18 Months

18 months!! I know every parent says it, but where has the time gone?!

Mason has officially turned into a toddler!

He makes messes like there is no tomorrow. I am pretty convinced that he just likes the look of his stuff everywhere because when I clean up his blocks, ball pit, books, etc. he will walk right over and dump them out again! He also loves to make messes at Grandma's house...like dumping the entire box of Froot Loops all over the carpet. Nice.

He can open any and every door which means we have to lock every door in the house.

He can turn on the shower and get into the shower...which is always a lovely surprise...

He can climb into or on just about anything. (Including daddy)

He has mastered climbing onto our counter height chairs and dining room table.

He will push his time out stool to wherever he wants so he can reach anything on the counters.

He loves playing in the dryer!

He is a TERRIBLE sleeper.

When I put him to bed (no matter what time) he will always wake up within two hours. Then we start all over getting him to fall back asleep. I don't mind rocking him to sleep every night, in fact I love every second of it, I just don't like doing it multiple times a night...all night long. He usually always ends up in our bed at some point during the night because I give up. (Bad mommy moment) But this mommy needs some sort of sleep!

 We have discovered that he sleeps really well in his beanbag. I even got to sleep for FOUR HOURS STRAIGHT one night...and that never happens!

We LOVE Mason's personality! He is truly the funniest kid I know and he knows it!

He will mimic any face that daddy makes and has his own hilarious facial expressions!
He giggles and says "funny" after he does something he thinks is hilarious.

He is ALL BOY!

He laughs when he farts.

He laughs when he burps.

He pretends to burp and then laughs about it.

Daddy showed him how to do an "armpit fart" and he thinks he is so funny when he attempts to do it.

He picks his nose.

He loves to play with his sword.

He knows how to shoot a gun and the sound effects that go with it.

He loves to give high fives and "knuckles"

He always points out his manhood to me when changing his diaper.

He is also the biggest sweetheart!

He gives me a big kiss every morning just because he wants to.

While playing he will run over, give me a love and then go back to playing.

He blows me kisses if I walk upstairs and leave him downstairs.

When you tell him to say, "I love you" he blows you a kiss.

He is the biggest snuggler! Every single morning I have to just sit and hold him for a good thirty minutes before he is ready to do anything else. When he is tired he brings me his blanket, climbs on my lap and just snuggles until he is asleep!

He knows where his baby brother is and it is so sweet. He will lift up my shirt and have a conversation with my belly.

 Mason is just a tad obsessed with his Uncles. I am grateful that my big brothers are so amazing and love my sweet boy so much! The second word Mason ever said was "Bob!" and he still yells Bob's name ALL THE TIME! If I tell him we are going to Grandma's house he knows we are going to see Brad and Bob and yells Bob's name the whole way there. He will then continue to yell for Bob until he comes upstairs to see him. I love it! If you tell him to go get Brad he will run right down the hall to his bedroom and go hang out with him. So cute!!

Mason and his cousins are best friends. He and Payton are like brothers and I love watching the two of them play together! Payton "protects" him and is so responsible with him...you wouldn't think a seven year old could be that responsible and patient with a toddler, but he is amazing!

 The last few months have been a battle for us when it comes to eating. Mason has been teething his molars and it has been brutal! There have been some days where I am grateful if all he eats is one chicken nugget or a whole string cheese. Luckily, the last few days have been much better! There has been a lot less fussing and chewing on fingers and a whole lot more eating. Thankfully he believes me when I tell him his teething tablets are candy. Tylenol...not so much.

He is pro when eating with a fork, a spoon is a bit more difficult, but we are getting there. Sucking yogurt through a straw has seemed way cooler than eating it with a spoon. Whatever works!

Smearing the yogurt in his hair has also been fun...

Mason is in love with his daddy! We have a giant picture of daddy on the wall and he loves to point at it every morning and say, "That dad." He will call daddy at work multiple times a day and just walk around the house having a conversation with him. When daddy comes home Mason jumps up and down and opens the garage door for him...sometimes daddy even gets a round of applause while walking through the door!

Mason loves his dog stuffed animals and sleeps with all three of them every night. He calls them his "woof-woofs" and he drags them around the house all day.

