Twins Tuesday - 32 Weeks

How Far Along? 32 Weeks. 6 weeks or less to go!! (Doc won't let multiples go passed 38 weeks)
That can't be for real. I still have a strong feeling they'll come on their own around 35-36 weeks. Yikes, that's even more overwhelming!!!!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I'm totally pleading the 5th from here on out....for my pride, at least! HA!

Genders: BOY AND A GIRL!!! Grayson Wells and Raegan Elise!

Maternity Clothes? Yep!! With the exception of stretchy pants at home and some maxi dresses, I'm in maternity everything.

Stretch Marks? No. I didn't get any with Hudson, so here's to hoping I have the same luck this time around.

Sleep: It's OK. Some nights are better than others. As long as I'm cool at night, I can sleep pretty good. 

Movement: Yes. Anywhere and everywhere!

Food Cravings: I've really been into lemonade, peach punch, lemonberry slushes from Sonic. Fruity drinks are so good to me right now. The sweet tooth has been in overdrive. I try to eat fruit, some yogurt, or even a little cereal when I want something sweet, but I won't lie and say I don't give in to the occasional donut or cookie. ;-)

Food Aversions: Aversions are pretty much gone now. If I get a whiff of something less than appetizing in the morning, that'll get me though.

Labor Signs: No!

Symptoms: Sciatic nerve pain, getting tired out quickly, short of breath, frequent potty breaks, some head/backaches, and the exhaustion is back. I've had a few Braxton Hicks too.

Belly Button In or Out? Very much OUT!

Wedding Rings On or Off? On

Miss Anything? Just being able to do things for myself...lift things, etc. I get super worn out after doing the smallest things and have to rest afterward, which makes being a SAHM/homemaker difficult at times.

Best Moment This Week: We had a date night this weekend and went to a great restaurant. We really enjoyed ourselves, and being able to talk. Usually when we're out, we're making sure Hudson's eating, trying to keep him entertained so he doesn't act like "that child" at the restaurant, (you know the one I'm talking about) and rarely get to actually sit down and enjoy a nice meal and each other's company. Hopefully we can squeeze in at least one more date night before the twins come, but this very well could have been our last one before we're a family of FIVE! Big thanks to Joseph's parents for keeping Hudson so we could go out!!
I'm also making progress on things for the twins' walls so that's exciting (and relieving). I've got to get some frames for that stuff, their bedding should ship in a week or so (YAY!!!!) and I've ordered an adorable door hanger and something to go over their cribs...so much for the DIY project I was going to do. Momma just doesn't have it in her at this point! I'd rather just pay someone to do it for me. I'm working on getting clothes, including Hudson's old clothes, freshly washed and put away and having their clothes organized before their arrival.
Hopefully in a couple weeks, I can finally have their room 100% ready and share pictures. I'm so excited about how it's going to look!

Happy Tuesday!

5 on Friday

Many of you have probably already seen these, but I wanted to share my 5 favorite Hudson pictures from the week.

He was channeling his inner Steve Urkel during lunch the other day.
"Did I do that?"

He loves watching videos of himself on the iPad. It's a little vain, but ya know...whatever. In this picture he's watching a video of himself at about 2 months old. Precious.

It doesn't happen often, so sometimes I have to document when Hudson actually plays independently while I cook dinner.

Or he'll sometimes go back behind me with the Swiffer Sweeper when I'm done with it. He was actually trying to turn on the light switch with it here. Pretty good problem solving for a 2 year old.

He finally came around to the Puddle Jumper and even though he's not comfortable enough letting go and floating around with it, he does like wearing it and mommy feels better knowing he's got it on.

Happy Happy Weekend!!!

31 Week Checkup

Doctor appointment went well yesterday. They did a fluid check and both babies' fluid looked good. Per the specialist's suggestion, they will do a quick fluid check at every weekly visit from here on out. This will just ensure baby girl isn't getting away with stealing all the fluid and "good stuff" from her brother. 

The non-stress test went wonderfully.(having them every week now too) Babies had great heart-rates, with no contractions or distress going on.

Laying on your back for 30 minutes or more with two babies laying on your vena cava, making you all kinds of dizzy and short of breath, and these things strapped to your belly is most definitely not my idea of comfortable, but hey...ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

At least they give me a comfy pillow. Next time, I'll request the lights be turned off so I can nap. :)

 Glamorous NST selfie...and my necklace attacking my neck.

Good looking heart-rates.

During the fluid check, the U/S tech managed to get a good shot of Grayson's face. Cutie!

If you recall from last week, Raegan was head-down in the vertex position for like the FIRST time this entire pregnancy!! Well, little miss decided she didn't like that and now her head is right under my ribs again. She's facing my back so no photo opp for her this week. This also means her butt is right on brother's head. Bless it! Guess it's payback for all the kicking he did of her head early on. 

