Wordless Wednesday

Happy Birthday Gigi!

Today you would be 58 years young. We miss you more than you know! :-(

Mom & Dad on Balboa pier in 2005- ironically, I think we can see this pier from the Beach house.

More of Mason

Mason looks back to normal FINALLY! I think we've officially gotten rid of all soy, eggs and wheat traces in his diet. His face has stopped becoming blotchy, and his skin is that baby soft skin again! It definitely helped to cut out all lotions and shampoos that had soy and wheat products as well. (crazy huh! We've had to look for those allergies in the strangest of places!) We're off to the Allergist tomorrow even though it seems like we've got things under control.

Mason the Motorhead is currently LOVING trucks and tractors. Anytime he sees one, he points and says, "Dat! Vrrrrrrrrmmmmm mmmmmmm" his trucks permanently sit by the front porch now so when we go outside we don't have to lug them out everytime. He's truely fascinated with all the trucks and their job when we drive through construction zones. His other great love is still Balls! Everything that resembles a Ball gets a response with "Bah Bah Bah Bah Bah Bah Bah" and constant pointing! LOL Whether its a soccer ball (which we see MANY of at the park and driving past the soccer fields outside our neighborhood) to Large Watermelons at the store and even Reunion Tower... (yes thats right, We were somewhere where there was a large picture of the Dallas Skyline, and all Mason says is, "Baaaahhhhh!") I've been trying to get him to say 'Ba-LLLLLLLL' but his usual response is "Ba-luddle duddle duddle duh" it cracks me up, thats his little singsong he's always babbled away since he was a baby. But whatever! I almost got him to say Banana the other day, but he responded with "Balala" LOL close enough- I'll take it!

Sticks and Trucks. A boys life!


So serious.


What a cute butt. He sure didn't get that from me!

3 lbs down this week!

Guess it helps eating lots of veggies! We decided we'd eat healthier and try to eat the same things as Mason when we eat as a family. Its not fair to him to eat delicious things in front of him that he cant enjoy. His hives have gone down a great amount, but his face still breaks outs very easily, so I had decided to eat alot of all natural type things (things that don't have a list of ingredients!) So besides our grocery bill tripling, Mason's been adjusting fine, as long as no one eats cheetos or chips in front of him!!

If your interested in our meal plan (also very healthy and low on carbs!) here's what we had this week:

Monday: Mason had some hot dog (which ended up having wheat and soy products- oops! apparently i didn't read the label- bad mom!) with watermelon and cantelope. I had a quesadilla (sad to say that's all i ate on Monday multiple times! lol)

Tuesday: Gavin and I ate Turkey burger sliders with sweet potato. Mason had Ian's Brand chicken nuggets with sweet potato and corn.

Wednesday: Grilled chicken, bacon wrapped asparagus, left over sweet potato, steamed corn and left over carrot salad from lunch. (Mason & I both now LOVE the carrot salad from CFA!)

Thursday: gavin and I had homemade Pizza while Mason had Allegaroo spagetti (great line of kids premade meals - mostly pastas- they are all free of the 8 main allergens to kids.) also had sauteed Corn, Green Beans, Peas and carrots.

Friday: Grilled Chicken, Bacon wrapped Asparagus, home made sweet potato fries cooked on the grill, Spring mix salad with avocado, strawberries and cherry tomatoes with homemade ranch dressing.

Okay so looking at it, really it wasnt that much healthier!! LOL we still had our weekly burgers, but we've been eating ALOT more vegetables. I've always fed Mason veggies, but adding them into our diet is about 100% more than we would eat before!! I think Gavin's favorite is my homemade sweet potato fries and the bacon wrapped asparagus. YUM!

If your interested here's my recipes for both:

Sweet potato fries:
Take 1 large cleaned & rinsed sweet potato- cut it into 1/4" slices (these will end up being about 2-3" wide) and then cutting those additional chunks into 1/4" slices- now looks about the size of a french fry. Toss them in a large bowl- add about 2-3 tbsp of olive oil (we can't use canola oil because its soybean oil, but olive oil is better for your skin anyway!) with a dash of garlic powder, salt and pepper. I then spread them out on a baking sheet (with a lip) and set on the grill on a medium-high setting. Make sure to toss them a few times while they cook.

