Happy 1st Birthday, Bubba!

What an amazing day we had! I just can't believe my baby is now 1!!! All day I kept looking at the clock thinking back to what was happening at that specific time last year, the miracle of my son being born. WOW, there are no words to explain the love, admiration, pride, happiness I feel everyday toward our son. What a special most precious gift we were given......THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!

We had family and friends show up for Mason's special occasion. We held his big bash at the club house where we will be moving. It was great....lots of space, a pool and playground for all the kids to play. Here are a few pictures of Mason's BIG DAY!!

The cake looks like his invitations :)


His smash cake!!



The girls loved carrying Mason around and playing with him

Peeking at his gifts :)



The only time Mason cried was when EVERYONE belted out the Happy Birthday Song :)



He loved his chocolate cake!!

washing off!




BOY!! Were were pooped, but stayed up all night watching college football!! We had a great PARTY!!

THE PAST MONTH.....

Here is what we have been up to the past month:

*For my 27th birthday Whitney, a good friend from college, and I went to NYC to see the Justin Timberlake concert at Madison Square Garden. That night the concert was being taped for HBO. IT WAS AN AMAZING CONCERT!!!!

Before the concert at Marriott Marquis where we stayed :) At the concert :)
JT singing his heart out!!
The view from our seats!!
The damage we did.....at CANAL street :)

**Here are a few pics of Mason trying out for the NFL :)

GO LONG!!
Here comes the pass....
Touch Down: Mason's Victory Dance (we had the outdoor speakers on and Mason had on his boogie shoes..he loves to dance ;)
Or should I be a KICKER...since I was good at that in momma's belly :)
Such a CUTIE!!
But mom says I have to wait to go to the NFL, so for now I guess I will just help her out with the clothes :) AND, YES!!! I can climb on and off the couch, chair, pretty much ANYTHING :)

***I'm a BIG BOY NOW!! My lil guy is about to be 1...boy the time sure does fly!! Well here is what my big boy is doing: 1. Sleeps in a toddler bed, (he climbed/fell out of his crib so we changed the setting to the toddler bed, but have not put the toddler rails on his bed yet...don't think we are quite ready for that just yet!! 2. Climb on EVERYTHING... and know how to get down correctly with out busting my head :) (DADA tought him this) 3. NO MORE BOTTLES!!! I have been drinking Milk for a few months now and I just drink out of a sippy cup...Took it like the CHAMP that he is! 4. NO MORE mushy baby food :) I only eat BIG BOY food. He love to eat what Marcus and I eat. He loves pizza, cheese, sandwich meat, chicken nuggets, waffles, pancakes, hash browns, fries, bananas, watermelon, tomatoes, and much much more.

Just waking from a nap...he can't climb out now!

****Photo shoot :) I took Mason to our neighbors house to get a few pictures to set up at his first birthday. We had our family pictures and one yr. pictures taken today, but they won't be ready for the BIG day on Saturday :) I am NOT a photographer AT ALL, but thought these turned out cute considering I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT I WAS DOING :)

I love how he squints to smile......SO PRECIOUS :) Looks like we will just have 2 teeth when his first birthday rolls around :)

*****HOUSE!!! They have cleared the lot where our house will be built and they plan on pouring the foundation within the next few weeks:) YEAH!!!! I have been busy picking out things for the house, and still have a lot more to do!

My next post will be when my lil guy is 1!!! Just a few more days!

Busy...Busy....Busy!!!

TIME FLIES! Where did this past year go???? I have been busy busy busy this past month. Planning a 1st BIrthday, starting to build a new home, joining the Mom's Club of Katy, and those are only a few things I have been up to this month.

1. I kept thinking "I have a while before I need to start planning Mason's first birthday," but the time crept up on me and we have less than a month to go before my lil guy turns 1!!!!!! Here are a few pics of Mason recently. He is always ON THE GO so I only have a second to get that great pic before he is off and running to the next place of discovery :)

Trying on hats in Babies R Us!!
Waving to me.....such a cutie! When you find a Texas Tech hat or ANYTHING for that matter in the Houston area...you BUY IT!! (you usually find UT or A&M items)
Forgot to turn the pic around :( Look at that priceless smile
I usually run Mason's bath water while Marcus undresses him and then when Mason hears the water he runs into the bathroom to take his bath :) The other night he ran into the bathroom JUST LIKE THIS :)

2. The PLANS are FINAL!! We have finally reviewed our house plans and given the OK, so they are going to break ground here shortly. We have changed the plans numerous times to create the perfect house we plan on living in for quite a while. YEAH!!! I can't wait....except...I have no sense of design, so I have been tearing through magazines, touring model homes, and getting expert advice from other friends who have gone through this process. Below are pics of our lot where our houe will be started here shortly. I will gladly take ANY advice from seasoned home builders :)

3. Scrapbooking, Scrapbooking, and more Scrapbooking :)

We will be heading to Austin this weekend for Kylie's birthday party.....THEN as a great B-day present for my birthday in a few days I am headed again to NYC with my friend from College, Whitney. I know my sister would love to go too, but I am SURE we can make another trip again soon :) We are leaving Wednesday and coming back Saturday. We are (yes I LOVE HIM) going to the Justin Timberlake concert that Thursday in NYC!! I am soooo PUMPED :) I can't wait to hear 'Summer Love' We plan on doing some shopping, touring, eating, and having a GREAT time. I just LOVE NYC. We are staying at the Marriott Marquis which is in a awesome location.

As for now....I am running ragged trying to get things completed for Mason's birthday, house stuff picked out, and meeting new moms :) I just can't believe it is mid AUGUST!!

The invitations are ordered.....

