Fall Swag Swap!

A couple months ago, Desiree had posted about how she was co-hosting a Fall Swag Swap. I was intrigued. This was something that she had done in the past, but since I hadn't "found her" until we were co-hosts of our Summer Bucket List link up, I hadn't ever heard about it.

The swap rules were pretty straight forward.

You have to have a blog.

You have to live within the US.

A minimum of $20 and 5 items need to be included in the exchange.

You must contact your partner during the exchange, no later than 3 days prior to sending your packages - that's the best part - meeting new people!!!

Have a blog? Check.

Live in the US? Check.

Minimum of $20 and 5 items to send? Sounds good.

Contact your partner in 3 days? Totally doable.

I was in!

I was partnered up with Mandie of badbrewpack. It was super fun getting to know her through a few email exchanges and by friending her on Instagram and bloglovin. It was also super fun shopping for her because Fall is her jam. She LOVES all things pumpkin spice and she LOVES all things football. To find out what goodies I got her, head on over to her blog to find out!

What Mandie sent me was totally right up my alley! It was like she knew me in real life and knew what I love. I loved it all and was super impressed with her creativity and crafty-ness.

When my package arrived, I was like a kid in a candy store. I couldn't wait to open it! I opened the package and was surprised by quite the array of gifts.

The first thing I opened was this B.

 I was shocked and in awe of the beautiful fall themed B. I loved the polka dots and loved that they were fall colors and thought that the leaves just added that little extra something that it needed. When I read the letter that she included in with the package, she told me that the leaves were from her wedding last October. So special!

Next, I opened the notecards and pen package.

I love sending little hand written cards to people and oddly enough, I had just run out of cards so these came at the perfect time!

Then, I opened the painting.

In our emails, we had discussed our favorite colors. To be honest, I don't really have a favorite. If I went off of what I wore most often, then my favorite color would be black. So I picked the colors that I most like and told her green, blue, and pink. She was super creative and painted me this gorgeous painting. I love how abstract it is and how bright it is.

Then, I tried on the scarf.

Seriously, this girl could not go wrong including a scarf in my package. This is hands down my favorite part of fall (if fall would ever show up in Southern California!). Scarves. Mandie picked the perfect scarf for me as I love infinity scarves. I don't have a chevron one so this was the perfect addition to my collection.

And one last gift.

The perfect present for someone you want to have a coffee date with but live too far away to actually do so. I definitely enjoyed my Starbucks drink courtesy of Mandie (thanks Mandie!).

In the envelope was a sweet letter to me saying hi and explaining all of the gifts. There was a also a quick note letting me know that she would forward me the email for the Starbucks card after I let her know that the package had arrived (she didn't want to ruin the surprise of what it was before I got the package so she had the e-giftcard sent to her email). She also included a little something for Mason - which was so sweet of her to do! He loved it!

Overall, I feel like Mandie did a great job with my package especially since we only got to know each other over the course of a few emails. I loved the idea of this swap and loved everything that Mandie got/made me! 

Thanks for hosting this fun swap ladies!

[Fall Bucket List] The Pumpkin Patch.

Remember a couple weeks ago when I mentioned that we stopped by the pumpkin patch at Irvine Regional Park when we went for a bike ride? And remember when I mentioned how excited Mason was about the pumpkin patch and how he picked up EVERY pumpkin in the place and wanted to take them home? And how I naively thought "yes! pumpkin patch will be a success!"?

Well the toddler must be able to read minds because Saturday's trip to the pumpkin patch was less than perfect. Every direction we wanted to go in, Mason ran in the opposite direction. And FAST. Seth ran after him while I yelled "can you get him and bring him over here for a picture?!". Then Mason would come back and yell "NO!" when I tried to take a picture. Then had a meltdown. Then had a snack and was good to go for... 5 min. And don't worry, there was more.

But let's start back at the beginning...

