Lots of "first"

As many of you know we went to PA to visit family a few weeks ago. Mason had his FIRST plane ride and did amazing! They only time he cried was when we were landing in Atlanta for our 25 min "layover". I quote it because our plane was late getting in, the stroller wasn't ready, and we had to RUN to get to our next gate(down a long hallway, down an elevator, on a tram and to our next gate, our only breathing point was on the tram!)

A little glimpse of what it looked like when we arrived at my parents house. In case you aren't sure what the first picture is, it's a light switch. Yes very old house but it is homey feeling. My parents were so excited they got all these toys out for Mason to play with! 

I have been to PA almost every year since I was born however I wanted to check out some new things! I pinterest some ideas before we left and came across this beautiful park "Ohiopyle State Park" Little did we know that our first point I wanted to see was over a mile hike..if you know PA it's NOT flat! Everyone was drenched with sweat by the time we got done(sorry too much info??) It was well worth it && so beautiful!! 

The next day we went to my cousins pool, and this was Mason's FIRST time swimming! He loved it! It was also great to see my dad in the pool with him having fun! That really put a smile on my face!! 

Mason is ONE! Where has the year gone!!?? Seem's like just yesterday we were going in for our 41 week ultra sound! 

He woke up with balloons(thanks to Auntie Nola for the idea!) We then all had our FIRST train ride to go around Horseshoe Curve! He also had his FIRST piece of cake at Hoss's and then back home for a birthday party at Nana & Papa -- he had his FIRST Gob(I will include the ingredients at the bottom of the blog post!) So grateful to be with our PA family for his birthday! 

We woke up on 4th of July and wanted to take Mason to meet the family that wasn't going to be with us. It was very emotion for myself as I had never seen where my grandpa was laid to rest, I never got closure with my grandma as I didn't get to go to her funeral and my aunt's life was cut short unexpectedly just months before our wedding. But after Mason had got to see them I spent some time alone talking(more like crying) with them. I know they were listening and they are watching down every day on us. Watching our family grow and we will have so many stories to share with Mason(and our future kids) about them! :)

Then we went to the Blough Family Reunion! It was awesome to see a lot of the Blough family! It has been years since I have been to a reunion and Mason sure did enjoy the attention! 

My Grandpa Saylor's birthday is also on the 4th so we celebrated that and then went to the fireworks in Johnstown! It was a great way to end our vacation! :)

Recap of 2013

2013..what an amazing year! 

1. We found out that we were going to have a baby boy!! 

2. We welcomed another niece into this world, Gracelyn Joy Gniffke! 

3. We welcomed our beautiful baby boy into this world who has been a wonderful gift from God, Mason Matthew Speiser! 

4. We went to our first Twins game at the new stadium for our ONE year anniversary(time flies by when your in love with your best friend!) 

5. Went to my first ever Renaissance Festival! 

6. We had Mason dedicated and had the whole family together! 

This year was amazing and it is so much fun to watch Mason grow! I can't wait to see what 2014 will bring us! 

Head is spinning it's so crazy around here!

What a crazy last 3 weeks it's been since I last updated! Lets see here..

Mason got to meet Grandpa Blough who was visiting with Grandma from Pennsylvania. 

10/18/13

We had him dedicated - 10/20/13 

Grandpa and Grandma Blough, Grandpa and Grandma Speiser, Great Grandpa and Grandma Stager, Great Grandpa and Grandma Wolff, Gniffke Family, Uncle Nic, and Nicole attended. 

Our family with Pastor Doug

Cousins

Love his smile

I attempted to run a 5K I did about 1/2 mile straight(pretty good for not running for so long) and walked the other 1/2 so I ended up doing the 1 mile walk. This is also the longest I have ever left Mason, we left Friday night to go to the cities and came back Sunday afternoon. Daddy did a GREAT job taking care of Mr. Mason!!

Disney Ladies

When I was in the cities for the 5K I found this adorable little costume for Mason! Halloween we went to Studio B, and then we ate at the Hitching Post and came home! 

My lil caterpillar 

JD was a classmate of mine. The last time I saw him was in July at a wedding and I left upset at him. On October 14th he was taken from us by the Sioux Falls police. He was having a hard time and needed help. When police arrived they thought he was a threat to everyone since he had a gun, little did they know he would never harm anyone. He now leaves behind a beautiful little girl that will be 1 in a few weeks, and many friends and family that love him dearly. We had a benefit for him this weekend(11/2/13) and it was amazing the support that was there for his daughter, and family. 

T-Shirts, Car Decal, Bracelets, Can Koozies that were made

4 months and growing!! 

Mason is 4 months old! 

