would! It kept him happy through the entire trip (which was significantly passed his bedtime because we'd been out with friends). I hope whoever invented these has LOTS of money.

Lastly, to all of you have have toddlers, I highly recommend Puddle Jumpers. Matt took swimming lessons this summer, but is still too young to be very independent in the pool. This little contraption has been wonderful, though. He always has a parent within an arm's length, but he is able to roam around a little independently. His confidence has gone through the roof! It's allowed us to turn 15 minutes of contentment to over an hour of happiness at the pool. Wahoo!

Wishin They Were Fishin'

I can say with confidence that we've had more company in the last year than we have our entire 10 previous years of marriage. I guess it just took moving 700+ miles away. :)

Rob's parents visited us again during the first part of June. Because they're not used to an Arizona Summer, pretty much the only outing we made was to the Bass Pro Shop - Grandpa was sure excited to check it out!

Matt LOVES looking at the fish every time we go here or to Cabela's. He could sit and stare into the aquariums for hours! So much like his Daddy & Grandpa. Not too much longer and all three of them will be heading out for their annual fishing trips.

They were having a family fair or something, so they had a bunch of kid-friendly activities. Unfortunately, Matthew is still a little young for all but the carousel...with Mom by his side, of course. We chose to ride on a moose in honor of his other grandparents (my parents have a fondness for moose). Excuse the scary pic of me - this was the best shot we could manage apparently (we were moving too fast, so most of them were blurry).

Can't leave Grandma out of the fun. This obviously wasn't at the store, but it was the only one I caught...until next visit.

"Little" Man is Growing Up!

I took Matt to the pediatrician for his 18 month well check on June 28 - exactly 6 months from his 12 month exam. The results? This kid is growing like a weed!!!
Height: 33.25"
Weight: 27.44 lbs
He's grown just under 5 inches and 6 pounds in the last 6 months. Crazy!!! He's actually starting to lose that "baby" look. His chub is slimming down (how could it not when he never stops moving?). It probably doesn't hurt that we've stopped shaving his head, too. His scar has really filled in and is barely noticeable. He's actually getting due for a big boy haircut! Wow!
As always, he was a trooper and hardly even cried for his 2 shots.
I can't even begin to tell you how much I love my little boy! :)

Nursery, Baby!!!

Well, the time has come for my Little Man to go to Nursery. I've been SOOOOOO excited for this because it means I get to actually attend all of church instead of hanging out in the hallway. Somehow, wrestling a toddler makes it impossible to be in class...and I'll admit, it often meant going home right after Sacrament Meeting. :(
BUT, he started nursery and I've been in HEAVEN. :)

Walking to the car with Daddy so we can head to church for our big day.

 Strapped in and ready to go!

 Our Ward has thinned out a lot because of Summer. I live in a place where people actually take vacations! (and lot of them...long ones!) A good chunk of it is that some of the Midwestern students are off over the Summer and head home for family time (and cooler temps). Whatever the reason, Matt's first week of Nursery only had 4 kiddos. Sorry the pictures aren't the greatest, but they were taken through the window in the door (I was being incognito!). Doesn't he look like a big boy sitting at the table witht he other kids? So cute!

And of course, here's his FIRST EVER masterpiece. :)

Everyone has wanted to know if I had to stay in with him the whole time. Well, I walked him in and left. I picked him up afterwards and he cried all the way home because he didn't want to leave. It was amazing! (Of course, Mom & Dad both peeked in the window a few times throughout the day.) This kiddo is never away from us. The only time he's been babysat is after he's put to bed for the night. The report from his Nursery Leaders was that he's very well-behaved...week 2 had the exact same results. What a great blessing to have a such a wonderful kid!

Splash Pad Fun

One of my best friends in Arizona has to be Cheyenne. She and her family moved into our apartment building a few weeks after us and it's been so fun to have them so close. Her husband is also attending Midwestern, so we really try to have each other's backs when our husbands are so busy that they're virtually non-existent. Wait...that's every week. Haha! Isn't grad school great? :P
Anywho, when we hang out it's not usually much of a production - kids playing while we chat. It's nice to be so casual - pj's? no makeup? no problem! Needless to say, there's not a lot been a lot of photos to document our good times. Lol!
We did hit one of the local splash pads a couple of weeks ago and had some fun, though.

Cracked me up because you'll see her and Little Greyson (9 months old), but not her 2 girls. Why not? They spent most of the time on the grass eating snacks. Lol! Greyson enjoyed splashing and getting drenched. Matt was having a blast and cried when we had to leave. Leave it to the "babies" to have the good time. :)