Preschool!

My kiddos have always gone to Mother’s Day Out and Preschool up at the church, starting just after they were six months old.  I love it; they love it – yay!  I have always worked during that time though, or I might have waited until they were a bit older to send them (who knows?!)  Anyway, back in February when it was time to register, I registered James and Natalie on Tuesdays and Thursdays, thinking I would be watching extra kiddos during the week and hopefully teaching Musikgarten on the MDO days.  Fast forward six months, and wowza!  :)

I decided (for now at least) to keep Natalie and James in on Tuesdays and Thursdays this fall.  Natalie loves learning and would soak up anything I did at home.  But I don’t think I will be doing her much justice over the next several months!  James, as a not quite three year old, still requires a lot of care, and it’s good for me to have a few hours each week as a break from that care.  He loves his class, which is an excellent bonus.  I think once the babies come, these days will be good “normal” days for these two in the craziness that will ensue at our house.

And y’all, my house doesn’t become a war zone on Tuesdays and Thursdays when they’re gone.  Wahoo!

If it sounds a little like I’m trying to justify sending them to school… well, I am!  Ha!  I go back and forth a bit about whether I should be sending them.  :)

Anyway, yesterday was their first day, and they were so excited!  It was a little hard to get everybody dressed and ready to leave the house with bags packed and pictures taken (and school doesn’t start until 9!)

It is SO HUMID outside, and it takes quite a while for my camera to acclimate and lose the foggy lens.  I kept wiping and wiping, but there are quite a few hazy shots.  :)

I think this next one is my favorite with their signs.  I’ll probably play around with the edit on it to make it a little smoother and brighter.  And whatever-er.  I just click things in PSE.  :)

The only difference between the pic above and the one below is that I wiped my lens in between.  It was icky outside!

Loooooooove James’ smile in this next one!

Just before dropping him off – love that scrunchy face crooked neck smile!

I actually made Natalie put her lunch box away a second time because people kept blocking my shot.  :)

It seems they each had an excellent day, and Joanna and I got school done very quickly!

31 Weeks

31 weeks

How Your Baby’s Growing (from Babycenter.com):

This week, your baby measures over 16 inches long. He weighs about 3 1/3 pounds (about the size of a coconut) and is heading into a growth spurt. He can turn his head from side to side, and his arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath his skin. He's probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because your baby's kicks and somersaults keep you up. Take comfort: All this moving is a sign that your baby is active and healthy.

How far along: 31 weeks

Pregnancy symptoms: heartburn, tiredness, aches and pains everywhere, maybe carpal tunnel coming on in my right hand, headaches

Food Cravings: pastries, cherry limeades, chocolate, fried or poached eggs, sweet potato grill fries

Food Aversions: Really I can eat anything I need to, but the other day the smell of leftover spaghetti was pretty off-putting. 

Sleep: Pretty good.  I wake up very sore, but the sleep itself is good.  I am so tired and would seriously benefit from an nap during the day, but that’s just not going to happen.  :)

Measurement: about 50 inches around

Movement: Lots and all over the place

Labor signs: Braxton Hicks contractions, some of which are doozies.

What I miss: being able to cool off anywhere outside my house (like the church –oy!), laying on my belly, drinking copious amounts of Dr. Pepper and hot tea

What I’m looking forward to: cooler weather, a baby shower for the boys, meeting my babes (but not for several weeks!)

Milestone: 31 weeks doesn’t seem very milestone-y.  I sang with my women’s choir on Sunday morning, and felt like it could be the last time for awhile.  We’re scheduled to sing again in early October, but who knows what I’ll be up for!

Thoughts from the children: Today Natalie was “pregnant” with her baby doll, and Dr. Joanna performed a c-section to get it out.  They are so into all of this!

Doctor’s visit: My doc is out of the office at the end of this week, so I’ll go early next week for an ultrasound and appointment.  Matt should get to come too!

Other thoughts: My energy took a serious plummet a couple of weeks ago when Matt had to work on the weekend.  I feel like this past weekend I was finally able to catch up from that (as much as I can anyway!)  I got a lot of chores and little projects done this morning.  I ACHE, and I really feel like I could lay on the couch or my bed for the rest of the week, but it’s good.  :)

In a couple of weeks a sweet group of friends is arm-twisting me into a baby shower.  I love showering babies (even the 4th and 5th!), but I was kind of thinking I wouldn’t have one this go around.  My sweet friends wouldn’t take no for an answer though!

