Introducing Matthew Porter Alvey

Our little Matthew was born February 22, 2009 @ 9:06am.
He is 8 lbs 6 oz and 21" long.
He is a beautiful happy, healthy baby boy!


We are all thrilled with his arrival. My water broke at 3:15 am Sunday morning, Zack predicted that my water would break at 3am the night before. He seems to be rather good at predicting these kinds of things. Brian & Kelsey came over to watch our kids while we were at the hospital, they were life savers as my parents were headed up to Salt Lake City that morning. My labor really started around 5:30am but with my water breaking I knew it would be fast. Zack slept through most of the labor, I woke him up when it was time to push, which took all of 3 minutes! Grandpa Belt was our first visitor, he was rather smitten by Matthew. Brian & Kelsey brought the kids to the hospital a couple hours later and our kids were thrilled to be able to see him, they all had to touch him! Joshua said "that baby popped out your belly Mommy" (he calls Matthew Pine View) and William says "I am so excited!" Katelyn and Taylor just adore the baby.

Cutest baby in the nursery!

I look a little worn out!
I guess that is what happens when you have 5 kids in 7 1/2 years!

Our little crew
Katelyn 7, Taylor 5, William 3, Joshua 2 and Matthew couple of hours old

What is up on the ceiling?

That was traumatic Mom!

Our brand new baby boy!

Only 2 weeks left!!!

Well in honor of my husband and sister's wishes here is some photos of me way pregnant!!! I thought I would include the kids to make it a little less frightening and prove that I have already birthed four others so they are partly to blame for my extra roundness!!!


Taylor (5 years), Katelyn (7 years), Joshua (2 years), William (3 years) and me (9 months pregnant)

William and I looking silly
This will be one of my motivation pictures after the baby comes to NOT look like I've birthed five children!!!

"Guys, call me Josh"

Our little guy has decided that he is no longer Joshua but Josh. He says to anyone who asks what his name is, "Guys, call me Josh" Little Mr. Independent is more like it! I've been asking the boys what they want to be called, especially William who has about 5 or 6 different options. Just so you know, William wants to be only William. When he's in trouble though, I call him DAVID WILLIAM!!!

William and Joshua decided to be "bubble heads!" They were having so much fun soaping themselves with bubbles that they wanted a picture. These two are so crazy!!! They are a great team but also get into some major trouble too!

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My bag is packed!!

I finally took the plunge and packed my bag for the hospital. I only have about 3 more weeks until I am due so I thought I better get myself ready for the real thing. I have washed all the baby clothes and bedding, sterilized everything, bought some diapers and packed my bags so now he gets to decide when to join the family! Hopefully earlier rather than later! My babies are really not very consistent so it could be anytime. Katelyn our oldest was born 2 days after the due date, Taylor our second was 5 days earlier than the due date, William our third was 13 days early and Joshua was 3 days late. I think it would be nice to be early but I am ready to deal with a healthy happy baby even if he's late!

Activity Days: Lip Gloss and Kindness

Summary: Make home made lip gloss and use the poem to teach a lesson on kindness. Good unity activity.
Activity Description: M'Shelle D.'s activity days class made home made lip gloss and then had a lesson on kindness, relating to the cute poem:

LIP GLOSS POEM
I have this pot of lip gloss,
I'll put some on each day.
I do it to remind me
To choose the words I say.

I'll try to speak with kindness
to everyone I meet.
I'll try to spread some happiness
to those that I may greet.

This pot of gloss reminds me
of the values I hold dear,
The colors are so cheerful
and the message is so clear.

If I want to live the gospel
I'll choose each word I say
I'll speak in just the kindest words
and I won't forget to pray!

