What Has Mason Been Up To Lately!

Wow, it is hard to believe that my baby is almost 17 months old. The time is definitely going by way to fast for me. I just want to hold on to every minute with him. He has gone from being a dependent baby to being a toddler that wants his independence. While I have enjoyed every milestone and stage of his little life thus far, this stage is by far the best yet. His little personality is developing more and more each day. He is talking up a storm and just curious about everything. He is like a sponge and is just learning so much so quickly. I am just amazed at how much he comprehends.

What new words is Mason saying these days.  tree, ho ho, hello, wow, poop, wah wah (water), jew (juice), Gi Gi, Tay Tay (Aunt Stacey), May May (Mason we think), melmo (Elmo), stuck, red, snow, hat and two. Funny story about the word two. Today, Mason climbed onto the chair at the table. He wanted to stand up in the chair. Dawn told him to sit down. He did but then proceeded to stand up again. She told him that chairs were for sitting not for standing and that he needed to sit down. He did but then stood up again. She said sit down and started counting. She said one and he immediately said "two". It was hilarious. We both laughed out loud which of course didn't help matters.  I know we aren't supposed to laugh but....

What else has Mason been doing these days.

1. He has started telling us when he has peed or pooped in his diaper. He is very interested in sitting on the potty and will even walk to the bathroom door and say poop. We have been trying to sit him on the potty each time he tells us so he will get used to doing it so hopefully he will associate the two together and will start telling us before he has pooped or peed in his diaper. Hopefully this will mean that potty training will be easy with him.
2. He enjoys playing with blocks, puzzles, trucks, looking at books, watching the Sprout channel, cooking with Dawn and playing with the pots and pans.

3. Climbing - He is one little dare devil. He loves to climb on the coffee table which helps him get onto the couch. Once he is on the couch, he likes to roll around and jump from end to end. He has no concept of fear at this point. He also likes climbing onto the chairs at the table. He wants to stand in the chair once he gets in it so he has to get down which makes him mad.
4. Throwing temper tantrums. Yes this in one thing that I am not exactly happy about but I know it is all a part of his development. He will get so angry that he throws himself backwards and usually ends up banging his head on the floor. While we try to watch him and be sure he doesn't hurt himself sometimes he is just too fast and we can't get to him quick enough before he falls out. Once he has fallen out, we usually try to ignore him which works most of the time. Usually we try to redirect him to something else that will take his mind off of whatever made him upset.

There is so much more that he is doing but this post is getting long so I'll post more on the rest of those things later.  As you can see, he is a smart, healthy toddler that we love more and more every day.

Until next time......

Christmas 2010

We had a wonderful Christmas. It was great watching Mason when we came down to see what Santa had brought him. He immediately walked towards the Christmas tree and said "truck" and started pointing to all of his toys. He may not understand the concept quite yet but he knew that there were new toys for him under the tree. Santa brought Mason a Tonka dump truck and backhoe, a basketball goal, a basketball, football, chunky puzzles, Crayola Doodler and lots of clothes. After checking everything out, he picked up the basketball and slammed it in the goal! That's my boy. Watch out Tarheels, we have a future star budding here! Below are a few pictures from Christmas.

After enjoying our 2nd Christmas together, we had to leave to go Gi Gi and Poppa's to have Christmas with them as well as all of Mason's cousins on my side of the family. We were looking forward to it because we have not seen them since September. They only live 4.5 hours away but they have been busy with working at the deer house so we have not been able to visit. Hopefully we will be able to visit more in 2011. Christmas with them was wonderful. Of course, they all spoiled Mason and were so amazed at how big he has gotten and how super cute he is!

We enjoyed our time away but were happy to get back to our house. Mason doesn't sleep well when we are traveling. He had two really rough nights which meant mommy had two very rough nights as well. We were all glad to get home and get Mason back in his comfy crib. The first night back, he slept from 7:30pm - 8:00am. He meant business and was making up for lost sleep.

We are home for several days then leave to go to Hampstead, NC to visit Nana and Grandpa Glenn. We will have Christmas with them and celebrate New Years as well. It will be more fun and lots more food. Just what we need to add to the pounds we have already gained.

Overall our Christmas was great. I hope each of you had a wonderful Christmas as well.

Until next time......

Snowy Surprise

We received quite the surprise on Saturday afternoon - 2.5 inches of snow. This was a surprise in that all of the weather channels were saying that we would see some "flurries" and that would be about it. Well, I'd say we got more than a few flurries.

