[BOY MOMS] Annie from Home of Malones

Hi! I'm Annie, mother to Brody, and blogger at Home of Malones.  I started my blog to document my pregnancy with Brody and also the construction of our first home.  Brody is the star of the show, but I also love to share my passion for fashion, food and decor.   Come by and tell me hello anytime! 

I was so happy to hear from Elizabeth about her series called #boymoms.  I thought it was such a fun idea because I think a lot of times woman just think we will naturally be a better Mom to girls.  That's most definitely not true!  Boys are amazing... Here's a few reason's why: 

Boys love their Mamas

I had two older brothers growing up and they make wonderful protectors and siblings.  They love my Mother so much.  Everyone's heard the term "Mama's Boy" before.  It's not that I want to raise a "Mama's boy" per say, but I hope that my relationship with my son as he grows reflects the way he treats all women in his life...with respect and kindness.  

They are still just as much fun to dress as girls minus the headbands! 

I've had an absolute blast dressing my son and I think once you get into the thick of shopping for them, you will see how much good stuff is out there now.  I love dressing him and will cry on the day that he no longer lets me.  I'm not going to lie that the headbands would be fun on a girl, but boys can wear hats too.  Just try and train them early because I can't keep a hat on Brody to save my life :)

Watching their innate love for being outside, getting dirty, and complete fearlessness.

His love for exploring and getting into everything is really amazing to watch.  That little mind is always working.  They teach you how to be a kid again and to enjoy being outside and active.  They don't mind getting their hands dirty and trying anything once!

They love building things with their daddy's and playing with big trucks...

This is so much fun to watch.  Brody loves to build and mostly, he loves to build with his Daddy.  It's the most fun thing to watch and will make you fall in love with your hubby all over again.  I love watching the two of them play and bond together.  

We get to teach them how to be a Gentleman and how to treat the ladies...

One of our best friends have a little girl that is Brody's age and I just die watching the two of them together.  I love it so much and look forward to each stage ahead when they are together.   It's so important to teach our little boys how to be considerate, polite gentleman at a young age and I look forward to that task.   I think he's already killing it as a ladies man, what do ya'll think?? haha

  

I know there is plenty more to add to the list, but I'll leave it at that.  I love my little family and so happy to the be the Mother to a sweet little boy.  

Thanks for reading along and hopefully this post made you a little less fearful of being a Mom to little boys :)  Don't forget to come over and say hi! 

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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!

[Five on Friday] Anniversary Edition.

Happy Friday! Today is Seth and my 4th wedding anniversary and in honor of our anniversary, I thought I would share five of my favorite wedding photos (which was actually realllllllly hard to narrow down!). I seriously still remember it like it was yesterday. We had the BEST time and I would totally relive it if I had the chance.

But without further ado...

ONE.

The details.

TWO.

The first look.

THREE.

The Couple.

FOUR.

The Wedding Party.

FIVE.

The First Dance.

Ok so I lied... there's more than five :)

Happy Anniversary Seth! I love you!
It's been an amazing four years... here's to many more!

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Linking up with these lovely ladies.

Awarded.

SUNSHINE. If California isn't the poster state for sunshine, I don't know who would be. I mean, where else can you be wearing shorts and a tank top on a 90 degree day in the beginning of November? And for the record, no, I am not bragging. Bring on the scarves and sweaters! I want Fall!

But anyway...


A couple weeks ago, Mandie nominated me for a Liebster Award and Desiree nominated me for the Sunshine Award. Never heard of the awards? Let me explain. The Liebster Award is passed around the blogging community to those who have fewer than 200 followers. It's simply a way of getting to know new bloggers! You list 11 facts about yourself and answer the 11 questions asked by the person who nominated you and then you nominate a few more bloggers and give them questions to answer. Fun, right? Well the Sunshine Award is similar in the fact that you answer the questions given to you and nominate others to answer questions as well, but it is also meant to be an award to spread positivity and encouragement also.

While I have already been nominated for the Liebster Award (and posted about it here), I still wanted to answer Mandie's questions so I combined the two awards into one post.

Mandie's Questions :

1. If you could "spend the night" with any celebrity, who would it be?
I'm going to assume that "spend the night" can mean just spending time with someone so I would have to say Shonda Rhimes. Seriously, that lady is a GENIUS and is the producer of my favorite shows and I would love to pick her brain for a night.

2. You're in a zombie apocalypse, what's you weapon of choice?
A zombie killing machine? Or just really fast running shoes.

3. What is your favorite magazine? 

People. US Weekly. Real Simple. Parents.

 
4. Your next born child/pet, what would you name it?
I'm sure I am the only person in the world to say this, but we aren't really pet people. I mean, I love pets and all, but I don't think we will have one. Or at least not anytime soon.
So in terms of children's names... I guess we will just have to wait and see if we have more before I make any announcement on names. (And no that is not a hint at anything!)

