Catching up

I probably should label this part 1, part 2, part 3, etc. We've been so busy - not just getting ready for baby #2, but keeping up with a very active toddler. We were told at school that Matthew has more energy than most, so we've made the decision to enroll him in MyGym. This is a step beyond Gymboree and is more structured in teaching gymnastics. We've only been to one class so far, but he's already learned how to do a forward roll. I am sure in no time he'll be flipping onto the sofa just as I did when I was a kid! He enjoys the class and asks to go, so I see that as a really good sign. I think it's going to be great when the baby arrives in the sense that he'll have dedicated Matthew time every Saturday. Marvin and I decided that one of us will take him to class and then take him out to lunch - his choice. We want him to know how much we love him and that he is still a very important person in our family. He's the big brother after all.

Speaking of being a big brother - I think Matthew is going to do really well. My pregnacy has been going very smoothly - much better than Matthew's actually, but I still have my ups and downs. My favorite thing when I am laying down and resting, Matthew inevitably comes over and asks "You not feeling good? You sick?" which is quickly followed by "I rub your feet." ;) Matthew's future wife better thank me for this one! He will gently rub my feet and say "Feel better?" What a sweet, sweet boy! If he's that tender with me, I look forward to seeing how he reacts to his baby brother.

Matthew has been such a help in getting things ready for our new addition. He is deciding what he's going to share and what things are his. I am amazed at what things he is attached to. Just the other day I received a gift from a co-worker - a cute little monkey - and Matthew thought the gift was for him. When I said it was for his brother, he took the monkey by the hand and walked him through the house showing him where everything was. When he got to the nursery he said, "my brother can have my monkey. He live there." So sweet. What's funny though is that when he doesn't like something, he'll tell us to give it to the baby or put it in the baby's room. Hmmmm....

We have about 4 1/2 weeks left. I can't believe it! We're really looking forward to meeting this sweet bundle of joy!

Back in the groove

OK - so much to catch up on!!! I had been really good at documenting things - or so I thought, but sometimes life just gets the best of you.

Wow - since I last wrote we've going through Christmas, New Years, my insane two-months at work which culminates in my annual trip to Barcelona and now we're getting ready to celebrate Matthew's second birthday!

The past 4 months have been awesome. Christmas was certainly a time to celebrate as Matthew really started to understand that Christmas meant presents. Thankfully he is not at the stage where the box is more interesting than the toy. Rather we were met with an "open it" as soon as a gift was unwrapped. Though we usually venture to the farm to celebrate Christmas Eve, Ol' Man Winter had a different idea. Christmas Eve brought a nor'easter which had us iced in Christmas morn. Thankfully the roads were passable that we could get out for Christmas Eve mass, but it meant that Mimi and Granddad couldn't go home. We enjoyed having them around to share the spirit of the holiday and enjoy Matthew as he played with all his loot.

New Years was a simple celebration with friends. We met up with our friends Tricia and Chad and their son Carson to ring in the New Year. Matthew and Carson had a wonderful time playing together and trying to share Matthew's inflatable mattress. They are dear friends whom we cherish deeply. Matthew has come to refer to Carson as "his buddy." Carson comes up frequently - in fact, Matthew has named his rocking horse Carson.

January starts my busiest time of the year as I get ready for Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. It seems that no matter how well you plan or anticipate needs for this show that things are always being done last minute. For me its tons of logistics as I coordinate our media event and press schedule for the show. This year we also had to support the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas. I was the lucky team member who went to the show for onsite support. It is a tough show - crazy hours - but demos of some really cool stuff. I finally made it to the show floor and got to experience the 3DTVs and see how thin our monitors will get. It's truly amazing what technology will allow these days. Seriously - 6mm thick. Wow!

After the whirlwind trip where I didn't leave my hotel (serious - even when we went out to dinner it was in the hotel), we took a quick family trip to Memphis to visit Marvin's parents. We found a great airfare deal and wanted to take advantage of the fact that Matthew could still fly as a lap child. After March 24th - it's "3 tickets please." Though it was a quick trip, it was a great opportunity for Matthew to meet his Memphis-based aunts and uncles and to have some fun in a new city. It was a great trip and we need to get back soon!

