I'm shedding eyebrow hairs

I suppose it's high time for an update. Will is growing like a weed. He's now in 3-6 month clothing and has grown six inches since birth. Even so, he's in the 18th percentile for weight (definitely nothing new on my side of the family). He's recently started to roll over and seems surprised every time he succeeds. His eyes get wide and he kind of freezes in an awkward position until we smile at him and reassure him it's a good thing that he's learned to do this. He also loves to babble; especially to the animals on his sheets when he wakes from his naps. His ability to sit up is really coming along and I think we may be approaching the wonderful milestone of sleeping through the night.

He had his 4 month appointment this past week, which went very well. Vaccines are next week, unfortunately. Never fun to watch the poor little guy get poked. Andrew and I have enjoyed so much watching him become more and more aware of his surroundings. Sometimes you can just see those wheels turning when he's playing with a toy or listening to us talk to him. Although it's a bit early, we like to enforce "Mama" and "Dada" as often as possible. Hey, you never know! For me, his little laugh is the best part of my day. I completely underestimated how happy it would make me just to hear my little boy cackling and having fun. Much different from when he was a newborn and I was never exactly sure how he was feeling at any given moment except when the crying clued me in.

We are counting down the days until we get to go to Philly for Christmas. Will and I will be leaving on the 18th and Andrew will be coming a few days later on the 22nd, which is the first day he is allowed to leave. I'm anticipating a bit of a difficult trip there since we'll be stopping in San Jose, Phoenix and then flying into Newark to face the drive back to Philly. Definitely not ideal, but the cheapest way to go. Thank goodness for my sweet parents who are willing to pick us up at Newark at 11 o'clock at night. I'm sure there will be some fussy times with Will and we'll both be exhausted by the end of the day, but overall he's a real trooper whenever we have to drag him around places. His one hatred has become his car seat. As soon as he feels those straps click into place it's panic in the streets. It makes me miss when driving around the block used to be the only way to get him to calmly go to sleep.

We'll be staying in Philly until January 2nd. I'm especially looking forward to Will finally being able to meet my two brothers and their families. It's so fun to think about him running around playing with his cousins in just a few short years. We also be having him baptized on New Years Day at my church. And who better to baptize him than his very own Papo?

Some exciting news in our family - Andrew recently got promoted! He is now an E-4 and will be having his frocking ceremony next Friday to get his crows. I'm so proud of him and so blessed to have such a hardworking husband. Speaking of which, he was able to attend the Seahawks-Eagles game recently here in Seattle and help perform the opening ceremonies. He'd been talking about trying to get to that game for months, so I was excited for him that being in the military paid off! Apparently, service members are treated well around there. Him and a friend were able to jump in front of a long line of people outside a local Seattle bar and were given drinks on the house. It's nice to see people showing their appreciation for our guys.

"What ever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord." Colossians 3:23

I hope you don't mind that I put down in words...

...how wonderful life is now you're in the world.

Corny, but true. Our sweet little boy was born on July 28, 2011. The day before (Wednesday) I had gone to the doctor for my 40 week visit (I would be 40 weeks that Friday). He checked to see if I'd made much progress and, to my complete disappointment, I hadn't. He told me he guessed I would need to be induced at 41 weeks, so we got that all scheduled and planned on being back there in about 9 days. 

That evening I decided to take an extra long hard walk just to see if that might make a difference. I had been taking walks pretty regularly, but they got more intense as I started losing my patience to meet our baby. I went to Trident Lake on base and walked around it 4 or 5 times. I remember thinking it was hurting more than usual to walk and I had the feeling that there was a bowling ball between my legs. By the time I got home I collapsed on the couch and complained to Andrew about how sore I was. This was one of our last nights of just hanging out before he went back into the wire to stand posts, so we stayed up until 1 AM or so just watching TV and talking. I remember waking up at 3:45 AM and realizing that I had been dreaming that I was having contractions. It turns out, I actually was. I wasn't positive it was the real thing at first because I had had so many BH contractions and was never sure what to take seriously. I went to the bathroom, came back to bed and woke up Andrew to tell him that I was feeling a lot of pressure and we might need to go to the hospital. He'd heard me say things like that a million times before, so I can't blame him for not taking me too seriously. He told me to let him know and rolled over and went back to sleep. Not 10 minutes passed before my water broke and I flipped the light on to tell him it was definitely time to go. I think he was more flustered than I was at first.

