Mason Memos

Two months worth of Slacking...

2011-01-17T20:51:00.000-05:00

Yes, so I probably sound like a broken record when I say that I'm a complete slacker. I actually feel quite bad that I've not posted on here in two months... I've wanted to many, MANY times, but then opted to do homework or go to sleep rather than posting.. I regret it... and I'm sure I'll regret it more, but that's life and I'm not perfect, so I'll give myself a break.

Somewhere in the last 2 months my little baby boy has become a little boy... I'm not sure how I feel about this. I'm such a sentimental person that it actually makes me a little sad when I think about him growing up. Yesterday I realized that he doesn't crawl anymore... today he drank the last of my frozen milk. Sam thinks I'm crazy... but I that's just how I am. I just want to soak up every minute, as I'm afraid that I'll blink and I'll miss something.

Here's a few notable (at least to me, the Momma) things that have happened in the last two months.

Landrick got sick, and I mean S-I-C-K for the first time (I actually blame the downward spiral into no posting on his sickness) about a week and a half before Thanksgiving. He and I were home alone, the electricity went out due to a HUGE tree falling in the neighbor's back yard as I was putting him to bed around 7:30... when I went to investigate Landrick started throwing up... and pretty much threw up about every 20 to 30 minutes for the next 7 hours. We survived... and then I got sick. I knew I would, as Landrick pretty much threw up on me all night long. Oh well... that's what Mommys are for, right? :)

Landrick started walking... his walk was a little 'Frankensteinish' at first, but now he's pretty much mastered it. He wouldn't bend his knees in the beginning, but after a few weeks realized that knee-bending was actually pretty beneficial. He's all over the place now and always wants 'down' in the store. BUT he's not quite mastered the art of holding our hand, so he doesn't get down very often.

He started saying 'Snowman' which actually sounds like 'Noman' when he says it... but he says it allllllllll the time and can literally spot a snowman ANYWHERE within eyesight - no matter how big or small. When he sees a snowman he says 'noman' over and over and over and over... After the first few days Sam decided it was time to really try teaching him a new word... haha.

Landrick has started 'taking direction'... meaning I can say "Landrick, go get your hat' and he'll actually go and get his hat... it's wild. Parents out there will more than likely understand what I mean by 'wild'... one day you are trying to interpret what your baby is thinking, wanting, etc... and then next day BAM you can communitcate with them on a whole new level. (I'm still trying to teach him to shake his head 'yes' but he's not yet mastered that... he's SUPER at shaking his head no though... hehe.)

He's gotten three new teeth (lower left molar, and two bottom teeth that sandwich his two front bottom teeth) and another one on the way (upper left molar).

He's begining to get a little seperation anxiety... nothing too bad, but will still cry occasionally when I leave or will shake his head 'no' when someone tries to hold him when I'm holding him.

Sleeps from 7:30pm till around 7:30am.... love that! Still takes 2 naps a day too, one in the morning (9:30 till 11:30) and another in the afternoon around 3:00 that usually only lasts about an hour or so. I think he's going to love sleeping like his mommy!

Has begun his picky eater stage... MUCH to my dismay. This happened soon after I stopped nursing which was the day before Thanksgiving. Thankfully he'll eat more than just Ritz crackers now (which is the ONLY thing he wanted to eat in the begininng... besides fruit)... but is still no where near the champion eater he used to be.

He stopped nursing... well, I weaned him. And I can tell you it was much harder on me than it was on him. I knew it was the right time to stop because he really was completely unphased. I omitted one feeding every 4 days, the last eliminated being the early am feeding. The last day that I nursed was the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. I mixed his whole milk with stored breast milk for the first few weeks, and then would only give him breast milk mixed in every few days after that. Today I actually gave him the last of my frozen milk... so no more mommy milky for Landrick. :)

Landrick loves bathtime... all I have to say is 'are you ready to take a bath' and he makes a mad dash for the bathroom.

He's constantly congested.... which makes me sad and makes for an interesting bedtime regime (humidifier, vicks vapor rub, nose sucking - which he HATES). Not sure how to remedy this any other way.

Sippy Cup and Head Shakes

2010-11-15T22:05:00.000-05:00

Landrick's personality is really starting to show through... Here are a few of the funny things he's been doing lately.

If you put his sippy cup in the cup holder on the right side of his high chair he will promptly move it back to the cup holder on the left side.

He now will do things for praise... I clapped and said 'yay' when he took a drink from his cup and then set it nicely in the cup holder. So of course he did it again almost immediately. Then, he would just pick the cup up a few inches (not taking a drink) and set it right back down, looking and smiling at me the whole time. Too cute!

This morning when I went in to get him from his crib after I'd showered he decided to play his version of peek-a-boo with me by holding on to the crib rail and squatting down and springing back up quickly... he'd just laugh.... it was soo cute.

He likes to pull every single one of his board books off of the bottom shelf of his bookshelf/changing table. One by one, but in a methodical fashion. Then when he's done he'll find the one he wants to 'read' and pull it out.

Every morning when he's finished nursing he immediately turns around and points to his 'I love Pumpkins' book and wants me to read it to me. So I'll pick it up and begin reading... when I get a few pages in he'll point to his Corduroy Halloween book and want to read that one. So I put the pumpkin book back and grab the corduroy... then after a few pages he'll point to the pumpkins book again... and the cycle continues. :)

And, he does looooove, loooove, love pumpkins. He points to them whenever he sees one... I think he has a 'pumpkin' radar because he'll spot them before I even do.

Today I was offering him some water from the straw sticking out of my water jug. He leaned down, put the straw in his mouth and proceeded to blow bubbles. He did this every time I offered him the water. Too funny. He used to know how to drink from a straw....

He'll stick his legs/feet up in the air when we tell him it's time to put socks, shoes, or pants on... ;)

But, he doesn't like to really wear shoes or socks after a few minutes of having them on.

I give him things to play with while I change his diaper (trying to keep him occupied). As soon as he's had enough (or if I give him an uninteresting item) he'll immediately drop it over his left shoulder... which means it falls between the wall and the changing table. I think it's become a little game to him... that he always wins;)

Landrick Funnies

2010-11-10T21:07:00.000-05:00

Landrick's first birthday and birthday party have come and gone... they weren't what I expected them to be, but were great regardless. Mom and Dad were not able to come to his party, but Landrick and I did go over to their house on Monday (Landrick's actual birthday) for a quick visit.

Here are a few funny things Landrick has recently done:

The other night I decided to let him take his own bites off of a banana (he LOVES bananas, btw). At first I held the banana and he did quite well scraping little bits off. Then he wanted to hold the banana and did so successfully after getting past the cold peel bumping against his hand. However, when he to take a bit off of the banana he treated it like a bottle and started sucking on the end of it. It was soooooooo funny! I was worried that he would end up sucking a big chunk off and getting choked so I tried to help him a bit. But when he was ready for the next bite he did the same thing. Too funny.

Yesterday while I was changing his diaper he proceeded to grab my arm and give me raspberries on it. When I picked him up he pushed his face against my neck and gave me raspberries on my neck too!

Today he started sticking his tongue out and blowing... I don;t know how to describe it in words, but he kept doing it over and over while I was with him at the office.

On Sunday night when we showed him his new play room he was really excited, but eased into the room. He crawled in and just kind of looked around in awe. Then he got quite excited when he saw the fireflies and bear (he even went up and 'petted' the bear). We were trying to get him to crawl through his tunnel by throwing Woody from one side to the other, but rather than crawling through the tunnel he would peek in and then crawl as fast as he could around the outside toward the other end. We would repeat this and he would repeat his actions. Then finally he just crawled right in and through the tunnel! I guess he had to make sure it was 'safe' first.

Landricks 1st Birthday Party:

Landrick seemed to have a good time at his party... he took a nap right before it started, which probably was a very good thing. He wasn't very interested in his cake, mostly because he did not like touching the icing. Nik wasn't surprised since it took him a few weeks before he warmed up to the sand box (he may have a few sensory issues). He ate a few bites when I fed them to him, but otherwise did not get it all over him or 'dive right in' as I had anticipated:) He seemed to enjoy opening his gifts but was mostly interested in the tissue paper (which I expected). The whole experience was a bit surreal... now even three days later I can't believe that his birthday and birthday party are over.

On his actual 1st Birthday we took him for his check-up... he was longer than the tape measure they had! 30 3/4 inches long and weighed 20 lbs 9 ounces. He cried a bit after his shots but after a few minutes was fine. We went and painted his hand prints at the Mad Potter and he did so very well!!! The owner said they normally don't do prints for kids under 18 months, but Landrick was successful on the first try! I was actually quite surprised as he had just had shots, missed his nap and was hungry. We then went to eat at Rafferty's and Landrick had Roasted Sweet Potato Rice Pilaf and really liked it! :)

When we got home he took a quick nap and then he and I both took another little nap together:) I took him over to Meimaw and Poppy's to play and open his gifts from them and then went home and put him to bed.

Revisiting One Year Ago... Landrick's birthday!

2010-11-08T21:21:00.000-05:00

A few days after Landrick was born I wrote down my labor/delivery experience so that I could remember it... and perhaps someday share it with Landrick. Here's a few parts of what I wrote...

November 7th 2009 –

I woke up on Saturday morning around 6:30 to get ready to work MSU’s open House. Sam dropped me off at ADUC around 8:30am and I spent the next two hours speaking to prospective students about MSU and financial aid resources. I did not feel very well that morning. Sam picked me up and took me home. When we got home I took a long (1.5 hrs) walk with Mom and Nikki. When we finished Sam picked me up at Nik’s house (I was watching the kids play in a leaf pile) and we went to Lowes. After going to lowes we stopped by Dairy Queen and got Chocolate Malts (something sweet to hopefully stimulate baby to move and break my water). I went home, drank the malt, ate lunch and sat on the birthing ball in the living room while working on homework and watching the UK football game.

That evening I decided to make a nice supper for Sam (homemade Chipolte style chicken burritos, a decision I almost immediately regretted once I went into labor.. hehe:). After supper I cleaned up the kitchen and went back into the living room to watch TV and hang out with Sam. Around 7:20pm I felt the first contraction and looked at Sam and said – I think I just had a contraction. I marked the time and then five minutes later I had another, another followed 5 minutes later and another 5 minutes after that. I called Mom and asked her how many contractions I should have five minutes apart before heading to the hospital. She said it would probably be a while, maybe a few hours and just to keep track of them. I got off the phone and a few minutes later Nik called and said that she was coming over. Once she got here she ‘watched’ me for a few minutes (10 or 15) (while I was still having contractions 5 min apart). I knew that these were the real thing because the ‘stopped me in my tracks’. (I was always secretly afraid that I wouldn't know when I had a contraction... that thought makes me laugh now!) Nik finally looked at me and said – yes, you need to go now. I decided to take a quick shower before we left. Once I got into the shower my contractions were 3 minutes apart and I knew it was definitely time to go. Sam was showing nikki the sound element on the pack and play and I finally had to tell him to put the stuff in the car (without freaking him out completely). Nikki then took some photos of me and my belly and Sam before we headed to the hospital.

We arrived at the hospital around 9:30pm (after Sam was stressing about getting there in time and I was stressing about him driving too fast). When we arrived I’m not sure that the nurses or check in people really thought that I was in labor… they did not seem too concerned. When I got into my room the nurse told me to get my gown on and put my clothes in this clear bag (making sure not to leave it on the back of the bathroom door in case I forgot about it). I couldn’t get the gown on (even with Sam’s assistance) so the nurse had to help me.

She made me get in the bed and hooked me up to a fetal monitor and a toco monitor. She got my blood pressure and asked me a bunch of questions (while I’m having contractions – which was bizarre to me). She asked if I had a birth plan and I said no (still not thinking that I had to have one, but she seemed a little put-off that I did not). I told her that I was going to try to have the baby naturally and I did not want any statol (regardless). She asked if I’d had a natural child birthing class and I said no… just the class that was offered by Central Baptist. (I did not know that I should have had a natural childbirthing class). She then mentioned that someone would be back to give me an IV and I told her that Dr. O’Nan said I did not have to have one. She said it was hospital policy but did go and check. Another nurse came back and took my vitals and was going to give me an IV when the other nurse came in and said I did not have to have one (which I was happy about).

A few minutes later she checked me and I was 7-8 cm dilated (which I think surprised her even though I told her I had been 5 cm dilated the previous Tuesday). Then we just kind of labored – Sam went and moved the car. The nurse got a birthing ball (I asked if I could walk around and she said no) and tried to find a rocking chair (which she could not locate). I was in the bed for a little while and then moved to the ball with Sam behind my back. I got back into the bed at some point and sat on my hands and knees (which really didn’t do anything for me, except make me feel a bit exposed;). At one point (rather early on) I did look at Sam and say – I’m not sure I can do this – and he looked at me and said –yes you can. That was the only lapse of confidence during the laboring process that I had.
I then started having pressure in my bottom and feeling the urge to push. My water still had not broken and I was 10 cm dilated but had not thinned out completely. Stacy came in and checked me and said that I still needed to thin out a bit before I began officially pushing. A few minutes later I was fully thinned out so she told me that I could push and it would hopefully break my water. I pushed a bit and my water still did not break. Sam held my right leg and the nurse held my left. (Sam was awesome the entire time – very supportive and did exactly what I needed him to do).Stacy then decided that she would break my water herself to help me progress a bit. I had been pushing and the water bag was bulging but she had to break it because it would not break on its own. (Sam said that was kind of gross to him – but rather interesting too.) Once my water broke I was able to feel like I was making a bit more progress.
Pushing was hard (yes the contractions hurt but I had the hardest time with pushing). I felt like I was going to pass out due to having to hold my breath to push. The nurse started counting and I definitely needed that to keep me focused on how long I needed to push. She wanted me to get 4 pushes in per contraction but Sam said my first two were the only ones that really ‘worked’. I watched a little progress at first but then had to keep my eyes closes between contractions to keep me posted. It took about a ½ hour for me to get baby’s head out 1/3 of the way and another 30 minutes to push him out completely. I felt rather discouraged and kept apologizing for not being able to push better. It was also odd because my contractions were not regular once I began pushing – sometimes I had 4 or 5 minutes in between, which I thought was weird.) I also had severely chapped lips! I was thirsty but had a hard time with the ice chips because I worried that I would be eating one when a contraction came and would choke. Sam was so very encouraging and so was Stacy. She kept telling me that I was doing so well and said that I could teach a natural child birth class. She could not believe that I had never had any classes or anything. (Of course, that is exactly what I needed for encouragement, as I love to be the best at anything I try to do haha!)

I kept telling myself that the baby would come within the next 3 contractions… I could make it through three contractions. At one point I do think that I temporarily blacked out (or did go to another place almost like a dream) because when I ‘woke up’ and opened my eyes it took me a minute to realize that I was having a baby. Finally after about an hour of pushing we delivered Landrick at 2:00am. They placed him on my chest and it was awesome. I did not cry but it was the most amazing thing ever. I was super tired, but so very happy. They took him to clean him up and weigh him and Sam went with him while Stacy tended to me. Once I pushed him out it was instant relief. I did not have any more contractions. I did have a second degree tear and a bit of a bleeding problem so they had to give me two shots of pitocin and then another shot of something else (in the butt) a while later.

