32 Weeks at Christmas!

This was written December 26, but is just now being posted! So just pretend that it's Dec. 26. :)

Christmas Eve at Aunt Linzett & Uncle Steve's house

Christmas Day at our house celebrating with our parents

Love this picture of my mom & me! It's just one that I think I'll treasure always, especially when Mallory is 16 and I'm showing her pictures of when I was pregnant with her.

WHEN AM I DUE? C-section scheduled for Thursday, February 10, 2011 (original due date: Feb. 18)

WEIGHT: 149 lbs at my 32 week-check up this past Thursday... At 4 weeks I weighed 122 lbs. Weight gain total: 27 lbs.

MATERNITY CLOTHES? Still pouring in from friends! I have maternity clothes out the ying-yang! I'm having a hard time now keeping with with belongs to who! I'm definitely way past the point of being able to wear the maternity clothes I wore with Mason, even all the way up to the very end. I am pretty much uncomfortable now in anything I wear, except for some pj pants and Marc's x-large t-shirts! That's what I hang out in during the day. I'm also still wearing my Jockey comfy pants and hoodies. They actually kinda make me feel a little bit cute AND they're comfy at the same time!! :) When I do have to actually get ready, I wear maternity Heidi Klum skinny jeans (my newest purchase from Motherhood Maternity) or leggings and boots, maternity sleeved, tissue thin fitted shirts from Target. Those are really the only shirts that are fitting over my tummy now. I've also bought a couple of long "boyfriend" cardigans to throw over those tees sometimes. I throw on a long necklace to dress the shirt/cardigan up a little and I'm good to go! I ordered myself some goodies from Oldnavy.com while I was Christmas shopping on that site since I'm growing out of all my clothes. I ordered a purple velour maternity sweatsuit, which I love! The pants are so soft and comfy and aren't too tight around my waist. The jacket has a drawstring just under my chest and is very flattering. I kinda got the J. Lo look goin'! Ha! I actually bought it to wear as a going-home outfit, but I've already busted it out to wear while I'm still pregnant since it looked so comfy. I also bought a couple of long sweaters at Motherhood, one of which I'm wearing in the pics above.
As you can see in the Christmas Eve pic above, dresses are now making me look HUGE!!! So even though I lived in them at the beginning of the pregnancy, bye bye to dresses now for me! I have a couple that still look okay, so I'll be busting those out for church, but for now on I need to wear shirts that hug my belly so I'll actually look pregnant and not like a cow. Ha! :)

SHOWING?? Oh, most definitely! At my 32 week check-up I was measuring almost 34 weeks ahead. So, my belly is measuring a couple of weeks bigger than what it should, but Dr. Gass isn't too worried. He says that the most weight gain happens during this point of the pregnancy and things should start evening out soon. He told me that I'm definitely "out there" and that he even liked my outfit on Thursday. Ha! :)

FEELIN' THE BABY?? 24/7! Mallory is constantly moving and it's usually on the right side of my belly. I'm pretty sure half of these movements I feel are Braxton Hicks, but I'm starting to get them confused. I'm not just feeling little ripples across the tummy, these are some serious movements that take my breath away. Even though they're very uncomfortable, they're constant reminders that I have a healthy, active baby girl growing in my tummy. Thank you, God!

SLEEP: Since my 30 week check-up of being put on partial bed rest, I have been resting a ton during the day. I stay off my feet as much as I can. I am still pretty exhausted all the time and fall asleep on and off on the couch while Mason is watching t.v. Thankfully we have a little boy who has never really "gotten in to stuff" so I know it's okay to shut my eyes for a few minutes while he's entertaining himself. I have to rest during the day, because I'm not getting solid sleep at night. Mason has pretty much stopped sleeping since we turned his bed to a toddler bed and then to the full-sized bed, so one of us usually has to sleep with him in his bed every night. Or, we'll put him bed with us. So, we're not getting as much sleep as we're used to. It's been a big challenge for us dealing with this lack of sleep since we've been so spoiled for 2 1/2 years by a child who LOVES to sleep! I know it's just all to prepare us for when Mallory gets here.


