2009 rewind.

well it's that time of year again, the very end. man that was quick. looking back, it always is.

you know, like when you're due in 11 days and your best friend, coworker, or some random acquaintance from your toddler's preschool class exclaims "wow, just 11 days that went quick".
oh really the past 38 weeks was quick? insert sarcastic eye roll HERE
it's never quick, unless your looking back.

so let's do that; let's look back at our year.
we can reminisce each little memory from this january to now. it reminds me of the andy davis lyrics, ''well rent a comedy, rewind the best parts and we'll memorize the lines". i'm going to rewind our year.
2009 was quite a year for us.
there are too many lines to memorize, but a lot of memories nonetheless.

january: we recuperated from a fun holiday season with lots of laziness. in fact, i think the only eventful, productive thing that happened in all of january (besides michael's birthday) was mason was in a mommy & me art class and learned paint masterpieces, with colored pudding and his fingers. hello yale.

february: mase turned two, it wasn't terrible in the least. we had sprinkles and a bouncehouse and wrapping paper for days. we also found out max was a boy!
february was FUN.
march: here in texas, march starts summer. mase, you got a new life jacket that doesn't attack your neck, but you still don't love it. we spent a lot of time on the boat, at the lake, at the pool. the sun was back in action. march is when mason started talking a LOT.

april: 2 words: beach trip! 3 words: easter egg hunt! 4 words: lots of park dates!may: may was a blur. i was 9 months pregnant and it was 90+ degrees every.damn.day.
so sue me.

june: happy birthday maximo, all 7 lbs of perfection. mason, you're a big brother.
HOLY FAMILY OF FOUR. lots of sleepless nights followed.july: my motto for july "try to hold it together, you just have two kids not ten". we didn't leave the house much, we did puzzles and i drank coffee, in mass amounts. max slept all day, because he wanted to party all night. sometimes i'd have mommy photoshoot's with less than willing subjects to photograph.

august: mason back to school & max smiles. life is looking a lot more exciting and eventful than july, eh? it was brutally hot, so we swam, at the lake, the pool, the beach, hell even the bath tub was a pool; we just swam a lot.september: celebrate good times c'mon. it's my birthday month sans bounce house and sprinkles. hmph. i did move max to his crib and bout velcro baby a carrier. so happy birthday mama you can sleep alone, but when your awake don't expect a solo potty break.october: we went to the pumpkin patch. by this time i was blogging so this is all a major repeat. we should've but didn't carve pumpkins. it rained like 20 days of the month and mason had the flu :(

november: happy turkey day peeps! max stole a lamb chop and went to town. hello teething. mason is totally potty trained, score. GO MASE. max isn't digging avocado, but he'll eat a few bites here and there.december: here we are. see how quick it goes? max has a tooth and he army crawls. he laughs and tries to play with mason (although mason doesn't play with him). and to think at the start of this year we didn't even know max!

just like that, a whole year can flashed by.
i'm excited for 2010. i really am. i have a feeling it's going to be a fabulous, fun, busy year. who knows what will happen; but i bet you whatever happens will happen quick. and a year from now i'll be saying "man that went quick". again.

and then i'll wish i could rewind back to my favorite parts. like when i first met my new baby boy. when i first kissed max's sweet new forehead and cuddled him all night. like when mason first saw his baby brother and blew out his birthday candles (200 times). and when i first looked in my review mirror and saw two babies sleeping in the back seat instead of just one.
when we all first snuggled up cuddled tight, baby lotion overload smell and freshly bathed babies in our bed.
all four of us.
can i get just a little rewind, please?

a long way.

mason,

this was your year. you've changed SO much from last december. first off simple things, you've gained about 8 lbs, yet still manage to wear last year's winter wardrobe. ok, a few things look a little snug, but it works. you've grown 3 inches, your now hovering barely under disneyland's minimum ride stature, c'mon baby you've only got like 80 days to grow that half inch. your hair. oh your hair is awesome, it's grown about hmm 30 feet.

last year you were an only child, with a sibling on the way. you didn't get the change that was oncoming; i don't think any of us did. you've handled your role as big brother with grace, ease and perfection. there are some days when max is forbidden to touch any toy you "own", even the toys you played with two christmases ago. i get it; they're yours. and your mine.

and you are awesome.

a lot of people contemplate ever loving someone like they love their first born. you were my first and you taught me so much about love and the insanity that comes with motherhood and through you i grew 100 feet. you humbled me on every level of my life and you made my life so much better. you fufilled a void i didn't know existed. you made me want more babies, because you were so fun, so perfect, so you.

this year brought on more fun, more perfection, the best you yet. last year year you talked, you said "no" a lot, you said "more juice" and sometimes even a nice "peas mommy" when you really wanted something. this year you communicate. i can sit with you and have a full on, two-way conversation about god knows what, trains, happy meals, why it's time for bed, how much longer those delicious cookies are going to take and of course how much i love you.

i love you more than i'll ever be able to tell you, more than i can ever show you.

i love you more than 100 kisses and 1000 hugs and 2 million bedtime stories. you're so awesome i can stare at you while you sleep and feel like i won the noble peace price or an oscar.

one of the best parts of me is you. you made me a mom, which is what i enjoy most, being a mom, to you and max.

a lot more happened this year where you kicked ass. goodbye pampers hello big boy undies. however, you've successfully protested giving your pacifier to the "binky fairy", the new baby or in exchange for one hotwheel per pacifier. ok, i give up. i've never met a highschool senior with a pacifier; but if you choose to go to prom with yours, well good for you.

you are so independent. you want to pick what shirt you wear, you need to zip and unzip and rezip you own jacket (a hundred times) and get in your own carseat, "all by meself". but one thing you still refuse to do alone is sleep. we never planned to cosleep, but it fell in our laps, and we value our sleep, crazy huh? some nights when your elbows and feet are knee deep in my ribs, i second guess my love of how cozy it is. majority of the nights your spooned beside me and you fit perfectly just like you did 34 months ago when i first held you chest to chest. it's a miracle considering you've grown rougly 34 inches, but i'm not arguing.

talking about 34 months ago; i will never forget when i first saw you. you were so tiny. so wrinkled. you had this pissed looked on your scrunched little face, sometimes i think you still make that sour little face...all this time later. i remember walking up to your plastic nicu incubator that housed you for the first eight days of your life, everyday in the third week of february, you've always been petite yet feisty as they come. i think their was more pizazz and personality in your 19 inch frame than in many grown adults. you were born awesome. but this year you grew a lot; a lot more awesome that is.

you had a good year mason. you turned two and indulged in sprinkles, but no cake. you went to the beach and caught your first fish. you bravely conquered jumping off ever rocky ledge of each swimming pool we swam at all summer. you became a brother. a fabulous, wonderful, maybe not sharing, but loving big brother. you went to school (again) tear free this time. you slide down the tallest slides. you laugh at cartoons. you sing along to roughly five songs on the radio, your voice is precious. you traveled to boston and did it like a champ. you lost the diapers and any baby face you ever had. you kept your sweet, contagious, captivating belly laugh.

i can't say it enough; everyday you grew and matured and became this little kid. the person you are becoming is someone i'm madly in love with. every endless hour with you is an adventure. this was your year, two was fabulous not terrible. two was you.

you've come a long way baby.

love,

your mama