Two Years Old!

Matthew turned two today.
We had cake, ice cream and presents. And Matthew wore his 2 shirt - made by Scott and I - super awesome! :) Something about it reminds me of Thing 2 from Cat in the Hat.

The cake - decorated (also awesomely) by me. I think I stole the car idea from my sister-in-law Angie, who's cake looked way better. :) Matthew liked the cars and the jelly beans.

We went to the Newport Creamery for lunch. Matthew was excited to be able to have a chocolate shake.

Matthew is so grown up! With a little help, he took this picture of Scott and I. It looks a lot better than pictures I take!!

Unwrapping presents, with lots of helping hands.

All Matthew ate of the cake was a couple jelly beans I put on his piece. He was too distracted by toys! We did a picture treasure hunt for him to find all his gifts. I took pictures of different places in the house and pasted the pics on cards. Then we went to them one at a time to get the gifts. Matthew kind of got the hang of it, but was also easily distracted by things along the way. Oh well. I don't have pictures of it, 'cause I was helping him do it.

He loved his new birthday bike! He's still learning about peddling.

Here's Matthew two years ago as a newborn.

Matthew on his first birthday.

And Matthew at 2! What a big boy! Happy Birthday, buddy!

Birthday bouncing!

We went to a bounce house at the beach here for Matthew's birthday. Matthew was one of the youngest kids there, but he jumped right in and played.

Scott and I had to jump in a few times to help him manuever some of the obstacles. One of the other kids told me I was too big to be in there...and he was probably right.

Matthew loved this slide and did it over and over, all on his own.

Scott shoots some baskets.

Another favorite at the bounce house was this driving game. All the little kids liked it and were happy just to sit in the seat and turn the steering wheel.

Grandma and Anna. Anna really wanted to get in on the bouncing fun. She doesn't like to be left out. She stared at the other kids playing, open mouthed.

A view from the bounce house of the beach.

Matthew at the Elmo bounce house. There were so many things to do, it was hard to decide where to go next. We all had fun!

The Lady Speaks

Anna is growing up so fast. She is starting to make a lot more word sounds (like "ga ga" and "ba ba"). Here's she is practicing her "ga ga" sounds. Gotta get the G sound down to say "Guptill." She is interacting with us more and more. She and Matthew were playing together this afternoon. They were both laying on the carpet and Anna was kicking her feet to rub Matthew's head. They were both giggling and giggling. It was great. I wish they could always have this much fun together.

Here she is trying some bananas in her rice cereal. She did NOT love it. Oh well.

Matthew got to go on a special trip to the beach today with Grandpa (it's just a mile down the hill from my parents house - not a far trip). He was so excited to play at the beach and he brought home some mementos - beach rocks. Such a boy!

Some other things from our week...

Anna isn't crawling yet, but she scoots...backwards. You know that trick, right? Where they scoot themselves into a corner and get trapped. :( I like how Matthew is smiling in the background of this picture. He is playing with the CD player, which he calls the "DV-DV player". He loves pressing those buttons!

Matthew also likes playing with the fun instruments my mom has. He especially likes playing "my triangle." I think it reminds him of a favorite triangular Sesame Street clip.

Newport

Matthew and my mom take a walk (run) along the Cliff Walk in Newport, RI.

We went in to see where my mom works today. She teaches a biology lab at a university here on the island. They had the day off today so it was very quiet around the campus. We were able to see the labs and classrooms where she works and enjoy the natural beauty of the area.

One of the old buildings that make up the campus. Some of the buildings are restored old mansions from days gone by. :)

The breakers. A mansion you can still tour (that used to be inhabited by the Vanderbilts?) that sits next to some of the campus buildings and overlooks the Atlantic ocean. My mom thinks the inside has an eerie resemblance to the haunted mansion at Disneyland ("is this haunted room actually stretching??").

Looking out across the water you can see more of the island. So New Englandy.

Valentine's Day

For Valentine's Day we made heart shaped french toast and pink milk.

We cut out paper hearts and decorated sugar cookies. I think Matthew has a mouthful of candy here.

For lunch we had lots of heart shaped stuff (cheese toast, fruit leather, kiwis)

Scott couldn't be with us this year, but we got to talk to him on the phone and he sent some beautiful flowers.
Anna wasn't in any of the pictures 'cause she was attached to me (by baby bjorn) a lot of the day. She did get a Valentine's Day frog toy from Grandpa Keeler, which she was very excited about, so she had a great Valentine's Day too.

