Mason has Two Teeth!

Well, Mason's second tooth poked through today (or maybe yesterday, but I noticed it today). He's getting to be such a big boy already! He is 9 1/2 months now. These pictures aren't great quality, but my camera was out of batteries, so I had to use Photobooth on the computer instead. You can't see any teeth in the pictures I don't think, but these are some pajamas we got on black friday sales, and I got them because my brother Devin saw them and said "Mason would look so cute in these, like crazy cute". haha so I had to buy them and try it out. Of coarse I had no doubt he would, and here's the proof! haha I love it when guys pick out clothes. It always makes me smile. I think my dad picked out an outfit for Brenna once, and Jeremy once too (I mean picking out outfits to buy because I don't always love it when boys actually dress kids... haha that usually involves far less though and consideration for matching colors). Anyway, Here's my big boy!

You can sort of get a feel of the amount of drool that working on these teeth has produced, but trust me, it's more than you think! He is drooling like crazy!!

Ornament Swap

I participated in an ornament swap this Christmas hosted by my friend Evelyn Perkins. I did it for two reasons:

1. How fun is a swap? I wanted to try it and look forward to getting some fun mail for a change! And...

2. To support Evelyn in her first swap! How exciting is that?

So I felt pretty silly sending my homemade ornament, which I was a little embarrassed of since I made it and can see all the flaws and am extra critical since it was meant to be a gift. My partner, Haley, said she loved it though, and I sincerely hope she does and she wasn't just lying to make me feel better!

I got mine in the mail, and I loved it! She got a blown glass ornament custom made for me, and it's great! It's hanging in my tree now! I wasn'table to get a good picture of it in the tree though, but here it is! Thanks Haley! I had a fun swapping experience!

Mason is 9 Months!

It's hard to believe, but Mason is 9 months now! We had a doctors appointment today and he is perfectly healthy and chunky! The doctor said he is DEFINITELY not missing any calories in his diet! haha we love our chunky Mace Face and I can't really remember our family without him now! I love watching him grow and laugh. I have to admit, I was almost hoping that he would have an earache or something at the doctor's today to help explain some of his incessant night time crying, but I guess he is just a stubborn baby and we will have to continue breaking the cycle the hard way! I love him so much, it's hard to listen to him cry! Anyway, He weighs in at a healthy 21.4 lbs (only the 63% but Brenna was only 17 lbs when she was 9 months and only 19 when she was 1! So Mason's got a few lbs on her) and 28 3/4 inches tall (which, oddly enough, is exactly the same as Brenna at 9 months! For Mason that's the 69%). He has one tooth, and you can just see it in one of the pictures. Actually I want to tell you about some of the pictures... if you really are interested, you'll have to look at the collage bigger to see the details!

So in the bottom left corner is the tooth shot. It's just barely poking through so it's hard to see.

The middle, it looks like he's like "Speak up!"

On the far right in the middle line... check out those baby blues!

Overall, CUTE boy! Love him!

Momma Bear Syndrome

Ok, I am wondering how many other mothers suffer from the "Momma Bear Syndrome" in their life. I have to say, it doesn't happen too often for me, but when it rears it's head, I may not want to be held accountable for my actions! Let me explain...

Probably a year ago now I was at the park with Brenna... actually it may have been a little more than a year ago. I was with a friend (Evelyn) and her kids, and it was the evening and the park was PACKED! I was nervous letting Brenna just go play since it was so busy and she was one of the smallest on the playground. We went to this park often, but it had never been busy like this before. Anyway, she wanted to play, so Evelyn and I sat as close as we could (lots of the seats were taken already) and kept an eager eye on our little ones. I glanced up a few minutes later and saw a boy push Brenna down. He was quite a bit older than her (she was 1 1/2 and he was probably 3 at least) and so I got up to go move her to a different toy. While I was walking over he pushed her again... I walked a little faster. Then every time she tried to get up, he pushed her down again and they were getting closer and closer to the stairs. When I saw this happening, I became someone else! Just for a few seconds, but I was more than embarrassed when it was over. I started running across the playground, and when I got there I was yelling... I didn't realize I was until after. I was yelling at the little boy, telling him not to push and didn't he see the stairs and didn't he know she was small? I scooped Brenna off the playground, and started walking away while realizing very quickly what had just happened. I ducked my head down and looked around quickly to see if the little boy's parents had seen me yell at their son. They had of coarse, actually it was just his dad, and he didn't look happy. I hurried away embarrassed by my outburst. Evelyn was surprised at what she had seen as well, but assured me it was good to stick up for Brenna.

