Halloween Warm-Up

I guess the piece of candy Jonathan shared with Max wasn't quite enough.

What Mason's Been Up To.....

Decorating for Halloween

Reading his 3-D shark book from Grandma



Visiting the pumpkin patch with his class at school

Doing Science experiments with Daddy. Mason bought a Beginner's Science Kit with his birthday money from Aunt Catherine, Uncle Brad, Amelia, Ella, and Aunt Holly. Thanks to you all! He has had so much fun with it!

Taking pictures with his camera

Watching How To Train Your Dragon and eating cotton candy with Daddy. Mason also had to wear his dragon pajamas and hold his dragon toys from the movie.

All worn out

Coloring and drawing. I thought the day would never come!

11 Months

I cannot believe this sweet boy turned 11 months this week.

A few days ago I began to think about how in another month Max will be drinking milk, riding in a forward facing car seat, and having a first birthday party. It made me realize just how big he is getting. Max is so laid back and lovable. I could squeeze him to pieces and kiss his chubby little cheeks all day long. Even when he doesn't get his two naps a day, which is about half of the time, he is pleasant and enjoyable. A few things about Max at 11 months--has four teeth, standing up on his own, sleeping 12 hours at night, loves music and starts dancing anytime he hears it, and only drinks out of a straw cup. Another thing about Max is he loves to eat and will eat anything. His favorite is bananas, though. When we go to the grocery store I have to hide the bananas in the cart or he starts melting down because he wants one. It's kind of cute. Some pictures.....

Working Mason's puzzles.

Mason and Max drinking their milk before breakfast.


I gave Max an apple the other day and he loved it. He probably ate 3/4 of it and had the best time eating it.

I love this face when he wrinkles his nose. He does it a lot and it cracks me up.

Couldn't resist taking this picture:)

Chewing on the door stop. When I took it away he had dirt all over his mouth--nice. Not quite as bad as the piece of candy covered in carpet fibers that I dug out of his mouth at the Dollar Tree, though. I about threw up.

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!