I've been slacking

14 weeks 2 Days

I'll admit that i have really slacked off on posting new things to my blog. It all started last Thursday, Earth Day, when i had every intention to update my blog about my Earth Day resolutions, but then ended up terribly sick the entire day. Friday i started feeling better, and my wonderful hubby was off work so we went out and bought mason a new jumperoo thing for him to play in and we also went to two saltwater stores and bought some rock and coral for our tank. Then Friday night we were busy and Saturday and Sunday too, and now here it is Wednesday and i am just getting around to posting. So i am going to back track to last Thursday when I was so inspired by Earth Day that i decided to make some changes in the way my family and i are living in order to help the planet. Every year i want to do something to make a difference and before i know it another year has passed and i wish i had done more, i wish i had lived more "green" and so i am really very determined to make a bigger change this year than in the past. Last year i started recycling, it was something i wanted to do for a long time but we didn't have a recycling bin and when i would put our recyclables into a regular plastic bin, the garbage people would dump it anyways, instead of leaving it for the recycling truck. So i am happy to report that we now have two recycling bins and my goal is to become a better recycler and to learn more about what i can recycle, because I'm sure that there are things i am throwing away that could also be recycled. I also plan to educate my family about recycling and encourage them to all start. My other goal is to use reusable bags instead of plastic shopping bags. I've seen so many disturbing things that show how our plastic grocery bags are polluting our environment and our oceans are being devastated by plastics contaminating the water, it is really terrible and so wasteful. There are actually cities that have completely done away with plastic bags all together and only use paper or reusable bags (Sanfrancisco i believe is one of them) and i think this is something every city should start doing. I have plenty of the reusable bags and my resolution is to put them in my car and a couple in my diaper bag and to quit using plastic bags. I also want to start using more natural cleaning products in my home. Now that i have mason, it's important to me not to expose him to a lot of chemicals when we are cleaning and mopping, i want to start buying all natural products to clean and disinfect with, this resolution may take some time to implement because it requires purchasing all new products which can be expensive so my plan is to do it a little at a time each shopping trip until we replace everything in our house with eco friendly products!! We are all ready using natural soap for his baby bottles called "dapple" and also some of the Clorox green products to clean with. We are also growing our own vegetables and although Landon is doing all the work, i am happy that this is one more way to live more green and to save some money in the process. Another change i am trying to make is to be more diligent about leaving lights and TV's on in the rooms that i am not in. I am so bad about this, i love to leave the TV on for ling ling while i am gone during the day, it makes me feel better about leaving her. I also tend to leave the TV on from the minute i get up until i go to bed and sometimes leave both the TV in my bedroom and in the living room on at the same time. I also always leave lights on in other rooms that I'm not even in. This is going to be a hard habit for me to break but i can't wait to see the difference it will make in our power bill. Well, i know i could go on and on forever talking about ways to be green and why i think it is so important and i could discuss for hours all the horrible problems facing our oceans and wildlife that i have been learning lately, but i am going to wrap it up for now and maybe one day soon i will post more about the issues on my mind and give an update on how my resolutions are going!

On to other things! My weight loss plan is still in place but, being sick last week really threw me off track, i only wanted to eat plain foods like rice, mashed potatoes, etc. and it was really a lot of carbs for me. I gained back 3 lbs over the course of the weekend. Eating with friends and family didn't help either. But i am back on track again and am only 2 lbs away from being back at what i was before i got sick. Last night i cheated at dinner but it was worth it, i had dinner with an old friend and i really couldn't believe just how long it had been since we had last saw each other. It was great to see her again though, we talked for hours and could have easily stayed and chatted longer, there was just so much to talk about but i guess that's to be expected when you go so long without seeing someone. I have really missed her, we used to have so much fun together, and i really hope we can become better friends again! She is very easy to talk to and on the way home i wondered if i had talked to much, i have a bad habit of talking peoples ears off sometimes, lol. But i hope that she and i can hang out like we used to, because she is very down-to-earth, and funny, and she loves to shop as much as i do, and we always had a lot in common and liked similar things!! These days my girlfriends are few and far between, and i really miss a lot of the friendships that i have let slip away over time! I really hope to be better about that in the future, and not loose touch with the few friends I've got, and i hope to be able to reconnect with some of my old friends too! I think sometimes we just get so caught up in day to day life, working, kids, bills, money, and then we spend all our free time with our spouses, and we forget how important friendships are!! And lets face it, having friends takes work, you have to make an effort,or else you do grow apart!!

