BIG changes happening!

Yesterday was such a special day for me... it marked my FIRST Mother's Day and, more importantly, the FIRST time Mason pulled himself to a stand!

We spent a low-key afternoon with my parents. We were just hanging by the pool and playing in the sun when, all of a sudden, Mason pulled himself to a stand for the first time! He was playing in his little "house" and discovered that if he held on to the two flower stems he was able to pull himself up to a stand. I think he surprised himself, he had the cutest look of disbelief but burst into big smiles when everyone starting clapping and cheering for him!

While, of course, the best gift is a happy, healthy 8 month old, I got lots of little goodies yesterday to mark my first mother's day. My gift from Mason was a sweet card and a stepping stone he "made" with his footprints and his name. My gift from Brent was probably one of the most touching gifts I've ever received - his great-grandmother's diamond. Brent's Grandmother (Nana) was such a wonderful woman and he was so close to her. She left us way too early - a week after our wedding. We wish she could have been a part of Mason's life. She was such a sweet woman who brought joy to all those around her. Many of you know that Mason's middle name - Menken - is a tribute to her and a way for us to have some part of her in Mason's daily life. To have such a special family heirloom is such an honor.  We are going to have the jeweler who designed our wedding bands create a new setting for it. I will post a picture when it is done. I can't wait!

I have been a horrible blogger, my last real post was 2 months ago. And my goodness how much has changed since then! Mason is so active and alert. He is always so content and happy no matter where we drag him. He loves going to Gymboree on Saturdays and singing songs and playing with his baby friends.  He started recently waving and it has quickly become our favorite "trick"!  (Yes, we have turned into THOSE parents who think that everything their child does is so cute!)  He clenches his hand and waves backwards. And we haven't quite made the connection of waving for "Hi's" or "Bye's" - its more of a random thing - but we sure are proud!

After lugging around the infant carrier for 8 long and increasingly heavy months, we have finally transitioned Mason into his big boy carseat.  He seems to like it - it is much bigger than the infant seat so he sprawls out. Only downside, it doesnt have the neck support of an infant seat so when he falls asleep in the car, which he does nearly ever cartrip, he looks so uncomfortable!

We also recently got a fun hand-me-down from our friends Will and Annie Michels - the Red Car!And BOY does he love this thing!  We take it on walks all over the neighborhood and he loves "driving" I think its because hes down closer to Fisher and feels like he is walking with him.  Here is a picture of him the first day we got it:

The Easter Bunny came!

We had a wonderful time celebrating Mason's first Easter!

He visited the Easter Bunny ....

Got lots of PRESENTS from the Easter Bunny....

We even made it to church... which is difficult to do with an 8 month old. Mason and Daddy hung in the back with Blake and his Daddy while I was able to enjoy part of the Easter Service. We spent the rest of the day celebrating with family.

6 months

I'm a bad blogger - its been such a long time since my last post, however we have had so much going on its been hard to find the time!

Our sweet baby is now six months old! He has mastered the art of sitting up independently and rolling over. He is trying his hardest to crawl, but not quite there yet. And, trust me, I'm more than okay with that! Our house is no where near "baby proof."  I guess its something to add to the to-do list!

Six Month Checkup

We went for his six month check-up with Dr. Didea on February 25, which went great.  We are so blessed to have a healthy baby who is developing right on target. He got six more shots (unhappy baby = an even unhappier mommy). Good news is we have a three month break (as opposed to two) before we have to get the next round. Phew!

His six month "stats":
Height - 25 1/2" (25%)
Weight - 17 lbs, 13.5 ozs (55%)

So many other happenings in February and March, I'll try to recap them all:

Happy Birthday Blake!


We had a blast at Blake's first birthday party. It was at Blake's Gymboree and we got to play with all of our friends. Loved the parachute and the birthday candle slide. Such a fun day!

Water Boy


Mason has been swimming several times and seems to have developed a love for the water already. This comes as a great relief to his father, who would live on a boat and fish all day long if I would let him!

Gymboree


Mason and I go to Gymboree class every Saturday. I've been taking him since he was two months old and its so fun to see him recognize his teacher Miss Michelle and get excited for certain things. He has several baby friends in the class he loves to place with and, most recently, our buddy Liam signed up! I enjoy going too, its also a great forum to be able to talk to other parents with babies the same age.

Chili Cook-Off


We attended the annual Baldwin Park chili cook-off with the McCulloughs and the Schaedels. It was a hot day, but the men loved being able to eat lots of chili and drink beer in the open field.

