Attempting to get back on the blog routine

My kids are growing so incredibly fast before my very eyes. I have been so bad about documenting things which makes me sad because they change practically everyday and I don’t want to forget anything.  Lots has happened since I posted in October.  We put in an offer on a house, after lots of stress we finally closed on the house in January, Richie worked tirelessly to get it ready for us to move in, we moved at the end of February.  In addition, our tenants in our old house moved out, we got new tenants, cleaned the house in time for the new tenants to move in, cleaned up the house we have been renting for the past year, and this is ALL during tax season!  Whew – I’m so glad all that is in the past and we are settled and loving our new house. 

Mackenzie had her big 4 year bday party at a bouncy house place and it was the first time we have invited her daycare friends to a party.  A few came and of course all our family and friends that we usually invite. Everyone had a great time.  She is now 4 years and 3 months and is getting so big.  She went for her 4 year checkup on April 28. She is 41 lbs and 42 inches tall. Those are both around 80th percentile.  Today is her official first day in the pre-k class at school!  Can’t believe this is the last class she will be in until she starts kindergarden! Ms. Brenda, who has been her teacher for the past year, said she is so smart and will be just fine when she starts school.  She said she can do some puzzles that even the older kids struggle with.  I agree that she is definitely smart, but sometimes TOO smart!  She has quickly grown into size 5 clothes, and I can’t even shop in the toddler section anymore for her.  She wears size 10 shoes. She loves to eat fruit especially blueberries, strawberries, oranges, and apples. Both kids absolutely love ranch dressing and will eat almost anything if they can dip it in ranch.  Mackenzie loves My Little Pony, Frozen, and Jake and the Neverland Pirates. Last weekend we watched The Land Before Time 3 times!  She is still struggling with writing letters, but she can write the letter M.  She has always loved her paci but one day right after Christmas, we lost it and couldn’t find it one afternoon.  I told her we would try to find it.  Bedtime came around and she still couldn’t find it. Richie was putting her to bed and said “hold on, I’ll go get one from Mason.” She said matter of factly “It’s ok, I don’t need one.” and just like that, the paci habit was broken.  For the next few nights, she would say “wait a minute, where’s my paci?” and we would say “remember, you said you don’t need it anymore” and she would say ok and be fine!  It’s the craziest thing because I just knew she would have that paci until we pried it out of her little fingers.  She has now been to the dentist 2 times for checkups. She is absolutely terrified.  There is no way that the dentist is even able to clean her teeth or do any preventative care in any way because she screams and clenches her teeth and squirms around and fights the entire time.

Mason is 2 years and 9 months!  I can’t believe he is so big.  At his last appointment, he was 85% in height and 66% in weight. I’ll have to go back and look at the exact measurements.  He talks so well now, but he still has problems saying some works.  He calls the ipad the i-fah. He never puts the last consonant sound at the end of a word. He says “I wa to ree a booh and geh in my beh.” instead of I want to read a book and get in my bed.”  He loves for you to read to him. My favorite part of my entire day is putting him to bed. We brush teeth and then he picks a book, gets his doggy, blanket, and paci, and he climbs in my lap to read.  He loves The Cat in the Hat and a bulldozer book the easter bunny brought him. He always says “I want to read it” meaning he wants to turn the pages with no help while you read it.  He wears size 3t shirts and 2t pants and size 9 shoes.  He is mister independent and wants to do everything himself.  He is getting very interested in the potty and has been peeing in it since almost 6 months ago. He also poops in it sometimes, but is scared.  I need to spend a good weekend letting him wear underwear and have accidents and then I think he would get it.

The kids play so well together and really love each other. Of course, they fight and I think Mackenzie likes to play with Mason more than he likes to play with her. But, usually he is her little shadow,

Slacker Mommy

How has it been almost 4 months since I blogged?  Shame on me for slacking on documenting my kids’ precious memories.  I hope to start making it more of a priority.  It is such a daunting task to think about catching up on everything that happened since June 24.  Maybe I should start by talking about the past few days and gradually mention other events from the past summer as I try to post more regularly.   First of all – the basic stats on the kids.  My precious Mason is 2 years and 2 months old, and My mini-me Mackenzie (in looks only – not personality!) is 3 years and 8 months.  Mason is in 2t clothes, 8.5 shoes, 5 diapers (hopefully soon we will move to pull ups and underwear!).  Mackenzie is in size 9.5 shoes (yes, they almost have the same size foot – crazy), wears 4T but is starting to outgrow it into 5T and 4 and 5 in girls. I can’t believe that soon I will be shopping for her clothes in the girls section.  I measured them on Saturday and Mason is 37 inches tall and Mackenzie is 41 inches tall. 

On Saturday, I had a fun day planned – Mackenzie and I were going to go to Charlotte to do the Down Syndrome Buddy Walk in honor of our friend Piper.  It was going to be a fund afternoon of eating yummy food, playing in bouncy houses, walking around Freedom Park, etc.  Well, when I told her that we were going on a fun girl’s trip, she said “I don’t want to go on a trip with Mommy. I want to stay at home.”  After begging with her and trying to convince her, she still refused.  When I asked her to go put on her shoes, she said no and Mason was the one who was running to get his shoes on. That kid loves to be on the go and playing outside.  So, I decided to take him instead!  We had a great afternoon walking around, people watching, and hanging out near the pond.  Mason fed the ducks and LOVED every second of it.  He would say “Here go ducky” and throw his goldfish in the pond.  The geese were at the front fighting the ducks off to get the food, so I showed him how to throw it really hard in order to throw it past the geese and to the ducks.  We ran out of goldfish. Otherwise, I think he would have stayed out there for hours.  Sunday we were at the neighborhood playground and he saw a duck by the pond. He freaked out and pointed and yelled “Ducky right there” really loud!  I will have to take him to feed the ducks again very soon. 

Sunday, Richie’s parents and Mary Carol came to visit.  Mackenzie was so funny when they got there.  She was so excited and wanted to show them all of her toys (like his parents have never been to our house before).  She was taking their hands and dragging them all over the house to see her room, playroom, toy box, etc.  It was so funny.  Mary Carol brought them a cupcake, and Mason devoured it after dinner.  I think he was messier Sunday night than on his birthday eating his cupcake!

