To nap or not to nap

Mason's new thing is to play in his crib during naptime instead of sleep! This morning he played for an entire hour (yes, he was tired when I layed him down) before finally falling asleep for only 30 minutes. I think he gets a kick out of practicing his new skills - rolling, wiggling around, moving his legs is random directions, etc. Although it is causing short naps, he isn't fussing much (sometimes not at all) to go to sleep and is often waking up happy, so I'll take it! When he finally fell asleep this morning this is what we found (his head is the complete opposite direction of where it was when I laid him down) --- and don't worry, he is breathing :) What a goof!

Dates!

I realized I never blogged about our "last" date - and our "first" date. Here weeeeeee goooo:

The week before I was due we decided we needed a "final" date before the babe was with us in the flesh. The week was busy and Thursday night, before falling asleep, we discussed our options for our date -- we had planned to see a movie but I didn't know of any that were out at the time that interested me. Matt told me he saw a preview for a movie that interested him - about a man who invented windshield wipers. I guffawed - windshield wipers? Wow, what a thriller! I told him I would probably have to pass. He laughed and agreed it sounded funny, but insisted it looked good. Well, Friday night arrived and we hadn't decided on a movie still -I told him to just buy tickets for whatever, I really didn't care. On the way to our theatre I asked him what we were seeing. "Flash of Genius", he says. Me: "What is it about?" Matt: "Windshield wipers...." Ha! I apologize if you liked it, but we thought it was terrible! Matt kept nudging me (sheepishly) and we laughed through most of the film. I mean, I even started cleaning out my purse in the middle of the movie. Afterwards we bought Ironman (we hadn't seen it still) and watched it at home to try to make up for the earlier flick! We both agree that at least the night was memorable.

Now, for our "first" date since Mason was born! Mason had his first non-family babysitter this past weekend. Thank you again Brittney for watching our little fella... she says he was good, but what babysitter ever tells you the whole story? :) Hopefully he was as good as she says! We owe you (again). As for me, I only had minor separation anxiety. :) For our date we went out to eat and caught a movie - Australia - which I must say, was significantly better than Flash of Genius! The only catch was Matt would nudge me every so often when Hugh Jackman was on the screen and say, "isn't he dreamy?" ha! Here is to many more dates to come...

Rolling (caught on camera!)

Mason was a rolling machine this morning and allowed me to catch him on video! He normally rolls to his right - and does it with ease, but in the video I got him rolling to his left which seemed to take more exertion. I shortened the video for your viewing pleasure. :)
On another Mason note, the little man totally caught me off guard this morning as - for the first time ever - I had to wake HIM up to start the day. Whoa. Talk about a weird switch. Saturday night he slept 9-9.5 hours straight (no waking) and last night he slept 10! (and maybe longer if I hadn't woken him... but I didn't want him to sleep too late). I'm not sure how we went from our 6 -7 hour stretch to the 9-10 hours, but I am not complaining!

Quick picture post

Dad was delighted to discover Mason can now wear his Carhartt overalls...oh boy.

(you can see Dad's huge smile in the picture!)

Rolling! (at least one way)

While I was home at Christmas I found some of my baby stuff - including a calendar that my Mom wrote all my milestones. I learned that I rolled from my stomach to my back at 2 months and 3 days old... and at that point, I had no idea Mason could be doing that task that early. I realize that I spent a lot more time on my tummy than Mason does (considering I slept on my stomach), but it gave me new motivation to give him more tummy time to develop those types of skills! Lets just say - Mason is no fan of tummy time. Instead of sweet enjoyment, it just frustrates the dickens out of him.
So,...I was on the phone with my Mom this morning and that calendar came up and we were talking about his dislike of tummy time. I was sitting on the floor with Mason on a blanket while we talked, so I thought, what the heck, I'll stick him on his stomach. Believe it or not, just as soon as I had stuck him tummy side down he smoothly rolled over to his back! No fussing, no rocking - he seemed to be some pro, flipping himself effortlessly! I couldn't believe what I had just witnessed and am still slightly shocked. Maybe someday soon I will get video... Way to go Mase!

Working for those giggles

Mason's giggle finally on camera!
You have to watch all the way through to get some of the really good ones.
Thank goodness he is such a good sport :)

Things to cheer about:

• Mason slept through the night Saturday! I woke up 15 minutes before he did - in shock when I looked at the clock. He went past his usual 6-hour mark and slept almost 8 hours!!! (he eats and then goes back to sleep for another 3 or so hours) What a champ! I look forward to those nights becoming the norm (I have learned progress is a spiral - it takes time to get consistency!).


