Haynes Family

home

2011-08-18T18:33:00.000-07:00

Right now we have 2 houses one we constantly try to keep clean so someone will want to buy it and one that seems a constant mess as we try to fix it up! I'm really hoping that beginning next week Rick and Ron will be finished with all the hard stuff and we can get in there and begin painting, getting the cabinets in and the floors..... But in the midst of cleaning and working on both houses one thing is for sure the 'home' that we have is still going strong!

Mason still wakes us up when it is exactly a 7 on his clock! I hear a big creak, thump, pitter patter pitter patter as he runs down the hall to touch my shoulder to say "mommy, its a 7 on my cwock" Buzz Lightyear and I proceed down stairs where he bangs the metal folding stool to reach and measure the right amount of coffee for me and daddy then proceeds with his favorite breakfast choice WAFFELS!!! All the while Micah is sound asleep! Once Micah wakes up sometimes he wants to get out of his crib but most days he just laughs, rolls around and doesn't really want you to get him out, but that could be because he knows the FIRST thing we will do is change his diaper (he HATES getting his diaper changed) At breakfast he always asks for "mo milk peas" while tilting his head and flashing a little pout /grin. When he tastes his food he lets you know "mm, tase ood" (yumm tastes good) And if anything gets on his hands while hes eating you'll see him raise his hand and eyebrows to say in a very concerned voice "HAANNS" meaning- oooh I have something on my hand Quick! Get a Napkin! When we ask him most anything his answer will be "yeth" In fact sometimes I ask him a question I know he will say yes to just so I can hear him to say "yeth" However sometimes his answer causes him to wrinkle his eyes and mouth, tilt his head and point his finger as he says " Hmmmmm, dis" or "Hmmmm Yeth" that answer may even be cuter than the simple "yeth" Its also super cute to hear him say "Kaay" When he says it the 'ay' at the end goes up to a higher pitch and he nods his head really quick- hes so happy about it! Hes always been so agreeable, he wants to cooroporate and even in a tough situation, for him, like church nursery, he trys to be so brave and when Chris tells him "Mommy and Daddy wiill be back to get you after you play with your friends" Micah responds with teary eyes and pitiful face and they 'ay' at the end going down a note along with his nodding head "Kaay" For the first time this past Sunday Micah FINALLY seemed to be enjoying himself at church and he turned from his table of toys and swung that little right arm to run as fast as he could to daddy, but this time with a smile vs tears!

During the day Mason has been soo into coloring lately, he will sit and color for an hour at a time easy, paying very close attention to what he should color what, using a mix of crayons and colored pencils. Today he got a set of 3 crayons with a coloring book at a little Stranger Danger meeting we went to and was coloring and needed orange so he just colored lightly yellow and red to make his own orange! I love to see him figure stuff out and look at the pride on his face as he shows me his finished masterpiece! Meanwhile Micah will be off in a corner playing by himself he loves the little people school bus and loves to give his duck a ride, speaking of rides he loves to ride the stick horse we have and says "hosee, hosee" he also likes to pretend Chris is a horse too! When we go to the play set in the back yard Mason loves to pretend he is on the show "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" and enlists all of us as the crew on his ship: He has named himself "Jake", I'm "Izzy" and Micah is "Cubby" We have played this so much that the other day and everyday since then, as soon as we get to the play set Micah lays down pretending some swamp monster or crocodile has hold of his leg trying to pull him down the slide as he screams "JAKE" clear as day Micah says "JAKE" in a very concerned voice too...its the funniest thing too, Mason thinks I'm participating because I just love to sprinkle pixi dust but really its because I love to watch Micah call for "JAKE" he cant say Mason yet but he calls him "Payson" Micah asks "Payson" to play with him all the time, and he wants him to see what hes doing and he wants to do EVERYTHING "Payson" can!

We have so many fun little memories in this house and I love this house so much and I know its going to be a great one for someone else I just really want it to sell so I can be even more excited about the new memories in the new house! SOOO while figuring out the two houses is kinda crazy the kids that make our house a home are keeping me on my toes and are a constant reminder that the best things in life aren't things!

Micah Babe

2011-06-26T16:10:00.001-07:00

Micah babe isnt feeling like much of a baby anymore! He is almost 20 months old but goes right along with whatever his big brother is doing! He asks for a plate for his food- "I pate", climbs up the ladder at the play ground to slide down the tallest slide- "eedy, et, GO!" , counts, loves hide and seek, sings some of his ABC's-its like his brain knows it he just cant get all the letters out, loves to color and draw" uses his manners- "mo mik, peas", Hates going to bed because he's afraid he's going to miss out on something, Loves to hold Pappas bird- "ROosee, I hod Rosie" (and its really so cute to watch him lean his head on his shoulder and point to his arm) Shouts my name "MAMAA" , Runs and swings his little arm as his chubby cheeks shake up and down, Loves to put on his "coks"-crocks, would rather drink from a water bottle or regular cup then a sippy,...the baby is leaving very quick from this kiddo!

Micah got this little name "Micah Babe" from Mason right after he was born, I'm sure he won't keep it forever, especially since he thinks he's soo big! But, tonight I felt like he was still a baby, a moment that is rare these days. Its totally my fault that I just spent the last 30 mins rocking a screaming crying Micah Babe to sleep, (we took him to the raptor center today and he missed his nap, loved the birds but is now over tired and screaming) but, I really didnt mind it at all! He just kept saying, "mamma, daddgee, mamma, daddgee" over and over as little tears streamed down his face, it was so pitiful but as I started to sing Jesus loves me his tears and screams slowed down he stopped saying "mamma, daddgee" and began to just sniff at every other breath but also began to really listen as I sang. I really started to think of the words as well, and found myself holding back tears too. Its amazing what just saying the name of Jesus can do for you and pondering the words: Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so, little ones to him belong they are weak but He is strong! Yes, Jesus loves me, yes Jesus Loves me, Yes Jesus loves me, the Bible tells me so! As I sang and rocked Micah back and forth I found myself praying the song to Micah hoping that just as this simple song was comforting him as I held him that he could always know that he can rest and feel safe in times that he is weak, and he would trust the truth of the Bible that Jesus does love him and that Micah would always know that he is a child of God. And when you think of it, I mean really think of it, in whatever time of trouble all that really matters is that Jesus loves me and I love Him!

Micah is such a caring, tender little boy, even today Mason commented "wow, Micah sure is nice" -Mason said this after Micah had tried to share his push pop with everyone at the raptor center even the birds! Micah IS genuinely nice and kind and tender...something that God put there! I pray God will give me the wisdom to help Micah grow in this gift! And I hope that anytime in life that Micah is in need of comfort or is sad about anything that God would bring the song "Jesus Loves Me" to his mind and that he would be flooded with peace just as he was as I held him a few mins ago!

Lemonade For Sale!

2011-06-18T16:42:00.001-07:00

The house has been on the market for awhile now, or to be exact, 37 days, but who's counting? We've had 6 showings, one of them today, but in efforts to draw more attention to our house we thought it may be good for us to participate in the community yard sale. Chris and I enjoy going to yard sales, drinking our coffee, taking a walk finding something you never knew you needed until you got there...BUT...we really don't like the idea of being the one who's hosting a yard sale. Going through all your stuff you don't want trying to make it appealing to someone else, getting up really early, sitting in the heat while people ask you how much money you want for something ...just seems like alot of work...so we don't really "host" them instead we just clear out everytime we get a call that the Kidney Foundation or Inspire will be in the neighborhood, and we always try to "fill our bag for the vet" that comes in the mail or donate to Goodwill and just make our money at the end of the year when we file taxes...BUT this time I gave in, well sorta. I tried asking Patsy, Kristel or Sheila to bring some stuff over or but it didn't really work out and when Kristel mentioned the idea of letting Mason have a lemonade stand I got really excited!! He made a wonderful sign over at Papas house and I took him by the bank to let him ask for some quarters and when I told him he could sale bottles of water, cups of lemonade, and packs of crackers he knew what he wanted to price them at. One quarter for the lemonade, 2 quarters for the water and $1 for the crackers. When Chris got home last night we had the stand all ready and he and Micah practiced selling to Chris and I. I walked up and handed Mason a dollar bill and told him I wanted a bottle of water and without hesitation he took my dollar and opened his cash register and gave me 2 quarters (Chris and I just looked at each other and both were thinking..."did he really know what he was doing and what the correct change was or was that just by chance") So Chris orders next: "Okay Sir, I'll take one water and one lemonade please" Chris gave Mason his dollar and Mason returned 1 quarter back to Chris! This took us back to him playing uno with us when he was 2...he just really likes numbers- like father like son.

Mason went to bed with No trouble because he wanted to have lots of energy to run his lemonade stand! As soon as we finished breakfast Mason was dressed and started bringing his stand out to the driveway! I had like 5 items in the driveway and by the end of the day had sold 2 but Mason and Micah loved the lemonade stand! Right away, as in any business with a partner, Mason and Micah had to work out some issues: Who was going work the cash register, who was going to get the cups, who was going to use the spout to fill the cups... but once we brought out a cooler of water that Micah could push as often as he wanted instead of spilling the goods that were for sale it was pretty much smooth sailing! Business was slow at first but then it started to pick up as Mason yelled to the top of his lungs, "LEMONADE FOR SALE, NICE FRESH LEMONADE" anytime a car would drive by he'd wave and shout as loud as he could, Micah was quick to catch on as well and he began to shout too but his words weren't quite as clear as Masons :) The boys had people say they came because they heard them 8 houses down and figured this must be some good stuff! Chris and I were just sitting in our folding chairs smiling agreeing that we could not think of a better way to spend our Saturday morning!

Nicholas arrived on the scene with some more variety of things to sell! Passion Punch, Suckers, and Pirate Treasure (little bags of rocks and shells) So now we had Mason and Micah, Nicholas and Mary Kaylin and all the kids had a sucker and all the lemonade and passion punch they wanted because everyone agreed that if you work there you get everything for free :) They had lots of neighbors come by, shoppers, and even a visit from their buddy Ben! Nicholas was very excited to have Benjamin as his first "costume" (customer) Mason asked Ben to take over for him while he and Mary Kaylin went into the kitchen to mix up some more lemonade but before going in he gave Ben some detailed training! It was very cute, ...I just actually LOL as I think back on it!

The kids had fun, Mason ended up making well over $10, which he said he was going to save-again, like father like son, and I will NEVER pass up another lemonade stand EVER!

its never too late

2011-06-16T17:50:00.000-07:00

So its been almost a year since my last blog post and I find myself often thinking...I really wish I blogged or was writing this stuff down, but then I think, "OH its been too long there is too much to say" But alas, I'm gonna try this again!

And I'm not sure where to begin, I guess with this week! This has been a busy week Mason started his first VBS of the summer (as of now hes going to be attending 3) He LOVES LOVES LOVES it! Hes been telling me all about how Saul was a bad guy who put people in prison that believed in Jesus and he was blind and couldn't see but he was walking down a road and they prayed for him and the scales came off of his eyes and Jesus made his heart soft and Saul became Paul and now hes a preacher for Jesus! Its also fun because he has "friends" that are family in his group: Olivia, Ben, and Nigel! All of us moms were pregnant together and its crazy that they are all getting close to FIVE years old!!

I have been looking forward to the extra one on one time with Micah while Mason plays at VBS but Micah, who is usually the happiest baby alive, hasn't been him self...I honestly think he misses Mason...this whole time that hes had separation anxiety at church and the gym, I've been thinking its because of me...but maybe its because hes not with his brother? That kid is 19 months going on 5 yrs old, he thinks he is a big kid! We went to the pool this week with friends who have kiddos that are even older then Micah who were holding moms hand, unsure of the water or the slide or the waterfall that gets in your eyes as you slide down the slide...where was Micah? Holding my hand? NO NO NO, he was barely able to walk steadily in the pool making his way to the steps to slide down the waterfall slide just like the big kids, clapping and laughing proudly at himself that he too can "do it" I really feel like I no longer have a baby, hes official toddler material, trying to be a big kid too quick.

After dropping Mason off at VBS today I met Christy at Granite Depot to pick out some choices for our new kitchen in our new house on Woodcroft Drive!!! Talk about a tough decision!! There are so many choices and the light in the warehouse is horrible I was so thankful to have someone with me who had already done that and could kinda walk me through that, then I spent the rest of the afternoon calling places trying to get some quotes on what I had picked out! But thats nothing...Chris is really doing all of the work! We work so well together, I pick stuff out and he negotiates all the details and fine print stuff and he is really good at making decisions so that's wonderful for me! Then once we get the stuff I go back to doing my part! We close on the house JUNE 30th its going to be here SOOO SOON and along with it the work! But I am soo looking forward to it! I know its going to have its ups and downs but Chris and I are excited about having a project we are both working on together! Its so fun at night instead of us doing our own thing or watching a random nothing on TV, or surfing nothing on the computer to be thinking and planning and dreaming of plans for our new house, that we are planning on being our forever house. And today I had my first experience working with cement for a craft with the boys so if we need any cement at the new house add that to the list of things I can try to work with!

Okay...I think that was a good start at "getting back to blogging" it really is Never Too Late to record memories of your growing family...even if its only once in a while I need to check in!

ball fields here we come

2010-08-12T17:09:00.001-07:00

I knew with two boys eventually the day would come when we would begin preparing for spending our weekends outside at some sort of ball field. What I wasn't prepared for is how excited I would be to have that day arrive! Earlier in the summer me and the girls I was pregnant with (Tamara, Patsy, and Sheila) had began discussing various options for soccer and sadly I had kinda given up hope that we would be starting this new adventure this year because after calling around trying to see if anyone would make an exception to the rule that says, "Participant must be 4 years old by September 1st" and receiving a "no" I was reminded that this is a good opportunity for me to remember that all rules apply to everyone, even my child! But when I received an email back from the rec center saying that it would be okay for him to play I was soo excited that this time the rule didn't apply! Mason and Micah were napping and I read the email and said (out loud) OH YEAH...then I reminded myself that it was quiet time and I should be careful not to wake the boys :D Right away I called the rec center staff and signed Mason up over the phone and asked if they had room for his cousin Nicholas...and YES they did! I was sad that we wouldn't have a team of lots of people we knew because I know it would have been a BLAST to watch Mason, Nicholas, Benjamin, Nigel and Olivia all running around playing soccer together for the first time...but I am overjoyed that Nicholas moved to Charlotte just in time and that I get to watch he and Mason play soccer for the first time together!

When I let Mason in on the news that he was going to get to play soccer you should have seen his cute little face his mouth wrinkled up, his eyes darted to the right and he raised his eyebrows then said "You mean for real"? When I said, "yes, for real" He jumped up and down, squealed, ran around in circles and fell on the ground! He went on to talk about watching his cousin Owen play soccer then came the thousand questions: "Mommy, will Owen be on my team?, Will I sit on a bench?, Who will be my coach?, Will I get to be the goalie?, will I wear a uniform, What color will my team be?...some more running in circles followed by squeals and falling on the ground! What an awesome feeling to watch your child get so excited to finally be able to do something hes been waiting to be "old enough" to do.

Earlier today Sheila brought Owens old Soccer shoes, shin guards and soccer socks by for Mason...as soon as we walked in from her car Mason wanted to try on his new gear and go outside and practice soccer...he called the shin guards hard hats for your legs, pretty creative idea if I do say so myself! Tonight was the 'Parent Meeting'...I made the mistake of telling Mason that there was a parent meeting for SOCCER (all he heard was soccer and that's all he talked about ALL DAY, I must have told him like 20 times that there wasn't a game or a practice but just a meeting and that he wouldn't be playing tonight...I didn't want to stifle his excitement but...uggh... I learned to NOT tell him until we are on our way! During the parent meeting Kristel wrote me a note saying "we are officially "Soccer Moms"...how fun to be sharing that with her! And we will be the BEST SOCCER MOMS EVER!! I just need to get a tripod and some extra memory cards for the camera!

Once we got home Mason wanted to show his new gear to Chris and go outside and play soccer, so I guess he did get to play soccer tonight after all. As we were playing with him Chris and I looked at each other and gave the fake cry and said, "Oh hes getting too big too fast" But even though its sad that he is growing up its so much fun too! I hope that he learns how to have great interaction with teammates, determination, perseverance, grace, compassion, what it means to not be selfish, or prideful and I hope he has fun, I hope he likes it, I hope hes really good at it, I hope he wont get hurt, I am sure he will I just hope I have the right words to say and that Mason will discover that anything he dose he can do because the Lord has given him the talent and ability to do it!

