Making Progress ....

So it has been about a month since I have posted ..... Mason is making progress in his milestones. He is now crawling and has finally started to improve in his self-feeding.

We took him out on the boat for the first time at the end of July. He didn't have a horrible time, but it was a little difficult for him because it was too hot. I managed to keep sand out of most of his

crevasses, but the water was too cold for him (by his own account - he started to cry when we dipped his toes in). By the end of the day, he was a little on the grumpy side because he refused to nap while on the beach. I took him home in the early afternoon and he was asleep in his car seat before we made it to the freeway! I think we will probably wait to take him out on the river until next summer when he is walking. It was pretty cute to see him in his little swim trunks and life vest (although he kind of looked like a tick about ready to pop in that life vest)....

Within the last week, Mason has really started to take off in his crawling. Before, he would go a few feet and then sit on his butt ... then go a few feet again, and sit on his butt ... he would motate all around the room in this fashion. Now, he looks a little more coordinated and crawls like a typical baby. He is starting to explore in pulling himself up on various pieces of furniture, but he is not yet totally confident in that skill.

My brother and his family came out to California to surprise my mom for her birthday (August 12th) and her retirement (August 15th). Mason had a great time playing with his cousins, Rudy and Ella. Rudy is a little further along than Mason with his crawling skills, so I think it was useful for Mason to observe the "pro." Mason talks more than Rudy and Emily (my brother's wife) was hopeful that Rudy would pick-up some of Mason's talkativeness ..... It was a great time

while they were out here. Rudy and Mason are only two weeks apart so it is very entertaining to see them interact.

Mason and Rudy both visited Jon Kalbach's Salon and Day Spa for their first hair cuts ever! My brother did a great job in using the clippers to "buzz" the boys. He kept threatening to give Mason a "high and tight" cut like him (since he is in the Navy). The boys both did great ... at first. After a while, the hair would fall down on their face and they would start to get grumpy. Overall, they did a great job and didn't put up too much of a fight. Honestly, I am glad to be rid of Mason's bowl-cut! For all of you out there that claim my baby doesn't cry (Kelly and Chris, ahem!) ... there is PROOF in the attached pictures!

Anyhow, we are encroaching on Mason's first birthday! He will be turning one on September 19th! I can't believe a year has already passed! I will surely post in the coming weeks to capture the coming days!

Additional pictures can be viewed at:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=60cie9o.43259by0&x=0&y=-tmb4wn&localeid=en_US

I hope all is well!

Love,

Jenn, Tim, and Mason

The end of an era ....

Mason is almost 10 months (around the 19th of this month) and has pretty much stopped nursing. I never thought I would have grown so attached to nursing him. When I first became pregnant, I knew I wanted to nurse but had decided that I wasn't going to be "hard core" about the process. I told myself that I was going to do my best to keep it up and wasn't going to give up when encountering all the associated discomforts (cracked nerples, mastitis, clogged ducts, leakage, tenderness, and the list goes on and on and on and on ...). I know many people have various opinions about nursing how's, what's, where's, etc .... but after going through the process with Mason, I say BE PROUD SISTA' for all the nursing moms out there! It is harder than one things to put a boob in a baby's mouth; people just don't understand the dedication it takes unless one goes through it, tries to go through it, or is very closely associated with the process (sorry dads, closer than trying to get a squirt in your coffee).  

In actuality, nursing was a time during each day that Mason and I bonded, kanoodeled and were 

totally about each other and no one else. Although I am sad for this time to end, it doesn't feel as traumatic as I thought it would be. Over the last month or so, Bubas has gradually decreased the number of times he nurses each day down to one. Thankfully for me, he didn't go "cold turkey" like some other babies I know of. I am very grateful for the 10 months we were able to continue the nursing regime and am thankful that I was able to experience the closeness and bonding associated with nursing my baby. 

Ok, enough of the boob talk ... I am sure half the guys reading this have already puked in the garbage can .....

On another note, Mason is SOOO close to crawling. He is still scooting backwards, but is now up on all fours and is rocking back and forth. I anticipate him beginning any day now. I guess it is time to think about baby-proofing the house!

Although Mason has symptoms of teething, he has yet to cut any actual teeth. My family is full of late teethers, so I pretty much have expected that Mason will sprout teeth late, too. Actually, he is a late bird on pretty much everything ... rolling over, crawling, teething, holding his own bottle, self feeding ... he is just a lazy kid, what can I say?!? Well, lazy or not he is my little Bubas and I LOOOOOVVVVEEE him sooooooo much!

