Randomness x25

Inspired by US magazine's weekly celebrity "25 Things You Didn't Know About Me", I thought I would use my lazy day to reminisce on some randomness in my life.

1. I was born in Caribou, Maine in an Air Force Base Hospital.

2. Andrew and I watched the sun rise and biked down a volcano in Maui, Hawaii as a newly engaged couple.

3. I entered college as a pre-med student and changed my major to elementary teaching after one year.

4. I've lived in Maine, Montana, Colorado, California, and Texas (does this pattern mean Tennessee is next??).

5. I've never been to Europe, however I married an European.

6. I've been bucked off a horse before.

7. I was a Roller Hockey Cheerleader when I was 19 years old.

8. I was never a cheerleader in High School.

9. I was in a school bus accident in the mountains with my entire class when I was in sixth grade.

10. I've ridden in a helicopter once, after my college graduation bunch.

11. I've been on a hot air balloon tour on an anniversary with Andrew.

12. I've tried oysters once and I hated them!

13. I lived in California for 14 years and never surfed once!

14. I've swam with a shark (just a white tip reef shark, swam about 20 feet under me) while snorkeling in Hawaii.

15. I've never broken a bone.

16. I didn't get my drivers licence until I was 19.

17. We forgot to have someone video our wedding.

18. My first car was a white Dodge Neon.

19. I'm double jointed in both thumbs.

20. I'm blind (not really, but probably close) even with glasses on (Andrew offered that one up).

21. I've never lived alone.

22. The best thing I cook is shredded chicken tacos.

23. I've been in 1 car accident, luckily just a fender bender.

24. I love to eat a bowl of cereal at night.

25. I cry and fall asleep at every movie (sometimes one before the other) also offered up by Andrew.

WhooHoo!

We've made it to our 1st Twin Pregnancy milestone-28 weeks!

I celebrated like any pregnant woman should-
A strawberry cupcake from HeyCupcake!

Next milestone will be 32 weeks!

Maybe I'll do a chocolate one then...?

Spontaneous Jacob and Ryan

Ever since we found out that we were having twins,
they have been referred to as "spontaneous"-
(twins that have occurred naturally-no fertility help).
Doctors and nurses continually will ask me how they occurred and then
will follow up with they're "spontaneous". The word has a new meaning to
 me now than it ever did before. There are several definitions of the word
but the one that I like the best is: (of natural phenomena) arising from
internal forces or causes; independent of external agencies; self-acting.
Everything around here lately seems to be a little "spontaneous".

Especially the growth of my belly. Last Monday my ultrasound measured each healthy and growing baby at about 2.5 lbs. That's 5 lbs. of baby so far in my tummy! I curiously asked my doctor approximately how much they will weigh at 34 weeks and she said 5 lb. each. Needless to say, there's going to be a lot of stretching and growing around here. Cocoa butter is my new best friend. If only it was warm when it came out of the bottle...cold lotion on a very sensitive belly is not so fun!

27 weeks

24 weeks

My Daily Post Up

This is me most days...

It might look relaxing but I'm starting to reach the uncomfortable stage of pregnancy.

I also have two little boys periodically having a boxing match or a dance-off in my lower abdomen.

It makes for some interesting facial expressions from me (see picture below).

I started a hormone this week that is suppose to stop any sort of early labor-let's hope, fingers crossed!

The babies seem to be doing fine, growing like weeds, that makes three of us!

I'm getting excited about beginning the nursery for the twins.

Andrew and his mom will start painting both rooms (the twins' and the old guest room) early next week.

I like to think of myself as the project manager from the couch-hopefully I don't get fired!

Taylor is excited because he gets a "NEW ROOM" in his own words.

Once the twins arrive we'll officially have a completely FULL nest.
More ultrasounds and doctor's visits next week-
I've been bumped up to the multiples specialists for my weekly sonograms now.

Andrew actually caught a funny expression on my face while the twins were boxing...it's amazing!

5*Five*5th*Cinco*V

How are we already at Kindergarten age?

You've grown up so much and so fast!

I wasn't able to make your birthday party (sniff, sniff...) 

but Daddy, Nana, GeeGee, and Grandpa were great party helpers.

You also had ALL your friends there to keep you very busy too!

