Christmas Past & Christmas Present

Last Christmas...

Mati was only 3 months old last year, and we could hardly keep her awake through the festivities. Looking back at this picture, then jumping forward to our Christmas photo this year (a few entries back), she has changed so much! It is amazing all the changes that take place in one short year. Now Mati can walk and talk, eat grown-up food, voice her opinion, throw temper tantrums. Last year, she could hold her head up, smile and drink milk, and that was about it.

This Christmas...

Was so much fun! Blake and I loved watching her get excited about all her new toys this year. Mati is such a fun little person and loved opening her presents. Actually, I think she may have enjoyed opening them even more than playing with the toys inside. When we first arrived in STL on Christmas Eve, we opened presents at Grandma & Grandpa Williams' (my parents) house. Mati was more intrigued by the bow on top the gift than what was inside. When Grandma set the gift in front of her, she grabbed the bow off the top of the box and ran away.

Even after we convinced her to come back and open it, she still wouldnt give up the bow. Although, the table and chairs was a pretty big hit, as well. They are sitting in our dining room now so Mati can have her own dinner parties when she wants. Thanks G&G Will!

Then, we moved on to Grammy & Grandpa Steinbraker's house for the second round of presents on Christmas morning. Mati was able to share the festivities with her new cousin Leila this year. They even got matching presents.

She really didnt have any problems sharing the attention with Leila, which we were very happy about! She did shower Leila with kisses all morning, though. Not sure how excited Leila was about it, but made for some great photo opportunities.

After that, it was on to the Price family Christmas on Christmas night where Mati received penguins, penguins and more penguins. Here she is holding up her penguin cup and bowl. She also got a penguin pillow pet, penguin book and penguin stuffed animal. For some reason, my grandmother (penguins), mother (frogs) and I (elephants) have our own individual animal fancies, and they get passed down in gifts. I wonder what Mati's will be?

Then, finally, we finished up the holiday with the Williams' family the day after Christmas. (This is what happens when all of your family lives in the same city!) Mati's cousin Alexis was kind enough to share her trampoline with Brooke and Mati while the adults were talking.

Then we opened MORE presents. Hopefully Mati doesnt think it is like this every day of the year!

But, my favorite of all the pictures we took at Christmas this year would have to be the tea party. We spent the night at my cousins' Tim & Krissi's house that night and before the girls all went to bed, we let them play tea party with some of Lexi's Christmas presents. They staid there for a surprisingly long time chatting and drinking their "tea." It will be so much fun to have the girls look back on this years from now!

Christmas Party

Some of my friends in Charleston and I decided to get together right before xmas and play dress up with our little ones. We put them in their Christmas outfits and attempted to get a picture of all of them together. Mati was absolutely intrigued by the Christmas tree and shiny ornaments. We havent put ours up yet, and she was too little to remember from last year. I couldnt keep her away! Every time I turned around, she had another ornament off the tree. After several scoldings, she finally started to listen... reluctantly. This is her "I'm not touching the ornaments" face. She can be a stinker, but its so cute! Very difficult to put on a stern face when she looks at me like that.

But, eventually, we all gave in and let them hold ornaments in hopes that they would stand still long enough for us to get a picture. Mati really wanted to share her ornament with baby Lainie.

Thanks again to digital photographs, we were able to get a shot of all the kids sitting and at least facing the general direction of the camera. 3 of us were taking photos, and I think this might be one of the only good ones we got. I had to photoshop Angela's hand out of the picture, which you can still see a little of. She was directing the children while the rest of us were shooting frantically for a good photo.

I meet with these moms and kidos on a pretty regular basis for "play dates." Although, they might be play dates for us as much as for our kids! It is so wonderful to have friends in the same stage of life to get together with. I am so thankful to have them! It made the transition to living here so much easier.

