One year old

You came into my life one evening a year ago, after hours of pain and months of weight gain!

My whole world changed when I saw your beautiful face and heard your cries. We became a family.

I woke up the morning after you were born, and stared at you for hours. You were so beautiful, and wonderful, and I couldn't comprehend where you had come from. And you seemed to be wondering about me as well.

And it never changed. You are my little miracle. Every part of you is perfect and beautiful and amazing.

You seemed to be wise and all knowing at times, watching me behind your eyes and learning from my sillyness.

Everyone who knows you loves you, you became such an important part of our world.

You are the best present I was ever given.
You have grown so much and learned so much in a years time. You are becoming more self-sufficient whether feeding yourself:

Or walking all over the house.

But you never stopped loving me, and turning to me in times of need. And I discovered how much I need you too.



We love you Mason! Happy Birthday!

Russian Store

Mike took me on the best date I've been on for awhile on Friday. He found a Russian grocery store within a half hour drive, and took me there as a surprise. I didn't even know where we were going until we got there. It was cool, they had books, candy, and all sorts of Russian foods, things I saw on my mission.

I bought Живчик! (shivchik, a sort of sparkling apple juice)


It wasn't the best I've ever had, it was pretty flat, and I wasn't aware how important the carbonation is to the taste.

I also found Вавли! (Waffly. It usually is in strips with sugary cream in between, and is yummy)


There is no filling, I need to add filling and make a cake of sorts with it.

It was the best date I've been on in awhile. Mike did a good job of surprising me. Yay for sweet husbands!

Pain and Sickness

My poor little boy has had a busy weekend so far. First, he fell and hit my knee and cut his upper lip. I almost cried when I saw the blood, it's the first time he has bled since he was born, other than scratches and shots, which aren't as bad. It made me feel helpless and like I had failed him. Fortunately it didn't bleed to long, and he liked the ice I put on it and sucked on it, so he hasn't swollen up at all.

Then, yesterday he got sick, for the first time, other than the occasional mild cold. It was terrible! We were going to go to a petting zoo, so we got up early and went to my mother-in-laws. We planned to get to the zoo when it opened at 9 to beat the heat, but we were all running late and we were still sitting at my mother-in-laws after 9. Mason was acting tired, which made sense because he had been up at 7:30, but he seemed ok. One of his aunties was holding him, until he pulled away and got insistent that I hold him. And almost as soon as I picked him up he threw up all over me.

At first, I thought that he had just spit up, although he hadn't done that in a long time, but then he did it again. We checked him for a fever and he didn't have one, so I figured it was just spit up again and we started off to the zoo. We were driving for less than 10 minutes when Mason started throwing up again, and got it all over himself. We pulled over, cleaned him up, and then took him to urgent care.

The doctor examined him, and told us that a virus is going around involving vomiting and diarrhea, and the only thing to do is wait it out and keep him from getting dehydrated. We took him straight home, and put him down for a nap. He vomited twice more, and got it all over himself, but he was so tired that I let him sleep before I cleaned him up. I felt bad, but he was completely exhausted. I gave him a bath when he woke up, and we started giving him a little pedialyte every hour or so.

He is much better now, he hasn't thrown up since last evening, and I gave him applesauce for breakfast this morning. He has diarrhea now, but I prefer that to vomiting, the diaper catches most of it.

There are two things I am thinking about from this experience. Mason went through this sickness so far very cheerfully. He was a bit crabby before his nap yesterday, but I think that was mostly because of exhaustion. Even then, he wasn't too bad. Both his outfits were soiled, and we hadn't had time to take him home and change him, so he was just in a diaper at the doctor's office, and they gave us a hospital robe for him to wear. He was so cute in it! He was toddling around the office, playing with the books and babbling at us. After his nap, he would play and come to me or Mike for comfort when he felt ill. After throwing up, he would fuss a bit, but he didn't cry much. He would fuss a bit every once in a while and then would be happy when I gave him something to drink. Later, he took another nap on Mike.

Mike and I were both surprised at how well he handled the whole thing, he was nowhere near as crabby as would be expected for him not feeling well. When he woke up this morning, he was crazy energetic and happy, like he was trying to make up for the playing he didn't manage yesterday. He wouldn't drink anything, and he was playing with his sippy cup, since the pedialyte was colored and made marks on the carpet. He managed to break the thing open and spill it all over the carpet.

The other thing is that I have been concerned ever since I had Mason about how I would handle it if he got sick. I don't like sickness and I was afraid I would have trouble dealing with the smell and yuckyness. But when Mason threw up on me, I didn't care about it that much, and when he got it all over himself, I grabbed him immediately, not caring if it got on me. I'm glad to know that I can handle it. I think it may be worse when he eats more variety, but even so, it makes me feel better.