the matts…

I had an amazing first Mother’s Day thanks to my incredible hubby, amazing child, and wonderful family. It was a day full of my favorite things. We woke up and Chris took the baby so that I could relax in bed a while longer as he cooked me breakfast. During breakfast he gave me a very special gift- matching engraved bracelets for me and Presley! We went to church and heard DeLynn speak an awesome message on happiness. It was the baby’s first time and she loved it My mom and Grammy met us there, which was such a treat! Then we had a killer steak lunch at Primo’s and opened lots of fun presents! After an amazing nap (thank you, baby Pres, for sleeping!!) we went for a stroll around the neighborhood. We got home just in time to watch the finale of Survivor where my old friend, James, won the title of Fan Favorite and $100,000 for the second season in a row!

Thank you to everyone who called and texted me to wish me a happy Mother’s Day. It was truly an amazing day and I am SO blessed. It’s unbelievable. Thanks especially to my amazing life partner who made the day extra special for me. I love you!

Check out some recent pics:

We have been SO blessed to receive many gifts for Presley from our wonderful friends and family. Last night we got something in the mail and we aren’t sure who it’s from because we don’t recognize the name. The sender was Mona Batts, from Creole, LA. If that’s you, or if you know who it is, please let us know so you can be properly thanked! We love the gift!

I am still loving my time at home with the baby. She is spending a little more time awake now and making REALLY cute noises and faces. She finally broke the 8lb mark, but she still looks super skinny because she’s so long. She’s also getting more of that beautiful red hair, which I love!! I wish I could spend every single minute with her. She is so amazing! Here are a few pics of her cute poses from the last few days:

I apologize if this is becoming a “baby blog”, but we just couldn’t be more proud of our sweet angel and love to show her off. Plus, there are lots of people who don’t get to see her that often, so if we post pictures, they at least get somewhat of an update. That being said, good gracious… She’s already growing up and changing like crazy. She looks so different that when we first brought her home. I just want it all to go in slow motion instead of flying by so quickly! Chris is an AMAZING daddy, as we all knew he would be. It’s really cool how much stronger and deeper our love gets through the journey of parenthood. I am very blessed…

So, for the two of you who were wondering about that test I took last month that I HAD to pass… I found out that not only did I pass, but I scored in the top 15% of all people who have taken the test in previous years. Talk about God working miracles! I left the test center in tears, positive I had failed. All those prayers for wisdom and favor sure did pay off, because it was He who did this, not me. Thanks for all the prayers and support!!!

It’s hard to put into words the joys of being a new parent. It’s definitely been a challenge and a learning experience as we figure out the needs of this precious child but WOW!!! She’s simply amazing! We just can’t get enough of her. She’s beautiful, sweet, funny, and as close to perfection as it gets. She started smiling the second day she was in the world and it’s the cutest thing EVER! We are SO blessed!!!

Here are some pics from the last few days

Those crazy people at the hospital let us take her home!

Born on April 10, 2008 at 5:03pm, 7lbs. 13.6oz. and 22 in. long… Here she is!!! Of course, we have hundreds of pictures of her now, so I will have to go through them and figure out which ones to post. She is honestly the most beautiful baby and we feel so blessed that God has entrusted her with us. I really don’t know how we ever lived without her. She’s amazing!

So it’s almost here.  I can’t believe that Meghan and I are going to be parents.  This has been the most incredible experience I’ve ever had in my life and I know it’s only about to get so much better.  The fact that God trusts me enough to entrust me with another human life is scary and exciting all at the same time.  I’m so lucky that I have my wonderful bride to help me with this cause we all know that she is the most amazing woman in the world and will be dong most of the heavy lifting!!  Keep her in your prayers that labor and delivery would go smoothly and that the baby will be healthy.

I also want to give a HUGE shoutout to Lee Domingue for being honored by the BR Business Report as Businessperson of the Year.  I get the wonderful privilege of getting to work for his organization everyday.  Read more about this incredible honor here.  Congratulations Lee!!

Those are some of the precious faces I got to see everyday at La Belle Aire Elementary. They are some of the sweetest kids on the planet and it was such a joy to get to be with them every single day! Each day brought new challenges, new lessons, and even bigger rewards.

Please keep Chris’ cousins’ new brother, Colton, and sister, Avery, in your prayers. They were born at 23 weeks- one weighing 13 oz, and the other 1 lb. 1 oz. We know that God can work miracles, and we are believing for the supernatural with those precious little gifts.

As far as Presley goes, I have still made no progress, so it looks for now like she’ll be holding out until the induction on Thursday. It’s definitely not how I wanted it to go, but it looks like that’s how it will probably be. Please pray that I won’t have to have a c-section… The doc’s concerned that since I’m still completely undilated, labor may not go as planned and they may have to go in and get the baby. We are believing for a delivery the old-fashioned way, but no matter what- at the end of the day, I am going to have my beautiful baby girl and we CANNOT WAIT!!!! What a blessing she is going to be!

With 3 days on the due date countdown, we are beginning to wonder if she’s ever going to be ready to come. I am still not dilated at ALL, so the doctor is seeing me again tomorrow. I swear- I feel like I live at that office! The good news is that she keeps dropping lower and lower, so she can’t be that far away from arrival. Chris still thinks she’s coming tomorrow, which I would be very happy with.

I can’t really say I am surprised that she’s not doing things the way I envisioned. She’s been shy this entire pregnancy- always covering her face during sonograms, crossing her legs when we were trying to determine gender, avoiding the heart rate monitor when they go to listen, and now she’s just chillin’ in her comfy belly home, not ready to join the world! I know it’s all in God’s timing, but you know how we get things going on OUR timeline and it seems to make much better sense

On a different note, tomorrow is my last day at school. It’s kind of bittersweet. I am VERY excited about the baby coming, but I’m also sad to leave my kids. Where I will be teaching next year is still up in the air, so I don’t know what munchkins I will see again. There are still kids I miss like crazy from my days teaching at Broadmoor 3 years ago, and after tomorrow, there might be lots more kids to add to that list. I am bringing my camera to school, so I will post some pics of their precious faces as soon as I can!