Mason's 1st Halloween

May I introduce to you "Captain Stinker" - the cutest little pirate you ever did see...

My husband & I have different views on Halloween. He doesn't like the holiday & thinks the meaning behind it is evil. Me on the other-hand loves Halloween & everything about it. So being that this was Mason's 1st one, I made sure to go a bit overboard & fully decorated the house in all the pumpkins, ghosts & black & orange decor & could get my hands on. To say Shane was thrilled is an understatement but I told him it was for our son & we wouldn't be denying him this super fun holiday as a kid so he would have to eventually get over it.

Mason's 1st Halloween started off by going to daycare & having a little Halloween "party" there. He wore a super cute outfit that had a little Frankenstein on his butt & his shirt said "Mummy's little Monster" :)

Later that morning, all the kids (& babies) dressed up in their costumes & had a little party at lunch-time. Once I picked him up, we made our way home, ate & I put his pirate costume on so I could get some pictures. 

After several pictures I got "the hand" & decided that this was his "no more pictures Mama" look:

Unfortunately, Shane got delayed coming back from Arizona for work so he missed out on Mason's 1st Halloween. He was so very bummed & I felt so bad for him. Mase & I sent him this picture of us but I think that just made it worse :(

Once he was dressed & ready to go, I loaded up the stroller & made our way "trick-or-treating" to a few of our friend's houses around the subdivision. Then we made our way back to our cul-de-sac for our annual gathering in the driveway of our neighbors Dave & Gael.

Mason lasted until 7pm & then the "sleepy monster" got him so I put him to bed & then rejoined my neighbors outside. We all stayed warm & cozy around the fire-pit while enjoying a glass of wine, chit-chatting, handing out candy & sampling the candy that everyone else was handing out. 

We had a great turnout of kids this year & it was so fun seeing all their costumes. The funniest one was a teenage girl who was covered from head to toe in gray paint sample cards & she was "Fifty Shades of Gray" which we all thought was pretty clever. However, given her age I am hoping that she has no idea what the books are about!

By 9pm the trick-or-treater's had died down & this Mama was getting tired so I called it a night. Shane had finally made it home so I filled him in on Mason's day & showed him the cute pics I took.

Even though Mason had no idea what day it was or why he was wearing a costume, it still was a super fun evening. I can't wait until next year when he can help me decorate, carve his 1st pumpkin, & when he is walking/talking & we can all go around the neighborhood trick-or-treating together - just me & our little family of three :)

Hope everyone had a fun & safe Halloween!!

9 months old

Mason James, you are now 9 months old! The holiday's are fast approaching & before we know it we will be celebrating your 1st birthday! The date is set, the place we are having the party at is reserved, & the planning has begun! Mommy is having SO much fun putting your birthday party together! I realize that you won't even remember it, but your Mommy & Daddy will & that is the important thing - we will have survived our 1st year as parents & to me that is definitely worth celebrating!

We are looking SO forward to these upcoming few months & sharing in your 1st Halloween, your 1st Thanksgiving & especially your 1st Christmas! I do believe that Santa may or may not have already began shopping for your gifts under the tree :) 

Weight: You had your 9 mos Dr's appointment this week & you weighed in at 23 lbs (75th percentile) & were 28 1/4" long (50th percentile). This past month you officially moved up to a size 4 diaper as well as started wearing lots more 12 month clothing. It amazes me every week how fast you are growing!

Sleeping: At 9 months old shouldn't you be sleeping through the night by now? For a couple weeks you were omitting your 11pm wake-up & would sleep from 7:30pm - 2am but that was short-lived. Just when we were getting 4-5 straight hours of sleep you started a "sleep regression" & we are now back to waking up at 11pm & 3am. Or maybe it is the "seperation anxiety" phase I have been reading about - you do tend to sleep like an angel when you are in mommy & daddy's bed & know that we are right there?! Your Pediatrician says we need to do the "cry it out" method with you to eliminate that 11pm wake-up so I think I am going to have to cave & give it a try. I am at the point where Mama is tired & needs to get some sleep so I will try anything!!

Eating: You are a fabulous eater - obviously looking at you, you don't go hungry! You continue to LOVE applesauce, carrots & any kind of food you can pick up with your fingers & shove into your mouth. You also have become a pro at sipping water from a sippy cup. We got the green light from your Ped to start eating table foods so I am looking forward to introducing new foods & seeing how you do with it all.

