Christmas Lights!

 

Friday night, while daddy was hunting, the kids and I met Gigi, Granddaddy, Uncle Jordan and Aunt Katie for dinner and then we went to Dorothy B Oven park to see the Christmas lights. Kate loved every minute of it and Mason was just along for the ride.

 

Kate recently watched Rudolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer and has become very interested in anything involving reindeer.  Mrs. Betsy gave her a Rudolph stuffed animal last year with a book and she has been carrying around that Rudolph ever since I got out our Christmas decorations.

 

When we arrived at the park, Kate was so excited to see the reindeer and to get her picture taken with every single one. 

 

Mason decided he didn't want to stay in the stroller - he wanted to see the lights too.

 First reindeer of the night...

 I had to ask her to stand beside the candy cane.

 And back to the reindeer...

 

We pulled Kate away from the reindeer for a change of scenery, but it didn't last long because on the way out of the park...

 more reindeer!

 Meanwhile, Gigi and Granddaddy sat with Mason and enjoyed the carolers.

We all had a great time looking at the Christmas lights! Thanks to everyone for the great evening - Kate is still talking about it.

Winter Festival 2012

Saturday night we enjoyed another Tallahassee Winter Festival parade from the wonderful view at the Tennyson.  Once you see the parade from that spot, it's hard to ever go back down on the street with the crowds. 

 

This year my parents, Uncle Jordan, us all enjoyed the parade and Kate was lucky to have Audrey and Mr. Raymond join us too! The girls were beside themselves with excitement and there's not too many pictures to share because Kate kept putting her hand up and telling us "I'm trying to watch the parade!". I guess she was tired of her personal paparazzi constantly asking her to turn away from the parade and smile.

Little girls in their fashionable glitter boots - too cute!  They were glued to the balcony during the parade.

Love this picture since it captured Audrey personality and Kate looks confused.

Mason enjoyed being held almost the entire time during the parade.  He hung out with Uncle Jordan and Granddaddy inside (watching football).

 

We are looking foward to many more Christmas activities in the next several weeks!

18 Questions with Kate (3 years old)

I saw this idea on Betsy's blog and meant to ask Kate these questions on her birthday.  With everything going on, I forgot, but I took advantage of her chatty disposition during bath time last night and asked her the following questions. 

18 Questions with Kate (3 years old)

1. What is your favorite color? Pink
2. What is your favorite toy? Princess Dress
3. What is your favorite food? Chicken Nuggets
4. What is your favorite tv show? Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Fruit Snacks
6. What is your favorite outfit? Minnie Mouse shirt
7. What is your favorite animal? Elephant
8. What is your favorite song? Pontoon (Little Big Town)
9. What is your favorite book? Edwina the Emu
10. Who is your best friend? Audrey
11. What is your favorite movie? Tinkerbell Movie
12. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Play with the beach ball
13. What is your favorite drink? Milk
14. What is your favorite holiday? Halloween
15. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Kitty
16. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Cereal Bar (only the Kashi brand to be exact)
17. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Chick-fil-A
18. What do you want to be when you grow up? Not going to grow up

It'll be interesting to see how these answers change over time!

1 Month Appointment

Today was Mason's one month checkup.  Thankfully there were no shots at this appointment, but there will be at his two month and four month checkups. We had a great conversation with Dr. Elzie where I asked about his bad sleeping habits, but unfortunately there's not much I can do since he's still so little.  It is so tiring that Mason will fall asleep on one of us and then wake up as soon as we put him down, but he doesn't have the capability to self sooth right now so "crying it out" isn't an option until he's about four months old or so.  That seems like an eternity from now, but hopefully the nights will get a little easier before then.  On the bright (and blessed) side, we have a healthy baby boy!

 

Here are Mason's stats from his appointment - I had guessed he would be in the upper percentiles, but I'm a little sad about how big he is already.

 

Head Circumference: 38.2cm, 50th percentile

Height: 22.5 inches, 75th percentile

Weight: 11 lbs 10 oz, 95th percentile (wow!)

 Waiting at the doctor - he was a perfect angel.

 

My chunky monkey.

I need a shirt for Mason that says "large and in charge".

Thanksgiving and My 30th Birthday!

Today was a great day - it was Thanksgiving (one of my favorite holidays) and it was my 30th birthday!  I have been so busy with Kate and Mason that I haven't had much time to dwell upon the fact that I was turning 30.  It sounds so strange to say - "Thirty".  I remember when I was in high school I would think, "I wonder what my life will be like when I'm 30 - will I be married, will I have kids and if so how many, will I have a house, what will my profession be, etc."  I don't know what was magical about that age, but I guess I thought I would have my life figured out by then. Now that I am thirty, my life is pretty much all I had hoped it would be.  The one thing I would change is my profession (I'd like to be a stay at home mom), but other than that I have no complaints.  I have a wonderful husband who I love very much, two beautiful children that bring so much joy to my life, the best family and wonderful friends.

 

I'm thankful today for all the many blessings in my life and I'm thankful for the opportunity to celebrate Thanksgiving and my birthday with my family.

 Thank you Aunt Katie and Uncle Jordan for my monogrammed rain jacket - I love it!

 Thank you mom and dad for my monogram necklace! 