WOW!! How fast this year has flown! In just a few short weeks my lil guy, bubba, my love will turn 1. How did that happen??? It seems like yesterday I was preparing for his arrival, yet at the same time it feels like he has been a part of our family forever!! Mason IS the BEST. There are so many things I already miss about him from when he was newborn, yet I absolutely LOVE watching Mason grow, learn, and explore. I can see it in his eyes, he is curious, caring, interested, and amazed with the world around him.

I LOVE:

• when he plays with my neclace



• when he looks into my eyes and gives me a huge smile



• when he runs up to my leg and hugs me



• when Marcus gets home and Mason runs to his dad and his face lights up



• when he talks as he is going to sleep



• when he wants a drink or something to eat he comes up to me and takes out his passy



• when he plays peek a boo with me



• when he says ma ma ma ma when he is ready to get out of bed



• when he rolls over and plays with my nose (not hard to miss :) to wake me up when we nap together



• when he holds out his hand for me to walk with him



• when runs and lays his hed on me when he is tired and ready for his nap



• when he laughs when we feed him pizza (he could eat a whole slice or two!!)



• how he hugs his bear and leans in to give him a kiss


• how he smiles at others until they smile back at him


• how he squints his face to smile


• how he laughs when he eats something new that he likes


• how he lays his head on my chest when he wants to rest
  


• to stare at him and tell him I love you as many times a day as I can!

I can't even wrap my mind around how fast he has grown and changed in just a YEAR. I have ordered his birthday invitations and I guess I am "ready" for his 1st birthday, but I will be in tears thinking how fast my lil guy is growing right before my eyes. One day he will be taller than me, picking me up, and hopefully taking care of me when I am old and gray, but for now....I am enjoying every lil precious moment together and realize how BLESSED I am to be Mason's mom!!

Obstruction of Tear Duct

So when was your first eye doctor's appt.? I can't remember when mine was or even if I have had any other that the eye checks at school.....in elementary school. Mason had his first eye doctor's appt. last week. At 9 months!! I never thought I would be taking my lil guy to the eye doctor for a while, but it came sooner that I had expected. At his 9 month check up I told the doctor that Mason has had a watering left eye now for almost a month. His left eye would water tons and when he would cry it would POOR out tears unlike his right one. It did not seem right to me so I mentioned it to his doc. He recommended me to an eye doc so we went to see what was up. I just expected him to say "It is a blocked duct....give him eye drops and he will be fine" Well that was far from what he said. He did say it was a blocked duct, but he would have to open up the obstruction or he would eventually get bad eye infections :( He explained that all infants have closed ducts but are opened by 6 months of age and if they don't then the doc would have to open the duct. Well.....that is what we did today......we went back to the eye doctor and he opened his tear duct which he said was VERY clogged.


Here is how the procedure went.....MOM very WORRIED and dad by their sides, Mason was put into a pappoose (like a straight jacket for infants) so he could not move. Then the doc went in through his duct with a NEEDLE!!!!!!! No medication for Mason at all!! We were in the room with him to give him comfort...or as much comfort as you can give a little one in a pappoose with a needle coming right for your eye. Anyways, the procedure took about one minute and he opened the duct. Now for the rest of the week we have to watch to make sure the duct doesn't close again, and if it does this means we have to put Mason under and put a tube in his duct so it drains!! My poor guy!! Who ever knew of this????? I cried the whole time he was getting the procedure done, however Mason did not make a peep until he was poked. Not while he was restrained or after it was over. They said he would probably sleep......NO not my lil guy he was happy and ready to play :) His eye is fine and I pray that the procedure works and he doesn't have to get the tube in his eye. He was AMAZING through the whole thing!!!

Caymans and Mason Walking EVERYWHERE!!

The past week Marcus and I took a little vacation to the Cayman Islands. It was very relaxing, beautiful, but we missed our lil guy so much!! The weather was AWESOME the whole time we were there and the water was AMAZING!! While we were there we took a couple of excursions. We rode waverunners for 2 hours and went snorkeling at two different spots along seven mile beach. I have not had those pics developed from the water camera so I will have none of those to post. Then for our second excursion we took a catamaran boat out to stingray city sandbar where we fed and swam with the HUGE stingrays. I was amazed at how BIG they were. The first day at the beach at our hotel a stingray swam up to us, but it was not near as big as the ones at the sandbar!!! That was pretty amazing....the guides showed us their stingers....they did not look as bad as they are :) We also fed the Tarpons at the Wharf restaurant. Here are a few pics of our vacation! ****Did I mention....We came home a day early because we missed our lil guy so much!!!

The view from our hotel room......LOOK AT THAT AMAZING WATER!!
Being lazy on the beach!
Stand out side our hotel room on the beach....we just opened our door and we were right on the beach!! The room was GREAT!
Our lil friend (crab) we met while sitting on our porch.
The sunset at the Wharf restaurant

On the catamaran at stingray sandbar
I took this picture of the stingray from the catamaran....they were HUGE
Me holding a baby stingray
Marcus holding a Momma stingray....the girls are bigger than the males :)

Well after many international phone calls we decided to hop on a plane and come home a day earlier. It was all worth it to see my lil guy. I missed him soooo very much. I held him and kissed him all day. As I posted earlier....Mason took his first steps on Saturday the day before Father's day and now there is NO stopping him....he is walking EVERYWHERE!!! I will for sure loose the extra LB's i gained on the vacation :) chasing Mason around. Here are a few pictures of him walking. I love this boy more and more each day.....what an amazing gift I have been given, Mason, my precious son!

Mason playing with bubbles...you can hardly see them :)

"I am coming for you daddy!"
"Ok mom....are you ready cuz here I come!"
"Daddy and I will fight over this for many years to come!"
One more time....I'm a comin'
YEAH!!!! Mason! What a big boy walking :)