Ready or not rec center here comes our 3 1/2 year old to play in the youth 4-6 year old league!

Milestones

2010-08-08T17:13:00.000-07:00

To infinity and beyond! So it seems that the boys are making great strides to meet and complete their age appropriate milestones...who, I wonder, even came up with this idea, that children at a certain age should be able to do ________...in many cases this has caused me to rush to the Internet to surf that specific topic and gather information from other moms who've already helped their child to meet whatever milestone and try to put into practice their advice mixed with my own opinions and then often times I end up letting it go and that's when they accomplish the task! Last year almost to the week, Mason was day potty trained but still needed pull ups for night time. Recently I had begun my Internet research on how to night train your child...well, I've come to realize you cannot "make" someone know how to wake up to pee...they just have to figure that out! But after talking to a mom friend and hearing her idea of keeping track of how many nights her little girl was "dry" with a sticker I decided to give it a try!

We went shopping for Benjamin's birthday gift and Mason wanted all of the Buzz Lightyear stuff too, so I told them that maybe we could take him back to Target to get the toy he wanted once his pullups were dry in the mornings for several days in a row...so we began tracking with stickers and day after day he woke up in the night, (sometimes crying for help, but still waking up wanting to go to the toilet vs the pull up) to pee and in the mornings he was dry! So today was like 9 days in a row so we took a family trip to target and he picked out his toy and Chris just put him to bed with NO pull up...we will see how it goes...maybe I should go to sleep early tonight in case I'm changing sheets in the middle of the night?

Micah is reaching his own milestones as well...He now mainly eats the family meal with an occasional baby food mixed with cereal. He still has no teeth at a little over 9 months old, but hes really good at gumming food! Hes eating toast, soft fruit, turkey loaf, meat loaf, puffs, Cheerios...in fact if you do spoon feed him you have to sneak the spoon in between him feeding himself! Even though hes still a little on the skinny side, he eats a lot! I'm really working on using the "more" sign, but for now banging on the highchair tray is getting him more food!

BUT not for long....This weekend Micah also started clapping...which is basically the sign for "more" Its so cute you can just tell him, "clap Micah" and he'll do it. He and I have actually had some time to play alone, with out his eager big brother, and I sadly realized that I've not been playing as much with him as I did with Mason...I mean we all play together but I guess by 9 months with Mason I was already expecting that he could do a lot, or maybe I was over eager for him to reach all of his "milestones" that I watched closer to see everything he could do? Micah can do plenty! He loves to play "where's Micah" by putting a blanket over his head and pulling it off, he's making great crawling steps reaching and getting one knee under him and ALMOST will crawl! I'm trying really hard to divide my time equally between them and also trying not to compare the two either because, they are both cut from different molds and they are both developing right on time! So there are many more milestones that I'm sure they "should" be able to do and maybe some they are doing that they "shouldn't" be able to do yet...but I'm not paying as close attention so I guess I'll find out at their next doctors visits...and I'm okay with that!

Big Brother and Little Brother

2010-07-05T09:55:00.000-07:00

These boys are brothers that's for sure! And they know their rolls very well! Micah is such a good little brother and Mason is a wonderful big brother too! Micah deals with Mason pulling on his fingers taking a toy that hes chewing on out of his mouth, being welcomed from sleep with a boisterous "hello wittle buddy, did you have a good sleep? Did ya, did ya hunh?" Micah, for the most part, is so kind to this somewhat rude awakening by answering Mason with a few quick blinks of his eyes and an immediate smile! Mason LOVES to see Micah and has created several nick names for him that he says with his teeth clinched tight (that's Masons new, excited habit...clinching his teeth, sometimes grinding them = nails on a chalk board for me!): "Little Buddy" "Little Honey" "Babe" "Babes" "Big Guy" and I feel like I'm forgetting one....oh well, it will come to me sometime when I'm away from the computer. Pictured below is a typical moment for the life of Micah and Mason...we were camping and Mason was "helping" set up the tent, while Micah just watched contently from the stroller...Mason realized that Micah was in the stroller and said "aww Wittle buddy can't help" Micah thrilled that Mason came to pay him some attention Laughed out loud! Mason LOVES to make Micah laugh and he will sometimes get carried away in his efforts to make Micah laugh that we have to remind him to be "EASY" which he responds to with, "but hes waffing" (in case you haven't noticed, Mason has replaced the Y for W sounds when hes using any word with an L) Mason is so cute though, he will let Micah pull on his ears, his hair, pinch his face,...anything for a laugh or to make Micah happy. Here it is in action. Micah torturing Mason....and Micah's the one strapped in?? For the first time the other day the boys were in one of these positions and Mason said, "Ouch Micah, don't do that" And I had to gently remind Mason that he may not want to put his head between Micahs hands if he didn't want to get pinched or scratched or pulled on!

Micah LOVEs that he can sit up so well now! And he tries to get to Mason anyway he can! He scoots on his bottom and will reach to an almost crawl position but wont crawl, or doesn't really have the chance or need too because Mason will see what Micah wants and say, "here you go wittle honey" Its so sweet to watch them. I just pray the sweetness continues! I'm seeing little glimpses of Mason having to learn what it means to not be selfish, have patience, be kind, not be greedy, ...and I love it when he makes a hard choice and considers his brother before himself...on his own, that the character trait, we pray for!

Micah watches Mason do everything and kicks his legs, waves his arms and grunts to be where ever Mason is. Micah was so excited to get to be on top of the playground equipment and Mason wanted to be sure to let me know that he would watch out for "babes" and keep him safe.

Here again Mason has his hand behind Micah to protect him from the step, and Micah LOVES that hes doing what Mason is! The two of them have started this little thing while Micah gets his diaper changed, they start making a "aaaahhhhh or oooohhhhh" sound together and they do it till they run out of breath then both start laughing! Its so cute! I love it! Micah is trying so hard to communicate with him!

I was trying to be a "good mom" and make it fair for them both so I thought Micah would LOVE his little turtle pool to splash in while Mason ran and jumped in the splash mat...And he did love it... while Mason was in it with him...but once I had the splash mat set up for Mason Micah wasn't so happy that he couldn't do the splash mat too! Poor Baby!

Mason tried to make Micah happy by saying, "its okay babes, you can just watch me!, Its still fun to play out here"...Mason said that directed to me and I totally understood what he was thinking..."oh, I hope shes not going to make me go back inside because Micah is crying"

In the end, Micah quit crying and did enjoy watching Mason splash and jump, but he still had a very sad face, a face longing to be "big". Oh the joys of parenting. The stress you put on yourself to "be fair or even" When in reality, its okay for them to learn the lessons of considering others better than yourself, to have to wait and watch and be patiently joyful at the sight of your sibling enjoying something even if you can't. If we could figure out how to help these boys understand how to not be prideful, but respectful, how to not be jealous but instead grateful and most importantly how to love each other more than themselves we will be teaching them life lessons! And if ONLY I could keep this idea of parenting in the forefront of my mind as well! Like today when we were having a nice little picnic in the shade and Mason and Chris were playing soccer in the shade but Micah was sad and wanted to go home for a nap...I was wishing that we would have driven separately so that Chris and Mason could continue playing and Micah could go home to sleep. But we didn't have to cars so we all packed up and left. Mason was sad to leave, but not out of control, and I was able to tell him that we love the park and playing soccer but we love Micah too and right now we needed to think of Micah...and Mason understood! Why do we think our kids wont understand things like that? Why don't I make more of an effort to just really explain the truth of why I'm doing something? I'm really gonna work on it! And I'm sure I'll have lots of practice with these two! If Only Mason knew the reality of how much, already, that Micah is watching! I hope they always wanna be together!

Lesson Learned

2010-05-28T09:56:00.000-07:00

Its Friday of Memorial Day weekend...gotta love holiday weekends...Chris should be home early...I hope!

This seems like the first moment I've stopped since we came back from vacation. I had enjoyed blogging so much that I had planned to keep it going when I came back but cleaning, cooking, playing, feeding,...LIFE and reality...took over. Alas, here I am while Mason has "quiet time" (which sounds alot like regular play time, only he stays in his room or the bonus room and talks to his toys vs. me) And Micah is taking his second nap.

This week I've had some first time moments twice in the same week. The first first was coming home from my parents house... Behind my seat two little feet started kicking and his little mouth started chattering faster and faster, that's what he dose when he needs to go but really doesn't want to stop playing...I began the conversation in my head, " I mean really...NOW?, will he be able to hold it? Maybe if I don't say anything he will continue to ignore what his body is trying to tell him and keep coping with chatter and fidgeting, on the other hand if he cant ...wow... what a mess!" SO I said the words with a scowl of hope on my face, "Mason do you need to go potty?" He responded, not with his usual "no, not at all" But, with a desperate plea for help, "YES, Mommy really, really bad! But we don't have a potty in the car"...So I told him the only thing we could do is make it home or go behind a bush or tree and he said, "Well I guess we are going to have to go behind a bush or tree then" So even though we were only about 3 mins from the house I pulled the car over, he quickly got out, relieved himself and upon returning to the car said, "Sorry to make you wait Micah, I just had to go Really Bad!"

So you think I would have learned my lesson...make the kid try to go before you get in the car. Yesterday, we went to visit Grammy and as I was putting Masons shoes on he let out some gas...
Me- "Do you think you might have some poopy?"
Mason- "Not at all, just gas"
Me- (conversation in my head) "maybe I should make him try, I've already used the extra shorts we had in the bag because of the cake he sat in, and we have a long ride back and if he needs to poop there's not a chance he'll take a nap in the car"

I didn't feel like the battle so we got in the car...and he began his chatter,I was wishing I would have chosen the battle... this time we found a gas station and even though we were in the car like an hour he didn't fall asleep until we were pulling into the neighborhood. So Micah nursed in the car and Mason ended up napping in the garage for an hour. Lesson Learned, even if there is a battle...always try before you get in the car!

ITS OVER...BOOHOO

2010-05-22T18:13:00.000-07:00

The first Haynes Family Vacation is officially seeing its last day! I’m actually sitting in the car typing in Word, hoping that I will be able to just copy and paste this into the blog. This morning we began our day at 6:54 when Micah cried from his pack n play that we had set up in our bathroom…we put him in there so he could sleep and we could sleep and he did great sleeping this week! In fact, we are gonna try to find some kind of room darkening shades for both of the boys rooms. Packing up to go home is never as fun as packing to leave for your trip…but we somehow managed to have plenty of room again for all of our stuff…however I do need to keep looking up at the cartop carrier to make sure it dosent fly open (we lost our bungee cord driving down the road, I’m sure we will stop to get another one) Right now Micah is snoozing, clutching his little yellow duck that really needs a bath while sucking his clear paci, which by the way is a horrible invention…if that thing falls on the ground its extremely difficult to find, and Mason is watching his DVD of Curious George, and its quite fun to watch Mason watch anything on tv…he makes the most hilarious facial expressions, sometimes laughs or even talks back to the show as if he is actually in the movie…he gets so wrapped up in it! Chris is just driving…there are no sounds really loud, just the “white noise” of the tires on the road. As I sit listening to the tires drive on the road I’m trying to go back through the week and think of the memories we made and they are so fresh in my mind that I can even hear sounds with the images that I see. I Loved how Mason and Micah responded to their first look at the ocean…the sound of the wind is so strong that it causes you to take a deep breath and squint your eyes. I love how Micah started to kick his legs every time he’d see the ocean and flash one of his wide silent- laugh smiles. I guess its safe to say that we all loved our beach experience! We are discovering that from now on what vacations will consist of is trying our best to provide opportunities for our boys to have the most fun possible. Doing things we know they will smile and laugh at…thankfully the giant sandbox we had in our backyard was a hit! We had awesome weather and our beach tent was another great investment for the Haynes family! We had one day where our tent was in the middle of two families. To our left was a Brazilian family and there was a little five year old boy that Mason mustered up the courage to ask if he wanted to come play with him…the boy was very excited to have some new toys to play with and so was Mason…the boy built a castle while Mason played with his new friends trucks. Not much time went by when the boy to the right, Conner, 2 yrs old, came to play too. Chris and I looked at each other as we were now able to relax in our chairs and look at the ocean and said, “well we always say we want our house to be the fun house that the kids wanna come play at” and that day it was! Vacation or not, I hope that Mason and Micah will always want to be with us the way we want to be with them, that other friends that they have will also want to be with us, that we will be the “fun” family with the “cool” parents! I’m not sure where next years vacation will take us but I am certain that it will be something that I look forward to every year. An opportunity to get away as a family and focus on each other and just enjoy spending time together!
As the trip home has progressed we have had to make several stops…not for the nursing 6 month old, not for the 3 year old needing to go potty, not for gas or coffee…for that lovely broken car top carrier that caused us to sing the theme song of Samford and Son! Two stops …no bungees or rope or tie downs, third stop a bungee but not as big as we needed, fourth stop to adjust the bungee, 5th stop to adjust the bungee, 6th stop duck tape and Chris was pleased to take my advice since I had “more redneck experience” He’s right I had thought about using duck tape back at stop 2 but figured he must be trying to think ahead and want bungees or tie downs so we could reuse them or something? We laughed as I looked back at my child hood and could recall the use of duck tape on just about anything! And the many “redneck” moments too. Oh the fun and wonder what our boys will laugh at us about? Redneck or not, the duck tape held, we made it home. Back to life back to reality…go ahead, sing it out loud…you know you want to!

Day 5

2010-05-22T17:54:00.000-07:00

Our LAST full day on Vacation started with Mason and I going down to the pool. We played in the tree that had concrete birds spitting water on us, warmed up in the hot spa, climbed in the mouth of the “hipomumpotamus”, warmed up in the hot spa, Mason practiced jumping in to my arms without wearing his Spiderman Water Wings, we warmed up in the hot spa…and repeated this several times until Daddy and Micah came down to join us. Then Chris and I did the parent swap and he and Mason went down the big green water slide probably like 50 times (I’m not exaggerating) while I did one of my most favorite things about vacation. I know you’re probably thinking, “hmm…what was her favorite part? Laying out? Taking a nap? Going for a run?”...no, rocking Micah to sleep. He would barely start to let out his sounds of crank and I’d pick him up, give him his paci, place him in my left arm, hold him close, say “shh” and he’d be OUT, in that same position for like 30 to 45 mins. I don’t usually get the opportunity to hold Micah that long in such a peaceful state, I loved it…going into family vacation I wouldn’t have thought that I would have said that would have been my favorite part, but it was, I just know he is going to be too big for me to hold like that so soon and I am really going to miss how cuddly he is.

After the pool time we went up to the room to clean out the fridge for lunch, showered and headed back to Alligator Adventure for our “Free 2nd Day Pass” Then we went back to the great park where Mason flew the air plane/rocket, and Micah had some daddy time and a little swing in the swing. We brought some popcorn for the ducks but they didn’t like it. Whoever invented parks must have had family time in mind too! I love parks, especially this one with HUGE shade trees, a pond, walking trail, toddler playground area and an older kid play area with the foam floor (a mother probably invented the foam ground cover) After the park we found some yummy Japanese Hibachi then headed back to the ocean for our last trip to the water.
We took the popcorn the ducks didn’t like and hoped that there would be some seagulls or some kind of bird that would want to eat some but I wasn’t too worried that the popcorn would go to waste because with every throw of popcorn Mason ate some for himself too! I had hoped this last little trip to the ocean would be really enjoyable for all of us but Micah was really sleepy so I quickly took some of my favorite pictures of the weekend of Mason running alongside the ocean, the sun was at the most perfect spot to cast a reflection so it looked as if he was walking on water. After he was done feeding the birds he just decided to take a little seat in the ocean and let the waves wash over him one last time. I smiled as I took pictures and looked back up to where Chris was holding Micah and I wished so badly that Micah would have been in a better mood because I would have loved for Micah to share that same moment with Mason (plus I really would have liked those pictures) but …sigh…I’ll keep my little Micah as long as I can. Once again Chris and I did the parent swap and He and Mason stayed behind to build one last castle and I whispered in Micah’s ear, “its okay buddy, momma’s here, and I don’t want you to ever grow up!” Then he grabbed my face and gave me the most wonderful slobbery kiss ever! Really I do want him to grow up but he is just sooo sweet, I just LOVE to hold him.
After the boys went to bed Chris and I finished off our ice cream and decided that once vacation was over we HAD to get back to eating right and exercising!

Day 3

2010-05-19T17:42:00.000-07:00

Cover me up Mommy! Mason asked to be covered up in the sand today...this was as far as he wanted to be covered though.

Micah had no trouble napping on the beach!

