Mild Asthmatic? No, no. Just pregant!

I have been huffing and puffing for days! I'm only 13, almost 14, weeks pregnant! Not, 7 months! I should not be breathing like this! I guess it's a combo of the heat, allergies, and a growing little baby.

Although, it's no wonder I'm breathing heavy! School started back this week and we have also been packing because we've officially sold our house and bought a new one. It started so easily, just a knock on our door, but who knew it would have become the roller coaster it did?!?! That being said, we signed the paperwork on Thursday and all funds went through Friday evening at 5:45. The people had this weekend to move out, and told us they thought they'd be finished by Sunday at noon. I hope they're serious because I'd love to get in there and clean so we can start the move! I had to take off of work, which is a horrible thing on a Monday of the 2nd week of school, but we have to be out Tuesday by midnight. The long, slow, bumpy process, ended rather rapidly. It's crazy, but we figured this was the best opportunity for us! We hope we were right. A lot of prayer, consideration, and hard work is going into this. It's got to work! I'm finally at the excited point, now that I know FOR SURE what is happening! :)

I'm a little worried about Kinsey, though. I hope she adjusts to the new house. I don't know if there is something special I need to do for her? We plan on getting her room set up first, and letting her sleep in her crib a little while longer so that it is less of an adjustment. Wish us luck and you're all invited to the moving party! haha! I'll post pics when we get moved in and settled!!

House sitch(situation) :)

Well, thankfully, our closing date has been at least moved from the first day of school. It is supposedly the 26, of course it's always subject to change. We have started packing, which is very sad. Our house is looking bare. I don't like it, but I don't want to be stuch packing last minute. Everything seems to be in the clear, but with 3 closings, you never know! our current house and our future house both apparaised low, which stinks because banks don't approve loans for anything above appraisal. Thanksfully our buyers are coming up with the shortage on our currect house and our realtor gave up a part of his pay, along with the sellers coming down a little. It's a sweet deal for us because our payments go down a little. I got a quote on homeowners insurance, which started out cheap at $709, then I had them quote our auto, $200 cheaper than our current renewal. Also resulting in a group discount taking our homeowner's down to $677. Payment going down again! Woohoo!!

As for work, my room is ready. I'm excited to meet my kiddos tomorrow. Change has been hard, but it's usually good. I miss my friends a lot, but this first week is really the only time I see them, so I'll be better once the kids get there and I'm busy with them.

I'm sure you saw my previous baby post, but continue to keep us in your prayers for a healthy baby!!

That's it for today. 2 posts in one day is certainly not my norm, but I hope to be a little consistent!! :)

BLOG EXCLUSIVE!!!!

I haven't put this on Facebook yet, shocker, but I went to the doctor yesterday for Baby #2's Early Screen for Down Syndrome. I'm only 12 weeks, but the dr took a guess on the gender. He said he was 90% sure that Kinsey is going to have a baby BROTHER!!!!!! AHHHHHH!!!!! Now, again, I'm only 12 weeks and we'll check again to make sure when we go back in 8 weeks, but I am already so excited to have a perfect little family!!

I guess now I can let go of some of Kinsey's cute little clothes and make room for boy stuff!!


Here is a picture of what he saw as the "boy part."

It has been a while!

Lots of things are happening in the Mason household! We've sold our house and bought a new one. I hope everything goes smoothly this time. So far, so good. only problem with it so far is we're set to close August 22. Yep, that's right teacher friends, THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!

Speaking of school, you are looking at Rhea Elementary's newest 2nd grade teacher. I am so excited to start my new job. I'm really hoping a change in pace will renew my love for teaching. I'm sad to leave my friends at Blackburn and sad to leave the Dual Language program, but I'm sure it won't be long until I can get back in!

As for the other change, I'm sure you all know, we're adding to our family!! We are so excited to welcome a little brother or sister for Kinsey. She's still oblivious to the idea even though we tell her daily that we're having a baby and she's going to be a big sister. She shakes her head "no" whenever we ask her if she's going to be a good big sister. Ha!

And while we're on Kinsey . . . my little munchkin is growing up so quickly!! She's 18 months and little miss INDEPENDENT! She doesn't like to be in her stroller or the grocery cart. She now prefers to walk, make that RUN, all over the place. I never thought I would be one of "those moms", but we've busted out the backpack leash that we got as a shower gift. I promise not to abuse it and drag her through stores!! :) Anyway, Kinsey is talking up a storm these days! Her vocabulary list grows daily! Luckily, we keep it pretty clean here, so no embarrassing repeats! She loves "Melmo" (Elmo) and Winnie the Pooh. I took her to see the Pooh movie and she did really well. We ate some junk and she stayed pretty still until the last 5 minutes or so. She is a friendly little girl so I know she's looking forward to going back to daycare. I, on the other hand, am going to miss her so much! Who am I going to share my push-pops with??? Oh yeah, my life is about to get so crazy, I probably won't have time for them! Maybe we can sneak one in after dinner!!

