Christmas Oklahoma Style

We celebrated Christmas in Texas last Monday, and then went to Oklahoma later in the week. Mason and I are still here visiting my family and will go home in a few days. I already deleted the pictures from our Christmas with Jonathan's family off of my camera so I am writing about Oklahoma first. This Christmas with Mason was really fun! He consistently asked for a wolf puppet and football helmet from Santa, and he must have been a good boy because he got both. He also got just a few other things (insert sarcasm). We started to realize he got too many things when everyone else was finished opening presents and Mason still had a pile of like 6 more presents. This was after he had already gotten a lot of things from Jonathan's family! He is definitely not wanting for toys or clothing. Here are some pictures, and as usual I ended up with none of my parents. It was not intentional Mom and Dad. My vow is to get a picture of Mason and my parents before I leave Oklahoma! The infamous wolf puppet (still obsessed with The Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf)

Every time Mason tried to put his helmet on, it was backwards.

Jonathan liked the helmet as well.

Mason is a fix it man and inevitably loved his tool bench!

My mom found him the cutest Three Little Pigs toy.

Gabe and Julie bought Mason cowboy boots like Jonathan's, and Santa brought him Handy Manny underwear.

This is Mason with his frosty bear, known by Mason as his "frosty beer."

You could not pull Mason off of Julie and Gabe the entire time they were there.

Josh shared his bed with Mason, and Mason loved snuggling with him and watching Elmo. Josh even took him to the bathroom at 5:00 in the morning; I was impressed!

Little Imitator

Mason came to me the other day wanting me to paint his toe nails, just what every little boy should want. I obligingly got my clear fingernail polish out and painted them. This is not the first time that he has wanted me to do this, but this time when I was finished he said he needed to go put his flip flops on. I wonder where he got that from? I love this picture of his little legs.

What happens when you eat 3 green Christmas tree cookies?

You get green poop. Mason helped me make cookies for school with bright green icing. He had green icing from his head to his toes, but it was fun. He consumed three cookies, one that I gave him and two that he helped himself to without me knowing. The next day when he went to the bathroom it was very interesting to say the least. I'll just post a picture of the cookie and not the after effects. (this cookie is a few days old so it's a little smashed)

Sick Day

What does a 2 year old like to do when he is sick? Sit in a tent watching Elmo with his moose (Mr. Moose) and his monkey (Bam Bam). Mason just got over a cold and a runny nose about a week and a half ago which lasted forever. It couldn't stay gone too long though. He started coughing last night and woke up today with a fever. If there is anything good that can come out of being sick, it is staying home and cuddling all day. That is one of the only times Mason will actually cuddle. On a side note, Mason got his moose and monkey at Build a Bear on two different occasions. He absolutely loves them both! He carries them around kissing them and saying "Mr. Moose loves me," and "I love Bam Bam, he is my friend." Too sweet. He's also started sporadically telling Jonathan and me that he loves us and that we are his friends. I love it!

When you ask Mason to make a silly face, this is what he does.

Visit With Santa

Mason went to visit Santa today at the mall. While we were waiting in line some kid was sitting on Santa's lap screaming for several minutes. Mason was sitting there watching, and I was sitting there thinking, "Oh great, please don't get any ideas!" Thankfully he didn't. He anxiously ran to him, sat on his lap, and smiled for the camera. After the picture he told Santa exactly what he wanted--a wolf puppet and a football helmet. That won't be a problem, however the pink princess cup that he decided he wanted at the Disney Store may not work out. I tried to tell Jonathan that Mason is drawn to pink because he owns nothing that is pink. Unfortunately I don't think that is going to change right now. We got the Little Einstein cup instead. I thought it was a pretty good picture, but I'm not too crazy about Santa's bouffant hairstyle.

Christmas Party And Guitar Practice

Jonathan and I got to go to Baylor's Housestaff Christmas Party last night.

It was downtown in the Empire Room, and they had dinner and dancing. Only like 6 people danced, though, and we were definitely not one of them! It was a fun time to dress up and have a nice dinner. Jonathan's parents watched Mason, and I think he had an equally good time.

All of the Pathology residents that were there.

View of downtown Dallas looking out the windows.

On another note, Jonathan has had his electric guitars out this week practicing some Jazz Christmas arrangements. He's been enjoying the challenge of learning a new style of music and even informed me that he may want to buy a jazz guitar someday--one more to add to our collection. It's been kind of fun because Mason can actually hold his electric guitars unlike his classical one. He thinks it's fun to strum them and play like Daddy. He looked up at Jonathan this morning while he was playing Rudolph and said, "That is good playing, Daddy!" Everyone needs a number one fan!

