Splish Splash!

What do you do when the cold weather and constant snow gives you a serious case of the winter blues? We head to our local top secret swimming hole!

Mason spent most of the summer in the pool or at the beach. I hoped he hadn't forgotten how fun water can be in the six month hiatus we took from swimming. Luckily he is still fine with putting his face in the water, and tolerates me dunking him a few times.

Oh how I wish winter was over.

Da Da?

Jason was out of town for a few days this past week. It seemed like a lot longer. Mason was really good for me, but neither of us liked how quiet the house was. A few different times Mason would wander around asking for "Da Da?". He'd look in the shower, in the office, and in the kitchen.

We went to the Bravo Opera for kids (THANKS MARY) to keep us occupied. We had a wonderful time- Mason was really well behaved. He clapped like his life depended on it. There was a tall male singer, so I whispered to Mason, "hey, that looks like dad."

He looked left...looked right...looked at me as if to ask, hey-yeah! Where's Dad? And then started asking for him, loudly and repeatedly.

Mason likes to look out our front window lately. He spots the cars, the dogs, and the birds. We were excited when he spotted DAD!

He squealed in delight when he saw him, but if Jason tried to pick him up he'd shriek. This went on for quite a while. Mason would run up and hug attack his leg, but if Jason even looked at him he'd run away upset. I think this was his little boy way of saying "I missed you!"

Because I never want to forget...

These little moments:
Mason gets "Cheese" and "Cheeks" confused. I tell him to say "Cheese" for the camera, he grabs his cheeks.

He is very into dipping. I've always wanted a little Samoan baby...
I often find Mason quietly reading in his room. It makes me so proud.
He's becoming such a big boy. I can't believe how old he looks here.

Zombie Boy

Mason was sick with a little cold for about a week. We put a humidifier in his room and he seemed to get better quickly. On Saturday, I went to do baskets while the boys stayed home. Jason said Mace was playing for a little while and seemed normal. Jason checked his email and then went to check on Mason. He was sitting on the floor holding a football. Just staring at it. Not moving. He went downhill from there. Jason was able to just hold him and cuddle him. Sweet but very unusual for our boy. By the time I got home his temperature was crazy high. He'd never been sick like this before, so I didn't know that a high fever can change little kid's breathing so much. Poor Mason was taking short, fast, gaspy little breaths.

We went straight to InstaCare and were seen right away. His temp was 104.6! The doc said his ears and lungs were fine, but there was a infection somewhere that was making him so sick. We got an antibiotic and went home for a large dose of TLC. All of Saturday and Sunday were spent holding him while he slept. I've always admitted that I like when kids get cuddly when they are sick. Well, I didn't like this illness at all. Too scary.


(I have a morbid fascination with zombies. He makes me so proud :))

He's doing a lot better now. I am thankful I live in a time where the doctors are easily accessible and the drugs are too. I knew he was going to be okay when he woke up enough to walk on his own. Then he kept asking to go "out". I bundled us up in coats and blankets and walked up and down our street. Then he asked to "dip" so I got out the cookies and milk. Finally he asked to brush his teeth. If he wants "out", "dip" and clean teeth I think he'll be just fine.

(Yes, he has two tooth brushes and MUST use them both)

It's all how you look at it

This picture is from the summer in Virginia. I really love this picture. Not sure why.

I also love this version. This is how I see our life with Mason.

bAbY LOvE

Introducing EeBee and Baby.

Meet Mason's dolls. He likes to have BOTH of them around most of the time. He takes them to breakfast, he packs them in his church bag, takes them for car rides, and he sleeps with them at night. Mason has Eebee fold his arms when it's prayer time, and like Mason, Eebee says "AAAAmen" with his hands outstretched when we're done. When Mason doesn't want to get his diaper changed, I put one of the dolls on the floor and pretend to put a diaper on them. Then Mason will cooperate. I want Mason to be a nurturing person and someday dad, so I've encouraged all of this. We bought some toy baby bottles at the store so that he would stop dunking their heads in cups of milk. Mason likes to get a blanket, put both dolls in together, give them each a bottle, and wrap them up and give them kisses. Then he does the sign for song. So I sing while he energetically rocks the babies. When I stop he stops, signs "song" again and we repeat.

(Eebee is a laundry monster/puppet thing that Aunt Lisa gave him about a year ago. We gave him the glow worm for Christmas.)

