Menzie World

Big Boy Reddin

2010-02-16T17:29:00.005-05:00

I just wanted to post these cute pictures of Reddin having his last bottle. This was on New Year's Eve night. Redd REALLY loved the bottle, and I wasn't sure how it was going to be trying to break him of it. Mattie really didn't care too much about her bottle by the time she was one year old, but Reddin really enjoyed cuddle time with his bottle before his naps. My goal with both kids was to have them broken of the bottle within a week of them turning one. It was a cinch with Mo, but I was nervous about Redd. Plus, I really was scared I would be giving up cuddle time, with him giving up the bottle. I stuck with my goal though, and he was fine. I sat down with him, knowing it would be his last bottle, and I fully enjoyed watching him and contemplating the first year of his life. I couldn't believe how fast it had flown by. I am happy to report that my little guy still loves cuddle time, although its with a sippy cup now!

Christmas 2009

2010-02-16T17:20:00.001-05:00

I know, I am SO late on posting this, but I thought better late than never! We spent Christmas Eve at the Berger's house for their annual party.
We had some yummy food and watched the children act out the Christmas story/Nativity. Mattie chose to be an angel. (I think there has only been one year where she was something else!) Reddin wasn't in the play this year, but he sure tried to be!

(I love his "cheese" face, here with my sister Stephanie!)

After the party we headed over to my sister's house to do presents with her family, my brother's family and Grandma. It was fun watching Reddin and Lochlan try to figure out the whole present thing. Of course Mattie was quick to lend a hand!

(Christmas jammies for Momo and Redman!)

At home, Matt and Mattie put out food for the reindeer and left cookies for Santa on a super cute plate my sister made. Matt and I actually went to bed pretty much after the kids, and that was a first! Usually we are up for hours wrapping, but this year I made us wrap a couple of weeks before hand. It was lovely, especially since we knew we would be waking early to do presents before Matt headed off to work.Yes, he had to work on Christmas and was gone for 6 days! It was stinky, but we were grateful to have him home to celebrate Christmas morning with us. The kiddos loved their presents and it was so much fun watching their excitement.

Matt left for work, but not before playing a few games with Mo! Grandma and I took over after he left.

That evening we headed over to my sister's for Christmas dinner. Growing up, I spent many Christmases in Biloxi, MS at my grandparents home. We always had a roast on Christmas Day and then on Boxing Day we had an amazing meal of seafood! We decided to skip the roast and just get to the good stuff this year! We had barbecued shrimp (my grandfather's recipe), boiled shrimp and potatoes, salad, french bread and grilled lobster tail! It was all so yummy. Mattie does not care for seafood at this time in her life and I hoping she grows out of that. Reddin on the other hand really enjoyed the seafood! (He also likes spicy food, and it just melts my heart to see some of my blood in that boy!) We did the traditional English Christmas crackers and wore our silly hats, just like my Gma always made us do.

It was very sad not having Matt home for all of our festivities, but we are happy he at least has a job in this crazy day in age! Christmas was great, regardless!

Truly Humbled

2010-01-31T21:05:00.004-05:00

I feel like I need to get my feelings down about this weekend, while they are still fresh in my mind. I received a call from a member of my Stake Presidency this week. He told me that he needed to meet with Matt and I before stake conference was to take place. I told him Matt would be back in town on Friday night, and then I tried to get out of him which one of us the meeting would be about. Of course he wouldn't tell me. I immediately began to feel worried and anxious. I kept telling myself that the calling could be for Matt, but deep down I think that I knew it was going to be for me.

Pres. Rivoli came to our home on Friday night and after some chit chatting, turned to Matt and said, "Matt we would like to extend a calling... to your wife." My heart was pounding, as he told me that my name had been submitted to be called as the 1st counselor in the Stake Young Women's presidency. My first thought was, "Who on earth would submit my name? It must be somebody I know." These are the things I asked Pres. Rivoli, and he told me that she didn't know me and it was a very interesting story at how she came to choose me. This is the part that has been extremely humbling for me.

(I contemplated sharing the story in our blog, but I have decided not to. I am more than happy to share it, just ask, but have decided against actually posting the story.)

For a long time I have had a strong testimony that the Lord personally knows us and our needs, but sometimes I just go along in life and forget. The way I came to receive this calling was once again a testament to my knowledge of having a Heavenly Father that knows me personally! I can think of a TON of women in my stake who would be amazing at this calling. I am humbled to know that the Lord wants me to serve the YW of my stake at this time in my life. I feel so inadequate. I feel like I have SO much more to learn and that I am SO imperfect. With those things being said, I will say this, I have SUCH a love for the YWs program. I don't even know how to put into words the love I have for the young women of my ward, who I have been serving for the last couple of years. I love these girls as if they were my own, and I am overjoyed at the prospect of having that love grow for the young women of my stake. I grew up in the church and I remember how much the YWs program and my leaders meant to me as a teenager. I know the struggles that face these girls at this time in their lives, and I pray for them as they step up to the advisory. I have a strong testimony that there is a YM/YWs program in place in the church because it is what we need to help prepare us for the world, as we become adults.

I will most definitely miss the time I got to spend with "my girls" each week, it was a huge blessing in my life. They made me feel so young! I want them to know how much I love each of them and that they can still turn to me if they ever need anything. I am saddened at the thought of not being there in the YW's room each week along side Janet and Kendra. You ladies have been two of my best friends and I will ALWAYS remember how much fun we had being the "adults"! The YW are so blessed to have you both, and I hope they know how much you love them. I am excited to be working with the new stake YWs presidency. I have already spoken with the new president a few times and she seems wonderful. I pray that I will be able to do this calling well and not let my Father in Heaven down. I am grateful for this opportunity to serve and as I said before, truly humbled.

Approaching 30...

2010-01-11T22:26:00.002-05:00

Yes, I am quickly approaching the next decade of my life and let me tell you I have been dreading it for YEARS. I don't know why the thought of turning 30 is such a terrible thing for me, but it is. Maybe it is because I still feel like a 24 year old, or maybe it is because I have loved my 20s and don't want to leave them, or maybe its because I just don't ever want to get old! For the last 2 years I have told Matthew that we are going to need to do something fun for my 30th, so that I won't be depressed. He saved a week of vacation to use just for me, thinking that we could possibly go some place super fun or exotic. But alas, we have the means of transportation and no money. Flying for free is great, but when there is no money to do anything once you get there, it kind of defeats the purpose! Anyway, we were however able to get a 3 day/2 night cruise booked to the Bahamas for very inexpensive. I have never been on a cruise, so I am very excited about it. Plus being able to spend some time with Matt without our kiddos will be great fun too! And this brings me to the point of this post...

I am about to turn 30, my baby just turned one and I am still carrying around extra weight. I would like to lose some more of this extra weight before the cruise, so that I can feel good about myself and enjoy it even more. I actually don't have a ton to lose weight wise, but the inches around the middle need to be worked on. It is not a huge secret that I have struggled with self-image issues for a majority of my life and it is an ongoing battle for me still. Yes it is true that I grew up being SUPER skinny, and yes I know that I am not fat now, but I am however still not able to get into most of my pre-pregnancy clothes, which makes me feel not so great about myself. Will most of you read this and think that I am crazy? Probably. But, I thought that by me posting my goal to start a workout routine, it would keep me motivated to stay on it!

This was me when I was 23 years old and got engaged to Matt.

I weighed 120 lbs and I am 5'11. The sad thing is that I use to cry all of the time about how fat I was. (Scary, huh?) Matt put up with a lot! I got pregnant 9 months into our marriage and boy did I enjoy it! I ate EVERYTHING in sight. Seriously I never stopped eating for those 9 months! Everyone told me that I was so skinny and it would be so easy to lose the baby weight. I of course, never really having worked out in my life, believed them. I gained close to 60 lbs. This is a picture of me the morning I went in for my induction to have Mattie.

