Memorial Day Weekend

Mason got his testosterone fix as all of his UNCLES were in town this weekend...yea!

We should have gone camping, but Grand-Dadder is still in Oklahoma. At least we have the outdoor gear. Check out those hiking shoes and socks!
And this weekend we also discovered our monkey toes!

Fun stuff- these toes kept us occupied for 30 minutes straight.

I'm glad his toes distracted him because we're still in pain from this whole teething stage. I was in denial for a while thinking that as the pain comes and goes that perhaps it wasn't teething after all. But it definitely came back and even earlier today Mason pulled off from nursing and stuck his hands in his mouth to chomp down.

And it's not always a great thing to have a "progressive" baby.

I hate teething.

Mason hates teething.

We all hate teething.

So I've used teething toys (some room temp, some chilled, but mostly frozen), ice cube in a wet washcloth, my knuckles, nursing, and a Soothie paci (since he's not used to pacifiers, I have to use my finger to keep it in...he definitely chomps down!). What works? What else can I do? I can't stand for Mason to be in such pain!

Lip Smackin' Good

Mason's learned how to smack his lips (along with "razzing"/aka "raspberrying") and it's so funny because once he's caught onto a new thing, he likes to repeat it over and over again. It's a little boy's novelty!

3 Months-Old

{Well, it's 9 days belated, but Mason turned 3 months on May 11th. My little guy is a quarter of a year-old}

Celebration cupcake...what on earth is that?

No more pictures Mommy, I'm just a silly monkey, I don't need paparazzi.

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Let's see, at 3 Months...

...I'm turning our house into my Playground. Just wait, in a short while I'll be jumping on that bed and it'll be me hanging from the chandelier.

...I can lift my head and chest up easily and turn over both ways.
...I'm interested in my toys and now bat at them and can grab them with my fingers.

...I like to stand up and push my feet off of anything I can find; Mommy doesn't like this when I'm feeding.
...I'm NOT crawling yet, but I'm already trying to figure how to scoot towards my toys.

Mason progresses so quickly from day to day. He's a sponge, soaking up his surroundings and environment as well as developing his gross and small motor skills. I am so blessed to have this little one be such a big part of my life.

Happy 3 Months Mason Tinsley Smith!

Headline: Two Sisters Shoot Baby Boy

Haha, Two Sisters Photography took Mason's 3-month pictures that is...

Jan's sister Shelia Yates came over Saturday and we had a blast! The full Gallery of over 200 photos is HERE Mason had fun throughout the session, but it was a challenge to keep his hands out of his mouth (see below), he'd smile but not necessarily at the camera, and when we had him tummy-side down on a bench he rolled twice and thankfully we were right there to catch him. I was very impressed with Shelia's photog skills and working with a wiggly baby.

www.twosisters-photography.com

www.twosisters-photography.com

www.twosisters-photography.com

Also of note:

Mason's been drooling quite a bit, but I figured that's just what babies do. Friday night he was extremely fussy and kept putting his hands in his mouth like in this last picture. I took his temperature and he had a low-grade fever; I called the Pedi's office and they weren't of much help, but after I kept noticing how he was "chewing" on his hands. Then I finally realized that my 3 month-old is already TEETHING! Yuck...I was hoping to delay this as I didn't cut my first tooth until 7 months. It's been a come-and-go thing though, and the cold teething toys really help soothe him...too bad he can't hold them steadily in his mouth yet. Meanwhile, when he's in pain, the poor little guy can't even stay asleep so I end up holding him all the time. I feel like he's fused to my arm now.

This too shall pass...

Beautiful Boy

I know I'm biased, but he is seriously one beautiful little boy!

I decided I'm going to encourage him to learn mixed martial arts and boxing (Ultimate Fighting...here we come!) in addition to the "traditional sports" because otherwise I'm afraid he'll be too much of a pretty boy.

OF COURSE, after the first bruise, bloody nose, black eye, or broken bone, I'll retract every word of this and vow to never let my child leave his bedroom. At least not until he's 30.

While we're great with our gross motor skills, but we still have some fine motor skills that need to catch up {He's not yet grasping rattles on his own; I have to place toys in his hand}. He's only 3 months old though so he has plenty of time to learn.

Great Giveaway

Ohhhhh Ahhhhh....Maclauren!

