Summer 2018

Summer 2018

What a fun summer we’ve had! Last summer Mason would stay put wherever you happened to lay him down- and this summer he is walking all over the place! This summer can be described as joyful. When little children are around, hearing their giggles, watching them interact...it is pure joy.  And, I am so blessed to have the summer off to be with them making these precious memories.

Mia started gymnastics again and this time, Mason is wide awake during the whole time (last year he would sleep or just stay put in his stroller/car seat.) Mason has enjoyed watching Mia run and play in the gym and her skills are getting better and better. I am super impressed by her upper body strength and her balance. Although, when I ask her what was her favorite part of class- she mostly answered “when we played hide and seek”. Ha! There is another toddler boy about Mason’s age who has a sister in the same class as Mia so the boys have a chance to interact while we wait. They have books, legos, and occasionally a ball or two left out for siblings to play with. Mason mostly enjoyed the animal legos and climbing in all the chairs.

Other fun stuff in June:

-We played some at Hay’s Playground while the weather was still bearable. We met my college friends and all their babies for a playdate.

-Mia always misses her school friends- so we kept her enrolled in the summer for Wednesdays and Fridays(water day!)

-The train depot was fun, too. We also love to play at Biscuits Backyard, Library Story Time, and play at the mall. This year during Library Story time- Mia was very much interested in using the computers they have available for the kids. I think it was the first time she had practiced using a mouse since all we have at home are tablets and laptops. So, each time we went I let her play with the computer games to get her used to a mouse, then we would pick out books to check out, and stay for story time. We would usually have to take the craft to go because Mason had had enough by then and I couldn’t chase him while helping with glue sticks, etc. Mia has been telling Mason “No” for the things he does...but she says “No-ah”.

Trip to WPB/Cancun:

This year marks 10 years since we said “I do”. We’ve been planning since our Honeymoon to go back to Cancun for our 10 year anniversary. So, we drove to WPB dropped the kids off with family, and headed out for a 4 night stay in Mexico. It was very hard for me to leave my babies even for a few days, but we did have a really nice time and the kids had a blast with family. It was VBS week- so they were plenty busy. Sun Palace was just as nice as we remembered it 10 years ago- this time, they even had wifi. The front desk looked at us crazy when we asked if wifi worked all throughout the resort, even the beach. We enjoyed pedicures, a day pass trip to Moon Palace, and a romantic dinner on the beach. It was such a relaxing trip. We loved being able to close our eyes on the beach!

July:

The annual fire-n-ice event at Maysville happened again this year with a grand fireworks show and homemade ice cream. Mia stayed outside almost the whole time- which is record for her since she hates loud noises. Mason and I watched from the window, he did not want to be outside.

Quick facts this month:

Mia is getting better and better at swimming and getting her face in the water.  

Mia puts on shows for us at our fireplace with the “spot light” on for her stage.

Mia has been sleeping on our floor a lot- she falls asleep in her bed, then sometime in the middle of the night gets up and comes to our room to sleep on the floor until morning.

We sang, “He’s sweet I know” and at the end- Mia asked Who is sweet?

Mia told us the clean up fairy is coming to visit our house. I thought she was talking about herself being the fairy since I’ve been asking her to clean up after herself. Then she said, No the clean up fairy is right here and introduced me to an imaginary fairy.

Mason has started eating Mac n Cheese

Mason whispers Shhh when he wakes up in the morning so he will not wake up sister.

August:

Back to school time! Mia started PreK at her daycare. She was in Ms. Pam’s class for a little bit in the spring, but now is officially starting in the 4 year old class. She loves school, most days. She does not like nap and has been getting in trouble during nap time for disturbing others. Her favorite friend at school is Zach. Mia loves Piggie and Gerald books, playing dress up, and pretending. Her favorite pretend game lately is playing babies and I am the mom and Mason is the dad. One morning Mia sang, “and if the devil doesn’t like it he can sit on a tack Tuesday. Ha! The song lyrics are TO STAY not Tuesday. Devil better watch out for Tuesdays.

Mason is talking more and more. He can say Mommy, Daddy, sister, Mia, Amen, Bubbles, Tick Tock, Hi, Bar, and Ompa for Mickey. His favorite book right now is Dinosaur goes to sleep. He loves to be outside any chance he gets. It has been really hot, so he gets really mad when we can’t go out. He loves riding in his blue car and playing with his bubble lawn mower.

