Happpy Halloween!

Arrrrggghhh!!

Matthew eating his sword


One pooped out pirate

More Info on Mark Schultz

Hey all-
I just thought I'd add this link to an interview with Mark Schultz who wrote the song above. Have kleenex handy....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z61zdZJ9uZc

Everything To Us

Scott and I were driving home from church today and heard a song on the radio by Mark Schultz titled "Everything To Me". Needless to say, neither of us had a dry eye by the end of the song. These are the lyrics....


"I must have felt your tears
When they took me from your arms
I’m sure I must have heard you say goodbye
Lonely and afraid had you made a big mistake
Could an ocean even hold the tears you cried
But you had dreams for me
You wanted the best for me
And you made the only choice you could that night
You gave life to me
A brand new world to see
Like playing baseball in the yard with dad at night
Mom reading Goodnight Moon
And praying in my room
So if you worry if your choice was right
You gave me up but you gave everything to me
And if I saw you on the street
Would you know that it was me
And would your eyes be blue or green like mine
Would we share a warm embrace
Would you know me in your heart
Or would you smile and let me walk on by
Knowing you had dreams for me
You wanted the best for me
And I hope that you’d be proud of who I am
You gave life to me
A chance to find my dreams
And a chance to fall in love
You should have seen her shining face
On our wedding day
Oh is this the dream you had in mind
When you gave me up
You gave everything to me
And when I see you there
Watching from heaven’s gates
Into your arms I’m gonna run
And when you look in my eyes
You can see my whole life
See who I was And who I’ve become"


I can't help but think of our birthmother and what a tremendous gift she gave Matthew and us. She gave us everything. When I look at that toothless grin my heart just fills with feelings of gratitude and love for her. So please, pray for her and other birth moms who have such incredible love for their babies, that they not only chose life, but make an enormous sacrifice so that their children can have everything.

(couldn't leave without posting a pic of the boy wonder)

First Swimming Lesson

Hey everyone. Sorry it's been a while since we did a post. Matthew's social calendar is pretty busy. He's definately a baby on the go.

Scott's father and stepmother were just here for a few days and we all enjoyed their visit. We were pretty busy with all the usual tourist activities. We went to Seattle for a day and enjoyed Pike's Place Market and the rest of the city. We also drove out to the Northwest Trek which is a wildlife park that has bears, wolves, elk, buffalo, cougars and a lot more. Definately worth a return trip. The big news is that Scott and I got to go out to dinner ALONE while they were here. Of course we talked about Matthew most of the time, but it was still nice to get dressed up, go out and act like adults again. I think it's worth pursuing "date night" a few times a month.

Matthew continues to be a joy. He's now in baby boot camp with me twice a week and just started swimming lessons today.



Yes, that's actually him under the water and going thru the hoop (on his first lesson!!). Amazing. After both activities today, he was totally ready for a BIG nap when he got home. Who knows? Maybe this will be the ticket to getting him to sleep thru the night ; )
Well got to run for now. More later.
Cheryl

Ahhh, the Proof We Needed

So, Scott has always joked that Matthew is a secret agent baby sent to kill us with sleep deprivation. Now we have the proof......

Red Sky in the Morning, Sailors Take Warning

So this was our greeting from God this morning. Not too shabby, huh? We woke up with Matthew around 6am and the sky was just on fire. So we loaded up the baby and some coffee and went to the park at the mouth of the harbor and took some absolutely stunning shots of the mountain and the water. If you're interested, I'm going to load them into snapfish, so email me (CherylTaylorNNP@hotmail.com) and I will send you the album.

Yesterday, we went to the salmon hatchery in Issaquah. It was really interesting. They have two huge holding tanks with about a thousand Coho and Chinook salmon that should start spawning any day now. Matthew was mesmerized while watching all the fish in the tank. Here's kind of a neat shot of it....


The creek that runs through the hatchery has a big waterfall that the salmon were trying to jump to head upstream. It was fascinating to watch. There must have been hundreds of salmon in the creek, some at least 30 pounds (definitely bigger than Matthew). It was an experience I would recommend for anyone visiting Washington in the fall.


