"The Baby Ate My Brain"

"Whaaaat?" you may ask. This was the saying with which we became very familiar during my pregnancy with Mattaya. It's absolutely amazing how mushy a woman's brain can get when she's pregnant. We attributed it to the fact that the fetus will take WHATEVER it needs from the mom...the mom will suffer the loss before the baby does (usually nutritionally speaking, but in this can it's nearly anatomical). ANYWAY, all that explanation to say that these are some more September photos from GRAMMA JULIE'S camera. I FORGOT that she had pictures for us and went ahead and blogged without them. But here they are. Better late than never...

Boppa Dev's (yes, he has graduated from Boppa to Dev...and sometimes Dev-v-v-v) little construction girl, helping herself to measuring spoons in Mommy's kitchen.

Most of Gramma Leelee's family got together to celebrate Linda's 60th birthday. Brother Wayne was the only sibling missing. Unfortunately, Gramma Catherine couldn't make it because of a broken hip. :(

Mattaya's birthday party...party blowers with Boppa Dev.

"Really? You guys are going to light this cake on fire and sing at it? I was hoping we'd eat it...."

We were so thankful she liked the cake this time around! Last year, she didn't so much enjoy her cupcakes...frosting was just too sticky and messy and hard to deal with. She was all over it this year, though!

She still doesn't love the stickiness, but she's learned to cope by licking it off.

Sometimes using a utensil helps.

Or not.

Gramma Leelee has been trying to teach Mattaya to lick around her mouth to clear food mess. The job might have been a bit too widespread this time.

She was good about opening her cards....

And opening/dumping her gifts.

She knows where the hair clips go!

Examining her new workbook.

"Lemme see, lemme see, here..."

Tissue paper!

Daddy's little drummer girl enjoying her new helmet. Seriously, an object can in no way resemble a drum yet STILL NEED to be drummed upon by said Drummer Girl.

The delicious donut cake that was devoured in honor of Gramma Julie's birthday.

2 explanations for this one.

No, we don't make it a practice to photograph our child nearly naked. Gramma Julie had come out one Saturday morning so Matt and I could work on some house projects without neglecting the safety of our toddler. We had moved the daybed in on the main floor so that I can do stairs LESS after the c-section. Gramma was letting Mattaya get dressed on the daybed.

ANY time that we remove her socks, she MUST get the "buzz" (i.e., fuzz). She closely examines her toes and removes every last speck of fuzz, all the while saying, "Ick. Ewwww. Buzz."

And when all "buzz" was removed, she thoroughly enjoyed jumping on the bed. Leelee was so glad to catch this mid-air shot.

For whatever reason, water tastes SO much better from a fast food cup and straw.

Pictures of the progress:

Even though Gramma Julie enabled us to spend almost an entire day working on the house, we didn't quite finish the girls' rooms. But this is what we've got so far. This is Sister's room. No, I didn't bother to pull the pictures of the baby model out of the frame. And unfortunately those butterflies aren't going to stay up. :( I didn't read the package carefully enough...they won't stick to textured walls (which wasn't explicitly stated, but whatever).

Just imagine a gliding rocker under that quilt...just so happens to be out of stock right now. *sigh*

Still looking for a valance or curtain for this room.

And trying to decide what to do in The Bare Corner.

Wanted to fill in with some butterflies, but seems kind of useless now.

This is Mattaya's room. We have since bought a curtain rod and curtains for the room...just haven't hung them yet. Another thing with these pictures: the rooms are smaller in this house, so I couldn't get backed up far enough to get a picture of an entire wall at once...and I was using our old camera, because we have to send our new one in for repairs (bummer timing, huh?).

Yes, same butterflies that will fall down.

Yes, I was in such a hurry to get pictures before the butterflies fell down that I didn't make Mattaya's bed. ;)

Yes, I know those pinks clash...we're going to make a border for her name so that the pinks aren't right on each other.

Feel free to envision a wall-mounted mirror above the dresser.

So I'm technically caught up again...2 days and counting!

September...so far, anyway

Nope, it's not quite the end of the month yet, but I want to be as caught up as I can be before we go in next Wednesday to have this "belly growth" surgically removed. :)

A different way to ride bike with Daddy.

