Almost down...

... with the hormones, that is. I think it will feel somehow freeing to be operating on my own hormones rather than "faking it". I never have cared for fake people. :)

I'm feeling Ok, better than last time, still... though I have remained a bit moodier than I like to admit. Wednesday will mark our last shot and I'll remove my last estrogen patch on Saturday. Ironically, the Makua will be in town for both occasions.

My belly feels huge to me! Shawn and I have decided that I have finally gone beyond the point of looking like I've gained a few pounds and now, with the proper clothes on, am starting to actually look pregnant. But not quite pregnant enough that people will ask... because they *could* be wrong. At 11.5 weeks, it's a little bit soon for that, but there are two so that is to be expected. They are only the size of figs (about 1.5" long), so they must have nice juicy placentas in there!

I'm quickly nearing the end of the first trimester and in a little over 6 months (which is really no time at all, in the grand scheme of things), they will be here and I'll be done being pregnant ~ likely for forever.

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We had a lovely weekend. I worked on Friday, to make up for time off this week when the Makua are here, but it was Sushi day ~ which made for a very happy me. And I stuffed myself silly with veggie tempura, California Rolls, avocado rolls, chicken tempura rolls and cucumber rolls. Just thinking about it now makes me want more!! :)

Saturday we did some thrift store shopping, to beef up my maternity wardrobe a bit, slowly but surely ~ I did find some cute things though! The boys picked out a few treasures and Shawn found a couple also. Everyone was happy! We celebrated with lunch at an Indian buffet ~ where I ate entirely too much. We hadn't tried this place before, and the boys have only had Indian cuisine on one other occasion. They didn't love it (with the exception of the Naan ~ a big hit!) but begrudgingly tried a few new things. One of my favorite dishes is the saag paneer (the spinach and cheese dish) and Tyler tried it dipped in the Naan and surprisingly liked it!

When we arrived back home, Gavin's school mate, C, came over to play. C is Gavin's favorite friend at school... and when he missed C's birthday party a few weeks ago when my mom was in town and we were in Canyon City, he was pretty disappointed. I promised him that we'd invite C over soon to play and luckily, they didn't have any plans on Saturday afternoon. We tried to find a friend for Tyler but everyone must have been out of town for Spring Break because there were no 6~7 year olds to be found. He did grace Gavin and C with his presence a bit and they all go along really well... And while they were playing, in the beautiful 70 degree sunshine, I got to do some work in my garden!! I was merely clearing out the dead stuff, but it felt so good to dig my fingers in the soil... I can not wait for spring!

Saturday night included a visit to see my co~worker's new baby boy... born just the day before. Mom and baby seem to be doing really well and he was just a perfect lil guy. I got to hold him for a bit, and quite enjoyed the baby fix. I'm definitely content with not having any more children, but every once in awhile it just feels really good to snuggle a brand new baby! Even (or especially?) if it isn't mine. So thank you to J & N for sharing your lil guy!

That night was a Mom's Night In, at my friend Shawna's house... to start Ria's month long birthday celebration. Because who needs just one day to celebrate when you can take the whole month? We had a lovely dinner of cheese fondue, shish~ka~bobs and pasta... complete with Cheesecake for desert. It was delicious and again, I ate way too much (are you sensing a trend yet?).

On Sunday, Shawn wanted to take the boys to a car show downtown. He was planning on taking them alone but bribed me into going with avocado egg rolls at the Cheesecake Factory (where we'd been headed to the night before, but plans changed ~ hence our ending up at Shawna's house). Unfortunately, I was still craving the egg rolls I'd been unable to gorge myself with the day before, so though the car show wasn't the best thing I could have thought to do on a Sunday, time with my boys is always fun... especially if it ends up with avocado egg rolls. And Godiva chocolate cheesecake. And yes, again, I ate too much. I spent the better half of the weekend feeling extremely full.

But on the plus side... I did not so much as crack 0pen a pint of Ben & Jerry's all weekend! So hopefully that made up for my food indiscretion? If I don't cut this shit out, though, I'm going to give birth to a couple 10 lb babies! I don't think the Makua expected to get one month olds out of this deal... so I am going to start being more careful.

More reasons...

The other day at dinner with Ria and her girls, she suggested I watch a video called Meet Your Meat. If you have not seen it, and have an extra 12 1/2 minutes to spare, I implore you to check it out. I watched it with my boys... and though I don't think it's scary enough for night mares, it did get them thinking about what they are eating.