So it appears that May is shaping up to be a busy month for the Greene family, we have two weddings, I'm doing the hair for one of them, we have two cookouts, Landon's birthday, a party for a our friends little girl who is turning one (i just can't believe she is 1 already) and mothers day (this will be my first), Masons 4 month Dr's appointment, and so much more, our calendar is starting to look chaotic!! lol. But i am excited for summer to be approaching!! My cousins are both having babies at the end of the summer in September and they just found out they are both having girls!! It's going to be very exciting and mason will have cousins close to his age but i was hoping one would have a boy so mason would have a playmate, but everyone i know with kids his age have girls!! so he's going to learn early on how to treat little girls! lol! I'm very happy for the two of them though, because i think deep down they both really wanted girls!!! I really hope our next one is a girl, because Landon said two is it for us!! lol so keep your fingers crossed for down the road!

Saturday we added some new additions to the Greene household, in our saltwater tank that is! We added an anemone and two percula clown fish! Here are some pics!! And the rock is new too, we added that Friday!

Rollie Pollie and a slobbery Thumb

So yesterday was a big day for my little Mason, he had another milestone accomplishment!! Mason rolled all the way over onto his tummy for the first time!! He has been rolling onto his side for a while now but yesterday morning while he was playing on his play mat and i sat in the floor with him while i gabbed on the phone to my friend Erika, Mason rolled himself onto his side then all the way over onto his face and then pushed with his arms and held his head and shoulders up off the floor and looked around, then he started to cry (because he realized he was on his tummy which he hates) so i was totally elated but since he was crying i picked him up and laid him back onto his back and ran to get my camera. When i got back into his room he was on his tummy again, he had rolled while i was gone, so i put him onto his back and he did it again right before my eyes!! i was so proud and all i could think was how proud Landon would be to see this new trick!! I sat and waited for him to do it again, hoping to catch it on video on my point and shoot camera, but he didn't do it again, he just laid there and cried and i knew he was tired and ready for a nap! So after his much needed nap and a bottle, I put Mason in his crib to play while i got his bath ready and when i went to get him undressed he looked as though he was going to attempt to do it again so i whipped out my camera and after a few unsuccessful attempts he finally did it, 3 times and i got them on video for Landon to see!! I was so happy to have caught one of his "firsts" on camera!! Here are some pics! and I will attempt to post one of the short videos but who knows if it will work with my crappy computer being as impossible as it is!!

The night before last Landon and i were sleeping and i kept hearing this weird noise over the monitor, i couldn't figure out what it was and so i went to check on Mason in his crib to see what was going on. I found him with his legs out of the swaddle blanket and sticking up in the air and his hands out of the top of the swaddler and him sucking loudly on his thumb!! The swaddle blanket was pretty much just wrapped around his middle and he was contently sucking away on his thumb which i have not seen since the first time i held him in the hospital!! It brought so many memories to my mind!! Well even though Mason is not normally one to suck on his thumb, he has been known to put his hands in his mouth and suck when he cannot find his paci, but lately the hand to mouth issue has come to be an "all the time" kinda thing! He now prefers his hand to the paci and will drop his paci out so he can fit his fist in his mouth and rather than sucking on it, he seems to gnaw on it! He has been unusually fussy, and running about 1-2 degrees of a fever. I may be wrong but i think he could be teething. The signs seem to be pointing to that! He's only 3 months old (14 weeks to be exact) is that too young? Your opinions are welcome and appreciated!! He doesn't go back to the Dr till his 4 month check in May, so i am curious to know now if it's even a possibility!!

My little boy is growing so fast and changing so much each day!! Before i know it he will be running around and into everything!! And i will need as much energy as possible to keep up with him because he is already a busy little boy!! I have been sticking to my diet with the exception of a few meals where there wasn't much of an option to eat what i needed to, and i have been exercising regularly at least 3 times a week!! I am happy to report that i have lost 7 lbs and i am well on my way to meeting my 10 lbs per month goal. There are 10 days left this month and i have 3 lbs to go in order to meet my goal!! I have been loosing about a lb per day, so losing 3 more lbs shouldn't be too hard! I'm very proud of my self, and i know that reaching these short term goals will ensure that i loose the total amount i want to loose long term!!

