Matthews Mountain Messages

Random Recent Pictures.....

2012-01-29T21:26:00.004-06:00

Miriam all ready to watch LSU play. Unfortunately LSU did not fare as well in the 2nd match-up as they did in the 1st one (we watched that one together in the hospital when she was born).
Josiah watching Car 2 on the IPAD will we flying from Nashville to Minneapolis.

The little turkey stole Miriam's pacifier. He never liked them when he was her age.

Josiah got his own popcorn on a father-son day out.

Giving a precious smile..

Our little chunky monkey!!!

With 2 kids now Robin has hit the sauce by the 2-liter.

Bro and Sis napping.

Pondering the event of her first flight (Nashville to Minneapolis)

Josiah's 2nd Birthday

2012-01-29T20:38:00.005-06:00

Josiah had his 2nd birthday on January 13th. In the past month he has become very interested in the movie Cars and Cars 2 so we had a Cars themed birthday party. He got a birthday breakfast and opened most of his gifts that morning. At noon we took Josiah to Red Robin for a birthday lunch. That evening, the Edwards came over for pizza and birthday cake. Below are some of the pictures from his birthday (not necessarily in order) .

Getting ready to blow out the candles.
Admiring the candles.... 2 year old's and fire do not mix!

Trying to get the candles before they were lit.

Josiah on his new tricycle.

A cars themed gift.

More Cars stuff....
Josiah had his favorite breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes.

Josiah also got Cars themed bedding for his big boy bed. He has been sleeping in his big boy bed since he turned 2. However we find ourselves taking him back to his big boy bed 1 to 3 times a night. Hopefully he will soon be sleeping through the night in his bed. :-)

This is a farm themed birthday cake Josiah had Grandpa Leland and Grandma Diana's house in early January. He loves John Deere tractors too.

Christmas pictures...

2011-12-17T12:48:00.003-06:00

We have realized that taking Christmas card pictures with a 22 month old and a 1 month old is not an easy task. Here are some of the attempts at pictures with the kids.

Grandma Diana & Grandpa Lee Lee tried to get a picture with the kids for their Christmas card. As you can see this picture would have been fine if Miriam had kept her shirt down. :)

Clark (Neal) and Rusty (Josiah) putting up the lights outside.

(This is funny for those of you that have seen the movie National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.)
Rusty is holding the ladder for Clark.

The rest of the pictures are the progression of Christmas card photo sessions...

Josiah is warming up the spot for he and Miriam to take their picture.

Josiah didn't want to be in a picture with Miriam. He did not seem to care that she was screaming.

After several failed attempts to get a picture of just the 2 kids, Neal & I decided to put on sweaters and be in the picture with the kids. This still didn't seem to help Josiah, but Miriam calmed down a bit.

We tried having mommy hold Josiah and daddy hold Miriam...

that still didn't seem to help.

Getting better...

This was the best picture that we got, so we decided to end the session and use this one.

Thanks to Robin's mom, Diana, for being the photographer. :)

Miriam and Josiah

2011-11-06T21:33:00.003-06:00

Josiah has pretty much ignored Miriam until Sunday afternoon. Below are a couple of videos of Josiah loving on Miriam. We think he is starting to warm up to her.

Miriam Mae Matthews

2011-11-05T20:43:00.007-05:00

Miriam Mae Matthews was born on November 4, 2011 at 11:21 am. She weighed 7 lbs 6 oz and was 18 1/2 in long. The c-section went well. Miriam had some fluid left in her lungs, so she had to have some oxygen given to her for several hours. She is doing well now.

This is a picture of Robin the day before Miriam was born.

37 weeks

Family picture the morning of Miriam's birth.

Robin in the pre-op room
Waiting to go back to the OR for the c-section

Dr. Neal

Robin on the operating table ready for the c-section to begin

Right after Miriam was born

First photo with mom and dad

Resting

Miriam meeting the Edwards family

Josiah and Hannah

(Josiah kept hitting the nurse call button on mommy's bed)

Aunt Krista & cousin Nolan

Josiah with baby sister and Aunt Krista

Daddy and Miriam watching the big LSU/Alabama game on TV

Halloween

2011-11-02T14:37:00.002-05:00

This picture was taken at Neal's work. They had a Halloween party last Friday and the employees could bring their kids to the office for trick or treating. They had prizes for the kids' costumes. Josiah won a prize for his costume. He got a bag of Hershey bars (which was the best prize for him).

After going out trick or treating in our neighborhood with daddy.
Mommy & Josiah before he went out trick or treating. Mommy stayed at home because she had been having some contractions earlier that day.

Josiah is ready to head out the door for some candy.

Daddy and Josiah ready to go find some candy.

Josiah seemed to enjoy trick or treating. Neal said that Josiah almost walked into one of the houses while they were trick or treating. I guess Josiah wanted to find some more candy. We're pretty sure he would love to do this every night in order to get candy. :)

Random pics...

2011-10-15T16:38:00.005-05:00

Here are a few pictures of Josiah from the past couple months.

Josiah eating "babies" (mini M&M's)

Checking out a book.

(Notice his cool new Cars crocks that he picked out at the store himself.)Josiah's new monkey leash. It makes taking him into the restroom a lot easier. :)

This is where I found him one morning while I was making the bed in our room. He climbed up in there all by himself. He is our little monkey.

Josiah's words to me when I took this picture were "I duck" (stuck).

Picking out a free pumpkin at a community event in Hendersonville.

Josiah and Mr. Bear doing some work outside.

Josiah's new big boy bed. It is actually a bunk bed, but we're just going to use the top bunk for now until baby sister is old enough for a bed.

34 weeks...

2011-10-15T16:27:00.003-05:00

We had another ultrasound this past Thursday. We got confirmation that the baby is a girl. We have picked out a name, but we have decided to keep it a secret until baby girl arrives. The c-section is scheduled for November 16 at 8 am. We only have about 4 1/2 weeks left until we get to meet our baby girl! Here are a couple pictures of Robin at 34 weeks.

Josiah wanted to get in on a picture with mommy and baby sister.

Zoo Trip...