Thanks Uncle Bobby for carrying me! I'm getting too heavy for my mom.

That's all for now... Back to tax returns! Promise to post again soon.

Mickey!

We took Mason to Disney for the first time this past weekend. He loves watching "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" on TV so we thought Mason would love to meet him in person! We stayed out at the Contemporary Hotel - had a nice dinner Saturday night and rode around on the monorail. We woke up bright and early Sunday morning to have breakfast with the characters. Mason was so cute. His eyes would get big and wide when one of the characters would come up to him. Here are some pictures of our fun morning!

We have a fun weekend coming up... 6 month pictures & Blake's first birthday party! Pictures to come

The best thing ever...

I just HAD to share this... This is Mason belly laughing to this toy penguin my sister gave him for Christmas!

A New Year...

Happy New Year! 2011 has been good to our family so far. Mason continues to be a healthy, happy baby. He is the light of our life - I don't know how we ever lasted without him!

He is FIVE months old now... and in what feels like a constant state of growth and change!  I packed up two huge rubbermaid containers of newborn and 3 month onesies and they will be stored away until its time for the next one. Can't believe my little five month old is wearing 9 month clothes! My little chunky monkey :0)

He has transitioned to his big boy crib and is slowly adjusting.  He usually will go to bed around 8:30pm and snooze until 3:30am. I've been trying to help him learn to "soothe" himself back to sleep - I'll usually go in when he wakes up and try to offer him a binky and do the shoosh and pat.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.  I can't quite bring myself to do the "cry it out" method.  What can I say, I'm a softie for my little man.  Anyways, I think we are making progress.  We have had some successes where he will sleep until 7:30am... Those nights you think I would sleep so well, but I feel like I'm constantly checking on him to make sure he's still breathing!

As I reported on my previous post, he has started solid foods which has been quite fun.  He has had rice cereal (NOT a fan), oatmeal (better than the rice, but still not his favorite) and bananas - which he LOVES!  My mom bought me the Baby Bullet for my birthday in my attempt to give him homemade, organic baby food.

He continues to steal our hearts - such a delightful baby to be around.  He is so easy going and fun to be with. I have been taking him to mommy-and-me classes at Gymboree since he was around 2 months old.  He loves his teacher Ms. Michelle and, of course, Gymbo the clown.  It is the best 45 minutes of my week - playing, singing and loving with Mason and his baby friends at class.

I need to upload some more recent pictures, but here's one from our recent dinner with the McCulloughs and the Schaedels... He literally fell asleep on Brent's lap!

One year ago today....

We found out the news that would forever change our lives... that we were pregnant!

Earlier in the week, we had lost our beloved dog Hunter unexpectedly and we both were taking it really hard.  My dear friend Kristen knew the toll that his loss was taking on me and wrote me the sweetest email and really put everything in perspective.  She said, "God has great plans for you to bring new life into this world.... hopefully sometime soon, and hopefully in the form of a human" (at the time, she was seven months pregnant and dying for one of the girls to join her!).  Her words must have stuck with me, because that night, I had a dream that I was pregnant.  I woke up the next morning (Brent was at work) and took an at-home test.  It showed two pink lines. I thought, this can't really be true.  So I took two more tests, each different brands.  Sure enough the words "Pregnant" came across the window. I was estatic! I had to actually read the words in order to believe it!! Not even ten minutes later, my mom unexpectedly stops by to drop something off.  She took one look at me and said, "You're pregnant."  I couldn't believe it! Was it written all over my face? Or was it a mother's intuition? I tried to brush her off, but I'm about the worst lier on the face of the planet, so my attempts were unsuccessful.  We shared a big hug and some tears, then I swore her to secrecy, since my own husband didn't even know yet!!

Over the past couple of months, I had thought up how I would break the news to Brent when I found out that we had conceived.  Of course all my cute ideas had gone completely out the window and when he stopped by for lunch, I was absolutely bursting at the seam to tell him so I just ended up blurting it out!! We were shocked that it happened so quickly but over the moon excited!

We decided we would wait to break the news to our family until we went to the doctor. Since it was NYE, the office was closed so we would have to wait until that Monday.  So I had a dry new years eve! I tried to avoid having any weird questions so I had my normal vodka, cranberry & orange cocktail - minus the vodka, of course!  Here's a picture from last NYE, with an unsuspecting Jeff & Jessica...

Oh my how the difference a year makes....