(My sister find this picture funny and lovingly refers to it as "fat Heather"!)

Losing the baby weight after Mattie was a very hard thing for me. I expected it to just melt off, and let me tell you, it didn't! I became very depressed and consumed with trying to get my old body back. I joined a gym and hired a trainer to teach me how to work-out. I would go to the gym 4 or 5 days a week and yes, starve myself. It lead to a very unhappy Heather, which made for a very unhappy marriage. Finally, when Mattie was about a 18 months old, I acknowledged how unhappy I was (with the help of a very dear friend) and sought help. (My family did try to help me and have interventions, but I just wouldn't face the truth.)

Counseling changed my life! I was able to address my demons and recognize that I had an eating disorder. Matthew was a very patient and loving spouse through out it all, and I am so grateful to have him for eternity.

After finishing counseling, I was able to move on, but not without struggles and fighting. We decided it was time for another baby. It took us almost a year to get pregnant and this time I started out at 130 lbs, a much healthier weight.

I knew that I would be at risk for going through the depression and old eating disorder habits again. I tried to be a little more strict this pregnancy, but still ended up gaining 40 lbs. This was me the morning of my induction for Reddin.

I am happy to say that the obsession with losing weight and feeling crappy about myself ALL of the time never came. Yes there have been many times in the past year where I have looked at my body in the mirror and longed for my 130 lb frame, but I was never consumed by it. I knew that I was able to lose it once, and that I would be able to do it again. So the problem is my baby is one now and I have not gotten into a great exercise routine! I thought for sure I would lose it all by the time Reddin was a year old, but I just haven't worked at it. I have exercised here and there some, but never really "worked" at it. I do know what I need to do, I just haven't had the motivation... until now! Hello I am turning 30 next month and going on a cruise! I want to feel some what good in a bathing suit! Matt is terrible and doesn't help the situation at all, constantly telling me how much he loves my body how it is. Geesh what a guy!

So here it is, my post-year old baby body...

I think that this will motivate me to actually start working at it! Do I think that I will be in the best shape of my life by February 8th? No way! I do however hope to feel a little better about myself, so that I can truly enjoy my cruise with the hubby and embrace turning 30!!!

Happy 1st Birthday

2010-01-02T22:00:00.001-05:00

On Saturday, Dec. 19th, we had a birthday party for Reddin, along with his cousin Lochlan and buddy Drew Smith. All 3 boys were born in December, with in a couple of weeks of each other. Stephanie and I started planning the boys party a while ago, and then thought it would be lots of fun to invite the Smiths to join in!

On Saturday morning we woke up to find it very windy and cold. We were having the party at a park on the river over on beachside, which meant more windy and cold than inland. We had to forgo some of our decorations because it was just too windy.

We had a BBQ and asked our guests to bring a side dish instead of presents. The food was yummy, and we really appreciate all those that were able to make it to the party!

Reddin was not the happy little guy he normally is, at the party. I think that the cold wind was getting to him. It just goes to show that he is a true FL boy, and loves the heat!

It was a little harder for me to truly enjoy his party, as much as would have if little Redd had been happy. Drew and Lochlan had a great time though and it was super fun watching them.

When it came time for the boys to eat their giant cupcakes we made, Reddin wanted nothing to do with it! He just cried and it was pretty sad! (What is it with my children not liking to get their hands dirty? Mattie did the same thing when she turned one!) Drew and Lochlan on the other hand dug right in. They were so cute and funny!

The one thing that Redd did seem to like were the swings at the park. He had a fun time swinging and laughing at us.

We were also able to get a couple of great family shots too, with the help of Grandma and our neighbor Matt!

My dearest Reddin, I love you so much and I am extremely grateful that you are part of our family. This past year has gone by so fast, and I can't believe how much you have changed.

You are walking all over the place and you never want to stop moving! You do however still love snuggle time, and for that I am so thankful. I wish you could stay my precious little snuggler forever! I love your sweet smile that you are always so willing to share. I love how easy it is to put you down for naps and bedtime. You have always loved your crib and known that it means sleepy time! You do however, have a little temper when someones tries to take something from you that you want, and you have become quite vocal about it! It has been fun watching you become your own little person, even if it drives your dad crazy that you scream like a girl!

Happy Birthday little Redman! Thank you so much for loving us and allowing us to love you right back! Our family wouldn't be complete without you!

Another Update

2009-12-16T09:16:00.006-05:00

So I of course have gotten behind on blogging AGAIN! I would really like to catch up before we have Christmas and Reddin turns one! Here I go with another super LONG post.

First of all, I'm going back to September, to when Mattie got her wish for a little girl! Nope not from Mommy and Daddy, obviously, but from Tia America and Uncle Chris. Liliana Elizabeth Tarpein made her debut on Earth! Mattie has lots of girl cousins on the Menzie side, but this is her first on the Tarpein side, and boy was she excited. She can't wait for Lili to get a little bigger, so that they can wear matching clothes! Congrats to my big brother Christopher and his lovely wife America! We are so happy that Liliana has joined the family, and that we get to see you guys often.

We also took our annual trip to Massachusetts, which originally I wanted to give its own post to, but I'm not sure that will ever would have happened! It was a fun filled long weekend, which started off with Mattie getting her sweet prayer answered. To make a very long story short, there was NO way at all that we should have made it on the last flight out Friday night. There were 2 seats left, one in coach and one in first. There are 3 of us that need seats. The jump seat was open in the cockpit, but Matt wasn't dressed for it and didn't have his passport. We told Mattie that we weren't going to be able to go, and she got very sad and then went over to a chair, sat down and began saying a prayer. A couple of things happened very quickly after that. The Captain came walking up and after being asked if Matt could ride in the jump seat regardless of his appearance, he said yes. Then they quickly moved one person up to first and put Mattie, Reddin and I in coach, and off we went to Boston! I was very grateful to a loving Heavenly Father who answered the prayers of my innocent 4 year old, and allowed her to go and visit her cousins she was dying to play with!

We of course went apple picking at Tougas Farms, which was lots of fun! Reddin was digging on the apples, and I was loving the cooler weather. We got to go on a hay ride as well, which the kiddos loved. While we were in MA, we spent an afternoon at the park. We had a picnic and Matt and Wayne did some fishing. Little Wesley caught his first fish, a large mouthed bass! Mattie absolutely loved her time fishing with Matthew. Wayne caught a fish too, and he and Matt cooked them up that night. And, Matt being the ever joking uncle he is, decided he couldn't resist doing something disgusting to get a laugh out of Thomas and a squeal from the rest of us. The heart of one of the fish was still beating after over an hour of being out of the fish, so what does my wonderfully gross husband do? Oh yes, he EATS it! I know absolutely disgusting! We always love our time with the Beantown Menzies, and can't wait until we see them again!

Mr. Redd Man L-O-V-E-S his airplane blanket Aunt Becky made! It has the cutest airplane material on one side and then that super soft minky on the other side. Reddin snuggles it every night to go to sleep. Thank you so much Aunt Becky for the wonderful blanket and matching shirt!

Mattie finished up Swim Lessons for the year in October. She was in the most advanced class for her age group and has really started to get great at it. She tells us that she wants to be on the swim team and she was very sad when lessons finished for the year. I told Matt that I think this might be her sport. She's not the most coordinated kid, so swimming could be right up her alley! I guess only time will tell, but for now she is counting down the days to March/April!

October also brought Halloween! Halloween has been one of my favorite holidays since I was little. This year it feels like it lasted the whole month of October! It started with with an activity for the youth, in which we did a Reverse Trick or Treat. We all dressed up and took goodies to people in our ward. I am still serving in Young Womens, so I got to participate! I chose to dress up as Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger. It was Matt's idea to add the floaties! Mattie, Reddin and Gibbs had a great time playing with my mustache!