2011-10-03T11:15:00.005-05:00

We made a trip to the zoo this past Saturday. We decided to buy a zoo membership. Josiah enjoys seeing the animals, so we know we'll get our money's worth out of it. :) Here are a few pictures and a couple videos from our time at the zoo.

Daddy helping Josiah brush a goat.

Josiah approaching a goat in the area where kids can pet the animals.
The giraffes were close to the fence, so we got a good look at them. Josiah was not too impressed with the giraffes. He acted like he sees them everyday. :)

Daddy and Josiah looking at an elephant.

Josiah kept wanting to pick up rocks along the path. He's into playing with rocks now.

Daddy showing Josiah Henry, the mule.

These videos are of Josiah petting the goats.

31 Weeks

2011-09-21T20:07:00.004-05:00

Yes Robin is at 31 weeks and we are axiously anticipating the arrival of baby girl (name to be annouced at a later date). Below is the 31 week pregnancy picture we took the other night.

The big day will be November 16th unless baby girl decides to come earlier!!!!!

Recent Videos........

2011-09-21T19:37:00.006-05:00

Tammy and Amy came to visit on Labor Day weekend. We had a very good visit. On Saturday, of that weekend, we went swimming in our community pool. Josiah really likes the shallow water where he can walk around on his own.

The following 4 videos are of Josiah reading his book about Max and Max's favorite word "Bang". He was doing a great job of "reading" it until I got the video camera out (notice his cheese on the 1st video).

Slides and Sprinklers...

2011-08-11T13:02:00.004-05:00

These are a couple videos from the past month. The first one is Josiah trying out his new slide that we got for him. It took him awhile to learn how to slide down it, but he has recently accomplished that.

The second video is of Josiah playing in the sprinkler on one of our HOT evenings a few weeks ago. Thankfully the temperatures have gone down a bit lately. The past couple evenings have been pleasant outside.

Josiah's 18 month pictures...

2011-07-28T14:27:00.012-05:00

We had Josiah's 18 month pictures taken on Neal's birthday. Here are some of the pictures.

Neal's Birthday...

2011-07-25T14:09:00.006-05:00

We helped Neal celebrate his birthday on July 21. We started out the day with an ultrasound of the baby. The best birthday gift Neal received was finding out we are going to have a girl. We are so excited and looking forward to the arrival of our daughter! We went to Neal's parents in AR over the weekend and had another birthday celebration for him there.

Ultrasound picture of our baby girl

Neal posing with birthday cake #2

(We revealed the gender of the baby to his family by making the inside of the cake pink.)

Josiah watching daddy blow out his candles

Neal and Josiah with birthday cake #1 (notice the LSU colors)

Happy 40th Birthday Neal!

Josiah Playing in the Rain

2011-07-25T13:55:00.003-05:00

We were thankful to get a really good rain shower last week. Josiah wanted to go outside, so we let him play in the rain a little. Here are a couple videos of him playing in the rain.

Josiah's First Camping Trip

2011-07-18T20:10:00.018-05:00

Last Friday night Neal took Josiah on his first camping trip at the ripe old age of 18 months. They went camping at Bledsoe Creek State Park which is about a 25 minute drive from the house. Both Josiah and Neal survived the night which was a hot one and they had a blast. Below are some pictures taken while they were camping.

It did not take long to see some wildlife. This doe was at the camp entrance with 2 fawns.

As soon as they got to the camp site, Josiah decided to sit and have a snack. This was his very 1st Little Debbie oatmeal pie.

Our campfire.

Josiah checking the tent out.

We also went fishing and Josiah always wanted to hold the fishing pole.

We had quite a few bites, but this was the only fish we landed. Josiah did not think it was yucky, but the sun was in his eyes resulting in this look. He kept wanting to touch the fish.

Josiah patrolling the picnic table.

We also spent some time on the swings and slides at the play ground.

Out on our walk before leaving we saw these 2 hen turkeys along with about 6 poults. The guy camping next to us said they fed right by our tent around 6:00 AM that morning.

Florida Vacation - Day 5 and Wrap-up

2011-07-06T20:23:00.005-05:00

Our last full day of vacation was July 4th. We started the day early and were at the beach before 9:00 am. We spent most of the morning at the beach and then went back to our hotel for lunch. After lunch, we took a quick trip over to Walmart to get some T-shirts and then we headed back to the hotel for naps before our evening of festivities. We drove over to Pier Park around 4:30 PM and had an early supper at Olive Garden (and got a good parking spot). Then we walked around, listened to live bands, and shopped until the fireworks show started at 9:00 PM. The fireworks show lasted about 20 minutes and was one of the best I have ever witnessed. After the show, it took us about an hour to get back to our hotel room even with the great parking spot. On Tuesday, we left Panama City Beach around 9:30 AM and made it home by 6:45 PM. It was definetely an awesome family vacation and we had a great time sharing it with the Edwards!

Josiah helping Neal dig a hole.

Josiah in the hole we dug.

Josiah trying to sweet talk Sarah out of her juice box.
Josiah, Sarah, Ella, and Emily getting their last beach time in.

Josiah watching the fireworks. He loves them!

Video of Josiah watching the fireworks.

Robin with Josiah on the Beach (from Day 2)

Neal with Josiah on the Beach (from Day - 2)

Florida Vacation - Day 4

2011-07-03T20:18:00.006-05:00

Today had fewer events, but we still had plenty of fun. It also was a very tiring day. We took it easy this morning. We had breakfast, went to Target, and then had an early lunch. We then spent most of the afternoon on a boat cruise to Shell Island where we got to look for sea shells. On the ride back we got to see dolphins (part of the cruise). After this we were pretty much worn out so we did not do much besides a little swimming in the hotel swimming pool.

These sea gulls would fly up to the boat and get Cheetos out of your hand.

Josiah and Neal at the beginning of the boat ride.

Neal, Robin, and Josiah on the boat ride.

Michael, Stacy, Emily, Ella, and Sarah on the boat ride.

Josiah and Robin. Josiah was having a water break from shell hunting.

Josiah enjoyed the shell hunting.