Time is flying by

--5 Weeks--

Where oh where has my little boy gone?! -- he is now 5 weeks old! What happened time is flying  by! Lots of FIRST these next two weeks! On (8/1/13) Mason attended his first rodeo with the Gniffke's and Grandma Blough! 

We went to the chiropractor to get adjusted. (8/4/13) Mason got to go to his First Twins vs. Astros Game with the Gniffke's! 

--6 Weeks--

(8/9/13) First Concert - Hunter Hayes with Auntie Heather, Gracelyn and Mommy! 

(8/15/13) First Babysitter(non-family) - Isabella MacArthur - she does an amazing job with Mason and the Gniffke kids! We  had another 2 chiropractor appointments and both Mason and I are looking a lot better and back in line. My job is going great and Mason is having lots of fun with his cousins and his auntie! 

Anniversary Weekend

What a weekend! Mason is ONE MONTH OLD!!!

My mom, Matt, Mason and I started the day off by meeting up with Aggie, a family friend, and had lunch at Perkins. After that we did a little bit of shopping until the Gniffke's got to the cities! Once they got there we met up at the Mall of America and went through the Mirror Maze, this was a ton of fun!!

Then we went to Dave and Busters, it was so much fun to see the kids enjoy a new place! They loved all the games, I even got into a basketball contest with Matt, TJ and then Heather, yes I did beat them all! We then took my mom to the bus stop as she went back to Pennsylvania. 

After we met the Gniffke's at the "Hotel" that Heather booked on priceline. This Hotel wasn't a very nice one.  We didn't put our stuff on the floor it was so gross, here are some texts from Heather and  I! 

When we woke up in the morning, Matt and I have been married for ONE YEAR!!! I couldn't have asked for a better year!!! I have one of the most amazing husbands anyone could ask for. I don't think there has been ONE time when he has got MAD at me, he is always doing anything he can to make me happy, and we now have a one month old baby! He is one of the most amazing dads too! You can just see the love he has for Mason by the look in his eyes! 

We went and had breakfast and then us girls got ready, while the boys packed the rooms! 

Then we went shopping a little, made a stop at Chilli's and were quick of to our FIRST twins game at the new Target Center! Not to mention Mason's first twins game!  

 Mason's 1st Game 

We ended the night by going to my favorite restaurant, Olive Garden. What an amazing weekend! I couldn't have asked to spend it any other way! 

Where has time gone?

Where has time gone? Mr. Mason is now 4 weeks old! We have had such an amazing 2 weeks together though! 

--3 Weeks--

Mason 3 Weeks - 7.24.13

This wee we were busy again with Mello Yello events and it was also Crazy Days so we spend Thursday(7/18) at the pool! 

We also went the my friend Amanda's wedding on Saturday(7/20) and Mason did an awesome job! 

Great Grandma/Grandpa Stager along with Grandma/Grandpa Speiser came to visit on Sunday(7/21) and we went out for lunch! 

--4 Weeks--

4 Weeks! Where has the time gone! On Saturday my baby boy will be a month old!! This week Mason met his daycare provider, and it was my birthday(7/25), Auntie Heather took us out for lunch to Applebees and then took us Mini Golfing(Heather won)! This was a lot of fun! On Friday(7/26) Mason and I went all by ourselves to the cities to pick up Grandma Blough.

 Matt and I went out for a little bit with some friends and Auntie Heather was the first babysitter we had for Mason! We babysat Mason's cousins the Gniffkes on Sunday(7/28). More Mello Yello events and a nice lunch at the Coffee House to bring back memories from when we were growing up! Tueseday(7/30) we went mini golfing in Belview for FREE how awesome of a double date was that! What a great week it has been! 

Changes are happening tho: Mason has lost weight and we have found out it is because he wasn't getting enough milk from me when I would breast feed. So I am pumping as much as I can but otherwise switching to formula. I am surprised I could even make it this long with my breast reduction. I also got a job at Schwans and will be starting Monday, yes, 8/5/13. I am doing half days the first week (1-5pm) and the full time the next week. Auntie Heather will be watching Mason until he is 6 weeks and can go to daycare. This was a really hard decision to make but with the economy the way it is we need the 2nd income By the time I get paid it will be 10 weeks since I last received a paycheck. I am just trying to spend as much time with Mason as I can(yes I am even holding him as I type this) It hurts so much to think about it but I know it's the best thing right now for our family because who knows if I will be offered another job for awhile. As someone said to me "By it hurting so much it just shows how much you love Mason" I know he will be in great hands though and it will be easier this way then just having to drop him off at daycare. However I have only left him 2 times now and both were for 2hr so this will be a little bit of a change! Prayers would be appreciated! :)

Gender Reveal Party!

