November Photos & Our Trip

Well, we've been back in FL for almost 3 weeks now, and I'm finally getting around to letting people know about it! We are so thankful to be back, although we will miss our friends back in CA! Here's a photo slideshow of November photos and our trip cross country in our RV. The trip went really well, although kind of hurried, we had a great time! Most scenic shots were taken out the window, since we just couldn't stop whenever we wanted to enjoy God's creation! We were able to have a short visit with our friends the Seavers, and got to meet their twin girls finally! After about 11 days on the road in tight quarters, we were happy to make it to our new house! We'll send out more updates soon. Merry Christmas!!!

October Photos

In October we enjoyed Matthew being home a lot while job searching. We went to the little amusement park at the Santa Monica Pier and had a family ferris wheel ride. Matthew James said the "Scare-us Wheel"! We also went pumpkin-picking at Lombardi's Ranch. How fun! Clara's starting standing on her own this month.

September Photos

Here's Aug/Sept photos. We had a lot of firsts this month! The most exciting was Matthew James using the potty! Clara's eager to try it in these photos too! Enjoy!

Visit with the O's

Finally I'm getting back to posting our FL photos! Here's a clip of our visits with the O's! We had a great, relaxing time!

Our Florida Visit

Whenever Matthew's out of town (like tonight), I stay up WAY TOO LATE doing all those projects I never have time for. So, I just finished 4 slide shows, and only have 2 more to go (our time with the O's, and a surprise 1st for Matthew James... you'll have to wait and find out!!!) Come back soon to see more!!! Enjoy! (If you want to silence the music, just click on the volume icon on the top of the slideshow frame.)

Our Trip to the Beach with Grandad!

The Fedor's

The Bergstrom Bunch!

July Photos

June Photos!

Finally, some more photos! In June, Clara started finger feeding, and pulling up to her knees. Matthew James and Clara both love to swim! Matthew James does great with his schwimmflugels (water wings), thanks Grandad! Clara really enjoys the water too, that photo is just showing off her bottom two teeth! Then there are Father's day photos, and Matthew James enjoying his first bowl of chocolate ice cream, when he was sick! In the next few, Matthew James is painting his Thank You cards. The last few show Clara playing ball. She loves to play ball, just like her mom!

We're doing well and look forward to coming to FL tomorrow for a 3 week visit! I have another month of photos to post (& many videos), but those will have to wait till we get back!

Today was Clara's 1st Birthday! I can't believe it! More on that and photos to follow next month...

May Photos

Finally, some more photos! We had a busy month in May! Grandad Overholser came for a visit, and we went to Yosemite and the coast. It was a lot of fun! We did a little "hiking" up to the waterfalls, which Matthew James loved, and Clara was lulled to sleep! Later that month, I got to go to Texas with Clara to hang out with my good friends Joyce and Amanda. It was a refreshing girls weekend! Then, we got to spend a fun day with Aunt Shelly and Uncle Greg, when they came to Cali for a wedding.

Matthew James in April

Matthew James turned 2 in April! Here are a few photos of him that month. Thank you all for the presents! He's still working on his thank-you's! Here he is opening a few. In one, he's with his best friend and neighbor, Ethan. Ethan gave him a bubble mower, since Matthew James would always steal his! Oh, and Matthew James knows what to do with mascara. Uh-oh, I left it in his reach! We'll put his birthday video up soon!

Clara in April

Here's photos of Clara in April. Isn't she big! Some firsts that month (8 months) was tummy crawling, navigating her walker to get the toys she wanted, and "driving"! She is the sweetest little thing! I love the photos of her and "her friend" in front of the mirror!

Clara, 7 & 8 Months

Here's Clara at 7 months old, wearing our family's heirloom baby dress. It was hand crocheted by her great, great, great grandmother and worn by 4 generations! In the photos with the hat, she is 8 months old. What a happy girl!

Anabel Jade

Introducing Dylan and Alysia's new daughter Anabel! Anabel Jade was born January 28th. It was so fun to get to see her! She is precious! She was wide awake for all the "sleepy newborn photos" we took!

Our Florida Visit

Here's random photos from our FL trip. It was so good to see you all! When I was preparing these, whenever Matthew James would see photos of his cousins, he'd say, "Aiden!" (or "Nanna", Adeline or Ellie!) He was excited to see them, although you wouldn't know it from the photos! Adeline, Ellie, and Aiden were the most attentive and caring cousins... but Matthew James wanted to be left alone! Aren't the cousins in the matching dresses and shirts cute? Wendy made those dresses and accessories! It was very challenging to get 7 kids ages 6 and under in one good photo!

