20 weeks!! Half way there!

Okay, so my doc's goal for me is 38 weeks... so I'm over half way if you look at it that way :)

 Sorry, I didn't really feel like being in the pictures today lol.... I'm sure you understand :)

This week I went out with a friend to get pedicures!  I was given a giftcard for my birthday and I was waiting to use it for when bending over to paint my toes seemed completely out of the question!  It was really nice and totally needed.  I really like the color too!  Bright and pink!  (thankfully my feet haven't gotten swollen yet lol)

On Monday (27th) night Jon and I went out to dinner at Chuy's (so.delicious!!).  We had a few things to celebrate.  It was my mom's birthday and we figured that she'd be okay with it ;)  She would have been 63.  Then we also got news that Jon got a raise!  We knew he was promoted, but hadn't heard anything about a raise or anything else.  I am so very proud of him!  Sadly, I forgot to take pictures.  We had a good time though and the food hit the spot! 

Also this week, we found out that Jon is being given the opportunity to go to BYU next week for a recruiting event!  I would be lying if I said I wasn't jealous :)  He's so excited.  He's planning out all his meals so he can hit up a few of his/our old favorite places.  India Palace, costa vida, jdawgs.... okay, I'm getting hungry just talking about it!  I told him that if he isn't going to bring me a to-go box from costa vida (lol) then I would settle for a few BYU mint chocolate truffles and 2 outfits for the babies.  :)

We've also been busy trying to get things together in the nursery!  We've been given a few things from friends this week (a swing and lots of boy clothes!  thank you thank you!) 

Anyways, we bought an Ikea expedite shelving unit and we made a few modifications to it and it is awesome!  This will be our changing table along with being storage!  We put a few drawers in. I found the cute knobs at Hobby Lobby.  Then, we added legs from Ikea's kitchen section.  I love it!
 

One of our cribs came yesterday.  We are still needing to get the other one and both mattresses.  Jon was excited to put it together last night when he got home from work.  He kept saying "Are you seeing this??? Doesn't it make it feel more real and exciting??"  He's so cute :)

 

This last weekend I finished the UP blanket!!  I backed it with a soft yellow flannel and then binded it with bias tape.  It feels good to have it done :)  Also, notice the rocking chair!  Jon's parents were very kind in offering it to us.  I won't lie... it has already gotten some use!  When my back is really hurting, that's the most comfy place for me to sit!

All is going well so far.  No weird cravings to report (other than wanting mexican food this week at Chuy's) :)  The only thing that I'm not looking forward to is our pool closing.  They are closing it after Labor Day.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do.  I can go on walks, but there are still a lot of discomforts (even with my belly belt).  The pool is where I feel the best.  I don't want to spend the money for a gym membership to use a pool either.  Decisions decisions... we'll see how it goes.    Other than that- things are great. 

What will it be? Snips and snails? Sugar and spice?

Okay, so I've been dying to put this up here since we found out the genders on Friday!  I guess I could've forgone the scratch ticket thing and blabbed it all on Friday... but we were so excited and wanted to do something special for it- can you blame us?? Years of shots, tons of doctor visits and procedures and we finally are here! 

We have been blessed more than we deserve.

We went to the temple on Saturday night celebrating my father-in-law's birthday.  We did sealings as a family and then we were able to sit in the celestial room for a little while.  I know being pregnant makes you more apt to be hormonal... but I definitely got weepy while in the celestial room because I started thinking back about everything we have done and gone through to get here and I know that we couldn't have made it this far without our loving Heavenly Father.  His timing is always right. We couldn't be more thankful and we know that we have been given a wonderful gift. 

With that said, I am 19 weeks preggers today!  I still have a ways to go, but things are looking great!  Our ultrasound could not have gone better on Friday.  The babies are developing the way they should and all looks wonderful.  There was definitely no question on what the genders were.  :)

We saw our Baby A and HE is super precious :)  He is weighing in at 8oz and all of his measurements were normal.  He wasn't shy either lol.  We saw him first and after we found out it was a boy I looked over at Jon who just had this goofy smile on his face and I said "So, are you planning out all your football and basketball watching?"  He had a good laugh and then said "Forget watching! Playing!!"

Then came Baby B.  This little one was on the move! SHE was quite the active little one!  She weighed in at 9oz, her head is in the 97th percentile lol and she had a chubby belly.  So cute!  At this point I don't know if Jon was holding back tears, but he was holding my hand and he was shaking.  He said to me "we got our girl!" The night before the ultrasound I asked Jon what he thought we were having and he said that he felt like we had at least one girl :)  Sweet.  She is going to have him wrapped around her little fingers!

