Adventurous climber

Mason has learned how to climb! We find him in odd places like on top of his desk or on top of the dining room table! He has been talking a lot and I can't even count how many words he can say now. His latest words have been "all gone" or "all done".

I am now in my 18th week of my pregnancy. I am feeling pretty good too! I barely passed my first diabetes test and will have another one in about ten weeks. Luckily, I am okay to eat Christmas goodies! We have our sonogram scheduled for January 17th and we hope to find out the gender!

We wish you all a Merry Christmas!

Handsome Boy!

Yes, I brush his teeth... that is orange crayon on his teeth!
Bath time fun!
Big belly! Taken last week- in my 15th week

Mason had his first haircut last week! He was such a big boy and didn't cry. He only squirmed a little! I think he definitely looks like a little boy rather than a baby now. I tried to have Mason sit with Santa but he would have nothing to do with it. I will try again and maybe he will warm up to the idea of sitting on a strange old man's lap!

We have put up our Christmas decorations. So far, Mason has done pretty well with leaving them be. Our tree looks a little funny though since I only put a few non-breakable items on the bottom branches!

Happy Thanksgiving

Mason's Christmas present from Grandpa and Grandma Chiovaro

Rob's mom, dad, sister Cris and nephew Ryan came to visit for Thanksgiving. We had a great time the few days they were here. On Wednesday we had brunch at our house and played some wiffle ball. We had Thanksgiving at Rick and Cathy's house and there was no shortage of food! The one great thing about being pregnant is that I am not so worried about the holiday weight gain! We also celebrated Christmas on Thanksgiving night since Rob's parents and sister are staying in New York for Christmas. Friday we ventured out for some bowling. Mason kept us running as he was not content to just sit there and watch!

Mason enjoyed having all four of his boy cousins around f0r several days in a row. He has fun chasing after them and trying to join in. Mason has been "talking" more. It is really funny to listen to his baby talk. It is like he is having a conversation with you although you don't know what he is saying.

New pictures... Finally!

Mason as a Dragon for Halloween. Aunt Cathy Made this costume about 10 years ago for Bradley!
Mason and Cousin Blake as Puss in Boots
New Elmer Fudd hat!
Self feeding... some how more yogurt ended up outside of his mouth!

Well, we have been very busy! Thus, I have not posted for about a month! We have been working around the house a bit. Rob has installed new hardwood floors in our loft. We are preparing the house for Rob's family who are coming for Thanksgiving. We will soon then be preparing for turning the guest room into a new babies room! If you haven't heard the news, we are expecting baby number two in May 2008.

Mason has really blossomed. He loves to imitate us! It is amazing how well he remembers things. I showed him one time how to brush Clemens the dog. About a week latter he saw the dog brush, went over to Clemens and started brushing him! Mason's upper front teeth are finally erupting! He definitely looks more like a little boy instead of a baby. He loves to play outdoors which may become a bit of a challenge as the weather is getting colder. Mason also enjoys coloring, playing with Thomas trains and blocks. He is saying a few more words and tries to copy what I say. The other day I called for Bob (Rob goes by Bob here... I know confusing!) and Mason said "Bob" as well!

We will keep you all updated on the baby news and Mason's accomplishments!

Farmer Mason

Evan, Jacob and Mason

Last week my friend Julie and I took the boys to the State Fair in Richmond. There was a neat baby animal area that the boys enjoyed. Mason loved the tractors! I put him on one for a picture and then he kept going over to them asking to get back on! Mason also enjoyed the high dive show. People were dressed as penguins and performed tricks on a high dive. It was neat to see Mason interacting with the crowd... yelling and clapping.

Mason has had a tough week as far as illness. He has had a mysterious rash and now he seems to have hives. We will be back at the Doctor's office this morning! Hope he feels better soon!

Go Yankees!

Mason and Daddy at the game.Last night we took Mason to his first professional baseball game! Friends of ours gave us tickets to the Yankees vs. Orioles game in Baltimore. I think Mason enjoyed people watching more than the ball game itself! He had fun though! He made it until the sixth inning and then he fell asleep. We had great seats and it was a close game with a lot of action. The Yankees won which made it even better!

