Family Pictures

We have been very lucky to have several friends who are photographers take family photos for us since Mason was born. I wanted to share a few of the pictures my friend Becky took recently of Mason and family shots for our Christmas cards. She was able to catch some wonderful shots, despite chasing after my active little boy who did not want to sit still and was way more interested in investigating than smiling for the camera!

Thanks Becky!

http://rebeccatoddphotography.blogspot.com/2010/11/dynegy-anyone.html

Happy 1st Birthday Mason

My baby is officially 1! I do not know where the time went, but he went from an 8 lb baby in my arms to a 26 lb kiddo that is always on the go!

We celebrated Mason and Natalie's birthday with a Circus themed party at our house on Saturday, complete with hot dogs, popcorn, large pretzels, and a bounce house. Natalie and Mason were born only a few minutes apart on November 2nd, so we had to celebrate together. All the kids had a blast, including Mason! We enjoyed it so much we got back in the bounce house this morning in our pj's so he could enjoy it a little more before it got picked up.

Here are a few of the pictures from the day...

Where does the time go?

It has been a busy few weeks. We went to Florida early September to celebrate Justin's sister's wedding and celebrate our 2nd anniversary at the place we got married. We loved spending some great time with Mason at the beach and the pool!

Mason got to spend the weekend with Mema and Papa and loved more time at the pool and learning to ride Shag- the horse my brother and I had as kids

My nephew, Joshua Miles, made his arrival on September 27- Welcome Joshua!

Audra and Koen came to visit and the boys loved playing together at the Children's museum and the house.

Mason and Natalie played together on their 11 month birthdays. Happy Birthday!!

Mason is growing so fast. He is walking all over the place, cut his first top tooth (that's three teeth total!) and waves and says "HI", blows kisses, does "touchdown", and many other things. As I was holding my new nephew the other day, I just couldn't believe how far we have come in such a short 11 months. I can't even remember him being that small!

We leave for Chicago on Wednesday to visit Nick, Nichole, and Ava (6.5 months). We can't wait to spend some time with them and enjoy some cool fall temperatures. Will post pictures when we get back!

Happy 10 Months Mason!

Mason is getting so big!

Here are some of things he has been up to:

• He is doing great eating "grown up" food and loves it! Favorites include Mac & Cheese, Black Bean tamales, Turkey Meatballs, Yogurt, Cheerios, and Bananas
• Can stand for extended periods of time on his own. Just this week he started taking a few steps on his own- going to be mobile anytime now!
• Says "Ma Ma", "Da Da", and "Uh Oh"
• Loves playing with Riley and chasing her around
• Got his second tooth last week

We'll be heading to Florida on Tuesday- will post pictures when we get back!

9 months old!

Mason is now nine months old and growing every day. Here is a little update of what he is up to:

-22 1/2 lbs and 28 1/2 inches tall
-Starting to eat table food even though he did not like the texture at first
-Able to pick up and feed himself snacks on his own
-Crawling, surfing the furniture, and walking with the aid of his push toy
-Starting to stand on his own for brief periods, even though today he did it for almost a minute without falling!
-Into everything he is not supposed to be and gets quite the attitude when you tell him NO
-Full head of hair and one tooth
-Has no fear and will try anything
-Chases Riley and loves playing tug of war with her

HAPPY 9 MONTH BIRTHDAY MASON! You sure are growing fast!

Growing Fast and Curious!

Mason turned 8 months on Friday and he is on the go!

He is very quick at crawling, pulls up on everything, and is starting to walk his way around things while holding on. He also loves trying to climb! He is definitely our monkey!

We had a great Fourth of July weekend. It was great having relaxing time off to spend with my boys as well as with friends.

We took Mason to the Children's Museum today and he loved it...we had one tired boy when we got home. He loved being able to crawl and climb all over the tot room and explore whatever he wanted.

Happy Father's Day Da-Da!

Happy Father's Day Da-Da (as Mason says!)

Mason is so lucky to have the best Dad in the world! We took Justin to Brennan's today for lunch and had a yummy cookie cake yesterday after Justin returned from golfing with his friends.

In the past few weeks, I have gotten quite mobile. I love climbing into Riley's bed

Pulling up on everything

Mommy lets me play with my food....occasionally!

I love sitting up on my own

Getting into trouble :-)

and love heading to the park

Mommy bought me a car...now I just need to learn how to drive!

Mason pulling up!

It didn't take long for Mason to start pulling himself up, we have a feeling he is going to be walking before too long.

Mason crawls

So, I apologize for the much awaited debut of Mason crawling. Without further hesitation, Mason at the speed of light...

I am mobile and talking!

It's been quite an eventful few weeks for us! Mason has learned how to scoot to where he wants to go and started saying "DA-DA" last week.

I haven't been able to get a good video yet, but hopefully will soon!

Last Saturday, we headed over to Amber & Bill's house so Mason could hang out with his girlfriend Natalie. They were born 9 minutes apart and we have not gotten to visit with them since I went back to work. It was wonderful seeing how much both have grown. My child is definitely all boy and Natalie is a cute, petite little girl.

Mason and Natalie

The four of us

Natalie, Grant, Audrey, and Mason

A few pictures from the week

First trip in the shopping cart

Water is awesome!

Daddy is starting me off early

This is how Papa babysits!