Back to Reality

John returned from the Bahamas late Tuesday afternoon and we got up EARLY Wednesday to leave for the beach! 

John had a great time and he even caught a marlin!  Apparently, this is a big deal there.  Cat Island is pretty much just a fishing island and everyone is trying to catch marlin (but they throw it back after?????).  Him and a coworker each caught one their first day of fishing and they were the first marlin caught on Mueller's boat this year.  When you catch one, you raise a green flag to show other fishermen a marlin has been caught.  Also, if it is your first marlin...they throw you in the water!  I briefly saw some pictures but he was going to ask the females (you know they are the only ones who took pictures!) to send them to him. 

But this boat they were on is fully staffed with professional fishermen, chefs, etc.   Most of their meals were prepared by the chef and made with the fresh fish they had caught.  I mean they were eating sushi, glazed tuna, and all kinds of things!!  He was living the life! =)

Well we left for Gulf Shores early Wednesday because it was John and Robert's birthdays and we really didn't want to just be in the car the entire day.  It is only a 6 to 6 1/2 hour drive so we were on the beach by 1:30!!!  And we got PLENTY of sun the first day!  The condos we stayed at were sooooo nice!  Very spacious and beautiful.  The bedrooms had balconies that looked over the ocean and the den had a balcony that looked over Mobile Bay...both gorgeous views. 

Mobile Bay

The Ocean!!!

The birthday boys and Will

John and I

All the girls minus Jessica

Becca and I

Here is Becca one morning when we were heading down to the beach...turns out we quickly went back to the condo!  It was so strange but it would rain in the morning and then be just beautiful when it was over.  One morning it was just sprinkling so we waited it out.  It was probably the only time I layed on my stomach and I got fried!!!!!  In the rain!!  It did rain while we were there but we still got ALOT of sun and time on the beach!

John and I on the beach...I swear I have a bathing suit on! =)  We look naked!

The boys checking out the first evidence of oil...

Tar balls...there were MANY more as each day passed...you couldn't get in the ocean on our final day

All the girls on the beach

Jenna, Blake, and I at Cosmo's (the best atmosphere and good food!!!!)

The girls again

Becca, Robert, John, and I 

Jake and Blake

Jenna and Dave

John and I again...

We really did have a wonderful time!  I got updates daily about the Little Man.  And I got a call Friday morning wanting to know his doctor's number because he had a fever.  He is on antibiotics again for ear infections!  He is finally today starting to feel a little better I think.  I feel like we go to the doctor weekly now!!!  But we certainly did miss Mason and I do thank our parents for being there to watch him so we can go on trips like these and enjoy nights out every once and a while!!!  THANKS Gami, Pops, Grandma, and Grandpa! =)

What A Weekend!

As you can see, sometime this weekend Mason finally started sitting.  The only thing is he isn't really into just sitting there...after a few seconds he leans forward so he can crawl and get into something!  Well John is still out of town and let me tell you...I really give props to all the single moms out there!  I am absolutely exhausted!!!!!  I cannot wait for my wonderful husband to get back in town, he really helps SO much!

Well Sunday we went to Mr. Charlie and Mrs. Linda's house for their annual Memorial Day pool party and tons of eating!  I decided to start the Claritin that morning, turns out it wasn't too smart.  It might have been okay if I had given him the right dosage but I gave him too much accidentally, you could say he wasn't himself!  (by the time I realized the dosage problem, it was the next day and he was perfectly healthy so I never had time to worry)  We just thought he reacted weird to it and I would try something different.   He was okay, it just pretty much made him very drowsy.  It took him a little time to warm up to the pool, but he did pretty good.  I think our next time will be much better hopefully!

Here he was when we got there.

First time in the pool!

Well Brinkley had a really fun time, she really liked the water!  She especially liked it when her daddy tossed her in the air!

We got quite a few pictures of their first time in the pool together...

