A New Year

Is it really already time for a new year?!? It seems like 2011 flew by! This was a big year in so many ways. 

Ronny still really enjoys his job and what he's doing. He loves his staff and has a great group of people working with him. I have stayed busy getting us settled into the house. I also learned how to take care of two kids. I'm now out numbered during the day :) Mason entered the fun and trying twos. He still really enjoys his Mother's Day Out and his new Sunday School Class. Madison was born in March and has kept me on my toes. She is pulling up on things and any day now will take off walking.

I can not wait to see what 2012 brings us! Mason turns three in a couple weeks and Madison will be one. Where has the time gone? We have a couple trips planned and have some friends making their way to see us. It's so funny to think about when I was younger, time seemed to drag by so slow. I couldn't wait to 'be older'. Now that I'm older I want time to slow down. I stop and think about how fast my kids are growing up and it seem like just a couple years ago I got married but it was actually 12 ( in May).

I have a few New Year's Resolutions this year but the most important one is to not take for granted time. To spend more 'meaningful time' with my children. To cherish the ages and phases of my kids. (I'm struggling with that one right now.....potty training Mason) To make time for my husband that doesn't involve chores around the house or for the house. Mainly, to make memories my kids will take with them.

Christmas Vacation

This week has been a fast paced, jam packed, week full of fun. Ronny has been on vacation all week and we spent the week getting ready for Christmas and spending time with the kids. We started the week off by taking the kids to the North Pole Express. Madison was so good. She sat in my lap the whole time and just looked around and watched all the kids. Mason's favorite part was getting his ticket punched. Every time someone walked by him he wanted them to punch his ticket. He enjoyed getting his bell from Santa and he rang it from the moment he got it until we got home. That is a long time people! :) It was too cold to wear their pajamas that day but Mason didn't even care.

We managed to squeeze in a lunch at Mason's favorite place, McDonald's.

My sister was also off this week. We got to spend some time together shopping and hanging out. The kids have really enjoyed playing with their Jen Jen!

One night, we got the kids bathed and into their pajamas early and took them to Prairie Lights to see all the lights.

Another night we let Mason make a ginger bread house. He decorated it all by himself with little help from us. For every piece of candy that went on his house two went into his mouth. This was our first ginger bread house to ever make, and it's obvious. But, he had fun!

We also took Mason the Ice exhibit at the Gaylord Texan. His favorite part of that was the ice slide and all the trains.

Ronny and I also managed to squeeze in a few date nights and a wrapping party after the kids went to bed. We have really enjoyed having daddy home and spending time together.

Just ONE good picture.......

These days trying to get my two little monkeys to hold still to take a picture is like pulling teeth. All I want is one good picture with both kids at least sitting still, maybe even looking in the direction of the camera, and maybe even a little smile. Tonight I wanted to get a recent picture of the kids. I sat them in the usual chair and snapped away. I got a few of them sitting still, a couple of them looking at the camera and even a few with a smile but never all at the same time.

Although, I didn't get one good picture I did get 5 fun pictures. They were cracking me up! Mason would just move and Madison would laugh hysterically. I have to admit, these pictures fit their personalities more than my good picture would.

Santa Visit

Mason's conversation with Santa, "Santa, I NEED more cars, I NEED a choo-choo, I NEED a bick (bike), and Santa my baby NEEDS a momma." I'm not sure if he was trying to give Madison away or I wasn't her mom that day. :)

Traditions

I love Christmas for many reasons, one of them being the traditions. A few years after I got married my mom, sister and I would get together every year to bake cookies. What started out as 4 or 5 different kinds has now grown to about 19 different kinds of cookies. Let me just clarify, not dozen but kinds. Many of them we make multiple dozens. That being said it is about a 2 day process of non stop baking. But, when we are done we have an assortment of goodies that we divide between the three of us and pass out as gifts during the holidays. I usually make a tin for Mason's teachers and Ronny takes a few to work. This year I have a total of 11 tins we are going to pass out. It is a lot of work and I'm not that fond of baking. I do it if I have to but it's not something I necessarily enjoy and look forward to. I do however, enjoy the time I spend with my mom and sister. We laugh and talk and enjoy each others company. That is the part I look forward to each year. It helps people get excited about their tin of cookies too :) But, more than anything it is the memories I have of the three of us spending time together. I look forward to the day I get to include Madison. I hope this is a tradition that keeps going.

I had to add this picture. They were all dressed up to go to Mason's Christmas Program at church. I love these guys!!

It's looking a lot like Christmas here!

