Makin' Baby Moore... We've finally made him and he's a keeper!

2011-05-03T18:07:00.001-05:00

38 Weeks & Still Hangin' On!

2011-02-09T01:51:00.006-06:00

Wow, the day (my 20 week check-up) Dr. Gass told me that my daughter only has 2 blood vessels running through her umbilical cord instead of the usual two and that she may not be full-term, we had NO idea that we would make it to 38 weeks! As soon as he told us that, I just had all these images running through my head of us having to deliver during the 2nd trimester and of Mallory being hooked up to all the machines in the NICU for months with us just being able to visit her but not bring her home from the hospital with us. I immediately thought the worse, but also knew that God would protect my sweet baby and me and that I just needed to TRUST HIM! Well, here we are now 18 weeks later with my baby girl still in my tummy waiting patiently to come out on her scheduled birth day! I will be 38 weeks, 6 days the day of my c-section; Thursday, February 10th. I cannot believe I have gone this long!

We have had at least 3 "scares" of thinking it was time to throw our bags in the car and get to the hospital to have this baby, but they've ended up being nothing. One of those was last night when I woke up at 2 am completely nauseous and barely even able to sit up. I have read that nausea is one of the signs that labor is coming on. Also, I could not feel her move for several hours and was so worried. I wanted to get up and get ready to go to the hospital just to make sure everything was okay, but I was too sick to even do that. So, I just laid back down and prayed that everything was okay. I drank some orange juice and felt a couple of movements from her, but still not as many as I would have liked. Marc just reassured me by saying that she was probably sleeping and giving me a break! Today I haven't felt her move much either, but as I am sitting here typing this, she has been moving a lot more. She's such a stinker, scaring me like this!

Anyway, so here I am sitting up at 1:58 am updating my blog and cleaning house just trying to do as much as I can to feel "ready" for Mallory to get here! I wanted to do a much better job this pregnancy keeping my blog updated, but it just hasn't happened. So I'm trying to do several posts tonight to get a little caught up because I know that once she is here I definitely won't be blogging much. We'll see! Tomorrow, well, actually later today, my parents are coming up with their bags all packed, ready to stay at our house until we come home from the hospital. My mom is going to go with me tomorrow afternoon to the hospital for me to go ahead and get registered and have some bloodwork done, while my dad stays at the house and keeps Mason. I also hope to finally get that pedicure I've been dreaming of for a month now! I want me some pretty toes during that c-section. Ha! :) Like I'll even be thinking about those toes! And we need to Marc's & Mason's haircut tomorrow. AND move baby girl's crib into her room AND I need to sit down and journal about my pregnancy (thank you) AND rest AND take a shower AND put the hospital bags & car seat in the car, AND, the list goes on and on and on!

Oh, this is just sooo interesting knowing the date I'm having me a baby! I kinda liked it much better with Mason when my water just randomly broke and I went into labor and didn't really have a chance to get anxious or nervous. My bags have been packed for weeks and I know there's just nothing really to be 100% "ready" to become parents all over again, but still, I'm a nervous wreck thinking about Thursday morning!

A side note: a woman at Gattliland tonight asked me if I was pregnant with TWINS!!!! ha!!! :) I told her, "No, just one baby girl and she'll be here on Thursday!" Hilarious! I also told her I would have loved to have twins this time, though!

So, here I am at 38 weeks:

Getting Ready for Baby Sister

2011-02-09T00:09:00.024-06:00

We have been soooo busy these last few weeks getting ready for Mallory's arrival! It seems like we waited until after the holidays to do all the main stuff because we were so busy then and I was in the midst of my bedrest trying to take it extra slow. With Mason, his nursery was completely ready by 36 weeks or so, but this time around that's when I pretty much STARTED getting everything ready! It's okay though because since this c-section is scheduled, it seems that I am more anxious for the day and feel like I have to be extra prepared since I know when the day is. So, I've just been waiting and waiting and counting down the days to February 10th. Getting Mallory's nursery ready has given me something to keep my mind off the c-section and something to kinda help these final weeks fly by. Since I have been on bed rest and haven't been feeling very well, we have definitely needed the help from the grandparents when it comes to getting our house/furniture organized, and help from friends to keep Mason for me on the days I need to rest. We have learned these past 9months that it definitely "takes a village"!

Since learning how to sew just before Mason's 1st birthday, I said that I wanted to make the crib bedding for the next baby. I knew this would be a HUGE project, but I wanted to make it extra special and I was determined to give up on that goal! But, being on bed rest made it so difficult to reach that goal. I was determined, though, and finally got around to making it during my 35th week of pregnancy. I had been researching the fabric for months until finally deciding on those "perfect" fabrics. What a hard decision that was! :) I worked hard at it and got the bumpers done in less than a week. I'm so proud of them! I made the curtains last week out of this beautiful ivory rosette silk taffeta fabric that I ordered off Fabric.com. They're just so girly and "shabby chic" and exactly what I had in mind. I'm going to make the crib skirt out of the same fabric. I've been puting off the crib skirt until after the crib arrived so that I could know exact measurements, so that'll be something I work on in a few weeks after recovery from surgery and after some adjustment of having another baby in the house! :) I also want to make a sweet blanket to match the bedding.

We found a couple of distressed, antique furniture that I LOVED on Craig's List, so we quickly picked them up back in November and had them at our house ready to go. It was nice not having to order them and then wait for months for them to get here. I'll show better pictures of our Craig's List dresser & vanity later! I ordered the crib back in October from JC Penney expecting it to arrive by December, but to make a long story short, it didn't arrive until February 1st. Thank you. And that was even sooner than they said! So, it's been kind of hard to complete the nursery and all the sewing I wanted to do for it without having the crib. Ever since it came, I have been in full force trying to get everything finished. It's such a relief that most of the nursery will end up being done before she gets here! Even if it is the night before! Ha! :) Tomorrow when my parents arrive, we will move the crib into the nursery, throw that mattress & bedding on it, and hang this sweet plaque on the wall above it. Just in the nick of time for Mallory to be here! :)

Mason has been such a good boy while Mommy has been doing all these preparations. He has been so patient and has really entertained himself when I've been sewing and doing other things. He's been such a good big helper when it's come to getting all his newborn items ready for babys sister to use. It's just been so sweet watching him figure it all out and have this discussions with me about everything. I really think he's understanding what is going on and hopefully won't be too overwhelmed on Thursday when he meets Mallory for the first time, and especially when we come home from the hospital with her. We have talked to him about Mallory Jane from the second we found out we were pregnant because we wanted to give him lots of time to try and understand everything. Plus, he's almost 3 years old so I think he's at that age where it all does kinda make sense and he's excited to be a "big helper" once baby sister gets here.

I'll tell y'all more about the nursery and show pictures of the "completed" look after we come home from the hospital with Mallory. It's not ready yet anyway and I don't want to rush in this post and explain the theme, cuz I wanted to focus more on the other preparations and Mason helping with everything. :)

Here are some pics in random order of us getting everything ready!

We had to do some switching around with rooms... Our extra bedroom was our guest room/playroom/sewing room. So, all that had to go to make room for Mallory! Thankfully we have a pretty good sized formal dining room so we just took the dining room table out of there to make room for Mason's toys & my sewing stuff.

Here are Papa Jack & Mason busy carrying Mason's toys into his "new" playroom. Mason thought he was big stuff helping out and felt so important to have a new playroom!

Ta da! The new playroom! We'll still have our piano, china cabinet, fancy paintings & curtains in there, so it'll be an interesting mix of a room, but for now I really don't feel like re-decorating the whole room. So it'll just be kinda random for now! Well, probably the whole rest of the time we live in this house. Ha!

The big "reveal" to Mason!
He had to check and make sure the plastic bins were all organized to his liking... Thank you. Grandy, Paw T, and Papa did a great job getting his new playroom ready!
He got over the big change right away as soon as he started playing with his train table! Now that the toys are cleared out, time to move the dresser & vanity into Mallory's room! They had been sitting out in our garage for weeks, so I was so glad to finally get them into the house.

Connie (Marc's mom) directing the furniture movers... Ha! :)

Putting the drawers into the dresser

MaMaw came up the day the furniture was being moved in so that she could help take care of Mason. He was soooo excited to play with his great-grandmother and to get to take a nap on her lap!

Time to bust the bassinet out of the attic and get it all washed up and ready for Baby Mallory! She will sleep in this in our room the first couple of months since her room is so far from ours. Mason was sooooo excited to help me put this thang together! He wanted to do ALL of it!

He was so cute... he brought his little chair over and set it all up so that he could get a closer look! I can see him looking over at his baby sister now when she is sleeping soundly in there! :)
Fluffing up the bedding
He especially loved hanging up the mobile
And of course Mason has needed to "listen" to Mallory's heartbeat along the way, just like he sees them do at my doctor's appointments! He loves playing "doctor"!
I just think these pictures are some of the sweetest thangs I've ever seen!!! Definitely some we'll bust out and show Mason & Mallory years from now!

Getting the car seat ready... Can't believe Mason actually fit in this 2 1/2 years ago!! He was in for 14 months since he was so small at first and only in the 3rd percentile, but now he is a big boy and even bigger than a lot of the 3 year olds he hangs out with!

Everyone's warning me that Mason's gonna look even BIGGER & OLDER once we put sweet little Mallory in this on Sunday!

Oh, very carefully making sure the seatbelt is installed properly! He wants his baby sister to be extra safe!

Nope, sweet boy, not quite gonna fit!! :)

Whoo!!! Just going back and re-reading all this is making me exhausted!! So, as you can see, our entire family has been very busy getting ready for this little girl, especially the proud big brother! You can tell she is already extra special and SO loved!! Can't believe we are going to meet her in LESS THAN TWO DAYS!!! This is sooo surreal!

37 Weeks

2011-01-28T21:34:00.009-06:00

37 weeks
Friday, January 28, 2011

I had my 37 week check-up today with Dr. Gass. I am measuring 39 weeks and he says I'm definitely having me a big baby girl! At my last ultrasound Mallory weighed 6 pounds, 6 ounces, and that was 3 weeks ago! They're predicting that if we go to the c-section date of Feb. 10, that she will weigh 9 pounds! Whoa, baby! I had a surprise cervix check today and I'm 1 cm dilated. He checked the cervix last week but said that would be the only check since we're having a c-seciton anyway. But, I've been having real contractions since my check-up last week and also last Saturday we thought my water had broken, so he wanted to check the cervix just to make sure official labor has not begun. He did a test also today to see if it is my water breaking, but of course it's just my inability to hold in my urine! Ha! A problem I've had ever since pushing for 3 hours with Mason!

So, today just revealed that Mallory will be much bigger than Mason, that her heartbeart is fast and strong, my blood pressure is right where it needs to be, and my c-section is still scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 10. I'm still thinking sooner than that, but we'll see. :) I've had so much pressure and pain for the last 3 months to the point where some days I literally thought the baby was coming out of me. I never once felt this with Mason, but I've heard it's way different the 2nd time around. The pressure hasn't been as bad since I was put on partial bedrest back in November. I'm so glad I've been forced to slow down and stay off my feet because it has really helped me to feel better and I'm sure it's helped me to be able to keep the baby in this long.

I knew my baby girl was a big 'un and that my belly is measuring further along than what I really am, but I didn't realize how huge my belly was til looking at these pics right after Marc took them a few minutes ago! The first bare belly pic is unbelievable. I'm definitely bigger now than I was the day I delivered Mason at 39 weeks, 1 day!

Please continue to keep Mallory Jane and me in your prayers! These next couple of weeks are so unpredictable. Who knows if she will be here tomorrow or February 10th! Either way, we get to meet our miracle baby #2 very, very soon and we could not feel any more thankful or blessed! Our God is SO good!

33 & 34 Week Belly Shots

2011-01-28T08:48:00.005-06:00

33 Weeks

New Year's Eve in Gatlinburg!

34 Weeks

Whoa, Baby!!

The Greatest Crib Ever!

2011-01-14T01:27:00.000-06:00

The first huge furniture purchase Marc and I ever made was Mason's nursery furniture. I did the most research for months to find the sturdiest, safest, longest-lasting, highest-quality furniture for our son. We use hand-me-downs for our living room furniture, a dining room table from Goodwill, and a $200 Ikea dresser for our bedroom, but when it comes to Mason we only wanted the BEST for our firstborn! We found this beautiful Munire Essex set at USA Baby in Franklin, TN, and with the help of Marc's parents we were able to order it. We could not believe how much was being spent on this furniture, but knew it would last forever... and that's because we got a convertible crib! That's right folks, the crib that converts to a toddler bed and then eventually a full-sized bed! So, in other words, Mason is stuck with it til he's 18, oh and I'm sure his wife would just love it if he even decides to take it with him when he moves out of the house and gets married. Thank you.

After almost 2 1/2 years sleeping soundly in his crib, we decided to go ahead and change it to the toddler bed in order to A) transition him into the full-sized bed by getting him used to not having a railing or "protection" going all the way around; B) give him more room to spread out and not feel as "claustrophobic" since he's getting taller every day, and C) just all the changes that come along with getting a baby sister! On September 2, 2010, Mason's DaDa spent countless hours converting the crib to the most perfect toddler bed for his son. Well, not really hours... maybe an hour or so. Mason LOVED it, to say the least, and jumped right in that bed with his juice and posed away for that camera. For the first few weeks we would put him to bed at naptime & night and he would stay in the bed, not even attempting to escape. Even though it had the most obvious open space and would have been the easiest!! Well, the day in October I was hosting a baby shower for my friend, Stephanie, Mason decided he was done with his nap and wanted to join in the excitement of the party. So, he hopped right out of that bed and came running into the living room and plopped himself smack dab in the middle of the kids who were playing. I walked into the living room and was the most confused as to how he got out there. Some ladies told me they saw him hop right out of that bed. So that's when it began. The very challenging phase of the 2 1/2 year old! Mason has always been an "easy" child until we started dealing with this sleeping issue.

