First trip to the Zoo

 Casey was off today, and the weather was gorgeous, so we headed to the zoo. This was Mason's first time at the zoo, and he loved it!  He loved being outside, and looking at the new surroundings.  His favorite exhibit was the sea lions.  We watched them from below, and he would throw his arms and kick his feet when they swam by.  He'd squeal, and smile with delight.  I say squeal...a squeal for him is still very quiet.  Mason makes many sounds, but they are all so quiet.  He's like a little mouse.

This picture of me is a little weird.  I'm not sure if it's the angle, or if it looks funny because I was trying to hold Mason's head still with my face, or maybe I've just gained a lot more weight than I thought. All I know is that I look weird.  I still like the picture though.

 This next picture is my favorite picture of the day.  I'm not sure why, but my heart smiles when I see it. I just wish that Mason and I were also in the picture. :(

 This was my favorite exhibit of the day! Not only are giraffes my favorite animal, but I love baby giraffes even more!  This little one was born just yesterday! Look at how adorable she was.  When we got there she was asleep, and after a few minutes the mother nudged her and made her stand.  It was time to eat, and her mother so gently moved  her close to her.   Moments like these bring tears to my eyes! I love seeing mama and baby bonds, and am so grateful for the bonds I have/ had with my babies.  It was so beautiful!!

 I took these pictures today of the big kids.  I sure wish I knew how and had the time to edit.  I think they would look gorgeous.

We had such a great day!  Everyone was happy, and in good spirits!  I'm sure we"ll be back very soon!

Just a funny :)

A funny picture and a funny story!

I know I mentioned a few posts back that Anna has an insane amount of homework each night.  Partly, because at this new school they have a different curriculum.  They learned a lot last year that her previous school only touched on, and barely went over.  Each night Anna is having to work really hard to get caught up in Math, where she should be, and stay current on her daily/weekly homework.

Homework has being taking at least two hours a night.  The first week of school Anna was tired, and she really doesn't like homework.  One night while we were sitting at the desk in the office, and both at our wits end, I told her that if she was going to be an OBGYN (which is her life long dream) that she is going to have to work hard, and study to get good grades.  She thought for a very brief moment, and said "how much money do you make if you work at sonic?"  I couldn't help but laugh! It was hilarious!

This past week the homework attitude has been better.  One night she even thanked me for my help.  SHOCK!! That is very unlike Anna.  She is very prideful, so when she said it it made me proud of her.  Maybe she is growing up, and in the right direction.  She hasn't mentioned sonic again, so cross your fingers that she doesn't!

Our little boy...

We call him Mister.

 He is funny!

He is curious!

 He loves us!

 He is sweet!

He was always meant to be!

Our little boy brings so much JOY to our lives every day!

Trinity's most favorite thing to do...

Trinity loves to PAINT!

She would paint 24 hours a day if you let her.

She paints every day at school, and almost every day at home.

She doesn't always get to bring her paintings home the same day she paints them,

and it makes her very mad.  "I painted it, why can't I bring it home?"

She doesn't quite get the drying concept.

Here are some pictures of her

painting at home.

She painted this picture of a bird last week.  She named it "rainbow".

I love it so much, I'm going to frame it!

First day of school

The kids started a new school this year, and boy was it a rough start.  Anna was nervous the whole first week of school, and cried everyday before class started.  She says she loves the school, and has made some nice new friends.  Her only reason she can give me for crying is that the day is TOO long.  I feel bad for her, but she is in the fourth grade, and the work load is about to pick up.  It actually already has.  The amount of homework this girl has is insane.  It completely takes up my evenings, and weekends. If you know Anna, she's a smart girl, but homework is not her thing.  We constantly have to stay on her, and struggle to get it done.  I think this next week we will begin our homework time together in prayer so that her heart and mind is in the right place.  Here is a picture of Anna on her first day of fourth grade.

 And here is a picture of her first day of kindergarten.  Makes me want to cry.  It seems like it was just yesterday.

Anna's actually over my shoulder right now, and wants me to add this picture.  It's her favorite of herself right now. ;)

Bub started high school this year.  Can you believe it?  He is loving every minute of it, and seems to be doing really well.  His freshmen class only has about 150 students, and 12 of those came from his previous school. They all eat lunch together, and seem to be closer than ever.  It has been funny to hear all of the stories about some of his new friends and his teachers.  I have a feeling that he will have a great year.  Here is a picture of his first day of 9th grade.

And his kindergarten school picture.  I didn't have a digital camera when he was in kindergarten, and all of his younger photos are packed away.

Trin started preschool this year at the same school that Anna and Casey are going to. She was so excited and couldn't wait for her first day to start.  That first day I took her in and she was all smiles. on the way to school while we were sitting in traffic she said "I'm really tired of sitting here. I want to run around".  When we got to school she sat at her spot at her table, and started painting. Gave me a kiss and a hug, and said goodbye.  When I picked her up that day she started crying as soon as she saw me.  The whole afternoon she proclaimed that she wasn't going back to preschool.

She said some pretty funny things that afternoon. I kept mentioning...when you go back to school on Friday. amd she said, "Didn't you hear me? I'm not going back to preschool."  At one point Casey asked her what her teacher's name was, and she said "I don't have a teacher, because I'm not in preschool."  She also announced this in the car on the way home, "attention please, I'm not going back.  It was hilarious all the things she was coming up with that afternoon.

Come to find out, there was another Trinity in her class, (can you believe it?) and there snack got mixed up.  I think having someone with a different name through her off.  I told her I could have the teacher call her Neen or Nina, or even Nini, and she refused.  She said "she can call me Trinity, because that is my name".  She also said none of the other kids talked to her, but she didnt talk to them either.  She has since been to school several more times, and is slowly starting to like it. Here is a picture of Trinity on her first day of preschool.

Look how happy and confident she was before school.

Hopefully this year will be a great one.  Full of learning and growth!

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 ;)!