Milestones:
- You are now pulling yourself up on anything & everything you can! You are standing & balancing yourself by holding on to things with one hand, walking while pushing your toy bin around the room & can go from standing to sitting like a pro. You even let go of the furniture for 3 seconds last week & were standing all by yourself but quickly realized it, got scared & dropped down on your butt. I have a feeling you are going to be walking by Christmas - if not sooner - YIKES!
- Crawling has become your mode of "transportation" & you are super fast at it. I am amazed at how quick those little arms & legs move to get you from one place to another.
- You have outgrown your infant carseat so last week I ordered & installed your new Britax convertible carseat. Just one more reminder of how big you are getting :( It fits you much better & you don't look so "cramped" in it! The only negative to it is that it is difficult to reach around & help you with a bottle or putting your pacifier in your mouth. I will be glad when you are finally old enough to be front-facing!
- While out shopping we stopped in to Stride Rite & fitted you for your 1st pair of shoes. You measured 4 1/2 wide (chunky little feet) & so we bought you two pairs of  "early walker" shoes - one brown pair & one white/navy pair. They really help you get around better while crawling & pulling up on things! Daddy says you look so grown up in your "big boy" shoes :)

- You constantly babble, make sounds & try to communicate with us - I just wish I knew what it was you were saying! We practice Ma-Ma & Da-Da on a daily basis & the race is on to see which word you say first. Mommy & Daddy may or may not have money riding on it - lol :)
- This past month you have become a HUGE "mama's boy" & separation anxiety has become a reality for you. As much as I love your new found love for your Mama, it sure makes trying to get anything done around the house impossible. You don't like to be far from me & when anybody else hold's you, you are scanning the room in fear of not being able to find me. What can I say? You love your Mama!

- You cut another tooth this past month. It is your left lateral incisor tooth & now you have a "fang" just like your beloved Bulldog's do!
- You love to stand in front of the window, look outside & feel the "cold" window with your hands. I have lots of fun pointing out the trees, grass, houses, truck & cars in the cul-de-sac to you & love to see you paying close attention to every word I am saying - soaking it all up like a little sponge!

- Our neighbor's have been generous enough to let us use their swing-set & you love to be pushed in the swing! You look like such a little boy in this picture & not like a baby anymore :(

- Mommy has been trying to teach you to wave "bye-bye" & "give-me-five". Needless to say, you do better at "high-fiving" than waving!

- I'm beginning to think that bath-time is your favorite part of the day. You get SO excited when I tell you it's time to take a bath, get you undressed & plop you into the water with all your toys. You love to splash the water & we love to squirt you with your little animal water squirters which you think is so funny!

We love watching you grow, learn & discover new things & are amazed by all you have done this past month. Every month that goes by you do something new or make a new development & we are looking so forward to what the next month brings!

Happy 9 months little man!

 

Wisconsin - Day 4

Monday - Tanner was off to school early in the morning & my sister had a Dr's appointment late morning so I stayed home with Mase, Jensen & Cael. Gave me a whole new perspective of life with 3 kids under 3...not sure I want to make that leap?! I definitely give my sister & her husband kudos for parenting 3 kids under 5 & soon to be 4 come end of November. Although it is a bit chaotic & crazy around their house, they do an amazing job!

Later that afternoon Tanner had swim lessons so my sister took all the kids with her while Mason & I headed to the outlet mall for a bit of shopping. 

 

The Outlet Shoppes at Oshkosh has some great shopping & I always enjoy going there when I visit my sister. It was super cold out so we didn't stay long but we managed to hit several of my favorite stores while there. Mase got some new clothes at Oshkosh B'Gosh (which originated in Oshkosh, Wisconsin back in 1895 - a little history tidbit for you :) & a new winter coat, gloves & cute hat to match at the Children's Place outlet store. Mommy checked out the Coach store but didn't see anything I just HAD to have - which is a first ;)

The rest of the evening was spent packing things up for our departure the next morning & more play-time with the cousins.

Wisconsin - Day 3

Sunday - This morning we loaded up all the kids in the mini-van & made our way to Cuff Farms pumpkin patch. This place was SO cute & there were SO many fun things for the kids to do.

It is a family-owned farm that has been in business for 20+ years. It is open to the public from May-October for asparagus, strawberry & pumpkin picking. In the fall, they have a round-bale climbing area, a straw-bale maze, grass maze, a straw catepillar, & a straw slide for the kids to enjoy. And the best part about it was it was FREE!

Even though it was a foggy, chilly morning, everyone had a ball! Here are some pics of the kiddos enjoying this fun place:

Mason all bundled up!

My cute niece Jensen!

Tanner & Cael on the round bales! You can see in the background how foggy it was!

Jensen & Mason wanted on the round bales too!

Tanner & Cael sliding down the bale slides!

Wagon ride around the farm!

After the kids had checked out all there was to do, they picked out their pumpkins to carve for Halloween. I was amazed at how cheap the pumpkins were - $2 to $4 for huge ones. In Kansas, at the pumpkin patch we went to a couple of weeks ago, they were $12-$16 for big pumpkins! 

