I like to eat, eat, eat, apples and bananas!

So I've been waiting MONTHS to be able to use these handy little teethers and now that Matthew is eating solids, I decided to give it a go. They are awesome! I put in a chunk of cold banana in the net and gave it to Matthew. He loved it and it actually entertained him long enough for us to be able to eat our dinner without having to get up and tend to him. He ended up being a banana mess, but it was worth it. 

Post baby weight

So today I finally went to a gym for the first time in I think about a year. A YEAR. Don't get me wrong...I've been walking (some) with the kid when the weather has permitted, and actually lost ten pounds walking daily back in the fall, but I haven't done any serious cardio since early in my pregnancy with Matthew (and I gave that up for lounging on the couch, exhausted and nauseous).  But back to that ten pounds. Great, right? Well, in the big picture, it's not all that much.  I gained a WHOPPING 50 pounds with Matthew, and I can't seem to shake the last 5-7 that feel (and look) more like 15.
But, as fellow blogger has mentioned, there is an ever-present feeling of guilt any time I do something that does not involve baby care. I am coming to the realization, though, that I have to have time for myself, and for Ross, so I enrolled in a 14 day trial at a gym that is literally a stone's throw away from Matthew's daycare. I'm going to go every day for the next two weeks to see if it is worth the totally ridiculous amount of money they are asking (no, really, it's ridiculous). I figure if I lose some weight in that time, I can convince Ross that it is worth the extra cost. =)

One more from Christmas...

Here's a video of Gavin and his singing Elmo hands....too funny!

Long time no see?

It has been FOREVER since I last posted, so here goes! This holiday season has been incredibly wonderful, as we got to see our families (well, many of them, anyway) and got to travel a lot. For Thanksgiving, we drove 9-10 hours each way to Corpus Christi for a week and stayed with Ross's parents (Ross finally got to get some fishing in!), and then for Christmas, Ross's entire immediate family came out to Mississippi and then we drove 10 1/2 hours each way to Kentucky to my sister's house for our 2nd Christmas. Matthew had such a wonderful first Christmas, especially because he got to spend it with ALL of his first cousins!

Here are some highlights:

 Baby's first Christmas! On the back of this ornament, I wrote "Matthew 2010"

 Grandma with Lauren and Matthew a few days before Christmas

 Me and LaLa making Christmas cookies for Santa (and everyone else) in super cute aprons.

 Pawpaw, Matthew, and Grandma

 Ross and me playing with my Christmas present, a new MacBook!

Wearing Daddy's beanie to keep warm. I just love his face in this pic!

 Me with Matthew, RIGHT after he spit up all over his present from Santa!

 Daddy and Matthew about to tear into some wrapping paper, except this was right at bedtime, so he wasn't as interested in his first Christmas as we were!

 Kait on Christmas morning (she kindly held her hair out of her face so I could take her pic =)

 Rodney and Ross, then me and Stacy in the lobby at the Beau Rivage....it was gorgeously decorated, though you can't really tell b/c of how grainy the iphone pics are!

 Matthew in Kentucky. He was a little more awake for this unwrapping, so he was a little more into the colorful boxes before him.

 oooooh, Christmas tree!

 "Can I just play with the tree?"

(L to R) Connor, Shaun, Madison, Kristi, and Gavin at Gavin's Christening

 Grandma BB and her babies, Connor, Madison, Gavin, and Matthew

 Gavin sharing his toy with Matthew. I think he was running a 101 degree fever at this point, which turned out being a result of an ear infection in each ear =( Poor baby didn't feel well for a couple of days. He has some rosy cheeks!

 Cousins watching Baby Genius together (Matthew and Gavin)

So sweet!

There are quite a few pics that I haven't uploaded and unfortunately, lots of moments that were not captured by my camera...to name a few, spending time with family, the fabulous food we had, the gift giving, our trip with Rodney and Stacy to Beau Rivage, where I learned how to play black jack a little more, and Stacy won BIG time, road tripping to Kentucky, seeing my mom, Shaun, Kristi, Madison, Connor, and Gavin, Gavin's Christening (and what a good little boy he was despite being doused with cold Holy water), hearing Madison play the flute, getting to know the pre-teen Connor (I can't believe it!) hanging with Kristi and Shaun at the Buerger's for New Year's and laughing hysterically, having coffee with my mom and sister every morning, and I could go on and on and on.....