Twins Update

Well, I've made it to the big 3-0! It's hard to believe that we are getting close to the end of the road. I definitely want to keep these babies in for several more weeks, but I am looking forward to getting my body back! I went to the doctor this last week and had another ultrasound. Everything looked good. Baby boy is 3 lbs 2 oz., and baby girl is 2 lbs 9 oz. They are a little on the small side, but not enough to be worried about. I do need to gain some more weight (never thought I would have to say that), which is getting more and more difficult. My appetite is gone right now, and when I do eat I get full very quickly. I guess I need to eat more ice cream! I now start going to the doctor every week, and he will do an ultrasound at every other appointment so we will get to see a lot of the babies. I am trying very hard to stay down for 2 hours each in the morning, afternoon, and evening, but it is really hard when it eats up half your day. I'm not able to do much anyway, so I guess I should look at it as good reading time since I'm sure I won't get much of that once they are here. We have both cribs set up, most of the basic baby paraphernalia bought, and quite a bit of clothes amassed, so we are feeling mostly ready in that department. But here's to at least 6 more weeks!

Weekend with the Palmer's

Our good friends Chuck and Lanna Palmer came to stay with us last weekend from Minnesota. They were here for Chuck's dad's wedding. We had such a great time with them here! They were busy a lot of the time, but we still managed a couple late nights and Burgerville runs. It was so nice to see them, and we also got to meet baby Ava who came with them. Emma was disappointed that they didn't bring their other kids, but she immediately fell in love with Ava and was a huge help with her. Hopefully that is another indication of how much help she will be when the twins get here!

We got to see Arianna at Chuck's dad's reception (Chuck & Lanna are Arianna's uncle & aunt, it was her grandpa that got married). We had fun talking with her, even though it was for a short amount of time.

We love the Palmer's and think they actually belong in Oregon. We can't believe they have been in the frigid north for almost six years. Come back!!! (our phone bills would certainly be cheaper!) It was great to have them here, even for a short time and hope we can see all the Palmer's again soon.

28 weeks

I have hit the 28 week mark. I can't believe how much closer we are getting. Crazy!! I went to the doctor yesterday and got some pretty strict instructions to lay low. He made me promise that I would lay down for two hours in the morning, two hours in the afternoon, and another two hours in the evening. That's a lot! He also said I couldn't be out for extended periods of time, and especially no long shopping trips. I've been having a lot of contractions though which isn't good, so I will lay down for 6 hours a day to keep these babies in me longer. Everything else was good. He didn't do an ultrasound this time, but we heard both heartbeats. I have an ultrasound in two weeks, then I start going every week after that. I feel like we still have so much to do to get ready for these babies...

Go outside and play

That's what I told Emma a few days ago. When I went out to check on her, this is what I found:

This is definitely Emma's idea of "playing", reading a good book. She has spent a lot of time reading this summer, which I certainly can't complain about. It's hard to tell her she can't read!

One of the things she really wanted to do this summer was go to the Wilsonville library (it's a much bigger library than our small town library). So, last week we rode the CAT (Canby Area Transit, free bus system) to the Wilsonville library. She was thrilled to be able to spend 2 hours in the library. I must admit it was rather nice for me too, we both sat and read. It was a highlight for her and I'm glad we were able to spend some mommy/daughter time together doing something we both love. Last year I started keeping a list of all the books I read during that year. Emma really wanted to start one too, so we've kept track of every chapter book she's read since January 1st. She surpassed the 100 book mark last week! It's become a friendly competition between the two of us, who can read the most books. Of course, she is way ahead of me! Some of those chapter books have been easy, some of them are bigger and harder, it just has to be a chapter book to be included on the list. We've also included on the list the books we've read outloud together. Right now we are reading the Little House on the Prairie books which she loves. As always, Emma participated in the summer reading program at the library. In about 6 weeks time she logged over 60 hours of reading (those are just the hours we kept track of). All of her hours got entered into a drawing and she won a $20 gift certificate to Fred Meyer. She was thrilled and promptly spent it.

I am so glad she loves to read, she definitely comes by it honestly! Now I just need to get her to really go outside and play!

