First Injuries :(

I know there comes a day when each baby gets his/her first bruise, first scratch, first accidental Mommy/Daddy injury. For me, unfortunately, they all happened on the same day: today.

This morning Matty was playing in the living room. One of his balls rolled under the couch so I lay down on the floor to reach under and retrieve it. Matty took this opportunity to start yanking on my hair, I presume, as hard as he could. I reached back, blindly, to shoo him away; unfortunately, he leaned forward, or was just at the wrong angle to my fingernail. I felt the scratch and immediately heard the corresponding yell. It was a doozie. I didn’t just scratch him, but it broke the skin right on his little cheek. I felt so bad. My baby’s first injury and it was caused by me; talk about guilt. Thankfully he forgives and forgets quickly. We were back to playing as soon as he saw I had gotten the ball for him.

A few hours later Matty was once again playing in the living room. He was looking out the back window (it’s really low) and lost his footing. He bonked his head on the window ledge, and immediately starting wailing. He’s done this head bonking, wailing routine a few times before at this particular window. Sadly, this time he got the corner of the sill directly between the eyes. I knew right away that this time it was going to leave a bruise. And it did.

So now my poor baby has a scratch/cut on his cheek and a bruise on his forehead. I know that as he gets bigger and does more exploring that the bumps and bruises will get worse and I am not looking forward to that. It also means that he’s getting to be a little boy and not just a baby anymore; and that’s a little scary too!

Battle scars. :(

Mommy kissing it to make it better.

All smiles!

September 16th

These past two weeks have been good. A little uneventful, but that’s okay. Football season has arrived, our favorite time of year! We have begun our “pigskin pick ‘em” again this year. We each put $5 into the pot; pick who we think will be the winner of each NFL game and the winner gets the pot. At the end of the year whoever had the best record gets to pick an NFL prize of their choice, paid for by the other two participants. It’s pretty sweet; I won last year! Tony took the first week this year, but only by one game. We even bought a helmet match-up board to better illuminate our picks. Unfortunately both Tony and my teams lost in week one (Cowboys and Broncos, respectively). Neither one of us was in a good mood for a few days after that. Our house’s mood is greatly dependant on the outcome of our games. Matty was lucky this week and did not have to decide whose team to support; the Cowboys played Sunday, and the Broncos played Monday. He represented each team on the appropriate day.

Matty and I in our Broncos Orange ready for some Monday Night Football!

In honor of the beginning of the football season we took a special flower arrangement to Galen’s memorial. For any of you who didn’t know, he was a HUGE Cowboys fan. His devotion to his team was that of legend. He never missed a game; and come game time he could always be counted on to be wearing his jersey sitting in his rocking chair- not to be disturbed/ talked to by anyone. We wanted to honor this for him and so we put together a Cowboys themed arrangement. We hope that he would enjoy it. It was tough, as always to visit his memorial, but this made it a little more bearable, as I know I pictured these fond memories of game day as we were there.

Memorial Arrangement for Galen.

We hung a new shelf in our living room with a memorial plaque and blue glass for Galen.

Galen and Matty the night he was born

(a Monday night Cowboys game was earlier that evening)

Matty has been a super-moving baby lately. We had a ‘pen’ set up for him, (a large octagon surrounding our loveseat) but he grew tired of such a confined space. He started crying whenever I put him in to play. He was ready to get to movin’! I changed around the fence set-up so that he can’t get to the entertainment center or bookshelf, and I also blocked off the kitchen and our bedroom. Now he has the whole living room to speed around it; he loves it!

Why he doesn't get access to the entertainment center/bookshelf.

He has a stuffed animal lion, which lately he has come to love. He now thinks it’s a fantastic game to jump on the lion and bite it. It’s really cute because he makes this frantic laugh/ growl right before he ‘attacks.’

Attack Baby!

The other day the dogs were in the living room hanging out with us. Matty was all excited that Trigger was right by us. He pulled up on Trigger, and then made the laugh/growl and went to bite him! Luckily I grabbed him before he sunk his teeth into the poor unsuspecting pooch. Since then the dogs have been secluded to either the kitchen, our bedroom, or outside- for their own safety. They aren’t too pleased with this arrangement, but better than Matty biting one of them. Matty has also been exploring new snacks lately. Some new snacks that he enjoys include Cheerios, Kix, Baby Goldfish, and anything that Mommy is eating.

He loves the fishes!

He even got a ‘lick’ of my ice cream bar the other day.

