Blessings...

On this Saturday morning, the first official day of Christmas break, Mason is helping me make sweets in the kitchen, Matthew is reading on the couch with Ellie sitting on his lap, and Chris Tomlin's Glory In The Highest is playing in the background.  All of the sudden I find myself stopping to look around at all the blessings I have.  Thank you God for this life you have given me!

Happy 5th Birthday, Mason!...

My precious Mason…My firstborn…It doesn’t seem like you could possibly be five years old already. I remember the details of the day you were born like it happened only a moment ago. I remember going to church that Sunday morning and Pastor Gary preached a special Christmas message. I thought about you the whole time knowing that the upcoming holiday would be very different that year. I remember after church Daddy and I went out to eat fajitas at one of our favorite restaurants. We wanted to share one last date together before you arrived. I remember doing yard work that afternoon with Daddy. We suspected you would be born sometime that week, and we wanted to get some last minute chores done around the house. I remember feeling a little surprised when, only thirty minutes later, my water broke as I was sweeping the driveway. I remember heading to the hospital a couple of hours later, feeling completely uncertain of the process that would lie ahead. I remember laying in the hospital bed for the first five hours just waiting for something further to happen…no contractions…no pain. Then just after midnight came the contractions…and then the pain. The labor was long and intense. My plan was to complete the course of your birth medicine-free, and experience the whole process as naturally as I could. I remember Daddy and I didn’t sleep the whole night, because every two minutes there were painful reminders of your impending arrival. Daddy sat beside me and held my hand until the early hours of the morning. I don’t recall him once leaving my side. Granna and Poppa arrived at midnight and slept in the waiting room that night. Mimi and Pop came very early the next morning, hopeful that you might have already been born. We would all have a longer wait than we anticipated. I remember as my labor advanced into the next day, the doctor became concerned that things weren’t progressing like they should have been. I remember hearing the murmurs of a possible c-section, which worried me greatly, but I was determined, and I convinced myself that you would be born naturally if I just had more time. The doctor gave me until late that afternoon to show more signs of progress, but progress never came. I remember in the hours before your birth, your oxygen levels and heart rate began to drop, you were showing signs of stress, and I started to run a fever. It was then that we made the decision to proceed with the surgery. Exactly 24 hours after labor began, you finally came into this world…at last! At that point, nothing mattered except that you were here…healthy and strong…my nine-pound Mason! I remember you looked more like a six-week old than a newborn, as the nurse whisked you by. It would be two hours later before I would have my chance to hold you for the first time. How can it be that five years have passed? Even now, you still love for me to hold you, to sit in my lap and cuddle…these are precious moments for me. My charming Mason, my life has never been the same since the day you came into it. Some of the sweetest memories of my life occurred on that day. Spending the past five years at home with you has been a priceless gift…my greatest joy! If I could, I would go back and re-live it all over again…every moment with you. Happy fifth Birthday! I pray God’s greatest blessings on your life. Always know that I am so proud of the boy that you have become… I am so proud to call you my son.

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Thanksgiving Thievery...

For all practical purposes, this was Ellie's first Thanksgiving.  (Last year she was only 1 month old so she slept through most of the festivities).  But this year she got to enjoy visiting family, playing games, and pies...oh the pies.  Now, I've never been much of a pie person myself, and I didn't give it much thought when I saw her making the loop through the kitchen of my parents' house nibbling on something small and crunchy from her hand.  It appeared to be pie crust, and there were lots of cooks in the kitchen, so I just figured someone had given her a taste.  But after observing her make the third loop out of the kitchen with bits of pie crust in her little hand, I decided to investigate further.  As she quietly made her next venture into the kitchen, I followed her.  Everyone was so busy getting Thanksgiving dinner ready, no one even noticed that a sneaky little girl had figured out a way to stand on her tippy toes to reach the multitude of desserts that sat on the table above her:  

To all of the pecan pie lovers in my family--my apologies.  Because unfortunately, one-third of you did not get to enjoy the delicious crust on your Thanksgiving dessert.

Mason's Manger...

