Mattie Bea

Mattie going down slide

2009-04-26T20:08:00.003-04:00

Mattie's newest toy (or should I say daddy's)

2009-04-24T20:24:00.005-04:00

Daddy got Mattie a new bike trailer today and we got to try it out tonight. It was 87 degrees!!

Mattie's Favorite new word

2009-04-23T19:45:00.002-04:00

Happy Easter

2009-04-12T19:41:00.000-04:00

We celebrated on Saturday with Memaw and Papa in Lansing then spent Easter day with Grandmommy and Pepaw. Mattie's sweet dress is from Aunt Glenda!!

Mattie playing with Goldie

2009-04-02T19:06:00.003-04:00

Mattie has really started taking an interest in Goldie. We are hoping that she goes to MSU to become a vet ;)

Mattie dancing

2009-04-01T19:20:00.003-04:00

Aunt Amy introduced Mattie to Little Einsteins while we were visiting in March. It is now her favorite show. Watch what she does when she hears the theme song.

Mattie at the beach

2009-04-01T19:11:00.003-04:00

Mattie and I made a quick trip to see Aunt Amy and Uncle Chad from March 8-11th. We had a great time playing at the beach. Mattie LOVES the sand. We were finding it for days. She even took a few bites of it. Yummy!

1st Hair cut

2009-03-07T19:17:00.001-05:00

Mattie finally has enough hair to get a hair cut. Yeah! She was a little shy, so she needed her thumb to get by.

Playing at the Mall

2009-02-08T16:29:00.004-05:00

We took Mattie to the play area at the mall. She loves running with the big kids. Her favorite was looking at herself in the silly mirror.

Mattie's First Steps

2009-01-25T19:39:00.003-05:00

She did it! First 5 straight, then 6, then 10, then 12! Hurry dad, get the camera!

2nd Trip to Georgia

2009-01-22T16:20:00.002-05:00

Mommy took me back to Georgia to visit my cousins from Jan 17th-21st. We had a fun time playing, celebrating Susanna's 9th birthday and making sugar cookies. Ice skating in 50 degree weather was a blast!

Mattie Turns 1

2009-01-14T20:26:00.002-05:00

Today is Mattie's first birthday! We celebrated on Sunday with a party at our house in Okemos. Mattie had 19 guests, she continues to be spoiled.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-07T19:59:00.002-05:00

We had a wonderful time celebrating the New Year with all of Byron's family. The cousins from Georgie couldn't wait to go sledding, so we went despite the lack of snow. Mattie really enjoyed her ride!

Eric's Wedding

2008-12-27T20:07:00.000-05:00

We headed to Ohio to celebrate cousin Eric Thompson's wedding. Mattie got to change into her pajamas. It was too hard to crawl in her fancy dress.

Meeting Santa Claus!

2008-12-21T21:55:00.003-05:00

Mattie got to meet Santa Claus for the first time on Saturday at Canterbury Village in Lake Orion.

Climbing the Stairs

2008-12-15T15:34:00.002-05:00

Mattie is such a helper in the kitchen!

2008-12-11T19:53:00.002-05:00

Mattie learned how to help mommy out in the kitchen....she loves to pull out all the kitchen towels as fast as possible from the drawer. :)

Thanksgiving & Happy Birthday Grandma Bea

2008-11-27T18:50:00.004-05:00

Something new for Mattie today, on Grandma Bea's 80th B irthday. Mattie is starting to take steps with the help of her baby walker...

Thinking about Christmas

2008-11-12T08:21:00.004-05:00

We are starting to get excited for Santa to come visit Mattie for the first time. Check out Mattie waiting patiently for him. Also, she accomplished a new task this week....climbing the stairs!!

Happy Halloween

2008-11-01T09:37:00.002-04:00

Mattie Bea was a little bee for her first Halloween. We went to our church for "Trunk or treat" and handed out candy. Mattie loved watching all of the little kids in their costumes.

Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-23T15:10:00.002-04:00

Mattie and mommy got to go to a pumpkin patch with the church group MOPS. We got a hay ride, pumpkin, donut and cider and got to pet the goats and sheep. Mattie loves animals!! Too bad we didn't get a picture with them.

Bath Time & Fall Fun

2008-10-14T08:35:00.004-04:00

Mattie loves taking baths and playing outside with daddy. Here are a few pictures of her from fall. Notice her tooth in the bathtub picture.

First Tooth

2008-10-13T10:48:00.003-04:00

Last Thursday, October 9th mommy noticed a tooth coming through. It is on the bottom right side. As soon as it comes all the way through, we will post a picture.

Watch Me Crawl!

2008-10-08T14:41:00.005-04:00

Up North

2008-09-22T08:10:00.004-04:00

Mommy, Daddy, Memaw, Papa and I all made a trip to up north Michigan for the weekend. We stayed in Boyne City and took day trips to Charlevoix, Petoskey, and Harbor Springs. The leaves were just starting to change color! We even got to see where Memaw spent her summers as a child and where daddy used to go to church camp on Lake Louise. We also got to use daddy's new backpack from Aunt Jen to take a hike through Young State Park. On the way home, we stopped at Uncle John's cider mill. What a fun fall weekend!

Denver trip

2008-09-18T15:12:00.004-04:00

On Labor Day, we flew to Denver for one more of daddy's business trips. Monday was daddy's free day so we rented a car and drove up Pike's Peak and saw Garden of the Gods. Tuesday we went to the zoo for mommy's birthday then ate buffalo at a very authentic restaurant called The Fort. The rest of the trip we relaxed at our nice hotel and did some shopping. This was a very fun way to celebrate mommy's 27th birthday!

I see London, I see France

2008-08-17T23:27:00.003-04:00

At only 7 months old, Mattie made her first trip overseas to London with mommy, daddy, Grandmommy and Pepaw. Daddy was there for business while the rest of us were there for pleasure. We started our trip out in the Netherlands, visiting the grave of Mattie's great-grandfather, Byron White Thompson, who was killed while serving in World War II. We took a train ride from London through the French countryside to get there. The second part of our trip was spent sight-seeing in London. The highlights include Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, The Tower of London, St Paul's Cathedral, Kensington Palace and Windsor Castle. We had a wonderful time and hope to go back some day.

Bowne Visit

2008-07-27T23:20:00.001-04:00

Our friends Ben and Valerie Bowne and their kids, Lauren and Cash visited us this summer at the lake. Byron took them sailing on his Hobie Cat and the kids loved playing in the water and around the camp fire.

Uncle Ryan's birthday

2008-07-20T23:14:00.000-04:00

We celebrated Uncle Ryan's birthday this year out at the lake. Aunt Amy and Uncle Chad even got to be here from Florida. Everyone seemed to enjoy the boat ride except for Mattie. She wasn't a big fan of the life jacket.

Main Visit

2008-07-19T23:08:00.000-04:00

Our friends from Illinois, Erik, Katie and Miles Main, came to visit us this summer at the lake. Mattie and Miles had fun playing together in the water. We have already arranged their marriage.

Fun at the Lake for July 4th

2008-07-04T23:00:00.001-04:00

Byron's entire family were all together this year for July 4th at Round Lake. We had great weather and enjoyed playing in the water, taking walks, and laying in the hammock. Mattie and mommy spent the week with Grandmommy and Pepaw, Aunt Jen, Kate, Susanna, Aunt Bethany, Zachariah and Nathanael. Mattie went to her first movie, Kit Kittridge: An American Girl. We also enjoyed celebrating Grandmommy and Pepaw's birthdays.

Nathanael's Dedication

2008-06-29T22:54:00.001-04:00

Byron and I celebrated 7 years of marriage in Holland, Michigan with the Johnson family as they dedicated Nathanael Byron Johnson to the Lord. It was a very special day and we are so blessed to be living close to family.

