Then Sings My Soul

The other morning Mason was sitting eating breakfast and I was in his room, making his bed and getting clothes for my boys picked out for the day when Mason hollered out: "Mom! There's a hot air balloon outside!". Now, Mason is a little bit of a turkey in that way {"Mom, someone knocked at the door." I check the door...hysterical laughter ensues..."Just kidding, Mom!"} so I was skeptical. "No there's not, you silly goose!" "Mom, there really is!"

So I ran out to the kitchen and sure enough, hovering right over our back yard was a huge green hot air balloon. For some reason, it completely cracked me up. I ran out back with my boys and we all stood there in our PJs waving at the random hot air balloon above our house. Just as I ran in to grab my camera, they fired the balloon up and by the time I got back, they were much higher up and farther away (hence the not-so-close photo). But I thought it was just a lovely way to start my day.

And so my thoughts, as they often do in the morning, turned to God and all of the things He allows us to experience. Silly things, like hot air balloons in our back yard. Hard things that make us stronger. Fun things. Love. Trials. Laughter. Pain. I'm so grateful for all of it!

Then I dropped Mason off at his preschool, which is in a church (not ours, but we love it!). As I was walking out with my little hip-buddy Simon, someone was in the sanctuary playing "How Great Thou Art" on the organ. It once again lifted my spirits, drawing me closer to my Heavenly Father and remembering once again how great He truly is. I am so grateful for this life I have to live. I'm grateful that I get to try every day to become more like Him.

And I'm grateful He blesses us with funny things like a hot air balloon in my back yard. He's all around me, when I remember to notice Him and His blessings.

Wee Little Man

How 'bout a whole week of family posts + 2 Simon posts in a row? Well, that's how things go around here, I guess. Simon tried on a leprechaun hat today at the store. He makes a good little Irish man, no? Now, where's my pot of gold?

Boy Baby

Man oh man, is this guy ever getting his own personality. After being the world's most mellow and sweet baby (Mason style), this guy is letting the feisty-ness (Maya style) out! What a turkey! Don't get me wrong, he is wonderful and sweet too, but he's not afraid to "speak" (shriek?) his mind.

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Some Simon tidbits:

• Becoming more of a blanket boy all the time! But no preference for a specific blankie, it just has to be silky.
• Also becoming quite the thumb sucker. Particularly when the blankie is around.
• Prefers to sit IN the toy box while playing with toys.
• Prefers reorganizing the house to playing with toys.
  
• Particularly loves to carry around Chapstick. If there is Chapstick to be found, he will find it.
  
• Also loves to carry around the phone. I love it when he holds it up to his ear and says "UHHH!".
  
• Definitely my worst eater so far. At least he'll eat bananas. Any other fruit of vegetable totally depends on his mood. If he doesn't like something, he'll look you straight in the face and drop it onto the floor.
• Finally mastered the sippy and the straw cups, but still wants a few bottles a day. Which is pretty much the only time he gives up the snuggles, so I'm cool with it.
• Likes to be out and about, gets stir crazy when we are home too much. (Which is rare!)

Overall, this guy is very easy to have around. He just keeps surprising me with his personality. That's what's so fun about having kids - watching those things develop and come out. He's definitely a goodie.

Feeties

I bought Simon & Mason matching PJs a while back. And Simon is definitely cute in his, but he's little and almost all of his jammies have feet. Mason, on the other hand, is a giant, and nothing is cuter than a giant in feeties. Particularly when they have that smile to go with 'em!

Happiest kid in the universe! Until he's not. He's gotten very good at turning on the water works when he doesn't get his way. He's never been much of a fit thrower, just more of a drama king. His heart is breaking, his world is ending. He can easily be coaxed out of it with a Reece's Cup.

At age almostnearly4, a few of Mason's favorites:

• Reece's Cups. (I believe I mentioned that.)
• Peanut butter & Nutella sandwiches (thank you, Juli). I guess it's a PB + chocolate thing. Nothing wrong with that!
• Reece's Puffs cereal. (Someone needs to put me in jail for ever buying that in the first place.)
• Brushing his teeth. (Not really, just trying to make myself feel better.)
• Jumping on the trampoline.
• Making us all laugh with his hilarious stories. (A recent favorite about his friend Bailey almost sent Maya to the hospital. She could.not.breathe. And why not when Bailey put her pants on backwards, honked her nose and the blew a gasket, flew up into the air and off a cliff and landed in a shoe. Future comedian, for sure.)
• Cars, specifically anything related to Mater the Greater. (Disney once again proves themselves as marketing geniuses.)
• HIS BIRTHDAY! (Every night before bed: "Is tomorrow my birthday?". Every day when he wakes up: "Is today my birthday?". 2 more weeks and my guy will be 4!)
• Deep thinking. (He joined us in bed the other day and asked us "Will I still be the same after I die?" After we assured him that he would be the same person after he died he grinned and said "I can't WAIT to be in heaven with everybody!" He's so awesome.)
• Loving EVERYTHING. (Random "Mom, I love you!" "I love Simon!" "I love reading books with you!" "I love playing!" "I love this lunch!" come up all day long. His preschool teacher always comments on how great he is to have around because he LOVES EVERYTHING. Her recent favorite came while she was snapping up his jacket before they went outside: "I love how my snaps sound when you do them up!". He's so full of love.

