Grand Babies (and Mason vs. Neely)

This past Monday we went to Russ and Jessi's new house in Auburn to have dinner with Ben's whole family (as in immediate family).  Jessi cooked an awesome meal and we all enjoyed getting to spend some time together.

Here are a few photos from the evening... remember how I said I am learning to shoot on manual?  Well, forgive the quality of these photos because I was wedged up against a couch trying to get both babies in the frame and shooting quickly so as not to miss any of the fun.

Heeeeyyy... I'll have some of that milk please.

No Mason, That is Neely's milk.  

Mimi is about to feed you some baby food in just a minute.

But I still want that milk.

Me and my skinny jeans are taking the milk some place safe from that baby.

Blast!

Now I can enjoy my milk in peace.

Curses!!!!

Cate, Adalyn, and Cole are so big now!  

Russ and Jessi are loaning Mason their walker and HE LOVES IT!!! It is perfect for this little man who wants to walk everywhere but can't quite do it on his own.

After several attempts at getting all 6 grand babies to look in her general direction, Tori successfully snapped this photo.  Mason thinks his Uncle Russ is hilarious!

Then we attempted to get a photo off all the kids and grandkids....

Mason is still depressed about the milk.  Bentley wants Pop and doesn't want to sit on the couch.  Neely has the cutest belly!

And.... almost complete success! This time next year, there will be one more on the couch!! (Tori, not me.)

We had such a fun night together and it is so fun to see all of the kids playing and laughing.  Mason is going to have such a good time growing up with his cousins!

We all have so much to be thankful for... especially family and friends!

Blue Ridge and Other Things

Happy Thanksgiving week!  I am sure everyone is gearing up to cook and/or eat lots of food here in a day or two.  I, for one, am super excited about spending Thanksgiving with my family!  I haven't spent Thanksgiving in Florence since I got married so I cannot wait to see a lot of relatives I haven't seen since my wedding and introduce Mason to everyone.  I am also very much looking forward to my Aunt Marva's macaroni and cheese and my mom's seven layer salad and my grandmother's (Mamaw) chicken and dressing, fried okra, and potato salad!!!!! I am so pumped! (Big Fat Fatty)  Notice I only mentioned the food and nothing about the thankfulness.  I am very thankful for so many things, but I will save that for a future post, Lord willing I have time to do another one soon.  

Now, let me wrap up the Blue Ridge vacation with these pics from the last full day we had at the cabin...

Here we have Ben's artistic photography capturing his "perfect s'more."

Ben and Mason are going to kill me for putting this one on the blog, but I love it!!! Mason doesn't favor us in many ways physically (the bright blue eyes and blonde hair), but he has so many of our other characteristics.  I love their sleepy head looks early this morning.  We didn't get much sleep on the trip because Mason had a hard time sleeping through the night for some reason.  Special thanks to mom and dad for staying up with him a couple of nights.

Ahh, I am so sneaky capturing this picture of Matt.  Cara brought her cool travel hammock and I think I need one of those as well... maybe for Christmas.

Cara was forcing Matt to share the hammock with her.  

Not exactly the correct focus, but I think this picture of Berkley is hilarious.

Mason is always thrilled to walk around.  I am learning to shoot on Manual and I forget I have the camera set to manual and just start shooting.  This pic is over exposed and unedited but I love the expression captured on Mason's little face.

Berkley Boo my mountain dog.  He is such a rugged poodle.

The sun made the leaves light up like they were glowing!  I love fall because of all the beautiful colors!

It was all in all, a wonderful trip and we had so much fun! I definitely recommend Blue Ridge as a fall vacation spot for any family.  I wish I had captured a few shots of down town Blue Ridge because it is such a quaint little town.  I also need to share our experience at the store "Gypsy Eyes, Mystical Shop." Yes, didn't know that was the name of the shop until after we went in there.  You can just imagine....

I would also like to share this link with you.  It is from Women's Bible Cafe which I stumbled upon while searching for a good Bible study.  The Women's Bible Cafe offers several on-line Bible studies that you can follow along with every week.  I did Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World and I loved it! I highly recommend this website if you don't have time to meet weekly with a group or another individual but would like to participate in a study.  It was a blessing to me even though I did struggle to keep up with the reading.  The link I shared is a really uplifting article about gifts that we can all share with others such as Joy, Strength, and Peace.  It reminds me that "small" things, as simple as praying for someone or just being there for a friend going through a tough time can have such an impact on another person.  Check it out if you have time!

Oh Baby and Baby Belly

Too. Lazy. That's what I am. I have a few pictures to put up of my ever-expanding belly but my computer isn't cooperating and if I don't just post this then I may never post again. Why is my font blue? I got on here to write something and couldn't remember my own url. Then I couldn't remember which password I use to sign in.

