Playing Catch Up

I've been either sick or busy lately to update the blog as much as I'd like - so I thought I would post a few random pics from the last few weeks, as I have the house to myself (yes!)

Our little cruiser - no more crawling for Mason...it's been a while, but it's still just so cute to see a person this little walking!

Dad throwing Mason up in the window) - yes, it's filthy, I know!

This little boy melts my heart! I can't believe he'll be one in a week!

We had a brief snowfall last week (it melted by the afternoon) so we bundled up and the boys wanted to get pulled up and down our street (5 times). 'Faster Mommy Faster' - I was in my t-shirt by the end! The cutest part was that I told James to make sure Mason didn't fall over and he held on to him the whole time - you can see his arm on his shoulder!

Our neighbours started a snowman, so we finished it off (I didn't have the energy to roll the base by myself after the haul above!)

James went a whole week on the potty and I told him if he filled up his sticker chart we would go on a special date, which we did today! We got sushi and bought new big boy underpants! Not to mention, we stopped by a friends house on the way home and got to go ATV'ing! That might have taken the cake, but he did choose sushi and underpants as his special date! We had a blast!

Great job Bud!

A recent trip to Victoria with the boys - here they are watching Lexi chase her ball when papa G got home from work!

Mason on the ferry slide...a little tentative but big smiles at the bottom! Loved it!

Watching Tika (my brother's dog) play in the snow on a walk & bile ride to the wharf

My happy guys playing Grandma and Papa G on their way to Palm Springs!

A video from a few weeks ago at Geoff's firehall

10 on the 10th 2011 edition...

It's been a few months since I've had the time to update my 10 on the 10th feature...but I had a few moments tonight and it happens to be the 10th, so here goes in no particular order:

1. We had a great morning watching Geoff play in a Charity basketball game last week and the boys loved the bleachers, possibly more than the game!

2 Mason continues to close his eyes when the camera flashes, but not what this is about...he's got 8 teeth now, four on top and four on the bottom and his smile is to die for!

3. Here is James standing in front of a sign in Victoria that my Grandad carved. We drove by it on our way to a playdate on what would have been his birthday (Dec 23rd) and James just happened to have his touque that reminded me of him...so we had to take a pic! Love it!

4. James continues to love his bike and I love selling them - sold 55 now...lots of business before Christmas and hopefully picks up again in the spring!

5. We still go to Musikgarten every week and Mason is really starting to love it. The teacher, Ms. Donna, captivates him!

6. Gymnastics is where it's at for us! Best $5 we spend during the week! Mason is still free and gets just as much out of it as James. He loves to hang on the monkey bars, sit on the edge of the foam pit and bounce 'til he falls in and we always find him chewing on the disgusting foam pieces! James loves running off the long trampoline into the foam pit, climbing over the climbers wall and jumping on the trampolines!

7. Mason is so independent now that he walks. He can climb onto his riding toys and get off all by himself!

8. James new favorite toy is a hand-me-down vacuum from Geoff's co-worker. Many people pay good money for this type of cleaning service and we get it free everyday!

9. My mom gave James a Raffi CD and it gets played at least 5 times a day! Here I am pretending to be a horse in one of the songs while James is the cowboy! Giddy-up Mom!

10. I'll have to download the video soon, but don't have the time right now, but James does the cutest thing right now with Mason and I can see their relationship blossoming...it's very special! Mason crawls down the hall to him and James helps him up and walks him down the hall. At night he gets his bottle ready, gives him a head rub and hug, says 'I love Masin' (that's how it sounds) - it's adorable and fun to watch! Muah my boys! I love you guys!

10 on the 10th 10*10*10 edition!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Today is a special day out there 10/10/10 so a perfect day to update you on 10 things about my sweet little guys! We've had a busy month - they all seem that way though!

1. We took a trip to Victoria on the ferry and had a great visit at Grandma and Papa's. Mason fell in love with Lexi, their dog.

2. A weekly favorite for both boys is watching Daddy mow the lawn from the big window!

3. James has taken a way bigger interest in Mason now that he can move and play, which thrills Mason! Here he is pretending to make food for Mason and feed him at the playhouse. Mason is such a little mover - he crawls everywhere now and can pull himself to standing!

4. We had a successful year in our organic fruit and veggie garden this year! All of the late fall veg came at the perfect time to brew up some yums for Mason (just like we did with this zucchini!)

5. More to post on this front, but I recently became the Strider PreBike dealer in Langley and here James is on day 1 trying it out! By Day 5 he was going on teeter totter ramps and our sloped driveway like a superstar!

6. Geoff and I have been doing a lot of hot yoga lately and we taught James some moves (I think he thinks this is all we do in our 'spare' time!) Here is the down dog. His forms needs some practice!

6. I took the boys to White Rock last month for the White Rock Fire Departments Shore to Shore come home party. They raised over $60,000 for Children's Variety. Here are the boys with our fiend Evan who did the journey across Canada (3 weeks!)

7. Mason gets to bath with James! It wasn't smooth sailing at first, however he's found his little place in our ugly tub!
8. Mason and James participated in their first Terry Fox run (the 30th annual) - good job boys!!

9. Mason is a huge fan of the swings at the park now!
10. Lastly on this lovely sunny Thanksgiving Day, we are so thankful for our wonderful family and friends! You have made our transition to two so much easier for us and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts!!

10 on the 10th

We've had quite the month around here - it's been extremely busy with summer trips and activities and also very busy with work schedules and sick babies! We got sick right before our trip to Vernon last month and are just getting over another cold...aren't they supposed to come in the winter!

