Mason's 2nd Birthday Party

I can't believe it has been TWO YEARS since little Mason was born!  What's really scary is that means, in about 5 months, my sweet angel will also be two.  It goes so fast!

It's been great to see Mason grow up.  He's really changed tremendously since Christmas (18 months old), even.  He runs and jumps and screams and talks and laughs and understands and will try anything once, if that means he gets to be like the big boys.  Every time we see him, I am amazed at something he can do.  He is such a big ball of energy, but also sweet, too.  He likes hugs (if you can catch him!), and he's usually sweet with Abigail.  He has to give her the occasional "I'm the boss/alpha dog/big boy" treatment, but mostly, he's gentle with her.  He'll give her tons of kisses and hugs and a few weeks ago, I asked him to hold her hand, and they walked around hand-in-hand.  It was the sweetest thing ever! 

They're finally starting to play with each other, now that Abigail is more mobile.  She loves her big cousin and will usually try to do anything he is doing, even if she isn't quite capable.  I know as they get older, their developmental gap will get smaller and they'll be able to do just about the same things.  However, they are two totally different people.  Mason is a boy's boy - rough-housing, ball playing, running around boy - and Abigail is a girly girl - plays babies, and likes make-up and to look pretty - so I don't know if they'll have the same interests.  Abby likes playing with bouncy balls, but not to the extent of Mason.  Hopefully they'll have something in common and will enjoy each other's company for many years to come!

Mason's party was at an Indoor Safari Park in Southlake.  There was putt-putt, a train ride, an area to ride (mechanical) animals, and a playground area.  Abby had fun, but I was exhausted chasing her around!  For the most part, Robby talked to his family while I chased around the toddler - not the easiest thing to do at nearly 18 weeks pregnant!  Even though Abigail is asserting her independence more, she still likes to have one of us close at hand.  Unfortunately for me, it was my turn to be at her beck and call.  I rode the train with her and waited to get her on the animals - she was scared of them at first and didn't want to ride, but I plopped her on there and thankfully Mimi walked around with her.  Once she was on them, she loved them!  I even played with her on the playground - in the ballpit, down the slide, on the trampoline.  Agh, too much for me!  Afterwards, Robby and I decided that he would be the "activities director" at Abigail's birthday party, because if I was this tired when I'm only 4.5 months pregnant, I could only imagine what 9 months pregnant would feel like!  I'm also considering having her party sometime in October, when I won't be as HUGE.

Over all, I think the kids had a blast and Mason sure did get lots of toys!  Good party!

Playing putt-putt.  "What the heck am I supposed to do with this?"

On the train with cousin Emma

Riding (and loving!) a leopard!

Playing with cousin Charli!

One day shy of 18 weeks pregnant!

Abby and Mimi

Time for some cake!

Tearing into the presents!

Mason's little shadow!

2 week old Landon loved his big brother's party!

Back at Mason's house, trying out his new ride.

Abbey's Playtown

Today we took Abigail to Abbey's Playtown in Grand Prairie.  I've heard so many great things about it from other teachers, that I just had to try it out.  After perusing their website, I thought it sounded like a good place to possibly have Abigail's 2nd birthday party.  Today seemed like the perfect day to go and play!

I wish I had better pictures of the place, but I was too busy playing!  I have to be honest, the curb appeal and location is not the best.  It's a little drab looking on the outside.  However, there were so many good recommendations that I didn't let the exterior sway me and we went inside, albeit a little hesitatingly.

When you first walk in, you're greeted with tons of colors and toys - it's almost overwhelming and a little chaotic looking, but when you get in there, you can see it's really more organized than it looks.  This is definitely a place geared towards young children (the age limit is 7, I think).    They had it divided up into sections:  a soft blocks section for babies, some little baby playtoys (sitters/crawlers), a climbing wall, a kitchen/playhouse/dress up section, a transportation section (those little cars that you drive Flinstone-style), some "roller coasters", a giant bounce house/ball pit and an even more giant bounce house/maze/obstacle course.  There was plenty to do here, and even Robby and I were entertained for a good 3 hours while we played with Abby - that's always a good sign.  (One thing to note it is that it was very clean - the manager took good care of the equipment!  I wasn't afraid to let Abby play and touch the toys.)

Abigail loved the ball pit/bounce house the most, and of course, I got in with her!  We had fun bouncing around.  She still can't really jump yet, although she does try - it's so cute to see her try!   Afterwards, Robby wanted to take her into the maze/obstacle course bouncehouse and it was also fun (yes, preggo got in this one, too!).  She had fun chasing Daddy and I had fun watching him try to manuever around, crawling on his hands and knees!  I'm glad he gets down and plays with her!  We tried just about everything except the climbing wall and the dress up section - Abby's not too much into dress up yet.  Robby was impressed that she loved the "EXTREME Rollercoaster" - a little higher and faster than the regular roller coaster.  He actually didn't want to put her on it, but she liked the little one so much, that I thought it would be fun just to try it.  When I say "roller coaster" what I mean is a little car on an elevated track.  It has some hills and bumps and it leads to the ground. 

