Our days... and Mommy & Me

There are weekends, like this one, when I wish time would slow down and I could soak it all in. We are caught in this mad-dash of getting ready for the holidays, getting our home ready for the twins, and trying to savor the last weekends we have as a family of three.

Our little guy is talking up a storm - literally. C and I look at each other at least 20 times a day, and say "Did you hear what he just said?! Where did he learn that??". Sunday morning, he called me into his room at 6:30 and wanted me to lay down with him. As soon as my head hit the pillow, he turned to look at me with his most-serious face and said ... "Momma? You and me-me, go store?".

Me: "The store? For what buddy?"
A: "A puppy"
Me: "A puppy?! We don't need a puppy, we have Otto!"
A: "Yeah, momma. A puppy! You and me-me, go store!"
Me: "Well if you want a puppy, maybe you should talk to your daddy about it"
A: (taking out his pretend cell-phone from his pretend pocket in his jammies) "Dadda? Hi!! Me-me and momma go store? Puppy? Yah? Otay!" "Momma, Dadda yeah puppy".

For the next half hour, I answered questions about if the sun was up, if the moon was out, if Emma and BB were sleeping, if Otto was playing and if the wee-ohhs (fire engines) were coming today. My little guy told me that my ears, hair and teeth were all pretty, and wanted to know where my earrings were. And then he counted my teeth (like the dentist had done to him the day before), and then asked with the most genuinely-concerned look: "Momma? Teeth otay? Teeth hurt? Good Momma, good". He cracks me up!

I cannot believe that it was exactly 6 months ago that I was in his 2-year check-up, struggling to come up with the barely-20 words he knew and could say without assistance. In 6 months, our little guy has completely blown us away, and I am so, SO proud of him. 

A has also recently become much more aware of the babies in my belly, and has been such a big help getting their room ready. He helped us paint, and helped put the cribs together this weekend. Of course, now that the cribs are up, all he wants to do is play in them ... a far cry from the child who never slept through the night when he was in the crib, and climbed out at 20 months.

He's been resting his hands on my belly lately, and telling me that he feels the babies kicking. My momma heart could explode when he kisses the babies, and tries to talk to them through my belly button. I'm so happy he's "getting" it, and seems excited. Of course that could all change when they actually arrive, but for now, I'm savoring his excitement about becoming a big brother.

A few weeks ago, we had family pictures taken. Our little guy was fighting a cold, and had fallen asleep in the car on the way to the park, so needless to say... he was not the easiest subject to photograph. Pictures of the two of us are rare these days... I wish there were more, but I'm often guilty of being behind the camera, and for making excuses when C tries to get me in the picture. I'm thrilled that this was one of the pictures we received back. Even if A has on his fake/I have snot dripping down my nose, smile ;)

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Linking up with Emily & Leah for Mommy & Me Monday!

Pregnancy Update: 25 Weeks

Ok friends - a peek inside life at 25.5 weeks with twins! 

(pictures were taken 1 day apart - I just think my stripe maternity top conceals my real "size")

How far along? 25.5 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: As of my last appointment, up 24 pounds. I cringe every time I look at the scale in the doctor's office, but according to them I'm perfectly on track for twins... so I'll just swallow my pride. I gained 28 in total with A, so I'm only 4 pounds away from my 41-week weight with him.

Maternity clothes? Ohhhh yes. There are a few pants that I can still wear with my belly band, but by the end of the day I'm pretty uncomfortable. With only 4 weeks left in the office for me, I refuse to buy anymore maternity pants. And I'd say 80% of my tops are maternity, as well.

Stretch marks? Not yet! I haven't been as diligent about my oil this time around, but I'd be very surprised if I make it through this pregnancy without stretch marks.

Miss Anything?  Wine. Definitely wine. And bending over with ease. Painting my toes. You know, the normal stuff.

Movement: Yes.  Baby A is still much more active than B, as they have been for the last 12 weeks or so. Baby B is in a very strange position (laying across the top of my stomach), and is facing my back, so his movements are harder to feel, too.

Food cravings: I can't say anything with consistency. Last week my favorite sandwich was goat cheese, sundried tomatoes and avocado on a roll. This week I'm loving the left over Nestle Crunch Bars from Halloween. Overall, my appetite is nothing like it was with A.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Still getting sick in the mornings if I don't take my meds. I've weaned myself to every other day, so I'm pretty proud of myself!

Have you started to show yet: Ha! Hahahaha!

Babies are: TWO BOYS!

Belly Button in or out? Almost out. Sad, sad day.

Wedding rings on or off? On. 

Happy or Moody most of the time:  I'd say overall I'm pretty happy. I try not to complain too much, but C hears it all, so maybe he has a different opinion. I have my days, like anyone else.

Looking forward to:  Finishing the nursery - November is Nursery Month in our house, my 28-week ultrasound and deciding on their names (we are so close!). Also really excited to almost be done with work! 

