Trying out baby food!

Mason had his first experience with "real" food on Friday night. We tried giving him rice cereal! It went pretty well considering it was his first time and he seemed to really like it! We made sure to take lots of picture to document this important day!

I left Jared in charge of changing him and told him to put just his diaper on since I knew Mason would make a mess! He brings Mason in wearing his diaper and swim hat because he was worried the light above the kitchen table would get in his eyes! Too cute!

Here's Mason excited and ready to eat!


Taking his first bite!
And liking it!!
Daddy even tried!

Then Mason decided he could do this on his own and grabbed the spoon from Jared!
All in all, Mason's first attempt at baby food was a success! He looks pretty proud of himself!

The ups and downs of motherhood

I am copying this idea from Kelly's Korner because it sounded like fun! Since becoming a mom, there are a lot things that are easier than I would have expected and definitely some things that are harder than I would have expected. I made a list below of each!

Things that have been easier than I thought:

Pregnancy- This one was a big surprise for me! As much as I always wanted kids, I DREADED being pregnant. I thought it would be 9 months of pain and feeling fat. Maybe I just got lucky, but it was actually a great experience! I was hardly ever sick and all of the doctors visits, blood work, and tests weren't nearly as bad as I thought!

Childbirth- Once again, this was something that I dreaded. I worried about it for a good portion of my pregnancy! Surprisingly, and thanks to my wonderful friend the epidural, it was not so bad!

Breastfeeding- This has come easy to me and from talking to others I am fortunate it has. While it is a pain to work into my schedule if I am out and about, it has been pretty simple otherwise.

Adjusting to having a baby- Jared and I both agree that we can't remember what life was like before Mason! We love having him as a part of our family and any adjusting we have had to do is well worth it!

Late Night Feedings- I imagined being up ALL night with a crying baby for the first few months and luckily with Mason that hasn't been the case. While he still wakes up occasionally at night, he falls back asleep as soon as he is fed!

Things that have been harder than I thought:

Recovery from delivery- Oh how I wish someone had given me a warning about how bad this was! I expected childbirth to be so difficult that I didn't even think about the recovery! I must say though that I am so thankful Mason came early and only weighed 8 pounds. I can't imagine if he had waited until his due date...he would have been at least 9 pounds!

Having a newborn in the summer- This has not been an easy experience. We can't go to the pool, can't take walks, can't even spend much time running errands because it is SO HOT! Poor Mason gets so sweaty anytime I put him in his carrier for more than a few minutes. I am definitely ready for fall so I won't be homebound anymore!

Leaving Mason- I'm glad that I am not working, because being away from Mason is much harder than I thought. So far I have only left him with grandparents and the longest I have been away from him is 8 hours. Every week, I promise Jared we will leave him in the nursery at church but then I change my mind! I am sure that I will get better about this as Mason gets older but for now, I am extremely protective of our most prized possession!

I'm so thankful for everything and even the tough things are so worth it! I love being a mom and fall more in love with Mason each day!

Mason's first Halloween!

Even though it is still two months away, I am anxiously awaiting Mason's first Halloween! I had never been a big fan of Halloween until I googled baby Halloween costumes! Now I think about it all the time! There are SO many cute costumes out there that I can't decide what Mason should be! Please leave me a comment on which costume you like best!

So it's been a while!

I can't believe it has been over two months since I last posted! I thought for sure that I would have time to keep this updated now that I am staying home but I guess that is not the case! I am making a new goal to post at least a couple of times a week though! We have had such a fun summer as a new family! Mason is growing and getting more personality each day and we are so in love with our little boy! I think that he is pretty much the perfect age right now and don't want him to grow up! I will definitely be the mom that is sobbing outside his classroom on the first day of kindergarten! So here is what Mason has been up to during July and August!


He is now 16 weeks old! That is crazy to me! It seems like just yesterday that I was pregnant and couldn't wait for him to be here!
- He weighs around 15 pounds and is around 26 inches long. I think he is going to be tall and skinny.....many of his three month clothes are still big on him but are too short!
- He is still eating every three hours but is sleeping longer stretches at night. On good nights he will sleep for 7-8 hours but normally sleeps at least 6.
- He loves being around people and does not like being left alone! He wants someone with him at all times to entertain him.
- He is a not a fan of his crib....he will fall asleep in your arms at night but the second his head hits the mattress he cries.
- He is such a happy baby! We have been so blessed!
- He is smiling and laughing all the time! He will almost roll over from back to stomach...I say almost because he gets stuck on his arm and becomes frustrated but he's so close!
- He does not like tummy time! I am trying to better about it but he grunts and cries after more than 5 or 10 minutes.
- He loves his changing table! That is where we get the most smiles, coos and laughs. I think he loves being able to look up at us.
- He went swimming for the first time! I think he was a little confused about why he was taking his bath outside but he didn't cry!

