Ouch!! part II

Mason went to the doctor the other day for his 4 month well-baby check-up. He did very well despite recieving his second round of innoculations. He is a wopping 16.8 pounds and is in the the 74th percentile for weight, the 72nd percentile for height, and the 93rd percentile for head circumphrance! Tim thinks his head is large because he is going to be so smart!! Honestly, his head looks just fine - you can't really tell it is an orange on a toothpick! Mason was pretty fussy for two days after his shots, but he is back to normal now!

On a WONDERFUL note, Mason has consistently slept through the night for the past 12 days or so. Tim and I are both hopeful this trend will last. It is very nice that he is sleeping longer now that I am working!

Mason is still working on the rolling over business. He is ALMOST there! He has started grabbing his feet while he lays on his back ... its pretty cute. The other day while on the changing table, he hauled off and let out a big ol' fart while grabbing his feet. His daddy would have been SOOOO proud of his boy had he been there to witness his little musical toot. Mason definitely fits into the family when it comes to passing gas ... he is so very stinky that it practically burns the hair out of my nose when he farts!

Anyhow, all is well in our little household! Mason continues to amaze us on a daily basis and we feel incredibly blessed to have him!

We hope this finds you well!

Love,

Jenn, Tim, Mason, Nahla, Fez and Bells

teeth!

I can't believe how fast our little pork chop is growing! He has started teething!! He is a little drool-monkey and soaks through at least two bibs each day. He has been fussy and restless a couple of nights (waking every three hours much to my disdain), but has overall been happy. In my last post, I indicated that Mason was suffering from a cold when it was actually the beginning of his teething .... he doesn't really have a tooth, but rather a "bud" in his gums ... nevertheless, he still drools all over the place ... its a good thing he is cute!

I started back at work last week (temporarily). I have enjoyed my immersion back into the work place and have been glad to see and talk to my co-workers and customers. Adult conversation is always appreciated after spending prolonged periods of time with a little one....I believe working part time will be a good arrangement for me as it will help keep my brain sharp! I will miss my work as I have grown fond of my friends in my work environment.

The one good thing about going back to work is that it makes me more grateful for the time I have at home with Mason. Either way I slice the cheese, I am able to spend at least every other day with my little man .... so if I am having a trying time, I can revel in the fact that I will spend all of the following day with him! I have been fortunate in that I have had no mental melt downs and have had no problem pumping at work ...

Tim and I are incredibly lucky for our child care arrangements while I am back at work. Marge (Tim's mom) watches Mason on Monday, we have an in-home day care that takes him on Wednesday, and my mother watches him on Friday. We also have Liz (my sister-in-law) on babysitter standby in case one of the current sitters has a conflict. I am hopeful that once my stint at County Bank is over, that I will be able to find work that compliments my ogh-so-fabulous care arrangements!

Ogh yeah! I almost forgot to mention that Mason is ALMOST able to roll over!!! He rolls on to his side, but his arm is getting in the way of his completely rolling over. Honestly, I am grateful for the inhibiting arm - I don't think I am ready for him to already be at that stage! The little fart will be crawling before we know it! His neck is getting quite strong and he was able to spend some time in his Bumbo chair (rubber chair that helps infants learn to sit upright) the other day.

Anyhow, I have a few pictures and some video .... you can view pictures at the following link:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=60cie9o.aasex2ug&x=0&y=-te0jfu

I hope you all are doing well!

Love,

Jenn, Tim, Mason, Nahla, Fez, and Hells-Bells ......

videos

Mason's First Christmas

Ho Ho Ho! Well Mason's first Christmas has come and gone and it was a blast!! We enjoyed the company of family and friends and reveled in the music, card playing, and food consumption associated with the season. Mason made out like a bandit and is going to be the most stylin' little stud ever with the cute little clothes he scored! We went up to Chico the weekend before Christmas and spent some time with Mason's great grandparents, aunts and uncles. He was quite the little center of attention as he is the youngest little one on that side of the family. He was such a good little baby and did quite well although in a foreign house with game trophy heads mounted on all the walls! (The party was at Mason's great Uncle Jim's house - Great Uncle Jim is an avid hunter and recently mounted the head of a Cape Buffalo in his living room.)

