For the Journey


Any day spent with you is my favorite day. So today is my new favorite day. ~A.A. Milne

"You crown the year with Your goodness, and Your paths drip with abundance." ~Psalm 65:11
We had a big week leading up to Mason's 2nd birthday. It all started on Tuesday when Pop and Mimi arrived from Georgia. Boy, did Mason have a fun time playing with Pop and Mimi . . . and play they did!
While Mason and Mimi were busy at play, Daddy and Pop were busy assembling Mason's birthday present --- a new playset! It took several hours over the course of two days, but the playset was finally ready to go. And then the rains came! It has actually rained everyday for more than a week now. We are not complaining though because these are the first rains we've had since we moved here! But that means that Mason hasn't exactly been able to play on his new playset as much as we want him to. He loves it and didn't want to come in the first evening we took him out there. I think he's going to spend many hours of play on it.
In between rain showers, we took Mason swimming the morning of his birthday. He loves the pool! We have a "toddler" pool in our neighborhood. It is only 1 foot deep, and Mason really likes the fact that his feet can touch the bottom. He had a big time swimming and playing with his pool toys.
When we got home from swimming and pulled up in the driveway, there was a BIG surprise for Mason on the front porch. He spotted it immediately, and, of course, I had to take a picture! Cindy (all of you know her as "my cousin who owns the flower shop") sent Mason a big balloon bouquet and a lot of candy for his birthday. It was taller than he is, and he could hardly carry the basket. He loves balloons!
That night we went out to eat at Outback. Okay, so maybe that was more for the adults than for Mason, but he sure did enjoy his bread, chicken tenders and fries. While I am not crazy about pictures of my pregnant self at this time, we did get a family picture (Mason's shirt says "Birthday Boy"). Besides, I'm rarely in any pictures with Mason because I'm usually the one taking all of the pictures!
The birthday celebration continued on Saturday with a fire truck themed birthday party for Mason. It rained most of the day, but we had a great time anyway. PawPaw, MawMaw, Aunt Ashley and Abbie came all the way from Louisiana for Mason's party. We had a cookout, and Mason blew out his candle on his cake all by himself. And then it was time to open presents. Abbie actually opened most of the presents for Mason. He just wasn't interested. After he opened the first one, he just wanted to play with it and didn't realize there were more where that one came from. He got a lot of puzzles and books. He also got a lot of toys to help him learn his ABCs, like the Leap Frog Phonics Bus and a laptop computer! Now maybe he'll leave my computer alone. He got several Mickey Mouse toys, including a flashlight, car that helps him learn his numbers, and towel. And since it seems like potty training is right around the corner, I wrapped up a potty chair for him to open. His MawMaw got him Elmo's potty DVD so I guess we're all set now. Abbie gave him a Spiderman scooter. He's been scooting all around the house and calls it his "bike." After all of his presents were finally opened and assembled (thanks to Pop and PawPaw), it stopped raining long enough for us to go outside so Abbie and Mason could play on his new playset.
I wanted to get a picture of Mason and Abbie wearing their Fire Chief hats, but Mason just wouldn't be still! So this was the best I could do.
And at the end of the day, Mason was pooped out . . . and I think everyone else was, too!
But after a nap, Mason was ready to play with all of his new toys. He spread his Mickey Mouse towel out on the floor (and the corners had to be just so) and made himself a pallet for play.

At the end of the day, I can hardly believe my LITTLE BOY is a BIG TWO YEAR OLD!