We also went to our favorite pumpkin patch to take our annual pictures and get a pumpkin. The Paxton family joined us this year, which of course was fun. Isn't it funny that my sister Stephanie and I had our little boys 10 days apart and they look NOTHING alike?! Oh well, Lochlan and Reddin are still great buddies, even if you can't tell that they are related!

Mattie had Spirit Week at her preschool the week of Halloween. On Tuesday it was Pirate Day, and we think that she was the cutest pirate there ever was! On Wednesday it was Pajama Day. Thursday was Mix-Match Day, and Friday was Halloween Costume Day. We sent Mattie to school in her belly dancer costume from last year, because we didn't want her getting her Cinderella costume for this year all messed up. Have I mentioned how much I am loving that she is in school?! She ADORES school and it has been so great for her!

We had our ward Trunk or Treat on Friday the 30th this year, which worked out so great, because we had never taken Mo real trick or treating before and we really wanted to this year. Mattie was Cinderella for Halloween, and Reddin was the Red Baron. I had actually bought Redd's costume when Mo was a baby and held onto it, hoping we would have a boy that would fit into it for one Halloween. Its a good thing Redd is so big, because he was 10 months old and was wearing a 12-18 month costume! Matt and I decided to dress up together this year. It was Matt that came up with our costume ideas. He was Kanye West and I was Taylor Swift. We had a GREAT time acting out that whole big fiasco! There was also a pumpkin carving contest this year, and Matt's entry won the Grand Prize. We won a four pack of movie tickets, which we will be using to take Momo to see The Princess and the Frog. Thanks for all of the hard work you put into that pumpkin, Matthew! On actual Halloween night we went trick or treating in my sister's neighborhood. Reddin was not a happy camper that night and slept through most of it, while Lochlan on the other hand could not get enough of the lollipops! And of course Mo and Redd had to try on my wig!

In October we also had our ward's Primary program. It was Mattie's first and she was asked by the music director to sing with another little girl. They sang the third verse of I Feel My Savior's Love. Mattie has had a deep voice since birth and I am beginning to wonder if she will make a great alto when she gets older, because she's four and already is having trouble hitting those high notes! (I've heard Matt's sister Shayla sing alto, and she has a beautiful voice, so maybe that's where Mo gets it from!) Here is Mattie and Allie.

For Thanksgiving we did what we do pretty much every year, and went to the Berger's house. We had a fun time eating and mingling with friends and family. Adam Berger, who is just a year older than me, lives and works in DC. He usually brings home a "mystery" meat each year for his family to try, and this year we got to try it too! Are you ready for this... it was KANGAROO! And yes, it was yummy! All four of us tried it and enjoyed it.

And that bring us to December. Last week we took Mattie and Reddin to the mall to get their pictures taken with Santa Claus. We have done this every year with Mattie and it was so fun to have Reddin be part of it this year. Reddin didn't cry, but I think it helped that he had Mattie with him! He did however give Santa a couple of funny looks. (Do you like his "stink-eye" picture?!)

Last, but not least, Mo had her last day of school until next year on Friday. She had a great time all week doing all sorts of fun things. On Friday the children were asked to wear Christmas colors to school, so that they could go around the school caroling. She also took in her presents that she helped make for her teachers. My sister helped us make some Ho Ho Ho blocks and Mattie painted an ornament for each teacher. We gave them their presents in a bag that we decorated with fabric glitter paint. Both Mrs. Stinnett and Mrs. Ross loved their presents.

Well, I guess that is all for now. Stay tuned, because there is a BIG shindig going down this weekend! Reddin will be celebrating his first birthday along side his buddies Lochlan Paxton and Drew Smith! Can't wait!

Sweet Sarah - 'Til We Meet Again

2009-12-09T10:42:00.013-05:00

I didn't sleep very well last night. Well actually I haven't slept well for about a week now. Last week, one of Mattie's playmates passed away. Her name was Sarah, and she was full of life. She had a beautiful smile, and I always thought her eyes were sparkling behind her oh-so-cute glasses. She and Mattie were the same age and have played along side each other at play group since they were probably younger than two. Sarah and Mattie were in different wards, so they were never as close as some of the other children were to Sarah. But, a little over a month ago, I received a call from Sarah's mother one Sunday night. Sarah had been asking to have a play date with Mattie. Mattie hasn't had very many play dates since she started school and is there four days of the week, so I was more than happy to have Sarah over to our house to play with Mattie.

Sarah came over and she and Momo had a fabulous time together. They got along very well. One of the first things Mattie does when a friend is over is ask for a snack for them. Sarah made a point of telling me that she was not allowed to have sugar! I thought it was so funny, and I think it really told a lot about her sweet spirit. Seriously, what small child gives up the chance for sugar when they are away from their parents' watchful eye?! She and Mattie went right to work getting dressed up in princess clothes and setting up a store in the den. They pretended to shop until that got boring and decided that they needed to be the cashiers, and have somebody else come and shop at their store, (which they called "Target-Walmart"!) I got enlisted to be the shopper, and they took turns ringing up my purchases! I know that Mattie really had a great time doing that, because she still talks about it.

I also found out Matt told them that our dog Gibbs likes to eat little princesses, especially if they are dressed in purple! Mattie told me this story last night, when I was talking to her about what was going to happen at the viewing and funeral. She said, "Sarah was in purple and I was in pink, but Daddy was just kidding with us, because Gibbs doesn't really eat people!" I really loved having Sarah in our home, and I had told Matt that she and Mattie played so well together, that I wanted to have her back over to play again. How saddened I am that we will not have that opportunity. On the other hand, I am extremely grateful for that recent one-on-one play date we did get.

I think that my earliest memory of Sarah was from when she and Mattie were probably barely two and we were at a joint ward function. There was a chalkboard in the gym and both little girls really wanted to color on that chalkboard. The problem was there was only one small piece of chalk. Oh how they were fighting over that chalk! Sarah's mother Lydia came up to me and said that we should have the girls take turns sharing the chalk. I really admired Lydia as I watched her give each girl a fair amount of time coloring.

Last Thursday, Matt and I took Mattie to her favorite place to go for ice cream. We sat together as a family outside on the picnic benches and told Mattie that we needed to have a very big kid discussion with her. She sat very still and listened intently as we told her that sometimes little children get sick and Heavenly Father calls them back home. We told her that Sarah had passed away. (That morning on the way to school, I had started preparing Mattie by playing a song called "Streets of Heaven". This song came out around the time Mattie was born. It tells of a mother's prayer to God, asking Him to hold the hand of her young daughter as she crosses the streets of heaven. I wanted Mattie to hear the words and understand that sometimes children get very sick. On the way to get ice cream she asked to listen to that song again, and then she asked me if there really are streets in heaven.) Mattie seemed to process the things we told her about death and life after death very well. We asked her what she could do for Sarah's parents to show them how sorry we were for their loss, and she told us that she would draw a picture of her and Sarah playing store. As we got up to leave and go home, Mattie started crying. I asked her what was wrong and she told me she was crying for Sarah. Her cries turned to hysterics on the way home. As I held her hand, I began to sob as well. I sobbed for the Gordon's loss of their precious daughter. I sobbed for the tender heart of my own young daughter. I sobbed for what seemed like such an unfair blessing of mine, to get to continue to be with my little ones. Mattie cried for awhile longer when we got home, but finally went to bed.

In the days since last Thursday, she has continued to remember the passing of her friend, and has asked when she will get to go to the funeral to say good bye. And, that brings me to today. The funeral of little Sarah Gordon will be this afternoon. Mattie is at school right now, but I will be picking her up in just a few short hours. Last night she told me that she would like to go to the viewing and see Sarah, and she also told me that she would probably cry today. I know that this afternoon will be a very emotional one for many people, and as I laid in bed early this morning unable to sleep, my heart was full of gratitude. Gratitude for a loving Father in Heaven, who set up the perfect plan of salvation. A Father who sent His only Begotten Son to suffer and die for each of us, so that we may all have the opportunity to return home to Him again. I know, that precious little Sarah completed her mission in this life, and that she is a prefect little spirit that has been called back home to our Heavenly Father, and He has a special work for her to do. I also know with all of my heart that the Gordons will be reunited with their perfect little girl in the next life. Our prayers are with the Gordon family this day.