I wish I had my external drive with me because we have a picture of Mason wearing the exact same thing sitting in the bumbo...I Really want to compare the two...they look so much the same but so different too!

Best investment EVER was a tent for the beach...However, with two boys I'm sure we will put it to use at some ball fields too!

Today, day 3, was another great day for the Haynes Family Vacation! Beach, naps, Outback, Wendy's for Ice Cream, park, hide n seek, bed! The beach weather is perfect! Micah is doing great and Mason had an extra cooperative day. We love it when he has days like this they give us the proud parent faces, you know the kind, when you look at your kid, smile with your eyes and grin...that face often is accompanied by a glance at your spouse and a glance back at your kid, followed with... sigh...,"we have such a good little boy." We had lots of those moments today. My favorite was when Chris was giving Mason the choice of going to get vanilla ice cream at Chick fila and playing in their play place or going to an ice cream shop for chocolate ice cream (his favorite)

Mason-"How about chocowate ice cream in a cone ...they dont have that at Chick Fila so wets try to find somewhere that has chocowate ice cream in a cone."

He had been so good all day so we were really excited to be able to get the boy some chocolate ice cream in a cone.

Chris- "okay Mason we will keep driving and looking for somewhere that might have chocolate ice cream in a cone"

Mason- "Its okay daddy wif you cant find some chocowate ice cream in a cone we can just go back to chick fila"

Chris and Mandy- Proud parent face, sigh, we have such a sweet little boy!

We ended up at Wendy's for a chocolate frosty in a cup and then a visit to the great park near the O.D. Pavilion where Mason loved playing, and Micah fell asleep in my arms and then Mason said "I wove vacation, its fun on vacation" This is the perfect family vacation spot!

I'm looking forward to tomorrow.

Pool, Pier and Problem Solving

2010-05-18T17:13:00.000-07:00

POOL: The pool has a lazy river, hot tub, covered shaded splash play area, heated pool and a spa pool. Did I mention that Chris is really GREAT at planning trips? Chris and Mason played in the pool after the beach and Micah and I laid on the pool chairs in the shade. Mason had a blast and Micah and I did too! Micah just kicked his feet and looked up at the fake leaves on a really lame looking fake palm tree swaying in the room and started babbling new sounds...its so fun to watch Micah growing and changing and its fulfilling to see Mason eager to try new things and I just love watching him play and smile and laugh... if that's what vacation is about... having fun... then Mason has got that part down!

Here he is looking up at the lame tree (I say lame because I know my dad could make some really awesome looking palm trees) He didn't mind or maybe that's what the new sounds were? After Beach and pool time we headed up for some quiet time. Mason watched a little Barney and Dinosaur Train, Micah and I napped and Chris had some afternoon coffee...I love vacation! Then we decided to take a walk on the Cherry Grove Pier.

PIER: Mason was very excited about walking out on the pier he started his walk to the end and you know hes really enjoying himself when he starts swinging his little arms, its so cute and always brings a smile to my face to watch him! So, the arms started swinging, his mouth had a grin and he was off to the end of the pier! Chris and I were enjoying the walk and we tried, like most parents do when you're giving your child a new experience, to point things out like..."Look, there are surfers" (who knew you could surf at Myrtle Beach?) Mason wasn't too impressed with the surfers he just started looking around for something to throw into the ocean...he reached down and pulled up a little piece of the pier and threw it in! We said, "Ooh watch, that man caught a fish!" Mason responded with, "what man" I knew the fisherman could hear me but I was at a loss for how to describe to Mason the man because all that was coming to my mind was "the fat old man with gray hair and a pony tail right over there yanking on his fishing pole, I bet its a big fish, oh but what if it isn't and I hurt the mans feelings" ...that would never do so I just kept pointing and let Chris come up with a description, "the fisherman"...Mason wasn't impressed with the fisherman either, he just said, "that's a little fish"..."GREAT" I thought...lets hurry and get to the end of the pier. We made it to the end and suddenly the pier became Masons ship out in the water! Mason and I went up on the top of the ship and Micah and Chris stayed below....(I love the pictures that Chris took of Mason and I) Chris then became Masons Capetian and I picked Micah up and rocked him to sleep and the two of us stayed in that position, Micah sleeping in my arms, for the next 40 mins! So glad we made it to the pier! ILVDIT!

PROBLEM SOLVING: After returning from the pier we (well, Chris, Micah and Myself) ate dinner. After dinner we took a family walk to the grocery store. While there Mason picked out some Cheez-its. When we got back the problem solving began...or maybe I should say, the negotiating. Its amazing what a kid will do for something he wants. Chris wanted Mason to eat his dinner, Mason wanted some Cheez-its. When I came into the room Mason had already eaten his carrots, and noodles all that was left was his meat. Mason said, "Daddy, how many bites of meat...3?" Chris said, "Sure, you've eaten most of your food" So Mason ate the bites and I gave him a little baggie of like 4 Cheez-its to which Mason said he wanted more cheezits. Chris said, "How about that for every bite of meat you eat, I'll put a cheez it in your baggie" SO, Mason started eating and eating, suddenly the meat must have miraculously tasted good to Mason or maybe he just so desperately wanted more Cheez its in his bag that he would do anything? He ate his meat, his dinner plate was empty and the bag of Cheez its was full. Mason said, "wow, look at all my Cheez its!" To which Chris responded, "if you're too full from eating all your meat you can just save your cheez its for tomorrow" Mason thought that was a perfect plan and in the end they both had what they wanted. Chris got Mason to eat his meat and Mason got a full baggie of Chees-its! Actually I guess Chris really "won" because we didn't really want Mason to eat a bunch of Cheez its anyway. Wonder how many times my parents "won" when I thought I had "won"???

The Ocean

2010-05-18T16:28:00.000-07:00

Before we left for the beach we made a Wal-Mart run (Mason thought we said Lawn-Mart) we let him pick out some sand toys and when I got down to the beach this morning with Micah I was glad to see that Chris and Mason had put the toys to good use! You gotta love the beach for kids, especially Mason...he loves dirt and sand and unfortunately, most times he wants to put his hands in the dirt are not times that I want him to. For example, every time I go to Gateway to teach music he reaches his hands down to pick up the dirt that is still left from their new construction and runs it through his fingers. The first night we were here and were on our way in to eat at a restaurant, as soon as we got out of the car he reached down and put his hands in the dirt...yuck... when we leave church by the sidewalk is a place where no grass is growing so Mason has to reach down and rub his little hands in the dirt. Each time he does it my eyes roll and my face squishes in disgust...but really why does this bother me so badly? After all its just dirt. Today he LOVED having so much sand to dig in!

A high pitched squeal followed by lots of laughs and an occasional roar is what I heard as Chris lifted Mason over the crashing waves. The waves are so strong and could probably knock Mason down but he wasn't afraid of them at all. But why should he have been, he knew his daddy wouldn't let the waves knock him down, instead Mason seemed to feel as if he was a champion of the waves!

Micah is the happiest, most easy going baby ever! He woke up this morning and I put him back down for an early nap before we went out to the beach. We were on the beach and he loved it LOVED IT! He'd laugh, babble play with his toes and the little mesh bag the sand toys came in. And whoever invented the Bumbo was a genius! A great little chair that you can take in the sand in the ocean on your table...wherever! When we noticed he was a little sleepy looking Chris just held him and he drifted right off to sleep for another nap in his daddy's arms. When he woke up he ate some sweet potatoes and just sat and played with a little tag from one of the toys...he is so happy! He might be one of the easiest babies ever!

My dad used to always make cars out of the sand for us so in honor of him Mason and I made two cars out of the sand! So these cars are for you dad!

Momma Lemar

2010-05-18T06:23:00.000-07:00

I've said it before and I'll say it again...One of the most miraculous things about life to me is how God created a mother with the ability to be a child's life line through milk for an entire year and in other places longer than that if needed. Yesterday at alligator adventures we had the chance to watch a mother Lemar nurse her tiny infant...it was so miraculous and human like too! God is so awesome to create nutrition especially designed for the offspring of a mother so that she can sustain her baby. The Lemar mother was just sitting there holding her infant looking around and at one point she looked down and seemed to give her baby a little kiss and looked back up. In that moment I connected with that Lemar for I've done that same thing many times while nursing. She would stroke his little head and he would pull off and look around then nestle back close to his mothers chest as she held him close. Then came another lamer with what looked more like the toddler hanging on his back and again I connected, this "toddler Lemar" was hanging on the back of his parent. He still needed him but not like the infant did. As I photographed these animals and watched their little family I thought about my little family, how Micah is surviving on my milk, being comforted by our kisses and touch and how Mason is hanging on to our every move and we are showing him the world and how to respond and react to each and every situation. I just pray that as our boys begin to grow and need us less and less to survive that they will somehow gain the wisdom and knowledge they need to not only survive, but to thrive and become men that will know how to be kind and care for other people just like this little momma Lemar is caring for her infant! And as tiresome as it can be trying to be the best model for them, in the moments we wish they weren't "on our backs" I pray that Chris and I will have the wisdom and knowledge to know how to parent: Care for them, love them, discipline them, and train them in the way they should go so when they are older they will not depart from the love they know God has for them. So while Micah needs me in his life to be his "lifeline" of nutrition I hope that just as I am sustaining him that he and Mason will learn to be fully alive and sustained in Christ! That at an early age they will come to know how miraculous Jesus Christ and his Love for them is and that they will have moments like I had where they can connect with something else in creation and it will bring them back to God and his AWESOMENESS!

Alligator Adventures

2010-05-17T16:40:00.000-07:00

When we woke up this morning the plan was to go to the beach so we ate, lathered up in sunscreen and got our sand toys and headed down to the ocean. At first we were thrilled that it was overcast that way we could play and not be too hot...well when we got to the beach we were the only ones on the beach other than a couple of runners and some elderly people...I thought, "hmmm, maybe everyone else is thinking that the possibility of rain is going to be stronger than I did?" None the less we spread out our sheet, opened our bag of sand toys and just as we were filling our first bucket of sand Chris felt the first drop..."its just a drizzle" I said. Mason didn't mind and Micah didn't either but the drop turned into a steady drizzle and I didn't think Micah was gonna care for it if it got too much stronger so Micah and I headed back in for some R&R and Chris and Mason stayed building castles on the sand in the rain... right before I turned the corner to head back up to our room I looked over my shoulder and all I could see on the huge beach was Chris and Mason looking so small sitting right beside each other building castles and the sky was dark but right above them the clouds were broken with a little light peaking through as if God had cleared the morning just for the two of them. No one else seemed to be around just Chris and his little boy building Castles in the Rain! What a great daddy Mason has!

A rainy day for the beach called for Alligator Adventures! Of all the times I've been to the beach I've never been here...SOO many alligators and reptiles, my dad would have been in heaven.

I'm not really sure why they called it Alligator Adventures...in reality all the alligators seemed to do was just lay there, so still, resting for their opportunity to attack I guess? But I have never seen so many alligators and turtles. Big and little alligators and turtles. And how is it possible they can be soo huge and just float on the water? They had a house full of snakes I knew before today that I wasnt too fond of snakes but I discovered today that I have a fear of snakes. It was all I could do to keep my fear hidden from Mason when we were in the house of snakes. In the house of Lizards I saw my first legless lizard...looked like a snake with a lizard head.

Before I took this picture Mason was nervous that Chris was going to drop him into the gate with the gators.

We watched two shows. The first was the alligator feed and the second was meet some reptiles. We sat on the front row as the lady gave us some facts about a blue tounged skink lizard, a python (which Mason informed me will "Squeeezzzzeee you Mommy") and a 3 year old alligator whos mouth she had to tape shut with electrial tape to keep it from biting her and us. The lizard I was okay with the python I didnt want to hardly even look at and at the end of her talk she sat the alligator whos tail was slapping her hard on the back and looking for his opportunity to attack on the ground infront of Micah and he jumped and I jumped...the crazy instinct to protect your child came over me and I was fully prepared to attack that alligator...thankfully the guide realized my fear, called me out infront of everyone and moved the alligator over to the other side....on that note our alligator adventure was over...but we can if we wish, return for a second day free! I really did enjoy the place just feel more comfortable with seeing the animals from a distance behind glass or in a cage...far away from my baby.

First Haynes Family Vacation

2010-05-16T16:59:00.001-07:00

Thanks to my parents Mauch Family Vacation is something that I've always loved! I have such fond memories of being a little girl and packing my suitcase (or maybe mom actually packed it?), getting crammed into our car...I'm talking CRAMMED! We would put all of our stuff and tons of extra stuff in and when we couldn't fit anything else THEN we would try to cram ourselves in and somehow thanks to dads amazing gift of packing things tightly everything would manage to fit, even if we did feel like we needed to sing the theme song of Sanford and Son driving down the road with all our junk! I loved that where ever we went I knew that we would have fun because we were a family! Our family always did everything together on vacation...it didn't really matter if we were camping, at the beach, in the mountains or where we were there were some things that would definitely be on family vacation! Mom would have tons of food and would cook like every meal, not just mac n cheese but a really great full meal! Dad would have made sure we had plenty of games like 15 board games a ball and some made up group game and occasionally we'd have some kinda matching article (hats, shirts, a pin...something) I did none of the planning or packing but did plenty of eating and playing! Its odd how you can live under the same roof with 5 other people day in and day out but getting away from your house and your normal life causes you to spend some really quality time with each other! I guess its possible at times that my parents forced us to have quality time but in the end I'm pretty sure our faces had smiles on them.

So now that I'm 30 and have 2 kids of my own its time for the Haynes Family Vacations to begin! Chris and I love to travel we both crave quality time with each other and with our kids and we hope that every year we can take the boys on a family vacation! Good thing for me that Chris is a planner, in fact, when he retires he'd love to be a travel agent...too bad that due to the Internet travel agents probably wont be around anymore...but that's okay he can keep planning trips for me for the rest of my life cause hes REALLY great at it! So Chris did the research and found us a great deal on a great place! And I made some home made banana bread and started packing! Clothes, snacks, diapers, games, toys, cameras, sunscreen, sand toys, pack n play, beach tent.... We loaded the Camery and borrowed the car top carrier from dad and it appeared that some other family vacation prior to this one the car top carrier was over loaded because the back of it was a little bent but that's okay we got some bungee cords and strapped them on and started singing the theme song from Sanford and Son! We were set, ready for fun! We had a great car ride down, Mason ate from the time we left the house till the time we stopped to eat at Hardees. He had cheese its, an apple, string cheese, and a strawberry rice crispy treat. By the time we had checked in and unloaded the car and found our room the excitement began to rise! Chris played Checkers with Mason, I read a chapter in my book and Micah napped then Mason and I went to explore the hotel and the pool while Micah took a nap and Chris watched a little of a basket ball game. The idea was to just let Mason LOOK at the pool but I guess I got a little caught up in the excitement too and told Mason he could take his shirt off and ply in the kid play area...it was so fun! It has water guns, a big tree that has water running down, a squirting hippo and alligator, big water slide, lazy river, hot tub...lots a fun! I cant wait till we are in our swim clothes and can really play in the water. Micah woke up, Mason had a spanking, everyone was happy again and we had a pizza party at Basil's, went to the grocery store (sorry mom, I'm not planning any elaborate meals just some chicken nuggets, mac n cheese and sun butter and jelly sandwiches) We got back from the store and unloaded the groceries and headed down for our first look at the beach. Its amazing to me that even though I've seen the ocean lots of times I'm still amazed at the awesomeness of the never ending ocean, sand as far as you can see to the right and to the left, how the first step in the sand feels so soft and smooth and a little difficult to walk in but the closer and closer you get to the waves the sand gets easier and easier to run in as if the waves are pulling you closer and closer till you stop and let the foam from the waves wash over your toes...and how fun to watch my little 3 year old boy experience the sand, and the ocean and to watch a smile and wide eyes come over my 6 month old little boys face as he felt the wind, heard the waves and the squeal of his big brother. Micah and I sat on a towel and watched Chris and Mason jump waves, chase waves, race waves, laugh, smile and as I looked at Micah just learning to sit and watched Mason jumping it was one of those moments that people tell you about before you have kids, a moment you wish you could just bottle up and save forever!

Well, its day one of our first family vacation at the beach and the forecast is calling for thunderstorms everyday...hopefully we wont have to give out any more spankings and hopefully we'll get a chance to use our sand toys... but even if we don't, I have no doubt this will be a great vacation because it doesn't matter what you do it just matters that you're doing it together! Let the fun begin!