Mackenzie has become obsessed with Jake and the Neverland Pirates. We have started talking about Halloween and she of course wants to be a pirate.  So, I got her a really cute pink and black pirate dress costume with a bag of treasure.  Mason is also going to be a pirate – I figured this might be my last year where they can coordinate outfits.  We were talking the other night about Halloween and dressing up. Mackenzie said she wants to be a pirate like Izzy (on the Jake cartoon) and have pixie dust so she can fly.  She also wants gold doubloons and treasure.  She said she was going to say “arr matey.” She’s so funny and I don’t know where she comes up with this stuff. 

Back in the spring, she were almost completely potty trained, but then she suddenly regressed and refused to do #2 in the potty.  After months of frustration, I made a potty chart and got her a cute princess scooter as incentive.  I didn’t show her the scooter beforehand, but kept talking about a special big surprise if she could poop in the potty. The potty chart hung on the closet door for about 3-4 weeks before she finally pooped in the potty on September 21!! It was a saturday morning and richie was out of town. She said she needed to poop, so we went to the potty and she did it! I was so excited and we made a big production of putting a sticker on the chart. She was so excited to get her surprise and she said “Santa Claus is bringing me a special toy!”  Haha – I told her that Mommy and Daddy got her this toy because we are so happy she pooped in the potty.  She loved the scooter, even though she hasn’t really ridden it much since that first day.  Anyway, since then, she has been about 50% potty trained when it comes to #2.  But, right now she has gone 5 days in a row with no accidents!  Of course, she still wears her pull up at night.

Mason is very interested in the potty and is very vocal when he poops in his diaper.  Saturday, he pooped on our way to Charlotte and he screamed until I could pull over to change him.  He also will tell you when he is wet, sometimes.  He loves to sit on the potty and will say “want peepee in the potty”.  Last week, he sat on the potty before bath time and he actually peed!!  We were excited but I haven’t really pushed him to start potty training, yet.  I think he is getting close to being ready, though.

Mason and Mackenzie love to play together. She loves to play hide and seek with him and they love to just run around the house together and laugh.  They have a keyboard that plays music, and they love to dance around it.  They play pretend and hide from monsters and dinosaurs.  They also have their moments when they do not get along.  She sometimes yells at him and tells him to stop doing whatever it is that he is doing that is getting on her nerves.  His feelings get hurt and he cries.  He is usually just copying her and she hates that.  He is a little parrot these days and says whatever she says.  Yesterday morning, I was driving them to daycare and Mackenzie asked me “Mommy, can I please have your phone?”. Mason says “No, my phone”.  Mackenzie yells “stop saying that!” and he starts crying.  I tell her to not be mean or yell because it’s not nice and hurts his feelings.  In a few minutes, I hand her the phone and she says “I got the pho-one, I got the pho-one” in her best “nanny nanny boo boo” tune.  That’s her new thing.  If she has something or is doing something that she isn’t supposed to, she will do that, too. 

This past week, they have both started spitting at each other when they are mad or don’t like something that the other is doing.  They won’t really spit, but will make the noise. It’s extremely annoying!  Mason also does it to the dog, and this morning he did it toward a bug that was on the car door.  I think he learned that noise since we have been letting him start brushing his teeth and spitting afterward.  That boy loves to brush his teeth.  It’s probably because he wants to be just like big sister.  Even if we forget to brush his teeth, he is always quick to remind us!

Summer Fun

Things around the Meads household have been crazy lately! Richie and I enjoyed a trip to Chicago, which was the first time I have ever been away from Mason. It was great and Richie’s parents loved staying at our house with the kids. We have had fun at the pool and playing outside. 2 weeks ago, we took the kids to the pool and Mackenzie jumped off the side with no fear. We are still working on her putting her face in the water without sucking in a mouthful of water, but we will get there before the end of the summer, I think. Mason was terrified of the water at first and wouldn’t even put his toe in it. But, after about 15 minutes, he gradually worked his way up to being willing to go in to about his waist or a little higher.

This past weekend, Mackenzie and I went to her friend Ariana’s birthday party at a bouncy house place. About 2 months ago, we tried to go to another one and it was a disaster. She was terrified. But, this time she loved it! Once she saw Ariana and her friends playing, she joined right in and was not scared at all. She also loved going down the zip line and did it about 50 times or more. It was a lot of fun.

Yesterday, I took the kids outside and we played with the water table and the water hose. They enjoyed the water hose much more than the table and they both got soaking wet. But, it was fun and I didn’t mind if they got wet and dirty.

Mason is growing up so fast and changing everyday. He is talking in full sentences and has been for a few weeks now. He can also count to 10! That happened only a few days ago. He has gotten both of his bottom 2 year molars and the top left one just started popping through. They have been giving him more pain than any other teeth. He loves to walk up and down the stairs while holding your hand. I can’t believe he is old enough or tall enough to do that. Some of the things he says:
-At the school playground, we have to walk up to Mackenzie’s area if she is outside. You walk past a pond and so when i get him, he goes to the fence and says “see the wawa”
-On the way to and from daycare, he points out the ponds and says “see the wawa right der”
-He just learned to say paci “pa-hi” and he says it a lot! He loves his paci. but he also has started throwing them all out of his crib at bedtime and crying.
-He started saying mama a while ago, but just in the past couple of weeks he now says “mommy.” I liked mama better!
-he says “want ___” whether it’s milk “muck” or cereal or wawa or grain bar “be bah” or pirates booty “pa boo” or mickey mouse on tv “mee mah”, snack “nak”
-he can point out and call by name a ball, chair, cup, truck, car, boat, train “too too ween”, duck, baby duck, cow, giraffe, book, dog, cat, mouse “mah”, monkey “muh-ee”, cheese. i could go on and on. I may add to this later if I remember more.
-he calls all birds “baby birds”
-at night before bed, I read him books. He walks into his room and says “read the book” but it sounds like read da buh. If you aren’t turning pages fast enough or get distracted he will pick up your hand and put it on the book so you will turn the page
-he knows all of the characters on mickey mouse and can point them out if you ask him. He even knows down to Clara Bell and Pete.
-Yesterday he actually said he wanted “2 bee bahs” or grain bars. We give him the special k fruit crisps that come 2 per package. We usually make him and Mackenzie share.
-When I am changing his diaper, he says “ew yuck”
-He freaks out when something is on his hand like a piece of food that he doesn’t like. Also, he hates for dirt or hair to be in the bath water.
-He loves to jump on the couch or on the bed. Loves it.
-He has become a pretty picky eater and will only eat a handful of things including ketcup, chicken nuggets, milk, grain bars, spaghetti, lasagna, pb&j. It has become a real challenge to figure out things that he will eat.
-He knows to say “please” and he gives the sweetest hugs and kisses if you ask him for one. He can also say I love you which is the sweetest thing. It sounds like “wuh woo”

I will try to write about Mackenzie tomorrow!

