Sleeping Babies

I just got the twins up from their nap, and they are now eating lunch.  They woke up so happy, especially Brady.  I love it when that happens, because they usually wake up pretty cranky.

We have had quite the sleeping adventures at our house lately.  I knew it was time to switch them to toddler beds months ago, but with a move, and babies who let it be known they didn't want to change, I just kept pushing it off.  Finally, when I went to check on them last Monday at naptime, this is what I found:

Out of cribs, asleep on the floor, surrounded by the mess they made.

I knew I had to do it.  (Thank goodness for Jack and Jill baths, because I was able to get into their room from the bathroom to snap the picture, considering they were blocking the door).  I got their new room ready.  In other words I took everything out but the two beds.  And that night they went to bed in their new room.  I would say in their new beds, but they don't sleep in them.  They have chosen to sleep on the floor.  At night I go and move them into their beds, but naps are on the ground.  Until today.  Carter actually slept in his bed for naptime today!  We'll see if Brady will soon.

It took a few days of crying, but they are getting more used to the idea.  They also learned to open door knobs and climb gates within the last week, so they are locked in with gates two high for now. 

And it sounds like lunch is over.  Off to get my little monkeys!

A visit from grandma and grandpa

When we thought about going to Utah to visit my family, I about had a panic attack.  I cannot imagine the twins on a three hour plane ride.  So when I informed my parents we would not be making it out this summer, they decided to come to us.  They also brought my niece Jenica, who got to stay for an extra week, and my sister Rebecca came for a long weekend.  Yay!

I love having company.  We spend most of our time just hanging out, eating, shopping, playing games.  Of course we find a few things to do.

We had a water balloon fight:

We went to the children's museum:

And we took several walks with the twins' new trikes:

My parents also got to witness that my children are scavengers:

I thought it was amazing that there was a true bond between my kids and my parents.  They haven't seen my mom for almost four months, and my dad for over a year, yet after just a few hours they were best friends with grandma and grandpa.  I truly think watching these generations on either side of me interact is one of the coolest things ever.  Thanks for coming mom and dad!

15 weeks

I was reading another blog, and she has been updating her pregnancy each week with the same questions.  I loved the idea, and while I am sure I will not remember every week, I do like the idea of the same questions at different stages, so here we are.

15 weeks.

Size of baby: Baby is about 4 inches long and roughly the size of an apple.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: At the doctor's office yesterday I was up an official 5 pounds.

Maternity Clothes: I am in all maternity clothes, or at least elastic waists and long t-shirts.  I need to buy a few more things.

Gender: I had another ultrasound yesterday to check the hematoma, and baby was being modest.  The doctor couldn't get a good look, so we still have our 90% stat from the high-risk doctor that it's a girl.

Movement: I have had a few movements that made me stop and wonder, but nothing definite yet.

Sleep: I've been sleeping better the last few days.  I still have to get up at least once in the night to pee.

What I miss: At 6 weeks, when the doctor discovered the subchorionic hemorrhage, I was put on several restrictions.  I miss those things I was restricted from.

Cravings: A few random things in the last few weeks--a sausage mcmuffin, an egg roll, and today I really want incredible rice krispy treats.

Symptoms: Just tired.

Best moment this week: I have two.  First, at my ultrasound yesterday, it appears the hematoma is gone!!  Second, I suddenly realized yesterday that I hadn't feel queasy for about 4 days.  Yay for the second trimester.

Our trip to Florida

One month ago, we took our summer vacation to Destin, Florida.  And because I seem to work at half the speed I normally do, I am finally going to blog about it.  I suppose it also has to do with the fact that my camera broke the first day we were there, and so I finally got around to stealing pictures from everyone else.

We left June 11 for the lovely 10 hour drive there.  We rented a house just across the street from the beach with 4 other families.  While it can get crazy with 24 people in one house, it is also a blast to be with good friends.  We obviously spent most of our time on the beach, but we managed to find a few more activities.  We rented boats and went out to crab island (okay, actually the babies and I stayed home for this one), went for pizza and arcade games, go-carts, fireworks, crab hunting, lots of games and good food.

We were actually this close to skipping the trip.  I was 11 weeks pregnant, and still under direction to "take things easy" by my doctor.  I actually sent Dan and Tyler to quite a few things while the twins and I stayed home to rest.  It was nice for them to get some normal naps and bedtimes, and I did need the rest.  It was still a great vacation, and we were able to have a fun and mostly relaxing time.

Here are the pictures I stole from Emily's blog.  She was kind enough to snap a few of my boys after my camera died.

I love these girls!

And here is a video that Ryan put together.

Pregnancy Update

I've been wanting to write a more detailed pregnancy post, but life keeps getting in the way.  Here is my first attempt at a belly shot that I took two weeks ago.

So that was 12 weeks, and I am currently 14.  I'll have to get another picture up soon.  I have shifted into maternity clothes now, I definitely popped out quicker this time than with Tyler.  I started growing out of my pants at 10 weeks, and by 13 only elastic waist bottoms fit.  I can wear my own tops, as long as they are long, but I have also been wearing some of my less maternity looking tops too.

I feel fortunate to not have bad morning sickness.  I do feel queasy throughout the day, but as long as I eat, I am good.  Unfortunately, my eating anything that sounds good to me has caused me to gain 6 pounds already.  I have been tired, but that could also be because I chase after two 2 year olds every day.  I have had only 2 migraines the whole first trimester, compared to about 10 with Tyler, so that's good.

