Easter Trip

So we were lucky enough for Christopher to have no classes Thursday, and have Friday and the following Monday as a holiday.  We took a vacation to the West side of the state for a wonderful Easter weekend.

We were so happy to have the best weather when we were there.  The sun was out 90% of the time and the temperature was upper 60's...PERFECT!  We took advantage and went to Marine Park where we met up with some friends and Christopher flipped rocks and played with the crabs.  Mason was asleep for the first 15 mins or so but he must have known where we were and woke up to enjoy the scenery.

Pop Pop was nice enough to keep our stroller company once Mason woke up...it didn't drive so well across the rocky beach.

  
We also had fun spending time with the Grandmas, we went to lunch at Lee's Diner on Thursday and had dinner and played Mexican Train Friday.  Pop Pop was so excited that he'd won, when we were thinking about being done he asked who was winning and when he was told it was him he agreed that it was a great time to stop.

We also decorated some Easter eggs which turned out beautiful.  We had some really good artistic techniques from Nana with finger painting the eggs into a tie-dye pattern, and Christopher using paper towels to paint a hard to dye spot.

For Easter Sunday after church Brianne, Eric and the girls were up so we watched them do one Easter egg hunt at Grandma B's. The girls were so excited every time they found an egg and were very excited to see candy and even money inside! Mason even decided to join in on the action.  He didn't really pick any eggs up, but after the hunt Christopher found an egg the kids had missed and Mason got that one.

The girls were given a bubble gun which they loved to use, they would run around and shoot it at people until everyone had been bubbled . Mason seemed to like it when he could actually focus and see the bubbles. Mason also got a gift from Grandma B that he wanted to hold and of course put directly into his mouth. He seemed to like it. I know he'll love it when he can sit and play in the bath and have his little fish swim around with him.

Kaylin and Lauren also had an Easter egg hunt at Nana and Pop Pop's.  They got so much candy I'm sure their parents are going to love it!  The girls also hung a few eggs on the tree to remember Papa, Grandpa Reid.  

Dinner was amazing and dessert was delicious.  It was an awesome time being able to be in Bellingham with family and have beautiful weather for an amazing Easter weekend.

6 MONTHS

Well, Mason made half a year. He is getting older way too fast and learning and doing funny new things every day. 

 

Here are his stats:

Height: 27.5 inches (85%)

Weight: 15.5 lbs (16.5%)

Head Circumference: 17.8 inches (85%)

He still isn't crawling, which I'm kinda glad about because I like knowing where he is give or take a few feet for his one-way rolling.  Yeah, since we started putting him in a sleep sac at night he has gotten the rolling thing down but only in one direction.  So every now and then at night we have to rescue him from the crib bumper he is clinging to and put him back in his corner of the crib he started at.  

We are trying to get him to soothe himself and sleep through the night, needless to say it's been a bumpy ride.  He does pretty well most nights only waking up once or twice for about a half hour of crying, but other nights it can be multiple hours of crying and a number of rescues from the side of the crib.  Our neighbors are probably just loving us right now.  Christopher tries to pass the hours of crying by going to the front room and playing some Nintendo, as long as his baseball team is winning he doesn't mind too much that he's awake at 3 or 4 in the morning.  

This was his first time on grass, he didn't know what to think at first but liked it soon after.

Mason still doesn't have teeth but he has started eating more foods. Our pediatrician recommended that he eat the meat baby foods with more calories because he's a little on the lighter side.  We try and feed him as much as he can eat whenever he wants.  He loves eating food now.  We put him in his bumbo and put his bib on and his legs start kicking in excitement.  We know he really likes the food because he can't wait for it to get in his mouth, he grabs your hands and pulls them toward his mouth to get the food faster.

We also discovered that he loves the "Big Bang Theory" theme song.  Whenever we are watching episodes and that song comes on he will turn his head towards the TV and just stare.  The other day he was even on the ground grunting and whining when we turned it on and he stopped crying and just listened. When the song is over it repeats with a short pause in between, during the short pause he would start to whine again until the song starts and he would stop, sit still and listen to it. He did this multiple times, it was pretty fun to watch.

He also loves the pop bottles Christopher gives him, and discovered that with it in his mouth he can make noises that sound cool in the bottle.

We practice sitting every day, he still won't do it consistently   He can sit by himself for a short time but he loves to stretch his legs out straight too much that he ends up launching himself backwards.  A few times when he really wants to stand we try sitting him down just for fun because he will arch his back and get really mad that you are trying to make him sit.  I guess he'll have to learn to crawl and move before he can sit still.

He is so much fun to play with all day and we love him so much.  He makes life so fun!

Birthdays and Toys

It's a little late but Christopher had a birthday.  We had a relaxing morning of sleeping in and playing video games.

We spent part of the afternoon on a walk and returned home so I could make his cake.  I asked Christopher if he wanted me to make his cake early in the day so he could have more time to eat it and of course he said yes.  

Christopher had his birthday banner up all week and loved it so much.(thanks Kelsey for the Christmas present)

On our way to dinner we stopped by Game Stop to pick up Christopher's present: Assassin's Creed 3, and I admit it's pretty fun to watch him play, it's my second favorite to watch only to Uncharted.  For dinner we went out to a mexican restaurant near our house. It wasn't as good as El Rinconcito but Christopher was pretty satisfied with his chipotle enchiladas. We finished off the night watching a movie and resting from eating a delicious but Christopher said rather spicy meal.

About a week later we were able to pick up the exersaucer we ordered for Mason.  He has always loved to stand and now he can do it on his own without having to be held all the time.  When we first put him in he was a little overwhelmed and didn't know what to look at or play with.  After a few minutes he started plying with each toy and turning around the circle to grab the next one.

