A Dinosaur and a Chubby Skeleton

We partied.

We carved.

We tricked.

And it was a treat.

Mason-isms

I have to document these things. Otherwise I know I will forget.

• While visiting my sister's house a few weeks ago Mason looked at her dog Turk (a french bulldog) and said, "Oh look. A tiny pig." Really funny. Especially if you know Turk.
• The other day I was changing Sage after she puked all over me. I had my shirt pulled up (because puke soaked clothing on your skin is not enjoyable). Mason came up and starting slapping my belly. While slapping he ever so sweetly said, "Look Mommy. That one wiggles." Thanks a lot. Punk.
• Then, the same day as the wiggling tummy incident, Mason decided to make up for his punk-ness by crawling up on bed where Sage was fussing and delicately patting her tummy while saying, "Its okay Sage. Mason's here. Mason is right here." Aw. I guess I won't sell him to the gypsies afterall.

My Son Ma-son

I love this kid. He is a hoot. Here are few Mason-isms. Past, present, and future.

• He use to call airplanes "tatas", but now he calls them by their proper name. He even knows the difference between and airplane and a jet (thanks to the Blue Angels).
  



• Whenever something breaks he emphatically declares that "daddy will fix it". In his eyes daddy can fix everything. Luckily at this point in his little life thats pretty much true.
  



• He loves his family. Several times a day he will name off everyone in our family in reference to whatever he is doing. For example, "Mason go to sleep. Mommy go to sleep. Daddy go to sleep. Baby Sage go to sleep. Nell Nell go to sleep." He also is obsessed with all his grandparents and has been known to tell me to "go away" when he is playing with them. He wants them all to himself and I can't blame him. He has some awesome grandparents.
  



• He can still scream like a terradactyl.
  



• Knock on wood, but I think he got most of his "terrible twos" out of the way in two rough months. During his "adjustment" to having Sage around we had some doozies, but he has been doing so well lately and I think he is starting to come into his own. The other day he started throwing a fit. He was crying and stomping, etc. etc. I just ignored him for about a minute when I heard him take a deep breath and say, "Ok Mommy. Mason's happy now." What a good kid.
  



• He is very in tune with people's emotions. Whenever we read Green Eggs and Ham he always points out whether the characters are happy, mad or sad. He always wants people to be happy. If I'm ever upset he askes me if I'm "happy again" several times until he is satisfied that I am.
  



• He went through a phase a few months ago where everytime he would wake up (from a nap or in the morning) he would empty his entire room out into the hallway. We're talking his comforter, any toys in his room, books. Everything. Everytime. This is just one of his many quirks.



• He calls his uncle Matt "Muncle Matt". He loves his muncle Matt.
  



• He is still obsessed with airplanes, lellocopties (helicopters), trains, tractors, cars, trucks, skateboards, etc. etc. If it takes you here to there he loves it. Whenever he hears a helicopter or an an airplane outside he runs out and greets it with a very loud terradactyl scream.



• He frequently tells me he loves things. The other day I was singing Twinkle Twinkle to Sage and Mason (on the other side of the room) sighed and said, "Oh, I love that song."



• He loves to jump off of things. The higher the better. He has little fear (except of bugs after getting stung by a bee this year) and I love that about him. Well, I love it until I fear for his life. Then not so fun.
  



• He runs everywhere he goes. Even if he is walking he has a little jog in place thing that he does. Its cute.
  



• He loves pizza, cheese, chili, fruit snacks, and most fruit. He will try most foods at least once so I think he will turn out to be a pretty good eater once we get out of the "I'm a toddler I don't want to eat when you want me to eat" phase.
  



• He loves his buddy Jackson. A lot.
  



• He loves to be outside.
  



• He loves to try new things. He will pretty much try anything once.
  



• We have a picture of Neil Diamond on our fridge (from our friends' annual Neil Diamond Christmas party) and the other day Mason brought it to me and said, "Look. Jesus." Not quite Mason. Not quite.

Mason is energentic, quirky and sweet. I love this little boy of mine. Next up, potty training. So far the toilet is viewed as something that will force him to slow down. Therefore toilet=evil. We're working on it.

I love...

this.

Even if it is usually followed by this...

