[2nd birthday] The Party.

What a weekend! I would be lying if I said I didn't have the best weekend ever. Ok, well maybe not ever (I mean, my wedding weekend would have to top that list - followed closely by the day Mason was born (though that didn't fall on a weekend, more of a middle of the week affair, so that's why it can be #2)) but it was pretty close to perfect. And now I could use a weekend to recover from all the fun we had!

The weekend officially started on Friday promptly at 3:30pm. I hit that time clock and was out of work as fast as anyone could say bye to me. I headed home to pick up all the party supplies, packed my car to the brim, picked up Mason and headed to party central.

A short trip to the parking lot aka freeway on a Friday afternoon and we were ready. My sister-in-law arrived shortly after me and we went to work starting to decorate as much as we could. Seth and my brother-in-law arrived soon after as well and moved all the furniture from the backyard. Around 10pm, we called it a night and headed home.

Saturday was the party! I tried to get Mason super excited about the party and so every time I would say "today is Mason's party! yay party!!!!" and clap, he would do the same. You might have seen the adorable video I posted on Instagram. 

I headed out around 8:45am to pick up the balloons and head to party central. We finished some last minute stuff, set up the tables, waited for the bounce house to arrive, and then had some time to relax and get ready. We've never done a party at 2pm before but I think this might be the new go-to because it was perfect timing!

Sunday I got to spend with my boys at swim lessons in the morning and then Gymboree. After Gymboree, I headed to a baby shower, came home, went grocery shopping and then played with Mason and all his new toys. It was perfect.

And now without further ado... on to what I know you are really here for : pictures of the party!

Let's start with the candy table. Not to sound cocky, but I LOVED our candy table. I think it pulled the theme together perfectly. Instead of trying to do a half pirate and half princess table, we decorated pirate-y but had some princess-y candies as well.

We use the candy table as the dessert table and favors table (though we did have some actual favors as well).

As for activities at the party, we had...

pirate ring toss

princess castle bounce house

tattoo station and princess crown decorating station

walk the plank

photo booth

dig for treasures in the treasure chest

For food, we had a taco man. We had originally planned on making pirate and princess themed food since the party was at 2pm and not serving lunch, but after pricing things out and thinking about all the time it would take to make all the food, we decided on a taco man like we have had in the past. I cannot stress how amazing they were! They literally set up their station and do everything for you. You can choose what kind of tacos you want (we had steak, chicken, and carnitas options), you get chips, guacamole, rice and beans and this taco man offered a cheese quesadilla option as well. The price is comparable to making your own food and way, WAY easier. Plus all of our friends and family LOVE it and rave about how good it is. win-win.

I realized we didn't buy any cakes and wondered how we would sing happy birthday to the kids, but we just grabbed a cupcake each and stuck a candle in it and called it a day. The kids didn't know the difference and it was perfect to have the "pre-sliced cake" ready for eating when the singing was done. I especially loved this part of the party because I think Mason finally got it (or I built it up enough lol) that he had the BIGGEST smile on his face the whole time we were singing.

After dessert, Seth got attacked by like five kids at once in the bounce house...

...I "hooked" Mason...

...we attempted to take a family picture in the photo booth...

...and attempted to take a picture of the birthday kids...

...and then opened some presents, that Mason sat still for one of...

Overall, we had an INCREDIBLE time and I cannot believe that my BABY will be turning TWO on Friday!

A huge THANK YOU to Grandma and Grandpa Fenton for letting us have the party at their house and for all of our friends and family for coming to the party. A HUGE thank you also to my party co-host, my sister-in-law, Erin, for throwing such a great party! Should we start planning next year's now????? :)

party inspiration : here // here // here // here // here // here // here // here // here

If anyone wants to know where we got any of these things, email me at chasinmasonblog@gmail.com or leave your questions in the comments (just make sure your email is attached to your blogger profile)! Or if you are planning a pirate/princess party, check out my pirate/princess party Pinterest board! 

[BOY MOMS] Nina from The Joni Journey

Hello fellow boy moms! I'm Nina, mom to Ezra, and I blog about our family adventures and my learning curve as a new(ish) mom over at The Joni Journey (Joe + Nina = Joni).

I'm a huge fan of Elizabeth's #BoyMom series, and am so excited to participate. To be honest, I was a little skeptical that boys and girls would be very different at this age (14 months). I figured Ezzy's "boy" traits would come out later, like when he was 3 or 4. But then I noticed that little girls Ezzy's age actually play with baby dolls and stuffed animals. Like they hug them and cuddle them and love on them.

