7 Months of Mason

Not only is today Valentine's Day, but it is also Mason's 7 month birthday. I can't believe I am actually writing about him being 7 months old already! Rob is out of town today, so Mason is my little Valentine. Not too much has changed since last month, but he is continuing to grow and get bigger every day. We don't have a check-up until he turns 9 months old, but it is my guess that he is around 19 or 20 pounds. He learned to hold his own bottle last month and has been feeding himself (which is very nice). He still take 6-7 ounces at each feeding. He is taking less bottles and eating more food (cereal, fruits, veggies and meats - baby food). Sometimes you can't feed this kid fast enough. He sure lets you know if your speed is not up to his standards. He is very vocal! He enjoys eating mum mums. We've tried giving him cereal puffs again, but he still doesn't do very well with them.

I've noticed that Leah hit her milestones earlier than Mason has and that is okay. I am just observing the differences between the two of them. By 5 months, Leah was fully sitting up on her own and by 6 months she was pulling herself up standing. Mason is 7 months and isn't quite sitting up on his own yet. He can sit up for about a minute before he tumbles over. He is getting better every day. I've heard that they usually just 'get it' one day and will start doing it. When we try to stand Mason up, he doesn't put much weight on his legs yet either. I know all kids are different and hit milestones at different ages so I am not concerned. He is rolling over (and over and over) like a champ. (He has that nailed)! He loves to play with his toys and is constantly grabbing for objects. He is a VERY happy little boy and smiles when you just glance at him. He melts my heart.

Mason continues to be a good sleeper. I think he is actually improved since last month. He still goes to bed around 7:30 pm and doesn't wake up until I have to wake him up in the morning around 6:30 am. On the weekends, he usually sleeps until 7:00 am, which is great!He is growing like a weed and is almost out of his 6 month size clothes. He is still in a size 3 diaper, but those are starting to get a little snug. He babbles all day long and I swear he has said mama. I love this little guy and just want time to slow down a little bit!

Love this guy's smile!

Momma takes way too many pictures of me.

Leah insisted that Mason wanted to look through her baby book with her.

Playing around on the floor.

Flowers delivered to me at work today from my family for Valentine's Day!

One Month Check-in

It has been a month since we have set our New Years resolutions and I thought I would update everyone on our progress! We've really changed some of our habits and I am proud of how well we are doing. First off, I am happy to say that I am down 10.5 pounds since January 1st! I still have quite a ways to go to reach my goal, but I felt it was a good milestone to hit. We've stuck to our plan on 'not' eating out unless it was a special occassion. In the past month, we've only gone out to eat twice - once was with my family on the two year anniversary of my mom's passing and the other was for the luncheon after Mason's Baptism. If you ask me - that is pretty good progress considering we literally used to go out to eat at least 2-3 times a week. To be honest, I don't miss it either! Along with not going out to eat, I haven't had any alcohol since New Year's. I am not giving it up completely, but really wanted to watch my consumption. Every time we'd go out to eat, I would usually have 2-3 beers with my meal. All of these calories (from food and alcohol) were adding up and not helping me with my weight loss goals. Since we really haven't gone out, I haven't been tempted to drink. Summer time may be a different story :)

One of my other New Year's resolutions was to cook at least two meals at home a week for dinner. On average, I've been cooking 2-3 meals a week. Usually, I'll prepare something on Sunday that we can have for left overs on Monday. I'll also do some prep work too to have easy meals during the week. We've been watching our portions and I've been conscious of making healthier meals. I've made a handful of recipes from Pinterest. Tonight, I am making this honey lime chicken over cilantro rice. It sounded good to me! There will be enough for us to eat tomorrow. I've also started bringing my lunch to work almost every day too, usually a turkey sandwich with hummus and pita chips or crackers. I'm definitely not snacking like I used to as well. Our grocery bill has gone up since we are eating so much more at home, but at least we are not spending as much as we used to at restaurants!

