Comparison picture

Just for comparison, this is P & L at about 26 weeks.

The weight gain has been similar, but I think I look bigger this time around. I could be wrong.

25 weeks 3 days

25 weeks 3 days with little girl and little boy

Just try to remember, I don't grow outward, I grow up and down. The babies will take up every ounce of space between my chest and my pelvis in no time at all.

A girls day!

Brian and Logan headed out this morning at 8:30 for their first NFL game together. Logan's flag football team had the opportunity to get free tickets to the Raiders game. Even though we expected it would be cold and rainy in Oakland this time of year, they were eager to go and the cousins and Uncle Jon went too. It turned out to be beautiful today, here and in Oakland.

That left Ciera and I alone for the day. I owed her breakfast out, so the plan was to get up in the morning and get going early enough to want breakfast. I woke her up by 9, but she fell back asleep until 10ish. We were both finally up and showered by 11:30, a little too late to enjoy breakfast. She decided she'd like lunch at BJ's Brewery. We both enjoyed our standard order, Turkey Cobb for her and a California Burger for me. We both enjoyed our meal and have enough left over for dinner too. It was nice to chat with her about the little things.

I left the planning up to Ciera, whatever she wanted to do. We drove by the movie theaters to see if there was anything worth seeing at an appropriate time, no such luck. We then headed to Kmart to check out some sneakers, not so cute in person. Finally we settled on the mall. I HATE going to the mall, so I think she knows this was a 'special' day. We spent a couple of hours adding to her Christmas list and trying on clothes. She found the 'perfect' pair of skinny jeans, but they didn't have her size in stock, so we ordered them instead. She also found a pair of sneakers that she 'had to have', even if she had to use her own money for them (this is always the real test). After the mall we stopped by Justice. We have some 'Justice cash' that needs to be used in the next two weeks. She had no problem finding a few things that she would definitely wear.

Now that we are home I'm exhausted and desperately want a Hershey bar. I may have to bust open the bag of chocolate chips if the hot cocoa doesn't take away the desire. While at the mall I popped back into Motherhood Maternity. They have a bathroom in the store and I didn't know where a closer one would be (they just remodeled the mall). I lucked into a clearance cami in my favorite shade of red and I picked up a 'tummy sleeve' that may help keep some of my 'bigger' pants up until the tummy fully fills out. It's a one size fits all, so I was hesitant to believe it would actually fit. It felt really nice on though and I have high hopes for all day comfort with it. Speaking of all day comfort, I recently found new panties that I LOVE. I needed to go up a size and was horribly disappointed to find that they stopped making the type that I'd previously bought (for years). It always seems to take forever and many bad purchases to find a new style/brand that I like. I was shocked to find the new answer with just one package! The only problem is that they don't have anymore in the store and I haven't found anywhere else that carries them yet. I will have to do some serious searching this week. They are so comfy and stretchy and they weren't horribly expensive either!

The hope is to still get a picture taken tonight and have it uploaded by tomorrow morning depending on how tired Brian is from the game and drive home. The kids go back to school tomorrow and I know it's going to be hard to get us all up by 7 at the latest. It's been nice to have them home, but honestly I didn't get to see much of them. We are so busy during the regular school days that the kids don't often get to have friends over for longer than an hour or two, so I really wanted them to be able to do that over Thanksgiving break. I think I succeeded. They both seemed to have a lot of fun with their friends and I think our break in December will be just as enjoyable.

Almost to double digits!

Anyone checked out the ticker lately? The babies are so big in there now AND we only have 103 days left-until the due date! That means we are technically already into double digit countdown!!

Today was a nice day. We set the alarms for 9:15 to get us up a little earlier than we've been used to this week. Ciera managed to fall back asleep for an extra hour, but the rest of us were up. Today was pretty unproductive, but delightfully restful. Logan has been really big into playing cards lately. He talked his dad into several hands of 21 with the poker chips and countless rounds of war with the both of us. I haven't played war in forever and it was actually enjoyable.

We watched War, Inc. today as well. We figured you can't go wrong with John Cusack-apparently you can. We made it through the whole thing but there was a reason we hadn't heard of it previously. Ciera and Brian went out to throw the ball around and hit this afternoon after Brian played basketball with Logan. When they returned home we had a deliciously nutritious meal of macaroni and cheese with bagel dogs! I used up most of my 'previously frozen' meal fixes during the week with no school. I'll have to think about how to use the few things that are left in the freezer.

I packed up all of the fall stuff and pulled out the Christmas boxes. Almost everything is up and where I want it-except for the tree decorations. All of my help bailed on me. There's something to be said for a tree with just lights, right? Besides 'that family is too lazy to put the ornaments on'? Putting the ornaments on is always fun. Packing them back up on the 26th is not so much fun. Perhaps I'll get to it tomorrow.

I made it through today with no heartburn. I have had a few moments where I thought I had to use the restroom really badly only to find that there was just a little dribble. I'm going to blame that on little girl. It's been a fairly quiet day on the baby front-no strong urges for anything in particular and they've let up on the chocolate desire. I've actually made it several days without the need for some chocolate, aside from my cocoa (but I think that is more of a milk and peppermint urge).

