The Bellows Family

Pastimes

2012-02-04T22:42:00.006-07:00

Saturday mornings mean one thing in our house. No, not cleaning. Certainly not showering. But homemade breakfast! Every Saturday, done by myself. I am a baker at heart. Today was chocolate chip pancakes. Always from scratch. A few weeks ago were cinnamon rolls. My friend gave me a recipe for "The Perfect Cinnamon Rolls," and they really are perfect.

I think they were gone by the afternoon. So sweet that I didn't even bother to make icing.

Caleb's been wanting to learn to read. So today we were working on it. His first word he read by himself was "cat." Then he wanted to spell.

Caleb: "Mom, how do you spell 'poop'?"

Me: "Pp--ooo--ooo--pp"

And then he spelled poop.

How different it will be to teach a girl to read and write!

Jared's grandpa passed away this week. It was sad to hear the news, but we were so glad that we got to say our goodbye's in December to him. He had his whole funeral planned out and things went smoothly and were very beautiful. He will be missed very much.

When we were in Idaho for the funeral, Brooke had her second seizure-like episode. Her last one was a few weeks ago. She will be seeing her doctor on Monday.

We got an anonymous card in the mail this week that was really sweet. It was one of our neighbors that we go to church with wanting to tell us how great they think we are. I had to laugh initially because last Sunday the babies and I were 45 minutes late to church, and then we get a card praising us for doing such a wonderful job with the twins. Wow, my neighbors are too nice. Not to mention they also included a gift card for us to go out to eat. Now if only I knew who they were so I could thank them.... Anyway, just one of the many nice things our friends and neighbors have done for us because we had twins.

Perhaps it was because we needed some new furniture. Or maybe it's because Jared's going on a work-trip to China this month and felt sorry for me. Either way, he picked up these gray chairs that I really wanted at Costco one day. And the beautiful ottoman I picked out from Costco.com. My house is slowly starting to look better, just little bits at a time. Anyway, I managed to squeeze some lovely linen curtains from Ikea out of him before his guilt-trip for leaving me with two babies ended. But it was fun while it lasted!

Seth and Adam, best buddies

Seth pulling Adam on his sled. Adam learned quick how to hold the handles!

Adam always sleeps with his arms stretched out.

Caleb got this awkward bruise under his lip at Kangaroo Zoo. It was way funny-looking. Poor kid. But he had tons of fun in the process.

And here are my babies on their bouncers on sleds being pulled by the boys! This is what we do when it is cold outside... random acts of craziness.

Life Happenings

2012-01-20T20:36:00.004-07:00

Little Brookie, as we like to call her, fell asleep on her play mat the other day. I wrapped her up and she took a good nap down there.

Jared helped Caleb complete a 100-piece puzzle. Caleb really loves puzzles and spends a lot of his time working on them. He can do a 48-piece puzzle by himself. As you see, Brooke is in her daddy's lap, which is her favorite place to be in the evenings.

Jared with Adam and Brooke. Side note, one day I was out and an acquaintance of Jared's looked at Brooke in all her pink and said that she was a "cute boy" and "looks like Jared." Oh my.

Yesterday morning the boys had Fruit Loops for breakfast. Afterwards they asked me to cut some game pieces out of the cereal box, and then they proceeded to play with the remnants of the box for the next two and a half hours by themselves. They kept busying taping cars to the cardboard pieces and making race tracks. It was a glorious morning for me and them.

Along with puzzles, Caleb also enjoys Lego sets and putting together the train track. We gave him a map of the track and he put it together by himself. I am really enjoying this 5-year-old age.

Adam, in all his cuteness. We got this cute exercise saucer from my friend who has twin girls.

Number 5

2012-01-15T19:58:00.004-07:00

Jared just hit five years at work. He's pretty excited about it. He loves his job and no doubt he will be at it for another five years. The fine company of A*dobe let him pick a gift (he chose a camcorder) and is giving him a 4-week paid sabbatical. I've been asking him what he wants to spend his four weeks doing. First off, he has 2 years to take the sabbatical until it expires. My ideas for his time range from installing a sprinkler system in the back yard to assembling a large playground, maybe with a few babysit-the-kids-so-I-can-go-shopping days. For some really strange reason none of these things sound interesting to him. Something about the sabbatical being a break from work? I can't be sure. I suppose that we could go on a vacation somewhere, but wouldn't that be insane considering we have four young kids. I don't think someone could pay me to go on a vacation right now.

The funny thing about Jared's job is that he partially took it for the health insurance, considering I was 7+ months pregnant with Caleb at the time and it was his first job offer before graduation. Look how well it turned out!

Our Weekend + Caleb Turns 5!

2012-01-09T23:11:00.005-07:00

Caleb turned five! He had a Cars 2 pizza party and pinata with his best friends!

Caleb is growing and learning so much... we are excited to see how he develops this year! He loves crafts, puzzles, Play-doh, story-time, biking, friends, and life in general.

Somebody loves my kids enough to make them little

matching outfits... thanks Aunt Carla!

Chub-chub!! Look at those cute cheeks.

Grandma Bellows gave the babies these cute little monkeys for Christmas. The babies love to chew the monkey limbs! Adam especially gets very excited when he sees his monkey.

Every morning Seth wakes up early to play with the babies in our bed. He often says things like, "Adam is my best friend" and "Brooke looks like a little princess." The babies endure his enthusiasm quite well.

The past couple months have been challenging for and with Seth. He feels a desire to be grown-up like his brother, he has been officially displaced as the baby of the family, he was emotionally challenged while he potty trained himself, and he struggles to find his niche in our family. Basically he is suffering through the middle-child syndrome. He is so full of emotion and love for the babies that he often ends up hurting them while trying to play. He falls on the floor and cries 10+ times a day and never goes a night without coming to our bed. So we are working on things.

4-Month Checkups

2011-12-30T23:54:00.005-07:00

Today I took the babies in for their four month checkups. Jared is on day 9 of 12 for his vacation so he was able to stay home with the boys. Good thing too because 4 kids + 1 parent + 9 am appointment = disaster!

The babies are healthy and doing well. The results of Adam's CT scan earlier in the month were great. He does have scaphocepaly (long and narrow head), but his skull sutures/joints are still open and are allowing the skull to grow. So he doesn't need surgery :) His head is actually rounding out a little bit and looking better now too. Scaphocephaly presents almost exclusively with synostosis (closed joints), so we were literally preparing for the surgery and were surprised to find out that he doesn't need it. Our pediatrician has actually never seen a case of scaphocephaly that didn't included synostosis, so we are very blessed in this matter.

Our pediatrician also confirmed that Brooke has torticollis (abnormal neck twisting) and has developed a bit of plagiocephaly (flat head on her left side), but she also is improving in head shape.

Brooke's Stats

Weight: 13 lbs 9 oz ~ 52nd percentile

Length: 23.5 inches ~ 23rd percentile

Head Circumference: 16 inches ~ 42nd percentile

Adam's Stats

Weight: 12 lbs 5 oz ~ 8th percentile

Length: 23.5 inches ~ 7th percentile

Head Circumference: 16 inches ~ 14th percentile

They are the same length and have the same head circumference but are different percentiles because they are different genders. The doctor always refers to Adam as the runt, but I think he is just perfect as he is.

The babies are still nursing and they have established quite a sleep schedule. They eat around 7:30 pm or so, sleep 8 hours, eat, then sleep a few more. Occasionally someone will also get up at 1 am to eat, but overall we are very satisfied with their night schedule. They have come a long way the past two months! Their naps are still sporadic but in the next couple of months I imagine they will establish a pattern in that as well.

Babies resting at home after getting their immunizations.

Merry Christmas...

2011-12-25T22:50:00.002-07:00

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Adam's Appointment

2011-12-16T16:22:00.005-07:00

On Wednesday we took Adam to the Utah Valley Regional Medical Center to see Dr. Morales. He is a plastic surgeon at Primary Children's in Salt Lake City. We took Adam in because his pediatrician thought he might have craniosynostosis of the sagittal suture. Since birth Adam has had a long and narrow head shape and a small fontanel (soft spot).

At the appointment the doctor gave the good news that Adam's fontanel is still open and he is lacking the classic skull ridge that is found when the sagittal suture (mid skull joint) is closed. Though he does has scaphocephaly (long and narrow head shape), which rarely presents outside of craniosynostosis. So he ordered a CT head scan just to confirm that his physical examination was correct.

Adam did very well with his CT scan. There was no wait, so I nursed him to make him sleepy, then I nursed Brooke while Jared got Adam to sleep in the stroller. He slept through the procedure so he didn't need to be sedated. And everything was covered in full by our insurance since we paid the maximum out of pocket for the delivery--another plus! We need to wait a few days to get the CT results.

Believe in Santa

2011-12-11T21:27:00.003-07:00

Adam

Adam & Brooke

Seth & Caleb

(Caleb asked for a monster truck, Seth wouldn't talk)

Brooke

Grandpa Walker

2011-12-07T23:20:00.003-07:00

This weekend we went to Idaho to see Jared's grandpa, Grandpa Walker. He has been wanting to meet the twins. He suffered two heart attacks last month, yet he still found energy to hold the babies for an hour straight on multiple occasions. They loved him and he loved them!

Brooke - 13th great-grandchild, Adam - 14th great-grandchild (first set of twins in family line)

And let's not forget Caleb and Seth who had fun playing with Grandpa's toys and eating his cookies!

Seth Starts Preschool!

2011-11-28T22:48:00.004-07:00

Seth started preschool today! You can see I didn't waste time enrolling him once he turned three. He's been wanting to go to preschool with Caleb ever since the school year started, and obviously I could use the break, so here we go! He had a good first day. The teacher said he was well-behaved and mostly played by himself while he observed the surroundings. He's so quiet about his feelings that it almost seems like he doesn't have any. All I could get him to say about preschool is that it was "good." But when I went to pick up the boys I saw him laughing and smiling, so that think that he had fun. He told Jared that he learned his letters at school and proceeded to list numerous random letters.

Look-a-likes

2011-11-28T22:37:00.003-07:00

This is my mom meeting Brooke last week. They look just like each other. In fact when Brooke was brought to my hospital room for the first time, I took one look at her and said, "She looks just like my mom!" What do you think?

Then there was gray!