Update

I had to stop the info dump in order to start my daily posts about the kids.  Mason is 20 months old and Mackenzie is 3 years and 2 months.  They are so funny yet challenging! 

Mason is talking so much. He can say bye bye, hi, mama, dada, love you (sounds like wuh woo), Muno (sounds like nuno), Riri (for Ramsey), ball, night night, bubbles (buh-buh), milk (muhlk), Yo gabba gabba (its gibberish but you can kinda here the gabba in there and he is so excited when it comes on), more, no, yeah, i don’t know (he will really say i don’t know if you ask him something and he doesn’t know. it kinds sounds like i oh no and the inflection in his voice is just like if we were to say it and shrug our shoulders), bread (breh), raisin bread (ray breh). I’m sure there are other things he says, but I’m drawing a blank.  He is wearing all 2T clothes now.  He is in size 7.5 shoes!  Sometimes, he is a picky eater, and other times he eats anything.  He loves yogurt, milk, raisin bread, raisins, cheerios, any kind of cereal really, grapes, strawberries, cheese, crackers, spaghetti. He doesn’t really like lunch meat, blueberries, cheeseburgers, any chicken (except for chicken nuggets).  He has started to love juice, but very rarely is given it.  At daycare, they only give them milk and water.  He Loves his crocs shoes.  He really loves any shoes because it means that he is getting to go outside.  This weekend, he started singing twinkle twinkle and it is the cutest thing ever! He has both top I-teeth and his lower right i-tooth.  So, once the other bottom one and his 2 year molars come in, we are done with teething!  About a month ago, richie cut out the night time bottle which made me so sad.  So, we can get rid of all our bottles! 

I will try to do a brief update on Mackenzie.  She is a spitfire. She is the sweetest most loving child. She loves to snuggle in the bed with daddy (I’m always up taking care of Mason on the weekend mornings). She also loves to get under a blanket with you on the couch and watch Mickey Mouse. She has finally branched out and will watch other random cartoons. She even likes Cinderella.  Of course, she loves Yo Gabba Gabba too.  She loves to play pretend with her baby dolls and with her kitchen and food. She loves to make “dinner”, set the table, and feed all of us.  She also loves to hold Mason’s hand and run through the house together.  She loves hide and seek and laughs and squeals when she finds where you are hiding.  She had her 3 year check up a few weeks ago and she weighs 34 lbs (70%) and is 38 inches tall (64%). She is very independent and always wants to do everything all by herself.  She also always wants the “whole thing” meaning the whole sandwich not cut up, the whole bag of yogurt melts, the whole strawberry, etc. She loves juice but is finally starting to drink some milk from a big girl cup at dinner.  Her favorite food is a cheeseburger.  She loves to sing and is learning so many great songs at her new christian daycare like “this is the day”, “zaccheus”, “jesus loves me” and of course the basics like baa baa black sheep, row your boat, the itsy bitsy spider, this old man, and bingo.

Info Dump

So much has happened in the past 6 months or so.  I have quit my job, we found renters for our home, we found a home to rent, I started a new job, we moved, the kids started a new daycare, it was a disaster so they switched daycares, we all survived the craziest tax season since we have had kids, and now I am finally able to have some room to breathe!  I am going to try to post something everyday about the kids and our daily lives from now on. I know I have said that before, but I feel so guilty about missing out on documenting a lot of milestones over the past year.  I have jotted down random things along the way that I am going to transfer here in this post. These are all things that I have quickly put on the notes app on my phone or either scribbled on a yellow notepad at work.  While it’s not much, I’m thankful that I at least took the time to do the little that I did.  Some of it goes all the way back to when Mason was born, so it might be duplicating other previous posts.  So, here it goes!

8/11/11

Mason started sucking his thumb.  Mackenzie pats herself on the back.  She loves playing outside.  First bottle of pumped bm drank 1.5 oz. I pumped 3 oz after nursing. first paci. took bandage off circumcision. He is having more awake time. He is too small for the bouncy seat or swing and doesn’t really like them. He fits perfectly in 3 mo clothes.  Newborn clothes are way too short.

8/9/11

He loves his paci and eats every one and a half hours. Sleeps four hours straight.

9/5/11

Mason is one month old!  The past three nights, he has slept ten to 3 or 4. Last night he slept all day when we went to greensboro and still slept 11 to 5. He woudln’t go back to sleep so I put him in the swing at 6 and slept on the couch. At 7:15, he got fussy and I got him and he slept on the couch with me until 8:30. He didn’t poop for a whole week, but this weekend, he finally had two huge ones.  He takes his paci sometimes.  Mackenzie loves to try to cover him up, give him his paci, and burp him. If i am holding him, she points to the swing like “put him there!” Two weeks ago he really started being more alert and following our face with his eyes and focusing on us. The past few days he has started grabbing at my hands and arms if I’m burping him.  He grabs hair and my necklace.  His belly button finally fell off after 2 weeks and 3 days.  He was born 10 lb 4 oz and discharged at 9 lb 12 oz. At 5 days old, he weighed 9 lb 13 oz. He had to get an ultrasound on his neck at 6 days old. At 8 days old, he weighed 9 lb 15 oz.  We are moving away from the swaddle because he doesn’t like it.  Moving to the crib next week.  In size one diapers and 3 mo clothes.  Drinks 5 oz at a time.

2/20/12

The other night, Mason was saying dadada over and over.  First time I have heard him say consonants!  Last night he ate puffs!  and he picked them up himself! Saturday night Mackenzie signed Twinkle Twinkle and Wheels on the Bus which were so adorable.  I didn’t even know she could do it until I started singing them and she started doing the hand motions! Mason can sit up all by himself now and can jump in the jumparoo.  He drools constantly and right now has a really bad runny nose and coughing.  Last night he slept 7:15 pm until 4 am! Drank 4 ozs and then slept until 7:15 am! I had to wake him up! Two weeks ago on a saturday night, the Bryant’s were over and he started crying at 9:30.  I decided to try to give him a bottle and he sucked the whole thing down and slept until 4 or 5.  Since then, we have been giving him a bottle (rather than relying on nursing) and he is sleeping much better. One night last week, he slept 12 am to 7:45 am!

