More than a "Handful"

Well, we've reached the point where the title of the blog no longer really 'fits' our family! 

There is a 'handful', PLUS one more of us now!

Mason Michael Young entered the world, all on his own, on August 10, 2012!

When I found out my due date (8-14-12), I immediately thought that August 10th would be a perfect day to have a baby (like I had control or something!) because:
- the birth date would be 8-10-12 (consecutive even #'s)
- Miley and the new baby would be EXACTLY 2 1/2 years apart (Miley born 2-10-10)
- no one else in either family had that birthday
- it would give us a good amount of time to 'adjust' before the big kiddos started school
- it would allow for Mike's mom to be available to help with kids before she had to get back to school
- the date landed on a Friday, which meant a weekend hospital stay, which meant Mike wouldn't have to take any extra days off work while I would be in the hospital

Well, August 9th rolled in and no baby yet.  I really had no signs it was coming anytime soon.  So at my OB appointment that day, I went ahead and asked to be induced the next day - Aug. 10!!!  Luckily, my body was telling the docs that we were ok to go ahead with the induction at 7 AM the next morning.  I felt a little apprehensive all day, wondering if I was making the right decision in taking charge of when the little babe should come out, instead of it deciding on their own.  (Sorry I'm calling the babe an 'it'!  We had no idea what we were having)

Peanut head decided not to wait until 7AM!!!  I started contracting around 10 PM (on the 9th), every 5-7 minutes or so.  They were not very painful, so I was very hesitant to call the doctor.  Mike went ahead and did anyway, just to see what they'd say.  Since I progress quickly, they told us to go ahead and head to the hospital.  I was very nervous, wondering if we really even needed to go.  Either way, we would be there by 7AM anyway, so it didn't hurt to just go:)  Thank goodness we did, because my contractions became more frequent and intense once we were admitted, which was about 11:45.  Around 12:45, my water broke.  1:30, hallelujah - epidural!!  2:17, Mr. Mason arrived!!!!!  Right on schedule, August 10th - just what momma wanted!  AND - it was a BOY, to even out and complete our family!

Welcome to the M&M's Mason!

Now, we could call the blog "A Handful of M & M's + 1" or "A Half-Dozen"?!?!

Baseball and Softball/Mother's Day/Graduation

Yes, yes, I know.  I haven't been posting regularly on this blog.  I'm going to try and do a little 'catch-up' with our family life, before it's turned upside down in a month!!

So, April started the baseball and softball season for the big kids.  Max played for the Twins (with dad being coach) and Molli played for the Bitty Bumblebees.  Both of them were #7 (that just happens to be dad's lucky number!)  They both played AWESOME!!  Max takes the sport very seriously.  He truly dislikes getting out, but he's a great hustler and loves to swing the bat.  His favorite positions are pitcher and first base.  Molls loves everything about softball.  She is a great hitter, fielder, and runner.  Both kids are speedy!!  They get that from their momma:)

Max is currently still playing through the end of summer.  He's doing a special league, called "second season", to allow him to keep learning the game of baseball, and keep him busy until school starts!

In May we had Mother's Day and a couple of Graduations!!

My Mother's Day tradition has been to plant flowers with my family!  We had an open flower bed at the end of our driveway that needed 'sprucing up' so that's how we spent the day - planting about 100 petunias and merigolds!!!!  Later, we added a flag pole to the bed.  It looks so great!!!!  The flowers look fabulous.  These pictures won't do it justice, since these were just planted.  Now they have mounded and really fill in and are abundant in color!

Had to take a bagel snack break.  They had been working so hard!

And the finished product!

To conclude the month, we had a couple of momentous occasions:  Molli graduated Preschool and is now off to Kindergarten in the fall while Max graduated Kindergarten and will start First Grade!!

Wow!  And that's just the end of the school year!  Summer has been very busy so far, finally slowing down, until home life turns crazy again!

Christmas Crafts

Yes, long overdue, but just wanted to show off a couple of crafts I did with the kids to prepare for Christmas gifts!

These are what the big kids gave each of their teachers:

Thank you Pinterest for the idea:)

Some homemade ornaments the kids made for Grandparents and Great-Grandparents:

The recipe for the homemade ornaments:

2 C flour
1 C salt
2 Tbsp oil
Mix these all together, then add up to 1 C of water
Roll out and cut shapes.  Do not make too thick or they will crack in the oven.
Bake at 250 for 1 hour!

I have been getting a little bit more crafty lately, so I'll have to show-off my latest project when it's completed!

Spring Breakin' It

The kiddos and I just finished our much needed Spring Break!  The big kids didn't have school and I didn't have daycare for the week.  We started it out with a trip up north, to Minneapolis!  Our kids have stayed in a hotel maybe once, so they were super excited to go on a trip.  We left Thursday afternoon and went straight to the hotel.  Friday was spent at the 'mega-mall', 'big mall', 'Mall of America', whatever you choose to call it!  We started out in the amusement park area, then lunch, Legoland, and ice cream.  Mommy got to spend some extra time there on her own and then Ikea!  Mike took the kiddos back to the hotel for some rest time!

Molli, Mila, Lily, Addi, Elly, Max

Daddy and kiddos on Azul, the train from Dora!  Mommy couldn't go on any rides - with child;)

Miley at Legoland, she just wanted the pink legos!

Saturday we drove an hour west of the twin cities to Hutchinson, MN.  Mike's brother and sister-in-law just moved there, so we helped get them settled into their new home!  We spent the entire day with them and other members of Mike's family.  The kiddos were so pooped, they all fell asleep on the way home (left at 5)!  Miley ended up sleeping all through the night, until 6 the next morning!!!!!!

Sunday we got one last swim in, and then hit the road back to Iowa.  It was a super quick trip, but much needed and fun!  I could have stayed a bit longer, away from the 'real life' of home!

 Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were blah days outside.  I decided, last minute, the I was going to potty train Miley!  We had no plans for the week and the weather was cruddy anyway, so I trapped my kids at home for three days to potty train.  Thursday we got out!  We met a couple of Max's friends from school and their families at an inflatable bounce house place and then went out to lunch.  Friday we met my mom and siblings out for lunch.  Saturday, college friends came over to hang out and 'play' while Mike and Max cleaned up the ball fields to get ready for baseball season.  That evening we went to Mike's sister's house for dinner to celebrate 4 family members' birthdays, all happening this week!  Sunday we spend the ENTIRE DAY outside doing yard work and playing.  Molls also had her first softball practice that afternoon.  

And all of that leads us to the end of spring break.  It ALWAYS goes so fast.  But once it's over, between baseball/softball, graduations, great weather, the end of the school year always approaches quickly.  And then it's summer - which always goes fast too - which means 'baby' will be here before we know it!!!!!!

While I was away......

Christmas at the Young house

Max turned 6!!!!!!

Outside snow fun

Preggo Momma!!!  

I helped Molls with this pic;)

Miley turned 2!!!!

 Photo shoot with Unca Bill