Mason's 3rd birthday round 1

We had an awesome birthday party this year... I'm a little behind... 3 weeks later :)
I wanted to have it at the park like last year, but the weather didn't hold out for us, so a few days before I had to come up with plan B for a
Firetruck birthday party. SO, I called up our city FD & they said they'll do a little tour of the FIre station & then let the kids climb in the truck. I have to say, I was just as excited about it as Mason. It was awesome & so fun for them! After we came to our house for some playtime & snacks! We all had a great time!!
Happy 3rd birthday to my big boy!











All the kids loved it... Except for M's friend J. J didn't want to have anything to do with the firetrucks!!



We also had quite a party favor at our house. We have some wonderful friends who have a 'toy' antique fire truck. They brought it over & parked it at our house so M & the kids could enjoy it! What an awesome gift!!




We also celebrated M's real bday with the favorite cousin & Mimi over for a pancake dinner (b'fast for dinner is M's favorite meal!) and don't forget leftover cupcakes!






The day before M's bday is Mimi's birthday so we celebrated the anniversary of her 29th birthday with a dinner out with all of us. When there are 3 siblings, 2 husbands, 3 kids under 3 & margaritas involved there is always fun to be had!










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I am mean. A very, very, very mean Mommy.

Some might say that I am just cruel with torturing my child by taking him to see Santa.

Santa Stats to date:
Mason: 3
Santa: 0

Mason has cried in every Santa photo as of yet. Sadly, I ever so slightly enjoy it.
Don't ask why.
maybe i have a demented sense of humor.

maybe I just do it for my future Daughter in Law's enjoyment they will one day get out of these photos.

Yes, I am that mother. mean mean mommy. but Mason hasn't called me that yet, thankfully!

2009 Picture.
AWESOME.....

Poor poor Mason. So sad.

But Maddox with those big eyes of his. ha! they say it all.......

doesn't he kind of look like a deer caught in headlights?????



Funny story to go along with this...
Last night my neighbor & I decided it'd be a good day to take the boys to the mall for Santa photos. So at breakfast this morning, I thought it'd be a good idea to break the news to Mason about what was to come. oh wait..backstory first...
Saturday, Papaw took Mason on his annual Polar Express train ride & while Mason was completely engrossed with what was going on outside the window, Santa came to see Mason. Papaw said, "Mason, who's behind you?" Mason turns around to see Santa & FREAKS OUT.
SO i decided I'd kind of prepare him. Here goes our breakfast conversation from today:

Me: Hey Mason, Let's go see Santa today! Alex is going to go too!
Mason: Um....No.
Me: We have to go soon so that you can tell Santa what to bring you.
Mason: Santa scare me.
Me: But if you don't tell Santa, he won't know to bring you a train.
Mason: Sponge Bob the Elf can tell him!!!!
(Okay, it's official folks..my 3 year old might have just outsmarted me. OR elf on the shelf might have just backfired! LOL)


I wonder if I should prepare him that they are also taking Santa photos at school tomorrow!! HAHA

Elf on a Shelf pt 2

"Bob" our elf has acquired a new name. Rilee was over one day last week & she said something about SpongeBob. So our Bob soon became Sponge Bob the Elf, then mason shortened it to "Spog" the Elf. I guess that's better than Sponge Bob the Elf!!! LOL

Here's some more spots he's been...















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Sharing a room

It's been 4 nights now that we finally took the plunge & moved Maddox's crib into Mason's room. It's now 'the Boys room'. And they've done awesome! No complaints. Mason generally comes into our room around 6:45 am & I can usually get him to sleep a little longer. After the first night he came in & said, "mommy, Maddox sleeping. I sneaked like a mouse!"
Yesterday morning Maddox woke up about 7:30 & I wanted to sleep just a few more minutes , so I told Mason, "go play with Maddox in his crib". Yea for baby entertainment :)

My babies playing



Room is a work in progress



Still need to hang the other shelves & hang signs....and make someones bed. I'm not thrilled with the room layout but it'll have to do until Maddox is in a twin bed next year!