He loves dogs in general. The boy has no fear and will walk up and pet any dog he sees. His favorite dogs are at Great Grandma & Grandpa Bowles' house. They have two tiny poodles and Mason loves chasing them around and giving them kisses.

Random Facts:

He loves ranch dressing and sour cream

He likes to use the nose sucker on himself

He loves having his ears cleaned

He likes when I clip his fingernails and toenails

He will only let mommy hold him in the middle of the night

All of his clothes are size 2T

He knows where his head, hair, ears, eyes, nose, tongue, teeth, armpits, hands, belly, belly button, toes (or piggies) and bum are.

He can mimic any animal noise, but if you ask him what a certain animal says he will usually respond with "woof" or "moo."

He can shoot a basketball with proper technique and make it in the hoop.

He no longer uses a bottle or a binky

He LOVES to dance! He asks me multiple times a day to turn on his music. He also loves when other people dance with him!

The poor boy hates being messy. Hands and face always need to be clean or he has a meltdown!

Mason loves the shower! Sometimes he showers three times in the same day simply because he wants to. He will even sit and play after the water runs cold and throws a fit if I try to take him out. 

He is learning new words and trying to say them constantly!

Upstairs

Downstairs

Down

Button (butt)

Grandma (Dama)

Dad

Bob

Hi

Ball

Shoes

Eyes

Wow!

Uh-Uh

Mom (on the rare occasion he doesn't call me Bob)

Toes

That

That one

This

Yeah

What's this?

And I'm sure there are more I am forgetting.

He also makes sound effects when shooting a gun or playing with a can of hairspray.

One of my favorite things Mason does is fold his arms for every prayer. Before we eat breakfast or dinner he will put his fork or drink down, fold his arms and yell at me until I acknowledge that it is time to say a prayer. He keeps his arms folded throughout the entire prayer and when it is over he claps his hands.

He also knows Jesus. Anywhere we go he can find a picture of Christ without being asked and he will yell, "Jesus!"

His facial expressions kill me! My absolute favorite is when he raises just one eyebrow!

Mason doesn't like going down the stairs on his tummy. Instead he thinks he is coordinated enough to walk down them! I have given up so we just help him walk down the stairs...if you can't beat him, join him!

Eyes, tongue, ears.

I love my Little Bubba and I am so thankful that I get to be his mommy! He brings me so much joy (and entertainment); he is my happy!!

Christmas 2013

Christmas was amazing this year! Mason is at such a fun age and loved everything about Christmas! I'll let the pictures tell the story...

Saturday before Christmas we exchanged gifts with Brad's siblings. Uncle Kirt gave Mason an airplane that actually flies around...he is just a little obsessed with it!

That night we went to the Bowles family Christmas party. Mason had so much fun playing with the balloons and his Great-Grandma even joined in the fun! This picture is priceless to me.

Christmas Eve we went and ate dinner (the yummiest homemade Chinese food) at my parent's house. When we got home we opened our Christmas jammies and watched The Santa Clause before putting Mason down for the night.

Santa came!!

Christmas morning we had to wake up Mason so we'd have time for everything we had planned. We brought him downstairs and he ran right for his presents!

We let him play with all of his new stuff for a little bit and then it was time to open presents.

 He LOVED his dalmatian!

Men and their power tools...

 My new camera (and all of the accessories) were a huge part of my Christmas this year but Brad still got me a few other things. New pillows that I have wanted for so long and the Fast & Furious 6 movie.

I got Brad a new t-shirt, a gift card to Village Baker and a Tablet. He was NOT expecting the last one!

After opening presents we let Mason play again and he did what any 17 month old would do, turn his ball pit upside down!

Then we headed over to Brad's parent's house to open presents and talk to Uncle Jantzen!

 After that we headed over to my parent's house to eat homemade cinnamon rolls, open gifts and talk with Uncle Brian!

Grandma Santa brought Mason an inflatable sword...he knew just what to do with it!

Grandma gave him new chairs for his little table and he thinks they are so cool!!

Later that night we headed over to Grandma & Grandpa Bowles' house and Mason enjoyed the veggie dip...