We had a nice 4th this year, with the exception of Mason's choking incident. Bubas choked on a piece of watermelon and scared the shit out of me! I was able to dislodge the food and thankfully, he recovered soon and was back to finishing his scrumptious meal (he only choked

 for approximately 5 seconds). The incident re-affirmed my desire to take a child/infant CPR and First Aid class. The rest of the night ended well; Mason was in bed before the fireworks show started and he snored through the whole thing. Being in Orangevale, a couple of our neighbors were setting of HUGE boomer illegal fireworks. You would have though World War III was starting ... did Bubas wake up??? nope! 

Well, as always, I hope this finds each of you doing well! I have posted video and a few pictures from the past couple of weeks. Enjoy!

The pictures above are of 1) Mason with wild-man hair; 2) Ian and Michelle helping give Mason and bath; and 3) of Grandmie Marge playing with Connor ....

Love,

Jenn, Tim, Mason, and the animals ......

Just pictures and video

 

The "Magnum"  -->

Well, not too much has happened since my last post. Tim had his first Father's day ... it was pretty nice and Mason behaved himself that day :) I just have posted pictures and a few videos taken lately.                                         

You can view the pictures at the following link: 

p://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=60cie9o.7a8yqknk&x=0&y=w51q4k&localeid=en_US

Videos are below .....                                                                  

Enjoy!   - Jenn, Tim and Mason       

backwards creep    

 crib hysteria

lotion after bath time .....

   Man grunts .......

 

Mason's first soccer ball ... that Nahla popped two hours later :(

 big boy playing the drums ...

 mommy's favorite ... blowing raspberries!!

A long time ...

It has been a long time since I last posted and a lot has happened! 

Mason is doing well ... he has his very FIRST cold right now. This morning he started coughing and has a super runny nose. I was able to use the wonderful nose-suckie for the first time. Yeah, Mason didn't think it was so wonderful. He is still relatively happy given the fact that he isn't feeling top-notch.

We are still waiting to see teeth ... he has gone through fussy days

, low-grade fevers, drooling, and gnawing on his pacifier, but has yet to cut teeth. Many of the babies on my side of the family are late tethers. My niece, Ella, didn't have her first tooth until after she was a year old! We can, however, see the outline of teeth in his gums on the bottom side of his mouth!

Mason still doesn't roll over often, but he has started to creep around while on his belly. He will roll over if he gets tired of being on his belly or if he is trying to reach for a toy while on his back. However, he is inherently lazy and just doesn't feel the need to move around 

that often! Another thing that is peculiar about our little Peanut is that he doesn't put things in his mouth! Yes, I checked and he is a baby ... yes, I know babies are supposed to put things in their mouth ... but he just WON'T!  It is making the process of teaching him to self-feed pretty difficult. Instead of holding his sippie cup, he will lean towards it and thrust his tongue at it ... as if saying, "mom, I am thirsty ... c'mon!" He'll get the hang of it someday ..... in the 

meantime, patience is the name of the game!

In other news, my brother and his family are visiting now. Rudy and Mason are having a good time playing together. We were able to make a trip up to Chico today for my Grandpa Jim's 93rd birthday celebration! It was a very special time to have all great grand kids bond with their great grandparents. We couldn't have asked for a better day to spend with family.

As always, I have attached a link with pictures from the last month. Unfortunately, I lost some pictures as my hard drive crashed and everything was lost. Fortunately, I didn't loose ALL my pictures as I have been putting them on Kodak gallery to showcase for the blog!

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=60cie9o.7n9601y8&x=0&y=xrm8jh&localeid=en_US

Anyhow, I hope this finds you all doing well. I will try not to wait too long before I post again!

Ciao,

Jenn, Tim, and Mason

WOO HOO!

ieEEEEEEE! Some very exciting news has occurred in our little family! The most exciting news is that Mason now has a cousin!! Connor Joseph Brown joined us on Sunday, May 4th. He was 8 pounds, 6 ounces and was 20 1/2 long. He is as bald as a cue ball (in perfect Brown-man style) and has the cutest little chicken legs ever! Tim and I are so incredibly happy for Scott and Liz (his brother and his wife) ... we will have enough boys in the family now to field a soccer team!! Liz and Scott are both doing great and are adjusting to their new schedule :) WOO HOO!

The other exciting news is that I found a great job! It is in Folsom (so I don't have to commute far) doing estate planning paralegal work. I am jubilant as I am scheduled for three days a week with 8 hour work days.

