As a mother I've learned that any phase, good or bad, that my children are going through doesn't last long. Sometimes it feels like the good phases are over in the blink of an eye and the bad ones stick around much longer than I would like. Either way, I never know how long I will get to enjoy (or endure) each phase. With that being said, right now I wish I had a pause button. I am 100% in love with life right now. One and three are very fun ages. Brynn is the happiest and most content she has ever been. She loves reading books, playing puppets, anything involving animals, and running around playing outside. Mason's imagination is in overdrive these days. All of his toys belong in families with a daddy, mommy, and little boy. He has hit the question stage and asks me "but, why?" approximately 50,000 times a day...give or take. Brynn and Mason are both sleeping and eating well which makes every other aspect of life more enjoyable. Sure, we have our fair share of tantrums from both of them, but I've accepted that it is going to be a very long time before our home is tantrum free, so I'm not going to sit around and wait for it. It's the perfect time of summer right now when we fill our days with bike rides, parks, swimming pools, our yard, and friends. The warm summer days are flying by and I just know those cold and bleak winter days are approaching too fast. Why do we live in Utah again? I need this summer to SLOW down or preferable just stop for awhile.
Speaking of my kids growing up fast, I took Mason and Brynn for their 3 year and 1 year checkups last week. They are both healthy and developing well.
Mason
Height: 39 1/4 inches (80%)
Weight: 33.5 pounds (63%)
Brynn
Height: 28 1/4 inches (24%)
Weight: 17 pounds 15 ounces (7%)
The doctor said normally they don't like to see weight percentiles below 10%, but he thinks Brynn looks really heathly and does not consider her underweight (have you seen the rolls on her thighs?), she is just a "feather weight" as he termed it. There is no doubt about it that she is our little one.
The CD wasn't the only thing in the package. I mentioned that Shelly and Mason bonded over How to Train Your Dragon. Mason told Shelly many times how badly he wanted a black, Toothless dragon like his cousin, Cannon's. Cannon got the dragon from a McDonalds Happy Meal and Mason has wanted one so desperately but McDonalds doesn't have them anymore. Mason even saved up his money to buy one from the store, but Walmart hasn't had any dragons in stock for over a month! I even resorted to ebay where people are selling the McDonalds toys but just can't bring myself to pay $5-15 for one. So, you can imagine Mason's face when he opened the package to find a black Toothless inside. Shelly's little boy had gotten one from McDonalds and doesn't play with it so she went home and put it aside for Mason. Not only is she an awesome photographer, but she is super thoughtful, too. Thanks a million Shelly!!!
We got out the camping chairs and started a roaring fire on the grill to roast marshmallows. Mason was a big fan of s'mores. 
After all the sugar had worked its way out of his system, Mason settled down in the tent with Scott to read books with a flashlight. Once the flashlights were turned off Mason went right to sleep as if he were in his own bed. I went to bed in the house with Brynn and didn't hear from the boys again until 7:45 the next morning. The first thing Mason said to Scott when they woke up was, "I had a great camping trip with you, Dad!"
I'm so grateful to live in this country where I am free. 
As you can tell from the picture we were pretty proud of our first purchase together. It was the biggest check either one of us had ever written. I signed the title "Rachel Murray" which was the first time I had signed my new name (I hadn't practiced and it was really ugly). So why am I writing this boring post? Two weeks ago we traded in our beloved Millenia for a new-to-us car. Mason cried when we told him we gave Daddy's blue car to someone else and I surprisingly felt a little sad, too. But as soon as we saw Daddy's new blue Subaru Legacy we were okay. We had a great 6 years and 50,000 miles with our Millenia and we will always remember it as our first car. Thanks for many great rides. 
As a mother I've learned that any phase, good or bad, that my children are going through doesn't last long. Sometimes it feels like the good phases are over in the blink of an eye and the bad ones stick around much longer than I would like. Either way, I never know how long I will get to enjoy (or endure) each phase. With that being said, right now I wish I had a pause button. I am 100% in love with life right now. One and three are very fun ages. Brynn is the happiest and most content she has ever been. She loves reading books, playing puppets, anything involving animals, and running around playing outside. Mason's imagination is in overdrive these days. All of his toys belong in families with a daddy, mommy, and little boy. He has hit the question stage and asks me "but, why?" approximately 50,000 times a day...give or take. Brynn and Mason are both sleeping and eating well which makes every other aspect of life more enjoyable. Sure, we have our fair share of tantrums from both of them, but I've accepted that it is going to be a very long time before our home is tantrum free, so I'm not going to sit around and wait for it. It's the perfect time of summer right now when we fill our days with bike rides, parks, swimming pools, our yard, and friends. The warm summer days are flying by and I just know those cold and bleak winter days are approaching too fast. Why do we live in Utah again? I need this summer to SLOW down or preferable just stop for awhile. 
