In every challenge is a blessing ..... Tim and I have been given many blessings in disguise as challenges. At the end of each day, when I finally lay my head on my pillow, I thank God for the challenges that make us stronger and the blessings that keep life sweet and filled with joy.
August has retired and we are now in September ... it was just barely two years ago that we patiently waited for Mason's arrival. I am amazed how fast he has grown and I look back at pictures of him as a baby and feel sad that it went by so quickly! Alas, God has given us another opportunity to enjoy a baby. Having two children will definitely be a challenge, but will be the sweetest blessing we could ever receive!
As far as this pregnancy goes, it has been a challenge physically but a blessing in that baby is healthy and I am healthy (minus the hernia issue). I am frustrated by my physical limitations as I have been an active person my entire life and am not finding it easy to stay sedentary in my condition. I often push myself only to regret my actions the following day. I will definitely be happy once Makenna is here and I am able to resume normal activities (walking distances, completing chores, picking up objects, being able to paint my toe nails, etc.). I have a prenatal appointment next Tuesday (for 32 weeks) and suspect that my OB will take me off work early.
Mason is doing well. He knows is ABC's (not from singing the song) and can count to 10 most days (he sometimes misses 6 and 7). He is a little parrot and repeats phrases we commonly say like "there you gooo," "yeah, buddy" and "allllright" ... We have learned that we need to start watching what we say and that sometimes, even harmless words can sound pretty bad (beach = "bitch" and ocean ="ogh-shit"). We have started to acquaint ourselves with tantrum triggers and attempt to avoid at all costs; however, he is 2 and he still has his moments. All in all, he is our little love bug and we couldn't be happier.
This past month was filled with activities for us. We started off by visiting the Folsom zoo on a whim. We forget that we have nice little perks practically in our back yard! We took two camping trips, one trip was to Lake Tahoe. Mason had fun playing on the beach and giggling with his cousin, Ian (both of them have infectious laughs and it was hysterical to see them just giggle back and forth). Mason was smitten with his other cousin, Michelle (or "Ie-shell") ... only she could keep him entertained at certain points. We had to explain to him that we don't live in West Virginia and cousins are strictly off limits! LOL!
Our second camping trip was to Monterrey for the Labor Day Weekend. We enjoyed 4 days of lounging and eating. Tim was able to dive and spear fish while we were there. We also took a trip to the Monterrey Bay Aquarium and were privaleged to see the Great White Shark they had on exhibit. It was amazing to see Mason's reaction to the sea life (that was when he was awake - he fell asleep for about 90 minutes). Tim had Mason propped in the Kelty pack so he could see the action over all the adults. The aquarium was very crowded; however, we were glad we could give Mason that experience given his extreme interest in fish ("ishies") and the other sea life on exhibit.
I have attached a link to pictures and have included some video below:
