He's here!!

Mason Everett was born on December 25th...that's right, Christmas day...at 4:34 pm. Nothing was quite as I had anticipated but he made his arrival according to his timing, and we are so blessed that he was a healthy baby boy. He is amazingly perfect and we are SO in love. I have enjoyed our first week with our precious baby boy so much more than I did with Elliott. I loved my first week with Elliott but I was anxious about so many things that I feel like I missed the sweetness of the moments you have with a newborn, not to mention I was still surprisingly uncomfortable from having a baby. This time around, I have been able to enjoy the sweetness of snuggling Mason, even if it is in the middle of the night, I have enjoyed seeing his funny expressions and hearing his little noises, I love feeling the softness of his newborn skin. He has been so much fun! All this being said, I'm definitely tired and look forward to sleeping for greater than 3 hour increments sometime in the distant future, but for now, I'm trying to relish these sweet times, because I know they pass oh so quickly. I'm planning on posting more details about his birth etc...hopefully soon, but no guarantees. I'm sleep deprived and have a very active toddler to chase around. My new normal.

Elliott's first meeting with Mason. She gave him lots of kisses!

Our first picture with our son after his delivery.

Perfect little footprints.

Such an alert little guy.

39 weeks, 3 days...and still pregnant

I know I'm not even to my due date, but it feels like I have been pregnant F-O-R-E-V-E-R. How do women go one or even two weeks past their due date? I have serious respect for them. I think what has made the waiting the hardest this time is I expected to go early because I did with Elliott...makes sense history would repeat itself, right? Wrong. Nothing makes sense in the world of babies. Here are my most recent belly shots...taken a couple minutes ago.

And for kicks, here is a picture when I was 38 weeks, 3 days with Miss E. I even put on the same shirt for nostalgia's sake.

I always think it's fun to look back. And because I can't resist posting/saying a couple things about Miss Elliott, here are a couple pictures I took of her and her BFF Maryn the other day.

Elliott has a "secret" hideout she found under the counter. She opens this cabinet door frequently to go to her place and takes many items with her...her ball, baby, friends. It always makes me laugh.

M decided to check it out too.

This age has been SO much fun! Some things I don't want to forget:

She says night-night to the Christmas tree for every nap and at night.

The first thing she insists on doing every morning is plugging the Christmas tree in. Can you tell she has a small love affair with the tree? :)

She LOVES Christmas lights and points them out all the time.

She loves to spin in circles.

She loves singing...today, Kev and I were singing on the way home and as soon as we stopped she signed more over and over. Then emphatically nodded that she wanted us to sing more.

I can't wait to see how she will respond to her baby brother!

Christmas fun!

No...I am still not in labor. Still waiting. I am 39 weeks and 1 day...aka the most pregnant I have ever been. Elliott's "day" she was delivered on (38 weeks 5 days) came and went, uneventfully. I guess Baby Boy wanted his own arrival day.

In the mean time, we've been enjoying Kev being off school and have watched lots of Christmas movies, went looking at Christmas lights while drinking hot chocolate, went to the movies to celebrate the end of the semester (we watched Sherlock Holmes...good movie), and have had lots of family time. It has been really fun! Tonight we had a little Christmas party with our small group. We decided to dress the kids up in their Halloween outfits and take some pictures...why not, right? What kid doesn't like to dress up? I was actually really excited because Miss E never got to wear her Halloween outfit since she had the croup at Halloween.

Rapunzal, Yoda, a bee, and a ladybug...such a great combo.

The 2 little insects

I think Elliott really liked her costume. She didn't try to take it off and she kept petting her antenae. So funny!

Then we had some sugar cookies...yummy!

What's this green stuff all over my hands?

What do you have over there?

BEST.Sugar.Cookie.Ever (at least I think that's what she was saying by this somber stare.) :)

No news...