Here are some of the highlights of this month:

1. Mason can sit up on his own!

2. Accordingly to being #2...James did some business on the poty that wasn't #1!! (no pictures to follow)

3. Mason went tubing being the boat...very slowly, very shallow and with a very nervous Mommy!

4. James is fully loving his new big boy bed (we nixed the fireman bed because it was too small and he's a big mover in his sleep. He has a double bed now and loves it...has even slept as late at 7:45!!)

5. We haven't found anything that Mason won't eat - this kid loves food and makes a mess! Here he is munchin on a peach from Grandma and Papa's tree!

6. James got his first taste of Grandma's special letter pancakes at the lake!

7. James got his first big boy haircut at the barber shop with Daddy! (who forgot the camera, but man it's a cute cut! I was sad to see his little back curls go, but he looks adorable nonetheless!)

8. James is the only person that can make Mason laugh! It's the cutest thing...Geoff and I can't get a peep out of him, but if James laughs, Mason usually laughs right back! For some reason I can't seem to upload the video I took, but if you are on facebook, you can see it!

9. This little kids gator was a huge hit at a party I took the boys too...it might be on the Christmas wish list (if anyone wins the lotto!)

10. Lastly, we've had a tough month with sleep and sickness, but we can see the light...Mason is so much happier when he's mobile, upright and James is paying attention to him, which he's been doing a lot more of! Seeing their relationship grow is amazing, especially when I think of the two months where James wanted nothing to do with him!

10 on the 10th

It's actually the 10th and I remembered! I had been making a little list of reminders, as the last two times I've had to really think hard, which is hard for moms sometimes!

1. James learned a very good lesson in natural consequences this month...we picked up sushi for dinner when Geoff was working one night (it's his favorite, he asks daily for sushi, even for breakfast), so I se the table and left it in the take-out box in the middle of the table (out of reach) and told him that I would put Mason down for a nap and that we would eat afterwards, in about 10 minutes. I said "please don't climb on your chair to eat, you have to wait". He happily played by himself for a few minutes, but it got eerily quiet and I figured he was into no good and then I heard screaming. He had climbed up on to the table, opened the take-out box, ate what he thought was his avocado roll, but turned out to be a giant wad of wasabi. Ouch. Poor kid was crying and had a runny nose for 15 minutes while we tried a 'mouth wash' (similar to what you would do for an eye wash) station in the bathroom. Needless to say, he won't touch the wasabi again and luckily for us still likes sushi!

2. Mason manhandled our mango one day for his first food! He loved it, who wouldn't?!

3. James loved sleeping in the tent a few weeks ago and we just got him his own sleeping bag for the lake this week!

4. Mason can fully roll over, both ways!

5. James has taken an interest in being carried in the backpack we have for him, so Geoff takes both boys on walks to pick me flowers - that's over 50 pounds of kids and carriers!

6. For Geoff's 34th birthday this month, we took him a giant cookie (Thanks Miranda for the idea!) We made some for the garbage men last week. We really have the nicest garbage men!

Here we are at Dads work, eating his cookie!

7. I scored some sweet FOSOR (free on side of road) items this month - a little tikes climber with slide, a tugboat and huge ride-on digger! Sweet!!

Here is the biggest strawberry from our organic garden!

8. We took in Seafest in White Rock this year and James loved all the music - front row dancing all by himself, too cute!

9. Mason eats a wide variety of foods now - cereal, bananas, pears, squash and sweet potatoes! Loves it all, cries when the spoon leaves his mouth!

10. Mason has found his voice and just like James, when he was 5 months he squawks like a baby eagle

10 on the 15th?

Oops, seems things got away from me this month (no shock there) - so here's another round of my new post called 10 on the 10th...

1. James loves playing on our new deck, especially sweeping it (I love this kid!)

2. Mason loves his jolly jumper

3. James is not interested in swimming in anything but a public pool (no backyard, private pools?!)

4. Mason on the other hand loves to swim

5. Mason can fit in my double stroller now!

6. James hosed Mason down with a hose the other day (by accident and by poor parental supervision on my part) - Mason did not like this water experience!

7. James has a new favorite book "The Sleepy Lion Lullaby", by an author we know - it's a great bedtime story and beautifully illustrated - pick one up for that special little one in your life!

8. Anytime we ask James what he wants to eat, he asks for sushi and anytime he's on the phone, he's ordering sushi...again, I love this kid!

9. Mason is just about rolling from front to back

10. James had his first sleep over away from Mom and Dad and I got three whole days of just Mason!

10 on the 10th

I decided to start a new monthly post on the 10th of every month to keep track (for our benefit) and let the readers know what is going on the boys - development, likes, dislikes, feats, random funniness etc...

I chose the 10th of the month so it's easier and close to their monthversaries (15th & 13th respectively)

So for this month James is almost two (in a week) and Mason is 12 weeks!

1. Mason loves looking at himself in the mirror

2. James is obsessed with watering the strawberries in our garden (and can't wait until they are red!)

3. Mason is the happiest in the bath

4. James kissed Mason's toe at the park today randomly

5. James favorite colour is blue (doo)

6. Mason spits up on me about 4 times per day. Always on me.

7. James is quite enamored with Barney right now. I love you, you love me blah blah!

8. Mason went swimming for the first time this week (and mom forgot the memory card on her camera...doh!) He loved it!

9. James likes drinking breast milk from a big boy cup in the morning

10. Mason sleeps 'through the night' from 9:30-7:00, with one feed at around 5am! I love you Mason!