18 weeks

How far along? 18 weeks

Baby’s size? At our last dr. appt. on 2/6 both babies were 7 ounces :)

Total Weight Gain: 11 pounds

Stretch marks? No new ones

Sleep:  Pretty good despite the crazy dreams and waking up to use the bathroom...I know this is going to get much worse though.

Best moment this week: Seeing our sweet babies at our ultrasound appointment.  It never never ever gets old.  They were so active at our appointment and I even made it a point to not eat much sugar that day before my appointment.  Crazy babies, but I love it.  :)  The ultrasound technician told us we better invest in some good running shoes b/c these babies are going to come out running ;)

Miss Anything?  I miss not getting leg cramps ever other night, but other than that, I love being pregnant!

Movement: Still *possibly* feeling movement but I don't really know.  Still not sure if it's in my head or not.

Food cravings: Nothing really...still smoothies, avocados and eggs have been staples in this house since I've been pregnant!

Anything making you queasy or sick:  Thank goodness no...I really don't have any aversions which I'm thankful for.

Gender: We got the genders triple confirmed at our last ultrasound.  We sent out announcements yesterday to tell family and friends.  This means that the word will be out in a couple days :)  I'll announce soon!

Labor Signs: NO!

Symptoms: Still wicked leg cramps at night.  

Belly Button in or out? Still flesh with my skin although it's looking as if it will pop any minute!

Wedding rings on or off? On!

Happy or moody most of the time: This past weekend I have been hormonal for sure, but other than that I'm typically a very happy pregnant Momma :)

Looking forward to: Our trip to Spain!!!  We leave Wednesday and are there for a week.  These babies will be world travelers before they are born.

17.5 week doctor's appointment

We had our 17.5 week doctor's appointment today with our multiple specialist and it went very well.  Both babies heartbeats were in the 140's which is great and both were being very active little munchkins.  Baby A was really going crazy and Baby B was just doing summersaults and showing off.  :)  The ultrasound technician always gives me a very through ultrasound taking about 30...about 15 minutes per baby.  She checks out the heart, the bones, the spine, the brain, the stomach, the bladder, the face, etc.  All look great on both babies!  The sex of the babies was also confirmed and we are SUPER excited.  I will announce next week!

We were also cleared to go to SPAIN next week.  My super sweet husband surprised me with a trip to Spain for my 30th Birthday/BabyMoon!  We leave for Spain in a week and are gone for a week.  We will be spending the majority of our time in Barcelona and will drive up to the coast of Southern France to stay there for a night.  We are VERY excited.

Both babies now weigh 7 oz.  Little buggers they are!  Man, we love them SO much already.  It just baffles me to think that there are two little ones in my belly.  Coolest thing ever.  I could watch the screen at the ultrasound all.day.long.  It's so fun to see them play and move around.  My heart melts every time.

 Baby A :)

Baby A again

 Baby B in motion as he/she did a summersault! lol 

Baby B on his/her stomach--the dr. said he/she must be a stomach sleeper...what a mess already :)

17 weeks!

The shirt says I'm 16 weeks, and technically yesterday I was...had to get the picture in before I turned 17 weeks!

How far along? 17 weeks

Baby’s size? About the size of a turnip, but I personally think they are bigger than that now!

Total Weight Gain: 9 pounds

Stretch marks? Very slight ones on my back, but they are not too bad at all.  Keeping them under control with lots of oil and lotion.

Sleep:  It has been wonderful lately.  This cold weather is helping...I looove sleeping in the cold!  The crazy dreams have started which is interesting.  I broke out my snoogle, but then got a horrible cold so I'm waiting until the cold goes completely away before trying it out again.

Best moment this week: Buying our cribs and dresser/changing table.  We had such a fun time doing this.  Now, we just have to put them all together.  We will do this in March as February is a busy month for us.

Miss Anything?  Nope.  Love this growing belly and these growing babies.

Movement: I'm *POSSIBLY* starting to ever so slightly feel movements...I think.  But, it could be all in my head.  Once in a while I feel VERY slight flutters...again, not sure if it's the real deal or not...who knows.  

Food cravings: Smoothies (can't get enough of them) and avocados!

