23 weeks :)

Me and my "large" girls :)



Please feel no obligation to read these boring updates. They are more for family and those who like details! :)

Today was my monthly appointment. I am 23.5 weeks. They don't do much at these appointments at all but listen to the heart beats, and measure my belly and then I am done. Quick. However, my doctor today did mention that at my ultrasound at 22 weeks my babies were big. He actually said they were "large" and asked if we had big babies in our family. I told him about Betho's rather large children, and then told him how both Betho & I were pretty large too for preterm twins. SO, it looks like I am growing healthy, chubby girls. He said both are in the 70%  and I am assuming that's not all that common with twins. But I think big is good right? Who knows, but I am SO thankful they are growing at the same rate and look good! :)
I was talking to my mom and I don't wanna jinx it, but I think I have finally hit that second trimester "feeling good" mark. Everyone talked about how the second trimester hits and you feel wonderful. That just hasn't been the case for me. But my swollen feet and hands have gone away and my headaches have been much much better too. The heartburn is still a killer but I was just given the ok to take Zantac and it is a LIFESAVER!! All the cramping and braxton hicks stuff seems to be better too.

In other news, I was advised to quit my job due to the fact that I am not immune to the virus CMV which is obviously pretty bad for a developing baby and it is spead in places with lots of young kids. So wierd I know. Who has even heard of this right!? So if you think I have all of a sudden quit liking your child, I haven't and will be back to cuddling and kissing in 3-4 months! My last day at the school was last Friday and I was blessed to get a teletherapy (seeing kids via computer-aka skype therapy) job so I can work from home. However, last night I was hit with the news that they needed me to see kids via teletherapy in California, requiring me to obtain an additional license that could take 1-4 months. Well, I don't have 4 months and was in a bit of a panic. So it looks like I will be doing some part time work for some skilled nursing homes in the area for a while, which is my favorite setting by a long shot as a therapist. Hopefully I can get a good couple months of work in and save up some money so I can keep my plan to only work 2 days a week once babies arrive! :)

Speaking of jobs, Lance got a new job as well! I am so happy for him, and although he will be training for 10-12 months in Spring (not an awesome commute) this is truly the perfect fit for him. He will be working as a rep for a company called Ferguson and it really just fits him to a T. Way to go L!

I think as of now my version of "nesting" is more like talking all excess out of our spending (likely due to the above mentioned happenings)! And I must say by tweaking the cable, Internet, and a few direct withdrawal monthly expenses, I have already added a big chunk of $$ back into our bank account each month! I'm pretty proud of myself. Its CRAZY how things add up and I am going to do a much better job from now on about really looking into what we are spending!

Not much else going on. Getting more excited about these girlies each day! :) Happy Weekend!!

Adoption smiles

I am a part of a Facebook group with people who are adopting from our adoption agency. It's great and helps me stay updated on the ins and outs of the adoption world, delays, improvements, referrals etc. etc.

People are always posting about different things and today people started posting their adoption videos. Videos of them meeting their little ones for the first time and bringing them home on their final trip. Oh my gosh!! I CANNOT wait until this is us!! One video there was a lady who couldn't stop smiling and kissing her little baby. Like literally, it was like someone froze a huge smile on her face! It was the sweetest thing I have ever seen. She was just so so so happy and it was like the months and years of waiting just melted off her and all she could do was smile and kiss her baby! Who knows if we will be kissing a teeny baby or a two year old, but I can't wait to have that smile frozen on my face while we are kissing our baby girl #3 a million times!! 

Sometimes I get a little confused about who is going to live in what room, or how sleep will go with Jane or how in the heck I will take three babies to the grocery store. I have to fight the urge to worry about the amount of exhaustion I might face, or how I could ever be in charge of three little lives all day by myself when Lance goes to work. I even had the thought today that I hope all these matching clothes aren't discontinued by the time Jane gets here because I will need to go get her a matching set of everything the twins have (real problems I know...hehe). 

But one thing I never worry about is how much we will love her. Well, we already love her every ounce as much as we do these little munchkins that I carry around with me all day. Plus, Jane isn't giving me migraines or heartburn or making me run to target and buy bigger, we'll everything on a monthly basis (don't worry girls, you are totally worth it too).

I know life will be crazy and I know Jane is going to be very confused and need time to heal and bond with us. I know we will be really tired and probably will just have gotten two other babies sleeping thought the night when this one comes along. But when I see those videos I don't care about any of it. All my anxiety melts away and I dream about the day when I am that mom with the smile plastered on her face, knowing that challenges will probably lie ahead, but that my baby is FINALLY in my arms and that's all that matters for now!!

