Nervous moments

Kevin is out of town at meetings until Thursday evening. Last night Mason and I went to bed and I woke up at 12:45, to use the bathroom as usual because it feels as though this child has made her home on my bladder. I noticed that I was having a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions. They were uncomfortable, but not too unbearable. I was awake still at 2:30, when Mason comes in the room and climbs in bed with me, with him tossing and turning and my contractions, I didn't get back to sleep until 4:00 a.m. I then wake up at 6:45 a.m. because Mason was stirring and was ready to get up. I could have slept all day!

I had a scheduled doctor's appointment this morning, so I called Donna and asked if she could drive me over to Columbia, because I didn't feel that great still. I got to the doctor's office and she checked me and said everything still looked fine, but just to be sure, she did a test that would tell if I was at risk for preterm labor. Thankfully, that came back negative. I guess my body is just preparing for Reagan's arrival. Dr. Wilson told me to take it easy. (Yeah, right! I have a very active 2.5 year old who proves otherwise). I go back in two weeks unless I have some other problems. I am thankful that I had my appointment today, because I would have been going crazy wondering what was wrong. With Mason, I didn't have the Braxton Hicks contractions this much. But, all pregnancies are different.

I am looking forward to Kevin coming home so that I can get some real sleep and relax while he and Mason play. Mason loves his Daddy so much and loves rough housing with him. It brings me such joy to see the two men in my life have so much fun together. Kevin is a terrific father and husband. I am very lucky to have him in my life. He keeps me sane and shows me unconditional love. He is my best friend and I love him so much! I can't believe we are going to be parents of two beautiful children in 5 short weeks! We have been together for 15 years and will celebrate 9 years of marriage on July 17. He is a very hardworker and is always willing to help others out. He provides so well for our family and he makes me feel so secure and loved. Everyone should be lucky enough to have someone like Kevin in their lives. I am so lucky that God (and Clint) brought us together.

Memorial Day...How fun was yours??

Mason discovered mud puddles at our farm on Memorial Day. Here is several pictures of his fun!!

We spent Saturday and Sunday in Savannah visiting Derek, April, Haley and Bronson, but other than that, our weekend was really quiet and relaxing.

Today Kevin is heading to Iowa for several days of meetings, so I will be a single mom! UGH! Mason is so active, I just hope I can keep up with out tiring out too much!

Our handsome farm boy!

Announcing the arrival of Acorn!!!

Mason is the proud new owner of a cat named Acorn.

Why the name Acorn, you ask? Well, she fell out of the oak tree in our front yard, almost two weeks ago and has continued to hang around despite being "treed" for two days thanks to Ramsey. (Thanks for the brilliant name, Kevin!)

She is a very loveable cat and is not fully grown. The best part is, is that she adores Mason and Mason adores her. She lets Mason carry her around like a bale of hay and she doesn't seem to mind too much. I have to remind Mason to be gentle with kitty. She follows him everywhere outside. If Mason looks back and runs, she will run after him. She loves to sit on his lap when he plays in Uncle Jim's dune buggy. Acorn seems happy here, even with the three dogs. She can hold her own and loves her new home in the chicken house!

Kevin and I have been talking a lot about getting Mason a swing set for outside that he could play and climb on. Luckily, Donna called in to Party Line last Saturday and we got one call back. This one call was the swing set we were looking for. Wooden, with a slide and a couple of swings. We went to look at it and bought it on the spot. We still have to put it together here at the house, but we know Mason is going to have so much fun on it. We are going to spruce it up with new swings and chains.

Mason continues to go to speech therapy. He is talking more and more, but still babbling. He has said, "baseball", "bike", and "bath" all in the last week, so we feel this is a huge improvement! He also signed "eat" to me yesterday morning when he was outside and I asked him if he wanted to have some breakfast.

Yesterday I took Mason into Harley Park to play in the Tot Lot. He had so much fun climbing the ladders and going down the slides. He seems to like going up the slide the wrong way also! I promised him that we would make some more trips in to the park before the baby gets here and the weather gets too hot. Luckily, if it gets too hot, we can stop in and cool off at Aunt Shelley's house!

Kevin just started planting corn today on the land he rents from Dad. He has been very anxious lately, but seems to be at peace knowing that it is finally going to be done. He is very proud of his work on the land and is looking forward to reaping the benefits of this year's corn crop.

I am continuing to go to my doctor every two weeks for my prenatal appointments. Reagan is head down and causing me to be uncomfortable more and more, but I don't mind. I am just happy knowing that she is happy and healthy inside for several more weeks. Everything is still on schedule for July 9! Time is going by so fast! We are anxious for her arrival, but also know that it is going to be a big change, not only for Kevin and I as parents, but for Mason!

