My baby is ONE!!

Dear my sweet little mason,
I cannot even believe my eyes, you are One year old already! The last year has literally flown by for us and it has been the happiest most joyful and exciting time that your daddy and I have ever experienced. To say that having you gives our lives meaning and purpose is such an understatement. You are what drives us and motivates us each and every day to work hard, have fun, smile, love, laugh, and be a true family. We were not really a family until you came into our lives, we were just a loving couple waiting on our family to be complete! And now we are a family in every sense of the word! When I found out that God was going to bless us with you, I prayed every night for a happy, healthy, loving, funny, handsome, smart and sweet baby! And that is exactly what God gave me when he gave me you! You are the sweetest most loving person and your hugs and kisses fill my heart with a love I could never have imagined. You are happy, so very happy! You smile all the time, the sweetest, cutest, most silly little smile and it lights up the room and everyone around you, it is so contagious! You are friendly as can be and so funny! You are our "little ham" our "social butterfly" and you do not meet a stranger anywhere! Everywhere we go you smile and wave and say "hey", "hi" or "hello" to each and every person, you have a way of making people feel so special and you can command attention and a smile from every person we pass! People are always remarking on your friendly and charismatic personality! You are so very smart! You play with so many other kids and babies which is amazing for your age, you know so many words and phrases! The list includes: hello, hi, hey, bye, thank you, there you go, mama, dada, ling-ling, nana, mady, juice, bottle, go, dipe, etc
You understand so many things that we say to you and you follow our directions so well! You are attentive and listen and watch everything that goes on. You give kisses and say "Muah", you wave hello and bye, you pretend to talk on our phones and anything that resembles a phone, you are a confident walker and runner and have been for many months now. If we ask you what the chicken says you say "bahk, bahk", what the cow says you say "moo". You know where eyes, ears, nose and mouths are. You know where your feet are and what your socks and shoes are. You will give high fives, and point to things and call them by name. You love to play with other kids. You love to go outside! You love to sing and dance to music and love to watch musical shows on TV like "jacks big music show", "the fresh beat band" and "yo gabba gabba" you also enjoy other shows like "toot and puddle" and "olivia" and "sesame street". You still love cars and anything with wheels! You eat table foods and enjoy many of the foods that daddy and I eat for dinner. You love banana, blueberry waffles, and cheerios. You are drinking Cow's milk out of a sippy cup 4 times a day and eating 3 meals a day. You are very independent but still love to come and sit on my lap! You nap once or twice a day and go to bed around 8:00 or 8:30. You are not a morning person like momma! You are learning so many new things and saying new words every single day! You had your one year well visit and weighed 18 lbs and measured inches long. One of the most exciting changes this past year has been finding out that we are going to have another baby. You are going to be a big brother soon and I know you are going to teach your little sister so many things and love her so very much! You are such a sweet, kind, and loving person, so i know that your little sister will be well taken care of with you as her big brother. You are such a joy in our lives that I know having your baby sister will bring us just as much joy and love as you give us! I'm looking forward to having our family complete and I hope that you know how much we love you and how important you are to us! You are my world, you are so energetic and on the move all day! We spend all day playing, watching shows, dancing, and talking. You love to play with ling-ling and call her by name. You enjoy playing with your toys, mostly cars and musical toys, but you love to be played with, talked to, chased, play peak a boo or "where's mason". You love to listen to your daddy play the guitar and help him strum it. You sing along with your toys and hum the rhythms of the songs they play, you know the music by heart. If there is music playing you are bouncing up and down and moving your head to the beat. You like to pat the table, floor, or someones leg when you hear a rhythm and you are usually right on the beat! I do believe you have a gift for music and I cant wait to see where it takes you as you grow older! You are changing so much every single day, you are taller, you have lots of gorgeous hair that curls up in the back, especially when its wet, your personality has developed so much and you are so interactive and smart! I love your sweet cuddles that you always save for me even though you are a busy boy, and you light up when your daddy comes home and always make us both feel so special. You love to listen to other people and laugh at things they laugh at and smile and talk to them. You have such a bright and bubbly personality and it is contagious! People cant resist being happy when they are around you! I cant believe how quickly you have grown before my eyes, it makes me sad to think time has slipped by so quickly, but every moment of watching you grow and learn and change has given me so much happiness and has been so much fun! I am so glad that i have been there for every moment of it and there are just not words to express how special you are to us! I love you more than life itself and i never new love or happiness like this until i had you! This past year has been such a blessing and I thank God everyday for giving you to us to love and to have your love, and i pray for many more years filled with the same happiness, love, and joy that we have experienced this past year! You have taught me to love in a way that I never thought that i could and you showed me what it truly was to be a mother and to have a family! You are truly the light of my life and I am so proud of you and Cant wait to see what God has in store for you! I hope you never forget what you mean to us and just how important you are to us!

