Moving right along: Week 23 with Twinners

Here's the latest scoop on the babies and the bump. Oliver and Isabel are growing well. Izzy is still sitting on Ollie's head haha. They are both VERY active now! They are constantly moving, turning, kicking, especially at night. I feel like there's a disco going on in my belly when I lie down to sleep, haha. It's fun to feel them and usually be able to judge who's who now, based on where the kicks are. The majority of kicks are usually either right behind my belly button area (Izzy), or low down on my far left side (Ollie). And whenever Lucy's on my lap and leaning against my belly, one or both of the twins will start pushing back against her. Lucy hasn't noticed yet, but I'm excited to see what she thinks when she does.

The comments of how big my tummy's getting are coming in for sure! The "How are you feeling?" and "Wait. When were you due, again?" are two most common at church. The YSA members are amazed, curious, and kind about the pregnancy. It's funny to see the bizarre looks on some of their faces as I answer questions, or reaffirm that there are in fact TWO in there, haha.

I'm currently 5 months plus some. I'll be closer to 6 months along at Thanksgiving. Do I feel like I'm 8 months along, rather? Yes, yes I do. :)

Pregnancy symptoms at the forefront of each day:

• ACHING ribs. Oi. I feel like my ribs are trying to expand, and occasionally I wonder if they could even break or crack.
• A few of my maternity clothes are even starting to get tight haha! Oh boy.
• Balance is worse, and leaning/bending over is a challenging feat.
• Getting winded easily
• Tossing and turning a lot in the night
• Stretching ligament pain in the belly
• Frequent Braxton Hicks contractions
• Backaches
• Acid reflux (bleh!)
• Vivid dreams (last night it was trying to save a cat called "Baby" while being chased by a black bear)
• My belly button is pretty much gone. Completely flat. Weird thing to imagine unless you've seen one stretched completely flat before. 

Some favorite things these days:

• When Sam talks to the twins
• Lucy snuggles/hugs
• good food
• easy to grab snacks and veggie trays
• lots of pillows
• easy-to-put-on shoes
• my Yellowstone nightgown
• listening to conference talks
• working on stuff at home
• practicing prayers with Lucy
• Christmas music
• seeing Sam's family and anticipating seeing mine again next week!

November Excitement

It's official, folks! We MOVED!!!

It all happened rather fast, and we were totally led to many tender mercies. Everything worked out quickly and efficiently. We found a wonderful apartment that we love (and that's bigger!), and a couple accepted our old place to rent.

Moving happened over the course of 2 weeks. We gradually packed up things and took small loads over to the new place. We bought a few food/snack items and brought over some toys and books so Lucy would feel more at home when we went over there. And we even ate dinner there a couple times before actually moving in. Lucy adjusted SO well, better than we could have even hoped, and we're relieved and so grateful.

Lucy enjoyed packing and unpacking. We all got to make messes all day leading up to the move, and she was a big helper, putting things in boxes and taking them out again. I think we packed the house 1 1/2 times. :)

Trying out the new area rug for the living room! Lucy would run around and flop on it. Then she'd pat the ground, motioning us over, and ask us all to "go seep" haha. It's a soft one. :)

The BIG moving happened on two different Saturdays. For part one, Sam's family all came and packed, cleaned, and moved a lot over. We got the kitchen mostly set up with dishes, utensils, appliances, etc. Katie and Deanna were amazing, vacuuming off the tops of all the cabinets, scrubbing grease off the stove's hood/overhang thing, and so much more. Everyone did so much. And after that day, the moving stress significantly went down. :)

For part two: the final moving day, Sam's parents, Spencer and Katherine, our dear friends Paul and Amber, and 10 guys from the YSA ward we're serving in all came. It was an army!!! I made a donut run early in the morning, and the crew all arrived by 8:45. In just a matter of a few hours, everything was completely out and the apartment was cleaned. I tried to balance working with resting, as I've been having a lot more Braxton Hicks contractions these days, and found it  quite difficult to balance! I was so touched by the love and hard work everyone selflessly put in for us. Everyone was moving, lifting, cleaning and scrubbing, vacuuming, playing with Lucy, and more. Lucy cried a little bit when the guys started taking our couches out, but a big snuggle and the realization she now had ample room to run around inside stopped the concerned tears. And moving day became fun for her after that. Our hearts are full and we realize how truly blessed we are to have such supportive family and friends.

