Valentine's Day

We had a great Valentine's Day this year! We love celebrating this "holiday" as a family - and with a stroke of good luck, Mike was able to get off of work several hours early to celebrate!

We started off the day by announcing the name of our daughter! Mike wanted to post it on Valentine's Day so early that morning I got up and finished the post here on the blog. That evening, we called in Olive Garden To Go and enjoyed a yummy restaurant meal without any of the hassle and crowds. We followed up dinner with some homemade cupcakes! Yum.

Mason also had fun this year. He had a Valentine Party at school and also one with the Mom's Group I am a part of. He got to decorate Valentines to pass out and "helped" me decorate a box to collect the Valentines he got.


Here he is, hard at work coloring on the back of his Valentines

He also chose stickers to go on the back of each one. He LOVES stickers.

Here is Mason's Valentine Box. He picked out the paper - he wanted jungle animals and I got the box all wrapped up.

Happy Valentine's Day!! After dinner we opened all of our Valentine cards from each other and from family. Here is Mason reading Gramby's card.

A card from Mom and Dad to Mason

Opening the card from Memaw and Dedaw

Chowing down on some homemade cupcakes!

Mike surprised me with the most beautiful red tulips! Tulips are my favorite!

Here are Mason's treats! A bag he made at school with his Valentines inside, and the box we made at home with even more Valentines inside! We had such a fun Valentine's Day. Happy Day of Love!

28 Weeks!!

We've made it to 28 weeks!! With Mason, I felt like this was really the turning point. Everything starts to pick up speed and before you know it the baby is here. I didn't know it at the time, but with Mason I only had 9 weeks left until he was born when I was 28 weeks. Eva is continuing to grow just like she should! She weighs close to 2 and 1/2 pounds now, and is 15 and 3/4 long according to my pregnancy book.
The book also says that her eyelashes and eyebrows are present now, and the hair on her head is getting longer. She is also beginning to plump up! I can't believe that I am right around the corner from week 30. That is when it really seems to go fast! I am very excited to meet my little girl - but all the sleepless nights and spit-up and colick are fresh on my memory from Mason. So, this time around I'm totally ok if she wants to take her time!
I can tell I am getting bigger - things I used to do with ease are quite a chore now, and I have also begun to get a little uncomfortable and tired. Guess that means she's right on track.
Without further ado, the 28 week belly pics!

Imagination Mover's Weekend Getaway

We had a great time last weekend at the Imagination Mover's Concert!! We bought Mason tickets for his second birthday present (a little early) and celebrated our sweet boy.

We started off the weekend at cousin Kendall's birthday party. It was so fun getting to play with cousins and eat lots of yummy food. Happy Birthday Kendall!! Here are a few shots from the party:

Mason gets some snuggle time in with DeDaw

Mason and Dad watching cousins play

Mason and Braden Cheerleading

Sweet Kendall waiting to blow out the candles on her cake!

Happy Birthday to you!

On Sunday before the concert we took Mason to McDonald's for lunch. Every kids' favorite restaurant! Here he is munching on some fries and chicken nuggets.

Up in the Playscape with Dad

Coming down the tornado slide. Mike was making that face because he kept getting shocked due to static electricity!

Time for the concert!! Dad and Mason pose in front of a poster at the concert hall.

The Imagination Movers!!!!

Mason was watching so intently for them to come out on stage

And this is what he did the WHOLE concert. He was really star-struck. He recognized them right off the bat, but was so mesmerized by them he couldn't sing, dance or clap. He was a zombie! But he didn't take his eyes off that stage for one second. It was priceless.

Check out those eyes! In a trance for the Movers

Still watching them sing

Here are a couple of self-portraits taken by Mason before the show started. I thought they were so cute and funny I just had to include them.

After the concert Mason was all smiles for the Movers. He pointed each one out on the posters.

He was thrilled to get a free take-home poster of the Movers. He wanted to carry it himself and talked about it all the way to the car.

Heading home with his poster in hand.

Enjoying a chocolate chip cookie on the ride home. He loved the concert!