I love decorating for Christmas. This year it seems even more fun because Mason is actually understanding what's going on. We put the tree up while he was at MDO and had his tree waiting for him when he got home for him to decorate. That tradition, the two trees one, started last year. All he wanted to do was play with the tree and all the ornaments on it, most of them being breakable. So, I bought a 3 foot tree and gathered up all the cartoon/plush/non breakable ornaments and let him decorate his tree. He would spend countless hours taking them off and playing with them then putting them all back on. I wasn't sure he would even remember but this year when he walked through the door his tree was the first thing he saw. He ran over to it and screamed 'My tree!'. He started pulling out the ornaments and putting them on the tree. Now, both trees have been named 'My tree' and 'Momma's tree'. And, I have to say, little hands have stayed away from the big tree. Even Madison seems more interested in the little tree!

And it wouldn't be complete without Mason's manger. He loves Baby Jesus and Jesus' Mommy! I put it on the bottom shelf and he will sit there and talk to them and play with them constantly. He even lets Madison play with the animals when she comes over. Watching them play melts my heart!

Catching Up

Things have been crazy around here so its been a while since I've blogged. Both kids were sick the week of Thanksgiving. I took Madison to the doctor and she had a ear infection, sinus infection and is teething! Needless to say we had a few sleepless nights last week. Thanksgiving we managed to make it to my uncle's house to celebrate. This is the first year Mason really enjoyed the food and was able to get outside and play football and basketball with all the big kids.

These pictures make me laugh, both balls are almost as big as he is!

I was able to get a few pictures of Madison. You can tell she wasn't feeling great.

This weekend we went to Florida to visit some friends. We had a blast! It really got me thinking about relationships and friendships. It is such a blessing to have people in your life that you can just pick right up as if you saw each other yesterday. It doesn't matter what the distance is or how long it has been since you've seen them it all just falls into place. I am so thankful for the friendships I have made!

Family of Four

Our first family picture as a family of 4!

We managed to get a few good pictures but of course we got a bunch of the expected ones too!

I LOVE her face!

This is typical Mason!

I love the ones that don't turn out almost as much as the ones that do!

Happy Halloween

This was the first Halloween Mason really understood what was going on. Well, I guess as much as a 2 1/2 year old can. He had fun picking out his costume and even picked out Madison's. I really wanted them to be M&Ms since we are always calling them our little M&Ms but Mason already has an opinion, and when he saw his monster costume he was hooked. So, my dreams of having M&Ms for Halloween were gone and we ended up with a monster and a lady bug. I have to admit they were cute! I was able to get M&M shirts for them to wear during the day. We only trick or treated for a little while before he lost all interest and he ended up coming back to the house and helping me pass out candy. He had more fun passing out candy than trick or treating! He even chased a few kids down to add more candy to their bag. It was so much fun seeing him get excited every time a kid came to the door.

Enjoying Fall

It's fall! It's finally cool enough to get outside again. We've been enjoying a few picnics and realizing a few of our toys that were just the right size in the spring have some how become too small now that it's fall.

We have made it to a few pumpkin patches this year.

We have also been busy making Halloween treats for school and carving pumpkins.

And lots, and lots, and lots of playing. Madison is 7 months now and crawling and pulling up on things. She follows Mason around and anytime he is on the floor she tries to play with him. Mason is loving the attention. He wants to get her out of bed in the morning and is very disapointed if she is awake before him.

Lately

Wow, it seems like forever since I've updated this blog. I need to be better about updating but when I have a moments of peace I seem to fill it doing other things. I've tried to catch up on my all my DVR recordings and the past week or so (since Ronny has been involved in the basketball playoffs) I've pulled out all my scrapbook stuff and tried to get caught up. I love scrapbooking. I guess more than that I love memories and preserving them. I enjoy looking back at past books and seeing where we were in our lives and the friends we had and places we went. Scrapbooking to me tells the story of your life and every once in a while it's fun to pull out a book and reflect on where you've been and watch where you're going unfold. With that being said, we have managed to stay pretty busy around here.

I took the kids to the zoo. Mason LOVES the zoo. He gets so excited to see all the animals. If I had to predict a career for my little two year old it would have something to do with animals. The joy on his face when he sees the monkeys and the elephants is priceless. This was my first time to go with two kids and I'm proud to say I arrived with two and I left with two and the bonus is they were both mine :) Madison was so good, she slept most of the time and woke up once to eat. She is such a good baby!

I love taking pictures of the kids together. Mason is in love with Madison. I wasn't sure how he would react with a baby around and having to share our attention, and I have to say he could not be acting any better. He believes she is 'his baby' and is so affectionate with her. He is always wanting to hold her and kiss her. When I pick him up from school and I don't have her he starts crying and asking where she is. He is so concerned I'm going to leave her. Everytime we get out of the car (I always get him out first) he runs to her side saying 'baby mama, baby' and stands there waiting for me to open the door. I know it will not always be this way and there will come a time he will not want to even claim her so I am enjoying every minute I have with the two of them and even more enjoying watching him grow into a big brother.

 He loves going to see daddy at work! He really enjoyes crawling up on the beds and having Ronny make them go up and down. He thinks it's the best ride!