We met our friends Lauren and Seth and their son, Logan, at the donut bar before the pumpkin patch. I got my standard maple bacon donut (Seth tells me I'm boring and to branch out - but it's soooooooo good!) and he got a butter beer donut. We got Mason an apple orchard (apple pie-like) donut and he loved it. Logan scarfed down his donut as well and then the boys ran around like crazy for a good 15 minutes. They definitely gave Seth and Seth a run for their money.

After breakfast, we headed to the pumpkin patch. This year we chose the pumpkin patch at Tanaka Farms. Seth and I had been before but this was Mason's first time. The special thing about this pumpkin patch is that it is at the Strawberry Farms Golf Club, which is where we got married.

We arrived pretty close to when they opened and I had hoped that it would be empty but no such luck. Apparently everyone had the same idea - probably because the weather was FINALLY nice - a cool 70ish degrees (I think). Either way, we didn't care. We purchased our tickets for admission, the wagon ride, and the petting zoo and then started to walk around.

Logan was a happy camper the whole entire time and Mason did ok in the beginning. I had hoped to take a picture with him an a giant pumpkin but he wanted no where near where I wanted him to be. Hence all the pictures of his back - me desperately snapping photos as he ran away.

This pumpkin patch is very different than the other one that we went to. Irvine Park gathers all of the good pumpkins and puts them in their patch and then you just pick and buy. Tanaka Farms is more of the farm atmosphere. They have the pumpkins in their "natural habitat" and while they are not connected to the plants still, there are definitely the gross ones still hanging around along with all the flies that come with that. You also definitely have to search for the good ones that you want to buy.

Since Mason was not interested in the pumpkins at all, we decided to go on the wagon ride to the petting zoo. While we stood in line, Mason had a snack and that seemed to put him in a better mood - at least temporarily.

The wagon dropped us off at the other side of the pumpkin patch - where the petting zoo and games were. We headed straight for the petting zoo and to my surprise, this was Mason's FAVORITE part. Personally, I am not all that fond of the animals, but Mason was having the time of his life.

Once he decided he was done, he wanted out. So we "washed" his hands at the hand washing station (aka a Purell squirt station - how is that washing your hands??) and then attempted to take pictures with some pumpkins. I'll let you decide how well that went.

After our failed attempt at a photo, we decided to get back on the wagon ride, tour around the farm, and head back to the pumpkin patch. The boys were much happier on the ride and the best part? The pumpkin cannon! I wish I had gotten a video but they literally shoot a pumpkin out of a cannon and the pumpkin flies in the air many, many hundreds of feet. It's pretty awesome.

We decided to try to walk around the patch a little more before we left and were able to get a few more pictures.

We decided that the boys had had enough and so we opted to check out the store and I got some small pumpkins and gourds for decoration for the house.

We paid for our goodies and we were headed home for nap time. But before we could even pull out of the parking lot...

...looks like we found out what was causing the crabby-ness.

Sugar high crash and nap time strike again.

Though Mason wasn't in the best mood, we still had a really great time! We actually didn't buy any pumpkins for carving (I'm planning on getting some from the grocery store for that) but I was able to get some cute decorations for the house so I consider it a successful trip. It definitely didn't go down like I had hoped or imagined, but that's ok. We had fun and made memories and that's all that matters.

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Now, tell me!

What Fall fun have you been up to?

Pick an item, celebrate Fall, and link up with us!
I would love to see how you and your family are spending Fall.

 Desiree at Macke Monologues | Stephanie at Wife Mommy Me | Elizabeth at Chasin' Mason

[BOY MOMS] Chelsea from The Contented Wife Blog

Hi there! I'm Chelsea and I blog over at The Contented Wife Blog. I'm so excited to be taking over Elizabeth's blog for today and share with you a few thoughts on being a boy mom.

But first, a family picture because we just had them done by my sister and I'm kind of in love with them :)

I'll admit, I was scared to have a boy! I was nervous to share that post back in August, but I'm so glad I did. Many boy moms could relate, and I was glad to know I wasn't alone in my fears. Today, I'd like to expand a little bit on that post and explain why I no longer have this fear.