After we spent three hours there, we realized that it was a good contender for a birthday party and just a good place for indoor play.  We'll have to go back for sure!

Driving around.  See those babies over to the side?  The were all in the car with her at one point, but they fell out.  She also had two more in the "trunk" area of the car.  This girl loves babies!  She already needs a minivan!

On the little roller coaster.  This isn't a good picture because it doesn't show the height or the hills very well.  It goes much faster than it looks, I must say!  She loved it!

Playing with Daddy!

The Baby Bump

Baby #2 is really starting to pop out there.  Just last week I had someone say, "Woah, you look pregnant today!  Like, overnight!"  So far, everything is going well. I'm in that happy, "I love being pregnant" stage!

17 weeks 4 days

Father's Day Weekend

I think it is interesting, as I look over my pictures from this weekend, that I did not get ONE SINGLE picture of our baby with her daddy or either of her granddaddies!  That's it!  I'm fired!

Sigh.  Well, it was a busy weekend.  We went to Tyler to see my dad.  Since my brother was in town, I was able (somehow!) to rope in Michael and Robby to restain my dad's deck.  This was the year to do it, and since there would be two strapping boys in tow, I thought it would be a perfect job for them!  (That was my present to my dad - talking the boys into a three day staining project!  We did get him two new shirts, also - so he'd have something to open!)

While Robby and Michael spent Friday night powerwashing the deck, Mom, Lindsey, Nicholas and Abigail went shopping!  Fun, fun, but because we stayed out so late shopping, we didn't get to eat out as we had planned.  We had to go back home because the babies were sleeee-py (translation:  cranky!).

I spent all day Saturday driving around Tyler trying to find an iPhone for Robby.  I've known for a while what I wanted to get him, so why on earth did I wait until the day before to purchase it?  Geeze.  Apparently, the whole town of Tyler was sold out, but after trying a billion stores, I finally found a store that had two left.  I was able to snag the second to last iPhone in all of Smith County (I had the AT&T stores look up where the nearest one was). 

Sunday morning we woke up, Michael and Robby finished the deck, and then we did presents.  I wrote a very sentimental card to my dad and it almost had the whole house tearing up.  Robby even wrote a very special note on the back of the card to my dad.  It was hilarious when Michael said, "Oh, way to make me look bad.  All I wrote was, 'Love you, Dad.  Michael.'"  He's always good for a little comic relief! 

When Abigail gave Robby his present (she decorated the bag - it was a plain brown gift sack, and she colored and left handprints on the outside - too cute!), the first thing he opened was a car charger for his new phone.  But he didn't know about the phone yet.  He later told me that he secretly thought, "Um, this is the wrong one.  I guess I can use it for my ipod, though."  So, I guess my plan worked even though he didn't outwardly show it!  Then I gave him a case cover and then the phone!  He was excited!

Later, after saying our goodbyes, we headed to Granbury to see Robby's dad.  After the Jones' got there (even with one week old baby Landon!), we ate hamburgers and relaxed.  After eating, we were in the living room and Mason and Abigail started playing with pillows.  Mason would line them up, then they'd take turns walking across them and jumping.  At one point, they were fighting over the pillows, so I decided to count the pillows to see if they each had the same amount.  I said, "Mason, let's count your pillows.  One.  Two."  He said, "One. Two."  Then I said, "Abigail, how many pillows do you have?  One - " and she interrupted and said, "Five."  The best part is that she DID have five!  We were all rolling laughing!  Such a smart girl (or a lucky guesser!)!

The toddlers were very into the dog, but they were most excited when Poppy took them out on a golf cart ride!  They rode down to the playground and played for a long while.  By the time they got back, it was time for us to go, but Abby wasn't interested in leaving after that fun golf cart trip!

Over all, it was a great weekend to spend with all of our family!

Sweet nephew Nicholas enjoying some tummy time!

Playing in their jammies.

Abigail always wants to help!

My cutie patootie!

Abby & Mason talking to the pooch.

He was acting like Tuffy!

Uncle Robby and Landon

Home at Last!

My brother just returned from a tour of duty in Afghanistan at the end of May, and he and his wife just got leave to come back home to TEXAS (they're currently stationed in Tucson)!  Of course, they brought along my super cute nephew Nicholas (7 months).  Yesterday, when we got home from seeing Landon at the hospital, they were already here.  Abigail was excited to walk in and see another baby to play with!  Just a few minutes after we got home, she was already feeding him his bottle --- too cute!  I guess motherly instincts really are natural in some people.  I hope this means we'll have lots of grandbabies in the (far, far, 25 year) future!

Nicholas's first dip in the pool!

Daddies helping their babies swim

Self photo time!  Trying to get 4 people in one picture is hard to do!

I bet you can guess who was holding the camera now!

The best we could do!