• My PUPPP is finally GONE! Enough said.


• I just bought $77.24 in groceries for $21.16. Not as good as some other ladies, but I am a new-comer and am excited about learning the art of sale/coupon shopping. I would have had an even more impressive saving but half of the stuff was sold out! Boo! Oh well, next time I'll get there on the first day. Here is to bargains!

Blessing Outfit Photo Shoot

I knew I needed to get some pictures of Mason in his outfit, so I went for it today. Better late than never, right? It was a little hard to talk to him to get him to smile while centering the camera and taking the picture - his head was cut off in a few of them :) But, I think it was a success overall!

Who does he look like?

I realize I am a blogging fool today - but I figure I better keep going while I am on a roll!

Who do you think Mason looks like??

Dad? OR Mom? OR Bob the Builder?

2 Mo Appt

Our little guy went in for his 2 month appointment yesterday! Here are his stats:

Weight: 11 lbs 5.5 oz

Height: 24 inches

Growing, growing, growing! He is a long fella - and a 'mover and a shaker' as our Doctor put it! His arms and legs are always going, as anyone who has been around him can attest :) He also received his two month shots... and showed me that he now has the ability to shed tears! Ah! He handled them pretty well overall, but as I was calming him from the initial shock I pulled him back to look at him and offer him his paci -- of 'fooler' as the Spann's call it - and tears were welled up in his eyes! Talk about making a Mom's heart break! In true form, even though you could tell he was sore/in pain yesterday evening - he would still smile back and coo at you through his angst! What a doll :)

Merry Christmas & Happy New Years!

As shown in the previous post, we went to Tennessee for the holiday break. It was a fun filled two weeks and we were sad for it to come to an end! We bounced around all over the place (vacations don't seem to equal rest, do they?) and Mason got to meet all the family & friends. I had a little incident with our camera (grrrrr) and lost a bunch of pictures (grrrrr again), but luckily we also took a lot of video.

Mason was blessed in church while we were home - it was beautiful and Matt did a great job! I was a little worried that Mason wouldn't want to cooperate (it was his first day in church and had me a little nervous!) but he was perfect! I am so grateful that we have the Priesthood today and that Mason could receive such a blessing.

On another note, he also laughed for the first time on his blessing day-- and now we're all working hard to get those laughs/giggles coming! He is such a social little guy. Wonder where he got that from?

Matt got to go to the Music City Bowl while we were home thanks to his Grandaddy -- he and his cousin Taylor went together... and froze. haha They ended up bailing out at half time and watched the game at TGI Fridays!

I have to mention the story of the adorable hat Mason is sporting nowadays (there is a picture below). Mom and I found the hat in baby gap while in Clarksville one day and fell in love - who wouldn't? Well, Matt wouldn't. So, against our better judgement, we put the hat down and said we'd keep hunting to find one Matt would also like. The minute we left the store we had should-have-bought-remorse (what is the opposite of buyers remorse? I'm too sleepy to think of anything better...). But wait! A few days later we had Christmas at Granny and Grandaddy's and we were opening up presents. As I opened a present for Mason from Aunt Deb, guess what was inside? THE HAT! To sum it up, I find every opportunity to put it on him. So cute.

We had the usual, fabulous TN time - lots of southern food, stops at the CO-OP, riding horses, time with family, and looooooong drives. Yeah, traveling with an infant in TN is a little harder than Utah considering travel time! We might have to rethink moving to the booney's right away. :)

Matt at the Music City Bowl - check out that view!

The best Christmas present under the tree :)

On his blessing day - we had a brunch at our house with everyone afterwards (whoops, we changed him before we took the picture!)

"Mom, someone's horses are in the yard?"

Mason's usual! With the stinkin cute hat...

On the way to the airport... his expression sums up how we felt about leaving!

One last note... I fell in love with a side dish we had at Matt's Mom and Step-Dad's dinner. Thanks Wayne for always delighting our tastebuds! Here is a new favorite comfort food:

Corn Casserole
1 can cream corn
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
1 stick of butter/margarine, melted
1 cup sour cream
1 box jiffy corn muffin mix

Mix all together, pour in greased 9x13, bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. YUMMERS. (note: this is best when not piping hot, let it cool a little). Enjoy!