2011-11-27T23:58:00.003-07:00

This is the only picture I have to showcase our lovely gray accent wall... try to ignore the birthday balloons and imagine the soothing color. It's the same gray as in the babies' room. We can't spare the time to paint the whole room right now, but this is a start. I love having a little color!

Seth's Birthday Party

2011-11-26T14:02:00.004-07:00

Happy Birthday to Seth! He chose a Super Why birthday theme. He wanted a yellow cake with sprinkles and candy letters.

Blowing out his #3 candle. Just look at those eye lashes!

A super-festive cake. I got carried away with the sprinkles.

And then there was Super Why bingo.

Even Adam joined the party!

The kids went crazy with the birthday presents... Cars 2 movie and clock, a car seat, walkie talkies, 2 books, a play dough kit, and a Sponge Bob costume.

After the party his Aunt Heather treated him to some fun at the Kangeroo Zoo. Lots of fun!

Seth's 3-Year Checkup

2011-11-17T21:14:00.002-07:00

My little guy is almost three! Seth's such a great kid. He's fun and tough and brave and smart and energetic. He likes to play it dumb and so I was surprised to see him score 92% on his assessment questionnaire. Apparently he just pretends to not understand you so that he can get away with doing what he wants. Devious! He rides a bike and scooter and can sing the ABC's. He's potty-trained and is also very self-aware of when he's hungry, tired, etc. He can't stand crying. When the babies are crying he yells, "Stop crying, babies!" and then covers his ears until they stop crying. At night when Caleb screams himself to sleep, Seth falls asleep with his hands over his ears. It's comical.

His favorite foods are rice milk and Perdue Popcorn Chicken. He will not eat chicken nuggets or any other frozen chicken product except Perdue Popcorn Chicken. Imagine my dismay when I realized that Costco no longer sells it. I need to check the local grocery stores asap.

Weight: 33 lb 15 oz ~ 76 percentile

Height: 39 inches - 88 percentile

I can breathe again!

2011-11-11T01:00:00.004-07:00

And we finally have a rental contract signed on the condo! It's been a stressful 6 weeks since our previous tenants moved out but left a mess behind. We weren't able to find any interested renters until everything was out of the condo, including the dirty carpet. So on November 1st Jared spent the day ripping out the old carpet, on the 2nd we had new carpet installed, on the 3rd we had a professional cleaner come, and on the 4th we listed the property and had our first showing. It went well but the potential tenants wanted us to hold the property for 6 weeks for free. We said no, which was scary to do because what if 6 weeks came and went and no one else wanted the property? Four days later I re-listed the property and got a call in the morning for a showing. It went great and we had an offer, and we only had to hold it for 1 week instead of 6! We decided to let the tenants move in a week early for free so the property doesn't sit vacant. We might need to move out the fridge, but otherwise everything is taken care of for a while. It was very difficult to spend hours a day/night at the condo with FOUR kids in a place that was just professionally cleaned. There were repairs to do, small things to clean here and there, things to replace.... but now I can just sit back and collect the rent check that comes in the mail every month.

Nice and clean with brand new carpet, just missing the curtains that were at home being washed and ironed.

Halloween

2011-11-07T20:52:00.004-07:00

We've got Iron Man (Caleb)! We've got Spiderman (Seth)! We've got a BYU Alumni (Jared)! Halloween was a blast. The boys even got to hold a tarantula at a party.

Baby Blessings

2011-11-07T19:34:00.007-07:00

The babies had wonderful baby blessings this week at church. Jared performed the blessings and with him were his dad, my dad, his uncle Eric, his brother-in-law Jake, and our bishop. They were wonderful blessings and Jared's aunt was able to take notes for us.

Brooke Lynne

You have been blessed to come at this time of the world's history to do the work of Heavenly Father.

Bless you to grow and learn, to love the gospel, have the scriptures be your companion and friend.

Bless you to be healthy and go through life free from life-long disease.

Bless you to make good friends, to keep the commandments of the Lord.

Bless you that when you are older, you will have a worthy husband take you to the temple and be sealed for all eternity.

Bless you to have children and to be a wonderful mother to them.

Adam Mark

Bless you to know that your family loves you and Heavenly Father loves you.

Bless you to watch examples of your brothers as they go on missions and th

en be a faithful missionary yourself.

Bless you to use prayer and scripture study to prepare for your mission and to come to know the Lord and His teachings.

Bless you with health and anything that comes, you will conquer and overcome.

Bless you that after your mission you will find a faithful and wonderful woman to take to the temple and be sealed though eternity.

Bless you to be a great provider,

Bless you and your wife to be companions in the effort of raising your family.

2-Month Checkups

2011-11-07T19:06:00.004-07:00

The babies had their 2-month well baby checkups last week. For the record, they BOTH screamed for five hours after they got their vaccinations. Terrible thing. Jared had a product release that evening and worked until midnight, so thankfully my dad was here to take turns holding the screamers.

They both got an increased dosage perscription for Prevacid. When we realized they had acid reflux they were about 5 weeks old. The symptoms had been around for weeks for both of them, we just didn't know what was going on. As soon as they went on Prevacid they started sleeping at night and being happy during the day. It's a wonder-drug, except that it makes them both constipated, which is never pleasant.

Adam might have a condition called sagittal synostosis (scaphocephaly), though a diaognosis isn't usually done until 4 months old. It is a type of skull deformity and would require reconstructive skull surgery. His pediatrician is tracking his skull growth for now and will re-evauluate him at four months. So his next appointment will be December 30th and the doctor should be able to determine whether or not he has it by then. Incident rate is 1 in 4200 and has nothing to do with him being a twin or being premature.

Stats for Brooke

Weight: 11 lb 4 oz (57th percentile)

Length: 21.25 inches (10th percentile)

Head Circumference: 15 inches (29th percentile)

Stats for Adam

Weight: 9 lb 12 oz (8th percentile)

Length: 21 inches (1st percentile)

Head Circumference: 15 inches (11th percentile)

Everything else is going fine for the babies. Adam is sleeping 7-8 hours straight at night. Brooke usually does 4-5 hours straight. They eat every 2-3 hours during the day. They are both exclusively nursing. They love to be by each other, though I have moved them to separate cribs already because they need their mattresses to be elevated for their acid reflux.

Adam has become a rather calm baby and loves to snuggle. Brooke is rather high-strung and loves to be held for extended periods of time.

Boys

2011-10-19T22:41:00.003-07:00

We are Caleb and Seth and we are two crazy dudes! While mom feeds the babies we go around destroying the house! Here we are playing tug of war with an extension cord on the basement stairs! Mom just rolled her eyes at us. We love to scooter and bike and play "garbage truck."

7 Weeks

2011-10-19T22:35:00.003-07:00

We are 7 weeks now and we're super cute! We both roll from tummy to back. We love to eat! We have acid reflux and cry a lot until mommy gives us medicine, then we are happy again! We love to sleep together in the crib. Mommy takes us outside every day for playtime.

Update - 10/8/11

2011-10-08T21:35:00.003-07:00

Brooke sleeping so peacefully...

... and along come her brothers! Usually the end result is screaming. By her. And me. But they sure love her!

Me and the babies! They are both getting bigger, fast! Of course I am only looking *moderately sleep-derived, have on no makeup, and am wearing the same outfit I have already worn multiple times this week. But I am happy and I love my babies dearly. I can let the other stuff slide until next year (or possibly the year after).

Update - 10/2/11

2011-10-02T21:58:00.002-07:00

Hello grass! This is three weeks of hydro-seed growth. It still needs to thicken but it's getting there. Now we just need curbing, weed barrier, mulch, bushes....

Here are the cute babies! They are now 1-month old. They love to sleep with their warm fuzzy blankets. Though there is a lot less sleep happening this month than last.

Update - 9/26/11

2011-09-26T22:20:00.008-07:00

Hey, it's my due date today! Imagine that. So glad to not be pregnant anymore. But here's a recap... three days before I was induced. We spent a lot of time on our couch this summer!

Why try to lie? I turned 27 last week. My dad sent me this cool chocolate fountain and the boys love it!

This weekend we got hit with the stomach flu. I was sick Sunday morning and then Sunday afternoon Caleb got sick. He barely got out of his bed for 24 hours and our pediatrician's nurse recommended we bring him to the ER for treatment. So he got an IV bag, some Zofran, and a cool syringe to play with. He feels better now but he is still really sick. Hopefully nobody else gets sick.

Seth is addicted to the babies. He is always picking them up, carrying them around, and even burping them, as seen above. He loves them so much.

Babies chillin' in some outfits from Aimee.

Long live the duckies! My sister Heather has made a duckie blanket for all of our kids now. Look at this cute fabric!

Adam doing funny things with his arms. He has long arms and fingers and he likes to wave them around. Above are the cute car seat covers from Carla.

Holding the babies.

The babies are doing well and getting bigger. Adam is around 6 lbs and Brooke is about 7.5 lbs. They both have extremely sensitive stomachs and I've had to eliminate a lot of foods from my diet. Otherwise I listen to them scream constantly, and I would much rather have less food options and happy babies.

We've moved the babies to their own room now. It's cute to see them in their cribs. I am excited to decorate their room a little bit more. They are already showing a preference for me and just yesterday they cried and cried for Jared and stopped immediately as soon as I held them, even without feeding them. They are so much fun to have and I wouldn't want things any other way, even if it means being a bit sleep deprived.

I can't forget to mention Seth. Today he decided he wanted to be potty trained. Yeah!!! Hopefully his desire sticks around tomorrow. He loves feeling like a big boy. He's learning his letters and riding his scooter around all day.

Babies Update - 9/16/11

2011-09-16T21:41:00.004-07:00

It's been a busy week! On Tuesday the babies had their 2-week doctor visit. They are good little babies so I just took them in by myself. They didn't give me any trouble, yet we still had three nurses in the room with us. Everyone gets so excited about twins. Sometimes while out I get so many stares that I feel like a traveling freak show.

