March

March was still quite a cold month, so we didn't do too much.  The most exciting events were the open house at Theo's preschool and Theo's friend Ben's 5th birthday party!  Other than that, Declan spent a lot of time working on his favorite puzzles.  Enjoy a few photos and videos!  Click HERE.

February

After our Florida trip and Declan's birthday, the rest of February wasn't nearly as exciting, but we were able to keep ourselves busy with new toys and swimming lessons.  Click on the tea partiers to see more.

Declan's 2nd Birthday

We don't have any babies anymore.  Declan is 2 years old!  He requested a Lightning McQueen birthday party.  Uncle Scott baked him a special cake.  His friend Evalyn, her parents, and Grannie came over to help him celebrate.  Declan missed having Grampa there, but he was home with a cold.  Click here for the rest of the album.

Florida Keys 2014

                     We're back from our trip to Key Largo.  This time we also brought Declan and our friends Allison and Nathan.  The weather was perfect.  We had a great time seeing Uncle Jim and soaking in some sunshine before coming back to the below zero temperatures and snow.  Click on the link to see some of the pictures.

Fall 2013

Happy fall!  It's been a while since our last update.  Halloween was a lot of fun this year.  We visited two pumpkin farms and did trick or treating. Declan was a vampire and Theo was Cookie Monster.  We celebrated our 10 year anniversary in Door County while the kids had a weekend with Grannie and Grampa.  We had a great time with our friends at Lighthouse resort, again.  Click on the pictures to see the full galleries.

Theo also started pre-school.  I first typed that he loves it, but he just informed me that "I don't like pre-school, don't talk about it."

 

 

 

Declan learned to walk!

The latest excitement in the Matter house (besides Jay's new job) is that Declan can walk!  He's been working on it for months, diligently pushing anything on wheels, but finally on May 30th, he took his first independent steps!  On June 1st, he really took off and hasn't looked back!  Theo is very encouraging, and Declan still gets a proud smile and giggles as he walks around the room.  He is just a few days from being 16 months old, so he learned to walk at about the same age Theo did.  (Theo was actually a few weeks earlier, but he had a Frankenstein walk for awhile before he walked normally.)

We don't have a lot of photos from April... maybe due to the cold temperatures... we spent a lot of time inside, and continued with our regular activities of Music Together and gymnastics.  Jay also started his new job towards the end of the month, so we've taken the kids over to the pool a few times, which is a great option to have since the weather hasn't warmed up too much.

April photos

 

 

 

In May (my favorite month!), we celebrated my birthday and Mother's Day!

May photos

I'm also posting a few photos and videos from the beginning of June to showcase Declan's new skill!

June (so far)

On to summertime!
- posted by Laura

February and March

Despite the cold temperatures, snow, and seemingly never-ending winter, we've kept busy the past two months.  The beginning of February, of course, was spent celebrating Declan's 1st birthday!  Theo and I made a carrot cake and my parents came over to celebrate.  The rest of February was mostly spent shoveling snow! 

February photos

In March, we entertained ourselves with the St Patrick's Day parade in Racine (in frigid temperatures), a couple of birthday parties with Theo's friends, and a trip to Minnesota to celebrate Claire's 5th birthday!  Even though it wasn't your typical spring break destination, it was well worth the trip to spend some time with Gramma, Grampa, and Uncle Ben, Auntie Trisha, and cousins Claire and Hank.  And it even felt like spring had sprung when we returned home last night!  The snow is melting and the robins have arrived...  More sunshine and happy days are just around the corner!

March photos