All of the snow fell within a couple of hours and was beautiful. We did not venture out in the snow Satuday afternoon since is was sooo cold but wanted to be sure that we got a few pictures of Mason in the snow before it melted on Sunday so we dressed him in several layers and took him out.

First snow of the 2010 - 2011 winter

He wasn't quite sure what to do once we put him down so he just stood there reaching for us. It was cute. The wind was blowing really hard so we only stayed out for a few minutes but we accomplished our only goal and that was to get a few pictures of the little guy in the snow.

Until next time......

Brunch with Santa

This past Saturday, one of our Y's program sites held a Brunch with Santa special event so we took Mason to see Santa. He could not be convinced to sit on Santa's lap by himself long enough for me to get a good picture of him. After several attempts, we decided he had had enough so gave up on getting the perfect picture. We enjoyed some muffins and fellowship with some of the people that attended and just hung out for awhile. Just before leaving, Santa got up to walk around to talk to everyone. Seeing that Santa's chair was vacant, Mason decided he would climb up in his chair to "rock" for a few minutes. While he was enjoying himself in Santa's chair, Santa came back over and snuck up behind him and gave us a great opportunity to snap a few awesome pictures.

Shhhh!!!

Yeah, that's right, I stole your chair!

We had a really good time at the brunch and hope that Santa isn't too upset with Mason for taking over his chair. 

Until next time......

Investigating the Christmas Tree

Last weekend we pulled out all of our Christmas decorations and had a great time putting everything out. This is Mason's 2nd Christmas but the first that he is old enough to understand at least a little bit. We had not put anything out before he went to bed so when he woke up, he had quite a surprise. We had decorated the mantle, the end tables and the kitchen with all of our snowmen. Well almost all of them. Some of them we decided not to put out since Mason still doesn't quite understand he has to be gentle with delicate things. When Mason saw everthing his mouth dropped open wide and he said oooohhhh snowman! It was awesome. The next day we took out our tree and set it up just before he went to bed. (Yes, we have an artificial tree. Several years ago we decided to buy a pre-lit tree since we both despise putting the lights on the tree) Dawn and I decorated the tree while he was asleep. When he came down the next morning it was all decorated and as soon as I put him down he ran for it. He was fascinated with everything that was on it. It was too cute.
The tree has been up for a week and Mason has been very good about not messing with the ornaments. He has been very curious and has been touching things more often. Today, I decided to let him touch some of the ornaments so he could really see what they were all about. It was great. Below is a video of him exploring.



We are looking forward to this Christmas with Mason. He may not comprehend everything that is going on but we are sure he gets some of it. At any rate, it is going to be wonderful. 

Until next time......

Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Ours was great. We spent Thanksgiving Day with Dawn's dad and her siblings. It was the first time we have spent the actual holiday with her family. We usually travel to SC to spend it with mine. Guess after 10 years it was about time. It was great being able to be all together with her family. They don't get together very often so I was glad they did.

We spent the rest of the holiday weekend with her mom in Wilmington. We had another Thanksgiving feast with them on Friday and of course we ate way to much which is just par for the course during the holidays. We also braved the crowds and did a little shopping on black Friday. Mason was with us so we didn't go out very early but was still able to get our hands on some good deals.

Mason doesn't sleep well when he has to sleep in the pack n play so Saturday night he woke up at 12:45 and wouldn't go back to sleep until 4:15. I ended up putting him in the pack n play and letting him cry himself back to sleep since he wasn't willing to go while I was holding him. I don't like having to do that but I don't like being up in the middle of the night for no reason either. We survived the rest of the night but boy was Mason tired and cranky the next day. While we had a great time with nana and Glenn, we were both glad to be back at home in our own beds. Mason was so glad he slept from 7:00 until 7:40 the next day. There's no place like home!

Hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Until next time......

Best Birthday Gift Ever!

Dawn gave me an iPad for my 40th birthday and I love, love, love it. Thanks honey. You are the best!

Lordy, Lordy I am 40

Yes that is right on November 16, I turned 40 years old. While that may bother many people, it doesn't bother me. I have the attitude if my 40's are as good as my 30's then I am in for a wonderful decade. So why were my 30's so wonderful. Below is the top 5!

1. I met the most incredible woman in the world a few months after I turned 30 and we now share a fabulous life together. Thanks Dawn for being the best partner in the world. I love you!

