Bridgette and her cows

Have I mentioned before that Bridgette loves cows? She loves to carry around her toy cows-- pretty much wherever we go. She loves them in real life too. She always wants to go to feed the horses and see the cows when she is at Grandmom and Granddad's. Here is what we lug around often...
:)
Mason is grabbing for the bowl of popcorn as I type this. He is going to be quite the eater I think!

Mason updates

Ok- so much happens in such a short time! Mason is rolling over back to front when he wants something. now he rolls both ways! He will be crawling soon! Amazing. He is squealing so much too. I will try and upload that video. He is a very sweet baby.
Mason has some hard time with his bowels. I really hate that for him. Starting solids did not help him sleep any better and it has totally stopped up his pipes. It will be a week before he will go and that is with several interventions by me. I suppose his body was just not ready for solids. It is tough getting up so often with him at night, but at the same time, I seem to be adjusting well, because I am really not exhausted until around 8pm. Plus I nap with them--very helpful. He is very easy to play with and he and Bri love each other so much.
Bridgette is just too cute. She says so many funny things. She is so grown up some times, then at the same time, so little

pictures that didn't load

Here are the pics that haven't loaded from my last two posts!

Christmas fun

Again, it's been too long since I have blogged! Here's the catch up for the last month!
Bridgette-
She has really attached to a bean bag baby version of tigger. HOWEVER, she is convinced that it is winnie-the-pooh. So she asks for her "Baby Pooh" and we carry it with us everywhere. It is too funny. She loves the book "Donald's Christmas Gift" and calls it "Donald's Surprise". We read it over and over again. She wants me to tell her stories still at bedtime, however, now we don't even make it through "3 Little Bears and Goldilocks" until she is snoring. :) She also really likes the story of Pinocchio and calls it "Pino-cin-ock".
Aunt Mal and Uncle Robert are in to play with us for Christmas and we have really run Mal ragged. Play-dough, bounce house, playroom...all over the place.
Mason-
He has gained weight and grown taller. He is now 18 lbs and 26.5 inches long. He is wearing 9 or 12 month clothes depending on the maker. He is still nursing every 2 hours ATC and it is exhausting, but I love him and will continue to nurse him when he is hungry. He is holding his head up really well, sits up with support with no problem. He babbles a lot and loves to be lying on his back. Ceiling fans fascinate him. He had another cold (Thanks Bridgette) but is doing remarkable with it. A little saline, humidifier. He is good. :)
we did start some cereal on him this month (to try and encourage less freq BF), but it did not extend time between AND he has battled constipation since. So, I will hold off again for awhile, and start him on some fruits and veggies like I did Bridgette. He really liked eating and really paid attention to it much more than she, so he probably is ready for solids.

Ok- on to Christmas. We had a packed event! On Christmas eve, we went to Newport to celebrate with the Buda/Sparks family at Gmom's house. We had a terrific dinner, followed by gifts, then a candlelight church service. My personal favorite. Mason and Bridgette really had a ball. Bri got a Dora power jeep and a elephfun (I think) butterfly game that we have played nonstop. Mason got the cutest outfit to look just like Granddaddy when he is on the farm--can't wait to debut it.
Bridgette has loved opening the Advent Calendar and seeing what was inside. She loves her Baby Jesus and the farm animals included and this has been a source of anticipation and fun for us at dinner time.

Christmas morning was just like any other morning for us. Bridgette noticed the presents, but sat down to watch Dora and drink her milk without any fuss. We waited for the Marley GPs to come over before presents. We opened gifts and laughed for over an hour, then made a DELICIOUS brunch. Then Santa left another special present up in the playroom--a climbing dome. Unreal amounts of fun here. Bridgette played and climbed and swung until she nearly fell asleep haha. Then we went on to celebrate Jesus's birthday at GB and Grandpa's house in Parrottsville. We always have an Italian feast there. this year was no exception--the food was outstanding. We opened gifts and played a white elephant game that really had us rolling. Mason had so many fun toys and bridgette got books, princess dresses, movies. Outrageous.

So, this morning has been dedicated to cleaning up! and playing hard with lots of new toys. We have had a splendid holiday. trav is unfortunately back at work. :(

4 months old!!!

