Mason-Man

Candles

So this is just a short clip of what Olivia did for about
15 minutes in Bath and Body Works :)

Those candles sure do smell good!

VT Hokies

Watching the some hokie football at a sports bar...

...and wishin we were with Uncle Kevin and Aunt Erin who were AT the game!

Check - Lights Outside Up

It's always a great feeling every year, when this is done.

Thank you Timmy!

A Tree, Trains, some Cards, and a Nutcracker

As we are taking down the decorations Olivia is checking out past Christmas cards.

And then there is the Christmas "tree".  Most trees Olivia has seen before have been outside.  So it was definitely an experience taking a tree out of a box :)

Oh, hello Nutcracker.

Lastly the trains.
Who is more excited, Olivia or Daddy?

Sweet Children.

They both looooove the train!

Thanksgiving

We celebrated Thanksgiving with our good friends The Outtens (who also had some family in town). It was a delicious meal and fun times just hanging out.

Hope everyone had a WONDERFUL day :)

Preparation

Today Olivia helped us prepare some food for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow.

This was her favorite part of "helping" :)

Our Shopper

...who wears cute shoes :)

A simple Wii Commercial...

...has me really wanting to buy THIS

At The Car Wash

First you have to pull the car out of the garage.

Then you have to get your bucket full of soap and water.

And sometimes the soap sticks on your hands.

Get your rag and put it in the bucket.

Wash the car.

It takes a lot of work, but thankfully Daddy was there to help.

Ho Ho Ho

WOW...Santa is REALLY excited about Christmas morning!!! We actually had to restrain ourselves from allowing a pre-Christmas "testing" of the train system :)

Foto Friday

sooo...you might be thinking to yourself, "Olivia is a little close to Mason". And you might be thinking that "Wow, Andrea really captured this moment".

However, it wasn't really a "moment". Frequently, this is how Olivia lays near her brother. She lays OVER him and stays there.
 She kisses him and touches him and talks to him.

gentle Olivia...gentle...


Hi Friends...if you are playing FOTO FRIDAY with us, would you mind linking on Erin's blog??  Then we can all see each other's Fotos :)

Then & Now

November 12, 2010 (almost 3 months)

March 12, 2009 (almost 3 months)

(Believe it or not, I didn't plan to take Mason's picture just like Olivia's. However, after I took it I went back to find Olivia in her cute overalls and they are almost the exact same age. Impressive Andrea.  Also, must point out that Aunt Erin provided both sets of overalls.  Stylish Aunt Erin!!)

Busy Days

I know we won't always be this busy.

Our children NEED us now more than they will probably ever will again (I think??). We have two children in diapers, Mason is nursing every three hours, Olivia still wants a lot attention and is trying to push a lot of boundaries.

But, we are also seeing how "grown up" Olivia is starting to become, and doesn't need us to do everything for her (she can sit up on her own, drink her own water/milk, burp, walk, etc)...and she is only learning more and more!!! We know that Mason will reach those same milestones, it will just take some time.

And since our children are consuming so much of our time, some other things have changed in our house -- for example:

-the clothes stay in the washer a really long time. sometimes so long that the clothes have to be rewashed because now they smell mildewy

-and speaking of clothes - I don't fold anything. the laundry room is one big closet now...for our whole family

-there is a HUGE laundry basket just filled with socks. Any one want to come over and match???

-on this same note - sometimes (more frequently than I care to admit) Olivia and Mason sleep in the clothes they played in all day. This means two things: 1) they didn't take baths 2) we eliminated some laundry because we either didn't get out of our PJs or we are sleeping in our play clothes.

-yup, baths don't happen every night (gasp)

-we eat horribly and a lot more fast food

-Jerry has to remind us to feed him and give him water

-the dishes in the dishwasher don't get unloaded and put back in the cabinets...but rather we get the clean dishes out of the dishwasher and immediately use them

-clothes, towels, and sheets are a little more dirty before they get washed

-i open the cabinets/drawers in our master bath and hang my clean clothes on them, versus the dirty clothes which get thrown on the floor
-we use A LOT of paper plates

-emails, RSVPs, birthdays, phone calls are forgotten :(

-if I want to shower - I get up before everyone else.

