Family Vacation! Part 2

Day 2 started off a little later then planned. We had hoped to get an early start again like we did the previous morning, but it's different when you are staying with family then when you are leaving your own house for vacation. We had a hard time saying good bye but we knew we would be back again in a few days so it made it easier.

We hit the road about 7:30am. Seth looked up the best way to get to Albuquerque and it looked like we found a way to cut off a few miles and was only supposed to be like 10 min longer. What we didn't know was that it was windy and through the mountains. So at the base of the mountain, we stopped for breakfast and then headed out. It was a BEAUTIFUL drive, but it probably would have been a better idea to go through Flagstaff.

Mason did GREAT again in the car (I know for the amount of times I've said that, he will probably scream his head off the next time we decide to take a road trip lol). Right around the New Mexico border, he got a little upset and we stopped at the visitor's center and walked around and fed him. Then we got back in the car and I sat in the back with him to try to entertain him. We saw a HORRIBLE accident where a big rig hit another big rig and the driver of the truck that caused the accident was trapped in the car. Awful. Just awful. But it looked like he was ok so that was good. Though traffic on that side of the freeway was backed up for miles and MILES.

We finally got to Albuquerque and to Tara and Jonathan's house. I was SO HAPPY to see them! We hadn't seen Tara and Jonathan since our wedding and had never met their son Declan.

The next few days were spent playing, catching up, eating yummy food, getting yummy coffee (wish I could get it here!!! Mmmmm) and just enjoying each other's company.

Monday - we went to the Albuquerque zoo in the afternoon

Seth in the BIG chair

Mason and Declan

Tara and Declan

Looking at the rhinos

The animals we saw and the tired babies at the end of the day

Then we went to the pool at night. Mason's FIRST time swimming and he LOVED it!! We met Tara and Jonathan's friend's Rachel, her husband, and their son, Kyle and Jane, her husband, and their daughter Harper.

Mason and I

He LOVED his floaty in the pool!

On Tuesday, we went to the park... Mason's FIRST time on the swings and again, he LOVED it!

Tara and Declan

Mason and I

Mason and daddy

On Wednesday, we went to Santa Fe but of course forgot to take pictures so we had a little photo shoot that night!

Me, Tara, and our boys

Family

All of us

We arrived on Sunday afternoon and had to leave Thursday morning. It was a short but wonderful trip that went by WAY too fast! I wish we lived closer because we miss them so much.

Thursday we drove back to Scottsdale, AZ (through Flagstaff this time!). We took a minor detour to Mesa to go to a scrapbook store that I was dying to go to (THANK YOU AMAZING HUSBAND for taking me!!!) and then we headed back to Seth's cousin's house. We hung out with Alexis, Ricky and the twins that night and then Friday we took a little road trip to Tempe Diablo Stadium in Tempe. It's where the Angels have Spring Training. Since we weren't able to see a game, we decided to just go check it out. It's a BEAUTIFUL stadium.

We can't wait to actually make it out to a game...hopefully next year! We hung out a bit more and then Saturday morning we were on the road again! What a GREAT vacation! Our first family one :)

Next weekend we are off again...this time to Palm Springs to visit with my dad and step-mom. So let's hope I didn't jinx us with a screaming kid in the car :)

Family Vacation! Part 1

Mommy.

Daddy.

Baby.

Way more luggage than necessary.

Those are the ingredients to our first vacation as a family of three! I was so excited for this day. The day that we got to take a family vacation. Sure Seth and I had been on lots of vacations together, but I wouldn't call it a family vacation, per se.

I'd been looking forward to this day for what felt like forever, but was really only a couple months. Our first family vacation, our trip to New Mexico to see my friend Tara, her husband Jonathan, and their son, Declan. Declan was born in January 2012 and Seth and I (and now Mason) had still never met him! We were originally planning our trip in September 2012 (when I was still on maternity leave - I viewed it as free time off lol) but things didn't end up working out. So March 23, 2013 ended up being the big day! We debated flying vs driving and decided we would rather drive because 1. we could stop in Arizona and see Seth's cousins and 2. it would probably be cheaper then getting plane tickets and then renting a car.

So March 23rd we were off! We wanted to leave super early around 5am or 6am so hopefully Mason would sleep in the car for a bit. We ended up leaving around 6:40am after last minute packing and loading the car. The drive was really nice and there was only a little bit of traffic.

