A pictures worth a thousand words...

So I FINALLY uploaded the pictures I'd been taking on my blackberry :) Some of my absolute favorite pictures of Mason have been captured on my cell phone! They are not the best quality... but TOTALLY worth sharing :)

This picture was taken by my parents... they swear it was a yawn & not a scream... but I LOVE to picture him saying something demanding... "I WANT MY MILK" ha ha :)

There are so many times that this swing has been a LIFESAVER :) Thanks Grammie!

There is NO better feeling than your baby asleep on your chest. PERIOD.

I told Mason to give me his BEST Elvis ... this is what I got :)

I love this picture b/c of the reflection in the mirror :) Neat :)

This is how I found Mason in his crib one afternoon when I went to wake him from a Nap... quite the trickster he is... freed himself from his swaddle :) HAPPY BOY!

These are the photos Mason will HATE me for posting later in life but for now I think they are TOO stinking cute :) I like to give Mason some time each day to "air it out" & so we started "Naked Tummy Time" each morning :) HE LOVES IT!! Who wouldn't :)

He is the HAPPIEST baby :)

Greatest invention ever... Baby Bjorn :) THANK YOU SO MUCH SCHMACKERS :) We LOVE it :)

He's a cool baby, what can I say? Deuces :)

He was so happy and content just hanging out on Mom & Dad's bed... the flash took him by surprise a little, but still a SUPER cute picture of my little man :) Mason is SO strong... he's a CHAMP at Tummy Time. And YES the second shot does really show his cul-de-sac hair issues we are currently having. It's okay... there is NO shame in his game. He knows he's still cute... even with his little mini mullet :)

Our next adventure to tackle... the BUMBO chair :)

Mason's 2 month well visit with Dr.Pitts :)

Mason went on Wednesday for his 2 month well visit with Dr.Pitts! Let me say again how much we LOVE Dr.Pitts! I love that he remembers Mason and all the things from his previous visits. He is so personable and really makes us feel so comfortable. I am SOOOO grateful that he ended up being our Dr. I wouldn't want to go to anyone else. It's great to know that he has been taking care of babies for 30 years!

Unfortunately, while we were at the office a CRAZY storm knocked out the power! This is the second time in two different locations that the power has been knocked out while we are at Mason's doctor appointments! I think we are bad luck for Gwinnett Pediatrics! We were in a room with 2 big windows so thankfully Dr.Pitts could still see to do the exam - but NO computers which did throw everyone in the practice off a bit!

Mason is growing like a weed :) He weighed in at 11 pounds 14 ounces and was 23 1/2 inches long :) Everything checked out PERFECT :) He's a healthy little dude in every way possible! We actually STOPPED the zantac we were giving him for what we THOUGHT was reflux. As it turns out... we don't think he ever really had reflux- we're pretty sure all his spit up problems were related back to me & a milk oversupply & overactive let down issue. We had to change things up a bit in the feeding & pumping department but I'm pretty sure we've got things going in the right direction now & Mason seems to be much happier NOT taking that yucky medicine :)

Dr.Pitts was SUPER impressed with all of his developmental milestones as well :) Mason holds his head up AMAZINGLY well for his age - I guess all that tummy time does pay off :) Mason surprised Dr.Pitts when he reached up and grabbed onto the instrument he was using to check Mason's eyes & ears. Dr.Pitts said "He's not supposed to know how to do that yet... you guys are going to be in trouble :)" Nate told Dr.Pitts we'd have Mason walking by the time we're back for his 4 month visit :) haha :)

Sadly, we did have to get his shots :( It is super sad! He got one oral vaccination that he LOVED - he actually cried when the nurse STOPPED giving it to him! Then came the shots- one in each leg! Poor little dude took it like a champ, but it broke my heart! He was literally asleep within 90 seconds of the shots so it couldn't have been that bad I guess! He had a few crying spells over the next 8 hours... but overall he did AWESOME! We gave him some baby Tylenol which probably helped ease the discomfort a bit.

Overall a great visit with Dr.Pitts! We look forward to going back again in 2 months!

Mason is 7 weeks old & has been on so many adventures :)

Well it's been a month since I updated the blog & soooo much has happened :)

Mason is now 7 weeks old.

Yesterday at the cardiologist he weighed in at 10 pounds 10 ounces & was 23 inches!
He is still the most adorable, precious, angel baby anyone could imagine :)

Lots of adventures to write about...