Not even here yet and they've already got the fighting thing down pat.

When I got home, I had a surprise waiting in the mailbox! My friend Nancy made these adorable onesies for the twins. I die!!!

Can't wait to get these on them! Thank you, thank you Nancy!

I continue to be so thankful for such an easy, healthy pregnancy. Things are getting a bit more complicated, but not because anything's wrong. Multiples are so iffy and we're at the point where they need to watched more closely, and I really need to pay attention to my body in the event these babies decide to come early.

It's crazy to believe these babies will be here in no more than SEVEN weeks! My doctor won't let me go over 38 weeks, but also said if I go into labor at 35 or 36 weeks, she won't stop it. I still have a gut feeling they'll come on their own around 35-36 weeks, but only time will tell. The longer they stay in, the better, but sometimes it's better for them to go ahead and come out and as long as they're healthy and ready to live in the outside world, it's OK with me! I'm sure come 38 weeks(or earlier), I'll be trying every trick in the book to put myself into labor. HA!

I really better get my behind into gear and get things ready for them! (I keep saying that...)

Happy Thursday!

13 Things Motherhood Has Taught Me

It's amazing how much one tiny person can change your life. You're not given a manual on motherhood. You're thrust into this job the second your baby is born (or even earlier). It's a fly by the seat of your pants kind of job. It's hard, overwhelming, rewarding, messy, stinky, sweet, slobbery, exhausting, eye-opening, joyous....amazing!!

I've put together a list of things that motherhood has taught me thus far.
I could list more, but 13 sounded like a nice enough number to me!

[One] 
The world does not revolve around me after all.
OK, I already knew this one, obviously, but having a child completely changes the way you think.
It's like an automatic mind shift that just happens. Before Hudson, I thought about how certain decisions and situations would affect me. (& Joseph) Nowadays, my first consideration for just about every decision is always Hudson. Where we eat for dinner or what I cook(will he eat this? is it healthy for him?), where and when we go out and about(is that a good time for him? is that nap time?), what to watch on TV (should I expose him to this?). This list goes on and on.


[TWO]
Sippy cups, if left unattended, will walk away on their own. 
It's a conspiracy, I'm certain. One minute it's on the coffee table, the next minute it's been sucked into a black hole never to be found again....at least for about 20-30 minutes, anyway. I'm pretty sure I've spent half my life searching for lost sippy cups.


[THREE]
The pain of stepping on a Lego with bare feet is almost as bad as childbirth itself.
Well...I can't really attest to the pain of actual childbirth, seeing as how I didn't feel a thing(get the meds, people!) but my recovery is something I'd never wish on my worst enemy. OK, moving on. Point here...watch out for the evil Legos!


[FOUR]
It is perfectly acceptable to cry over spilled milk after you've spent half an hour pumping it at 3am. 
You're sleep-deprived, attached to this pump 24/7 to provide nutrition for this tiny person you're responsible for, and in your delirious state you knock over that whole bottle of milk you just pumped. Yes, this is a travesty and it calls for a meltdown. It's OK. Melt away!


[FIVE]
Real words are overrated. 
"Din din", "diapee", "Bry Bry", "wawa"....you tend to forget how to talk like an adult after you have a baby. Just try not to communicate with your bosses or coworkers in such a fashion. Asking the boss if he'd like some ice in his "wawa" is probably not gonna help get you that promotion.


[SIX]
There's no such thing as TMI anymore.
Once you've gone through childbirth and cleaned God knows what off of areas of a tiny person you never even knew existed, you kinda lose your filter. Not much phases you anymore. But your family and friends who haven't recently gone through such glamorous events would probably appreciate if you didn't share every detail about your child's poop schedule, what spoiled breast milk smells like, or how your recovery's going.


[SEVEN]
It's OK to laugh to keep yourself from crying.
But it's also OK to go to your bedroom, scream in a pillow, and just cry it out for a few minutes. Make sure the baby's secure or someone's watching him/her first, though, before you go have your moment of madness.


[EIGHT]
A messy house is a happy house.
The laundry can wait. You can clean those floors tomorrow. Don't worry that all the toys and books are strewn all over the living room floor. Your little one's been learning and playing. He's been engaged. He's had his mind thinking. He's working on those motor skills. Get in the floor and play WITH him!! Building a castle and playing instruments is much more fun than doing laundry!!


[NINE]
Tomorrow's a fresh start.
So today sucked a little. Your child woke up super early, cried all the way through breakfast, wouldn't take a nap, is teething like they surely must be dying, finally fell asleep at 10pm and you barely have the energy to put yourself in bed so you might as well forget about that shower you're in desperate need of. These days happen. Let the dirty dishes sit there, take some Aleve, maybe some ZzzQuil, and go nite nite.
Tomorrow's another day with new possibilities! It will be OK.


