36 weeks!!

Gaius and I are doing great! We had another doc appt last week at 35 weeks (probably the last ultrasound!) and I am now "graduated" to no longer being "high-risk!" - meaning, if I went in to labor, they wouldn't stop it because the risk for the baby is as low as it is for a full term baby. Crazy to think about! Next Tuesday I'll be 37 weeks, which is considered "full term" (though 40 weeks is how they determine due date). Wow.

They measured Gaius and are estimating he is 5 lbs 10 oz (give or take 13 oz, lol), which is the 65th percentile. We got a great pic of some already-chubby cheeks. The doc called him "well-nourished" and warned us he may be so used to being well-nourished that he will expect the same amount of nourishment after he is born, lol!! I figure if my breasts could mostly keep up with two babies, I can keep up with one hungry one! :) He's head down already, but no indication of labor any time soon! I've had a few Braxton Hicks contractions, which the doc says is expected at this point.

Gaius is very very active - he is always kicking and squirming and stretching in there! He likes to push up against my diaphragm which makes it uncomfortable to breathe easily, but at least he isn't usually pushing on my bladder or cervix, lol. The twins did that and it was soooo uncomfortable! My main discomfort is the heat and just having my belly in the way all the time, lol. My ankles and feet have been getting some swelling which has been pretty uncomfortable!

I'm getting so excited! We pre-registered at the hospital after our appointment last week so when I go into labor I don't have to fill out any pesky paperwork. I got all teary-eyed just being in the maternity ward lobby!

Giovanna and Roman are doing AWESOME as always! Kyle took them out on what the map said was a 10 mile hike this week!! They slept soooooo well after that one, lol!! They continue to crack me up every day with silly stuff they say. This age is so damn fun (though the whining and random completely-disregarding-mommy moments can be very frustrating). We're working on potty training with Roman now. Still doing a lot of laundry, but he's making progress and he's soooo proud when he uses the potty!! Giovanna tells him "good job! You peed!!" lol!

I have a ton of pics to upload, but my photobucket tells me it's apparently full, so I'll have to figure out another place to upload stuff! I'll give a few here:

Good thing they are washable (both the kids and the markers, lol)


Holding hands was their idea:


They looooove to hike with Daddy!!


At one of the many water fountains in Portland!


Me at 36 weeks:


Gaius at 35 weeks:


Some "well-nourished" cheeks, lol:

Senses of humor have emerged!

Sorry it's been so long since my last post! We've been busy (and hot and tired).

I am 33.5 weeks along - only 6.5(ish) more weeks to go! Exciting! Everything is going well. I feel very full of baby already - Gaius likes to push up against my diaphragm and make it somewhat difficult to breathe comfortably unless I am leaning back with my belly sticking out, lol. Not the most ladylike of poses, but whatever, lol. I'm still enjoying myself since I don't plan on doing this again! ;) My last appointment was a week ago and still no signs of premature labor. No contractions, no dialation, and Gaius is VERY active. At least once a day I can sit back and watch my belly shift and churn like something out of Alien. If I didn't know what was in there, I'd be freaked out, lol. My next ultrasound is on the 18th - I'll be 35 weeks along and after that they won't stop labor if it starts! ACK!! Then another appt at 37 weeks, and probably one at 38 or 39, then it's showtime!

Giovanna and Roman are growing up so freakin' fast. I know it's totally cliche to say that, but I marvel every day at the crazy, funny stuff that comes out of their mouths. For example, Roman's new alphabet lyrics are "Now I know my ABCs! Next time won't you POOP with me!!" followed by hysterical laughter. The other night, Giovanna was trying to postpone bedtime by refusing to get off the potty. The subsequent conversation went like this: "C'mon, Boogie. Time to get off the potty and go to bed." "No, I'm upset." "Why are you upset?" "I'm UPSET 'cause... 'cause... Roman didn't give me coffee!" Roman then poked his head around the door and said, "Boogie, you want some coffee?" They say things like "What are you talking about?" and "It's blue, ACTUALL." Total attitudes. Love it. Usually. ;)

The animals (by which I mean the pets) are all doing great! Wulfric, our new kitten, has pretty much taken over. He play-attacks Merlin mercilessly, and Merlin just sits there and takes it. Sometimes he plays back, even! Never thought he'd do that, lol. Alex knows to pretty much stay out of the cats' way, lol.

