Grandma Kim Visits

Jessie's Mom came to visit two weeks ago... She could only stay for a few days, but we had lots of fun. Here are some pictures from the trip. I will add more as I get them from her camera, and from Stacy's.

This is a cowboy hat Grandma Kim made for Matix. She made him lots when he was a baby, but has since outgrown most of them. So when she came she brought more. He is riding on a bouncy horse at Grandma Stacy's house which he LOVES!

My Mom wanted to take all the Dad's (and everyone else too) out to celebrate Father's Day. Paul had giant beef ribs. They were very big and it was all you can eat.

And here he is after eating two plates full. :)

This was also the first time we took Matix out to eat with us... I know, he is 9 months old and lots of people take their kids out before now, but here is the thing... We are poor and besides that, we like to eat at home and really enjoy each others company. :)

Here is everyone: Vanessa, Lee, Gavin, Dale, Paul, Jessie, Kim, Matix, and Stacy. Colleen was supposed to go, but when it was time to leave she was nowhere to be found. :) Good old Colleen. Notice Matix sees more food on the table and is giving Stacy a hard time... He loves to eat, as you can tell by the sheer size of him!

We went to the pool a couple of times too. Matix had fun and my Mom tried to get a tan (since she is from Wisconsin and it was in the 50's the day she came here) although, I don't know if she got a tan or not... :)

On the last day of the trip we went to the temple before going to the airport. It is so beautiful and peaceful there. I love it.

We walked around and my Mom took some family pictures of us. I thought it was important that we had some of when our family is just the three of us before we get our fourth. :) I think they turned out pretty well, and after some editing, well, LOTS of editing... these are my favorite three.

It is always nice to see family and friends, especially ones we live so far away from... hint hint. :) visitors are always welcome! We leave in the beginning of August for Dominica, and will be gone until December of 2010. Thanks for coming to see us Mom, I love you.

Matix Getting Into Stuff :)

So this is what Matix used to look like when we caught him getting into stuff...

A little scared, and shocked that we noticed him getting into the dog food, or computer cords, or kitchen cabinets... but now he thinks it is funny. Look at this little stinker!

When we are over at Grandma and Grandpa's house we can hear him crawling on the kitchen floor and when we see him heading toward the dog bowls we say, "Matix..." and he crawls faster and sometimes giggles. :)

Father's Day

So this is Paul's first Father's Day and I am so happy that he is the father of my baby. He is such an attentive and loving Daddy to Matix. And Matix is absolutely in love with him. Paul gets the biggest smiles and squeals and giggles from Matix. Happy Father's Day Paul!

Matix also made Paul some original pieces of artwork. :) I bought some canvas, and with the help of Auntie Colleen, Grandma Stacy and Grandma Kim, we got it done. I will add more pictures soon from Stacy's camera with the "how it was done" pictures...

Paul Graduated!

Paul graduated last month from ASU!  Hooray, hooray!  President Obama spoke at the commencement ceremony and Paul graduated Cum Laude... Good job Paul!  

Paul's Grandparents came from Utah to see him walk.  Liana, Arch and his Uncle Bill got to come.  Paul's brother Dale, his wife Vanessa, and their son Gavin come to Arizona every summer, so they got to be there too.  Of course Paul's parents and sister Colleen and Matix and I were there as well.  It was a very nice ceremony and wasn't too long either.

Paul's Aunt Liana made a really cool DVD (thanks Liana) with the pictures and videos that she took, but I can't figure out how to put it on the blog, so mine will have to do.  It isn't as long or fancy, but you will get the point. :)

We are all so proud of you Paul!

Eating REAL food

So after Matix had his 4 month check up, the Dr. said he is ready to start eating REAL food! :) Yay! So here is a video of the first few foods. It has been a long time since then and he LOVES to eat. He especially loves it when we let him try the food we are eating.

Matix Crawling

So, it seemed to take Matix forever, but at 7 months old he started to crawl. He had been getting so frustrated not being able to move to the toy he wanted, so we were thrilled when he figured out how to move around independently from us. Now Matix wants to walk everywhere, but has very little balance... We will see. :) Watch the video below.

I'm sorry, so sorry... :)

Okay, so I know it has been a LONG time coming, but you will just have to wait a little bit longer. :) We haven't updated our blog in forever, but now I am done with my work and almost done unpacking our things in our house for the summer.

Matix eats lots of food now, is crawling and trying hard to walk, but has little balance. He also dances when he hears music or Paul sings to him. Paul graduated (yay Paul!) in May and is excited about moving. Jessie is REALLY excited about moving :) Matix and I get to play all day on the beach...

