Father's Day Weekend

For Father's Day weekend, we traveled an hour East into the mountains to Alta Sierra to stay at our friends cabin. We had 6 adults and 7 children (all under the age of 5). It was so nice to get away and relax in a much cooler climate. The weather was absolutely perfect all weekend. It didn't get warmer than the 60s during the day and with breeze, it felt much cooler. At night, it was probably in the 40s.

Our days consisted of eating, playing with the kiddos, eating some more, playing games, and eating some more. Between the three couples, we had so much food. All of our kids get along so well together and they had fun being around their friends for the entire weekend.

Mason trying to open the back door so he could go out and play

The view of the living room from the kitchen

The kitchen

View from the front porch


The view from the back porch. Notice the big log.

Taylor slept almost all day on Saturday

Mason loves having his picture taken

Madison on her way down to the basement

Beware of Long Post

My goodness, where do I begin. It has been three weeks since I posted last and we have been very busy since Memorial Day Weekend. This post actually took me over three days to write it and upload all of the pictures. Bare with me.

Memorial Day Weekend

We were able to start the weekend early, since Adam came home early. The weather was amazing, with temperatures in the 70s all weekend long. It's usually around the upper 90s to the three digits this time of year and the weekend before we had temps around 105 degrees. So I knew with the cool weather, I wanted to try to spend as much time outside.

Friday afternoon, we headed over to John's Pizza for Luke's 2nd Birthday Party. His birthday was the following week, but we celebrated early, since he would be having surgery the day before his birthday. John's Pizza is a mix of Cici's and Dave & Busters. We gathered in one of the many party rooms and the kids were able to make their own pizza's. Mason had a blast eating pizza and playing with his friends. By the time we got home that evening, he was exhausted.

Ray helping Luke make his Pizza

Katie helping Logan & Lillie with their Pizza's

Adam & Mason waiting for the Pizza to cook

Saturday morning, we woke up early and decided to get breakfast and take it to the park by our house. We had the entire park to ourselves and Mason loved running from slide to slide, climbing the stairs and being pushed on the swing. I think we spent a good 2 hours just playing and taking in the morning sun. Taylor took her morning nap and slept the entire time.

Afterwards, we headed to Target to get a few things. As we were walking around, we found a Cars themed toddler bed on sale. Neither of us had really talked about switching Mason into a big boy bed since Christmas. We had originally planned to make the transition before Taylor was born, but decided against the idea, since neither of us felt that Mason was ready. So when we came across this cute little toddler bed, it sparked the conversation again.

Mason is obsessed with anything cars, whether it's the movie or hot wheels. So I knew he would love going to bed each night in a Cars toddler bed. I wasn't sure how the transition would go, but we figured why not try it now. When we got home that afternoon and put Mason down for his nap, it made me a little sad that it would be the last time he would be going to sleep in his crib. My baby was no longer a baby.

That afternoon, Adam put the bed together, while Mason napped. We were able to disable the crib and put the new bed in his room without him noticing. I couldn't wait to see his reaction. When we told Mason to go get a book from his room, he ran in and noticed the bed immediately. He loved it. He laid on it and didn't want to get up. It was a hit. The true test would be bedtime.

Mason's new big boy bed

He ran to get his snugglie and blanket and put them on his new bed

When it came time for bed, I wanted to make sure that we went about his routine as normal as possible. We said our prayers, sang him his songs and tucked him in. We kissed him goodnight and walked out of the room. There were no tears, no screaming, and most importantly, he stayed in his bed. Adam kept waiting to see when he would run in our room, but it never happened. I was so proud of my little boy.

Sunday morning, I heard Mason in the living room at 6:30am. He didn't know what to do with himself, so he was trying to play quietly until we woke up. After getting everyone ready, we headed out the door for our drive to the LA Zoo. With it being a holiday weekend, we knew it would be crowded, so we wanted to get an early start. It would be the first zoo experience for both Taylor & Mason.

The Zoo is at the bottom of the foothills of LA. It was gorgeous. I wasn't really sure what to expect. I figured that since LA is a large city, it would probably be a little bit like the Houston Zoo. We took Mason to the children's area first, so he could put the animals. Adam went in with him, while I took pictures and watched Taylor. She just wanted to sleep the entire time. Mason had so much fun with all of the animals. He loves making animals noises and today was no exception.

It took us about 2 hours to walk the entire zoo. It was nice, but my expectations were too high I guess. I was expecting to see more animals and I didn't feel like they had as much to offer as the other Zoo's that I have been too. It could be that more funding goes to the San Diego Zoo, since it isn't that far from LA. Overall, we had a great time and all we wanted to do was relax once we got home. Monday we stayed home and grilled out with some friends. It was the perfect end to a great weekend.

Luke's Surgery

As mentioned previously, Luke had his surgery the day before his 2nd birthday. His surgery was on a Wednesday and he was expected to leave the hospital Sunday. They were told he would spend 3 days in the PICU and then he would stay in pediatric unit. The doctors ended up transferring him to a normal room Thursday morning and by Friday morning, they were checked out of the hospital. His recovery went very well.