The Christmas spirit is alive in our house!  Mason wanted to decorate his room this year for Christmas, complete with mini Christmas tree and nativity scene.  Today I set up his nativity set on his dresser next to the little tree he decorated.  Later, when I returned to his room I found that he had turned all the nativity characters around where we could only see their backs.  When I asked him why he turned all the people backward, he said, "Momma, all the shepherds and wise men want to look at baby Jesus."  Come to think of it, I think he has the right idea--it's certainly not the way we usually see manger scenes set up, but perhaps the way we should:

"Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?  For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him."

Matthew 2:2

There's Nothing Like...

A little girl and her daddy watching a football game together:

Take 2...

Matthew and I decided to update our family picture, since the last time we did it was when Ellie had just been born.  So last week we gave it a shot.  But Ellie, who has always been a great picture taker, suddenly became very upset at the photographer's flash and that faint popping noise that it makes.  And when I say "upset", I mean clinging to me, screaming, with her face buried in my shoulder, gripping me with her arms and legs as if her life depended on it.  So after taking some less-than-ideal shots with a crying baby and a little boy who has decided his new "photo face" is a not-so-natural grin with his teeth clinched together as if he was in pain, we decided to try it again a week later. 

(Mason's new mug...not sure where this grimace came from, but it has now become his new "cheese".)

Well, today was the day...the re-takes, if you will.  As soon as we assumed our picture-taking positions, Ellie immediately began a repeat of last week...but even more so.  After the end results, last weeks pictures didn't look so bad after all.  Here are a few:

We tried to give Ellie a break for awhile and just take some shots with Mason.  We got some good ones...sans the "cheese" face, but couldn't find a way to photo-shop "happy" Ellie into them  :)

This face pretty much shows Ellie's sentiment toward the photographer the entire time.  Obviously the break didn't help much.  Can you even see her in the second photo?  Look closely...she's hiding on Matthew's shoulder:

Then when we realized that Ellie was NOT going to come off the shoulder without a fight, we tried to put both kids on our shoulders to make it appear as though it was supposed to be that way.  But Ellie refused to even look in the general direction of the photographer, and Mason  looked like he was cramped and a little unsure of this strange pose:

So in the end, we decided on the picture up top, in the blog header.  So what if Mason is in his own little world staring off into space, and who cares that Ellie has red eyes and a snotty nose from her hysterics.  Hey...it will definitely be a family portrait to remember!

Leaves...

Mason's favorite thing about fall, aside from getting to wear his long-sleeved shirts and "long-sleeved pants" as he calls them, is raking and playing in the leaves. We are fortunate enough to have a great oak tree in the front yard that is so beautiful during the spring and summer, and provides lots of good leaves to rake in the fall.

Uh Oh...

My daughter has a strange fascination with the potty...something Mason never did. I have to constantly keep the bathroom doors closed because she will make her way to the forbidden 'porcelain playground' any chance she can get. Things had been going well and we had been potty-incident-free for several weeks...until yesterday. I thought the bathroom door was closed until I heard the lid fall and Ellie began to fuss. I went in to find her hand stuck between the seat and the lid. As I raised the lid to set her free, she looked up at me and said "Uh oh." I realized she was trying to tell me something. I looked down only to find this little treasure in the potty:


Her newest enjoyment is to throw things into the potty (or into the trash, on the floor, etc.) and then say "Uh oh" as if it were accidental. The day after potty incident #1, I found her in the middle of potty incident #2, where she had taken an old diaper out of the trash can and threw it into the toilet. I walked into the situation in progress and said, "What in the world are you doing?!" Her guilty response..."Uh oh."

Happy First Birthday, Ellie...