Week with Memaw and Papa

2008-06-19T22:48:00.000-04:00

Mommy and daddy went to Washington D.C. and left Mattie for the first time over night with Memaw and Papa. It was a nice mini-vacation for us and the grandparents really enjoyed their time with Mattie. They made sure we didn't miss her too much by sending us pictures along the way.

Trip to Georgia

2008-06-07T22:38:00.000-04:00

Mattie and mommy went to visit the Barr clan the first part of June. We had a great time playing with the cousins and even took swimming lessons from Aunt Jen. Despite the terribly HOT weather, we managed to keep cool in the pool. Mattie got to meet her Uncle Scott for the first time.

Memorial Day

2008-05-26T22:51:00.000-04:00

We had a great weekend at Round Lake enjoying the newly renovated small cottage. We spent Friday and Saturday with Grandmommy and Pepaw and Sunday and Monday with Memaw and Papa. Mattie went to her first parade on Memorial day in Blissfield. We had awesome weather and did a lot of relaxing!

4 month check-up!

2008-05-23T22:37:00.000-04:00

Mattie had her 4 month check up on Friday, May 23rd. She now weighs 13lbs 15 oz (50th percentile) and is 25 inches long (75th percentile). She is a growing girl!! The doctor thinks she has a milk allergy like mommy did when she was a baby, so we are trying a new formula called Nutramigen. She goes back in 1 month for a check up.

Mattie's Dedication and Mother's Day

2008-05-11T22:40:00.001-04:00

May 11th was very special for us because it was my first Mother's Day and Mattie's dedication! We had a lot of company including all 4 grandparents, great-grandma Bea and great-grandma Pfeifer, all 4 Johnsons and Ryan and Melissa. We had a wonderful church service then celebrated with lunch at Stillwater Grill and dessert at our house. It was a very fun day!

Georgia cousins

2008-04-09T22:34:00.000-04:00

After returning home from Florida, Mattie got to meet Georgia cousins Kate, Susanna, and Thomas. Zachariah and Nathanael were there, too, so all 6 of them were together at Grandmommy and Pepaw's lake house.

Meeting Aunt Amy & Uncle Chad

2008-04-08T18:20:00.000-04:00

Mattie finally got to meet her Aunt Amy and Uncle Chad in Florida on April 1st! We had a great time visiting Fort Myers, with gorgeous weather. Memaw and Papa went with us as well. Mattie also got to meet her great-grandpa Mick and great-grandma Teresa for the first time.

First Disney trip

2008-03-14T11:31:00.006-04:00

We had a great time visiting both Epcot and the Magic Kingdom, thanks to friends Katie & Jeev.

Mattie got to ride her first ride at Epcot, The Three Caballeros. She also enjoyed The Seas with Nemo and Friends. At the Magic Kingdom we enjoyed riding the train, the carousel and visiting Minnie Mouses' country house. Mattie's nickname when she is being fussy is "stinkerbell", so we had to buy her her first Tinkerbell.

Mattie's First Video

2008-02-09T09:40:00.000-05:00

Mattie made both the Adrian Telegram and Lansing State Journal this week:

http://www.lsj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080208/NEWS01/802080320/1001/news
(Look under Okemos)

Also, I spent some time with Windows Movie Maker today. This is a summary of Mattie's first few pictures and videos set to music. The first song is Chris Tomlin's "How Can I Keep From Singing" and the second song is Carrie Underwood's "All American Girl." Laura cries everytime she hears it. :) Enjoy!

We are off to take Mattie to her first Calvin B-Ball game, as today is homecoming. Details to follow...

The Cousins

2008-02-02T08:43:00.000-05:00

Aunt Bethany was finally able to join the club and hold mbt this week. When Mattie was born, Bethany put in a grueling 14-hour day at the hospital only to go home with her "flock" of boys just moments before Mattie was born. Poor Bethany! It was fun having her, Nathanael, and Zachariah here for a few days this week.

