Erica, Mat, Luke, and Brenyn

Updates

2010-12-09T14:53:00.001-08:00

So it's been a very long time since I updated the blog. So this will be an update on all of our happenings (:

Mat is now officially and airline pilot! He is a first officer for Atlantic Southeast Airlines. (They are owned by delta.) It has been a rough couple months, because he has been in Atlanta training, but it's definitely paid off. It was a long, stressful experience for all of us. We saw Mat four times in the last 9 weeks, and never longer than a 24 hr period. We are hoping that now things will be better. He finished IOE today and will be on Reserve for the next little while. He will still be gone a lot, as he is based in Atlanta Georgia, but at least we will be able to see him every week.

While Mat has been gone, Luke and I have tried to keep ourselves occupied. Luke gets bored of me and is not happy when its cold and we can't play outside. He loves it when Mat is home.

We put up the Christmas tree and Luke has enjoyed taking off all the ornaments. I used to put them back on but I was putting them on all the time, so I gave up. We now have a half decorated tree.

Here are a couple pictures from the last couple months...

We are excited for Christmas, although I'm pretty sure Mat will be in Atlanta flying. I can't wait to see Luke open all of his presents. Happy Holidays everyone!

Standing

2010-09-01T15:08:00.000-07:00

Luke loves to stand by himself! He can stand for about 30 seconds before he sits or falls down. He practices all day long, even when he's supposed to be having a nap(: He hasn't taken any steps on his own yet but I think that will happen pretty soon!

Island Park

2010-08-30T14:12:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we drove up to Idaho to spend some time at the cabin in Island Park. It's been about 3 yrs since we've been to the cabin, so we were really excited to be there. Our friends Rich and Kindra and their little boy Andrew met us up there. We had so much fun!

Luke in his new camping chair eating jerky. It was his first time ever trying it and he loved it!

Brenyn and her cousin Jayden

Brenyn and Luke

Hiking along the river

The whole crew

Luke loved this 4-wheeler thing. It was Andrew's but Luke wanted to ride it or play with it every time he saw it. Luckily Andrew was willing to share.

Beesley Family

Rich, Kindra, and Andrew

Luke playing with another one of Andrew's toys. He had so much fun!

Thanksgiving point

2010-08-30T13:33:00.000-07:00

We've been taking advantage of Two Buck Tuesdays at Thanksgiving point this month.

First we went to see the Barnyard Animals. Luke loved seeing sheep, goats, chickens, peacocks, horses, cows and pigs. One of the goats kept licking his feet and he thought it was pretty funny. He kept sticking his toes out so it would lick them again.

Luke got to have his first pony ride. I thought he would be a little apprehensive, but he acted like he had been on a horse a million times. He just sat in the saddle all comfortable, and didn't want to get off when the ride was over.

The next Tuesday we went to the Gardens. They were really pretty, and it was such a beautiful night. This was my second time seeing the gardens. Last year Luke and I went with my mom and aunt when he was only a couple months old. I think Luke enjoyed it more this time(:

Luke update....13 months

2010-08-17T14:21:00.000-07:00

Luke is 13 months old today. Time is flying by! I thought I'd post some updates on Luke before he gets any older(:

Luke is still such a happy little boy. He enjoys many things, some of his favorite things are....

swimming, we swim about every day

unrolling the toilet paper and tearing it appear (this also happens about every day)

pulling himself up to everything and walking around the furniture

climbing the stairs

getting into every cupboard and spreading the contents on the kitchen floor

bobbing his head to every music he hears

putting lids on and off of things

drinking from straws and water bottles (they are more fun then sippy cups)

trying to put shoes on his feet (my shoes, Mat's shoes and his shoes)

Luke is so much fun and we are constantly entertained by him. He loves to yell and laugh at people we pass in the store. We can't help but laugh along with him.

His favorite things to eat are bannanas, turkey, cheese, potatoes and bread.

Everything is an adventure to him, and he is content as long as we stay busy.