Sea World for Mo's B-day

2009-11-16T09:16:00.000-05:00

For Mattie's birthday we went to Sea World, and since her good friend Delainey also has a Sea World pass for the year, we brought her along to help celebrate!

It was a very hot, but fun day. The girls had a great time going through the new aquarium while Matt rode the new Manta ride.

Its a laying down roller coaster which is suppose to simulate you being a manta ray! Matt says its very fun, but I'll have to take his word for it, since I can no longer ride roller coasters without getting sick!

The kids played in the water park area, which Reddin quite enjoyed.

The girls also rode many of the rides in the kiddie area. I rode one of Mattie's favorites with her, the crab (drop down) ride!

Matt rode the Shamu roller coaster with the girls while I took a picture and hung out with Grandma and Reddin.

But I think the best part of the day for Mattie was riding the grown-up ride Journey to Atlantis! She has waited a LONG time to be tall enough to ride it, and boy was she excited. I thought maybe she would get scared of the big drop, but she LOVED it!

She was a little scared of the middle part of the ride, but the drops were her favorite part. She asked to ride it a couple of times, and since there was no wait, I rode it with her like 3 times in a row. On the last time going up the big climb for the big drop, she put her little arms up in the air! I was surprised, because I remember it taking me forever to get the courage to do that growing up. And she left those arms up in the air for the whole drop down! I think that she is going to be our little thrill seeker, like her daddy. And here's a cute picture of Reddin taken while Mo and I were riding Journey to Atlantis. Look at the sweet face!

We left Sea World and stopped at Chipotle for some dinner. Yum! I love their chicken tacos.

Overall it was a very fun day for Mattie and our family. Did I ever mention how much I love living in FL?! Its so fun to take advantage of all our FL resident discounts and to live close to so many fun things!

Mattie Turns 4 and Starts School

2009-11-01T20:45:00.014-05:00

Back in Sept, Mattie Mack (I’ve been calling her that lately), had her birthday and turned 4 years old and started preschool all in the same week! She had been so excited to start school and I had been looking forward to that day for a while, but only because she is so social! Anyway, we didn’t throw her a big party this year, one because she will get a party when she turns 5 next year, and two we knew that she would be getting a small party on her first day of school... I did make a cake for her, which we ate for dessert at the Berger’s house after church.

The preschool that she is attending is at Palm Bay High School, and is taught by the high schoolers who are interested in becoming teachers. Of course there are adult teachers who help the teenagers and teach them what they should be doing. The program is a Pre-K one, and Mattie missed the cutoff for Pre-K by 9 days. They had not had enough 4 year olds enroll, so they decided to let some 3 year olds enroll as well. My wonderful friend Honor told me about it, and Mattie was lucky enough to get in. Honor’s daughter Delainey is also attending, and she and Mattie are practically joined at the hip! Mattie has really been enjoying her time in preschool, and it has been good for her to experience having playmates everyday. I think at times it was hard for her to be an only child for 3+ years. She is definitely making up for lost time! Anyways, she started school on September 8 and she turned 4 years old on the 9th. I had asked the teacher before the school year started if we could bring in cupcakes for Mo’s birthday, but another boy in the class had the same birthday and he was already going to be bringing in cupcakes on the 9th. She asked us if we could celebrate on the 8th instead, and that actually worked out great for us, since Matt would be heading back to work on the 9th. So, Mattie got to have a little birthday party for her first day of school! Matt and I came to school for the last 30 minutes of class and brought Disney Princess cupcakes for the girls and Disney Cars cupcakes for the boys, and Blowpops for the teenagers. Everyone sang to her and I’m pretty sure she enjoyed being the center of attention!

We also celebrated her birthday on the 8th as a family. Mattie got an art easel from us with some art supplies, a video game for her computer from Grandma, a wooden doll set that where you can change their clothes from Ama, a Snow White doll from Aunt Stephy and Uncle Greg, a Target gift card from Tia America and Uncle Chris, and the Tag Reader system from the Ahmeds. For not having an official birthday party, Mattie sure made out well in the present department

We love our Mattie Momo so much and are so grateful that she is part of our family. She is such a sweet and thoughtful little girl. She truly loves her family, especially her baby brother Reddin. I am touched by the love she shows him each day, and the tender way she cares for him. I can’t even begin to express how much I love that girl! Thanks for choosing us Mattie, we love you!

Vineyard Photo Shoot-August 2009

2009-10-29T12:19:00.008-04:00

So here are some of the photos that my amazing sister-in-law Emily took of Mattie and Reddin at that vineyard in California back in August. Once again Emily you are FABULOUS and we love you so much!

Ending of my Blogging Strike

2009-10-27T09:45:00.001-04:00

Ok so really I wasn't on a blogging strike, I just haven't taken the time to blog! But now that I only have one child at home in the morning, I thought that I would try to catch up and get back into blogging. I'm not really sure where to even start and I feel a little overwhelmed by all that I want to put in here. So I think that I am going to copy my sister-in-law Shayla and do a "note-worthy" post!

I guess I'll start back in April, when I had the opportunity to fly out to UT for my great friend Amelia's baby shower. I took Reddin with my of course since he was only 4 months old at the time and nursing. Mattie stayed home and was watched by my mom and my sister Stephanie. A big thank you to them for doing that, since Matt was working. Reddin was fabulous for his first plane ride, and we had a super fun time in UT. We went for a long weekend and we were also able to see Brett, Emily and the boys. Emily did a super cute photo shoot of Reddin (which I will post in another posting). We were also able to visit with Ama and Kman and my brother Chris and Tia America. Reddin and I packed in quite a bit for such a quick little visit.

While I was in UT, Matt got his schedule for May and found out that he would have a week off at Mother's Day. After we were back home in FL, we decided we would fly back out to UT to spend Mother's Day his mom, and then head down to St George to spend some time with the Brett Menzie family. So that is what we did! In Mt Pleasant we took the kids to the park, enjoyed some yummy food made by Ama and had a fun Mother's Day with her and Kman. Kelly was very sweet to have ordered corsages for Teresa, Mattie and I. Momo especially loved wearing her flowers to church! That Sunday night we headed up to Utah county with Teresa and Kelly, because Kelly was to have a procedure for his back the following morning. We slept in their RV with them and Mattie thought it was so awesome. While Kelly was having his procedure we went up to Thanksgiving Point to play with the Paschals, our friends who had recently moved back to UT from FL. We went to Meadow Golds petting farm and the kids had a fun time riding the horses and playing. We caught Mattie and Taylor holding hands! Those 2 are so funny and cute. (We have been saying forever that they are betrothed, and if you ask Mattie who she wants to marry, she'll tell you Taylor!)

After staying with Teresa until Kelly was released from the hospital, we headed on down to St George, UT to visit with the Brett Menzie family. Emily picked us up from the airport and we went to a super cute little water park. Mattie, Jonas and Makia had a great time getting wet. The next day we all went to Zions National Park for a day of hiking. We had a great time seeing some wonderful scenery and getting a good workout, (Matt more than me, since he had Reddin in the Baby Bjorn and Mo on his back! I would be lying if I said that I was totally fine with that set up. I was very nervous at certain parts of the hike to the Emerald Pools. I kept thinking if Matt just slipped even a little, I would lose my whole family!) All in all our trip to UT was a very eventful and fun one!

"Noteworthy"

Mattie finished up gymnastics. She took her lessons in the spring with her friend Jake from church. She really enjoyed her time in gymnastics each week.

