For real

Nursery furniture has been ordered (at an amazing deal, by the way). It's official. We are having two babies.

Loganisms

Some of the best quotes from today:

"Nile, do you want to work at The Children's Museum or Target? How about I work at The Children's Museum, and you work at Target?".

"Mom I poop in the big-a boy toilet! It was HUGE! It was this big (holding his arms outstretched as far as they would go".

"Eliza, this crying is just inappropriate".

Inappropriate is his new favorite word.

Then before nap, he asked me to rock him in the rocking chair and sing to him. I fought back the tears of overwhelming love for my boy and snuggled every last morsel of him.

My 29th Birthday, and some finger painting

Dear Logan

Dear Logan,

I often sit quietly and watch you play. Maybe you are sitting reading a book, or you are playing with blocks, or working on a puzzle. You whisper to yourself, and point out colors, shapes, numbers, and letters. You use different voices, and your eyes sparkle with each new moment of your "work" as you call it. Today I was watching you as you built me a golf course with your blocks. In the middle of your intense building, you broke into song. A beautiful arrangement of Wheels on the Bus. I couldn't help but smile watching you sing while you worked so hard, and when you caught me gazing onto your little world you gave me a coy smile, but you didn't stop singing as you often do when I catch you in a moment like this... a moment that you think you have all to yourself. Instead you continued to sing knowing you were within the safety and comfort of Mommy, and that I soak up every moment like this. The only time you stopped singing was to run over, grab my cheeks in your hands, and plant a sloppy wet kiss on my mouth saying, "that was a BIG one, Mom", and ran off back to your work.

I love you to the moon and back, bugs.

Mommy

Babies!

We had an ultrasound today and saw our little bouncing twins. They looked like babies this time, as opposed to a bean of some sort. Baby A measured 12w4d and Baby B measured 12w5d. I am 12w2d so those measurements are perfect! The tech said that she has never seen babies this early move as much as our little babies. They were bouncing, twisting, kicking, and punching all over the place; so much so that she couldn't even get proper measurements on the nuchal folds of Baby B. There were 20 fingers and 20 toes from what we could see, and two perfectly beating hearts.

12 weeks, and some big boy underpants

This is what 12 weeks pregnant with twins looks like (well, at least for me).




The most common question I get when people find out I am having twins is, "Do you know what you are having?", to which I need to reply, "Nope, not yet, I am only 12 weeks". I just can't even imagine how big I am going to be at 20 weeks, 30 weeks, and hopefully to at least 34 weeks!

We have an ultrasound tomorrow and just cannot wait to see our babies looking like actual babies! We are going to take video of the ultrasound, so stay tuned...

On a totally different note, we have been in the process of getting Logan potty-trained! After Baby Jack was born, we told Logan that pretty soon we would be packing up all his diapers and sending them to Baby Jack. We talked about it frequently, and gave Logan plenty of warning. Two weeks ago when Logan woke up, we put his diapers in a box, and on went the underpants! It was a rough few days to start, and while he has had his share of accidents, we have not given up, or given in. He wears underpants during all waking moments. Yesterday it was like something clicked with him because he learned how to pee on cue IN THE TOILET! We went from sitting in the bathroom for 15-20 minutes with nothing happening only for him to get off and pee in his underwear to DRY underpants and peeing on the toilet EVERY TIME!

The excitement in Logan's face is so precious to watch. He is elated to be a big boy like his friends, and we could not be more proud. And, let's face it, if we could NOT have 3 kids in diapers all at once, that would be great...

11 weeks 2 days

Today I had a doctor appointment and it went really well! She found both HB's right away - said they sounded great. She said my uterus is really high already, which explains why I look like I am already very, very pregnant. I have gained 4lbs since last time, so about 1 lb a week which is great for twins. She said normal twin gain is about 1 1/2 - 2 lbs a week, but since I have been so sick she isn't surprised. We talked about delivery a little and she said that she would let me go to 37-38 weeks at the latest. If I go before 34 weeks and they can't stop labor, I will need to deliver at UIHC which I do NOT want to do. I really like Dr. Wenzel a lot and would love to have her deliver my twins which wouldn't be an option if I had to switch hospitals. I am just really praying for at least 34 weeks. She said the chance of Pre-E is higher with twins, and since I had it with Logan, I have a 1 in 7 chance of getting it this time. She said there is recent study that suggest increased calcium intake may help reduce the risk, so perhaps I should just load up in the ice cream.

I have an u/s next Tuesday, and will have another one at 18 weeks, then monthly from there. I will start NST's (non-stress tests) at 32 weeks (if not sooner). Man, growing two babies is a lot of work!

So all in all, I am feeling pretty good as long as I have a bottle of Zofran handy, and the babies are growing like crazy! YAY!

See ya later... not goodbye.

In life we have many different kinds of friends. We have the life-long friends whom we think of as more like family. We have the fleeting friends that are in our lives for certain moments, and are none the less important than any others, but just kind of serve a purpose. We have the friends that we will always be friends with, and can catch up with over coffee or dinner until time passes us by again and we find months have gone by and we are seeking another moment with them to reconnect - picking up exactly where we left off. And much like that first group of friends, well, actually, including that first group of friends, we have those friends that may be newer in our lives, but seem to just fit in our pockets like the missing piece in our lives. The ones that just seem to float into our lives and fit in so perfectly in every aspect possible. I have a handful of these friends, and I think that is the perfect amount.

The Jordan family has really become one of our "fit like a glove" friends. Destinee and I often talk 4 times a day, and sometimes we go a few days without talking, because as we know, life with kids, and husbands, and... just life gets away from us. Brian and Vall clicked from day one, Destinee and I can have conversations for hours, and I can't even begin to explain the bond that Logan, Ava and Alanna have. There is nobody else on this planet that can make Logan laugh like Ava can. We are talking a whole-body laugh from my boy. And all she has to do is look at him. I get so much joy in telling Logan we are getting together with Ava and Alanna and watching his face light up with such excitement and anticipation, knowing that he is going to see his best friends. These friends of ours just fit us, and on top of that, are good, good people. They are kind, and real, generous and fun. They are hard workers and great parents. We are so blessed to know them.

Vall's job as a college basketball coach means that they sometimes need to move. And that just sucks. In anticipation for their move to Michigan, Destinee and I have been spending as much time together with the kids as possible. We have very seldom discussed the farewell, as it always seemed far away. I would leave each "play date" knowing that we would see them again in a day or two, and really until last night, was in denial that they were actually leaving.

We had dinner at Olive Garden, fighting back tears throughout the meal, and just trying to enjoy the last minutes of watching the kids play. Then after a very tearful goodbye in the parking lot, we waved to our friends as they drove away. Destinee says that she refuses to say goodbye, that we need to say "see ya later", and she is right. I blame preggo hormones times two on the fact that I was sobbing in the car watching them leave. Logan asked Brian "Alanna and Ava make Mommy cry?". What makes me the most sad is thinking that maybe Logan won't remember them well. I want him to remember his first best friends, and remember how much they have brought to our lives, and pick up that wonderful friendship right where it left off the next time we see them!

See ya later, Jordans! We miss you already!