Happy Easter!

Hello to all!! Things are great here in the Mason home. Kendall is growing like a weed (she actually moved up to SIZE 1 diapers...wowzers) and we're enjoying every minute of it. Sweet baby girl is sleeping through the night consistently now and boy does that make a woman feel human again! We are battling the worse case of cradle cap known to mankind, so if anyone has any suggestions, send them my way. We've already tried marinating her scalp in baby oil as well as olive oil (that was a pleasant smell), gently scrubbing with a brush, and Selson Blue. So far none of that is working. For a girl like me that loves to pick at things, this is a rare form of torture.

James and I have decided to serve at Cross Culture with the K-5th grade and yesterday was our first Sunday. We loved it! Not only did we both learn something during the lesson (showing how awesome of a director Mrs. Coral is), but we truly enjoyed loving on the children. It just melts my heart not only to see James with Kendall, but to see him with older children playing like a big kid! It's so sweet!

Here are some pictures for ya:

Mommy and Kendall hangin' out

The sweetest smile in the world

All dressed up to celebrate our Risen Savior!! *Which, by the way, I explained the true meaning of Easter to her on the way to church and she didn't have ANY questions...can you believe how smart she is already??*

Our first of many attempts at a family shot with Kendall actually LOOKING at the camera. Everytime James would sit down, she'd look at him...by the 3rd attempt, we were laughing hysterically...good times.

Shots, the Rachels, ghetto

Boy do I have a lot to talk about...so hang on to your hats, faithful readers.

Most importantly, my sweet precious angel baby is doing well. She had her 2 month checkup last week, complete with shots (poor thing). Here are the stats:

Weight 9 pounds, 9 ounces (25%)
Height 23" (75%)
Head circumfrence 39.5 cm (75%)

Kendall got her first dose of the million and one immunizations they recommend and did beautifully. She cried a strange, pitiful cry that I've never heard before and then went to sleep for pretty much the rest of the day. She didn't run a fever, but they may have been because I gave her a couple of doses of Tylenol just in case.

She's really getting a little personality that I just adore. She absolutely melts my heart with her smile. Well, see for yourself:



Here she is with her Nana a while ago...gotta love that pacifier!

And she already loves her Sunday afternoon naps with Granddaddy:

In other news, we recently held "see you soon" parties for my two good friends, the Rachels. Both are getting ready to embark on incredible journeys with their families and while I truly am happy for them, I'm also a little sad in my heart that I won't be able to see them as easily as I can now. Here are a few shots from the par-tays:

All of us crazy gals from the Hopkins-Pittman Sunday School class:

The goofballs cutting their farewell cake...I made them do this:

One of the Rachels and me:

The other Rachel and me...notice the red cry nose...cute, huh?

Let's see...is there anything else exciting going on in my life? Oh yes, I almost forgot...OUR CAR GOT STOLEN!!! Can you believe that? Right out of our driveway Friday night/Saturday morning. So I'm thinking that A) I live in the ghetto and B) Durham in general IS the ghetto, so I'm doomed. No, seriously - the police called Sunday morning and told us that they had "recovered" the car...police lingo for ya. It's in the shop right now getting the ignition fixed since Mr. Grand Theft Auto decided to start it with a screwdriver. Unfortunately James' license was stolen, so please pray that we aren't victims of Grand Theft Identity anytime soon.

I'll leave you on a happier note with more pics of Miss Thang...take care!

Maybe I should be more observant

Tonight was one of those lucky nights when my husband got off work early, so we headed out to have a family date night. First we went to Ross and looked around. Then we decided we'd try to grab a bite to eat. All was well - food was good, service was great, blah blah blah...UNTIL we walked out the door and noticed that the sanitation grade was an 85!! That's right, folks - I ate at a B rated establishment. Now, I don't want to name any names or anything...

but I'm going to have a problem going back to this particular restaurant again. Right now I'm coping with the thought of rats, spiders and unwashed hands by telling myself that the kitchen staff is probably on their best behavior after getting such a bad grade. Here's hoping at least...

Here's the happenings...

So I'm guilty of pretty much never posting (as April pointed out this week at church). Thought I'd bring everyone up to speed on the haps at the Mason house.

Most importantly, Kendall is doing great! She had her one month check up and she was growing like she's supposed to (up to 8 pounds, 12 ounces) and all my neurotic mommy questions were answered to my satisfaction. She was given Zantac for Reflux, which has definitely helped. She wasn't a spitter, but you could tell that milk was coming up in her throat and causing her pain. She refused to lay on her back, gagged, made horrible faces, etc. So, luckily we're all good on that. She was also diagnosed with something called laryngomalacia (see here for more info on that) http://www.cssd.us/body.cfm?id=464 which she should grow out of. They (thankfully) didn't find it necessary to run the scope like the link talks about, so we're keeping an eye on it and everything should be fine. She goes for her first shots next Monday. Hopefully all will be okay with that, although I'm quite worried about how I'm going to handle seeing her scream :-)

Here's a pic of her cute self smiling:




My girl also likes to sprawl out when she takes a nap...doesn't she look comfy?

