Happy Birthday GiGi

Today my Mom would be 57 years young. We probably would have celebrated by going to lunch and doing some shopping then dinner with the family, but we're not & I'm left with imagining how it would be. We know you would have been an amazing Grandma because you were such a great Mom. We miss you.

Cures

Head & Shoulders Dandruff Shampoo cures Cradle Cap (Mason has had it bad since 2 months and its FINALLY getting better!) DONT try olive oil, vegtable oil or baby oil- tried it all and NON of it works!

Cortizone Cream cures Baby Eczema - well doesnt cure it completely but it helps TONS!

Oatmeal soap cures dry skin (and smells good too!)

Other peoples screaming kids at Target cures Baby Fever.

Your own baby laughing cures any bad day!

Happy Birthday Hendrix!

Welcome to the world Baby Hendrix!
Hendrix Dane was born this morning to Sara & Kent weighing in at 7 lbs 12 oz & 18.5" long. Looking forward to meeting the cutie tonight! And looking forward to our first playdate on Monday! :)

Thinking of Storms....

My sweet friend Gina always seems to send me nice devotionals just at the right time regarding the right topic. I might have something going on in my life and funny thing she'll send me an email out of the blue with a nice devotional or bible verse that just really hits the spot for me!
The one she sent me this last week I think everyone can relate to at some point in their life whether its getting caught up in work, family or just caught up with life!

When you feel overwhelmed, fearing the waves that
are headed your way,

Turn to Jesus and allow Him to calm the seas of
your life.

Darkness flees and trembles at His name, and He
can conquer the storms that

Threaten to conquer you.

If I am for you, who can be against you? He
whispers through the rain.

He is the Calmer of the seas, the Prince of
Peace. Let Him reign.

I thought this was such a good verse to post- i always try to tell my friends (specifically Sara & Kristin) quit worrying, pray about it & just give control to God- it's amazing how things might turn out! "If I am for you, who can be against you? " This quote reminds me so much of my Mom, she used to quote that to me alot. I think my Mom was the one who instilled in me to just give up all control & let God work his plan- I think she's happy to know I still follow her directions! :)

Veggie Guru.

So far in the past 2 weeks, we've been slowly letting Mason try different baby foods. He loves his morning cereal and gobbles it up. Late in the day we'll have another serving of solid foods- so far he's tried-
Sweet Potatoes (LOVES them!)
Prunes (so far another favorite!) -which Mommy likes too- they keep Mason 'regular'.
Squash- he's not so sure about squash so far- he's only been on it for 2 days so far, so we still have a few days left on it before trying anything new. I think next we might try bananas!

Since starting Solids Mr. Mason has been sleeping SO MUCH better as well! What a relief! The week before going to see Dr. Ohmen for Mason's 4 month shots he was up so often at night its like no matter how much we fed him, it just wasnt satasfying him. Being on solids now he seems so much fuller and much more content at night! For the past week & half now he's been sleeping in longer & longer stretches at night (thank god!) and last night finally he slept 8 1/2 hours straight!!! woohoo Mason! We attended a friend's wedding last night & I came home & fed Mason & put him down to bed about 9:30 pm(way past his bedtime!) he was so tired he zonked right out- and slept til 6 am! Gavin got up to feed him at 6 & Mason went back to bed til 9 am! Now i wish I only went to bed sooner (1:30 am i finally crawled into bed!) After SUCH a long weekend (busy & crazy with my work) i deserved a good sleep (thank you honey!) but i still could have used another 12 hours sleep!

Last toy purchase....

for a while at least! Mason loved his Jumparoo so much i thought hmmm....since we have all wood floors I bet he'd love to scoot around before long! So far he has only figured out how to scoot backwards. and he LOVES to chew on the toy bar. apparently it tastes REALLY good. He already drools alot- with this thing there is seriously a puddle of drool on the tray after playing! Oh my goodness...the DROOL. who opened the floodgates? LOL
Speaking of "LOL" just an fyi for those internet chat/lingo challaged (TIffany) LOL means 'laughing out loud' not "lots of love" hahahaha!

One Year.

