Elf Yourself! #2

I found this on another blog site and I love it! Watch our family dance as little elf's and ENJOY! I hope this fills your holiday with spirit and joy! We love you all very much!
http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1118815123

Food For Thought

But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. ... If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?
Matthew 5:44,46-47

"Oh, Lord, I think it is closed!!!"

This is what I thought as Kacey and I drove up to the door at the coffee house last night to have our "girls night." The lights were off and the chairs on top of the tables. This seemed very weird for a coffee shop that was very much alive just two weeks ago, on our very first girls night out. I got out of the car and walked to the door- "Thank you for your support, Cocca Moca is now closed." "What, seriously?" I looked further to see that everything was off of the walls and the cute draperies we taken off of the windows. I looked back at Kacey and said,"they really are closed- for good." Sadness. I thought there must be some mistake. Us Moms who rarely ever venture out with out babies and husbands in tow have been looking towards this since the end of our last meeting two weeks ago. So, we scurried up some strength and went to Starbucks... I know if you live in another town Starbucks is most likely awesome. But not in Murfreesboro, it is like the local college club. I have not even been in one in a very long time, just to the drive thru- i still love the coffee. After driving over, we went in to meet Shelly who was saving our table- good thing because every tween and very young adult from 15 to 20 was in there working on their end of semester school projects. It felt nothing like a coffee shop, and especially not like the quite serene one we went to last meeting with 20- 30 somethings quietly working on there personal business sipping on coffee. It was loud, the music festive, but too loud- not very coffee shop-ish at all. Oh well, we thought. We are going to make the best of our time. I did just what i said I would do, i listened. And boy was it nice. I got to spend some time with Shelly, which I have not ever gotten to do. We have merely only chatted in passing at toddler parties and Halloween parties. So, that was very fun and exciting. So, we did what we do and we sipped away on our coffee's and we chatted chat amongst ourselves and it was fun.

Thanks ladies for amusing me over some coffee for an hour or so last night. It was fun and I cannot wait until next time.

Coffee Break

My girlfriends and I have started a ritual. Every other week on Wednesday we have started going to the local coffee house for a break. Last week was just our first week and it lasted 2.5 hours. It was so much fun!!! I think I ended up talking the most of all, but I really had a lot on my mind. This week I plan on only listening to what they have to say. So far it is just Kacey, me and Michelle. I hope we can continue this tradition. It is really nice to have some time away with people you can relate too.
Tomorrow is our second attempt. This time we are only scheduled for 1 hour, but we are starting early so if time runs over a bit we can not be out too late. When you are a Mom it seems so hard to make time for your self, so hard to let go of the things that you control and let someone else take over for even a little bit. It is very hard. But, in order for me not to loose myself, I need some time to drive 2 minutes down the road, enjoy a nice cup of Moca and chat, even if it is just for 1 hour. That makes me remember that I am still an individual, one with passions, interests, and one with SPUNK! My friends definitely remind me of this trait. We are all so different, yet, so alike. Not that my husband does not remind me of those things, just that sometimes he may not want to hear about what I saw on Opera or chat with me about which decorations I am going to use for Christmas and what crafty project I want to dig my heals into this year. I know this is why he likes his MAN time, so he can talk about the things that he likes and Lord only knows what they talk about!

Happy Birthday, Amanda!!!

Amanda's Christmas present. I know she was a lot more excited that she looked.
I think Amanda has the other half of these pictures. I am pretty sure they were taken in the "Fun Tunnel!!" Correct me if I am wrong!
This picture was taken the summer before High School. That was a FUN summer.

Amanda and I were best friends growing up. We shared many great years together running back and forth across the street to each others houses. Life growing up was always fun but she made it that much more fun. When she found out she was moving we ran away to a big pine tree down the street and hid in it. It is actually all quite comical now how dramatic we were about the whole situation. Oh, well, we had great times. I wanted to put some pictures up that I found over the holiday at my parents house. I hope she is not too mad at me for posting these, they are just too much fun! Happy late Birthday Amanda, I hope you had a great one! Thanks for the memories you left me with. I am still bringing Mason to see you in the Spring, can't wait! I love you!

Happy Birthday, Dad!!!

First off I would like to wish my Dad a late Happy Birthday!!!!

This is a super cute picture of him and my Mom when they were younger. I love this one. My dad is such a loving man and I will never be able to thank him for everything he has taught me. Even the hard lessons have brought me great strength. So, Dad, I love you and I wish you many more years of health and happiness. I would not be who I am without you! I love you!

