A Christmas Like No Other!

Mason had the MOST fun opening gifts this year! I mean, he would very frantically tear open that wrapping paper and as soon as he would see the gift his little mouth would go into that "O" shape and he would go "Oh, Wooooow!!!" He was in the most shock about every single gift. And then when he would see it again the next day, he repeated the cycle of shock like he had never seen it before in his life! This Christmas was so exciting for us, that BOTH sets of his grandparents came to our house on Christmas Day just to watch him open his gifts. Definitely different from last Christmas... he was just 7 1/2 months old and we would open the gifts for him and he just looked so serious the entire time. Of course the advantage was that we got all these sweet pictures of him sitting here super still in the middle of his presents; whereas this year he was running around all over the place throwing balls across the room so picture-taking was a little more chaotic! :)

This child has the most toys I have ever seen to the point where it is almost ridiculous! Marc and I have bought him maybe a total of 5 toys in his lifetime because the grandparents spoil him rotten with toys. And what I do buy him comes from consignment sales. I just feel so guilty for seeing these toys sprawled out all over our house knowing that they're just for ONE child! We could take them all to Honduras and share them with about 100 children! I'm brainstorming ways of how Mason can share his toys one day with children who do not have any... Like starting some kind of toy drive or something! Hmm.... The wheels are a' turnin'!

The special Santa gift this year was the bright red retro kitchen! I had the most fun researching kitchens online and waiting for "the one" to arrive! Marc wasn't too sure about getting a kitchen for our son, but I mean, what's wrong with it?? Mason will be a wonderful cook someday just like his Papa Jack! Both of my parents cooked regularly growing up and I think that is so neat that some of my favorite recipes were given to me by my Dad! Mason absolutely adores his kitchen! It is hilarious. The second he saw it he started pilfering madly with all of those pots & pans and fake food. He just went to town like he knew exactly what he was doing! He has this serious look on his face and is the busiest little thang. The cutest little apron came with it, so we put that on him on Christmas Day and he played for hours in it.

We always spend Christmas Eve with my dad's side of the family. This year my brother & sis-in-law hosted so Marc, Mason, and I loaded up and headed down to Nashville for the evening. I'm sharing a few pics from that night, and then more posts to come of Mason's Christmas adventures!

My Aunt Linny reading about the birth of Christ from the Bible... Part of our family tradition is having a devo, singing Christmas carols, and praying together on Christmas Eve. This is my favorite part!

Mason helping to clean up his own trash!

Mason opening his gift from cousin Steph, with a little bit of help from cousin Erica
Sneakin' away a few moments to snuggle with Great-Aunt Linny

MaMaw so excited about her new beautiful red sweater from my parents

Aunt Linny modeling her new Inital Outfitters necklace... I drew her name, which I do just about every year, so I was the most excited about picking out this necklace!

Mason had to bring one of his favorite Christmas books with us

My cousin Steph was in shock that she got this one-legged tripod!

Erica drew my name and got me this "ugly" sweater as she calls it... Her motto is that anything she hates, I love. Thank you.

The whole family seriously discussing the Nascar wall decals that Marc got Jason... Everyone was trying to figure them out.

Thank you Great-MaMaw for my new peg puzzles!! How did you know that these are my new favorite things??

Oh, Woooow!! Lots of food from cousin Steph for my new kitchen that I don't know I'm getting! He got it the next morning from Santa. I told my family that this is the last year we can get away with doing this! :)

MaMaw with her grandkids, grandkids-in-law, and little great-grandbaby

MaMaw got Mason the cutest little personalized bib & Santa hat! He looked sooo cute in them!

Playin' with Papa Jack

My parents surprised Jody & Christy with Jody's little red chair! Their little baby-to-be will be sitting in it this time next year!

What did I tell you about the look of shock that has been on my little boy's face for the last week?!?!

I mean, I have NEVER seen anymore more excited about a gift than my brother was when he opened this hunting gun from my parents and Marc & me! We've been conivin' for months about this gift. It's been "living" in our office in our house and has been giving me the most nightmares! I'm so glad it's finally outta here!

