Thankful

I have a LOT to be thankful for this year!

God has blessed us with three happy, heathy, beautiful, AMAZING children! They are my world.

I am in an awesome BSN program, with some truly incredible instructors. Their knowledge and experience is invaluable and I couldn't have asked for better mentors. I am so blessed to have found a career that is really a passion and makes me feel whole.

I have a wonderful husband without whom, non of the above would be possible! He always puts us before himself and works so that I can pursue my passion! He is the kind of husband and father that I would be proud for Hunter to grow up to be.

I'm thankful for a having a true best friend. Someone who will listen to hours of my rambling, and it always willing to offer sound advice without judgement.

Also we have some outstanding relatives who go above and beyond every week to help us where they know we need it the most. They never ask or expect anything in return, just simply give from their hearts. How lucky we are to have such genuine family.

Lastly my wonderful parents, quite possibly the most selfless people I know. There is really no way to properly thank them for the rock they've been in our lives.

Turkey Dinner #1

Sprint Cup

Beautiful day at the races!!!

The cloud overcast was awesome, made it just the right temp!

Had SO much fun people watching with my bestie!! You can tell there was a bit of a breeze, lol.

The hubs and I

My husband and my awesome SIL (can you see the resemblance?) 

October

Hello & (almost) Goodbye October!

The school semester is 2/3 of the way complete! I'm on my last week of med/surg clinical rotation (whoo too) then it is on to mental health clinicals, and finals!

The girls are now 4 months old as of October 3rd and they are climbing the growth charts just like their big brother!!

Avery weighed 15lbs 15oz (89th percentile) and was 25.8" long (92nd percentile)!

Elleigh weighed 15lbs 8oz (83rd percentile) and was 25.3" long (80th percentile)!

Which is crazy considering they were three weeks early and twins non the less!

October is definitely one of our crazier months due to family birthdays and up coming holidays but this year seems to be busier that usual, and for good reason...BABIES! Some very good friends of ours welcomed their handsome guy into the world on October 12th, and my husband's cousin and his wife just celebrated the arrival of their beautiful boy this past Friday the 19th!! 

This past weekend we took Hunter and the girls to the Maple Leaf Festival in Baldwin on Saturday! It was a nice change from the Auburn Fair that we usually attend, we were a little burned out since it is the EXACT same each year. Then on Sunday we took some family and friends to the NASCAR Sprint Cup race in KC, the weather couldn't have been more perfect, and it was a fabulous afternoon of people watching with my bestie :)

Last but not least I have every intention of taking the kiddos to Boo at the Zoo this weekend!! Baby costumes X2 = to die for cuteness! Pictures will be posted this weekend! We are also hoping to make a trip to KC to visit Josh's cousin and meet their newest family member! Very excited as snuggling new babies never gets old. 

Goodbye Summertime!

Summer is over, school is in full swing, and life is BUSY! Between Josh and myself in school, Josh working, guard drills, an active toddler, two 3 month olds, holidays/birthdays, and family events it gets a little crazy! Now that fall is creeping around the corner things are only getting more hectic.

A recap of August:

-School started and I got first rotation OB clinicals (YAY!!!)

-Hunter got a viral URI and shared...with both girls and me, which resulted in I believe four doctors visits!

-We finally got a Dx for Avery's respiratory condition...Laryngomalacia. Dr. Cooley saw her for her 2mo appt and thought she had tracheomalacia. After some pretty scary breathing events we decided to have her see an ENT to determine if there was something (like Asthma) in addition to her tracheomalacia. Well, not sugar-coating the PA that saw her at the ENT office was an ass. He was over  an hour and a half late to the appointment and did not even do a physical assessment on her!! He just said, yep, it's tracheomalacia and she will grow out of it. Then when presented with her additional symptoms he cut Josh off and said, she's fine (mind you he never looked at her or did any examination),  don't come back unless she is turning blue. Needless to say, I wasn't very happy with that. I obviously insisted that they actually evaluate her, so back to the ENT. Second time around we got a different diagnosis (although very similar) he said that she has Laryngomalacia and that in his past 20+ years of practice he had never actually seen a case of Tracheomalacia.  There is no needed treatment and (like I already knew) she will grow out of it by 18-24 months old. The ENT said she was too young to determine if there was another competing respiratory issue like allergies or asthma making her worse at times. By worse I am not describing how positional changes can worsen the sound, I'm meaning rapid respirations, stridor, and retractions. Not fun. Hopefully these subside soon!

Summer Projects

Hi, my name is Olivia and I am a Pinterest addict. Here are a few of the pinterest-inspired projects that I completed this summer and a few that are still in the works. Sadly, those projects that are still in completion limbo and will probably remain in limbo until next summer. I don't have a lot, ok, any time for crafting during the school semesters :(

I love my MAC eye makeup and I have been dying for a way to keep my makeup organized and out where I can use it, instead of crammed in a drawer or makeup bag. I got the frame & fabric from hobby lobby the steel sheet metal and adhesive spray both from Lowes. 

