do you see what i see?

said the laughing mommy to the blogosphere

do you see what i see?

in the middle of the room little boy

do you see what i see?

a mess, a mess

in mason's crib

it's a leak as big as a lake

it's a leak as big as a lake.

like father like son, part VI

like father...

like son!

i didn't notice how often we put our sunglasses on our heads until mason started exclusively wearing his this way. wonder what else he's picking up?!

a decade of bliss

every moment may not have been bliss, but the past ten years have been filled with love, laughter and a bundle of joy.
happy 10th anniversary to us!

(forgive the scanned photos - our marriage pre-dates digital cameras!

yes, we know, we're old.)

i hold you mommy and other toddler tales

i've found that life with a two year leaves less time for blogging than the previous stages! here are a few random tidbits that i just don't want to forget...

• i hold you mommy. for the past several weeks (code words for i can't remember how long he's been doing this) mason has been coming up to me (primarily) saying, "i hold you mommy" which means, pick me up, i want you to hold me. it is adorable, although his timing isn't always the most convenient (like when i'm carrying six bags of groceries). i try to remember that these days are numbered and quickly empty my arms to make room for him. after all, i can't imagine him saying "i hold you mommy" when he's seven.
• bedtime stall tactics. mason has never been a big rocker. he would squirm and arch his back and lean toward the crib when i would try to rock him as a baby. now that he's a big boy (and a professional bedtime staller) he has decided that rocking really isn't so bad. so after 3 books (give or take), he wants me to rock and sing to him. on a side note, he sometimes asks me to sing a different song - not sure if it's his personal preference or my singing voice - but i usually oblige. when he's finally stalled long enough, he says "night night!" and points to the bed.
• butter. much like his mommy, mason is a huge fan of peanut butter. he calls it butter and prefers it right out of the jar. i've tried to put it on a cracker for him, but he just licks the peanut butter off and passes the cracker back for a refill. somehow a spoon feels less disgusting to me than a soggy cracker!
• mickey mouse. mason hasn't been much of a tv watcher, but he has recently found an affinity for mickey mouse and his friends at the clubhouse. he now passes the remote control and asks "mickey mouse on tv mommy?" we all enjoy a good hot dog dance now and then...
• i heart police cars. known by mason as plice cars, he sees every one of them within a 5 mile radius. i used to tell him, "no mason, i don't see a police car" but then i realized that he was always right. i only hope that all his friends and teachers know that daddy is a state trooper because i'm quite certain mason tells all of them that daddy went to work in a police car. :)
• non-stop talking! brad and i (ok, mostly me) were once worried that mason wasn't talking much. he would say a word here or there, but wasn't really interested in talking. those days are officially over. brad and i can hardly get a word in edgewise now! in fact, we were riding in the car the other day and commented how we used to be able to just enjoy the silence every now and then, but now we have a VERY chatty toddler. my how things change!

our boy still brings so much joy in our lives. the toddler stage can be challenging for sure (strong willed child, anyone?!), but it is also filled with laughter, love, and lots of slobbery kisses. such fun!

celebrating CHRISTmas

happy birthday, jesus! we had a great time celebrating His birthday. there was tons of food, birthday cake, and presents to share with family on the special day. brad worked until 3 am on christmas eve, so mason and i attended our church service without him and we tried our best to be quiet on christmas morning so he could catch up on a little sleep.

that lasted for about 15 minutes.

needless to say, mason noticed that santa visited right away and wasn't too excited about having to wait for daddy to wake up. i offered him one present to tide him over. santa thoughtfully brought a play-doh kit to bring hours of entertainment to our house. those hours are cumulative though. we made play-doh cut-outs of alligators and cows, butterflies and giraffes and then he was ready to tear into more presents.

after a quick consultation with daddy where i explained that it is cruel and unusual punishment to make a two year old wait to open presents, a very tired daddy came in the den to join us. we promised him a nap later that morning.

mason opened his presents, my presents, daddy's presents, and started in on aunt kasey's. apparently it doesn't matter if they aren't his - he just really likes the opening process! i would mention his favorite gifts, but he seemed to love them all - even the big boy underwear that santa brought (wishful thinking, santa!)

we laughed, we played, and we made christmas kolaches before letting daddy sneak off to bed. mason and i continued to play, then tried to get ready for our family visitors (grammy, pappy, and kasey).

when they arrived, we finished prepping for the meal while mason crashed out for an almost 3 hour nap. we opted to eat dinner without him, rather than waking him up and he actually let us finish the meal before calling out from his room.

i ended up participating in the family memories instead of just documenting them, so we don't have a ton of photos to show for the day. but we did take a few...

play-doh! 

yes, mason, santa (and mommy) hope that you'll wear these soon!

gotta protect that noggin!

what a mess

where did mason go?!

 batting practice (soon to take place outside!)

all in all, a fun day. thank you, jesus, for letting us celebrate your birthday!

An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. - Luke 2:9-11

merry christmas!

'tis the season

for grumpy faced photos...

and a few smiles when they aren't looking...

(clearly mason isn't a fan of the santa hat)

like father like son (part 5)

it's been a while since we've had a "like father like son" blog post, and this one was too cute to pass up...

if you want to reminisce with me, check out parts 1, 2, 3, & 4...

best present ever

so big...