A special thank you to everyone that came to our gender reveal party! Big thank you to Brianna & Megan for throwing the party for us! It was so fun to finally be able to tell everyone what we are having!! 

It's a BOY!! 

Where: Wooden Nickel

When: February 17, 2013

Time: 2pm

Guest: Brianna, Megan, Nicole, Codie, Aubrey, Lory Jo, Ryan, Kristina, Karen, Gary, Jayni, Macey, Aiden, Tiffany, Brett, Ashley, Craig, Julie, Ron, Crystal, Carrie, Anthony, Kathy, Steve, Lowell, Lila, Hannah, Chelsea, Josie, Casen, Heather, TJ

Circle Your Prayers

Yesterday in church, Pastor Grant told us to "Circle your life in prayer for God to Change" - they started to do this at the beginning of the month but I was either at children's church, or at Matt's parents - the goal was to write things down that you wanted God to change in your life and to watch throughout the month God work miracles. So I have wrote a couple down:

~ Cope with wedding - I pray that God can help me cope with how our wedding went and just be happy about it. Not be sad or mad about things that didn't happen. It has been 5 1/2 months and I still cry almost daily about things. This is a big topic at my next therapy session since we are getting the "bigger" things under control now.

~ Figure out daycare - I just pray that God will show me a way and answer about if daycare is my thing to do. In the past week I am believing God is working his ways. Will explain more at the end of the month!

~ Good/Healthy Pregnancy - I pray that my pregnancy will continue to be good and healthy. That our next appointment at the end of the month the baby will be healthy and growing good!

~ Family - Nothing hurts more then being torn in half between your own family, having to make decisions to make everyone happy. I just pray that God can mend our family back together. Matt and I are starting a family of our own and I just want nothing more then having our family back together.

~ Stress Free Month - I just pray God can ease my mind this month. That I not get worked up over little things or worry about money or anything that I just believe in him and trust in him. So far it's going good!

~ Emotions - I pray that I can keep my emotions under control. All my mind does is run run run...I just need a break sometimes. I cry over the littlest things and it's not even stress or fights it's just looking back into the past or little things said to me.

--I am so thankful for my therapist though. She really helps a lot and I am starting to do more things around the house to help Matt out. I really take him for granted some days. He does so much for me and my daycare. I just wish everyone could see how much he brutally does! --

NYC/PA

MATT AND I got to go to NYC for Thanksgiving! I am so thankful that he was able to come with! On our way to Omaha on Wed. night our car broke down in Sioux Falls. Thankfully God was watching over us and Tires Plus was a huge help and helped us out! We flew into Newark on Thursday(11/22) and my dad picked us up and brought us to my cousin Kay's house! We had Thanksgiving Dinner and just relaxed!! Friday we woke up and took the train(LIRR) into the city! We took a taxi to Rockefeller Center since Matt was not feeling the best. We first hit up Rockefeller Center to go to Top of the Rock. It was a beautiful site to see the skyline of NYC! After that we went to Grand Central Station-had to see it! Then we walked to the UN Building, Matt really liked this stop! We then went to Time Square because it was getting dark, it was awesome to see all the shops lite up! So pretty! Then we did the NBC Studios Tour which was a blast! We had an awesome day! Saturday we were going to go to the World Trade Center Memorial but Matt's fever got worse 103.1F. We tried to get him to go to urgent care but when we got there, there was quite a line and he didn't want to wait. So we started our 6hr drive to PA. 

Sunday we went to Grammy for the afternoon to watch football, take naps, and have a nice family dinner. After dinner we play the famous game of Dutch Blitz! It was so nice to be around family again! Monday we started our 6hr journey back to NJ stopping at Rita's in Belfonte and got to see the whole Purnell family! Monday we went to the mall to see dad at work and ate at The Cheesecake Factory after. It was very good. Tuesday we were suppose to fly out but our flight got cancelled so we had breakfast at IHOP then dad went to work so we just hung out and watched tv all day at the hotel! We then took him for supper at Longhorn Stakehouse. We were able to get on our flight on Wednesday morning and make the long drive home! We were in cars a lot! 

All in all it was a great vacation!

 Line up of taxis 

 Radio City at Rockefeller Center

 Matt & I at Top of the Rock

 Empire State Building!

 Ice Rink at Rockefeller Center

Rockefeller Center

Central Park

 Grand Central Station

 He was such a good sport!

 UN Building

 Outside of the UN Building

 The flags at the UN

 Time Square

 He is such an amazing husband!

Where the ball drops!