Happy Mother's Day

Today was a great day. We spent the day at the Museum of Life and Science and it was so much fun. Mason really enjoys being there and I love watching him explore and learn new things. Spending the day with my son and my lovely partner is the best Mother's Day gift any mother could want. Below are a few pictures of our fun together.

Until next time......

National Train Day, May 12

Yesterday was National Train Day so we went to the train station to watch the train come in, play some games and enjoy pizza and cake. One of my co-workers and her son, Joseph met us there and we had fun.

Until next time......

Big Boy Bed

After several weeks of Mason climbing in and out of his crib, we decided it was time to move him to his big boy bed. He was probably ready to move several months ago, but I wasn't ready for that to happen for several reasons.  One reason was my fear of him getting out and not wanting to get back in which would lead to bed time battles. Another was him getting out and coming downstairs by himself while we were sleeping. The biggest of them all was my wanting to hold on to the one last physical thing that belonged to my little baby! Giving up the crib only confirms my baby is no longer a baby but a little boy who is growing and thriving every day.  As with every other milestone that I fretted over, he transitioned like a champ.  There have been virtually no issues what.so.ever! He gets out once or twice a week but that is usually just to call to me and tell me he loves me or to ask for one more sip of milk or to say sweet dreams which I don't mind at all. Makes my heart melt! When he wakes up in the morning, he will get out and stand at the top of the stairs and call for me. If I don't answer quick enough, he will come downstairs but for the most part, stays put until we come to get him. 
Below is a picture of him in his big boy bed. Look how big he is. I can hardly believe he will be three in August. WOW - where has the time gone.

Until next time......

Fun in the Mud

Mason had a blast playing in the mud today with our neighbors.  Those children played in that muddy ditch for over 45 minutes. The water was cold and pretty gross but they had SO much fun. While I was not thrilled at first about Mason being in that yucky stuff, the smile on his face and the joy that radiated from his laughter was absolutely priceless.  Below are some pictures of his fun in the mud....

Until next time......

My Future Chef

Mason loves to "cook". He has always been very interested in what goes on in the kitchen. Ever since he was big enough to stand on the stool, he has watched Dawn while she cooks. He wants to help stir, he wants to pour the ingredients in the pot, he knows how to work the microwave and generally knows his way around the kitchen.  Maybe, just maybe he will grow up to be a famous chef.  Below are some pictures of him at work! Enjoy....

Until next time......

Potty Training

We started actively potty training Mason two weeks ago and he has done great. He has been interested in going on the potty for months but we were not in any hurry to push the issue so have been taking things really slow.  We would ask him if he wanted to go on the potty and if he said yes, then we would take him. If he said no, we would say to him in a couple of weeks, you will have to start using the potty all of the time.  The past couple of weeks, Mason has been wearing pull-ups during the day and has done awesome especially at preschool. Some days he only potties in his pull-up once a day - all other times he goes on the big boy potty at school. He has even started doing most of his poops in the potty too. The other day, I received a text message from Mason's preschool teacher letting me know that he had success pooping in the potty at school. He sent the picture below as well!!

I laughed out load when I got that picture! Just look at how proud he is that he went poopy in the potty.  We have used a little bribery to get him to poop in the potty but as I always say...whatever works. Thomas trains have been our bribery method and they have worked very well. He gets a train each time he goes poopy in the potty. This upcoming week, we will start encouraging him to wear big boy underwear. I would like to for him to be completely potty trained before we go on vacation in April but we shall see!

Until next time......