What does Ezzy do if you give him stuffed animals? Well, if you give him two stuffed animals, he'll bash their heads together and then throw them across the room - all while laughing maniacally. Apparently the nurturing trait hasn't kicked in yet.

But give that kid a ball and he'll chase it, throw it, kick it, catch it - all.day.long.

Ezzy's idea of paradise.

Other things Ezzy loves:

• He already likes watching sports on TV. He was only 8 months old during this year's Super Bowl, but he'd pay attention to the game, then play with his toys and ignore the TV once the commercials came on (I thought those were the best part!), then when the game started again he'd suddenly be glued to the TV.
• Dirt. He likes to dig in it. Throw it. Eat it. Cover himself in it.
• All is well in his world if he's outside somewhere that he can watch moving cars. The bigger and louder the car, the better. And the boy already loves motorcycles. I'm dreading the day he turns 16...
• Screaming. Not temper tantrum screaming. Just yelling at the top of his lungs to exercise his vocal chords at least a dozen times a day. I envision the words "indoor voice" are going to be said on repeat for the next decade or so.

 

When I was younger, I was the little girl playing with baby dolls or stuffed animals and pretending to be a mom. I loved pink, and frills, and dresses that twirled. My baby dolls were almost always baby girls, and I always pictured myself having a girl that I could dress up and do girly stuff with - like go shopping and get pedicures. Now that I have a boy, I honestly couldn't picture it any other way. As soon as I found out Ezzy's gender (at just 13 weeks pregnant!) I was so happy to be having a healthy pregnancy, that I adjusted right away to the news. It felt natural to me that he was a boy. I'm not going to claim that I had any premonitions or mother's intuition about his sex, because I really didn't, but I was happy with the news. And when he joined our family back in May 2013, he instantly felt like the perfect addition to our family (you can read his birth story here). It's so cliche but true that we have a hard time now remembering what life was like before him. That being said, I had absolutely no idea what boys like to do for fun. Even now, when I'm shopping for presents for any of my friends' daughters, I can pick out 20 different toys that I know they'll love, because I would've loved them as a child. But put me in the boy section of the toy store with all the action heroes and transformers and cars and I'm lost.

Things I love about being a boy mom:

• There's no pressure to dress Ezzy up in bows and matching socks and all that madness. Pre-kids, I thought that would be so fun. Post-kids, we were lucky to even change out of our pjs for the first three months of Ezzy's life. Actually, who am I kidding? Ezzy just lived in a diaper 24/7 (he was a summer baby). We could have skipped the newborn clothes entirely.
• Another clothing-related perk: I love how little boy clothes are miniature men's clothes. They're much more simple and classic and neutral than baby girl clothes. While I thought I'd love the pink and the ruffles, I'm actually a fan of how Ezzy and Joe have the same style. Melts my heart.
• I get to experience childhood from a completely different perspective. Boy or girl, parenthood is a learning curve, and I think we're all in new territory the first time around, but I do think it's fun to notice and partake in Ezzy's excitement about stuff that I never noticed when I was a kid - like cars and sports.
• I get to help shape Ezzy from a baby, to a boy, to a young man. This is true for both boy and girl parents, but it's a huge honor (and responsibility) to be the one teaching this little guy about life and helping him find his place in it. I get to be his biggest fan and cheerleader, the person trying to answer all his "why" questions, and his shoulder to cry on. The thought of all that makes my heart fuller than I ever imagined it could be.

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If you would like to share a post about you and your son, email me at chasinmasonblog@gmail.com .

I would love to feature you! You don't have to have a blog to participate!

[Summer Bucket List] Fireworks

Happy Friday! Hope you all have been having a great week! I, for one, am VERY excited it is Friday... because this weekend kicks off the week long celebration until Mason's SECOND birthday! I didn't originally intend on celebrating all week, but the day the party fell and the day his birthday fell, why not?!

But before I get ahead of myself, let's get to one of the activities that I was most excited about from the beginning... fireworks and the 4th of July!

As you all know, last week was the 4th of July. We just had a big transition at my work and I'd been working a lot and was finally able to have a day off. I'd been looking forward to it all week as we were going to our friends, Lauren and Seth's, house to celebrate with a BBQ. They just bought a new house and we were really excited to see it and to let Mason and Logan play in the backyard with the water table, slide, and sprinkler. And let me tell you, they did not disappoint!

The morning started off with just the three of us at home. I hadn't really planned anything and was kind of disappointed in myself when I realized that we had pancake mix. I immediately thought to do red, white, and blue pancakes. I think Seth thought I was crazy, but he kindly obliged and executed my crazy idea.

