10 Months Old!

On Christmas Day, Matthew turned 10 months old. At that point he had 4 teeth, crawling like a champ and would take as many as 6 steps at a time before panicking on dropping on to his bottom. As of today, Matthew has 5 teeth, about to break a sixth and is walking across the room! He says "Mama" "Dada" and "hi" with discrimination. He is waving and when its nap time and I carry him back to his crib he will wave to whoever is in the living room and say "ba ba" like bye bye (he's never had a bottle so he wouldn't even know to ask for one). He also says "heh dat" which I think is "hi there" because I say that quite a bit. He says that to his toys and my parents dog.

We shall post pics soon, we're still having technical difficulties but I'm working on an alternative way to get the pics on here.

Christmas Wonderment!

Getting the house decorated has been a chore with an infant and a husband in the Sheriff's Academy! We usually have everything done by the end of Thanksgiving weekend, but we've had lots of distractions and since I'm doing my best to keep us mindful of the true spirit of the season, I'm not allowing it to stress me out. That being said, we are just about done with the decorating part and its been such a joy. Matthew is loving the Christmas music and the lights on the tree and he's actually listening to us when we tell him "no" or "don't touch". The one thing he is allowed to play with are the jingle bells on the door knob. He'll play with those and giggle for quite awhile before he gets bored with them.

Rockin' Robin!

After visiting Santa and doing a little shopping around the Temecula Promenade, we hit Red Robin for lunch so Mommy could have a salad and Daddy could scarf down a burger and bottomless fries. Matty was enjoying playing with the crayons and paper kids menu (really? a 9 month old needs crayons?) and playing with Mommy's canteloupe wedges. We honestly could not have asked for a better behaved little man. We even went to Mass this evening for the Celebration of the Immaculate Conception and he was an angel there too.

The St Nicks Go Visit St Nick

We were sure that going to visit Santa would result in a screaming 9 month old and that this sadistic right of passage had to be done. Matthew absolutely adored Santa. He couldn't stop looking at him and he would talk to him. He was so good, Santa didn't want to let him go. We couldn't get him to smile for the camera so we just ordered the pics of him and Santa looking at each other. I hope all of our future visits go this well.

Maren's Baby Shower

Maren is my college roommate. We've been friends since I was a freshman at CSU San Marcos where we both also worked in our college bookstore. We were the 2 youngest people that worked there an both enjoyed torturing our manager, Melinda, so we bonded instantly. She and her husband Michael will be giving birth to a bouncing baby boy in January named Micah. I was so excited that her mom's friends who threw her shower held it at the Birch Aquarium at Scripps. What a clever idea, especially since she is doing the nursery in oceanic animals. We had the patio to eat, open presents and then had the entire aquarium at our disposal. It was a beaitiful day and a bit brisk, but perfect. Since Tony had class, I brought Matthew with me and he loved every minute of it. He loved looking at the animals, especially the great big tank in the middle. He stood at the glass talking to the fishies and shrieking with delight.

Maybe its because I'm a mother now or maybe its because i have the time to reflect on what Christmas really means but there is a sadness in my heart over the secularization and commercialization of Christmas. It has been in my heart for a few weeks now to share my belief in Christ our Savior in order to shine the light on what Christmas really means. Its not about going bankrupt or skipping a car payment to make sure your family has the best gifts on the block. Its not about the Christmas tree, the lights or the glitz and glamour. Its about rejoicing in the birth of Christ and nothing more. Sure, partaking in all of these activities is fun and helps to liven the spirit of the situation, but it shouldn't be a distraction from what the season is truly about. One of my most treasured possessions is my Nativity Scene that is on my mantle, one of the few decorations I have managed to display so far this season. I had the candles lit in it earlier and Matthew was fascinated by it and I started to reflect on the Gospel according to Luke, which depicts for us the true reason for celebrating Christmas.

The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, "Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you." But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." But Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?" And the angel said to her in reply, "The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren;
for nothing will be impossible for God." Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her.