Bacon wrapped asparagus:
We use fresh asparagus, none of that canned crap. We also buy fresh bacon from the butcher. Specifically, the applewood smoked Bacon from Market Street- you CANNOT beat their $1.99/lb bacon! Its the best ever and not to mention cheaper than the boring packaged crap (that also happens to have a LIST of ingredients/additives/fillers...YUCK!!) anyway, take 2-3 asparagus and wrap with 1 slice of Bacon and secure with 2 tooth picks (1 at the top, 1 at the bottom) and throw on the grill on a low- medium setting. No need to season the asparagus- they come out amazing!

Sorry, I won't give out Gavin's burger recipe- too good to give away, we'll just say its our "FAMILY RECIPE!" with original taste and the freshest ingredients- we sound like a restaurant! LOL you'll just have to invite yourself over for burgers :-)

Sleeping In? What's that??

Gavin and I were just talking about our going ons of tomorrow (which happens to be Saturday- our busiest day of the week generally for work) Mason has acquired this cough that really started up today, it doesnt sound very good to me, its shallow and sounds like a bark (higher pitched, which is making him sound kinda raspy).
So we decided we shifted around a few things in our schedules (okay really, we just decided we'd not attend the Susan G Koman Race for the Cure this year sadly! I love doing it, but Mason's health comes first.) so we can make it to our doctors office after care hours first thing in the morning.
So anyway, Gavin said to me, "So.. you'll probably be waking up around 8?" I just laughed at him and said, "Yeah RIGHT. That's on a GOOD day...that's what I call sleeping in!" Lately, it seems like the latest I get to sleep in is 7:15- I've found that my way of getting extra sleep and feel like sleeping in, is to go to bed WAY early! (which I plan on doing tonight!) Oh what I would do to sleep in as late as I want- it'd probably be no later than 8 am sadly! Oh the lifestyle of a Mom!

Looks like Surgery in the forecast!

Not for Mason (thankfully!) but for ME! I think I would be so much more scared about the idea of surgery if I hadn't had a baby yet LOL! Surgery still scares me but not as much after having Mason. So what's the surgery for? well last Monday I went in for some blood work to check on my thyroid and to get my blood sugar level checked (both results came back great) but found out my liver functioning levels were high, so then I got sent back for more bloodwork (checked for all the hepatitis' which came back negative) and got sent in for a gallbladder sonogram. Found out today that I've got multiple gallstones which need to be removed, which more than likely means my gallbladder needs to be removed. FuN FuN. Apparently the surgery can be done lapriscopically, and its a rather quick recovery. I havent had any pain, so I'm HOPING I can wait another 2 months until work slows down just a bit, but obviously its something that needs to be taken care of. SO keep me in your prayers, because clearly my life doesnt allow for down time let alone recovery! LOL

Oh, the life of a Mom!

April 19th changed my life!
Every year when April 19th comes around I cant help but think of the day I found out I was pregnant with Mason- April 19 2006. Yes, I was in denial! I found out i was 7 weeks pregnant (yes again, you can laugh and agree I was in denial! LOL)
It was the last day before I stopped putting myself first, thinking of just me, being selfish and started thinking about this person we would be bringing into this world! Now - its is mason fed? is mason clean? mason needs to be changed, mason needs a drink, mason needs a nap....,have i showered today? (sniff sniff shrug.)


A little update on Mason- We've been eating gluten free all week and Mason's congestion has stopped, but his hives are still around (we've been trying to find egg free and soy free products which isnt easy, so we're eating alot of all natural -fruits, veggies, grilled meats) but Mason still has hives on his sides and lower back and he's been scratching at his lower back, thighs, ears and forehead- we had been giving him Zyrtec (dr reccommended)- ironically, Zyrtec works good for the hives and helps alot with his itchiness, BUT it REALLY irritates his poor pee pee! SO after a few days of doing zyrtec (poor kid is still irritated down there, figured it'll take a few days to clear up) we thought we'd give him some Benadryl (which DID help with the itchiness and helps him sleep GREAT) BUT, it gives Mason diahrrea with an extremely SORE butt- SO we're stopping that too and just trying some cortizone cream hoping it'll help with the itchies. I'm hoping we can get in to see the allergist this coming week- poor KID, no relief AND he has a sensitivity to medications like me! :-(