Thankfully I was able to fully disengage from work and really enjoy Marvin's family before the last big push before the show - it was 4 weeks of early mornings, late nights and non-stop meetings. In the end the show was a huge success, exceeding everyone's expectations! Gotta love that. Though it was 15+hour days and little to no sleep, I still had a chance to get out and enjoy the city. Barcelona is really beautiful and I enjoy the feel of walking the streets and taking in all the history. Though Marvin didn't join me this time, I do which I had another day to two to soak in the culture.

So - in the midst of ALL of this going on, I was dealing with the fact that I was pregnant. Yes - the one thing I said I wouldn't do, which was go through my first trimester during this chaos, actually happened. We found out on our anniversary (what a great anniversary present!) and didn't tell anyone except immediate family until the show. Before I left, I had to tell my boss - duh - it would have been so obvious with me not drinking wine! AND - I also found out that I got a new job within TI. (Yup - they took me even though I was pregnant!) This should mean more work life balance, plus I get exposed to marketing. I am super excited about the opportunity and look forward to growing my skill set.

Whew - what a catch-up. Now we are getting ready to celebrate Matthew's 2nd year and what a glorious two years its been. I am AMAZED at how much he's grown and changed. I can't wait to see what the future holds for him. I am sure it is fabulous.

Things to remember

When I first started this, I wanted to capture those things that I worried I would forget. Unfortunately, I've been caught up in life that I am not doing as well at the documenting. Matthew has become quite verbal as of late and I wanted to share with everyone some Matthew-isms:

- Yellow Bus - the definition not only for school bus, but any other large van-like vehicle. He LOVES school buses - and the color yellow for that matter. When we flew to Asheville last month, we parked at the parking spot which has yellow buses to take people to the airport. You would have thought Matthew died and went to heaven. He was so excited to be riding a yellow bus - it was all he could say - "I ride yellow bus." And he said it over and over and over and over and over....
- BIG Truck - Matthew is in awe of anything with an engine and he loves to point out 18-wheelers. When we are driving along the highway, you hear from the backseat "Ahhhh! Big truck!!"
- Where'ditgo? - this is said like one word when looking for something or someone and is accompanied by the gesture of putting the hands up and shrugging the shoulders. He can walk around the house like this looking for mommy and daddy or one of his cars
- Numbers and letters - we recently discovered that Matthew can count. One night while at dinner when Marvin and I were having a conversation, he just started to count - 1...2...3...4...5...6..7...8...9...10. Now he does this generally when he's bored - like sitting in the car on a long car ride. I know its just rote right now, but it is cute. When we were hiking in NC, he tried to count all the trees in the forest. I guess we need to teach him how to count beyond 10! As for letters, he can recite the alphabet too - though some days are better than others. And if you catch him on a good day, he may even tell you what letter he is looking at. If he doesn't know, he just says A-B-C! Hey, he knows its part of the alphabet.
-Catching on - I always had friends who said their kids would catch on to spelling of words. We are not to that point yet, but Matthew is rather observant. When we are trying to get him to pay attention and do something, we'll say Matthew, you have to the count of 3 - 1, 2, 3. Now when he wants one of us to do something he'll say "Daddy 1,2,3! Daddy 1, 2, 3!" Too funny!
- Mimi - Mimi must be Matthew's favorite person in the whole world. I don't know if its the undivided attention he gets or what, but Mimi more than any other person will come up in his every day conversation. For example, we took a train ride with my parents and he'll tell people that he rode a Choo-choo train, then he'll say "I ride choo-choo with Mimi." Forget everyone else who rode the train with him. The only person on that train in his mind was Mimi.
- Getting down the gait - Obviously Matthew has been walking for a while, but recently he's been experimenting with his gait. He loves to run and I just love to watch his wobbly unsteady run, but he also tries other ways to get around. Here lately it's been this hoppy, gallopy type of stride. He just bounces along to get where he wants to go. I don't know where it came from or why, but it sure is cute.
- Manners - I am NOT saying I have the most well mannered child by any means. He doesn't always listen and often doesn't behave, but he does say excuse me. Sometimes its cute and in the right context like after he burps - other times its his way of getting what he wants i.e. pushing Mommy aside saying excuse me so he can get to his toy or something. We are working on context, but hey, at least he is saying excuse me!
- The engineer mind - we've always said that Matthew is a little engineer. He observes with great detail and tries to really figure things out. To this, he loves to the action and reaction of things - no door can be left unclosed, no button unpushed etc. But now it's moving into more of the application of putting things together. While at my parents, he helped to assemble my brothers old Brio train track and can fairly easily put together his Mr. Potato Head. What he enjoys most though are buckles. He now has to be strapped in where ever we go because he wants to buckle his harness. We get an added bonus at Costco when he can play with the buckle on the extra seat!