I had done it without any pain medication beyond a local shot before Stacy began stitching me up after Landrick was born. While in the hospital I had two motrin the entire time. One around 4:00am and another the night before we left to come home.

I was able to feed Landrick for the first time within an hour of giving birth and he latched on immediately. I fed him for 15 min on each side and then we brought the family back to meet him (about 3:30am). We then moved to the Mommy/Baby area around 4:30am.

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Thinking back a year later there are only a few things that I would do differently next time...

#1 - I regret not having someone in the room to take photos as soon as Landrick was born.
#2 - I wish I would have brought something for the nurses to put Landrick's foot print on that I could take home with me to frame.
#3 - Next time, I would like to go into labor during the day... so I'm not so tired! haha. Although I have NO control over this one I just thought I'd throw it in there anyway! hehe
#4 - I wish that Sam had personally gone to the waiting room to share the news that we had a baby boy... and perhaps video tape the response:)
#5 - I would not have eaten chicken burritos if I knew I was going to go into labor.
#6 - Next time I will bring CHAPSTICK!!!
#7 - I wish I would have had professional newborn photos taken of Landrick... although we have LOTs that we took (and some are super awesome), I wish we would have had some with all three of us in them.

What I have learned in the last year... well just a few major things because I could write books on everything that I've learned... :)

- Just because you have a child does not make you an expert on parenting... before I had Landrick I thought that every Mom was an instant parenting expert.... I've learned that you'll always have lots to learn.

- You have to do whatever it takes to make it through and don't beat yourself up over it... as long as baby is safe, it's okay if you don't do 'what the books tell you' to do.

- Life takes on a totally different perspective and you suddenly can relate to what other parents have told you or talked about in the past.

- Priorities instantly change... for the better.

- As a parent you are in a constant emotional struggle between being so very excited for your child's next milestone, but at the same time so sad that they are growing so quickly.

- You can be having the worst day in the world, but just thinking about your child makes that day better in an instant.

I love being a mom.... it's the best thing that has ever happened to me.

New and improved 'jammies'

2010-10-21T22:02:00.001-04:00

Last night Landrick, Sam and I went to eat with some friends. Although I was rather worried that he would not be on his best behavior, especially since we would be out a little after his bedtime... he was SUPER. He flirted with one of the girls who sat with us, he 'played' with some college kids at the table behind ours, he smiled and babbled the whole time and ate allllll of his supper! What a SUPER baby boy he was... and of course, I loved the fact that our friends (and some newly found friends) oooooooed and aweeeeeed over him... every mothers dream:)

We arrived back at the house about 8:15, which is 45 minutes after Landrick's normal bedtime, so I went ahead and asked Sam if he would change landrick and put some pjs on him while I got ready to feed him... a few minutes later I walk by Landrick's room and see Sam tickling landrick, hear Landrick laughing, and hear Sam saying 'my little gorrilla'. Curious I walked into the room and saw that Landrick had a black fleece outfit on... I immediately was confused, as I did not recognize the outfit (and as most mothers will attest... a mother knows every single clothing item their child has) so I asked Sam what it was. As the words escaped my mouth I suddenly realized what Landrick was wearing and began to laugh... a lot.

Sam and mistaken part of a pumpkin Halloween costume (the 'undersuit' per se) for pajamas....

Needless to say, Landrick slept in 1/2 of a Halloween costume last night!!! ;)

The other 1/2 of the pumpkin halloween costume!

Not-so-tasty bug

2010-10-18T22:03:00.000-04:00

Well little man finally ate a bug (well the first one that we actually know of at least). Sam sent me a text message at work to let me know that Landrick threw up all over the ottoman... because he got choked on a bug that he ate. Sam saved the bug for me to 'inspect' (he's saved Lan's poo for me to inspect before too... just call me Mom/Inspector I suppose;). It appeared to be some sort of beetle bug... maybe around three quarters of an inch long. Yuck! It was probably alive when Landrick tried to eat it and maybe even tickled his throat on it's way down, thus causing him to puke. Or, maybe it was because he choked on it. Either way, that's just plain gross! ;)

11 months already

2010-10-08T21:20:00.000-04:00

When I was leaving Jackson last night around 6pm I received a call from Sam... his first words to me were 'well, I committed a stroller faux pas'. At first I didn't know exactly what he meant, but his explanation quickly followed. Basically, he had forgotten to lock the break on the stroller wheel and when he went to shut and lock our front door the stroller rolled off of our porch (which is only about 4 inches off the ground), bounced sideways, and fell over... with Landrick strapped inside. Landrick escaped with a boo boo on his forehead.. but I think Sam walked away a little more shaken up. On a positive note... I'm sure Sam won't forget to use the wheel lock in the future.

Let's see... some interesting and memorable things about month 10:

Landrick still LOVES books. He's started to get so excited while reading that he will look up at me between pages and smile the biggest smile and shake his little body in anticipation/excitement.

He's started using the 'more' sign... just today actually... but has used it A LOT!

He's no longer drinking from a bottle. Although I think he doesn't get quite enough milk from the sippy cup, it's been an easy transition.

He's been eating more and more 'table' food... he loves pasta, sweet potatoes, salsa (yes I said salsa), garlic hummus, stuffing, mashed potatoes, turkey, chicken, mushrooms, beef, barley, rye bread, bananas... and lots more. He's not too fond of broccoli, but will eat it.

He's still crazy-obsessed with Toy Story and loves to play with his Woody doll. He still gives it kisses and the Woody on his play mat as well.

He loves to go for walks, even when it's chilly or hot outside.

He loves chimes... it makes him smile from ear to ear to gently 'ring' the chime in his bedroom.

He gets super excited to see his Mommy when I come home from work. If I don't almost immediately go over to him and love on him a bit as soon as I get home he gets quite upset (almost fit throwing).

He loves to play with the magnets on the fridge and tries to 'stick' them on everything else.

He stood on his own for the first time unassisted and is cruising like crazy!

He really is a super happy baby... loves to laugh and giggle!

That's all I can remember off of the top of my head... if something else comes to me I'll add it later! :)

Peek-a Who?

2010-09-24T13:34:00.000-04:00

So Landrick is completely obsessed with books and I am LOVING every minute of it! When he was younger it was hard for me to grasp the idea that he couldn't sit still long enough to make it through an entire (short) book. But now (when reading the 'right' one) he will sit on my lap and let me read an entire book to him... multiple times. He gets SO excited!!! I LOVE IT!

Yesterday afternoon I put all of the books that he had 'read' the night before (there were probably 15) back on his bookshelf. I put his favorite book, Peek-a Who?, up last making sure that it wasn't easily seen... I was curious to see how long it would take Landrick to find it that afternoon.

Well the little man did not disappoint. I picked him up from the sitter, took him to his room, changed his diaper and then set him on the floor. He immediately crawled over to the bookshelf and pulled out a book. Not just ANY book... his Peek-a Who book!

All I can say is never underestimate how smart and attentive a baby is... I never realized just how much babies pick up on and retain until little man came along. Crazy.

Some of Landrick's other favorite books include, Ruff Ruff Where's Scruff, Baby Farm Animals, Peek-a-boo baby, and several more that I can't remember the names of!! ;)

Sickness...

2010-09-21T09:47:00.000-04:00

Well I'm glad that we were at least blessed with about 10 months of a sickness free Landrick, as it appears that once he gets sick... he just stays sick. We've been dealing with him no feeling 'himself' since just before labor day. First it was Strep Throat... poor little fella. That was the most miserable that I've seen him. Of course, we went on antibiotics for the strep and on his last day of antibiotics, we noticed that he'd developed Thrush. We took him to the doctor again last Tuesday for Thrush and they gave him some anti fungal mouthwash and told his to swab the 'infected' areas twice a day for 7 days. Well it's virtually impossible to swab the tonsils and uvula of a 10 month old... so you just have to stick the q-tip in there, swish it around and hope for the best. Then squirt the rest of the dose in his mouth in hopes that he'll swish it around before swallowing. So we just finished the Thrush meds yesterday, but noticed for the past several nights that he's not slept well and had a cough.

Last night he couldn't breath out of his nose at all... it was quite sad to see him so very sleepy but so very frustrated at the same time that he couldn't breath out of his nose. He just laid in the bottom of his crib and cried with his eyes shut. After about 10 minutes of rubbing his back and patting him (and him still crying) I picked him up and that seemed to help a little. He was still trying to go back to sleep but because he could not breath through his nose he was having a hard time of it. I turned the hot water on in the shower and sat in the dark bathroom for a little bit hoping that the steam would loosen things up for him. Then I sucked his nose out and applied some baby vicks... It helped a little bit but not too much. I think the congestion is no in his nose but rather his sinus cavity. I ended up holding him in the recliner and patting his back till he fell asleep (that was a first).

I'm a bit irked because he's had congestion problems since he was VERY little but the doctor shrugged it off as no big deal (maybe just a little allergy). In my opinion, however, I think it is a big deal when it keeps him from being able to sleep at night. I mean, if I was so congested that I couldn't sleep I'd probably try to see about getting that taken care of. Blah. It's times like these when I wish I was the doctor so I had the knowledge needed to diagnose the little fella... either that or I need a pediatrician that I know that will just tell me point blank whether or not I'm just being paranoid.

I guess I'll call the doctor and try to take him in for the 3rd time in 4 weeks... I just want him to feel better... even if the doctor thinks that Sam and I are just acting like typical parents act... sigh.

On an unrelated note... Landrick has been grinding his teeth. I first noticed him doing this on Saturday while we were at the Arts Festival. It's quite funny because when he does it he looks like a little bulldog. I try to get him to stop, as it can't be good for his teeth, but that's a little tricky.

Tub Time

2010-09-14T21:41:00.001-04:00

A new post has been loooooooong over due... in the past (almost) month since my last post Landrick officially hit the 10 month mark, had Strep Throat, attended his first wedding (while suffering Strep), REALLY started loving books, started squatting with his bottom off the floor, lets go of things while standing and stands on his own for several seconds, slept through the night (and did it 5 nights in a row), learned how to open the cabinet doors in the kitchen (and pull everything out;), and currently has Thrush (thanks to the Strep antibiotics). Shew! I'm sure that's not all, but those are the things I could think of in the last 20 seconds! Oh... and he's starting to eat/try more and more 'table' food. (He love, love, loves rye bread!)

Tonight, however, one of his actions warranted a post... so here I am, about to brag on my baby boy.

After eating supper (and getting it everywhere) I gave Landrick a bath. As previously noted in other posts, he wants to stand up in the tub CONSTANTLY. Tonight was no different; therefore, after telling him to sit on his bottom multiple times I decided bath time was over and removed the plastic lid that I use to stop up the drain (the little metal thing is jacked up and too much of headache for me to deal with). I placed it in the pitcher next to the tub that holds some of Landrick's bathtub toys, etc.

As soon as the water started draining, Landrick sprinted (well... crawled quickly) from the other end of the tub to investigate. He frantically swiped his hand back and forth over the drain and then immediately pulled up on the side of the tub, reached down and grabbed the plastic lid (aka drain stopper) and tried to put it back over top of the drain.

When he started to pull up I almost scolded him for the 100th time to sit on his bottom... but then realized what he was reaching for and decided that I would let it play out to see exactly what he did. I was quite surprised that the clearly knew where I kept the drain stopper and exactly what it's purpose is... wow. I'm impressed. Of course, I don't doubt his intelligence, but he is after all only 10 months old.... I guess he was motivated by the fact that he was not ready for bath time to end!

Love, love, love that baby boy!!!

Brave baby boy

2010-08-18T22:14:00.000-04:00

Well lots has happened in a short period of time... so I'll just post some random thoughts/milestones just so I don't forget them later on.

As of last Saturday morning, Landrick is the proud new owner of two top front teeth. The next two (outside of the front two) are swollen and ready to poke through any day as well. Sam looked at Landrick's little top teeth, got a worried expression on his face and said 'um, they are really far apart'. I had to reassure him that that was normal.

Landrick had his first successful bath in the 'big tub' this week as well (Monday night) and tried to literally jump out of the bathtub. Luckily, I caught him before his head hit the floor. He was just squatting there in the tub with his arms over the side when he decided to jump toward some of his toys that were on the bathroom floor. I had been prepared for him to pull up and slip over, but the whole 'jumping' aspect caught me a bit off guard!

Later on that night Sam was trying to get him to sleep... after 20 minutes of unsuccessful attempts, I walked into Landrick's room where he was standing up in his crib. When he saw me he said 'meme meme meme' and lifted his arms up (like he wanted me to pick him up)... so I guess that means that I'm 'Meme'.... it was really cute.

Today was his nine month check-up and we saw a 4th new doctor... Landrick was 18 lbs 11 oz and 29.5 inches long. Still super high on the height chart, and way below average on the weight chart. Nothing to worry about though... just a string bean of a boy. The doctor did tell Sam and I that we needed to establish a set bedtime... and eliminate his 'middle of the night' feeding. She looked at Sam and told him that meant he would need to get up with Landrick when he woke in the middle of the night... we'll see how that goes over. Sam's not gotten up with Landrick in the middle of the night since he was probably a week old... so I'd imagine it will be a bit hard at first (for both Landrick and Mommy).

This week Landrick's started eating some 'real food' and toddler snacks (wagon wheels, little crispers, etc.) It's sooooooo cute to watch him eat these... He'll pinch them with two fingers on one little hand and then as he approaches his mouth he'll tilt his head back a bit and reinforce the hand that contains the food with his other hand and then rapidly shove the food toward his mouth. He still misses 4 times out of 10, but he gives it a great effort. Most often we'll find food stuck to him in random places now... it's funny.

Landrick's also learned how to 'beat the system' when it comes to his teething rails on his bed... he simply chews on the bottom of the rails and pulls on the teething covers with his bottom teeth. He's a smart little man, that's for sure.

That's all for now... I think. ;)

Big Boy Bath and A New Little Tooth Sprout

2010-08-13T21:42:00.000-04:00

Well after struggling with bath time for the past few weeks (Landrick wants to stand up every 3 seconds in the tub) I finally took the advice of a friend of mine and bought a rubber bath mat and just put him in the big tub with about 2 inches of water. He seemed to really like it. After he got is 'sea legs' he was happy as a little lark. For the majority of his bath time he tried (and tried and tried and tried) to pull the drain lever down. Fortunately for Mommy it wouldn't budge... to be honest, I can't even get it to move so Sam has to let the water out of the bathtub. Landrick was very diligent in his effort... but didn't get mad when it didn't work the way he wanted (which is always good).

After at least a week or two of seeing Landrick's top four front teeth bulge under his little gums, I finally felt his top right front tooth peeping through his gum line. I know the other three are not far behind... I'd prefer for them all to come in at about the same time and just get it over with... but we shall see. Last night it was the second night (after the first little tooth popped through) that was the roughest... so I guess we shall see!

The Little Adventurer

2010-08-12T22:01:00.000-04:00

I blinked and my teeny tiny little baby boy grew into a nine month old big baby boy who can crawl like nobody's business, jabber all day long, play with toys like a little 'human', pull up on anything taller than he is, and almost stand on his own. What happened???!!??? It's almost like life hit the fast-forward button on me... it's crazy. He pulled up for the first time on July 20... and then that Saturday crawled for the first time (trying to get to the vaccum). Now he's crawling from room to room with ease, crawling over any obstacle that gets in his way, pulling up on things and letting go as if he thinks his mommy is ready for him to be standing on his own. Wow... that's all I can say.

