27 Weeks

13 more weeks to go! As Lawton mentioned below, Sarah, Bryan and Grace (7 months old) stopped by for a visit and to see the nursery. I enjoyed Grace's company and her cute facial expressions! I even told her she had a boyfriend on the way! 

As you can tell in this picture, I've had a hearty appetite! Everything is growing so fast, my belly, my nails, and my hair!!! I thought I'd better just let it grow out so I can pull it back when it gets hot these next few months. I will cut it short again when Mason arrives.

Love,
Erika, Lawton, and Baby Mason

THIRD TRIMESTER

I cannot believe we have exactly 3 more months from today! It feels like just yesterday when I found out I was pregnant.... and now I'm entering the third trimester. Everything has been going well. However, I'm starting to feel slight discomfort. The doctor told me at the last visit that I could be experiencing Braxton Hicks, which is normal. Maybe that's it...or just gas! Haha!

I talked to my best friend, Amanda, tonight and she just finished the invitations to my first baby shower in April! I can't wait! These next few months are going to be exciting...tons of new adventures. I just hope the weather doesn't get too hot and uncomfortable. I will need to start shopping around for cute dresses that are easy to wear! These maternity pants are beginning to bug me... I'm getting to the point where I don't like anything on top of my stomach, and neither does Mason. He's been using my stomach as a punching bag! I'll definitely miss these kicks and movements though... I'm cherishing every second.

Love,
Erika, Lawton, and Baby Mason

Mason's Room

Today, Sarah, Brian, and Grace came by on their way back to Atlanta. Erika got to show them the nursery, and I got to take a break from working in the yard. (See LifE) We had a great visit, and Grace could not get enough of my hat. She would laugh and laugh at it!
Sarah took some pictures of Erika and Grace and we will post them when she sends us a copy.
Later, Aunt Garnette called, wanting to see the Mason's name on the wall. Erika snapped this quick photo. As you can see, we have been finishing up everything in Mason's room. All that's left is to buy the dresser, nightstand, pictures, and accessories. It has been a wonderful experience preparing for our little one. You can also see the travel system we will use until Mason gets to big for it. Pappy and Alta bought that for us last weekend. Till next time...

Love,
Erika, Lawton, and Baby Mason

Dad is getting Excited!!!

Erika has been doing amazing! She is resting on the couch, while I take in some NCAA basketball. I have been so proud of Erika! She is going to be an amazing MOM! I am so excited about the birth of our first child. It doesn't seem like time can go by fast enough. We are quickly coming up on the 3rd trimester.

This week, I finally finished hanging Mason's name in the nursery. Anyhow, I decided to look around on the web for photography ideas. After looking for awhile, I remembered about Wordle. I tried it using this site, and eventually got a pretty neat result. I loved how Mason was in the middle of everything else. It reminded me of all the people and events that have led us to this amazing event.
title="Wordle: First"> src="http://www.wordle.net/thumb/wrdl/673971/First"
alt="Wordle: First"
style="padding:4px;border:1px solid #ddd">

Love,
Erika, Lawton, and Baby Mason

26 Weeks - Erika's Tummy

We are almost to the 3rd trimester! These next few months are going to fly by, I just know it! We have a lot of baby showers lined up and I've been hard at work on the guest lists. I can't wait for everyone to see how much my belly has grown. Here's the latest picture...starting my 26th week, just to give you an idea.
This past week, I had a wonderful 29th birthday! We enjoyed spending this weekend with Lawton's dad and Alta. As you can see below, they bought us the pack and play and the travel system for baby Mason!!!! We are so grateful!
Lawton and I also bought the letters that spell out Mason's name that we'll put above the crib. Tonight, Lawton painted them dark brown. We'll blog it when we hang them up this week. Everything is coming together perfectly!

Love,
Erika, Lawton, and Mason Swann

Loaded Up

Saturday Shopping

Pappy Reed and Alta came up for the weekend. We went out to dinner
last night and had a great time.

Today they took us out to Babies-R-Us to shop for Mason. In the end,
we purchased two major items, the travel system and pack and play.
Erika and I have been overwhelemed with everyone's generosity.

June is coming fast!!

Party At My Crib!

This weekend, Amanda came to visit for my pre-birthday celebration! She and Joel bought us some cute things for Mason. She got to feel him kick a lot too, I guess that's his way of thanking her or telling us that he wants Joel to coach him at soccer some day! While we were visiting downstairs, Lawton was hard at work upstairs! Now that the nursery is complete, I gave him permission to put the crib together, so he was on a mission! Here are some pictures...

I told him to yell down to us when he was ready for some help. Not much longer, he called me and told me to come up. I walked in expecting to find a mess..... and THE CRIB WAS COMPLETE! He put that thing together in no time! I checked it and it was perfect and very sturdy. So surprised!


The next day, Ouida, Harry and Hunter came to visit. They were anxious to see the nursery and we really needed some more opinions/ideas. After seeing the crib put together and still looking empty, they decided to take us to Babies R Us! We had such a great time with them. They wanted to buy our bedding, so we show them which one was on our registry and we even had a coupon for it! SCORE! Lawton picked out a mattress that was on sale, so we bought that for our little man. After dinner, they headed back to Fort Mill and we rushed home to "decorate" the crib! We still need to wash the linens and buy a mattress pad, but wanted to go ahead and see how it all looked. Ta-da!


Overall this weekend was the best pre-birthday present ever! The crib looks great! I got to hang out with family and friends! It was beautiful weather! Amanda bought me a mani/pedi! I hardly noticed that I lost an hour of it with the time change. We love you all!

Love,
Erika, Lawton, and Mason Swann

Introducing....

We've confirmed the name....our baby boy will be called MASON REED SWANN! I've always loved the name Mason and it happens to be a family name on Lawton's side. Reed comes from Lawton's middle name and his dad's middle name, so it's only natural that we keep the tradition going. Also, it's the only name that seemed to flow and fit right with Mason. We love it and can't wait for everyone to meet him! 

On another note, Lawton had off of school today because of "snow" that never came. He was anxious for me to get home so he can play around with the camera. Check out these few pictures from our photo shoot! 

Love,
Erika, Lawton, and Mason Swann

Doctor's Visit

Everything went well at the OB today! My blood pressure is 104/60 and the baby's heartbeat is 150, which is normal and great! We are healthy and doing wonderful! I was given this orange Glucose drink that I'm supposed to take 25 minutes before my next appointment so they can do a blood sugar test to check for diabetes. And, from now on, I'm supposed to gain only a pound a week. That will be hard since I'm ALWAYS hungry! The nurse measured my belly and said it's at the normal size for 24 weeks, so we're right on track. It's weird to see my belly button starting to fill in too. Also, after my next visit, I'll be going to the doctor every two weeks instead of monthly. I've already been given the paperwork to fill out for my admittance into the hospital when the time comes. That's crazy to think about! These next few months are going to fly by! 

Love,
Erika, Lawton, and Mason Swann