Water Baby

Our Mason is finally feeling better! We had a moody but overall good weekend. Blake took him to the Dr. on Thursday and he had pink eye, an ear infection and bad congestion. He had to get an antibiotic shot and three prescriptions. I have to say, Blake is an excellent daddy, and I'm so glad he took him since a shot was involved, and he's also the number one medicine dispenser, which is not easy, especially when eye drops are needed!



Mason LOVES, LOVES, LOVES, bath time. We've given up on the bath seat and let him splash around in a few inches of water. It gets a little tricky when brother joins him, because he needs it a little deeper and this is usually when Mason loses his balance a little bit. Mom and Dad keep one if not both hands in the water at all times. But last night he was solo and loving every minute of it. Braden was in the background getting the smiles. You can't see it but Braden was shaking his booty at Mason to get most of those smiles.

Mason is loving the bouncy car more everyday! He's starting to figure out how much fun it is to bounce up and down. Right now we have it by the window where Braden has placed some bird seed so he can watch the birds. If you look closely you can see all 6 of Mason's chompers.

Our little Rebel is also getting more mobile in his walker. Last night Blake bent down a few feet away and Mason made it all the way over to him. Below is Mason grabbing the drawer handle of a chest in our dining room. Braden this this exact same thing. I guess it makes a fun noise.

I don't know what feels good about holding the binky like this, but Braden did this, too! Blake had Mason standing a lot this weekend, and he's really getting good at it!

Saturday was Granny's birthday and luck would have it that she was able to meet Braden and I for lunch on Sunday. Mason wasn't in a great mood, Blake decided it was better not to subject the entire restaurant to his fussiness, so they stayed home. In this particular picture, I called Braden a "turkey" because he kept making funny faces, and he "called me out on it."

Nice Fashion Statement! Nothing would satisfy Braden but going outside to help Blake bring dinner in off the grill. It doesn't matter that it was below freezing, he grabbed his coat and the first shoes he could so he could help. He carried this plate inside and all the way to the dining room table, while Blake held his breath behind him, and amazingly didn't drop it!!!!

Rocky vs Thunder Lips

For those of you who haven't figured it out yet, Blake is a huge Rocky fan and Braden LOVES reenacting the fight scenes. Once again, there was a Rocky marathon on, and Rocky III with Hulk Hogan as "Thunder Lips" got Braden's attention. So tonight, the bedtime ritual of "fighting" was Rocky vs Thunder Lips and this time Blake got to be Rocky. Because this match was wrestling instead of boxing, Braden decided to try some new moves. . . .poor Blake. I hope he feels young enough to do this with Mason in a few years!

And for those of you who want the live action:

After bath

I always get the bath tub shots, but tonight it was after bath that we got some new pictures. Mason was so handsome in his new (size 12 month) PJ's. I love the kind with a zipper instead of all the snaps, but they're hard to find, especially in the bigger sizes! Braden is so proud of himself for combing his own hair, usually with the brush he now shares with Puppy.

Main Event

You can only guess who is Rocky and who is Drago. Just like Braden is always Luke Skywalker, and always red Spiderman, not black, always Batman or maybe Robin, but never the Joker, he is Rocky. Poor Daddy, is always the bad guy, so he is obviously Drago. This main event occurs every night, and Mamma is always the ref (is that what it is in boxing?) I have to do a countdown from 10 and announce the winner (always Rocky) "In the blue corner, Braden Rocky Benson is the winner," and "in the red corner, Daddy Drago Benson, is the loser" it's quite a production.


Headlock. . . Braden got mad because I got a picture hof him in a headlock, so we had to get one of him putting Drago in a headlock.



Braden's signature move....booty on the face. He insisted I take about 3 pictures of this move.

Busy weekend

My amazing husband doesn't make many demands upon me, but this weekend he demanded that I accept an invitation from several girlfriends, to get massage chair pedicures and go to lunch, while he kept the boys. I offered to just to the pedicures and skip lunch, but he insisted, so I complied. It was a great treat. One friend, Janet, was celebrating her birthday on Sunday, so I tagged mine onto the celebration as well.