We look forward to spending more time with the Johnsons - just an hour or so away now! It is so cool that the cousins are only 6 weeks apart in age!

Take a look at their blog when you get a minute: http://toddjohnsonfamily.blogspot.com/.

4 Generations

2008-01-28T08:16:00.000-05:00

Great-Grandma Bea came to visit on Sunday, care of Larry & Peggy. We enjoyed spending time with her. I think she enjoyed spending time with Mattie too. We told her that she is only referred to as "Beatrice" when she is crying. ;)

... She tells Mattie she is going to get "conceited" with all the attention & photographs.

Thanks for the soup and pizza, Grandma Bea!

IV is out!

2008-01-22T14:55:00.000-05:00

We had a huge answer to prayer yesterday when we were able to take out Mattie's IV. We were able to get in all 10 doses of antibiotics without any trouble. She also had a good doctor's visit yesterday. Her weight was 8 lb 12 oz which the doctor was pleased with, and we discovered her pediatrician lives in our neighborhood.

Today Mattie made her first mall trip. She slept through the entire thing. She's not much of a shopper yet, but I'm sure that will change.

Stork

2008-01-18T01:45:00.000-05:00

Good news, Mattie is home!

We found out this morning and brought her about noon today. Laura will be giving her antibiotics via shot into the IV through Monday.

We are so blessed with this great news. Thank you all for your thoughts & prayers.

Wireless

2008-01-17T11:28:00.000-05:00

Some good news on Mattie today!

1. Oxygen was weaned off last night
2. IV fluids were weaned off last night
3. Mattie has been removed from the incubator
4. Mattie is no longer hooked up to any monitors, ie wireless!

The chest x-ray from this morning seemed better but they need a better view. Apparently it is difficult to get a clear x-ray on an infant because they have to be totally still. When an adult gets a lung x-ray they are told to sit still and take a big breath and hold it in. Tough to do with a 3-day-old!

It is possible that Mattie will be sent home tomorrow, if she continues to improve! :) Stay tuned...

Mattie update

2008-01-16T14:31:00.000-05:00

Laura is getting discharged today. Her fever has been gone for 36 hours and she is off of antibiotics & IV. She is doing great.

As for Mattie... We just had a long talk with Dr Williams of MSU pediatrics. He is the head of the group, 30 years of experience, and is a professor at MSU. He and his colleagues have evaluated her and believe that she has pneumonia. He wants to keep her here on a day by day basis, evaluating blood counts and X-Ray's to watch for improvement. The total treatment time for pneumonia is normally 7-10 days of antibiotics. What we don't know right now is if Mattie will need to stay in the hospital the whole time or not. It is possible that they would allow for the last few treatment of antibiotics to be done via the muscle (a shot), which means Mattie could come home. So at this point, we wait until tomorrow (Thursday) to see what the results of the X-Ray look like.

The good news is that 1) they know what it is and 2) it is easily treatable. We have also learned that there are not normally long-term effects of infant pneumonia. We just need to be patient as they continue to analyze the situation. Also, Mattie's oxygen levels are looking good so they will be trying to wean her off of that - which would be fantastic as Laura continues to breastfeed.

What's next? Byron will probably go back to work Thursday & Friday. Laura is deciding between staying in a shared room for breastfeeding mothers or commuting back and forth from home. Please pray for our patience and most of all that Mattie heals quickly. :)

10 Fingers, 10 Toes

2008-01-15T10:42:00.000-05:00

After a long day, I'm happy to report that Mattie arrived at 7:25pm yesterday! Dr. Levitt said Laura was ready to begin pushing at 6pm. After a little scare with the cord wrapped around the neck, Mattie let out her first cry.

We were then moved to room #333 of Sparrow Hospital. About 1am they took Mattie away from us as she was having some difficulties breathing. She is in an incubator and on oxygen and IV fluids & antibiotics. We are hoping that the Dr. will let her out so we can hold her soon!