I've come to the realization that any relationship is something we have to cultivate. My parents and I don't have a wonderful relationship simply because they are my parents. We have a great relationship because we have invested in each other's lives and truly want the relationship to be strong. My siblings and I are very close and I credit that to our parents teaching us the value of family relationships. We all see that and want to be close, as well as for our kids to be close.

Why would my relationship with my son be any different?

I know that at this point in our lives (he just turned one) he adores me and my husband. Most one year olds love their parents automatically. But when he grows older, say into his teenage years and beyond, what would make him want to keep a close relationship with his mom and dad? Well, I believe we have to start at an early age making him feel loved, appreciated, and valued as a member of our family.

I was in a good friend's wedding when this picture was taken - I'm not normally that dressed up. :) 

Proverbs says to train a child up in the way they should go and when they are old they will not depart from it. I find comfort in that. I believe the verse is talking mainly about training the child up to love the Lord and live their life in service to Him, but I also believe strong family connections kind of go hand in hand with that.

I'm no longer scared my boy will grow up to not like me. I'm confident that by growing and cultivating our relationship from the very beginning will pave the way for a lifelong bond that only a mother and son could share. I realize the day will come when he have a new girl to love and please, and I pray that the Lord gives me comfort during those days, but for now I'll be content playing with him on the floor, singing songs to him as I put him to sleep, and watching him grow by the minute.

I love and embrace being a boy mom and I hope you do too! Thanks to Elizabeth for letting me post on her blog today! :) If you liked this post, I hope you'll follow me on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram! Have a wonderful week!

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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!

[Countdown to Halloween] Window Clings

Have I ever mentioned that holidays with kids are so much more fun than holidays without kids? I think I have, but I stand by my comment, so I thought I would share it again. 

I don't know why, but I feel like I might have been a bit of a scrooge when it came to decorating for the holidays BM - before Mason. I don't know why, but I guess I figured I would just be doing it for myself and why spend the money when its just for one person? I mean, Seth could enjoy the decorations too, but let's be honest, he could care less about the decorations.

So now AM (after Mason), I am all about decorating - but decorating on a budget. So when I was at Target a couple weeks ago, I checked out the dollar section and found some goodies. I never bought these before and was actually kind of hesitant to buy them this year too...

...window clings.

They seemed kinda cheap (I mean they were only $1) and I had this feeling that Mason would eat them. Or try to. And it can't be healthy to eat a window cling.

But I decided to try anyway. I figured, if he hates them or tries to eat them and I need to throw them away, I only wasted $2.

But boy was I wrong, he LOVED them!

I started off by putting the "H A P P Y" in Happy Halloween up and then peeled the cling off the paper and let him put it on the window where ever he wanted. He was seriously SO excited and SO proud when he put anything on the window.

 

 

 

Sure a few got broken since he was pulling on them and didn't realize they were kind of fragile, but I don't care. One of the cats is missing it's tail. The pumpkins mouths are all broken. And some of the letters are stretched out and covered in dust/crumbs from the floor. But do I care? No. Now they have character. Each one that gets broken or gets dirty is just a sign that Mason is playing and having fun and that is way more important to me than clean, perfect decorations.

[It's the Little Things] A Look.

Friday night we had some friends over to watch the Angels vs Royals game (don't ask how the game ended, we're still upset about it...or a certain someone is). The guys were sitting on the couch, Seth was outside BBQing, and I was sitting at the table with Mason, helping him eat dinner.

Everything was going fine, Mason was eating (mainly his apple sauce, which he has a current OBSESSION with) and dinner looked a little something like this :

this photo is from the other night, but it looked almost identical to this

(except he had hot dog and macaroni salad as his main dish)

He must have learned this at preschool because he never used to lift his apple sauce cup and drink it straight from the cup (he only eats pouches straight to his mouth). It is quite possibly the cutest and messiest thing ever. The only thing messier is when he actually uses his spoon.

Anyway, things were going fine until he decided that he was done - after eating his whole container of apple sauce, no macaroni salad, and one bite of hot dog. I explained that he wasn't done, that he had five more bites before he could get up, and all hell broke loose. He pushed his chair back and tried to unbuckle himself. I told him he wasn't finished and he needed to eat five more pieces of hot dog. I pulled in his chair. He pushed out his chair. I pulled in his chair.

