Dinosaur Train Party

This year was Mason's first official friend birthday party, and it's no surprise he wanted it to be a Dinosaur Train party. Mason has been counting down the days until his party for weeks. We made invitations that were tickets for the Dinosaur Train and delivered them to a few of his friends. Mason was very excited about having a train cake and I think it was better than he imagined. As I was getting the party started I found Mason acting out his own episode of Dinosaur Train with the cake. It was too cute to even make me care the frosting looked completely mangled by the time the guests arrived. .I made these cardboard box trains for each of the kids to decorate with dinosaur stickers and markers to make their own dinosaur train.

It was a hit. Halle (6) and Cannon (5) got much more into the decorating while Jackson (3), Mason (3), and Kennedy (2) did minimal decorating and spent more time playing in their trains and in the castle. We kept it really unstructured and it was great because everyone was doing what was fun for them. The kids loved chugging around and blowing their train whistles while hunting for hidden dinosaurs around the yard.Mason was so distracted by all the presents waiting to be opened that he was not having fun participating in the party, so we stopped the party, opened presents, ate cake, and then played some more games in our trains. It worked out great. Mason's cousin, Kennedy, loves Toy Story and has introduced Mason to it. He loves playing with her Buzz and Woody toys and asked for his own Buzz and Woody for his birthday. So we gave him Toy Story toys along with Toy Story 2, which he's never seen. He carries Buzz, Woody, Bullseye, and Rex everywhere with him. Surprisingly, he has actually been excited to share them with his friends. He is finally getting old enough that he likes playing with other kids and so each person can be a character. He begged for Cannon and Kennedy to stay after the party so they could play Toy Story with him. Mason was genuinely so grateful for his birthday party and all of his presents. He sill keeps coming up to me and saying, "Mom, I wuved my birthday party. Thank you for my presents." He is such a sweet 3-year-old boy and I am glad he had a special day.

3 Years Old

Today is Mason's 3rd Birthday and like I do every year, here is a little bit about 3-year-old Mason. Just a reminder this is totally for me and will probably put you to sleep, so I'll post the pictures first. Mason hates having his picture taken lately so we have to get creative and get some interesting pictures. Here are a few of Mason's faces caught on camera.

Mason Likes:

• Trains: Where do I begin? Anything to do with trains has Mason's attention. His favorite trains are the Polar Express, Dinosaur Train, Thomas and Friends, and Chugginton (my least favorite). Even though it is 4 months past Christmas we still watch the movie Polar Express every week or two and it would be every day if Mason had his way. He has gone through every book at Grandma Nancy's house and knows all of them that have even the smallest picture of a train in them. The things he loves on trains are the "bumper", "steam thing", whistle, brakes, and of course all the train cars it can pull. I always want to remember how I can hear his "chugga-chugga" noises all around the house. When he asks me, "Do you want to chug with me?". When he yells, "All Aboard!". When he says, "tickets, tickets please!" and then pretends to punch a piece of paper with his toe claw, beak, or teeth like they do on dinosaur train while doing his "ticket" noise. Him looking at his toy compass like it's the conductor's watch and yelling, "Time tunnel proachy smokes" (really they say 'time tunnel approaching folks' on dinosaur train). Watching his imaginative play with all of his Thomas train characters. I could go on and on.
• Green: Mason's favorite color is still Green, as it has been since he was very little.
• Dinosaurs: Thanks to Dinosaur Train Mason knows the correct name for most dinosaurs. It is really very impressive. He also knows if a dinosaur is a Carnivore (eats meat), Herbivore (eats plants), or Omnivore (eats both). Going to the Dinosaur Museum is one of his favorite outings.
• Art Time: Mason loves to color, paint, and play play-doh during Brynn's nap time. He recently went through a phase where he was such a perfectionist he didn't like coloring because he wasn't able to do it good enough. He just wanted to tell me what to color so I could do a good job. We worked through it and now he loves coloring and drawing again. He especially likes writing letters which still need a lot of work, but he loves trying.
• Hide and Seek: Mason loves to play hide and seek. Every night after he gets out of the bathtub, he and Scott play hide and seek. His favorite place to hide is under pillows and blankets, in his closet, and under our bed. He always wants us to hide in the same place over and over so he can find us, but he likes it when we jump out from an unexpected place and surprise him. He also loves it when we hide his animal toys around the room and he tries to find them.
• The Library: I am so happy that Mason has a love for reading books. He loves going to the Library and finding books about whatever he is interested in at that time. We never leave without some sort of train book and usually a dinosaur book, too. Lately he has liked books with lots of animals and Dr Seuss. Every night at bedtime he gathers all his library books and he wants to go through the entire pile, which most of the time we do...several times.
• Word World: Mason has become a big fan of the TV show Word World, which he calls "word girl" because there is another show called that and it's easier to say. I am also a fan because since we started watching it Mason has learned the sounds each letter makes and "builds a word" whenever he gets a chance. I guess the show really speaks his language because all the reading and spelling concepts they throw out he seems to grasp.
• Pictures: Mason loves to print pictures off the computer. It is as good as going to the toy store and getting a real toy for him. He will carry the picture around with him for days. We actually made him a "train schedule" (he named it that), that is a book we tape all his train pictures in. He also loves to hold the DVD covers and look at the inserts while he watches movies. He likes to keep the boxes to every new toy we get because he likes to compare the pictures on the box with the actual toy. On Christmas Eve when we set out his helicopter Scott asked me what to do with the box. I told him to throw it away. The first thing Mason asked when he saw the helicopter was, "where is the box?" because he had seen the box in the store with a picture on it. Can you say Hoarder in the making?
• Toy Story: Mason has just discovered Toy Story thanks to his cousin Kennedy. He is really into it right now and got all Toy Story toys for his birthday. We'll have to see where this goes.
• Things over his eyes: Mason loves us to cover his head with shirts, blankets, pull-ups (thanks you Scott for starting that), really anything over his eyes so he can't see and wandering around the house. I must say he would make a pretty good blind person. He navigates really well and only occasionally runs into walls and corners.
• Chicken and Rice: Mason's favorite meal is chicken and rice. I don't what it is about it, but he always requests it and loves it every time.

Mason does not like:

• Beans: Mason will eat pretty much any kind of food, but he adamantly dislikes beans.
• Things Bending: So he is a little OCD and does not like it when papers get wrinkled or bent. I often get him running up to me saying in a whiny voice, "It's bending, it's bending". I mentioned he loves carrying around pictures and many of them get bent. My mom found a great solution by putting all of his papers in sheet protectors.
• Vacuums: still runs and hides and sometimes cries when we get the vacuum out of the closet.
• Brynn playing with his toys: Brynn's increasing independence and opinion have been a huge threat to Mason and we are continuing to help him through the adjustment of being an older brother. It's not always easy to have a little sister.
• Time out room: Our spare bedroom is our time out room for Mason. He hates it. "It makes me nervous" is what he tells us. Every time he has to go in the time out room he begs, "Don't slam the door." (slamming the door is shutting it all the way, we don't actually slam it on him). It is a very effective punishment because he hates it so much. Usually just a threat of time out corrects his behavior.
• Obeying: Mason is very independent and doesn't think he needs our approval or permission to do anything. It's very frustrating. He has also perfected the art of completely ignoring us when we talk to him. This is by far our greatest struggle with him right now, but I know it's a phase and if we're consistent he'll get better at obeying. In the mean time a lot of family home evenings about Noah and Nephi.

Mason looks like:

• Still very dark hair. We keep it short because he doesn't like styling it except on Sundays and special occasions. He tells me when it starts to get "crazy" he needs a haircut.
• Crazy eyebrows. I refuse to let my child have a unibrow so we play a game where I pull out slivers on his eyes with the tweezers and then he gets to do it to me. We only pull a couple hairs each time, but I am determined to keep those eyebrows from meeting in the middle.
• Eyes still haven't decided what color they want to be although they do appear to be getting more and more hazelish brown. I still don't know what color to call them.
• Tan skin
• Tall and skinny
• Feet are so wide I have to get his shoes as big as I can and him still be able to walk without tripping and still his toes are starting to overlap each other because they are so crammed all the time. Thank goodness for summer and flip-flops.