5. What would you eat - cockroaches, worms or donkey balls? 

This is my.worst.nightmare. The only thing worse would be living in that house that got infested by spiders that I just heard about on the news. OH. MY. GOSH. Extermination would not be enough. I would move to a new house. And probably city. Anyway, back to the question at hand - worms. For no good reason other than it seems like the lesser of the evils.

6. Find the craziest picture of yourself & explain the madness behind it.
Unfortunately my Dad has all of our family photo albums at his house in Northern California so I don't have any crazy photos from when I was little, but I was able to find these gems in my family history project (that I still have!) that I did in high school.

Left : when I dressed up as Barbara Bush for a school project

Right : Top : my parents hung a huge paper on the wall and I would wear one of my dad's old shirts and go to town with art supplies. Bottom : eating a hot dog (my FAVORITE food when I was little. FAVORITE. I would eat it at every restaurant we would go to) in Golden Gate Park.

7. You go to get a manicure, squared or rounded nails?

Squared but with rounded corners.

8. If you were a wrestler, what would your name be?
Oh my gosh, wrestling is the furthest thing from something that I would be doing so to be honest, I have no idea.

9. Favorite chapstick. 

EOS (the green one. mint?). Carmex (in the tube). Burt's Bee's Pomegranate.

 
10. I'm coming to stay with you, what fun activities will you plan for us?
Depends on if you are bringing a kid with you or not but...
Disneyland.

 
11. East coast or west coast?
West coast!

Desiree's Questions :

1. For purely selfish reasons, what is your favorite go-to dinner dish? I've long since run out of new, easy, good recipes, and looking to add to our weekly staple rotation!
We've recently become obsessed with The Skinny Taste Cookbook and EVERYTHING in it is good. But other than that just simple things like spaghetti, a sausage stir fry (Adell's chicken apple sausage, zucchini, carrots, bell pepper, pineapple, and brown rice mixed with some teriyaki), pesto chicken sandwiches, cheddar ranch hamburgers, and anything else fast and easy!

2. When someone asks for a book recommendation, what is the one book you always suggest?
Anything by Emily Giffin.

3. Name a talent you have that others probably don't know about.
I don't know if you could call it a talent, but when I was younger, my friends and people in my classes always said that my writing looked like computer writing. I always thought that was a weird comment, but they said it was a compliment that my writing was so neat, it looked like it was printed by a computer.

4. Sunsets or sunrises?
Such a hard choice! I'd say most often I see sunsets since I am always awake during them, so I'd say sunrises because they are more special. I've seen some GORGEOUS ones as I am driving to work early in the morning the past couple weeks.

5. The best way to unwind after a long day is…
Just being with my baby. After a long day at work, all I want to do is come home, play with Mason and see Seth. And maybe have a glass of wine.

6. Any guilty pleasures?
Oreos. Trashy reality TV! And chocolate in general.

7. What is a character trait you hope people associate with you?
Sincerity.

8. Favorite words to live by?
Everything happens for a reason.

9. If you could go to dinner with any one person (alive or deceased) who would it be, and what are two questions you would be sure to ask them?
I'd have to say my mom. She passed away in 2003 when I was 18.
I'd ask her :
Are you proud of me?
Is this the life you always hoped I would have?

10. The last concert you attended that you insist others must see, too.

The last concert I attended was Rascal Flatts. Oddly enough, they were also one of the first concerts I attended also. I saw them once in college, once at Stagecoach and once at the Glen Helen Pavilion. Highly recommend!

11. Your favorite blog post - be it yours, or a post written by someone else.
[All of Life's Little Adventures] - Tawnya's posts : Confessions of an Imperfect Mom and The Time Robber. Why? Because they just rang so true and hit so close to home.

[Running from the Law] - Sara's post : Anatomy of a 3am Wake Up. Even though Mason is past this stage and we don't have a second child, I feel like I am right there with her when she writes this. The way she narrated the post was just so, so true and you can totally relate.

***

Now it's time for me to pass the sunshine along...

Becky // bybmg
Courtney // From Here to Eternity
Courtney // Sweet Turtle Soup
Crystal // Hall Around Texas
Erin // Hello Erin
Erinn / Strawberry Swing and other things
Jamie // Cocktails and Carseats
Jenny // The Chronicles of We
Katie // Yellow Mango Life
Laura // tiny toes, little nose
Laureen // Chateau Deveau
Meghan // The Adventure Starts Here
Sara // Running from the Law
Stephanie // Wife Mommy Me
Tara // A Tale of Four Maples

And my questions

1. I'm coming to stay with you, what fun activities do you have planned for us?

2. For purely selfish reasons, what is your favorite go-to dinner dish?

3. Who is(are) your blogging crush(es)?

4. What is your favorite movie theater snack?

5. How did you meet your significant other?

6. What single quality do you most appreciate in people?

7. Are you a planner? Or are you spontaneous?

8. Coffee? Or tea?
9. What is your least favorite chore to do around the house (vacuum, dishes, etc.)?
10. What is your favorite time of day (morning, afternoon, night) and why?

