a little bit of brady | 27 weeks

just a little update since last week.. we went to the perinatologist for another look at my amniotic fluid levels and to check on Mr. Brady.  I am not one to complain about getting another peek at my baby boy, but the anxiety that goes along with it reminds me of the feelings and emotions I had in my pregnancy with the twins.  you never really know how these appointments will go and if they'll tell you news you never want to hear.

thankfully all is well with our sweet boy.  his kidneys look awesome- the right kidney has decreased in fluid significantly and his left still has quite a bit in the surrounding area but Dr. Koster isn't worried about it.  the main concern *now* is that my amniotic fluid just doesn't get any worse. reasons behind my high amniotic fluid are still unknown.. I don't have gestational diabetes, which is one of the main causes of polyhydramnios .  another cause could be because there is occasionally a disconnect between the baby's trachea and esophagus making him unable to swallow like normal, which in turn causes the fluid to build up.

my belly is measuring around 34 weeks gestation, and I'm not even 28 weeks until this weekend.. so there is quite the difference to be had there.

  "choose happy" tee // cardigan 

thankfully Brady has a "perfect gas bubble" in his stomach which usually isn't visible if the baby has swallowing issues. we also watched him make swallowing motions and stick out his tongue over and over on the sonogram and it gave me all kinds of relief and satisfaction outside of the reassurance from the perinatologist that he's "just fine".  we've checked that boy out with a fine toothed comb.

for now its about making sure I don't go into preterm labor and a little extra monitoring and checking in on our babe.

initial hat // tee // pants

after seeing him on the 4D sonogram (we visited visions of love) I couldn't help but get super emotional about meeting him soon.  seeing him on the regular sonograms up to this point I have really seen the profile resemblance to Parker and Baker, but after yesterday I literally had a jaw-drop moment with his little nose and sweet mouth and those round baby cheeks! 

absolutely identical to Baker Bree.

he stretched and yawned and nuzzled right up to his mama and kept making the sweetest facial expressions and pursing his lips together.  good grief.

talk about making his little life REAL.

he's just under 3 pounds- 2 pounds 11 ounces to be exact.. gained 6 whole ounces in the week since we last measured him. he sleeps for most of the morning, active after lunch, and then snoozes until I'm ready to go to bed.. and then its a dance party up in there:)

I just cannot wait to smooch those sweet cheeks!

you are so loved already, baby boy!

Merry Masseys | 2016

I promise I'm almost done with the Christmas posts.  

as a gift this year for Jordan's parents we arranged a photoshoot- the first photos ever of any of the extended family together.  it was long overdue. but figuring out schedules and getting about a billion people on board and on the same page about the whole thing is nearly impossible. 

Brittany snapped a these pictures at the farmer's branch historical park on a super chilly Saturday in November and they turned out really sweet.  I ended up using the one I love most for our Christmas card this year. 

(just hurry up and scroll to the bottom if I'm already boring you- ha!)

I adore this picture of Jordan and Baker.  he loves his girls so much.. and his face says it all.

fast forward about 10 years.. 

I LOVE my girls. that baby boy is going to fit right there on the end- eeep!! 

I ordered this darling picture in a canvas print (groupon for the win!) as a gift to my parents for Christmas!  

tickle, tickle! 

me and my guy. 

my forever crush. 

my always.

I almost didn't do a card this year.. almost.  Jordan convinced me that we absolutely could not pass up the last year as a family of FIVE to send a card.  this one turned out to be among my most favorite ever.

custom card design: CKFireboots
photography // b faith photography
twins // top + jeans + cardigan + boots
baker // bow + sweater + romper + boots
amber // hat + sweater + choker + top + pants 

Christmas cards of years past:

2015 // 2014 // 2013 // 2012 // 2011 // 2010 // 2009 // 2008

weekend | Christmas 2016

Christmas 2016.  I cant believe its already come and gone! I am refusing to take down my festive décor until at least the second week in January.. which might end up being the third week and those colorful bottle brushes I added to my Christmas collection this year could also make their stay into February.  mostly because I just cant stand to see it all go yet- I feel like my house is so bare after everything is put away! and mainly because who has the energy after a holiday weekend to even think about tearing it all down yet.  surely not me. not at all.

our celebrations started on Friday evening- our annual Supper Club (adults only) get together this year was held at the Tapella's.  Jacqueline and Travis hosted the most beautiful party for the 8 of us- a personal chef cooked the best meal ever- seriously the crab cakes we ate as appetizers were to die for.  and we laughed and laughed and laughed until we cried.  so much FUN  with this group of friends we have spent the last 7 years of life with. 

 for the first time in a long time I wanted seconds of everything we ate!

 our annual framily picture!

self-timer for the win!!

 ..and our silly pictures never get old.  I cant tell you how many of these pics I have stored away and every single one of them involve Chris and Jordan getting a little too close. 