Black Friday, 2008

Typically on the day after Thanksgiving Ciera and I head out with my MIL and SIL around 4am to do some shopping. We then have breakfast around 7 and do a little more shopping or head home (Ciera has only come with us the previous 2 years now that she's old enough to 'keep a secret'). This year I had decided I would have to modify my shopping plan as I knew I wouldn't have the endurance to hit everywhere. I figured I could put in a couple of hours and then do breakfast and call it a morning. My MIL was not feeling well this year, so she opted out, which was totally understandable. There were a couple of stores that I could pick up something for myself and only a few that had anything worth going out early to get for someone else. After putting the kids to bed Brian and I decided what gifts we wanted to buy for Logan and the plan was formulated. When Ciera found out that I wasn't really 'shopping' I was running in to get 1 thing here or there, she opted to sleep in. I did promise to take her out to a few 'shopping' stores later in the day and that we'd have breakfast out still.

At 4:15 the alarm went off and Brian and I took a quick shower before heading out to Big 5 Sporting Goods. I have never once taken a shower before heading out, that's generally my 'after shopping treat'. It really did feel good to take the extra few minutes to just let the hot water run down your back. So at 4:55 we head to Roseville (about a 15 minute drive). We arrive at 5:15, the store is not supposed to be open until 5:30, but the doors are wide open and there are people inside shopping. We go in, buy our 2 items and get ready to load it into the emptied out van. The item is too large to fit in the van! So it's decided that we can put a 250lb box on the top of my beautiful van and drive really slow all the way home. Brian and I are not real 'fix-y' people and were both a tad nervous about this. The guy at Big 5 explained how to tie the rope so that it would support the box and not make it move, but they could not do it for us. So we head out using the back roads going 20 mph the entire trip. A 15 minute drive took us 1 hour at this drastically reduced speed. But there wasn't much traffic, no one honked at us and the box is now safely tucked away for Christmas.

During the drive home the babies were incredibly excited. There was so much movement and twitching. I actually gasped out loud and one of little girls movements!

So we get home, unload the box and of course have to reorganize the garage some in the process (I don't believe Brian felt as strongly about reorganizing, but he helped out and didn't complain). Around 7:30 we headed back to bed. This summer I put blackout liners on our curtains, so we were both able to fall back asleep and only woke at noon. Since Ciera was still sleeping it was decided that we'd skip breakfast and save it for Sunday morning.

The rest of the day was nice and relaxing. I think we spent most of the early afternoon in bed watching TV while snuggled under the blanket (We have not turned on the heater yet, I think it's quite comfortable still and the rest of the family may just need to put on some socks). Around 3:30 Ciera and I headed back to Roseville for some shopping/looking. We got some jeans at Old Navy and Ciera got to pick out which scents she wants from Bath and Body Works. We went to Joann Fabrics to get some blackout liner for Logan's window and I found the 'perfect' frame for above our piano at 60% off. We then picked up some soda at Winco. Another holiday 'special' flavor that is to die for, Pomegranate 7-Up! We stumbled upon this last year around Christmas and loved it. We were so disappointed when we couldn't find it anywhere else. It's finally back and it's definitely worth trying. We will be stocking up when we can find it anywhere with more than 1 bottle. We stopped by Sam's for a new razor for Ciera and some dinner. The hot dog did not agree with me though and I was definitely wishing I'd gotten the pizza. Our final stop was Target in town. Apparently everyone thought Target at 7 was a great idea. We didn't leave until 8:30, there was someone to chat with around every aisle.

We finally get home and Brian and Logan picked up a Little Caesar's pizza for dinner. At 9 we put in The Incredible Hulk, not horrible but it was difficult to hear what was being said 50% of the time. We had some cocoa and snuggled under the blankets, then it was time for bed (and blog updating if you pay attention to details like that).

I typically squeeze putting up the tree into this day. But this year I went ahead and assembled the tree on Tuesday so that I didn't try to do to much after Thanksgiving. I didn't put on ornaments nor have we turned on the lights, as it's not supposed to go up until the day after Thanksgiving-Brian was shocked to find out that there are rules about these things. I was appalled to see all the houses with lights ON Wednesday night. There are RULES for a reason!!

Saturday will be spent decorating the tree and putting out the rest of the Christmas stuff. We have some laundry and dishes to do as well. It should still be a fairly restful day.

Thanksgiving, 2008

Each year we generally spend Thanksgiving with Brian's family. The cousins play, the ladies look at the ads and plot out Black Friday and we just have a nice, relaxed day. It helps that I've never had to cook a real Thanksgiving. I'm not sure my MIL would agree that it's a relaxed day with all of the work she does. We are all truly thankful for it though. My family would never have turkey if someone else didn't make it for them.

I've made a turkey once-and it was such a scarring experience. First of all, I don't like to touch raw meat. I always wear gloves unless it's frozen meat. There's no way I will ever again stick my hand inside a turkey to pull out whatever it is that they stick up inside it. I can't stand the way raw turkey feels. I went to buy a few frozen turkeys for my mom this year and made the mistake of picking up a fresh one. I darn near dropped the thing when my knuckle went into the squishy packaging! Did anyone happen to see the defrosting turkey commercial? The one where they put the turkey in the dryer and then it flops onto the ground when it's thawed? Yeah, that gave me the creeps every time I saw it! I have no problem eating the turkey once it's cooked and I love leftover white meat and stuffing sandwiches with with warm bread.