WHAT I MISS: Being comfortable. Mason sleeping 12 hours a day. Mason napping during the day while I also nap. Being comfy in clothes. Having lots of energy. Working out. Picking my baby up. I hate to complain about any of this because I'm just so thankful to be pregnant with a healthy baby girl, but, it's still been a very, very challenging few months. I know this baby girl is going to be somethin' special because of how big of a stinker she's been! :)


CRAVINGS & AVERSIONS: My nausea FINALLY ended around Week 24, so I'm eating more now. My newest random craving is Pimento Cheese Sandwiches!! I could eat 5 a day, but I usually just have 2. :) I also buy Rotisserie Chickens at the grocery and dig into it as soon as I'm unloading the groceries out of the van and into the house! Still loving pizza, but it cramps my tummy and I usually regret it! Still loving cereal, especially fake brand Lucky Charms and salads. And I could eat Fazoli's every day of the week. Not really wanting milkshakes as much. Haven't been craving fruit at all with this pregnancy. Love me some fast food fries. I know, the most horrible thang in the world for you. But, Marc has been having to get us drive-thru most nights since I'm not able to stand on my feet and cook. So, fries it is! They're sooo yummy! Still disgusted by the idea of blueberries. Not really any other specific aversions.

UPDATE ON BABY GIRL: We had a high-risk ultrasound Wednesday, Dec. 22 with the specialist at the Maternal Fetal Group, and they said that Mallory already weighs close to 5 pounds! They say that if I go all the way to my c-section date of Feb. 10, she will probably weigh close to NINE POUNDS!! What in the world?!?!?! Mason was only 7, so they're saying that this explains why I'm having a harder time carrying Mallory and why I'm having all that pain and pressure. We're so thankful that everything is still looking good in the ultrasounds and that she is growing away and is very active. They thought that with the 2-vessel umbilical cord that her growth would be slowed, but it's actually been the exact opposite! We can't imagine how big she would be if I had all 3 vessels, so the 2 vessels are actually a blessing in disguise.

You're probably wondering why I haven't yet talked about the NURSERY?? Well, because there isn't one!! Thank you. We are turning our guest/sewing/play room into Mallory's nursery, but with Marc studying for his boards the past few months and me not feeling well, we haven't done one thing. My dad did come here a few weekends ago to help me organize the closet in that room and make some room for some of Mallory's things. That was a start and helped me feel like we accomplished SOMETHING at least. Still waiting for the crib to come in. At first they said it should be delivered the first week of December, but that came and went and still no crib. The latest is that it is on backorder and won't be shipped until Feb. 7th. Thank you. So, no hopes of a crib until AFTER Mallory is born. And, I have these great intentions of ordering fabric and making the bedding. I've been researching fabric for MONTHS and just can't make up my mind! I promise I'll do it soon. I've just been concentrating on Christmas and have these wonderful plans of spending January getting the nursery ready. Mallory's dresser & vanity that I ordered off of Craig's List are still sitting in the garage waiting to be moved into her room. So, everything is just kinda in disarray right now and I feel SO unprepared for her to get here! I know a nursery does not matter at all, but I just think my mind will feel more settled once I see the beginnings of a nursery. By 34 weeks with Mason, the nursery was as done as it was going to get and I was just so ready for him to get here. So, that gives me 2 weeks to make a little bit more progress! After the holidays our parents will come and help us move furniture around and get Mason's "new" playroom ready (we're turning the dining room into the play/sewing room). THEN we'll be able to start setting up the nursery. Just bear with me! I'm soooo excited to get this sweet girl's nursery ready and know it'll be a project that'll last several months. I've been waiting for this for so long!!!

30 Weeks... time to slow down!

30 weeks at the Certain Family Christmas... with Marc's cousin, Ginny Sue, who had just announced she was 12 weeks pregnant! How fun! Next Christmas we'll have TWO new sweet babies at family Christmas!

