maternity pictures pt. 2

30 Weeks!

Oh my goodness.. this is getting crazy! Less then two months before we meet this precious little babes. Along with my next few maternity pictures I had taken, I added a little update. And... I'll let you all know that there actually is a part 3 of these pictures, but I won't put them up until these girls arrive. I can't reveal their names yet, guys!! Anyway... here we go... on the down slide now!

BABY IS THE SIZE OF: a large cabbage? I'm going off the scale of 1 baby because I haven't been into the dr to have my monthly growth ultrasound yet... that's next week. So, according to my handy dady pregnancy app, the babes are almost 16 inches long and weigh about 3 lbs each. Is this crazy to anyone else that at the end of this whole thing, I could have like 12-14 lbs of baby stuffed in my belly?!?? Mind. Blown.

MATERNITY CLOTHES: I live in them. And sweats. And to be honest, even some of my maternity stuff doesn't look so maternity on me anymore. It looks kinda... well, small. Like Homer Simpson status... pretty much, my maternity shirts don't cover my full belly so it sneaks out the bottom of my shirt. Yay.

SLEEP: Oh this one is a joy. I pretty much take little cat naps throughout the night. I toss and turn from side to side carrying all my pillows with me. And then I have to pee. Or take a tums. Or online shop. (I didn't just admit that). Or just lay there and stare at the ceiling. And then maybe, I'll fall asleep. And all of this results in me falling asleep on the couch in the middle of the day... and waking up with sweet Chan Chan in my face just staring at me and saying, "Mama??"

MOVEMENT: Oh yea... I'm a human punching bag. These little girls are strong and have no mercy on me sometimes. My ribs take at least one beating a day... But I'd rather have it that way then sit here and wonder when they're going to move next.

BEST MOMENT OF THE WEEK: Getting their going home outfits. You guys, I honestly never even thought about it until this week. This is all so much different then when I was pregnant with Chandler. This time, I'm procrastinating like a mad woman. But I'm getting there.

MISS ANYTHING: I miss a lot of stuff... pregnancy isn't really my "thing"... But I don't want to dwell on things I miss... I've decided really to enjoy these last few weeks (ah!) with these little babes swimming around in my tummy :)

FOOD CRAVINGS: I still really want PF Changs all. the. time. Just some lo mein noodles and mongolian beef, pretty please?!?!?

ANYTHING MAKE YOU QUEASY: All my pills. My prenatals are the worst now. I take the stupid gummy ones cause they don't taste that bad. Well, I used to think that... now I can barely chew them without gagging.

WEIGHT GAIN: I'm going to guess somewhere between 30-35 lbs. Bring. It. On.

STRETCH MARKS: No! I did, however, manage to hit my belly with my curling iron the other day though... and then had a little freak out when I actually realized what I had done. It seriously looked like a big, red stretch mark right in the middle of my belly... But then I remembered that I burned myself... so, I won't be curling my hair in my sports bra anymore.

HAPPY OR MOODY: Ha ha. This one is funny. Both. Probably more on the moody side lately. Sorry, Austin.

SYMPTOMS: Heartburn (yes, this has been my WORST enemy this time around... it seriously will not go away.) and back pain... I'm pretty sure I carry more in my back.

LOOKING FORWARD TO: Meeting these girls. I can't help but realize how close we really are to having 2 new babies in the house. SO exciting!

     

All images by: Adore You Photography

maternity pictures pt. 1

I recently had some maternity pictures taken with Adore You Photography. We had them taken up in Brian Head, since that's where we are living right now and that's where we will bring the girls home. I'm not a huge lover of being pregnant so when I was pregnant with Chandler, I was super hesitant about getting any sort of maternity pictures done... and I'm so glad I got them done with her. There is a picture of me when I was pregnant with her up in her room and every time she see's it now she says, "Mama!" and then points to my belly and says, "baby!!" I know that she will like to see what I looked like when I had her in my belly.