Just "x" out the music video box to reduce it's size, or if you want to turn off the music, click the bottom, right hand volume symbol. I'll update the March photos in the next few day!

February Photos

Here's a slide show of our family's photos taken in February. The first few are of Clara... trying to squeeze out of her crib. "Hey brother, can you give me a hand?" Then Clara's all cute and smiling on our way to her 6 month checkup. After that, we have an afternoon with Matthew James. He's climbing, exploring, and talking to Daddy on the phone. He loves talking on the phone, and is so serious while doing so! As you can see, he's more into talking than listening since his hat is covering his ears! He also "roams" while talking, just like we do when we're on the phone! He's constantly talks to us seriously... in long sentences... and we have no idea what he's talking about (still babble, although he says a lot of words, his sentences don't make sense yet!) Then the photos are of Matthew and Matthew James on a typical Saturday morning. They often hang out and make pancakes (or as Matthew James says "cake-cakes"!) Then there are pictures of Daddy giving Clara her first Valentine's present... a balloon! Then our little cowboy... in Daddy's boots. Don't they look so much alike? Next are photos of Matthew James with Uncle Stephen, or "Gunkle", as Matthew James calls him! We had fun when he came to visit! At the end, Clara is in her "Johnny-Jump-Up" for the first time... she loved it!

Balancing!

Clara & Daddy

Clara's balancing now too!

Scootering!

Matthew James on his scooter! It took him a couple weeks to learn how to do it the right way.

The Potty

Here's Matthew James on the potty for the first time!

Clara Eating

Clara started to eat rice cereal last week.

Tomatoes from our Garden

Our Big Boy!

Matthew James is getting so big! He's 21 months now. Here he is on the potty for the first time! No, he wasn't successful, but sure enjoyed the attention! Matthew and I really tried to make sitting on the potty a fun and special time! We'll let you know how it goes!





Helping Mommy cook:



Here's Matthew James calling for backup after a very difficult lunch (click on the photos to see what I mean). He did not want to eat his carrots, no matter what! Recently he's decided he doesn't like veggies, so I have to be creative in how I present them. Do you like his accessories?




It rained here for about 5 days straight! So, when it stopped raining, Matthew James went straight for the mud! Look at him roar!

Our Little 6 Month Old!

Here's our little Clara, getting so big! What a happy girl! Don't you just want to scoop her up, squeeze and kiss her? That's what we love to do!

Clara's rolling over and enjoying playing with any toys she can get hold of. She's started sucking on her feet yesterday!

Our Munchkins!

Here's Matthew James playing with his doll "Bebe", he calls her. When he goes down for a nap or at night, he says "Bebe, Bebe?" in such a sweet little soft voice, while looking for her. We think he plays with her and it keeps him from sleeping as well, but who could refuse that sweet request? You'll notice she doesn't have clothes on. If she is dressed, he spends time trying to take off her dress, and put it back on, instead of sleeping, so we keep her clothes off. This is the doll we got him to prepare to be a big brother. He loved his dolly from the beginning, and carries her around a lot. He started taking her to bed with him for extra security when we were trying to have him sleep in his "big boy bed", a toddler bed. He did it a few times, but hasn't wanted to again in a few weeks. He also says "Wheresit?" as he holds his arms open, looking for things.

I was putting Clara to sleep the other night when Matthew wasn't home yet. It's difficult to keep Matthew James entertained and out of her room, when I'm trying to keep it quiet before I lay her down. I told him to go get his favorite toy, and he came back a few seconds later, huffing and puffing, while pushing the whole basket of toys to me! I put him in his pack-n-play with the whole basket, and he kept quiet!





Here is Clara's crib (was Matthew James'), and photos of me getting her after a nap. She's so happy now! She was patient with me for a while, then got annoyed and cried, then decided to ignore me and go back to sleep! We're happy she's a thumb sucker while she sleeps... it really helps! I'll put more photos of her up soon. She is really always smiling (since you can't see that in these). When anyone talks to her, she gives them the biggest open-mouth smiles! She's rolling over now, and Matthew James likes to put toys in her hands. He gets a kick out of her smiling and putting whatever it is in her mouth!

Christmas Time

Finally, Our Wedding Photos!!!

Well, we celebrated our 5th Anniversary this month! My gift for Matthew was our wedding photos... finally! I was never happy with them, and since they were shot on film, I couldn't do much about it, until recently. I had them all turned into digital files, and then could "fix" them (cropping and color mostly). So here's a peek at our beautiful wedding day 5 years ago...

Merry Christmas!

When wanting to watch a video clip, please click the bottom left play button. Selecting the center button will bring you to YouTube, and you don't need to view the video there. Enjoy!

To see any photos, select the month tabs to the right. For example, anything we posted in December, will be on the December page.

