Trick or Treat!

Each year my company holds an annual Halloween event, which includes a chili cook-off, dessert bake-off, costume contest and trick or treating for the kids. It is such a fun day in the office and the best part is seeing the kids in their costumes. This year my team dressed as Firefighters since we are constantly rushing to the latest client crisis and Mason was our dalmatian mascot. That was actually a coincidence - I bought his costume at a consignment sale last summer, but it was perfect!

He got the hang of trick or treating pretty quickly. He went from desk to desk and took a piece (or 3) of candy and put it in his pumpkin. A few times he gave his candy away instead. And of course, tried to eat it with the wrapper on.
Here is Fire station #7! What a great team of ladies that I work with!
And back at home in his Halloween romper. He had a BIG day!
He had his Halloween party at school on Friday and we decided he's not ready for 'real' trick or treating yet. Maybe next year. Happy Halloween everyone! I can't wait to see pictures of all the little ones in their costumes!

Life with a Toddler

This look is all too common these days. Each week gets a little more challenging as my sweet baby boy becomes a full-fledged toddler. A few weeks ago, I pulled out the old 'What to expect the Toddler years' book since we could use a few tips these days... The very first section I read started "as the world begins to open up, the toddler begins displaying a wide range of emotions, including affection, independence, frustration, fear, anger, protest, stubbornness, sadness and puzzlement". That pretty much sums it up!! Any given hour we can see ALL of those!

I do love that he is showing more affection and he loves to give 'hugs' and 'kisses' to us and Shadow. It is so sweet! And we're in a bit of a 'mommy' phase where he wants to be with me all the time and gets upset when I leave the room. He's learning new things so quickly and is becoming very independent. He's into anything and everything and doesn't like being told 'no' AT ALL. He's started throwing little tantrums when he doesn't get his way, which is my least favorite thing. We're working on it and have made a little progress. His favorite words are 'uh-oh' (which is says to everything), 'bye', and 'ball'. The latter 2 are easily confused, but you can tell the difference because he usually waves when saying 'bye'.

Although I do love that he is interacting and learning so much, we are definitely getting our first test as parents! Let the fun begin!

Mommy and Mason's day out

Last Friday Mason's school was closed for teacher training, so I took off work to spend the day with my little boy. Unfortunately, we started the day at his pediatrician getting a flu shot, but it was quick (only a few tears) and then we spent the morning at the Georgia Aquarium! It was both mine and Mason's first trip to the world's largest aquarium and I must say, it was pretty impressive! Mason enjoyed watching the fish and seeing all of the sea creatures. We had a few little tantrums... Mason is in a phase where he does NOT want to ride in his stroller or be confined in any way. He wants to walk everywhere, but that is not always a good idea - especially in a VERY crowded public place like the aquarium!

My camera took HORRIBLE pictures inside the viewing tanks. I guess the lighting made it hard to focus - every picture was blurry.
We loved the penguins! They were so cute and playful! This one kept swimming right in front of Mason and looked like he was waving at us.
And I gotta say, Mason's favorite part of the trip was meeting 'Deepo', the aquarium's mascot. Of course, he was out front when we left, so we didn't even have to go to the aquarium to meet him. Mason thought he was hilarious.
I thought the trip would wear him out, but he absolutely refused to take a nap when we got home. Later, we took a trip to the park (it was a beautiful day!) where he decided to sleep the whole time. Oh well...

Adult weekend

Last weekend, Chris and I were lucky to have a weekend getaway. We went to Asheville, NC for my good friend Terri's wedding. It was our first full weekend away from Mason and of course we missed the little guy, but we had a wonderful, relaxing weekend to ourselves. Chris' parents are at their condo in Mountain City, TN, so we dropped off Mason and spent a few hours with them before heading back to Asheville. It was a beautiful wedding and unfortunately I didn't get many pictures there, but as you can see, Mason had a blast with Nana and Grandpa.

Here's a picture of the happy couple. Congrats to Terri and Chad and thanks for letting us celebrate your special day with you!
Here is the one picture I 'borrowed' from the wedding. Me and my girls (and Mo of course)! I think Chris had found a TV with the Georgia game at this point.
Nana had lots of toys for Mason to play with. It was like an early Christmas!
Of course he immediately finds the balls to play with.
And he discovered the doggie door - I'm pretty sure he would have been crawling through it if he had another day to figure it out.
Nana dressed him appropriately for the big game. Which was a little risky considering they were in Tennessee...
Chillin' on the car ride home. He is actually NOT the good little traveler that he used to be. He does not like to sit still anymore, so it was not a very pleasant ride home, but we all survived!