4 months

Mason is FOUR months today! This past week, he has started talking up a storm...like nonstop every waking moment! I got into work an hour late one morning because he refused to eat...he just wanted to talk and stare at mommy all morning. If we only knew what he was trying to say...oh the stories he must be trying to tell us. I have a feeling this is just a glimpse of what's to come, I think we have a talker on our hands :)

Mason has the biggest smile...it melts my heart every time I see it...no matter how frustrated or upset I am with him, the second he flashes that handsome smile, it all fades. I'm definitely a sucker for this little boy. He's such a happy baby when he's had a nap and has a full belly, just like his momma :) Over the past 4 months, we've learn the apple really doesn't fall far from the tree...he's just like me when I was a baby!

Here is a video I made to send to my family today...he could carry on like this forever if he didn't need to eat or sleep:

Vote for Mason!

If you haven't voted today, please vote for Mason in the KDWB Baby New Year Contest (see link below). The top 25 go onto the final round and the winner gets $1,000 cash...which would be an awesome start to his college fund...which we should have started already, I know...on my to do list :)

He is #850 and you can vote once a day with each email address. Please & Thank You!!

VOTE HERE

16 weeks

Seriously time is going too fast for me and this precious little boy, 16 weeks since the day I fell head over heels in love with this little person. He's turning into such a little man, standing when we hold him up and getting sooooo close to rolling over...which is so exciting yet I don't want him to be able to do that yet, because that means then I really won't ever sleep!

He loves to coo and gurgle at you...he's been making a "K" noise for quite a few weeks now...many of our nights are spent talking back and forth by making the "K" sound to each other. He doesn't quite laugh yet but will have one huge chuckle to show his excitement...most adorable thing EVER :)

Not much improvement on the sleep situation, we did invest in an ipod docking alarm clock and we've been playing classical music from a CD we got for Christmas from a Baby Genius set...which does seem to help with the first sleep stretch of the night. We got 3 hours that first stretch last night, then it was hourly after that...so at least it's a small step in the right direction.

newborn & 3 month comparisons

So I sent my parents Mason's 3 month pictures and talked to my mom over the weekend. She had pulled out my 3 month picture and said the similarities between us are uncanny...so I thought it would be fun to compare Mason to our baby pictures as he grows, to see how he changes between looking like me or Joe.

I've never for one second doubted that Mason was ours (you hear these horror stories of babies being switched by accident)...but these comparisons will, without a doubt, prove him wrong when he gets older and is so embarrassed by his parents and is convinced he was switched at birth because we are just too weird, LOL.

Dad & Mason {3 months}

Mom & Mason {3 months}

Mom & Mason {Baptism ~ 3 months}

Dad & Mason {newborn}

Mom & Mason {newborn}

15 weeks

Mason turned 15 weeks on Tuesday...and continues to test our patience. *sigh*

I shouldn't complain because I know it could be so much worse...but this little boy hates sleeping. With a passion and fights it until he passes out from pure exhaustion. If I fall asleep in the rocker with him nestled in the boppy, I guarantee he would sleep all night. We all know that isn't feasible (or really safe for that matter) so we fight the good fight every night. We don't usually have a problem getting him to sleep...it's keeping him asleep for longer than a hour at a time. And half the time, he's not even awake when we go in. He's still half sleeping, eyes closed but screaming his head off. We actually have to wake him to calm him down. And we've tried it all...fleece sleepers, cotton sleepers, normal clothes, swaddled, lights on, lights off, changing the direction he sleeps, pacifier, no pacifier, heat up, heat down, door open, door closed, magic seahorse, light & sound crib side soother, just about everything we can think of....sometimes one thing will work and the next time it won't. We are really at a loss as what to do next, other than to give up, stock up on caffeine and just wait for this phase to pass. And maybe his GER is the culprit and with another week of medication under his belt, we'll see improvement by next week? Who knows. One can only hope this passes sooner than later.

Other than his lack of sleep, Mason is changing every day. We've caught him staring at his hands the past few days in wonderment. He's also starting to grab and hold objects. He likes to pull his pacifier out of his mouth and attempts to put it back in. He's been successful a time or two, although it's just luck at this point. He will hold his rattle if you put it near his hand and he's been grabbing at the toys on his swing. And he likes to help hold his bottle, although he can't hold it up by himself quite yet...but loves to wrap his chubby little fingers around it and try :)

I've been horrible with taking pictures the past few weeks, it's just been a little crazy around the house and being quite sleep deprived, I forget to grab the camera. I need to get better and I will.

14 weeks and back to normal...

...if you thought I would say life, HA! Our lives will never be "normal" again. We have a new normal and I wouldn't change it for anything! Mason is still waking every 3 hours, like clockwork. He's not waking because he's hungry, I think he just gets scared or is lonely and wants to be held.  He usually only eats for a few minutes before passing out again and sometimes will finish one side, we haven't eaten from both sides in a long time. Thankfully most times, he falls right back asleep and I'm only up for 20-25 minutes at most each time...so I guess that's progress?

Anyways, I digress...I went in yesterday to have my blood pressure checked after being off medication since Dec 14. And it was normal at 128/76. This was also after lugging around an almost 50 pound carseat and walking for a good minute around the clinic with him before she took it. Um yes, Mason is 16 lbs 10.5 oz, holy crap.  So yeah, that makes him + carseat nearing a whopping 50 pounds. Who needs a gym membership now? I'm also very thankful my blood pressure is back to normal again. I have a feeling if I rest for 5 minutes before taking it, it will be even lower too. The nurse wasn't the least bit concerned but said I should invest in a blood pressure machine at some point, just to check myself, since I'm now at higher risk for developing high blood pressure from my bout of pre-e. She suggested this one for $55, it's as accurate as the $2,000 machine she uses in her office.

Sunmark BP Machine

Our week in pictures...

My 2 Dudes :)

His new trick? Sucking on his pointer and middle finger, we try to put the pacifier in instead but he just spits it out, prefers his fingers. He's yet to be a thumb sucker or figure out how to untuck that thumb from his fist...

She does love him, at least some of the time she does!

Someone is in desperate need of attention, I was sitting in the seat to the right. I looked over and saw her staring at me while I was holding Mason.

happy new year!

Happy New Year! We had a pretty low key new years, we stayed in and were in bed by 10pm. Kinda lame but it's just the way I like it. Mason woke up around 12:15 and I texted with my siblings while I fed him. Jim was downtown Minneapolis and Debbie was in Vegas.

We also got some snow and it's the first winter snow that will stick around. So glad I was home safe and sound with my little family, it looked pretty nasty out for traveling! Here are some pics I snapped before heading off to bed. We woke up to 1.5-2 inches of the white fluff for Joe to plow today :)

3 month session

We went to Target in Lino Lakes yesterday for Mason's 3 month pictures. I think they turned out pretty well for what we bought in prints. I had a coupon for no sitting fees and $3.99 per sheet for prints. Then I took screenshots from the online gallery to have copies of them all, they aren't printing quality but I wanted to have copies of them without paying for the CD. We will go back to Amber for 6 and 12 months but Target is a nice option for the in-between milestones.

Pictures taken by Target Portrait Studio