Sunday afternoon it was a little warmer than it has been, so Braden's good friends that live across the street came over to play in the back yard. Blake was grilling out so he kept an eye on them as they explored our yard in Timmie's new jeep. I'm having visions of them being 16.



Thank you, Grandma! A package arrived on Friday, full of goodies from Grandma Odean, one of them being this puppy dog, that Braden has named "Puppy" You never know what they are going to attach to, but their is definitely an attachment to this dog. Braden tucks him in next to him and even brushes Puppy's hair, with his own hair brush. I snapped the picture above during our goodnight kisses, and Blake snapped the one below when he checked on Braden before going to bed himself.

Braden would obviously LOVE to have a real puppy, but instead he got Mason.

Room for Mason

From the day I put this mobile (which was Braden's) onto Mason's crib (which was also Braden's) Braden has loved playing with it, even before Mason got here. Now that Mason is here, and nearly every moment he's in his crib, he is sleeping, or should be, there hasn't been any opportunities for the mobile, until Wednesday night. I sat Mason down so I could do a few things before bedtime, and I called down that Mason needed his mobile turned on, Braden raced up the stairs, fresh from his bath, and combing his own hair, to accommodate his little brother. Daddy raced up too, then back down for the camera! Good thing he's in such great shape! The mobile was a big hit!



I had not discovered blogging before Mason got here, so I'll give you a little background on the nursery. We have two bedrooms downstairs, ours and Braden's and two bedrooms upstairs, Mason's and a guest, which is now mine! Mason's room was painted a very bright purple, which is also our high school's color. Blake did an excellent job repainting it this lovely shade of green!

With the help of my dear friend, Susie Lee, we made the bedding, she did the bumper pad and I did the skirt. The amazing thing about the bumper pads is that she did them in sections so I can swap them around and change the look if I want!

The upstairs bedrooms do not have closets, so with the help of a very resourceful Nan (Janet Benson found this at an antique store in Forrest City) Mason has this adorable child-sized armoire. It is PERFECT for his little clothes! The adorable picture frame and blocks were shower gifts from Ann & Becki, they both came from Lad-n-Lassie in Mountain Home.

Queen for the Day!

Once again my guys made sure I had a WONDERFUL birthday! We started the celebration on Sunday night. . .daddy made delicious Salmon patties and Braden and I made a Chocolate Chocolate Chip bundt cake (thanks for this recipe, Lissa!) and it was the most perfect bundt cake I've ever made!



Blake has discovered the Hallmark singing cards. . . and Braden LOVES them! The one I got from the boys said something like "As far as mom's go" then you open it to Tina Turner "You're simply the best!" Then Blake's card. . .said something like "Just becasue you get older doesn't meant you have to act mature. . ." and it opened to Rick James SUPER FREAK. It took Braden all of two listens to fall in love with this song and sing ever line that the card gave you. . .even "She's a very special girl. . from her head down to her toe nails." Every morning since, he has begged to take it to school for show and tell.

Fortuantely the Griffin's sent him a Halloween card that played the "Monster Mash" so we keep encouraging him to take that one!

Then, on the BIG DAY, we got to celebrate with Mason, and blow out the candles!



Mason was tired of posing for the camera and decided to eat Braden's hair instead!

Tummy Time!

Mason is getting so strong on his tummy and pushing up very well! We're kinda cruel in that we keep putting his toys just out of reach to encourage some movement!




Braden playing his new video game! He got this system for Christmas, and all of the games are "curriculum" based in that they are teaching him something. . . .numbers, letters, colors, shapes, etc.

Look at my chompers! Mason now has 4 teeth and two more breaking through!

Two Mohawks are better than one!

Braden wanted to see if Mason's hair would make a mohawk like his, so we gave it a shot!

Rockin' New Year's Eve

We had a thrilling New Year's Eve with our dear friends, the Arbuckle's and Will's grandmother, Dorothy. They hosted us for dinner last year and the boys exchanged gifts. . .so we gladly hosted this year.