Elliot's 3

Today is Elliot's 3rd birthday! Hard to believe she's already 3 years old! WOW! We went to church this morning and she was so excited to go to her new big girl Sunday School class. Well, turns out it was a special day and there was NO Sunday school. Poor thing. Afterwards, we met the Hersman's at Peter Piper Pizza for Elliot's birthday lunch. They have some games and stuff there. (like a super mini Chucky Cheese) We had never been before so the newness was really exciting to El. When we got home, she had received a few presents in the mail that she got to open and was excited about that. We don't get her gifts until we celebrate her half birthday in June! :-)

Christmas Day

Elliot was so into Christmas this year. She woke up and the first thing she noticed was that SANTA brought her presents in her stocking. This alone would have been enough to make her day! She kept saying, "I told Santa I don't need any more treats, because I have treats--but he brought me some treats!" I think it took her about an hr. to get through her stocking (and there really wasn't that much in it!) Then, it was on to present opening. Granted, we took our time, stopped and ate, etc. but it took over 3 hours to do this! It really was fun watching her get so excited about everything. I was exhausted at the end. Her "big" present from us was a new bike. We saved it for last and she rode it for about 30 seconds, said it was scary, and went and got her tricycle out of the garage! So much for that idea! As of now, I'm thinking her favorite things are her view finder, blocks, & twin baby stroller. Wes worked hard all afternoon on making a turkey! He did a great job. He made a stuffed turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn, and rolls. We had the Morehouses over to eat and it was a really nice evening. I think we were all just exhausted by the end of the day. Click here for more pic's

Christmas Eve

We had such a great Christmas Eve this year. After my doctor's appt, we went home and Elliot got to open all her presents from her Nanny and Poppy! She had so much fun & got some great stuff, including fabulous new Happyville blocks that she loves. After nap time we all got ready and went to the Christmas Eve service at church. Afterwards we had the Hersmans & our friend Renny over for a light dinner. Wes had some traditional things they always ate, so we tried to prepare some of them (meat/cheese tray with sandwich rolls, shrimp ring, etc.) We even tried a new recipe for a delicious cheese ball! We also enjoyed our birthday cake for Jesus that we made. Elliot insisted He wanted strawberry, so that's what He got! :-) It was nice having the Hersmans over as we were friends in Korea. We got to meet their little guy Kelton the day he was born, and he got to meet Elliot the day that she was born! Not many people saw her that day either!! Click here for more pic's.

Babies Update

Figured I'd blog real quick about these little one's before it's time to post stuff about Christmas.

I had an appt. today and everything looks great! Baby A's heartrate was 136 and B's was 142. I'm starting to get convinced it's 2 boys :-) We'll see. Fundal height measured 31 cm, which is 2 weeks bigger than where I actually am. Doc. said it doesn't really matter much what you measure with twins. When he felt the sides of my belly (which are VERY full of baby all the way toward my back) he said I'd be real big before this was over. haha.

I had bloodwork done last week to check iron levels and for diabetis and all came back normal! YAY! Blood pressure is good AND I've gained 5 lbs. in 3 weeks! That's exciting. I'm just very thankful that everything is going great and there aren't any problems/signs of preterm labor.

I'm still working on convincing the doc. that Elliot needs to be in the room when the babies are born. Unsuccessful so far--but I told him I will keep asking. He said most 2nd babies are born within about 10 minutes of the first....maybe even 30, but he seemed in no hurry to get #2 out. Which is a nice relief to me. At least I know if the 2nd isn't born in 10 minutes they aren't going to rush into a c-section or anything crazy like that.

I also want to postpone the clamping of the cord and he said he'd compromise and wait 1 minute. I guess that's better than 5 seconds :-) I'll take what I can get...now it's just getting it to actually happen! Oh, and here's a fun fact: in most cases both babies are born, and then the placentas. I guess the placentas usually fuse together at some point and time even though the babies are in separate sacs. Neat, huh?!