Neal, Robin, and Josiah on Shell Island

Michael, Stacy, Emily, Ella, and Sarah on Shell Island

Dolphins beginning to surface.

Dolphins again...

Neal and Josiah looking for sea shells.

Neal trying to convince Josiah to run through the fountains.

Josiah finally started going through the fountains.

He really did enjoy them once he got use to them.

Some more swim time.

A video of Josiah at the fountains.

Josiah dancing to the music on the ride over to Shell Island

Florida Vacation - Day 3

2011-07-02T21:34:00.008-05:00

Today was another great day of vacation. After breakfast we got ready early so we could get to the beach earlier. We got to the beach around 10:00 and stayed until around 1:00. We then headed back to the hotel so we could take some naps for a couple of hours. We then met the Edwards at Bayou Bill's Seafood Restaurant and had some great seafood. Josiah got to pet a baby alligator at the restaurant (actually we all did). He was a little unsure of touching the alligator and this may stem from his watching Swamp People on TV. After supper, we went back over to the Edwards' condo for some playtime on the playground and a few rounds of horse shoes. We also went down to the hotel tonight to let Josiah finally go to the pool. He has been eying the pool since we got here and we have not had a chance to take him. Below are some of the pictures from today.

Robin chaperoning the little love birds.

Josiah showing off for the ladies......

Neal and Josiah after venturing a little too far out into the surf. They got smacked by a huge wave and Josiah did not like it much.

Josiah having a good time at the playground.

He is like a little monkey and will climb anything.

Going down the slide to Neal!

Even Josiah knows a 10 is a high score.

Robin and Josiah having a mommy-son moment.

Neal showing off his near perfect horseshoe form against Michael and Emily.

Back at the hotel pool. Although Josiah was intrigued by the fountains, he did not want to venture into them.

Josiah and Neal taking a dip in the hotel pool.

Florida Vacation -Day 2

2011-07-01T20:21:00.014-05:00

Today was a bit more like vacation (no long car ride). We slept in until about 6:30 and then had a nice Hampton Inn breakfast. After breakfast, Robin and I worked out in the hotel gym, we all got showers, and made sandwiches for our lunch at the beach. We left at about 10:30 to go over to the condo that the Edwards' are staying at and finally made it through security into the condo complex at 11:30. We then spent most of the afternoon with the Edwards' on the beach. Tonight we all went to Five Guys to have a "light" supper consisting of burgers and fries. We then hit mini amusement park at the Pier Park area and rode some of the rides. After the rides we stopped for refreshing frozen treats. Below are some pictures from the day's activity.

Josiah getting the prep talk before going down to the water.

Robin , Emily, and Ella taking Josiah down to the water for the first time.

Josiah is not quite sure what to think.

He is getting a little more comfortable now.

Now he comes back like he has been doing it his whole life.

Josiah and Neal being all cool for the camera.

Josiah telling Neal all about it.

Neal dug a hole with Emily's help. This is before it got too deep.

Josiah having fun in the hole.

Josiah and Sarah playing in the sand pit.

Robin burying Emily in the hole that we dug.

Can you tell that Josiah and Sarah had some chocolate?

Hanging out at the beach is tough work.

Josiah and Neal on the carousel.

Josiah and Neal flying the old #7 plane. Do not ask how Neal was able to get his legs in the plane.

Robin riding the Ferris wheel with Ella.

Robin and Josiah on the carousel.

Having some ice cream.

Josiah and his Harem

Florida Vacation Day -1

2011-06-30T20:50:00.003-05:00

We officially started our Florida vacation today. We left Hendersonville at 5:00 AM this morning and arrived in Panama City Beach around 2:45 PM. Our good friends the Edwards' also were in our little traveling caravan today. After unpacking at our hotel and getting things situated we decided to do a early supper at The Back Porch Seafood and Oyster House with the Edwards'. Robin, Josiah, and I split 2 lobsters surrounded with fries and hush puppies. It was very good (Robin seemed to be craving seafood). After supper, we headed back to the hotel to get rested up for tomorrow. Hopefully we will get some beach and swim time in tomorrow and get a few more pictures. Below is a picture of Robin and Josiah while we were waiting to get into the restaurant.

Josiah being Josiah.......

2011-06-06T21:13:00.005-05:00

Aunt Megan's visit and Trip to the Zoo....

2011-05-26T15:10:00.006-05:00

We were excited to have Aunt Megan come to visit us for a week in May. Neal ended up having to travel for work for most of that week, so Josiah and I enjoyed having company.

Megan and I took Josiah on a field trip to the zoo. He really enjoyed it.

Josiah was fascinated by the flamingos. They made a really loud noise. It wasn't what we thought a flamingo should sound like. Josiah didn't mind.

Josiah thought these monkeys were funny.
Checking out a leopard (I think).

Mommy and Josiah posing in front of the zebras.

Josiah and the elephants.

Josiah and a bull.

Josiah and the goat.

Josiah and Aunt Megan were helping each other brush their teeth.

Aunt Megan helping Josiah show off his muscles.

Josiah trying on Aunt Megan's running belt.

Miscellaneous Pictures from the past few months...

2011-05-26T14:04:00.007-05:00

We've been a bit behind posting photos on here. These are pictures from the past few months.

Josiah was helping keep the garage cleaned while daddy was gone on a work trip.

King Josiah on his royal throne. :)
This was Josiah's first time "driving" the shopping cart at the grocery store. He thought he was big stuff.

Our little stunt man.

Josiah loves eating apples. He chews and chews and then spits it out.

This is where he fell asleep. He takes after Aunt Megan. :)

Enjoying the sunshine.

Working on the lawn mower.

Josiah and his new suitcase.

His first time in a booster seat at a restaurant.

After his first professional haircut.

Before his first professional haircut.

Sporting his big brother t-shirt.

He often falls asleep in the high chair at lunch.

Trying to escape under the gate.

Enjoying bath time.

Taking a ride on Papa and Nana's donkey.

He was having fun playing in the box that his new car seat came in.

Relaxing with some books.

Proudly wearing his John Deere cap.