No news in the world of delivering babies...at least for me. It's a little hard to not feel like I'm just waiting...waiting for our little guy to decide it is time to make his grand entrance. Wouldn't today be a good time? I'm not sure if he and I are on the same page. I had Miss Elliott when I was 38 weeks and 5 days. I will be 38 weeks and 5 days TOMORROW. Tomorrow. Doesn't he realize he should follow in his sister's footsteps? If so, he needs to get a move on it because the chances of delivering tomorrow are looking more and more slim.

I'm still *trying* to enjoy my time now. Time to sleep through the night, time to sleep until 7:30 (can you tell I like to sleep?), time to play with our precious daughter, time to enjoy the anticipation of Christmas, time to hang out with my husband. But in the back of my mind, I'm also waiting. Waiting to see his sweet little face and see if he looks like Elliott or totally different, waiting to feel his warm little body snuggled in on my chest, waiting to see how Elliott responds. So many conflicting thoughts and emotions.

I am definitely to the stage of pregnancy where every phone call I make, I have to preface the conversation with, "No, I'm not in labor" because everyone else knows it could be any day...or it could be a week away. Who knows but GOD? I wish he would give me a hint though so I wouldn't go to bed every night wondering if this could be the night....

16 Month Stats

Elliott went to the doctor Friday for her 15 month appointment (although she was 16 months). I was so glad to learn that she was finishing up the last of her routine vaccinations until she is 4! So exciting! I just wish she realized that. She still was pretty sad to get her shots. :(

Here are her 16 month stats:

Height-33 3/4 inches (99%)

Weight-27 pounds, 13 ounces (95%)

Head-19 3/4 inches (100%)

I'm amazed she is still in the upper 90s for all her stats! She seems like a normal size to us, but I am always amazed how much taller she is than her peers. I've even had several people ask me if she is 2...no one EVER guess she is not even 18 months yet. So funny!

I'm feeling more and more prepared for Baby Boy to be here! I'm not sure if Kev would say the same thing (he's still working on studying for a final/final project), but I feel like I have accomplished some major things recently. We finally went on a tour of the OB floor at the hospital today so we now know where to go when I go into labor, I've frozen 4 or 5 meals in preparation, I washed his clothes and crib sheets, I've sent out Christmas cards and almost finished all my Christmas shopping, finished almost all of my thank you notes, and we finally got his bedding on his bed.

Did I mention he has to sleep in our room? Our house has 2 rooms and a "sleeping porch." Before we moved here, we just assumed we would use the sleeping porch as a bedroom, but when we got here, we quickly realized there were some serious drawbacks to that idea. First, the room is not well insulated so it it gets REALLY cold during the winter...not necessarily something you want for your kiddo. Also, the only way to get to it is through Elliott's bedroom. Many obvious problems with this, namely, 2 awake kids in the middle of the night=insanity. Then we came up with our second idea...we have a large closet in our bedroom that we're not really using and we originally thought we would put him in there, until we realized it was just big enough for the crib but would be difficult getting him in and out (not to mention change the sheets) and the closet is really cold. So finally we came up with the option above...him sleeping in our room. We bought PVC pipe and curtains so we are going to section the room off...we'll see how it works. Oh the fun NEVER.STOPS. We're ready for our little man to be here!

16 Months Old

I can't believe Miss E is 16 months old! I have been really terrible with her monthly updates after she turned 1 years old, but I have been looking back at my previous updates to complete her baby book and it is SO fun to see what she was doing. It is also AMAZING how much I have forgotten already. So with that in mind, I thought it would be fun to try to right more consistent updates. We'll see how long my resolve lasts. :)

• She is wearing 18-24 month/24 month/2T clothes. 18-24 month clothes are actually getting a little tight. I typically buy 2T shirts because they are a little longer in the torso.
• She just started wearing size 5 shoes.
• She wears size 6 diapers...size 6! I think it's the largest diaper they sell at the store. Craziness! Guess the next step is to potty train her. :)
• She is definitely a much pickier eater than she used to be which is SO sad to me. She doesn't really like any veggies and very limited fruits. I started buying the baby food packets (that are ridiculously overpriced in my opinion), and she will eat those. Her favorite foods include peanut butter and honey sandwiches, eggs, any carbohydrate/bread, and CHOCOLATE! I have given chocolate to Elliott several times only to see her have a *complete meltdown* when I wouldn't give her more. It was not pretty. So I'm unsure how much chocolate she'll be getting. My mom also introduced her to orange mango juice which she LOVES. She actually has never drank juice at all until she tried the special juice...she may never be the same. As soon as she finishes her half cup, she frantically starts signing more and pointing to the refrigerator. Pretty hilarious. At least she still loves water too.