On December 4, 2010, Marc convered Mason's bed to the final stage: the FULL-SIZED BED! And of course, the sleeping issue went even more downhill! Mason definitely wouldn't stay in his bed then. For the first couple of weeks one of us would have to lay down with him in bed for at least 45 minutes to help him fall asleep. We would pat his tummy, scratch his back, sing to him, read to him, etc... whatever we could do to get him to fall asleep. Then, we would very carefully sneak out of his bed and out of his room. Well, Mason wouldn't let that happen. He would immediate wake up, start crying, and motioning for us to come back to bed. So, then we would either make the decision to sleep the whole night in his bed, or bring him to our bed where we would be the most comfortable. We FINALLY got our child to sleep in bed with us! I know, I know.. a strange goal. But, for 2 1/2 years Marc and I dreamed of the day that Mason would cuddle up in our bed with us. Hmm... when that day did come, we wanted to take back our dream! Ha! :) Yes, we love Mason cuddling up with us, but we honestly cannot sleep when he is in bed with us. On top of the fact that we don't want him to get into this habit and still be wanting to sleep with us when Mallory gets here. We can't have 2 kiddos in bed with us! Mallory will be sleeping in a bassinet in our room for a while since her room is so far away. So, Mason will definitely want to get in on the action then! Anyway, after a couple of weeks of us having to sleep in Mason's bed or put him in bed with us, we decided to take control of the situation and NOT allow him to sleep in our bed. So, now we just take turns trying to put him to sleep in his own bed and then resting with him for a while until we tiptoe back into our room. It always works until about 3 am, and then Mason gets up and runs into our room begging for one of us to go back to "Mason's crib." Well, at least we're kinda conquering the "Mason sleeps only in his own bed" part of the situation.

Oh, and as for naps... you may as well forget it! And one more thing, at least all of this situation makes for some cute pictures! Thank you.

Last picture of Mason's sweet crib :(

Trying out his toddler bed for the very first time
Asleep within 5 minutes... it's hard work helping your DaDa fix you up a "big boy bed"!
Poor baby looked so uncomfortable & cold in that toddler bed, so we had to add a blanket.
Woke up on the wrong side of the bed already!

Day 2 in the Toddler Bed!

Already pushing his limits by trying out out the things that are "no no"!

Little stinker with his Capri Sun

Oh, let's try one of these things we call a "pillow"... I've never slept with one of these before! Hmm.... let me think about it...

And it can go this way...

Oh, this way should be interesting!

Oh, forget it! I'm getting rid of this thang!

He finally gave up messing with the pillow and fell fast asleep!

Okay, enough of that... Three months later: the final stage!

Da Da hard at work... again!

I just had to include this of Mason's special little Christmas tree. It's been in his room every year so that we can put his special ornaments on there that people gave us when we found out he was a boy Dec. 08 and some that I bought as soon as we found out. We need to get him a bigger tree for next year since he's a big boy now!

The finished product and Mason trying out his big bed for the first time! I promise, it was not an easy task to get him to fall asleep in it! This was only after lots of book reading, singing, discussing, arguing, getting up 500 times and turning the light on & off, etc. But then of course looks like a perfect little angel when he's sleeping! :)
We used his crib bumpers the first few days to kinda protect him from falling out of the bed or hitting his head against the wall. We now have bed rails that we're borrowing from a friend but haven't tried them out yet.

We had a full-sized bed we kept in Mason's nursery in Nashville since that room had to also still serve as our guest room. Target happened to have this bedding set that matched Mason's crib bedding perfectly, so I bought it for that full bed. I'm so glad I did cuz now I have something cute to put on his big boy bed that isn't too babyish. I really didn't want to have to go out now and buy him a new bedspread, and I ended up not having to spend a dime on this "transition." Maybe in a few years I'll let him pick out some new fun theme!

He woke up and had a brief spat with his monkey... I love in the pic above how you see the sweet little monkey asleep next to his big friend!

All snuggled up with his monkey & "special blankie"... he finally has found some items that he would like to sleep with. He has never really had a "lovey" so I'm glad he has one now cuz hopefully they'll help him feel a little more secure in his big boy bed.

32 Weeks at Christmas!

2011-01-11T20:31:00.000-06:00

This was written December 26, but is just now being posted! So just pretend that it's Dec. 26. :)

Christmas Eve at Aunt Linzett & Uncle Steve's house

Christmas Day at our house celebrating with our parents

Love this picture of my mom & me! It's just one that I think I'll treasure always, especially when Mallory is 16 and I'm showing her pictures of when I was pregnant with her.

WHEN AM I DUE? C-section scheduled for Thursday, February 10, 2011 (original due date: Feb. 18)

WEIGHT: 149 lbs at my 32 week-check up this past Thursday... At 4 weeks I weighed 122 lbs. Weight gain total: 27 lbs.

MATERNITY CLOTHES? Still pouring in from friends! I have maternity clothes out the ying-yang! I'm having a hard time now keeping with with belongs to who! I'm definitely way past the point of being able to wear the maternity clothes I wore with Mason, even all the way up to the very end. I am pretty much uncomfortable now in anything I wear, except for some pj pants and Marc's x-large t-shirts! That's what I hang out in during the day. I'm also still wearing my Jockey comfy pants and hoodies. They actually kinda make me feel a little bit cute AND they're comfy at the same time!! :) When I do have to actually get ready, I wear maternity Heidi Klum skinny jeans (my newest purchase from Motherhood Maternity) or leggings and boots, maternity sleeved, tissue thin fitted shirts from Target. Those are really the only shirts that are fitting over my tummy now. I've also bought a couple of long "boyfriend" cardigans to throw over those tees sometimes. I throw on a long necklace to dress the shirt/cardigan up a little and I'm good to go! I ordered myself some goodies from Oldnavy.com while I was Christmas shopping on that site since I'm growing out of all my clothes. I ordered a purple velour maternity sweatsuit, which I love! The pants are so soft and comfy and aren't too tight around my waist. The jacket has a drawstring just under my chest and is very flattering. I kinda got the J. Lo look goin'! Ha! I actually bought it to wear as a going-home outfit, but I've already busted it out to wear while I'm still pregnant since it looked so comfy. I also bought a couple of long sweaters at Motherhood, one of which I'm wearing in the pics above.
As you can see in the Christmas Eve pic above, dresses are now making me look HUGE!!! So even though I lived in them at the beginning of the pregnancy, bye bye to dresses now for me! I have a couple that still look okay, so I'll be busting those out for church, but for now on I need to wear shirts that hug my belly so I'll actually look pregnant and not like a cow. Ha! :)

SHOWING?? Oh, most definitely! At my 32 week check-up I was measuring almost 34 weeks ahead. So, my belly is measuring a couple of weeks bigger than what it should, but Dr. Gass isn't too worried. He says that the most weight gain happens during this point of the pregnancy and things should start evening out soon. He told me that I'm definitely "out there" and that he even liked my outfit on Thursday. Ha! :)

FEELIN' THE BABY?? 24/7! Mallory is constantly moving and it's usually on the right side of my belly. I'm pretty sure half of these movements I feel are Braxton Hicks, but I'm starting to get them confused. I'm not just feeling little ripples across the tummy, these are some serious movements that take my breath away. Even though they're very uncomfortable, they're constant reminders that I have a healthy, active baby girl growing in my tummy. Thank you, God!

SLEEP: Since my 30 week check-up of being put on partial bed rest, I have been resting a ton during the day. I stay off my feet as much as I can. I am still pretty exhausted all the time and fall asleep on and off on the couch while Mason is watching t.v. Thankfully we have a little boy who has never really "gotten in to stuff" so I know it's okay to shut my eyes for a few minutes while he's entertaining himself. I have to rest during the day, because I'm not getting solid sleep at night. Mason has pretty much stopped sleeping since we turned his bed to a toddler bed and then to the full-sized bed, so one of us usually has to sleep with him in his bed every night. Or, we'll put him bed with us. So, we're not getting as much sleep as we're used to. It's been a big challenge for us dealing with this lack of sleep since we've been so spoiled for 2 1/2 years by a child who LOVES to sleep! I know it's just all to prepare us for when Mallory gets here.

WHAT I MISS: Being comfortable. Mason sleeping 12 hours a day. Mason napping during the day while I also nap. Being comfy in clothes. Having lots of energy. Working out. Picking my baby up. I hate to complain about any of this because I'm just so thankful to be pregnant with a healthy baby girl, but, it's still been a very, very challenging few months. I know this baby girl is going to be somethin' special because of how big of a stinker she's been! :)

CRAVINGS & AVERSIONS: My nausea FINALLY ended around Week 24, so I'm eating more now. My newest random craving is Pimento Cheese Sandwiches!! I could eat 5 a day, but I usually just have 2. :) I also buy Rotisserie Chickens at the grocery and dig into it as soon as I'm unloading the groceries out of the van and into the house! Still loving pizza, but it cramps my tummy and I usually regret it! Still loving cereal, especially fake brand Lucky Charms and salads. And I could eat Fazoli's every day of the week. Not really wanting milkshakes as much. Haven't been craving fruit at all with this pregnancy. Love me some fast food fries. I know, the most horrible thang in the world for you. But, Marc has been having to get us drive-thru most nights since I'm not able to stand on my feet and cook. So, fries it is! They're sooo yummy! Still disgusted by the idea of blueberries. Not really any other specific aversions.

UPDATE ON BABY GIRL: We had a high-risk ultrasound Wednesday, Dec. 22 with the specialist at the Maternal Fetal Group, and they said that Mallory already weighs close to 5 pounds! They say that if I go all the way to my c-section date of Feb. 10, she will probably weigh close to NINE POUNDS!! What in the world?!?!?! Mason was only 7, so they're saying that this explains why I'm having a harder time carrying Mallory and why I'm having all that pain and pressure. We're so thankful that everything is still looking good in the ultrasounds and that she is growing away and is very active. They thought that with the 2-vessel umbilical cord that her growth would be slowed, but it's actually been the exact opposite! We can't imagine how big she would be if I had all 3 vessels, so the 2 vessels are actually a blessing in disguise.

You're probably wondering why I haven't yet talked about the NURSERY?? Well, because there isn't one!! Thank you. We are turning our guest/sewing/play room into Mallory's nursery, but with Marc studying for his boards the past few months and me not feeling well, we haven't done one thing. My dad did come here a few weekends ago to help me organize the closet in that room and make some room for some of Mallory's things. That was a start and helped me feel like we accomplished SOMETHING at least. Still waiting for the crib to come in. At first they said it should be delivered the first week of December, but that came and went and still no crib. The latest is that it is on backorder and won't be shipped until Feb. 7th. Thank you. So, no hopes of a crib until AFTER Mallory is born. And, I have these great intentions of ordering fabric and making the bedding. I've been researching fabric for MONTHS and just can't make up my mind! I promise I'll do it soon. I've just been concentrating on Christmas and have these wonderful plans of spending January getting the nursery ready. Mallory's dresser & vanity that I ordered off of Craig's List are still sitting in the garage waiting to be moved into her room. So, everything is just kinda in disarray right now and I feel SO unprepared for her to get here! I know a nursery does not matter at all, but I just think my mind will feel more settled once I see the beginnings of a nursery. By 34 weeks with Mason, the nursery was as done as it was going to get and I was just so ready for him to get here. So, that gives me 2 weeks to make a little bit more progress! After the holidays our parents will come and help us move furniture around and get Mason's "new" playroom ready (we're turning the dining room into the play/sewing room). THEN we'll be able to start setting up the nursery. Just bear with me! I'm soooo excited to get this sweet girl's nursery ready and know it'll be a project that'll last several months. I've been waiting for this for so long!!!

30 Weeks... time to slow down!

2011-01-10T23:09:00.001-06:00

30 weeks at the Certain Family Christmas... with Marc's cousin, Ginny Sue, who had just announced she was 12 weeks pregnant! How fun! Next Christmas we'll have TWO new sweet babies at family Christmas!

I had my 30 week-check up on Thursday, December 9th, two days before Christmas with Marc's family. I was given some news that I kinda thought I was going to hear at some point during this pregnancy, and I actually received the news with open arms! I'm measuring about 32 weeks and Mallory has measured a little bit ahead the past couple of months, so Dr. Gass is predicting that she's going to be bigger than Mason was. I am also having a difficult time standing up or walking for any period of time because I've been getting so dizzy and weak and having to sit down. I have also been experiencing a lot of pressure and pain in my pelvic region and it's worrying me because it literally feels like Mallory is going to come right out of me! I'm not even kidding. I never once felt that with Mason. I felt great and full of energy and definitely not this weak at the end of the pregnancy like this. So, after Dr. Gass heard me explain all of this, he said that for now on I needed to stay off my feet as much as possible, which means absolutely NO grocery shopping or going to stores and no chasing Mason! He also said that I can't pick Mason up or really hold him for a long period of time. He wants me to go to Feb. 10 if at all possible and he says the only way for me to do that and to be comfortable is to rest as much as I can. Of course this feels like awful timing since Marc's family Christmas is THIS weekend and then the rest of December is crazy with family stuff, but it's also a God-send that he's making me slow down because I would have completely worn myself out over the holidays if I weren't "forced" to rest.

I am actually thrilled to be on "partial" bedrest because I know it is the best thing for Mallory and me. I need to take care of this big baby girl and I want to feel better and try to enjoy the rest of the pregnancy. I wouldn't be this thrilled if I wouldn't of had this great idea to do pretty much all our Christmas shopping online this year. I've never been much of one to do that, but I just haven't felt like going out into all the mess of the shopping world and fight all that traffic. So, I've been sitting at home, on the couch, in my pj's, shopping away for about a month now. It's been so great! And usually the doorbell rings at least once a day of UPS or Fed Ex dropping off a fun package. I'm so thankful I haven't left my Christmas shopping to the last minute this year and that I started early in ordering things here and there online. Man, I would be in some serious trouble though if I had planned on leaving my shopping for later in December and if I didn't like hanging out in my pj's on the computer!

So, upon receiving this news, I tried to bring up to Dr. Gass the idea of moving the date of the c-section up to earlier in February. He was not at all about this idea and did not seem concerned about the weight of the baby or me. He said, "Well, that's the great thing about having a c-section!" Well, I was hoping he would feel sorry for how uncomfortable I am (ha!) and say we could have Mallory earlier, but he wouldn't budge. He just said that we needed to try our best to leave Mallory in until Feb. 10 that that the partial bedrest should help with that. He's just worried that if take her too soon then her lungs could be underdeveloped and she would have to spend some time in the NICU. Of course I don't want that at all for my baby girl and I don't want to be selfish, so I'm going to trust his judgement and just be patient.

So, February 10th it still is!

29 weeks & Marc's Work Christmas Party!

