Mason's 1st Easter Egg Hunt

Mason did his first egg hunt ever today! We went with our good friends, the Burtons'. The hunt was hosted by a local church, but the entire community was invited. It took place downtown at Circus Square. That is one thing I LOVE about the small-town feeling of Bowling Green; hanging out at the squares. When we first moved here last summer, there were free concerts every Friday night at the squares and I can't wait for them to start back up this summer! This egg hunt was pretty crazy though since there were sooo many people there. They divided it up into age groups, so Mason's group was baby through 2 years old. It was ridiculous because there were this big ole dads carrying around their 2 week old babies and grabbing all these eggs to put in the baby's basket! And then there were sweet little almost-2 year olds like Mason who was actually picking up the eggs THEMSELVES instead of having their parents do it, so they got like 4 eggs! Mason just looked so overwhelmed and confused at all of the commotion going on. So his 1st egg hunt wasn't the most pleasant or stress-free one, but at least it has been a day full of memories! :) Mason loved watching his big buddies Ally & Caroline hunt their eggs! They always keep him thoroughly entertained. And Mason and baby Gracie had the biggest conversations all throughout the day and kept pilferin' in each other's baskets taking each other's eggs. They would hit & shove each other, and 5 seconds later give kisses and share their eggs. Their relationship is filled with the most drama!

God gave us such a sunny, gorgeous day so after the hunt we walked over to Subway and had a little picnic in the square. And bought some banana bread from a little random woman named Rita who set up shop outside of Subway. Thank you. Mason was exhausted after his big day and took the longest nap! Enjoy some pics from our fun day!

Mason & Da Da frantically trying to find some eggs

Mason being sweet and sharing his eggs with Gracie

Trying to find the perfect egg to give his girlfriend

Father/son Diet Coke break.... hmm... much to his mommy's dismay

The guys' just chillin'

Ally & Mason gearing up for the next age group's hunt... Mason was not even a part of that group, but he wanted to do exactly what Ally was doing. He LOVES her so much and always yells her name across the room whenever he first lays eyes on her. And he only says like 2 people's names!

Mason waiting patiently for Ally to open his egg

Silly Caroline gearing up for her egg hunt
Mason actually rather enjoyed his visit with the Easter Bunny! He just looked so content and relaxed and was all staring off into space. I think he could have sat there all day!
My sweet boy working so hard at his egg hunt! This was actually after the real hunt; we just took all the eggs he found and scattered them on the ground around him so that he could think he was finding them for the first time. Thank you.

Scott & Mason so proud of their precious babies

Caroline in action

Look at Ally go with her long blonde ponytail! This hunt was so competitive, but she held her own! We were all cheering them on from the sidelines.

Gracie taking a peek into Mason's basket

Look at how big my little boy looks?!?!?! Oh, he's so handsome! :)

The Burton Family... Steph & Gracie, Trajan, Caroline, Scott, & Ally on the bunny's lap Our little crew walking over to Subway for our picnic

We're excited about next weekend because all 4 of Mason's grandparents will be here to be the audience to his very own personal, customized egg hunt! We're doing it on our backyard and he gets all the eggs to himself! And they're filled with dairy-free candy so he can actually enjoy the contents of the eggs! :) Check back soon for some more pictures from this beautiful Easter season!

Baby Akin has been made!!!!

Woo hoo!!! The miracle soooo many of us have been praying for sooooo long is FINALLY growing in Brooke's belly! It just doesn't seem real! Johnathan & Brooke are some of our best friends who we love so much and they have wanted a baby so badly for a few years. They tried a while to get pregnant, went through some fertility treatments, and finally got pregnant last May after a second IUI (artificial insemination). It turned out to be an ectopic pregnancy and three months later had another failed IUI. She finally looked into acupuncture after hearing the wonderful success stories of some of our friends. They looked to it as one of their last options, and God completely worked through it! In Brooke's third month of acupuncture and taking herbs, she got pregnant! Praise God, that sweet baby is just a' growin' so perfectly!! Brooke is now 13 weeks pregnant and has been feeling great!