2/22/12

This morning Mackenzie was riding in the car with her finger up her nose.  Last night mason slept 7:30 til 5:15 without a peep! He drank 4 oz and then i had to wake him up at 7:15! Night before last he only woke up at 3:30 and night before that, at 4:00.  I can handle this once a night thing!

3/12/12

Sometimes Mason sleeps all night.  Friday night he slept 7:30 pm to 6:45 am (with a feeding at around 9). Saturday night 7:30 to 4, had a bottle, and slept until 7. Last night, he was asleep at 8, bottle at 11:30 and 4:00.  He woke up for the day at 7:45.  Bedtime consists of nursing a little on the couch then feeding a bottle in the rocking chair in his room. Then if he isn’t asleep, standing up and swaying back and forth with paci in his mouth until we rock him to sleep. He used to go right down after we taught him to self sooth (cry it out) around 5 months.  Now he wakes when you lay him down so you usually have to try a few times until you can get him down without crying. He is sitting totally on his own now and has been for about a month. He can lean and reach for a toy while sitting. He hates tummy time so still no rolling or attempts at crawling. Still no baby food. Started table food last week at daycare.  He loves toast and biscuits but nothing else.  I dropped him off at daycare today and they fed him cheerios which he ate a little.  He will eat a little if he picks it up and feeds himself.  He drinks 5-6 oz bottles every 3 hours.

3/13/12

Mackenzie can say : more, bye, ice, shoes, boots, coat, truck, night night, juice, cup, hat, mama, dada, draw

3/13/12

Last night Mason slept all night!  He slept from 7:30 until 7:15 am! He woke up in the middle of the night just talking and babbling. I never went in and he went back to sleep. This morning I went in there and didn’t see him!  He had moved to where he was laying sideways in the crib.  that’s the first time he has ever been in a different place in the morning from where i laid him down at night.  The past week I have worked late so richie has had to deal with both of them.  He’s doing great.  Mackenzie takes off her shirt and pants a lot at school. Even on the playground.  She is obsessed with taking off and putting on her shoes. Almost every time we are on the car ride to school, she has taken off her shoes and socks when we get there. She tries to be helpful by putting lotion on Mason, helping take off and put on his diaper, throwing trash away. Last night richie said he was going to get her pjs. When he got back, she had undressed and was taking off her diaper. Then, she laid down and let him dress her!  Wow! Normally she runs and likes to play the chasing game when you try to change her diaper or clothes. She still loves the Party Rock Anthem song and says more when it’s over. Also she loves TGIF by Katy Perry. She loves grapes. She is in 2T clothes  and some 3T. She will put on her shoes and wave and say bye bye. Also, she will put on her backpack and wave bye bye. She can’t say the b or p sound. B sounds like d and p sounds like t. She says please and thank you.

 

 

Halloween and Fall Fun!

The past two weeks have been a blast with the kids!  Two weekends ago, we enjoyed Trunk or Treats at daycare and went to a fun fall festival and corn maze.  At the trunk or treat, Mason couldn’t really participate because he is still a little too small.  But, Mackenzie had a great time walking up to the cars and saying “trick or treat” in her adorable snow white costume.  They had a dj and all the little kids were dancing, but Mackenzie wasn’t interested in doing that.  She just watched from the side.  One guy with a decorated trunk was dressed as DJ Lance Rock from Yo Gabba Gabba.  You could tell Mackenzie was a little freaked out because it looked just like him.  She couldn’t understand how he was there in person when she always just sees him on tv.  On the way home, she managed to unwrap a huge piece of bubble gum and chew it.  But, thankfully she spit it out in my hand!  It was very big and definitely could have choked her!  Her favorite candy of choice is any kind of sucker or lollipop.  If you let her choose which piece of candy she wants, it’s always the sucker.  Saturday, we went to a fall festival in Rural Hill.  It was pretty disappointing because it was just a bunch of vendors selling stuff.  But, there was a corn maze for kids that was free, so we walked through that.  The kids weren’t impressed.  There was also a little maze made out of hay bales, and both kids loved walking through it and climbing on the hay!  Sunday, we were lazy, but we did dress the kids up in their costumes and take pictures.  Mason miraculously kept the gnome hat and beard on the entire time! 

Halloween was a hectic but fun night.  Since the kids go to bed a little after 7, we didn’t have that much time to trick or treat.  Earlier that day, I left work to go to Mackenzie’s halloween party at school.  All the other kids were dressed up, but I was too scared she would mess up her costume by having a potty accident or just ripping it from playing outside.  The teacher said that earlier in the day, she started taking off her clothes and saying she was going to put her costume on!  I felt bad for not dressing her up, but I don’t think she was too upset about it.  We got home and I fed them dinner.  The whole time, she kept talking about putting on her costume and going to trick or treat!  When we were dressing them in their costumes, Mackenzie was even helping get Mason ready by bringing us all his clothes. She was in a hurry to get started!  We got loaded up in the wagon at around 6 and were the first ones out!  There was no one else trick or treating yet.  But, it didn’t take long before the streets were packed with kids.  Mackenzie went up to her first house and I showed her how to ring the doorbell.  She was shy when the lady came to the door, but she whispered trick or treat, picked out some candy, and said thank you.  Then, she couldn’t wait to keep going for more!  By the end, she was walking up by herself, ringing the doorbell (sometimes 3 or 4 times) and even knocking on the door if they didn’t come out fast enough.  She forgot to say trick or treat most of the time because she was too busy getting ready to grab candy from the bowl.  She would always take at least 2 pieces and she learned to say “I need one for May-mase” because he didn’t go up to most of the houses.  One time, we did carry him up to a house and get candy, but then he did not want to get back in the wagon.  He wanted to be doing what Mackenzie was doing SO bad!  We carried him to a few more houses, but he was nto happy becuase he wanted to be walking!  Mackenzie kept saying “more houses!” after we left each one.  But, by the end, she was cold and was ready to go back home. 