2. I purchased my first house. This was a big deal for me. I was able to be involved in the building of the house from the ground up. I learned so much along the way and while I am ready for a bigger house, this one has been a great home!

3. My nephew Joshua was born and besides my son he is the most amazing little boy in the entire world! As a child, he has no idea how much of an impact he has had on me. He kept me grounded during the years of trying to build my own family. I love you more than you will ever know Joshua.

4. I have received 3 promotions within the last 10 years. Moving to Chapel Hill and working for the Chapel Hill - Carrboro YMCA has been a move that has been very fruitful for me and for that I am extremely thankful.

5. Last but certainly not least, my son Mason was born. He was born a few months before I turned 39 and has been the reason that the last year of my 30's have been so incredible. He has changed my life in so many ways. I thank God every day for blessing me with a healthy baby boy. A little boy that has made my heart whole. I love you Mason.

Now can you see why my 30's were so wonderful. I am not sure how the 40's will match up to the 30's but I am excited to find out. Happy Birthday to me!

Until next time......

Mason's 1st Haircut Video

15 Month Doctor Visit and More

Mason had his 15 month well baby check up today. He checked out just great. He weighed 25.5 pounds and is 33 inches tall. That puts him at a little above average for his weight but he is well above average for his height. Perhaps we have a future basketball player in the making!! The doctor said he was doing incredibly well and was right on track! Mason hammed it up for the doctor the entire time we were in there. He kept smiling at him then he would give me lots of kisses. I just love his kisses.

The doctor asked what words Mason is using and I was proud to list off the following: momma, ball, truck, ca (car), flowa (flower), nose, eyes, star, drop, knock knock, tra (trash), nite nite, buh (bus), spida (spider), Josha (Joshua), snack, milk, more, tract (tractor), block, choo choo, birdie, bye bye, wawha (water), off, on, up, no. He has even been putting several words together. He says fire truck, dump truck, big truck, bye bye truck, nite nite momma. The other night he said bye bye fire truck. Dawn and I looked at each other in amazement. Our little guy is so smart.

He knows that the tiger says rawrr, the duck says quack quack, he can go woof woof like the pup pup and mooo like the cow. He can identify a circle, square, triangle and a star. He can point to his eyes, nose and ears. Wow, he is just growing up too fast.

I love him very much. He is the light of my life. I am so thankful he is healthy and he is mine.

Until next time......

Kim

Mason's 1st Haircut

Decision Made

I have decided to not apply for the position. It was a really hard, soul searching decision for me. I so wanted to go for it but after spending a week thinking about it, talking about it, losing sleep over it I came to the conclusion that it just wasn't going to work for me and my family right now. I am not ready to give up my time with Mason and the very real possibility of having to live apart from Dawn just makes my heart ache. While things have been very difficult over the last several months, I have still had the opportunity to leave at 5:00 every day to get home to Mason so I can have a couple hours with him before he goes to bed. My Y allows me to be the mom that I have so long desired to be and that outweighs pretty much all other things right now. I have a wonderful staff that run the Y in my absence allowing me to be with my family. Thinking about the demands of a new position, opening and being responsible for all that comes with a new Y, the pressure I would be under to perform well at work and then have to balance all of that as a single parent for 6 months maybe longer just overwhelmed me.

I strongly considered going through the process just for the experience but after talking to a couple of my HR friends I felt that it would in my best interest to not waste their time as I want to keep the doors to that Association open for any future opportunities. I am thankful for the opportunity to even be asked to apply and have to trust that those opportunities will happen for me again in the future and if the timing is right I will pursue it. My gut tells me that I made the right decision. Only time will tell!

Until next time......

Kim

Greener Pastures

After reading a similiar post from a friend of mine, I decided to steal borrow his title and write my own post about the potential of greener pastures. I have been with the YMCA for almost 15 years and have changed positions 4 times during my tenure with them. I have continued to move up the ladder and have been well taken care of during my time at the CHCYMCA. I have an incredible staff that works extremely hard and will do anything for me at any time. My family is accepted and 99% of the time is allowed to come first regardless of what the case may be. While all of that sounds wonderful, it has been a tough place to be over the past 6 months. There have been conversations of a potential merger in the near future. A merger with an organization that is much, much bigger than ours, that is not very accepting of non-traditional familes and is very evangelical. Our CEO has also been under major scrutiny which has added another level of stress to the work environment. Basically our Y has just been turned upside down over the past several months. With that said, I cannot help but wonder if there are greener pastures ahead. If things would truly be any better than what I have had with my time at the CHCYMCA.

I was recently contacted by a Vice President from another YMCA association asking me to consider applying for their Executive Director positon. He said he had heard lots of great things about me and my leadership and said he wanted me to consider applying for the position. I must admit the position sounds like a great opportunity; however, I have struggled all week whether I should apply or not. I have revised my cover letter and resume, completed a 9 page talent profile for the position and have done my homework on the organization yet I am having a terrible time hitting send on the email. This whole process has caused me to look a lot deeper at myself than I have done in a long time. I have one more day to make my decision. One more night to lose sleep thinking about if this is the right thing to do. Decisions, decisions.

Until next time......

Kim

The Scarecrow Family - Halloween 2010

Mason's second Halloween was a lot of fun. He was the cutest little scarecrow that I have ever seen. This year Dawn decided that we would all dress up like scarecrows. While I could care less whether we dressed up or not, she was really excited about it. She began looking in our closets to see if we had anything that we could put together that would help our scarecrow look. We were both surprised to discover that even between two lesbians in the house, we did not have one plaid, flannel shirt that we could use for our costumes. So, she went out to the local Goodwill store to find the perfect clothes for two more perfect scarecrows! She was unable to find exactly what she wanted so she she bought an extra plaid shirt that she used to cut patches out of and she stayed up until 3:00am sewing the patches on our pants. It was definitely more than I would have ever committed to doing but she did and loved every minute of it. When she was all finishd, we had the best scarecrow costumes eVeR!

We got all dressed and went outside so Mason could run around and play a bit before we had to put him to bed. We were going to keep him up later than his normal 7:30 bedtime but he just couldn't make it. He was getting too cranky and we didn't want him to be miserable. We stayed out long enough to give out candy and to see all of our little neighbors in their costumes. They were all really cute. Mason didn't trick or treat this year since we don't let him eat candy yet and his two mommies don't need to eat candy!! We didn't have as many trick or treaters that we normally have this year. We attributed that to the fact that some of our area did trick or treating on Saturday and some did it on Sunday. We were prepared both nights just in case! I am looking forward to many more Halloweens with my wonderful family. Who knows what we will be next year!

Until next time......

Kim

Halloween Party at Day Care

My Little Scarecrow

Double Cuteness

It's Elmo

Mason's Girlfriend

Taking a Break

More about Halloween and "Trick or Treating" in the next post.

Until next time......

Kim

Pumpkin Carving and Scarecrows

Today was such a gorgeous day. We spent most of the afternoon outside decorating for Halloween. We used a bail of hay to create a scarecrow display at the side of the house. The scarecrows are so cute. Mason loved playing with them. You could tell he was trying to figure out what exactly they were. After finishing with the scarecrows, Dawn strung orange and black lights all across the front of our porch and put caution tape around the banister to complete the decorations. It was so much fun and now our house looks great.


After decorating the house, it was time to carve pumpkins. Dawn absolutely loves to carve pumpkins. Me, on the otherhand, not so much. The insides of the pumpkin feels so gross and I hate the way it smells. Mason was very interested in what we were doing so joined in the fun. After showing him what to do, he stuck his little hand in the pumpkin and pulled out some "slime". He decided he didn't want his hand in there anymore so used one of his bubble blower wands to dig his out. After about 10 minutes, he was done and moved on to something else. Dawn finished cleaning them out and put them aside until after dinner. She puts a lot of work into her designs so she had to spend over an hour searching on the internet for a new design for this year. She decided to do a scarecrow pumpkin to put with our scarecrow display. She is also doing a wolf. Mason hasn't seen the finished products yet so it will be interesting to see his reaction when we put the candles in them.


We are all dressing up like scarecrows for Halloween. We have had Mason's costume for several weeks and I cannot wait to see him in it. It is the cutest thing ever. Dawn wants all of us to dress up like scarecrows so she went to Goodwill and put our costumes together. She stayed up until 3:00am this morning sewing patches on the shirts and pants to give them more of a real scarecrow look. Should be interesting. I'll post pictures soon.

Until next time......

Kim

Life is Good

I have been thinking about all of the great things I have in my life at this time. Here are a few of the things that I am greatful for:

1. My relationship with my partner, Dawn.
2. My amazing son, Mason.
3. The closeness that I have with all of my siblings.
4. Both of my parents are healthy and still in our lives.
5. My 90 year old grandmother is healthy and still with us!
6. I have 11 incredible nieces and nephews.
7. I have a great relationship with my in-laws!
8. My job with the YMCA. January will be my 15th anniversary at our Y.
9. Great neighbors that allow us to play on their swingset and in their sandbox.
10. No debt other than the mortgage payment which I consider good debt.
11. My health is great other than I still have 10 pounds to lose to get to my goal.
12. A wonderful staff that makes me look great day after day.
13. My son is healthy, growing and thriving and getting cuter every day.
14. Friends that are loyal and understand life changes when you have a baby!

I am sure there are so many more things that I should list here but those are my top 14 at this time. I am truly blessed with an awesome life and thank God for it every day!

Until next time......

Kim

Mason's 1st Trip to the State Fair

Today we took Mason to the North Carolina State Fair. It was his first time at an event like this. He is just fascinated with watching people so he was quite content riding around in his stroller all afternoon. The weather was perfect for being outdoors so we enjoyed walking around. The fair was crowded so we did not get to walk through all of the exhibits since we had a stroller to maneuver. Our favorite thing to do at the fair is eat anyway so we were fine just going to our favorite food stands.

While there is tons of stuff to eat, we usually get the same things every year. This year we tried the featured item which was the Krispy Kreme Doughnut hamburger. I must say I was quite disappointed. The doughnuts were cold (like right out of the refrigerator)and so was the burger. Very.Disapointing. Mason enjoyed eating some of the doughnut so it wasn't a complete waste! After trying the KK hamburger, we moved on to the Wisconsin Fried Cheddar nuggets. They were very yummy as always. Mason liked the cheese as well.

Now on to another favorite of ours...the roasted sweet corn on the cob. Dawn likes hers with butter and salt. I am a little more adventureous, I like mine with butter, salt and lemon pepper. That.is.some.good.eatin! As you can see from the picture below Mason was also a fan of the corn!
Moving along now...we walked around a little more and decided that it was probably time to started going towards the gate where we parked. But before leaving, we had to eat our most favorite item of the entire fair...deep fried candy bars. My favorite is the snickers and Dawn likes the 3 Muskateer. Mason was able to try some of Dawn's but not mine since he cannot have peanut products yet! Of course, he loved the candy bar too. I didn't get a picture of him with chocolate around his mouth. My hands were too sticky to touch my phone!
After walking around, people watching and stuffing our faces for three hours, it was time to leave the fair. Mason was still smiling and being a great little boy. You may be saying after all the junk his mommies let him eat today, he has a reason to still be smiling!!

Until next time......

Kim

I HATE COLDS

Yuck. Yuck. Yuck. All three of us are sick. Mason woke up on Monday morning with watery eyes, a runny nose and a slight cough. We thought it was his allergies acting up after being at the pumpkin patch so we started him on his Zyrtec. It seemed to help so we thought that was it. Well, two days later both Dawn and myself got the crud as well. So now we are all stuffy, snotty, coughing miserable people. I feel bad for Mason. If his little head, ears and throat feels like mine, I know he is hurting. I wish there was more that they would do for him but since he is still under 2, they say it is best for the cold to work its course. We shall see. I have been taking Ibuprofen Cold and Sinus for 2 days now and while it works a little, I still feel like my head weighs a ton.

Usually one of us manages to steer clear of the gunk but this time we weren't so lucky. Hopefully we will all feel better soon. I am afraid this is just the beginning to a fall and winter full of the crud!

Until next time......

Kim

Pumpkin Patch

We went to the pumpkin patch at Patterson's Farm yesterday with my sister and her family. There was a lot to do there. They had animals, horseback riding, pumpkin patch, a corn pit, a tractor ride and lots of different types of tractors to see. Can you say a little boy's heaven! Mason enjoyed looking at all of the animals. We watched Joshua feed the goats, rabbits and horses. After feeding the animals, we went to the little tractor play area. My nephew, Joshua loves tractors and he just couldn't understand why he was too big to still ride on them. He tried really hard but wasn't able to get very far on the combine! After hanging out in the toy tractor area, we went on a wagon ride to the pumpkin patch. Mason loved riding in the wagon. He stood on my lap looking all around at everything we passed. He pointed at the nice John Deere tractor that was pulling the wagon and said "tracta" at least 20 times while we were on the ride. His poppa would be so proud! Once we got to the pumpkin patch, Mason walked around picking up lots of pumpkins by their stems. He kept going back to the same one so I decided that must be the one he wanted so we got it. Below is him with his first pumpkin! Once we got back to the play area of the farm, we took the boys to the corn pit to play. At first Mason wasn't sure what to do but within a few minutes he figured it and had fun playing in the corn. Below is a short video to show you his fun time!


