christmas 2011

this was our first christmas as a family of 4.  we switched up tradition and went to garrett's parents house on christmas eve.  we spent some time with them during the day and then made our way to church for the 2nd annual christmas eve service.  it's tricky with little kids to sit there for 45 minutes and listen, but we managed.  at times, jay was singing the songs and it was too cute.  we made our way back to garrett's parents house for dinner and to open presents.

here are some pictures with garrett's parents, chris and gloria, with mason.  they are so in love with this little guy.

here are some of mason just hanging out with his friends.  he really has been smiling more lately as well as becoming excited about things in front of him.  it's great that he is becoming more alert lately.

if you can't tell it already, batman and his friends invaded our house this christmas.  jay is really into superheroes.  he racked up on the batman shirts as well as got a spiderman and superman shirt as well.  new shoes made the list of christmas gifts as well as legos and other cool stuff to play with and the wear.

christmas day, after we opened all the superheroes from santa, we went to my parents house to open gifts with my grandmother.  no pictures yet, but we'll have some soon.

the past two days we've tried to clean up from the gifts and put them all away, as well as exchange a few at the mall.  it's been an exhausting, but awesome christmas.

we hope each of you had a very merry christmas.

ready or not...

garrett and i at his office Christmas party this past Sunday

are you ready for CHRISTmas this year?  are the presents wrapped?  are the kids excited for santa?  did you get your Christmas cards out?  we sure didn't this year.  maybe we can get something together to send out after the holidays.  it's been a very busy time of year for us this year especially.  jay wants all the superheroes he can get.  in that list, he has now included wonderwoman which santa doesn't make yet.  we'll see how this goes over on Christmas day.  another thing is a panther jersey, but he wants cam newton, #1.  he may be disappointed because again he will just have another substitute since santa doesn't make toddler size cam newton jersey's.  as for mason, he can't ask santa for anything yet, so he won't be getting much.  he'll be getting all the clothes, diapers and wipes throughout the year he really needs.  it will be Christmas all year long for him with new diapers as presents every few hours each day.

i love my little brother!!!

i can't believe that this time of year is already here and will be gone in a blink of an eye.  mason and jay are growing too fast and before we know it, mason will be all over the place.  each day he becomes more and more wiggly.  this is actually a good thing because hopefully he is building up muscle tone which many down syndrome kids lack.  one day, he's going to figure out how to roll over, then jay won't have to roll him over himself because he thinks that mason wants to be on his tummy.

look what i found under the Christmas tree

jay, in school, is learning all about this time of year.  he's celebrated Jesus' birthday several times in Sunday school and during the week at school.  it is awesome to hear him talk  about Jesus as well as that Herod was a bad king.

all in all, i think we are ready for Christmas.  i'm excited to go to the Christmas Eve service on Saturday evening at the church.  as well as, spend time with garrett's family on Christmas Eve and my family on Christmas.  next week, the four of us will get to enjoy each others' company.  garrett's taking the week off of work and since there is no daycare, we get a full week of playing with Christmas gifts.  we hope each one of you has a great Christmas as well.  MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

we're back...

i've been back to school for about a month now and we have started to get in the groove and juggle everything that needs to be done on a daily basis.  the kids have to be picked up, along with bottles washed and labeled for the next day, dinner ready, and putting the kids to bed on time each night.  every now and then there is a doctor's appointment that someone has to go to.  it's been crazy and busy around here.  not to mention, garrett's been trying to take his architecture exams.  he has one more test tomorrow and has passed the first five exams he took.  hopefully the last two will come back with passing scores in the next few weeks.

this past week, mason had his 2 month check up.  the stats are in and he is just a peanut.  not only is on a growth chart for regular kids, but he has his own chart for having down syndrome.

weight:  9 lbs 1 oz  (3%, ds 50%)

height:  21 1/4 inches  (3%, ds 25%)

he seems to be doing pretty well and is checking out in all areas.  the cardiologist said that there are two small holes in a vessel, but it is nothing to worry about.  they want to see him back in about 3 years.  they must not be too worried at all then.  we went to check mason's hearing as well last week, but fluid remains in both ears and there was no reason to repeat the tests we had done last time.  there was one test she was able to do and believes that there is some hearing in mason's left ear.  we confirmed last time he could hear out of his right ear.

mason is a great sleeper and normally sleeps about 8 hours straight until he wakes up.  the other day, he lasted for about 10 hours until i woke him to eat so we could leave to go somewhere.

the other thursday, jay, mason, my dad and myself made our way to the annual tree lighting in mint hill.  santa was there to see all of the kids.  jay made sure to ask santa for a lot of superheroes.  

take a look at these last two pictures.  jay and mason look a lot alike at 2 months.  it's so crazy how they resemble one another.

mason

jay