Exciting Things

Big changes are happening around here. Korina is finally figuring out how to use the potty, and Colby and I couldn't be more excited. I knew I would dread the process of teaching her and not be too thrilled about cleaning up accidents, but I know the end result will be so worth it. We think she's almost there, but then I worry about what will happen the first time we go somewhere and she has to use the public restroom. Hopefully she won't freak out too much!
Another big change is that I think Mason is getting a tooth. At least I hope that is what's happening. Lately he has just been more fussy than usual and hasn't been sleeping as well, plus he constantly has drool coming out of his mouth. I hope the tooth comes quickly so he can start feeling better. And here are some pictures from a recent photo shoot of him. He is such a happy little guy!

Just watching Mickey Mouse together. She loves her brother!

Pinterest

Wow! I am sure loving Pinterest, maybe a little too much actually! There are so many great ideas, it's just too bad I don't have enough time to try all of them. I decided to upload a picture of the baby blankets that I make, but for some reason it wouldn't let me just upload it from my computer, so I posted it on here and pinned it. Whoever came up with the whole concept must have known just what women were looking for! Here's the pic of my blanket and I'm working on a really cute peach color that I will show when it's done.

Finally February

So I actually wrote this post at the beginning of the month, but let's just say things have been complicated around here with computers, so I finally got some pictures uploaded and I can get around to posting this.
I know the title is a little late (the month is practically gone), but I am just so excited for January to be over. I have never been a fan. I love the holiday season, but once those have passed, I just want summer to come and January seems to take forever since it's cold and dark and there are no holidays. So once February comes, I feel like I can kind of see an end to winter and that makes me happy! This year, January didn't seem to take soooo long, perhaps that has something to do with having two busy kids this year. Some days are pretty hectic around here and I don't seem to get much accomplished. Colby has been busy with work and I am usually at home disciplining Korina. Her terrible two's came a little late, but she is making up for lost time. I just try and remember back to when she was my little angel. She is still a sweetheart, but boy she puts me to the test some days. And our little Mason is such a sweet little boy. I just love him so much! Especially because he is sleeping about 11 hours every night. What a good baby! He counters that with hardly sleeping at all during the day, which can get a little frustrating! He is so happy all the time and I love how chubby he is, a lot of rolls for me to pinch! He loves solid foods (like I knew he would), and his favorite of the vegetables so far is sweet potatoes. We try and get him to do some work on his tummy, but he just rolls right over to his back so he can kick his legs. Korina pretty much has to be right next to him if he's awake and lucky for her, Mason is pretty patient!
I decided to try and make some Valentine's treats with Korina this year and I would consider it a success. We ended up making some cupcakes and cookies.

We had a few messes and she probably ate too much raw cookie dough and frosting, but I'm pretty sure she had a good time.


And Mason put on his best outfit for Valentine's:

Colby and I were able to have a night out and for my present he got me a relaxing getaway for a body scrub and facial. I have to admit that I might be addicted now! It was so nice to get away for a couple hours and just relax. I love being a mom, but sometimes a little break is needed. Let's just hope that spring is around the corner so I can send Korina outside to get some energy out. And I'll work on actually posting something the same day I write it, I would consider that a success!
Other cute pictures that need to be shared:

One pillow is not enough when watching a movie!

One of my favorites

He's pretty much half her size already!

Good thing I didn't care about this one!

The Year Ahead

I'm probably like everyone else, but I can't believe that another year has already gone by. It seems like a lot of stuff happens in not a lot of time. To finish off last year, we had a good December with the holidays and seeing family and friends. Colby's brother and his wife came in from Kansas and it was nice to catch up with them. On the 16th, my brother got married and let's just say, Colby and I didn't exactly enjoy the day. Not anything to do with the actual wedding, but because we had both kids with us. The ceremony was right in the middle of Korina's nap. So the night before, we thought we would keep her up late and she would sleep in longer than normal. Nope! She got up her usual time and then wasn't able to take a nap and basically turned into an emotional nightmare! I mostly wanted the kids to be at the wedding so they could be in the pictures and they ended up not being in them anyway. Colby wasn't even there because he was driving them around in the car hoping they would fall asleep. We should have just left them with Colby's parents after all. And then Mason was super tired, but for some reason would NOT fall asleep, so he was cranky also. What a day that was! They sure did look cute though. I bought a dress for Korina, and made a sash to match the wedding colors, and Colby and Mason had matching ties. So handsome!


This Christmas was the first time we had attempted a gingerbread house. It definitely wasn't something you would see in the Martha Stewart magazine, but Korina had a lot of fun decorating/eating the house.

Korina really enjoyed Christmas this year since she had a better idea of what to expect. She was very excited for Santa to come to our house and she loved ripping the paper off of her presents. And it's nice to threaten that Santa won't come unless she is on her best behavior. I think it kind of worked! The Woody doll was one of her favorite presents, she just loves "the cowboy movie" right now!

Here is Mason with the cutest little hat!