Saturday morning ride in the mountains

Matthew's Mountain biking

Matthew loves to go out riding his mountain bike in the mountains around here. He sees bobcats, and weird lizards, and even tarantulas sometimes!

Mashed Potatoes!

Decorating the Christmas Tree 2007

Matthew James, Daddy, and Clara

The Wedding

Here's a peek at Sarah & Eddie's wedding photos... more to follow soon!

Our Historic Home's for Sale!

Our Florida Visit!

Here's some photos from our FL visit last month! We had a busy 8 days there, and lots of fun! It was so good to see you all, but we wish it were longer. Melissa, thank you for your beautiful photos! Photos from Sarah's wedding will be up soon.

Our Happy Girl!

Clara is such a sweet and happy baby! Right around 3 months she got out of the fussy funk she was in and is now 4 months and all smiles! She flashes these big smiles so easily! When Matthew James was that age we had to really work to get them! She is very social and coos and laughs a lot. She found her hands last week, and now stares at them and bats at toys. She's rolling over too!


Clear the runway, here comes Clara!"Mom, you know that isn't my best angle! They're gonna see my bald spot!"
"Whew, that was a workout!"

Like Father, Like Son!

Here Matthew James is helping Matthew assemble the new smoker. Matthew said he looked over, and saw Matthew James needed no instruction. He had filled every little hole with a screw, whether it needed one or not!





"Yep Mom, they are dirty!"

Mountain Men and a Monkey

Here's Matthew and Matthew James on the bike, heading out to the trails!

Our little monkey was a monkey for halloween and found trick-or-treating to be confusing. Why do we keep knocking on doors and then not go in??? After a few houses, when an older, friendly looking man answered, he went right on it!

Sweet Siblings

Matthew James loves his sister! The other day he was crying, and when a toy would usually have diverted his attention and fixed it, Clara did! I asked him if he wanted to hold Clara, and he said "Please"! He climbed into my lap, and held Clara, and we did "This little piggy..." on her toes. He loved that! He has always enjoyed holding her, but now he tries to pick her up on his own, and hold her on his shoulder. I help him and he pats her back, just like I do to both my babies! Usually when I say, "say Clara", he says "sissy". But today he said Clara on his own!

No mouth, Matthew James! Clara bites!

Getting So Big!

Matthew James is 19 months (18 months in these), and getting So Big! He says more new words, like one, two, three, out, down, juice, sissy (for sister), and cacky (for cracker), cookie, and cruck (for truck, duck, or anything else he doesn't know the word for)! His new favorite activity is climbing on things. He can now climb onto the kitchen chairs, and is quite proud when he gets up there himself (although he isn't allowed to stand on them like he wants)!


"Fixing" his bike with Daddy's tools!
His favorite item of the day that day was toothpaste. It went everywhere with him! Usually it's some random object that he carries around all day with him, and sometimes even naps with! Recently he took a lint-roller to nap!

Another cookie photo! He really doesn't get cookies very often (not "real" cookies as much as animal crackers), I just think he's so cute when he eats one!

October Photos

Matthew James is 18 months today! We've really noticed how big he is getting and all that he is learning! He repeats a lot of what we say, and follows directions so nicely! He understands much more than we even realize! Some of his words he's been saying recently: All done, danger, doggie, please, cheese (his favorite food ever!), puc (cup backwards!), and agua (water in spanish). He understands Matthew's Spanish, and follows directions, but seems to prefer English.

Clara is 12 weeks, and has been a handful! She isn't the easy baby Matthew James was! Melody's been struggling to know how best to care for her, and is making some progress. She is much chubbier than Matthew James ever was, and much more social too! She smiles so easily and "coo's" up a storm! She really is sweet when she's not fussy! Here's Matthew greeting her after work. She loves her Daddy and smiles for him quicker than for anyone else! (You can click on any of these photos to see them larger.)



Here's Matthew James taking a stroll in the pumpkin patch!
Melody is the best at getting Clara to sleep! Clara is so cuddly and prefers to be held while sleeping= a problem!

Here she is again, smiling at Daddy! She's 8 weeks here:

Matthew James has been great with Clara, and usually doesn't mind how much time Melody is with her during the day. In fact, he enjoys his "free time" sometimes! Like the other day, Melody went upstairs to put Clara down for a nap. She put up the baby gate at the stairs so he didn't follow her up. She heard him downstairs playing, which was nice, since he usually stands at the gate the whole time, calling out to her. Melody was gone up there for about 10 minutes, while Matthew James was quiet downstairs. When she was finished and halfway downstairs she saw Matthew James, standing in the dark laundry room, drop-jawed. He had a big cookie in his hand, and there were 9 others on the floor, each with little bites out of them! He made his way into the pantry and opened the variety cookie pack, just to sample them all before settling on a peanut butter cookie! Melody had left the door ajar and Matthew James seized the opportunity! Melody let him have the cookie, and tried not to let him see her laugh!