Growing Up

2010-05-14T11:54:00.000-07:00

Mason is getting more and more independent everyday. He loves that when we go to a public restroom that he can reach the paper towels all by himself, that he doesn't have to stand on his toes to reach the light switch or to turn his sound machine off and that he can stand on his stool to help me cook and reach the spices all by himself! These accomplishments are causing him to see what else he can reach or do by himself. Last week during quiet time he decided to change his clothes and put on his Buzz PJ's so he could pretend to be a super hero during nap time. One day this week he had a friend over and they were playing in the bonus room and I left them for a second and Mason had gotten his stool, reached the scissors and cut a hole in the top of his card table and when I came back in he said, "look what I did mommy" Earlier this week he came down the stairs in the morning and greeted Micah in his exocauser and Chris and I laughed at each other, without Mason knowing, because he had undressed and dressed himself...backwards. I thought wow, he's really ready to dress himself in the morning! Later I discovered he had leaked thru his nighttime pull up!

Micah is following right in his brothers footsteps wanting to be independent himself. He is loving to eat! Some days he eats three solid food meals his favorites are Sweet Potatoes, Apples, Pears, green beans, avocados, butternut squash he doesn't care too much for peas or bananas. And recently hes been practicing with a sippy cup of water! Boy oh Boy does he love to jump! He jumps in the JumpeRo and he even jumps in the exosaucer! Hes also getting really good at sitting up. As long as there is a toy in front of him he will hold onto it and sit with an occasional wobble which he can correct...however sometimes he will still over correct and fall, thank goodness we have carpet! If he ends up on the ground he will cry a little if left on his tummy but if you smile or laugh he will respond with a belly laugh followed by a tiny cry which leads to another belly laugh...Hes so happy he hates to have to cry! Its as if hes acting like an adult who has every reason to cry but feels silly they are crying and so they laugh in the middle of their cry...that's what Micah does.

Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child is a book that I read to have a guide to helping Micah sleep well! He has been a good night sleeper for a while! His sleep schedule can be flexible, here's a little preview of his sleep habits...he wakes sometime between 4-6am to eat then will go back to sleep until 7 or 730 (sometimes he leaves this early morning feeding out all together) Typically he wakes around 7 takes a nap from 9-11, takes a second nap around 1 and a third nap around 4 and is in bed between 630-7. We are really trying to stretch him to go to sleep no earlier than 7 so that Chris can have a little time with him at night. I love having this video monitor so we can watch him roll around in his bed with his duck that Aunt Jackie gave him and find one of the 4 pacis that I put in his crib. He has fun taking them in and out of his mouth, and he reaches over and pushes or kicks on his little ocean wonder crib toy that lights up and plays music and it seems that at night he likes to lay sideways in his crib or maybe he just gets stuck in that spot??? But hes sleeping so I guess its not bothering him! I love the early morning with Micah, hes so happy to be awake, in my arms and his little ears are sooo cold...I just love cold ears!

Now that its warmer outside Mason loves to play in the backyard, and I'm SO thankful we have a fence and a kitchen with a window! He plays in his pirate ship or on his blue boat, with his bubble train or sidewalk chalk and sometimes at night while I run in to check on dinner not but one or two mins will pass by and I'll hear a knock on the door and open it to see a cute little boy smiling so big his eyes are shut holding out his hand to bring me a tiny little flower that he has picked just for me! Hes so proud of this little flower, so I guess I dont mind that our yard has weeds its giving my little boy an opportunity to think of me!

Hot Hot Lava!

2010-04-27T18:13:00.000-07:00

Poppy and Mammaw gave Mason a Childrens Encyclopedia for Christmas this year and it has a whole section beginning on page 61 about "Our Violent Earth" Thats where Mason first really learned about the "hot hot lava" Our neighbors down the street have a 2 year old little boy who came over to play one day and Mason was telling him all about volcanoes ....well...Corbin brought a volcano he made at preschool home with him and he invited Mason to come over to watch the eruption! How cute that kids remember things and think of others (or maybe his mom reminded him, either way, a very cute invite for Mason) Ever since then Mason has been wanting to make a volcano of our own. But he asked if we could make it bigger than Corbin's volcano, which consisted of one little plastic cup with some foil around it. So I asked him what we could do to make it bigger and he said let me get my chalkboard and draw it for you (its the little board right there on the table) He began, very seriously, drawing and mumbling to himself while scribbling harder and harder and then he said, " how bout we use 3 cups" so I said okay and our volcano was underway!

Of course he knew I'd have the camera out but he made me laugh out loud with this particular picture...he wanted to pose for it he said, "Okay mommy you take my picture when I'm ready" So I waited, expecting a big cheese smile, you know the kind where Mason is smiling so big that his eyes are shut tight,...I waited and waited and he was frozen in this pose then I realised that he wasn't painting the volcano, that he was pretending to paint to capture the moment! Once I snapped the shot he said, "Okay mommy, let me see that one"...LOL

Micah was there all along too...just watching on the table in his bumbo...Mason really wanted to touch him with his painted fingers and I did consider stripping Micah down to his diaper and allowing him to finger paint too to help with this family project but it was too close to his nap time...sorry Micah.

Here we are in the bathroom the volcano erupted in the bathtub (which, was a nice way to clean the tub ...baking soda and vinegar) The eruption wasn't too grand we didn't really have to evacuate but later in the evening while Mason and I were hiding our eyes while daddy hid for hide and seek Mason leaned over to me and whispered, "Hey mommy, I really had fun doing the volcano"...aww...sigh...he has my heart erupting!

KISSES

2010-04-27T17:51:00.000-07:00

Micah is full of hugs and kisses...he grabs my face with his cold, wet, and sometimes sharp fingers opens his mouth, smiles with his eyes and with all he has in him he kisses and hugs...its the most adorable thing and wonderful feeling ever! And it stays with you because he leaves behind so much drool and scratches on your cheeks and neck...I love it!

Wanna Ride on My Ship?

2010-04-24T13:41:00.001-07:00

So Mason is on and off with playing with his toys he'd much rather simply look around the house for anything he is allowed to use and create something. For a while he was always wanting to wear his Buz Light Year PJ's that he got from Poppy and Mam Maw for Christmas. These are no ordinary pajamas, according to Mason, the screen printed buttons all have different functions and his favorite button is the "fly button" when he pushes it he says "uh somethings growing" as he raises his arms out to the side all the while some lime green netting that is attached to the sleeve and sides of the pajamas is now seen and they form wings so he can then push the "Fly button" and take off...he then instructs that as he flys by you are supposed to say to whomever is in the room "_____ whats that zoom? Did you see that zoom?" So in the evening and mornings when he has those PJ's on he pretends he is "a superhero with wings"coming to your rescue...which has been wonderful because his super hero skills have included things like getting a diaper, pacifier, toy or simply talking to Micah or he'd also pick up trash, take things to the sink, clean up... while he still enjoys to be a super hero, his newest joy and satisfaction in playing is in the form of building. Not your typical building with blocks, Lincoln logs, Lego's (which we have plenty of in his room and the bonus room)...no... Masons building requires the use of our 4 throw blankets that I keep rolled up in a basket by the couch, our two large floor throw pillows, three blankets from his bed, three pillows from his bed, 4 step stools (yes I have lots of step stools...remember I'm short) and sometimes he uses Micah's little ocean gym and little bouncy seat. You can see the wheels turn in his head as he invisions his masterpiece. Its more than simply blankets, pillows and steps stools its a ship with rooms that have made up names like "haplash, careifshish" and sometimes the rooms turn into swimming pools that are hot or warm or ice cold. Some of the rooms you must hurry to get to so that you can be protected from the dragon, while another room keeps you safe from the hot lava and still another allows you to transform the ship into a rocket that takes you to outer space and the moon. He is the captain and everyone else must follow his lead! And whatever you do DO NOT step off of the ship or you will sink into the deep deep water...however if there is an emergency like Micha's diaper needing to be changed or dinner needing to be cooked then Captain Mason can give you special shoes to walk on the deep deep water, a special suit to protect you from the hot hot lava and a cannon ball to throw at any dragons or pirates that might try to get you. So, if you come to my house at any given day you will see this ship sometimes its in the living room, sometimes the hall, sometimes it can cover almost every piece of carpet upstairs. At times I've thought, "should I really let him be dragging out the blankets all the time and then I think...why not?" I like the ship, I have fun on the ship and the most wonderful thing is that as long as he is on his ship he is safe. I hope and pray that he always feels safe to explore, create, pretend, and imagine. I hope that the many journeys in his life and the attacks of 'dragons' or 'water to sink in' or 'lava to burn in' that he will always have a way 'out' a way to be safe, a way to overcome and I hope he always wants me to help him so yes Mason I wanna ride on your ship!

Tooo Long

2010-04-20T16:32:00.000-07:00

Okay so its been like 6 months since I've made a new blog entry...in my defense I have had just a little going on bringing a new human into the world on Halloween...but come on...6 months to get back to blogging? And really, how long does it take to enter a new post?? Shame on me, now I've missed all the entries about Micah Christopher Haynes from the story of my labor 2 weeks early with the break of my water, the delivery...all 6lbs 10oz of it, bringing Micah home, big brother Masons awesome adjustment, his first time at the gym nursery, going back to work, his first time at church nursery, how cute he was all swaddled to sleep, me stopping work, his bellybutton falling off, his first bath, his first outing, the updates on his growth from the pediatrician, his diagnosis of torticollis, his amazing grins and giggles, his recovery of torticollis, unswaddleing, finding his hands, sleeping through the night, his first foods, rolling over, finding his toes, all the similarities and differences between he and Mason... obviously the list goes on and on...there's just too much to go back and cover so...sigh...I guess I'll just have to start from here.

I love this kid so much! He has to be the happiest baby ever...really, I'm not just saying that because hes 1/2 me and I'm pretty happy all the time...he really has been laughing out loud and smiling for well over 3/4s of his life! He is such an awesome addition to make our family of 3 a more comeplete family of 4!

BOO BLAST

2009-10-30T13:48:00.000-07:00

Carowinds hosts an event every year called Scarowinds...this year they decided to add an event for younger kids thats not so scary...BOO BLAST! They hired dad to create some pieces for the event and thanks to his talent we scored some free tickets to the park! I was really excited for Mason to get to have his first trip to Carowinds and I'm so glad the family was all there too!
Heres a house and cat that Dad made for a puppet show featuring "Scaredy Cat"...this was pretty lame!...Mason kept asking me when the show was going to start...who knew Dad could have made some extra cash by writing them a script ...maybe next year!

I love this cat box! They even colored the fountain RED!

Aww, I love these two boys! Soon I'll have 3!!!!

Let me just tell you Mason is obsessed with his cousin Owen! He loves him so much, he talks about him all of the time and follows him around just to copy anything he dose...thank goodness Owen is a great little boy!

This is the ONLY thing I could ride!

Mason loved these air planes the best! They were his favorite he ended up riding them 3 times...he liked it because not only could he make it go up and down but they had a button you could push to make the horn blow!

Mason told me in Late September that he wanted to be a Lion for Halloween so I safety pinned this lion mask from the Target $1 spot to the top, spray painted some leftover yellow fur that dad had and wala...ROAR hes a lion!

Its been really cute, every night when we lay Mason down one of the last things we do is talk about our day and all of the things we did and then we all tell what our favorite part of the day is...well even though we went to Carowinds about 3 weekends ago...Mason still says his favorite part of the day is going to Carowinds and riding the airplanes! Then he laughs and tells his actual favorite part of the day.

Anyone want to go on a worm Hunt?

2009-10-17T07:05:00.001-07:00

Anyone wanna go on a worm hunt? Were the words I heard Joya say and then lots of kids surrounded her and her little yellow bucket, glove, and shovel...my cousin Chris and dad had another type of hunt in mind...gross craw fish!!

Chris Sain is kinda weird...and these were HUGE...they found like 13 of them or something and attempted to fish with them, then Chris Sain attached some to some balloons and let them fly away...so sad to treat little creatures that way!

Joya and the kids did successfully collect some worms and Skylar caught this HUGE catfish...but she really didn't want to get too close to it!

Olivia ...so cute in her little pink life jacket!

Owen decided to feed the fish some leftover carrots...the Sains have trained the fish around to love their dock they always feed them...its actually kinda like being at the zoo, you drop some food in and like 20 fish fight over it!

As soon as Mason climbed up on the bench he looked at Joya and in a very serious voice said, "Its okay for me to stand up here to see the fish, I have my yife jacket on for safety" :)

Joya gave him a fishing pole and he said, "Aww, yook, its just my size" We need to get a fishing pole for this kid, he really stayed at it for a long time...I was surprised his attention span lasted that long...he would say, "Ohh...I feel somephing"...but alas, he got tired of "fishing" so Joya took over and worked her magic then at the right moment asked Mason to give it one more try...WALA!!! This time it worked! He caught at fish!

He was soo proud of his fish! I wish everyone could have been there to see his face, experience the emotion in his little body as he looked at that fish hanging from the pole that was just his size!

Then it was Owens turn...Joya worked her Magic again!

Mason loved it...He was so excited for Owen...he said, "you did it Owen!! Good Job"

I over heard Mason tell Jaxon who was tired of waiting on a fish..."its okay sometimes you just have to wait and be patient...its yots of fun to catch a fish" But Jaxon is a little older and he caught on and called Joya out on her "Magic"

Something Special For Micah

2009-10-17T05:59:00.001-07:00

Heidi is my cousin on my dads side...Me, Heidi and Jessica are all due with babies. Jessica is due with her first but this will be baby number 2 for Heidi and I so the Mauch family gave us a joint baby shower at Karen and Lewis' house. I wasn't planning on having a baby shower for Micah, but Heidi said she wanted one and I'm glad we had one! We had so many baby showers for Mason so it was fun to have something just for Micah!
When I looked back at these pictures I was like ....WOAH....I'm huge! I am 35 weeks pregnant in this picture!...How is there still room for Micah to grow for another month? I'm so thankful that I still feel so good, even if I look so huge!

They had two tables set up one for Heidi and Max and one for Mandy and Micah! It was cute we got some matching outfits and similar gifts, maybe we can make an effort to really hang out with them so the boys can be close!

Everyone brought a covered dish and it was very yummy! The weather was so nice, not too hot, not too cold...a perfect fall day! I'm realizing now that I think every fall will bring memories of being pregnant with my boys! Watching and feeling the seasons change along with my body knowing that the current year is coming to a close and that life as I know it is going to be different. Mason looked at the trees changing and noticed some leaves falling off and said, "Oh No Mommy, the tree is losing its leaves" When I explained that it was okay and that's what was supposed to happen so the trees could grow even bigger and prettier in the spring. I must admit though winter trees aren't very pretty to look at... I love the trees in all the other months but not so much in winter... it reminded me that every year has things that are good and things that are bad, things you want to keep the same way and things you are ready to get rid of. I know that life changes and somethings I'm in control of and others I'm not...but what I am certain of is that change is going to happen. The years are going to pass me by, every fall the leaves will change colors, fall off and the current stage of life will come to a close...but in the spring new life occurs, new growth, new memories, new challenges,...so in the moments of life's "winter seasons" I hope to take advantage of the opportunities to be still. I know that right now being so pregnant there are times that I have no choice but to just lay down...rest... I'm just simply too tired to carry on with normal activities...I must accept that I have to be still. So I've been praying lately that as I approach this "winter season" of my life, where I know my normal activities of service for God and involvement in others lives will have to change as I care for two young boys that I will look at it in a new way, as an opportunity to grow closer to God, taking advantage of the opportunity to hear His voice, feel His presence, be refreshed in a new way as He shows me how much he loves me. I know he loves me when I'm "doing" or "accomplishing" something for Him, but I also know Hes more interested in what I am becoming than what I am doing! If only I could really embrace this concept... to know what its is to be still and know Him.

Micah will be Maw Maw and Paw Paws 6th great grandchild! Guess if you have 5 children of your own then you also get lots of grandchildren and great grandchildren!

Devin, Heidi, Tori and Baby Max

Joya took lots of pictures for us...not really sure what kind of poses we are striking here??

We are so thankful for all of the great gifts!

Chris had the following day off work so we went shopping and bought any extra stuff we needed...so we are ready for him to come!...well...I still want him to grow some more...but as far as things we need for him, I think we've got it!

Me and Mason...hes enjoying his cupcake after a battle of us telling him he had to eat some of his lunch...finally at like 3:00 he ate his lunch so he could get his cupcake...hes pretty stubborn, we are hoping that his stubbornness will be great as he gets older, as long as we can help him choose the good things he should be stubborn about!