8 Questions

I haven't done a tag in a long time, but since my cousin Krystal tagged me (and I think my cousin Krystal is freaking awesome) I have decided to participate.

1. If your husband was out of the picture what would you have named your children? I would have named them Mason and Sage most likely. Scarlett has always been a favorite of mine, but I have 2 cousins (they both have great taste in children naming!) who have girls named that so I thought I should branch out a bit. Still love it though.
2. When do you usually go to bed? hmm...When we lived in PA we stayed up until midnight or so, but since moving here we usually go to bed between 10:30 and 11:30. I think we are getting old.
3. If you could visit anywhere in the world where would it be? Alaska. Or Jerusalem. Or Greece. Or Ireland. I just really love to travel and want to do a lot of it someday. sigh. someday.
4. If you could change something about yourself physically what would it be? I just had a lengthy conversation with someone about this the other day. I want so badly to teach my children to be confident in how they are. I want them to make healthy choices, be active, etc., but realize that we are all born with imperfections and that includes parts of our bodies. And thats OK. We aren't meant to be cookie cutter images of what society thinks is beautiful. Everyone has their own beautiful features and who is to say what is beautiful or not anyway? With that said, we all have insecurities. So I'd get myself a nice set of legs.
5. If you could have one talent that you don't already have, what would it be? I'd like to be crafty. I'd like to be able to make my own wall art or curtains or pillows. I know what I like, I just can't seem to make it happen.
6. If you had your choice where would you live? Austria.
7. What material thing is on the top of your wish list? hm...probably a few wardrobe items.
8. What is the dumbest thing you've ever done? I shut my head in the car door. Yes. I was wearing my glasses and as a result got a good cut behind my ear that if it weren't for the location and my ear holding it together I would have had to get quite a few stitches. Genius.

I tag: Ali, Camille W., Camille J. (that means you'll have to update your blog!), Sarah M., Whitney, Sharon and Sue.

The Questions you must answer:
1. Your first kiss. Dish it.
2. What is your number one life goal?
3. What is the thing you are most proud of?
4. What is your favorite breakfast?
5. Do you want to have children and/or how many children do you want?
6. If I gave you $100 and told you that you had to spend it right now what would you buy?
7. What would you say occupies most of your thoughts during the day?
8. What is your favoite thing about your husband?

The Western United States

A few weeks ago the kids and I embarked on our tour of the western U.S. My dear friends Deb and Dave came from PA to do their own tour (3 weeks!) of the west and we accompanied them up to Idaho Falls then onto Yellowstone (with my Dad's cabin in there somewhere too).

Mesa Falls

A herd of buffalo came between us and Old Faithful. Awesome.

A little geothermal activity.

Deb has always been dubbed my "Pennsylvania Mom" and I love her dearly. She and Dave are the sweetest people you will meet. Can't wait to see you guys again!

From my dad's cabin the kids and I drove back home to Utah, picked up Nic, and drove to Vegas. We stayed in the Hilton ($50 on hotwire!) and got an upgrade on our room. Nice.

The next day we got up and drove on to San Diego, where we met our awesome friends Matt and Heather and their two kids Paxton and Lincoln. We rented a condo so we could all stay together and turns out it was right above the San Diego airport. Mason was in heaven (and we heard about it in the form of a shrill voice screaming, "BLAST OFF!!" everytime a plane took off.)


Lincoln and Sage.



The first full day we were there we went to Sea World. I hadn't been there since I was little and it was awesome. Mason really loved it.


The crew (sans Matt who was taking the picture).


We got splashed by Shamu, an event Mason is still talking about.


Mason's first "ride". He couldn't get enough.


The next day we decided to take it easy. So we went to the park...


...and to the beach. It was pretty cold, hence the good lookin' jacket/swimming suit combo.


Despite the cold Mason literally dove right in.



The third day we took on the San Diego Zoo. Another awesome day.



Mason loved the tram. He wasn't so interested in looking down on the animals, but rather he wanted to see the airplanes flying right next to us. What can I say. The kid loves ALL modes of transportation.

Mase and Pax. They had so much fun together. As did we. Thanks Matt and Heather for providing us with the best company we could ask for. We miss you guys.

From San Diego we drove to Phoenix where we were able to take in a last minute Pixies concert. Awesome. Awesome. Awesome.

