Flying This Time

I am taking this little one back to Utah for a couple weeks. Unfortunately, it's a sad circumstance, and Nick won't be coming.

Can I really take this cutie away from his daddy????

Hopefully, seeing grandparents will make up for it. And of course, we'll be back soon!

One Month Old

Matthew is one month old today! Wow.


He
...can sleep through the night (although he often chooses not to!)
...drinks about 4 oz every 4 hours
...tolerates Stitch licking his face
...loves to be cuddled
...insists on being held while moving between 6-730 every night
...loves showers
...sleeps through almost any noise (including vacuuming, hockey games, and his young uncles)
...does not like to be tightly swaddled

Ready for the Game tonight

Bruins play tonight! They lead the series 3 games to 1. We are all dressed to watch the game at home.

A Well Travelled Boy

We began our journey home from Utah.

We stopped in Denver, CO after a drive by Vail.

and through the Eisenhower-Johnson tunnel. It is 1.697 (eastbound) miles long. There's a lot of other cool facts about it (like elevation, records, etc).
While there we dined at the Aquarium restaurant. That fish is bigger than my baby!

We had a great time reading all the signs in Kansas. There were tons more, and they added entertainment to the drive.

Then we proceeded to Kansas City, MO where we had ourselves some fine barbecue.
(Jack Stack at the Freight House)
On our way to Columbus, OH we stopped and saw my friend Megan. It was a nice break from the car.

We also got to see the biggest cross I've ever seen. It stands at 198 feet in Effingham, IL.

Our next stop was Columbus, OH where we had pizza from Donato's. Donato's used to be owned by McDonalds. They make a good pizza.

Then the long journey back to MA starting with the tunnels of PA.

Followed by the Holland Tunnel where Nick did a great job of not getting us killed!!!

Matthew was a great traveler. Stitch traveled in the backseat with Matthew, and aside from a few "Don't step on the baby" did really well. He would curl up and rest his head on the carseat.

And, in case you were wondering....you can fit this much stuff, a dog, a baby, and 2 adults in a Toyota Corolla.

Grandparents

Grandparents hold our tiny hands for just a little while, but our hearts forever. ~Author Unknown

Matthew has been able to spend time with both grandparents while we are out here. Both parties seem to like the deal.

9 Years and Counting

9 years ago today I married my best friend. He was the sweetest, funniest man I knew.
He is still my best friend (and sweet and funny). I love him more today than I did then.

It's been my pleasure to grow with him, and learn with him, and love him. Our adventures have included basement apartments, school, moving across the country, adoption, and house buying among others. I can't wait to see what adventures we undertake in the next 9 years.

Luckily the weather is slightly better- 9 years ago it snowed. Today is cool, but no snow.

FHE: The Candy Bar Game

We have been lucky enough to be starting our journey as three under the helpful eyes of our families. It's been great to have both our moms around, as well as the chaos of my parents house. I'm pretty sure Matthew can sleep through anything since 5 kids under 9, 4 adults, 3 kids over 9, 2 dogs, and a doorbell rang during nap and he didn't even flinch.


Another benefit is getting to play the candy bar game for Family Home Evening. We haven't played it forever (it's not really a 2 player game!). The rules are simple, roll the right number on the dice, put a treat in your paper bag (decorated before the game). Once all the treats are gone, then roll the right number and swipe a treat from someone else's bag! But the catch is you have to remember who has the treat you want. We like to up the ante by having 4 types of Skittles, 3 types of M & M's, 2 different Mambas, you get the picture. My parents have used this game to teach everything from sharing to manners to patience. It's a lot of fun, and always ends with everyone getting the same amount of candy bars and a stomachache!


And because he's so darn cute:

Aunts and Uncles

Uncle Tyten Aunt Chelsea

Aunt Jennie Uncle Easton

Aunt Megan Uncle Mike

Meeting Matthew

Our Birth Mother told us that she was showing super early labor signs on Monday, March 22, 2010. Her checkup with the doctor the previous Thursday hadn't resulted in a change from the expectation that she would go overdue. Well, I was nervous about it, and after some prayer, Nick and I decided to head out on Thursday night. Well, early Thursday, the birth mother let us know she had been having contractions all night, and her mom was taking her to the hospital. I was on pins and needles, and wanted to start driving right then. Nick had to run into work as he was trying to fit 6 days worth of work into 2 days in order to leave early. He was a true sport, and his boss was awesome and let him leave almost as soon as he arrived. When he got home, we threw the car together, and left. In the meantime, the birth mother had gone to the hospital. She wasn't far enough along to check in, so they gave her pain meds, and sent her home. We got on the road and started driving. We kept getting updates, and found out she went back to the hospital after dinner. We were driving through Ohio when her water was broke. Not 20 minutes later, we got the phone call. No voice, just some crying! We were hearing our baby's first cry!!! We immediately started getting pictures sent to our phones. We pulled over at the next rest stop about 30 miles from Cleveland, OH. We called parents, and sent texts to friends, and viewed with wonder our little boy.

Unfortunately, we still had about 28 hours to go to get to him. We were on an adrenaline high, so we kept driving, and driving, and driving. We planned to stop on the West Side of Chicago. Great plan, except we passed the hotel where we had made our reservation. The next hotels were all fully booked. We stopped about 7am Friday March 26, 2010 at a rest stop and slept for 2 hours. We were still super excited, and wanted to get to our baby. Then back on the road. We spoke to family throughout the day. We also made a reservation in Cheyenne, WY. We arrived in Cheyenne around midnight. We were so exhausted, we crashed into bed, and slept. I'm very happy we did as a storm rolled through Wyoming while we slept. We ended up driving through crappy weather, almost white out conditions from Cheyenne to Rawlins. Then, it cleared right up. We saw semis jackknifed on the side of the road, and cars being pulled out of ditches. We knew that stopping was the best thing we could have done.

We finally got to the hospital about 3pm on Saturday, March 27, 2010. It was so exciting to hold my baby. We were able to check him out of the hospital and head to our temporary home.