The World According to Mason

Sometimes, all happiness requires is warm feet.

My Life in Cartoons

Most days, I feel like I am stuck in a Tom and Jerry cartoon.

I have taken on my role as referee and am already tired of it, even though I know this is just the beginning; having children ranging in age of only 2 1/2 - 7 1/2. Can't wait for the teenagers... Oh, and Ethan has chosen wrestling as his extracurricular activity, meaning he spends his Monday evenings learning how to more effectively pin his brothers to the ground. For the record, my vote was for piano...

But lately, I have found myself in another cartoon entirely.

Sleeping Beauty.

Mason has always had a difficult personality, that is to say, he's been more stubborn than either of my other boys and as a result, he and I "fight". A lot. He's also a very smart little weasel and at 2 1/2 speaks much better than his brother's did at his age. Meaning, I find myself actually arguing with a toddler. Daily.

Our latest battle began when we put up the Christmas tree. We got a new pre-lit tree from Costco that I have been wanting for a while now. This year's model however, had an unexpected feature:

The lights have a foot switch that enable them to toggle between white and colored lights. As a general rule, I prefer "pretty" trees. I don't like colored lights on a tree except in certain circumstances. Circumstances that do not currently exist in my home. The first night that we put it up, we let the boys see both the colored and the white lights and do all the proper ooh-ing and ah-ing. When it was over, I turned the lights back to white and admired a job well done. That is the last time I looked upon my beautiful tree, thanks to Mr. Merryweather himself.

Merry multi-colored Christmas!

**The picture does not accurately display just how badly the lights clash with the decor. Promise.

Feelin' the burn!

I can't believe that I forgot to post this! Ethan had a hard time falling asleep in the light this summer (since it wouldn't get dark until around 10:00 pm, staying awake was NOT an option...) and Mommy had to get creative to get him to bed on time. I settled on doing what my mother did to me in such circumstances when I was little and a new workout craze was born!

And now here to demonstrate are Ethan and Mason, getting their bedtime wiggles out!

Today, my baby is two.

Happy Birthday, my biggest. You are for me.

Shall We Dance?

"There are short-cuts to happiness, and dancing is one of them."

~Vicki Baum

"Dance first. Think later. It's the natural order."

~Samuel Beckett

"There is a bit of insanity in dancing that does everybody a great deal of good."

~Edwin Denby

You gotta admit, the boy has got some wicked moves. Any time he hears a beat, he is dancing.

I love this boy.

The Most Wild Thing of All

I have nothing funny to say. Sorry about that. I do, however, have some pictures to share with you of Mason's official 1st Birthday Party.

This is one of many things that I have cooking this month. It's been, and will continue to be, a busy month for us. This week we will celebrate both Ethan and Josh's birthdays so there will be plenty yet to post. In the meantime, enjoy a look into our crazy Saturday:

The sign greeting guests as they walked in.

Just some of the decorations. Yes, those vines are hand-cut. And yes, I am amazing.

(Notice the fort in the back? Did that too...

That's where we had a "... dramatic reading of Where the Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak.)

This picture turned on me. I hate technology.

At any rate, these are the party favors.

Again, this one turned on me. Joys of computers.

These were the party favors, close-up. Every child got one. That's right.

Mason's party attire. In case you can't read it, it says, "King of all wild things".

The cupcakes served to all the guests.

Mason's birthday cake. Go ahead. Stare.

(Notice the beautiful baby in my arms? Say hello to my newest niece, Eliza. Isn't she pink?)

And of course, a birthday wouldn't be a birthday without pictures of the destruction of a handcrafted original.

We didn't capture it properly, but this kid was all about the cake.

Notice the wad in his right hand? Yeah, cake.

Finally bored with eating, ready to do some real damage...

I got ideas for his party from here. It was fun to do, if not a little too ambitious. I don't have a picture of the invitation. Maybe I'll post it at a later date... it was cute. We also had food, and a wild game of "Pin the Tail on Max". Max is still on our living room wall, waiting to freak Josh out in the middle of the night. What do you do with a giant Max?

Three turns One.

Mason turned the big, 0-1 on Friday. I am late in posting. I debated not posting and waiting until his real party this upcoming Saturday, but these photos are just too good to keep to myself:

"Say... what's that?"

"Well, now, that's a fine specimen you have there."

"Mmm..."

(Commence maniacal laughter.)

(More laughter.)

(Gasping for breath.) "Too... much... laughter..."

"Oh, wait. There's some left over here on my left hand."

And there you have it. My baby. One. Ah, sweet sadness.

Welcome, welcome.

Welcome to the list (thankfully nontoxic) markers.

We will miss you.

Dear Daddy:

This is why Mommy stopped buying Costco muffins.

Too bad both you and Mason didn't know.

*FYI: I do know that a baby should have neither product containing egg nor chocolate, but try telling that to the brother who left his muffin unattended on the floor and the baby who has to eat butternut squash everyday. I almost feel he earned it... but don't tell that to Dr. Lepore.

A-Visiting We Go!

So, a few months ago, my Grandma had a few health scares. When I realized that I hadn't been back to Illinois to see her since 1997 (I am not a terrible granddaughter... I have seen her on several occasions since then, I just haven't been back east since then. I'm only almost terrible.) I booked a flight and Mason and I, in the company of my sisters and brother, were off on Grandmapalooza Tour, 2009!

Here are the highlights:

Sami and Brandon, modeling Grandma's latest garage sale finds.

She's always super generous!

Does anyone remember that scene in Willy Wonka with the lickable wallpaper?

Seriously, actually, licked this when I was seven.

Mason, waiting for our plane in St. Louis. I do think that he was as confused as he looks...

Other accomplishments:

-Eating 1 pint + 1 quart (I can't add those two measurements. Stupid metric system.) of Krekels Lemon Custard in 36 hours.

-Sniffing the air inside ALDI. Weird? I just may be.

-Nursing Mason for 3+ hours on a plane. Quite literally. (Did I use it right, Jana?)

Yeah. So, 2 full days in Illinois, and these are all the pictures that I got. Hmm. I just might be a terrible granddaughter after all. At least I've got my memories...

The Question.

Most frequently asked: What's it like with three?

The answer: Better than originally anticipated.

An Introduction

Mason Edward Gailey

Born May 7th, 2009 9:36 am

7 lbs. 14 oz. 19 3/4 inches