Sip 'N See for Carrie & Baby Presley

On Saturday, August 7th, I hosted a Sip 'N See at my house for the sweetest baby girl ever! Since Carrie is from Bowling Green, we wanted to have her a shower here to where she could bring Presley and show her off to all of her childhood friends, as well as Nashville friends. Presley is 4 months old, but we waited until now to do this to give Seth, Carrie, and the kids some time to move to Louisville and get settled in. They moved from Memphis in order for Seth to start dental school at U of L. We're soooo excited for this chapter of their lives! We're also happy to have them just 2 hours from us and living in one of Marc's and my most favorite cities ever!

Thank you so much to all of these wonderful girls who helped host: Andrea B., Brooke A., Valerie J., Sarah O., Danielle H., and Melissa M. With the pregnancy sickness and lack of energy I have had for the past couple of months, there is NO way I could have pulled this shower off without all of their help! And, my wonderful momma came up the weekend before to help me deep-clean the house. Thank goodness for that cuz noone would have wanted to step foot into this house with the way it had been lookin'! Ha! :) We had a great turnout and it was so neat to see my house full of these amazing women who love Carrie and her family so much. Presley was just so calm and easy-going through it all and didn't seem to mind all the attention at all. Everyone was just in awe of this precious, beautiful little child!

Carrie, Presley, Annette, and Baby Ransom

Jaquatta & Carrie

(Carrie & Johnathan grew up together in BG; Jaquatta is his momma! Love her!)

Carrie and her beautiful mommy, Vivian... my mom away from home! Jennifer & Carrie... they went to high school together and now Jennifer lives down the street from us. Crazy how things turn out! Carrie, Danielle, & Presley... childhood friend of Carrie's

Thank you SOOO much, Danielle & your mom, for all your hard work in cleaning up after the shower!
Melissa, Valerie, Carrie, & Sarah... Carrie has been telling me about these girls for years and I'm so thankful to have them as some of my wonderful new friends!

Mrs. Herndon & Ms. Hargis... our good friends', Beth & Jana's moms... Carrie & Marc went to college with these girls, and their moms have been here with us through our most special times!
Yummy cupcakes Sarah brought and I ordered these super cute toppers from Etsy.com!

Diaper cake made by this amazing diaper cake girl... Ha! :)

Sweet Presley's birth announcement

Brooke & me... we have loved being pregnant together! Brooke was 29 wks & I was 12 wks.

Carrie seeing the canvas painting for the first time... Andrea ordered this from Leigh Ann at Georgie Girl Design (see my blog list). It is SO, SO cute!!

Gift time! Soft swaddling blankets from my mom.

I ordered this sweet little smocked cowgirl bubble for Presley back when Carrie was pregnant. Mason has a matching boy's version of it and I LOVE it!!

Carrie's sis-in-law, Meredith, surprised Carrie and painted these canvases to match the nursery. I mean, can we say talented?!?!! I am just blown away by them! And I ordered the banner to match from Etsy.

Brooke made these yummy P-shaped sugar cookies as the shower favors. I kept about 5 of them and ate them all by the next day! Give me some more! :)

All the partyin' was over and I FINALLY had my Presley time!

Look at how sweet she is!!

The boys hung out with Seth & Colt at Carrie's parents' house and waited til all the crazy women were out of our house to come back. Ha! We went and ate us some yummy Cracker Barrel before Andrea got back on the road for Nashville.

Carrie, hope this day was extra special for you! We were so thankful to be able to do this for you. We are all so blessed to have these amazing people who love and support us as we bring these sweet babies into the world. Love you!

Meeting Baby Presley Rae

One of my best friends, Carrie, became the momma to a sweet baby girl, Presley Rae, on April 14th. She weighed 9 lbs, 10 oz and was 20 3/4 inches long. She has a head full of dark, beautiful hair that we cannot get enough of! Presley's big brother, Colt, is one of Mason's best buddies and has proudly been showing off his new baby sister. I think she looks just like Colt! I was trying sooo hard to get down to Memphis the week Presley was born to help Carrie pack up their house and get ready for their move to Louisville and to be there for the birth, but it just didn't work out. But, Marc and I were so excited to get to meet her on May 16th when Presley and her little family came up to BG and Louisville for the weekend. Mason could not take his eyes off of this sweet little person! She was just so sweet and fell asleep in my arms as I bounced with her. She didn't make a peep! Here are some pics of the sweet little angel:

Mason meeting Baby Presley for the first time... he was mesmerized! I loved seeing how he was looking at her.

Actin' bashful

Presley is definitely a cuddler! I loved her.