The newest issue in our little family is my return to work. I attempted to obtain a temporary part-time schedule with my bank (with the intention of returning to full time work in March) but they were unable to make the accommodation I was looking for. They offered me a somewhat reduced schedule (per my request). However, the management position I hold with them is really a full time position and will never be able to accommodate part time hours. Tim and I sat down and had a heart-to-heart to talk about what type of work situation I wanted ... and we decided that it was dooable for me to work part time and I , therefore, gave my notice to the bank. We figured this would be a perfect time for me to transition into the paralegal field. I will, however, be working for them three days a week until they find my replacement or until I find other employment. I didn't want to leave them in a lurch so I offered to help them out ... I believe it is a good arrangement for both parties ... they have help until they find someone else, and I have income until I find something else! Its a win win situation!

Anyhow, I have included a link to some pictures (you may need to copy and paste into your browser) : http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=60cie9o.cdnjqt88&x=0&y=-w4zcd4 and
http://mystudio.kiddiekandids.com/viewshare.asp?c=602005074NUA7YW4R

Mason is starting to giggle more frequently and is smiling all the time. Our favorite is when he smiles while he has his pacifier in his mouth ... you can see the smile in his eyes. He is over 15 lbs and has a doctor's appointment in the coming weeks to receive his next round of shots. He currently has a little cold that is making him a little fussy and is preventing him from sleeping as well at night. Other than that, he is peachy keen!!

Anyhow, I hope this finds you all doing well!

Jenn

muffin top ....

Today was a major milestone ... I fit into my pre-pregnancy fat pants! Yes, I have a muffin top that would make any baker proud, but I fit into the pants darn-it!! Although I would never normally condone wearing pants where my belly pours over the waistband, I am going to wear these jeans for the rest of the day .... even if they make my eyeballs pop out a little!

Yesterday I chopped my hair off! It is short short short and it is taking a little getting used to! For those of you who have known me for a long time, I used to have this cut in my early college years. I am happy to be rid of the constant ponytail! It is very quick and easy to style!

Mason is doing great! He is already in size 3 diapers! He loves to splash in the bath and he is beginning to giggle and laugh more ....he is just getting so BIG! Har har, I just heard him fart from the other room ... Tim would be so proud!

Anyhow, I hope this finds each of you having a wonderful Holiday season!

Hugs,

Jenn

8 hours!

Life is back to normal and we are back home. Mason was an absolute prince for the rest of our Virginia trip and was a COMPLETE trooper on the flight home! We had a wonderful time on our trip but are very happy to return to home base (Nahla is happy we are back, too!).

Mason is growing like a weed .... he outgrew clothes that I packed for his trip while we were in Virginia! Mason is almost 11 weeks and is already in 3-6 month clothing! We recently have tried a new schedule with him that is working quite well! Instead of him "snacking" all day long - and then falling asleep after his snack, we have been feeding him every 3 hours or so and then keeping him awake after feeding. The wonderful result of this schedule is that Mason is sleeping longer periods through the night! The new schedule allowed him to go 5 hours or so at first, and then last night he slept 8 hours! HALLELUJAH! - HOLY S%#$ (to quote Clark Griswold in the wonderful Christmas movie classic, Christmas Vacation)!!

I am very much enjoying my time at home with my little man and am saddened the (dreaded) return to work is fast approaching. Mason and I have so much fun together during the day! He is so interactive now - - he coos and smiles, kicks, farts and has even laughed a couple of times! He's a HOOT to be around and it is only going to get better! If only I had a secret money tree in the back yard from which I could harvest cash ..... then I could stay home with Mason! Hummmm ........

The other weekend we packed up our little family and went to cut a Christmas tree. Grandma Marge bought Mason a cute little hat that kept his cranium warm during our tree hunt adventure. This year was probably the only year that we would get away with dressing him like that because he physically couldn't yank the hat off his head! His ensemble was too cute!