No More Blah's

Yes that is right. Our house is "blah" free. So what is a blah you ask? Well, ever since Mason was old enough to "talk" he has called his pacifier his "blah". Not sure where he got that from or why that was the name he chose to give his paci but that is what it was. He, well if I am being truthful, "we" have been hooked on the blah since he was about 6 months old. He had several(6 to be exact) in his crib at one time in case one fell out. That's how bad it was. Well, after several weeks of agonizing over it (me, not Mason)we decided it was time for the blah to go. On Friday, January 13 we took the blahs to his old day care and gave them to the babies! He was so proud of himself walking in to Kiddie Kare to give his blahs to the babies. Everything was great until it was time to actually give them to the babies. I took them out of my pocket and handed them to him and he said, "NO" those are my blahs. He started to cry and I had to pry them from his hands. We gave the blahs to Mrs. Margie and told her to give them to babies and we left. Mason cried for about 10 minutes on the way to preschool and that was it. His day went pretty well at preschool since he was used to not having them at school anyway so no big deal. The true test would come when it was time to go to bed. Everything was good until we sat in the rocking chair to read books and sing songs before bed. He cried for them, asking over and over for his blah's. After our normal routine of reading several books, singing several songs and drinking a milk cup, we put him down for the night. He cried, he screamed, he begged, I want my blah. I need my blah. Please mommy. It broke my heart. After 30 minutes or so he finally cried himself to sleep and slept all night. While the crying and begging part was difficult, I was very impressed with his night. I was certain that he would wake up every hour and cry for it but thankfully he did not. The next night he didn't cry at all. He was so tired from being at my sister's all day and did not have a nap so he was out within 5 minutes of going to bed. The third night he asked for it a few times and cried for about 10 minutes but then went to sleep with not problem. Wow, that was much easier than I thought. I was quite impressed at how well he did with it.
Now fast forward a few more nights and things changed....he wasn't crying any longer for his blah but he needed and wanted everything else. He procrastinated every way he could come up with. He needed one more hug, one more song, one more kiss, one more stuffed animal, one more blanket, no blankets, more milk, pillow, on and on and on. I played along with this one more of this and that and then said enough was enough. He screamed and screamed trying his best to get out of his crib (yes he is still in his crib and I am ok with that)! These little episodes lasted 45 minutes for several nights. Our night time, go to bed routine has always been my special one on one time with Mason but these gut wrenching screaming routines were grating on my nerves and I found myself dreading night time with him. Thank GOD that little stage only lasted 2 weeks and my little snuggly sweet little bedtime buddy returned and our night times are back to being easy breezy bed times once again. In the next couple of weeks, we will tackle the next stage of growing up to be a big boy and will be making the move to the big boy bed.

Until then......

Weight Loss Goal Accomplished!!

My personal weight loss goal was to lose 25 pounds by the 25th of December. I weighed in on Thursday, December 22 as my last weigh in before Christmas and I am more than thrilled to say that I lost 26.4 pounds in 22 weeks. GOAL ACCOMPLISHED! 

I feel 110% better than I did 5 months ago. I have more energy than I have had in a long time. I am sleeping better than I have in years and am 6 pants sizer smaller! WOW :-)

I don't have many pictures of me as I am the one always taking the pictures but below are two of the best before and I after pictures that I have. 

August 2011

November 2011

Now that I have accomplished my personal goal, I still have to meet my Weight Watchers goal. Fortunately, I only have to lose another 2.6 to get to that one. THEN...my next goal is to do some serious strength training and be toned up by June. I want to be stronger and in better physical shape than I have been in 20 years. Stay tuned....

Until next time......

Our Elf on a Shelf - Zippy Christmas 2001

While I know this is a couple of weeks late, I wanted to post about the amazing Christmas we had. It was Mason's third Christmas but the first one he really understood what was going on. Let me back up to a couple of days after Thanksgiving when we had a surprise visit from Zippy the Elf. We woke up the Monday morning after Thanksgiving and found Zippy hanging out in our wreath over our fireplace. We had been reading the Elf on the Shelf book for a couple of days hoping Santa would send Mason an elf since Mason has been a great little boy all year (well most of it!).

Each day Zippy moved around the house finding a new location to hang out and watch Mason to be sure he was a good little boy. It was awesome in the mornings when Mason would get up and go downstairs to look for Zippy. He really got in to it and if I am being honest, so did I. Zippy was a little laid back at first and just hung out but after about a week or so he decided to show off a bit. He played a little golf and toilet papered our Christmas tree!

We were a little sad when Zippy had to return back to the North Pole to live with Santa. He will be missed. We are all looking forward to his return!

Until next time......