Preggers

I am feeling pretty good about myself today. Considering I am 30 weeks pregnant, I think I am looking pretty good. Especially since this is my third child. Brodie wanted to take pictures, so I let him take a few of me. Nevermind that I match our wall....that was not planned. I like that I feel this way now. Any of you who know me well know that my weight has fluctuated insanely the last few years. I was finally losing weight (in a healthy way for the right reasons) when I got pregnant. That has been my biggest struggle with this pregnancy....knowing that I will not look so hot after. But, I am determined to enjoy these last few weeks of pregnancy and to rest in the fact that I know what I have to do after the baby is born to get myself in shape. This time I am doing it for me, because I care about my own health. Not because I feel like I need to for someone else. That is a big deal for me.

However, "the girls" are getting out of hand. UGH! You women know what I mean!

Weekend

Sorry I have been somewhat quite lately on here. I personally am struggling with a major case of the blahs. I think the sudden change in weather last week played a part in that. But, it is sunny and I am better.

Austin spent the weekend with his friend Collin for Collin's birthday. Collin's mom took the picture of them at Medieval Times. They had a blast and I am guessing Austin was well behaved since they asked him to stay an extra night. Brodie got to spend Friday night with Aunt Kree. This was a big deal to him, since he got to do it without Austin. Jason and I took advantage of the kid free night and went out to dinner at The Cheesecake Factory in Frisco. We then took further advantage of the time and SLEPT IN on Saturday! This is a big deal for us anymore. I realize my days of sleep are coming to a close. Though it isn't like I get a ton of sleep now.

Other than that it was a pretty ordinary weekend. We hung out, did some shopping, went to church. Church was good this week. We had a guest come and preach. I really enjoyed what he had to say. It was Chi Alpha weekend for our youth so we had a bigger crowd than normal. Last weekend Jason and I became official members of our church here. So, this Sunday we had to go down to the front of the church to be presented to the congregation. I will have to post a picture of what we got to remind ourselves of the commitment to our church and the church as a whole worldwide. Pretty nifty stuff. I will post more later. I have more in depth things to talk about I promise. The sun is shining and the day is slipping from me, so I am off to get some things done.

Mandy Lyndon Cason

I meant to scan and post this back when I got them last month. Time slipped from me....then my scanner went on the fritz. All is well now. I miss these three SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much it is insane. Mandy, I want to try to come to Lubbock before the baby is born so that I can see you guys...I just don't think it is going to happen.

For those few of you who may NOT know who these people are. This is my brother, Lyndon, his beautiful wife, Mandy, and of course my most handsome nephew, Cason.

Love you guys!

Mom and Boys

Self Pic
Originally uploaded by LaShawn Williams.

The boys and I decided to take a picture of ourselves...no reason, just felt like it.

The boys and I have a new musical love...Jack Johnson's new CD from the Curious George Soundtrack. I love it more than they do. It is a fun CD but not little kid sounding. We love it a whole bunch. Follow the link and go listen to samples at Amazon.

In other news, we have this atomic clock in our living room. You know, one of those clocks that automatically keeps the time accurate. I am not sure of the details of HOW it works (ask Jason I am sure he can give you all the details), I just know that it is supposed to work. I think it is telling us to go to Hawaii or something. It keeps going to Hawaii time. Hmmm...

Some of you that read this know who Steve Farmer is. If you don't and you want to know you can email me and I will tell you. Anywho, I just thought I would share that he and his wife Amanda gave birth to their first child yesterday. It was a boy and they named him Jacen. I don't know any of the details as Steve and I don't really speak much, but I still keep up with them via his website. He is serving in Iraq right now, so pray for him. I know it must be hard to be away at a time like this.

My boys

I love my boys....aren't they cute? HOWEVER, can I tell you a secret? I am so excited that Brodie starts a one day a week Parent's Day Out program tomorrow. Now, in times past I would have had tremendous guilt over feeling that way. I have learned that even Super Mom needs a break. Honestly, Brodie needs a break from Mom. So, tomorrow I will have 5 hours all to myself. I think a long visit to the bookstore is in order. Have myself a coffee and look around. Yes I believe so! Perhaps lunch out with my hubby? Hmmmm...wonder if I can get him to actually TAKE a lunch. I doubt it. This I vow....I will fill my time doing things that are otherwise somewhat difficult with a very active 3 1/2 year old in tow.