The times, they are a changing . . .

Well, Kinsey has become a little rolly polly! She now rolls both ways! Yay! We're now working on sitting up. She can do it for a few seconds before we tumble over to the side.

Also, now that she can roll over, her tummy has become her favorite way to sleep. I put her to bed on her back, check the monitor a few minutes later and see the back of her head. She seems to sleep better that way, so who am I to fight it. I was waiting a few minutes, then flipping her, but she would just roll over again, so I stopped.

Today, we met Carrie, Val, and Emily at the pool with their kiddos and Kinsey played for about an hour, then I fed her and put her down. She was so tired, she went right to sleep and has been sleeping hard for almost 2 hours. I went to check in on her and found her new sleeping position. I love it!!





Also, when I was slathering her sunscreen on her before the pool time, I put it on her head and all of her hair was sticking up! It was so cute! She's finally getting some hair!

As far as foods, She now has had nectarine in her little mesh feeder and green beans baby food. So far, she hasn't met a food she didn't like! :)

And for the finale . . . dun dun duuuuuuuuuunnnnnnnnn, I'm realizing that work is just around the corner. I have trainings 4 days next week and 2 the week after, then only 2 full weeks with my sweet baby before I have to go back to work full time. I am dreading it, but I feel that it's what is best for my family. Maybe I can stay home the next time, but I got more time with her than most working mommies and for that, I am thankful. She will be 7 months old when I go back. Much better than 8 weeks. Now, as for the best place for childcare, I'm still working on that and will keep you posted.

Squash, and pears, and catfish? OH MY!

Yes, you read that correctly! I started Kinsey on cereal a few weeks ago, then last week we tried the squash. She liked both! We have gotten in the bad habit of when she leans forward to see what we're eating, we let her have a little taste, which is usually just a lick. Well, not this time, my friend. We were at a friend's fish fry Saturday night and Kinsey was watching Jeff very closely as he was eating his plate of yummy food, when he decided to put it towards her mouth to let her lick it, she took a BITE! Yes, a BITE! Geez! I fished that piece of catfish out of her mouth so fast with a brief "JEFF!!" That girl is fearless when it comes to food! I know what you're thinking, and you're right . . . She gets it from her Momma!! :) Anyway, I gave her pears last night and another hit! Should I be surprised? No, we're not picky eaters in this family!

Bumper pad saga and "Ma ma ma ma ma"

So, I thought I might be able to sleep more at ease knowing that Kinsey would not be suffocating herself with a blanket or bumper pads, but now she keeps dropping her pacifier behind the bed. So, I have to scrounge for another and then when she drops that one, it's time to pull the bed out and get them, then convince her to go back to sleep. Plus, getting her to go to sleep in the first place is difficult because she can now see me leaving the room. Pretty sure I can't win. It's still new, I guess, and should be temporary because she has started rolling over more. It's still just from back to tummy, but between that and the scooting all around, I'm not too concerned about her development anymore.

Last night, while Kinsey was whining(which she does when she's tired) she was saying "ma ma ma ma!" That was the spoonful of sugar I need to be dealing with the not sleeping thing. How do you get frustrated at that? :) I know she hasn't applied meaning to it yet, but it's pretty sweet anyway.

Also, I put some watermelon in one of those mesh feeders for Kinsey to chew on. She really liked it, so I'm going to get some other fruits for her to try today. I'll keep you posted!

No more bumpers pads . . .

Kinsey's pediatrician has an iphone app, The Kid's Doctor, and two days ago, posted an article about how babies should sleep. To reduce the risk of SIDS, there are so many precautions you should take, such as sleeping on their backs, using pacifiers, using a ceiling fan(which we don't because we have a beautiful chandelier, but we keep the house cold at night); but, Dr. Hubbard suggested no blankets, which is something we have always used and no bumper pads, another thing that she had in her cradle and in her crib. Although, I have noticed that Kinsey manages to wiggle out of her swaddled blanket and is now snuggling up to the bumper pads, which can cause her to suffocate! So scary to think I had been letting her sleep like that.

So, is there a time when the bumper pads should go back in the crib or are they a waste of money? I spent a lot of money on her bedding, and it's so pretty, but did I waste my money by not letting her sleep in her crib until she was nearly 5 months?