 Here are the tutorials that I found from Pinterest:

http://www.lizmarieblog.com/2011/04/makeup-storage-part-2/

http://laurathoughts81.blogspot.com/2011/03/make-up-magnet-board.html

The girls have been needing a bow board, and all of the ones I have seen made or have come across have all been too small for all of the hair accessories that they have (granted there are still several that are in baskets). The other reason I decided to go with this as a bow board versus the others that I have seen is because there is nothing I love more than multipurpose crafts!! This way, when the girls are ready for a room revamp or no longer need/want a bow board this can be repurposed for pictures, notes, or whatever. It would easily work in another room or could be repainted to match another theme.

Tutorial that I used: http://www.lemonademakinmama.com/2011/03/come-shop-with-me-this-weekend.html 

Here is yet another makeup magnet board :) I made this one for my sister to use at her sorority house. Again, the frame and fabric were found at Hobby Lobby on 50% off days.

Here is one of my works in progress....I have been dying to organize all of our medications, OTCs and first aid supplies that clutter our hallway closet. I found some awesome plastic totes on sale during the back-to-school sales this year and knew they would be perfect for this.  I have labels typed up, I just need to stop being lazy and print them off already. I also need to get around to putting down cabinet shelf liners. PS~ No, not all of the totes are meds. I figured I should clarify that! I filled a few of the totes with back up bathroom supplies as I like to buy in bulk when I can, so body wash, toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant, etc. and one is strictly first aid supplies.

My other projects include finishing my bathroom organization, all of the bedroom closets, toy room, kitchen, and laundry room closet. They've all been started....hopefully it won't really be next summer before I get to complete them.

3 Months Old!

I cannot believe the girls are three months old already!!! Where does the time go?

Avery

 

Elleigh

Elleigh (L) Avery (R)

Avery (L) Elleigh (R)

Passed out with dad! Elleigh (L) Avery (R)

Birth Story

Aren't they gorgeous?! Ahh, my heart just melts! If there is anything better than one super cute baby, it's TWO super cute babies ;)

I am finally getting around to all the details of the girls' delivery! Which, shock-awe-disbelief was fantastic! Worlds smoother than my singleton delivery! So because I am a visual/organizational freak I am just going to give you the birth story via timeline (with sidebars along the way).

First of all my ultimate goal or date I had set my mind to was June 2nd. That was the day the girls were going to be approximately 37 weeks 'completed' (full-term). I just had to make it to that day so I knew that they would be healthy, but any time after that was free game. *Also I was SO sick of people constantly saying "Oh you will never make it to June, there is no way you will go that far", I just had to prove them wrong, I was going to will those girls to stay in to June if it killed me. There at the end I thought it might! So for all those that said I couldn't...HA!! I DID!

The only problem with the goal date I had set was that it also happened to be the day Josh's cousin was getting married (pure coincidence), and Josh was appointed best man. So, I had to hope that I didn't go into labor during the ceremony or anytime readily before that. Although at that point I just wanted them out!! A girl can only that big and uncomfortable for so long.

June 2nd
I spent all morning running around like a crazy trying to getting things ready for Josh for the wedding and as luck would have it, it was also a drill weekend (of course!). We found out the night before Josh's pants no longer fit and...bonus...we couldn't find his shoes! So the morning of I had to exchange the pants at the mall, went to three different stores looking for shoes. All of which I had to do as quickly as I could because I had to run the items out to the base for Josh to try on, then run back to the store to get new sizes, then back home to get everything ironed and ready for him to wear for wedding pictures to be taken at noon! Phew!! For those that saw me in my final days, you know that there is absolutely nothing that happens quickly when you're lugging around a 37 week twin belly! I was so busy I didn't even realize it until I was on my was home to get his clothes ready that I was having regular, frequent contractions!

With all the errands run, clothes ready, and just before heading out to drop off Josh off at the site for photos and for me to go get a mani & pedi I went to use the bathroom....and surprise...there came the rest of my mucous plug. Just what you wanted to know. No it doesn't get any less gross with the second pregnancy...sorry ladies. Well there was no time to stop, off we went to drop of Josh! He had to drive my tahoe as I was still having contractions that were fairly strong. Luckily by the time we reached Gage park they had lightened up and off I went to get my nails done!

My mani/pedi was wonderful! The lady doing my pedi was surely god sent! She felt so bad for me being so big and uncomfortable she did a free additional foot and leg massage...needless to say she got one awesome tip! Everything seemed to be going perfectly as I had exactly enough time to get to the wedding and meet up with my in-laws who were watching Hunter for us that morning.

