Easter weekend equals....

Farmington Easter Egg Hunt where Mason made a killing (after being coached by Nic as to how to get the most eggs. "Don't stop and look at the eggs Mason. Just keep putting them in your basket as quick as you can." I tried to add to be nice to those around you and don't push etc., to which Nic replied, "Yeah. But mostly just try to get a lot of eggs.")

Easter morning. Mason was so excited for the Easter bunny. I told him when the sun came up we could go find his basket and so sure enough, as soon as the sun peaked over the mountains he was in our room ready to go. So fun.

Sagie girl woke up a little later and enjoyed the celebration as well. This is her first Easter and also her last first holiday. sigh.

(Of course Mason loved Sage's present almost as much as his.)

Church in the new digs... (My mother-in-law bought Sage the cutest little Easter dress, but unfortunately it was too big and she was "crawling" out of it. My mom and I had bought this dress before Sage was even born for her to wear on her first birthday so we pulled it out and it worked great!)

Nic did a little photo shoot on our front steps while I was getting ready for church. I thought these pictures were so funny and so typical of my kids. Sage was doing her pterodactyl scream and flapping her arms laughing and Mason was mimicking her. Even my friend Camille who lives a street away could see Sage flapping her arms. So even though we didn't get the "perfect shot" I love seeing these pictures that so perfectly capture my kids personalities and their little quirks.

We really do love our daddy, despite his absense in this photo. We were in a rush so we just grabbed this picture instead of setting up the tripod to do the whole family.

Not pictured: We had a nice dinner at my aunt and uncles house and had a chance to catch up with my cousins. Awesome folks they are. We also had Chris, Marci, Seth and Ellen over for dinner on Sunday. It was nice to spend some time with them and Mason adores his cousins, so he was loving life.

On Saturday, while Sage napped, Mason and I went to the store to pick up some things for dinner. I had the chance to talk with him a little bit about the true meaning of Easter and it was so sweet to watch as he tried to understand the whole thing. After church on Sunday Mason kept saying, "Jesus came out of the tube and he's not going to die again!" Tube. Tomb. Close enough right? I'm grateful for this weekend where I was able spend time with those I love and celebrate something that is so important to me.

Finally...

...its warm enough for some of this action.

(By "this action" I don't mean eating wood chips at the park, but that is certainly a part of the package deal.)

(Note the lack of pictures of Mason. This kid is so happy to finally be outside that getting him to stop for long enough to snap a picture is near impossible.)

10 months

This little girl is officially on the move. As of a few days ago she is now crawling all over the place. Time to start some serious baby proofing.

Her 9 month stats:

Weight: 18 lbs 12 oz (50th %tile)

Length: 29 in (90th %tile)

Head: (50th %tile)

She only gained 6 oz in the last 3 months and dropped from 90th %ile in weight to less than 50th. Her length is right on the her curve though, so she is growing well. We were all sick for those 3 months, so hopefully her lack of gain is due to that.

A few facts about Sage:

She loves to dance. And by dance I mean completely rock out. She wiggles her bum and throws her head from side to side. I'll try to get some video on here soon. Its hysterical.

She is starting to be more discriminate in her "talking". She knows that Nic is "dada" and will squeal it when she sees him.

She is starting to imitate things we say. If we say "Nell Nell" she says, "Ne Ne". She also says, "Ni Ni" for "night night".

She is a really laid back baby. She is happy to sit and play with toys.

She still pukes quite a bit. I think this topic will likely have a whole post at a later date.

I think she is finally coming out of her stranger anxiety phase. At least she doesn't burst into tears when someone else holds her.

She adores her brother. She lights up when he is in the room and he can make her laugh with very little effort.

She likes to eat and will make a very loud and demanding grunt if I'm not quick enough when preparing her food.

She has been getting her top teeth the last few weeks. She has her right front and right lateral teeth, and the opposite two should be here any day.

She is starting to sleep better. Usually goes to bed between 7pm and 8pm and wakes once around 5 am ish. Then she usually sleeps until 8. Hopefully we'll get rid of that 5 am wake up soon, but as of now I'm pretty content.

She is a good napper.

She has the sweetest laugh and is not at all stingey in sharing it.

She loves to give kisses and will lean in for one whenever she gets the chance.

