Our sweet boys are here!

A bit of a crazy weekend ultimately led to an early delivery on Monday (at 31 weeks, 1 day), but all three of us are doing great so far!  We were thrilled that both boys were over 4 pounds. I will give the full scoop soon, but wanted to go ahead and introduce our little men!

♥ Leo William was born August 12, 2013 at 2:15pm, weighing 4 lbs, 3 oz and 16 3/4 inches long.

♥ Benjamin Elliott followed his brother at 2:17pm, weighing 4 lbs, 4 oz and 17 inches long.

We haven't been able to hold our little monkeys just yet, but shown here is a pic of each from one of yesterday's NICU visits. (I'm posting from my phone, so excuse the lousy photo placement!)

More news soon and thanks so much for all the well wishes!

Counting Down

 

 

 

 

The weeks are winding down here!  My OB will pull the trigger at 38 weeks, so we've only got about 7 weeks to go at most.  Things have remained pretty quiet since I was in the hospital for a week.  We've managed to hold steady and these boys are growing big and strong.  Both were over 3 lbs when we measured last week.  AND my placenta previa has backed off some!  It's still a marginal previa, but better than it was, so that is great news. 

 

Bed rest really has not been bad... I'm not on full bed rest for one thing - so I can still get up as I need to, but for the most part, I stay put.  But really I tire SO easily and am so weak that I don't want to be up and moving around.  So no one has to ask me twice to rest.  OK, sometimes my hubby has to when he sees me trying to do something around the house.  But I behave for the most part!  I'm also still able to work from home, so that keeps me feeling productive.

 

We moved Sam to his big boy room last weekend and so far he is doing great!  He is now in a full size bed.  We really weren't sure how that transition would go - he's just shy of 19 mos right now.  But it has gone about as well as it could have.  Our biggest question was how the heck to get him to stay in bed, since he could easily climb out if he was determined to do so.  Well after the first night, we went in his room at 7am (his normal wake time) to find him asleep on the floor next to his train table.  Hilarious...  just from sounds heard over the monitor, we think he stayed in bed till about 4:30 or 5am and then decided to venture out.  Each night after that, he has stayed in bed all night.  He puts up his usual short-lived protest when we put him to bed, but he seems to understand that once he's in bed, that's it. 

 

His room looks great too - I will definitely post pics soon.  We have just a few minor decorative things to add and it will be complete.  We did another DIY cornice board for his big boy room since we loved the one we did for his nursery.  I mean, so easy!  Ha, as if I actually did any of it besides pick out the fabric.  We've also got blinds coming to replace the old shades on his window.  And I ordered a cute wall decal to go behind his bed that arrived yesterday.  We're supposed to let it sit for a couple of days before applying to the wall, so it is sitting.  My dad is also going to help us add some more lights in his room too as it's not very well lit.  And then I think we'll be about done! 

 

The nursery is also almost done for the twins.  We added a 2nd crib and swapped out some of the fabrics to freshen it up a bit.  Last weekend we did the wall art behind the cribs.  Stencil project from hell.  But it turned out great and it's DONE.  I won't be doing any "easy stencil projects" again any time soon though.  I just don't have the patience.  The second crib skirt arrives tomorrow and we've also got to swap out the cornice board fabric in that room.  And that's about it!

 

So yeah... getting close.  But we feel like these boys could come any time now, so we're trying to get everything done within the next couple of weeks.  Which means I also need to pack that hospital bag!  I made a list the other day... I just need to actually pack it.

 

Back soon with nursery and big boy room pics!

Ketchup.

I'm sitting in the mall parking lot while the hubs gets fitted for his suit for his sister's wedding. Solitaire was getting kinda boring, so I figured I might as well update my poor dormant blog!

So... I spent the last week in the hospital after my ultrasound on Monday concerned my doctor a bit. I wasn't going in labor or anything, but he wanted to keep a close eye on things. Some fluid was spotted between the two sacs and Leo's fluid also appeared a little low. So off to Piedmont we went. I was only 24 weeks at that point, so we had the "scary" talk with the NICU doctor. I was put on magnesium and also got the steroid shots as a precaution. But Friday's follow up ultrasound looked good enough and I was freed! We were surprised - we were honestly getting prepared to have to spend the duration of the pregnancy in the hospital. We may be back there before too long, but I'm enjoying my freedom for now. Limited freedom that is - on full bed rest for the most part.

