Phase one and free stuff

Well, phase one of the nursery is underway. Garrett started hanging the wainscoting over the weekend. Now, don't judge the pictures it is still a work in progress. It still needs to be caulked and painted white.

Phase two will consist of hanging crown molding and phase three will be to paint the walls navy. I am so lucky to have such a handy husband. Just think of how much money we are saving by Garrett doing the work. Not to mention the pride he has and he loves to do it.

Here are some pictures of the work in progress. I will post more as more is completed.

Here is my handyman hard at work. Can't you just picture two little boys there also trying to help their daddy.

On another note, my cousin Angie called me on Saturday and told me that she was ready to get rid of all of their baby stuff i.e. toys and clothes. I went over there on Sunday and came home with my car completely full, the seats were folded down and everything.

The best part was that she had kept all of the toys and clothes that my mom had given her boys. I am now the proud owner of all of them. It is really awesome that my boys will get to play and wear things that my mom picked out. Angie also gave me so many other toys that will be so great. Many of them we registered for and I think I will keep them on my registry. We only registered for one of each large toy, so with the ones from Angie we will have two of each. Or, if we don't need two, we can take some of them to my dad's house for the boys to play with over there.

My cousin's favorite store for her two boys is Janie and Jack and she gave me a ton of clothes from there! They are so handsome. I am obsessed with little boys and corduroy pants and Angie gave me a ton from Janie and Jack. Her youngest is now four and and her oldest is six, so she is going to save all of their clothes from here on out for me. Yea!! Thanks Angie!!!

18 weeks!

Well yesterday I turned 18 weeks. I still can't believe I am pregnant but at least now I have a big ol' belly to prove it. I knew I had been growing but the real proof was Wednesday night at Bible study when all the girls said I had grown since the previous week. Most girls wouldn't like this, but I love hearing it. It took me so long to get pregnant that the more I look pregnant the happier I am. I don't think I will be saying that as my butt and thighs start growing but right now I am happy.

Today was the first time I felt the boys were growing faster than me. I have been quite uncomfortable all day. I think that Jack is in my ribs because I can't take a deep breath and my left ribs are really bothering me. I knew this was going to happen but I didn't expect it this soon. I have found that standing is much more comfortable than sitting.

On another note, I stopped by Potter Barn today after school to pick up the small pillow sham that matches the boy's bedding. I needed something that has the colors so we can pick out paint colors. Now that we know what we are having I can't wait to get the room started!



Here is the bedding we have decided on.

Here I am at 18 weeks.

Boy oh Boy!

So after finding out that there are two little boys growing inside of me, Garrett and I decided to go and register this past weekend. I knew it was going to be exhausting, but my goodness!

We started out at Baby's 1st Furniture where I proceeded to have a coronary over the prices. Yes it is excellent furniture, but I wasn't expecting it to cost that much. My wonderful husband was all smiles, which is weird because he is usually the one having coronaries.

We then moved on to Babies R Us where I think I was the oldest pregnant lady there. Word of advise: NEVER going to that store on a Saturday!! But, we did manage to add everything to our registry that we needed. Garrett said it was a great learning experience for him. After many comments like 'why do they need that?' he learned just to point the gun and shoot.

Finally we headed to Pottery Barn where we registered for the boy's bedding. It is so handsome: baby blue, navy and white stripes. I can't wait to get it and the furniture and set up their room.

We had a great day but we were so exhausted by the end of it. We came home and watched 4 hours of 24 that we missed when Garrett was out of town. I LOVE that show!! :)

Names

Well I should have mentioned this yesterday when we found out about our baby boys. We already have names picked out! Before my mom passed away I told her that Garrett and I were trying to get pregnant, yes that was over 2 years ago. She immediately came up with a name for a boy. Garrett and I both fell in love with it and new right away that it was a keeper, especially since the baby's Mimi came up with it.

Baby A will be named Blake Allyn
Blake is Garrett's middle name and Allyn is my dad's name (it is a goofy way to spell Alan I know but it is a family spelling)

Baby B will be named Jackson Bruce
Jackson has always been a favorite of mine (ever since my first viewing of Steel Magnolias many years ago) and Bruce is Garrett's dad's name. We will call him Jack.

I love both names and think they are just classic, handsome names. I can't wait to meet the handsome boys!

We know what were having!!!!

So today I went for an ultrasound due to some pelvic pains and because I wanted to see if we could find out what we were having. I thought for sure we could get confirmation on Baby A and a 'maybe' on Baby B. Well we found out for sure, 100%, no doubt what we are having.


Drum roll please....2 boys!! Oh my gosh, I can't believe it. Never did I imagine that we would have 2 boys. I seriously thought we were going to have one of each, especially after my dream last night that showed me a boy and a girl.