Anyhow, you can check out pictures from Virginia and the following days at the following link:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=60cie9o.ak2creps&x=0&y=swlvgi

I have also uploaded some video taken recently. Enjoy!

With Love,

Jenn, Tim and Mason

DC Honeymoon

Tim and I just returned back to my brother's house from a wonderful "lightning trip" to Washington DC. Since we were in Virginia, we thought it would be foolish to not take advantage of the proximity of our Nation's capitol! Washington DC is 3.5hours (as the crow flies) from Norfolk.

I was very excited as I booked a hotel online that was right across the street from the White House. When we arrived at our hotel, Tim and I were impressed by the fancy lobby. However, when we got to our room, we came to the realization that we were staying in "the chateaux de la dump" ..... the plumbing in the shower was exposed out of the wall and we had a wonderful view of an industrial vent and a bird shit-covered roof! Although disclosed on the website, we did not have a refrigerator or an expansive view! We were disappointed in the room, however, we did not let that hinder our spirits as we knew we wouldn't be spending the majority of our time there anyway!

We arrived around 1pm on Sunday and began our stay with a walk of the memorials. The Capitol p

ark was about 1.5 miles from the hotel - we crossed in front of the White House on our way to the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, the Korean War Memorial, the Washington Monument, and then we finished our day tour with the World War II Memorial. Each memorial had an ambiance during the day that is difficult to describe. Tim and I were fortunate enough to ride to the top of the Washington Monument (500 feet). The views were breathtaking .... however, we had to cut our sightseeing short as someone dropped a stink bomb fart that started to burn the hair out of our noses ...that experience was breathtaking as well, but not in the same respect!

After our day walk, Tim and I returned to the hotel to get ready for dinner. We started to drink and ready our selves for our honeymoon night on the town! We ate at a wonderful (reasonably priced) restaurant and had an opportunity to enjoy each other's company, uninterrupted, once again. After we finished dinner, we decided to walk the memorials once more at night. Each memorial has impressive light set-ups that create a unique

ambiance. Since we were "warm" from the alcohol, the chilly temperatures of nocturnal DC did not hinder our adventure. We returned back to the hotel around 11pm. We were surprised that each of the memorials touted small crowds late in to the evening.

The next day Tim and I cruised the Smithsonian Natural History

museum, strolled in front of the Capitol and enjoyed the Capitol's botanical gardens. We also (quite unexpectedly) saw Ford Theatre (where Lincoln was shot) and the house in which Lincoln died. We went on a hunt for a waffle restaurant - when we found one, we looked out the window and saw the theatre! It was a pleasant surprise! We figured that we walked on average of 10 miles each day for a total of 20 miles for the whole trip. By three o'clock on Monday, I (and my boobs) were ready to return back to my brother's house as it had been too long since we had been parted from our wee baby! It took us 4 1/2 hours to drive back to Norfolk from DC.

We recovered from our DC trip today by watching C2's and hornet jets land at the FCPL field again. I thought C2's were a blast to watch ... the hornet jets were LITERALLY a blast to watch - I could feel the pass in my chest as the jet touched down and powered back up to take off again.

We then jetted (get it? har har ... I know, bad pun) over to the base and took a tour of the George Washington aircraft carrier. It was amazing to see how many people and resources go into operating the floating city. It was fascinating to see the aspects of my brother's job. The whole process of organizing and coordinating operations on a deployed carrier is quite complicated and involved (and we only saw the flight operations part)! It was mind-boggling to see what goes into the operation of that military machine!

Anyhow, tomorrow we will be taking a trip to historical Jamestown and will be readying our bellies for the massive feast on Thursday!

We hope this finds each of you doing well!

Love,

Jenn, Tim and Mason

P.S. In the coming days, I will have a plethora of video and pictures to share from our Virginia trip. I had to save everything to my brother's computer and I just can't quite figure out how to get my pictures off his computer and to a CD to take home!!