2011-01-09T23:40:00.011-06:00

29 weeks on December 3, 2010 at the Graves-Gilbert Christmas Party

It's that time of the year that we all look forward to... the spouse's work Christmas party!! Those are always a little awkard and hard to get through because you gotta put on a smile and be introduced to 500 people and sit and listen to conversations between your spouse and random people about what they do at work. Thank you. Actually, I've never minded Marc's work Christmas parties. Vanderbilt had the best ones ever and we would look forward to them because they gave out the most awesome door prizes ever... like $100 gift cards to our fave restaurants and weekend trips to New York. Thank you. So, we were kinda excited about our first Graves-Gilbert Christmas Party thinking that it would be just as exciting (we had to miss it last year since I was sick). Well, let's just say we didn't go home with any fun prizes, but we did get to spend the evening sitting and chatting with our friends from church, Dr. Patti & Steve. Patti is a pediatrician at Graves-Gilbert (and Mason's pediatrician!). We had fun looking at some of the cool cars, since we were at the Corvette Museum and all. AND, Marc got to show off his baby momma and look like "the man." Ha!

Okay, so let's back up a little to my dilemma. With my growing discomfort, there was NO WAY I could find something in my closet that was cute and dressy enough to wear to the party that would actually be comfy enough to last a few hours of not driving me crazy, and to be stretchy enough to leave room for eating lots of yummy food! So, off to Motherhood Maternity I went. It's really been a few years since I've gone shopping for an outfit to wear to a certain event because I'm just too cheap to justify spending extra money like that, but this was an emergency. Ha! The girl helped me find this really holiday-ish looking tank top thang that she said would look "super cute" with a little black cardigan over it. Thank you. And, I happened to have a dressy cardigan my mom got me a few years ago for Christmas that I could squeeze onto my arms. The best part was that I could wear black leggings and tall black boots since the shirt was long and flowy enough to look right with them. So, I just had to buy one maternity tank top and the Christmas party outfit was complete! Well, I did walk down the mall a few stores and found this hoochie teeny-boppin' cute store that sold lots of fun jewelry. I bought a couple of necklaces to spruce up the outfit a little. I love them and have already gotten the most use out of them. I call them my "maternity jewelry." Thank you.

Oh, and you wonder where Mason was? Well, we were kinda in the middle of his "don't wanna sleep" crisis and Marc and I are two exhausted parents. We had not had any sleep that week of trying to deal with Mason adjusting to his new big boy bed and having to take him back and forth to his bed all night long and eventually giving up and letting him sleep with us, which meant no sleep for us because of him kicking and moving the entire night. I called my dad and pleaded with him to come and get Mason on Friday for him to spend the night in Nashville that night so that Marc and I could have a break and get a good night's rest. AND, it worked out because we needed someone to watch Mason that night so that we could go to Marc's party. It was so great because we got to sleep in Saturday morning for the first time in a while. We went to Nashville Saturday night to get Mason and were soooo excited to see him and have him back with us... even if it meant right back to the sleep crisis! So, sleep or no sleep, we missed our baby boy like crazy!!

Here are some belly shot pics before we left for the party and of our fun night out on the town:

Checkin' out the museum with Patti & Steve... we would love to take Mason back to the Corvette Museum cuz he would be in the most awe seeing all those "vroom vrooms"!
I love him!
Dr. Patti & Steve... we are so blessed to have a wonderful, Christmas pediatrican for Mason who also just happens to go to church with us!

Playing Catch-Up!

2011-01-09T20:55:00.006-06:00

Whoa! Can't believe it's already January 2011!! I have soooo much to catch you all up on! My pregnancy has flown by and I can't believe my little boy will be THREE years old in just a few months!! And that we've been in Bowling Green for a year and a half!! I have been forced to slow down these last couple of months by being put on partial bed rest, so I have been able to really enjoy my family and just rest. We are enjoying every second with Mason because in just a few weeks it will no longer be just the 3 of us. I am already 34 1/2 weeks pregnant and am scheduled for a c-section on Thursday, February 10... so, that means we have just 4 1/2 weeks until Mallory Jane will be here! We're soooo excited, but I feel that I have so much left to do to get ready for her, that it's a little overwhelming.

I need to update you all on my pregnancy and what all we've been up to the last couple of months, so just bear with me while I work on several posts. And you all know me, one post can't just be 2 sentences and 2 pictures... it has to be a novel and a million pictures! I'll try to get better at that in this new year, especially since I'll be super busy with TWO kids and will have even less time to blog than I do now.

Okie dokie, off to figure out where in the world I'm going to begin! :)

It's Potty Training Time!

2010-12-25T19:31:00.013-06:00

So, we've finally started the process we've been putting off for several months now... potty training! Marc and I had been talking about it, but have been lazy about actually implementing the "training." Well, we finally decided last week it was time to start. We'll have several weeks to work on it before the new baby comes, and then we'll just deal with whatever happens after she is born. We've heard that if you've been working on potty training with big sister or brother, that they usually go back to where they started after the baby comes. Well, that's just a chance we're taking and if he does go back, then that's fine; we'll just keep working at it. We haven't really been that strict this week with the potty training since we've been at different family members' houses and it's just kinda been crazy, so we're not really doing a good job. Ha! We did potty train 2 days last week and it didn't really go the greatest. But that's okay! Mason and I have been staying home a lot since I'm on partial bedrest, so it's been a good time to let Mason run around the house with big boy underwear on. We have brought the potties out; one in our bathroom and one in the living room. We let him pick out the pair of Thomas the Tank undies he wants to wear and we tell him to let us know whenever he feels like he needs to go potty. So, he wore them for several hours and kept telling me he needed to pee pee. So, he would sit on the potty and... nothing. At least he was getting used to telling me, even though nothing was coming out. So this went on for a few hours and then the next thing I knew, I saw where he had pee peed all over our bedspread!! So, I guess he couldn't tell me in time and then was too embarrassed that he had peed so didn't tell me about the accident. Oh, and he had also poo pooed in the undies earlier that day. So, that was Day #1! At night during sleeping, we've been putting Pull-Ups on him, but still telling him to get up and come tell us if he has to go potty. Well, that hasn't happened. We also sit this huge Cracker Barrel sucker up on the fireplace and tell him that when he goes poo poo in his potty, then he'll get that sucker as a treat. So anyway... potty training has been very interesting, and not very consistent so far. Marc and I have never been strict with stuff when it comes to these things with Mason because he's been such an easy-going child. Sleeping, eating, etc... it's all been pretty easy... until now! So we're trying to keep that same "easy-going" attitude with potty training, but will change it if we need to. At least the idea is being introduced and he's getting used to all this "big boy underwear" talk. In fact, he has gotten about 10 pair of them for Christmas!

We'll really buckle down after New Year's since we're going on a little trip then and it definitely wouldn't be successful then. Here are some pics of the process so far...

Marc putting Mason's very first pair of undies on him

Undie change #1... he kept deciding he wanted a DIFFERENT pair of Thomas undies on...

Checking out some other options

I just love that little butt!

Back to the drawer to pick out the final undie change... James the Tank.

Picking out a potty DVD

Excuse our messy living room... this is what it looks like in just 5 minutes when you have a 2 1/2 year old little boy in the house!

Bath Time!

Helping DaDa run the water
Going night-night for the first time with Pull-Ups on... getting his monkey all situated
Good night, my sweet big boy! What a big day you've had of your first day of potty training!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T00:22:00.004-06:00

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas Day with your family! We are so blessed to be able to celebrate Jesus' birth this day and to be able to share that with Mason. I love it when he brings his Christmas books to me and asks me to read to him about "Baby Jesus." Makes my heart happy! I pray you all feel the love of Christ today and remember that He is the reason for the season! Love you all!

A Thanksgiving to Remember!!

2010-12-08T11:09:00.022-06:00

We had a wonderful, extra special Thanksgiving! We had a few different celebrations over about a week's time... they consisted of family of all colors! We are so thankful that not only were we able to spend time with our own flesh & blood, but we also expanded our family this year by inviting some new friends into our home... Read on to find out about that special day!

To kick off the celebrations, we hosted our 2nd Annual Myers Family Thanksgiving at our house the Saturday before Thanksgiving. I love this tradition we started last year and hope to continue it for years to come! I just love having people into my home, especially around the holidays, and knowing that I can have my family into my home every Thanksgiving makes me happy! Especially since our family is changing so much and we have new little people joining us each and every year! This year my brother & sis-in-law's baby girl had her first Thanksgiving with our crazy family, and next year Mallory Jane will be here! My parents come early to help me cook and clean and my dad and I have the most fun in the kitchen preparing a huge feast for everyone! I haven't really been cooking much this year with my rough pregnancy, so I looked forward to this day of getting back in in the kitchen! We cooked all of our fave, completely unhealthy holiday foods. Ha! :) I also tried pumpkin bread for the very first time and it was soooo yummy! Here are some pics from that fun day:

Mason thoroughly entertained by his new flashlight that Aunt Linny got him!

Reading some Thomas with Uncle Steve

Papa Jack admiring his new granddaughter, Wilson Marie

I just LOVE this picture that my cousin Steph captured of Mason!! It may just have to be his "2-year pic" since we haven't had any professional pics taken in a year and a half! Ha!

Playin' some ball with Aunt Linny

Aunt Linny and my MaMaw lovin' on sweet Wilson... she was smothered with some serious Myers sugar that day! :)

Nana Kay with her 2 sweet grandbabies

My favorite picture of Christy and Baby Wilson!! Steph took this one as well. She's good, isn't she!?!??!

MaMaw & me

MaMaw lovin' on her two great-grands

4 generations of Myers'! My MaMaw, dad, Jody (my brother), and Wilson

MaMaw with her 4 grandchildren... my brother, me, & our cousins Erica & Steph

MaMaw with her 3 children... my Uncle Mark, Aunt Linny, and my dad

My brother and his sweet family

My parents with their kids, son- & daughter-in-law, and 2 grandkids

One of many of my mom's Christmas Card outtakes! Ha!

On Thanksgiving Day, my family always serves a meal to the homeless and needy families at the Music City Mission in Nashville. I look forward to this every year! Of course, Mason had to be up all night long sick the night before Thanksgiving this year, so he and Marc stayed here and had a lazy day of tv-watchin' while I headed down to Nashville for a few hours to help at the mission. That night, the 3 of us had a relaxing family night at home and I watched Marc get all of the Christmas decor out of the attic and put the tree up. I sat on the couch and watched because I wasn't feeling very well. I was very proud of my hubby for getting the tree up and starting the decor! He did a pretty darn good job! :) We actually didn't finish the whole process until a few days later since I've been moving kinda slow lately, but we finally got it done! Our tree looks beautiful! I'll post pics later...

The day after Thanksgiving we had a refugee family over to share a meal. Bowling Green has had many refugees enter this past year from Burma, Iraq, Thailand, and some other areas. Our church has really reached out to them and started a ministry for them. Marc and I wish we could become more involved and have all these ideas of ways we can help, but we just need to get on it! Marc has been picking up a refugee family every Sunday for church and sometimes Mason goes with him. I'm so thankful that our son gets to be introduced to a ministry like this at such a young age. Marc says that Mason loves riding in the car with all these Burmese & Iraqi people showing them his Blues Clues, Toy Story, and other movies he gets to watch in the car. HA! Anyway, it had been heavy on Marc's heart to invite a family over for Thanksgiving and share some of our blessings with them. We invited a Burmese family who came to BG from a refugee camp in Thailand. Marc had picked this family up several times for church and has grown pretty close to them. I had never met them. The high school daughter is the only one who can understand and speak English, so she was a great help in communicating with them! We sat and talked and talked and learned so much about them. Mason was so excited to have the kids sit with him at his special table, and we pulled it into the dining room so that we could all be together. I will never, ever forget that scene of us all eating Thanksgiving lunch! It was just so special, and something I hope we can do every year. This family had never been invited into an American home, so Marc had no idea at the time how much of an impact he was making when he called them and invited them over. I just love my husband! He is so caring!!!

I left the Music City Mission Thanksgiving afternoon with the van loaded full of leftover food, so we were able to put it to good use yet again! It's the basic Thanksgiving meal of turkey & dressing, green beans, mashed potatoes & gravy, and rolls. The refugees have their own staples that they eat, and chicken and rice are among them. They aren't really loving American food, so Marc and I wanted to keep this meal as simple as we could. I cooked up some white rice, which I haven't done in YEARS, and it was the biggest it! They loved all the food and went back for seconds! The best part of the day though... introducing our new friends to the WII!!!! It was hilarious! They had the BEST time bowling, playing baseball, and just trying to figure out how the thang worked! Mason enjoyed every second watching this situation and even shared his toys with the little boy, who will be 2 soon. Mason didn't even seem to notice that these people had a different skin color from us or didn't really speak English, he just loved playing with new friends!

The feast we shared with our new friends! Rice & all!!!

Marc workin' away! He was the most serious about it!

We love our new friends! They had these huge smiles on their faces the entire time!

Mason & his new friends sharing a Thanksgiving feast... How beautiful are these sweet faces??!?

The whole gang!

Wii time! Marc teaching the dad how to use the control

Love this!

I could just see our house full of adopted children some day from these different countries! We just love them so much and we know that one day a sweet little child (or more!) from similar circumstances will be brought into our family!

Sweet baby boy was lovin' Mason's chair!

We looked at him a few minutes later and he was all sprawled out enjoying life! :)

What a beautiful picture!!!

The Saturday after Thanksgiving we headed to Madisonville, KY to Marc's parents' where we celebrated with his mom's side of the family; the Certains'. I always love these celebrations cuz they're full of young ins' (well, who are growing up waaay too quickly!) and Mason has the most fun playing with everyone! Even the grown-up uncles! :) It was a fun day of watching KY football, eating LOTS of food, and just hanging out with Marc's family.

Our little family of almost-four!!

Sucker time with Great-Uncle Gary!

Hangin' with the guys... Marc's cousin, Mace, Uncle Gary, and Da Da

Uncle Gary always has fun with the kiddos!!

The fam having the BEST time watching the game... this is the most sports-lovin' family I know!!! Check out Marc's cousin, Heather, though all involved in her phone! Ha! :)

Us with Marc's parents, brother Jonathan, and Jonathan's girlfriend, Molly

The whole Certain clan! We were missing Marc's cousin Ginny & her little family, and his cousin Fayr & her family... Love that Mallory Jane was adefinitel making an appearance in this picture!! :)

Hope your Thanksgiving was as blessed as ours! It was definitely a time to relax and have fun with family, as well as a time to serve those in need and make new friendships. We desire to show our children that the holidays are times to share our blessings with others, as well as make special memories with our own families. God is so good!

Looking for a deal on EXTRA SPECIAL CHRISTMAS CARDS!?!?! Check this out!