Brian's Titans were playing in the morning, due to be done around 12. Theoretically it seemed so easy to get the kids and I showered and dressed by 12. I was still in my PJ's when Ciera woke up at 12:14 afraid that she wouldn't have time to shower. Brian was the only one showered by the end of the game. I had hoped to arrive by 2 at the latest. We finally got there at 2:40, just a tad late. It wasn't really a big deal to anyone except me. I seem rather unable to plan my time appropriately these days.

We had a nice time, good food, a quick round of Apples to Apples and we were home by 9:15. When we got home Logan asked, "What's for dinner?" The child always seems to do this and somehow doesn't understand that we already had dinner AND dessert!

I don't generally spend the day reflecting on what I'm thankful for. I feel like I'm pretty thankful for all that I have every day. I am very aware of how lucky I have been and I don't often take any of it for granted.

24 weeks 6 days OB appointment

Wednesday was my latest OB appointment. Everything checked out great. Blood pressure was 118/80, pulse was 100 and my weight was right around where I expected it and on target with my goal. We talked about the H twins and what I could do/take to make things better. He OK's OTC heartburn meds. I don't really like the idea of taking a 'preventative' heartburn med like Prilosec, I'd rather take something as needed. The Zantac worked great on Thursday. He really didn't have a whole lot of advice for the other H twin, aside from what I've already been doing. We talked about a flu shot and he definitely recommended that I get one and even had the nurse administer it before I left. As promised, my arm was a little/ a lot sore for the rest of the day.

We also talked about the possibility of a VBAC. Despite his telling me at the beginning of the pregnancy that we should schedule a c-section in the event of twins, he agreed that there was no reason not to try for a vaginal delivery should I go into labor on my own before our c-section date. Now, little girl may decide to play games like P did and stay head down until the last month just to get my hopes up. But if she does flip, I'm not terrified or worried about a C-section. I prefer the idea of the babies coming when they are ready or my body gives out rather than us picking a day. I think we'll try to plan the c-section date for 38-39 weeks and see what happens. I also would prefer that the babes get the benefit of having the fluids pushed out of them in the vaginal delivery process. I know they will be fine should we need a c-section, but it's nice to know that we can try things on our own first. Plus, Dr. E assured me that there are always so many people around at the hospital that should we need quick intervention, there is always many people available. So, we'll just wait and see what the ultrasounds tell us in January and February.

But for now everything looks great for all of us.

SO terribly behind and a Twilight review

I have no good excuses, I just haven't gotten to updating. I like to blame it on the fact that my super comfy computer chair had a broken wheel and I've been waiting for the replacement. It finally arrived on Wed. It's so much nicer than the kitchen chair.

Friday night Ciera and I went to see Twilight along with hundreds of other people (and my SIL and nephew). A careful follower will remember that I LOVED the series and that I am generally disappointed with movies (what with having to pay for them). I really didn't have gigantic expectations. I knew the book would be better and I had already seen in previews that the movie had been horribly miscast. I didn't walk out of the theater disappointed, it was about what I expected. I was sad though that it couldn't have been better. I already knew they would have to shorten the story and leave things out-that's a given with any book turned movie. I had been hoping to have the 'miscast' actors grow on me and make me understand why they were cast. They were unable to do that, and what's worse is that they acted horribly. If they were going to miscast the characters, the least they could've done was pick someone that could act. I didn't feel the chemistry between the two main characters and in fact felt like they tried too hard, unsuccessfully to sell me on their chemistry. I could go on and on about my irritants, but in the end it was exactly what I expected. Would I watch it again on video? Perhaps. Will I watch the 2nd one when it comes out? On video. Ciera however loved it. At almost 12 you don't really care if the actors 'overact'. She saw it a second time with a friend on Sunday.

Saturday Logan had a 5:30 flag football game and it was almost cold enough to need a jacket. I did put on socks with my sandals to get through the hour. Logan and Ciera both had a friend come spend the night and they had a great time.

Ciera had a pitching lesson on Sunday and then she went to spend the night at another friends' house, after seeing Twilight. Logan's friend spend the day and then Brian and I had a quiet night with just Logan. We rented a few movies and called it a night. I believe Logan slept on our bedroom floor that night. I'm not sure why he'd rather sleep on the floor than his comfy bed, but he chooses to do this at least once a month.

Monday Logan had another friend come spend the day. Ciera got to have breakfast out with her friend and shop at the mall. She was exhausted that night from 2 back to back sleepovers.

Tuesday Logan went to his friend's house and Ciera stayed home and rested up. She slept till at least 12 and then watched movies all day. I had hoped to watch Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 with her, but she 'forgot' to tell me she was watching it! Tuesday night Ciera had her first braces issue. She decided a fortune cookie would be OK to eat. The wire between her brackets did not agree and it pulled out of a bracket and was bent for the night. Fortunately they were able to get her in Wednesday morning. I however had an OB appointment at the same time, so Brian took her in-we were quite lucky that he had previously decided to take Wednesday off.

