The Stoll Family

It’s been a LONG time since I have sat down to update our blog. Sorry for being so lame at keeping up the posts. Being a mom, wife, daughter, friend, working 40 hours a week, directing the handbells at church and so much more I find I don’t have a lot of time to do some of the little things I enjoy! Now that Matthew is a year, I am going to try and update our blog at least once a month. Here are the highlights over the last 9 months… January -Matthew turned 6 months, weighs 16 lbs. 4 oz. and is 26.5”- he is in the 30th % -He is sleeping 10-12 hours a night. When he wakes up in the morning and get his bottle, he will go back to sleep for about another 2 hours. Naps although are not so great, they are really hit or miss. Sometimes he has 3-45 minute naps and other times he will have 2-1.5 hour naps. -January 23rd we saw Matthew’s first tooth. We had no clue he was teething until we saw the white coming through the gums. -Matthew is now sitting on his own and loves playing with his toys! -SNOW! It snowed and Matthew loved watching it fall. He even played in it and had a lot of fun. He wasn’t so sure about the sledding at first but after going down a couple times he began to enjoy sledding. Can’t wait for next year when he will be bigger and can really enjoy it! February -February 25th my 2nd tooth came in. We still had no clue that he was teething until we saw the white little tooth in the gums. - Matthew and Mommy have been attending Gymboree Music class for a few months. We both really enjoy it (Mommy for the adults and Matthew for the music and friends). -We had an amazing photographer come to our home to take some photos. Here are a few photos from Matthew’s 7 month photo shoot. -I almost forgot… I stopped nursery Matthew and he is now a formula baby. I stopped nursing him a couple weeks before I went to California with my best friend to celebrate our 30th Birthday! We went to Disneyland and Matthew stayed at home with Daddy. Matthew and Will had a fun few days without mommy around. It was really nice that he was able to work from home and take a few days off. March -Mommy turned 30 on March 1st and Matthew turned 8 months on March 3rd. -Matthew started crawling on March 3rd! We had been waiting for a while for him to start crawling but never did until he turned 8 months and he even did it at my dad’s house. Bapa got to see him take his first crawling moves. -Will and I went away for a weekend getaway to Orcas Island. Auntie Marisa and her parents watched Matthew while we went away. He was not the best sleeper that weekend and we have no idea why. April -Nine months old and Matthew weighs 19 lbs. 12 oz and is 28”- he is now in the 50-75% -Matthew went on his first plane to travel to South Carolina and then to Kansas. From start to finish Matthew flew on 6 planes, went to his first minor league baseball game, celebrated his first Easter in South Carolina (dinner was Subway in a park), stayed in hotel, swam a lot, met and stayed with his Great Grandma Donna and was almost in a hurricane. Okay to explain a little more… -In February Lauri’s family planned to go to South Carolina to see Aunt Emily (Judie’s aunt) and spend Easter with her. She passed away about a week after the plans were made. We still went and had a wonderful family vacation. It was nice to take my Dad back to show him around the area my mom spent so much time. -Since we were in South Carolina we knew we could do something different for Easter dinner. So instead of the ham, au gratin potatoes, etc. we decided subway sandwiches sounded good. So we took them to a local park and then went for a walk. It was very nice Easter and a nice way to spend our first Easter without my mom. -Staying in hotel was a little challenging with a baby, but luckily my dad and sisters family were on the same floor and close enough so after Matthew went to bed we had somewhere to hang out (instead of the hall- which we did the last night since they had left). Matthew enjoyed waking up and seeing his family and also having them around the whole day. We played in the pool, went to Costco (oh and it was across the street from our hotel- we could see Costco from our room), we went to the zoo and just had a really nice time with family. -After our stay in South Carolina Will, Matthew and I traveled to Kansas to meet Will’s grandma, uncle and cousins. We had a wonderful visit and hope to visit her again. Matthew really enjoyed his great grandma- she read books with him, gave him his bottles and fed him. The day before we left we headed to a hotel to be close to the airport (Will’s grandma lives about 2 hours from the airport) because our flight was at 6am. It was a very exciting and scary evening. On our drive from Manhattan to Wichita we kept hearing about hurricanes touching down in the state. Once we arrived at the hotel and checked in we found out Wichita was on a hurricane warning, the guy at the front desk was confident that the hurricane would not come our way. So we got settled into the hotel, drove around town a little (noticing that there wasn’t really anyone around and that it was getting REALLY windy) and then got dinner. The restraint was pretty crowded and everyone was very calm and carrying along in a normal manner. When we got back to the hotel we got Matthew ready for bed, made his bed in a corner by the window, finished repacking and getting settled. Then we hear a siren outside and the guy at the front desk yelling down the hall to take shelter. I won’t go into all the details- but we got into shelter, moved all our belongs to the bathroom (far from the window) and waited with everyone else in the hotel. Matthew and I were moved in the bathroom (it was SO warm), Will was in the hall helping get our area as secure as possible. As we listened to the radio we heard the direction of the hurricane- RIGHT TOWARDS OUR HOTEL. Everyone is freaking out, I am praying and have my pray warriors back home praying. Lights flicking, big hail falling, wind picking up and… the hurricane missed us! THANK YOU LORD! I had a sleepless night worried that another one would come, that we would miss our flight, we would be stuck in Kansas and the thoughts kept coming. We were able to leave on our flight and we got home safe! Our