Surviving in Rhode Island

Pronounced "Roe DY Lun"

Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.

My parents live in Rhode Island (even better, they live on an island in Rhode Island), but I have never lived there. They moved when I was away at college (possibly trying to ditch me?) I found them though.
The kids and I are staying with my parents for a while (since Scott is deploying).
Here are some tips and things I've learned about surviving in Rhode Island so far. You know, in case you decide to go live there:

It's cold here. 35 degrees in, say, Alabama is like a tropical vacation compared to 35 frigid biting Rhode Island degrees. Why is that?

Dunkin' donuts...very popular

You will want to go to a cheapo store, say Wal Mart, and buy up any thing of the clothing variety that will keep you warm. Then you will want to wear all these clothing items at once...all the time. Here's my new faux-crocs with soft fuzzy lining. They haven't been off my feet much since I bought them a few days ago.

You should probably read up on New England by reading some historical fiction about the area (the kind written for children is my preference). Also try not to act like a witch.

If the TV with cable is in a cold part of the house, you are going to have to forget about it. Take a moment, grieve it, and then move on.

Cannoli, also popular and very tasty. You should try it! The debate rages on about which local grocery store (where we've bought them of late) makes the best ones. No, I haven't been to Mike's yet.

You can't get a library card in Rhode Island with a military ID, so don't try. Also, don't make a scene and then try to use your mom's library card pretending you are her. You might want to, but don't. :(

Thou shalt not speak ill of the Red Sox.

Keep a space heater nearby.

And some pics.

A view from the Naval Clinic...of more Naval base stuff...and a gull (not a "seagull", I've been corrected)

A view of the Newport Bridge from the Naval Clinic - this bridge connects the island to...another island.

Hat, coat, gloves...standard equipment...and very necessary

I had to leave the state to go to the nearest Target! Shock...horror!

First Food

Anna had her first solid food today. She really liked the baby rice cereal, ate all that I had made for her and wanted more. Here are a few pics of our eating adventures.
You can see a long boring video of her taking her first bites HERE.

Goodbye Montgomery

These pictures are from our last two days in Alabama (last week). Scott's parents and sister Alycia came into Montgomery for a quick visit and helped us get off on our way.

H. Scott, Anna, Scott D. (an Anna sandwich?)

Two Guptill girls
Anna and Ma2 hanging out

Matthew checks out the centurion armor after Scott's graduation ceremony (from his 5 week class). The ceremony was held in an auditorium nicknamed "the big blue bedroom" 'cause of its sleep inducing qualities. I think I had some college courses in a similar room. I have a picture of the auditorium, but it would bore you...really.

At the park. Anna has the supercool shades.

Grandpa G/Pa2 gives Matthew the swing ride of a lifetime!!

A lively checkers game with Aunt Alycia and Grandma G/Ma2.

It was a fun visit, even though it was a short one. Matthew and Anna loved seeing everyone (and so did Scott and I).

You're in my heart...

but until then...
It's time for saying goodbye

A last bit of family togetherness for a while.

I hate saying goodbye to people. It's one of the worst things about moving around a lot and military life.

Scott's class is over now and we're leaving Montgomery...although we're happy to move out of the hotel, we definitely aren't headed back to "normal life." Not for a while.
Today the kids and I said goodbye to Scott. We will only see him for five days over the next 8 months. He will shortly be headed off to some training followed by deployment to the middle east. We only found out about this a few weeks ago, so it was a big shock. Such is the life of a military family. Goodbye Scott (and Daddy), WE LOVE YOU!!!

Here's a little goodbye song from the Muppets. Our goodbye was exactly like Kermit and Miss Piggy's. :)

South Paw?

Matthew is taking a bigger interest in coloring and "writing" lately...and I've noticed he has a preference for using his left hand to draw, color and write. I have been giving him markers and crayons in his right hand. He tries for a minute, then transfers them to his left and colors happily. Scott and I are both right handed, as is everyone in our families (I think), except my mom. Hmmm
Is left handed-ness genetic? It has to be, right? :)

My First...and Second Superbowl

Here's a picture of Matthew watching the superbowl last year (in Japan we have "Superbowl Monday"). He wasn't walking then, just pulling up on things.

And here he is this year. Such a big boy.

And here's Anna enjoying her first superbowl!
She tried really hard to stay awake for the whole game, even though we wanted her to sleep.