Dry Hands Treatment

I guess Mason thought his hands needed a little pampering the other day. He walked into the bedroom with his hands stuck in the tub of lotion (the thickest lotion imaginable). All I could do was laugh, but it was not fun trying to clean it all off. He did succeed in moisturizing his hands, though.

Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving Day with Jonathan's family and then went to Oklahoma and spent the weekend with my family. Our family get togethers are total opposites. When we are with Jonathan's family there are just a few of us, and it is calm. When we are with my family there are a lot of us, and it is completely crazy. I love both settings, and it is fun to experience the different dynamics. Dinner with Jonathan's family. I didn't get a group shot of my family because there were so many of us, and we were spread out everywhere.

Mason loves to hug on Amelia, and she loves to follow him around.

Cat, Amelia, Mason, Jonathan, and I went to the park in Jackie and Carroll's neighborhood after eating. We needed to work off some of our food!

Mason is a man after my own heart. He loved pumpkin pie and ate plenty of it. He saved a little bit on his face for later.

We stayed with my sister Julie and her husband Gabe. Mason loves Gabe and Julie, and they are always a huge help when we are visiting. Mason even got to help Gabe start a fire each night. He loved it! He kept saying, "I'll saw the sticks." Just what every child should be doing--right?

OU Game vs. Elmo

I'm pretty sure Elmo won.

I Smell Something Stinky

When you are potty training a child, you have to expect occasional accidents and not get upset by them. It's just part of the territory, and I know that. However I found out on the other day that there are certain accidents that are more than frustrating, they can be ultra embarassing. On Friday Mason and I went to a friends house to have lunch with some friends and their children. Mason wore his underwear as usual, and I didn't give it a second thought. When we got there the kids ran off to play, and were having so much fun. A house full of someone else's toys is a child's dream! I was caught up in talking to my friends and completely forgot about the fact that I should take Mason to the bathroom. When he is playing with other kids he tends to get very distracted and going to the bathroom is the last thing on his mind. We hadn't been there that long when we started smelling poop. My first thought was, "Oh, great! Please don't let it be Mason!" I went and felt of his pants and didn't feel anything and breathed a sigh of relief. I then decided to go ahead and take him to the bathroom. That is when I saw it...brown streaks on his underwear. Unfortunately the poop didn't stay in his underwear, but instead fell out and got tracked throughout the house. It also got on one of the little girl's shirts, and we had to check everyone's shoes. It was horrible! My friend was so sweet about it, but I seriously wanted to crawl in a hole and die. I guess every mom has to have at least one good poop story. The joys of being a mom!

Future Dr. Newberry

Just a few pictures...

"Being outside makes me want to scream!"

"I got Mommy's lip gloss. Oh, yeah!"

So Long Pacifier And Diapers

I was looking at pictures from this time last year to see how much Mason has grown. This picture stood out to me because it depicts just how much Mason has changed. Last time this year he was a pacifier addict and diaper dependent. Now he has not used a pacifier for almost 5 months and almost always wears underwear. The pacifier started driving me crazy so I decided this summer to cut the end of it off. If you asked Mason what happened to it he would say, "It's broken; it's all gone." It was pretty cute, and it ended up not being that big of deal. He still has his "B" (blanket) which softened the blow. The potty training situation is another milestone. Mason has been interested in it since this summer and would use the potty on and off. A few weeks ago I decided to do straight underwear except for at night. Going back and forth between pullups and underwear was confusing, and he has done so well since I made the change. He never has accidents at home and has even started wearing underwear at night. When we are out or he is at school we have to be careful because he seems to get distracted, but overall he is doing great. My baby is growing up!

Sleepover at Mimi and Grandad's

I unfortunately don't have any pictures, but I just wanted to say a special thank you to Jonathan's parents for keeping Mason last night. Mason had so much fun and didn't even care when we went to pick him up today. My niece Amelia was more excited to see me than Mason! When Mason and I were talking about going to spend the night with them, the first thing he said was "I want to get juice out of the refrigerator!" Jackie and Carroll have a mini fridge with drinks in it, and Mason loves to help himself to the Sesame Street juices. He had three while we were there this morning--that's what grandparents are for right? He was also adamant about reading "Miss Mary Mack" with Mimi on the couch--so cute!

Jonathan and I got to go and eat at The Porch (definitely one of our favorites) kid free! Afterward we went to Walmart to get a movie and cookie dough. Unfortunately we couldn't find a movie we wanted, and we ended up being too full to eat the cookies. Instead we went to bed at 9:30 and slept until 7:30. I guess in most people's eyes this probably seems a little boring, but we had a lot of fun. It may sound cheesy, but I really do just love being with Jonathan no matter what we are doing. He's such a wonderful husband and best friend.