I went to the OB a few days ago and everything is looking good. I’m finally not as sick, although I still don’t have much of an appetite. I still haven’t gained any weight, although I have started showing. I am scheduled to have an ultrasound on October 13th. This is the one where they’ll be able to tell us if baby 2 is a girl or a boy. We’re nervous and excited for this!

14 Weeks.

September 2nd

Ah, it’s only been about a week since my last post, but a lot has happened it seems. We were invited to a family pool party with some of the people from Matty and my playgroup. We volunteered to make a dessert to bring for the group. My good friend Leslie happened to post that she was going to try making “cake pops.” I looked into what these were, and decided they were a little too advanced for me; but the more common and easier version is cake balls. I then decided I would try to make them. I think I did pretty well for my first time, although I am not a very good ‘dipper;’ something to work on in the future. I may try them again and see if I can shape them into little footballs. If I can manage this they may make an appearance at Matty’s football themed first birthday party! Speaking of which…

Cake balls! They were a big hit.

I finished Matty’s invitations! I’m very pleased with how they turned out. Last Saturday my sister-in-law, Nicki, was nice enough to agree to take pictures of Matty for his birthday card picture. We ventured out to the Fort Worth Botanic Garden to find a good spot. It was still really hot, but Mattty did great, and she got some great shots in only about a half hour; she is a great photographer. We looked through all the pictures and were torn between two. So, we decided to use them both, some invitations got one, some got the other. We also got some cute family pictures. After much cutting, printing, and sticking the invitations should be going out in the mail at the beginning of next week!!Family Picture!

Our favorites

cutest baby ever!

Invitations!

A couple of months ago we all went to a Rangers baseball game. While we were there we entered a drawing to win a vacation. Well, they called and we were winners! The only ‘catch’ was that we had to drive 2 hours and listen to a ‘presentation,’ then we would get not only one, but two trips. We decided to go for it, deciding beforehand that we would say NO to whatever they were presenting (we got suckered into something like it in the past and we learned our lesson!). We drove out to Tyler, Texas and went to a ‘condo resort.’ We got a tour and learned about their program. At the end of 2 hours, we politely said no, not once, not twice, but three times- to three different salespeople. They sure tried hard! Once we had assured them that we were not buying they sent us to the prize redemption area (at last!). We won a weekend trip to Orlando, complete with airfare and hotel accommodations for two. We also won a 4 night, 5 day island vacation. We have to provide our own airfare, but once we get there they pay for our accommodations. We can pick from Hawaii (Oahu, or Maui), Aruba, Jamaica, or Puerto Rico. We have a year to use the voucher. We’re looking forward to planning our trips.

Matty zonked out after a long sales pitch.

Matty has been really into trying new food lately. I bought some (Kashi) frozen waffles. I made them the other morning and Matty went crazy until I let him try some (syrup free- of course). He loved it. Now whenever I’m eating he wants to try what I’ve got. Recently he’s also had cheese ravioli, cheese quesadillas, grilled cheese, and avocados. He’s really enjoyed everything and we’re excited to let him keep trying food that we eat. He’s very into music and making noise lately. He has a little piano that plays music and he loves it. He also will bang on, or together anything he can. His crib is up against a wall that he shares with our bedroom. Well, we don’t really need the monitor anymore; he stands up and bangs on the wall when he’s up and ready. He’s been really good at playing independently lately, just as long as he can’t see me. If he sees me he wants me to play with him.

making some sweet music.

Hey!

Tons of toys already!

Tony starts his four days off tomorrow, and we’re looking forward to a nice relaxing four-day weekend! I hope you all have a great Labor Day weekend!

Showing off his chompers!

Taking pictures with Mommy.

August 24th

This morning Matty and I went to a meet up with some of the ladies and kids in our playgroup. The activity of the day was going to one of the local parks and playing at the splash pad. It was already in the mid-nineties when we got to the park at 10:00, so playing in the water was perfect. I wasn’t sure if Matty would want to crawl around on the cement-type ground, but since he bear-crawls it was no problem. He moved all around the splash area, and had a great time! We took a couple of breaks for juice, but he just wanted to get back out there. We splashed around for about an hour, and then he was pretty much tuckered out. We came home and took a great nap.

Splish-splashing.

Crawling around in the water.

Trying to catch the water.

Tired baby after some fun in the water.

Later this afternoon we ran out to Hobby Lobby. We are going to do a football theme for Matty’s first birthday party, and I just haven’t been able to find any invitations that I really like. So, I will be attempting to make invitations. We picked up some supplies and I will start on those today or tomorrow. I hope they turn out as good as they look in my mind!

