Weekend Fun!

Last weekend we had a short but fun visit from our dear friend Staci and her daughter Katrina. After making our way through all of the awesome baby goodies they brought us, we started our time together by taking them out for lunch at Who Song and Larry's to celebrate Staci's birthday. Lunch was great, complete with some singing for the birthday girl!


After lunch we went to OMSI since Katrina is a big fan of science museums! She was so excited to see it all, and even swam with dolpins in the virtual ride machine. After spending a few hours exploring everything OMSI has to offer, we headed outside along the waterfront to watch the boats and get some fresh air.

The next morning Skip had to head off to work, so it was just us girls for a few hours. After Katrina's bath (at which time she wanted to play Hide-and-Seek, which we managed to do thanks to the shower curtain and liner) her and I played with Play-Doh. With a little bit of help from Aunt Sarah, Katrina made this masterpiece:



The visit was way too short, but it was so nice to see Staci and Katrina at least once before the babies are born! Hopefully they'll get back down in a few months to meet our little ones :)

Pass the oxygen please!

It has happened, I have run out of room for these babies to grow "up" and they must now do the rest of their growing "out". I can feel my baby girl's bum every time I lean forward, pushing against my lungs. It'll be slip-on shoes from here on out, although it's been over a month since I've worn shoes that required tying! I have an appointment with my doctor tomorrow and will get my belly measured, so we'll see how much I've grown in the last two weeks. I was measuring 35 weeks at 27 1/2 weeks, so we'll see where I'm at now at 29 1/2 weeks!!

On a good note, the babies have been quite active the past few days. Last night when I was laying in bed with my belly sticking up towards the ceiling they were both moving like crazy, and Skip saw my belly moving for the first time. I think it was little weird for him to think that it was our babies making my stomach move, but it was neat for him to see something so cool!

Big, Bigger....

As my second trimester comes to a close, there is ample evidence that these babies are growing well! At my appointment last Thursday, each baby was weighing in at just over 2 1/2 pounds. They both measured right at 27 weeks and 4 days, which is exactly where I was at that day, so they are each still growing as if they're the only baby in there! Oh, and I also found out that I'M measuring at 35 weeks, so I grew a whopping 3 weeks' worth in the two weeks between appointments. I'm now starting to get a little scared at what my "biggest" is going to be, but I will take it in order to have two healthy babies.

So here's my "bigger" belly at 27 weeks, 1 day:

Extra Room, Check!

With the babies coming in just a few short months, I gave Skip a project to work on during his vacation in July! With some help from our dear neighbor Monte, my dad and Skip's dad, our 10' x 12' shed is up and already getting filled up with our junk. It still needs paint, which should hopefully end up being a weekend project. Now we can clean out the nursery and start setting it up for our little ones!

Say that again doc...

I went in today for a quick doctor's appointment where they weigh me, measure me, and listen to the babies' heartbeats. I've been feeling good in my second trimester, despite the mad heartburn and the appearance of cankles. Oh, and getting winded just climbing a flight a stairs, that's a lot of fun too!

So back to my appointment...when my doctor came into the room and started looking at my chart, she said what I hear from a lot of people...that I don't look as far along as I am, especially for having twins. When it was time to climb onto the table and measure my belly though, I was shocked when she told me that I'm measuring at 32 weeks...that's almost 2 months farther along than I am!! I suppose I should consider myself lucky that I still have room to grow, which I'm going to be doing a lot of in the next few months. I can't wait for my next ultrasound to find out how big the babies are, considering they've been measuring big already.

I went ahead and took another goofy cell phone picture of my belly since Skip is standing on the roof of our new shed at the moment, putting on the roofing. Enjoy!!

25 weeks 4 days

Three Pounds of Babies

My growth ultrasound this morning was another great appointment! The purpose of today was to check the growth of each baby and make sure they are still doing well. Of course both of them were squirming around, making it difficult for the ultrasound tech to get her measurements! Both babies have also changed from being in a breech position heads down, but they each still have plenty of room to do their somersaults, which it feels like they are doing all the time!

Baby Girl (A) weighs 1 1/2 pounds and is in the 81st percentile for height and weight.

Baby Boy (B) weighs 1 1/2 pounds and is in the 86th percentile for height and weight.

I love my alien face babies! This one of the boy shows a front-face view with him laying on his left side with his left arm up to his face and his right arm out in front of his body.

Baby Kicks

After about 2 months of getting to feel the babies moving and kicking all by myself, Skip finally felt his first kick tonight. Our little guy was moving around quite a bit, and kicked his daddy square in the hand. Skip knew right away that he felt a baby kick, and it was so cool to see how excited he was to feel his baby! :)

The Belly is Here!

It seems that in the last few weeks I've gone from looking like I've had a few too many doughnuts to actually looking pregnant. So with that I'm going to give in and post some belly shots. I feel totally dumb taking pictures of myself in the bathroom, but I'm going to get over that because I'm ready to share my bump! So here's my baby belly at 21 weeks and 2 days. Our girl is on the left side of my belly and our boy is on the right side (for those of you visual folks!)

