I can't believe our sweet little boy was born almost 3 weeks ago!! It seems like we just brought him home from the hospital yesterday. People are always saying "it goes by so fast" and "cherish every moment- it flies by" and all those other sayings... but I didn't realize exactly how true those statements really are :) Things are going WONDERFUL with our little man :) He is the sweetest little boy! He is such an angel baby. We are so lucky! He is a little mighty man too! He is freakishly strong for his age :) He is still beautiful as ever - which you can OBVIOUSLY see from the photos :) 
My mom is still here with us - THANK GOODNESS :) She has only been away from Mason for 36 hours since he has been on this earth! I think she will suffer serious with drawls in the future :) She has been so helpful, especially since Nate has gone back to work. I would not have wanted to do it without her!! I don't think that Nate will ever want her to leave... she cooks, cleans, irons, and provides endless entertainment :) I am so lucky that my mom is able to come and stay for such an extended period of time. Aside from all of her physical assistance, emotionally its been great having her here as well. Becoming a mother really gave me a new appreciation for my own mother. I will be very sad when the day comes that she goes home for good. I have a feeling we will never go more than a few days without seeing her though... Grammie is over the top, totally and completely, without a doubt, in love with her grand baby Mason! That goes for my dad as well :) He was here for the first few days home from the hospital and then every weekend day since! He just loves on Mason from the minute he walks in the door on Friday night until the moment he has to leave on Sunday afternoon. My dad has always been a big fan of babies, but seeing him with his own grandson took it to a whole new level :) They will just sit there for hours "talking" :) My dad explaining the world to Mason and having their first in depth conversations...that for now are pretty one sided :) This past weekend Mason had his first story time with his Grampy and he LOVED it! Mason also had bath time TWICE with his Grammie & Grampy!! Mason LOVES taking a bath- never one tear- so I know it was special time for the 3 of them together :) Now we just need to get Mason in his little mini life jacket out on the boat :) 
My mom is still here with us - THANK GOODNESS :) She has only been away from Mason for 36 hours since he has been on this earth! I think she will suffer serious with drawls in the future :) She has been so helpful, especially since Nate has gone back to work. I would not have wanted to do it without her!! I don't think that Nate will ever want her to leave... she cooks, cleans, irons, and provides endless entertainment :) I am so lucky that my mom is able to come and stay for such an extended period of time. Aside from all of her physical assistance, emotionally its been great having her here as well. Becoming a mother really gave me a new appreciation for my own mother. I will be very sad when the day comes that she goes home for good. I have a feeling we will never go more than a few days without seeing her though... Grammie is over the top, totally and completely, without a doubt, in love with her grand baby Mason! That goes for my dad as well :) He was here for the first few days home from the hospital and then every weekend day since! He just loves on Mason from the minute he walks in the door on Friday night until the moment he has to leave on Sunday afternoon. My dad has always been a big fan of babies, but seeing him with his own grandson took it to a whole new level :) They will just sit there for hours "talking" :) My dad explaining the world to Mason and having their first in depth conversations...that for now are pretty one sided :) This past weekend Mason had his first story time with his Grampy and he LOVED it! Mason also had bath time TWICE with his Grammie & Grampy!! Mason LOVES taking a bath- never one tear- so I know it was special time for the 3 of them together :) Now we just need to get Mason in his little mini life jacket out on the boat :) 
Mason is lucky to have both sets of Grandparents close by. Tom & Sally have been able to come over every couple nights to love on their grandson :) Unfortunately, Sally has not been as mobile as she would have liked these first few weeks home with Mason due to her broken foot. She has been on crutches and therefore can only sit and hold him on the couch when she comes over. BUT... she went back to the doctor on Friday and is now OFF THE CRUTCHES and has a walking boot :) We are so excited for her that her foot is healing and that she will be able to get around easier now!! We have developed a tradition of Sunday night dinners at Tom & Sally's and we really look forward to Mason being a part of that family time. It will be something he can look forward to when he gets older... always knowing that Sunday means going over to GiGi & Papa Tom's House :) Tom & Sally gave us a wonderful gift after coming home from the hospital- a digital picture frame :) Tom helped us transfer our hundreds of pictures of Mason to a new card & we just sit and watch the frame play all the adorable pictures of our baby!! It was such a great gift :)
Besides our parents- we have had some other great visitors that have given Mason lots of LOVE! My girlfriends Amanda, Ann, Amy, Stephanie & Maria have all come to visit :) Aunt Kaki & PePaw gave him LOTS of love! I knew Aunt Kaki would love him to pieces, she is so kind and gentle Mason loved being in her arms. PePaw was SUPER cute with little Mason. I had no idea he was such a baby lover :) It was SOO cute to see our tiny little baby in PePaw's big arms - and the smile on PePaw's face the entire time was priceless! Uncle Aaron and his girlfriend Carrie have been to visit twice and Uncle Arron just LOVES the little man! Aaron is actually really great with babies :)
We can't wait for Aunt Melanie, Uncle Eric, Cousin Will & Cousin Jack to meet Mason in July (if not sooner) It totally sucks having them so far away in Texas!! We miss them SOOOOOOOOOOO much & cherish every moment that we get to spend with them! We are super excited to see them in July & its crazy to think Mason will be over 2 months old then!! He's going to be so stinkin grown up! haha :)
This parenting stuff is NO joke!! It is stressful trying to figure out the best thing to do for your baby at the best time. When to feed, how often to feed, how much is he getting? he is getting enough? he is getting too much? cry it out? pick him up? is it gas? is it reflux? is he wet? is he cold? What does that cry mean? overstimulated? overtired? tummy time? burping? AGHHHHHHH!! If I had one wish it would be there there was NO literature about babies! (not really!) But, seriously, there is SO much out there written on all of these topics and each source seems to say something different than the next. It causes major confusion & doubt! I have tried very hard to just go with my gut and natural instinct because I am his mother. IT IS SO HARD THOUGH!! I want to do the best thing for my son always... it's just hard sometimes knowing what that is! (and yes- I know that I will feel like that the rest of my life) 
Nate is a great Daddy! I know it has been hard for him to have to go back to work and be away from Mason. We have tried to make it easier. We have gone to visit and had lunch together. We send him lots of pictures throughout the day and it's always "guy time" as soon as he gets home from work! Nate is such a sweet and gentle man and has really taken his new role as Daddy so naturally. He is a PRO :) I am lucky to have a husband that is so willing to help me and so hands on with his son :) 
Enough for now... the shower is calling my name! Lots & Lots of Love to All :) 
