My boy is 3!

Matti turned three last week and we had a small celebration with our families. He wanted pizza so we took him to Cici's where we all chowed down. I found Cars themed cupcakes instead of a big cake. He loved them :) Saturday, we took him to the movies to see Cars 2 & he was able to make it through the whole movie. There was a lot of shooting/guns in the movie though which seemed a little much. It was still okay though, but I think Matti still prefers the first one. His favorite card is a Cars one which plays the song "Life is a Highway" from the first movie. He's constantly playing the card. His godparents got him a kitchen which I've been trying to convince Jason to do. He was reluctant at first (since it's "girl" toy), but after seeing Matti play with one at a friend's house, he was okay with it. Matti loved to pretend cook before, and with his new kitchen, he's whipping up meals left & right :)

Today he had his 3 year check up. Since his 2 year check up, he kinda got the hint that the doctor got in his personal space & used weird gadgets to listen to his body, and most times, he got poked with needles...so he wasn't really a fan. He had weight issues as well which led us to the doctor more times that usual & he just was not a fan. I was dreading it and Jason was able to leave work to meet me because he knew I was nervous about it. Did I mention I have a great husband? They are in a new building as well so Matti didn't know we were at the doctors yet. We let him press the arrows & numbers for the elevator & all was well. We didn't wait long at all which was good. He was in a really good mood. Naming animals that he saw on the walls and just talking away. He didn't stand on the scale again so Jason had to weigh himself & then hold Matti to find the difference. He DID stay still for his height. He is 24 lbs & 34 or 36 inches (I can't remember already!). He's below the 5th percentile for his weight & in the 25th for his height. The doctor wasn't concerned and thinks he's doing great. He was 19 lbs at his 2 year check up so he gained 5 lbs this year. The weight has always been a concern with Matti. He wasn't gaining any weight or he was losing it. Which led him to switching to soy milk & limiting his dairy to the minimal amount. He gets some once in a while. So, we were all happy to see that he gained so much in the past year. We're hoping he continues to gain, but she did say that growing at this age kind of plateaus. She tested his skills too which made me super proud! He has a Thomas backpack which has Thomas & Percy on it. She asked who they were and he named both of them. She asked what color each were & he got them both, but he did say yellow instead of blue--which he always does. I know he knows the difference though...I think it's just him being silly. She asked where James was (since he wasn't on the bag) and what color he is & he replied with, "Red." She was happy to see him know his colors and that he could remember what something is without it being present. She then asked to point to body parts which she did last year too, but he was happy to show her. Then, she started having a conversation with him. It went like this:

Doctor: Matti, what do you tell mommy when you're hungry?
Matti: Mommy, I hungry! (although this morning it was, "Mommy, I soooo huunngryy!")
Doctor: And...what do you like to eat when you're hungry?
*I assumed he was gonna say cooookies! lol*
Matti: I like to eat RICE!!

We all got a good laugh about that and she was happy to see him forming sentences. & being able to hold a conversation. She liked that although it was random question, he was still able to answer her.

She then continued with the check up. The blood pressure cuff was so cute & I think Matti was slightly amused by the whole thing. He didn't like the stethoscope still and wouldn't open up his mouth for her. He eventually did, but he freaked out when she tried to listen to his lungs. So, she got a bunch of books and we looked through them while she listened. I was able to distract him because one of the books had a clock that you could turn the hands on. So, I told him to tell me the numbers he saw & he did. She noted that he knew his numbers and pretty soon it was all done.

All in all we got a clean bill of health. She said he looks like a healthy 3 year old and that she wasn't concerned with anything. He did get one shot which he fussed a little about, but was okay once he knew we were leaving. He got two lollipops out of the visit & the doctor gave him the clock book too. The doctor said well hopefully we'll be seeing you with the new baby :) She was my pediatrician too!

Nothing else matters.

Although he is doing all that he can to get under my skin right now, haha, I wanted to write a little about my big boy Matti. He will be turning three in a few weeks and I can't believe how much he has grown.

Just last night, we were having dinner. We had my brother over because we rented a movie the previous night (LOVE Redbox codes!) and didn't have a chance to watch it. Jason whipped up some stuffed bell pepper with rice and when I got home, I made some zucchini. Matti was acting up a little bit so Jason put him in time out and the three of us prayed over our food. When Matti's time was up, he sat down in his chair and started whining again. Now, at the this point, I was just tired so in my mind, I was thinking, "What's wrong nooowww..??" I looked over at him and asked him what was wrong and he says in a whiny voice, "I wanna prayyy........" So we prayed a second time and he was just thrilled to eat his dinner. That moment just made me beyond happy. Sure, he can sing songs, say his ABC's, numbers, tell stories, know who certain people are, but nothing beats him wanting to pray. To me, that surpasses everything else. As a mom, I want nothing more than for my children to know & love the Lord.