And we LOVE our Mason!

Supa' Star!

Maya is the Shining Star of the Week this week in Kindergarten. That girl could not be more stoked! She has been talking about being the Shining Star since the first week of school. Hooray that it's finally her turn. Perks include bringing in a poster and bragging about yourself to the class, being third in line (after the line leaders and door holders), picking a friend to go up into the classroom loft with you during rest time every day, and bringing Fuzzy Bear (the class mascot) home with you over the weekend after your big week. Wow, no wonder she's excited! Good stuff.

Here's her poster, with name banner idea shamelessly stolen from Kami. I have to say, looking thru Maya's old pictures was quite a fun time. Man, that girl has always been so full of exuberance and joy. She's fabulous, she is!

My favorite pictures are: Top Row #3 (those cheeks + the tutu on that tiny bike!) and #6 (what is cuter than standing your baby in a puddle in the pouring rain?); Row 2 #1 (that face is still Maya's signature) and #2 (the perfect illustration of Maya's iron will, which is just getting stronger all the time). Oh, and all the rest of them. What a smile! What a kid!

And here is her "Story About Me", which includes her love for playing, arts & crafts and cookies. Oh, and apparently she'd like to be a teacher when she grows up! She'd be great, I have to say.

I hope Maya enjoys her whole week of being 3rd in line. Who am I kidding - she's going to eat it up. Ah, to be a Kindergartner again.

Baby Love

I threw a baby shower for my sister in law Jessica over the weekend (at my kind mother's house, since ours was theoretically on the market). She's having her first girl next month. It's a Cottam girl bonanza these days, in fact. Chris' older brother & wife had their first girl (Anna) in August. Chris' sister had her 2nd girl (Olivia, baby sister of Sienna) in December. Jessica is having the possible Samantha or Mackenzie in February, and then our girl joins big sis Maya in May. So that makes it 6 to 2 in the Cottam family...good thing Mason & Simon can definitely hold their own!

Lucky me, having a girl shower around Valentine's day! So much good stuff to choose from. Of course, we went with pink, pink and more pink!

"Baby Love" was the best I could do as a theme, so I made a little banner for the table.

I think we all about went into a sugar coma with the spread I chose. I realized at the last minute that mini-quiche was the only "savory" dish on the menu. Oh well.

Pink Izze sodas and IBC cherry limeade + heart bendy straws...berry yogurt parfaits, girly M&Ms.

My first attempt at a diaper cake. I was surprised at how quickly it came together, thanks to my friend Kristi's tutoring. Ribbon + flowers & it turned out very cute, I thought.

Krispy Kreme heart shaped doughnuts.

Mmm, yeah, they were GOOD!

Chocolate dipped strawberries...the only thing I actually made for the shower.

Cutest ever cookies from Lux Bakery & Cafe, one of my favorite spots for treats.

"Mommy Brain" aka (Bad) Memory was one of our games.

Complete with candy favors! (My favorites: Engorgement = Mounds Candy Bar, Epidural = Lifesavers, Conception = Skor, Sam & Jess's new family size = 3 Musketeers.)

We also played "The Price Is Right" with items from Neiman Marcus & Target, which was pretty amusing. I didn't get any pics of it, but if anyone wants the PDF file (game cards, pictures of the items & $$ answer key) for a shower, send me an e-mail and I'll send it to you. (Thanks to my friend Jeannie for that idea!)
I also did some advice/prediction cards that everyone filled out.

Oh yes, and there were actual people there! Once the shower got started I was running around and didn't take many pics, but here is the little Mama-to-be opening our signature gift: our favorite Nordstrom blanket (Mason's favorite blanket, I should say...) and Mama's favorite baby shoes: Robeez!

We're so excited to have another baby to snuggle around these parts!

SOLD! (And Other Stuff...)

So the house was sold in one day. Went on the market on Thursday, we had 4 lookers and 1 offer that day. The next morning we got another offer (along with 6 more people coming to look that day). The original people upped their offer until we were ready to say YES! So the inspection is tomorrow, after which it will seem more real. And then we close March 3, but since our buyer is in a lease until end of March, we might be able to lease back until then. Which would give us more time to find a house. And by find a house, I mean wait for a house we like to come on the market. Because our favorite area is rather specific. And by rather specific, I mean consists of less than 10 streets. If we can't find something to buy before we have to move out, we'll try to lease one of the many available houses in the neighborhood. I think it will all work out. I mean, I know it will all work out...I just hope it all works out before baby 4 arrives in May! So...I'll keep you posted!