• 

Don't you love the actual boxes under our tree? I'm not sure if E will try to unwrap the presents so we're just not even dealing with that battle right now. Elliott loves to sit at the step at the bottom of our stairs. It's pretty funny.

Elliott feeding her baby her water bottle.

• Elliott runs CONSTANTLY. She is constantly on the go and into EVERYTHING. She loves to explore, open/close things, take things out, etc. We were playing in the living room the other day and the room was a mess (no surprise), but as I looked around, I realized there was maybe 1 toy out and everything else was just nontoy things she likes to play with...things in drawers, coasters, books, etc. Why do we even buy toys?
• She still LOVES Truman and recently has wanted to try to stand on him. We try to discourage this, but she thinks it's pretty funny.

• Recently, she started walking around on her toes. It is so funny! She also loves to walk backwards...she always gets a funny smile on her face when she does it.
• She has never been into her babies or stuffed animals, but recently she has really loved her baby. She wants to wrap her up in the blanket (or have me wrap her), then she unwraps...repeat. She also wants me to put her shirt on so she can take it off. She sits in her chair and pats her baby's back. Hopefully those motherly instincts continue when Baby Boy gets here.
• She LOVES Praise Baby DVDs...she immediately gets calm when she watches them. She also loves to watch videos we have taken of her on our iPhones. It is our go-to if she gets fussy or we need to give her medicine or any other unpleasant task. Is that bad?
• She has so many more opinions and thoughts about EVERYTHING...the challenge is just trying to figure out what she wants sometimes. She is getting much better about communicating and nods her head emphatically when I guess right.

Downing her water. It obviously works better this way.

• This age is SO much fun! She is learning so much and so inquisitive about everything. It is also a very exhausting age because she gets very angry/frustrated when she doesn't get her way. Not always easy to know how to deal with these fits but we're learning...as is she...hopefully.

There is SO much more that she is doing, but this post is definitely long enough...and I need to go to bed. We love our little Ellie Bean!

37 weeks

I have done a terrible job posting pics of my "bump" progression, but here is the picture we took today...37 weeks (and 1 day but who's counting?). I definitely feel pregnant, back pain and all. I'm to the stage where I feel the need to audibly grunt when I stand up. It's really attractive, I assure you. :) But the good thing is Baby Boy is growing and for that I am SO very thankful! I saw the doctor last Thursday and she checked me and said my cervix was thinning but no dilation yet. SO...I guess we'll see.

I was able to check a major thing off my list tonight...I finally completed AND ordered Elliott's one year baby book. I have been making a book for her on Shutterfly for, oh the past YEAR, and 101 pages later (the max), I finished it. I must say, I'm quite proud of myself because I was able to order it 50% off, with an additional $10 off, and free shipping. I saved a total of $115. Still not a cheap baby book, but I think it will be totally worth it!

When I was downloading these pictures of the bump, I found some cute pics of Miss E we took over a month ago at the park. We had walked to the park and let her swing for a little bit. Gotta love a little girl in a hat and gloves!!!

I feel like I need to post this disclaimer. When I first saw the pictures, I noticed her lips are BLUE! It was chilly but not that cold. Talk about making me feel like a negligent parent. Then I remembered that around this time she had a nasty fall and almost bit through her lip. Her lip was blue for a long time. So I think it was the injury, not the cold weather, causing the blue tinged lip. Okay, I feel better.