Brooke

Length: 19 inches (18.25 inches at birth) ~ 6th percentile

Weight: 6 lbs 8 oz (5 lbs 12 oz at birth) ~ 6th percentile

Adam

Length: 18 inches (17 inches at birth) ~ 0.25th percentile

Weight: 5 lbs 2 oz (5 lbs 0 oz at birth) ~ 0.6th percentile

The goal is to be back to birth weight by 2 weeks, so they both met that goal. Obviously Brooke surpassed it as well. She is an interested eater and is always willing to eat Adam's "leftovers." They are doing very well sleeping. They usually eat around 9 pm and then go to bed. They wake up about every 3 hours during the night. They are very in tune with each other and usually wake up and eat at the same time. They have no problem keeping day and night separate for one simple reason: during the day the boys run around like wild animals and during the night it is quiet. They understand the difference!

Brooke is more relaxed than Adam and she tends to cry less (unless she is hungry, then she screams). Adam is temperamental and more anxious and loves to be cuddled with. Adam is especially against wet diapers. I sometimes change his diaper multiple times an hour. Brooke is rather tolerant of the boys and their wild behavior (which includes being held in rather awkward positions). Adam has very observant eyes and it is obvious that he takes in all of his surroundings (which can cause him to become over-stimulated). They are both healthy and growing. Adam has a cow's milk allergy which was discovered early on at the hospital. He also has a under-developed tear duct in his right eye, but that should improve itself soon.

On Thursday Jared returned to work and the kids and I had our first real outing. We went to Orem to return something to Bed Bath and Beyond and then to Toys R Us to buy a puzzle with a gift card the boys got in the mail.

Today the babies got brought along on their first play date to Asher's house. Then in the afternoon I took my bunch of children to Costco. I keep the babies covered when we go shopping with these darling car seat covers that Jared's sister made for us.

Update - 9/9/11

2011-09-09T21:56:00.005-07:00

This is too funny. I put this preemie outfit on Adam the day before and it fit. Then in the morning he was busting out of it! Can you say overnight growth spurt?

Jared wanted to take a picture showing how small Adam is.

This is a common occurrence. The boys fight over who gets to hold Brooke. Having a sister is the coolest thing ever!

My babies

Caleb and Seth got these super cool glow in the dark pajamas from their Aunt Cindee. They run around the house finding dark places so they can glow. Thank you, Cindee!

Their classic "shake your bum bum" pose.

The babies' first time outside with us. I love having a covered porch. They slept for a long time in their bouncers.

Brothers and Babies

Me and Babies

We are adjusting well to our new life. The babies are well loved and the boys are so happy to have them around. The babies are eating and sleeping well. Their personalities and temperaments are already showing. I'm feeling much better myself and am back to regular post-delivery recovery. We have Jared at home for five more days.

This week we had hydro-seed put in our front yard. Get ready for some grass pictures!

I'm Done

2011-09-06T12:47:00.002-07:00

I started feeling icky last night and today I got to the awful stage. I went to my OB clinic and found out that the hypertension medication that I am on is no longer managing my preeclampsia symptoms. Hypertension starts at 140/90 blood pressure and today I had 156/100 while on the medication. The doctor said I could go to the hospital for 24 hours to be monitored or I could increase my medication, stay on bed rest, and go to the ER if symptoms worsen. The babies cannot stay at the hospital with me so obviously I choose the latter. I'm so done with all of this.

I went to the hospital afterwards to have a bunch of lab work done. Good news is that I did not develop HELLP syndrome from the preeclampsia since I was able to deliver the babies soon enough.

Birth Story

2011-09-03T21:33:00.009-07:00

Getting settled into Labor & Delivery room

Mom & Babies

Brooke in Well Baby Nursery

Seeing Adam in Level II Nursery

Adam with CPAP and IV

Seeing Adam for the first time (at 7 am) after he was born

Boys seeing babies that are now together for the first time (Thursday)

Siblings

First picture at home

Babies sleeping

I took this picture after feeding the babies. I laid them on the bed, and like always, they both rolled towards each other and Brooke put her arms near Adam. The are nearly inseparable.

I had an appointment at the hospital with my maternal fetal specialist on Tuesday. Everything looked very good in the ultrasound. The non-stress test showed I wasn't contracting at all. But after talking with the specialist about my symptoms (headaches, seeing spots, vomiting, edema, decreased urination, high blood pressure), I was sent to the hospital lab for various tests. She called me back in less than 2 hours to say that the results were in and I had serious preelampsia. She said if I didn't have the babies soon I would start to have brain seizures within a couple days. My blood platelet number was low and results showed that my liver and kidneys were not longer working as they should be. She told me to go right to the hospital (right after she sang me happy birthday).

Jared dropped me off at the hospital quickly and then went home to back things up for the boys, who were going to their friend's house for the afternoon/evening. Once I got upstairs I was surprised to see the labor room was all ready for me. The anesthesiology came in the room and said that I had to get an epidural right away because my platelet level was too low to wait any longer (low platelets can cause clotting during the epidural insertion which can then require surgical intervention). So I agreed right away and he gave it to me. Jared was still gone at this point. I also got started on magnesium sulfate (IV) so prevent seizures. The doctor measured me at 2.5 cm dilated and then started me on Pitocin.

We all sat and waited to see what would happen. The doctor said we could wait until midnight for me to fully dilate, but then he would have to do a c-section because my organs were started to suffer. Around 10:30 the nurse increased the Pitocin (IV) to nearly the max dose. It worked! We were brought next door to the operating room, everyone got their scrubs on, and Brooke was born not 10 minutes later! She was 5 lbs 12 oz and 18.25 inches, born at 11:12 pm. Then 5 minutes later Adam was born. He was 5 lbs 0 oz and 17 inches, born at 11:17 pm.

More next time.

36 Weeks

2011-08-29T20:52:00.005-07:00

Today I achieved the 36-weeks mark. I struggle to remain optimistic about still being pregnant. A kind neighbor watched the boys this morning, and in the afternoon Caleb had preschool, so I was able to make it though the day. It really is one day at a time though.

As a side note, Seth had major breakdowns all afternoon. He did not like Caleb going to preschool without him, nor did he like being without Caleb. As I think about it, the two of them have not been apart (other than church classes) for at least six weeks. Here's hoping Wednesday goes better for Seth. But Caleb had a great time and loves his preschool!

Tomorrow I have a detailed ultrasound and non-stress test at the hospital. I will be finding out approximate weights for the babies. Let's see who is Baby A this week!

Friday

2011-08-26T22:30:00.003-07:00

And Seth sleeps! Like a frog, that is.

My pre-eclampsia lab results today came back negative. When my doctor told me on the phone I responded,"Oh shoot. Does that mean you can't induce me?" I'm uncomfortable and in a lot of pain so I was hoping today might be my last day pregnant.

Because I have no shame I'll post a picture of my bloated feet, my main complaint right now. I'm anxious to have the babies just so the pain and pressure in my feet go away.

This Week

2011-08-25T21:44:00.003-07:00

So a few interesting things happened this week. We decided to change Caleb's preschool to the afternoon session because that would guarantee a spot for Seth this January when he will be three. Seth will be having more preschool than is the norm (he'll have 2.5 years), but he really wants to go and it would be fantastic for me to have some time at home with just the babies. Caleb is excited for the "winter time" when Seth gets to join his class! Tonight was Back to School night and the boys had a blast at preschool for a little while. Caleb is so ready for some more stimulation in his life.

On Tuesday I had a non-stress test and brief ultrasound at the hospital. The babies heart rates were good and I wasn't having contractions. And the ultrasound revealed that the girl is once again Baby A. These babies are sure tricky, changing every few days.

On Wednesday I became dead exhausted and put on my pajamas at 3 pm. At about 7 pm I started having contractions and by 9 pm they were 2-3 minutes apart (though the pain wasn't severe). So I went to the hospital to see if they wanted to stop the contractions but they didn't. They monitored me for an hour and were about to send me home when they realized I had dilated another centimeter, so they kept me for another hour. I stopped dilating so they sent me home.

Today I had an OB appointment which was informative. I am now measuring 43 weeks. Since last night at the hospital both my diastolic and systolic blood pressure numbers have risen about 15 points each. I also gained a lot of weight due to very serious water retention. Plus I've been having headaches and seeing shiny spots. After threatening me with words of "stroke" and "death," my doctor ordered a 24-hour pre-eclampsia test. He thinks it will be negative and the results will be back tomorrow in the late afternoon.

And I scheduled an induce date of September 7th!

35 Weeks

2011-08-21T21:35:00.004-07:00

Give me about an hour and I will be 35 weeks. Why in the world am I still pregnant? I'm so confused. Well, I feel huge and I'm sure it can't be too much longer until the babies come. Seth was perfectly healthy (except for some jaundice) when he was born at 36 weeks, so I'm hoping that if I stay pregnant for one more week then the babies will be healthy and leave the hospital with me.

I have a non-stress test on Tuesday and and an OB appointment this Thursday.

Dirty Dirt

2011-08-21T21:20:00.006-07:00

Caleb

Seth

We got some free dirt from the lot next to us this week. Dirt = money, so it was great to get so much for free. The boys got to ride in the excavator while the dirt was being brought over. They had fun!

Good news!

2011-08-17T20:50:00.003-07:00

Yesterday I had a non-stress test and brief ultrasound at the hospital. The babies' heart rates were good, contractions were gone, and the level of amniotic fluid was healthy for each baby. Also the boy has switched back to Baby A! We've got a new winner here. They are competitive siblings already.

Today I had my 34 week OB appointment, and it was wonderful! My doctor took me off of bed rest! It was wildly exciting to hear him say the words "normal life." I still need to restrict my activities (no strenuous exercise or heavy lifting, etc), but I can cook and clean and wash clothes, etc. What a difference it makes! My mental stability has tripled since hearing the news. Caleb requested homemade Mac & Cheese tonight to celebrate.

Also my fundal height (external measuring of the uterus) is at 42 cm, meaning 42 weeks. I am a full eight weeks ahead of a singleton pregnancy now. Have you ever been 42 weeks pregnant? Would you like to know what it feels like? Come over and massage my back and I will tell you all about it.

My doctor predicts I still have another week or so to go. So I am just waiting!

34 Weeks!

2011-08-15T20:45:00.008-07:00

We've made it to 34 weeks! Me, the babies, my husband, my children, my family, my friends, my neighbors. Thanks to everyone for their help in getting this far!