Lucy's Room

Lucy approves :D

Yesterday while Sam was in school, I worked in the second room (aka the twins' room) for a while and it went from looking like this: 

To that:

Progress! ... Still things to do and to figure out what to do with so much STUFF. We've been feeling purge mode coming on.... and an added bonus is living really close to the DI now. ;) We'll be visiting that place soon and bearing gifts.

Our messy bedroom! Unpacking and organizing still in progress.

 The living room and entry . . .

The eating area/computer area . . . (LOVE that chalkboard wall!)

And the kitchen.

When we woke up from our second sleep in our new home, we found a white surprise outside! SNOW! It snowed most of the day, and stuck around on the ground and cars for a few hours after. The mountains looked frosted and beautiful. Lucy was totally captivated, watching the snow fall from the windows in each room, exclaiming "RAIN! RAIN!" 

As I was making breakfast, I kept peeking around the corner to find Lucy like this, entranced by the snowfall. :) It was the cutest thing ever.

Some things I must share :)

Watching Lucy change and grow every day is unbelievable. She's transforming into a fully fledged toddler. The baby is pretty much gone now, and while it's a little sad it's also so much fun! It's amazing. I love that she's becoming more independent. She's such a smartie and understands a lot.

Some of the things we tell her to do often includes "go get socks!" "Sit down on your bum" "bring your food back to the kitchen, please" and "can mommy have your toothbrush now?" For a not even 2-yr-old, she's really quite good at obeying, which warms my heart. Occasionally she'll flat out say "no!" But mostly she's playful and goofy when she tests me. ;)

Lately she's been cracking us up over her new sayings. She's starting to put phrases together and combining words. Here are some of the more recent words and phrases she's enjoying lately:

• burp
• a toot
• poop
• kick a ball!
• kick it!
• ooooootay...
• oh-right (alright)
• pair time (prayer time)
• aaaaMEN!
• tat (cat... usually refers to a spelling game on my phone with a cat face on the icon)
• all done

There are so many more! Her vocab is ever expanding, especially as she starts to copy our mannerisms and words more and more (we gotta be careful! haha).

I feel bittersweet when I think this is Lucy's last fall as an only child. We are thrilled to be blessed with three children. But there's just something special about that first one, and the time you have to devote to just him/her. We are striving to make memories and love and enjoy this time as we prepare and look forward to our two babies coming in just 4ish months!

Fall is Here: The Latest Happenings

PUMPKIN SPICE IS IN THE HOUSE! Fall is here and I'm loving it! It's cooled off a bit and has even rained a few times (pretty strong rains and winds, too). Lucy's over her first nasty case of strep throat (yuck!), so we are relieved and feeling good about life now! Poor kiddo. Strep was basically the worst cold plus awful stomach flu all in one . . . plus constant whining and grabbing at her throat in pain. It was so sad to see her lying around the ground, zero energy, rarely cracking smiles. SO not like Lu! But she was miserable. Luckily, a spike in temperature prompted us to visit the doctor late one night, and she tested positive for strep. A few doses of antibiotics later she was a new person. :) I am SO grateful for modern medicine and kind pediatricians who deal with cranky babies late at night on the weekend.

As the Fall arrives, so do more pregnancy symptoms! I've had a perpetually stuffy nose for weeks now, usually a bit bloody whenever I blow my nose (thanks to increased blood flow swelling up my nasal passages). And I did something to my back that's caused pinching pains in my lower back and tailbone! I went to the chiropractor but it's still there. So, I've been extra careful lately, and not up to as much between my back and growing belly. Lucy has been very patient with me, though she's pretty disappointed when I won't pick her up and swing her around as much anymore. When daddy comes home, that's the first thing she wants—rough housing and swinging around! And his keys. Sam is such a sweet dad, comes in from school and work and the first thing he does is give me a big kiss and workout his arms with a giggly toddler. :)

