Baby!

We went for our first sonogram and found out we were farther along than we thought! Instead of the "blob with a heartbeat" we hoped to see, we saw little arms waving and tiny feet kicking. I can't even tell you how amazing it felt to see our already much-loved baby moving. Thank you, thank you, for your continued prayers. So many of you prayed Matthew to us and we are so thankful.

We can't wait until July to bring you home...

The round blurry blob to the right is the head.

This one definitely looks like me.

The baby's heartbeat...hearing that was unreal!

Matthew's reaction? "Hmm..that's cool, mom" and he
handed the picture back and walked off. He is such a boy!

I'm surrounded....

...by men, that is. Even our cat is a boy. I actually don't mind this at all. In fact, I wouldn't be a bit disappointed if our newest member is another one. However, they do tend to gang up on me. This is especially true if I dare try to do anything that even borders on "girly". This became evident when we bought pajamas for Matthew. He was having a PJ Day at school and needed something warm. Perfect. I'll buy new PJ's for school and he can wear them Christmas morning. I'm picturing a collared plaid ensemble, perhaps a pocket on the chest for monogramming his initials...As usual, I was vetoed. The result? See for yourself:

That's right - camo. My child will be wearing camo on

Christmas morning. Sigh. (And, yes, Daddy has

been banned from future clothing shopping trips).

More Holiday Pictures:

Our finished tree

Matthew hanging the first ornament.

This was the first year he was really excited about the tree.



Of, course, the Gingerbread house was even more exciting.

Snow!! OK, snow flurries. But, we'll take it.

Matthew at his Thanksgiving Feast for school.

Happy Thanksgiving - Part one

We spent the first half of Thanksgiving week at my mom and dad's. I love, love to go "home" and we had a lot of fun. As always, Matthew had a blast playing with his cousins.

Katherine loving on mom...she loves her Nana.

Mr. Jacob - about to turn one!

Amie got an early Christmas gift - the TV. I don't know,

do you think she likes it?!

All the cousins -

Caleb, Matthew, Mason, Katherine, Jocelynn and Jacob

Happy Thanksgiving - Alan's family

We spent Thanksgiving with each of our parents - and loved it! These are the pictures from our visit with Alan's family.

Caught on camera - stealing icing! Alan's parents

hosted a birthday party for Matthew.

Matthew and Aunt Addie at her house.

(It's a little blurry - 4-year-old boys do not stay

still for long...)

Great Aunt Kaye and Uncle Robin

Nauman boys - PapaBear (Alan's dad),

Matthew and Daddy

Grandma with all the great-grandbabies!

Luke, Emma, Matthew and Ava

Happy Birthday!

I can't believe my baby just turned 4! But, like it or not, he's growing up. And, as he tells me, he won't stop until "he's tall as daddy". I have loved every stage he's grown through and often find myself thinking this is my favorite age. And, right then, it is. I could list a million reasons I love Matthew, but I'll just list my favorite 4:

1. He's thoughtful. He constantly wants to be a "happy helper" and finds ways to be kind on his own.

2. He loves to learn. From the time he could form a sentence, he would ask How does that work? And he won't stop until he figures it out.

3. He's fun - and funny. He loves to laugh and play and we willingly follow him.

4. He loves his mom. OK, that one is totally selfish, but it's true! When he snuggles in my lap or puts his still-chubby hands on my cheeks, I feel like my heart will burst from happiness. As I've told him before, You're everything I've ever wanted in a little boy. And he is.


Now for the pictures:

Our alien - robot cake! Matthew did most

of the decorating himself.

Matthew's last day to be 3!

His first day to be 4!

Cookies he decorated to share with his class

A few more sprinkles ought to do it...

Dad and Matthew at his Chuck E Cheese party

Happy Birthday Time

Checking out my loot

Read My Shirt!

You read it right! Matthew is officially a Big Brother!

Our newest Nauman will arrive in July 2010.

God has been so good to answer our prayers for another

child. When you think of us, please pray for the safe

arrival of our baby....love to you all!

