Sunday Suits and Snowfall

We woke up this morning to a beautiful blanket of show outside. I decided it was a great Sunday to dress Matthew up in his warm suit that he will very soon outgrow. The vest is already tight. I couldn't resist taking pictures. He looks so cute in that suit. He is just starting to be more brave when it comes to walking. He is smiling in the picture up above because he usually isn't allowed in the kitchen except when he is in his highchair eating. Well, he found the gate open and nearly ran into the kitchen. He was just giggling away so proud of himself for getting through the gate.

He did the same thing after church and thought it was so funny until he slipped on the floor and bumped his head.
After church we enjoyed our newly cut Christmas tree.

Daddy shoveled the walk while Matthew watched. He thought the snow was so interesting.

Daddy and Matthew in our winter wonderland.

Matthew LOVES our dogs. Here he is chasing after Paige. He thinks they are so much fun. One day he will be Paige's best buddy but for now she would prefer to be a good distance away from him.

Matthew figured out pretty quick that you can slide backwards on the kitchen floor because it is slippery with his nice suit on. Good thing this was after church.

Matthew is learning a lot of sign language. I find that it is really helpful in communicating. He is loving being able to tell us what he wants. We have had to modify a few of them. This is his sign for drink and eat. He hasn't quite figured out how to distinguish the two different signs. He also knows milk, all done/finished, bath, and again.

He is walking however he still needs to pull up on something before he takes off.

He is used to wearing soft soled leather shoes. I put these hard soled church shoes on him today and he hated them at first but got used to them pretty quick.

He is very interested in the tree in the living room however so far the prickliness of it is keeping him away.

Blurry but cute. My little man.

Christmas Tree Shopping

I have been a little worried how I was going to keep Matthew away from the Christmas tree this year. He is walking all over the place and I didn't want him pulling the tree over on himself or breaking a bunch of the glass ornaments. I decided to buy a real tree this year in the hopes that the prickliness of the tree would keep him away. We went to a Christmas tree farm in Alpine and picked our own tree. It was a lot of fun. We found a gorgeous tree that was VERY prickly. Matthew had a great time walking down the rows of trees. I was picky of course and Jamie was glad I didn't settle of the first tree he liked.

Daddy and Matty heading into the farm to pick the perfect tree.

I was excited to run into the father of one of my old patients I used to work with. This man, I think his name is Eric, had a darling little boy that passed away I think about 2 years ago. I had the privilege of taking care of their little boy a few times. It was really nice seeing him.

The tree is a little bigger than I expected in the living room but I'll make it work. It is beautiful.

Our First Thanksgiving at Home

Jamie has wanted to host Thanksgiving for a long time. He LOVES to share his love for cooking with others and what greater time to do that than at Thanksgiving. We had a small get together with our little family along with his sister and brother in law Jackie and Dave Davenport and his Aunt and Uncle on his Mom's side Aunt Donna and Uncle Dale. We cleared out the basement and brought the tables downstairs. Jamie smoked a turkey, well, lets say 6 turkeys for Thanksgiving. (one for Dad for a work party, one for Barbara at TRA, one for Shelby and Joe, one for Matthew's babysitter Lylian, one for Seth's clients at the weight loss retreat and one for us). From what I have heard they were all stars of the feast. He did a great job. We had turkey, potatoes and gravy, stuffing, yams, cranberry sauce, creamy vegetables, rolls, sparkling cider, juice, apple pie, pumpkin and chocolate swirled cheesecake (complements of me), and pecan pie. Everything was wonderful. Overall it was quite a successful Thanksgiving.
The most important part of the holiday is remembering what you are truly thankful for. This year I am thankful for my wonderful family, immediate and extended. I am so thankful for doctors this year who have helped not only my little sweet baby but my dear husband as well. I am thankful that all of us are in fairly good health. I am thankful for my warm house and for the plenitude of food on the table. I am thankful for my wonderful job and a great boss who is so lenient with me. I am thankful for technology that allows me to connect with others who are far away. I am thankful for vehicles that make traveling so easy. I am thankful for the gospel in my life because I know that my life would be drastically different if it weren't for my knowledge of the true and everlasting gospel and the love and sacrifice of my Savior. I am thankful for so many things they are to numerous to mention.

The adult table including Matthew (the child intruder :)) Jamie, Dave, Jackie, Dale, and Donna.

The kid's table Ben, Sam, Eden, and Jacob.

We took a picture of all the Lucchesi kids out here in Utah to send out to Jamie's parents.

