Some of my real camera favorites :)

Most of Mason's weekly pictures are from my phone, so I thought I would post some from my real camera's.

This picture was just from this past Friday. On the day that Mason turned 7 weeks old. He still looks very newborn like.

This one in his brown swaddle was from his 3rd week. I love him in brown.

He's about 3 weeks old here with the girls doll. They are just about the same size.

These next two are from week 4.

Mason and Trinit...week 2. She sure love her little "brover"!!

I also have Bub's graduation, and birthday to post about this week...when I find the time. :)

6 weeks already!!!

Look at my boy! I can really tell this week that he is getting bigger. His little head is slowly inching up to the top of the car seat insert, and it actually looks like he fits in the seat now. :)

So far, Mason seems to like the car ok. We stopped doing carpool when he came home from the hospital so we wouldn't expose him to more germs than we had to . Mason is usually awake the entire way to school, and falls asleep on the way home. He prefers the car moving, and decides to spit out his paci when the car stops.

Trinity ALWAYS cracks me up! Look at her face. What is that? She has done so well adjusting to Mason in the house. She is so sweet and gentle with him, and is always willing to go get something for me, and to help undo, and fasten diapers. She also like to "do the buttons" (snaps). I try to include her in helping with him any way that she can. This week she asked me if we could keep Mason. I told her FOREVER!!!

It is finally looking like early summer outside. Most days the temperature reaches 70, and the kids are enjoying the outdoors. The grass is green, and got it's first cut of the year. This is the first rose on our rosebush this year. I can't believe how big they are.

This is the view I see multiple times a day! We are still pretty much on a 3-4 hour schedule during the day. At night he has slept for 7 hours twice, by accident. The doctor said to let him sleep without waking him to eat, but I still set my alarm for four hours. I don't like him going too long without eating. I guess those 7 hour nights I just slept through the alarm.

Look at these eyes. Aren't they super sweet? You should see them when he smiles!!

Just a super cute picture of Neen. She's got quite the personality.

She colored this picture this week.

Little Pig Little Pig

Somewhere from week 1-2...because, I just can't remember

To be honest, I just can't remember when all of the NICU pictures were taken. It is unreal how much Mason looks like Big Casey. He even has these lines on the sides of his forehead when he raises his eyebrows.

It's not been that long ago, but it is still so hard to believe how small he was when he was born, and to think that little Casey was a whole pound smaller at birth is mind blowing.

Did you know that in the NICU they put the nose end of the bulb syringe (nose sucker) in the hole of these paci's to keep them in there mouth?

This is still one of my favorite pictures. He sure loves his Mama huh?

He looks like a little lobster in this picture. Look how little his legs are. Not much bigger than my thumb. Also look at my forearm, those nasty red areas left scars on my arms. It seems I'm allergic to the tape they used in the hospital. That area is where they had taped my IV down. I also had a huge nice circle on my stomach/legs where they had taped the blue drape across my belly during the c-section.

Catching up...Mason week 1

The first few weeks of Mason's life I was focusing my attention on getting Mason home, and I wasn't able to blog those first three weeks. So, this is my attempt to catch up a little bit.

This is one of the first pictures I saw of Mason, and I immediately fell in love all over again. I wanted to hold him sooo bad, but since I was given magnesium sulfate at delivery I had to be monitored at least 24 hours after he was born, and couldn't go to the NICU to see him.

In this picture without his hat on he almost looks like a full term baby. Look at those squishy cheeks.

This was the first time that I got to see Mason in the NICU after he was born. It was about 27 hours after his birth. It feels kind of awkward going in to see your baby when others have already had their cuddle and love time. They've kissed him, changed first diapers, and swaddled him. They've told him they love him. All the things I had been longing to do the whole pregnancy.

This is my favorite hat he wore in the NICU. Don't you wish you could kiss those soft cheeks? I just love them.

Nana came for Mason's birth, and stayed for 9 days. She had to go back home on the day he was released from the hospital.

Dad tucking "mister" in for the night. I tried to make all of Mason's daytime feeds. It was hard, but with my mom and Casey's help I was able to do it.

Nana trying to get Mason to take his bottle. I would nurse him, and Nana would top him off with the bottle.