Wednesday morning Ciera and I got up bright and early to do a little shopping before our appointments. Brian then met us to take Ciera to her appointment. Within 10 minutes I had received a call saying she was good as new. They then picked up Logan's cousin to play for the afternoon and Ciera's friends. The house was fairly noisy all afternoon, but Brian and I still managed to escape the chaos by watching Wife Swap all afternoon. That night we spent together just the four of us to enjoy the 'alone time' and be thankful for each other. I thought Baskin Robbins was the place to do that. Nothing looked very good though so I just enjoyed a few licks of Logan's 'double cone'.

It's still a girl and a boy!

Baby girl's parts at 24 weeks!

Baby boy's parts at 24 weeks!

An attempt to update the week

I seem to have reached a point this week where I have just enough energy to do the 'required' things on my calendar. I'm even having a hard time remembering what I did all week without looking back at the calendar for a reminder. We only have flag football practice this week, so it's been nice to just stay home and lie around until I can reasonably say it's bedtime.

Monday I had my massage and did some shopping at Sam's Club. I got a great chair and huge umbrella that were 'technically' going to be for Christmas. I think they will just be used now though.

Tuesday? There is nothing on my calendar, but I know I didn't just stay home and do nothing. I started off the morning brushing for just a little too long past the first gag. I ended up vomiting for the first time this pregnancy (and quite possibly the first time in any pregnancy). I was trying to get through a post online and thought I could wait a little longer to spit than I actually could. I was a little concerned that maybe it was a bit of a bug though, since I've been fighting a cold all week and there were multiple retchings. The rest of the day passed without incident so I guess I was fine after all. I went to the library to pick up some more of the Hank Zipzer books for Logan and then bought an area rug at Lowe's. Since we have tile floors we generally get a new inexpensive rug each winter. This year's had a stain on the edge (the edge that the couch covers anyhow), so I got it discounted for only $30. It's always a nice change to have something warm under our feet in the winter and the dogs seem to be loving it. Of course since it was Tuesday we went to Coldstone after school. They have a new dark chocolate peppermint flavor that was to die for. Even Ciera switched over from her fruity sorbet to it. I couldn't decide on a mix in, but I've since decided a marshmallow swirl would be nice next week.

Wednesday I had lunch with a friend at BJ's and I ordered my now favorite burger with Pepper Jack and avocado. I have 2 friends that I've found if we plan a date and put it on the calendar each month it's not so hard to squeeze in lunch. We would go for months saying we'd get together, but until we started scheduling it just like everything else, it just wouldn't get done. I've really come to enjoy these lunches and look forward to our hour of catching up. I ran some errands before lunch and some more after, boy was I tired. I really didn't even get much accomplished, but I've definitely noticed my endurance is way down. Sure, I could've sucked it up and trudged on, but there was nothing on my list that was important enough to get to.

Thursday I made the math copies and then headed to my ultrasound. I then went by Motherhood Maternity to check out some shirts. After going through my closet Wednesday night I realized I don't quite have enough tops with sleeves to get me through the pregnancy. I typically hate clothes shopping anyhow, but I especially hate maternity clothes shopping. Here's the problem, I'm not a small, medium or large while pregnant. Typically an xlarge would be fine, but I know an xlarge is not going to cut it for the last trimester. The larger sizes have such a small selection and you're really better off ordering online, which is OK since the last thing I'll want to do in the 3rd trimester is trudge to the mall to try on ridiculously overpriced clothing, especially since I've gotten some great deals 'off-season'. So I will hope for some free shipping codes, some great sales at Old Navy and take advantage of the free return shipping for the things that just aren't as cute in person. I'm also really afraid to buy anything with sleeves as I'm terrified to build a long sleeved wardrobe and pass out from the heat of it in February. What to do? I'm thinking of just getting one of those blanket sacks and lying around naked in the blanket all winter. Do those come in super large?

Friday I did the social studies copies that I didn't have time for on Thursday and they even had some surprise language and science copies. I really do enjoy making the copies and would consider a career at Kinko's if I didn't have to deal with people to do it. I'm now free until 12:30 when I watch my friend's son. Ciera and I are heading to the theater after school to see Twilight. I feel the movie was entirely miscast, but I'm still hoping to enjoy it. I rarely see a movie at a theater and I'm always disappointed when I do. Ciera is very anxious for it though and has now reread the first book for the third time in preparation. Logan has a final flag football practice tonight, but he's excused me from coming since I'll be at the game on Saturday.

Ciera had gotten a new book at the book fair last week, so I read Ella and Palace of Mirrors by Margaret Peterson Haddix (the author recommended to read over the summer). They were enjoyable reads and had me thinking about the characters from the Wind book again. I've realized that the before despised Wind book was actually an enjoyable read, I'm just angry about it stopping the story right in the middle. I love a series, but I want something wrapped up in the first book at least. On Tuesday we received a box from Amazon and waiting inside to my surprise was my next book. I had forgotten that it was due out soon. So I am now midway through Ender in Exile by Orson Scott Card and I'm loving it (I've yet to dislike anything by him though). I should be reading it right now, but I felt an update was due while I had the energy to look at the calendar.