We went up to Bellingham last weekend. We had a lovely small baby shower - Tory, Laura, Nana/GG, Mom, Rick, and our brood. We had grilled salmon and veggie kabobs - so yummy! We got great gifts (thanks, all!!!) and had wonderful fireside conversation about babies! And I love to talk about my babies. ;) It was so fun to see Laura's baby belly poking out! It is so cool that we will have cousins close to the same age!

We also spent some time at the park that weekend, and the kids played in my mom's backyard a LOT, often sans clothing! They picked veggies and apples from her garden and helped water the plants! They even helped Pop in the garden - Roman pretty much attached himself to Pop most of the time, and had a blast! It was a short trip, but very fun.

Yesterday, Kyle had a bunch of his parenting group over to do tie-dying! He made some really cool shirts for Roman and Giovanna (they are calling them their superhero shirts, lol) and some onesies for Gaius! He even left me a couple of white onesies so I could make some too! Yay! Here's what he made:







A few weeks ago we went to the wedding of our neighbors, Christe and Matt. They are expecting a baby this fall, too! It was a bit of a drive, but we all had a lot of fun. The twins got to watch the fish in a koi pond and run around with a bunch of older kids (who were great about including them!). And we all got to blow lots and lots of bubbles. :)

We've also spent a lot of time at the park lately (on days where our thermometer didn't read 110 degrees anyway) and the zoo and the Children's Museum, and visiting family and friends.

Tons and tons of pictures at the link below. Sorry some are rotated wrong. Photobucket is still not uploading pics right. Argh.
http://s132.photobucket.com/albums/q8/Brieshon/2009/2009-08-08/?start=all

Sick, but otherwise doing fine. :)

Time just keeps slipping away from me! Sorry it’s been so long between posts! This one will be very long to make up for it. ;)

A couple weekends ago, my little brother got MARRIED to his beautiful partner, Laura. They are so smitten with each other, it’s just silly – I LOVE IT! I’ve really never seen my brother so happy. The weekend was just lovely, and it was wonderful to see the whole family! Our drives up and down, however, were… eventful.

Kyle went up on Thursday with my sister’s husband and my dad, so they could join the bachelor party. My sis and I had a sleepover with the twins, who decided that sleepovers are not for sleeping. Giovanna whined about dinosaurs until midnight, then both kids were up at 4am. Not cool. Temi and I got up around 5 and (slowly) finished packing and getting ready. We hit the road at 9 and the kids were out before we reached the highway! Between stopping for play/lunch and many MANY potty breaks for our now-fully-day-potty-trained little girl, we reached Bellingham at about 5pm (yes, a 5 hour straight-shot took 8 hours). Then we had to get to the ferry and wait… and wait… and we finally got to our destination at about 6:20. We went through the rehearsal, had a delicious dinner, and crashed very hard that night!

Saturday dawned absolutely beautiful. We woke up earlier than we’d have liked (dang our early bird son!), but we had a ridiculously delicious breakfast, spent some time at the beach, had a lovely nap, and made it for pictures on time. The ring bearer, an almost-3-year-old boy named Isaac, spent most of the weekend chasing after Giovanna and trying to give her hugs! So cute! The ceremony was wonderful – Giovanna did a great job hamming it up as the flower girl, then she and I hightailed it several times to the potty. Roman was a champ and sat in Grandpa’s lap almost the whole time! The reception was really fun – had some amazing cheeses and appetizers, and a delicious dinner and cake.





Then the dancing started. Giovanna discovered the dining room had been turned into a dance floor, and started dancing around 8 or so. Just jumping around and going to town! Ro was already getting tired, so he spent a lot of time in my lap. People started joining Giovanna and the dancing went until very late! Isaac tried to dance with her several times, but she’s more of a solo dancer, lol. She seriously was jumping and dancing for about an hour and a half, nonstop, after a very active day. Meanwhile, Roman spent the better part of that time dancing in the arms of one of my brother’s friends, Elise. He actually spent much of the weekend fawning over her! We finally went back to the cabin between 9:30 and 10, and crashed hard again!



We were up early on Sunday, packed and headed down to breakfast. We spent some more time with the close family members still on the island, and watched Thoren and Laura open their wedding gifts. Teary-eyed, we headed out a little after noon.

We got about an hour south of Bellingham when the car started doing crazy things. We pulled over and called roadside assistance, were informed it was the battery, and that they were sending a tow truck. Well, a tow truck wasn’t about to do much for us, so we called my dad, who was a little further south than us. He (with my sister and her husband) turned around and picked us up a battery and followed us as we continued our journey.

