Spring Break Part 1
So the only reason I have a part one is because in part two I am going to tell about the amazing week of food. It was wonderful having Paul around more during his Spring Break, he is such an amazing dad (I love watching him) and both our girls love him so much and loved having him around. I am so thankful for the help and his creative ideas this past week. He still studied most of the week, but took off a couple hours here and there to hang out with us.

Tuesday we went to the Dallas Arboretum with some friends from our playgroup. We had a picnic near these deer statues and Elyse was pretty much obsessed with them and played on them the whole time. Then right before we left we went and ran around these castles they had built. It is so beautiful at the Arboretum and we had a great time!







Wednesday, we stole Paul away from studying and went to this place called Bounce U, Elyse loves it! We got a great deal on groupon and have been going once a week for the past month. It is a warehouse full of blow-up bouncey things.



Thursday and Friday consisted of some time at the park, I went to a speaker at church, and some other things I can't remember. Saturday, we went to the Heard Museum in Mckinney. It has a bug/dinasour/other random stuff exhibit and a bunch of hiking trails outside. It was so much fun. I got a season pass on groupon so we can go a lot more. Elyse did a ton of walking/hiking, she loved running around and June loved being outside and looking around at everything. We got a family pic (which we don't have very many of those in the past couple months), but my eyes are closed, bummer!





we also got a little work done, washing the cars, Elyse helping out!


Yay for Spring Breaks, I didn't think I was going to get those again after graduating. Thanks Paul for the fun memories!

My favorite peeps..



So I realize all I do is post pictures of my family and talk about what they are doing and how fun they are. Now that I stay at home full time (which I LOVE and so glad that I get to) that is my life. I would love to get into something for me, that I enjoy on my down time, but I am trying to figure out what that is. I started reading again and I am reading The girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Paul and I planned some fun new meals this week, so if they turn out good, I will post those recipes. I am realizing I am also excited about a house because I will have something to do that I love, organize! I like decorating too(not like I am really good, but it is fun for me) and just having a place to call home and take care of. I still feel in transition since I know us living with the Mason's is not permanent, but we are so thankful and glad to be living with them during this time since it has eliminated alot of responsibility that a home would bring. But I feel ready for that again. I am also starting to run/workout more frequently which feels really good! And I have two projects that I am working on; organize all our recipes into one box (they are all over the place) and print pictures for baby book and photo album that Paul got me for Christmas. I am excited about more to look forward to for myself, I feel I have been so lazy the past few months. Paul has spring break this week (whoooh) but not really since he will still be studying, but he will definitely be around more. I hope to do a couple fun things with the family this week, so we will see how much we can steal him away during the day. I hope everyone (like the two people that read this blog) has a great week and hopefully, we will be posting more often:)

Elyse is hosting a Tea party for us and her friends




Last week, I feed some rice cereal to June for the first time (4 1/2 months old, crazy to me b/c I waited until Elyse was 6 months, but she really liked it. I haven't given her any since, but it was fun. My doc said I could, so I thought why not try a little)

The last 3 months..

So I am not really going to go through the past few months because that would be way to much ground to make up and mostly I don't really remember. But to sum it up, June was born and the next 6 weeks were pretty tough due to the adjustment for everyone in our family, lack of sleep, Paul being in school, the gas issue June had (she is better now thank goodness), and everything else in between (really not any good excuses not to blog, but finally we are!). But I would say once 6 weeks hit things started getting so much better and I am loving having two amazing girls, they are so much fun, and such a blessing to us. June or "June Bug" as we call her is the cutest and happiest little baby and is talking (cooing) and reaching and exploring the world around her now. She is about to be 4 months old, time has gone by so fast probably because Elyse keeps me busy, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Elyse seems so old to me, I feel like she was just a baby, now she is telling me what to do (yes she is stubborn and likes to correct me when I am wrong). We were reading a book and she likes to point to things and ask "what's that". I said a bear and she looks as me and says "no mommy, that's a rabbit", in this sassy little voice. It was hilarious and too funny (she was actually right, opps!)

Anyway, I could go on and on about my girls. We are actually looking at houses right now, we are ready to be in our own place and be closer to Paul's school. We are excited and so ready, but just waiting for that perfect house to come along. We thought we had one and had it under contract, but after my parents seeing it, it was going to be too much work to keep up. Hard to handle at first because we were emotionally attached to the house, but now feel a peace about it. We know there is a house for us out there, hopefully sooner than later.