My sweet and spunky Ellie--today marks one year since you came into our family. I’ve been flooded with a mix of emotions all day long. In some ways, I feel a little sad at the thought of how quickly you’ve come to this point. It only seems like a moment ago that I held you for the first time, and now you are running around chasing Mason, and looking more like a big girl every day. However, you are not big at all…such a tiny little thing and a far cry from the nearly 8 ½ pound, plump baby I saw for the first time one year ago. After 12 months, you have barely doubled your birth weight as you’ve now reached 17 pounds. My precious girl, I love spending my days with you. You constantly entertain us with your lively personality. You continually wear a smile on your beautiful face, showing off those 4 ½ teeth to anyone who will look in your direction. I love to watch you explore, as everything in your life is a new discovery. You are so full of activity, forever on the move, curious about anything you can get your hands on, dancing whenever you hear music, never sitting still for more than a moment. But you love to be held. Oh how you love to cuddle! You’d be content to ride around on my hip all day long…especially if I was on the move too! You love to be loud! Nothing makes you more excited than to drop pots and pans on the floor, over and over again, just to hear the crash. You love to squeal loudly too, and often, just for the sheer enjoyment of hearing your own voice. You’ve been saying Mama, Da Da, Buh Buh (for Mason), and Bye Bye for awhile now. But recently you’ve also begun saying “aye doe” (for ‘hello’ when you pretend to talk on the phone), and “aw duh” (for ‘all done’ when you’re finished eating). You also sign “all done” and “more”, usually during mealtimes. My sweet daughter, I am so proud that you are mine, and I’m excited to see the amazing little girl that you are growing up to be. I can’t wait to see what God has in store for your precious life. Happy birthday, Ellie! We love you more than words can say. We are so thankful and blessed to have you here in our family, as we celebrate you on your special day and remember the day we first met you one year ago. My happy happy day…the day that you were born!

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Ellie Vs. The Photographer...

Ellie had her 12 month pictures taken yesterday. She did great at first, until the photographer mistook her for someone who looked like she wanted to pose with props. Ellie has never been one to sit cooperatively while trying to get her to hold random objects or turn her hand a certain way. She's more of a "snap the shot fast so we can get on with it" kind of girl. He tried repeatedly to situate her sitting next to an artificial rock while holding a fake flower. He apparently didn't get the hint when she threw the flower the first 4 times and tried to run away. This was the result of his feeble attempts:

Yes, That's The Book For Me...

Today Mason and Bryson (one of the boys I babysit) were out in the playroom, and I had left the door open so I could hear them. Shortly thereafter I overheard Bryson saying, "In the beginning God created heaven and earth!" This is not something I typically hear them saying, so I peeked my head out to see what they were doing. Mason looked up at me and said, "Look, Momma, we're having Bible study!"

Life As A Superhero...

Two little superheroes showed up at my house today.

(Mason and Bryson--a.k.a Spiderman & Dash)

Life as a superhero can be tough. Sometimes superheroes have to fight for the good of mankind:


Sometimes in a dual, superheroes can have terrible injuries that weaken them and cause them to need bandages and crutches...or are they starring in a Broadway show? I can't really tell:


Occasionally, during their time off from crime-fighting, superheroes like to put on concerts for mere mortals like us. (Don't quit your day job, superheroes):


But at the end of a long day, even superheroes need a little rest:

Learning To Tie...

I've always bought velcro shoes for Mason. Maybe I'm just lazy...maybe I just don't like the thought of shoelaces that constantly come undone. But I decided it was time for Mason to learn to tie. And I thought that Matthew would be the perfect teacher--so I purposely waited until he got home to get out the new pair of laced shoes. :) Let me tell you, it was a sight to behold! For any of you who know Matthew well, or Mason for that matter--it was like watching stubborn and stubborner. (Now I do know that stubborner is not really a word, but bear with me.) Every time Matthew started to explain a step in the process, Mason would jump in and interrupt, saying that he already knew what to do next, and proceeded to tie himself in knots--literally!

This went on for some time, but fortunately after a slightly frustrating lesson, and a little whining and pouting (by Mason...not Matthew), Mason did finally relent. And he is now the newest "lacer" in our family.

My Monkeys...

Matthew took this picture of Ellie last night while we were playing. After looking at it, something about it looked very familiar. Then I remembered that I had taken a similar picture with Mason when he was about the same age. He was actually just over a year...she is just under a year.

Friday Night Fun...

This evening I was trying to find something fun to do with the kids. I started to take them to Matthew's football game, but since it's chilly and wet outside, we decided to stay in. I thought about taking them to Chick-fil-A to play on the indoor playground, but Mason wanted to stay home. So I finally gave up and just asked Mason what he wanted to do. Without hesitation he said he wanted to have a picnic on the living room floor. So we picked up some food from McDonald's, and then we rented a Diego movie to watch while we ate. As soon as we got home Mason quickly laid out his blanket on the floor, set out all the food for us, and started the movie. But the best part was when Mason prayed, "Thank you God for this wonderful food from McDonalds." (Wonderful might not be the word I'd use to describe Micky D's, but nontheless, it was cute). Here is a picture of the kids enjoying our living room picnic...and Diego!

