Cousin-cation

On Thursday Mason and I headed up north for a weekend with some of his cousins! Doug and Sheila were out in CA, so Mason and I went to hang out with his three oldest cousins. We had a blast!
On Friday, while the girls were in school, Mason and I visited the zoo. We had so much fun looking at all the animals and seeing all the pretty plants. Here are a few zoo pics!

Mason was really interested in the flamingos. He was able to get very close to them since they are right there on the other side of the fence. He kept saying, "bird, bird, bird." and watching them. So cute!

They even had 2 baby flamingos out!! They were still fluffy and grey - but VERY cute.

Mason's favorite thing to do is push his own stroller. He always runs into people and walks in super slow motion so it isn't the most pleasant thing to endure. But, it makes him happy!

Lunch time! Gross. That snake is looking at the rat like, "darn it. they're serving cold rat again."

Mason loved the pretty colors on this cute lizard.

He had mixed feelings about the Parrots. They squawked really loudly and kind of scared him.

We stopped for lunch and shared a personal pan pizza from pizza hut. Yum!

This next series of photos is from Mason's FIRST ever carousel ride!! The train was closed, so I thought a carousel ride might be fun. He LOVED it so much!! I literally had to drag him kicking and screaming off of the carousel once the ride was over. That part was not fun at all. But it was great seeing his face light up when we started spinning around. When the carousel first began moving he said, "oh wow!" and got so excited. It is a precious memory I will always remember.

Loving the ride

I was trying to get him to smile for the camera by pointing to my cheeks. Instead of smiling, he just pointed to his cheeks. haha.

Beautiful Boy

Sad face: the ride is over!

Heading home with the penguin he picked out at the gift shop. I had so much fun on my "Mason Date" - we rarely get the chance to just go and do something alone together without any time restrictions. I loved sharing the day with him and laughing and playing. I love you bud!

On Saturday we decided to head to the park! We went and played on the playground at Brooklyn's elementary school. Mason loved the slides and basketball court.

Here they all are on the swings!! What a good looking group of cousins!

This morning when Mason woke up he came to the kitchen to get some milk - he saw the girls' pictures on the fridge and got excited! He pointed to each one and said their names: Brook (Brooklyn), Bat (Bailey), Bayd (Braden). He loves those girls!

Changes are A-Comin'

Well, here are a couple more belly pics for you!! I have really had a hard time remembering to take my belly pics this time around. Mostly, whenever I remember that I need to take one...the only person here with me is Mason! That wouldn't work. Hopefully I can remember to take them at a time when Mike is actually home!!
This first one, I took with the timer by myself...which explains why it isn't that great :( But here you go anyway!
22 Weeks! (This one was taken to replace the 20 wk pic I forgot to take!)

24 Weeks. 6 Months!! Closing in on that third trimester!

Bare Belly!

Here is Mike painting Sweet Pea's Room!! We got the furniture out and finished painting. New carpet will be here in two weeks and this nursery will be underway! Mason's nursery will also soon transform into a big boy room!! Stay tuned for that.

As for Sweet Pea, we have our list of names narrowed down to 2. We have actually decided we like one a little better than the other... and we are using it just between ourselves to try it out. Mike is totally sold on it - I keep going back and forth on it! But I have to say I think the name is growing on me more every day. Hopefully I can make up my mind for sure so we can retire "sweet pea" and use her name!

My pregnancy book says she weighs about 1 and 1/4 pounds now. From the top of her head to her cute little buns measures about 8 and 1/2 inches. I am feeling her kick a lot more now, and just this morning when I was reading to Mason I was watching my belly jiggle and move when she kicked. So sweet!! I am trying to enjoy every day with Mason. I know that soon enough it won't be just Mommy and Mason anymore. I am treasuring these last few months with just one baby...while also looking forward to expanding my love to two babies. What a blessing!

Tiny Dancer

Here is a video of our Tiny Dancer (finally!) I had just given him a haircut so he was ready to get up and move. He is dancing to his FAVORITE guys - The Imagination Movers!! Just last week I bought us tickets to their "Warehouse Tour" Concert Series. We will be doing that instead of a birthday party this year...those tickets were expensive! I can't wait to see him dance and sing along with them in person. Enjoy!

Lately

This post is kind of a mish-mash of things that have happened lately. We are slowly getting back into the swing of things after the holiday season. I love the holidays - but it is sure nice to get back to a routine again!

Here is Mason doing some grocery shopping with his new grocery cart. He insisted on wearing the sunglasses to do so. He is such a cool cat!

