Growth Scan

Today was my first growth scan for the twins. I'm happy to report that they're doing really well. Luke (Baby A) is head down and 2 lbs, 1 oz. Hi Luke!

Gabriel (Baby B) is up high and weighs 1 lb, 14 oz. Hi sweet boy!

The perinatologist said they look great and all is well. I'm officially measuring 30 weeks (a month ahead) which is normal. I don't have to go again for another month so I hope the boys keep on growing and thriving!

Boy Oh Boy!

Last night we went to a family BBQ at the assisted living home where Marcel lives. I have to admit I was not excited about it but knew it was something I had to do. I was very grateful that Andy came home from work a bit early to go with us!

It ended up being a good time. Marc was in a good mood, they had face painting, balloon animals, food (ack!), and Eddie the entertainer who traveled with Kool and the Gang for 2 years! I loved the music. It reminded me of the music we listened to growing up with our dad. Lilly and Ella had a ball dancing and all the residents enjoyed watching them.

Lilly has always been afraid of having her face painted. Last night she had her very first face painting. She loves unicorns so much and was thrilled that Miss Rainbow was able to draw one. I was totally impressed!

She also did sparkly butterfly tattoos. Lilly was in Heaven.

When we got home, Lilly and Andy went to BJ's together and came home with a new table and chairs for the girls. Lilly had one she loved but it faded and broke over the years. The girls enjoyed breakfast at their new table.

Ella has another cold. Otherwise she's doing great. She is so darn sweet and loving. Tomorrow I have an ob appointment with the midwife who delivered her. I plan to take a picture of Ella to give her and thank her for helping me get through a drug-free delivery. It was a miracle she arrived to deliver Ella as she was the calmest soul and I am sure it was the only reason I made it through.

The boys are growing. Tomorrow I will find out exactly how big they are as I start getting separate growth scans in addition to my routine appointments. Each baby has his own appointment time tomorrow. I thought that was cute. I am 26 weeks pregnant and about the same size as I was at 33 weeks pregnant with the girls. It's nuts.

Life is crazy busy and exhausting but I feel blessed every single day that I have a wonderful husband, great girls, and two boys on the way. It really doesn't get any better.

Boys

I haven't been blogging. There's not a real reason except life is busy and I am s-l-o-w-i-n-g down. I don't want to slow down!! To give some perspective here, I am only 26 weeks pregnant with the boys but I am measuring approximately 33 weeks pregnant (which is normal). I am big. I'm big to the point where people are asking me when I'm due. It's totally nuts but I'm rolling with it. The hardest part is physically I cannot do what I'm used to doing, even when I was formerly pregnant. I will not list my ailments but carrying twins is definitely harder on the body and I'm learning to adjust.

We were given 2 cribs from a twin mom in Lilly's dance class. They are beautiful Pottery Barn Kids' cribs and they were free! I am so grateful to that mom for giving us matching cribs for the boys. We picked out bedding and we also bought car seats. Moving right along...

For now, we plan to keep the babies in the same crib for the first few months until we decide which room the boys will share. It's all up in the air right now as we've been throwing around building an addition over our garage... Stay tuned...

Life

I haven't had my camera out in days. I'm not sure why but our days have been full and I am very full as well. The boys are growing and growing and I am very surprised by the size of my belly at this point. I like to get things done and I am not used to being stopped physically but this pregnancy has proven to slow me down big time! By bedtime I am physically crippled. But I do feel pretty good otherwise and the girls are doing great.

Lilly had a diarrhea virus for a week, recovered, and is enjoying the warm weather. Today she found a stink bug in the bathroom, rescued it, and proceeded to make it a new home on our windowsill.

We have tried to instill a love of all things nature in our girls. I am happy that Lilly is not afraid of bugs or bees though peer fear has begun to take over. When she sees a friend carrying on over a bug she has tried the same but we remind her that we're not afraid of bugs or bees and she quickly recovers. Today, the stink bug was her friend. I couldn't decide whether to video or take pictures. She was talking to it the whole time.

"It's ok honey. I'm gonna make you a nice little home you just wait and see sweet stinky bug."

The new home.

I love that she gently carried the bug on a piece of mulch while gathering nest items.

Bella the stink bug. "It a girl one."

Explaining to me why Bella needs dandelions in her new home.

Bella wasn't moving much. I think she was alive but I'm really not sure. Either way, she has a beautiful new home on our windowsill. I'm sure we'll be carrying her out of the house again in no time.

Ella's her cheery self. She recently dressed up as a mermaid and enjoyed some climbing. She is not as physical as her sister but she does cautiously try to explore and when she succeeds she gets very happy.