1. Mason's first road trip to Clarksville
2. Mason's first kid party- Madison's Rollerskating Party for her 8th birthday
3. Mason's 1 month well visit with Dr.Pitts
4. Mason's first adult party- Cinco de Mason (delayed Cinco de Mayo party)
5. Mason's first trip to the lake & boating adventure
6. Mason & Nate's first Father's Day
7. Mason's visit to the cardiologist

Mason's first road trip to Clarksville - June 6-7 2009

Mason's first kid party- Madison's Rollerskating party for her 8th birthday

Mason went on his first road trip to visit Auntie Aubre, Uncle Mike & his cousin Madison. Nate was not able to make the trip with us due to his work schedule and it was SUPER hard for Mason & I both to be away from him!! It was very important to me to make the trip for two reasons- 1) Aubre got engaged in December & we STILL had not gone to look at wedding dresses!!! (I am a horrible sister & matron of honor) She is getting married in November so we really needed to get on it. 2) It was my sweet little niece Madison's 8th birthday & she was having a skating party! Didn't want to miss that for the world! So... Nate was off work on Friday so he drove Mason & I up to Rome so we could leave Saturday morning bright and early with my parents. There were ALOT of tears shed when Nate left Friday night. I was sooo sad that we were going to be apart for the first time since Mason was born. We-me,mason, mom & dad- left Saturday morning & met Aubre in Nashville to go dress shopping. We had to stop a few times to feed Mason but he is an AWESOME traveler :) He was so happy and content the whole time- slept most of the way :) The dress hunt was a HUGE success and Aubre found the most amazing dress. She looks drop dead gorgeous!! I wish I could post pictures of her in the dress- but obviously she'd kill me :) Mason again was WONDERFUL during the dress shopping adventure. Dad just took the opportunity to hang out and love on him while we did the dirty work of finding the perfect dress :) After dress shopping we went back to Clarksville to get Madison. She was of course overjoyed to see her BooBoo :) We had some dinner and then went to visit Mike at the fire station. Mason got his first tour of the fire station & all the trucks- he won't remember this one- but I'm sure Uncle Mike will have to do it again many times in the future when Mason is a little older. We are so blessed to have a friend like Maria because even though she was out of town she let us take over her house for the night so we would have plenty of room for all of us to stay together :) We wish Maria could have been there- but we are SOOOOOOO thankful she let us shack up at her place :) I was so impressed with Mason (and myself) for surviving our first day on the road and our first night away from home!! The next morning we all went to IHOP for breakfast to start the celebration of Madison's 8th birthday :) The real celebration took place at "Sparkles" later that day. Madison had her birthday party at the skating rink- and she is one popular little girl. Everyone loves Madison and she had just as many adults at her party that love her as she did kid friends! Mike and Aubre put together a great party for Madison- including another original cake design by Mr.Mike Rios :) Duff better watch his back- Ace of Cakes ain't got nothin on my brother in law :) Madison got LOTS of wonderful presents including an "adult camera" from my parents (which is nicer than mine btw) and Jonas Brothers concert tickets from Mike & Aubre- that put her on cloud 9 :) Mason had a great time at the party- all the kids & adults oooo'ed and awwwww'ed over how cute & awesome he was! He was of course awesome and didn't fuss one bit! We had a great time but Mason & I both were excited to get back to Rome Sunday night where Nate was waiting for us:) The trip was great and I now feel confident traveling with Mason & am excited for our trip to the beach in just a few weeks!

Mason's 1 month well visit with Dr.Pitts - June 12th 2009

Let me start off by saying that we LOVE LOVE LOVE Dr.Pitts :) He has been in practice for 30 years - talk about some experience!! He is SOO sweet with Mason and does a GREAT job of making Nate & I feel comfortable. He calls babies "little people" which i LOVE and he refers to Mason (and all his patients i'm sure) as a VIP - very important peanut :) haha :) Mason saw Dr.Pitts for his 1 week weight check visit & then again at his 1 month well visit. At this visit Mason had to get his second HepB shot- which was harder for me than it was for Mason - he barely cried- such a GREAT baby! Everything went well in the check up - Mason is growing like a weed- Dr.Pitts said it must be high octane stuff I'm feeding him:) haha :) Everything checked out perfectly, EXCEPT.... Dr.Pitts hear a murmur when he listened to Mason's heart. He said it was probably nothing to worry about but he wanted us to go to the Pediatric Cardiologist to have an EKG & an ECHO done just to make sure it was an "innocent murmur" (More on that later on in the post) Mason's next well visit will be for his 2 months & that visit is where he gets a bunch of vaccinations- which I am SUPER nervous about!

