seven years

I tried to talk you into going backwards this year, or at the very least staying six, but you refused. You did offer to skip right to eight though which was nice...

You continue to have a sweet heart. You've gone to a few birthday parties recently and the cards you make are so thoughtful. You always say 'thanks for inviting me' and include a personal note that says how much you like being their friend. You also casually reference your good friends as 'one of my best buddies' and it melts my heart.

You told me you liked your birthday gifts from grandma and grandpa a lot but that you think you'll like the gifts from me even more. Because I know you third best. First is God (because he made you), second is you (because you're you), and third is me (because I grew you). I like your logic. Andrew then chimed in that he knows you forth best. I think he would've argued for a higher spot on the list except your reasons for the order were pretty convincing.

Thanks for being goofy and always up for joking around. It's still easy to make you laugh with a good ol' potty joke, but you're starting to like other jokes too. You love kids YouTube and find jokes and little magic tricks that you do for us.

You're a smart little guy. You think school is easy and you get good grades to back it up. You're still a rule follower for other people and like to push the limits at home. You still like to snuggle, you're starting to really like sports - both playing and watching - and you still like to take your time. The funny thing is you're the fastest runner I know. You keep up with Andrew even though he's older and quite a bit taller than you. You beat me (and I really try). It's amazing. You're crazy fast, but unless you're racing, you're not in a hurry with anything. ever.

This year should be pretty fun as you head into second grade. I'm excited to see what kind of stuff you come up with this year. I'm sure it'll be awesome.

My heart is full to the top.
Love, your mama.

six years

Well my sweet boy, you're six now. And you're pretty excited about it. The fact it takes two hands to show how old you are is kind of the icing on the cake.

You continue to be a sweet, silly, lover of jokes about privates or burps or farts. You also really like hanging out in the grey area - if there is any wiggle room in anything we say, you find it. Then you adorably explain yourself and we usually have to let it go, with a little clarification for the next time...

You're brave and adventurous and still do whatever Andrew does without a second thought. You guys have fun together for the most part and you're even sharing a room right now at your guys' request. And not only are you sharing a room, but your beds are right next to each other so it's basically a slumber party every night. Also at your guys' request.

Unfortunately, you have pretty much lost all of your little kid words for the most part. The two things that seem to be lingering are "gooder" and (my favorite) "darng it". The g at the end of of 'darn' has been my favorite for a while and it makes me smile every time you say it.

Dancing is one of your favorite things and you have some awesome moves. You also love working out and doing American Ninja Warrior moves. You like girls and claim to have girlfriends, and apparently you broke up with Emily and now Brooklyn is your girlfriend. How you even know those words is beyond me. We had a little talk about how we don't need to have girlfriends in elementary school, but that you're more than welcome to have girl friends and even have a girl over for a play date if you wanted to. For some reason after I said that you looked at me with a huge smile and kind of laughed and said "really?!". Not sure which part was surprising but I'm glad you're happy with the new plan. : )

You had an awesome year as a kindergartner. You liked school, you made friends, you didn't have any trouble learning all the kindergarten stuff, and you rocked at being a respectful kid (or doing things the Wildcat Way) :) Your teacher had a program where you earned stars by being a respectful, hard working, good listener and you were at the top of the chart. You were the only boy at the top - it was you and two girls all the way up to genius level.

It's hard to believe you're six, but I guess that's how it works. I'm pretty sure you're going to have another awesome year of being awesome!

I love you more.
Your mama

five years

When I found out that I was going to have you in the summer, I assumed you'd be starting kindergarten when you were six. You, however, had very different plans and are so ready to start school it's not even funny! So, at the tiny little age of five, we're getting ready to start you off on your school adventures. I can't believe it!

You're very excited to be five. Any time there are five of something you say 'just like how old I am' and if I give you 3 or 4 pieces of candy, for example, you ask to please have 5 since that's how old you are. It's cute and it works every time.