I feel like such an asshole...

Funky, funky

And I don't mean funky in a good way. I'm decreasing my hormones this week... next week we'll be done with two inch shots of progesterone in olive oil (consistency of maple syrup) in my butt and estrogen patches all over my tummy/hip area. I had a tough time working up to the level I stayed at for the past several weeks, you may remember from this post, and I'm trying to wean more slowly but it seems as if I'm going to have a tough time coming back down.

The universe seems to be working in my favor, though, as we've had three beautiful spring days in a row... The kind of days where you drive with all the windows down, your hair flying in your face and the music blasting (but not too loud so as to not damage brand new lil ears inside my tummy!).

My fall bulbs have sprouted beautiful crocuses and daffodils and the tulips are not far behind. I love working in my garden and am anxious for weather consistent enough to plant some vegetables!! Last year we had some gorgeous tomatoes and I'm anxious to have some again this year!

Things at work are picking up, making for slightly more stressful days but days that flow much more quickly as well. Today I had to take photos of a client's house and the break mid~day driving around in the sunshine did a lot to lift my spirits! I drove by the baseball field and after skipping an entire season last year, we're itching to get to a Rockies game this Spring!

Tyler's on Spring Break this week... Typically when he has a day off, I bring him to work with me as we haven't had alternative day care since Shawn's folks moved away. I learned that Gavin's day care has the option to take him just for the Spring Break and then not again until Summer, so we talked about it and decided that'd be much more fun for him than playing video games and coloring at my office all week. He was nervous to go, but with two field trips planned for the week, he was persuaded, and so far he's just loved it.

This has been the hardest part of being a working mom, for me. My hours are great in that I am only at work while the boys are at school... but during breaks, I still have to work and it doesn't seem fair to them during these times. I remember summers spent at the swimming pool, the library, friends' houses, etc... and my boys will only get to have those things on the weekends. Weekends which also include grocery store shopping, errands and house cleaning. It seems there is little time left to just have fun... And I only have these lil guys for a few more years before they're too old to want to hang out with their mom.

If only I'd just win the lottery and not ever have to work again! :)

And last but not least, a week from today the Makua will be here! The boys can't wait to meet them as BabyDaddy is a creator of Lego creations and BabyMama packs the best goodies to mail to us. I'm anxious for them to come and see the ultrasound for the first time and "meet" their babies! I think it's awesome that they will have this time to bond with their lil guys or gals before they make their grand entrance into the world.

Here's to a great rest of the week... I'll post again later when I'm feeling more like myself.

Of Babies and Blah

I thought I'd share photos of my womb~mates with you today. I checked with the Makua and they appreciate all the cheerleaders in our corner!

First, the bigger one (I forget which is Twin A & Twin B):

This one below slightly resembles a crab to me, in this picture :) and is coming in just a few days younger.
Our next doctors appointment is a week from Wednesday, which happens to be the same day that the Makua will be in town for a visit! They will get to see their babies on a better ultrasound machine, moving around and hearts beating. Ria found out the sex of the baby she was carrying at 12 weeks, which is right where we'll be, so I'm wondering if we will too? This is the appointment where they'll do the Nuchal Translucency testing and make sure everything's going along Ok in there.

I'm anxious to see them again and we're trying to cook up some fun stuff to do while they are here!

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Shawn left today for his first business trip. He's doing some training at a location in California that does something similar to what he does. He flew out this morning and will return Tuesday morning. We haven't been apart since my Chicago training last November... but it's only two days and I think we'll survive.

It's made for a less than exciting Easter, though. The boys opened the package my folks sent this morning and we had breakfast at our favorite diner with Shawn before he left. Following that was our weekly grocery store trip and we've been home every since... trying to be productive, I paid the bills and ironed on some much needed patches on Gavin's pants. I don't remember ever having so many holes in knees on pants before, but I guess that's what I get for making him wear hand~me~downs and thrift store treasures!!

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Tomorrow is supposed to be beautiful, weather ~ wise, and we are looking forward to 70 degree temps! I promised the boys we'd go to the park and play ~ and perhaps even have a picnic there since we don't have to cook for Shawn.

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Well that's enough excitement (*heh*) from our neck of the woods... I'm off to catch up on blogs and magazines while the boys are entertaining themselves for a few minutes!

Hope you had a lovely Easter!

Today, for your viewing... pleasure?

