An Abundance of Pictures~

This post is just plum-stock full of pictures! I take loads of pictures, but I don't get much time to sit here and update. Marty is putting Ezekiel to bed right now and it is nice and quiet, so I was able to upload some pictures (23 in fact). These are from various days and various functions...enjoy (or just skip if you prefer not to be doused in the Matthews).

Last month, we did two lobster fests. It added up to a lot of lobster for Marty; not so much for me. At the first one (they were on back to back days), I ate a lobster claw and about 10 clams and got SO sick. I've sworn off seafood until the end of my pregnancy.

The first was at my mom's. I didn't get to snap many pictures because everyone was in, cooked, then stood up and left. Marty and I hung out for a few hours after everyone left breaking down tables and chairs and just generally cleaning up.

Here's Ezekiel getting ready to start the first Lobster Day:


Grammy and Ezekiel hanging out in the kitchen:


Daddy and E. self portrait "After the Lobster":


Passed Out:


Then, we hit Marty's Aunt Kathy's for our second Lobster Fest.

Ezekiel got to meet Uncle Jeff's and Aunt Feather's dog Byrum of whom he fell in love with (which compelled Marty to shout out to the heavens "I WANT A PUG!")


And again, but posing this time:


Nana, Nana Patty, and Greg enjoying some lobster:


The "Kid" table:


Jenny and Ezekiel hanging out:


The Matthews Boys - Jeff, Marty, and Ezekiel:


Daddy is showing off Ezekiel's first pair of shoes:


Mama has gone nutty with Matthews:


I think Marty had three (?) lobsters and an uncountable number of clams. If you are a lobster lover, come to Maine - they are delicious and relatively cheap ($5.19/lb). We may even let you stay in our spare room....for a lobster....

This is how me and Ezekiel look when we are busy blogging. We are starting him early on the computer (he already has his own keyboard).


**Are you still reading?**

Yesterday we had to do some MAJOR cleaning. Our apartment was being inspected by the fire department today and we wanted the place to be ship-shape. It is difficult to clean when Ezekiel does not want to be put down. Fortunately for us, my sister Beckie made me a Mei Tai carrier (unfortunately for me, it doesn't fit me right - but it DOES fit Marty). Marty strapped Ezekiel on his back and got to scrubbing the kitchen. After about 4 hours of slapping Daddy, pulling his hair, and crumbling strawberry cookie down his back, Ezekiel took a snooze:


HERE COME THE BATHTIME BABY PICTURES! Are you ready for an abundance of cute??

Really happy about playing in the tub:


Mohawk + Crushing Cups On Face = Totally Awesome Baby:


All Clean!


A video of Splash Time:


Done with pictures, done with bathtime, done with lotion - ready for a nap:


It's Self Portrait Time! We love taking self portraits. Maybe a bit much....

Daddy and Ezekiel being silly:


Uh, Oh, Daddy - you missed your head!


Mirror shot after the bath:


And...another...just a little better angled:


And one more for the finish..Mommy and E. being silly:


In the future, I will try to update more often so I don't have to slam everyone with tons of pictures :)

A new video - and it isn't Ezekiel!

We spent the day going to various doctors' appointments today. The first was an ultrasound to check out our little baby's progress. The baby is looking good - he/she is not cooperative at all (even worse than Ezekiel was!). Ezekiel got a kick out of watching the "bouncy thing" on the "tv screen" in the doctor's office. He laughed and laughed. He also made friends with just about every person in the waiting room. He crawled around, smiling at people and then waving goodbye when he was on to his next target. He would have made it through the whole place, but a cute little blond girl came in and sat next to him and he was just a goner. He actually took his Veggie Puffs out of his diaper bag and brought them over to her and gave them to her. Then he just stood there, rubbing her hand, smiling at her. She was an older lady too - I bet she was pushing 3.

My appointment with Dr. Burkley was so good for me. We have been kind of worried about a couple of things for the past two weeks and she just was so positive and proud. She was like "I don't know how you've done it, but you have! You have conquered the odds once again with this pregnancy!" She also said that she was really concerned and really thought that I would have miscarried by now but she said that she *finally* thinks that we are out of the woods with that one. Hallelujah!

As I said, we had our ultrasound today. We got to get it on DVD. I was going to post bits of it, but then decided..ahh, heck, just post the whole thing. If you get sick of it, you can just stop it :) What you see is our little baby bouncing around, being measured, and having the heart rate checked. The ultrasound was supposed to check for Trisomy 18 .. but as I said, the baby just wouldn't get into the right position. But, here it is...ENJOY!

Just a little Dancing Video

Just a Reminder..

He really is *that* cute.

A new blog

I haven't blogged much lately because, honestly, all I want to do is sleep. It is hard finding time to sleep when your husband is working 60+ hours a week and you have a very spicy 8 month old child. When I get 8 hours, I rejoice! This baby is wiping me out even more than Ezekiel did (I know - amazing!)