I love summer time. We had such fun days playing and being together. I already can’t wait until next summer! But, don’t rush it….the kids are already growing up too fast and I am trying my best to soak up every memory of every day. I am so grateful for the blessing of family.

Spring 2018

Spring time! Even though our winter has been pretty mild compared to some- we are always happy to see spring time arrive with its warmer temps and beautiful blooming trees.
March 2018
We celebrated Mason's first birthday! It was baseball themed. The invitations looked like baseball park tickets. We served hot dogs and hamburgers. I made cupcakes and Aunt Amber decorated Mason's smash cake that looked like a baseball. Of course, he didn't eat any of it. We did though...ha! Banana cake is yummy! Parting gifts consisted of cracker jacks, big league chew gumballs, and a mini baby ruth. It was a fun day!

Mason loves puppy dogs. He barks like a dog anytime he sees one. One time we were at Costco and he started barking. I thought that was weird since no dogs are around. Then I turned the corner and looked back to see that Mason was looking at the picture of a dog on the dog food aisle. Ha!
Mason says Granddaddy, peppa, daddy, and sista.
He loves Peppa Pig. He will not let you forget to say the prayer at the table. He folds his little hands when we all sit down. Many times, he hears the prayer at church and will fold his hands for a few seconds.
His favorite toy is the ball machine that was Mia's. Thanks to Grampa for fixing it for us while they were here for the birthday party.
At the end of March, we went to Lads to Leaders in Nashville, TN. We stayed in a perfect room at the Opryland hotel. It was perfect because there was a balcony that came in very handy. While Mason took his nap- Mia and I played on the balcony. Then later, when Mia took her nap- Mason and I played on the balcony. Daddy helped judge a few events and we watched a couple events. Mia participated in song leading- She led "Thank you, Lord" and did a fabulous job!

April
Mason is still gagging a lot with solid foods. We think it is a sensory issue and have figured out to serve him lots of variety of crunchy foods. He can eat very few things without throwing up. Watermelon and crackers are our go to items. He has been branching out to eat honeydew as well. But, he will not eat little chunks- he wants the whole piece to gnaw on.
Mia started swim lessons this month with Miss McKenzie. She's doing great and could be swimming on her own if she would just allow her face to get wet. I think Mia would be fine just going each week to talk to McKenzie instead of swim-lol. She's loving swim lessons and can't wait to Tuesday to come each week. We've been practicing in the bath tub getting her face wet - "diving for pennies". New goggles have really helped.
MASON IS SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!! Let me shout that out loud! Oh, how we've missed laying down at night and not getting up until sunrise. What a blessing sleep is and I am so proud that Mason is finally sleeping good and not waking until morning! We've had a few nights here and there with not waking up- but it's never lasted longer than 2 day stretches. However, recently, he's been pretty consistent going to bed around 8 and waking up around 7. Hallelujah!

May
Mason has been taking more and more steps. He started walking at the end of May- age 14 months.  Mason tries to whistle. It's cute and I wish I could get it on camera. Favorite toy is still the ball blowing machine (or the kitchen cabinets). He's getting more and more teeth. I think he has a mouth full now. But we joke saying he's got a mouth full of useless teeth- since he's not eating very good. One thing he loves is waffles. In particular, the cinnamon roll flavored Eggo Wafflers. We give them to him whole and he eats pretty much the whole thing- which is impressive. My mother's day card from the kids was a son asking his mom to make him a waffle. The inside read, "poof- you're a waffle". Mia thought the card was hilarious and read it to us.

Now that the school year is coming to an end, everyone is looking forward to summer! We're hoping to cram in as much as we can and still have a good balance of rest during the fun summer months!

Winter December 2017-February 2018

Been a long time since I posted......let's see if I can remember all that has gone on the past few months.

December 2017
Mason's First Christmas!
We took some family photos at a local studio and the ones of Mia and Mason turned out so precious. We were able to do all the fun Christmas time activities here like: Santa's Village, Supper with Santa, Office Christmas parties, Exchange club parties, Mia's school Christmas Program, Galaxy of Lights, etc. The way my school schedule worked out this year is we had a week off before Christmas Day- which was wonderful. We had "Christmas morning" at our house even though it wasn't the 25th. Santa brought Mia a doll house and Mason a 3 in 1 sports toy.