"Noteworthy"

Matt played on in a interfaith baseball team with our Stake. Sometimes he would miss games because he was gone working, but when he was in town to play we would go and watch him. My sister Steph and Lochlan would go too, because her husband Greg was on the team as well. At this particular game Matt had two homeruns and Mattie the Cheerleader was going crazy cheering! Great job we had a blast supporting you!

"Noteworthy"

I did not attend my 10 year high school reunion last October because I did not feel like spending $200 to go. I was quite bummed about not seeing some of my really good friends from high school, especially the 3 girls that had been my besties during high school. Well this summer we had the opprotunity to go to dinner when 2 of them came into town, (1 of them lives here in Palm Bay). Steph came along cause she was always with us and she of course has been my very best bestie my whole life! It was so fun seeing Lacey, Krista and Melissa, and I can't wait for our next little friend reunion!

"Noteworthy"

Matt got to go on his annual Lobster diving trip down to the Keys. He doesn't get to go and do guy things very often, so I am always supportive of him going down to the Keys each year. Plus, the spiny lobsters are SO yummy! This year he brought home 9 lobsters, that is the most he has ever brought back, the max is 12. I'm glad he had so much fun.

"Noteworthy"

I was able to attend Youth Conference this year with the young women of my ward. It was 3 days and 2 nights long, and was held at Stetson University. We stayed in dorms and I had a blast bonding even more with my girls. It was however hard to be away from Reddin for the first time! A HUGE thanks to my mom and sister for helping to take care of my kids, since Matt was actually in the Keys for the first part of Youth Conference.

"Noteworthy"

(This is another long one!) My nephew Brayden was turning 12 and more than half of Matt's family was going to be out in CA to help celebrate. Matt put in for a week of vacation and got it, so we were able to go out too! We took a direct flight out to LA and both kids were very good for the flight. We rented a car and met up with Matt's good friend from high school, Roger. He works for Matel and gave both kids a toy, which of course Mattie loved. He also took us to Pinkberry for some AMAZING frozen yogurt.

After leaving LA, we headed down to San Diego to meet up with Matt's family at the beach. Mattie was in heaven being surrounded by cousins and playing in the sand. Aunt Brooke was fabulous with the little kids and Mattie still talks about her! Reddin on the other hand was very tired from a VERY long day of travel. We headed back to Matt's sister's home to get some sleep. Mattie, Izzie and Lexie decided to be teenagers and pull an all nighter with their slumber party! Seriously Mattie got up and left FL and 4am (Eastern time), and was still up in CA past midnight (Western time)! I honestly don't know where she gets her energy!

The next day we went to a vineyard so my wonderfully talented sis-in-law Emily could take photos of Mattie and Reddin. I really wanted the photo shoot for Reddin because he was turning 8 months and we had gotten pictures taken of Mattie at 8 months. I will post those pictures in there own post because there are quite a few! Once again Emily did a FABULOUS job! Later that night all of the adults got to go on a group date for some sushi. It was so fun to get away without the kiddos and we were very grateful to Kenzie for taking such good care of Redd and for Bray for taking such good care of Mo.

On Sunday Brayden was recieving the Aaronic Preisthood and being ordainded a deacon. Matt's father drove down from UT for the special day and it was his first time meeting Reddin too. It was a good time seeing so much family!

We left that night with Teresa in her RV. We spent the night in the LA temple parking lot, and the next morning woke up and headed over to Tito Tacos. This is a favorite place of Matthew's, having grown up eating there quite a bit. He actually took me there one time before and I had not cared for it. But this time I really enjoyed it. The salsa and chips were especially my favorite!

After Titos we headed over to La Canada to pick up Kelly from his daughter Lori's house, or should I say mansion?! The house had an awesome theater and an amazing pool, which of course we had to take a dip in! Mattie had a wonderful time playing with all of the super fun girly things. We were going to leave that afternoon, but decided to spend the rest of the day and night there. A big thank you to Lori and Glen for putting us up for the night!

We took off the next morning and drove with Teresa and Kelly back to UT in their RV. Mattie and Reddin were really good for the long drive to Ama's house. We got to Teresa's house late that night and went straight to bed.

The next day Teresa drove us up to SLC to the Paschal's house. Once again we had a wonderful time playing with our friends. Mattie and Taylor were joined at the hip, and I had so much fun with Adrian. We stayed up late watching movies and eating junk, laughing and talking! Oh how I miss her!

Also while we were in SLC for that short time, we were able to get together with our friends Amelia and Phil and meet their brand new little guy Max. We met for a picnic in the park and it was so fun spending time with them. I am beyond excited that Amelia is a mommy, and her little man Max is just too cute! Congratulations again Phil and Amelia!

We flew home the next day and that was the end to our very full and eventful week of family vacation.

Well I'm going to call this post/book good for now. There are more recent things that I am going to blog on very soon, so stay tuned for more of what the FL Menzies have been up to! (It feels nice to belong to the world of blogging once more!!!)

Art Blog

2009-07-14T22:20:00.006-04:00

Hey everyone, my friend Jessica has started up a blog showcasing her husband Rocky's fabulous art work. He is extremely talented! Go check it out and see how amazing he is...
rockyjonesart.blogspot.com

Plus if you go to their family blog, you can learn about how to have your name entered in for a special giveaway of one of his prints...
rockyandjessica.blogspot.com

Potty Trained Already?

2009-07-06T17:13:00.004-04:00

So, last night I heard Matthew call to me from the bathroom. I came around the corner and this is what I saw... I guess Matt had gone to change the Redman's diaper and thought that it would be funny to put him on the toilet and let "the rest" fall out! Even doing his business Reddin is so dang cute!

4th of July Weekend

2009-07-06T12:54:00.010-04:00

Unlike Easter this year, we were lucky to have Matt home for the Fourth of July weekend. Actually Matt was home for 5 days, and that was a surprise to me. I thought that he was coming home on Thursday night, and found out that he was really coming home on Wednesday night! And, then I thought that he was going back to work on Monday, but found out he was really home until Tuesday! Nice for us!

On Friday morning, Matt got up and played paintball with the usual crew from our ward. He's always happy when there is a paintball game planned and he is home for it. That afternoon, my brother Chris and sis-in-law America came up from Ft. Lauderdale for the weekend. Chris is in PA school right now, so he practiced looking into our ears and looking at our eyes with his instruments. Momo got her Dr set out and looked as well! That night I got to go out for a girls' night out with my mom and my sister Stephanie, along with America, her sister Angela and their mom Ana. We went and saw The Proposal. It was way funny, and I had a blast being out with the girls. Thanks Matt for taking the kids for the evening!

On Saturday we went to the Bergers' house for a BBQ and some fireworks.

Andrea Jarvis and Red Red.

Sweet Momo with her firecracker hair-puffs!

The BBQ was yummy, and Reddin ate a whole piece of watermelon. Travis got a piece of watermelon and put Reddin on his lap, and then he let Reddin go to town on it! It was pretty cute, since he just barely turned 6 months! While we were eating there was a major downpour. We thought that might stop the fireworks for the night, but after checking the forecast, we saw that it would pass, and it did! Got to love the FL rain! The storms usually hang around for about 30 minutes to maybe an hour!

We took the kids to the front and let them do sparklers.

My brother Chris and his wife America (7 months pregnant with Liliana!)

Then we headed out back for the rest of the fireworks. I'm not sure if the kids have nearly as much fun as the dads! I swear the inner-boy comes out in them all when explosives are involved. It was a good time! After that we cleaned up and headed home.

This morning we took Mattie bowling with her friend Lilli, who is visiting from Nebraska. Matt and I decided to join in, and it was my first time bowling with the bumpers. That was probably a good thing, since I haven't bowled since before Mattie was born!