Well, my next appt. is in 2 weeks and then I will start going weekly! Crazy, but Elliot will be in school 2 days a week so I'll have time to do all these appt's. I'll also have to start going to the hospital for non-stress tests once/week in 3 weeks. busy busy. Now, I just have to make it to at least 36 weeks cause that's when my mom gets out here! I'm pretty sure that's possible.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Cleaning Day

Elliot & I decided we'd clean up our house today. Okay, I decided and she played along :-) She straightened up her kitchen, playroom, bedroom, & living room. I was super impressed with her hard work so I told her she should call her Mimi and ask if she could open a Christmas present early (knowing it was a mop/broom/bucket set). She was allowed to open it & was SO excited about the mop and bucket! It was cute. We have 2 vacuums, so I always let her use the cordless one. However, while I vacuumed all she did was follow me around asking if she could mop! As you can see in the video, she was pretty into her mopping-she wouldn't even really talk to me. She even helped mop under the furniture where it was really yucky! (yah-I know--she's almost 3 and she still doesn't really like clothes! :-) Sorry!)

Baby Items

We made our first big purchase for the babies yesterday-a double stroller just like the picture! Oh my goodness, it's like pushing a bus! haha. At the store Elliot exclaimed "FOPPERS & MINT ARE GOING TO SIT THERE!" Hilarious. When we got home we put both the infant carriers in it to make sure they fit and it was hilraious...just makes it all more of a reality-2 babies! WOW! It pushes really nice though, so I can't complain....it's gonna be my ticket to freedom outta the house so I do appreciate it. :-)

It's so cool because people have been so generous with their left-over baby stuff. Friends have given us a swing, an infant carrier carseat, a high chair, and even a really nice crib! The only other thing I bought was the papasan swing I really wanted which I found on craisglist (LOVE that site) for $20!! It's in great condition! Now, we have 2 of all of those items we would have been set with if we were just having 1 baby :-)

Hangar Party

Last night we had the Christmas party for Wes' work. Elliot had a blast. They had bouncy houses, coloring, face painting (which we didn't have time to do), dinner, etc. Wes had the job of flying Santa in. We told Elliot ahead of time that Daddy was going to be Santa's helper and she said, "He's coming from the mall? Why can't he drive from Tucson?" Okay, maybe she's too smart for this Santa non-sense. haha. I asked her what present she wanted Santa to bring her and she said " A Daddy Pony." (Perfect--since that's what he was bringing her!) She already has one that she calls Mommy & one she says is Elli. OH, she also said she needed a Daddy pony hairbrush. Once she sat with Santa and got her present she wanted to open it. Of course this was totally fine. At first she said, "it's not a Daddy pony!" and seemed so sad, but as she got the paper off and realized there were like 5 little ponies in the package she said, "I got a bunch of Daddy ponies!" haha. Bet Wes never thought he'd be playing ponies and have them named after him when he was younger. He even had the priviledge of decorating their braids with beads! :-)

On the drive home I got 100 questions about where Santa was staying that night and how he was going to get there since Daddy wasn't flying him. She asked if he would be going back to the mall for the night? We debated over doing the whole "Santa" thing for a long time and have just decided to go with it for a bit, but never lose the true meaning of Christmas. It really is fun to imagine things with your child. However, sometimes I feel like a liar. hmm. It's cool to see how far her imagination can go though. This morning when she was eating breakfast she said, "I'm so happy I got to see Santa last night." She is totally enjoying it.

CLICK HERE FOR A FEW MORE PIC'S

Random Story: At play group today they were painting and a little boy came over to make a picture. She looked at him and said, "How come he don't have his life vest on?" HAHA--he didn't want to wear a SMOCK! :-)

A few short video clips of Wes (in the seat you can see in the cockpit) arriving with Santa:

28 weeks/Name Help

Well-I'm now 28 weeks pregnant with these kiddo's!! That means the 3rd TRIMESTER has officially begun!!! Praise the Lord! Maybe they'll come to meet us in about 10 weeks :-) (That's what I'm hoping for at least.) I think I'm already just about as big as I was when I had Elliot--and I thought I was so big then! HAHA! I was thinking today that I already have the weight of baby in me that some people have when their single child is born (about 5 lbs.) Crazy!