Some of B & J's friends from the inner-city church they helped start in Nashville threw them a surprise party tonight and we shocked the daylights out of them by driving in to be there. We met up with Cory, Andrea, Luke, and my parents for dinner at Cracker Barrel then headed on to the party. Everyone is just soooo excited and thrilled for them and we are already dying to meet this miracle child! My mom keeps saying that Brooke needs to go on Oprah to share her journey! Ha! She actually does have a blog that she started back in October talking about her infertility journey and we are so thankful that she now has good news to share on it!! You can find her blog in my list of friends' blogs to the right.

Marc & I met up with the Akins' in Green Hills this past Tuesday night to eat at Cheesecake Factory to celebrate their pregnancy! Here are Mason and his "Uncle" Johnathan strollin' through the mall... We had to keep our mouths SHUT about the party! I had just found out about it that day so I was so afraid I was gonna let it slip!

The surprise party tonight! Eating at CB with my parents & the Brostos'... my parents are always happy to be able to spend time with Mason! They kept him for us while we were at the party.

Andrea & Lukie... he was modeling the new bib Mason had just given him! We have LOVED having this bib for Mason and get the most hilarious comments on on it! Now Luke has his very own!
The mommy- & daddy-to-be!!
Me, Brooke, & Andrea... we are gonna be two PROUD aunties!!

Marc & Johnathan... BFF's!!
Brooke and her sister, Bonni... She and her hubby just moved to Nashville and I know Brooke is so excited to have her sister close by through this journey!
Luke & Johnathan checking out the cool fishies
Johnathan, Cory, & Marc



We love you, Brooke & Johnathan! We cannot wait to meet your precious miracle in October!! I pray that the acupuncture I am now undergoing provides us with a beautiful blessing just like it has for you!

Road Trip to Memphis

Our good friends, Seth, Carrie & Colt Portis are about to move from Memphis to Louisville to start dental school at U of L. We are so excited for them! Andrea and I wanted to go visit them one last time before they move, and before they have their sweet little baby girl, Presley Rae! So, we loaded up our boys and off to Memphis we went last week. Marc was in his last days of studying for a huge test he took this week, so it was a perfect time for Mason and I to get out of his hair! ha ha! :) We had the best time hanging out with Carrie; lots of cooking, eating, catching up, baby talk, and of course watching our 3 boys getting into all sorts of trouble! We get to enjoy all the phases of a 1 year old, almost 2 year old, and 3 year old when we're all together. Always makes for interesting adventures!

Mason's Poppa Jack saw us off... He was helping us get the car seats all situated in Andrea's car in Nashville before we left on our journey. The boys immediately got all situated with their books.

So, Andrea and I were in the biggest conversation during the drive there, and all of a sudden I looked in the backseat and this is what was going on! Thank you. It was the sweetest thing ever. Mason was so happy.

They were really into Mason's Little People flap books! My baby was so sweet to share his books with his friend.

Oh, time to switch!

First meal of the trip. We perched the boys all up for their dinner so we could get busy making some yummy Chicken Spaghetti! I had been craving that for soooo long! Us mommies & Seth ended up not eating til 9:30 though cuz we were chatting and cooking for so long.

Bathtime for Mason while Luke looked on in awe! Mason was telling me in this pic that he wanted to shoot some hoops after his bath.

Love these two diaper butts!
Mason & Colt fitting in a quick game of ball before heading off to bed
First official photoshoot of the trip...
They were just plain silly by this point from exhaustion... especially Mason Thomas, in case you can't tell! He had a big day of getting up early for school, traveling to Nashville to meet up with Andrea & Luke, then continuing on to Memphis, PLUS playing for hours with his buds!
The next mornin: We started our day off early so we could go on a mini-road trip to Tunica, MS to eat at Paula Deen's YUMMY restaurant! We had been looking forward to that for sooooo long! It's all Andrea and I could talk about! Look at how happy and content our boys were all chillin' in the family van!
Just a few hours later (this pic is out of order, but just wanted to show you the "before-Paula Deen's"/"after-Paula Deen's" pictures! :) )

On Paula Deen's "front porch"

The boys almost ate as much as their mommas!!
Stealing away some moments with my sweet baby
What is Mason doing? He is so silly!

