35 weeks

i guess i could do one pregnancy post... How far along? 35 weeks and 3 days Total weight gain/loss: around 15lbs (which is good cus i was still carrying around extra pounds from bennet) Stretch marks? a couple on my sides Sleep: ehhh...Bennet is such a good sleeper so i am so very thankful for her. i am just uncomfortable and hot all the time. Best moment this week: anytime feeling him move around. every time Bennet asks about baby Lawson and puts her hand on my belly to feel him. Movement: he loves to move around at night and goes crazy in there all night long. Food cravings: nothing really...i have been able to eat mostly anything. i love desserts though...a little too much. Gender: BOY Labor Signs: just braxton hicks. i never had them with Bennet so it def takes my breath away sometime. Belly Button in or out? stretched to the max! What I miss: having more energy to play with Bennet. being able to cuddle with pete without being so uncomfortable. What I am looking forward to: the end of February when Pete is home. He is seriously gone a ton this month. Weekly Wisdom: soak up this time with Bennet. Milestones: 4 short days away from just 1 month left!

(my sister flew in for my baby shower. I was a little over 33 weeks here) ~m

a big update

wow! i am never on here anymore and that is just sad. i blame my battery on my computer though. it has to stay plugged in all the time so it makes being able to just sit and open while watching a toddler a little difficult. plus it stays in my bedroom and that is a room i barely go into during the day. enough about that. i have big news and although i know my only readers are my friends who follow me on instagram and facebook, so they already know my big announcement, i feel like i just need to make it sound like you haven't heard the news yet... I'M PREGNANT!!!! IT'S A BOY!!!!!!! HIS NAME IS LAWSON LEE PREVOST!!!!!

now that that is covered i feel like i need to share some details up until now... i found out on June 30. it was my second test and the first was negative but i really felt like i was so i just waited a few more days and sure enough! pete was gone so i called him with the news and he was floored. we were both so shocked and excited! we moved and i was pregnant. not the best time to move but i am so thankful for our new home. i never got sick like i did with bennet but omg the tiredness! i was beyond exhausted and took naps while b napped and just had barely any energy. i felt guilty and lazy so it was tough but i also reminded myself as did pete, that my body was growing a human. my house is coming along. there is still a lot to do but i don't feel rushed anymore. we still need to purchase some furniture and paint like every room but we will get there...someday ;) i wanted a boy so so so bad! when i was pregnant with bennet i thought for sure she was a boy. when they said "girl!" i was shocked. i was so excited but i also felt like i didn't know my body. it was a silly feeling and i blame the crazy hormones but still it kinda affected me with this pregnancy. i had a feeling it was a boy pretty much the whole time but would never say it. i didn't want to have that feeling again. and i was of course okay with whatever we would have but still this longing for a little baby boy was so deep. don't get me wrong, bennet is my dream. she is more then i could ever hope for. she is my life and my little love. but she is a total daddy's girl. like for real. i am not sad about it because she has a pretty great daddy and he isn't here a lot so i totally understand the infatuation with him. so all that said, i need a momma's boy. i already warned pete to stay away (just kidding of course). we found out it was a little man on October 9. we had the ultrasound, which is a couple buildings down from my midwife office, then went over to see the midwives. the lady who did the ultrasound wasn't too talkative and waited a while to finally tell us but when she first started i thought i saw a little dinkis. i didn't say anything cus once again i didn't want to be wrong. then she said the heartbeat was 147. bennet's was always like 155 or higher so that was another reason why i thought boy. bennet was waiting so patiently and kept looking at the screen saying "aww the baby" she says Lawson really well so we kept telling her they would let us know soon if it was a baby Lawson or a baby _______ (not telling our girls name cus we may want to use it in the future). she finally said "it's a boy! see it right here?" i just looked at pete in shock and started tearing up. that moment is so exciting! after we headed over to my midwife. pete and bennet stayed in the car and got coffee while i went in. she was so good but wasn't gonna make it through another doctor appt. the midwife informed me my placenta is down so we will have to watch that. i am praying it moves and i know this is very common. i want to have a vaginal birth again so bad so i just want everything to work out. she also informed me that there was a spot on the ultrasound with his heart. it is called something but i can't remember the name. basically its a sign of down syndrome or some other genetic problem. if i sound really calm it's bc i am. we are both really at peace with this. with bennet we were told the spacing of her toes were wrong and that she might have downs and we freaked out. we didn't understand what they were saying and had to wait 5 weeks to get another ultrasound done. when we walked in they were like "she is fine!" now i know its a big difference between toes and heart but we are really okay. we are just praying it heals and that he will be healthy. i feel like i am just gonna be told something is wrong with every pregnancy i have and that's okay. i am not gonna worry like we did with bennet. plus my midwife told me she sees this like 10 times a week and in most cases with downs there are other markers. this is just one thing. she told me nothing to worry about. so we go back in 5 weeks and we get to do another ultrasound. they want to keep checking the heart and placenta out. the nice thing about being told something like that is we get to see him on the ultrasound a lot more then normal pregnancies. we are already so in love with him. Lawson was pete's great grandpa and Lee was his grandpa. Pete's great grandma Lottie is still living (101!!) so it was such a special moment to be able to call and tell her we were using Lawson's name. she got choked up and so did we. it is a moment i will never forget. so there is the update. if you made it through all that. i am gonna do a pregnancy post every week (well i am gonna try at least) right now i am 19 weeks so i will probably start at 20. i need to make sure to write this down because if i don't i will feel horrible. i wrote down so much with bennet so i don't want lawson to feel left out.