An hour and a half later, just north of Olympia, the car died completely. Not the battery then – it was the alternator. This time, we did call for the tow truck, who happened to know a guy that Kyle used to work for in Oly! He had a shop, and said he should have the car ready by the end of the day Monday. We all piled in my dad’s Volvo and kept driving, with multiple potty breaks for Giovanna. We made it home a little after 12. That normally-5-hour-drive was about 12 hours!!! Thank goodness for my amazing family. The adventure would have been so much harder and crazier and more stressful if they hadn’t been willing to spend hours moving luggage, laying uncomfortably in the back of the Volvo, entertaining toddlers, and stopping every hour or so to pee, without complaint. I am so freakin’ lucky to have my wonderful family!!! THANK YOU!!!!

As you may have gathered from the above tale of crazy adventure, Giovanna is now fully day-potty trained! She has random accidents during naps and at night, but that’s it!! YAHOOOOO!!!!! Roman is following in her footsteps – asking to sit on the potty for looooong periods of time, though he usually doesn’t pee or poop there yet. Baby steps… 3 more months until Gaius is here… that’s the goal – only 1 in diapers at a time! :)

Since we’ve gotten home, the went through an icky cold. The kids both had low grade fevers at different times, a lot of congestion, and had a bit of a cough. Both are still a little snotty, but are mostly over it. Kyle had it for about two days, and I've been battling it all week. And it sucks because the only medicine you can take while pregnant is Tylenol, which does absolutely nothing for congestion. Ugh.

Giovanna is still talking about dinosaurs in her room at night. She acts scared, but turns it off and on without any effort, so we’re of the mind that it’s currently a sleep-delaying tactic (like saying she has to pee or poop on the potty when she’s already done it, or that she wants to snuggle, or wants more hugs/smooches, or more milk, or is hungry… she is a master sleep-delayer). The dinosaur changes locations (it was in the closet, and since we’ve started keeping the closet closed, it’s outside the window). We’ve tried sooooo many things. We tried explaining that the dinosaur has gone home (even waved bye-bye and Roman informed us that he went home in a big truck, and that he went bowling, too, lol!!), that the dinosaur was nice and would never hurt her, that her stuffed dragon will save her from the dinosaur… and many other things. Once she would only fall asleep for her nap on the floor between their beds (away from the window). The only thing that works at all is to tell her (rather firmly) that there isn’t a dinosaur and it is time to go to sleep NOW. Sometimes this takes a few tries. We hate having to do that, but when she’s up until after 11pm fake-crying about a non-existent dinosaur… well, we just don’t know what else to do! Meanwhile, Roman usually falls asleep during her whining and explanations, lol.

Developmentally, both kids are on track or ahead for their actual (not adjusted for prematurity) age! YAY!!! They continue to grow, but aren’t gaining much (if any) weight, which is totally normal and expected for crazy active toddlers. I give full props to Kyle for getting them exercise, creative time, learning time, snuggle time, reading time, and relaxation time, EVERY DAY. And he has lots of playdates with his parenting groups and friends so they get good socialization time, too. He’s an amazing daddy – I’m so lucky!

Gaius is doing just fine! He kicks me constantly (this week he has been targeting my bladder and cervix – ouch!) and I feel him squirming around in there all the time. It’s such a weird feeling! I've been terribly tired lately – not sure if it’s fighting off this cold, still recovering from the long weekend adventures, the pregnancy, or a combination of all of those. Still getting a bit nauseous in the mornings (ick) but it’s manageable.

I had a routine appointment last week with my OB (not the perinatologist I also see for ultrasounds and the “high-risk” part of my pregnancy). All looks great – I’m measuring right on schedule, not dilating at all, and no other concerns. YAY! I also got my gestational diabetes glucose screening test (involves drinking basically pop syrup and getting a blood draw) that I PASSED (I failed the screening with the twins and had to do the long 3 hour glucose test that involves fasting and FOUR blood draws, which I then passed), and my rhogam shot (my blood type is negative, and since Kyle’s is positive, I have to get a shot just in case the kid comes out positive so my body doesn’t freak out about the weird blood type). Oh, and I lost another 1.5 lbs, so I’m down about a lb or 2 from my pre-pregnancy weight. I really don’t have much appetite when I’m pregnant, so it’s not a huge surprise! I've been trying to get calories in me so I at least maintain my weight. The docs aren't worried at all since Gaius is so active and is growing fine. :)

The kiddos helped daddy make ranger cookies a couple weeks ago. (Ranger cookies have just about everything but the kitchen sink in them - very hearty, and made with a lot less sugar than regular cookies!) The kids helped measure, mix, pour, and shape the cookies! And they helped to eat them, of course! And they were sooooooo yummy!