Jazz Ball

One of the hardest things for me when Brynn was born was going back to having a baby that couldn't just tell me what she needed. It's so hard when you are trying to interpret every cry and facial expression into what they need or want. Thankfully we have reached a point with Brynn that she is pretty effective in communicating her needs through using her "words" (sounds) to tell me what she needs. That doesn't mean my days are free of guessing what in the world my child wants. It is not uncommon for Mason to beg me to play some sort of game that I have never heard of and have certainly never played with him before. This is usually my creative husband's fault. You see, Scott loves to make up games to play with Mason when I'm at work. It's not until Mason brings it up days later that I ever know about it. I've learned as soon as Mason starts referring to something, and I'm completely lost, to pick up the phone and call Scott for an explanation of the game. One such game that has really stuck at our house is "Jazz Ball". Anytime there is a Jazz game on, of course Scott wants to watch it. Scott being the awesome dad he is doesn't just sit and watch the game, but has invented a game called Jazz Ball that he and Mason can play together while watching basketball games. Jazz Ball basically consists of getting on their Jazz uniforms (yes, Scott's is several sizes too small. if you know anything about the Bandits then you understand) and play around on Mason's little hoop. There is a lot of running, chasing, and laughing involved in Jazz ball, but the most important part of the game is every time you go in for a shot you have to say, "Jazz Ball, Jazz Ball", hence the name. Even Brynnie gets in on the action. Jazz Ball is a silly thing we do around our house, but I have a feeling the game will evolve as Mason and Brynn get older and some version of it will always be around our house. I'm writing this now so one day when our kids ask us where we got the game Jazz Ball from we will remember this is exactly where it all started.

Oh, and one more thing....GO JAZZ!

Gotta love the playoffs.

Scott got to go to game 3 last night and loved it. How could he not with the Jazz stomping on Denver like they did?

Memory Lane

So for the last seven, yes SEVEN, days Brynn has been vomiting a lot. A lot is pretty subjective, so how can I quantify a lot? Well...

she did not keep any food or drink of any kind down for 72 hours

she did not have a single wet diaper for 36 hours

she got an IV and received 150ml of fluid and still had no wet diaper

she received 150ml more and then had a wet diaper

she didn't eat or drink anything for the next 12 hours

she was so weak, this previously walking girl could not even stand up

she only had Pedialyte for 24 hours after that

she increased the intervals between throwing up until finally...

she has not vomited for 24 hours

That account sounds a little dramatic, but it's all true. She was one sick little girl, but thankfully she never looked quite as bad as I would have expected after all of that.

So during all of this she was throwing up on her clothes, particularly jammies, faster than we could keep them going through the wash. As a result we quickly ran out of clean/dry jammies to change her into, so we had to dig deep to find some of Mason's old jammies to add into the cycle. Seeing her in them brought back a flood of memories of Mason when he was her age. It reminded me how different Mason and Brynn's personalities are. I am so grateful for two individual children who have different strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes, and appearances. Mason at 8 months old. Brynn at 10 months old, and even when she is 2 months older the jammies were too long.

And for the record I was surprised to see that their hair color is not very different in these pictures. I forgot how light Mason's hair was until after he turned 1. Maybe she'll end up having dark hair to match her brown eyes.

Janitor Murray

This guy spent his weekend cleaning every kind of bodily fluid you can imagine out of sheets, carpet, clothes, hair, and more. I told you he does a really good job being Mr. Mom when I'm at work. But I'm still grateful I got cancelled tonight so I can stay home and take care of little Miss Brynn who has been feeling under the weather.

