Tractor Pull!





When Bryce returned to Jo's house, he was TERRIFIED of her dog, Ruby.  Seriously.  Terrified!  I mean, if you took him over to her kennel, he would shake and cry.  If Jo was in the kitchen, he would REFUSE to go past her kennel to get to Jo.

 



Bryce eyeing Ruby!

It took a few days...but they became friends!

Bryce and Ruby...friends!

So the above two pictures...both from Jo...were all I had this week.  Um...all I can say is I'm back at school.  Life is busy.  It's hard to keep up!  So I got the camera out tonight and snapped a few photos:

 



Mason posing for me...this is so Mason!

And now he's swinging his arms back and forth...

Do the twist!

This little fella is able to get himself up to standing...and today got up a step!

Hi little buddy!

Getting the hang of balance...

Love him!

DAD!

Seriously...how did he get this big?

For a couple of weeks, Matt and the older two have been working on making a tractor pull for their toy tractors.  They have been all about tractor pulls since we went to the one at the county fair!  Today it was finally done and ready to test out!  I seriously don't know how Matt knows how to do all of this stuff...but he does...and always finds a way to make things work.  He sure made two little boys happy with this!

 



 

Zane-isms

• Zane has daily behavior calendars again this year.  The goal is to have a green day...that means he followed directions, etc.  He's already had 2 yellows...and an orange!  When I asked him why he already had these when last year he had a whole month of green, he said "Well, last year I didn't know what to do!  Now I do!"  Then I asked him what it was for and he said, "Talking."  I told him that he knew he should only talk when appropriate.  He said, "Mom, you know I am a talker!"

Mason's Marvels

• One day we were driving past the police station.  Mason said, "Oh, there's the police office."  I said "you mean the police station?"  He said, "No, it's a police office.  It's not a station.  There's no gas there!"
• One evening Mason and I were sitting out on the porch waiting for supper to finish grilling.  He was trying to tell me something and I must have had a quizzical look on my face because he said, "You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?"  I laughed so hard!
• One morning Mason heard Bryce crying, so he went in to his room.  He climbed into his crib, sang a song to him, and he calmed down.  Later he told me, "Mom, Bryce was fussering and fussering, so I sang 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' to him and he stopped!"
• When we went to visit Mason's daycare that he's going to before Preschool...he said, "I don't know what this one will smell like."  When he visited his preschool...he walked in and said, "It smells good!" so that must have still been on his mind!
• Yesterday I was visiting Maggie and Jaxon and the boys came over to say hi.  Mason was crying becuase he's scared of Maggie's dogs.  He put his head on my shoulder and said, "Just a minute.  I have eye drops (tears)."

Sick baby, First Days of School, and First Tooth!!!

What...a...week!  It began with Bryce throwing up on Sunday night...so Matt went to work from 1-7 in the morning since I had an all-district meeting and back to school night Monday.  He was fine all day Monday, then got sick again Monday night.  So I stayed home Tuesday.  He was fine all day Tuesday.  Tuesday night Papa came down with the older two for Zane's back to school night.  Bryce got sick again.  So Wednesday Papa was home with all three boys.  Bryce was fine all day Wednesday.  We thought he was over it, so he went to Jo's house Thursday.  When he woke up from his nap he had a very bad diaper...so it appeared he wasn't quite over the bug.  So, again, Matt worked late so he could stay home Friday.

Amongst all of this...I started school Wednesday, Zane started school Thursday, and Mason started at a new daycare until his preschool starts later this month.  My class seems really sweet.  Zane is enjoying first grade, and Mason is having fun at "school."  The report from his teacher is that he did amazing!  It's so cute...he has to have his backpack on all the time!  After day 2, I asked him how the peas were at lunch and he said "they were yucky.  But the macaroni was yuckier!  I had some little hot dogs...what are they called? (Little smokies).  They were good!"  So surreal to see him going to school...such a big boy!

Our big first grader!!!

Backpack shot!

Today had an interesting twist...my dear friend Maggie, who was due with her first baby September 15th, texted to see if I could come sit with her at the hospital for a bit.  So I hurried there...and was on the other side of delivery as I sat with her all the way until she pushed!  It was such an honor to be there during such a special time in her life!  Baby Jaxon is a doll and I can't wait to get back there to cuddle him!!!  When I got back home today I was playing with Bryce and noticed he has a tooth!!!  He's been sick...and not himself...but you'd sure never know it because he's such a great baby!  I must say I did love how much he wanted to cuddle this week...but also hated it cause I knew it meant he wasn't feeling well!

So...here's to hoping this week is better than last!

If you pray...I'd love it if you could say a prayer for one of my student's grandpas (Mark)...who is dealing with stage 4 brain cancer.  My cousin Jamie...who is in labor with her first baby!  A sweet sweet co-worker with transverse myelitis (inflammation of the spinal cord).  A very rare disorder that affects only 4 in a million people.  Megan is 33.  Before summer, she was a marathon runner.  By the end of July, she was using a walker.  I had her sweet daughter in my class last year.  Currently she is getting some treatments that seem to be working and she will be going to the Mayo clinic as soon as they get an appointment.  But she needs prayers.  They all do.  Thanks for adding them to your list!