While my first pregnancy was completely uneventful, this time around I am considered high-risk.  I guess I should back up and give the long version of how I found out I was pregnant.

Last April I thought I started my period like normal.  After two weeks, when I was still spotting, I began to worry.  After a google search, I learned I could have cysts, be having a miscarriage, early menopause, or some other messed up hormone situation.  The next day, I suffered back to back migraines, a pregnancy symptom for me.  I thought I must have had a miscarriage.  I decided to take a pregnancy test, thinking maybe levels would be high enough still to show up positive.  The test was a clear positive, so I called my ob and made an appointment.

When I got in to the office, I explained that I had been bleeding for over two weeks, and thought I was miscarrying.  The tech took me back for an ultrasound.  I was shocked when she pointed out the embryo, and even more shocked to hear a heartbeat.  I was six weeks.

But why the bleeding?  I had a subchorionic hemorrhage.  Basically it is a clot or pool of blood that gathers between the uterus and the chorionic membranes surrounding it.  It can lead to miscarriage or later in a pregnancy to preterm labor.  However, most of the time they end up not causing problems, and the body will either bleed it out or absorb it back into the body.  I had one that bled out (boy was that scary, seeing that much blood), but I still have one that is there and being monitored.  Because of the hemotoma, I was sent to a high risk doctor. 

I have one other complication on top of all this.  Seven years ago I had a blood clot in my lungs, so I have always known that if I ever got pregnant again, I would run the risk of getting a blood clot.  Therefore, I am on a daily dose of Lovenox, a blood thinner that I get to inject into my belly every night.

Wow this has been long.  So I have felt pretty good, but have had a stressful time worrying that all is well with the baby.  There has been one positive to all this--I have already had 9 ultrasounds.  It was quite amazing to see the baby grow from 6, to 7, to 8, to 9 weeks.  Yes I was having weekly visits and ultrasounds.  Everytime I hear that heartbeat I can just breathe a sigh of relief.  Next week is my next visit, and I will have to update then.

Happy Birthday Babies

Last week we celebrated the twins second birthday.  I cannot believe how fast the last two years have gone.  I remember so distinctly the few days leading up to placement.  It was on Friday, June 19 that we first got a call from our case worker.  She told us that they had a birthmom on her way to the hospital who hadn't placed.  And she was having twins.  Can we show her your profile?  Of course we were open to any situation and answered yes.  The boys were born early Saturday morning.  We got a call Saturday afternoon letting us know the birthmom was close to making her decision, but wanted a conference call with us.  Could we talk to her on Sunday?  Of course.

We spoke with her early afternoon, and then left for church.  Not long after we got to church, we got another call--she wanted to tell us herself that she had chosen us.  Happy Father's Day to Dan.  We hopped on a plane (thanks to a friend who flies for Continental and got us on stand-by) to Vegas, drove to Salt Lake, and were able to meet with the birthmom on the morning of the 22nd.  After signing all those papers--they were ours, and we finally got to meet them about 4 that afternoon.

And now look at them.

They have brought so much joy into our home, not to mention days full of chaos, but we love it all.

Brady is and always has been the big brother.

He has always been the leader, but he has also started looking to Carter and saying "no, no Carter" when he knows Carter is being naughty.  He is physical and active.  He loves to throw balls (and boy does he have an arm), jump from the kid slide to the bean bag, and climb on furniture or the outside of the stairs.  He can throw a tantrum like any other two year old, but loves to give hugs and kisses.  He has developed a great friendship with Tyler, and the two of them love to wrestle and play together.  While behind on speech, he does have about 30 words and is starting to repeat things back to us.  Dadda, Tyler, momma, book, choo-choo, car, and more.  He just started raising his hand and saying "me" whenever you ask a question.  I still can't get over his dimple and curly hair--watch out ladies.

Carter is my sweet baby.

He is usually calm and mild-mannered, although lately he has been letting you know when he is not happy.  He also hasn't been putting up with Brady's bullying, and fights back.  I have had to break up several hitting/biting matches.  Poor Carter is the one right now with teeth marks on his chest.  He loves to snuggle when he is tired.  He must have his taggie.  He is a thumb sucker, to the point his left thumb is raw and sore.  We joke that Carter is the engineer--he will sit with toys for a long time, and seem like he is just trying to figure it all out.  He has been having a bit of separation anxiety lately, and doesn't like Mommy leaving him places.  Carter is still a bit behind Brady, including speech.  He has about 20 words.  Doggie, woof-woof, Dad, Mom, choo-choo.  I hear mom about a thousand times a day.  He also signs more, eat, and please.

We had a super low key birthday,  We wanted to get some trikes, but still haven't picked them up.  Thank goodness grandma sent them presents so they had something to open.  We went out to dinner, and then had cupcakes back home.  And Tyler is the greatest big brother.  Happy Birthday boys!

Excuses

I knew it had been a long time since I blogged last, but didn't realize it was over a month.  I do have several good excuses though.

Like, this:

You know, moving into a new house and all.  These pictures were taken the weekend we moved in, and while we have emptied all the boxes, things are still not organized and put away properly.

Or this excuse:

Being a parent, which in the last little while included attending belt testing for Tyler.  Not to mention the parenting I do to the crazies each and every day.

Or what about this excuse:

I'm 12 weeks and have had quite a ride so far.  That's another post that will come soon.  Suffice it to say, at our ultrasound today the doctor said he is 90% sure it's a girl.  And now that my first trimester is coming to a close, and we have settled into the house, hopefully my posting can resume.