More Baby Matthew Pictures!

We have had a really nice couple of days here at home. Amy is still staying at my mom's house, so our family is incomplete. It almost feels like we've rewound 2 1/2 years and it's just me, Mike, and Amy all over again. So yes, Mom, you will have to return her at some point so that she can get to know her little brother better!
I'll post more details later, but here are some more pictures of our now 3 day old baby! Enjoy!

What a happy big sister!

Lisa came to visit! She wants it noted that her hair was curly that morning and she came from work!

Matthew and Papa and Amy. Amy thinks he's SO soft. She kept rubbing her face on his.

Ready to come home!

The proud Daddy!

Dressed and on the way to the doctor's office for our first office visit!

It's a Boy!

Happy Birthday Matthew!

So this is the official announcement of our little guy, who showed up Tuesday morning. Mother and baby are both doing wonderfully, and we are thrilled to finally see him. So a quick rundown: (without all the motherly details of the delivery Mom Laudie has been pressing for having experienced almost every conceivable birthing scenario with her 11 deliveries -- when she finally got Lindsey on the phone, there was more than one occasion for her to say, "Michael didn't tell me that! Why in the world wouldn't he have told me that they didn't start you out on the gels first?!?" Any other Mom Laudie's out there will have to call Lindsey for the gory details [623-848-1443]... I'll spare the rest of you...)

The Name: Matthew Richard Laudie
      Why Matthew? We like the name. The fact that it has family significance on my side is mainly a formality and an excuse for us to use a name we like. The significance? Matthew William Dalton, my great-great-grandfather was the pioneer member of the church on that line... my understanding was that he was passing through Salt Lake during the gold-rush era and never made it on to California... The fact that he was a polygamist? That just means our Matthew's gonna be a handful when he turns 16!
      Why Richard? That's my middle name. Given Lindsey's family history of producing girls, this may be my one opportunity to pass along my name in some form or other, so I get to pass along not only my middle name but my initials as well. With as much as Amy is a Momma's Girl and wants nothing to do with me half of the time, this may be my feeble attempt at getting a child who worships his daddy.

The Weight: 8 lbs even
      How often do you hear that? Most babies have weights like 8 lbs 2 oz or 7 lbs 18 oz. When you hear 8 lbs, you think the dad is just trying to play cool and round up or down, as if he doesn't remember the exact weight... That's my style. Often someone asks me to pass along some detail or other, and even though my memory is spot on, I have this weird tendency to downplay the detail. Example: I've been asked when Lindsey was due at least 20 times where I've responded, "Oh, the first of June", or "The end of May'ish", or "Sometime before the Second Coming of Christ". Why beat around the bush like that when I know very well that the date is June 6th? I'm gonna stand by the whole cool concept; with me you can just assume that I'm this wonderful father who remembers the exact time, day, weight, height, etc, but cool enough that I can spare you the humiliation of hearing the details and forgetting when you have to parrot them on. You get asked, "Honey, when were the Laudie's expecting to have their baby?" Instead of, "Well, gosh, I think it was June 6th at 5:55 pm... or was that June 5th at 6:66 pm?" you can just say, "Well, Mike says they're due before the moon turns to blood!" and you're covered. But in this case, I'm not sparing you the details; little Matthew (or not quite so little Matthew) was exactly 8 pounds, no rounding required on my part.

The Height: 20 and 1/2 inches
      I'm not quite sure why we care about this statistic. "Wow! Your baby was 21 inches? Mine was only 19 and 1/2... Golly, yours was long! Like a little string bean... maybe you should name him 'Bean-jamin'!" The weight stat I can understand. "An eleven pound baby?!? Glad it was you and not me!" This is one of those stats that I'd either downplay or downright forget and then get whacked in the back of the head by Lindsey later for not remembering how long the neighbors' newborn was (see The Weight above). But I'm providing the detail for those of you who obviously know what to do with it (and to save my poor head from a good whacking!).

The Time: 10:53 am
      Now this is a big one at the Laudie house. Have you ever seen City Slickers? At the beginning of the movie, Billy Crystal gets a phone call in the middle of the night at his exact birth time from his mother, "Happy Birthday Curly! I remember the night when you were born... you were so little... the doctor thought you were going to... and in the middle of that, I pulled out a baseball bat and started whacking your father over the back of the..." This is the annual phone call I get from my mother, almost word for word. And I wouldn't miss it for the world. Lucky for me and Matthew, we were both born in the late morning and won't get woken up in the middle of the night by our moms when they make the birthday time call. I guess the same goes for Amy, who was born at 11:02 on 11/02 (leave it to a Laudie [thanks Dad] to figure that one out!).
      We went into the hospital late Monday night after having a nice day of golfing, yard work, swimming, and barbecuing for the Memorial Day holiday. We were told to expect a call around 7 or 8 pm that night, and after exhausting all hope of having the baby that night and settling down to sleep by 11, we finally got the call. So we spent the night in the delivery room, waiting for modern medicine to help Matthew on his way into the world, and neither of us got much sleep. And after a long morning of contractions (thanks again to modern medicine for the pain relief) and a few little scares with the baby heart monitor and a tangled cord, Matthew finally showed up at 10:53, and had a proud father and an emotional mother thrilled to finally meet the little tyke.