Anything making you queasy or sick:  I had a HORRIBLE cold earlier in the week, but thankfully it didn't last too long.  I made sure to get extra sleep, eat very healthy and pump up my Vitamin C...I think doing all of these things helped kick the cold quicker.  Thank goodness.

Gender: We know and we've told family!  We have another big doctor's appt. on Wednesday with our multiple specialist.  We will also have an ultrasound at this appointment and will get the sexes confirmed once again.  Then we'll still wait about a week to announce the news to everyone. :)  

Labor Signs: NO!

Symptoms: Leg cramps...that's about it.

Belly Button in or out? Still flesh with my skin...so crazy!

Wedding rings on or off? On!

Happy or moody most of the time: Super happy.  I still can't believe I'm pregnant and then I think about the two babies inside of me and I just can't contain my excitement and love for them.  

Looking forward to: Our dr. appointment on Wednesday and getting to see our little munchins.  We also have an appt. on Thursday with my OB to do blood work for down syndrome and other such tests.  Will be a big doctor's appt. week!

16 weeks!

How far along? 16 weeks

Baby’s size? About the size of an avocado...not sure how an avocado is bigger than an apple (apparently they were the size of apples at 15 weeks), but whatev :)  At our 15 week appt. the babies weighed 4 oz., so I'm guessing now they are about 5 oz. or so each.

Total Weight Gain: 8 pounds

Stretch marks? I just noticed some slight ones on my back around my hips---not sure if this is from pregnancy or not.  Probably.  But I am lubing up and trying to put lots of oil and lotion on my belly, hips and thighs so that I don't get too many stretch marks.  

Sleep:  It's been pretty good lately...despite the crazy leg cramps I get often at night---major ouch.  And still adjusting to not sleeping on my back.  

Best moment this week: Having a stranger ask me at the gym how far along I was.  This was the first stranger to ask!  I was wondering when this would happen.  I guess my belly is really popping :)

Miss Anything?  Not this week, I absolutely love being pregnant!!!!!!!

Movement: Not yet!!!

Food cravings: Really nothing big this week.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope!  Although I do have a cold I'm trying to get rid of...yuck, go away, please!!!!

Gender: We know and we've told family, but not telling the rest of the world until after our next appointment in two weeks.  I know that was mean and a tease, but eeekkkkkk all I can say is we are SUPER excited :) :) :) :)

Labor Signs: Thank goodness, NO.

Symptoms: Growing belly if that's a symptom.  Slightly bloody nose often in the morning, leg cramps in the middle of the night, having to pee a lot...that's about it.

Belly Button in or out? Right now it's flesh with my skin---craziest thing ever.  It's going to become an outty any week now---SO WEIRD.  

Wedding rings on or off? On!

Happy or moody most of the time: Happy!!!!  Although these pregnancy hormones do make me tear up and cry much more than I'd ever expect.  But I have to say I've been so happy throughout this pregnancy.  

Looking forward to: Our next appointment in a couple weeks when we get to see our sweet babies through an ultrasound...it never gets old.  We are so in love.

I'm back! And with BIG news!

Ok, no more hiding for me.  I'm back to blogging and back with some exciting news.  You see, last year, 2012, was a hard year.  In January the hubs and I started seeing a fertility specialist.  We tried a couple different ways to get pregnant and, it worked.  We had NUMEROUS tears, frustrating, sad and happy doctors appointments.  I felt like I lived in the doctor's office last year.  I won't go into details, but in June around our third anniversary we found out we were pregnant!  We were so over joyed and bursting with happiness.  Then, in July, my Grandfather passed away.  He lived a very long and wonderful life, but he was a very special man to so many.  It was very hard saying goodbye to him.  Shortly after his funeral, I miscarried.  I had a D&C, this was easily the darkest month of our lives.  July was not a good month.

Once my body healed, we started trying again.  Low and behold, we got pregnant shortly after in October.  We were so happy, excited, very scared, and worried what the future would hold for us and our baby.  We took each appointment as it came and felt better as at each appointment things were *perfect.*  We recently announced the news to the "world" and it feels so much more real now.  The even bigger news is that there are not one but TWO babies in my belly!!!  We are pregnant with fraternal twins!  The due date is July 15th....this is my Grandfather's birthday...how crazy is that?  I know he had planned this all along and is looking down on us.  Although the due date is in July, twins will most likely come in June so we are telling most people that June is our due date.