Because I haven't been feeling quite as strong and "up to stuff" as before, I've had to be a little creative with how Lucy and I spend time during the day . . . which has actually been a blessing! I've been able to think of new things for her and us to do. And I've been giving her little bits of more freedom, which she's handled well. Some fun things we love to do during the day include:

• read lots of storybooks!
• cook/bake together
• snuggle
• do laundry together
• take naps
• clean and tidy things
• puzzles
• toys
• dance to music! Lucy twirls and twirls.
• tickle chase/tag
• coloring and stickers
• play with pipe cleaners in a colander
• play with a jar of rainbow pompom puffs
• work on letters, numbers, colors, etc. Lucy loves counting to 10, and she's almost there! "one, two, four, sik, eight, NINE! ten."
• watch Curious George or Elmo's World (her new favorites beside Veggie Tales Noah)
• eat/snack
• go on outings

I've also tried a couple new hairstyles in her hair finally!

A week and a half ago we went to Sam's mission reunion. It was so much fun seeing familiar faces (along with a ton I don't know). President and Sister Irwin are the sweetest couple in the world! They're so kind and gentle, giving us all warm hugs. Sister Irwin held my face and asked "How are you, sweets? Are you well?" :) They're from England, and President Irwin is actually now the temple president of the London temple. But every couple years they come to Utah while the temple's being cleaned and hold a reunion for the Czech/Slovak missionaries. Lucy enjoyed running around, getting smiles and attention from random people, and eating potato chips.

Us with Sister Irwin :)

Yesterday I was a bakin' foo' and cooked allllll day pretty much! I went to the store with Lucy in the morning. She's at the stage now where trying to keep her contained in a shopping cart is like wrestling a feral cat. She does NOT like to be trapped, contained, cornered, forced to sit down, or captured in any way. Usually we insist, and it ends in tantrums and loud angry cries for  freedom the ENTIRE shopping trip.... accompanied by stares, glances, and "awww's" from other shoppers. Yesterday I was simply not up to it, and not up to lifting her more than necessary. So, I gave her some freedom and let her use her own two feet alongside me. And you know what? She was awesome! She was completely thrilled and happy/smiley the entire time, and stayed right by me. She helped me push the cart, grabbed things and threw them in the cart, and helped me unload our purchases onto the conveyor belt. Each time she'd stray, I'd gently call her back or grab her little hand, and she'd comply and return to my side. I was so proud of her. I know every time probably won't be that fantastic and easy, but I'm so grateful yesterday was! And it's the beginning of a new stage. After all, when the twins come, she'll need to get used to walking and staying by us more.

I made homemade applesauce in the crockpot with Ben and Katie's AMAZING homegrown apples.

YUM!

Plus about 8-9 dozen cookies for Sam's grad program. Every Wednesday they have a seminar and soup kitchen lunch, and people sign up to bring treats each week. When Sam signed up I told him I was more than happy to make treats for him to bring. That led to me getting a little carried away, perhaps. But it was fun! Kickin' craisin cookies, Butterfinger peanut butter cookies, and good ol' chocolate chip.

Last but certainly not least . . .. OUR BABIES ARE HEALTHY!

Baby A (right) and Baby B (left)

Seeing our twins on the ultrasound Monday was so incredible!! They were so cute and squirmy, wiggling and adjusting around in there. Baby A was taking up space, and Baby B was just nestled in the corner, partially behind Baby A. They're growing well and right on schedule (Baby B was only slightly bigger, both weighed about 4 oz), organs functioning, no cleft lip/palate. We saw their heartbeats, their brains, bones, their little bodies and faces! They are so real, and we love them so much. 