Babies Update: As of last week, Baby A was measuring at 1lb 12oz, and B was 1lb 10oz. Both, according to our doctors, are healthy and very very active (we've witnessed them kicking each other in the head!). 

A Little Life Update (and Mommy & Me)

Eeek!
Two weeks?! How did that happen?

Needless to say, life has been busy. Between life as mommy, work, Etsy and the house, little time is left for anything else. Well, there's a little time left... but I've been so exhausted lately, I've been falling asleep in A's bed while saying prayers and rubbing his back. Real life friends, real life.

Anyhow... here are some pictures of the fun things we've been up to lately!

C & I were able to sneak away for a weekend alone, to one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. We were celebrating our 4th anniversary and a little baby-moon before our boys arrive in a few months. It was also my very first night away from A. I know... 2.5 years and I had never spent a night away from him. But, we both survived. It was way harder on me than it was on him, by the way.

My 22-week bump? I think it was 22 weeks. I'm the worst at keeping track of my bump pictures. And yes, that vest is purposefully hiding the "realness" of my bump. Not sure I'm ready to share it all just yet.

We of course visited the pumpkin patch, or as A calls it, the "pumpin" patch. 

We started off Halloween "week" (yes, week) with a Trunk or Treat at A's school. He, of course, was a football player. A Syracuse University football player. He took the whole costume thing very seriously - tackling C whenever he got the chance, and having us act as his "fans" while he ran around the living room.

We also celebrated Otto's birthday, with some new toys and a serenade of "Happy To You" ... "Birthday" is an unnecessary word when you're two and a half.

We carved pumpkins, and made a huge mess. But that's what it's all about, right? No, your eyes are not playing tricks on you. Those are the twins underneath that shirt. And yes, my stomach was roughly the same size as the pumpkin we were carving.

Halloween Parade at Nursery School. Also know as, the craziest hour with children I've ever seen. These teachers deserve some serious credit for doing this every day!

Trick or Treated (for the very first time... thank you freak snowstorm of 2011 and Hurricane Sandy in 2012) with our neighbors. A is IN LOVE with the little girl in the picture. She's 9. He totally doesn't care about their 6 year age difference.

And last but not least, we had lots of fun playing outside, in the leaves and enjoying the gorgeous fall weather. Our quiet weekends at home are my favorite.

I'll be back this week with a real pregnancy update, and maybe some more projects we've completed around the house.

Hope you all had a wonderful Halloween!

Linking up with Emily & Leah for Mommy & Me Monday!

What's Not Working: Family Command Center

Happy Monday!

We had the best weekend: lots of family time, a sweet little party to celebrate our twin boys and then a very lazy Sunday. Pretty perfect, if you ask me!

Back today with one of the many updates we've made recently. I've mentioned before my desire to streamline our routines & organize our space, so we have more time to do the things we love.

Since A started nursery school in September, one thing we needed in our lives was a "command center". A place to display A's artwork, a place for a calendar, and somewhere to keep the temporary paperwork that needed to be signed, or read, for school.

I wrote about how we deal with our mail now here, and have another post ready for how we now handle the never-ending paper piles... but all the school paperwork was a whole new challenge.

While I will never give up my paper planner, the one drawback with it, is that it lives in my purse... and our school schedule needed to be out in the open. Between my parents, C and myself, there are 4 people who need access to important dates. Things like "Orange Day" and "Pajama Day" have to be noted, since whoever is bringing A to school that day needs to know what to dress him in!

This is what I came up with rather quickly:

The side of our fridge was the best "central" location we could find. Using some magnets, a monthly calendar & pen holder, we've managed to streamline all A's school stuff.

Every night, I go through A's bag at the kitchen table. Any newsletter updates get added to the calendar, along with any deadlines for returning forms to school, and those forms get added to the fridge. Artwork gets added as we have room (and no, I haven't figured out good way to store all this artwork for the long-term!). We've also started adding our weekly menu to the calendar, as well as any vacation days that C or I have scheduled.

The family command center has only been in use for 4 weeks, but I can honestly say it's made life a lot easier. C and I don't have to try and remember what we're having for dinner each night, and we all know what events are coming up at school for the month. And I have a feeling as things get a little more crazy (read: 3 little boys under 3), having a place to communicate our schedules will be very helpful!

Five on Friday

Happy Friday, friends! I'm so looking forward to the weekend... don't we always?!

Linking up again with the fabulous ladies from A. Liz Adventures, Carolina Charm, Hello! Happiness and The Good Life Blog for another 5 on Friday!

{ONE}

So happy to have our Holiday cards live on Etsy! I have a few more designs in the works, so stay tuned for one more update this season. And, thank you all for your comments and emails... its so nice to hear positive feedback after many months of tweaking the designs.

