Happy Birthday Natalie

The Birthday Girl!

We have been so busy these last few weeks. Last weekend, we went to Mississippi for Natalie's birthday! We had such a great time and learned that we will be in the water with Mason a lot from now on! Happy Birthday Natalie!

He had so much fun!

Weekend in Knoxville

A few weeks ago we made the trip to Knoxville to go see our friends Matt and Mandy. Mason has such a great time with everyone, especially Matt's parents dog, Buster. We are going to miss Matt and Mandy when they leave. They are getting married this coming weekend so stay tuned for those pictures. Here are some from that weekend!

I Have An 8 Month Old!

Mason is 8 months old today and I am in total shock! Where has the 8 months gone? Everyone always told me that it goes by fast, but I never imagined this. There have been nights that I thought that the day would never end, but it does and they don't ever stop.

Here are some new things that Mason has learned/ learning!

1. We now have a baby on the move. Mason is crawling and crawling agressivly. He sees something he wants and in seconds, he is there to get it. It's so cute to watch him crawl, but the best part is when he has to travel some distance, he BIG breath that he takes afterwards! It's so funny to hear!

2. By far my favorite, he says "Ma Ma!" For all of you mothers out there, yuo know how precious it is to hear these words come out of your childs mouth! No granted it's normally when he's crying and needing something that he says it, but it's still my name and it was first! We are still working on Da Da. Right now it's more like Ba Ba, but that's ok.

3. Mason is pulling up on everything that is stable, and sometimes things that aren't stable. He's walking from one piece of furniture to another. He can also walk while we are holding his hands, so we may have a walker by the 9 month post.

4. And finally and probably my dad's favorite, Mason has really developed a personality. He talks to us and is really into reading books and watching movies. He is learning who people are. And here is where my dad comes in. If my dad is in the room, Mason wants him. It doesn't matter what's going on, he wants my dad. He would rather have my dad than me, Derek, or my mom. He loves my dad and that doesn't hurt my dad's feelings one bit. My great grandmother always talks about how my dad would always go to his grandfather "Pa" that way. So I know that's how they are going to be with each other. They are going to be tight as dad puts it.

Here are some picture of Mason! We are so thankful for him and love him more everyday!

Mason 6 weeks old!

Mason Today!

Update On Mason's Sleeping

Well, I would love to get on here and tell you that things have gotten better with Mason's sleeping habits, but unfortunately, they haven't. Mason is a wonderful baby by day, but by night, he's a cranky little boy and today, we are going to the doctor to find out why. Mason was doing good for about 3 nights when it came to sleeping, but this weekend, he started coughing again and sneezing a lot. So after talking to my mom and a friend of ours that works at his doctor's office, we are taking Mason in at 2 today. I feel horrible taking him all the time, but I am a first time mother who is just a little on the terrified side. He is pitiful. This morning when he woke up, I hit my limit. He just looked like he didn't feel good.
I just hope we can figure out what's going on today because he are heading to Ohio Friday and that would be a terrible trip if he were sick. So keep our family, especially our sweet Mason in your prayers!

My Panic Button Has Been Pressed

Last Sunday night Derek and I were folding clothes and chilling out around the house. Mason was sitting on the bed watching us fold clothes and playing with his toys. I had to run to the rest room and Mason has a bad habit of falling over and rolling around on the bed. I usually don't think anything of it. So I come out o the bathroom only to find Mason on the edge of the bed about to roll over. So I take off running and do a flying leap across our bed and I was too late. That poor baby fell off of the bed! So I scream and of course the scream scared him more than the fall did. I froze and Derek went to pick him up.
Mason is crying, I am crying we are all crying. I immediately told Derek to get my book, "What to Expect Your First Year," and I told Derek to take his clothes off so I could inspect the damage. Mason by this time is laughing at me making such a big deal out of this.
So I check for all of the obvious signs. Broken bones, dilated eyes, bumps and bruises. Of course he was fine, but I was still very upset so I call old faithful, my mom. Well she tells me to do everything that the book says to do. Go figure. So I check on him every couple of hours for the next six hours and still he's fine!
So lessons learned, never put Mason on the bed without us being there and always keep a copy of "What to Expect Your First Year" close by!

No rest for the weary!

Every night, I pray "Lord, please let my baby sleep well tonight." Secretly I pray, "Lord, please let my baby sleep well tonight so that I can get some rest!" I am exhausted! Every morning, I lay in bed and wonder what I can do that morning to be able to get some extra sleep! It usually involves finishing my hair and make up at work and already knowing and having it ironed what I am wearing to work.
Mason is a wonderful baby and such a blessing in our lives and we love him dearly, but when I wake up to a crying baby at 2 and he doesn't go back to sleep until around 3:30 or possibly 4, I many nights find my self frustrated and crying. I feel terrible because he's healthy and here I am complaining. My parents try to give us as much relief as possible, but sometimes, I feel like I am a bad mom when I leave him there just so I can get some sleep. Kind of selfish huh?
Mason hasn't slept good the past three nights. We have tried everything! Last night we tried feeding him, putting him in the bed with us, letting him cry it out, turning on Baby Einstein, playing with toys, the ever faithful Tylenol and gas drops, changing his diaper, and nothing helped. He just cried and got mad at both of us. We know he's not hungry because he eats oatmeal and has a bottle before he goes to sleep and half the time, he doesn't want to finish the bottle. So we blame it on bad dreams and try to call it a night.
So if you have any suggestions on how to calm our sweet Mason, please let me know!

Six Random Facts About Me

I got tagged by Alisha.

Rules: Write 6 random things about myself, link the person who tagged you & post the rules. Tag six people and link them. Let them know they have been tagged.

1. I could eat cereal every meal of every day and not get sick of it. I love cereal! I, like Alisha, hate soggy cereal so I always pour a big bowl of milk and then pour a little cereal at a time until my milk is gone. It seems like I am being a major pig because it ends up being like 12 bowls, but it's really only about 3 when you see how much I put in there.

2. Derek and I are addicted to Grey's Anatomy. We watch at least one episode a night. We started with Season 2 and then went back to 1. Now we are done with 3 and are ready to buy 4.

3. My favorite noise in the entire world is when Mason laughs. It's hilarious. He's the sweetest boy in the world and when he laughs you can tell it's a gut laugh and he loves to play and laugh.

4. I love going home and putting on my "fat" clothes. After being at work all day, I love to come home put on a pair of pajama pants and a t- shirt and lounge around. It's a great feeling.

5. I don't go or walk anywhere without shoes. I wear flips flops around the house even on the carpet. I hate feeling carpet on my feet. And I'm not really quite sure why I wear them every where else, but I don't get out of the shower or anything without my shoes. I'm a weirdo!

6. I just took my Christmas decorations down last night. I know, LAZY SLOTH comes to mind, but I enjoyed so much putting our decorations up in OUR house this year and I just hated parting with them.

I tag Brittany W, Courtney W, Lydia, Natalie, Kellie, and Veryll!