One of her favorite "games" is to hand me something and then take it back. She could do this for hours. Its so cute how she holds her arm straight out and kind of hunches up her shoulders to hand it to me and then looks so proud when I take it. Love it.

She crinkles her nose when she smiles really big.

She has the cutest, grunty little laugh. Sometimes if she is trying to get attention she makes a high pitch grunt over and over again that kind of sounds like a dolphin with a horse voice. Funny.

She loves bath time.

She is an absolute joy. Seriously, I am over the moon over this little girl.

This is a typical Sagie girl picture. Tongue out.

Cheeks.

Love it.

3.

Mason has been so excited for his birthday. He has been waiting and waiting for "March eight" so he can turn "free years old". Every time I have asked him what he wants for his birthday he has said, "a strawberry, chocolate chip birthday cake." So last night after he had gone to bed I made him a strawberry, chocolate chip birthday cake while Nic decorated the house with streamers and balloons. I told him he could have a hot dog for lunch today (we bought them special just for him yesterday), and this morning when he came in my room he immediately said, "Mommy its my birthday. Lets have a hot dog for breakfast!"

I can't believe three years have gone by since I became a mom. Since I became his mom. Last night while he was in the tub I commented to him about this being his last night as a two year old. I got a bit teary. Nic then, ever so sensitively (but really just joking), said, "Mason, tell mommy to get over it!" So Mason said to me: "Mason says, 'Mommy get over it'. Then mommy says (and his voice goes up 4 octives into a a squeaky whine) 'I don't want to!'" Yes. Three years old and he is already mimicing me. Nic was on the floor laughing.

Mason is funny, smart, sweet and a bit quirky. Here is a run down of Mason as a freshly turned three year old:

• He has quite an active imagination. He loves to hide under the covers of the bed (usually right after its made) to hide from the giants. He yells, "Hide everyone! Mommy, hide Sagie!" That is just one of the many games that we play. All day long.
• He can count up to 29 and recognizes numbers to 20. He loves numbers.
• He knows all his letters and is starting to recognize words (like stop, tree, and Mason).
• He likes meat. Especially if its spicy.
• He has been potty trained since mid-November. There have been a few accidents since then, but pretty much once he decided he wanted to do it, he did.
• He loves to read and has most of his favorite books memorized. Its funny to hear him "read" them using the same voice inflection that I use when I read them.
• He jumps off of everything. I have bargain with him to get him to only jump off half the staircase instead of the whole thing. He also climbs on everything. Everything.
• For all his imagination he does not like to draw or color. He'll do a few squiggly lines and I'll ask him what he drew and he'll say, "um...some squiggly lines."
• He is so sweet with his sister. He talks to her in a high pitch, squeaky voice and whenever she cries he says, "Its okay Sagie. I'm here."
• Every night he asks Nic to NOT go to work the next day. He loves his daddy.
• His favorite foods are: eggs, pizza, "meat", cheese, apples, applesauce, strawberries, spicy chili., chocolate.
• His favorite songs are: the "temple song", Jesus wants me for a sunbeam, Popcorn Popping, Twinkle Twinkle, ABCs, and pretty much anything else he's into for the day.
• He still loves airplanes, helicopters, trains, etc., but has broadened his horizons a bit to include pirates and treasure. He often informs me that "X marks the spot mommy."

Today in celebration we went to the library and then Nic came home early and we went to the Gateway Discovery Children's Museum. He loves it there. After the museum Nic and Mason rode the train home (another great love of this boy). We then had pizza, opened presents, and ate cake. Overall I think he had a pretty special day.

Birthday boy first thing this morning.

The weather outside. (We had a big snow storm last night).

Nic's decorations.

Birthday boys get to blow bubbles in their milk.

At the museum:

We got Mason a tool bench. He was thoroughly spoiled by his grandparents and pseudo grandparents. This is one loved little boy.

We love you darling boy.

Smile like you mean it. Or else...

I recently discovered a feature on our camera that has resulted in endless entertainment for, well, me. Its called "Happy Faces" and it takes a previously unsmiling face and (however grotesquely) distorts the subject's lips into a smile.

Sage was a difficult subject, as we discovered that your mouth cannot be opened if you want to create a "smile". We finally caught her with just her tongue out and came up with this gem.