Boys and dirt or mulch.

what is it with Boys and DIRT? good grief! Sunday was Lucas' 3rd Birthday party, we hung around after the party while Mason and Lucas played in the backyard. Mason isn't used to the idea of having a a swingset in the backyard, let alone PLAY in the backyard (we've got a pool as the backyard pretty much). Kristin and Jesse did a great job of cleaning the backyard and laying mulch around the swingset which Mason found just as fun as dirt. He found a bucket that kept him entertained for a whole 30 minutes of filling with mulch and then dumping it all on his lap, and then repeat.
Yesterday was an amazingly beautiful day, so Mason, Shelby, Molly, Bear and I went to hang out in the front yard and play a bit. After the dogs decided they were too tired to play anymore, they headed for a nap in the sun. Mason decided he'd like to help pull weeds, except he didnt understand it needed to be done in the flower beds, instead he decided he'd rather pull fresh baby grass. Gavin just seeded about a month ago with new Fescue grass and it looks AMAZING and feels super soft under your feet, problem was Mason decided he'd help pull that up. So we ran inside and grabbed his toy trucks. The idea must be ingrained in mens brains because what's Mason do with them? He forgets the grass and loads rocks in his trucks and proceeds to transport them across the yard back and forth- thats fine with me- he stays entertained and the grass stays intact!

I think its time to drag out my camera again soon- i've been relying on my cell phone for a camera and the quality isnt so great.
here's Mason with mulch. *Please take note that YES there is a bounce house in the background, and what's Mason play with? Mulch.

Day 1 of Gluten Free Living

Mason is still pretty badly broken out in hives still, but his face is getting a little better, feeling alot softer and starting to appear normal. I figured they probably have to get worse before getting better, hopefully thats soon!
I decided if Mason had to eat gluten free- then thats how we're going to have it in our house. I decided it wouldn't be fair to Mason to see Gavin and I eating some great things that he can't enjoy. Yes we'll still have some normal stuff, but overall it needs to be things he can enjoy too. Today I sent Mason to school with his own lunch since at school they were having chicken nuggets (i'm 99.9% sure there's wheat flour in the breading) so Mason went with Grilled Chicken, corn, dried apple chips and gluten free mac n cheese. Not sure how well lunch went over, but they said he ate a decent amount.
After taking him to school this morning, I headed out to Sprouts in Southlake to check out what they had. They had some GREAT produce. So i decided I deprived Mason long enough from his beloved fruit (thats what we thought his reaction was to last week) so I loaded up on Strawberries, Grapes, Watermelon, Cantelope and Tangelos (and WOW are their Tangelos PeRfEcT! so sweet!) I've never spent so long grocery shopping! I knew it wouldn't be cheap since I was buying staples to keep in the fridge and pantry. I spent So long reading labels!! Guess I'll be a label reader now. I did find myself a yummy (AND healthy) new snack that I love! Roasted, Toasted, Salted peas are really good! Thanks Stephanie for telling me about Sprouts! Then I headed to Costco to find more of his dried apple and pear chips (thanks to Heidi for finding those!) but unfortunately they were out. So I headed home to put away groceries and then off to the gym. Sadly, my trip to the gym never happened, I spent an hour & half organizing the fridge and pantry with our new groceries and basically went thru EVERYTHING Mason cant eat, what was worth keeping for Gavin & I and what was just being junked. After all that I was hungry, so I ate lunch (a VERY non healthy gluten filled corn dog! LOL) got some computer work done and then headed to pick up Mason from school. So much for really getting much done! I did however, cook our FIRST gluten Free Family meal tonight!! I made Chicken Alfredo WITH Pasta! The Pasta was Mrs. Lenner's vegetable rice pasta- it was pretty good. The Alfredo sauce packet I picked up was gluten free and then added some chicken. It was pretty good and Mason LOVED IT! I've figured out that finding gluten free things is easy, BUT finding things that doesnt have egg white OR soybeans is becoming a little challenging, so I know it'll get easier once i familiarize myself with label reading. Maybe once we go to the allergist we'll find out the severity of each allergy as well and allow small doses of one or 2 into his diet. we'll find out soon I guess, I do feel relief knowing what was causing such a bad reaction, now its just making sure it doesnt happen again!