We had a great day. It would have an even better day if MiMi would have been there with us but she had to go to school. Maybe next year! Thanks Stacey, Eric, Joshua and Jonathan for letting us come along. We love all of you very much! Well, I have to run. Some little guy is waking up from his nap and it is time for us to go over to some friends house for a little corn hole!

Until next time...... Kim

Mason at 14 months!

The past 14 months have been the most amazing months of my life. Each month has brought new milestones and new discoveries for both me and Mason. From seeing him smile for the first time to hearing him say new words every day, it has all been incredible. Mason is doing a ton of cool stuff now. He is saying new words almost every other day. His newest words are nite nite, flowa (flower), bubbas (bubbles), tracta (tractor), Josha (Joshua), belly, rubba (rub), off and hot. His two most favorite words are truck and tracta. He says them both about every other minute.

Mason loves taking a bath. He has a great time splashing in the water, rubbing soap on his belly, pouring water in and out of containers, and "reading" his Curious George tub book. He knows when you tell him to lay back in the water so you can wash his hair and knows that the water coming out of the faucet is "HOT".

With the cooler temperatures we have been having lately, he has had to wear long sleeves. The first time I put a long sleeve shirt on him, he started pulling at the sleeves and looking at me like "what's this stuff"? He is so observant of the slightest details on his clothes as well. He likes his shirts with trucks and tractors on them.

Mason is a very good eater as well. He likes a wide variety of foods and will most often eat anything we give him. Of course he has his favorites like mashed potatoes, broccoli bites, fricken sticks (soy chicken). He just started eating meats but all along would eat the fake meat stuff. Guess he had to get used to using his 6 teeth before he was ready for real meat.

Being outside has been one of Mason's favorite things to do lately. He really enjoys watching the birds, swinging on the neighbor's swingset, playing in their sandbox, climbing up and down the ramp to our building and putting rocks in the holes in the rims of Dawn's truck tires! It makes me happy that he loves being outside. I hope that will always be the case with him.

> One of the only things that I am not fond of that Mason is currently doing is throwing temper tantrums. Yes, those have started already. I had always assumed that the temper tantrums didn't start until closer to 2 years old. Mason's started at 12 months!! If he doesn't get his way, he will sit down on the floor, fall backwards, flail his arms and legs around and scream at the top of his lungs. Sometimes he pushs himself across the floor until he bumps his head in to something then will scream louder. The advice that everyone has given us is to just ignore him. That hasn't worked too well for us but we are still trying it. I am not looking forward to the public temper tantrums that is for sure.

Well I could go on forever and ever about how awesome Mason is at 14 months but I will stop for now. I am certain that he will continue to be an incredible little guy and there will be many opportunities for me to blog about him.

Until next time......

Kim

Missing Maggie

It is hard to believe that my darling doggie Maggie has been gone for two years. Thinking back to October 8, 2008 brings me to tears. Having to take her to the vet that day knowing that it was the last day that I would ever physically hold her broke my heart. We had been to the vet every day for 4 straight weeks for her to get fluids since she was in renal failure but this day was different. They tried everything to make her better but nothing seemed to be working. Her body was tired and she was just too weak to keep fighting. On that day, she "told" us she was ready to go. While it was the most difficult decision that I had made in a long time, I knew it was the right decision. I loved her too much to continue to watch her suffer. If there was any comfort in any of it, it was that I knew she had lived an incredible life and we were truly blessed to have her for nearly 18 years!

A couple weeks after Maggie had passed away, a good friend of mine gave me a quote that I still have posted in my office today. That quote is "When God takes something from your grasp, He is not punishing you, but merely opening your hands to receive something better". At the time, I couldn't think of anything better than my Maggie. What I didn't know at the time but truly believe it now, is God was truly opening our hands to receive something better. Almost one month from the date of her death, we found out that I was pregnant! WOW. It was at that moment that the quote made sense! Now don't get me wrong, I would have loved for Maggie to be a part of Mason's life and him hers but God had different plans for us!

One day, we will get another dog and one day that dog will be special to us, but we will always have a special place in our hearts for Maggie. She was the best dog in the world. I miss you Maggie and will see you again one day at the rainbow bridge.

THE RAINBOW BRIDGE POEM

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor. Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent. His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

Author unknown...