Christmas Card

This is the picture we used for our xmas card this year. Thanks to the wonderful world of digital photography, we were able to get one picture of Mati actually looking at the camera smiling... and about 10 of her trying to wiggle away. We took the photo just before leaving for our annual xmas concert with Blake's fam. Sadly, Mati didnt get to join us in this activity, but we dressed her up to go to Grandma & Grandpa Williams' house anyway. I'm sure she had more fun there than critiquing the St. Louis symphony!

Merry Christmas!

2010

If you didnt get an xmas card, I apologize. Being 6 months pregnant, my mind has been in a fog lately! Send me your address and I'll make sure you get one next year.

Funny Face

I love this face! And thanks to my cousin Emma, we have captured it on camera. Not sure how Mati stumbled upon the look, but its her favorite face to make these days.

So long, only child

Mati is going to have a little brother! The ultrasound pictures are in, and its definitely a little man we are looking at.

I am sure that he will be thoroughly embarrassed one day, when he realizes that we have exposed him to all of the internet! And we will remind him that on that day, he was not the least bit shy about it. In fact, its about the only good picture we got from the ultrasound. Most of them are blurry. The tech had a difficult time getting any good images of his face or profile because he kept wanting to show off the other end. Here is the best profile shot we have.

And, so Mati doesnt feel left out, a look back at her, too...

Mati was definitely smaller when we had the ultrasound taken of her at 18 weeks. Blake thinks that is a good sign. Hopefully the little guy will have some of the size that Mati never got.

Blake has attempted to explain that there is a baby in mommy's tummy, but Mati always runs for her dolls as soon as she hears the word. I guess it is a plus that she knows what a baby is, at least. Hopefully the transition wont be too difficult for her, since she is still so young. I assume that a few days after baby boy arrives on the scene, she will forget that there ever was life before him.

We are still working on boy names. This is turning out to be much more difficult than girl names ever were. We actually had a girl name picked out for this baby, but as he showed us earlier, he is all man! Any suggestions? (Seeing as we named out daughter Matilda, the top 20 most common names probably wont make the cut.)

Evil Pumpkins!

Or so Mati thought. Apparently big orange things are SCARY! She hated every minute of the mini photo shoot.

Grandpa and animal crackers came to save the day, though.

Cousin Leila did much better. Such a brave little one!

So we left the pumpkins and headed for the apple trees. These went over alot better than the pumpkins. I guess the size is a little less intimidating.

And the taste is so much sweeter! You'd think the lack of teeth (still none!) would phase her, but she was not to be deterred.

Before leaving, we gave the pumpkins one last shot. This time, Daddy was there to protect her, and it went much better. I love this family photo.

A New Bestie!

Welcome to the family, Baby Leila!

The stork brought Mati a new cousin (with a little help from Aunt Lori). Baby Leila Westra was born on September 11, 2010. She weighed in at over 8lbs 5oz and was 20 3/4 inches long... nothing like Mati at birth. :) The first thing we noticed was those giant, kissable cheeks. She is such a beautiful little girl, and we are all so thankful that momma and baby are healthy and happy.

Mati was so excited to meet Leila, and loved her from the start. The only problem... she had a little trouble keeping her hands to herself. Its not often that she sees someone smaller than her. The pacifier was an exciting new toy as well. Which is funny because we never could get her to take one for long when she was younger.

A Look Back.

In the grand scheme of things, a year seems to be just the blink of an eye. But it is so amazing to see how much our little girl has grown up in that short amount of time. Here are a few photos from a year ago...

Within an hour of being born. She was a beauty from the start!

These photos were taken when she was about 10 days old. She was such a little thing! 5 lbs 15 ounces at birth and only 18 inches long. I love this picture of Blake holding her, because it really shows how tiny she was.

Happy Birthday!

12 months ago we welcomed a new little girl into our lives, and things haven't been the same since. She brings us so much joy, and every day is a new miracle with her in our family. Funny, how it has only been one year, but it seems like there was never a time before she was around. Self-sacrifice takes on a whole new meaning with children, and to my surprise I welcome it gladly. At our bible study the other night, the leader made the comment, "If you struggle with selfishness, have children." This is so true, and yet it doesnt even really feel like sacrifice. She gives me so much more than I could ever give her. Thanks, Mati, for making me a better person, and for being such a wonderful person to be around. You make parenting look easy!