I also tried my peppermint white chocolate creamer in a giant glass of hot chocolate-YUM!!! Even Logan liked it this time. I'm using 1 packet of hot chocolate for about 24 oz of milk and it's still VERY chocolaty. I can't even imagine using 1 packet in just 8 oz of fluid like the directions say. I may even try just 1/2 a packet next time.

So overall not a bad week, just a lousy memory-if only I could blame that on the babies. Oh, and somehow my heartburn has resolved itself. I haven't had an issue for over a week, maybe two.

Ultrasound photos will go up tonight or Saturday morning at the latest.

Escape artist?

I could be wrong, but I think baby girl is trying to claw her way out of my uterus! There has been a sudden and quite persistent bit of 'jabbing' coming from little girl's direction.

We had our 24 week ultrasound today, so I know that they are both still there and still a girl and boy. Locations have been pinpointed and I'm a little more familiar with who the sensations are coming from based on their movement during today's ultrasound.

Everything looked great. My cervix is nice and long the placentas are looking great. Baby girl's heart rate was 164 and baby boy's was 141. They are both measuring right on target and weigh approximately 1lb 8oz. That means they've gained almost 8 oz in 4 weeks! I hope to get the ultrasound pics up tonight, along with a belly pic.

Peppermint and white chocolate-oh my!

I finally broke down and bought a flavored creamer-peppermint and white chocolate. It was delicious in my steamed milk. Neither of my kids cared for it, although they both tried a spoonful. That just means more for me. I'm very curious about the Pumpkin flavor, but a little scared to try it.

Friday Logan's class had a field trip to the Crocker Art Museum. The docent did a great job of making an art museum interesting to a bunch of 9 & 10  year old boys. Ciera got to spend the night at a friend's house after a pitching lesson and Logan had flag football practice.

Saturday was Logan's last soccer game. Once again they lost, but Logan really did learn so much this year and had a great time. His coach has invited him to join his indoor soccer team. He'll play on Sundays in December and January. Indoor soccer is a 'tad' more aggressive, but  his coach feels  he'll do just fine with it-we shall see. We're all excited that he was given this opportunity though. Flag football ended the same way it always does, but Logan was quite upset this week. He's just so tired of being beaten badly by older kids. We then headed to Ciera's end of the season party with her softball team. Logan got to throw branches into the bonfire-something he never has the opportunity to do with his parents. Ciera had fun hanging out with the girls.

Sunday both kids had try-outs. Logan for basketball that will begin in Dec and run through early March. Ciera for the spring softball team, they'll start practicing in January and play through early August. Logan and I took the dog's to the dog park and Ciera and I went to Safeway for a few 'special' items. Not much else was accomplished this weekend.

Today I headed down for my FREE prenatal massage. They didn't try to sell me anything or make me sign away my life, I just had to allow 'students' to give me my massage. It was an interesting experience to lie under a sheet while 15 people walked around and watched someone rubbing me. It was neat to feel different people try the same 'technique' and to notice the differences. The instructor was FABULOUS! He applied just the right amount of pressure and had clearly done this before. The main woman that worked on me was quite nice and did a good job with the pressure on my back, but lacked the right touch on my legs-the pedicure guy from several weeks ago worked my legs better than she did. But that's OK, it was FREE!! They are doing another class in February, but I don't think I'll be willing to try it then. It was bizarre to feel the babies react to certain things as well (I guess reacting to my reactions). I ran some errands, picked up some more groceries (particularly milk-we were all out this morning) and now I'm beat. I think it may be an early night. I'm so tired I can't even come up with anything to fix or buy for dinner. Perhaps we'll all have a large glass of peppermint and white chocolate steamed milk! 

10:30 pm-What are YOUR children doing?

My children are both snuggled under their blankets with the lights out. STE's children however, are having a party in my belly! I just settled in for a good night's sleep, when little girl starts gently pressing on my lower parts. Not to be out done, her little brother starts banging away on my mid-section. I waited a few moments thinking they were just settling in, but NO, the movement continues and there's some pretty good sized 'thumps'.

Bitter disappointment

I have been working on reading The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss on a recommendation from my husband. I found it to be difficult to get into mostly due to the size of the book and the way that it would cast shadows on the pages. I finally got into it and was eager to 'hear the tale'. Brian mentioned that it was a 3 part series. So I was almost to the end and realized that there is still a lot of story to be told. No big deal, the other book is waiting for me, right? I finished up the book today and figured I just had to wait for Brian to get home. The book ended right in the middle (or 1/4 way) through the story, not what I like from a book but at least I don't have to wait for the 2nd book to come out (surely my husband of 14 years understands my deep displeasure for that sort of thing). Brian comes home and I tell him I finished. He responds by telling me that the next one will be out in APRIL!!! WHAT??!! After a rather lengthy discussion, taking daylight away from Ciera's pitching time, I think he understands that he should've waited to give me this book until at least the 2nd one was out.

