Pregnancy Pillow

I got my pregnancy pillow, the Snoogle, out tonight to start sleeping with it.  I got it fixed in the bed and stepped out of the room for a minute.  When I came back, this is what I found....

Someone else loves my Snoogle too!!  She's such a mess.  The transition with her after the baby gets here will be interesting, but I know she will grow to love baby Mason, and Mason will surely love her too!  We love our little fur baby!

~"My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." Exodus 33:14~

Snow Day

Well, today we finally got some pretty SNOW!

I've been wanting some all winter and so glad we got it, even if it was just a little.  The kids were let out of school early and out for the two days following.  And all of the shelves were wiped of bread and milk.  I love our town and the craziness a little snow brings.  Although, you can never be too careful when it comes to kids, so I'm glad school was cancelled.  We got about an inch.  And I had to work :( but still enjoyed it while it lasted!!  Maybe we'll get a little more ;)

~"His compassions fail not.  They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23~

18 Weeks

Today I am:

 18 Weeks!!  And IT'S A BOY!!!  We are so excited!  We are naming our little man Mason William DeYoung!!

Little Mason is growing fast and is now the size of a 

Mango!  Sweet :)

This is what he is looking like these days.  He is getting big and strong!!  I still haven't felt the baby move, but I know it will be soon and cannot wait for that moment!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How far along:  18 weeks

Size of baby:  A Mango (5inches and .5 lbs)

Most dramatic development this week:  Baby gets a head to toe covering of vernix, a white cheesy looking substance that helps protect baby's skin while being in the amniotic fluid 24/7. Also lubricates the birth canal.  Baby's legs are now in proportion to his arms.  Kicks will be more powerful due to strengthening of cartilage and bone.  So I will hopefully be feeling those kicks soon!

Total weight gain:  Not really sure.  Probably about 2-3lbs.  Will find out for sure in 2 weeks at next MD appt.

Gender:  It's a BOY!!  Name:  Mason William DeYoung

Movement:  Not yet, but can't wait.

Sleep:  Pretty good

Cravings:  Still nothing in particular.  Different things on different days but nothing consistent.

Anything making you sick or queasy:  Not really anymore.  I'm still having occasional nausea, but the vomiting is rare now, thank goodness.

Symptoms:  Still having the low back pain and groin pain from time to time, but its eased up.  Reflux continues and I'm now taking zantac more regularly.  I mostly feel pretty good now!

Best moment of the week:  Our Gender Reveal Party!  It was wonderful!  We had so much fun with family and friends, sharing that special news!!

Looking forward to:  Possibility for snow this week :)

~"For nothing is impossible with God." Luke 1:37~

Gender Reveal Party!!

We had our Gender Reveal Party Friday night!  And oh what fun we had.  Sharing this special news with our family and friends made for a night we will never forget!!

So without further ado...

It's a:

BOY!!  

And we couldn't be happier!  We haven't had a lot of boy babies lately, on either side of our families, so this is going to be a new experience for all.  And we are so glad God chose us for this incredible journey!  Thank you Lord for our big blessing!  His name will be Mason William DeYoung.  We just loved the name Mason, and William is the name of a very special man in our lives, who will be pictured below.  So Mason William just seemed to fit!  We can't wait to meet our sweet little boy!!

And now on to party pics!

The decor was so cute and I loved how everything turned out.

 

Thank you Shelley and Shane for the perfect little party favors and the cute marble game for guests to place their guess.  They both added such a special touch!

The CAKE my mother had made for us was absolutely beautiful!!  It was the star of the show.  We used the cake to reveal the gender to everyone.  We just pulled the little blanket on top back to reveal a sweet little baby that had on a blue or pink diaper!

 Thank you Art Eats Bakery for making such a beautiful and delicious cake that helped to make our party so special!

The dessert table was also very beautiful and oh so sweet!

 

The food was delicious and there was a lot of it.  Thank you Mom for making so much yummy food!  And thank you Patti for bringing the wonderful croissants, Dad and Judy for bringing the Chick-fil-A nugget tray, and Shane and Shelley for bring the veggie tray!  You all helped to make the party extra tasty!

 After we all got our bellies full, it was time for the big REVEAL!!  We were so excited and so ready to share this wonderful news!!

The faces of anticipation...

And here we go...

It's

A

BOY!!!

 That moment was truly priceless!  Full of joy and pure happiness!!

Our Sweet Little Boy!

April captured that moment on video for us and I'm so glad!  I've watched it so many times!  I love it!  Thank you April!

And then it was time to announce the name.  The boy names were a lot harder for us than girl names.  We finally agreed on the first name and Josh announced it:  Mason.  The second name was easy.  We both knew that if it was a boy, we wanted William to be in some part of his name.  William is my Papa Bill's first name.  He means the world to both of us and has had a huge impact on both of our lives!  So, I announced that his middle name would be:  William, in honor of my Papa!  

 A few of the priceless faces after the reveal!

Wow, Josh and I were overflowing with joy!  And so glad to have our big secret out!  We have actually known the gender since 12 weeks.  We went for a rountine u/s at my OB, and much to our surprise, we saw this:

 And we were shocked.  We were not expecting to find out then.  We were actually planning on finding out when everyone else did at the party, but we saw this and knew before the tech even said anything.  So, we held our secret for 6 weeks.  It was quite the challenge, but we did it and so glad we did!

Then we went to baby impressions around 15 weeks to confirm that we were definitely having a sweet little boy!  And we were!!

We were so thankful for everything that came to our party and shared in our joy!  Here are pictures of our guests.

Everyone that voted "BOY"

And the crew that voted "GIRL"

 While everyone ate cake and dessert, we showed our U/S video.

 Thank you all for coming out and being apart of this special night!  And a big Thank you to Erica, for capturing all of these amazing pictures!!  We appreciate YOU!  And last, but certainly not least, Thank you Mom...for making this night happen.  For not only opening your home, but putting in all the money and hard work to pull it off!  I don't know what we would do without YOU!!  We thank you for giving us an amazing gender reveal party!  We love you!

Mason William, you already one very loved little boy!!  We can't wait to meet you!  Keep growing strong and healthy and we will "See you soon!"  We love you, our precious son!

~"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." Psalm 139:14~