Sometime next week I am planning on posting lots of things, so you will have to scroll down a bit (I am assuming) Anyway... I have been hearing a lot from friends and family lately, and I WILL do it soon. :)

Pooping face

Too funny not to share.... Matix makes this face when he is working on a little something in his diaper. :)

Polar Bear Plunge

The Polar Bear Plunge is this crazy event every New Year day in Wisconsin. Everyone goes down to the Lake Michigan beach and despite the far below freezing temperatures and the ice chunks mixed into the sand... everyone strips down to their swimsuits and jumps in. You have to go in and underwater to be a part of the Polar Bear Club...

Anyway, while we were in Wisconsin Paul and a few of our nephews were going to go it. The first picture is of Hunter, he turned 7 a few days later and this was going to be his first one. He was really excited.

BUT, as you can see in the next picture, there was a huge iceberg and the whole thing was shut down by the fire department. :( The iceberg covered so much of the beach and the first 60 feet or so of the water that it was too dangerous for the plunge. The place where you would have had to jump in was pretty deep and the waves would probably slam you into the back side of the iceberg... yikes!

This is a quick video of this year... it was SO cold. Paul was a little relieved that he couldn't do it. :)

We did the plunge two years ago with Jolie. It was crazy, but SO fun. You can actually feel your heart slow down when you go underwater. This is a picture from then.

Christmas 1-4

Okay, sorry this took so long... Matix had a great 1st Christmas. We had lots of celebrations to go to, lots of family to visit, lots of presents to open...

I am still waiting on some pictures from Wisconsin, but here are some from our adventures in the slideshow below. :) Enjoy.

Christmas Tree Hunting

Today Matix picked out his first Christmas tree. We got the one he stared at the most. :) We are getting excited about ALL of our Christmas days.

First is ours (Paul, Jessie and Matix) the day before Christmas eve..

Second is Christmas at Paul's parents house in Buckeye, Arizona on Christmas day with Lee, Stacy and Colleen.

Third is "Kent Christmas" at Jessie's dads house in Wisconsin with Chuck, all Jessie's sisters, brothers-in-law, nieces and nephews.

Fourth is Christmas at Jessie's moms house in Wisconsin with Kim, Louie, Evie, Jolie and her kiddos....

Wow! We are excited and anxious about our busy winter break, but it will be great to see all our family. :) Updates to come on the plane ride with a 3 month old...yikes!

The Nativity

On Saturday, our church put on a play of the Nativity... We were asked to play the parts of Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus. Although Jessie's acting skills were not very good :) and Paul's beard looked hilarious, it was so much fun.

Matix did very well and stayed quiet the whole time, right up until just after this picture was taken. The choir (dressed as angels behind us) finished their last song and Matix let out a loud cry. :) Everyone in the audience thought it was cute.

ASU Football Game

So we went to the ASU/UCLA game (ASU won by the way, although we had to leave at half time) and it was so much fun. Paul's friend Logan got him tickets. Logan's fiance went too and Grandma Stacy came over to watch Matix.

We sat behind this little boy

who was the number 1 UCLA fan, and we of course were cheering for ASU. This is a picture of him fighting with us. He was a good sport though. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Day morning, Paul was in a triathlon sprint. It has all the elements of a regular triathlon (run, bike, swim), but it is for shorter distances. Jessie, Matix, Stacy and Daniel all went to cheer for him. It was lots of fun. Paul only trained for a month and he got 7th place! There were over 700 people entered in the race too!

We had Thanksgiving with Paul's family. Lots of his cousins (from his Mom's side) and aunts and uncles were there. We filled up on the usuals and Paul had 5 pieces of pie (kudos Leah). Paul and Jessie tried to ride on Tay's ripstick... it was a lot harder than it looked for Jessie, but of course Paul caught on right away. It feels a lot like snowboarding, but it looks like a skateboard with only two wheels... It's crazy. It was Matix's first Thanksgiving and he was held the whole time by various family members (mostly Grandma Stacy). I think he had fun too.

Paul's birthday was last Sunday, and we went out to his parents house for dinner and presents and brownies. He is 26 now and Jessie teases him for being an old man now that he is closer to 30 than 20. :)

2 Month Dr. Appointment

So... Paul took Matix to his 2 month appointment and the results are in!

Drumroll please...

He weighs 13 pounds and 6 ounces and is now 24 and 1/2 inches tall! Yikes! He is in the 90% for weight and 93% for height. I knew he was heavier, but I didn't think he had grown 4 inches since he was born. He had to get a couple shots and so to get some comfort he "needed" to be held all day by Grandma Stacy. :) She and Matix have a great time together during the day, although I don't think she gets as much of her own stuff done as she thought she would. She is a sucker for a snuggle :)

Happy Matix

Matix has been such a happy boy lately... He smiles and coos all the time and does this funny running thing when we say "ready, set, go!"