And..... (drumroll)..... we saw the genders!!! Because I was only 14.5 weeks, they said it was still a bit early to see in great detail, so they'd want to confirm with another ultrasound around 20 weeks (5-6 weeks from now... ugh!). But.... we totally saw the genders, they saw, and our gender ultrasound pictures are labeled! We haven't announced on Facebook or anything yet, because we figure we might as well wait till 20 weeks and they confirm for sure. But our family members and a few friends know. And we couldn't be happier! :)

So many changes, so much happiness

Boy, life sure doesn't stop, does it? Some days I feel like I'm flying by the seat of my pants, while other days I feel like life has stood still. It's really a combination of things that have put me in the weird time warp feeling. First of all, I haven't been working much these days, and the daily "schedule" is pretty off and on due to me feeling off and on each day. Pregnancy has been good to me, much easier than for many, but this one is definitely more "real" than when I was expecting Lucy. I've actually felt sick, queasy, headachy, short of breath, and just weak/yucky off and on. I'm not hanging my head over the toilet every ten minutes, thankfully! But I'm on the couch a lot more than I want to be. :) In those moments time seems to be slow.

But watching our sweet daughter grow and change so much every day has made me feel desperate to grab time and hold on tight! She learns new words and understands more concepts every week. She's constantly getting stronger, more capable, more independent, and more coordinated (phew). It's incredible to watch! From conception (and before) to forever, life is such a miracle and awe.

Our little fearless girl! Her first time on a playground was a total success.

Some of my favorite Lucy-isms right now include her new variety of dance moves, her fake cheezer cry when she wants attention, her hugs and kisses, how she sings "EIEIO", the way she tries to pronounce "Q", how she loves walking backwards and with her eyes closed, and how she lets us hold her hand walking around in public places. She's more independent, but she's also become a little more tolerant to our parent-isms too, which has been nice. :) 

As we watch her develop, we are also thinking of our twins developing inside me! We are so thrilled to be having twins. Yes, it'll be an adventure, and yes there will be challenges. But WE ARE SO EXCITED!!! At 23, I feel so young to be having 3 kids soon (I'll be 24 when the twins are born). But the Lord works in wonderful ways that are not always (if ever) anticipated. :) And I'm glad.

That belly is a good month or more ahead of schedule than it was last time! It's popping out quick!

We are so excited to find out what type of twins they are, and the genders! My prediction is either identical boys or one of each gender. But we'll see! I really don't know. I'll be 11 weeks this Friday. September 8th is my next appointment, and a month from then we'll find out the stats on the twins (at my 16 week appt.). A month and a half! A month and a half! We might be able to see the genders then in we're lucky.

What we do know about them includes:

• they are in separate inner sacs (not sure about the outer sac yet). This is very good! When twins are both in the same inner sac together it's a much higher risk pregnancy for me and them. So lower risk is a relief!
• They each have heartbeats! We saw both their hearts pulsing/beating side by side on the ultrasound. It was so amazing and unbelievable.
• Right now they should be about the size of prunes or small limes.
• They have elbows! Still working on the knees.
• tooth buds in gums, nail beds, and hair follicles are already forming
• Lots of working organs already
• they look more human and less amphibian! The webbing between their fingers and toes are going away now.
• They're twins
• We love them

And in case anyone's interested . . . This time around, just gimme that savory/salty/starchy goodness! I still want treats of course, but not quite like last time. This time I just want FOOD! I have a lot more food aversions, but it's nice to crave real food more often.

Also of note . . .

We said farewell to our beloved turquoise car and joined the ranks of minivan families! It was so sad to see our little FIT go. "Perry" we called it. I'll miss never having to remember where I parked. But alas, three car seats would NOT fit in it. So we are enjoying our van, which feels ridiculously spacious for only three people haha. But it'll fill up in the future!

Also, I HAVE to say I am so incredibly grateful for Sam. He is a complete champ, and the best husband I could have ever hoped for. He is constantly giving, serving, helping, loving, shoulder massaging, listening, forgiving, and laughing with me as I try to feel more like myself. He even surprises me with beautiful lilies when I'm feeling yucky and grumpy. He is a total keeper and I am so blessed. :)

Corn and Hats

Our 17 month old SPONGE!!!

Our sweet daughter is almost a year and a half. She's growing up so fast and becoming her own little person. Since I've been terrible at journaling for the last . . . while . . . I've decided I HAVE to record some things and milestones about her on the blog!!!

