Mason-- 11 months old!

I almost did it again and let the 19th of the month pass by and miss Mason's month birthday. Agghh! I guess that happens when you have two kids instead of one! Thankfully, my parents came in town and reminded me it was Mason's 11 month birthday!

Here's the little guy a few days before his birthday, demonstrating his excellent climbing skills. He uses these all the time in ways that aren't that safe, such as standing in Levi's rocking chair.

I hate this is a blurry picture but I had to put it in here. Mason and his Papa Charles!

Eye-ing the sign...

We went to supper with Ashley's whole family at Hudson's BBQ. Tried to get a picture of Mason and Da but Mason kept on showing off another one of his skills, drinking from his cup.

But here is the actual 11 month picture! Notice the table food...he ate SO well at Hudson's-- chicken, fish, beans, you name it!

With Aunt Carey and Grandma.

And the next day, playing in the street. Don't worry...it was Sunday morning so there wasn't any traffic in our cul-de-sac!

So Mason at 11 months is a fun time! He jibbers a lot and consistently says Mama, and Ee-guy (for Levi). He has taken a few 1-2 steps but crawls most of the time. He loves reading books and will make a truck noise when he sees a truck and a "ooh-ooh ahh ahh" when he sees a monkey (kin to his brother, you think?!). Speaking of cars and trucks, he plays with these now by rolling them on the ground. It's so fun seeing him become a bigger boy. We're hoping to be in our new house in time for his 1 year old birthday. Fingers crossed!

Sunday afternoon at Grandma and Da's

A few weeks ago, Holly was in town and offered to cook the family Sunday lunch. Of course we said yes (and were treated to a delicious meal as usual). We hung around after instead of trying to the get boys home for naps. They had a big time playing with their cousins and Grandma!

Grandma, Levi and Ryan playing Go Fish.

Mason and Mallory in the playroom.

Ryan and Levi playing basketball.

And the gang (minus Weston) singing Happy Birthday and blowing out Grandma's "candles". What fun!

The train at the zoo!

Like most little boys his age, Levi loves trains. Heavy equipment like excavators and front loaders are his favorites but he gets excited about trains, too. So this Wednesday when we were at the zoo with our new friends (who have the type of zoo pass that lets you ride all the extra attractions for free), he had an extra blast of fun because he got to ride on the zoo train.Thanks to Emily for sharing her daughter's (who is Mason's age) bracelet with Levi so he could tag along.

I watched the little ones while they watched their big brothers make two loops on the train.

It's a neat little train. And if you're there during the week, you basically have it to yourself!

Another cool feature is the railroad crossing arm that was donated by SCE&G. Full size!

A few months ago I got a little mopey because I didn't feel like I knew that many stay-at-home moms in Lexington. But just as I complained about that, I took Levi back to storytime at the library and reconnected with two women who have boys Levi's age (we were all in the lapsit program together when they were babies) and now have their second children (around Mason's age). So I'm reaching out and finding new friends! It's nice to have other folks to go to the park with (and the zoo). I'm looking forward to sharing our new house with them, too.

An overdue trip for our anniversary, etc

The last weekend in February, my parents came down to watch the boys so Ashley and I could go to the mountains. We always try to go away for the weekend sometime in January to celebrate our anniversary (in December) and birthdays (in January and February). This was actually our first trip away together since having Mason (we went to Charleston in July with Joshua and Kelsey but this was our first trip just us)!

Mama and Papa gave us tickets to the Biltmore House so we took advantage of that! Here we are, outside of the house.

The Biltmore Estate is definitely worth a visit or two in your lifetime. It's the largest private residence in the United States and is full of amazing things.

We had lunch beforehand at Tod's Tasties in Asheville. YUM!

And for supper we ate at Papa'a and Beer, on Tunnel Road. Talk about delicious Mexican food. It was Californian style and one of their signatures is guacamole that is made table-side!

Sunday we got back in time to take Mama and Papa to see the new house and have lunch at Goodfella's. Here are the happy grandparents and their boys. I think everyone had a good time, though Mama and Papa were definitely worn out from Mason and Levi!

Here's Mason, being Mason...opening the cabinets!

And one of Levi's favorite activities is playing in the water, which means using cups, etc in the halfbath downstairs.

The house is coming along! We've been spending a lot more time out there. Getting excited about the upcoming move (maybe beginning of April).