Both boys are looking very healthy and each one weighs 6 ounces. They are also measuring big, I am currently 16 weeks, 4 days and they are measuring at 17 weeks, 1 day. I am hoping they will continue with this trend so we have 2 strapping newborn babies. :)

Now the dilemma...do I continue with the idea of the damask stroller or do I go for a more boy one? Some friends have said to keep the damask because it is black and white and not girly, but others have said to go with a less patterned one. Here are 2 other options, please let me know what you think would be best for my 2 boys. The first one is black and grey/silver with blue trim. The second one is champagne and black. Or is my damask one okay for my boys?

I finally picked a stroller!

After many hours on the Internet and speaking to Jennifer (my twin mom role model) I have finally chosen the wheels in which our children will ride. It is the Graco Quattro Duo and the fabric is called Rittenhouse. It is actually a damask pattern. Isn't it so classic looking? I love it! I think it will be perfect for boys, girls or one of each.

Now the delima is whether or not to get matching car seats, car seats that will match their gender, or the matching car seats and have girly/boyish covers made to go on them. In all of the millions of decisions that have to be made in the next 5 months I know this one is low on the totem pole. But, since I don't know what I'm having and I can't register yet, this is a very important issue at the moment.

16 Weeks!!

I can't believe that I have already hit the 4 month mark in my pregnancy. That means only 5 to go! I have still been feeling great aside from the ligament pains. They are still coming and going. I called my nurse last week and told her to sign me up for the pain management she had once mentioned. Unfortunately, in order to get it I would have to be put in the hospital. So, that is not going to happen. I guess I will just put on my big girl panties and deal with it.

I do have an ultrasound appointment tomorrow afternoon due to my ligament issues. After checking to make sure both babies look healthy, we will desperately be looking for any protruding organs. Hopefully we can at least confirm that Baby A is a boy.

Here I am last Thursday when I officially turned 16 weeks. I don't look that much bigger from the last picture, but my belly definitely is moving up. You can also see my belly button just barely starting to poke out.

Under Construction...Accidentally

This is Mary...and I take full responsibility for what has happened to this blog tonight.

Oopsie.

We'll have it back up and running...and super cute...in no time!

Wish me luck!!

Well tomorrow is my first day back with the little munchkins after a 16 day hiatus. I'm anxious to get back into a routine, but not so excited about getting up before 6am. I did work up the nerve today, after our staff development, to meet with my principal and tell her that I wouldn't be back next year. I also went ahead and dropped the bomb that I wouldn't be back after spring break. My doctor really wants me to take it easy those last weeks to prevent any premature babies. Our goal is to have two perfect babies that we don't have to go and visit in the hospital, we want them coming home with us. Of course my principal was so supportive and made me feel so much better about our decision. I made a commitment to these kiddos to be their teacher this year, but my priorities have definately changed.

Ok, I better get to bed. I haven't been sleeping well lately so I need all the possible hours I can get.

Bigger by the day!!

I feel like in just the last week or so I have grown a ton. Every 2 weeks Garrett takes a picture of my ever expanding belly so we can have a slide show of my growth once the babies are here. I am 15 weeks today and finally look pregnant! I can even wear my pink velour suit with the jacket zipped and you can still see that I have a bump! This is very exciting!! I know that in about 2 months I will no longer be excited about my growth so I might as well talk it up now.

I went to the doctor on Monday. With twins, it seems you have to go for these appointments more often. This one was just with the doctor but I was able to hear the heartbeats. Baby A's was 158 and Baby B's was 153. Does this mean that they aren't both boys? Hmmm. The best news was that I have only gained 2 pounds! Once again I know I won't be speaking of this in 2 months so I might as well brag now!

Now I have a bone to pick with all of my friends with kids. I have been very blessed to have an extremely easy pregnancy up to this point. But you all failed to mention to me the shear pain of ligaments stretching! I woke up at 5am yesterday morning in horrible pain. It finally went away and I was able to sleep a while longer. Around 7:30 I woke up in the worst pain in my life. I felt faint and very nauseated. I was able to move to the couch and try to rub my back. Finally I called the nurse, in tears, and told her how miserable I was. She said that since I have a small frame (yea right) I will be feeling this quite a bit as my body is making room for these babies. She also eluded to a rather large growth spurt soon to come. After taking a Tylenol and laying on a heating pad the pain eventually subsided. With any major movement though I can still feel it. It is a good thing that the babies are worth it. :)





Here I am at 14 weeks on Christmas night

It's a boy and a...

Ok, well we are only 85% that Baby A is a boy, but based on the ultrasound I am convinced. Baby B wasn't as cooperative so I am lead to believe it is a girl. :) We found this out a couple of weeks ago at my 12 week appointment. There are great advantages to having my sister-in-law as my ultrasound tech., she spends a ton of time with us and tries to get the best angles possible. Thanks Angie!
I know that most people don't find out what they are having until 20 weeks, but now that I know one I can't wait that long to find out the other. So I think I may have some major abdominal pains in about a week and a half so I can go get another scan. Hehe! Then at our 20 week appt. on Jan. 26th, we can just confirm everything. We shall see.