gotta wear shades

i told mason if he let me take his picture, i would show him what his shades look like...

this is the first time i've taken 3 photos in a row where he is looking at the camera and smiling. too bad we have leftover dinner on our face!

mommy's lunch

most days, i bring my lunch to work. to save time, i make it the night before and then place in on the counter so i can easily grab it on the way out the door. apparently it is easy for mason to grab too.

after he ate my peanut butter sandwich friday morning, i had to make a new lunch. i guess somethings (particularly peanut butter) are irresistible!

last week!

we're almost there! after 18 long weeks, brad graduates from the dps state trooper academy on thursday! he passed the last physical test last week (and wound up with a concussion), and he takes the TCLEOS exam on monday. please pray for a clear head, peace, confidence, and for his test score to reflect the effort he has put into this program.

stay tuned for photos of our trooper later in the week!

practice makes perfect

mason has been practicing. we mostly do a whole lot of sitting with very little action, but we have had 4 success stories with him indicating he needs to go and then actually going. we're not pushing it, but are certainly encouraging his interest.

for the record, the photo was daddy's idea. the appropriateness of the book choice is entirely coincidental.

hiding!

for the past month or so, mason has been learning about hiding. hiding balls, spoons, various objects, and of course, himself. it started with a couple of toys, which he would hide behind his back or under his shirt. he "hides" the object, then our dialogue goes something like this...

mason: "ball? where is it?" (with his hands lifted into the why position)
mommy: "i don't know, mason. what happened to it?"
mason: "i don't know. where is it?"
mommy: "is it missing?"
mason: "oh no! it's gone" (with his hands on either side of his face to emphasize the oh no!)
mommy: "is it in your shoe?"
mason: "no-o-o-o"
mommy: "is it in your pocket?"
mason: "no-o-o-o"
mommy: "is it under your shirt?" (where i can clearly see the ball poking out and his hand holding it in place)
mason: (lifting the shirt while keeping the ball hidden) "no-o-o-o"
mommy: "it's not under your shirt? then what's that?" (pointing to the big lump)
mason: (gasp) "ball!!" (then burst into giggles)

when he hides himself, he runs, finds a spot, then yells out, "mommy! h-i-d-i-n-g!" followed by a stream of giggles. i love it that he announces he's hiding so i can go look for him. soon enough, i'm sure he'll be hiding from me without letting me know and i'll be panicking because i have no idea where he is. it will make me cherish these moments even more.

mason is at such a cute age right now (despite the typical two-year old struggles to be in charge) and i hate that i've been so busy trying to keep my head above water to write down all these stories. rather than dwell on that, i think i'll just relish in the fact that this one is captured. ;)

cool bike

at the gas station earlier today...

mason: mommy, a bike!
mommy: you're right mason that is a bike. is it cool?
mason: it's cool. cool bike, mommy. cool bike.

bad blogger

so it's been a while... things have been hectic around here with two sickies (mason and me). and since our household currently consists of mason and me, it's been a rough week and a half!

we're both feeling much better now and mason has transitioned quite smoothly from a sick toddler to a defiant two year old. not the throw a big-screaming-fit-in-the-middle-of-the-room defiance. he prefers the push-all-mommy's-buttons-until-she-loses-it tactic, then laugh while she blows a gasket. it's lovely, i tell you. any tips for counter-acting this behavior are much appreciated. in the meantime, timeouts seem to be working moderately well (for both of us).

there are 16 days remaining until brad's graduation and we are all looking forward to his return to the woodlands. we can't wait to have him home again!

sorry for the random, stream-of-conscious nature of this post, but it's all i can muster today!