A Little Bit of Bragging...

I just had to let everyone know how proud I am of my sweet husband. A few weeks ago Mike was asked to lead the communion service at church. He was very excited to do this and I was excited for him! He got up there and delivered one of the best communion thoughts I have ever heard.
He spoke about having a new son, and what that meant to him. He then began talking about God and how he gave his son to die for us. Mike looked around the audience and said, "I have to be honest. If someone asked me to give my son's life for you...I couldn't do it. I couldn't make that sacrifice. But fortunately, I don't have to. God has already given a sacrifice." He talked about how meaningful the death of Christ is now that he has a child - now that he knows what it means to love a little body more than you could ever dream. By the time he was through, practically the whole church was crying. It brought things back into perspective for most people. We often think of Christ's sacrifice - but we don't often think of how much God must have loved us to give up his own son. For the last few weeks people have been coming to Mike and telling him how encouraged they were by his words. He has been such a blessing!
Then, late Saturday night, we got a call from our Preacher, John. He asked Mike if he wouldn't mind speaking in Bible class Sunday morning. The men's class is studying the book Point Man. It is a book about being a leader and spiritual head of your family. There was a section in there that discussed the term Semper Fi - which means "always faithful" - it is also the slogan of the Marine Corps.
John was hoping Mike could speak on just what that phrase means to a Marine. Mike gladly accepted. I wasn't there - but I think it went well considering all the men who came up to Mike telling him how meaningful the talk was. One of the deacons said that Mike almost had him crying. He told me about one part of Mike's talk:
The chapter centered around being a one woman man. Mike talked about how he has a card in his wallet that was given to him upon graduating boot camp. It is an honor, courage, commitment card based on the Semper Fi ideals. He keeps it right behind his ID. Whenever he takes out his ID to get on base, use a computer, etc...he sees that card and is reminded of his responsibilities as a marine. He asked the married men in the class to raise their left hands. He told them that they too carry an honor, courage, commitment card - and had all of them look at their wedding bands. Powerful!!!
After church, John ran out to the parking lot to grab us. He said that Mike had gone way above and beyond what he had envisioned his talk to be. He even told Mike that he would make an amazing preacher. I am so proud of Mike and his willingness to lead in church. God has given him a great gift and an even greater message to share. I am a very lucky woman to have such a good-hearted husband! I love you Mike and am so proud of the man you are.

It's Me, Mason!

Hey everybody! It's Mason, and I thought I would make my first blog entry to tell you all about the first two months of my life. I have to say it has gone by pretty quickly, and I have been really busy growing. I mostly spend my days hanging out with mom. I think it is fun to pretend I'm sleeping and then wait until she lays down and gets comfortable before I let her know that I'm wide awake. We usually play that game all morning.

I have finally begun to enjoy spending time on my back. I'm now sleeping all by myself in my pack-n-play...which was my arch-nemises for the first month of my life. I kind of miss snuggling with mom and dad at night, but they do seem to be much happier lately. I am eating every two hours during the day and can sometimes make it to three hours at night.

I have finally begun to notice the world around me more, too. I can focus on things and follow them with my eyes. I like to smile at mom and dad, and even wake myself up laughing while I sleep. I have already chosen my favorite blanket and can tell you that whenever I am wearing a cookie monster diaper (my diapers have different Sesame Street characters on them) I am not fussy or difficult. What can I say? I love a monster with good taste.

Some of my favorite things are:

1. My changing table! I love it. I would stay there all day if I could. No matter how cranky I am, when you put me down on my changing table I always smile and laugh.

2. Being naked. I love this too...unfortunately I also love to pee when I'm naked so I don't get to enjoy this very often. I have peed on the walls, the carpet, my crib, and even my face. I thought mom would be more upset, but her philosophy is "oh well, it's a rent house."

3. My swing. It's the best.

4. Bath time. It is awesome. Whenever mom dries me off I always smile and laugh.

5. Tooting during Communion at church. I like to wait until it is really quiet at church and then let 'em rip. This last Sunday I tooted so loud the whole row of people in front of us turned around to look. It was awesome! Mom turned bright red and was apologizing to people. I don't know why, cause all the guys were smiling and laughing. I do this every Sunday during Communion. Mom has even told me that she gets nervous when it is time to pray. But that doesn't stop me!

6. My car seat. It is the best seat in the world. I love riding in the car.

Overall, it has been a pretty good life so far. People are always telling me how cute I am. The ladies love to run their fingers through my mohawk - I have a ton of hair! Everyone loves my big blue eyes. And my mom dresses me pretty nice too. I am still working on holding my head up and not clinging on to mom for dear life when she tries to put me down. I can't wait to meet all my family back in Texas - especially my cousins...even if they are all girls. I guess girls aren't all that bad. After all, mommy is a girl and I really like her. Guess I will end this here. It is almost time for my bath.

