Christmas Town USA

Being Mason's first Christmas Season, I've been so excited to create our own new traditions this year that we can enjoy as a family for years to come. One thing I had been hoping to do this year was for Landon and I to take Mason to Mcadenville (Christmas Town USA) to see the beautiful lights. Landon had never been and it has been many years since I last visited Mcadenville at Christmas time. After begging Landon for weeks to go, our good friends, Maclaren and Erica, invited us to go along with them on Tuesday night and I was thrilled. It was really so much fun to go along with them and their sweet little girl Riley. I got such a kick out of watching Mason and Riley riding in their little car seats side by side and looking in amazement at the beautiful lights and houses! They are just too cute together, I hope they will grow to be great friends as they get older! We had such a wonderful time and it was so nice to get to spend it with our good friends! Mason has really enjoyed all the beautiful lights, trees, and decorations that we've seen this Christmas season!! It is so great to see the excitement and joy through his eyes, he finds beauty and excitement in the smallest details, things I hardly even notice immediately catch his eye and he is completely fascinated!

We took our Christmas photos with our great photographer friend Kim last Friday and we got to see a sneak peak at 2 of our photos so here they are! Unfortunately Landon couldn't be there for our Christmas pics so I still have to figure out what to do about a family pic for our Christmas cards, which I need to get ordered soon, but i am waiting on the rest of our Christmas pics before i decide on anything! And last Saturday we took Mason to see Santa Claus for the first time. We went to the mall to see him and waited in line for nearly 2 hours, it was ridiculous and Mason was totally over it by the time we got up there to see Santa. He waved in delight and was smiling and happy, he didn't even mind Santa holding him, until i walked away for them to take his picture. As i turned my back to him, he totally freaked and started crying, I quickly took him his paci and everything seemed all better but unfortunately his little eyes were still red in the picture and the ugly paci was in the pics too. We also got a group shot of him with his cousins Madison and Molly! I leave you with the pics!

Thankful

Last week we celebrated our first thanksgiving as a family!
The night before mason decided to show his daddy and i his amazing walking skills
we were impressed
we were extremely impressed
he went from being a little boy who would take a few wobbly steps here or there
to being a little boy who was brave and walking back and forth from mom to dad on his own
he was so proud
we were so very proud
it was amazing and i was thankful for that moment
as long as i live i will never forget that moment and i don't think Landon will either
it was perfect.
mason was perfect.
Speaking of perfect, Mason's first thanksgiving was pretty close to it
Mason loved it, he loved seeing his cousins and getting to play.
He loved going to his grandma Lisa's house to eat,
he loved visiting and showing off for his Aunt and Uncle and his great grandmother Stegall.
he loved eating mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, broccoli cheese casserole, and cream corn
he loved exploring the house, walking from table to table, person to person
not one nap was had the entire day
we also ventured on to visit his great grandma & great grandpa Greene's for dinner
we enjoyed having them all to ourselves since everyone was else was out of town this year
yep, you heard correctly
Masons grandparents randy and Annette were at the beach with his great grandma Hinson,
uncle Ben was in Florida with his band,
Tammy, Bob, Carson, Wayne, and Mandy were in the mountains on vacation
But we did get to see aunt Beth
Aunt Beth has been gone out of state for her FBI training
but she was back in town for the holiday
and just as we were getting ready to go home
she came over to great grandma and grandpa Greene's
she came over just to see little mason
she played on the floor with him
they laughed and crawled and played hide and seek
she tickled him and talked to him
and he ate it up
he loved every second of the attention
i see them having a lot of fun together in the future
then after a long day of food, laughter, smiles, and lots of talking
we finally made our way home
home to bed,
well mason and daddy went to bed
momma and grandma Lisa went shopping
yep, we were out from 10 pm to 5 am
we tried to snag us some great Christmas deals
it was exhausting.
but we had a great thanksgiving weekend
there were lots of surprises (more on that another time)
there was lots of food
and there was a whole lot to be thankful for this thanksgiving
like all the holidays we have had this year
all of which are masons first
i find myself lost in thought
thoughts of last year
last year before mason was here with us
i think of how different things are
and how much has changed
and thinking of the changes makes me look ahead
i find myself thinking about next year
and all the changes that life has in store for us.
I wonder what our thanksgiving will be like next year
it's hard to imagine my baby boy growing up
i can really only picture him the way he is now
but i know next year i will be looking back wondering where the time went.
and marveling at how much he has grown and how different things are after just one year!
We are really looking forward to masons first Christmas
followed soon after by his first birthday
but i am trying not to get ahead of myself
I'm maybe even dragging my heels a little
in hopes of holding on a little longer
slowing down time just a little
I'm trying to enjoy this moment
this Christmas season
this special time with my little boy and my wonderful husband!
life is wonderful right now, I'm truly at a happy place
and even though there are always improvements that can be made
i am blissfully in love with my darling son and my amazing husband!
God has truly blessed us and we are so thankful!