...yet so little.

santa claus is coming to town

ever since mason saw an inflatable santa in lowe's before thanksgiving, he's been intrigued. he'll see santa somewhere and ask "who's that?!" then reply to himself "santa claus!," usually followed by a "ho, ho, ho!"

we knew we definitely needed a santa do-over after last year's encounter, but we haven't had time to visit him before today. all day long, we practiced what mason would do... walk up to santa and say "hi santa!" and then sit on his lap, look towards mommy and say "cheese!" 

mason is not particularly compliant when it comes to smiling for the camera (you might have noticed!), so we worked on it before church, after church, after nap, and on the way to see santa. i figured practice makes perfect! while that motto doesn't always ring true, it worked pretty well today.

we headed to market street to meet santa 

things didn't look too promising 

as we quickly learned what happens 

when you wait until 6 days before 

christmas to take photos with santa. 

what a line!

 mason was a champ and waited patiently

and did just as we practiced!! 

 successful visit and a delicious candy 

cane treat for a VERY good boy

cuteness in their bones

talk about an adorable gene pool... 

these cousins are cute all the way to their bones

giggles and grins

there's a whole lot of silliness around here now that daddy's home....

baby tanner

i finally got to meet my nephew tanner (aka baby tanner as mason likes to call him) this weekend! he is as cute as ever and such a sweet boy. the pictures hardly do him justice...

if looks could talk this one would say 

"auntie kammy, my mommy 

does NOT take this many pictures of me!"

he's as smitten with his mama as she is with him

gotta love baby toes...

lucky for me, aunt kant and uncle g's house is still under construction, so tanner and korey are hanging out in texas for a few weeks. we're planning to sneak in several more visits before they return to the cold north.

christmas '92 revisited

one of the best parts of family reunions is looking through old photos. and making fun of them. we found this doozy on the bookshelf at aunt 'nelle's house:

seriously. look at it. from bowl haircuts to stylish christmas sweaters 

to killer bangs had by all, it doesn't get much better than this.

we laughed so hard at ourselves, we decided it needed to be redone. 

18 years later. complete with the christmas sweater.

awesome. i might add that evan weighed a lot less at age 6!

happy birthday papa!

you only turn 90 once, so the whole nasse clan gathered to celebrate papa's birthday in san antonio this past weekend. relatives from near (in texas) and far (louisiana, new york & alaska) joined in the festivities. 

from the gumbo on friday to the fish fry on saturday (with fresh alaskan halibut!), there was good food, old stories, and family togetherness for all. happy birthday papa!

a smile

even if it's upside down, it still counts as a camera win for mommy!

a grateful heart, a faithful God

i would be remiss if i didn't write about how faithful God has been throughout our lives this year, particularly while brad was at the academy. brad received his invitation to the state trooper academy on june 18th. we had been praying over this decision and path for months, but that doesn't mean i didn't have concerns about life without brad for 4.5 months.

on june 20th, i wrote out my "not to worry" list. philippians 4:6-7 reads, "do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. and the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus"


so i did. i prayed over this verse and over my list of concerns and asked God to take over. the list stayed on my nightstand until brad left for the academy on july 18, and then somehow ended up tucked away in the office until two days before graduation when i happened to think of it.

my God is faithful and He provided in ways i specifically asked for and in others beyond my imagination.  all honor and glory is His and i am thankful beyond words.

• the emotional strain from being separated from brad - despite the distance, we were able to talk a little on most days and we stayed too busy to dwell much on the separation!
• our finances - brad's new field is a pay cut, but God has met all our needs.
• being a patient and sufficient provider for mason's needs - i only lost my cool a couple of times and mason is still alive and well! :)
• dinner each night - this one seems petty, but it was actually one of my biggest concerns. brad has always arrived at home before me, and therefore been the "cook" of the family. i am pleased to report that we may not have had gourmet meals, but we only ate chicken nuggets twice!
• maintaining the house (bills, laundry, keeping it clean) - check! (the cleaning lady helped tremendously with the keeping it clean part, but mason and i did keep it tidy)
• avoiding travel at work - i typically have to travel at least once per month, but in all 18 weeks, i didn't have a single work trip!
• excelling at work despite the stress at home - a big concern for me. however, in the time that brad was gone, i received a bonus for a job well done on a project i proposed and executed and i received a promotion to supervise employee and marketing communications! (um, yes, this would be where God exceeded my imagination)
• keeping focused on God and the plans He has for our family - i took a hiatus from television and instead read my bible each night. God's word = perfect peace
• being a supportive wife - you'll have to ask brad about this one
• brad's health and well-being - he survived in one piece and is in the best shape of his life (although a little thin after the academy meal plan)
• brad's success at the academy - with a 93 average and a 90 on the tcleos exam, he did great!
• mason's health and well-being - mason didn't miss a single day of school due to illness. he caught a minor cold at the end, but didn't run fever with it!

"and my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus" - phil. 4:19

deck the halls

we took advantage of the extra hands around the house with brad's family in town and decorated for Christmas a little early. we decided it was ok since we didn't put up a SINGLE decoration last year, so we had some making up to do! mason was quite the little helper and we only broke one ornament. not bad for life with an accident-prone two year old!

i just noticed that we didn't get a single picture of kristen, who was extremely helpful in the decorating process and in distracting mason when we needed to get something done without a toddler under our feet! all in all, we had a great time decking the halls and walls with Christmas spirit.

"these are beautiful - where should they go?"

"right here!"

"oh my goodness! does this mean santa is coming?!"

a little mantle decor

a very trim santa

mason's skills were quite refined 

by the time we made it to the second tree!

handymen

after graduation granny, papa, aunt jeannie, and kristen came back to our house for a visit. jeannie had to work the next day, so after filling her belly with some delicious lupe tortilla fajitas, we dropped her off at the airport for a quick flight home.

the rest of us enjoyed five days of family time. in addition to eating lots of good food (the grub at the academy was a little lacking), playing with mason's cars/trucks/trains, and visiting, we found time to do a few projects around the house...

helping daddy fix the latch on the gate

"i do it"

we're through with the hammer...

what tool do we need next?

this one looks good!

we also planted some pansies.

mason and papa had to loosen up the dirt.

granny helped too. she's known for growing beautiful flowers!

 say cheese!