~m

we bought a HOUSE

we are home owners!!! we are so excited to finally have a house that is truly ours! i can see our family growing bigger here for many years. it will be filled with love. it took us a long time to get here and we will cherish it so much!

so who wants to help us move?! ;)

some things i want to remember...

your little voice and how you jibber jabber all day.

how your little hands wrap around my neck and you give me a "sqeeze"

how you take care of all your little babies (stuffed animals) your favorites are your blue, teddy bear (that you named "goal"), and your little monkey. you love them so much.

how you sing along with us to your favorite lullaby "my darling" (it sounds like "my daddy" when you sing it)

how every time pull in the driveway you say "Wer Hooommme!" then immediately say "grarden!!!" you love going to look at the garden

mama needs a night out!

last night, me and my best girlfriends got out of the house for a much needed girl's night. i cannot tell how much i needed this. pete was on a crazy long tour since Jan. and it just ended this week. i quickly asked the girls what night we could all get together and i was so excited that everyone couldn't wait! the last time we all got to go out sans babies was when my friend katie told us she was pregnant. her baby is now 3 months old! needless to say, it was MUCH needed.

i love these ladies so much. i have been roommates with each of them at different times. i have the best memories with all of them. it was such a fun time in my life and i am so thankful i got to share it with them. i love that now we are all in this mommy stage and get together and talk about EVERYTHING! thanks for all the laughs ladies. i was dragging today but i would do it all again tomorrow!

{quote of the night "what tequila drinks do you recommend cus i just had a beergarita over at chuy's and i loved it!"} ~m

18 months!

how and when did this happen?! seriously life is flashing by with this little one.