We pulled off to go through a drive-thru to get some breakfast and coffee about an hour in but pretty much drove as far as we could before we needed to take a potty break.

Mason had been doing AMAZING up to this point but I thought he might be getting hungry by now so I sat in the back for a bit and fed him. Seth had planned out our trip to find gas stations and how far he could drive on each tank of gas and we were doing great except one thing... he got gas the day before and didn't account for the driving he did after he got gas. So... we get back on the road after our pit stop and at some point the gas light comes on. Seth doesn't tell me but later calmly says... can you look up to see where the nearest gas station is? I look on our gas buddy app and nothing shows up. There is pretty much nothing for miles. Not good. So he calculates that we could probably turn around and get back to where we came from... but we have to wait for an exit...which I see none of. So we drive and drive and come up on an exit... we've probably driven 15 miles and I'm afraid to drive back to where we came from. I tell him to just keep going... all the while I am crossing my fingers, toes, arms, legs, anything that can cross that we don't run out of gas.

We FINALLY (after what felt like F.O.R.E.V.E.R.) come up to a gas station. We didn't run out of gas!!!!!!! I could not be happier. We fill up the tank and it fills... 19.5 gallons.

19.5 gallons?

Seth told me his truck had a 18 gallon tank so now I'm really confused. I tried to look it up and I think it's 21 gallons but it must be some reserve to a reserve to reserve or something lol. No matter what, I am just SO happy we made it there. I don't care about the math.

Now I love Seth dearly but I told him if he ever did that again... you get the picture. (I'm sorry Seth, I had to tell the story... I love you! Thank you for getting us to the gas station!)

After we got gas, we stopped at Subway across the street for lunch and just hung out a little and let Mason out of his car seat.

Don't worry... we were parked. We would NEVER drive like this.

Mason is always in his car seat when we drive.

We finally arrive in Scottsdale after about 5-6 hours after we left home and we are so happy to see Seth's cousins Alexis and Ricky and their 3-year old twin boys Brody and Grahm. We haven't seen them in forever and when we do, it's usually for a holiday or family event so it was nice just to spend some time with them and hang out. We hung out at their house for a while, Mason took a real nap, we got some sandwiches, and then went to see a Spring Training baseball game. Seth has been DYING to go to one, especially the Angels (though we didn't see an Angels game) so when his cousin Alexis asked me if we wanted to go, I asked him and his eyes LIT UP and he said OF COURSE!!!! So that night we went to the Colorado vs San Diego game.

And the next day, we were off to New Mexico! Stay tuned for Part 2!

Happy Easter!

A few days late... :)

We had just gotten back from our first vacation as a family of three (more on this soon) on Saturday so Easter wasn't quite what I had planned it to be in my head...or what I had planned it on my Easter Pinterest board. Mason is probably too little to really appreciate or understand it anyway, so maybe it is better that way. Either way... we had an amazing Easter! Mason even partied so hard he fell asleep in the car on the way home. And he must have been trying to put his foot in his mouth because we found him like this when we got home... one sock on, one sock off...with his "off sock" in his hand and fast asleep.

Our day started off great! Mason woke up late (well late for him) and had a bottle, some moon pie crackers and some fruit for breakfast. Seth and I had some delicious challah french toast. And I gave my boys their Easter baskets. Seth's Easter basket was filled mainly with candy.... and I miiiiiiiiiiiight have filled it with candy I like... especially See's :) My dad usually sends us See's candy for Easter but I had to ensure that we would have enough of my favorite goodies (only available during Easter! Don't worry... I looked!)

Seth's Easter basket

Mason's Easter basket

I had actually made Mason's Easter basket a little early since he wouldn't really know the difference because I wanted to take some of the stuff on vacation with us. It actually worked out really well and Mason LOVED using the pool toy in the pool. I actually forgot to include the B. FunKeys in Mason's basket but gave them to him before our vacation. He loved playing with them in the car... or more sticking every part of them in his mouth in the car.

After breakfast, I continued the massive amounts of laundry that I needed to do before we went back to work on Monday, took some Easter-y pictures of Mason, and then went grocery shopping before we went over to my brother-in-law's parents house for Easter dinner.

At George and Judy's, Mason got spoiled... like bad spoiled. And I felt awful because of our vacation I totally dropped the ball on Easter shopping for others. I feel like I have been off my game on all holidays recently... I apologize to all involved! I am an awful auntie recently. Don't worry, your birthdays will be extra special :)

We played around a little, opened some presents, had an Easter egg hunt in the backyard, had dinner and dessert. Overall, it was a GREAT DAY.