My sweetest little boy is 4 months old today! As much as time has flown, it also seems like we've never been without him. We are so blessed. His little personality is so happy and passionate- he can be really happy and really mad too! His gorgeous smile just melts me. I am very in love with him. He is focusing on everything and everyone. He LOVES to watch football and ESPN haha. Seriously he seems memorized when that's on. He talks a lot. He grasps things and reaches for toys. Everything to the mouth! He is drooling a lot, but no sign of teeth-thank goodness. :) He can sit supported with no problem, and he is trying to sit up on his own. he has done it once so far! He loves to nurse and is growing like a weed. He has started to wake up every 2 hours at night for the last couple of weeks to nurse. He is voraciously hungry each time. Wears me out, but he seems to be doing very well, so I will just grin and bear it. :)
Bridgette is still very in love with her brother. She looks for him always and plays with him so sweetly. He always "needs" a toy and she supplies it of course. She is growing into such a sweet little lady. She says please and thank you regularly. She knows our mealtime prayer and recites it so sweetly. She loves to play with us but does great on her own too. We are working on sharing haha. She is definitely going to be like her mommy and love Christmas. She carries around Baby Jesus at home sometimes and talks to him. She loves to sing Jingle Bells and Happy Birthday Jesus. I love that little girl so much.
Daddy has been home so much lately and has had so much fun putting up Christmas decorations with us. We all watched Elf the other night and laughed so hard while putting up the Christmas tree and eating cookies. Truly a priceless evening.
We have all recovered from a terrible GI bug, and poor baby Mason had an ear infection during it. He has stopped his antibiotics, but his little tummy didn't like them much--mommy's been doing a lot of laundry.... Hopefully he will get better quickly now. Otherwise, he is in good spirits.
Merry Christmas!!!

A LOOONG Thanksgiving week

Well, let me start by saying that we have had a GI bug at our house that has certainly kept me busy. Bridgette and Trav started it off the night before Thanksgiving (which was at our house), and we were up for HOURS cleaning it up and taking care of Bridgette, who was so pitiful and sweet. She kept apologizing. :( So we were exhausted that day. It was a wonderful Thanksgiving though! We had such a nice time with family. We ate and ate, then watched football and relaxed. What a great day.
The next day, we went to the Fantasy of Trees. Bri really enjoyed it, even though she was a little tired and fussy. She loved the carousel and the craft stations and trees. Mason was enamored with the lights!
Mason is basically sitting up. He tries so hard to pull himself into a seated position and when he gets there, he very easily balances himself for close to 30 seconds. It will not be long before he is sitting unassisted.
Last week, he was diagnosed with his first ear infection. :( He has been on antibiotics. he does seem to be doing better.
Travis and I are doing so great. We went to see the Nutcracker this weekend, and surprisingly we both loved it. It was really neat to enjoy the "arts" together. We definitely need to do more things like that together.
Just a quick note- I am 3 lbs away from my normal weight! YAY!! I certainly have some toning to do... :)

SO MUCH TO SAY!!!

Warning: this will be a LOOOONG one!
Bridgette has really started up with the imagination! I love it so much. She tells me that the big bad wolf or the wicked witch are trying to steal her "goodies" so she is hiding them somewhere for "safe keeping". Hilarious. She also "grrrrrs" at the witch to get her to go away. Too funny. She loves to tell me stories and read what she perceives a book to say or mean. She labels EVERY character as "he's nice" or "she's mean". She also really gets going and talks out of the side of her mouth. She bobs her head like she really means what she is saying, but she will catch my eye and grin, as if she knows she is being really cute. :) Her favorite stories right now are "The 3 Little Pigs" "Goldilocks and the Three Bears", "Jasmine (Aladdin)", "Beauty and the Beast", and "Llama Llama, Red Pajama", and "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Adventures". We read them over and over.
Something hilarious she said this week: Her daddy had just woken up and was a bit groggy. He came into the living room and sat on the couch. Bridgette was so excited to see her daddy was awake and said, "Let's go to the playroom!!". Travis said "Honey, let daddy sit down for a few minutes and wake up." She quickly responded with, "There is a couch in the playroom you can sit down on." So needless to say, he got up and took her to the playroom. Too funny.
A few nights ago, Bridgette, Mason, and I were sitting on the couch watching "winnie the Pooh" and Bridgette was snuggled up to me, Mason on my lap, and Bridgette was holding Masons hand. Precious moments.
Something else Bridgette is doing is dancing a lot and gallopping around and jumping. I really hope to catch this soon on video as it is something I desperately want to remember her doing. It is so sweet and genuinely joyful.
Ok on to Mason:
He is really working his tongue around and wants to talk so badly. He watches his sister talk and he just tries to make words to tell her something back. He is also trying very hard to sit up. He pulls himself easily if you hold his hand and he just leans forward constantly. He is developing the sweetest and calmest personality. However, he can really belt it out if he is upset. It's strange to see him be so calm 90% of the time, but then scream bloody murder if he is upset. Our family has a minor cold at the moment, and he screamed something terrible this AM. I could not believe it. This has been his first cold, and for this, I am so thankful.
He is still sleeping about 5-7 hrs straight at night, with a terrific nap in the daytime, 2-3 hours. He sleeps more of course, but those are the long stretches.
I keep hearing about these babies and children who love to be in the car. Where exactly are these children???? My sweet son screamed at least an hour of our drive each way to Nashville this weekend for Mal's bachelorette party!! I got a girls night out this weekend- went to Spaghetti Factory (fabulous), then out to the Wild Horse Saloon for a little line dancing and live music. I truly had a fantastic time out with my 2 sisters and Mal's friends. Travis watched baby Mason and Mimi Kay had Bri. It was great.
Mason is still nursing very often during the day, and really has some incredible toots. I am trying to see if my diet is causing it. Whew. :)