I am sure there are many other things, but these are the few milestones that are top of my mind and I hope that I don't forget.

Beach - tiring, but so much fun

Over Labor Day we took the opportunity to catch up with some family. Ususally, the Reiter Clan gets together, but with all the weddings this year, we opted not to have the big family gathering. With a three day weekend starting at us, we knew we needed to take advantage.

We loaded the care and headed to Houston to see the Kennemers and DiStefanos. With 6 boys between the ages of 8 and 5 months, it was definitely a party. Julie and her family were gracious to host us. While we had grand plans to do and see much, we spent most of our time just catching up. The highlight of the trip (other than getting to catch up on a years worth of discussions) was our trip to Galveston. We were joined by Peggy and Charlie, Lu Ann and Paul, Brooke, Jackson and Noah and the entire Kennemer clan (Julie, Phil, William, Andrew and Carson). The boys wasted not time hitting the beach. Jackson may have had the most fun of all - he was so excited about sheer volume of water and sand. Matthew had a wonderful time though he was really tired. True to his personality, he couldn't take a nap while there for fear of missing something. This mean intermittent periods of rest inbetween playing. We were so excited about how much he enjoyed the beach and look forward to our next visit.

Elmo Love

Matthew has turned a corner. Yes - he's always a joy, but there have been some really challenging times these past few weeks as Matthew tests boundraries and expresses his dissatisfaction with everything being done on Mommy and Daddy's schedule.

These past few days have been pure joy. He is so much fun. We found a great wagon on Craigs List and the family takes a walk every evening to get some fresh air and Matthew gets to play outside while Mommy or Daddy cook dinner. Last night I was giving Matthew his bath and flinched as he splashed me. My goodness - you have never heard such a belly laugh from a little kid. Matthew thought this was the funniest thing ever - serious - he could barely catch his breath. We spent the next 5-10 minutes with him "flinching" as he tried to splash us. Too cute.

This morning he was in the best of moods and was looking for his dancing Elmo. We got Elmo out and he knew just want to do to get Elmo to move and groove. Matthew joins in with his own dancing, twists and turns. At the end, he gives Elmo a big hug. It was just too cute.

We don't know where he got into Elmo, but for now, it's a favorite. I am just so thankful we have such a happy, sweet boy.

What a haul!!!

OK - so I was SO excited about Divine Consign and I have yet to share with everyone the outcome. Despite my best efforts, I was unable to leave work as early as I had planned. I did make it out the door well before 5pm, but not soon enough to be one of the first people in line. I got to the Plano Convention Center around 4:40pm and found myself to be in the 3rd line to get in. Everyone was ready - laundry baskets, wheeled bags, wagons and strollers abound. The stroller didn't work for me last time, so this time I was prepared with a large laundry basket and a rolling duffel. As soon as I got in I went straight for the big items. I was really hoping my learning tower would be there, but it wasn't.

:(

Next - on to the wagons, but each one had a pink tag which meant someone was going to be purchasing it. :( I checked out some art easels, but Matthew isn't quite old enough and then I saw a Little Tikes Basketball Goal ($10). Yes - everyboy needs a basketball goal. I quickly filled out my pink tag staking my claim.