Here's a family picture we took a couple of weeks ago:

In other news, James and I had our first date night last Monday. Prestonwood had an employee appreciation dinner at a really nice hotel and spa, so mom kept Kendall while we got all dressed up for dinner. It was wonderful to get away and spend one on one time with James. I met lots of his coworkers and just had an all around good evening...I also ate like a pig. Here's a shot from that evening:

I started back to work last week and that went really well. It was interesting the first couple of days trying to figure out a routine, but I think we've gotten it down now. It was good to be back with some friends that I had made before maternity leave, but kind of sad to leave Kendall at mom's. I'm going to give this a shot, but if we feel like it's not working out for us, it's back to pinching pennies for the Mason's. I'll keep you posted on that.

Alright - it's off to bed for me. Hope everyone is doing well out there in cyberland.

Dirty baby...

...is what my kid is destined to be if I go back her reaction to bath time thusfar. My girl FREAKS out! I just have to get it done as quickly as possible, while still paying attention to all those nooks and crannies (like under her neck...her least favorite part to get washed and coincidently the part that mommy is obsessed with cleaning). Don't believe me? Check out her reaction below:

Mommy what are you doing to me??

This is much better!
All clean and happy once again!
Even a little smile for you!

Besides bathtime, Kendall is doing well. She's eating well and gaining weight the way the doctor's want. She sleeps pretty good, too. Getting her to sleep in her bassinet it something of a chore, but we're getting there. Her daddy is the only one that she'll do it for, though. She's starting to respond with smiles and little noises, which just fills my heart to overflowing! I never knew you could love someone so much this quickly. We are blessed beyond measure.

I'm doing well, too. I go back to work the 19th part time at the place I was at before Kendall was born. I'm pretty excited about it because I made some good friends there and I'm looking forward to seeing them again. It's going to be hard to leave Kendall, but my mom is going to take excellent care of her. The best part is that my boss was willing to work with me, so I can have every Monday off. That works out great because James has Sundays and Mondays off, so we'll be able to spend that time together.

He's been sick the past couple of days. I wanted him to go check into a hotel to make sure his germs didn't get on my precious Kendall, but he wasn't really feeling that. He wasn't really feeling me spraying him with Lysol yesterday either, but such is life!

We have our first date night the 18th! I'm so excited I can hardly stand it. I've been thinking about it for weeks now! It's funny how much we took that time together for granted before the baby was born.

Now, I'm off to try and get a shower while Kendall is being a happy camper! Hope all is well in your neck of the woods!

Old Lady

Tuesday Kendall celebrated her 2 week birthday! She's getting so old! Seriously, she already looks and acts differently than she did when we brought her home. It's amazing.

Things are going pretty well. She finally gained some weight (she's up to 7 pounds, 6 ounces) so we don't have to go back to the doctor until February. Praise God for insurance!!

Unfortunately, breastfeeding just didn't work out for me. I was pumping and feeding her expressed milk until yesterday when it seems I ran out of milk...don't know what's up with that. Never heard of it happening before, but it did. She was on Enfamil GentLease as a supplement anyway and she seems to be liking that, so we'll stick with it. Maybe I'll have better luck with the breastfeeding next go round.

James and I have worked out a 1st shift, 2nd shift system that seems to be working well for us as far as sleep. He takes care of her during the first part of the night and I take care of her the second part. That way we both get uninterrupted sleep for a few hours. Kendall is a really good baby...we've only had one actual "sleepless" night so far. "So far" being the key phrase here...I'm not naive enough to think my sleepless nights are over with!

The precious thing is sleeping right now. We wore her out with a bath and I royally ticked her off by pulling out the blue bulb and sucking her nose. She was FURIOUS! But, I'm sure breathing much much better after the removal of those boogies she had. Yes, folks - I'm officially a mom...I say things like boogies.

Hope everyone is doing well!

One week ago...

...I was gearing up for my induction and now here we are, happily at home! Praise the Lord!!


I won't bore you with too many details of the labor. Here's a quick rundown:





I was admitted Sunday, the 30th and given the cervical gel to thin my cervix. I was up all night with back pain from that...wouldn't necessarily consider them contractions, but not fun either. My Pitocin was started at 7 a.m. on Monday, the 31st and that got to working pretty quickly. At some point I asked for an epidural and got it and experienced relief for a few hours. Doc came and checked me and I was dilated some, but unfortunately the epidural was wearing off, so they tried to "top it off". At around midnight, I was ready to start pushing, but after a couple of hours of that, we realized that I wasn't progressing at all. The doctor told me I was pushing "ineffectively"...thanks, pal. At this point, I was pretty frantic and panicked, thinking that the labor was never going to end. They prepped me for a CSection and Kendall was born at 2:23 a.m. on New Year's Day!





She is so beautiful and perfect...I'm just overwhelmed at God's goodness. I look at her and just cry because I love her so much and I understand the responsibility God has given me to take care of her. I pray that we raise her up to love the Lord and to serve Him with her life. She's just amazing.





Couple of things you can pray for:





1. Kendall is a little jaundiced. We have an appointment tomorrow morning to check that out.





2. Breast feeding is going kind of slow. My milk still isn't really in. I have a small supply, but I'm worried it's not an adequate one. The hospital hooked me up with a pumping/formula schedule to increase my milk (Kendall wasn't eating from the breast while I was in the hospital) and I think it's going well. I'm going to try today to only breast feed and see how it goes. Please pray that this works out for us.

Right after delivery

Sweet baby girl

Finally at home

Snug as a bug