A Few Reasons Why I Love Jonathan

Because he took Mason to this circus (Oh my!)....

They got fee tickets with Jonathan's military ID, but Jonathan lost some of his cash so he wasn't able to upgrade their tickets. As a result they had to sit behind the animal cages with an obstructed view. Maybe that was a good thing judging from the first picture! I'm glad I got to stay home and put Max in bed.

The highlight of Mason's night was the Spider Man balloon that Jonathan bought him with what little cash he had. Mason didn't get popcorn or cotton candy because of the balloon, but he didn't care. He LOVED his balloon. Instead, they left at intermission and went to get yogurt. Mason was on cloud nine when he got home. Notice the hat he chose to wear. Believe me, it looked even better in person:)

Another reason I love him is because of this....
Max is somewhat attached to his daddy, and any time Jonathan gets out his guitar this is where you will find Max. It is the sweetest thing to see him crawl up on Jonathan's guitar case and get as close to his daddy as he can. Jonathan is excited that one of our children seems to be drawn to music!


One more reason I love Jonathan is because he loves to play with our boys, and they love to play with him too. No matter how crazy they act, I get so much joy out of watching them have fun together. Max loves to be right in the middle of whatever Jonathan and Mason are doing. When they wrestle or run around like crazy, Max will watch them and squeal like he wants to be a part of the action. This is a picture of the boys playing with the Power Ranger Megazord that Mason got for his birthday. I think Jonathan had just as much fun as Mason trying to figure out how to put it together and transform it.

Adventures In Science

Jonathan is kind of a science nerd, hence the whole doctor thing, and I'm about as far from a science nerd as you can get. Well, I guess he's not exactly a nerd, but he's pretty smart:). He always says how he looks forward to doing science projects with our kids, which I would completely dread if I didn't have him. The whole reason I'm saying this is to explain why we got Mason one of his birthday presents. We saw this at a toy store a while back and thought it would be fun. Mason really likes it, but Jonathan and I have enjoyed it just as much. A couple of ants died on the first night that we got it, and I found myself feeling sorry for them. Pretty ridiculous, huh?

Trip to FTG

The boys and I got to go to Oklahoma to visit my family a few weeks ago, and I was so excited! Neither of the boys had been on an airplane before, and I kind of dreaded taking them both by myself for the first time. It went well, though. Max slept on every flight and Mason colored or played with his toys. We even survived a four hour layover in Houston on the way home. If you ever need to kill four hours in an airport with a 4 year old and a 10 month old I can give you some pointers.

We did a lot in the week that we were there. My mom and Julie planned a Power Ranger birthday party for Mason at a gymnastics place in Muskogee. They put a lot of work into it, and Mason and the other kids had tons fun. His best friends Macy and Jarett even got to come from Oklahoma City which made the day even better. Thank you so much, Mom and Julie! All of your time and effort made such a special day for Mason.

On one of the days we went to the zoo with Julie. We had a great time exploring and spending time together. Mason got to do the leap frog trampoline for free because he was the first to answer a question about one of the elephants. He loved jumping on it and was even doing flips.

We did a lot of fun things, but the best thing about our trip was just getting to be with my family. I was sad to leave, but I feel extremely blessed to have a family that I love being with so much. I look forward to seeing them, as well as Jonathan's parents, when they come for Thanksgiving.

Mason's favorite part of the zoo was the playground--typical.

The kids had a lot of fun with the marshmallow gun that Julie and Gabe got Mason.

At my dad's pizza place after the party.

We had fun at a football game on Friday night. You can see what Mason enjoyed doing at the game.

Max playing with his Uncle Josh's Power Rangers. The boys have so much fun with all of my brother's old toys.

Happy Birthday, Baby Mason!

I felt so much like my mom today because I found myself saying things to Mason like, "Four years ago today was one of the best days of our lives," and "God brought you into this world four years ago, and we were so excited to meet you." I even got out the photo album of the day he was born, and we looked at it together. I used to think it was a little cheesy when my mom said or did things like this on our birthdays, which she still does, but now that I have children of my own I completely understand. It is so special and wonderful to remember the day Mason was born. I can vividly picture what his sweet face looked like the first time I held him and how it felt to have him against me. He looked up at me with his squinty newborn eyes, and I thought he was the most perfect thing in the whole world. I was in awe at the power of God to create something so amazing and wonderful.

Four years later I now have a little boy, not a baby or a toddler, but a little boy. Mason is still bringing joy to our lives everyday, and we are amazed at all that he is learning and saying (believe me he says a lot). We thank God for the little life that he has entrusted us with. We pray constantly that we will be Godly parents, and that we will train him in the way that he should go. Most importantly we pray that he will have a desire to know and serve God, and that he will love him with all of his heart, soul, and mind.

Happy Birthday, Mason! We love you so much and look forward to each day that God gives us to spend with you. We couldn't be more proud of you or love you anymore!

I love these boys

Saturday evening we went for a walk on the beach and let Mason play in the sand. Things have been busy lately so it was nice to have some family time. I enjoy nothing more than being with my three boys.

Max is 10 months!

Max is still a sweet, sweet boy and is pretty busy these days. He is cruising around everywhere and loves to explore. He has gotten two teeth on the bottom and the two on the top are starting to break through. He loves to play catch, pat-a-cake, read books, dance, and chase after Mason. Oh, and I almost forgot. Max LOVES to eat. He will eat anything and everything, and he shovels it into his mouth with both hands. It is both funny and cute. A few pictures of what Max has been up to...

After Max gets out of the bathtub he likes to sneak in and watch Mason finish his bath. Mason plays and splashes and Max hits the side of the bathtub and squeals. We've had to change his wet pajamas numerous times, but it's worth it. They have so much fun together.

Teething! He'll chew on anything, even a couch.


Max loves to look through the basket of books in the living room and in his bedroom. It will entertain him for quite sometime.

Max gets really excited when he plays catch. Sometimes he rocks back and forth so much that he falls over.

Exploring

Playing with Mason's Hot Wheel's Battle Force. Some of the toys Max plays with are quite a bit different than what Mason played with at his age.

Watching Mason in the bath again.

Worn out after a long day of playing.

Packed and ready...

I walked into Mason's room last night to find him packing his suitcase. When I asked him what he was doing he said, "I'm packing my suitcase for when Amelia comes to pick me up for our sleepover." He also said she was going to pick him up when he gets off of the airplane. It was really sweet. He loves that girl so much! Jackie, Catherine, Amelia and Ella came to visit last week, which I'm sure had something to do with it, but I'll post more on that later.