Wittle bitty sockies I got for Christy's baby in the tummy!

My mom in complete shock about the Nikon camera we got her! She is a professional photographer but hasn't had a digital one since she's from the film "era" of developing her own pics in the darkroom. We figured it's time she gets with the latest technology! Ha! She needs this camera to take lots & lots of pictures of her grandbabies!

Marc got this special Bible for my dad ... Marc has one of his own that he has been loving for several months, so he wanted to share it with our dads this Christmas.

Mason was SO excited about his new set of bowling pins from Papa Jack & Nana Kay!

Another Initial Outfitters purchase I was the most excited about! Christy went crazy over her new giraffe-print jute handbag! And you just may even see me walking around with one of these perched up on my shoulder!

Stay tuned for pictures of Chef Mason! :)

Merry Christmas from the Moores'!

Mason is snuggled up in bed while Santa is here fixing up his extra special surprise for him to discover in the morning! Can't wait! Mason had the most fun opening up some presents tonight so I'm excited to see him have lots more fun these next couple of days! My parents and Marc's parents will be here with us Christmas Day for brunch and to see what Santa brings Mason; Marc and I will exchange our gifts Christmas night; and Saturday morning we're off to Madisonville to celebrate Christmas with Marc's mom's side of the family. We are so incredibly blessed to have this huge, wonderful family to make so many wonderful memories with!

But most of all, we are SO thankful for that baby boy who was born in a manger so long ago! Happy Birthday, Jesus! Our Christmas tree is beautiful, Mason looks super cute in his Santa hat, and the lights on our bushes in the front yard make me super happy; but what is more important than all of this is the fact that Jesus is our Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace! God bless you all!

Looking back at Mason's first Christmas...

Check out this very special post! Thinking about Mason's love for us reading the Christmas story to him over and over and making me reminisce of last year at this time! I can't wait to tell Mason someday the story of him playing Baby Jesus! We were so blessed to be able to have this experience last year of being a part of our church's nativity scene.

http://aprilkay24.blogspot.com/2009/01/dinner-at-bethlehem.html

Mason's New Favorite Books

Marc and I are wanting to teach Mason at an early age the TRUE meaning of Christmas. Sadly, some children are raised not ever being taught that and all they focus on is singing "Jingle Bells" and getting presents from Santa. That really frustrates me that so many children are kept from hearing about the birth of Jesus. Yes, it should be our focus all year round, but Christmas is just an extra special time where we can just really focus on celebrating the sweet baby Jesus.

Mason did not have any Christmas books, of all of his millions of books, so we bought him one at this little book store at the Lebanon Outlet Mall a couple of months ago, and then I bought a couple more at this cute little consignment store I discovered in BG a couple of weeks ago. I mean, I have NEVER seen a child love something so much! He carries 2 of these books around day & night. He just kinda scambles his books all in a pile in the middle of the living room, but I'll just be sitting on the couch doing something and here comes Mason with a Christmas book that he pulled out from the very bottom of the pile! No matter how lost these 2 special books are in the chaos of all of his toys and books, they always seem to be found. He'll just bring the book to me and crawl up on my lap without me even initiating it. It is about the sweetest thing I have ever seen. I am so blessed that my child is so excited to see pictures of Mary & Joseph riding the donkey to Bethlehem and of the sweet baby Jesus laying there in the manger. I think his favorite part of all though, is seeing all of the beautiful angels rejoicing! Mason runs his little fingers over all those angels' faces and jibbers jabbers away telling me about something. I just wonder what in the world is going through that little head of his?

These last few weeks Marc and I have made it a priority to have a Christmas devotional with Mason before we put him to bed. A few days we read out of this new Hank Hanagraff book that Marc had ordered specifically designed for family Christmas devotions. It's kinda a sight to see seeing Marc and I sitting on Mason's floor singing "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing" for him! He looks at us like we're crazy. And we really get into our singing! Then we switched it to us just listening to soft Christmas songs playing in the background while reading one of his new favorite Christmas books to him. His little face really seems like it's taking it all in. And then of course he starts pointing frantically at the angels and always tells us a story in his own little language about Baby Jesus. There are no words for how thankful I am for these special moments with my husband and son! Find something special to do with YOUR family these last couple of days before Christmas gets here, and make it a tradition every year!

