late winter/early spring

Mason,

These past two months have been busy, but here are some moments we don't want to forget.

the state of our kitchen on a daily basis

helping Mama sow lettuce seeds

helping Mama prep the yard to plant grass seeds

what a hunk (love your shag)

two blondies walking home

feeding the birds at the Capitol reflecting pool with Dada

on a mission

with your glamorous mama:)

frolicking with Dada

fun with Grandmom and Granddad

contemplating being naughty

cooking with Mama

a little snow

You mastered our in-house egg hunt!

Happy Easter!

cherry blossoms

hanging with your pop

blossoms with your peeps

play group at National Arboretum

Real snow! Real mountains! (We're in Colorado.)

You liked it there.

Luke and Kim got married!

Cuddles with Grandma and Grandpa

Auntie survived two flights and a night in a hotel room with you, where you threw up all over your little bed. She's a trooper!

We love you, Cupcake.

recovering from your eight-day stomach virus

Love,

Mommy

Merry Christmas

Mason,

Today we celebrated your second Christmas!

For some reason, you had a hard time falling asleep on Christmas Eve, but we had to wake you on Christmas morning. We took your picture at the bottom of our steps--a tradition we started last year--before showing you the tree.

Santa left two gifts near the tree. Initially interested, you toddled over to them.

But you immediately lost interest, and took off to find your familiar books and toys, so Daddy and I opened your gifts for you.

I made goose this year for Christmas dinner, a first for our family. You're not a meat lover, but you ate it anyway. We enjoyed our meal and spending most of the day with Grammy, Grandpa, and Auntie.

Merry Christmas, Mason! Lord willing, we look forward to celebrating many more with you!

XOXO,

Mommy

holiday fun

Mason,

Grandma and Grandpa drove to DC to celebrate Christmas with us, and we had a blast doing all sorts of holiday-related activities with them.

I made Christmas cookies and you helped decorate them.

We went to National Harbor and looked at the pretty decorations at the Gaylord.

We literally chased you around the gargantuan Gaylord hotel, which resulted in a lengthy afternoon nap for you.

We admired the poinsettias and other plants at the U.S. Botanic Garden.

Then, it was off to see the trees. The Christmas tree in front of the U.S. Capitol is our favorite.

At the National Christmas Tree site, we found your home state tree: District of Columbia.

The National Christmas tree is a little chintzy, but we braved the scarce parking and massive crowds to see it anyway.

We returned to the U.S. Botanic Garden to see their famous train exhibit. It was worth the long, cold wait in line. You loved it! (We did, too! This outing seemed to be everyone's favorite and we plan to make it an annual tradition from now on.)

Grandma and Grandpa played with you and read you lots of books. They even allowed Daddy and me an escape so we could see Les Miserables when it opened on Christmas Day.

You may have met your energy match having Grammy and Grandpa around for several days. They can go and go and go, just like you can. I'm not sure who won, but I know you all had a great time trying to wear the other one out!

Love you!

Mommy