Happy Father's Day

Yes, yes, I know it's not Father's Day yet. I'm writing this a tad early, in case by some stroke of luck Mya decides to be en early bird.

Mason has been such a mama's boy that the past few months have been spent trying to make him into an equal-opportunity parent-lover. We both know that Mya will be relying so much on me when she arrives that Mason will need to get used to Daddy doing almost everything. It hasn't really worked - Mason will almost always pick me to do things for him over Adam. But even when he's asked for me to give him a bath or change him or put him to bed, Adam's done it anyway. I guess that's the definition of a good daddy - a man that takes care of his child even when the child is kicking and screaming for mommy.

For my part, there's no man I'd rather be taking this journey in parenthood with. I love you Daddy-Boo. :)

Almost There...

We're now just two weeks away from Mya's estimated arrival, and I got to thinking how little I'd written about her on this blog. Part of the reason I've been mum is that this pregnancy has been a complete 180 from my pregnancy with Mason. I know it could have been much worse though, so I don't want to complain too much about it. Whenever I'm having a bad day, I like to tell myself that she's just preparing me for the teenage years.

Mya's room is now completely ready for her. She'll be inheriting the bedroom Adam and I have used the past six years in this house, and we finally moved up to the master suite on the second floor. It was much more eventful than just moving some furniture - we also had to run cable upstairs and replace some really old wiring in Mya's room when switching out the ceiling fan for a new light fixture on a dimmer. Thankfully my dad is a regular Mr. Fix-It.

It's probably not too noticeable from these pictures, but Mya's room is a pale shade of blue (we left the color already on the walls). Her bedroom furniture is the set I had growing up (with a crib added to the mix), that has a green trim to it. So we had to find a pink bedding set with green and blue to tie all the room elements together. I fell in love with this Love Birds set, and so the room has taken on a bird theme. While she's won't be big enough to use it for a while, we even put her future twin bed in the room. With both kids being on the first floor, I decided the twin bed is really for me at the beginning - so I don't have to go up and down all night long.

Tick, tock, tick, tock... each second brings us closer to welcoming Mya into our little nest.

Kids Say the Darnedest Things - Part 2

Mason is probably one of the most polite toddlers I've ever met. I have to attribute this to my dad and his constant quotes of Emily Post. Mason says please and thank you with regularity, but possibly the cutest thing Mason says these days is "excuse me". Okay, I know it doesn't sound like anything special, but the cute part is the way he pronounces it - "schmoo-me". He uses it in the appropriate context (like while we were waiting in line at the zoo), but thinks (like please) that once he says it he'll get his way. Unfortunately we're the only ones that really understand what he means by it so people rarely move out of his way. Still, it makes us smile each time he says it. I've really got to get it on video one of these days because this description doesn't do it justice.

A not cute thing Mason has picked up is "stupid." Adam and I are so careful with our words, but some things he figures out on his own anyway. He may have picked it up from daycare, but the more likely cuplrit for this bad habit is the TV. We were watching Toy Story the other day and I heard it a couple times. I suppose there's no way around it - kids are going to learn these words one way or another - so it's up to us to teach him what it means and why he shouldn't say it. Parenting 101 right?

Julia's Baptism

This past weekend we headed up to Bridgeport to visit my parents, and on Sunday went up to Midland for baby Julia's christening. Megan and Dan asked Adam and I to be Julia's Godparents, and of course we were thrilled. Julia is such a sweet little baby - I don't think I heard her cry once while we were there. She thinks about it from time to time and sticks our her lower lip to express her displeasure. But overall she seems like such a happy and easygoing baby.

The dress Megan found for her was just adorable, and of course her pink tights had a ruffle butt. Before the kids changed, we snapped a quick picture to remember the day. Mason was so gentle with Julia, I really think he's going to such a good big brother.

Mother's Day Love

Adam had to work/sleep on Mother's Day, so it was just Mason and I for most of the day. Since mom's get in free at the Binder Park Zoo on Mother's Day, we (I) decided we should head over for an animal filled-afternoon. Little did I know that almost every other mom in Battle Creek decided to do the same thing. We waited in line for half an hour just to get in, and fortunately Mason behaved the whole time. It might have had something to do with the lunch I packed for him. He still doesn't take much interest in the animals, especially the ones that are just lying around. He did like the snow leopard (he claims he heard it meow), the wallabies, and the monkeys. But his favorite was the giraffe, who we fed "salad" (a romaine lettuce leaf). Trumping even the giraffe, his happiest moments were riding the train and the tram out to Wild Africa. I doubt we'll do the zoo on our own again, so it was fun to just spend time with my special little man.

