Mason's Turned Two!

Birthday Boy!!

Mason turned 2! Can you believe it? I love birthdays! I think they are great times for reflection on where you have been and where you are going. 

So take a step back with me...2 years ago, I was whale like....

Woah is all I can say...

That is so crazy to me! That little human was inside me.... wow. Still blows me away my body can go through that and then somehow go back to normal.

This was his first picture.... :) Sweet boy

When Mason was born he had a little rougher start... so he looked a little sad with all the tubes and monitors. 

But from that day in 2013 to where we are now 2015... Our little guy has made a lot of changes! Can I brag a little bit? It is his birthday so I feel like I've earned the right... :) 

Mason is such an awesome kid! I love my family... I have a great husband, and awesome daughter and a fantastic son. I live a very blessed life... As I reflect on Mason let me tell you some of my favorite things about him at his 2 year mark.

He loves his daddy... and he loves being tickled. He has learned to make the same sounds Brian makes when Brian tickles Mason, so sometimes Mason will come up behind someone and make the "dun nun... dun nun.... dun nun dun nun dun nun ( ya know the Jaws theme song??)" and then he runs at you with his hands out and little chubby fingers tickling you. 

When you yawn, he mimics you and opens his mouth nice and wide and watches you like a hawk.

He talks ALL THE TIME! He jabbers and loves to talk on the phone, he loves to repeat sounds to try and say what you are asking him to say. A few of my favorite words he says are; peanut butter (peam butter), yellow (yewow), good (goooood, starts low and then goes into a high voice), milk (milky), broccoli (bawcuie), why (whyyyyy), Mickey (mieckey), oh my! (Oh my!).... He has a lot of words, but those are some of my favorites. :) 

He loves to go outside, and he loves playing with Roxy... He calls her "Oxie" He loves going on the swings and down slides. Digging in dirt is definitely a plus and he loves getting dirty... well he doesn't like his hands dirty, he wipes them off frequently, but he does love to sit and step in dirt and mud. He loves drawing with chalk on the sidewalk, and chasing bubbles. He loves bikes, loves sitting on them, being pushed on them, and then the littlest one we have he like to try and peddle on it.

He loves books (bookie). He always wants a story before nap and bedtime, and he enjoys sitting at anytime during the day to read a book. His favorites are the Baby Einstein books especially the shape one.. and then another one named "Little You".

His favorites toys to play with are little matchbox cars, boxes, and a train.

He is still a snuggle bug at times and I love his snuggles. He will walk up and give you a hug and say "niiiice". He gives kisses and his chubby smiling face is pretty adorable when he does it. 

Mason is not unlike other 2 year olds though, so he is developing a little "tude" When he gets angry he will bite objects like chairs, carpet, couches... ya.... just like his daddy used to do.... funny how the world turns. :)

He goes to bed like a champ. He takes a shower... it is true, he loves showers more than baths so we said "why not?!?!" So he showers gets into pj's and we read scriptures, say prayers and read some stories and then he grabs a blanket and a binky and climbs up into bed. Nap time is a little different... ha ha ha there are some days it works super great, and other days I hear a lot of thumping around and then some banging on the door... We did end up buying those child proof door handles and that has helped keep him in his room ;) 

Well there is so much I could say about Mr. Mase Man... but we love our cute little tank that is all boy and loves crashing things into other things. He loves going full speed and tumbling. Spinning in circles and making others laugh.. He is just awesome. :) Can that sum it up? 

He is seriously cute right? :)

Well how about the birthday bash story... His birthday fell on Sunday so we celebrated it on Saturday. It was an awesome day! After we ate breakfast and got ready we headed to Billings to go to the Reef. The Reef is a water park with 2 big waterslides, but a lot of little ones for the little humans... Madison LOVES it there, Mason had only been 1 time and that had been awhile ago, but water + slides I was sure it would be a hit! And it was... The water was chilly, but even through that Mason was pulling along whichever adult was with him dragging them to the next water slide and Madison ran around loving life as well. 

After the Reef we did some shopping at Target.... 

This is always a fun picture....

Then we went to MacKenzie River for some dinner... It was DELICIOUS! So yummy!!

Then we headed for home and we had some EXHAUSTED kids... It was so funny! They were SO tired! It was probably about 5:30 when we started for home...

Once we made it home I asked the back seat... "Who wants some cake??" And Madi all groggy and trying to come out of the deep sleep was like "Meeeeeee......." It was hilarious. The kids rested on the couch while we got the cake and presents set up..

And then Madison gave Mason her gift.. She was so cute! She decided a few days before her birthday that she wanted to give Mason Play-doh, so she made some play-doh for him and got it all wrapped up. Mason was pretty excited about it and made some cute faces... And that's when the kiddos started to wake up a little more.... Mason was definitely spoiled and got some awesome things from grandparents too! We gave him the strider bike, and then from grandparents he got an awesome box, a Mickey tool set, a real Red Flyer wagon, and a great backpack just his size...

He was pretty happy with the goods! :)

So all the smiles and fun faces appeared after I took 20 pictures... Contrary to what you see, they were both most thrilled!!

After presents we had Cake! We sang Happy Birthday to him a few times, and he would always yell "Stop It!" while smiling and laughing... Not sure what that is about... 

And he liked to blow out candles... so we lit it a few times and let him practice blowing out over and over... :) Probably his favorite part. Ha! Oh and he thought it was very important to clap afterward! :)

Can't go wrong with cake a fresh fruit!