(your 18 month bday!)

some highlights this past month:
you are talking so much! you pick up new words everyday and you understand pretty much everything i say to you. you are running and love to dance. you have become obsessed with Tangled and love the song parts in it. you have to get up and dance as soon as they start singing. it is pretty much the cutest thing ever! you are learning what timeouts are and we have picked out a timeout spot. you love pretend play and playing outside. luckily the weather has been great out so i try to get you out daily. blowing bubble, bath time, coloring, feeding yourself are all some of your fav things.
mimi came and stayed with you for 5 days while momma and dadda went on a cruise. it was really hard being away from you but daddy and i did have fun. we thought about you constantly. you loved being with mimi and you def got spoiled. when we got to talk to you on the phone you cried a bunch and that was really hard. you missed us and that was nice to know. we missed you so so much. i couldn't wait to get back to you!
we went to your doc appt yesterday and you are 21.5 pounds and 30 inches. you are growing very well! you are teething right now but so far i am pretty sure you have around 12 teeth.
this past weekend we went out on the road with daddy to his shows. lets just say bus life is not your fav. you loved being around everyone during the day and listening to some of the bands but you hated sleeping on the bus. mommy pretty much slept 6 hours all weekend and that was only bc i napped while you did. i got no sleep at night so we were all pretty exhausted when we got home.
you, my dear, continue to be one fun little girl. you have the best personality with a lot of sass and a lot of sweetness. you love to laugh and giggle and you def like having everyone's attention. i can't believe that soon you will be 2. i don't even know how that happened. i am so thankful you are here and that i am able to be your mommy. i love you lots little b!

(you are obsessed with wearing glasses)

(daddy did your hair ;))

(piggies!)

(on a walk)

(swinging at the park)

(another fav playing with glop a cornstarch and watch mixture)

traveling without baby

I mentioned before that next month we will be leaving bennet for the first time for a cruise. we are flying my mom down to stay with her for 5 days while i am so very far away on a boat in the sea. i am mostly excited but also very nervous. i would be a lot better if we were going away somewhere close so it's a little daunting to know i am gonna be so far away. but my mom is the best and i am so thankful she will be here for bennet. living in another state has made it hard for them to see each other and spend time so i am excited for them. i know mimi is so excited!

i also mentioned before that i have been doing 30 day shred. although i haven't been able to do it EVERY day. i figure though that i am working out most days and that is better then none at all. but the extra pounds are hanging on for dear life. i don't think i will be too excited to squeeze into my one piece. i did get a big floppy hat so i am excited about that. now i just need to find a cute cover up haha. before we go i am able to do a little shopping (i am babysitting for my old nanny family at the end of this month. the little girls LOVE bennet so we are looking forward to it and the $$ i am getting for doing it) i have been doing some online browsing but will most likely just go to forever 21 and francesca's do you have a francesca's in your town? i absolutely love this store! the prices are not too bad either! so all that to say here are some of the items from these stores that are currently waiting in my bag:

this dress would be perfect for a nice dinner aboard ship or when we dock in the Bahamas.

i am obsessed with this bag. i don't have any small purses so i have to buy one before we go.

another bag i love!

my goal, since being a mommy doesn't allow for it most days, is to dress up and wear heals like the whole time! these are a must

this ring set is so fun and cute!

i need to start wearing earrings.

i have a ton of stuff i want from forever 21 too. i am excited at the thought of dressing up a lot!

even though i am really nervous to leave my baby, i think this trip will be good for everyone. i am really excited to reconnect with pete and for my mom and bennet to spend lots of time together.

now time to go shopping!

happy new year!

the happiest of new year friends! 2011 was a great year. our little family was blessed so much this year. we are so thankful to put a great year to rest and so excited to see where 2012 takes us! we have lots of exciting plans already for this coming year, including in feb daddy and mommy are leaving bennet overnight for the first time. i am both excited and very, very scared. my mom is flying down to stay with her and i am thankful for that...but we are talking 5 nights away from my little baby! ugh i start tearing up just thinking about it. i have to remind myself how great it will be for us to have some alone time and reconnect but still....

in april we are flying to california for pete's brother's wedding. we are planning on going up to san francisco for a couple nights too. this should be a fun filled trip! including a trip to disney land!

bennet will be 2, pete will be 30, we will celebrate 4 years of marriage and maybe (if i can talk daddy into it) i will be pregnant by the end of the year. haha

lots to look forward to. thanks 2011 for a beautiful year!

lately...in instagram photos

i wasn't feeling very good and Bennet knew that baby cuddles would make it better

cuddle time!

relaxing!

after nap it is always snack and cuddle time while watching a show.

snuggling with mimi on christmas.

we took bennet to the grand ol' opry to see all the christmas lights.

santa brought a play kitchen!!

daddy took this...i am sure they were getting ready to snuggle with a show. ps that is not all she does...it is just a good time to snap pics cus she is sitting still for a minute.

my adorable sister and her handsome men on christmas!

bought her a new hat!