Landrick has started eating the little gerber finger 'snacks', which is SO very cute. He works will all of his little might to pick them up and get them to his mouth, only to miss his mouth most of the time. Then he chases the little bits around his face and hands and onto the high chair tray with his little tounge out. It is so very cute and so very funny.

He does not like 'chunky' baby food, as it makes him gag. My great little eater has turned into a rather picky little eater. We're trying to get him to embrace the sippy cup, but he's not quite on board with that either. (Of course, this is left primarily up to Sam since I still nurse him when I'm home.)

He's started to recongnize his room as where he sleeps, which means that sometimes he gets a little fussy in the evenings when we go into his room to play... I think he realizes it's getting close to bed.

Bathtime is hard because he wants to stand up in the tub ALL THE TIME. I find myself repeating 'you have to sit on your bottom in the tub' over and over and over... and I have to chuckle. This baby boy is brave... are all baby boys like that?

All four of his upper front teeth are quite swollen and I expect them to pop through any day. I know that they have to be bothering him, so although I'm not ready for him to have so many teeth, I know he'll feel better once they've come in.

He's getting better at giving kisses and I love it! The other morning he was playing on his Toy Story mat and leaned down and gave Buzz a kiss and then crawled over and did the same to Woody. It was sweet... he is sweet...

We've moved him to a bigger carseat in the 4Runner (still facing the rear though of course) and he now always sits up like a big boy in carts and resturant high chairs. Although, he looooves to twist around and sit cockeyed in the buggy, hiking one leg up (normally his left) into the seat with him. But, this is how he normally sits in the stroller as well.... with his left leg propped up on the 'arm rest' thing.

The other day Sam and I watched some video of him that we filmed the day he was born... and we both cried. Although it feels as if he's always been with us, it feels like just yesterday he was born.

Mission Accomplished

2010-07-20T22:36:00.000-04:00

Well, Landrick finally did it... he successfully pulled up to a complete standing position while in his crib and here's how it went down...

After his 'make-up' swimming lesson Landrick came home and was SUPER tired. So tired in fact that he was not interested in eating cereal and did not want to play. He wanted milk and that was it. So, I nursed him and he fell asleep (yes, I break the rules by allowing my 8.5 month old son to nurse himself to sleep on occasion... well on most occasions;). I laid him down in his crib and he slept, but only for 30 minutes. When he woke up I got him out of the bed, fed him cereal and allowed him to play in the floor of our bedroom while I ate supper. When Sam came in from working outside we both played with Landrick some more and I laid him down again in his crib. Because I have severe ocd when it comes to him sleeping and being 'okay' while he sleeps I went in to check on him... and that's when I found him standing straight up hanging on the side of the crib. Of course, at that moment I did what any mother would do.. I called for Sam to come and look, grabbed the video camera and the regular camera and documented this milestone moment.

There Landrick was grinning like a opossum and happy as a lark. He was quite proud of his accomplishment and could probably tell that Mommy and Daddy were quite impressed as well. Then, he tried to climb up his crib and grab the diaper basket and his wipes, which prompted Sam and I to scoot the changing table away from the side of his crib. Shortly after that he got his knee stuck between the 'rungs' of his crib, which was quite disturbing. I'm not sure how to prevent that from happening again, as I'm worried that he'll get his leg stuck and injure himself pretty badly. :( I'm soliciting advice from fellow mommies and daddies on that one.

Here begins a whole new world of baby proofing. I told Sam that our deck will be finished just in time for us to move our living room furniture out to the new room, which will end up being Landrick's 'free-roaming space, as it has nothing in it really at this point. That should provide us with a little extra time to get the rest of the house in 'baby-shape', something that we should have done weeks ago... oh well, we're slackers.

Now... if we can just get him to crawl forwards. Although... I can say that I think that will also happen any day, as he's getting SO very close to mastering that art as well.

Loving Chimes and Finger Snapping

2010-07-19T22:26:00.000-04:00

Since I'm in a rather depressive state right now I figured I would blog about my little baby boy to make me feel better... there's no better cure for a bad day then thinking about your child:)

Yesterday was my 29th birthday and we all celebrated in style, including little man. I suppose he was so excited to celebrate my birthday that he wanted to pretty much stay up all night. After opting to go to bed early (rather than stay up late and do homework) I was awoke by Landrick around 3:00am... he went back to bed around 3:30am... but then proceeded to wake up every 30 to 45 minutes until 7:15 when he finally slept for 2 hours straight. I was expecting to see a new tooth in the morning light... but no, he just didn't feel like sleeping much I suppose. Last night he went back to 'normal' so we'll just chalk that one up to another parenthood mystery!

While eating supper last night Landrick also showed off is 'snapping' skills. Sam would stand in front of him and snap his fingers and then pause. In response, Landrick would rub his little thumb and pointer finger together trying to mimic the sound that Daddy was making. It was really cute... and just proves just how much a little mind can take in and interpret.

Tonight Landrick got sooooo incredibly excited about the chimes in his room. It was so very cute! He's loved chimes since he was born (I can take him out on the porch and sit so he can listen to them and he'll calm right down) so we hung some in his room. Sam was teaching him how to gently push the dangley thing to make the chimes make noise. Landrick would look at them and reach his hand up and giggle. Perhaps next time we'll try to get it on video.

Our little man is growing up... too fast. 8 and a half months already... I'm not sure where the time has gone.

Busy, busy, busy!

2010-07-12T20:30:00.000-04:00

Okay, so I've not done so well with posting on a regular basis this summer. Mostly because, well, it's summer. Summer in the Mason household is busy for Momma Mason. It's one of our busier times at work, I usually take summer courses and now, of course, I've got a baby Mason too:)

Vacation was great... mostly just spending the entire week with Landrick and Sam was sooooooo wonderful. It made it hard to got back to work. Sam loves being with Landrick all day, but I don't think he perhaps appreciates the time the same way that I do... simply because he's not been on the other end. He's not had to go week after week after week and only see his son during the day two out of the 7 days of the week. It's hard... but I know it's harder on me than on Landrick. (I'll devote an entire post to vacation later... it's okay if things get a little out of order.. I'll let my OCD slide on that one.)

Landrick's got two little teeth now... both of his front bottom teeth came in in one week's time. The first one (his front left) popped through on Friday July 2nd and the bottom front right popped through on the 7th (I think). He's trying hard to crawl and will push up on his feet and hands on a regular basis. He also gets on all fours and rocks back and forth... he just can't seem to move his hands and his legs at the same time. He does a great job scooting backward and can go across the entire room that way... but had not yet mastered going forward. Although, this evening he did put his hands on a blanket while he pushed his feet against the bare floor, which allowed him to move forward with some ease. He's also started to attempt to pull up on things. He pulled up on my legs last week and again tonight. Yesterday he tried to pull up on his bouncy seat but fell over after a few attempts.

He's been going to bed a little bit earlier... which makes it easier for me to do my homework, but is still kind of sad because it's just less time that I get to spend with him during the day. I made him some homemade baby food and he gagged the first time he tasted it... I had to laugh, even though I'd spent ALL DAY making it.

He eats like crazy and pretty much likes all the foods he's tried (except for avocado). Sam's dying to give him a teething biscuit, but I'm not quite ready. I'll let him chew/suck on watermelon rinds as a treat... and he loves it!

The fourth of July was a hit for the little man. He wasn't afraid of the fireworks at all and managed to stay up for the firework show on Saturday and Sunday evening. When the fireworks went off, he would flail his arms and legs in excitement... it was too cute!

Landrick's first swimming lesson was on Saturday and he did so well! He got a little fussy at the end. I thought it might be because he was sleepy, but realized when we got out that he had a MASSIVE burp inside just begging to get out. As soon as I held him against me it escaped and he was our happy little Landrick again. He'll have to put his face underwater during the next lesson... I'm not sure Mommy's ready for that!

Sleeping in his own room..

2010-06-30T10:10:00.000-04:00

For those of you who know us well, Sam and I vowed that Landrick (or any other future child) would sleep in our bed. I can honestly say that we've stayed true to that promise, although there are a few others that we haven't. hehe.

Before I had Landrick (and even when he was only a month or two old) I swore that he'd be in his own room once he was able to roll over easily. Well, he's been rolling over easily for at least 2 months now (probably longer) but he's just spent his third night in his own room. He seems to be fairly unfazed, as he still goes to bed at about the same time, still wakes in the middle of the night at the same time, and does just about as good of a job of falling asleep on his own. The transition has obviously been harder for me. I miss watching him sleep... hearing his little grunts... and laughing with Sam when Landrick would pop his little head up to watch So You Think You Can Dance, or just to check to make sure Mommy and Daddy were still there. I miss watching and listening to him 'talk' to the animals on his blanket... I miss hearing him scratch the side of his pack 'n play and then giggle to himself...

I know, it's only been three nights... but I'm still getting use to the little man not being right next to Mommy. I know the separation needed to occur, but it doesn't make me miss those little moments. My little man is growing up...

The sock monkey that almost got away!

2010-06-23T13:29:00.000-04:00

When I became pregnant I knew that I would love my baby-to-be with all of my heart... but I don't think I fully realized the emotional roller coaster that was about to begin. I never imagined that I would be so sad for him to grow up but excited at the same time... I never thought I'd be the type of mother who would keep him sleeping in the pack 'n play in our bedroom till he was almost 8 months old... I didn't think that I would sleep with me head at the end of the bed just so I could check on him throughout the night... and I never thought I would cry if we lost one of his toys. Well, thus far I've been wrong on all of those accounts.

On Monday while we were shopping for some snacks for the hotel room, oatmeal for Landrick and travel wipes we had a little incident with Mr. Sock Monkey. Landrick kicked him out of his seat and out of the cart. I saw Mr. SM on the floor, picked him up and put him back in. Halfway across the store later, while in the shoe isle, Sam noticed that Mr. SM was missing. I immediately went into panic mode. Sam retraced our steps in the shoe isles and I went back to the baby isles... but could not find Mr. SM anywhere. Sam then said he would go back over to the snack isle to look there while I looked in the baby and show isles again. I did not find him and was already preparing myself to accept the fact that Landrick's favorite little animal might be gone forever.

When Sam came around the corner back from the snack isle he wasn't holding Mr. SM and neither was Landrick. Sam just kind of looked at me an shrugged and I immediately started to cry... who would have thought? Although I know Landrick would have been unfazed, I still was so sad that this little toy that he was fond of and we'd watch him cutely play with over the past several months was gone... and not even gone to someone else who would love him the same way. I kept thinking... I wonder if they would announce a missing sock monkey over their intercom? Would that be crazy to ask? What would I do if I saw Mr. SM in someone elses cart.... would I confront them (btw, the answer to that one was YES). Just as I laid my head on Sam's shoulder he reached into his back pocket and pulled Mr. SM out... I think I cried even more when I saw him again. He gave Mr. SM back to Landrick who squealed with delight and grabbed the little guy. Apparently, Mr. Sock Monkey escaped while we were in the cereal isle.... I told Sam that I may never eat cereal again.

Oh Mr. Sock Monkey, Mommy may have to put a leash on you!

Watermelon and Pickles, Oh My!

2010-06-22T13:58:00.001-04:00

Lately I've eased up on my rigidness when it comes to introducing 'flavors' to Landrick. I still will not allow anyone to feed him high sugary foods or anything that isn't pureed, but I have begun allowing him to have 'tastes' of different foods from the table.

The first 'new' food I let him taste was watermelon. I pushed my finger into the watermelon and got some juice on the end of it and then allowed him to lick the juice off of my finger... he loved it! He loved it so much that I decided to give him a little piece to 'gum' on. I smashed it down close to the rind so there would be nothing to choke on and let him suck the juices. He was sooooooo happy! He got quite mad when we took it away from him... hehe. I guess he inherited my love for watermelon:)

Yesterday I let him taste a pickle... is it bad that Sam and I found it REALLY funny? Poor little man didn't really like the sourness of the pickle, although I should have know that since he thinks that applesauce is too sour!

Sitting up!

2010-06-22T13:22:00.000-04:00

Landrick has started sitting up for long durations (5 min or longer) by himself. He first really sat up on his own on Saturday June 12th while in Cincinnati visiting Nonnie Jane and Pawpaw Fred. What a little boy he is becoming! Last night while in a cabin with Mom and Dad at Carter Caves he sat up for more than 5 minutes on his own while playing with his toys. He’s still a little wobbly of course, but he’s finally gotten the hang of it. He was even able to reach down and to his side and pick up a toy to play with! Mommy’s proud of her baby boy’s core strength! Hehe

While we were all sitting around being totally impressed at what a good job he was doing he ended up reaching a bit too far to his right for a toy and kind of plopped over. I caught him but as he was in mid fall he let out a little toot, when then as he fell further turned into a long bigger toot! We all had a good laugh at that. And, the best part…. Sam was videotaping! Ha! I’m sure Landrick will loooooove watching that when he’s older.

He’s talking more and more (still in baby language) and can now make the ‘BOP’ sound. He started out with ‘Da da da da’, then progressed to ‘Ma ma ma ma’ then went on the ‘Na na na na’ and now there’s ‘Ba ba ba’ and ‘Bop Bop Bop’. He’s also quite good at putting different sounds (words, in my opinion) together to form what I think are sentences. I told me mom last night that it was music to my ears to hear him babble… I can’t get enough of it. I know I will miss that when he learns to actually talk….

By the way, we’ve realized that our baby boy can’t sleep well unless it’s noisy. I guess that can be a good thing… but it can also be a little bit challenging at times! Sometimes a little peace and quite is nice, especially at night. But Roo likes the radio to be on, or his rain water ‘music’. I can’t blame the little man though.
It was super funny this morning because the fire alarm went off in our cabin at 6:00am. I was up in a heart beat and, as any mom would do, I covered Landrick’s ears. He didn’t stir until I started to cover his ears… and I think only then because I was touching him. Of course, the fire alarm does sound like Sam’s regular alarm clock (he’s a heavy sleeper), so Landrick probably thought we were just at home!

One more thing

2010-06-05T22:22:00.001-04:00

Oh - one more thing... Landrick gave himself a hickie on his arm today! I noticed a little redish spot on his left arm next to his wrist yesterday and thought it had been brought about by his sucking... but today I was out looking at Mom and Dad's garden when I looked down and in horror saw a huge (about the size of a quarter) spot on his arm. I freaked out and then realized that he'd sucked so hard on it that it broke the blood vessels. It made me want to cry! I'm not sure I knew that babies did that... but of course, as I've realized, everyday brings something new and unexpected.

Learning to whisper

2010-06-05T22:18:00.000-04:00

Today was a good day:) Landrick woke up at 5:16 to eat, which allowed me to get a little extra sleep! Then he immediately went back to bed and slept till 9:00. Although I could have slept a lot longer I stayed up after his 5am feeding and managed to get a little cleaning accomplished. Sam went on a 50 mile bike ride in Maysville but Landrick and I stayed behind to go to the Arts and Crafts Festival... I wish we would have gone with Sam because the Arts and Crafts festival was a bit of a disappointment. I think I preferred it in Laughlin, even though it was a bit more crowded there. Oh well though - I'll know the next time.