You are figuring out who you are and it has been fun to watch your personality grow. You love playing with your friends, you definitely know who you like to play with, and like always you just kind of go with the flow. You have ideas of what to play but also jump into games that others are playing without missing a beat.

Thanks to the preschool you go to, you have learned a ton of stuff. You can count to 100 by 1's, 5's, and 10's. You can do simple math. You know letters and the sounds they make. And you even know about different authors, about the earth and sun, and you have a very clear understanding of right and wrong. You're not as interested in making sure you're only doing the right thing as some other people I know, but you definitely know the difference.

I think something that comes with your laid back attitude is the amazing ability to not comprehend what it means to need to hurry. You just don't do it. You have no interest in being rushed - you'd rather lose out on things (most of the time) than to have to go fast. The only time you'll speed up is if you'll miss out on something important to you. You won't hurry to get your pj's on because you don't care if you miss the night time show. If it's movie night, you might go a little faster. You get going in the morning now because I found out that if I tell you you'll have to have breakfast at school instead of at home if you're not ready in time, you don't mess around because you love having Mini Wheats with Andrew. Although you do ask about every other day if you could please have breakfast first and then you promise to go fast to get dressed. The problem with that is, I'm on to you. You don't have it in you to hurry, so even though I'm sure you have great intentions (I'm pretty sure you don't do it to drive us crazy, I truly think you just don't understand why we're so wound up about this whole time thing) you just don't have it in you.

I'm working on letting you take your time when it's not important to be moving. I would love it if you'd buckle up right when we got in the car, but if we're not in a hurry, it's not worth the argument. You'll get to it after you get situated, decide what toy you want to have once you are buckled, ask me a question about what we'll be doing at whatever place we're going, and have a drink of water. It's fine - and to be honest, when we're not in a hurry, it's actually pretty cute. It's 100% who you. And since this basically started while you were still in my belly, I'm pretty sure this laid back, why-is-everyone-always-in-a-hurry personality you're showing is here to stay. Also, I'm pretty sure that's how I was when I was little, so there's that... :)

You're still the sweetest little guy and you love to be with me when you're tired or feel like snuggling. I love it. And I love you around the stars, around the planets, to the moon and back and then a little bit more. And if you think you love me more than that, just know I love you all of that plus one!

Love mom.

four years

You're so handsome! And completely hilarious.

Please don't ever learn how to say 'your' or 'yogurt' (okay, maybe eventually you should figure it out...) I love it when I hear you say 'I like yours shirt' or when you ask for more yougurt. : ) Other than that you're pretty much grown up. Your personality is starting to shine, you know what's funny, you know how to be a good friend and you are definitely starting to appreciate what it means to have a brother!

You refuse to smile - only silly faces. I recently took a family picture and had to bribe you to take a nice picture by telling you we'd do a silly picture when we were done. I can't remember who started you on silly faces but I do remember the day you knew what it meant to make a silly face and you haven't stopped since.

You don't really have any favorites. Anytime I ask you your favorite color you change your answer or answer with "all of them". You still like tattoos, music & dancing, and picking your own clothes. You like superheroes and movies although you don't have any real favorites there either. You always just have fun with whatever is going on. It makes it hard to buy you gifts, but it makes life pretty easygoing for you, so it's pretty cool.

You are silly and brave and kind and ready to rock age four. I think you're really going to like it.

xoxo,
mom

three years

And just like that, you're three...

You are one adorable goofball! You are really into superheroes, espeically Spider Man. You love to sing, sit in my lap (or 'sit in yours wap' as you say) and you love to see your name spelled out. You've even recently started showing an interet in writing the letter 'M'. You switched your favorite color from blue to red; you still love to play any game that involves a ball. You love to laugh and make other people laugh. You love Andrew (and he loves you back).

Rigth now I am one of your very favorite people. You also really like 'pompa' (you'll take either one - you love them both). You're starting to like dad more and more, and I'm sure one day he'll be your favorite. Just in case that happens, I'm going to soak up all the time that you pick me!

