Merry Christmas

I did not mail out Christmas cards because I just ran out of time.  Here is a copy of an email, though that I did send out. :)

Well, have you ever looked at your ever growing to do list and just knew that something had to go.  Well, this year, it has been mailing out Christmas cards.  My sister made this beautiful card for us, but I have just come to realize that I do not have enough time to get them printed, address the cards and get them out before Christmas.

It has been another wonderful year in the Matthews household.
Jeremy continues to work at The Mattress Firm.  I can hardly believe that he has been there for 15 years.  In a time of so much employment uncertainty, we are so grateful that he has a stable job that provides so well for us.  I am still working in the Emergency Department for Children's Healthcare of Atlanta.  This January, I will hit my 10 year anniversary with this great hospital.  I love having a job where I can add a little income to our family, but still be home during the day with our children and not miss any of the fun of being home to raise them.  Mikayla started Kindergarten this year!  She loves her teachers, Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Warren.  She is already reading and has some excellent math skills.  She loves school (thank goodness)!!  Gavin started preschool two days a week this year, as well.  At first, he wasn't too keen on the idea, but now he cries when we don't drop him off at "Gavin's school."  He is always excited to go play with Mrs. Theresa and Mrs. Vicki.

The kids have had a very healthy year free of much illness, but 2010 has proven to be our year of injuries.  On the day after Christmas, last year, Mikayla fell and broke her arm.  That fall resulted in the first Matthews trip to my work for some xrays that showed a break to both bones in her forearm which had to be reset in the ER and put in a cast for about 10 weeks.  She was a great sport about it, though.  Nothing slows that girl down!  Gavin rounded out the year with a broken foot in September and then stitches to his forehead the day before his 3rd birthday.  I hope that we can take a break in 2011.

We had a wonderful family reunion in Destin, Florida with my mother's side of the family.  It was a fun filled week at the beach with 21 adults and 9 children, ages 1 year to 7 years, in one large (thank goodness!) beach house.  It was so nice to spend some time with family that we don't get to see very often.  We are so grateful to Grandma and Grandpa Scott for renting the house and also hiring a photographer to help document the fun week.  We are so indebted to them for the creation of many great memories over our lifetimes.

Finally, we have some exciting news (which is largely responsible for me not having time to mail Christmas cards).  We will be adding a new little one to our family next year.  I am 12 weeks pregnant with the newest little Matthews' baby.  We expect this blessed angel to arrive sometime shortly before July 5th, 2011.  Other than a little bit of nausea and the desire to sleep 24 hours a day, I have had a pretty good first trimester.  I have had a couple of ultrasounds which show a very healthy and active little baby.  We ask for prayers that this continues.

Well, in closing, I hope that each one of you has a wonderful Christmas season.  We pray that you are able to spend it with the ones that you love and that your are able to feel the love that the Savior has for each one of you.  We love each one of you and pray that you have a wonderful year.

To keep up to date with all of the exciting things to come this year in our family, follow our blog www.jeremyandrachelmatthews.blogspot.com .

Merry Christmas and a very blessed New Year!
Love,
Jeremy, Rachel, Mikayla and Gavin

 

Well, I hope you didn’t think I fell of the face of the blog world.  As you can see, I have had other priorities. :)  After, Christmas, I promise to update everyone with the birthdays and holiday fun that we have taken part in over the past 3 months. 

Last night as a two year old…..

Well, Gavin decided he needed to have some excitement for the last night of him being a two year old.  As we were just about to finish bath time and head to bed, he slipped in the tub and cut open his chin.  Thankfully, it was not a big cut, but I knew he needed a few stitches.  So, I loaded him and Kayla in the car, dropped Kayla off at my parents and headed down to the ER.  (For the second time in less than 6 weeks!!)

Gavin hanging out in the waiting room with his numbing jelly on.  He was so active and busy!  You could tell he was up way past his bedtime.  (Which results in him getting hyper) After his stitches, Miss Keri got him a popsicle.  He was very happy about that.  I would like to say that Gavin was a trooper and super brave, but well, he pitched a major fit.   He did NOT like being held down.  He screamed ( high-pitched, glass-shattering ) the whole time.  Thankfully the plastic surgeon was super quick.  As soon as we let go of him, he immediately quieted down.

He got about four or five stitches an they put a steri strip over it so that he wouldn’t be able to pull the sutures out. I thought we deserved some Steak and Shake on the way home.  I did this with Mikayla when she broke her arm.  I think it is a nice tradition.  Hopefully, we don’t have to make it a frequent tradition, though…. I don’t think my waist line could handle it!

Fun Run!

Mikayla’s elementary school holds  a fundraiser “Fun Run” each year.  Family and friends can donate flat donations or pledge money per lap for her to run.  The parents come cheer them along.  It was really a fun little event! This is Mikayla right before the big run.  She was so excited!

