Santa: Not a fan

Well, Mattie got to meet the big man in red last week. Let's just say she's not a fan! It was so cute, though. Secretly I kind of wanted the 'sad Santa' photo - and we got some good ones!

We visited the Gamma Phi Beta house because they were hosting a Santa meet-and-greet. Mattie was wary of him from the beginning. But, she LOVED all the sorority girls. She was running around the place smiling and laughing - until she spotted Santa. She kept trying to hide from him. They had cookies so that made the deal better for her.

She has really been into the tree and gets excited when she sees it lit up. She likes to take 'her' ornaments on and off and show us. Her favorite is the ceramic Minnie Mouse ornament. She will grab it and squeal "Miiiinnniiiiieeee!" then carry it around for a while. Just adorable.

We finally have some wrapped presents under the tree and she's been good at staying out of them so far. We'll see how long that lasts.

Overall, our Christmas season has been wonderful so far and we hope your family is having fun making preparations. We are blessed beyond measure and are so thankful for God's faithfulness.

16 month update

This past month has flown by and we can't believe Mattie Cakes is 16 months old! She is growing and learning so quickly and we are having fun along the way. Now that football season is over, I feel like we can 'breathe' again as a family and get back to normal. It has been wonderful because George can pick Mattie up from school early everyday and gets to watch her during group time.

Mattie's class has recently learned about wheels and she loves looking at buses, trucks, bicycles - anything that has wheels. She also likes to 'drive' our car and say "beep! beep!" They have also been learning to count from 1 to 5 and Mattie has been 'counting' her toys at home by lining them up and then saying 'two, five'. Her vocabulary continues to grow each week. She can say a lot of words for her age, which is no surprise since her mother sometimes doesn't know when to be quiet. :) I have no problem admitting this - it's the first step...right? Some of the new words Mattie says are: shoes, broccoli, mine, 'oh no!', yeehaw, book, Elmo, Abby, outside, cracker, baby and too many others to count. At first we wrote down words regularly as she was saying them but we soon realized that it was hard to keep up.

Here are some of the highlights from the past few months:

• Walking (14 months)
• Climbing on everything!
• We've begun to experience what having a toddler is like with Mattie's fits. She sometimes like to throw herself down dramatically when she doesn't get her way. It is hard to keep a straight face sometimes!
• Teeth...and more teeth! Mattie now has 8 teeth and we thing 4 molars coming in at once. Joy!
• First overnight trip away from home
• Trip to the pumpkin patch with the Hortons
• Now helps us get her undressed and dressed
• Mattie loves shoes and loves to carry her shoes everywhere (if she's not wearing them!)
• Likes sitting in chairs by herself
• Mattie's favorite toy right now is her baby. She loves holding baby, dressing baby, tucking baby in, etc. It is so cute. She will even give her baby medicine when we ask her to. 
• Another one of Mattie's favorite new things to do is pick up and throw rocks. This is going to be a fun habit to break. 
• Everyday Mattie goes to the doors, tries to open them and says 'outside'. This girl LOVES to be outdoors and gets very frustrated when she can't go out.

I am sure there are many other highlights, but those are the ones I can remember right now. We are gearing up for the holidays and can't wait to see everyone. Stay tuned for Mattie's Halloween costume photos. She was a ladybug and it was adorable. Here are a few other great recent pics:

Love bug update in pictures

Here is a snapshot of what the last couple of weeks has been like with Mattie. Can't believe she's already 15 months old!

New pics

Here's some recent snapshots of our sweet girl :)

Mattie's first Cowboys game

Lots of smiles and clapping for the Cowboys today. Go Pokes!

Celebrating 14 months

Today our precious Mattie Cakes is 14 months old. She is getting so big and is really thriving at her new school. Miss Sandy and Miss Rachel have really helped us to have an easy transition. Some of the first feedback we received was how energetic she is and that she loves to climb on everything... no surprise! :) Our little girl is always on the go and loves to climb and get into just about everything.

This past week she has started taking a few steps by herself. I've counted her taking up to 5 steps unassisted, so it will be not time at all before she's walking everywhere - scary! She walks great holding on to one of our hands and has also mastered dancing by herself standing up. She loves music and is always bouncing up and down. It is so cute.

She is getting more and more independent and is also particular about how she likes things. For example, tonight she only wanted momma at bedtime. George finally got her to give him a kiss goodnight and afterwards she kept saying 'bye' and waving goodbye. Then she started blowing kisses as I took her upstairs to go to bed. When we got to her room, she would not let me rock her or hold her - she wanted in her bed right away. So, I laid her down and she just snuggled up and closed her eyes. Needless to say, I think she had her mind made up that it was time for her to go to sleep! We are thankful and blessed that she is such a great sleeper. Sometimes, like on nights like this, I wish she wanted to be snuggled every night. But, I am so grateful for the many snuggles we do get. :)

Mattie officially has *5* teeth now. Her top two teeth have finally broke through so we have some new little chompers! It is so different to see her with teeth and we love it!

We hope each of you has a blessed week. We have enjoyed our long weekend with family and are looking forward to George's second game tomorrow night against PC West. Go Pioneers!

Eating chocolate long johns with Papa

We love bubbles!

Big bow made by Nana!

Mattie LOVES watermelon!

Feeling a little sick on this day...

Playing with new friends at school on ORANGE Friday!

Riding Papa's motorcycle

Mattie loves feeding herself

A photo update

Here are a few of the photos we've taken over the past few weeks. Mattie is loving her new school and friends. The only thing she is having a hard time with is naptime. Drop off goes okay as long as she starts eating breakfast right away.

Mattie is getting three new teeth right now so we are trying to keep her comfortable!