When we got back Landrick took a nice little nap. I heard him stirring a hour or two later and when to get him. When I walked into his room he was playing with his little blanket and was as sweet as can be. I leaned over and talked to him. Then... he started whispering 'da da da da' back to me. Now he say's da da all the time, but this is the first time he really has whispered like that. It was the cutest thing ever. He did it several times while I was changing his diaper. Then once we left his room he was back to his normal loud (now really loud and high pitched screechy) self:) Ahhhh the sounds that little man makes.... music to my hears.

Remote control hide-and-go-seek

2010-06-03T11:27:00.002-04:00

So I’ve been ‘slacking’ a bit on my blog… normally I would post after Landrick fell asleep at night but since Sam’s been home I’ve spent that time watching tv or talking with him. It’s nice to have him home in the evenings before I go to bed… I’ll get spoiled this summer and will have a hard time adjusting in the fall.

Landrick’s been so stinking cute lately… of course, he’s cute all the time so I guess that’s nothing new! The night before last he ‘held’ a book (as if he was reading it) for the first time. He probably could have done this a few weeks ago, but he just took a notion to do it while Sam was reading a new petting zoo Biscuit book to him. He looked like such a big boy! Btw – he love, love, loves that book! He spazes out every time we read it to him… he’ll pound his little hands against the pages and gets so excited! Hehe Sam bought it as a treat for him the other day while they were out and about – he said it was the book that Landrick liked the best:) I love those boys!

Sam, Landrick and I participated in Morehead’s Memorial Day parade… I thought it was quite fitting that Landrick’s first parade was the Memorial Day Parade. His Papaw Landon Mason (who passed away in June of 2004) was a Veteran and would have been so proud of his little grandson. We rode our bikes (with Landrick in tow in the trailer attached to Sam’s bike) with the Sustainable Morehead group. It was nice… and fun. Landrick fell asleep before the parade began and slept the whole way through. We kept hearing shouts from the spectators about how cute he was… Oh yeah… that’s my cute son:)

We played ‘where’s the remote’ with Landrick last night. It was the funniest thing! We put him in the bed with us (not to sleep – just to play) and would place the tv remote in various places around us (some obvious, some not-so-much). Little man would jerk his little head around until he spotted the thing and then he’d pounce. When it disappeared again he’d first check the place he last saw it and then when he didn’t see it he’d begin his search from there. It was soooooo funny. We would hide the remote half-way under the blanket or put it far away from him just to see if he could spot it. He found it every time. I’m thinking we need to find a remote for him that we don’t ‘use’ just so he can play with it!

Almost a sneeze

2010-05-24T22:26:00.000-04:00

Today was a big day for Landrick (and Mommy)... a baby sitter (other than Nikki) stayed with Landrick for the very first time today for the entire day. The day went sooooooooo well!! Landrick's friend (aka babysitter) Susan was fabulous! I felt at ease all day knowing that she was at the house with the little man. I feel so very blessed that she is willing to baby sit on occasion for us. Still looking for someone to watch Landrick two days a week during the fall semester... but very glad to at least have an awesome person to watch him on occasion when Sam and I want to have a date night.

When I got home today from work I fed Landrick and as a treat let him take a little lap while holding him. Once he woke up we cuddled for a minute and then he got ready to sneeze. He crinkled his nose up and leaned his head back a little bit in a pre-sneeze motion and then... the sneeze when away! It was sooooo very funny because as an adult that happens all the time and it drives me mad... I now wonder if it aggravated little man when his sneeze went away before it was complete. Either way, it was cute.

This weekend Sam and I celebrated our 7 year anniversary. Even though our technical anniversary is today, Sam's in Louisville (and will be all week); therefore, we thought we'd celebrate early by going to Natural Bridge on Saturday. It was a beautiful day and Landrick was a real trooper... he did so well!! We had a great time... it was a great day.

Just Bee Happy Being Bouncy

2010-05-18T14:51:00.000-04:00

Yesterday when I got home from work I picked up Landrick and realized that Sam had dressed him in a winnie the pooh outfit that he'd never worn before... that outfit, unbeknownst to Sambo, has significant meaning to me, as it was one of two outfits that I saved from a yard sale of Nik's years ago... when a Mason baby was just a daydream. At the time Sam and I were trying to conceive but hadn't had any luck... it was the following October that we became pregnant for the first time, followed by the miscarriage in December. I can remember sitting in the to-be nursery and holding on to that outfit... wondering if I would ever be able to have a biological child. When I looked at Landrick in that outfit yesterday I made sure to give a shout out to God for giving me the chance to be that little man's momma. I feel so very lucky.

Btw - I looooove the outfit because, first of all - it's cute, and secondly because it's got tigger and pooh on it and little bees. It's so fitting for Landrick to wear it and look so cute because he love, love, loooooves to bounce. He's Mommy's happy little bouncing boy! I had to giggle this morning when he was in his bouncy seat (bouncing of course) and I finally read what the outfit said... Just Bee Happy Being Bouncy. Just perfect!

On a side note, but one that's consumed me all day, it seems to be getting harder and harder to leave the little man in the mornings. I thought it would perhaps get a little bit easier as time passed, but I think it has actually gotten harder (actually I know it has gotten harder). I'm consumed with thinking about all the things I may be missing out on while away from him... I know it's inevitable, but it's still hard to swallow at times. I am so very thankful that Sam is home with him, as I know it would be 100 times worse if he wasn't. I keep thinking about all of the fun things we could do if I were home during the day everyday. Sigh. Oh well. Perhaps this time next year I'll at least have some summer time available to spend with the little man... God only knows and I must trust in him. :)

One of those moments...

2010-05-15T12:33:00.000-04:00

Landrick pooped on Sam yesterday while Sam was giving the little man a bath... what made it even funnier was the fact that we had just been talking about that type of 'situation' a few nights before with some friends of ours. I had to laugh out loud when I read the text message Sam sent telling me that Landrick had ribbon poo in the bathtub.... that he (Sam) had gagged... but then managed to clean it all up and continue with the bath. Oh, that's the type of moment that I'm quite sad I missed... mostly because I would have loved to see the look on Sam's face. ha!

I'm sitting here right now waiting for Sam to get home with some Boca burgers for lunch and watching Landrick play in a saucer. It's the first time that he's ever been in one and he loooooves it. Man... my little man is growing up...

We fed him organic winter squash today... and he loved that too! Not only does he looooooove his oatmeal but he really took to the squash well (a baby boy after his Momma's heart). It was the first 'non-cereal' food that he's had. It really wasn't even that messy of an experience, much to my delight. He didn't try to put his hands in it or grab the spoon. He just sat there with his hands out wide and his mouth wide open. I think it is safe to say that he's an eater...

He had his six month appointment yesterday and had only gained a little over a pound, which surprised me. The doctor wasn't too concerned but said we'd have to keep an eye on it. The little guy eats a lot, so hopefully his metabolism is just rockin. Apparently the nurse that measured his height last night was a little generous as well, because he only measured about a half-inch taller this time (which was right on the 'arch' that he was previously on before last month's appointment). I think we'll just chalk that one up to human inconsistencies.

This morning we went for a community bike ride. I pulled Landrick behind me in his little trailer and Poppy (my Dad) rode most of the way with me. We rode quite a bit with the group and then went on our own, as I did not want Landrick on any of the 'big' roads. It was really nice... it was fun to take time to show our support for a bike friendly city and spend a little family time... we were quite excited when Poppy joined Sam, Landrick and I too... a nice surprise.

Mother's Day and a post-Mother's Day surprise, of sorts... :)

2010-05-12T13:20:00.000-04:00

Last year I can remember sitting in church and wanting to stand up when Pastor Daniel recognized all of the mothers... Sam and I were about 3 months pregnant at the time but only a handful of people knew. Although our precious baby was not born yet, I still considered myself a mother and wanted to stand:) This past Sunday, I proudly stood when Pastor Daniel asked all of the Mothers to stand and be recognized... it was perhaps one of the best parts of the day. I'd been waiting for that day for so long... and it was worth every second of the wait. I couldn't be more thankful for such an amazing gift... the opportunity to be a mother. I pray that I do not take it for granted and that I treat such a precious gift carefully. Although I know I will make mistakes, I hope I learn from them and always give motherhood my best effort.

On to Landrick news... he's super cute, but we already knew that, right? hehe
For some reason whenever people ask me about him I always respond by saying 'He's super cute'... what a random response... but it's kind of weird to respond to that question... I probably can't say 'He's the most awesome baby ever... sooo cute, sooo cuddly, amazing, smart, happy, sweet, etc'... the list would go on forever!
He helped me celebrate Mother's Day by getting up early and hanging out with me while I did some chores... then he surprised me with a necklace (which he untied the ribbon on the box) and a card (which he tried to eat and then got mad because I wouldn't let him eat it). He let me take a quick nap while he napped, played with a new toy with me, and then spent the evening at Meimaw and Poppy's helping Daddy catch a HUGE bass and playing. It was a great day... to say the least.
Yesterday, as gross as it is to talk about, I can say that I was finally able to understand what Nikki meant when she talked about how strictly 'breast milk' diapers were the best ones to change... I would always secretly think to myself 'how bad could they be - the ones right now aren't too bad'. Yeah, so I was certainly able to get a small grasp of 'how bad could they be' yesterday. When I got home from work Sam had just arrived home from the store and Landrick was hanging out in his car seat while Sam put the groceries away. I went over to pick him up and smelled something BAD. I immediately looked for signs of a blowout but didn't see anything. So, as any mother would do, I got a little closer 'sniff' of his bottom. Oh my word... I immediately went to his room and called for Sam. He was on the phone but I told him he could continue talking but that I was not going to experience this diaper change alone. Sam was standing in the doorway talking to a work friend when I pulled the diaper back (while not breathing through my nose) suddenly his conversation stopped, he gagged and I said ‘Umm… I think we should give Landrick a bath’. And that is exactly what we did.

Lip sucker...

2010-05-04T22:56:00.000-04:00

So I just noticed for the first time today that Landrick has begun sucking on his bottom lip... it has to be one of the cutest things ever! I'll try to get a photo of him doing it tomorrow. It's really cute and kind of makes him look like a papaw of sorts.

After two weeks and 2.5 days without pooping he had a poopsplosion on Sam. I was talking to Sam on the phone and while in mid-sentence he goes 'Oh my Gosh.. I have to go.' Then he muttered something like 'Landrick, well, ummmm, he, ewwwww... its everwhere... no need to worry now...' He hung up the phone, I laughed outloud histerically and tried to call my sister to entertain her with the story as well. Couldn't reach her, but did reach Mom... we both had a good laugh. Later Sam called me back and told me that he'd taken Landrick outside to get the mail and before he even got back into the house there was poop up to his armpits. Good job baby boy! :)

This past weekend Morehead had a record-breaking flood... we were out of electricity and power for about a day.. luckily, Mom and Dad still had power and water for a while. When the power went out I had one thing on my mind... Landrick's frozen milk. There was no way I was going to let that stuff go bad... I have worked HARD since January to produce a milk supply for the little man (enough to fill an entire cooler) and was not about to let it melt! All is well now.. milk is safe... Mommy Amanda can rest easy about that.

The effects of the flood on Morehead/Rowan Co citizens is pretty heartbreaking... my minor inconvienence of no power or water pales in comparison to what many people are going through right now with the loss of property... it was a pretty crazy Sunday and Monday... but now people are slowly starting to put things back together.

On a funny note... I just realized that tomorrow is Wednesday. All evening I thought tomorrow was Thursday.. I even put the trash out (since it runs on Thursdays). Wow... I must be tired.

Ring Puller

2010-05-01T18:49:00.000-04:00

So Landrick has figured out how to manuver his plastic rings and pull them off (one by one) of his bouncy seat. For the past several weeks he's almost been mezmorized by the ones hanging in the middle. He would kick his legs and then watch the rings swing. Earlier today he pulled of 'Mr. Bee' and three rings remained... earlier he pulled off one... then he pulled of the second (he couldn't reach the third)... I put the second one back off... and he just pulled it off again. He's a smart boy:)

Ode to the Poopsey Party

2010-04-29T22:25:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago Landrick's sweet little cousin Hannah, while shopping with Nikki, found a cute little onesie for Landrick. I suppose she asked her Mommy what it said and Nikki told her that it said "Party Pooper" on it... They brought it over to Landrick and Hannah immediately told Sam all about the "Poopsey Party" outfit. She was soooo excited about it. Landrick has since worn the onesie to their house twice and both times Hannah has made sure to tell me (while giggling) that Landrick has his Poopsey Party outfit on... it's so cute. Landrick is sure loved by his cousins... and I'm sure he loves them too.

On an unrelated note, I'm not sure if it will ever get easier to hear my little man cry... he has gotten to the point where he does not always enjoy getting strapped into the car seat and he therefore cries a bit... it's the saddest little thing ever. I can't look at him while he's crying (when I can't pick him up or hold him) because it just tears me up! His little face gets all red and his tears just flow down his little cheeks. Here's this little innocent baby trying to tell Mommy that something's wrong.. and Mommy can't do anything about it (well at least not the carseat issue). It reminds me of when he was brand new and would pout his little lower lip out and it would quiver a bit before he started crying. He still does that occassionally now... mostly when he's asleep. He will make a little squeaky whine and then go back to sleep... I often wonder if he's having a bad dream or perhaps just a little gas pain... either way, it melts my heart.

Our little Chatterbox

2010-04-28T13:56:00.000-04:00

Landrick can officially be nicknamed a chatterbox now, as he's finally 'found' his voice. He chatters alllllll the time... sometimes it sounds more like dadadadadadadadadad... sometimes it sounds like silly little squeaks... sometimes its just a soft little squeak or two. Regardless, the sounds he makes are pure happiness to his mommy's ears. While listening to him talk to his animals yesterday I couldn't help but smile (a lot) and think about how I would miss that when he got older and learned to talk... my little baby boy is growing up. It's a good thing and exciting thing, but at the same time it makes me a bit melancholy, which I suppose is normal.

He's such a good baby... Sam and I pack him around just about everywhere we go and he's a trooper. Even after long days away from the house, without a comfortable/familiar place to nap, and even an irregular schedule, he's still a happy baby almost all the time.

Last night during bathtime he really enjoyed kicking and flailing his little feet and legs into the warm, soapy water. He kept his arms, however, at a 45 degree angle out to his sides... almost as if he did not want to get them wet... it was funny. I tried to get him to play with the water with his hands but he preferred to hang on to the towel or just keep them hovered above the water. Maybe he takes after his Momma and does not like the feeling of wet hands. Of course, I don't mind my hands being wet when I'm in the shower! haha

A milestone... or two

2010-04-25T21:44:00.000-04:00

When you become a parent you know that you're going to watch your child grow into an adult, God willing; however, you don't realize just how important and special some of the steps along the way will be to you. Today Landrick ate something other than breastmilk for the very first time... he's 24 weeks old and has only ever had his Mommy's milk... so it was a very special moment, one of many soon-to-come milestones when we fed him rice cereal for the very first time.