Like Father Like Son

So I have been meaning to post about the amazing bond that i see forming right before my eyes between Mason and Landon!! Everyone says that little boys have a special bond with thier mommas and I do agree that Mason is very attached to me and that i am a special person to him, but he also has a special place for his daddy!! When Landon comes home, Mason will smile and light up at the fact that his daddy is there and is talking to him. He loves when Landon takes him to look in the mirror at the two of them, and Landon loves getting his hands on Mason as soon as he gets home from work and likes to cary him along with him as he waters his plants outside and tends to his new vegetable garden!!

It fills my heart with such happiness to see the two of them together, and i know that as Mason grows up, they will have even more special things to share and enjoy together!! On Tuesday night i got home from working out at the YMCA and Landon had just got home from work, so he watched Mason and was going to start to work on dinner while i got a shower. I knew Mason was tired and fussy and that it would probably be hard for Landon to cook dinner while watching Mason, bc he has recently gotten so spoiled to being held, so i highly doubted that dinner would be done when i got out unless mason was in his crib crying, however i was suprised that when i got out of the shower the house was quiet and when i started looking for my two boys i found them in the kitchen, Mason was sitting in his bumbo on the counter top watching landon cook dinner, and Mason was suprisingly happy. It was such a cute little sight so i took some pics to remember it!

Then later that night Landon laid Mason on our bed while he folded laundry and Mason fell asleep, and when i came in a few hours later they both were sleeping peacefully, so i snapped some pics of my two favorite fellas before i put Mason in his crib!!

Thursday i went to the gafney Outlets with my bestie Erika, and we took both the babies!! It was a lot of fun, they had lots ofcute stuff, and it was our first outting with both the baies since Erika's little girl was born!! Izabel is turning a month old this week and I just can't believe it!! It is amazing how fast time flies by when you have babies!! I feel like Mason was just born and yet he will be 14 weeks old tomorrow!! But here are some pics of Mason and Izabel together!

And here are some pics of out beautiful yard now that spring is in full swing and our azeleas are bloomed!! (notice ling-ling our puppy runningthrough the pics)

Photography and My boys

So i recently purchased a new Nikon DSLR camera, and i have been dabbling a little in photography. I have always had an interest in photography but have never invested in a good camera, but with the arrival of our little one it was important to me to have a great camera to capture all the important moments. I love pictures and i love taking pictures, and i have really enjoyed my new camera but i still need to learn how to use it to its fullest!! I plan ontaking some classes and investing in photoshop software but in the mean time I decided to take my own pictures of Mason for his easter pics, and i think they turned out pretty well, here are some of my favs!

I also have been wanting to use Mason and recreate a picture of Landon as a baby to compare thier similairites but i just got around to doing it this past sundayand Mason was not very happy about it because it required me putting him on his tummy!! He screamed and cried but i thought the results were pretty funny!! I should have photogrpahed him around 6-8 weeks bc that was about the age of landon in the picture and 5 weeks ago Mason was the spitting image ofhis Dada in the pic! But Here's the best that i got!

Landon

Mason

3 months old

So we are home from our weekend trip to Charleston SC. it was a great trip, we got there on Friday afternoon and spent hours looking for a hotel room, we were going to book one before we left but my mom wanted to just book it when we got there which was a bad idea because there was a sailboat race going on that weekend and some type of convention so all the hotels where we usually stay over on patriots point, mt pleasant near isle of palms, were all booked and the one place that had a room available was the masters inn and it was such a hole, the room was a smoking room and we just couldn't have that with the two babies and my mom and i's terrible allergies, so we drove around and around looking for a place to stay and it wasn't looking like we were going to find an alternative and finally the red roof called us back with a cancellation and luckily it was for a non smoking room. By the time we got checked in it was already 4:30 pm and it didn't leave us much time to enjoy our trip so we decided we should go ahead and stay a second night. we went out Friday night with mason and Madison and went to market street to look around and do some shopping then we rode down to the battery and when we tried to get out to walk around the nats were literally attacking us to the point that we couldn't take pictures, the kids were crying, it was miserable, so we gave up and got back into the car and drove around and looked at the battery from our car windows. Saturday we spent the whole day enjoying everything from market street, to the battery, to the pier and the park, king street, and east bay st, and went to isle of palms to the beach shops, and to eat dinner at coconut Joe's, then Madison and i walked on the beach some, but it was too windy to take mason so my mom sat at the restaurant with him. So mason has still yet to have his first beach experience, but he did get to see a lot of Charleston!! Sunday we did a little last minute sight seeing then came back home!! Mason did great on both the drive there and home, he didn't cry once! I can say that it was good to be home though on Sunday because Mason and i both missed Landon sooo much!! The whole trip i just kept reflecting back to Landon and i's last trip to Charleston a couple years ago, and i kept wishing that Landon could be there with us, it wasn't the same without him!!

