Vance wanted to go for a drive and take pictures somewhere, so I quickly took the opportunity to have some alone time (since it's a rare occasion these days), and volunteered Mason to go with him. This satisfied all of us since Vance and Mason don't get "father and son" time very often either. He ended up going to the Bird Refuge in Farmington. If any of you have ever been out there, you know it's not the prettiest place on the planet. But with some of these pictures, you might just think otherwise...
Okay, so after posting these pictures, I realized that they really aren't doing justice on how pretty they really are. So if you want to see a better view, just click on any of them to blow them up...it makes a difference. I was quite impressed with these pictures when he brought them home, so later that week he took me out there, and I was quite disapointed. I don't know where these pictures came from or how he made that place look so good. I guess that's a sign of a good photographer! I love these pictures of Mason he took!
These are the pictures he took when he took me back there a few days later. I know this is a lot of pics, that are probably boring to all of you but I think they're gorgeous! Sorry :)
Monday, January 19, 2009
Before it Snowed...
Sunday, January 18, 2009
36 Weeks
Your baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. She now weighs almost 6 pounds (like a crenshaw melon) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. She's shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered her body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected her skin during her nine-month amniotic bath. Your baby swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, will form the contents of her first bowel movement.
35 Weeks
Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that he's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (pick up a honeydew melon). Because it's so snug in your womb, he isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times he kicks should remain about the same. His kidneys are fully developed now, and his liver can process some waste products. Most of his basic physical development is now complete — he'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.
34 Weeks
Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. Her fat layers — which will help regulate her body temperature once she's born — are filling her out, making her rounder. Her skin is also smoother than ever. Her central nervous system is maturing and her lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you've been nervous about preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies.
33 Weeks
This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark. He's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and his skeleton is hardening. The bones in his skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for him to fit through the birth canal. (The pressure on the head during birth is so intense that many babies are born with a conehead-like appearance.) These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as his brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.
32 Weeks
By now, your baby weighs 3.75 pounds (pick up a large jicama) and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in your uterus. You're gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to your baby. In fact, she'll gain a third to half of her birth weight during the next 7 weeks as she fattens up for survival outside the womb. She now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). Her skin is becoming soft and smooth as she plumps up in preparation for birth.
31 Weeks
This week, your baby measures over 16 inches long. He weighs about 3.3 pounds (try carrying four navel oranges) and is heading into a growth spurt. He can turn his head from side to side, and his arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath his skin. He's probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because your baby's kicks and somersaults keep you up. Take comfort: All this moving is a sign that your baby is active and healthy.
30 Weeks
Your baby's about 15.7 inches long now, and she weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage). A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds her, but that volume will decrease as she gets bigger and takes up more room in your uterus. Her eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after she's born, she'll keep her eyes closed for a good part of the day. When she does open them, she'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means she can only make out objects a few inches from her face. (Normal adult vision is 20/20.)
29 Weeks
Your baby now weighs about 2 1/2 pounds (like a butternut squash) and is a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel. His muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and his head is growing bigger to make room for his developing brain. To meet his increasing nutritional demands, you'll need plenty of protein, vitamins C, folic acid, and iron. And because his bones are soaking up lots of calcium, be sure to drink your milk (or find another good source of calcium, such as cheese, yogurt, or enriched orange juice). This trimester, about 250 milligrams of calcium are deposited in your baby's hardening skeleton each day.
28 Weeks
By this week, your baby weighs two and a quarter pounds (like a Chinese cabbage) and measures 14.8 inches from the top of her head to her heels. She can blink her eyes, which now sport lashes. With her eyesight developing, she may be able to see the light that filters in through your womb. She's also developing billions of neurons in her brain and adding more body fat in preparation for life in the outside world.
27 Weeks
This week, your baby weighs almost 2 pounds (like a head of cauliflower) and is about 14 1/2 inches long with her legs extended. She's sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing her eyes, and perhaps even sucking her fingers. With more brain tissue developing, your baby's brain is very active now. While her lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning — with a lot of medical help — if she were to be born now. Chalk up any tiny rhythmic movements you may be feeling to a case of baby hiccups, which may be common from now on. Each episode usually lasts only a few moments, and they don't bother her, so just relax and enjoy the tickle.
26 Weeks
The network of nerves in your baby's ears is better developed and more sensitive than before. He may now be able to hear both your voice and your partner's as you chat with each other. He's inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid, which is essential for the development of his lungs. These so-called breathing movements are also good practice for when he's born and takes that first gulp of air. And he's continuing to put on baby fat. He now weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures 14 inches (an English hothouse cucumber) from head to heel. If you're having a boy, his testicles are beginning to descend into his scrotum — a trip that will take about two to three days.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Christmas Cards
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
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...
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!!
Monday, November 3, 2008
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.