In other news, Sam is growing up so dang fast and learning new things every day. He has been in swim lessons all summer (survival type stuff - not like how to do a proper backstroke). He actually smiles when under water. So funny. Balls are still his #1 favorite toy. He'll do about anything for bananas or grapes (a.k.a. balls). He's currently fascinated with bugs. He is pretty much all boy! And his hair is so blonde right now... so funny and super cute. I will have to add some recent pics here.

We're on a mad dash to get ready for Ben and Leo's arrival. It's tough seeing as I am worthless and of no help! But we've got to get Sam moved over to his big boy room, and that involves actually putting together his big boy room. We've got his bedding and a plan in place - we just need to do it. My parents ordered us the 2nd crib and it arrives today (thanks, Nana and Gran!).  I have one crib skirt and need to order the second here soon. Other then getting Sam moved though, nothing is a big emergency or anything. But I like having everything in its place and ready to go, you know?

Also, I must brag on my hubby for being Superdad these last few weeks. He has been picking up my slack and then some, and truly played the part of a single dad this past week with me in the hospital. I don't know how he does it all, but somehow he's still smiling! He is juggling a lot and continues to have a great attitude. And we've also got lots of support from family and friends, which makes a big difference. Truly grateful!

Well that's the big news from our camp.  A pretty boring summer, but boring is what we're after right now. Plenty of time for excitement later on with our three boys!!!

Names for the Boys

Sam and Dada at the lake on Memorial Day
(always with a ball in hand, that kid)

Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend!  We sure did.  Still on modified bed rest here as my pesky placenta previa is still there (and worse actually).  BUT no bleeding or anything has occurred since my initial episode, so that is good. Just having to continue to be careful and take it extra easy.  I am working from home, otherwise I think I might go crazy!  At least I can still be productive while horizontal.

I wanted to share our names for the boys since we finally came up with them!!!  Still working on middle names, but Sam's little brothers will be...

Ben & Leo

Ben(jamin) is a Biblical fave... and Leo is just, well... fun!  Not short for Leonardo or Leonard or something - just Leo.  It's Italian for "lion," so clearly, Leo is the trouble-maker and the one hanging out over my cervix.  May try to tie in some family names with the middle names... we'll see. 

Alright, back to the "office"... have a good one!

Teacher Appreciation Week: Days 4 and 5

So, uh, yesterday I was working away on the couch and around 10am it suddenly dawned on me that I sent Sam off to school without his teacher gifts for the day.  Geez... and I seriously was losing sleep the night before trying to figure out how I'd wrap them!  So how did I not give it ONE thought the next morning?  Pregnancy brain, I guess.

Anyway, the hubby was running back by the house mid-morning, so he grabbed the gifts on his way back out.  Sam's school is not even a quarter mile from our house, which is nice when we forget stuff!

Yesterday's theme was "pampering," so I wrapped up a couple of fun summer nail colors with a cute nail file...

And Sam's out on Fridays, but I wanted to drop gifts by anyway.  Last minute again, of course.  I literally went through the Starbucks drive-thru for giftcards ("favorite thing" was the theme today) and then wrapped them in the school parking lot.  Ha!  It was my outing for the day...

Maybe I'll be a little more prepared next year?  No promises.

Teacher Appreciation Week: Day 3

Today's theme was "the gift of smell."  They didn't say it had to be a good smell... but I figure they get enough not-good smells in the classroom. 

We got a list of Sam's teachers' "favorites" to help us with ideas, and one of his teachers listed her favorite perfume scents as Dolce & Gabbana or Gucci.  Pretty sure Dove would've been next on her list...

I'm not a perfume person, but I do like these Dove body mists - very light and feminine.

Teacher Appreciation Week: Days 1 and 2

Here we are at Teacher Appreciation Week again... and this time I had more than like 3 days notice!  However... being banned to the couch makes it hard to get uber creative and make multiple shopping trips.  So Sam's gifts for his sweet teachers are a little sub-par this year, but hey... I think they'll still be a hit even though they were thrown together in the 11th hour.  (And I'm sure teachers love anything and everything - I am only comparing my stuff with what I did last year!)

Monday's theme was flowers.  And I got *uber* creative with that one...

Today's theme was favorite food/drink...

Giftcard to our local Mexican joint inside!

I had some more fun packaging ideas for the restaurant giftcards, but neither panned out.  Note that both gifts were assembled within minutes of delivery... yeah, 11th hour I'm telling you!  No pre-printed labels this year, sheesh.

Hahaha....  I've got the rest of the week planned out a little better so we'll see how those shape up!

