What have we been up to??

It's been a crazy, but fun, couple of weeks and I am finally finding the time to blog about it!!

My awesome Aunt flew in from Utah to spend a week with us and help us celebrate Mason's first birthday. It was wonderful to have her here and we had a fabulous time!! The kids had so much fun with her!! She and I got to spend a lot of time together, too. We went to lunch, dinner, saw THREE movies, went shopping, and even got to take a day trip to San Antonio to visit the graves of my mom and sister. It was so nice to have that time with her and I am so thankful that she took the time to come and visit us. We love her so much and miss her terribly!! Kyle keeps teasing me about how I hogged her during her visit....and how he didn't get nearly enough "Aunt TT time". Lucky for us, we are going to Utah for Thanksgiving, so we'll get to see her again soon!!

my aunt and Mason

Here is the birthday boy!! We had a *monkey* themed birthday for him - which was perfect for him since he is our little "chunky monkey"!! I didn't get very good pictures and then my camera battery died, so most of it is on video!!

Here is a picture of Colton and Mia before school one day.

We took my aunt to Zilker Park and had a great time. The weather was perfect! We rode the train and the kids had a blast playing on the playground.

I still can't believe how big Mason is. He is growing so fast!! This is one of my favorite ages. He is our climber and climbs (or tries to climb) on EVERYTHING!! He even climbed all the way up the bunkbed ladder within seconds. He's a busy boy!!

Caden had a Fall Festival at his preschool. His favorite part was the *shaving cream* table. Mason and I helped out and ran the *ball toss* booth. I spent quite a bit of time chasing the balls that Mason decided to toss all around the room!!

I just had to include this picture. If only we could all look this darn cute in jeans!! :)

Happy birthday, sweet boy!

I can't believe that my baby is one year old today! He is the sweetest, cuddliest little guy and we have enjoyed every minute of the last year. I didn't have a blog when Mason was born, so here are some pictures of my sweet little boy over the past year.

Mason had a rough start and spent his first 8 days in the NICU. But he amazed everyone with how quickly he recovered.

All ready to come home from the hospital!

1 month old

2 months old

3 months old 4 months old

5 months old 6 months old

7 months old 8 months old

9 months old

10 months old

11 months old

ONE YEAR OLD!!

We are having a small family party tomorrow, so I'll post more pictures then!!

One year ago, this very moment....

I was in labor with Mason. He was born at 12:03am, on September 27th. Tonight, I was at HEB and I glanced down at my watch right around the exact time that they started the induction. It hit me kind of hard and I felt really weepy. I remember it like it was yesterday - the excitement of going in to the hospital knowing that we were going to have our baby, the dread of starting the evil pitocin, enduring painful contractions with Kyle holding one hand and Jane holding the other, feeling like I was going to literally die - yet amazed at how the body can handle natural childbirth, the euphoric feeling of giving birth and holding my precious baby in my arms for the first time. If I could, I would go back and relive it all over again. And, of course, one of my favorite moments - when Kyle holds our baby for the first time. It is always such a precious, priceless moment.

I can't believe it's been a year. In 3 hours, my sweet little Mason will be one year old. What a wonderful year it has been! I can't imagine my life without him!!

Train table!!

We have been rearranging the kids rooms and finally finished the boys room! We bought bunkbeds and now Colton and Caden are sharing a room. We changed the paint color, got a new bookcase, and made room for the train table (that has been sitting in the garage). So, today Caden and I built a really cool track set-up and had lots of fun playing with all of Colton's old Thomas trains! Mason had a great time, too. The train table is just tall enough for him to reach and cause all kinds of trouble! :)

Future soccer star!!

Mason loves to chase the soccer ball around. He throws it, runs after it, picks it back up, then throws it again. And the cycle continues!! He loves being outside...although he isn't too crazy about the way the grass feels on his bare skin. (notice how he is lifting up his feet - trying to balance on his diapered bum!!)

Catching up...