Today, my mom, Mason, and I went shopping for some last minute trip items and John's birthday present!  Again, I think we wore Mason out because we weren't home for him to take his long naps which equals rough couple of hours before bed!  When we got home, I just laid him down and let him play.  It is a little different now that he is mobile...we have a very large mat we can lay down because of the hardwood floors and I just put quite a few toys down.

Of course, he is a seven month old and he is not going to stay there!!!  As you can see here...I think we are now going to be chasing him all over this house.

Thinking about getting the tray under the coffee table...

Pulling himself up...

Got it!!

Like I said, I am exhausted tonight!!!  But of course he is all worth it and I love watching him find and learn new things.  I am gonna miss this little guy this week!!!

Friday Has Arrived!!

I was off today and so very excited!  I couldn't wait until today came because I got a four day weekend.  It worked out well because Mason needed to have his ears checked to make sure the infections were gone.  Good news is no more infections in the ears...bad news is our eyes are now infected.  The past three days they have been so runny with a lot of green goop so I couldn't wait to take him to the doctor.  Now we have some antibiotic eye drops to put in frequently and hopefully they will be better in no time!

You can see some of the goop in his eyes here...

 But as you can see here, he is still just as happy as he can be!

I was also so glad the doctor finally discussed his allergies (seasonal).  He has sounded just awful for a long time now.  We are going to have to try baby's Claritin and see how it works. 

Well we have a busy busy weekend planned, but it will only be me and Mason.  John is heading off to the Bahamas in the morning!  Not fair AT ALL!  He is going with work...they will board their company yacht when they get there and then snorkel, swim, and fish until they leave Tuesday.  John and I leave Wednesday early in the morning to go to Gulf Shores with our friends!!!! (5 other couples) 

I am very excited about our upcoming vacation but I have a ton of things to do before then...I am thinking I should've taken off Tuesday!!  Not to mention it is John's birthday Wednesday!  He will be 27...that just sounds so much older for some reason.  But we are trying to leave early enough to have a fun day on the beach for their bday! 

Im pretty sure we will be able to enjoy ourselves on our trips, but how can you not miss this sweet little guy?!?!  Im sure we will be happy to see him when we get back!

Lately...

So Mason has always been VERY good with eating his food (veggies, cereal, etc.)  Actually, Mrs. Pat says he does better with his food than his bottle most days.  But he has learned a new trick...we thought it was just a fluke on Sunday when he did it, but Monday we realized it was a new "trick".  He is LOVING spitting his food back at you!!!  I mean I was covered with food!  John got a video and this really doesn't do his little problem justice.

I do have to say...we kind of sternly said "No!"  (I don't know if it is too early or not but we kinda got frustrated) and he stopped spitting the food out!!!!  Who knows if it was just a fluke or if he knew he shouldn't be doing that anymore...but it worked!

We had a busy past weekend.  I had to work Saturday morning and when I got home this is what I found...

John and his WONDERFUL mother had layed sod on about a third of our backyard!!!!!  Yay!! John has been obsessed with watering it this week! =)  Also some of my flowers John's Grandma gave us have bloomed!!!  I hope this means some will live!  haha  (sorry, I know I said no more flower pictures but I cannot resist)

Here is her Prim Rose (sp?)

These are some blooms on my hostas!

After yardwork, we cleaned up and headed over to our friend Jacob's parents house.  They were having a pool party in their house to say goodbye because they are leaving Memphis to live on the beach in Florida!!  We brought Mason but didn't bring his swim trunks because I didn't have the swim diapers yet.  He stayed outside (with sunscreen on) for just a few minutes and then went under the patio.  But he got pretty hot fast so couldn't party too hard!!  Let's just say...he was exhausted on Sunday!  He pretty much tried to sleep allll day!

I bought a shaded baby float for the pool and I cannot wait to use it Sunday!!!!!  I hope he loves it!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful week!

Happy Friday

Well I finally got a video of the Little Man crawling.  He is actually "army crawling" but he is trying sooo hard to get up on his knees and run free!!  =)  I think we are in trouble!! 

