Mason's 4th birthday

 I haven't gotten around to blogging Mason's birthday party yet, but here it is. He is still completely loyal to Thomas the Train, so it was a Thomas themed party (again...) at Peter Piper Pizza, and he loved it! We had a great time, and Mason has memorized his birthday now. He says "My birthday is October eleven!!!" it's really cute.
I put a picture from his 2nd birthday at the bottom because I like to look back :)

Boy or girl? You decide

Check out the pictures below. They are both gender shots, and you can see the little bum cheeks. Just look between them and you'll see what you're looking for...

I hired this guy to come to my house to do a gender check on me. They are called Wombmates and they come to your house to do the ultrasound, and they're SUPER cheap!!! Their website is www.wombmates3d4d.com

So if you want to find out the gender a little early (like we did, I just couldn't wait any longer!!!), they are definitely the best route. 

Anyways, we found out the gender, and there is no mistaking the sex. If you see the pictures and still aren't sure, ask me and I'll tell you. But for now I want to see who can pick it out ;)

My tummy

The top picture was taken a couple of days after Thanksgiving (so almost a week ago). I'm starting to look more pregnant for sure. But this picture was taken in the morning. If I were to take one at night when I'm all bloated, I'd probably look a lot more pregnant.

The pictures right below that are from when my mom, my sister in law Jani and her kids, and I went to the wildlife zoo in Litchfield park (in the middle of nowhere). It was totally fun. We got to ride a train (Mason's favorite part), feed a giraffe (my favorite), and of course, see giant tortoises getting it on (nobody's favorite!) ewwww! I was so proud of Mason for going on the log ride they had and not getting scared. I took pictures of him getting off of the ride as proof. 

The last pictures on this post are my favorite. Nancy babysat Mason so Wynn and I could see the new Harry Potter movie, and when we came back to pick him up, we found him and Emma sharing her covers. So cute!!! But what was even better than that was when we took the covers off of Mason and realized that he was sleeping with his hand resting protectively over his bits :)  Can you blame him? He was sleeping in a pink room with a princess theme, under a heart themed blanket in jammies with pink stripes on them. I think he just wanted to be sure he left the situation with his manhood intact!

"I swear I'm still a guy even though I'm sleeping in a pink room full of girls, on a disney princess pillow, with pink striped jammies on strawberry shortcake sheets!"

Thanksgiving

I feel like a total bum because I forgot to take pictures when we were at my mom's house and then remembered to start when we were at my dad's house later that day (Thanksgiving). 

I should also mention that Thanksgiving fell on my brother Steven's birthday this year which was fun. That's why there are so many pictures of us gathered around a birthday cake. And, as per family tradition, each of the little kids got to take turns blowing out the candles (I call it saliva cake once they're done with it). I'm not even sure if Steven got a turn ;)  

But since there aren't pictures from my mom's house, you should know that we had a more fun-filled day than the pictures would suggest. It was a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. I thankfully didn't feel nauseous until later in the night, so I was able to enjoy all the delicious food. I was assigned the mashed potatoes this year, and I did an awesome job if I don't say so myself :)  So here are the pictures I remembered to take.

Kaylee was chewing on the candy letters from the cake. I swear her teeth aren't always green! 

Notice that my belly post-thanksgiving dinner looks a lot more pregnant than it actually is ;)

Don't ask... We're weird :P

Further proof that we're just weird. 

This is a good example of Mason the train boy with his train grandpa. My dad tells Mason "Squeaky Thomas" stories that are all about their run ins with "mean boys". Every time Mason sees my dad he goes "Hey, I'm your train boy!!!" It's beyond cute.

Jen is an amazing massage therapist, but sometimes even she needs a massage!

Halloween and my baby tummy

We took Mason trunk or treating at my parents' ward on Saturday. He wanted to go as Thomas again this year. Hey, I'm not complaining, that's 30 or 40 bucks I don't have to spend!!! We had tons of fun. He got to drag around his grandpa Greg for awhile making him tell him "Squeaky Thomas" stories. My dad is such a trooper. It was a really fun night.

 Weirdly, Mason was the most afraid of this trunk. It was such a cute idea. There was a person inside with a stocking over their arm made to look like an elephant trunk. The trunk would give the kids a piece of candy and shake their hands. Mason kept saying "um, NO THANKS!!!"

 My little buddy! I love how his hat makes his ears stick out even more. He's so cute!

 People do some really cool trunks. If you look closely, you can see a fake leg hanging out of the teeth.

 My little sister Leslie was in charge of face painting, and I thought she did a pretty good job doing a Thomas the Train on Mason :)

After awhile my little brother Alex and his friend got bored, so they pulled the van up and made an impromptu scary trunk with duct tape. They're so funny! Mason opened the side door up and got in with them a few minutes later and pretended to drive the car. 

 I didn't realize until after I took these pictures how badly I need to clean my bathroom mirror! Yikes, how embarrassing! Not to mention my closet overflowing with dirty laundry and the cluttered counter. Oh well. The important thing is you can see my tummy. It really just looks like I overdid the mexican food, but whatever. I've given up on trying to hide it. I figure if people think I look fat right on my lower tummy, they can go ahead and think that. I'm a little too busy trying to keep my meals down to worry about what people think. Seriously though, with how nauseous I've been and how much I've thrown up, you'd think I'd lose weight or stay the same. But NO! I'm gaining like a champ :(   Grrrrr.