Mason's first adult party- Cinco de Mason- June 13, 2009

As most of you know, my parents host an annual Cinco de Mayo fiesta at their home in Rome. HOWEVER... this year's party had to be postponed due to Mason's arrival on May 6th :) So.. this year's party was called cinco de MASON instead of cinco de Mayo :) Too Cute!! This party also happened to fall on my 27th birthday. My birthday has always been my absolute favorite day of the entire year! I looked forward to it all year, counted down the days, made sure everyone knew it was my special day, etc. THAT ALL WENT OUT THE WINDOW WITH MY PRECIOUS LITTLE BOY :) I could have cared less that it was my birthday this year. It didn't even really seem like my birthday- which was fine with me :) All my priorities have shifted for my little man & I couldn't be happier about it! I did however get some great birthday gifts from my family :) Thanks to Mom & Dad for the monetary gift, Aubre, Mike & Madison for the cute shirts, Melanie, Eric, Will & Jack for the gift card and Tom & Sally for the gift card. I appreciate them all so much. The gift that touched my heart the most, however, came from Madison. Madison bought me a beautiful necklace and earring set with her very own money. She begged Aubre & Mike to take her to Target so that she could buy me her OWN gift with HER money. She wanted to use her own birthday money to buy me a birthday gift. She even paid for her own card and her own bag and tissue paper to wrap the gift. It was so sweet and touching to me how generous and caring she is. She is truly an amazing little girl that we are lucky to have joining our family. Agh- brings a tear to my eye even now :) The party was another big success this year, as it always is :) Mom makes up TONS of delicious Mexican food and decorates the house Fiesta Style and of COURSE the Margaritas are flowing :) Everyone hangs out and plays darts and has ping pong tournaments. This year we busted out the Corn Hole game which was a huge success. We all just sit around a eat, drink and enjoy each other's company. It's such a fun party that I recommend EVERYONE making a point to attend next year! This year was extra special because I got to show Mason off to everyone! He of course was the guest of honor & everyone just loved on him :) I can't wait til next year when we will be celebrating his 1st birthday at the Cinco de Mason party :)

Mason's first trip to the lake & boating adventure - June 14th & 15th

Sunday after the Cinco de Mason party we all packed up and headed to the lake :) That included... Aubre, Mike & Madison, Michael Owen & Jun'Nette, Me, Nate & Mason, and of course Mom & Dad! With such a big crowd we set up a little picnic area by the dock and took turns going out on the boat. Mason did NOT make the cut on this trip out the lake! He stayed on dry land the entire time but he LOVES being outside. Boy did not shed one single tear the entire day we were out there!! He's going to love the lake I can already tell :) We had a great time on Sunday & we were of course sad to see the gang head back to Clarksville! Nate and I stayed Sunday night in Rome and Dad was nice enough to take off on Monday so we could go back out the Lake. We were able to take Mason on the boat - Dad even got him his own miniature life jacket :) He sported his "lake hat" and looked SUPER cute! He didn't even fuss when he had the life jacket on- it was precious! He loved the boat and the combination of the waves and being held by his grampy put him right to sleep. This was also a big day on the lake for Nate. He is now officially a water skier :) YEA!!! I can't believe we've been together for 3 years and this was his first time trying to ski - but he did AMAZING!! It was so great to watch him learn to do something that i LOVE so much!! We had a great day out on the lake as a family!! I can't wait to spend years and years doing something my family and I enjoy so much with Mason & my husband because now they love it too :) Nate was a little bit sore from his new adventure though... he said he might never have to work out again if he became a professional skiier :) haha :)

Mason & Nate's First Father's Day - June 21, 2009

We had a very low key Father's Day. My Dad & Mom were here for the weekend as usual. We celebreated MY dad's father's day Saturday night with a delicious feast of enchiladas, rice, beans, guacamole & margaritas.. YUMMY!! We continued the celebration Sunday mornign for Nate's father's day. Mom and I prepared a delicous breakfast of homemade from scratch pancakes, huevos rancheros, bacon, the works :) It was soo good. We spend the rest of the afternoon just laying around enjoying Mason. We went to lunch at 5 Guys before my dad had to head back to Rome. Then we went over to Tom & Sally's to celebrate NATE's dad's fathers day for dinner. You can see we did alot of eating on Sunday to celebrate :) haha :) We had one of Sally's delicious dinners with TONS of yummy food- steak, chicken, sweet potatoes, green bean caserole, brocoli salad - YUMMY!! I'm surprised I didn't gain 5 pounds on Sunday- good thing I'm burning all those calories nursing!!!

Mason's visit to the cariologist- June 23, 2009

Pitts heard murmur & refered us to the Pediatric Cariologist for an EKG & ECHO. As it turns out Mason has a perfect heart :) But I already knew that :) He has an "innocent murmur" that will go away by the time he is a teenager. I was sooooooooooooooooooo thankful to hear everything was going to be okay :) I was very scared and worried for my little boy. He was SUCH an amazing patient! He never cried once, laid perfectly still for the EKG and actually fell asleep during the ECHO. He is one amazing little guy :) I LOVE HIM TO PIECES!!

Well... I think that's all the new updates for now.

There are obviously lots of mini-adventures that I have left out due to time... Sorry :) I am going to do a posting tomorrow of just all pictures of Mason from the past month. He has grown and changed so much it's amazing :)

Check back in a few weeks for our next big adventures... 2 month check up & Beach Trip :)