Not much

So I don't have any pictures to show for the weekend when all the Masdons were together because I am in the processing of retrieving them from someone else. So this post is super boring.

Today we leave for my grandparents in Atlanta, GA. I'm so excited. I'm nervous to see how Tristan will behave on the plane but other than that I'm excited. I will definitely be taking pictures of our time there so I will definitely be posting from that, at least.

Also, I am so excited about the wrap that I discovered. My brother got me a baby sling for Christmas but it didn't fit and then they didn't have the one in my size so I was forced to look at other options. Well my babysitter recommended this website that has slings and she says they're amazing. It's called Maya Wraps and they're seriously the best thing I've ever gotten. I LOVE mine and so does Tristan! It's going to be perfect for carrying him around the airport and on the plane. If you know someone that has small children, tell them about this. They will thank you!!

Also, I posted a video on Facebook of Tristan crawling and he has definitely learned fast. He is already improved a lot since the video. And last night, for the first time, he stood up in his crib and tried to climb over the side. YIKES! Our crib is unique and that about a quarter from the top, it detaches. We've had it down since he was born but it has officially gone up. Luckily we just happened to see him on the baby monitor as he pulled himself up and almost over. Vincent ran up there to catch him which Tristan responded with giggles. Grrrreeeaaattt. This next phase is going to be trouble.

Sorry this is so short and sweet but I have lots of small stuff to take care of before we leave. I hope everyone has a great Christmas!!!

Yikes!

We found these pictures of Vincent as a baby and they look exactly like Tristan. I don't know if you can tell because the they were scanned and that takes away from the pic. It's kinda scary because I did not want my child to look so much like Vincent but equally like us both but I guess that's what happens when you marry someone of ethnicity....(sigh).

Once again, we are super busy. It's like nonstop activity at our house. Thanksgiving we spent the day with my parents because we are having our real Thanksgiving next week. All of my siblings will be in town next week and it will be AWESOME!! But because it was only us and my parents, we had a yummy steak dinner instead of turkey. Still good :) Very early Thanksgiving morning Tristan got really really sick. He was screaming badly and wouldn't eat and wouldn't sleep and wouldn't stop crying. It went on like that all day. We even debated going to the ER because I was scared that he had an ear infection but right as we debated he fell asleep and didn't wake up for 12 hours. When he did wake up, he was back to his smiling self. But when I woke up on Black Friday, my throat was so swollen I couldn't talk. And when I swallowed it felt like I was swallowing giant rocks. The next day my throat stopped hurting but my nose has been a faucet and I can't stop coughing. Yuck. And I am still feeling like crap. But someone at work told me about Neti Pot-- a little too late, might I add--but this thing is amazing!! It cleans out your entire sinus system. You're supposed to do it before you get as bad as me but it still helped me with my faucet problem. I did it last night and didn't have to blow my nose the rest of the night. It says it's really good for people with bad allergies. I like it.

Also I started reading 2 new books (on top of books for school-grrrr): the Percy Jackson series and The Lovely Bones. Both of which I saw the previews for and loved the story lines. The Percy Jackson books were a little embarrassing to get because I had to go to the kids section to get it. I'm talking a 5 year old child reached out for the same book (I think mistakenly though) and I totally walked away, ashamed. When I walked back to get it again I told myself that if I got any funny stares I would just say it's for my son. I just wouldn't mention that my son is 6 months old. But I'm telling you the Percy Jackson book is great- I love it. It's easy to read but entertaining. I love Greek mythology so the story line hooked me from the beginning.

The Lovely Bones is a great book because there are not a lot of books told from the murdered girl's perspective. Neat angle. Oh and the movie has Marky Mark playing the dad. YUM. Enough said.

I still have to finish Christmas shopping for our Christmas exchange next week, cook for our little potluck this weekend and oh, did I mention it's final exam time??? This week will definitely be exhausting but I am definitely counting down until the Masdon clan reunites next week. The six siblings together always equal good conversations and good times. Not to mention that my brother is seeing a very special woman that he is rumored to be taking the next big step with and I get to meet her for the first time. Oh and Tristan finally gets to meet Uncle Nate and Aunt Tamarah for the first time!! So, as you can see, I'm focusing on that and not this week. Ugh. I assume that this blog will not see action again until at least next week.

Anyone want to take my exams???

Can't Sleep

So I should be sleeping right now because 4:30am comes oh so early but for whatever reason I can't. So I figured I'd blog since it's been about, oh, forever, since I've blogged.

First off, this weekend I went down to my friend Lauren's mom's house in The Woodlands (north of Houston). I had a blast and we really didn't do a whole lot. Saturday Lauren got her hair did (looks awesome!) and then we went shopping and then we went to see New Moon. Now I know that everyone and their mom loves these movies right now but I was a little hesitant. I am a book person. I have never liked the movie that is based on a book because it just doesn't do my imagination justice. Obviously no movie can match each person's vision of the story but I know some movies get pretty close. Well when Twilight came out, I avoided it like the plague. Which is strange to some people since I loved the book so much. But I didn't want to be disappointed. I didn't actually watch it until it came out on video. And I actually liked it. Sure, I definitely wouldn't have chosen Kristen Stewart to play Bella but that's just my opinion. But it wasn't too far from what I pictured. It was a really good movie. So with New Moon I became hesitant once again but Lauren really, really loved it and assured me that it was 10 times better than Twilight. So I took the plunge. I saw it and LOVED it!! It doesn't match the book perfectly but it came pretty close. I never got the longing for Edward to come back to Bella like I did when I read the book but then again the book was 547 pages so it's probably pretty hard to drag that out in a 2 1/2 hour movie. And let me just say for the record, I am neither Team Jacob nor Team Edward. I like them both. And I dislike them both at times as well. So for that, I won't choose sides :)