Then we made the journey to spend the holidays in Florida. We had so much fun! And as usual, we packed a lot to do in a short amount of time. We went to Hoffman's to see the light display, which we haven't done in years. We spent a lot of time outside with the beautiful weather. We ate breakfast almost every morning out on the porch and played a lot at the park. It's such a nice time in December getting away from the cold, it's hard to come back to winter in AL.

January
We didn't get much snow in January this year. Just a couple snow days- one with no snow and the other just had a dusting of snow. Mason and I got the flu in January and somehow Michael and Mia stayed well. It was a miserable couple of weeks.  Luckily, we were able to make the trip back down to Florida to celebrate Lucas' 1st birthday! Lots of fun at the park with a hungry caterpillar theme. We played outside a lot and we got to go to the fair. Mia loved it and Mason and Lucas enjoyed watching everything from their strollers.

February
The month of Mia's birthday! We had a great time at Pump it Up celebrating Mia turning 4. She loved all the jumpy things. We had a tinkerbell theme with cupcakes and décor/plates/napkins, etc.
Mason is getting more and more teeth.. However, they are a little useless because he gags at table food. (then usually vomits.)
Mason celebrated his 1st Valentine's Day- We went to Shogun with Michael's family and he loved watching the chef. Every February we go to Pigeon Forge, TN for CYC with Michael on the S.W.A.T. skits. They put on a great show with meaningful skit truths. It was unusually warm this year and we were able to walk around without freezing.

Some funny things that I kept in my notes section of my phone that I don't want to forget:
-Mia likes Dora and was saying "Who are we saving...Clap clap clap- La Princessa".
-Mia likes to have someone snuggle with her at night after we sing songs and say the prayer. It is usually Daddy who snuggles. He got real close to her to snuggle and she pushed him away saying, "No Daddy, you snuggle on your own side on your own pillow. Get off me Daddy."
-Mason is in the squealing stage. It is very high pitched. It's funny how fast the phases go by because as I type this, I remember thinking how long will he keep squealing so very loud? And now that I think about it, it has been a while and he growing up so fast- the phases fly by.

This blog post has been a whirlwind and I haven't even proof read it, but I don't want to stop blogging because these memories I will cherish a lifetime, even if it's written in a jumbled up mess. What a beautiful time in our lives watching children grow and discover the world around them. We are so very blessed. I love you, my lovie dovie and scuttie buddy.

Fall 2017

2017 Fall

September

We started rice cereal with Mason around 5.5 months. He didn’t really like it. So we waited a few days and tried squash. He liked it at first, but he is overall not that interested in solid foods. We are back in the routine of school, yet Mason is still not sleeping through the night. He usually will wake at midnight and sometime between 2-4am. Thankfully, he goes back to sleep pretty quickly after eating.

Some funny things Mia has said lately...she stubbed her toe-thumb. And she wonders if anyone at church will be bath-tized today.

Watching both children grow everyday is such a joy.  

October

Now Mason has 4 teeth at 6 months old. We were shocked to see the top two come in because he does not drool. He chews a lot and will be fussy, but no drool. Mason is now army crawling and gaining speed every day. He’s still not a fan of solid foods. Some Days he will gobble it down and others he could care less. He still nurses really well (if there are no distractions).

Mimi and Grampa came to visit for Fall Break. We enjoyed playing with beautiful weather the whole week! We took Mimi and Grampa to Guntersville for the first time. It was so fun!

For the Fall Festival at church, we dressed up as a family. Mia chose sleeping beauty. So, I was Maleficent, daddy was Prince Phillip, and Mason was the black bird that Maleficent has with her.  Mia was calling me Maleficent the whole day….”Maleficent, can you make me a snack. Maleficent, where are my shoes?”   She also calls my high heels “slippers”. She asked why I was wearing slippers to church. I guess her thinking is like the glass slippers Cinderella wears are like high heels. Too funny.

Oh by the way, we are still not sleeping through the night. It’s okay though, he is just so precious and our alone times at night are sweet.

Mason has had another cold this month. Poor thing. Taking him to the doctor today.  Turns out he had RSV. Mason was on breathing treatments every 4 hours to help him breath better. We had to turn on Dora or Diego to distract him while giving him the treatments, he didn’t like it.  