So since I had maternity pictures done for Chandler, I had to get them done for the twins as well. I really wish I loved being pregnant... don't get me wrong, I love the concept of being pregnant and that my body is able to carry a baby and that our bodies are even able to do something like creating another human being... The whole process is amazing. I just personally don't love being pregnant. However, I am so grateful that I'm able to grow these 2 little babies in my belly, and for that reason, I feel like I needed to document it. 

When I asked Maddy with Adore You Photography to do these pictures for me, I was so excited that she not only agreed to do them for me, but also agreed to drive all the way up to Brian Head to do them! We had so much fun and it was so easy! I am not a photography person by any means... I like having pictures to look back on, but the whole taking pictures process is not my thing... But she was so fun and easy going that it made the whole process so enjoyable!

I'm so grateful that Heavenly Father is trusting me with these sweet girls. I never thought that I would be carrying 2 babies in my belly at once... but now that they are in there kicking and swimming around, I can't imagine it any other way. Looking ahead to my journey of having 3 kids under age 2 I know that it's going to be super challenging and I'll probably want to pull my hair out on a daily basis, but I do know that things happen for a reason, and that God doesn't give us more then we can handle. These sweet little girls are meant to come to earth together at this time and I'm beyond blessed that I get to be their mother.

Make sure you come back to see part 2 of these amazing pictures! I was dying over so many that I couldn't choose just a few so I had to split my post into 2!

move over mom, two babes coming through

Uhh... these baby girls are definitely making themselves known lately... not only is my belly growing like crazy, but my ribs are having a rough go these last few weeks. Since having twins is a little more high risk then just one baby, I'm pretty much either at my dr's office, a specialist's office, or in radiology getting a growth ultrasound every 2 weeks. So last week, we went into radiology to have my growth ultrasound... and there we found that my poor ribs were unknowingly entered in a boxing match with Baby B's feet. And let me tell ya, she likes it there. Not that I can see in there (I wish I could) but from what my ribs can feel, she hasn't moved. at. all. And Baby A is just chillin' down by my bladder... making it so I feel like I'm going to pee my pants constantly.

So far, Baby A is head down. Baby B, well, she's kinda all over the place... As of last week she was kinda in a "U" position... I'm trying to avoid a c-section at all costs... good thing my dr doesn't like them either... I asked him a few weeks ago what scenario's I have. These are my options:

-If Baby A is head down and Baby B is head down, winner winner chicken dinner for me.
-If Baby A is head down and Baby B is feet down, I can deliver both normal if either Baby B is equal to or smaller then Baby A (yea, you have the right visual. Dr pulls baby B out feet first) OR dr will reach in (TMI) and -swoosh- whip Baby B around to be head first. Still, winner winner chicken dinner for me.
-If Baby A is feet first, Baby B has no say. Slice me open. Sigh...
-If Baby A is sideways (like, back down), Baby B still has no say... Slice me open...
-And the worst... if Baby A is head down, I deliver her normal... But Baby B is bigger than Baby A or won't cooperate to be -swished- head down, looks like I get to experience both normal AND c-section in one go. Un-lucky me.

Along with all of that, Baby A is measuring just under 2 lbs... Baby B is measuring just over 2 lbs. Chunker. ::kidding:: Not good for my scenario's listed above. But, if both are healthy and Baby B really feels the need to be bigger then her sister, I can be okay with that. I'm really trying to avoid the NICU here, too. Well, there actually isn't a NICU here at all... so my babies would have to go either down to St.George, Utah or up to Salt Lake City, Utah... and I'm not a fan of either.

I'm still stretch mark free. (I mentioned my fear of this in my last post) I haven't been weighed in a few weeks, but I'm guessing I'm somewhere around gaining 25-30 lbs so far...