YUMMY, YUMMY Cupcakes! Mason is really getting excited about Micah and so are we! He says hes going to teach him everything! And he will randomly tell me things like..."Mommy did you know babies don't know how to be good yisteners? , and Did you know that sometimes babies cry for no reason? , and did you know that Micah is going to me my yittle brother and I'm going to be the big brother?" So I feel like as much as his almost 3 year old brain can comprehend he is understanding a little about a baby. Mason loves to play animals ALL OF THE TIME...to play animals you pretend you are animals, he tells you what to say and how to say it and there is usually always a baby and a mommy or daddy or now a big brother character. He loves to have you pretend you are the baby animal and make it cry while the older animal brings something to comfort the little baby...could be a toy, food or a blanket. If I ever don't stop crying when he brings his "fix" Mason gets pretty nervous as if his brain is saying..."OH NO, Now what...I've given this baby what I think it should need to make it happy and its still crying"...then he proceeds to forcefully re-give the baby animal the fixes all over again...I really want to remember to keep an eye on my little helper once Micah gets here...I'm pretty sure hes going to want to "help out" and there might be times when he goes a little over the top!

YUMMY YUMMY IN MY TUMMY

2009-10-14T13:39:00.000-07:00

This weekend we went to Windy Hill Apple Orchard to pick some apples. We met up with some of our friends, the Holmans. Sandi and I along with some of our other friends had been a few years ago and a lot had changed since then but it was still fun! They had goats, pigs, chickens and roosters running around and plenty of apple trees!
Mason thought it was soo neat to get so close to the chickens he said...we should tip toe so they wont be scared of us!

Mason and I made this bag a few weeks ago this is one of the only crafts hes done all month...he used to be really into crafts...not so much anymore???

Aww, cute friends...Jonathan, Mason and Abbie!

Mason discovered this box of apples...you would have thought it was treasure!! Its much easier to get apples out of the box than from the tree!!

Chris and Mason picked out a pumpkin for Mason to take home and paint

We decided to make apple turnovers with our hand picked apples...Chris and Mason rolled out the dough

I filled them and closed them

Mason sprinkled the powdered sugar after we fried them.

Chris was the "Fry Daddy"...this is really the first time either of us has had any success frying anything other than a turkey...which Chris is WONDERFUL at!

We had so much fun with this whole experience with Mason! Picking the apples, making the turnovers and of course eating them...maybe this can become a new tradition in the Haynes family!

Mason and Benjamin

2009-10-01T11:18:00.000-07:00

What a beautiful day it is today! Because the weather is so nice and because we had the opportunity to spend time with some great friends! I've been looking for opportunities to get Mason out of the house to expel some energy in hopes that he will nap but so far since hes moved to the big boy bed the naps have disappeared...however, he is still having some very quiet time in his room for about an hour or hour and half everyday, so I'll take it! Anyway, Mason and I met our good friends Benjamin and Patsy (and now baby Sarah) at the park to play...I found some pictures of the boys 2 years ago when we took them to the same park to play!

Here is Benjamin in March of 2007

Here's Mason March of 2007

Ben, climbing the ladder!

Mason riding the "duck"

Mason ready to swing, hes kinda learning how to pump his legs to make the swing go, sometimes he gets it backwards but he still likes to try!

Baby Sarah just relaxing enjoying the nice weather! She looks JUST LIKE PATSY!! Maybe Micah will look like Me???

Ben "SwAning" on the swing!

Hopefully they will be buddies for Life! I love this picture, too bad Mason has a mouth full of cookies...you know he wasn't going to turn down the cookies Ms. Patsy brought to share.

Thanks Benjamin and Patsy for giving us a fun morning today! We got in the car and Mason said, Mommy, Benjamin is my good Buddy right? I told him yeah he was and Mason just tilted his head to the side and grinned!

I LOVE YOU DADDY!!

2009-09-29T05:12:00.000-07:00

Mason has been making the "I love you sign" for awhile. I love it when we are driving in the car and he says..."hey mommy, Yook" and when I turn around he's holding the sign and smiling! It takes him a min to get it he really focuses first pointing his finger, then bringing out his thumb then lastly he holds up his little finger!... Hes is so proud that he can do this and he Loves to because he knows it will make us smile. I told him that he and I were going to take some pictures of him so we could give daddy some new photos for his desk at work for his birthday and right away he started cheesing and throwing up the I love you's all over the place! Hes soo sweet!

Last night Chris was looking at all of the pictures and he said, "Oh man, there are so many to choose from, I just don't know" (because you know I have a TON more than are posted here) Chris didn't know but Mason was just standing behind him smiling and then when he heard Chris say that he said, in a very sad voice, "Aww, Daddy doesn't like them"...to which Chris explained that he loved them all...its just so cute to watch Mason begin to understand things...like he knew he was posing for daddy's pictures and he wanted him to like them. :)

Here he is playing "peek a boo" Yesterday we were in the car, he was being very quiet looking out the window and then he said, "mommy, I'm ready for baby Micah to come out, I will teach him everything" Wow, what a challenge to Chris and I...we better get it right with Mason since hes going to pass everything he knows down to Micah! Only 6 1/2 weeks to go Mason and you can meet your little brother...hope you aren't disappointed :)

30th Birthday Party

2009-09-23T05:24:00.000-07:00

For my 30th birthday Chris and I decided to have a dinner party at our house. So we made Crock pot BBQ Pork and Chicken, Baked Beans, Corn on the Cob, Slaw and some Texas Toast! I was really excited about this night because its been a really long time since we've all gotten together 'kid free' for a while. We just ate, talked and played some yard games. I love everyones growing families and hearing all about them but it was also nice to hang out like the 'old days' with just our friends. Thanks Mom and Dad for watching Mason for us!
Joya, Christy and Myself...I guess we've been going to each others birthday parties for over 10 years!!

Chris was such a huge help in getting ready for my party! Maybe we can do this again next year for his 30th?

Joya and Christy were trying to feel Micah move!

I've been wanting to get a picture of us pregnant together...we were pregnant together last time too...but this time Lara is due 2 weeks after me with a little girl.

The guys playing Boccie

Steve, Chris, Tunis and Brian

Yummy, my favorite kind of cake- Cold chocolate cake with chocolate chips and chocolate icing!

The girls playing Corn Hole

Christy and Estela

Chris loves cake too!!!! This is where Mason gets his love of sweets from!

I had so much fun and I think everyone else did too! I wish we could do this more often!

After everyone left and Mason was in bed, we decided that it is now time to focus on all of the stuff we need to do for Micahs arrival...he'll be here in 8 weeks!

Big Boy Bed

2009-09-22T04:40:00.000-07:00

I know, I know...Mason will be 3 December 5 and is still sleeping in his crib, which I don't think would be such a big deal if we didn't have a new baby due in 8 weeks... we've been talking about it but hes been really attached to the crib and sleeps so well for nap and bedtime so I didn't want to push it... SO FINALLY yesterday, Mason told me he wanted to sleep in his big boy bed! I had been checking out books from the library about big kid beds and we'd been talking about it and yesterday Mason wanted to take 2 vitamins and he usually only takes one...well, Chris and I discovered that we actually could be giving him 2...the bottle says children ages 2-4 up to 2 daily...so I told him that when he was a big boy and slept in his big boy bed that he could take 2 vitamins. Right away he said he wanted to sleep in his bed! I told him he could ask daddy when he got home and see what he said. Sure enough as soon as Chris got home Mason said..."Daddy can I sleep in my big boy bed?" Chris said sure...so we disassembled the crib, and began the process!!
Mason Loved finding some stuff under his bed 3 balls, an empty coffee can that he wanted to put his money from his piggy bank in so he could shake it and let it make noise, and the bed rails. He also got out his tools and was working with daddy to take the crib apart.

Once it got moved out and we got his bed ready he said NOW CAN I GET IN MY BED? We told him we still had to take his Zyrtec, try to potty, brush teeth and get 2 stories...he said...OH YEAH, I FORGOT! Here he is picking his 2 stories.

Chris read him 2 stories, we turned on his night light and sound machine, said prayers and goodnight, then turned out the light!

He was very excited to be sleeping in his bed with ALL of his animals!

I went straight to our room to watch the monitor...he just looks soo little in that bed. He got out once right after we had closed the door and said, "Daddy, Rock Me" and Chris went in and rocked him for 30 seconds and told him he couldn't get out of the bed until his clock said 7 and Mason said okay and off to dream land he went until 7:15 this morning.

So sad that My baby boy is getting so big!

I don't know why I always stress about stuff...Mason has been so easy with the transitions of things that are typically so hard for everyone. He stopped taking his paci on his own at 7 months, he weened himself from nursing, had no trouble drinking from a cup, potty trained in 3 days and did great with his big boy bed! I know its just the first night and we haven't attempted a nap yet but...hopefully he'll do just great with that too!

Chris asked him this morning how he liked sleeping in his big boy bed and Mason responded with, "IT WAS GRREEAAT"

Life

2009-09-18T12:34:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week Kristel called to tell me about how Mary Kaylin ran into the wall and they ended up at the emergency room. Thank goodness she was okay and that night Chris and I were talking about how Mason had really not had anything, other than his allergy reactions that was too scary for us....WELL....Today after Mason finished eating his breakfast he was standing up in his booster seat at the table, I was reaching out my hand to help him step down and..."SLIP" he fell backward right onto our tile floor catching himself with his head! I knew it was going to be bad when I heard the thump but there were a few seconds before I heard the cry...the fall took his breath away and mine too! The first words out of his mouth were, "I want Daddy" As if I was the one that pushed him out of his seat or something...not really, I think its because I've not been picking him up and holding him as much lately because Micah is getting REALLY big....Right away there was a lump which I knew was a good sign but since I have the pediatricians telephone number programed in my phone I decided to just give them a ring. They asked if it was smaller than an inch and my best guess was that it was a little over 2 inches close to the size of a golf ball and sticking out that far too so they said they wanted to see him and give his body a good check to make sure everything was normal. So off we went and I've discovered with Mason he has this coping strategy he uses when hes in pain he kinda "laugh crys" Its as if he wants so bad to be brave and tough so he forces a laugh vs a cry and he says, "see, I'm laughing, not crying" I told him it was okay if he wanted to cry he could but he just held onto baby baby and was talking up a storm.

The doc said he was fine and his knot measured in at 2 1/4 inches x 2 1/4 inches...his first REAL boo boo. We came home and sat on the couch together and watched TV all afternoon (which he loved since he only watches a little in the mornings when he first wakes up) plus the TV was the only way I could get him to agree to let me put Ice on it. So far hes acting pretty normal but he isnt wanting to walk ANYWHERE, he just wants me to carry him...I told him his boo boo was on his head not his feet but he said it still hurts to walk so I'm enjoying giving him the extra cuddle time since hes never been a suggle bug...Thankfully when it was nap time I showed him how he could lay on his tummy like daddy dog and I turned daddy dogs head toward his and Mason fell right to sleep...hes still sleeping now but hes been stirring some so I feel like hes okay...BUT this has made me so thankful that we've not had too many injuries in his life so far...I'm sure there will be many more to come but I sure don't like to see him so sad I'd much rather see him like he is in these pictures below!

After doing some finger painting earlier this week Mason asked if he could take a bath in the sink like Mary Kaylin did after she finger painted. At first I was thinking..."UGGGHH, will he even fit? I'm going to have to clean the sink first before I let him get in and then what if he dosent even want to get in...." But he said, "Mommy, this would be so fun for me to take a bath in the sink, I'll get all clean and wash all this paint off it will be a special day"...so I decided that he was right!...Life it too short for me to feel hassled about my son asking to take a bath, wanting to do something fun. And he loved every second of it! He got to use the sprayer, the sponge (dont worry it was a new sponge) and when he was all done he grabbed my cheeks and said, "thanks mommy for yetting me take a bath in the sink"...it melted my heart! Who knew something as simple as taking a bath in the kitchen sink could be so much fun for a little boy.

Still in this post titled "Life" thought I'd include a picture of the roses that Chris and Mason got for me for my 30th birthday! I had such a great day and I love getting older! I love the fact that I love where God has placed me, I love who I've become and who I'm becoming as a wife and mother, It feels good to feel good about myself, I feel so blessed to have such awesome people in my life (family and friends) I love that I feel like I'm right where God wants me, I dont have any wishes to be anywhere else, or to be anyone else and the best part is that I'm just now 30! My life is just getting started! I dont know what else God has planned for me in this life but whatever it is I'm excited!

Tractor

2009-09-18T12:23:00.000-07:00

FINALLY I remembered to tell Chris that Mason has been asking for months to ride this tractor!! Its been in our garage since we moved in like 5 years ago. It used to be Chris' when he was a little boy and the peddels were off of it so the tractor had just become something to take up some space and become a nice little home for spiders in the corner of our small garage!

The guys took a "boys trip" to Home Depot to get the correct nuts and bolts to put the peddles on the tractor and boy oh boy did Mason LOVE to help with this project! You'll see in the pictures below he has his very serious face on when Chris instructs him to find flat head screw driver!

"I know what a flat head screwdriver is, I'll be right back"

"Oh yeah, this is my new tractor, I can 'drive' it all by my self"

I think the peddles were a little hard for him at first but hes got the hang of it now! How fun for Chris to be able to fix something for Mason to play on that he himself used to play on when he was little. Now he wants to ride it all the time so when its too hot I tell him he can just ride it pretend in the garage...he loves it and feels sooo big pulling the wagon behind!

Haynes Family Comes for Labor Day Weekend!!

2009-09-08T13:26:00.000-07:00

DAY 1

They arrived in Charlotte around 4:00...we wasted no time to let the fun begin but maybe we wasted a little time because by the time we made it to the pool it was SOOO cold, but the kids didnt care...I was thankful that I "had to take pictures" so I couldnt get into that ice cold water!

Nicholas took the first plunge down the slide

I'm so sad this is one of the last times Mason will get to play in the pool this year.

Mary Kaylin was waiting for daddy to get in the COLD kid pool

"You stand Right here, close to the edge Daddy... 1, 2, 3...
WHOA...that was a yotta, yotta splashes hunh? Did you see dat?"

Making Rice Crispy Treats...YUMMMY...of course Mason found a way to lick the bowl of hardened marshmallows.

DAY 2

started with the boys making a trip to the Home Depot Workshop while us girls stayed behind to pack lunches and get ready for a train ride and picnic uptown at ImaginOn

They each made a little corn hole game...gotta love the free little workshops!

The train ride was very exciting for Mason...I thought it was fun too!

Pool Time AGAIN...we went back to the pool after nap time to play some more! After the pool we came home for some Elmo Splash Mat time in the back yard while the guys grilled and played some boccie ball!

Open Wide!!

This kid LOVES some sweets!

Yummy Ice Cream!!

The whole Family!

Silly Faces

Grandmaw and Papa Joined us

Cousins

Awww...cute buddies

DAY 3

We started the day with some sing a long time and instruments in the living room, then dressed and went to eat lunch at Don Pedros, did some shopping (the guys took the boys to Best Buy and the girls went to Marshall's :) We came home and after nap time played a little then had some pizza!

No Haynes trip would be complete without a pizza party (Good Idea Kristel to add some balloons)...and this one was even better because we had a homemade cake from Linda...YUMMY

I was able to squeeezzee in some MORE time with my new camera!!

Peek-a-boo Mary Kaylin

I LOVE THIS PICTURE!!! SO BIG climbing all by himself!

This is a great capture of the Kids and Grand kids!
and the grand kids are all expressing their little personalities!

MamMaw bought some finger paints for the kiddos so we let the try it out

Mary Kaylin finger painting

Nicholas and Mason painting...thanks MamMaw for the paints!

DAY 4
Time to say goodbye...I always hate the last day of a trip because everyone is so focused on leaving and packing and what they have to do next...but it was kinda fun just having some playtime with the cousins in the bonus room while everyone else loaded the van. The rest of the day Chris still had off work so we were able to still have some more family time. The next morning when Mason woke up he said, "where is everybody?" And all week long he kept asking where everyone was and wanted to pray for Poppie and Mamaw, then MamMaw and Nicholas, then he proceeded through everyone in his prayer time. We miss everyone and wish they lived closer but we are thankful for the times we do get to spend with them...and the next time we see them baby Micah will be joining the family...on the outside world.

Thanks everyone for making the trip! We had so much fun!