I finally got fed up with waiting to eat my dinner, so I got up and made my plate, came back, sat down, and ate my dinner - all while he was still having a tantrum and not eating the five pieces I asked him to eat.

I tried to feed him and he spit it out. 

I put it on his fork and he knocked it on the floor.

I was not winning this argument.

I resorted to bribing. 

If you eat all five pieces of hot dog, you can have a cookie.

If you eat all five pieces of hot dog, you can have a cookie AND watch Mickey.

No luck.

I was done. I cleaned off his hands and picked him up and we went to have a short talk/time out in the corner. He was not having it. I tried to explain to him that he need to finish his dinner in order to grow up big and strong. That he can't just eat apple sauce for dinner every night. That's not enough. He didn't care. He was so worked up by then that I don't even think he was hearing the words coming out of my mouth (not that I really expected him to be understanding anyway since he is only two).

By now he was getting quite loud and I knew that the boys wanted to watch the baseball game so I took Mason upstairs. We rocked in his rocking chair and he seemed to calm down. I "shushed" him and cuddled him and put his head on my shoulder. He calmed down. I tried to talk to him again and explain that Daddy and I love him and just want him to grow up healthy and that he needs to eat more than apple sauce for dinner.

I thought I would let the boys watch their game in peace and I would give Mason a bath. I had the leftover glow sticks from his glow stick bath last week and I thought it would be fun to do it again.

photo from the first time. this time did not go quite so well...

And boy was I wrong. I opened the glow sticks and turned off the lights and he started crying again. I "broke" the glow sticks and made the "pretty lights" and handed them to Mason and he threw them in the tub ... and kept crying. I filled the tub with water and tried to play with the pretty lights but he wasn't having it. The tub filled, I took off his diaper, gave him the pretty lights and tried to get him in the water. Still crying. I actually put him in the tub and he reaches out for me. Still crying. I show him the pretty lights and explain we are going to take a bath and play and he starts crying even more. I tell him that it's ok, I'm right here, he doesn't have to be scared (now I think maybe he is afraid of the dark? but he doesn't cry when he goes to sleep at night...?). Still crying. Sniffling crying.

Then I feel horrible. He is not happy. I go to grab his towel to get him out of the bath and he starts crying even more. Like he thinks I abandoned him. (I'm literally RIGHT there, but just grabbing the towel from the hanging rack on the door and I'm blocked by a small wall for a second). I pick him up out of the tub, wrap him in the towel, and take him to his room.

I sit in his rocking chair and just hold him... rocking. I don't even bother putting a diaper on him. I don't even care if he pees on me. My main focus is him. And calming him down.

I'm already noticing something different besides the fact that he is calm. He HATES the hood on his hooded towel being on his head from more than us walking from the bathroom to his room. But I've just been sitting there, holding him, with the hood of the towel still on his head. He's starring right into my eyes. I'm starring into his eyes. I tell him I love him and I'm sorry. I kiss his forehead.

And I feel a tear run down my cheek.

For those of you who know me, know that I am not very emotional. I don't really cry easily. But Mason's changed me.

Right in that moment, we were at peace with each other. He starts to look at me a little funny since he can tell that I am crying. I hug him a little closer and he snuggles in more. I kiss his forehead again and tell him I love him. Another tear. I run my fingers over his cheek so gently and through his hair - all the while he is just starring in my eyes. I rock him. We snuggle. We stare in each others eyes.

It may not have been the best parenting. It may not have been how I should have handled the situation. It may not have been what Dr. I Wrote the Book on How to Parent Your Child would have told me to do, but it's what I did. I am learning. Every experience with Mason is new. The terrible two's are no joke. I know he is probably frustrated that he can't fully express what he needs to us yet.

But that look. That snuggle. That looking straight into my eyes with that loving look. 

That's all I needed.

And I knew right then that even though I am not perfect and I may not have handled the situation perfectly, I am the perfect mom for Mason.

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