One of the perks of a relationship with the Makua is getting to experience a unique culture that we otherwise wouldn't have been able to do. Our trip to Oahu was a perfect mix of touristy stuff (like the Lost tour), beachy stuff and local stuff. We were driven around all over the island, getting to see things that we likely never would have if we'd visited the island on our own... experiencing some of the yummiest food we've ever had... learning about the history of the state... and trying local delicacies... like crack seed. The Makua send me a link, if you'd like to read more about it click here: crack seed! Basically they are dehydrated fruits... but with a kick. They are preserved with salt and the end result is a combination of sweet and sour that I've never experienced before!

We brought some home for the boys to try when we first came back from Hawaii, but we'd selected a cherry flavored variety that was more sweet and they did not make any funny faces as they tried them... in fact they thought it was yummy!

The Makua recently sent us packages for Shawn's birthday and included Aloha shirts (you'll see the boys wearing them in the video below) and some different kinds of crack seed to try. It was fun having a little taste of Hawaii and it was even more fun to watch my kids' faces wrinkle when the unexpected sourness hit their tongues!

It's a rather long video, to complement this rather long introduction... but I hope you enjoy it :)

It's too big to upload so if you'd like to see, click here!

Happy Thursday!

This post is rated PG-13

Yesterday I had another doctor's appointment. I took photos of the ultrasound pictures to share with you guys, but I want the Makua to see them first and make sure they are down with me sharing pictures of their babies. Tomorrow they will be roughly the size of kumquats! I'm not even sure I understand what a kumquat is, but according to babycenter, they are a little over an inch and weigh less than a quarter of an ounce!

And everything looks great! The babies are growing right on schedule (one is lagging behind by 3~4 days but still looking fantastic!) We're pretty much out of the woods! The blood is *almost* gone. The spotting is *almost* done. And my OB said I can now treat this as a normal pregnancy (though as Ria pointed out, not quite normal with twins!). Which means... I can go swimming! I can take baths! And most importantly, I can have sex!! :)

So on the way back to work from the appointment I called Shawn to tell him he was gettin' some that night. ;) He's tried to turn himself into an a~sexual being until this tough period of time was over and he's done a great job, I must say. But we could not wait until the kids went to bed... And you know this is where things get dramatic, don't you?

Immediately after dinner, I hopped in the bath tub to shave my hairy legs freshen up a bit. We turned on AFV for the boys (their favorite show), which we thought was a guarantee of at least 15 minutes (hey, we don't need a lot of time, people, it's been several weeks since we did the nasty!). We're golden, right?

Wrong.

About five minutes later, I hear Tyler shouting from downstairs: "Mooooooommmmmm!"
Me: "I'll be down in a minute!"
Tyler: "Something's wrong with the TV, Mom!"

(the Tivo was trying to change the channel because two shows were coming on and it will not tape two shows without one of the channels being taped)

Me: "I understand that and I'll be down in a MINUTE!"
Tyler: "Mom! I need you!!!"
Me: "Just give me 5 more minutes! I'll BE RIGHT THERE!" (starting to get frustrated here!)

Shawn and I are looking at each other, trying to decide if we should stop (?!) or just keep yelling patiently asking him to wait a few more minutes or just take a quick 5 minute break to deal with the TV for them... when he starts to come. up. the. stairs.

Tyler: "Mom! I have to tell you something!"
Me: "Ok, I'm coming! Stay down there!" (heh, not that coming)
Tyler: almost to the top of the stairs "It's Ok now! The TV changed to "Just for Laughs!"
Me: "Sweet! Go watch it!"

And then... we got to finish. But somehow, it wasn't as fun anymore. I was hoping tonight would be better, but then I had to go and get sick.

Poor, poor Shawn. :(

(Hopefully Grandpa isn't reading ;) And I promise to never talk about my sex life again. I just thought you might think that story was funny. And tomorrow, we probably will too!)

Roughing it and a Gorge

We're back to life as we know it... We had a really nice weekend for the most part. Shawn took over 100 pictures but I promise to share only the best ones. We had a really nice visit with my mom, as always.

Friday was our volunteer day at Tyler's school. The kids loved getting to meet "Tyler's Grandma" and Ms. P seemed glad that I brought reinforcements. Three hours with 25 six and seven year olds is enough to make me want to pull my hair out, though! They were in rare form, perhaps ready to be out for the weekend. I'm always glad I went, when I have the opportunity to go, but I'm glad at the same time to be done as well. After we left, we went to lunch together... and enjoyed a rare opportunity to have soup, salad and bread sticks along with uninterrupted conversation.