This face...

Ellie is such a ham! Lately she's been making a silly face where she throws her head back, and smiles this really cheesy grin. To make it even funnier, she usually accompanies it with some sort of growling or snorting sound. If she does it while she's running around, she usually throws her head back so far that it causes her to lose her balance and fall over. I love this face...seeing it everyday is one of the most fun things about being a momma!

"This is the day which the LORD has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24

Sister Lovin'...

I feel very blessed that Mason and Ellie, despite their nearly 4 year age difference, are very close and love playing together. In fact, because he is much older, he takes great pride in protecting her and helping her with things. But don't get me wrong--big brother shows her no "baby mercy". He often plays with her like she's a fellow 4 year old boy, and surprisingly she is so very tolerant of his roughhousing...how could she not be...it's all she's known since the day she entered into our family! Lately, Mason loves to call her into his room, and then jump out and scare her when she arrives. Then he'll run into another room, she'll follow him, and he'll repeat the scares. Don't ask me why, but she finds this game most entertaining, and he gets her laughing so hard that she can barely stand up straight. There is no sweeter sound than hearing them giggle and squeal as they play together!

In Our House...

Yardwork is a family affair!

The Incident...

Something happened in our house today--something so gross that I can only refer to it as the incident. First, let me preface this story by saying that Ellie has recently taken a liking to our potties. If left unattended, even momentarily, I will find her in her bathroom "loving on" the potty. Of course, I promptly shoo her away, but not without first fussing at her in my most grossed-out voice, which she in turn finds hilarious (and of course follow that up with the washing of her hands.) Once all that is taken care of, she will then head straight for the other bathroom as quickly as her little legs can get her there. Luckily, since I'm on to her at this point, I can catch her before she makes it to her alternate potty destination. To make sure that she doesn't get into any additional toilet mischief, I've been keeping the toilet lids down, and the bathroom doors closed. That being said, today Ellie saw her chance to make her escape into the bathroom when she noticed that Mason went in to take care of some 'business'. While washing his hands he left the door open and the potty lid up...and oh yeah, he also forgot to flush...you can see where this is going. A few moments later I heard my mischievous little Ellie in the bathroom with him, and ran in as fast as I could. But I was too late. I found her with one arm in the unflushed toilet water (number 1 only--thankfully). But then I noticed her chewing on something. She then spit out of her mouth what appeared to be a small piece of toilet paper. Not toilet paper from the roll, mind you, but toilet paper out of the toilet! And the reason she was reaching back in was to get more! I have no words to describe the utter horror that I felt. Even now, just thinking about it gives me the shivers. But Mason sure thought the whole ordeal was extremely comical and laughed about the incident for the rest of the day!

Oh, For A Thousand Nights To Sleep...