August 21st

I am sitting here feeling bored, and I realized I should probably utilize the time by updating the blog. I have not been good at it, at all. In all fairness though, I did warn you that I wasn’t a very good blogger. Oh, well. I will try again.

So here’s the update:

Matty being cute!

Matty will be 10 months old on Thursday. At his 9-month check-up he was measuring 30 1/2” long, and weighing 20 pounds, 7.5 oz. He is taller than 95% of baby boys his age, and weighs in the 50% percentile. He enjoys pretty much all food, and most recently we have found that he loves strawberries. He is able to take a whole berry and bite off pieces until there isn’t much left at all.

Matty enjoying some more fruit, watermelon!

He is starting to eat more snippets of what we make for meals. He is also starting to transition to a ‘cup.’ We are trying to give him one bottle a day out of a sippy-type cup. He’s doing pretty well with this; although he has started to take a break in the middle of a bottle just to play with the bottle nipple. This is all good and fine, until he squirts formula all over the place. He is now a very mobile little boy. He is crawling, lightning fast, all over the place. He is also puling up. He loves standing and will use anything, or anybody, to help stand.

Standing boy!

He hasn’t gotten interested in walking once he stands, but we know it will be soon. He is very ‘tooth-ful’ with 7 teeth to brag about now: 4 on top, 3 on bottom. He is a great chewer, and a lethal biter. He is really starting to mimic sounds and actions. His favorite ‘words’ are ‘ma’ and ‘ba,’ with a few ‘da’s thrown in there. He loves his doggies and has adopted growling in response to their playful growls while playing. Trigger puts up with Matty’s petting and pulling, but Sadie prefers to be the initiator of the touching. She’ll lick him, but if he reaches for her she’s out of there. He loves to watch them and talk to them.

Matty and Trigger playing with the maracas (Trig got whacked in the head right after this shot)

Matty continues to be a great sleeper. He still enjoys all of his naps and is usually down for the night by 8:30-9:00 (unless Grandma Jan is over and keeps him up playing J). He sleeps until 7:00 drinks a bottle, and goes back to sleep until I deem it okay to get up (anytime after 8:30). Matty and I enjoy playing together most of the day, and we really love it when Tony’s home to play too.

We have been quite the traveling family this summer. First, Matty and I (and Jan, Nicki, and Athena) went to Pennsylvania in May for a wedding. Tony was unable to come, as he had to work. Tony’s cousin Jess was the beautiful bride. We had a nice time visiting with Tony’s Mom’s side of the family. Matty got to meet two of his (second) cousins. Keirra is 3 moths older than Matty, and Santana is 4 months younger. He enjoyed playing with Keirra and looking at Santana.

Matty and I dancing to Tony and my wedding song at Jessica and David's wedding. (did you catch that?!)

Our next trip was just for Tony and I; we got to celebrate our five-year wedding anniversary. We left Matty and the two dogs with Jan and Athena and took a three-day trip down to the Austin, TX area. We stayed in the Blair House Inn, a B&B in Wimberly, TX. It was great! The next day we toured some vineyards (yes there are vineyards in Texas) and drove into Austin. We went to the Melting Pot for a fantastic dinner. The next day we got a couples massage before driving back to collect our kid and critters. It was wonderful!! Tony also surprised me for our anniversary and upgraded (big time) my diamond in my wedding ring. I am now super blingy! Haha.

Tony and I out for our anniversary dinner at the Melting Pot!

Let’s see. After that we went up to Colorado to see my family. We drove up (11 1/2 hours) which wasn’t ‘too bad’ since we did it at night. Matty slept almost the whole time. Tony flew back to Texas after four days so he could get back to work. Matty and I stayed for about two weeks. It was really nice. We got to see all of my aunts, as they all vacationed to Colorado the same time we did. Most of our days were just spent hanging out and relaxing, but we did have a few exciting days.

Auntie Ashley taking Matty for his first horse ride on her horse, Hank!

Harry Potter came out while I was in Colorado, so my sister and I (huge HP fans!) went to the midnight premiere. Then the following night (technically that same night) we went again, but with my Mom and two of my aunts. It was great. While Tony was there we went out with Frank and did some shooting. Since Tony got a gun recently, Frank decided that we all needed to go out shooting, mostly so I would know how to do it if push came to shove. He brought out about a half-million guns, handguns and rifles, and we took turns shooting them. I wasn’t horrible, as I predicted I would be; and I think, if need be I will be able to use the gun ‘with purpose.’ Our next trip was to North Carolina. It was originally supposed to be for a family reunion, but that ended up falling through, unfortunately. However, we still have some good friends living there, so we decided to go anyway. We got to stay with our good friends, the Velazquez’s.