Our extended weekend was a lot of fun, and hope that everyone else had a great one as well! We are extremely grateful for this wonderful country that we live in, and can't even begin to express our gratitude to the men and women who fight with honor for us to continue to enjoy our blessed USA. A HUGE thank you to all of you wonderfully brave soldiers!

Mattie Mo Sings a Solo

2009-06-09T22:50:00.001-04:00

As promised here is the post with the solo Mattie sang at Wyatt Jarvis' baptism the day before Easter...

About a month before Wyatt's baptism, his mother Rebekah called me up and asked if Mattie would be able to sing a solo at his baptism. Wyatt wanted Mattie to sing "I am a Child of God". This of course was Mattie's favorite song, and she likes to sing it all of the time. The only problem was that she skipped some of the words here and there. I asked Mattie if it was something that she wanted to do and she said that it was! I told Rebekah that I would work on it with her, and that maybe she would be ready in time to sing it. We started singing it all of the time, at home, in the car and just about everywhere else!

Finally the day arrived, and Mattie was very excited. I wondered if she really understood what she needed to do. I got her ready for the baptism. I let her pick out whatever dress it was that she wanted to wear, and she picked the pillow-case dress Ama made for her. When we were all done getting ready we headed to the church. The baptism started and she was set to sing after Wyatt was baptized and before the talk on the Holy Ghost. When it came time for Momo's solo, I wondered if she was going to chicken out when she got up in front of everybody. (There were probably about 40+ people at the baptism!) I walked up to the front with her, and I told her whenever she was ready to go ahead and start. She looked at me and asked, "Now?" I nodded my head and she looked out at everyone and... started SINGING! She did great and brought tears to eyes, including mine. I was so proud of my little 3 and a half year old! I was only sad that Matthew had to miss it. We recorded it for Daddy, so here it is:

The rest of the baptism was so great and so special! Thanks to Wyatt for asking Mattie to share her budding talent with others.

Easter 2009

2009-06-09T17:14:00.000-04:00

It finally happened, Matt had to work on a holiday! I know that we have been super blessed to have him home on all of the other holidays so far, so I guess I had to be ok with him being gone for one of them! He did try very hard to get off, so that he could be home, but it just didn't happen for us this time.

The kids and I started out the Easter weekend the same way as we do every year, by going to the Berger's house to dye eggs and have an Easter egg hunt. Mattie got a glitter dye set from Ama, and she had a fun time using it! Matthew's mom hand painted Easter pails for her children when he was small, and so I have tried to carry on that tradition for our family. I'm not nearly as good as Teresa, but I have had fun making them. I didn't quite get Reddin's pail finished before Easter, so that's on my "to do" list. This year Mattie and Amelia even got their own fenced in area to look for eggs! Mattie of course got way too much candy from the hunt.

After eating a lunch on egg salad sandwiches, we went home to get ready for Wyatt Jarvis' baptism. That event gets a post all of its own though, because our little Mattie sang a solo at the baptism!

On Easter morning, Mattie found her basket full of yummy things left for her from the Easter Bunny. She was very excited to show Reddin his bucket too. Reddin got some fun little gifts from the Easter Bunny as well. She had a great morning getting all junked up on sugar! We have afternoon church this year, so we had the morning to get ready. Matt helped Mo pick out her dress this year. He liked it because he said it reminded him of neapolitan ice cream! I got to pick out Red's outfit. It was actually the one I almost picked out for his blessing, so it was on SALE. We had a fun Easter, but we missed Matt very much. The joys of being married to an airline pilot!

Menzie Family-Winter 2009

2009-06-01T15:01:00.008-04:00

I know that I am very far behind in posting this, but I still really wanted to! In the beginning of January my very talented sister-in-law Emily flew in from Utah to take pictures of Reddin and the rest of us. We were very grateful to Brett and the boys for allowing us to steal Emily for a couple days! Emily also did pictures for my sister Stephanie and her family. It took most of the day, but the pictures turned out beautifully! That night we all went out for sushi at Thai Thai 2. We had some yummy spicy crab rolls and some eel rolls. Emily flew out the next day, so it was a super quick trip, but we really enjoyed our time with her.

(Warning: Because there were SO many great ones, I had a hard time deciding which ones to post, so I just went ahead and posted a bunch!)

Sea World

2009-04-14T16:30:00.004-04:00

So this year we decided not to do Disney passes since we had Reddin and we don't think that we have any family coming into to town for a visit. We did however decide to get Sea World passes, since you pay for a day and get to go back free for the rest of the year! We went for the first time the other week with my mom, Steph, Greg and Lochlan. We had a great time watching some shows, riding some rides and feeding the animals. Mattie is tall enough for all of the kiddie rides, and Reddin just had a blast looking at all of the people. It will be fun to go back throughout the year.

And His Name Shall Be. . .

2009-02-27T11:59:00.018-05:00

Reddin Everett Menzie!

I got nominated to write this post by my sweet Baby Mama. She must think I'm not pulling my weight in the blogging world or maybe she is super busy with the kiddos. Or both.

It's official, Mr. Reddin is blessed and STILL has a name. Actually he has had that name for about 12 years. Thanks to my siblings for not using it. On February 8th (Heathers B-day) friends and family came to town and participated in the blessing of our dear mellow son.

Our bestest friends Josh, Erica with their perfect little handsome Mason Starr flew in from Texas on Friday night. We are glad they made it safely since equipment malfunction almost prevented their departure. My mom, Ama, also came on Friday, we are glad she made it too. It seems in an effort to cut expenses Delta has made a poor decision to cut flight benefits from the parents of our companies employees. The problem when the cut was made with no advanced notice only days prior to Ama's scheduled flight. She already paid the required taxes for the flight and was still listed online so I figured she would be "grandfathered" or should I say "grandmothered" in. She woke up even before "Farmer John" and drove 100 miles to SLC to make a 7:00am flight to find she couldn't get on. She was stuck. I was in New York working, trying get our flight off the gate so I quickly called my dearest and instructed her to "priceline it". She did a superb job for having never pricelined before. Thanks babe and thanks Mom for your patience. Even sitting around in airports all day as she seems to do often while flying standby, Ama never complains. Maybe cause the time passed so quickly while she was crocheting Reddin's blessing booties. Muchísimas gracias.

Saturday is a special day, it is the day we get ready for Sunday. We go out for lunch, we take an airboat ride, we look for gators, we eat some gator tail, and some frogs legs and we call it our let us have fun-day.

After a nice lunch at Jason's Deli we trekked up to the St. Johns river off Hwy 520 for an airboat ride. The Mrs. kindly watched the little boys, while big girl Mattie got to go on the ride with us. The airboat captain said there was no guarantee we'd see gators. Probably a good thing for them cause they wouldn't have made a cent that day. A little nippy and overcast means them gators take off from gawking at us snap happy tourists. But we got our revenge and it tasted so good. Erica and my mom wouldn't eat but a nibble, if you could even call it that. Neither of them dared to look at the frog legs. Certainly they were the best I've ever had. Minimal swampy taste and a nice breading made for "good eats". I think I might even suggest my bud Alton Brown to attempt to duplicate such yumminess.

Sunday afternoon came and would you know, we made it to church on time. Lately it seems when I am home on Sunday we run pretty late. While I'm on the road Heather assures me she is always on time. Go figure.

For some reason I am a little weird about repetitious prayers and especially in baby blessings. I am not knocking anyone of you or your husbands, mainly just myself. So, I go up there with a rehearsed intro to the blessing which evolves a different word structure other than "and the name by which he shall be known on the records of the church is. . .". That part was fine. During the prayer my mind if filled with promptings from the spirit and I do my best to express those feelings without common phrasing. I know I'm crazy. I may have had a specific thought or two which I didn't say because I couldn't think of a way to say it without the common phrasing that is heard all too often and that I even did with Mattie. Weirdo! right? That passes as I continue with the blessing. More thoughts are filling my head but I had to turn off the spiritual spigot when I started to choke up. I know I am feeling pretty close to the spirit by then because my voice got real shaky. This happened when I was younger while blessing the sacrament and doing confirmations on my mission. It also happened with Mo.

