lately...

a very long game of catch up in pictures... 

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FEB 1:

uncle eric came to visit

and so did his precious girlfriend, Jen, who we were so happy to finally meet!

// Valentines Day 2013 //

// new bathtime routine //

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FEB 17

the girls and I escaped to Branson for a week in February while Mark was working nights and we had the best time playing with Gigi and PaJoe. We even got to play with some of our best friends - the cute Cole girls! It was so fun to see them and catch up.

while we were there it snowed (imagine that! we must take it with us wherever we go) so Reese and PapaJoe went on an adventure hike. It was precious. 

(and yes, i know i spelled squirrel wrong)

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while we were gone Mark painted Lucy's room and we finally got it all set up as soon as we were back. yay! I just love it. It's so calming and crisp and she has been sleeping so well in her own crib! 

the crib has definitely become a favorite play place 

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then it snowed (a LOT) again. 

{this is what our house has looked like for pretty much 4 solid months}

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Lucy Kate started really smiling at us (at about 12 wks) and its just the cutest thing ever!

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R still LOVES gymnastics :)

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we all helped paint Reesers room purple. its so cute! still working on a few finishing touches and then we'll have to take a picture of it

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MARCH 9

helped celebrate our friend Judah turn three by going bowling! it was awesome. 

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Lu tried to sit in the bumbo. She did great for about 30 seconds and then that cute head started wobbling a little so we took a break for a week or two

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we drove to KC for the day to visit my aunt, uncle and cousin (and new nephew/cousin) who were there from Louisiana visiting my other cousin who lives there. What a special day! 

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and we got more snow...

and we made snow ice cream {again}

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MARCH 14

Honey and Pops came to visit and we couldn't have been more excited!!!

sweet sisters

dying easter eggs

gymnastics with pops

the cheering section:

and we had such a beautiful day we got to play at the park

and then Lucy became a thumb sucker :) hilarious to watch her try to figure it out. but now she is a full out thumb sucker for sure! 

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we started working out again finally. and so did Reese. shout out to tony horton

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Our cousins from Indiana were driving through and they spent the night with us. Soooo much fun getting to be with them! 

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we love lucy smiles

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cutest ponytail you've ever seen. I told her when she turns three she has to wear her hair in a ponytail :) to which she replied, "yeah, but... I'm just two now mommy" and she pulled it out. haha

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then it snowed again.

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more playtime in the crib

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getting much better/stronger in the bumbo!

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playing in the melting snow!! yippee

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growing up

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finally bought a double stroller and we are obsessed. we got it just in time for the most beautiful day ever and took a walk to the park - without coats!!! yippee :)

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and that brings us to today:

easter egg hunt (inside bc of the rain) with our dear friends the Burts. 

Reese would NOT put on her cute bunny glasses but Jacen looks so awesome!

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Reese and her "friends" waiting patiently as daddy and Mr. Cameron set up a "new to us" swing set in the backyard!! yippee :) a very early birthday present. surprise reeser! she couldn't be more excited.

whew. there you go. now maybe i can stay caught up?? ha. 

Happy Easter everyone! What a sweet memory it is to me of my Reese playing with her animals today and having them tell each other "Jesus is Alive!! The angel was in the cave and Jesus wasn't there! He's alive!" Praying for her sweet heart and that it will become more and more real to her!

lucy girl - 9 weeks

dear lucy,

please forgive me for not documenting your life as often and as closely as i did your sisters'. having two sweet girls to take care of sure is a lot more work/time/energy/harder transition than i thought it would be. i promise your life is just as special and just as exciting... i just barely have time to check my email much less sit at the computer long enough to write anything. but i just don't want to ever forget you as a sweet newborn and i feel like you are outgrowing that phase right before my eyes.... so, here we go.

today you are nine weeks old and you had your two month check up.

at one week old:

weight- 5 lbs 13 oz

your two week old stats:

weight- 6lbs 10oz (8%)

height- 18 7/8 in (4%)

head- 13 1/8 in (6%)

one month:

weight- 8 lbs 12 oz

height- 20.5 in

head- 14.13 in

and at two months:

weight- 11 lbs 11 oz (57%!!!!)

height- 22 in tall (25%)

head- 15 in (42%)

So proud of how much your growing :) You're a very good eater and have started to have somewhat of a pattern each day. You usually nurse every three hours but probably would every 2 if i let you :) You've also started sleeping longer at night (finally) and sleep from around 9:30 or 10 until around 3am and then until around 8am.

