Four Months Old

Now that school is in full swing, and my life is TOTALLY busy, I will just make a new goal.  A goal to give an update on Mason monthly instead of weekly.  A weekly goal is just imposssible, and not going to happen.  Mason is almost 5 months old, so I thought I better get his four month stats on here.

At Mason's 4 month appointment, he weighed 12 pounds 2 ounces.  He was 23.5 in long, and his head circumference was 16.5 inches.  He is still just a tiny little thing.  He is now in the 5th percentile!  All of my other kids have always topped the charts, even my premature babies.  His smallness is something new for this family, and I love it!!

The doctor said he was doing great, and that he is very strong.  He is rolling tummy to back, and back to tummy.  He's getting really good at grabbing for toys, and has just started grabbing faces.  He has also just found his tongue.  And, guess what? He has a tiny tongue.

Mason usually goes down for the night around 6:00pm, and wakes up around 11:00.  He takes about two ounces every 2-3 hours the rest of the night.  He wakes up in the morning around 6:00 when the  house is all hustle and bustle with the kids getting ready for school.  He tries to nap on the way to and from school, and gets very upset when we have to get out of the car.

  He's such a good, sweet boy and tends to go with the flow.  This week I have had to start supplementing with soy formula.  I'm about 2 bottles short each day, and so far his little tummy is tolerating the formula just fine.  He doesn't like it though.  He gags and coughs for about 5 minutes before he decides to take it.  You should see him take mylicon.  It's hilarious!!

It's hard to believe that he will be 5 months old in about a week and a half.  I swear, he was just born.

Here are a couple of other pictures I took this month. He still looks just like his daddy.



How did I get so far behind? Week 14

Life has been so busy lately, and I've been getting a lot less sleep...that's what happened. I'm going to hopefully do a few posts this week and try to quickly get caught back up. I am now a month behind! Ack! And, I promise... I won't post every week of Mason's life. Lol! I'm just hoping to get to 6 months. After this catch up, that will only be two more months.

The less sleep part is because of this rocker!!! I LOVED this rocker, and so did Mason.  This picture was the last night he slept in his most beloved sleeping place.  This rocker, is supposedly one of the only "approved" sleep devices for infants.  Mason slept so great in it, but I had to move him to his bed when I realized he was getting a small flat spot on the back of his head.  It made us both so very sad, and we are both not sleeping well because of it.  Mason decided that sleeping in his bed was a good cause to wake up every hour and a half. :(

See, look at him...he is so tired, and sooo cute, even if he is making me lose my hair from lack of sleep.

He's confident, confident, tired, but sure...raising his hand, raising his hand......yes he's SURE!!! ha ha!

(See, I told you I was tired!)

                                         

This week he was also very happy to give smiles, and show multiple facial expressions.

 

 I love this picture of Mason and Neen!  They sort of look alike here, but not in real life. He still looks just like his Daddy!

This week the girls also participated in swim lessons.  I was a little worried that Trin would be very shy, but she has really grown up in these last few months.  She had a blast, and was very brave!

 She even jumped to her teacher multiple times! I was so proud of her!

Well, that's it for week 14.  Not very informative, but it's done, and I can move on to week 15 ;)!

Mason's Newborn Pictures

A dear friend of mine, Emily has spoiled me! She takes the most beautiful pictures. I love her style, and I have not seen one photo of hers I didn't love!
She took photos of Neen and I the summer before Neen turned 2, and I just adore them!

I knew that when Mason came home from the hospital that I would want newborn photos of him taken by someone with the same style as Emily.

I would have loved having Emily take the photos, but she was having a baby herself. Her Lucy was born just four days after Mason. Luckily, Emily found me a photographer in my area. I emailed Tammy on a Friday, and she showed up at my house on Easter Sunday when Mason was just newly two weeks old. She was so warm and inviting. She had so much patience with Mason, and the kids. She got some wonderful shots that I will always hold close to my heart! Here are a few of my favorites. Enjoy!

Nana visits for week 13

My mom came to visit this week, and we had a wonderful time with her. When Mason was born she had to fly home the day that he came home from the NICU, so she really didn't get to see him. She also saw him briefly the day of my uncle's funeral because a lot of people wanted to see him and hold him. I think my mom really enjoyed her visit, and her time with Mason. She played, and "talked", and fed him every bottle while she was here.