Nursery Updates

Well, hello from the couch...  I'm officially on "house arrest" for at least the next couple of weeks (a.k.a. modified bedrest) due to having placenta previa.  I figured I'd have to slow down at some point with twins on the way, but not this early.  I'll be 17 weeks tomorrow.  But, hey... what can you do?  I've been working from home the last couple of weeks and will continue to as long as this condition persists.  It's still very early on though and my doctors suspect this one pesky placenta will migrate.

Anyway, in other fun news... we're expecting two more BOYS!  Guess I set myself up when I made the comment that I'd be happy as can be with three boys... ha! We're really excited - boys are so fun.  Sure, if I could've picked, I would have chosen a boy/girl combo.  But I was not at all disappointed to find out we're having two more boys.  Our house is going to be nuts!  But also full of love and lots of fun...

We don't have too much that we need before the boys arrive, besides basics like an extra crib and a double stroller... but I thought it'd be fun to give the nursery a small update.  A few of the items in there now are personalized for Sam, so we'll be swapping some things out.  But other than some fabric updates and adding a second crib, nothing much will change.  I'm definitely glad we went with neutral tones on the walls, etc and with the more "permanent" fabric pieces so that we could easily mix and match different prints for an easy update.  You can see all of Sam's nursery pics here, but below are a couple to show you what it looks like currently...

And these are the main fabrics we used (custom bedding and fabric from Carousel Designs - cannot recommend them enough!!!)

 

 

I was so pleased with the service and products at Carousel... plus they are local (to Atlanta) and all products are made to order right here in the US and they ship super fast.  And you're not buying bedding sets... you just order what pieces you want.  I didn't do bumpers since they're apparently not safe or whatever... so I just ordered a custom-designed skirt, blanket, and some sheets.  This next time around, I'll skip the blanket and sheets.  Nothing wrong with the sheets, but I ended up using Carter's jersey cotton sheets much, much more and they're a lot cheaper.  And I enjoyed the blanket I designed, but it's just not necessary.

So even though we're having more boys, I still want to give the nursery a little bit of a different look.  Like I said, we'll mostly be swapping out some fabric pieces (the window dressing and crib skirts).  And we'll be moving the changing table out and replacing it with a second crib.  We plan to remove one of the shelves on the built-in shelving to create a changing area there.  The pad will fit fine and we can use the shelves above for storing supplies.  I plan to move the baskets currently on the changing table to the built-in shelves.

As soon as we knew for sure we had two boys coming, I started browsing fabrics that would work with what we already have and fell in love with this...

I always have loved orange... if you remember, the inside of Sam's closet is orange!  And this shade is soft enough that it will fit right in with the shades of blue, beige, and bronze we already have going on in there.  I think we will probably replace the cornice board fabric with the orange chevron.  And with twins, I doubt I'll personalize it this time... I'll save that for some pillows or something.

For the skirts, I wanted to do a mix of coordinating fabrics but not have them exactly the same.  I was playing around with the designer tool on Carousel's site and put these two below together.  Note that I already have the swatches on hand and the colors aren't quite the same on screen...they all work well together much better in person.  For one thing, the blue is much softer than it appears here.  So if you ever are looking to order from Carousel - always, always order swatches first!

SO fun!  What I also love about their designer tool is that you can change the crib finish, the flooring, and walls to resemble what you have in your room so you can really get a feel for how the bedding will look.

Haven't ordered these yet, but I'm pretty happy with these designs and we'll most likely go with these.  I think I'll hold out till they have a sale... on occasion Carousel will offer a % off, but I've only seen notice on Facebook for sales, so be sure to "like" their FB page if interested.

We did actually make our first purchase for the twins this week... a couple of Podsters!

I discovered these a while back and "bookmarked" the idea for later... several of the reviews said they were a lifesaver for twins.  So I started looking at them again earlier this week and it seemed the non-pink ones were scarce!  I tried to order one from Walmart (the only one left) and later got denied because they were out of stock.  Amazon only had pink (for a decent price anyway).  So I found a blue one on one site (again, the LAST one - they are now completely out), and found a green one on Barnes & Noble's site, of all places.  I think they'll be great for the boys... the reviews are outstanding.  And I found some bloggers that sang their praises for them as well.  Any of you use these?  Boppy also makes a similar version, but after a fair amount of research, the LeachCo brand seems to be far superior.  And hello, LeachCo makes the pregnancy pillow that I'm so obsessed with (the Snoogle), so I have no doubt I'll love these too.