As you know, we had a better Thanksgiving than years past, but now our New Year's Eve didn't work out since Korina had the croup and we didn't want to spread it. So that night didn't go as planned (sorry Ben and Jackie), but now we are on the tail end of being sick so hopefully we can finish out the winter season without any more illnesses.
As for this year, we are hoping to potty train Korina in the upcoming week or so. Hopefully she is ready and understands enough that it will be successful. That would sure be nice for Colby and I if she can get the hang of it. I can't wait to see how Korina will change throughout the year. She already seems so much older and she constantly cracks me up with some of the things she says. I don't know where she comes up with half of it! She is quite the clown!

By the way, her eyes are closed in about 80% of the pictures we take. I don't know how she manages to do that!
Mason had his 4 month checkup and he is keeping up his pace of weight gain. He came in at 17 lbs. 12 oz and stayed around the 95%. His height was 24 3/4" and that keeps him at the 50% mark for height. His head used to be in the 25% range, but it moved up the 50% mark so I am happy for that. We fed him his first serving of rice cereal and he didn't seem to think it was too great. I'm sure he will love once we give him some more variety and texture. He does love to eat! I know this will be a year where Mason will change a lot. Obviously, he will continue to get bigger, but it's hard to imagine he will be walking before the year is over. It's so fun to see him develop and start to interact with Korina and become more interested in his surroundings. It's fun to see the differences and similarities between him and Korina when she was his age.

As for Colby and I, we are hoping to continue to get out of debt while still having some fun once in a while. We are thinking to plan a vacation for next January so we will have something to look forward to. Our other goal is to try and get into a house as soon as possible. We really enjoy looking at different places, but this time we will be extra picky since this will be the house that we stay in for the next 20 years or so. We are excited for what this year brings, but mostly I think we know to enjoy each day since it will probably go by just as fast as last year did. We hope you all have a great upcoming year!

A Better Thanksgiving

Finally, we had a good Thanksgiving! The two years prior we were dealing with a sick child, but this year, both kids were happy and healthy. We really enjoyed that. We also really enjoyed the great food. We had two dinners this year and I will never complain about that because Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. I always look forward to the food that you usually only eat at Thanksgiving. Although, Colby and I stock up on turkeys and then when we cook one, I usually make the sides to go along with it. You can never have too many turkey dinners.
We blessed Mason on my birthday and Colby did such a great job. I was happy that Mason cooperated as well. We almost had a blowout just before church started though. Something about this kid and his diapers, Korina never had this problem! I guess that's the difference between girls and boys! He is always such a happy and smiling baby. We love him so much!

Korina is getting excited for Christmas. She loves to see Santa in pictures or on the TV, but when she saw him at the mall, she made sure to keep her distance. I don't think she'll be sitting on his lap for a picture anytime soon. She helped me set up the Christmas tree and let's just say I wasn't surprised when she dropped an ornament and it broke. Guess I'll have a memory for the first time we put up a tree. She sure loves turning the lights on each night and reminding me that she help put the bows on too! Holidays are a lot more fun now that she is old enough to understand what's going on. She is excited for when Santa will bring her "prizes". I love this time of year and we are looking forward to seeing family members. We hope everyone has a great holiday season!

Here are some family pictures we got taken a few weeks ago. Korina wasn't as cooperative as she was at her 2 year pics, funny how things are so different in just 6 months.

Happy Halloween!

Mason had his 2 month appointment today and he weighs a hefty 13 lbs 14 oz. This tops the charts above the 95th percentile! Korina was never that big. But she also wasn't eating close to 5 oz at each feeding. He is such a cutie though and he smiles a lot now which we really enjoy. As a bonus, this past week was awesome as far as sleep goes. Every night except one, he went between 7 and 8 hours at night. Needless to say, Colby and I are feeling much more rested as a result. He's such a good little baby! Poor little guy wasn't doing too well though after his vaccinations. That was the worst I have heard him cry and we couldn't calm him down like usual. Thankfully it passed quickly and he was back to his normal, smiling self the next day.
Korina had such a blast going trick or treating. She loved getting dressed up and she loved getting a lot of candy even more! She got 3 full size candy bars and filled up her little bucket with other treats. I was afraid she might be too scared to knock on strangers' doors, but I guess she was up for the challenge if it meant she would walk away with candy. She is her mother's daughter after all! She was definitely the cutest Minnie Mouse I have seen:


And here is our little devil for the night, even though he is totally an angel for us all the time. He looked so darn cute, I just love this little guy!

Recent Happenings

Not much is happening around here, just that it's getting easier to survive since we are getting a consistent 7 hours of sleep a night. That's the total amount, I wish it were consecutive, but he is still getting up around 3:30 to eat. Then the problem is that my mind starts thinking about things and it takes me a while to go back to sleep. Good thing he's so darn cute! Not to mention he is quite the chunk! These are a pair of pajamas that are size 3-6 month, and I'm pretty sure they shouldn't fit him that well when he is only 7 weeks old.

Korina still loves her brother like crazy too. She loves to just lay beside him and hold his hand. Or she leans over him and tries to make him laugh. She is a great big sister and a good helper for me. Mostly picking up burp cloths or putting the binky back in his mouth, but she is always happy to help. And here is a picture of when Colby did her hair. I have to say, I was pretty impressed with the result.