This past weekend, the kids and I spent the weekend in Greensboro with Gigi and Pop while Richie spent some time with his friends.  It was a little stressful, but we all had a great time.  Friday night, Mackenzie had her first experience sleeping on the floor on an air mattress.  she slept in Gigi and Pop’s room, and did fairly well overall.  She was awake at 5:30, but slept all night.  This was also Mason’s first time getting to sleep in the crib rather than a pack and play, so he slept great too.  Saturday morning we got up, ate yummy pancakes, waffles, and bacon, and then got dressed.  We rode up to a neighbor’s house that has goats and horses.  The animals weren’t near the fence, so the kids didn’t really get much out of it.  But, they did see them, and Mason pointed at the goats.  Mackenzie was more interested in throwing the gravel from the driveway.  Saturday naptime was a little stressful. Mason, of course, went right to sleep at 11:45 after drinking his 8 oz bottle.  But, Mackenzie was another story.  Mix an overtired toddler with a new room for naptime and it’s a disaster.  She was running around the room, throwing her covers everywhere, climbing on my parents’ bed, and trying to turn on the tv.  So, I brought her downstairs to lay down and watch tv with us.  She wanted to run around and play, and would have a huge fit if you tried to discipline her.  Gigi finally held her really close, rocked her, and sang to her until she finally fell asleep.  It involved some crying and fighting against it, but she eventually crashed.  Mason slept for over 2.5 hours and Mackenzie slept for about an hour.  When she woke up, she was a mess because she didn’t get a full nap.  So, we had to cancel our shopping plans for the afternoon.  Instead, we went outside and played in the leaves.  The kids loved throwing the leaves in the air, jumping in them, and rolling around in them.  Then, we found a little snake so we cut that activity short!!  Mackenzie took a bath in Gigi’s big tub, and loved “swimming” in it.  Sunday night, Mackenzie slept much better than she did during her nap.  She went right to sleep in her bed.  Mason finally realized that I was in the room with him, so he kept crying.  I had to finally put him in the bed with me.  It’s the first time he has slept with me all night, ever.  At about 4:30 I did finally move him back to the crib.  Sunday morning was daylight savings time, and the kids were actually not up at the crack of dawn like I thought they would.  Mack was up at 6 and Mason slept until 7:15.  We packed everything and headed home. 

I think the highlights of the kids’ trip were: building and knocking down towers made of blocks with Pop, Mackenzie helping Gigi cook and bake cookies, Mason climbing up into all of the chairs and the couch, Mack watching Yo Gabba Gabba youtube videos with Pop on the computer; playing in the leaves, playing on the Kindle Fire, playing with Pop’s binder clips and rubber bands (it doesn’t take much to entertain them!), and playing on the piano.  It was a wonderful weekend and I wish we lived closer!

Sunday afternoon, Richie and the kids spent lots of time together because he left this morning to go to Canada for 3 days.  I overheard him reading books with Mackenzie last night after I put Mason to bed, and it melted my heart.  Mackenzie and Mason are at such great ages right now.  I want to keep them like this forever!! Mackenzie is very challenging, yet at the end of the day all she wants to do is be helpful.  Mason is a little sponge and is learning so much everyday.  Today he is 15 months old and I will try to devote a post to him later today!

Where do I start?

I think about blogging everyday.  But, there never seems to be time.  From now on, I am going to strive to MAKE time.  This is a blog for my children to have as a documentary of their lives, and it is an injustice to them if I do not commit myself to keep it updated.  Over the past several months, I have jotted down notes of milestones and events in their lives, and I hope to find the time to transfer them to this blog so everything is in one place.  But, for now I am going to start by telling about how our lives are now. 

Mason got tubes 2 days ago and I’m so glad that it is done and over with.  He has been plagued with ear infections almost the entire summer.  On Sept 29, he had a double ear infection and was put on awful antibiotics, Augmentin, that caused the worst diaper rash I have ever seen.  Then, we went to the ENT for a tube evaluation 2 weeks later and he still had the ear infection.  More antibiotics were prescibed and a week later he got tubes.  the doctor said his ears were STILL infected on monday when he got the tubes!  So, I know we did the right thing by getting the procedure done now instead of waiting.  My mom had to come down on Sunday night and spend the night in order to take Mackenzie to daycare Monday morning.  We had to be at the surgery center at 7:15, and had to leave the house at 6:30.  Everything went very smoothly.  It’s always funny to watch the kids get the relaxation medicine about 30 minutes before they are taken back to surgery.  It relaxes them and gets them acting “like a drunk frat boy” as our nurse said.  He was so out of it, he didn’t even know that a strange lady picked him up and carried him away from us.  Thankfully, he did not have to have his adenoids removed like Mackenzie did when she had the procedure.  When they let us go back to see him, he was relaxing and drinking water.  He was very woozy but he was not upset or crying.  He was completely different from how Mackenzie was after her tube surgery. She was mad and extremely upset.  On the way home, Mason kept drinking water and ate some cheerios.  He got really fussy for a little while and then he threw up all over himself.  We think that was a result of him crying and not anything to do with the procedure.  We got him home and cleaned up.  Then, I fed him a bottle and he went right to sleep.  He slept from 10 to 12 and then woke up happy as could be.  He was still a little wobbly from the anesthesia, but we had a great afternoon playing and snuggling.  By 6:00 that night, he was exhausted and ready for bed.  After dinner and baths, we put him down at 6:45 and had to wake him up the next morning at 7:30!  He has a little bit of a bloody discharge coming out of his ears, but they said that is normal for the first 2 or 3 days.  Hopefully that will clear up by tomorrow. 

We had a wonderful weekend!  We took the kids to a little fall festival in Davidson and Mackenzie had a blast dancing to the music and playing the games.  She rode a pony and loved doing the cake walk with daddy. They got balloon animals and she got some little toys from the go fish and duck pond games.  Mason is still a little too young to be able to participate so he just watched from the stroller.  Saturday afternoon, we went to a park and the kids ran around on the big open soccer fields.  Mackenzie had a blast playing on the playground and had a huge fit when we had to go home.  But, I was proud of her because she did great peepeeing in the public bathrooms.  At the carnival she even had to go in a porta potty!  On Sunday, Mackenzie and I went to the grocery store that morning and we all took a nice walk around the neighborhood and played in the yard that afternoon.  The neighborhood has brought in a herd of goats to try to eat up the kudzu that is growing in some natural areas. So, we walked over to the goats.  The kids loved watching them.  Mackenzie started singing Old Macdonald when she was watching them.  Except it sounds more like “Ah Magummy.”  It’s so cute. 