A December to Remember!

This December was truly amazing! It was our first Holiday season with our sweet boy and it all started after our wonderful thanksgiving when we put up our Christmas tree. I must admit I was a little hesitant about putting up our tree with our glass ornaments on our tile floor with a newly walking 11 month old, but i was so surprised by how great Mason was with the tree. We put out all our decorations while he was sleeping and the next morning when he woke up, i carried him into the living room and he was awe struck by the lighted Christmas tree. I was smart enough to put the less breakable ornaments on the bottom but Mason was so gentle with the tree. All month he has loved the tree, he waves at it, he sits next to it and stares, he touches the branches gently, he lightly touches the ornaments with his finger tips. He even tries his best to say the word tree, he says "eee". If you ask him where the tree is, he will walk over to it. I hate that we are going to have to pack it up, I'm afraid it will be disappointing to him. The one thing that we unfortunately cannot pack away and clear out of our living room is all the toys mason got for Christmas. On Christmas eve we went Landon's parents house in the afternoon and exchanged our gifts with them. Mason got a light up drum, two books, a megablocks boat, a music cube, and a toy tractor. Later we all headed to Landon's grandmother Hinson's house where Mason enjoyed playing with all of his cousins and we were excited to announce our family news. Mason enjoyed his new toy truck, race car, turtle toy, and new outfit. He loved being around all of the other kids and was so excited at everything that was going on. After a great night of wonderful family, food, and fun, we went home and put Mason to bed on his very first Christmas Eve! The next morning we woke up, Mason enjoyed his bottle on his bean bag and Landon and I enjoyed a cup of coffee. My mom came down the hill to our house and we opened our Christmas gifts. Mason had little interest in opening his gifts on his own, so Ling-Ling jumped right in and helped tear in to his gifts. He got a push cart, a monster puzzle, a pair of pj's, a tractor ride toy, some bath boats, train cars, stacking cups, and a play tent. Landon surprised me with a new ipod and a few weeks earlier i surprised him with a new salt water fish (a lunar wrasse) for our aquarium. After a few hours of playing, eating breakfast, and cooking our dishes for lunch at my moms, we got ready and went to my moms house for Christmas with my family. My brother and his wife and two girls came over and we had a delicious lunch and then opened gifts. Mason got an alligator piano, an Eeyore stuffed animal, a Monica the moo cow lawn mower, some clothes, and some cute little stocking stuffers. He got an adorable pair of toy story pj's from his cousins. Later that day we went to Landon's Grandparents on his dads side, the Greenes. They had music and food at the fellowship hall near their house and when we got there Landon jumped right in with his guitar and played hours of bluegrass while Mason and i visited, played, open presents, ate yummy food, danced to the music and played some more. Mason had such a big time walking around and being the center of attention, waving and smiling and being so adorably cute!! He loved the music so much and would wave at his daddy and walk over to his daddy while he was playing, he would try to touch his daddy's guitar and at one point even turned his papaws bass guitar off while he was playing. He loved bopping and dancing to the music and when the music would change to a fast paced song Mason would just about burst with excitement, clapping his hands and waving his arms around in excitement. He had a great time seeing everyone, being some place new and opening his gifts. He got so many neat toys like a set of weebles with a merry-g0-round, a sing-a-ma-jig doll, a jack in the box, a drum pad, a pillow pet puppy, a shape sorter toy, and a clock toy. He had such a great time playing with all of his new toys and was entertained for hours with them. He also loved playing with his cousin Carson who was there, and they had a lot of fun together. We also got to share our exciting announcement with Landon's family as well (more on the exciting news in an upcoming post). It was a long two days of Christmas celebrations but we enjoyed every minute of it!! And I'm really looking forward to next Christmas when Mason will hopefully get the hang of opening his own gifts!! Now we just have a couple of weeks till mason's first birthday!! I can't even believe he will be turning ONE! This year has flown by in a flash, and has been the happiest and most exciting and joyful year of my life!!