2009-09-01T12:13:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday we visited Steve and Lara's church, Eternal. We really liked it and they were having a picnic after service so we decided to go! Steve and Lara's little boy Landon is right at the same age as Mason and they play really well together. The picnic was like most church picnics the church provides the meat (Hot Dogs and BBQ) and everyone else brings something as a side item. I was nervous when I drove up because there wasn't a playground and I thought ...Oh no, what are the boys going to do? Its hot and there is not a play ground to distract them but just as we were finishing lunch Mason and Landon waited in eager anticipation to join the other kids on the crazy big slip n slide.
Chris and Steve took their place on the opposite side to watch the boys as they played on the slide while I tried out my new camera! I was so excited to have something to take pictures of!! And it turns out the boys were good subjects!

Good thing the slide was almost ready they were both wanting BOTH pine cones!

Mason took off right away, he was soo fast it was hard to even get good pics of him!

After sliding some he started to run down the grass so he wouldn't slip then he would run back up and run and slip and slide!

His poor shorts kept falling down the whole time!

This is a typical serious Mason face!

They had a big bucket with sponges for the little kids to play in

I just was playing around with the camera here...look at that water pouring out! Pretty neat!

I LOVE Masons eyes!

The boys thought it was soo fun to be IN the little tub!

Whatcha doin Landon?

Every time Landon saw that I was aiming the camera at him he'd give this big cheese!

We had so much fun and Mason had a blast we thought for sure he'd be ready to take a nap but NO...he just played some more in his crib.

2009-08-26T13:14:00.000-07:00

Nicholas

2009-08-26T12:38:00.000-07:00

Today Mason said, "Mommy, Do you really love me?" I said, "Of course I do". He then proceeded to ask if Daddy really loved him too and then he said..."Mommy, Nicholas really loves me too and he's gonna come to Masons house soon!" WE ARE SOO EXCITED TO SEE EVERYONE REALLY REALLY SOON!!

Camp Meeting 2009

2009-08-24T13:14:00.000-07:00

Balls Creek Camp Meeting Here we go AGAIN!!

Once again we gather together to this place of tradition, heat, relatives and food! This year was not as eventful seeming to me as most...I'm not sure if it was because this is the first year that Grammy isn't actually spending the night there or the fact that when I asked her if she was glad to be at camp meeting she said, "well, its not the same, I'm ready to go home" None the less we spent the afternoon there and reflected on the fact...once again...that this

"Might Be the LAST camp meeting"

Me, Grammy and Aunt Jackie sitting out on the front porch watching people walk by
A close up...she looks pretty good for 93 hunh?

Mason sure loves these two guys!

Mom in the kitchen like usual! Anytime Mason pretend calls her on the phone he tells me she cant talk cause shes cooking!

Drink Lots and lots of fluids because its always really hot!

It was raining briefly and Mason just listened and watched...then he found the pear tree and started throwing pears with some of his distant cousins...it was cute they would clap for each other and take turns throwing them as high as they could...the other little boys would go way up to the limbs Masons just went about 2 feet above his head!

These trees are OLD..watch out for the MASSIVE roots!

When there's nothing else to play with a rock will do!

He was VERY proud of his BIG rock! I found it today when I was doing some laundry...thank goodness it wasn't a frog or something!

Mason and Chris pushed Grammy around back for potluck lunch! Kinda sad but I'm not sure if she even went into the tent this time??

The reason we go to camp meeting (also for the little lady in the back in a white top too)

ALWAYS SOO MUCH FOOD...fresh corn, lima's, green beans, fruit...some of my FAVORITES!

Sheila and Olivia chowing down!

Cheese Owen!

Papa and Chris took Mason to the shack...they told him he could pick out a prize and some ice cream but all he wanted was ice cream...I promise we allow him to eat sweets at home! This kid LOVES sweet stuff!

Mason fought trying to stay awake on the way home to keep watching his movie...he was so wiped out!

This years campmeeting really wasnt the same. I cannot put my finger on what was missing so much about it? Maybe because Alyssa, Marbi and Andrew werent there???

Day with Daddy

2009-08-19T08:38:00.000-07:00

This picture is of Masons "Babies" The one on the Left is "Baby Baby" and the one on the Right is "Momma Baby"...this week he added a new member to his little make believe family "Daddy Dog" its a long stuffed dog that he got for valentines day from Poppy and Mammaw...I guess one day he reailzed that "Baby Baby" needed a daddy too!...Its really precious to here him pretend with them...he changes his voice for all of them and loves to have the "momma" and "daddy" take care of the "baby"...and sometimes he wants us to pretend we are the charachters so that he, as Mason, can do the nurturing...I guess hes practicing for when Micah gets here.

Chris took Friday off of work...its the first time EVER for no reason that he decided to take a day! One of the library books Mason has right now is called "Day Out With Daddy" its a cute little book and the son and the daddy go and do fun things together...one of them is eating donuts....Well, We were all so excited about Chris' day off and Mason and Chris started their day leaving the house in PJ's to pick up donuts...we didnt realize that this was the first time that Mason had ever had a donut! Not because we are against him eating them, just because we dont ever buy them. Chris let Mason pick his out and it was chocolate covered with sprinkles on top or as Mason says, "Shrinkles". Then we took a trip to Home Depot (Mason LOVES that place...well, he loves riding the tractors (lawn mowers) and looking at all of the drills and other tools) Then we went to Best Buy where Mason and Chris played the guitar hero drums while I looked at cameras. Mason asked if we could go to Chick Fila and Chris said, "Sure" so we ate lunch out, came home napped. Then Mason helped Chris mow the yard. (he pushes the spreader around while Chris uses the lawn mower) Mason asks me like every other day if he can mow the grass...I want to remember this question he poses to me in about 10 years when hes actually old enough to HAVE to mow the grass!...Over all the day was SOOO wonderful... I know Mason had a great time and I know Chris had a great time...but there was a moment in the day when I had to fight some tears as I watched Mason look up at his daddy with an awe and wonder of this man he is so lucky to call Daddy. I'm so in love with this little family we have and I cant wait to meet our new addition in only 12 weeks!! How is it possible to be blessed this much??

Micah

2009-08-08T04:51:00.000-07:00

Having the opportunity to be pregnant for a second time has been wonderful!! I wanted to just have a short blog in here with some pics of my growing baby boy that we have named Micah Christopher Haynes. Choosing a name is always so tough, just deciding what your child will be called for the rest of his life...hope he likes it :) Last night we took a trip as a family to Babies R Us to register for somethings we know we are going to need for Micah...its really the best way for me to create a list of some things I want and that way if someone asks then I can just tell them I have a registry. We knew Mason would be SOOO Bord in the store so we brought along his head phones and portable DVD player and he Had a blast watching his movie while we searched the shelves and got excited all over again looking at all of the new baby stuff! We are going to give him a monkey themed room. We don't have it all finalized yet but the plan is to paint the walls a light sage green color and use brown green and blue to accent the room. And we figure Papa can paint some monkeys or palm tree or something on the walls! I think it will be super cute plus, I'm imagining my life is gonna feel like a zoo sometimes with two boys running around, so might as well get used to it! Here I am, this week marks my 26th week of pregnancy number 2!...I feel much bigger this time around but I don't think I really am I think I just forgot how big I was last time! That's okay, its so much fun and just last week Mason actually was able to feel Micah kick...he was soo excited but now he thinks every time he puts his hand on my tummy that he feels him kick! Mason also likes to put his hands on his hips and bulge his belly out to touch mine (I've gotta get a picture of us doing that its really cute) And he will randomly come up and give Micah kisses and ask him what hes doing and tell him he loves him...I think Mason is going to slip into his big brother roll just fine! Micah is very active, just like Mason was, in fact I really don't notice there being that much difference...the only thing so far that has been different with the pregnancies is that I was pretty sick at the beginning with Micah and it took me longer to really feel him moving around, but once he started moving he's not stopped! 26 Weeks

20 Weeks
This was when Chris and I took our trip to San Francisco...I was 16 weeks pregnant for this trip and I could really feel it!! I'm so glad we did this, I love taking trips with Chris!

15 Weeks...what you cant see is Mason really wanting me to hold him and be in this picture :)

10 weeks...already budging out! I felt bloated before we even had a confirmed pregnancy.

ROAAARRRRR!!

2009-08-06T17:46:00.000-07:00

Dad celebrated his 62nd birthday at our house. I knew all the grand kids were in town and I love birthday parties so Friday Mom asked if we could have dad's birthday party over at our house and I got started planning. Any one who has ever been to their house can testify that Bill Mauch Loves lions! And just a few weeks ago they had a party at their house and I caught him asking some of his friends if they wanted to play "Elbow Tag" Soo I thought, "Hmmm....maybe we should play some games for dads party, but I'll need a theme"...no better theme than a "Lion Birthday Party". We all drew lion faces on ourselves, gave a big RROOOOAAAAARRRR and started playing some "Lion Games" We started the games out with "Lion Freeze" to the Lion King soundtrack, then moved onto "Lion Musical Squares". Next, was our version of duck duck goose AKA "Lion, Lion, Mouse" then we played "King of the Jungle" and finished the games with Pin the Tale on the Lion. I had fun playing the games but I think Owen enjoyed them the most...at one point I heard him say, "This is awesome!!"

Mason is taking his turn at Pin the Tale on the Lion...he didn't want to keep the blind fold on.

We threw some meat on the grill had some yummy roasted potatoes, salad, fruit and rolls.

Here's my favorite part...I love to create cute cup cakes and these are my favorite ones I've made so far! Mason picked out the chocolate cake, I dyed frosting two shades orange and brown, used cinnamon honey popcorn for the mane, chocolate chips for the eyes, pretzel sticks for the whiskers and pink marshmallow for the nose...they turned out super cute and yummy too!

"Happy Birthday Dear PAAApaaa, Happy Birthday to You!!"

I really have never seen another kid who loves sweets more than Mason...he gets soo excited about dessert!!

YUMMMY!

Okay, just had to get a close up picture!

After dinner and cupcakes there was ONE LAST Lion event...A Lion Hunt...I gave Papa and the kids a paw print and on the back was a clue to where they could find the next clue and so on and so on...This is kind of a fun tradition we have in my family at birthdays or sometimes at Christmas for a big gift...we have a scavenger hunt...however, I know Andrew would have laughed at my clues...I know I sing preschool songs for a living but me coming up with clues that Rhyme and are understandable lack a little in the area of creativity...good thing they are young enough to not really care.

The first clue on their Lion Hunt lead them to the garage ...Mason said..."yook, A clue a clue...like Blues Clues"

Then they all had to ROOOAAAARRR and went upstairs, then out to the van then back up stairs then to the coffee pot then finally...

Finally after following all of their clues they came to the Lion Treasure...Papa's Gifts.

WATER BALLOON TOSS...yes, this was a request of Papas that we could have water balloons at his birthday party.

Watch out the balloon toss turned into a BALLOON FIGHT!!

Since everyone was already wet we decided to get out the Elmo Splash Mat and play some in the water! Alyssa and Owen Take their turn down the slide onto the Elmo Splash Mat

Mason actually, for the first time, allowed the water to spray really high...he usually just barely wants to see it come out of the holes...guess his cousins liking the water "big" made him want it that way too!

Everyone just watching the kids slide over and over and over...we moved the slide and mat like 4 times to keep the yard from becoming a mud hole. I was really surprised to see how many times they were going down that slide...and I would have thought Alyssa would have been over it first...but she actually loved it the most!

Mason and Olivia took turns "driving" the fire truck ...over all the afternoon/evening was wonderful! I hope Mason remembers this day...I'm sure he wont, I've defiantly come to see that there are TONS of things that parents do for their children that their children NEVER remember! But that's okay, I'm not going to stop trying to create fun memories for my family! I'm sure there were lots of days like today in my childhood that I cant remember so I was glad to pay back my parents in a way by hopefuly creating a fun experience for everyone... And I also discovered that I think if I'm going to continue having Masons birthday parties at my house then I need to cut down the list of invites...how can he already have so many friends???

I need you Jesus

2009-08-02T14:52:00.000-07:00

"I need you Jesus, Jesus is here, come quickly" are the words I heard Mason say last night as I was laying him back down at around 2 AM. This past week with him discovering his new found ability of going pee pee in the potty coupled with his new awareness of the dark in his room at night and thunderstorms he's been unusually fearful at night. The night light has helped and I think we need to stop going in his room in the middle of the night. Although hes waking requesting to go pee pee, the past two nights hes been too 'out of it' to actually stand and pee.

To help him be able to go to sleep Chris reminded him that Jesus never leaves him and that he's

always with him even when Mommy and Daddy leave the room...well it brought such an emotional wave of love for God and my little boy when, unprompted by me, he let go of my neck for me to lay him down and said, "I need you Jesus!" He then looked at me as I was wrapping him up in his favorite blankey and tucking him in, and said "Jesus is here, come quickly" I said, "You're right Mason, Jesus is here" he turned his head to the side, closed his eyes and went right back to sleep.

What an awesome reminder for me that sometimes I need to let go of whatever it is that I'm trying to master on my own, or whatver it is that I am afraid of or what I may want to put my trust in and instead call out to my savior "I need you Jesus, Jesus is here, come quickly"

Corduroy

2009-08-01T04:35:00.000-07:00

Mason goes through phases where he wants to read a book over and over until he has it memorized. Yesterday he and I were playing the "sleeping game", which I love. Heres how you play: Mason tells you to lay down in the bed, he turns the sound machine on covers you with his blanket and says okay mommy close your eyes its time to go to sleep then he tip toes out the door and closes it shut and leaves you alone to "Sleep" for about 2 mins or so...sounds short "2 mins" but we play it over and over so 3o mins later I've had a great little rest and Mason has had a blast playing a game! Well, yesterday he added some story time into the bedtime routine with one of his all time favorite books "Corduroy"...now if you read him this book there is no skipping pages or even words for that matter he will correct you. The clips are a little hard to understand but if you know this book as well as Mason you may be able to follow along. He did the whole book through without stopping with me these videos are him doing it a second time with Chris so he gets a little silly distracted by daddy but I wanted to include it anyway.

Amazed

2009-08-01T04:02:00.000-07:00

I was feeling some freedom that I could leave our little boy for a little while to start making dinner...he told me he was making a train and when I came around the corner heres what he had made!

He said, "Yook Mommy I found all my cars and truks and yined them up and now they are a really big train...you yike it dont you?...CHUGGA CHUGGA CHOO CHOO...ALLL ABOARD!!"
Me- "Of course I like it...I love it"

No Shorts...but I really think that was KEY to him "knowing" when he needed to go!

I'm still in shock at the fact that Mason and I just decided on Monday to give the potty training a try and here it is Sat morning and I really feel like hes "got it" I know that I am to expect some accidents if he gets excited or is in the middle of playing but he tells me when he needs to poop and pee and he makes it to the potty and we've even been wearing shorts the past two days. His little sticker book is really filling up but sometimes he doesnt even care about getting a sticker he just is proud of himself and wants to go back to playing...Hes soo big I cannot believe it! Yesterday we made a venture to BiLo and he went right before we left the house I showed him as soon as we got there that BiLo had a bathroom too if he needed to go and he looked at me and said with his head to the side and wearing a little grin, "Mommy, I just went remember, did you forget?" Last night he woke up again to go pee and then it was right back to bed and yesterday morning he woke up with a dry diaper and I was freaking out because he said he didnt need to go but I put some blankets down and decided to trust him and an hour and 1/2 later he said I need to go peepee now...I was releived and amazed that he could hold it so long...maybe road trips to KY wont have as many stops as I was expecting!! :)

Since we've been in the house alot this week we've had the opportunity to play and Mason has been loving to sing and destory the bonus room!! Mason got this microphone from Joya when we helped her move into her new place and he loves singing in it! The second video of him dancing is really toned down to how he actually dances to the truck music.

Its going well!!