Our family went over to visit Luke the day after he got home and bring him a toy my parents had sent him. Luke loves Elmo and was so excited to see his baby Elmo. He kept squeezing it tight and taking it with him everywhere. It was adorable. He had a nice big bandage about 5 inches long on the back of his head, but other than that, you would never have known that he just had serious brain surgery a few days prior.

Ray & Marissa took him to have his stitches removed a week later and the doctor said they really won't know how successful the surgery was until his next MRI in July. It has been a challenge to keep him still, if that is even possible. He will be released to "play" again this week. His eyes still cross some, but I think it has gotten better.

Luke with his new Elmo

The bandage

All smiles

Madison & Tabby

Mason

Our little boy will be turning 2 in less than a month. He isn't so little anymore. We haven't weighed him lately, but I'm pretty certain he has grown about 3 inches since January and probably weighs around 32 lbs. I was looking thru pictures the other day from his first year and it's amazing to see the transformation.

We have been doing the Love & Logic with him and I can see a difference. I would no longer say he is in his terrible 2's. He had about one bad week and he still has some moments where he acts up, but they are few and far between. Adam & I can see the change in him and it has made my life so much easier.

With Mason in his big boy bed, we were blessed with two nights of him staying in his bed and not getting out. The first night he realized he could get out of the bed, was a hard night. I sat by his bed until he fell asleep. It took almost 2 hours because he wanted to play. I didn't want him to get used to me being in the room with him to go to sleep, so I turned to Love & Logic.

In the book, it states that you can't make anyone fall asleep. The only thing you can do is explain that he needs to be in his room from a certain amount of time. Because the lever childproof locks don't work for our house, we opted to put one of the baby gates in front of his door. That way, he can't get out, even if he opens his door.

Our bedtime routine consists of us reading a book, praying together, and two songs. I then explain that he should go to sleep but if he isn't tired, he can read a book (we don't leave the lights on but since he goes to bed at 7pm, it's still light outside), play with some of the balls in his room or lay in bed. We don't really leave any toys in his room, where he has access to them. Thank goodness he can't open his closet.

The first night we attempted this, I heard a noise from his room and Adam went to check it out. The little rascal had opened his dresser drawers and emptied them out. He was so proud of his masterpiece. We couldn't help but laugh and take a picture. After that experience, we explained that he can do everything but open the drawers. He is pretty good about listening. It has proven itself successful and it takes the stress out for us. I don't have to constantly check on him, or sit by his bed. He has learned that if he is tired from being up the night before, he usually will fall asleep sooner the next night.

Mason showing off the mess he made in his room. It looks like he is screaming but he was laughing really hard

He found his Baylor cap

Playing by the fountains at the Market Place

Mason was supposed to be napping. Instead we found him reading.

Adam went to see if Mason finally fell asleep and this is how he found him. He was out cold.

Taylor

Our baby girl turned 3 months old yesterday. I don't know how much she weighs, but I'm guessing about 15lbs. There is a constant smile on her face. She is such a happy baby and anytime you talk to her, she "talks" back and smiles. She is laughing, mostly in her sleep, but she did laugh at something Mason did the other day and I was able to get a giggle out of her once.

She is wearing 3 month clothes and some 3-6 months clothes right now. She still eats every 3-4 hours. During the day, she will have a short nap early in the morning, then eat, play for a little bit, take another short nap, eat and then take a long nap while Mason naps. I learned the trick to her long nap is putting her on her belly. We tried this with Mason around 2 months and it did wonders for him. She is following in her brother's footsteps. Last night was the first night she slept on her belly. I can already see a difference and hopefully that means she will be sleeping thru the night very soon. I dream feed her before I go to sleep and she usually only wakes up once in the middle of the night and eats again around 6 or 7 am.

Speaking of eating, the other day I decided to pump and see if she would take a bottle. I had my answer right away. This girl is picky and wanted nothing to do with the bottle. She was that way about paci's too. She was so upset about the bottle, that Mason kept looking at me to try and calm her down. The girl doesn't get upset easily, so I knew she wasn't a fan. I might attempt it again in July, before we go float down the river.

10 Weeks old

Luke holding his future wife

12 Weeks Old

Upcoming Events
This weekend, we will be celebrating Father's Day up at Ray & Marissa's cabin in the mountains. It will be nice to get away for the weekend and it will be fun to spend it with friends. Our friends Jayme & Rick are coming up with their family as well. Between the 6 adults and 7 kids, we will have our hands full.

July 1st, we fly to Houston. Adam will stay thru Sunday and we have extended my stay for the entire month. I'm really glad that Mason, Taylor & I get to stay longer, so that we have more time to see everyone. I just wish Adam could join us, but he will be very busy with work. My dad will fly back with me so that I won't have to take care of Mason & Taylor on the plane by myself.
Thank you Daddy for making all of this possible.

I'll try to be better about updating. I have been reading everyone else's blogs, but I just haven't had the time to write lately. If you read the entire post, kuddos to you!