Someone got a little sticky from the syrup that I put on his pancakes so I gave him a bath and then Seth and I each got ready for the day. I had been wanted to go to Trader Joe's to get some stuff for a while so we took this opportunity to take a trip as a family, which also resulted in a trip to Starbucks since it is next door. I, of course, got my beloved peach green tea lemonade. I just can't get enough!

We all came home, played for a bit, and ate lunch and then Mason took a nap.

Mason woke up from his nap around 3:15-3:30-ish and we headed over to Lauren and Seth's house where we met up with our friends Vickie and Kenneth too. I mainly took pictures of Mason and Logan (surprise surprise!), but we had some delicious dips for an appetizer (guac and chips and some sort of creamy corn dip - both of which were delicious!) as well as these amazing caprese skewers (with this AMAZING balsamic from Trader Joe's!) and then burgers and potato salad for dinner. I made my famous sangria and we had the best time talking and laughing and watching the kids play.

After dinner, we ate some dessert. I made this cake and it was so easy and SO good!

While we didn't actually get to see a real fireworks show, we bought some to set off in the streets (it's legal where they live) and got some sparklers as well. Mason was ridiculously excited about the sparklers. I imagine next year will be trouble now that he knows how much fun they are!

We had an incredible 4th of July and I am already counting down until next year's!

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Thank you to everyone who has been linking up with us each week! I've been really enjoying reading each and every one of your posts and getting some great ideas of things to do this summer! Don't forget to link up with us again next week, sharing the fun activities that you've been up to this summer!

Stephanie at Wife Mommy Me | Desiree with Macke Monologues | Jenny from The Chronicles of We

Becky of bybmg | Courtney from Sweet Turtle Soup | Elizabeth at Chasin' Mason

Swim Lessons.

A couple weeks ago, I FINALLY scheduled Mason for swim lessons. These lessons were long overdue. I had been wanting to schedule them for about a year (since his birthday last year! eek!) but always procrastinated for some reason or another because we had something planned this weekend or something planned that weekend and it was just never "convenient". (Then we tried to give Mason a swim lesson with a friend and I think we got ahead of ourselves on one of the things she wanted him to do and it seemed to traumatize him for a while. He CRIED every time we tried to get in the pool. The WHOLE visit we were in Palm Springs with my parents in April, he cried. Even when I was clearly holding him. Then all of a sudden on Memorial Day, he was HAPPY in the water and laughing and excited about it again so I knew it was time.)

If we all waited to do things until they were convenient, we probably would never do anything, so I bit the bullet and called for his first lesson. I prefer to have at least one weekend day that we have no set in stone plans every week so we can do whatever we want so I chose to have his swim lesson on Sunday morning. It's late enough where we don't have to wake up at the crack of dawn, but early enough where we have time to come home, take a shower, and get changed before Gymboree. It's perfect.

We found the swim lessons through a recommendation from my sister-in-law who takes my nieces there as well as our friends Lauren and Seth that take their son Logan there. I must admit though, when we got there for Mason's first lesson, I was a bit surprised. I don't know what I expected but the place was a lot bigger than I imagined. I got us all checked in, bought our swim diaper (they require double diapering) and was about to go find our instructor when Seth asks what pool we are supposed to go to. I literally thought there was one pool and we would just see her. Boy was I wrong. We asked someone who worked there and they brought us to our instructor...thankfully! Or we would probably still be looking for her.

We signed up for parent and me swim lessons which means that Seth or I go in the pool with Mason and there is an instructor that tells the parents what to do. Seth went in with Mason for his first lesson.

They start off the lesson with the parents holding the kids and rotating around in a big circle. Mason was looking like he felt comfortable with it and was looking like he was having a good time. They then lift the kids up and down so they are dunked in and out of the water (but not under water). After they do that a couple times, they stand in the middle of the pool and head towards the wall, holding the kids so their face goes under water a little. Once they make it to the wall, the parents sit the kids on the wall and the kids "fall" into the pool off the wall. This was Mason's FAVORITE part of the whole lesson! They then swim back to the middle of the pool and then head back to the wall to repeat it. Then the instructor puts a floatie in the pool that is big and looks like a train and has the kids walk across it and then jump in to the pool to their parent. Mason hated this part. I think it was because the instructor was holding his hand and he wanted his daddy but he cried each time she made him do it. He did it. And he did it well. But he cried. Every. Single. Time. They did a couple more things and the lesson was over.

The lesson is only 20 minutes. At first I thought that that would be too short of an amount of time, but it's basically the perfect amount of time to keep the kids attention and wanting to do what the instructor says. Clearly they have done some research :)

I apologize for the poor quality photos. I was sitting on the side of the pool and they were on the opposite side and I had to zoom in, in poor lighting.