2009-07-29T05:22:00.001-07:00

So far the potty training is going really well! And Mason is very proud of himself! He is really starting to know that "feeling" that its coming! I started out asking him to go but he would say, I'll tell you when I need to go...I remind him but for the most part he says, "Its coming, we better hurry" We have sat on the potty 3 times now to try to poop, he hasn't given me much grief about sitting there I read him a story and he says..."well, thanks for trying I dont have any poopy right now, maybe later." I love his responses to situations, they are all so grown up sounding....just the other day he was playing with some sunglasses while we were waiting to check out and he couldn't get them back on the shelf and he said, "UGGH, I'M FRUSTRATED"...what 2 yr old says that? :)...sorry about the rabbit trail there... My biggest shocker with potty training so far is that I wasn't prepared for him to already, only in day 2, to be asking me to get him out of his crib to go potty. During nap time he said, "MOMMY, I NEED TO PEE PEE" So I went in got him out and sure enough he went on the potty then was able to fall asleep about 20 mins later. Then bedtime again (But this wasn't as fun). He goes to bed at 8 so at 830 he calls out "MOMMY, MOMMY I NEED TO GO" I went in and cant believe the words that came out of my mouth..."you have a diaper on do you just want to go in your diaper?" What was I thinking? Thankfully he said no I need to use the potty...SO he did, washed his hands and put his sticker in his book then again at 145...same thing Crying MOMMY, I went in and he said, I need to go pee pee...so there we went again and he was right back to sleep. I'm hoping that he wont need to go as often in the middle of the night?? What else can I do but get up and get him out of the crib...I guess hes getting so big I need to move him to the big boy bed so he can just get out by himself...I know you're probably reading and thinking..."what, hes 2 1/2 and still in the crib??" But he loves that thing and he such a good sleeper I've not wanted to mess it up...I'm thinking maybe we will make that big transition mid September. Its so sad that he's growing up so fast! In a span of 3 months he will seem to transition from Toddler to Big boy! :( But I'm proud of him, I am hoping today we will have some success with poop on the potty. All day yesterday, other than nap and bed he was bottomless, I think that's whats helped him to know he needs to go so quickly and if he barely starts to go its like one or two drops...much less of a hassle then changing his clothes all day...I think I'll keep this bottomless routine up for the rest of the week and add shorts with no under ware next week and the week after that add some underwear...We aren't going anywhere, just staying around the house, I thought I was going to go crazy but Mason and I have been spending some quality time together so its been fun to just make the days all about him and its also sad because I know that our lives are going to change so much come mid November when Baby Micah arrives...its going to be a fun change but none the less a change that we will all have to adjust to!

Firsts

2009-07-28T05:11:00.000-07:00

Little Ceasers was having a training day before their opening and we got an invitation to get free pizza!! Well, really the only time Mason has pizza is at a party or even an at home Pizza Party, like we have in KY...so he said I neeed a party hat and balloons...so Chris made him this hat and I blew up a balloon...wala...pizza party!! Here he is checking out the balloon...he wants to play volley ball with it after his pizza is all gone in his tummy...he ate 1 and half pieces and was nervous that there wasnt going to be enough for him to have as much as he wanted.
One of Masons new things is loving to Pretend Drive! But here is is "REALLY DRIVING WITH DADDY" through the neighborhood...he thought he was BIG STUFF!! and in reality he really is getting to be "big" :(

First time Flying a kite with Daddy!!

I feel like we've done so many new things in the life of Mason the past couple of days... hes had a lot of firsts! Unfortunately the first new thing has been him being really a bit difficult. The main thing that gets him upset is getting his diaper changed and going somewhere new or leaving once we are there. Mason is typically a very easy boy that is extremely corroborative but hes been testing us and whining and crying...just being very emotional...he cried over the fact there was only one egg left in the egg carton???

The second first was his first time going to Chucky Cheese or as he calls it "Chucky Cheeseits" It was Benjamin's 3rd birthday party place. Mason loved the token money, the band up front and unlike most of the other kids he wanted to follow the Chucky Cheese Mouse everywhere! But of course his favorite part was the cupcakes!

The third first was him waking after being asleep for about an hour and half with the most horrible scared scream that you've ever heard...Chris ran up to his room and Mason said, "I'm scared of the dark daddy!"...how pitiful is that and of course when you need a nightlight you don't have one. Well, he opened Masons door and turned the light in the next room on and that worked for about another hour then it happened again!...Scream, we go in and again, "I am afraid of the dark"...plus he had somehow leaked through or should I say past his diaper, his pj pants were wet and his diaper was dry???...he was sooo upset. So Chris told him he was going to go get him a night light and Mason said okay but then he got so scared for Chris to leave so long story short the whole family took at 10 pm ride to Harris Teeter in search of a night light! We plugged it in and it worked like a charm...he slept just fine all night!

The fourth first was him getting to fly a kite. He saw a kite in one of his little people lift the flap books and he said, "maybe one day my daddy will buy a kite for me" and Chris did just that, but we've been waiting for some wind to be able to fly it. We started out in the back yard but there wasn't really enough space so we drove over to the other common area in our neighborhood and that was a great spot. Chris would get it started and Mason could do it all by himself...he loved it...I did too, there is something really fun about flying a kite!

The fifth was our journey yesterday, I was planning on going cold Turkey the 1st week of August with potty training but Mason kinda lead the way yesterday...So... Mason did a huge poop so I got a rag and washed him off and decided I should let him air out a little so I just put his shorts on without a diaper and he went to the potty 3 times without fuss!! I made him a little book out of construction paper stapled together..."Mason's Potty Sticker Book" and hes been putting stickers in it..I figured that way it would be something I could take with me when we go out. After the 2nd pee in the potty he said he wanted to wear some underwear so I said okay and he had just a tiny little dribble come out and he said...Ohhh I feel the pee pee coming out we better hurry and he finished in the potty and the next time he told me again he needed to go...He refused to go before his nap but I put a diaper on and left the underwear on over top ...well, about an hour into nap he called out, "mommy I'm going potty! I'm going potty" So I went in and he had already gone in his diaper but that pretty much ruined nap time...we got up and went downstairs where we proceeded to watch a little "i can potty" video I picked up for free at one of Marbi's Y consignment sales. Its really cheesy all it is are different clips of kids going potty and going out to play and coming in to potty I think it was made in the 80s the hair is pretty entertaining! It has several catchy songs though...my favorite..."My potty, my potty I use it everyday, I use it for my poop and pee, then I go back and play!" After the movie he was all excited about it and we were talking about getting ready to go potty and he took a drink of H2O and started going on the floor but finished in the potty he said...oops I had an accident like those kids in the video. After bath he went again with no trouble, Chris came home and he went again with no trouble he was proud to show Chris how he could do it! Then right before bed we were hearing him pass some little toots, as he calls them, and we told him he may need to go poopy and we were on the way to the potty and he pooped in his shorts...He didn't get upset about it though...Overall I feel pretty good about his first official day of no diapers...so we're off! Chris told me that Success is when preparation and opportunity meet...well, I have read lots of blogs, sites and talked to other moms about their successes and so when Mason presented the opportunity I deiced that this was it...so now I'm just praying for lots and lots of success!! Today will be day 2!

GA Family Vacation

2009-07-25T06:05:00.001-07:00

Mauch Family Vacation this year was spent in GA at Marbi and Andrews house. We've all been trying to make efforts to take a family vacation together we've been to the beach twice and we decided to go to GA and am I glad we did! We piled in their house which was plenty big to hold all of us! Mason, Chris and myself camped out down in the basement with one of the big screen TVs and the pool table and everyone else had their own rooms too...it was great! We started the days with good breakfasts, some time playing the Wii, we made picnic lunches, ate family dinners around their big table, took walks to the farm animals at the end of the road, played in the neighborhood pool, went to Stone Mt, watched movies and most importantly just enjoyed spending time with each other. I love that we have such wonderful times when we are all together and I really love that I actually like to spend time with my family, I couldn't imagine what it would be like to dread family time.

Andrew let Mason use the water hose to spray the grass and Mason decided to turn it into playtime with the water hose! He first learned this fun game while at Papa and Grandma's house after playing in the lake we stripped him down and sprayed off all of the lake grime, He loves getting the hose!

Watch out Marbi, hes after you! "you yike the water don't you Marbi? Its just water you don't have to run away from it!"- Mason

For a little playtime for the kids we went to Alyssa's school and the church, while the adults were taking a tour I watched all the kiddos play on the playground they loved it! I kept trying to get a pic of all of them together, that's a difficult task!

SLIDE
Alyssa

Olivia

Riding in Grandmaw and Papas van is THE BEST when you are a kid because you get to watch a movie...even if you're only driving 5 mins away! All the grand kids were in the van the whole weekend anywhere we went...they loved it and I think Grandmaw and Papa liked it too!!

Wrapping up the night sharing some Dippin Dots...Aunt Sheilas Treat!

To get to the top of stone Mt we took a sky lift ride, Mason thought it was like the rocket ride from Little Einsteins!

Marbi and Mason walking out on top of Stone Mt, I think it resembled the moon!

I absolutely love it when Mason wraps his arm around my neck when he gives me a hug! It feels so good plus it makes for a really great picture :)

The whole Family on top of the Mountain! Brent, Mom, Chris, Me, Sheila, Andrew, Marbi, Dad, Owen Mason and Alyssa...oh and Olivia is hiding behind Mason

Olivia slept on part of the train ride, I asked Mason if he wanted to take a nap like Olivia and he looked at me like"Are you crazy mom?" He said, "no I don't want to seep right now"

This train ride was the highlight of Masons trip to Stone Mountain!

Waiting for the train!

I SEE THE TRAIN!! Here it comes...ALL ABOARD, CHUGGA CHUGGA CHOO CHOO!!!!!!

Stone Mt had lots of shows, here is the science show, this was a big hit with Owen, he was jumping up and down and cheering, he LOVED this part!

This was us waiting for the nature show to start...this show was crazy, Owls and Hawks were trained to fly RIGHT OVER YOUR HEAD!! A little too close for comfort, especially for heads with no hair!

We ate our picnic lunch and all had a great time but Owen was a little bit nervous about the bees!

Here is a video of Masons favorite part!! The train ride!

Birthday Parties

2009-07-13T15:58:00.000-07:00

OWEN IS 6!!!

OWEN AND JAX

PIZZA BEFORE RAYS SPLASH PLANET!!

COOPERS 1ST

CHEESE

KARIS, MASON and BEN

Let me just say I love birthday parties. I love going to them, planning them, and I love little kid birthday parties the most! So far we've had 3 summer birthday parties. Little Nigles 3rd, which I dont have any pictures of :( , Owens 6th, and Coopers 1st. They have all been different and all fun too! Mason loves parties, we've been making cards so now if I mention someones birthday he wants to know if its time to make a card. And he also knows now that birthday parties equal him getting to get some cake. I discovered the other night when we were at my parents house that I dont make cakes for us here at the house EVER...my mom had made a cake for family night and when she brought it out Mason asked whos birthday it was and if they could just go ahead and put a candle in it and asked if we could just sing the birthday song for him! SO...we all joined in, watched the little candle burn and Mason smiled as we sung, "Happy Birthday Dear Mason"! Here are some Pics of the birthday parties!

COW DAY

2009-07-10T12:28:00.000-07:00

First of all I love Chick Fila. Chris and I have already decided that if Mason needs to get a "teenager job" at fast food we want it to be Chick Fila...they play Christian music all the time, they are closed on Sundays and they have lots of great family things...like today's event...Dress up like a Cow and get free food...you know I'll do anything to get something for free! Come to find out so will a lot of my friends, I even got a call from Kristel telling me that she was taking her kids to theirs in KY...Truth is I was so excited to finally have a kid at Halloween so I could have an excuse to dress up! ...Today, I told Mason that we were going to make some cow masks and dress up like cows and meet some of his friends for lunch at chick fila and he said "moo" while walking around on his tip toes! Don't know how proud my dad would have been of me as far as my creativity level with this project went but I was reverting to the preschool days of simple costume. So I just googled "preschool cow mask" and the first one I clicked on had a printable mask! (I love the Internet...I really don't know what I would do without it!) I printed 2 and we colored some black spots on them, taped on some Popsicle sticks and we both wore white shirts and dark shorts and taped some black spots on our shirts...Wala...Instantly we were cows! It was fun, to see everyone all decked out in their black and white and Mason even won the golden cow in his kids meal prize so now we can go back another day for a free ice cream! The cow mascot was there and Mason LOVED giving it hugs and high fives! How much of his kids meal did he eat? One bite of one of his chicken nuggets and 3 fries. He was too excited about all of the cows (people dressed like cows and also his cow prize and stuffed animal cow) balloons, friends and the playground...but he ate it all once we got in the car! I Don't know how much money Chick Fila gave away today but they gave me more than just a free meal...a fun memory with my little boy who wanted to search through his books at nap time to find any with pictures of cows! Now I'm wondering if he thinks nuggets come from cows??

4th of July Camping Weekend

2009-07-07T10:42:00.000-07:00

Aunt Jackie and Uncle Jimmy have a campsite at Raccoon Holler and they invited us and mom and dad up for the weekend...I was so excited because I've really been wanting to take Mason camping. I had no idea his favorite part would be playing in their golf cart!
We set up the tent and Mason thought it was soo much fun! We had an air mattress for us and he has a little blow up ready bed too! He was very excited about sleeping in the tent!

Ahhh...its actually cool here in July!

One of my favorite parts about camping is the eating! We had some yummy food...thanks to Jackie and Jimmy! I think it tasted even better since I didn't have to cook it!

Mom and Jackie cooking inside the camper...come on is this really camping??

Masons favorite pass time...taking trips to see all of his family, taking trips to Target, the pool, KY and GA

He drove Papa around on pretend trips too!

Getting ready for bed in the tent!

SOO EXCITED about his flashlight!

It took him forever to get his shoes off because he didn't want to put his flashlight down!

The fireworks got a little loud for Mason so he wanted Chris to cover his ears

He liked them but was a little nervous ..."they are really Youd Mommy"

He would clap thinking they were over and more would start and he'd say, "make it stop mommy, its too Youd, cover my ears daddy"
The fireworks were great, they were over the little pond and they lasted a really long time and Mason was right they were loud...his little brother inside was even jumping at the loud noise!

I love fireworks!

Mason Cheeezzzin with Papa...I think Mason went up and down this slide like 45 times!

YUMMY SMORES!

Roasting some Marshmallows

Sitting with Daddy is so much fun!

Maybe my next son will look something like me??

Mason enjoyed this slide when Chris went with him...it was an old school metal slide that was SUPER FAST!

Daddy kept him safe!

Nervous trying it alone!

Uncle Jimmy let Mason "drive" And here is a good belly shot of me at 21 weeks pregnant!

Yummy candy from the golf cart parade!

Mason would wave that little flag as hard as he could

They would throw candy...

and he'd wave it some more...I think he thought if he stopped waving they'd stop coming and throwing candy.

Mason was so nice to share candy with all of us!

HAVE TO MENTION THE FIRST PART OF OUR TRIP!!!!!

Might be the hardest I have laughed in a while!

Its July 4th and we are on our way to Raccoon Holler campground to meet Jackie and Jimmy for a camping trip. This first picture is our first destination after our car ride of crazy long map quest directions and mom and dads van needing new breaks. Dad pulls into a service station to look up some numbers of places that may be open that we can go to to get new breaks and it just so happens that a man standing outside knows how to put on breaks and he only lives 15 mins away so mom and dad decide its fate and off we go to this mans house!...

At the bottom of the hill on his property is an old shop where the man explains he will need cash because he has no checking account to cash a check. Dad, Mason and Chris accompany the man as he changes the breaks on the van...

Meanwhile mom and I sit on a rusty glider and hold the mans 11 month old little girl while he fixes the van...Never would I allow a complete stranger to babysit my child but maybe this is how things work in Raccoon Holler??

She was a sweet little girl but I just couldn't stop laughing at the fact that I am on vacation, at a junk yard/house sitting on a rusty swing, holding a strangers kid while the breaks are fixed on mom and dads van...fun times!

Knights Pictures

2009-06-27T11:56:00.001-07:00

Getting all three boys to be still long enough to take a picture was very hard!

Mason and Ben were cheering so loud to try to get the free pizza!

Landon and Ben

Told you he was sweaty!

Good Buddies!

What a Fun Night

Knights Baseball Game

2009-06-26T19:24:00.000-07:00

Just got in from a Knights Baseball game. This was the first, of I'm sure many more events like this in my future with 2 boys! I told Mason when daddy came home we were going to go pick up his friend Ben and meet his other friend Landon at the baseball game and Mason made some muscle arms and in a rough voice said..."Cause we are Boys, right Mommy?"...I really don't know who told him that going to baseball games was a "boy" thing to do but none the less he had a blast! Ben started talking about the dinosaur mascot right away and that was their favorite part, when the crowd would clap they would join in but for the most part the boys just liked being with each other, eating snacks, popcorn and ice cream! I also discovered tonight that Mason inherited Chris' sweating...by the time we made it to our seats Masons hair looked like we had just run through a sprinkler! But even though he was dripping with sweat he LOVED it! I'll have to up load some pictures tomorrow. My favorite part was on the way home we asked the boys what their favorite part about the baseball game was and Ben said the Dinosaurs and Mason said his favorite part was his friends! How cute is that? Now WAY past Masons bed time we are all showered, Masons trying to fall asleep and I'm just thinking about how much fun having a little boy is! I dont think I really watched much of the game but I had so much fun watching him laugh, jump, and even sweat! This was a great night, a hot night, but a great night!