Merry Christmas...a few days late

From our family to yours

hope everyone's Christmas was lovely! ours was spent in st louis with my family. sadly my sister and her little girl were down with the stomach flu so this was the 2nd year in a row that sickness kept us from all being together. we missed them but were determined to celebrate. bennet loved ripping the wrapping paper off her gifts. it was the cutest. she was so intense. she got lots of toys...tons of food for her play kitchen and tons of baby stuff. her favorite though would have the be the little stuffed Blue from blue's clues we saw the night before christmas at a grocery store. haha of course the $4 gift is what she loves.

it was a good year, but we decided to stay home next year and make our own traditions. it will be good for us and i really want bennet to wake up in her own house on christmas morning. we will be sad and miss our family but this will def be good for us.

Have a happy new year!!!

a letter

dearest baby girl,

first, i have to say that i am so sorry i don't write on this more. i have this blog so i can easily write stories about your life so when your older you will have an amazing thing to look back on. plus i want to always remember all these little and big things you do and accomplish. i promise to change that. it is laziness and also when daddy is gone i kinda get in a funk...i hope it doesn't show to you but i know as you get older it will be something i have to watch. it is something i am working on and with God's help i will get better at.

you are 16 months and 5 days old. for the first time you walked across the living room today! you took so many steps that i lost count! this is such a huge step. for the past few months i have been like "okay any day now she is gonna do it!" we worked on it but i also reminded myself that it was OKAY that you hadn't. it really taught me not to compare and not to worry about such a small thing. i knew it was mostly due to your personality. you are a very cautious little girl. any little bump or fall you take great insult too...not by crying (unless of course it really hurt) but you just give a dirty look to anyone around like "what the heck!" it cracks us up! you have a very impressive furrow brow (which you get from daddy) it was so great to see you so proud of yourself as you walked back and forth! every time you sat down you clapped along with us. we are so proud of our little walker!

you have so many words it is crazy. some new ones are...NO!, yes, mimi, night night. you mimic lots of words too! so many i can't even remember. the other day i asked you if you were ready for night night and you said "NO night night!" haha! everything right now seems to be NO! along with your famous furrow brow but we are working on yes. you have to be reminded of that one a lot haha. you also know where your eyes and nose are and can say the words! you know where your ears are but can't really say that one yet. you know toes, belly, belly button, foot too!

you love animals and love all their sounds. you do a mean lion, monkey, cow, dog, snake, bear, bee, cat, and pig. you fav as of this moment is monkey you love scratching your arm pits and going ooh ahh ahh! you also have grown very attached to a baby monkey toy. it actually was the first toy you would smile at. we haven't played with it for like 8 months and you found it the other day and now you won't put it down. you also know that santa says HO HO HO! this is the cutest!
you love your stuffed animals! you feed them and kiss them and dance with them. it is so darling. you have really been getting into imaginary play with them.

as i sit here thinking about all this i am just so thankful. i am so thankful for your daddy. you have a good one. he is so in love with you. he also is very hands on. he wants to get you up in the morning. he wants to put you to bed. he wants to get on the floor and play with you and read you books. he misses you so much when he is on the road. and when he gets home he fills all the time he can loving on you. i also want you to know that he cooks, cleans, changes the grosses diapers, and always puts us first. one of my biggest prayers for you is that the man God has for you is like your daddy. we got a good one baby.