He brings so much joy and happiness to our lives. We love you Luke!

California

2010-08-11T15:25:00.000-07:00

Me, my mom and Luke went to California to see my sister and help her move. Luke and I weren't much help, but Luke provided the entertainment. Anna and Sean loved seeing him, and Luke was so easy to travel with! We couldn't believe how happy and content he was. He did really well on the plane ride. His favorite things to do during the flight were to open and shut the window, and play with the food tray.

It wasn't very warm and we weren't able to spend a lot of time at the beach, but we did go to the beach in Costa Mesa and also the beach in San Clemente.

Luke didn't exactly love being in the water, but he loved crawling around in the sand and eating sand and rocks.

It was a quick trip, but it was great to see my sister and to see the ocean again.

July

2010-08-04T13:35:00.000-07:00

July is a very busy month for us. Moving, Luke's birthday, my birthday, Mat's birthday and two holidays makes for a crazy month! It was a fun month but we are kind of glad it's over (:

For my birthday we went to the Gateway and ate at Z-tejas and did a little shopping. It was a fun relaxing evening.

The next day Mat took me Horseback riding. He knew that I really wanted to get back on a horse (it's been about 10 yrs) so he surprised me by taking me to Soldier Hollow to go riding. It was a great surprise, it was really pretty and it was so fun to be on a horse again.

For Mat's birthday my mom watched Luke while Mat and I went golfing. I planned a surprise party for Mat, but not as many people were able to come as we were hoping for. Mat was still surprised and had a great time seeing old friends.

To celebrate both of our birthdays we had a little get together with my family. Talk about a lot of candles!

For the 24th we went to the days of '47 parade. It was a lot of fun. Luke loved the floats and watching all the people.

So that was our busy crazy month. Now we will see what August brings!

Luke's first birthday!

2010-07-29T10:10:00.001-07:00

Luke had such a fun birthday. It was a little stressful getting everything ready because we moved two days before, but it turned out perfectly! We had lots of people come celebrate with us. Aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, etc. Luke loved all of the attention. He also loved his birthday cake. We really haven't given him sugar so he was pretty happy that he could eat as much cake and frosting as he wanted.

Here are some pictures of Luke opening his presents.

Pictures of the party guests

And pictures of Luke eating his cake

Luke's half eaten cake

Luke had a great first birthday! Thanks to everyone that celebrated with us.

June

2010-07-08T14:00:00.000-07:00

June was a crazy month for us. Mat was furloughed from his job with RD Air Services. He was then hired on full time with another company doing pretty much the exact same thing. But after he finished all of the training, paperwork and drug tests, we were told that they wouldn't be able to hire him on full time. Now he is doing contract work for that company (basically they call him to fly when they need him) We are hoping this will turn into something full time. So keep us in your prayers!

On a good note, Mat was home all month so were able to spend lots of time together as a family. We also had Brenyn for a couple weeks, so even with all the stress we've had a fun month. We went to Lagoon, we've been swimming, hiking, biking, roller blading and just enjoying each others company. Get ready to see lots of pictures!

Getting ready to head into Lagoon

Laguna Beach

The Rocket!

Hiking donut falls

Nebo Canyon

Luke playing in and eating the dirt

Fishing Millers Flat

Bridal Veil Falls

Luke loved throwing rocks in the water and watching them splash!

Crawling

2010-06-30T14:11:00.000-07:00

Luke is finally crawling! He took his first official "crawl steps" about a week ago. He has it down pretty good now. He is getting into Everything! Mat just showed him how to move his knees and within a day Luke was crawling. I guess we should have tried that months ago (: Although now all I do is follow him around and get him out of everything. His favorite things to get into are the DVD's, cupboards in the kitchen and bathroom, and every cord in site. He loves it that he is able to go anywhere he wants.

Happy Birthday Kaleb

2010-06-07T07:19:00.000-07:00

Dear Kaleb,

If you were still here with us, you would be turning 3 years old today.

3 years!