Mason has had a tough week. He has had a cold, a mild ear infection and he is teething. He had his 12 month check up this last week. He weighed 21 pounds and was 30 inches tall. The surprise came when he was diagnosed as having mild anemia. He is now on a supplement to help out with iron levels. This week has been hard on me since I am so use to having such a healthy boy! Knock on wood, Mason had a great first year with only mild colds. We are hoping for more good health this next year! Mason's Dr. was very impressed with Mason's motor skills and speech skills. He said Mason is very advanced. I knew he was smart!

Despite not feeling well, Mason has continued to play hard. He loves the Thomas Train in the above picture. This train is a hand me down from his cousins. It is motorized and Mason has learned how to push the pedal! He gets the biggest grin on his face when he rides the train.

Mason is 1!

Mason's cake made by Uncle Rick

Mason digging into his very own caterpillar cake!

Mason had his first birthday on the 12th! We did a little celebration on his real birthday with cupcakes. On Saturday, we had a Baby Einstein themed party for him at our house. We grilled burgers and hot dogs. Mason was so excited to have Uncle Rick, Aunt Cathy, cousin Bradley, cousin Ben, cousin Blake, Grammy (Cathy's mom), Joe, Julie, Jacob and Evan at his party. We played some wiffle ball home run derby (mason was running around wishing he knew how to play!). Mason received many fun toys, new clothes and some gift cards. He even got his first set of golf clubs! I will have to take pictures of him and his new clubs!

Mason is so smart and it is fun to watch him learn. For his birthday he received a frog bath puppet. After I helped him open it, he went right over to his Baby Einstein DVD's and picked up the one with the frog on the front. The frog puppet looks just like the one on the DVD and it is amazing how Mason remembered! His motor skills are improving too. He can run and spin in circles. Mason loves the outdoors and now that he walks so well, we spend a lot of time outdoors. His other favorite thing is stacking items or putting lids on. We are having so much fun!

The Big 30!

My cake made by Rick. The flowers were 3D!
Mason hitting the pinata.
My gift from Rick, Cathy and the boys... a swing for my porch!

I am a bit behind in my blogs! This month has been so busy and I can't believe fall is here. I had my 30th birthday at the beginning of the month. Let me tell you, I was not very excited about leaving my twenties! However, I guess we all must age! To celebrate the entrance into a new decade, Rob put together a surprise party for me! I was truly surprised! It was a Mexican theme complete with Mexican food, decorations, and a pinata. Everyone worked so hard on the party and I truly appreciated it.

Bruiser

Mason with a goofy look showing off his bruise!
Wagon Ride
Abandoned Kitten

Monday we were over at Rick and Cathy's house finishing up our canning. We canned apple pie filling and applesauce this time. Mason ended the evening by getting his first big bonker! He fell and he met the glider chair with his forehead and left eye! It immediately turned purple and swelled. He was a tough guy though! Putting the ice on his head was probably more traumatic than anything. I, on the other hand, had a bit of a hard time since it was his first big injury. I know it is the first of many though! The swelling went down by the next day and now we just get to watch the color changes!

The other exciting thing that happened this last weekend was finding an abandoned kitten. Clemens ran off and Mason and I were chasing after him. We heard a noise coming from a pile of leaves in our driveway. Underneath all of the leaves was this tiny kitten. I watched for several hours trying to find any hint of mom. The kitten was really hungry so, we took him in. A vet check revealed that he is only three weeks old and 8 ounces! He is full of vigor though and eats well. I will bottle feed him for another few weeks and then try to find him a home. The last thing we need is another pet! Although, Sydney seems to think that this kitten is her baby.

Four Miler Race Results

Prerace: Lyndsey, Julie, Marilyn, Cathy & Renae

Team 5 Fluco Flamingo Four MilersHalf Way
All Done!