Survival

That's the mode we're in these days people...full out survival. Why, you may ask? Several reasons. First, we're right in the midst of finals for Kev. There are definite perks about him being back in school...he gets a month off for Christmas and summers off, he has a pretty flexible schedule and so far has been able to watch Miss E one day a week when I work, among others. Finals week is NOT one of those perks. I have found myself reminiscing about "the good ol' days" when he just had a normal job and was free in the evenings and weekends. He has not been super stressed and has handled all his papers/tests very well, but I still find myself counting down the days to Christmas break.

Finals probably wouldn't be as bad, but they're combined with another factor...I'm 37 weeks pregnant and chasing after a very active, very opinionated, almost 16 month old. Needless to say, it is slightly exhausting. I do pretty well most of the time, but then I hit a wall of absolute fatigue and survive is all I can do. Sometimes I feel like a whiney mess which drives me crazy, so I'm sure it must be driving Kev crazy as well. I'm sure we'll all be thankful when this first round of finals is over.

In the midst of this survival mode, we have had really sweet moments. We were able to celebrate Thanksgiving with some sweet friends here that weren't able to travel home either. I did a terrible job taking pictures, but you can see some here on Billy and Kate's blog. I realized tonight that Thanksgiving (and Christmas) will be the first 2 holidays that I have EVER not spent with my family (and I think the same applies to Kev). Kind of crazy. It was a really fun time and the food was delicious!

I have also felt so overwhelmed at the love and support we have felt from our friends here, especially with all the business of life. Several of my friends hosted a church shower today for Baby Boy and there were people who came that I hardly even knew. So amazing! I feel like our friends have also been more than willing to help out with Elliott both now and when Baby Boy gets here. I think in Norman I would have expected the support because we knew people well after living there for 11 years, but I feel like we are still getting to know people here and yet they are going above and beyond what I would ever expect. We feel so thankful to have found "family" away from home.

So thankful!

I am so very thankful for this precious little girl. Although being a parent is hard work, it is also the most incredible blessing too. Sometimes I think how simple and uncomplicated our lives were before kids, but I would never want to return to those days and miss the joys that raising a child brings. I feel like I haven't shared much about Miss Elliott lately, so I thought I would take today to share some things in her I am thankful for.

I am thankful for her excitement for life. The girl runs all the time (or her version of a run). She is never satisfied to sit still and is constantly exploring, constantly moving. Her new trick has been learning how to climb. The other day I turned around to find her standing on Truman's huge bin of food. Gulp. Visions of her crashing to the floor flashed through my mind as I realized we have entered a whole new stage of potential for injury. Elliott is not a huge talker but one of her favorite words is "wow" and she uses it OFTEN. Apparently there is a lot that "wows" her.

I am thankful for her independent spirit. She loves to do things on her own...feed herself, climb up stairs, I think she would change her own clothes if she could just figure out exactly how to do it. The reverse is she hates to do things she does not initiate, such as getting her diapers changed. It's funny to see such a small girl try to exert such independence (and have such strong opinions about things...that's putting it nicely).

I am so thankful to see her act more like a little girl and less like a baby. It's amazing how much she understands! I can tell she is actually comprehending what I tell her, whether it be what we're doing or when I give her simple commands. It seems like every day she is understanding more too. I can now get her to throw things away for me (the trick is getting her to leave other things in the trash), and I'm hopeful that by the time Baby Boy gets here, she'll be able to get a diaper for me. We'll see how that works. :)

I'm thankful for the moments she still needs her mommy. It warms my heart when she gives me kisses or lays her head on my shoulder or reaches for me when she gets hurt. Although she is a busy little girl, I always get to see glimpses of her sweet side.

Joyful independence!

We took these pictures about a month ago, but I feel like they show such a joyful side of her (especially since she is not smiling in so many pictures we take). She is truly our little miracle, and we are so blessed!

Preparation...

