Merry Christmas

Introducing...

Mason Christopher

November 21 we welcomed our newest blessing. Mason arrived weighing in at 8 lbs. 10 oz. and measuring 21 inches long! I knew he was going to be bigger than his sister was, but I had no idea he would be more than a pound bigger! No wonder I was so humongous! 

ready to head to the hospital

Even though he was a week late, the labor and delivery couldn't have gone better!

We arrived at the hospital at 7:30 am (and I was STARVING because they make you fast when you're being induced). At 9:00 my doctor came in and broke my water (we were trying to avoid pitocin). Within 30 minutes I started having contractions- and they were real contractions this time, not back labor! I could not have been happier! With Kevin's help, I was able to stick it out without an epidural until 7 cm. After the epidural we had time to watch a little Tiger basketball before Mason made his appearance! About 15 minutes before the game was over, he decided he was ready! After about 10 minutes of pushing, our little man was finally here!

Here are some pictures from the hospital:

 He's here!

 Proud Daddy!

 Georgia coming to meet her Baby Brother

 She was so proud that he was holding her hand!

 First family photo

A word of advice: Never tell a pregnant lady she's going to have her baby early- especially if you have any medical expertise! We were convinced that Mason would be born early so, even though he was only a week past his due date, it felt like a month!

But he was SO worth the wait!

On another note, I guess I'm going to have to come up with a new name for the blog now. Guess I'll start brainstorming...

Wordless Wednesday- Through Georgia's Eyes

 Most are a little blurry, but I think you'll notice they get better as you go. 

She's learning!

September

September was a month full of traveling for us.

Unfortunately, I wasn't that good about taking pictures.

So, you'll get lots of pictures from our first trip, one from our second trip, and none from the last trip.

Oops!

First we made a trip to Nashville to see Thomas the Train. We hadn't had a family vacation this year, so we decided to make it into a mini-vacation while we were there.

The weather was perfect while we were there!

 We found a great little park.

 Almost all of it was shaded.

Georgia had a blast running, swinging, and climbing.

She really didn't want to leave!

That night we went to visit my cousin and his family.

He has two girls and Georgia loved playing with them (and their toys!)

She even got to decorate and eat her own cupcake after dinner!

 Then came the big event:

A Day Out With Thomas!

 There were all kinds of activities set up to do before/ after riding the train.

Georgia loved playing with the stamps and coloring!

 Her first glimpse of the "real" Thomas!

 She was very brave and went down the big blow-up slide twice- all by herself!

 After stopping for a little snack, Georgia watched the magician while we waited for our turn to ride the train.

 All Aboard!

 Checking out the other trains out the window

 Showing off her "too-too-tats"

 (This is not a good picture by any means, but it's a great story!)

As we were riding the train, Georgia was looking around at all the people. She pointed to the man across the aisle and said "That daddy has a Christmas tree on his arm." It was a tattoo that looked like a lightening bolt. I'm not sure if he heard her or not, or if he even knew what she was talking about, but I got a kick out of it!

After the ride we stopped to take a picture with Thomas' picture.

I mean, come on, we're fun parents, but we were not about to wait in the line to get her picture made in front of the train!

After we got back in town, our niece decided she just couldn't wait any longer to be born. So, the next weekend we were back on the road to meet our newest niece, Ellie.

Isn't she beautiful!?
I can't wait to see her again and introduce her to her newest cousin!

And, for our last trip this fall, Georgia, Aunt Anna, and I packed up the car again the next weekend and headed back up north to visit old friends. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures, but rest assured, we had plenty of fun! Our friend, Candice, has 2 boys just a little older than Georgia and she thought they were great! (And of course, their toys were too!)
And we found time to do some shopping too!

It was a crazy, busy month, but I'm so glad we got to make each of these trips. We made lots of great memories!

Family Time

Jumping back to August again.

We also got to spend some time with family. 

We made a trip to see Kevin's parents and his brother and his family.

Georgia got to meet her newest (at that time) cousin, Ethan.

(More on the newest, newest cousin in a later post.)

She seems to really love babies, so I'm hoping that will hold true when Mason gets here!

 She had a blast playing in the pool.

Laid back with her shades on!

 She and Lainey would have stayed in there all day if we had let them!

After church Sunday morning, I tried to get some pictures of Georgia in the dress Maw-maw made her.

This one would have been pretty good, but it was so hot outside that my lens kept fogging up!

{Almost} Wordless Wednesday

She's not even 3 and I think she's already a better artist than I am!

Maw-maw, Papa, and Georgia

She said "Papa doesn't have much hair."

Very observant girl!

Happy Birthday to Me!

My birthday is at the end of August, so Kevin took the day off and we went to the Botanic Gardens, like we did last year. Can I just say it was MUCH more fun last year when I wasn't pregnant! I was in PAIN by the time we left there! But Georgia had fun and that's what really matters!

 Splashing in the water with Daddy

 Jumping!

 I was really hoping we'd get a decent picture of Georgia and I that day since the last decent picture of us was almost a year old. But I don't think we succeeded!

 Does this picture look familiar? 

She was so little!

 Why does she actually smile in pictures with Daddy?

 I can hardly get her to look at the camera when it's a picture with me!

Maybe it's the photographer, right?

 Pretending to be an elephant

 Playing some music

 Daddy sat in the "chair" and pretended to cut some bread...

 so Georgia had to do it too.

 Taking a little snack break

 I love the way she's looking at him here. I'm sure she was telling him all about something!

 Playing in the sand

(Yes, this was twice in one month! I must be getting laid back in my old age!)

 Splashing in the water

 One more attempt at a picture before we left. Too bad we were both hot and sweaty by then!