Life is good.
We couldn't ask for anything more!

Great Day

I am seriously flipping out right now. I even called Andy at work screaming with excitement. He thinks I'm crazy but somewhere deep down, I just know he understands my pleasure at this moment.

I have loved Little Caesar's pizza my whole life. Anyone who really really knows me knows this. I used to save my allowance, walk a mile (across a major highway) to the store, buy 2 pizzas (Pizza Pizza!), and sit behind the store on the curb and eat them.

I wanted it for birthdays, bridal showers, baby showers, special occasions... it makes me happy. My heart sings. I get butterflies in my stomach.

Today, I was craving and mourning Little Caesar's. When I moved to NJ it was one of the first things I looked for and was so sad to find out that there weren't any. Today my craving got so bad I googled Little Caesar's and when NJ was clickable on their map my heart started pounding. I was nervous and broke into a sweat. When I saw the dots on the map were near Philly I immediately started to shake. Philly??? I will drive to Philly for it!! Then, I saw the words "Audubon" and "Pennsauken" and I started to scream. Lilly came running. There is a Little Caesar's 6 miles from our house?!

I quickly dialed the number fearing the worst. I was sure the website was outdated. When a man answered the phone and said, "Little Caesar's, may I help you?" I literally screamed into his ear, "WHEN DID YOU COME HERE WHEN WHEN?!?!" and he said, "TUESDAY!!"
I told him I was in love with him and would be there to buy pizza and crazy bread weekly.

This is the best day of my life. Well besides the day I married Andy and our children were born. So it's the 4th best day of my life.

Lilly's Art Show

There was an art show at Lilly's preschool. Here are the pieces they chose to display from Lilly's art this year.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cu53kZIi9Qg

I had a Mother of the Year moment this morning. I sent Lilly to school knowing she had a bit of an upset stomach and some mild diarrhea. I asked some friends to see what protocol was first!!! Anyway, she wanted to go. I told the teacher that she said her stomach hurt but was acting well and to call me if need be. Then I took Ella to music class and left my cell phone in the car. When I came out of music 45 minutes later there was a voice mail from the preschool (at 10:07 a.m.) telling me to come get her. It was 10:47 when I received the voice mail. I went and got her and she has been playing since but boy did I feel like a huge loser picking her up 45 minutes after they called. Yay me.

Our 5th Child

This morning I had a court hearing regarding the guardianship for Marc. I was a nervous wreck as I had to testify but it all went well and I am now the permanent guardian for Marc. I hope it was the right thing to do.

Ella Belle

This is how Ella walks around most of the time...

Bag of cereal in one hand and Pinky in the other hand dragging behind her picking up pollen as she goes.

She is so darn cute. She has really come out of her shell since her tubes were put in and she is feisty (at times), the pickiest eater ever ever ever, funny, talkative, and happy.

Sacked Out

I was outside cleaning the car today and Lilly went inside. This is how I found her.

Bad Words

Lilly is 4.

Apparently it's the "in" thing to use "bad" words when you turn 4. Lilly is currently in a hate, stupid, nasty cycle. My favorite is when I put her in timeout and she yells, on her way to the steps, "You stupid hate stupid nasty woman!" I love it so much.

While I know most of the kids her age are also testing out new and exciting words which also include potty talk, I really can't take much more. So I devised a plan. Each day that Lilly went without using one of these words, she would earn a sticker. If she earned 3 stickers in a row we would take her to get ice cream (her choice). The first 3 days worked like a charm. As promised, we went to Diane's Water Ice for a gelati! Here she is enjoying her reward.

We're back to bad words now and the stickers aren't working anymore. I enjoyed my 3 days of happiness and nice words. I'm currently devising Plan B. I'll keep you posted.

The View From Here

23 Weeks Pregnant

Easter

Happy Easter!

While the Easter Bunny did make an appearance I tried to stress the true meaning of Easter to Lilly this year. She seems to understand though she did love her basket. I explained that the bunny and basket of goodies is just a fun spring addition to Easter and that we want to remember that Jesus was resurrected and promised eternal life for all who believe in Him. We read books about the story of Easter and talked a lot about Jesus. She's a wonderful age to explore the stories of the Bible and talk about what we believe as Christians.

Aunt Sherry sent Ella a beautiful dress for her birthday that I used as her Easter dress. I bought Lilly the matching dress and was thrilled that it was sunny and warm so they could wear their outfits without sweaters!

Ella hasn't a clue about Easter, Jesus, or the Easter Bunny but she did quickly figure out that there was something in the eggs and it was very yummy.

I hope that you had a wonderful Easter or a beautiful Sunday (whichever you celebrate).