Mason's "baby"

A couple of months ago Auntie Jess got Henry a tiny little monkey as a gift.  I make a really good effort at keeping gifts intended for Henry in their own little spot, to save them for him.  But somehow this little monkey was left in a tote that was accessible to Campbell and Mason.  And somehow Mason became surprisingly attached to it.  About the same time she started saying "baby" she also started carrying this little monkey around.  She absolutely loves it.  She wants it out of the crib with her in morning, will carry it everywhere, stop what she's doing to pick it up and will sit and pat its back.

It is so so so so sweet.

Thank you Auntie Jessie.

sweet little boy

Campbell's been up to same old things this week.  Reading and playing, reading and playing, and always wanting to stop what he's doing to either look through his school books or his flash cards.  It has been quite difficult to get some fun new pics of him, as every time I try and bring the camera out, he stops what he is doing and run to see the pictures on the camera.

But he will stop what he is doing to give me this smile:

its what he'll do to make me happy when i ask for a picture.  However, its not super natural.  But it is super cute.

I was able to catch this funny face as well:

Campbell likes to request a certain number of pretzels or crackers.  Here he is eating animal crackers (he was given 5).  I got to witness an absolute precious moment from him while he was eating them.  Here he was given a small number of snack and was walking around eating them, and his little sister started following him around, and I watched him reach into his cup and happily and willingly handed her a cookie to eat.  My sweet sharing little boy.

i'll take that Momma!

For the last couple of mornings, Mason hasn't really wanted to be "fed" her cereal.  After countless battles with her squirming hands grabbing for the spoon, I threw in the towel (but I would need that towel in just a few minutes!)

New Hats from Nona!

We got fun new hats in the mail yesterday!  Hand knitted from Nona! Thank you Nona, we love our new hats!  And thanks Auntie Ashley for the great black and white pictures of these bathing beauties- they will get hung in our bathroom... maybe tomorrow!

where or where have we been?

Hello to everyone! Sorry its been a bit of a gap between posts (however, I am doing so much better than before!) its just that life has been busy and mundane (a strange combination I know).  Between the horrid snow and rain, we have been housebound- which really just produces pictures such as these:

And we were gone for two days, visiting Uncle Levi in the hospital (get better soon Uncle Levi, we miss you!) during his surgery.

And... what else, oh my ever growing belly seems to be absolutely weighing me down.  i am fairly exhausted, so besides chasing after running kids, and trying to keep this place, I am spending most of my time doing home-schooling with Campbell and lots of book reading with the kids.

But in just a short while there will be a new face to show on this blog!

Here are just a few selections of what's been going over the last couple of days:

all smiles while she is chasing Daddy around the house

my little bookworm

two bathing buddies

yes, i see that crayon Mason is trying to eat

a little bit drowsy

we actually think she was saying "get me" to Daddy

Campbell's Bible Verses

I think my guy is pretty stinkin' cute.

Making Christmas

Well not exactly. But Campbell and I frosted sugar cookies during Christmas, and I told him we were decorating "Christmas cookies".
So when he and I went to decorate heart cookies for Valentine's Day, he just kept calling it "making Christmas". Such a cute kid.

what Mason did this week

walking around with a new milk cup, grabbing a chance to play with brother's cars when he wasn't looking

pondering life... to play or eat? 

lounging around... on the kitchen floor of all places

chasing after the vacuum

and just being super cute (and messy) as usual!

however, in all seriousness, little Mason is working on cutting a second top tooth, and she hasn't been a happy camper.  She's spent the last few days not napping well, and when she's been up in the afternoon she has basically been crying- whether she's being held or night.

but, we love her, she's saying "baby" all the time, walking up to you with her hands held high to pick her up, and still loving chasing after that big brother she adores.

News from the Home Front

Its been a nice long week.  Wednesday was my last day of "work".  I put work in quotes, simply because the work doesn't really end, but I will have the next few weeks with just our 2 little kids, awaiting the arrival of Henry.

Not much to report, other than Mason cutting a nice top tooth (with its mate trying to break through as well) and Campbell learning a second Bible verse and having more and more fun stories to tell.

One fun story to share: witnessed by Sam, not by me :(

Today, we were all outside, Campbell was playing and Sam was working on cleaning in the garage.  Sam said he saw Campbell "stirring" a big bucket full of rocks.  Stirring and stirring, and Sam asked him what he was doing, and Campbell said, "stirring rocks..." and then he looks up and goes, "ahh, its perfect".

He's just getting so big...

And speaking of big...

my baby girl, just a walking everywhere

our handsome boy before bed tonight

chasing after brother...

dental hygiene is very important in this family

he just loves brushing his teeth

and alas, what happens when I decide to try and sleep a few extra minutes, even though i can here the kids awake on the baby monitor.  Now that Campbell is in his big boy bed, he likes to get up in the morning and "share" toys with Mason...I  think even if she is still sleeping, we are working the kinks out...

One Sunny Day

Happy February to all!
Sam and I took the kids on a fun walk last week. The weather here has been just beautiful. And Campbell and Mason love to be outside.
After making a couple of stops downtime, we decided to let Campbell run around at the park next to our house. We don't always stop, and I am just so glad that we did, Campbell loves playing at the playground, and we learned that day- Mason sure does too!
We were lucky that it wasn't super crowded, both Mason and Campbell got to swing, and they both were able to explore without any big kids bothering them.
I really want to make more time for this, and think I need to stop at the park more often.

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