Click on this link for a cute handout of the poem to give the girls: http://www.mormonshare.com/sites/default/files/images/LipGloss.pdf
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I found many recipes for homemade lip-gloss:
Recipe for Homemade Lip Gloss
2 T Petroleum Jelly or Vaseline
1 t Beeswax
10-14 drops flavored extract

In a small pot, melt the petroleum jelly, and then when melted, add beeswax. When melted, remove from heat then add extract. Carefully pour into small containers.
Note: Glitter can also be sprinkled on top!
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Lip Gloss
Materials:
Vegetable shortening, honey, unsweetened drink mix (eg. Kool-Aid), hot water

Instructions:
1. Use a small bowl to mix 1 tbsp of the solid vegetable shortening and 1 tsp of honey. In a separate bowl, mix the drink mix and 1/4 tsp of hot water until it is dissolved. Stir in as much of the drink mix as possible. The actual amount will depend on the temperature of water. The more you can dissolve, the stronger the flavour will be.
2.You can choose the color and flavor of you lip gloss by the type of drink mix you use.
3. Add one drop of the water mixture to the shortening/honey base. Stir well. Repeat until you get the color/flavor combination you want. Pour into a clean container or old lip gloss pot.
4. Store in the refrigerator. Keeps for 3 days, but it tastes so good that you will use it up very fast!
http://www.creativekidsathome.com/activities/activity_40.html
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St. Patrick's Day activity- Make your own Green Lipstick
Wet & Wild Mega Eyes trio in Amazon Greens
One full tablespoon of Vaseline
A few squirts of pure Vanilla extract
One small pot
One small plastic container with lid
Colored glitter is optional

First step- First place your pot on the stove. Now add a ¼ cup of water to the pot. Bring this almost to a complete boil. Slowly begin to drop your tablespoon of Vaseline into the water. Take a spoon and mix this up for about five minutes until you see the Vaseline completely liquefied.
Second step- Remove the mixture off the stove allow it to cool down for 30 seconds. Then place your Green eye shadow and Vanilla into this pot. You should use at least a couple spoonfuls of the eye shadow. I have used the whole rectangle of eye shadow and it made a pretty decent size amount of Green lip gloss for all the little kids in my area last year for St. Patrick's Day.
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Lip-Smacking Good
Make homemade lip-gloss.
You Need:
Vaseline or Crisco: Crisco version goes bad after three days or so
Unsweetened Kool-Aid or any flavored drink mix
Vanilla extract
Cocoa powder
A small mixing bowl
A spoon: For mixing
Measuring spoons
Microwave
Cake decorating glitter: To add a little sparkle.
A container for the lip gloss: Find them at your local craft or beauty supply shop. You may want to pick up a dozen or so.
Stickers: For a label. Food coloring

How to do it:
1. Have your kid decide what flavor of lip gloss she wants to make before she starts mixing things together.
2. To start, have your kid put some Vaseline (or Crisco) into a (microwaveable) mixing bowl and microwave it for about two minutes—until it's a liquid. Try not to let it boil!
3. If she's making chocolate gloss, have her add cocoa powder to the base and mix and stir it up to get rid of any lumps. She should add as little or as much powder as she wants, keeping in mind the more she adds, the darker the tint will be.
4. Then have her return the mixture to the microwave for another 20 seconds and then stir again.
5. If she wants to make vanilla flavored lip gloss, instead of heating the Vaseline in the mixing bowl, just have her add a tiny amount of vanilla extract to it (like 1/8 teaspoon for every 2 tablespoons of Vaseline).
6. To make red cherry-flavored lip-gloss, warm the Vaseline in the microwave for about 20 seconds, then stir in some cherry Kool-Aid.
7. Your kid can now stir in food coloring to tint her lip-gloss or add cake glitter to make it sparkle. 8. Finally, get her to pour or scrape the mixture into the lip gloss containers and let it cool. (If you've been using the microwave, be careful, it'll be hot!)
9. When she's finished making the lip gloss, have her make some labels for it. She can print or draw a label on paper and stick it on with a glue stick or print or draw one on a sticky blank address label. She can dress her gloss up with stickers, too!
10. That's it! Have her pucker up and slap on some of her homemade lip-gloss. She'll be licking her chops all day long. Homemade lip-gloss makes a great gift for your kid's girlfriends. Do this DO at your kid's next birthday party. An activity and party favor all in one! http://www.parentsconnect.com/do/lip-smacking_good.jhtml?cc=10492&psc=10027&mid=null
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Here are a few stories I read to the girls regarding kindness they both have very good morals:
http://www.sugardoodle.net/Anger/Nail%20in%20the%20Fence.shtml
and
http://www.sugardoodle.net/Work,%20Employment/The%20Legend%20of%20the%20King%20and%20the%20Water.shtml