Finger Painting

I've been psyching myself up for this for a long time. I want to be a good mom, and good moms let things get messy sometimes. I finally found the courage, the paint, and the time to do some serious finger painting. Imagine my dismay when Mason was...not so enthusiastic. He kept asking for more napkins and had a hard time getting his hands dirty. Notice, there is only one picture where he is smiling. Mason tried cleaning up the newspaper, and asked for a bath about a million times. He made me a few masterpieces, and then found the joy of body art. So...hands can't get dirty but legs and faces can?

Over all, not the memorable bonding moment I was going for. I probably made him more cranky than happy. Points for trying???

Reverence

Yesterday in church there was a musical number halfway the meeting. Two young women sang a beautiful duet. When they finished there was the usual respectful silence as the audience showed their appreciation with hushed reverence.

Then Mason stood up on the bench, started clapping, and yelled "YAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!"

It's a BUG!

Oh how I love his laugh! We had a bug in the kitchen so I made a big exaggerated effort of trying to catch it for Mason. It's a long video, and silly since I'm making this blog for a book and video don't transfer. Oh well, at least the video is only a minute, we kept going for a long time.

Him, giggling and chewing on his spoon. Signing for "more".
Me, jumping and flapping and "freaking out" about the bug.

This is our happy silly life.

Mason, meet Molly

We visited Jason's brother Jared and his wife, Athena last week. They have a new puppy :)
Mason soaked his clothes with a water bottle in the car so we stripped him down and put his clothes in the dryer.. in case you are wondering why he's naked. He looks so pleased when he gets some "puppy love".

It's a bird, it's a plane, no it's Super Baby!

I looked out the window and what did I see...

J teaching Mason how to catch snow flakes on his tongue.

Don't mind the short sleeves, they were out there for only a few minutes. Jason is a very good father. A natural parent. He takes time to teach our boy the important things in life. Sadly, I get too focused on nutrition and sleeping habits. I think Mason is going to turn out just right.

Mason was sporting his Hawaiian shirt in honor of my return from Maui. Jason taught him how to say Aloha! It sounds like A ha HA!

Spaghetti Eddie says "CHEESE"

I love watching Mace eat. It never gets old. I asked him to smile for the camera. He didn't move.
I told him, "say cheese!" and this was the result.

Starting the year off with a BANG!

We went out shooting on New Years at Thunderbird Gardens. Mason enjoyed being out in the snow but did not so much enjoy the 20 minutes it took to get him into his snow gear. He did really good keeping his ear muffs on and we enjoyed how it scrunched up his cheeks. Uncle Jeff Starr gave Mace a pop gun that he hand carved a design into. We brought it along so Mason would have something to "shoot". He didn't seem bothered by the noise of shooting and would sometimes clap and cheer us on.

Celebrating the Season

What a month December was! It flew by so quickly. Without hesitation I declare this year's to be the BEST Christmas EVER! Mason made every minute of it delightful, except when he'd eaten too much sugar and wouldn't stop screaming the day after. Here are some of the highlights of our month:

The Festival of Trees was a lot of fun. Casey was baptized that night and so the whole family went over to the festival afterward. First up we have Mason being "attacked" by Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. He did not like the ladies. Then we headed up to the North Pole. They did an amazing job transforming those rooms into a winter wonderland. I spotted my nieces and nephews names on Santa's List. And Mason fell in love with stuffed dog and cuddled right up to it.

Next, Mason and I went to Salt Lake City to visit my sister (who is trying to break some record for most organs out in a calendar year). We went over to Temple Square one freezing night to see the lights. We parked by the Conference Center. I told Mason usually there are lights over here too when suddenly TA DA. They came on with perfect timing. He thought I was pretty cool for getting them to turn on. We walked around enjoying the beautiful scenes and lovely spirit. It was a really sweet moment for me... and really cold one.

We were really lucky to have the opportunity to participate in a huge Sub for Santa event that Jason's work, APX sponsored. Let's just say they sent us a LOT of money and information on families in our area that we went shopping for. We also got a TON of games and DVDs for the Women's Crisis Shelter. When all was said and done we still had money left over so we contacted the often-overlooked Family Support Center. We did a lot of shopping and then did a lot more. We got some strange looks from folks in Wal-Mart who must have thought we were spoiling our little boy rotten. It may have been a bit confusing for Mason to see us getting so many toys that he didn't end up with, but hopefully we can continue to teach him it's better to give than receive. I am really proud of Jason for taking that project on. It was more fun than hassle and we greatly benefited by having the spirit of Christmas.

At last, we get to Christmas Day. Mason cracked us up as he'd rip of small pieces of wrapping paper. One. At. A. Time. And he was really good about putting each piece in a little pile. There is nothing like a cute little boy to make Christmas a blast.