The concert was so much fun. Those guys really know how to keep kids entertained. They also kept the parents entertained by making remarks only adults would get. They even played some Van Halen and Aerosmith during the concert!! So great.

We bought Mason an Imagination Movers CD at the concert so he could listen in the car. Here is a video of him dancing to the music once we were home. I love how he goes and grabs the CD case and dances with it. Happy Early Birthday present Mason! We loved sharing this special weekend with you!!

It's Time for a Name!!

After a weekend of intense anticipation - please allow Mason to announce the name of his baby sister:
I love that picture!! We are naming our sweet daughter Eva Janell. For those of you who don't know, Janell is my mother's middle name and also my middle name. The tradition continues!

We are thrilled to finally have a name as it seemed to take us forever to decide. Mike was very confident about the name and I wasn't - but over time it just seemed to fit her and our family.

Sorry we made everyone wait until Valentine's Day to announce the name...but patience is a virture (Jennifer Brackeen, I'm talking to you.) hahaha. Just kidding!! Mike really wanted to build some anticipation and it seemed sweet to announce our girl's name on this special day of love.

We hope everyone has a love-filled Valentine's Day. Uh oh, Mason just found my hiding place. Guess I will end this here!

Love,

Mike, Amy, Mason and Eva

The Name Game

Attention all blog readers!!! We have chosen a name for Sweet Pea! I was going to announce it today - but Mike thought it would be more memorable to post it on Valentine's Day. So,
wait for it... wait for it...
and check back on Monday, February 14th.
Yay!

Snow Day, Super Bowl and a Big Boy Bed

What a CRAZY week last week was! At times it seemed to drag by and then all of a sudden it was madness. We started the week off visiting with our old best friends from ACU. Mark and Ali are missionaries in Brazil and were home for a few weeks to visit. It was so great to see them!!
It was bitterly cold all week long - and even though the forecast called for snow I had my doubts! Thursday evening I was proved wrong when the snow started falling. Here is our street. Look at all the snow!

Snow beginning to collect on our little house!

Friday morning the madness hit when our new carpet was scheduled to be installed. Mike had set up for some friends to come help move furniture - but due to the icy roads they weren't able to make it. He ended up having to do it all himself! Our carpet guy was from Northern Minnesota - so a little snow wasn't going to stop him from laying that carpet!

Here is Mason enjoying some doughnuts in the midst of furniture movement.

This was our living room during installation. We could barely get by!

Mason wanted to help, so he clipped on his tool belt and hard hat and got to work.

Once the sun came out later that morning - Mike and Mason headed outside to play in the snow! Mom and Sweet Pea stayed inside to organize the house.

Once I got all my shoes put back after the carpet installation - this is what I found. An hours worth of work undone in a manner of seconds!! Thanks a lot, Mason.

Since we were already moving furniture we decided to switch Mason over to his big boy bed!! So Saturday morning Mike got to work putting Mason's new furniture together. We moved the crib into Sweet Pea's room!
Here is Mason putting the bed together.

And then he found some Styrofoam to rip up and make a mess out of. Ahhhh boys...

Mason's New Big Boy Bed!! I will take a final picture once we get everything on the walls. We still have a few more touches to add. Mike did a great job painting and putting together the furniture.

All ready for Mason

We were really nervous as to how he would make the transition. We were blown away by how AWESOME he did!! He didn't climb out of bed once and went to sleep within minutes of laying down. He has also done great with his naps too! He really seems to love his new bed. He climbs up there on his own and snuggles down with his blankets and penguin. We are SO, SO proud of you Mason!! You are truly a big boy now.

Snuggling with Dad after his first night in his new bed.

On Sunday we hosted a Super Bowl Party for our small group from Church. Anytime a big play was made Mason would run to the tv and yell "Go Go Go! Alright!!" Everyone kept laughing when he did it. I thought I got it on video but the video has disappeared! Boo.

Sydney and Mackenzie have some pizza and snacks.

Mason watching the big game.

We had a blast this last week, but I think we are all ready for life to resume as normal. We missed our routine!

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!