Rob and I both have been using our elliptical too. It was my goal to use it 4 times per week. This hasn't exactly happened. I would say I am averaging 2-3 times per week. It is hard to get it in sometimes! By the time we get home and eat dinner and spend time with the kids, it can be tough to get in time to exercise. We've been using the weekends to get it in more (since we are not going out - ha!). My life is about get even more busy too. I am going back to school to work towards a Benefits Certification (CEBS), which I guess would be equivalent to the CPA but in the HR world. I've signed up for the first prep class and I'll now be in class on Wednesday's from 6:30 - 9:30 pm for the next 11 weeks! There are then 7 more classes that follow. We'll see how this goes! 

As far as the kids resolutions go - Mason has hit one of his goals! On his list was to learn to hold his own bottle. He finally has mastered this skill and is now feeding himself (with his bottle). Way to go Mase (Leah never held her own bottle)! Leah just started her second gymnastics class this past Saturday. We enrolled her in another parent/tot class, but for the next session we signed her up for an independent class where she'll go on her own. We'll see how it goes, as this was one of her resoltions - to do more activities independently. So far in 2013 - all of the Held's are on track to stick to our resolutions!

Big boy holding his own bottle

Eating a mum-mum.

He is getting so big. Too bad all of his things are pink hand-me-downs from his sissy.

6 Months Old

Six months….half a year old! Wow – where has the time gone? This past month has been an exciting one for Mason with many firsts. He celebrated his first Christmas and New Year’s, had his first 2 teeth break through on the bottom, he learned to roll over and he was also baptized. Wow – what a busy month for a little guy. Mason is such a happy baby. His acid reflux seems to have gone away. I rarely give him the medicine anymore. He is usually in a good mood and only cries if he is hungry, tired or needs a diaper change. He has mellowed out a lot and enjoys his sister’s entertainment. Leah is usually all over him and he doesn’t seem to mind a bit. He smiles and giggles all the time. It is so sweet.

We had our 6 month checkup appointment on Wednesday. Bubba weighed in at 18 lbs 10 ounces (70th percentile) and has grown 2.5 inches in length since his 4 month appointment. He is 27 inches long (70th percentile). Mason got his flu shot at the appointment too, along with his other scheduled immunizations. He did great and barely cried. Leah continued to be the protective big sister and told him everything is going to be okay. Mason also has developed eczema too. He has some dry patches on his head and on his body. Leah had this too and still has a few dry patches. The doctor just said to use aquaphor and see what happens. We don’t go back to the doctor until his 9 month appointment.

Mason has cut back a little on his bottles and is eating more cereal and fruits/veggies. We’ve also tried the mum mum’s (wafer crisp things) and he seems to like them. I did give him a ‘puff’ too. He choked on it so I don’t think the kid is ready for them yet. We’ve move on to ‘Chicken and Apples’ and ‘Turkey and Sweet Potatoes.’ He loves them. Mason is not quite sitting up on his own yet. He is about 80% there. The kids at daycare tease him because it looks like he doesn’t have any bones. He’ll get there soon though. Over the past month, Mason has regressed a little with his sleep schedule at night. There were a few weeks that he was waking up at 3:00 am, hungry for a bottle. Luckily, the past week he seems to be back to normal and sleeping 10-11 hour straight.

These past 6 months have flown by. Time needs to slow down.

Six months of Mason

Blowing Bubbles

Almost sitting up!

Wouldn't be long before he discovered the sticker

Love these two little sweet peas

My heart melts

God Bless Mason

Yesterday was Mason’s big day and we celebrated his baptism. This lucky little guy has two special godmother’s to watch over him, nurture his spiritual growth and always be with him. My sister-in-law Lisa and my sister-in-law Sarah are Mason’s godmothers. I know it is not traditional to have two godmothers (versus a godmother and a godfather), but we felt this was right for Mason. These are two very important people in his life. Mason wore his cousin Gavyn’s baptismal outfit and looked like a little angel. The church service began at 11:00 am at Good Shepherd Church. The baptism took place pretty early on in the service. Mason did great as he was welcomed into God’s kingdom. I love the church we attend. It is always filled with great messages that make you want to be a better person. It was nice to have our family there with us to celebrate this special day.

After the service, we went to Home Run Inn pizza for a luncheon. It was a little hectic (due to the layout of the room), but it was nice to spend time with everyone. Mason was passed around and he was a happy little guy since he was always being held! After lunch, we had cake for dessert. It was just a nice afternoon. Thank you to our family for sharing in Mason’s Baptism!