I had my 30 week-check up on Thursday, December 9th, two days before Christmas with Marc's family. I was given some news that I kinda thought I was going to hear at some point during this pregnancy, and I actually received the news with open arms! I'm measuring about 32 weeks and Mallory has measured a little bit ahead the past couple of months, so Dr. Gass is predicting that she's going to be bigger than Mason was. I am also having a difficult time standing up or walking for any period of time because I've been getting so dizzy and weak and having to sit down. I have also been experiencing a lot of pressure and pain in my pelvic region and it's worrying me because it literally feels like Mallory is going to come right out of me! I'm not even kidding. I never once felt that with Mason. I felt great and full of energy and definitely not this weak at the end of the pregnancy like this. So, after Dr. Gass heard me explain all of this, he said that for now on I needed to stay off my feet as much as possible, which means absolutely NO grocery shopping or going to stores and no chasing Mason! He also said that I can't pick Mason up or really hold him for a long period of time. He wants me to go to Feb. 10 if at all possible and he says the only way for me to do that and to be comfortable is to rest as much as I can. Of course this feels like awful timing since Marc's family Christmas is THIS weekend and then the rest of December is crazy with family stuff, but it's also a God-send that he's making me slow down because I would have completely worn myself out over the holidays if I weren't "forced" to rest.



I am actually thrilled to be on "partial" bedrest because I know it is the best thing for Mallory and me. I need to take care of this big baby girl and I want to feel better and try to enjoy the rest of the pregnancy. I wouldn't be this thrilled if I wouldn't of had this great idea to do pretty much all our Christmas shopping online this year. I've never been much of one to do that, but I just haven't felt like going out into all the mess of the shopping world and fight all that traffic. So, I've been sitting at home, on the couch, in my pj's, shopping away for about a month now. It's been so great! And usually the doorbell rings at least once a day of UPS or Fed Ex dropping off a fun package. I'm so thankful I haven't left my Christmas shopping to the last minute this year and that I started early in ordering things here and there online. Man, I would be in some serious trouble though if I had planned on leaving my shopping for later in December and if I didn't like hanging out in my pj's on the computer!


So, upon receiving this news, I tried to bring up to Dr. Gass the idea of moving the date of the c-section up to earlier in February. He was not at all about this idea and did not seem concerned about the weight of the baby or me. He said, "Well, that's the great thing about having a c-section!" Well, I was hoping he would feel sorry for how uncomfortable I am (ha!) and say we could have Mallory earlier, but he wouldn't budge. He just said that we needed to try our best to leave Mallory in until Feb. 10 that that the partial bedrest should help with that. He's just worried that if take her too soon then her lungs could be underdeveloped and she would have to spend some time in the NICU. Of course I don't want that at all for my baby girl and I don't want to be selfish, so I'm going to trust his judgement and just be patient.

So, February 10th it still is!

29 weeks & Marc's Work Christmas Party!

29 weeks on December 3, 2010 at the Graves-Gilbert Christmas Party

It's that time of the year that we all look forward to... the spouse's work Christmas party!! Those are always a little awkard and hard to get through because you gotta put on a smile and be introduced to 500 people and sit and listen to conversations between your spouse and random people about what they do at work. Thank you. Actually, I've never minded Marc's work Christmas parties. Vanderbilt had the best ones ever and we would look forward to them because they gave out the most awesome door prizes ever... like $100 gift cards to our fave restaurants and weekend trips to New York. Thank you. So, we were kinda excited about our first Graves-Gilbert Christmas Party thinking that it would be just as exciting (we had to miss it last year since I was sick). Well, let's just say we didn't go home with any fun prizes, but we did get to spend the evening sitting and chatting with our friends from church, Dr. Patti & Steve. Patti is a pediatrician at Graves-Gilbert (and Mason's pediatrician!). We had fun looking at some of the cool cars, since we were at the Corvette Museum and all. AND, Marc got to show off his baby momma and look like "the man." Ha!

Okay, so let's back up a little to my dilemma. With my growing discomfort, there was NO WAY I could find something in my closet that was cute and dressy enough to wear to the party that would actually be comfy enough to last a few hours of not driving me crazy, and to be stretchy enough to leave room for eating lots of yummy food! So, off to Motherhood Maternity I went. It's really been a few years since I've gone shopping for an outfit to wear to a certain event because I'm just too cheap to justify spending extra money like that, but this was an emergency. Ha! The girl helped me find this really holiday-ish looking tank top thang that she said would look "super cute" with a little black cardigan over it. Thank you. And, I happened to have a dressy cardigan my mom got me a few years ago for Christmas that I could squeeze onto my arms. The best part was that I could wear black leggings and tall black boots since the shirt was long and flowy enough to look right with them. So, I just had to buy one maternity tank top and the Christmas party outfit was complete! Well, I did walk down the mall a few stores and found this hoochie teeny-boppin' cute store that sold lots of fun jewelry. I bought a couple of necklaces to spruce up the outfit a little. I love them and have already gotten the most use out of them. I call them my "maternity jewelry." Thank you.