Its hard to believe its been three years since we held you in our arms,

three years since we said our goodbyes.

In those three years, there hasn't been a day go by that we haven't thought of you and wondered..

Wondered what you look like,

wonder what your favorite color is,

or your favorite food,

wonder if you like baseball, or tractors, or animals.

Especially today we think about you and miss you.

Miss you so much!

and we are so happy that we know we will see you again.

we can't wait for the day when we get to hold you in our arms again.

until that day we will think of you

and have a piece of birthday cake for you

(and maybe you can have one to if there is cake in heaven)

We love you so much!

Happy Birthday little angel!

Love: Mom, Dad, little brother, and sis

Memorial Day Weekend

2010-06-02T15:08:00.001-07:00

We started off the weekend by going to the zoo. It was perfect weather and we had a great time. Luke tried his first french fry. He was definitely a fan.

We went to the bird show while we were there. We loved it. They had some really cool birds, and some of them flew right over Luke's head.

Luke had a full day and fell asleep in his stroller. So he missed out on seeing some of the animals but I think he had a great time.

We spent Memorial day in Sanpete. Our first stop was my grandpa's. My uncle Brad and his family were there with their dog Sam. Luke loved Sam. He loved petting him and laying on him. While we were there Luke got to look at all of the chickens. He loved hanging out at my Grandpa's.

We spent the afternoon at my dad's in Ft. Green. My dad cooked his famous bbq turkey. It was a yummy dinner.

Monday night we went for a hike up Maple Canyon. It was so pretty and Luke absolutely loved it. He loves being outside, and he just talked and kicked his legs the whole time.

This weekend we used some of our tax return and bought bikes and a bike trailer for Luke. So far it has been a very good purchase. We have been taking advantage of the nice weather. Luke loves the rides. He plays with his toys and looks out his little windows. Today he fell asleep at the end of our ride.

Overall, it was a great weekend for us. We were so happy to be able to get outside and enjoy the nice weather.

2010-05-18T10:37:00.000-07:00

This weekend we took a mini vacation to Park City. We were originally planning on going to St. George, but Mat was still on call, and Luke wasn't feeling 100% so we decided to spend a couple days in Park City. We really enjoyed our time there.

The first night we stayed in the Hampton Inn & Suites right by the Outlet stores. They upgraded us to a Suite since Mat is a diamond member with Hilton. (He is a diamond member because he travels so much and they always stay at Hilton properties) This has turned out to be a pretty good perk for us. We didn't have to pay for any of our hotels.

At the Hampton we went swimming. This was Luke's actual first time swimming. We took him to a swimming pool in Idaho but the water was to cold. Luckily this pool was heated. Luke was very apprehensive at first. It always takes him a minute to get used to new things. So we sat back and waited for him to get comfortable, and in the water we went.

Once he got in the water and got used to it, he loved it! He splashed and splashed and loved riding around the pool in his little floaty thing.

We spent the day at the outlets and then went to another hotel. We decided to stay in a nicer one because Mat has a few free nights at any Hilton property. We found the Waldorf Astoria which was just up the road about a mile from our other Hotel, but it was a lot nicer!! It is a 5 star hotel and has only been open for 10 months. The valet parked our car and took our bags up to our room. To be honest we felt a little out of place. It's not very often that we stay in hotels this nice!

You can click on the picture below to see it a little bigger. Everything was so nice! There was a huge gourmet kitchen with all stainless steel appliances and granite counter tops, 2 flat screen TVs, 2 fireplaces, 2 bathrooms, a washer and dryer, a huge jetted tub, a TV in the bathroom! and well just an amazing hotel. I didn't want to leave. They had and outdoor fire pit and outdoor pool with 2 hot tubs. We tried swimming but it was to windy for Luke, so we ended up filling the bathtub with water and letting Luke splash around in there.

