April

 Evan's brother, Patrick, had big birthday.  He was really kind and let Autumn help blow out the candles...then we re-lit the candles and watched for forever as Autumn tried to get all the candles out by herself.

 Autumn loves to help Evan make "Daddy drink" aka protein shake.  Autumn helps peel the bananas and uses her finger to swipe the peanut butter into the blender. 

 The other day Autumn asked me to paint her toe nails..with blues and pinks.  I'm thinking this is an omen for the gender of our babies.

 Autumn loves to "see" and "help" with almost everything. Autumn was helping to make fruit smoothies last night and was eating the frozen fruit and needed her coat because she got cold.

 For playgroup today we had a Easter egg scavenger hunt.  I hid eggs in our backyard filled with papers that gave a clue to another place to look for an egg...with another clue etc.  until the kids found bags of Goldfish snacks.  (I know I'm mean...no candy)

 Autumn insisted on using her sand toy bucket instead of her actual Easter basket.

 Autumn refused to pose with the kids from the playgroup.

 After a nap and a trip to the park (which made me so tired.  I usually can walk home from the park in 25-30 minutes I think it took me 45 minutes today and I had to stop and take a break at one point, pretty pathetic)  we dyed hard-boiled eggs with Evan's fam.

 Autumn was quite aggressive with the dunking of the eggs.  Snow White also "dyed" an egg.

Twin update (in case you think of it as much as I do):  I stopped reading all the twin books.  I took them back to the library.  I still haven't heard any positive recent birth stories.  I had a routine appointment this week.  By mistake the scheduler cancelled my appointment so instead of seeing the midwife I saw a snarkee- careless OB who treated me like I was ticking time-bomb just because I'm having twins.  I didn't like her attitude toward labor and delivery.  I also realized there are about 6 OB/GYNs and 6 Midwifes so I'd have to see both of them and I probably wouldn't have enough appointments to meet all of them.  Also if the babies are born before 37 weeks at the hospital I was originally going to deliver at they would automatically go to the NICU.  I hate the idea of my babies getting stuck in NICU even if they are healthy.  So Evan and I decided I will have the babies at his hospital, even though we originally decided that we didn't want all the nurses hating him because I'm a "difficult" patient.  So Evan is going to going to ask around and see if we can find one doctor willing to deliver my babies opposed to having to be at the mercy of a group of doctors.
Also Autumn has started to talk to the twins.  When we read stories she likes to rest her elbow on me.  I told her she can't do that anymore because it hurts the babies (really I just don't want her elbow in my gut).  So now when we read stories she puts a pillow on my belly and rests her elbow there.  

Twins on the brain

It has been two week since I found out I am having twins, and naturally that is all I can think about.  The next day I checked out about 10 books on twins from the library...they all say the same things.  Here is a recap: You don't need to buy two of everything, prepare yourself for bed rest, awkward things people say to you when you have twins (apparently everyone says, "looks like you have your hands full"-yup that is going to get really old really fast), you're going to have a c-section, and lastly prepare for the NICU.  None of those things seem fun at all.  I've been freaking out.  I can handle the odd/rude comments, but who wants to travel to the NICU (50 minutes away) daily  when they have a toddler they also want to see and won't be able to drive myself because apparently I've just had surgery.  AND I just found out if for any reason the babies are born before 37 weeks they will automatically have to go to the NICU...um sounds like a dumb rule to me.  I've decided I'm OK with bed rest.  Most of my "summer" plans are occurring before June even begins, I'd much rather have the babies inside of me as long as possible.  But in case bed rest is required I've been quite busy completing random tasks that have been on the "TO DO" list for forever now.

We plan on the babies sleeping in our room for at least a couple months....but there is no room for them, since it is the place where all the crap goes that I don't know where to put.

see how tiny it is.

I painted these frames back in August and they've been sitting on the floor in my room ever since...My mom helped me come up with a plan on how to hang them back in February, and I can say that they are finally up on the wall.

I thought after medical school the piles of papers would disappear, but we have an infestation of papers, I think they breed in our house.  I made Evan go through them a couple weeks ago.  The pile is now smaller, however he checked his mailbox at work the other day and the pile is growing again!

I went threw Autumn's "Too Big" box of clothes to get ready for summer.  Oh wishful thinking-it snowed this morning.  And I had Autumn try on MY bunnies slippers from when I was a kid.

I also finally made Autumn's Easter skirt.  It didn't take very long at all, especially since Evan was home to watch Autumn.  I found this lace dress at Goodwill and "re purposed" it into two skirts.

Also Autumn is awesome at puzzles.  She likes to do the "corrrrners" first.