We successfully made it through the wedding and I even took Hunter to ride the Carousel while we waited for Josh to finish wedding pictures. While waiting in line I had a super proud mommy moment! I asked Hunter which animal he wanted to ride, thinking he would choose one of the fancy horses. Nope! He said "Mom I want to ride the sleigh". Surprised, (because no 4yo boy ever picks the lame sleigh) I asked him if he was sure and if he wouldn't rather ride a horse and he said "No I want to ride the sleigh, then you can ride with me (big grin on his face)". Being on hormone overload I thought I was going to cry in front of everyone because he was just so sweet.  So we bought our tickets and road in the sleigh...of course he did ask if he could ride again and the second time he opted to ride a zebra ;)

Seriously people, how sweet is this kid? Ugh, and how grossly swollen am I? 

After the ceremony it was off to the reception. Hunter having had no nap, was bouncing off the walls. Thankfully, my super sweet SIL Jennifer was a tremendous help and did her best to help me coral him during the reception. Although, there is only so much wild toddler you can handle at that stage of pregnancy and I felt myself getting very anxious. At that point I called in the backup and had my parents come and pick him up from the reception so he could go get his bubble bath (in a jet tub bath) and popcorn/movie sesh with the grandparents...what a rough life. Knowing Hunter was in good hands, the ceremony was over, the best man speech had been given, I finally felt like I had a moment to breathe (and have some cake of course)!! Then 10 min later my water broke!! Jen had made a funny comment, I apparently laughed a little too hard because in the middle of my laughter...POP! Not sure if my water had just broke or I had just peed (yes that happens in the last trimester more than any of us are willing to admit) I quietly stood up, with amniotic fluid all over the chair, and running down my legs. I snagged Josh as he was just walking by and whispered to him, then preceded to waddle myself to the bathroom to determine the verdict of "water vs. pee." I kept thinking to myself there was no way this was urine, but you can never be to safe. There was no way I was going to announce a false alarm in the middle of a wedding reception! I checked and sure enough, the girls were going to be on their way!!

I then grabbed my keys and told Josh I would go home get the bags ready, call the hospital, make the necessary calls/texts and then come pick him up and head in to labor & delivery.  Well, part of that happened...I did get some of the bags together but I wound up having to call Josh and have him get a ride home to help me finish packing. Turns out the girls were putting quite a bit of pressure down there and I wasn't as spritely after the adrenaline and excitement wore off from the initial water break. Josh arrived and off we went to have our babies :)

7:50pm- Water broke

8:50pm- Checked in to the triage room

9:30pm- Cervix was 1.5cm, 50% effaced

10:30pm- Transferred to delivery room (even though I would be delivering in the OR)

11:40pm- Started pitocin

2:30am- First cervix change, so this marked the "start of labor" according to my nurse, 2cm 80% effaced. I was having contractions about every 1-2min lasting 30-60sec but wasn't feeling them for whatever reason. The nurse palpated my stomach during the contractions and said they we strong because my abdomen was rock hard and said she was really surprised I wasn't feeling anything. So since I wasn't in any discomfort they went ahead and upped the dose of pitocin.

3:30am-Still having contractions but still not feeling them so I changed positions.

4:00am-Finally started feeling contractions but weren't too bad. Cervix check was 3-4cm 90% effaced. At this time I texted my mom and told her it was progressing slow and was going to be quite a while and told her not to come in. The nurse said based on how fast I went after my epidural with my son that she recommended I go ahead and get it before I started getting uncomfortable. I agreed and she called the anesthesiologist. (I had to have an epidural placed, whether they put medication in it or not, in case they had to do an emergency c-sec in the middle of delivery....and if they're going to put one in...it might as well have meds!) That and Dr. G had scared the heck out of me telling me that if Baby B flipped, they would try to turn her manually, which he said would be really painful.

4:30am- Contractions really picked up and got more and more intense...This is when I started thinking "Hmm, this starting to get really uncomfortable?!" This was the first time that it started to get where it was difficult to talk during the contractions.

5:00am- The anesthesiologist finally shows up! I wake up Josh (yes he has been asleep since 10:45)
and about 10min later the dr was ready to give me the epidural...which yet again something about sitting up on the edge of the bed really sped things up. I (just like with Hunter) had one solid contraction that stopped for about 30 sec then started back up and lasted the entire duration of the procedure...NOT FUN!! It hurt so badly my legs started shaking involuntarily.

5:20am- As soon as the doctor was done the nurse checked my cervix because she was thinking I had probably made some change while sitting up. She was definitely right I was now 8-8.5cm dilated and 100%  effaced. The nurse immediately got on the phone call to call Dr. Morrison to tell her things had picked up and I told Josh to text my mom and tell her she need to come to the hospital now! This is where I panicked, and had them go ahead and put in the loading dose and start the epidural medication. I'm not sure why... the pain sucked but was still tolerable. I guess I was thinking well if it hurts like this now, how bad is it going hurt when I have to push out TWO babies...and what if I tear and feel it...and what if they have to turn Baby B after A comes out. So I wimped out and got the meds. As they were starting the medication I felt quite a bit of pressure in my bottom and thought it was just my new positioning since I had to roll onto my back for the medication to distribute evenly. Then they started medication and the anesthesiologist hung out for 15 min to insure the meds took effect. By the time 10-15min had passed my contraction pain was gone, but I thought it hadn't fully taken affect because I could still lift my legs (one more than the other) and felt a LOT of pressure and some pain (really more burning) in my bottom.

