Happy (Belated) Birthday Matthew!!

Okay, so I'm finally getting around to doing a post about Matthew's birthday. I know it's a few days late, but I have been rather busy, mostly helping with his party, and then preparing my Relief Society lesson. So, here is my tribute to litttle Matthew, who turned 1 on Saturday! Since he just turned 1, I can't do pictures of him at each birthday, so I thought I'd put in pictures from every couple of months to see how he has grown.

This is with Aunt Janice when he was one month old. Matthew had such a problem with reflux (I think that's what it was called) when he was an infant. He would have such stomach pain after he ate, and it was so hard to see such a little person in so much pain. We found one of the best things to do was to hold him against our stomach in a blanket--just like in this picture. Thankfully he finally got over that (but Emilee didn't get much sleep for the first few months).

The reflux didn't affect his cute personality. Here he is in March, smiling in his car seat.

Here he is with me on Easter. I love his little outfit!

Here he is in June, taking a bath. He loves his bathtime, and always splashes and plays in the water.

Here he is with me at the Summerfest in June.



Here he is in August. Notice his bangs are starting to grow out...


I love this picture of him in September, on Emilee's birthday. His eyes are so big and brown, and his bangs are almost in his face. So cute!

Here's another one with me and his big sister Emma in September. She calls him her baby.


Here's Daddy feeding him a banana in November. I love the expression on his face.

Here he is with Uncle Jon in November as well. He wasn't sure what to think...

And finally, here he is with me on his 1st birthday, last Saturday morning.

Since we always do a big party for the 1st birthday, (and since I'm doing this post late), I thought I would combine his party pictures with his birthday post. We had it at Dan and Emilee's new dance studio, and it was so fun. All of our siblings came, plus Dan's Mom, his sister in law and her kids, and Dan's Aunt and cousin's baby. All in all, we had 24 kid there, plus 23 adults. It was quite a party! Thankfully their dance studio had plenty of room, and the kids loved being able to run around and play. Here are some picutres from the party:

This is the kids eating cake. The kid all got to make their own hats, then raced cars, (it was a car theme) and then did an obstacle course. They had so much fun!

Here is the cake that Emilee made. She was up until 4:30 in the morning doing it, but it sure turned out great!


Here's Matthew starting to eat his little cake. He sure loved it!

And here is the end result. He decimated that little car!

Here's a picture with Mommy. You can see the car wash obstacle course she made in the background.

Here's a picture of him with Daddy. He is just learning to walk (Matthew, not Daddy), and so far has taken only a few steps.

Finally, after the party was officially over, Dan took the kids downstairs to the Rental Center and gave them all rides on his skateboard ramp. They loved it! Chelle got this picture of Logan. I think it turned out so cute!



And the last picture...if you've made it this far. Karla took this picture of Matthew and I at the end of the party. He was really tired, but I think he had a great time.

I'm so grateful for my little Matthew! He is such a sweet baby, and such a blessing in my life. Happy late birthday!