All About Mason cont...

Well Mason is getting to that age were everything is all happening so fast. Even since my last update on him a few days ago we have new major things happening!!! First off we started cereal a couple of days ago. He has done really well with it & is learning quite fast. He was definitely ready for this next step. Secondly, his first tooth popped through on Monday the 18th. I saw it coming but I thought that it would go back down like Eric's first teeth did. Nope, that sharp little booger made it through on Monday morning with the second one right behind it a week later. That one came through on Monday the 25th. Needless to say, we've got a slightly cranky & irritated little boy on our hands. The other thing that he's doing a lot of here lately is he's trying to sit up from laying down. He has gotten so interested in being part of the action & engaging in family time. To help with the sitting up Aunt Kim sent Emily's Bumbo for Mason to use. Lucky for us Emily wasn't all that interested in it & won't be missing it. Thanks again Aunt Kim, we appreciate it. We also got him a new Jumparoo & he has been loving it. He has really learned how to make the thing work, he's been a busy jumping boy!!! Below are some more pics of Mason in all his glory!

1st go with cereal.

in the bumbo.

investigating the new jumparoo.

my new camera

I am so excited, I just got a new camera on Saturday!! This new Kodak 712 replaces my Samsung D53. There was nothing wrong w/ my Samsung camera we just wanted a better camera to take pics of the amazing views & scenery here in New Mexico. My only complaint is there is a bunch of buttons & things on the camera, just not alot of instruction on them. Other than that, the biggest thing I'm most excited about with this new camera is the ability to take panoramic pics. That is gonna be so cool to take pictures of the mountains with!!! Weather permitting, we are going to try & get out this weekend to take more pics of the area, so stay tuned for more updates!!

Bradbury Science Museum

I thought the museum was really cool & had lots of stuff that I would have liked to read more about. I did take some pictures that I wanted to share. Keep in mind, Los Alamos is the secret little town from the movie "Manhattan Project" & where nuclear research continues to this day. You'll have to ask Danny about our trip.

A scale replica of the 1st nuclear bomb. The actual
size of the bomb was as tall as a grown man!!


A life size replica of "Little Boy".


Eric, Mason & I in front of a life size replica of "Fat Man".

The birthday fun continues!

When Danny came home on Tuesday he informed me that he had Wednesday off & wanted to take Eric to do something fun for his birthday. Well after a little research we found a place in Albuquerque called IT'Z. Now mind you, Albuquerque is 2 hours away but Danny wanted either Chuck E Cheese or something like that. So off to Albuquerque we went.... I have to say this place was FANTASTIC!!! It is a blend of Gattiland & Chuck E Cheese. Eric & Danny enjoyed themselves tremendously. And yes, I did too!! They had some really cool games & you won lots of tickets with your game play. Eric ended the day with 678 tickets to choose prizes with (thanks to a little help from Daddy). Oh & the coolest part: the indoor roller coaster & indoor whirlly thing. Eric road both, twice. Danny & I rode both, one time each since he had to have a parent ride with him. I do believe we will be making another trip back to that place. I have to beat Deal or No Deal I only won one ticket from that dang game!! Danny had to carry Eric out crying because after 3 hours he still was not ready to leave!!

Mason & mommy watching all the fun.

Eric is watching as his 75 tickets

that he won comes out of the machine.

Eric rides the carousel.

Eric racing on a motorcycle. He looks so small

but he loved every minute of it. Daddy helped

tilt him back & forth in the corners!!

Eric Turns 4!!

As you know, we were here in New Mexico for Eric's birthday this year. But don't you worry, he had plenty of fun for his big day!! That morning I woke him up & reminded him it was his birthday, you should have seen the look on his face!!! After breakfast the boys & I ventured out for the day & went to the Bradbury Science Museum here in town. Eric really didn't enjoy most of the museum except for the "Tech Room" which was more hands on & had some toys!! The museum was pretty interesting (to me anyway). It had some of the history of the town ("The Town That Never Was") in connection to the Manhattan Project & the ongoing nuclear research that is done here. They even had some life size replicas of 'Fat Man' & 'Little Boy' (the bombs dropped on Japan) that Eric was in awe about. After the museum we had a family bday celebration back at the house, complete with cake & gifts. It had been such a long day that Mason passed out sitting in my lap while Eric opened gifts!! All in all, he enjoyed his day & really likes saying that he is 4 now!!