Next, off to a cabin that Shawn found us, in Canyon City. The ride down took a little longer than we'd expected, but it was a beautiful drive. The trip to the cabin was an adventure in and of itself. First of all, it's about 17 miles south of the city. 15 of those miles are on dirt roads. Up a winding, curvy mountain with NO guardrails to be found! After dark, it was quite a scary ride. Especially for my poor mother, who is afraid of heights as well as driving off mountains and falling to her death.

We survived the drive... that is until we got to the unplowed driveway that was about a half mile long. The snow there was not fresh and was more like the substance of permafrost. I got stuck... several times. I was feeling stressed out because of this and the boys were freaking out a little bit so I decided to let Shawn give it a shot. Of course, he was able to make it through the snow, right up to the door. Here is the path he blazed:

Upon entering the cabin, once we dug around in the dark and finally found the key hidden under a rock, we had instructions to follow to "open" up the cabin. Things like turning on the electricity and the water. Unfortunately, the folks who owned the cabin didn't have the electricity in the kitchen on during the winter and a pipe had burst. Water was shooting everywhere... What a mess! On top of that, an hour past bed time and hoping to de~stress from the trip there... well let's just say we were trying hard to keep smiles on our faces.

To top it off we slept on a water bed that night... Shawn and I that is. There were twin beds for the boys and Mom slept on the bottom of a bunk bed (poor Mom!). I am not a fan of the water bed, though. Especially the ones where when the person next to you moves, the motion causes you to go flying up in the air. Luckily, Shawn was doped up on NyQuil, trying to recover from a nasty cold, and he snored most of the night away... without moving too much. I think I slept about 3 hours that night, though. Mom slept about that much also, though I think mostly because she was dreading the ride back down the mountain in the morning.

But in the morning, despite the drama of melting snow in order to flush the toilet, brushing our teeth with bottled water and trying to recover from a rough night... we woke up to this view:

The ride back down the mountain was much less dramatic than the ride up had been... We saw vistas like this, which in the dark unknown were terrifying, during the day were breathtaking:

We were headed to Buckskin Joe's first... a place I visited at 16 and was sure the boys would love. Unfortunately, when my pregnant brain looked at the website and saw that they opened May 1st, I read in my head that they were open March 1st. Thankfully, the Royal Gorge does not close. It was cold and not too crowded, so most of the attractions were not open, but we'll have to go back again. We did get to ride on a tram...

Walk across the bridge...
Ride on an Incline Railroad.... Get some inspiration...

And see the bridge from a lot of different angles...
Let's not forget the souvenir squished pennies...

We saw some wildlife, too! This was a white bison, of which I have never even heard of. I thought they only came in brown.

These guys were shy around the boys but Shawn was less scary, apparently...

I'll leave you with one more... me with my Honey :)

Holy Grapes!

The babies are getting big... Today, at 9 weeks, they are almost an inch long and the size of grapes! Last week they were kidney beans (is food just easier to compare them to?) but that wasn't nearly as cute as grapes, in my mind. I'm picturing them purple, leftover from the blueberries I s'pose. I'm definitely getting a lil belly, as well as a big ass and size D's. Nothing fits and I'm wishing for a muumuu. But I'm feeling great ... still spotting a little bit ... but they are staying put, doing their thing. And that is a good thing.

My mom arrived yesterday, safe and sound, albeit a little bit nauseous. Her aisle~mate was a puker and she had a 2.5 hour ride with quite a stench. She was happy to breathe the cool, crisp evening Denver air when she finally landed. She and Gavin are home now, while I'm blogging working and we have big plans for this weekend. She's going to come with me to volunteer at Tyler's school in the morning, while he still refrains from death by embarrassment at grownups from his family coming to see him at school. Then home to pack. We've got a little trip planned for this weekend. I'll try to take lots of pictures and share more details when I return home. We're staying close to civilization, just in case, and we're going to see some parts of Colorado that we haven't seen yet. So excited!

My house has never been so clean. It looks clean and smells clean, which is slightly unusual because I use cleaning supplies with few or no chemicals in them. It was SO nice to come home to, though. Even the dog had refrained from pissing on the floor or leaving me a poop surprise. I think he was trying to help us all enjoy our clean house. :) And enjoy we did!