** Update **
After getting an IV and replacing all those fluids she's lost all over the house, hopefully Brynn will start feeling better.

Frequently Asked Questions

Most people know that I work night shifts at the hospital, but many do not fully understand what that entails, so I get a lot of questions about my work schedule and why I choose to work when I do. So here are answers to some frequently asked questions.

FAQ: How much do you work?

Answer: I am scheduled for two, 12 hour shifts, a week. Each shift goes from 6pm to 6am (really 6:30 by the time I'm done giving report to day shift). I work every other weekend Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night, then I have a couple nights off, work again Wednesday night, and then have 8 nights off before I work my weekend shifts again. It just cycles over and over like that unless I trade shifts or change it for any reason.

FAQ: Do you like being a working Mom?

Answer: I work because I love being a nurse, it's my hobby. The paychecks that come along with it are an added bonus, but I don't do it for the money. I choose to work nights so that I can do what I love, but not have to be away from my kids to do it. I leave for work at 5:45pm and Brynn and Mason are usually in bed by 8pm, so I only miss out on a couple hours which is pretty much the same as if I were doing some other hobby a couple nights a week. They get to have fun playing with Daddy and do things his way for a night. I get home around 6:45am and they usually wake up shortly thereafter to find I am home and for all they know I could have been there all night.

FAQ: Do you like working nights?

Answer: I love it. Anyone who knows me, knows I am a total night person.

FAQ: If you work all night then when do you sleep?

Answer: The reason I do most of my shifts over the weekend is so I can come home and sleep while Scott has the kids. I usually sleep for 4-5 hours broken up throughout the day, so it's not tons, but enough to get by. The weekdays after I work are different because I never work back to back shifts during the week and when I don't have to return to work that night, I only need a couple hours of sleep to get me through the day. So on the Mondays and Thursdays after I work I come home and when Mason and Brynn wake up I pack them up and go to my mom's house where she takes care of them for a few hours while I sleep in her basement. Like any mom she likes to spoil me sometimes when she doesn't have anything going on and won't come wake me up until 1 or 2. Gotta love those days.

FAQ: If you're going to be sleeping during the day then how is it any different than just working during the day?

Answer: If I were to work during the day I would leave before Mason and Brynn woke up and would get home after dinner just in time to put them to bed. I would be gone for their entire day. When I am sleeping I am still home, and they know I am there if they want or need me. Mason comes in my room to show and tell me about things he is doing and sometimes he just wants to come lay by me and I love it when he does (until he gets a little too wiggly then I call on Scott to lure him away). I wake up to nurse Brynn so she doesn't have to take bottles during the day and so I can see her excited smiling face and waving arms when Scott brings her into me. Also, if I worked days I would need child care for all 12 hours of the day no matter what. By working nights Scott just has to be home to sleep with the kids for the 12 hours I'm gone which he would be anyway. I try to make sure I get adequate sleep after I work, but sleep is flexible. If my mom has to teach a class or Scott has something going on I can shift around my sleep and even go without if needs be. Also I don't have to miss out on as many activities and can attend church every week.

FAQ: How do your kids handle you working?

Answer: I already talked about how they really don't know I'm gone for as long as I am. All of the time I am gone or sleeping they get to spend with their Dad or Grandma, their 2 favorite people in the world. Mason knows that the weekends I work he gets to play with Daddy all weekend and what little boy wouldn't be excited about that? He also Loves going to my mom's house. When I was on maternity leave for 3 months after having Brynn and my mom wasn't regularly babysitting Mason he started coming up to me and saying, "Mom, you go to work and I'll go to Grandma Nancy's, K." My kids are at no loss by me working. They just have closer relationships with their Dad and grandparents and because I get to get out and do something I love I feel I am a better mom for them when I'm home.

So there you have it. Hope that made some sense and will help make sense of my references to working. If you have any other questions let me know.

