Wednesday, October 27, 2010

27 week belly

Whoa Nelly, look at that belly! 27 weeks 2 days.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

A little hair and a lot of chub!


Raise your hands if you love chubby babies! I was hoping for at least 2 pounds per baby, so I was pleasantly surprised when I was told that the babies are estimated to weigh 2 lbs 15 oz each! Baby B was measuring at 29 weeks 6 days, while Baby A was measuring at 28 weeks 5 days. Both babies heads were measuring over 30 weeks... BIG OL' NOGGINS, just like their sweet brother. Baby A has peach fuzz hair, barely visible, and Baby B has lots of hair! The main difference with positioning is that Baby A is now breech. He is folded up like a little baby-taco. His bottom is way down low with his feet up by his head. I am not sure what the plan is with breech/vertex twin positioning in terms of delivery, but hopefully we will be able to try for a natural birth.

Take a look at these chubby little cheeks!










This picture is the best! Tushy on the left and head on the right!

Monday, October 25, 2010

Um yea... a week behind

26 week 1 day belly from last week.



The month of October has been crazy busy. Visitors or traveling every weekend, swim lessons, doctor and dentist appointments.... just not enough time in the day. I am 27 weeks and officially in my 3rd Trimester! I will post my 27 week picture this week as well as the almost completed nursery! I have to say, my kids rooms are my favorite rooms in my house.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Logan's Bad Hair Day

I am not exactly sure what Logan had to do during his 3 hour nap to achieve hair of this caliber, but it had to be something awesome. I mean, seriously, this is some crazy hair.




Sunday, October 10, 2010

25 weeks

I think in the last 2 weeks I have gone from normal looking pregnant lady to torpedo belly. My belly button is officially non-existent. Sometimes it is a neutral, and sometimes an outie. Either way... it's not cute.

Along with some unseasonably warm weather for October in Iowa (can anyone say 90 degrees?!), my mom came to visit this weekend! Friday night we went and got pedicures where I got some extra good treatment that included the nice man working on my sausage feet stretching out my cramping calf muscles for me. Brave guy he was. Then my mom and I enjoyed a yummy dinner on the outside patio of The Atlas.

Yesterday was my Baby Shower! Erin and Carrie were so thoughtful to throw a shower in honor of our twins. I had some wonderful friends, some who traveled from other states, come to help us celebrate. It was a relaxing and nice shower, and we got some amazingly cute and practical gifts for our babes. We are so blessed to have so many people who love our little guys already.


24 weeks 5 days








Last night we were picking up some dinner and the man behind the counter asked "So, when are you due? Like... tomorrow?". I told him I am due in January, then had to pick his jaw up off the floor. Nice.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Really big boy bed

My baby is a boy. He is a little boy now that goes to the bathroom in the toilet, uses a fork with metal prongs, can sit in a chair without a seatbelt at a restaurant, and can sleep in a bed that I can fit in too. When did this happen? No seriously, someone tell me when this happened, because seriously? I missed the the day when he went from baby to boy.

Age two-and-a-half is amazing. It is amazing how much Logan can say and do, and it is amazing that I don't lose my mind on most days. With the brilliant things that Logan can say and do, he also can have an attitude and a passion for what he wants that sometimes makes me retreat to a bathtub with some lovely Zen music and a bottle of merlot (which is highly unlikely considering the fact that I am 6 months pregnant). But really, regardless of those days when I want to pull my hair out, the boy amazes me, and fills my heart so full of love and pride, and pure joy that I often just feel like I am going to burst. I know that every parent feels this way, but I just wonder how in the world I am going to split myself evenly between my three children? It is something I worry and stress about, yet at the same time, I already feel so much love for these two boys growing inside of me.

Being pregnant with twins is amazing. Being pregnant is amazing. After all we have gone through to grow our family I really don't take any part of this miracle for granted. Having two little babies moving inside of me is the most indescribable feeling. Is it possible that I already feel like these two boys are going to have such different personalities? Since the babies are both head down, I have four feet constantly kicking my left side. Parker, the baby on top, is much more active. His kicks and punches are stronger and more frequent. He responds more to touch and sounds, and startles easier. Cooper, the babe on the bottom, is more mellow. His movements are lighter, he doesn't seem to startle quite as easily, but is most definitely taking up the majority of the womb space! Is that not amazing?! Now when they are both moving at the same time, in different directions, in different ways... that's when mama feels like she is on a bad boat ride. Even so, I wouldn't change it for anything in the world, and daydreaming about what these two little boys are going to look like, what they are going to feel like in my arms, and what I am going to feel like holding my three baby boys in my lap for the first time... it's completely wonderful and overwhelming at the same time. I can't wait to touch their soft skin, and feel their sweet baby faces against mine. I can't wait to nurse them both for the first time, and listen to their sweet breath while watching them sleep. The newborn stage is over in a second, and soon I will have more boys in really big boy beds. There is just nothing more amazing than being a mom. Nothing.

Monday, October 4, 2010

Fall recipes

I love cooking with pumpkin. It is versatile, healthy, and really just yummy. Two of my favorite pumpkin recipes are Pumpkin Black Bean Soup and Pumpkin Muffins. The best part? These two recipes are rediculously easy, fast, and really quite healthy!

This is where I got the pumpkin black bean soup:
Ingredients
2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, 1 turn of the pan
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 cups canned or packaged vegetable stock, found on soup aisle
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes in juice
1 can (15 ounces) black beans, drained
2 cans (15 ounces) pumpkin puree (found often on the baking aisle)
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon curry powder, 1 palm full
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin, 1/2 palm full
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, eyeball it in the palm of your hand
Coarse salt
20 blades fresh chives, chopped or snipped, for garnish
Directions
Heat a soup pot over medium heat. Add oil. When oil is hot, add onion. Saute onions 5 minutes. Add broth, tomatoes, black beans and pumpkin puree. Stir to combine ingredients and bring soup to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and stir in cream, curry, cumin, cayenne and salt, to taste. Simmer 5 minutes, adjust seasonings and serve garnished with chopped chives.

***

I don't use chives, and sometimes don't use curry powder if I am out. I use milk instead of cream, 2 cans of beans instead of 1 (and sometimes leave one can whole, not pureed). I also use chicken stock instead of veggie, and sometimes add some sweet potato or carrot puree. Serve with Parmesan Crusted grilled cheese with tomatoes - great for dipping. Yum.

Pumpkin Muffins:
one can of pumpkin (or 2 cups pumpkin puree), 1/2 cup applesauce or apple puree, 1 egg and 2 egg whites, 1tsp cinnamon, 1 box yellow cake mix, 1 mashed banana. Mix all together and put in muffin tin or bread tin bake at 375 until toothpick comes out clean. I am really not sure how long I baked it for. I just kept a close eye on them. The regular recipe called for 3 whole eggs, 1 cup pumpkin, and oil instead of applesauce but I found the modifications made the muffins super moist and a bit healthier. Enjoy! Need to indulge? Top with dark chocolate frosting and make them cupcakes. Absolute perfection. Want to change it up? Add some dark chocolate chips. Yum. Yum.