Open wiiiiiiide!

So today I had the fun experience of going to a new dentist and getting 4 FILLINGS!! Each filling was in a totally different place so now, 4 and a half hours after the first shot of Novocaine, I'm still numb on my entire face (nose down) and my left ear. There were a few perks though: I got to watch the entire first season of "Friends", I got a $100 discount, then an additional 10% off after that, and I got to be high on the happy gas for the 3 hours they worked on me.

Now I'm back to reality - a baby crawling on top of his little table, and dinner in the oven. Love it.

Friends!!!

As I mentioned in a previous blog, Mason has new friends! We had this awesome family move into the townhome directly across from ours - Rachel and Michael with kids Rebekah and Patrick. Now because I'm retarded about making new friends with strangers (it totally terrifies me for some reason), she had to approach me. Glad she did though!!

We walk together several days a week to take our kids to the park. It's so fun to actually have a friend here, and it's also awesome to see how well our little ones all get along! Mason interacts more with Rebekah right now (she's almost 3 *i think*), but I think that as soon as Patrick (almost 1) starts to walk, they'll all 3 play together a lot more.

So Rachel and Michael suggested that we do a "babysitting exchange" with them where we'd watch their kids on a Friday night and they'd keep Mason for us the next night so that we could actually go out to dinner and a movie and not have to worry about breaking the bank with a babysitter. We kept their kids this past Saturday, and it was so much fun! The three kiddos had a blast. I can't wait for our turn to go out! :)

Forget Spring...SUMMER Has Sprung!

Well, it quickly went from 75 degrees for the past 2 weeks to 92 DEGREES today! The swimming pool water here at our townhome clubhouse is still way too cold to swim, but the Saint George City Center has this awesome "water park" and splash pad. Mason's terrified of the splash pad ever since some city employee thought it would be funny to turn it on while he was standing in the middle of the one at the park near our house. Now Mason sees it and clings to my legs.

So he steered clear of the splash pad today, but spent an hour and a half playing in the fake rock river. We went with Rachel (a neighbor) and her two kids Rebecca and Patrick, who Mason ADORES.

Polly Want a Cracker?

Last Wednesday, the 9th, I was uber-bored so I decided to take Mason to the pet store. The second we walked in, he saw the fish and excitedly yelled "ish, ish, ish!!!" and made his fish face. He kissed the glass on all the fish tanks that were within his reach. Next we went to the bird cages where Mason backward-signed "bird", and yelled "eet, eet, eet!!" (tweet, tweet, tweet). It was exciting for both of us! His favorite animal (that we weren't allowed to touch) was a baby pot-bellied pig. It was pushing this bright green ball around his cage, and Mason was just so excited, running around the cage following the ball.

Being a mom is really helping me learn how to take pleasure in the simple things by trying to see through the eyes of my child.

Water Bottle Public Service Announcement

I was watching the Today Show yesterday, and there was a segment on water bottles - which types are safe and unsafe. I was blown away by the findings!

On the bottom of all water bottles, (whether they be the hard, Nalgene-type reusable water bottles or the sealed, buy in a gas station type water bottles), there is a triangle with a number inside it. The most common numbers are 1 (purchase, drink, toss water bottles), and 3, 6 and 7 (usually found on the water bottles you buy empty for the purpose of reuse).

Scientists have discovered that bottles with a 1 on the bottom are good for only one use, and that after that, BPA's (Bisphenol - an industrial chemical used to make polycarbonate plastic) begin to leak into the water you drink. It is also now recommended to avoid numbers 3, 6 and 7 all together because the BPA level is high enough to possibly affect reproductive systems and cause other health problems.

Check your water bottles! Jeff and I have always kept the larger Gatorade bottles and refilled them for our food storage - but they all have a #1 on the bottom, so we've disposed of them. There may not be a ton of research available yet on this topic, but enough for me to prefer being safe rather than sorry!

For more information, see (also contains links to the segment on the Today Show from yesterday and today):
http://zrecs.blogspot.com/2008/04/this-just-in-nalgene-announces-new-bpa.html

Step-By-Step

Mason's been able to go up stairs for quite a while now, but never figured out how to get back down without injury. We've noticed him stepping down off curbs and stuff at the park lately, so yesterday we decided to just let him go upstairs and see what would happen on the way down.

