So Sunday was the big day. Matthew participated in the Christmas musical at church. I have always enjoyed productions including small children because you know there is no way it will go off without a hitch. I have always enjoyed the "hitches"..... that is until Sunday when my son was the "hitch".
I really wasn't nervous about this performance. Matthew had zero scripted lines. He was a sheep. His job was to sing with everyone else. I knew he wouldn't really sing all of the songs. After witnessing a practice I figured the worst thing that would happen is that he would replace all the words of the songs with "baa" since he seemed to be taking his sheep role very seriously.
When the children first entered on Sunday I was a little nervous because Matthew looked like he had been crying and was the only sheep without ears. I worried that maybe he didn't want to be a part of the show at the last minute and he would just stand and not sing at all. Well if I knew then what I know now I definitely would not have wasted my worry on that.
The children got on the stage and took their positions. There were 3 microphones and the children were a couple of steps back from them. Before the music started Matthew stepped up to the microphone and tapped it a bit just to test it out. He was obviously concerned with the sound quality so after the tapping he did a few crazy sounds with his mouth. I ensure you those mics were working and everyone heard and there was lots of laughter. If only he had stopped there. But no, my son had tasted victory, he had made people laugh so he felt the show, his show must go on.
In the end I believe the sheep who was originally scripted zero lines somehow had spoken the most. He told jokes. He did tricks. He was definitely under the impression that this was an "open mic" event. Mercifully, some very smart people turned the mic off closest to him after some time.
Many people mentioned afterward that their favorite part was in between songs when he stepped up to the mic lifted up his shirt pointed to his midsection and sang a little number which I would guess, was titled "belly button", since those were the only words. My personal favorite was when he decided to make a nest out of the hay on the stage. That was the only part in which I could breathe. That however was short lived. After the nest building he felt the need to tidy up the stage, so he collected the hay off the floor and returned it to the haystack nearly knocking over Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus and the huge backdrop.
He did sing a few words. The few words that he did sing were so loud you wouldn't have known any other children were singing at all.
Poor Erik's heart couldn't take the stress so he was in and out and completely missed the belly button part. Thankfully, my parents were there. I was torn between running to the stage and herding my little sheep off of it or hiding under my seat. My dad and I are alot alike so I assumed I would find him hiding under the seats too and we could talk about our best exit route, but he was too busy laughing himself to tears to join me.
She is a solid food eater now (well 
Alexis is still a big girl. At her 6 month appointment she weighed in at 19lbs 6oz and was nearly 28 inches. I think she wore 6-9 month sized clothing for a week.
Once we got to school he tried to get rid of me in the parking lot. He felt like he could take it from there, but since I had a few questions for his teacher he allowed me to accompany him inside. Once inside, a staff person walked by and said hello, the boy says "Hello, I am a newcomer". So she kindly showed him to his room. He was in his room having fun before I could even get a goodbye hug! (Don't worry I didn't cry or anything, aren't I such a big girl??)
Yep, he picked the 15 pound dictionary. The director is laughing and says "Um, we got to chose books from the library today and Matthew chose the dictionary". He says "Mama, I got this dictionary because I love information". He really does. He was upset when I told him we would have to take it back to school next week to trade it in for another one because he said it was the only information book they had. Hopefully, next week they will have another information book that is a bit lighter (and a few less words would be ok too).
Fun times! The kids are still trying to get adjusted back to real life where the adult to child ratio is 1:2 most of the time rather than the 4:2 they were enjoying last week!
On Friday afternoon, there were some really severe storms throughout the whole state. I decided it might be a good time to clean out our severe storm safety bunker (a.k.a. our teeny tiny coat closet). We had a tornado warning and very strong winds and rain. We lost power for only about 20 minutes. Matthew thought it would be fun to hang out in the closet, so we did for awhile. He was making shadow creatures with the light from my cell phone and taking pics in the dark. Alexis was not nearly as fond of closet time. 
You can tell by this picture that Alexis is obviously a huge fan of dressing up. This was her first time wearing a dress.
Matthew got the Bolt movie (a new Disney movie starring a dog) in his Easter basket so he was, of course, Bolt most of the day. Erik said to him at one point "I love you, buddy." Matthew says "Ok, I am still Bolt, but I appreciate your love for dogs."
Alexis has been very busy chubbing up. Her cheeks are just the chubbiest things ever. Sometimes I am just not sure she could get those things any chubbier. Of course, I can't say too much because I am well aware where she got them, haha. I must say that it is true the camera does add at least 10 pounds too, so keep that in mind. She is 2 months old (and 2 days, in case you like to be very specific) now. Time is flying, which makes me just a tad bit sad.
Sometimes she likes to wear her brother's old sleepers (Shhh..don't tell my mom).
This is my favorite pic right now. It is really hard to capture a smile. 
Book Review: Grounded in Grace by Holmes
3 months ago
