July 19th, 2007

Back by popular demand. . .some adorable pictures of the girls!!! The first one is Lilyanah holding Ethne's hand, I couldn't pass that one up! I apologize for the lack of entries, life gets busy & getting on the computer doesn't happen very often! If only there was a connection from my brain to the computer; I think I write a blog entry in my mind at least once a day. I need a voice recorder cause I also have more creative ideas for posts than always updating on what is going on.
Today I've been strolling down memory lane, I usually do when I'm spending time at my parents' house. Lilyanah takes a nap in my old bedroom, it was mine from the time I was 4 years old! I sit on the bed with her & read a book or two & sing anywhere from 2 to a dozen songs before we pray & she lays down. From the time I was in junior high (possibly earlier) I would rearrange my furniture at least once a month if not more. (Some things never change!) Where the bed is now is where it was when I remember stacking all of my stuffed animals around the edges of the bed so the monsters under the bed couldn't get to me. I have to admit, even now whenever I get a little scared I find comfort at having covers over me. . . as if layers of cotton could save me from anything other than frost bite! When you're scared what do you do to ease your fear, other than praying cause' if we don't, we should all do that! Love you all! ~Wendy.

SURPRISE suppose-to-be birthday party!

So, I added some pictures from Ethne's party. . . Here she is with the cake her grandpa bought her & Lilyanah laughing dancing around the living room. . . (the video was too dark to see)
First let me say the pictures currently on here have nothing to do with the content of this blog entry. The first one is from the first time Lilyanah fell asleep in the middle of eating & the second one is a before picture of the kitchen (to see an after picture check out 'Another update' from July 10th).
So, last night Lilyanah & I played in the water (in the kitchen sink) while I made dinner. I took the opportunity to sit down on the chair with her after putting the enchilada's in the oven. I should have foreseen what would happen next, but remember I'm still a rookie at this mommy thing. . . I'd already told her once that the water has to stay in the sinks & not on the floor but that didn't cover her attempts to get it into the sink. Needless to say I ended up sitting in a puddle of water with my pants soaked down to my ankles! It took 3 towels to soak up all the water on the chair & the floor, but Lilyanah loved it. She went straight from that water wonder land to her favorite, the bathtub. We got her bathed & fed & after a book, some songs & a prayer she was down for the night. (Not asleep but well on her way). When what to our wondering ears should appear. . but a knock on the front door. Kasey (my little brother's dog) was the first to pounce into the house when I opened the door, quickly followed by Corey & Kelsey. They said they were here to celebrate Ethne's suppose-to-be birthday since yesterday was her due date. I guess my parents had tried calling us when I was putting Lilyanah 'to sleep' to tell us they were all coming over @ 8pm with cake & ice cream. I decided to check on Lilyanah to see if she had drifted off to la la land in the last 5 minutes. She looked a little confused to see me looking over her crib at her, kinda like 'Mommy, I wasn't crying. . why are you here?' She was still awake & when Kelsey popped her head over the crib too Lilyanah was up in a flash. Ethne was lying under a fluorescent light (trying to get rid of some jaundice still!), but that only detained her from joining the party for about 10 minutes. We got everyone a little dessert & sang happy s-t-b birthday. We included Lilyanah because yesterday she was officially a year & a half old & officially a ham. That little girl stood in the center of our living room & danced around while we all laughed hysterically at her. I really can't believe how funny she is. Mom used her camera to record her a little bit. I'll see if I can figure out how to get it on the blog. Dad initiated our new leather couch by spilling some banana milkshake on it (& himself, let's just say he went home in some uncomfortably wet jeans). It was funny watching him dance around a bit too though! While I was in the kitchen, I guess they got Lilyanah to say Ethne pretty clearly. Only twice, but it's a start! We're still working on 'Mommy.' Anyway, it was a really fun night. Everyone left a little after 9pm & Daddy got to put Lilyanah to sleep, again. . . So I have two questions (& thank you to those of you who take the time to read this & answer these sometimes ridiculous questions, I really enjoy hearing what you have to say!) Were you born near your due date? And secondly, what are your favorite & least favorite birthday memories? Love you all! ~ Wendy.

Our shining stars!