Dad and Mason make our first fire in our new home! We bought a fireplace screen and had a great time making smores with Mason. He was much more interested in eating them than actually roasting the marshmallows.

Our warm, cozy fire!!

Mason has also started preschool. I think it has been harder on me than him! I hate the tears that come when I drop him off. But, I have really enjoyed getting to have a few hours to myself where I can take my time grocery shopping, looking around stores and getting the house cleaned and organized. It is amazing what you can get done in just a few short hours when you don't have a toddler with you!

Here is a picture from his first day of school. He was so active I really had a hard time getting a picture! Here he is packing up his school bag!

And here is the best picture I got - munching on his biscuit before we head off to class!

We were in Dallas last weekend to see a cousin who came over from England. While we were there, an unexpected snow storm hit!! Luckily, I had packed his warm clothes and snow boots just in case we got some snow. It was the first time Mason had ever seen snow. When I opened the back door to let him go out and play - he said, "OH WOW!!" He was SO excited and spent the first few minutes trying to catch it as it fell from the sky.

Look at all that snow!

Having fun

Here, Mason was talking to MeMaw through the kitched window. She was all warm inside and we were freezing outside!

So Fun!! I have been trying to get a video of Mason dancing - but so far he has been uncooperative! He has discovered that the camera captures pictures of him, and he wants to look at them on the camera instead of standing in front of it for a picture. This goes for videos too! As soon as I pull that camera out, he stops what he is doing to come see. I will keep trying!!

Christmas!

WARNING: Picture Overload Below! We had a great "2nd" Christmas with Mason. This time last year he couldn't walk or talk - or open his own presents. This year was a different story - and I think Mom and Dad were more excited to watch him open presents than he was to get presents.
We celebrated an early Christmas here at home before heading down to Houston to spend the real Christmas with Mike's family. We waited to put any presents under the tree until Christmas Eve, because we knew Mason would try to open them or simply want to play with the boxes. He had a blast opening presents (once he realized that there were toys in each one)!
Here are some Christmas pics:

Mason, just out of the bath, insisted on wearing his "I''m One" birthday hat from his first b-day party.

Mike had to work late, so Mason and I picked out some cookies to leave for Santa. Mason seemed really confused that we put cookies on a plate and poured some milk, only to leave them there without being eaten.

All the presents are out!! It finally looks like Christmas!

Santa came early and left Mason a brand new car!!!

He also left Mom and Dad a new waffle maker. Which we used that very morning!

Mason's two favorite toys were is car and his shopping cart. When we brought him out Christmas morning, he sleepily walked over to the car. He took a look at it, got in and "drove" around a bit. Then, he stopped, got out of the car, walked away from us and simply yelled, "YEEEEESSSS!" and did a little dance. He had been wanting that car for a long time but just didn't have the words to communicate it! He was SO excited that Santa brought it. We have this special memory on video - but it is too long of a video to post on the blog :(

Doodling on the Doodle-Pro

Playing with his new farm and farm animals

FOOD! After we opened presents and ate an unbelievable amount of homemade waffles, we loaded up the car and headed down to Houston. Here are the goodies I made! I picked things Mike's Granny always made. He misses her so much. They had such a close relationship. It always meant so much to him that she would prepare lots of food and goodies any time he visited. Here we have Sand Tarts and Mike's FAVORITE: Swirly Cookies! (Those things are a labor of love. UGH.)

Pecan Pie!!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Drops!

On Christmas Eve we ventured out to the Houston Zoo. We had a fun time and can't wait to go back!

Mike and Mason check out some birds.

Turtles!

A zookeeper was walking a cute pig! Mason gave the pig a "courtesy pat" when the keeper asked if Mason would like to pet her. In Mason's defense, the pig did have some bad dandruff. I didn't want to touch her either!

Out to dinner with Pa Pa - Mike's Dad. This is minutes before Mason got ahold of a squeezable ketchup bottle and created a Ketchup Geyser that rained down on everyone. Only seconds after that he decided he wanted to touch the back of the neck of an unsuspecting black man in the booth behind us. Check, Please!

Christmas Morning. Gramby spoiled Mason rotten - and we loved it! Here Dad is putting Mason's Toy Story table and chairs set together.

Trying out his new chairs.

Sunday afternoon Mike's Mom's family met up at Casa Ole for a High Family Get Together. It was great seeing everyone and stuffing ourselves full of food!

When we got home, it was like Christmas all over again. Mason rediscovered all of the presents we had gotten him, and had a blast playing with everything while Mom and Dad unpacked.

Merry Christmas!