And she actually loved me back, I think! :) She just laid there and looked at me and let me give her her bottle and then let me stand up and bounce with her. She's such a laid-back baby like my Mason was.
Can't you tell that I was dying for one of these?!?!
The same profile as Colt!
Mason waiting patiently for his turn to visit with Baby Presley

Mason & Colt trying to figure out what they were about to get in to

Thank you, God, for these sweet, perfect babies!

I couldn't resist another hair shot!
One proud GrandBob!

I just love this picture! You could just see the joy radiating from Carrie's dad!

Bye, bye, sweet baby girl! Come back and see us again soon!

What has Mason been up to this summer?

Oh..... just gettin' ready to be a BIG BROTHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We found out Wednesday, June 9th that God is growing another precious little miracle in my tummy! Can't wait to meet him or her around Valentine's Day 2011!

Adventures of the 2 Year Old!

Well, it has finally settled in that our little boy is 2. We've had a couple of months to get used to the fact and are quickly learning the antics of a 2 year-old! We were hoping that Mason would prove the "terrible 2's" wrong since every says that it's just horrible dealing with a 2 year old. Well, we just realize that it comes with your baby growing up and that parents just have to change along with the child. We are learning that Mason now pretty much realizes when he is doing something that Momma & Dada do not want him to do. We no longer let people make us feel badly for disciplining him because we know it's just what we have to do to make him learn the difference between right and wrong. He is pretty strong-willed and is no longer so calm & easy-going all the time. He is talking up a storm so we can pretty much figure out what he is wanting. He has the best personality and is definitely going to be Mr. Outgoing when he goes to school! We love it. At the same time, Mason is still our sweet, precious baby and we still rock him to sleep sometimes and long to cuddle with him as much as we did the day we brought him home from the hospital. I don't think he'll ever stop being our baby just because he is our miracle child that we prayed for for so long and went through so much for.

Here are some tidbits about our big 2 year old:

- Mason is still highly allergic to all things dairy & beef. He was re-tested back in April and we were so hoping for the allergies to be gone. They said we can test again when he's 3. We're so used to this and have found good food he can eat. We're more open to trying Kids' Meals at restaurants now. He has never liked the alternative types of milk we've tried but lately I've tried giving him cereal in rice milk, and he LOVES it! He now comes up to me randomly and requests milk! So this makes me happy. :)

- At Mason's 2-year check-up, he weighed 30 lbs, and was 36 inches long. He is in the 75th % for weight and 80-90th % for length. We are amazed at how much weight he has put on in the last few months! At his 12 month, he was still in the 3rd %, at 15 months he was 25th %, and at 18 months he was 50th %. Ever since we moved to BG, he is packing on the pounds!

Mason & Dr. Patti

In the exam room waiting for Dr. Patti to come back... he was a little scared being at the dr.'s office at first, but playing with all the fun toys kept his mind off it!

The weigh-in... Mason did NOT like this at all!!

- Wears 2t & some 3t clothing. Some shorts run HUGE, so he can still wear 12 months in some brands! Size 7 or 7 1/2 in shoes. Just moved up to size 5 diaper in July!

- Favorite books at the moment: Best Mouse Cookie, all the Little People big board/flap books, his potty books, 100 Reasons God Loves Me, his Bible, Where's Spot?, Curious George... we go to the library weekly now and check out 5 to 10 books each time. He loves running around the library showing me different books he wants to check out. We are now participating in a Summer Reading List where if we read 20 books to him before the end of the summer, he gets lots of prizes!

- Still sleeps in his crib all night long, about 12 hours. Takes one 2 hour nap in the late afternoon. Momma definitely appreciates her sleeping baby who lets her sleep in many mornings! :)

- Loves to laugh and have fun. Mason has always been the child who is CONSTANTLY on the move! He loves trying new things. He laughs all the time, even when he's supposed to be napping in his crib! He is so go-with-the-flow and is such a good child no matter where we drag him! He loves all the little road trips we take and adjusts so quickly to new environments.

- Loves all things SPORTS! He and his Da Da could play in our backyard for hours with his golf clubs, ball & bat, basketball, soccer balls, and footballs. We definitely have a little athlete on our hands! Everyone makes comments about how good of an arm he has when he throws any type of ball. And he makes random shots into the basketball hoop from across the living room! Can't wait to put him in tee ball and soccer when he's 4! He plays so hard until his hair is soaking wet and his face is bright red!

- I think his favorite day of the week is Sunday. He absolutely loves being at church and the second we walk through the doors he takes off running towards his little class. He is usually fine when we leave him, but lately he is a little clingier. He is always in the best mood at church and runs around like he owns the place! He can't really sit through a church service anymore, no matter how hard we try. He talks out loud, and repeats random words that the preacher says. Thank you. We try to keep him quiet with books, crayons, juice, and suckers, but he always ends up in the nursery. I guess that's a typical 2 year old little boy for ya!