Dang...The results to Mason's allergy testing!

we're going to be changing up our ENtIRE diet!!!! We *thought* Mason had a reaction to citrus fruits (thankfully now Mason can eat fruits again!!! yeah!) but we found out he's allergic to WHEAT, SOY BEANS and EGG WHITES! gee, thats JUST in e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g!!!
So basically it boils down to ALL natural things (fruits, veggies, meat, gluten free things) no mac n cheese (unless i can find some gluten free kind) pastas, breads, cookies/cakes, fried foods. I'm going to the natural food store by our house today to see what i can find (i know i can get wheat free flour type stuff to make our own breads, pizza dough, etc) but in the mean time, ugh how frustrating! poor kid he cant even have birthday cake (and Hendrix birthday is coming up!)! our Pedi is referring us to an allergist to work with thankfully!
Apparently kids can outgrow these types of allergies (hope thats the case) but in the mean time, we're going to be going the all natural route- all organic fruits, veggies, meats, natural dairy, etc. which really is one of the best diets for you-- NO PROCESSED FOODS! which in my opinion causes so many illnesses, allergies and sicknesses these days, not to mention cancer! so maybe with our change in diet and lifestyle- we're doing not just Mason, but ourselves a HUGE favor and get to live a long healthy life!
so any good recipes you have for us- post them here! :-)

Bluebonnets

Bluebonnets are a special thing in Texas- they come out in April every year and are the beloved Texas State flower-- more than that, they are mandatory for pictures if you have children in Texas!! We found a GREAT patch in Grapevine where we didnt have to battle with any families for the prime spots. It was still a bit bright out, so we might try to hit up the bluebonnets again this week a little closer to sunset this week maybe.
Must give a shout out to my talented better half if you're ever interested for Professional pix! www.mcnoskyimages.com

Crazy Week

Usually, when I say 'crazy' it means chaotic, but not this week, we've just had crazy everything!

Mason's been pretty funny lately with the dogs. Poor things dont know what to expect. He might walk up and wail on them or hug them. Lately he's been much more lovey dovey on the dogs! so cute!!


Mason trying to hug shelby in her chair


Wednesday night, well really Thursday morning at about 3:30 we had 'one' of those nice texas spring storms hit with full force. The storm woke both Mason and I up. Gavin went into his bedroom to console him and Gavin didnt even hear the storm until he walked out of our bedroom! LOL (how is that possible?) I laid in bed thinking, WOW that is BAD out there, this HAS to be a tornado. Then the first thing that popped into my mind was, "God I hope the shop is okay!!" All i could imagine was driving up in the morning and finding my green hydrangeas strung all over Hurst! LOL So I laid there and just prayed we'd be safe and my office too! HEB schools were out the next day and Hurst got hit pretty bad by the tornado (LOTS of power outages- another thing i worried about with our coolers, not having power) but we got no damage at the office or hom and were perfectly safe with power! So someone was watching out for us :-) That night I laid there in bed thinking, okay- ANY minute the sirens are going to go off (thats how bad it sounded outside) and then I'd have to go get Mason and we'd go hide in the bathroom, but I ended up falling asleep and never heard any sirens. The next morning Gavin and I were discussing the storm and he said, "oh yeah the tornado sirens went off", My response was "AND YOU DIDN'T WAKE ME UP?" WHO in THE GREAT STATE OF TEXAS doesnt know what it means when the sirens go off????? It means take cover!!! agh MEN!

Wednesday evening, Kristin and I decided to take the boys (Mason, Lucas and Asher) to Chuck E Cheese in Grapevine (1 because its WAY cleaner than the one in NRH, and 2 because they have a toddler zone!) Before we left I thought I'd splurge and get the boys some cotton candy (it was blue) so they got to enjoy it on the way home. Funny thing, Lucas loved it but he didnt like its stickiness. Mason didn't care about that, he LOVED the cotton candy and devoured it and constantly asked for more! I wish i got a picture of him it was ALL over his face and he was BLUE. He had a beard and go-tee of blue sticky mess!

Here's Mason in the toddler zone plastering his face up against the window! He thought he was SO funny!