Mason is growing up and changing so fast.  I already miss my baby and have been getting sad a lot lately thinking that they both are so big and I don’t know where the time went.  He is in 18-24 month clothes and size 5 diapers.  He has 10 teeth – 4 on top, 2 on bottom, and all 4 one year molars.  But, when he smiles, it’s not a toothy grin.  So, you never really get a good glimpse of all his teeth.  He is always ready to go to bed by 7:00 every night.  You ask him if he is ready for night night, and he walks right over to the bottom of the stairs and stands at the gate.  It’s so cute.  He drinks 2 7-8 ounce bottles a day.  One at naptime around 12:00 and one at bedtime.  He loves his muno doll from Yo Gabba Gabba.  He also loves his pacifiers.  But, I don’t think he is as attached to them as Mackenzie was at his age.  He usually throws them back in his crib when I get him up from nap or in the mornings.  He has finally become a great sleeper.  You can lay him down awake and you never hear a peep from him.  He can sign all done, ball, and please.  He can also say mama, dada, and moo for the cow noise.  I know it’s not much, but it’s so much more than Mackenzie was doing at this age.  She never even said her first animal sound until she was 18 months old.  So, I’m ecstatic that he is saying words at 14 months! He loves to climb and just got tall enough to climb on the coffee table.  He also loves to climb on Mackenzie’s bed and play with her books and blankets.  His favorite place to play is in the little kitchen with the pots and pans.  He also loves books.  But, there is hardly ever a chance to read books with him because Mackenzie gets jealous and wants to sit in my lap instead of him.  He is a great eater and loves his milk.  His favorite thing is the snack trap cup filled with cereal or goldfish.  If he is eating out of it and you try to take it away, he gets a death grip on it and when you do pry it out of his hands, he starts screaming.  Lately, every morning on the way to school, I fill up the snack trap with cheerios and that entertains him all te way to school.  Most of the time, he isn’t really even eeating them.  He just likes to hold it!  There are very few foods he doesn’t like.  He isn’t very fond of blueberries and he refuses to eat Mcdonalds nuggets or hamburgers.  But, he loves most anything else.  He gets very upset if you hold up a banana or yogurt and don’t give it to him immediately.  We haven’t worked very much with spoons and forks, but the time is coming soon.  he went through a phase where he was throwing his food on the floor a few weeks ago, but that has seemed to pass for the most part.  He loves his mommy and I think it’s the sweetest thing when I’m sitting on the floor and he walks over to me, turns around, and plops down in my lap.  If I ask for a hug, he walks over and gives me a big hug.  He also gives the best slobbery open mouth kisses.  Mackenzie never did catch on to doing kisses, so I love that I can get baby kisses from him!

Mackenzie – wow there is so much to write about.  She is a little firecracker these days. She is a sponge and always doing or saying something new or funny.  She has been in big girl panties at daycare for about a month now.  And, she is doing great!  She rarely ever has pee accidents.  She still does number 2 in her panties, but that will take time.  Last weekend, she went all day on sunday with no accidents at all!  She even pooped in the potty.  She still has pull ups on at nap and bedtime. And, she never tells us when she has to pee. We just have to be sure to make her go every hour or so.  Last friday, I had to take her to the doctor because she said her private parts were hurting.  She was even crying out in pain.  Her apointment was at 11:00 so I picked her up from school at 10:30. She had been playing outside and was asking for water.  I stopped by a gas station to get her a little sports bottle of some sort since I didn’t have a sippy cup.  I got her a little sports bottle with some kind of blue flavored kids drink.  SHe had never had a cup like that and thought it was so cool.  By the time we drive the 5 miles to the doctor, she had drank the whole thing.  It was good because I figured she would need to give a pee sample at the dr.  She did pee in the potty at the doctor and we could put it in a cup.  Doctor siad she had a bacterial infection and to put this gel down there twice a day (yeah right, that has turned out to be impossible) and she also has excema on her face.  Anyway, when we left the doctor, she went to the potty again.  We stopped by Mcdonalds before taking her back to daycare because she had missed lunch. We ordered and had just sat down in a booth with our food when she looked up at me and said “peepee in my pants.”  I panicked because she had never had an accident in a public place.  But, I casually wiped it up off the seat, gathered up our food, and walked us out to the car.  Thankfully I had grabbed her bag at daycare that had extra clothes.  i changed her and then we walked back inside and finished lunch. 

Mackenzie is turning into a little girl more and more everyday.  All she wants to do is help. If I’m in the kitchen, she says “I help mommy” and brings her little chair in there to stand on.  She really just wants to watch and be with me, which I never say no to.  Also, she is a great helper with the laundry.  She puts the clothes in the dryer for me when I’m getting them out of the washing machine.  Last weekend, Richie taught her how to fold rags, and now she can do it perfectly?  On Sunday, I was folding clothes and there were no rags for her to fold.  So I showed her how to fold her and Mason’s pants.  She kept pointing out which ones had pockets and which ones didn’t.  Then she picked up a pair of Richie’s underwear and said “daddy has poppets too!” and she stuck her hand in the fly part of his underwear.  I just started laughing.  She can count to 20 but she always skips 4 and 5 for some reason.  And the teens all sound the same.  She says tih-teen, tih-teen, tih-teen, twenty!  She also loves to sing.  She sings twinkle twinkle, happy birthday, the wheels on the bus, the abcs, and some others that I don’t know but that she must know from school.  She loves to watch youtube videos on the iphone or ipad.  We are going to have to start limiting her time spent watching that stuff.  But, there is a firetruck song that she watches over and over, and she has actually learned a lot of the words just from the video.  She is one of the boys in her class at school.  She went to her first little friend’s party a few weeks ago at a local zoo, and it had been raining earlier that day.  She and all the other boys got all muddy on the playground while all the other girls shied away from it.  In the past week, she has really gotten into kissing and hugging her friends bye.  last week, she kissed a boy goodbye and he proceeded to wipe his cheek off afterward.  it was so cute.  Yesterday, her friend Jake kissed her goodbye when he left.  And, she kissed another boy goodbye when she left.  Then, she had to kiss the scarecrow and the bunny figurine goodbye too.  She is getting really good at brushing her teeth – or at least she is more cooperative at letting me brush her teeth for her.  She says “I wuv wu” which melts our hearts.  She has problems with pushing Mason and her friends down, but I think she is getting better.  AT least Mason seems to not mind it.  sometimes, he just laughs and gets right back up.  I need to make a list of the words and phrases she says and her pronunciation of words.  She definitely has her own language.  She is a pretty good eaer.  She loves fruit snacks (her “gummies”), juice, any kind of yogurt, she particularly likes the kind from gerber that doesn’t have to be refrigerated. She calls it “white wo-wurt” because the container is white.  She also loves grapes and oranges.  She likes to get fruit cups and drink the juice after she has eaten all the fruit.

