DESTIN-BOUND!!

Hey y'all!! It's 12:30 am as I write this and my parents and Marc's parents should be pulling up at our house at 6 am ready to load up the car of our one million items!!! We're off for a long overdue beach trip to Destin and I CANNOT WAIT!! Please say prayers for us as we travel and that everyone stays healthy while we're there. I was hoping to get several new posts done before we left since lots of things have been happening around here, but didn't get to. There's been so much to do to get ready for this trip!

I won't be on the computer while I'm gone... a nice break from technology is needed! So, you won't be hearing from me for a while, but a fun Destin post should be on this thang in a couple of weeks. :)

Have a wonderful week, my blogging friends!! I'll be laying on the beach and playing in the sand with my 4-month old, amazing husband, and two sets of very proud grandparents!! Anyone jealous?? Hee hee!!

Love you all!

Another Round of Myers Family Birthday Celebrations!!

May & September have always been the biggest time of the year for my family as far as b-day celebratin' goes! My dad and I are May 7 & May 10; and my mom and brother are Sept. 19 & Sept. 16. Now, Mason joins my daddy and me in May with his very own birthday of May 11! :) Anyway, since we all live in the same town, we're very blessed that can just meet for dinner and celebrate. It seems that even though we do live so close, these are really the only times we all get together! We need to take more advantage of it, but it just seems that our lives are all so busy that weeks go by without getting together with our immediate family... the "original" Myers clan. :)

Last Tuesday night we celebrated Jody's 32nd birthday at Chili's. It was the most fun! The last time my family did this was for my dad's birthday and we celebrated at Vittles just 3 days before Mason came!! I'm so glad Mason was with us outside of the belly this time. :) He was all decked out in his super pretty little outfit all ready for his big night out with Uncle Jody, Nana Kay, and Poppa Jack. Jody's wife, Christy, was out of town so she couldn't join us, but hopefully the next time we all get together she can come. Mason missed his Aunt Christy! We had an interesting older couple sitting next to us though who kept kinda interrupting us and talking about all of these random things. The man even came over and started digging his hands all around in our chips & salsa eating them! Thank you. Are you even supposed to do that? I could not imagine doing that! I was the most disgusted. So, in a lot of these pictures you see Mason's little head all looking over at their table trying to figure out the situation.

Then, on Friday, my mom had her big 30th birthday! Hee hee!! Well, not really 30. :) Mason and I picked up some yummy Chick Filet salads and went and had lunch with her at work. My dad works at Comdata as well, so he came and joined us in the breakroom. We had a fun little b-day celebration. In Destin next week though, we're gonna take my mom and Marc's mom both out for b-day dinner and celebrate again!! The ladies need a fun night out one night while we're there instead of bein' in the kitchen cooking!

Here are some pics from last week's partyin':

I love this one! I don't know what's going on in this picture, but Jody & Mason both have the same little look on their faces!

This picture NEVER happens anymore... Mommy & Daddy with their two kids!! Well, this pic is a little different than the usual... there's a new little grandbaby added! :)

Mason with his Mommy & her big brother

At my parents' work on Friday having lunch...

OH MY GOSH, Mason decided on this day he was going to hold his OWN bottle! I couldn't believe it! He has been reaching more for things and holding them, but I didn't think he could do it with a big bottle. It was so sweet!

Nana Kay & Mason time... He was having the most fun!


These are my fave! He has the sweetest look on his face and he is showing off that long leg!! And my mom is the happiest!!

Exhausted after a very busy week!

Mason and his new enemy... Rice Cereal!!!

