Alphabet

Hunter has been repeating the alphabet for some time now and can even identify some letters by sight alone. He can also count to 3 reliably all by himself, and some days up to 5 without help!

We finally got him saying the alphabet on video, though he had already gone through it once for us before we thought to grab the video, so he was becoming quite bored with it, hence the silliness, and definitely had better things to do when it was over!

Memorial Weekend

It was a beautiful weekend and we spent most of our time outdoors. Hunter enjoyed playing with Jack the Cat and the other neighborhood children in our backyard. We took a trip to Carroll County and had a nice visit with Nanny, Aunt Faye, Uncle Jerry, Pop-pop, JoAnn, and Aunt Kathy. Hunter was beyond thrilled to ride the tractor with Pop-pop. So much, in fact, that once they were finished he dragged Ryan and JoAnn back out to the barn separately to show them the tractor again. Mason slept through all the excitement!

Aunt Laurie, Uncle Scotty, Abbey and Jim stopped by for a visit and got to meet Mason for the first time, and last but not least we went out to a farm in Elkton to pick some strawberries (8.5 lbs to be exact!) haha!

And the tractor ride...

Milk Coma Flashback!

Here is a picture of Mason right after eating at 19 days old:

And here is a similar picture of Hunter when he was 18 days old:

Ryan's Birthday

The weather was gorgeous on Ryan's birthday. His wish was to picnic at Jerusalem Mills, a great park near our house, and then go for a nice hike through their trails. Opa, MiMi and Uncle Scott met us there to join in the fun. We ended the day back home grilling some steaks for dinner and playing with the boys out back! It was a great day and, of course, we were all relieved that the world did not end!

Mason's First Bath

As soon as Mason's umbilical cord fell off and his circumcision wound healed, we were able to give him a full bath rather than a sponge bath. He didn't seem to mind it at all!

"Un"professional Pics of Mason

We wanted to get some professional newborn shots of Mason taken, but unfortunately the photographer we used in the past was unavailable, so Felicia decided she'd wing it on her own. This was the outcome...

Mason's Belly Photos

This is a little late, but as we did with Hunter, I wanted to post pictures of Mason's 40 weeks of growth within the womb.

Of course, we didn't quite get a picture each week, but we did our best!

A Mother's Day Surprise

After Hunter's bath this evening, Ryan dried him off and then sent him into his room naked to me for a diaper and pajamas. Hunter seemed to have other plans and ran back into the bathroom where he peed in his potty seat... granted, the potty seat was on the floor and not on top of the toilet at the time...but it is a start! We are VERY proud of him!

First Mother's Day with Two!

What a spectacular Mother's Day to have both of my sons with me...Mason's arrival couldn't have been more perfectly timed! We had a pretty leisurely day, as I am still in the midst of recovery, but it was sweet nonetheless. Hunter made some adorable gifts for me at Day Care and Mason is eating extremely well and starting to sleep better at night, which is a gift in and of itself!

Pat, Hanns, and Scott were also able to come over for a visit and snuggle with Mason and Hunter. As usual Hunter was very excited to see and play with them, and Mason seemed content to snooze the time away in their arms.

Another very special Mother's Day treat was to have my own mother here with us. She came to stay with us the night before Mason's arrival and has been such a huge help with entertaining and caring for Hunter. In addition, my house has never looked better, she has cleaned and also done all the weeding in my flower beds as well as bought and potted some new flowers for me on Mother's Day. She's cooked a ton of food so we all have loads of good things to grab out of the fridge whenever we are hungry! It is amazing all the wonderful things she has done for me over the years and continues to do for me and my family. I strive to be half the mother to my boys that she has been to me.

WELCOME MASON!!!

At 9 a.m. on May 4th we went to the hospital for our induction. Upon admission they exammed Felicia and she was 3 cms dilated and 50% effaced. They started the pitocin at 10:30 and contractions got underway at 11:15. We sat around playing cards through most of it, but they eventually became a bit more painful and were coming every 2-3 mins. Just before 2 p.m. the doctor stated that she was going to break the water and this would intensify the contractions quite a bit and get things moving along a bit more. At that point, Felicia opted for her epidural. So at 2 p.m. she got her epidural and the water was broken at 2:15. We watched a movie and let the medicine do its thing. At 4:30 p.m., Felicia was 4 cms dilated and 90% effaced upon examination, and at 6 p.m. she was 10 cms dilated but Mason's head was not yet dropped into position. Felicia was told to sit up a bit more to let gravity help him along. At 6:45 p.m. Felicia was feeling a lot of pressure during her contractions and was asked to start pushing. With the first push Mason's head crowned and the doctor exclaimed "WAIT, don't push, I wasn't ready for that!" She and the nurse quickly broke down the table and got everything ready. Felicia pushed 2 more times and at 6:53 p.m. we welcomed the arrival of Mason Alexander Vandrey!! He weighed 8 lbs 5 ozs and was 21 inches long.

The next day he was introduced to his big brother. It went wonderfully, Hunter immediately wanted up on the bed to sit with Mason and Mommy. After checking Mason out thoroughly he exclaimed "Hold, hold!" with his arms out. While holding Mason, he gave him some kisses on his forehead. It was a truly beautiful moment!

Officially late...

Mason's due date was yesterday (April 30th), so today Hunter has been trying a few big brother tricks to get him out!

Last Weekend as a Family of 3

As we countdown the days to Mason's arrival, we spent the weekend running around with Hunter. We played a little in our backyard on Friday. (Note: Hunter loves playing string with Jack, but NOT when the string is attached to his pants! We thought it was hilarious though!)

On Saturday, we took Hunter to the playground in the morning, then spent the afternoon at Sherwood Gardens enjoying the beautiful tulips and picnicking outside, then to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner.

On Sunday, Pop was in town and stopped by for a visit and we played a little more out back though the weather was not as nice.

It was a great weekend but we are all anxiously awaiting the arrival of our new little guy to make our family complete! Should be any day now...