4 months, gull stones, 7 weeks, and lots of flying

Mason is just hanging out!

He is sitting up all by himself!

Wherever Mason is, that is where you will find Sassy. She insists on being by him at all times.

With a little bit of Mike's help, Mason is practicing sitting up.

He likes to hold on to whatever you give him....hair, clothes, burp clothes, toys, etc.

Mason's FIRST meal with cereal!

He is on top of the world.

It just took a few days, but Mason is starting to like the cereal after all.

Please forgive me for the length of time between the last post and this one. Since I started back to teaching, life has really gotten hectic. I will start with Mason's latest news. He is now 4 months old and is in the 95% of all boys his age. He weighs 20 lbs. and is 27 inches long. Dr. Wiley just assured us that he is very proportional in his weight and height, he is just going to be a big kid. I am anxious for him to really start sitting up and crawling because I know the more active he is the more he will tone up. These last few weeks have really been fun. He is so close to rolling over, but has not mastered it completely. He does however, turn over onto his side a lot now and you will see him move to the left and do a complete circle on his little playmat all by himself. He is brilliant! We started him on rice cereal and that has been a hoot! He did not know what to think of it for a few days, but now I really think he is starting to like it. He talks to us and smiles while we feed him. We will start a fruit or vegetable in a few more weeks. He loves to carry on a conversation with you at any time, just talk in his language and you will see. He is growing so fast; our house is so much fun now with him here. He is the star of the show!

After the privilege of giving birth to our wonderful son, I was so lucky to get gull stones. I have had several "episodes" since Mason came along, but I just thought it might be heartburn or something less serious like that. My first episode happened 6 days after Mason was born and I thought I was having a heart attack. It is the most excruciating pain I have ever felt. I mean hello, I had an epidural when I gave birth. The emergency room physician assured me after the sonogram was taken that I do indeed have several gull stones in my gull bladder and would need to be on a strict diet until I could see a surgeon. I am basically not allowed to eat anything sweet, spicy, greasy, or anything else delicious. No, it really is okay and I am losing weight, so that is one upside to this situation. The e.r. physician also informed Mike and I that it is fairly common for ladies to get gull stones after having a baby. I happen to be one of the lucky ones that did! We are meeting with the surgeon on May 7th to discuss our options, but we are pretty certain I will need to have my gull bladder removed. We will keep you updated as we know more.

There are less than 7 weeks of school left, but who is counting? I can hardly wait. It feels like I have 2 full-time jobs. Which I know is true. I teach my lovely kindergartners during the day, then I come home to a baby who I have missed all day and all I want to do is hold him and play with him. It just seems like nothing is more important than Mason, which I know that mom's out there will agree. Children are the most important thing we have, but right now I am trying to juggle teaching, which I love and being a mom which I LOVE! There are only 5 Mondays left, then hello Summer!

Mike has started in on his busiest time to fly. He has several 4 and 5 day trips on the calendar before school is even out, then they have plans to go to Alaska 3 different times this summer. They are also talking about Peru, Hawaii, and Europe. I am sure Alaska will be enough for this summer, but Mike and Randy (the other pilot for this corporate jet) are going next week for training on the procedures for flying internationally. Our house has been lots of fun lately and I know this is only the beginning! We hope you guys are all doing well too!