Matt is 3!

Well although August 31st is not officially here yet, we have already celebrated Matt's birthday twice!!

We had a surfer party at the pool with all our friends from the neighborhood and all our family from San Antonio came up too. I just want to thank everyone for coming! Matt had such a great time because of all of you who were there. He loved having all his cousins and friends there. It was so much fun I can't wait to get together with everyone again! I'll let the pictures speak for me. The slideshow is on the blog. Just a note....you can click on it so you can see the larger pictures and of course my funny comments. Thank you all for spending your day with us and thank you to all the Grandparents who helped with the party!!!!

Matt really liked his new black cowboy hat and sandbox that he got for his birthday. He got to wear his new hat on Saturday night at the horse races. He wore the black cowboy hat, a football t-shirt, khaki shorts, tennis shoes and a bandana around his neck. I wish I had a picture of that. It was hilarious but he didn't care. He had the time of his life at the races with his Nene, Great Tia, Great Granny, and Great Uncle Johnny. Romancing Mary qualified for the big race so she'll be racing again in 2 weeks!

We also had a little party at Matt's new school. Sister Mary made Matt a birthday crown and we all had cupcakes! The best part was that Doug and I got to see a little of what goes on in class. They sang a few songs and acted some of them out. It was really great. Matt's teachers have been so complimentary of him so far. Mrs. Linda was so thankful that he always helps her clean up and she thought it was hilarious that when they talked about the Olympics Matt went on and on about how he liked Michael Phelps. Who doesn't? Since Matt has watched MP in the pool he's been a little more aggressive in the water which is great.

So we'll take a break this weekend and just have some fun over Labor Day. No traveling or big plans. Just the 4 of us spending some good family time together.

A Little Catch Up

Okay I need to catch up a bit here....so my Dad brought Matt back home from San Antonio so we could get ready for school. They stopped at Katy Mills mall on the way for a break and apparently Matt and Grandpa both had a blast. They rode the carousel and Grandpa said Matt said they had to run. So they ran the length of the entire mall! For those of you who have been to Katy Mills you know it's huge! So Grandpa got a good work out in.

Then Papa and Nona Lisa (Doug's Dad and his wife) came up for a concert here in town. Matt had fun hanging out with them. They bought him some baseball cleats for the Fall and Matt has been wearing them ever since! He is SO excited about them. We can't wait for him to start T-ball.

On Saturday we went to Baby Ashdin's 1st birthday party. His Mom and I used to work together at Continental and have been mistaken for twins although we look nothing alike. They live in our neighborhood and Ashdin is in Marlie's class at Primrose. The best part of the party is when Marlie leaned over to give him a kiss. It was so cute and even more hilarious when afterwards Ashdin put his head down on the floor and cried. Apparently she kisses him at school too and he's just tired of it! HA! She was also showing her belly to everyone. So between kissing boys and lifting up her shirt.....well maybe we have some work to do. This picture of the "kiss" doesn't do the moment justice but it's the best we got!

Matt's First Day of School

Matt started PreK-3 on Thursday. He is now going to St. Mary Magdalene in Humble. We are really excited about the new school and he seems to like it so far.

On Wednesday night we went to "Meet the Teacher". Thanks to my friend Nicole (whose blog is linked on this page) Matt had a nice gift for his teachers with a few little things they would need for the classroom. He was excited to give it to her. Mrs. Mary and Sister Mary will have the wonderful opportunity to teach Matt over the next year. It will be interesting to see if their hair grays as much as mine has in the last year.

Matt walked in to his new classroom that night like he had been there already and when his friend Nate (from the duo Nate & Edi - see talk about Edi in earlier blog) walked in his face just lit up! We are all very excited that Nate is in Matt's class. Nate went to school with Matt at Primrose so it's nice to have a friend join him in his new school (just so you know Nate is also the man that Marlie just might have to marry. He is SO handsome and has a sensitive side too. He's a Momma's boy for sure!). Matt didn't want to go home that night but we promised him he'd be back first thing in the morning.

Well after "meet the teacher" I had tons of homework!!! First on my list was to make lunch for the next 2 days because the hot lunches weren't going to be ready until next week. We had already bought Matt a Lightening McQueen lunch box for Marlie to give him for his birthday. So we had to do that a little earlier than planned. When we told him Marlie bought that for him he asked "Did Marlie drive to get it?" Okay so maybe he's not that smart after all. But he loved it and gave her a big hug and kiss.

So off he went on his first day. I have to admit this picture is not from the first day. I was so excited I forgot the camera. But this is his second day so hopefully that counts. Please note that he picks out his own clothes every day so there's only so much I can do!! He loves school so far and we are excited. I was so emotional that day both droping him off and picking him up. Why I don't know. But I guess this "school" is a real school with a bell in the morning that scared him and drop off and pick up times. A whole new ball game. Today is Saturday and he was sad that he couldn't go to school. So we're off to a great start!

