...: December 2007

Weird Comments

Friday December 28, 2007

Hi Dear Friends and Family,

We just got a strange comment from some random person (still trying to figure out how to delete it) and have decided that only invitees can view our blog. I know I can moderate the comments from now on, but there's really no reason to leave our blog open to the world wide web. So, if you'd like to see our blog from now on, just email me or leave a comment and I'll add you to the list of VIP's. Sorry to complicate things but knowing that any weirdo can read all about our family kinda gives me the creeps! Hope all of our loyal friends and family will stick with us :)

Team Mathews

Ps. If you're reading this, that means I haven't set it to private, yet.

Baby Einstein

Wednesday December 19, 2007

"Oh look, Will is holding the telephone up to his ear!" my friend Amanda exclaimed enthusiastically as Will held the nostalgic Fisher-Price pull along telephone receiver up to his ear. From the design, I'm guessing this telephone has been around for ages. "Is this Lauren's from when she was little or is it new and it just has a retro look to it?" one of the moms asked. I was puzzled, "You know, I don't know how he knows to hold that up to his ear? We don't have a telephone like that?" "He's just that smart, Emily!" Emanuela exclaimed. We all sat in wonder and amazement for the next two minutes wondering what trick Baby Einstein would perform next. I decided to play telephone with him for a few minutes until he was distracted by the plastic peanut butter and jelly and a cluster of grapes.

"Guys? Nevermind about the telephone. He's holding the grapes up to his ear."

Pushing My Toys Around

Saturday December 13, 2007

I have shown very little interest in push-toys or even walking with my mom holding my hands ...until today. After dinner tonight for almost an hour, I pushed my ABC abacus toy up and down our entry way.

Time for some push toys Mom!

Playing at the Park

Tuesday December 11, 2007

It's been so warm here in Georgia. My mom and I spent more time playing at the park.

I liked climbing up the slide!

My Favorite Place to Play

Thursday December 13, 2007

If my parents ever see me crawling really super fast, it's a sure bet that I'm headed to my little hiding place behind the Christmas tree. I unplug the lights and shake the cord all around! My mom always says "NO SIR!" and I just laugh at her as I crawl away to escape. I know what I'm doing because I hide when my mom comes after me! Maybe if my parents didn't take pictures of me doing naughty things, I wouldn't do it?

77 and Sunny

Monday December 10, 2007

Today I spent my day playing outside and it was HOT! My mom turned on the air conditioning in her car on the way home from the park because we were burning up. Then when I got home it was nap time so my mom let me sleep in just my t-shirt. I'm so glad she took those socks and shoes off of me, too.

We also have a new place that we love to go to called The Flying Biscuit Cafe. I think they call it that because I throw the biscuits on the floor when I go there. They just opened their doors in our neighborhood and we are so glad about it. If you come visit us, I will probably take you here!

Oh and Ps. I now love Chik-Fil-A chicken. That is all for today.

A "Hare"-Raising Experience

Saturday December 8, 2007

The polls are closed and the votes are in! 63% of the votes were "yes" for a haircut! So, we took our little bunny to get a hair cut today...

But only after trying on our own and failing miserably! (Where is Aunt Leah when you need her?!)

So off we went to our neighborhood Snip-its*. A for-kids-only salon.

Will was so patient for his first hair cut.

The clippers didn't seem to bother him too much. Although, he had a little distraction.

Not only his first haircut but his first taste of real sugar!

Bye-bye little baby mullett!

All done! He did a great job of sitting still. When she started buzzing around his ears, he just smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

The finished product.

*Yes, I do realize that for the price of the boy's hair cut I could've bought a pair of clippers and buzzed it myself. I do plan to do this for future hair cuts :)

Santa!

Sunday December 2, 2007

So my parents took me to Lenox mall to see this strange guy they call "Santa". I'm not sure what this guy was celebrating but before I knew it I was sitting in his lap and everyone was snapping photos. My mom's last words were, "Tell Santa what you want for Christmas" and she walked away from me. I got a little scared then. I didn't know what that meant.

"Are you seriously leaving me with this guy, mom?"

"No mom, seriously... come back!"

"The only thing I know to tell ya are more of those electrical cords my parents keep taking away from me."

10 Months

Saturday December 1, 2007

Anyway! Back to me! I am officially 10 months old!

My mom says I'm talking a lot more these days. Everything is "daddadadda" including the neighbor's dogs. When my mom gets me out of bed, we go sit on the sofa in my room and look out the window for them. I say "dadadadadada" over and over while looking for them. My mom also noticed that I'm paying closer attention to the things she's saying to me and sometimes I even mock her sounds. My favorite new thing this month was balloons. I also love to pull up on things. I even started "cruising." My mom sets up a row of chairs and I creep down them to a treat at the end of the row. We also like to make forts for me to crawl through with our pillows from the sofa. It's getting harder and harder to get a good picture of me! I am on-the-go! (Well that and my mom is not really great at operating our camera)

Guys, next month I will be 11 months! Can you believe it?

