Fall Pictures

About a month ago, Justin and I took the kids to JC Pennys to take advantage of a great offer they were having.  For $14.99, I got a free sitting, a 8x10 print, and three images on a disc!  This was the first time they have offered this deal and I hope they will again in the future.  I had taken them kids the week before to Dina Ivory for their 1 year and 4 year pictures so I wasn't sure what they should wear for this photo session.  I was going to do a casual look, but then I decided their smocked pumpkins outfits would be cute since they can dress casual anytime of the year.

I loved the way they turned out!

Happy Fall!

Thanksgiving 2013 and a side of Pneumonia

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year although it was different than usual.  This week has been rough for Mason.  On Monday, he woke up with a fever at daycare so he went home early.  On Tuesday afternoon, his temperature jumped up to 105.5 which is the highest it has ever been for either one of our kids.  It scared us, but after we gave him Motrin and put him in a cool bath, his temperature went down to 103 and then stayed around 101, so we just monitored him the rest of the night. I thought he just had a virus, but once again on Wednesday afternoon his fever jumped up to 104.5 so we immediately went to CHP Urgent Care.  They diagnosed him with Pneumonia, gave him a shot of antibiotics and sent us home with another prescription of antibiotics.  Most of our week has been spent holding and rocking Mason during the day and night.  We are all ready for him to feel better!

Cousin Camden has also been sick this week with congestion and an ear infection so we didn't get to see him yesterday.  Mimi and Papa were out of town too, so we had a very quiet Thanksgiving this year at my parent's house.  We enjoyed a wonderful lunch with Uncle Jordan and Aunt Katie, my parents and Nanny.  It was fantastic as always - turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, macaroni & cheese, collard greens, field peas, gravy, cranberry sauce and crescent rolls.  Yummy! My mom did a wonderful job preparing our Thanksgiving feast - thank you!

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Mason's Saturday Morning Shower

I posted this on Facebook a couple weeks ago but I wanted to share it on my blog too.  A few Saturdays ago, I turned on the shower and walked out of the room for a few minutes.  When I came back, someone had beat me in there...

He was having a great time until I took him out.  

I had no idea he was strong enough the push the door far hard enough to squeeze into the shower but now I know!  Anytime he hears that shower start, he shuffles as fast as he can on those chunky legs to beat us in the shower.  I never thought my one year old would love showers so much!

My 31st Birthday Weekend

This past Friday was my 31st birthday.  I took off Friday from work to have a "me" day and to have some needed alone time.  I did very minimal chores around the house so that I could spend most of the day working on my photo book, watching tv and browsing online.  It was wonderful and relaxing.  

Friday night, my parents had us over to celebrate with pizza and cake - two of my favorites!

Love the FSU colored cake from the Cake Shop - yummy!

Thanks, Daddy.

This picture makes me laugh because it's terrible of the boys and us girls look good.  How often does that happen?!

Saturday, Justin and I went over to Destin for a quick 24 hour getaway.  We went shopping, enjoyed a great dinner at the Crab Trap (one of our favorite restaurants) and stayed at the Hilton Sandestin Beach Resort for free by using all my rewards points.  I owe a big thank you to my parents for keeping the kids last weekend for us!  It was a great birthday and a fantastic start to my 31st year!

School Pictures - Fall 2013

The kids recently had their school pictures taken and I had to share.  Kate's turned out great, Mason had one good one and two that made me laugh, and their picture together was good too.

 

 My precious, crazy hair boy

(obviously this picture was before his first hair cut)

 These two pictures are terrible of Mason but funny at the same time. 

Sweet kiddos!

Mason's First Surgery

This morning at 6:30 am, we took Mason to the Red Hills Surgical Center to have tubes put in his ears.  Ever since he started daycare, poor Mason has had six ear infections in eight weeks and hasn't been able to get any relief.  As soon as he finishes a round of antibiotics, his ears flare back up in a matter of a couple days. 

It was a God thing that we got in so quickly with the ENT Specialist, Dr. Soto.  I had been told that Dr. Becker was great, but the earliest we could get in to see her was December.  When I called to make an appointment, the nurse said she had an opening the very next day with Dr. Soto and that her child went to him.  I took that as a sign from God and welcomed an appointment with Dr. Soto.  He was wonderful and very reassuring to me when he said Mason's case was extreme and that  he would recommend tubes if it were his own child.  I called Monday to schedule his surgery and surprisingly, they had an opening today.  Since I wouldn't have much time to dwell on it, I took the appointment.  Again, I believe it was a God thing that we were able to get this procedure done so quickly.  Poor Mason has been suffering so long and I want nothing more than to get his ears healed once and for all.  

 Being a sweet boy at the specialist's office.

 Waiting for surgery...

Mason had to go under general anesthesia for the procedure since he is so little, but he did great.  He was crying from the minute we took him back to the pre-op area until we put him in the car to go home, but the nurses and doctor's reassured us it was a normal reaction.  We had a rough night last night so I know he was tired, hungry and scared.  I was nervous, but I tried my best to hide all my emotions.  Thankfully, everything went smoothly and he is sound asleep in his crib now.  I hope the tubes work!

Halloween 2013

The kids had a big Halloween this year that started with Trunk or Treat at church Sunday night.  

 My little mermaid and pirate.

 Cousin Camden was a bear - so cute!

 Monday night, daddy carved our pumpkin that we had bought several weeks before.  I think both daddy and I had forgotten about it until then!  Better late than never...

 Kate helped daddy pick out the design - a cat! 

 Before and After

 Great job daddy!

 Thursday was finally Halloween!  My new agency puts on a big Halloween event for the kids to come and trick-or-treat.  Kate and Mason were a huge hit and they stocked up on enough candy for the entire year at that one event.

 Each building had a big set up in the lobby that the kids could go to each table and trick-or-treat and then in my building, the conference rooms were decorated on each floor up to the 5th floor.  We had a great time and I was excited to show off Kate and Mason to some of my co-workers.

The Halloween buckets Aunt Katie made for both of the kids - she's the best!

After the work event, Justin and I rushed the kids home to get ready to go trick-or-treating that night.  Justin had some last minute work to do, so I took advantage of the few minutes we had and took some pictures before we left.  I can't resist getting a few more pictures of my precious mermaid and pirate!

 

We made a quick stop at Nanny's house to trick-or-treat and then met up with Uncle Jordan and Aunt Katie, the Mundies and the Evans families at my parent's for a quick dinner before we all went trick-or-treating.  I owe my parent's a huge thank you for hosting us again this year! I love this tradition we have started and I hope it will continue.  We were suppose to meet up with the Sapps, Mullinaxs, Lasseters and several other families who were doing the hayride, but that group got so large and we were running late so we never saw them.  Maybe next year!  

 Group Picture!  

From left to right: Mason and I, Aunt Katie, Uncle Jordan, Camden, Daddy and Kate, The Evans Family: Rob, Shelbi and Drew, and the Mundie Family: Maclain, Katie, Maddox, Daniel and Miller 

And miraculously - a group picture of the kids (minus Drew).

We had a wonderful Halloween and we can't wait until next year!