Baby number Two

Fantastic news: Erika is pregnant with our second child! She's 15 weeks along and feeling great; it's been another easy pregnancy. In about 6 weeks we'll find out the sex and can't wait to share! With a due date of Aug 23rd, we're a little stressed about Erika starting her new job July 1 and almost immediately going on maternity leave. Though we can't share any details, Erika did sign a contract to work for a podiatrist in private practice in Tucson.

Kevin also has great news. He's been cigarette free for over seven months! And he's been studying for the ACT so he can go back to school to become a teacher, a job he's hoping will let him continue to be with his babies, and by the time he's finished and ready to find a teaching position the kids will also be in school.


There's one thing you can say about our family, we're never doing nothing! We had the pleasure of having a podiatry student stay with us for the month and we of course had to show him Tucson. We took Alex up Mt Lemmon, which is how we got a good photo of all of us. There was snow up at the top, in which Mason had a blast playing, though he refused to wear gloves and complained the snow was cold. We did a new hike in the lowlands, which would have been quite warm in the summer, but was nice this time of year and didn't have snow. Alex was a great sport and carried Mason, he wanted the workout! He's young and fit so we let him, besides Erika probably couldn't have handled it and Kevin's lungs are still recovering.


Mason will at least know what snow is, even though Daina, Uncle Gary and Aunt Susan (or anyone else in the NE) would laugh at this small amount of snow.


The men looking happy; we'd just started the hike ;)


Mason has been into taking showers, so the mirrors fog. Here he is making "paw prints" after his shower.

Loren dancing the Can-Can

Somehow Loren always seems to find himself in a dress. We previously mentioned that we visited Old Tucson Studios (a western town still used for filming movies) with Ramanda, Nana and Paw-paw when they were all in town in January. There was a performance of a Can-Can show, during which they selected Loren and others to participate. Nana and Paw-paw recently sent their photos of this visit, and the ones from the show were too good to resist posting!

The curls were a perfect choice for him, though the dress was not flattering.


Watch the performance!

Big cat

This was the panther at the zoo, completely passed out on a tree branch. Kevin thought it was fascinating to see him "chillin' like a villain." Mason does love their trips to the zoo!

A Typical Weekend

We had a nice weekend, an equal amount of fun and relaxation. Saturday we went to the pug meetup, which, to remind you, is a gathering of other crazy pug owners and their pugs, a dog with a face only a mother could love. Mason had a nice nap, after which we played Thomas. Sunday it was cold and rainy. We were going to go hiking, but decided not to brave the weather. All the mountains have snow on them now, it is very pretty.




Mason and several pugs (Woody not shown). Note Mason's Thomas outfit.


We found a cricket and kept it for Mason, he of course loved it. We think it survived, though we don't know where it went.


Kevin and Mason went to the zoo sometime last week and took this video of the monkeys. They are sometimes the highlight of the visit, with their singing and swinging. Mason wouldn't leave the exhibit until they stopped.

Where to begin...

It's amazing how much time has passed since we've posted anything. Erika really should teach Kevin how to do it. It has been a busy month. We had barely recovered from the holidays when Erika's parents came to visit. We had a lot of fun, even though Erika was sick half the time and miserable. Nana was wonderful about cooking a lot, yum! Loren and Ramanda stayed at our house, which was a treat. We went to the Sonoran Desert Museum, which wasn't as fun as it usually is, the only animal out was a coyote. But they did have a fascinating presentation on snakes/poisonous reptiles. Mason identified the gila monster immediately. He really knows his animals.



Mason had his first ice cream cone of his very own! Everyone else was getting some and he kept asking for "Mason's ice cream." He wouldn't settle for a bite of someone elses, so we got him his own and he ate a lot of it (with surprisingly little mess).



Mason sitting on Paw-paw's lap on the train at Old Tucson Studios. This is a place where many, many Western movies are filmed and it is part-time western theme-park. It was cute, interesting. There was a gun-fight and a can-can show. Loren got to participate in the show (pictures censored). Mason of course just wanted to ride the train.



Mason sat on Uncle Loren and held a very lengthy conversation in baby-talk about who-knows-what. He thought it was great, though.



The little cutie was playing with the plant, picking off leaves, and having a great time. He really is wonderful about entertaining himself finally.



Mason liked this coyote family statue at the museum. We really loved having everyone in town!

Happy New Year!

We're back from Ohio and recovering and cleaning. The dogs had claimed the house for their own while we were gone, so it was very smelly and the couches were covered in fur. So there has been plenty to do. Number one on Mama's list (after starting the laundry) was to organize Mason's new and old toys and put away things that are definitely too young for him. One of his favorite toys is the Mack Disney play set from the movie Cars. But it is not Dada's. Mason asks for the toy to be opened, then closed, then opened, then closed. It is flimsy and not easy. Wish we'd ready the review on that one before buying it, but then again Mason loves it so much. He was better today, maybe he got over the initial excitement of its transformation.



We had a wonderful time in Ohio, it was great seeing everyone! Mason really loved being with everyone also. He was still talking about the trip when we got back, rattling off names. He even said "Ramanda"! We can't wait to see Uncle Loren and Ramanda again soon!



Thank you for all of the wonderful gifts! Mason still loves the road carpet, calls it his "racetrack." Of course he plays Thomas. He actually used his pillow book from Nancy as a pillow! Mama put together the frog tent from Uncle Gary and Aunt Susan and he thought that was fun. We played "where did Mason go?" "There he is!"



Our New Year's resolution should be to keep the buckeye/play room more organized. It looks like a disaster right now with all of the new toys!

Cursed Christmas Cards

So, the rule of me trying to do Christmas cards this year - if it could go wrong, it did. First problem was me procrastinating, but I still thought I could get everything done Sunday and mail them Monday. My grand idea was to do Christmas postcards, it seemed simpler and cheaper. The latter was the only thing that turned out to be accurate. Sunday Kevin wanted to stay home and clean, so I took Mason to OfficeMax to buy supplies and print the photos. The photo machine wouldn't read my camera card and I couldn't find the supplies I wanted. Mason was being a brat, so I just went home. Monday at lunch I went to a different OfficeMax, knowing exactly what I needed to buy, and still needing to print photos. I bought what I needed, but their photo machine was down. On my way home from work that day I stopped at Walgreens and ordered the photos, not to be ready for 3 more hours. So I went home, printed my letter up beautifully, had the labels all ready. I went back to Walgreens 4 hours later and they told me their printing machine had died. More wasted time and still no photos. Tuesday after work (no time at lunch) I went to Target to print photos (I was very upset with Walgreens and didn't like their photo options anyway). I chose the one Target in the city that does not have a photo machine. On my way home I stopped at the post office to buy postcard stamps, but the office was closed and they don't sell stamps in their lobby. At this point I'm near tears. I didn't think there was any way I would get my Christmas cards out in time for even New Year's! Hubby to the rescue. He suggested go up north near my parents house where it's not busy and there are a lot of businesses. That post office did not have postcard stamps either. Walmart had the right stamps, that place was a zoo. We went to CVS and successfully printed the pictures, they are lovely. So that night while relaxing and watching TV I made out the postcards and put them in the mailbox this morning. Kevin asked if it was worth all the trouble (probably on Monday) and if I had known it would be that terrible, no I wouldn't have done the pictures. But Monday everything was ready except for the photos, it seemed silly not to finish them. I'm so happy they're done and hope you enjoy receiving yours! -Erika