Hope you all have a lovely weekend... I'll ketchup with you next week!

Shall we or shan't we?

Shawn and I have been throwing around the idea for awhile of going vegetarian. Obviously, in my current condition, now is not the time to make that switch as I need to make sure I'm getting the right amount of protein for the bebe's.

What we're thinking of doing is a more gradual change... first cutting out red meat. Secondly, cutting back on the number of carnivorous meals we eat each week. Thirdly, down to just fish. We might stop there as I think the benefits of eating fish are great and I don't like to get all of my nutrients from vitamins and supplements.

Our main motivators in this potential switch are environmental, financial and health (have you ever met a fat vegetarian?). I don't think we'd go all the way vegan as we love dairy... eggs, milk and cheese are staples in our diets. But Gavin seems to be lactose intolerant so cutting back there too will help his lil tummy for sure.

One dilemma is making up the protein we'll be lacking. We don't require as much protein as we'd have thought, upon further research. Shawn and I try to stay active and when I'm not pregnant, I work out 2~3 times per week. But I am not trying to be a beefcake here, so perhaps there won't be a lot of making up to do. As it turns out, many foods that I'd never have suspected protein to be in, do in fact contain it. I think some careful monitoring for a few weeks would show that we do get enough, without meat.

Other dilemma... picky eaters. The boys don't *love* meat as it is.... merely tolerate it in most instances. But I still worry about what meals I'll be able to cook without a grumbling response. (any suggestions here by veggie readers would be greatly appreciated!) I don't like the idea of fake chicken nuggets and corn dogs as replacements.

And third... many vegetarian entrees have soy substitutes. Shawn's done some research on soy and has found more detriments than benefits, so that is a concern. We do like edamame and often consume it when we are at Asian restaurants and even at home. But soy in any other form, we really don't partake in.

So I'd love your thoughts... Do you know vegetarians or are you one? Do you see benefits to this lifestyle? Do you have suggestions on ways to make this work for a family with two youngun's without compromising their health? And what on earth besides PB&J will I pack for poor Tyler's lunches? He'll be bored silly in a week!

Shawn's Birthday Weekend

I don't have any news really on the pregnancy front... Except that I'm already, at 8.5 weeks, getting too big for my britches! I've gained about 4 lbs so far, but am at that place where my old clothes are too tight but maternity clothes are way too big. I can't exactly wear sweat pants to work, so I'm having to be really creative here!

The spotting is still happening, but it's pretty minimal. So we're all still trying to stay optimistic!

We had a great weekend, though! On Saturday I went to the grocery store and absolutely made up the difference from the last week when Shawn was way under budget. Oops. But my mom is coming this week to visit us for her spring break and we won't need to buy a lot for while she's here.

We decided to hire someone to clean our house once a month. I'm a pretty vigorous cleaner, though I only do it every other week, and it made me nervous with the issues we've had so far with the pregnancy. I don't want to take any chances, nor do I want Shawn to have to do it all by himself for 7 more months ~ our marriage would likely end way before that. Not really, but it would cause some strife for sure. The middle of the month clean will be the "half~ass clean" where we only do the wipe things down with Lysol wipes and vacuum... you know, just to make the house appear to be clean. Anyway, they are coming for the first time to do a 4 hour "spring clean" on Wednesday, coincidentally right before my mom gets here. She'll think we did all that work for her. :) I'm excited to be able to come home to a clean house that I had nothing to do with...

We had an awesome date on Saturday night. It was so lovely to get away with my Honey and to get out of the house for a bit! We loved Stomp! It was such a neat show... I just feel bad we didn't take the kids as they'd have loved it too. Next time we will for sure. We really love going to the theatre, though we hardly get to do it, and I can't wait for the day when we can go more often.

After the show we went out for dinner at a place we haven't tried before ~ McCormick's Fish House. We had SO much food ~ calamari, salad, clam chowder, fish and apple pie for desert. It was all so delicious (and perhaps accounted for some of the 4 lbs I have gained thus far?), albeit expensive. But hey, you only turn 33 once! And we did get a free desert for Shawn's birthday, so that helped a bit. The only downside was not getting to share the Reisling with Shawn.