2010-11-24T14:43:00.011-06:00

It's that time of the year to start thinking about sending out Christmas cards!!! And I was lucky enough to stumble across a special promotion that Shutterfly.com is doing. My husband and I LOVE surprising each other with photo books from Shutterfly, as well as ordering prints from there, but I have never ordered their Christmas cards. I really wanted something different this year so I've decided to finally order my cards from Shutterfly! I heard about this special promotion where you can receive 50 FREE cards if you create a special post about Shutterfly on your blog! http://blog.shutterfly.com/5358/holiday2010-blog-submission-form/ I am all about getting good deals! I usually send out the 4 x 8 size postcard-type card, but year I wanted to send bigger cards. Shutterfly offers size 5 x 7 cards, printed on premium cardstock, and folded. I CAN'T wait to get my cards in the mail and to start sendin' 'em out!

Here are a couple of designs that I am LOVING! We have several favorite pics from this year and I'm having trouble deciding which ones to use, so the first example below would be perfect for us! We had a family photoshoot at the beach and got several great shots. So, I could see us using the design below, or just pick the best one and use the 2nd example. Oh, decisions, decisions! :)

Click on the following links to be able to view all of Shutterfly's wonderful Christmas & holiday card designs for 2010!

http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards

http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/holiday-cards

Oh, and while I'm at it.... I may start to get ideas for Mason's next birthday party invite! I know it's not for several more months, but with our baby girl getting here soon, I want to go ahead and start thinking about 2011 events a little ahead of time! :) I'm sooo excited to search Shutterfly.com to find the perfect one! Here's a link to lots of fun birthday party invites, baby shower invites, etc.!

http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/party-cards-stationery

Where are YOU ordering your Christmas cards this year? You should definitely check out Shutterfly.com! I've been meaning to blog about Shutterfly for a while and show you all pics of these amazing photo books Marc has made me the past two Mother's Days, and this Shutterfly promotion was the perfect opportunity for me to finally blog about their great deals!

Fall Photoshoot with Nana Kay

2010-10-31T20:02:00.023-05:00

My parents came up to BG last Saturday to help start cleaning out our guest room to make room for Baby Mallory! While my dad and I were organizing away, my mom thoroughly entertained Mason... and what did she choose to do??? I came into the living room and she had chosen several outfits & coordinating shoes from his closet to put on him for a Fall photoshoot on the front porch. I didn't know how that was gonna go since I hadn't had much luck, but he had the MOST fun and I could hear him out there laughing the whole time! I have a boy & girl scarecrow on the porch and he kept picking them up and pilferin' with them. He and the scarecrows are the exact same size. It's too cute. The outfit including the fake red turtleneck was a little questionable, but hey, he was having too much fun to even care what was on his body!!

Nana, thank you so much for taking these special pictures of Mason! There are sooo many good ones, I don't know how I'll ever choose a couple to frame! We love you!

Morganfield Corn Festival

2010-10-30T03:03:00.023-05:00

We spent September 17 & 18 in Marc's hometown of Morganfield, KY for their biggest event of the year known as Corn Festival! We used to love going to this every single year while we were dating and first married, but ever since having Mason we haven't been able to go once just cuz life has gotten so hectic with Marc's residency and transitioning to his new job. In fact, the last time we went was September 2007 when we actually told Marc's family we were pregnant while sharing a Bloomin' Onion in the middle of the festival! We were sooo excited to be able to go this year and take Mason for his very first Corn Festival experience... outside of Mommy's tummy! We stayed with our good friends, John & Jamie Burgess, and their 2 sweet little girls, Audrey & Natalie. Jonathan & Molly (Marc's bro & his girlfriend) also came and stayed the weekend. We had the most fun hanging out with all of them! But why in the world did it have to be about 90 degrees???!?!?! Marc said that it was the hottest weekend for Corn Festival to-date during his lifetime. It was so hot that we almost couldn't enjoy it, but we did try to make the best of it!

Hangin' out at the Burgess' before heading to the festival... Mason was as happy as could be after discovering the tractor!

Audrey enjoying her a Bloomin' Onion at Corn Festival

Mason's first Lemon Shake-Up! Yum, my favorite!

Jamie, Audrey, & John

We love Jonathan's girlfriend, Molly! Hope she sticks around! :)

Some of our crew watching the parade... Mason, Marc, Jonathan, Molly, Connie, Uncle Gary

The Burgess'

A parade onlooker

Fun with daddies on the carousel

Loved this!!! Mason wanted to ride these little cars, and he had to share one with this little boy. They were so confused at first and checked each other big time...

But, they were fast friends!

When we got home from the festival, we stripped the babies down to diapers cuz they were so stinkin' hot! Audrey loves her baby sister, Natalie!

Jamie with her precious daughters

Reading time

Nothin' like coolin' down with some fresh fruit!

Oh my, look at these good little sharers!!

Present time! Mason gave Audrey her birthday gift since we missed her party this year... some super cute Carter p.j.'s and a "Big Sis" shirt!

Dinner at Peak Brothers BBQ before getting on the road back to BG

And my favorite picture from the weekend...

Mickey & Minnie.... except that the roles are kinda reversed! Check out my son's chest covering! Ha!

Goblin Fest at the L & N Train Museum

2010-10-30T02:10:00.018-05:00

We took Mason to the Goblin Fest last Tuesday night at one of his favorite places in the entire world.... the L & N Train Museum! He was definitely more interested in looking at the trains than this whole Halloween situation! It was very similar to story time at the Library, just with a fun Halloween theme. Our friends, the Owens', were there as well, so Mason and Lydia had lots of fun doing crafts, listening to Halloween stories, getting candy and Silly Bandz, and of course... checking out the cool train and chasing each other around in the 40 degree weather outside!

Mason was modeling his Halloween Costume #1 on this night; a Harley Davidson Biker Dude! He looked sooooo cute in his little Harley Davidson outfit & matching boots that I got him at a consigment sale! And of course, the mohawk! There is also a red bandana that I tried and tried to tie around his forehead, but he was not having it! Oh well, he was still one cool dude and kept talking about his "motorcycle" the whole night... that he doesn't have, of course!

Sarah & me outside the museum in front of the "big train" as Mason calls it
Sweet & sassy Lydia showing off her ladybug wings
How cute is that "Lydibug"??
The kiddos checking out the train

One cute ladybug & her biker dude friend!

This was Lydia most of the night.... NOT wanting anything to do with having her picture taken! I still think this is a cute picture, though. :)

Lydia & Sarah during story time

A cool biker dude & his super cool mommy!

My son is an official owner of a true, blue Harley jacket!

Someone kept getting up on his knees in the middle of the story time to turn around the opposite direction to look at his DaDa who was standing up against the wall in the back. Thank you.

We also ran into our friend, Danielle, and her little boy, Ian! He was as interested in the story as Mason was... These boys just had their mind on one thing; T-R-A-I-N-S!!
Listening so sweetly to the story
Running around outside... not sure what was going on... they had some pretend situation going on where Lydia would yell at Mason to get down on the ground, he would get down and say, "I fall down!", get back up and act like he was getting dirt off him and say, "I okay now!", and she would yell at him some more. This went on a good 15 minutes!

The Biker Dude getting ready for bed after a late night out on the town!

Love those sweet little legs!

Fun night at the L & N! Hmm... which costume will he bust out next!?!?!

Celebrate Cade!

2010-10-29T00:42:00.003-05:00

I hosted a baby shower at my home this past Sunday for one of my good friends, Stephanie, to celebrate the upcoming arrival of Cade Allen! Her due date is Nov. 16, but we're thinking (& hoping!) that we're going to meet him before that! We just love Scott and Stephanie and have become so close to them and their 4 children since we moved to Bowling Green last year. We have loved being pregnant together! I was so excited about having a shower for her and was really thankful for all the help from the other hostesses; Julie, Sarah, Valerie, Laura, Melanie, Heather, Tonya, and Steph's mom, Carolyn. We had such a fun day, but I could not believe that we fit 33 of us in my house! Steph received lots of cute things for Cade, and we had a Diaper/Wipe Raffle so she also got lots of diapers & wipes! I just love me some baby showers!

Steph with her momma, Carolyn... she made the yummiest Lime Sherbert Punch and worked so hard serving it to everyone!

Precious Cade!

Stephanie looking so beautiful at 36 weeks!

Steph and her daughter, Caroline... I just love her!!

And of course Auntie April had to make Cade a little special something for his room!!! :)

And see the cute little green & blue mints? Laura made them and they were the biggest hit! Along with her chicken salad tarts!

Sweet sign for Cade's room made by Andrea!

The table looked so nice! Thanks to Laura & Tonya for helping me with the yummy food! Sarah for the super duper cute cupcakes, Julie for the cute paper goods!

Check 'em out.... LOVED the party favor "C" cookies Valerie made!!
Steph & the hostesses... me, Valerie, Sarah, Julie, Steph, Laura, & Tonya (Melanie & Heather helped prepare, too, but we were so sad that they couldn't be at the shower!) Love all these girls so much!

Please remember Steph & Baby Cade in your prayers as she makes it through her last days of pregnancy and for the labor & delivery. We are just sooooo excited for him to get here cuz we've been dying for another newborn around here to love!

Bonfires & Pumpkin Farms

2010-10-28T11:30:00.001-05:00

Okay, I told y'all I would post some of our fun adventures from the last few weeks since Fall has been in the air! The weather has been kinda crazy... on days that we've had bonfires & visited pumpkin patches, it's been at least 85 degrees! The cooler weather is just now coming around, so people have been getting more into the season around here this week.

We kicked off the season pretty early with a cookout & bonfire at the Smallings'. It was the first Labor Day weekend; the Saturday night in September and the first evening that was somewhat cool. Melanie was good and ready to invite friends over for pork burgers, to check out their farm animals, and eat some Smores! Except that we never got to the last part cuz I was in charge of picking up the supplies for them but we ran out of tme. Oh well, we sat around the fire anyway. They were all cracking up at me because I dressed Mason in a warm jacket, warm pants, socks and shoes; while everyone else still had on shorts & t-shirts! Hey, flip flops and bonfires just don't mix and I wanted to make sure my baby stayed warm! Poor thang though, he started sweating and we gradually started pulling all these cold weather necessities off him!

Mason about to experience his very first bite of any kind of "hamburger!" He's allergic to beef, but we've never thought about the fact that he could have a pork burger! We were so excited for him to try it since it's one of Marc's and my favorite fall foods. He LOVED it! Especially with lots of "dip" on it (ketchup).

Mason & Luke hangin' out at the special big boy table

We just love the big pumpkin patch in Bowling Green; Jackson's Orchard and I was sooo excited to go back this year! We went with our good friends', the Burtons', but with Steph and I being pregnant, our "conditions" sure didn't mix with how incredibly hot that day was! So we didn't get to do all the typical JO stuff, like the hayride to pick out pumpkins and drinking hot apple cider. We still had fun on the cool slides, talking to the animals, and drinking the famous apple slushes!

I think Mason's favorite part was the baby pigs!!

Feeding goats with DaDa

More fun with DaDa walking on the big tires

Ally Burton slidin' away!

Mason and his girl, Gracie, watching all the big kids goin' down the slide

Finally got his turn! Whhheeeeeeeeeeee!!!!

Marc & Mason waiting their turn behind Gracie and her Uncle Jeremy

Time to cool off with some apples & caramel and apple slushes! Mason was being so sweet and sharing his apples with his DaDa.

Okay, I'm sooooo ready to go home, Momma! No more pictures, please! I'm just so hot and I just went potty all over myself! It's embarassing sitting here with no pants on and sweat dripping off my face!

A Different Kind of Fall

2010-10-24T21:01:00.028-05:00

I love this time of year, but the past couple of years just haven't been the same. It's been a little rough this year because now that the season is changing and that feeling of fall is "in the air", it's bringing back memories of what we were going through this time last year. For a couple of months straight last Sept. & Oct., we were waiting on "the" call any day from the nursing home in Sparta, TN where my grandmother was living. She was going downhill so quickly and I just couldn't really get into the holiday season and enjoy it because I had a huge knot in my stomach every single day worrying about my MaMaw. On top of it, my Uncle Everett also was not doing well and we were waiting on "the" call concerning him as well. I just kept waiting for the minute I had to hurry and pack Mason and me up to travel with my family for funerals. My Uncle Everett & MaMaw ended up passing away within one week of each other. We travelled to North Carolina for Uncle Everett's funeral after he passed away October 12, and hurried back to Sparta to spend a couple of days with MaMaw because we knew those would be our last. I was so thankful that I was able to be with my MaMaw when she took her last breath early Thursday, October 23, 2009. My brother, Mason, cousin Cathy, her daughter Makena, Aunt Tizzie, and my mom were all packed in her room just holding her hand and talking to her. We sang songs and read from the Bible, two of her favorite things! I will never forget those last moments with her because it was a time in my life that I've seen God like never before. The second she took her last breath, color came back into her face and she looked more beautiful that I had ever seen her. Her had was as soft and sweet as ever. She looked so peaceful. Her Alzheimer's of 12 years was gone. Her vision was made perfect. She finally went to be with her Jesus and so many people she loves. No more suffering and pain. I have to be completely honest though, it was the best and worst moment of my life. Out of selfishness I did not want her to go. I wanted all of my children to be able to meet her. I wanted her to be at Mason's birthday parties and to meet Jody's first baby. I wanted Mason to really know her. I wanted to hear her silly stories and see her funny faces for the rest of my life. I just wanted to know she was still alive. But, I know in my heart of hearts that God knew what he was doing when he brought my MaMaw home.

I was also so sick during that time and could barely get out of bed the morning I was supposed to speak at her funeral in Shelbyville, TN. I was thinking I was pregnant and was so disappointed when I found out I wasn't. I'm guessing it was just nerves, stress, and that my body was just worn down physically and emotionally. I'm also sure that that stupid progesterone hormone supplement I was taking to prevent miscarriage played a huge part in my sickness. God took care of me though and gave me strength when I needed it most.

The night before my grandmother's funeral was Trunk or Treat at Harpeth Hills, the church we attended when we lived in Nashville. Since we were in Nashville anyway getting ready for the funeral, we took Mason so that he could enjoy a little bit of Halloween. I just felt so awful not really getting into the "spirit" of fall last year and really enjoying all the things you typically enjoy with your children that time. I remember Marc and I did take Mason to Jackson's Orchard in Bowling Green last year, but I had to choose between that and going down to Murfreesboro to spend some time with my Uncle Everett, who was in the hospital there. We chose Jackson's Orchard and Uncle Everett ended up passing away just 2 days later. I regretted that decision so badly, but also wanted to go go to JO for Mason's sake. That's something I'm still trying to deal with.

