33 Weeks...

I am now 33 weeks pregnant, less than 7 to go! Andy is really nervous since I had the boys at 35 weeks, but I think that was only because I was measuring like 44 weeks at that point with the boys. Monday I had a doctor appointment and everything is going good. I'm not measuring big, that is the comment I seem to get the most from other people. I am measuring at exactly what I am suppose to. I am really annoyed with people acting like I look like I am due any day. I thought that after my pregnancy with the boys I would no longer look like a freak of nature. If these people had seen me last time they would know that this is not big. The nurse told me to tell people it is none of their business and I am about ready to. I mean I am only 5'3" and have a small frame. Of course when pregnant my belly is going to go straight out. I have unfortunately gained 30 lbs, which the doctor didn't say anything about but I was hoping to gain less than that. I guess the good thing is it's not 60 like last time and I feel pretty confident that I will not gain 30 lbs in the next month or so. Oh well, I did only gain 5 lbs this last month. Hopefully I will gain less this coming month or it will be all baby or water gain.

I do really enjoy being pregnant, but I think I am almost ready to have my body back to normal. It really is neat feeling the baby move and I have been trying to be really positive and enjoy every moment since this is more than likely going to be my last pregnancy (at least that is what Andy says). This baby moves all the time, he is really going crazy now! Sometimes it does actually hurt too. I really can't remember the boys moving like this, but that could be because there wasn't room for them to move like this.

I am looking forward to having a little baby, but not ready quite yet. The boys are going to my parents for the weekend and I will hopefully have the nursery totally finished by next week.

Finally A Vacation

Last week we went on our one and only beach trip for the summer and it was to Surfside Beach in SC. It was a little depressing knowing that it was our only trip to the beach. The boys were in a very funky mood for most of the week. They were being very defiant, which is sometimes like them but not always. Oddly enough on the way home they turned back into our normal children and have been that way since. Maybe they are anti-social like their father and just don't like being at the beach with 20 people. I'm not sure, but I hope it isn't always like this.



Anyways, we did have a fun time. The boys did get into the ocean and even tried a little bit of boogie boarding. They really enjoyed the beach at night. I think because they had their clothes on and it is just more fun to get those wet since you are not suppose to. I wish I had gotten more pictures of Andy in his new rash guard. He wore a tee shirt at the first of the week and it bothered him, so he got the skin tight rash guard. It was funny, but at least he didn't get burnt again. The boys didn't really seem to enjoy the pool that much. They got in, but Cale really wasn't enjoying himself. I think it was a little crowded for them and they don't like being splashed. That being said a crowded pool=getting splashed whether you want to or not. Our kids were of course the only ones who wouldn't jump in the pool. This bothered Andy a little bit, but I had to remind him of who our kids spend the summer with=me. I haven't really taken them to the pool that much until this summer, because it was just too hard for me to be double teamed by two small children at the pool. This summer we haven't been in a few weeks and even then they weren't really into jumping in to me, because I obviously look like I might not catch them. So I told Andy he needed to be more willing to go to the pool with us, but I can't see that happening.



We went and played putt putt one night. It was fun. Andy was stressed out, of course. Cale got a hole in one and Carter got 2 holes in one!! That was pretty much the only thing we did besides going to the beach and pool. One morning we did head out to the park and then Chik fila just for something different to do. That was the day I was so glad that we did not go out to the beach. The rip tide was really strong due to a storm way off the coast and a 13 year old boy got washed out to sea. That is so sad. It was so heartbreaking to hear the rescue helicopters keep flying overhead all day long. I can't even imagine being that boys mother and being right there and your child vanishes. The next day they had to pull 3 people out of the water that were in trouble.



Friday was super crowded on the beach and it was seriously like that John Candy movie, Summer Rental. We found one little place to set up out stuff and it was high tide and no one was allowed in the water past their knees. Next year my vote is a quiet NC beach. That night we went out for a seafood buffet. What is a trip to the beach without the seafood buffet?!



Then Saturday was time to go home. On our way home we stopped at the outlet malls in Myrtle Beach. I got the best deals at the Children's Place outlet and few good ones at the Baby Gap. We then at at the Bojangles and headed home. It surprisingly only took 3 1/2 hours. I really wanted to stop at the Fort Fisher Aquarium near Wilmington, but Andy would not do it. He is no fun sometimes or most of the time. The kids were even being really good too.

Ready

With vacation just around the corner I am feeling very good about everything. I am surprisingly feeling like I am ready for this baby. Well except for the fact that the crib is still in the attic, but the boys didn't even sleep in theirs until they were about 5 months old. I went shopping today for some maternity things and nursing items while the boys were at camp. It made me a little nervous about nursing, but I am determined to do it. We have no formula except the the little tube samples that the doctors office gave me. The items I had to buy make me really want to do it since I spent more shopping than I would normally spend. I just justified it by each article I bought was less than a can of formula and I would get more use out of it.