Mason and Daddy reading the 2 favorite Christmas books... But wait, why is Marc making a sad face??

Oh, I'm done with this book! I'm gonna go get another!

Yes, these are TRUE blue pictures of us doing our nightly devotions after a long exhausting day! Momma in her Keroppi p.j's and all!

What is a special Christmas tradition YOU have with your family? Please share them with us!

Mason's Special Day with Santa... and the Veggie Tales!

This past Saturday we headed down to Nashville to help with the Children's Christmas Party at the Music City Mission. There is nothing like watching all of those children as they hear their name called out, they go up to the front to be presented with several presents just for them, and then they get to sit on Santa's lap. They then run back to their parents or whoever was able to bring them, to very excitedly show them all of their gifts! Most of these children would not otherwise get much of a Christmas. But that's not the only thing this Christmas party is about; it's also about celebrating the birth of Jesus with these sweet children and showing them how much Jesus loves them. It is such a special day and I feel so thankful to have been a part of it this year. Usually it falls on the same Saturday that we have Christmas with Marc's family, but this year we're not doing Christmas with them until this coming weekend.

Not only did Mason get to visit with Santa Claus; he also was introduced to Larry the Cucumber & Bob the Tomato! Thank you. What do the Veggie Tales even have to do with Christmas???!?! It was pretty hilarious to just have these huge thangs come out of nowhere! People looked the most confused, but the kids absolutely LOVED them! It was so sweet. They kept running up to Larry & Bob and throwing their arms around them. Poor little Santa was kinda put on the back burner this year!

I was very interested to see how Mason would do with Santa this year. Lately he's been acting a little scared and a little hesitant of some stuff, and especially people he's never seen before, which definitely isn't like our little outgoing boy. He got to spend a few minutes with Santa at the beginning of the day back in the offices at the mission, so he warmed up to him a little bit by time it was time to "officially" sit on his lap. At first he screamed his little head off when Santa held him, but after a minutes he looked at Santa with this big curious eyes and seemed really content and relaxed in his arms. So, by the end of the day, Santa kinda became a part of our family and Mason gave the sweetest little smile when he was sitting on his lap! Now as for Bob & Larry, well that's a WHOLE different story! :)

Bob & Larry helping to lead the kids on some Christmas songs

Mason not really knowing what to think of this funny man in the red suit and lots of white curls

And then he met Larry the Cucumber... this one speaks for itself!

Safe in Uncle Jody's arms!

My brother getting some practice before his little one arrives next July! :)

Mason and DaDa listening to the Christmas story

My mom, brother May-May, and Marc

Oh no, he found a little rocking horse in the corner of the room and could not get enough of it!

Eating crackers with a new little friend

Chillin' with Uncle Steve

The 2nd attempt to introduce Mason to Larry didn't go so well either! I mean, wouldn't you be a little leary of this tall green thang?!?! The "man in the mask" was actually my cousin, Erica's, husband!!

The kids lovin' on Bob the Tomato... they tried so hard to get me to be Bob cuz the tallest you can be is 5'3", but I refused very adamantly because I am the most claustrophic person you will ever meet!

Lunch time

Mason with his Nana Kay & Papa Jack

Mason kept looking at this Snowman up on the wall and would point frantically at it and proclaim, "Oooooh, wow!" So here he is sharing his excitement with my dad.

Mason sitting very quietly listening to my Dad with all the other boys & girls

Wait, why is Mason facing the completely opposite direction from everyone else?? Thank you.

Mason felt extra special when his Papa picked him up during the Devo

Here comes Santa Claus, here comes Santa Claus!!

