what saved the day??

these suckers saved the day!!!!!
seriously. i think i could eat the whole box in.one.setting.
if you haven't had girl scout cookies, then you haven't lived. haha
but really find your local troop and order some.....next year.
yummy :)

whoa!

**side note**
i have no clue how mason's pictures got so big!
they have never been that big........huh?

maseman at 6 months...

say, what? what?
whoa mason, slow down!

i seriously can't believe it was 6 months ago our little baby boy was in my belly.
i remember counting down the days until we could meet our little bundle of joy.
i could never have prepared my heart enough for how much it would grow in such a short time.
being a mommy is an indescribable thing.
the amount of love i hold for my son is amazing, wanting to guide him, nurture him,
love him, and protect him.
if this is how great it is in just 6 short months, i can't wait to see how much this love
will grow over our lifetime.


i'm not sure how he does this, but mason changes every day.
seriously. there is always something new we're noticing.
he is getting bigger and bigger by the day.
it seems like in one day he was all of a sudden ready to sit on his own.
one day it seemed like all he wanted to do is smile, when it used to take alot of begging.
he is truly amazing to us.
we couldn't have been more blessed for a first born baby.
he makes being a mommy easy.


mason 6 month stats:
18.5 pounds
27.5 inches long
70th percentile in both categories
mason is a long string bean, not many rolls on this babe
he's moving, squirming, kicking, rolling, and groovin' all the time, no wonder he isn't a rollie pollie ollie....he's burning off all the calories :)



this month mason:
*got 3 shots and an oral vaccine
* tries so very hard to get to his knees to start crawling.
* became much more independent

* sits on his own to play with his toys
* started being more vocal - he is making some sort of noise all the time
* has been drooling like nobody's business
* eating all.the.time

* started eating more baby food - still getting used to different textures
* has had a cold and snotty nose
*gets upset if he realizes he is in a room by himself
*started reaching out for me

* has had lots of daddy bonding time
* was apart of our first home renovation in our house


mason continues to sleep about 11-12 hours a night. people have told us he is an "easy baby" then the next thing out of their mouths is that "the next baby is opposite!" we shall see i guess with our next one. not that we are having another one real soon here....don't get any ideas....SISTERS! ha!

so, happy birthday mason!
you are truly a blessing and our hearts overflow with love for you :)

though it's blizzard like now...

....there is still hope for pretty spring things like this....

:)

{via}

now, raise you hand if you are done with winter and ready for spring!! :)

xoxo
have a fab weekend y'all :)
{im not even southern. but i like to say y'all :)}

embrace the camera: feb 24

here in nebraska lately it has felt very spring like...
...until today...snow again....blah.

a couple weekends ago, we enjoyed some time in the outdoors after church
mason loooves being outside.
the minute we step outside, he is squirmy, giggly, smiley, excited little baby boy.
it's like he feels so free when he is outside :)

he must be in deep thought....sucking on that bottom lippie :)

can't wait for summer to let little mase roam outdoors while i garden :)
ahhh, it's the little things in life, ey?

happy thursday friends!
we have almost made it another week :)

xoxo, lovelies
melinda

have yourself some embracing fun with the anderson crew

go on now, ya hear?
do it.

a snail mail package....

...of my first ever giveaway win!!..

carly from masons roost made this fabulous necklace...
he has many crafty little projects goin on over there...
and her baby mason is so adorb...
and he has a sweet name :)
not like i'm bias or anything....

i must say so myself that she did an amaze job :)
{hi carly!!!}

carly, you rock!!
head over to masons roost and say hi!
i promise you will want to squeeze little masons little cheekies :)

xoxo
melinda

best day of the week....

...as for waking up an hour later than i'm supposed to....oooops!.....
....i still managed to get my friday dance in!!! :)

xoxo

the forecast....

....the Son will shine forever :)
i saw this on a sign on my way home from work today
and i loved it.

ps. i just got a twitter account.
need some followers :)
you will more than likely gain a follower too :)

have a great weekend y'all!
hoping to capture mason's 6 months pictures!
he will more than likely be the cutest thing everrr :)
just sayin'!

xoxo

happy valentines day....

....from our monkey...

