So Helpful

Mason is so helpful when it comes to feeding Rosco. He LOVES to fill up his food bowl, and sometimes does it piece by piece. 

Unfortunately, he also likes to just play in the dog food with the big scooper which becomes a problem. Overall, though it's pretty cute when he's being such a big helper. 

Maryland Days

Today was "Maryland Days" at the University of Maryland which is like a big open house for the university to show people what they have to offer. It's like a big family day and they have a bunch of activities for people to do around campus. Steven had to be there to show people the theater shop and answer any questions they might have. He decided it would be fun to take Mason along with him for the day, and let me have a day all to myself. 

They had croquet set up in the middle of the shop for people to play and that's where Mason spent a lot of his time. 

Mason & his Daddy

Mason up on stage. 

One of the activities outside was "dancing with your dog" so Steven took Mason to go see everyone with their dogs. 

 

This is a picture of the grass that Mason took. Steven thinks it would make a good computer background.

Back in the shop

and having lunch at daddy's desk. 

From what I'm told they had a great father and son day together, while I used my free time to run a bunch of errands. It's amazing how many stores I can go to when I don't have to take an uncooperative toddler around with me! I was able to get a bunch of last minute things done before coming home and trying to take a nap before working tonight. I'm glad my boys had a good day together!

Cravings & Slide

These pictures were actually taken yesterday after we had our maternity pictures done. 

I wouldn't say I have had a lot of cravings during this pregnancy, but one thing that has been appealing to me lately are cucumbers with salt & pepper on them. Steven thought it was funny that I would just be sitting there eating a cucumber and thought he needed to take a picture. Of course I was trying to hid it at first. 

Me & my cucumber

We also spent sometime at the playground yesterday playing with Mason. He really loves the big slide and can walk up the stairs and go down it all by himself (with mom or dad standing close by of course). 

Maternity Pictures

35 weeks and 5 days pregnant

I wanted to have some maternity pictures done with our family before baby girl's arrival, however Mason has been hating the camera lately and I wasn't sure how it would play out. Any time we grab the camera at home lately he runs and hides, which I know probably comes as a shock seeing how we have so many pictures of him. Anyhow, I went ahead and scheduled an appointment, but didn't set my expectations to high for today's photo shoot and it was a good thing because Mason was so NOT cooperative! He was being such a little stinker and refused to go in the studio. Every time we tried to take him in there he would just scream, cry, and suck on his fingers! We were trying everything we could think of to appease him and get him to cooperate including bribing him with fruit snacks, but nothing was working. Then he asked for one of the little kid chairs that were in the waiting room, so we brought that in and that seemed to do the trick. However, it wasn't a very cute chair for pictures so the photographer switched it out for a different little white chair. He then did okay as long as he had his chair and my chap-stick in his hand. We ended up with some good pictures, but I didn't really get some of the shots I was hoping for. I wasn't to disappointed though, due to the fact that I had already anticipated having trouble getting his cooperation.  We were happy to get what we got and considered it a success that he wasn't screaming/crying in every picture. Maybe we will have better luck this summer after the baby comes, here's to hoping! 

Mason & Mommy

Flat Stanley

Our nephew CJ asked us to help him with a school project where he sent us his friend "Flat Stanley" and asked if we could show him around some of the sites where we live. Unfortunately, I didn't have a day off where I could go with Steven and show Stanley around, so he and Mason just went today instead. They rode the Metro into DC and showed Stanley around a bunch of the sites/memorials near the National Mall. 

Here are a few pictures of Stanley on his tour of DC.

This was also Mason's first trip to the National Mall

                                                         He liked running in the park

                                               Helping daddy show Stanley the memorials,

                                 feeding crackers to the ducks, and seeing the Lincoln memorial

It looks like they had a good time!

Thanks CJ for letting us show Stanley around, we hope he had a good time.

Toy Story

Mason got a Toy Story musical birthday card, some Toy Story Stickers, along with a gift card to McDonalds from his Uncle Cory & Aunt Amanda today. He loved playing with the stickers & dancing to the music. Thanks Cory, Amanda & CJ for his gift!

Short video clip of Mason dancing to the music from his birthday card. 