My little trooper

Matthew has had ear infection after ear infection for the last 4 months. He has been on multiple antibiotics with no resolution. The antibiotics have cause diarrhea that has caused a horrendous diaper rash. The Friday before Thanksgiving I decided after a good conversation with my sister Amy (who has had 2 kids who needed myringotomy tubes) that I was going to take him in to see her ENT doctor to evaluate his need for tubes. Amazingly I got in that very same day and even shared an appointment with Amy and my nephew Noah. She took one look at his ears and said they look horrible, especially considering he was on day 6 of his antibiotic Omnicef ( a very strong antibiotic). I decided to let her place tubes in his ears to help drain the fluid. I took work off on the following Tuesday and he had surgery at 8am at American Fork Hospital. He was a pretty good patient. He is getting stranger weary so any time someone came up to him he would cling to me like it was the end of the world. He only whined when they messed with him. The hospital was so great they brought him a donated wooden car and quilt. They were really nice for him. The car really kept him happy and the quilt kept him nice and warm on the way home. When it was time for his surgery they came in and got him so quick the both of us hardly knew what was happening. He cried only after he got half way to the operating room. The surgery was really quick and the doctor was out telling me about it in about 15 minutes. She performed a hearing test on his ears before she placed the tubes that he failed miserably. My poor baby could hardly hear. He has been a little behind on his verbalization and I think it was due to the hearing impairment from the fluid. She also said that the fluid in his left ear was as thick and rubber cement! It had been there for a while and would not have drained without the tubes. She sucked it all out and instilled medication behind the ear drum. When they brought him to me he was very distraught. He wouldn't let me hold him or put him down. He was going in circles on my lap crying frantically. He only calmed down when we finally left the hospital and were in the parking lot. He was still clingy and needy until after his first quick nap then he was a happy boy the rest of the day. He has been so much more calm and happy since the surgery. I am sorry I didn't do it sooner. I am so thankful for doctors and modern medicine that can help my precious baby.

Matthew was a little weary of the nurses that came in to the room. He didn't mind the cute little hospital gown.

This is the cute quilt and car they brought for him. He loved them.

The only way I could get him to stay on the bed was if I distracted him with his cars.

Mommy, look at my cool new car!

I can even walk with it!

Who are you? Where are you taking me?

Wait, that is my mommy back there.

This was Matthew after surgery. He held the car only momentarily then I had to put it away. He just wanted to get out of there.

Family Pictures 2010

My mom was kind enough to take family pictures for us just before the weather changed and they turned out great. Thanks Mom. Here are some of the best ones.

Garden Harvest

We harvested the last of what was in our garden just before the snow came. We pulled out all the tomatoes, even the green ones to let ripen on the kitchen counter and we decided to pull the carrots too. We had planted some multicolored carrots and had pulled a few as the season went on. Jamie thought it was a wast of space but I love planting carrots. Ever since I was a kid harvesting carrots in my parents garden I couldn't wait to see what would come out of the ground when I pulled on the carrot top. Jamie seemed to enjoy it too and I think carrots will now be a staple crop at our home. I think the best part of the harvest was pulling out this beauty. This is ONE carrot! Crazy!

All the carrots after they were washed. I thought they were really pretty.

Just out of the garden

The harvest just after picking.

Matthew was intrigued by the carrots and wanted to help. We had him put them in the pan after the picture. He will learn to garden just like his parents.

Surprise! Happy 34th Birthday Jamie!

For Jamie's 34th birthday I surprised him by painting his old beat up truck. I worked extra on Saturday nights for a month in order to pay for it. The truck was orriginally orange and Jamie liked the color, it was just very faded and rusted. I had them take out the dings, I got a few fender flairs to cover some of the rust spots so when the come through the paint they don't show and I got a seat cover to hide the ripped up seat. All in all I think it turned out pretty good. Jamie has mixed feelings about it. He says he kind of liked the character of the beat up old truck. He also feels like now he can't use it as his firewood truck because he doesn't want to waste this nice new paint job using it on firewood. He likes the fact that I worked so hard to do something sweet for him. It was a long time in the making. I knew he had been looking into getting it painted but I knew he couldn't afford to do it and probably decided he would rather spend his money on other things. Well, I thought I would give him a treat. Happy birthday Jamie!

I showed up at Jake and Amber's house in the Truck. I had told him I was borrowing it for the Angel tree at work. He was a little suspicious but acted surprised.

Jamie checking out the truck for the first time.

When I first drove up he jumped out of the car and walked over to she what happened to the truck. He said he saw the fender flares and light bouncing off of his formerly dull truck and knew something was up.