Boys Night In, Mommas Night Out

Last night my two boys had a night in together. They had the house to themselves just the two of them, while my mom and i went out and enjoyed the new Eclipse movie. A friend gave me two free tickets to an early screening the day before it came out, it was such a nice thing for him to do for me and all because he knows how much i love the twilight books and the movies too. It was absolutely wonderful to go to the early screening, we went at 9 pm and were out by 11 pm, on our way out we noticed the hoards of people sitting in a roped off section of the theatre lobby waiting for the midnight showing. I was glad that i didn't have to wait in that kind of chaotic mess just to see it. And i was so thankful that the majority of the movie goers in the early screening were adults, or were accompanied by adults and were very quiet and respectful, which meant we were really able to enjoy the movie to its fullest. Now, if i could just find the time to read my new book "the short second life of Bree tanner" an eclipse novella.

Peas and Carrots

This morning I put Mason in his room for a little play time, i spread a small blanket out on the floor for him and laid him down to play. He immediately rolled over and started trying to crawl. He has been working on this for several weeks now, and i really think he has about got the hang of crawling, no joke. He has been army crawling for a good two weeks or more, and he really is becoming a mobile little creature. if you put him down he can travel at least 10 feet, by army crawling, scooting on his tummy, and rolling. I am becoming aware of how much this is going to rock our world around the house, once he is on the go for real. There are just so many changes now that he is 5 months old. He has started eating solids, organic only. At 4 months we started him on rice cereal with applesauce mixed in, and now he is eating carrots, peas, pumpkin, and is about to add sweet potatoes and bananas to the menu. He gets his usual 5 bottles a day (he is able to hold them his self but i still help) plus applesauce with cereal in the mornings and a veggie in the pm. He is a great eater and the only thing we've not had a liking for thus far is the peas, but he loves his carrots. lol. Fingers crossed he will be a veggie lover for life. I'm about to take on the new adventure of making his baby food myself, this should be an interesting experience, I'll let you know how it goes. He is starting to babble a lot and will say BABABA. If you say it to him he will repeat it back. We are working on teaching him to associate it with his bottle, and are encouraging mama and dada but no luck so far. He LOVES baby einstein videos still, he likes to nap on his side on the bed facing me and cuddled up, he loves to scratch at your face, especially mouth and eyes, and even more so when he's sleepy. He is no longer too interested in his mobile. He is waking around 6:30 or 7 am now which is brutal, But Landon did however just install some new dark curtains in his room and I'm pleased to report that the last two morning we have slept till 8 ish and 9 ish which i am praying will be the new trend. He laughs a lot now, he thinks ling-ling is hilarious especially when she fetches with Landon and when she hacks up a hair ball he will just giggle away. He also finds Landon pretty funny, but me not so much. He is very smiley and sociable and really tries to ham it up when other people talk to him or pay him attention, he loves strangers. He is also loving his jumperoo and we just purchased a new walker which he also loves to play in. Everything under the sun is sure enough going straight to his mouth and he is still drooling buckets, and gnawing on his fist, tonight Landon and i both thought we felt something hard starting to poke through his bottom gums, we are hoping it is a tooth and not our imaginations playing tricks on us. Mason is still obsessed with our pooch ling-ling and she is still not entirely sure if she wants him around or not, most days she is a little playful and a little grouchy towards him all in the same day. We are still struggling with napping at home, he gets fussy and has to be rocked or held until he gives in, out of sheer exhaustion. He naps beautifully when we are out shopping, so we shop a lot.... pretty much daily. He is growing so fast, at our last check he was 14 lbs and 26.5 in long. We graduated from the baby tub to a bath seat in the big bath tub, tonight was our first time trying it and I'm happy to report it was a great success and so much easier than using the baby tub in the sink. He is just too much of a wiggler now and also loves to kick and splash in the water which has been soaking our counters, ourselves, and our floors. So i highly recommend the aquababy bath ring if you need a new option, it's a plastic seat that suctions to the bottom of the bath tub and you just sit them in it and wash them. It along with our new rinse cup with a rubber side that you press against their foreheads to keep the water from going into their eyes while you rinse their hair, have both been absolute life savers, and well worth the money. Well that pretty much wraps up my update on all of Masons big changes now that he is a 5 month old!! I'll let you know if we have any news on the possible tooth!

God is Good!

