Dallas Arboretum

Mason and I went to the Dallas Arboretum with my friend Rae and her two children last Monday. The flowers were so beautiful, especially the tulips, and the kids had such a fun time. We had a picnic, smelled flowers, went to a petting zoo, and walked all over. Mason always loves hanging out with Macy and Jarett!

Spring Break and Easter in Oklahoma

When I taught school I lived for Spring Break so that I could sleep in, relax, and do nothing. Although I no longer teach, in some ways things haven't changed much. Mason went to my mom's during Spring Break, and I was sooooo excited to have time to myself! I didn't know how Mason or my mom would hold up for a whole week together, but they both had tons of fun. Thanks, Mom for sacrificing your alone time so that Mason could come and visit! My break was wonderful as well, but by the end of the week I was definitely ready to have him back. I've concluded that I'm a rather boring person, and my days are so much more fun when Mason is with me!

Mason helping Grandma make his daddy's birthday cake!

Mason and Aunt Julie

Easter weekend we went to Stillwater to visit Jonathan's parents and to celebrate Jonathan's birthday. We had a good visit, and Mason had fun hunting eggs with his Mimi and Grandad. Jonathan was a little sad because this could have been our last time to go to Stillwater for quite awhile. His parents are moving to Frisco so that they can be closer to their kids and grandkids. We are really looking foward to having them close by and getting to spend even more time with them!

Mason with his Easter basket.

Mason LOVED his Elmo Applesauce that his Mimi got him!!! (a little too much I think!)

Night Out!

Tonight was a good night for multiple reasons. The first is that Jonathan and I went to dinner with some friends without Mason. While I love Mason more than anything in the world, going out to eat with him just isn't as enjoyable as it was pre-children. He's usually fine for the first 15 minutes we are at a restaurant, but by the time our food has arrived he is ready to go, and by the time the check has arrived he is REALLY ready to go! Needless to say, I usually don't get to enjoy my meal very much, and overall it is just easier to eat at home. Thanks to my wonderful sister-in-law and her husband, though, we had a child free dinner tonight!

We met our friends at Chuys, a Mexican restauraunt in Dallas. None of us had eaten there before, but we were all talking about how it was supposedly Jessica Simpson's favorite place to eat. Anyway, we get our food, which was really good, and are having a great time talking when a large party of people start coming into the back room we are in. My friend Carrie said it was Jessica Simpson's parents, and I thought she was joking. Then, she said Jessica Simpson was there. I still thought she was joking because of our previous conversation. It turns out she wasn't, and Jessica was sitting right behind us! I know it is silly because she is just a person, like anyone else, but it was still really cool. I think she is the first famous person that I have actually seen in person. Jonathan's back was to her, which was frustrating him because he couldn't see, but he decided that was okay because he was technically the closest to her. After this none of us could even focus on our conversations, but we did end up staying at our table for another 45 minutes! It was a fun night!

A Few Funny Things

It's been awhile since I last posted...needless to say a few interesting things have happened. One of the most interesting things happened one Saturday about a month ago. Jonathan was studying in the office, I was in the kitchen cleaning, and Mason was running around playing. All of a sudden Mason started crying so I asked Jonathan to go check on him. Jonathan then discovered that Mason had locked himself in our bedroom. At first I laughed because I thought we would just get a screwdriver and unlock the door. Unfortunately our bedroom door has a lock that you have to use a key to open, which we had never noticed before, and therefore did not have a key for. I tried calling our landlord and could not get a hold of her, we tried picking the lock unsuccessfully, we tried using a credit card, and on and on. Mason banged on the door a few times and we tried to coax him into unlocking it--yeah right, since I have no idea how he even locked it! After that it was dead silent in the room, and it had been about 20 minutes. Jonathan was calm, but I was freaking out! Every horrible scenerio possible was running through my head since our bedroom is probably the least childproof in the whole house. I know I was driving Jonathan crazy going on and on about how I was not going to wait an hour or more for a locksmith to come. The next thing I know, I see Jonathan take a running start and do a flying ninja kick that knocks/breaks the door down. I just stood there stunned as Mason ran out of the room and started playing with Jonathan's tool box..as if nothing had happened! I was definitely relieved that Mason was out, but I was not happy to see that our entire door frame on one side was torn apart. Three hours and $150 dollars later the door was as good as new, thanks to an online handyman service. And our child, the cause of it all, never knew the difference!

The second interesting thing is small, but funny, and it involves two of Mason's favorite things--bubbles and taking a bath! Mason has been obsessed with bubbles lately so I decided to buy him some bubble bath. Jonathan usually gives him his bath every night, but for some reason I did one night, and I added extra bubbles. Mason took a nice long bubble bath that night and enjoyed every minute of it. As I am getting Mason ready for bed, Jonathan went to take a shower. I hear him yell to me that the water isn't draining well and that it smells like poop in the bathtub. He found a terd hidden under the bubbles that were still in the tub. We both laughed - mostly me because I didn't have to pick up the poop and flush it. The next thing I know, Jonathan is saying that the water still isn't draining and that he still smells poop. So he proceeds to stick his hand down the drain only to discover multiple pieces of poop clogging it up--as if one piece in the tub wasn't enough! Evidently, Mason's bath was rather relaxing for multiple reasons! Jonathan was disgusted, and I could not quit laughing! The moral of the story is that you never know what could be hiding under all of those bubbles in a bubble bath. Sorry we didn't take pictures.