Thinking about 10 more weeks left brings me to this dillema: we have NO names for these children!! Do you guys have any ideas??? Seriously, if you have ANY suggestions we're open to hearing them. Of course, we do like something a little different that has a good meaning. If the name means "hole in a wall" or something like that, we probably won't use it. But, who knows....that may be better than nothing...and it's better than "Foppers" and "Mint" like Elliot calls them. I guess it's obvious...we REALLY need help!!

Santa & Nativity

We went to Tucson yesterday so Elliot could see Santa. As we walked up they were closing for lunch, but we were able to beg our way in. She spent the morning coloring a picture for Santa which she was able to mail to him. Snow shot out of the mailbox as she was sending her letter!! She thought it was great! After we left she told me, "Penguins live in the North Pole like where I sent my letter to." I was pretty impressed with the connection she made.

She also got to press the "naughty or nice" meter. I don't think it made much sense to her. haha. She still had fun. She then jumped right up in Santa's lap. My pictures are crappy of that, but she enjoyed talking to him. She told me he asked her "Do you want a puppy?" and she said no! haha. Silly girl.

She has named our babies Foppers & Mint. yah, very very random...but she consistently calls them that now. Yesterday afternoon she started talking to my belly and said, "Foppers and Mint, I saw Santa today!!" It was funny. Before she left on her hike with Wes this morning she had to give Foppers and Mint a high 5 (Which invovles 2 nice smacks on my belly), a kiss each, and a hug each. I think she's quite excited about being a big sister. She seems pretty interested in babies lately and always wants to hold them.

Last night we went to a "Walk Through Bethlehem" at a church. Kinda like a live Nativity. Elliot had a great time and seemed to take it all in. There were even goats, pigs, etc. to pet afterwards and she loved that! Then, we went on a hayride. I've never been on a Christmas hayride, but it seemed to excite her. We actually just rode through a neighborhood which was a little odd. When we got off she told us how she really liked the hayride! Guess things are more exciting to 2 yr. olds than to us sometimes. It's sweet to get to see her excitement about things lately. So much fun!

OH--I just couldn't leave this picture off. Elliot will kill me when she's a teenager, but this is seriously one of her favorite parts of the mall--the FAMILY bathroom that has "Kid-sized" toilets and sinks! HAHAHA

Babies Update

I had another level 2 ultrasound today and both babies looked great! It sure is fun to see them. It was hard to capture their little faces on camera today. They are getting so big. Here's a picture of each and their little "stats:"

BABY A

*In the picture it's face is on the right and it is looking at you. (it's not easy to make out-sorry). The pointy part in the middle is the chin.


*Baby is head-down!-and hopefully it stays like that. I know it's been like that for weeks. It's legs are curled under it, and boy does it know how to use them to kick me good!


*Weighs approx. 2lb. 2oz.


*Was opening and closing it's mouth during the u/s.


*Started opening it's eyes while we were looking at it.




BABY B

*Picture is a profile of the baby. Hand/arm are at the top, head bottom right. It's nose looks really long in the middle. :-)


* Weighs approx. 2lb. 1oz


*Is in a crazy position squished on the right side of my body. In some picture, you could see Baby B's feet right by A's head. This baby is almost all the way to my back on the right side and up in my ribs.


*In general, B is much calmer than A. Now that I've seen it's position, It's probably just too squished to move a lot! haha.

*************

We are so thankful that they are growing healthy and that my body is carrying them well so far. They measured my cervix and said it's very long! YAY! That means no shortening or dilating! Earlier this week I started having Braxton Hicks contractions. I began having them around this time with Elliot too! I got up from the computer and it looked like someone vacuum sealed my belly. It was in the most ackward shape and super hard. Just part of my body preparing to birth these little one's in just a few months.