Easter 2011

2011-05-08T16:08:00.005-05:00

We spent Easter down in Arkansas this year with my parents. We had a wonderful family reunion on the Saturday which included an egg hunt for the kids. Below are some of the pictures and videos that we took over the weekend.

Mom and Dad with the grand kids.
All of the little cousins after the big egg hunt.

Josiah had the hang of this egg hunting, but we did practice some earlier in the week.

Our Recent Trip and Last Weekend!!!

2011-04-04T19:59:00.007-05:00

We ventured up to Iowa and South Dakota during the middle of March. We stayed a couple of days in Cedar Rapids where Robin and Josiah enjoyed a little swim time. Upon leaving Cedar Rapids, Robin and Josiah traveled with Leland and Diana up to South Dakota while I went to meetings in Des Moines. Robin and Josiah had the opportunity to meet Lily (Josiah's newest cousin).

Josiah does not seem too interested in Lily (or maybe he is a little jealous of mommy holding another baby).

Robin getting aquainted with Lily. Both are doing a good job of posing.

I was able to drop by and meet Lily between work trips during the week.Grandma Diana and Grandpa Lee Lee with the grand kids.

This past weekend we had some really nice weather and had the opportunity to enjoy some time outside in our back yard. We had a fence installed last week so Josiah can roam free now. Below are some photos and videos from the weekend.

Josiah's 12 month pictures

2011-02-10T11:28:00.007-06:00

We had Josiah's 12 month pictures taken a few weeks ago. We thought we'd share a few of the pictures.

Miscellaneous Pictures of Josiah's Birthday and Christmas

2011-01-24T16:45:00.009-06:00

Josiah got to have 3 birthday parties! Here are some pictures from those parties and a few from Christmas in SD.

We decorated Josiah's high chair. He thought we had gone crazy. :)

This was on Josiah's actual birthday, January 13. He really enjoyed his cake and ice cream.

Josiah posing with his monkey birthday cake that mommy made.

Josiah relaxing on his Mickey Mouse Clubhouse couch from Grandpa Lee Lee and Grandma Diana
Josiah modeling his new sweater that Grandma Diana made him.

This was his birthday party that we had at Robin's parents in SD while we were there for Christmas.

Aunt Megan made Josiah a Cookie Monster birthday cake.

This was Josiah's birthday party at Neal's parents in AR that we had while we were there for Christmas.

Josiah was a bit overwhelmed by the cake daddy made for him.

He didn't quite know what to think of the candle and us singing to him.

Daddy helped Josiah open his birthday gifts.

Josiah's cake, hat, and bib.

Josiah's monkey cake that mommy made.

Josiah made a little seat out of Grandma Diana's knitting basket.

Uncle Tim helping Josiah swing his Louisville Slugger bat.

Josiah enjoyed playing piano at Grandma and Grandpa's

Here's a video of Josiah playing piano. He's a natural. He automatically played chords. :)

Pictures from Christmas...

2011-01-24T16:27:00.004-06:00

Here's a few pictures from Christmas.

All dressed up in our Christmas outfits for church.

Josiah riding his new Bullseye rocking horse.
Mommy and Josiah posing after he finished opening his Christmas gifts at our house.

Josiah and one of his new toys.

Josiah and another one of his toys.

Josiah's 1st Birthday

2011-01-20T18:17:00.007-06:00

On January 13, Josiah celebrated his 1st birthday. We can't believe it has been a year since we welcomed our sweet boy into this world. Here are some videos from the big day. We had 2 early celebrations over Christmas. We had one party with Neal's family in AR and another little party with some of Robin's family in SD.

In this video we are singing "Happy Birthday" to Josiah. He didn't really understand what was going on.

We gave Josiah a wagon for his birthday. This is his reaction when Neal brought the wagon in.

Josiah likes Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, so we gave him a musical card that has the "Hot Dog" song on it. The funny part of this is when Josiah opens the card and hears the song and he thinks it is coming from the TV which happens to have Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on with the sound off and we realized that they were doing the "Hot Dog" song on the show while Josiah was listening to the card. :)

Josiah is officially walking!

2011-01-12T20:47:00.004-06:00

Grandpa Lee Lee started working with Josiah this morning on his walking. We were all excited to see that all their hard work paid off....Josiah is now officially walking on his own!!!! He just barely made the cutoff for walking before his 1st birthday (he turns 1 tomorrow).

This is one of the many times he has been walking today.

Tricking Josiah into walking......

2011-01-09T20:37:00.003-06:00

Thanksgiving...

2010-12-08T15:46:00.005-06:00

We spent the weekend before Thanksgiving with Neal's family. We took family pictures while we were there.

Josiah often has the Buseman zoned out look. :)

Nana and Josiah
Josiah riding in the van to our next destination...SD. We had bought a portable DVD player for the van. Josiah enjoyed watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Handy Manny, and Elmo.

Josiah had fun playing piano with Grandma.

Some footage of Nana and Josiah during the photo shoot.

Josiah had fun riding Uncle Tim's Clip-Clop horse. Grandpa helped him stay on. :)

New furniture...

2010-12-08T14:56:00.006-06:00

We recently bought a new TV table, end tables and console table. Neal was excited that he got to put all of them together. He enjoys assembling things.

Here are some pictures of the assembled pieces.

Josiah paused from playing to smile for a picture.
Console table and an end table

The other end table

TV stand

Josiah "helping" daddy put an end table together

Josiah telling daddy how to put the end table together.

Recent pictures....

2010-11-14T20:54:00.009-06:00

Josiah ready to go to church in an outfit that his friend Isaac loaned him.

Josiah enjoying a little Handy Manny
This shot is for Robin's dad Leland

Robin had her birthday on Wednesday. Josiah and I helped her celebrate by making her a chocolate birthday cake.

Daddy is starting Josiah early on the Diet Pepsi.

Josiah eating some of Robin's birthday dessert at Red Robin.

By popular demand, we finally got Josiah's Woody Woodpecker laugh on video.