Before he attempted to come down, he wanted to let us know that we'd better be paying attention to him. Here's the video. So funny!

Mason Meets Ronald McDonald

Yesterday for our treat after Family Home Evening, Jeff and I decided we wanted hot fudge sundaes from McD's, so we drove around town until we found one with a playground to let Mason loose in while we enjoyed our sugar high. The second he saw Ronald McDonald, he wanted nothing to do with the playground - he was so fascinated with the clown!

A Saturday in Snow Canyon State Park

Who knew that a short, Saturday afternoon hike in a state park could be so fun, educational, and exciting?!

This past Saturday (the 29th of March), Jeff, Mason and I decided to go out and enjoy the perfect St. George weather. We left the house only knowing that we'd be hiking, but weren't sure where we wanted to go, so we just drove to where we knew there were a lot of hikes that we hadn't been on yet. We ended up at Snow Canyon State Park at the White Rock trail.

First, a little history lesson that I learned on Saturday - and it fascinated me: Snow Canyon used to be inhabited by the Anasazi Indians way back in AD 200-1250. Later, Paiute Indians used it for hunting. Then in the mid-1800's, Mormon Pioneers discovered the canyon while searching for lost cattle. The canyon was renamed for Lorenzo and Erastus Snow (previously called Dixie State Park). "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" was filmed in Snow Canyon!

So the White Rock hike that we went on starts out in an old field of lava flow - just miles and miles of black lava rock, with a trail carved right through the middle for hikers. You can see dormant volcanoes all over the place. Eventually the lava rock turns into sandstone, and you're walking on a white surface.

When we got to the end of the hike, we were surrounded by white - the walls around us, the ground we were standing on, and the white sand dunes to the right side of the trail. To the left, at the very end, there was an overlook where you could see Snow Canyon (middle picture).

Anyway, it was so much fun! We put Mason in the sand barefoot, up at the top of the dune, and he had such a blast crawling, rolling and jumping down to the bottom where Jeff was waiting for him. I'll eventually figure out how to include a video on here so you can see how much fun he had.

If anyone wants to come visit us out in St. George, there are so many amazing, wonderful, beautiful things to see and do!

Happy Birthday, Mason!

Today's Mason's first Birthday, and even though his party isn't until Saturday, we let him open his present from Grandma & Grandpa Donnelson this morning. Not much to open - it just had a bow on it - but he was so excited! He totally ignored his bottle, and hasn't gotten off the car/truck since he got on it an hour ago. He should be easy to look after today!

Forklift...

Last Saturday we decided it was time for Mason to start learning how to feed himself with silverware, so we put his suction plate on his highchair tray and handed him a fork. We helped him the first few times, but got pretty good with it! Here are a couple of pictures.

Jeff's Day Off

So Jeff was able to come home around noon from work yesterday (Friday), and the weather was perfect here in St. George, so we decided to go fishing. Once we got there, it was pretty cold and windy, but the lake was beautiful and we really enjoyed the silence that nature provides. We didn't get a single bite - not even a nibble - but we had a really good time!

We brought along a pack-n-play for Mason to stay in while we fished, but he wasn't having that, so we ended up letting him explore. It was a productive exploration day for him! He discovered his shadow, mud, and showed off his fish face each time I told him "Daddy's trying to catch a fish." After an hour and no success for either of us, Jeff decided it was the right time to teach Mason how to fish. It was sooooo cute!

After much peer pressure...here we are!

I know, I know. It's been a long time coming! Everyone I know has a blog, except for me, and since our families and friends are spread out all over the country, I decided it was time to give in to the peer pressure and hop on the blogging bandwagon.

I tend to be somewhat lazy about this sort of thing, but I'll do my best to keep updates coming, post pictures and videos often, and try to keep it interesting! :)

Love you all!
Sheri (along with Jeff & Mason, neither of whom will EVER be writing any posts for this blog, so their names are assumed when I just sign "Sheri.)