So many kids I don't know what to do.......
When people find out we're having TWINS everyone says, "You're going to have to get a bigger house!".......and considering we live in a 3-bedroom it's certainly true.....at least in the long run. But do we need a new house right now? My friend Danneal (also expecting twins) pointed out that our life is going to be crazy and overwhelming no matter where we live.....is more space really going to solve the problem?? Then my back neighbor (who I just adore) said, "Would you rather spend your money on a bigger house and more space......or on a person to come in and help you with the kids and the cleaning where you are?" Point well made Mandy. I could the help for sure.
Yes-we are going to need more space, but right now we LOVE where we live and we don't want to give that up for just anything. Behind us are the most amazing neighbors-3 lovely little ones that Gage can't get enough of, three houses down live our best friends, Christian and Lauren, who help us with the kids however they can, and we're within walking distance to the park, the pool, Gage's school, and the trail to Woodward Park. We don't want to give all of that up for another bedroom.
Our plan is to stay in this house for a little while. If the twins arrive and we feel like we're busting at the seams-we'll deal with it then. We hope the next house can be permanent-something we can be in for the next 15 years as we raise our kids. Something with outdoor space like we had growing up.....where Gage can go dig a hole or build a fort with no consequences. Not so easy to find in Fresno.....but hopefully worth the wait.
A new car, on the other hand, is a MUST. We have to get something our whole family can fit in. Options are limited. Suburban, Yukon XL, Escalade (which my husband would never buy-and shouldn't because I don't take good care of my cars), and........the dreaded minivan. Everyone we've talked to that has a minivan loves it's convenience......but I just can't see myself flushing my youth and style down the toilet. At the same time-we'll get what works best for our family and if that means a minivan-so be it. You know......as much as I dread the thought.......I also don't want to get caught up in having bigger, better, and more.
More on that tomorrow.....
Love.
Monday, July 30, 2012
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
The SHOCK of Twins......
Wednesday of last week we were headed over to the coast for a little mini vacation. Matt had to attend a conference for work and I decided the kids and I should beat the heat and join him. Our appointment for the ultrasound was that morning on our way out of town........
We went in to Dr. Swanson's office with the kids and had Gage wait in the lobby area and look at the goldfish. We were waiting for the first ultrasound to tell anyone we were expecting-including Gage. When she started with the ultrasound I thought something was a little different. Why is she moving it like that? Why does it look like there are two different black circles? Must be the angle..... Then she said, "Guess what guys.........there's two." "What?" was the first thing I said, followed by, "Are you serious? There's two? My friend is having twins.....I really never thought I could be too." Then I cried.
I didn't cry of sad.....I just cried of shock. I was completely overwhelmed as my mind raced.....I will probably have a c-section this time, they could come early, they could have to go to the NICU, bed rest, how did this happen, we need a new car, stretch marks, bed rest means no exercise, maybe I won't have to go on bed rest if I just don't exercise, babies won't be put on my chest when they come out, Gracie better be walking by then, and on, and on.....but all in a matter of seconds.
Matt had the most blank stare at the screen. It wasn't a frown, it wasn't a smile.....it didn't look like excitement, or distress or anything. I couldn't read him at all. We didn't even ask any questions. We just gathered up our stuff and left the office in shock. We hadn't even told Gage we were pregnant and since we were all in the car together we didn't really get a chance to process it through discussion. Matt had a business dinner the first night we arrived in Pismo; so after putting the kids to bed I started my psychotic Google searches......preparing for twins.... likelihood of fraternal vs. identical twins....average delivery date for twins......average weight for twins at birth.......weight gain with twins......exercise during twin pregnancy.....triple stroller....double stroller......breastfeeding twins......twins sleep schedule.......and on and on. I couldn't sleep.
