Matt's 2!!!

Little dude turned 2 on April 23, 2012. I cannot believe it has already been 2 years. We had an impromptu birthday party for him yesterday. My parents and my sister came to visit from El Paso and my Aunt Kim and cousin, Ryan, drove up from Corpus Christi to celebrate with us. Matt got some super awesome gifts!!

These pictures are a little out of order, but on purpose. I had to put the picture of him and his candle that he took a bite out of. He was super excited after he blew out the candle and just took a big bite!

He picked out this dino himself and bought it with birthday money Mimi sent him. This is probably the best dinosaur figurine i have ever seen and it is heavy! He immediately named him Alex.

Sammy got a present on Matt's birthday too.

The cake!! There is a lot going on, but it's dinosaurs surrounded by volcanoes and lava. Matt had to take the decorations off before we could even sing Happy Birthday.

Apparently he HATES when people sing happy birthday to him. To be honest, this is how I feel inside on my birthday too. It is super awkward when you're sitting there and people are singing to you.

He liked the cake though!

The present opening is a team effort.

Cool dino from Aunt Kim, Uncle David, and Ryan. He also got a cool coloring book and a motorcycle. Not to mention a HUGE set of legos!! Thank You!!

                                                Train set from mommy and daddy.

Sammy enjoying the interchangeable dinosaurs from Grammy and Grampy.

He got a lot more presents too, which I unfortunately did not get pictures of him opening. He got a lot of cute books from Henry and Ashley...Thanks guys! Cute outfit and bubble blower from Aunt Kassy and Uncle Billy...Thank you :) Outfits and toys and another cute dino book from Grammy and Grampy... Thank you :) We really enjoyed seeing everyone! You all made his birthday extra special :)

Updates

Wow. I haven't updated in a looong time. I need to start doing it at least once a week since we live away from all of our family now :(
Let's see, since my last update we bought a house!!!! For some reason we have yet to take pictures. We are putting in new flooring and I'll take pictures when that is all done because right now things a re a little bit of a mess. We really like it so far. The neighborhood is great and we love the backyard.

We have made a few trips back to El Paso to pick up furniture and visit. They have been short trips, but this summer I would like to visit for at least a week. Sam might start Officer Training School in the summer, so that might be a good time to take some trips.

Aunt Kim, Uncle David, and Ryan have been here a couple of times to visit. I can't wait to go visit them. The kids and I drove up to Fredericksburg about an hour away to watch David and Ryan shoot in a competitive Cowboy Shoot. It was pretty cool to see everyone all decked out in frontier gear. I forgot my camera though :( I think I have a few pictures on my phone and I'll upload those soon. Fredericksburg is an old German town in the Texas Hill Country and it's pretty neat. I want to go back soon, sans kids.

Now onto some photos:


Here are the kids on the slip and slide. I have to push them all the way down it because it's not very "slippy." It's been about 85 here and hot and humid enough for water stuff. We've even been swimming already. My friends Bobby and Alisha live in a condo and we swam there. Sammy and Matt had a blast with their daughter, Audrey, and Matt loved to run and jump in the pool. He would yell, "Bobby!" and jump into Bobby's arms. It was so cute. He must have done it at least 30 times. I really wish I had a video of that.


Matt helping Sam with the kitchen tile demolition. We will NEVER put down floors again. We popped up the ceramic tile in the kitchen and entry way and pulled up the carpet in the den and hallways to lay down a floating bamboo floor. We're still pulling up boards weeks later to level out the uneven concrete. This has been a nightmare to say the least. On the bright side, Sam now has a pretty decent stockpile of tools and power saws.


Matt getting a running start on the slip and slide. (sorry these pictures are random and out of order.)

Sammy in Grammy's hot rollers from our most recent trip to El Paso in the beginning of March.


This one is from our visit to Guadalupe State Park to release Sammy's butterflies that she raised.


The caterpillars. I think this little project was from February.


We bought Matt a toilet seat to start the potty training process because he has actually told us a few times that he needed to pee, so we sat him on the toilet and he actually went!! (This was about 6 months ago and he has since lost all interest in the toilet.) His potty seat has become an accessory.


Matt sees Samantha painting all of the time and he thought he would like to try. He really loves it, but it only lasts about 10 minutes.