Weekend Wedding

Congratulations Chris and Rachel Wilkerson

We went to Chris and Rachel's wedding on Saturday! It was very beautiful. Rachel was a beautiful bride and Chris was a handsome groom. We had a great time. Curt was in the wedding and Mason wanted to be. Right after the service stared he started yelling, "Da, Da!" I had to take him out to the hallway to run and play. Then he realized that DADA was behind the doors and before I knew it, he was banging on the door yelling DADA!! It was embarrassing, but what can you say, he is a baby! I did make him stop... Most of the pictures are from afterwards right before they made there great EXIT when everyone was decorating the car. Well, it was a FABULOUS time and thank you to Rachel and Chris for allowing us to be a part of your day we wish only the best for your future. Learning from the pros! Here he is quietly soaking up all the knowledge he is learning from the car decorating pros!
And... here he is applying the knowledge! PS- my son is very tall. Those pants, while a tad bit long, are 2T's! He is only 14 months old!

Learning from the best
In the background you can see Curt trying to figure out what to do with the petroleum jelly he wiped all over the door handles. I think that is super mean..... But everyone else thought it was quite funny! And what do I know about car decorating???
Yes, there it it caught RED handed.
Silly string! I must say, he is quite a STUD! I love this man so much!
And one little adorable one to finish things up with! Here is the apple of my eye! I love this look on his face, priceless!

New Photos of Mason

Nonnie Holding Mason
I love the looks he makes with his eyes.
His laughs are AdOrAbLe!
He looks a ton like Curt, but he really is starting to look like I did when I was a baby!

Micro-Managing is NOT me!