34 weeks perks:

-Delivering at my nearby hospital (without a NICU) is now possible

-My doctor/his partners can deliver the babies at this hospital

-Babies can get by without much respiratory assistance

-The babies can start breastfeeding either immediately or within a few days

-My bed rest can be gently lifted to a light bed rest

I decided against jumping on the trampoline last night. Perhaps it was because I passed out early. No, Jared just said he needed to go to work for a day or two so could I please stop trying to go into labor? I am exhausted most of the time. I can't sleep well and my eyes are blood shot. I've been having back labor and the pain has been awful. But it's almost over, so I can hold on. Today Hillary helped me sort through clothes in the babies' room and get things ready, so that was exciting.

I am getting excited to meet the babies and see what they look like and to learn their personalities. I'm sure they will be awfully cute. I'm excited to take them home and see what our life with them is like.

Here are the boys with their Aunt Hillary! Five stars to Hillary for being the visitor of the week! She does lots of fun things with the boys. And she cleans my house. Double winner!

Pictures

2011-08-14T12:06:00.005-07:00

My Sethie

33 weeks 2 days... I guess it's time to take another one of these.

Boys' Room

2011-08-14T12:00:00.002-07:00

Jared painted the boys' room in early July. The boys love it! Caleb has the Toy Story bed and Seth has the Cars bed. Eventually I want to get some specialty pillows and throws for the window seat. And I should hang up a couple more pictures. Otherwise the room is all done! We decided to go with the color Rocky Mountain Sky from Behr.

Just a couple complaints

2011-08-12T18:11:00.003-07:00

I feel so awful. I have so much pain all over my body. I am counting down the hours until Sunday night when the clock hits 12:00 am and I will be 34 weeks. Then I will go outside and jump on my neighbor's trampoline until I go into labor. That should take about 15 seconds. Watch Jared try to stop me.

The babies are growing out of my stomach region in every possible angle. Quite frankly, I look very unattractive in phase of life. Just a few minutes ago my stomach growled, but the noise wasn't coming from my belly button region, it was coming from under my rib cage! Oh yes, the organs have been pushed all around and out of place. That's what an extra 40 pounds will do to a person.

I long to exercise. Even just a simple bike ride sounds glorious. Some type of movement. I've reached a stage of atrophy where most of my visible muscles have just melted away. But yet I continue to get comments of "I would just love to have twins! Only one pregnancy! How easy!" I usually want to hit those people, but I try to remain non-violent

Here's to the next 52 hours and 38 minutes until I reach 34 weeks!

Pictures of My Boys

2011-08-10T13:26:00.003-07:00

We got to do some baking together! How I love to bake. Jared brought everything to the table and I was in charge of the operation. The boys went a little crazy putting olive oil and garlic salt on their bread sticks.

Jared took the boys to Thanksgiving Point Animal Farm on Monday. The boys had a blast. Seth had been wanting to ride a horse/pony for a while. Here he is looking so serious. Jared said he was the smallest kid and he chose the biggest horse. That's Seth!

Caleb riding his pony. The boys love animals. One day we will put up a fence in our backyard and have a pet (maybe).

Caleb (with a hidden Seth) in one of their many, many, many forts! This one was in the basement. Jared helps them build their forts.

Still Pregnant

2011-08-09T16:06:00.003-07:00

I made it to 33 weeks and have now been on bed rest for four weeks (though the past two weeks have been a lighter modified bed rest). This morning the boys and I went to a friend's house for a few hours. The boys had fun playing and I had an exciting time laying on the couch. I get so bored at home and it was nice to have a change of scenery. In the afternoon I had a non-stress test and brief ultrasound at the hospital. Everything looked good. No contractions today. I did have some on Sunday but the nifedipine got them to stop. Also both babies have dropped and are now sitting lower in my uterus.

Ultrasound #4

2011-08-06T18:51:00.007-07:00

Babies' heads (the circles). They are both head-down so this decreases my risk of a c-section.

We've picked middle names for the babies. We are going to give them our middle names. This way their middle names will seem more special to them (I would hope). Also it gives them something in common, seeing as they are twins. So the names will be Brooke Lynne (not to be confused with Brooklyn) and Adam Mark. I detest surprises... can you tell? :)

August 6th

2011-08-06T13:20:00.012-07:00

The boys having an endless amount of fun with their new fort.

26 years, 4 years, 2 years, 32 weeks, 32 weeks

Total cuteness. Some flowers they picked for me last Sunday from the empty lot that was next to us. Excavation has now started on the lot and we've been watching the machines all week.

Things have been calm around here. This week Jared is taking a vacation week so he can have more time to help at home. Today the boys went to a fun birthday party and got to see a baby and adult tortoise. They had a blast. And I am working towards gestating for another 8.5 days to make it to 34 weeks.

MFM Appt

2011-08-02T14:38:00.003-07:00

My Maternal Fetal Medicine appointment today went well. The babies are still looking healthy. The girl is growing better than the boy and has moved to the lowest position. So she is now Baby A and the boy is Baby B. She measures at 4 lbs 6 oz and the boy is at 3 lbs 9 oz. She was 4 oz bigger than him four weeks ago but that has now stretched to 13 ounces bigger. But the boy is still growing enough that this isn't a problem.

The non-stress test went very fast due to both babies cooperating nicely. Their heart rates are very good. The contraction belt showed me having mild contractions every 3-4 minutes lasting about 15+ seconds each. However the contractions are not progressing or causing me to dilate so it isn't a big concern.

I am very sore and very exhausted. I now have 7 lbs 15 oz of baby in me, plus some extras. Jared pampered me last night and watched the boys for a long time so that I could take a nap (after he cooked dinner). Then he picked up a movie and treats for me because my uterus was on the fritz and I couldn't get off the couch.

32 Weeks

2011-07-31T20:21:00.005-07:00

In a couple hours I will hit 32 weeks. I'm doing much better than I was a couple weeks ago. My body has appreciated all the rest. I've only taken my nifedipine pill twice in the past four days. At this rate I might be pregnant for another month! Though probably not. I am very optimistic that I can make it to 34 weeks, or August 15th. Mostly because I really want to deliver at my nearby hospital. It would be much more convenient for hospital visits and then the boys could actually see the babies through the glass. Either way I am thankful to have made it this far. We very much appreciate the help that we have received.

This week it is Jared's turn to be with the boys. He will work half-days and then take care of the boys the rest of the time. I will probably have him work in the mornings because that is when I feel best and have the most energy. In the afternoons I pass out and a long nap is usually required. I have finally been able to gain some weight since going off that pill. In the past few days I've gained 6 lbs and 1 inch to the waist. The babies should weigh about 3 lbs 12 oz now, so a total of 7.5 lbs of baby for me. I have never been full-term before but I imagine this is how a woman feels at 9 months pregnant. I'm really excited for my Maternal Fetal Medicine appointment this week so I can see how the babies are growing.

Dirt Slide (20 second video)

2011-07-31T20:14:00.003-07:00

The boys are having a blast with their newly discovered dirt slide. The slide is in the empty lot right next to us. They were SO DIRTY afterwards!

Two Exciting Things

2011-07-28T21:56:00.006-07:00

The first exciting thing is that Seth is wanting to potty train! I had big plans to work with him in July but those plans got pushed aside. So I gave up the prospect of having just two kids in diapers. But this week he has gotten really into it and today he had success four times! He loves to get a licorice treat afterwards. Good job Seth.

The second exciting thing is that I'm going on 27+ hours now without taking a nifedipine pill! The pills weren't doing any thing to stop my irritable contractions anyway (this is when my uterus is rock hard and the tightening lasts several minutes) so I just stopped taking them to see if anything happened . My irritable contractions have continued but I haven't had any regular labor contractions. That's great! I feel so much better without all the side effects.

31 Weeks

2011-07-27T14:03:00.002-07:00

I'm now 31 weeks 2 days. You might notice that I look increasingly unsatisfied in my profile pictures. I'll try to smile nice for my next one. Anyway, things have been stable since last week. I'm taking the maximum dose of nifedipine and still having lots of hard irritable contractions in between. But the contractions haven't been consistent at all, which is good. I have a Maternal Fetal Medicine appointment next Tuesday, where I will get an in-depth ultrasound and a non-stress test.

Other than that, things are fine. I can tell I am getting bigger. I've almost regained all the weight that I lost the past couple weeks. I'm trying to eat as much as I can. The babies should weigh at least 3 lbs 5 ounces now, so a total weight of 6 lbs 10 ounces. Caleb was 5 lb 11 oz and Seth was 6 lb 7 oz, so the twins have surpassed the maximum baby amount that I have held. Not to mention the extra amniotic fluid, etc.

The boys are better adjusted to the bed rest this week. They are having a lot of fun playing with Jared's sister every day. Today she watched them while they played at the park. Yesterday she took them to the library!

Another Adventurous Day

2011-07-22T21:12:00.006-07:00

I have come to the conclusion that I have to take my nifedipine pill more often. I went to bed at 10 pm last night with a bit of cramping. I slept on and off until 3 am when I realized that the cramping had turned to strong contractions. So I took a nifedipine. The contractions must have been going on for a while before 3 am because for four hours after taking my pill they were still strong. My doctor had instructed me to be monitored if they ever last more than two hours, so four hours was definitely past the limit. Usually the nifedipine takes 90 to at most 120 minutes to kick in. And I was tired and my eyes were bloodshot. So Jared took me back to the Provo hospital. Luckily his mom was conveniently located in the basement so we didn't have to find a babysitter.

By the time we got packed and drove there and got a room, my strong contractions had stopped and were back to the more mild irritable contractions. So they didn't need to give me the terbutaline shots this time! They checked my Group B Strep results, which were positive. I will have to be on an antibiotic IV when I deliver the babies (this happened for both the boys as well). They also tested me again for the fetal fibronectin test and this one was negative! Much better than my previous positive result. That means there is a 95% chance that I will be pregnant for another 7-10 days.

So what I gathered from this little "hospital vacation" is that I need to be taking my nifedipine at the first sign of contractions. Before I would give it 30 minutes or so to see if things got worse and then I would take a pill. But now I can't mess around anymore - I just have to take a pill before the contractions get out of control. Why not just take a pill anyway? Because they have some nasty side effects and make me feel really sick. Though I decided today that the bad side effects are better than the endless trips to the hospital.

And here's a picture for you if you made it to the end of this post.

Pictures

2011-07-21T21:42:00.003-07:00

Jared and my dad working on the sprinklers during his visit last week.

