Saturday, December 15, 2012

Happy Holidays from The Matthews'


Happy Holidays Family and Friends!

 
It's late in the evening and quiet in the house. My boys are all sleeping and I am taking this peaceful moment to enjoy our Christmas tree and write a little note to share with all of you how 2012 has blessed the Matthews family.

Now, if I was writing this in the afternoon this letter probably wouldn't make sense because my attention would be distracted by two very adorable and extremely busy boys! Cade will be turning 3 years old on the 16th and is definitely all boy. He doesn't like to be held down for a minute and is often at my side during the day. Cade has been working with a speech therapist, and we are amazed at the growth in his vocabulary and pronunciation of words. He is smart, a little goofy, very sweet, and enthusiastic to say hello to anyone who catches his eye! Nolan, as you can tell from the pictures is still a red head at 15 months! We are asked constantly where it came from, and the best answer is… we have no idea, but love the Lord's creativity! Nolan is picking up words quickly and running after Cade like any little brother would. He adores his brother...and Elmo too! Nolan is Mr. Personality, and knows how to turn on the charm or pout his lip like a pro. Since he is my baby it probably works on mom more than it should {wink, wink}.

Eric is going on 3 years with CPI Solutions continuing to work closely with his clients advising their technology, and has just renewed certification on Shoretel phone systems. His job keeps him busy, and we are grateful he still loves what he does. Eric and I both attend weekly bible studies and are enjoying learning the Old Testament. I prayerfully leapt at the opportunity to teach 4-6 year olds in my bible study's children's program, and though it keeps us busy we are mightily blessed {and hopefully blessing others} through this ministry!

I love being at home with my boys, and realize now more than ever both the sacrifice and the reward of this privilege. My Rodan+Fields business fits perfectly with the hair and makeup work I love doing as well. I've started cataloging my work on a blog {blushbrushbymelissa.blogspot.com}, and though I haven't kept it up recently we still keep our family blog {teammatthews2008.blogspot.com - New Year’s resolution?? :)}

We pray 2012 has blessed your family as well and look forward to catching up with you in 2013.

Abundant blessings to you and yours,

Eric, Melissa, Cade and Nolan

Friday, September 2, 2011

Party of 3 Plus a Belly!


I haven't been great at taking the belly pictures this time around like I was with Cade. I had Eric pose me in front of a blank wall every 4 weeks with Cade. I think I'm lucky if I have 4 pictures this time! I guess that is what happens when #2 comes around and there is a busy 20 month old to look after and a new home to clean, decorate and organize. My sis was gracious enough to squeeze in taking some pictures of the 3 of us during a very busy weekend. Literally we had 15 minutes to get as many pictures as we could, and of course it was the perfect storm - - Jenny needed to get to Cooper to feed him, Cade needed a nap, Eric (who was on call for work all week long) had an emergency with a client, yet was kind enough to tear away for the photo opp, and we were expected at a 5 year old birthday party! Phew!! God had a grip on my heart and attitude because I know typically I would have been disappointed with the timing, upset we didn't get 100 photos, and frustrated with Eric's work emergency, but instead I was incredibly grateful for what we were able to capture. Life is not going to slow down, get any less busy or complicated.
So I am learning to be grateful for whatever the moment holds and sometimes you only need one picture to tell an entire story.




Monday, August 15, 2011

Oh boy! What a Summer!!

Today I am 36 weeks pregnant... you know what that means... last post until 2012! Just kidding, but with the way I update the blog I wouldn't be surprised. Nolan's due date (scheduled c-section on 9/9/11) is approaching so quickly. We are doing our best to get everything accomplished on our "to do" list. It's overwhelming and exciting all at the same time. We can't wait to add Nolan to our family and see what Cade thinks of being a big brother. He is such a sweet boy that I can't imagine that he wouldn't be great at the roll.
I still plan on posting some pics of our "new" home and the projects we have been working on, but for now I thought I would do a little recap of some of our summer adventures. Since we just bought a home there were no summer vacations for us! We have instead filled our weekends with home updates and trips around town. I have been really tired with this pregnancy, so I can't say we have done as much as I would have liked, but I think Cade has had some fun none-the-less :)

We welcomed Cooper John Poladian into the family early in the morning on June 18, 2011. It was an exciting couple of days since Jenny had to work out 30 hours of labor. She was a real trooper and strong mama! Cooper has been such a joy to snuggle! Cade and I have made couple trips down south to visit and Cooper has made some surprise visits up to us too. We are taking in as much as we can since they seem to grow so quickly at this stage. We love you Cooper!