How is it possible that Thanksgiving is in 2 DAYS?? And that Christmas is in 1 MONTH??? I feel like I'm in a whirlwind of activity and time is flying by. And with each day that flies by, I keep thinking, how is it possible that our little baby boy will be here in 5 weeks or less? I had Elliott when I was 38 weeks 5 days so I realize there is a possibility he could come a little early. I'm not sure I feel ready. Don't get me wrong, this body is TIRED of being pregnant. Wow...not sure how women have like 10 kids. Pregnancy wears.me.out. I do love feeling baby boy move, and I love knowing he is growing, but this stage in the game is just uncomfortable and I would say I'm definitely more uncomfortable than I was when I was pregnant with E.

Part of me wonders if I am physically ready. The pain of birth is no surprise now...no mystery. I know it hurts...bad. Also, although I am uncomfortable now, I'm not sure I'm ready to be completely and utterly exhausted from waking up in the middle of the night. Newborn babies are SO sweet, but there is nothing like getting only small segments of sleep. We finally got baby boy's crib set up, but beyond that, I don't feel like I have much more ready for him. Poor guy doesn't even have a name yet!

Finally, I'm not sure I am mentally prepared to have 2 children. Elliott is at a super fun age as we get to see more and more of her little personality, but she also is at an age where I am constantly questioning how to be an effective parent. It's so easy to second guess how and what you do and wonder how to best raise them. What's going to happen when we throw in a completely helpless baby that demands our attention?

We are SO excited to meet our little guy, and I don't want to seem ungrateful. I am so thankful for this precious life growing inside me, but I definitely have had more emotions as his due date draws near. I think in some ways my fears stem from my desire to want to have all my "ducks in a row." I like to feel totally prepared, totally on top of things, and I just don't right now. It's probably just preparation for our lives with 2 kids, but it is hard for me to let go of the control.

Where we've been

Where do you even start when you've been gone for a greater than 2 week blogging hiatus? So much to share, especially since we were gone for most of this time. I'll try to make it brief, but I warn you, I decided to limit the words so I could post more pictures.

Elliott and I decided to make a girls trip to Texas to see my first niece/her cousin.

Isn't she precious?

We actually flew into Oklahoma City first so we got to spend a couple of nights with our sweet friends...

they even hosted a come and go party for us so we could see other friends since we weren't able to hang out with everyone one-on-one (of course I took no pictures of this event). Then we stayed a night with Kev's parents and E got some play time with her cousins

and Aunt Lisa.

No pictures with Uncle Seth! So sad!

Then we drove to Texas and spent a week with my parents (my dad was there too...promise).

My middle sister and her husband came up for the weekend so we got to see them too.

Hanging with Uncle Josh.

Checking Baby H out.

Did I mention I did all of this when I was 33/34 weeks pregnant with a 15 month old that weighs 26+ pounds? Not going to lie, all of the travel was slightly exhausting but TOTALLY worth it!

The flight to OKC was slightly traumatic...we missed our first flight due to poor time management and having E's diaper bag run multiple times through the scanner then eventually searched (I guess the snacks I brought looked suspicious). Definitely a bad start to an already potentially stressful day. Don't kid yourself, I was definitely that token pregnant girl walking through the airport bawling when I called Kev to tell him. Not my best moment. Things got better from there, and thankfully the missed flight only extended our travel time by a couple hours (which can feel like an eternity with a toddler).

The flight home from Amarillo was much more smooth even though we had one extra stop, and we only had one leg of the flight where a very large man sat in the middle seat so we had very little room in our seat by the window. Did I mention the plane was hot as well? Not a good combo for this girl. I packed new toys/stickers/coloring book, tons of snacks, put videos on my iPhone, but I hadn't thought through the fact that I can no longer bend at the waist. This probably made flying the most difficult because I had to rely on the people sitting next to me to get things for me. By the end of traveling, I wised up and put everything I thought we could potentially use in the seat pocket in front of me.

It was quite an adventure but we survived! It was pretty amazing to see Kev's face in Chicago though. Life is definitely easier with him! I'm just SO thankful we got to see Baby H! She is absolutely perfect and I'm just sad we don't live closer so we can see her more often.