We did go to the Boothbay Aquarium again yesterday with Beckie, her kids, Mandy, and Little Kevin. That was enjoyable as always. It is a long ride, but it is really worth going. Ezekiel loves it when I stand him up against the fish tanks so he can look in, bang on the glass, and scream at the fish. He also gets a kick out of the sharks coming up at him. He tries to stick his hands in the water to pet them, but I only let him when they have gone to the other side of the tank. I know they say it is perfectly safe - as long as you don't touch down by their mouths - but I'm not going to chance E's tender little morselly fingers. He got squirted by a sea cucumber. That was pretty rich. It was like it was peeing sea water at him when he touched it. After the aquarium, we went down by the coast and let the kids play on the grass. The older kids played chase and Ezekiel tried his best to keep up by crawling back and forth, screaming and squeeking every time the kids got close to him. He got so wiped out, he fell asleep on his feet while Beckie rubbed his neck. It was so cute. The absolute best part of the whole day was when we were all sitting around in the grass and I heard this "Pssffftt" and then "shhplat". I was like "what the deuce was that??" I look over at my little sister Mandy and realize - she has just had her head and her chest shat upon by a sea bird. IT MADE MY DAY! Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures.

I do have pictures of Ezekiel from the other night though. Here is Ezekiel taking a bath with Marty. I had to crop a bunch of the picture out..but E. still looks like a cutie:


This next one is of him playing with his Dora castle. If anyone here that reads my blogs has ever seen my kindergarten picture, then they will be amazed at how much E. looks like me in it.


And, last but not least, here is a video of Ezekiel being silly with his Dora castle. If you notice the disaster in the background - it is because E. is a dervish.

some news

I've been holding off on posting this blog. I'm not so sure why..but I have. Almost two weeks ago, we found out that we are pregnant again! We are super excited, but it is funny the mixed reactions that we have received (Marty does a super blog about the comments - I'll let you read his instead of getting into them myself Marty's Blog). I, personally, have only told a few people. I just wanted to savor the deliciousness of the situation for awhile (remember, I'm the girl that was told that I couldn't have kids..haha, fooled them).

So, before taking a pregnancy test, we kind of knew that I was pregnant. There were definate signs - sore breasts, sudden weight gain, TERRIBLE mood swings, etc. I remember being at Brandie's and Craig's on my birthday and Marty came up behind me in their kitchen and whispered "Honey, you have a "glow", I think you may be pregnant". But I had taken a test and it was negative (well, I pulled it out of the trash a week later and it was positive - I know, I know...I have to stop buying my pregnancy tests at the Dollar Tree).

Anyway - back to my story. I took a test late one night and it was positive. We flipped out. Marty told Roxanne (we had to stay true - she is always the first to find out). Then I called my mom but she wouldn't answer her damn phones! Then Marty called his Dad and let him know (he was SUPER excited). Then Marty was like "maybe we should hold off on telling anyone else". I was like "WHAT? I didn't get to tell ANYONE!" But I agreed to keep my mouth shut. The next day I spent the entire day with Beckie and her kids and I couldn't even tell (even when I was getting pukey to my belly, I had to make up a story). When Marty got home from work that night, I was super proud of not telling anyone - until he says "I only told Angie, Brian, Andrew, and Kim". After hearing that, I brought Ezekiel down to Beckie's with my pee stick and told her and Mark. Then I called my mom and Mandy and told them too. I also let Amy, Brandie, and Craig know (so I guess I caught up to Marty in the number of people told). We slowly told other people (some of their reactions sort of turned us off on telling other people). Again, we are super excited but scared! For some reason, the second pregnancy is scarier than the first (and people that know keep forgetting - it is kind of weird). I can't wait for the first ultrasound to see the new bean bouncing around.

co-sleeping

One of the most rewarding, yet challenging decisions that we have made in raising Ezekiel is to co-sleep. It is certainly a personal decision that doesn't work for every family. We took the time to educate ourselves to the risks; I thought about posting them here, but if you would like to read them, do a search for "cosleeping" on google or visit this wikipedia site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Co-sleeping . You will be able to educate yourself on the risks and the benefits (there are some incredible 30 year studies that have been done on co-sleeping). I do recommend having a big bed (we have a King that sometimes doesn't feel quite big enough). Here are some of my reasons for not forcing the crib on our baby:

* You wake up nose to nose with your baby and you realize that your breathing is synchronized. You marvel at how well your body knows your baby even after they are born.

* A smell permeates your dreams. It etches itself in your memory forever. You realize that it is your baby's skin. Your heart falls head over heels in love again.

* More often than not you are "kissed" awake. Feeling those sweaty little hands holding your face while you get great big, open mouth kisses makes you start every day with a smile.

* Your baby whimpers in his sleep with a bad dream. You roll towards him, kiss his forehead and notice the whimpers turn into a smile as he drifts off.

* And this..sometimes words just don't show what a video can :)