This past weekend we loaded up Matthew and went to the coast for the night. We stayed in Ocean Shores, WA. Unfortunately, we got into to town after dark and when we woke up the next morning it was raining like crazy and the wind was really blowing. So we drove onto the beach for a while, but decided that it looked like the tide was coming in, so we should probably head out. So not much time spent at the ocean, but still a good trip. We got home in the afternoon and were in the middle of unpacking when we heard what we thought was thunder and then had a power surge. We heard another burst of thunder after that. We both looked outside and found it funny that the sky was absolutely clear. So at that point we just chalked it up to the cats chasing each other around the house. However, after we turned on the TV a few hours later, we found out that it was a propane tank that had exploded at the foundry in Tacoma. I guess it was pretty dramatic with debris flying onto the freeway (they had to close WA16 and US5). Amazing that we heard the explosions all the way in Gig Harbor.


Matthew continues to be a joy. He started rice cereal last week and the jury is still out on his response.


Other exciting events in his life include, attending the Puyallup Fair....


and hanging out with his new friend Tia...

So life is busy for Mr. Matthew. (and his parents) Well, that's all for now. I hope all is well. Take care.

Cheryl

Aren't I Still Your Baby Too??

Hey everyone. We're back in business with a new hard drive and now we're faster than every (very exciting). But I'm a little short on time now, so I will post more later. In the meantime, I thought you'd all enjoy this pic of Cleo.
Cheryl

"Serious Error"

Sorry there hasn't been much news, but I haven't had much internet access. It appears that our hard drive has a "serious error". Yikes! So it is off to the shop for repair. Until we get that fixed, unfortunately, we can't post any pics.
Other than that, really not much to tell. Matthew has finally settled back into a schedule. The big news is that he rolled over from back to front for the first time. Very exciting. Now he's doing it all the time and quite pleased with himself. He goes in for his 4 month check-up and shots this week. That's always fun ; )
Scott has been off for this week and we've been quite busy. We went to the Puyallup fair earlier this week and Scott spent the day yesterday on a cigarette boat racing from Tacoma to Olympia. I'm told it was quite loud and very fast. He heads back to work this week.
That's all for now. Will post more with some pics when our hard drive is fixed.
Cheryl

Transition to the West Coast

Well, we had a fantastic time in Michigan and enjoyed seeing everyone again. Although it is nice to be back home, the transition has been a little challenging. Sir Matthew has had a difficult transition back west coast time. So he is up at 4am everyday and very cranky for the rest of the day because he hasn’t gotten enough sleep. So the previous post, is his usual expression these days.

I have a snapfish album from our visit, if anyone is interested, just send me your email (CherylTaylorNNP@hotmail.com).

Although I'd love to write more now, it is almost 11pm and I need to go get some sleep.

Cheryl

Matthew and Joseph's Reaction to UM Football

Will post more later....

Happy Three Months Old!!

Hard to believe that it's been three months already. Wow how time flies. Thought you'd all like a few comparison pictures....

Hello Again Mt. Rainier

I was driving out of the neighborhood today and saw the moutain for the first time in several days (it's been a bit cloudy). It really is quite a sight. I told Scott that I hope we never take for granted the beauty around us here. I've included some pics, but obviously they don't come anywhere near to the real thing. It's so frustrating to see a great sight here and not be able to capture it in it's fullness. Oh well, for now you'll have to settle for this...

Thank You to Those Who Serve

Thought I'd post a few cute pictures from our week. Things seem to be settling into a routine here. We still have to hang some pictures, but now are days are mostly filled with taking care of Matthew and the normal household stuff. We went and did a "take #2" for Matthew's announcement pictures down at the pier earlier this week. The picture of the three of us below was taken by a young man who is on leave visiting his parents from North Carolina. He is a Marine MP. We really enjoyed meeting him and hearing his stories about his recent deployments to several places overseas.