My dad and his dog Razz. Razz was very well-behaved and cute.

Grandma Bellows and the boys! I'm sure I would have delivered the babies already were it not for her help. Today she had to endure the boys striping all their clothes off and jumping on the couch. She's been a good sport!

My 30-week picture. I got out of pajamas to take it, so consider yourself lucky.

OB Appt

2011-07-20T21:56:00.002-07:00

Yesterday I saw my OB doctor again. I'm still having lots of contractions but no dilating so that is good. I'll be on bed rest for the rest of the pregnancy. He told me how to monitor my contractions to know when they were real labor. I usually have four hours of contractions a day, which is very tiring. He gave me permission to ride in a wheel chair at the store.... so tonight we went to Home Depot and I buzzed around in one of those electric ones! The boys thought it was so cool. I'll take a picture of my belly one of these days. But I'm down two pounds from my 29 week picture and I don't look much bigger now. I can't consume food fast enough for these growing babies.

Brother Love

2011-07-20T21:46:00.004-07:00

Laundry baskets are so fun!

Shoveling sand with their neighbor friend.

Their favorite hide-and-seek spot! Don't be fooled by their bored expressions.

30 Weeks

2011-07-18T19:34:00.004-07:00

I reached 30 weeks pregnant today. If it seems that all I ever talk about it pregnancy, you are right. Not much else going on now. On Thursday I got the second steroid shot for the babies' lungs and on Friday I found out that my fetal fibronectin test was positive. On Saturday I had to go back to Labor & Delivery at the Utah Valley hospital. My contractions once again were 1 minute apart and then changed to 2-3 minutes apart and stronger. I got three shots of terbutaline and was monitored for a while, then I got to go home. By then Jared's mom had arrived and so she is now helping with the boys and housework. It is very nice to have extra help. I am still on bed rest with an occasional trip to the water dispenser or bathroom. I like to vary my time between the couches and the glider. Sometimes I lay in bed but then I feel really lonely, so I don't do that much. My contractions were really bad during the evening tonight and lasted for a good two hours before the nifedipine pill finally kicked in. It was a bad and exhausting two hours. I'm not exactly sure why but I have lost a few pounds this week, which of course isn't good. Apparently I need to eat a big shake tonight!

Tomorrow I have a 30-week OB checkup and I should be having the Group B Strep test done.

OB Appt

2011-07-14T10:05:00.002-07:00

I saw my regular OB today. He changed my nifedipine prescription to "as needed." He also did a fetal fibronectin test to determine my chances of delivering in the next two weeks. Tonight I go back into his office to get the second steroid shot for the babies' lungs. And then I have another appointment with him in five days. He wants me to remain on strict bed rest through Sunday.

Caleb/Seth Pictures

2011-07-13T22:46:00.003-07:00

Swim Lessons!

Pleasant Grove Carnival in June (and picture below).

July 13th

2011-07-13T22:28:00.004-07:00

I got discharged from the hospital at 6:30 pm. It was very nice to see the boys afterwards. They immediately started jumping all over me. My contractions started up again at 8 pm but then it was time to take my medicine so they stopped. They start again whenever I stand up and move around. Tomorrow I have to see my regular OB to have some testing done. I also need to go to the hospital to get a second steroid shot for the babies' lungs. The doctor at the Provo hospital prescribed the steroids in the chance that I deliver in 2-3 weeks.

Jared is taking Thursday and Friday off and then his Mom is coming on Saturday for a week. My dad leaves early tomorrow morning. Right now I am on strict bed rest which means only using the bathroom and nothing else (except for medical visits tomorrow).

The surprising part of the day is how physically exhausted I feel. I shouldn't be since I've been laying down all day, except that I had contractions for several hours and that is very tiring.

And the winner is....

2011-07-13T14:26:00.003-07:00

... the Utah Valley Regional Medical Center! Yes, I have spent the day here having contractions. They started at 9:30 am this morning, but I felt bad last night so I wasn't totally surprised. They first started as preterm contractions lasting 30 seconds and happening every minute, though they weren't very painful. Then they turned into regular contractions lasting 45 seconds and happening every 3 minutes. They still aren't very painful though. I've been allowed to eat now so I'm quite happy. I got checked in around 10:30 am so I've been here for 5 hours now. It's actually a bit relaxing to just lay in bed but I do really miss the boys. I have an IV in my left arm and the babies are both being monitored. Their central nervous systems appear to be at a 32 week level due to their varying heart rates. I've been put on nifedipine to stop the contractions. It takes a couple hours to become effective so I don't know yet how well it will work. The nurse I have is exceptional but the doctor is not. My regular OB is very good but he only delivers at the American Fork hospital. My nurse here is trying to persuade the doctor here to do steroid shots to develop the babies' lungs.

Jared was with me for a few hours but he recently went home to take care of the boys. My dad is in town until tomorrow so he's been watching them today.

On a happy note the nurse just said the contractions have been stopped for 30 minutes now so only 90 more minutes of that until they will release me.

29 Weeks

2011-07-10T21:58:00.003-07:00

In a few minutes now I will be hitting 29 weeks. First of all, I apologize to those of you that are bored with my pregnancy posts and give you full permission to skip them. But for all others, here is a picture.

The good news is that the Slow Fe iron supplements that I'm taking for anemia are already starting to help! I feel a lot less dizzy and weak than I did last week. I feel about the same as last week, except for when I bend over. It is really difficult now and always results in a lot of grunting. My appetite has decreased a little as well. No more 1/2 pizzas for a bedtime snack.

It is possible that I am in a very mild state of denial about my current medical condition (the times two part). Possible, but I won't admit anything now. Jared has been saying for 2 months now that I am in a state of denial because when talking to him I only refer to the two fetuses as "two babies." I will not call them twins. But when I speak publicly about the "two babies" I get funny looks, so I am forced to use the word twins. I don't like that word. It is scary and intimidating sounding. My current feeling is that it should be deleted from the English dictionary.

And if you'd like to know, I've now gained about 32 lbs and am 40.5 inches around. This puts me at bigger than I was when I delivered Seth. No, I don't want to talk about it. I only started crying tonight about being huge. Perhaps this is another example of denial for me.

Until next week! I am sure I will make it through the week and I actually think I have about 5-6 weeks left in me. My sister Evelyn actually predicted August 17th as the big day. She might be right, but I can't pick the same day so I will say August 18th. I just have to make it to August 15th to deliver at the hospital 1 mile from my house (which is where Caleb and Seth were born).

Update - 7/8/11

2011-07-07T23:00:00.007-07:00

Jared finished painting the babies room (we decided to go with the color "Ashes") and today we put together the cribs and arranged furniture (meaning I told Jared what to do and he did it). I think things will work out in there, despite it being a small room. I've picked out a lounge chair from Walmart.com for the corner of the room for when I feed the babies. (Supposedly it is very difficult to feed two babies together in a regular glider because it isn't wide enough.) Now I just need to buy it. I also need to get a deep freezer to hold breast milk (our fridge freezer is teeny) and some other random baby things, and then we will be ready! Until I get together another list of things that I need for the babies...

Also we've been having so much rain this week that the sprinkler trenches filled up with several inches of water. So we got to pull out the sump pump! Am I a nerd for thinking sump pumps are exciting? All that water gushing out of the hose. Seth also found the sump pump to be wildly exciting. Jared was going to finish the sprinklers this week but we decided to work on the babies' room instead, and now the ground is too soaked to do anything.

I also had my 28-week OB appointment yesterday. No shortage of appointments here. I found out that I am anemic, hence why I've felt so weak and dizzy lately. I can barely even vacuum. So today I started the slow-release iron pills and added some things to my diet. I still have strong food aversions and therefore red meat isn't on the menu much. My doctor also said no traveling for me at all and that I need stay close to home from now on. And my gestational diabetes test was negative, hooray!

Twin A - Boy (drinking amniotic fluid)

Twin B - Girl

Ultrasound #3

2011-07-06T00:19:00.002-07:00

I had another Maternal Fetal Medicine appointment today and therefore had another ultrasound! It's too late to get pictures posted, but before I forget, the boy Adam weighed 2 lbs 3 oz and the girl Brooke weighed 2 lbs 7 oz. The normal weight for this gestational age is 2 lbs 3 oz, so Adam is right on and Brooke is a little big. Jared says that's because she's always kicking me and therefore has more muscle mass :)

Also all the organs looked good. They are both head down (proper position) but that could still change during the next month.

My next M.F.M. appointment is August 2nd. I will have both an ultrasound and a non-stress test to celebrate 32 weeks. Right now I am staying busy assembling the babies' room and getting car seats, etc all ready to go. I vow to be prepared for this delivery!

28 Weeks

2011-07-04T23:24:00.002-07:00

And the third trimester has arrived! Still no contractions but I have had some cramping. Heartburn is still moderate but my friend, THE RASH, has appeared. I had to schedule an extra OB appointment this week because THE RASH was so bad and itchy. Turns out it is pruritis, or "rash of pregnancy." Another random side effect of bring pregnant, though it's a first for me. I got my blood checked on Saturday to confirm that the rash isn't from an excess of bile acids (but I'm sure it isn't because I have no other symptoms). On Sunday I had to do a glucose blood test and also another anemia test. On Tuesday I have another Maternal Fetal Specialist appointment at the hospital (another ultrasound), and then on Wednesday I have another OB appointment, at which I should get my blood results.

The summer heat is starting to get to me and I can't stay outside long in the 90+ degree heat. One hour is usually my limit. This makes the boys quite sad but oh well. They have swim lessons every day for the next two weeks (which I purposely scheduled for the morning). Tonight I finally accepted the fact that I am going to have to wear a swimsuit every day. So I tried some of my swimwear from years past [insert loud laughing]. Yup, nothing fit at all. It was so bad, even Jared was laughing. I think he will have to participate in Seth's Parent/Tot class until I find a decent fitting swimsuit for myself. Not easy when your belly measures 40 inches!

The funny thing about this pregnancy is that I have a lot of "new" symptoms but not really any of the old. To make other pregnant women jealous, I have yet to get at at night to visit the bathroom, shall I say. My heartburn has been so minimal and yet I keep waiting for it to kick it. I didn't get blessed with shiny hair or long nails during this pregnancy. Though I had severe headaches, optical migraines, and THE RASH, which I have never had during pregnancy before. I'm trying to soak everything in during this pregnancy because this might be my last. Four kids will be a lot!