Playin' in the pews with his big boy friends, Jack & Colt... actually, Mason & Colt were taking a little Sunday afternoon nap here...

- A WONDERFUL eater, and has always been! Loves Graduates, applesauce, bananas, grapes, blueberries, chicken, Mesquite Turkey, spaghetti (especially at Fazoli's), cheerios or Cap'n Crunch with Rice Dream milk, peas, corn, carrots, potatoes, chips & salsa, fries, eggs, bacon, toast, Honey BBQ Fritos, Sun Chips, suckers, apple juice, white grape juice, wa wa juice (aka: water!), and his newest obsession: ice!

- Likes watching t.v. just a little too much! Nick, Jr. is always on in our house... Olivia, Yo Gabba Gabba, Little Bear, Blues Clues, Wonder Pets, Dora the Explorer... he has all the songs memorized & we love hearing him sing them!

I mean, a man's gotta be comfy when he's watching his shows, right?!!?!

- Is showing interest in peeing in the potty! We have two little potties for him; one stays in the living room & the other in his bathroom. He always grabs his diaper and says "pee pee" or "poo poo" when he is using the bathroom in his diaper, so we're taking this as a sign that he's ready to start potty-training soon. My dad has gotten him to actually pee in his little potty twice! He just strips him down, sits him in the potty while he's watching t.v., and walks away to give him some time. So he understands the whole concept. Won't start officially potty-training just yet because we don't want to push it, but at least he's getting used to the idea!

Practicin' potty time while watching Elmo potty DVD

Mason & Papa Jack examining the goods Mason left in his potty for the VERY first time! YAY!

- A big water baby! We have been swimming several times this summer... all the way to the pool he says, "Swimmin' poo!! Swimmin' poo!" and doesn't stop til he hits the water! He's getting a little braver now to where he likes to stand on the steps of the pool and jump in to us. He likes wearing the little floaties on his arms, but no other type of floating device. He also takes great pleasure in drinking the water while saying, "Yummy, yummy!" I don't know about that!!

With his friend, Jack, at the water park

- Still a big Daddy's boy! LOVES his Dada and this makes me sooo happy!! Maybe the next one will be a Momma's boy or girl! :)

- Can spell his name! It is so cute hearing him do it, but he still thinks that an "N" also sounds like an "M." So, it's M-A-S-O-M. My parents got him an art easel for his birthday and he loves standing up and finding the letters of his name! Oh, and sometimes he likes to do it bare naked... he's just a little hot-natured!

- He has been saying some complete sentences ever since he turned 2. We do Starfall.com with him almost daily and he has really learned his ABC's, letters & sounds! It's amazing the change we have seen in our child! Some of his favorite words/phrases:

Go pee pee in potty (he really doesn't do this though!)

All done, All done (while doing the sign language to it)

More cheerios!

Starfall, starfall!

More pees, please!

Fall down!

Uh-Oh!!

Get out, get out (says this when he's ready to get out of his high chair or crib)

Wuv you, Momma

Dack (my dad... he's Papa Jack, but Mason has dropped the "Papa" lately)

Nana K (my mom)

Baby Wuke, Baby Wuke! (when he sees my best friend's little boy, Luke)

Bray-Bray (his little buddy at church)

Gacie (Gracie, his girlfriend)

Jack & Reese (little friends at church)

Brush teeth

Bubble bath

Football

Bus (referring to the little car that Marc's parents got him for his bday)
Go down the side (he wants to go down a slide)

Baketball

Apple juice

Bue-berry

Milk

Ahhhhh, Man!! (says this pretty loudly at the end of all our prayers)

Paw Paw & Dedy (Marc's parents... Trying to say "Grandy," but can't say "G-r")

Cawl (thought he was talking about a cow, but it's really car!)

Vroom-vroom

Neigh

Kitty cat

Monkey

Giraffe

Puppy dog

Yummy, yummy wa-wa juice!

Hey, Baby! (says this to me every now & then when he sees me after not seeing me for a little while)

Gucker, please! (see pics below of him lovin' his sucker from Cracker Barrel... my mom was in shock about it!)

Lots more to say about this sweet boy, but I better stop now before I reach my quota of words in this post. Ha! We love you, Mason Thomas! We are so blessed to have you in our lives and we can't wait to watch you grow & grow! You're having SO much being two and we're having so much fun watching you! We're so thankful to be your Momma & DaDa!