The race is over! I finished well with my best four mile time this summer and the best part is my knee did not hurt! It was an amazing experience to run with over 2,000 women. There was pink as far as you could see! My time was 38 minutes and 55 seconds placing me at 582nd out of 2240. In my age group I placed 49th out or 223. The ultimate goal for the race was to raise funds for the Uva Breast Care Center. I am happy to report that the goal of $200,000 has been far surpassed! Donations will still be accepted until Septemeber 10th and the estimated total is $250,000! This is awesome! Thank you to all of the donors for making this happen!

Little Gardner

Mason has been so helpful with gardening since he started walking! He loves to be outside and we have spent more time outdoors now that he can walk. Mason has discovered the cherry tomato's that I am growing! He plucks them right off the bush and eats them. He has become much more stable in his walking and even tries to run now! It won't be long and I won't be able to keep up with him! His new words are hello, stick and go. He has been eating a ton so I think he has hit a growth spurt. In the picture above, hew actually fell asleep eating! He plays hard and he wore himself completely out! His favorite activity in the evenings is chasing the dogs and cat around the house. Mason has figured out how to throw the ball for Sydney and that Clemens enjoys playing hide and seek around the couch!

We have had a few thunderstorms lately. Sydney is terrified of thunder and she has run away a few times. Last week she ended up a half a mile down the road. We are not sure what to do about that. Most of the storms just pop-up with little warning.

Rob is doing well and keeping busy with work. I am busy with training for the four miler, finishing my master's degree and I added another day of work two weeks ago. I am three weeks away from completing the last class for my master's degree... yeah! That will be a huge relief!

Running for a Cause

Fourth of July 5K

I have recently returned to running and I am running in support of a good cause. On September 1st, I will be completing the Charloettesville Women's Four Miler with 2,700 other women. The funds raised from t is race will go towards the University of Virginia's Cancer Center Breast Care Center. My sister-in-law, Cathy, completed the race last year and has inspired me to complete it this year. I am also running in honor of my Aunt Susan and several patient's of mine that have battled breast cancer this last year.

I started training in June and every Saturday hundreds of women gather at the UVa track for a training session, support and guidance. It is truly amazing to be running with hundreds of women training for the same cause! Also, some of them are breast cancer survivors!

I unfortunately injured my knee during the 5K race on the Fourth of July. I had to stop training for almost a month but I am back at it again. I was able to complete the training program last Saturday and I ran 3.5 miles! I am hoping to be able to run the whole four miles but if not, I will surely complete it by walking.

I want to thank all of you who have already donated to support me and the Breast Care Center. Donations can be made online http://www.dominiondigital.com/womens4miler/donations.asp

just click on the link and follow the instructions. I will keep you all updated on my progress and wish me luck on the 1st!

Vacation details and Mason updates

Well, last Saturday we made it back from our vacation New York. Before I fill you in on the vacation details, I have to brag a bit about our little boy! It is official... Mason can walk! He has been taking a couple steps every now and then but Monday he really took off! I picked him up from the sitter's house and she said "Mason just walked across the living room!" Sure enough, when we got home he walked across our living room. He is still a bit wobbly but he is improving fast. He also started saying "bye" when he waves! Mason is a bit of a dare devil. His Aunt Cris bought him the bike in the above picture. He can get on and off by himself. He also has discovered that he can stand on the seat, hold on to the handle bars and rock... uh, oh!

Our vacation went well. We stayed with Rob's parents and Mason was able to get some quality grandpa and grandma time. Rob and I were able to go to the races and golf twice without Mason. It was weird being without him but, it was also nice being able to get out and play! I actually tied Rob in golf on the day we played the executive course with Rick, Cathy, Brad, Ben, Ryan and Blake. We also played a difficult 18 hole course with Rick and Cathy and I fared pretty well. Of course Rob always seems to do well too!

We had a huge picnic with family and friends at Rob's parent's house. It was planned on a perfect day before the heat wave came! On one adventure day we took a boat tour in Alexandria Bay around the 1000 islands. The 1000 islands are in US and Canadian waters. There are many mansions built on these islands. It was interesting to see as these houses were huge! We took a tour of Boldt Castle which is on one of the islands. We then headed to Maze Land. The boys had a good time trying to find the clues hidden in a seven foot tall hedge maze. We never found all of the clues after a couple of hours of looking. I think we were being tricked!