I just had to...

He will kill me for this one day I'm sure!

Egg hunting

Opening presents with his cousin Emma

Hanging out with daddy

Our attempt at a family picture

Thank you Auntie Lynda!

HAPPY EASTER!

Hi, I'm Mason. I do what I want! [Mason // 8 Months]

You want me to take cute pictures for my 8 month birthday?!?
Sorry mom! I'm a big boy! I do what I want!

That was the theme of the night for sure! I think it was just because he was tired and/or hungry, but Mason was definitely in charge of this photo shoot! I did manage to get a few really cute pictures but the majority of them were bloopers.

Here is a look behind the scenes... even though they weren't the smiley, happy pictures I wanted, Seth had some funny quotes to go along with them!

Top left : "ooohhh what was that??"

Top right : "there's something stuck in my mouth! wait... are those my teeth??"

Bottom left : "oy vey!"

Bottom right : "whoa! whoa! what was that?? moooooommmm??"

Top left : "if I just hide behind this alligator, maybe she will forget about all these pictures..."

Top right : "RAWR!"

Bottom left : giggle fest

Bottom right : "yummy alligator ear!"

and then the good ones :)

the eight month stats :

- i don't know my exact weight, but probably around 20 lbs

- i don't know my exact height either, but probably around 28 inches

- even though i'm tall, i still wear 3-6 month pants

- i wear 9 month and 6-12 month onesies

- i still kinda fit in size 2 diapers but size 3 fit better

- mommy and daddy decided they like huggies better then pampers

- i got my first bad sickness... the flu... even though i was throwing up, i was still a happy camper

- i am getting to be ticklish under my arms and on my feet and behind my neck

- i still love bath time

- i have THREE teeth!

- and might be getting one more... i'm SUPER drool-y again and LOVE my hands in my mouth

- i don't sit very well yet - great when propped up, but i fall over when i sit alone

- i remembered how to roll both ways now and roll all around the house

- i tired avocados for the first time at the farmer's market yesterday and loved them!

- i celebrated my first st. patty's day!

- i celebrated daddy's birthday

- i tried more solids but sweet potatoes are still my favorite

- AND i got my first hair cut ever! and daddy did a great job :)

HAPPY EIGHT MONTH BIRTHDAY MASON!

WE LOVE YOU!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Part... one!

St. Patrick's Day was a two day event for Mason this year. St. Patty's was celebrated at daycare on Thursday and today with his family. It is so sweet, Luz always celebrates the holidays with the kids and since St. Patrick's Day fell on a weekend day, they celebrated on Thursday (since Mason wouldn't be there on Friday since it was Seth's Friday off and our niece Addison never goes on Fridays)

Left : Mason and Addison

Right : Mason

There was a festive sign and green all over! Mason was dressed super cute in his green outfit and green socks when... five minutes into being at daycare, he poops all over and has to be changed. Poor kid! I got these amazingly cute pictures from Luz but poor Mason had to wear a red and grey long sleeve outfit he had there... with no green (though he does still have his green socks on if you look super hard on the picture to the right). To top it off, it was super hot that day too and the poor boy only had a long sleeve, 6 month outfit. Needless to say, I put a 9 month, sleeve outfit in his bag to leave at daycare now that the weather is so warm. Even though he had no green and was probably warm, he still had a great day!

Now for... part two!

We had planned on having a "green day" with Auntie Erin, Uncle Shawn, and Emma and Addison because heading over to Grandma Judy's house for dinner. The day started off with Mason eating some sweet potatoes out of his green bowl with a green spoon. Then we got dressed in our green outfits and Mason had a little photo shoot.

When the photo shoot was over, we headed over to Starbucks. We picked Starbucks over another coffee place because of the green label... cheesy I know, but it went along with my theme!

Left : yummy iced hazelnut macchiato for mommy

Right : iced coffee for daddy

Then we headed over to the OC Great Park where they have a farmer's market every Sunday from 10am-2pm to meet Auntie Erin, Uncle Shawn, Emma and Addison. They were running a little late so we had another mini photo session in the car.

Top left : view from peaking over the front seat onto Mason's carseat

Top right : taking a little nap

Bottom left : mommy and daddy

Bottom right : family! with Mason with a serious face

Auntie Erin, Uncle Shawn, Emma and Addison finally arrived and we headed in to the farmer's market!