The other big item I've been researching a lot (OK a bit bigger than a podster, ha) is the perfect double stroller for the boys.  I love all my stroller choices for Sam... my research paid off.  So I'm hoping I score again here.  Only this time I want to find something more all-purpose that will last a few years.  Something that will hold two infant carseats in the beginning and later two toddlers.  After a lot of digging and reading reviews, I think our best bet is the Baby Jogger City Select...

It's pricey for sure... but has lots of versatility.  There are a million different ways to configure the seats.  And you can remove them completely to add the carseat adapters.  It's basically a frame you customize.  They also have bassinets you can add, but that's hardly necessary.  I'll skip that.  Twins or not, this is a pretty popular stroller.  Any experience with it?   I'd love to hear what you guys think.

Alright... I hear someone waking up from his nap so it's time to put the 'puter down.  Hope you all are having a great weekend.  It is rainy and gross here... so not a bad day to have to take it easy.  Still in my jammies here!

Photos: Sam's 1st Birthday Party

Soooo.... THREE months later, I'm finally getting Sam's 1st Birthday Bash pics up!  It's been fun reliving it today going through these photos.  We had such a great day and best of all, Sam had a blast too.  I chose the winter wonderland / arctic theme way back.... like when the kid could barely hold his head up.  It was a fun and easy theme to go with, especially being able to incorporate lots of Christmas decorations that worked with our colors.  We used pool blue, turquoise, white, and silver with pops of red.  Very gender neutral, but you could swap out the red for pink and it's suddenly very girly.  Already brainstorming on possibilities for a twin 1st birthday party... I may need an intervention! 

Anyway, enjoy the pics!


Sam's cake table coming together (was still putting stuff out at this point).

Tissue pom poms... so cheap and easy, but very time consuming!  Thanks to Aunt Jenn for helping me with those.

Favors for the kids... I had these frosted boxes in my stash from years ago.  And Sam's smash cake!

Main food table... kudos to my "catering" buddy, Costco.

One of my favorite things... the Hot Cocoa bar with homemade cocoa mix and fun toppings!  Plus supplies for guests to bag up some mix to enjoy at home (because I don't need 5 lbs of hot cocoa).

Drink tubs and snacks for kids.

Blueberry Mimosa station (pitcher not out yet) - these were a big hit!  2 parts champagne, 1 part OJ, 1 part 100% blueberry juice (kinda hard to find).  Top with a few fresh or frozen blueberries.  Delish!

Mantle decorated for the party.  Hard to see but the large vases are filled with ginormous marshmallows and hard candies.  The two pics were the same shot of Sam at 7 days and 12 mos.  What a difference a year makes!

We kept our Christmas tree up for the party but stripped it of our usual decorations and redid it with blue lights and tinsel.  Hard to see in the pic.. the blue lights don't show up so well.  Also had a slideshow playing of Sam's pics during the party - my dad put it together and spent MANY hours on it!  So sweet...

We had several displays of the monthly photos we had taken of Sam during his 1st year.  In this pose, we had him wear the same sleeper (size 12mo) and watched him grow into it from month to month.

One of Sam's buddies enjoying the sweets!  My "snow-covered" strawberries were a hit.  So easy too... use whatever colored candy melts for dipping, then roll in coconut to create the "snow" look.

Smash cake time!  And a closer look at the main cake too... courtesy of Publix!  I got the "S" topper from Michael's and added glitter to it.  I was looking everywhere for a cool "1" topper and never found one I liked.

"Hey, Mom, have you tried this?!?!"

"OK, Coach, quick water break then I'm going back in..."

Sam and Dada!

Gran and Sam

Present-palooza!

Can't imagine what was going through his little head!

Cool overhead shot of the gift craziness...

Also as promised (months ago!), here are some shots of the recently finished playroom.  The fabulous curtain panels were sewn by my sweet bestest!

We did an Eric Carle theme with the prints and fabrics.  The leaves on the tree were cut from those borders that teachers use and slapped on the wall with Yes Glue.  I painted the tree base by hand, just free-style, using Martha Stewart metallics from Home Depot.  Y'all know I love me some metallic paint!

My favorite part of the room... the chalkboard wall!  Party guests left their wishes for Sam...

And ALL that will wear a little boy out....