As any mom would say, I think my children are the greatest! They are both full of cuddles and spunk, perfect in every way...except for a small area called sleep, that is. As a baby, Mason was a terrible sleeper. It took a battery-powered swing (and a pack of batteries a week) to get him to nap at all. And forget about sleeping through the night! I turned to friends, pediatricians, and even literature for help. After reading, and failing at several infant-sleep books, I concluded that they were written for cookie-cutter babies...a mold in which my child didn't fit. For the remainder of Mason's first year, I opted for the 'grin and bear it' method of getting up to comfort him throughout the night. Until finally one night, two weeks before his first birthday, he slept through the night! It was nothing I did...he was just finally ready to do it! And he has been a fantastic sleeper ever since! ....Fast forward four years later: When I became pregnant with Ellie, friends and family assured me that this one would be a great sleeper. Because after all, no second child is the same as the first, right? This theory couldn't be more wrong, by the way. Ellie is much like her brother in so many ways, which I absolutely love, because everything I adore about Mason is multiplied in her--their personality, their willfulness, their spunkiness (they even rolled, crawled, and walked at the same time). But unfortunately she also mimics his distaste for sleeping through the night during infancy. At 10 months, I'm still getting up with Ellie about every 3 hours per night. But the one thing I wasn't going to do this time was read any of those sleep-help books...no sir, not me, not this time. But a few weeks ago, in a moment of crazed sleep deprivation, I caved. I read this particular book in less than two days! (What can I say...I was hopeful and ready to get started on my road to slumbering bliss!) I followed the techniques just as they were written, but once again, sleep did not improve. I even went as far as to email the author with my situation in hopes of some personal advice. I have yet to hear back from her. And I am not hopeful that I will. :) So again, I'm back to grinning and bearing it. But in reality, I know that it's all in the way I look at it. While these midnight meetings have been some of the most exhausting moments, they have also been some of the most precious moments of my baby girl's first year. Because as crazy as it might sound, just as it was when Mason was a baby, there is something that I cherish about holding my sweet baby close to me during the night--something really special about being together when the whole house is quiet and dark, and everyone else is asleep, and it's just the two of us--and finding joy in the fact that I get to be the one from whom she desires comfort. As I remind myself in my tiredness, these moments are fleeting. I'm confident that she too will become a great sleeper, in her own time. And in the meantime, I will enjoy every second of nighttime togetherness with her...as I simultaneously look forward to sleeping through the night again!!

(I always like to add pictures relating to my posts. However, since I couldn't find any of her sleeping, these are just random shots of her not sleeping.) :)

This Is What Happens...

This is what happens when I sit down for a moment to eat some cereal for breakfast. This is what happens when I hear my daughter begin to rummage through the pantry around the corner and I choose to let her be, because after all, she does this a lot, as she likes to play with the boxes that are sitting on the pantry floor. This is what happens when I allow the pantry goodies to occupy her for a couple of minutes so that I can enjoy my cereal. And this is what happens when I decide to check on her because things suddenly get eerily quiet...

Dump Truck Drivin'...

Now here's a game they both can enjoy...

Mason even gets a push from Ellie!

This game of hauling each other around in the dump truck entertained them both for a long time! Mason was so amazed that Ellie was "strong" enough to push him, that he couldn't stop laughing (I guess that's the magic of wheels!) Ellie likes to play this game solo as well. The down side--every time she hits a wall, she has a mini meltdown because she can't get the truck turned back around to go the other way!

The New 'Do...

I love my daughter's hair! It's so fluffy and light...and a bit unruly. But this morning when she awoke with bed head, the sight of her hair reminded me of a certain 80's band:

Does anyone else think she could be the front man for A Flock of Seagulls?

Goodbye 1972...

As many of you know, when we moved here, we bought an older home--built in 1972 to be exact. It was definitely a fixer-upper, as it was dirty and completely outdated in so many ways. During the first months of us living here we painted the entire interior of the house; replaced most of the flooring; replaced kitchen sink, stove, and countertops; replaced bathroom countertops, faucets, and toilets; painted interior doors and changed all doorknobs, as well as every drawer pull and cabinet handle in the house; added a french door, ceiling fans, and replaced every light fixture, and the list goes on....

A couple of years later, the one thing that had yet to be updated were the "gorgeous" (I say sarcastically) wooden arches that hung above the bathroom vanities...accompanied by the sounds of the melodious, humming fluorescent lights which adorned our bathrooms. I mean, these things just screamed 70's!!! I tried to decorate the bathroom and add pretty knick-knacks, hoping to drown out these huge wooden fixtures, but no matter what I did, these "beauties" just stood out like a sore thumb...an extremely sore, aching thumb. Since Matthew is so handy, and has done most of our home updates himself, I'd been harassing him to remove these dandy pieces of decor for quite a while now. But since the project would be such a huge endeavor, it was put off several times. But this past week, when I brought it up to Matthew again, he was on board! The next thing I know, he's up on a ladder with a hammer and crow bar ripping the 1972 out of the walls! (Did I mention how great it is to have a handy hubby!) I'm so impressed with his work and just had to show it off. And by the way, he completed this project in both bathrooms in less than 5 days!

Here is the lovely "before":


He ripped out the light, as well as the big block of wall that was attached to it!


Here is his finished project--Oh yes, and did I mention how great it is to have a handy husband?!