So, my manager is out of the office for the next two weeks. I am next in command so that puts me under a lot of FIRE! We are also a leasing manager short, so that sucks! We have a leasing professional that is currently driving me crazy. She is the type of worker that needs to be micro-managed. I am NOT a micro-manager. I am the type of manager that thinks that if you're well trained, then you should know what your daily duties are- and she is well trained! But she keeps coming to my office. It seems like every time I am in the middle of something important, she comes in to ask or tell me something! AHHHH. I am not meaning like a few times, I mean like 3-4 times per hour. What is up with that? It is not like she has not been doing this job for the past 7 months. SERIOUSLY! I do not know what to tell her? It is only day three of the next two weeks. All I can say is thanks GOD I only have to work 3 days next week!

~~~Delish Dish Day~~~

OK, Here goes my newest recipe... I was way too busy to post yesterday, but today, not so much!

This is a SUPER easy recipe that I whipped up in no time.

What you will need

• Campbell's "Fiesta Nacho Cheese" soup
• Cheese crumbles or grated cheese of any kind- i used 1/2 pack
• 2 chicken breast
• 1 pack of smashed Ritz Crackers

Prep time= 5 minutes

Cook time= 1 hour

Fiesta Chicken Bake

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
• Take one can of Campbell's Fiesta soup and pour in the dish that you plan on baking in. Then add one can of water or milk, your choice and mix until there are few lumps.
• Then place your chicken in the dish. I put mine in while it was still frozen.
• Then take your cheese and spread over the top evenly.
• Next comes the fun part. The Ritz crackers... I gave mine to Mason for some help, and he loved it. He smashed and squeezed until they were perfect. After they are all smashed up, sprinkle them over the top of your dish.
• Place in the oven for approximately 1 hour of baking time. I did not even worry about it, I just went back when the timer went off and it was all done.

You could most likely use any type of soup that you wanted too. I just had the fiesta cheesy soup already and thought it would add some spice. It definitely did.

I have no idea of the calories or fat grams int his dish, but I am sure you could get some low fat soup and some low fat cheese and maybe even low fat Ritz crackers, if there is such a thing... It was super YUMMY, I only wish I had taken some pictures.

Enjoy!

Going Green- I promise I am not a HIPPIE!

OK, so I am pretty sappy when it comes to Mason or any kid at that. I was watching television last night and there is a new commercial about going green and the fact that all of the damage we are doing will not affect our generation, it will affect our children. The commercial is a train heading straight for a man and he is telling about all of the horrible things we are doing to our earth, then he steps out of the way and there is a little girl in front of the train. The point of it all is that she will be affected, our generation of children, not us and we are lucky for that, but what about our children?

So, I am on a new crusade... The Phillips house hold is going GREEN, one step at a time. I know I cannot change the world with this little campaign, but I know that I will at least be able to influence a few people and they will carry that on to other people. The biggest reason that I am doing this is for Mason, I want to influence him as he grows to know that we have to take care of what we have, because this is all we got.

So every now and then as I learn new things about going Green, I will make a post about what I have found. I am going to need a little time to do some research.

First way to go GREEN.

Moving your thermostat down two degrees in the winter and up to degrees in the summer saves 2,000 pounds of CO2. Plus, this will also save you some $$$green$$$ in the process... So, try it with us for a month and see how it benefits you, it surely will benefit "Mother Earth" if you do!

I have ~CooKed~ up a new plan...

So, recently for several different reasons I have been cooking and it is working out really well. I know you are thinking, why wasn't she doing this all along? Right, well, I wasn't because I thought I couldn't. But it turns out, i am pretty good at it, like most things!... HA Ha! So, I am dedicating Monday posts to posting a new recipe so that I can share all that I have done. Maybe I will even post a picture of the delish dish! So, from here on out, Monday will be "Delish Dish Day..." Well, aren't I so clever? I am very excited for Monday, so be looking for the new post!

If you have any recipes that you ~LoVe~ you can share them too on Monday's! It does not matter what kind of dish it is, any kind you like will be fine with me. Post them on your blog and send me a message to let me know to check it out!

Missing My Family

Curt and I are extremely big on our family time together and with Mason. This week has been extremely crazy. Curt has been working a ton of overtime and I have been working my normal hours. But since he has been working so much, I have seen him for only about 30 minutes in the past 4 days. I know he is exhausted from all of this, I just really miss him and I know Mason does too. I added up the time that I get with Mason on a weekly basis today and it astounded me. I currently work 40-45 hours a week. Mason normally wakes up about 30 minutes before I go to work, so we will count that as 2.5 hours a week for the morning. After I get home since the time has changed I am getting about 1.5-2 hours each night if I am lucky. So we will count that as 10 hours each week for the night time. And I would count 12 hours each weekend day and that makes 24 for the weekend. So, all together, I am getting about 24.5 hours a week with my child, give or take some. That is only him, that has nothing to do with my time with Curt or all of our time together. I am just wandering when our lives will ever slow down- most likely never. I will say one thing though, it makes me value every single second of ever day that I have with them. God gave me an awesome husband and son and I just want more TIME! Wow, it seems like TIME is all I ever talk about... I guess that is because it means so much to me.