In other news, Mason is three months old today!! It's crazy to think my little boy is 13 weeks old and was born three months ago to the day! He is growing so fast, he has started lifting his head and shoulders up off the bed and he leans and his head and neck forward when in the car seat and when your holding him. He has started not only rolling onto his side but is trying to roll completely over face down. When we put him in his crib with his head to the left and feet to the right he is completely turned around with feet to the left and head to the right side of the crib when we come back to check on him, sometimes he has turned his self from laying length wise in the crib to width wise. It is so funny to go check on him and to find him in these different positions!! i wish i could be there to witness just how he gets his self into these positions!! he is just such a joy each and everyday, but i'm afraid he is becoming spoiled to mommy holding him and playing with him, he wants to constantly be entertained and now it not only bored by the former beloved swing but also his glorious play mat has not been holding his attention and he only plays for a couple minutes on it before crying!! he was playing on it earlier today with some of the toys with the circle links attached to them laying on the floor on the play mat and when i came to get him, he had one of the toys with the link around his bicep lol. My only saving grace for holding his attention lately has been the crib and mobile, but unfortunately the mobile only plays for about 20 minutes before cutting off and then i have to drop whatever i am doing and haul it into his room to turn it back on before he starts to fuss!!! i really wish he was more content entertaining himself! maybe one day..... i can hope right!?!?

Sun and Fun

Tuesday Night i took Mason to the indoor pool at the Y for the first time. He looked so adorable in his swim suit and surf shirt (see the pics below). He seemed to like being in the water, it was heated but i thought it was still a little on the cool side compared to normal. When we got in, i eased his little feet and legs in and he seemed to immediately notice, but he had the funniest expression on his face, he didn't smile or laugh and he didn't cry or look unhappy, he just seemed content and like he was really watching the other kids and taking in his suroundings. We didn't stay very long at all, i was really paranoid about the other kids that were splashing and jumping in the pool, i didn't want water in his eyes, and i was a little worried about him getting cold, so we were only in the pool for a short bit, but it was a fun experience and i know he will enjoy it more and more the older he gets, i'm really looking forward to taking him to the outdoor pool this summer, they have a shallow wading area that will be so much fun to play with him in.

Tomorrow is a big day, My mom and i decided on a whim to go to Charleston SC for the day and take Madison and Mason. I'm so excted my mom will get to be there for Mason's first beach trip, but i wish more than anything that landon could go with us, but due to his work, it's just not possible. I will really miss him and I know Mason will too, this will be the first time in a year that i've spent a night away from Landon. I hate being away from my husband, and i really wish we could take this trip together, but this is a much needed vacation and we are only going for one night. I just can't wait to get out of town though, and i love Charleston, it is one of my most favorite places!! I've been trying to pack tonight and packing for mason is such a daunting task, he just needs so much stuff!! I'm taking his pack n play for him to sleep in, and his bumbo and his play mat, and a hundred or so outfits bc i have no idea what the weather is like or what we are going to do while there, i had to wash and pack all his bottles plus a basin, sponges, and towels so i can wash and dry all his bottles to use again on saturday, i have to take his gallon of water, his formula, and i am determined to stick to my diet which is always hard when traveling and vacationing so i packed a lot of my diet food in a cooler to take too (and i have already lost 3 lbs in 3 days so i'mnot going toblow it now). i just hope all our stuff fits into the car in the morning! we are going to leave bright and early but i will post pics and an update on the trip once we get home!! i know it will be a great trip and i'm excited to go, but i'm also looking forward to comming home to my wonderful hubby!!

