Word World

Mason is really talking up a storm lately. He says many words really well - but with more difficult words, he just kind of makes up his own. I thought I would chronicle some of my favorite "Masonisms" because I know I won't remember them when he is all grown!

Motorcycle = mook sah ah

Chicken Nugget = chick sah ah

Eva = Eveee

Smile = sahmee

Biscuit = seebic

Mason = Maynan

Cabrero = Aboodoo

Elephant = Ehhh

French Fries = fies

Crackers = cahcahs

Spider = Sahbee

Mine = MINE!

Just in the last week or so he has put together real sentences. It is so fun to actually have a conversation with him. When we are in the car he talks incessantly to me. Which is cute sometimes, and other times is, well, not so cute. Ha ha. He also uses a lot of hand motions when he talks, which has earned him the nickname "The Preacher" at church. Who knows, maybe he will be one someday! Eva lights up when her big brother talks to her. This morning when she woke up he excitedly said "Hi Evee!" and gave her a big kiss. It was so sweet to see them interact. I can only hope they stay close friends for life. I know I treasure the special friendships I have with each of my brothers. What a blessing family is!

Just Some Fun

Here are some pics of life lately! It's a bit of a zoo around here sometimes!

Mason got into the DVD's while mommy was busy...

Soaking up that rare quality time when Daddy is home

Eva and her Elephant!

It's Bumbo Time!! I thought I would bust it out to see if she could sit in it yet. She loved it!

This one is just darling. Brother and Sister. My heart is melting!

Poor Jake was on the receiving end of some sticker time. Ironically, the sticker stuck to his rump says "I was brave." haha. I think Jake has to be brave to put up with being Mason's play mate.

Eva is 2 Months!

Our Eva is 2 months old! I feel like time is really flying. Maybe it's because i'm so much busier chasing two kiddos around rather than just one - but I am trying my hardest to soak up this time with her because I know it will be gone in the blink of an eye!
At two months, Eva is 22 and 1/2 inches long and weighs 13 pounds. Yes, that's right...13 pounds! She is in the 90th percentile for weight. Holy cow sister! That would explain why she is wearing size 6 month clothing!
As for her personality, she is just as sweet as she can be. She wakes up smiling and giggling every morning. She sleeps from about 11:30 at night to about 4 or 5 every morning - and then again until around 7:30 or 8. She still sleeps in the bed with her momma - I know, I know. But I just love snuggling with this little gal. It won't be long before I will have to move her to her own bed. For now, I'm just enjoying that quality time.
Eva loves to smile and coo. And she has even started laughing a little. Mason loves to try to make her smile, and he is usually successful! We are all enjoying our baby girl. I just can't imagine how we ever lived without her in our lives! Happy 2 months Eva!

The 4th of July!

We had a fun and relaxing fourth of July weekend with my family. We headed up Friday evening so that we could get up early Saturday morning and hit the pool! Mason had a blast swimming with his daddy. After lunch we put Mason down for a nap and Mike, Eva and I went out to do some shopping. That evening, Mike took me out for my 29th Birthday dinner! Yes, you read that right...I turned 29 back in November, but due to a virus I acquired over Thanksgiving we weren't able to go to the Cheesecake Factory to celebrate like we had planned. Because we don't have one here in our hometown - and because Mike never gets a weekend off - the 4th of July holiday weekend was the first opportunity we had to celebrate!
Here are some pics from our weekend.

Girl Time! Eva and her sweet girl cousins
Here's my patriotic gal!

Mommy and Eva

Daddy and Mason

Eva and her cousin Judson. They are 3 weeks apart and both are laid back, easy babies! They are so cute hanging out in their bouncy seats!

Cousin Time. Check out that hurricane of mess on the floor behind them! Poor Memaw and Dedaw, haha.

Avery and Mason being goofy.

Here we are at my birthday dinner!! I chose the Reese's Peanut Butter Cups Cheesecake for dessert. That thing was Dee-licious! It took me 3 days to finish it though! Yum. Happy 4th everyone!

Lately

Here are a few pics of the kiddos! We have been busy, busy, busy lately! But it has been fun. Mason started attending gymnastics on Fridays. It is just an open gym time for little tots but it has been a great way for him to burn off some energy since he can't go out to play with it being so hot. He LOVES it. I guess I will have to sign him up for a class when he's old enough! Here are a few shots of him playing

He wasn't so sure about the trampoline at first...but he likes it now!

He loves to play with all of the mats and cones and bean bags that they have there at the gym.

He also loves swinging on the bars. By the end of the period, he is drenched in sweat! This kid really plays hard!

And here is sweet Eva! Just hanging out at home on her blankie. She is so content just to lie there and look around.

Here is Eva at the pool! We have been swimming every Tuesday with our friends - and even though she is too small to be in the sun and the water, I still wanted to dress her up in her CUTE bikini! She got so many compliments. Everyone at the pool thought she was too cute. I will have to remember to get some shots of Mason at the pool too! He is so active it's hard to keep him still long enough to get a shot!

And here is my favorite pic of all! Little Chubbers propped up and chillin in her diaper. She is so adorable. I just love her!

Our Sixth Anniversary

On June 11th Mike and I celebrated our 6th Anniversary! On the one hand it seems like only yesterday we were married - but on the other hand it seems like it's been a long time! 2 cross country moves and two kids later we are still going strong! We decided to let Memaw and Dedaw do some babysitting so we could actually spend some quality time together and enjoy ourselves!
Here is Mike and the kiddos right before he and I left for dinner.



Getting ready to get our grub on!

We picked "Simply Fondue" for our anniversary restaurant. It was SO delicious. The great thing about fondue is that you have to cook every bite of food, so it makes for a long leisurely dinner. We had some great conversation and had fun stuffing our faces full of food. We started off with a delicious strawberry, spinach and almond salad. It was the best salad I have ever tasted!

The first course of dinner was cheese. They brought several kinds of bread, vegetables and even fruit for us to dip into the warm cheese. We chose a Wisconsin cheddar that had beer in it! Here is Mike and our yummy cheese dip.

The second course is meat - and each of us were able to select three choices. I chose bacon wrapped filet, garlic chicken and swiss chicken. Mike chose tiger shrimp, mahi mahi and some other kind of chicken I can't remember! They also brought potatoes, ravioli, stuffed mushrooms and veggies to cook along with our meat. We were so stuffed by the end of it - but not too stuffed for dessert!

Unfortunately we were so excited about dessert that I didn't get a photo of all the yummyness! This is what was left! We chose a campfire chocolate to dip in. It was dark chocolate, milk chocolate, marshmallow creme and pecans. They brought brownies, rice krispy treats, wafers, marshmallows, and fruit for us to dip into the chocolate. I felt like I never wanted to eat again once we left the restaurant! We had so much fun.

The happy couple! It was so dark in the restaurant that pics were difficult. But we made do.

Here is a beautiful view of downtown as we left the restaurant. If I hadn't missed my babies so much we could have walked around downtown and enjoyed the atmosphere. But, I was ready to get home and see my sweethearts! I loved having dinner alone with Mike, but I was sure missing those kids by the end of it. Happy 6 years! Here's to 60 more!

Catching Up

Dearest Blog Readers,
I (hopefully) will be finding time over the next week or so to catch you up on all of the happenings from this last month. I am so behind in blogging...I wonder why?!
So don't give up hope! There are more pictures of Eva coming!!