[Side note: my epidural with Hunter was not a good one. They had administered WAY too much medication to the point I couldn't move either leg or even wiggle my toes, and I felt nothing. No pressure, no burning, nada. So the nurses would have to tell me when to push because I had no idea when I was having contractions. This is why I thought something was wrong with epidural because I could still feel so much. Now after a little epidural education I know that the one they did with the twins was perfect, and the one with Hunter was not good.]

Knowing that rectal pressure is a sign of being complete the nurse darted out of the room to grab the charge nurse so they could start getting the OR set up and the doctor notified. She then came back and did a cervix check......

5:40am- My mom walks through the door (she just made a 30-35min drive in less than 20min...the woman was flying!). She walks in, in the middle of the cervix check and the first thing she hears when she walks in the door is "Your complete, lets call the doctor because your ready to push."

5:50am- They got everything ready to go and wheeled me to the OR

6:00am- Dr. Morrison arrived

6:05am- I started pushing

6:12am- Miss Avery Elizabeth made her debut, the girl came out SCREAMING (she is definitely our more vocal one even now). 6lbs 4oz, 20" long!

6:15am- They broke Elleigh's bag of water (it hadn't broken yet, it had apparently be Avery's bag of water that had been leaking the whole evening). 6lbs 1oz, 19" long!

6:18am- Miss Elleigh Olivia made her grand appearance gurgling and squeaking. She had apparently gotten a big swig on the way out! Her cry was so much softer, she sounded like a little kitten.

Less than 4 hours of "labor," 13 short minutes of pushing, NO tearing!, NO stitches! These girls ROCK!!!! I guess easy labor was a fair trade off for a miserable pregnancy!

Hunter's labor was 9hrs with 1hr 15min of pushing, with stitches up and down!

Very Belated but....THEY ARE HERE!!!

YES!! THE GIRLS ARE HERE!!

Avery Elizabeth & Elleigh Olivia FINALLY decided to grace us with their presence on June 3rd, 2012!

They both arrived healthy, hungry, and just beautiful! I made it to my ultimate goal of 37 weeks! They have absolutely stolen my heart just the same way Hunter did on May 1st, 2008. Not to mention both girls were a very healthy size for twins especially being 3 weeks early (not preterm...early). Avery stole the show first and Elleigh arriving 6 minutes later both weighed over 6 lbs.

Let me tell you, I don't think anyone has ever been happier to go into labor! Seriously. I was beyond done and over being giant and pregnant! I will elaborate on the birth story a bit later but believe me in the last handful of days leading up to the delivery, the reactions from those who saw me went from "You look great" and "Your so cute" to "Ohhh, wow. I bet your ready", "Geez, any day now?", and my personal favorite "Holy sh!t, you look miserable."...and I was just that. Miserable. Damn miserable. So when my water broke, I felt like jumping up and down, despite the fact I was physically incapable of that.

For those that didn't get to see me in my final days here ya' go...the 37 week belly in all of its glory... *WARNING* If bare belly prego pictures freak you out...then tough, scroll quickly.

Some how showing the belly bare just makes it look freakishly bigger (i.e. actual size, lol)

Crazy Week Ahead

Wow, things are really getting hectic around here! I had 2 tests this week, and classes M-W, my BPP on Tuesday (which turned out great), and an NST yesterday (which was also great).  I have several graduations to attend this weekend and Mother's Day events with both sides of the family all day Sunday which leaves me little time to study for finals that I have M-Th this coming week... along with another BPP, 2 NSTs, and a weekly prenatal appt. Phew!!

I am hoping the girls will cooperate (stay in) and let me survive this marathon week! The 17th is my last final, and so naturally I have the 18th, my first day of summer freedom, highlighted/starred and adorned with smiley faces on my calendar. I have scheduled to get my hair done, do some shopping for the girls, birthday dinner for Josh's sister and a movie date with some awesome friends (who are also expecting!). So  of course it is only appropriate that we go see the "What to expect when you're expecting" movie....it looks hilarious!

In the mean time I am blogging instead of studying...my nervous reaction to being completely overwhelmed right now, and waiting for time to pass by and 5:30 to roll around because Josh is taking me on my Mother's Day date tonight :) We figured tonight would be the best since 1. the weekend is too busy 2. we have no idea when I am going to deliver so making a trip to KC sooner rather than later is probably a good idea.

Ok, time to stop procrastinating....

P.S. This Tuesday the 15th marks 7 yrs that Josh and I have been together!