The APGAR Score: 8/9
      "What does that one mean?" you're wondering. You've got me. My guess: It's a measure of Attractiveness, Piano-playing ability, Greatness, Academic Aptitude, and Regality. In reality, I think it means that we had a pretty healthy baby at 2 minutes old and an even more healthy baby at 5 minutes old.

Well, so much for me sparing you the details... okay, so I left most of the gory ones out, but given my rambling nature (Thanks Mom Laudie), I've taken 1,256 words to tell you what I could have in the following summary:

The Name: Matthew Richard Laudie
The Weight: 8 lbs even
The Height: 20 and 1/2 inches
The Time: 10:53 am
The APGAR Score: 8/9
Mother and Baby are both healthy and doing fine. We got home late yesterday afternoon and are getting settled. Amy is with Lindsey's folks (Thanks Grandma Lewis!). You can get the more interesting version of events from Lindsey in the days to come on her blog.

Now wasn't that so much better than my commentary on events? And let's be honest, if you've made it this far in the email, it's only because you're holding out hope that I'll actually attach a picture or two of the star of the day. So to reward you for your patience, here you go. We love you all, and are so grateful for your support and help through the pregnancy.

Lots of love,
Mike, Lindsey, Amy, and Matthew

See Mom, I Remember How To Blog!

So here it is! We're caught up! I figured it would be a good thing to get caught up with all our activities before the baby came. In case you miss the note later, we are planning on going to the hospital tonight to be induced! Woo hoo! So our little boy will soon be here. We've been very busy setting up his room, buying a new car seat, and cleaning the house so that we can enjoy this week with our new little one! We're going to my parent's house to go swimming (because that's what we do on Memorial Day, of course!) and then we'll leave Amy there for some Grandma / Papa bonding time while we head over to the hospital to welcome our little boy.

Free Visit to the Phoenix Zoo!

We're not really good about watching the news as often as we probably should, but we did happen to watch the other night and found out that the Phoenix Zoo was giving 2 free passes to everyone with a Fry's VIP card on Friday, May 22nd and Friday, May 29th. Since Amy still gets in free because she's under 3, we all got to go to the zoo. Mike and Amy haven't been to this one before, and it's years for me, so it was fun. Definitely a lot of walking involved, but it was a cooler day. It was humid, but the overcast clouds helped keep things cool.

Amy's favorite part was actually a squirrel who lived by the Meerkats. He had no fear and would run up to her, or Mike, or our lunch. She thought it was great!

She also liked the orangatans. Every time we told her it was time to go see more animals, she would say "I'm looking!" and turn back to the window.

So if anyone else is interested in some free entertainment, go to the Zoo this Friday with your Fry's VIP card! Check 12 news for details.

I'm a Wanderer

Mike has become quite the little traveler the past month. As his resume was received by different companies, there were a couple that were quite eager to fly him out to their location (notice he had to fly... again, nothing here in Arizona... boo...) so he spent a good amount of time at the airport. Here's an overview of his trips:

Trip #1:

(Mike called me and said "Guess where I am?" What a meanie!)

Location: Los Angeles, California (interviewing for a job in Ohio)
Company: Applied Signal Technology (he also interviewed with ImSar while he was up there)
Time away: 1 night
Outcome: Really good offer (we have to respond by Friday)

Trip #2:
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah
Company: Applied Signal Technology (he also interviewed with ImSar while he was up there)
Time away: 2 nights (he got there Thursday night and asked them if he could stay an extra night so he could spend some time with his family before flying back - they were kind enough to oblige us!)
Outcome: No word from ImSar, but AST made him pick which location he wanted an offer from and he was more interested in the Ohio job. Sorry family in Utah! Just wasn't right for us right now!


Trip #3:
Location: San Jose, California (for San Jose or Sacramento postitions)
Company: Northrup Grumman
Time Away: 1 day (flew out that morning, flew back that night - long day!)
Outcome: Expecting an offer from San Jose this week


Trip #4:

This is the view outside Mike's hotel window. He couldn't believe how green it was!

Location: Baltimore, Maryland
Company: Northrup Grumman
Time Away: 2 nights
Outcome: Expecting an offer this week


So, as you can see, Mike's been very busy. We're excited for all the attention his resume has been getting him but are anxious to make our decision this week. As I said, we're expecting 2 more offers before we make any official decisions, so we'll just leave it at that for now. Watch for an update shortly about where the AZ Laudie's will be settling down in the coming months.

Jet Skiing!