This is a picture from a trip to the zoo with my friend Rae and her two kids. Her son Jarrett is two days older than Mason, and they have become good friends. Lately when they see each other, they both get really excited . Sunday night at church we sat behind them, and Mason and Jarrett both went crazy. I ended up having to take Mason to the nursery, which is nothing new. He is more of a nursery kind of guy, than a church guy right now!

My birthday was a few weeks ago and my mom came for a visit by herself. We had a relaxing weekend, and I really enjoyed having her here. On Saturday, we went shopping at Northpark and she and Jonathan watched Mason while I spent a good amount of time and birthday money in Ann Taylor Loft. It was so much fun to try on clothes without Mason crying or crawling under the dressing room door! While she was here she also bought us tickets to go see Sesame Street Live with Mason. Oh my goodness!!! I never knew my child could sit perfectly still for an hour and a half! He had such a good time, and we had just as much fun watching him enjoy the show. I told Jonathan our entertainment sure has changed!

Grandma and Mason

On Sunday Mason got his second official haircut. It grew out pretty quickly last time, so we decided to go for a short spiky cut this time. Although I really like it, it kind of made me sad because it made him look older. He doesn't have the sweet, baby side part anymore! Mason was sad about it too, as you can tell from the picture--actually he was just tired because we got home late from church.

"I hate my new hair!"

First Haircut

Mason got his first haircut on Saturday from someone other than me. I didn't think his hair looked that long, but it was definitely getting shaggy. He was really good, and I think it turned out pretty cute! I attatched some new pictures as well.

Before the haircut--not looking so good!

And after--so much better!

Mason trying to put Daddy's boots on.

He only needed a little help!

Fifteen Going On Sixteen (Months!)

Mason had his 15 month doctor appointment last week and is right on track. He weighed 25 lbs and is 32 1/4 inches tall. He is still 95th percentile for his height and 50th for his weight. Such a big boy!

Time flies, and I cannot believe that he will be 16 months next week! In the last month, Mason seems to have grown up so much. Things have really started to click for him, and it has become evident how much he really understands. All of the things that we have done and talked about since he was born, now seem to have meaning to him. About a month ago, I asked him where his ears were and he pointed to them. We have always talked about where his body parts are, but he had never showed me. I was shocked for him to then point out his eyes, nose, mouth, fingers and feet. His favorite trick for awhile was to throw things away in the trash can. I've never seen a child get so excited about throwing things away--of course sometimes he likes to go and get things back out of the trash can--which we have to work on!

Little things that may seem insignificant to some people are so cute and exciting for Jonathan and me. For example, when I tell him to lay down so I can change his diaper, he will lay down on his stomach like he is going to go to sleep. He has also turned into quite the imitator which can be rather funny. The other day I was in a dressing room at the mall and started to take my shirt off. I look over and Mason is taking his shirt off as well! He also loves to lint roll his pants, stir and pretend like he is drinking tea out of a big mug, suction his nose and wipe it in a tissue, rub lotion on his hands, unlock the door with the keys, talk on the phone, mop and sweep the floor, use a spray bottle, and the list goes on. If he sees you do it, he will copy it!

Mason is also talking a lot more. It started off with him saying all of the animal sounds, which we probably drove him crazy asking him to say, but he was always willing to cooperate! He also likes to use "signs" to communicate things he doesn't know how to say. His favorite sign right now is "please"--which is supposed to be a circular motion of the hand over the chest--but he rubs his stomach! Whenever he wants to eat, he runs into the kitchen and rubs his belly as fast as he can. It's hard to say no, when he "asks" so politely!

Mason really loves drinkable yogurt right now.

He is a terror when he gets a hold of the tape!

Happy Newberry Year!

I know this is late, but Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. Ours was great except for the fact that it flew by. Christmas with Mason was more fun than last year since he could actually help open the presents. Out of everything he got, his absolute favorite was a cleaning set that Jonathan and I got him. It was also probably the cheapest, but he loves it! It has a broom, dust pan, swiffer mop, and spray bottle, and Mason still carries at least one of the items around the house for the majority of the day. His new found fascination with cleaning supplies has led Jonathan and me to believe that he will either be a custodian one day or a very good husband who helps his wife clean house! No matter whose house we are at, Mason always manages to find the cabinet with spray bottles and cleaners--just what every parent wants their child to play with.

We did Christmas with Jonathan's family the weekend before Christmas. It was a lot of fun, and because they were here for the whole weekend we did not feel rushed at all. Christmas Eve we headed to Oklahoma when Jonathan got off work. Halfway to Oklahoma I took Mason out of his carseat to discover that he had a fever. Of all the days to get sick--unbelievable! Needless to say he was pretty puny for a couple of days. On Christmas day he was not his typical active self. He didn't care about any of his new toys and just wanted to be held. Oh well, there's always next year! Jonathan's parents came to Ft. Gibson on Christmas day, as well as some of my other family. It was fun and eventhough Jonathan had to go back to Texas that night, he was nice enough to let me stay and visit my family for the rest of the week. He came back and got me on Friday and on Sunday we went to Stillwater for a few days. Overall, it was a good holiday, but I sure was ready to get home after being gone for a week and a half!

Mason with his Mimi's Windex!

Aunt Julie teaching Mason how to play guitar.

Mason loves Elmo right now, and my brother Josh got him this for Christmas. Everytime he sees any character from Sesame Street he starts saying "Elmo, Elmo!"

Mason on his new car from Grandma and Pawpa.

Mason and cousin Amelia reading a book.

We couldn't even get the broom out of his hands for a family picture!