Two days later I called my mom and gave her the news first. She was almost as shocked as we were. She kept saying, "What.....what?" Matt wanted to wait to tell anyone else until he had a chance to tell his parents. He's funny about giving big news like that in person. I told him that we had to tell them quickly because talking about it is how I'm going to cope with it! We were far too tired to drive down to Weldon and we realized that our next trip home would probably be for the arrival of Tom and Kristi's baby boy. We didn't want to make the announcement on that trip because we didn't want to take anything away from the arrival of their precious baby. So we decided to call and deliver the news. They were certainly excited for us!!
On our way home from Pismo Gage wasn't with us so we had a chance to finally talk about it freely. We came to a few realizations......1-We know that God only gives us what we can handle-so what an honor that He would give this gift to us, 2-This is something that not everyone gets to experience, so what a blessing to be given this gift, 3-We've got this.
When Gage returned from time with his dad we shared the news. His response (with a nervous laugh): "MOM!! How am I going to take care of THREE babies!! That's a lot of babies we're going to have!!" I told him that he'll be starting school and won't be taking care of the babies and he said, "Yes I will. That's my job when I get home from school to take care of the babies!! You have to take care of everything else around the house!" He was shocked and overwhelmed but excited-just like me.
When I started this blog I talked about how I was inspired by my Noni......she was a twin and I'm excited to have the first twins in our family to follow......
Love.
We went in to Dr. Swanson's office with the kids and had Gage wait in the lobby area and look at the goldfish. We were waiting for the first ultrasound to tell anyone we were expecting-including Gage. When she started with the ultrasound I thought something was a little different. Why is she moving it like that? Why does it look like there are two different black circles? Must be the angle..... Then she said, "Guess what guys.........there's two." "What?" was the first thing I said, followed by, "Are you serious? There's two? My friend is having twins.....I really never thought I could be too." Then I cried.
I didn't cry of sad.....I just cried of shock. I was completely overwhelmed as my mind raced.....I will probably have a c-section this time, they could come early, they could have to go to the NICU, bed rest, how did this happen, we need a new car, stretch marks, bed rest means no exercise, maybe I won't have to go on bed rest if I just don't exercise, babies won't be put on my chest when they come out, Gracie better be walking by then, and on, and on.....but all in a matter of seconds.
Matt had the most blank stare at the screen. It wasn't a frown, it wasn't a smile.....it didn't look like excitement, or distress or anything. I couldn't read him at all. We didn't even ask any questions. We just gathered up our stuff and left the office in shock. We hadn't even told Gage we were pregnant and since we were all in the car together we didn't really get a chance to process it through discussion. Matt had a business dinner the first night we arrived in Pismo; so after putting the kids to bed I started my psychotic Google searches......preparing for twins.... likelihood of fraternal vs. identical twins....average delivery date for twins......average weight for twins at birth.......weight gain with twins......exercise during twin pregnancy.....triple stroller....double stroller......breastfeeding twins......twins sleep schedule.......and on and on. I couldn't sleep.
Two days later I called my mom and gave her the news first. She was almost as shocked as we were. She kept saying, "What.....what?" Matt wanted to wait to tell anyone else until he had a chance to tell his parents. He's funny about giving big news like that in person. I told him that we had to tell them quickly because talking about it is how I'm going to cope with it! We were far too tired to drive down to Weldon and we realized that our next trip home would probably be for the arrival of Tom and Kristi's baby boy. We didn't want to make the announcement on that trip because we didn't want to take anything away from the arrival of their precious baby. So we decided to call and deliver the news. They were certainly excited for us!!
On our way home from Pismo Gage wasn't with us so we had a chance to finally talk about it freely. We came to a few realizations......1-We know that God only gives us what we can handle-so what an honor that He would give this gift to us, 2-This is something that not everyone gets to experience, so what a blessing to be given this gift, 3-We've got this.
When Gage returned from time with his dad we shared the news. His response (with a nervous laugh): "MOM!! How am I going to take care of THREE babies!! That's a lot of babies we're going to have!!" I told him that he'll be starting school and won't be taking care of the babies and he said, "Yes I will. That's my job when I get home from school to take care of the babies!! You have to take care of everything else around the house!" He was shocked and overwhelmed but excited-just like me.
