Belly Shot

Okay, I give up. Some people have been giving me a hard time about not posting a belly shot. I'm not usually one to give into peer pressure, but since my family is having family pictures taken this week that will hang on my parents wall for the next year and probably end up on their Christmas card I might as well get over it and post one here first.This picture is the fine work of Mason who asked to take a picture of my big bubble after seeing some pregnancy pictures of his aunt Jenna and Becky who are having babies in February and April respectively, which we are so excited about. I went along with it and let him play around with the camera and snap some pictures. Other than the odd (and less than flattering) angle, missing head, and slight blurriness I felt like he did a fine job and decided to use his picture. Here is the 33 week belly.

32 Weeks

I realized I haven't done any posts about this pregnancy since 20 weeks, so for the sake of updating anyone who cares and to document a little bit about this pregnancy here is a quick 32 week pregnancy post. It is hard to believe that we have already reached the 32 week mark. I'm grateful to have had a very smooth pregnancy so far. I got to have another ultrasound a month ago at 28 weeks to check the position of my placenta (it was covering my cervix at 20 weeks). The placenta had moved, everything looked great, and as a bonus we got to see more of this handsome little guy.

Baby boy at 28 weeks

However, the adjective little was never used to describe him. His measurements showed him to be 29 weeks 5 days rather than the 28 weeks I actually was. This was a big difference from my 20 week ultrasound where he was measuring right on. They don't consider the dates very accurate at this point because babies vary in size further along in the pregnancy so they aren't changing my due date or anything, they just said he is a really big boy. He was over 3 lbs at that time (a month ago), which put him in the 85% for a baby of his gestational age. To hopefully avoid having too huge of a baby we decided to set an induction date for 39 weeks. So January 3rd will be the day unless he decides to come any earlier on his own. So only 7 weeks to go. While I don't feel ready to have this baby yet, my body has started screaming to be done with this pregnancy. The last 2 weeks I have been very uncomfortable. My back aches non-stop (thank you to all my 400 lb patients at work), I rarely get an hour of peace, day or night, without little boy beating my insides to a pulp, I get charlie horses in my legs at night that make my calves sore for days, and I have been getting migraines more and more frequently. Wow, was that enough complaining? Sorry. As far as names, we are stuck and don't really have any serious options at this point, but we're working on it. If you were hoping for a belly shot, sorry, I avoid being in front of a camera at all costs. But don't worry my belly is growing at a steady rate. Mason refers to the bump as my big bubble and Brynn gets frustrated when she tries to snuggle on my lap stating, "it's too big!" as she pushes on my belly. We are so grateful all is well and we are excited to meet our baby brother.

Crocodile Hunter

Mason has become quite enthralled with wildlife recently. A few months ago my mom took him to the Bean Museum at BYU and something inside him came alive. Since then he can't get enough of learning about these animals from all over the world. We have been back to the Bean Museum several times since (love that it's close and free... perfect outing) and every time he finds new animals to learn about. He asks me to read the little plaques in front of the animals over and over until he has them memorized almost word for word, then for the rest of the day he tells us all about that animal. We even caught the reptile show one time when we were there. Mason sat front and center and gave his undivided attention throughout the presentation. He loved the live animals they showed, and even asked if he could have the snake on his shoulders. (If the picture looks a little blurry it's probably because Scott was shaking with fear as he took the picture. He does not share the same love for snakes)

Mason also loves watching shows on the Discovery Channel that show animals in the wild and teach about where they live, what they eat, and how they survive. His favorite animals by far are crocodiles. Sometimes I cringe as I watch a crocodile attack a gazelle and pieces of it's carcass are flying all over, but Mason just watches in awe. He's very accepting of the circle of life.

He also has been intrigued by hunting. One day he requested to make a bow and arrow out of branches from our tree (no idea where he got the idea). He had me set up Brynn's stuffed animals around the house and he went on safari. Don't worry, he's not a poacher, he was living in the wilderness and the animals were attacking him. It was strictly for survival :) He definitely is our little crocodile hunter!

*Funny Mason Comment*

Mason found a deer hunt game on Scott's phone that he likes to play. One day he said to me, "Mom, I want to have a deer birthday party next year. We can all dress up like deer with antlers on our heads and Dad can chase us around with a gun hunting us. Isn't that a great idea?!" I laughed and told him I didn't know if that was a good idea. He then explained, "No, Dad would use a PRETEND gun." Well I certainly hope so.

Halloween Fun

I was never very big on Halloween until we had kids. I love letting my kids choose what they want to be and then putting together their dream costume for them. This year it was no surprise when the costumes started appearing in the stores, that Mason wanted to be optimus prime. It was by far the easiest costume I've ever done and he absolutely loved it.

Brynn on the other hand proved to be quite a bit more work. What's new? Brynn has never loved dressing up near as much as she loves stripping down and I don't think she really understood when I asked her what she wanted to be for Halloween. I actually told Scott about a month ago that I didn't know if she really cared what she was. HA! Who was I kidding? Brynn not have an opinion? Yeah right!! As Halloween approached she started to understand more. She started with the obvious choice of Minnie Mouse. My sister in law found a $1 deal at a garage sale and I was just going to put some finishing touches on it and we would be good to go. But in the weeks before Halloween Brynn became adamant that she wanted to be Captain Hook. When I would try to sway her back to Minnie she would firmly tell me, "I be Captain Hook!" So I began piecing together a Captain Hook costume for her. But, when the night of our first Halloween Party rolled around and I tried to get her dressed in her costume she was not a happy camper. "I don't like it!" was all she would say and we didn't even get all the pieces of the costume on before she started pulling it off.

