Week 25 bumpdate

How far along: 25 Weeks.  Yes, I missed a week.  I was on vacation and had other things on my mind!  :)

Baby Size: Zucchini
 
Weight gain:  About 15 pounds.  Though that may have something to do with vacation... 

Maternity clothes: I love the stretchy clothes, but now I have to go find some more. 
 
Stretch marks: Some on my hips...

Sleep: Usually I can get right to sleep and only wake up once, but sometimes I just can't get to sleep.  

Gender:  Baby girls!

Best moment this week:  My bridesmaid dress fit, lol!
 
Looking forward to:  Just meeting the little ones that keep kicking me...
 
What I miss: Being able to lay/sleep on my back.

Movement: All the time.  These are some active munchkins.  Though, they often move around on my right, but I rarely feel any movement on my left.

Food cravings:  Sweet things, mostly ice cream.  Though, who doesn't like ice cream?

Anything making you queasy or sick:  I did feel sick once this week, but that was after flying on a pretty empty stomach and then a car ride in the back seat of a VERY warm car.  But I made it home without incident!

Labor Signs: Nope! 

Symptoms:  Just a growing belly and some random outbursts from some surprise kicks.
 
Belly Button in or out?  Out.  I fear it will never go in again!
 
Rings on or off? On

Mood: Getting a bit anxious, but it's more due to the rest of the things happening in my world.

Week 23 Bumpdate

How far along: 23 Weeks

Baby Size: About the size of a pomegranate
 
Weight gain: 9 pounds

Maternity clothes: Yuppers.  So much more comfy for the belly.
 
Stretch marks: Little ones still forming

Sleep:  I like to sleep, the girls like to kick my bladder.  It's a compromise, but we work it out.  I just get up once or twice a night to go potty. 

Gender:  Pink and purple... little girls!

Best moment this week:  Scoring a Jeep tandem stroller for $20 at Salvation Army!
 
Looking forward to: Another ultrasound on Tuesday and a trip to Florida for a wedding! 
 
What I miss: Being able to slip on a pair of jeans...

Movement: They are pretty active little gymnasts.  One maintains a grudge against my ribs, and they are both constantly moving around.

Food cravings: Just sweet things and some spicy things.  Not at once, just in general. 

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope!  I'm so lucky that way.

Labor Signs: Still a long way off for this one. 

Symptoms: My belly is getting enormous! 
 
Belly Button in or out?  Out!
 
Rings on or off? On

Mood: A bit more panicky this week, but still excited.  There are constant reminders of how unprepared I am for the arrival of these little girls.  But no matter what, they will have a loving home, so I have to keep that at the forefront of my mind.

Baby's first mail!

The ladies got their first mail today!  It was a care package from their Aunt Stacy in St. Louis.  :)  Inside we found a note from Auntie herself saying how excited she is to meet the girls!  Under that sweet note  were some face wipes (that will come in VERY handy) a four-pack of the most adorable onsies, and a book titled "On the Day You Were Born." 

I'm so excited because this starts their library.  I really want my girls to be able to escape into the amazing worlds found in books, and this is a great start.  And this being a pre-loved copy, we can always imagine the amazing adventures this book has already seen.

Plus, Aunt Stacy is a very green person so I know these wipes don't have a bajillion chemicals or smell to high heaven.  I'm trying to keep away from smelly chemical-infused things for my girls, so I'm ever-grateful for these fun wipes.

And the onesies are the cutest!  They are white and purple, but they have some nifty designs and are even premie sized.  All of this just makes me excited to meet these little munchkins.  But before that can happen, they need to take their time and grow as big as they can before they come out to meet their family.

You hear that girls?  Stay put for now.  Give us a few more months to get the world ready for you and you can spend that time getting ready for the world.  Love you both! 

Week 22 Bumpdate

How far along: 22 weeks

Baby Size: About the size of papayas
 
Weight gain: working up to 9 pounds gained

Maternity clothes: Finally, yes!  They are so much more comfy with my belly and don't make me feel so awkward.
 
Stretch marks: Just little ones.  Still trying to moisturize to avoid them a bit.

Sleep:  I love sleep, and, other than a nightly potty break, I've been sleeping quite solidly.  Though, I fear that those nights may be coming to an end soon. 

Gender:  Two little pink bundles of joy.

