Promoting For Poppy

Recently my dad had a change of profession not by choice but, he is taking it in stride. Addison and I thought it would be cool to make a commercial promoting his business and him. Hopefully it will get his name out there and even if it sends one costumer to him it will be a good thing. So if you or someone you know needs a new or used car please go to Sam Swope Honda World (they don't just sell Honda Cars) and ask for Dennis Powell- He is our favorite salesman.

Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful, Beautiful Boy!

Addison and I love to listen to this song and pick out babies that we think Mason will look like. Addison is very attracted to the small baby in the woman's hand. She has always said I want to jump in there and get that cute little baby. She wants Mason to be this small but I told her if he was he wouldn't be very healthy and he might get lost since it is very tiny. It sure would make for an easy delivery though :) Anyhow we love to sit and sing this song to Mason. We think he is a beautiful boy.

29 weeks!

What changes have 29 weeks brought?

Weight
As far as my weight is concerned I'm still in the 20-35 range doctors want you to stay in. So far no unnecessary weight gain with Mason yet. I still have 11 weeks so um, we will see.

Sleep
I should probably write sleeplessness. I'm exhausted pretty much all the time but can not get comfortable. My hips are constantly hurting even with my bone shaped pillow and my snuggle pillow. I guess this is just natures way of preparing me for what lies ahead, lots of sleepless nights.

Cravings
Well at my last OB appointment Mr. Mason was measuring 2 weeks too big (great says my body who will be giving birth to him without drugs.) I quickly asked if that meant I got to have him two weeks early to which the Doctors response was a big fat negative. (insert cuss words here) She told me to ensure that he didn't get too big to try and watch sweets when I say watch them I mean watch them go in other peoples mouths and not my own :) So of course what have I been craving, sweets.

Funny Big Sister Story
Luck for me we were talking to Kevin's Aunt Donna and not a stranger, Addison told Donna I was pregnant and was going to have a baby. She said when Mommy has her baby, God will put milk in her boobies for Mason to drink. Donna didn't even flinch she just went with the flow and said how wonderful it all was. She never misses a beat. I'm sure once he is here there will be many funny moments to come.

Moods
I am a woman of many moods these days thanks to my hormones. I can cry at the drop of a hat, I get angry easily, I need lots more love and affection these days. Just haven't been quit my "normal" self since little man has been in my tummy. Hopefully once he is here my mood will be more stable.

Husband
Kevin deserves a medal or some big award for being so wonderful. He is definitely my right hand man. He has been a complete trooper throughout this entire pregnancy. My moods, my aches, my pains, my cravings, my feelings, my enormous body-- he just takes it all so well. I couldn't ask for more. He is the best father to Addison. They play and play every night. She can't wait for him to be home so she can be with her Daddy. I just love him so much. He never leaves his partner behind, even when he probably wants to :)

Every Day Activities
I struggle with the every day stuff. Any bending, cleaning, tying of shoes, walking up stairs, and even laying down hurts me in one way or another. I know the pain is temporary and totally worth it but ,pregnancy sure does put a lot of stress on your body.

Preparedness
I somehow don't feel quite prepared for Mason's arrival just yet. His room has yet to be completed, no crib just yet, no car seat, I have been given by some wonderful friends some baby clothes, haven't bought any diapers yet, still need to get a lot of last minute details ironed out. Holly offered to keep Addison during our stay at the hospital. Donna offered to help out with Addison when the baby arrives which is such a relief. I didn't really know what I was going to do. Still haven't contacted my Doula yet but definitely need to get with her soon. With all the things I don't have done I did manage to find the cutest Halloween costume for Mason the other day- random I know.

Movement
I think this child is doing some crazy karate stuff inside my belly. He is VERY active. I feel him all the time and he is still getting the hiccups daily. I read he should be around 2.5 to 3.5 pounds right now. I'm hoping for the lesser, again for selfish reasons. I just want little man to be healthy and happy. If it makes him happy to go crazy in my tummy day after day then I hope he is having a ball in there.

Is Mason the last baby for our family
Depending on who you talk to; he should be our last child. I'm not making that call as of now. I only know what it feels like to have one child. Two may be plenty for our family. Everyone has there opinion on it, most say you have a girl and a boy that is perfect you should stop. I honestly don't know. I just want to focus on my husband, my sweet little girl, and my baby boy and see where life takes our family. God is good and will give us what we need.

Fears
The obvious fear is giving birth and fear of the unknown. I wonder daily if Mason is healthy, if I will be a good Mom to a son, if I can breastfeed him, if I can handle two kids, if I will ever sleep again, this list could go on and on. I just have to have faith in God and know that all things are possible through him. I have to turn my fears whether they be rational or irrational over to God and let him handle it.

What I'm most looking forward to
Seeing his face, holding him close, kissing him all over, watching he and Addison together and getting to know this wonderful little son Kevin and I created. I look forward to watching him grow but I just really want to focus on the now. Addison has grown up so quickly and there are times I can hardly remember her being small. I'm so thankful for photos and recorders. Lucky for us we can relive those sweet moments again and again.

I guess we will see what the next 76 days will bring. Can't believe I'm in my seventh month already, which also means we have already lived in our house for seven months. Hard to believe all the changes that have occurred in the past seven months both to my house and my body. The house looks way better! My body well, not so much.

More Mason Morphs

Wow what a difference! One of them looks like Gaundi and the other is powder white like me :) I'm obviously having way too much fun with this.

