vance matthews: Spring has sprung!

Our darling boy is now 8 months old and turning into quite the young man! Below is a collection of pictures and videos we have taken over the past two months. My school load has lightened a bit this quarter, which has given me more precious time with our son. We have been enjoying long walks with Keo and afternoons playing outside. It is amazing how just a small twig is such an amazing thing to a baby. We try and time our afternoons just perfectly so we are laying on Vance's favorite blanket on the front lawn just when Daddy pulls in. It is so sweet to see Vance's face when he sees Daddy after a long day. We are all enjoying this warm weather so much!

One day during one of Vance's naps, I walked into his nursery and had what I call, a "Mommy Moment." I was watching him sleep and realized how fast the time has gone by since he was born. In just 4 months, he is going to be one year old! While watching him sleep, I told myself to memorize this moment because I know I will never get it back. I then took my son out of his crib and layed him on his rug and took a few pictures of him sleeping.

...love those eyelashes...

...such little hands and feet...

...and then Vance woke up...

"Hi Mommy!"

One day it happened...Vance decided he wanted to start moving around! He has been trying to crawl now for about a month. He has the leg movement down and then the arm movement down, but has not been able to put it all together yet. It is so adorable and funny (but I try not to laugh at him) when he tries to crawl...he gets so frustrated. The phrase, "You can do it!" is probably repeated 100 times a day in our home. Every day he gets a little better. There are pictures below of him trying to crawl and a couple videos I took as well. He is going to be mobile in no time and then I think a whole new stage of parenting begins...

I took this picture of Vance one day while he was trying to crawl. The position he is in with his head down on the floor like that was exactly what Chad would do when he was little and trying to crawl. I find that fascinating!

He's trying so hard... watch below.

OH MY...our son took his first crawl!

One day while Vance was trying to crawl around, he started really babbling the word, 'dada'. Of course Chad is determined he is saying 'dada' in reference to him. We all know Vance is just babbling any sounds he can do, but just because Chad is so excited about Vance's first word, I am going to let the reality of it all slide. So, I am announcing to our world of friends and family, Vance is now saying 'dada'. Chad is thrilled!

Vance has recently become 'all boy' with a love for cars...and car accidents! We got Vance a few cars and was not sure how much he would like them. Well, it turns out he LOVES them! The two videos below of him with his cars are so adorable, especially the one with his daddy! Vance cracks up when the cars crash into each other which I find is rather interesting...and a little dangerous!

In the video below you will get a laugh in the middle...Keo comes running into the family room and Vance does a 'triple-take' and looks like he can't believe what he is seeing! It is really cute!

I went away on a business trip to Vancouver a few weeks ago and my darling husband surprised me and put in hard wood floors in our kitchen and master bath while I was gone! I was so excited! I was gone for 5 days and every night after Chad put Vance to bed, he worked on the floors until midnight, sawing and cutting hopeing not to wake up our son. It turned out beautiful! Since then, Vance has grown a love for the new floors as well...he now spends time in the kitchen playing with tupperware while Daddy cooks dinner. Again, it is amazing how much interest a child has in a clear plastic bowl and a few cookie cutters. I love the innocence of it all!

One day while I was getting ready for the day, I decided to open the blinds in our bedroom and put Vance in front of the big window for a change of scenery...He didn't move from that spot for over an hour! He was so enthralled with the window! One thing I love about our home are the windows. Our home is full of windows that go from the ceiling down to a few inches from the floor. Vance loves to look out the windows and watch the world go by!

Vance has another new interest these days...KEO! He absolutely loves him and we find Vance laughing at Keo all the time. One day I was playing with Keo with his squeaky toy...Vance watched in adoration the entire time! The first video is of Vance laughing at his buddy, Keo. The second video is of Vance looking at Keo and 'talking' to him.

Vance just recently graduated.... to a new carseat! This new seat was a HUGE change for the family because this is not mobile. Now, Vance gets carried into all places and is a big boy when we go out shopping and gets to sit in the shopping cart! He loves it!

Fun time in mommy's car

"Only 15 years to go little man and it can be all yours!"

We have a zoo membership and the weather has finally become nice to enjoy it! We took Vance last weekend and he loved the animals. We couldn't believe how close to the Kangaroo we were!

Vance has just recently taken a huge interest in his younger cousin, Brady. He absolutely loves hanging out with Brady and we just love watching the two of them interact. They don't even realize the blessing they have in each other. I love watching Vance and how interested he is in Brady. The videos and pictures below are priceless. If Vance is not pulling at Brady's hair, he is trying to 'eat' his little ears!

Uncle Bryan got this picture of Vance...I guess Vance was challenging Brady on who could open the widest!

Our flowers are in bloom, so one day while playing outside I decided to get a few pictures of Vance in our flowerbed.

Little precious Brady was baptized on Sunday, April 20th. It was a blessed day full of family and friends. We thank God for our little nephew!

The whole crew!

The Columbus Crew!

Vance loves his Grandpa Dave!

Below are two of my three fantastic fellow residents...my life has been changed by these two amazing individuals.

April is the time of year for horse racing in Kentucky. The three of us and Drew and Alison enjoyed a weekend of horse racing at Keeneland in Lexington, Kentucky. We all had a blast at the races. Drew and Alison won a few dollars and Chad won $30 on the last race! The jockey of Chad's winning horse was the jockey for the 1st place winner at the Kentucky Derby a few days ago!

Vance's 'Aunt' Alison and 'Uncle' Drew

Here are the boys cheering for their horse to win!

Not only was this Vance's first time at a horse race, but it was also his first hotel stay! He did wonderful but wanted to sleep in our big bed instead of his little bed...so we let him for a few hours. He loved all of the pillows and played in them the next morning!