Larry trying to get Mason's attention
Mason dancin' during the singing Reading a Christmas book with another new friend
This family was sitting next to us and Mason kept going over there and just perching himself all up in the middle of all of them! He kept putting his little hand on the Dad's knee like he wanted him to pick him up! What a neat sight! Marc and I hope to teach Mason to love everyone; even those who have different skin color from us. He's already starting! :)
My cousin Erica lovin' her man! We do two parties that day, and at the second one Jason played Bobn the Tomato and his brother played Larry the Cucumber. We don't know how in the world Jason squeezed into that little costume! Marc kept heckling him about it during the program.
Second round of Santa pictures! My sweet boy was completely exhausted by this point so you will gradually see his little eyes closing in these next few pictures! Oh well. At least he wasn't screaming!
Aww, poor little thang! Wait, is Santa falling asleep, too, though?

And... he's out!
Momma loves her sweet boy sooooo much! Check out the lonely Santa in the background.
This may be my favorite picture from the entire day. These two precious children showing their bag full of gifts to their daddy. Mason has a ton of presents wrapped under our tree (Marc & I just bought him a few small gifts this year, but to others they're like a million dollars!), and more to come this week from the grandparents & other family, and these children have 2 bags full. We are so blessed and realize that we don't need to wrap a whole bunch of gifts for Mason each year. Opening present after present is not what's important to our children; it should be the love we show them all year round!
The winner of the bicycle drawing! She had the most beautiful smile on her face.
I guess cuddling with a sleeping baby is a good excuse for getting out of clean-up duty! Ha ha!

Kindermusik & Partyin' Down at the Library!

This past Monday Mason and I had a very busy morning! I love it though that we have all these events to get to every Monday cuz it forces up to get up and moving and start the week off right! We have been going to Kindermusik every Monday morning at the First Baptist Church here since August. We're sad that the last class was this week! We made some good friends, and Marc even has a new good buddy he made at Dad's Day last month! Mrs. Mary Anne has been teaching Kindermusik for 30-something years, so she definitely knows what she's going. She's kinda strict on us, but I guess that's a good thing so that our kiddos get the most out of music class. The class was very small, just 3 of us and our babies; Clayton (14 months), Jasmine (6 months), and then of course, Mason (19 months). So, it was very interesting seeing how these babies of different ages grow and interact as the semester goes on. We had a ton of one-on-one attention from the teacher. It has been a new & exciting experience for us... I never thought that Mason and I would be dancing the Do-Si-Do and Tango with our new friends, a foot massage just a few minutes later, baby aerobics, and reading time all in a period of 40 minutes! We do such a wide variety of activities and they all work together in the child's development in ways you don't even realize while you're actually doing them.

Clayton, Jasmine, & Mason after our Nov. 23 class... they were just a little sleepy & cranky since it was the end of class so they weren't up to posin'! These kiddos are worn out after 40 minutes of singin', dancin', swayin', readin', gettin' massages, and being lifted up over their mommies' heads! Oh, life is so rough!

Clay & Mason after our last class this past Monday
Terri & me with our sweet boys! We've watched Clayton grow from this very chubby baby who was barely crawling, to this tall, slender, little boy who's walking all over the place! Mason was barely walking when we started and is now the hyperactive kid who's running all over that room! :)
Mason & Mrs. Mary Anne

After Kindermusik every Monday, it just works out that it's Toddler Time at the downtown library! It's just right up the street, so we head on over there and have a few minutes to look at some books before it's time to start. This has given Mason so much interaction with some older kids and has been his first experience really to sit at a big kids' table to listen to stories, do crafts, and eat snacks. At library time in Nashville, we would sit on the floor and he would always practically sit on my lap and act kinda shy around all the kids. He would just sit very quietly and listen and stay right by his Mommy's side. Well, now he is sitting straight up in his chair during craft time and "chatting" away with all the kids, and standing right beside all the big kids directly in front of the story teller during story time. This week, I looked up and he was holding some little girl's hand! They were standing facing each other and just staring at each other while holding hands. I wasn't quite sure what was going on! I definitely was not like that; I was so painfully shy until about 7th grade. I would not talk to anyone except for my Daddy! I wanted him to hold me all the time and I would just lay my head on his shoulder and not look at anyone. Mason's always that kid that the others' surround, just like his Uncle Jody. I don't know if it's his spunky little personality, his crazy spike hairdo', or the fact that he speaks this jibber jabber Japanese soundin' language! He is definitely not my little baby anymore. :( Even though he's growing up so quickly and we miss those days of cuddling a tiny, sweet newborn in our arms, we are so blessed to have our big, healthy 19 month old! This is definitely a challenging, but super fun stage!