Easter Update

So it's Tuesday and i'm just now getting around to posting about Mason's first Easter, but better late than never, i guess. So Friday night Mason slept in his crib for the first time all night. He did wonderful, he was so peaceful and quiet, and i was the one who didn't sleep as well, because i was constantly up and down checking on him. Although he was ready to start sleeping in his room, i was still apprehensive about it because it soothes me to have him in his bassinet near my bed and know that if he needs me i'm right there. I enjoy listening to him snore at night and in the mornings when he starts waking up and i'm still not ready to get up for the day, i love being able to reach over and poke his paci in his mouth, which soothes him back to sleep for another couple of hours. These days we sleep till about 8 am which is wonderful!! But the decision to start putting Mason in his crib came out of necessity. Mason has outgrown the soft little bassinet that fits in the top of his pack n play. I started noticing that his little legs were hanging over the edge and i felt bad for him, it couldn't be very comfortable anymore. So for a couple of nights we put him in the bottom part of his pack n play to sleep, but after he napped so well in his crib on Friday, we decided to give it a try, and he did great!! He doesn't sleep quite as long as before but he'll wake up at about 7 and i will get up and give him his paci and turn his mobile on and he will lay in his crib and kick and play (till about 8 and then he's ready to get up and eat) and I get a little extra sleep.

So Sunday was Easter and my mom, brother, sister-in-law Christy, nieces Madison and molly, and Christy's parents came over to Landon and I's house for lunch. Landon had to go into work that morning, so Mason and I got up and were busy cooking and getting things ready before my family got there. I put Mason an Easter basket together for his first Easter and it had a brown and orange bunny, 8 glittery eggs, a peter cotton tail book, a Benjamin rabbit book, and a bunny friends book, it had some squeaky both toys, a bunny card from Landon and i, and a sugar egg that you look inside the hole in the end and thier is a bunny made of icing on the inside

(we always got these growing up and it is one of my most vivid memories of Easter as a child, i always found the delicate dainty sugar eggs with the beautiful surprise scenery inside them so fascinating i really hope to continue this tradition for Mason and i hope he grows to enjoy them as much as i did as a child) his basket also had a lamb lollipop which i bought more for looks and because i got each of the girls one too i couldn't resist a blue lamb for my sweet boy. My brother and Christy brought the girls over early and my mom and i spread a blanket out in the yard and let Madison, Molly, and Mason have the Easter baskets that my mom made for them. Madison held Mason in her lap and showed him what was in his Easter basket before she even looked at her own basket, it was very sweet, she is such a great cousin and takes a lot of pride in being Mason's big Cousin. Mason got a baby genius Mozart and Friends DVD and CD and a baby genius lullaby's CD and he got a "my first bible stories" book, and a bubbles egg (blue), and a cute little turtle bath sponge which mason held and mouthed on a little. We enjoyed sitting in the yard with the kids while they opened their baskets and played, then we had lunch (honey ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, cream corn, deviled eggs, potato salad, rolls, baked macaroni and cheese, sausage and cheese dip, banana pudding, and confetti cake) after lunch we hid 54 Easter eggs for the girls to hunt, Landon came home from work and had some lunch, then the girls hid eggs for Landon and i to find, it was pretty competitive. Then Landon and i hid the eggs again for mady and molly to hunt and we all sat outside and watched them ride their new bikes that they got for Easter. It was a wonderful Easter, and after everyone went home Landon's mom Annette came over and visited Mason. At the end of the night we capped it off by putting Mason in his crib and Landon and I snuggled up on our bed and watched "Life" on the discovery channel.

Mason, Madison and Molly Getting Easter baskets from Mimi Lisa

The Easter Basket Landon and I made him

That was pretty much the end of our Easter weekend, My mom is home this week on spring break and Mason and I have been enjoying having her home and going fun places together, it is a taste of how great the summer will be when she is out of school and we can enjoy hanging out this summer with her. We also started back to the Y last night and agreed to hold each other accountable for our diets, exercising, and drinking our water everyday!! My short term goal is to lose 30 lbs by July, and another 20 lbs by September. I don't know how realistic those goals are but if i can stick to my diet and exercise everyday without giving up, i know that progress is inevitable and i can be satisfied with knowing that eventually it will happen. I want to think of my diet as more of a lifestyle change regarding the foods i eat and portion size, and i want exercising to be a lifestyle change as well, it's not something i want to do for a few months to loose weight, it is something i want to do on a daily basis permanently. I just need to stay focused and remember my goal, which is to get back to the old me, feel confident and comfortable, and to be healthy for Mason, so that i can have the energy and stamina to keep up with him and to live a long and healthy life so i can be around to watch him grow up and i want to teach him to be a healthy and active person. I was always a very active person, this weight has come on me since high school and has been so gradual that it has just gotten away from me!! Mason is wonderful motivation and so is Landon! So i am going to wrap this up because i have got to do some healthy grocery shopping at Trader Joes and then get ready for Zumba at the Y tonight!!