His actual birthday was on Sunday... He did some tooling around while I picked up the boys and we went to Whole Foods to get a birthday cake. Of course, it is just not possible for the boys and I to go to Whole Foods and only buy one thing. Oh no, not when they have samples of all kinds of yummy things all over the store. We walked out with the cake and a bag of other goodies, $50 poorer. It's a special treat to go there, though, because it's a good 35 minutes away from home and I love shopping at a store that is environmentally friendly and where I don't have to look at a single label because I know it's going to be healthy. Or at least not horrible. I guess the cake isn't too healthy, huh?

We spent the rest of the day working on a jigsaw puzzle that Tyler drug out of the dungeon basement (those are addicting), Shawn played with his new toy that he got with his birthday money and I took a nap. He got phone calls with birthday wishes from my family and Jason, his oldest friend. And we went to his favorite fast food joint for lunch (which also contributed to that 4 lbs I am sure). It's nice when your birthday falls on a weekend, as you get to celebrate for two days instead of just one. All in all, except for being dissed by his family ~ not one of them called! ~ I think he had a great birthday weekend.

In the Woods

Today I woke up for my middle of the night pee to more spotting. I didn't freak out quite as badly as I did the first time I saw blood, since I knew that a tiny bit did not necessarily indicate a miscarriage and there is, after all, "debris" in my uterus that will likely come out. I tried to go back to sleep and finally, around 3am, I did for a few more hours.

When 6am rolled around, I hopped out of bed to get dressed and ready for my appointment with the perinatal center (the high risk pregnancy folks). It felt good knowing that we were going to get some answers today. Plus, getting the visual confirmation that the two little fellas in my tummy were still there would put my mind at ease after the jolt that seeing blood in the toilet gives me.

I was the first patient there and the staff was warm and friendly but still, I was anxious about what I was going to find out. After I filled out yet more paperwork, I was taken back to the ultrasound room.

The machine was definitely more clear than the one at my doctor's office. I could see them both, dancing in their little sacks of fluid, hearts racing. They're just in there, doing their thing, oblivious to the uncertainty that the big people in their lives are experiencing. They are still just right in their development ~ about 3 days apart in size. Their hearts were both beating at good, strong rates.

Except for the blood, everything looks perfect!

But the blood... it's all around them. The amniotic sacks are completely intact, perfect circles of protective fluid. The "debris" that my ob/gyn saw is blood. A lot of it. They aren't really able to tell me what is bleeding or why, but just that it's not abnormal for the hormones associated with an embryonic transfer to cause it.

It doesn't necessarily mean that everything won't be Ok. But it still might not be.

It might go away on its own... my body could absorb the blood and the pregnancy could continue normally. I will continue spotting and bleeding, in the mean time. And somehow, I'll have to get used to that.

If the bleeding doesn't stop, the babies are at risk for miscarriage. The blood will eventually irritate the uterus to the point that it starts contracting. If it happens, there will be nothing that can be done to stop it. I'm hopeful that if it does happen, it won't be until after they have cooked for a good long time ~ long enough that they can survive on their own.

So we aren't out of the woods, not just yet.

But it's out of my hands. My instructions were to let it go and to be healthy ~ eat when I'm hungry, sleep when I'm tired, refrain from intercourse (sorry, Honey!) and exercise (sorry, thighs!). Bed rest won't help or hurt. If they are meant to be, they'll stay in there and keep growing like they have been.

I don't know what our odds are ~ neither the ultrasound technician or the doctor wanted to tell me ~ presumably to not get anyone's hopes up artificially or cause unnecessary grief. I spoke with their mom today and she is being so strong and optimistic. These lil people have a lot of folks pulling for them... and all that positive energy floating around just for them... well, it can only help as far as I can tell.

My next appointment is in two weeks. I will keep you posted!

In the mean time, thank you for your continued support. It means a lot to me to have so many great people out there pulling for these lil treasures. And what amazing lil treasures they'll be, after they make it through all this drama, eh?

News

I don't have a whole lot of news... Shawn's caught our tummy bug, poor guy. He was home with me today (I've had much more company than I thought I would!). My lovely neighbor brought dinner over ~ what perfect timing because he is in no position to cook and I'm confined to the couch! Of course she couldn't leave without my dog attacking her baby ~ sorry Allison!