Madison enjoying some cake! :) How funny is this?? She is pretty awesome! Love her to pieces and her ability to always make us smile and laugh... 

Happy 2nd Birthday Mason! We love you!!!

A tribute to Madison

Madison lost a tooth! Say what? I know right... the little spit fire just turned 5, and to tell you the truth I didn't even know she had a loose tooth. Weird right? But apparently while she was at school she felt like she had a rock in her mouth, spit it out and voila... a tooth. Well I'm not sure if losing a tooth early means she will have a gap for a long time, or what but looks like yet another fairy will be coming to our house..... :)


 Have I told you about the "sleeping fairy"? We had a sleeping fairy visit our house for awhile leaving behind small little tokens when she stayed in her bed all night.... It was successful for awhile, but lost it's edge... and we still get smashed by a tiny 5 year old some nights in our bed.... So we are still working on it. Maybe it is the whole Christmas time, Santa and tooth fairy and the sleeping fairy... but man, I'm having a hard time keeping everyone straight.. LOL Does anyone else have all kinds of fairies and magic people visiting their house and have problems keeping it straight?


Anyways I was taking a picture of Madi and her toothless wonder and I just have to share..... she has really become such a fun, great kid. I have vented many times on this blog about how stubborn or obstinate she can be, and we have had our fair share of struggles.... but I tell you what, she has changed. I can even tell you the day it started. On Sunday, November 23rd she had a fantastic day at church, no whining, listed and did what she was asked... and since that Sunday she has been so great! Don't get me wrong, she is still 5 and feels very entitled to things she wants or feel she "needs" and can throw a stink about it if she doesn't get her way, but that is all it is... a little stink and she is done and moves on. So what happened on that Sunday that made this difference? So glad you asked... let me tell you... but this story goes farther back than just that Sunday, so I am going to do my best to explain.

I have been changing how Madi (and therefore the rest of us) eats for awhile, we were cutting back on all kinds of things like wheat and dairy, and of course we don't give her any artificial dyes.... but I hadn't eliminated anything to a celiac sort of avoiding wheat/gluten... And we have been on this Journey a LONG time... We started making changes back in 2012... BUT in October of this year, I made another change, and it has been the best change yet. I started doing the 21 day fix from beachbody, and basically it is eating more of the things you should and making better choices and eating a well balanced diet. This program helped me plan out what my family was eating, and we really began cutting out processed foods and really eating more fresh foods... I have loved it.. I can't even tell you how much I have loved it. It makes me smile inside and out... I loved it so much I became a beachbody coach to 1. keep myself accountable and continue doing it, and 2. to share the wealth!! This change is helping my family eat better, and we can all tell a difference.... This leads up to that Sunday... I decided to not let Madi eat the goldfish that are usually the snack during her class, and I packed her raisins instead... or grapes... i can't remember. (Don't get me wrong... goldfhish are great, I let Mason eat them... I don't judge against people that eat them.. they are delicious and I don't think less of anyone who feeds their children yummy little fish shaped snacks) Anyways that was (to the best of my knowledge) the only gluten she was eating during the week ... I don't know if it really can make that big of difference, she probably gets 1/3 C. of goldfish... but that was the day miss Madi become nice. LOL.... that is an exaggeration... but seriously as a parent I can tell you, and other mothers I'm sure you know we see changes in our kids that no one else will notice... we know them like no one else does... and whether or not it was the goldfish... something changed and she is happier and easier to mother. For example in the mornings we get ready for preschool... every M-F........ AND every M-F it was the same story... eating breakfast, something happens she becomes emotional/panicky about something, usually ends up freaking out and crying which then leads to not being able to get dressed on her own, which then leads to more freaking out because now she will be late, which leads to being hungry and cranky because she can't calm down to eat breakfast, which leads to angry/ fed up mother who doesn't help the situation by projecting (like how I don't call it yelling;) ) frustrated words at the child who is already having a rough time.... seriously this happened 95% of the time... but that was all I knew... that is how it has been and so I didn't know children could get dressed on their own, eat breakfast, brush their teeth and not freak out about something like the wrong pants being in the dirty clothes, or that Murphy the dog died and hasn't come back, or that the pancake was cut the wrong way and now it is ruined..... BUT it is no longer like that.... honestly we have 95% good mornings where she gets up and gets dressed and does what she needs to, and if she needs help she is feeling good enough and calm enough to just ask.... and we go to school and walk in happy and smiling... I DIDN'T KNOW IT COULD BE THAT EASY..... So this is a tribute to my Madison for putting up with me all 5 years.... could it really have been that her body was fighting and reacting to a substance it just didn't know how to process?? I think it is more than just cutting out goldfish I really do... we are eating less processed and more fruits and veggies... not much comes from packages... and I think that has a lot to do with it... but symbolically those goldfish were the last fish to fry for us... (pun intended) ha ha!

So I am grateful for my daughter who now can be happy and feel good which makes her so much easier to be around.... I am so thankful for Beachbody and my coach Keisha who helped push me over my wavering commitment ledge... It isn't "cool" to eat like we do, it isn't "fun" and it is hard to be "that parent", it is frustrating to have to check in at school daily to make sure Madi has good food to eat... it sure as hell isn't easy and it is a LOT of work.... but it is getting easier and it is so worth it to me and my family. It is worth it to me to make this change... and if I have 95% of my days where Madi and I are both smiling as she goes to school, I will keep doing it.

People ask me why I eat this way... and this is why, because I love my daughter and always have... but now I love and enjoy being her mom, and that for a long time was really hard.