Last Year You Learned to:

Ride a two-wheel bike with training wheels

Swim better without help

Write all your alphabet letters (numbers are a work in progress) 

Read some sight word readers

Gain much more independence in all areas

Eat and try more new foods

Do some chores around the house

Take a shower by yourself

Control your anger and frustration a little bit better (still a work in progress)

Differentiate between an accident and purposeful and say, "I'm sorry"

Take more responsibility for your actions

Ski

Thanks to everyone for texting me pictures, taking pictures, and being a great support system during this bedrest time!

Meet Apple & Orange

We have some new guests to the household, and luckily it's not the twins yet (nor would I have named my newest children Apple and Orange-if I did do something like like I hope someone would have the courage to be honest with and tell me that I was crazy, oh wait my husband would do that)!

Every time we go to Walmart we have to check out the fish before we leave. Taylor loves the little crabs and loves to look at ALL the different fish.

With a birthday approaching, we thought a little fish tank would be the perfect present. I was all for the fish idea because the alternative in Taylor's mind was a new puppy! I'm only having twins Taylor not triplets, maybe when you're 7 you can get a new puppy!!!

With Andrew in charge of running the errands around here, he found the tank and picked all the accessories. Once GeeGee and Grandpa where here on Saturday it was off to the pet store so Taylor could pick out his first pets. They came home with two cute and colorful fish. Once acclimated, our new residents, Apple and Orange, seem to be doing just fine.



Friday-Happy Birthday!

What would a crazy week be without a 5th birthday thrown into the mix too!

Well craziness might just have to be our new middle name from this point forward.

We're slowing things down and taking everything in stride day-by-day. Thanks to a wonderful husband who knows how to cook and how to step in to fill mommy's shoes wherever and whenever he can.

The 5th birthday celebrations began last night with family and a homemade dinner of our favorite tacos and delicious chocolate cake (Taylor's favorite). The celebrations will continue at school today with his classroom friends and a Batman Cookie Cake from our favorite bakery. The grand finale of celebrations will end on Sunday with a birthday party for Taylor and all of Taylor's friends!

We can't believe that our first baby is turning FIVE!

Birthday wishes via the telephone before school this morning.

HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY TAYLOR!



Thursday-Home Sweet Home

Good news came late yesterday when the doctors and nurses said I could go home! We were so happy!

I have strict orders to stay off my feet (2 babies and second pregnancy can add a lot of pressure on my cervix and that's not good this early), and in their words, I have to stay as bored as possible. Thank goodness for technology these days! I have a cell phone, laptop, TV, and tablet all at a fingertips reach. I don't think I'll be bored, but I will obey doctor's orders so that I can reach my first goal of 28 weeks.



Monday, Tuesday, & Wednesday

Monday's ultrasound was good. The fluid around both babies was stable and has not changed over the course of a week. Also, good news was that both babies have grown from 1.25 lbs. to about 2 lbs. That's a total of 4 lbs. of baby in my belly...getting bigger literally by the day! The only bad news was that my cervix had shortened from 3cm to 2.5cm. Common with twins since the weight on my cervix is greater than a singleton baby.

That leads us to Tuesday. My regular doctor's office called because they got the news of my shorter cervix and wanted to bring me in for another test. I'm definitely turning into a pro test taker lately. The test they wanted to do would test for the presence of a chemical that is present with pre-term labor. Another cervix check also showed that I was 1cm dilated.

Well then everything changed...

I was immediately taken off of work (what, it's only February?) and I was told that I would be spending the night in the hospital for monitoring (what, how is that suppose to happen, I have a 5 yr. old too?). Well after a lot of crying on my part, we arrived to the hospital last night around 8pm. We had some good news early and that was that the chemical test that they had done earlier was negative (97% chance that these babies will NOT be born in the next two weeks-whew!). The monitoring through the night would look for how many, if any, contractions I was having in a 24 hr. period. I don't even feel the contractions at this point, so hopefully I'm not having many so that I can begin my bed rest at home and not in the hospital.

Today while I'm writing this in the hospital, I'm waiting patiently for yet another ultrasound to check to see if my cervix is still the same length as Monday. If it is, I get to go home. If it isn't, then I don't know yet what could possibly happen then. What I do know is that my first goal to get to 28 weeks. Then get to 32 weeks which is even better! I'll keep you all posted on all the new updates.