Family Day at the Circus

A few weeks ago on the way to daycare, Leah heard a commercial on the radio for the circus (I wasn't quite paying attention to it). As soon as she heard it, she immediately decided that we had to go. I didn't even know there was a circus anywhere around here. She must have asked me 5 times if we could go. When I got home from work that day, I googled it to find out where it was. It was a smaller show at the Sears Center in Hoffman Estates. They actually had a promotion going on for a buy one get one free deal. I was able to get 4 tickets for a reasonable price. They turned out to be in the front row too so we were pretty excited.

This past Sunday, the big day finally arrived. Leah told everyone that she was going to circus. I haven't been to a circus in years and wasn't quite sure what to expect. Overall, it was fun. Leah had a good time. Everything is rid...ic...ulosuly priced! All of the kids had these flashing, glowing, light sticks. Leah had to have one too. $15 gone. At the next stop she begged me for cotton candy (which she has never had before). She took one bite and told me it was gross and she didn't like it. Glad I spent $6 on it for her! :) We also got some food which was just crazy expensive. The show was pretty long. After almost 2 hours, they broke for an intermission. Both kids were still doing great, but we decided to head home to avoid the crowds getting out of there. I am glad the kids had fun!

Easter Pictures

I was not on the ball this year and was too late to schedule Easter mini's with the photographer we used for our Christmas mini's. By the time I reached out, all of the open slots were filled. My friend had just had family pictures taken by a different photographer and told me that she was doing Easter mini's too. I contacted her and was able to schedule an appointment. I always have high expectations for how they will turn out and am always usually let down. Mason did great and was smiling away - even though not all of the pictures captured that. Leah was pretty uncooperative. She was SOO shy and just wanted me to hold her. I was pretty disappointed in her behavior. It wasn't until the very end that she warmed up. We are going to do family pictures over the summer, so hopefully everyone gets their act together by then!

Well - here are all of the pictures....the good and the bad!

Typical Leah fashion...being shy and biting her nails.

St. Patrick's Day Fun

This year St. Paddy's Day fell on a Sunday. We had made plans to go celebrate with all of our friends that afternoon. It's been a pretty long time since we've gotten out without kids, so we were definitely excited! We met for lunch and drinks at Black Finn in Naperville. We had a large group and it was lots of fun to see everyone! We were all so festive in our green 'gear' and were able to enjoy some green beer! After lunch we walked over to Quigley's which was definitely more crowded than the first stop. We only stayed until 5:00 pm. I didn't want to keep my cousin with the kids too long. We had such a great time and hope we can do it again next year!

Mason Turns 8 Months!

My little monster Mason is 8 months old!! He is getting soooo big! I can’t believe in just a few months he is going to be one years old! Woah! This past month has been an exciting one for Mase Man. He finally is sitting up all by himself! It took him awhile to get here, but he is doing it. He has gotten so much better with his coordination skills too. He can now also successfully pick up little pieces of food and put it in his mouth. Before, he was like an ogre using his whole hand to grab at things. He couldn’t get the concept of using his two fingers to pick things up and move it to his mouth. He has it nailed now! He eats puffs like a champ (which is a huge improvement from last month) and has also tried yogurt melts, small pieces of pasta, cut up chicken nuggies and bread. He can’t get enough of that stuff. He seems to want the bottle less and the ‘real’ food more. He only has 3 bottles a day. The rest of the time it is cereal, fruits, veggies, and mum mums. We are slowly going to introduce other foods to him too. I’ve tried giving him a sippy cup and he did pretty good with it.

Mason is a big little dude, probably topping the scales around 20 pounds. We bought him a walker last weekend and his little feet don’t touch the ground yet (and it is on the lowest setting). He likes sitting in the walker and playing with the activity center. Leah loves to push him all around the house. He is starting to put weight on his legs and will stand when we hold his hands. He loves laying on the floor and grabbing his feet. He giggles and smiles all the time. Baby giggles are the best. He is wearing 9-12 month size clothes, but still wears a size 3 diaper. He continues to babble and says mamamama, dadadadada, babababa and other variations. Leah swears that he says her name, but I think it might be a little too early for that. He has learned to 'click' his tongue and does it often. If you do it to him, he does it back to you with a huge smile on his face. It makes me laugh.

I can say I am truly lucky how great of a sleeper Mason is. He has been going down even earlier now (around 7:15 pm) and sleeps for a good 11+ hours. He has been teething lately, but it hasn’t bothered his sleep schedule. He likes to be all snuggled up in his bed with his blankie (which makes me nervous sometimes).

The kids will be back into their regular routine soon. My daycare’s maternity leave is coming to an end!

Mason is 8 months old!

My little guy eating Chicken Nuggies for the first time 

So happy! 

Sitting up like a pro! 

Wearing his first pair of shoes!