The girls are now officially famous. Today they put their prints in concrete on my parents front porch. I think the prints add a lot of equity to their property. Neither of the girls liked the experience but they'll appreciate it later. When we were kiddos dad bought a HUGE satellite dish & we put our hand prints in the concrete around the post. The satellite dish is gone but since the post is still there we're pretty sure the prints are still there just underneath a lot of dirt! Jeremy's little bitty baby hands are still in the concrete porch of my parents first house here in Newberg. Dad said he thinks he pushed them down about 1/2" so they aren't going anywhere! The whole reason there was concrete to put their hands in was because dad & 'the gang' poured a slab out behind the shed. Papa, Corey, & Will were all here to help. My dad LOVES concrete! We're pretty sure he'll keep pouring until all the grass is gone & the whole yard is concrete. We tease that if he & Gigi had their way the yard would be all flower beds & concrete. It seems like every season Gigi pushes a little bit further into the grass to make her flower beds a little bigger. We of course joke about it in love! So, while the guys were out working hard we women folk got to relax inside in the air conditioning. Here's my precious mom with my precious daughter. Lilyanah is pretty possessive of mom's time so she only really gets to hold Ethne whenever Lilyanah is sleeping or occupied playing with someone else. It was a full day! Will & I started it out stacking some of the wood piled in our yard, then there was the concrete & now my sweet little brother & his wife are over at my parents & we're all visiting. It's a good day. And now, Ethne needs me. What a beautiful blessing! Love you all! ~Wendy.

Just a bit of silly-ness

I can't believe I didn't write about our day last Saturday! Of course I had my camera but took absolutely NO pictures so I thought I'd put a 3 generation picture up from the hospital. Anyway, on Saturday Will & I headed up to Washington to visit some friends & go to a wedding. But before we left my dad found Will's wedding ring that had been MIA for over 2 years!!!!! I never thought we'd see it again & was so pleasantly surprised that he found it. I guess it was in a really obscure place in the trunk of my parents' car somewhere in the cd player. Random, I know! So that was good thing #1. Secondly we got to visit with some friends in Woodland, the Graham family. Justin & Tammy just had their second baby a couple of months ago (Josiah Ross Graham). He's one good lookin' baby & is lucky to have a sweet, beautiful, big sister, Jaylee. It was our first time getting to meet the kiddos & we had a very relaxing, nice visit. Afterwards we headed to Rachel (used-to-be) Alloway's wedding at the Vancouver church of Christ. What a beautiful new building & even more importantly, what a beautiful wedding! Rachel is an amazing woman & met a guy who truly loves the Lord! What more can we ask for our dear friends! This was our first outing with the girls since coming home from the hospital (other than church). We spent a half hour after the wedding sitting in the car getting the girls changed & Ethne fed. Good times. After Will had changed Lilyanah's diaper, I quickly wrapped it up & put it in the garbage, but she had taken some extra wipes out of the container & picked up a clean one. Will apparently didn't know it was clean because when he saw her with it, he got all panicked & said, "WHERE DID YOU GET THAT!!!!?" I, being the sweet wife that I am, started to laugh at him. To which he replied, "You have no idea what it's like to be the father of two little girls." He's priceless! Lilyanah was so good at the wedding. She fell asleep about 2 minutes after we left the Graham's house & woke up as soon as we pulled into the church parking lot (only 30 minutes later). That was the extent of her napping for the day! She would have probably slept through the wedding but her aunt Kelsey was there so she sat with her, playing with her cell phone & such. After the wedding, though, there were four little boys in tuxedos crawling down the aisle, picking up the artificial rose petals that the flower girls had thrown. I looked down to see Lilyanah picking up petals, too, & putting them in the bag. The next thing I knew she had the bag wrapped on her arm & was running down the aisle to the oldest boy to let him put some petals in the bag. How she got a hold of the bag I'll never know but it was the most adorable thing! Usually she's shy, so I was surprised & wish I'd pulled the camera out, but no.
I'll end with a rather humiliating story about our pugs. Yesterday I was calling them to come back inside the house & saw them standing by our neighbor's fence, both barking with hair standing straight up on their backs. We still have piles of wood in our backyard so I couldn't see what they were barking at. Titus came running when I called the second time, but Gideon wouldn't move, so I slipped on my flip-flops & went to see what he was so concerned about. It was a cat, lying about 4 feet in front of him just swatting her tail back & forth like she couldn't have been any less scared. One 'scat' from me & she ran away but I felt so sorry for my poor dogs not being able to scare the kitty cat out of our yard. That had to hurt their little egos! Again, I wish I'd had my camera handy! Anyway, just some silly things happening to the Mathias family. Thanks to those of you who shared some fun childhood memories. I've been thinking about my childhood a lot lately. I guess because we now have two little girls that I only hope we can give half as many good memories as I have of my childhood. Question? Any silly pet stories you'd like to share? Love you all!

