My boys bring such joy!

I just wanted to share how cute my little guys were today. Mason likes to spend some time in his exersaucer playing with the toys. There is one toy on there that when you spin it, it makes various sounds - quite loud, I might add. Grant has discovered that if he spins them really fast, that they are really loud and scares Mason to death. Mason's whole body goes stiff, and he jerks back with wide eyes and flailing arms. Grant has decided that this is hilariously funny. Poor Mason is used to it now, and every time it scares him, they both belly laugh. 'We took Chris dinner up at the hospital since he's on call tonight. When we got home, there was a lovely breeze, so I pulled out Grant's tricycle to enjoy the evening. Most nights have been so muggy and warm, so tonight was a welcome respite. Grant was playing with his bike, and I was standing there holding Mason, whos feet were just a-kicking with excitement as he watched his brother. Pretty soon, instead of just watching Grant, any time Grant would move or say something, Mason would squeal with glee and belly laugh and laugh and laugh. It was so cute! I got to laughing right along with him, which only encouraged Grant to be sillier and sillier. It's so much fun watching them interact together! Oh - one more thing - Mason is giving kisses! He started last night. He holds your face and comes right at you with his mouth open wide and plants a very wide, very wet kiss right on ya. It's the most precious thing in the world!

Pictures from the past week

Sorry I haven't been so good at posting pictures this week. It seems like it has been an extremely busy week, but I really can't tell you what has kept us so busy! Here's a snippet of what we've been up to here at home: Smores! Jumperoo - a new toy for Mason that Grant loved demonstrating how to work it. He's been jumping all over the house to show Mason how to bounce in his toy. Ortega Park with Lenox Mason's Getting Bigger! He even will sit up a little bit by himself in the corner of the couch. He's just getting so strong (and definitely filling out those clothes)!

Carpe Diem!

It is amazing how big both of the boys are getting. Yesterday I took them for their first appointment on the Naval Air Station Base at the hospital. Grant was due for his 2 year check up and Mason was in for his 4 month check up. Grant is now almost 31 pounds, and I can't remember how tall they said he was, but they said he was in the 75% for both height and weight. And Mason is now 16 pounds and 26 inches long. He, too, is in the 75% for his height and weight. Wow! On top of that, I noticed last night that Mason had one of his center bottom teeth break through his gums yesterday! Whoa! He's only 4 months, but as I think back on it, Grant was, too, when he got his first tooth. I just can't believe how fast time is going. When Chris and I crawled in bed last night, I was lamenting the fact that I don't have a "newborn" anymore. Now that he has a tooth, I feel like he's graduated from "newborn" to "baby." I jokingly told Chris that it was time for another one! ha! Absolutely no way I'm ready for that, but it is sad to think that Mason's already getting so big. I just keep reminding myself to cherish every moment, because before you know it, those moments are gone and are only precious memories. I can't imagine what my parents feel like now that we're all out of the house - hopefully they're cherishing those memories and enjoying watching us enjoy our own children now. At least I like to think that they're enjoying pleasant memories and not just thankful that we're all gone. :-) So here's to seizing the day...

07.24.08 Jacksonville Zoo with the Smiths

Thursday I went to the zoo with another of the intern's wives and their three children: Ethan (5), Reagan (4) and Kylie (5 months). We had a great time exploring the zoo. I loved watching Ethan. He's all boy! It gave me an idea what to expect in a few years with Grant. He climbed all over everything, and can you guess the first exhibit he wanted to see??? SNAKES! All of their kids were very cute, and we had a great time.

07.23.08

Thankfully the last few days have been much better than our day on Monday! :-) Here are a few pictures from July 23. Mason is now holding toys, and EVERYTHING is going right to the MOUTH! Grant still loves to play with Mason's toys and finds himself stuck in various toys unable to get out. He sure loves to climb! Every now and then we'll even find him with Mason's paci in his mouth. Yuck! I put the boys down for a nap today. Mason was already sleeping when I laid Grant down. I had told him Mason was sleeping so he had to be extra quiet so he wouldn't wake him. Things were extremely quiet for a while, then I heard a strange sound...like both boys were laughing. So I went in to see what was going on, and found Grant in the crib with Mason. Mason had rolled over onto his back and was watching Grant intently. Both of them were playing with a little toy we have on the side of the crib and they were having a ball! It was cute. I hated to move Grant back to his own bed, but, afterall, it was naptime! They did eventually go to sleep, thank goodness.