She also made us some of our favorite foods, like Cocoa and biscuits for breakfast, and southern fried potatos for dinner. Everyone else besides myself got to enjoy banana pudding, and chocolate pie. I'm still eating dairy free, so no deserts for me. :(

I REALLY love this picture of my mom. Her smile here is so genuine and loving. It was nice that Mason turned his coo's into "talking" this week so my mom would be a part of it. He just loves it when he's talked to, and will get fussy if you stop talking to him.

My mom took this picture of Mason with her hand. She likes to show "size" since it is so hard to see in pictures. You can tell that he is still tiny, but he is getting bigger.

This picture of Anna and Mason is just breathtaking to me. There is a love and bond there already!

Trinity helped me make lactation cookies this week. They tasted really good, and helped my supply, so I will be making them again very soon! I am so grateful to be able to eat some normal foods this time around. When I nursed Trin she was allergic/sensitive to everything. I ate pork and rice for a year! So far Mason shows no real sign of an allergy, but he is sooo good, that I don't even want to add in dairy. My guess is that he would have a reaction since all three other kiddos could not tolerate it.

Mason normally takes a short afternoon nap on my chest. I know these days are limited, so I'm taking every advantage of it now.

Did I mention that Mason loves to talk and smile at his Nana? There is a video at the end of the post that melts my heart. He just talks and talks with her.

The girls like to get in on the Mason love and play too. They are constantly kissing on him. This week they started rubbing there face on his hair (fuzz). They think it is so soft, and I have to agree.

Normally for the 4th of July we really go all out. We buy a lot of fireworks, and have our own production in the front yard. This year was an exception though. There have been so many wildfires all around us this summer. Some as little as an hour away from us. I can't remember the last time it rained. We didn't want to start any fires ourselves, so Nana bought the kids "pop its", and sparklers. The kids had just as much fun with those as they would have the big fireworks we normally do.

Afterwards we went on our balcony to watch the fireworks go off at Balloon Fiesta Park, and then out front to watch the ones at the end of our street. Overall we had a great time. Please pray that we get rain, and that all the fires in Arizona, and New Mexico stop burning soon.

Here's the video of Mister talking to Nana!

week 12

This week was full of smiles! Both from Mason and from Miles. He and Amanda stayed with us through the middle of the week. The girls took turns giving bottles, helping with baths, and playing at the pool.

Mason's milestone for the week was cooing. He started making little coo's and moving his mouth like he wants to talk.

The kids are trying out some summer doo's! Casey decided a mohawk would be fun, and Anna wanted to try out the curly look. Neen is still sporting her signature side ponytail! I don't know how that girl pulls it off, but it totally fits her, and Mason, well...he's still trying to grow his. ;)

I also found a new app this week, and I really like it! Especially what it did for this picture of me and Mason.

Since Mason has been born Trini has found a new love of the camera! She REALLY wants to be in every picture now. She's looking at the camera, and giving some great smiles! Thanks Mason!

Mason has been giving us such pretty smiles and coo's! In the picture on the right you can really see how intently he's staring into my eyes trying to talk.

Have I mentioned that I can see Casey having about a dozen kids? He is so good with children. On the left he is carrying Trin, after playing with her in the pool the entire time. On the right, he's holding Miles. Miles just loves him, and he is so great with Miles.

Here's our M&M!! Mason is 12 weeks old, and Miles is 21 weeks old. I think the picture of Miles holding Mason's hand is precious! It reminds me of the song Never Say Never with J. Smith and Justin Bieber. "I gotcha lil bro", "I can handle it"

The picture of Mason laying on Miles shoulder is my absolute favorite! Most of my pictures of Mason are very solemn and content faced. Here you can really see personality, and how happy he is!

I have a feeling these two will be the best of friends. Throw Neen in the mix and you've got trouble! It will be so fun to see them grow up together.

We had so much fun with you Amanda and Miles. We can't wait for you to come back in October for Balloon "festa"! Lol! Do the Mango! ;)