On top of all of this, we had just moved to Bowling Green and we were trying to adjust to this new place as well as Marc trying to get in the swing of things with his new job. It was just a really stressful time. And to make it even worse, I was longing for another baby so badly that my heart was breaking. I was so sick from the hormones each month and Marc and I were trying to decide what our next step was. I was just so sick of negative pregnancy tests each month and didn't think I could face ever taking one of those tests again. I thought that finding out I was pregnant could at least take away a little bit of the grief I was experiencing. I thought that knowing a baby was growing inside me would kinda be God giving us that miracle at the same time MaMaw and Uncle Everett were leaving us to go to Heaven. I just thought being pregnant would make it all okay. I realize now that God's timing is perfect and that He had some wonderful goodies in store for us.... we just had to wait a little bit longer.

But, it didn't stop there. Thanksgiving came a few weeks later and our friend, Misty, passed away. Right when I thought I couldn't handle ONE more sad thing! If I'm feeling like this now, I cannot imagine what Misty's husband, children, parents, and family are going through. Holidays will not be same for a long, long time for them. My heart continues to break for them. The devil was really stealing the joy away from so many people. I have talked to several friends lately, and we're all feeling that this fall just isn't the same because of losing people we love this time last year.

I know that this is a new year; a new Fall. I should be so thankful and so excited and wanting to do so many fun things; hayrides, football games, pumpkin patches, drinking apple cider and eating chili, and dressing Mason up in his costume just for the fun of it. I WANT to do all of that, but I just can't get into it very much. I also should be soooo thankful for this sweet little girl growing inside my belly and should be out there enjoying my pregnacy and doing as much as I can with Mason before it's not just him anymore. I see all of these "I love Fall!" status updates on Facebook and I'm thinking, "I should be the mom writing that!" I pray that from this day forward, I will enjoy every day of each new season with my friends and family and that the excitement will come back with full force! I have always loved, loved holidays and get so into decorating, going to different shin digs, and hanging out with friends and family just celebrating. I know it will be like that again soon, especially with a sweet little soul joining our family very, very soon, but for now I'm still grieving and healing from things that have happened this past year.

I don't mean to steal away the excitement and fun of this new season that a lot of you may be experiencing. I'm just trying to be real since this is MY blog! :) We have a fun week coming up... Mason's costume party at school, the Goblin Fest for kiddos at the L & N Train Museum, Trunk or Treat at our church, a special dinner for Marc's work honoring new physicians, and Mason's very first time to trick or treat for real in a neighborhood! So, it's not too late for us to have some real fun this Halloween. :) There are some fun costumes hanging in Mason's closet waiting to make an appearance... I'll give you a hint, one of them involves ketchup! Thank you. So I'm gonna have some fun with my sweet little boy.

I pray that you all have a safe Halloween and make so many special memories this year! I feel so thankful and blessed, even though it seems as if I am grumbling and complaining! :) We LOVE living in BG (our friends, church, home, neighborhood), Marc's job is wonderful, Mason is healthy and we are just IN LOVE with him, we're getting ready to go on a super fun vacation to San Fransisco, AND... we are FINALLY getting our Mallory Jane we've been praying for for SO long!

Okay, the next post will be MUCH more pleasant, I promise!! Pictures to come of some of the adventures we have had! Love you all!

Here are some posts I wrote around this very same time last year. I just wanted to reflect back on what I was feeling at the time and the lives of MaMaw Thomas and Uncle Everett...

http://aprilkay24.blogspot.com/2009/10/were-home-again.html
http://aprilkay24.blogspot.com/2009/10/please-pray-for-these-special-people.html
http://aprilkay24.blogspot.com/2009/10/my-tribute-to-mamaw-thomas-march-22.html

Grow, Baby Girl, Grow!!

2010-10-23T00:35:00.023-05:00

*5 weeks*

*8 weeks*

*12 weeks*

*15 weeks*

*16 weeks*

*19 weeks*

Rosemary Beach, FL!

*20 weeks*

Rosemary Beach, FL!

*22 weeks*

IT'S A GIRL!!!!!

2010-10-22T00:20:00.001-05:00

NOTICE THE COLORS EVERYONE IS WEARING IN THIS PIC??!?!?

Yup, you guessed it!! We had our parents and best friends guess the sex of our baby by wearing pink or red if they thought girl; and blue if they thought boy! The RED/PINK TEAM was very proud to be announced the WINNERS the day we found out it was a GIRL!!!

We found out the sex of our sweet baby on Saturday, September 11th. A day that has been so difficult for so many since 2001, now has a little bit of happiness once again. Even though on September 11, 2010 we found out we were welcoming a little girl into our family and have been more blessed than we could ever imagine, we want you all to know that we will never, ever forget September 11, 2001. I know that so many families and friends are still grieving the loss of loved ones and I want to always remember to keep them in my prayers, especially on 9/11.

The night we found out the sex, I wanted to shout every single detail of that day to the world! So, I went home and wrote an email to lots of friends and family telling them the long-awaited news. Here is a copy of that email:

Subject: Our sweet gift from God...

We are so blessed by what we saw today. I just can't even begin to describe how amazing it is to see this child you've been dreaming of moving around and showing off like crazy on a big screen! I was mostly relieved because we found out that our sweet baby is "perfect and healthy." And very long and active! :) Just like the proud big brother. And to have our parents and best friends with us... We surprised them by having them come up to Bowling Green today for what they thought was a "gender-revealing party." We had originally scheduled an ultrasound on Thursday, so they all thought we knew what the sex was. When they got here today, we said, "Surprise! We have no clue what the sex is! You all are going with us to find out!" And we all hopped in cars and drove to this really neat place that does ultrasounds with a room big enough to fit about 8 people comfortable. We had 10 people in there, plus Mason & his best friend, Luke! It was such a special day. It was just Marc and me finding out what Mason was, but this time around we wanted these people to be there with us to share the moment... people who have been praying so hard for us and this sweet baby.

We were completely shocked when seconds into the ultrasound, the tech said very calmly... "Okay, you all ready to know what it is?" The first second the baby popped up on screen, we also saw an interesting body part pop up, so Marc said right away, "I think I just saw what it is!" So we all knew right away it was a boy. And the tech asked us right after that if we were ready to know. We said yes, already knowing what her answer would be.

So, when she said, "It's a girl!" we all about had heart attacks. I will never, ever forget that moment. We all had no idea in this world how she could tell that after 2 seconds, especially about the boyish looking body part popped up. :) She said that was actually the umbilical cord. She then pointed out the "hamburger" looking thing that the girl body part looks like. Thank you. We have it all on video camera, thanks to Cory's wonderful videographer skills, so we can always look back at how crazy we all went in that room! We also have a DVD of the baby in 2-D, 3-D, and 4-D. I wanted the DVD of the baby moving so that Mason could watch it several times before the baby gets here, so that he can understand more what is going on. I think he already has a good idea of what's happening. Tonight when we were putting him to bed, we got him to say, I wuv you, baby sister." It was the sweetest thing.

I wasn't really ready to post the sex on Facebook today until we told some more family & friends, so that's why I'm sending you this email with all these pics. I'll put more pics on FB and announce it tomorow. Sorry about all the pics! There are actually 75 of them, but I went through and picked some of our faves. You can see how long the sweet girl is, and she is even smiling in a couple of them! She's a busy little thing and loves waving, sucking her thumb, and maybe doing jumping jacks? I can't believe all that is going on inside my tummy because I have only felt movement once, and that was last week. I know we've been through all this before, but going through it a second time is really like experiencing it for the very first time. Just blown away by God's goodness.

Due date is February 14, 2011, but a c-section will be scheduled before then. And the tech said today that I'm measuring almost a week bigger, so we'll see. Baby girl may end up being here sooner than we thought!

Please keep praying for us these next few months. We're just so excited and over the moon right now. I know there are so many women who are desiring more than anything to be a mother, and I pray for them each and every day. I have been in their shoes and I know that indescribable pain. I also know that God can do anything and He has a wonderful plan for every single one of us. Marc and I are so incredibly humbled that God is entrusting us with these 2 precious children, and we do not take it for granted one second.

Love you all!
Marc, April, and Mason

And of course, here are just a few pics of the Big Gender-Revealing Ultrasound Day...

Our crew in front of Precious View... minus my momma cuz she was taking the picture!

Goin' in... Our little family of 3 just minutes before finding out...

We wonder what is in there?!?!?
Okay, now these next few pics may be kinda strange to you, so just bear with me! I wanted someone to take pics of the actual ultrasound so that I could always have those memories of our reactions the second we found out the sex of our precious baby! I just love this one taken the second the tech said it was a girl! I started hyperventilating or something, and Mason was looking at me like, "What in the world is wrong with momma?!?!" Shock all over that room!
The tech showing us that it truly, honestly was a girl!!

There is absolutely nothing in this world like having your best friends right there beside you during a moment like this!

You can still see the tears and shock on my face!! They were pretty much there the whole rest of the ultrasound!

Oh, all the serious onlookers, including Mason's best friend, Luke!

Love how happy Mason is looking at his baby sister! And the look on Cory's face!!

I was squeezing the life out of Marc's poor arm the entire time after finding out about our baby girl! I didn't want him to leave my side.

The losers; The Blue Team! Ha! They were supposed to be making sad faces since they guessed wrong, but Andrea just couldn't bring herself to do it! I think cuz she was truly guessing/hoping for a girl, but said she didn't have any pink to wear! :) My dad's face is PRICELESS!!

Feeling so happy and blessed!!

We celebrated right after by going to Steak & Shake for some dessert, and then later at Balloons, Tunes, and BBQ with the Brostos'! We were worn out, but kept wanting to party!

Mason deserved a pony ride for being such a wonderful big brother already!

Marc & I walked round & round with Mason and that pony... I thought I was gonna pass out my little feet were moving so fast!

2 sweet boys taking a little car ride... Mason, the Driver, with his passenger, Lukie, who was just chillin'

And my favorite picture of the day...

Love this one! Mason has a big, important new shoes to fill as the Big Bro!! I have been waiting so long to make him a shirt with those words written on it! I wanted to cry when I first saw him in it. Oh, there will be many more to come! :)

What a loooong, exhausting day we had on Saturday, September, 11, 2010, but one we will NEVER FORGET! Who would have ever thought that we would be celebrating a LITTLE GIRL!??!?! Thank you, Mom, Dad, Terry, Connie, Andrea, Cory, Lukie, Johnathan, and Brooke for standing by us through all of the wonderful and challenging times! We would not be where we are now without all of your prayers, love and support! Sooooo thankful y'all could be there with us on this special day! Love you all!

This Pregnancy is FLYING By!! Whoo, I'm out of breath! Literally! :)

2010-10-21T22:23:00.010-05:00

Wow! Since finding out we were pregnant back in June, these last few months have been a whirlwind! We have been busy celebrating lots of babies being born, along with the blessings of new pregancies, while Marc has been studying away for his very last oral board exam coming up in a few weeks, and I have been dealing the best I can with that awful thang they call "morning sickness." That last part definitely hasn't been fun! So, as busy as we have been, Mason and I have also had A LOT of pajama days since June! I try to have at least 2 days a week where we just stay at home and rest and hang out; just momma and Mason. I am trying to rest as much as I can to take care of this precious baby growing inside me! I haven't been blogging much because honestly, I just haven't had the energy. I have lots of updates for y'all and fun stories and pictures of what all we've been up to, but I'm gonna start in this post updating y'all about my current pregnancy. I really wanted to be sooo much better at blogging with this pregnancy, but I just haven't felt up to it.

I will be 23 weeks tomorrow! PRAISE GOD!!!!!! Wow, I cannot believe how fast it has flown, but yet it seems like I've been pregnant an eternity since it's been an entire summer! We were so excited to get to 6 weeks of pregnancy, THRILLED to get to 12, and now, being 23... God is just too good! This pregnancy has been completely different from my pregnancy with Mason. I THOUGHT I was sick with him, but that was nothing compared to how I've been feeling this time around. I had morning sickness for 17 weeks straight, with it letting up a little around 7 weeks, but then kicking right back in. That included 24/7 nausea, fatigue, no energy, dizziness, and worse of all... throwing up! Yuck! And if you know me at all, you know I am NOT a throwin' up kind of girl! I hadn't thrown up in years until this pregnancy. It started around 7 weeks and lasted several weeks. The nausea was pretty bad to where some days I would be in bed the entire day while Mason slept and played around me. I have felt like a horrible mommy to him, but everyone has been so encouraging by saying that he will NOT remember this time, and that it is important for me to take care of the new baby and myself. Mason knows at the end of the day that I love him, and I know this will be over soon and I can go back to being his "fun" mommy. On top of it, I have been blessed with an amazing husband who has kicked right into "daddy mode" the second he walks in the door from work every single day. He takes over and plays with Mason, feeds him dinner, helps with dishes, gives Mason baths, and puts him to bed. It has helped me so much and has made me feel less guilty. I don't know what I would do without Marc!!!

Anyway, I have been SO THANKFUL for this sickness because it has been a constant reminder that my baby is growing strong and healthy, and that it's just a normal pregnancy. I know that sooo many women have been through this. Every day that I was sick, was another day that I was pregnant, and I'll take that over feeling great and NOT being pregnant any day! Around 17 weeks, the sickness went bye-bye for the most part. I can't even begin to describe how HUGE of a relief that has been!! I am still very tired all the time, don't have a lot of energy, and move very slowly, but as long as the nausea is gone, I'm HAPPY AS CAN BE!!! :) I'm waiting for that 2nd trimester energy to come where I start feeling great and kick in to that nursery-plannin' mode (which has already started!)! I loved, loved, loved weeks 23 on with Mason and felt like I could do anything!! I'm SO ready to be at that point with this pregnancy! I'm a girl who likes to go, go, go; so I'm not used to this stayin'-at-home kinda thing!

Here are some other tidbits about this pregnancy:

WHEN AM I DUE? My due date started off being February 18. It has since moved to Feb. 14, but I will schedule a c-section, so it could be as early as January! It seems like the due date keeps getting pushed up every time I talk to the OB. Updates on that later...

WEIGHT: At 4 weeks I weighed 122 lbs. Now at 23 weeks I weigh 136... I have gained 14 pounds! I am right where my OB says I should be. Yay! I gained 40 lbs with Mason, but I started off with a very low, unhealthy weight, but this time I should just gain around 30 to 35.