Comma Chameleon

For those of you who read the title and think I'm going to blog about Boy George's hit song from the past are officially old.

Uncle Jay got done coaching summer baseball in North Carolina and came to visit for a few days. Matt had a blast showing off his baseball moves. He also liked my brothers "pets" I guess is what you'd call them.....Mardy and Tiny the chameleons. I didn't want to touch them but tried to be brave for Matt and managed to let one climb up on my head. That still didn't convince Matt to hold one but oh well I took one for the team. Matt did pet them and Marlie tried too but she has no idea what "gentle" means so she just wacked them.

They were cute and colorful but I'll stick with my lap dogs no matter how much they bark! Call me old fashioned. Or better yet, cut the old and let's just say fashioned!!!

Party Girl

Only 1 more day until Matt comes home!!! I can't wait to squeeze him when I see him. I wonder if he even wants to come home? Every day he's out and about doing something fun with his cousins. I've already asked Doug's parents if next summer they can take care of me for 2 weeks. He is living it up let me tell you. I can't wait to hear all the stories from him. Counting down the hours.........

Little Miss Marlie has been living it up too with her brother out of sight. We still can't believe some of the things she says. The most exciting was yesterday morning I said "I love you Marlie"....as I do about 50 times each day.... and she said it back!!! It was so wonderful!! She's spent the weekend saying all sorts of things including "let's go" and "yahoo". She is also starting to sign well and spends most of the day signing "please" because she's always up to something and needs help. How can you say no? She is a hoot!

We went to our friend Payton's birthday party at Gymboree this weekend. It was great to see all of my old work friends and the little ones. They are all so cute and growing up so fast. I wish Matt would have been there, he would have had a blast with Payton and Kate. Marlie had tons of fun but of course loved the balls and playing basketball. We really need to start hanging out with more girls so she learns "girl" type things. At home she cries if Doug or I are not in sight. But at Gymboree she could have cared less if we were there!

Missing Matt but Catching up with Marlie

Today is Tuesday and Edouard, Marlie and I are going to be hanging out all day. No Edouard is not my latin lover. He is the Hurricane that has come to visit. So far so good. Just some heavy rain.

Doug took Matt down to San Antonio last Thursday and my life just seems incomplete without him around. I miss him terribly but he is having a blast with his Grandparents and cousins. Every day we get an update and it seems to be nonstop fun. Doug's Dad and wife Lisa own a great gym so Matt and 2 of his cousins are going to gymnastics camp this week. Matt has been talking about it for awhile and keeps asking if we're going to go watch him. Breaks my heart. I'd love to be there. He'll come home on Monday and will start his new school on Thursday. He already has his Spiderman backpack that he is super excited about! More to come on that when he actually starts. But I have to tell you that Matt is an official celebrity. He is on the front page of the Houston Chronicle's Outdoor section. Check it out. I'm not sure how long it will be posted out there. http://www.chron.com/sports/texashuntingandfishing/

Doug had his annual guys weekend last weekend and I can't stop laughing at the fact that there was actually leftover beer brought back and that he was exhausted because they were out late but up at 7:00am each morning. Once you have kids you have trouble sleeping in. Sounds like they had fun though and unfortunately we don't have any incriminating photos to post.

Well let me tell you a little about this girl they call "Marlie". In the last week she has decided she can say as much as Matt. She is talking nonstop and we can make out a lot of it. My memory is coming back as she is now at the stage where she wants something and is frustrated when she tries to communicate and we don't understand her. So there's been lots of crankiness lately but we're so proud of her. So far her favorite color is "yellow" (she says it beautifully) and her favorite phrase is "I want to get down" although it sounds more like "I un a ge own". In the mornings she just says it over and over until someone comes to get her. She has also taken to the Brown Bear book and we've read it about 100 times in the last week. I can't get her interested in other books but we'll keep trying.

This weekend we met my dear friend Phuong and her daughter Mikayla at the Children's Museum. I've known Phuong since junior high and her daughter is 4 days younger than Marlie. Mikayla bought Marlie her buggy for her first bday that she loves! We had a blast but sometimes it's hard to believe that we're Moms of these little helpless creatures. Mikayla is as sweet as can be. I compare Marlie to Matt all the time so Marlie seems sweet to me. But not even close to Mikayla. She is so calm and easy going. I just had to hug her and squeeze her! It was great! We can't wait until they're old enough to want to go shopping! Maybe they'll be college roommates someday. You never know. I have put some pics in the slideshow as well!