You are so fun to play with in the mornings when you wake up and just coo and are so bright eyed. It might be my favorite time with you (even though I'm so so tired and would LOVE to have a big cup of caffeinated coffee - this de-caf stuff just doesn't seem the same - but i'll do anything for you, my little love.)

You have officially grown out of your newborn clothes this week. Now you won't have as many options of things to wear since most of Reese's 3 month clothes are for summer time and here in Iowa its still very much the dead of winter. In fact, we got a huge snow storm yesterday and have about 12 in of snow on the ground. fact: i'm pretty sure there has been snow on the ground every single day of your life so far.

You are already in love with your big sister and she is so in love with you. Its just adorable the way she wants to take care of you and always sit by you and "play" with you :) and when you wake up from a nap you immediately look around the room until you find silly reeser.

You seem to have two favorite things to look at : a black and white picture of reese and her polka dot chair that hangs behind the couch on the wall. and your other favorite is the toy monkey hanging down in your bouncer. you coo and talk to him and love it.

You still really make us work to get a smile out of you. You like to smile at Reese and sometimes mommy or daddy. It just about melts my heart to see that gummy grin! and yesterday you gave out a tiny little giggle when mommy was laughing at a tv show :)

You're still quite a grunter :) Usually from about 6-7ish in the morning you grunt and grunt in your sleep and you've done this since the day you were born. You also grunt and grunt when you're trying to do your business. The dr said just some babies are more 'in tune' with what's happening in your body and you're trying to help the process along ha. It sounds a lot like chewbacca from star wars haha. It seems like the grunting is getting less and less as you get older. You're just the cutest thing though, even when you grunt.

We have finally started to put your room together! yay. Daddy painted it for you last weekend when all the girls were in branson playing with Gigi and PapaJo. and now your crib is all set up and we just need to hang somethings on the walls. It's really cute!!! I think you should start sleeping in there next week when daddy is finished working nights. I know you will love it.

You rolled over four times before you were even 4 weeks old but you haven't done it again since then. But your neck is getting so strong and youre really good at holding it up.

You follow things with your eyes and ALWAYS follow Reese around the room. She doesn't sit still for long so you love to watch her :)

Lots of people have said they think you look like me, which is a huge compliment to me bc you are beautiful! I think you do look more like my baby pictures than Reese did as a baby. Daddy and I think maybe you have my eyes. But your eyes are still so very blue and we can't wait to see what color they really are - and what color your hair is!!! you still don't have any :)

You are just such a sweet, adorable baby! We all love you more than we could even say. I can't believe how fast time is flying by. What a blessing you are to me, little Lu. i love being your mommy and I love watching you grow up.

all my love,
mommy

her name

Lucy: "radiant light"

Katherine: "pure"

{10 days old)

Matthew 5:14-16

"You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and give glory to your Father in heaven."

We had several favorite names and just couldn't decide which name seemed to fit for our sweet baby girl. Then I got the phone call that she might have a cleft pallet and truly I heard the Lord tell me her name was LUCY!! I immediately hung up the phone and felt like I needed to pray for her by that name specifically. So I did. and it fit. I just knew it. It was on our list of names and we always loved it because it means "radiant light." I love praying over this sweet girl that she will be a 'pure radiant light that cannot be hidden!!!" and that because of her light shining for Jesus others would also give glory to our mighty God too. That she would be strong and courageous and stand up for what she believes in, despite this crazy dark world she is coming into. I pray she will be a LIGHT in this world. She sure brings joy into our lives!! She has many nicknames already - Daddy calls her Lucy Kate most of the time and mommy calls her Lucy Lu or just Lu. and oh the list of names that Reeser calls her is endless. Today it was Lucy Lula and Lucy Lala but mostly Reese says Luc. or just "hi little girl. you're so cute and little." what an adoring big sister!