Overall she is healthy and has all of her fingers and toes.

Still waiting...

2008-01-14T13:44:00.000-05:00

Despite an "on fire" start early this morning, we are into a waiting game now. Laura is at 8cm and a slight Piticon drip has started to speed things along. Hopefully we'll see Mattie in the next couple of hours!

Heading to Hospital

2008-01-14T05:54:00.000-05:00

Aunt Jennifer arrived from Atlanta about 10pm last night. Laura stayed up late talking with Jennifer and Bethany, going to bed about 1am. She has been up since 2am. She woke me up at 4:30am with contractions every 7 minutes. At 5am we decided to get showered and dressed. As of 6am we are heading to the hospital. Contractions have been consistent anywhere between 3 and 7 minutes for the last 2 hours.

If you're coming to Sparrow, it as at the corner of Michigan and Pennsylvania in downtown Lansing, MI. Check their website or call to get details on post-partum visiting hours.

http://www.sparrow.org/

Stay tuned for more updates!
-Byron

Any day now!

2008-01-12T08:23:00.000-05:00

Still waiting patiently... but we think we are getting very close. Stay tuned to http://mattiethompson.org for updates! Next Dr. appt is 1/18.

Any day now!

2008-01-03T12:52:00.000-05:00

We are finally settled into our new home in Michigan and are anxiously awaiting Mattie's arrival! Check out her new room, painted pepto pink by her grandma Peggy (A.K.A. Me-maw)

When do you think she will come? You can vote at the latest poll.

No longer breach!!

2007-11-12T17:16:00.001-05:00

We went to our last visit with Dr. Wellman today and got some good news. Mattie is no longer breach. Everything looks good, as long as she doesn't flip back around.

1200 miles in 3 days

2007-10-29T22:20:00.000-04:00

We just returned from a long weekend in Michigan and killed several birds with 1 stone:

Look for a house (we now have a short list)
Go to a wedding
Go to a baby shower
Pick up "Dudley" before Mom & Dad go to China for 3 weeks
Spend time with Amy who was up from Florida

Are we having fun yet? Can you believe that will be the last time we make a "visit" to Michigan!?

Michigan Baby?!

2007-10-25T22:30:00.001-04:00

Yes, Laura and I are moving to Michigan! If you live in a cave, you're just now finding this out. We move North on Nov. 17th and I start a new job with Jackson National Life in Okemos on Monday the 19th. First task: find a Dr. We are blessed to have this opportunity right now just before Mattie arrives. Pray for our sanity as we try to sell a home, find a home, start a new job, and prepare for the little one!

Mattie's first shower

2007-10-16T20:34:00.000-04:00

Mattie had her first shower on Saturday, October 13th in Georgia. Aunt Jennifer surprised me with a shower at "Aunt" Pat's house. It was so nice of them to think of Mattie and I. We had yummy food, played some great games, and Mattie got lots of goodies......car seat/stroller travel system, baby pool, booster seat, crawl-through play yard, crib toy, bottles, and MANY cute outfits.

Guests included "Aunt" Pat and her daughter Trisha,Jennifer, Kate and Susanna, Susan O'Kelly, Lauri Sandhagen, Sara Beth and Caroline, Aunt Paulette, Angie Long, "Aunt" Glenda, and Janyce Earl. Byron even made a cameo at the end to say hello to everyone :)

Breach?

2007-10-02T13:25:00.000-04:00

Forgot to mention, Mattie B is "breach." I think I was too... since we have a while until the due date, we hear that this isn't too big of a deal. Let's pray for a flip sometime soon though. I think it would make things less stressful for Laura. ;)

Mattie Bea on the way!

2007-10-02T13:21:00.001-04:00

We found out yesterday that "it" is a girl! This is some good news, especially since I hate calling her an "it." What do you think about finding out the gender?