-if I want to clean - I wait till everyone goes to bed or is napping

-I keep nothing alive but humans and Jerry -- plants just aren't happening right now. Yes, mom and Tom, I killed the mums :(

-i've forgotten what it's like to "read" just to "read"

-blog posts (like this one) have been written over days

-all organizing projects are put on hold

-all special projects are put on hold

-all craft projects are put on hold

-all home improvement projects are put on hold

I am looking forward to reading a book again... But, I have plenty of years in the future to do that. For now, I'll take my cuddling and nursing and play time and treasure it.

3 Months

Happy 3 Months!!!!

Mason's Newest Tidbits :)

*wearing 6 MONTH CLOTHES!

*weight: 13 pounds 15.5 ounces

*no longer swaddled!! (as of two days ago)

*occasionally uses a pacifier

*wants to eat every three hours (there have been a couple of times where he goes longer at night, but not with any frequency)

*will take a bottle

*started using the activity center and bumbo

*eyes are still blue

*likes to suck on his hand, usually the left hand

*naps in his crib but sleeps at night in the pack-n-play in our room

*doesn't like to hold toys in his hands

*becoming more vocal

*spits-up :-/

*still having bowel movement issues

Wake Up

This little boy has the sweetest wake ups :)
It's probably one of my favorite moments everyday.

His Son

Almost 2!

Did you know, in one month, this little girl will be 2??

Foto Friday

Where's Your Favorite Seat in the House?

My good friend Joy wants to play Foto Friday too, but doesn't have a blog.

Her sweet daughter Layla!

Dual Bath Times

Olivia and Mason took their first bath together.

(And if you are wondering if Mason looks HUGE, he is!!!
We attempted to weigh him using our scale and got 15 pounds.)

Mason looked rather cute after his bath, but I didn't have anyone else to take his picture. So this is the best we got.

Air

This post is a little delayed. We went to Bouncin' Bears on Halloween morning and Olivia learned how to jump-sit-bounce. And she was LOVING it and getting some great air!

To me, this photo was the most impressive :)

Blue Chalk

Have you had yours today?

haha ... a routine??

Well, when it was just Olivia, how lovely that we had a "routine".

In my "perfect" world we would still have a flexible routine and it would look something like this (and we do strive for this, but we are rarely successful).

8:00am - everyone wakes and eats breakfast

9:00 - Mason naps

11:00 - Mason eats again

11:30-12:00 - lunch

12:30 - Naps for Mason and Olivia

12:45 - Mommy cleans house

2:30 - Everyone wakes up

3:00 - Mason nurses and Olivia has a snack

4:30 - Mason naps

6:00 - Mason nurses

6:30 - Daddy gets home and family eats dinner

7:30 - baths

8:00 - books, brush teeth, bed for Olivia and then feed Mason and put to bed

**In my "perfect" routine I would have Mason sleeping through the night.

HOWEVER, unfortunately, I haven't been able to establish any sort of schedule yet. I'm hopeful that it will happen.

For now, we are feeding at 11pm, 2am, 5am and starting our day over again at 8am. Olivia and Mason usually go down for their naps around the same time around 12-12:30ish. Mason will wake up 40 minutes into his nap and then I'll get him settled back down...in time for Olivia to wake up :) Fun Times. And I consider myself lucky if Mason takes his other naps for any length of time. Phew...I know that it won't always be this crazy or busy.

And, when I have moments where I can throw all plans out the door and just cuddle my babies, I jump at it.

A Sunday Smile

Her Brother

These pictures were just taken over the past three days. Olivia LOOOOVES her brother. She asks to hold him, dance with him, sit near him, help him, look at him, etc.
I'm treasuring these moments :)

Foto Friday

Yikes ... why can't I just do Foto Friday on Friday?!?!

So this picture describes my Friday.

Reasons for this face?

a.) Mason has been so-so...not sleeping, fussy, bla

b.) We were out at dinner and saw a roommate's ex boyfriend. D.R.A.M.A.

c.) HUGE fire in Mike/Chris' neighborhood. Everyone is okay, but house is not :(

d.) Olivia fell out of bed

Then & Now

Both pictures were taken when babies were 2 months old :)

ELMO!

He is definitely NOT as cool super-sized in person as he is on Sesame Street.

I'm Fine!

Followed up with the Dr today and he thinks Mason is doing well :)

And to show everyone, sweet video clip.

Face Floss

Good thing the silk is on all four sides!