Full skirt I made for my niece....

Modified bubble skirt I made for Autumn....the back of the skirt is totally missing a chunk but I didn't feel like cutting more fabric so Autumn will just have to "walk" fast  as my mom would say to my sisters and I when she was worried about our hem lines.

Autumn was playing in the medicine cabinet on Friday night while I got ready for a MOMs (Moms of Multiples) meeting.  I joined a club.  It was really fun to hang out with people I wouldn't normally have reason to hangout with.  There were 5 other moms at the "meeting".  All of them had their twins first.  They told me I was doing things backwards!  I feel like it too, twins would be so much easier if I didn't already have another child to consider.

The next day after washing her hands she did the same thing....put vasaline on her nose then a band-aid, and one on her pinger too.

17 weeks

You can't really tell by the picture, but Autumn's room is MUCH bigger than our room.  Anyhow I'm getting bigger.  I wore this shirt a lot last summer...I wore it today since I'm pretty sure it won't fit me..next week.  I'm also wearing a "belly band" over my already unbuttoned jeans.  I've broken out the maternity pants and wore those the other night too.  SO much more comfortable than regular jeans.  Also I got a hair cut.  It finally grew out enough to fix the chop job the girl did 18 months ago-I was seriously missing a chunk of hair in one place...one of the reasons I never wore it down.

My mother-in-law is having a garage sale, so I've been cleaning out closets etc. to get rid of stuff...I also spent numerous hours making all these bows to sell at the garage sale.  I spent too much money the other day at Hobby Lobby, and am attempting to recoup the cost ;)  See all very frivolous things, but I feel much better getting them done.  Especially because as each day passes I feel more and more pregnant.  I'm already to the point where I can't eat very big meals and I feel like my body is already telling me to slow down and rest. Also, I have ligament stretching pain and tightness in my belly (not contractions, it just feels really heavy and uncomfortable).  I'm also super itchy (a mom at the mom's meeting told me to put cooking oil on...didn't work) and I feel the babies moving around at night when I'm still.  In fact I'm convinced I felt baby B while we were at Disney World.  I see the midwife again next week, and it looks like my Evan may be able to come with me.  Hopefully she'll be able to calm my anxiety, because my attempt at "thinking positive" isn't working ;) some non-horror stories about twin births would be nice too;)

HELP SHE IS GOING CRAZY - Evan

Side Ways Selfie

The Side-ways "selfie" only means one thing...I'm pregnant.  We're thrilled!  We had been trying to get pregnant for close to two years.  In January I just knew that I was pregnant this time.  I wanted to surprise Evan on his birthday that I was pregnant, but what if I was wrong...that would be a terrible gift.  So I did the whole pee on a stick thing the day before his birthday and yup I was pregnant.  

That morning Autumn and I got to work to announce to Daddy that she was going to be a big sister.

Autumn really likes to paint...everything

This picture cracked me up so I had to include it...underneath her jammies is the big secret.

Autumn was working late per-usual I wasn't sure if Autumn would still be awake or not, and maybe she would just show her new to dad in the morning.  But she was still awake so when dad came home I told her to show dad what we painted today.  Without practice or further prompting she unzipped her onesie.  It was perfect.  Evan got it right away and was so excited.  When I told him I was pregnant with Autumn I tried to video tape his reaction and totally missed it, so this time I just sat and enjoyed his excitement.

I've been feeling pretty good, but much sicker with this pregnancy and super bloated (who knew that was a pregnancy symptom?).  Nothing to really complain about.  I only threw up with Autumn a total of maybe 3 times the whole time I was pregnant (and a couple of those times it was probably just car sickness).  This time I would throw up once every morning before I could eat breakfast then I was fine until after Autumn's nap and I'd lay on the couch and have her watch TV if I could convince her to sit still long enough.  I did get SUPER sick one day and have to skip a baby shower I was helping to throw...turns out it was just food poisoning or something else.  Two days later (at exactly 12 weeks) I was totally fine, no more sickness. I've also been way more picky about foods.  With Autumn I just loved to eat and couldn't get enough of almost everything.  I really craved pizza and tomatoes with Autumn.  This time around something would sound good to me like sushi I'd eat a ton of it, then be repulsed by it a few days later.  I've also had cravings for pasta salad, Belgium waffles, and tuna with celery, and of course green olives and pickles!

 My mom came to visit when I was about 9 1/2 weeks along.  I didn't tell anyone I was pregnant last time until I was 16 weeks...not even my mom (I know totally mean, but I was super paranoid that I would have a miscarriage).  This time I was really excited to tell my family, plus I knew I wouldn't be able to hide my sickness from my mom.