After we got home, we got to wake up Adam and the boys got to work on my Mother's Day feast. Not that this was much different than every other day of the week, but it was fun to be there to watch them interact in the kitchen. One of the cutest moments was when Adam shut his tongs in the grill (to sanitize them while he went back in the house). Mason did the same thing with his tongs and told me "just like Daddy."

I can't say enough how much I love being a mom. It definitely has its trying moments, but the smiles and giggles and hugs and kisses make it all worth while.

The Last Horrah!

A while back Adam I decided we should take Mason on a mini-vacation before Mya arrives. I had wanted to go to Michigan's Adventure (for the water park) but we were running out of time so an indoor water park would just have to do. We decided to go to Zender's Splash Village in Frankenmuth and ended up having a blast. Adam and Mason drove up to MSU and picked me up on a Tuesday afternoon. Of course we had to feed the ducks outside my office and then make a pit stop at the Dairy Store. (Blue Moon for Mason, Buckeye Blitz for Erin, Hoosier Strawberry for Adam)

After that we headed up to Frankenmuth, checked in and met my parents and brother for dinner at Zenders. Just thinking about it now I'm craving their noodles.... mmmm. We'd had what seemed like weeks of cool, rainy weather, but fortunately the skies cleared after dinner so we could walk around the main strip. Mason was pointing out things left and right - there's just so much for a little guy to take in around there.

And now for the recap of the best part - Mason in the water park. He was so excited that I could barely get a picture of him. That is until the bell started ringing and warned that the giant bucket was about to dump all over us. The first time we heard it, we didn't know what was going on and unknowingly ended up getting splashed. From then on, Mason was petrified of the bell. Eventually he was able to get past it and enjoyed the little tyke slide and operating the water cannons and whatnot. But he still talks about the bell when we mention swimming at the water park! We can't wait for the summer to be here so we can enjoy some more water time at the lake.

Growing Up

It's already beginning - Mason is growing up and his world is extending beyond Adam and I. On two occasions we've been out in Battle Creek and have run into Mason's friends from "school." About a month ago we were eating at Chili's when another family was seated near us. Mason started pointing at them and jabbering on about "Chris", and we just assumed he was talking about Adam's friend Chris who we'd been talking about. So we told him no, that wasn't Chris and continued to eat our dinner. A little bit later the mom at the other table asked us what day care our son went to, and from talking to her found out that her son, Christian, was in Mason's class. Yes, he had just recognized one of his friends from school. The remainder of the dinner was a wash as the boys stared and giggled at each other. I'm sure Mason was thinking, silly mommy and daddy, I knew who that was.

Then this weekend I took Mason to the mall with me, which means we had to stop at the book store to play with the Thomas train set in the kid's section. Just as we were arriving an older woman and a little girl showed up to play too. After a few minutes of the kids playing quietly together, the woman asked me if Mason went to CDC, because her grand-daughter never plays with other kids at the bookstore. Sure enough, they were in the same class too. Mary and Mason ran all over the kid's section together, we probably let them play for over an hour. When Mary and her grandma left, the kids gave each other a hug.

Neither Christian nor Mary had ever come up in conversations with him about his day. Christian was younger than Mason but Mary also turned 2 1/2 in March, and goes to school two of the three days Mason is there. It made me wonder why he's never talked about her. I would guess there are between 16 and 20 kids in his class, including the part-timers like Mason. Of those kids, he usually only talks about a handful: Chlo-Chlo (Chloe), Parker, Anna and Beckett. It's as if they already have a little clique (although Beckett is now "naughty" and "not my friend"). It reminded me of times during middle and high school when you'd run into someone in your grade outside of school, and you'd actually hang out together because you were the only other person the other one knew. You'd end up having a better time than you thought, but when you get back to school you never talk to that other kid again. I hope that doesn't start already. I hope now that Mason has played with Mary at the bookstore, he'll play with her at school too.