2 Year Old Check-Up

Mason had his 2 year old well visit today and he wasn't a big fan of the whole process. He refused to stand on the scale at first and took a lot of coaxing before he finally stayed on it long enough to get his weight. Then he cried the whole time the nurse measured his height and took his temperature in his mouth. The only thing he didn't cry during surprisingly was when she took his blood pressure. When the nurse left he was totally fine and content to sit in the chair holding his fruit snacks. When Dr. Gage came in he kind of gave her the cold shoulder and didn't really want to look at her. However, he did let her listen to his heart & lungs without any fuss which I was thankful for. She said he looked good and is developmentally on track. She encouraged us to change from 2% milk to either 1% or skim now that he is 2, because the fat isn't needed for his brain development as much anymore...plus our little guy is not lacking in the weight department! The one thing I asked her about was if it was normal that he still only had 11 teeth (not that there is anything you could do about it if it wasn't). She  said it was fine and that kids that take a long time to get their teeth usually just grow a little slower and may even hit puberty later than other kids their age. I found that kind of interesting and I guess we'll just have to wait and see over the next decade what he does! 

His 2 year old stats are: 

Weight: 31 lbs (75th percentile)

Height: 33 inches (25th percentile)

That's right there is almost a pound for every inch of him! 

We love our little short stack! 

Letter to Mason

Dear Mason,

This past weekend you turned 2 years old and I can't quite seem to wrap my head around the fact that you are growing so fast. In 6 weeks from now you will become a big brother, and this thought has been causing me to reminisce about your birth and watching you grow over the last 2 years. As I look back at pictures of your birth I'm reminded of that moment you were first laid on my chest, and the overwhelming unconditional love that I had for you from the moment you entered this world. I felt like my heart had to have doubled in size in order to encompass all the love I had for you. The love I had for you then has only continued to grow over the last 2 years as I've watched you grow from a tiny infant to the rambunctious toddler that you are today.

You have been a relatively easy child for us to raise thus far with your sweet, mellow, playful & friendly personality. You have always been a charmer and are quick to flash your adorable and heart-melting smile at anyone who passes by. You love to wave at others and I'm often reminded by your pure, untainted innocence, how it is that we should become like little children to become more Christ-like. I see the light of Christ in your eyes and pray that as your mother I will help you nurture that light as you grow, so that it will always burn strong and bright within you.  I love that in the last month or so you have learned to fold your arms during the prayer and have started to recognize this is a daily part of our lives. Now if we could only figure out how to keep you from talking, eating, playing, or laughing while we pray we'd be set!

Mason I pray that you will always be close to your Heavenly Father and know that you are truly a child of God and that he loves you. I also pray that I may always treat you as such. You have been such a blessing to our family and have brought more love and joy into our home than I ever thought possible. 

The past two years with you seem to have flown by and I'm amazed at how much you've changed from the little baby boy we brought home from the hospital. As I said you have been a pretty easy child to raise thus far, but you have definitely been wanting to exert your independence lately. You usually know exactly what you want and you don't like not getting your way. You can throw a pretty good temper tantrum and we've had to start using "time-out" for you lately when you do this.   It's not fun for either of us, but we are trying to teach you that it's not okay to act like that when we don't get what we want. 

On the flip side you can be such a sweetheart and you give the best hugs and kisses. Every night when I have to leave for work you run and give me a big hug and a kiss. It always makes me want to stay home with you and hold you tight. As I get in the car and drive away you always wave bye and blow me kisses from the front door. It's the sweetest sight ever and again makes it hard for me to leave you! Lucky for me I'm usually greeted with more hugs and kisses from you when I get home.  

Some of my other favorite moments with you lately are when you cuddle up on the couch with me to read books, when I put you to bed at night and I cover you in kisses which makes you laugh really hard, also when I let you nap in our bed with me and I can lie next to you and watch you sleep. We have so many great moments together, but those are a few of my favorites.  
I have been feeling really guilty lately that your world as you know it is about to turn upside down when your baby sister arrives in 6 weeks from now. We've been talking to you a lot about the "baby" and you like to point to my belly and say, "baby" however I'm pretty sure you still don't quite understand what that means. You love to see other babies and are always very gentle with them, so I'm hoping you will take to your sister well. I know you are going to be an awesome big brother, I'm just hoping the transition will not be to hard on you. I'm praying that daddy and I will still be able to give you all the one-on-one attention that you need.  
Mason I feel so lucky to be your mother and I've loved watching you grow. Although I wish I could keep you little forever, I'm excited to see you grow and reach new milestones. I love being your mom and you'll always be my "baby boy". I love you more than words can say!!
Happy 2nd Birthday! 
Love, Mom 

Easter

We celebrated Easter (at least the eggs & gifts part of Easter) this morning since I have to work tonight. Steven took Mason downstairs to play while I got his basket ready upstairs and hid a few eggs for him to find. 

Mason's basket waiting for him.

