Happy Birthday, Baby Mason!!!

I cannot believe it has been two years since Mason was born! Words cannot describe how amazing the last two years have been and how blessed we feel to have Mason in our lives. He is full of energy, smiles and fun, and has made parenthood such a wonderful experience for Jonathan and me. We love you, Mason and pray that God will bless us with many more years and memories with you!

Sesame Street Round One

Okay, so I've never been big on character themed birthday parties. I decided, however, that since Mason's birthday party is for him and not me that we would go ahead and do a Sesame Street theme. His birthday is not until Monday, but we had his party with my family in Oklahoma this weekend. We were originally going to do a party in Dallas with everyone, but we just couldn't find a date were everyone could come. As a result Mason gets to enjoy two birthday parties--I'm sure he will not mind.

We had a great weekend. Mason knew what was going on so much more than last year, and therefore it was tons more fun than his first birthday. We have been talking about what he wants for his birthday for awhile now and what kind of cake wants. When you ask him what he wants for his birthday he says "a blower" (what every child wants for their birthday) and "bicycle" (really a tricycle). Needless to say he got both of those plus much more. My mom got him some Elmo shoes which my brother and Jonathan named Elmo geriatric shoes and Elmo corrective shoes. She told me she got them and that she knew I wouldn't like them, but that she couldn't resist because she knew Mason would. Well, she was definitely right. They were the first thing he opened, and we had a hard time getting him to open the rest of his presents. He kept stomping trying to make them light up. He also had so much fun using his weedeater and blower, while wearing his safety goggles.

Mason was dying to get a hold of his cake. He just kept walking by it and staring at it, and he even stuck his fingers in it once when nobody was watching. When it came time to eat it, he definitely was not shy. He picked up the whole piece and shoved it in his mouth. When finished he had red icing all over his face. He had to have a bath before he opened his presents.

Pushing my best friend Kristie's little boy Aidan on his tricycle.

Like Father, Like Son

Great Babysitters!!!

Rae took this picture the other night when she babysat Mason for Jonathan and me. I thought it was cute. When I dropped Mason off he didn't care that I left him and when I picked him up he didn't want to leave. It's a good feeling to know he likes being over there so much. This picture is in her little bounce house. We picked Mason up at almost 9 o'clock and all three kids were still going strong and jumping like crazy. So much fun!

Jonathan's parents have also been watching Mason almost every Friday night so that we can have a date night. It has been great for us and Mason. We enjoy some time alone and Mason loves hanging out with his Mimi and Grandad. It is the same way when they are watching Mason--he doesn't even care when we leave. The only problem that they seem to have is that Mason hasn't been sharing his teeball with Mimi. We'll have to work on that!

We feel extremely blessed to have people in our lives that are always willing to help us out and that Mason loves so dearly!

I'm Electric!

Okay I have to warn you the next few pictures are pretty dorky and akward, but I have had several people want to know what I look like so I told them I would post a few pictures. I am definitely not proud of how I look, it is actually kind of embarassing. The reason I look like this is because I am having an electroencephalogram (48 hour EEG). After a couple of seizures in college I was put on epilepsy medicine. I also discovered after talking with my neurologist that I was having partial seizures alot--I thought I was just zoning out, kind of scary! Thankfully I have been fine since I have been on medicine, but I will most likely have to take medicine for the rest of my life. I am now going to a different neurologist and since it has been about 6 years since I had my last EEG and MRI he wanted to do the tests again. Hence, the pictures. I get to go tomorrow and get unhooked and boy am I excited. It took like an hour for the guy to glue 25 electrodes on my head, and they feel so awkward. I can't shower for two days, have 25 wires hanging down my back, and have a purse permanently strapped around me (recording device). Let me just say I didn't get my best sleep last night!

Parachute Pants & Cabbage Patch Dolls

While searching for something on my computer I found a couple of old pictures that I thought were cute. They are both of my two cousins Matt and Zac and my sister and me. I thought they were a fun blast from the past! Zac and Matt in their parachute pants and Julie and me with our cabbage patch dolls.
In this picture we are sitting on the swing at my grandparents house. My grandma alway told us not to swing too high or it would fall. Inevitably, we made it fall just about everytime.

So Frustrating!!!

In many ways cars make our lives convenient and great, and in other ways they can be such a nuisance. It seems like every other month lately, either Jonathan or I have had some issue with one of our cars. His is a little understandable since it is older, but mine is only a few years old. It has been so frustrating! Anyway, just when we thought maybe things would settle down for awhile my check engine light came on. Probably no big deal, right? Well the not so big of a deal turned into almost $900 today. I about died! I know it has to be done, but it's just not fun to spend money on things like that. At any rate, my sweet husband has been taking the DART train for the last couple of weeks so maybe we won't have any issues with his car anytime soon. He found out that at Baylor Medical Center, where he works, that he can get a yearly pass for $40 a year. This is great in so many ways--we spend way less gas money, it is enviromentally friendly, no traffic jams to deal with, and Jonathan can study on the train. So far he really likes it; we'll see if this continues!

Back to School

I didn't think those words would apply to me for quite sometime, but I was wrong. Yesterday was mine and Mason's first day of Sunshine School. I had planned on substituting like I did last year and still having the flexibility to say no if I wanted to; however, that all changed 2 Sundays ago. One of the directors came up to me and said that they had had a 3's teacher quit and wanted to know if I would consider it. I don't know why this time was different and the thought of teaching seemed appealing to me, but it did. Anyway, after much craziness of getting a classroom together last week (thanks to a really great friend!) I'm so glad I said yes. Yesterday was the first day of school, and my class is so sweet! I think it is going to be a really fun year. Sunshine School is actually the perfect job for a stay at home mom because it is only 2 days a week from 9:00-2:00 and your child can go with you. Mason absolutely loves going to school and playing with all of his friends. Below is a picture of him and his teacher Mrs. Kendra. Kendra came up to me during the middle of the day and was telling me how verbal Mason is, but that he was saying some word that sounded exactly like the "f" word, and no she was not talking about fart. Anyway, the funny thing is that Jonathan and I have heard him say the same word, and we cannot figure out what he is saying. I promised Kendra that he had not heard that word at home and she just laughed.

Hanging out in Fort Gibson

Here are some other pictures from our weekend in Fort Gibson. We had a great time with my family! The only sad thing was that my brother wasn't there. He started college this week and had left the weekend before. It seems unreal that my little Joshie Squashie is already in college! I'm sure he would be thrilled with me saying that!

Mason on his big boy bed with PaPaw and Grandma

Mason wearing some random garage sale hat he found in my brother's room. I have to say it's not the prettiest of hats!

Riding the tractor with Old Papaw (my grandpa, Mason's great grandpa) This has become a new favorite when we go to Fort Gibson!


Mason with my parent's dogs Josie and Corky. I think he gets more excited to see them than my parents. No offense, Mom and Dad!

10 Year Reunion

A few of the girls I was good friends with in high school

My friends Kara, Kristie, and Kelley

Wow! I cannot believe it has been 10 years since I graduated from high school! This weekend we had our 10 year reunion at Western Hills on Lake Ft. Gibson. It was great to see everyone and find out what everyone has been up to over the last ten years. My mom kept asking me if anyone looked really different, and I have to say that they didn't. I have a feeling the answer may be different by the time our 20 year reunion comes around! The main change with most people was that a lot of us now have children. Saturday afternoon we had a picnic that we could bring them along to. Overall, it was a lot of fun, and I am definitely glad that I went!