7 months

2009-06-25T14:13:00.000-07:00

Has it really been 7 months since the last blog??? Woah...when Lisa talked me into this whole blog thing I really thought this is what would happen...I'd blog for a little while then quit. Well, time to try it out again...and after reading the last post I entered I wish I would have stuck with it if for no other reason than to capture or remember some of the cute things Mason says. He's now 2 1/2 and hes growing up soo fast! Some of my favorite things he says right now are:

I can do it all by self, I want to use my secial satchua (special spatula), Did you see dat, daddys home daddys home! I love his cheese face when its time to smile for the camera, although at times it can be annoying because when he makes that face he really dosent look like himself at all! A couple of weeks ago he took off swimming "all by self" with his little learn to swim vest on, he is soo proud of himself...now if I could only get him to continually go potty he'd really have something to be proud of!

Last night we went to visit Brian and Patsy and Ben and their new little girl Sarah. Mason was so precious wanting to pray for Sarah before bed and he even told his teachers at the Y all about baby Sarah and her tiny toes and fingers. Hes so sweet and such a good little boy!

Alot has changed for our family too in the past 7 months! For starters after a journey of trying to conceive and being told there was really only about a 10% chance that I could get pregnant, and continuing to hope in the Lord...I'm now almost 20 weeks pregnant, feeling the baby move around and realizing that I am already bigger with this pregnancy! Mason is very excited about his new brother coming Nov 13. He says, we will have 3 boys! (meaning himself, daddy and his brother) We havent really had any luck settling on a name...its such a tough decision...but I guess we have a little time before we have to choose.

Okay, enough for this blog session, I need to ease my way back in! But I really do want to keep up with it...I mean I look at the picture posted here and realize that Mason is really growing up and I know one day I'm just going to wish I could go back to that moment when he wrapped his arms around my neck to give me a big hug!

"Naateetee Set and Sistor"

2008-11-21T03:32:00.001-08:00

I went ahead and decorated for Christmas...I know its early but we are going to KY for Thanksgiving and when we come back I'm having a little birthday Christmas Caroling party for Mason so I wanted to go ahead and get all of the decorations up! PLUS, I really love Christmas decorations I know its out of the norm and Chris really isnt fond of clutter and thats really all that Christmas decorations are...lots of red and green shiny clutter! Maybe thats why I like it so much my one time a year I'm allowed some clutter! :) So far Mason is doing really well with the tree he knows hes only supposed to touch the ornaments with one finger and aside from the occasional burst of "OOOOHHH I just gotta push this one",we havent broken any yet!

Part of the Christmas decorations is a "Little People Nativity Set", Chris' parents got it for Mason for his 1st Christmas, hard to believe that this is his 3rd. Anyway, Mason LOVES playing with it he makes the "Amils" (animals) eat food and give rides to the "Ymen" (wisemen) who are bringing "pesents" to baby Jesus. The cutest part is how he rocks the little plastic baby Jesus sitting on the hay and puts Mary and Joseph right beside him!...his Favorite part is pushing the Angel down so he can hear the music and make all of the little people dance...its very cute!

He really started getting into make believe playing with a little toy lion that he got as a gift when I found out I was having a boy...hes always loved that little lion. He has moved on from Lion and now he is loving a little handmade doll I brought home from my moms house that my grandmother made. He saw the doll laying on the floor when he woke up from nap, I was planning on putting it in the attic...one of those things you just wanna keep, but he saw it and said "AWWW, yook mommy Baby sistor"...I just started laughing...he came up with that all on his own! He took his own blanket and wrapped her up and puts her to "seep" and says "shes so cute, and pecious"...so for now I think its okay for him to be fond of a doll...we are leaving sister here if we leave the house but Mason makes sure she is either asleep or proped up near his toys and when he walks in the door he runs to check to see if shes "waked up" or to see if she needs to go back to "seep" I figure next week he'll have forgotten all about "sistor" just like little mister lion whos just sitting in the box with all of his other stuffed animals.

its been a while

2008-10-18T18:16:00.000-07:00

Okay I realize its been a while since my last post and boy has a lot happened! Mason is now talking in 2 to three word sentences, sometimes even 5, all of the time now. Chris and I just now decided we'd better start writing stuff down that he says or we're going to forget how cute it was! We've been to the zoo, which was an absolute BLAST! His favorites were the monkeys, otters and turtles...and boy who knew there were so many various kinds of turtles?? We've had several play dates, we've been on a tractor ride, both kinds (the lawn mowers in Home Depot and a real tractor) Mason is finally understanding that the moon is not a ball in the sky and but he still says "moon, I hold moon mommy" its very hard to explain that the moon is really far away and really WAY to big for him to hold but its all still very cute! He loves singing the clean up song his version is "keep up keep up eeaebody eeh keep up" hes very proud that he can sing it too! He started eating salad...one of the only veggies that he will eat. Hes also getting really good at brushing his teeth even though they are still not all in like his friends teeth! Mason is also becoming quite the actor his new game is "baby" he wants me to hold him like a baby and he closes his eyes and whines or is just silent. Chris taught him how to make a tent with a blanket so that is a fun game and he also likes to hide in our closet sometimes with the lights off I'm glad to know hes not afraid of the dark and it works well for me because he just likes to sit in there...I wonder what hes doing sometimes but when I open the door he just smiles and says "close door mommy"...I guess everyone needs some alone time every now and then! But of all of the "new" things Mason is doing, my favorite is how he LOVES to pray. He reminds us before every meal "pay mommy, pay daddy" or sometimes if he wants to get both of us at the same time he calls us "Moddy" And I love to listen over the monitor to he and Chris pray at bed time Mason repeats the words at the end of the sentences, thank you for this day day , bless mommy mommy, bless daddy daddy, watch over me me, keep me safe safe, I love you Jesus, Amen! It is soo precious to see that even at such a young age he is beginning to understand who Jesus is. When we ask Mason where Jesus is he points to his heart...I am praying he always wants Jesus in his heart!

Feeding the Birds

2008-09-27T12:07:00.000-07:00

Birds where are you?? I have some pop corn for you!
Maybe they area over this hill
Yeah! Birds...I love birds!
Here Mommy do you want to feed the birds too?
Satisfied birds!

Family Vacation at the Beach

2008-09-27T11:27:00.001-07:00

This September we took a family vacation with Papa and Grand maw. Usually we try to go with everyone including the DiPastena's and Brent and Sheila, but every ones kids were in school so we were the only ones who could go once school was back in. We stayed at Myrtle Beach in a resort across the street from the beach the weather was perfect, Mason loved the sand and we had a great time! Papa bought a kite to fly from the grocery store

Mason sat under the tent in the shade and dug in the sand...he loved it.

This is Chris' attempt to get Mason to touch the ocean...this is about as close as we could get him.

Mason Loved riding in Papas van so he could watch movies!
Riding these cars and pushing the elevator buttons was a highlight of Masons hotel experience.
Peek a Boo
Its so cute how Mason thinks that if he just hides his face or some part of himself that he is actually hidden and we cant see him!
Yummy, Jello!

$1.75

2008-09-17T10:51:00.000-07:00

Who knew that $1.75 could bring so much joy to a little boys life? Grandmaw and PaPa spotted this Elmo splash mat on clearance from Wal-mart. Now that the pool is closed I was wondering what I was going to do for outside time...now I know... "Elmo Wa-wa...yeah?" At first he just wanted me to turn the water up high then back down low who knew that watching water rise and fall could bring tears from laughing so hard to the eyes of a toddler? Then he decided to fill his bucket up and pour the water on the plants. He really likes sliding down and splashing into the center. Now my only question is: Will this count as a bath for the day?

Chatter Box

2008-09-10T04:57:00.000-07:00

Well, for the past 2 weeks Mason has been hit or miss with naps, one day he will sleep for 3 hours the next he will just play, jump, talk, squeal... in his crib for the whole 3 hour nap time. I'm praying its just a developmental thing vs him trying to give up his nap before hes even 2! I think its gotta be a developmental thing because the past 2 days hes been saying new words like crazy! We were walking to go up stairs and he said, "mommy couch", he wanted to go outside and said "mommy door shut" he gives Chris the ball and says "daddy up high" or "kick" yesterday we were playing outside and he found something in the wood chips and I said "come show me what you found" he walked right over and reached out his hand and said "see, Rock", we had a friend over with her new baby and he wanted her to get out of the car seat so he said "mommy help baby out"...there are too many for me to name its crazy and so much fun! But one sad thing is that now he can also say "help" so hes dropped "nu" for that verb hes still using "nu" for more and again, but its bitter sweet watching him learn to communicate more and more. My little baby is really just a full on Toddler! And despite missing the naps hes still been in a great mood! I think hes really having fun using all of his new words!

Labor day weekend with the Haynes Family

2008-09-03T10:54:00.001-07:00

With the Haynes family all together we were ready to keep busy and make lots of memories and that's just what we did! I took so many pictures, as usual, but did not post them all even though there are lots that you will see!

Cousins and Uncles relaxing early in the morning!
Uncle "JJ" is reading the boys a story!
The Finns Family
Mary Kaylin with Daddy and Mommy
The whole Haynes Family together in Charlotte: Poppie, Mason, Mam-maw, Mary Kaylin, Nicholas, Jason, Kristel, Chris and Mandy.

Mason always wants to be just like his daddy so when Chris was leaning on Phillip Mason wanted to get up on the couch and lean on Chris...I'm so glad we caught this on film!Poppie, Mam-maw and their three grand kids!

Did Someone say "POOL"

Nicholas LOVED the pool! He was so brave going down the slide all by himself!

Mary Kaylin looked so cute in this little sundress, too bad it was all covered up by the seat belt!

Mason didn't want to let go of his uncle Jason

PLAZA FIESTAPlaza Fiesta is about 10 mins from the house and its kind of like a Spanish mall with an ethnic food court and the largest indoor playground I've ever seen! The boys had a BLAST and we adults did too!

Mason and Nicholas discovered how to say "Moneys" and their grandparents would start the rides for them!
Good thing they are both small enough to fit in them together they were able to get more for their money!
The car was Mason's FAVORITE, he pitched a fit when he had to get out of this one for Nicholas to have a turn!

Mary Kaylin liked watching all of the big kids! But I think she enjoyed being held by her Poppie the most!
Mason FLEW down this slide and he kept wanting to do it again!
Uncle Jason took Mason down the big slide, I got plastic burns on my arms from this slide it goes really fast...the boys LOVED them!
AGAIN DADDY AGAIN!!

PAJAMA PARTY!!

Mason and Nicholas wore matching pajamas from Aunt Kristel the first night...they looked too cute!
Nicholas gives good hugs but Mason likes his personal space we are working on him being a cuddle bug but we still have lots of work to do!
Nicholas is teaching Mason how to comb his hair!
Poppie always wanted to get some hugs from his boys!
Mary Kaylin was also at the pajama party but she was kept safe on uncle Chris' lap from the action of the two boys! She is such a good baby she just cooed and sat back and watched the boys play...next year I'm sure she is going to be right in the middle of all the action!

We had so much fun with everyone staying at our house we were so sad to see them leave. Its so fun watching the boys starting to grow up together and each time we get together they play together so much more, I am so excited about going to KY for Thanksgiving, by then Mary Kaylin will be soo big! They say that distance makes the heart grow fonder, I think that saying may be true! Those of you that live near your family take advantage of spending quality time with them, go to visit them, stop by, you never know when they may have to move away and you'll wish you had them closer.

Haynes Family Visit

2008-09-03T10:37:00.001-07:00

This Labor day weekend we were blessed to have a wonderful visit from Chris' parents and sister and brother in law and our nephew and niece! Unfortunately, there was a gas problem so we were without hot water and I have a gas stove so there was no way for me to cook as normal. What are the chances that the one weekend that they are coming in town from KY that we would be without the essentials...But, we still had a great time and I've never made so much food in a toaster oven! Mason was so excited about them coming we would point to their pictures on the fridge and he would run to the door saying "Nu, Yeah", meaning, I want them to come now! The day they were supposed to arrive I think Mason was so excited that he couldn't even take a nap and once they arrived we were on the go non stop and he loved every second!

Poor uncle "JJ" was choked by Masons little hands! What a great uncle!

Nicholas is ready to play at the park with his cousin Mason

Poppie is in heaven with all of his grand kids together!

Nicholas LOVED the big slide at the park

Mason and Nicholas just kept going up the steps and down the slide over and over, they REALLY had fun playing together this time!

Olivia is 2

2008-08-26T14:31:00.000-07:00

Peek A Boo
I see You!
Cousins sharing chips and dip...YUMMY
Happy Birthday to you...
Mason and Olivia Learning to sculpt from the Master of Play-doh!

Olivia or as Mason calls her "Vivi" turned 2 this past weekend and we celebrated her birthday on Saturday. Olivia is a beautiful little girl who loves to dance, sing, jump, draw, play with babies and I just discovered that she can do an awesome somersault too! Mason and Olivia are only 15 weeks apart and going to her birthday party made me realize that Mason is getting older too! Its so fun watching the two of them together, Mason and Olivia I mean, I hope they always stay close cousins! Mason loved being at the party the weather was perfect, the company included all of his favorites: Papa, Syssa, O and Vivi. Not to mention he played with play-doh for an hour, played peek-a-boo, cooked up some soup in Olivias kitchen, raced Owens trains, shared chips and dip, and had an adult sized portion of his Aunt Sheilas semi-homemade birthday cake. He did all of this AND missed his nap!

2008-08-20T17:29:00.000-07:00

One more ride with PaPa!

"Nu Daddy", can I have this "Pies" prize from the shack?

Walking the loop, or in Masons case, catching a ride! What a great Daddy!

The birthday girl...A.K.A....Celebrity Mildred Sherrill

Here is Mason playing in the ditch of this place we call "camp meetin" Crazy that people choose to live here for 2 weeks of their summer.

Camp Meeting

2008-08-20T12:17:00.000-07:00

For as long as I can remember for two weeks in August my mom uses her motherly force to get as many of her children, and now grandchildren, to attend the Balls Creek Camp Meeting. At first glance the place looks likes something from a third world country. Camp Meeting is complete with row houses with tin roofs, dirt floors, and swings on every porch. This place has a lot of heritage for the Sherrill family (my moms maiden name). They have been "tenting" since before my mom, who is now 62, was even born. This is the place where my grandparents met. And for some reason, I guess tradition, people keep coming back year after year and the only thing that has changed is that some of the tents now have cement floors, vinyl siding, illegal toilets and air conditioning units. Its crazy to me to see the transformation some of these tents have, they actually look more like something from Gatlinburg...why people spend that much money on their tent when the next one beside theirs looks like my grandmothers, is a mystery to me. I think the reason my grandmother loves it so much is because she is like a celebrity out there! She is celebrating her 92nd birthday this week so everyone there stops by to see Mrs. Sherrill, she may be the oldest person who still tents out in the heat but I must say I think she is the most popular! Every year my mom plans a Sherrill family reunion around camp meeting and everyone goes up with their pot luck and we have "Sundy Dinner"(lunch) After lunch you walk the gravel loop that surrounds the open air church pavilion and wave to people sitting in their tents and you walk to the shack and pick out a prize, maybe get a milk shake and then head back to your tent to watch others do the same. Even though its an odd tradition, I'm glad that its one that I have been a part of. I wonder what kinds of traditions I am going to use my motherly force to get Mason to participate in. This year Mason had his first real experience with Camp Meeting and he loved it!

2008-08-19T18:48:00.000-07:00

"Nu Mommy" or otherwise translated as, "I know I'm too small to climb this mountian rock wall at the park but I really want to, so "Nu Mommy" ~help

The World of Blogging

2008-08-19T18:21:00.000-07:00

Well, thanks to Lisa Davis Turner I am now joining the world of bloggers! We will see how up to date I can keep this. I have really enjoyed looking at others blog sites and catching up on their lives, children and I've realized that its like a giagantic scrap-book!... I guess my purpose for this blog is so that I don't have to scrapbook anymore. I used to love scrap-booking but with my active toddler running around and always wanting to "d", draw, getting out all of the scrap-booking paper, scissors, glue and stickers is too much for his little hands to resist. On the topic of my toddler, let me just tell you, he gets more and more fun EVERY single day! I feel like everyday he is learning a new word but at the moment he still says "nu" for multiple requests such as help, more and again. But to make the "nu" more complete he has also come up with a sign to accompany his plea. He holds his left hand out and points at the palm of his left hand with his right finger over and over...who can resist a request like that? Hes the joy of our lives right now its crazy that he's already 20 months old.