Just snapped this picture during her nap, I had to use flash and almost woke her up or I would have taken more!

Cereal

Our baby girl is getting so big! 5 months old and 14 lbs to be exact! :) I have noticed when I take bites of food while I'm holding her, she follows the food into my mouth, so I thought it might be time for her to start cereal. The Dr. had told me at her 4 month appointment to try it around July 4th, but I thought with her following it, that trying it a little early wouldn't hurt. She was so funny! At first she just kind of moved it around with her tongue, but then she really got into it and held my hand while I gave it to her, then proceeded to grab the spoon and try to put it in HERSELF! The girl thinks she is grown! I couldn't get the video to upload. :( There's one on Facebook, but this one was different.

Our first virus...

Well, I knew it was going to happen someday, but I didn't realize it would be so soon. Kinsey wasn't herself on Monday and I couldn't figure out what was wrong with her. It wasn't until late afternoon that I realized she felt incredibly hot and was running a fever of 102!! Poor baby! I thought she was just as worn out as me from all that was going on. Anyway, I called the dr about a million times and they assured me I didn't need to come in until it had been going on for 3 days. Well, yesterday morning was 3 days, so I took her in. Apparently, she has some sort of summer virus that has been going around the Dallas area. Luckily, fever has been her only symptom and she has been fever free for almost 24 hours! Yay!! We survived! Maybe now we can go back to our normal sleep schedule! :)

Skittles

Today has been a day to say the least! On one hand, it started out as a great day. Kinsey slept in her own bed, in her own room for the first time last night. We decided she was getting too big for her cradle now that she is scooting around and Heaven forbid, she decides to roll over in it and end up on the floor. Kind of bittersweet. I missed her a little and kept waking up to watch her in the monitor. :) Plus, I ran a mile and a half this morning which hasn't happened in a very long time.

On the other hand, my Great Uncle Dick passed away this morning. He had been battling cancer for quite some time. He has always been so strong and come out of it before, so I didn't feel like this time should be any different. Since I always had Kinsey with me, I wasn't able to spend time with him in the hospital and we were afraid to be around him too much when he came home, because of the Chemo and how easily he could get sick. I spend a lot of time with him and my Aunt Dodi when I was younger. I remember him playing music at family funtions. Mainly I remember him singing Alan Jackson's "Livin' on Love." He used to say I would never go anywhere without a package of Skittles. Even into my adulthood, he would still bring me a package of Skittles when he knew he was going to see me. Then, when he found out Jeff would sometimes eat my Skittles, he started bringing Jeff a package too. I'm so sad that Kinsey will not know him the way that I did. Uncle Dick, you will be greatly missed and I'll see you again, someday.

The joys of motherhood...

You know you're a mother when you approach something like this without throwing up . . .



Now, I'm not saying I didn't freak out a little and want to yell for help. I did find myself talking out loud to myself trying to figure out the best solution to attempt the "clean up." There was a brief hosing down, followed by the removal of the onesie and stupid Huggies diaper(package was free, I think we'll stick to Pampers), another hose down, then a scrub down in the tub and the cover of the bouncy seat in the washing machine. Whew! Mission accomplished! Kinsey was laughing at me the whole time. I think that made it a little easier, lol!

Pool Time!

You may have seen the pictures of Kinsey's first water adventure on Facebook, but these were taken today. She enjoyed it much more this time with smiles and squeals! I caught a few smiles, but as soon as I try to video, she usually stops whatever super cute thing she's doing . . . Anyway, enjoy my sweet baby's fun in the sun!

Long overdue update...

Well, Kinsey is now 4 months old! Thankfully, Jeff is working hard so I can stay with her a little longer than originally planned. I was supposed to go back to work in April, but now it has been postponed until August! Yay!!!!

Kinsey is growing so fast! At her 4mo appointment, she weighed 11lb, 10oz, and was 24 1/4in long. We had to start supplementing with formula about a month ago, and has really been packing on the pounds since then! She has been sleeping through the night since she was 9 weeks old! We are so lucky!! Also, she's at the age where everything goes in her mouth, including nearby hands, so look out!! She has been smiling big, gummy grins for quite some time and is giggling and talking a lot now.

We are in our second Kindermusik session. For those of you that don't know, it is a music and movement class. She really likes when I sing to her,(poor thing has no idea that I'm tone deaf) so I thought she might enjoy it. We get some good smiles out of her, so I think she does.

Our house has been on the market for about 2 weeks now. We're not in any real hurry to move, but we need a little more room for our numerous vehicles and Jeff's many projects. If we could build him a shop here, we would love to stay, but theHOA won't allow it. Plus, we have finally found a church that we feel like home to us, so it would be a shame to drive further than we already do.