Josiah's First Halloween

2010-10-31T20:34:00.005-05:00

Josiah "helping" daddy hand out candyJosiah and his friend Sarah trick or treating

Josiah (little piggy) and his friends Emily (Super Girl), Sarah (ballerina), & Ella (Jessi from Toy Story) all ready for trick or treating

Sarah & Josiah

Josiah eating some of his candy...

Josiah's 9 Month Pictures

2010-10-29T16:48:00.007-05:00

Here are Josiah's 9 month pictures.

October....

2010-10-29T16:05:00.008-05:00

It's been a little while since we updated our blog. Here are some pictures from our week in SD in early October. We were there to help Robin's dad celebrate his 60th birthday.

We did some family pictures as part of the birthday festivities. Here are a few of pictures we had taken for us.

We were trying to get Josiah to smile for pictures.

Josiah playing with leaves.
Josiah eating leaves.

Playing with Grandma's little pumpkins that she grew in her garden.

Emma, Josiah, & Lauren

Emma (Barney), Josiah (Pig), Lauren (Princess)

Happy 60th birthday Dad!

Josiah getting some swinging time in at Grandma & Grandpa's

Little Monkey

2010-10-04T20:28:00.004-05:00

Josiah got a little messy at supper the other night. He had fun playing with his food. :)

We went to Babies R Us on Saturday and got a "cage" for Josiah to play in (also to contain him since he is becoming more mobile each day). The video below was taken Monday morning. It did not take long for Josiah to plan his escape route.

Here's a picture of what the whole play pen looks like.

Random pics of Josiah...

2010-09-30T15:13:00.002-05:00

Here are a few random pictures I took of Josiah this week while Neal was gone to Mexico.

It became cool enough for Josiah to try out his John Deere boots that Uncle Tim and Aunt Heidi gave to him. He was still snoozing from the walk we took that morning.

Josiah has started finding things to get into. Josiah likes chewing on afghans (I have no idea why he likes putting those fuzzy things in his mouth). So he discovered that we keep our afghans in this basket.

Yesterday, I was in the living room with Josiah and I had looked away for a minute and turned back and saw he had figured out how to stand on the chair of his desk. It will only be a matter of time until he figures out how to climb up on the couch from this chair.

I don't have a picture, but Josiah got his 3rd tooth last week. It is one of the top front teeth. I think he is also starting to say the word no. Lately, that's a word we use often with him. :)

Josiah is becoming mobile......

2010-09-25T15:56:00.005-05:00

Happy Grandparents Day!!!!!

2010-09-12T14:02:00.002-05:00

Josiah wanted to wish all his grandparents a very happy Grandparents Day and he wanted us to tell you he loves you all and misses you all very much!!!

Here's his video greeting for his grandparents:

Past Few Weeks of Photos and Videos....

2010-09-11T20:15:00.006-05:00

Josiah peeking over the sofa....

Grandma and Grandpa came in Late August

Josiah spending some quality time with Grandpa Lee Lee

Josiah, Robin, and Grandma Diana in the pool cooling off

Josiah having some playtime with his good friend Sarah last weekend

This act resulted in me lowering the mattress in Josiah's bed today

This is what happens when Josiah acts up (just kidding). He does like the new gates on the stairs though.

Josiah was excited for the LSU Tigers today since they were playing in Nashville.

He wore the hat most of the day and never tried to take it off.

Like Father, Like Son

2010-08-25T12:07:00.001-05:00

I couldn't resist taking this picture this morning. They were so cute sleeping in the same positions. :)

Josiah's Verdict

2010-08-18T14:53:00.003-05:00

As many of you already know, Neal was in Brazil last week on a work trip. After Neal arrived back home, Josiah was asked if he wanted Daddy to go back to Brazil. The video below has Josiah's judgment:

Josiah's 6 Month Pictures

2010-07-28T15:57:00.011-05:00

Last Saturday we went to Portrait Innovations to have Josiah's 6 month pictures taken. We had a hard time picking out pictures to order because our son is such a cutie! We did get a cd of all the pictures taken, so here are a few of them. Enjoy!

We just wanted to see if we could get Josiah to stand by himself next to the prop. This was the first picture we got of him standing & he was even smiling! As you can see, daddy was close by ready to catch him when he tipped over. :) We did order a bunch of this pose. They cropped out Neal's hand for the ones we ordered.

I uploaded these in the wrong order. If you scroll down a few pictures, you'll see that we started out with Josiah's name written with the blocks sitting in front of him. Then as we went along, he quickly moved past the blocks we had placed right by him to play with and started grabbing for the letters of his name.

Love this picture! We've joked that he needs to be wearing a smoking jacket and maybe holding a cup of coffee. :)

Close-up shot of the baby ring that belongs to my Grandpa Hansen. It became a family tradition to wear the ring for 6 month pictures. As you can see it's a beautiful Black Hills Gold ring.

These pictures really capture Josiah's love for his bath time. This is how happy he is during every bath!

Josiah at the beach.

Tummy time!

Our sweet 6 month old boy!!!

Video's Taken During Our Summer Road Trip

2010-07-25T13:30:00.003-05:00

Birthday Celebration!

2010-07-22T16:02:00.004-05:00

Yesterday we celebrated Neal's birthday. He started off his day with a yummy breakfast (scrambled eggs, sausage patties & biscuits) made by me (Robin). Then Josiah & I gave him his birthday presents. Josiah gave him a cute poem about daddy's footprints & he put his footprints on the paper & we framed it. We also gave him shorts, a polo shirt, croquet set, goggles & nose plug for swimming, & a hair cutting cape for when I cut his hair. He had meetings all day at work, so he wasn't able to come home for lunch. When he got home, Josiah & I took him out for a steak dinner at The Chop House. After that we went home for cake & ice cream. I tested my cake baking & decorating skills out on his birthday cake. I still need to work on the decorating.

The cake.

Say "cheese"!

Josiah couldn't believe how bright daddy's cake got after we lit all the candles.

Blowing out the candles.