2 Years Already

It has been 2 years since we said goodbye to my mom. I miss her every day. It was July of 2007 when we found out my mom had a brain tumor. (You can read my mom’s story HERE). From that point forward, our lives were changed. She finally ended her journey on January 5, 2011, three and a half years after her initial diagnosis. She would have turned 60 this month. I still struggle to find the answers to the ‘why’ questions on a daily basis. Why did this have to happen? Why did it happen to her? I must believe that she was needed in heaven and God had greater plans for her.

Losing a parent at any age is hard, but losing one when you're still young yourself, makes it pretty difficult. I only had her for 31 years; she was only 57 when she passed away. Kids need their parents for much longer than we think, and I still needed my mom very much. It's painful to me that my mom will never know my children (she at least was able to ‘meet’ Leah). She would have adored them and they would have adored her, too. When Mason was born, I wish I had her here to help me. I wanted her to show me how to be a good mom.

On the bright side, I now have a beautiful and courageous angel checking in on me (and my family) from time to time. I am grateful that she can walk, talk, and be happy once again. I want to give thanks for how blessed I was to have her for a mom. I hope she's proud of me. Thoughts of my mom still make me sad, but time has allowed me to start the healing process. Thinking of her brings back many happy memories that I treasure. I love you momma!

Other posts about my mom:

Life is Busy (2012)
Missing my Mom (2011)
Happy Mother's Day to My Mom (2011)

Today we visited my mom and sent her balloons to heaven.

Leah visiting with her grandma

Old and New Resolutions

Happy 2013! This New Year’s Eve, we celebrated with good friends and all of the kids (for the second year in a row). Brian and Jaime graciously hosted the ‘Pajama Jam’ again and we had such a great time. We all wore our comfy clothes and PJ’s. The kids had a blast. Leah was shy at first (as usual), but eventually warmed up. We enjoyed lots of food and good conversation. Towards the end of the night, the kids were dancing and had so much fun. We didn’t make it until midnight. Leah was starting to fizzle out around 10:30 pm, so we packed up and headed home. When we got home, we did our own New Year’s toast (Leah had grape juice) and did a ‘cheers’ to 2013. Leah was fast asleep and Rob and I stayed up just till 12:00 am before passing out! The next morning we went out to breakfast (it’s our New Year’s day tradition). We were pretty lazy the rest of the day.

Last year we started actually writing out our New Year’s resolutions and posted them on our fridge. We pulled out the resolutions that we had made for 2012 to see how we did for the year. Out of all of us, Leah had made the most progress on all of her goals! Her list consisted of:

She really accomplished a lot this year and I am so proud of her! A few months before Mason was born, she went cold turkey with the paci and there has been no turning back. (You can read about her journey here - ha: It's so Hard to Say Good Bye). It was a tough couple of days when she didn’t have it, but quickly got over it. We thought she might regress when Mason was born if she saw him with a pacifier, but she didn’t! (Luckily, Mason doesn’t take a pacifier at all, so we won’t have any issues trying to ween him off of one). Leah's second resolution was to get potty trained. I couldn’t be happier with her progress! It was quite a Potty Training Game for a while with lots of frustrations. She just didn't want to do it. She has been well on her way for the past month with only a few accidents. It just clicked and now she is a pro! She never wore any pull-ups. She went straight from diapers to underwear (since our Elf on the Shelf gave away all of her diapers to the babies that need them). As far as her third resolution, it is only partially complete. She has been out of her crib for almost a year, but she is not completely sleeping by herself. She did get a New Toddler Bed earlier this year and she has slept in it about 50% of the time. To round out her resolutions, Leah has learned her ABC's and often sings them to Mason.

For 2013, Leah has some new resolutions to work towards. By the end of 2013, we hope she is able to:

- Write and spell her first and last name.

- Sleep in her own bed without mom and dad. As I mentioned, this is something we’ve been struggling with for a while now. She doesn’t like to be alone. She takes comfort in sleeping with us. We need to get this girl in her own bed, all by herself!