...to yours...

husband and i have never been mushy, gushy about valentines day. not sure why. just haven't.
my valentines day present from husband is pretty sweet, yo.
26 boxes of tile!
he and another friend are tiling my kitchen!!!!
may sound lame to some, but i can't wait!
oh, and he said he would get a pair of TOMS for me!!!
can't.wait.

also yesterday was mason's 6 month birthday!
1/2 of a year old already. golly, where did that time go?
if i blink, he will off to kinder :(
i have all of his 6 month picture props ready to go...
...i'll post those pictures once i take 'em!
{i figured, i finally have a nice camera, i'm gonna give this whole picture taking thing a whirl}

enjoy this beautiful, lovely day!

xoxo

life in cd'ing

...it has now been about three weeks since we made the switch....

so i'm no where a near 'pro' classification in the cd world!! :)

i thought i would give you a 'how's it going' so far in our cd journey :)

cloth diapering, in my opinion, the good out weigh the bad. for me at least, maybe not for everyone. i'm not trying to step on anyones toes....
if it comes across that way to you, i apologize. that is and was not my intention! :)

*cd are better for our environment. they won't sit in landfills for 50+ years and leak into our water systems........yucky!

*we have found that they are easy to put on baby mason, just like disposables were. slide the diaper under his soft, little cute butt and velcro them baby's on.

*we have had NO leaking so far! i was pretty worried about this especially for the over nighter part, because he sleep about 11 hours a night straight....and....still no leaks! yee haw!

*could they possibly be any cuter? colored diapers? cute and when wearing baby legs...even cuter!

*we change him every 3-4 hours, just like when we used disposables {unless we honestly forget}

*they are easy to wash. the only slightly annoying thing is that we only have 12 diapers so far, so it seems like i'm washing them quite often, like every other night. each time you wash you have to wash them twice too. everything can be put in the washer together {like the inserts and outer diaper} but only the inserts can be dried in the dryer.

*obviously a downfall is when your husband doesn't clean the poopy ones. in his defense, i was very aware of this before we started this journey. he would be all for it as long as he didn't have to hand wash the poopy ones. but honestly it hasn't been that bad. when he was just a teensie newborn mason would have blowouts all the time and i would hand wash his clothes, so maybe i'm just used to it.

*we can continue to use our cheap *All* free and clear laundry detergent. $8 a bottle and lasts months!! they suggest using of course really expensive detergent, but i didn't fall for it and we've been ok so far :)

*when we travel to friends or family's houses we will use disposables just because in case he poops i don't want to say "um...excuse me for a bit i am going to have to clean mason's poopy pants in your bathroom." maybe that's weird of me i don't know?

*also, mason has not had any diaper rashes since making the switch!

*we will save approximately $2,000+ before he is completely out of diapers :)

if you have any questions about cd'ing please ask!, i can do my best at answering them.
i may post more about our journey....we shall see :)

the swap...

...headband style...

about a month or so ago, i participated in my first headband swap! this was seriously so so fun!
danielle over at take heart lined up this lovely idea! {thanks lady!}

my swap partner was anna over at the joy cottage.
this lady if fabulous, creative, and super nice! annnnd not to mention she has a fabulous shop!!!
{i may or may not have ordered a pillow from her shop with mason's name on it}
just sayin' :)

after emailing each other a few times, it was time to mail off our headband(s), hoping she will fall head over heals for my little gift :)
i sent mine, and in a couple days i received my headband from anna....and......guess what?!?!

we sent each other the same headbands!!! it's like we were meant to be partners! :)
seriously.so.cool.



annnd how nice and sweet of her to send me a coffee mug sleeve from her shop! :)
i use it everyday because you know the only way i get through the day is, caffeine and lots of it!
i have often thought i just need an I.V. with a drip bag of caffeine :)

cute, ey?!?
head to her shop and get something nice for yourself :)
thanks anna for everything!!

xoxo

embrace the camera: feb 10

this weeks embrace the camera is taken while i'm rockin my little before nigh nigh
"ahhhhhh", i can hear ya now :)

i {love} these moments of cuddle time....they are starting to be few and far between :(
as mase is getting older, the cuddle time becomes fewer....
...he is a mover and becoming {much} more independent.


this week has been absolutely crazy!!
i think i need to simplify my life.
monday i saw mason for 1 hour. seriously?!? yes. and i.hate.that.
tuesday i didn't see him AT ALL :( he was still sleeping when i left for school, then we had parent/teacher conferences until 8pm {and i have a 30+ drive home} so he was sleeping when i got home too.
wednesday i finally got to play, love, cuddle, smooch, giggle, hug, change diapers, and clean a ucky dirty cd {i know you wanted to know that} from 4:30 until bed time. i was a baby hog that afternoon!!!
today, i have parent/teacher conferences AGAIN until 8pm so it is unlikely to see him tonight :( this makes me want to be a sahm even more!!! {still praying for God's Will!!!} :)
soooo i.can't.wait.for.friday.to.be.over.!!!!!!!!!

have a dandy day :)

xoxo




head on over to the anderson crew and see what's the buzz about
embracing the camera!!