Then, yesterday Scott took Matthew downtown for an early morning walk so I could shower and have some time to myself (what a great hubby!!). We met for breakfast and then went for a walk. We met a man who is in town for a surprise birthday party for one of his friends that he served with in Vietnam (he hasn't seen him in 35 years). He was a helicopter door gunner that provided escorts for supply boats in the Mekong Delta. One day the boats were attacked and this man we met jumped into the water from his helicopter to save one of the soldiers. The soldier was in the water, covered in oil, and being badly burned, after his boat exploded. What incredible stories he had! So even though it's not Memorial Day or Fourth of July, and no matter your feelings about Iraq, or what your political views are, these men and women deserve our thanks. They are willing to put their lives on the line for our freedom and safety. (Ok, I'm getting off of the soapbox now).

Mr. Matthew continues to do well. He started some medication this week for reflux and appears to be much happier. He has really great head control, so we're starting to put him in his exersaucer for a few minutes a time every day. The cats are also liking the exersaucer (as well as all of the other baby toys). Personally, I think it's definitely for someone who has ADD.

Well, that's all for now. We're heading back to Michigan in September for Matthew's baptism, so hopefully we'll get a chance to visit with some of our friends.

Take care.

Cheryl, Scott and Matthew

Breakfast with the Jellyfish and Birds

What a great start to the day! Scott, Matthew and I had breakfast on the pier downtown this morning. It was fairly early in the morning so the water was very still and there were very few people around. Lots of jellyfish in the water and birds getting a morning snack though. The pier is pretty crowded on the weekends with all kinds of boats and people fishing and crabbing, so it's nice to be able to take the stroller enjoy the scenery without the crowd. What a treat! It's times like these, that I'm glad that we chose Gig Harbor, over Tacoma or Puyallup. I think I am truly becoming a Gig Harbor snob. I really don't like to cross the bridge now unless I have to.


It's been a lot of fun exploring new places here on the peninsula. We went to Sunrise Beach the other day. We had to park about a half a mile from the beach and walk across this big field to get there. Well, we got there just at dusk and the field was full of deer- very tame deer. They would let you get within 5-6 feet. I found two baby deer hiding in a patch of bushes as we were walking down to the beach.






We're almost completely moved in now. Mount "Box"more was demolished this week. All we really have left to do is hang some pictures and rearrange the furniture in the living room now that the boxes are gone. It sure feels good to have everything just about done.

Matthew continues to do well. He definitely likes being out and about. It has really been great that he enjoys going to the store, out to eat, etc... We're very lucky. He had a difficult time with his morning nap the other day. Every time he fell asleep, I'd put him in his crib and he'd be up again in 10 minutes. The last time, I had someone from St. Vincent DePaul here to collect some items for charity. He was asleep, so I put him in his crib. I helped her load her car and then came back into the house. I fully expected to hear him crying since it had been about 10 minutes or so, but nothing. So I went to check on him and found this......

Evidently, he didn't want to sleep alone. And for those of you in the NICU/neonatal world, I only put him on his belly during the day when I'm able to check on him frequently. We definitely do "Back to Sleep" at night. It's one of the "I'll never's" that I've broken.

Well that all for now. Hope all is well with everyone and you're enjoying the last days of summer.

Cheryl, Scott, Matthew, Caesar and Cleo

Quick Update

Just wanted to drop a quick line on the blog while Cheryl gets Matthew ready for bed. Kim, Jessica and Jasmine LaMar dropped in for a quick visit over the weekend. We had a good trip to Seattle and Matthew traveled and went sightseeing like a champ!

Matthew's cousins Jack and Charlie were born on August 2 in Savannah and mom and babies are doing well! They are spending some time in the NICU gaining weight and have charmed their parents and grandparents!! We are all very excited for Don and Julie!

I thought I would put up a funny photo for y'all- Guess what Matthew is doing here?!

Take care and have a great day!!
-Scott

The View (and not the TV show!)

