MLK Weekend in Arkansas

This past weekend we decided to make a trip to Arkansas to visit some dear friends while we are still able to travel, and we had an extra day. Car trips are getting a little more difficult but I am SO glad we went. Our first stop was Searcy/Harding, to visit our Birmingham friends who have recently moved there. We have really missed them, so it was a great few days to catch up and play with the kiddos. They are growing so much!

Decorations for our "Celebration". Big C decided we needed a celebration since we came in to town. And what were we celebrating you might ask......well, Jesus of course! Gotta love the hearts of children

Feasting at our Celebration...yes, I'm still eating dinner while others are on dessert

Batman and company headed to the HU basketball game. And cape stayed on the whole game I am told:)

Sweet sweet family!

Little Miss crawling everywhere

Sunday we drove an hour to Jonesboro to visit with Josh's longtime friend and college roommate, and family. We had a fun time catching up, visiting and playing with some active little boys. So much fun!

Adorable, happy family

Roomies

Thanks guys for a wonderful weekend!

In other news, today was my 21 week appt.....and the first one without an ultrasound! Am I spoiled or what?? Everything went well and Lord willing, I will go back in 4 weeks for my fun glucose test and additional ultrasound! Here is a few pics of me at 21 weeks...I have really packed on the pounds this week!

20 Week Update

20 Weeks! Another milestone. Yes, we are more than halfway now....hard to believe! We are now in full planning/preparation mode, trying not to be in panic mode:) Our list is so long, but I'm sure it will all get done, one way or another.

Here is a picture of me and the little ones at 20 weeks:


At 20 weeks:

- Feeling pretty good, much more energy.
- Short of breath a lot, mainly after sitting (I think baby boy rides pretty high)
- Gained at least 17 lbs (that was the total 2 weeks ago)
- Both babies are kicking, I generally feel them 5-6 times a day, mainly when I am sitting (very cool!)
- Officially wearing maternity pants and belly band (love it!)
- Have one registry down and one to go
- Having trouble getting up and down, which is a lot b/c I can't sit for very long without needing to move
- No cravings to speak of yet
- Thankful for each day

As far as our planning/preparation goes, here is what we are currently working on for the next week or so:

- Cleaning out nursery (see "before" pics below, taken AFTER we put a lot of stuff in attic or in garbage)
- Picking out fabric to make crib skirts
- Josh is building shelves in closet
- Making pillows for guest bedroom
- Organizing TONS of old pictures found in the office/nursery closet
- Registering
- Making a trip to IKEA for some storage/shelving

Corner of room where changing table and chair will be (PS we received a gift of 234 diapers, and calculated that would last us 9-10 days! Yikes!)

Soon to be crib area

Closet AFTER cleaning out a ton of stuff

So that is what is going on in our world right now. I need to get our 18 weeks ultrasound pictures scanned in or figure out how to upload our video if anyone is curious to see the babies:) That is also on the list!

We Are Having.....

Happy New Year's!! Wishing everyone a happy 2010!

On December 30, we went in for our "big" ultrasound, 18 week appt. Both babies were measured and examined. Both babies were in all the normal ranges and were even a bit big for their actual age. Praise God for a great report! The doctor said I was doing great, as well:)

We had fun watching the babies on the big screen for a while, doing somersaults with some extra caffeine I was told to drink. So amazing what you can see on these ultrasounds!

Then it was time for the big news....what were we having?? Both shots were pretty clear.......

Baby A:




And Baby B (much to Josh's relief):



One of each! We are SO excited and thankful for all of your thoughts and prayers for healthy babies. Now let the planning and decision-making begin!

Quick 18 week picture....I think I am starting to feel the babies now...maybe? Still hard to tell..

The Rest of Christmas

I guess Christmas is officially over now, though we still have up all of our decorations:) This year for Christmas we spent 4-5 days in Ohio visiting with my family. We had a great time hanging out, visiting, playing games, opening presents, and eating LOTS of yummy food. The twins were little piglets and I think gained a few ounces:) Thursday, Christmas Eve was Shaffer Christmas. We had a lot of fun and even got in a few fantastic group pictures. Good job family!

Whole Clan, and everyone was looking!

Cousins picture

Thursday night and Friday we had Christmas with our immediate family. We always enjoy each other's company and lots of laughter. This year was no exception. Perfect Christmas Day!