Last night Gavin and I had Red Robin for dinner- we both had the same burger (except mine didnt have lettuce or tomato) and Gavin got REALLy sick last night. I'm pretty sure it was food poisoning. Poor guy was miserable last night throwing up constantly all night long. He finally started to feel a little better around noon today. So bottom line- you should never eat lettuce or tomato on your burgers! LOL j/k. I don't think we'll be eating there for a VERY long time. I guess it also confirms how awesome Gavin's homemade hamburger are too! I think we'll be sticking with those for a while!

This afternoon Mason scratched up his forehead by walking straight into the front door. so he's got a nice scratch on his forehead. While I was returning some work phone calls and emails Gavin was playing with Mason and eating some dried pear chips and also fruit loops. They walked outside for a few minutes, came back in and Mason started having another allergic reaction! UGH! His forehead broke out in hives and his eyes started swelling around the edge a little. So I gave him some zyrtec allergy (it treats hives too) and he started to look a little better within a few hours. I'm hoping we'll have his allergy results on Monday!!!!

Tonight we went and got some photos with Mason in the bluebonnets, so hopefully we got some good photos! After we needed to grab some dinner quick and considering we were in Grapevine at 6:45 pm and needed some dinner for Mason SOON, we had limited options, so where do we go? Luby's! I made fun of Gavin for fitting right in with driving the Daddy Caddy. LOL And amazingly, Luby's is better than I remembered! After i let him have his first sucker (it was a butterscotch dum dum) he did really good with it, in fact i think he enjoyed it a bit much, he kept licking it and saying "ahhhh" or "mmmmmmm"!
Mason inspecting his dum dum! You can still see some of his allergic reaction on his face.

Park Fanatic!

Mason has gotten so great at playing at the park! I'm so proud of him- in the past week he's figured out how to climb up to the slide, sit and push himself down the slide! of course I'm right there by his side, but he's doing so great making sure he goes down feet first sitting down- he's really caught on! The slide is his FAVORITE thing at the park now. At our park we frequent (when I say frequent that means nearly DAILY..okay, daily that doesnt rain!!) I don't know what we'll do tomorrow because its supposed to rain the next 2 days! ahh! I've been taking Mason in the evenings because it gets rid of all that EXCESS energy and he sleeps PERFECTLY at night! He LOVES watching all the bigger kids playing and interacting. Our 2 issues- any ball other kids have Mason wants it, and meeting ALL dogs. Not all dogs are kid friendly, so I'm trying to teach him to approach them cautiously. But thats next to impossible when we have 3 crazy mutts at home that lick him to pieces!
Anyway, here's 2 pix off my phone from this evening at the park on the swirly slide!

Cold Turkey!

So we're going cold turkey on bottles!! Currently Mason gets a naptime bottle and bedtime bottle. Dr. O said no more bottles at 18 months (I know some say as early as 12 months!) Tonight went okay, he drank about 3/4 of his sippy, i think in the end he just got a little frustrated, the sippy tip is different than his bottle, and i'm not sure he's able to get the milk out as fast, so maybe i need to keep looking at sippy cups. All i can say is I got to pack up all his bottle stuff tonight, and it FELT GREAT!!!!!!!

Sprinkler Fun

Yesterday we spent the afternoon at Nana'a House where Mason loves exploring their yard and patio- there's lots of yard animals, wind chimes, flowers and plants. I see it as lots of things for him to destroy! LOL Everytime we're there, there's always a few neighbors who happen to walk their dogs past which Mason really likes meeting the dogs and giving them some love pats. Funny thing, ALL the neighbors know Mason by name-how's that? guess someone has been showing off his picture ;-)
Yesterday I noticed one of the neighbors up the street had a sprinkler out and seemed to be watering the concrete so I showed Mason where it was and he just couldnt get there fast enough- I haven't seen him run so fast before! I let him run thru it a few times to get a good soaking, but the water was kinda cool so as soon as it stays warm, i know what fun we'll be having in our yard!
here's a few pix i took with my phone...
Here he is oblivious to the water so far...


What's that? water? is it raining? it's getting me wet Mom! wait....this is kinda fun!


As you can see they were definitely watering the sidewalk, I didn't think they'd mind help water a little cutie!

Photo Meme!

1. Go to photobucket.com
2. Type in your answer for each question into the Photobucket search bar.
3. Only use the first two pages. Choose your favorite photo to represent your answer.
4. Copy the html and paste it here.
5. You can only answer in picture form.