Our second adventure day was to the Corning Glass Museum. We saw exhibits with amazing glass detail. We also were able to make our own glass items. The things that we made were ornaments, glass flowers and wind chimes. It was scorching hot in front of the furnace but, we had fun!

The time went by fast and it seems that we couldn't fit everything in that we wanted to do. Mason was a trooper the whole trip. He slept well and was in a great mood the whole week. Aunt Cathy calls him the "angel baby"! Even though we had fun, it is always nice to return home!

Summer Adventures

Last weekend we were off to Williamsburg, VA. We decided that we needed to start seeing some of the sites here in Virginia and learn some history! The weather was beautiful allowing us to stroll around Colonial Williamsburg. We toured the Governor's Palace and the Capital Building and watched some reenactments.

Mason decided that he is a big boy now! He is refusing to eat baby food and wants to eat what I eat! We ordered his very own meal at a restaurant for the first time last weekend. He had chicken strips. I, of course, cut off the breading and cut the chicken into bite size pieces. Mason wanted nothing to do with that! He grabbed a chicken strip, breading and all, and munched on it cave man style! Mason has also learned to clap. It is funny that he claps for himself when he is proud of himself.

We are headed to visit Rob's parents in upstate New York on Friday. It will be nice to see them since they have not seen Mason since he was two months old! He has changed dramatically since then! The hard part will be the nine hour drive. Luckily, we will have Aunt Cathy with us to entertain Mason on the way up, yeah!

Poor Baby!

This is what happens when you tell Mason no or take away something he shouldn't have! It's pretty hard to say no when he looks at you like that!

Learning and Understanding

Mason about to teach Daddy a golf lesson before the big tournament (look, Mason is standing)!
Mason in his swimming boat

Today Rob played in a golf tournament with Rick. It was the same tournament that he played in last year that resulted in winning our new car! This year, there was no car won. However, Rob played well and they had a fun guys day out.

Mason and I joined my friend Julie and her two boys at the pool today. The baby pool is only one foot deep. Mason loved the fact that he could touch and walk all over while in his swimming boat. After a good nap, Mason and I had so much fun playing together. I realized today how smart he is and how much he understands. We were playing with blocks and I would ask him to place one block on top of the other. He would do what I asked, I would clap and cheer and then he would do his little dance in excitement. I asked him to do several tasks today and he would try each one. He could put blocks in a bucket and open and close his play kitchen doors when asked. He is also working on walking! He took two steps yesterday and today without holding on! Mason turned ten months old earlier this week. It is amazing how much he has learned in his first ten months.

Just Peachy!

Sunday, Cathy and I decided to try canning peaches for the first time. We are so excited that all of our jars turned out! We have decided to try and can other things later this summer as long as we get all of the correct supplies. We did learn some lessons from not having the correct tools. For example, we definitely need canning jar tongs to remove hot jars from boiling water! Getting splashed with boiling water just isn't that much fun!

Beautiful Garden

Mason and Aunt Cathy waiting for the fireworks to start.

I harvested crops from my garden last week! I picked all of the lettuce and a zucchini. The tomato bushes are loaded and hopefully they will ripen soon. Yesterday I noticed that the cantaloupe plants finally had little cantaloupes growing! I will harvest two more zucchini tomorrow. It is exciting to see how well everything is growing!

On the Fourth of July I ran a 5K race with Cathy and Julie. I was proud of myself for running the whole thing. However, I ended up hurting my knee. Thus, I was unable to attend the training session today. My knee is feeling a bit better so hopefully I will be back in action soon! We spent the rest of the Fourth with Rick, Cathy and the Boys. We watched fireworks and Mason enjoyed them. He didn't even flinch with the big booms!

Thursday night Mason attended his first baseball game. We went to a AAA game; Richmond Braves vs. Syracuse Chiefs. Unfortunately there was a rain delay so the game started late. We ended up leaving in the seventh inning as it was already 11:15 pm. Mason did well but he was extremely tired from being up late two nights in a row... and so was I! Mason ate his first hot dog at a ball game!