We couldn't love you more Lucy Girl!! So thankful you're here and you're heathly and happy :) 

{sorry I'm so so so behind on writing about your life Lucy! its just a little crazy around here. I'm finally feeling like myself (sort of!) so hopefully I'll be able to catch up on things in every area of my life now- but only by Gods grace and mercy, thats for sure!}

Lucy Katherine

She's here!!

Lucy Katherine Mason
5 lbs 12 oz
17.5 in
Born 6:34pm
12.26.12

Thank you for all your prayers! We felt them for sure. The dr tried several times to flip her and she just wouldn't budge (def most painful thing of my life) so we stayed at the hospital and had a c section. It all went really well. Lucy came out crying hard and even though she's pretty little she's doing great!! We couldn't feel more blessed! Marks whole family was already here for Christmas and my parents made it here tonight. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

please pray for our baby girl!!

Well it looks like our sweet baby girl will be coming into this world in the next few days!!! So crazy. 

Friday I went to the dr (and praise the Lord somehow Mark got to come too!) and it was quite eventful. The normal checkup went fine. all levels and measurements were good and on track. Then we talked about how Reese was breech and we did a version with her and at my last appt we found out that this baby was breech too. 

So, we did another ultrasound today and sure enough she is still breech. We scheduled a Version (when the dr filps the baby externally) for today!! Wednesday (Dec 26th) at noon. Please oh please join us in praying that she will flip.

So, Friday when the ultrasound lady starting doing all her measurements during the ultrasound she kept noticing our sweet girl was measuring a little small. She checked my due date (Jan 16th) and then my gestational age (36 weeks 2 days) and then said the baby was consistently measuring at 33 weeks. ? about 4lbs 11oz. She visited with the dr and he wanted me to do a non-stress test - which again came out normal and the babys heartrate and contractions looked good and normal. He said I should come back in on Monday to do another non-stress test, just to stay monitoring her (which I already did and it looked great!)

but then came the big news... he said he had visited with a perinatologist and they agreed that babies that are this small on the charts at this point in my pregnancy have several risks and there are a lot of un-knowns but that the best option is to get the baby out at 37 weeks. (mostly to avoid a still birth). They don't really know why she is so small - could be she is just genetically small, could be she isn't getting enough blood flow, could be about a million things. 

We're praying that she is just a sweet little girl. That her lungs are developed. That she won't have to stay in the NICU even though she'll be three weeks early. That she will be strong. That our hearts will be strong. that we will be ready to add another girl to our family - when we thought it would be at least three or four more weeks. lots of things to pray for. mostly just that she will be healthy and that the drs will have wisdom and that our mighty God would hold her in His hands and continue to form her 'fearfully and wonderfully'.

So... if the version goes well and she flips then they'll keep me in the hospital and induce me TODAY!! If the version doesn't work then we'll do a c-section Thursday morning. Cannot believe we'll be holding our sweet girl in a few days. can't wait to kiss her sweet face.

Lord, this is in your hands and in your plan. Give me strength. I'm scared.

thank you so so so much for your prayers.

merry christmas.

thanksgiving in Branson

We were unbelievably blessed at Christmas to be able to go to Branson and be with my family for 5 days! Mark was working nights last month and just happened to have those days off (we left the morning of thanksgiving as soon as he got off and drove all day to be there). My brother drove from Nashville and we had the best time being together as a family. Here's our trip in pictures:

R is very into musical instruments these days so naturally I broke out my flute from 7th grade and she thought it was pretty much the greatest thing ever :) 

probably she was super excited about the 7 layer jello on her plate.

one night we had a campfire in the backyard and roasted smores. yum!

she loves her pajoe!!

 first smore. what a mess!

I got to meet my dear friend, Kristen's, sweet new baby girl, Arden. What a doll baby!

Sic em bears! Reese is getting so good at doing a sic em! {on another note... why does no one in Iowa know what that means?? We may or may not have gotten license plates that say Sic Em and no one gets it. So sad. can't change how proud we are of Baylor though!}

and of course we cheered for the LSU tigers with Gigi too.

headed to Silver Dollar City
(see the post below for lots more family photos by my super talented brother)

R is STILL talking about all the christmas lights, seeing Santa and riding on the train. Love this tradition of taking her here every Thanksgiving/Christmas :) 

 in the words of  reesieboo "lets decoration the tree!"

such a special time with family! love them more than words.