Baby-related projects:

• I’m putting this on the list kind of after the fact: Work on potty training James.  Hallelujah that boy is doing so so well!
• Clean up/organize the girls’ room to make space for eventual James.
• Go to IKEA.  Look at and possibly purchase the Kura low loft bed and shallow mattress for the girls.  **I’ve been putting this off since it is logistically hard, but we are ready to get this done!
• Move the majority of the toys into the main living area to make space for sleeping and clothes in the bedrooms. I still need to sort through and organize the books, which are in a giant pile on the floor.
• Do some research on the best sleeping arrangements for newborn twins.  *I’m currently planning to use a standard sized pack and play with the newborn “shelf” in it for our bedroom when they’re bitty.  If we discover they don’t sleep well with each other, we can always switch to two pack and plays or just use the cribs.
• Figure out number of diapers that would be ideal for the babies.  **I think at this point we’ll just get a few more newborn sized diapers and then wait and see what works when they come.
• Pick out infant car seats.
• Organize James’ closet.  (This is where the not-in-use clothes live as well as a lot of baby things, and it’s a super-pit.)
• Shop for a king sized bed.  We really really really really want one.  :)  But the logistics and expense may mean this isn’t the best time.
• Tinker with a baby registry.  We don’t need much, but I have started putting some things on an Amazon registry when I think about them
• Pull the baby boy clothes from the attic and take inventory.
• Possibly get some maternity/family pictures made.
• Wash, dry, fold, put away the 0-3 months clothes.
• Pull the new infant car seats out of the boxes and make sure they are what we think they are and work as they should. **Done!  And I’ve started stalking Joanna’s new car seat, waiting for a great price.  **We got Joanna’s new seat last week!  “We” have yet to put it in the car and make sure it’s going to work, but it’s here!
• Preregister at the hospital. 
• Work on a birth plan (mainly just for us but also to bring up any questions I want to ask my doctor about this different kind of birth coming up!)
• Hospital bag lists – one for labor/delivery/right away, another of things I’d like to have if I stay a few days.
• Work on “decorating” the nursery.  Basically this involves pulling out anything that isn’t baby boy related and putting up things that are!

Joanna, ObGyn

This morning the kids were playing all kinds of pretend games, and at one point Natalie came out with a doll under her shirt to be pregnant.  She was doing a pretty good job of moaning and saying things like “when can I get this baby out?”  I turned to Joanna and asked if she was the doctor.  She said yes and began to get ready.  She looked around and declared that she was going to have to do a c-section.  So she went over to her play kitchen and got a plastic knife.  She then stirred it around in a container containing one pink headband, I can only assume to sanitize it.  She told me something like she didn’t know how to do these; she was just going to do it her own way.  She thought she could remember what I’d told her about it.

She came over to Natalie and “cut” her abdomen.

She reached in and grabbed the baby (breech!)

And pulled her out!

Sounds about right to me.

Fun was had by all.  :)

She really is paying attention to everything!

Clearing out the “to blog” folder

Awhile ago, James discovered the girls old Thomas the Train flip flops, and he lives in them pretty much all day every day.  He was even wearing them to bed for a bit.  One day, we left one at Lisa’s house (we are always leaving one shoe of somebody’s over there), so he couldn’t wear them for a few days.

Next best thing?  Natalie’s pink rainbow flip flops.

Pair those with his standard uniform of pajama top and underwear, and he’s got quite the outfit.  :)

I must have really had these pictures hidden well – I had forgotten about this one!  They loooooove to feel the brothers move!

One day I braved taking the kids to the grocery store.  I don’t mind shopping with them, but walking around the store is above and beyond difficult for me right now.  Anyway… we were rewarded with being right there as the firefighters were heading back to their station.  They invited the kids on the truck to look around!

Natalie said no way, but James and Joanna hopped on.  I couldn’t hear them, but Joanna even talked to the fireman.  Fun!

A very sweet friend brought a huge meal (and then some!) a couple of weeks ago for us to eat on for a few days.  It was all beautiful, but I only took a picture of this pie.  Soooooooo good!  I shared a little with my family, but I definitely snacked on apple pie and glasses of milk several times over a few days.  That’s practically health food, right?

A friend passed along a LOT of limes to us, and one day I realized I had lotsa limes and lotsa strawberries in the house.  It was time to do something about that!

I browsed Pinterest and found a recipe for strawberry limeade.  I don’t feel like hunting it down right now, but I’m sure it’s pinned on one of my boards.  It wasn’t perfect; the recipe could use some tweaking.  But it was fun to do!

I blended up the strawberries with my immersion blender and juiced I think three limes.

We had a density lesson when we discovered that the mashed strawberries were less dense than the lime juice, water, or simple syrup (that’s what’s making it dark since we use sucanat).

Pretty huh?!

It was a big hit with Joanna, and a mediumish hit with everyone else.  I think if I’d have had Sprite, it would have been delish.  :)

I think I’m going to keep going, and make this post super longer than it already is.

I recently grabbed all the pictures off my little camera that I carry around when I don’t have the big one.  There is quite the assortment of fun in there.  :)

The girls made James up a bed (on top of a laundry basket or bin or something) – doesn’t he look cozy?