Mason's good buddy from church, Lydia, is sometimes at Toddler Time with us when she's not in big girl school and she always takes such good care of Mason!

I don't know what kind of face my son is making here, but Lydia sure looks awfully cute! :)

Mason rummaged through the diaper bag in the middle of the story and manged to pull out his soft baseball. So there goes the attention of all the children! All eyes were on Mason's ball after that!

Snack time... Lydia had a special visitor this day since her Mommy had to leave early for the dentist... her Nana! Lydia's grandparents (Josh O.'s parents) go to church with us as well, so it was nice to see a familiar face at the library! Here she is helping Lydia & Mason with their snacks.

As soon as the librarian put down the book she read to everyone, Mason was the first to get his hands on it! He just sat right down and got comfortable and read away! The book was bigger than he is!

It always takes us 30 minutes to get out the door to leave the library cuz Mason has to check out all the books we pass on the way out!

Destroying a book display

We are LOVING living in Bowling Green and this town is jam-packed with fun things to do and lots of great friends! Still close enough to Nashville to visit often, closer to our friends in Louisville, and pretty much halfway between both sets of Mason's grandparents. We're so thankful that God has led us to such a great place!

Christmas is going on all over this place!

After a couple of rough weeks, we are finally getting into the Christmas spirit around here. I just wasn't ready to be happy and celebrate the season when a dear family we love so much was experiencing so much pain. I know that so many of our friends have been feeling this exact same way, but we're all slowly but surely finally getting up our trees. We were reminded that Misty would want us to do this... for our children. Some of her & Jeremy's friends went to her house and decorated it for Christmas while Jeremy and the kids were away in Florida for a few days. That thought made me so happy and I just keep imagining Ella, Miles, and Griffin's eyes lighting up the moment they walked through that door! And even Jeremy's, too! :) Now I feel like celebrating Jesus' birth more than ever because I know that Misty is with our Jesus and smiling down at all of us celebrating & lifting praises to Him. This does not mean that our grieving is over; it will be a long process for everyone, especially Misty's family. But, she doesn't want us to pass up this chance to celebrate another beautiful season with our loved ones.

So, I'm now sitting here looking at my beautiful Christmas decorations and watching my sweet boy dance to the Praise Baby Joy to the World DVD in his super cute Santa p.j.s. Mason is loving looking at the lights on the tree, pulling the ornaments off the tree, and helping me wrap gifts. The first time he saw the tree all lit up, he looked at it all bright-eyed and loudly proclaimed, "Oh, Woooooow!!!" It was the funniest thang. He really was in awe. Last year he was just 7 months old, so we definitely didn't get to hear his verbal reactions. We also have our 3 stockings hanging on the mantle and my favorite nativity scene ever all set out on our foyer table. I didn't decorate as much as I normally do this year because I just wanted to keep it simple, and we had a little late start.

We're going to have a wonderful next couple of weeks celebrating Christmas & New Year's with our families and best friends and I cannot wait! We also have the sitting-on-Santa's-lap-experience-with-a-19 month old coming up in just a few days! Should be interesting! Here are a few pictures of Christmas around here and some random shots of Mason getting into the Christmas spirit!

Some of my favorite ornaments...

The super cute Santa I won at the Cookie Exchange last week! Thanks, Lisa Mason, for my ornament! It was the one that was fought over very seriously! :)

One of the sweet ornaments I bought at Hobby Lobby right after we found out we were having a boy... I bought these Dec. 2007

The Moore Family angels! My mom bought these for us pretty much the day we found out what we were having! She was somewhere that just happened to have a "Mason" ornament! I LOVE these so much!