Sorry your name is so common. I picked it (in high school, actually) because I love it. I've only known one person with the name, until recently. It was also my childhood pastor's last name and I thought that was an added bonus, making the name have some special meaning to it. Then a famous person had to name their son Mason and it skyrocketed to the 2nd most common name in 2011. Sad. Okay... just wanted to make sure you knew I picked your name way before it was trendy! And even though I still love it, I am bummed it's so popular!

Thanks for being awesome. Love you to the moon and back! Love, mom.

two years

I remember taking you out for your first birthday breakfast as if it was just last week! It's hard to believe how quickly another year has gone by - time is flyin'!

You have really grown up over the last few weeks. You and Andrew both do that around your birthdays so I guess I should've been ready for it. You're interacting more with your friends at school, you sleep in your bed as if it's something you've always done, you can jump, and you've got a few new words. Basically, you're turning into a two year old.

You still love your brother and he loves you right back. Now that you can play a little more, you guys are spending more time together and seem to have the most fun outside. Speaking of playing, you still seem to love balls the best - especially small ones that you can hold in your hand and carry with you. You also still love to swing, you've picked up a little climbing and you like slides now. You love to color, and just recently (since your birthday party) you've seemed to really like a couple cars you got from the movie Cars. It has nothing to do with the movie though because you still don't seem to care about TV at all.

I can tell all your teachers like you, both at school and at church. They always smile when they see you and always have a cute little story for me when I pick you up. Your teacher at school said they've decided you're going to be the captain of the football team and voted valedictorian. I'm not sure how they decided on that, but I thought it was pretty cute of them. A couple of the teachers have also started calling you Mace. It seems weird that someone else has decided it's okay to give you a nickname, but I kind of like it. Andrew said he just 'loves Mason too much' so he plans to still call you Mason. : )

It makes me happy that you're a happy kid (although if you're tired or hungry and you don't get your way, you do tend to cry. for a really long time). You love to laugh, your nice, and you're independent! You love doing things for yourself - it's great, but I sure do wish you'd let me help you sometimes. After all, you're only two, you know!

Thanks for making me smile everyday. I love you! Your mom.

month twelve

I love that you turned one today. You're happy, healthy and the cutest little guy I know! And although it's hard for me to think that my baby is growing up, at the same time it continues to be more and more fun as you get older and can play and try to do things on your own.

You have added so much to our family in the year you've been with us and I must say it is very much as I imagined it would be. And, you've confirmed that our family is complete - there is nothing else we are looking for or hope to find by adding another family member. We're perfect!

I was so excited when I found out you were a boy - I instantly thought of how cool it was going to be to raise brothers. You have a built-in best friend and I'm already seeing the start of that relationship. You love Andrew and he definitely takes care of you and is looking forward to the days you can really play with him.

I love how happy you are. People comment all the time about how much you smile. However, there is another side to you... The side that doesn't like to be away from me. If you can see me, you want me to be close by. If I'm not around you do fine without me. I love that you love me, but I sure wish you'd also love other people - namely your dad and grandparents at least! I'm sure it's just a phase. And when you're over it, I'm sure I'll miss it. That's just how it works.

You had a big hypothyroidism checkup a couple weeks ago and I think I'm finally hearing and processing what the doctors have been telling me since you were born. And that is that you're healthy! The medicine you take is a complete replacement for your thyroid so really your body doesn't even know you don't have one. I think it helps that your first year went so smoothly - you hit milestones, you weren't sick, you didn't have any rashes and your growth rate was right on track. In fact, I think I had less to worry about with you than I did with Andrew (thankfully!).

I hope you grow up knowing the importance of family and loving God. I hope you understand that confidence and humor will get you farther than you might think. I hope to raise you knowing you're loved and that we're always here for you, but also giving you the freedom to do things for yourself. Most of all I hope you're happy in life, whatever you chose to do. I will do what I can to help you get there!

I love you with all my heart! Love, your mom.