So... on to the blog....

(This is more for me to document so that I remember details. It may bore you and will definitely bore you if you don't know me personally.)

For the most part my pregnancy has been awesome! I have been soooo lucky because I have felt pretty great and I have only been sick (as in thrown up) one time during the whole seven months. Now, I have experienced some other pregnancy symptoms, namely forgetfulness (as you can see from the first paragraph) and clumsiness. It. Is. So. Weird. At work I drop things. I drop medicine bottles, baskets, leaflets of paper, pens, you name it. I cannot hold on to anything. I forget a lot. I forget what I am saying or thinking (more than I normally did before) and things just slip my mind. I also have heartburn a lot. Randomly. I can't blame it on certain foods because water can even cause it which is odd to me. I sleep with 4 pillows now. Four.

However, the strangest thing is the belly. I can't get used to it. It came out of nowhere. I will walk by a mirror and and be like, "Whoa. That is me." haha! I keep bumping the belly on things because I am not used to it being there. I can no longer turn sideways to squeeze past something or someone. Turning sideways does not make me smaller. It is so funny! Feeling Mason move is the coolest thing ever. He seems to be all over the place and I can't pinpoint how he is positioned. We have a 4D ultrasound scheduled for next Tuesday and hopefully it will work out that Ben can come and we can actually get it done! I can't wait to see his little face! (If he cooperates.)

I haven't had too many weird cravings. I do crave random stuff for different meals, but the only things I have consistently craved are mocha ice cream with snickers from Marble Slab and mochas and iced mochas from Starbucks. Not. Cheap. Cravings. The weird thing is that while I am craving mocha stuff, I pretty much stopped making coffee at home. It kind of grossed me out at first. I have gradually come around to it and drink a cup every now and then but when I am home by myself I drink Tazo tea instead. It is strange because I have pretty much had coffee every morning since my 4th year of pharmacy school when my roommate, Shelley, and I would take turns making it before we left for our rotation.

The nursery is well underway! Mom and Dad came down these past 2 weekends to help us get it ready and it is now painted a pretty light blue/gray color. One-half Sea Spray to be exact. It only took me a couple of emotional breakdowns to get to this point. After attempting to order not one, but two cribs that turned out to be "no longer available," we finally picked out and ordered a set that was actually available and it should be here in a week or so! I will post pictures when things come together a little more. Now I just have to figure out what to do with all of the junk we were storing in what is now Mason's room.

Oh, I am also proud to announce that I passed my glucose test by 2 points!!! Whew! I was so nervous that I would fail and have to go through the 3 hour screening. Lucky me. It is so hard for me to believe that I am already 29 weeks along! The time is absolutely flying by and Mason is going to be here before I know it! I am so excited!

So, yesterday was Valentine's Day. Ben sent me a dozen red roses to work which was a complete surprise! They are so beautiful and I was so excited to get them! The hard part was getting them home. I put them in my passenger floor board and they tipped over with the first hard turn I made (in the Wal Mart parking lot) and it was kind of like a flood with little waves. Not to self: dump out water from flower vase before attempting to transport. The flowers escaped unharmed and are sitting beautifully on my dresser.

I couldn't help but think about how this was mine and Ben's last V-day alone. Next year it will be celebrating with a baby or hiring a sitter! We are trying to savor all of our time together and our sleep (as everyone advises).

Ok, next time I will post pictures. Hopefully I won't forget I have a blog in the mean time.

New Things

Greetings from Pike Road during the ice storm of 2011!! I have to say that it was a bit of a let down for me, seeing as we didn't get any snow. We did, however, get a little ice covering here and there and I woke up in time to snap a few pictures of the ice covered pines before they returned to their normal state.

Now, on to new things....

First of all, we have decided on a name for our baby!! He will be called Mason Grant Lassiter. Mason is my mother's maiden name and Grant is Ben's middle name. Although we have thought this would be the name for a while now, it has been really hard for me to say it was a definite! It is just that he will be stuck with this name for the rest of his life and I wanted to be sure he would like it. I hope that he does! For Christmas my sister-in-law, Jessi, gave me some monogrammed cloth diapers with Mason's name on them and they are adorable! It was very exciting to get his first personalized item! I have officially bought all of the fabric for the bedding (that my friend Kellie is going to make, she, along with mom and sis have been a huge help) so now I can get going on the nursery!

