Just because...

I LOVE this picture, and this sweet little boy!!

Mason was 9 weeks old in this picture. My sister had bought him several hats that I had forgotten about. I had planned to take his pictures with the hats on in those first few days, but he was just so tiny. The hats would have swallowed him up. I'm glad I remembered the hats when I did, because I love this picture. Mason did not like the hat. It's hard to believe that just moments before I took this picture he was crying and wailing. He looks so peaceful here. And...in case you were wondering, those cheeks are oh so kissable!!

Mason is 11 weeks ALREADY...

and we are LOVING every moment of it. Summer is flying by, and we are trying to get out more and enjoy it before it's over. Since I decided to start pumping it has made it even easier to get out the door. I pump during the day, and nurse once during the night when Mason wakes up around 3:30, and then again around 6:00 when he stirs. He is a great sleeper, and tends to get up for the day around 8:00. I have never had a good sleeper, and I thank God each day that he is so mellow, and sweet. That he is a great sleeper, and not an all day screamer. His cry actually is very faint, and baby lamb like. Maaaa Maaaa.

Well...blogger hates me tonight. I've tried to blog and post twice and it's not letting me. Some kind of 413 error. Tonight was the only night I had to blog , so I'll have to post what was saved... Lots of pictures without captions and spaces and fonts in the wrong places. Maybe you can guess what all the pictures are of. :)

* I now have time to come back and edit this post!
Look at this cute boy. I'm so in love with him!!
My sister came to visit this week with her son Miles. He is exactly 9 weeks older than Mason. We went to the indoor pool several times while she was here. Mason enjoyed it from his carseat with his thumb in his mouth.

Isn't he so cute? You can see a little bit of his blonde hair in this picture.

This week Mason graduated to size 1 diapers! They are still pretty big on him, but the newborn size was getting a little small.

Amanda brought the girls Justin Bieber shirts. When Trinity saw them she said "A JUSTIN BIEBER SHIRT FOR ANNA!" She was so excited because she knew that Anna would be! When she realized the shirt was for her she couldn't stand it. She was dancing around saying "woohoo, woohoo"!

Amanda got to love on Mason while she was here. I thought this was such a sweet picture of the two of them.

If you ever wondered what it looked like to have a very tall teenager sit at the back of a van, this is how it would look. He sat in the back this week while the two infant car seats were in the middle. Poor thing was pestered by his sisters on each side of him. If they weren't tickling him they were giving him "wet willers", as Neen calls them.

Casey did go to the doctor a couple of weeks ago for an athletic physical, and the doctor said that looking at his growth curve that he should be 6'6" tall before he stops growing! Holy Smokes! That is tall! I don't know what we will do for pants at that length.

The weather has been really nice in the evenings. Mason and I try to sneak outside to get a little snuggle time in before bed.

We've spent a lot of time this summer at the library. The girls picked up a book this week, called Charlie The Ranch Dog. Did you know that PW wrote a children's book? I was so surprised when the girls pulled it out of their bag, and I saw her picture on the back...I yelled, "Hey, I know her!" As if...like I really know her. Sometimes I feel like I do, just because I keep up with her blog. The book was adorable, and we just might have to purchase it for our own library.

Neen is still loving gymnastics. She has moved up to an older class that is 45 minutes long. Her new favorite part is chalking her hands for the bars.

She has been a great helper to me. I've let her and Anna help me feed Mason his bottles. You can tell he's not too sure about it though. He always looks for me to make sure everything is ok.

These are a couple of snap shots from my phone. I'm trying to take photos of Mason each month to show how much he's grown. These photos were taken at 1.5 months, and 2.5 months. He's my little half pint!!

We had such a great time with Miles and Amanda!! More to come for next week.

Happy Father's Day!!

Unfortunately Sunday holidays aren't celebrated too big around our house. Casey's late day at work is Sunday, and that is the one day that he can't ever take off.

This year for Father's Day the kids made him a "Chopped" box. Do you watch Chopped? We love that show, and the kids made a box of ingredients that make a great Dad. A few examples were batteries...every great Dad should have lots of energy. A bookmark...every great Dad should be a good bedtime story reader. A candy bar...every great Dad should be sweet. We put about 12 ingredients in the box, and Casey seemed to love it. He also got a few more little gifts that made him feel special, and let him know how much we LOVE him!!!

I'm not sure if I ever mentioned the gift I got for Mother's Day, but it was the best gift EVER. We now have a cleaning service that comes to our house every two weeks, and it is blissful!! I can't imagine now with Mason here that I would ever have time to REALLY clean the house. I'm not sure how long we will keep the service, but my vote would be forever!! Casey really out did himself this year!!