I took the girls for haircuts (in July).  James tagged along with us.  The before:

James was very good about waiting for his sisters.

Natalie and Joanna each got a French brain after their trim.

No more scraggly ends!

After Joanna climbed down, it was so cute – James climbed right up in that chair even though we hadn’t come for a cut for him.  He goes with Daddy to the barber and didn’t really need a cut then.  I guess I should have prepped him though!  Stacey was so sweet to go ahead and trim him up a bit so he could feel special too.  Awwwwww…

This was at my mom’s house.  She rescued a turtle from somewhere, and it was hanging out in a pen in her backyard.

The kids loved that bit of life science!

David took it to a good turtle-y kind of place later that day.

A random trip to the Chinese buffet (we love that place).  The picture is to illustrate that James likes to eat his ice cream out of the cone with a spoon.  He’s is the cutest.  :)

And now I feel better for having cleared out the blog folder, even if it was all over the place!

Pregnancy photo book (so far)

Shutterfly has deals pretty frequently where you can get an 8x8 hardcover photo book for just the cost of shipping (around $8).  My kids LOVE to look at photo books, and it's been awhile since I printed one.  Normally when these deals come around, I think "Man, I really should put together a book to have ready to print!"  Because I usually don't feel like putting one together.  But I actually did this time {code is SUMMERBOOK and it's good through September 11th, by the way}.  And theoretically this is a link to the book, which is about the pregnancy thus far!

Click here to view this photo book larger

Visit Shutterfly.com to create your own personalized photobook.

I haven't printed a book from Shutterfly since I started taking pictures with my fancy camera, so I'll update when it comes as to the quality.  The last book I ordered from them is very fun to look at and has held up quite well, but the quality is pretty bad.  This very easily could be due to my old crappy camera though.  :)

Oh the tired.

First off let me say two things:
1. I think I will whine and complain in this post.  But hey, it’s my blog and I can cry if I want to.  :)
2. I want to make it very clear that I still like the third trimester a million times more than the first trimester.  Lest all the whining I’m going to do makes you think otherwise.

Every day I think I hurt more and feel more tired.  Still, I make it through and make it one day longer pregnant with these boys who need to keep gestating!  Most mornings I wake feeling rested-ish, but my everything hurts.  All those trips to the bathroom, during Braxton Hicks contractions, are brutal.  I get up and it seems like there’s nothing harder than making breakfast.  Then it seems like there’s nothing harder than teaching math to Joanna (she’s not loving it).  Then it seems like really for sure nothing could be harder than pulling the clothes out of the washing machine and hanging them up.  Then I know that nothing could be more difficult than heaving myself off the deep couch (where I’ve just gotten the teensiest bit comfortable) to take care of James’ needs in the bathroom.  And don’t get me started on fixing lunch.  For real nothing is harder than that.  Oh the tired.  Oh the hurt.

But also the joy.

I get to spend my days at home with three amazing people who love me and are wildly entertaining.  :)  They are their own little community, and they can entertain themselves forever with made up games and vivid imaginations and hilarious conversations.

And when I lay down and am still, TWO little nudgers let me know they’re here too.  Sometimes it’s a little flutter in my abdomen, other times it looks like a scene from the X-Files, where something is trying to break out of the belly!  And I am AMAZED at what’s happening inside me.  Astonished that God put two babies in there for me to carry.  Thankful and grateful for every pain, every deep breath that’s hard to take, all the heartburn.  And so thankful for every. single. day that I can carry them, safe and sound inside me.

And every day Matt picks up way more slack than he should have to.  I haven’t fully loaded or unloaded the dishwasher in weeks (months maybe?).  I don’t vacuum anymore, and I really have no idea what’s involved the kids’ bedtime routine these days.  :)  He does it all.  I still plan meals and make sure the ingredients are here.  Sometimes I sit at the bar and tell him how to make something that I don’t use measurements for.  But really he does it.  Come dinner time, I’m simply not physically capable.  It’s hard and humbling, but also the absolute truth.  He’s gotten so much better in the kitchen than he was months or a year ago though – it’s wonderful!

I’m so eager for the cool weather.  It’s hard to remember, but I know it will be fall and then winter eventually.  You’ll never find me complaining of the cold ever again.  Well, I don’t complain about the cold anyway.  I love it.  I survive late spring, summer, and early fall.  I relish the rest.  Now that it’s September, I really feel like it will cool off eventually.  I will be able to send the grouchy people outside.  I will be able to read books on the porch and feel the breeze.  I will hand out sandwiches and let the birds clean up the crumbs.

I may not sleep for a year or so, but I will drink tea and it will feel good.

I have a couple of pictures to reward you for all the reading.  :)

When I was attempting to get a silhouette of myself, I used Joanna as my model to fix my camera settings.  She could have stood still and boring, but she posed!

