flip flop love

we still love flip flops. brad and i are just really excited that mason puts them on his feet now, instead of his mouth. now that's progress! :)

note: yes, we realize we are in desperate need of bigger short-sleeved pajamas. mommy just hasn't had time to shop for them yet! :)

because i love you, korey

i will be packing my suitcase full of frozen mexican food... 4 cheese enchilada dinners (2 from mom & kasey) and 2 chicken burritos (because we can't leave greg out). i just hope they don't leak on my clothes. new york, here i come! see you tomorrow! :)

the buckle

one of mason's latest tricks is to buckle his own seatbelt in the high chair. in typical toddler-style, it's never enough to just do it once. i took a few photos during the last marathon-buckling-event.

we're goin' on a bug hunt...

... we're gonna catch a bug!

"what are we doing daddy?"

practicing their bug whacking technique

"is it up there? where?"

"get it daddy!"

"jump, daddy, jump!"

bug killing is fun!

mission accomplished!

better than blocks

from the looks of these photos, you'd think we drink a lot of carbonated beverages. not true. those have been in the pantry since granny and papa visited in january! we need them to come back so they can finish drinking them! :)

in the meantime, mason had a swell time stacking them!

an apple a day

is del.

icio.

us!

like father like son (part 3)

like father...

like son...

on the road again

since our first pit stop, mason has become quite the accomplished driver. after all, he does get lots of practice. every time we climb in the car, he begs us to let him drive and every time we stop, he jumps out of his car seat and climbs into the front seat to assume the position.

"where do you want to go, mommy?"

first things first - keys in the ignition?

check.

shift into gear

check rearview mirror

oops, forgot to put on daddy's sunglasses!

much better!

"you look surprised at my driving skills.
gimme a break - i am 18 (months)!"

escape!

it finally happened. actually, it happened last week when mason, in a moment of defiance, leaped over the edge of the crib to get the forbidden pacifier from the drawer. have i mentioned that he is a strong-willed child?! i digress...

after last week's incident, though, he seemed to forget about escaping and didn't try it again. until tonight.

imagine our surprise as brad and i are sitting on the couch working on assorted tasks shortly after putting mason to bed. out of the corner of his eye, brad spots movement. "look by the front door," he said. i looked and there was a VERY proud mason doing the happy dance at his successful escape.

with glee, he ran through the living room and kitchen, stopping at the refrigerator to grab a couple of farm animal magnets.

back to bed i chase him. back out he leaps. brad then stays in mason's room to prevent further episodes. mason pretends to sleep. brad leaves. mason attempts escape again, with brad catching him in the act. mason gets pacifier. mason goes right to sleep.

not exactly the outcome we were hoping for as we break him of the paci-addiction, but honestly, we were at a loss. any ideas on how to keep an 18-month old in the bed? (i've already ruled out the crib tent due to a string of accidents resulting in toddler deaths).

bye bye ball

two saturdays ago (yes, i'm behind on blogging) brad was working, so mason and i hit the park. it was a gorgeous day and i had grand visions of getting lots of cute photos of mason and his new ball. however, i underestimated the wind factor. you see, the balls from the $1 rack at wal-mart are light. really light. and while the day wasn't what i would call "breezy," there was enough wind to fly a kite, which meant there was enough wind to blow our ball all over creation the park.

we started in the big grassy area, and then quickly found ourselves down by the waterway. the ball kept going and going and going. so we chased it. and chased it. and chased it some more. every time we got close enough to think we might catch it, another gust of wind would sweep our poor ball further from our grasp. i kept looking down at mason (after all, we really don't run long distances in our house), but he was determined. he would look at the ball, point, say "ball?", and then run after it. after a good 10 minutes of this fun, he stopped and looked up at me.

"ball?" he panted with a tinge of desperation.

"mason, the wind keeps blowing our ball away," i explained. "i don't think we're going to catch it. do you want to just say bye-bye to the ball?," i asked, crossing my fingers that this wouldn't result in a meltdown.

