Kindergarten and 21 months old!

I have neglected my blog! Apologies to the 3 people that read it! :)

Since August, I have started a new job, Logan started Kindergarten, swimming lessons, soccer and went fishing for the first time.  Mason is so close to being the big TWO and doing/saying all kinds of fun things! I also went on a little girls trip with my friends for my birthday this year.  The big 32.

It seems like yesterday we were putting our sweet little bald baby in day care at 6 weeks old.  Now he is a big kid off to Kindergarten.  His teacher is Ms. Malish and he just loves her.  He got his first report card the other day and he is doing great! Needs work on listening to instructions, but we are working on that.  It is amazing to me he is learning sight words and how to sound out words.  He will be reading soon! Not long after school started,we went to a friends property and Logan caught his first fish! He was excited.  He caught a total of about 5 of them. Logan also did swimming lessons. YES, it was his first time to do swimming lessons.  All kids learn at a different pace and before this, he was just not ready.  He loved his swim teacher and loved to "scoop" and sing the frogs on the logs song.  I am hoping by next summer we will be free of the puddle jumper but only if he is ready.

Logan being a "starfish" 

Guess I am a soccer mom now! 

I left my job in Student Life and moved to the Mays Business School. It was a hard decision but much needed change in my life.  I miss the people I worked with but I am still on West Campus so I get to see them once in a while.  I am learning and adjusting to the Business School side of things and it is great so far! Everyone has been very welcoming and super nice!

It was VERY hard to leave this group of ladies! I miss them so much!! 

Oh Mason Bruce.  Terrible twos already and we are a few months shy of him actually turning two!
He is our daredevil and little stinker.  He climbs up on things, jumps off of things, and most of the time picks fights with his brother.  He tells everyone NO and shakes his little head or points his little finger.  He makes Bryan want to go get a vasectomy. (And no, I will not let him do that.....not just yet.) That is the truth.  He is just our little troublemaker, but he is so dang cute! He recently discovered that little red monster, Elmo and cannot get enough of him.  I really don't know what it is about Elmo but my kids love him.  He is getting just too big and a real ham! And NO I have not cut his hair yet! Too many curls and I just cannot do it just yet!

I went to New Bransfels with two of my close girlfriends for my birthday this year.  Shout out to my awesome hubby who was on Daddy duty all weekend.  It rained all weekend but we had a blast! Went to see Bad Moms (SO funny!) and really just hung out, relaxed and might have had a few too many adult beverages.  It was great to be able to do that once in a while!

Then I got to come home to my boys! Right where I need to be! 

Grams Camp 2016

Last year, Logan went to stay with Grams and Paw Paw for 3 whole nights by himself and that was the longest I had been away from him.  Well this year, my Mom decided to take on three out of the four grandsons! Grams Camp 2016 was happening and Logan would be away from us 5 whole nights! She is crazy but Hunter is 10 so he helps her with the little ones. Hayden and Logan fight quite a bit because they are only a year apart.
They had a fun filled FIVE days.  They enjoyed: movies, going out to the farm, visiting Blue Bell, a water park, the park, and lots more! Needless to say my mom was exhausted by the end.  When we picked up Logan my Mom said maybe next year it will only be 3 nights!

The three musketeers!

The boys and their GREAT GREAT Uncle John! 

Logan said riding the mule was his favorite part!

The all got medals for surviving Grams Camp 2016! See ya next year!

Parks family vacation 2016

We headed to Yogi Bear's Jellystone Hill Country Park last weekend and it was a blast! Well I got sick,but the kids had so much fun!

http://jellystonehillcountry.com/

The park was so family friendly and it was a super laid back atmosphere.  We would get up, go to the park, then pretty much the pool all day and then a hay ride at night.  We only stayed 2 nights and by the end pretty exhausted.  Tent camping in July, we were pretty thankful we brought the portable ac unit.  We kept it pretty chilly in there and zipped it up so when we got back to the camp, it was nice and cool! We would let all the kids nap in there since it was the only cold air we had.
Logan loved the waterpark.  I would say that it would be fun for kids ages 2-10.  Although we saw some older kids there.  Mason LOVED going down the slide with Daddy! I am pretty sure Bryan carried him up and down the stairs for the slide more than 20 times.  He would just squeal with delight and then after they were at the bottom Mason would point and say SLI, SLI!!
I have also learned vacation with kids is not really a vacation.  It is not relaxing, you are just at a different place with your kids.  I did enjoy the times that Mason was napping and Logan was sliding and I could just sit in the lounge chairs for a while.  BUT it is not really about us, it is about them and they had such a great time!


We will probably go again next year and maybe splurge to stay in the cabins.  They were pretty pricey!

Cousin time! 

Mason wore out from the slides and Daddy was too! 

Wyatt and Logan-cousins and best buds!

Mason and Rhiannon--the wild ones! 

See you next year Jellystone! 

Mason is 18 months!

As I am typing this, Mason is 19 months and a few days, but it has been a crazy busy summer!

He is pretty much a big kid now and I am in denial.

I took him for his 18 month check up (no shots, yay!) he weighed 25 pounds. He is thinning out (well not sure where, he still looks round!) He is wearing mostly 24 month and 2T clothe and still in size 3 diapers.  We still have not gotten his hair cut because his curls are just too sweet---but it will be soon though, his hair is getting pretty unruly.

Mason is FINALLY walking! It was a few weeks after he turned 18 months old and he took off.  It took him a while to get it but he has it down now.  He is still wobbly, but for the most part he walks on his own and does not crawl.  We thought that kid would never walk! And he walked for the first time towards Logan and I and I bribed him with a waffle :)

We also took the pacifier away this month.  Wow, it was rough. He cried for a few days at night, but then it was like he never had it.

He is saying all kinds of words! Bataball (any kind of ball he sees, we think he is trying to say basketball), bubba, mommy, (he cries mommy for really anything he wants) dada, dodgey (tries to say doggy), eat, joosh (juice) up, down, nite nite, book, car, fish, bubbles, mine (his favorite).
He also will yell: STOP THAT! and GET DOWN! because we yell that to him on the daily.
We ask him what the cow says: MOOOOOO and he has to push his little head forward to really get the MOOOOO affect.

We will also ask him things like to go get his cup or put something in the trash and he knows what to do.  We also will ask him if he wants to do something and he will happily say YEAH and get very excited if it something like reading books, playing in the water or eating.  But we ask him if he needs to go to bed he will say NO!

He is pretty round but we are not sure how.  He really does not eat that much.  He likes: waffles, bananas, cheese, goldfish, macaroni and cheese (he might eat this for dinner most nights), watermelon, and some chicken.  I remember when Logan was that age, he ate tacos, spaghetti, not Mason, he is pretty picky.  We offer it to him and he just makes a face and pushes it away.

He loves bubbles, throwing balls, "playing" (pretty much wrestling) with brother, playing in the water, being outside, going for walks, reading books, his monkey, bath time, eating snacks, coloring (on the walls included!)

Mason Bruce, you prove to us more and more every day that you are going to be our wild child and we would not have it any other way!

We love you to the moon and back Buggie!