Overall it was a really fun weekend, and it was so nice to get out of the house and out of the city. I think we may be coming back to the Waldorf!

so smart

2010-05-14T07:44:00.000-07:00

Luke is such a smart little boy. He catches on to things pretty quickly. He loves to play with phones, remotes, keyboards, and anything with any kind of technology. He was playing with the remote the other day and turned off the TV. He looked at the TV then pointed the remote at it to try and turn it back on. He also has figured out how to flip through the pictures on my phone. He is usually pretty entertained by it. Here is a video of him doing it. As a warning I sound pretty silly but it is cute of Luke.

Please pray for baby Madison

2010-05-01T13:28:00.000-07:00

My sister-in-law's sister recently had a baby girl. I haven't been able to meet her yet because she has had a difficult first month of life. She was born with a cleft pallet and has whats called pierre robin sequence. She had to have surgery at the beginning of this week and has developed an infection. You can read all about baby Madison here. I believe that prayer in numbers can have a huge effect so please keep her and her family in your thoughts and prayers.

Luke's first haircut

2010-04-18T14:21:00.001-07:00

I gave Luke his first official haircut today. His hair was pretty long. He didn't know what to think of it. He squirmed all over the place and tried to get my comb and scissors. Needless to say it wasn't the easiest task, and didn't turn out so great. But he looks so cute and so grown up. He turned 9 months old yesterday, and he has 6 teeth now!

Luke's 8 month pics

2010-04-12T12:09:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago, we took Luke to get his pictures taken. It was a pretty comical experience.

Luke takes a few minutes to warm up to people, and it was no different with the photographer.

The photographer tried everything to get Luke to smile, but he was not having it. He just looked at him like he was crazy. He finally got Luke to give a half smile, but for the most part Luke was pretty serious. They still turned out really cute though. Here are the photos...

St. Patrick's Day

2010-03-18T08:31:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was such a nice day. It was sunny and over 60 degrees. We wanted to take advantage of the nice weather so we decided to hike down into Tanner park. We used to take Cleo there, and she always loved it. Mat packed around Luke in the front pack. Luke really seemed to enjoy it. He just kicked his legs the whole time and looked all around at everything. There were quite a few dogs, and he enjoyed watching them. It was Luke's first actual outdoor adventure. We think he is going to like the outdoors as much as Mat and I.

Luke was pretty tired after our outing. He fell asleep right when we got home. This is him snoring in his car seat in our living room.

And here is Luke showing off his St. Patty's shirt.

Idaho

2010-03-18T08:18:00.000-07:00

We spent this last weekend in Idaho. It was so much fun. We spent Friday night at Mat's parents, and then spent Saturday night at a hotel in Rexburg. It was Luke's first time swimming. Well he didn't actually swim. The water was to cold but we let him put his hands and feet in the hot tub (it wasn't very hot) He was really nervous at first but after about 10 min. He was all smiles and having a great time. He looked so cute in his swimsuit.

After we got done swimming Luke and Brenyn got in the tub to rinse off the Chlorine.

Our Friends Rich and Kindra and their little boy Andrew came and hung out with us at the hotel. It was so much fun to see them.

It was nice to have a little mini vacation.

Mat is coming home

2010-03-09T07:40:00.000-08:00

Mat is finally coming home today. We are so excited! He has been gone for 2 1/2 weeks, and we are so happy we will get to see him today. We can't wait to spend time together as a family. Now if we could just get Brenyn back down here (:

New Blog

2010-02-27T07:46:00.000-08:00

I started a new blog. It is more for me than anything. It details every day events and my thoughts and feelings, an online journal of sorts. If you are interested in reading it, here is the link: Yesterdays Feelings. Mat also started a blog about all of his travels. Here is a link to his: Mat's Travels

7 months

2010-02-24T12:49:00.000-08:00

Luke is 7 months old! He is acting so grown up. He still shows no interest in crawling but he loves to stand. He is quite wobbly but prefers standing over sitting. I have to make sure I have a good hold of him because he is constantly reaching for everything around him.