Mason's cool little birth mark. Every day the nurses would ask me if it was a birth mark, because it looked like a bruise. Since he was born it has faded quite a bit, but you can still see it. :)

A week of firsts...week 5

This week was a week of firsts for Mason. He still sleeps a lot, but we are finally getting to see his beautiful eyes for longer periods of time. From the time he wakes until the time he's back to sleep is about an hour and half each time. He wakes up, we change his diaper, I nurse him, he looks around a bit, starts to fuss, I swaddle him, and he's back to sleep for another 2-3 hours. At night he sleeps about 3-4 hours at a time, but does have his bad nights where he wakes up very often, or he doesn't go right back to sleep. This week we tried a new swaddle, and it allowed his arms to move too much. That swaddle will be finding a new home. ;)

Mason LOVES his paci! My other kids loved theirs only after we made them love it, but this boy came out of the womb and took right to it, and has been sucking on it non stop. It seems he also likes his thumb. Several days this week he has fussed, and I go to look at him, and this is what I see. I've never had a thumb sucker, but I know he was sucking his thumb in utero, because I have a sonogram picture of it. Don't you just love this picture? And yes, Mason does have big ears. He and Trinity both have my mom's and my grandfather's ears, and I LOVE them. :)

Mason also started stretching this week, and it is so cute. He stiffens his legs, and raises his arms. When he gets that really good stretch his little fists shake.

He also took a ride in the Moby, and really seems to like it. I wore him at gymnastics this week, and will wear him at Anna's Spring program on Tuesday. I hope he still likes it when I'm sitting still, because her programs tend to run a little long, and I don't want to pull him out of the Moby and expose him to all of those school germs.



Mason also started fitting into newborn clothes this week, which is very exciting, because that gives us more clothing options. He only had about four preemie sleepers, and they are too short on him now. So...that means he's growing.

Mason is truly the sweetest baby. The only thing I have found that he truly doesn't like is stopping at red lights in the car, and gas. We had our first real bout with gas this week, and it was heart breaking. We did find this homeopathic grip water that worked wonders within minutes. I've only had to give it to him a couple of times, and never needed to give him the full dosage. I have discovered that Mason needs to burp at least 5 times every feeding or the gas returns. So, that's what we do. :)

I can't wait to see what's in store for week 6. :( this is all going way too fast.

She makes me laugh!

I just wanted to jot down a couple of funnies from this week with Neen.

Because she ALWAYS makes me laugh. Just look at that face!!

Growing up I cheered for many many years. Sometimes it was my whole life, and I even cheered in my sleep. The other night Trin was showing me some of her "gynastic" moves, and when she was done I asked her to show me a cheer. I guess she didn't know the kind of cheer I was talking about because, as soon as I asked her she raised her hand as if she was holding a glass and said "CHEERS" I thought it was hilarious, and laughed harder than i have laughed in a long time. Love that girl!!

The other night Neen woke up at 12:30, with pillow and blanket in hand, so I let her come in the room with Mason and I so she could go back to sleep on the floor. She was curious about the sun, and this is how our conversation then went.

Neen: Mom, where is the sun?

Me: Neen, the sun is asleep, now you go back to sleep.

Neen: But where does the sun live?

Me: Well,....we live on a planet, and the planet moves. During the day our planet, Earth faces the sun, and at night the planet moves to face the moon. So right now the sun is under the Earth.

Neen: No Mom....the sun lives on the mountain.

Me: You are right Neen. I don't know why I would have thought any differently.

Again, I thought this was funny because the mountains here spread across the whole East side of town, so in the morning the sun rises in the East over the mountains. So fun to see how these little ones minds work.

One more thing I almost forgot. One day this week Neen looked at me and smiled. I asked her why she was smiling so big, and she said "I just love your face Mom!" That alone made my Mother's Day!! I truly love being her Mom.

Mason's life...week 4

Can you believe that it has been 4 weeks since Mason was born? I can't, and in a way it makes me sad. 4 weeks leads to a year, which leads to kindergarten, which leads to high school graduation, which leads to leaving home. I miss him already. Not really, but I know that time will fly, and this chapter of my life will close long before I'm ready for it to. Stay little my little ones!

This is Mason on his changing table in his room. These photos are all cell phone pictures, but I just love the lighting in the mornings. Sometimes the beginning of his yawns look like little smiles.:)

Anna with her little doll. The clothes he is wearing are actual doll clothes that the girls went and found for him to wear. Can you see in her smile how much she loves him?

He looks so little laying on the floor. I don't leave him on the floor though. I wouldn't want him to get trampled.

Yawns....they are my favorite!!! I try to capture as many as I can.

This week Mason had his first real bath. As you can tell it did not go over well. We even set up a little space heater and got the room all nice and cozy. To say he hated it would be an understatement.

This is how I spend my afternoons. Sitting in my favorite chair with my littlest in hand. So far he is just the sweetest. He likes to be cuddled, but prefers to take his naps independantly. His daytime naps are in his bouncer, and his nightime sleep is in his rocker. Genius that product. If he starts to stir it is tall enough I can rock it from my bed. Hey, I think I can even rock it in my sleep. ;) not that I need to . He has been such a good and easy baby so far. It has made the transition from three to four kids so smooth. He wakes to eat and looks around for about 30 minutes, and then falls asleep. Wake up and repeat. At night I nurse him and he goes right back to sleep. So far he is a dream, but I know it is still early. I may wake up soon.

Mason is here....

