Image Map
Image Map

Saturday, May 28, 2011

my husband = dead sexy

Allow me to set the scene.

We had a nice dinner during which my husband drank THREE GIANT GLASSES of milk, which he knows will upset his stomach. The little guys is sleeping. We've crawled into bed early. The twins are up to their usual nighttime shenanigans inside my belly. Before I can say the usual "Hey, you're missing movement over here" to the hubs, he groans and says:

"If you put your hand on my belly you can feel movement."

Ew. Should've stopped after one glass like I told him to.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

23 Weeks!

Our camera has been, well let's just call it 'disabled', since December-ish. We just kinda muddled through because neither of us wanted to part with it and miss photo ops with the kiddo. But about a month ago the camera decided that it was done trying to function at less than max capacity. So off to Geek Squad, then to Texas it went to be fixed by Sony.

It's been a few weeks now and it's KILLING me not to have a functional camera. I'll be honest, my picture-taking abilities are sub-par at best. And honestly, I very frequently forget to even grab the camera, instead choosing to revel in the cuteness of my child with my own eyes instead of behind the lens. Which is fine, until you realize that he's growing and changing so much and that I have ABSOLUTELY NO PICTURES in the little folder titled "May 2011" on my computer. Argh. It's giving me heartburn (well, that's probably from the current occupants of my uterus pressing on my stomach, but we can pretend).

And then there are the people back in MI/OH that are bugging me for belly pictures since they can't rub it in person. I wasn't too concerned about missing a few weeks of photographic evidence that I'm getting larger by the second, until I looked at my 18.5 week photo and realized that the belly really has progressed and I really should document it. So out came the camera phone. And this is what we came up with:


The vain part of me likes this picture better than the following one because my hair looks better. But it's taken from an angle, not a straight side shot. It just doesn't do the belly justice. So here's one where you get a better idea of just how huge it's getting:


Frizzy hair, flubby arm. Ick. Oh well.

So there it is - the 23 week belly. Both boys are doing very well. Their EFWs on ultrasound this week were 1 lb 5 oz and 1 lb 4 oz, both above average for their gestation. What can I say? I grow big boys. And they must be pretty fun guys too because there is a nonstop party going on in my uterus. Fun times I tell ya, fun times.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Since moving to FL, I've been busy. Busy settling into a new home, being sick in the beginning months of pregnancy, juggling school with housework and being a mommy and entertaining houseguests and traveling back to MI for school and ....

you get the idea.

When we moved, I was lucky enough to have been welcomed by a wonderful group of women who happen to be married to the boys Brian works with (and a few women that actually work with him). Most of them are also transplants from around the country, and while some have been here for longer than others, it really, truly feels like one big family.

So while I had all of these ready-made friends waiting in the wings, I was the queen of anti-social land. We would occasionally go to dinner with people from work, but I never felt like I could have an adult conversation with anyone because I was feeling crappy and trying to make sure my crazy toddler wasn't throwing knives across the table.

Then school ended. And I started to feel better. And I'm not traveling to MI once a month. While I'm still busy with just being a SAHM and baking two babies at once, I have much more free time. But now, the other wife that is a SAHM delivered a preemie and has been consumed with that (for obvious reasons!) and the wife that is a WAHM is nearing the end of her pregnancy and just isn't feeling very social. So now that I'm feeling good and would like to be social, I find myself being lonely. Not bored, because I have plenty of work to do, but lonely :S

Loneliness in a new place isn't good. It makes you miss your old life, your friends, your family, your old sense of normalcy. While I LOVE our new environment and am VERY happy that we made the choices we did, I couldn't help but feel sad. I'm used to seeing my family once a month, and this is the first month I won't see them. In fact, I won't see them until July. And my "bff" had her second baby, who I haven't been able to meet yet, and I missed her after-baby shower that our work girls always throw for each other. Hearing about all of the things I'm missing in MI only added to the sadness.

But then the preggo WAHM threw together a last-minute girls night. Four of us met at her house one night, lounged in the pool for awhile, enjoyed dinner and just girl-time in general. I can't tell you how excited I was about this night. When getting ready to leave, Brian asked when I would be home. I told him I had no idea, and he continued to press the issue for at least a ballpark figure. When I asked what the third degree was all about, he said, "Well, you never leave! I'm not used to you being gone." It hit me then that I really don't leave the house by myself except to run to the store every once in awhile. Brennan goes EVERYWHERE with me. I'm not complaining in the least, but I guess I just never realized that I get very little alone time. And I don't think that's healthy. In order to be the best mom I can be, I need to take care of my own emotional well being too.

Well, let me tell you, this girls night did just that. These are wonderful women, from very different backgrounds, who are married to great men who are also from diverse backgrounds. But we all have one thing in common - we are one big family. We had great food, great conversation, and it was just a breath of fresh air to enjoy some adult company! It needs to happen again soon :)

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Mommy's Day

Today was as close to perfect as you can get.