I beg of you all, SOMEONE give me a book recommendation and I will try not to complain about it after I read it.

The rest of today went well. I took a deliciously long nap this morning-3 1/2 hours and I feel so refreshed!! I'm sure the babies moved all over, but I am honestly sleeping so well for now that I am entirely unaware of what they do while I sleep. I know at some point their movements will be so intense it will wake me in the night, and you will all know when it happens! For now I'm just thankful for hot showers and good sleep!

Free pregnancy massage!!

I am so excited. I had called last week about a prenatal massage at a local Chiropractor office where I have a gift certificate. She called me back yesterday to let me know that YES I can use my gift certificate with her still (close to expiring) and she can see me while pregnant. She then let me know of a place (a healing institute, whatever that means) that offers free prenatal massage clinics. I am scheduled to go next Monday morning and I'm so excited. Physically I've been feeling pretty good still, but who doesn't love a free massage?!!

A bad blogger!

Apparently anyone who is anything in the blog world, updated their blogs yesterday, Veteran's Day. Silly me, I took a day off and didn't even consider posting. I didn't even bother to check out Google Reader until last night-boy was I surprised to see updates from blogs that haven't been updated in months! For those not familiar with Google Reader-it is the easiest way to keep track of the blogs I'm following. I can easily find out who has updated their blogs since I last checked. The toughest part was getting all of the blog addresses into Google Reader. Love the Google Reader.

Monday Ciera got her braces put on. I think she looks adorably grown up, she is less than pleased with them. Her mouth hurt so bad by Monday night. They already have her wearing a band as well and it's taken some practice to put in and get out. She can finally do it without a mirror. She has to take it out before she eats and put it back in after brushing (after she eats anything). She's on a very soft diet until it stops hurting. She is now sick of pancakes and has moved on to bean and cheese burritos and applesauce. Tuesday was a better day for her, but still full of learning how to do stuff with them on. I'm thankful she got the extra day before having to go off to school with them. She seemed OK about dealing with them all day at school and brushing at school as well. Since Ciera has such sensitive teeth, we are really hoping to be extra vigilant about following all directions-not to mention it's such a huge investment.

Tuesday Logan went to see Madagascar 2 with his grandma and cousins. Ciera chose to stay home, I guess a movie without popcorn or candy just isn't the same. She went out with Brian to hit and pitch instead. My mom and her husband came by to fix our fence and gate. I had a nice visit with my mom teaching her how to send an e-mail-we'll see if she can do it on her own once she's at home. We had pizza and Minestrone soup. The soup was a frozen one I brought home with me from P & L's. It was delicious and I'm enjoying it for lunch today as well. The pizza was also very good. We tried the 'artichoke fiesta' from Pizza Guys. It had just the right amount of garlic sauce and the vegetables were terrific. Best of all, NO HEARTBURN!! We wrapped up Tuesday with flag football practice.

Today Logan has stayed home from school with a cold. He's still able to do all of his work, but this way he can have his embarrassing 'explosive sneezes' at home. He slept until almost 9 this morning, hopefully he feels better tonight with some extra rest. Tonight is his last soccer practice, we'll see if he makes it.

Let me back up to this past weekend. Ciera had her last softball tournament of the fall season. They entered her 12U team in the 14U division to give them some better competition. The girls did great and ended up tied for 3rd place in a 14U division. It was a great way to end the season. Logan had soccer and football on Saturday and the games went the same as always. However, Logan played a great soccer game and received a special e-mail from his coach telling him how OUTSTANDING he played. I've joked with Logan that I will have the e-mail framed to hang on his wall. We really are proud of him. He's worked very hard this fall in both soccer and flag football. His endurance has really improved-just in time for basketball. Basketball try-outs are on Sunday, as well as Spring softball try-outs for Ciera.

The babies have been REALLY well behaved the last few days. They've told the H twins to take it easy on me for a few days, and I really appreciate the break. I still haven't called my Dr about taking something to help it. I think I'm in a bit of denial about the H twins sticking around for another 15 weeks. I've been feeling lots of movement. It's always easier to identify little girl moving since she's the one planted at my bladder, but there is plenty of 'mid belly' movement that is probably little boy, but could reasonably be little girl as well. It's weird for there to be such tiny movements, all I remember is the big and constant movement toward the end of the pregnancy. I know soon there will be so much movement I won't even recognize it as movement, that's just the feeling I live with. I am however, still so very excited to be almost 23 weeks and amazed at this whole process. Pregnancy alone blows my mind, but then you add in surrogacy and it's amazing that I have the opportunity to be doing what I'm doing. I am so thankful that I am able to do this and have such an amazing experience in my life.

My Ballerina!

Ciera and her friend dressed up as Ballerina's for her first Halloween without me. They had a great time and her friend did Ciera's hair and make up for her. I never thought I'd see the day that my little girl dressed up as a ballerina!

Pics at 22 weeks 3 days!

Keep in mind that black is supposedly slimming! If you look carefully at the top picture you will notice that the top barely covers the belly, leaving my maternity waist exposed at times. Time to retire the shirt! I am thankfully still fitting into the jeans though. These are the ones I guessed would not fit by Thanksgiving. There are times when the waist band feels a little tight on my lower abdomen, but then baby girl will move and it will feel better.