Overall, labor couldn't have gone better. It was long, but I expected that and I ended up being so grateful for the epidural. One of the first things the hospital staff told me was that my contractions would be more intense since my water already broke. After 10 hours of dealing with the pain and finding out I still had 4 or 5 cm to go, I decided I needed to get some rest before it was time to push. Thankfully, the epidural didn't seem to slow anything down and I was complete before the pitocin even started to take effect. I pushed for about an hour and William Andrew Matthews came out at 10:52 PM, happy and healthy. Well, maybe not that happy, but definitely healthy! 6 lb. 10 oz. 19 in. long. 

Since then we've been a happy little family of three. Of course, there have been some times we've wanted to pull our hair out, but that comes with the territory. We had a little scare last month when Will had a fever and had to be admitted to the hospital for four days. Everything turned out fine, but those four days were stressful. They had a very hard time finding veins where they could draw blood and place his IV, so he had to get stuck by needles roughly 15 times. I'll never forget how hard that poor baby cried. He ultimately had to get his IV placed in his head and had to have a spinal tap as well. I was so happy to get him home and am still thanking the Lord that there was nothing seriously wrong with him.

In other news, we found out that our orders here have been extended two years, which means we'll be here until April of 2014 instead of September of 2012, as we originally were told. Our initial reaction was disappointment, but God gave us peace about it since this was clearly Him telling us where we need to be right now. I'm very grateful for a husband who saw the bright side of things and was able to pass those feelings along to me when he delivered that news. Silverdale would not be our first choice of places to live right now, but it's really not about what we want. I know God will bless us here and there are many good reasons to stay, especially with Will in the picture now. 

Will and I are going to start attending a Bible Study Fellowship program through our church. I'm really looking forward to meeting some young christian moms and maybe even finding some future friends for Will, now that I know we'll be here longer! I'm trying hard not to be the paranoid, obsessed mother who is afraid to drop her baby off in the nursery, but, I have to admit I'm failing. The bible study is only a couple of hours, so I know he'll be just fine. The worry that comes with having kids really catches you by surprise.

Our one year anniversary is coming up this Sunday and sweet friends of ours are coming to babysit Saturday night so that we can go out for the first time without Will since he was born. It will be some much-needed time to spend together without spit-up on our shoulders.

Oh, and the cats are good, don't worry.

Yes, I'm still pregnant

39 weeks and one day and still no baby! I've been seeing signs that could mean it'll be soon... or not. We'll just have to see. I have a scheduled induction for August 5th or 6th (most likely the 6th). I'll know next Wednesday at my appointment for sure. I'm really praying hard I won't have to be induced since there are so many drawbacks to taking that road. Obviously, as long as he's safe and happy then I'm happy, but it would be so much better if my body could just go into labor naturally without having to go through all the medication and interventions that are involved in inductions. The only happy thing about being induced is that would mean my mom and dad would be here for the birth since they arrive on August 5th! So fun. Meanwhile, I'm enjoying the last few days of just Andrew and I. Funny to think we've had 10 months of our marriage alone and we'll be at least 40, probably more, the next time it's just the two of us again. God has crazy plans that I never would have guessed in a million years. But they're perfect!

"For I know the plans I have for you..."

Make a list of prayers, worries, practical things you need, etc. and put it aside for a few months. Then look back and see how God has answered them. It's really amazing and a good exercise in humility. I made a list months ago when we first found out we were pregnant of practical items we would need for the baby, house and other things. I remember having a lot of anxiety that we wouldn't be able to get everything we needed in time and it was extremely hard for me to put that list in the Lord's hands. I just got finished looking over that list and realized that God has provided almost every single item one way or another. The couple things we haven't received are not near as important as I thought at the time and we are just fine without them. I have no idea why I insist on worrying myself sick instead of just trusting the Lord to take care of us. He always does.