She was also happy to have Gavin and I there to cheer her along.  They had some dancing and cheering beforehand – they had a great time doing that together. Mikayla the runner!  She did great!

Gavin entertained himself by playing with his shadow. :)

30 laps!!!  I was so proud of her.

One of her teachers, Mrs. Warren, took our picture.  I was happy to be able to be there for Mikayla’s first big event at her school (even if it was preceded by a night of work and 3 1/2 hours of sleep). 

Fair time!

This has become a fun family tradition for us.  Every year, Jeremy and I look forward to taking our children to the Cumming Country Fair.  It is such a fun event and we love watching our little ones have a great time.  There was a robot that greet the fair patrons near the front gates.  Mikayla was super excited to meet a “real” robot. :)

This year, Mikayla decided that she wanted to ride the ferris wheel.  Jeremy is not a huge fan of heights, but I am love the thrill of going high, so I was super excited to go on it with Mikayla.  This is a picture of her just as we got into the cart right before we went up.  Isn’t she the picture of nervous excitement?? This is a picture looking down as we start to go up.  We were the first to get loaded on the wheel, so we got to take a slow trip all around as they loaded it up. 

This is our view from the top.  We were so high!  I have to admit that I was a little nervous as we were going up.  I started second guessing my decision about thinking it was a good idea to bring my wiggly five year old onto a ride with no seatbelts (there was a safety bar.  Thankfully, she understood how important it was to be still and to sit back.  A picture of us as we went around and around!  I was so proud of her.  I could see that she was a little nervous as we went around the first time, but after that she just had fun and enjoyed the view.  I will never forget this “first” for her. :) This was the first year that Gavin could really ride most of the “little kid” rides.  They decided to tackle this little roller coaster first.  As you can see, they both loved it!

They really had a great time riding everything together.  Mikayla was so kind and let him pick where they sat.  She is such a thoughtful sister.  

They also had a petting zoo there.  It was filled with mini kangaroos (aka joeys), a llama, a zebra, tortoises, birds and several other animals.  Mikayla also had the opportunity to feed a camel and many goats.  Gavin wasn’t too keen on the idea of letting them eat out of his hand.  He did throw food at them, though. :) This was a little obstacle course that the kids did together.  Last year, Mikayla froze on this bridge and had to be guided off by one of the workers.  Well, this year, she was still pretty timid and got a little frustrated when other kids made the bridge move, but she did finish it all by herself.  She was apparantly a little slow, though.  When given the chance, Gavin pushed right by her and ran ahead.  That boy has no fear! The final ride of the night was the merry go round.  They both loved it and loved that Jeremy and I could go on it with them. 

We had such a great night together…I can’t wait for next year!

Big Girl Occasion!

Mikayla has been talking about getting her ears pierced for a little bit, but it has just basically been in passing.  I told her that whenever she felt ready I would be happy to take her.  Well this past Sunday, she decided that she wanted to have them pierced.  I explained to her in GREAT detail how she would get her ears pierced.  I also told her that she would have to let me clean her ears and turn her earrings several times a day for a very long time (6 weeks is a very long time for a 5 year old!).  She was still set on getting her ears pierced so after school on Monday we headed to the mall. 

I was SO IMPRESSED with how wonderful  she did.  She never wavered in her decision.  She picked out some cute little multicolored floral studs.  When they pierced the first ear, she did get a little teary (understandably), but she never yelled or fussed.  She was a little apprehensive about getting the second year pierced, but she held on tight to me and we got it done.  I think I may have been a little more emotional about it than her (at least on the inside).  I was just sitting there holding her with amazement in how fast she was growing up.

My big girl with freshly pierced ears!  When we got home Gavin wanted earrings too. :)  Thankfully the single Mrs. Potato Head Earring that made him look like a pirate was enough!

Gavin’s injury….continued

Well, after wearing the long leg splint for the prescribed 48 hours, Gavin was still not wanting to bear any weight.  He was starting to show more tenderness to the foot/ankle area, so I decided to take him to the pediatrician for a recheck.  They ordered some foot films which showed this….

Poor little guy has a broken foot :( .  There isn’t a ton that you can do for this unfortunately.   We spent a couple of days of me carrying him around (EVERYWHERE!).  After seeing very little improvement we decided to see the orthopedist to see if anything could be done to make him feel a little more comfortable.    They put him in something called a “Wee Walker.”  I unfortunately never got a picture of him in it, but it is basically just a  cast of sorts that Velcros on (which means we can take it off for baths and sleeping).  It has a hard bottom which made it much easier for him to walk around in.    He wore this for a little over a week and we have now graduated to just a hard soled shoe.  He still has a pretty good limp, but he is doing great.  The only down side of all of this (other than the four trips to doctors offices and x-ray facilities and the $300+ spent on everything) is that any advances we had made in potty training were completely lost.  Not being able to walk and move around made that very difficult.  Since he is now walking more normally, we are getting back on track with that and will hopefully be back to a daytime PullUp free existence by next week!