So I sit down and the first thing out of Heather's mouth was, "is he not going on a mission or getting married in the temple?" I told her, "I guess not." Just kidding! Of course he is! Just because I didn't say it doesn't mean he is doomed or will die prior to that age. The moral is, say exactly what comes to mind or your wife will question you and think your son won't grow to adulthood or go on a mission.

The weekend was great and filled with other fun times. Carrabbas on Saturday, graciously treated by Josh and Erica, was tasty. Since it was Heather's birthday she was surprised by an awesome brownie cake. For dinner on Sunday night we had Wayne’s pulled pork recipe. I had smoked it the previous Sunday throughout the night into the wee hours of Monday since I knew I wouldn't have time with friends and family on the way. I think it tasted better after having sat in the fridge a few days prior to freezing which enabled the flavors to meld beautifully. Sunday night was fun with Pop Culture Trivia Pursuit. The grandmas, Erica and Heather took Josh and Me on. Us boys got our butts kicked until we made a late and great comeback for the WIN after being down FOUR pie wedges while the ladies were stuck on "sports and games". While we were playing MoMo decided to take some pics of us and herself. The Starrs were over till near midnight when they double checked their flight itinerary. Whopsie, the flight they scheduled was a few hours prior than previously thought. They rushed back to the hotel and probably only slept a few hours before heading back to the airport. Sorry but it was fun spending the evening with you. When we go back to visit, soon hopefully, dinner is on us ok?

Thanks Bishop Draper, Josh Starr, Bishop Rivoli, Greg Paxton, Keith Berger, Travis Berger, Alex Berger, Philip Jarvis, Ben Burgoon and Mike Dahle.

False Alarm

2009-02-22T22:23:00.004-05:00

After church today, I had to stay for our monthly YW planning meeting. Matt and I had decided instead of taking two cars to church, he would just wait around with the kids until I finished. Off I went to my meeting leaving Mattie and Reddin with Matt. We got done with the training portion of our meeting and split up into class presidencies to do our planning. There I was planning with my Beehives, and all of a sudden I hear a loud noise along with a automated voice telling us to exit the building. I tell the girls to gather their stuff and we head outside. As I am walking out the side door I am trying to think if there are any other young children at church still besides my daughter, and I say out load, "Oh please tell me that was not my child that pulled the alarm." I go back into the church and cross over to the other foyer to find Matt and the kids. I say the same thing to him, and he indeed confirms my fear. It was Mattie who pulled the alarm! I ask her why, and she goes and hides under the pew in the chapel. I pull her out and tell her we need to go outside. When we get outside, everyone knows that it is Mo who pulled the alarm. Most are happy to have gotten out of their meetings early, but poor Mattie is so embarrassed. I take her back inside to Matt, who is trying to assist the Bishop in resetting the alarm. The firemen come, and I apologize to a very nice fireman. He tells us that it happens all of the time and that its ok. I have Mattie on my lap and I am trying to explain what it was that she pulled and why we don't pull it. And when the fireman speaks to her, she loses it and starts crying hysterically. She starts begging to go outside to the car and leave. Matt takes her out and I can see her jumping up and down not wanting to go back into the church. I leave Reddin with someone and go outside to tell Matt that I will take her to the car and sit with her. She clings to me and is crying so hard. I almost start crying with her, because I feel how sorry and embarrassed she is! How does a 3 year old understand these emotions so much?! We talk in the car while we wait for Matt and Reddin to come outside. She loses it again when the fire truck drives by us to leave. Finally Matt comes to the car and we leave too! Of course Mattie didn't know what the fire alarm was when she pulled it, but you better believe she does now!

Special Fireside

2009-02-22T21:09:00.005-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, my Stake had a very special fireside. It all started with the Young Women in my ward and their love for David Archuleta! I am the 2nd counselor in the YW Presidency in my ward and the YW LOVE David. Paula Rivoli is the YW Pres in out ward, and she was able to pull off some amazing night for the girls and the rest of our Stake! She saw a picture of David with a a friend of hers', and was able to get a phone number to his pianist Richard. They were able to discuss throwing together a last minute youth fireside, since David was set to be in FL that next week. She then spoke with David's father/manager, and after making a million other phone calls, the fireside came was came together on Saturday night! They announced the fireside that morning throughout our Stake, and I thought the girls would die of excitement. Paula introduced me to Richard, David's pianist, and then invited me to the fireside, since I serve in YW. They left right after sacrament to go and meet David and his father at her house!

That night I drove one of our yw, who had been investigating our church, to the stake center. David put on a wonderful fireside. He started out singing my favorite hymn, "Be Still My Soul". It was so incredibly beautiful! He had only ever done one other fireside, so he was very nervous and he rambled a little, but he was so cute, and it was so great for the youth to hear his testimony! He closed his remarks with singing "I Know That My Redeemer Lives". After the fireside there was a meet and greet in the cultural hall. Our girls waited in line for quite sometime to meet David, but when it was finally their turn, they were so overjoyed! We were able to get a picture of all of us with David. Paula introduced me to David, and I decided to get my picture with him. I thanked him for taking time to talk to the youth and for being such a great example. And then I just couldn't help myself, I had to hug him and tell him that I thought he was "such a cutie patootie"! I told him that I could say that because I'm so much older than him and married with kids! It was a fun and spiritual night. (Sorry Christina, if I had known you were such a big fan I would have gotten his autograph for you!)

Jesus Wants Mattie for a Sunbeam

2009-01-24T12:15:00.005-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, at the beginning of the year, Miss Mattie moved up into the Sunbeam class at church. She was very excited to be moving up into Primary with the big kids! I was a little nervous that she wouldn't like Sunbeams, because she LOVED Nursery, and there are no toys or snack time in Sunbeams! She loved it though! She didn't cry at all, and my friend told me that she was wonderful during sharing time and singing time. I'm so glad that she is an independent and social little girl!

That Sunday was also Reddin's first time at church. He was one week old, and he did great. He's such a mellow little guy! I was even able to go to Young Women's, while Matt kept him during Priesthood. Hopefully I'll have good luck with him tomorrow, since it will be my first time at church with him, without Matt!

The Birth of Reddin

2009-01-22T19:10:00.005-05:00

I know that Matt posted the news of the birth of our son Reddin weeks ago when he was born, but I wanted to blog the details of that day, while I remembered them!

I'm going to start from weeks ago, when I was still pregnant. I had been having those annoying Braxton Hicks contractions off and on for weeks. At my 35 week check up my Dr did a check to see if my body was progressing, so that we could have an early induction as we had been planning. My body had progressed quite a bit, and my Dr told me if I went on my own he wasn't going to stop me. I however was determined to make it through Christmas. I really wanted to be able to celebrate with Mattie and let her have all of the attention, plus I really didn't want to be in the hospital on Christmas! The week before Christmas I started having real contractions on and off. I tried to take it easy to slow them down, because Matt was gone working, and wasn't due back for days. Finally the weekend came and Matt was able to come home and start his leave of absence. I was very relieved, knowing that if I did go on my own, Matt would at least be home for the birth.

