HyPer BoY!!

Every time we are in the car, Mason dances like crazy to the music. Sometimes he does it in a mello way, and other times he gets real hyper and just goes crazy with it. This particular night he went crazy! So after we pulled up to the house, we took a bunch of pics. He's not really dancing in them, but he was just way hyper and happy. I know I'm posting a lot, but when I go back and look at all our pics of him, most of them he's not smiling. So when I get pics of him smiling I just have to share them...sorry!

Here's my ear...

my eyes...

my teeth...

my toes...

and my hair!

Mobile Masterpiece

I have been terribly behind with laundry lately, so I took a week and made that my main focus. By the end of the week, I had one massive pile of clothes to put away. I tried to keep up with putting all of them away as they came out of the dreyer, but it didn't always happen like that. So one night I asked Vance to grab me a pile of hangers and to help me put them away while we watched a movie. A short while later, this is what I walked in to see: Needless to say, Vance was very proud of his creation, and Mason was having a blast trying to grab any hanger he could. This is one of the many reasons I love my husband. He is always so random, creative, and keeps me smiling everyday!!

Playing 'Catch Up!'

Sorry for all the baby info I am finally posting. I know most if not all of you could really care less about how my baby has been developing for the past 8 weeks, but I have to post it for my own records. I can't believe I got so far behind on doing my weekly posts. Time is flying by, and I love it!! Only 15 more weeks to go and we are sooooo excited. It's weird to think that it's already November. Soon it will be Thanksgiving, then Christmas will be here before we know it. Which means New Year will be following shortly after. There will only be a month and a half left before our baby is due. In other words, the next 3 months are going to go so quickly and this baby will be here before we know it. By the way, I still haven't said the exciting news that we found out we are having another BOY!!!!!!! We were both so sure that this baby was a girl that we were both pretty surprised to find out it's a boy but we are so excited and relieved. Now we already have pretty much everything we need so we don't have to start completely over with everything (that is why we are relieved). A huge part of me wanted it to be a girl because I was going to be naming her first name after my Great Grandma, and her middle name after my Grandma (who is not doing very good and could literally go at any moment). But someday I will get my girl so I can still do that. But for now, a boy is a huge blessing for us and like I said before, we are very excited. Now Mason will have a little brother to grow up and be best friends with!!!! We are still debating on his name. The three that I like are Conner Vance, Jaiden, or Parker. Vance likes these three too, but has never said too much what he likes better or if he likes any other names. Every time we talk about it, he's very vague and doesn't say for sure and the conversation doesn't last too long. We still have time. :) Most likely, we'll wait and see what he looks like and then decide for sure. I don't have access to the ultrasound pictures at the moment, so I will be posting them soon.

25 Weeks

Head to heels, your baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. Her weight — a pound and a half — isn't much more than an average rutabaga, but she's beginning to exchange her long, lean look for some baby fat. As she does, her wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and she'll start to look more and more like a newborn. She's also growing more hair — and if you could see it, you'd now be able to discern its color and texture.

24 Weeks

Your baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts him at just over a pound. Since he's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), he cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon start to plump up. His brain is also growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

23 Weeks

Turn on the radio and sway to the music. With her sense of movement well developed by now, your baby can feel you dance. And now that she's more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about as much as a large mango), you may be able to see her squirm underneath your clothes. Blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that your baby's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing her for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as your dog barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze her when she hears them outside the womb.

22 Weeks

At 11 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound, your baby is starting to look like a miniature newborn. His lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and he's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath his gums. His eyes have formed, but his irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment. If you could see inside your womb, you'd be able to spot the fine hair (lanugo) that covers his body and the deep wrinkles on his skin, which he'll sport until he adds a padding of fat to fill them in. Inside his belly, his pancreas — essential for the production of some important hormones — is developing steadily.

21 Weeks

Your baby now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long — the length of a carrot. You may soon feel like she's practicing martial arts as her initial fluttering movements turn into full-fledged kicks and nudges. You may also discover a pattern to her activity as you get to know her better. In other developments, your baby's eyebrows and lids are present now, and if you're having a girl, her vagina has begun to form as well.

20 Weeks - HALF WAY!!!

Your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. He's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel — the length of a banana. (For the first 20 weeks, when a baby's legs are curled up against his torso and hard to measure, measurements are taken from the top of his head to his bottom — the "crown to rump" measurement. After 20 weeks, he's measured from head to toe.) He's swallowing more these days, which is good practice for his digestive system. He's also producing meconium, a black, sticky by-product of digestion. This gooey substance will accumulate in his bowels, and you'll see it in his first soiled diaper (some babies pass meconium in the womb or during delivery).

19 Weeks

Your baby's sensory development is exploding! Her brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. Some research suggests that she may be able to hear your voice now, so don't be shy about reading aloud, talking to her, or singing a happy tune if the mood strikes you. Your baby weighs about 8 1/2 ounces and measures 6 inches, head to bottom — about the size of a large heirloom tomato. Her arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of her body now. Her kidneys continue to make urine and the hair on her scalp is sprouting. A waxy protective coating called the vernix caseosa is forming on her skin to prevent it from pickling in the amniotic fluid.

18 Weeks

Head to rump, your baby is about 5 1/2 inches long and he weighs almost 7 ounces. He's busy flexing his arms and legs — movements that you'll start noticing more and more in the weeks ahead. His blood vessels are visible through his thin skin, and his ears are now in their final position, although they're still standing out from his head a bit. A protective covering of myelin is beginning to form around his nerves, a process that will continue for a year after he's born. If you're having a girl, her uterus and fallopian tubes are formed and in place. If you're having a boy, his genitals are noticeable now, but he may hide them from you during an ultrasound.

Bountiful Temple Grounds

A few weeks ago, Vance and I wanted to go for a ride and take pictures somewhere. We ended up going to the Bountiful Temple grounds. Sad to say, but I had never walked all the way around the Bountiful Temple, so I am so glad we did this because it is so gorgeous. It was dark, and we didn't end up taking too many pictures, but it was a gorgeous night. I loved the picture above of Angel Moroni because there is the moon on one side, and a star on the other. I just wish the star is as bright as the moon so you can see it better. If you look carefully, it's on the right side of Angel Moroni, about the same distance away as the moon.