trip that was going to be simple and fun turned out to be a REAL ADVENTURE! -Oh and Matthew started talking! While we were on our trip he said “hi bapa” when he came into one of the rooms at the hotel. May -Matthew is picking up a few signs- water, more and all done -Matthew is clapping his hands and imitating a lot. He is able to match the circle in shape sorter and loves playing with his toys! -Matthew is cruising around the furniture but is not yet walking or showing any interest in walking. -Matthew went to the Farm on his first field trip. Mommy was taking her preschool class to the farm, so Matthew got to tag along. He enjoyed looking at the animals but it will be fun to take him when he gets older. When he saw the bunny he said “caa” which is his way he says “cat”. June -Matthew LOVES food! He is a good eater, at times a little picky, but overall a really good eater. He loves flavor in his food! -Matthew is starting to stand without holding on to things, but really has not showed any interest in walking. -My dad had hip replacement at the end of the month. I spent many days at the hospital spending time with my dad. I was so grateful that my dad, my uncle, Marisa and a couple other friends helped out by watching Matthew so I could spend time with my dad during his therapy time. -Teeth count- 6! He cut 4 teeth this month- 2 bottom central incisor and 2 top lateral incisors. July -Matthew turned 1!! We had a really run birthday party at my dad’s house with about 50 guests. Matthew was such a great party boy. He helped open presents; he LOVED his cake and was a wonderful host! -Matthew 12 month checkup- 22 lbs 13 oz and 30.5”, he is in the 50-75%. Growing boy! Another tooth cut through. He is also starting to be a real chatter box- he says hi, mama, dada, bapa, no, bye and caa (cat). He signs water, more, all done and is pointing to make choices and letting us know his wants. -Will and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary. We planned an overnight at the hotel were our wedding reception was held. Although our plans for the getaway did not turn out the way we planned. We played soccer in the morning with Marisa and some of her friends. We had a wonderful time until… I hurt my knee. After waiting 24 hours, my knee didn’t seem to be getting any better. So, Sunday morning was spent in the urgent care. After an x-ray my knee was not broken, the diagnoses was that it was sprained. The doctor recommended I follow up with another doctor, but that it would probably get better in a week or so. Lay low, use crutches and ice. -Lauri goes to the sports medicine guy… he was not sure what had happened, thought it might have been my ACL but just to make sure wanted me to get an MRI. The MRI comes back and sure enough I ruptured my ACL and tore my meniscus. Treatment… Surgery! He told me it would be a long recovery, at least 2 weeks before I could really care for my son and 4 weeks before I could drive. Oh no! I started to plan who will care for Matthew, where I will stay, etc. Oh yeah, and I am still working full time! -July 23rd… Matthew took his first steps. After taking a 2-3 steps at once, he ended up taking 8 steps! He is a little hit or miss with walking as crawling is faster, but he can do it! August -SURGERY! I finished work August 8th and August 9th I went in for surgery. It was very successful and recovery is going well. I am staying at my dad’s house (since he lives in a rambler- no stairs I have to deal with). My sister Janet, Marisa and other friends have all been helping with caring for Matthew. I am so grateful to have them all help! At my first post-op the doctor gave me the okay to lose my brace. He was very pleased with how everything was looking and doing. Still a long recovery to go- the PT says I won’t be able to drive until at least the first week of September, I won’t be able to kneel, run or elliptical runner until November. I might be able to get on a stationary bike in September, we will see :) -Matthew now has 8 teeth and he has cut two molars on top! -Matthew loves food! He is still a good eater, taking bites and is trying really hard to poke his food with a fork. He sometimes gets the food! -He is talking a lot more, lots of imitating but has a few new words- yea, thank you, milk, up, and woof. He has also recently picked up the sign for my turn/mine and milk. -He is walking more! He still prefers to crawl, but is starting to crawl towards someone or something and then about half way getting up and walking the rest of the way. September -Matthew is a toddler! He is so much fun!! He is walking everywhere, talking more and just doing more. I am awed by him each day. My view of typical is slighty off because of the kids I work with, so when Matthew does typical things I usually email my good friend telling her he did this today! -Matthew has been not sleeping all that great at night but I have not minded. We have had lots of cuddle times! Matthew has been working on his two bottom molars for the month. We finally have one on the bottom that has cut through! -My recovery is going really well! I was able to go to the gym today (9/29) and I rode the stationary bike for 30 minutes! I met with the surgeon this week and he is really pleased with my progress and I am exactly where he wants me to be. I hope to only have about a month left of PT. -Will is finally done with the busy season. Although I don't think he will slow down too much at work. There is alot to do to get ready for the next summer/fall season. they are also going to be moving next spring so they are starting to prepare for that as well. -I am now living at home! It was so wonderful to be able to stay at my dad's house the last 7 weeks and then go home on the weekends. I am finally doing better overall, so I am going to try to stay at home this week and take care of Matthew. The biggest challenge will be going in and out of our place because of the stairs and carrying Matthew up and down. -Church update: the handbells played this month and they sounded wonderful!! I am enjoying directing this year. I have also started a small group that meets in the nursery. We are currently studying Growing Gods Kids in his Way. Very exciting to see how God wants us to raise our children to follow him!