So, Christmas came and went and on the morning of December 26Th we headed off to the hospital. We got there at about 6:30am, and I got put in the largest delivery room they had! It was beautiful and big! At 7 am my Dr came in to get me started. He broke my water and also put some sort of pill in my cervix to help move things along. I wanted pitocin right away, since I had it with my induction with Mattie, and I had a very fast labor then. My Dr doesn't like to start right out with pitocin though. I watched Mamma Mia and my contractions started coming about 2 minutes apart. I had already been started on IV fluids since I was planning on an epidural. My nurse came in and it had been about 2 hours or so. She asked if I wanted my epi, and I told her that I wasn't in a lot of pain yet, so I wanted to wait a little longer. She checked me at about 10ish and I was still only 4 cm. I had gone in at 4 cm! She told me that at 11 am my Dr said that they could start pitocin, so I decided to go ahead and get my epi. I knew once pitocin was started it wouldn't be that long. I got the epi and it made me a little drowsy. I fell asleep watching Chronicles of Narnia Prince Caspian. I woke up after about 30 minutes, and was starting to feel pressure and a little discomfort. I hit the pump button on my epi, but it wasn't doing anything. A little while later the nurse came in and told me that my contractions were really coming. I told her that I could feel pressure, so she checked me and I was at 8 cm. My movie had just finished and she told me that I didn't have time to watch another movie! She left to go call my Dr and let him know that I was almost ready. Well, she hadn't even been gone 5 minutes when I looked at Matt and told him that I needed to push! I hit the call button and told the nurse. She came in and checked me again, and then had me roll on my side, since my Dr really didn't want me pushing until he got there. He said he would be there in less than 5 minutes, and he was!

They hurried and got everything ready and then he said, "Ready to push this baby out?" I was! But, I have to say that I was a little nervous. It took my 2 hours to push Mattie out, and I had a grade 4 tear from her. (This was the reason for an induction at 38 weeks. My Dr was hoping to get us a 7 lb baby!) With Mattie I couldn't feel a thing, but this time I was having to breath through my contractions and I could feel all of the pressure! I was nervous that I was going to be feeling all of this pain for possibly 2 hours! But I got very lucky, since that was not to be my fate this time around! I started pushing with the next contraction and I got 3 pushes out of that contraction. Then with the next one I got 3 more pushes, and I could feel lots of pressure! Matt looked at me and told me that his head was already coming out! I couldn't believe it. It took me over an hour and a half to get to that point with Mattie. I knew that I needed to give a couple of more really good pushes, and sure enough on the third push of the next contraction Reddin was born! When they put him on my chest I knew that he was not 7 lbs, because he looked bigger than Mattie had. And, he was! He weighed 8 lbs 9 oz and was 21 inches long. It took 6 minutes of pushing this time, and nine pushes all together. I preferred this way too. I felt pain, but I will take that over the no pain at all, if it means they come out faster!

My first impressions of Reddin were that once again our child looks like Matt!

Although, I can see a little of me in this one! Matt loves to point out that Reddin has a cleft in his chin like me. Only time will tell what he's really going to look like. Mattie still looks just like her father though!

My recovery room was also very nice. The nurses and staff were all amazing. Having a child in FL was much different than having one in UT. In UT I kind of felt like a number and no one was super personable. I know that its not really their fault, since so many children are born in UT everyday! But, the experience here was so fabulous, from my awesome Dr, to the beautiful rooms, to the wonderful nurses that took care of me and Reddin! I'm also grateful that my mother was once again able to be there for the birth. It was really nice having her and Matthew in the room with me. I would have loved to have had my mother-in-law Teresa in the room again, but having a baby at Christmas makes for hard stand-by travel! I'm very grateful for all the visitors that came to see me and Reddin. It was a wonderful experience, and was just about as perfect as could be!

I love my sweet little Reddin! I am so grateful that he was finally able to join our family. I felt his presence for the first time as my nephew Luke was being blessed almost 5 years ago! I knew that we were suppose to have a baby and I really thought it would be Reddin when we did. We had just got married and I wasn't ready to have a baby yet. When I couldn't put off the prompting any longer and decided to get pregnant, I was very surprised to find out that we were not having Reddin first. Now, I very grateful that Mattie was our first. I think that she needed that undivided attention for 3 years! When I got pregnant last January, I really felt it was Reddin's turn, and then I miscarried. I'm not sure why it wasn't right then, but when I got pregnant in April, I once again really felt that it was Reddin's turn. Maybe he just wanted to wait for his cousin Lochlan, so that they could come to this earth together! Whatever the reason, words can't express how grateful I am to have Reddin in my arms now. I love him so much. He is such a sweet little guy, and so mellow. Matt use to dream of him, and felt that he would be a laid back little guy! We love him, and are eternally grateful that Heavenly Father has given us this precious child to watch over while he is here on earth.

Happy 33rd Birthday Matthew

2009-01-13T16:09:00.007-05:00

My wonderful hubby Matthew turned 33 years old today! It totally stinks that he had to go back to work today though. We got to spend the last 3 weeks together with the birth of our son and all, but it would have been wonderful to have been able to actually spend his birthday with him too. I guess we don't always get what we want!

Matthew and I met over 5 years ago, and I have loved him from just about the moment I met him! He is my best friend and the love of my life. He is a very giving husband and a wonderful father. I love how hands-on he is with our children. He dances with Mattie, and changes way more diapers than I do for Reddin! He is always quick to give me a back rub, and cook fabulous meals for me! My sister always says that there is no one more suited for me than Matthew, because Matt spoils me and treats me like a princess! I never get tired of our conversations, or our laughing together. He is fast to apologize when he is in the wrong, and quick to forgive when I am!

Matthew, I love you more than words can say. I will be forever grateful that our paths crossed and we fell in love! I miss you already, and can't wait to have you home again this weekend. I hope that you have a wonderful birthday!

Christmas 2008

2009-01-11T20:31:00.004-05:00

Ok, so I am obviously a little behind in my blogging. I feel like Christmas got forgotten about with the birth of Reddin! We did have a wonderful Christmas, and I wanted to make sure I posted about it, so that it would be remembered.

On Christmas Eve we went to our friends' house, the Bergers, for their annual party. I have been going to their house on Christmas Eve since I was a little girl, and it has always been one my favorite nights of the year! There is lots of great food, (Matt's fave is the homemade clam chowder), the nativity put on by the kids and fabulous company to mingle with. Mattie decided she wanted to be an angel again this year. She was so tired and fighting a cold, so she didn't have a ton of energy like she normally does. She actually fell asleep in Matt's arms and missed the rest of the party. Anyway, back to the nativity. My sister Stephanie and her husband Greg, were Mary and Joseph, since they had newborn Lochlan. Lochlan got to play baby Jesus! It was totally cute. The rest of the evening there was a blast.

At home we woke Mattie up to do our family tradition of opening up Christmas Eve pajamas. Momo loved her "If the tiara fits" pjs! We also opened up other presents while Aunt Stephy and Uncle Gregy were here that night. Before bed Matt took Mattie outside to sprinkle reindeer food on the lawn. Off to bed little Mo went to dream of what Santa would be bringing her. We have another tradition in our family, that actually came from my grandmother. She grew in England, and on Christmas Eve they put pillow cases at the foot of their beds for Father Christmas to fill with goodies. We have decided to carry on this British tradition with Mattie!

In the morning at 8 am, she came into our room to show us what Santa had left for her in the pillow case. British candy of course and a couple of other small gifts. Then we took her out to see the tree and the brand new Disney Princess bike Santa had left for her. (That is what she told everyone Santa was bringing her this year!) Some of her other favorites that Santa brought her were a kitchen, dress-up princess clothes, make-up and musical instruments! I think that "Santa" went a little overboard this year. I think he felt a little sorry that Mattie's whole world was going to be shook up the very next day, with the birth of her baby brother! It was a wonderful morning.

For lunch we went back over to the Berger's house. Andrea Jarvis got some karaoke games for the PlayStation for Christmas, and we had a fun time playing that. I'm actually quite bummed that I didn't record Matt singing Zombie by the Cranberries. It was hilarious, and let me tell you he rocked it out! After having some fun it was back home to pack my bag for the hospital! That will be my next post... the whole story of the exciting weekend Reddin joined our family.

Christmas 2008 was fun for our family! We hope that your holiday season was just as wonderful as ours!