Family Pictures - Fall 2013

Just wanted to share some of the family pictures we had taken this fall! A was a little ornery during this half hour session (he had a little cold, and had fallen asleep in the car = bad combo). But I still love looking at these, especially since our photographer was able to capture my belly, and some really great pictures of us as a family.

 

2013 Year-in-Review

Better late than never, right? It was so fun to look back at all of the posts over the last year - here are some of my favorites!

In January, I shared my 2012 Resolutions, and make some new ones for 2013. I also shared our current playroom, as well as my inspiration and project list for the new year to turn this space into a functional office/guest room/play space.

I also shared A's big transition to a big boy bed (via a dog bed - true story), which ended up being very successful for us!

And in some business updates, I shared some of my struggles as a start-up small business, and my decision to keep moving forward with my dreams (as well a picture of one of my favorite birth announcement displays, to-date!)

In February, I shared what we gave A for Valentine's Day, some updates to our Master Bedroom,
and celebrated C's birthday!

In March, I shared what I included in A's Easter Basket, and some progress that we had made in the playroom. Knowing that we were repainting shortly, I also shared a tour of our kitchen as part of our Home Tour Friday series.

I also completed two quick DIY projects: a mirror update with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and a fabric covered cork board (also for my new office in the playroom).

And last but not least, I shared some of my favorite "Mommy Must Haves" with 4 of my favorite bloggers!

 

April was a really big month for us! First we celebrated Easter, and shared A's new art space in our playroom!

 

And the following week, our little guy turned 2! We celebrated with a Little Blue Truck Birthday Party, that was nominated for party of the week on Project Nursery!

In April, we also completed our major bathroom renovation (thankfully, before the birthday party!) - our biggest DIY to-date, and shared our kitchen makeover (which was really just some new paint!)

 

In May, I shared how I make our family albums through Blurb...

and linked up with my friend Darci to share my dream patio makeover (on a budget, of course!)

 

In June, I started my "What's Not Working" series - which was the catalyst for a lot of organizing around our house. The first thing we tackled was our DVD collection, and then, our mail.

We also painted our kitchen door, which totally transformed the room. And I also made a few small updates to our dining room.

 

July is when we started to slow down with house projects - I was pregnant, but hadn't announced it yet, so projects started to be replaced with napping :)

I did manage to update our bedroom with some 2 gallery walls, and while we were away on vacation, I had my friends Emily, Lyndsey, and Colleen all share their "dream homes" via Pinterest. So fun!!

And we also shared our family pictures - some of my favorites to date!

August was a very big month for our family! We announced that we were expecting... TWINS!

And also shared some of our pictures from our family vacation in July. I celebrated my birthday, and also (finally!) shared our guest room.

In September, we had our big gender reveal and I also shared my inspiration board for their nursery.

 

And lastly I shared a little pregnancy update (at 19 weeks), along with some pictures of my every-growing bump!

In October, we celebrated our four year anniversary, and I also launched our 2013 Holiday Cards on Etsy!

I also shared our new family command center as part of the What's Not Working series.

November was the end of posting for me this year (oops!), but before I was done, I shared our anniversary trip, a 25-week pregnancy update and a little Mommy & Me post with my favorite almost-big-brother.

Wow! What an amazing year!!

I loved looking back at all of these posts, and seeing what we were up to in 2013. This year will certainly look very different with our two little boys set to join us any day now... but we wouldn't have it any other way!

Mommy & Me + Pregnancy Update {34 Weeks)

Happy Monday!

This is one of my most recent favorite pictures...

Working from home the last few weeks has meant a little more flexibility in my schedule. And on this day (in a snowstorm), I drove A to preschool and let him sit up front while we were waiting in line. Love these little moments with him... not doing anything extraordinary, just singing Old McDonald (or, "Ol McDaniel" as he calls it) and talking about school. Love him to pieces.

 

 

 

How far along? 34 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: As of my last appointment, up 36 pounds. I have another appointment on Tuesday, so I'm sure it's more. I'm kind of over the weight gain at this point... I know it's what's best for the babies, but geez - that's a lot of weight to lose after they are born!