As for me I'm feeling good, especially now that school is out for the summer! The babies are practicing their kick-boxing every day and managing to kick my bladder several times a day, and I've felt a few of those kicks on the outside. Unfortunately, Skip is still waiting for his first greeting from the inside! It's been fun knowing that we're having a girl and a boy, and the question I get the most now is whether or not we've decided on names. We haven't even had a chance to think about names, and all the ones Skip mentions are ridiculous, but that's him! I don't know how many times I have to tell him that our son is NOT going to be named Clint Eastwood Stein! Luckily we still have some time to work on the names.

My next doctor's appointment is this Thursday, but it's just a quick visit to measure my belly and listen to the heart beats. My next ultrasound is in a few weeks and I can't wait to see our little ones again!

Another good appointment under my expanding belt!

I had my monthly doctor's appointment today, in which I was able to meet another one of the doctor's in the office. There are a total of four doctor's where I go, and they purposely schedule at least one appointment with each of the doctor's so that when d-day comes, there is no chance of a total stranger being the one to help deliver the babies. So today I met Dr. Gibbons, who is very quick and to the point, but also showed a sense of humor. I had my belly measured, which at this point seems to be growing by the hour! She also used the doplar to listen to each babies heartbeat, which was my absolutely most favorite part of the appointment!! Baby A must have been resting because it's heartbeat was in the 150's, rather than the 160 from last time. Baby B was right where it was at from the last appointment. I've gained a whopping three pounds, but at the rate the babies are growing I'm sure those numbers will be going up quickly!

Our next appointment is scheduled for June 6th, and that is when we'll find out the sex of each baby. We'll be having the anatomy scan done, so they'll be looking closely at all the little parts that make up each baby. From what the doctor has told me, we should expect the ultrasound for EACH baby to take at least an hour...holy cow! I hope they let me take bathroom breaks!

And I think I'm ready to make our first big purchase...carseats! Skip and I wandered over to Babies r Us last weekend and I found a carseat that I like, and it is gender neutral so there's no risk in buying them now. Just thinking about having to buy two of some of our big ticket items makes me want to start the shopping now so it's a bit easier on the checking account, plus it's so much fun!!

So no pictures this week...I still can't bring myself to post any pictures of me and my belly, so those of you who are far away, I apologize. Don't get me wrong, I love my belly, I just feel stupid taking a cell phone picture in the bathroom mirror! I'll get a pic up soon, or we'll just have to get together!

Life as we know it...

...is going to change. Come this October, Skip and I will be welcoming twins into our family! I am 15 weeks pregnant today and slowly starting to expand! My last ultrasound was just over a week ago and that was the first time that they looked like little people rather than little blobs. Both babies were measuring right on schedule and had wonderful heart rates (160 and 161). Skip and I are ecstatic to finally become parents, especially to twins! These are our miracle babies that came to us after our third embryo transfer with IVF. We'll find out if we're having boys or girls or one of each at my next ultrasound on June 6th, so stay tuned!

The babies already putting their heads together to see what kind of mischief they can get into!

Baby A

Baby B kept looking at the ultrasound, so we didn't get a great profile shot.

Baby A with their arm up to their head

I'm Here!!!

Just thought I'd surprise everyone and update my blog! It's embarrassing when I see the link to my blog on my friends' blogs and it shows just how long it has been since I've updated my page! So Happy Thanksgiving, Happy Black Friday, and just in case, Merry Christmas! :)

Life is Beginning to Look Normal Again

You know it's been a long time since you've updated your blog when...your husband who rarely pays attention to your blog says, "You haven't posted to your blog in a while." I have really good reasons though. First and foremost, moving into our new house amid a foot of snow created just a bit of stress! We are all moved in now and can almost fit one car into the garage. (Pics to show up soon!) Secondly, our computer decided to crash just before we were set to move. It's not fixed yet, but I've figured out how to at least use it.

Now that things are settling down again, I promise to be a good blogger and post once in a while! And I will definitely get some updated pics of our new house :)

Our House is Looking More Like a Home

I went by our house today for the first time in almost a week, and was pleasantly greeted by many changes. On the outside the concrete was poured for our driveway, front porch and back patio. The inside was even better! All of the cabinets have been installed in the kitchen, bathrooms and laundry room. The light fixtures are all up and running, and the walls are all painted! By the end of this week the floor and counters should be finished. All that leaves are some closet shelving, sinks, toilets and appliances! And to top it all off, our lending agent was just able to lower our interest rate by a full percentage point! That's going to lower our payment by about $130 a month and lower our closing costs by almost $1500!!! Yipee!

My large, open kitchen minus countertops and appliances.

This is the molding that is above all the windows and doors. Very nice! :)

All of our light fixtures are satin nickel finish with alabaster glass. This is our dining room light.

Our new neighbors are pretty friendly. They keep to themselves and are usually quiet, except for the occasional BAA BAA!