Our girls

Today has been just wonderful! We had our follow up ultrasound and the girls looked 100% perfect. We are so thankful. At our 17 week ultrasound they saw what they called echogenic bowel (bright spot in the colon) on Zoe and we went through some genetic testing and other things to rule out any possible complications that sometimes come along with this condition. Everything came back clear and today at the ultrasound the spot in the bowel was GONE! It was likely from her just swallowing some blood and it showing up at just the same time they were looking last time. I am just so thankful for these healthy little girls!!!!

We got some amazing shots of their little faces. They are both weighing exactly the same at 1.2 lbs. However, the doctor said their measurements are different. Meaning, legs, arms and all that are not identical. I am so curious to see how these little ones come out looking. So fun if we have a blonde and a brunette, or one with fair skin and freckles and one with Lance's olive skin!! Ahhh....I just cannot wait to see them!

When we were looking at Nora (baby A) her little face looked SO fat and squished up and she had a tiny little button nose. Then we went to Zoe and she looked like she had a long thin face with a more distinct nose, and chin. The tech said, "Oh look, a face like mom and a face like Dad!" I think I was the fat face, but I'll take it! :) I know you can't really tell from the ultrasounds but from what I could see these little girls look different!

I told Lance even if they are completely different sizes and looks, it won't change the fact that they will be matching until they force me to stop dressing them alike. Jane will match them too don't you worry! ;)

Zoe on top & Nora on bottom! :)  

A little bit of life lately

Here is a snapshot of a little bit of our life lately. It's been a fun Christmas season so far, and we have had fun getting together with friends. I have been feeling like a puffy mama lately. My hands and feel are getting swollen and it's hard to wear my shoes and wedding ring. You can't really tell just by looking, but when you type as much as I do in any given day you definitely notice little sausage fingers! Small price to pay, but not so fun. :) Other than that and the occasional headache...well lets me honest, migraine, the pregnancy is progressing well! Loving the fact that we are officially a "girl family" more and more everyday!! Here are a few pics of some things we have been up to lately.

Our small group Christmas party....I didn't get any pics of the amazingly cute decorations, but it was awesome. The party later turned into a sock bun tutorial party...how did we do!? :) 

Max & Levi went to see Santa. I wasn't there for this but couldn't help but post. Beyond precious!

 



The belly keeps growing and growing and growing....if you are tempted to say, "You don't look that big for twins at 18 weeks" take a look at 12 weeks! Oh my! The way a body can transform in 6 short weeks is crazy. :) I have to add that around the time of that 12 week picture I was walking around all week saying, "Oh my goodness Lance...I had no idea my stomach would get big so fast!!"

 

I'm just sitting at my computer laughing at the potential for "largeness" in the coming weeks and months. What is 18-24 and then 24-30 gonna look like!? I guess time will tell!! 

 

Here is our nursery bedding....I thought I was going to coordinate and not be "matchy-matchy" but I changed my mind and we are going with identical lavender and white bedding! I LOVE it!!

That's about all as of lately. Not sure why the pictures all posted kind of weird. Happy Monday. I saw 32 kids today and am looking forward to my couch, a movie and a giant glass of water...whew!!

Prayer

I have been trying to gather my thoughts on this horrible shooting in CT all weekend. It is just really so hard to grasp. How can this happen? How could a person do something so horrible? What in someones life leads them in this awful, scary directions causing a complete loss of emotion or empathy for others.

I was thinking today about how I believe that every human being has some level of goodness in their soul. How could they not? We have been created in the image of God. We come into the world perfect, and although we are instantly subject to the evil nature of this world, we have goodness within us. All of us do.

So many times when you hear these stories of awful, brutal tragedies, the end result is the offender ending his or her own life. Is it because they are afraid if they get caught they are going to go to jail? I doubt it. I think it is because they are deeply troubled and conflicted withing themselves. The literal battle between good and evil, is tormenting them. In these cases evil wins. Satan claims another person.

I know mental illness is real. I won't pretend to understand a thing about it because lots of people go to school for lots and lots of years to be the experts on this stuff. However, as an outsider I think we are all overlooking something very real right here in suburban America and that is that Satan is STILL prowling around like a roaring lion seeking to kill and destroy. All I could think of when I was thinking about the gunman who shot these kids was "evil". There is no other word I can think of to describe something like this. I thought to myself, "this person was truly evil". But evil comes from Satan. He feeds us lies big and small.