We celebrated Mati's birthday in St. Louis the weekend after her actual birthday. All of our friends and family were there to take part in the festivities. (Thanks for letting us use your house, Tim, Krissi & Alexis!) We are so blessed to have so many wonderful people in our lives who obviously are just as in love with our daughter as we are.

The cake went over pretty well...

It took Mati a few minutes to figure out that the entire thing was just for her, but once she got the hang of it, there was icing everywhere.

She received a climbing gym from Grandma & Grandpa Steinbraker that was an immediate hit. She liked climbing up the slide and peeking over the top...

Opening all those present was pretty exhausting...

But she was not too tired to give the little baby on the toy box a kiss...

The next day, Grandma & Grandpa Westra came with even more presents for Mati. Her favorite (and our least) was the big red fire engine that made real siren noises...

And one more big surprise that weekend... Mati started walking! She took her first few steps a couple days before her party. Here she is showing off her new skill...

(See more photos on facebook)

Down The Shore

Summer Vacation! Yay! This year, we went to see Blake's extended family in Ocean City, New Jersey. We had not been in a few years, so they were all meeting Mati for the first time. At one point, I think there were about 25 of us staying in 2 beach houses. A little cramped at times, but so much fun to see everybody. Mati was a big hit with all the girls. She was a little shy at first, but by the end of the trip was very comfortable with the attention.

As you can see from the first picture, she loved playing in the sand. I was a little nervous about her getting it in her mouth and eyes, but she quickly relieved me of those worries. She was eating sand and rubbing it all over her face within a minute of being put down on the beach. Cleanup afterwards was always a struggle, but I think she would say it was worth it. The one thing on the trip that she absolutely hated was the ocean. I dont blame her, though. One minute, she would be playing happily in the warm sunshine, the next, a freezing cold wave would splash up against her legs. The pictures explain it all...

Pre wave:

Post wave:

All in all, it was a wonderful trip. Mati did a fantastic job on the flight there and back. She slept wonderfully the entire week. We were able to spend lots of time with family we do not get to see often enough. We brought home lots of wonderful pictures. AND, Blake and I were able to spend an entire day, just the 2 of us, in downtown Philadelphia. Thanks to Grammy and Grandpa Steinbraker for watching her all day! In closing, here is a pic of our happy family:

(See more pictures on facebook)

New Digs

Its moving time again. Mati has lived in 3 different places now, and is not even 1 yet. Our lease was up as of July 1, so we decided to try our hand at buying a home. Unfortunately, we are not very good at picking winners. The house we decided on is clothed in a legal nightmare. But, of course, we chose it anyway. Who likes things easy? Technically, it is going through foreclosure and we are renting. I'll spare you the rest of the details. No central A/C and no hot water heater (yet) BUT...

It is a beautiful turn of the century home with 4 times the square footage of our rental. Thick, dark wood trim lines all the windows and doorways, 12 foot ceilings, all wood floors, beautiful cooks kitchen with fancy appliances. Its definitely worth the hassle if we actually get to keep the home.

Kitchen:

Foyer & Front Staircase (disregard the random children, had some friends come see the house with us):

Great Room (had to come up with names for the rooms downstairs since there are so many):

Dining Room:

It obviously needs LOTS of tlc, but has so much character underneath.

The place is not at all childproofed, but luckily Mati isnt walking yet. So far, she is pretty happy here. She has a giant sink in the kitchen to bathe in.

My mom bought her a walker to explore the house in. It took her a day or two to figure it out, and then she was off! She loves picking up speed and running into things, and also the yummy snacks, since it has a tray.

I'll keep you posted on house details as we learn more. We are hoping to buy it in the next 6 months.