Emotional

I am starting to get emotional. OK, so I have been emotional for a while. What I mean is I am starting to get emotional in a different way lately. I am starting to really dread the end of this pregnancy. I don't dread the end of the hip pain, or the indigestion, or the other discomforts of pregnancy. In my last two pregnancies by the time I got to about 25 weeks I was so ready to be done with the pregnancy that I could hardly stand it. This one is different. I can not wait to see Chase and see if he looks like Austin and Brodie. To see the resemblances between him and his daddy and to count all his toes and fingers. I can not wait to nurse him and hold him late at night when it is just the two of us. I even can not wait to see how Austin and Brodie are with the baby. Austin has always been a good big brother and I have no doubt that Brodie will be as well. However, I am starting to feel like this is my last go round with the whole pregnant thing. Some of the folks around us are saying that they believe we will have one more. Maybe we will. We are not ruling it out just yet. With that said, every time I hear Chase's heartbeat or see him on the Ultrasound picture I get a little choked up. I feel that this is my last one. Time has passed me so quickly with Austin and Brodie. And it seems to be already with Chase. I am never going to experience the first movements of a baby again. Chase will be the last baby that I get up and nurse in the middle of the night. The last baby that tickles my side while he nurses. The last one to light up with I walk into a room and reach out for me. I guess with all the excitement of Chase's arrival I am grieving the time that has already past with Austin and Brodie. I am already grieving the time that has yet to pass with Chase. Don't get me wrong. I love watching the boys grow up. I love that I am a soccer mom and get to go to cheer my son on. I love that Brodie has become such a comedian and is getting so independent. I love to watch all of it. The pregnancy is just making me think back on times when they were smaller. The nights in California when I was all alone, no family, no friends. Austin would wake up and I of course would go running. I would lay in the spare bed in his nursery and nurse him until we both fell asleep. He would tickle my side with his fingers while nursing. Times when Brodie was a newborn and would look into my eyes while sitting on my knees. He always had the sly grin he still has. He would sit there for hours and never complain or whimper. He loved to cuddle in the mornings.

Maybe these are the reasons why now when my boys wake up in the middle of the night I still want to rock and love on them. When they cry out I still want to run to them. I suspect I will always have these feelings, but this pregnancy is intensifying them. This is why I am trying to appreciate and cherish every kick to the ribs, every night I can't sleep, even the hip pain. It will all be gone too quickly and in the blink of an eye all three of my boys will be teenagers. Perhaps this post rambled on...I am tempted to go back and read it. But, I am going to post it as is. I want to be able to look back on it in a few months when I am complaining that the baby has not been born yet and remind myself to hold on to the moments that I am having RIGHT NOW.

Letter from my son

Sometimes it is the littlest things that make Mommies smile the biggest :-) In case you can't tell, the picture is of Austin and me. I am the Queen and he is a Prince, hence the crown. He gave me a rockin' 80's style ponytail...love it!

Site update

As you can see, I updated my site. Gave it a facelift. To tell you the truth I am not loving it, but it will do for now. I really want something girly...keeping with the girly theme of the week. I don't really have the patience to fiddle with it as much as I need to. So, we will go with this for the time being. Hope everyone has a wonderful Friday!

All you parents should go to this site....great info and advice from other parents. Not to mention a ton of laughs. Parental Hacks

V day cell phone

Look what my hubby got me for Valentine's day. I saw the pink Razr cell phone on TV a few weeks ago and casually mentioned how cool I thought it was and that I might like to have one. Jason took notes. For the record, Jason is the gadget guy around here. He likes cell phones and such. This is the first phone I have WANTED enough to say something about. I should ask for stuff more often :-) Isn't it cute??? I even got a cute hot pink carrying case. I used to not be this big of a girly girl. But when you have all boys in your house I think your estrogen jumps.

Cloe the devil

I have a total Love/Hate relationship with our cat Cloe (the light colored one in the picture). For those of you that read who do not know me in real life, let me catch you up. I love all animals, but I am a dog person. Period....it is just the way I am. I have always liked dogs more. I have no use for cats in my life for the most part. I was always allergic to them and I took that as God's way of saying, "They are evil stay away". Now, Jason and I started dating. He has these two cats, Cloe and Callie (who we call Mama). Now for the most part of our dating Mama Callie would have nothing to do with me or the kids. She is just a much more timid, keep to herself kind of cat. So we have never had a problem. THEN THERE IS CLOE!!! When we started dating Cloe also stayed away from us. Then when she was around she was constantly pissy. Now, Jason loves his cats, so I tolerated them. I would never ask him to give them up unless it was medically necessary or one of them hurt my kids. Once Jason and I got married, my allergies started to go away. God was obviously saying, "Well these cats are ok because your husband loves them." miraculously, they both started to love me. Cloe was no longer pissy all the time and Mama would nap with me, etc. So life with the cats has been fine. Jason has had to adapt to the fact that I see no distinction in how you treat cats and how you treat dogs. They are all animals, they are under the humans. PERIOD. He is over it. There are very few rules...no getting on counters in the kitchen, no getting on the kitchen table, and no getting on my pillow. The cats have complied. Well, they WERE complying. Cloe has in the last month decided to test her role in this house. It started slowly...getting on the table etc. Now it has gone to stalking the dogs and hissing at them when all they are doing is sleeping on THEIR bed. Now she will get in my lap at night, lay down and purr and then when I touch her bite the crap out of me. THIS DOES NOT FLY WITH ME! I would not allow a dog to act this way and I will not allow the cat to. Jason of course defends the cats saying that I should just let them be. Well, when she gets in my lap it is really not my choice then. So Cloe ran out in the backyard today and I went to retrieve her. She bit me and tried to get me with her back claws (she has no front claws). When I got in the house I *gently* put her down. This has got to stop. The spray bottle is back out and the war is on. This is my house and it will remain that way. Poor Jason! Thank goodness I still love and adore Mama Kitty. She is a sweetheart. Her daughter is the devil.