Fun times in the ER

About two and a half weeks ago, Jeremy was out of town for a boys weekend.  I had to work on Friday night, so the kids spent the night at my mom’s house.  I slept Saturday morning at my mom’s and then got up so that I could spend some time with the kids.  My mom and I were in her kitchen when we hear a jump and then a cry.  This isn’t highly unusual with two rowdy kids, but the crying persisted.  I ran upstairs and Gavin was crying and not wanting to walk on his right foot.  Apparently, he had jumped off of the bed (with no assistance from his sister, or so I am told….).  Gavin is not one to cry for long after he is hurt.  It is actually a little bit of a running joke that all he needs is a kiss and it is instantly “all better!”  This time, however, the kisses did not heal all wounds.  Gavin cried (really hard) for at least 45 minutes and he still refused to bear weight.  So, after just having left work in the ER about 8 hours earlier, we headed down to the ER to get Gavin checked out.  Aside from the complete fit (and I mean MAJOR) he threw in triage because he couldn’t hold the Buzz Lightyear doll that was out there, he did pretty well.  The Child Life Specialist showered Mikayla and him with lots of activities to do.

This is a picture of Gavin watching Toy Story.  He is a little obsessed with Toy Story (wait for a whole blog post on that!) and that movie came on at the perfect time.  Our visit in the ER cut into his nap so he was a little whiney.    This is a picture of Mikayla with all of the stickers that she was given.  I think I remember her commenting on how fun it was to come to mommy’s work.  (She just needs to keep it at social visits though!)

This is a picture of the three of us taken by my mom (thanks for coming and keeping me sane!) on my camera phone.  They did an x-ray of his leg which showed no fracture.  However, since he still refused to bear weight the decided to put him in a long leg splint.  As you can imagine, he was a little less than thrilled about wearing that.  I wish that was the end of our story, but that is for a whole ‘nother blog post!

First Day of Preschool

  So, I hope that Gavin doesn’t have a terrible case of “second child syndrome.”  He started preschool a month ago and I am just now blogging about it.  As we were talking to him in the weeks prior to starting, Gavin would usually say, “I no want to go to school!”   Needless to say, I was a little nervous about he would do. 

When the first day arrived, Gavin was actually pretty excited.  He was excited to go to school “like See-kah.”  :)

  Isn’t he a handsome little man?

When we dropped him off, Gavin, he was less than thrilled to be taken out of the car in the car pool line.   When I picked him up, however, he kept telling me how much fun he had.  So all in all, I think he had a great first day of school.

After school, we went by McDonald’s at brought it back home.  The weather was just wonderful, so I decided that we should eat it on the back porch.  It was a nice little lunch date with my little man

Early Release fun

 

So, with Mikayla in full day school five days a week, we don’t have as many opportunities to go on outings during the week like we used to.  For her first Early Release Day, we decided to take advantage of a great deal at the Georgia Aquarium and spend the afternoon there with some friends of ours.   Mikayla and Gavin had a great time hanging out with Matthew!  They all had a great time and if you can forget the last fifteen minutes that included a complete meltdown by Gavin, the did really well. (In Gavin’s defense it was the middle of nap time and he couldn’t go on the obstacle course because he was about 3 inches too short)

Mikayla hanging out with “Deepo.”

Looking at the jellyfish.

Gavin gazing in absolute amazement in the tunnel that leads to the big window.

  The aquarium has laminated cards that you can borrow so that the little ones can attempt to name all of the fish that are in the tank.  They didn’t really succeed, but they had fun anyways.

I am so glad that we made this trip downtown.  It was a loud car with four little ones (two of which needed naps and another two that were crazy excited to see one another) and they were a little active at the aquarium, but it was a really fun afternoon. 

Touch a Truck

In my hometown of Alpharetta, the have an annual “Touch a Truck” where they have lots of different vehicles, trucks, vans, etc. at a park.  The admission is free and your children are able to climb all over lots of fun equipment.  It was held a couple of weekends ago, so we decided to take our little ones down there.  The kids had a blast!  There was so much to look at.  Gavin was a little overwhelmed at first, but he warmed up to everything soon.   This was a dune buggy that they sat in.

  Mikayla really enjoyed showing Gavin what she gets to ride home from school everyday.   She also enjoyed pretending she was the bus driver! This was an antique car that Mikayla pretended to drive.   She thought it looked pretty cool. They had a balloon artist there that made Gavin a dog and Mikayla a mouse. Gavin driving an older firetruck (that is just used for birthday parties now).  That was fun for him! Both of my little Georgia kiddos driving a John Deere tractor.

We had a great morning – the weather was so pleasant which was a very nice change from the sweltering heat that we had been having.  It was also just nice spending some time together as a family.  With our crazy schedules it can be pretty hard to have these moments where we are all together.   I am so grateful for these opportunities.