Medieval Times!

What does 3 months of saving and a coupon-sleuthing husband get you? A trip to Medieval Times in Dallas TX! Sword fighting, horses, eating with your hands, yelling and knights that take a picture with you - it's a little boy's dream.

Matthew and Dad in front of the castle

Matthew with his wooden sword trying to

look "serious like a guard". (According to

Dad, the sword was an absolutely necessary

purchase. Matthew totally agreed.)

Posing by "our Knight's" banner.



Here they come!

One of our favorite Knights. Who's more excited -

Matthew or Daddy???

This day was a blast for us and full of fun memories. Thanks, Alan...

Lions & Tigers & Preschoolers - Oh My!

Here are the pictures of Matthew's fieldtrip to the zoo!

Checking out the giraffes.

He really liked the petting zoo.

When you get to wash your hands in hippo
"spit", even boys are interested.

For some reason, the penguins avoided coming
to close to the glass. There were only 25
preschoolers staring them down.

Mom and Matthew

Costumes!

Matthew's school has a costume parade every year. The children dress up and "parade" through the chuch offices (his school is housed at a church) for candy and other goodies. It was a lot of fun!

My favorite scarecrow!

Mom and Matthew scarecrows...I know,

my job is soo glamorous!

Ryder, Matthew and Hughston at school

Collecting treats from Mrs. Dorothy -
one of our custodians and very sweet.




Seriously, Dude, don't even think about it...

We also spent some time with our good friends, the Davis and Patty families. Matthew had his batman costume for this night, but decided to go "in disguise" as a regular person instead. That way, no one knows he's batman. Made sense to me...

All five kids in costume. They were so cooperative for

the pictures. Starting at the left: Ryan, Trinity, Blythe,

Matthew and Turner

Thanks, really, I mean it...

So, we've been working on being thoughtful and finding ways to show others you care. Not a small task for a 3-year-old. Still, he's a caring little guy and does make sweet attempts to be kind. Like, when I found a rock in my jewelry box. It's from his treasure box, so he knew I'd love it. Or when he feeds the cat himself...then helps me use the dustbuster to clean up the "extra"....and a towel to clean up the water...

Then this morning- I hear him moving around in the bathroom and turning the water on. A few minutes later he comes to me and says this:
"I got this cup from my bathtub toy basket. It had leftover shampoo, so I rinsed it two times. Now you won't be thirsty".
Wow! You shouldn't have - really.
Yes, I pretended to take a drink and expressed my undying gratitude. And, yes, I was proud!

But, just for the record, is shampoo non-toxic?

Happy Birthday Gram!

We wanted to do something special, but different for Gram's (Alan's mom) birthday. So, I decided to "interview" Matthew about her. The results are priceless! Gram, you are much loved. We all hope you have a Happy Birthday!

10 years?!

Our 10 year college reunion was this weekend. College was such a great time for me...some of my closest friendships were started there. I hadn't seen a few of these girls in years, but we had no trouble picking back up! Here we are at dinner:

We spent too much time talking to take any

other pictures. So good to see you guys!!

First Fieldtrip!

Matthew's first fieldtrip was supposed to be to the Pumpkin Patch. We had a huge rainstorm which flooded the pumpkin fields before 9am, so we opted for Kid's Station instead (it's a big indoor playland). Alan had taken the day off to go with Matthew, so he spent the entire day in a room with 50 children under 5 and about a dozen moms and teachers - poor guy!

Matthew and Dad at snack time. Matthew

was so excited Daddy came to his school.

Hanging with his friends.

OK...back to being the only dad. Not only did he get locked in with all of us, he was also asked to help with story time and pumpkin carving for the class. To say he rose to the occasion is an understatement. Here he is entertaining a group of 3-year-olds like he's done this all his life! He even used "teacher words" (I'm so proud).

Everyone wanted to see the pumpkin.

Here's Matthew's class. He's in the top row, 4th from the left.

Whew...now I need to go take some Tylenol.