Trip to SD

2010-07-14T14:44:00.009-05:00

Josiah made his second road trip to visit mommy's family in SD. He did better on this trip than he did in March. He was able to play with his toys and with mommy & daddy (we took turns sitting by him). Josiah was excited to see Grandma Diana & Grandpa Lee Lee. He also enjoyed seeing his aunts, uncles, cousins, & great grandparents. He got to meet mommy's friend Melodee, who was home for the month from her missionary work in Prague, & he saw mommy's friends Susan & her daughter Elli who is just 2 weeks older than Josiah. He also met mommy's other friend Danae & her family. We really enjoyed our week there.

Josiah started sitting up on his own just before we left for SD. He got better & better at it on our trip. This is his first time sitting up in a shopping cart. He thought he was big stuff.

At church on July 4. Notice our coordinating red, white & blue outfits.

Snoozing on one of our car rides.

The mosiqutoes were really bad towards the end of our stay there. Josiah loves going outside & he was getting ansy being inside. Grandpa came up with a brilliant idea. He opened a window & he & Josiah watched the birds flying outside the window. They had a nest just above that window in the eave of the house.

Josiah lounging in his jammies after his bath. Cousin Lauren enjoyed playing with him.

Cool dude!

Cousin Emma loved holding & kissing baby Siah.

Lauren enjoyed playing with Siah's play mat & toys.

One evening we all went for a wagon ride.

Neal & Josiah posing in front of the beautifully restored tractor (which was restored by Uncle Keith & cousin DJ).

Grandma & Grandpa with the grandkids.

Neal, Robin & Josiah after the wagon ride.

Josiah loves playing in the grass.

Uncle Tim riding the John Deere pedal tractor.

Lauren & Emma getting a turn on the pedal tractor.

Emma giving Siah more love.

Aunt Heidi & Josiah playing in the grass.

After our week in SD we headed to Cedar Rapids, IA to visit Aunt Tammy while Neal did work in Ames, IA & St. Joe, MO. We have videos to upload. Hopefully Neal can get those on here soon.

Josiah's Dedication

2010-06-20T19:04:00.002-05:00

Today was a special day in that it was Father's day and we got to dedicate Josiah at church. Below is a video of the dedication. Believe or not he was crying quite a bit before we went out onto the stage.

After church, we went to Qdoba for lunch to celebrate the dedication and Father's Day. Then we came home to rest for the afternoon. It was a blessed day.

Mr. Roll Over

2010-06-17T20:27:00.003-05:00

Josiah decided to roll over on Tuesday. Here is a video we got the 2nd time he rolled over. We are still waiting on the 3rd time.

Some Videos From This Week

2010-06-10T20:55:00.007-05:00

Here are some additions to Josiah's room.

We have rearranged our living room.

Here is our new bedroom furniture and 3 month pictures of Josiah.

Josiah in his exersaucer.

Bathtime......

more bath time.

A couple random pictures of our soon to be 5 month old little boy...

2010-06-06T14:56:00.004-05:00

Josiah having play time with daddy.

Look mom, no hands!

Dad, you're crazy....

Josiah is telling daddy what he learned in Sunday school this morning.

No pictures please....

Look at my frog legs. :)

I'm so happy!

Josiah's LSU gear. Daddy is so proud of him!

Pictures from when Josiah started eating cereal. We learned that he prefers oatmeal over rice cereal. (Don't we all!)

Enjoying the grass....

2010-05-26T19:43:00.004-05:00

Josiah has discovered the grass in our backyard and enjoys getting down on the grass. Below are some video clips of him enjoying his "grass"time.

Josiah and his big boy food.....

2010-05-16T18:39:00.004-05:00

Josiah went to his 4 month doctor appointment on Friday. He received his 4 months shots and did not cry too long (mommy and daddy were very proud). He also received clearance to start on rice cereal. Below is a video of Josiah eating some rice cereal in his new high chair.

3 Month Pictures

2010-05-01T16:31:00.005-05:00

Today we went and got Josiah's 3 month pictures taken along with a family portrait. Below are some of the pictures.

Josiah's 1st Easter

2010-04-08T20:07:00.003-05:00

We made the trek down to Arkansas this past weekend to celebrate Easter and my family also had a baby shower for Josiah. We received lots of awesome gifts from the shower and had a wonderful Easter weekend. Below are a few pictures we took over the weekend.

We are all dressed up and ready to go to church in our Easter clothes.

Josiah finding his 1st Easter egg with Dad's help.

Dad helping Josiah get some more eggs.

Mom and Josiah before the the big egg hunt. Got to love that hat.

Dad and Josiah before the egg hunt. Gotta love that Baseball Basket.

Playtime......

2010-03-26T19:53:00.004-05:00

Our trip to SD in Words.......

2010-03-20T19:36:00.005-05:00

The blogger was not working too well so I could not add text to the photos. Thus, I will add a bit here to explain the photos in the previous post. Last weekend we arrived at Grandma and Grandpa's house in South Dakota after a 2 day visit at Aunt Tammy's in Cedar Rapids, IA. On Saturday, we all went to the Hofer's in Mitchell, SD where Josiah got to meet his cousins Lauren and Emma, his Uncle Jared, Great Grandma and Grandpa Hansen, as well as a host of other family most of which he had already met. We had a great time there and also got to help Uncle Tim celebrate his birthday early.

While in Mitchell, Neal visited Cabelas and got Josiah his first camouflage Cabelas hat.

On Sunday, we met with some friends during the day and also had a gathering of the Buseman side of the family in Canisota, SD. Josiah got to meet his Great grandma and grandpa Buseman there as well as a host of aunts, uncles, and cousins.

During the past week, Neal worked in Des Moines through Wednesday, then worked in northern Iowa at a pig farm on Thursday. Robin and Josiah hung out with Mom and Dad all week. On Wednesday they went shopping and got some clothes for Easter. On Friday evening, we (Neal, Robin, Josiah, Leland, Diana, Tim, Heidi, Megan, and Seth) all went and ate at the Pizza Ranch in Sioux Falls.

Saturday morning we started our trek back to Nashville. We have a quick stay with Aunt Tammy and Amy tonight in Cedar Rapids, IA, and leave early tomorrow morning to head back home.

Pictures from Our Visit to South Dakota

2010-03-20T19:07:00.006-05:00

Pictures of the Past Few Weeks.....

