Baby, It's Cold Outside

We have had semi warm weather, cold weather, and down right freezing weather in the last few weeks. You never know what you will get in good ole' Missouri! The first snow we had was way too cold to take Matney out to enjoy, so we simply watched and enjoyed from indoors. Last week we had about 2-3 inches and when we got home one evening we bundled up and went out to let Matney see what it was all about. Since she was so bundled up, she couldn't really move around much and with a 100 pound chocolate lab in her face most of the time; she wasn't really sure what to do or think. Mama got some really cute pictures though! I can't wait for another snow and possibly a little sleeding with my little lady, though we will have to go to Nannie and Papa's for sleeding as we don't really have much of a hill at our house.

Busy Lady

Matney is pretty much to boss around here and is in to everything! She loves to eat and terrorize the house, especially the cat! She keeps us on our toes pretty much all the time and the only time she isn't going 100 is when she is snuggled in to bed and wrapped up in her blankie. Here are a few shots of the fun times over the last few weeks.

Growing Up!

Our little lady has really changed in the last few weeks! She has gone from pulling up on things and taking a few steps, to full blown walking. She carries things with her everywhere and no matter how many times she falls down, she gets right back up and tries again. I hope that she is like this for the rest of her life and when she falls, she picks herself back up again (maybe with a little help from Mommy along the way).

She is so intriqued by things these days and could spend hours tearing the drawers in the office apart or cleaning out the cabinets in the kitchen. No matter how many messes I clean up, I fall more in love with this little lady each day!

9 months

It is hard to believe that 9 months has gone by since Matney was born. It has been a blissful 9 months as we see her grow and change every day. I can positively say that I have fallen more and more in love with her with each passing day. The last month has brought many firsts for little Miss Matney!

• First Christmas. Very successful for an 8 1/2 month old at the time. She brought in a lot of loot and was a pro at unwrapping by the time all the Christmas' were over.


• First overnight sleepover with her Nannie B and Papa G, along with her 3 crazy cousins. (We had my work Christmas party to go to and woke up the next morning with the stomach bug!)


• First time with the stomach bug. Much quicker recovery than the rest of us!


• First time saying "No". Matney has become a pro at saying No! She of course doesn't really know the meaning but seems to say it at the right times or mimics someone else who has said it.


• First steps. At 9 months and 1 day she took several steps to her Daddy and then 4 steps to me. Each day she has added a few more to her repertoire.

These are just a few of the things Matney has done in the last month and I can only imagine what she will be doing next month at this time. I can only imagine the messes I will have to clean up if I consider the ones I have already seen in the last few weeks. Leave this girl alone for 1 minute and she can have an entire tissue box emptied and shredded!

At 9 months M is still a little on the small side according to the doctor. It is hard for us to see since she has such cute pinchable cheeks and little leg rolls galore. I guess she is small because she is so active for her age. At her 9 month checkup she weighed 17.2 pounds (20th percentile) and was 26 1/2 inches long (15th percentile). She still has a big head (75th percentile) which of course I attribute to the fact that she is so smart and has a lot of energy and information already stored in her little brain!

Playing hard

Matney has been playing hard the last few days with all of her new toys. Our living room looks like a toy store blew up in it, but it is worth it. She has so much fun dragging everything out and playing with it for a few minutes, then moving on to the next thing. I can't wait for her to understand how to pick things up and put them in the toy box (of which we do not have, but we keep hinting to Papa G that she would love a handmade one for her birthday).

Instead of a toy box, we had a basket for quite a while, but quickly outgrew the basket after Christmas. I came up with the great idea of getting out an extra laundry basket that we had to dump all of her toys in to each night. I was doing something this morning and walked back in to the room to find her "in" the laundry basket. She sat in it for at least 30 minutes and played quietly and contently. She would play with a toy for a few minutes and when she was done with it, she would chuck it out of the basket and start playing with the next thing. I keep asking myself, why we have all the toys when such simple things so as the trash can, pans, or a laundry basket make her so happy for so long.

Christmas Part IV and V

Our 4th Christmas took place on Christmas day at Brandon's parents. Granny Kem and Grampy Rick out did themselves with presents for little Matney. Matney now has a miniature Polar*s four-wheeler, a kitchen, a ball popping machine, and many new clothes. Brandon and I were given wonderful rocking chairs for our front porch and Matney received one of her own as well.

We spend a few hours at Granny and Grampy's playing and then came home to spend time together as a family on our first Christmas. Brandon went to see a movie with Papa G and Nannie came over to see all of M's loot. Christmas evening was pretty low key, but it was so nice to spend the evening seeing how happy Matney was and watching her curiosity bloom as she played with all her new toys.

We celebrated Davis Christmas on December 30th at Mom and Dad's house. Everyone was there, but Tyler who had to work. We dined on a gourmet meal of beans and cornbread; yes, we realize this isn't a typical Christmas meal, but that's what we all wanted. Not a good idea however, when you consider how many men were present at this Christmas dinner!

I didn't get a picture of the Christmas tree, but it looked like Christmas morning all over again. Uncle Brent and Jackie were more than generous to all of us. The present of the year was the beer brewing set that Dad received. I can't wait for spring to come so I can start my landscaping projects and put in my new lights that I received. Matney and Kennon got these cute push/ride toys that has now been up and down my hardwood floors 100 times already I think. We were blessed that Grandma Leota was feeling well enough to come out for the evening. In classic Grandma style, she stated her mind at one point when she looked at her only son and said, "You sure are getting bald", or something along those lines. I don't know that I have heard that much laughter in the dining room in years!

Now that the 2010 Christmas' are over, we look forward to the new year and all the blessings it will bring.