Until time....:) Enjoy!

Applesauce anyone?

While Mommy was taking her shower and Daddy was working, I thought I would help myself to some applesauce......


Did you know applesauce is a good hair conditioner, kitchen table cleaner, and floor cleaner?

Hmm....after Mommy's reaction, maybe it wasn't such a good idea to get the applesauce out of the fridge.....but, hey, at least this time it was in the kitchen and not in the living room!!!

Random babble!

Mason has been in Speech Therapy for two weeks now. He goes for one hour every week at Boone Hospital's Outpatient Rehabilitation, located in the same office building as my OB. We are working hard with Mason on using the "B" and "P" sounds of items. We are also doing some simple sign language with him, but he doesn't grasp this concept yet at all, but he does love watching his Baby Einstein's Signing video. It is helping Mommy and Daddy more at this point. At his last ST appointment he and his ST worked on blowing bubbles through straws into a glass of water. Mason just wanted to drink the water, because that is what you do with a straw!!! He is so silly. We feel ST will really benefit Mason in the long run and we are looking forward to continuing it as much as possible.

Last weekend Mason went with Grandma Donna and Grandpa Glenn, to go visit his Uncle Derek, Aunt April, and cousins Haley and Bronson, in Savannah. He had a great time, but was very tired and cranky when he got home to us. I didn't know how to act with him gone for two days. I found it very hard to relax and take it easy, even though I should have.

Yesterday Christy and I took Mason with us to the Lake of the Ozarks to go Outlet Mall shopping. The Children's Place outlet was having a sale, some racks of clothes were $0.99 a piece!!! I spent $32 on two huge bags of 6-9 month clothing for Reagan and for 3 coats!! I can't wait to go back and find more deals. Christy and I are talking about going back later this month....without Mason! :)

I am now going to my OB every two weeks. I have gained 3 more pounds, but I am still 3 lbs less than when I first got pregnant, so I am very happy with that. Reagan continues to grow well. Her heart rate was in the 140's at this visit. I also had to take the glucose tolerance test to test for gestational diabetes, but luckily I don't have it! YAY!! I don't know if I could do without my sweets for the rest of this pregnancy. So far, everything is still looking good for Reagan's delivery date of July 9. I have to be at the hospital by 10:00 and surgery is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. I am really looking forward to her birth and being back at Boone Hospital. In the mean time, I am still organizing her clothing and everything we need for baby.

I did do a very small registry at Target and Target.com. I only put 16 items on there because I had people asking me what I still needed for her. NO CLOTHING! LOL! I don't expect gifts, it is just to give people an idea if they wanted to.

Happy Anniversary today to Clint and Tammy!!!!

Love,

Melissa

Speech Therapy

We are lucky enough to getMason into a speech therapist over at Boone next Tuesday, April 22, at 4:00 p.m. Hopefully at this time we will be able to see where we need to go as far as developing more of a speech pattern for Mason. In the last couple of days he has been trying to repeat, "E-I-E-I-O" from "Old McDonald's Farm" and has been more vocal. (good and bad). :)

On another good note, I have officially hit the third trimester. Reagan will be here in 12 weeks!

Wonderful Friends and Family!

It is so nice to have support and love from friends and family. Since I expressed my concerns over Mason's speech development, I have gotten a lot of advice from people. Luckily, his pediatrician is going to refer us to a speech therapist in the Columbia area. Hopefully we will hear something this week! Mason continues to get anxious and upset when he can't express his needs or wants. It is getting frusterating as parents for us to communicate with him when he is upset because he head bangs and yells.

Today I was lucky enough to have some time to spend with my best friend. She is also pregnant and working nights and it just so happened we could get together today. We went shopping and had lunch in Columbia. I miss doing stuff like that with my friends. Heather and I had fun buying stuff for each other's kids. We spent the entire time chatting and offering support. It is times like this that makes me so thankful to have such a wonderful friend. We are lucky enough that our kids will be born around the same time also. Reagan is going to have a lot of friends her age, as many of us are expecting at the same time.

When I got home today, my friend Starr, from NJ, had sent a gift for Reagan and for Mason. She has been a friend to me since I "met" her on BabyCenter.com since 2005. Although we have never met in person, we feel like we know a great deal about each other. We have supported each other through trying to get pregnant, miscarriages and pregnancy. She sent Reagan a couple really cute outfits and bibs. She also sent Mason a "big brother" gift, a gift card to Toys R Us. It really means a lot to me to have such great friends.

We continue to look forward to our kids growing up with the great support of our friends and family!

Have a great week everyone!!

Love,

Melissa and Kevin