I still can't believe Casey and I have four kids...Four kids, that is a lot of kids these days. Do you you know how I know that? I have been told many times in public since Mason was born that four is a lot of kids, and boy...four...that's a handful. Well, yes it is, and we wouldn't have it any other way.
I love this picture even though it's blurry. Casey loves Mason so much, and you can see it in his face. Mason is pretty fond of him too. ;) Do you think they look a like? Ummm, just a little. He's definitely Casey's mini me!!

Happy Father's Day to all of the wonderful father's out there!

Another week has come and gone...week 10

This week seemed to go by so fast! I feel that even though summer just started that it is going by too fast, and will be gone before I know it. Next week my sister comes to visit, then the next week my mom. We're going to take a family vacation, and then shortly after school will start, and by that time I'll have a 4 month old.

We have had LOTS of smiles this week!! It looks as though Mason is hitting all of the 6 week milestones. So, it seems he is right on track where he should be. :)

Sometimes in the afternoon Mason takes a quick nap on my chest, and I love EVERY moment of it.

The girls are loving that Mason is starting to be interested in his play mat. I've caught them several times laying under it with him.

Anna is my little helper. I can always count on her if I need something. She normally gets all the towels and cloths we need for the bath, and then holds him until the water is just right. I love the way he is looking at her in this picture. He really is so comfortable with her.

I think he's really starting to fill out and look good. He is still so small (smaller than Neen when she was born), but he's getting there.

Mason went on his first airplane ride this past Thursday. My uncle passed away on Monday, and we flew to Dallas on Thursday, and came home LATE Friday night. He really did well on the trip. The most stressful part was getting through security by myself, but I did it, and felt empowered afterwards. Mason slept the majority of the plane ride there and back. I normally fly Southwest, and have decided after not being treated so well by American, that I will ONLY fly Southwest from now on. They have the best customer service!!

I'm going to talk about breastfeeding now, so I wanted to give you a warning in case you'd rather not read it.

I've decided this week, well...today that I'm going to start exclusively pumping, and giving Mason a bottle. Our life moves in so many different directions that I can't nurse on demand. It seems like my whole day is planned around nursing to the point where I'm starting to stress on it. With the older kids in different activities, and schedules, and needing me during the day, the nursing isn't working. Mason also has issues with relatching. He latches great when I am full, but about half way through the feeding he has problems relatching. This leads to him crying, and then not being able to finish, which leads to my supply dipping and him crying because he's not full, then wants to nurse again quickly afterwards. I think knowing when I need to pump, and being able to just jump in the car and go with a bottle things will run more smoothly.

Any of you that have exclusively pumped, how did you do it? When did you plan your pumping? Did you pump at night? My thoughts are feed baby bottle, and then pump. Pump right before bed, and use that bottle during the night. Mason normally wakes up only once around 3:00 am, and I could use that last bottle I pumped. Then if he wakes up again I could try to nurse if he remembers? I don't know...any thoughts?

Out of Order...Week 9

Life is busy right now, and it doesn't always allow me to get on the computer. That is why you are getting week nine instead of week 7 & 8.

This week Anna had Girls Scout Day Camp, and earned her first Junior badge. She was really nervous the first day. On the way there we had to stop so she could get some air, and possibly throw up. She didn't throw up, but she was so pale that it looked like she was going to. That first day was a little bit hard for her, but she endured the week and loved it.

It's really not like Anna to get nervous or not want to do something. She has always been confident and social. I cried on the first day of Kindergarten and she didn't. She looked back at me smiled, and said "bye mom, I'll see you later!" So, it is really odd that she has started this. I'm not sure if this is just an emotional age for girls, or if it's because of the changes that have or will take place soon. I think changing school's is really bothering her, and I really don't know how to help her with that. The school she attended this last year was the longest amount of time she has been in one school. She was there 2 years, and really loves it. Moving to the new school seems like a benefit for everyone, with all three kids being at the same school, the school going all the way to 12th grade, and being so much closer to the house, but now I'm second guessing myself. This parent stuff is hard, and I don't know what's best for HER. I'll continue to pray, and hope that my eyes, ears, and heart are open when the answer comes my way.

Anna & Anne (pronounced Annie) on the last day of Camp.

This is what happens when a sister has to be at camp early in the morning. Little Mister doesn't want to get up.