Bump Watch

Well it has been a busy week. Tuesday my big boy turned 4 years old and Wednesday we had a sono and doctors appt to see how the two little girls are growing.

As of Wednesday (32w 4d) here are the girls' stats:

Baby A is measuring exactly 32w 4d, 4lbs 6oz and is in the 53.5 percentile.

Baby B is measuring exactly 32w 4d, 4lbs 7oz and is in the 54.9 percentile.

Both girls were head down (yay!) now hopefully they stay that way though with all the gymnastics they seem to do in there who knows. They both looked very active had good heartbeats, and good cord pressures. The only thing that didn't look quite right was that Baby A's fluid was measuring low which can be a cause for concern. So Dr. G went ahead and ordered that I have a NST (non-stress test) done on Thursday and a BPP (biophysical profile) and doppler study done on Tuesday.

Thursday's NST went well both girls had the appropriate number of heart accelerations and I only had to be hooked up to the monitors for 20 minutes since they both cooperated :) The biophysical profile on Tuesday will evaluate several different factors of the girls, mainly we will be looking at the amniotic fluid level to determine how low it is. Dr. G said it is then a matter of determining how low is "too low" and that they will determine what will happen from there. He said he would consult with Dr. Evans (the high-risk specialist) and depending on what the results are I may be referred on to him.

The NSTs will be done twice a week, every week until delivery and depending on Tuesday's BPP and DS I may or may not be having weekly BPPs done. Starting the 14th I have weekly prenatal visits. So it is going to be a busy month for this big slow mama.

My goal for the girls is to make it to 36 to 37 weeks. I really just want them to be healthy and developed enough that after delivery we can bring them home with no NICU stay.

So the countdown begins! 22 days until I am 36 weeks and 29 until 37 weeks. Yikes that doesn't leave much time to finish getting things together for the girls' arrival!

Birthday Boy!

Happy fourth birthday to my big man!

    We just did a couple fun things throughout the day since we had his big party this past weekend on the 28th!


     Our day started by going and picking out our own special donuts and then getting donuts to share with his classmates! We also took cupcakes for everyone for later in the afternoon, I'm sure his teacher LOVED the kids getting all that sugar ;)

After school we went with my family to going bonkers to burn off some of that extra sugar....and take in more of course.

After several hours of wearing out dad, aunt Em, and Gma we went for some ice cream at Coldstone. Mom & the babies definitely approved, lol. 

I absolutely cannot  believe how big my little boy is getting. He is the light of our world and I thank God for every wonderful day we are blessed to parent this awesome little person!

Bump Watch

March 20th, 2012
Today was another great prenatal appointment! At now 26w 2d I am measuring 30weeks. He scheduled another sonogram for two weeks from now, I can't wait, I get more excited to see them each time!
I can't believe it is already the third week in March! This month has just flown by! But many more busy/fun weekends to come soon!

Playing Catch Up

Well you can certainly tell it is post spring break, and approaching the end of the semester! As homework assignments keep piling on it has been difficult to keep up with updates. So here's what I've missed:

March 25th & April 1st- was very lucky to have two baby showers! The girls got quite spoiled...

Let's just say Grandma doesn't know when to stop...

April 2, 2012
I had another routine appointment with the girls. I am now measuring 32-33 weeks along (at actually 28w 2d).

April 8, 2012
Happy Easter!! Hunter had a great time with all of his Easter egg hunts! He had one at Jake & Ashley's on Saturday and then one at both the grandparents on Sunday....now what to do with all of this candy?!

The service was held at the TPAC this year!

One of his two over filled baskets, again Grandma doesn't quite know when to stop ;)

April 11, 2012

Yay for sono day! These appointments are always my favorite! I love getting to see how much the girls have grown and what crazy position they have gotten themselves into! The sono went great, and they are both doing good. 

Baby Stats at 29w 4d :

Baby A is measuring 29w 4d with an estimated weight of 3lbs 1oz and is in the 57th percentile for size.

Baby B is measuring 30w 4d with an estimated weight of 3lbs 12oz and is the 87-88th percentile for size. 

The doctor said this is pretty impressive for twins at this gestation and that would be great growth for just one baby much less two! I was happy to hear this considering the likelihood of them arriving early is pretty good, I would like them to get in as much growing as they can before they make their early debut.

The sono tech did notice I had quite a bit of swelling so she ran down the "do you have these symptoms" list for preeclampsia and after I finished answering yes to nearly all of her questions she didn't have a very happy look on her face. She took my BP which was within normal limits and then had me collect a urine sample which came back positive for protein, so she had me stay and see the doctor. He was concerned with the combination of my symptoms (frequent headaches, visual disturbances, constant epigastric pain, vomiting, edema, and fluid retention) that I was becoming preeclamptic. So he had me have a few labs drawn and perform a 24hr urine sample (fun, fun). Well most of the labs came back normal except the protein came back elevated. So during weekly appointment yesterday with Dr. Morrison she recommended I be on bed rest (Gleason is currently out of town).  However she told me to wait and see what he wants to recommend as far as bed rest or activity restriction, since I am still in school and bed rest is not really conducive to class. So I am free for another week until Dr. Gleason gets back on Monday.