Oh, and you wonder where Mason was? Well, we were kinda in the middle of his "don't wanna sleep" crisis and Marc and I are two exhausted parents. We had not had any sleep that week of trying to deal with Mason adjusting to his new big boy bed and having to take him back and forth to his bed all night long and eventually giving up and letting him sleep with us, which meant no sleep for us because of him kicking and moving the entire night. I called my dad and pleaded with him to come and get Mason on Friday for him to spend the night in Nashville that night so that Marc and I could have a break and get a good night's rest. AND, it worked out because we needed someone to watch Mason that night so that we could go to Marc's party. It was so great because we got to sleep in Saturday morning for the first time in a while. We went to Nashville Saturday night to get Mason and were soooo excited to see him and have him back with us... even if it meant right back to the sleep crisis! So, sleep or no sleep, we missed our baby boy like crazy!!

Here are some belly shot pics before we left for the party and of our fun night out on the town:

Checkin' out the museum with Patti & Steve... we would love to take Mason back to the Corvette Museum cuz he would be in the most awe seeing all those "vroom vrooms"!
I love him!
Dr. Patti & Steve... we are so blessed to have a wonderful, Christmas pediatrican for Mason who also just happens to go to church with us!

Playing Catch-Up!

Whoa! Can't believe it's already January 2011!! I have soooo much to catch you all up on! My pregnancy has flown by and I can't believe my little boy will be THREE years old in just a few months!! And that we've been in Bowling Green for a year and a half!! I have been forced to slow down these last couple of months by being put on partial bed rest, so I have been able to really enjoy my family and just rest. We are enjoying every second with Mason because in just a few weeks it will no longer be just the 3 of us. I am already 34 1/2 weeks pregnant and am scheduled for a c-section on Thursday, February 10... so, that means we have just 4 1/2 weeks until Mallory Jane will be here! We're soooo excited, but I feel that I have so much left to do to get ready for her, that it's a little overwhelming.

I need to update you all on my pregnancy and what all we've been up to the last couple of months, so just bear with me while I work on several posts. And you all know me, one post can't just be 2 sentences and 2 pictures... it has to be a novel and a million pictures! I'll try to get better at that in this new year, especially since I'll be super busy with TWO kids and will have even less time to blog than I do now.

Okie dokie, off to figure out where in the world I'm going to begin! :)

It's Potty Training Time!

So, we've finally started the process we've been putting off for several months now... potty training! Marc and I had been talking about it, but have been lazy about actually implementing the "training." Well, we finally decided last week it was time to start. We'll have several weeks to work on it before the new baby comes, and then we'll just deal with whatever happens after she is born. We've heard that if you've been working on potty training with big sister or brother, that they usually go back to where they started after the baby comes. Well, that's just a chance we're taking and if he does go back, then that's fine; we'll just keep working at it. We haven't really been that strict this week with the potty training since we've been at different family members' houses and it's just kinda been crazy, so we're not really doing a good job. Ha! We did potty train 2 days last week and it didn't really go the greatest. But that's okay! Mason and I have been staying home a lot since I'm on partial bedrest, so it's been a good time to let Mason run around the house with big boy underwear on. We have brought the potties out; one in our bathroom and one in the living room. We let him pick out the pair of Thomas the Tank undies he wants to wear and we tell him to let us know whenever he feels like he needs to go potty. So, he wore them for several hours and kept telling me he needed to pee pee. So, he would sit on the potty and... nothing. At least he was getting used to telling me, even though nothing was coming out. So this went on for a few hours and then the next thing I knew, I saw where he had pee peed all over our bedspread!! So, I guess he couldn't tell me in time and then was too embarrassed that he had peed so didn't tell me about the accident. Oh, and he had also poo pooed in the undies earlier that day. So, that was Day #1! At night during sleeping, we've been putting Pull-Ups on him, but still telling him to get up and come tell us if he has to go potty. Well, that hasn't happened. We also sit this huge Cracker Barrel sucker up on the fireplace and tell him that when he goes poo poo in his potty, then he'll get that sucker as a treat. So anyway... potty training has been very interesting, and not very consistent so far. Marc and I have never been strict with stuff when it comes to these things with Mason because he's been such an easy-going child. Sleeping, eating, etc... it's all been pretty easy... until now! So we're trying to keep that same "easy-going" attitude with potty training, but will change it if we need to. At least the idea is being introduced and he's getting used to all this "big boy underwear" talk. In fact, he has gotten about 10 pair of them for Christmas!