Jessie has to go back to work tomorrow and is NOT excited about leaving this little guy. Grandma Stacy is coming over to watch Matix while we are gone, so we know he will have fun... We will just be missing him like crazy!

Date Nights

We went out a couple of times this week. First we went miniature golfing at Castles and Coasters... Jessie got 3 hole-in-one's and Paul got one :( It was lots of fun. Jessie won the game, although she had a slight advantage (see Paul with Matix).

Then Monday we went bowling with Elder Bruce... He is from Wisconsin. He and Paul met each other when Paul was on his mission there, and now Bruce is on his mission here... small world, huh? Jessie won the game... :)

Quilts

Great Grandma Evie (Jessie's Grandma) made this quilt for Matix. He had fun wiggling around while I tried to get a picture.

...and this other quilt (below) was made by Grandma Kim (Jessie's Mom) for Matix. He kept on "talking" while I was taking his picture, so I decided to take a video too. I love this stage. He wakes up and will coo right up until he falls asleep... :)

Daddy Time

Almost every night when Paul comes home, Matix needs some Daddy time.  I love to see my two favorite guys all snuggled up together.  They usually end up falling asleep on the couch... :)

Happy Halloween!

We went to the Buckeye Halloween carnival and had a fun time. Paul was being his usual silly self... see the pictures :) Jamie and Maida (Matix's cousins) got to hold Matix before they went trick-or-treating. They looked too cute!

The picture of Matix on a pumpkin was taken earlier, but isn't it cute? He was so sleepy that even after we set him up on the pumpkin he slept...

Arizona State Fair

We went to the Arizona State Fair on Tuesday. Jessie got an ENORMOUS plate of chili fries. Paul pet an elephant, giraffe, and lots of other animals in the most bizarre petting zoo ever. Then we took Matix on the ferris wheel. Matix slept through all of it. It was a nice after baby date for us. :)

Baby Bear

We went to carve pumpkins today at a park with Shanda, Tyson, and others... Matix got to wear his new bear sweatshirt. He looks so sweet. Matix also went down his first slide (see the video below) with Paul. It was lots of fun. I think Paul liked the slide better than Matix...

I swear I want to be awake!!

Matix tries to fight to be awake sometimes, but he can barely keep his eyes open. :) So cute.

Grandpa Chuck and Auntie Jolie Visit

Grandpa Chuck, Jolie, Alexandra and Bradley came to visit this week. We went to the pumpkin farm on Saturday. Bradley got a big scratch on his back, so we got our pumpkins for free. Good for us, sad for Bradley... But he is okay now :) Matix was very happy to meet some of his cousins and auntie and grandpa. We think they should come again soon :)

Alexandra helping Matix with his paci

Alexandra (Matix's cousin) is trying to help him with his paci. She was very serious about it, but her eye/hand coordination along with Matix's patience makes it really funny to watch.

Great Grandpa and Grandma Berg

Great Grandma and Grandpa Berg came for the baby blessing and Matix LOVED all the attention he was getting from them. :)

Great Grandma Berg couldn't keep her hands off of him. She even came over when we

were working on the yard, just in case we needed someone to hold the baby. :)

Great Grandpa Berg got

a few big smiles out of Matix by making silly noises.

It was so nice to have them come visit and meet Matix.

Baby Blessing

Yesterday (Sunday the 19th), Matix was blessed in our church. Paul gave the blessing and it was so beautiful. Everyone who heard it thought so. Matix is such a wonderful little boy with a very precious spirit. We are so fortunate to have him in our lives...

Grandpa Chuck (Jessie's Dad), Jolie (Jessie's sister), Bradley and Alexandra (Jolie's kids) came out from Wisconsin for the blessing. It was so nice to have them here to share in this special day for Matix. Great Grandma and Grandpa Berg (Paul's Grandparents) came from Utah to meet this little guy. Matix, Paul, Lee (Paul's Dad) and Dale (Paul's Grandpa) took a 4 generation picture. Check out the video below... Enjoy. :)

Matix and Sakina

Sakina (our dog) wasn't sure about Matix at first, but now she really likes him. She is very patient and even let us put Matix on her back a bunch of times until we got a cute picture :)

Matix loves a foot massage

Matix was sitting like this, just blinking, for a few minutes... he has a lot in common with his Mom! He was so content.

baby face

I know this is a picture of a picture, but I love it. I LOVE this sweet baby… Can you believe he's mine?!