Although she usually enjoys the pull-behind trailer, she really likes being up where she can see everything and feel like SHE'S riding bike. ;)

Thank you, Hayden, for letting us borrow your helmet!

Sense of humor slowly returning after a "Bad News Hairs" experience.

I was WAY past due for a hair cut and wanted a cut before the baby arrived but couldn't get in to my regular stylist.

The few of you who HAVE curly hair are already thinking, "Stupid, stupid, stupid"...because it is stupid to risk letting a "rookie" cut curly hair (especially when you're asking them to cut A BUNCH off).

In the words of Mattaya: "Oh goo'ness."

The worst part. The triangle. The dreaded triangle. The dreaded, yet all-too-familiar triangle that occurs when someone unacquainted with curly hair cuts curly hair. *sigh* My regular stylist has graciously agreed to squeeze me in the evening before the c-section to try to fix The Triangle. God bless her.

One hot September day, we went to Auntie Linda's 60th birthday party...and practiced opening presents that Auntie Linda had brought for Mattaya. ;)

YAY! A book and a puzzle that makes animal noises!

Mommy's attempt at a birthday cake.

I'm relishing the fact that she's 2 and has no idea what a birthday cake is SUPPOSED to look like! ;)

Mommy and Daddy quickly decorated for the Cars birthday party while the 2-year-old was napping.

The party blowers were a hit...with Mattaya AND Uncle Luke.

Mattaya had a great time soaking up all that attention!

Although she hasn't had much experience, she handled the whole candle aspect very well. No touching. And she actually blew at the right time and enjoyed it! :)

Anxiously awaiting the first piece of "dittay cake" (birthday cake).

Mattaya's Birthday Advice: If you sense that your cake is about to fall off your fork (she stabbed the whole piece and raised it to her mouth), quickly catch it with your hands before it falls to pieces.

"Is this not the way it's done?"

Mmmmm.

One of her gifts was her very own helmet so we wouldn't always have to borrow Hayden's.

After Mattaya went to bed, we celebrated Gramma Leelee's birthday (a week late). Julie's not so much about the camera and picture-taking...

...but Matt threatened to revoke her cake. So here she is, earning her cake.

Grampa Gary and Gramma Pam sent a LARGE balloon bouquet for Mattaya's birthday.

She loved the many colors, and she kept trying to get INTO the middle of the bouquet.

"Ooh, shiny!"

"Hug it."

The phrase we hear all day every day. This girl LOVES almost everything. Even airplanes she sees while we're driving in the van. SHE wants to hug it. She wants YOU to hug it. And if either of those desires is unfulfilled, disappointment is sure to follow.

We do a lot of blowing kisses....

Enjoying Auntie Linda's puzzle (after Leelee put some batteries in it!).

A girl and her dog watching cartoons and waiting for breakfast.

This dog was a birthday gift from Larry & Cindy, and he goes with us EVERYWHERE.

These balloons lasted days and days...the mylar ones are still in the hallway upstairs [freaking us out every time we exit our bedroom!]. Anyway, that's not the point of this picture. The point is her "helpfulness". Mattaya loves to be a helper, which might be handy with the upcoming arrival of her sister. HOWEVER, her "helpfulness" is very broadly defined. On this particular day, she helped put the finishing touches on the perfectly coifed ponytail I'd created on her head. She came out of the bathroom with comb in hand and said, "Hair. Comb." Then she raked the comb from the top of her head to the side and said, "Pretty." *sigh*

Why do something only once when you can do it twice? ;)

Yippee skippee! Boppa and Leelee gave Mattaya a wagon for her birthday! We rode it around in the house for a few days before taking it outside. She LOVES it and refers to it as "wheez"...maybe because wagons have "wheels"? Your guess is as good as ours....

Mattaya is always so "ladylike".

And Daddy's timing with pictures is too funny.

This is what happens on a Sunday morning if I ask Matt to quickly get a picture of a new dress before we leave. Nevermind that you can't see the dress!

Here you can see a LITTLE of the dress. :)

Ready for the first day of Sunday school....