Despite crying a little, Mason LOVED it. He seriously gets so excited when we get to the pool. I am so happy he has gotten over his fear of the water and enjoys going to swim lesson. It's going to make this summer a whole lot more fun!

[It's the Little Things] Unexpected Surprises

I had a completely different post scheduled for today and then last night happened and I switched it up. Hey, life happens, you gotta be flexible!

Last night Seth had softball like he does every Tuesday. But this week, his game was at 6:45pm. I had to work until 5:30pm and with traffic, there would be no way that I could be home in time. Seth asked Papa (Seth's dad) to pick up Mason from daycare for us and he happily agreed. 

I got home at 6:30pm-ish, just as Mason was eating dinner. Papa finished feeding Mason and we talked for a little and then he headed home. I ate some salad and then took Mason upstairs to take a bath. I started the bath water, went to get Mason in his room (where he was playing), and brought him in to the bathroom. I took off his shorts and shirt and next came the diaper. I checked for (lack of a better word) #2 and he was clean. I thought I was in the clear... I turn to throw away his diaper in the trash can and... what's that noise?

Mason peeing on the side of the bath tub.

Surprise!

Yes, that really happened. And I hate to admit it, but I kind of just stood there and let it happen! Haha. I was in so much shock, I just stood there. He finished and I plopped him in the tub and cleaned up the mess.

I bathed him, he played, and then I took him out of the bath, wrapped him in a towel, and brought him to his room to dry him off and get him dressed in his PJs. I dried him off, started to put his diaper on, but needed to put some  aquaphor on before I fully diaper-ed him up. Things were going well, I've given Mason a book to distract him from touching anything, I finish with the aquaphor, and turn to put the lid back on the container and....

Yep, you guessed it! He pees AGAIN. Seriously kid!! How much water did you drink at dinner??

Surprise!

I was so shocked that he peed again that I didn't even really try to stop it (again! haha). I put my hand to cover and then whipped the diaper up to catch the rest, but it was too late. I wasn't even mad, I seriously just started to laugh. Poor clean kid was not so clean anymore.

I mean, how can you be mad at this face?

It might seem silly to post about "surprises pees" as a little thing, but being a boy mom is my most favorite thing and the little surprises are a part of that. I thought I had this boy mom thing down, but what my boy has taught me is... there's never a dull moment with him! And I wouldn't have it any other way :)

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Linking up with Jess from Sadie Sky Boutique and Ashley from Words About Waverly.

[BOY MOMS] Hayley from Memories of May

Hey Ya’ll!!! I am Hayley, and I blog over at Memories of May. I started my blog a little over a year ago because I wanted to document all the precious memories of my little man, Jackson!!! If you stop by my blog for long, you will see that my content revolves around lots and lots of pictures of him.

I am super excited that Elizabeth asked little old me to write a guest post in this fabulous series. If you had asked me five years ago what kind of mom I would be, I would have said a mom to girls. After hanging out with me for a few minutes, you would quickly learn that I am a girly girl. I could care less about sports or being outside because I would much prefer shopping and baking!!! Well, let’s just say—God had other plans for me when he made me Jackson’s mommy!!! He knew I would LOVE being a mommy to a sweet little boy. He also knew it would be good for me to break outside my girly girl ways and get outside a little more. And outside I have gone!!!

J loves being outside!!! It doesn’t matter if it is freezing cold or blazing hot. He wants to be outside. Some of his favorite things are… playing in the water, blowing bubbles, drawing with sidewalk chalk, playing with cars, watering the flowers, swinging at the park…and the list goes on…

He also LOVES him some Mickey Mouse!!!  He keeps his crib crammed with a variety of stuffed friends but by far Mickey is his fav!!!

And like any true Texan, he loves his Tex Mex in the form of rice and beans, burritos, and chips and salsa!!!

Plus, the planner in me still gets to plan some pretty fun parties.  Now, my mind works on themes involving monkeys and cars.  Like for J’s 2^nd birthday, I chose to plan around his obsession with cars.  Let me tell you--- J LOVED it!!!!

 I have learned a lot over the last 2 years being J’s mommy.  I have learned that letting the wind blow through my hair can be a lot of fun.  I have learned that precocious little boys can be a little crazy but deep down they are really super sweet.   But by far my favorite thing is that little boys really do love their mommies!!!  Because for now, mine is a major mama’s boy and that is totally fine by me!!!

Thank you, Elizabeth, for allowing me to share about my favorite thing in the world - my boy! 

  

If you would like to follow along in our everyday adventures, you can find us over at Memories of May.

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If you would like to share a post about you and your son, email me at chasinmasonblog@gmail.com .

I would love to feature you! You don't have to have a blog to participate!