Happy 3rd Birthday Mason!!!

I can't believe that Mason is already 3!!! I can't believe how far he's come in 3 years. I take that back, I can't believe how far WE have come in 3 years. The memories of him struggling in the NICU seem so much longer than 3 years ago...yet in some ways it still feels like yesterday. I can still remember the wonderful feeling of him moving around inside my tummy. The joy in Mike's eyes (tears) when Teresa (our sonographer) said, "it's a boy". Seems like it was just yesterday when we were so fearful of his future and if everything would be ok. Today, Mason is a vibrant, energetic, beautiful, smart, wonderful, "all boy" boy. Gone are the days of spreadsheets and charts keeping track of medications and exact doses...now are the days of brightly colored charts with stickers tracking "good boy days" of no back-talking. Gone are the days of constantly running to various specialists, hospitalizations, and hours spent in waiting rooms...giving way to hours spent running and jumping and catching bugs. Gone are the days where I would literally spend hours on the phone sorting out insurance mistakes....now are the days spending time scheduling play dates and exchanging kid-friendly recipes.

You know, many people discouraged me from leaving a great job to "just stay home", "waste my talents", "waste a masters degree", "put the financial burden all on Mike", etc., etc.. While I can honestly say, I truly miss working....I am so glad that I am a stay at home mom. I am content with my decision. I have learned many many things about myself in my 3 years at home. I have become FAR less materialistic. I have learned to rely more on God. I have learned the valuable lesson of being content with what you have. I can't imagine missing out on all the little things that happen daily around here....you can't put a dollar sign on a hug in the middle of the day for no reason. You can't put a dollar sign on so many things I would have missed out on, not even realizing that I was missing out on them. Granted, it has been VERY hard with one income....especially since we had so much in medical bills with Mason. But for right now, I'm content with my decision....a job can wait, those cool shoes can wait, that awesome purse I JUST saw can wait, but parenting the most precious thing to ever step foot on this earth can't.

But I digress.....back to Mason :o)

We were thrilled to have his party outside as the weather was PERFECT! We had a Bob The Builder party. Sadly, Bob is hard to come by as PBS has taken him off the air.

Here are a few tidbits on Mason

• He LOVES his daddy and asks every (weekday) morning "where's my daddy".
• He already has a heart for the Lord and tells Mike and I ALL the time, "it's time to pray", "can we pray now".
• His favorite story is Jonah and the big fish.
• He loves babies.
• He LOVES animals (this can be scary as Mason thinks that all animals are good).
• He loves fruit.
• He loves Diego, Handy Manny, Bob the Builder, and Fireman Sam
• He loves books and loves to "read" to others.
• He loves to go to school and loves his teacher Mrs. Hendrickson.
• He loves to go to church.
• He loves his Nannie, Pop Pop and Paw Paw
• He has talked about fireworks EVERY SINGLE day since the 4th of July. And he has prayed for them EVERY SINGLE night. SERIOUSLY!!!
• He LOVES to help me with housework.
• He is fascinated with tools and carries them around everywhere.
• He loves to pray for his friends "Uncle Jim" and Marlene.
• He loves cement mixers.
• He loves John Deere Tractors.
• He is always telling us "I love you", "I like you a lot".
• He loves bugs.
• He would much rather pee pee outside than in the potty (told you he was all boy!!)
• He is 41lbs and 40 inches tall, wears a 5T and 10eee shoe.
• He is the biggest blessing God has ever given us.

If you are having financial problems....or even if you aren't I highly recommend Dave Ramsey to get you through it. If it had not been for his plan, I would have NEVER been able to stay home.