Penguin Club Swim Meet

Yesterday was Emma's last day of Penguin Club for the summer. Penguin Club is kind of a junior swim team, this was her second summer doing it and she loves it. She swam one hour sessions, four days a week. A lot of the time she would go to open swim for the two hours before Penguin Club, so she's spent a lot of time at the pool this summer. The last day of Penguin Club is a swim meet. Emma swam in three events: the butterfly, breaststroke, and the 100M IM (one pool length each of the butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle, it makes me tired just thinking of it!). She learned a funny little sentence to help her remember the order of the IM, "butter your back and your breast is free." Emma did great and was first in each of her events.

Afterwards they each got ribbons with their times on them and a t-shirt. Emma is a great swimmer and we hope she keeps it up.

I must admit, I am a little glad that Penguin Club is over. She swam all spring too, and her poor chlorinated hair needs a break! We started the summer with two new swimsuits, that are absolutely thrashed now (it doesn't help that our pool is SUPER chlorinated). Unfortunately I waited too long to buy new ones, and we are having a hard time finding any in the stores or online. Why are they all gone by the middle of July??? We did finally hit upon some fun swim caps that helped save her hair a little. She loves her tye-died one and her fish. Much better than the "ugly" yellow one she had before.

Emma and her friend Lacey thought it was pretty funny when she got her hands stuck in the yellow swim cap.

I'm also glad not to have to sit in the uncomfortable bleachers at the hot, muggy pool (although I only went for the last 10-15 minutes each day!). Now, soccer will be starting in a few weeks and soon we will be sitting on the cold, wet sidelines. Hmmm...I wonder which is worse!

A Day at the Beach

We spent Saturday with my family at the beach. It was a gorgeous day in Lincoln City with sun and blue skies, but it was really windy which made it cold. We spent several hours on the beach with the adults mostly all bundled up, while Emma, Tenley and sometimes Kaitlin played out in the water. Emma is crazy and was in her swimsuit the whole time and in and out of the water. That's the way she's always been at the beach, even with the freezing Oregon coast water. The wind made it a perfect day to fly our new kite. Emma was so excited to finally be able to fly it.

After playing on the beach we went to dinner at Mo's which is a family tradition. Yummy clam chowder!

The beach that Mo's is on happened to be having a sandcastle building contest. It wasn't a professional one, but there were some good sculptures and we enjoyed looking at them. After Mo's we hit the outlet mall and got some school shopping done. Emma is almost all ready for school (which is coming faster than I want to admit!). We had a great day and made some good memories.

11 years and still going strong

Today is our 11th wedding anniversary. I can't believe it has been 11 years since we were married! We have had a few ups and downs along the way, but it has really been a wonderful ride. I couldn't ask for a better friend and husband in Lee. He supports me, he takes care of me, he listens to me, and he leads our family with strength. He is an amazing daddy to Emma and will be to these two little babies coming soon, too. I am so blessed to have him to go through this life with, as well as into eternity. We are embarking now on a whole new phase in our marriage as we add the twins to our family, but I am excited for what lies ahead. Thanks for 11 great years, I love you Lee!

Our scanner isn't working right now, so I took a picture of one of our wedding pictures and another of a recent picture that somebody gave to us. The quality isn't great, but you can see us then and now!

On another note, today is also the one year anniversary of the second surgery I had last summer (the third in less than a years time). I was thinking last night how ironic it was that I was at the doctor's office yesterday having an ultrasound and getting a peak at the twins, when exactly one year before I was in the same ultrasound exam room with the same doctor telling me I would have to have surgery the next day. When I told my doctor the day after the surgery that he had operated on me on our 10th anniversary, he teased that he had spent more time with me on my anniversary than Lee had. Thankfully that won't be the same today! A lot has happened in the last year, and it's a miracle we are where we are now. We really are blessed!

Another old friend

I got to see another one of my good friends this week, Tasha (no, she's not old, I've just known her for a long time!). She and her kids came to play while they were in town from Utah. It was great to catch up with her and to let the kids play. Thanks for coming by Tasha!

Ashley & Emma

Tasha & all the kids