November

Mason now has 4 teeth on the top and 2 on the bottom. He is pulling up on furniture and toys. We had to lower his crib. He likes to peek through the crib bumper when he wakes up so he can see who comes in the door. We also had to trim his hair behind his ears this month. Just a small trim by Daddy. Mason's favorite toy is the walker (which he pulls up on). Mason has learned how to grit his teeth and he makes a new clicking sound.

Mia loves her baby brother. She has all kinds of nicknames for him. It is rare that she calls him Mason. It started with “Spechie” and has evolved to “Scuttie” or “Scuttie buddy”. Mason thinks is hilarious so she continues to talk to him in her own made up language. I guess it’s her version of goo goo gah gah. One night while saying prayers before bed, Mia was praying….”thank you for Mommy, Daddy, Jesus, and Mason...ooohhh scuttie scuttie scuttie”. We laughed.

We love you Scuttie Buddy! You've brought so much joy to our family and each day is so rewarding when we are all home together as a family in the evening.

I try to keep record of little things that I don’t want to forget as my children grow up. This month’s little memory I want to record is the sound that Mia’s socks make when she walks across the house. The little no skid pads make a squeaky sound on the hard wood floor, and we can usually hear her coming to our bedroom at night because of the little squeaky sounds. Sometimes, it’s frustrating that she gets up out of her bed for silly reasons, but I know I will truly miss these days when she’s preschool age. By the way, the getting out of bed phase is already over as of now because she knows she will get a treat taken away from her Halloween bucket if she gets up. She’s now bragging on herself in the morning, feeling so proud she stayed in her bed all night long. Another thing Mia is doing is singing our address song. She’s so smart and we are happy to know she can sing our address, but we have to be careful in public because we will catch her singing our address out loud in public places.

We celebrated Mason’s first Thanksgiving! On Thanksgiving Day we hung around the house, decking the halls for Christmas and watching the Macy’s Day Parade. We made cinnamon roll turkeys with bacon for the feathers and m&m eyes. Mia kept calling the bacon- the turkey’s hair. I think we ate quesadillas for lunch- that was a first.  Then for dinner we went to Granddaddy and Grandmerry’s house for the Rosenblum side with yummy Thanksgiving foods. On Saturday, we celebrated with the Campbell side at Haley and Michael’s house. Mia and Hudson had a blast riding around in his gator outside. She didn’t want to drive, but loved riding with Hudson driving. Later, she told me she wanted her own gator for Christmas. I asked her if she would actually drive it, and she replied….I’ll just have Hudson come over and drive me around. Ha! I told her maybe when Mason gets bigger, he can drive you, too.

We had a Happy Thanksgiving Week and we look forward to all things Christmas!

Summer 2017

We have had a really fun summer!

Mia is enjoying getting used to being a big sister. She loves her little baby and even tells people, “that’s my baby” or “that’s my brother, we got him at the hospital.” Mason is growing so fast it’s hard to keep up. He got his first cold and we all got it, too. Snotty noses in summer just shouldn’t be allowed! Mason will let us know he is sleepy with his long drawn out sleepy talk. It’s pretty cute. He is cooing and is getting more interactive.

We traveled by plane to Florida this summer to visit family and we had a great time. Mason experienced his first trip to the beach- even though he slept through most of it.

He did great on the plane. Mia said, “my ears disappeared” and we figured out that her ears finally popped from the pressure and she could hear normal again.

Mia’s hemangioma is completely flat and only a small mark is left on her back where is once was. Mia has enjoyed going to “geenastics” this summer. We went to the Little Gym once a week and she did great with all the skills they taught. She wants to go back and asks often. She once did an almost pull over with the bars and everyone in the gym was so impressed by her natural ability.

July

Mason is sucking on his fingers now.

He gets really distracted while nursing and I have to repeatedly tell Mia to leave the room so he can concentrate. He once burped a pacifier out of his mouth at church, and we all thought it was so funny.

Mia is big into imaginative play. Her toys will call me Beff because I’m not their mommy.

We went on a beach vacation with the Rosenblum’s to Martinique. It was a fun trip. Mia loved playing in the sand this time. Mason enjoyed watching everyone play. We went to Lambert’s cafe for the first time with the kids and they all really liked it. Now, they ask when we are at other restaurants if people are going to throw rolls at us.