New Facts about Masaon

1. He continues to amaze me every single day with his intelligence and his charm.
2. He now has 8 teeth, which he hates to have brushed. We have tried everything from vibrating tooth brushes to the yummy tasting toothpaste.
3. He can run now! Well, he thinks he can at least. He has had a few crash landings, but he is learning.
4. He loves Gabby, they are the best of friends. It is too fun to watch them together, they chase each other around the down stairs. When Mason is eating, he never forgets to share a couple of bites with Gabby. She is always thankful for this so she never forgets to lick him clean when he gets out of the highchair. They are definitely a team!
5. Mason calls both Curt and I, "Da Da!" I have tried so hard for my much deserved, "Ma Ma." But nevertheless, he insists my name is still "Da Da!" He has said "Ma Ma" many times over, but he has never called me this, he only says it randomly.
6. He can now successfully open any door knob, which is very scary.
7. His vocabulary is up to several words now. He can say, Dada, Mama, go, no no, out, cracker (kakar). gaga (gabby), see, and we are working on thank you. I am not sure how many words a baby at 13 months should be saying, but I do not care. I think he is a pure genius.
8. He loves bath time more than any child I have ever seen. He now takes baths in our bath tub in the master suite. It is much bigger and he has plenty of room to play. He also loves bubbles. He had his first bubble bath last weekend, Curt brought home some hypo-allergenic, unscented Mr. Bubble. That was so thoughtful because Mason has extremely sensitive skin. Anyways, back on track... Mason loved the bubble bath. He was completely amazed. He ate some, inhaled some and even got some in his nose. It was so funny! He kept picking them up with his hands and I would blow them off, he thought that was hilarious. That is how he came to inhale them. He has blow and suck mixed up so he inhaled instead of exhaled...
9. He loves eggs. They are his most favorite food. We have them almost every morning. He likes just a bit of cheese on them and he just devourers them. He almost has the whole fork thing down pat. I have not turned him loose with a plate or bowl of his own too many times yet, he is pretty sure they only belong in the floor.
10. He loves the out doors. He is completely obsessed with rocks. I am thinking Geologist???

Well, these are a collection on some of my new favorite things Mason has been doing. I seem to never have time to sit down and write fun stuff like this anymore. I also did this mostly for my record so I could look back in a year or so and see just how small he was and be amazed at how far he has come.

Oh, just another side note... I was getting pj's out of the closet tonight and I ran across a sock that Mason wore when he was 3 or 4 months old. I think I almost cried. It was so small when I put it next to its much BIGGER cousin that Mason is wearing now... He is growing so fast and I am so happy, but sometimes I think it might be a bit bitter-sweet. Before I know it, he will be asking me to drop him off beside the mall because he will not want his friends to see him with his un-cool Mom. I am going to enjoy every single second that I have with this sweet little angel that God has placed in mine and Curt's life.

Blogger mess-up

Okay, so I have tried to upload the rest of our pictures, but blogger is messed up right now. I keep getting this darn error message. I will try again later, but this iell have to do for now.

Haloween 2007

My little Pirate
Are they not adorable.
Mason, go this way......
Check out the slobber on the lapel of the jacket...
The old ladies house that called mason the "G" word!

We went to Brant and Michelle's for their annual Halloween Party. It was a blast this year. All of the kiddo's were old enough to go trick-or-treating and the weather permitted us to go as well. Mason thought it was a horrible thing to get dressed up. He did not really want to cooperate to get the costume on, so we did it one piece at a time. It took about 30 minutes in all but I did not want my kid to be the only one screaming the whole night. Mason did not actually trick-or-treat. We do not need the extra candy at our house, so we just walked around with the other trickers... The one house Mason actually walked up to was this nice old lady who was the very first person to ever call mason a GIRL! She did it like 3 times. I thought Curt was going to die. I just kept smiling, and she game Mason twizler, the only thing I would let him have. When we walked away Curt vowed to cut Mason's curls... I hope he does not cut them then he will look bald. He does not have much hair anyways. But really, a girl??? Was she serious??? Oh, well. I guess that means he is a very pretty baby, which I already knew! Okay, so here are some pics from our ever fun night at the Powell's house. Thanks Brant and Michelle for a great time! A few of the pics are blurry, but it is so hard to catch that little guy on camera now, he has his own agenda now that he is walking and all!!!!

Les-ology

These are in no particular order, i just thought I would put a little meet and greet on here in case anyone wanted to know some stuff about me, so here goes...

• I am blond. I have tried to go darker, I just think I look better this way.


• I am flighty. I rarely ever make commitments. It is hard to get me to nail down a time period on something (cleaning out a closet, washing my car, weeding the flower beds...etc.) I just normally do it on my own time.


• I will not judge you... It is not my place too. There is a much higher power that gets to do that all day long. I have too many other things to worry about other than the stuff in your life. That is why I think I get so upset when people judge me for the things that I do, the things that I like, or anything else.


• Sometimes I get loud. It happens to the best of us. When I get on a tangent, I start talking loud. I do not mean too, it just happens. I think I might have a hearing impairment. Because I have absolutely not idea of how loud I am being.