Before we left, we all stopped at the snack barn for some hot chocolate, caramel apples, & some popcorn. Once we warmed up & our bellies were full, we decided to make our way back home. So much fun was had by all at Cuff Farms!

Once we got home, we fed the kids, put them to bed & then finally was able to relax on the couch & watch a little bit of TV. 

Great ending to a great day!

Wisconsin - Day 2

Saturday - we had a fairly lazy day. Spent the majority of the day hanging out at the house while Mase had tons of fun playing with his cousins & I enjoyed having nothing to do & nowhere to be. 

 My nephew Tanner insisted we take a picture of us making silly faces :)

Today it was game-day so Mason & I of course had to "represent" our love for the Jayhawks from afar :) Even though they lost yet again.

Later that evening, we all went out to dinner at El Azteca - a yummy Mexican restaurant & stuffed ourselves full of chips & the best bean dip ever!

Before bed it was bath-time - all 4 kiddos. So to save time my sister suggested they all take a bath together & insisted we get a picture of all of them :)

 Tanner (5), Jensen (18 mos), Mason (8 mos) & Cael (3)

Wisconsin - Day 1

Today Mason & I ventured up to Wisconsin to see my sister & her family for 4 days. I was a little nervous flying with Mason by myself but thanks to the fiasco at the airport last time I had all appropriate documentation & check-in/security was easy-peasy. It also helped that Shane dropped us off & picked us back up so traveling with my little man & all his "stuff" wasn't bad at all. I have been amazed at how good of a traveler Mase is. Give that kid a binkie & his Taggie blanket & he is good to go!

Mase & Mommy at the airport

When I booked the flights, I tried to do it around Mason's nap/sleep-times so we ended up leaving late afternoon. During our flight, somewhere over Illinois, between playing with the pretzal bag & thinking it's fun to pinch the ladies arm sitting next to us, Mason starts to grunt & turn bright red which is a look this mommy knows all too well - around here we like to call it "poop-face". I was sweating bullets & praying the entire rest of the trip that the contents stayed "contained" in the diaper. Thank goodness it didn't smell - didn't need that to worry about also. 

45 minutes later we finally landed in Milwaukee. I couldn't get off that plane & into a bathroom fast enough. Once we got to a changing table, I soon discovered poop was coming out the sides of his diaper & up his back - typical "blowout" as other mommies like to call it. So I took a deep breath, got him cleaned up & after 13 wipes, a new diaper & new clothes we were back in business. Thank goodness I packed a pair of jammies in my carry on bag!

After that messy ordeal, we got our bags, loaded up the rental car & Mase & I were on our way. Right before we drove off, I had given Mason a bottle & just as I had planned he fell asleep shortly after we got on the road. It's times like this where I think I am getting this "mommy-gig" down but unfortunately like the "poop-incident" above I am quickly reminded that things can go south in a matter of minutes....literally! Needless to say, it was a quiet, relaxing 1 1/2 hour drive north to my sister's house.

We arrived around 9pm & was greeted by my nephews who were still awake & so very excited to see "Aunt Hedder" & Baby Mason. I haven't seen them since June & am still amazed at how tall they are getting & how much older they look. Definitely growing too fast!

Cider & Pumpkins

Have I told you all how much I LOVE fall & all that comes with it? I may have mentioned it here, here OR here. Imagine how excited I am to share in my love for the season with Mason? He has already helped me make pumpkin bread (which we gave to his daycare providers), helped me decorate the mantle on the fireplace, helped me buy & set up mums & pumpkins on the front steps of the house along with all the other decorations. Okay, maybe he didn't literally "help" but he sure watched me & I could see the twinkle in his eye when I unpacked the pumpkins, gourds & ghosts out of the storage bin ;)

For many years, around October, I would dream about taking my child to a pumpkin patch, going on a wagon ride & watching him/her pick out their own pumpkin. Well, today this long-awaited wish came true. This morning we made our way to the Louisburg Cider Mill & we had SO much fun.

We first toured the mill where they process the apples & watch how they make the apple cider. Then we sat down & enjoyed some fresh hot apple cider with some apple cider donuts - YUM! After our bellies were full of apple-goodness, we made our way over to the pumpkins for some pics. Mase didn't quite know what to think sitting amongst all the pumpkins however, we did manage to get a few good pics of the little guy!

The cutest "pumpkin" in the whole entire patch!

"Can I get this one?"

A "selfie" of Mommy & Mason

My two handsome boys!

We decided not to pay & go through the Corn Maze or on the wagon ride out to the pumpkin patch this year as we felt that Mase wouldn't get anything out of it but we are SO looking forward to going next year when he is walking & can actually understand picking out a pumpkin!

We hope everyone is enjoying the cooler temps, the changing of the leaves & all that comes with the Fall season! I know we are :)