We finally got Luke a high chair. He loves to sit in it and eat and play. Its unlike any high chair I've seen before, but Luke likes it and it is perfect for our little apartment(:

Single Moms

2010-02-23T19:51:00.001-08:00

Since becoming a mom I have gained a new appreciation for all mothers. I never understood the love, the worry, the responsibility, and the pure joy mothers experience until I became one.

And I've never been more amazed with single mothers than I am now.

Now I don't consider myself a single mother, I have a loving husband that is home quite often in comparison with many fathers and husbands. But I have had a little taste of what it is like for single moms.

The smallest tasks become big ones. Things you didn't think about or took for granted are every day struggles for single moms.

Little things like taking out the trash, finding time to or the availability to shower, keeping the house clean and other "small tasks" become somewhat difficult. On top of these every day things, single moms are having to find ways to provide for themselves and their kids.

All of this without the love and support of a husband, and companion.

Single moms find ways to love for, feed and nurture their kids. Maintain a clean house, make sure the laundry is done, find and keep a job, and constantly do a juggling act just to keep everything together.

Mothers, especially single mothers, have a strength that is amazing and unexplainable.

Brenyn

2010-01-31T15:41:00.000-08:00

Brenyn came down this weekend. It was so much fun to see her. Luke loves her and always gives her big smiles. While she was here we went to the Mayan to celebrate her getting straight A's. She is in 5th grade and has really hard classes. She spends a lot of time studying and doing homework. She has worked very diligently and has received straight A's for two consecutive quarters. We are so proud of her! We wish she could have stayed longer!

Mat taught Brenyn how to play Chess about a month ago. Now everytime she comes they play. She has picked it up really quickly and has turned out to be a great player.

Luke's blessing

2010-01-25T09:48:00.001-08:00

We finally blessed Luke yesterday! The blessing was given by my dad. It was a wonderful blessing and we had lots of family there to support us. Luke was so good! We were worried he might cry during the blessing, but he just looked around at everyone. He looked so handsome in his white suit! Thanks to everyone who came and supported us!

6 months!

2010-01-20T12:12:00.000-08:00

Luke is 6 months old! I can't believe how fast time has flown by. It seems like it wasn't very long ago that I was as big as a whale and wobbling around with him still in my tummy. We are so happy that he is a growing healthy boy, although I wish time would slow down just a little bit....

Luke had his 6 month checkup today. He weighs 17 lbs. 6 oz., is 26.8 inches long and has a head circumference of 17.5 inches. He is still a growing boy but has definitely slowed down the weight gain. He was such a trooper getting his shots today. He cried during the shots but was smiling soon afterward.

He is getting his first teeth! Yesterday I felt his first bottom tooth breaking through. The pediatrician said that both are starting to come through. We didn't even realize he was teething. He hasn't been very fussy or irritable, but he has been wanting to bite everything! Last night they seemed to be bothering him, he woke up about every hour. Hopefully they will break through quickly and not cause him to much pain. We can't believe how grown up he is!

New Year

2010-01-10T13:25:00.000-08:00

So far the new year has been busy and full of new things. Mat left New Year's day for a flight to San Diego and ended up in Washington. He spent a few days there and just got home a couple days ago.
I just started watching two little girls 2-3 days a week. The oldest is 2 1/2 and the younger one is 3 months. It has been a big adjustmet. I am still trying to figure out how to manage 3 kids (2 of them being babies) at the same time. I'm starting to get into a routine, and that seems to help. I think it will be really good for me, and the extra money will definitely help.
We sold our Lexus this week. It was such a great car, so we were really sad to see it go. It ended up being a crazy ordeal because it happened really suddenly while Mat was out of town. We sold it then the buyers told us it had a rebuilt title, and the odomoter was off by about 40,000 miles. We had no clue because we had never thought to check the carfax. In the end we had to give the buyers some of their money back and ended making only $250 on the car instead of $950. But at least we don't have that car payment anymore and the buyers are happy!
Tomorrow we are getting rid of Madeline, our cat. I'm so sad about it, but we've decided it's the best decision. She isn't a very nice cat, and she can't be trusted. Already she has swiped at the 2 1/2 year old that I watch multiple times, and it's only a matter of time before she scratches, bites, or just full on attacks her. So we will try to find her a home, if that doesn't work we will end up taking her to the humane society. I really hate to do that, but I don't know what else to do! Hopefully she will find a home.

