Once Upon a Busy August...

So Mattaya got to have her first encounter with the stomach flu. Quite a distressful little bummer that was. Here she is with her first freeze pop (one of our many efforts to keep her hydrated).

She enjoyed the flavor, but not the temperature.

One bonus about being sick is that you get to watch as much Elmo as you want.

Because of her unfortunate owie followed by her days of stomach virus, we ended up having to re-potty-train because of the week and a half we spent back in diapers. Again, the first couple days were nuts, but she picked it back up and is doing great.

What goes better with panties and a pajama top than froggy boots?

Sunglasses also add a lot to a panty/T-shirt ensemble.

Sometimes she just looks TOO grown up!

If Mommy wears a maternity support belt...

...then Mattaya probably needs one, too.

Solemn sense of humor.
Not only do Corn Pops taste yummy, but you can stick them to your cheeks (until you smile...then they fall off).

Went in for a hair trim.

Any day is a good day to receive some winter hand-me-downs! Honestly, she was sooooo excited about the mittens she walked around waving and clapping for a good 20 minutes.

Fuzzy, but Daddy wants to show you one of Mattaya's new favorite games. Daddy spins the football on it's end, and Mattaya stares at it (usually right over the top of it) to get dizzy. Good times.

The recorder she's holding was an impulse purchase Daddy made 2 years ago. It was [rather unfortunately] unearthed in the move. The day she discovered it, she marched around blowing that same note over and over and over...so I called Daddy at work so he could hear what was going on. Of course, he thought it was funny because he heard only about 2 minutes of it!

Some cold air funnel clouds.

Pretty dress from Grampa Gary and Gramma Pam.

An attempt at a belly picture (about 35 weeks).

Another fateful visit to a "new" playground. We only took pictures of the happy times. ;) This playground visit ended in a fast trip down a long wet slide that resulted in Mattaya's flipping onto her belly and bellyflopping into some mud. Serious drama that day!

Mattaya just loves to be a "how-poh" (helper) in so many ways. Here she is helping Daddy brush his teeth.

You've gotta watch out, though, for when she JABS you in the back of the throat! ;)

Shirts for the sisters....

Grampa Dave borrowed a 4-wheeler from a coworker. Matt thought it would be a good idea to take Mattaya for a ride. Mattaya thought that was a TERRIBLE idea.

But Luke was more than happy to ride with Matt.

Just the beginning of some pretty crazy times.

Mattaya thought it would be more fun to sit in a tree.

But Mabel thought perhaps she'd spice it up a bit....

I agreed to ride with Matt SLOWLY.

Boppa Dave's whole family:

Marianne, Vern (brother), Melinda, Mabel (mother), Michelle, Lynette (sister), Matt, Marlys (sister), Mattaya, Luke, Karisa, Becca, Julie, and David.

Begging for a close-up.

Mattaya's always up for a round of "1, 2, 3, Whee!"

Fine frisbee form.

It was a reunion of sorts, but it was also a quadruple birthday celebration...which meant lots of presents for Mattaya. :) She still enjoys removing the tissue paper and still tends to remove the gift itself in the same manner (lift and throw).

An outfit...

...and a book from Auntie Marlys. This girl still enjoys her books. :)

A shirt and a xylophone book from Auntie Net. (Which was perfect because she's been fixating on xylophones she sees in books but hasn't ever really gotten to play with one.)

(This one's for you, Miss Kassidy!)

Another book from the cousins.

And the Happy Birthday ice cream cake...that had no names because there were simply too many to write in frosting.