i love you baby girl. you have been so fun to watch grow and change and get this fiery, loving personality. you are so fun to be around and i am so thankful for you. i promise to write down more stories.

loves and kisses

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas!

hello lovelies! hope you all had a great thanksgiving! we had a great time up in st. louis with my side of the fam. bennet loved playing with all her cousin's cool toys! especially their play kitchen, which i believe she is asking santa for this year. she has been such a little sweet heart so i am sure she will have something extra special waiting for her under the tree. ;) speaking of santa...we went to see him today! bennet warmed up quick to him. she just sat there jibber jabbering to him. it was so cute. santa went on and on about how she reminds him of his little girl (santa and mrs. claus have babies ya'll) you could tell santa was very content to hold her and secretly didn't want her to go. i think the feeling was mutual ;)

oh and here is a flash back of last year....

same santa, same girl...even though she looks so different! it really is crazy to see how much she has changed. still the sweetest little thing though :)

my little family

i love my husband. i love my baby girl. i love our kitty.

i am so in love with my little family.

they mean everything to me. i am so thankful that God has blessed me with such a fun bunch.

but...

i wish my husband was home. the days we have to spend with each other are few and go by too quick. some days are so hard to get through. and most days don't go by fast enough. i could write on and on about how hard dealing with my husband's job is. how hard it is to see your little girl cry and knock on the front door after dada leaves...again.
this tour is almost over and then we will have some time in december to all be together. and then it starts all over again in january. he will be gone 4-5 days a week till april. yep.

today i was daydreaming about what it would be like to have him home on the weekends. what would that look like? would we snuggle in bed and watch cartoons with bennet? would be get up and make the most of our day? head to the farmers market? do brunch? go on random road trips? stay in pjs all day?

there are a few things i want to say...
-obviously it is hard. days are long.
-if he is gonna have to travel for a job, it is pretty cool that he gets to do something he loves.
-i am thankful he has a job.
-there are perks.
-there are downers.


all this to say, i just am missing him...so is bennet.

this is my baby

{photo by ethan luck}


i am one blessed mommy

lately...

{at the park}

{got her hair did ha}

i feel like bennet has been such a sponge the past couple months. she tries really hard to say words and mimics everything!
bennet's favorite words are:
cheese
turkey
cracker
kitty cat
bye
dada
mama

{slides!!}


she is constantly using her baby signs...more, eat, drink, thank you. those are just the main ones i taught her. she knows lots of words and knows what i mean when i say "are you ready for night night?" she crawls to her room. same with bath time. it is crazy how much she knows. i will ask something and she will totally know it. it def surprises me sometimes.

she knows some animals sounds too. right now her favorites are lions, bears, and snakes. she knows monkeys scratch their armpits haha. i would say reading books with animals is her favorite thing to do. she loves the flap books and constantly wants to read and lift the flap up.

{eating jeni's ice cream}

{at the pumpkinfest with her buddy addison}

she still won't walk by herself, but i think she is getting close. we will see.

did i mention she is gonna be a kitty cat for halloween?! isn't she the cutest!!

random memories...

~i stopped nursing bennet completely while in st louis on oct 4. i was just feeding her in the morning but i could see she wasn't really caring about it. so i just stopped. she hasn't seemed to miss it. as much as i was longing for this day, i was super sad the next couple days...she is such a big girl now.

~bennet knows what a lion says. anytime you ask her she growls the cutest growl. she has also mooed when asked what a cow says but prefers to growl. she pretty much thinks every animal growls since learning about lions. i took her to the zoo while in st louis and when we saw the lions she just sat there forever growling at them. ha

~bennet has such a personality and likes to have all the attention. she still has no stranger danger and says HI! to everyone she sees.

~you went to your 3rd sanctus real show and saw dada play. while watching him you kept saying dada! dada! and clapping. you dance so much to music it is hilarious.

