slacker

Dear Friends and Family Who Sent Us Such Wonderful Christmas Cards,

We have genuinely and thoroghly enjoyed each card we have received. We love seeing the pictures of your cute families and hearing the updates from this past year. Please do not be offended if you didn't receive a card from us this year. We didn't send any. I was a slacker. I sincerely hope that his lack of correspondence doesn't exclude us from your card sending list next year. I will do better. I promise. Thanks you and many warm and special greetings to you.

Love,

The Pierson "Slacker" Family

Random Thoughts for a Friday

Random thought #1: We have this huge clock on the wall in our kitchen. I like it. It broke somehow. I fixed it. McGyver style. 3 earplugs and it works.

Random thought #2: For the past several months Mason has been very opposed to sitting in any kind of booster device. This hasn't been too much of a problem because he is tall enough to just sit in a normal chair and eat. Unfortunately the last month or so dinner has become a big shinanagan. He is in and out of his seat. Trying to crawl on my lap, chasing the dog with his food while laughing, the dog chasing him with his food while he cries, wiping his dirty hands on my grandma's white antique chair in the living room. Disaster. So Nic demanded that we re-impliment the booster. Another disaster. But after much screaming, many tears, and alot of frustration I have come up with a solution.

Yes. That is pepperoni. It is the only bribe that works. I need to find something else though because I don't think a little boy should eat 21 + of pepperoni a week.

Random thought #3: Mason has been wielding this golf club yelling "stupiddiiii". I have no idea what "stupidiii" means because stupid happens to be a word we try not to use. It is kind of funny though.

p.s. My child does wear clothes. The pepperoni picture and the golf club picture just happened to be taken right after each other.

Random thought #4: Here is a list of things we found outside in Nell's frozen vomit: 4 baby socks, 3 baby wipes, 2 hair ties, a sucker stick, candy wrappers and other trash. I should say that this "binge episode" happened while we had a house full of people and my attention was distracted. She is a garbage disposal. Good thing I learned how to make her vomit when I worry that she's eaten something bad. Pleasant.

Random thought #5: Last night Nic made himself a sandwhich and sat it on our kitchen island. Mason walked right up the little steps we have that go up to the island, grabbed the sandwhich, said, "tanks" (thanks) and walked away with it. He ate almost the entire thing before Nic finally got a bite. At least he was polite about it right?

Touched.

I had a bad day today. No real big reason, just a bunch of little ones. I was feeling overwhelmed, tired, and down. Such a mood is not very conducive with having the "Christmas spirit". I was out this morning trying to figure out what to buy the parents' for Christmas when I came upon this book called "Reflections of Christ". This may be a fairly famous book, but I hadn't heard of it or seen it until today. Its a collection of photos taken by a photographer named Mark Mabry. The photos depict the life of Christ. I thought the pictures were pretty so I decided that I was going to get a book for each set of our parents (and I am currently hoping that none of them look at this blogpost until after Christmas). I really didn't think much about it other than, "Oh that will make a good gift." So tonight, after putting Mason to bed and sending Nic off to some residency meeting, I found myself alone with a million things to do. Instead of checking said million things off my list I thought I'd look through this book, just to make sure it will indeed be a good present. Before the photographs are shown the photographer talks about how he came to start this project. His story is very inspirational and I encourage anyone to read about it on their website (www.reflectionsofchrist.org). Then I looked at each picture with the corresponding scripture. I was mesmorized with all the details. The looks on the people's faces, tears on their cheeks. It was an touching experience for me. After the photographs, Mark Mabry has a little blib on each shoot and talks about the experiences that enabled him to take such stunning pictures. By the time I was finished looking at the book I found that I had an entirely different attitude than I had previously today. Now I know this isn't something I usually post on my blog. These are my private thoughts and I tend to keep them to myself. Maybe more often than I should. But I just have to express my gratitude for my Savior and what he has done and continues to do for me. Although Christmas seems to be a time when everyone gets these warm fuzzies, I want my friends and family to know that this is something I have believed my entire life. Jesus Christ is our Savior and he loves us. He knows us each intimately and loves us just the same. I have always found comfort in knowing that he fully understands any crisis I face, and to say more, he cares about it. He lives and this is something I know to the depths of my soul. So although this may seem out of character for my blog to post something so personal, I just wanted to share it. I hope that everyone reading this will find a way to have similar feelings and not just because its Christmas, but because its true.

I checked on YouTube and found that there is in fact a video with the pictures from Reflections of Christ. In fact, I may be the only person on the planet who hasn't seen it until today. But here it is. (It was a little finicky for me. You may have to start it and then drag it back to the beginning so it loads ahead of you. You probably could have figured that out though.)

drum roll please...

So I had my 17 week appointment today. It was at this appointment that I was to schedule the big ultrasound, and I did. However, due to multiple reasons, I was unable to make said appointment until Jan. 6th. I was feeling a little bummed because I wanted to know the baby's sex before Christmas. No particular reason behind this other than I just did. Lucky for me I happen to be very close and personal with a dashing radiologist. So after the appoinment Nic took me back to the ultrasound room and a tech did a very quick scan of the baby. Everything looks good and although the little one had its legs squeezed together, both Nic and the tech are 80-90% sure that we are having a.....girl! We will keep you posted on how the Jan. 6th ultrasound goes, but in the meantime (and of course thereafter) we are thrilled!

Whats in a Name?

Mason has been able to recognize himself for months. We ask him "Where is Mason?" and he points to his face. The last few days, however, he has made an attempt to say his name. The conversation goes like this:

Me: Mason who is that? (pointing to Nic)
Mase: Dada
Me: Who is this? (pointing to me)
Mase: Mama
Me: And who is this? (pointing to Nell)
Mase: Nell Nell
Me: Well then who is this? (pointing to Mason)
Mason: (in his characteristic deep voice) Moose.

He now frequently refers to himself as Moose (emphasis on the "oo"). I see a new nickname in his future.