When we went to pick Mason up this morning Jackie and Carroll had fixed breakfast for us as well as Brad, Cat, and Amelia. We had a great time and breakfast was yummy! I also enjoyed seeing Mason and Amelia play together. They are interacting a lot more and seem to really enjoy each other. Mason probably drives her crazy hugging and kissing on her!

No Longer The Baby

We've had so many friends that have had babies lately, and it's been really fun. The weird thing is that it doesn't seem that long ago that Mason was a baby, now he's a little boy and growing so fast. This week we had a fun visit from one of Jonathan's best friends Chad, his wife Missy, and their sweet baby Peyton. Chad had to work so Missy and I got to hang out and have fun. Mason and I loved spending time with them and especially getting to love on baby Peyton. She was pretty close to perfect the whole time she was here! I was proud of Mason because he was sweet to Peyton and didn't really act that jealous. I feel blessed that I have such a good friend because of one of Jonathan's friends. Last week I got to keep my friend Sarah's baby Riley for the day. He's a good baby, and Mason and I had lots of fun with him. Mason even got to read to him a little bit--so sweet!

What A Day

OH, MY GOODNESS!!! This is definitely a long post with no pictures, but I just have to vent for a minute. I seriously think I just had the worst experience I have ever had with my child. Mason is by no means perfect, but he is a very happy and easy going child. The main exceptions are when he doesn't feel well or is really tired. Well, today I pushed the tired exception a little too far. Mason really needed a haircut, and I decided to take him today. I wanted to take him before his nap because I knew it would be a lot less busy. The only problem was that I tried to do too many things this morning before I took him, and we ended up at the hair place around his nap time. I semi-questioned it but didn't think it would be that big of a deal because he has never had issues with getting a haircut before. I could not have been more wrong! Mason started off sitting in the car chair, but he kept reaching for me and trying to climb out. I asked the lady if he could sit on my lap while she cut his hair and thought this would work. So she put a cape on me to, and I put Mason in my lap. I thought this would definitely be the solution--wrong again. She took one swipe of his hair with the clippers and Mason started screaming. I should have just gotten up right then and told her we would come back later, but I kept thinking it wouldn't be that bad. Wrong again--I guess I don't catch on very quickly. I seriously had to restrain Mason's hands and arms with most of my strength while holding him in a headlock for the entire haircut. To say the least, it was absolutely horrible! Fortunately there were no other people in there (maybe that should have been a hint that it was not a good time for a haircut). When it was over I profusely apologized to the lady, gave her a big tip, and ran out of the store. To make matters worse, I stuck to my guns and wouldn't let Mason have the sucker that he got when he first got there. He was crying so hard he couldn't catch his breath. I was so frustrated, but I also felt horrible. Mason had definitely misbehaved, but he was so tired it was like he could not help himself. I brought him straight home, put him to bed, and I am now trying to catch my breath and recover. The worst part is that I feel like I have set myself up for many more bad haircut experiences. I fear that even if I go at an appropriate time next time Mason will still be traumatized from his last experience, which was mainly my fault. I feel like such a wonderful mother right now. I guess you live, you learn. Oh, and by the way, after all of the drama I'm sure Mason probably has the worst haircut ever!

Our Little Monster

Halloween was great this year! Jonathan, Mason, and I went to Brad and Catherine's in Frisco for the night. Jonathan's parents were there, as well as Catherine's friend Melissa. We had pizza, then went trick or treating in their neighborhood. Mason loved it and kept saying "next house." He also wanted to knock on every door--even the ones that weren't home. He paid no attention to scary decorations or noises--he would still run right up there and say "trick or treat". At one house imparticular I thought he might be scared, but he kept trying to play with the talking skeleton. The impossible task once again was trying to capture at least a few good pictures. Fortuately I got a few. Now the impossible task is trying to hide the candy (as I am typing this he is standing by me saying, "I want my candy! I want my sucker!).

Amelia getting in some dancing before we left. She looked so cute!

Mason and Amelia walking to the door together--so sweet!

If you asked Mason what the blue monster says he would say "Roarrr!"--thanks for teaching him that, Aunt Julie, it was really cute!

Mason was so excited to get back to the house and shed his costume! Not exactly the coolest Halloween night and not exactly the coolest costume.

Overnight To Oklahoma

Mason and I left on Thursday to go to Oklahoma City to see my best friend Olivia's baby. She had baby Benjamin on Wednesday, and I was so anxious to see him. I got to spend some quality time with Liv and Benjamin, and my short trip was completely worth it. I can't wait to hold him again! Another bonus of the trip was that my mom and dad were there on Thursday so we got to eat dinner with them, Julie, Josh, and my aunt and uncle. My mom and dad drove up just for the day to see Mason and Josh--I think they miss them both just a little! My Aunt Holly also watched Mason for me so I could go to the hospital alone. Mason had a good time, and I got to hold the baby all I wanted. Thanks, Aunt Holly!