Holidays

2010-01-10T12:58:00.000-08:00

We had a great Christmas. My mom came up and stayed with us Christmas Eve. We all opened pajamas and watched Fred Clause.

Christmas morning was a lot of fun. Luke loved all the wrapping paper, and all of his new toys. We went to my brother's house for a BIG Christmas breakfast.

Luke sat for the first time all by himself on Christmas morning! It was so exciting! Mat put him down next to his cousin Tyce to play with some toys, and he sat there without any assistance.

We traveled quite a bit after Christmas. The day after we went to Ft. Green to my dad's house. We opened presents with him and had a yummy dinner. On the 27th we drove up to Idaho for the Beesley Christmas party. Luke loved all the attention and all the commotion. We were able to spend a couple days with Brenyn and watch her open all of her presents from us.

While we were in Idaho, we went to Kaleb's grave. It was the first time we have taken pictures.

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-24T12:36:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas Eve! We are excited Mat was able to make it home in time for Christmas. He got home last night at 3 am. We are hoping he'll be able to stick around for the weekend and all of our family Christmas parties, but who knows. We are so excited for Luke's first Christmas. He won't know what's going on but I'm sure he'll love all the paper and bows! Happy Holidays to all of you!

Rolling Over

2009-12-02T14:02:00.000-08:00

Luke started rolling over a few weeks ago. But we weren't able to get it on video until a few days ago. We can't beleive how quickly he is growing up.

4 month checkup

2009-12-01T13:24:00.000-08:00

Today was Luke's 4 month checkup. He weighs 16 lbs 11 oz. and is 26.2 inches long. He is in the 75th percentile for weight and 90th percentile for height. He didn't like getting the shots but wasn't sad for to long and he fell asleep on the way home. The pediatrician said to start him on cereal and solids. I don't know if I'm quite ready for that yet, but we will probably try it sometime soon.

Nov. 29

2009-11-29T11:47:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we put up all of our Christmas decorations. Luke loves the Christmas tree. He tries to grab all of the ornaments.

Thanksgiving

2009-11-28T10:40:00.000-08:00

While we were in Rexburg we took some family pictures. It was cold!

Thanksgiving

2009-11-28T10:32:00.000-08:00

We spent Thanksgiving in Rexburg, ID with all of Mat's family. Mats brother was in town from Costa Rica. It was really good to see him and everyone else. Luke loved all of the attention he received. I don't think he was put down for more than 5 minutes the entire time. He was completely worn out and slept almost the whole way home.

2009-11-23T17:26:00.001-08:00

Mat recently got a job with a charter company flying cessna citations. He is happy to finally have a job that he enjoys and loves flying the jets. He has to travel a lot, so that has been a bit of an adjustment, but we are happy that he has a job flying.

2009-11-23T17:19:00.001-08:00

It's been over a year since we've posted. I'll try to be better about updating more regularly.

Luke just turned 4 months old. He is such an amazing baby. We love every second with him. He rolled over for the first time unassisted last week, and started giggling a couple weeks ago. It is the best sound in the whole world! He is such a pleasant baby and never cries. It has been so much fun to watch him grow and develop.

2008-08-17T16:22:00.000-07:00

Living in Arizona

2008-08-17T16:06:00.000-07:00

Mat and I have lived in Arizona for almost 9 months now. We love living here but miss our friends and family. We recently got a chocolate lab and named her Cleo. We also just got a truck and are now able to do all the outdoor activities that we love. We just found a great area above Payson where we love to camp and fish. We have gotten used to the 110 + degree weather, but we are looking forward to the upcoming cooler months.