Playing with friends

Now that Mason is getting a little older, he is starting to enjoy being around other babies near his age. In early January, Chris and I went to celebrate the marriage of our dear friends James and Liz which took us 'out of town' (aka to the VERY northern suburbs) for the evening. While we were gone, Mason had his very first sleepover with his buddy Kieran. This was also our first full night away from Mason. We enjoyed a very fun night out and even got to sleep in!! We are so thankful for Misty and Ken and we look forward to having Kieran over to spend the night very soon! Here are a few pictures from their sleepover.

I think Kieran is reminding Mason that he is still #1 in this house :-)
Kieran is very interested in this 'other' redhead.
I was assured that Kieran is not choking Mason. Maybe a shoulder rub?
Then Laura, Ryan and Ashley Rueckel came over to watch the Falcon's playoff game (Erin was visiting Grandma). We enjoyed the company even though the Falcon's season came to a pretty pitiful end. Mason and Ashley were adorable together. They have both grown so much and were definitely into each other.

How cute are they? Ashley looks a little bashful.
Then they really started checking each other out.
Unfortunately, the Falcons didn't fare so well this evening.

Eat your peas!

Mason has been eating solid foods for 6 weeks now and he is such a good eater! He's tried all of the common first baby foods and he eats just about everything. He loves sweet potatoes and butternut squash and his favorite meal is probably breakfast because he gets oatmeal mixed with some bananas or apples (both favorites). The green veggies took a little time, but he's finally coming around as you can see from tonight's meal of green peas. The only items he's refused to eat are avocados and mashed potatoes. I've made almost all of his food myself at home. It's so simple - all you need is some fruit or veggies and a food processor!

His new trick this week is spitting while he eats. Mason thinks it is much funnier than mommy does.
Can you see the 'spewed' peas all over his tray?
All cleaned up - now it is playtime!
Eat your peas everyone!

Cabin Fever

We had a lot of fun in the snow on day 1. However, by day 5 of being iced in... let's just say, we're over it! I finally ventured out of the house on Friday and our road was still pretty dangerous. Things are really thawing on Saturday, so we should be completely back to normal very soon. Mason's daycare has been closed all week long and trying to 'work' at home while watching him has been completely exhausting. I really think I would enjoy being a stay at home mom, but trying to do my 'other' job at the same time was just too much. Thankfully, we'll be back to our normal routine next week. Here are a few pictures from our very long week at home.

We practiced sitting up a lot. He's definitely got it, but for a very short amount of time.
We sat him on the floor in front of the TV and he toppled over and hit his head on the carpet. He's fine, but it scared him a little bit. So, daddy built him a little 'pillow fort'. He loved it!
Watching my DVD in my pillow fort.
Does he look like a MAN here or what? All he needs is a remote control.
One evening, we had a little diaper blow out right before bath time, so he hung out in his diaper for a bit.
He spent some time in the office with daddy on the computer. Yes, my child is watching 'Beerfest'.
He LOVES his Baby Einstein DVD. We probably let him watch a little too much TV this week, but it was an extreme circumstance. We did what we had to do for mommy and daddy to get SOME work done!

Snow week

We are now entering day 4 of 'Snowmageddon'. We have been iced-in since Sunday night with little relief in sight. And before you folks up north laugh at us, just remember that Atlanta has a snow event like this about every 20 years (the last one was in 1993), so we simply don't have the resources to keep the roads cleared. They announced on Sunday that school was cancelled Monday before a snowflake even fell and I honestly thought it was going to be a lot of hype for nothing. We prepared just in case with the necessary staples - bread, milk, beer and wine.

Then about 10pm on Sunday, the snow finally started falling. It was very heavy and we had several inches within an hour. We woke up Monday morning to a beautiful scene of about 5 inches of fresh snow. We had a blast on Mason's first 'real' snow day (we had a dusting on Christmas day, but nothing like this)! We took plenty of pictures as you'll see below. Throughout the day, the snow turned to ice and the road conditions deteriorated. And since the temperature hasn't risen above freezing, they have not improved since.

The excitement of snow has now turned into full-on cabin fever. And since Mason's school has been closed all week, Chris and I are taking turns watching him while trying to work from home (not easy with a 7 month old). Looks like we'll be home again on Thursday and we're hoping for a bit of a thaw so that we can venture out Friday. I've enjoyed this week at home with my boys, but I'm getting behind at work.

We took Shadow out Sunday night when it was really snowing hard. I call this one 'Black dog in snow'.
This is the beautiful scene we woke up to Monday morning.
Getting Mason all bundled up to go out in the snow!
Baby's first snow day!

As you can see, we had a hard time keeping Shadow still. She loves the snow!
A very cute and COLD family
Our house so pretty covered in snow
Chris playing with Shadow. She did not act like an 8 year old dog today!
We took a walk right at dusk before it got too icy.
Our evening stroll wore Mason out!!
Hope everyone is staying safe and warm! Let's all hope for a thaw very soon!!

There are more pictures in our new winter album:
http://picasaweb.google.com/chenretty/MasonWinter2011#

Happy 2011!

The past year has definitely had its ups and downs, but in the end, 2010 was a great year! We are so blessed to have our sweet Mason and looking forward to what 2011 will bring. I know it will be a fun and exciting year watching him grow! I thought things would slow down a little after the holidays, but we have been so busy these first few weeks of the new year. Plus, Mason has been sick pretty much since the beginning of December. It started as a little cold that turned into the croup and a bit of bronchiolitis. His cough is finally better, but now we suspect he may be teething. We're looking for something to pop through any day now. So needless to say, I haven't had a lot of time to blog. Here are some pictures from the past few weeks and an exciting milestone!

Nana and Grandpa came to visit the Sunday after Christmas and stayed for several days. He was Nana's favorite Christmas gift ;-)
Georgia didn't do so well in the bowl game. Poor Mason didn't have a very good first season as a Dawg fan. But he enjoyed watching football with grandpa.Daddy and Mason catching up on their sports online.

He loves his exersaucer! It will entertain him for quite a while these days.
And as of this morning, Mason is sitting up by himself! He does have to balance with his hands on the ground, but I think he'll be fully sitting within a few days!!!
Happy New Year everyone! And I hope everyone in the Atlanta area is prepared for Blizzard 2011 which appears to be heading our way this evening!