Best moment this week:  Finally getting clothes that fit better.
 
Looking forward to: Everything!  But also hoping that it doesn't come so soon. 
 
What I miss: What little balance I had is starting to slip away from me.

Movement: All the time!  These are very mobile little munchkins.  

Food cravings: No food in particular, but lots of food in little sizes. 

Anything making you queasy or sick:  Not currently.

Labor Signs:  Hopefully not for a very long time!

Symptoms:  Just moving more slowly. 
 
Belly Button in or out?  Out to try to see the world!  It's kinda strange because sometimes you can even see it poking out of my shirt.
 
Rings on or off? Still on

Mood: Excited, scared, unprepared.

Maternity shopping!

Finally got to go shopping for clothes for my growing belly!  Dale's mom and I hit up a couple Salvation Army stores and got some great stuff.  I now have a number of new shirts and some dress pants for work.  We even found a dress that I can wear to my friend's rehearsal dinner in a couple weeks.

Mom found a few items for the baby shower.  We also found a great deal on a double stroller!   It is a Jeep brand tandem stroller in great condition that we found for $20!  Even used, they usually go for far higher prices.  I've never seen a stroller that inexpensive.

Week 21 bumpdate!

How far along: 21 weeks

Baby Size: Carrots!
 
Weight gain: I'm up to 8 pounds gain. I really need to get out and moving, but it is rough to get the motivation when it's so darn cold!

Maternity clothes: Still working on this, but I have permission to wear yoga pants to work as long as they are not obviously yoga pants.

Stretch marks: Still just little ones.

Sleep: I'm good with sleeping, still, but I'm still very itchy.  It's mostly in my torso where all of my skin would be stretching, so I'm thinking that is the cause of this aggravation.  

Gender: Girls!  Though, I have been advised that they WILL be girly-girls.  This is especially true when they hang out with cousin Cortney.  ;)

Best moment this week: I'm still reeling over last week, but yesterday the little ones were really movin' and groovin' in there.
 
Looking forward to: Stocking up on baby stuff.  I'm excited to already have one bag of clothes!
 
What I miss:  I still miss soda.

Movement: They are definitely making their presence known.  It's hard to know how long they will be active when they are moving, but I try to get Dale to be able to feel them if he can.  

Food cravings:  I can't seem to get Taco Bell out of my head, but maybe that's because I haven't had it in a while.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope!  I just have to watch the salt and limit portion size.  These are not bad habits to get into, though.  Good idea, girls!

Labor Signs: It is still far too early.

Symptoms: My belly is like a balloon... still getting bigger and bigger....  
 
Belly Button in or out? All the way out!
 
Rings on or off? Still on!  Yay for the little things in life!

Mood: I'm still so excited that we finally got to share with our families!  I am getting worried about the timing of the showers, but I'm probably psyching myself out.

Oh, the excitement!

I am overjoyed at the amount of happiness and excitement that has been pouring in from family and friends for these little girls!  Seriously, this is so amazing.  

And even with all that has been going on, Dale and I got a whole day off work to spend together.  I was on call for work, but the interruptions were minor throughout the day.  We did get a lot of stuff done together.

We started out at the gun range.  With little girls on the way, it's best to practice your aim before you need to scare off any boyfriends.  ;)  We had a fun new target that was a game of Battleship!  We both were pretty horrible, but we both had our moments.  The important part right now is that we had fun.

We then did lunch at Red Lobster with another Christmas gift card and looked at movie times to find the best way to spend that gift card.  We settled on the new Thor movie later in the afternoon.  

Since there was such a time gap between lunch and the movie, we decided to go to Target to start our baby registry!  We spent a bunch of time there trying to figure out what we wanted to put on the list and fighting with the scanner to be able to add some clearance items.  Since we know a few people who work at Target and the clearance items were mostly clothes, I thought they might be able to check out these items before they are sold out.  

After all the fun of registering, we went to our movie.  It was a really good movie and we both enjoyed it.  Then we went home to hang out and snuggle to finish out our evening and ring in the new year.  We almost missed it!  I was confused over the fireworks outside when Dale exclaimed "Happy New Year!"  At least we made it!  

It was a great day!  I absolutely adored being able to spend a whole day with Dale and he loved being around the munchkins all day, too.  Thanks again for all of the love everyone!