To document the memory we set the video camera up and took lots of photographs. Landrick ate it like a champ... he didn't quite know what to think of it at first and during the first two bites I can honestly say I was a little bit worried that he may not fancy cereal... but by the time we got to the bottom of the bowl, Landrick was actually rather upset that it was all gone. I rewarded him with a little of Mommy's milk to wash down the cereal. He was so cute... such a big boy. We gave him a spoon to play with while we fed him with another. He pounded the 'play' spoon down hard on his highchair tray... Sam said it was almost like he was trying to be a drummer... no matter what he was doing, it was really cute. The funniest thing perhaps was when he was trying to eat the cereal off of the spoon while at the same time sticking his fingers in his mouth and trying to eat them too. I think he was actually a bit confused and thought that he was supposed to be sucking on something rather than just eating off of the spoon.

We concluded the day with a trip to Meimaw and Poppy's where Landrick and Poppy finally bonded... AND Landrick rolled from back to belly for the first time! (The best part is that Sam and I actually got to witness it!) I told Sam that Landrick was trying to recycle a bottle, which motivated him to roll ( in truth, he was trying to grab an empty gatorade bottle to play with.) He also figured out how to 'scoot' himself across the floor toward Poppy. He was laying on his belly on a blanket and would push his feet against me, allowing the blanket (and himself) to move towards my Dad. Then, while on his back he figured out how to push his feet on the floor to move away from Poppy... Smart baby boy!

Yesterday was a very active day (helping Brian and Jennifer move into their new home!) and today was a relatively low key day with two milestones...

Needless to say, we had a great weekend.

Teaching little man to love the Earth

2010-04-23T11:41:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was Earth Day and it was a great day! For those of you who know me well it will come to no surprise that Landrick, Sam and I all partook in some Earth Day festivities. The day started by Sam dressing Landrick in his 'Tree Hugger' onesie (with jeans and a jacket too - since it was a bit chilly). That little onesie is very special to me, not only because it is so cute and shows a love for the environment, but because it was the very first piece if baby 'clothing' that I purchased for the Mason baby-to-be... we bought it at TJ Maxx after one of the very first prenatal visits. Yesterday was the first day that Landrick wore the onesie (which was fitting because it was Earth Day)... however, even though it was a 9 month outfit Sam said that he's almost too long for it (he's a super long baby!). Hopefully we'll get a few more good wears in before he totally out grows it though... that's just how it goes with baby clothes though:)

Landrick's not been having the best sleeping patterns lately. Some nights he wants to go to bed early... while others it takes forever to get him to sleep (or at least it feels that way). He's also been getting up quite a few times during the night. He went about two weeks where he only got up once or twice... but now he's back to waking up like every few hours. Many times he does not seem to be hungry, but rather just wants to play. Mommy's not really in the mood to play at 2:30 in the morning...
Last night while nursing him before bed he started doing this really funny kicking thing with his leg. He would kick kick kick his left leg in the air... over and over and over. Then I guess it got tired so he'd rest for a minute or two and then resume kicking. It was hilarious. The blanket was covering his leg at first so I thought, 'well maybe it's bothering him'. So I removed the blanket and he only kicked more intensely. Maybe he really will be a soccer player... Mommy can only hope:) hehe

Roo's First Truck

2010-04-21T21:26:00.000-04:00

Well, Sam bought Landrick a truck today... fortunately for me it was just a toy truck! hehe I'm not quite ready for Landrick to drive!

When I came home from work I saw the little yellow and black carhart truck on the floor and I had to smirk a little... but a little bit later I laid Landrick down on his play mat and he went crazy over that truck! He grabbed it and started waving it back and forth in the air. He exuberated excitement with his entire body. It was really cute.

Landrick has also really started laughing on regular basis... he does it a lot when I kiss his belly after changing his diaper... or when I play the 'Mommy's going to get you' game with his little feet or with tickle hands on his belly. He's started to regularly anticipate the tickle I suppose.

He got up with me this morning and hung out in the bouncy seat while I showered. It's really funny because for the first few minutes hes normally a little reserved and just sits quietly. Then once he fully wakes up he's all giggles and smiles. I'll occasionally slide the shower door open and play a game of peek-a-boo with him. He'll just smile and giggle a bit... then after a few rounds he goes back to playing with Mr. Duck, Mr. Bee, and Mr. Blue Bird (the toys on his bouncy seat).

I just can't explain how much I love that little fella... one can't possibly understand until they have a child of their own. Everything changes... a new level of love seems to have been created.

A week and a half wait...

2010-04-19T22:36:00.000-04:00

So no one ever really told me that I'd have to track how often my child pooped... when he was a baby he pooped multiple times a day... now it averages about once every 5 days or so. On Saturday night Sam and I realized that Landrick had not pooped in almost a week and a half. My parents freaked out and told me I needed to call the doctor... which freaked me out! (He did not seem to be in any pain or discomfort, other than the occasional gas, which is nothing new for the little man.) So I found myself planning to call the doctor on Sunday to ask what I should do.

After church, a short nap (for Landrick.. sadly not Mommy) and lunch with friends we came home and I placed Landrick in the bouncy seat while I cleaned up the kitchen. (I love to clean the kitchen... seriously, I do. It's almost like therapy for me for some reason!:) I had just finished washing the sink out when I turned around to meet a very happy baby who was kicking his feet like crazy... only something caught my eye. It was a dark brown growing-in-size discoloration on his green sleeper under his right leg...

I called to Sam and said 'well, there's no need to call the doctor'.

Chalk Sunday, April 18th as the day that Landrick had his most massive poo to date... Good thing I love that little man so much, cause that was one heck of a stinky, smelly, messy, massive poopy diaper.

On a lighter note, and by that I mean less stinky, I've now witnessed Landrick roll over from belly to back 3 times.... he's getting quite efficient at it!

Bouncy Seat on the Move

2010-04-16T18:45:00.000-04:00

For the past half hour or so I've been in the kitchen fixing supper, putting dishes way, etc. Meanwhile, Landrick has been sitting happily in his bouncy seat 'singing' away (babbiling in a sing-song sort of way). I thought my mind was playing tricks on me, but alas I was wrong. He's been kicking so hard in his bouncy seat that the entire seat has slowly been moving its way around my kitchen floor... too funny! So far I've move him back to his original position twice.... Its like he's a sitting, baby Richard Simmons... hehe.

He's also gotten quite talented at rotating himself 360 degrees while on his back on his blanket on the floor or even while in his pack n' play.

Rolling over... and back over again.

2010-04-15T22:03:00.000-04:00

Before leaving for work this morning I fed Landrick and then put him back to bed to sleep for at least another hour or so. Although he was asleep, I kissed him goodbye, told him Mommy loved him (my morning ‘goodbye’ routine – mostly for my comfort) and off I went to work. When I returned to work Sam asked me if I’d laid him down on his back to sleep this morning. I gave him a rather odd look and said ‘no’ (hold your gasps to a minimum… yes my son sleeps on his tummy. I spent 12 weeks sleeping with him on my chest in the recliner until Sam pushed the issue and persuaded me to allow Landrick to sleep on his tummy – he’s been fine and slept well ever since). Sam then proceeded to tell me that Landrick woke him up this morning ‘talking’ and when he rolled over to say good morning Landrick was laying on his back! Our Little Man had rolled over for the first time (to our knowledge) and we did not even get to see it! Ha!

This evening I was playing with him on his blanket on the living room floor when while on his back he almost completely rolled over to his front… He got all the way over, but his left arm was stuck underneath him so he ended up plopping back over onto his back…. CRAZY! We’ve been ‘practicing’ with him… but it’s still hard to belive that he’s old enough to start doing such things. Every day I look at the photo on my desk of Sam holding him when he was just 2 days old… it seems like yesterday… but at the same so far away. Our little man is becoming closer to just that…. A little man.

Grabbing the sun...

2010-04-15T22:02:00.000-04:00

Wow, it’s been a rather long few days… hence the missing blog posts, which will make this one rather long… you’ve been warned. Landrick, Sam and I traveled to Cincinnati and Oxford, Ohio this past Saturday and did not return home till late Tuesday night.
We started by having a wonderful visit with my grandparents (Landrick’s Great Grandparents) on Saturday. Landrick traveled fairly well on the way up, sleeping most of the way; however, once we arrived and he had a little lunch he got a little sleepy and was not such a happy camper when we went out to eat. (Maybe he just wanted to eat some ‘grown-up’ food too!) Although he slept a little on the ride back to Nonnie and Pawpaw’s he was still a bit cranky for the duration of the visit… he was also a little gassy, which did not help the matter. BUT all-in-all he did really well and had a great time visiting… it’s such a joy to be able to see my son with his great grandparents. I know just how lucky he is (and I am) to be able to have such an experience. We are truly blessed.

On Sunday we traveled to Oxford, OH to visit Miami University – which I completely fell in love with. I’m telling you, if you’ve never visited that campus and town, I definitely recommend it. It is absolutely beautiful! Sam was gracious enough to come with me to watch Landrick while I attended meetings on campus with my fellow Presidential Leadership Academy class… this also still allowed me to nurse the little man without fear of messing up my milk supply… so very thankful. We decided to try having Landrick sleep in the middle of the second Queen bed in the room… since he’d not yet started rolling over or really moving much in his sleep we thought it would be okay. I still placed a pillow barrier of sorts around him so there would be no risk of falling off the bed. He actually slept really well… so well in fact that on Sunday night he slept (for the first time) for 7.5 hours straight!!! I almost could not believe it…. Wow. (He did not repeat this new found sleeping pattern on Monday night though… but that’s okay.) He was full of new tricks on Sunday, as he also tried to drink some water through the straw in my cup… he probably would have been successful accept I’d already drank all of it myself!
We left Oxford on Tuesday afternoon and were able to have another short visit with Nonnie and Pawpaw before returning home. It was a treat to get to see them twice in one week! We ate lunch and visited a bit before hitting the road for home.
Landrick must have had such a good time visiting with Pawpaw and Nonnie, touring Miami’s campus in the stroller with Daddy and going on various other adventures with Sam that he simply did not want to leave because he cried just about all the way home on Tuesday evening. Now granted he is not a very good ‘evening’ traveler (which we were previously aware of) but he’s never cried for such a long time. We stopped 3 times, getting him out twice (and feeding once)…. But as soon as his little bottom hit that seat the crying began again… I can’t say that I blame him though, as it’s probably rather lonely in the backseat.
When he finally did stop crying the sun was low on the horizon and hitting the sides of his car seat… as I watched him in the ‘baby mirror’ he kept trying to grab the sunlight, almost as if it were a physical intety resting atop the fabric of his seat rather than simply a beam of color shining just beneth his reach… something about that made my heart full… the innocence of a child is wonderful. Everything is new to them… every moment is a moment of learning something new, soaking it in…. just like trying to grab the rays of the sun.

If dinosaurs were still around...

2010-04-06T22:14:00.000-04:00

Landrick has developed several new behaviors lately.... all of which are completely cute, of course. Perhaps one of my favorites is his ability to squeal/screech loudly. The only sound I can relate it to is one that a Pterodactyl makes in the movies... it's too funny. He really likes to make that noise while hanging out in the bouncy seat. He'll kick both legs simultaneously back and forth which makes the seat bounce like crazy... then he adds his own sound effects, which apparently makes the whole experience that much better!

I've also decided that he's a bit of a toy hoarder... I'll lay him on the blanket on his belly with his toys scattered about (just within reach). The next thing I know he's pulled them all in up under his chin/chest. At that point he looks for more and when he realizes none are left he ends up pushing them back out from beneath him... I guess he just wants to make sure he has at least one to play with. I'm not quite sure what this may indicate in reference to future playdates though... we'll have to work on sharing! hehe

Easter Sunday

2010-04-04T20:50:00.000-04:00

Today was Landrick's first Easter Sunday and it was absolutely wonderful! As always he was in a super sweet mood when he woke up. He ate a little breakfast, played with Daddy and helped Daddy make lemon poppy seed pancakes (sort of:) all before church. He was great in WeePoint (as always) while Sam and I enjoyed an awesome sermon by Pastor Daniel.

Because Sam was teaching in Elevate during the second service, Landrick and I came home after the first service by ourselves. We painted his foot and hand so he could sign his Daddy's and Meimaw and Poppy's Easter cards.... the painting of the foot went pretty well and I was able to get several nice footprints on the cards and envelopes. Trying to paint his hand was a whole different story. I managed to get paint onto his hand but as soon as I tried to get him to flatten it out to push on the card all heck broke loose. He did not want to do that and he let Mommy know! I got him calmed down but he was no longer in a great mood. I gave him a quick bath to get the rest of the paint out from under his toe and fingernails and let him have some lunch. He fell asleep while eating (such a tired boy) so I laid him down in the pack 'n play for a nap... of course when I laid him down he was no longer sleepy so he 'talked' to the animals on his blanket and amused himself for a bit.

He finally joined me in the kitchen while I worked on cleaning the house and preparing for our Easter Sunday supper with Mom and Dad. I was in charge of making roasted asparagus and baked beans... Mom made/brought ham, deviled eggs, rolls and a pie.... yummmo.

After we all ate Landrick 'opened' his Easter basket... I know he's just almost 5 months old... but baby no matter their age has to have a Easter Basket! We filled his with awesome books, two sippy cups (to be used in a few months), a rubber ducky, and three outfits. Meimaw and Poppy contrinbuted as well with another book, some safari Easter eggs, a little buzzing bee (which Landrick loooved) and a bunny Mr. Potato Head! Landrick seemed to like everything... he got a little overwhelmed with it all, but still managed to try to grab just about all of the items.

All and all it was a great day.... it was actually a GREAT weekend.

On a side note... Landrick is really into grabbing and pulling things toward him... yesterday it was the front carrier that was on the ottoman and today he was trying to pull the couch pillows (cushions). He's also squealling like crazy and can produce some pretty high pitched noises every now and then... always super cute:)

Giggles, Toots and Toes

2010-04-03T21:34:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was such a great day! It started with Landrick waking up at 4:00amish and wanting to play. Even though I was suuuuuper tired, I still thought it was the cutest thing on Earth. Being the responsible Mommy that I am though, I gave him a few kisses and told him that it was not time to play, but rather time to sleep. I put him back in the pack ‘n play (his bed for now) and laid down with my head next to him. He played by himself for the next 45 minutes or so and then went to sleep without even a fuss.

Before I left for work I had him drink some breakfast and he’d just fallen asleep while eating when he tooted… a few seconds later he giggled. He’s had ‘happy baby’ squeals before, but this was the first actual giggle I’d heard. No doubt onset by the gas, but nevertheless oh-so-very cute and memorable.

When I got home from work yesterday we quickly gathered some essentials in preparation for an evening of egg dying and grilling out at Meimaw and Poppy’s. While I was changing Landrick’s diaper he lifted his feet up to play with them (which he does ALL the time) but as soon as I got that diaper all the way off he popped his toes right into his mouth!!! He’s constantly trying to ‘chew’ on his toes like he chews on his fists and fingers, but alas, being diaperless allowed him to finally reach his goal. Ahhh… such a cutie.

Although he’s not quite hit the 5 month mark, I do think he enjoyed dying eggs last night as well. He kept staring at all of the mugs that each contained a different dye color (there were probably 10 to 13 different colors I’d say) but his favorite part was trying to grab the spoons. Poppy was freaking out worrying that he’d make a mess (I’m so much like my dad in that respect), while Meimaw just let him grab away and when he splashed some dye on her shirt she simply replied, well I want to tie-dye this shirt anyway!
This morning he got up again at 7:00 and was such a happy baby! He took a 2.5 hour nap for me at 8:15 and got up just in time to eat and experience his first ever Easter Egg hunt in the neighborhood.
He may only be 5 months old and some reading may think it’s silly that we dyed Easter eggs with him and took him to an Easter egg hunt, but a child only has one first Easter and this was his. He may have no memories of it when he grows, but his very happy Mommy and Daddy will have these memories for the rest of our lives.