Fingers crossed that bed rest won't be needed.

P.S. As of yesterday Dr. Morrison measured my waist at 33.5 weeks.

A Log of Hunter -"isms"

Hunter is constantly doing and saying things that have Josh and I holding our stomachs and laughing out loud! Unfortunately, I do a poor job of journaling them! Though, I have been trying to jot them down in my phone, pieces of paper, fb statuses, etc. as they happen to try to record later! I am going to start a "log" of Hunter's quotes and hope to continually update it as things happen/are said and try to dig up the ones that I have previously recorded (hopefully I can find them all).

Oct 6, 2011
Yep, my iPad has officially been taken over by my 3yr old. He informed me it is his "game", and that I need to get my own...

Oct 10, 2011
So...for dinner I made cream corn (the homemade kind), butter & garlic potatoes w/onions on the grill, and grilled teriyaki chicken w/homemade teriyaki sauce and biscuits.. I give Hunter his dinner and he goes.. ":::sigh::: I wanted BACON" .... When did I become his personal chef?!

Nov 2011
Backing out of the driveway at Rick & Susan's, Hunter yells out the window to Gpa Rick "Be good and put your tractor in the garage now".

Dec 18, 2011
Hunter took two ball caps placed one on Clay & one on himself, looked at Clay and said "Now we're men!"

Dec 26, 2011
Getting Hunter out of the Tahoe to go grocery shopping at dillons and he looks at me, sighs deeply and says "This is going to take FOREVER."

Dec 28th, 2011
After I put Hunter to bed his fitted sheet came loose, so he started yelling "Mommy I need you to fix my bed" so I came in and fixed the sheet and he goes, " Thank you! Oh, thank you mommy! You fixed my bed! That was very nice of you to fix my bed! Thank you very much mommy!

Jan 1, 2012
After I mad Hunter dinner and sat him at the table:
Hunter- "You made me pizza?!"
Me- "Yep"
Hunter- "I love pizza! That was suuure nice of you!
Me- "Your're welcome sweetie"
Hunter- "You got me a pear too?!!"
Me- "Yes"
Hunter-"It's wonderful! Oh, this is perfect mom!!"

February 11th, 2012
Hunter and I were snuggling on the couch watching cartoons and Hunter starts rubbing my belly and goes, "alright babies, you can come out now!" He is so excited to meet them :)

March 5, 2012
I gave Hunter a cookie (PB & reeses pb cups that Josh had made) and Hunter goes "Mom these are my favorite!...Daddy made them just for me!...Then a min later goes "Mom, I love my dad!"

March 13th, 2012
Getting in the Tahoe to go to preschool Hunter goes, "Mom, the tahoe is really dirty, we need to wash it!..FOR REAL!"

May 31st, 2012
Hunter and my mother were playing a board game together. I believe Hunter may have been cheating ;) as he kept "winning". As they were playing my mom's board game piece passed up Hunter's piece and he was not happy at the prospect of potentially being beaten. So I told Hunter you can't win every time bud, and you need to be a good sport when you do lose. Hunter replies with "Grandma, I am a good sport!....'cause I win!"

Aug 23rd, 2012
Hunter told me that I was a secret agent!
Me: Hunter what do you need this for?
Hunter: But mom you're a secret agent!

August 2012
The infamous "Slinky dog" had vanished (i.e. fallen behind Hunter's bed) and Hunter had been looking  all over for him so they could watch a movie together. After helping him, and upon finding him Hunter preceded to scold his stuffed dog, "You're in BIG trouble Slinky! Don't ever do that again!"

Sept 3rd, 2012
Me: Hunter can you play cars in the next room? You're being very loud and I'm try to do homework.
Hunter: Mom...Aren't you too old to be doing homework?!
Me: Did you just say I was too old to do homework?
Hunter: [laughing] yeah, you're too old.

Sept 18th, 2012
Backstory: For those of you that know Josh, know at times he can have a little road-rage. Well, because we do our best not to use profanity around the kids, Josh has learned to replace his previous vocabulary with the word dummy. So, whenever someone pulls out in front of him, etc. the typical response is "What are you doing dummy?!" Ok, fast forward to Hunter playing cars on his carpet that has streets on it, he in perfect scenario replication has one car pull out in front of another one, so Hunter responds as the driver of the car that just got cut off and goes "Hey! What are you doing dummy?" Josh hears this, realizes where he got this phrase, and explains to Hunter it's not nice to call people names, and that he is sorry for doing saying that and shouldn't do this while he driving. (trying to undo our bad habits that our kids catch from us). Ok, now fast forward again to a few nights later...