MATERNITY CLOTHES? I have been wearing maternity clothes six week 6. I am so grateful to all of my wonderful friends who have let me borrow clothes! I can't really wear any that I wore with Mason since I was so much smaller then. I LOVE wearing maternity clothes and actually think they're really cute! I have loved those sweat pants with draw strings and matching hoodies... soooo comfy! I discovered Jockey; Person to Person line of clothing at a friend's home party a few months ago, and I am lovin' that stuff right now! I don't like tight things around my belly, and I'm finding that a lot of maternity jeans are already too tight! I was loving my brown and black gauchos this summer and wore them about every day with tank tops and lip flops. I also have worn thin, cotton, high-waisted dresses and flats; now adding leggings since it's getting cooler. I could live in dresses while being pregnant since they aren't tight around the tummy. I'm still searching for THE pair of jeans that I can wear every other day! I borrowed Melia's when I was preggo with Mason and wore those about every day, but she has been pregnant these last few months, too, so she's been wearing them. :) Let me know if you have any that you love and that are comfy!! I really want some maternity "skinny jeans" to wear with boots; but do they even make those?!?!?! Thank you.

SHOWING?? I definitely feel much bigger this time around! I started showing at 7 weeks, to the point where people would notice in public that I'm pregnant and pat my belly! I didn't mind, though. :) The bad thing is, I already feel like my belly is sticking way out there at 23 weeks, so I can't imagine what 40 weeks will feel like! Ha!

FEELIN' THE BABY?? YES!!! And LOVIN' it!!! I didn't feel Mason move until 23 weeks, but I started feeling this baby around 19 weeks. I was actually sitting in the living room of our beach house in Rosemary Beach a few weeks with my mom and Andrea chatting late at night, and felt the first official kick! I had been having some spasms when I move a certain way, especially at night, but those were nothing compared to what I've been feeling since that first kick. The baby moves most of the day, but that is because I have been sitting and laying down a lot so I'm able to notice it more. Marc has even been able to feel the baby move, and I just LOVE that soooo much! This child is VERY active! Oh my!

SLEEP: Getting a ton of it! Since I have had no energy and have been so fatigued, I could sleep all day long! I'm SO thankful for a 2 1/2 year old little boy who loves sleep as much as his mommy! So, during the day when I just cannot keep my eyes open any longer, I put him down for a nap and we both sleep for hours! Most nights, the second my head hits the pillow I rest well the entire night until I wake up the next morning. And usually I am not a good sleeper. I busted out my good 'ole pregnancy pillow at around 15 weeks, so that definitely helps!
What I miss: Nothing really - maybe sleeping on my stomach?

CRAVINGS & AVERSIONS: I haven't really had an appetite with all the nausea & vomiting, so I haven't really been eating very much. I know I need to, and I eat when I feel like it, but it's not nearly as much as I shoved in my mouth with Mason! Which is probably a good thing. Ha! Since I've gained my appetite back, I have been craving baked potatoes, pizza (could eat this ALL day long!!), fake brand Lucky Charms cereal (seriously have 2 bowls a day!), donuts, salads, yeast rolls, pasta salad, Fazoli's baked spaghetti, chili dogs, & milkshakes.

Right away I noticed some aversions... and some very strange ones! I put a blueberry in my mouth one morning and immediate threw it up... right in the middle of the kitchen and in front of Mason! Did the same thing with a piece of toast. Also, another strange one... OLIVE GARDEN!! Yup, never thought I would be saying that one! I can barely stand the sight of it! I have definitely been missing feta cheese, ceasar salads, iced coffee drinks, and deli sandwiches! I do give in and have an Oven Roasted Turkey Breast sub from Subway every once and a while, but ask for them to toast it. Yum!!

Okie dokie, that's enough info for y'all for now, I'm sure! Ha! I'll post some belly shots soon and reveal our baby's gender!

Singin' in the Rain

2010-09-12T23:03:00.006-05:00

Brooke's Baby Shower

2010-09-12T22:09:00.010-05:00

I was soooo excited to plan Brooke's shower since we have been waiting for YEARS for Baby Hudson Grant to get here!! This was such a special day because there have been so many prayers lifted up for this special child for so long. I was especially an emotional wreck! Brooke's husband, Johnathan, is my husband's best friend and was one of his roommates at Lispcomb. We have shared so many special memories with them these past 10 years and cherish every single second we are with them! We feel so blessed to be able to share our pregnancies right now. God has brought us Moores' and Akins' a long way from several years ago when we were both wishing more than anything for a precious baby to hold. We are just in awe of our answered prayers!

Andrea, Carrie, Tara, and I hosted Brooke's shower at Tara's beautiful home in Nashville on Saturday, August 14th. We tried our best to add some special little touches to make Brooke's big day even more memorable. We had a wonderful turnout of friends from Harpeth Hills church; Johnathan's mom, grandmothers, and aunts from Bowling Green; Brooke's mom; my mom, and Beth & Jana's mommas. All of these ladies are playing a serious role in helping to spoil Hudson rotten! Ha ha!

Brooke & the hostesses... Carrie, Tara, Andrea, and me

Diaper Cake I made :)
Hudson's name banner I ordered off Etsy.com... the BEST website ever!!

Super cute cupcakes Carrie brought with toppers from Etsy.com

The shower favors were too cute!

They read, "Thanks for swingin' by! Hudson Grant"

Brooke & me... She was 30 weeks and I was 13 :)

Me, Brooke, & Cherie... "Steve's Angels".... Ha! Cherie was the one who started us all on acupuncture! She went first after several years of trying to get pregnant and sweet Brady was born December 2009; then Brooke with Hudson being due October 2010; and then me with baby due February 2011! And the chain keeps on going because all 3 of us have sent several people to Steve to help with infertility. He says he's gonna put us all on his payroll! :)

Sweet gift time! I just couldn't resist this sweet ABC sleeper & matching hat!

LOVE the bib that Andrea made!

Sleeper & hooded blankie from my mom... she just loves buying sweet baby boy things!

Adorable Presley (Carrie's daughter) with Ms. Hargis
Brooke & Jaquatta (Johnathan's mom) showing off the sign Andrea made!

Brooke with Johnathan's grandmothers... so thankful they were able to be there!

Andrea and me acting like we were in 7th grade again! I guess because I looked like it, with my famous side ponytail! :)

Eatin' us some yummy cupcakes!

My mom got a hold of her some sweet babies... Presley (born April 2010) & Wyatt (Tara's baby born May 2010)

Hudson Grant, we have waited LONG ENOUGH, and we can't wait to meet you in October! YAY!

Remembering the Nashville Flood

2010-09-10T09:20:00.001-05:00

I ordered us some "I Love Nashville" t-shirts to help raise money to help the victims of the May 2010 flood. A Facebook page was set up to sell these t-shirts and they sold so many that it became very overwhelming and customers had to wait a couple of months to receive their shirts. I ordered pretty early, so we received ours within a month or so. Mason's is pretty big so that he can wear it for a few years and be a little older to where he can understand this piece of history that took place in this birth city. I love wearing my t-shirt to show my love and concern for the city I love so much. Even though we no longer live in Nashville, so many of my family and friends were devastated by the flood and my heart is right there with them as they are trying to rebuild their homes and lives. Our friends from church, the McCleans', and my acupuncturist (Steve) & his wife, are moving back into their homes this weekend after months of renovating them. And that's just 2 families on the long list of people in similar situations. I am so thankful for my family and the blessings God pours down on us. He never leaves us, nor forsakes us, not even through the toughest storms in life!

Please continue to keep Nashville and the other affected areas in your prayers.

15 weeks pregnant in my Nashville Flood t-shirt... The first day of my pregnancy (May 14) was spent helping clean up in the McCleans' subdivision in Bellevue with a group from Greenwood Park, our church here in BG... just 2 weeks after the flood. We had Mason's 2nd birthday party planned for the actual week of the flood and didn't know if we should go on with it and spend that day having fun when so many people were hurting. We decided, for Mason, to go on with his special day on May 8, 2010 (his actual bday was May 11). This flood will always be something that was a part of our children's childhood, yet they didn't even know it at the time.
And a couple of last pictures to leave with you... how in the world could we ever get through trials in life without having moments like these mixed in!??!?!

Andrea & Luke Visit BG!

2010-09-09T21:52:00.000-05:00

Mason and I always love it when Andrea and Lukie come and visit! They have come several times since we have moved to Bowling Green and we get into the randomest adventures every time. This time we spent our Friday night at.... the mall! Just like our high school days! :) But this time we had 2 VERY CHALLENGING little boys with us! We ate some yummy Sbarro and bought the boys some matching outfits at Crazy 8 and Gymboree to wear on our upcoming beach trip. Mason and Luke were not in the mood for shopping this night, but it's okay cuz they're gonna look STINKIN' CUTE at the beach and we will forget about the fact that we were pretty much chased out of Gymboree! Thank you. We had these big 'ole strollers in this tiny, tiny space and all these people staring at us like we were in their way. It was the most annoying. Leave us alone, we're just 2 mommies of toddlers in some desperate need of shopping! Oh, I also made some very-much needed purchases in Motherhood Maternity where both Mason and Luke watched me try on bras... thank you. I will definitely be reminding them of that moment when they're 18! Ha! When we got home we had a very fun night of getting the boys ready for bed and then staying up until the wee hours of the morning just talking & catching up and stalking people on Facebook. Another similarity to our growing-up days, except there was no Internet then. Just us calling boys all night hanging up on then and writing down all the boys' names who we had seen at the mall that night and hid from.

The next morning we got up and ate at Fazoli's (where Mason ate BOTH his and Luke's spaghetti) then hit up a little consignment store where we made some more fun little purchases. Then back home to see Andrea & Luke off on their drive back to Nashville.

Mason & Luke's Nighttime Routine

Step 1: Puttin' on pj's then chill in Mason's room for a while (tryin' to wind them down to get ride of some of that energy!)

Step 2: Move the party to the living room for a while where the colors aren't so bright so maybe, just maybe, there's a chance they'll calm down??
Step 3: Brush teeth

Still brushin' teeth 10 minutes later...

Rinsing for the 20th time...

Step 4: Put Luke in the pack 'n play where Mason has to join him for a little bit... within seconds a jumping contest begins...

The boys FINALLY settled down and went to sleep so mommies could stay up talking til 2 am!!

Breakfast time the next morning...

And of course.... photoshoot time!! "Yay!," said Luke!!

Mason comparing the feel of their heads

Hey dude, let's get up and get outta here!

We always love it when our BFF's come and stay a while! Please come back soon! Miss you already!

Cory's Baptism

2010-09-09T07:05:00.000-05:00

Andrea's husband, Cory, was baptized on Saturday, August 28th and I was so thankful to be able to be in Nashville to witness it! Marc had played in a golf tournament with Harpeth Hills Church of Christ that morning while Andrea and I were at the Otter Creek Consigment Sale, so we just happened to be in Nashville already to where we could be at the baptism that night.

Andrea has been my best friend since the day we met in 7th grade, so she is definitely the sister I never had. So, that means that Cory is now my "brother" and we were soooo excited that he made the decision to be baptized! Marc, Mason, my parents, and I loaded up and drove to Harpeth Hills (our old church in Nashville) where just about our entire Sunday School class was there to see Cory's baptism! It was the neatest thing. I was so proud of Cory. And Baby Luke was definitely proud of his DaDa! He sat right next to me with a biggest grin on his face the entire time. Every now and then he jumped off Andrea's lap and tried to run up on stage to see what was going on. We went out to eat at Chili's afterwards (Cory's choice!) to celebrate. Mason and Luke were pretty hyperactive that day and had a contest to see who could scream the loudest in the middle of the restaurant. Thank you. And Mason kept stealing Luke's fries. Definitely a pair of stinkers when they get together!

Bill Prady baptizing Cory... We love Bill and his wife, Lin. They are mentors to our age group at Harpeth Hills & taught our Sunday School class there several times. Marc really respects Bill and looks up to him as a strong Christian example to him as a man, husband, and father.

Coming down from the baptistry in their wet towels... Nice! :)

Mason getting some love from his Nana Kay outside of the church

My parents' new car! (I know, not relevant in the least to the topic of this blog post, but I had to share! Ha! :) )

Andrea & I dreamed for years about the men we would marry and the sweet babies we hoped God would bless us with someday! And here we are now with 4 of the world's finest boys. :)

Marc's arms full of mischief after dinner!
What a very special day!

Cory, we love you, and are excited to see the plans God has for you!

Back to School!

2010-09-08T22:09:00.012-05:00

It's that time! Mason has been so ready for a while now to get back in his groove at big boy school! Along with Big Red School, we're also putting him in the Parents' Day Out program at our church once a week. It started August 17th, but it seems like he's already been there for months! It is completely different from BRS, and I love different things about both programs. He absolutely loves being at our church and all of his friends there, so when he ran into his class on the first day and saw that he knew just about every single child in there, he was soooo excited! They all reunited like they were in high school or something and hadn't seen each other all summer. It was the cutest. And our across-the-street neighbor & good friend is one of his teachers, so he's used to being around her. Mason is in the best mood when I drop him off and when I go to get him, he is happily playing with all his friends and doesn't want to leave. I love how his backpack is filled with all his different "lessons" and craft projects each week. They are learning about colors and different shapes right now. Ever since the first day of PDO, Mason has been obsessed with the color yellow and with circles. In fact, he just picked up a piece of his sidewalk chalk and drew the biggest circle right on our garage floor! We were so impressed.

Oh, and I love this program because it's an hour longer than BRS, so I get lots of "me" time on the day he is at PDO! I usually stay out and run errands that whole time that I would no way get done if I had Mason with me. He is getting heavier each week, and the doctor told me I can no longer pick him up during this pregnancy, so it's challenging to get him in and out of the car and take him into different places. And yesterday, I even had lunch at Taco Bell ALL BY MYSELF! It was actually very wonderful! By time I get back to church to pick Mason up, we are both completely exhausted and come home to take the greatest naps in the world! Oh, how I love PDO day!!

On the way in on his first day, Mason had to stop and pilfer in his backpack...

Oh wait, he was trying to get to his juice box! And as you see, he managed to pour it all over the ground and all down the front of himself! An interesting start to the first day of school!
The moment we wanted in, Mason found a cool toy to play with!

Mason & one of his BFF's, Brayden, pulling all the toys off the nice, organized toy shelf

I tried my best to get a cute Mason & mommy picture, but he wanted no part of it!

Juice box #2... class still hadn't started yet

2nd day of school!
Hmm... what do I think about this??
Oh, I love big boy school, Mommy! Thanks so much for bringing me here every week! It is so much fun and I am learning so many new things!

