Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder...

Well, at least I hope it does!  I took an unintentional blog hiatus because I wanted to enjoy every bit of summer I had left with my little man!  He just amazes me daily, and I wanted to really take the time to slow down and make memories with my sweet baby boy (I still refuse to call him a toddler).  Then, school started again which meant I had to go back to work.  Getting back into the swing of things took some time so that prolonged the break.  However, when I saw so many others coming back from their own blog breaks I decided it was time I came back too!

Here is just a brief re-cap of the past couple months:

• Mason is now 15 months old...where did the time go?!  He just went to the Dr. and he is 24 1/2 lbs.(60%)  and 33"(90%).  My little man has gotten so tall!  He has learned so much and is doing so many things that it really blows my mind!

He put on Daddy's shoes and stomped around in them!

Hiding in a corner reading...makes his English teacher momma ecstatic! 

He was playing in the tupperware cabinet, and this is how he comes out of the kitchen.  I love it!

Helping Momma get ready for school.



How adorable are these big boy P.J.'s!?  A co-worker gave them to us, and I just love them!



• We spent a lot of time outside. This kid LOVES being outside and screams hysterically when we bring him in!

I have the greatest husband ever!  He takes care of me and Mason, and we couldn't ask for anything more.

We had a dinner and movie date at home while our little man was sleeping.  It was fantastic!

He sent my back to school flowers!


*Disclaimer:  I started this post, then our computer crapped out, so this is the half of the post I was able to finish and get the pictures for.  Hopefully, I will post the other half soon as well as be back to blogging more frequently.  

Beach Trip!

We went on an impromptu beach trip with my parents a few weeks ago.  Nick and I didn't plan on doing anything big this summer since we recently booked our trip to London!  We were sitting with my parents and talking about needing a vacation so I suggested a beach house.  Everyone was in, but they were worried we wouldn't be able to find anything so late.  I started the hunt, and we had a fabulous house booked by that afternoon!  We stayed on Crystal Beach, and had a perfect relaxing vacation.  It was close to home, affordable, but perfect nonetheless!  Mason loved the beach!!  Here a few pictures from our trip...

Heading to the beach!

Playing with Grandad...

Before the trip was over, Mason started saying Grandad in context!

Mason made a friend at the beach house!  He loved this bird statue.

Beach Baby!

We got this visor for 99 cents at Old Navy.  Nick said Mason looks like a frat boy!

Playing on the deck.

Please ignore how gross I look...this was on our way out, headed home!

Fourth of July!

Our fourth was spent at home and was completely perfect!  We had a bbq at our house for family and friends, and it was great because we got to see some wonderful people, eat, and hang out!

The firecracker cake I made!  It was a huge hit!

 Mason at our neighborhood pool.  The perfect ending to our day!

And how cute is this boy in his festive attire!?  Nick's cousin made the shirt, and I think it is so adorable!

Mason's Birthday...

We had Mason's party on the same day as his birthday, but we still wanted to do a few special things before our guests arrived!  As per Pinterest, I wanted to start a tradition of having balloons fill his room when he woke up on his birthday.

I love this picture!

I don't even know what he was doing...

Then Nick decided to put Mason plus all the balloons in his crib, he loved it!

Of course, he had to have birthday pancakes!

We had a wonderful morning just the three of us, and we are still in shock how quickly this year has gone by.  It's crazy to me that I have a one year old!

I will share his party soon!  We had a wonderful time, and it was great to have so many people to celebrate my little man's birthday!

Food Truck!

So, I had previously mentioned that Nick and I were on the hunt to try some of the Houston food trucks.  This weekend we successfully tried three more!

First up was Oh My Pocket Pies.  They were so good!  We got salisbury steak and chicken relleno  pocket pies.  It was fun, easy to eat, and delicious!

Next we grabbed some cupcakes from Frosted Betty.  We actually took these home and tried them.  Wow, these cupcakes were amazing...Crave has nothing on these guys!

Last up we tried Phamily bites.  Awesome Vietnamese food!

We had a very successful food truck dinner and some of the proceeds went to a good cause.  We can't wait to try several more food trucks in the area.  The one I am on the hunt for is called Cut and Fry...traditional, Belgian style pom frittes, aka french fries!

First Family Fourth

We enjoyed our long weekend by being extra lazy and cuddly with our new little man!  We also had our parents over on Sunday to celebrate the fourth.  Unfortunately, Mason had a rough night with some tummy/gas issues and slept most of the day.  However, we enjoyed our family time and Mason got lots of love!

Mason in his festive onsie!

Family photo...it had been a long day and we all look a little rough.

Nick and I made s'more cups...they were a huge crowd pleaser.  Needless to say there were no leftovers!

My firecracker cake!