Welcome Avely Mae

We are excited for Brynn and Mason to have another cousin on the Murray side. Scott's sister, Janessa, had her baby girl, Avely Mae this week and she couldn't be more adorable. We were lucky enough to have Kayla (the big sister) stay with us while Janessa and Avely were in the hospital and Jeremy was being superman bouncing around between school, the hospital, and our house. Having three kids under the age of 3 for three days went surprisingly well, but sure made me content having only two kids for awhile. All of the talk about the baby coming brought out some great Mason comments. When I told him the baby was coming out of Janessa's tummy just like Brynn came out of Mommy's tummy he got all excited and said, "I have two babies in my tummy!! A brother and a sister." For the last 4 days he will randomly stop playing and say, "I feel babies in my tummy. They are coming out of my belly button." I asked him what their names are and he told me the brother is Wacky and the sister is Stacky. Oh this little boy has a wild imagination. Congrats to the Reese family on their beautiful addition.

Happy Monster Band

Like so many others we enjoyed listening to General Conference and recieving counsel from our church leaders. This conference definitely seemed to have a theme of protecting the family and teaching our children. I sure came away with my tank filled and ready to be the best mother, wife, and person I can be. During one of the Saturday sessions Mason was in his toy room playing when the Mormon Tabernacle Choir started singing. He came sprinting out and exclaimed, "It's the Happy Monster Band!!" For those of you unfamiliar, the Happy Monster Band is a mini series on Playhouse Disney about a band of 4 monsters that sing hits such as "I'm the best at being me" and "Practice makes Progress". Check them out here. The Mormon Tabernacle men were wearing their traditional black suits and the women were wearing red dresses. Mason informed us, "There's black guys and red girls." The next day when the women had changed to blue dresses he said, "Oh, it's a different Happy Monster Band with blue girls!" I guess I can kind of see the similarities....sort of.

Baby Steps

Brynn started taking her first steps this weekend. She started with one semi-controlled step to me from the couch, but is quickly improving and today took up to 4 controlled steps at a time. I still wouldn't classify it as full blown walking, but at the rate she's going she'll be there before long. She is really steady on her feet and has even started going from her knees to squating to standing on her own without any support. She only takes steps when she has something in her hands (and often times her mouth, too). I guess it helps her balance. It still makes me laugh every time I see her take a step because she is so tiny she looks like a 6 month old walking, not a 9 month old.

Easter

Easter was a lot of fun this year. It felt like our first real Easter because it was the first year Mason was old enough to really be excited about decorating eggs and egg hunts. Brynn fed off his excitement and loved shaking her eggs. One day I'll learn how to do a cute collage of my favorite pictures, but until then bare with me posting them all individually.

Murray Easter Egg Hunt: My mother-in-law had the great idea to put dimes in the eggs instead of candy. Each person got 10 eggs and after the hunt we loaded in the cars and went to the dollar store for everyone to cash in their dimes for a toy. Mason got a stuffed snake that he loves. Thanks Grandma Linda.

Nu Skin Egg Hunt: Bad weather forced the hunt inside. Limited spaced turned the usual free for all into standing in line picking eggs out of a basket. Mason didn't mind at all because he could pick exactly which eggs he wanted and he didn't have to compete with other kids.

Decorating Eggs: Mason was so excited to decorate eggs and was anticipating it for days. He wanted to make Monster eggs. He is at an age where once we start doing something he is more interested in the finished product than the process of making it. He wanted Scott to draw all the faces and then he would choose which color and help put it in the dye. He loved his eggs. Brynn sat in her seat and I gave her a couple eggs to shake and she couldn't have been happier. Easter morning: The Easter Bunny had visited and brought us a wagon. Mason enjoyed yet another egg hunt in our basement and Brynn got more eggs to shake. Wow, Egg hunt #3 and we still have one more to go.

Hale Easter Dinner: We had Easter dinner at my mom's house and it was delicious. I decided that I actually like Easter dinner food much better than Thanksgiving dinner food. The kids did yet another egg hunt, but we forgot our camera because honestly, how many pictures of them holding eggs do we need? But they had a lot of fun with their cousins.