Twins' Nursery

The nursery is about as complete as it is going to get for these babies. We painted all the walls and ceiling, had crown molding installed and changed out the ceiling light for a chandelier. All in all, I am really happy with the way it turned out, especially considering it used to be our guest room. You would be surprised how difficult it is to come up with a room that fits both genders, which is why we ended up with the pink, blue and brown coloring.

A view from the door coming into the room:

A view of the wall between the closet and bathroom:

A view from the closet: I hope they like it!

Update on the Twins

Today marks 32 weeks for me and the babies...such a big milestone for their development. I went to the perinatologist this morning to have the babies measured and have their biophysical profiles done. Both turned out great! Baby A "Reece" is measuring 4lbs 5oz and Baby B "Gabriella" is measuring 4lbs 4ozs. They have each gained a pound over the last two weeks! According to the doctor, they are estimated to weigh 7-7.5lbs each by the time they get here on July 5th ... craziness!!!! I don't have a new belly pic, but here are some pictures of the twins from my ultrasound two weeks ago and today:

Gabriella's side profile at 30 weeks...looks like she is waving :) Reece at 30 weeks with no feet in the way of his profile finally...chin tucked down in his chest Reece's side profile at 32 weeks...feet all stuck back in his face again

Gabriella at 32 weeks looking straight at us...she is in a weird positon across my belly but facing downward...hard to get good pics of either of them these days

I am getting so excited to meet them...only 5 weeks from today!

All-Stars

The all-star season officially kicked off this weekend for Chase's team, the Sandy Plains Cougars, at the Lake City Classic in Acworth. It was a fun-filled weekend...three days, six games and lots of heat! The kids seemed to have a good time, but really started to drag by the third game in a single day. They will have to build some endurance as the summer goes on, and so will us parents that are there with them! The Cougars didn't win the tournament, but really put in a great effort. Here's to hoping they have a better outcome at the Shaw Park tournament that starts this Thursday. Here are some pictures from the first game of this weekend...so fun!

Twins Update - 24 Weeks

Went back to the perinatologist this morning for our monthly check-up and they are doing great! Gabriella is measuring perfectly to date and weighs about 1lb 5oz. Reece is also measuring perfectly to date and he weighs about 1lb 8oz. All in all, they are growing just as they should, which in turn means, I too, am growing a lot! I feel huge and people continue to remind me of that everywhere I go. The doctor says I look just as I should for growing two tiny humans, so I will take peace in that and carry on :)

The doc got a sweet pic of Gabriella in 3D today, so I thought I would include that in this post. She kept giving us these little smiles in between sucking her thumb and/or hand...so cute! I can't tell who she looks like just yet. Reece was not being quite as cooperative, so no new good pics of him. He was too busy kicking his sister in the head during the whole appointment!

OMG!

I didn't even realize how much bigger I am with these babies than I was in previous pregnancies...that is, until last night! Jay took the picture posted below and I was shocked when I looked at it. I knew I felt big, but it is amazing that I didn't see just how big I really am.

Here is a picture of me at 20 weeks with Chase. Yes, it was my first pregnancy and there was only one baby, but there is really no comparison!Now I just worry about what the next 16 weeks hold...I am only 5'2" for goodness sake!

Better late than never...Cole's 4th B-day Party

Cole's 4th Birthday 12-21-10...Cole's Birthday Party 3-6-11

I know, I know, it is terrible of me to wait so long, but it has just been one thing after another. Christmas is a difficult time to have a party with his friends and I felt terrible during the whole month of January. When February finally got here, I made the reservation for a party, but that left us having the party the day before my birthday!

So, today was the day and it was so much fun! We had all of his friends join us to bounce and play for the afternoon at the Bounce House. Needless to say, Cole could have cared less that it was so far passed the actual day!

The Birthday Boy - playing basketball

Cole and his buddy Parker on the slides

He blew out the candles before the singing was done and was fairly proud of it!

Halfway There

Well, I have officially made it past the halfway point with twins. I am coming up on 20 weeks on Monday and am just grateful that things have been fairly uneventful so far. I am growing at a much more rapid rate than in my previous pregnancies, but I guess that is to be expected with two babies growing in my 5'2" body.

As for the boys, we have been very busy with all sorts of activities this past month. Baseball started for both boys, so we are at the field most nights with practice. Games start this Saturday, so it is about to get even crazier! Chase is on the Orioles for the second Spring in a row and Cole is on the Astros. Both are really enjoying the season so far and I am enjoying being so involved with their teams before the babies come.

Jason and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary this past Tuesday and I will celebrate my 31st birthday on Monday. Other than that, we have just been taking things week by week!

I go back to the perinatologist on Monday and will scan in some of those u/s pics afterward. Now that the babies are getting so much bigger, the u/s pics are much better. In addition, I will try to remember to have Jay take a picture of my belly to post soon.

Half and Half

Jason and I headed back to the perinatologist this morning for our 16 week check-up and to see if these babies would cooperate and show us their "parts." They both took a little poking and prodding, but eventually they showed us what we wanted to see. I am so excited to announce that we are having...
...
a BOY and a GIRL!

After 7 years of buying only blue, I can finally add a little pink to the mix! We are so excited to have boy/girl twins and to know that they are both growing well! I will post some ultrasound pictures a little later :)

Donuts with Dad, or in our case, Papa

Thursday, Cole's class had donuts with dad. Jason had to be at his office for work-related obligations, so I turned to my dad to see if he would go in Jay's place. I met my dad there and we walked Cole into his class, since my dad had never been to his school before. Cole was very excited to have Papa there and thoroughly enjoyed eating the frosting off his donut and showing him around :)

Bunk Beds...

That is how the sonographer described the babies placement to the boys. They think it is so funny to tell everyone that their babies are in bunk beds already, and I think it is pretty cute that they are so excited. Baby B is on top and Baby A is on the bottom:

We went in last Thursday for our 12.5 week appt and to have all the 1st Trimester screening stuff done. Turns out that the babies are very healthy and growing very well. Both measured a few days ahead of schedule, which is really good since Baby A was originally almost a whole week behind Baby B. Here are their sweet profile pictures:

Baby A

Baby B

The last thing they did was tell me what they think the sexes of the babies are based on what they saw on the u/s. However, I am holding out till Feb. 7th for the confirmation on those before I announce anything!

Snowed In

Snowmaggedon 2011 hit Atlanta and has totally frozen over the city! We measured more than 6" on our back table. Although I haven't enjoyed being trapped in the house this long, the kids have had a real blast playing and sledding in it. We finally ventured out to Zaxby's today and I felt like a prisoner that had finally been released from jail...felt so good to be somewhere other than the house!

Me and my sweet boys heading out to sled at the neighborhood park!

Brotherly love in the snow!

All in all, it has been fun but I am ready to get back to normal now!

I'm Back

Not sure if I am inspired to get this blog back up and running now because I feel like a prisoner with the snow or if it is because of the new babies on the way. Who knows what it is, but I am hoping to keep up with it this time.

As a little update on our lives since my last post (which was a very long time ago):

• Chase started Kindergarten this year and just loves it! I am so proud of how well he is doing and how much he enjoys his teacher.
• Cole is back at the church where he did 3-yr old school last year. He is in a 4 day program now and has such wonderful teachers to spend a few hours with each day. He enjoys his independent time away from the house as much as I enjoy a few quiet hours.
• We have had a rough ride trying to have another baby, but are now being blessed with two! We are due on July 26th, but will probably have the babies by late June/early July. We are both excited and nervous to go from a family of 4 to 6! I am sure this blog will be filled with lots of details about the twins along the way.