Joshua's 2nd Birthday Party @ Pirate Island Pizza

We celebrated Joshua's 2nd Birthday at Pirate Island Pizza. A new pizza/arcade restaurant here in Saint George. The atmosphere was great and the kids really seemed to enjoy themselves! I was surprised to find out that they actually had a regular menu but we were getting food for 19 people and just went with the pizzas. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. The younger families stayed after lunch and played at the arcades! It was fun! Thanks to everyone who came, Joshua had a great time! I almost forgot, I made Joshua a really cute pirate birthday cake. I included the picture here in this collage. PS. If you click on the collage it will open up much larger to see the pictures better!

Later that evening Katelyn and I went to my mom's house for Stephanie's baby shower. Her friend Chelsey put it on. It was nice and quiet compared to the events of earlier in the day. Katelyn was fascinated with decorating little onesies and made three very cute ones! I didn't get any pictures because I was too tired by then to use much creativity or energy for that matter.

Joshua's 2nd Birthday

Happy Birthday Big Guy!!!
Joshua is officially two years old today! He has been such a joy and great addition to our family. He was "late" entering this world by my standards but has been quite early with everything else. He loves his big sister and brothers, they keep him quite entertained. He loves to be independent and has tons of energy!!! He loves hugs and kisses, talking to anyone who will listen, wrestling, and doing whatever the other kids are doing except he refuses to use anything pink Katelyn might give him! He is 100% a rough and tough little guy. We enjoy his wonderful personality and character he has added to our family.
We love you Joshua!

Katelyn's Barbie House

Santa brought Katelyn some barbie furniture and I thought it would be a fun idea to decorate her shelves in her closet into a doll house. I had always wanted a dollhouse when I was growing up but never got one so I am living that dream through Katelyn!
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Kitchen

The kitchen was probably my toughest job! I found lots of kitchen designs but trying to find one that I could actually make it work on the wall. This seemed to work. I changed it around a few times until I felt like it was right. The colors were tricky too, it had to look like a Barbie kitchen and still be appealing to me (not too much pink!) The accessories made all the difference in the world!
Fruit bowl, flowers, a window, the sink, dishwasher gadgets, toaster, clock, hood over the stove, jars for baking supplies, oven knobs and a towel
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Dining Room
This is the dining area. Katelyn did not want us to separate out the kitchen and dining rooms to make it easier to play with. I was very excited about the flooring which we purchased at Home Depot for $0.36 for a 12x12 tile, we bought 8. It isn't a very big space and the flooring was so much easier than painting on! Yeah for great deals!
I really liked the windows, the seem to make it much more real and lively. I found these pictures of potted plants and a picture frame in a magazine, a nice touch.
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Barbie's BedroomThis is with the furniture, we painted a cute little doll dresser that I found at Michael's craft store to match the bedroom. It is the perfect size for this dollhouse! She loves to put clothes into the dresser! I Modge Podged some of the accessories from magazines which was an idea I found online. It really worked out to be a great addition! I loved painting the mirror on! The bed was tough just to make it look like it wasn't just on the wall but my favorite addition is the rug. I got the idea from a rug at Pottery Barn kids, a store I would love to buy from if I ever got that kind of money, I cannot even afford their clearance for the most part. For now it is my favorite place to just dream and get many ideas!
I included the picture of their rug. It is absolutely adorable to me!!! I thought the accessories was a nice touch. An old alarm clock, flowers, a lamp with a hair clip on it, a magazine rack on the other wall and a handbag.
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Barbie's Office

Katelyn and I really worked on the room together. It was lots of fun! I painted most of it with some help and then when it was dry she added the foam flower stickers. She wanted the office to be bright and cheery so this is what we came up with, a great office for Barbie!

The window is our only accessory since we wanted to focus on bright colorful flowers!

The flooring believe it or not is scrapbooking paper. I cut out all the squares and then used Modge Podge to glue them down and seal over the top. Making sure they were evenly spaced was the most challenging but turned out pretty well!