We have been attending Creekside Church of Christ in Midlothian. It's a 40 minute drive (ride for me!), which is completely worth it when you walk in the door and people greet you with your name after you've only been there twice. What a wonderful feeling! I want to raise Kinsey going to church because I feel like I really missed out when I was a child. The people are so sweet to her and many volunteer to take her home with them! Ha! We put her in the nursery for the first time this past Sunday, while we visited our bible class for the first time. I couldn't really pay attention because I was counting down the minutes until we could go get her, but Jeff said he enjoyed it. Then, we got her out and took her in for the service. Kinsey was singing very loudly and cracking everyone up around us. Then, fell asleep in her daddy's lap, with her arms up behind her head, maxin' and relaxin'! The people around us enjoyed that too. It was a special treat at church because my old(former, not age) minister was the guest speaker and did such a great job! We also got to see so many people from Beltline at Main that were all coming to see him. What a day!

Anyway, that's all I can think of for now. Maybe I can try to update regularly now that Kinsey is napping for longer than 20 min. at a time. Laundry is calling my name . . .

Kinsey's First Bath

Well, it took her a while, but Kinsey finally lost her umbilical cord stump on Sunday, February 7, 2010. We went ahead and still gave her a sponge bath because there was still some "gunk" in there. However, last night I decided it was time for her first tub bath. Here are a few pictures. You'll notice she did not enjoy it much! Check out that cute hiney!!

It's been a while . . .

I'm home by myself now with my precious little baby and while I should be sleeping when she's sleeping, it's a little hard during the day. But, that leaves me a little time to blog, so we'll start back up from here!

I had an amazing pregnancy, with a little high blood pressure towards the end, but everything else was so wonderful. I loved it. However, it made me think my delivery was going to be hard and boy was it! 19 1/2 hours in labor, 3 hours of pushing, all to result in an emergency c-section because she was OT, which means head down, face to the side.

Here is how it went down . . .

We went in on the 13th at 10 to get cervadil(sp?) because my blood pressure has been pretty high, but I wasn't dilating. So, we stayed over night and woke up the next morning only to find out that I still wasn't dilated! So, they went ahead and took me to L&D and put me on pitocin. I was contracting every minute, but I couldn't feel a thing because of pain meds. Anyway, by like 5 or 6p.m. I had only dilated to a 3. They checked again at 8 p.m. and I was dilated to an 8. By 10 p.m. I was at a 10, so we started pushing while waiting for the dr. Well, I pushed for 3 hours and we discovered she was turned head down, but her face was sideways and she was stuck in my pelvis. So, at 2 a.m. I was pulled into the OR and had to have an emergency c-section. 2:52 a.m. Kinsey was here!!

Anyway, Kinsey Elizabeth is absolutely perfect. I love her so much. I am one exhausted mommy, but I know it's all worth it!

"My Treasure . . ."

is apparently what Kinsey means in Arabic. Isn't that perfect? Just thought I'd share! :)

Now, the pictures you have been waiting for . . .

belly and bedding pictures!! :)

I bought the bedding from Baby World in Dallas. The pictures aren't very good, but you get the idea. The fabrics are Watermelon Paisley, Watermelon stripes, Watermelon Candy, and brown Minky Dot. I love it. Now, what color do I paint the nursery?

Just as Kinsey is growing . . .

so is her CLOSET!!! :) I LOVE IT!!! Here are some of her cute new things!!














We have so many sweet friends and family!! Her new Nikes are from her Marnie and Papa(Jeff's parents), her yellow blanket is from my friend, Emily, her purple "Queen" onesie is from my friend, Valerie, the pink "daddy" shirt is from my cousin, Sheri and her family, my friend, Carrie, bought her the pink onesie with the little hats and a matching bandana for Sweetie. I bought the pj's with the cute little feet, the little sundress, the bows, and the diaper bag!!

We have MOVEMENT!!

Our little baby has been moving like crazy! Usually when I'm sitting down. It didn't feel like gas or flutters to me, but I'm now at the point when I can feel her moving with my hand, not just inside!! Hopefully Jeff will be able to feel soon! I am totally loving the whole pregnancy thing. Well, almost whole, not so much the throbbing feet at the end of work and the lack of wardrobe! The movement and the growing belly are absolutely wonderful and miraculous!!

Also, we're thinking about naming our sweet baby girl, Kinsey. Isn't it super cute? A little stumped on a middle name. I'm thinking Kaye, Rae, Kate, or maybe Elizabeth. Any thoughts?