The Year Ahead

I'm probably like everyone else, but I can't believe that another year has already gone by. It seems like a lot of stuff happens in not a lot of time. To finish off last year, we had a good December with the holidays and seeing family and friends. Colby's brother and his wife came in from Kansas and it was nice to catch up with them. On the 16th, my brother got married and let's just say, Colby and I didn't exactly enjoy the day. Not anything to do with the actual wedding, but because we had both kids with us. The ceremony was right in the middle of Korina's nap. So the night before, we thought we would keep her up late and she would sleep in longer than normal. Nope! She got up her usual time and then wasn't able to take a nap and basically turned into an emotional nightmare! I mostly wanted the kids to be at the wedding so they could be in the pictures and they ended up not being in them anyway. Colby wasn't even there because he was driving them around in the car hoping they would fall asleep. We should have just left them with Colby's parents after all. And then Mason was super tired, but for some reason would NOT fall asleep, so he was cranky also. What a day that was! They sure did look cute though. I bought a dress for Korina, and made a sash to match the wedding colors, and Colby and Mason had matching ties. So handsome!


This Christmas was the first time we had attempted a gingerbread house. It definitely wasn't something you would see in the Martha Stewart magazine, but Korina had a lot of fun decorating/eating the house.

Korina really enjoyed Christmas this year since she had a better idea of what to expect. She was very excited for Santa to come to our house and she loved ripping the paper off of her presents. And it's nice to threaten that Santa won't come unless she is on her best behavior. I think it kind of worked! The Woody doll was one of her favorite presents, she just loves "the cowboy movie" right now!

Here is Mason with the cutest little hat!

As you know, we had a better Thanksgiving than years past, but now our New Year's Eve didn't work out since Korina had the croup and we didn't want to spread it. So that night didn't go as planned (sorry Ben and Jackie), but now we are on the tail end of being sick so hopefully we can finish out the winter season without any more illnesses.
As for this year, we are hoping to potty train Korina in the upcoming week or so. Hopefully she is ready and understands enough that it will be successful. That would sure be nice for Colby and I if she can get the hang of it. I can't wait to see how Korina will change throughout the year. She already seems so much older and she constantly cracks me up with some of the things she says. I don't know where she comes up with half of it! She is quite the clown!

By the way, her eyes are closed in about 80% of the pictures we take. I don't know how she manages to do that!
Mason had his 4 month checkup and he is keeping up his pace of weight gain. He came in at 17 lbs. 12 oz and stayed around the 95%. His height was 24 3/4" and that keeps him at the 50% mark for height. His head used to be in the 25% range, but it moved up the 50% mark so I am happy for that. We fed him his first serving of rice cereal and he didn't seem to think it was too great. I'm sure he will love once we give him some more variety and texture. He does love to eat! I know this will be a year where Mason will change a lot. Obviously, he will continue to get bigger, but it's hard to imagine he will be walking before the year is over. It's so fun to see him develop and start to interact with Korina and become more interested in his surroundings. It's fun to see the differences and similarities between him and Korina when she was his age.

As for Colby and I, we are hoping to continue to get out of debt while still having some fun once in a while. We are thinking to plan a vacation for next January so we will have something to look forward to. Our other goal is to try and get into a house as soon as possible. We really enjoy looking at different places, but this time we will be extra picky since this will be the house that we stay in for the next 20 years or so. We are excited for what this year brings, but mostly I think we know to enjoy each day since it will probably go by just as fast as last year did. We hope you all have a great upcoming year!

A Better Thanksgiving

Finally, we had a good Thanksgiving! The two years prior we were dealing with a sick child, but this year, both kids were happy and healthy. We really enjoyed that. We also really enjoyed the great food. We had two dinners this year and I will never complain about that because Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. I always look forward to the food that you usually only eat at Thanksgiving. Although, Colby and I stock up on turkeys and then when we cook one, I usually make the sides to go along with it. You can never have too many turkey dinners.
We blessed Mason on my birthday and Colby did such a great job. I was happy that Mason cooperated as well. We almost had a blowout just before church started though. Something about this kid and his diapers, Korina never had this problem! I guess that's the difference between girls and boys! He is always such a happy and smiling baby. We love him so much!

Korina is getting excited for Christmas. She loves to see Santa in pictures or on the TV, but when she saw him at the mall, she made sure to keep her distance. I don't think she'll be sitting on his lap for a picture anytime soon. She helped me set up the Christmas tree and let's just say I wasn't surprised when she dropped an ornament and it broke. Guess I'll have a memory for the first time we put up a tree. She sure loves turning the lights on each night and reminding me that she help put the bows on too! Holidays are a lot more fun now that she is old enough to understand what's going on. She is excited for when Santa will bring her "prizes". I love this time of year and we are looking forward to seeing family members. We hope everyone has a great holiday season!