Jordan set the timer on my phone and felt zero remorse for pushing the gals out of the way to make his place next to Chris.

when the whiskey and cigars made their way onto the patio the girls kicked off our boots and pulled out the sugar cookies for dessert number two:)  it was well past midnight before anyone made a move to leave.. the best way to start this holiday weekend, if you ask me!

you could say it was an early wake up call the next morning:)

 Christmas Eve we visited Watermark Community Church in Dallas. Jordan and I attended this church for a long time before the babies were born so it has always felt like home to us.  we had plans to shop around Northpark Mall after church which is near there, so it made sense to take the girls back "home" for Christmas Eve. this was their first time in "big" church and aside from them saying "I want to go home" a handful of times they did so good. 

 we failed miserably at getting a group pic of  all of us after church.. and when I was rounding up the girls to attempt for the 10th time (or so it felt like..) I turned around to see these silly attitudes about being close to each other.

its not always rainbows and unicorns, folks!

 Merry Christmas EVE!

 after leaving our best cookies for Santa and reindeer food sprinkled throughout the yard we got the babes in bed and finished wrapping and setting up for Christmas morning.

 Christmas morning came quickly!!

we woke to Parker's cackles from the living room about Santa eating the cookies and Jolie squealing over the giant shopkin's pack under the tree- "just what I asked Santa for!!"

this was the first year I feel like they really had the understanding of Christmas and celebrating Jesus as well as the magic of Santa Claus delivering presents under the tree.

Baker was the last one awake- per the usual.  time to wake up sleepy head! 

 want to know a secret? the twins got that easel for their birthday LAST YEAR.  it has been sitting in the guest room unopened, because we have had no place to really put it and I might have decided they were old enough for it prematurely.  when cleaning out the guest room to make room for a baby boy we discovered/remembered the giant box and did one of those forehead slaps like "why is this still sitting in here!"

anyway.. Merry Christmas, girls:)

the twins got brand new bikes- Disney Frozen princess bikes, of course! and Baker got this little motorized car from Santa. 

she is straight nutty and found it most entertaining to ram into my heels anytime she got on it.

 this Christmas was magical.  we didn't leave the house or get out of our jammies.. we watched movies and played with our new toys and took long naps instead and it is the only way I would want to spend this holiday!

with the people that matter most to me..

these girls and their daddy, too. 

I hope your Christmas was wonderful!! 

five on friday | happy Christmas week!

one. christmas snail mail

literally THE BEST part of my Christmas decor comes from all of our family and friends.  I've been covering our cabinets with cards for the last several years and love getting the mail everyday to add to the collection of these sweet faces.  

I absolutely wish I could leave them up all year round! I get so sad to see them all go.  I do leave them up a little longer- well into the the New Year.. but how long is too long..?

two. christmas babes + bellies 

we got to meet our newest little friend- baby Cohen! our friends Andrea and Sonny became parents this week and Jolie and I snuck out a couple evenings ago to go visit and meet this sweet face!  it made me so so so excited to meet Brady in just a few short months!

 speaking of.. we all made the trip to the doctor to check up on Brady and his mama.

thankful for those iPads sometimes, you know? 

 AND I got the call this week that I passed my glucose test.  they did tell me that my iron is a little low, but everything else checked out great.  yippee!

three. christmas with nana + duke

my parents came in town this week to celebrate Christmas with us.  it was a really short trip but we jammed about a million things into their time here and had a great time.  

Patrick + Sam came over to visit, too! Patrick is my middle brother (25yrs).. and this was the first time the twins have really ever met him.. and that other cutie on the right is Sam, my youngest brother that is a freshman in college. the twins ran them ragged but they all seemed to love it anyway:)

 we made a trip to the movies- left miss Baker with Britt and took the big girls to see Moana.. which was SO darling, by the way.  Jordan was particularly pumped because his man crush, The Rock, played a starring role along side little Moana, so it took little convincing for him to get on board for the movie outing.

--

my beanie is borrowed:) but you can find a similar cardigan to the one I'm wearing HERE // blanket scarf HERE // my favorite maternity tees HERE // and THE most amazing support leggings HERE

 everyone was sad to say our goodbyes, but we will see them again soon!

four. polar express + pizza + presents

Christmas with Auntie + Uncle J + Grayson!  we ordered pizza, exchanged gifts and watched Polar Express on their theater sized screen.  oh, and the best part was that everyone was in their jammies.

five. christmas morning 

what is everyone making for Christmas?  like.. food-wise?  I get so hungry and so BOLD surfing my pinterest page in search of something yummy to make for Christmas morning.. brunch is the best meal of the day and I look forward to the goodies waiting for me on Christmas morning! there are always sausage balls (1lb sausage + 2 c. bisquick + 1 c cheddar cheese + 8oz cream cheese baked for 25-30 min at 350 degrees) and we usually make waffles with fresh strawberries and cream.. and soaked in maple syrup! but this year I thought maybe a breakfast casserole or one of those overnight French toast things would be good?  I pinned this sausage and hashbrown casserole and for something sweet, I think a cinnamon roll over night French toast bake would be delicious.. the original or what about this pumpkin version!
how about both?
I'll snack on some Christmas crack left over on Santa's cookie plate as a pre-breakfast appetizer.


TWO more sleeps!! Happy Christmas Eve, EVE! XO!