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole world should be enrolled (in a census). This was the first enrollment, when Quirinius was governor of Syria. So all went to be enrolled, each to his own town.And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David that is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. While they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Now there were shepherds in that region living in the fields and keeping the night watch over their flock. The angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were struck with great fear. The angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord.
And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests."
When the angels went away from them to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go, then, to Bethlehem to see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us." So they went in haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger.
When they saw this, they made known the message that had been told them about this child.
All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds. And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them. When eight days were completed for his circumcision, he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. When the days were completed for their purification according to the law of Moses, they took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord,
just as it is written in the law of the Lord, "Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord," and to offer the sacrifice of "a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons," in accordance with the dictate in the law of the Lord.

Luke 1:10-28, 2:1-24

So I'm guessing that at this point, the people who completely disregard what I'm trying to say have stopped reading, which is truly their loss. For the rest of you, have a blessed and joyous Christmas season. God bless!

Strollin' to the Park Today

Matty and I get out for a 2-3 mile walk several days a week. Often times its to the mall or to Starbucks for a coffee or just through the neighborhood. Today we went to the park that's about a mile from our house and the orginial plan was to just do a few laps around the park and walk home but Matthew saw some kids and he started shrieking with delight so we had to stop. I helped him play on the jungle gym. There was a mini slide that I guided him down on and I let him crawl on the steps and just play. He had so much fun getting dirty and just being a boy! Please excuse the photo quality- I took them on my phone.

Such a Little Man

Matthew is looking less like a baby and more like a big boy. He's growing and developing so fast! He's starting to mumble "da da da da" and he even attempted to take steps today. He did about one and a half steps and then toppled face first but he tried nonetheless. He was even playing peek a boo with me today. He was on the floor and he'd crawl out from behind the chair, giggle and then crawl back behind it. He did this over and over for about 15 minutes. It was hilarious and he was definitely cracking himself up.

Palmer Thanksgiving 2008

Over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house we went.... We were hoping for snow since it was dumping rain in Temecula on Thanksgiving morn, but no such luck. We did hit snow on Highway 38 on the way up, near Onyx Summit but there was just rain in the Big Bear Valley. Mom and Dad put on a great spread- turkey, the best stuffing in the world, gravy, potatoes, green bean casserole, pumpkin pie. Matthew got to try turkey for the first time and he loved it. Grandma even made him mashed carrots and green beans too! It was just us and my parents for dinner as Mike and Amber had Jeremiah (Amber's son) and her ex and his family, as well as Troy, over for dinner. From what we could tell, Amber put on an impressive spread too! We stopped by for about an hour to visit so the kids could see each other and then we all got together on Friday for brunch at Mom's. Matty had a great time playing with the dogs and discovering Grandma and Grandpa's stairs. We are definitely going to have to get a gate before we go up there again. He was able to climb 4 steps by himself! It was a great and relaxing weekend- watching movies, football, taking walks, eating.... Oh yeah, Troy did manage to tear his shin open jumping over a 3 foot fence. Although stupid, this is still not as bad as the time he nearly needed abdominal surgery after falling off his snowboard checking out some girls at Bear Mountain. My mom had to apply first aid, I stood there making fun of him and taking his picture. Good times. There's nothing like family!

Look Who's 9 Months Old Today!!!!!

Wow, time is really flying by. Matthew is so close to walking and talking. He can stand by himself for quite awhile but then when he wants to move, he sits down and starts to crawl. He is definitely mimicking speech patterns and rhythms. Anyday now we are going to reach one of these big milestones. When Matty is really distressed, he will whine something like "mum mum" but its almost unintelligible. He does occasionally say something close to "hi" or "hey". He's mastering feeding himself finger foods, he loves Cheerios and Gerber Puffs but will also eat peas and carrots when I put them on his tray. He also has 3 teeth as of today. The 2 front bottom teeth have been there for about a month or so but one of his top teeth popped through this morning. We went to see Dr Du for his 9 month appointment today and since his kidneys have remained healthy, he was able to start meats today! Just in time for Thanksgiving on Thursday. He had sweet potatoes with a touch of ground turkey stirred in and he loved it. He weighed in today at 18 lbs 13 oz and measured 27.25 inches tall. He's on the small side for his age but he's still in a healthy range. His head is still going strong in the 90th percentile. Yeah baby.