I can't sleep worth a darn... I can only sleep on my sides, with pillows... and each time I switch sides, I have to sit up, move all the pillows, wake up Austin and tick him off while doing all of this, and then lay back down... only to decide that the other side was more comfortable. Try doing that for 8 hours... So by the time 7:00 am rolls around, I just give up and get up. Oh, and did I mention that Chandler has been sleeping in until 9:00 am?? What. Is. My. Problem.

TMI TMI TMI TMI - My boobs itch like crazy. Crazy. It's a good thing I don't work anymore... cause, yea, awkward. Moving on...

My prenatal pills now make me nauseous. I'm currently taking my prenatals, heartburn medication, iron supplements, and folic acid supplements. The last two are needed when you're pregnant with multiples I guess? Austin makes fun of me... "You've got the red pills, and the blue pills, oh, and the little yellow bombers." (name that movie)

And... last but not least... We've narrowed it down and we're pretty sure we've got names for our sweet little girls. Sorry, not telling. But, I can tell you that they start with different letters... and that they don't rhyme.

Here's to 28 weeks! 10 more to go... Max!!!

Diet Coke Confessions

I heard this on some talk show at work a little while ago... and it just now popped back into my head... and considering my biggest confession is... I've officially given up soda... yea, go ahead and pass out... this post title is totally appropriate! So... here goes my non "diet coke confessions" for the week:

• No lie... soda is mostly a thing of my past. I say mostly because I still steal a sip or two from Austin's soda... but with this pregnancy, my heartburn has been out. of. control. And drinking soda just makes it ten billion times worse at night (snacking on tums instead of sleeping) so I figured, I'm going to kick soda when they are born to breastfeed, so why not do it a few months earlier? It was not easy, I'm pretty sure I was addicted... And lets be honest, when you're at In-N-Out and you order a cheeseburger, fries, and umm, a water... how NOT fun is that??? But I'm sure my body will thank me (sometime) for it... and not for the burger and fries, but for the extra water.

• My fingernails and toenails have to match. OCD I know... but I had my toenails white and I decided to paint my nails pink... looked down at my toes (after doing my nails... dumb me) and realized I couldn't take off the white polish to replace it with the pink... But I could not let it go. So... shhhh... I painted the pink right over the white. And then I could sleep at night.

• Along with that OCD, I'm also a little crazy with my jewelry. If I wear gold earrings, I have to wear a gold watch, gold rings, etc... I hate that I do this... I know it's really stupid and no one really cares... but it totally drives me nuts! My wedding ring always stay though... match or no match, it's pretty, and it's the only wedding ring I've got, so I'm wearing it!

• So... all my friends with kids Chandler's age have already been through their kids first haircut (or third...) and I have yet to cut Chandler's hair... I kinda feel like she needs it but to be totally honest?? I don't have a clue what to do with it! I went to school for this! Annnnd I'm totally lost. So, I stick a bow or headband on her and off we go.

• I am terrified of stretch marks. Call me vein... but I seriously check for them multiple times a day. Every time I use the restroom, I check. I'm nuts I know. And I know that in the whole big picture, stretch marks really don't matter... I mean, hello? I'm growing humans here! And I'm sure having 2 in there isn't really helping my odds of beating the odds if stretch marks... But I'm a total target for all the creams/lotions/oils. I'm a total sucker. I buy them all. And use them all. And then pray to the stretch mark gods that they don't grace me with their presence. But... if they do? I will love them almost just as much as I love my babies... because if getting stretch marks means having healthy babies, I'll take the stretch marks any day.

• After these babies come, I need to get my butt back into shape. Our condo up in Brian Head (where we are living now) is upstairs... a lot of stairs. And I seriously die every time I get to the top... like I've just ran a marathon or something. Only I've never ran a marathon... but seriously, these stairs are kicking. my. trash. Carrying an extra 20-somethng lbs + Chandler up and down those stairs is a serious workout... and I suck at it. I purposely don't leave... or leave whatever is in my car there until Austin gets home... and then I politely beg him to get it for me. I'm pretty sure he hates me for that... But now I'm thinking... how the heck am I going to get myself, Chandler, and 2 car seats up those gosh darn stairs?!?! Uh, my legs burn just thinking about it.