That's all for now - I have a ton of picutes at the below link. Sorry they aren't in order. I uploaded them in order and they went all out of whack and photobucket is really hard to rearrange. Hope you enjoy anyway!

http://s132.photobucket.com/albums/q8/Brieshon/2009/2009-06-26/

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

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

Happy belated Easter!

We didn't end up doing much for Easter (it was rainy outside, Grandpa and Grandma J weren't feeling well, and Aunt Temi and Uncle Matt were out of town), but we did at least get to color eggs! Giovanna squeeeeezed both of hers a bit and they cracked slightly, but we went ahead and dyed them anyway. Roman did so good and didn't crack either of his! We colored on them with crayons, then the kids picked which colors to dip them in.



The gray and green ones on the top are Roman's. The orange and bright blue ones in the middle row are Giovanna's, the yellow and pink ones on the bottom row are mine, and the 3 in the right column are Kyle's:


We also went to a birthday party for our friend Audrey's 1st birthday! The kids had blast and eating pizza (and ice, lol), and of course, the cupcakes with bright blue frosting and rubber ducks on top:





And we met with a group talking about setting up a new intentional community in the area. The kids played with 3 other preschoolers there and completely wore themselves out, lol!.

In developmental news, Giovanna is pooping on the potty all by herself now! She just gets up, strips down, poops, and comes back out to get cleaned up and re-diapered! Neither she nor her brother seem particularly interested in peeing on the potty consistently, or wearing underwear. Sigh... oh well. 4.5 more months until we have a newborn in diapers too... ack! Today, Kyle peeked in on Giovanna on the potty and she screamed at him "Daddy go 'way! No look!" LOL! Guess she's getting bashful!

The kids have also been starting to tell stories (like about what the neighbor is doing that's making noise upstairs) and preschooler jokes (like the birds on TV are eating tacos) - they really like to crack us up! And each other - they seem to have private jokes that we don't always understand, lol. They are both using long sentences and they pretty much pick up any new word we say. Including "dammit" and "son of a bitch." Oops. Now if someone says "dammit," Roman corrects them by saying "DARN it!" And we're playing with other things that they can say "son of a" about (i.e. "son of a taco... hamster... scooby doo... sock... fish...")

I'm feeling ok. Tired, and still having some nausea in the mornings (blah) and am reeeeaaaally picky about food. Luckily, the food aversions and nausea have kept me from gaining much weight! I dropped about 4 lbs in the beginning, and I think I've gained back 2 or so. And it's all in my tummy! I'm definitely poking out more than I used to!

Well, it's off to bed. More pics at http://s132.photobucket.com/albums/q8/Brieshon/2009/2009-04-23/

IT'S SPRING!!!!

It went from winter to spring in 24 hours! And will probably go back to winter on Wednesday, lol. But I don't care - we had an absolutely PERFECT weekend, and it was nice again today, and should be again tomorrow! YAHOO!! It's amazing the difference a little sunshine can do to our mood! Not to mention that we can get out of the house!

I took last Friday off as a personal day - I really needed some rest! Saturday Kyle went with Tory, Temi, Matt, and Dad (and several canines, lol) and went fishing. So I took the kids to the zoo. By myself. I thought I was crazy! Turns out my day of rest, and the fact the kids slept well and had a great breakfast (eggs, bacon, fruit salad, and daddy's homemade cinnamon rolls!), made for a wonderful time! They walked almost the whole 2 hours we were there, and listened to me whenever they started to stray too far! Of course, I forgot the camera, so no pics of that day (there are zoo pics in the link below, but they are from an earlier trip they took with their daddy).

Sunday and today we walked to the park again and got some great pics! Gotta love natural sunlight. Kyle also took the kids to the Japanese Gardens today, and that place is BEAUTIFUL! He got some amazing pics there, including several from the kids' point of view. :)

I'm feeling pretty good right now. A restful and sunny weekend made all the difference. I feel much more energized, and only a teensy bit nauseous in the mornings! I've been feeling little twinges that feel an awful lot like a baby moving in there, especially when I eat an orange, lol! The sugar content must wake the kid right up. :) My next doc appointment is April 15, and my "big" ultrasound is May 7th. If the baby cooperates, we should be able to tell the gender then!

And without further ado... PICTURES!
http://s132.photobucket.com/albums/q8/Brieshon/2009/2009-04-06/?start=all

And in regards to the gray blobs that were the ultrasound of the new baby, here is a map to show you what each blur means. :)