I hate guns. I would be happy to live in a world where no civilian is allowed to have a gun. But I'm not sure this is the biggest issue here. As Christians we know that evil exists and it is our job to pray against it for the sake of those that can't pray it against themselves. Children. As of today I am praying over the hearts of my two unborn children and my little girl in Africa. I am praying that God enter into the deepest parts of their souls and protect them from the evil one. I'm not a parent yet, but this has been eye opening for me to realize that is it my responsibility to pray that only God enter the hearts and minds of my children because there is a powerful force out there that would love nothing more than to steal and destroy the pure heart of a child. I want my kids to hear the word of God prayed over them so much that once they are older they will believe it and pray it over themselves.

We can increase gun laws, and raise awareness on mental illness, which is all so important. However, we also have the power of prayer on our side and we know that Satan has no power over the holy name of Jesus. Tonight I find myself wondering how much of a radical change we could make if every parent pleaded with God daily for the hearts of their children. If every church begged God to enter where Satan lurks. This was a reminder that this battle is not over. Spiritual warfare is still so real and with my little ones on the way I am feeling a HUGE sense of responsibility for the protection of their little pure souls.

Something I will be thinking about.

WEEKEND

Not much to post on today.
Babies are moving around like CRAZY!
So happy it is the weekend.
Looking forward to sleep.
House needs to be cleaned.
Groceries need to be bought.
Lots of Christmas parties to attend.
Baby GIRL bedding to be registered for.
Some adoption books need to be finished so I can start my next round of reading.
Considering memorizing another chapter or two from the bible. Still blessed every day by memorizing most of James. Suggestions?
Christmas gifts need to be purchased. I have ZERO people.
Friend who just lost her grandma needS a big hug.
Husband who is amazing every day needs one too!

LOOKING FORWARD TO MY WEEKEND!! HOPE YOUR IS GREAT TOO!!

The tale of two "winkies"

This weekend was our gender reveal party! I have been looking forward to this since the time we found out we were pregnant and looking forward to it even more once we found out we were having twins! But let me back up a bit and tell the whole story of the weeks and months leading up to this party.

When we found out we were pregnant we started having routine ultrasounds pretty soon since I was considered "high risk" for a while. Anyway, around 10 weeks I casually said, "I wish we could know the gender of the babies, too bad it's too soon". My doctor looked surprised and said "Really? Because I think we can actually see what one baby is." He then proceeded to say, "unless the cord is in just the right spot I think I see a winkie on Baby A". That's the word he used! :) 

Fast forward a couple weeks and I started seeing a regular OB. I was telling her how the specialist saw a "winkie" and she looked and looked and said, "I think he was right. I see a bright little spot right there that looks like it just may be a boy." I then asked her if it was baby A she was talking about and she said no it was baby B! She said it was too early to tell for sure but regardless there was a possible "winkie" spotting on both babies! I started imagining life with little boys. Only really looked at little boy clothes at the stores and gave my boy names some serious thought! :)

Fast forward another month or so and I had another ultrasound. I told her we weren't going to find out the gender until we were with our family. She then told me if I didn't want to see what the gender was I probably needed to look away because it was very clear! I assumed this meant boy on the particular baby she was talking about. I mean that would be what was easy to spot right?! So I didn't look and went home sure it was two boys and maybe just maybe a boy and a girl.

We had our anatomy scan on Friday and Bethany went with us to find out the gender and then keep it from us. When it was time to scan the "gender parts" she told us to look away. It then took her less than what seemed like 2 seconds to type it up on the screen to tell Betho what it was. Further, proving that it was of course boys in there! 

Betho kept it to herself for the next 24 hours and made cookies with cake balls in them. Delish! She filled all the cookies with white cake with the exception of two which had the color of the gender in them. We had family and friends over and every person got a cake ball cookie. Then at the same time we all broke our cookies in half and waited to see what colors were yelled out. 

Well in about 5 seconds I hear PINK and start immediately looking to see who has blue! Then about 5 seconds after that I hear PINK again!!!!!  Ummmm.....my head was spinning! I was in complete and utter shock!! TWO GIRLS!! Have I mentioned that having twin girls has been my dream since I was a little girl! I really just could not believe it. I told Lance I couldn't believe we just broke open some cookies and our lives were changed forever! 

So, in the next few months we will be adding two little girls and then in the months following that we will be adding a third little girl when our Jane Jordan finally comes home! It still hasn't sunk in. Not sure when it will, but we are so thankful!!

We CANNOT wait to meet you sweet little Nora Beth & Zoe Rose! I don't think we will need to worry about Jane lacking love in this house of sweet SISTERS! I am very blessed! :) 

Someone is outnumbered, but very excited! :) 

 Two little cookies that changed everything....hehe!