Have I mentioned?

Have I mentioned how awesome our babysitters are?  Have I mentioned how very lucky we are to be able to leave our little boy and know he is with people who love him?  Allow me to mention it now.  We have the best babysitters!  (Although babysitter sounds like a 16 year old girl...maybe I should say child care provider?)  My grandma keeps Mason on Mondays and Wednesdays.  Mason loves her so much, and I know the feeling is mutual.  Mamma's not a big fan of taking pictures, but here's one I have of them together:

How precious!  He was just a sweet little bundle then!

Our other "child care provider" is Alisha, my cousin Josh's wife.  She is so great with Mason!  He loves being with her and her 5 year old, Jared.  They do lots of fun stuff, like going for walks, spending time with other kids, and going shopping.  Here are a few pictures of Mason having fun at Alisha's house!

Playing with the dishes!  How fun!

Mason with his little friend Drew.

Looks like he's eating a cheeseburger!

Stickin' out that tongue!

All tuckered out after a long day!

We are so blessed to have such an awesome family that is so willing to keep and love our sweet little man!

What a Beautiful Saturday!

The weather around here has been crummy lately!  It's been cold and rainy and miserable, and we've all be wishing for a little bit o' sunshine.  Well today we finally got it!  It was so pretty outside, we decided we needed to go to the park! 

Mason enjoyed the swing a little bit more this time.

After some fun on the swing, we went through the tunnel!

Then we basked in the warm sunshine.

Thank goodness Uncle Steven was there with his camera to capture every moment of the fun!  (Seriously, he's good.  You should hire him.)

Next Mason got to go down the slide for the first time.  At first, he wasn't quite sure what to think about it...

But with a little help, he warmed up pretty fast...

After the slide, we just goofed around a little bit...

And had some more fun...

We are so thankful for beautiful days and fun times! 

10 Months!

Dear Mason,
Yesterday you turned 10 months old.  You were sick with a cold on your "birthday", so we didn't do anything except stay at home and relax.  I say it all the time, and I know people tire of my lamentations, but I just cannot believe that you are already 10 months old.  In just two short months, we will be celebrating your first birthday!  Part of me is sad that you are growing up so fast - those days of napping together on the couch for hours are over, and I always wonder if I cherished those moments enough.

But while I have sad moments, they are far outweighed by the happy moments.  You are becoming your own little person with your own little personality, and I love watching you grow up.  Sometimes you are shy - for a long time people wondered if you ever smiled or "talked", but just give them a few minutes to know you, and they fall in love too.  Once you know someone, you are able to wrap them around your little finger so fast.  You talk like crazy - "mama" "dada" "baba" "uh-oh" and lots of other things that you still have to teach us, and you even wave at people you love when we leave them.  Alisha is teaching you how to blow kisses, and (Mr.) Steven is teaching you how to high-five.  You learn so fast that we can barely keep up with you! 

You pull up on furniture now, and cruise all over the place.  Nothing in our little house is safe anymore, especially little Molly!  Sometimes she's not quite sure what to think of your mobility and your ear-pulling, but she loves you anyway.  I think she wishes you would cuddle with her sometimes, but you're too busy for cuddling!  Your daddy and I have joked about having everything taken out of the living room except maybe a padded wall to keep you from bumping your head so many times, but I'm pretty sure your head is hard enough to handle it!  We definitely see a stubborn streak in you from time to time, but you come by it honestly - with the family you have, we would expect nothing less!  When you grow up, I hope you use that stubborness to stand up for what is good and right, I pray that I am up for the task of teaching you to do that.

Your favorite foods are cheerios and Mum-mums, and we're giving you lots of other tastes too - pancakes, malto-meal, eggs, pretty much anything we're eating.  Your favorite toys are the things you can't or shouldn't have - power cords, laptops, remote controls, grandpa's cell phone (which he lets you have because he just can't resist!)

We think you're getting ready for another tooth or two...sometimes in the evening you're just not happy, and we don't always know how to make it better, but I hope you know that we're trying.  Being a mommy or a daddy is hard, but you are worth every hard moment.  We love you so very much, and I hope that you remember that forever.

Here are some pictures of you on your 10 month birthday (and the day before.)  Even though you didn't feel good, you were a trooper and tolerated mama's flash yet again!

Alisha got you this adorable lion hat!  You are so scary!  RAWR!!

I know you're a scary lion, but don't eat your finger!

My sweet drooly boy! You're all smiles, even though you don't feel good!

Kid, Mommy definitely thinks you're cool!  You are the coolest kid I know!

Love,
Mama

He's So Handsome!

I just had to post some pictures of my handsome little boy in his big boy outfit! 

Mason and Grammy

Looks like he was caught doing something wrong!!