Just a little Wiggle Worm

2010-04-01T22:17:00.000-04:00

After a long day at work and a trip to Wal-Mart with Landrick, I was able to sit back and watch him wiggle around on top of our ottoman tonight. I had laid a colorful quilt (thank you Ann Scott:) down on top of it and just let him play around and try to grab his toys. We'd been working on rolling over from back to front (and have come quite close to complete success several times but have thus far come up a bit shy) but had never even tried to attempt rolling from belly to back. He's able to wiggle himself around in a circle almost... it's rather cute to watch. Tonight I was trying to give him some extra belly time to work on his upper body strength.

While on his belly he all of a sudden pushed his little knees up under him a bit and kind of rolled over onto his side! Woah! He'd done it before I even realized what he was trying to do. A moment later he plopped back over on his belly (his starting position) and then tried to do the same thing again with no luck. Even though it was not even perhaps a '1/2 of a milestone' as his mother I was totally impressed. My baby boy is growing so fast... right before my eyes. I've decided that I shouldn't blink for a while...

Airplane Turbulance

2010-03-31T21:34:00.000-04:00

Well it finally happened... and I must say it was probably entirely my fault. After taking a walk around the neighborhood I fed Landrick is favorite food (well the only food he's ever had so I can say with certainty that it is his favorite). After feeding him I got a nice burp out of him and then because apparently I am CRAZY I decided to try and get a smile out of him by playing the airplane game. I lifted him up over my head and opened my mouth to talk to him when a large (and I mean large) amount of spit-up projected from his mouth onto my face, down the front of my shirt, down the crack between my shirt and my neck (which meant it seeped down my chest to my stomach) and all over my upper arm. But, looking on the bright side, it did not go into my mouth. Now if I can only teach him to do that to Sam, as his reaction would be priceless!

Sleep Tight!

2010-03-30T22:00:00.000-04:00

Landrick must have had a really good time with Meimaw (my Mom) this afternoon because he went to bed at 7:45 tonight, which is the earliest he has ever gone to sleep. Although I hate to ever wish time away when it comes to my precious baby boy, it was an answered prayer, as I had a homework assignment due at 10:00. (It took me almost 2 hours to complete and I got it submitted at 9:45pm!)

Now... the question is... what time will Little Man get up in the morning. I might pay in the morning for his early bedtime tonight, but what's a Mommy to do... :) I expect to see his little head pop-up and look for Mommy and Daddy out of his pack n' play any minute. I swear it's the cutest thing in the world when he does that... the night before last Sam and I both thought he was asleep when all of a sudden we saw his little eyes peeking over the top of the pack 'n play rail as if he was checking to make sure we were still nearby. Sam said to him softly 'it's time to go to bed... Mommy and I are right here and will be here in the morning to play, but right now it's time to go to bed'. Landrick kept straining to see us for a while (I suppose until his little neck got tired) and then he went to sleep without even a little whimper. I swear I'm a sucker for that kiddo... I do love him so.

Grabbing and Strrrrretching!

2010-03-29T10:44:00.000-04:00

Every morning when I get Landrick up and lay him on the changing table to change his diaper he immediately stretches his arms straight up over his head as high as they will go while at the same time straightens his legs out as straight as they will go. I always say to him 'you're a stretcheroni toni this morning'. (For some weird reason I add 'eroni' on the end of a lot of words when talking to Landrick... not sure why but it's funny to me for some reason). After he's had a minute or so of intense stretching he'll relax his little body and I can proceed with changing the diaper. However, even though he's relaxed, he leaves his arms up over his head. It's the cutest thing ever. He's such a sweet baby in the mornings (and the afternoons and evenings too..). He just smiles and babbles at me - as long as he's not hungry! It's always a great way to start the day.
On a side note, over the past few days Landrick has REALLY started grabbing items in a very intense way. He 'played' with coupons from the paper on Saturday... grabbing and, of course, trying to put them in his mouth. He's grabbed items before, but now it almost seems like he's in a mad fury to get a hold of them... it makes me giggle. He's also started grabbing his blanket that he lays on in his pack n' play. Since I worry he'll grab it and press it up to his face Sam and I have decided that we must work on an alternative 'pee catcher' to lay him on... we'll see what we come up with. Yesterday when we picked Landrick up from WeePoint (basically the nursery at our church) he had fallen asleep... they had put him in his car seat for us and buckled him in. Although he was asleep he was clutching the handle of his car seat with vigor... and did not let go until we got him to the car and secured into the car seat base. Ahhhh what a cute little boy... oh how I love him.

Afraid of the Dark...?

2010-03-27T07:15:00.003-04:00

On the way home from Lexington last night Landrick fell asleep… he was in the back seat snuggled in his little car seat with his frog toy to keep him company. When we got just past Winchester he woke up and was not a happy camper. We ended up turning on the overhead light and in a few minutes he fell back to sleep. The little man seemed to be afraid of the dark… if that’s even possible. This has happened many times before and every time we turn on the dome light in the vehicle and within a few minutes he calms down. Could he think he’s alone? Could he feel like he’s in a strange place? Does he remember that he’s in the car? Or could he just simply be afraid of the dark….?

Staying up late and givng kisses

2010-03-25T23:09:00.000-04:00

Well Landrick and I tried to stay up late to watch the UK game tonight... I made it to about 9:15 before falling asleep... luckily, with a 4.5 month old I was up again by 10:30 and am able to watch the rest of the game. It's always funny/weird to fall asleep during a sports game... it's almost as if you were able to fast forward a portion of your life. One minute your're watching the game, the next minute (when you wake up) it's over. Weird.

Landrick 'played' with a new friend today... Tivis. At first he was not quite sure what to think, but soon he was trying to grab Tivis's coat, ears, neck, face, etc. He even tried to fix Tivis's hair. It was too cute. It's fun to think about Landrick having 'friends' and play dates... here begins a whole new level of social interaction for both Landrick and Mommy. I look forward to creating new friendships and strengthing old ones for the sake of my baby boy. It's fun to think about the bonds I will form with Landrick's friends' parents. Afterall, most of my Mom and Dad's best friends are those who had kids Nik or my age.... just something interesting to think about.

I think Landrick has started trying to 'give kisses'... he keeps his mouth wide open and will press it against my face... it's either his version of a kiss or he's just trying to eat my face. Either way, it's totally cute.

Pepper Pants

2010-03-24T20:45:00.000-04:00

For the first time Landrick decided that he wanted to 'play' during the middle of the night. He awoke around 4:45am just as happy as a lark and cooed and babbled for about 25 minutes perfectly content talking to his animals on his blanket in the dark. Sam and I were lying in the bed trying to 'laugh quietly' because it was just so darn cute... even if I would have preferred to be asleep. Landrick did end up getting a little bit fussy (turns out he'd peed all over himself) so I changed him and gave him a little snack to hold him over till breakfast.

Today Landrick and I had a play date with Jack, Amanda and Clay. Jack is almost nine months old (so about 5 months older than Landrick). We sat outside and played on a blanket while enjoying a beautiful day!

Sam's home early tonight which is such a treat... he an Landrick are currently sitting on the recliner and Landrick is admiring his Daddy's pepper pants which he just loooooves to look at!

Hello Again

2010-03-23T22:09:00.000-04:00

Well at the time of my last post I was 3 ½ months pregnant and ready to face the summer head-on wondering what the next few months would bring. I faced the normal parent-to-be worries being extremely concerned with how I would handle the lack of sleep that was known to plague new parents. Now almost 10 months later I just simply wonder how the time went by so quickly.
On November 8th, 2009 Sam and I welcomed our baby boy Landrick into the world. I clearly remember the doctor saying ‘well, we were both wrong’ right after Landrick was born, as both she and Sam had thought that ‘he’ was going to be a ‘she’. Because we chose not to find out the sex of our baby before he was born, I’ve spent the last 4 ½ months realizing just what it means to have a son… and imagining what adventures are in store for all three of us.
It has amazed me just how many emotions I’m able to have during what seems to be a 10 second interval… so excited that our ‘Little Man’, as Sam calls him, is growing up and doing new things each day, but at the same time that our baby is moving further and further away from being a newborn… that’s the stuff no one is able to explain to you before you reach parenthood yourself… it’s simply something you just have to feel.
Although sometimes I’m still amazed that I am old enough to be a parent, motherhood has suited me well. When you have a baby of your own it is almost as if another sense awakens and you know what they need, when they need to eat, or sleep, or perhaps just needs a little snuggle time. Your heart tears wide open when they cry, regardless of why, and it fills with complete happiness every time they smile, even if perhaps provoked by gas. I can vividly recall pondering with Sam the morning after Landrick’s first night at home how in the world people ‘do this’ with more than one child… now I realize that you just do. All of the ‘hard parts’ seem to melt away with each day of parenthood and you just get things done because you have to… it does not feel like an obligation or a chore, but perhaps more of a privilege. I am so very thankful to God every single day that I got to experience another day as someone’s mother.

In an attempt to capture glimpses of Landrick’s journey through life, I hope to post on a more consistent basis… (I’m not off to a good start though, considering I spent the last 30 minutes retyping this post, as the first (and better) one was accidentally deleted with one stroke of a button).

I’ll start with this…

On Tuesday’s (which is today), Landrick spends some time with Nikk and the kiddos. Today shortly after I arrived Nikki was holding him while I prepared some supper for the two of us. Landrick proceeded to vigorously try to eat/suck/lick her shoulder and then her face, while at the same time babbling in his baby language. My guess was that he was trying to give his Aunt Nikki some kisses… He was so loud and ‘eager’ that Ross could hear him in the other room. After the sloberfest subsided (about 10 minutes later) Landrick peacefully fell asleep on her shoulder… I guess one could say that it was the ‘store’ before the ‘calm’.

Roasting and Toasting the Mason Baby-to-Be

2009-05-27T11:53:00.002-04:00

The word's out... I'm pregnant and we're expecting to have another little mouth to feed around November 20th - just in time for Thanksgiving! At this point, being pregnant has finally sunk in and I'm no longer really in that 'surreal' frame of mind. I'm still nervous, anxious, etc., but now that our little peanut is no longer a 'secret' to the rest of the world it all just seems a bit more real.

Pregnancy has been good to me so far... which I am very appreciative of! I've had 'morning sickness' that lasted all day (but have only thrown up once!) and am now only feeling really queasy when my tummy's not full or I'm really tired. I think (hopefully) I'm almost finished with that phase and will soon move on to the next... maybe it will be heartburn or leg cramps... or a combination of the two. It's so odd to me how my body has reacted to pregnancy... I guess I've always been the type that feels that I can control how I feel by my actions... well, that's totally out the window. And I'm actually loving every minute of it! ha!

Many of the foods I used to LOVE to eat... I can't stand the thought of (except watermelon - which I cannot get enough of!). Apparently milk is a total turn-off for a pregnant Amanda - which at first was difficult for me because I LOVE cereal - mostly because of the milk! I don't want to think about chicken... or salad, pasta, fat-free cheese, Boca burgers, hotdogs, etc. I'm hoping that my aversion to these once loved food items will subside the further in my pregnancy I progress. For now I tackle meals one day at a time. If something sounds good... I eat it. Normally, afterward it no longer sounds good to eat anymore. (Except for potatoes.... which I could eat pounds of and never tire! - which is totally funny, because I never ate them too much before!)

I've still kept up my exercise regime... however, now I just bike and walk and plan to start swimming again this summer... no running, weight training or conditioning training for now. I'd rather stick with stuff I can do outside and have complete control over. I know some of that other stuff is safe, but I'd prefer to stick with what I'm comfortable. I try to walk or bike for at least an hour each day... at least 5 days a week. Nothing too strenuous.... but I just want to make sure that I take care of my body so my body can take care of the baby.

I only gained .5 pounds between weeks 8 and 12, which concerned Sam and me at first - but the doctor said that was completely okay - especially since I had not been throwing up. Sam looked at the doctor and said 'well - I can't believe that because she eats like a horse!’ I had to laugh - a lot - and agree with him. My eating habits have totally changed... and I do eat much more than I did before I became pregnant.

Sam and I are both so incredibly excited. We've been trying to have a baby for about 3 1/2 years... we've dealt with a lot of issues along the way but have always known that God would bless us with a baby when the time was right. We just pray now that that Mason baby will be healthy, happy and at home with us by the end of November.

Be prepared for a barrage of blog posts in the future.... as we now have a whole new chapter in our lives to share....

The Proud Daughter...

2009-05-20T11:01:00.005-04:00

You know, it's interesting how the older we get the more we are able to truly appreciate how spectacular our parents really are. I learned several years ago that my parents were almost always right (I did say almost:) when giving me advice and direction while I was in high school and college. Over the past several years I've also realized that my parents can be both parents and friends (now that I am older and no longer disciplined by them! :). But the thing I think I can change the most is how clear it is to me that I am SO very proud of both of them and that they need to know that. When I think about all that they've been through, how they've raised 2 children, found success in their careers, and still managed to share a close bond with their families, I am truly overcome with awe and wonderment. My only hope is that when my children are grown, then can someday look back on Sam and me and share those same feelings.

This past year has brought about 2 very important career transitions for both my mother and father.

My Dad was the first to receive a promotion and was named the Northeastern District Fisheries Biologist. He's worked with the Department of Fish and Wildlife for as long as I can remember and he's now the head honcho of his division/district. He knows his stuff and all of his hard work and experience has paid off! Those who know my father, you probably can tell he's a rather humble and laid-back man; therefore, when he received his promotion you could tell he was happy, but of course he did not make it out to be such a big deal (even though it REALLY was). I think that's one of the things I love the most about my father - he's okay being just who he is. He does not need accolades or pats on the back to know he does a great job... those are just icing on the cake! I am so very proud of him.

My Mom's career accomplishment has occurred most recently. On Monday I went to silently support my mom at a public forum (basically a public interview). As I sat and listened to all that she has done as a professional educator I was actually overcome with emotion... I've known her for almost 28 years and I think that night was the first time I had ever really realized just how much she has devoted to students... how much she's done... how many different aspects of the educational system in which she's participated. I've always know just how much she LOVES her job... teaching... and the students, but I saw it all in a completely different light. I saw her that night as more than just a Mom who was a teacher and then a principal... I saw her as a professional... and I was so very proud of all that she has done and will continue to do.

Weekend Excitement!

2009-05-08T11:32:00.002-04:00

First-of-all, Happy Mother's Day to all of the Mother's out there... mostly to my Mom, my Nonnie Jane, Mamaw Cornett and Mother-in-Law Mason!!! Also to my sister of course, who's a great mom to her kiddos as well! (And too all of my friends who are Mommies as well!)

It's going to be a great weekend for Sam and me! We're going start our weekend festivities by going to eat with some friends and their kids tonight (let's keep our fingers crossed that the food's good at the restaurant!). Sam and I do not eat out too much; therefore, when we do go it's always something to look forward too - as long as we can eat something relatively healthy!