With the new year comes new year's resolutions.... I make these resolutions pretty much every year with last year being the only exception. I thought, I never keep these resolutions so why make them? So, last year I was resolutionless and somehow I survived 2010....shocking. Anyway.... this year I went back to my old ways and decided to make some resolutions... I'll begin with the one I have actually kept:

1. I cannot order a beverage with any meal (other than water) unless it comes with a combo or a special (like at a bar-b-que place where tea is included, etc.). I did this back in 2007 and it worked well. Cuts back on unnecessary calories and saves money... two for one bonus! Ben and I make this into a competition to keep us motivated and so far we are doing a good job with this one.

2. Bedtime at 10:00 and wake up time at 6:00. So far this one is a no go. We have made it to bed at ten on occasion, but it is the waking up a 6:00 that gets me every time. I wanted to do this resolution because I feel that I will be more productive if I get on up and going earlier in the mornings. You know what they say, "Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man (or woman) healthy, wealthy, and wise!!!" I know that 6 is not early for many, but it is early for me!

3. Read my Bible more often. I set my goal for 3 times a week. I am not doing so well with this one either but it is going to improve!! I am going to start a new Bible study (a 90 day study) called "Becoming the Woman God Wants You to Be" focusing on Proverbs 31 and I am quite excited about it. I am waiting on my book to get here from Amazon so I can get started. My friend Shelley is doing this study with me and my mom has already started it with some of her friends. I think this study will help me with my "read the Bible more often" resolution for sure!" Now, if only my book would get here!!

4. Exercise more. This also has a 3x per week goal. So far I stink at this. What happened to those days in college when I loved to go running as a stress reliever? Now thinking of running causes me stress. Granted, I can't exactly run with this belly because it just feels bazaar, but I should be doing more exercise wise. Why is it that the older you get and the more exercise you need, the more difficult it is to do?? Life can be so ironic sometimes.

5. Thank you notes. I AM AWFUL. I mean, I did well with the wedding and showers and writing hundreds of thank you's for those things. However, I am really bad at writing sporadic thank you notes. I want to be better about this. Several friends have already given me little gifts for Mason that I appreciate so much but I only think of writing the thank you note when I am at work or driving or in some situation where writing a thank you note is completely inconvenient. Ben, who doesn't really see the value in or the necessity of a thank you note says I need to let this go, but I can't. I can't. It is good etiquette to let the gift giver know you are appreciative. Ben's reasoning is, "you don't expect a thank you note, do you?" Granted, no, I don't expect one and I wouldn't remember if I didn't receive one. But they are really nice to receive, aren't they?

So, there are some other things that I have been working on lately that aren't really resolutions but just things that I am enjoying and wanting to do more of:

First, pictures! We have finally purchased some wedding pictures (yes, over 2 years later). We decided to purchase the cd of all the pictures so we could do what we wanted with them. It was just waaaay to hard to pick and choose a few. I am excited about putting together a photo book and getting some of these pictures printed to actually HANG ON MY WALLS. If you have ever been to my house then you are aware that I have NOTHING on my walls and NO recent pictures displayed. It is pretty sad actually. We have been here 3 years in May! So, before Mason gets here, we have got to get some photos up. When we have a baby, we are officially no longer newly weds and it will not be acceptable to have no wedding pictures out. Here is one of my favorites! (Seems like it was just yesterday. Sigh.)

Another thing I have been wanting to do for a WHILE, and have recently started, is archiving recipes. That probably sounds lame. I love to read recipes but when it comes time to cook, I get so overwhelmed trying to choose a recipe out of the thousands on line and in the fourteen hundred cookbooks I have, that I freak out, mentally shut down, and then cook Poppyseed Chicken Casserole. That is always fine with Ben because that it is his all time favorite, but I want to try new things!! Thus, let the archiving begin! What I mean is, I will write down the best recipes on notecards and store them in my handy recipe organizer box that mom gave me (it has a bluebird on it in honor of Mr. Tweeters). Then, when I go looking for new things to cook I can just consult one consolidated place instead of searching the afore mentioned plethora of recipes. Ahhh, I can think better already. On a side note, if you have not checked out PW's Tasty Kitchen site, please do so! I especially love the Tasty Kitchen blog. The blog often features themes of recipes that have been posted on the site. The themes include Mac and Cheese recipes, Pasta Salads, various beverages, chocolate desserts, etc. etc. etc. I love it!

And last, PHOTOGRAPHY! I have enjoyed this hobby so much and I have so much to learn! Very soon my reason for taking up this hobby (my baby) will be here in all his glory for me to photograph for life!! Thanks for all the practice, Pete and Berkley, but I am movin on up. I am very appreciative to my friends Kellie and Lindsey and Jessi for letting me practice on their babies.