It just dawned on me that one year ago today (actually tonight) I found out I was pregnant! (I'm good with remembering dates like that)
How strange a year later, and I have the cutest happiest baby boy! Of course my reaction to my positive test result was "It must be broken! It says I'm pregnant!" When I ran upstairs to Gavin's office to throw the pregnancy test on his desk (probably not the ideal way to break the news to him!)- his reaction was "Well okay... (pause) (pause) (pause)...Cool!" I think I rambled off and yelling, no its not cool- this isnt in my plan! So funny to think "it wasnt in my plan". There's a song I love by Rodney Atkins that says, "If you want to hear God laugh- tell him your plan" SO TRUE! MY plan? what was that? I wasnt ready to be a Mom, I was having too much fun working my rear end off, going out every weekend with friends, and several nights each week. I was NOT a homebody, I was a busybody! I was constantly going going going! WHen Gavin & I first got married we said we'd like to wait about 2-3 years before having kids (perfect timing! LOL) well before I got pregnant we talked kids again and I said, 'maybe another 2 years'. I really think if I hadn't accidently gotten pregnant- we wouldnt have had kids with going in the direction I was going.

WOW has my life changed.

Work is still crazy and busy- but I'm not a busy body anymore. I'm a homebody. WHen I'm not at work, I'm with Mason. when I'm not with Mason- I'm at work! Gavin and I are still the same, but I think we have a whole new level of respect and admiration for one another. I do think that Mason is one of the best things I've been blessed with (besides my family & Gavin) having a baby makes you appreciate all the small things. I never knew I could love something so much! Yes I love Gavin to the ends of the earth, and I love my dog with unconditional love, but I never imagined how much I love that little man! And I think that grows everyday too.
I think God intended for Mason to slow me down and to be able to see and experience all those little things thru him,apparently I was passing them all by way too fast. With having him, I've learned that I'll work faster on a nice day just so I can rush home to be with him and sit out in the grass and play with him, I'll get up early even after going to bed way too late, just so I can be with Mason in the morning when he's playful and acts his silliest. One thing I've learned that I think is most important is enjoying Mason's smile and laughter and to see how his eyes light up when I walk in the room and call his name- when he smiles at me and laughs when I shower him with kisses- everything else important or crazy in my life --just melts away! Children really are a true blessing and teach you so much more than you could ever imagine!

New Project

We also have a new project going on- the sun room which is also my current office (which is never used) really all its used for is how we get outside to let Shelby potty & to go into our Master Bedroom (it connects our bedroom to the rest of the house off the living room)- so we've decided to sell my big bulky desk (anyone interested?) and we're going to install some cabinets & counterspace to hold craft stuff and toys for Mason so he'll have a play area. We're going to make it kid friendly so when he's big enough to play with his toys and make a mess, all we have to do is close our bedroom door & put up a baby gate & he can go to town with all of his toys and make any kind of mess he wants! the counter space will be good when he's even older and he gets interested in arts and craft type stuff (cant wait for that!) So i can't wait for the room to be finished. So here's the 1st picture of transforming the room- on one wall we have this cabinet to hold all of Mason's books and where we can have baskets to store away his toys (outta sight!) I can't wait to post pictures when we finally have the cabinets installed (hopefully it'll be finished by the beginning of the summer!

Room upgrade!

Mason's room went thru a small room upgrade yesterday- really he just got a new dresser- but what a difference! Before it was a taller & more narrow dresser- the new one (thanks to ikea!) is wider and longer, and right at the perfect height too! So we are able to get rid of the end table that the stereo sat on and also the really small table that held only the wipe warmer. Essentially, it got rid of some clutter!
Yes, Gavin STILL needs to paint the white shelf on the wall. I see it every single day and it STILL drives me crazy. Maybe it'll get painted before Mason goes off to college! haha!

Typical Parents?

Do typical parents take pictures this much? Seriously? We've now noticed EVERYTIME the camera comes out, Mason has learned to stare straight at the camera! I'm not kidding, he doesnt look at the flash, he looks straight at the lens and its not like we jump up and down to get his attention, apparently the camera is enough!