Yes, it's a great Giveaway & you can win all of this HERE

{And Mom, I won't mind one bit if you wanted to place entries on behalf of Baby Mason}

My First Mother's Day

This year is my first Mother's Day...and I had to keep reminding Mason of that whenever he started to fuss. This morning at church was the very first Sunday that I had to take him out to the foyer because of his fussiness. He must have forgotten it was Mother's Day!

Here's my smiley 13-lb tyke.

{Please excuse my awful hair-we were caught in a downpour after the service concluded}

Mason is a "mini me."

And my life is forever changed because of him. What a blessed Mother's Day- Thank God!

We're Feelin' Alright

The Baby Legs finally fit and here he is break dancing to some soulful Joe Cocker.

There May Be Hope Yet

I started to post this on my original blog Gypsy Soul, but because this has evolved from the journal for my growing bump and now for a site with Baby Mason & Mommy's updates, I thought I'd keep the "belly" pics here as it still technically pertains to the pregnancy.


Three months postpartum and I still have 16lbs to go. I can tell my appetite is slowly decreasing, so I'm no longer inhaling the 3500 calories a day. But I've also plateaued on the weight loss for the past 2 weeks so I'm trying to get out and run more...well at least once a week (sigh).

As far as "the bump", it's down considerably, but definitely not back to my pre-preggers size. My thighs haven't lost an inch (or at least I don't see or fit a difference). And I'll need to add some more ab exercises. But one thing's for certain, I bear the stretch marks on my tummy and hips as a memento from the preggers belly. Once Mason's weaned, can we say STRIVECTIN here I come!

But thank goodness for my figure that nursing burns calories. As I mentioned before, breastmilk has now invaded and overtaken my freezer. I haven't counted since last, but I'm guesstimating the stash is around 375oz. It's almost like a challenge to make sure I get 4-10+ surplus ounces a day...

Mason Loves His Jungle Bugs

So the original thought was to put a mobile above the changing dresser so Mason wouldn't fuss when getting changed. Little did I know, he was soon to enjoy diaper changes too much because of his mostest favoritest jungle bug mobile overhead. He can't get enough of his buggies and it's now a challenge getting him to calm down!

Things I Wish I'd Known About Breastfeeding

...that it's not really FREE. You have to invest in things like a pump, nursing bras, milk storage bags, and nursing pads.

...that all of my tops are too tight while I'm still nursing Mason. I'm guessing that after we wean, I'll have opposite sizing issues.

...that out of my entire closet, probably only 4 or 5% of my clothes will be worn due to the mechanics of breastfeeding (ie. no one-piece dresses unless the top part can easily be pulled down, or unbuttoned).

...that using a breast pump will make me feel like a dairy cow, will sometimes hurt, and be annoying to hook-up to.

...that I have an insatiable thirst and crave the most fattening foods throughout the day.

...that no matter how hard I try, I'm still not comfortable nursing in front of other people even while completely covered.

...that because of the above, I have to predetermine the logistics of any outing/errand/visit/visitor/activity/etc.

And even after all of that- I'm so thankful to be able to nurse Mason

...because I eat more now than when I was preggers AND after 2 1/2 months, I've already lost 40 lbs of the pregnancy weight (16 lbs more to go!).

...because he can get his food on demand (it's ready on-the-spot) and I don't have to mix or heat up a bottle every time.

...because when he's upset or injured (read here and here), I can nurse him and he immediately falls into a euphoric state of joy.

...because it costs less.

...because it's helping build his immune system, blah blah, it's the best nutrition for him, blah blah, I have a very healthy and rapidly progressive infant, blah blah... (note the "blah blah"s are not sarcastic inserts but rather fillers for the standard pros that we all know about the health benefits of breastfeeding).

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Other pointless tidbits

Obviously, my perception of Breastfeeding has changed from 6 months ago and it's amazing to me that we've only been doing this 2.5 months...I feel like it's been twice as long. Mason's a "pro" at breastfeeding; he's still a voracious eater, nursing 8-9 times a day and taking around 30-35oz a day. I currently have a stash of 80+ storage bags- that's more than 325oz of milk! I'm using up 1.5 shelves of my freezer and will invest in a deep freezer eventually. I've also sewn my own pair of reusable nursing pads as a cost-saving move (a box of 60 disposables can cost from $6-10).

No Shortage of Gas

I had Mason laying across my lap the other night when his tummy and bottom began to rumble. After 3 major gas bubbles, I found he'd somehow soaked through the back of his poopy diaper and clothes onto Mommy. He was way too happy and it was way to funny to do anything but laugh at our mess and at his bubble spurts.