Tony, Matty, Me, Leslie, Carmine, Luis after Carmine's birthday party.

It was perfect timing, as their son, Carmine (our God-child) was turning three. We got to take him birthday present shopping at Toys ’R Us and had a great time at his hockey themed birthday party. They are (strongly) considering moving to Texas, and we hope and pray that they will. They are such great friends and it would be wonderful to have them here. That’s it for our travels, thankfully!

Tony’s doing well; he is the supervisor of his shift and all of his superiors count him as there most valuable asset. He’s working a four on, four off schedule; although with a lot of personnel changes he’s had to work some of his days off- boo. They are restructuring the shifts, so hopefully he will actually be off on his days off, and not get phone calls all night on his days on. He was, unfortunately, in a car wreck when Matty and I were in Colorado. He was on his way to work when someone cut him off. He swerved to avoid hitting them, over corrected and spun out; he hit the highway-side concrete barrier going 65-70 MPH. He totaled is car (the ’05 Mustang Convertible) but walked away with only some airbag burns/scratches and a mild concussion. Luckily his friend, Luis, was in town so he got to baby-sit him since I was out of town. We have since gotten a new car, or SUV to be precise. No more sports cars for Tony, and no more Fords; he’s totaled two of them now!

I’m doing well, as well. Recently Matty and I have joined a mom and tot playgroup. It will be nice to have some adult interaction for me, and some playmates for Matty. We’re looking forward to some of the many activities they have planned. Hmm, I seem to be the most boring one of the bunch. Oh well!

Okay, for those of you who have stuck through my very long, quick update: here is the big news. We’re expecting again. Yes, you read that right. I’m pregnant; Tony’s going to be a Dad again; Matty’s going to be a big brother. It was quite the surprise to all of us, but we’re excited! I got my first ultrasound Friday and I am 11 weeks along. That puts my due-date at March 8, 2012. I will attempt to keep the blog updated as I continue to ‘progress.’

Koch baby 2 with little feet sticking up!

Koch baby 2 profile!

Koch baby 2, 11 weeks!

All right. That’s it for now! Love you all, and hopefully I will be a better blogger….

First Food!

Wow, it has been an entire month and I haven’t posted anything! What a slacker I am! Sorry!May has been a fantastic month so far, with more fun things to come.

Matty had his six-month check-up May 2^nd. He is doing great. At that appointment he measured 27 1/2” long, and weighed 17 pounds, 3 ounces. The doctor also told us to start ‘solid’ food! She told us that he should be eating 3 meals a day, in addition to his bottles. He finished off the appointment getting more shots, poor thing. He is a champ and doesn’t really cry until the second one. Later that day we went to Babies ‘R Us. They had a baby food sale, and we had to pick up a highchair! His first meal was applesauce. He did really well. He ate most of the jar, and didn’t spit any out! He is a fan of pretty much any fruit, but his favorites are bananas and pears. He does pretty well with vegetables, with his favorites being carrots. However, he does not like peas- I can’t blame him, I don’t either, although Tony really likes peas. Matty also wasn’t too fond of green beans until I mixed them with his cereal; then they were just fine. He has done so well!!

I’ll make this brief, and will post more of the awesome firsts, and fun that filled May.

Tomorrow Matthew and I leave for Pittsburgh. We’re attending a family wedding.Unfortunately Tony starts his four-day shift tomorrow, so he is unable to attend with us.

Snoozin'

First time in a restaurant highchair.

Hi!

Getting ready for first apples!

Yum, yum, yum!

Six Months Old!

Today our sweet baby is six months old! I can’t believe it; time has really flown by. I am amazed everyday at the new things he can do. He changes and grows each day. I know its cliché to say that “I love him more and more everyday,” but I do! I am so thankful for him, and the joy he has brought into not only our lives, but also the lives of our family. Often he is the bright spot on a dark day. I was talking to him today about how he as grown and how I’m excited for him to continue to grow into a big(ger) boy. I told him that I hope that he always knows how much we love him, and how God loves him. I’m sure these next six months will fly by just like the last; but I can’t wait to see all that they hold for us! Happy six months, Matthew!! We love you so much!!

Seven days old

One Month

Two Months

Three Months

Four Months

Five Months

Six Months.

Six months ago he was born at Baylor Hospital, so it seemed fitting to wear this shirt today!