So, on Monday at Mason's 4-month check-up, Dr. Hain gave us the go-ahead on starting Mason on rice cereal. So, the proud momma that I am, I drove straight to the Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market (Target is too expensive... thank you) and purchased my son his first box of food. Marc and I fed it to him together Tuesday night this week. Mason was already a little fussy because he was hungry and tired, but we were just so excited about this new little adventure that we couldn't wait until the next day. We just couldn't wait to finally put Mason in his little blue booster seat that I got at a consignment sale!! We had already waited one day, because Monday night Marc and I were both at church for different stuff until late. So, we attempted to feed rice cereal for the very first time to a fussy baby. BAD IDEA!! First of all, I found it a little challenging to really be able to pump all the milk I needed to to mix with the rice cereal. Between nursing Mason so many times a day after hearing how low his weight percentile was, and trying to have pumped bottles ready for when we go out, it's hard to have enough breast milk left over to mix with the rice cereal. So, it was a challenge to get that little tiny bowl of rice cereal we fixed for Mason Tuesday night. So, both momma and baby were fussy! He was just confused the entire time. He was sucking on the spoon thinking that's what he was supposed to do to it. Then, he would kinda smack his lips together trying to figure out what in the world this stuff was. It was ALL over his face, hands, bib, onesie, etc. He looked so sweet during all of this though! We got just two bowl and spoon sets as gifts; one from sweet Mary Ann Hooper and the other from Janet Cates, both from church. We busted out the one Mary Ann got him for his first feeding. It is just the cutest little bowl & spoon ever!! After the feeding, we burped him and let him sit up for a while to digest it all before we put him to bed. He slept soooo soundly and looked so peaceful. So, at least the end result was good! We were afraid he would have an upset tummy after this new eating experience, but he slept as well as my mom told me he probably would (she tells me the stories of the doctor telling her to give me rice cereal when I was 2 weeks old to help me sleep... and it worked! thank you).

BUT, Wednesday night's feeding didn't end up so well. The feeding itself went well and was so fun because we could Mason was really kinda getting in the hang of this bown and spoon situation. We decided to let him sit in his bouncy seat while eating, since it was familiar to him and not as hard as the booster seat. Plus, he could just relax and not have to worry about falling over. We thought that could be the first step in making it better for Mason. We also mixed the rice cereal with formula instead of breast milk so I wouldn't have to worry about squeezing the life out of me trying to get enough milk pumped. We have lots of free samples of formula that we've been receiving in the mail for about 2 years now, so that really helps out! We might as well get some use out of it. Plus, I hear formula is good for fattening babies up, which is just what Mason needs. He didn't cry at all like he did during the feeding Tues. night. He was so excited for each and every bite and as Marc would put the spoon in the rice cereal bowl, Mason would already be opening his mouth wide! It was so cute!! He was squealing with excitement throughout the whole thing. He seemed to have love it. It got all over his face, but that was okay. That's what our one million bibs are for!! However, the aftermath was not good. Mason seemed so sick to his tummy when it was over. I was up with him until midnight, then decided to nurse him because he seemed hungry again. Plus, I wanted to soothe him. He finally fell asleep at 2 am, then was up again at 4 am wanting to be comforted. I'm sure it was his tummy. Tuesday night we used breast milk, and Wed. night used formula, so surely it was the formula upsetting his tummy and not the rice cereal. What do you all think? I need some advice! We're going to keep trying the rice cereal mixed with formula for a few more days just to see if this upset tummy-ness is consistent. Hopefully it's not, because I was so hoping my formula idea would work!

Round One: Tuesday night

Props Used: Rice Cereal, breast milk, booster seat

See, you can tell he's already mad at the very beginning of the feeding!

Let's led Daddy try for a couple of minutes... Well, it seemed to have worked... for a minute!

Mommy's back!! Oh, he was so mad at me!

Round 2: Wednesday night

Props Used: Rice Cereal, formula, bouncy seat

Look at happy he was while we were feeding him! The arms all spread out like he wanted to hug us for giving him rice cereal!

He's looking at Daddy like, "Okay, I'm ready for my next bite. What's taking you so long!?!?!"

He was helping us hold the spoon!! Thank you, Mason, thank you.
Mommy's turn!
Hmm... I look so happy in this picture, like "Honey, I'm so glad this round is going so well!! What a relief!!" only to end up staying up with him almost the entire night after this meal!

Okay, so does anyone have any advice for me after reading this post? I wanna hear stories of y'all's first exeriences with rice cereal!! Is this upset tummy business normal right at first?? How often do you feed rice cereal during the first week or so? Thanks! Marc and I need all the help we can get with this one!!

A Big Week for Milestones!