Baby A and Baby 1's stockings

1st set of onesies (not sure why Josh looks puzzled)

Whole family before "Santa" presents opened

Excited to be together in red

Finally, we had Mount Christmas on Saturday evening. Again, lots of eating, laughing and hard-core game playing. I think this is the first year in a long time that both sides of our families had everyone there for Christmas. That was so nice! Unfortunately, we didn't get a group shot on Saturday...I guess none of us thought about it. Sorry Grandma! Hopefully we can all be together again next year!

Great grandchildren (next Christmas will have at least 3 more!)

Christmas sweater picture of the cousins (mainly borrowing family members' sweaters)

Christmas Elves

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

Busy December!

We have had a busy December, as I'm sure many have so far. The first week of December, we drove down to Arkansas with four families (minus kids) for the weekend, to help some very good friends move, to begin Harding in January (yeah for Harding, boo for them moving). It was a hard-working but fun weekend, and unfortunately I don't think we took any pictures. We will miss the Maynards very very much but are excited for their new journey.

The second weekend in December brought my college roommate, suitmates and their spouses down to our house for a get-together. We have been blessed that all of us live within 4 hours of each other and can meet up several times a year (usually at a different location). This time, everyone stayed at our house and we had a great weekend with lots of laughter, talking, bowling, eating, and Wii playing. Always a fun time! Below are a few pictures from the weekend (I won't post the action shots of the Wii Hula-Hooping:)

We had more fun posing than bowling, 2 real and 2 joksters:)

The real preggos (did you guess right?) Roommates due 2 days apart, so fun!

The serious bowlers

This past weekend we had Steed Christmas at our house, a tradition that began a few years ago under the "big" tree. We had a delicious brunch and enjoyed our time visiting and being together as usual:) I think the kids had the most fun, though, as soon as we let them loose on the presents. I don't think we got any posed group pictures but plenty of action shots! Again, another fun weekend!

Unloading of presents under the tree

Not sure which is bigger, bag or baby!

P man getting assistance from his cousins and sister

Fun toys!

Little A enjoyed watching her cousins opening their presents too

Sharing a gift

Happy for more Legos!

Legos are a hit!

Finally I'll leave you with a 17 week picture by the Christmas tree. No new news to report, other than I am getting bigger! We have our big ultrasound next week to find out what our little ones are, so we will keep you posted. Merry Christmas!

Pregnancy Update - 15 weeks

15 and a half weeks....moving/growing right along! Just wanted to give everyone a little update and satisfy some family requests for pictures:) Here is me at 14 and a half weeks (I'm a little deliquent on taking pictures on the exact week days). 2nd trimester may not show actually belly but I think you get the idea with the tank top....still same pants though!


Here is what has been going on:

- I have gained 11 lbs, and I don't feel like my appetite has increased...just babies I guess!
- Have 2 pairs of pants left that fit (snuggly)
- Feeling MUCH better this past week: much fewer headaches, very little nausea and more energy
- Nursery/office cleaning out still a major work in progress but steadily improving
- We are currently browsing names and have at least 4 for each gender that we are liking so far
- Looking forward to 16 wk appt in 6 days!

**NOTE : I ended up going to the doctor yesterday for an impromptu visit. For the past 24 hours I was having extreme pressure and lots of stabbing pain in my lower lower abdomen, along with a major increase in pulse rate. I called the nurse just to see if this was normal...she said yes probably, but would I like to come in anyway to double check since I was right down the road? YES! So yesterday I got to hear both (we think) heartbeats and see the little ones. Everything was fine and the doctor said it was probably just my round ligaments stretching hard. He said he normally sees this is women 18-20 weeks, but twins are normally 3-4 weeks ahead of schedule, so very normal for me. That made me feel much better and gave me a baseline for stretching pain:)

Next update I should have new ultrasound pictures.
Hope everyone has a good weekend!

Big Ole Tree

On Monday, we had our 3rd annual raising of the 12 foot Christmas tree. Josh's brother, wife and kids came over to help us man-handle and decorate......this is their tree but it is out on loaner to us as it doesn't fit in their current house. And we love it!! It fills up our room well and is so pretty to look at. This is definitely a Christmas highlight for me (I also don't do a lot of the "lifting or setting up" so the guys may not share my sentiments:) The tree is also a great conversation piece when people come over:)

Tall ladder used for set up

Passing out the ornaments with some help

Niece and nephew having fun with the toys

Perspective of how big and beautiful the tree is!(We now have a pretty red tree skirt underneath that looks a little better than the carpet square)