Patience is a virtue

We are SO grateful that baby is doing well. He probably weighs a little over 5 lbs. now, which is small for gestational age, but that's what we expected! His abdomen and femur measure just fine and he is growing beautifully. Now that I am full term (37 weeks and 3 days) it is getting very difficult to be patient. So right off the bat, that's now our main prayer request. I've always had a very hard time waiting for exciting things like this and trusting the Lord's timing. It's so hard not to get excited and turn that into frustration that he's not here yet, even though it's still plenty early. It's also difficult for me mentally because I've been having pretty regular contractions which never turn into real labor. So I have to talk myself into believing that they're probably nothing every time they start and just wait until they get painful enough that I know they are the real thing.

But enough whining - we are SO happy that our sweet little guy will be here within the next few weeks and God will bring him at the absolute perfect moment. His birthday is set in stone; we just have to wait for it! And everything is ready for him! Car seat installed, diapers in the drawer, onesies all washed up, etc. :) It's so fun to watch Andrew get pumped to be a daddy as I'm also looking so forward to finally being a mommy. That's what I've wanted ever since I can remember. I get anxious and nervous about it from time to time, but I know the Lord will show me what to do every step of the way just like He always has. It's easy to start thinking that we're on our own with this whole parenting thing, but He always reminds me that I can do nothing apart from Him. That's so comforting to know right now.

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."
Psalm 139:13-14


"As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother's womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things."
Ecclesiastes 11:5


"For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently."
Romans 8:24-25

Doc Appointment

A quick little update:

Had a doctor's appointment yesterday that went well except for a couple issues. Apparently, on the last ultrasound I had a couple weeks ago, the baby's femur and abdomen circumference measured quite small for gestational age. This could just be the way he is, but it could also signal some problems with the placenta or another unknown issue. In my second trimester ultrasound he was 50th percentile and he's now dropped to 17th percentile, which concerned my doctor (and Andrew and I). So the next step is I'll be having another ultrasound tomorrow morning to see if he is still small and showing signs of not growing like he should. If that's the case, a few things may come of that. Probably more tests to see what's going on with the placenta, possibly delivering at another nearby hospital with a neonatal intensive care unit (the naval hospital does not have one) and most likely coming in twice a week until delivery to be monitored for 20 minutes or so to make sure the baby is still doing alright.

It's funny, when I used to hear about other parents dealing with little issues like this throughout their pregnancy, I was sympathetic, but a part of me often thought they were just being paranoid. I've discovered it's completely different when it's your own kid. Even if there is a 1% chance that they might not be alright, it's hard not to focus on that 1% and want to demand the attention of every doctor in the area to figure out what's wrong. Prayers for me (and Andrew, but this is more my department) to stay worry-free and trust the Lord on this would be appreciated. Also that the doctors can figure out what's wrong, if anything, quickly.

"Children are a blessing from the Lord... remember that at 3 AM."

All three of us are still doing well, although we've made quite a few trips to the labor deck over the past few weeks. I've had some pains and strange symptoms that the nurses have been concerned enough about that they've wanted me to come in to get them checked out. A few visits have resulted in putting me on antibiotics, but I've mostly left with instructions to rest and drink as much water as humanly possible. We had a moment of concern yesterday when the baby's heart rate dropped too low during a contraction, but they continued to monitor him and he looked completely fine. So, we're thankful for a healthy baby, but I'm definitely getting more impatient to pop this guy out!

Andrew and I are going to a Phillies/Mariners game tomorrow, which should be so fun. Obviously, Andrew is much more excited about seeing the Phils than I am, but I'm also very aware of the fact that this will probably be one of our last times "out on the town" just the two of us for a long time. :) Plus, I haven't been to a baseball game in years!

Andrew did survive his camping trip with all of his buddies last month and I had a wonderful time in Charlotte seeing Jared get married! It was also so great to see some family members that I hadn't seen in so many years. I got lots of good time with my parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles and Joel and his family. The hardest part is always saying goodbye, especially to those I know I won't see for a long time. Being away from family is always a difficult thing, but the thought of our little boy being away from his grandparents, aunts and uncles is a little much sometimes.


Happy Father's Day to the best dad there is AND Happy Birthday to the best nephew there is! I can't believe he's going to be 4!!