• I love my husband. Bottom line, no explanation needed. He is exactly what I need, and exactly the person that God made for me and I love that nothing can change that. His love makes me have butterflies and still at the same time can bring me back down to earth when I am up in the clouds. We are the perfect match.


• Mason is my sun, moon and stars. I do not quite think I could breathe with out him. I did not know real, unconditional love until I met him. When he was born, I had no clue what to do with him, I may have acted like I did, but I was totally clueless. I thought I read all of the books got all of the advice I needed and I was prepared. WRONG! But I think that is the fascinating thing about having children. It is really amazing, you think you know what they will look like, how they will act, what being a MOM is going to be like. Well, some people might be right, but I was totally wrong. I was still convinced he was a girl until the day he was born. He smiles at me and melts my heart like chocolate. I love crawling on the floor with him and learning new things through his eyes. Life is so much more exciting from 2 feet high!


• I cannot stand clutter. Disarray drives me nuts-o! Everything has to be in its place every night before I go to bed. If it is not, I cannot settle!


• I love only a few TV shows. But to the ones I love, I am very loyal. These are my favorites; Desperate Housewives, Lost (discontinued), Brothers and Sisters, Friday Night Lights. They are my favorites. They come on between 8 and 10 pm, and that is the only TV time I have. So it works out great for me!
• I would love to be more domesticated, so I am working on it. I have been trying to be more crafty, practical, and Martha-ish!
• I wish I had more time. It seems to be waisted by so many unimportant things in my life. I never have enough of it for the stuff that really matters. Weekends are my favorite, because we do not stay on any sort of time schedule, unless we go to church.

That is pretty much me in a nutshell. If you need to know more, just ask. I hope you know me a bit better now.

Happy Fall Ya'll

Poor Curt, Mason was tearing his head up with the fingernails. He has not figured out how to be easy when he is riding on the shoulders.
Mason's first cotton candy. He loved it.!!.
It was chilly, but it was definitely more windy than it was cold. Mason has had 5 ear infections so far in his life including one double infection. I cannot hardly stand to think about it so we got a hat that would stay on and he did not touch it until the very end of our trip! Yes, I have cut my hair off... 6 inches to be exact!
What a cute fall picture.
Mommy, pumpkin and Mason
This is one of my most favorite pictures of all times.

Our church had a fall festival. They said at church that they were expecting 12,000 people. I did not really believe them because I had never been, they were not joking. There was a ton of people and kiddos all dressed up! We did not dress up because we were saving his costume for Michelle and Brant's party on Wednesday, but we went. It was an o.k time. We will most likely not go for another couple of years or so. Mason was not old enough to enjoy everything. It was nice to get out of the house and Brian and Kacey, Ryder, Lincoln and Ruby Jane joined us. That was such a treat to be with them all. They twins are so adorable and Ryder was so cute, he was amazed at the horses and Mason. Overall, we had a blast and we were happy that we got out of the house on a Sunday afternoon to enjoy some family and friend time. And best of all we got some cute pictures out of it all....

Boys will be boys!

Yes, we love our toys. Well, my boys love toys anyways, I do not have any really...
Mason was so cute. Curt started it for him and after mason was growling at it, I guess that is what he thinks it sounds like... But in this picture he was just biting the foam on the handlebar. Yes, that is a Budweiser sign in the back ground. I was told that this is a very old and nice sign and you never try to mess with a Man's garage. So, the sign is still up. I get the say-so in the house I guess that is plenty!
Mason can work the car just fine!!! This is the other toy, Chevy Nova. Mason thinks he can work on it just like his Daddy can. I love this smile, you can almost see all 7 teeth. Number 8 is poking through as we speak. We are having a hard time sleeping because of it too!
Vroom, Vroom....
Mason found this paint brush int he garage. He loved it, but I had to take it away. I was afraid it had old paint still on it. Call me parnoid, but you can never chance it with paint.

Mason Stuff

Little "wild-hair" playing with Ryder.
Ryder showing Mason how to work his toys...
I love this picture
More playing with dirt. He is fascinated with rocks.
Tyring to get a pose. It is so hard at this age. His hearing is very selective. every time I say, "Mason look at Mommy..." He ignores me. Why would he do such a thing???

M-T-S-U, Go, Raiders, Go

Tailgating
Me and my girlfriend, Jenna...
The two loves of my life....
Mason and his Raider Jersey. I am having his name and the number 4 put on the back... Too cute! Look at his adorable crocks that Nonnie bought for Mason.

We are sick in the Boro!

We have been dealing with some yucky stuff at the Phillips household. I started getting a sore throat on Friday morning. We still decided to go to Curt's Mom's house on Friday afternoon. After we got to her house, Mason started to feel bad on Saturday and he had a pretty bad night Saturday night as well. We came home Sunday morning, and then Curt started feeling bad. So we have all had a touch of this yucky virus. The worst part is that Mason cannot tell us how he feels. He has just been pitching these whinny fits. I guess that is his way of telling us that he does not feel great at all. He also has hardly slept since Saturday night. He has been up at least 3 times and at most 7 times each night since then. I feel so bad for him.