It didn't take him long once coming upstairs to find his basket and start checking out it's contents. 

He went straight for the duck book. 

Then discovered that there were gummy candies in the plastic eggs. 

He could have cared less about the raisins and animal crackers found in some of the other eggs. 

Searching for more candy.

He cleaned out every last egg that held gummy candies in them in probably less than 10 minutes! I thought about stopping him, but then figured it was just better to let him eat it and have it gone!

We realized this was the first time he'd done an egg hunt and I have a video of it, but it won't load for some reason. He had a hard time finding the eggs despite the fact that they were in plain sight so we had to help him find them. 

Overall I think he had a good time and now tomorrow he gets to go to church with Daddy and focus on the true meaning of Easter, our Savior Jesus Christ and his Atonement. 

Mason's 2nd Birthday!

I was lucky enough to be able to spend the whole day with my little man on his birthday. He woke up just in time for his daddy to see him and wish him a happy birthday before he had to leave for work. We then came downstairs for breakfast and Mason picked a chocolate muffin and a banana to eat.

After breakfast we hung around the house for a couple hours reading books, watching Mickey Mouse,    and playing with toys. We also skyped with my parents for a little bit who sang Happy Birthday to him and showed him the Mickey Mouse stuffed animal they got him. Mason kept reaching out for it and I think he was trying to get it through the computer screen. I'm sure he'll be excited to get his hands on it when they come out in May.

The weather outside today was sunny, but windy and a little chilly so I was debating whether or not to take Mason out to play. Around 11:30 I finally decided we'd go to the park for a little while and if it got to cold we'd just come home. There were a ton of kids there today and Mason seemed a little unsure about playing amongst them, as was I. There were a lot of bigger kids running around playing some game and I was afraid they were going to knock him over. Luckily for us they weren't playing by the little slides that Mason likes very much so he just played on those for awhile. When the bigger kids left he ventured out more onto the rest of the playground and got to play on the bigger slides. He also wanted to swing more this time than he has in the past, and was laughing and smiling the whole time. We ended up staying at the park until 1:00 before it started to get really cold and we headed home for lunch.

Mommy & Mason

When we got home Mason got to talk to his Grandma Terrie for a minute and then had a big bowl of Mac'n Cheese (one of his favorites) for lunch. Mason was beings such a good boy after lunch that I was procrastinating putting him down for his nap, but around 2:00 I finally put him down. He slept for about an hour in his bed before waking up crying and then he laid with me in our bed where he slept for another 2 hours.

When we got up from our nap we played, had dinner and waited for Steven to get home from work so we could open presents. Steven had to stay late at work so he didn't get home till about 7 pm, so as soon as he got home we set up Mason's presents and let him start opening them. 

Opening his present from G & G Workman.

We were lucky to also have my parents skype with us again while Mason opened his gifts and blow out his candle.  

I was amazed at how much better he did at opening gifts today versus 4 months ago at Christmas time. He really knew what he was doing this time, but he was always so concerned with the ripped paper and kept wanting to throw it in the trash. We had to keep reassuring him it was okay just to put it on the floor for now. He loved his gifts and wanted to get them all out of their boxes so he could play with them. 

Once all his gifts were unwrapped I brought him out his Mickey Mouse cake which I made. I don't think it turned out as well as his monkey cake did last year, but that's okay. He knew it was Mickey and that's all that mattered!

He did great blowing out his candle and even after the fire was out he kept blowing it.

Then with some encouragement from my parents in the background he wasted no time sticking his fingers right into the icing and licking it off! We said bye to grandma & grandpa Wilson and dished up cake and ice cream for our birthday boy! He only ate about 1/2 of what we gave him because he wanted to play with his new toys. 

We didn't end up putting him to bed tonight until around 9:00 because he was so hyped up with all the birthday excitement and to busy helping dad put his new toys together.

For record purposes his gifts were from/included:

Mom & Dad: bubble pale, Mickey Mouse movie, Little People Zoo, Mickey Mouse PJ's

G&G Wilson: Mickey stuffed animal & church clothes

G&G Workman: Soccer net & ball

Great G & G Wilson: Birthday card & money

Jeremy & Dani: 2 tonka trucks

Jeremy & Natalie: Birthday card & money

Josh & Tracy: animal blocks that make sound

Becca & Shane: magnetic bug catcher puzzle board

Kathy Kennedy: die-cast cars, dump truck, and bubbles

Thank you to everyone who sent gifts, cards and thought of our little boy on his special day. 

Happy Birthday Mason! We love you more than you know!