One!!

This probably won't be of interest to anyone except me, but here's a run down of a day (his birthday!) in the life of Mason at 12 months:

7:00 - Wake up and drink bottle with Mommy.
7:20 - Go outside to watch Spencer get on the bus for school.  Play with my toys while Mommy eats breakfast and cleans up.  Read stories, sing song at the piano, and play with Mommy.
8:30 - Breakfast: rice & lentil porridge with kale and pears.
9:30 - Nap time - diaper change and stories first.
10:45 - Wake up and drink bottle.
12:00 - Lunch: plain Greek yogurt with carrots, rice cake for finger food.
1:00 - Run errands with Mommy: Post office, Marshals and Safeway for last-minute birthday supplies.
2:30 - Go outside to see Spencer get off the bus.  Play with Spencer.
3:15 - Bottle and nap
4:15 - Wake up.  Daddy's home to play!
5:15 - Dinner: pureed black beans with porridge, peas for finger food.
6:00 - Go outside to the backyard for birthday pictures, presents, and cake smash.  That was messy and tasted weird!
6:30 - play with new toys, Mommy, and Spencer.  Clean up.
7:15 - Jammies, prayers, and bed time bottle.
7:30 - Finally bed time!

I haven't taken many pictures lately because life has been pretty ordinary, but I tried to take lots on his birthday to document this special day.

Trail of destruction:

Crazy after-bath hair!

Trying to see the neighbor's barking dogs out of the door to the balcony.  Mason LOVES dogs and cats!

Mason's birthday was on a Friday and Alan had a big race Saturday morning, so I knew we wouldn't have much time celebrate as a family.  Alan came home for dinner for a couple of hours.  After dinner, we went out in the backyard for a photo shoot, presents, and cake.  I never want to forget how adorable and sweet he is right now!

Mason loves to read stories with us now so he got five new books for his birthday.  He likes to sit on my lap and suck his fingers while we read.  I've been impressed with his attention span for reading already.  Sometimes we can get through three or four books at a time.

Because I put a white cake on a white cake stand, you can't see it very well, but I made a carrot cake smash cake just for Mason.  I even used my decorating tips and did fancy roses with the frosting.  It turned out really cute.

Mason licked a little frosting, but that was about it.  He was super messy afterwards, so we let him play in the wading pool to wash off all of the frosting.

Alan gave Spencer his first ice cream at 6 months and has been DYING to give Mason a taste.  He was good and waited until his birthday per my request.  Happily for me, Mason wasn't too impressed.  :)

Spencer's first taste of ice cream on our Caribbean cruise (Oct 2008):

Mason's first taste (Sept 2015):

Besides cake and ice cream, Mason really is a good eater.  I'm excited that he has finally reached the magical age of one when pediatricians give the green light for almost any food.  We can start saying good-bye to expensive formula and to making separate meals just for Mason.  Mason has six teeth now (four on top and two on bottom) and has another one on the bottom about to cut through.  He gets a little grumpy just before they break through, but it's not too bad. 

Mason gets around with crawling and scooting now.  Just the past few days, he will crawl a few times before switching back to scooting.  He loves to cruise along furniture and climb stairs now.  We have gates at the top and bottom of our stairs, but let him climb up with Alan or I following right before occasionally.  We had to swap out low TV stand for a higher bookshelf to keep the TV out of his reach for the moment.  Amazingly, he only opens one drawer and no cupboards.  I doubt that will last much longer though.  :)  Spencer's room is now pretty much off limits with all of his Legos and books.

Mason's babbling is sounding more and more like speech.  No real words yet though.  Well, when we were in AZ, he said "ma-ma" a few times and seemed to know what it meant, but he hasn't done it since then so maybe not.  He understands lots of words now though and seems to learn new ones every day.  I LOVE watching him start to comprehend what all of the sounds we make mean.

He has done better than I expected with Spencer going back to school.  There are certain times each day when he has to play by himself and he does pretty well with it.  He has about a four hour window between naps and we have to find something to do out of the house during that time each day or we both go a little crazy.  I spread my errands out on purpose.  We go to Baby Time at the library every Tuesday and have been spending a lot of time outside to make the most out of the last of the nice weather.  Mason loves scooting around the grass and finding interesting things to taste.

It's really hard to believe that Mason has been with us for an entire year now.  It's hard to remember what life was like without him.  We love him SO much and are grateful every day for the miracles that brought him to our home.

*10/8/15 Update: Mason finally had his 12-month checkup.  He weighs 21.62 lbs (24.5 %tile) and is 30.25 inches (53.25 %tile) long.

A letter to my baby

(Written 9/11/15)

Dear Mason,

You turned one year old this evening!  Even though it's been a busy day and I'm tired, I wanted to write some of my feelings down while I remember them.  As I began feeding you your bottle before bed tonight, I felt anxious to clean up the house and have a few minutes to relax.  But then I thought about how quickly this year has passed and how quickly my time to rock and sing to you will be over.  Suddenly, I didn't want to put you down.  I just wanted to hold onto your tiny snuggles and slobbery hands and never let them go.