Below are some pics of what has been going on lately.






This is Elyse on her Strider Running bike. If you haven't heard of these bikes and have a child between 2 and 5, you should check these out, they are amazing! They have no peddles and you walk with them and as you get better you start running and pulling up your feet. Kids learn balance. Elyse is just starting to use it, but our nephew Miles, 3 years old, LOVES this bike, I can't wait until Elyse gets into it like he did.


Elyse trying to calm down June




Snow day, Paul took Elyse sledding and snowboarding, they had so much fun.






June talking


Elyse with her stretchy bracklets, she LOVES them!

Running Blind

The title of this post is allegorical in a sense. Such deep spiritual meaning and as I found out tonight a very literal meaning. Elyse, June, Kristin and I were having a fun night watching old videos of us as a family sledding at a hill a few blocks from our house in Denver when we took a short pause to manage the stench that was coming from Elyse's pants. Lately I have found that Elyse is motivated at times when we race each other to do something that she doesn't necessarily get excited about otherwise. So tonight was one of those moments that we raced to her room to take care of her diaper. As we turned the corner to the hallway Elyse was in the lead and gaining ground on me. The next thing I knew Elyse was at full speed and raced straight into the oncoming wall like a 240 pound running back taking on a 375 pound defensive lineman. She ricocheted back and fell to the floor and all I could do was ask "What the heck just happened?" I realized soon thereafter that she was running with her eyes closed. Little did she know the impact that this would have on her forehead. I still don't know where she got this idea and let alone felt the need to reenact the activity. I felt so bad for my little girl. All I could do was console her and give some ice for her forehead.

Tonight I realized what my heavenly father does for me on a daily basis. I must run into walls at a full sprint with my eyes closed. It is amazing how a small lamp can light a path. Not to illimunate the whole house or the whole room but just enough to see the hallway and avoid the corner of a wall. Make sure to keep a light on.

Memoryless Property

I suppose you can call me a real Ph.D. student now because I'm about to relate a fundamental property I'm learning about to my real life. I've been studying too much I guess. The title to this post is the name of a property that describes the way a certain random variable behaves. To avoid too much jargon it basically says that this given variable behaves in a certain way until any given point in time. At that point the behavior effectively starts over and the remaining time of the variables life mimics the behavior of the first part hence a "memoryless" property to this variable. I'm sure that if any of my colleagues or professors were to read this they would laugh at the fact that my poor description of this property clearly indicates my lack of understanding of relatively clear concepts. Regardless I will write more in hopes to better explain why I even bring this up.

Currently I feel as though I'm in a circus. I promise I didn't explain the above simply to tell you I'm a clown. If someone was looking in from the outside it would appear that I'm in the middle of a tent riding a unicycle while juggling 5 bowling pins. That definitely sounds like I'm a talented individual but not exactly what I'm trying to get at. This has been our week. So much going on and so much juggling happening. If someone tries to add one more bowling pin for us to juggle we just might drop a pin. We don't want a pity party but you can send cupcakes. random but I like cupcakes at parties. No one wants to drop something they are juggling. We want to succeed, put on a good show and in some ways be perfect. Which leads me to why I discussed the property above.

As I approach this point in which I feel I cannot juggle anymore I reach a breaking point that forces me to ask for help. Someone who can help me juggle or show me that it may be ok to drop a pin. Not from a friend or family member but from my Lord who gives strength, direction, and a peace that I cannot fully understand. He shows me a glimpse of my story that he is unfolding in these moments and the reason for the circus. You ask how often do I reach this point? Weekly, daily, hourly, all of the above? Yes. In those breaking moments I am brought to a place where I realize the Lord's promises to sustain and to carry our burdens. However, the very next second I forget this truth of which I am reminded and start the process all over again. How dumb am I? Thus in my rambling I have come full circle back to how my life resembles a random variable that exhibits no memory and forgets its past experiences which I briefly described above. What if I lived in a way that I am daily reminded of His goodness and promises rather than turning my back and forgetting almost immediately after the reminder? Seems silly not to. Maybe I am the clown.

Breakfast!