It will be crazy and amazing to focus on something other than the house. As in this house. (We'll still be focusing on the house, for sure!) Things like...

• Mason's 4th birthday, coming in 2 weeks. I opted for my first ever "off-site" party. Just figured I couldn't cope with doing a party and house for sale at the same time, and I'm glad it worked out this way. I'm saving a million dollars and tons o' sanity by doing a bounce house party. Pick up a cake and some pizza and I'm done! I've already bought party favors on clearance at Michael's after Christmas, so we're good to go!
• Maintaining the new cleaning program. Dishes and laundry are under control for the first time since Simon was born almost 15 months ago. Wiping up on a daily basis to keep things looking nice. Vacuuming a little more regularaly...than, uh, hardly ever. The house looks so pretty - let's keep it that way!
• Seeing some friends! I feel like I've been a major hermit since...I don't know, before Maya's birthday? It's been one thing after the other. My kids need play dates! I need to take them places other than Target!
• Reading. A. Book. Seriously. Really, I mean it. Somebody suggest a good one for me!
• Cooking all of the pretty things in the P-Dub cookbook Holly sent me for my birthday.
• WRITING THANK YOU NOTES! Yeah, we'll start with my birthday (back in November) and end with Christmas. Oh, and in 2 weeks I'll have Mason's birthday to write thank-yous for. Geez louise. I used to be good at that.
• Shopping with my mother. The mall has been missing us!

And more stuff, I'm sure. Maybe a NAP! I'm 5 months along now, exactly. 23 weeks tomorrow. Crazy, crazy, CRAZY!

Happy week to you! Do something fun.

Year 'Round

Mason will only wear Crocs. I buy him Converse. He won't wear them. I buy him Vans. He won't wear them. Luckily in Texas, you can wear your Crocs year 'round, so he sports either his green or his brown pair daily (sometimes one of each). He will definitely be sporting these next. Loooove!

For Sale

We're officially FOR SALE! Day 1 brought 4 lookers, 1 offer and 1 offer possibly coming soon. Wow! I'll be out and about tomorrow, hoping others will come after the 10am appointment that's already been set. I love these pics, but it doesn't really seem like our house with 75 percent of our junk in storage. It's pretty nice, I have to say. I might just leave it there forever, even when we get a new house.

Excuse the dead grass (that's winter in Texas for ya...)

Know anybody who needs a cute li'l house in a fabulous Austin neighborhood? Send 'em over!

Hooligans

I love to see these three faces playing outside together. I also love it that Maya improvises on pushing Simon in the swing by climbing up above him and swinging the rope with her foot. Hey, whatever works!

It's been fun watching sibling relationships grow with these 3. Sure, they argue some and drive each other a little crazy. But for the most part, they play well, they love each other and have FUN together. It warms a Mama's heart!

Monogrammed

Every time I have a baby, I swear that I am going to get them a monogrammed blanket. And then, surprise, surprise, I never get around to it. I love this completely unpractical but gorgeous set. And being that it's monogrammed and from Neiman Marcus, I didn't find the price to be completely ridiculous. Something to think about for Miss Charlotte, or whatever her name shall be...(Chris hasn't given me the go-ahead on Charlotte...yet!)

Line Leader

Hooray that Friday is my volunteer day in Maya's class, so I got to be there to see her as the line leader. You see, being the line leader is on Maya's list of best things ever. Every day she comes home and says "I wasn't the line leader today!". And often she prays "Please bless that I can be the line leader.". So I was pretty stoked to be present for the big line leading today. Here she is, catching a bubble in her mouth so she won't talk in the halls. Good thinking.

I stayed for a few minutes of lunch with my girl, another best day ever sort of event. This girl is easy to please, and I love it. And...I love HER!

Shower Love

My sister-in-law is having her first baby next month, so a baby shower is in order! This Saturday, in fact. I'm pulling inspiration from lots o' places, including these 2 lovely parties. Hoping I can pull it all together...

Pretty In Pink

Cookies + Milk Shower

More Boden Love: Dress Edition

So many dresses to love...so little time (and by time, I mean money...).

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My Buddy

Commercial jingles are powerful. Because a million years later, when I pick up my little cling-on and put him on my hip, I immediately start singing "My buddy, my buddy, wherever I go, he goes...". (Anyone else remember that commercial?)

Anyway, this is a fun age. Emptying the dishwasher with a baby on your hip is like doing squats with weights - very beneficial to my figure (Which, notice below, is beginning to show Baby Girl pretty well these days!). Baby in laundry basket while I do laundry. Baby in the sink while I do my make-up. Baby always standing at my feet, reaching up. Well, at least I know he loves me.

You could have predicted this, right? If Mom's going to take a picture of Simon in the sink, Mason's climbing into the other sink right away. Cute boy.