Maternity clothes? If I'm being totally honest, most of my maternity clothes no longer fit. I remember reading early in my pregnancy that twin moms should buy two sets of maternity clothes - one set for the first & second trimesters, and another (larger) set, for the third. I kind of laughed at that, but now understand why. Most of my maternity shirts are too short, and my leggings & pants are too tight. Since they could come any day, I refuse to buy any more clothing... and instead am doing laundry every.single.day. Poor C sees me in one of two outfits almost every day. Ha!

Stretch marks? Not yet!

Miss Anything?  Really just sleeping on my stomach. And maybe also missing doing anything with ease - sitting down, standing up, walking - normal, every day stuff.

Movement: Yes, but this has changed a lot in the last 10 weeks. Both boys are equally active, and have very distinct sleep & wake cycles. I can almost tell you to the hour when they'll wake up and start moving - its pretty crazy! All movement is now seen from the outside, which has made for some pretty interesting comments at the doctor's office, the hair dresser, etc. 

Food cravings: ICE! Water has to be ice cold for me to drink it, and I'm craving frozen fruit and vegetables. I know, it's weird (and yes, also a symptom of iron deficiency, which I'm now aware of thank you to my dear friend Melissa!). Also have cravings for clementines (we've gone through 5 crates in the last 3 weeks!) and Milano cookies.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Yes, I've gotten sick a few times now from silly things (lets just say having a potty-trained two-year-old who still needs to be wiped could put me over the edge), but, I know my triggers and try to avoid them at all costs. I also never knew heartburn could be this bad - I've gone through more Tums in the last 10 weeks than I care to admit!

Have you started to show yet: See picture above ;)

Babies are: TWO BOYS! And yes, they have names. Coming home outfits have arrived, and their initials for above the cribs are complete. But we're still keeping them a secret until their birthday!

Belly Button in or out? Not really out, but just a strange shape that makes a little bulge in my shirt.

Wedding rings on or off? Off.

Happy or Moody most of the time:  Um.... maybe C should answer this. I'd say its 50/50.

Looking forward to: Meeting them! I cannot wait to see what they look like and have A meet them. He talks about the "tins" all the time, asking if they're coming today, and if he can give them a kiss. I cannot wait to see him be a big brother!

Babies Update: As of my 32 week U/S, Baby A was 4lbs 15oz, and Baby B was 4lbs 12oz. Now that we're two weeks past that, I fully expect that both are well over 5lbs each. Both are still head-down, so we're going to attempt a natural delivery (and by natural I do not mean without meds!), but my hospital requires that twin moms push in the OR, so that if something happens, I'm already prepped for a c-section. I've also reached the multiples "safe zone" - meaning they can come any day now! 

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

 

Checking In & Our Christmas Card

Well, I certainly didn't intend to be away from the blog for so long... but life the last few weeks has been a non-stop whirlwind!

First of all - Merry Christmas & Happy happy New Year! I cannot believe how quickly all the holidays have passed us by. I LOVED celebrating the holidays with A this year - he was such a wonderful age to finally understand what the holidays were about, and even 2 weeks later, is still singing "Santa Claus is Coming to Town!". Christmas is truly magical through the eyes of a child.

In the last month and a half, we've been very busy... hosting (and celebrating!) Thanksgiving & Christmas, finishing work (and training my replacement) before maternity leave, finishing the twins' nursery, Bella Carta's holiday season, and of course, enjoying our final weekends as a family of 3. Trying to balance working from home & taking care of 'me' was a challenge - I'm truly not very good at sitting and relaxing, and, little A was all about mommy, all.the.time. I can't blame him, he's not used to me being home, and of course I wanted to soak it all in.

Now that we're into January, I finally feel like I can breathe again. Monday marks my first official day of maternity leave, and I plan on taking more naps, reading more, and snuggling with my little guy before his title of "only child" disappears.

I have a lot to share over the next few weeks, of course, all of which is dependent on the arrival of our boys. Now that I'm 34 weeks, they can truly come any day! But while I'm still very very pregnant, I hope to be back to blogging on a more regular basis. And I'm also WAY behind on reading blogs, so if you see comments from me on some old posts, you know why!

Before I go, I wanted to share our Christmas Card from this year. We were thrilled to find a local photographer who did an amazing job with our family photos, and who has a daughter the same age as A (read: she didn't even bat an eye at his shyness or minor meltdowns). She was so wonderful to work with, and we love how all the photos turned out. I'll share the rest of the photos, soon!

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!