 

I also got birthday cards and a little spending money from Nanny, my parents and Justin's family.  Kate helped me open all my gifts and cards and she immediately gave my spending money to Justin - hmmm.  He said he was going to hold it in escrow for when the bill comes in for the birthday gift I ordered myself this morning (an iPad!).

 

 

Tomorrow night Justin is taking me on a date night to celebrate my birthday and I'm really looking forward to it!

 Uncle Jordan and Aunt Katie.

Nanny and the kids. 

Mason got a lot of loving from Nanny today since she was willing to hold him and he is always willing to be held.

 My little turkey.

 Helping mommy blow out the birthday candles - it's a serious job.

 Family picture.

  Gigi and Granddaddy, thank you so much for a wonderful Thanksgiving meal and birthday celebration!

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

One Month Old!

Mason is one month old!  He is a little more challenging than Kate was at this age, but Justin and I are quickly learning the difference between his needs and his preferences.  

• My little man is growing fast.  He is already out of newborn clothes and is now in size 1 diapers.  Several 0-3 month clothing is still too big on him but there are certain brands that fit him great (Just One Year by Carters and Gerber).  I think he is around 10 pounds already (Kate was 10 pounds when she was 3 months old) but we don’t go to the doctor for his one month appointment until next Monday. 

• I’m nursing, but Mason is a big boy with a big appetite.  I try to stretch feeding time out to every two and a half to three hours and usually Mason will stick to that schedule, but it isn’t uncommon for him to decide to eat within two hours.

• Sleeping is the biggest challenge and the night time is my least favorite part of the day, only because I never know how it's going to go.  Justin is always willing to help, but there’s only so much he can do so I try to let him sleep as much as possible.  If it were up to Mason, he would be held all day long, which includes while he sleeps.  It’s amazing how he will be sound asleep on you and the second we put him down, he wakes up crying.  We struggled with swaddling him, but after forcing it several times, Mason seems to have adapted.  He definitely doesn’t like it as much as his sister did, but at least now he is sleeping in his bassinet and not on his daddy at night.

• The car seat is Mason’s least favorite thing.  We wait until the last minute to put him in the car seat and it’s not uncommon for him to cry until we get to our destination.  Sometimes he falls asleep on the way or there has been a rare occasion where he doesn’t cry at all – but those have been few and far between.  The mornings seem to be the best time to get out with him, but there have been a couple mornings that I regretted leaving the house.  As difficult as it can be to get out, I think it would be worse if we never left.     

 

• Bath time has become one of his favorite things.  He can be crying and as soon as we turn on the faucet, he stops.  It’s funny how content he is to hang out in the bathtub – just relaxing.  I leave him in the tub until the water gets cool and he never likes it when I take him out. 

I’m struggling with getting a routine established and it might still be a little early.  I read and re-read the Baby Wise book every couple days to make sure I’m on the right path to getting a schedule created but it’s still a work in progress.
 

Kate loves her little brother and she reminds me that she’s a big sister.  Thankfully his crying doesn’t seem to bother her and in the car, she’ll talk to him and say “It’s ok Mason”, trying to console him.  It’s going to be fun watching them interact the older he gets. I love my sweet little boy and can’t imagine life without him!

 

I took this picture next to his giraffe - a gift from Mailin.  Every day I put him in his crib for a little time to "talk" to his friend like I did with Kate.  Some days he lasts several minutes and other days he doesn't have anything to say.

 

One Month Old!

 

We love you Mason!

Saturday Fun and Bath Tub Time!

Today the kids and I went to Bradley's Fun Day with my parents and Aunt Katie, something we do every year.  This year was just as fun although we didn't buy any crafts - just food! Kate was a little more of handful than usual (I think she was tired) and we discovered she is still scared of Santa like she was last year.  Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus were at Bradley's and Kate wanted nothing to do with them. We told her that she didn't have to see Santa but that Mason was going to see him this year and she insisted neither she nor Mason were going to sit on Santa's lap this year.  We will see...

 

After doing a little browsing through the crafts, we went across the street to the kids section.  The first thing Kate asked to do was a pony ride so we bought her a ticket and picked out a horse.  We only made it once around the loop when Kate started shouting "I'm done, I'm done!" and she let go of the saddle and reached for me. 

 

Next, Kate wanted me to ride the train with her, which we did, and this time she lasted through the entire ride.  We tried to get her to go in the bounce house, pet the animals, paint her face or go on the inflatable slide, but none of that interested her.

 

All in all we had fun and Mason slept through the entire event (thank goodness!).

First pony ride

 

 Train ride with Mommy

 

 

Reading stories before nap time

 

And the grand finale for Mason today was taking a bath in his bath tub for the first time.  Up until now, I had been giving him sponge baths which he did not like.  I waited longer to submerge him in water due to his belly button.  Although his cord fell off on Halloween, the area looked infected so we had to treat it another week or so with antibacterial ointment as an extra precaution.  It has since healed so I decided tonight was the night to try out the tub.  And the outcome was not one tear and I even got a couple smiles!

  Loving bath time!

 

 Hard to believe I'm going to have to do a one month post next week - where had the past four weeks gone?  I'm trying to soak up every moment with my sweet little boy but I can't help but think every day that goes by is one more day closer to when I have to go back to work.  I need a miracle...