Thanks to the extra hour of sleep, which for some reason my kids didn't take advantage of, I was motivated to bake this morning in hopes to bring a little smile to my families face. Kristin has been so tired getting up and feeding every 2-3 hours so Elyse and I woke up at what is now 6 o'clock and got started with some delicious muffins. I wanted to make Kristin's favorite, blueberry muffins, but we didn't have enough blueberries so we used a mixed berries instead. Just as good. Elyse was so excited to help. She helped put in almost all the ingredients. As we progressed through the recipe and were combining all the ingredients I saw in my little daughter the reason I have a passion for baking. The picture below says it all.



The batter of whatever you are making whether cookies, a cake, or muffins is so amazing. All Elyse could say is I love it! We had so much fun together. When it came time to sprinkle the topping on the muffins all Elyse's arm, and more correctly her taste buds, would let her do was grab a handful of muffin batter out of the tin and put it straight in her mouth. Hilarious.



So I also have to admit something about myself. I don't like things to get messy because I really don't like to clean up the mess. Especially when it comes to cooking. Kristin can attest to that. Well this morning I decided to bite my tongue and let Elyse have fun with it. So when it came time to clean up it was no problem. Bath time in the sink while washing dishes. A perfect solution. I think Elyse had more fun with the clean up than she did the baking.



Well since things have been a bit crazy we haven't been able to post about Elyse's harvest party that we went to. A big church in West Allen put on a huge production with huge slides, food, and games. Below are a few pictures. Elyse hasn't stopped talking about all the things that she saw there. I thought, "She is too young, will she even remember?" I was way wrong. All she has talked about since are the things that she saw at the carnival. Kids are amazing. Enjoy the pictures.

Birthday Boy
So I am a little behind on posting but it is never to late. I wanted to say Happy Birthday to my amazing hubby! He is the best husband and dad (of 2 girls now, crazy to think we have 2 girls) and I am so blessed to have him in my life. I am also so proud of him for taking the step towards his PhD, I know it is not easy, but he is doing awesome with balancing school, work, and family. I wish I was better with words to describe how truly amazing you are, but I love you Paul! So his birthday was not as a big deal this year, not because we didn't try, but because of June coming into this world. Sorry Paul, but hopefully you still felt special. The Monday before June came we had a little get together with his family. Paul loves to bake and wanted me/us to try making a cheesecake. He found this Martha Stewart no bake cheesecake and it turned out amazing! We had a great time celebrating with family and having a relaxed night. Then on Friday night (his actual birthday) we went out to Mi Cocina for some dinner and yes June came along and did great. It is nice to have lots of help:) We had fun celebrating both June and Paul!





June was singing Happy Birthday to Paul, she is way advanced!

The birth of June Bug...

So lets start about a week and a half ago when I went to my midwife for my 38 week check-up. I was 2 to 3 cm dilated and 80% effaced that day. I knew it was coming soon and I thought maybe even last weekend it was going to happen, but nope not then. I though for sure I wouldn't make it to my appointment of this past week for my 39 week check-up, but I did. I had my midwife appointment at 9:30 am on Wednesday, October 27th. I took Elyse with me and Paul headed out for school. When my midwife checked me I was about 5 cm dilated and she said I was probably going to have this baby today. I was feeling more contractions, but not really consistent or in active labor. I called Paul and told him the news and told him to still go to school and I would call him when I feeling more consistent contractions. He called his mom to be on call and she told him to turn around to come back to be with me that I was going to go fast and she would head home to come get Elyse (great advice Sandy!). I still decided to go to the Library with Elyse for her storytime and then I would head home around 11:00. So I did that still feeling good and we got home around 11:30 after Paul told me to get home :) So we got our bag and food ready for the birthing center and headed out around 12;00 to walk around and get things going (side note, I decided I wanted to use a midwife this time around and heard great things about a birthing center here in Allen. I went to check it out when we first moved here and felt really good about going there especially since Elyse's birth went really smooth). So we decided to go walk around at the outlet mall since it was only a mile away from the birthing center. After walking and shopping, I started to feel the contractions more and they started to be consistent so I started to time them. They went from 8 minutes apart to 5 minutes apart pretty quick, so I called my midwife around 1:45 and she told me to wait to come in after I had been having contractions 5 minutes apart for an hour. So we went to Target, did some shopping, and then went to go grab some Golden Chick for Paul to eat (needed to make sure my coach was fed and ready to go). We got to the birthing center around 2:45 and sat in the backyard for Paul to eat. At 3:00 my contractions were getting more painful, so I went in to tell the lady that I was ready to go upstairs and get comfy. So we got up to our room and they started coming really strong. My midwife was downstairs finishing up her appointment and I kept asking for her to come check how far along I was. They thought I wasn't as far along as I was because I was pretty causal about everything, we laughed about it after the fact. So she checked me and I was 8 cm dilated. They immediately called the birthing assistant (she was getting groceries when she got the call and headed out as quick as she could and got there around 3:30). I got into the bath tub for just a bit to work through some contractions, but decided to get out to finish the labor on the bed. Things progressed fast and next thing I know I was told I could start pushing. I think I probably pushed through a few contractions and out came June at 3:52 pm! Yay! I was so glad to be done and finally meet our little girl. She was pretty blue when she came out which worried Paul and I, but our midwife said since she came down really quick her face would be a little bruised. Oh and Paul got to catch her and cut the umbilical cord! I just remember thinking right after that the labor wasn't as bad as I remember (of course it was alot shorter), but the pushing and delivery was much worse then I remember. Paul and I got to spend some great time with June before we let Elyse come up and meet her which was great. And of course Elyse did amazing with June and was so excited to meet her and hold her. We had such a great experience at the birthing center and loved our midwife and birthing assistant. We are so thankful for a beautiful and healthy baby girl!