Big Boy Room

Yeah, I know.... absent-go-bloggy lately.  Well, combine tax season with feeling like total crud 24/7 and that leaves little time or energy for posting.  I do appreciate all of your sweet words on the twins!  We are thrilled and just plugging along... 10 weeks today!  We have our final appointment with my RE on Tuesday and then he'll ship me off to the OB and perinatalogist.  Always bitter sweet to leave my RBA team... but graduating IS the goal, right?!

Anyway... our big project this summer (once I feel less like death) will be transitioning Sam to a big boy room!  I know he could spend many more months in the crib, but uh... we need the crib.  Sorry, kid.  So I imagine we'll start working on his room (he'll be in an entirely new room as the nursery will stay the same) as soon as I start feeling better - 2nd trimester.  The ick disappeared right at 13.5 weeks last time.  I know all pregnancies are different, but I'm praying the same happens this go-around!  I will have a much smaller window of time to get anything done since you really have to take it a lot easier with twins... so we'll need to get rolling! 

So I'm turning to you all out there for tips on the big move.  He is 14 months now and we'll probably actually move him around 18 or 19 months.  I know that's earlier than most kids move to a real bed, but like I said... we need the crib.  What things do we need to consider?  I don't even know exactly what to ask.... but I'll just give you some info on Sam's sleeping habits and maybe y'all can drum up some advice.

• Sam LOVES bedtime.  He sleeps a solid 12 hours each night (roughly 7pm - 7am).  It's very rare that he wakes up needing something.
• A hurricane could roll through our house at 2am and he'd snooze right through it.
• He is so active during the day (he does take one nap around noon - lately for about 2 hrs).  Come bedtime, he often points to his crib after he has his nightcap milk chug. 
• He is awake 95% of the time when I put him in the crib.  He is great at going to sleep on his own.  And great at going back to sleep on his own whenever he wakes up at night. 
• He loves his crib.  On weekday mornings, he often has crib playtime while we're getting ready for work.
• In general, he is just very easy going and pretty much goes with the flow (we keep telling ourselves we must be in for it on these next two!).  From the beginning, the only thing I've been pretty strict about schedule-wise is his bedtime.  But even if we're out late or get off track one night, he jumps right back in line the next day.

So given all that.... I feel like if we do this transition smoothly, he's going to do really well.  We will be getting him a real bed... probably a full size bed - so not a toddler bed.  If you have any tips or tricks or things to avoid... please share!  We obviously don't know what the heck we're doing!  Oh and the room will be down at the far end of the hall from us, if that matters.  Whereas now his nursery is right next door to us. 

Alright... enjoy your St. Patrick's Day!  I've got my green on... so no pinching. 

Picture this.

The hub walks in from racquetball this morning to find me sitting in the middle of the kitchen floor sipping hot ginger-lemon tea with one hand and my other in a giant box of Cheerios.  So he sits down in front of me. 

"What's wrong?" he says. 

"I feel like I'm going to vomit and I'm freaking out."


After all, we'd had less than 24 hours to process this...

Yep!  We did another frozen embryo transfer (FET) late last month and this time BOTH of our little babes stuck.  So yeah, that's two sacs you see in there.

We were prepared as we could be to find out it was two... I mean, my betas were higher than with Sam, though you can't speculate too much just on the numbers.  But can you ever really be prepared to find out you're having twins?  Ha! 

So we are thrilled, scared, freaked out, excited, nervous, and overjoyed all at once.  But this morning I was definitely freaking out.  I started rattling off my concerns and the hub listened.  But then he reminded me, "God's not freaked out.  It'll be great."

And it will be.... it's going to be NUTS!  But it's going to be great.  And I'm blessed to know many twin-momma friends, so I'm sure I'll get lots of great advice.  And I keep singing this song in my head... "I can do all things... through Christ who gives me strength... I don't have to be strong enough."  Which is fabulous considering I'm already stretched with our one little man!

As far as the babies, they both measured right on schedule yesterday at 6w2d.  Our due date is October 13, but I think twins are often taken at 37 weeks, which puts us in late September.  Gosh, who KNOWS what this is going to look like... we are just along for the wild ride.  Planning to suit up with Zofran and my Bible.  I'd love to have your prayers for a healthy pregnancy, delivery, and peace along the way for me!  It's going to be an adventure!

From our little Valentine to yours...

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Milestone Weekend

This little cutie got his 1st haircut on Saturday! 

AND we successfully ditched the bottle over the weekend, too.  Wow... this little man is growing up way too fast!  (Though I will not miss washing all those dang bottle parts every day.)



I've also been pairing down the party pics from earlier this month and am hoping to get those up later this week!  Stay tuned...