Eric & Mason all bundled up, ready to head out for the museum.

Eric's invention at the museum. Yes those are gears

& yes they all work together!!

Forget taking everything out one by one, lets just

dump it all out!!

Passed clean out, it was a really long day for him!!

All About Mason

Looking over the blog, I've come to realize that Mason doesn't get much time for himself. I tend to say that he's just along for the ride, but he has been up to so much here lately!!! So today is all about Mason. Some of his newest tricks are rolling over more, sitting up (with assistance), "talking" non-stop & smiling at that baby in the mirror. He's turned over before, especially on the bed, but now he rolls over almost as soon as I get him on his tummy on the floor!! The sitting up thing is relatively new, he's not as interested in sitting in his bouncer as he is in sitting up on the couch or in our laps. Luckily Emily doesn't have much interested in her Bumbo & Aunt Kim was kind enough to mail it to us. Our arms really will be grateful for it!! The last two tricks have got to be the most amusing. He has gotten so vocal over the last week or so. Most of the time he waits until it is fairly quiet (usually when Eric is asleep) & then he just goes to town. Danny & I have been so entertained with it all, especially in the truck when Eric is watching the DVD player & Mason is just chatting away with his monkey & cow. I have to contain my laughter so that he continues to chatter away. And that baby in the mirror, well he is so funny that we just have to smile every time we see him!! We have a full length mirror on the bathroom door & Mason is clearly fascinated with it. Oh yeah, he's starting to get his two bottom teeth in. I haven't seen the white yet but I can clearly see the indention where the teeth will be & he's chewing on EVERYTHING!! Yippy, teeth! Below are some pictures of just Mason, it is rare that I get some of him alone. Eric is such a camera hog that as soon as he sees the camera come out he insists on being in the picture!! Wonder if that will lead to a career in acting?!?

Santa Fe Children's Museum

Sorry no pictures w/ this post (my batteries died in my camera). I'm sure that I can be descriptive enough that you would feel like you were there... =) The Santa Fe Children's Museum was pretty awesome!! They had some pretty neat exhibits when we were there. Do ya'll remember those pin toys that you put over your hand & it shows an imprint of your hand? Well, they have a really big one that is about 7' tall!! I had to tear Eric away to enjoy the rest of the museum & give other kids a chance. They had big trapezoid magnets that you used various sized nuts & washers to make "sculptures" with, they were some pretty strong magnets. His other favorite exhibit was the huge bubble maker. Basically it was a tractor tire, cut in half & filled with soapy water. Then they have this big PVC ring suspender from the ceiling that you dip in the water mixture & pull up to create this huge bubble ring. It was really cool. We will definitely be going back for more & soon.

Pictures of Interest

Like I said, it snowed all day on Monday & this was the result on Tuesday morning. I know everyone is accustumed to seeing my truck covered in mud but how about snow??? The one that gets me the most is the snow on my spare in the bed of my truck!! HA HA HA, crazy right?

These are just some of the mountains that we get to look at while we are here. The first two are taken from a scenic view point coming up the mountain coming into Los Alamos. The third is from our window in the apartment.

Fun in the Snow!!

So it snowed ALL DAY on Monday. I think we got between 4" & 6". Eric had a blast with his first real snow experience. Starting at the top is: 1). Eric going to throw a snowball at our 'Christmas tree' in the yard, 2).Eric making a snow angel, 3).Danny burying Eric in the snow {Eric's only request was "not the face, Daddy"}, 4).Eric & Mason sitting in the snow waiting for our truck to warm up on Tuesday morning, 5). Mason is fascinated with whatever Eric was doing.

New Mexico

Well, we finally made it, YIPPY!! It only took 14 hours of driving (THANKS MOM & DAD) but we got to Los Alamos on Friday morning. Here are some pics of our trip so far. Check back often, there are some great photos that I need to take & post. You would not believe some of the views out here.....
Eric playing in the snow for real on Sunday night.

Grandpa & Eric playing in the snow (really it's ice but Eric was just so excited).

Eric entertained by the dvd player. THANK YOU Mimi & Papa!!!!!

The boys crashed out. This was about hour 10 in our 14 hour journey.

This is the 1st mountain that we saw.

HEADED OUT!!

Hey everyone, we are headed out on our adventure. We'll post again w/ pics when we get up there. Love ya'll, keep us in your prayers for a safe trip.