Allen Birthing Center



Midwife on the left and Birthing assistant on the right, love them!

Here We Go.....!

So today Kristin went to the doctor for her weekly checkup as the due date is getting so close. She was having pretty regular contractions yesterday which were about 9-10 minutes apart. Signs of pre-labor for those moms out there. Well after her appointment today she was already at 4-5 cm and progressing quickly. So what did she do? She meandered over to the library for story time with Elyse. As I write she is making her way back to the house to pick up the stuff to go to the birthing center. I'm now thinking we will have this baby in the car! Well probably not but I'm sure it will come quick. I write this as my last post with an single child because we are all pretty sure this baby is coming out today. Yeh!!!!! Thanks to everyone who voted on the names. It made this fun. Thanks for the continued support and prayers through our many decisions and transitions this year. Please continue as we go through one more in 2010. We'll post on the other side of this.....

Are you Hungry?

I was thinking tonight what I wanted to write about and it was obvious I wanted to share some moments of our weekend. It has been such a fun weekend and a great start to my birthday week. As mentioned in my previous post, I finished my last midterm this past Wednesday and had a cancelled class on Friday so I did minimal work this weekend and spent much time with my family. I thought about the events of our weekend I realized that the memories created were captured while sharing a meal. It is interesting that if you think about past moments that are meaningful and positive memories they almost always involve food of some kind. Obviously not all of them but many of them. This means one of two things. The Mason's love food and/or the breaking of bread with people leads to meaningful moments. i would like to think both are very true. The Mason's do love food but more importantly, the Lord gave us food to enjoy and share while sharing meaningful time with others. This weekend Kristin and I created some fun new memories over a few meals.

Earlier in the week I attempted to plan a camping trip with Elyse, my nephew Cade, and my dad. Someone forgot to tell me that going camping when your wife is going to give birth to your child any day is a bad idea. So we changed our plans and decided to camp in the backyard. A great alternative. The night was complete with a fire, roasting hot dogs, and of course s'mores. Yes, food was involved. Nothing better than a Hebrew National over the open fire with some good company. Cade and Elyse loved helping get the fire started. My dad, Cade and I spent the night in the tent after watch the Rangers win the series against the Yankees of course. The first memory of the weekend.


Elyse with cousins Cohen and Cade

The second came as a celebratory meal with one of my colleagues at school and his wife. I have become pretty good friends with my Korean colleague and we often talk of food, culture, and differences in our two countries. I love this time and so we decided after our hardest midterm we would go celebrate with authentic Korean BBQ. Much different that the sloppy smoked brisket and baked beans us southerners are used to. This was a real treat. We walked in and my friend and his wife handled everything. Talking in there native tongue and ordering everything for us. So awesome. The idea of an authentic Korean BBQ is hot coals are placed under a grill in the middle of a 4 person table in which you cook your own meat. There are about a dozen side dishes that you eat as you grill your meat complete with fresh garlic and jalapenos as well as a couple of dipping sauces. Once the meat is done grilling you take it and wrap it lettuce with any sides or sauces you want. If you aren't licking your lips yet let me just say it was amazing. For my birthday coming up my friend ordered us some rice wine to share which is similar to sake. It was amazing and rather pricey and was so generous for him to treat. This couple made the night so much fun and will be such a great memory. It is neat to see how our friendship with this couple has grown over just the past couple of months. Again great conversation shared over a meal, in this case a cultural experience.