[TEN]
Don't wish the time away.
You'll never get these days back. They are fleeting. Take the time to cuddle, read that book(for the 37th time), build that house, and make memories.


[ELEVEN]
Kids don't miss one. single. thing.
You told your child he can't have a cookie, but you just stuffed one in your mouth? Yeah...they saw that. Just give them the cookie now and be done with it. Pick your battles!


[TWELVE]
Children don't need the fancy, shiny things.
You can spend hundreds of dollars on brand new, shiny toys to entertain your child. This is fine. Toys are good for them. They need play time and there are great learning toys out there.
There's just something about an empty box or water bottle....and they sure are a lot cheaper. Just sayin.


[THIRTEEN]
You will never know a greater love.
It's true what they say....you never knew you could love something so much. It will be instant and you will fall hard for this brand new tiny human in your arms. You'll find yourself staring at them while they sleep, and before you know it 2 hours has passed. You'll worry about them every second of every day, even if they're right beside you. You'll find that even 5 minutes away from them feels like an eternity. You realize that all that matters is their health and happiness.
You know without a doubt you'd give up your life in a second for them.


I've only been a mom for 2 years and 3 months, and I know I have a whole lot more to learn about motherhood. I will learn many more lessons along the way. With twins coming soon, I can hopefully use what I have learned thus far to be better this time around....with the late night feedings, constant diaper changes, teething, etc.

As moms, we are constantly teaching our kids one thing or another. But we should also open our eyes and realize when we can learn something from them! Life doesn't have to be as complicated as we like to make it. Look at things through the eyes of a child, and it becomes a whole lot simpler and joyful.

What has motherhood taught you?

Zoo Trip, in Pictures

We had a great time at the Birmingham Zoo on Saturday! It was hot and humid, but it wasn't insanely crowded and there were so many pretty animals to see. Here are just a few of the pictures we took. There's an insane amount on my camera, with TONS more animals. I just picked the most interesting ones. ;)

I told Joseph to do his hair like this guy. Nice.

We found Big Al and fed him some apples. He said to tell all of you Roll Tide, of course!

Poor guy's missing one tusk. It got cracked badly and had to be removed. He's 30 years old!

Mr. Rhino stopped to ponder life for a minute.

I loved this little elephant. I don't know how old he is, but he is obviously one of the younger ones.

My absolute favorite part of the zoo....feeding the giraffes!! It costs $3 but is so worth it. 

I mean, when can you do that again?? (the next time you come to the zoo, I guess!)

This picture is just to prove that Hudson did, in fact, like the giraffes. But he wasn't about to feed them!

I was trying to get Hudson to feed him....the giraffe did not care for waiting. HAHA!

Neatest experience ever, but a little freaky at the same time! That's one slimy tongue!
Did I mention I want a giraffe now?? So sweet!!

"Oh, haaayyy!"

I believe Hudson was dancing for the giraffes here...and check out that wavy hair! 

Humidity has the same effect on his momma's hair!

Daddy was getting the eye here. I've hit the point where I'm anti-pictures...especially when I'm hot and sweaty! Just...no thanks!

 Practicing strolling around his brother & sister!

Fighting over hay! 

Loved the sea lions! SO CUTE!

Geo put on a great show! It amazes me how smart they are!

Riding the train before we left. This guy was exhausted (can you tell?)....and so was his momma!!

Quite frankly, I'm still recovering from the trip!! 

The exhaustion has set back in and doing the smallest things wear me out. I'm back to where I pretty much have to take a nap in the afternoon in order to function the rest of the day/night. I fell asleep yesterday during Hudson's nap, which I haven't done in months. Hard to believe I'm 31 weeks today! I have my 31 week checkup tomorrow and the doctor has also ordered an ultrasound to check the fluid levels. After looking at the specialist's report from last week, she wants to double check them this week. So we'll have that, the non-stress test, and normal appointment. My mother's intuition is telling me that these babies will come early. I've had 36 weeks in my head for a while now, but I think they'll come even earlier. Just a feeling I have. Just hoping and praying they're healthy and ready to come whenever they do come out. They're both practicing breathing (we've seen it on the last 2 ultrasounds), so that means their lungs are developed, which is great news!

This is when things start getting iffy with twins, and they have to be watched extra close....fluid levels, growth, contractions, etc. I'm VERY much a planner and like to be able to have an idea of what's coming, so the next few weeks could completely stress me out. I'm going to try my best not to let them, though. I've just got to rest, get things ready for their arrival, and soak up every second of time with just Hudson until then.

Hopefully tomorrow's appointment will go great, they'll be closer in size and fluid levels will look perfect. Positive thoughts!!

Have a great Tuesday!