[Eating dinner at the dinner table]
Josh: [talking about his day at work and referring to a co-worker]....yeah, he was just being a dummy.
Hunter: [dramatic gasp] Dad! We don't say that! That's not nice and calling people name is mean and we don't say mean things to people! [Looks at me] Right mom?
Me: [trying to hold back my smirks/laughter] You're right, we shouldn't call people names.
Hunter: [turns to Josh] Yeah dad, we don't say mean things, because you're suppose to be nice to people.
Josh: You're right bud, I'm sorry, that wasn't a nice thing to say.
Hunter: [who is just really embellishing getting to return the lesson from the previous day] Yep, cause you have to be nice to people dad....Just so YOU know!!

Sept 20th, 2012
I told Hunter it was time for him to get in the bath and Hunter goes, "You sir...mom...are a terrorist."
*He totally got this from his father! Whenever Hunter is being out of control, Josh refers to him as a terrorist.

Week 27

Today is also day 1 of week 27! I would definitely say they've grown! Can't wait for Monday's doctor appointment to see when our next sono is!

St. Patrick's Day

HAPPY ST PATTY'S DAY 

Sitting on Dad's shoulders watching the floats go by 

Catching Candy 

Being a goofball while eating lunch

Late Updates

Well it has only been a few months and I am already failing at my goal of being a consistent blogger to keep track of my kids day-to-day special moments. Somewhere between nursing school, clinicals, homework, family time, and sleep I haven't found  a lot of time to keep up with the updates as sleep keeps creeping to the top of my priority list.

So here is the update from the girls last doctors appt on March 5th, 2012:

-Sonogram looked great! Heartbeats sounded awesome :)

-They are now both turned head down (yay for possible vaginal delivery, boo for lots of uncomfortable pressure associated gravity acting on two heads directed down on my pelvis).

-Both weigh approx 1lb 8oz each, right on track, putting them in the 53rd percentile

-Baby A was measuring 24w 0d and Baby B measured 24w 3d

-I was 24w 2d at the appointment but my belly was measuring just over 29 weeks.

-My waist is now measuring a whopping 42.5" a far cry from the 27" I started at in Sept & Oct.

-My weight gain is now... 28lbs and stepping on the scale at each appt is becoming much less amusing the  bigger I get. However the doctor said he thought 60lbs would be a good total weight gain for this pregnancy so I guess I am doing my part.

And for the best part I FINALLY DECIDED ON NAMES FOR THE GIRLS!! Now to just get Josh to agree and we're in business! Although when we do FINALLY agree on the names we have decided to keep them a surprise until they arrive :)

      As for Hunter he is doing so wonderful in his new preschool class! I couldn't be more proud of his progress! That and he is already showing to be such a great big brother, he loves patting, rubbing and kissing my belly! He also likes to talk to the babies and press his ear against my stomach to "listen" to them...it's the cutest thing ever!
     These next couple of months are going to be very hectic, between school, finals, a million family birthdays, holidays, baby showers, we still need to get the girls room put together! We have started slowly but surely and hope to have it finished at the end of spring break! Pictures will be posted as soon as this gets accomplished!

First Day of Preschool!

Well, Monday was Hunter's official first day of preschool! As you can imagine it was a bit of an emotional morning....sensitive mom + pregnancy hormone overload + only child's first day of school = Large blubbering pregnant lady who couldn't put down the camera. Fortunately I brought backup. I told Josh that he had to go with me when I dropped Hunter off for his first day, as I have been the one to drop him off for his first day of daycare at both previous daycares. Both events resulting in me sobbing uncontrollably all the way to work. My planning was partially successful. I managed to arrive and drop Hunter off without a scene, until I had to leave. I made it 1/4 of the way to the car before the waterworks began. All poor Josh could do was give me a hug, laugh at my ridiculousness, and reassure me that I was "abandoning him to fend for himself" which I believe I may have blubbered out in between my gasps of air and nose blowing. I still cried until I reached school, and finally stopped after Josh sent me a picture text of Hunter playing with his new friends on the playground.

BEST MOMENT OF THE DAY: By far cutest thing EVER! While getting ready to leave the house for Hunter's first day of school, Hunter came in our bedroom and got Josh's attention, and pointed to the top of our medicine cabinet. Josh asked him what he wanted and Hunter replied, "Can I have some please?" (still pointing to the top of the cabinet). Josh said, "this?" (holding up his bottle of Armani Aqua Di Gio cologne). Hunter said "Mmm hmm, yep. It's so I can smell good." Josh said sure buddy and sprayed some on him and Hunter said, "Thank you daddy" and went on his way. Josh and I about died not only laughing but our hearts were melting from over exposure to pure cuteness. Hunter only sees Josh put on his cologne for nicer occasions (church, dinner, family outing, etc.). So that fact that he had connected the dots of "you wear cologne when you want to make yourself presentable" was outstanding! It was so precious that he consciously wanted to make the best first impression he could for his first day of school!