Tomorrow Sam has to attend Commencement, which comes with the territory of being a college instructor, but I'm going to skip it and go yard-sailing instead. Wish me luck, because I'm normally too anxious to go by myself... let's hope that I make it to at least 2 before freaking out!

Once Graduation is over, Sam and I are going to Flemingsburg to celebrate Mother's Day with his step-mom and then we're off to Cincinnati to attend a Reds Game!!!!! I LOVE watching baseball live... and it's even better when we have free tickets! (My only disappointment is that we won't be able to spend time with family while there - due to the late game and having to return for Sam to work the lights at Church on Sunday.) Never-the-less, I'll be happy to spend some time with Sam, as I have not seen him a single night this week...

Then on Sunday we'll round off our wonderful weekend by celebrating Mother's Day with my Momma! The best Mom in the world!

What could be better than spending quality time with family and friends.... nothing! :)

I hope all of you have a FABULOUS weekend too!

The Oscar Meyer Weiner Mobile

2009-03-24T14:31:00.003-04:00

Sam and I thought that Saturday would be regular day…. we were wrong. Little did we know that our trip to Lowes would turn out to be the ‘highlight’ of Sam’s month (maybe even year). As we pulled out of the Lowes’ parking lot, we looked to our left and saw it… the OSCAR MEYER WEINER MOBILE! There it was, in its pristine glory, sitting in front of Kroger, just waiting for us to take a tour.

At first I thought Sam might cause us bodily harm by swerving across 3 lanes of traffic to turn the opposite direction (toward the mobile, of course). He pulled into the Kroger parking lot and immediately exclaimed his disappointment that we only have the phone with us to take pictures with. (And I thought… we’re taking pictures?)

Once parked, Sam gets out of the car, hands me the phone, obliviously walks in front of traffic (he had wiener mobile tunnel vision) and stands proudly in front of the large metal wiener automobile for the perfect photo opt. He looked like a kid in a candy store. Although I had no particular fondness of the Oscar Meyer Weiner Mobile at the time, it grew on me over the next 15 minutes…. Mostly because I could see how excited Sam was to see it and get to tour the inside. He told me later that it was only the 4th or 5th time that he ever saw it (one of the time’s actually being in Wisconsin – it’s apparent home), but it was the first time he got to tour the inside (it’s not really very big).

We both got a free glow-in-the-dark Weenie Whistle, as well as, some memories that will last a lifetime. Who would have thought that the Weiner Mobile would be so memorable?

You know you’re in love with the right person when you love your spouse even more because of their ever -so-cute and endearing affliction for a moving, metal, hotdog. :)

Team in Training

2009-02-24T09:36:00.001-05:00

Every ten minutes, another child or adult is expected to die from leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma. Leukemia causes more deaths than any other cancer among children and young adults under the age of 20. Although many of us have been fortunate to not have been directly impacted by any of the children or young adults affected by such forms of cancer, I am sure that we have all have had an acquaintance, close friend and/or relative that has experienced battles with blood cancers.

My brother-in-law, Jamie Sparks, is raising funds for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) as a participant in their Team In Training program. In honor of the individuals in his life who have been affected by blood cancers, he will be running the Derby Festival Mini Marathon in Louisville, KY in April 2009. Prior to running the race, he is trying to raise at least $2000 to donate to the LLS.

If you would like to make a donation of support please use the link below to make a secure pledge of support. You will receive a confirmation of your donation by email and Jamie will be notified as soon as you make your donation. The website will also allow you to track Jamie’s progress and learn more about the LLS.

http://pages.teamintraining.org/ky/KYDerby09/jsparks

Each donation helps accelerate finding a cure for leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. More than 823,000 Americans are battling these blood cancers. Jamie hopes that his participation in Team In Training will help bring those individuals hope and support.

25 Random Things

2009-01-24T13:05:00.002-05:00

So - I'm a total slacker and I have not yet posted anything about Christmas, New Years, etc. I will... but it might a little while before I have time! ha Until then, here are 25 random things about be. Someone tagged me to do this on Facebook, and I thought it would be a neat addition to the blog...

1. I’m obsessed with collecting (and trying) new recipes.

2. I love to sleep – but would much rather go to bed early than sleep past 7:30am.

3. I have just about every episode of 'Friends' memorized.

4. I've only really dated 4 guys (I married the 4th!)

5. DVR (TiVo) is my best friend - I refuse to watch commercials!

6. I love to watch NFL football. (I don't even care who's playing!)

7. I always thought I hated Italian dressing, until I actually tried it! Now I totally love it.

8. It took me 3 years to decide what colors to paint one bedroom in our house. (I still have to decide on colors for two other bedrooms, one bathroom, the kitchen, living room, and the great room!)

9. I wish I’d never stopped playing the violin.

10. Every guy I've ever dated went by a 1 syllable name.

11. Right now I have 20 cases of Diet Caffeine Free Dr. Pepper in my dining room. (Long story..)

12. I have not eaten fast food in almost 2 years.

13. I try to only buy things on sale… and am almost always successful. (Some things, though, are essential and are never on sale!)

14. I just figured out what exactly Sam's doctoral degree is all about.. (Instructional Systems Design)

15. I’ve never had a cavity.

16. I wish I’d gone to culinary school.

17. Sam and I purchased a road bike and a tandem kayak from money we earned collecting and recycling cans.

18. One of my New Year's Resolutions was to floss everyday... so far I have not missed a day!

19. I’ve been in love twice.

20. When eating cereal, I like to have twice as much milk than cereal in my bowl.

21. I want to cut my hair short but am too afraid!

22. I got a red card and was ejected from a soccer game while in high school.

23. I cried like a baby the first time I ever flew... even though I was 17! ha!

24. Looking up at really tall buildings totally freaks me out!

25. I once picked 1600 dandelions out of our front yard because my Dad told me he would pay me a penny for each one I picked.

Let me just say...

2008-12-16T14:31:00.003-05:00

I TOTALLY love my bread machine! I've had a bread machine ever since Sam and I got married in 2003. While living in Butler we used the machine once, but since that time I never I bothered to get it out again... until this past weekend.

It was my turn to make breakfast/snacks for the church volunteers and I thought that I would try making homemade cinnamon rolls. I found a recipe that suggested the use of the dough cycle on a bread machine. Since I was baking other goodies Saturday I thought using the bread machine would save a little time. I'm SOOOO glad that I used it because the dough came out almost perfect!!! It was just the right consistency, was easy to roll (on a floured surface) and baked beautifully!

It totally beat mixing by hand, letting it rise, punching it down, letting it rise again, and worrying that something will go wrong along the way. Plus, my house is normally so cold that my yeast doughs take forever to rise.

I'm definitely going to use my bread machine more often now! If anyone has any good recipes, just send them my way!

Completely Thankful...

2008-12-02T10:11:00.002-05:00

So often we let life just pass us by as we race for the next adventure, accolade, or accomplishment. It's important to stop and realize just how blessed we are for the many 'luxuries' we may enjoy that others do not have the opportunity to experience. Therefore, I thought it was appropriate to mention just a few things for which I am ever-so-thankful!

God - That's a given! Without the Grace of God, nothing else would appear on my list... actually I would not even be able to make a list! :)

Family - I have an awesome spouse, family, extended family, and group of friends that I will always consider as family.

Freedom - As a US citizen I have been given more freedom than I know what to do with... ultimately, it is hard for us to fully appreciate how fortunate we are when it comes to this item of thankfulness... as many of us have never experienced life without freedom.

Opportunity - I have control over what I want to pursue as a career, where I want to live, what job I want to apply for, etc. I can essentially choose my own path.... my success is directly based on the decisions I make... although that cause some stress, it is definitely something I would not want to give up.

The lighter side of Thankfulness....

Cereal and Milk - I could not live without my daily intake of cereal and milk. I seriously think that I could eat cereal for breakfast, lunch and dinner and never get tired of it!!!!

Chapstick - Could you imagine living life with dry lips?

Sweatshirts/hoodies - Nothing beats wearing a hoodie on a chilly day!

Christmas Lights - How could anyone be in a bad mood after looking at Christmas lights!?!

Boca Burgers - If you have not tried these you need to! They are the best veggie/vegan burgers of all time! I'm neither a vegetarian nor a vegan, but I found these guys and fell instantly in love. I could probably eat these for every meal of the day and never get tired either!

Warm socks - What can I say? I hate it when my feet are cold!

Blogs - I LOVE to be able to 'keep-up' with my friends who I don't see very often. It just makes my day when I read about what's going on with them, something new their kids are doing, or if I'm just able to make sure things are okay. It's definitely a form of technology for which I am very thankful!

Remember when..

2008-11-24T10:59:00.000-05:00

Remember When...

1. Add a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses.

The fruit (or veggie) of our labor…

2008-11-17T15:29:00.003-05:00

I had to just quickly post something funny that happened at the end of the summer. Why, you may ask? Because it is one of those things that you just have to laugh at and chalk up as a life lesson learned.

This summer Sam and I were very excited and convinced that we would be able to grow tomatoes and peppers in a raised bed next to our carport. We bought 4 little pepper plants and 4 little tomato plants. We planted them in the bed, nourished them with some plant food and water, and waited for them to produce home grown veggies!

It turns out that turtles like to eat pepper leaves, blossoms, and stems.... and tomatoes need much more light than what our yard can provide.

But, the effort was not completely wasted. We were, after all, rewarded with our little baby tomato.

Please note that this was supposed to be a very large tomato, not a little cherry tomato!

Halloween, Mason Style

2008-11-10T11:28:00.003-05:00

Since Sam and I live in the most 'traditional' neighborhood out of Mom & Dad and Nik & Jamie, we have hosted Halloween every year since we moved to Lakeview Heights. However, this year was the first year that both Sam and I were able to participate in the festivities. (In the past either I've had night class or he's had class.)

We made the famous Mason 'Junk' Chili, carved several pumpkins, hung orange lights outside, and stationed ourselves on the front porch with candy in hand.

Mom was in charge of passing the actual candy out, while Sam and Dad worked on trying to scare the trick-or-treaters with a fake rubber snake tied to a piece of jute. (Realizing that the jute was very visible, they later opted to tie it with thread, as we had no fishing line at our house.)

Nikki and Jamie took Ross (a.k.a. the good Anakin Skywalker), Hannah (a.k.a. the ballerina) and Ray (just Ray) out trick-or-treating in the neighborhood.

As always, it was a great night. We had 154 kids stop by the house for candy and saw a few interesting costumes. Mostly, it was just fun spending time with one another, laughing, and worrying about whether or not we were going to run out of candy!

These are the lovely Mason Family Pumpkins! :)

Thoughts on Fall…

2008-10-23T09:41:00.000-04:00

I’ve decided that recently I’ve been rather out-of-sorts for a variety of different reasons. Although here lately I’ve felt as if the world was working against me, I thought it would be wise for me to focus on some of the things that make me ever-so-happy during this time of year!

1. I love the fall… Absolutely EVERYTHING about it is enjoyable to me. I love the crispness of the air, the falling leaves, the smell of wood smoke coming from chimneys, pumpkins sitting on porches, the need to wear coats, gloves, scarves etc. I love fall!

2. Baking is better when you bake with pumpkin! Since Fall is officially ‘pumpkin season’ I feel it is best to bake with pumpkin this time of year, rather than during the spring and summer. (The stuff still tastes just as good during other times of the year, but it almost seems out of place.) Therefore, it makes me soooooo happy when I can stock my pantry with pumpkin and bake pumpkin bread, muffins, cookies, etc. to my heart’s content. Gingerbread’s the same way…. It’s seasonal to me, which means I start baking gingerbread flavored items in September and enjoy them until spring rolls around. Fall and Winter are definitely my FAVORITE baking seasons. On that note… if you have any good fall related recipes that you recommend – send them my way! :)

3. Jeans and sweatshirts! I could live everyday of my life wearing jeans and a sweatshirt, which is the perfect attire for fall! Hooded sweatshirts with a pocket in the front are definitely my favorites! Alas, if only I could wear them to work!

4. Fall Family Time. For those of you who know the Howes family, you know that we love to spend family time together. And although we spend a lot of time together throughout the year the fall brings about some special opportunities. First of all, Mom and Dad’s birthdays are both in October (only 5 days apart), which means we get to celebrate two birthdays this time of year. Also, since Sam and I moved to Lakeview Mom and Dad have started coming to our house for Trick-or-Treat to pass out candy. This year will be great because it will be the first time since we’ve moved that Sam and I will both be there on Trick-or-Treat night, along with the rest of the family! And of course, we must mention Thanksgiving. We’ve had lots of different Thanksgiving Traditions in the past and now are creating some new ones. This is about the only holiday that we ‘rotate’ locations…which means, every 3rd year Sam and I get to host the Thanksgiving meal at our house! Since I love entertaining, I really look forward to our turn to host!

5. Sam and I FINALLY found a used Kayak to buy and I totally LOVE IT! For those of you who have never been kayaking, I would definitely recommend it. Being out on the water is so peaceful and beautiful! The upper body exercise you get from kayaking is awesome as well! We heard that some friends of ours had an Old Town Loon 160T for sale…. So we took it for a quick spin on the lake last weekend (and no – it wasn’t too cold – we did not even get our feet wet!) and fell in love! We stopped by their house that afternoon and paid for it. Ahhhh… I can’t wait till spring so we can take it out on regular trips! (This one is not specific to the season… but it just occurred this past weekend so I think that makes it okay to include:)

This is what our kayak looks like, except ours is red! :)

The things we learn the hard way!

2008-09-16T11:59:00.000-04:00

Okay... so I totally love to bake.... but I am still pretty novice in the world of making 'decorated' cakes, which was completely evident when I worked on making a baby shower cake and 5 dozen sugar cookies this past week for my friend Christy's baby shower. Although I was worn out and a little stressed by the time the baking and decorating was over... all-in-all, it turned out to be a pretty good experience and I managed to have a little fun! :) And, most importantly... I learned A LOT... some of which was learned the hard way.

Here are the top 5 things I learned.....

5.) There's a reason I had never used shortening when making icing before (I'm a butter girl myself). It's basically the pits... Yes, it does allow you to make almost snow white icing... but for some reason I found the shortening not meshing well with my food coloring. While piping on the Giraffe's fur (see pic below) it was almost like little white specs appeared.... weird. I'm sticking to butter for now on!

4.) Dark non-stick cookie sheets burn the bottoms of your cookies! All my life I have used the darkly coated non-stick cookie sheets to bake cookies... but I can officially say that's now a thing of the past. I had a Target gift card I had been saving from my Birthday in July and decided to spend it on a set of 3 air-bake baking sheets. Ahhhhh.. no more burnt cookie bottoms! To put it in perspective... I baked the sugar cookies for 5 minutes on the dark cookies sheets and 8 1/2 minutes on the air bake.... Although it took less time on the dark... time saving was not worth the burnt bottom result.

3.) Planning actually works! I made a 'schedule' for myself so I could properly manage my time baking so many cookies and a large two layer cake. Since I work full-time, work out for an hour after work each day, attend Bible study and attend Ross's soccer games, I did not have a whole lot of time left over for baking; therefore, each night I made a check list of things I needed to accomplish. (i.e. mixing the cookie dough to let it refrigerate overnight, baking, mixing icing, icing cookies, mixing cake batter, baking the layers, assembling the cake and decorating.) It worked for the most part... at least until I ruined 2 of the 3 cake layers (see 2. and 1.). Always schedule in time to fix your mistakes!