Iowa State Fair!

This week was "Back to Reality" for me!  To start the week we went to the pool to catch some rays!  We were excited to see that the Garcias and Ottis' were there also!  They boys had fun playing with their friends!  Tuesday the older two were scheduled for haircuts.  Mason woke up that morning with and kept telling me his throat hurt.   I was hoping he wasn't getting sick, so decided to call and reschedule our appointments.  Luckily it was short lived and the rest of the day he was fine.  Wednesday morning Bryce and Zane had checkups.  Bryce for his 6 month appointment, and Zane ahd a recheck for his hearing.  Bryce's went well.  He's a little over 18 pounds and doing great!  Zane wasn't able to have his hearing checked as their machine wasn't working correctly.  After the appointment we came home to get the boys packed for Grandma's house!  We met Grandma in Maryville so the older two boys could stay with her for a few days as I returned to school Thursday!

It rained this week!  I looked outside and saw this double rainbow!

I had my first two days of teacher work days Thursday and Friday.  Bryce returned to Jo's and did very well!  Friday we were going to head to the Iowa State Fair.  However, Matt is extremely swamped at work and decided to stay late so he could get a little ahead due to our upcoming busy week!  So instead we left on Saturday morning.  The boys were already there with Grandma and Papa.  Apparently they went down to the fair Friday and decided they didn't have much use for the fair...there were not toy tractors to buy and the real tractors were all locked so they couldn't climb on them.  However...we got them down there again and they were lucky on Saturday...the tractors were unlocked!!!

Ready for the fair!

Papa and Mason going down the big slide

That was fun!

Zane and Adam racing down the big slide...

Zane wins!

Brycers hanging out watching it all

Blowing raspberries at Papa!

Sweet face!

Adam, Mason, and Zane on top of the big combine!

Zaner!

This is Mason saying "NO!" to me taking a picture!

Mason was in 7th Heaven on the tractors!

Farmer Mason

Farmer Bryce

Farmer Zane

Giving me "a look"

Such concentration!

Oh Brycers!

Zane pretending to sleep!

Brycers getting a lift from Papa

Mason and Adam

Brycers all tuckered out!

7 Months Old!

I realized I forgot to post these last week...the boys fishing with Dad and Papa last weekend:

Catch of the day...

"Watch Dad, I'll eat it!"

As I figured, about ten minutes after the boys arrived home it looked like they never left!  I sure loved the clean house while I had it!  We are trying to soak up every moment of summer we can!  We swam, played, and just had fun!  I have to say...these boys are creative!  See below...

"Look Mom, we're towing a car!"

There they go...

EVERYTHING goes in our mouth these days...

Watching big brothers play

Cutie pie

You lookin at me?

Lately it seems...wherever I am...Mason is right there with me.  Feeding Bryce, changing Bryce, folding laundry, cleaning, cooking, even going to the bathroom!  It's hard to even take a picture these days without him saying "Take a picture of me too mom." 

Bryce playing and Mason posing

Seriously...7 months?  How has this happened?  Bryce is such an amazing baby.  He's just.so.good!  He's laid back, and goes with the flow, and doesn't really cry much, and smiles all the time, and is a mama's boy, which I love!  Right now he:

• Probably weighs 18 or more pounds.  I'm unsure.  I haven't weighed him in awhile, and right now he's asleep, so we'll go with that.
• Army crawls all over the place!  This little fella is quick I tell ya!
• Puts everything in his mouth!  I have to "clean sweep" the floor constantly!
• Takes 2 daytime naps and sleeps all night!  He's so easy to put down!  Just lay him down and walk out!!!
• Sits up in bed and looks around when he wakes up!
• Loves to watch his brothers!  He really loves it if I hold him and we "chase" the boys.  He just giggles and giggles!
• Eats 6-8 ounces every 3-4 hours.  Eats cereal, fruits, and veggies once or twice a day.  He's just not a huge eater like the other two were...
• Is starting to try to pull himself up to standing!  Stop...growing...up...so...quickly! 

See that little grin through the hands...I couldn't get one with the hands out of the mouth!

Always a happy little thing!

What did you say?

Once again..."Mom, take one of Brycey and me!"

Mason will be starting preschool this year.  Since he's not too fond of change, I wanted to be sure to get him there for a "visit" a coule of times before the first day.  So we went last week.  He was excited to go and kept asking me about it.  Then we walked in and the first thing out of his mouth was "It smells good in here!"  Ha!  He was pretty quiet and just held onto me the whole time.  He was very interested in the playground, and before we left, the director told us we could play there if we wanted, so we stayed for a few minutes and played.  I think this visit will help him transition easier later in the month!