Pics at 21 weeks!

I know the 2nd one is really dark, but I think it shows just how much the belly has really grown in the last week.

Flavored coffee creamers...

Has anyone seen all of the 'holiday' flavored coffee creamers? I am not a coffee drinker, never have been, but man do I want to try some of those flavors. Do you think you could just add them to steamed milk? Take a look next time you're in the grocery store and if anyone has tried them, which is your favorite?

I did not get a picture taken last night. I made dinner, spaghetti with meat sauce, salad and garlic bread and then headed upstairs. I stopped on my picture taking step and stood there for a minute. Apparently long enough for Logan to ask what I was doing. Honestly, I was deliberating. Should I just have Brian take the picture real quick, or should I go on up to bed. Bed won, picture will come today maybe. Dinner was great though and it was so nice to all sit at the table together without the TV on (anyone else miss the obsessive political coverage watching?), and just talk and giggle-somehow there is always a lot of giggling.

This morning I'm feeling a little odd. My lower belly feels 'weird'. As I was driving the kids to school I figured out what it is. Little girl is going crazy in there and is continuously bopping around. At some point she's got to get tired out and rest, but until then I think I will go lie back down.

1 day down!

I made it an entire day without any issues from either of the nasty H twins! I'm off to bed before one of them wakes up and realizes they did not visit me today!

22 weeks already!!

This has been a fairly busy week. I feel great all day, aside from the heartburn and hemorrhoids, but by evening I am dragging and I can't even get myself to update on here. Today I only had copies to make so I committed to getting caught up today.

Monday Ciera had a dental cleaning to prepare her teeth for the braces coming next week. I made an enchilada casserole that almost everyone ate, but they apparently prefer 'traditional' enchiladas to the casserole. It was a fairly quiet evening as I was still feeling quite tired and sore from the weekend.

Tuesday I voted and then went to get the oil changed in the van. I'd been putting it off since the 20% warning light came on and it finally switched over to negative miles, so I headed to Roseville. I've been slowly plugging away on a book Brian recommended (since no one else gave any suggestions). I can't remember the name of it-something about naming the wind. It's not bad, but I just haven't been able to keep my eyes focused on it. I did get a big chunk read while waiting on the van though. I then headed across the street to Wendy's for a baked potato with chili and sour cream. Since I was already in town I headed to Kohl's to check out the Tony Hawk stuff for Logan. He doesn't want a jacket this year but he's agreed to wear a thick sweatshirt-if it's Tony Hawk and has a skull. They had several choices and I deliberated between buying them all and then returning what he doesn't want or making him come to the store with me. I finally decided to just buy and return since I really want him taking a sweatshirt to school and there's just not a good time to get him to Roseville this week. I also found him a pair of clearance Tony Hawk sneakers and a very nice pair of pants. Ordinarily he would say he hated the pants, but because they are Tony Hawk he loves them. The boy now has an outfit for Thanksgiving and Christmas that doesn't involve track pants with pockets (the only other thing he's agreed to wear). After school Ciera and I had to go back to Roseville for her to get spacers put into her molars to prepare her teeth for the upcoming braces. Poor thing, she's got plastic pieces wedged in between her molars to help separate them for the next 6 days. She has to have a soft diet and nothing sticky. The toughest part (aside from the pain) is that she can't have tortilla chips-this is virtually the only thing she eats for lunch. Brian and Logan made English Muffin pizzas for us for dinner and then we were off to football practice. The weather has definitely cooled off and I'm quite comfortable in the daytime in my pants and short sleeve top or tank, but as soon as the sun goes down it's getting chilly. I actually watched football from the warmth of the van that night.

Wednesday Ciera's class went on a field trip where we learned about our environmental footprint and how our choices are helping or hurting. Ciera actually enjoyed this field trip (at least more than any other) and I did as well. It made me feel good that I've stopped using Ziploc bags for lunches (despite Ciera's gripes about it), but made me realize that I should possibly suck it up and splurge on a refillable bottle that won't retain odors or tastes (which is the problem with all of the refillable bottles we currently have). I went by Target and found a nice one for $10. So far so good, we'll see how it is next week. After school Logan and I worked on his book report and then it was time for dinner, crock pot chicken with vegetables and potatoes in a cream of mushroom sauce. Ciera and Brian both ate it and said it was good. I could not bring myself to try the chicken-it just looked bad to my pregnant belly, so I had leftover enchilada casserole. Logan had a bowl of cereal before soccer and said he'd eat after practice (he doesn't like to eat too much before he has to go out and run for 2 hours). It was so cold at 6:30 I didn't even try to sit outside the car. I even had to wrap up in a blanket while watching practice in the car. I went straight to bed after explaining to Logan how to fix a bowl of Chicken Noodle soup. Apparently everyone else got to bed on their own eventually, I was out as soon as my head hit the pillow.

I woke up today feeling better and rested, but still looking forward to lying around and reading today. Ciera has a pitching lesson and Logan and I have to finish up his book report tonight. I think we'll be having pasta with meat sauce and 'hopefully' some garlic bread. I will get Brian to take a picture tonight and I'll get those uploaded by tomorrow.