He doesn't so much like big crowds of people so he snuck off with his Great-Grandpa Bowles to have a snuggle and some peace and quiet.

Brad's cute Grandma reads Annie & Willie's Prayer aloud to everyone every Christmas. So sweet because HER mother used to read it to her!

Mason was spoiled this Christmas!

Ball pit, new outfit, slinky, giant coloring pad, giant Crayons, Planes & Despicable Me 2, a giant box of Nerds, 3 new cardboard puzzles, stuffed dalmatian, giant magnetic letters, 2 different tool sets complete with a working drill, 2 new adorable wood puzzles from Grandma & Grandpa Bowles, flying airplane from Uncle Kirt, rainbow caterpillar and book from a cousin, chapstick, Grandma Jepson gave him a new outfit, two chairs for his table, a personalized chair cover, story books, sword and tons of candy in his stocking, Payton gave him a wild animals toy set, Aunt Lisa gave him a zipper pull and LOTS of stuffed puppets, Brooklynn gave him a stuffed frog, Uncle Braddy gave him a little "woof woof" and Uncle Bob gave him a giant poster of daddy that says, "My Hero" on it. It was a picture I took of Brad awhile back when we went to the mall an now Mason is obsessed with it! He LOVES that he has his own giant picture of daddy!

I love Christmas!

11 Weeks

Saturday morning I woke up and got ready for the day as usual. Shortly after I got out of the shower I noticed that I had started spotting and my heart sunk. I know that a lot of women spot throughout their pregnancies, but I never did with Mason so I was extremely worried.

I talked with Brad about it and we decided that because it wasn't bright red and I didn't have any cramping that I shouldn't read too much into it.

We headed out for the day and finished our Christmas shopping. Our last stop was Target and I decided to try on a maternity skirt and I noticed that I had started spotting again...quite a bit more than I had been all day. I had a breakdown in the dressing room and had to pull myself together before I walked out. I didn't want the Target employees thinking I was THAT upset that the skirt didn't fit. I looked at Brad, quietly told him that I was spotting again and that we just needed to go. I made it to the car and then I lost it. I was so scared and worried for our sweet baby and felt so powerless...I had no control over what was happening.

That night I didn't sleep.

Sunday morning I woke up and not only was I still spotting, I started having cramps. I bawled again not knowing what I should do. I called my mom and gave her the update. She asked if she could have my aunt call me and talk with me because she has been through this (and worse) many times. Of course I agreed and I couldn't wait to get her phone call.

After I hung up with my mom I decided to just call labor and delivery at the hospital. I knew my doctor's office was closed for the weekend and I knew that there would be a doctor in labor and delivery that maybe I could talk to. Well, the Spirit prompted me to call labor and delivery for a reason, MY doctor was the on call doctor that day. I was able to talk with him and he calmed my nerves quite a bit. He told me that I shouldn't worry either way because at this point in the pregnancy there is no way to prevent a miscarriage and there is nothing to cause one. He told me to take it easy for the remainder of the day (which meant no going to church and chasing after Mason for three hours) and that even if the bleeding stopped he wanted me to come into his office the next day.

Right after I hung up with him my aunt called and talking with her made me feel even better. I am so grateful for my amazing family.

Monday morning I called my doctor's office and they scheduled me for an ultrasound just to make sure everything was OK. 11:00 rolled around and Brad met Mason and me at the hospital. Only a few minutes later they called me back.

I was SO nervous and was hoping for the best but deep down I had prepared myself for the worst.

The ultrasound tech squirted the warm jelly onto my belly and the ultrasound began...

She paused for only a moment and said, "There is the heartbeat!" I breathed a HUGE sigh of relief and almost cried! Watching our baby kick their little arms and legs around was pure joy.

She checked all the baby's measurements, heartbeat (137 bpm), etc. and then checked my insides. Everything looked good. She said that her best guess as to why I was spotting is because my placenta is sitting really low and that if I overdo it even a little bit then it can cause a little bit of spotting.

She told me to continue to take it easy for the next week or so (I'm not even allowed to vacuum) and I should be alright.

Walking out of the hospital I could not wipe the smile off my face! I felt so much better knowing that our baby is doing great and growing just as they should!