Lucy is just amazing me every day! She LOVES to learn, and she focuses intently when she can tell we're actively trying to teach her something. Once we're slowing down, repeating ourselves, pointing, sounding out letters, acting out motions, etc—Lucy goes into learning mode. You can see it in her face. It's really cool! She's learned so many new words, signs, and concepts lately. Here's a list of many things Lucy knows and can do.  I know I'll forget stuff, so I'll probably update it here and there if I remember anything I left out. :)

• Vocabularly she says or tries to say: Hi!, yeah, dada, mama, what's that, door, cheese, Jesus (sounds a lot like cheese), amen, circle (grl-grl), cracker (Kah!), shoes (shu-shu), blueberry (buburu), avocado (haha! from acagaba to abagacba and many other variations), "R" (her favorite letter), "O" (her second favorite letter sound, though every letter and number is currently R or O), ball, food ("fffffff!"), water ("wa-wa"), gold fish ("ishies!), help ("hup!), all done (she always whispers this, for some reason), no, peekaboo (new as of today)
• Signs for: please, milk, more, food
• Does animal sounds for: lion (rar!), tiger (also rar!), bear (grrr or rar!), horse (she says "Neeee!" and then clicks her tongue haha), dog, cat, sheep, cow, elephant, monkey, snake
• Letter Recognition: Yesterday Sam was reading a "Where's Baby" book with her, and today I watched her pull the book out, open it up to various pages, and every time the word "where" was, she'd point to the big "W" and say "Wh! Wh!" Amazing.
• She frequently points to big letters. She notices symbols more and more now. The other day we were walking into Babies R Us, and she look up at the big store letters and points, exclaiming "R! R!" 
• She RUNS everywhere! She has one speed when were out and about: lightning. She's like a floppy chaotic ping pong ball, and trying to contain her in a store when she's on her own feet is near impossible and often results in tears, haha. She just wants to be free and run run run to the horizon and beyond.
• Music and dancing is another favorite. She loves music and dancing so much! She dances, likes to play on the keyboard, and sometimes hums a little. When others are singing or dancing, she's captivated. And whenever Sam pulls me into the kitchen to dance, Lucy watches enthralled, smiling, laughing, clapping, and usually runs up and asks to be picked up to join in the fun! :)
• She LOVES the park and being outside. She picks dandelions and blows them, then runs up and offers them for us to blow. She likes ladybugs, and has had one crawl around her arm. Lucy has a special love of all flowers. Every time she sees flowers, she points them out excitedly and runs over to them to sniff the petals. 
• Communication and expressing herself: she has really been big into increasing communication with us. If we aren't looking at her, she'll come and grab our faces and turn them to her so we're looking eye to eye. Often she'll say "hi!" in a high-pitched voice. She actively tried to make me laugh and will hold my face so I'm looking at her and then sway side to side super fast and make goofy faces. Once I start laughing she stops and giggles and squeals too. When she's angry or frustrated about something we do, she'll growl and sometimes bite her hand and then point at us (this one is a true self-expression of her anger or frustration, it just came out one day and it's what she does every now and then if she'll really mad).  She also does tantrums, flopping to the ground, sometimes not breathing for a while and turning purple. When she's really happy about something we do or say, or if we guess what she's trying to ask for correctly, she'll scrunch her nose and grin and run up and throw her arms around us in a big hug (I LOVE THIS!).
• Favorite shows: Super Why (all-time fave), Winnie the Pooh, Baby Einstein, sometimes Curious George
• Movies she has seen: to my knowledge the movies she has seen include Finding Nemo, Frozen, Rocket Man (UGH!), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, Enchanted (I fast forwarded the scary parts with Narissa), and half of Air Buddies. She doesn't watch movies often and neither do we. But she loves her shows, especially Super Why. It's her favorite and she asks for it every day haha.
• Favorite songs: Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree (she does ALL the actions with it!), I Am a Child of God, Row Row Row Your Boat, Caspar Babypants songs, and a random little ringtone Sam created with GarageBand on the computer. Whenever it plays she goes nuts, clapping and kicking her feet.
• Favorite foods: Blueberries, grapes, avocado, banana, cheese, raisins, plain white yogurt. Honestly, she's a really great eater, and eats a variety of good foods and snacks. Occasionally she'll be picky, but she never refuses the before-mentioned foods. She also loves black beans, funny enough, and will devour a tray of black beans and rice from costa vida, haha.
• Junk foods she's tried: cake, ice cream, pizza (is it really a junk food, though?), chocolate chips (they were dark!), whipped cream, chicken nuggets, and french fries.
• Favorite toys or "toys": her binkybear, her white and pink puppy, megablocs, balls, and KEYS! Keys are the big one now. She always wants people's keys, and once she has them—good luck getting them back. She knows keys go into locks, and tries very hard to open the mailbox, front door, and car doors when she has keys. She also enjoys anything with a screen, of course, and knows how to swipe to unlock my phone.
• Hairstyles we do in her hair: her hair is still pretty straight and short on top, and long and curly in the back, so we're a little limited still in hairstyles, but we get creative and it's fun. Her mullet is so long that we can do lots of little curly ponytails and piggytails in back. We also do the fountain on top sometimes, and often just leave it down, fro-ey, and free.
• Other random concepts she understands: her bedtime routine, if she's nakie it means bathtime (which she loves), shaking her head often means "no", putting on shoes means going outside, walking past our rose bushes means we're getting in the car and not playing outside (she usually whines or cries a little)
• When we say prayer, she bows her head and clasps her hands together for a few seconds before continuing whatever she was previously doing. Progress. :)
• TEETH: She has 8 teeth fully in, 2 that have cut through, and 2 more that will cut through soon. So before too long she'll be up to 12 teeth.
• Privacy: she likes her privacy sometimes. Every now and then she'll go into her room and close the door. We'll go peek and find her pulling stuff out of drawers, or just sitting and playing with books and toys. She also frequently wants privacy when she's filling her diaper. Sometimes I'll notice, "Hmmm... it's been too quiet for too long." Yep, Lucy's door is shut. I'll peek in and see her around the corner working on a job. If she catches me peeking at her, she'll often look at me like "Excuse me!" and close the door in front of me!