  

Also, as I was going through the videos on our computer, we found some videos of Mason when he was sooo little!  It really makes you see how much he has grown.

Here he is then...

And this is now...




Thanks for the prayers because I was offered a new job at a GREAT office just a couple mile from my house and not even a mile from Mrs. Pat's! I have been very worried for a while about my current (M-Th) job, so this is very much a relief! I have to work tomorrow morning...yes, that's right, on SATURDAY!! But it will be my weekend soon~! Hope everyone has a beautiful weekend!!
>

We are....

CRAWLING!!!!

Can you believe it?!?!? 

My mom and dad came over for a second tonight to bring by a walker she got Mason.  Brinkley has the same walker but the little girl version and my mom couldn't resist.  We had put him in hers one day to see what he thought, and it has sooo many fun toys on it that he never wanted to get out of it!

Anyways, he played in it for a little while and then wanted out (we thought).  He then crawled to the walker!!  It was sooo cute...but a tad scary!!!  We have a mobile Little Man!  He was then ready for bed, so I didn't get a video but I will try tomorrow!!  =)  Mason also turned 7 months old on Sunday, so hopefully I will get some block pictures also and post soon.

I was able to get a picture of our teeth...

We are also constantly flipping over our tongue and chewing on it????  Very weird, but easy to get a picture of since he does it alot!

(look at those big blue eyes)

Well not trying to bore anyone with my flower beds...but I am very excited about how they are turning out.  All we need is a little sod, and we will be done for a while!!! =)

We purchased some solar lights that were very on sale.  They do look much more like regular lights than I thought though!  I was pumped.

*Emma is in the picture on the left...she LOVES the new beds and leaps over the bricks over and over!

Well tomorrow is a big day for me so I probably need to get some rest...keep me in your thoughts and prayers!  (nothing bad...just a change hopefully)

Weekend of Yardwork!

Saturday, while John played golf, John's mom, my mom, Mason, and I went shopping in Grandma Reba's flower beds!  We have a mess of a backyard and have been working on it this spring.  We found out fast that flowers are VERY expensive!!  After filling one flower bed, we decided to hit Grandma Reba's yard up for some good flowers!

Here is just SOME of the loot we got!  Thank you Grandma Reba!!!

Like I already said, we had already started one flower bed.  We haven't put down mulch and finished the second layer of stone; so this is not a completed project:

Hopefully it will be done soon!!  We wanted to get the flower beds in before we lay the sod.  I can't wait to get rid of the huge dirt spots!!!  We want to make sure to finish it this year so it will be great for Mason to play in next summer!!

I did put a couple of plants from Grandma Reba's in this flower bed:  Summer Flock and Amarillos (Im not sure if that is the right spelling).  Hopefully the Summer Flock will bloom this year, and the Amarillos are in bloom now!!!  They are by far one of the prettiest flowers I have ever seen!

And here is one of the Lillies I already had planted:

Grandma Reba also had some patio furniture she let us have!!!!  Isn't she the best?!?!? 

We also got a chair to lay out in as well as two more chairs that are now on the front porch!  All we need is a pretty umbrella for this table! =)

Just to give ya a little background...this backyard was HORRIBLE when we moved in.  We had three gigantic sweet gum trees cut down, a million shrubs/trees along the fence chopped down by John and my dad, and a privacy fence put up.  If someone walked into our backyard today, they would probably be scared...but we think it is beautiful compared to what it was before! =)

Here is a picture from this morning:

And here it is tonight:

We will lay sod starting with the bricks and running it throughout the yard.  I cannot wait for the finished product!!! =)  We also planted many more plants in another bed we started today, but it is not even close to finished!

As you can see here...we have much more work to be done though. =(

We did put The Little Man in his pack-n-play for a little bit while we cleaned up.  I thought he looked so cute, and he was having sooo much fun!

Hope everyone has a great week!