The babies have done good all week. There is a lot of movement going on internally and I have no real complaints outside of the heartburn and hemmerrhoids. It'd be nice if I could suffer from just one at a time, but there have been days where they both kicked my butt.

Heartburn bites!!

I've been told that this horrible burning in my chest and throat is in fact heartburn. It's been my constant companion since about 1:00 today! A big cup of hot milk helps for a little bit and then it's back, with a vengeance. I'm hoping that it's not something that will keep me awake. I am definitely tired tonight-still paying for my weekend projects.

Hello to the followers!

I just wanted to publicly welcome all of the 'followers'. I noticed we have a new follower as well. I've been led to believe that there are far m0re people stopping by than are leaving comments. I'd like to encourage you to say hello, so we know who you are.

I'm a little behind after the weekend, but I think that happens every weekend. The kids had a great time on Halloween. I'll post pictures once they get uploaded. Logan spent the evening with his cousin and they hit more houses than ever, plus it was mostly all candy he liked which is always a bonus. Ciera spent the evening at her friend's house (most of the weekend actually). This is the first year I have not been a part of the evening with her. She went over after school and they dressed up as matching ballerina's. I made her take the camera so we'd at least have a picture. It sounds like they had a blast, but she says she only took a few pictures. Apparently the girls 'performed' for people at their doors. They have a Hearse poem that they made up a routine for last year that they entertained with for bonus candy.

Saturday it rained pretty good for most of the day. Soccer, flag football and softball practice all were cancelled for the weekend. This left us with an entire day and only 1 child to do whatever we wanted! I took a morning nap and stayed in bed for most of the day. Brian went to get a haircut and picked up some movies and a pizza (the pizza from Friday night was so good, I really wanted some for breakfast on Saturday). Although it was nice to not have to go get the movies myself, it left me at the mercy of my husband. I know he tried, but we didn't have any real winners. We watched Baby Mama (which was actually better than I would've thought) and You Don't Mess With the Zohan (which was MUCH worse than I would've expected). Although we missed having Ciera around, it's always nice to spend the one on one time with kids. We had a nice day with Logan, although I can't think of anything else we did-other than try to pry Halloween candy out of his hands. I promised the kids that this year they could both keep their own candy and I wouldn't eat it. We generally do a 'family collection' and they get to keep a certain amount as 'just their own'. They both agreed that they hate that I make them share it, so I agreed to not this year, but I did incorrectly think they would share a little.

Changing the clocks back in the fall is one of my favorite times. I don't know why an extra hour makes everything feel so much better. I woke up at 8 feeling so rested and ready to tackle a thousand projects. I ran some errands in the morning, which should've been enough of a project on a regular day. But no, not on a non-raining, no plans, extra hour Sunday. I decided it was time to tackle the refrigerators. We have 2 virtually identical refrigerators, both about the same age, one white, one black and one lives in the garage. Well, the house refrigerator stopped making ice almost a year ago. We sucked it up all summer with 'fill your own' ice trays and I had finally had it. It was time to switch them. My poor husband! I convinced him we wouldn't need a dolly because the refrigerators have wheels. Everything was easy breezy until we got to the door. You have to turn it sideways to fit it through and now the wheels are useless. We did finally get the black one out the door and into the garage. That was when we realized we had completed the easy part. Getting the white one UP over the doorstep without a dolly or a lot of strong men, was not so easy, but at least it wasn't raining! After a lot of wiggling a heavy refrigerator by Brian, we did finally get it up and into the house. Then the really fun part began for me. I know most people clean out their inside refrigerators every now and then, but who cleans out the garage refrigerator? About 4 years ago we had a big juice spill in the outside garage and we never bothered to clean it up, until Sunday. It was not a lot of fun, but a once filthy refrigerator is now clean and my muscles are only a little stiff and tired today.

Ciera finally came home, reluctantly, around 1 and we could finally watch Journey to the Center of the Earth together. My body was so tired and exhausted when I finally went to sit down. We actually all enjoyed this movie-I think Logan liked it the least. After the movie I went to soak my tired bones in the bath and Brian went to get his much deserved Round Table Pizza (it didn't seem fair to make him eat egg salad sandwiches again after all of his hard work). Ciera and Brian then watched the 3rd Indiana Jones movie, Logan watched TV in my bed and I fell asleep early. I woke up this morning feeling much better, although a little sore.

Today should be a fairly easy day. I stopped by Target this morning to pick up some 'hold us over until after Christmas' clearance candy. The babies seem to be favoring the Peanut Butter Cups right now. Speaking of the babies, I do believe they've got to be close to 3lbs each now! I know that's actually impossible, but I feel like I'm definitely pregnant now and as if I've grown a ton in the last week. We are not seeing any 'external' movement yet, but I feel them all the time now. I've started moisturizing the belly now as well, if for no other reason than it just feels really nice to rub it-did I mention that I'm sure it's gotten bigger? We did take a picture at 21 weeks, I'll have to get it uploaded and take a new one as well.