 Here's the winning scratch ticket  (they came out so good!)

The ultrasound itself was 2 hours.  We were there for almost 3.  We didn't go to our regular doctor (I think I mentioned this in a previous post) for this anatomy scan.  It was a specialist.  The ultrasound tech was a little gloomy.  I think she was having a rough morning.  She thought we already knew what we were having so when she showed us baby A first she was like "well... 'sigh' there's the boy" and we were both like.. "Wait! What?? Go back!"

Dr. Tam Tam who came in after to go over the ultrasound and to do his own scan was a little on the weird side.  His delivery of information was really awkward.  When he was telling us something good he would build it up to sound like it was going to be something terrible  and then would end it as "so all of this is excellent" lol.  Then he tried to get me make an appointment with his dietitian because he didn't see a need to schedule me for any other visits. He said that seeing a dietitian gives mom's of multiples an opportunity to spend more than an hour talking with someone about nutrition.  I politely declined.  Christy- I'm sure you can relate to this!  After hearing your story the whole thing seemed comical while he was talking. 

Yep... we're going to have our hands full, but we are completely over the moon in excitement!

Poem:

What are little boys made of?
Snips and snails, and puppy dogs tails
That's what little boys are made of !"
What are little girls made of?
"Sugar and spice and all things nice
That's what little girls are made of!"

Scratch Tickets!!

Here is the winning scratch ticket!  Remember, I'm not writing anything on the blog about the results until the rest of my family finds out- family trumps everything :)  I'm so happy how these came out!  My awesome scratch off parts that I made with metallic acrylic paint and dish soap were perfect! 

Keep voting! We'll announce the results on Wednesday ;)  Sorry... I know you all are just dying here! 

For now, here are the babies profiles for you to enjoy :)

Twin A

Twin B

18 weeks!

*Edit: vote on the poll to the right of what you think we're having!*

Today marks 18 weeks!  Okay, so I feel like I have a zillion weeks to go (not to mention all the lbs I have left to gain) but still- 18wks!  Excitement!

 Blurriest photo ever... sorry about that.  PS: Cutest shirt ever from my mom-in-law, Anne!  

I'm feeling really good.  I can't complain.  I usually need a nap a week lol  I'm still able to get in the pool a few times a week and do some exercise- so that's really good!  I really don't have any food aversions anymore (thank goodness!) and I'm not crazy with cravings all the time.  There have been a few moments of "that sounds really good right now!" and my sweet husband acts on those (because it's usually something he wants too haha).  Let's see... I think I've felt some form of movement.  Then again, I have no idea what I'm supposed to be feeling, so who really knows!  Other than that, life is pretty normal still and I am so thankful for that. 

Here is what "the bump" has to say about this week:

"What the heck is baby doing in there at 18 weeks? A lot! He’s working his muscles and practicing all kinds of moves. (Can you feel them yet?) Over the next few weeks, you should make sure to start sleeping on your side. That’s because baby (and your uterus) are getting big enough to press against large veins in the back of your abdomen, which can reduce the amount of blood going to your heart, making you feel lightheaded, or worse, lowering your blood pressure. Of course, your veins aren’t the only things that are prone to pressure -- you might be too! Not only are you super busy, but you might be having some not-so-fun symptoms, like swollen feet or hands, backaches, leg cramps and nosebleeds. And the stress and discomfort might be keeping you up at night around week 18. Be sure, in your hectic schedule, that you plan some time to unwind. (Great excuse for some pregnancy pampering! Can you say prenatal massage?!) It’s important to give your body and your mind a break for a little while. That just might help you get the sleep you need, too.

Your baby's the size of a sweet potato!

She's about 5.6 inches long and about 6.7 ounces now and she keeps on growing rapidly. (That's why you're probably feeling so hungry.)"

Okay.. so I realize this is only talking about one baby... so things might be different.. but eh- whatever.  Technically, we have 11.2" of baby (if we're going off of this info). :)

So, 18 weeks... shouldn't we be finding out what we're having soon??  Heck yes!  We have our anatomy scan on FRIDAY! 2 DAYS AWAY!  I'm dying over here!  I've been trying to fill these last few days with projects and other things to keep me and my mind busy!

Here is one project I completed today!  I started this a little while ago, but ran out of balloons before I was done.  So, I picked up some more balloons today and tada!  I'm quite happy with my balloon wreath.  This will go on the door to the nursery :)  Also, we bought a ceiling fan for the room and Jon and his dad are going to put it in on Friday- yay!

