What happens when you ignore your children while playing a board game?

Mason and Amelia had some fun of their own with playdough while the adults were playing a game. The sad thing is that they were about two feet away from us when they did all of this. I'm just glad it wasn't on the carpet!

Snack Time

In order to occupy Max while I was getting ready the other morning I gave him a graham cracker, and Mason decided he wanted to join him. I thought they looked so cute cuddled together in the bathroom floor eating their crackers that I had to take a picture. I love those two boys so much!

Typical Evening in the Newberry Household

Jonathan playing guitar,

Max sucking on Jonathan's big toe,

and Mason pestering Max.

It doesn't get much better than this.

Dolphin Cruise

Last Saturday Jonathan took Mason on a Dolphin Cruise. Although they had fun, it wasn't quite as great as they thought it would be. There were a lot of boats out since it was the weekend, and the dolphins were staying deeper in the water. Jonathan said he felt a little dorky cruising by all of the really expensive boats in their boat plastered with "Dolphin Cruises." He really enjoyed the tour of the harbor, though, and Mason enjoyed drinking a strawberry smoothie, getting a toy out of the treasure chest, and getting to drive the boat.

The Harbor Walk where their boat left from.

Can you find the dolphin in the water?

Max is 9 months!

I cannot believe this boy is 9 months old! Time is certainly flying by. It was so weird to schedule his 1 year check-up at the doctor's office the other day. Although it is sad that he won't ever be this little again, he just keeps getting more fun. Max has an easy going and sweet disposition, and is such a pleasant baby. He has a great laugh which he does quite often, and he loves to jabber rather loudly. One of the main things that he will cry about is when he is trying to crawl after me, and I keep walking. He starts moving after me as fast as he can, and his face looks like I broke his heart. It always makes me feel bad!

At 8 months he began to scoot and pull himself along with his arms, and he has just recently started crawling on his hands and knees. He is also starting to pull up more. Every time I walk into his room he is standing up in his bed and he gives me the biggest smile. Two of my favorite things that he does right now are clapping and dancing. His Bible class teachers told me on Sunday that he was dancing pretty good when they were playing music and that he had rhythm. He also looks really sweet and happy when he claps. I can't help but smile.

9 month stats: Height-28 in (50th%), Weight-19lb5oz (25-50th%), Head-441/4 cm (25%)

He loves to crawl up this octopus chair that used to be Mason's. He will entertain himself for quite awhile doing this.

Just a few pictures...

Mason and Max crawling through the tunnel together. They have so much fun when they play together.

Mason doing his ab work out.

Max enjoys Mason squirting him with the water hose. He also likes for Mason to spit bath water on him. I'm not a big fan of that, but Max dies laughing when Mason does it.

Let's just say Max is a fan of Dairy Queen's chocolate dip cone. Jonathan couldn't even eat his ice cream for Max grabbing it and smashing it into his mouth.


Mason enjoyed his, too. We had to strip his clothes off of him before he could get into the car.

My mom drove down to Florida with the boys and me and stayed with us for several days.

Our view from the backyard of the house where we stayed on base.

Mason enjoying the 15 hour drive to Florida.

Mason visited the fire station in Fort Gibson and brought a hat back for Max.

Craziness!

Warning: This is a long post that will probably bore most people, but I want to write down my thoughts for myself.



Okay, I have started this blog a thousand times and have yet to finish it due to lack of internet, two boys who take naps at different times, and mountains of boxes (which are all put away now, thanks to my family coming to visit). Anyway, so much has happened over the last month that I feel like my head is still spinning. We moved out of our home in TX on June 30th, and we didn't move into our new home in FL until June 26th. We were supposed to move in the week before that, but that's a whole other story. Let's just say I wouldn't use the same moving company again. We've all survived, though, and things are starting to get a hint of normalcy again. Moving definitely puts a new perspective on "things." Jonathan claims that before he buys something from now on he will ask himself, "Will this be worth moving?" We'll see how true this proves to be!

I cannot believe that our time in Dallas is now over. Moving there was definitely not in my plan, but it was in God's and it ended up being such a blessing to our family. The hardest part is moving away from Jonathan's family. I loved Mason and Max getting to see their Mimi and Granddad anytime they wanted, and Jonathan and I getting to spend so much time with his parents. They let us come over anytime we wanted to swim, hang out, and have a delicious meal (I'll probably lose weight now that Carroll isn't cooking for us all of the time). We definitely felt taken care of and loved. I also loved spending time with Catherine and Brad and watching Mason and Amelia grow up together. They are like brother and sister, good at arguing with each other, but also loving each other to death. Not getting to see Ella on a regular basis and how she is growing and changing is also hard. I want her and Max to get to grow up together like Mason and Amelia did. Although all of these things make me sad, it is not like we won't see each other, it just won't be as often as I would like.


Leaving our church family is very difficult as well. Mason was able to be a part of an amazing children's program where he learned so much and made so many friends. Jonathan and I were a part of a wonderful Bible Class, and 3 different small groups at various times. I also got to work in the Nursery and teach at Sunshine School. We formed so many special friendships and hope that we will stay in touch with our friends and get to visit periodically. Thank you so much to you all for taking us in when we moved to Texas and letting us be a part of your lives. You made our time in Dallas so much fun!


I don't want to sound completely depressing and make it seem like we are not excited about our new adventure in Florida. So far, we really like it here and are very excited to be living in this area. We are anxious to get settled in and find our place here. Just like Dallas, Florida was not our plan, but God's. And just like Dallas, I know that God will do great things with our time here if we let him. When I prayed about where the Air Force would send us, my prayer was simply that they would put us where God could best use us and that we would be open to that. On another positive note, what an amazing place to live! Ten minutes from beautiful white beaches and emerald green water. The fresh seafood is also a plus so maybe I won't lose the weight that I thought I would!

I think I've gone on enough for now. I'll post pictures of the last month when I get a chance. I completely missed Max's eight month post, so I will probably just move on to his nine month post in a few days. If you read all of this, thanks for hanging with me! I'm good at rambling.

Hard At Play

Lately, when the house gets really quiet and I go to check on Mason this is what I usually find when I walk into his room.

He will sit there for a good hour playing with his cars, actions figures, G.I. Joes, and whatever else he has in a basket under his bed. It makes him seem so grown up to me, and I could just sit there and watch him play and talk to himself. Unfortunately, as soon as he sees me he tells me to leave. Why do they have to grow up so fast?

This is what I tend to find in his bathroom these days.

I'm Proud Of You!!!

After six long weeks of waiting, Jonathan found out at 11:30 last night that he passed his Pathology Board Exams! Even though he puts on a good front, I don't think he has been able to relax since he took the exams. God has given him the intelligence and ability to do what he does, and Jonathan has definitely not let those gifts go to waste. He is such a hard worker and has been extremely dedicated to get to this point. I'm so proud of you, Jonathan, and I love you so much!

Here are a couple of pictures of Jonathan in his new threads. Mason thinks his Daddy is about the coolest guy around when he has his "G.I. Joe" uniform on. It is really sweet.

Best Friends