When I started this blog I talked about how I was inspired by my Noni......she was a twin and I'm excited to have the first twins in our family to follow......
Love.
Monday, July 23, 2012
10 things you don't know about me......
1. If it were up to me......we wouldn't have cable television. Seriously. In the nearly 2 years before Matt and I got married I didn't have cable. Just me, Gage, and some Disney DVDs. It was good.
2. I'm not a very good housekeeper.....my house isn't dirty but I can leave to run errands with dirty dishes in my sink or my bed unmade-many of my friends cannot. There are a thousand things I would rather do than clean house.....and life is short-so often I do those thousand things instead.
3. Every once in while I long to be a working mom. I've done the single working mom thing once before and I KNOW it's much more stressful and challenging than staying home. I missed Gage every day when I worked so I know that I don't REALLY want to work right now. Still I sometimes long to have a reason to get up and go in the morning....to have a shower be the first thing I do in a day.....to dress like a human being and to.....dare I say it....have time away from my kids.
4. I don't always correct my kids. Gage was an early talker. He started saying some things inaccurately and instead of correcting him like a good mother would-I let it go. I thought he would eventually start hearing them right and make the change. He hasn't yet......wok-a-mole (guacamole), Snoofy (Snoopy), neighvors/neighvorhood (neighbors/neighborhood), Grandma Devi (Grandma Debi), do not disturve (do not disturb)......it would seem like he couldn't say "b" sounds with the last few but that's not the case he just hears a few words that way.
5. If you dropped by any given afternoon you would FOR SURE find Gracie in just a diaper. Some moms just love to dress up their little girls. Not me-I do it because I'm supposed to....not because I love it.
6. I'm forgetful.....but I guess we already knew that.
7. My bedtime is 10pm-no later.......sometimes I wish I could stay up late (only to read though, because remember-I don't like TV) but the fact is I'm up to make Matt's breakfast at 5:45am-so 10pm bedtime it is.
8. I'm lazy. Don't get me wrong-I work out regularly and consider myself more active than the average mom. I'm not lazy in the 'I sit on the couch watching TV and eating ice cream' kind of way. BUT-I'm too lazy for things like make-up and hair straighteners and wearing clothes that can't also be worn to the gym.
9. Though I don't believe in astrology I can really identify with being a Gemini. I don't necessarily HAVE two sides....but I always UNDERSTAND both sides.
2. I'm not a very good housekeeper.....my house isn't dirty but I can leave to run errands with dirty dishes in my sink or my bed unmade-many of my friends cannot. There are a thousand things I would rather do than clean house.....and life is short-so often I do those thousand things instead.
3. Every once in while I long to be a working mom. I've done the single working mom thing once before and I KNOW it's much more stressful and challenging than staying home. I missed Gage every day when I worked so I know that I don't REALLY want to work right now. Still I sometimes long to have a reason to get up and go in the morning....to have a shower be the first thing I do in a day.....to dress like a human being and to.....dare I say it....have time away from my kids.
4. I don't always correct my kids. Gage was an early talker. He started saying some things inaccurately and instead of correcting him like a good mother would-I let it go. I thought he would eventually start hearing them right and make the change. He hasn't yet......wok-a-mole (guacamole), Snoofy (Snoopy), neighvors/neighvorhood (neighbors/neighborhood), Grandma Devi (Grandma Debi), do not disturve (do not disturb)......it would seem like he couldn't say "b" sounds with the last few but that's not the case he just hears a few words that way.
5. If you dropped by any given afternoon you would FOR SURE find Gracie in just a diaper. Some moms just love to dress up their little girls. Not me-I do it because I'm supposed to....not because I love it.
6. I'm forgetful.....but I guess we already knew that.
7. My bedtime is 10pm-no later.......sometimes I wish I could stay up late (only to read though, because remember-I don't like TV) but the fact is I'm up to make Matt's breakfast at 5:45am-so 10pm bedtime it is.
