Most Beautiful Baby Girl!

So on 7/7/07 (must be a lucky date) we entered Mattie into a Beautiful Baby contest. We got her dolled up in a big poofy dress and little sandals and brought her down to the contest. There unfortunately wasn't much competition, just her and a little boy in her age group. So she won, but even if there were 100 kids, she would have won! (Hey, I'm her mom, I have to think that even if you don't agree)ha ha ha. She got a Tiara, a sash and a trophy that is bigger than she is. (Pictures to come soon). Poor little Mattie, her nerves must have gotten the best of her, because right after she was crowned, she got sick all over. The little boy did too. Can't hack all of the pressure. There were a lot of people there to oooooohhhhhhh and ahhh over her. So you know she was in heaven!

We have a mover and a shaker!

Mattie is finally crawling. She started crawling on 7/7/07. It's so funny to see her go and it also is a big relief. We have been waiting for what seems like forever for her to get up and go and now she is doing it. She just decided it was the time. We all know Mattie, she only does things when she wants to.

Happy Pre-Birthday (Party #1)

Not that it's not a bad thing to have more than one birthday, in fact, it is pretty nice. But brace yourself, Mattie is having 4 parties. Oh, and then she will have her actual birthday, so make that 5. Yesterday we celebrated the 4th of July, and birthday party #1. My aunts weren't going to be able to make her other party so we had a cookout and a small family party. Mattie got some great Backyardigans gear and lots of new clothes from Grandpa and Honey. She is so lucky to be spoiled! Mommy and Daddy got her a nice princess chair, or I call it, "The Throne".

But the best moment for her (believe me, you could tell) was when she got to dig into her very own cake. We got a sheet cake for the adults and Mattie got her very own round cake to dig into. She was a bit timid at first, just dipping her finger in oh so gently. About 5 minutes later, she was giving the cake a massage and about 5 minutes after that, well...the cake went flying. It was so much fun to watch. I didn't get as messy as the other spectators because I was standing behind her. The pictures say it all.

Mattie's First 4th of July

How much fun is a 4th of July parade? Oh, its so much more fun now that I am a mommy. Mattie got to enjoy her first 4th of July parade in Morristown with Nana and myself. Although the parade wasn't great, Miss Mattie sure had fun. She loved the bands! She would kick her feet all over. The trucks were another of her favorite.

This 4th of July seemed more special because I have Mattie to share in on the festivities. I look forward to bringing her to the parades and fireworks every year just like I did as a kid. And maybe she will be in a marching band one day since she seems to have the rhythm for it.

More Weekend Pictures

Dad and Mattie
Out back of GG and Fluffo's camp
Emily and Mattie
Grandma (GG) and Emily
Fishing with Duke, Emily, Uncle Mike and Tully

We've got ourselves a little camper!

Mattie had some special visitors from Rochester last weekend. Sheila and Fred came to camp and hung out on Friday and Saturday. The weather was perfect for just hanging out, enjoying conversation and cooking out. Miss Mattie spent her first overnight in Aunt Itchy's cabin and to our surprise, she slept for 12 hours straight. It must have been all the fresh air that pooped her out.

She also had her first boat ride. After waiting all day, we finally headed out on the river. Mattie was great on the ride up the river and on the way back down, she fell asleep. Don't ask me how she did it. Too much noise for me to sleep through, but she was out like a light.

First Day At The Ball Park!

Last Tuesday we got a chance to take advantage of a beautiful norther NY evening and to go watch my nephew Zayne play baseball. Mattie was dressed to the nines with her ponytail and her Yankees cap. She loved it when the little crowd at the ball field cheered. I believe that she thought they were cheering for her, because everytime the cheered, she would clap her hands and get a huge smile on her face. You know me, I had my camera in tow and I caught a priceless one of Mattie and her new look, where she sticks out her bottom lip and looks like Popeye! Toot Toot!

Our Last Stop Of The Night

Tuesday, Mattie and I spent our day, from 10 am to 10 pm visiting people throughout Monroe and Livingston Counties. Our last stop of the night after we were done at the Fox house, was at The Church house. It has been since January, when we moved up north, since we have seen them. We miss them so much, they used to be 4 doors down from us when we lived at our townhouse. The girls used to play together while Amanda and I gabbed. When we left, Ava was starting to scoot around and had no teeth, and Zoe was only 2 years old. Now, Ava has lots of teeth, walks (or waddles) all over the place, and Zoe has celebrated her 3rd birthday. The girls have gotten so big. Ava must have thought that Mattie was a chair, because she went over and plopped her fanny down on her lap, and you know I just had to get a picture of that. Whenever I used to come into the house, Zoe would scream "Mermaid is here" because she couldn't say Renee. It was cute. Now she was barricading us from leaving. We hope to see them soon, for a longer visit.

Visit with AJ

Mattie got to see her little buddy Alex again. Miss Fox held a little get-together for all the little babies. It was great to catch up. Now let me just tell you...Alex has to be the cutest baby boy I have seen. You can see from the pictures he is a ham, and he is so calm. I just want to eat those big cheeks right up. They are so big the rest on his shoulders. Mattie was obsessed with his hair. It was too funny. Jim and Katherine have a little lady killer on their hands.

Mattie's Visit with Cameron

Sheila's best friend Janet brought over her daughter-in-law and her grandson for a play date on Monday. Janet and Sheila were both pregnant at the same time growing up, then their sons became parents within 6 months of each other. They said that they have passed the torch onto us. Nicole was the sweetest, reassuring me that Mattie acts like Cameron did at her age, and that this clingy phase will pass soon. She is a stay at home mom too so she goes through the same LONG days as I do. Poor Nicole was running all over trying to keep up with Cam, he is the fastest kid I have ever seen. They also brought over the cutest dress for Mattie, which this weekend I hope to put her in and grab a picture with her in it. Thanks for the fun. The pictures are of the grandma with swapped kids and one of Nicole and Mattie. Mattie really liked her and really liked Cam too.

Nenno's Wedding

On Sunday I had the honor of attending Sherry's wedding (aka Nenno). It was a beautiful day for this beautiful couple. Sherry did such a great job planning such a wonderful wedding. The ceremony was held in a Mansion in Rochester followed by a champagne brunch. Ummmm...can you say MIMOSA'S? It was great to hang out with the Hudson crew again, which is always so much fun and so overdue! Thank you Nenno and Bill for including me on your special day. Congrats!

First Dip In A Pool

I was scared to even try, but I knew I had to do it. We put Mattie in her snug little suit, put her in the car and headed off to open swim night at the school. I didn't bring my suit, because frankly, I don't want to scare everyone. We thought that Uncle Bill was going in and that he would bring Mattie. He chickened out too. So Lisa held Mattie while I capture this monumental moment with my camera. I thought she would scream and cry, instead, she had the biggest smile on her face. She was a swimming fool, or a dunking fool. Since no one was there to swim with her, we just held her over the side. So needless to say....we will be attending more open swim nights and lots of people will get scared when I get into the pool.

Fresh Air Kids

Mattie and I headed down to Nikole's house last week and had a nice little stroll around town with Ryan and Miss Emma. As you can tell, the fresh air put Emma right to sleep and may have made Mattie a little tired too. She also got her first wagon ride too. Although we just strolled around Nikole and Ryan's front yard, she sure seemed to like it. Next to buy....a wagon. I remember my parents pulling me around in my metal Radio Flyer. I can't wait to get Mattie one. This one of Ryan's is super cool with storage compartments, folding seats and seat belts. Shoot, I can't tell you how many times I fell out of my wagon, which explains a lot (ha ha) so that is a great upgrade to a wagon.