Another Update!

So, because I have been so neglectful with this blog I am going to have to do another update entry! The first pictures are from Father's Day. For Father's Day Lilyanah & I decided to surprise Will with a weekend near Multnomah Falls. We picked him up from work the Friday before Father's Day & headed to a great little bed & breakfast right across from Bridal Veil Falls. We spent the weekend hiking to different falls. It was such a great way to spend the weekend before we thought we were going to get to meet Ethne. Of course most of you know the story, we had the amniocentisis done on the 20th & they found that her little lungs weren't ready yet. I haven't told you all though how God answered our prayers by putting off our being induced. That week the hospital where we had her had a staph infection go through the NICU where Ethne would probably have had to spend a little time. At least one baby died and another came really close. So, what a blessing it was not to have Ethne in a position where she could have been exposed! God knows best doesn't He! The induction was postponed until 12am Friday the 29th. But, as I said before that God never lets us make the plans, He surprised us with a call Tuesday saying we could come in at midnight on the 27th instead. And you know the rest of the story. Ethne was born 13hours after we were admitted into the hospital. This is just a sweet picture of Lilyanah playing over at her Gigi & Papa's. And a picture of Lilyanah holding Ethne. She really does a good job of being gentle with her (most of the time!) Of course I had to stick a couple of pictures of the girls in here. The picture of Ethne is from her first bath at home. She took it in the sink in a rubbermaid container. And she LOVED it! Lilyanah has always loved baths too, the only part she doesn't like is when she has to get out! So, I'm going to end this blog entry by telling you all what a sweet husband I have. Last night while I was putting Lilyanah down for the night my husband was busy at work cleaning the kitchen up. Isn't it amazing ladies, what a blessing it is when our guys take care of things that because they did we don't have to. I was kinda dreading having to head back into the kitchen to clean up dinner (turkey burgers, yum yum!) so it was heaven when I saw him finishing up loading the last dish. I thought it was a good opportunity to put some pictures of our kitchen on the blog. I've still been catching some slack for not having posted pictures of the house. I know it's just the kitchen, but it's a start, right? Well, I have to head over to the house to meet the air conditioning guy. . . Our a/c doesn't work so we're spending the day over at Mom & Dad's. 100 degrees is way too hot to be in a house without a/c. Will thinks
80 degrees is too hot to be in a house without a/c! So, just out of curiousity, what are some of your favorite childhood memories of summer? Other than not having to go to school of course! Love you all & hope you're having a GREAT day! ~ Wendy.

Independence Day

I hope you all had a great fourth of July! We had a very low key day, just chillin' at my parents house. It was such a hot day but it gave Lilyanah a chance to play in the pool dad got her, this time with water in it! She had a great time!! Whoever spent time with her out there ended up nearly as wet as she was! I actually spent some time at the hospital with Ethne. Nothing was wrong, she's been a little jaundice'y' so I wanted to have her checked out. What got me to take her in though was that I weighed myself & then picked her up & weighed again & there was only a 4 lbs difference.