So what did she want to be? Why a transformer of coarse. She put on Mason's costume and was happy as could be, but obviously that wasn't going to work. We suggested she wear her transformer costume from Mason's party, but she didn't want that, either.
No to Minnie, no to Captain Hook, and no to Transformer. What next? The only thing she wanted to wear that night was her piggy jammas. At this point I was just happy to have her dressed.

So off to our ward party we went with Optimus Prime and a girl in piggy jammas.

We've always carved our pumpkins to match our costumes, but Mason asked if we could make Jack-O-Lanterns this year. You know, the kind with triangle eyes and noses and teeth in their mouth? Scott was more than happy to give up carving optimus prime for a jack-o-lantern face. Brynn's only request was to have a baby pumpkin that she could carry around.

So when Halloween night rolled around Brynn woke up from her nap in a very agreeable mood and decided that she did in fact want to be Minnie. She enthusiastically put on her costume and started practicing her "Trick or Treat!" Can I just say keeping up with this little girl's mood swings is exhausting. You never know what you're going to get from one minute to the next with this little girl.

This was the first year that we have really and truely done Trick or Treating. We went around the ward with our good friends the McCanns and Ferrins.

We could hardly keep up with these boys all night! Mason had so much fun running around with his friends Tanner and Cache.

Brynn and Lydia had fun together, but were definitely worn out by the end of the night.

Happy Halloween... until next year!

Some Things Never Get Old

Watching my kids grow up is often times bitter sweet. It is fun watching them learn and grow, but I find it sad when something about them I love so much changes and is lost forever with their progress. Like when my babies are learning how to talk and say certain words in an incorrect, yet adorable, way, and then one day they learn how to say it correctly and I wish they would go back to saying it the old way because it always put a smile on my face. There are some things that seem to stick around a little longer, and for that I am grateful. One thing that has stuck around our house for the last 3 years is Mason's love of mowing the lawn with Scott. He was given a little lawn mower for his first birthday and fell in love instantly. Since then there has rarely been a time that Scott has mowed the lawn without his little shadow just a few steps behind. It doesn't matter how many times I see it, (every week for 3 summers) it never gets old. I probably have more pictures and video footage of this site than any other thing in our lives. It's just something that makes my heart so happy. This year it got even better as Brynn joined in. A little boy who wants to be just like his dad and a little sister who wants to be just like her brother.I just love it!

Practice Run

Today my mom babysat her neighbor's 2 month old baby boy and we spent the afternoon at her house using it as a little practice run for when our baby brother arrives in just a few short months. It made me smile to watch the loving and tender way Mason held and talked to the baby. He was just glowing as he spent time with the baby. He is so excited for his baby brother to arrive and I can tell you right now he is going to be an amazing older brother. Brynn on the other hand still has some room for improvement. She was more excited about the baby's binky then the baby itself and expressed on multiple occasions, "I don't like the baby." I guess they got off on the wrong foot when she said hi to the baby and after a long stare and a silent pause she pouted, "The baby didn't talk to me!" After watching Mason shake a little rattle and sing songs for the baby she decided to join in and give the baby a teddy bear... by throwing it at his head. It was with good intentions, but I'm very glad it was a stuffed animal and not a hard toy. She does love her baby doll (actually my old doll) very much these days and takes it everywhere with her. She seemed to do better when we focused on her taking care of her baby rather than focusing on the real baby. So I guess that teaches me to include her in things by letting her take care of her baby as I take care of our baby brother. Today sent mixed emotions running through me. Of course I am excited, but mostly I just feel incredibly nervous about the arrival of baby #3. I am already so in love with this little guy kicking around inside of me and just pray I will be able to give each of my precious children all of the love and attention they need and deserve. Thank goodness for 12 more weeks of preparation...I need every minute of it.

And since no post is complete without a picture, here is a picture of the first time Mason saw Brynn through the nursery window. I have no doubt Mason was sent to our family first to fill a very important role as an older brother in the lives of his siblings. And I think Brynn will feel this same kind of love when she meets her little brother.

The Red Dragons

Mason participated in his first official team sport this fall as a member of the "Red Dragons" soccer team.

The beginning of the season felt a lot like Brian Regan's "Lousy in Little League". (If you've never heard it or just want a good laugh go here ). Mason was more concerned about what they were having for the half time snack than where the ball was on the field. His little legs would tire easily and after a few trips up and down the field he would sometimes find a nice patch of shade to watch from rather than try to keep up with the ball. But as the season progressed, his confidence grew, and we started to find him in the center of action more often. He told us before each game, "I'll try to score a goal for you today." Each game came and went without a goal but Mason would proudly tell everyone that he helped his team score lots of goals by kicking the ball to them. In the final game of the season Mason finally got his goal... sort of. After a goal scored by one of his teammates the ball came back out on the field and before the coach could pick it up Mason kicked it back into the goal. The whole team celebrated his first goal with him. It was a perfect excuse for him and his best friend, Tanner, to given each other a chest bump, which they had perfected throughout the season. Mason had a blast playing soccer and is very excited to play with his team again next spring. We are so proud of Mason's great attitude and the improvement he showed over the season. It sure is fun being a soccer mom.