In conclusion, a very special shout out to my Auburn Tigers!!! Good luck guys and WAR EAGLE!!!! It is almost game time!!!!!

Christmas in Pictures

Happy New Year!! I cannot believe that 2010 is already behind us and that 2011 is here! We have been so busy with work and spending time with family and friends that I haven't had the time or creative energy to keep up with the ole blog... So, I thought this would be the easiest way to document what we did over Christmas.... mainly pictures with a few much needed explanations....

My family came down to Pike Road the weekend before Christmas just so we could have some extra quality time together and do our traditional "ornament making." The following picture was used for my parent's Christmas card this year. And yes, I am looking quite pregnant these days as I am now almost 6 months along!

The "ornaments" we made were headed up by mom and they consisted of felted Santas as well as sculpy clay ornaments. The following picture is sort of what the felted Santas were supposed to look like but we couldn't find any flesh colored wool so they ended up looking a bit albino.

Ben took an original route and his Santa ended up being the "Zoro Santa from Texas."

Dad took one look at his Santa and died out laughing when he realized it looked like one of the band members of ZZ Top.

Oddly enough, the felted Santas provided fun for the entire family. This week I got more pictures of Matt than I have gotten in the last 3 years since he actually allowed me to take pictures of him! He and Cara decided to use the sculpy clay to make their Santa's faces instead of making wool faces. They were the creepiest things I have ever seen. (Pictures of Creepy Santas further down)

Then things got a little crazy with the sculpy clay.

Here we have Creepy Santas (Cara's on left and Matt's on the right) and the sculpy elf that happens to look exactly like President Obama.

And here we have the final cast of characters.... yes, we did set up a scene, complete with backdrop, to photograph them. In case you are wondering, the green balls with faces are "Christmas Peas."

The family visit was a lot of fun and it was nice to get to spend some "extra" time together since we no longer have those long breaks that we once got when we were in college!

Ben and I opened our gifts to each other on Wednesday night before Christmas so we could get rid of our dead Christmas tree before we had to go out of town. Here is our attempt at a photo of ourselves. Thankfully I got a tripod for Christmas so no more having to prop the camera on various pieces of furniture!

Christmas Eve was off to a great start with breakfast at Ben's parent's house for the Lassiter family Christmas. Ben and I were so proud of ourselves for leaving our house on time that I ran out the door without my camera!! I stole this family photo from Jessi's album on facebook.

In one of my previous posts I accidently said that our baby would be grandbaby #5, I meant #6!

Ben's parents even gave our baby Christmas gifts including cute little clothes, a book, a toy, and a stuffed animal! He is already spoiled and he isn't even here yet! We had such a good time with Ben's family and really enjoyed watching all the kids open their presents.

After Christmas Eve breakfast, Ben and I loaded up the dogs and headed North to Florence. We woke up on Christmas morning to a beautiful winter wonder land! Snow had been predicted but it was really a surprise that it actually came and stuck!

Of course, we had to take our traditional Christmas picture on the steps. It's a good thing that mom and dad's new house has stairs since we have been taking this same (or similar) picture on Christmas morning for about 20 years. We used to all three sit on one step. Those days are obviously long gone. Please excuse the sleepy looks and the strait out of the camera shot much in need of editing.... I just found it too funny not to share.

Christmas morning was complete with Santa hats and reindeer antlers for all.

Matt was thrilled. This is my favorite picture of the morning.

Berkley had never played in the snow before and didn't know quite what to think. He took off running in it like a maniac and he would lay down and stretch out all four legs. Then he would eat the snow and lay in it. We all got a good laugh out of him and if I can figure out how to edit and share the video then I will do so later. When it was time to come inside, Ben and I had to blow-dry Berkley for about half an hour to get all of the snow balls off this pompoms because they were completely frozen to his fur. You can see them in this picture...

I enjoyed getting to take some pictures of all the beautiful scenery:

Our Christmas festivities ended with the "Cousin Bash" with all of Ben's first cousins, siblings, and spouses. Ben wore his festive Christmas sweater and everyone was jealous. I again failed to bring my camera and I got this picture from facebook that Tori snapped of Ben in his Christmas get up. (My mom bought Christmas sweaters like that a couple of years ago for all the guys in our family as a joke. You can find them in the women's department at Wal-Mart. Don't all rush out at once.)

The "Cousin Bash," complete with Dirty Santa and multiple games, turned out to be so much fun! I wish we all could get together more often. Ben and I racked up in dirty Santa with a gift card for me and a Shake Weight (that we actually brought) for Ben. We will both be extremely buff in 2011 from working out with our Shake Weight. Get excited about pictures to come!