Keep it crazy! Love, Mason

4 Years of Love

I can't believe it has been 4 years since Mike and I got married. It really does seems like we should still be in our little apartment in Fort Worth with me getting ready for law school. So much has happened and changed in the last 4 years! We survived a deployment to Iraq, three years of law school and then studying for the bar exam, a tumultuous move out to California, 9 months of pregnancy and finally the birth of our sweet son. While it hasn't always been a bed of roses, there is no one else on Earth I would rather venture through life with. Mike is my best friend and my biggest fan...who could ask for more!?
Looking back on these pictures I remember how excited we were to start our lives together. We couldn't wait to take our first vacation as a married couple to Florida for the Honeymoon. It was such a fun trip. We have taken a few more trips since then and created more precious memories.
I can't even imagine what the future will hold. More deployments? Another move for sure. Hopefully more children. But I know no matter what happens - God has blessed me beyond anything I deserve by sending me Mike as my hubby.
Mike, I love you! Happy 4th Anniversary!

Visit from Gramby

Mike's mom came out to visit Mason last week! We had fun showing her our little neighborhood and some San Diego sights she had not seen yet. The most fun we had was sleeping...she was a huge help and took Mason at night so Mike and I could get some much needed sleep! Thanks Brenda!!!

Here are some pics from her visit:

We took a trip to the zoo while she was here!
Here is Mason all snuggled up in his stroller...it was a little chilly outside!
Trying on a gator and cheetah hat Outside the new Elephant Odessey Exhibit Mason making faces...

Mason's First Memorial Day and a New Cousin on the Way!

We had a great first Memorial Day with Mason! We decided to head to the beach for the afternoon, but when we got over there the beaches were so crowded we couldn't find a place to park! Instead we headed over to Old Town San Diego. It was the first settlement of San Diego back in the 1800's. It is like a little old west town with the original buildings. They are made into museums now and are so fun to go through! We walked around and learned all about early San Diego and what was there. We finished off the day with some yummy Mexican food and a rented movie from Blockbuster. Here are some pictures from the day!

This was San Diego's first public schoolhouse. It was called Mason Street School and was built in 1865.

Inside the schoolhouse
The Mason St Schoolhouse sign :)

Mom and Mason take a break under a HUGE old tree in the middle of town

Dad and Mason shop for some Mexican wrestling masks

Here are some pictures from after Mason's bath yesterday. They were just too cute not to post!

All warm after the bath

"Yessssss! I'm clean!!!" "Ok seriously. Can we get me dressed now?"
Mason weighs 9 lbs and 4 ounces now! He outgrew his newborn diapers and all of his newborn clothes. We are now at size 1 diapers and 0-3 month clothing! We had to go and get him some new clothes for church. Here he is all dressed up and ready for church on Sunday. One lady at church said he reminded her of a cute little worm in all those stripes.

And in other exciting news....Mason has a new cousin on the way! We found out last week that Mike's middle brother, Phillip, and his wife are expecting their first baby! Yaaaaaay! Another cousin to play with. We are anxiously awaiting to see if Baby Cabrero will be a boy or a girl! We are so excited for you Phil and Erica!

That's all for now!

4 Weeks Old!!

I can't believe my sweet little boy is already four weeks old. The time has really flown by. He already has such a big personality and he changes every day. Thankfully, we have made some progress this last week. The pediatrician told us to add some rice cereal to Mason's bottle, in the hopes it would help with his reflux. It has! He has actually been taking naps in his swing for several hours at a time. This means I get to take naps too! And do things like brush my teeth (mike is especially thankful for that one), cook dinner, and do laundry. It has been great.

Mason still sleeps much better during the day than at night, but we are slowly making progress. He is eating more than ever, and gaining weight every day. Mike and I were both commenting on how heavy he feels lately.

I thought I would list some fun things that Mason does that we love :)

We call him our little tree frog - when we hold him on our chests he draws his arms and leg up and looks like a cute little tree frog. Love it!

He makes these whooping sounds that we call his "Apache War Yell" - we joke that he is calling the Apaches.

When he gets really upset he has this cry that sounds like a billy goat. It totally cracks us up.

He is a motor-skills over achiever! He can already hold his own bottle, criss-cross his fingers, and has been able to roll over onto his belly since week two! I will try to get a video of him rolling over and post it :)

All in all we are so insanely in love with this precious little soul that there aren't words to describe it. Despite the crying, sleep deprivation and delirium, we wouldn't change a thing about our little angel. He is the most amazing person we have ever met.

We love you Mason! These last four weeks have been the most meaningful weeks of our lives. We are so proud of you. Here are some pics:

Sometimes life is so hard... ha ha. Love this one.

Mason finishing up feeding himself a bottle.

Criss-crossed fingers! He's ready to lead a prayer.

Our Sweet Baby