Stephanie's Baby Shower

My baby sister, Stephanie is going to be having her baby shower this weekend, she's due in April. I was looking online at different things relating to baby showers and thought I would share for anyone who may be interested!

Pregnancy Q and A

Q: What do you call a pregnancy that begins while using birth control ?
A: A misconception

Q: What is the most common pregnancy craving ?
A: For men to be the ones who get pregnant

Q: I'm two months pregnant now. When will my baby move ?
A: With any luck, right after he finishes college

Q: What's the difference between a pregnant woman and a Playboy centerfold ?
A. Nothing, if the pregnant woman's husband knows what's good for him

Q: What position should the baby be in during the ninth month of pregnancy ?
A: Head down, pressing firmly on your bladder

Q: When is the best time to get an epidural ?
A: Right after you find out you're pregnant

Q: What is colic ?
A: A reminder for new parents to use birth control

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Here is a list of games to play:

1) Guess Mom's Tummy Size: (Materials- String or yarn and scissors) Have each woman pull the yarn to the size they believe would fit perfectly around the Mother-To-Be's center of her pregnant tummy. After everyone cuts their string, compare the results to the Mommy-To-Be's actual tummy. Give a prize to the woman who is the most close! This is a baby shower favorite. Need: String/Yarn, prize

2) Guess The Gerber's: (Materials - Gerber's infant food, pads of paper and pens). Take the labels off of the baby food jars and have the women at the baby shower guess the food (carrots, peas, sweet potato). Most fun to play up to 10 jars of different kinds of foods. If there is a tie, blindfold the women and have them taste one of the jars and guess the right flavor to win their prize. Need: 10 jars of baby food, pads of paper & Pens/pencils, prize

3) "B" is for Baby: (Materials paper and pens passed out to all the women). Each woman is told to write the babies Mom-To-Be and Father-To-Be's name on a paper going vertically down the page. Next to each letter of both names, create a word that is baby related or things that kids like. The one who guesses the most words that are the same as the mother-to-be wins a prize. Need: Paper & Pens/Pencils, prize

4) Baby Pictionary - Before the baby shower, create playing cards by writing words or phrases that have to do with babies on each card. During the baby shower, divide into teams and give each team a pen or pencil and pad of paper. Each round, one person from each team views a card and draws the word or phrase for her team to guess. The team that guesses correctly first earns one point. Set a timer for two minutes to keep the game moving along. If the timer goes off before a team guesses correctly, allow someone new from each team to draw and choose a new card. After playing 5-10 rounds, each team adds up their points and the team with the most wins. A prize should be given to each person on the team. a baby shower favorite. Need: Paper & Pen/Pencil, prize

5) Find the Safety Pins (Materials: large bowl, long grain rice, safety pins and blindfold) - Fill bowl with rice and about 20 safety pins. Blindfold each participant from the baby shower for 1 minute and let the participant feel around in the bowl to see how many safety pins they can get. Keep score for each person playing. you would not believe how hard it is to tell the difference of the safety pin and the rice.

6) The Baby Supplies Memory Game (Materials: Different baby items such as a bottle, pacifier, diaper, etc as well as pads of paper and pens) - Place several baby items on the table 10-15 (i.e., rattle, teather, lotion, bottle scrubber, mittens, comb). Leave the baby shower items out for a few seconds to view the items and then take the items away. Everyone has to write down as many items as they can remember. The one with the best memory wins. And the mommy of course gets to keep the items.