The beautiful colored glass ornament I won at the Dirty Santa ornament exchange with my Joy Group in Nashville in Dec. 2007. This was from LeEllen Ezell, the very sweet mom of our friend Misty who just passed away. It is so special to me.

I love this "Joy" on my tree! I won this one at the ornament exchange with my Joy Group last year. This one is from Diana Southerland. I had all of our girls sign the back of it! :) I also love the little white Christmas tree I bought at Trees 'n Trends a couple of weeks ago. I don't love polka dots at all, do I? :)

Andrea came over with this ornament the night I told her it's a boy! :) She just happened to pick it up at Hobby Lobby before we even knew what we were having! Well, I guess she knew! ha!

Oh and of course, my most favorite ornament of all... the one I made at after-school care at my daycare on Bell Rd in Antioch when I was in first grade! This is the only one I have from my childhood, but I want to get some more from my parents!

Mason's First Christmas ornament! This one makes me the happiest! I bought this last year at Babies R Us.

Okay, these are some of my FAVORITE ornaments ever! I bought this one last year at Christmas Village, and another one this year! I want to collect enough to have an entire little tree covered in them!

I bought this "Noel" sign at Christmas Village two years ago. Carrie, can you remember the name of that booth that is based out of Memphis?

More Christmas Village favorites! Man, I hadn't realized how many ornaments I have bought there until now! I bought this baby carriage & cross two years ago. I also bought the baby carriage for my mom & mother-in-law since we were all so excited that our baby boy was coming!

Mason concentrating so hard on helping me wrap a present for daddy! It was soooo cute watching him!

Check out our huge mess we were making! Oh, but we were having the most fun!

Some presents Mommy wrapped! I am in love with this wrapping paper I bought at Christmas Village! I went crazy with it and bought like 7 rolls! I've been obsessed with fun wrapping paper the last few years.

More doo-dads from Christmas Village! I love these stakes. They're also fun gifts to give.

Our foyer

One of my most favorite gifts my mother-in-law has ever given me... She knew how much I loved nativity scenes, but that I did not have one, so she surprised me with this one a couple of years ago. They're Willow Tree figurines. She got this at Cracker Barrel, of course! :)

My angel from Southern Living At Home

My stocking door hanger... also Southern Living! Anyone seen any of their Christmas stuff lately? I haven't, but I want some more of it!

My sweet Snowman couple from Kirkland's that my mother-in-law bought me, and our 3 stockings! I bought these at Hobby Lobby a few years ago, but I want some new ones with our names embroidered on them! That'll be my fun thing to order for next year.

Mason looks sooo cute and like a big boy in this sweet little shirt I got him at Christmas Village this year! Look closely at the verse and the little details of the shirt. So sweet.

Mason watching one of his new Christmas DVDs I bought him at Wal-Mart last week. They had an aisle in the middle of all the Christmas stuff of a bunch of these $5 dvds. This one is a sing-along of all these random songs we don't really know! It's fun to watch though.

Daddy, give me back my Santa hat!

Bible-reading time in Mason's favorite chair in front of the Christmas tree

This was the first day we had decorated the tree and Mason was so mesmerized by all the ornaments! Yes, he was being sweet this day, but by now he has broken 2 of them and loves to yank them off the tree and throw them across the room! He actually just got out of time-out for doing that. Thank you.

Marc's birthday was November 30, so here we are (VERY late at night!) giving him birthday cards! Mason "picked him out" the sweetest card that says, "Daddy, you're my hero!"

Marc's big b-day gift this year was the Wii & Rock Band, from his parents! FINALLY we're up with the latest technology! He loves it! I think it's a stress-reliever for him; when he comes home from work he goes straight for his guitar! It's a sight to see in his dress clothes!

Mason doesn't know it yet, but Santa is bringing him his VERY own little guitar so that he can join his Daddy's band!

Go, Daddy, go!

I have some other fun Christmas posts coming up, but for now I'm gonna get off here and enjoy some yummy hot corn chowder & corn bread with my hubby! I'm DVR-ing lots of Christmas movies, so we're going to have a movie marathon tonight! :) Now, you get off here as well and go do something Christmas-y with YOUR family! Hugs & kisses!