27 Weeks

2011-06-27T21:51:00.003-07:00

I am 27 weeks pregnant now. Things are about the same as last week, only my calf muscles have started to cramp up. But my weird hormone acne has gone away! I am tired, of course. I need to do my glucose testing for gestational diabetes, but I lost my lab request paperwork so I need to request more paperwork. Always a million things to do. Next week we (Jared) will be painting the babies' room the color Silver Sateen from Behr. It matches perfectly with the pink and blue crib sheets and bumpers that I recently bought. I only went through about 300 paint sample cards before picking this color :) And have I mentioned that next week is the annual Adobe (paid) shutdown? Jared will be home all week to do things for me! Always my favorite time of the year. Absolutely nobody is working so he doesn't even need to check his work email.

A weekend full of fun!

2011-06-26T21:46:00.006-07:00

We were very busy this weekend and had a lot of fun. Jared's sister and her family were visiting Thursday-Sunday. We went to the Gateway Children's Museum (the boys loved it!), had a pizza party, relaxed a lot, saw Cars 2, and celebrated Jared's birthday.

Jared opening his birthday presents. Jared brought home those Mickey hats from work and the boys love them!

Jared with his birthday cupcake. (We had a lot of kids here so I decided to go with cupcakes.) He's the big 32 now!

Cousins with their cupcakes.

Herein lies the happiest baby I have ever seen. She was our littlest visitor and I did not hear her cry once during the entire visit.

Sprinklers!

2011-06-19T23:22:00.004-07:00

Jared starting laying the sprinkler system in our front yard this Saturday. It took three trips to Sprinkler World and a total of 11 hours (and way more money than you want to know), but it is looking good. Still a lot of work left to do, so I hear. I stayed busy bringing him ice water though, so I feel like I was a contributing team member. Actually Caleb helped quite a bit and was helping Jared for several hours. (The boys actually play outside 6-8 hours EVERY day. It really is a lot (for me at least since I am out there with them), but it makes them so happy to be outside. They cry whenever I make them come inside. So we use lots of sunscreen.)

We chose to use the Blu-Lock system for our sprinklers. It's twice as expensive as standard PVC sprinklers BUT ten times easier to install. Since I'm of little help to Jared at my current stage in life, we decided this was the best way to do it.

26 Weeks

2011-06-19T23:08:00.004-07:00

Here I am at about 26 weeks. I am still doing fine. My sister was in the hospital with twins at 26 weeks last summer, so I am happy just to be home and pregnant!

So remember Baby B, the girl Brooke? Yes, she is an animal now and has been attacking my stomach all week. And it's awkward because the kicking is just on one side. The boy Adam, Baby A, is very laid back and only kicks a few times a day.

Oh, the intense lower back pain that I have been having all week. I suppose that is my #1 complaint right now. Lots of knots down there. It's gotten so bad that I've started using a heating pad. I remember my back pain was bad with Seth though too.

Otherwise I am running at full speed (whatever that is for 26 weeks pregnant, though with twins that actually measures out to be "34 weeks" pregnant since with twins you carry like you're eight weeks ahead) trying to get as much done as I can before August. That includes eating half a pizza every night for a bedtime snack (plus dessert).

Father's Day

2011-06-19T22:39:00.004-07:00

The boys sure love their daddy...!

We had a fun Father's Day today. The boys made drawings for Jared, art projects at church, and we gave him some grilling supplies. His favorite was the stainless steel smoker box with hickory wood chips. Jared grills a lot so we also got him a nice grill cleaning brush kit and some sauce brushes. And let's not forget the chocolate covered almonds, which he has very generously been sharing with me. So here's a picture of the boys looking at our grilled chicken.

And here is Caleb's grilled chicken mustache!

We could really taste the hickory flavor in the chicken.

These two always have something to say! Here they are on their new matching red footstools. We had one at our previous home and they have been fighting over it ever since. So I bought another stool this week (from Ikea) and applied a red paint glaze to both footstools. I still need to do a second paint coat and then sand the edges but I don't think the boys even notice that. They just think the bright red is cool! The stools are supposed to be kept by the island and used for when we cook together, but as you can see they have rejected the table chairs and are using their footstools instead.

June 14th

2011-06-14T21:29:00.005-07:00

Caleb's turn to bat... he had some great hits tonight!

Picture of Mt. Timpanogos Temple taken (by Jared) from our deck.

The Bellows Hotel! I arranged some unused furniture to make a cozy little guestroom. (Recognize Caleb's old bed, the brown old dining room rug, Cindee's blue sheets, and the tan top blanket from Aunt Karen?) Plastic walls is what all the 5-star hotels are doing nowadays :) I'm still working on the playroom. More pictures to come.

Last week I discovered flax seed. It does amazing things to bread! Buy it from Costco (pre-ground) and add 2 tablespoons per loaf while mixing. Wow, I love the taste of my "new" bread.

And our builder gave us 10 free loads of dirt! Yes, that is awesome and it saved us over $1000. Tomorrow we are having a lawn company trench (dig long holes) for a sprinkler system in the front yard. They are only charging $100 for this so that is not bad! Then (Jared has informed me) it's off to Home Depot to spend several hundred on sprinkler piping. Fun fun.

And I had an emergency doctor appointment! With my eye doctor that is (haha, did I freak anyone out?). I had optical migraines a.k.a. shimmering spots in my eyes a.k.a. auras for about 3-4 weeks (they have recently stopped) and so he examined my retinas. My eyes are fine and the issue was most likely due to pregnancy hormones. However, he did say that optical migraines can reappear after a few weeks.

25 Weeks

2011-06-12T10:26:00.004-07:00

Tomorrow I will be 25 weeks along (I don't have time to blog on Mondays, hence my weekly Sunday blogs). I am bigger than last week for sure. Not too much else has changed though. A little more pain in various places of my body and an increasingly sore lower back which actually gets worse when I sleep. Heartburn comes and goes but is still manageable with Tums. I've now gained about 26 pounds and therefore am right on track for 30 pounds at 28 weeks (recommended weight gain for twin pregnancies). I haven't had any more contractions since that one a few weeks ago.

My next ultrasound is in 3 weeks with the Maternal Fetal specialist, but until then the babies' predicted measurements are about 1 lb 7 oz and 14 inches long.

And we have decided on names now! Adam and Brooke. Hopefully Jared doesn't mind me sharing, but since he is across the house he will just have to find out when he reads this post! We are 90% sure on middle names but I can't share all the gossip at once, can I?

Disney Room

2011-06-12T10:13:00.004-07:00

I got a few Cars and Toy Story things for the boys' room this week and they really like their new room. Next to the dresser is a Lightening McQueen toy bench I got from Ross. I still need to hang Caleb's blue curtains from condo, find some pillows for the window seat, and decorate one of the walls. We also need to paint the room blue but that won't happen for a while. The boys love to show their room to visitors. Thanks to my friend Jenni for babysitting while I went shopping!

First T-Ball Game

2011-06-07T23:02:00.005-07:00

Caleb had his first T-Ball game tonight! He had a fun time and did very well. We enjoyed watching him and Seth stayed busy playing with his Little Tikes T-Ball set.

A Days Work

2011-06-05T22:54:00.002-07:00

I have proven myself to be quite an accomplished shopper. It's not hard to achieve this title when you find out that you need two of everything baby-wise. So this week I bought another crib , a jumbo-sized diaper bag , and two car seats (Graco Snugride 30 - good for 4 lb babies). I also was given a highchair (girl style), 2 twin nursing covers, an activity bouncer, an exercise saucer and a baby sling from a friend that had twins in 2009. It's all nice stuff. But I still have a list of things left to get. Wow, that's a lot of shopping.

And now I am about to embark on a week-long mission of decorating the boys' room! I came to the conclusion (with a little help from my sister Aimee) that the boys would feel more "at home" if they had things on their wall. (They've been asking to move back to the townhouse lately.) So today I started hanging pictures and I have a list of things to pick up tomorrow, provided that they are in the mood to go shopping all over town. It could be good, or it could be disastrous. Either way I'm not coming home empty-handed, so let's hope that it's good! I'm doing a Lightening McQueen (Seth)/Toy Story (Caleb) theme for the room.

Best of Buds

2011-06-05T16:57:00.004-07:00

These two boys are inseparable and are just the best of friends!

Here they are in some matching Oshkosh outfits from my aunt.

So cute!

24 Weeks

2011-06-05T16:46:00.003-07:00

Tomorrow I will be a full 24 weeks along. I'm feeling really well now and things are moving along fine. Still tired and less active than I was in a singleton pregnancy, but not too bad.

Here was me 24 weeks pregnant with Seth, so you can see that I am bigger now with two!

My aunt spoiled me with a trip to an Aveda Spa yesterday to celebrate the progression of my pregnancy. I had a wonderful time! Maternity massages are very nice.

Ultrasound #2

2011-05-31T14:12:00.004-07:00

Boy

Girl

I met with a Maternal Fetal specialist today. My first trip to Labor and Delivery! Everything looked wonderful. The babies are measuring "spot on" (as my doctor said) at 1 lb 1 oz each. I have gained almost 21 lbs myself. And due to my measurements she declared that there is a less than 5% chance that I will deliver before 32 weeks (August 1st). She said I am free to exercise as long as there is no pain.

Preschool Graduation

2011-05-30T22:19:00.005-07:00

Caleb had his preschool graduation on Friday! He did a wonderful job and was just so cute. Next year is his second year of preschool at the same school. The teacher was too good to consider going anyway else!

Plans for the weekend

2011-05-26T21:00:00.002-07:00

And our plans for the weekend include dirt! I ordered 15 dump truck loads of dirt a couple weeks ago, but it rained so much for several days that our dirt man couldn't deliver the dirt. But the sun is now shining and the ground is dry, so we will be getting lots of dirt this weekend. We also have a bobcat that will spend about 5 hours pushing the dirt around. So while you enjoy your Alaskan vacations and Caribbean cruises, know that our money is going to support a much "dirtier" cause.

Jared is working hard getting the irrigation plans in place so that we can have grass in the front yard by the fall. Go Jared! I know nothing about that kind of thing.

