The party

Well, we had a very successful Day! It started out with my favorite part of the whole thing. I heard Mason was awake so I went in to get him saying, "Happy Birthday, Mason!" and he grinned at me and said, "Happy Birday, Momma!". HA! It was awesome. He did this throughout the entire day. Anyone wishing him a happy birthday got a happy birthday wish in return. I love it!

officially 2 years old!

We then proceeded to make the day as special as we could. I took the kids to McDonald's (a treat in itself, I much prefer Wendy's) and then let them play on the playground there (oober-exciting, Brooklyn hasn't even done that very often). They LOVED it! We were at good old Mcky D's for over an hour. Time well spent, I'd say. Then we attempted a nap time....yeah it didn't quite work out; and waited for Daddy to come home so the festivities could really start!
Homemade pizza for dinner with presents and a tractor cake on the horizon...what could be better??
Isn't Jon awesome?? The cake turned out better than I imagined... Of course, I was imagining me making it and I know I would've been lucky had my talentless drawing of the thing even LOOKED like a tractor. Jon is much more ambitious and Skilled at this sort of thing.

Finally! Present time! Niether kid could contain themselves. Brooklyn did her very best to stay back and let Mason enjoy it, but it is SO hard!

A tractor! Woohoo!

"Thanks Grandpa!"

Daddy Putting together the new "bike"...Now that Brooklyn enjoys her bike, Mason wants to play, too!

Cheese!

And, last but not least, Candles!! Finally time to dig into the Cake!

"Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Mason! Happy Birthday to you!!"

It was a great day, and having missed his nap combined with all the excitement, he Crashed as soon as he got into bed. What fun! I wish my birthdays were still this exciting! They probably would be if I wasn's staring 30 in the face :). Hee hee.

See the two posts below for more pics on the day's events and the making of the tractor cake :)

The Whole Event

Here's the album of the whole event. If you want to wait for it to load, or have fast enough internet :).

Photobucket Album

The tractor cake

Here's the creation of the mighty tractor. It's very impressive...
as if it could be anything else :)

I 2, momma!

nearly 2

I can't believe it. My "baby" is Two. He's so fun to have around and since some presents arrived on Saturday from Grandma, has been asking to open them! When I asked him what he wanted for his birthday, he said, "cake". Well, kid...I can definitely do that! We're going to have some pizza tonight, Jon built and decorated an awesome tractor and FINALLY we'll open those presents. Hopefully, Brooklyn will be able to contain herself and not be TOO disappointed that there are no gifts for her. She was pretty disgruntled when a package came and most of the contents were for Mason (not to fret, Grandma DID send some books to her....). So, watch for fun "party" pictures tomorrow and:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MASON

Mason Gerhardt Hibshman; born January 26, 2007

3 months

6 months

9 months

12 months

little joys

Ah the little joys. It's a good thing we have Brooklyn around to remind us to slow down. She started asking lately to pop popcorn and watch a movie in the evenings. I'm usually hesitant to do this since I make her "rest" during the day and that almost always means her watching a movie (it's the only way I can get her to sit still for any length of time). But, last night Jon decided and I agreed, that it was time to indulge her and spend some family time in front of the tube. We don't have Microwave popcorn at the moment, and I've been wanting to attempt the Ken Holmes version again for a while. My dad makes popcorn every Sunday and it. is. delicious. You just have to experience it to fully appreciate it's goodness. He air pops the kernals, melts a cube of butter and salts it to perfection.
Naturally, when we got married, we needed an air popper. A gift we've never left sitting in the box. Granted it's use comes and goes (sometimes I'm just too lazy). And, up until last night, I'd never been able to replicate Dad's goodness. But, somehow, last night was successful. I think calling him midst the "mixing" help inspire me to be successful.

So, we popped the popcorn (Mason was fascinated with the popper). Buttered and salted it. Poured ourselves some drinks (Jon's Dr. Pepper, My Pepsi, and Water for the kids). I know, they got the shaft. I'd given them Root Beer, but we didn't have any. And, settled in for Shrek 2. Excellent show. It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening. We may have to "give in" to Brooklyn's pleadings more often.
(Mason insisted on sitting on the side couch. He wanted nothing to do with sitting on my lap.) I'm not sure I'm going to be re-supplying any microwave popcorn...at least for the moment :).