I also bought some non-maternity clothes that fit! I was so super excited that I found a regular shirt to fit over my crazy poked out belly. This is so great because now I have something to wear home from the hospital that isn't maternity. This may not sound like that big of a deal, but after having the boys I was under the illusion that my belly and the pounds would just melt away after they came out. WRONG! That so did not happen! I wore maternity clothes for almost two months and then wore clothes that were 3 sizes larger than I was before. The books I read said to take your smallest size maternity clothes to wear home. Well I did and they barely fit. Not this time. I now have an outfit that is regular people clothes! The shirt may not be my regular size, but that's ok because I know that parts of me will be a little larger for a while (hopefully not my belly though).

I have never really cared about my body image until after I had the boys. I never even cared while I was pregnant, probably why I gained 60 lbs. After I gave birth I just couldn't look at myself in the mirror. It was like I was looking at someone else. My shoulders were wider and my face was round, I shouldn't have gotten a short hair cut that did not help my look. Since then I have really cared a lot more about what I look like. I walked like 2-3 miles almost everyday to lose my baby weight, which was 35 extra lbs. I do not diet. My philosophy is that you only live once and you might as well enjoy what you can. I do however now watch what we eat to make sure it isn't too bad for us. I just hope that I can really be motivated to get into shape. I think that I am already feeling motivated because I feel like I have been little more cautious about what I have ate this time.

Life is just a live and learn experience. Once you have been through it once you really do have a greater understanding for what is reality. It is so hard the first time you are pregnant and have a baby because you have no idea what to expect and your expectations are so unrealistic. Not this time. I totally know what to expect and I am ready (not right now, but in 6-8 weeks)! I am not sure I am ready to lose sleep, but who is?

Some Days

Today has definitely been one of those days. At preschool camp this morning we actually had a good and very small class. Unfortunately for me, I had to come home with the worst two kids probably at camp. The boys have been so bad for Andy and I lately. I hope it is only for us and not for any of their teachers too. They will not listen. Literally 5 minutes after you tell them to stop, and sometimes less, they will do the exact same thing all over again. I really don't know what they are thinking. I think maybe it is the hard transition of giving up a nap. I feel like they need one everyday, but somedays I can not get them to go to sleep. Then it might be the transition of me having a baby. I don't think they know what to expect, but I know they know that life will be different. I really thought 4 years old was easier than 3, but lately it has not been true in this house. Cale gets it most of the time, but Carter likes to push every single button that Andy and I have. We have really run out of punishments that seem to be effective. I keep thinking if I just hang in there it will pass soon, because the boys have always gone through phases like this before. Most of the time it is when they are out of school and I think it may be because they need that daily routine and consistency and I need that break too.

Other news is that I finally finished painting the nursery! Here it is so far. We obviously still need to rearrange and put the crib in, and move the modem and wireless router (that is a job that I say Andy needs to call Time Warner to fix and he swares he can do it himself, I'm a little nervous about that). I will post more pictures when it is all finished.

Library Fun

This week we went to our second straight story time at the library and trip to check out books. The boys love finding books and reading them way more than they love story time. They go and listen, but will not participate in the songs--they are just like their father! This week they were a little more into picking out books, but Carter would just grab any book. One he handed me was called, I have two homes. Needless to say I put that one back without him noticing and then I started monitoring the books he was picking. Next week we have camp all week and won't get to go, but after that we will be there every week until school starts back up.

I think when thinking about their last first day of preschool I am a little sad. I am not sad because my babies are going to be in kindergarten soon, but rather that they are just growing up and this is their first last of something big. It is probably just because I am hormonal, because I am so ready for them to start school. I will never be the parent that has a hard time leaving their child. Yes, I like to walk them to their class, because I like to see what they do and how they act. I love peaking in on them at school and watching them play with their friends. I have missed that at camp since we have been in different buildings and never see each other. We are definitely the type of family that needs breaks from one another. I miss them while they are at school, but when we are at home together everyday like the last 3 weeks I think we all drive each other crazy!! We need our alone time. The boys even got to where they would play in totally different rooms and wanted to. School is very good for our family and I love our preschool and feel so blessed to be there. The teachers are wonderful and I feel like the boys have learned so much and they love doing art which is something I don't do with them at home. The boys told me that there favorite thing in the 4 year old class is doing art. It must be a center because after we talked about it they ran to their book bags and took out several pieces of random art they had made with stickers and glue.

Carter with his stack of books


Cale resting on the couch

Hopefully Smaller

This is me today at 30 weeks and I hope my end result isn't quite as big as last time. Although, these pictures make me look like I am on that path! Today at the doctor I had only gain a couple pounds since last week and my uterus went from 27 cm to 31 cm!! I think that is a big growth in only 2 weeks. It is still normal, anything plus or minus one from what week you are in is normal and I am 30 weeks. They say they think it is not an abnormally large baby, so hopefully they will get it right. Last time at 30 weeks I was measuring like I was 40 weeks, if that gives you a clue as to how much bigger I was.

I found some pregnancy pictures from when I was pregnant with the boys. They had to be scanned in because that was back when we had a digital camera, but Andy used it for work and the film one we had was way better (amazing how fast technology changes). The first picture was at my brother and sister-in-law's house, but the rest was at our house and after we had sold it and should be packing. It doesn't really look like we have done wanything. The last picture was exactly 2 weeks before we were to move!! I am just so amazed at how we were so not ready, for moving or anything.

