Happy Birthday Maria/Mommy!

Today is a most special day because today is the day that the Lord brought my beautiful bride, the love of my life, my best friend, the mother of my children, my precious Maria into this world. Words alone cannot express how thankful I am to the Lord for creating her and, especially so, for giving her to me as my wife. When I think about my life without her, it is all blurry and bland, but life with her is vibrant, full of life, and full of happiness.

Oh sure, we've had some hard times, but overall, life is so good with Maria in my life. I still remember the first time I saw Maria up on stage at Breakaway leading worship and how I thought, "I should ask her out...but she would think I am a freak since she doesn't even know who I am." Only God knew then how the future would play out...and I'm glad he let it happen the way it did.

I love you sweetie. Happy Birthday!

Always,
Beloved

Miller's 1st Birthday Party

On Saturday, February 28 we celebrated Miller's 1st birthday (his actual birthday is March 3).

Guests included:
Mommy, Daddy & Maxwell
Nanny & Papa
Nana & Grandad
Aunt Jana & cousin Zachary
Mrs. Lizi & Rae Rae
Mr. Morton, Elizabeth & Abigail

Here are some pictures of the big party:
The candle is lit and we are singing "Happy Birthday" to Miller here. Apparently, he didn't like the sound of our singing though--notice that he is covering his ears.


Below is Miller's first taste of icing...and he wasn't the biggest fan. Neither of our boys have liked their first birthday cake. Fast forward to this week when Maria tried to give him another bite of a vanilla cupcake with vanilla icing--he still didn't like it. She then thought, "I know Maxwell doesn't like chocolate, but maybe Miller will", so she gave him some chocolate icing and...you guessed it, he loved it. Mind you, he still didn't like the cake, just the icing.


Here he is playing with the cake...not eating it though (Maxwell cried at his first birthday when he felt the icing because it made him dirty...not so with Miller).


Finally, here he is with his friend Abigail. At least he isn't pulling her hair here.

First (assisted) steps

This video was taken on Saturday, February 28--toward the end of the day and after Miller's 1st birthday party. Maria had been trying to get him to walk using the walker toy for a few weeks, but he just wouldn't do it. Then after Papa pulled the walker toy out and worked with him some, followed by some more workout time with Nana and Grandad he decided he would show us his walking ability!

Happy Birthday Miller!

I know it is what everyone says, but it is true that it is unbelievable how quickly time flies with with your children! A little over a year ago, Miller Isaac Upton joined our family and we are so much richer by having him in our family. Here is just a little about Miller:

When any of us (Mommy, Daddy, or Maxwell) walk into the room, Miller lights up with the biggest smile. One of the best parts of my (Matt) day is when I go to get him out of bed in the morning. First, we go see what Maxwell is doing and then we go into our bedroom to see Mommy. Miller loves his mommy and he makes it known every morning by the smile and giggle he gives her when he sees her for the first time.

Miller adores his big brother, or bubba as we call him, and is really starting to watch what Maxwell does and tries to imitate it (sometimes that is a good thing...other times, well...).

Miller is a snuggler and if he is tired or just needs some loving, he will lay his head on your shoulder and just snuggle in. As a parent, you have got to love that.

Miller loves to laugh and is so much fun to see when he gets tickled. What a beautiful sound it is to hear his laughter in our home.

Miller seems to like music just about as much as his brother--he heads straight for the computer when I am playing music on it. After seeing he and Maxwell playing their instruments together this morning we may have a band in the making, the UB Band (Upton Brothers Band)...we'll keep you posted.

I know there is more, but since I haven't blogged in so long, I'll stop here for now. Our prayer for Miller is that the Lord uses him in mighty ways to reach the lost with his tender love for people. We love you Miller and are so glad you are part of our lives!

Love,
Mommy, Daddy, and Maxwell

NOTE: I realize this post is 2 weeks late, but better late than never. Sorry Miller--I didn't forget your birthday. Love, Daddy

Whoa...

We were sitting in the living room this afternoon with Miller fussing and talking in his room instead of taking a nap. Maxwell was being especially rambunctious and running around the living room with a extra long skinny white balloon (think balloons that are used to make animals) that he got from HEB after church today. He ran into the kitchen using his balloon as a sword when we heard a loud crash. Apparently he had run into the trash can and knocked it over. The only thing we heard from him, in his best California surfer dude accent, was "Whoa..."

When I grow up...

Today was "Occupation Day" at Kingdom Kids and everyone was supposed to dress up as what they want to be when they grow up. This was part of the Occupation unit that they have been studying for the past few weeks. Several of the parents had come to the class to share about what their occupation was. They had a doctor, a veterinarian, a cowboy/rancher, a police officer, a helicopter pilot, and "someone who blows up things underground to find oil and gas." All in all Maxwell really enjoyed this unit, especially learning about the helicopter pilot who told them he flew over the sea and the "walls of Nineveh" (Maxwell's favorite story is Jonah).

When we asked Maxwell what he wanted to be he did not hesitate to tell us that he wanted to be a scuba diver like the one in Finding Nemo. Rather than pick something easy to dress up as, he HAD to pick something we had to be creative in dressing him as. Where do you get a wet suit for a 4 year old that doesn't cost an arm and a leg? Thanks to the help of Jenny Petter who found online instructions for making a costume and loaned us some black T-ball pants and Carla Hilland for loaning us some flippers, Maxwell's wish came true. Maxwell the scuba diver was a hit! As soon as he got home from school he had to put his costume back on and we "played" Nemo until Nemo (Maria) got tired of being caught.

Don't honk shoe daddy and other random thoughts

So Maria keeps reminding me that part of the purpose of a blog is to record different moments in our life. She also keeps reminding me that every post doesn't have to have accompanying pictures...so in honor of our friend Brian Miller and his "random thoughts" posts, here goes:

When I put Maxwell down at night I pray, he prays for someone, and we sing a couple of songs before saying our final good night and turning out the lights. After I turn out the lights he asks for a hug and says, "You're gonna stay in here forever!" to which I often reply, "Oh, I am?!" He then either asks me to make an animal sound (I have no idea why) or to pretend that I fall asleep on him (I did that one time and it became a tradition). A few weeks ago I pretended to fall asleep and also started to pretend to snore. A few nights later he asked me to pretend to fall asleep again, but this time he said, "Daddy, don't honk shoe when you fall asleep on me...okay?!"

I had Monday off of work for the MLK Holiday and finally got on the roof to take the Christmas lights down. Maxwell was in the yard playing and when he saw me on the roof he came over and asked, "Watcha doin' up there little fella?" Needless to say, it is a good thing I was sitting down by that point because if I hadn't been I might have fallen off the roof laughing.

We came home from Kindermusik on Monday night and Maxwell promptly sat down at his desk and said, "I'm thinking...I'm sitting at my desk and thinking". While I captured the moment on megapixel, (is that what you say when you take a digital picture? I didn't capture the moment on film so I'm guessing that is right), I'm determined not to include a picture on this post.

One final story--this one about Miller. After I got off work today we decided that I should meet Maria and the boys at Wal-Mart for some errands. I knew they would be in the kid's clothing area so I just walked back there and hid around a shelf of items. I then peaked out from behind the shelf and Miller caught my eye. I thought it might be fun to play peak-a-boo with him. When he didn't respond to that, I started walking toward him like I was going to tickle him (something we do at home all the time). Rather than smile and get excited, he promptly looked at me like I was a stranger, puckered his bottom lip out, and started wailing! Once I picked him up, he quickly calmed down though and from then on kept smiling at me as we walked around the store.

Enough randomness from me for one post. Have a great day!