07.22.08 A Day Worth Forgetting

Yesterday was truly a day worth forgetting. It seemed the longer the day went, the worse it got. Let's hope today does not follow that trend. Chris and I had met with a financial advisor on Monday afternoon. After discussing our options, we decided to invest with this company, so I was to take a couple of checks over to them first thing Tuesday morning. I couldn't reach them by phone, so I went to our bank and had them do a cashier's check in the name of the company that we're using. I then drove the 1/2 hour to the office to drop off our money. When I got inside, they told me that it couldn't be made out to their office - it had to be made out to the investment plan. Sigh. So I drove a 1/2 hour back to the bank, had to wait for the same teller to become available so that we could do it all over again. I then had to drive home - another 20 minutes - to get another check from our other bank, all the while listening to poor Mason scream his heart out in the backseat. Usually Mason will go to sleep in the car. But not this time. He proceeded to scream all the way back to the investment office - another 30 minutes - and all the way home - another 30 mintues! I bet you that kid screamed for 2 hours total. Grant and I had had it! We had left at 8:00 in the morning, and didn't pull in our driveway until 11:20. I had other errands to run and didn't get any of them done because I had to come home for naps, which I must admit, I was looking forward to. Once we got home, all three of us took a great two hour nap! The boys woke up, we played for a while, and Mason fell back to sleep. Now the front door on our house has two locks - the deadbolt and the lock on the handle itself. I am very careful to always check to be sure the door is unlocked when I go out because Grant likes to play with the handle, and often locks it in the process. So I was trying to keep Emma Lou inside, had Grant, wearing only a diaper, in my arms, and shutting the door so that we could quickly check the mail. As soon as I shut the door, I thought, "Oh, no! I didn't check to see if it was locked!" I turned the handle, and sure enough, I had locked us out of the house. Mason was inside sleeping, and I was trying not to panic. I went to the back door and it was secure, I tried our bedroom window because I knew that it was unlocked, so I took the screen out of the window only to find that they have security measures that you can only open it from the inside. I then went over to our neighbor's house. Grant and I were both shoe-less, and Grant didn't have any pants on, just a diaper. I've only talked to them two times since we've lived here. I told her what happened and asked to use the phone. Since I didn't have my cell phone, I didn't have Chris' pager number so I couldn't get ahold of him. His cell doesn't get any service in the hospital. After finding the number to the hospital, I was transferred from person to person, given various phone numbers and didn't get any help. I was getting very frazzled because poor Mason was in the house alone. Finally a man answered the phone and I, a little choked up, explained that I really needed my husband because my infant was locked inside the house by himself. He was very kind and found Chris for me. When Chris said he'd just call me back, the corpsman even insisted that he take my call. Whew! Chris was able to leave immediately which was great. But we still had to wait 30 minutes before he would get home. We left our neighbor's house and waited outside. I stood by the window of the room Mason was in and could hear him screaming. After a couple of minutes of that, I moved so that I could no longer hear him. It was making me very upset. Chris finally got home, and I ran inside to the back room to get Mason. To my dismay, I found him in the bassinett, which is where I left him, however, he had somehow grabbed ahold of the skirt around the bassinett and pulled it over him, rolled over and was completely twisted up in the bedskirt. It was wrapped around his face, and I couldn't get him out very easily . I called Chris in to see what had happened once I had finally gotten my poor baby out. I held him and cried. And cried. And cried. I am so thankful that my poor little one is safe. It freaked me out - big time! It still makes me cry to think about it! After having a very late dinner, Chris went outside to see what was going on with his motorcycle. He went to start it that morning and couldn't get it to start. He was out in the garage working on it until 10:30 last night getting grumpier and grumpier the longer he couldn't get it to start. It's still not working. Hopefully our neighbor's friend can come look at it tonight. Chris is very upset about it, understandably so. On top of that, Chris went to get a tool at the store, and the garage door opener wouldn't work for him. It worked earlier in the day, but stopped working sometime after I got home. It seemed nothing would go right yesterday. On the plus side, because of the fiasco with the bassinett, I put Mason in the crib last night in their room. Until now, I had Mason in the guest room in the bassinett. I laid both boys down at the same time and amazingly only had to go in once to put the pacifier back in Mason's mouth. Otherwise, they both went to sleep quite well. Mason did, however, get up from 3:30-5:15 and Grant got up at 5:30, so I've been up since 3:30 and am very tired. I'm praying today is a better day with no more near suffocations or worst mom of the year awards. Wish us luck!