Mason 9 months!

Mason won’t be 9 months old for 5 more days, but while I have a free moment, I thought I’d go ahead and sum up the past few months and where he is at now.  He is quickly becoming a little boy and it’s so crazy!  He has lots of hair and he is going to be outgrowing his 12 month clothes sooner than later.  He has huge feet so the shoes I have bought him are becoming too small as well.  He is in size 4 diapers and last week we transitioned him to level 3 bottle nipples.  He can drink a 7 ounce bottle now in seconds.  He loves his bottles.  He started smiling and kicking his feet and waving his hands when he sees his bottle and it’s time to eat.  He still won’t eat much baby food but he is getting a little better about eating from a spoon.  This weekend, he ate several bites of baby food peas.  But, he’s definitely happier picking up his food and feeding himself.  He loves any kind of bread, pasta, or cereal.  He loves puffs.  But, he will eat basically anything you put in front of him.  He has never been interested in rolling over at ALL.  He has only done it a couple of times.  However, he is becoming better and better about pulling up.  If you stand him up so he can hold onto the coffee table or the activity table, he will stand there forever and be so content.  When he falls, he gets mad and cries.  He is also starting to cruise around the table when he’s standing.  He doesn’t move fast, but he can shift his feet to get where he wants to go.  However, he shows no interest in crawling either.  If a toy is out of his reach while he is sitting up, he will reach out and get on  his hands and knees, get the toy and then use his hands to walk back to a sitting position. 

This weekend we went to Tarboro for Peyton’s birthday party and he was an excellent rider for the 3.5 hour drive.  He also did great with all the strange people who wanted to hold him at the party.  If he saw me, he wanted me.  But, if I was out of sight, he was perfectly happy with whoever was holding him.  Greg held him for a long time and even put him in the cozy coupe and pushed him around which he loved.  The night before, Mason did not sleep very well in the pack and play.  He got up crying around 1 or 2 and I put him in the bed with us.  He slept great but at 5:45 I was getting very uncomfortable so I moved him back to his pack and play.  It was a bad idea because he woke up and never went back to sleep.  He also didn’t nap that morning, so at the party he was exhausted and fell asleep in my lap. 

Speaking of sleeping, Mason is finally sleeping through the night!!!  It happened about a month ago where he was regularly sleeping for 12 hours straight.  He goes down at around 7:15 and sleeps until around 7:15 the next morning.  Over the past week, he is even starting to be content if you lay him down while he is drowsy but still awake.  I didn’t think that day would ever come because for the longest time if you laid him down awake, you were counting on about 5-10 minutes of crying before he would finally go to sleep.  I guess we finally trained him. 

I am proud to say that he has never had a drop of formula in his life.  He isn’t really nursing anymore except for his morning feeding before we go to school.  I pump the rest of the day and I think he is much happier being able to drink from his bottles since he can eat so much faster that way.  For a long time in January and February, I was still nursing him at bedtime and we finally realized he wasn’t getting enough to eat so he was waking up starving in the night.  Once we started giving him 7-8 ounce bottles at bedtime, he started sleeping much better and only getting up once at around 5.  He still drinks a 6-7 ounce bottle every 3-4 hours.  At school, he also eats breakfast, lunch, and snack and eats whatever is on the menu.  Because of his eating patterns, we were never really able to properly introduce new foods every 3-4 days like you are supposed to. But, I guess he isn’t allergic to anything!  He already has been exposed to eggs and meat which I waited a long time to feed Mackenzie.  It’s definitely true that things are different with your second one. 

He still has no teeth!  But, I love that gummy smile.  It makes him look like such an old man when he is gumming his food and he has that thin whispy hair.  He is the happiest and most laid back baby.  He loves watching his big sister and she loves showing him new things.  Her new thing is sitting with him and reading a book that has textures on the pages.  She will grab his hand and let him touch the soft fur of the animals on the pages.  He loves to play with his toys, but he also loves to sit in your lap and have you near to him.  He is babbling like crazy and I’m sure he will be trying to say words sooner than later.  He reaches up for you if you act like you are about to pick him up.  When he gets excited, he starts moving his hands and arms which is so adorable.  He has the sweetest smile and if you are holding him and someone else comes up to talk to him, he acts shy and leans his head on your shoulder.  He has really started to love his paci over the past month or so and he can easily pick it up and put it in his mouth himself.  Before that, he never really showed an interest unless it was bedtime. 

I’m sure I have forgotten so much since it has been so long since I have updated!  But, I am going to start new and try to be better about documenting all the precious memories  with my babies.

I’m back!

Wow, it’s been a crazy 3 months since I started working again.  I have actually taken time to jot down milestones and memorable moments on my phone or on a notepad, and I will have to update the blog with those when I have time.  For right now, I want to start remembering the mundane normal moments that encompass a weekend with 2 fun and energetic kids.  Tax season was pretty rough, not that I had to work terribly long hours (on some days I did), but when I would work until 7 or 8, then get home only to make bottles, grab dinner, and get to bed to get ready for the next day, it really wore on me.  Also, I had to work most saturdays for the past 6 weeks or so, so I felt like I never got long spans of quality time with Mason and Mackenzie.  On top of that, Mason was still getting up in the night for a bottle once or twice a night until about 3 weeks ago.  But, now he is officially sleeping 12 hours straight every night!!!  While I cherished the quiet moments in the dark with my little man, it was definitely time for him to grow up and become a better sleeper.  Richie was a great dad and picked up where I could be there with no complaints.  He is amazing and loves those little boogers so much.  He even survived a 3 day weekend over easter when I had to work Good Friday and Saturday.  They had fun going shopping for flowers and planting them in the yard.  Mackenzie even got her own flower pot and flowers.