2.) Always have the right tools at hand. As most know, when you bake a layered cake it is important to bake the layer, remove it from the pan and cool completely (top side up) on a cooling rack; therefore, as any baker would, I removed it from the pan, plopping it on a large cookie sheet and then went to flip it back over so it was sitting top side up on a cooling rack.... of course, it did not work because I did not have a cooling rack large enough. I thought that just putting two racks together would work just fine.... obviously I was wrong (and I even had a little feeling that I was wrong before I even tried.) The end result.... chunks of destroyed cake all over the kitchen table (layer number 1 destroyed). Trust your instincts... and never flip a cake onto 2 separate racks that you are trying to hold together.

(This is what the cake looked like after I picked up all of the pieces off of the table and put them in them back in the cake pan.... at least it still tasted good!)

1.) Sliding a 12 x 18 cake layer on top of another 12 x 18 cake layer is a 2 person job! Alas, the most important lesson learned. If the cake is not centered when originally slid onto the bottom layer... there's no use in trying to make it budge. After baking layer 3 (which was to be the top layer) I turned it over to let it cool and of course, a small portion of the cake stuck to the pan. I managed to 'fix' that problem but faced an even larger one when I did a very poor job of sliding the 2nd layer on top of the first... it was crooked and falling apart, which certainly was not going to work. End result: layer number 2 (the 3rd layer I baked) destroyed and in the garbage. (I did not take a picture of this phase because I really was stroking out at that point.) Always have a helper on hand to call upon if needed!

(A picture of Christy's crib quilt that I mimicked the cake after... and a picture of the final product! Along with a picture of Christy and I at the end of her baby shower.... I think the day turned out to be a success!)

Triathlon

2008-09-08T14:51:00.000-04:00

Okay… so I’ve been a bad blogger lately. I can only blame myself, but will use my hectic work schedule at the beginning of the semester as an excuse. Hopefully, I’ll now find myself back on the track of being a regular blog updater!

TONS of things have happened since I last posted. Sam and I went on another incredible vacation to Washington State. I will honor our trip with a blog posting of its own soon. I’ve been as busy as a bee with church, baking, housecleaning/organizing, work (of course), exercising, and spending time with the family.

One of the more exciting events that occurred was Sam’s (and Jamie’s) participation in an Adventure Triathlon. (I chickened out!) The boys were required to kayak 2 miles, run 5 miles and mountain bike 15 miles. THEY DID SOOOOOOO WELL!!! They completed it MUCH faster than any of us expected! It was great to cheer them on… it also made me regret my decision to not participate myself!

I am so very proud of both Sam and Jamie, especially Sam. I know how hard he as worked to get into shape. It’s a very gutsy thing to do when you’ve never done it before… He’d never run 5 miles at one time and only kayaked for the first time the Wednesday before.

Here are some pictures of the outstanding Adventure Triathlon Athletes in action!!!

Here they during the Kayak leg of the race… notice Sam is the only one in a tandem kayak… which weighed about 80 lbs more than the single ones! He said he borrowed that one to use so he and I could go for a paddle later on that day. (Which we did and I TOTALLY loved… we are now using our Can Collecting Fund to save up for a Kayak purchase!)

I was only able to take 1 photo of them running because they finished about much earlier than I expected! I took some photos of them on the moutian bike trail... but they did not turn out so well; therefore, I just included a shot of them riding to the finish! :)

Ray's many looks..

2008-06-18T08:40:00.000-04:00

(The startled look and then the Koala Bear Look, as Sam likes to say.)

Ahhh... being an Aunt is absolutely FABULOUS!!! While celebrating Father's Day at Mom and Dad's this past weekend I got to soak up some niece and nephew time, which I always look forward to. Ray, being a little over 4 months old now, is sooo snuggly and cute. After hamming it up for the camera a few times, he ended up falling asleep in my arms... and I loved it!

(Hamming it up, then moments later sleeping like Aunt Amanda did when she was a baby.)

A Day of Digging....

2008-06-16T16:14:00.001-04:00

Over the past few months we discovered that the bottom portion of the addition to our house (Sam's soon-to-be workshop) was being infiltrated by unwanted water!! The individuals who built the addition did not quite get the drainage squared away properly, which has resulted in groundwater and rainwater seeping through. Therefore, Sam took it upon himself to 're-dig' the drainage trenches, while the building people paid for the backhoe (sp?). I was actually surprised at how well Sam operated it! He would have been done in one day if large tree stump had not gotten in his way and slowed him up. Anyway - while we had the digging machine Sam thought that Ross might want to come and 'help' for a little while - seeing that Ross is the typical 6-year old boy that LOVES farm and construction equipment! Ross was in full-fledged concentration mode while he dug, scooped, moved dirt and navigated the backhoe around our backyard.

Fishing Derby

2008-06-11T09:35:00.000-04:00

Have you ever heard of a Fishing Derby?? Well - being the daughter of a Fisheries Biologist in charge of a Fishing Derby, I was able to experience one first-hand this past Saturday. Basically, kids of all ages are able to fish for free (without a license) for a few hours out of the Hatchery's stock ponds. And let me tell you - kids (and parents) came from all over to partake in the fun-filled day of fishing. Since dad was in charge, he asked if I'd be interested in taking photos for documentation purposes... which I thought would be kinda fun.

Sam and I arrived at the Hatchery around 6:30am and witnessed the families flood in (btw, some were already there when we arrived - mind you the event did not start until 8:00). Nik and Jamie brought Ross, Hannah and Ray out for the occasion as well. I had to force myself away from them because once they arrived, I found myself only taking their pictures!!! :)

All in all, it was a really fun day. Ross and Hannah both won door prizes (fishing poles and gear) and Sam and I both decided that when we have kids and they are old enough to hold a pole, that we'll take them to the Fishing Derby too.

Celebrating 5 years...

2008-06-10T13:50:00.000-04:00

(Pictures taken while hiking at Natural Bridge)

As many of us can attest, marriage is not always easy, it's not always fun, but it can definitely be one of the best things in life. I was fortunate enough to marry Sam 5 years ago in May and have had him by my side as my best friend ever since. Before I was married I used to lay in bed at night and wonder if I already knew (was acquainted with) the man I was going to marry.... it seemed so odd to me that I might be friends with, neighbors, in class with or perhaps had just passed the man on the street without even knowing that I would be spending the rest of my life with him! Those days are long gone and that question was answered long ago and now Sam and I spend each day discovering along side one another what life has to hold for us.

My FAVORITE thing about being married is the fact that I will always have someone to share my time with. Even though we certainly do not do everything together, we know that the option is always there. Fortunately, Sam and I do have a lot of common interests, even though we are VERY different in many aspects. Since we've been married we've both discovered our soft-spot for KY State Parks! We love them!!!!!! Therefore, I thought it would be fitting to visit a couple while we took a few days to get away, relax, and celebrate our 5th year anniversary! We had a WONDERFUL time.... :)

First 5K

2008-05-02T08:54:00.000-04:00

(After the race - notice my really red face!)

This past weekend Sam and I completed a 5K race in Maysville. It was the first 5K I actually ran and the second for Sam. (I walked in one last August.) I am happy to say that we both completed the race and met our personal goals.

Mostly, I just wanted to actually run the entire race without walking at all. My second goal was to complete the race in less than 30 minutes. I am quite pleased that I was able to accomplish both of my goals! I ran the entire time and finished in 29 minutes and 50 seconds! I know that is far from a stellar performance, but for a girl who had never ran in a race before (or even really officially trained) I thought it was an accomplishment. I do have to say that I think I might become addicted to the racing scene now. There is some sort of excitement in the air on race day - I had felt a little of it before when going to races or marathon's with my Dad... but it’s a little different when you plan to participate yourself, rather than just watch and cheer.

It was a really great day (despite the rain at the end). It was great for Sam and I to do something like that together and I really enjoyed the fact that my Dad went with me. I could tell he was excited to have another runner in the family, even if it was just for the day. It was something special for a father and daughter to share:)

Tomorrow the Wellness Center is having another 5K - and Sam and I are thinking of participating in it as well.... I think the Maysville 5K may have been the start of an entire new exercising chapter of my life, which I think I'll enjoy.

(Sam, grinning like an opossum at the start:) (Me, cruising along and ready to finish!)

Mission Accomplished!!!!

2008-03-25T14:15:00.000-04:00

As miraculous as it may sound, my painting project has been completed!! After two coats of paint on the ceiling, two coats of primer on the walls, two coats of green paint, two coats of cream paint, the purchase, sizing and installation of chair rail (plus two coats of paint on the chair rail), and installation of new outlets/light switches, the room is 98% complete!!!!! All I have left to do is paint the closet doors, window/door trim, and baseboards!!! All I can say is Hooray!

I almost cannot believe that we were able to get so much accomplished! Mom, Dad, Nik and Sam all helped with the project - and Mom has promised to help with the trim painting too! (That's her specialty.)

Now we just need some furniture...... lol

Per Angela's request (and because it's fun) you can see the 'before' pictures above and the 'after' pictures below!!!

Tagged...

2008-03-04T12:40:00.000-05:00

10 years ago: I was 16 and had just gotten my driver's license. I was in my junior year, which turned out to be my least enjoyable year of high school. Speech team practice and competitions took up the majority of my time.... as well as being a member of the soccer and track teams. I loved to play soccer and spend time with my friends.

5 things on my list to do today: 1) Workout at the Wellness Center 2) Fix supper 3) Watch the Biggest Loser 4) Work on my Thesis 5) Go to bed early!

5 snacks I enjoy: 1) Dry-roasted unsalted Almonds 2) Toast w/strawberry jam 3) Plain animal crackers 4) Fruit (of any kind!!) 5) Whole Wheat crackers

What would I do if I were suddenly made a billionaire? Pay-off all of our debts (house, car, student loan, etc.). Finish all of our unfinished home improvement projects! Pay-off all of my family's debts. Open a Bakery (and subsequently quit my job as a FA Counselor!) Buy property in the great state of Washington. Invest! Donate to charities and set up endowments. (Ahhhh... how different life would be! haha)

5 places I have lived: 1) Morehead, KY. 2) Lexington, KY 3) Crescent Springs, KY. 4 & 5) Who knows where life will take us next! :)

5 jobs I have had: 1) Upward Bound Tutor Counselor (MSU) 2) Residence Hall Director (MSU) 3) Data Processing Specialist (NKU) 4) Enrollment Services Specialist (MSU) 5) Financial Aid Counselor II (MSU)

3 things you don't know about me:
1) I absolutely hate talking on the phone and always have - to anyone really (friends please don't be offended:). I love to email though!
2) I love to bake/cook and (as mentioned above) would love to open my own bakery. (I am obsessed with recipes - so if you have good ones, please send them my way!)
3) I get REALLY grumpy when I'm hungry! (I think I inherited that from my Dad!)

I tag: Leslie G.

Paint!

2008-02-26T13:42:00.000-05:00

After over 2 and a half years of living in our house and knowing that I needed to paint our back bedroom, I finally went and purchased paint for the project last night. Of course, the only reason why I ended up doing it was because we had a $20-off coupon! haha Anything to save money I suppose. In my defense, I could never conjure up enough nerve to actually choose colors - knowing that I once I bought the paint I couldn't change my mind (unless I wanted to waste money - which is a no no).

I decided that painting (or having Sam paint) the back bedroom would be a perfect 'Spring Break' project. I have also decided that I might be able to solicit some help from my mom, as she will be off as well. All I know is that I need to get the room painted - right now it has purple and pink walls and a very pink ceiling. I am actually surprised that I have been able to survive having a room that color in my house for this long! (Of course, it is not really a room that we use at this point.)

Trying to plan ahead a little, I decided on painting the bottom portion of the walls 'Lyndhurst Spring Eve' aka a shade of sage green, the top portion of the walls 'Soft Cream', and the ceiling white (which one would think would be a no-brainer - but I don't think the previous owners of our home admired white ceilings because I the house has none.) I chose the colors so that if the room were to be used as a baby's room, it could accommodate either a boy or a girl. And, until a baby arrives, it can be used as a fairly neutral guest room.

When it's finished I'll post pictures - which will hopefully be in less than a month. (Knowing me though, it end up taking a little longer! :)

New Nephew!!!

2008-02-14T14:40:00.000-05:00

I am happy to introduce my new nephew - Jonathan 'Ray' Sparks.

Ray was born on February 7th (1 week ago today) @ 8:12pm. I am hoping that when I have babies someday that my labor goes as smoothly as Nik's. She did not have any pain until they broke her water at 6:00pm and then only pushed for about 10 minutes! She also did it without any pain meds. I am totally impressed!

I am also happy to report that both Hannah and Ross are adjusting to their new baby brother quite well. Hannah's not sure quite what to think, but Ross wants to hold Ray every minute of the day. It is very cute!

On another note, Hannah's 2nd Birthday was on Feb. 2nd and Nikki let me help her Hannah's Birthday Cake again this year. (Last year we made a strawberry shaped cake in honor of Strawberry shortcake - most say it looked more like a pink acorn. Although I kind of agree with them, in my defense, it was the first themed cake I had ever tried to make!) This year Hannah wanted a Nemo cake. Since she loves chocolate, Nik and I decided to make her a chocolate cake with a Nemo on top. The cake actually turned out really well. Hannah kept looking at it and saying "My Nemo! My Nemo!" I swear - that child is absolutely adorable. I do have to say, that even though she loved her cake... she was afraid of the candles. Why, you may ask? Because 'fire burns', of course! We kept telling her that it was okay, but I can understand how the concept of 'fire on a cake not being dangerous vs. fire anywhere being dangerous' would be hard for a 2-year old to grasp.

The Nemo Cake before it was devoured.

Hannah is waiting patiently to eat her cake.

Opening Thoughts...

2007-11-15T14:04:00.000-05:00

Since Sam and I are horrible about keeping in touch with our family and friends (mostly attributed to our busy schedules) I decided it would be nice to start a little memo page where, those who are interested, could stay up-to-date on the happenings of the Mason household.

As some may know, we dove into the world of home improvements this summer when we started adding on a room to the back of our house. Some say it's silly to build on a room that has yet been given a primary purpose; however, we are looking forward to some extra living space! I also think that room will provide the perfect spot for a Christmas tree:) The addition is still a work in progress and will more than likely not be finished for quite some time, but I am sure it will be worth the wait.

Fortunately, Sam's 'workshop', located underneath of the new room, should be up and operational within the next few months. Since we do not have a garage, the extra space to store lawn equipment, flower pots, etc., will definitely be put to good use.

I spotted the first snow flurries of the season today!!! Although some may disagree, the cold weather makes it feel more like the holiday season. After all, who wants to stuff themselves with turkey when it is warm outside???

Sam and I are both looking forward to spending some quality time with our family over the upcoming Thanksgiving Holiday. We are also looking forward to spending some time with one another. We have a busy life, but who doesn't? Since we are one married couple that actually enjoy spending time with one another, we take advantage of any breaks in our busy schedule to make some lasting memories.

Speaking of busy, it's time to get back to the grindstone.

To those reading this, I hope life is treating you well!

-Amanda:)