Check out this post to see pictures from Mason's "Spring Semester 2010" at Big Red School! Can't wait to start back in a couple of weeks!

http://aprilkay24.blogspot.com/2010/03/mason-thomas-goes-to-big-red-school.html

Sip 'N See for Carrie & Baby Presley

2010-09-02T23:53:00.014-05:00

On Saturday, August 7th, I hosted a Sip 'N See at my house for the sweetest baby girl ever! Since Carrie is from Bowling Green, we wanted to have her a shower here to where she could bring Presley and show her off to all of her childhood friends, as well as Nashville friends. Presley is 4 months old, but we waited until now to do this to give Seth, Carrie, and the kids some time to move to Louisville and get settled in. They moved from Memphis in order for Seth to start dental school at U of L. We're soooo excited for this chapter of their lives! We're also happy to have them just 2 hours from us and living in one of Marc's and my most favorite cities ever!

Thank you so much to all of these wonderful girls who helped host: Andrea B., Brooke A., Valerie J., Sarah O., Danielle H., and Melissa M. With the pregnancy sickness and lack of energy I have had for the past couple of months, there is NO way I could have pulled this shower off without all of their help! And, my wonderful momma came up the weekend before to help me deep-clean the house. Thank goodness for that cuz noone would have wanted to step foot into this house with the way it had been lookin'! Ha! :) We had a great turnout and it was so neat to see my house full of these amazing women who love Carrie and her family so much. Presley was just so calm and easy-going through it all and didn't seem to mind all the attention at all. Everyone was just in awe of this precious, beautiful little child!

Carrie, Presley, Annette, and Baby Ransom

Jaquatta & Carrie

(Carrie & Johnathan grew up together in BG; Jaquatta is his momma! Love her!)

Carrie and her beautiful mommy, Vivian... my mom away from home! Jennifer & Carrie... they went to high school together and now Jennifer lives down the street from us. Crazy how things turn out! Carrie, Danielle, & Presley... childhood friend of Carrie's

Thank you SOOO much, Danielle & your mom, for all your hard work in cleaning up after the shower!
Melissa, Valerie, Carrie, & Sarah... Carrie has been telling me about these girls for years and I'm so thankful to have them as some of my wonderful new friends!

Mrs. Herndon & Ms. Hargis... our good friends', Beth & Jana's moms... Carrie & Marc went to college with these girls, and their moms have been here with us through our most special times!
Yummy cupcakes Sarah brought and I ordered these super cute toppers from Etsy.com!

Diaper cake made by this amazing diaper cake girl... Ha! :)

Sweet Presley's birth announcement

Brooke & me... we have loved being pregnant together! Brooke was 29 wks & I was 12 wks.

Carrie seeing the canvas painting for the first time... Andrea ordered this from Leigh Ann at Georgie Girl Design (see my blog list). It is SO, SO cute!!

Gift time! Soft swaddling blankets from my mom.

I ordered this sweet little smocked cowgirl bubble for Presley back when Carrie was pregnant. Mason has a matching boy's version of it and I LOVE it!!

Carrie's sis-in-law, Meredith, surprised Carrie and painted these canvases to match the nursery. I mean, can we say talented?!?!! I am just blown away by them! And I ordered the banner to match from Etsy.

Brooke made these yummy P-shaped sugar cookies as the shower favors. I kept about 5 of them and ate them all by the next day! Give me some more! :)

All the partyin' was over and I FINALLY had my Presley time!

Look at how sweet she is!!

The boys hung out with Seth & Colt at Carrie's parents' house and waited til all the crazy women were out of our house to come back. Ha! We went and ate us some yummy Cracker Barrel before Andrea got back on the road for Nashville.

Carrie, hope this day was extra special for you! We were so thankful to be able to do this for you. We are all so blessed to have these amazing people who love and support us as we bring these sweet babies into the world. Love you!

Meeting Baby Presley Rae

2010-08-30T12:17:00.010-05:00

One of my best friends, Carrie, became the momma to a sweet baby girl, Presley Rae, on April 14th. She weighed 9 lbs, 10 oz and was 20 3/4 inches long. She has a head full of dark, beautiful hair that we cannot get enough of! Presley's big brother, Colt, is one of Mason's best buddies and has proudly been showing off his new baby sister. I think she looks just like Colt! I was trying sooo hard to get down to Memphis the week Presley was born to help Carrie pack up their house and get ready for their move to Louisville and to be there for the birth, but it just didn't work out. But, Marc and I were so excited to get to meet her on May 16th when Presley and her little family came up to BG and Louisville for the weekend. Mason could not take his eyes off of this sweet little person! She was just so sweet and fell asleep in my arms as I bounced with her. She didn't make a peep! Here are some pics of the sweet little angel:

Mason meeting Baby Presley for the first time... he was mesmerized! I loved seeing how he was looking at her.

Actin' bashful

Presley is definitely a cuddler! I loved her.

And she actually loved me back, I think! :) She just laid there and looked at me and let me give her her bottle and then let me stand up and bounce with her. She's such a laid-back baby like my Mason was.
Can't you tell that I was dying for one of these?!?!
The same profile as Colt!
Mason waiting patiently for his turn to visit with Baby Presley

Mason & Colt trying to figure out what they were about to get in to

Thank you, God, for these sweet, perfect babies!

I couldn't resist another hair shot!
One proud GrandBob!

I just love this picture! You could just see the joy radiating from Carrie's dad!

Bye, bye, sweet baby girl! Come back and see us again soon!

What has Mason been up to this summer?

2010-08-16T22:33:00.002-05:00

Oh..... just gettin' ready to be a BIG BROTHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We found out Wednesday, June 9th that God is growing another precious little miracle in my tummy! Can't wait to meet him or her around Valentine's Day 2011!

Adventures of the 2 Year Old!

2010-07-09T16:23:00.007-05:00

Well, it has finally settled in that our little boy is 2. We've had a couple of months to get used to the fact and are quickly learning the antics of a 2 year-old! We were hoping that Mason would prove the "terrible 2's" wrong since every says that it's just horrible dealing with a 2 year old. Well, we just realize that it comes with your baby growing up and that parents just have to change along with the child. We are learning that Mason now pretty much realizes when he is doing something that Momma & Dada do not want him to do. We no longer let people make us feel badly for disciplining him because we know it's just what we have to do to make him learn the difference between right and wrong. He is pretty strong-willed and is no longer so calm & easy-going all the time. He is talking up a storm so we can pretty much figure out what he is wanting. He has the best personality and is definitely going to be Mr. Outgoing when he goes to school! We love it. At the same time, Mason is still our sweet, precious baby and we still rock him to sleep sometimes and long to cuddle with him as much as we did the day we brought him home from the hospital. I don't think he'll ever stop being our baby just because he is our miracle child that we prayed for for so long and went through so much for.

Here are some tidbits about our big 2 year old:

- Mason is still highly allergic to all things dairy & beef. He was re-tested back in April and we were so hoping for the allergies to be gone. They said we can test again when he's 3. We're so used to this and have found good food he can eat. We're more open to trying Kids' Meals at restaurants now. He has never liked the alternative types of milk we've tried but lately I've tried giving him cereal in rice milk, and he LOVES it! He now comes up to me randomly and requests milk! So this makes me happy. :)

- At Mason's 2-year check-up, he weighed 30 lbs, and was 36 inches long. He is in the 75th % for weight and 80-90th % for length. We are amazed at how much weight he has put on in the last few months! At his 12 month, he was still in the 3rd %, at 15 months he was 25th %, and at 18 months he was 50th %. Ever since we moved to BG, he is packing on the pounds!

Mason & Dr. Patti

In the exam room waiting for Dr. Patti to come back... he was a little scared being at the dr.'s office at first, but playing with all the fun toys kept his mind off it!

The weigh-in... Mason did NOT like this at all!!

- Wears 2t & some 3t clothing. Some shorts run HUGE, so he can still wear 12 months in some brands! Size 7 or 7 1/2 in shoes. Just moved up to size 5 diaper in July!

- Favorite books at the moment: Best Mouse Cookie, all the Little People big board/flap books, his potty books, 100 Reasons God Loves Me, his Bible, Where's Spot?, Curious George... we go to the library weekly now and check out 5 to 10 books each time. He loves running around the library showing me different books he wants to check out. We are now participating in a Summer Reading List where if we read 20 books to him before the end of the summer, he gets lots of prizes!

- Still sleeps in his crib all night long, about 12 hours. Takes one 2 hour nap in the late afternoon. Momma definitely appreciates her sleeping baby who lets her sleep in many mornings! :)

- Loves to laugh and have fun. Mason has always been the child who is CONSTANTLY on the move! He loves trying new things. He laughs all the time, even when he's supposed to be napping in his crib! He is so go-with-the-flow and is such a good child no matter where we drag him! He loves all the little road trips we take and adjusts so quickly to new environments.

- Loves all things SPORTS! He and his Da Da could play in our backyard for hours with his golf clubs, ball & bat, basketball, soccer balls, and footballs. We definitely have a little athlete on our hands! Everyone makes comments about how good of an arm he has when he throws any type of ball. And he makes random shots into the basketball hoop from across the living room! Can't wait to put him in tee ball and soccer when he's 4! He plays so hard until his hair is soaking wet and his face is bright red!

- I think his favorite day of the week is Sunday. He absolutely loves being at church and the second we walk through the doors he takes off running towards his little class. He is usually fine when we leave him, but lately he is a little clingier. He is always in the best mood at church and runs around like he owns the place! He can't really sit through a church service anymore, no matter how hard we try. He talks out loud, and repeats random words that the preacher says. Thank you. We try to keep him quiet with books, crayons, juice, and suckers, but he always ends up in the nursery. I guess that's a typical 2 year old little boy for ya!

Playin' in the pews with his big boy friends, Jack & Colt... actually, Mason & Colt were taking a little Sunday afternoon nap here...

- A WONDERFUL eater, and has always been! Loves Graduates, applesauce, bananas, grapes, blueberries, chicken, Mesquite Turkey, spaghetti (especially at Fazoli's), cheerios or Cap'n Crunch with Rice Dream milk, peas, corn, carrots, potatoes, chips & salsa, fries, eggs, bacon, toast, Honey BBQ Fritos, Sun Chips, suckers, apple juice, white grape juice, wa wa juice (aka: water!), and his newest obsession: ice!

- Likes watching t.v. just a little too much! Nick, Jr. is always on in our house... Olivia, Yo Gabba Gabba, Little Bear, Blues Clues, Wonder Pets, Dora the Explorer... he has all the songs memorized & we love hearing him sing them!

I mean, a man's gotta be comfy when he's watching his shows, right?!!?!

- Is showing interest in peeing in the potty! We have two little potties for him; one stays in the living room & the other in his bathroom. He always grabs his diaper and says "pee pee" or "poo poo" when he is using the bathroom in his diaper, so we're taking this as a sign that he's ready to start potty-training soon. My dad has gotten him to actually pee in his little potty twice! He just strips him down, sits him in the potty while he's watching t.v., and walks away to give him some time. So he understands the whole concept. Won't start officially potty-training just yet because we don't want to push it, but at least he's getting used to the idea!

Practicin' potty time while watching Elmo potty DVD

Mason & Papa Jack examining the goods Mason left in his potty for the VERY first time! YAY!

- A big water baby! We have been swimming several times this summer... all the way to the pool he says, "Swimmin' poo!! Swimmin' poo!" and doesn't stop til he hits the water! He's getting a little braver now to where he likes to stand on the steps of the pool and jump in to us. He likes wearing the little floaties on his arms, but no other type of floating device. He also takes great pleasure in drinking the water while saying, "Yummy, yummy!" I don't know about that!!

With his friend, Jack, at the water park

- Still a big Daddy's boy! LOVES his Dada and this makes me sooo happy!! Maybe the next one will be a Momma's boy or girl! :)

- Can spell his name! It is so cute hearing him do it, but he still thinks that an "N" also sounds like an "M." So, it's M-A-S-O-M. My parents got him an art easel for his birthday and he loves standing up and finding the letters of his name! Oh, and sometimes he likes to do it bare naked... he's just a little hot-natured!

- He has been saying some complete sentences ever since he turned 2. We do Starfall.com with him almost daily and he has really learned his ABC's, letters & sounds! It's amazing the change we have seen in our child! Some of his favorite words/phrases:

Go pee pee in potty (he really doesn't do this though!)

All done, All done (while doing the sign language to it)

More cheerios!

Starfall, starfall!

More pees, please!

Fall down!

Uh-Oh!!

Get out, get out (says this when he's ready to get out of his high chair or crib)

Wuv you, Momma

Dack (my dad... he's Papa Jack, but Mason has dropped the "Papa" lately)

Nana K (my mom)

Baby Wuke, Baby Wuke! (when he sees my best friend's little boy, Luke)

Bray-Bray (his little buddy at church)

Gacie (Gracie, his girlfriend)

Jack & Reese (little friends at church)

Brush teeth

Bubble bath

Football

Bus (referring to the little car that Marc's parents got him for his bday)
Go down the side (he wants to go down a slide)

Baketball

Apple juice

Bue-berry

Milk

Ahhhhh, Man!! (says this pretty loudly at the end of all our prayers)

Paw Paw & Dedy (Marc's parents... Trying to say "Grandy," but can't say "G-r")

Cawl (thought he was talking about a cow, but it's really car!)

Vroom-vroom

Neigh

Kitty cat

Monkey

Giraffe

Puppy dog

Yummy, yummy wa-wa juice!

Hey, Baby! (says this to me every now & then when he sees me after not seeing me for a little while)

Gucker, please! (see pics below of him lovin' his sucker from Cracker Barrel... my mom was in shock about it!)

Lots more to say about this sweet boy, but I better stop now before I reach my quota of words in this post. Ha! We love you, Mason Thomas! We are so blessed to have you in our lives and we can't wait to watch you grow & grow! You're having SO much being two and we're having so much fun watching you! We're so thankful to be your Momma & DaDa!

Papa Jack & Paw T are 60!!!!

2010-05-18T21:07:00.000-05:00

My dad & Marc's dad are just 12 days apart! Each of our moms had them a surprise birthday this past weekend, so we were really busy celebrating Mason's Papa & Paw's bdays back-to-back!

My dad's actual birthday was May 6, but we didn't get to celebrate until Saturday, May 15th because Mason's birthday party was the same weekend as my dad's birthday. We wanted him to have his own special little celebration. My mom put together him a party at Five Guys restaurant in Brentwood and he was completely surprised! He thought that he, my mom, MaMaw Myers, and Mason were going out to eat while Marc and I were going out with friends. Little did he know that those "friends" were really some of his close friends & family and we would all be at the restaurant waiting for him! We sat out on the patio and enjoyed the beautiful weather and caught up with people we haven't seen in a while. Mason was a little overwhelmed by it at all though, and so confused when they got there and his Momma & DaDa were there waiting for him. He warmed up though when he saw that his best friend, Luke was one of the party guests! What a wonderful night celebrating my dad!!!