Anyway, that was my very first Momma Bear moment. I have had a couple of others since then, and each time I feel a bit embarrassed after, especially if it turns out it wasn't as bad as I thought. I once raised my voice to my niece when she threw Brenna on the ground especially hard, but then as soon as I did it I realized her parents and my mother-in-law were both right there and obviously thought I overreacted. I had, of coarse, but was too proud to admit it to them... just to myself as I walked away blushing slightly (and maybe a little bit steamed).

So, does this happen to everyone, or should I seek counseling? As a disclaimer, I am under no delusions that my children are angel's or defenseless victims, in fact, now that Brenna is older she is often the aggressor and I have to keep a close eye to make sure I'm not the recipient of some Momma Bear Syndrome... but that doesn't stop me from occasionally losing my cool! If it's just me, then I will have to delete this and try and work on keeping that under control!

Day 29

Something I Will Never Tire of Doing

Oops! My sister pointed out to me that it looks like I forgot number 29! Since I think all of you were losing sleep over this, I decided to throw it in... better late than never! Although, I can't think of something I will never tire of doing... eating? Nearly true, but probably not entirely. I love being a wife and mother, but even that is occasionally something I tire of. Ummm shopping? No, shopping can be tiring and stressful. Laughing? That's a good one, I can never tire of laughing. There's nothing better than a good, heartfelt laugh at something genuinely funny and happy and good.

As a side note to this post, I would like to wish my mom a very happy birthday and make sure she knows how much I love her! You are amazing mom! Have a happy day and pretend we're there to give you a hug!

Day 30

WHEW! That was a lot of blogging! This last day's topic is a photo of me today and 3 good things that have happened in the last 30 days. Here are the latest pictures I have... I would have taken one today, but it was one of those "wet hair pony tail, sweat pant" kind of days, so I'll just use our Halloween ones!

Haha I just noticed this now, check out the piggy's belly! I guess she really wanted to play the part! haha

Me and my silly chicken

So, three good things that have happened in the last 30 days... hmmm...

1. I got my parents consistently reading my blog, and have had some good experiences with that... love you mom and dad! Thanks for not asking to be taken off my e-mail reminder thing, even though they were every day! And thanks for your continued love and support of me!

2. I have been being a better mom and having the TV on less the last 30 days.

3. I get to read my sister's 30 days of blogging every day now, which is fun since I don't get to talk to her often.

This has been fun, I'm glad it's done though. I'd be impressed if anyone is still reading on day 30... but I promise it will be only every so often now. I had fun! More than anything it's a good habit to write daily in some sort of journal. The bad thing is, that with doing this, I sort of stopped writing in my regular journal, but I will start that again this Sunday too. So, Goodbye! Talk to you again soon, but not tomorrow!

Day 28

Well, day 28 says your favorite movie, but that was one of the first days as well, so I guess it's make up your own day! I have been thinking about something a lot lately, and debating if I could write about it in an appropriate way, and so I will try and see how it works.

What I have been thinking about is, in a way, how much of a copy-cat I can be, or actually that I want to be. Lately especially I have found myself watching people and noticing the qualities they have that I wish I had, and then trying to copy them. For instance, there is a lady at church who is always there before us, and always sitting on the back row so that everyone passes her as they come in. Every Sunday that I walk past her she has a kind word for me. I want to be like that, always having something positive and complimentary to say to people when I see them! So I've been trying, and I try and have something ready especially for her every Sunday so that I can lift her like she does me. It really does give my Sunday a good start! My mom cleans up after every meal and then a little bit here and there so that there is never any mess... I want to be like that

So, I started a list with names of people before each point, but then I started getting stressed about leaving people out and hurting feelings, so I will leave names off, but please believe me, you are one of these things. I wanted to put names because I know if I read this on someone else's I'd be thinking "I wish I thought one of those things was about me, but I know it's not". I don't know how to stop that from happening, but, you are on here, trust me.