11. What's your favorite blog post that you have written? (link please!)

[It's the Little Things] My Little Helper.

I have this bad tendency of doing things myself. Not when it comes to Seth necessarily, but when it comes to Mason. Things I know that would take me 2 minutes to do and would surely take 10 times longer if I let Mason help, I just do myself. Why? To be honest, I don't even know. It's not like I am in a hurry to go somewhere or do something, I just do it myself.

So the other day when I was stocking the little fridge with waters, Mason walked up to me. I could tell that he wanted to help and instead of telling him 'no', I let him help. I handed him waters one by one and told him to put them in the fridge. So he did.

Definitely not the fastest way of stocking the fridge or the most efficient, but he had the BIGGEST smile on his face the WHOLE time like "hey, I did that!"

Then, a couple days later, I was making some lemonade and I thought "why don't I let Mason help?" Of course this definitely wasn't the fastest or cleanest way of making lemonade, but Mason was so excited to sit on the counter and stir (and try to drink the lemonade straight from the pitcher), how could I deny him that joy?

I definitely don't consider myself an uptight person, but sometimes I think I just need to say 'yes' more and just see what happens. Sure it might mean that I have a few extra minutes of clean up or re-arranging, but hey, if it lets Mason grow and explore and try new things, in my eyes, it's definitely worth it.

***

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

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And don't forget... today is the last day to submit your email if you are interested in participating in our Secret Santa Book Exchange!

Click here for the details!

[Fall Bucket List] Halloween 2014

We had big plans for Halloween and then... we all got sick.

Seth started off with a small cold two weeks ago. He stayed home from work one day and then seemed to get better pretty quickly. I had a sore throat but then it went away after a short time. Then Mason got a cold. And when Mason gets a cold... it's ugly. Mainly because he doesn't know how to blow his nose. I thought as he got older, it would get easier, but turns out he is just happy as a clam with snot running down his face. Sorry for the visual, but at least I spared you the picture! :)

Anyway, Mason stayed home from daycare with Seth (super dad!) on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday last week. Thursday Mason's cold had gotten a lot better though he still had a bit of a cough and a small runny nose (so hopefully pre-school had kleenex's on stand by). Of course by Thursday, I re-got whatever I had the week before along with the added sneezing and coughing.

Side note : I just realized... 

Why is the only part of fall that California is getting is cold season?

And how do you get a cold when it's 80 degree out?

Annoying.

Anyway, Mason's pre-school was having a special Halloween potluck and trick or treating at school on Thursday so I was super glad that Mason was feeling better and could go. Luckily Seth had taken out Mason's old Halloween costume from last year (Batman) and tried it on while they were home on Wednesday. It fit (!!!!) which was prefect because that's what I intended on him bringing to pre-school for trick or treating and dress up.

Wednesday night I attempted to try on Mason's real Halloween costume (Jake) and not only did Mason want none of it (cue running away screaming) but it also looked TEENY TINY. It had elastic but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't fit still. We tried to hold it up to Mason to see if it would fit and he just ran away. Maybe it was a sign that he wasn't supposed to be Jake after all.

#mommyfail

So off to Target I went on Thursday morning trying to find a costume that would fit my skinny and tall two year old. Not such an easy feat the day before Halloween.

Mommy : 0

Halloween : 2

I actually ran into my mother-in-law who was shopping for some goodies for her work and together we were able to find something that we thought would work (Captain America). 

After Target, I headed to Mason's preschool for the little Halloween party that they were having. I was SO excited and had high hopes of what fun Seth and I would have there with Mason. And then he saw us... and had an epic meltdown. 

I think he thought that it was time to go home because the only time he ever sees us at preschool is when we drop him off or pick him up. He must have been having a good time because he was not happy to see us. Seth picked him up and calmed him down but after that, he didn't want to trick or treat. They had set up a cute little trick or treat path for the kids to follow and went cubicle to cubicle around the office area. We walked along with the other kids but Mason refused to pick up any candy. The only thing that made him happy was the lady handing out Pirate's Booty.

Lady with Pirate's Booty : 1

Mommy and Daddy : 0

See the tear drop?

I think this picture pretty much sums it up.

After the trick or treating, they were hosting a potluck. We tried to stay but Mason was still upset and wouldn't let us put him down so we handed him over to his teacher and decided to leave. He did cry then also but we walked outside and peeked in the gate to the playground a couple minutes later and he was TOTALLY fine and playing on a bike.