What is your name?



When is your birthday?




What kind of car do you drive?




Where did you go to school?



What's your favorite season?



What's your favorite type of shoe?



What's your status?




What's your favorite movie?


and





What's your favorite song?

Right now:



What's your favorite Disney character?




What's your favorite vacation destination?


and




What's your favorite dessert?



What are you most afraid of?




What's your favorite TV show?

Where's a camera when you need one?

Last night time got away from us while we were enjoying the BEAUTIFUL weather! Before we knew it, it was almost 7 pm and Mason was getting hungry. So we decided something quick was best for dinner, so we headed to Sonic and sat outside to eat. Mason instantly perks up when we are OUT. (i really do think he gets bored at home and inside!) typical boy huh?

We had just finished discussing how Mason is such a motor-head. Gavin did yard work yesterday and Mason CRIED when he saw him mowing. Mason and I were outside playing when Gavin pulled out the leaf blower, Mason instantly ran up to it and tried to pick it up and made a vrrrrrrrrrrr sound! LOL Then he cried some more when we went inside and he heard Gavin blowing leaves & grass off the patio. So its not just cars and motorcycles, its also Lawn mowers and leaf blowers...heck, anything Daddy uses with a motor! SO back to my story, we were talking about that as we were leaving. I was letting Mason walk with us to the car when a little girl walks up with a skateboard (didnt ride it) and set it against a table. Her dad commented on Mason's hair, so we were talking to him for just a minute when Mason walks up to the board, sets it on the ground, climbs up on and balances! LOL He looked super cute wearing his cargo pants, Rock Legend T shirt and faux hawk while acting like he knows what to do on a skateboard! And of course I left my cell phone in the car which has a camera! Dang!

Allergies!

Ugh. Thats about our week summed up in one word! Ironically, I had Mason's blood work done on Thursday afternoon to FINALLy get his allergy testing done. AND of course, what happens on Friday? He had a complete allergic reaction! (first time for this) I don't have any food allergies, but Gavin does to the Legume family (beans, peas, etc except for nuts) so far Mason has his dairy allergy that causes his excema. We *think* that he might have had a reaction to strawberries. Although he didn't have any yesterday- he did eat quite a bit of them last weekend and then again on tuesday which was the start of it (his forehead broke out in little bumps and his neck became all red and irritated where the strawberry juice ran down his neck and chest. His excema had gotten really bad over this past weekend, he's always eaten a ton of fruit, but maybe he just met his match this past weekend and then with the strawberries on Tuesday it sent his allergies into overboard. Friday at school with lunch he had some peaches and shortly after he got really red, and his face broke out in hives. His teacher Ms. Becky called me from school and said he just wasnt himself. So, Gavin picked him up from school and I made him a doctors appt (i was concerned about his congestion, but didnt think it had anything to do with his allergic reaction) the reaction didn't seem to bother his breathing or anything, it was just congestion and more topical than anything. So we took him to the Dr who put him on liquid steroids for the next few days, and told us no acidic fruits until we got his allergy test results back. So that was our nerve racking few days! He's doing much better, his face is looking better but not 100% yet and his congestion is way better at least!

No April Fool's Jokes for me!

Yes, I'm the jokster of the family. Usually, Gavin leaves me laughing at my own jokes unfortunately. I'm still looking for his sense of humor....have you seen it? ;-P
2 years ago (wow is that time going fast!) I sent Gavin this text message as an April's Fools joke. it went something like this:

Me: I took a pregnancy test.
Gavin: okay. AND?
Me: its positive. I'm pregnant.
Gavin: what? are you serious? you're pregnant?
Me: No. April Fools. HAHA! did I totally get you?
Gavin: No. not funny.

I also did the same thing to my friend Kristin, except she totally jumped for joy and screamed bloody murder that she didnt even hear me when I said April FOOLS!

IF i had taken a pregnancy test that DAY, it WOULD have been positive! I was in denial, and didn't take a pregnancy test for another 18 days...actually 3 were taken! LOL

Since Mason has my sense of humor, I know he'll appreciate this story one day! I must admit, we have the CUTEST April Fools Joke ever with the coolest faux hawk!