The Good Bad & Ugly

Most of my posts are of all the wonderful things going on in our lives. But blogging is about being honest so I'm going to share some of the ugly. Parenthood isn't all sunshine and roses (if you are a parent I don't have to tell you this). Mason has been off all week but when we went to the doctor to get a rash checked out we found out he has hand foot mouth disease. There is NOTHING you can do for this contagious virus. Mason has a bad case (the sores are all over his body, in and around his mouth) and is in a lot of pain.  Besides Tylenol there is little we can do for him which makes waiting for this to go through his system that much more diffcult. My happy very active boy has been crying a LOT and just wants to be held. My heart breaks for him. It is so hard to see him in pain or even worse cry out in pain. It has been days and it has been rough; nothing pretty about the situation. 

Being a parent is about being selfless and as my best friend and her son (in town from Kansas) stay at a hotel; We both are doing the best for our respective children. And as my parents have gone beyond the call of duty they too are being selfless and sacrificing for their children. Thank you mom for spending the day in the car with me driving Mason around and for much much more. Thanks dad for still making it appoint to celebrate Matt's birthday and making sure we are fed and ok. I hope we are making you both proud as we teach our son the same values you are constantly instiling in us. 

Being a parent is the most amazing and satisfying job I have ever had and while I love being a mom it is not always easy. So while I have been thrown up on, cried with and worried about Mason over the last few days all I want is to take his pain away. Nothing else matters...

I will spare you pictures of my sweet, sick baby boy. And just hope that next week we are back to sunshine and roses. 

11 months & it feels so good!

As we hit Mason's 11 month birthday a few things dawned on me: 1) it is official Mason has been out of my tummy longer than he was in it. 2) holy sh*** his real birthday is just a matter of weeks away 3)  I think I need a bit more time before thinking about baby # 2 (I'm finally functioning at full capacity). While it is totally a thought I think we are a few months away from it being in the forefront of our minds. 

Enough about me; I know you would much rather hear about what Mason is up to. Well, he has become proficient at crawling, pulling himself up and cruising the furniture. He loves to talk to us, read books and play. He seems to be able to play on his own a bit which is so great to watch or use the five minutes to get something done. Mason also seems very aware of other kids; he is always sure to say hi and give them a growl. This month we retired Mason's infant car seat; we stretched it out as long as we could. He is officially riding in his toddler seat. Going out to eat with Mason has gotten to be something fun for us to do as a family. I don't need to bring a ton of extras for him and he pretty much feeds himself. Plus, he enjoys the extra attention he gets from other diners 

Likes:

- books 

- meal times (loving meatballs & peas)

- being outside 

- making animal noises 

- stacking  his cups or putting smaller objects inside a bin

- my car keys 

Dislikes: 

- having his diaper changed 

- being cleaned up after mealtime 

- being told "no"

We have lots going on in the next few weeks so stay tuned for some fun updates. 

PS: The key to taking the monthly pictures once they become more aware of the stickers is putting the sticker on the onesie and then putting the onesie on the baby. Your very welcome, moms that haven't gotten to that stage yet.