"The goal is not to raise well-mannered heathen. What we long for is to reach his boyish heart and inspire in him a desire to be the Lord's man." (taken from Ate Josette)

Days with Matti.

So a few weekends ago, we took Matti to Day Out With Thomas. We went with Jason's brother, his wife & their son. We call them twinnies. It was a really good day and the boys both had a lot of fun. I think we will be willing to take Matti again whenever Thomas comes back. It was also Mother's Day & after hanging out with Thomas, we met up with Jason's family at the National Harbor. We walked around a bit, and I just love it there. There are restaurants and shops everywhere, and I just love places like that. Also, the harbor with a man buried in the sand ;) We had dinner at Thai Pavillion and ate a lot of yummy food.

I came on here because I wanted to write a few things that I wanted to remember, haha. Matti is almost 3 years old and it blows my mind. He is such a joy and so much fun. I know I probably say that all the time. I just love the funny stories that come out of his mouth and the things that he says. They are blog worthy so that my pregnant mind doesn't stash them away to a place I'll never find.

This brings me to the steak story. Matti LOVES steak. He is like his mommy&daddy and appreciates good steak. Jason has got his steak skills down and has his way of cooking it in his cast iron skillet. We were having steak with pasta salad & veggies one night. Matti finished off his steak first and wanted more. We told him to eat the other things on his plate & we would give him more. So after each bite of veggie or pasta, he would ask for steak. We kept telling him to keep eating his food. Continue for about five minutes. He is focusing on me because I'm the closest and he sees me with my steak. He doesn't realize that Jason is already cutting small pieces for him. We decide he'd eaten enough of his other food that we told him to ask Jesus for more steak. At this point, Jason already put more steak on Matti's plate. Matti does the sign of the cross and says, "Jesus, can I have more steak, Pllleeeease?? Amen." He looks down on his plate & sees the mountain of steak & yells, "OMYGOSH!!" Thank you Jesus!" Haha....


Now onto the meatball story. He's at the age where he really comprehends what is going on in books, stories, and shows. One day, we were reading out of his Toddler Bible and we were at Genesis. There was a picture of a big brown circle which was representing Earth when there was only darkness. God hadn't created light and everything yet. So, I started reading, "In the beginning, there was a...." Matti cuts me off and yells, "MEATBALLL!! MOMMY, A MEEAAATBALL!!" I couldn't help but start laughing. So, according to my almost three year old, In the beginning, there was a meatball.


Since meeting Thomas, riding on Thomas, and everything Thomas, Matti is completely even more in love with Thomas. We finally, finally, finally bought a Thomas DVD for him which has been watched everyday. Matti loves to dance to the music and he dances with his elbows extended to his side and fists on his chest while moving to the side. He saw them doing this on Dancing With the Stars and since been dancing like that. As I was cleaning up the kitchen, he was saying, "Go Thomas, Go Percy, Go Thomas, Go Percy...Go BOOOYY!" Hahaha...


Needless to say, I have a lot of reasons to smile. Not to mention the wonderful bbBean who is constantly on the move. Although uncomfortable at times, I can't complain because I know he's alright.

Baby News!

I had an ultrasound appointment last Friday & we were able to find out we are having another wonderful baby boy. I was slightly convinced there was a little princess in there because the way my belly looks. It's completely different from when I was pregnant with Matti. With him, it was more pronounced & rounded. This one, my belly seems wider and flatter--I don't know how else to explain it. Add on the what seems to be the list of things that I didn't experience with Matti, I assumed trouble = girl. When we saw his goodies, I looked at Jason and he seemed somewhat surprised as well. We're happy with our baby boy though! We've always said we wanted two boys first and two girls so that they boys could watch over their sisters. Matti came to the appointment with us and was able to see his baby brother. We decided to tell our families on Easter since we had a huge Easter celebration at my parents' house. We baked a cake and I dyed the batter blue so that when we cut into the cake, the blue showed. I've read the new things is to have 'Gender Cake Parties' and that just seems a little too much. I figured we're already in one place, let's just add a little more something to it.

Easter was just a big party. We had praise & worship, good food, a huge egg hunt for the 30+ kids there (which ended in like 10 seconds!), kite flying (?), bubbles, Frisbee, lots of soccer for Matti, more eggs getting dyed, & more! It was such a beautiful day despite the weather forecast being thunderstorms. We ended the night with playing Dance Central on Kinect. Well, I just watched, but it was a good time. Until next time :) 

Dinner Dilemma

We've been having what I call "Dinner Dilemma" for a week or so now. Since I work until 6pm every night, it's really hard for us to have dinner at a decent time. Our average dinner time was 8pm every night, and I just feel that it's so late since Matti has to go to bed soon & Jason goes to bed early. He likes to sleep. I then feel like I've spent no time with them and it makes me feel like I'm in a slump. I do my best to try to think ahead of time what we'll have for dinner, but honestly, I'm a bad preggo & I don't really have cravings for much of anything. Between 4:30-5:00, I'll call Jason for dinner ideas and just like me, he doesn't have any cravings. By the time it's time for me to leave work, I just want to pick up something (usually Chinese) for dinner so I don't have to worry about cooking. It gets pretty boring after a while.