Jesse's Birthday Celebration- Fogo. De Wow!

Saturday December 1, 2007

Since Jesse was busy on his birthday we had a family celebration on Saturday with cake.

I made the teensy mistake of putting an "Over the Hill" candle on Jesse's cake. Oops. I thought it was 30, he said 40. We had to call in reinforcements. We called Jesse's dad. He did confirm that Jesse was right. And yes, they laughed at me.

So after our family celebration, we put big guy to bed, and anxiously awaited the arrival of OUR BABYSITTER! I am a bit embarrassed to admit that this was our FIRST DATE since Will was born. I can't believe we didn't do this sooner. The problem has been finding someone to watch Will (no family close and our friends either have children of their own or they're single.) AND he has always been unpredictable at bedtime. So I borrowed my friend's babysitter (yes, the one who I borrow everything from including doctors, hair stylists, and fun events-Mrs. Councill) and out we went. I tried to keep our destination a surprise as long as possible. Since Jesse got a GPS system for his birthday (Thanks Dad and Pops and Mom M.!) I programmed the address in and told him just to follow the directions. He kept guessing. And guessing. Finally I caved and told him where we were going. We went to Fogo De Chao for the first time since being in Atlanta. We were told about the restaurant by a friend before we even moved here and have wanted to try it for a while.

So we finally made it and were more than impressed. Fogo. De. Chao. is a Braz.ilian steakhouse that specializes in churrasco, slowly roasting meats over an open fire. The idea is sort of a one size fits all restaurant. You pay a flat rate which includes the salad bar, entree, sides, and bread. Sounds just like Gold.en Corral, right? Wrong. Dead wrong. Not even close.

Start with the lavish salad bar which would put GC to shame; sundried tomatoes, enormous asparagus and hearts of palm, artichokes, roasted red peppers, fresh balls of mozzarella, prosciutto, bacon, smoked salmon, soups, and a variety of breads and cheeses.

Here's how the entree works. They give you a round card that looks like a coaster, one side red the other green. When you're ready for your entree, flip the card green side up. They will scurry over with skewers of succulent (never used that word in my life) roasted meats to your table to be carved to your plate. When you need a break, flip your card red side up. Jesse and I both made the mistake of leaving our card green side up. The gaucho chefs were ready to carve filet mignon, bacon wrapped chicken, leg of lamb, beef ribs, and pork loin faster than we could say, "UNCLE!"

In addition to the entree of roasted meats, also included are mashed potatoes, fried polenta, fried bananas, and my personal favorite the pao de queijo (cheese bread). I nearly reached over and slapped Jesse in the face it was so good. I couldn't help but ask our server what the secret ingredient was. Just a simple concoction of eggs, milk, salt, parmesan cheese, and tapiocoa flour. Crispy on the outside and soft and cheesy in the middle. "Would you like me to bring you some to take home?" he asked quietly as he looked over his shoulder. "Would you?" I smiled. "Yes, we're not suppose to but..." He brought back a styrofoam case of goodness to our table. I stuck it in my (big) purse to protect our friend from getting in trouble.

I think it's safe to say this was the best steak house we've ever experienced. Ever.

And it is that, an experience. So it's much more fun.

Along with the food, we both tremendously enjoyed our time alone. Jesse said, "I feel like I have my life back." Did he mean wife? We did commit to making a date night every other weekend, even just for coffee.

Ps. Aunt Susan-they just opened one in Beverly Hills in 2006. I think when you are feeling up to it, it should be a Post-SCT celebration for sure!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Wednesday November 28, 2007

My dad's birthday was today. I gave him a neat gift. It's a holder for him to showcase all of his important baseball cards from his childhood. The pockets have a stitching on them like a baseball pattern. Here I am helping him open my gift.

(Don't tell my dad but I kinda got this with the idea that maybe he might share it with me one day and let me put it up in my room. You know the kind. Like the time my dad bought my mom tickets to see the Braves for her birthday. Or the time when my mom was 8 years old and bought her brother a packet of m&m's for his 9th birthday. Those presents are meant to be shared :) Speaking of, if you've received or given a gift like this, why don't you share as a comment?)

Puttin' Up the Tree

Friday November 23, 2007

My parents' try to avoid shopping the day after Thanksgiving at all costs so they have made it their tradition to put up the tree instead. My mom makes rice krispy treats, they break out the Christmas music, and up goes the tree. I helped a little before I went to bed but I didn't see the finished product until the next morning.

Did you guys know these berries were edible?

Hey, this must be mine!

My dad puts the finishing touch on the tree

Here's me the next morning checking it out.

Our First Thanksgiving

Thursday November 22, 2007

Our first Thanksgiving together was a small family gathering; just the three of us! My mom assured me that most of our Thanksgivings won't be like this. This year was a special case. I didn't mind, I got my mom and dad the whole day to myself! Dad and I watched football while mom made some dinner. I even helped her a little!