Heading out the door.



No forks for us that night.


Our friends Jong Min Oh and his wife Heehyun or Heeny.


To top this great weekend was yet another event with family sharing a meal. Yes, I'm sure i've gained five pounds this weekend to those of you Colorado readers that are wondering but that is what you do in Texas I guess. I suppose you need to hold us accountable. Well, tonight we drove to visit with Grand Martha, my dad's mom. This is the third time I've seen her since I've been back and every time is so much fun. Tonight we went to Twisted Root and enjoyed some fried food and burgers. Yes another amazing meal and another great time shared over a meal. It was neat to see my grandmother and her great-grandchild interact. What a huge gap in age and so many memories in between. I pray these experiences continue as we share food with friends and family in the future.


At Twisted Root. Turkey Burger and fried pickles. Can't go wrong.

So, eat well. Converse well. Be intentional in sharing these moments.

A little side note since we are on the food theme, check out the amazing birthday cake that Kristin made for me. A no-bake cheesecake with an oreo chocolate crust.





Given the Halloween birthday there is a spider web on the top of the cake. Festive huh.

Work Hard, Play Hard!

So cliche but so true for the Mason family the past month. As you may have noticed we haven't written in well over two weeks now. So sad but we have had quite a bit of going on. Fun things and challenges. I have had the hardest past couple of weeks at school between two midterm exams, presentations and papers. It is amazing to see how much time this stuff takes. I'm learning that I don't remember how to study anymore and hence the challenges are abundant. I have had repetitive late nights (into the early morning) with tea or coffee and Elyse about the only thing that can get me going in the morning. As you can imagine this presents a substantial amount of burden on my pregnant, tired, lonely wife. What an amazing woman she is! She has cleaned, taken care of Elyse, carried our second little girl and served me so well. I've been so blessed to have a supportive wife as we walk through these challenges.

Well, in the midst of the long nights, we have been creative with my time constraints and made some great memories along the way. We had the opportunity to go camping a few weeks ago with another couple and their son. She is due about the same time as Kristin so we had two pregnant ladies being troopers and camping for a night. We drove to unknown wildlife refuge where there were plenty of signs saying no camping and pitched a tent on a back road next to a gas well. For those Colorado readers, we have exchanged the beauty of a mountain or the sound of a rushing river while camping for the sound and view of gas fields and oil derricks. It was ironic, fun, and beautiful though!


It was amazing to see how much stuff we packed for only a single night of camping. I guess that is the beauty of car camping. The air mattress was a must for a 9 month pregnant lady.





Two weekends ago we were invited to a neighborhood fall festival where a bunch of families got their kids together for halloween. We dressed up Elyse in her new costume. Kristin, found a ladybug outfit for Elyse complete with wings and antennas. She loved it and was so cute as you can see from the picture below. I have missed my girls so much in these past weeks and ask myself how can I love this new baby as much as I love Elyse. Somehow I think I will manage.







Last weekend we extended our fun for a night away from Elyse thanks to my parents. It was one of my best friends 30th birthday party. It was a surprise party at the lake with a 1920's theme and a sleepover after. So Kristin and I dressed up in the most 20's type outfit we had and enjoyed the evening. There was catered food from On the Border, birthday cake and beverages. The craziest part of the night was the fact that 3 dealers were hired to bring in a craps, roulette, and 21 table. After dinner we spent roughly 2-3 hours gambling with house money. Kristin and I spent the whole night at the craps table. We had never played before but by the end of the night we were jumping around with the others and high-fiving because the table was hot! It was so much fun hanging out with long-time friends. They also hired a photo booth for the evening, what a great way to capture the moments. This was an amazing party (thanks Kristin B.) and we had a great time!






The last fun event that we want to share with everyone took place on Thursday. After my test and finishing up on a homework assignment I came early to carve pumpkins with Elyse while Kristin made some amazing cookies. It was so great to finally be done with my crazy month and be able to enjoy some much needed time with my family. It has been so hard to say bye to them in the morning and I can tell that they miss me. These little moments of spending an hour or two with them is much needed and hopefully more recurring in the near future. Here are some fun pictures and we hope you enjoy. Sorry for the long post.