- He is starting to notice and enjoy his toys. He especially loves anything with lights or music.
- He has had lots of play dates this month and is starting to notice and smile at his "friends!" Too cute!

Here are a few more pictures of our little man from the last couple of months!

5 weeks old!

Wow! I can't believe that Mason is already 5 (almost 6) weeks old! It is crazy how fast my little man is growing up! It seems like every day he is getting bigger and learning new things. We are having so much fun with him and loving being parents. Here are some of the things Mason is doing at 5 weeks old:

- eats 4 ounces every three hours
- is starting to smile and respond to us!
- holds up his head when sitting in his bumbo chair! ( the greatest invention by the way but that is a whole other post!
- loves being sang to! He seems to calm down instantly with music!
- has almost outgrown his newborn clothes! This is very sad for me!
- weighs around 10 1/2 pounds (this is a guess going off our bathroom scale since he doesn't go back to the doctor until 2 months
- is staring to sleep through the night! He slept 5 1/2 hours in a row last night and made mommy very happy!
- loves going outside....he is mesmerized by the birds and the wind!
- has had two play dates with new friends Austin and Jackson.
- is not a fan of naps! It takes everything to get him to go to sleep during the day...I think he thinks he is missing out on all the action!
- Still has dark hair and blue eyes! (I am hoping they both stick around!)

Our computer is acting up and will not upload any new photos so until we get that fixed I am limited on adding pictures. Here are a couple that we managed to get on the computer though!

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Mason Alexander is here!

I am so excited to announce that Mason is here! He came 2 weeks early on Monday, May 4th! He is absolutely perfect and so far a very easy baby!
His birth story is not at all how I expected! I started my maternity leave on Friday, May 1st and was looking forward to having a week or two off to relax and get things ready for Mason's arrival. Apparently, Mason had other plans.
I started having pretty regular contractions on and off Friday and all day Saturday. I didn't really think too much of it and assumed they were braxton hicks since they didn't hurt. Saturday night was really stormy weather and lots of lighthing. About 10:00 that night I got a message from my mom telling me to please not go into labor that night because the weather was so bad. Well, I guess Mason is stubborn and wanted to show his Mimi that he could come when he wanted!
I woke up at 3:30 Sunday morning and was 99% sure that my water had broken. I woke Jared up and we called the hospital and they had us come in. When we arrived they did a test to see if my water did indeed break. The test came back negative that my water had not broken. I was a little discouraged and still thought my water had broken despite what the nurses and the test said. They went ahead and sent me home and said to come back if it kept up.
All day long I continued to think my water had broken. Late that afternoon we called the hospital to let them know what was going on and they had me come in again.
When we got there, they did the same test that they did that morning to see if my water had broken. Again, the test came back negative. By this point however, even the nurses were believeing that my water most likely had broken. About an hour later my contractions were picking up and the nurse did one more test, this time it finally came back positive! They think that I had a really high leak and for whatever reason was not showing up as amniotic fluid until the third test.
They want you to deliver as soon as possible after your water breaks, so they started me on pitocin to pick up my contractions. It took about 10 hours to get to 5 centimeters but once I was there I progressed to 10 centimeters in less than three hours.
After 14 hours of labor, Mason was born at 9:29 am! He weighed 7 pounds 15.9 ounces and was 20 inches long. When he came out I remember asking my doctor why he was not crying, she told me to give him a second and before I knew it I heard his first cry. It was the best sound in the world and of course made me start crying! The moment they first placed him in my arms was something I will never forget, it was the best feeling I have ever experienced.
We went home on Wednesday and so far are doing great! Mason is a very easy baby (knock on wood). He is always content and is doing well sleeping at night! We are so blessed to have him as a part of our lives! Below are some pictures from his birth.

Nursery pics and school shower

Jared and I have been busy these last few weeks making some final touches to the nursery! It was so much fun choosing everything for our little boy! (that still seems surreal to say!) I always knew if I had a girl that I would love decorating her nursery and going overboard on the pink and shabby chic. I must say though, I think I have had just as much fun with Mason's airplane nursery! It has been a labor of love and I can't wait for him to grow up in his room!


Last week was my shower at school! We have SO many pregnant teachers and we are all due within a couple of months of each other, so our team and the 5th grade team threw a double shower for two of us who are expecting boys and due 2 weeks apart! The shower was great and it was so much fun to have someone else to open presents with! (being the center of attention in front of the entire school staff isn't the most fun idea to me!) Here are a couple pictures!