August

Back to school! It was a fun maternity leave with precious time spent with Mason. (and Mia). Mia went to school 2 days a week throughout the summer and one day a week we spent at home and the other day we went to gymnastics. Then we had a day for errands if needed. Mason now has 2 teeth at 4 months old. He rolls over and now is a belly sleeper like his sister was. Mason is wearing 6 month clothes now. Mia has discovered Pocahantas and sings “Just around the rubberband”. Daddy has to pretend to be John Smith. She still enjoys dress up everyday.

It’s sad to see summer come to a close, but getting back into a normal routine is exciting, too. Mia is back at her same preschool and Mason will be staying home with Grandmerry. What a blessing!  Hoping and praying for a great transition into our new schedule.

May 2017

Mason is 2 months old!
The nights may seem long sometimes, but wow these last 2 months have flown by. Mason is growing and we are cherishing every moment. We've been working on getting Mason on a schedule. Overall, he does pretty good eating every 2.5-3 hours. I even got to sleep four hours straight once in the night this month. (It happened once, so I'm hoping it will happen again.) Mason smiles while nursing and it always makes me laugh. He is so precious. Mason is very sweet-natured and super cuddly. Mia loves to help. She enjoys helping at bath time. Once she said, "He's waggling his tail!". We are learning that boys have different parts than girls.
We recently watched the Miss USA pageant and now Mia loves to pretend to be "Columbia". She wants us to announce her and she will walk around the living room and wave to the audience. We are not allowed to wave back. lol. Miss District of Columbia was her favorite and that is who ended up winning the pageant.

This month, Mia also has discovered she loves gum. Although, once she said...."Hey, where's my gum?" She didn't realize she swallowed it. We told her that is what must have happened if it is not in her mouth anymore. She cried. We reassured her she would get it back in 7 years. Ha!

Mia has been getting up out of her bed at night. She has never done that before. It's a little funny because she knocks on the inside of her door before coming out. She usually needs something like lipstick (chapstick), a sip of water, socks, the right stuffed animal, etc.

It has been fun (and wild sometimes) with the two precious gifts that God has entrusted us to raise. We pray we will be the best we can be for you and give you all the love we can every single day. You both exceed everything we ever could imagine and we are so proud to call you ours.

Mia is pretending to nurse her Mason. 

...and burp him, too. 

When she's not the mommy, she pretends to be baby and once wanted me to burp her like I do Mason.

First matching outfits.

Having fun spending time at home. 

Meeting Great Grandparents

Mother's Day 2017. My heart is so full. 

Loves when Daddy sings

Daddy is singing to me

So sweet. 

Memorial Day Weekend fun with Taylor! 

April 2017

 It is hard to imagine what life was like before baby Mason. We have had so much fun getting to know him and our family feels complete with him now here. Mia loves on him and he is overall a very good baby.  Mason has gotten good reports from his doctor visits. They didn't even need to check his Billirubin because his color looked good.  His circumcision is healing nicely and he is growing and gaining weight like he should. He does have what they call ear pits. They are tiny holes near his ear that will possibly close over time.  The doctor said they will always be there but will hardly be noticeable because his are so shallow. Sometimes when babies have this they also have a hearing issue. But the doctor was not concerned because he passed his hearing test in the hospital.

 Mason's first time to church happened to fall on Easter Sunday! He was very well-behaved the whole time. After church we went to aunt Paula's house for lunch and had an Easter egg hunt for Mia and Hudson.

ear pit

First time to go to church

Happy Easter!

Cousin Adaline Rae was born on April 19th. She is precious and we look forward to many memories in the months and years to come.

 Mason is one month old! Here are a few facts about Mason :
 Mason now weighs 9 pounds and is 22 inches long. He hates diaper changes! At first he hated bath time, but now loves it. He enjoys watching his sister play.  Wednesday night, April 19th was his first time to go to Bible Class. Mason makes noises that sounds like a Billy goat.  All the newborn noises that I forgot about are so precious! He will sometimes smile while nursing and when he is full, he will coo while he's breathing.  Mason, we are thrilled you are here and we are soaking in every moment of the newborn phase. It goes by way too fast!