Mason tried avocado for the first time and LOVED it!

Top left : Addie helped feed Mason. Top right : daddy and Mason

Bottom left : photo bombed by Emma. Bottom right : mommy and Mason

The goods

We had an amazing time walking around, tasting things, and having lunch at the food trucks! Then it was time to head home for Mason to take a nap and then it was over to Grandma Judy's house for dinner! We had some yummy corn beef and cabbage and potatoes and salad and fruit and then some lucky charms cupcakes for dessert!

Top : rainbow fruit salad

(I'm going to eat marshmallows with ALL of my fruit now! YUM)

Bottom left : cousin love with Emma and Mason

Bottom right : lucky charms cupcake!

What a GREAT day! Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!

Happy Birthday Seth!

Seth's birthday was yesterday, March 10th but we celebrated all weekend :) It was about time for a little daddy spoiling afterall! The weekend started off with our dinner celebration on Saturday night with our friends at Slaters 50/50. Now if you've never been to one or heard of it... GO! It's amazing. Not healthy. But amazing. Check out their website : https://slaters5050.com/

yum
yum
yum!

Top left : Seth and I at dinner

Top right : free birthday brownie topped with bacon!

Bottom : Emma helping babysit Mason

Sunday we celebrated his actual birthday with family at the Pancake House. Again, not the healthiest but AMAZING nonetheless. Hey it's his birthday, we can eat bad, right? I got a bacon waffle (because apparently I didn't get enough bacon the night before??) and Seth got a cornbeef and hash omelet. Both AMAZING. Seth's grandma, mom, and dad and his sister, brother-in-law and our nieces were there. And since we've been using Mason's big boy car seat now, we don't have anything to carry him into restaurants in anymore so Mason... got to sit in a big boy high chair for the first time!!!

He did GREAT! He just sat there as we ate, happy as a clam, chewing on his teething ring or his hand. We were so proud! After breakfast, we hit up the Starbucks drive thru that was nearby and then headed over to Costco. (Fun birthday outing I know, but hey, it had to be done. Birthday's aren't quite as fun as an adult... though Costco free samples are pretty great!) Mason sat in his first shopping cart and he did great also but kept falling over because we couldn't figure out how to strap him in with the buckles. No matter where we put him (it's on of those two seaters), the seat belt was too short... and he's pretty skinny! After Costco, we came home and I FINALLY got to see what everyone was telling me about. ROLLY POLLY Mason!

Stomach to back...

...and back to his back!

Luz sent me a video from daycare on Thursday (or Friday?) where Mason was rolling ALL OVER the place. I have yet to see it in person but Seth told me about it from last week also. Man, now that this kid has realized that he remembers how to roll from his stomach back to his back, he is ALL OVER THE PLACE. I turn my head for .00000001 seconds and he's in a completely different spot then I left him. It's crazy and amazing all at the same time.

While Seth watched Mason and made sure he didn't roll away, I made my birthday surprise for Seth. Boston Creme Pie Cupcakes!!! Seth LOVES Boston Creme Pie and I found this recipe that seemed easy (and was easy!) on Pinterest that I thought I would give a try. I will leave you with a picture of the amazing cupcakes...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SETH!!!! Mason and I love you so much!! xoxoxoxoxo

Mason's FIRST haircut!

I knew his hair was getting long and hung over his ears but I was in denial that he actually needed a haircut. I don't really know why. Maybe because he is only 7 months old and I didn't think that a 7 month old should need a haircut? Maybe because it means that my baby is getting older if he needs to get his hair cut? I don't know.

He was born with so much hair so realistically, I don't know how we waited this long. I must admit it was getting pretty bad. It would stick out over his ears and looked slightly mullet-ish in the back and was so long it hit the top of his shirts.
Yikes.

So amateur barber daddy went to work...

Top : getting his hair cut

Bottom left : all the hair that was cut!

Bottom right : Mason and his barber

Left : before

Right : after

it's hard to see but please note the wisps sticking out on his before

picture on the right side. bad bed head!

Left : before (hair reached his shirt!)

Right : after

Barber Daddy did a great job! And so did Mason! He didn't cry even once and barely squirmed around :)

Now I wonder how long until his next hair cut... if he's anything like his daddy it will only be a few weeks! And now that mommy knows how handsome he looks with a hair cut, she probably won't wait so long for the second one!