Mason's 11 month update a little late!

I'm a little behind on mason's 11 month update but there are just so many new things happening in our lives. In the last month Mason has become a confident well balanced walker! He walks EVERYWHERE all the time now and rarely crawls. He got his first pair of real walking shoes this month from stride rite, they are so adorable and stay on his feet well. He has also learned to stand up on his own without pulling up on anything. He is speaking some new words, the newest is "ahh-ohh" he says it everytime he drops something on the floor. Here is his current list: mama, daddy (no longer Dada), nah-nah (my mom), hey, bye, hi, eee (tree), baba, Go, and something that sounds like no-no but he says it more like (neh-neh). He waves all the time now and especially if someone says hello or bye-bye he waves. He shakes his little head side to side like he's saying no but he doesn't actually mean no, he just thinks it's cute. If you ask mason where his tongue is he will stick it out at you and if you ask where his paci goes he will stick his tongue out. He also likes to scrunch his nose up and snort at you, it looks so mean but he knows it is funny and loves to do it for attention. He loves music and likes to dance and bounce up and down when he hears any kind of rhythm. He also loves to try to sing a long with songs and will humm and make little noises that mimic the sounds. Mason has two new teeth coming in on the top next to his two front teeth. He really understands so many words and things that we say and do. If you ask him where the fish are he will look at the fish tank then walk over to it and wave at the fish. If you ask him where the Christmas tree is or where ling ling is, he will look at it or walk to it. He is eating so many new table foods, lately he loves his organic cereal/nutrigrain bars and cheerios with a fruit puree for breakfast, he has 4 bottles a day with 6 oz formula and an ounce or two of regular organic whole milk to transition him from soy, for dinner he has two vegetables and some of our dinner. He also has cereal for snacks during the day and eats a lot of things that we eat now too! He is drinking out of sippy cups with no problem other than he is a little messy with them compared to bottles, so we are still giving him his milk in bottles sometimes too. His favorite toys are still any type of cars or trucks, he loves pushing them around the house and he loves the wheels. He naps once in the morning and once in the afternoon on days that we are home. He likes to have his paci for his naps and he likes to have his glow seahorse on and his light up elephant on while he naps. we have to run two fans during nap time and bedtime because he is still a very light sleeper. He goes to bed around 8:30 and wakes around 8 am if nothing wakes him up earlier, occasionally he will sleep till 9 or 9:30 am. He is still wearing 9 month pants in the waist but needs 12 month length. My best guess is he weighs about 20 lbs. He is quickly outgrowing his rear facing car seat because his legs are so long. He loves to watch "Olivia", "toot and puddle", "the fresh beat band", and "Mrs. spiders sunny patch". Mason loves to play in the mirror, he likes to explore the house and he now will walk to his room, open the gate, and go into his room and play, then open the gate and come back out. He is such a happy little guy and everywhere we go people remark how happy he is, and they are so right. Mason is so very friendly to everyone he meets, he smiles and waves at people in stores and places we go, he makes everyone feel so special and when they talk to him he just lights up and gets so excited he kicks his legs and waves his little arms in the air in excitement. He is so delightful to be around and has such a great personality.