07.19.08 Fernandina Beach

Saturday morning we got up and drove to Fernandina Beach, FL. Chris had some obligations Saturday afternoon and he was on call on Sunday, so we wanted some family time before time got away from us. We had a great time, although it was very hot!!! Fernandina Beach is a 300 year old town about 40-60 minutes north of Jacksonville. Its history is full of stories of pirates and smugglers hiding out in this little town, and you'll see many pirates stationed around town even today. Centre Street is full of very old buildings and homes. Though much of it looks new, it is actually quite old, but well preserved. You will see bits of the old mixed in with the new, like you'll find yourself going through two sets of doors: the old saloon doors still on the old bar, with new doors behind them. We found lots of fun boutiques, but had the most fun walking the streets around Centre Street where we found hundreds of Victorian Style homes, all in great condition! And the trees were gorgeous! Big limbs that were perfect for sitting in and reading a good book! It was a fun morning. Saturday Mornings they have a wonderful Farmer's Market with beautiful produce, plants, etc. There was even a local farmer with his own milk and butter! It was delicious and so much fun! Farmer's Market: Old Saloon Doors: Rusty Old Anchor: A Shark (plastic, or course) hanging on the end of the pier: Ahoy, Me Mateys!!! Grant sitting in one of the old trees Some of the beautiful Victorian Style Homes in the area: Notice the Carosel Horses on the Porch (below) Dad, this one is the UMC Office Building. Nice, huh?

07.18.08 Fondue Party

Chris and I invited the other interns over for a fondue and games party tonight. We had 8 adults all together, and 5 kids: Dustin and Sara Smith along with their 3 kids, Julie Cabrera (oh how we missed Orlando who had to work), Patrick and Courtney Walton, Remi Lai, and of course Chris and I. We had a great time! The kids played in the play room together (the castle jumper was a big hit!) and the adults gathered around my fondue fountain for a good portion of the night. After we moved to the family room, we talked for a while and pulled out the game, Moods, which is one of our favorites! We all had a great time playing, laughing and talking together. We've certainly been blessed to have several other families as part of the residency who have faith in Christ and strong family values. We're enjoying them immensely and look forward to many more get-togethers!

Bits of play from the last few days...

Mason is playing more and more on his own right now. He'll sit in his exersaucer for quite a long time looking at toys, trying to eat the dragon, and pressing the buttons to make music. He loves that thing (and so do I!) He is also spending more time on his tummy trying to reach for toys, etc. Grant enjoys this, as well, and has had fun getting on the blanket with Mason and playing with the toys. He loves to show Mason what to do. I do, however, have to keep reminding him to let Mason play, too, and not to take the toys away from him. But mom, it's just soooo hard!! He's such a great big brother! Grant and I were playing outside in the water the other day, and I found him peering through our neighbor's fence! He is such a nosey little guy! But I thought it was cute, so I took a couple pictures. :-) Mason had his first bowl of cereal yesterday! At first he wasn't too sure about it and even gagged on it a few times. But by the end, after every bite, he would break out into a huge smile and giggle. When I say giggle, I mean full belly laugh. It was so cute! He was a mess, but boy, was it worth it! Grant has a new best friend: Buzz Lightyear. Everything is "Buzz this, Buzz that!" In the back of my mind, I remembered that someone had given us a Buzz costume a couple of years ago that their child had played with, so I went to the costume box and pulled it out. Grant was elated! He put it on and ran around the house with his arms outstretched in front of him shouting, "Fly! Shhheeeeeeekkkwwwwwww!" He even had the sound effects down! It made us laugh. So please meet our newest son, Buzz. :-)