The hottest summer on record

Our state is burning up and we have been in the 100's for the past five days....We are all praying for rain and relief for those firefighters and people loosing their homes. It really has been a memorable summer for good and bad reasons. I get a lot of sympathy being 7 months preggers in this heat (I don't like sympathy) but I have to say it hasn't been too bad...but I will post more about that and Grandma B's 80th soon.

Mason's cousin's Cormic

and Keegan (and their parents) are back in Colorado and we have been having so much fun up at Camp Grandma and Papa.

Grandma and Papa's bed is always a favorite spot, dogs included.

We all tried to escape to the mountains hoping for cooler temps...but nope it was still freaking hot!!!

A mid-day siesta is all you can do until the sun starts to set.  

The hammock is another fun spot...however it always turns into someone getting thrown out.

Its been interesting watching these friendships continue to form. My child is SO COMPETITIVE and not very good at loosing! We are continually working on it and trying to beat him at games but I think he is the mold of his father...and them boys is hard to break.

These boys are good helpers especially when you throw some friendly compition into the mix..."Boy you betta shuck your corn faster than your cuz'n"

Last weekend with Denver in the 100's we gladly headed up to the folks to celebrate our beautiful Mother and Grandmother! It is cool to watch my Mom as a Grandma, nothing makes her happier than being with her boys. They were all up on the trampoline rolling and giggling for an hour.

The Grandboys were very excited to make their Grandma's birthday special!

Mason likes to say "prayer" before every meal and he has everyone around the table say what they are thankful for.

He said "He was thankful for his Grandma!"

 Keegan said "He was thankful to be back with all his family"

and

Cormic said "he was thankful for the cake"...That kid cracks me up!

Such sweet and caring boys we are trying to raise:-)

Mason at 3 1/2

A typical daily conversation with Mason goes like this:

Mason: Mom, Mom, Mom....when can I go to big boy school?

Me: When you are 5

Mason: Ok. I will be 5 tomorrow!

Me: No you will be 3 tomorrow and 4 in November!

Mason: No Mom! I will be 5 tomorrow and I will be bigger than you. Last night when I went to sleep I already grew more. And my birthday is in July because me and Dad have to have our birthdays in July.

He talks a lot and most of our conversations are him arguing with me. I try to laugh a lot about it but some days I ask him "to please not talk until he is 5!"

Why do you want to grow up so fast when you are little? Doesn't he realize how good he has it...how easy life is at this age;-)?!?!

Mason at 3 1/2 is:

constantly "constructing" imaginative things...this day he made a pool and repeatedly shouted  "cannon ball" while jumping into it.

He climbs everything. He has done this for a while but the new really fun part is jumping off EVERYTHING! I will be amazed if we make it to "big boy" school with out a broken bone.

He is very determined to win

and will not give up without a fight

he didn't win this battle but he sure tried.  

He is sensitive and thankful and will often tell me "Mom, me and my belly thank you for that delicious meal!"

He manages and plays all the positions on his own baseball team, called the Rockies. There are no girls allowed on the team. This pisses me off because I am a girl and I can play ball. We are not sure where he has come up with this "Girls can't do what boys do" but be darn sure that his Grandma and I are helping to straighten him out!

Most tasks are a fight or an argument and we try hard to find the humor in them, bedtime is the biggest challenge.

He is convinced his Dad is the strongest, smartest, and fastest person on earth! They are best friends and I love that.

He has just begun the stage of  "seeing a shadow in his room or hearing a monster" and of course Dad is the superhero to rid his room of such things.

He loves to play make believe, has imaginary friends, is not shy about belting out a made up song or dancing in front of you.

He loves the letter "W" and the number 5 (go figure)! His favorite superhero is Spiderman, even though we won't let him watch it. His favorite disney character is Mickey and no one else is allowed to like him. He loves Lego's and trucks and building forts. His Grandma and Papa own a mountain and he likes to go there. He loves the outdoors and would sleep out there if we let him (until the shadows come). 

 He is a good eater and loves Chicken, rice, broccoli, and blackberries more than anything. He is a self confessed Chipoltle addict. Deli Lays and Baked cheetos are his vices. He despises chocolate and milk (totally not my kid when it comes to that!)

He is still so innocent! He has moments when he is sweet and cuddly and we gobble up those moments any chance we get. He is a good kid. He is buckets of fun.

He is our hearts!

6 months down

I am feeling big again and have accepted that is how my body does pregnancy. Its hard to believe we only have 14 weeks left until Max is here. I can officially say that because we scheduled my C-section for Friday September 14th, so unless he comes early, it is 14 weeks until he is here. September 14th was Nancy (Matt's Moms) birthday, pretty cool that we could have him share that day.

A repeat C-section has been an "on the fence decision" for me.  I have allowed people's comments to make me feel like doing a C-section makes me less of a Mom when really having a baby is tough no matter how you roll the dice. It has ultimately ALWAYS come down to what is best for baby, with both Mason and Max. SO at my last Dr.'s appointment I discussed in depth my option to do a C-section or try to do a VBAC. Two of the Dr.'s in the practice would not let me do a VBAC because of Mason's size and the length of his labor (37 hours before Cesarean). The Doctor I saw that day said she would let me do it but was 90% sure I would end up in the same scenario. My concerns for wanting to attempt a VBAC are nursing and baby being able to clear his lungs. Statistically, vaginal births have better results with both of those things, which is pretty obvious because that is how nature intended babies to be born. She assured me that my long labor with Mason which resulted in him being in the NICU (they had to supplement)  was the reason my milk took longer to come in and that I would be nursing just fine. And as for his lungs, its always a risk and they do their best to suction and keep a close eye on baby, this is still a risk with vaginal births too. SO I am at peace with my decision and thankful that modern day medicine allows me to have babies.

I have been going back and reading blog posts from my pregnancy with Mason, which is so nice to have because you really do forget. So at month 6, I have to say this pregnancy has been easier...or maybe my perspective is different. So far I have had very mild swelling that comes and gos with the heat or my sodium intake (ie I am swearing off Mexican and Italian Restaurants.) With Mason I was very swollen by this point and could only wear flip flops. I am sleeping fairly well and though I am experiencing Carpel Tunnel again, it only seems to be at night. I have not been popping Rolaids yet like I did with Mason. I do think my fuse is a little shorter this pregnancy but that could be the trying moments of a three year old. All in all I feel good and am enjoying all those nudges and kicks from Mr. Max.