At this very minute one year ago, I was holding you for the very first time.  I had only slept three hours the night before and had then driven all day long to get to Utah.  I didn't make it before you were born and am a little sad about that, but also glad.  I'm glad you got to spend your first few precious hours and the next two days with your birth family.  I was so tired when I finally got to American Fork Hospital that holding you felt like a dream.  It seemed too good to be true that you were going to be coming home with us.

Placement Day was two days later and I had so many emotions running through me that I was exhausted.  Happy beyond belief, humbled by the trust Heidi was placing in me, so nervous to be in charge of such a tiny person, and heartbroken for Heidi and her family were just a few emotions I was feeling.  How could something so amazing beautiful be a result of something so incredibly heart-wrenching?  It wasn't fair, but Heidi and Daddy and I KNEW it was Heavenly Father's plan for all of us.  Four months later in the temple, our Sealer told us that it was likely that Heidi, you, Daddy and I all agreed to go through this experience together before we came to earth.  It would teach us lessons we all needed to learn to grow enough to make it back to Heavenly Father some day.  I have NEVER felt the Spirit testify of anything stronger.  We KNOW you were supposed to join our family through adoption.

I tell you everyday that you are my miracle, my special baby boy, and the passage of a whole year hasn't dimmed my awe at how you came into our family at all.  I will always feel warm and fuzzy inside when I think of the first time your birth mommy Heidi called me, the first time I held you, placement day, sealing day, and all of the regular days I've had the blessing of being your mommy.  I love you more than I can say and promise to try harder to cherish every tiny moment I have with you because those tiny moments are the best parts of being a mother.

Love,
Mom

First Day of School!

School for us finally started the day after Labor Day; September 8th this year.  Spencer was really excited to start 2nd grade in Mrs. Travnicek's class.  I've heard great things about her so I'm excited too.  Since this is his third year at Edy Ridge, he knows most of the kids in his class and was excited to have a handful from his primary class as well.  The only thing I'm not happy about is that there are 30 kids in his class.  WAY too many for 2nd grade. 

Spencer doesn't really like me to go to the bus stop with him, but Mason loves to see the bus.  Plus, I think it's good to help Mason understand where Spencer is going all day now.  He gets on the bus at 7:26 am and it drops him off at 2:30 pm. 

Alan was supposed to take a selfie of himself on his first day as a bus driver, but he was too busy.  :)  He likes it just fine so far.  He leaves around 6:15 am and finishes his morning route around 8:00.  Then he heads to his shop and works on race stuff until 1:45 when he checks in for his afternoon route.  He has just been filling in where ever they needed him in the afternoons so far, but it looks like they will be creating a new route for him soon.  He finishes the afternoon route around 4:00.

I don't care for not having Alan home to see the boys or help in the mornings, but he has a lot more time for Uberthons and is getting more sleep these days.  Both very good things.

Last Week of Freedom

Here's what we did during the last week of summer vacation:

Box rides.

Made messes.

Mason got really good at pulling up to standing on furniture.  Spencer's train table is his favorite.

More messes.

It cooled off a lot and we had to wear pants and jackets to the park.

A local frozen yogurt shop has a program where kids can earn free yogurt for reading.  Spencer's official requirement is five books, but I made him read ten chapter books before he could get his treat.  It was well-deserved.

You can tell Spencer is ready to go back to school when he resorts to wrestling with blankets for entertainment.  :)

Loading school supplies into Spencer's new backpack.  Mason thought it was great fun.

My handsome boys before Church.

We spent the day together as a family on Labor Day, the very last day before school started.  We took Mason to a fun pet store in Wilsonville.  I didn't get any good pictures, but he LOVED the puppies and one kitten.  He gets so excited about animals that it almost makes me want to get one.  Almost.

After lunch at Jimmy Johns, we used Spencer's mini-golf passes from the Library's summer reading program.  I had never been to Bullwinkles before and was surprised and how big the place is.  The mini-golf course was pretty impressive.

Poor Mason had to stay confined in the stroller the whole time.  It wasn't a good place for him to be scooting around.

This was the first of Spencer's THREE hole-in-ones!!  Although, the credit for one of them should go to me because I knocked his ball in with mine.

For dinner, we had a back-to-school feast of hamburgers and garden veggies. 

We ended the day with Family Home Evening where we introduced our new theme for the year and Alan gave Spencer and I blessings.  Since Spencer will be turning eight and getting baptized next April, we wanted our theme to help prepare him for that sacred covenant.  It's taken from 1 Nephi 14:14.  We want him to know that we receive power and protection from Heavenly Father as we make and keep covenants.  It was a perfect end to a nice day and a fantastic summer.