Upon picking up Hunter from his first day, he was not ready to leave! He wanted to stay and play with his new friends and appeared to have a great time! His teacher and other staff all had nothing but great things to report! Our drive home was also quite interesting as he would not stop talking about all of the fun stuff he had gotten to do (painting, playing on the playground, etc), and his new friends he made, and games he got to play.

So needless to say the day (aside from my initial emotional distress) was very much a success!

Gallbladder Surgery

Wednesday our OB referred me to a surgeon to set up a date to have my gallbladder removed after last week's gallstone attack.  So off we went to visit Dr. Hu today.  I had been having a lot of reservations about the surgery, the thought of going under anesthesia while pregnant was very unsettling to me and I wasn't sure the benefits out weighed the risks.  After talking to Dr. Hu we were relieved to know that she felt the same way.  While they can perform the surgery as long as it is before 22-24 weeks because the uterus is still out of the way enough for them to reach the gallbladder via laparoscopy.  So they won't do the surgery in the third trimester unless it is an emergency.

Anyhow since I am carrying two babies instead of one I am already the size of a singleton pregnancy in its third trimester.  So the surgeon will already have some difficulty reaching the gallbladder.  Additionally since I have only had one attack, I am not overweight or obese, and I'm not in any pain currently she and I decided it would be best to try to wait it out until after delivery.  Of course that is taking a pretty big chance assuming that I won't have another attack.  Though I couldn't bring myself to accept the risk of anesthesia for a surgery unless the surgery was a must needed thing. Dr. Hu went onto say that she would be willing to do the surgery in my third trimester if she had to. So I guess cross your fingers and pray that this was the first and last gallstone attack until after delivery. Or if it is going to start acting up that it does so ASAP while we are still in that safe window of time so they are able to do laparoscopy and not need to do a full incision. 

19 Week Appointment

Yesterday I had a routine OB check up (one of many with a twin pregnancy). I'm in my 19th week (18 weeks 4 days). This appointment was particularly exciting for me as this was the first doctor's appointment that Josh has gotten to attend, since he was deployed the first 3 months of the pregnancy. Both babies sounded great on the doppler, though it does get tricky trying to distinguish who's heartbeat is who's when you have two that move as much as these two! Luckily this appointment also included a sonogram! Hands down one of the best perks to a twin pregnancy is getting to see your little munchkins in sonos all the time! It is so neat to get a little insight to their world in the womb. It is fascinating how you can get little glimpses of each child's personality via these sonograms! Baby A seems to be our center-stage, diva baby. She loves spreading out, getting comfy and taking up as much room as humanly possible all while putting on her best pose for pictures. Poor baby B.....she seems to be a little more submissive as she is crammed into the corner with her legs folded Indian style underneath her bottom with her little arms up and hands trying to protect her head and face from her sister's constant kicking and butt drops. Baby B could probably take some pretty cute photos like her sister, that is if her sister would ever get her butt out of her face....seriously. Every face shot we have of sweet baby B you are lucky if you can identify her lips or nose because all you can see is her sister's tushy right on top of her face. Early sibling rivalry set aside, there is something so special and amazing about getting to watch these close moments between the two and getting to watch them interact and play with each other in utero. You can see the special bond they have already and they are mere weeks old! I will also try to do a much better job of tracking their growth and measurements from appoint to appoint.

Wednesday's baby growth stats:
Baby A- was measuring 18w 6d, 8oz.
Baby B- was measuring 18w 3d, 8 oz.

Positioning- This time Baby A was head down and Baby B was head up. During the last 3D ultrasound on Jan 13th, 2012 both babies were head up.

When measuring length, Baby B is taller and has longer legs than Baby A, and Baby A is a little more stocky than Baby B. I thought that was interesting since "B" appears smaller since she is cramped up in the corner and since they had the same weight. I will post pictures from the sonogram once I figure out how to work everything on this new laptop. I will most likely being doing quite a bit of back dating in attempt to get things jotted down from much earlier in the pregnancy before I lose where I have them written down or the escape my memory forever.

Introduction

    Like I mentioned in my "About Me" I am a mom of soon to be three children! I have a wonderful husband Josh & 3.5 yr old son Hunter. Our family is expecting twin girls, due June 23rd, 2012.  We are all very excited and greatly anticipate their arrival.  I wanted to start a blog in attempts to I journal about the experiences during this pregnancy.  I had really wished I had done a better job documenting all of the wonderful moments and memories I had during my pregnancy with Hunter, so I am finally getting around to starting this for the girls.  In addition to documenting pregnancy progress I thought it would be a fun way to capture and remember all of the wonder family moments, as well as memories and milestones of Hunter's. Everyday seems to fly by too quickly and I feel like I have blinked and my little baby has turned into a little man. So here goes my attempt at capturing many of our family moments....the good...the great...and the not-so-great.