This Week's Progress

With Thanksgiving this week, not a whole lot was done at our house. We do now have a garage door and a lock on the front door, so no more free roaming around. Once we know that the garage door opener is working then we'll get the code so Skip and I can still get in. Also this week, the inside walls were painted and all the window trim was put in. The builders are anticipating being done the week of December 15th, so just a few more weeks and we should be signing the papers!!! I've slowly begun packing, and that's what my weekends will consist of for the next few weeks! The timing will work perfectly though because we'll get to move in while I'm on Christmas Vacation! We just need a few dry days so the rest of the concrete can get poured.

Happy Thanksgiving to all! I know I have a lot to be thankful for :)

Crapple Cup

I received a link for the following article from Amy today...HILARIOUS! Any Cougar fan will appreciate what it has to offer...what will you be doing this weekend? I particularly like #5 :)

How to survive Saturday's 'Crapple Cup'
11/18/2008
By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS / Associated Press
You are a die-hard Cougar or a rabid Husky, and your annual schedule revolves around the Apple Cup. Until this year, when the two teams are so bad that watching the game might be hazardous to your health.
But how can you spend Saturday in a meaningful way that keeps you away from the television screen or out of Martin Stadium in Pullman?
Some suggestions:
1, Starting at noon, bake pumpkin, apple and pecan pies from scratch for Thanksgiving. Those who are particularly frustrated can wring the neck of a turkey, in honor of their football team.
2, Remember that it took 101 meetings for the Apple Cup to get this bad.
3, Take a closer look at your 401(k) statement, which is probably doing better than either team this year.
4, Replay tape of WSU's Sept. 20 win over Portland State, the only victory either team has had this season.
5, Search Internet for low-cost movers to help Washington coach Tyrone Willingham, who has been fired.
6, Search Cheney for the playbooks that WSU coach Paul Wulff must have left in his old office at Eastern Washington.
7, Replay tape of WSU's 41-35 win in 1997 that sent Cougars to the Rose Bowl.
8, Slip across the border to Moscow to attend the North Dakota State at Idaho basketball game.
9, Be grateful that Washington finishes the season at Cal and WSU at Hawaii, meaning no more home games.
10, Watch some real Western football with BCS implications, such as Brigham Young vs. Utah or Boise State vs. Nevada.

And Now We Have...

paint, gutters and drywall! Early in the week our house had the gutters installed and all the trim was painted. By Friday the exterior paint was done and the inside was drywalled! All that's left to do on the outside is the stone work and concrete pouring for the driveway, front porch, and garage. Things should move along pretty well on the inside now too!



Thanks dad for the pictures!








Our living room and front door

Looking into the master

Kitchen with bathroom, laundry room, and pantry

Our House Looks Like a House

At least from the outside! The siding was put up last week, and the insulation has been installed inside. As soon as we have a dry day, the outside will be painted. Our paint colors will look similar to what the house looks like right now. The colors you see right now are the colors of the primer used on the siding. Our front door will be a dark olive green, and the stonework around the garage will be dark stone with some flecks of color.

I recently made my first purchase for our new home...a satin nickle wastebasket! Skip and I went to Linen's and Things for their liquidation sale, and that was the only thing that struck my fancy. I have started buying curtains after looking and looking and looking. There are just too many darn choices out there!

Our House is Coming Along!

These are the most recent pictures of our new house! This week they put the roof on and the windows in, as well as the plumbing pipes and the duct work. Soon we'll be meeting with the builder to choose our colors and other options! I'm really hoping that we'll be able to get moved in during Christmas break, assuming that the weather cooperates when it comes time to paint the house and pour the driveway!

Our Next Step

You are looking at what our new kitchen will look like in just a few short months! Skip and I had an accepted offer on a house today, and we are filled with excitement AND anxiety! A few months back we visited an open house for a new development. We really liked the houses, but the lots were terrible. So later we found out that the same builders were starting a new development at another location. Their first house in this new development is the one that Skip and I really liked, and the lot is much better. So we started playing the real estate game and finally settled on an agreement today! They started building the house a few weeks ago, and today the roofing was completed. With all the nice weather we have had, they are ahead of schedule and *should* be finished with the house by the end of the year! We've been taking pictures of the building process 'just in case', so those will be going up on my blog soon! I'm so excited that we'll be watching our first home materialize, and we'll have a say on some of the details. So now I have something exciting to blog about! I just hope that this journey isn't filled with too many bumps, and we can get into our house smoothly!

A Lesson in Math

This evening I was flipping through channels on TV when I came across a debate between our current state superintendent, Terry Bergeson and her opponent, Randy Dorn. The topic was the math WASL and changing the standards that students must meet in order to graduate from high school. Now, I'm against the WASL and think that it is not a good indicator of a student's knowledge. And Randy Dorn agrees with me. But anyway, back to the debate. Randy Dorn spoke about how our math curriculum needs to include calculations, which right now it doesn't. In Terry Bergeson's response, she spoke about how she had spent "1,000,000 hours talking with math folks about standards." So in my own curiosity, I wanted to find out just how long 1,000,000 hours was. With my handy calculator, I punched out the number to find that 1,000,000 hours is equal to about 41,666 days, or 114 years. She's been doing a lot of talking! I think this just goes to show the importance of math and the ability to add.