Okay, this is hilarious and I almost did not post it but I knew y'all would get a good laugh! I mean, ever since having a baby, my stomach can pooch waaaay out there. It is so funny at how big my belly can get after a good, hearty meal. So, after this meal, I am not even kidding you, it was almost as big as Carrie's 8 1/2 month pregnant belly! Ha! :)

Mason & Colt were up to no good the entire time we were eating! I loved seeing how much fun they were having together.

Mason got to eat the most food off that huge buffet for FREE!!!

Carrie's & my plates... fried green tomatoes, sweet potatoes (the yummiest ones I've EVER had!), mac 'n cheese, fried ocra, carrots, squash casserole, cheese grits, lima beans, peas, green beans, mashed taters & gravy, and last but not least; Paula's amazing cheese biscuits!! Are ya jealous yet?!??!

Is Colt hitting Luke upside the head? Well, whatever he's doing Luke is thoroughly enjoying it!

Mason & Luke are like, "Who in the world is that lady in this picture with us?!?!" They could not keep their eyes off of Paula!! And Colt was like, "C'mon guys, I come here all the time. That's just Paula! She won't hurt ya!"

What is Colt doin' down there? And Mason is the most interested.

Off to the zoo we go!!! I have heard wonderful things about the Memphis Zoo, so I was sooo excited that we were finally getting to go!!! It really was like a big Disney park or something! Here the boys are in front of the geyzers at the Yellowstone Lodge; the newest part of the zoo! We got to watch the Grizzly bears & wolves behind the lodge.

We spent a lot of time staring at the polar bears. They were sooooo huge and cute and would just swim right by us peddling their little hands and feet so quickly. It was a funny sight to see. I LOVE this pic of Luke & Colt!

Mason was too scared to go up to the glass, but he loved sitting on the bench next to me to watch the polar bears from a distance. He was in the most amount of shock.

Still in shock when it came time to visit the flamingoes

Cute group shot! Oh, this was right after a group of high school-lookin' girls said, "That's us in a few years!" a few seconds after walking past us. Thank you. That's what we say now about a Cadillac full of 80 year old women! Do we look like a little group of old women!?!?

My sweet boy would get so scared every time I encouraged him to go up to a fence with the other 2 boys to get a closer look at the animals. He would hold on to me for dear life. Here he is staying close to Auntie Andrea while she explained the zebras to him. Look at Luke being all brave!

Oh my goodness, this panda bear was my favorite part of the day! The zoo was about to close, but Luke & Mason wanted to stop by to see the panda bear on our way out. Thank you. So, it was pretty much just us in that exhibit. That bear just seemed like it wasn't even real though, the way it was acting. He was so cute and would just sit there like a dog or something. Our boys were kinda confused about him I think.

Back at Carrie's after a looooong, but fun day! Present time! Andrea and I gave Baby Presley a little shower of goodies we've been collecting for a while now. We've been finding the cutest stuff at consigment sales, and of course making her some special little creations!

One last night of playing... and the chosen location was in Colt's crib!
Last day of the trip: Time for Colt to say bye to his little friends! We tried to get some pictures on the front porch one last time.

Look at these two big boys!!

This is about the second when Colt and Mason spotted a very intriguing little bug crawling on the ground. They could not keep their eyes off it the rest of the time. Luke could care less though. He was looking at some freshly-planted pretty flowers.

Busy little bees...

"Oh, woooooow!!!" Okay, probably my favorite picture ever!!

We had such a wonderful getaway to visit some people we love so much! It just doesn't seem real that this was the last time to visit the Portis' in Memphis. In just a couple of months we will be making road trips up to Louisville! Can't wait since those are my old stompin' grounds! We love you Seth, Carrie, & Colt and are praying hard for this next, EXCITING, chapter in your lives!