7) Baby Shower Right and Baby Shower Left - (Materials: a baby shower prize and the following story to be read) - DIRECTIONS: Form a circle with all baby shower participants. Each time you hear the word "right", pass the baby shower wrapped prize to the person on your right. When you hear the word "left", pass the baby shower prize to the person on your left. When you finish this story the person holding the item is the winner of it. Have either the mommy-to-be start the game or choose who holds the prize first.
Here is the story to read when playing: This is a story about Mrs. Wright's baby shower tea party. She lived right at the end of Lefty Lane, the third house on the left. Today, Mrs. Wright's was hosting a baby shower tea party. The women would enter left, right through the front door and greet Mrs. Wright, they would head right down the stairs, turning left then right into Mrs. Wright's family room where the mommy-to-be was.
Two of the girls were left-handed so they would sit at the left of the table. Mrs. Wright held up her right hand and all of her friends grew quiet, except the left-handed girl on the right patting Mrs. Wright's dog named Hefty Lefty.
Mrs. Wright asked Sarah Wright and Julie Wright to pass out the teacups starting to the left. Sarah Wright and Julie Wright started out left but turned back because they left the cups just to the right of the table, right next to the spoons. Mrs. Wright said, "That's all right."
Mrs. Wright began to serve her friends some pie when Grandma Wright smelled the delicious desserts and left her bedroom to join the Wright girls. She went down the stairs and turned left than right, right into Mrs. Wright's family room.
Grandma Wright knocked and entered left and sat in the rocking chair on the left. Sarah Wright and Julie Wright invited Grandma Wright to join them at the table.
Grandma Wright had been to many baby showers as a young girl and right before they realized it, Grandma Wright was telling them a stories from when she was the mommy-to-be and went to the right cabinet and in the left drawer were pictures of her baby shower.
As the party ended right on time, they all put their dishes right in the left side of the sink and thanked Mrs. Wright and Grandma Wright for such a wonderful time. Soon, all of the women from the Wright baby shower tea party turned right than left, then left again to return to the front door and out to the right car that they arrived in. Down lefty lane they went. Now who ended up with the right gift? Thanks to Heidi F. for a wonderful game!

8) The Price is Right - (Materials: Baby products, index cards, pens and paper for each baby shower guest) -Like the game show, purchase 10 different baby items (i.e., baby shampoo, soap, bib, lotion, rattle, pampers). On index cards, write the price of each baby shower item and then randomly place the index cards in front of all of the items. Write a letter next to the price of each item and then have your baby shower guests guess by writing down the item that corresponds to the price. Each guest will write their answer on a piece of paper. The baby shower guest with the most correct corresponding prices wins a prize!

9) Good Advice - (Materials: Strips of A4 (narrow) paper and pens) - All the guests get given a strip of A4 paper - the paper must be fairly narrow and long. Fold the paper into quarters and then get the baby shower guests to write a problem they may have had in the first few weeks of having their baby (e.g. baby doesn't sleep well, baby cries too much, baby doesn't burp after a feed then cries etc.on the first quarter). Fold the paper in half and pass it three people along. The baby shower guests then write the solution to the problem and fold the paper so it is like a small parcel. The papers are gathered up and the mother-to-be reads out the problems and the solutions. This can be hilarious!

10) Baby Shower Thank You Game - (Materials: blank thank you cards with envelopes, stamps, basket, pens and baby shower door prize). place the empty thank you baby shower card envelopes in a basket. Ask each entering baby shower guest to fill out the envelope with their address. Have the envelopes pre-stamped and print soon to be parent(s) address as the return. Once everyone has filled out the envelopes, have the soon to be Mom or Dad pull the envelope out of a basket. The envelope she or he pulls receives a prize and all the envelopes are giving to the soon to be parents with their thank you cards ready to fill out, stamped and send.

Newspaper Clippings

Katelyn is at home sick with the flu, the boys have spent most the day watching movies while it is pouring outside. To keep myself from pure boredom I've been browsing the internet. I saw these newspaper clippings on womples.com and thought I would share:

Bank Robber complains

This guy thinks that he gets to decide what a fair punishment is and
ten years seems like too much for him.
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Pacifier Ad

Could you imagine this pacifier for your baby?!?
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Pizza Ad
So generous!
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Work Wanted Ad

Poor girl
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Thoughtless Headline

Let's think of the headlines before we put them in our paper
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Police Report

Genious! Someone needs to get this woman's hearing checked!
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For Sale

What a deal?!?

A child's honesty

Today was the kids 100th day of school this year and to celebrate Taylor's class did many different projects. I personally thought this one was absolutely hilarious because of his honesty:

The paper says "A picture of me when I am 100 years old!" Taylor drew a picture of himself burried in the ground with a tombstone and all! In pure innocence he says, "Most people don't live to be 100 years old so I plan on being dead!"