Shay and Eric came along.

But the real reason we went to Arizona was to meet this little cherub. Could he be any sweeter?

My Dad gave Brighton a beautiful blessing. It was nice to meet some of Eric's family and spend some time with our own family.

Not pictured was Sagie's first time swimming (I need to steal the pics from Penni).

So after 13 days, 7 states, minimal melt downs and innumerable diaper changes we finally drove home. Well, Nic and Mason drove home. Sage and I chickened out of the 11+ hour drive and flew home. The perfect end to a perfect trip. (Nic's ending, although much longer, was pretty good too.)

For him.

Nic and I waited for 5 years to have kids. Thats a long time, but it was what worked best for us. Those 5 years were full of crazy adventures, leisurely weekends, last minute road trips, and pretty much us doing whatever we wanted to do. Don't get me wrong. We are having a whole new kind of adventure now. Its just as fun and infinately more rewarding. But I'm not going to lie. Its harder.

In the early years, despite having our whole lives to ourselves, we were always slaves to school. These past few weeks, however, I am seeing that that was especially easier pre-children (and my hat goes off to all our friends who did med school with kids). Nic has to take his physics boards on September 9th and as a result he has been MIA for the last few weeks. Its been hard on him, hard on me, hard on the kids, (and especially hard on the dog) but as any of our resident friends know, its a necessary evil. We spent the last week up in Idaho just so we could give Nic some guilt-free study time and that was fun, but we are home now and we are hoping to catch a glimpse of him here and there over the next few weeks.

Honestly, I didn't start this blog post to complain about this. It really hasn't been THAT bad. Could be worse. What I really wanted to emphasize in this post was the extent that our lives have changed since having kids. I don't know if anyone else experiences this (I would kind of think they do), but kids were a major adjustment for us. We went from leading our relatively selfish lives to dedicating our every effort and thought to our kids. We are both crazy about our kids. Even after the biggest tantrum on earth I can still look at Mason and think he is the smartest, cutest, sweetest, most awesomest boy in the galaxy. And one look into Sagie's eyes and I know that she is heaven sent and certainly the most beautiful creature to walk (or rather sit on) the earth. As most parents believe about their own, I believe we have the best kids. Sometimes, though, I think I get so caught up in this whole parenthood thing that I don't give the love and attention I should to the one who is in this crazy world of parenting with me. Does that happen to anyone else? You get so wrapped up in kids that at the end of the day you look at your spouse and think, "Oh. Hey. I know we've been around each other all day, but this is the first time I've really seen you." Terrible huh? I know its not always like that. Sometimes I am able to stop and take in the man I married. I can watch him play with the kids, my heart bursting in adoration. Or I can watch him make dinner, my heart bursting in jealousy that even though I can make the exact same dish, his is always tastier. But all too often those are just moments. All the other minutes and hours of the day I am caught up in the kids, the dog, the house, and myself. So here it is. On a public forum, over the internet, so hopefully you can read it on your blackberry on a break from the monotany of studying. Nic, you are my best friend. From the day I met you I have always been able to be myself with you. Completely myself. You are smart, handsome, funny and kind. But you know all that. Or at least you know I think that. What you may not know is how infatuated I am with you...still...after seven years. You really are the best thing that has ever happened to me. So although I know I get caught up in day to day "stuff", and therefore don't always do these feelings justice, just know that I love you forever. and ever. and ever. Happy studying sweetheart.

He's here...

...and he is beautiful. I will let Shay give all the details on her own blog, but this auntie was just too excited to not share.

Brighton Eric Harris

Ode to Sage E.

We blessed Sage on July 18th. (In our religion we have baby blessings where the baby is given their name and a blessing). Nic gave her a beautiful blessing and afterward we had the family over to a local park for a waffels. Despite a few hang ups at the park, it turned out to be a wonderful day.

Then today Sage had her 2 month appointment. This girl is already a real " go getter". She has made this evident by almost doubling her birth weight in her first two months of life. Way to go Sagey!

Weight 13 lbs 15 oz. (95 %tile)

Height 23 1/2 inches (95 %tile)

Head 15 1/2 inches (50 %tile)

I think the last month and a half has treated her pretty well...

We love you baby girl!