And then this happens...Neen and Bubba get to spend the whole day together. They are two peas in a pod, and multiple times a day she tells him that he is her best friend. He is! She loves him to death! They read together, play legos, twister, color, he fixes her snacks :), and they play secret agents.

Trinity loves this little boy too, and wants to have her picture taken with him all the time. Mason went to the doctor for his 2 mo appt on Thursday. He weighed 8lbs 8 oz, was 21 in long, and head measured 15 in. So, he's almost doubled his body weight, and has grown 3 in. He's only in the 3rd percentile right now, but he's catching up. :) Poor baby also got his shots. He was not too fond of them. My other kids have always had that delayed reaction cry, but he screamed (shrieked) as soon as they stuck him. He also refused to eat that day, and had a fever for two days. The doctor did confirm that Mason has a small umbilical hernia, but said that it should resolve on its own by the age of 6 or 7.

Mason is so sweet. When he looks at you with those sad eyes, you can't help but kiss his sweet bald head. ;) He does have a little bit of hair. It's just so blonde it's hard to tell. His eyebrows and lashes are blonde too. Right now he goes to bed at about 8:00. He wakes up around 3:00, and sleeps again until about 7:00. I have never felt luckier in my life. He has been my ONLY child that sleeps. The others were up every 2-3 hours.

I stopped having dairy in my diet about a week before Mason was born. He did have a little formula those first couple of days until I had enough milk for him to only have my milk in the NICU. He had special formula, and didn't show any signs of sensitivity, or allergy. I want to try and add dairy in my diet to see if it will give him any problems like it did with all three of the other children, but I am SCARED. What if the dairy turns my sweet angel, into a screaming baby? I don't know if there is a best age to add that in, or a certain food that might be better than the other. I just don't know.

I took these next two pictures this morning. You can really tell in these pictures that he's getting bigger and putting on weight. His cheeks are filling out, and it just makes him cuter...if that's possible. :)

He has started smiling and cooing some this week. I just love his sounds, and his crooked smile. It always reminds me of Popeye!

There is no way you can look at that picture and not smile. NO way!!

Happy Saturday!!

A Graduation and a Birthday

Last week my oldest graduated from the 8th grade. The whole year I really looked at it as no big deal, but it WAS a big deal.

My child would be leaving the school that he so dearly loves. He has had the exact same teachers for the last three years. These teachers spend more time with him than I get to. They have built relationships my with my child, and they love him, and he loves them.

That day was a very tearful day. I was crying, the other moms were crying, and all the teachers were crying. These students were the 26 faces and hearts that the teachers were used to seeing daily. I had never thought about the teachers "losing" these students, and how sad it must be for them. After graduation they probably wouldn't see most of the students again.

Casey has been a true blessing to me. All of his life teacher's have approached me, and told me how much they truly enjoy Casey. That he is special and that God has great plans for him. That he is one of a kind, and that he has a heart of gold. At graduation, his Bible teacher told me that what she loves most about Casey is that he is so good and kind to the younger students. She said that everyone in the school loves Casey, and he is friends with them all. That he acts as their protecter, and stands up for them.

Do you see the manilla envelope Casey is holding? In the sixth grade Casey and his Language Arts teacher had an inside joke about her buying him a Dallas Cowboy watch. It has been a three year wait for this watch she said was in the mail. At graduation she gave Casey this envelope, and inside was a Dallas Cowboys watch. She started crying when she gave it to him, and said she was really going to miss him. I was so surprised, and so was he. I think we are all going to miss this school.

Two things you can always count on Casey to have on him is a thick book, and a pen. He is passionate about both of them. He can talk your ear off about pens and the latest books he's read.
I take a lot of napping pictures of the little ones. Rarely does Casey nap, so the other day when he did I snapped this picture. When did he get bigger than the couch? I love All of this boy!!


Three days after graduation Casey celebrated his 14th birthday. We told him he could choose to do anything he wanted to, or do something with friends. He chose to go to the Natural History Museum. Yes, a museum. I was surprised he didn't choose to go play laser tag, or go to a shooting range with Dad. The whole family had a great time, and learned a lot about Dinosaurs...Trin's favorite.

Later that night everyone (most everyone) ;) enjoyed cake that Casey picked out... German Chocolate...yum!

He wanted a basketball goal for his birthday, so that it what he got. He picked a birthday celebration that everyone could enjoy, and picked a present that the whole family could enjoy. We all have had so much fun playing basketball, and Casey is really good. He's even contemplating trying out for the school team next year.

SWOOSH! :)

Happy Birthday Bub! I love you!