Once again, I've gotten behind in my blogging!! I thought that I would have some time to myself when school started, but we have been busier than ever! I don't know where the days go, but it seems like by the time I get home from taking them to school, do a little cleaning, play with Caden and Mason, lunch time, nap time, more playing....then it's off to go pick up the kids from school!! Don't get me wrong, I'm glad the day goes by fast. I am always so anxious to go pick up Colton and Mia, to hear all about their day, and to spend some time with them.

Here are some pictures of the kids!

Don't you just wanna squeeze him??!

Taking a break from dancing around the living room (to my Mamma Mia soundtrack) to pose for the camera!

Mason adores his biggest brother!!

My boys

It's nearly impossible for me to get a picture where everyone is looking at the camera and smiling. I was trying to get a picture of the boys, and this is what I got.

My sweet boys!

I just love my boys! (Of course, I love my sweet Mia, too....but this post if for the boys!) :)

Look at me.....

I'M WALKING!!!!

Yep, it's official. Mason's main form of transportation is walking! He started taking his first steps a month ago - taking 5 or six steps at a time. But just recently he has gone from a mixture of crawling and walking, to pretty much just walking. Why are they in such a hurry to grow up?!

This is one of my favorite stages. I LOVE how they look when they are beginning to walk. Way too cute!! I could just eat him up!

I have been trying to get some good pictures of him walking, but every time I get out the camera he starts walking super fast right towards it. So, here's what I've got!

His latest funny face - he scrunches up his nose. So cute!

Yep, I'm a cutie!

School days

We made it through the first week of school!! Colton and Mia seem to be enjoying it and I am really liking their teachers. I still miss them like crazy when they are gone....and still find myself crying after I leave them at school each morning. Caden is adjusting to them being gone all day. He and I have become great buddies. In fact, when he woke up this morning, he came in to my room and curled up in the bed beside me. Kyle and the rest of the kids were up watching cartoons, but Caden stayed with me until I got up. Such a sweet boy!

Here are some pictures from last week.

All ready for school!

Caden wanted to be in the picture, too. Don't you just love his bed-head!!

Yep, I'm Trouble!!

But I'm cute trouble!!

First day of School!!

Well, today was a very sad day for me. I sent two of my kiddos off to their first day of school. :( I didn't realize just how much I had enjoyed my summer until I was up at 6:15am this morning, making waffles and cooking bacon (no, I don't make that every day.....pretty soon we'll be back to cereal!!) Kyle was home sick today, so I was able to leave the little boys home while I took Colton and Mia to school. Mia was very excited and did great! I was so proud of myself for keeping my emotions under control until I walked out of the school. Colton didn't have as good of a morning. He tried so hard to be brave, but he was pretty emotional when I left his classroom. It just broke my heart. I missed them all day and couldn't wait to go pick them up. After I got back home from dropping them off, I was crying to Kyle about how wrong it was that for 35 hours a week, a stranger was going to be raising our kiddos! His response was "Well, we'll get them during the summer and on weekends". Hahaha! Not exactly the response I was looking for! I know he was just trying to make me laugh! :)

Caden definitely missed his playmates today! And guess who got to fill that role? ME!!! He was my little shadow all day! We played with play-doh, colored, painted, built block castles (only to knock them down with dinosaurs), played animals, played Let's Go Fishing game, and built Legos. When I folded the laundry, he was right there beside me helping. When I cleaned the kitchen table and swept the floor, he was right there beside me helping. It was so nice to spend that time with him. He is such a sweet boy.

Well, I am so glad that I made it through today! But now we have to do it all over again tomorrow. Sigh.

Colton and Mia

Our little Kindergartner

Our big Fourth Grader

making silly faces in the car

After school, I was asking Mia what her favorite part of the day was. She didn't have to think long before saying that her favorite part was when she saw Colton in the hall. (she was coming in from recess and his class was going out) Colton agreed - that was his favorite part, too. Isn't that sweet?! Gosh, I just love these two kids!!