Eyebrows

This is a picture of me if I do not get my eyebrows waxed VERY soon. OYE! It is just one of those things that as a mom is a real luxury. Wait, having hair yanked from my body, a luxury? Well, you know what I mean. It is a time issue. I am REALLY bad about putting myself last. I have gotten better about it in the recent past, but I am still not close to there. There are many things I want to do. Get a pedicure, get my nails put back on again, have a girly night out, get my makeup done....just tons of things. But, alas, I can't even muster up the time to get my eyebrows waxed. Maybe tomorrow....I have been saying that for a month.

Ultrasound 28 weeks

I will have a full post later today. I just wanted to post some of the latest ultrasound pictures. What a Valentine's present for me!!!! Love seeing him. Everyone meet Chase! Yup that is the name we FINALLY decided on. It was no where on our original list. Jason came home one night and mentioned it and I sat on it a few days. It has stuck. It is the only one I feel fits. Anyway, I am off to lay down for a bit. Will be back later today with more details of the doctor visit.

Edited later in the day:

So we got great news at the doctor today. My placenta is now 1.9 cm away from the cervical os, instead of covering it. This is awesome news as this takes a lot of danger out of this pregnancy. They are still calling this a low lying placenta, but the perinatoligist said that we are no longer in danger of placenta acreta and the risk of bleeding is back down to extremely little. Once I talk with my regular OB on Thursday I will know if we are going to try for vaginal birth. I hope so. I don't mind having a C section (I had one with my oldest son), but would rather avoid it if possible. Given of course that I was not putting myself or Chase at risk. Chase is measuring perfect for May 10 due date and is 2.5 lbs. His little cheeks are looking more filled out. I got the best Valentine's present of all getting to see his face today. In other good news, I am now off pelvic rest....and well, let's just say. "Happy Valentine's Day Jason and LaShawn" hehe. Thank you all who ask and pray about us. We love you.

You know the phrase, "It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt"? That phrase is about to be proven true in my living room. All I know is my three boys (Austin, Brodie and hubby) are wrestling and there is lots of laughing and yelling. Goofy boys.

Name

WE HAVE A NAME!!!

Jason and I finally picked out a name for our little "munchkin". I feel awful that it took me this long. I was quick with both Austin and Brodie. This one was just harder for me. So yay, we have a name!!!! Oh, you want to know what it is? Too bad. HA! I will announce it tomorrow along with new ultrasound pictures hopefully. Ain't I a tease? hehe

Ick

Well, folks...more proof that this sick thing just won't quit. I hauled my butt into the Urgent care tonight at 7:30 and was told, "You have a severe sinus infection AND bronchitis. If you had not come in you could have gotten pneumonia. If that would have happened being pregnant you would have bought yourself a ticket to the hospital." So LaShawn is on antibiotics now as well as a slew of other things. I am going to have to change the name of this blog to "The Infirmary"

My parents are coming to town this weekend. And while I hate that I don't feel good...what else can be better than my MOMMY coming while I am sick? I miss my mommy :-)

I have a had a few emails...we got back Feb. 14th for our next ultrasound. Will update as soon as we know something.

No Class

THIS is further proof that some people have NO class whatsoever. Time and place people!

Sick

And then there was one....

This cold bug refuses to leave us alone. First Brodie, over two weeks ago, caught the bug. Then Mommy got it (Mommy is still fighting the remnants of it). Then Brodie got it again, resulting in a massive ear infection (he had bubbles on his ear drum..OUCH!) last week. Now, Austin is down with it. He hacked his poor little head off all night long last night. We have vaporizers going and prescription decongestants. Hopefully by keeping him home today and giving him breathing treatments every few hours we can knock it loose. This bug just loves us. So far Jason is the only one to ward this thing off. Jason rarely gets sick...something tells me he may not continue with his lucky streak.

Belly shot

Awful picture...but this is for Shana. See my butt sticks out....be thankful yours doesn't. Here is what LaShawn looks like at 26 1/2 weeks pregnant. I am very swollen now at night. Not fun!

Birthday and Belly

So we had a busy week. Wednesday was Austin's birthday. Jason took the boys out to dinner that night for "Guy's Night". I had to teach at church, so it worked out. Friday night Austin got to have his very first sleepover. His friend, Collin, from school and from soccer came over and spent the night. We went to Chuck E. Cheese and did all that. Then it was home for popcorn and movies. They had a good time. It is amazing the things you realize about your own child when you get someone else around. Let's just say, I am thankful my children are the way they are. Other than that, we had a pretty relaxed weekend. We actually made it to church today. It is the first time in 3 weeks that no one was sick. I would post more, but sleep is calling as I have slept like crap for many days now. The pictures are from our night as well as from the boys helping me make the cake....or helping me eat the batter. One of the two!

Our internet has been on the fritz the last few days...so forgive my silence. I have had lots going on to talk about. I promise to post this weekend about all the goings on around the Williams house. Austin turned 6 years old on Wednesday and he is having a friend over tonight for his very first sleepover. I am sure I will have lots to say when I get back to posting.