- always willing to have company over, and her house is always presentable enough to do so on a moment's notice... something I admire

- is always willing to help any way she can, and never acts like it's an inconvenience

- doesn't make excuses and just tackles projects big or small

- speaks her mind, but finds ways to do it that make it easy to laugh about rather than get offended

- keeps going when others would want to give up

- offers things all the time without worrying about the bottom line

- always smiling

- avoids gossip

Anyway, I could go on and on, but I guess the point is that I am glad that I am around people so often who I can watch and try and be like. Even if a person isn't someone I always agree with, there is at least one thing that I would like to learn from them... even though I might not admit it! So thank you for reading, and thank you for being good examples! Oh, and sorry if I'm not always as aware of other's needs around me, that's the main thing I'm trying to work on and that I admire in so many others is the ability to ... I guess just be hospitable. I sometimes forget to offer things or help until somebody else does, and then I realize I could have offered too, I just hadn't thought of it yet!

Day 27

A Picture of You Last Year and How You've Changed Since Then

Whew, day 27, almost done! That will be nice! This has been fun, but I'm starting to feel a little self involved writing every day, usually about myself.

Well, this is me last year. This is actually in December of last year, but I tell ya, as a mom it can be very hard to find pictures of yourself! They are almost completely either of just the kids, or the kids and dad because who else is going to take the pictures but you! Anyway, as you can see, I was large and in charge. I'm proud to say that in the last year I have lost a significant amount of weight.... after gaining a significant amount with pregnancy, but still. Most of the ways I've changed are obvious. Not pregnant anymore, mother to two instead of one, short hair... but I'm sure I've changed in other ways too. I wish I could say that there were things I wanted to change about myself and that I manned up and changed them, but for the most part I think I am still working at changing things, and probably always will be! Such is life! I have put in place things to help me become more organized, and at times I am good at staying that way. One way I have changed is that I no longer wait for the mail to come each day and then go out to get it each afternoon. I am not sure exactly why this changed or even when, but sometime since Mason has been born, that stopped. I used to know what time the mail came and every day around 3 I'd take Brenna for a walk to the box and pick up the mail. I loved getting the mail! I don't think the contents of the mail has changed in the last year, but I sometimes go days now without getting it and usually I only get it when I drive by. Interesting. I will probably get more excited about it again though as the holidays draw near because soon the Christmas letters will begin to arrive! Yay!

Day 26

A Photo of Somewhere You've Been to

Not long after Jeremy and I got married, we had the awesome opportunity to go to Paris!

It was an incredible trip. This is, unfortunately, the only picture we have as proof. Still, you believe me, right?

Ok, ok, you caught me. We didn't go to Paris, but we did go to Vegas and then pretend we had gone to paris! haha it was really fun to go to Vegas. I had never been, and that is the only time I ever have gone too. I would love to go back sometime soon, especially now that the bridge over Hoover Dam is done and it is probably an awesome adventure to drive over it. We went there to meet my family just after our first Christmas together. I got to go to my dear friend Fallon's wedding, which was so exciting, and then we saw the sights with the fam! Vegas is a raunchy place in a lot of ways, and I hesitate to say I'd be anxious to go back. I would love to visit again, and we had a really good time, but I was feeling the need to constantly re-direct the attention of the males in our entourage to less risque things when we were walking outside at night. Anyway, fun times, hopefully we can go back to visit sometime and maybe do some things away from the strip for a break from the influence of the adversary that can be so constant there.

Disclaimer ** I don't think Vegas is evil, we had a good time and there are lots of fun, not evil things to do there too! It's just getting from point A to point B that can be tricky.