"bye-bye ball," he chimed with a wave of his hand for emphasis before running off in the opposite direction to climb on a bench.

next time we'll go for the heavier soccer ball!

down on the farm

every creature makes a sound. the horse says "neiiiggghhhh!"

cars can be replaced...

...people can't. it's been a wild day. as some of you may know, my dad was in a MAJOR accident this morning on 610 south. it involved 8 cars and 2 18-wheelers and, thankfully, everyone survived. my mom and sister were on their way to special k's eye surgery this morning when i got the call from mom saying dad was in an accident and was being transported via ambulance to the hospital.

a quick phone call to work followed by a frantic dressing of mason and we were out the door. i dropped him off at school & headed downtown to find dad. we knew he was ok (he had called my mom several times), but we also knew he was mildly incoherent (having the same conversation over and over again and bleeding).

not only did the wreck wreak havoc on rush hour traffic, it also made the news.

wow. you just never expect to see your dad hurt and in a hospital bed. by the time i got there he was talking coherently, but he looked bad (no offense, dad!) he was covered in blood, laying on his back, and wincing in pain. i'll spare you the rest of the gory details, but after 6 hours, 20 staples to the back of the head, 5 stitches in his mouth, and a little super glue, he was walking out of the hospital. thank you God for sparing him and the others involved in the accident.

hug the ones you love. it became glaringly obvious to me today how much i need my family and how little everything else matters when push comes to shove. here's to answered prayers and a grateful heart... i love you, dad!

1.5

eighteen months. i feel like i blinked and my baby is "all" grown up! clearly, all is a relative term, but seriously - it's just moving too fast!

our boy is still a monkey... he climbs, he jumps, he wallows, he swings (thankfully only at the playground), and loves bananas. i'm pretty sure that qualifies him for monkey status! :)

here are a few of his favorites at the moment:

• favorite toy(s): we have many... puzzles, lawnmower, stuffed monkeys, and cars
• favorite food: raisins
• favorite hiding place: bathroom cabinet where we keep the towels
• favorite words: more, mama, cassie (still sounds like khaki), huh?. his vocabulary is growing, slowly but surely... these are just the ones he says 5000 times per day! :)
• favorite appliance: tough choice between the refrigerator and dryer, but i think the dryer wins. i just caught him putting the cordless phone in there last night!
• favorite mode of transportation: wagon or jogging stroller
• favorite car part: headlight - if he sees one, he has to touch it
• favorite sports equipment: baseball bat
• favorite room in the house: cassie's room (aka the laundry room)
• favorite playground item: slide (but only if he can go head first)
• favorite things to point at: birds, airplanes, and the drawer we hide his paci in
• favorite time of day: bath/shower time

i find it fascinating to watch as he determines what he likes and what he doesn't. from food choices to which shoes to wear, he has an opinion about everything! how is it that he's grown up so fast?!

we love you mason! you may be growing up fast, but you'll always be our baby.

peek a boo!

what is this white stuff?

last tuesday, we had snow! yes, in houston 10 flakes qualify as snow! i missed out on the fun (i was in training in the galleria area), but brad and mason seemed to enjoy themselves - even if it did just last for a few minutes!

i heart peanut butter!

you may know that peanut butter is my favorite food. really! and mason's a pretty big fan too. but did you know that there's a national peanut butter lovers day? it happened earlier this week and to celebrate mason and i made peanut butter sandwiches. he caught a cold this week, so wednesday offered the perfect opportunity to fill our bellies with the goodness of jif.

the office

i recently moved offices at work and decided after 7.5 years, i would finally decorate a bit. a few purchases later, i'm pretty pleased with the result:

the view from my desk...
the frames to the right of the canton art is my $1.50 project:
2 frames from the back of my closet & 2 $0.75 pieces of scrapbook paper

what's behind me... aka my happy place with the mason/brad pics

the working space

my new laptop bag (another canton purchase!)