2010-03-07T19:30:00.007-06:00

First Bath!!!!
Nana and Josiah

Josiah and his only boy cousin Nolan

Aunt Krista and Josiah

Josiah hiding out with his Papa

Josiah with his great grandmother (Mimi)

Josiah's 1st trip to church!!

Josiah with his friends Emily, Ella, and Sarah

Josiah and Sarah. Mr. Michael may let Josiah date her in about 25 years.

We almost lost him!!!

Uncle Tim, Aunt Heidi, and Josiah

The Buseman Clan

Josiah with his "Rocking" Aunt Megan.

Josiah with Aunt Stacey (notice the John Deere boots given to him by Aunt Heidi & Uncle Tim)

Snow Storm

2010-01-31T18:39:00.005-06:00

We had a little snow storm (by Midwest standards) come through on Friday evening. Saturday morning we had about 3-4 inches of snow on the ground. We decided that we needed to get some snow pictures with Josiah since he already has a snow suit compliments of his northern grandparents Leland and Diana. He was not too happy when we first put the suit on, but he soon "warmed up" to having it on as we went outside. We made it all the way to the mail box and back. We considered putting him on a cookie sheet and pulling it around for a sledding experience, but thought he is still a bit too young for sledding. Below are some pictures we took of Josiah in his snow suit.

More Pictures!!

2010-01-25T18:36:00.005-06:00

Below are some pictures of Josiah. He is doing great. As of Saturday, he has already gained 9 oz since we left the hospital and is well on his way to being back up to birth weight at his doctor appointment on Wednesday.

A milk induced coma...
Out for a walk with Mom and Grandma Nana.

Trying out the pacifier.

Out for a family walk on Sunday afternoon.

Trying out the swing.

Tummy time with Mommy.

Hanging out with Daddy.

Trying out the bouncy seat.

One of his many faces.

Sleeping peacefully.

Josiah Neal Matthews' Arrival

2010-01-15T09:06:00.005-06:00

On Wednesday January 13th at 7:57 AM Josiah Neal was born. He weighed 8 lbs. 5 oz and was 19 inches long. He is truly a blessing from God and is bringing great joy to Robin and I already. Josiah and Robin are both doing fine. Below are a few pictures we have taken so far (many more to come).

Our 1st family photo!
Sleeping peacefully.....

He decided to open his eyes for a picture.

This is what Robin looked like when I stepped on her IV prior to the C-section (just kidding). If you have ever watched the movie Airplane this picture makes a lot of sense.

Week 38 - Delivery Tomorrow!!!

2010-01-12T18:04:00.011-06:00

We took the final pregnancy pictures of Robin last night. I think her belly has grown more in the last 2 weeks than any other 1 month period during the pregnancy. Tomorrow we get to meet Baby Matthews for the 1st time!!! Below are the pictures we took.....

Robin's "conventional" pose in front of the fire place.

I have also put on a few sympathy pounds during the pregnancy so we did a comparison picture.

Christmas 2009

2009-12-26T19:52:00.005-06:00

We had a great Christmas this year (except for not being able to be with our families). This was our first Christmas in our new home and we had the additional excitement of knowing Wiggles' arrival was only 19 days away (scheduled C-section on January 13th). Robin and I slept in until 7:00 am (she wanted to get up at 5:00am). I proceeded to cook the traditional Matthews' Christmas breakfast (sausage balls and pigs-in-the-blanket). After breakfast, we decided to go ahead and open our gifts. Below are a few pictures of us opening gifts. Please forgive the PJ's, Robin insisted we celebrate Christmas in our PJ's.

Mom came through for the 15th consecutive year with a can of WD40. I now have a can in each vehicle, tool box, and tool drawer. Thanks Mom.

The title of the book is "Butter my butt and call me Biscuit". Can you identify the movie in the background. It is a Christmas classic around here.
Some sleep socks and PJ's for Robin's hospital stay next month.

I went to Kay and not Jared.

Robin sends her thanks to Tammy for the large Tupperware bowl. It will help when making sugar cookies and other goodies!

Neal sends his thanks to Leland for the Cabelas Gift Card. I am sure I will be able to find a few things I "need" from there. Again, what movie is in the background....look how our heads match up.
Many thanks to Gary and Brenda for the mixer. This will help when making cheesecake!

Southern Snow Storm....

2009-12-26T19:36:00.003-06:00

All of our Northern family in South Dakota and Iowa have been talking about the snow storms they are having to endure. I almost forgot that I took some pictures of our snow storm in Nashville last weekend (The great storm of 2009). When we first woke up we were not sure we could make it to church, but the sun melted it in the hour we took to get ready for church.

Innovation with the Situation

2009-12-26T18:47:00.008-06:00

Over the past month I have noticed that Robin is continually finding new "uses" for the baby bump. First it started out as a "crumb catcher". But the innovation has progressed quite well lately in the last few weeks. Below are some pictures I have captured. Luckily, Wiggles was not kicking a lot while Robin was storing things on the bump. She will have to start using the table again in a couple weeks.

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T20:44:00.005-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Ours was great. We spent the day at home preparing an awesome meal for lunch. The menu included: turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, turkey gravy, stuffing, rolls, and apple crisp for dessert. It was a very good meal that we will be eating well into next week. After eating and clean up, we both found a couch and took a nap with plans to go watch the 4:30 showing of Blind Side. However, upon arriving at the theater, we discovered the movie was sold out. So we headed back home to decorate our new Christmas tree. Below are some pictures of the tree.

Robin doing a 32 week pregnancy photo in front of the tree. Notice the ornament in front of Robin's face.

Here is a close -up of the ornament. It contains an ultrasound picture we got this past week.

At the appointment this week we found out that Wiggles is still in the breech position, so hopefully Wiggles will flip around before Week 36 (week of Christmas). If not, they will more than likely schedule a C-section. Regardless, the doctor said if the baby was not born by week 39, they would induce. Wiggles passed all the tests (i.e. movement, practice breathing, umbilical cord blood flow, etc.). The doctor told us everything looks great. Robin goes back for her next check up on Dec. 3rd. They will do another ultrasound at that appointment, as well as, each week for the remainder of the pregnancy. She will have appointments once a week until week 36 then start going twice a week until she has the baby. Below is a close-up of the ultrasound photo that is in the Christmas ornament.