 The job arrangement is my ideal :) I'm wasting no time and will begin work on Monday! WOO HOO x 2!!

Mason is doing great. He is as big as ever and is nearly out of his infant car seat. His little toes dangle over the edge and his shoulders are almost too big for the seat! Seeing little Connor makes it seem like yesterday that Mason was that small. He can stand on his own legs now, but still doesn't like to roll over ... o-well, he'll probably go strait to crawling. He

 doesn't show any signs of being motivated to crawl around yet ... so I am off the hook with child-proofing for a little longer!

Anyhow, I have included some pictures of Mason as well as his little cousin, Connor. The pictures can be viewed at the following link:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=60cie9o.1hrwkjx4&x=0&y=hftzmd&localeid=en_US

We hope you all are doing great!

Love,

Jenn and Tim

aahhhhh, serenity .....

This afternoon I was laying on our bed with my (not so little) peanut cuddled beside me. It was time for a lazy afternoon nap after a busy day. As I closed my eyes and began to drift off, my body became more aware of my peaceful surroundings. As the scented air of jasmine floated in with the breeze, the slight melody of tropical, wooden wind chimes sang me to sleep. Just before I passed to unconsciousness, a hummingbird approached the feeder outside my window. I could hear the vibration of its wings as it hovered and swilled the sweet nectar. Just before it departed, it chirped as if telling me goodbye ..... I opened my eyes and drank in one last look of my little man before I drifted off. The sunlight caught strands of his strawberry -blond hair and his skin appeared to be comprised of buttermilk. I smiled as I watched his chest rise and fall with breath. At that moment, I knew what Heaven was like and I wanted to pause time. Instead, I drifted off with the calming essence of jasmine still in my breath and the slight sound of a pacifier being rhythmically enjoyed.

Anyhow, it has been awhile since my last post! The other weekend, Tim and I had Mason dedicated by our family Pastor, Rick Stowell. It was a nice ceremony that was held on my parent's back patio. The sun was shining and a slight breeze kept the afternoon cool. It was very relaxed and the ceremony had the exact feel we had hoped.

Mason is doing great. He has expanded his food repertoire and is now eating fruits as well as veggies. I never anticipated that I would grow so attached to nursing and I have mixed feelings of the weaning process.  Mason is sitting up well, but is not regularly rolling over. Tim and I believe it is because he doesn't want to roll over, not because he can't ... He rolled over today from his belly to his back like he had done it a thousand times. 

Anyhow, I have included some video and a link to some recent pictures:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=60cie9o.ahk9qps8&x=0&y=-gi0coh&localeid=en_US

I hope this finds you all doing great!

Love,

Jenn, Tim, Mason, and the animals .... 

 

Wow, a lot has occurred since my last post! Life seems pretty busy for us even though we don't have a lot going on!

This past weekend, Tim, Mason and I went camping for my birthday and were joined by some family and friends. We went to the Samuel P. Taylor campground by Point Reyes and enjoyed four days of eating, drinking, hiking, and relaxing. It was Mason's first camping trip and he managed it like a champ! He was quite the seasoned little camper (more so than his momma). It was a little colder than we anticipated, but we all bundled up and crept a little closer to our campfire. We were quite cozy in our little Motel 6 tent trailer. We were able to use David and Marge's Hilton on wheels for our running water and flush toilet needs (Tim's folks have a 5th-wheel).

Upon our return from our little hiatus, Tim discovered that he had poison oak .... bad. He is still COVERED with it and has banished himself to the guest bedroom. His temporary exodus serves me well as Mason has decided to stop sleeping through the night.

We believe Mason's teeth are bothering him pretty bad as he has been a little crab-apple the past few days (well, crab-apple for him, anyways). In fact, he just woke up about 30 minutes ago screaming bloody murder (at 12:30am)! He is now cozied up next to me in bed, snoring away ....

Other family news ... my brother was deployed again yesterday. Fortunately, he isn't in Iraq. His deployment is for approximately two months and we are looking forward to seeing him, Emily and the kids in June. Liz had her baby shower and is encroaching upon her due date. Tim and I are ecstatic that little Connor will be joining us soon! Mason will have to wait a little while before he and Connor can play.

Anyhow, unconsciousness calls .... I have attached a link for recent pictures:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=60cie9o.7epru1mw&x=0&y=-bzdue3&localeid=en_US

I hope this finds you all doing well!
Love,
Jenn