My dad took us on another fun jet-skiing adventure! We went up to Lake Roosevelt again and Amy had a lot of fun! We got her a life jacket this time so she could actually go out on the jet skis this time. She cried a bit when we put it on her (I think it was because she was having too much fun just swimming near the shore), but once she got out with Mike, she had a lot of fun! I decided not to actually go on the jet ski this time, since we were all the way at Lake Powell and I didn't want to have to try and make it to a hospital if something went wrong! Oh the joys of being pregnant...

Amy and Jake (TJ's brother) floating near the shore on the tube.

Lisa and her Chex Mix.

Dad pulling Jessica behind the jet ski.

Having fun! Lisa, Dad, and Jessica.

Summer attempting to stand up on the tube.

After Summer stood up on the tube.

Amy and Mike playing in the water.

Just staying cool!

Amy using her lifevest for the first time!

Getting ready to go out with dad!

Happy Cinco De Mayo and babies on the way!

Mike served his mission in Estonia. Do you know what they eat in Estonia? Me neither. Why? Because the medical bills were so high from missionaries in the baltics eating things that did not sit right with them that the elders weren't allowed to eat with the members. So what recipes did my husband bring home from his mission? Chinese Gung-Pow Chicken (the best ever! Yum!) and tortillas!

So, for Cinco De Mayo, we had our traditional burritos with homemade tortillas. They were delicious, of course!

As another surprise, my sister Calli gave birth early that morning! She was supposed to have a c-section on the 20th, but apparently he was ready to come. Brody Tres Potter was born on cinco de mayo. We're excited to get to meet him... eventually! But for now, he sure is cute in his pictures. Congrats Calli and Brendan!

The great thing for me that came out of this was that I get to have my baby earlier! My mom was going to fly out to Kansas a couple days before Calli had her c-section and stay until May 31st, leaving me strict instructions that I couldn't have my baby until she got back so she could take care of Amy while we were in the hospital. Well, when Calli's baby came she flew out that morning, so now she's back! Yeah! So today, Monday, May 25th (Memorial Day) is D-day for me! I'm supposed to call the hospital tonight to see what time they want me to come in and be induced! Hooray! I'm so ready! It's still all starting to hit me that we're going to have a baby tonight, or tomorrow morning more likely. We've been talking to Amy about it and I think she's finally getting it.

This is a really funny conversation that Mike had with Amy the other day. The baby is Kylee Owen, but Amy woke up from her nap and was sure that this was baby brother. This is when I realized that she actually understood that baby brother was a real baby.

This is how Amy and I typically spend our afternoons. I don't remember being this tired when I was pregnant with Amy (at least not after the first trimester), but I can take a good 3 hour nap every afternoon and sleep from 10 to 7 every night. Craziness.

It's about time!

So my cousin Kim and I have been friends for as long as I can remember. We're only about 6 months apart and we grew up doing a lot together, from sleepovers to double dates. Well, somehow, with Kim living in Queen Creek and me living in Goodyear, we haven't seen each other in a year and a half (granted, part of that time Kim was living in Georgia, but still!). So we finally got our families together over at my mom's house so our little girls (who are about 5 months apart) could play! We knew we had to do it soon because Kim and I were both VERY pregnant. Kim gave birth about a week later to another little girl, Kamri! Congrats Kim and Jason! I'm glad we got to see you!

This is Kim. Kim hates when people take pictures of her. This is the best I could do.

While we girls didn't get in, both because we are mondo-pregnant and because it was freezing cold, the boys took our girls swimming. It had been in the 90's, but the water hadn't quite warmed up yet, so the girls were totally shivering, but didn't want to get out!

Amy's World

Here are some random pictures of what Amy's been up to the past few months.

Amy is a book fanatic. If you let her, she will let you read books to her ALL DAY LONG. As soon as I finish one, she says "I go get another one." She has gone from my close-the-door-and-go-to-sleep baby to my "leave a door open" and "I want a book" baby. She feels she needs to go to bed with a minimum of 3 books in her bed. This is how we find her asleep because of that!

Amy loves to be a princess and dance around at Grandma Lewis's house. She especially has a thing for this rock. She just stands there... Random child.

My mom made this super cute chef's hat and apron for Amy to use when she's cooking in her kitchen. She totally posed like this by herself too. So cute!

So here's my "I'm a bad mom" story. Amy and I were going to the store and she was standing in front of me helping me push the shopping cart. I didn't notice her shoes were untied, so as we were walking I stepped on her shoelace and she fell. Her eye landed right on the the wheel of the shopping cart. Poor baby. She was very sad, but my promise of a "special treat" made everything better. I know, I'm a bribing mom.

The Goodyear Park turned the splashpad on a few weeks ago, and Amy likes it much more this year than last year. In fact, she likes to lay on her stomach and try to drink the water. Yeah, I know, gross. We're working on that. She does the same thing in the swimming pool and at the lake. Blah.

Amy has gotten in a bad habit of coming into our room between 2 and 5 am. So, to stop this, we started putting the baby gate up in her doorway. This was her plea for us to stop putting it up.