Christmas Photo Fun!

Many of you may have noticed the absence of something in your Christmas cards: not money but a Christmas photo of Mason. The primary reason for this is that we weren't able to get into the city to the photo studio due to the huge snowstorm that decided to arrive on our picture day. We had attempted to have photos taken earlier in the month and were not happy with the results (although we did order a few pictures because we felt obligated) so we were hoping that our second attempt would result in at least one half decent picture. Apparently this was not to be! What were we to do? Take our own pictures of course!! How difficult could it be? Well, I will let all of you be the judge. I have posted a few of the "better" pictures below. Our photo session lasted almost a week and we finally just gave up trying to capture the "perfect" picture of Mason. In our eyes all pictures of him are perfect!




We are so excited to be celebrating our first Christmas as a family! Having children definitely brings back the magic of the season. We are so blessed to have Mason in our lives!
Merry Christmas to our family and friends! Stay tuned to more pics....

Bishop Family Christmas

The second party was the annual Bishop Family Christmas. This was our first time attending and it was really nice to see so many relatives (even though we didn't know half of them.) Santa makes a special appearance after the big potluck dinner and all of the kids receive a gift.
Mason wasn't too sure what to think of Santa but he sure was interested in the colourful wrapping paper on his gift.
Bradley and Jack helped Mason open up his gift.Here are some of the Bradley cousins from the next generation. Emma and Catherine joined the boys. Moments after this picture was taken we were in the vehicle to go home and Mason fell asleep before we left the parking lot and slept the entire 2 hour ride home!

Christmas Party at the Jackett's

We spent this past weekend attending two different Christmas functions. The first was hosted by The Jackett's for my extended family. We all dressed in tacky clothes, including Mason although in these pictures he had already taken off his sweater due to the temperature of the house. Don't Scott and I look like we are plucked right out of the 80's? I love this picture of Mason. He reminds me of the Max, the little dog in the Grinch. It must be the way that the hat is perched on top of his head.
The next morning Mason was hanging out in his Christmas jammies in the kitchen with everyone.

Kids' Christmas Party

At the beginning of the month we went down to Elora to attend the Legion's Kids' Christmas Party. Mason took in all of the action. There were so many kids there that he didn't have time to realize that he had skipped his afternoon nap. Santa Claus made an appearance and Mason received a cute toy for the tub. Grandpa Day showed up prior to Santa's arrival.

Double Fisted

Mason is really starting to get the hang of eating solids and he likes to put his hands in his mouth to "help out". Scott decided to put wet facecloths on his hands so that he can help by wiping his own mouth. At the moment it works really well but we will see how much longer Mason cooperates.

This Little Piggy...

Mason has a little stuffed pig that lights up and recites "This Little Piggy" that he absolutely LOVES! He tries to kiss the piggy and is always smiling and laughing at it. We put both of them in Mason's sleigh and pulled them around the living room. Perhaps we will get them out in the snow soon.

Grandma Day's Visit

Grandma Day came up to visit for three days and Mason had such a great time! He received lots of cuddles, hugs and kisses. We bundled up and went for a stroll around the neighbourhood.

Mommy and Daddy even went out together one night to curl (for the first time this season) and Grandma stayed with Mason. Thanks Grandma! We had a lot of fun!

The Twins' Baby Shower

Yesterday I hosted a baby shower for my friend Philly and her two daughters Claire (on the left) and Sophia. Mason and I spent the day with Philly and the girls and we all went into work together (I work with Philly). Mason and Sophia spent a few moments together in his crib.
It was so nice to visit with everyone. There have been five babies born to the S.C.I. Family this year and there are still two more on the way! Here is a look at the future S.C.I. staff:

Mmmmmmm... Sweet Potatoes!!!

Finally, a food that Mason likes! We moved on to oatmeal last week and Mason seemed to tolerate this a little better than he did the rice cereal. Today we tried sweet potatoes and boy did he ever love them! He was a little hesitant with the first spoonful but after that he was right into helping us get this new product into his mouth. Sweet potatoes are much messier than cereal and I think that we are now into a whole new world at mealtime. Is this when most people start thinking about getting a dog to clean up the food that falls to the floor?

Brrrrrr....

This picture was taken at the bottom of our front steps and is supposed to be Mason's first snowfall. He really is sitting in the snow but I zoomed in so closely to get his face that I completely missed the snow!

Sitting Up?

Okay, Mason isn't quite sitting up on his own yet but he is getting there. We are at the tripod/frog stage. He is almost there!

Rub A Dub Dub

We have now moved (finally) from the little "baby" tub to an intermediate rubber duck inflatable tub that we put in our bathtub. As you can see from these pictures, Mason really loves to take a bath and he has become quite skilled at kicking and splashing water. Our backs are not enjoying this move to the lower tub. I think that it is time to invest in a little stool for us to sit on during bath time.

Happy Birthday!

Mason turned 6 months old on the 14th of November. Where has the time gone? We can't believe our little monkey is already a half year old!

A Brisk Walk

After many cold, damp, dreary and snowy days we finally saw the sun today so I thought that it was a great day to get out for a nice brisk walk. Mason got all decked out in his hat, jacket, mittens and snuggly blanket. Surprisingly he didn't protest too loudly to all of these clothes. He really is not too fond of the layering aspect of the colder weather. It felt great to get some fresh air and by the end of the walk Mason was sound asleep and snoring!

Story Time

Mason is starting to show an interest in books which I just love! It is so cute to see him sitting on his daddy's lap looking at the pictures and listening to the words. I can't wait to start reading bedtime stories! He also loves being sung to! We are now in our second session of Kindermusik and the book that he is reading here is from the class and includes a CD filled with music to accompany the story.


I wish that he was into his rice cereal as much as he is his books. Since my rice cereal post Mason's interest in this food item has diminished and he now closes his lips tight and turns his head away from the spoon. I tried a sample of the cereal and think that I do have to side with Mason. We now have a box of oatmeal and barley here and I am going to open one and see if he is a little more receptive.

The Football Pool

As some of you may or may not know, Scott runs a football pool (for fun) every year. This year he has included Mason in the hopes that Mason will grow up to be as passionate about the sport as his daddy. (He tried the same with me but was not successful.) Mason is sitting here pondering his choices for the upcoming week.

Happy Halloween!

Mason is going to be a frog for Halloween this year. (Okay, he won't actually be going door-to-door but it's still fun to dress him up.) Cousin Ava wore this costume when she was his age. The costume is a little big but very cozy. Today all of the kids got dressed up for the Kindermusik class.
Mason's eyes are almost as big as the frog's eyes!

Mmmmmmm... Rice Cereal!

After much discussion (and anticipation) the big day has finally arrived! Today Mason tried rice cereal for the first time. He managed to get a little bit down and he seemed to be okay with the whole process. I am filled with mixed feelings. I am excited that he is getting older and yet I am a little sad at the same time.


What a little cutie!

Playdate With Declan

We went down to visit with the Jacketts and Dympna (mommy's friend) and her son Declan came by for a playdate. We took all of the kids to the park and ate fantastic homemade pizza courtesy of Declan's daddy Greg.
Dympna is having another baby in the New Year so Mason will have another friend to play with very soon.

Meeting The Twins

Mason and I finally got to meet Sophia and Claire. Their mommy Philly works with me. The girls are five and a half weeks old in this picture. Sophia is in the middle and Claire is on the right. We arrived home just as Philly and the girls were pulling into our driveway so we took a picture of the three of them sleeping. Sophia was starting to wake up here. We look forward to lots of playdates with the girls and it is going to be so much fun watching them grow up together.