Sidenote A: Aren't the mountains just lovely looking in the background? Part of the reason we picked this specific lot.

Sidenote B: Last night the tan house in the picture lost their big trampoline in a wind storm. Blew several houses away and crashed into a car. The tramp got demolished. I'm wondering what the car looks like?

First of the firsts

2011-05-24T21:17:00.002-07:00

Big day today, lots of excitement for my blog readers.

I began by waking up at 6:30 to get ready to go to the airport! My sister Cindee had a long layover in Salt lake City so we got to see her for 45 minutes. The boys had a lot of fun seeing her, and let's not lie, they also like the elevators and the escalators.

Then in the afternoon I had a dermatologist appointment (I am now mole-free). Then we met a friend at the park for a play date.

Later we played outside and watched our neighbor build his fence. He had a pit fire going, so when Jared got home we cooked hot dogs over the fire! Wow, are hot dogs good cooked over fire. In the microwave though... pretty gross.

Tonight we went to Home Depot for two purposes: buying a grill and buying a sump pump. Now in the perfect situation we wouldn't need a sump pump and could therefore spend all the money on a fancy grill! But that was not the case and Jared got another "economical" replacement for our upcoming anniversary present. But he was a good sport about it. But we got a fancy sump pump! Oh baby, can you say 1/2 HP? Jared found a little water in our dry well today so it was time to get one. Better to prevent than to repair.

And then lastly, I had my first contraction tonight. It lasted about 30 seconds and I think all the excitement of the day wore me out and caused it to happen. My specialist is going to love hearing about that next week...

May 19th

2011-05-19T21:38:00.006-07:00

We have been working on the basement! An oh-so-generous family member gave us a house-warming gift of supplies for the basement. We now have foam tile flooring, a new green sofa, and some curtains that need to be hung. Jared is also working on lights, outlets, furnace ducts, and a little sheet rock. Stay tuned for the finish product. So far it's bright and colorful and the boys just love it. Today Caleb asked me if we could paint the plastic insulation cover lime-green. Oh my!

And here we have the babies at the beginning of my 22nd week. I am starting to feel the difference from my other pregnancies. I get tired walking up a long flight of stairs. I wear maternity pants now but I'm still fitting into my bigger tops. I have a little heartburn but not as bad as during my other pregnancies. I spend my extra time either doing house decorating, unpacking (flashback, we moved into our house just one month ago), or reading twin books. I sleep about 7 hours a night which I am sure is not enough, but I do try to lay down a few times during the day. I've been getting hit with moments of nausea and today found myself running to the sink. Consequently my appetite has not been real great, but I've gained four pounds in the last week despite that. I long to go on far walks around the neighborhood but I have to keep my exercising under 1.5 miles because it hurts to go farther than that.

Tuesday the 17th

2011-05-17T21:00:00.004-07:00

This week began with a preschool field trip to the zoo! The boys had a lot of fun. We started off with a class train ride, played at the zoo park, saw some animals, played in the sand pit, and finished with a bird show. We were there for four hours and I was thoroughly exhausted afterwards. But what a beautiful day to go to the zoo, as it was not sunny at all! (The sun and heat are rather overrated in my opinion.)

Today we started putting down foam floor tiles in the basement playroom area. They are perfect for insulating, a good cushioning product, fun colors, and also waterproof! (Our city is looking at potential flooding this summer so waterproof material in the basement is preferred.)

I also had my 20-week OB appointment today (though I'm actually in the 22nd week now). I learned which hospital I will deliver at based on the gestational age of the babies and also all the many tests that I will be doing soon. I start seeing a perinatologist in two weeks at the nearby hospital. That is fancy-speech for I will be seeing a maternal-fetal specialist regularly for the rest of the pregnancy, in addition to my regular OB doctor. I am happy and blessed that we have good health insurance to cover all of this!

Stories about Seth, etc

2011-05-11T18:45:00.001-07:00

Seth has been sick with the stomach flu. He's been falling asleep in strange places as a result!

Seth falling asleep in another very strange place. Poor kid.

The boys with their completed Thomas puzzle.

Seth in distress after putting holes in his socks.

Seth demolishes socks. Take the above for example. New condition when I put them on in the morning. Here they are in the afternoon. This happened a lot with smaller socks so I bought a bigger size and the same thing happened! Weird toes or something.

20 Week Pregnancy Picture

Two Babies

2011-05-09T17:56:00.006-07:00

I had my routine 20-week ultrasound today and we found out that there are two babies in me! Who would have known. The technician said she has never seen surprise twins after 15 weeks. I've gained a few extra pounds but other than that this pregnancy has been similar to the other two. But we were glad that one was a boy and the other was a girl. The ultrasound went on for about 45 minutes because the girl didn't want to show her gender! So they are fraternal twins and they both have their own sack. The baby lower down is always referred to as Twin A and this one is the boy. He is 11 ounces and everything looked healthy. For a normal delivery he will be the one delivered first, or if he has problems then he will determine a c-section delivery for both. The baby higher up is Twin B and she is 10 ounces. We have some names in mind and coincidentally Twin A starts with an A and Twin B starts with a B! We aren't firm on these yet but we thought of the boy name a while ago (hint: another Old Testament name) and the girl's name we thought of last night before the ultrasound.

Otherwise they looked healthy. Just a couple measurements were missed because it took so long to see Twin B's gender (female) and foremost I was not scheduled for a double ultrasound so the waiting room was backing up. Apparently I will be getting ultrasounds every month now so those measurements can be done later (and I think they were Twin A's lips and nose). The babies are both measuring close to 20 weeks like they are supposed to be.

Tomorrow is the doctor's appointment so I will get more information then. As for now I know the twins were formed due to a natural passing of two eggs instead of the usual one. These types of twins have not ran in my family for the past few generations, so it is an odd thing for sure!

Babies together

Twin A - Boy

Twin B - Girl

April 30th

2011-04-30T23:27:00.005-07:00

Caleb with his work of art--a color by number butterfly worksheet that he got in preschool. He is so proud of his coloring!

Seth sleeping as cute as can be.

Caleb concentrating hard on a glitter and glue project. He loves crafts so much.

Our snow on April 30th!

We are converting the basement into a playroom. It's a slow process but it's coming along. We need to get more rugs because we won't be finishing the room for at least two years. The boys really like it but boy does it get cold down there when it's snowing outside! Tonight they put a sign that said "No Mom" on the door because only boys are allowed.

Movie time in the basement playroom! They think it's awesome. Nobody tell them otherwise! :)

Seth watching the neighbor's horses in the backyard. We also get the neighbor's dogs and cats running through the back and it provides all sorts of entertainment.

Here's my growing torso at about 18 weeks. Now it's nine days until the ultrasound! I am excited to know the gender because then we can start planning a name.

Appt

2011-04-20T19:52:00.002-07:00

I had my 16-week OB appointment today. I'm actually 17.5 weeks but I could only stretch out the appointments so far! So in 19 days we find out the gender during the ultrasound (my sister Aimee informed me of the day count, FYI). And of course all the stats on the baby, but I would expect/hope that those are all good. So the appointment today lasted maybe one minute with the doctor. Rather basic stuff now considering I am feeling well and my stats are reading great. And I have perfected the goal of gaining 1-lb a week, just in case you are wondering.

New House

2011-04-20T19:40:00.003-07:00

Our move last weekend went awesome. We have seven guys come and it took less than two hours total! I assisted in watching the boys and carrying small items. So we are now living in a disaster zone. I spend about 2-3 hours a day unpacking and another two cleaning the townhouse. Jared has been working hard installing blinds, a mailbox, etc. It's been raining every day so we haven't had the chance to work on yard much. My sweet friend brought us a wonderful crock pot dinner tonight and it was so nice to have a good meal. I am hoping to finish up cleaning/repairing the townhouse by Saturday so that I only have one property to focus on.

Great news is that we love the house! Wow, are ramblers so much better than anything else. It comes in at 1835 finished square feet and it is the absolutely perfect size. The unfinished basement is a make-shift toy room. Lots of fun stuff down there. The boys are doing just perfect sharing a room. Having separate beds and fun bedding made a huge difference for them. And wow, can I talk about our neighbors? They are all awesome! So nice and friendly and most have already been by with fresh bread or cookies. We love being on a big cul-de-sac. The boys have so much fun riding their bikes with the many neighbor kids. We will just love living here for the many years to come.

16.5 Weeks and Black Eye Update

2011-04-14T20:32:00.003-07:00

I'm 16.5 weeks along now. Because I have a long torso, I just look chunky. No need to beat around the bush there. But hopefully in a few weeks I will look pregnant instead of chunky. I'm feeling very well considering I'm pregnant. I really like the second trimester. My heartburn is minimal unless I have a lot of tomato products. My feet are starting to swell and get sore when I wear anything other than running shoes.

Here's another view of Seth's black eye. I get maybe five questions a day from strangers, neighbors, and friends. Is a black eye that uncommon for rambunctious 2 year olds?

A week full of sunshine!

2011-04-13T22:27:00.005-07:00

We've all had a good week. We've been spending hours a day outside (today was four hours). The boys love to play with their friends and ride bikes. Caleb even got a sunburn on his neck today!

I've been enjoying having Jared around more. He's been quite the handyman. Yesterday he fixed my bread maker (though its real purpose is as a jam maker) and today he disassembled furniture for the move on Saturday. And he watched the boys ice so I could go shopping for bedding. And he even built a TV antenna for our new house tonight! While the rest of you agonize over your rising cable TV bills, we will soon be enjoying free TV on our homemade antenna. If that's not cheap, then I don't know what is (and it's completely legal). Good thing the ugly thing will fit in our attic space because otherwise the neighbors would be laughing at us from Day 1. (I made him pose for this picture, just in case you were wondering.)

Seth got his first black eye! He was jumping on the bed when he was supposed to be going to sleep. He took it like a champ and let Jared ice it while I was screaming across the room. It gets worse looking every day.

And we got an awesome box of Oshkosh clothes from Aunt Karen this week! Wow, she's good. Look at how cute the boys will be looking this summer.

And tomorrow we close on the house! As long as the loan funds on Friday, we will be able to start moving stuff over Friday night.