~you have 6 teeth right now and some more trying to get through. you are officially the slowest at getting teeth. sorry baby.

~you think its awesome to pull petty's hair out by the handfuls. he still hasn't scratched you. seriously the sweetest cat. and he adores you.

~you refuse to keep socks and shoes on. i am on the hunt to find one that you can't take off. so frustrating as it is colder out and you NEED something on your feet.

~after seeing your daddy for the 1st time after being away from him for that horrible 24 days, you lite up. i will never forget your smiling face and how excited you were for him. he won't either...you made his day. :)

(us last night at daddy's show)

Happy Birthday dada!

today is pete's birthday! we sent him this little video today to wish him a happy one!

Untitled from melissa prevost on Vimeo.

we are hanging in there! and only have 6 more days to get through till we are all together again! it has been hard...very hard. but i am thankful pete has had some fun (including meeting/hanging out with DJ Tanner!!?!) and bennet & i have been hanging with family in st louis. it has helped the time go by faster but still...24 days SUCKS!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PETE! your girls love you and can't wait to give you lots of hugs and kisses!

~m

weekend update

i didn't mention last week that pete left for the road on thursday. it will be a whole 24 days till we see him again. you guys, that is long. a very long time. this will be the longest we have been apart since before we were married. and now you add a baby to this and it just makes it so much harder.
i feel sad for him. i know he misses me so much but i can't imagine the level he must feel by missing bennet. it already has been hard on him and its only been a couple days.

i am going to try really hard to not feel sorry for myself. yes being alone with bennet caring for her for 24/7 for 24 days is going to be hard and tiring. i love being her momma and doing all the things that goes along with that but then you add in the errands, the laundry, the cleaning, taking out the trash...doing all that on top of momma duties is tough. yes i want pete here with me to help with all of this but more importantly i want him here for cuddles, dadda play time, eating dinner together, etc. all the special moments that are simple everyday life events. it is gonna be lonely. it is already lonely.

i deal all the time with jealousy that other people don't ever have to have their spouse away from them. it is hard to not feel all those emotions. i just hope and pray that i can put all that aside and focus on bennet. i hope i stay patient, have energy to keep up with her. and i hope i don't show her how lonely i am because i have her with me and she is the best company. as much as i can feel sorry for myself and take that out on pete, i have to remember how hard this is on him too. we both are not phone people and both get annoyed easily with it being our primary communication. have i mentioned this is gonna be hard.

please pray for us. i really hope it goes by fast.

oh also, bennet has a cold and is teething so already i feel worn out by the past few days. hopefully it passes soon. i feel so sorry for my stopped up little snotty nose baby. she is so sweet even when she is feeling down.

~m

black bean taco mix

this is one of our favorite dinners. it is so easy and so yummy! i got it from shutterbean it is one of my favorite sites to get recipes from. seriously go look you will want to make EVERYTHING.

You will need:
*a glug of olive oil
*1 med yellow onion, diced
*1 tsp ground cumin
*1/2 tsp dried oregano
*1/2 tsp mexican style hot sauce
*1 small clove garlic, pressed
*1 can black bean
*1/4 tsp salt
*flour tortillas (depending on the size of what you buy we use anywhere from 4 or 6)

1. drain black beans.

2. pour a glug of olive oil in saucepan and warm over med. heat.

3. add onion, increase heat to med-high and cook. stir occasionally till onions are translucent.

4. feed your baby some peas cus she is crazy and won't let you do anything.

5. add ground cumin & oregano and stir.

6. add the hot sauce and stir.

7.add garlic and black beans. reduce heat to med-low and cook till beans are soft. add salt as needed.

8. we heat up our tortillas but you don't have to. fill them up with the bean mixture and add whatever toppings you like. we use cilantro, sour cream, and more hot sauce.

serve it with tomato and avocado salad. just chop both up add salt & pepper and some lime juice.

so yummy! enjoy!!!

~m