Happy 1st Birthday!

Mason Dale's first birthday was a great celebration! We spent most of it in sheer disbelief that an entire year has passed already. As most things seem to be these days, it was a bittersweet moment for us. We love to watch our little boy grow and discover the world while becoming more his own person everyday- but at the same time, we wish we could keep him our precious little baby wrapped up in our arms forever. Nevertheless, we felt truly blessed to share this special time surrounded by so many of our loved ones and friends. The festivities began with a weekend visit from Great Aunt Julie, followed by some quality time with Gram and Grampa who came a day early for Mason's party. On Saturday, March 15th, our home was filled for Mason's birthday party. There was good company, lots of pictures, and yummy food- including homemade shamrock cookies, #1 cupcakes, and an ice cream cake. Mason loved his first taste of cake- at least what he managed to get in his mouth :) He also really enjoyed all the incredibly thoughtful and generous gifts everyone gave him. Thank you! He's been stylin' in his new clothes as he plays with all the great new toys and watches the fun Baby Einstein and Builder Bob DVDs. Meme flew up from Houston just in time for the party and stayed for the following week, and both Mason and Meme were very happy to get some much needed time together. On Mason's actual birthday, we decked him out in all his St. Patty's Day best and took him to get his first birthday pictures taken. Too cute! While Meme was here we took Mason to the park several times to do two of his favorite things- swing and slide! Meme also went with us to Mason's 1 year doctor's appointment. The doctor said Mason is "perfect" :) He weighs 22 lbs. and is 29 inches long. He took several unassisted steps on his birthday, and can stand on his own for a few seconds. He'll be running laps around the house any day now.
So in short, Mason's first birthday was full of wonderful memories that we will treasure forever.
Happy First Birthday, Mason Dale! Thank you for giving us the best year of our life! Here's to MANY MANY MANY more!

Baby's First Christmas

Christmas this year was truly a blessed time. Even though Mason was obviously too young to understand what was going on, we really enjoyed celebrating the holiday for the first time together at home as a family. The Christmas season kicked off as it always does with the annual Fyock family Christmas tree slaying. Mason loved touching all the different kinds of trees and ultimately decided on a great one to take home as his first Christmas tree. We had fun taking our first family portraits and dressing Mason up in his adorable Santa outfit. The weekend before Christmas we traveled out to Lancaster to visit the Schober family and had a great time together sharing Mason's first Christmas with them. We returned home in time for Christmas Eve service at our church. We read Mason "The Night Before Christmas" and sang "Silent Night" to him as we rocked him to sleep. Mommy and Daddy enjoyed Christmas Eve with a yummy dinner, making a gingerbread house together, and then snuggled up to watch a holiday movie with some warm spiced wine. On Christmas morning Mason enjoyed opening and playing with the gifts Santa (and Meme) had left for him. We took a nice long Winter's nap together that afternoon and then ate a great ham dinner. The following weekend we gathered at Nana and Pop's with all the Fyock family to celebrate the holiday with them. It was really great how Christmas seemed to last a whole week for us this year.

This Christmas was such a wonderful opportunity for us to reflect on our childhood memories and family traditions while establishing our own. But mostly we just embraced the greatest gift we ever received! Merry FIRST Christmas, Mason Dale. Thank you for reminding us what the season is really all about- and for filling our hearts with all the joy, wonder, and peace of the FIRST Christmas!