July 24, 2011 was a beautiful day in Camarillo at the Bella Victorian Vineyard as we were part of an intimate group who were honored to witness our friends Tanya and Jere become man and wife. It was a bit of a date for Eric and I to be in this beautiful setting, enjoying wonderful friends! I even wore the shoes I wore on my wedding day. The first time since the wedding, so we had to take a picture to commemorate the special day :). I am 33 weeks pregnant in the pictures and still managed to wear those heels all night long! After leaving the wedding Eric surprised me and took me to this little gelato and chocolate shop (it was a treat since I couldn't eat the wedding cake!). We had the most wonderful salted caramel gelato and chocolate peanut butter chocolates shaped like an oyster shell with a macadamia nut as its pearl! Such a fun night!




Our friends the Tahmisian's are faithful missionaries in Russia. We usually get to seem them in the summer when they are home for their yearly trip to the US. The student visa they are currently allowed requires them to come back to the US once a year, and while we are grateful for their visits, we pray they will be receiving a more permanent way to stay in Russia in the near future. The weekend they planned their Russia update and family/friend gathering was also the weekend of the 405 closure. We were grateful to be on the "right end" of the closure so we could enjoy their company! Many people were on the West side and couldn't make it. We pretended to be sad (kidding of course), but were so excited to have a lot of one-on-one time with this special family. Our boys, who are just 5 months apart, played so well together. They even managed to pose for a picture as long as they had their brushes. The dads were so proud. HA HA.

Finally, our stay-at-home summer has given us the opportunity to create some homemade fun. Grammie and Gramps surprised Cade with this great little outdoor play table that holds sand and water. For now it just holds water, but Cade loves it. I got him all decked out in his swim trunks and we played in the hose. He giggled so much. It was really cute to watch.

We have also enjoyed the "little red wagon" at Grammie and Gramps house. Cade doesn't care if he's being pulled around the backyard or on a walk, just as long as he gets a ride! It's funny to watch him kick back in the wagon and take it all in. This particular ride we put a margarita in daddy's hands and Lucy even joined in on the fun (Lucy had just had eye surgery to remove a cataract hence the cone.).

Oak Park has it's very own splash pad that is free for the kiddos to play in all day long! It is really a fun place and lots of kids show up to cool off. Cade wasn't so sure at first, but eventually found his way over to some smaller fountains and soon enough he was jumping, laughing and splashing around.

I know I am missing some of the fun things we have done this summer, but looking through our pictures this was all I came up with! We have enjoyed lots of indoor time and movies. It is usually the first thing Cade asks for when he wakes up. He sits through them, but I'm not so sure it is the best thing for him! When you're 9 months pregnant you kind of let it slide for a bit. LOL!
Just this last week though our little bug was really sick with a 103 temp and a very sore throat from hand, foot and mouth disease. Sounds a little scarier than it is, but I am grateful even at such a young age the Lord gives our children the ability to let us know that something is really wrong. After a day or two of fever and Cade tugging at his ears we went to the doctor who immediately found "the culprit" as he put it. So it was stay-at-home a little more for us this past week and enjoy soft foods. Cade was a trooper, but daddy and I had a rough time! We aren't use to being up all hours of the night with a crying baby... uh oh, guess we better get use to that again. Nolan is just 3 weeks away and counting!


We hope you all have had a wonderful summer with all your adventures whether they be at home or off to some vacation spot! We look forward to catching up with you soon.
XoXo,
MmM