My little boy is growing so fast, and sometimes i look around at our house and our life now that mason is here and it's almost hard to remember what it was like before, you know before every baby gadget under the sun was in my living room, before buying organic was important, before the hours of washing bottles each day, before when our bedtime wasn't 9 pm, before my lower stomach lost all feeling in it, before the stretchmarks and extra pounds, before someone needed me every second of my day, back when my life was my own. I'm not quite sure what we did with ourselves and our time back then. My days now seem packed full of one activity/problem/cry session/feeding/diaper change after another, after another, and so on until my head hits the pillow for a few short hours of blissful peace, quiet and stillness, that i so dearly treasure. And even though i have never felt so tired, busy, needed, and forgetful in all my life, it all seems so worth while when i look at my little boys sweet loving face! He is such an amazing gift, yes, GIFT, he is a blessing from God, and i am thankful every single day that we have him in our lives. God truly answered all of my prayers when he blessed us with Mason, a happy, healthy, loving, funny, sweet, and beautiful baby. Mason has really given my life a sense of meaning and purpose that i didn't have before. He has made me feel more loved and more complete as a person. Landon and I truly feel that sense of being our own family now, now that we have Mason in our lives. We also really want to have another child, Mason has shown us just how incredible it is to be parents and just how special having a child truly is. I know we will not quite feel complete in our hearts until we have another baby, and it is something we really look forward to in the future, but for now we are very happy enjoying Mason and watching him grow. He really is growing and changing so quickly and Landon and i are both trying to take in and absorb every moment of it. I want to remember everything, every smile, every laugh, every "first", every experience. These last 5 months have really been some of the best in my life!! I am so lucky to have such an amazing husband, and Mason couldn't have asked for a better or brighter father than Landon. The two of them are my whole world and I am so excited to see what is in store for us, as long as we are all together i know it will be an amazing life!! God is good!

And I'll leave you with a picture of my hubby and my sweet boy the day after he was born!!

First Family Vacation

I promised i would post about our first family vacation, once we returned home and i have been very slack about posting lately. We really had a great trip when we took Mason to the beach for the first time. We left thursday night and got to the house in time to feed mason and unpack and get in the bed. It was hard to sleep away from home and with mason in his pack n play versus his own crib in his own room at home, but we made the best of it, we got up early and went to breakfast friday and then we went to the beach for a just a little bit and took mason in his front carrier for a little walk along the beach, while we were walking we saw a big 4-5 foot shark about 10 feet from the shore right in front of us, it scared me half to death and landon took off to inform the parents of a boy who was swimming very close to us. I have never seen anything like that before and it really made me apprehensive about mason ever stepping foot into the water. lol. After we left the beach we went to broadway on the beach and went to the Ripleys aquarium. Mason had an amazing time and landon and i loved it too. We were able to escape the terrible heat and Mason was just fascinated by the different aquariums and fish. I loved watching my little boys face light up with awe as he carefully studied all the beauty within each tank. I cant wait to take him back again one day. That night we took ling ling down on the beach with us and she really had a great time running in the wet sand but the waves and the dry sand were a little scary for her. She wanted to be held a lot but finally became really interested in chasing a flying seagull around and chasing the water as it washed in on the shore. The next day we headed to barefoot landing for a few hours in north myrtle and then stopped by good ol ocean drive (shag capital of the world) my home away from home for a large portion of my youth. We ate lunch at the blvd grill and then stopped by our friends nancy and ron alexanders condo to visit them and for them to meet mason for the first time. It was a nice visit, and afterward we headed back to holden and enjoyed the rest of the day with mason on the beach. He lloked absolutley adorable in his swimsuit, sunglasses, and hat. He was not too happy about the cold water on his feet and he let us know real quick, so landon held him and stood in the water with him and he was happy as a tick watching the waves roll in and out. After a little bit in the water we laid him in his tent and he had some apple juce and water and then he zonked out and napped for several hours while landon and i laid out and enjoyed the sun and sand!! It was a really great day and the most relaxing time we had. That night we got baths all around including ling-ling and then the 3 humans went to dinner, came home and put mason to bed and landon and i enjoyed ice cream sundaes at home on the couch while watching the stepford wives. sunday we woke up and decided we missed our beds, the heat was killing us, and our ymca waterpark was calling our names, so we headed home to charlotte, unpacked our car, put our swimsuits on and went to the waterpark at the ymca to swim. Landon had never seen mason in the pool until then and mason really had the best time he has ever had at the pool, that day with landon there with him.

We really had a wonderful first vacation as a family!! It was a much needed getaway and although it was short, it was a really nice trip. But we were definitly happy to come home to our own house and our own beds!! We are really looking forward to our next vacation and i'm sure the older mason gets the more fun he will have but i know, as his parents, we will always remember taking our son to the beach for the very first time together and just how special it was. I will upload pics soon!!