Here are some family pictures we got taken a few weeks ago. Korina wasn't as cooperative as she was at her 2 year pics, funny how things are so different in just 6 months.

Happy Halloween!

Mason had his 2 month appointment today and he weighs a hefty 13 lbs 14 oz. This tops the charts above the 95th percentile! Korina was never that big. But she also wasn't eating close to 5 oz at each feeding. He is such a cutie though and he smiles a lot now which we really enjoy. As a bonus, this past week was awesome as far as sleep goes. Every night except one, he went between 7 and 8 hours at night. Needless to say, Colby and I are feeling much more rested as a result. He's such a good little baby! Poor little guy wasn't doing too well though after his vaccinations. That was the worst I have heard him cry and we couldn't calm him down like usual. Thankfully it passed quickly and he was back to his normal, smiling self the next day.
Korina had such a blast going trick or treating. She loved getting dressed up and she loved getting a lot of candy even more! She got 3 full size candy bars and filled up her little bucket with other treats. I was afraid she might be too scared to knock on strangers' doors, but I guess she was up for the challenge if it meant she would walk away with candy. She is her mother's daughter after all! She was definitely the cutest Minnie Mouse I have seen:


And here is our little devil for the night, even though he is totally an angel for us all the time. He looked so darn cute, I just love this little guy!

Recent Happenings

Not much is happening around here, just that it's getting easier to survive since we are getting a consistent 7 hours of sleep a night. That's the total amount, I wish it were consecutive, but he is still getting up around 3:30 to eat. Then the problem is that my mind starts thinking about things and it takes me a while to go back to sleep. Good thing he's so darn cute! Not to mention he is quite the chunk! These are a pair of pajamas that are size 3-6 month, and I'm pretty sure they shouldn't fit him that well when he is only 7 weeks old.

Korina still loves her brother like crazy too. She loves to just lay beside him and hold his hand. Or she leans over him and tries to make him laugh. She is a great big sister and a good helper for me. Mostly picking up burp cloths or putting the binky back in his mouth, but she is always happy to help. And here is a picture of when Colby did her hair. I have to say, I was pretty impressed with the result.

Happy One Month!!

I can't believe that our little Mason is already a month old today. I sure am happy to be past the first couple of weeks though. I feel that they are the hardest part of having a baby. Everyone is starting to get on somewhat of a schedule and the sleep is slowly but surely getting better. Korina is definitely in love with her baby brother and sometimes we just have to tell her to give him some space because she kind of smothers him at times. We love when he is awake and just stares into our eyes and we've even gotten a couple smiles already. He is such a sweet baby and we are so lucky to have him in our family.

Korina has also been keeping us busy. And by that I mean she doesn't really listen when we ask her to do something and so we have to get mad and she ends up crying. I'm sure it's because there is a new baby in the house, but also just the fact that she is trying to be an independent 2 year old! She is still our little princess, we just can't let her know it! Whenever she comes downstairs from sleeping, she insists on bringing her blanket and each one of her friends. It makes us a little nervous for her safety. This was what I found one night at 10:00 just as we were about to go to bed.

She still loves Mickey Mouse and her new favorite movie is Rio. She loves when the birds dance. And she is always asking for a cold treat which is an otter pop. She can't get enough!

2 Weeks!

So our little man isn't so little anymore. It's already been two weeks since we first met him, and he is growing like a weed! Even the doctor was pretty shocked. He informed us that by the 2 week mark, they like to see the babies get back up to their birth weight. Well, Mason pretty much shattered that number (6 lb. 15 oz.), and he is already up to 8lb. 8 oz.!! And he has grown an inch in length. I guess a normal amount for babies to be eating at each feeding is around 2-2 1/2 oz of milk, and Mason usually eats about 4! We're not sure what to think about our little chunk, we are just happy that he is a healthy little boy. Here is a picture of him dressed up for a wedding reception that we went to. He is so handsome!

He's Here!!!

Our precious little boy is finally here and we are so excited. He was born on Tuesday, August 30 at 1:33am. He was 19" and 6 lb 15 oz.

And he looks just like Korina did when she was born so we're pretty sure that they are related.

Korina just loves her little brother.

It's definitely been an adjustment from one child to two, especially because Colby is right in the middle of moving the factory up to Clearfield, so he hasn't been able to be home as much as he was with Korina. Luckily, Mason is a great baby and he is super cute, so it makes it a little easier to get up in the night. Also, this delivery was easier than Korina's, so I feel like I'm getting back to normal a little bit faster. I only had to push for 5 minutes! I couldn't ask for a better delivery. I will try and post a little more often since I know all too well how fast he is going to grow up.