Week before Thanksgiving.

The card on my camera is full. Time to clean up. Last weekend we made a short trip to the cabin with our friends, Josh and Katie. The pregnancy has put me in a rare and weird mood to cook so we had plenty of yummy things to eat. In addition to the homemade salsa, I made puppy chow, chex mix, beer cheese soup, and a mexican taco roll.

I think after this picture was taken, Josh told Mason to "watch it!"

On our way home. I just love the tongue sticking out.

Since Eric had the week off work, we took the opportunity to check out the newly renovated Opryland hotel. It reopened last week and Mason was watching a news report in awe of all the waterfalls they were showing on TV. I knew he would love to see the real thing.

He ran so fast along the pathways there were times I couldn't keep up with him. Also, this picture captures why I love his crazy hair so much. I never bother to fix it because I love it when it stands straight up in the back.

He was singing Jesus loves me (the third verse of course) while drumming on the whiskey barrels. I bet Jesus was so proud.

Daddy stopped and got us a snack of pumpkin gelato....

And Christie Cookies...

and for dessert: Goldfish.

Thanksgiving pics coming soon.

Songs and things..

I have so many pictures from recent weeks but I will save those for the next post. Mason has hit this awesome new stage where he just goes off for HOURS and plays by himself. Eric has had this week off work so with Mason's new independent self we have gotten a lot done around the house. GLORIOUS!!!

In other Mason news, he has just learned the 3rd verse to "Jesus Loves Me." Did you know there was a 2nd and 3rd verse? I am listening to him sing himself to sleep with it right now.
The 3rd verse goes like this:
Jesus loves me this I know
As he loved so long ago
Wanting as a friend to give
Light and Love to all who live.

He also loves to sing Jingle Bells. Recently, he has started commanding the attention of a room to sing a song. He will say "hey guys!" or "hey everybody".. "let's sing jingle bells!" The first time he did this, I was the only one besides him in the room.

Mason is not potty trained yet, nor is he interested in it but he is very aware about the actions of going potty. He understands that Cousin Alex is a big boy and he goes on the potty. One recent trip to the mall, I had to go so bad and couldn't wait til I got home. Mason was in his stroller and it was a semi full bathroom but thankfully the handicap stall was open so his stroller would fit. When I had finished using the restroom, Mason proceeded to tell me in his loudest voice possible that I was such a big girl for going potty. We also have a little song that we sing when he goes potty and he also sang that song for the other potty goers.
Mason's version went like this:
Mommy rode the potty train
Mommy rode the potty train
Mommy rode the potty train
Potty train Potty Train
CHOO CHOO!!!
Awesome. Thanks Mason.

Tickled Pink!

We found out this morning that baby #2 is a girl. We didn't talk a whole lot about names and if we did talk about names we pretty much only talked about girls names. Conveniently that worked out well for us. I liked the name Miller and Eric liked the name Layla so we kind of combined the two into a name we both liked. Her name will be....

Myla Kathryn Lackey.

Kathryn is my grandmother's name and the spelling is a little different. On my grandmother's birth certificate her name is spelled Katherine. When she was younger (she couldn't remember how old) she saw the spelling with a "y" somewhere, so she just added the "y" and dropped the "ine". I am keeping the spelling as my Grandmother prefers it. Here is a picture of my grandmother, Katheryn Woodul.

So here is another fun family fact. Myla will be the 4th generation born exactly 30 years apart.

My Grandfather, Gus Woodul was born May 14, 1921.

His daughter (my mom) was born Feb 8, 1951

I was born May 14th, 1981 (on my grandfather's 60th birthday)

and Myla will be born April 2011.

All exactly 30 years apart AND all of these births are 2nd child in birth order. Cool huh?

And here are pics of Myla

Profile and right arm

Profile pic Proof that she's a girl. :)

Week 17/18

How far along? almost 18 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: about 4 lbs..but I think most of that is residual Halloween candy.
Maternity clothes? I HATE them...like really hate them. Last time, I loved the big panels on pants that came all the way up to my neck. This time, I opt for the under belly style which really limits me because all the stores just love to add that big panel. Yuck!
Stretch marks? no new ones yet.
Sleep: Still sleeping great. I think I could go back to taking my daily naps but I fight it off and am trying to actually be productive during Mason's naps. Productivity= shower, makeup, hair, email, and a little facebook.
Best moment this week: hearing the heartbeat again. Last time is was 155. My recent visit on Monday was 150. Still a little high to be a boy says the old wives tale.
Movement: Feeling a few little flutters and light taps every now and then. Started feeling those about the end of week 15.
Food cravings: I crave soda. Probably the WORST thing for me to crave but when it's available I will treat myself to something caffeine free. I hate drinking my calories but it's so good, I don't even care. Gonna go drink some water now cause I'm feeling VERY guilty.
Labor Signs: None.
Belly button in or out? Still in
What I miss: My clothes. I bought so many cute fall clothes last year and I am sad they are being neglected this year. ..oh and red wine.
What I am looking forward to: Find out the sex. 9 days away!
What I am NOT looking forward to: badgering Eric to talk with me about picking a name. Whenever I ask him to have that conversation he tells me he's gonna start thinking about it (while he looks at his fantasy football line-up).

Weekly Wisdom: People are giving birth underwater now. They say it's less traumatic for the baby because it's in water. But certainly more traumatic for the other people in the pool. ~Elayne Boosle

Similarity?

I never realized how much Mason resembled me as a child until we pulled out these old photos. I love that he's my little clone. :)

"twick or tweet"

I know this picture has nothing to do with Halloween but it happened right before we left to trick or treat. Brooke moved into a new development and there are several empty lots right across the street where the hot air balloon decided to land. The kids loved watching it come down, and the whole process of them folding it up and driving away. Can't you see the excitement in their faces?

Normally Mason and Saylor are cousin "frienemies" but they couldn't stop sharing the love due to the excitement of all the candy they were about to get.

I think Harper feels slight annoyed by their cousinly love.

Just a good ole fashion game of belly-button poking.

All dressed up and ready to go! The frog, flower, and mermaid.

They loved every part of the trick or treating process. Every time someone gave Mason candy he screamed, "I got one!".. like there was a chance that they weren't going to give him any. He would then say, "Let's go to another house"

We decided Mason really should have been a turtle instead of a frog. As much as he wanted the candy he took for_ev_er to get up and down the stairs each time. The girls did laps past him on every house. It's okay Mason. Slow and steady wins the race.