Toddlers.

Needless to say, we probably won't be attending any more potlucks/functions for a while. Sorry Mason.

Then came actual Halloween. We had plans to go trick or treating with Mason's cousins, like we do every year (see last year here), but Mason was just starting to recover from his cold and I now had it so we decided to stay local so we could all get to bed early. So instead we went to the trunk or treat that Seth's mom's church was hosting at a nearby school.

We arrived and it was a lot bigger than I thought it would be! They had food trucks, bounce houses, Chick Fil-A, a train, face painting, pony rides, cupcake decorating, and of course trunk or treating. We walked around a bit before we got some dinner and then met up with Seth's mom. We only hit up a few trunks as Mason refused to walk and only wanted Seth to carry him. If Seth walked up to the trunk, Mason would reach for the candy and then put it in his bag though. Laziness at it's finest.

After a while, Mason was finally in a better mood, but just wanted to run up and down the grassy hill that they had. This lasted a good 15 minutes (how was he not tired???) and then it started raining so we decided to head home.... but not before we had one last failed attempt at a family selfie.

Overall, the night and days leading up to Halloween definitely didn't go as planned, but hey, that's ok. 

We got to spend the holiday as a family and we had fun and that's all that matters.

And... there's always next year :)

Side note : I apologize for the horrible, horrible quality of the pictures in this post. I did the best I could with what I had to work with :)

Oh! Before you go feeling sorry for me and my not-so-perfect Halloween... let me just end by telling you that my weekend ended on a high note...

RED CUPS ARE BACK AT STARBUCKS!!!!

And that means that Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner! Eeeekkk!

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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] Paula from Then Comes Marriage and Then Comes Babies

Hey, everyone! My name is Paula and I blog (occasionally) over at Then Comes Marriage and Then Comes Babies about life and my baby. I'm so happy that Elizabeth is letting me share my story with you all!

Like many other women, I always saw myself with having a girl. I've always loved the idea of dressing a little girl in ribbons and bows, and having tea parties. I was always hoping for a girl first, but knew the "odds" (yes, they are 50/50 each time) were against me (mostly with those Merrill genes, I wanted to "guarantee" that I get a girl). Out of all of our nieces and nephews, we only had one girl (now are going to have another niece coming in another couple of months). Growing up with a younger brother (and generally liking hanging out with his friends more than other girls), I am VERY used to what it's like to "raise" a boy. Long story short, I would be completely fine and comfortable with either, but I just wanted my girl.

For our entire pregnancy, I wondered and dreamed about what we would be having, and how our lives would look. I couldn't wait until we were in the delivery room and I found out what reality would be (I'm one of "those people" who were Team Green!). I couldn't be more happy than hearing my husband tell me that I just had our son. Boy, did I find out how exciting it is to have a boy!

There are so many wonderful things about having a son, and of course, each baby is different, but here are some of my favorite things about Jacob (spoiler alert - I love everyone of these!) :

1. It's in a boy's nature to play with cars and balls. It's funny how they just love to pick those toys up and know how to drive cars around the floor! It's just so adorable to watch him learn and play with things, and just explore. It makes me so proud watching him do all of it!

2. He will give the best hugs. I love these so, so, so much. It's so wonderful when he wakes up in the morning and I get a big hug. It's also so great coming home from work to him running up to me and giving me a big hug!

3. He won't care how clean things are. He will actually just make things dirtier. He doesn't care that my floors haven't been vacuumed in 2 months. He'll still play on them. He'll play under the table, where he's dropped lots of food that I let Daisy clean. Our floors are covered in toys. I usually try to clean up at the end of the day, but recently, I've just cleared the path through the house and left it. Someday it will get better.

4. He will be a mini version of your husband. This one also makes me really happy. {Side note: I've always hated when anyone (especially family) would always make comments that my children would be like my husband, and not in an uplifting tone. Usually it is when he's doing something silly or annoying, but it's always bothered me. I know my children (especially my sons) will more than likely be just like their father (as well as they will also be like me), good or bad. But, that's why I married Josh and wanted to have kids with him. So we could raise kids together that were like us.} I LOVE seeing Jacob play drums, laugh like his daddy, and just have a little personality that's just like my husband's. It's funny to see that even though he hasn't been around long, he's picked up (or inherited) certain traits, abilities and talents that are just like ours.

 

5. He will be the perfect addition to your family. Whether you have many children, or few children, all one gender, or mixed, all children will be the perfect addition to your family. They are who is supposed to help make your family complete. As much as you'll think that one gender or another would be perfect, you forget all about that once they get here, and you couldn't possibly imagine your family looking any other way.

Thanks for listening to our story!

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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!