Craziness

2011-04-10T13:48:00.008-07:00

Wow, have things been crazy! First, I am glad to announce that Jared is done working 12-hour days. He even came home at 3 pm Friday! (Though that was after working until 4 am on Thursday night.) I'm so glad to have some more help with the boys and moving.

On Saturday we attempted to go to Idaho for a baby blessing for Jared's new niece. We never made it though. We got stuck behind a 17-car accident in north Salt Lake, and after waiting for about 80 minutes we were forced off the freeway and had to head back home due to unsafe driving conditions. I learned later that there were five other accidents at the same time as this big one, and also two people in SLC died from car accidents. Glad we just turned back to avoid danger, but we were sorry to miss the baby blessing. So instead we took the boys to Kangaroo Zoo later that night to make up for the cancelled trip. They had a blast!

And we close on the house in just four days! Who knew it would ever really happen. It's so difficult to purchase a second property.

Perhaps you'd like to hear how the pregnancy is going? Very well, actually. I eat a lot and have been blessed with a rather expanding body. Caleb likes to tell me that my bum is getting bigger.

Caleb: "Mom, your bum is getting big."

Me: "No, it is not!"

Caleb: "Yes, it is. I walk behind you and I see that your bum is getting bigger."

Oh bless his heart because the child has no idea that you shouldn't say such things to a pregnant woman! Otherwise I sleep 8-9 hours a day, no nausea, a little heartburn. My headaches are just about gone now, yeah! Still have strong food aversions though. Seth and Caleb still like to kiss my belly every day. I will be 16 weeks along tomorrow and the ultrasound will be in about 4 weeks.

I have no pictures

2011-04-03T22:03:00.004-07:00

I will admit the truth concerning my lack of pictures immediately for those of you that are looking for visual stimulation. I have no big news now, just some random facts to share.

-Seth counted in Spanish this week! Yes, he does watch multiple episodes of Dora/Diego every day. Please don't ask for an exact number because that is embarrassing. He also learned a month ago how to count, only he usually forgets #5 and instead says "1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10!" However, if I yell out "FIVE" just as he is finishing with #4, then he gets the counting right.

-Jared's sole hobby right now consists of working 12+ hours a day. Okay, maybe that doesn't really constitute as a hobby. But know that if you ask me what Jared's been doing and I tell you that he's been busy working, I am telling the truth. There is a very big release happening this week that he has been preparing for. He is also excited for a trip to San Jose next month for an Adobe Summit. I am just a teeny bit jealous as I would LOVE to go on a trip to California.

-Our backyard is becoming infested with animals! We finally did catch the nasty mouse that had made our kitchen it's home. We see various cats running around outside. And tonight (no doubt due to the fluctuating snow and sun this week), we saw four deer in the field behind our fence! The boys had a lot of fun watching them. Ah, the joys of living next to an empty field.

-I have become addicted to the TV series Prison Break. Let me preface this statement by saying that Prison Break is a violent show, not surprising considering it's based on prison life and all. I don't care much for violent shows usually. But the fact that the main actor purposely got himself put in prison in order to help is innocent brother on death row escape is actually rather intriguing and even inspiring to me. So I watch multiple episodes a night.

-I can't complain much about the pregnancy now. I'm not sleeping more than 9 hours a night now and I was only nauseous once this week. My headaches continue to decrease in frequency, though my food aversions are still as strong as ever. I won't eat bread. I eat very little meat. And I go from disliking to loving a food back to disliking it again within an easy 24 hours. I've started to get heartburn already. I feel like everything in this pregnancy is happening a month ahead of when it happened with Seth, so that has been odd. But overall I am doing fine now.

-We've been working on having the boys share a room all week. Today was the first night that they actually went to sleep together! Usually they jump on the bed for a long time and we move Seth to his old room, then when they are both sleeping we move Seth back to Caleb's big bed. Hopefully they will be sleeping well by the time we move in 13 days! I've ordered twin bed frames and now I need to get mattresses because I want them to start officially sharing a room when we move. Then the other bedroom can by for the baby or guests.

Baby Hugs

2011-03-24T22:00:00.003-07:00

Here are the boys giving their new baby a big hug! Caleb especially needs to see my tummy every day and to say hi to the baby. Today the boys put a tube up to my belly button and tried to talk to the baby. We are all excited and Jared and Caleb have both announced that they would like it to be a girl. Seth is usually off in his own little world and he doesn't say much about the baby.

With the arrival of 13 weeks on Monday came a renewal of self. I have been miserable for the past two months but I now feel better. I feel alive again! My nausea and exhaustion have decreased and I even walked a few miles yesterday. My food cravings are down (though not my food aversions). I was having severe headaches several times a day (not fun at all, most likely due to hormones) and those have greatly decreased as well! Needless to say I am welcoming the 2nd trimester next week.

House Update - 3/18

2011-03-18T12:52:00.005-07:00

The exterior with Iron Gray James Hardie siding and Southern Ledge Mesa Verde rock.

The boys room! They (really meaning Jared and I) are adjusting the the fact that they will eventually have to share a room. Love the window seat.

The maple espresso railing. The front door in the background will be stained a medium English oak and is actually some type of fiberglass.

The kitchen with maple dover-style espresso cabinets and Giallo Santo square-nosed granite.

Close-up of the Hardie and rock. The Hardie usually looks dark blue but sometimes it has a green or gray shade to it. It doesn't look as dark as this in person.

The exterior of the house with our ever-slanted yard... so much work ahead.

Close-up of the back of the house. Seth loves the dirt!

New Trex deck that got put in today... and it was even a standard included feature! I hope there will be rails on the landing.

Garage man door just waiting for some fresh cement to be added.

And there you have it! We close in less than 4 weeks now.

September 26th

2011-03-14T20:26:00.004-07:00

Here's the big announcement that I'm 12 weeks pregnant! (Two thumbs up if you figured it out by yourself.) I'm not one to shout out that I'm pregnant and therefore exhausted, nauseous, bloated, miserable, getting big, etc. But nonetheless I am excited to meet the baby. The funnest part about a pregnancy is going into labor and getting excited about the new little person that you get to meet. It's always amazing how there is an instant bond between the family members and new baby. So I am enduring this first trimester the best I can, but I have to say that it has not been easy. Actually things are quite different than they were with the boys' pregnancies, so as of now I am expecting it to be a baby girl. (Which Caleb would just love.) I'm neutral about the gender myself. And as the Title hints, this baby is due September 26th. (Early bets can be placed on when it will be born, and mine is September 2nd.)

Sneak peak at the baby...

Allergies Update

2011-03-07T18:50:00.002-07:00

The boys are doing amazingly well with their food allergies. With the help of their allergist we now have them both eating milk and soy every Friday. As long as we only do this once a week (or about every 6-7 days) they don't have any reaction to the milk and soy. More often than that though and they will react. Anyway, it's been so much fun to take them out to eat or have goodies at home every Friday. Seth is actually sort of neutral about it, but Caleb is in heaven on Friday afternoons and he talks about "Friday soy day" all week long.

Last Friday the boys had pizza, a very berry sundae, and a churro from Costco, complete with some cheese crackers at home that Caleb got from a friend and was saving for Friday. It was a delicious day for all!

House Update - 3/7

2011-03-07T18:45:00.005-07:00

Just 30 days left until completion... Am I ready to move? No!!

House Update - 2/27

2011-02-27T22:39:00.003-07:00

And here you see the current status of our house. This week we had the 4-way walk-through. The electrical, heating/AC, plumping, framing, roofing, and windows are now all done. The exterior has been weather-wrapped. Sadly enough the exterior doors are now locked so we can't walk through as we please. And the drywall was also started this weekend. It's looking great! We should have about 40 days left at this point. Cross your fingers for low interest rates this week because we need to get locked in with our lender soon. Also the insulation has been blown-in on the main level and the pin-wall insulation is complete in the basement.

The many faces of Seth

2011-02-27T22:31:00.003-07:00

Ironman

Surgeon/Police Man

Pit Crew Worker

Church Boy

Seth has a fondness for costumes. Every night before bed he puts on a costume. Tonight he wore Caleb's green cape and called himself "Superhero!"

This Week

2011-02-16T18:57:00.004-07:00

Today was a lovely day outside. The boys and I played basketball, went on a walk to the grocery store, and colored the driveway with some sidewalk chalk. The sunshine was so rejuvenating compared to the clouds and snow.

Yesterday was a fun Valentine's Day. Caleb was so excited all day for his party at preschool. Then Jared surprised me by coming home 2 hours early with some red roses! Then we got takeout from Carrabbas. It was a great day spent with people I love dearly.

These boys love each other big time.

The house picture below is now a little outdated but it is more recent that the one from last week. We now have windows, HVAC, and most electrical work in place. Tomorrow the roofing shingles will be put on. We've been told that the house will be done in 50 days... I don't know that I'm quite ready for that!

Today

2011-02-09T19:26:00.006-07:00

I need to give a review of the Aveda Salon that I recently went to. Once I saw the quality of my haircut, I was sold. I would go back to the same stylist again. I have fine but thick hair and it is not easy to cut well. She worked well with the natural bend in my hair, which is not something many stylists can do. I think any stylist can get your hair to "look good" while you are at the salon, but it takes a good stylist to give you a cut that you will actually like once you get home and try to style it yourself.

And an update on our house! It got floor trusses and framing today! Interior and exterior walls were done. The garage hasn't been done yet though. No doubt that will be tomorrow!

House Update

2011-02-07T19:17:00.004-07:00

Things slowed down with the house last week, presumably because it was too cold to lay concrete. But today the floor in the basement and garage was put in. We hope to see a lot of action this week with floor trusses and framing because our walk-though (HVAC and electric) is supposed to be next week.

Blue Worm

2011-02-07T19:15:00.001-07:00

Where did my boys go?

Jami Time

2011-02-07T19:05:00.002-07:00

The boys got these cute matching pajamas in the mail from their Aunt Heather!

Tar and Window Wells

2011-01-27T10:56:00.003-07:00

The tar is used to "damp-proof" the foundation. Drains are also put around the perimeter of the foundation. And the window wells are pretty self-explanatory. The foundation floor and garage floor should be done soon (since the next-door neighbors who are 1-week ahead just had theirs done).

Seth Rolls and Shoots Video - 1 minute

2011-01-26T13:53:00.002-07:00

Seth at 26 months.