Nearing the 5 month mark

People are always telling me that when you have children "time flies" and they grow up so fast, but it is so true. I can't believe my little boy will be 5 months next week. I feel as though we just came home from the hospital with him. But he really is growing and changing so very much each day. Last month at his 4 month visit he weighed 13 lbs 7 oz. and they had us start him on rice cereal. It really has been fun for Landon and I both to get to sit down together every night and feed mason. It is funny how we both look forward to something so mundane as feeding Mason a few tablespoons of rice cereal and applesauce each night, but it is our 10 minutes of family time that the three of us spend together every night and i love to watch our little guy learning to eat, and so does Landon. It's amazing how much Mason brightens our lives and how his silly little actions never fail to make us laugh and smile. Mason just loves to eat, the first time we fed him, he was tired and grouchy and he pretty much cried the whole time, but now he loves to eat his cereal and applesauce and he gets mad when its all gone!! Here are some pics of the first time mason had cereal!!

Mason is getting so big, right before my eyes, he spends his time trying like crazy to sit up on his own, this child is going to have some amazing abs because anytime he's laying down he lifts his head and tightens his body trying to sit up, it is so cute, and with a little leverage he is able to pull his self into a sitting position. He also has amazing head and neck control, he will reach for you to pick him up now, he can grab things he wants like toys bottles and his spoon when your feeding him. Everything now goes to his mouth, still no teeth but he is constantly chewing on his fists and knuckles, he loves to suck on his thumbs and fingers. He constantly rolls over and pushes his self up into a crawling position, and over the last few days has begun to belly crawl on the floor and bed, this boy will be crawling everywhere very shortly, I'm sure. He can stand with support and pull up into a standing position from sitting or laying.

He now loves his jumperoo, will play in his crib with his mobile on, likes to lay on our bed and roll around while watching his baby Einstein movies, he has a new bean bag that my mother in law bought him and he enjoys sitting in it and watching TV but not for very long periods of time, he will swing occasionally in his front to back swing, but he has sadly outgrown his side to side graco sweet peace swing and his little bassinet, so Landon and i sadly packed those up last week and put them in the attic, i guess we will have to have another baby to get our moneys worth out of them. lol. We are still having daily tantrums if mason is bored or tired, he often fights his naps and i have to rock him in the recliner to get his to fall asleep and quit crying. He loves to grab a hand full of your shirt or hair when he is sleepy, and he will rub his little eyes when he's tired too. I am hopeful that one day the crying won't be as frequent as it is right now, he does wonderful when we spend our days out of the house, but at home he gets bored and fussy frequently.








In other news, we are taking our first family vacation this weekend!! Hooray!! I'm so excited to report that the Greene family will be going to the beach this weekend. Landon and i have not been on vacation together since May 2008 and that seems like forever ago. This will be Masons first real beach trip, since he never even saw the beach while in Charleston with my mom and i. Landon and I both really need this little getaway to relax and have some fun outside of Charlotte. And i am so thrilled to be taking our sweet little boy to the beach together. We plan to leave Thursday night and stay the weekend, it will be just a short and sweet weekend trip but i am very much looking forward to having some quality time with my husband and son, just the three of us!! I will post more when we return!!

Another exciting thing happening around here is that I am planning on returning to UNC Charlotte this fall to finish my degree in Elementary Education. I had planned to return to school for a semester last fall but i was expecting the arrival of Mason and decided that there was too many things going on in my life preparing for Mason that it would be extremely hard for me to put my focus on school. Plus i could not imagine myself in my third trimester (so close to my due date), trying to waddle around campus. So i am pleased to report that i met with an advisor this past week and resubmitted my praxis scores, and I'm all lined up to register, just as soon as the school processes some of my paperwork (which hopefully they will hurry it up bc it is taking forever and classes are filling up). I will be going two days a week starting in August and Landon will be keeping Mason one day and my sister in law will hopefully be keeping Mason the other day (fingers crossed because i don't have a back up). But i am really looking forward to going back to school, because it is so important to me to finish my degree. It will take me about 3 semesters plus student teaching but i am constantly amazed how fast time truly does fly, and i know that if i can just get back on it and stick it out, eventually i will finish. I also have found an online masters degree in education that i hope to obtain after i get my bachelors, but obviously I'm taking it one step at a time, and will be thrilled just to finish my bachelors degree.