Oh how we love this little ham!!! She brings so much light and joy into our lives! We feel truly blessed to have her in our family. I know she will grow into an amazing person, and will be a great big sister to future siblings.

She is so much like her daddy. :D

Run, Lulu, Run!

Our little lady! So grown up with her ponytail.

Watching our neighbor's little boy William.

Playtimes and Pasttimes

Spring is here and we are loving it! The weather has been amazing. Lucy and I try to get out and enjoy the sunshine at least once every day, whether it's strolling or going to the park. Val and her kids came to Provo today, actually, and we were able to play at the park together. It was so fun! She's the cutest preggo mama of almost three, I just have to say. :) It'll be so fun to see what this next little guy will be like when he's born. And Dean and Rachel are just looking more and more grown up! It's amazing. Dean is such a little man, and such a gentleman. And he was so good with Lucy, following her when she'd wander too far, tossing a ball back and forth with her. It was so cute!

These days have been somewhat busy but wonderful nonetheless. Sam has been going crazy with school. This has been a very heavy semester with papers, reading, and tests, so I think he'll be in heaven next month when he graduates. We're still waiting to hear from BYU and USU for grad school. Exciting decisions and adventures ahead either way. :)

Lucy has been enjoying playing with her little friend Sam Blake each week. We got to have him over twice this week, and it was a blast. He is such a sweet boy! It's hilarious to see how the two interact, and how their interactions change as they grow.

(Apparently Lu thought his song was pretty funny!)

Friends since the womb days. ;) It's amazing to remember me and Dana being super pregnant, making preparations for the babies. She came over when I went into labor and we watched I Love Lucy, and talked, and ate yummies until Sam came home. Now look at these kiddos! We will be so sad when they move this summer!

A sweet and simple joy is strolling to campus to meet daddy/hot guy husband at the end of his school day. We walk home together and chat about our days while enjoying the fresh air and the fading sun. Yesterday Lucy and I sat outside and enjoyed some animal crackers while we waited for Sam to meet up with us. Ain't she just darling!?

Here are some other fun pictures of how Lucy likes to spend her days:

Trying on Daddy's shoes

 Sticking greeting cards in the printer

Pulling allllllll the clothes out of her drawers and dragging them all over the apartment!

Being cute and funny, and keeping us company :) We love this doll.