She was 6 lbs when I brought her home & I was afraid she'd lost 2 lbs! We just went to get her weighed before & after eating & had a nurse look at her to see if her jaundice was serious or not. They were really busy so we were there for a couple of hours. It was such a beautiful day & the view outside the waiting room window is beautiful! For all of you who don't know, Newberg is in a valley & the hills surrounding are still fairly untouched by houses & such & it's just GORGEOUS! By the time we got back everyone had finished lunch & dad made us all banana milkshakes before we headed outside for a little photo session with the girls. The outfits they're wearing are their 'coming home' outfits'. I love those vintage clothes! We tried having Lilyanah hold Ethne but that didn't work so well! She really is so sweet with her. She always wants to touch her & give her kisses! She is having a little bit of a hard time with sharing attention, but that's to be expected & I know it's just for a time & a season! Will's been so great with Lilyanah & helped with the transition! It's time for our sweet little Ethne to eat again, it seems like one of the girls is always eating! It's not so bad unless they need to eat at the same time! Motherhood is such a balancing act! But we couldn't love our girls more & feel so blessed that God has entrusted these precious angels to our care! And just so you all know I should be having my CT scan in the next couple of weeks they have to wait until my uterus gets a little smaller so they can actually see my intestines! I'll keep you updated on that too! Until next time, we love you all & thanks so much for your prayers & well wishes! ~ Wendy.

And baby makes 4!!

Ethne Louise Mathias is here!! She was born on Wednesday, June 27, at 2:51 p.m.. She was 6 pounds, 8 ounces, and 18-1/2" long. Wendy and Ethne are doing great! They came home Friday afternoon and have settled right in. What a wonderful blessing for Wendy to have a normal delivery (aside from the fact Ethne was 3 weeks early) and hospital stay!Thank you all of you for your prayers! We know God answers them! Denise
Hello all, I'm so sorry for taking so long to get anything about our precious Ethne posted! As I was looking for a picture to post of her I realized I don't really have any of her alone so I'll be taking care of that today! Until then I hope these two will do. That's her daddy's hand. Love you all! ~Wendy

Goodbye Trees. . .

What a busy work weekend! I was invited to spend a day with my cousins & Aunt Dawn preparing a gourmet Italian meal, (My Aunt Dawn is a VERY talented cook & we always feel very honored whenever we get to enjoy her Italian dishes)! However, instead of spending a day in the kitchen with the girls I spent Saturday (& Sunday) outside with my amazingly sweet parents & husband (& Jeremy on Sunday). I'm not complaining because we accomplished the first stage of a HUGE project. About a month ago we had a bid done on what it would cost to cut down 9 trees in our backyard. . . guesses anyone? Try $3100. YIKES! We mentioned what we were wanting to do & what it was gonna cost in front of my 'do it yourself' dad who from that moment on insisted that he was going to help us cut down our trees. Mom & I both were very hesitant about having our men scaling 70 foot high trees & falling them VERY close to our house but dad never quit insisting & just ignored our saying, 'no thanks'. And now that we're done with the hardest part (getting them cutW down) & we're so thankful dad didn't listen to us! He really did an amazing job at falling them at the right spot & efficiently. It was only my parents, Will & me working & even at that one of us had to be inside taking care of Lilyanah except for when she was napping. I was pretty impressed at what a hard working family I have. Will wasn't crazy about his 8 1/2 month pregnant wife being out there working but like mom said, "I come from good stock". Sometime during the day Will got a splinter stuck REALLY deep in his right forearm so once we were done for the night we had to clean up quick & get him into the doctors to see if he could get it out. Both dad & mom tried to do it to no avail & I have the weakest stomach & couldn't even attempt it. So, at 8:30pm Corey & Kelsey came over to the house to stay there with Lilyanah, who was asleep, and Will & I headed out for the hospital. An hour & a half later after 2 numbing shots & the doctor digging at least 1/2" into Will's arm we were back on our way home for some much needed sleep! On Sunday Jeremy was just coming over for a quick visit when he got roped into helping & stayed until after 5pm. He was such a big help (thanks brother!) It amazes me how much we got accomplished. Most of the time Mom & I were loading branches into the truck & taking them to the mill where you can drop off wood for free. Dad & Jeremy got all the logs cut into either firewood pieces or 8' pieces that we'll have to cut next weekend. We still have A LOT more work to do but what a productive weekend! Of course I have to include at least one picture of Lilyanah so here she is playing on the picnic table her Pepa & Mema Tucker gave her for Easter. Some of the other poses she did were hilarious but they were too blurry. I hope you all had a GREAT weekend whether you worked or relaxed. We're really feeling the pressure of our second little girl's arrival & are trying to get as much done as possible before she makes her appearance. Just 16 more days until I go in to be induced! How do you make time slow down!? Love you all! ~ Wendy.

