F.I.R.S.T. Conference in Las Vegas

Many of you know that Mason was born with a genetic skin condition called Lamellar Ichthyosis.  This is an extremely rare condition and it is difficult to find anyone with a similar condition.  Fortuately for us there are foundations for such things!  We were able to attend a conference this October in Las Vegas to meet with others with similar skin conditions.  Mason gets to go to the kid camp and I got to go to seminars.

He wasn't really into the meet and greets.  I made him sit there and get his picture taken with the crowd.  He's a good sport.

In kid's camp they made all sorts of fun things.  It was a cowboy theme.  We had to have a picture of the hat.

This is the entire group that attended the conference.  We have made some great friends over the years.  Can't wait for the World Conference in FL next year!!

Tricky

Before Ez could walk he could climb.  Not just a stair or two, but latters and into beds, over gates, and onto couches!  The trouble with the climbing is that he can't get down.  Not at all!!!  He tends to get stuck a lot.  This is one of those instances!!

Mason's Door Obsession~

I know I've mentioned the obsession that Mason has with his doors.  Well, he is a funny little man and is cycling through the house choosing new favorites!  He started off in our front room never leaving our really old and sad TV stand.  Then it was off to his bedroom.

Now he will almost 90% of the time be in the kitchen.

He only goes for the doors with the pots and pans, but has recently ventured to the fridge door.  Now that has a lock on it too!!   

He entertains himself for hours. I love that he has a hobby!

Trouble!~

This is not an uncommon site around our house.  Ezra is always on the move and constantly on the hunt for his next snack.  He loves when the pantry door is left open.  It's like a buffet!

He hardly budges even when he knows he's been caught!

A lot of the things he can reach he can't really eat or get into the packaging, all that does is make a huge mess scattered around the house for Ethan to find and snack on!~

He's perfected the "I didn't do anything" look.  If only he really were that innocent!!

Visit to the Petting Farm

In September we were able to visit a local petting farm with the kids.  They had a great time.

They had dispensers that you could buy corn from to feed the animals.  Ethan really was into getting that and throwing it to the animals.  Ezra loved eating it!

Mason was the only one brave enough to try to feed any of the animals.  In the other kids' defense, Mason wasn't really given a choice!   He didn't protest it though!

Turned out the cow was afraid of Mason!  It wouldn't eat a thing from Mase's hand it just sniffed and waited for him to put it down!

Ethan thought about it some more.... not a chance!

They also have a place for pony rides.  That was appealing to Ethan.  He went a few times.

He's a regular cowboy!!  He had a great time.

Mason had a great time too.  Spen was great to hold him up.  He really did love it.  He went a few times too.  I tried to take him, but he's just getting too heavy!

Ez went back and forth!  Some of the time he liked it and some of the time he just yelled to us.  He never tried to get off so I'll take that as him enjoying himself!

We had a great time as a family.  It's always nice to get out and go somewhere together.

Ez Eating

Again, behind...  These are from September, but still cute.  Ezra's favorite food (at least in the top 5 for sure) is pasta.  He gets pretty excited for it.  I couldn't resist taking some pictures.  Isn't he darling?

I thought it was pretty cute how the little piece of pasta was stuck to his bottom lip.  I'm not sure how he chomps it so well, after all he only had 4 teeth at the time!

Ez is such a sweet little boy.  There is no mistake he wants your attention when you come in a room.  He just talks and looks at you until you talk and play with him.

Ezra's #1 favorite person has to be Ethan and I know that Ezra is one of Ethan's top 2 (Mason and Ezra are tied).  They love to play together.  I'm sure you can tell.  Ez just cuddles into Ethan (not something Ezra does - cuddle) and they laugh and play for hours.  If Ethan is watching TV you know that's where Ezra will be too.

The hardest time of the day for me is when Ezra is bored without his brothers because they are off at school.  How dare they?  He gets so excited when they come home.  Especially Ethan. 

What a happy boy.  I swear he's the best baby ever to live.  I adore this kiddo!  Can't imagine a day without him.

Mason's first day of Kindergarten

If there is one thing that Mason loves, it's school.  The boy has such a great time while he is there.  I know that he is going to love his new class.  We met with his teacher to introduce her to Mason and she's great.  Mason is in a class with 5 kids, his Intervener (Aide only for him!) and his teacher with 2 other Aides.  I know he's going to love it.  We got all ready and went out to wait for the bus to pick him up.

Here is Mason with all of his supplies that he takes to school.  Lucky for me they keep them there for him to use and I don't have to deal with back and forths with all this stuff!  The bus driver even agreed to take it all for him.  How nice is that?

Waving goodbye to me like he'll miss me.  We both know that he'll be having too much fun to miss me.  If there is anything about Mason that anyone who knows him will tell you it's that he is a charmer and can climb deep into your heart almost immediately.  He'll have a classroom of friends in no time.

The bus used to be very traumatic for me.  I really had a hard time sending him off to get to school and back without me.  Now it's the best part of my morning!  He LOVES it first of all and it saves me from loading and unloading his gianormous chair!

Riding up the lift. Man I wish I had something like that in my van!

Of course Mason had a great first day and loves his class.  He starts to get sad on the weekends after a long day at home.  I really think he just misses his school!