Saturday, May 30, 2009

A crazy few weeks...

A lot has happened in the last 3 weeks.

MOURNING:

My family lost my Aunt Christi (my mom's oldest sister) to cancer 2 weeks ago after a year of fighting it. Her last few days were spent at home, surrounded by family. My family wrote a beautiful memorial for her (click here).

I already miss her so much. We visited the family last weekend (a week after her passing) and I am simply amazed at how my family has bonded stronger than ever. They have all shown amazing strength and supportiveness during her last days and the time after. We spent some time last weekend reminiscing, celebrating, and crying, and I felt a strong sense of love and healing throughout. To my amazing family - I LOVE YOU ALL!!

These were from last October, but I just love these pics:




MARRIAGE (almost):
We also spent some time last weekend with my brother and his fiancee, Laura! She had her bridal shower garden party, complete with decoupage, tea sandwiches, white gloves, and crazy hats! I was initially a little nervous about being "girly" enough for such an event, lol, but we had a lot of fun! Here's pic of the sisters (Laura, Temi, me) looking coy in their amazing backyard:


And being Amazons:


MARINE MAMMALS:

GG took us on a whale watching trip this weekend, too - we were a little concerned about how the twins would do on a 7 hour boat ride, but for the most part it went fine. Roman had a couple of meltdowns - he apparently has some anxiety about boats (we've never been out on one with the kids before) and he was overtired when we got there. They (miraculously) napped over 2.5 hours on the couch:


We did get to see a lot of whales, including a few babies with their mamas! Giovanna has amazing eyes - she saw a seal before the rest of us, and even pointed it out saying "LOOK! SEAL!!" I can't believe she knew what it was - all she could see was the head for a split second!

MOVE YOUR BODY!
This was at Grandpa's house a couple weeks ago. "You've got to move your body!" Click HERE for the video.

MOMMY'S TUMMY:
The twins have a pretty good idea that there is a baby in Mommy's tummy. They even know his name is Gaius. Not sure if they understand that in a few short months, they will have a new baby brother, though, lol! We had another doc appt this wee, complete with ultrasound. The perinatologist measured my cervix (on the ultrasound screen) to make sure it wasn't shortening (shortened cervix is a sign of preterm labor) and he said it's long and perfect! YAY! He chalked up the twins' premature birth to the fact that there were two of them in there. He's not worried about this one at all! :) Here he is at 23 weeks, 1 day:

Check out those lips!


Profile pic - he's laying on his back, facing up. His head is on the left, and his leg is up over his tummy on the right.


For many more pics:
http://s132.photobucket.com/albums/q8/Brieshon/2009/2009-05-30/?start=all

Friday, May 8, 2009

Meet baby Gaius!

20 weeks, 3 days
Feeling pretty good, just a bit tired and my feet swell a bit in the evenings.
Still a little nauseous in the mornings, but not too bad.
Feeling regular movement, especially when I eat fruit or drink juice.

Well, we had our Level 2 ultrasound on Thursday and found out we are having another BOY!!! We have decided on the first name: Gaius (pronounced GYE-us). Still kicking around middle names, but we have a few months to go, lol.

The ultrasound went very well - everything is measuring perfectly, nothing to raise any kind of concern. Since the twins were premature, they consider me "high risk" and are keeping a close eye on my cervix length through ultrasound to make sure it doesn't start to shorten or dilate (signs of possible premature labor) - so far so good! The doc and u/s tech even went so far as to say it was "perfect... almost too perfect." LOL! They don't think I'm really at risk to deliver early again, since last time it was twins and the labor catalyst was Giovanna's water breaking. Water breaking early is generally a random event (though some things can weaken the sac), and doesn't indicate that it will happen again. The doc wants to see me in another 3 weeks (I think appointments are usually every four weeks at this point).

Since I'm technically sort of "high risk," though, that means I get more ultrasounds (completely safe - they are just sound waves, like sonar) at the perinatologist office, as opposed to my regular obstetrician office. The peri ultrasound machine is apparently much higher-tech, and can do 3-D images... and the doc suprised us by doing a couple 3-D for us!!! Usually you have to go to a special clinic, and/or pay hundreds of dollars - and we got ours at our regular visit! YAY!!

And without further ado, here's baby Gaius!





And some good ol' fashioned ultrasound pics:

Profile:


Baby butt:


Footprint:


And proof that it is a boy, lol:



I think the twins are starting to get that there is a baby coming. They say hi to baby Gaius and give him/my tummy hugs and smooches. They got a big kick out of seeing the baby on the screen at the ultrasound, and they recognize the pics as being the baby in mommy's tummy, lol! They still have to be reminded sometimes not to jump on mommy a lot, though. Not that it would hurt the baby, but it's sure uncomfortable for me!

Both Roman and Giovanna are doing so well with their talking, counting, recognizing letters and numbers, and imagination. One of the latest things is to say "Oh my GOSH!" We were at the pretzel place at the mall a couple weeks ago, and she saw that there was milk in the cooler, so she ran over, pointed, and said "Oh my GOSH! There's MILK in there! Oh my GOSH!!!" Roman sauntered over, looked at the cooler thoughtfully, and said "Yeah, there's milk in there," and walked off. During the rainstorm last weekend, both of the kids said "Oh my GOSH! It's RAINING!" LOL!!

Potty training seems to be going well. Boogie is still being very consistant pooping on the potty, and has been asking to pee on the potty every once in awhile. She did have an accident when she had panties on the other day, but since we haven't practiced that a lot yet, it wasn't a big suprise. Roman actually asked to pee on the potty today, and he did! And on the toilet seat, and his hands... but at least it's progress! Only 19 weeks 4 days left to get these kids out of diapers before we have another little poopy butt on our hands, lol! We're not pushing it - we're letting them go at their own pace (with encouragement). No need to stress them (or us!) out!

The kids have had several playdates lately with a bunch of other kids. We've been a part of a group of people looking to start an intentional community (basically a co-op living arrangement, as self-sustaining as possible), and we went to see a farm last weekend with a bunch of the rest of the group. There were a couple other little boys there (one just turned 2 and the other is 3) and they played a LOT! There were some older boys there, too, and the youngest (about 10?) played with the preschoolers most of the time, lol. Kyle has also been going out with his stay-at-home-dads group who all have kids around the twins' age. Again, all boys! Luckily, our friend Connie has 2 girls (a 1 year old, and a 2.5 year old just a couple weeks older than ours). I love that the kids get so much socialization even though they aren't in daycare or school yet.

Here's a bunch of pics!
http://s132.photobucket.com/albums/q8/Brieshon/2009/2009-05-08/?start=all