Here are some cookie photos:

Matthew James is 17 months old in these:
Look at that belly!

Chasing the neighborhood cat:

Clara at 8 weeks in the baby bag Aunt Darla made!


Our happy girl!

New Life in California!!!

Finally, photos for you all to see! We thought this blog would be the best way to keep our family and friends, who are way too far away, closer! Here is what's going on in our life in California! Check this site (http://overholserfamily.blogspot.com) once a month to see the latest!
Here's a look at our house here in California. We've really enjoyed living in this neighborhood. It seems like there's always kids to play with and people to meet out front of our house, which faces a community gazebo area.

Here's Matthew James! What a happy boy and such a joy to us!

He is 14 months here (now almost 17 months), and walking!!!



And our newest joy, is a GIRL!!!


Clara!!! Clara Elizabeth Overholser was born July 28th, at 7:11a.m. She weighed 6lb.5oz/ and was 20in. long. She came a few weeks early and surprised us all! We had her at home, in the bathtub! The "water birth" went very smoothly and quickly... although we didn't really plan to have her in the water! Our midwife and friend, Donna Barlow, got to our house just in time, and she was born 25 minutes later! Donna did a great job and midwife Sue Turner helped out and took great photos! Here are some:












Proud Daddy with his TWO babies! Matthew James is a proud big brother!

Here is Midwife Donna with Clara (who is actually 6 weeks in this photo).

Daddy and Donna doing Clara's footprints on the birth certificate. Matthew James helped out too!



Sweet little feet!

This is how Clara was weighed!


Here Matthew James opens a "big brother present" from Aunt Carol! Thank you all for your gifts for Clara and Matthew James! We are so thankful to have such sweet family and friends!

"What is it, Matthew James?"


"Uh-Oh!!!" Mommy had her hands full before help arrived!!! Matthew James had fun getting into trouble while she was feeding Clara!

Matthew James and Daddy have been spending a lot of "guy time" together taking walks and riding Daddy's mountain bike!


"Oh-dee" is one of Matthew James' words of discovery, when he sees something he's interested in. He also says "Oh-see", daddy, mom, momma, mommy, hot, ball, and bampa! He copies words we say sometimes, and then says more complex words, like "tickle, tickle!" (or at least we think so!)


Finally! Aunt Ruth arrived, 4 days after Clara was born! What a big help she was!

"Be gentle, Matthew James."


Clara was so sleepy for the first few weeks of her life! It started rubbing off on everyone!

We had a great time visiting with Aunt Ruth!

Ruth took some great photos of Matthew James while here:


Playing in the pool with Aunt Ruth! Matthew James loves to swim!

Hey, Blue Eyes!

Thank you, Aunt Ruth!

Grandma and Grandpa Fedor came for a visit when Clara was 3 weeks!

Matthew James had so much fun with his Grandparents! After they left, he was saying "Bam-pa", for Grandpa!

"Isn't that guy funny?!"


A parrot in the pool!!!

"Did you see that, Momma? He's on my float!!!"

Melody's handsome boys!

"Clara... you've got some growing to do!"


"Mom... not another picture!"


Grandma and Matthew James went on walks in the morning, then had breakfast together, while Mommy was with Clara.

Our little girl is already getting chubby at 4 weeks!

Matthew James is working on getting chubby too! "Thanks for the batter, Grandma!"


"This book is great!" This is the first time Matthew James sat and listened to a whole story, without trying to open and close the book the whole time!

"Hey Daddy, isn't she cute?"

What a sweet brother! This is how he "gives kisses", by resting his head on hers. Sometime he comes towards her a little too quickly, and we prevent head butting!

Matthew James' favorite thing in the world... playing rough with his Daddy!


Look at that smile! She's been smiling from the very beginning!

Any resemblance?

We thought the following series of photos was funny. Here we're trying to take a family photo... I'm sure all of you with children understand...










Momma and Clara resting


Clara loves to sleep like this! She'd do it all day, if we let her!

Daddy and daughter!


Here Clara was wearing her "keepsake bonnet", from Grandma Meuzelaar. She wasn't too happy about it!




Here's our sweet Clara at 6 weeks. How precious she is!

Mountain Biking Men!

This morning we headed out into the mountains. I was pedaling and Matthew James was in the trailer behind my bike. He enjoyed it and even fell asleep on some of the longer climbs. We go like this several times per week and he really doesn't get THAT dirty. ~Matthew