Alright, I think that's enough confessions for one day... Not that I have a lot or anything... Ha. Next up, my belly bump update!

18 months

photo: b couture photography moccs: golden dot moccs

My sassy Chandler Kate is 18 months... well, as of yesterday, but Austin is studying like a mad man for the first part of his CPA exams (which he takes on Saturday... yikes!) so the computer has been off limits for me! And the fact that we've been crazy moving maniacs over the last week. But, I'm happy to say that we're all moved and now just have a mess in Vegas waiting for us and a mess up in our condo cause we have too. much. stuff. All of that is besides the point because, you guys, I have an 18 month old little girl! What?!?

- Chandler can now put on her own shoes. Or mine. Or Austins. Sometimes they are on the wrong feet, but hey, she's making progress.

- She has added "duck" (although it doesn't quite sound like duck... replace the "d" with a "c" and the "uhh" sound with a "ahh" sound and... yea, you get my drift. But she means duck. Hah.) She also says "baaa" for ball or balloon. I had her saying "bloooo" for balloon at one point but now she's right back to "baa". "Foof" is either fish, phone, or food. She says it for all three. She says "moh" for more whenever she wants more of something. 

- Her favorite word by far is "baby". Everywhere we go, she has to point out every baby she sees. Any kid, toddler, or baby is "baby?" And if you don't acknowledge that she has pointed out a baby, she gets louder and louder until you say, "yes, that is a baby." or "where is the baby?"

- Chandler is such a daddy's girl. Austin is her favorite person and I'm totally okay with it. I love that she loves her daddy and constantly asks where he is. Everywhere we go, she points and says, "dada?" She asks all day where he is at and when he comes home, it's like I never existed. But that's okay, I hope all my girls are the same way.

- She is currently getting her canines. Worst. Thing. Ever. Poor thing won't eat anything that she has to chew and she just holds her mouth and cries. Good thing we've got plenty of popsicles and Tylenol.

- We've been trying to somewhat prepare her for these two babies that will be joining us very soon. I don't think anything will really prepare her for such a big change, but she does know that her sisters are in my belly. I can tell her to give sisters kisses and she'll kiss my belly. But other then that, she's got no clue what's coming her way.

- Tomatoes are still by far her favorite food. I buy the little cherry tomatoes at least once a week and she eats them all. If she sees tomatoes on anyones plate, she has to have them. She likes to snack on goldfish, Austin's multi-grain cheerios (I call them multi-grain nasties), and pretzel sticks. She's not much of a breakfast person I've figured out. She likes eggs and her "chocolate milk" (Ovaltine... it's still the only way I can get her to drink milk) but other then that, she doesn't really want much to do with breakfast. She likes cheese, pasta, chicken, pork, and almost all fruit. We're still working on the veggies... she'll eat fresh green beans (not canned... but that's okay cause I hate canned green beans anyway), steamed carrots and sometimes steamed broccoli (if I'm lucky)... and she loves mashed potatoes.

- She can point to her nose (and says "nus"), eyes (she'll either blink, or just point to them), ears (she plugs her ears now ha ha), teeth, tongue, hair, toes, fingers, and belly button. We're working on "muscles" but she just waits for Austin and I to do it and then she laughs.

- She likes to put things out in rows. Her bath toys always end up on the side of the bath tub in a row. She arranges all her stuffed animals in rows, and then moves them to a different spot and puts them in rows again. She also likes to put things in buckets or cups and then take them out. And do it over and over again.

-She's still in 12-18 month or 18-24 month clothes. I tend to buy the bigger stuff only cause she is so tall and so it will fit her longer. I've been buying 2T dresses so that they are long enough for her. She's still in size 5-5 1/2 shoes and size 3 diapers.