The other day, I wanted to find "new" recipes for dinner. I somehow ran into one of my old recipes (Taco Soup) and told Jason we had to have it sometime this week. He returned back with, "I've been wanting your chili for a while though.." So, off I went looking for my recipe. Well, I think that most of them are at my parents' house on their computer =/ So, I had to search all my previous blogs, forums, etc for any place that I might have posted them. I found some of them and I was excited to have found some of our favorites again. I also ran into a few of my crock pot recipes and decided that I was going to use it yesterday. How perfect! I can start it before I leave for work (varies between 11am-1pm) and we can have dinner right at a decent time! We've been going on walks before dinner, so it would be around 7pm. I'm okay with that! So, I've busted my crock pot out and will be using it a lot more often now. Dinner Dilemma solved!

*Although dinner was ready by the time I got home, I got a call from my dad asking us to come over to we can have Seder Meal since it was Passover. So, after a few test tastes (boy was it good), we are having it for lunch instead. I'm really excited for lunch today, haha. *

Woohoo!

My BB Cream finally arrived today. I didn't realize when I ordered it that it was coming from Korea! I was getting anxious about how long it was taking, but I'm excited to finally have it. I did a lot of research trying to figure out which one to buy since it was my first BB purchase. I ended up with this: http://www.amazon.com/Missha-Perfect-Cover-Cream-Natural/dp/B002OPZEJQ  I found BB creams through a friend who constantly raves about it and when I saw her video about it, I was sold.

Two :) Matti called me yesterday while I was at work yelling, "Mommy! I went poo poo in the toilet! THEN I FLUSH IT! i FLUSSSHHH it!!" I mean he was so excited, haha. He hasn't gone one the toilet for me, and I think he is responding better to Jason. It's okay though, at least he is starting to respond to someone. He does know when he has a dirty diaper, he just doesn't get the chance to tell us before it happens. It's easier to catch him before a #2 than a #1. I am hoping this is the start of our adventures in potty training. He's such a big boy in every aspect so I know he can do it :)

Things we teach.

As parents, we are our child's first teacher. Of course, we teach them their manners, ABCs, numbers, colors, etc. & when they do learn these things, we get so much joy out of it. I know I do. I get really excited and I usually ask him, "Wait, what did you just say!? Say it again!" Well, last night was one of those moments. For those that don't know, Jason & I fall in the "religious" category. Not necessarily a bad thing to us. I mean Matthias is from the Bible. He was the 13th disciple who replace Judas after he (Judas) betrayed Jesus. We've taken him to Mass since he was born and now, he knows we go to church to see Jesus. He knows to pray and he knows how to act while at Mass. We constantly get comments on how well behaved he is & didn't even know that he was there during Mass. He knows before we eat, we pray. He does the sign of the cross. Way before Matti was even in my belly, we knew that we would raise our children with God in their life. Not to say we are perfect, because no one is. Before Lent started, we looked at our life and saw what we needed to change. & saw parts in our life that we knew should be at a better state than it was. Prayer. We both knew it was a necessity and we were badly lacking in that department. Since Lent, we've had family prayer time (which is something I grew up with) and we read a devotional. We almost forgot last night (or I did). Jason was putting Matti to bed and I was laying in bed watching TV. In comes Jason&Matti telling me to turn the TV off. "We're gonna pray," says Jason. We started praying and we were starting off so that Matti could say something if he wanted. We started off with the Thanksgiving. (We try to pray using ACTS. A-acclamation C-contrition T-thanksgiving and S-supplication). In the middle of thanking Him for our day,  Matti started chiming in....It went a little like this.

"Thank youu.....mommy...daddy..LOLA...lolo..uncle Ed..Bicycle (he rode his around that day)...miss susan (daycare)..thank you DJ (his friend at daycare)...uh....COOKIES! cars...toys...dinosauuur! *at this point I said something about Jason & the Air Force* ...yea thank you mommy & daddy drivingggg....aand airplanes. Ok I done. Amen! *sign of the cross*

Jason & I looked at each other and couldn't help but laugh. It was the funniest and cutest thing. We weren't close to finishing the prayer, but it's okay if we just thank Him for our day. And in a way, Matti led the prayer. We praised him so much for participating in our prayer time and loved him up so much. That moment. Is one I will remember and it's the moment when we kinda looked at each other and said, "We're doing it. We're doing a good job."