Mason is on his way to standing on his own. He has been standing up from sitting without pulling up on anything. He has also started shaking his head no when I tell him "no, no". Too cute! He has also been using the sign for milk when he sees a bottle or when he wants some milk. He is pretty smart!

Look at that hair!

This is what Mason looked like when he woke up this morning! His hair is getting really long on top and sometimes looks like a comb over! Mason had his nine month checkup today. He is very long, in the 75th percentile, and measured 28.75 inches long. He weighed in at 19 pounds which to my surprise, is in the 30th percentile. The Dr. said Mason will probably be a tall and thin child. We are going to try and plump him up a bit with adding dairy products. Mason likes to feed himself and is almost done with the jars of baby food. He prefers "real" food! He added a new word to his vocabulary this week... dog! He even said "dog" when we saw dogs other than ours at the park! He actually says it more like "gog" but we know what he means. A new talent that emerged tonight is throwing objects. It is cute now but I am sure I won't be laughing when he gets some power behind that throw!

I started my training for the Women's 4 Miler race that takes place in September. Until the race, I will meet hundreds of other women on Saturday morning to train. It is a really neat program and it is exciting to see so many women running or walking at one time! I haven't run in over ten years. It is amazing that all of my old feelings for running came back as soon as I completed that first lap. I am excited about the challenge of getting back into shape and I have to remember to pace myself. Cathy, Marilyn and I went to a fabulous running store to purchase good running shoes. They actually watch you walk and jog to determine what shoes will work best for your foot. I am hoping my new shoes will prevent my previous foot injury from coming back!

Uh Oh!

Mason and I made it back from California! We had a whirlwind of a trip and luckily Mason is a great traveler! We had a busy schedule of visiting friends and family, attended Cal Ploy graduation and went to a wedding. It was great to see everyone and I wish we could have stayed longer.

Mason now has two teeth on the bottom! You can see one of them in the picture above. He is also saying uh oh! It is really cute! Mason crawls super fast now and loves to push the walker around. He also loves to play with children. He gets so excited when he sees other children. While in California, I took Mason to the park with a friend. He loved the swing! He also crawled all over the grass and tried to eat sticks and leaves! On the flight home Mason learned how to drink from a straw! On the last plane change I grabbed a smoothie and I let Mason try the straw. To my surprise, he could do it and he ended up eating half of my smoothie!

Rob was happy to see us! He said that Mason looked a little different! Rob kept busy with yard work and watching the US Open. He took care of my garden which grew huge while I was gone. I will have to take some pictures of the garden and post it soon.

Virginian's for a Year!

It is hard to believe that we have lived in Virginia for one year now! We are enjoying it so much and are glad we made the move. Mason continues to amaze us at how fast he is learning! He has discovered how to climb stairs and how to yell! He has stood a few times by himself and then quickly realizes he isn't holding on and then squats down. He has been exercising using his push walker... going all over the house! Mason finally has a tooth coming in... I can actually see it now! I believe he is also trying to say ball. He makes a baw sound when he sees a ball!

Earlier this week, Mason was able to spend some time with Uncle Rick and the boys. His new sitter's daughter has been very sick. So, Uncle Rick filled in. They had so much fun! The weather has been perfect so the boys pent all day outside. Mason loves the outdoors.

Next week Mason and I head to California for a quick visit. We are so excited to see friends and family. It will be an adventure traveling alone with Mason!

Kings Dominion

Yesterday Mason had his first experience at an amusement park. Rob, Rick, Cathy, Marilyn (Cathy's mom), Bradley, Ben, Blake, Mason and I went to King's Dominion for a day of fun. It was a very warm day but enjoyable. Rob, Cathy, Bradley and I were very adventurous! We went on the craziest roller coasters that had us upside down and shooting straight into the air! We had a lot of thrills and my voice is paying for it today! Mason was able to ride two rides as well. He went on the carousel and the Scooby Doo Haunted Mansion. Mason was such a trooper all day long!