Birthday and more....

2009-11-10T21:16:00.005-06:00

Today was a special day around the Matthews' house. Today was Robin's birthday!!!! I tried to make it special by cooking her a yummy breakfast first thing (blueberry pancakes, eggs, and toast). Then I brought home Qdoba for lunch, and we ate at Olive Garden for supper. Robin spent a few hours on the phone today with family and friends and really appreciated all the birthday wishes. Below is Robin with her Baskin Robbin's birthday ice cream cake (compliments of Grandma and Grandpa H.)

No candles so you will have to guess how old/young Robin is.
Does that cake look yummy?

Here is a pregnancy update photo we took tonight (Week 29). The baby bump is growing!!!

Below are some pictures of the nursery. We finished some of the final decorating touches last night. We still need to do a little bit of touch-up painting and add some pictures on the wall.

Check that pig out!!!

The diaper bag and changing table/dresser.

The bedding.

Gotta love those little baby farm animals!

Week 26 Update

2009-10-19T20:07:00.005-05:00

Since our last pregnancy update, our Sunday School class had a baby shower for Robin. She got some really nice gifts at the shower that we have pictures of below. This past weekend we decided to go shopping for a crib and ended up buying a crib and dresser (with a changing station). Below are our weekend purchases along with the gifts we have gotten so far.

Drum roll please....... the 26 week picture of Robin and baby Wiggles. Wiggles is more than a baby bump now!

Weekend Getaway

2009-10-04T18:12:00.009-05:00

Robin and I had a getaway weekend and went to Pigeon Forge for a couple of days this weekend. We figured we better do it now since we will soon have travel restrictions as Robin will be in the last trimester. We got to Pigeon Forge on Friday afternoon and after a short rest, we went to Johnny Carinos for supper. After supper, we went to the Tanger factory outlets to do some shopping. Robin got some maternity clothes (shirts and a sweater) and we had some Ben & Jerry's ice cream for a night cap.

On Saturday morning our mission was to hike the trail up to Grotto Falls in the Great Smokey Mountains Park. It is about a 1.6 mile hike up the trail to the falls, but it is a relatively easy hike. Below are some pictures we took on the hike.

We saw a bear up in a tree just as we started to ascend the trail up to Grotto Falls.
Here I am all chipper as we start our hike.

Robin was also very anxious to start the hike.

Here is Grotto Falls. You can walk behind it, but we decided not to because it looked very slippery and a lot of people were there.

Robin and I at Grotto Falls
Robin having an apple break as we began our descent back down the trail.

No.... Robin did not climb that log. It was a loop in the trail.

Me on the same log.

A picture of us as we were almost done with our hike.

After the hike we had worked up a bit of a hunger, so we went and had pancakes at the Pancake Pantry in Gatlinburg. We then looked through some of the shops there and bought some yummy fudge from one of the shops.

Later Saturday afternoon we went and played a little miniature golf.

No. That is not me climbing around at the miniature golf place. But you might be able to find my ball up there the way I played.

Those shadows make for tough shots.

This place was a little dangerous.

After golf we were wiped out, so we went back to the hotel to take a nap (and watch the end of the LSU football game). We ate at the Old Mill on Saturday night and it was very good. If you are in the area we highly recommend stopping there. Sunday morning we had a yummy breakfast at the Holiday Inn Express then went shopping at the outlet mall again. After shopping we headed back to Nashville. It was definitely a great weekend and we look forward to going back next year.

Week 22........

2009-09-19T18:58:00.004-05:00

We just got to thinking tonight after our walk that we had not given a pregnancy progress update in a while. We are currently at week 22 (Yay!) and everything is progressing well. We went to the doctor a couple of weeks ago and had a ultrasound conducted. We will have to have another ultrasound conducted on October 1st because the baby was wiggling around so much and also breech. They said the baby may flip around by then so they can get some better ultrasound pictures. The doctor said everything was looking fine though. Since the baby was so wiggly during the ultrasound, we have decided to call him/her Wiggles. Wiggles is very active and I have even been able to feel the kicks on occasion (most of the time Wiggles stops kicking when I get close).

The baby must have really grown a lot over the past 3-4 weeks because Robin has really begun to "show" (see below). We will be sure to give another update after our ultrasound on the 1st.

22 Week Pregnancy Picture
20 Week Ultrasound Picture

New Patio Set and Fire Pit

2009-08-30T20:00:00.006-05:00

We went and made some purchases for the patio yesterday (spent a little birthday money). We bought a patio set (table and four chairs) and a fire pit. Today we broke them in. We ate lunch on the table and then found enough fire wood (old limbs from the trees behind the house) to crank the fire pit up this evening and make a few smores. Below are some pictures from our 1st smore cooking experience at our new home.

I kicked back roasting a marshmallow. Still have my going to church clothes on, but wearing them a little more relaxed than when I went to church.

Robin trying the new fire pit out. She was very excited to get the new fire pit and make smores. When she finished eating the 1st smore she said mini-Matthews started kicking. We assume this means that mini-Matthews likes smores.

Robin cutting up a bit.

Robin lost her concentration while roasting this marshmallow!

This one is well done!

Week 17 ...........

2009-08-14T20:14:00.005-05:00

Sorry that we have been MIA on the blog posts for a while. With my travel schedule and getting moved into the new house, we have been very busy. We are starting to get settled into our new house and we hope to have pictures of the house soon (as we get everything organized). We thought we would give an update on mini-Matthews at week 17. Robin had an another appointment on Aug. 5th and everything was fine. Robin got to hear the heartbeat again (I was in Missouri). The next appointment is on September 3rd and they will do another ultrasound at that appointment although we are not planning to find out whether it is a boy or a girl (we want to be surprised). So after that appointment, we will have a picture of the baby we can post. In the meantime, you get to see a picture of Robin as she has really begun to "show" the past week or so.