My doctor's appointment from yesterday was rescheduled because (for the second time) someone went into labor. I'm starting to feel as powerful as a full moon! :) We got to look at the babies and this time I got pictures for the parents! They are looking great ~ strong hearts, growing almost the same rate (one is 2 days bigger), good fluid around them. There is still "debris" in between them that my doctor wasn't sure about. She can't tell from her machine what it is and she doesn't seem to think that it was a 3rd baby anymore. She wants me to go see a perinatalogist and I have an appointment for tomorrow morning. Hopefully with better machines and a trained ultrasound technician, they'll be able to make heads or tails of the "stuff" between the lil blueberries.

Tomorrow is my last day of rest. I finished the book I was reading and have already started another. I'm all caught up on my magazines and have become addicted to a couple more shows that I normally don't have time to watch. I gained back the weight I lost when I was sick last weekend and am feeling much more like myself ~ cravings and all *ahem*.

So that's it from this end... Happy Tuesday!

A New Day

Yesterday we all spent the day in our jammies... Well, except for Shawn, who had a date with the grocery store. And can I just say, he spent over $35 less than what I'd budgeted? I usually go over my budget so I was very proud of him! He even snuck in some Red Bull (for him, not me ~ ick!) which is usually what puts me over my budget!

Anyway, he invited the boys to go with him but when they protested, saying they wanted to stay in their jammies ALL day, he didn't argue as it was cold and snowy outside and let's face it: it's easier to go to the grocery store alone.

The boys got a turn on the Wii, and I think they are so funny while they are playing ~ I thought I'd share.



And just one more...



I am now going to take a shower and put on makeup and wear real clothes and do my hair for the first time in a week to get ready for my doctor's appointment. Yay! I am very excited to get out of the house and also to get an update on the lil blueberries inside my tummy. Last time I went, I was so discombobulated because of all the drama that I'd gone through the day before with the miscarriage, that I didn't do some important things like ask when our due date was, how they were growing, if their heart beats looked regular and most importantly, get copies of the ultrasound photos to send their parents (!). Bad surrogate! So I'm going more level headedly today and feel lucky to get a second chance. Plus, hopefully they'll be big enough now that we can see what the heck is going on in there with all the sacks and heart beats.

This weekend, Shawn celebrates his 33rd birthday. We got tickets on eBay to see Stomp and we're going to go out for dinner, too. I'm so excited to have some time with him, to get out of the house, and to see a show I haven't seen before. He's in charge of picking dinner, since it's his special day, and I think he's going to take us someplace we haven't been before (we're really bad about going to our favorite places over and over and not trying new things!). He has a friend who goes out down town all the time that has a couple good suggestions... Hopefully I won't be too queasy to eat!! My morning sickness has become more evening sickness. I'm not getting sick, but just feeling nauseous. Weird.

Oh and speaking of belly issues, and somehow Shawn and Gavin seemed to escape the nasty bug that Tyler and I lovingly shared... (*knock on wood*). This is good because Gavin is a puker! If he gets sick at all, he's throwing up. He started to get a fever and a tummy ache last night after dinner, so I was nervous about what was to come, but he seems to have dodged that bullet. Whew!

It's going to be a good week! Happy Monday!

The Brink of Death and Back

I had a really bad day yesterday.

I woke up to what I thought was morning sickness ~ it's hard for me to tell because I've not experienced that with other pregnancies. I felt nauseous and queasy. I quickly started emptying my insides both from the upstairs and the downstairs. I couldn't eat, could barely drink. I guess if you are going to get sick, though, being on bed rest is the best time to do it!

Speaking of bed rest... looks like I'll be relaxing for a few more days. I spoke with the nurse at the Doctor's Office that got us pregnant and they want me to be done with spotting for a week before I go back to life as I knew it (which I'm starting to forget what that was like!). So that means I am stuck at home until Thursday, except for the doctor's appointment I'd already scheduled for Monday.

I'm not very happy about it, but definitely want to do whatever I need to do to make sure these babies are healthy... so I'll suck it up and enjoy the time I do get to get out of the house on Monday ~ even if it's just for a couple hours.

Shawn took the boys hiking yesterday since I wasn't good company and we were hoping I wouldn't share my cooties. It was a beautiful day here in Colorado and I'm glad they got to take advantage of it because today we have a winter storm with a high that we reached at about 7 o'clock this morning.

I wanted to share some of the pictures they took but for some reason that doesn't seem to be working.

When they got home, Tyler started in with diarrhea and a tummy ache.

This morning he and I both woke up feeling much better and my lack of sustenance yesterday has caused a rapid weight loss. Which helps make up for the cravings I've had a hard time resisting as of late...

Happy Sunday!