We'll really buckle down after New Year's since we're going on a little trip then and it definitely wouldn't be successful then. Here are some pics of the process so far...

Marc putting Mason's very first pair of undies on him

Undie change #1... he kept deciding he wanted a DIFFERENT pair of Thomas undies on...

Checking out some other options

I just love that little butt!

Back to the drawer to pick out the final undie change... James the Tank.

Picking out a potty DVD

Excuse our messy living room... this is what it looks like in just 5 minutes when you have a 2 1/2 year old little boy in the house!

Bath Time!

Helping DaDa run the water
Going night-night for the first time with Pull-Ups on... getting his monkey all situated
Good night, my sweet big boy! What a big day you've had of your first day of potty training!

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas Day with your family! We are so blessed to be able to celebrate Jesus' birth this day and to be able to share that with Mason. I love it when he brings his Christmas books to me and asks me to read to him about "Baby Jesus." Makes my heart happy! I pray you all feel the love of Christ today and remember that He is the reason for the season! Love you all!

A Thanksgiving to Remember!!

We had a wonderful, extra special Thanksgiving! We had a few different celebrations over about a week's time... they consisted of family of all colors! We are so thankful that not only were we able to spend time with our own flesh & blood, but we also expanded our family this year by inviting some new friends into our home... Read on to find out about that special day!

To kick off the celebrations, we hosted our 2nd Annual Myers Family Thanksgiving at our house the Saturday before Thanksgiving. I love this tradition we started last year and hope to continue it for years to come! I just love having people into my home, especially around the holidays, and knowing that I can have my family into my home every Thanksgiving makes me happy! Especially since our family is changing so much and we have new little people joining us each and every year! This year my brother & sis-in-law's baby girl had her first Thanksgiving with our crazy family, and next year Mallory Jane will be here! My parents come early to help me cook and clean and my dad and I have the most fun in the kitchen preparing a huge feast for everyone! I haven't really been cooking much this year with my rough pregnancy, so I looked forward to this day of getting back in in the kitchen! We cooked all of our fave, completely unhealthy holiday foods. Ha! :) I also tried pumpkin bread for the very first time and it was soooo yummy! Here are some pics from that fun day:

Mason thoroughly entertained by his new flashlight that Aunt Linny got him!

Reading some Thomas with Uncle Steve

Papa Jack admiring his new granddaughter, Wilson Marie

I just LOVE this picture that my cousin Steph captured of Mason!! It may just have to be his "2-year pic" since we haven't had any professional pics taken in a year and a half! Ha!

Playin' some ball with Aunt Linny

Aunt Linny and my MaMaw lovin' on sweet Wilson... she was smothered with some serious Myers sugar that day! :)

Nana Kay with her 2 sweet grandbabies

My favorite picture of Christy and Baby Wilson!! Steph took this one as well. She's good, isn't she!?!??!

MaMaw & me

MaMaw lovin' on her two great-grands

4 generations of Myers'! My MaMaw, dad, Jody (my brother), and Wilson

MaMaw with her 4 grandchildren... my brother, me, & our cousins Erica & Steph

MaMaw with her 3 children... my Uncle Mark, Aunt Linny, and my dad

My brother and his sweet family

My parents with their kids, son- & daughter-in-law, and 2 grandkids

One of many of my mom's Christmas Card outtakes! Ha!

On Thanksgiving Day, my family always serves a meal to the homeless and needy families at the Music City Mission in Nashville. I look forward to this every year! Of course, Mason had to be up all night long sick the night before Thanksgiving this year, so he and Marc stayed here and had a lazy day of tv-watchin' while I headed down to Nashville for a few hours to help at the mission. That night, the 3 of us had a relaxing family night at home and I watched Marc get all of the Christmas decor out of the attic and put the tree up. I sat on the couch and watched because I wasn't feeling very well. I was very proud of my hubby for getting the tree up and starting the decor! He did a pretty darn good job! :) We actually didn't finish the whole process until a few days later since I've been moving kinda slow lately, but we finally got it done! Our tree looks beautiful! I'll post pics later...