Still Kicking

I know it's been ages. I love reading everyone's blogs and then don't write my own :). It's been a relatively boring couple weeks (or so). But, the weather has been gorgeous and we've been to the park like every day. Not to rub it in or anything but it's been near 70 for a week or so. It's wonderful, we love it, but I kind of forget it's January. Mason's birthday is coming up and I'm considering being domesticated with a cake. I'm not sure it will work out, or even that I will attempt it, but it's fun to think about making him a tractor cake. I can't believe he's two. He has been talking a TON lately, though. Today he bonked his head and Brooklyn tried to kiss it better. He responded by pushing her away and saying, "No, Ma. No kisses from you!" Then he came to me for a kiss. Crazy kid. He also asks me everyday to go see Grandpa Ken. One of these days we'll actually make it up there. I had every intention of being already gone, but we've had (more) trouble with the house we're trying to get. More on that later.... FINALLY Brooklyn decided it was cool to ride her bike. She's only had it for almost a year.... But, suddenly she asks to ride it everyday and complains when I make her go inside because I'm tired of watching her ride up and down the sidewalk. Poor Mason is dying to ride a bike, too but unfortunately we don't have one for him to ride. I really should take a picture or two, eh? So, sorry for the blab, but I just wanted everyone to know we're still alive :).

a little love

Ah....Ding Dongs....My favorite Hostess snacks. Of course, the cupcakes come in a close second and the Twinkies a smooth third. But, Ding Dongs are the bomb above them all. We couldn't stop talking about them recently and so I absolutely had to buy some. And I wasn't disappointed for sure! Their smooth chocolate frosted, chocolate caked, cream filled goodness fulfilled my every memory! They were even wrapped in aluminum foil just like I remember! How could it get any better?? We always had these babies around when growing up. My mom would hit the day-old hostess store for our bread and pick up a box or two of snack cakes for the farmers and others to snack on. Heaven! Ah...the memories

ahh...back into the swing

Finally! I realize we've lived in Las Vegas for over 4 months, now; but the day has finally come. We made a trip to the library today and it was Heavenly to feel at home there! We've been to a different library before now, but they were building one closer to our home, so I decided to wait until that one opened. It didn't kill me to drive me to the other one, but it was a lot harder to get there regularly. Besides, you can't really go wrong with a brand-new library! I can't wait to get the kids to some story times and start exploring their collection more. Brooklyn had the hardest time deciding what to get.... Dora....My little Ponies....Strawberry Shortcake....Oh the decisions! Me, being the beast of a mother that I am, made her choose one. I had to keep reminding her that we'd be back and she could choose something different next time. I've learned to keep our checked items to a minimum...While it's fun to borrow everything in sight, it defeats the purpose when it never gets taken out of the library bag once we get home. Mason rather enjoyed it too...I think. I do miss the play area that we had in Des Moines, but I think as we get into the swing of this library it will be GREAT! :)

as per request...

As I'm somewhere around 26 weeks (depending on who you ask)... more about that later, I though it was time to post a pic. Yes, those are my regular clothes, yes I am small, yes my other two kids were much the same. Sorry the picture is a little dark....not the greatest lighting around here.
I say "depending on who you ask" because when I went it for my first appointment, the Dr. did a short ultrasound to confirm the due date (I was figuring around the 25th of April); however, the baby measured bigger so he moved the date up to the 13th of April. (This same thing happened with Mason.) Then, when I went in for the ultra sound, the tech asked when my last cycle was and completed the ultra sound. I asked her if the baby was still measuring for the due date and she said, "If your last cycle was this day, then you are due on the 25th of April". Which didn't answer my question at all.... I have yet to see the Dr. since that time, but I fully intend to ask what he had in mind. Not that it matters, really. We'll be scheduling the delivery anyway...it's just good to know. So, here I am in all my *supposed* 26 week glory -- ish. Enjoy!

Lastly, these are for Debbi. One time while watching Gage, I subjected him to a little Pepsi loving hat. (Debbi's a Coke girl through and through). I thought you might appreciate these, my dear. Enjoy!

we {heart} pj's

Oh how we love our kids! Final year sleeping positions 2008.



And; our wonderful Christmas jammies from Grandma Carole and Grandpa Ken!
Woohoo! Princess off to dreamland for sure!
As Mason would say, "Do-do's! ROAR!" The kid likes Dinos....
Ah....bathed, dressed and ready to hit the hay..... Bedtime is the best!

Happy New Year Everyone!