- Do activities independently. We hope to sign her up for a class that she can do by herself without mom and dad. She can pretty shy and clingy, so we want to push her out of her comfort zone. She did a dance class earlier in the year by herself and it was a disaster. First Day of Dance Class. We stopped going after 2 classes. She did a gymnastics class this year too, but Rob did it with her. The teacher said she is ready to move to the next level (without the parent), but I don’t think Leah is mentally ready. We are going to do one more parent/tot class and then see how she does on her own.

- Learn to ride bike with training wheels. We are going to get Leah a bike for her birthday!

Even though Mason is still a little guy, he too has some resolutions for 2013. His list includes learning to crawl, learning to walk, holding his own bottle and to become a better sleeper. (He has digressed over the past 2 weeks and is waking up in the middle of the night again and not sleeping super late).

As far as Rob and I’s resolutions for 2012, the results were pretty mediocre and some were an epic fail! Both of our lists included to lose weight…..womp, womp, womp. One of my goals specifically was to get back in shape after Mason was born and that hasn’t quite happened (that's what 2013 resolutions are for, right – ha)! Also on my list was to read at least 3 books, which I did hit that target thanks to the Fifty Shades series. I wish I had more time to read. I also made a resolution to blog more. I definitely wrote more entries in 2012 than I did in 2011, but it is still pretty time consuming.

As for 2013, we (Rob and I) have set new resolutions and are REALLY hoping to stick to them. It is finally sinking in that we have to change our behaviors if we expect to see change. We both want to lose weight. We have decided that we are going to cut way back on going out to eat – we do it WAY too much. (I went through my bank account and added up all of the money we’ve spent in a month from going out to eat. Let’s just say I was taken aback on how much money has gone out the window). One of my resolutions is to cook at least 2 meals at home a week. Being a full time working mom, it can be tough to find the time to cook. There are many nights we will just pop a Lean Cuisine in the microwave or make a turkey sandwich. I hope that I can start making dinner to have during the week. The crockpot is going to become my new best friend. (So far, I’ve met my goal this week by making Chicken Noodle Soup and a Teriyaki Chicken Stir Fry). We’ve also decided to give up alcohol for a while too (except for on special occasions). Typically, any time we go out to eat, we also have a couple of beers with our meal too. We’re hoping with eating out less and eating at home more, it will help with our weight loss goals. We also are acknowledging that just eating better is not going to cut it. We need to become more active. We recently bought an elliptical machine. It is on our list of resolutions that we each will use it at least 4 times per week for 30 minutes. I did it last night and even the 30 minutes made me feel so much better (and realize just how out of shape I am).

Along the lines of being more active, I’ve also included that I want to complete two 5K’s this year. I always participate in the Chase Corporate Challenge through work and I’ve made a pact with my coworker Ashley and my boss Randy that we will run the entire 5K. (I’ve never ran the entire thing. I’ve come close. This year I will do it). Once it starts to get a little nicer outside, I am going to start running. I’ve come across this awesome blog that has been extremely motivating to me. http://www.mamalaughlin.com/ She’s a mom of 2 and decided to get moving. She has a great story. I follow all of her posts now and find her very inspirational. We do have a few other goals for 2013, like to try to have at least one date night a month where we will alternate whose job it is to find a babysitter and plan the date. We also want to do more with our kids. I know it seems like we have a handful of resolutions for 2013, but I truly feel they can be attainable if we work together on them.

Happy 2013 everyone! Make it a great one!

First Time Bowling

The day after Christmas we thought it would be fun to take Leah bowling. She had never been and thought she might enjoy it. We invited Randy, Lisa, Emma and Gavyn to join us. We met at the bowling alley in the afternoon and got situated on our lane. Leah and Gavyn weren't required to wear bowling shoes since they are so young and they didn't have shoes in their size. The lightest ball we could find was a 6.  I wasn't sure how Leah would do, but we gave it a go. You can program the lane so when the kids are up to bowl, it will lift up the bumpers on the lane.

The first few times Leah was up to bowl (we had to help her), the ball went so s.l.o.w. down the lane. It even got stuck once and Rob had to go pull it back. The family next to us had this contraption that you could put the ball on it and then push it down a ramp (to get some speed).  Rob went and got one for our lane too and it helped Leah and Gavyn significantly. We bowled two games (which was probably one too many for them). It too us about 2 hours to get through the games. We had a nice afternoon and it was fun to do something different!