What's up lately?

The start of Mason's 2nd year of life has been busy and exciting! He has decided to be independent and continuously on the go (crawling that is as he still has no interest in walking). It is amazing how much they grow in just a single year- a year ago I remember being able to lay on the couch, cuddled up with my little man, and watch different talk shows all the morning long. Sometimes I miss those days. I love Disney and PBS kids and I often find myself singing alot to the theme songs of Cat in the Hat and Super Why, but being able to watch Kathy Lee and Hoda would sure be nice. Actually, sitting down for more than 15 minutes would sure be nice. We have entered the stage of chasing Mason around the house 24/7. I really hope I dont sound like a terrible mother, but the places that I have found him hiding are insane.... of course the cabinets (which is pretty amazing because we have them locked with magnets), under the sofa, locked inside the bathrooms, on the back deck, etc... the list could continue on. The problem is that sometimes I think he is smarter than me. He knows how to open doors, lock them back, and then sits there and waits until I find him. It's hide and go seek at 13 months old, except mommy doesn't find it entertaining as much as scary. His favorite thing to do is unlock the baby gate at the bottom of the stairs, shut it back behind him and crawl up as fast as he can so that I have no idea where he is. He literally laughs out loud at himself. His second favorite thing to do is crawl into the laundry room (where Cali's food and water is kept), lock the door behind him and dump over all the food and water just in time for me to get the door unlocked with a wire hanger. Again, he laughs out loud at himself. Other than him being smarter than me, the second problem is that I think these things are hilarious, so of course I don't punish him. How can I punish someone who is laughing so hard because he thinks he is playing a fun game?? Kyle tells me that I have to become more strict with my discipline style.. so moms please tell me how you do it!

We had a great Easter weekend. I've realized that it's occasions like this that are hard not to have family around. I also realized that Easter Egg hunts would be a lot easier if Mason could walk. We enjoyed worship time and celebration of our Risen Savior with our Otter Creek family, then came home and spent the entire afternoon sleeping and watching Phil almost win his 4th Masters. I feel like people spend more time worrying about making the prettiest eggs and having the most elaborate baskets that the focus is taken off of what Easter is all about. I mean dont get me wrong... I took Mason to see the Easter bunny and spent way too much money on his basket of random stuff, but honestly what in the world does a bunny with lots of eggs have to do with the meaning behind Easter?? I should probably Google it one day so I can have an answer when Mason asks me this question in 10 years. Really, I want him to grow up knowing the meaning behind Easter- not just that it is an occasion for lots of bunny shaped chocolate treats. Knowing how to separate the two occasions is a bit blurred.

Gramps and Go Go taught Mason about God making the tall tall trees, so randomly he likes to show me how tall they are.

Mason continues to eat and sleep well. I think we are back on track with our 2 naps (I thought he was trying to go to one nap there for a couple weeks, but ended up he was just teething and miserable feeling). He loves playing outside and going on walks with Cali. Kyle took him his first baseball game this past week and he was fascinated by it. He kept pointing and saying what maybe was supposed to be "ball" but instead sounded like DAH. We joke that he speaks fluent Dutch, but English is only his second language. He is still fascinated by Cali, and actually I think Cali may be bonding a little more with him. This is probably why:

1 yr photos

Finally I am getting around to posting Mason's ONE YEAR pictures. If his newborn pictures stressed Kyle out, you better believe these were 10 times harder. At least for his newborn he just laid there..slept.. ate a couple times, then right back to pictures. We went to Ellington Agricultural Park which was gorgeous and had excellent opporunities for pictures. Because Mason wanted to crawl around and eat dirt the whole time, the pictures were somewhat challenging to obtain, but nevertheless we got some cute ones! Here we go:

This is a theme in most of the pictures- wanting to eat whatever is on the ground

one of many attempts at a family picture

Typical face when Kyle tells him "no"

LOVES clapping for himself

He told us how he felt about taking pictures!

Hope you enjoyed!

De-Cluttering

For those of you who know me really well, you know that I HATE clutter. It gives me major anxiety and puts me in a terrible mood. That is why twice a year (in the Spring and Fall) I go on a major de-cluttering project. I usually try to do this when Kyle is gone that way I can throw out whatever I want and he will never know it is missing. I began my project yesterday with Mason's closet. Because our house doesn't have a finished attic, we really don't have anywhere to put storage. All of Mason's old clothes/toys/baby items were sitting in the floor of his closet. NOT OKAY!! So when Kyle was out of town, I decided it was time to conquer the closet. I got all of his old clothes up to 18 months (because yes, he is wearing 18-24 month clothing) and put it in storage bins. Here we go:

just the 3 months clothing

all newborn onsies from the hospital

newborn sleepers

newborn socks

What I have learned for the next baby is that I absolutely don't need this much newborn stuff because I will have nowhere to put it when he grows out of it. It took me 5 20 galloon bins to fit all his newborn clothes. Now I am struggling with where to put the bins! Anyways, updates to come on the spring de-cluttering project.