When I was 35 weeks pregnant I went in for my weekly doctors appointment, and my blood pressure was really high. It was running about 160/110. I was shocked, because I was actually feeling really good. I had been going to a chiropractor, the baby had turned head down, my joints were feeling good, and I was trying to savor the last of my last pregnancy.

The doctor told me to go home and limit my activities, and if I had any other signs of preeclampsia to call the office. That night I went to bed with an annoying headache, and I knew in my heart that I for sure had preeclampsia again. I had it with Bud, and I was very sick.

When I woke up the next morning and still had the headache I called the Dr., and she said to go to the hospital to be evaluated. Sure enough...they admitted me, and I had full blown preeclampsia, and we needed to deliver. She did a quick sono, and just as I had suspected Mason had flipped again, and was now breech. The Dr. said that we could do a c-section that night at 11:00pm. I was becoming uneasy, and told her I needed to wait until the next day. That way Casey could get the kids day started, and my mom could fly in. Little Casey stayed home with Trin that day, and they had fun together waiting for their brother to be born.

The next day I was scared the entire time before the c-section. I was scared for me, I was scared for Mason. I was scared for my family if something happened t either of us.

About 11:30 the nurses came in to get me prepped for surgery and in the last minute changed out my IV because it was in the wrong spot.

Things were becoming a little hectic. The anesthesiologist came in and in no time my hospital room was full of people getting me ready. I know at this point my blood pressure was really high, because I could feel my heart pounding. When it was time for me to go into surgery my doctor came in to the room and said that their was a fly in the operating room so before we went into surgery they needed to find it. About 15 minutes later my doctor came back in and said "we've looked to hell and high water for that fly and we can't find it.", so we are opening up a new operating room! Thank goodness!! I didn't want a fly landing on my open tummy. Talk about gross.

A few minutes later I was wheeled into surgery, plopped up on the operating table, and was given my spinal. The spinal wasn't too bad, but before I could even lay down I felt so sick to my stomach. I told the anesthesiologist, and within seconds the nausea went away. I had told him beforehand I get really nauseated and sick, so have something ready. Oh....something else I just remembered. When all the nurses were in my room telling me what was going to happen, one nurse said. "Ok, during the surgery we're going to tell you you're about to feel a little pressure, and it's going to feel like I'm standing on your chest. This is normal." I was a little taken back, because this was a big lady. She was super tall, and had large bones. This scared the daylights out of me, because no way could I take the feeling of this lady standing on my chest.

The anesthesiologist put on my oxygen, and I began to breathe. Casey walked in, and I knew he was scared. He kept talking to me like nothing was happening, and I was concentrating on my breathing. As long as I could take deep breaths I knew I would be ok. I think me not talking back to him, but taking deep breaths scared him even more. He kept asking if I was ok. I told him I was I just needed to breathe.

After about 10 minutes, I got that "you're going to feel pressure" line, and the pressure really wasn't that bad at all, and after just a few minutes we heard that most beautiful sound at birth. The baby's cry. It was not like my other preemies cry. This cry was strong. Casey and I locked eyes, and we knew he would be ok. The doctor started to laugh and say "look at him" to the nurses, "he won't let go of Mama". I'm not sure what she meant, but it sounded like he was grabbing me and not letting go. She also said multiple times "he has two knots in his cord", "he has two true knots". She told me she had never seen two knots, and that we were so lucky that he was delivered by c-section, because otherwise the outcome could have been very different.

Mason did go to the NICU very soon after delivery. His blood sugar was very low, but his breathing was fine. I didn't get to see him until 28 hours after he was born, and it broke my heart. I just longed to see him, and make sure he was ok. I wanted to see that sweet boy that I had really only had a chance to glance at. I wanted to see this birth mark on his leg that everyone was telling me was so cool, and those salmon patches on his forehead. I wanted to kiss them, and tell him I love him. I wanted to smell him, I wanted to breathe him.

Mason stayed in the NICU for 9 long days. The kids didn't get to meet him until he came home from the hospital because of age restrictions. They were so ready to meet him. He just turned three weeks old last Friday. He has fit in beautifully with our family. The transition has been so smooth, that you would think that he had been here the whole time. The kids love him, and we are so thankful that he is healthy, and perfect, and ours.

Here is our....

Mason Cade

4/8/11

4lbs 15 oz 18 in

12:58 pm

I took this picture when Mason was 12 days old. The red spot on his cheek is from the tape of his feeding tube. And if you were wondering, he is just as sweet as this picture.

I think the anesthesiologist really wanted to be a photographer. He jumped right in and took a lot of pictures. This one was my favorite.

Before Mason, I always felt like our family was missing someone, but now we just feel complete.

A picture of Mason at 2 weeks old. His eyes are beautiful. We are just starting to see them more. When he first came home he only slept. I had to wake him every three hours to eat, and during his feedings his eyes would soon close again.

I'm trying really hard to savor and cherish every moment of Mason, and our new family.