Well I promised some pictures of the view. This is it. The picture, of course, doesn't do it justice, but you get the idea. This is from our street. Our view from our bedroom window is similar, but we have a couple of trees in the way. You can make out the Cascade Mountains in the distance (just below the pink sky). Also you might be able to see the Vashon Island ferry on the right. It runs between Point Defiance and Vashon Island. I'll try to get some pics of Mount Rainier soon. You can see it from the road out of the complex on a clear day. It's been too cloudy for about a week now for the mountain to be out.

2 Month Check-Up

Hey everyone! Today is a big day for Matthew. He went to the pediatrician today for his 2 month check-up and immunizations. He is now 14 pounds plus a half an ounce, that puts him at the 90%tile for his weight. He is 23 and 1/4 inches long (50%tile) and his head circumference is at the 70%tile. So, yes, he's still a big boy. He got his immunizations and all things considered, is handling it pretty well today. I think the around-the-clock Tylenol is helping a lot. We got some good news from the PNP at his appointment today. We can finally stop boiling the water for his formula. Not sure if many of you heard about this or not, but Scott and I, two college-educated persons, can not boil water. We have a routine every night when Matthew goes to bed, we put all the bottles in the dishwasher and put on the water to boil for his formula. The first night that Scott was off for the week, we did all that and then sat down to watch a movie. About an hour or so later, I said "What's that burning?". Yep, burnt up one pot. But the kicker is that we did it again the next night. So for a while our stove top was filled with different pots and pans that we kept burning up. But not to worry, the boiling is over.









We took Matthew for his first ferry ride on Monday. We spent the day in Seattle and went to Pike Place Market and the Seattle Aquarium. The first picture below is taken at one of my favorite spots in the market. As you can see, Matthew is out like a light in this picture. He was totally fascinated by the city after we stepped off of the boat, but that lasted for about 20 minutes and then was sound asleep.

The Market was exciting, as usual. We brought home a really nice piece of salmon, some sausage and berries. One thing is for sure, we need to take a big cooler with us next time. The aquarium was a lot of fun as well. We're going to try and make it back in the fall when the salmon are using the "elevator" to get to the hatchery. Both places I would highly recommend for anyone planning to visit Seattle in the future.

Well that's all for now. Got to go and make tomorrow's bottles. And NOT boil the water.

Cheryl

A Few Cute Pics

Just wanted to share a few cute pictures with you all. We're heading to Seattle for Matthew's first day in the big city and first boat ride, so I'm sure that there will be more to come. Hope all is well....

Scott and Cheryl

Bath Time with Daddy

Bye, Bye Sunshine (for a while)

Well it looks like we're going to be getting some of that famous Seattle rain for the next several days. It had been absolutely beautiful and sunny so that you could see Mount Ranier everyday. But even with the rain and clouds now, it is still beautiful here. I love our drive down the hill from where we live. We have a great view of the sound and Point Defiance Park. I'll post some pics when I get a chance.

Matthew continues to do well. He made a trip to the pediatrican today and he weighs 13# 10oz. Of course, while I was in the exam room with him (by myself), he picked his head up while he was laying on his tummy. But I did get a picture, so I have evidence...

He is getting on a pretty good schedule and is taking some fairly regular naps during the day. He's also starting to laugh a little. I'm finding that I'm having to readjust my expectations of what I hope to accomplish in a day. His naptime is pretty valuable. I feel like the start gun goes off the second that he goes to sleep. Although, this week I did manage to nap with him twice.

The big news here is that the Tacoma Narrows Bridge #3 opened on Monday. Now we have two bridges with four lanes of traffic each heading into and out of Gig Harbor. Traffic was horrible before, now it's much better. The first bridge, "Galloping Gertie" collapsed in the 1940's, so that's why this is bridge #3. Hopefully modern engineering is more sound today.

Scott starts his week off tomorrow. We're looking forward to getting the stuff in the garage put away and having someone come and remove Mount "Box"more from our living room. I'm sure this place will seem much bigger when we're minus about 60-70 boxes. We'll post more later this week. Bye for now....