Lisa mentioned the other day she might have a bumblebee costume that would fit James.  And recently he’s started making this noise with his nose so we’ll call him a bee.  I call him my baby bee.  He loves it.  :)  And Lisa found the costume and brought it over today!

I debated not posting a picture, since hopefully he’ll get to dress up all officially in it in October.  But WHO KNOWS what crazy will be happening in our lives then?!

Isn’t Baby Bee the CUTEST THING EVER?!!!

Matt is almost home.  I’m going to gather ingredients for dinner.  I’m going to go to the bathroom, twice probably.  And I’m going to lay down. 

Oh the tired.

30 Weeks

30 weeks

How Your Baby’s Growing (from Babycenter.com):

Your baby's about 15.7 inches long now and weighs almost 3 pounds (about the size of a large cabbage). A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds her, but that volume will shrink as she gets bigger and takes up more room in your uterus. Her eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after she's born, she'll keep her eyes closed for a good part of the day. When she does open them, she'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means she can only make out objects a few inches from her face. (Normal adult vision is 20/20.)

How far along: 30 weeks

Pregnancy symptoms: heartburn, tiredness, aches and pains everywhere, hormonal wackiness, trouble coming up with words/thoughts

Food Cravings: meat and potatoes, pastries, Blue Bell cookies and cream, ice water

Food Aversions: I haven’t had much in the way of aversions lately – wahoo!  I’ll keep this category just in case something crops up.

Sleep: I can’t complain too much.  Most of the time I wake up feeling like I’ve been beaten, instead of having a good night’s sleep, but I think it could be worse.  :)  Last night I went to bed early, but woke up when Matt came to bed and was then up for three and a half hours with heartburn and just the inability to go back to sleep.  It was grody.  I am tired.

Measurement: 218lbs last Thursday

Movement: Lots!

Labor signs: Occasional Braxton Hicks

What I miss: Laying on my belly, getting comfortable in any position, ever

What I’m looking forward to: cooler weather

Milestone: I’m in the 30’s!  There has been no indication of preterm labor, but I still celebrate every passing week, knowing they’re more and more viable for life outside the Momma.

Thoughts from the children: Nothing is really coming to mind.

Doctor’s visit: I went for a quick check-up on Thursday.  I didn’t have an ultrasound; just had my urine, weight, blood pressure checked.  I think my BP was 130/70.

Other thoughts: I am so tired all the time.  That’s not really a complaint; it’s more of a fact.  :)  I need so much help to do anything, and I just hurt everywhere every day.  I definitely want to keep these boys inside for several more weeks, but it sure is going to be a test of endurance!

A couple of other poses this week:

I was playing around with trying to get a silhouette of me, but it’s hard!  This wasn’t the best spot for it, and it’s frustrating not to be totally “driving” the camera.

Baby-related projects:

• I’m putting this on the list kind of after the fact: Work on potty training James.  Hallelujah that boy is doing so so well!
• Clean up/organize the girls’ room to make space for eventual James.
• Go to IKEA.  Look at and possibly purchase the Kura low loft bed and shallow mattress for the girls.  **I’ve been putting this off since it is logistically hard, but we are ready to get this done!
• Move the majority of the toys into the main living area to make space for sleeping and clothes in the bedrooms. I still need to sort through and organize the books, which are in a giant pile on the floor.
• Do some research on the best sleeping arrangements for newborn twins.  *I’m currently planning to use a standard sized pack and play with the newborn “shelf” in it for our bedroom when they’re bitty.  If we discover they don’t sleep well with each other, we can always switch to two pack and plays or just use the cribs.
• Figure out number of diapers that would be ideal for the babies.  **I think at this point we’ll just get a few more newborn sized diapers and then wait and see what works when they come.
• Pick out infant car seats.
• Organize James’ closet.  (This is where the not-in-use clothes live as well as a lot of baby things, and it’s a super-pit.)
• Shop for a king sized bed.  We really really really really want one.  :)  But the logistics and expense may mean this isn’t the best time.
• Tinker with a baby registry.  We don’t need much, but I have started putting some things on an Amazon registry when I think about them
• Pull the baby boy clothes from the attic and take inventory.
• Possibly get some maternity/family pictures made. 
• Wash, dry, fold, put away the 0-3 months clothes.
• Pull the new infant car seats out of the boxes and make sure they are what we think they are and work as they should. **Done!  And I’ve started stalking Joanna’s new car seat, waiting for a great price.  **We got Joanna’s new seat last week!  “We” have yet to put it in the car and make sure it’s going to work, but it’s here!
• Preregister at the hospital.  **Did this after my appointment on Thursday.  It was an easy process, but with the construction at the hospital, I walked a very long way and was a total mess when I got home.  Yuck.  And oy, the sticker shock of a twin delivery.  Ouch!