Anyways, back to Friday.  We are going to a specialist instead of our obgyn because they apparently have fancier equipment.   The nurse on the phone told me to expect 1 + 1/2hr for the scan, but I've heard from others that it's closer to 2 hours.  Hopefully I will get to have a bathroom break! The nurse also told me to bring snacks... haha.  Little does she know that I always have a snack or two in my purse at all times- so no worries there :)  So, who knows how long we'll be there.  I'm expecting 3-4 hours (if you include wait time).  

As another side project- I had some help from my brother-in-law to make these awesome scratch tickets.  These will be our gender announcement!  I made the scratch off circles (so easy to make!) that will go on them and I am mailing them out to my family in NH on Friday.  Local family will be finding out on Friday.  So, sadly, I won't have the results on the blog on Friday.  But! I'll post the scratch ticket on here on Friday and then the guessing can begin :)

So, what do you think? 2 boys? 2 girls? One of each?  Vote your guesses on the poll to the right- under the twin gadget :)

NH pt 3- Last NH post!

Thursday (our final day) was a more relaxing day :)  We went with my dad and met my Uncle Roger for breakfast (what's new lol).  After that we headed to Walmart to pick up drinks and ice for a planned BBQ at my sister, Shannon's house.  Dad kept piling in drinks into the cart and Jon and I kept looking at each other like "isn't that too much for only like 10 people??"  I didn't bother asking, because I figured my dad knew what he was doing and was probably planning on left overs.  So, I just let that slide :)

Now, I realize most of you have never had to do this and it will probably sound really weird, but in the town I grew up in NH- we don't have a trash pick up.  So, you are required to pack up your own trash and drive it down to "the dump".  When you get there you have to pull up and there is this little building where you throw your trash bags into trucks that are parked under the building.  There are also sections for recycling, brush, old appliances... etc.  Anyways, so when we got back to my dad's house, we piled up the garbage bags and headed to the dump... lol.

When we got back to Dad's he asked Jon to help him with an antenna that he had put up on the side of his house.  He has a tower on the side of his house that used to be for ham radio use.  Anyways, so he put the antenna on the tower and he wasn't getting some of the TV channels he wanted and he needed someone to help him turn it.  So... Jon was brave and climbed up!  I won't lie, I was nervous for the whole thing because I knew Jon had never climbed up something like this before (it's harder than it looks).  Although, after finding out that my dad has been climbing it by himself freaked us both out- so Jon was that much more willing to do it.  Dad really appreciated it.

Once that was done, we just hung out and relaxed until it was time to go to Shannon's house.  When we got there, there were a few extra cars that I didn't recognize.  When we headed to the back of their house, I saw balloons on their shed and I knew something was up.

The shed "UP" house lol

It was a surprise baby shower!!  I was in serious disbelief!  My family had planned an UP themed shower for us and it was so cute!  

When we got there we were adorned with "mom and dad to be" pins

There were balloons everywhere, the UP movie was playing inside for the kids and there cute little details everywhere.

This was one of the first things we saw.  My brother-in-law, Ron made this awesome banner for us.  This is the actual file- pictures just don't do it justice!  This will be going in our nursery for sure.

 

My brother, Scott made us this really cute adventure book that we used as our guest signing book.  He also made small "grape soda" decals that went with our favors- so freaking cute!

 Angel and Leah put this together- cupcakes that looked like balloons coming out of the UP house!

Shannon made the popcorn favors, really cute rubber duck punch (hehe) she also put out these awesome collages of pictures of our family and tons of pictures of my mom.  It was like she was there too :)  I know there were so many other details she put into this- balloons, food etc...

Two dolls signifying twins lol... the doll on the right was made by my mom.  My sister, Leah made the other one.  The basket is full of the popcorn favors- you can see the grape soda decal Scott made too!

Ron manned the burgers and hot dogs :)  He also made our invitation!

 In attendance:

Shannon, Ron, Madison, Scott, Angel, Hunter, Jacob, Dale, Leah, Alina, Eleanor, Dad, Jackie (Ron's mom), Debbie, Chuck, Kyle, Melissa, Uncle Roger, Charlene, Rich, Aiden and Cameron.

Charlene, Aiden, Crystal & Jon

Leah, Kyle, Chuck, Debbie, Melissa, Crystal, Jon & Shannon

Madison & Alina

Leah, Scott, Angel & Dale

Uncle Roger, Jackie, Eleanor (with Dale) & Dad

Jacob

There were a lot of family that weren't able to make it because they were out of town and I had an Aunt who had just gone through surgery.  So, I am thankful for all those who could come and missed those who were unable to make it.