I had a different strategy this time around - I had always done strollers first, then clothes because I was too late for the big items. This time I decided to hit up the toys first. Christmas was on my mind. I really wanted to get some LeapFrog stuff - mini computer or something. They didn't have what I pictured in my head, but I did find a First Touch leapbook. This thing was in perfect condition - came with 6 books and a bag. $35 - can't go wrong!!! While I was checking out the Leapfrog stuff, I saw a backpack carrier for Matthew. Hello, we'll be going to the mountains twice this fall. We'll use it it and for $20, I figured it was more than worth it especially when they are $100+ in the store. On to the toys!!!

Now, Matthew is such a boy. He loves, loves, loves his cars. I found all kinds of cool cars, trucks and things that move. We got a Little Peoples Airplane ($9.50) and a Little People School Bus ($6). These are going to go great with the other Little People stuff I had found earlier this year that he'll be getting for Christmas.

Cars cars cars - We picked up a Tonka Speed and Go Funway ($8), Triple Track Tower ($6), a Fisher Price Tough 'N Rumblin' Front Loader and Tough and Rumblin' Dump truck. I also picked up a few small cars for us to take on our plane trips. A set of 4 stacking/nesting cars for $1.50 - you can't go wrong! I also got a little 3-piece Tonka car set for $2.50!

It wasn't just cars that I was able to pick up - I found a Rolling Crane for $5, a Dancing Elmo (yes, Matthew really likes Elmo now) for $5, a wheelbarrow ($6), a Fisher Price Toby the Totbot ($5), LeapFrog Shopping cart for $14.50 and a Lego table with Legos for $6!!!! Oh - and books and media. I added a few "lift and see" books to Matthew's collection as well as some books on his favorite thing - cars! When they are $1-$3, you just can't go wrong. I packed my laudry basket well and all of this fit - yes - everything - well, for the most part. Now, it wasn't light, but I was able to manage. Thankfully they held the items and I was able to do some clothes shopping. Matthew didn't need much other than PJs and jeans, but because so many of the items were paired as outfits I got a bit more. Matthew's wardrode for the fall is set - though he has a few more Santa outfits than I anticipated. :) Oh well!

While I won't share the grand total - It was great fun shopping and I feel like I got more than my money's worth for everything I found. Granted, some of it needs to be cleaned up and given a little TLC, but I am sure that Matthew will love and enjoy it all.

Giddy

Can I tell you how excited I am for this evening. When I was pregnant, some girls in my prenatal Yoga class turned me onto Divine Consign. This turned me onto the whole idea of consigning in general. Yes - kids are expensive and yes it is frustrating that the adorable outfit you spent $40 on only gets worn twice because when you go to put it on for a third time, surprise, they've outgrown it. Not to mention they toys. You never know what toy will end up being a favorite. (So far we've done well in that department. We may have bought some toys a little too early, but he plays with everything equally today - ok, everything but his stuff animals.)

Wouldn't it be great to be able to find all this stuff for 50-70% - more in some cases? Welcome to my Divine Consign joy!!! So, its basically a big garage sale, but the only items being sold are for babies and kids. I am talking everything under the sun from boppies to clothes to exersaucers to strollers. They have it all. I attended as a first time mom and found tons of great things - I found even more when I went back after Matthew was born. Now I volunteer so I can get into the presale and get first dibs! This is how bad my borderline obsession is - I was dreaming about the sale. The presale starts this evening and I will be going - as well as volunteering tomorrow....In my dream, I stopped by this morning to pick up my wristband and saw that women were in line at 6:30am for the 5pm sale. Of course that made my heart sink as had to head off to work. I know that people are not in line yet, but I do wish I could have gotten a shift that would have put me in the sale at 4:30pm. I have my eye on a few things. Let's just hope that they are still there when I finally get in.

I remember that old Mervyn's commercial - "Open, Open, Open..." That's me right about now!