12 months

I can hardly believe my little baby boy is no longer a baby. I know how cliche' it sounds to say "it seems like just yesterday".... but truly it does. I remember the day I found out I was pregnant..I remember what I was wearing and what I was doing. I remember like yesterday the phone call I got from the OB saying it was time to be induced... and I certainly remember the first time I saw his beautiful, perfect face. It seems like yesterday. But I suppose it has been a whole year and boy how life has changed for Kyle and I. Having a baby teaches you to be selfless. No more sleeping in. No more late nights with friends. No more eating meals in peace. But despite all the things that you CANT do anymore, there are so many other things that fill those shoes. Watching your child laugh for the first time, getting excited when he sleeps until 7 am, listening to him say "mama"/'dada"... these things are the new joys of life. And its totally worth every second!

Mason has grown up so much this month. It's like he knows that he is now a toddler! It's been a big transition month... one that has been harder on Kyle and I then Mason! Here are his 12 months stats:

 ~Wt: 27.1 lbs
~Ht: 32 in
~HC: 48.2 cm
~ sleeps from 630 to 630
~ down to 2 bottles (hopefully one soon) a day
~ NO MORE FORMULA!
~ loves food- especially chicken, honeydew, avacado, yogurt, potatoes, and bananas. We found one thing he doesnt like- watermelon.

So like I said, it's been quite a transition month. The day after he turned one, we dropped his am bottle and gave him whole milk in a sippie cup instead. He had no problem with the sippie cup.. in fact he loved it. However, he hated not having his bottle before his nap. We went about a week with no morning nap...just screaming in the crib. He eventually got over it (still doesn't love the idea, but figured out that he won't get a bottle regardless of how much he screams) so he has embraced the am sippie cup of whole milk.



First time drinking milk. I would say he loved it.



Mason isn't walking yet, but does stand alone and pulls up on everything. There was one day when Kyle had him that he claims he took a step, but I haven't seen anything even close yet. He LOVES clapping at himself. He thinks that everything he does is worthy of a good clap, so of course we go along with it! We have figured out that he is pretty independent... for the most part he will entertain himself and find something to get into. He loves crawling inside cabinets and his favorite is crawling up the stairs (still working on going down though). He "talks" all the time. Of course, it is his own language and I have no clue what he is saying unless it is dada, mama, sister, dog, or uh oh.

Along with toddlerhood seems to come temper tantrums. I thought I didn't have to worry about this until he was 2, but apparently I was so wrong. Discipline is definately something that I struggle with, and not because I DONT want to discipline him at this age but because I struggle with what is age appropriate. The more people I ask, the more confused I get. I definately think he knows when he is doing something wrong (i.e. he can only crawl up the stairs if I am with him, however, there are plenty of times when he opens the gate on his own and begins to crawl up. He sees me coming and crawls faster, as if I cant catch him) but I don't know how much he understands punishment. According to the pediatrician, instead of telling him "No" all the time, I should just teach him what he should do and praise him for that. We wil see how that goes this month.

Mason continues to be a great eater, which I am so thankful for. After talking with some girls that I work with, I realized it was time to stop feeding him and let him feed himself. I wish I had a picture of the first time I gave him a spoon and let him feed himself.... DISASTER. I mean, I know I am a clean freak, but this was insane. Literally, I had to repaint half the kitchen wall. This is going to take some time for me to get used to. He is great about using his fingers to pick up food, but we havent mastered the idea of spoon to mouth. Prayers would be appreciated. Like I said, there really is only one thing he wont eat and that is watermelon. He loves pasta pick-ups and the gerber toddler meals. Now that he is eating more "adult" food, we have had to change our schedule around so that we have dinner ready by 530. I am always looking for healthy, quick meals so if anyone has good recipes let me know!!

I would say that this past month has been one of the hardest months with all the changes. However I would also say that it has been one of the most exciting months yet. Watching him grow and develop is something that I will never take for granted. He teaches me that it is small things that make life awesome... family time on a Saturday afternoon, cuddling in the chair to watch disney movies, stroller rides in the park. I can't wait to see what the next year brings for our family!

Happy Birthday Mason! Mommy and Daddy love you SO much!