8. I'm lazy. Don't get me wrong-I work out regularly and consider myself more active than the average mom. I'm not lazy in the 'I sit on the couch watching TV and eating ice cream' kind of way. BUT-I'm too lazy for things like make-up and hair straighteners and wearing clothes that can't also be worn to the gym.
9. Though I don't believe in astrology I can really identify with being a Gemini. I don't necessarily HAVE two sides....but I always UNDERSTAND both sides.
10. Last, but certainly not least, we've decided to grow our family once again......
Gage is excited.......
That's right.....it's true. Twins. I started writing this post last week with #10 saying I was pregnant and I planned to wait until our first ultrasound to actually publicize it. Well, the first ultrasound let us know that we're having TWO babies-so I edited the draft and have now posted it for your enjoyment!! I'll have another post on how Matt and I reacted and how we'recoping preparing!
Love.
Gracie's not sure what to think......
Though these two are amazing.........
I'm excited to be pregnant...........
That's right.....it's true. Twins. I started writing this post last week with #10 saying I was pregnant and I planned to wait until our first ultrasound to actually publicize it. Well, the first ultrasound let us know that we're having TWO babies-so I edited the draft and have now posted it for your enjoyment!! I'll have another post on how Matt and I reacted and how we're
Love.
Monday, July 9, 2012
Gracie's Birthday Party
Gracie's actual birthday fell on a Monday.....tough day to celebrate-so we really didn't. We just read this vintage Little Golden Book, Baby's Birthday.......
Then Saturday we had a party! We celebrated Gracie's 1st Birthday with a barbecue and swim party at Copper River Country Club. The party wasn't really for Gracie, we know she had no idea what was going on. It was a wonderful time for me, Matt and Gage to celebrate with friends and family. It was a challenge to beat the heat but it turned out wonderfully! I took as many pictures as I could and I tried to get one of each child there but I missed a couple. 
The invitations.....
Sweets and Snacks Table....
Nick helping with the barbecue.....
The kids had a great time swimming and noshing on popcorn, cotton candy, and cupcakes. Matt made burgers, hot dogs and brats. We had chips, watermelon and a fabulous potato salad (thanks to Grandma Debi). There were juice boxes, waters, lemonade, and a few beers for the big kids.
There's always honesty in my posts so the down side was that I made nearly everything myself......the cupcakes, cake pops, banner, decorations......that took a LOT of time and work and I'm not sure I'll ever do that again. Also-I'm STILL cleaning up and putting things away.
Gracie was given so many wonderful gifts and it was great to spend time with our family and friends.....thanks to all who joined us for Gracie's 1st Birthday!!
Love
Monday, July 2, 2012
Gracie is ONE!!
Today is Gracie's first birthday.......as always, time passes by so quickly.....
7 months pregnant.......
Gage brought her a gift and played peek-a-boo........my how he's grown since then
She came out so wide-eyed.......
At 3 months.....
6 months......
9 months......
I couldn't get one of her smiling........she's got a runny nose and she's teething at the same time-drenched all day.....she's had a rough birthday
7 months pregnant.......
The day she arrived.......
Gage brought her a gift and played peek-a-boo........my how he's grown since then
She came out so wide-eyed.......
6 months......
9 months......
At one year.......
She is hilarious......everywhere we go people comment on how she looks like a little Gerber Baby, how tiny she is for her age, and her big brown eyes. Gage loves the role of big brother......he is very protective. Today we went to swim at the country club and it was Gracie's first time in the daycare there. Gage explained to the girl that Gracie had a milk allergy, that none of the kids should carry her or even touch her and that she needed to be very careful because Gracie puts everything in her mouth. Protective.......bossy.......whatever. When it comes to helping Gracie he never complains.
Matt says that she's almost walking......but trust me-she's not. Yes, she walks around holding onto furniture-but she has no interest in letting go or standing on her own. That's just fine by me! She doesn't say any words except "Da-da" and occasionally "Ma-ma" but she waves goodbye and claps her hands in excitement. Gage is the talker, Gracie is the watcher.
Happy 1st Birthday to our sweet baby Gracie!! We love you beyond measure.
Love.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)