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Maddox stats

Maddox turned 9 months old this last week. He now weighs 21.5 lbs. This blows my mind because Mason weighs 10 lbs more than him.
He is an absolute joy in our family. He is happy all the time & completely adores Mason. Mason can get him laughing & cracking up faster than anyone.
He LOVES music & singing. He's sitting up & scoots himself backwards, but no crawling as of yet (which is fine by me!) he really likes Max & Ruby on tv & LOVES hair. Pulling long hair is his thing to do right now.
His favorite things to eat at the moment are: sweet potatoes, acorn or butternut squash, bananas, soft apples, mango, soft bluberries & soft pitted cherries.
He's currently got 6 teeth, I think he's working on # 7 & 8, but he's pretty tight lipped & won't let me peek.
He sleeps great, still will not roll over in his crib, so he's a back sleeper & totally content with that.
Maddox is just the most laid back, patient, content, easy going baby. I absolutely love seeing his personality develope. I can't say enough how much he completes our family & just brings so much joy to us!



All bundled up for the cold!


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Elf on a shelf

Meet Bob.



Bob is our elf on the shelf.




Elf on the shelf is a great book that my friend Dede told me about, it is supposed to keep kids on a good behavior type program during the holidays. Honestly, Bob kind of creeps me out.
Gavin said if he finds Bob next to him one night in bed, Bob will be burned. ;)
Mason was supposed to name him, he kept saying, "mommy, or mason or Shelby..." so I said, how about a name like Bob, Steve or Larry or Joe... So Mason picked Bob.
Bob watches to see if Mason is a good boy & after bedtime he flies to the North Pole & reports to Santa. Then flies back before morning & finds a new spot for the day (Which is a game for Mason to find him).
So far Bob has been:
Next to Mom/Gigi (she's in the silver vase) who sits on the mantle



Behind a frame




Today he's hanging out on the wine rack. (I'll be keeping a close eye on the stash!)



Check back to see how creative Bob gets with finding new places everyday!

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Thanksgiving

Sad to say, Thanksgiving wasn't as great this year as it's been in the past. Gavin has been prepping the past few days for a big studio shoot weekend, so he was gone all day & night the day before Thanksgiving, and again all morning, early afternoon on thanksgiving. I think I met my match with how much i can handle. 2 kids+ 6 hours + 1 parent + 6 dishes to cook + mess to clean= 1 cranky mommy. not doing that again! I told Gavin next year no working on Thanksgiving since I usually do a good amount of cooking for the family. But maybe next year i can get out of cooking and volunteer for Meals on Wheels or another charity of the sort in the morning. not a bad idea!
I think i was better after dinner and things were cleaned up, I was finally able to sit for a few minutes and relax. Thankfully Maddox wanted some cuddle time, so I was down with that. Mason teaches me to enjoy the small things in life. Maddox teaches to sit back and relax. I sure needed the relaxing thing yesterday.
We got some fun pictures as the kids were hyped up on home made ice cream after dinner.

Mason & Papaw during dinner

From thanksgiving

Sweet Baby Maddox turned 9 months old yesterday! notice the ring of drool on his shirt...yuck!

From thanksgiving

Uncle Christopher trying to get a smile

From thanksgiving

this is the playground at my Dad's house. My mom's korean step chest. its a strange cabinet that can be moved in many different positions. Mason & Rilee like to climb on it and hide IN it.

From thanksgiving

Sitting still JUST long enough!

From thanksgiving

their indoor playground.

From thanksgiving

Me and my 3 most favorite kiddos in the world

From thanksgiving

Amy, I and our kiddos

From thanksgiving

Us & Uncle Josh

From thanksgiving

My dad included! Love this one how cheeky Rilee was being. Notice her just about strangling Amy & I!

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Me and my Boys :)

From thanksgiving

alternative parenting

when Mason gets in big trouble he generally gets a time out. Occassionally, he gets spankings when we catch him doing something that could essentially hurt himself. Lately timeouts seem more like poutty time for him. He sits there and pouts. I've been trying to be creative with discipline.