Poor Mason puts up with his mother's "interests".

This one is especially funny.

And of course if someone says, "don't smile" that is simply code for "put on your best sleepy/forlorn look."

Don't worry though. "Happy Faces" can combat even the most melancholy faces.

It is also possible to choose which "level" of smile you want.
Before:

Level 2:

Level 5!:

Oh- and in case you were wondering it only works on human faces. We tried.

Tooth

We have a tooth!

(As of yesterday afternoon.)

8

Sage is now 8 months old. 8 MONTHS! I know this is cliche', but I cannot believe how fast time flies. She is as sweet as ever and I can't imagine our life without her. Here are a few Sage-isms.

-This girl loves to eat. She gives me a disgruntled grunt if I have to stop feeding her to help Mason with something. She will eat anything and everything. Thats my girl. Oh- and she is the messiest eater alive.

-She still spits up. A lot. And I swear she has drooled like she's teething since she was born, but still no teeth (but one should be popping through anytime now). Pretty much this all just means that both she and I are wet and barfed on for the majority of the day.

-When she gets excited she breaths in really quick and squeals. She also rotates her wrists and ankles and lets her toes and fingers splay out when she is excited. Sounds weird but its really cute.

-She has a pterodactyl scream like her brother. (To clarify, this scream is rarely used when they are upset. Its usually used at random times. Like she will sit in the tub and just let out random, high pitches shrills. Again, I love it.)

-She is very good at letting you know what she want and/or is thinking. She "talks" with the influx of her voice. She really only says a few "sounds" but "eh" is one of them. There is the "EH!" meaning she wants something now (most likely food), "eh?" meaning she's curious about something, and "eh eh eh eh" meaning she's whiny or wants to be held. Then of course there is "mama" which melts my heart every time.

-She goes to bed around 7 or 7:30 pm, wakes up anywhere between 2-4 am and then wakes up around 6 or 7 am, but goes back to sleep until 8 or 9 am. Yeah. Mason didn't sleep "through the night" until he was 1 so I don't have high expectations. Although I really don't think its that bad.

-She doesn't like to be rocked or bounced or anything. If she is upset and needs help being calmed down (or if I am trying to put her to sleep in church), she likes me to just hold her and sit very still.

-She goes to bed and down for naps like a dream, and she ALWAYS wakes up happy. I love walking in her room and she does her "breath in quick, squeal" when she sees me.

-If Mason is running around like a lunatic she often just watches him with a big grin on her face. She really loves her brother.

-She really loves every member of the family and gives us all a very excited greeting when she sees us (even Nell). To be completely honest, though, she is a mama's girl. Big time. And I don't mind one bit.

-She never really rolled over. I mean, she can roll over, but she doesn't very often. She was sitting unsupported before we ever saw her roll over.

-Crawling is in the future. She scoots on her belly backward and can cover quite a bit of ground that way. Once she figures out how to propel that motion forward she'll be on her way.

-Speaking of crawling, I'm going to have to baby proof my house floor to ceiling once she starts moving. She isn't even very mobile yet and she is already into everything. I can't hold anything in my hand without her hands being in it. She is fascinated with touching and grabbing things. (Its funny how different kids are. I could go through this whole list and how Mason was close to opposite in everything).

-Finally, she has this crazy raspy, deep voice. When people hear her they inevitably ask me if she is sick. When I tell them that's just her voice they usually comment on how she'll have a sexy voice someday. Nic doesn't like that too much.

We love this girl of ours. I have always felt such a strong, sweet spirit from her and one of my most fervent prayers has been that I can raise her to be a confident, happy, loving girl. But for now I'm just going to enjoy her in all her eight month glory.

This good lookin' guy had a birthday on Sunday. We got a sitter on Saturday night and went to a movie. Then his actual birthday was filled with his favorite food and lots of family time. As this guy gets older I find more and more things I love about him. Happy Birthday my love.

Let it be heard...

Sage's first word is...mama. She has been saying it all day and its so freaking cute I just might explode. I love this darling girl of mine.

Shay Berry

Happy Birthday to this lovely lady. You are so near and dear to me and I hope you have a year full of happiness and slobbery kisses. Love you.