Mason had his 4-month check-up & shots on Monday, Sept. 15th. Poppa Jack once again went with us so he could help me with Mason during the shots. The boy needs a LOT of distraction! This time, instead of a solar system theme, the room had a barn theme, something that Mason definitely is used to! He LOVES looking at books and toys having to do with farm animals and barns. So, as we waited for the doctor to come in, Poppa Jack walked around the room with him to show him all the fun animals on the wall. We had good news from Dr. Hain; Mason is healthy and is growing longer and longer! She said he is super strong! He is doing all the things a 4-month old should be doing; holding his head up nice and strong, following people with his eyes, rolling over and being able to roll himself back over, breastfeeding well, and sleeping through the night. However, that's where our little problem comes in! Because Mason loves to sleep so much, and loves to sleep IN, he's missing that one extra feeding during the early morning hours that he is needing to help him really be at the weight he should be at right now. He has been sleeping at least 8 hrs. a night since 8 weeks old, but sometimes sleeps up to 13 hours. Dr. Hain says that would be great if Mason were at a higher percentile in his weight, but I should get him up after 8 hours to feed him and then put him back to sleep if he still wants to sleep.

So, are y'all ready for this?

Weight: 11 pounds, 12 ounces... THIRD percentile!!
Height: 25 1/4 inches... SEVENTY FIFTH percentile!!

What in the world?!?! How have I managed that? We are bringing up a super skinny and super tall son!! Maybe he'll be a basketball player? Thank you. I asked the nurse, "THIRD, as in THREE??" I just didn't expect it to be that low. Some of our family members (if we were betting peeps!) were saying he was probably over 12 pounds by now, so I was really shocked when the scale just read 11 lbs, 12 oz. Dr. Hain is not worried, though. She said Mason is still perfectly healthy, but those long stretches of sleep he is getting during the night is keeping him from eating as much as other babies his age who don't sleep as long during the night.

The shots went okay. About the same as the 2-month shots. This time I was brave enough to hold him down on my own instead of my dad having to do it. Mason would take a "break" between each shot (there were 3 of them) and be okay for a second and would just chill, but then the second the next shot was administered he would scream bloody murder again. It was torture over and over! Poor little thang. He was okay though as soon as Dr. Hain gave him a lollipop and set us on our way. Just kiddin'. No sucker yet. He did look so sad though and his face was all red and his eyes were bloodshot. As soon as we got in the car he went fast asleep. You could tell he didn't feel good the whole rest of the day and just wanted to be with his momma. I just held him and listened to his sweet little whimpers. When Daddy got him, I passed Mason off to him so Mason could also be loved on by Daddy. I was so glad Marc got home from work early that day cuz his son really needed him! We're just blessed that Mason doesn't have a serious reaction to these shots and that we don't even have to give him Tylenol or anything. All he needs is some TLC and he's good to go! :)

Here are some pics of Mason's dramatic day:

Happy as a bug in a rug while sitting in the waiting room playing with Poppa Jack... He had NO idea what he was in for!

He's getting "the face" like he knows that something isn't quite right... Why am I in this strange place and what's about to happen to me??!!!?

Getting measured by the nurse. Mason doesn't mind this part. He just sucks on his hands and stares at himself in the mirror and just chills out half- naked!

It's almost weigh-in time!! Poppa Jack gently placing Mason in the little scale...

I love this one! You can see the weight on the scale! Good idea, nurse, for this picture! I wouldn't have even thought of this idea!

Momma just as proud of her long, skinny boy!! Who cares if he's not as chubby and round as all of his little friends!??!! By kindergarten they'll all be the same! :)

Hangin' out and waiting for Dr. Hain to come in... He was in the best little mood. Of course this was BEFORE shot time!

I love this moment my dad caught of me admiring my sweet little boy!

Dr. Hain was impressed by Masons' strong neck "turtle" skills!! He was showing off! :)

"Poppa Jack study the wallpaper border" time... This has kinda become our little tradition at these dr. appts... My dad walks around the room with Mason in the most serious discussions about the theme of the wallpaper. Thank you.

It's SHOT TIME!! I busted out his Soothie from his newborn days that I save just for times such as these!

He was doing sooo good! I was trying my best to console him!

As soon as he would catch a break in between shots, here would come another one! He couldn't get his breath.

All done, sweet boy!

You can tell that the tears are already dying down some!
Poppa Jack's got you, Mason! Dry those eyes!

Oh okay, we're okay! All ready now for the ride home with our generic band-aids! I couldn't even figure out what the theme of them were this time. Just a bunch of random objects on a band-aid!

Thank you, Poppa Jack, once again for accompanying us to the pediatrician's office! Wow, I cannot believe the next visit will be for Mason's SIX-MONTH check-up!! That is just crazy!!

Another post in the works for big events in Mason's life this week!! :)