 My mom sent me this super cute Valentine's Day craft.  Conversation hearts with our names on it.  I casually asked her where she had gotten the hearts.  So I went out and got another one and painted it and put stickers on it that read: "Sept 2014".  After I picked my mom up from the airport she asked, "hey did someone else make you one of those?"  Then she got it and was super excited (of course).  We went shopping the next day for maternity clothes, because I hardly wore any with Autumn since I was working and just wore my work polo.

 After Evan and my trip to Florida, my dad was visiting.  We showed them the pictures of our trip and I had snuck some random picture of an ultra sound (I hadn't had an ultra sound yet) in the slide, and was kinda like "whoops you weren't suppose to see that;)  He's pretty quick and figured out what I was trying to say.  

Someone's ultrasound photo I found on the internet

So then we told Evan's parents and brothers by showing them the souvenirs we got from our trip which included a "Thing 2" onesie that we had gotten at Universal Studios.  I think Evan's brother Patrick got it first.  Evan's little brother was like, "who's thing 1?" and I said, "Autumn" he said, "oh"  Evan's mom said, "do you get it?"  Then he understood, and was more excited than I thought a 16 year old boy would be.

I text a picture of the onesie to the rest of our siblings.  Everyone got it right away except Evan's sister Sara.  It was hilarious.  We were texting back and forth for a while, and then I realized she didn't understand who the onesie belonged to.  I had to tell her, "IT IS FOR A BABY COMING IN SEPTEMBER...NOT FOR YOUR SON!" (although that would have been cute too, Autumn and her cousin are close in age).  Evan and I had a good laugh about that.

So we keep on trekking along.  I keep telling everyone how "huge" I am.  I text pictures to a few friends/family members and the ones that have more than one kid assure me that I'm bigger this time around because it is my second baby.  Except for my friend Carla who text back something like, "Wow! You really are huge!"  Thanks for the honesty Carla.  I swore to Evan I've felt the baby kick when I was only 10 weeks along, he doesn't believe me.  I'm still quite bloated especially in the evening...and pretty much get increasingly bigger after I've eaten breakfast.  

Sunday (3/23) Evan and I were playing games with some friends.  Emily asked me the usual pregnancy questions, "how are you feeling? Do you feel different from last pregnancy?"  I casually said "I think it may be twins".  Emily has 8 year old twin girls and got SUPER excited and asked "have you been sicker this pregnancy?  That's a sign of twins-more hormones ya' know?"  She kept telling me that I had to convince my midwife at my appointment the next day to do an ultra sound, "fake like something is wrong" she says.  So she got me real excited that my instincts my be correct.  At my appointment I just kept asking questions about twins, oh and by the way did I mention I took Clomiphene to get pregnant.  (Clomiphene is a fertility drug that makes you ovulate.  I took it for 6 months with Autumn...three months with this pregnancy but a lower dose than with Autumn).  Clomiphene increases your chances of having multiple babies by 5%.  Any given woman has a 5% chance of having multiples, so if you take Clomiphene the chances are 10%.  The midwife chatted with me then listened to the babies heartbeat (love hearing that and having that confirmation) then measured my belly.  "Well you are measuring at 19 weeks, so a little big.  Let's take a peek and get an ultra sound."  Didn't have to twist my arm.  I had a feeling (maybe just wishful thinking)  it was twins, but my friend had convinced me it was twins too.  So Autumn and I went to Chic-fil-A and played for a good 1.5 hours until we could go back for the ultra sound.  I called Evan and put him on speaker.  I only saw one baby so I said so, but then the ultra sound tech said, "Nope, there's two!"  Evan and I were both super pumped!  There are two placentas (which means fraternal twins) and double of everything which is good news.  It is too early to know the genders. It was nap time and Autumn was getting antsy poor thing, but we had to wait to meet with the midwife...again.  And no one told the midwife I was waiting so we waited an hour before I finally asked the front desk what was going on.  So Autumn and I were both very tired when we headed home 6 hours after we left the house in the morning.  We couldn't keep this secret in for long...I had Evan's dad take a few pictures for us in the backyard.  Like I said Autumn was tired....

I'm super ticked that the ultra sound tech didn't give me any pictures of the twins...together, but here they are separate.

Twin A

Twin B

15 weeks one day with the twins-16 weeks one day with Autumn

Here is evidence that I'm not just "bigger" but huger would be a better word.  (Also I saw a picture of my friend at 12 weeks with her second baby, and also added fuel that yes this must be twins.  We have girls the same age...so that must mean we'd be the same size again right?)