Here is my sister-in-law and myself. We were both about 28 weeks, our due dates were only 4 days apart.

These I am really not sure about.
I think this one is about 32 weeks.

This one maybe 33 0r 34 weeks.

This one was Mother's Day and 2 days before I went into labor, which was at exactly 35 weeks.

Bike Races

Last night after supper we went down to the middle school so that the boys could show me how they like to "race" their bikes. They have been enjoying watching the Tour De France with Daddy and want to ride bikes like that. It is so funny because on the way there they are so slow and cautious on the sidewalk and then as soon as they hit the parking lot they go as fast as they can. When it was time to go two police cars came throught the parking lot and stopped on the little side street behind a car. They then got out of their police cars holding their guns. Needless to say we left through the other exit. I have no clue what it was all about, but it was very strange for our neighborhood.

Carter



Cale

(when having pregnancy brain I shouldn't dress them alike, I have no clue who this is.)

Cale

July 4th Fun

For the 4th of July we went to my parents house again to enjoy the free and private pool. We were only there Friday and Saturday, but did lots of swimming. Here are the boys swimming again. I feel like all my summer pictures are of them swimming. Tonight I did take some good pictures and a little video of them riding their bikes, but haven't gotten them uploaded yet.

The boys are barely able to touch the bottom of the shallow end and they move pretty good. We only wish that they would stop being scared and jump in or put their faces in the water. This fall we are going to do swim lessons with them and hopefully someone else can convince them to do it.

Carter

Cale and Daddy

One Week Down

This week was one of our weeks with nothing major planned. We ended up filling it completely up, as always! Our calender seems to fill so quickly at the beginning of every week. I love to be busy, but I have a ton of sewing to do and need to stay at home more.

We did have one very terrible trip to Target on Monday in which both, yes both, children fell out of the double shopping cart. No need to worry it is the kind with the tiny useless seats that are near the floor. Carter happened to fall out at the check out counter and after the trip we had had all I could is laugh. I know I am not in the running for mother of the year, but oh well I think I lost that one a long time ago. The cashier kind of looked at me like I was the worst parent ever because I am laughing and am telling him that is what happens when you don't wear your seat belt. That was also probably the tenth time he cried while we were there. One time he even threw himself in the aisle. I of course just told him I didn't care and I kept walking. He quickly got up and jumped back in the cart.

Tuesday was a little better. I thought I would be a nice mom and take them to the park. We get there and they would not play. What kids have to be dragged to the park?! Finally they started playing with another little boy and then since we weren't far from Andy's work we went and had lunch with him. Then I had to take Cale to the doctor, and Carter went too, because he keeps scratching his ear. They think the ear tube is wiggling and he can feel it, so there is basically nothing we can do until it falls out. That kid needs to put his head under water!! Maybe if I tell him his ear will stop itching he will do it. Anyways, my kids LOVE going to the doctor. It is a good thing since we spend a lot of time there. I am so glad they are not afraid and let the doctor look in their ears and are not too difficult while being there.

Yesterday we went to our first story time at the library in a really long time. The boys love it now that they love to read and hear stories. We got there a little early so that they could check out their first library books. I tried to have them do this last summer, but they did not understand that you can just take the books without paying for them, they are sometimes too honest. This time after learning about the library on the new Disney Channel show, Special Agent Oso, Cale has been obsessed about checking out a dinosaur book. Luckily he did find one!! Unfortunately for Carter we only found one. Carter was persuaded into a couple other books though. While we were there we meet our friends, the boys' identical twin girlfriends, and then got a McDonald's picnic lunch and headed to the park. It was so much fun! The boys had a great time and it took up most of the day. We then had a birthday party for a little girl in their preschool class at Pump It Up. We had never been there before, but the boys had a great time.

Then today we hit park number three for the week. It was a park we haven't been to in a while and our new wonderful friend Wendy joined us. It is a huge wooden maze thing and the boys had a blast! The last time I took them there they were little and I left with a serious case of indegestion from not being able to see them the whole time. This time I felt much better about it and had an extra set of eyes, which is always nice when you have twins.

Tomorrow we are headed to the pool and I can't wait!!! I love the pool and how it makes all my pregnancy aches and pains go away. I really do love being pregnant, but I think I might be getting ready to be ready for the baby. My cousin and his wife just had their baby boy yesterday and seeing their pictures today made me feel a little nervous again. I am nervous about labor and childbirth and nursing and sleeplessness. She did good though, three pushes and that was it! I really hope and pray I am that lucky. Please pray that I am that lucky this time! I pushed for three hours with Cale and then another 47 minutes with Carter, so I think I deserve a speedy labor this time. I feel a little more fit though. Not being on bed rest really does make a big difference in your energy level. I am still pretty tired after any activity and can't stand too long, but it doesn't take me nearly as long to recover. I am still having the sciatic nerve issue, but the pool seems to help that so it should be better after tomorrow.

I really am going to take some pictures this weekend. I took my camera to the party and the park and still forgot to take pictures!! I am a terrible mother lately. I am going to be better this month.