So yesterday, I kept Mason home and we snuggled and went to the doctor. First an appointment for Mason, the doc said he has an ear infection and a viral upper respiratory infection. What really sucks is that they pulled all of the cough and cold medicine for kids under two. We already had stocked up, but I threw it all away. I guess they pulled it from the shelves for a reason and I could not live with myself if something happened to my little BUG because of my error. Also, I spoke to the doc about that and he said that it really does them no good anyways. So he is on an antibiotic for the ear and that is about it. We are pretty much going to tough it out. Did I mention that this is his 4th ear infection and he is only 12 months old? I feel like I am doing something wrong. I guess some kids are just prone to ear infections, I know I was!

Then I had a doctor appointment that took FOREVER!!!! I am going to switch doctors before the next time I have to go. I am so TIRED of waiting as long as I have to wait. I am always on time and we always pay our bills before they are due and still I have to wait. My appointment was at 2:30 and I did not get home until 5pm. That is utterly ridiculous! I just really hate to change because I like my doctor, but not enough to wait that long!

Think Twice

My grandmother sent this to me in an e-mail. Miss Erma lost her battle with cancer. I think the important message from this is that enjoy what you have while you have it, do not wish your life away or let small stuff bother you. This sweet little message that Ms. Bombeck wrote when she found out she was dying is how I think we should all live life. We would be happier and less worried about things we cannot control.

IF I HAD MY LIFE TO LIVE OVER - by Erma Bombeck (Written after she found out she was dying from cancer).
I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren't there for the day.

I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage. I would have talked less and listened more.

I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained, or the sofa faded.

I would have eaten the popcorn in the 'good' living room and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace.

I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.

I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by my husband.

I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.

I would have sat on the lawn with my grass stains.

I would have cried and laughed less while watching television and more while watching life.

I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn't show soil, or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.

Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I'd have cherished every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.

When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, "Later. Now go get washed up for dinner." There would have been more "I love you's"; more "I'm sorry's."

But mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute... look at it and really see it ... live it and never give it back. STOP SWEATING THE SMALL STUFF!!! Don't worry about who doesn't like you, who has more, or who's doing what! Instead, let's cherish the relationships we have with those who do love us. Let's think about what you have been blessed with, and what we are doing each day to promote ourselves mentally, physically, emotionally. I hope you have a joyous day.

Yes, another post today- this makes 4

So I have been spying on Mason at daycare and I have a relieving picture to share. This is Mason taking a nap!!!! Yeeehaw for naps. I could not be happier. This makes me think he is doing much better today!

The clarity is not great but, he is on the right side of the picture next to the teacher. He is sleeping with his Camo blanket that Uncle Cliff got him for his Birthday! I am so glad they did not put him next to the toy box today, he went to sleep almost immediately!

Reflecting....

I was thinking that I have learned so much over the past year. It was a little over a year ago that I became a mother. The biggest job I have ever had.

It was pretty easy at first, all Mason did was sleep, eat and poop! The older he gets the more challenging being a parent gets. I did not say harder- but more challenging. I have always loved a challenge, it makes me feel fulfilled when I accomplish it. Although being a MOM, the job is never complete, and I hope it stays that way.

Every day I wake up and I get to me a mother to the most amazing creature God has ever put into my life. He adores me, and I love that.

Early in the morning after he first gets up, he does not like to be put down. He dose not really like to snuggle too much, but he wants to be held. I love this little quirk about him. He also knows his Daddy's schedule, If he thinks Curt is awake, he will crawl to the bedroom door and bang on it. After he gets in, if Curt is in the bed, he wants to be in the bed with him. If Curt is in the shower, he wants in the shower with him. You can hardly tell him NO, he loves to be with Daddy! I love this about him also. He has been a Daddy's boy lately, but I can also say that at times, he is a Mommas boy too! It really depends.

I love getting on the floor with him and playing in the toy box. Especially when I swap the toy boxes out, he thinks he has all new toys. This cracks me up, because he pulls each one out and shows it to me and we try and figure out how it works together! It really is a ton of fun to do! I never thought playing with baby toys would be so much fun. When you see them through they eyes of your own little one, it is pretty amazing!

There are a few things we are currently working on that bring the CHALLENGING part into play. Mason does not share very well. I do not really expect him to because he is only 1. But it seems like all of his friends share pretty well, so we are working on this. Also, BITING! Mason seems to know no other way to show he loves someone other than to bite them. It really HURTS! We are really concentrating on this... We are trying to learn kisses instead of biting.

So pretty much Curt and I both work opposite schedules of 40 hours a week, the good thing is that we get to share family time together with Mason, which is the most important!!!! So, these were all of the things that we try and cram into our 2.5 to 4 hours a night together. It all really depends on when mason wants to go to bed. I am definitely grateful for the time that we do have together and that we are all healthy!