And... don't forget, all readers can use the code EOSHOLIDAY13 for 10% off any digital file order!

{TWO}

Our 20-week appointment was excellent (eek - that was already 2 weeks ago!!) and I'm so relieved to have that behind us. There were some concerns about Baby B's heart prior to this appointment, so we were happy to hear that his heart is structurally sound and that both boys are on track & developing as they should be.

And here's a little peek at our pumpkins!

 
{THREE}

A's Halloween costume arrived, and the cuteness is killing me. His latest obsession is "hut hut" - aka football. So when I asked him what he wanted to be for Halloween, he of course, told me "hut-hut".

I ordered this costume from Amazon, and while its a little big, I've never seen a cuter "hut-hut" in all my life.

This Halloween is the first time we've actually gotten to celebrate (and I pray I'm not jinxing it by writing that). Two years ago, we had a freak snowstorm on October 30th, and Halloween was cancelled. Last year? Hurricane Sandy hit the east cost on October 29th, and seeing as our town was without power for 11 days, Halloween was cancelled then, too. I'm already counting the days until we can Trick or Treat!!

 

{FOUR}

My Erin Condren Planner is ending in a few months, so it's almost time to order a new one! I've professed my love for my planner before (yes, because I'm a huge dork), and while checking out some of the covers on Pinterest, I came across the Plum Paper Planners on Etsy. Have you seen these before?

Super cute covers, a layout almost identical to Erin Condren, and oh - its only $30!

{FIVE}

This little boy... my whole heart. He gave us quite a scare when he fell backwards down the stairs from our playroom this weekend. Before you judge me because the gate wasn't closed... A knows how to open and close the gates now, so sometimes I think its silly to close it because he just opens it when he wants. I've taken for granted that he's so comfortable on the stairs, and I had forgotten he could trip while playing and really hurt himself.

Needless to say, he fell down the 8 stairs, flipped feet over head, and landed on his shoulder/neck. There was a lot of blood, a lot of tears, and C and I were besides ourselves with worry. We were pretty certain he didn't have a concussion, but we were worried about a broken nose and any other unseen injuries. Thankfully, A only has a bruise on his nose and a barely noticeable black eye. But I can honestly say, I'm the one that will never ever be the same.

In that instant, I realized how precious and fragile his little life is. How one little mishap - falling down the stairs - could have turned into something much more serious. I would do anything, anything, to keep this little guy from feeling pain in his life. To keep him safe all the time. Last weekend was an eye-opener for me... to not be moving full-speed all the time, to slow down and savor the moments, to remember that he's only 2 and a half... and to remember to close the gate.

Nesting

We've been busy bees around here, trying to make room for our two little boys arriving in January.

Every weekend, another room, or closet or cabinet gets cleaned out ... all to make way for the influx of baby paraphernalia that will soon take over our home.

We never expected to have 3 children in this house...
... or to have 2 at one time! And I know that in order to keep my sanity when they both come home, our home needs order, and everything needs to have a place.

So the last few weeks have been about simplifying, and getting rid of the clutter.

We've had to create a new coat closet, since our guest room closet will now be the twins' closet.
We've had to make room for all of my supplies for Bella Carta, since they used to reside in the guest room.
We've had to clean out every kitchen cabinet to make way for all the bottles, bowls, and bibs.... times TWO.
We've had to clean out & organize all the toys, so that we have space to bring the baby toys back out...
and we've had to find space in order to fit two swings, two rock n' plays, and two more high chairs.

I'll share more about all the changes we've made (and I promise the house doesn't look like this anymore!). It has felt SO great to bring huge donations to Goodwill, sell some stuff on Craigslist & eBay, and throw away the rest.

Holiday Cards... Now on Etsy!

Well friends, today is a happy happy day. Bella Carta's Holiday Cards are live on Etsy!

Here are some of my favorites from this season...
... also featuring some of my favorite bloggers' families!

And back by popular demand... we are now offering 4 options for Instagram Holiday cards!

I think these are wonderful, because not everyone has the opportunity to have professional family pictures taken for their Holiday cards. They offer the opportunity to show pictures from your everyday life, and showcase you & your family in their natural element.

Even more Holiday Cards can be seen in the shop -
Head over and check them out!!

Things are operating a little differently this year, mainly because I am taking a limited number of print orders this season. If you are interested in Bella Carta printing your holiday cards, please make sure to contact me as soon as possible!

You all have been so extremely supportive of my business, and many of you sent in photos of your families to use in these samples. I can't tell you how appreciative I am of this community, and the friendships I've made! So to thank all of you, please use the code EOSHOLIDAY13 for 10% off any digital file order!

Have a wonderful week, friends!

Four Years

Happy Anniversary, to the love of my life.

You make every day sweeter, and I look forward to all the years we have together.

Thank you for being my best friend and the most wonderful father to our three babies. 

I love you more with each passing day.