Look at that silly smile!  This picture cracks me up!

He was staring at Grandpa's phone...he REALLY didn't want to sit in my lap!

Playing with his new piano.

Hangin out with Grandpa.

Learning how to high-five from Mr. Steven!  =)

Old Friends

Today I got to see several of my old high school friends in celebration of Chrystal and Shawn's engagement!  We had such a good time, and I am SO glad everyone found the time to get together and chat!  Mary and her husband Adrian brought their sweet little boy William, who is a couple of months younger than Mason.  They were so cute, watching each other and trying to figure each other out.  I cannot believe I forgot to take pictures!  But, I suppose that is a good excuse to get together again soon!  I'm so glad that my little man has so many friends his age that he can grow up with!

Mary - I know you're reading!  We really do have to get together soon so our boys can play!!

Whistle Stop!

We made our first trip to Whistle Stop Playground today!  It was coolish and overcast, but we wanted to meet our friends there for some fun!  We met Alisha (our cousin slash awesome new babysitter!) and her two kids, and Alisha's friend Rebecca and her three kids.  We didn't get to stay long, because it was kind of cool and Mason was in need of a nap, but the park is so nice and I can't wait to go back!  Mason had his first swing experience, and let's just say he wasn't a fan...

Fortunately, the trains didn't bother him too much.  We live so close to a railroad track and he hears the whistle so often, he pretty much tunes it out!

I was a little bummed that he didn't like the swing, but we will definitely try again - I bet he'll grow to love it!

By the way, speaking of Alisha, she is such a great sitter!  Mason LOVES going to her house, and sometimes I think he doesn't want to leave!  Here's a picture from her house that makes me smile:

Awesome Gift

Martin Luther King day is coming up on Monday.  I normally don't give much thought to this holiday, unless I'm fortunate to be off of work, but it hit me tonight that MLK day is different for me now.  Martin Luther King Day 2009 was the one of the scariest and happiest days of my life.  On this day, we had to travel to Austin, to the Texas Perinatal Group for a Level 2 ultrasound, to find out if something was wrong with our little boy.  Five days before, we found out that our last ultrasound came back abnormal.  They listed so many things that could be wrong...polyhydramnios, which could be a sign of non-functioning kidneys, or IUGR, they thought his stomach was too small, they thought that one leg was significantly shorter than the other.  They gave us so many possibilities to worry about over those 5 days.

Over those painfully slow days, so many of our friends prayed for us, and for Mason.  People we didn't know had whole churches praying for us.  Everyone was worried about our little boy, and I couldn't make it a minute without thinking of all the things that this abnormal ultrasound could mean.  I will never forget going to work the next morning and barely making it into Alisa's room before I broke down - she was such a good friend to me that day - she hugged me and cried with me, and I am so thankful that God  gave me her friendship, over those days, and always.

On Monday, January 19th 2009, Martin Luther King Day, Terry, my mom, and I made a very somber car ride to Austin.  I know exactly what was going through our heads, and it still brings tears to my eyes thinking about it.  When we got there, the waiting room was packed.  I was too nervous to do anything, but my mom always came prepared.  She had her bag of knitting materials, and decided to start a new blanket.  I told her that I loved the colors - beautiful pinks and browns.  We waited at least an hour before we finally got in.  I filled out tons of paperwork asking family history questions, genetics questions, etc., all of which scared me to death.  At this point I really thought I was going to be sick.

When they finally called us back, the technician was so sweet and calm.  The ultrasound was shown on a TV on the wall in front of me, so I didn't have to crane my neck to see.  I was so happy to see my little boy in there, moving around without a care in the world, and I knew that no matter what happened, we would be okay.  We would ALL be okay.  The technician looked around for a while and finally said the words we had been dying to hear - she told us that she couldn't see a single thing to worry about.  She did have the doctor come in and look as well, and he agreed.  The only bit of concern was a slight excess of amniotic fluid (polyhydramnios) that could easily be monitored by my doctor.  The tension in the room broke immediately, and we were all smiles.  I cried, and I think my mom may have teared up too.  The relief on Terry's face was obvious.  Our baby was going to be okay!  We cancelled our genetic consult appointment for the afternoon, called everyone we knew, and had a fantastic lunch.

Tonight, almost exactly a year later, my parents came over to see Mason.  My mom brought with her the finished blanket to give me.  In the moment, I was just so glad to have it because it's so beautiful, but as I rocked my healthy baby boy to sleep tonight, it all hit me.  This blanket is such an amazing reminder of the scariest week of our lives, and how we got through it with a lot of prayer, and ended up with a healthy, beautiful baby boy.  I will keep it and treasure it, and every time I look at it, I will be reminded of how blessed I am.

(Here is the link to my original post about this ultrasound.)