Since he's been waking up SUPER early and sneaking around the house. As soon as I hear him, I've been trying to jump out of bed to make sure he's not causing trouble.
Sunday morning he beat me to it. I didn't hear him when he first woke up, he went/snuck into Gavin's office which is OFF limits. He found a pair of sharp pliers and went into Gavin's tool box & took out a long sharp drill bit. As soon as I heard him & walked out of our room into the playroom i saw the drill bit on the playroom floor. Thank the LORD he didn't hurt himself with it, or the cat or dog either. First I made sure he didn't hurt himself, Then I spanked him, sent him to time out & then scolded him. The punishment that got him the most- NO cartoons for the entire day.
That was genius. He asked all day to watch cartoons & I just asked him, "No, do you remember why you can't watch them today?" Sure enough, he remembered all day. Mommy: 1, Mason: 0. so maybe he was ahead in the beginning, but I shut that game down! ;-p
This morning, he came into our room at about 6:30 am & crawled into bed. (Score, more sleep!) a few minutes later he wanted his lovie & tractor so he got down to go get them. He was gone maybe 2 minutes. He comes back in & gave himself a beard. WITH. MY. MASCARA. are you kidding? He knows that only Mommies wear make up. He knew he did something wrong and asked to wash it off. I said, "NO. if you're going to wear make up like Mommy, then you have to wear it all day." thankfully we only went to the bank today. But both Mimi & Papa & Rilee came by today, so he got to explain why he had a beard.

I fully plan on nipping this phase in the butt!

for ME!!

I don't get much Mommy time. When I'm not with the boys, 99% of the time I'm working. Even after they go to bed, I'm either catching up on e-mails for work, or getting some artsy fartsy orders done. I joke with Gavin that I don't even get to pee or shower by myself as Mason follows me everywhere.
We've recently been blessed with some amazing new neighbors. This new family has 2 boys, our boys age. So you can imagine how much we love our new neighbors! LS & I get along great- being both moms of boys, attend the same church, love learning to cook, etc. We've recently started the Couch to 5K running program. it's 3 days a week, 30 minutes. add in stretching and Mom-talk, it's more like 50 minutes. The best part(s), LS is right next door. We're held accountable to each other. We run in our neighborhood, which means it's FREE. and not to mention, we get some GIRL time in! The program is 4 months, in that 4 month period you go from walking to being able to run a 5K (3.5 miles) so in February is the Cowtown 5K which we will RUN. I am so incredibly excited/nervous/anxious/thrilled/inspired to do this. Both of us are looking to drop weight after both having babies this year. The crazy thing about this, i loved running in high school. I don't run anymore, unless something is chasing me. I feel like i do SO much for my family, for once - something for ME. to better myself, to commit myself to a challenge, to get healthier and accomplish a physical challenge (which probably hasn't really happened in the last 10 years.)
SO I'll keep you posted of our progress!
So far we're in the middle of week 2. We stretch first, warm up walk for 5 minutes. for the next 20 minutes it alternates 90 seconds of running with 2 minutes of walking followed by 5 minutes of cool down walking with a LOT of stretching for us.
What is necessary for our training:
1. my iphone
2. C25K iphone app- this thing is AMAZING. it sets off an alarm when we need to start running,and when to walk, cool down, etc.
3. a good play list- which can be synced up with the C25K app. when we run, we seem to concentrate on our breathing, so we don't chat as much as when we walk. good music keeps us going as well!
4. Shelby, my dog. We go at about 8:30pm after our boys go down, so it's dark. Our neighborhood is safe, however- she's protective and a great running companion as well.
5. GOOD running shoes. I splurged a few months back at Luke's Locker here in Colleyville and got fitted for a good pair.
6. Heel inserts. I've had pain in the muscle from my heels to the ball of my foot since having Maddox. it's gotten a lot better than it was in the spring (there were times then i was having to ice my heels down they hurt so bad!) stretching my calves REALLY well helps, and heel inserts in every shoes i wear seem to make an amazing difference!

So cheer us on and check back for our progress!

Procrastinating.

Look what I made while procrastinating tonight!! New kitchen towel with zebra! I love it.... Gavin is gonna hate it! LOL super easy to make too :)



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