Cookie Party & Zoo LIghts

Elliot's cookie party day finally arrived!! She's been looking forward to it for weeks, so when she woke up on Saturday we finally got to say, "Yes! It's today!" She couldn't wait for her friends to get here. We had a nice time decorating all the cookies that we made on Friday (gingerbread men, snowflakes, Christmas trees, Starts, & circles) and enjoying the potluck. Click HERE for all the pic's.

Rolling out the dough for our sugar cookies:

Hardly able to wait to get into the cookies (silly face):

After the party we ventured to Tucson with Beth and her kids to go to Kohl's and see the Christmas lights at the zoo! The kids had a great time at the zoo:

Peanut Butter Balls

As a family tradition-Wes must have his mom's peanut butter balls. The last 2 years he's even made them himself, and this year Elliot got to join in on the fun! Another tradition for her to have. It was messy, but they had fun mixin' up all the stuff. ooey gooey.

26 weeks

I had an appt. yesterday and FINALLY didn't have to have an ultrasound done. It was so nice. (Even thought I have a level 2 ultrasound next Monday which takes about an hour). They listened to the babies hearts with the doppler and the heartrates were 145 and 154. I'm beginning to think there's at least 1 boy in there since Elliot's was never that low. When the nurse was listening to the hearts Elliot declared, "We have boys!" It was funny.

I've gained another 5 lbs. since my last appt. so that is good too! I am still measuring 2 weeks larger than I am (fundal height was 28cm.)

I'm a little bummed about the whole hospital setting still. For some reason I just can't get over it lately. I was asking some questions at my appt. and not only do I have to have the babies in the operating room, but I have to be on the O/R table! Do you know how awful, skinny, hard, FLAT those things are? I'm just kinda perplexed how you give birth on something like that? I asked the doc "how, squatting?" And he kinda ignored me. haha. He said they'll let me have lots of pillows--oh wow--thanks so much! UGH!!

I keep trying to talk Wes into doing an unassisted homebirth, but he's not on board--not one bit! :-) I understand why, because I know it's kinda crazy, but I also know we could do it. Maybe I've been too inspired by my hypnobabies MP3's I've been listening too! Which I said I'd review for you. The affirmations is very nice & inspiring. I've only done the hypnosis once and fell asleep. Gotta try it again.

New Traditions

Lately, I'd been wanting to do some kind of advent calendar with Elliot. However, I wanted it to have some kind of meaning behind it. Target had a sale on an advent nativity with the boxes you open and it was perfect. I thought it would come with some kind of Bible story for each day...but no luck with that one. Maybe you're supposed to put candy or something in each day.

Then--I remembered something... I had been wanting to incorporate the Jesse Tree into our Christmas somehow. When we were in Korea, we made the ornaments as part of our PWOC Christmas celebration and I loved it. The whole point is that for the season of advent it goes over the geneology of Jesus. I like it because it's a little different than just reading the story of Jesus' birth, the 3 wise men, etc. and goes back to the Old Testament, beginning with Jesse the father of David. I found a few different ideas online and went with one that seemed super kid friendly. It has a little devotion for each day which I made into a booklet and had printed. There is also ornaments you can print out so I printed them, shrunk them down, colored, then laminated them. Now, each of our boxes in our advent calendar has an ornament to put on our Jesse Tree (which is just our table center piece).

I'm so excited to have a new little tradition we can do with our kids each Christmas. I'm sure as they get older, we can go into more detail. My point in sharing this, is to see if you all have any other ideas that you do with your kids? I'd love to learn some more things we can do at this fun time of year! So, all you bloggers/commenters our there--share what you've got! :-) OH--and if anyone is interested in making one of these, I can email you the file for the booklet as a word document. It took me forever to get the formatting right. haha

Our Advent Calendar & Devotion Booklet:

Here's Our Jesse Tree!