Yesterday Evan and I went to dinner together.  Autumn wanted to stay home, so luckily Grandpa said he would play with her.  Evan and I just talked about how excited we were.  Today...as more people called and text I got very overwhelmed.  I'm not really nervous per se, but my to do list just doubled, and the time table just got shorter (most twins are born at 37 weeks oppose to singletons which are born at 40 weeks).  I think I've found the "triple" stroller I'd like to buy and I think we've figured out a plan for where the babies will sleep.  The things that way on me the most is how the babies will actually enter the world.  I am petrified of having a C-section (6 out of 10 twins are born via C-section).  Will the doctors sweep my babies away to the NICU just because they are twins?  How will Autumn handle not only not being an only child but having two other people to compete with for attention?  I started crying on the phone today when my mom asked, "how I was doing".  But tonight I was searching (again) for twin things on the internet.  And pictures like this make me feel excited again....

Twins is going to be really fun!

March On

It is still very much winter here.  I mean it snowed lightly for several hours yesterday and produced about 8 inches of snow.  On the other hand today it is much more spring-y.  The sun is out and I was fine walking from the car after church to the house in a cardigan.  Autumn and I are getting Spring Fever/Cabin Fever whatever you want to call it.  There was a couple warm(ish) days this month and Autumn and I went on short walks and one day we even went to the park.  But that just confuses little Autumn.  She asks almost every morning to "walk" or "park", including yesterday with all that snow.  One cold day I gave up and we went on a walk.  Then Autumn turned and started walking to the park.  We were not dressed for a long walk, but we went anyway. The park is a 15 minute walk while Autumn is in the stroller...much longer when she is walking.  I pushed her on the swings for a good bit while I was standing in snow.  The walk home was much colder and luckily Autumn had snuk her blanket on the walk under her shirt so I wrapped it around her face like a scarf and we eventually made it home.  The point of that long story is...we are ready for some park weather...every day.

 On a sunny warmish day we ate lunch outside.  The warmest part of the day is usually during Autumn's naps.  This is Autumn favorite shirt and she wears it ALL the time.  And yes she is eating a bowl of black olives for lunch.  She repulses green olives though.

Autumn and a little boy I was watching for a friend

 One  of Autumn's favorite activities lately is playing "plane".  One day I was cleaning out our 72 hour back packs, Autumn decided to put on one of the back packs, put on her boots and walked over to the door and said, "plane, Grandma, Grandpa".  She wanted to get on a plane to visit my parents.  It was adorable.  So we built a plane in the living room.  Now she like to get all her stuffed animals, bags, ect.  ride the plane then go to the car (because Hello you always have to get in the car after a plane ride in order to see Grandma and Grandpa.)  One day she convinced me to drive around in the car after she promptly buckled herself in her seat when we got to the car.  After a while I realized she really  thought we could just drive to my parents place.  I explained we were just pretending and she cried, "Grandma Pattie".  It was the first time she called my mom Grandma Pattie, usually it's just Grandma.  So SO sad and adorable.

 Yup wearing that same shirt.

 I went to my brother-in-law's school production of "The Hobbit", by myself.  Evan misses out on everything.  It was a great play.  Cameron is in the middle-ish, second from the right.

 It was my birthday!  Autumn surprised me by waking up at 5:30am. Then a couple hours later Evan got home from work and went to bed.  Autumn and I went to our ward playgroup at the mall.  No one else came and Autumn refuses to play in the play area.  She prefers to just eat a snack, so when she finished her snack we left.  I had a coupon for a free item at Bath and Body Works and I got myself a yummy coconut lime body wash and then use a coupon at Victoria Secret to buy some Love Spell perfume.  I figured everyone wore that scent in the 7th grade except me so what perfect thing to buy myself for my 27th birthday.  Evan woke up at 430 pm and I quickly opened up a few gifts from my parents and headed over to the in-laws.  My mother-in-law made dinner for us and even made me a cake.  I haven't had a homemade cake on my birthday in forever, it was a treat. Then Evan went to work.  In fact he missed the cake. 

Evan had the next weekend off so as we had been planning for months we drove the 2 hours to Denver to see the Veronica Mars movie (luckily it did NOT disappoint).  Then we had dinner at BJs and our favorite triple chocolate pizookie.

 Autumn wanted to go outside and paint like we did last summer.  I said no.  So she painted in the bathtub with pudding.  Last winter I tried this and she freaked and just cried and cried.  This year it was loads of fun.  She painted her "girls" aka Disney Princesses and then cleaned them off by dipping them in a bowl of water. 

The fun quickly ended when she realized she could eat the brown stuff....and it disappeared!  I really hope Summer is coming quickly...or at least some real Spring.  We are getting mighty bored around her.