polka dot chair

Here is the first of Reese's many pictures to be taken in her little green polka dot chair as we watch her grow. She was 10 days old {yesterday} and very tired :)

happy one week birthday!

Here are some pictures of Reese's first week of life. We are so obsessed with her and feel so blessed to have such a wonderful little girl. I am overwhelmed by this new level of love that I can feel for her. It truly is a reflection of God's love for us and that makes me teary every time I think about how much I love this little bug-a-boo. To know that my Father loves me 100 times more than that! What a fun {and exhausting} first week it has been. We are cherishing every moment as I know it will go by so fast.

she randomly smiles when she's on the verge of falling asleep or waking up and {after taking about 50 pictures} I caught it on camera! look at that cute dimple. i love it.

chillin' out with daddy

first sponge bath {five days old}

first walk {7 days old}

we're home

After spending some great time being pampered and waited on in the hospital, we were able to come home today! {We found this stork -from our church- in our yard when we got here. How cute}

Reese couldn't be better! She is eating wonderfully, sleeping GREAT, hates (i mean hates) getting her diaper changed, loves being cuddled, loves her hands, is very active, already loves her passie.... we truly couldn't be more obsessed.

Here's how Reese spent most of the day! She loves her swing :)

Also, Happy Birthday to my sweet momma who is here (along with my daddy) taking care of us! We couldn't be more thankful to have such wonderful, supportive family and I know Reese already loves you too! Happy birthday mom! Thanks for spending it with us :)

Mason Party of 3

Introducing:

Reese Elizabeth Mason

4.19.10

4:44 p.m.

7 lbs 2 oz

19 inches

here we go...

it's 4:45 am and we're headed to the hospital to have our baby girl! we couldn't be more excited!! the next time we post we'll have her in our arms!

Col 1:9

This is the theme verse we have chosen for our baby Reese's life. We have been praying it over her for the past nine months and will continue to pray it specifically as she grows up. Can't believe we get to meet her tomorrow!!! Praise the Lord.

Colossians 1:9-12

9For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. ¹⁰And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, ¹¹being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully ¹²giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.

still waiting...

nope. no baby yet. for those of you who are checking :) yes, i'm three days late but God is good all the time!

I have been meaning to post this DMB song YOU AND ME.... I just love it.

"You and me together we could do anything, baby.

You and me together. yes yes."

It's been one of my theme songs throughout this pregnancy. It's just so fun to go through all this with my best friend. Sure don't think I could make it without him!

happy birthday hubby

My sweet hubs turned 26 yesterday! I know all he really wanted for his birthday was his little girl to be born... but I think she wanted to let him have his own special day so she's still waiting to come into the world. I tried my best to make his day extra special anyway and made him his favorite blueberry buckle (thanks britt) for breakfast then we had a cookout for dinner and I made his aunt's famous angel food cake for him too. My mom is here and was a HUGE help in getting the cook out together!! (thanks mom) Mark's family came over to eat and we had desert and Mark opened his presents... It was a good day and I hope he felt as special and loved as he is!

I love him with all my heart and couldn't ask for a more incredible husband. He has been my rock through the past nine months as I have had so many break downs and questions he has always been the one to remind me that the Lord is in control. I'm so excited to see him as a dad... I know he's going to be the best and that little Reese will love him more than anything! I can't wait to go through this new stage of life with him as we figure out how to be parents together.

I LOVE YOU MARK!

In other news... today is my due date and it has now come and gone with no baby. It's a little weird since we have been focusing on April 14th for the past nine months (and I must say this is not how I pictured it going) but we are completely at peace and know our sweet little girl will come in God's perfect timing! We can't wait and are praying with all our might that she comes on her own! but if she doesn't, I'll be induced on Monday. So at least we have an end in sight and know that for sure by this time next week we'll have her in our arms. Went to the Dr. yesterday and he said everything was looking great.... so we're just waiting it out! Thanks for all your prayers - we truly do feel them!

basketball

I think this picture is hilarious. I mean, let's be honest, I'm huge... but this picture truly looks like I have a basketball hidden under my dress! And I guess a lot of people agreed with me because all day that day people at school (including my little 1st and 2nd grade students) kept commenting on how big my tummy was! haha

{39 weeks and one day}

finished nursery

you're probably tired of seeing our nursery.... but it's really all finished (whoo!) and all we need now is the baby :) here are some pictures of it all clean and put together - i'm sure it won't be that way for long so I wanted to document it.

I'm sure I won't think this for long.... but I just love these tiny little diapers all lined up! :)

baby pictures

confession: I uploaded pictures of mark and I to a really dumb website that is supposed to tell you what your baby could look like. HUGE, BIG, GIGANTIC mistake! it was so weird and creepy. please, please Jesus don't let our baby look like that! they clearly had just cropped parts of our faces and somehow strangely put it together. haha. what a comfort to know that our mighty God is the one who has created Reese's face and that its perfect in every way! I just can't wait to see it.

these are a couple of baby pictures of mark and of me that I keep looking at in anticipation of our sweet baby girl! I can't wait to find out if she has red, curly hair :) {i think the chances are actually pretty slim... but you never know!}

Me:

Mark:

peace

clinging to this verse today:

“Do not be anxious about anything but in EVERYTHING by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Phil 4:6-7

We're absolutely loving this warm springtime weather!! I even got somewhat of a sunburn from sitting outside the other day! Here's our beautiful redbud tree in full bloom a few days ago. It just really makes me happy when things start blooming!

our little gymnast

Well, Reese is already a gymnast. She did her first flip last week and we were so proud :)

We were shocked to find out at our appt on March 22 that little Reese was breech - meaning she was upside down. Our Dr. immediately sent us down to get a sono to double check and sure enough, he was right. After talking about our options, we scheduled a procedure for the next day called a Version - where he flips the baby. It's about 65% likely that the procedure works and then even if it does, there's always a chance she could flip back. We were shocked and scared and didn't really know what to expect but it was truly incredible the way the Lord filled us with peace and in less than 24 hours showed us His perfect provision and comfort through more friends and family praying for us than we could ever imagine. We felt completely showered in prayers throughout the whole day as we prepared for the procedure. (thank you sweet family and friends! You mean so much to us)

We got to the hospital about 3pm and I got all hooked up. Dr. Eades arrived around 5 and after checking the sono for a while to make sure he knew exactly where her little body was, where the placenta was etc., he began to push. And he literally just pushed on my stomach, from the outside, and flipped her around. The whole thing was really crazy! He was so out of breath and was literally pushing with all of his might. I was trying not to watch but I felt like he was just kneading a pound of frozen dough on my stomach haha (thats the only way i can think to describe it) It took about 15 minutes-ish and let me tell you it was incredibly painful!! But honestly, as I cried throughout the whole thing, all I could think about was praising Jesus and praying that He would take control and flip her around.... and He did!! I could feel all the prayers and the crazy way the Lord made me strong when I was soooo weak. We couldn't believe it when it was over and it worked!

We had to stay in the hospital for about 3 1/2 hours after that because there's always a chance that all that pushing could send me into labor. I was having contractions about 4 or 5 minutes apart for a while, but it slowed down and they let us go home (and I finally got to eat and drink again - I couldn't all day). I was really, really sore for the next few days and I've definitely been having contractions off and on since then! At the appt. this week the doc said her head is still down (praise the Lord), I'm dilated to a 2 and 50% effaced. Yay! So we're making progress and just waiting for her arrival :) We can't wait!!! Every morning I wake up thinking, "Is today Reese's birthday?!" 10 days to my due date and we couldn't be more excited!

Thanks for all your prayers and support! We'll keep you posted :)