In other news Tristan is growing up so fast. I wish I had pictures that I have taken recently but we've been super busy to even think about taking pictures. He is holding his head up completely and trying his best to sit up on his own. We just entered a new stage and I have fondly named it "Hell". It started about a week ago. Before a week ago Tristan was sleeping 11-12 hours a night ever since he was 2 months old. Ahhhh, wonderful. A girl could and definitely did get used to that. Then, last week, he decided he didn't want to go to bed at his normal bed time. He would screech (1 level past a scream) until we came up to his room. Longest amount of screeching- 30 minutes. As soon as we go into his room he would calm down a little bit and then stop completely when we picked him up. Then he would start giggling and smiling. It is like he just figured out that life goes on when he goes to bed and he doesn't want to miss it. I hate it. Vincent and I have decided to extend his bedtime a little bit but once he goes to bed, we're not going in there again. That becomes a dangerous habit that I'm just not willing to start now.

Oh and did I mention that I started my online classes a few weeks ago?? And that online classes are loads harder than regular classes? I feel like Tristan timed his new phase a little too perfectly. Needless to say I have been exhausted during the week as I try to study and put him to bed so I can study. Yuck. Not fun.

Other than school, work and our newly formed social schedule, nothing else is going on. I am super excited because this year we are taking Tristan to Georgia for Christmas. I love going to Georgia and since most of my relatives live there and I hardly get to see them, it'll be awesome for everyone to meet Tristan!!

Oh and I just remembered my new project that I am super excited about. I thought of a great Christmas gift that I will be giving to my friends and family that is AWESOME! It's completely home made and super crafty. If I can do this and it turns out good, I will be so impressed with myself. And the best part about it is that I thought of it all by myself!! Anyone that knows me knows that I never think of artsy craft ideas by myself- I have to bum them off of other people :) But this was all me with some technical help from the Internet. I am pumped and will definitely share pics when I'm done!!

Family Ties

So recently our family has gone under some drama (really, who doesn't have drama in their family???). It's really not that big of a deal but it did get me thinking of the importance the role of family takes in a person's life.


The idea of family seems easy enough. You're born and there you have it, family. Voila. A lot of people think that's all there is to it. All you do is live and they're always there and they never seem to go away. Nope. That's not all there is to it. Family is practice for marriage. And then marriage is practice for having your own family. And the cycle continues on and on. If you're married and reading this then you know it takes work. A lot of work. It's not easy. So why would family not be the same? Why do you think that you would be a member and not have to do any work? You have to build on those relationships the same as you build on your marriage. You have to make time to build these relationships. You have to make an effort to remember the stupid stuff that you don't want to remember about each person. You have to make an effort to drive whatever distance is needed to meet up with your family to chat, even though it seems pointless and dumb. You have to make an effort to answer their phone calls even though you know they're going to drone on and on about subjects that you'd rather not hear about. You have to make an effort to deal with family gossip because you know it will always exist because family has nothing better to do. You do these things because you're family and you're stuck with each other but you also do these things because you love them.


Some families don't have the value of family at all because they never knew it. They lived not as a family but as individuals stuck together under 1 roof so they don't know what a good family is. No one in these families talks to each other about anything except to say "Pass the potatoes". Everyone in these families says obligatory things to each other as they pass through life but as they grow older the "family" connection becomes more and more faint. There is no reason to talk to each other about the important things in life let alone stay in touch. They have no desire to carry on this tradition of family and with good reason. But that's what other relationships and friendships are for. To learn about other people and learn from each other. We're supposed to try and make things better.


There are also some individuals that want to change their own families, and more than likely, with good reason. So instead of trying to work things out with their own family, they create what they see as the ideal type of family but with perfect strangers. The only thing is, these people are not their family. They won't accept everything that is wrong with them and love them nonetheless. So these individuals go through relationships/friendships like some of us go through milk. They can't seem to understand why they can't find that "perfect" friend/relationship either. Most of the time, and I definitely don't mean all the time, their own families are the ones that need the focus. If these people focused the same amount of energy on their own family as they did trying to turn perfect strangers into their family, they'd have amazing family relationships.

Here's the thing, like relationships, family is only as good as you make it. If you put absolutely no effort into building your family relationships, then you will have a crappy family. If you invest tons of time and effort towards your family, you will have a loving support system in return. But there is one thing you can't do- invest nothing in your family but expect a loving support system in return. Your family will always love you unconditionally but they may not always be there for you when you need them because you weren't there for them when they needed you. And why would you expect differently? If you don't like your family ties (pun intended) then change the amount you invest in it. The more you invest the more you get for your return.


The thing is the family unit was created for a reason. I'm not going to argue the various religious reasons the family unit is around because it doesn't matter. The idea of family has been around for quite some time. So obviously we're supposed to have some sort of connection with family. We're supposed to learn something from it. And we're definitely supposed to try and coexist even when it seems impossible. I look at family like a puzzle. Different families create different pictures when complete. Each piece of each family puzzle is different and you may not like the individual piece each person is whether it be: the Snob, the Quiet One, the Different One, the Funny One, the Instigator or the Outsider one. Whatever the piece is it completes the picture that makes your family.


I guess the point I'm trying to make is that no matter what piece you end up being, you accept who you are. After that, you make yourself clear on what your piece is because the rest of the family may not know it. So instead of quitting the picture to try and find another picture, you should work on the your own family puzzle and figure out which part of the picture you fit best in. You might just be in the wrong part of the puzzle and not actually the wrong puzzle.

Just in case you're not on Facebook......

Here's our family portraits and pictures of Tristan. Thanks again to Heather Lingafelter who did an AMAZING job :)