I woke up at 8:00 this morning to an empty bed. My confusion was two-fold: (A) Where is my husband? (B) Why haven't I heard my child get up? He hasn't slept that late in weeks!

After some investigation, I found the hubby sleeping on the couch with the baby monitor next to him. He looked peaceful, so I decided to make myself a bowl of cereal and go enjoy breakfast in bed. As I'm pouring the milk, he stumbled into the kitchen and asked "Why are you up?? I was going to get up with Brennan so you could sleep in! And we were going to make you cinnamon rolls!"

oops.

I'd been exhausted the previous night and had gone to bed somewhat early. After 9 hours of sleep, I was simply not tired anymore. I told him not to worry, that we could enjoy a peaceful morning together til Brennan woke up and that I'd be more than willing/able to eat cinnamon rolls even after my cereal. I am growing two babies afterall ;)

So after a nice breakfast and a few small but meaningful gifts, we headed to the beach. The boys went for a run while I sat in my new beach chair and relaxed. It was heaven. When they came back, I was peeing cooling off in the ocean. The minute Brian let Brennan out of the stroller, he spotted me in the "wa-wa" and came barreling toward me. It's a great feeling to be loved.

After more playing in the sand and surf, we packed up and headed home for lunch and a nap for all three of us. Can I just say that napping with the hubby is one of my favorite things in this world? It doesn't happen often enough.

Bri made a FANTASTIC dinner - steak, sweet corn, and sweet potatoes and apples - all on the grill. He even treated me to an O'Douls. I've been craving beer this pregnancy, which sucks for obvious reasons. But a tiny sip of whatever the hubby is drinking will just have to suffice for now :)

All in all, it was a great day. I'm so blessed to have a great husband, a wonderful baby, and two more on the way.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

April Visit

As I've said before, we try to limit visitors to once per month. Now that I'm not travelling back to MI once a month anymore, it's not as big of a deal. It's just an attempt to protect our family time as just us three. So far, so good. Although I'm fully aware that the further we get into this pregnancy, the more that rule will fly out the window. I'm OK with it, because I know we're going to need help not only after the babies are here, but before too. But until then, we're enjoying our monthly visitors!

This month, my sister Teresa (aka Aunt Trix, aka TT) and her boyfriend John came to visit. They arrived on Good Friday and were able to spend a week with us. It was nice to have them for our first holiday in FL.

Easter weekend included all kinds of fun. We took Brennan to an Easter egg hunt at the local community center, but he had more fun taking the eggs out of his basket. Yeah, maybe we should have tried a dry run at home first ...


That afternoon, we dyed eggs and decorated cookies. Dying eggs is certainly, um, interesting with an 18 month old. Cookie decorating was much easier as we could just let him go at it.


The Easter morning egg hunt in the backyard was much more successful than the first one. He was an egg hunting machine. And he really loved finding all of the goodies in his Easter basket!



During their visit, we also took Trix & John to the park near our house to swim. While we love going to the ocean, sometimes it can be a long day for Brennan. He loves every minute of it, but the waves knock him over and the sun is scorchingly hot and it gets to be a bit much. This park is GIANT and has two small "lakes" to swim in. It's a quick and fun way to cool off and Brennan can splash and play a lot more in the calm water. He had a blast as always.



Having them visit was great, especially since they're very low maintenance visitors. They asked what they can do to help and didn't need to be entertained. Which was very helpful since I WAY overdid it on Easter weekend and spent time the next week laying low. It was great to spend time with them. Another successful visit from family!

Boys, Boys, Boys!


Well, it's official. Grandparents and aunts and uncle have been notified, so it's safe to post publicly ...


It's a BOY ... and another BOY!

Yes, it appears that I am destined to be outnumbered in my household. But I'm not sad about it. I love my hubby and his mini-me and am thrilled to add two more to the mix. And if they're just like Brennan, I'd consider myself lucky. (Except maybe at least one of them could have my energy level - my mother tells me that I was a freakishly calm child.)

I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't a teeny bit disappointed not to have a girl in the mix, but honestly, I'm not as sad as I thought I would be. Boys are tons of fun, and they definitely love their mamas! And I appreciate the way they punch each other in the face and get over their arguments instead of all of the drama we females tend to engage in.

Since we couldn't tell them face to face, we told the grandparents and aunts and uncle in fun ways. My sister and her boyfriend were here visiting when we had our ultrasound, so they found out right away and were able to help with the surprises.

My sister who is away at college got this onesie:




Brian's sister and bro-in-law, who live in the DC area, got these:




The grandparents got these:



We've been spreading the news to our family and some of our closest friends. Most people are very excited, some have complained that they wanted a girl, which irritates me. But whatever. I'm trying very hard lately to let things roll off my back. So this is me being a duck and letting it roll....

Two more pictures I'll leave you with: the belly.


18.5 weeks preggo with the twins

26 weeks preggo with Brennan

Strikingly similar, no? This just makes me think of what is to come for my poor, poor belly. Yikes, it's gonna be outta control.