We played a cute game where there all these baby items on the table and you had a little bit to look at them and then they were covered with a table cloth and you had to remember everything that you saw.  It was cute :)

I cannot express how thankful I am for my family and for all they do for us.  This was truly a wonderful experience and we are filled with so much gratitude.  It was unexpected and everything turned out so amazing!  Thank you to everyone who helped plan, I promise nothing went unnoticed.

This is such an amazing time in our lives and we were so glad to share it with you all.  It has taken us a long time to get here and now that we are- it is so very surreal.  We are so thankful for all of the support of both of our families and we couldn't have made it here without all your love, prayers and support. 

Also, I can't forget this picture lol... Madison being consumed by all the balloons before the shower :)   I heard she was a huge help the day of the party- Thanks, Madison!

Other pictures from that day:

I can't believe how fast Madison is growing up! 13!! I fed this girl rice cereal for crying out loud! haha

Blanket help lol  (which BTW- all the detail on it is now done! I put detail on the door on the house and then I stitched a cursive "Adventure is out there!" on the bottom- so cute!!  Just need to bind and back it... waiting to find out genders so I can do that and start a 2nd one!!)

NH trip pt 2

Monday morning we headed to breakfast with dad and met Shannon and Ron again.  After breakfast we were going to pick up Scott, Angel and Hunter and head off to the Flume (up in the White Mts).  It's only a 2 mile hike and is very easy.  Dad didn't end up joining us. 

It took us about an hour and a half to get there, but the views were gorgeous!  I miss having mountains and trees!  I absolutely loved it!  I was so excited to bring Jon up there too!

The trail started off near one of those classic New England wooden bridges. 

Here is a picture of all of us:

Along the way there were a lot of wooden walkways and stairs that went right next to the falls.  We were in a sort of gorge and on both sides of us were just huge glacier rock walls.  They were gorgeous and all were covered in vibrant green vegetation and moss.

Angel, Scott and Hunter

Shannon and Ron

Jon and Hunter having fun :)

There was one point in the hike where there was this sign saying "wolf den" and it talked about a small passageway that you could crawl through (in the rock) and you would come out on another part of the trail.  So, all the men had to show off their "manliness" and crawl through hehe!

Entrance:

Where Ron is looking is where you turn to head in the tunnel

Exit:

We took the hike slow and had a great time together.  Once we were done we found a picnic table in the shade and ate our lunch and then headed back home.

Scott, Hunter, Angel, Crystal, Jon, Shannon and Ron

That night Jon and I got pizza for us, Shannon, Ron and my dad and we watched Star Trek at Shannon's house.  Shannon had never seen it before, so it was fun to hear what she thought afterwards.

Tuesday morning we went to Leah and Logan's house for breakfast.  It was delicious and really great to see them.  We enjoyed the cool weather outside. After we headed back to Dad's house and Jon helped him with a few computer things and then he took us to a nearby mountain: Mt. Uncanoonuk

Then in the afternoon, Ron picked us up and we headed up to Shannon's work to meet her.  We got the grand tour :)  Then we split up.  Shannon and I went to Kohls to shop and Jon went with Ron to one of his private lacrosse sessions.  After, we met for dinner at Mr Mac's.  Ron really wanted to go there- so we figured why not??  I'm always up for mac n cheese!  It was really good too!  Then we headed back to their place, watched the olympics and ended up taking their van back to Dad's house late that night.

Wednesday morning we dropped the van off at Shannon's work and we met her boss.  Then we headed off to Scott's house for breakfast.  Hunter made some amazing pancakes :)  It was delicious as well as our Tuesday breakfast!  Yum!!  After, we took dad home and then Jon and I headed out to meet my bff, Charlene for lunch!  We hit up our old favorite- TGIF!  After we went and got some froyo and hung out for a while catching up.  It was so great to see her.  I wish we lived closer!

After, we headed to Shannon and Ron's to go up the to the beach! Ron had picked up Madison from camp earlier that day, so she was able to come.  It had rained quite a bit and the beach had cancelled their usual Wednesday night fireworks!  Bummer!  So, we just walked around, went into a few stores, at dinner in the car and people watched. 

Jon, Crystal, Ron, Madison and Shannon

After we headed out we went to the "Beach Plum" for ice cream.  Apparently this place was rated #1 for their lobster rolls.  Who knew?  Here I am sitting in the "lobster chair" haha!

We got back to their house and headed back to dad's and we watched some olympics and then headed to bed.


Next post is all about Thursday!