  He loves it so far and has a good time playing in it. He is really funny with the toy that is a bucket with two toys that hang out of it on strings, he wants so badly to pull it into his mouth but it isn't the most bendy, so he mostly holds onto it and yells  It's so fun to watch him play and discover new things.

5 Months

Mason turned 5 months.

Weight: approx 15.5 lbs
Height: approx 26.25 inches

He is so much fun right now, he loves to yell and is constantly jabbering.  One of my favorite new things he does is when he first wakes up in the morning he will start talking to himself and be making noises.  When we go to check on him he's just staring at his crib bumber having the best conversation ever.  It is so nice to wake up to his fun sounds instead of just him crying.  He loves to put everything in his mouth, especially skin.  He doesn't usually take a pacifier because of the rubbery feel, but he will go to town on his fingers, mine or anyone else's if he can get them.

We recently started putting some of his clothes on that were previously too big for him and we were so excited that they fit.  He finally got to wear his robot shirt from Kelsey, and the sweater that Nana gave him.

We gave him rice cereal for the first time a few weeks ago and it was pretty hilarious.  He didn't eat too much but it was fun to watch him try.  He would mostly make funny faces and spit the cereal out.

Since then he has gotten the hang of it and now during eating sessions he yells till he has the spoon in his mouth.

He's getting so big so fast; Christopher is ready for him to walk around and play more. I tell him he has to be patient and remind him that even though he's so much bigger than he was, he's still only 5 months old.

February Visitors

This month was exciting with a couple visits from family at separate times within a week of each other; man we are so lucky!!  Nana and Pop Pop decided to come visit for Presidents Day weekend.  So they got in the car, Rio included, and made the drive over.  We had a great time hanging out with them, watching movies, walking around in the park all bundled up for the cold weather.  We took them to Manito Park which in warmer weather is filled with colorful flowers and really pretty plants.  Since it's winter most everything looked like the arches in the picture.

We made sure that we got all of our 45 mins in to count for our 8 week healthy challenge.  We went to Costa Vida for some amazing burritos and salads for our lunch. Then Saturday night our ward had an auction for Scouts and we actually won a picture of the Spokane Temple in a silent auction...Hurray!!  Sunday we spent relaxing and ate an amazing meal of london broil, it was delicious.  We were sad to see them leave but will hopefully see them soon.

We also had Christopher's sister Brianne and her family over.  It was so fun to be able to see our nieces and take them around a few places here.  We spent one day walking on the frozen pond in Manito.  The girls thought it was pretty amazing that they were walking on water, even if it was frozen.

We also spent time walking through a rain snow mix at Riverfront Park.  They loved feeding the ducks, but had to go up the steps at one point to keep a safe distant.

They couldn't wait to go on the huge wagon that they said could even fit a car!

For the last stop we went to the temple and quickly walked around before we were completely soaked.  It was so fun to have the little girls here and play with them and spend more time with Brianne and Eric.  We had a blast and thank both families for putting up with staying in our small apartment.  Thanks for a superfantastic week!!

16 Weeks Already?!?!

It's true, Mason is already 16 weeks old. He had his appointment where he got shots and of course cried. I always feel bad for him but can't help and smile at his reaction to the shots. Christopher was such a supportive Dad and got shots of his own but for the flu and whooping cough. Mason's appointment went well and was really talkative with the doctor.  He was so friendly in fact that he both peed and spit up on her. Despite the generous gifts she still thought he was pretty cute.  Here are his stats for 16 weeks.

Height: 25.8 inches(87%)

Weight: 14 lbs(42%) 

Head Circumference: 17 inches(82%)

Some of the newer things he does now are reaching out at objects and actually being able to grab them.  He also sucks on his hands non-stop, and any other objects that he can pull toward his mouth.  Also he has started to be able to sit in his bumbo chair for 5 or so minutes at at time.  It kills me when he sits in his chair he looks so big, even though his head barely reaches over the back of it.  His nails seem to grow so fast, I have to cut hem every 5-7 days if I don't want claw marks and scratches. He is most social in the morning and when he's one-on-one with people, otherwise he is distracted by all the other things he could be observing.  He's my best little man and I'm so glad I get to spend all day with him!

Month-long Christmas

We were fortunate enough this year that Christopher's school schedule allowed us to visit both families and take almost a month of vacation for Christmas.  We traveled over to Bellingham to see his parents since his dad got a week off in December; and Kelsey was thinking along the same lines and came over with Crew.  We were so excited to meet Crew and have some cousin hangout.

If you can't tell from the pictures,although he is 3 months older, Crew is quite the big boy. It was nice to have the comparison and feel like Mason was a little baby again.

We had a small Christmas with both the Burley grandparents and his immediate family. It was so nice to see all of the baby cousins together and we can't wait till next year with all of them, it's going to be FUN!!

After about a week or so we flew down to see my family.  We had such a fun time my mom planned out he whole week of Christmas with activities for us to do.  Some of the things we did were make cookies, and candy. I successfully made english toffee, which because I've cut dairy out of my diet for Mason's sensitive stomach I didn't get to eat any...BUT  Melissa made molasses cookies which I almost single handedly consumed in less than three days.  Other activities included...

Making gingerbread houses...

Playing a super awesome game of Minute to Win It....

Seeing my mom's family...

Visiting friends from college...

Watching a performance of the nativity...

Taking pics of the cousins in Grandma's cute outfit coordinated clothes...

Opening presents...

Playing some volleyball...with some basketball during take-down...

Going to Leatherby's...

Celebrating a birthday with cake and ice-skating...

And of course seeing Santa.

Christmas vacation was absolutely a blast!!!  We were so glad to see everyone this holiday season and grateful for the friends and family we have to share it with.