So, So, Long!

I can't believe it's already been a month since I last blogged! So much has happened.
Lilyanah's 15 month appointment where we found out she is 31" long & weighs a couple of ounces over 21 lbs. The doctor also heard a heart murmur that she had heard at her 12 month appointment but was hoping would have been gone by 15 months. So, they had us get an ekg & xray & everything looked great but they still had us make an appointment with a cardiologist to cover all of our bases. The appointment is tomorrow morning at OHSU. We're praying for good news!
Our second Mother's Day when my husband gave me a gift certificate for the full spa treatment whenever I want. The first picture was taken on Mother's Day. The day after Mother's Day a dear friend gave me my first haircut since having it shaved back on March 9th, 2006. It was much needed!
The weekend of the 18th we headed down to the beach (Depot Bay) it was stormy but we had such a nice time. We walked down to the pool where Lilyanah was just going to put her feet in the warm water so none of us were dressed for a swim, but Lilyanah wanted to get all the way in so her sweet daddy fully clothed took her into the pool. I wish I had a picture to show but we videotaped it so unfortunately you can't see it! We played lots of games & enjoyed the view.

Softball season started last Thursday. I guess the guys were playing on of the hardest teams in the league & they dominated beating them 15 to 5 or something like that. Will looks forward to softball season all year long! Last week he was trying to get me out in our yard to toss the ball or pitch to him! You can see from the picture of me & Lilyanah (taken May 27th) that my tummy is rapidly growing!
Memorial day we had a group of friends over for visiting, a bbq & some volleyball. We were so excited that the sun decided to make an appearance, we weren't sure if it was gonna make it or not! I was 33 weeks yesterday & had a doctor's appointment today. Ethne is in place, ready to make her appearance whenever the time comes. I have one more appointment on the 8th & then at 8:30 am on the 20th they're going to do an amniocentesis to make sure her little lungs are developed & we'll go in again at midnight to be induced. Can you believe how quickly time is passing by!?

I hope you all enjoy your last day of May! The last picture of Lilyanah is with the toy her grandpa got for her on these hot days! It was too cold to put it up outside so he set it up in the living room for her to play with. . . she loves it! Who knows what she'll think of it when there's actually water to play in! ~How are you guys doing with this crazy summer heat!? Love you all!

Guess Who's Walking!

Thank you so much for your prayers on behalf of Will's uncles. This past Wednesday morning we lost Jackie. Will flew into Ft. Worth, TX on Friday night so he could be at Jackie's funeral on Saturday. Please continue to pray for the family as they're dealing with the loss. Howie is not doing well at all, he's been in the hospital for at least the last week and sadly it is only a matter of time before we lose him also.

At Will's request Lilyanah & I spent the weekend at my parents house, so I'm including some pictures we took this weekend. Our sweet friends in Iowa, the Killians gave this little rain coat outfit to Lilyanah when she was born & every chance I get I love to dress her in it. I just thought it would be criminal not to include some pictures of her strolling around in it. The other picture is Lilyanah discovering daisies for the first time. (I'm not including when I made us daisy chain's to wear on our bald heads last April.)Lilyanah gets such a kick out of dad pushing her on her little 'car'. I wish you could hear her gleeful giggling! I was just reminded that I have not yet told you all that she is walking! All out, walking! A week & a half ago she just started letting go of whatever she was holding onto & walking to something else. It's just progressed from there. Maybe I'll figure out how to post videos & get one of her walking on here. (Don't hold your breath!) I was recently reminded that I still have not posted pictures of our house. . .I had to include a picture of some visiting friends from Nebraska, Jeff & Margaret Garrison. For a brief time they lived a couple of houses away from us & I got to play with their daughters (Mary & Leann) all the time. Mary was just 2 weeks older than me so it was mostly us that played. Oh, the many wonderful childhood memories!Sorry, but I just had to include one more picture of Lilyanah in her raincoat! Such a serious face! Aren't the little boots & hat adorable! I'm so glad I'll get to dress baby #2 in them too! I hope you all have had a blessed Monday! So, question. . . . What is something you've always wanted to do but never been disciplined enough to do it? Love you all!
Wendy.