Mason and Mackenzie have both had checkups since my last update, and I always like to document them for posterity.  Mason’s 6 month checkup went great (can’t believe I’m going next week for his 9 month checkup).  He weighed 18 lbs 3 oz and was in the 65%.  He was 27 inches long I think.  I will have to go back and look at the handout from the doctor.  I took him to the doctor about 3 weeks ago for an ear infection and he weight 20 lbs 8 ounces!  Wow, that was when he was 8 months old!  Mackenzie weighed that when she was a year!  Of course, his head was off the charts huge.  His appointment went well considering he had just gotten his helmet put on the day before and he had to be put on another antibiotic for an ear infection that had not cleared up.  He also got all his shots, so he was not very happy the rest of the day. 

Mackenzie had her 2 year check up on March 22 and it went really well.  She weighed almost 29 lbs and was 35.5 inches tall!  She is in around the 80% in height and 50% in weight.  the doctor was starting to become a little concerned about her talking since she still wasn’t able to put 2 word phrases together very often.  So, I decided to take her to a speech therapist for an evaluation a couple of weeks ago.  At the evaluation, the therapist asked me lots of questions about her talking and her ability to understand what other people say.  The range was from 85 to 115 for normal.  She scored 106 on the receptive language (what she can understand) and an 85 on the expressive language.  The doctor wasn’t very concerned since she can understand things.  If both had been low, she would have suggested getting her started on therapy, but she ultimately just suggested we give it a little more time and try to work with her on making her say words instead of just pointing and grunting to get what she wants. 

Mason’s helmet experience went very smoothly.  He wore it for about 6 weeks.  He was supposed to wear it for 10-14 weeks, but his head grew so fast that he outgrew it!!  Now his head is perfectly round and I can tell a huge difference.  It never seemed to bother him very much and he definitely didn’t seem to miss it when it was gone. 

Mackenzie has become such a little girl now.  She had a fantastic birthday party and the people who love her the most were all able to come which was great.  We didn’t have a very big event, but we just had some snacks and cupcakes.  It was from 2-4 on Saturday Feb 18 and we were so glad that Grandmama and Grandaddy got to be there too!  Tracy had just had surgery so she couldn’t come, but she sent the biggest bouquet of balloons ever!  It was so awesome and Mackenzie loved them.  We got her a power wheel, and it was so fun to see her face when she saw it.  But, she’s still a little too short to be able to drive it. 

Mackenzie and Mason have really started to interact which is the coolest thing to watch as a parent.  A few weeks ago, we were getting ready for school and Mackenzie was helping me get Mason dressed.  She took his pants and shook them in front of his face.  He started cackling laughing and she loved it.  She did it over and over and they both were laughing so hard.  I got it on video and I’m so glad i was able to capture that fun moment! 

I wrote several posts over the past 3 months but I either jotted them down on paper or made notes in my phone.  I will have to update this site for all those memories and notes whenever I get a chance.

Last Day at Home

This post was written on January 16!

Both kids are napping right now and I’m trying to soak up every moment of my last day at home with them.  I have been blessed to be at home since April 16th and I have never been away from Mason for longer than a few hours.  I’m so devastated, but I’m also trying to be optimistic that this will be the best thing for him.  So far today, I’ve focused on being present for both kids every minute.  I have put my phone away and found things to do besides sit in front of tv.  Last night was a rough one for Mason.  He was asleep by 8:15 and I went to sleep at 9:30.  At 11 he was awake and crying.  I fed him and got him back to sleep even though he wasn’t hungry.  He woke right back up crying again.  So, I gave him tylenol and rocked him back to sleep.  He slept until 2:30 when I fed him.  Then, he woke up at 5 and I fed him again.  Mackenzie woke up around 7:30 and he slept until 8.  I got Mackenzie up right before Richie left for work and we went downstairs to feed her breakfast.  She gobbled up yogurt and a whole banana, and Mason woke up right after she finished.  Perfect timing!  So, I got him up, changed both of their diapers, and we started our day.  Mason wasn’t hungry yet so Mackenzie and I read a book while he played on the floor.  By about 8:45, he was hungry so I fed him while Mackenzie watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  After that, Mackenzie was hungry again so I made a “last day at home” treat of pancakes.  She was a little impatient waiting for them to cook, but I gave her a plate of blueberries and syrup, so she explored and dipped the blueberries in the syrup until the pancakes were ready.  She had a blast eating the pancakes.  Then, she kept pointing to her little kitchen.  I figured out she wanted some bowls and pots to put her pancakes and blueberries in.  So, I gave them to her and she proceeded to make a huge sticky mess all over her high chair and all the dishes!  But, on a day like today I wasn’t worried at all about cleaning it up or setting a bad precedent for letting her have those things.  The rest of the morning, we washed dishes (she loves helping me and getting to play in the water), played with her kitchen, read lots of books, and fed Mason some cereal (it’s still a huge fail but I hope he will get the hang of it soon).  We also danced around (she had to play the Party Rock anthem several times), twirled, jumped, and took big steps and little steps around the living room.  Mason took a nap in his crib from 10:45 until about 11:20.  While he was napping, Mackenzie took the little glow worm and kept pushing its chest so it would play lullabies.  She would cradle it like a baby and rock it in her arms.  It was one of the sweetest moments and I caught it on video.  When he woke up, Mackenzie and I headed upstairs and hung out drawing on her chalkboard and pretending to pee pee in the potty. She also brushed her teeth and turned the humidifier on and off.  Mackenzie kept giving Mason pieces of chalk while he was laying on the floor next to the easel.  He tried to put the chalk in his mouth, but I managed to keep that disaster from happening. I changed the sheets on both cribs, and Mackenzie was fascinated that there wasn’t a sheet on her bed.

Mackenzie went down for a nap, I fed Mason, and he fell asleep right after.  Both were asleep by 12:30 so I had time to eat lunch and blog a little.  Mackenzie was awake by 2:15.  Mason slept until 3:30! The rest of the afternoon we spent playing in Mackenzie’s room with the chalkboard and trying to have a photo shoot.