This was too hilarious not to post

I morphed a picture of me and Kevin together to get an idea of what Mason was going to look like and this is what he should look like. I tried to link to the actual baby website so you could see him in color but it wouldn't upload to this blog. So I took a picture of the computer screen. This totally looks like a mugshot. If you can't tell he is Mocha in skin color with extremely curly hair. No offense to this sweet little baby but I'm hoping Mason looks quite different. Kevin and I were laughing pretty hard about the morphed Mason. Addison loved him and says how cute he is, which is very sweet. There is something about mixing Kevin and I that creates brown babies. Miss Addison has the prettiest skin color. She totally looked like a different nationality when she was born. Wish I had her skin tone. Momma is pretty pasty white. Just another fun little thing I did to preoccupy my mind since all I do these days is wonder about Mason.

My Boyfriend's Name is....

Incase you haven't ever heard this song, which I hadn't, here are the words. Gram teaches her songs I never knew existed. :)

My Boyfriend's Name is Lucky
He Lives In O'Kentucky
With Pickles on his Nose
and Cherries on His Toes
Thats the Way My Story Goes.

A Pirates Life For Me

Addison and I have talked about doing a pirates treasure hunt for quite some time but I lost motivation with everything that has been going on in the past six months. Well, the other day I found my motivation. I saw a pirates costume hanging in the closet and from there my imagination got the best of me. We started by transforming my bed into a pirate ship complete with sails, a Captain's wheel, pirate flag, and pirate peg leg Elmo as our crew member. Poor Elmo suffered the loss of his leg during a run in with a shark. Both Addison and I got on our pirate gear and set off to find the buried treasure. We sailed the seven seas. Captain Addison was wonderful at keeping the boast steady even when water conditions were less then favorable. I was the look out making sure no other pirates were trying to ambush our ship. Finally, we made it to dry land, Windhurst Island. While there, we found a message in a bottle leading us to a treasure map. Once we found the treasure map our journey began. The map took us all over the island through caves, across streams filled with sharks and gators , past a smoking volcano, we got chased by Native Indians, it was quite the adventure. Finally, Addison found the X and we all know X marks the spot. So we had to dig and dig and finally unveiled the buried treasure. The treasure was beautiful. There was gold, jewels, and coins. Captain Addison received a chocolate coin for being such a great captain and finding the buried treasure. I love pretending with her. She has a wonderful imagination. Can't wait to set sail on our next adventure.

Milestones from within the bump

A week ago I felt it. I wasn't quite sure what he was doing in there but thought it was kinda strange that he kept kicking in the exact same spot seconds apart. Then it dawned on me... Mason had the hiccups. Addison had only had them in utero one time that I was able to feel. Let me just say, it is the most unusual feeling. Ever since then he gets them all the time. Last night he had them three times. He must be gulping away in there. Kevin got to feel Addison's one episode and last night Mason's hiccups. We laughed and laughed as he hiccuped away. Addison had hiccups A LOT after she was born so makes me wonder if Mason will also. So for this month hiccups is on his list of milestones :)

This is how long until I see his beautiful face

Dear Mason,
I saw on my lily pie ticker that I only have 90 days until our eyes meet and I get to hold your small cute body in my arms. So I took the liberty of seeing just exactly how long I have to wait. Your sister ended up coming a week early but, I know that no matter when it is you decided to make your long waited arrival it was worth the wait. I just can't wait to see you and kiss your sweet little face. Only 90 days, which is 7,776,00 seconds, 129,600 minutes, 2160 hours or 12 weeks. You just concentrate on growing , sleeping, developing. being healthy, and prepare yourself for the abundance of kisses you are going to get. Our family and friends are excited to meet you and your big sister grows more excited each day to take care of you. She always calls you "her" baby. We love you so much and can't wait for you to be here. In the days to come, sends us some sweets kicks and movements. I love you sweet boy.

Love,
Momma


Duration calculation results:
From and including: Monday, February 7, 2011
To, but not including : Sunday, May 8, 2011

It is 90 days from the start date to the end date, but not including the end date

Or 3 months, 1 day excluding the end date

Alternative time units
90 days can be converted to one of these units:
7,776,000 seconds
129,600 minutes
2160 hours
12 weeks (rounded down)

Aquarium Belly

With Addison I had maternity pictures done and had every intention of doing a belly cast but never ended up doing my cast. Wish I had but I decided I'm going to have fun with my bump this time. I have so many ideas of how to decorate my belly and so many pictures I want to take. Last Friday Holly. Kevin, Addison, and I went out to eat. On our way home we stopped at Michael's for a face paining kit. After putting Addison to bed Holly painted my belly. It felt so funny. It was cold and very tickely. Mason sat sit for the first half of painting but began going crazy towards the end. Holly was amazed at how big his movements were. I think the weirdest sensation was having the inside of my belly button painted. Holly being so creative made my belly button and Octopus. Since my Mason belly is so big I could barely see anything (which reminds me that the other day i went to target wearing two different shoes-couldn't see over the belly so- in my defense at least both shoes were black.) When my belly aquarium was complete I got to see the whole thing in a mirror. Holly did a wonderful job and wants to do more belly art. I think my Mason belly was by far her favorite canvas :) No matter what we do Holly and I can always find something crazy to do together and have a good time doing it. Mason is growing bigger by the moment it feels. I'm so curious what he looks like and how similar or different he will be to Addison and most of all if he is healthy. I can't believe in just 95 days my little family of three will become a family of four. For now while little Mason is safe and secure in my tummy, I will enjoy Addison being my only child. I want to do some really fun things with her because I know although Mason's birth will be a huge wonderful change it will be very different for Addison. There is not a doubt in my mind that she won't be a wonderful, helpful, loving sister. Hopefully some time soon I will have some more belly art to share.

Carpet Picnic with Gram

With all this crazy cold weather we have been having, we have to be pretty inventive with our time. So we decided to turn an ordinary meal into a carpet picnic! Addison really liked the idea of an indoor picnic. Funny how putting an ordinary blanket on the floor and eating lunch on it can really impress a three year old.