Us party guests had a perfect view of the birthday boy walking in! Hee hee!

Mason was so overwhelmed when they walked up and everyone yelled "Surprise!!"

This new biting thing that Mason does... No idea where that one came from!

Aunt Linny & Uncle Steve (my dad's sis & her hubby)

Frank Bostick (my parents' longtime friend from college), my mom, & Andrea

The birthday boy with his momma... Love you, MaMaw!

Marc & Cory watching their sweet boys playin'

Andy & me

Luke with a little mischievious look on that face gettin' into the dirt... his new favorite thing!

May May gettin' some ideas

Luke had just put dirt on his head and Mason was being a good best friend and cleaning it off... Thank you.

Luke looking might spiffy in my Dad's glasses... hilarious!!

Frank, my dad, and Gary & Vickie Dowd... we have gone to church with the Dowds for forever now and their son, Keith, is my brother's BFF

Jennifer & Mason (she has worked with my dad at the Music City Mission... married to Bob, the pastor of Radnor Church of the Naz)

Marc, Mason & me with my parents & MaMaw

Happy Birthday, Papa Jack! We love you!!

2010-05-18T20:48:00.000-05:00

Marc's dad's birthday is actually today, but Connie (Marc's mom) threw him a surprise party after church this past Sunday night. Marc, Mason, & I drove to Madisonville that afternoon to go to church with them and then to the party. Pretty much the entire church was there for the big shindig! Terry seemed to love being surprised and loved his party. Mason played his little heart out with all his toys at Grandy & Paw's house and made lots of new friends!

Busy little bee with all his sports equipment!

Mason hanging out with his second cousins, Logan & Hanna

Mason always loves playing with Hanna! He definitely sleeps well afterwards! :)

Cousin Logan helping Mason get up on the rocking horse... with his new little girlfriend!

Someone is holding on tight to her man! So precious!

My sweet boy sitting there so patiently waiting his turn

Group photo of the rocking horse crew

A very serious conversation between grandson & grandfather

Happy 60th, Paw T!

So glad we got to be there to celebrate with you!

Nashville Days

2010-05-14T22:50:00.002-05:00

Mason & I have been going to Nashville one day a week since the beginning of April for me to have acupuncture at the Green Hills Natural Health Clinic. (More about that later, since I haven't blogged about it yet!) I always schedule my appointments when my dad is not at work, so Mason gets to stay with his Papa Jack for a few hours. Then we usually meet up with Andrea & Luke for lunch & playtime. Sometimes Brooke gets to join us. She's been having lots of practice in dealing with crazy little boys at restaurants! Ha! :) So, our Nashville day is always crazy busy from start to finish with all that driving up and down I-65, but we make the most of our visit and try to round up friends to spend time with. We're always exhausted by the time we get to Bowling Green, and Marc is especially missing us, so we have family time and go right to bed. The day after Nashville day is always veggin' time for Mason & mommy! Love it!

Yesterday my dad took Mason up to the Music City Mission to work for a while getting things ready for the Ladies' Luncheon. So, I picked Mason up there and we headed on to the City Cafe & TJ Maxx in Brentwood to meet Andrea & Luke for some yummy home-cookin' and a little bit of shopping. Nana Kay even stopped by a minute to get some hugs from Mason. This was right when the weather started getting really hot, so poor Mason was burning up and his little cheeks were so red! You could definitely tell he and Luke played hard that day! They were especially busy passing Mason's John Deere hat back & forth!

Lookin' out the front door of the Music City Mission

Mason & Papa Jack

Lunch at City Cafe with a couple of John Deere lovers!

The cutest little thang ever!!

Mason had to excuse himself in the middle of lunch... he had a very important call to take!

Sayin' bye to Nana Kay before heading back to BG

We love our time in Nashville each week and are so thankful that God has kept us safe during our travels! We're going to continue to do this for several more months, so let us know if you ever want to hang out!

Our Beloved Opryland Hotel!

2010-05-13T23:16:00.000-05:00

As you read my posts about the flood, listen to the words of the song "Bring the Rain" by MercyMe on my blog. They have never been more true for those who are hurting in Nashville right now! When you watch the videos I've posted, you'll need to scroll to the bottom of my blog and pause the music.

Seeing God through the Storms

2010-05-13T21:23:00.000-05:00

In the midst of all of the happy celebrations this month for our families, it has been a very, very sad time for the city that I love so much; where I have spent most of my 31 years of life. Nashville, and other areas of Middle TN, suffered a devastating flood Saturday & Sunday, May 1 & 2, 2010. People are calling this the "500 Year Flood", meaning that a flood like this will only happen every 500 years. Who knew that Saturday & Sunday when it gradually started raining more & more, that it would result in a flood. My mom and I were in Rogersville, Alabama with my parents' church for the Ladies' Retreat that we go on every year. One of my best friend's from my time in Louisville, Danyelle, was with us as well. In the middle of the day on Saturday, everyone was warning us at the lodge we were staying to get to a safe place because there was a tornado watch. We had no idea at that time how serious the weather really was. We were out shopping in the little downtown square when it started raining, so we just all ran for our cars and went back to the lodge to find the tornado watch going on. It passed over us and we went on with our activities. During the Saturday night service, several ladies' cell phones went off of family members calling to tell them about their basements or yards flooding. That was when we realized it was more serious than we thought. All night Saturday and Sunday morning everyone pretty much had shifted their focus from the retreat to what was going on back home in Nashville. Along with my Aunt Linzett suffering a heart attack in the middle of the Saturday night service and having to be rushed to the ER! That's a whole other story! Let's just say that the devil was fighting hard against us having this retreat! God was still with us though. My dad kept calling us from home giving us updates, but we still did not realize while we were in Alabama that this horrible flood was going on in TN. My mom and I drove back to Nashville on Sunday afternoon to find that many roads were blocked from flooding and at some points on I-65 the water was so high that it was kinda like our car was swimming through it. Several ladies on the retreat with us couldn't even go back to their homes because of the flooding. We all got back home to see how dangerous the flood waters really were becoming. I had to spend the night in Nashville Sunday night because we were afraid I-65 would be flooded on my way back to Bowling Green. I did not want to be out there traveling in all the water, no matter how badly I was missing my 2 babies back in BG!

My mom and I stayed up for hours Sunday night watching the news and talking on the phone to our friends and family who were calling us from out of town to see if we were okay. We were flipping back and forth between channels and realized that the Nashville Flood was only being talked about on our local channels and not the national channels like CNN. There was an oil spill going on near the Florida beaches and a possible planning of a terrorist attack going on in New York City, and both of these issues were receiving all the national media attention while the flood was being ignored. For the next few days so many people in Nashville were sooo upset by this and were posting it all over Facebook how angry they were at Obama for not giving any media attention to Nashville. People started comparing the Nashville Flood to Hurricane Katrina that happened in New Orleans in August 2005. All of this started to get really out of hand and it seemed that people were losing focus of what was happening in Nashville and cared more about how much media coverage it received. About a week after the flood it did start receiving more of the spotlight in national media and Anderson Cooper even did a special on it on CNN. Sunday, May 17th, the Great American Country television station (GAC) hosted a telethon that raised $1.5 million to help Nashville recover. Country stars like Brad Paisley, Lady Antebellum, Martina McBride, Taylor Swift, and Keith Urban sang throughout, answered phones, and shared about their losses.

My dad and I drove around Nashville Monday morning before I came back to Bowling Green. We did not even see the worse of it, but what we did see was still horrible and brought tears to my eyes. We drove around different parts of Antioch, one of the main areas that was targeted, but that still wasn't hit as badly as Bellevue, downtown Nashville, and the Opryland area. We drove around Antioch because that is where I spent many years growing up. I have so many memories in the Hickory Holly area and the Una Antioch Pike/Blue Hole Rd. area. A portable from Lighthouse Christian Academy was seen floating down Interstate-24 on Sunday, and my Dad and I saw what was left of the foundation of this portable. The school grounds were full of volunteers helping, as well as trucks set up to provide water. The Family Golf Center, where I had my 15th & 17th bday parties, also had tons of damage. We also saw the huge pile-up of cars on Antioch Pike that we had seen on the news earlier. An employee from the Olive Garden up the street was trying to get home after work Sunday night and his body was found somewhere on Blue Hole Rd. from where he had drowned. This area had such an eery feeling surrounding it and it just didn't seem real. By time we were driving around Monday morning, the flooding had subsided there leaving just the debris and damage for us to see. I just can't believe how quickly the water can rise and how quickly it can go back down! We drove over I-24 where cars were zooming by, and the night before it had been filled with the tops of cars sticking out above the flood waters where people had abandoned their cars to save their own lives.

These pictures don't even begin to describe the devastation, but they're a start. I will post on other areas of Nashville later, including the day Marc and I spend in Bellevue helping with clean-up. This is just all so heart-breaking!

View of the flooding in downtown Nashville... I took this picture while driving over the bridge on I-65 that goes over the Cumberland River... The traffic was bumper to bumper here and it wasn't because of the flood waters, but because of the people stopping in the middle of the road to take pictures AND people were actually walking up and down the Interstate looking at it!

Una-Antioch Pike & Blue Hole Rd. intersection... Una Antioch was closed off here and you can see the pile-up of flooded cars up ahead
The Lighthouse Christian preschool that is up the road from the main Lighthouse Christian School. This school was flooded and it was full of volunteers who had brought all of the preschool equipment outside to try to save what they could.

The foundation of the portable that floated up I-24... that is the Lighthouse Christian soccer field right behind it

Volunteers cleaning up the grounds of Lighthouse Christian

I-24 flows behind the Lighthouse athletic fields... So, the portable floated back behind the school through the fields to the interstate. I'm sooo thankful the portable was not full of children!

News coverage of the portable

Family Golf Center.... notice the little blue house and the red & white striped lighthouse still standing! Brought a little smile to my face since we have many pictures growing up standing in front of the 2 while playing putt-putt golf!

Family Golf Center office

God bless this wonderful church for handing out water!

Thankfully, God protected all of my family who live in Nashville. My parents live in Brentwood near Nippers Corner off of Hill Road, so thankfully they're up on a hill where there was just a little bit of flooding on the streets and in their driveway. My brother & sis-in-law live off of West End near the Parthenon area and thankfully they (and their home) were kept safe as well. However, we do have several friends who lost everything and are in the midst of trying to rebuild their lives. I just could not imagine.

This video is just a glimpse into how so many lives in Nashville changed overnight. Seeing some of these places with my own eyes on completely broke my heart. Let's pray that there are NO more losses and that everyone in Nashville will feel God's loving arms around them!

Mason is Two!!!

2010-05-11T22:09:00.001-05:00

My sweet baby turned TWO today!! After having his big birthday party on Saturday, we just relaxed today and hung out at home during the day. Tonight we took Mason to Chuck E. Cheese for the very first time and our good friends, the Burtons' & Givens', joined us. His best big boy friend, Brayden, and his girlfriend, Gracie, are included in those families. :) He wasn't too sure what to think of Chuck E. Cheese, and I don't blame him cuz it's a pretty overwhelming experience! He just stared at everything with huge wide eyeballs and was trying to figure out what everyone was doing. He didn't really seem to love any of the rides or games. Oh well. I'm sure the poor boy is exhausted from his big weekend and just wanted to chill on his bday! He loved hanging out with Mommy & Daddy at home tonight playing with his John Deere toolbelt and hat that his Uncle Jody & Aunt Christy gave him last year for his first birthday. He put that thang around his waist and pilfered with it for hours. He loved wearing the hat and had to wear it up until it was time to put him in his crib. He even brushed his teeth in it! Marc and I have been saying all day how we cannot believe our little boy is celebrating his SECOND birthday already! Saying he's 2 just makes him sound sooooo old! We can officially say his age in years now instead of months. I'm soooo ready for another little newborn to hold, but in the meantime we're gonna keep up all our sweet traditions with our 2 year old baby! Ha! We still rock him to sleep sometimes, he's still in his crib, and we're holding off on potty-training for now. We're just not ready for him to start growing up way too quickly on us! Of course there are a million and one big boy things he does and it seems like he does something new every single day. We are so thankful that Mason is so healthy, smart, easy-going, loves being around people, and adapts so easily to new situations. I could go on and on about what we are thankful for and I'm just so humbled that God has entrusted this sweet child into Marc's and my lives!

I just love the look on his little face! He was soooo serious this whole night and was making all these new facial expressions that we had never seen before! I guess turning 2 does that to ya!
Car ride with Chuck
Shootin' some hoops with Da Da & Uncle Scott
Mason enjoying his Graduates while Da Da enjoyed his pizza... Hopefully one day Mason can experience the pleasure of biting into a cheesy, gooey, piece of pepperoni pizza!

Even though Mason's girlfriend is Gracie, he is seriously crushin' on her older sister Ally! He spots her from across the room at church and starts yelling her name! Not sure what to think of the talkin', singin' Chuck E. Cheese!

Bray Bray & May May sittin' on the stage

Mason played his first game of air hockey! He really looked like he knew what he was doing!

Mason has this new thing he is doing that is sooo cute. He is biting his little lip when he is concentrating on something.
I mean seriously, are these not the two cutest little air hockey game players ever?!?!?!
Brayden's daddy, Josh, lighting the big birthday candle!
Singin' Happy Birthday... we could of had the Chuck E. Cheese people come out, in costume and all, to sing, but we would of had to buy a $10 cake from them. Thank you. I think our little group did just fine! :)

I think the little party guests were more excited about Mason's cupcake than he was... at first! He wouldn't touch it at his birthday party, but he ended up actually eating 2 of them at Chuck E. Cheese!
Lovin' the sweet little conversation going on between the boys! I wonder what they're connivin' now??
I never in a million years thought I could love a little person this much!!

Sweet Vera Grace
The dads enjoying their cupcakes
Stephanie & me with our sweet babies
Back at home settling down with John Deere!

Reading a book that Great-Aunt Bonnie gave him before getting ready for bed

I still cannot get over this big kid sitting here reading his book in his big boy tennis shoes & big boy haircut!
Getting ready for night night... Multi-tasking by doing Starfall.com with Da Da, AND brushin' his teeth, and all of this while still sportin' the hat!
They have so much fun while doing Starfall every night! They love to dance and clap to all the different letter sounds! Special Mason/Da Da time!

THE SWEETEST FACE EVER!!!! Thank you, God, for bringing Mason Thomas into our lives and for the indescribable TWO YEARS we have had with him! They have flown by, but yet I can't imagine life before May 11, 2008!

Momma & Da Da love you sooooooo much and are having the most fun being your parents! You truly are our beautiful miracle!