The day after Thanksgiving we had a refugee family over to share a meal. Bowling Green has had many refugees enter this past year from Burma, Iraq, Thailand, and some other areas. Our church has really reached out to them and started a ministry for them. Marc and I wish we could become more involved and have all these ideas of ways we can help, but we just need to get on it! Marc has been picking up a refugee family every Sunday for church and sometimes Mason goes with him. I'm so thankful that our son gets to be introduced to a ministry like this at such a young age. Marc says that Mason loves riding in the car with all these Burmese & Iraqi people showing them his Blues Clues, Toy Story, and other movies he gets to watch in the car. HA! Anyway, it had been heavy on Marc's heart to invite a family over for Thanksgiving and share some of our blessings with them. We invited a Burmese family who came to BG from a refugee camp in Thailand. Marc had picked this family up several times for church and has grown pretty close to them. I had never met them. The high school daughter is the only one who can understand and speak English, so she was a great help in communicating with them! We sat and talked and talked and learned so much about them. Mason was so excited to have the kids sit with him at his special table, and we pulled it into the dining room so that we could all be together. I will never, ever forget that scene of us all eating Thanksgiving lunch! It was just so special, and something I hope we can do every year. This family had never been invited into an American home, so Marc had no idea at the time how much of an impact he was making when he called them and invited them over. I just love my husband! He is so caring!!!

I left the Music City Mission Thanksgiving afternoon with the van loaded full of leftover food, so we were able to put it to good use yet again! It's the basic Thanksgiving meal of turkey & dressing, green beans, mashed potatoes & gravy, and rolls. The refugees have their own staples that they eat, and chicken and rice are among them. They aren't really loving American food, so Marc and I wanted to keep this meal as simple as we could. I cooked up some white rice, which I haven't done in YEARS, and it was the biggest it! They loved all the food and went back for seconds! The best part of the day though... introducing our new friends to the WII!!!! It was hilarious! They had the BEST time bowling, playing baseball, and just trying to figure out how the thang worked! Mason enjoyed every second watching this situation and even shared his toys with the little boy, who will be 2 soon. Mason didn't even seem to notice that these people had a different skin color from us or didn't really speak English, he just loved playing with new friends!

The feast we shared with our new friends! Rice & all!!!

Marc workin' away! He was the most serious about it!

We love our new friends! They had these huge smiles on their faces the entire time!

Mason & his new friends sharing a Thanksgiving feast... How beautiful are these sweet faces??!?

The whole gang!

Wii time! Marc teaching the dad how to use the control

Love this!

I could just see our house full of adopted children some day from these different countries! We just love them so much and we know that one day a sweet little child (or more!) from similar circumstances will be brought into our family!

Sweet baby boy was lovin' Mason's chair!

We looked at him a few minutes later and he was all sprawled out enjoying life! :)

What a beautiful picture!!!

The Saturday after Thanksgiving we headed to Madisonville, KY to Marc's parents' where we celebrated with his mom's side of the family; the Certains'. I always love these celebrations cuz they're full of young ins' (well, who are growing up waaay too quickly!) and Mason has the most fun playing with everyone! Even the grown-up uncles! :) It was a fun day of watching KY football, eating LOTS of food, and just hanging out with Marc's family.

Our little family of almost-four!!

Sucker time with Great-Uncle Gary!

Hangin' with the guys... Marc's cousin, Mace, Uncle Gary, and Da Da

Uncle Gary always has fun with the kiddos!!

The fam having the BEST time watching the game... this is the most sports-lovin' family I know!!! Check out Marc's cousin, Heather, though all involved in her phone! Ha! :)

Us with Marc's parents, brother Jonathan, and Jonathan's girlfriend, Molly

The whole Certain clan! We were missing Marc's cousin Ginny & her little family, and his cousin Fayr & her family... Love that Mallory Jane was adefinitel making an appearance in this picture!! :)

Hope your Thanksgiving was as blessed as ours! It was definitely a time to relax and have fun with family, as well as a time to serve those in need and make new friendships. We desire to show our children that the holidays are times to share our blessings with others, as well as make special memories with our own families. God is so good!