I am going to try my best to be a better blogger as I want to blog about my pregnancy so I can remember it.  My first trimester was for the most part easy.  I had a few days here and there of feeling like death and throwing up.  But most days I have felt pretty good...not great, but not awful.  Fast forward to the second trimester where I am now and I feel great!  I have lots of energy, I'm not too big yet and honestly, most days I don't really feel pregnant other than my growing belly.  On these days where I don't feel pregnant we have a doppler so we can listen to the babies heartbeats to make sure all is well...this is very reassuring. :)

Here goes the pregnancy questionnaire...

How far along? 15 weeks
How big is baby? 4 inches long...about the size of an apple
Weight gain? 7 pounds so far
Maternity clothes? Yes!
Sleep? Pretty good!  I've always been a side sleeper but I do usually wake up on my back.  It's been hard not sleeping on my back anymore, but I'm trying so hard to get used to it!
Movement? Not yet, but I can't wait for it!  Apparently with twins it can start anytime starting next week!
Food cravings? Everything cold and crisp sounds wonderful to me right now.  Like iceburg lettuce and apples and ice cold water (oh I could kill some watermelon if it was in season).  
Gender? Not yet, although we have an idea of what Baby B is!  We will know soon and will share the news with family first and then then tell others.  I have a feeling of what they are though...we will see if I'm right!
What I miss? Sushi, a nice glass of wine here and there, and a hard intense workout.  
What I am looking forward to? Having these sweet babies and being a Mom.  My goal is to get these babies as big as I can and keep them cooking in me as long as I can!!!
Weekly wisdom? I am going to be HUGE when this is all said and done, but bring it on. :)
Milestones? Finally done with the first trimester, woohoo!  It was the longest few months ever!!!  Now things seem to be going more quickly.  Our registry is 98% done (thanks to family and friends who helped!) and the nursery is planned.  Our nursery theme is elephants and I'm sooo stinkin excited about it.  Now we just have to put it together :) The fun part!

MIA

I am sorry I have been MIA for the past few months.  Life has really been...busy.  I have still been cooking some, but have been bad about sharing recipes.  I promise to get back to this one day but now life is going in different directions and it's hard to keep up.

I wanted to share with you all this video that my Mom sent me on gratitude.  I don't normally spend 10 minutes to watch these kind of things, but please do it.  It is SUCH a wonderful video.

Hope you all are well!  I promise to get back to this hopefully sooner rather than later!

Food and Fun

Let me start off by saying that I can't believe it is almost the end of February!  Agh!  Thankfully, it has been a very mild winter here.  Most days have been in the high 50's and we've been loving it.  We got our first "big" snow of the winter yesterday though!  We have about 4 inches of snow, but today is very sunny and highs in the 50's so it will all sadly melt today.  By the end of the week the weather is supposed to be in the 70's!  Woohoo!  This has been such a wild winter, but not complaints here. :)

What have I been up to?  After our lovely visit with sweet baby Grace, we have been staying busy.  The hubs went to Boston in early February for a bachelor party.  I stayed home and hung out with my parents and watched "The Help."  Loved it!  I liked the movie much better than the book which rarely happens!  I also got lots of snuggle time with these guys:

 A few weeks ago I made this.

Amazing.  You need to try it!

Daniel and I are not big Valentine's Day people.  We always get each other cards and a tiny little gift and then cook dinner together.  My Mom had just been in Seattle for work meetings, so she so kindly had fresh Seattle salmon shipped back.  She very graciously shared the salmon with us!  It was sooooooooo good!

I sprinkled a little sea salt and pepper on the salmon then put it in the oven on 450 for a few minutes.

It was perfect. Seattle is the place where I learned to love salmon many years ago.  Before visiting Seattle I stuck my nose up at the thought of salmon, until I tasted that fresh, melt in your mouth salmon and I was hooked.  I also stir fried some broccoli in soy sauce and we had Bhutanese red rice on the side, oh and I can't forget about the wine.  Was a wonderful dinner in the comfort of our own home.

For our Valentine's dessert we had cupcakes.  These were to die for!  We love cupcakes!

This past Friday night I made this Saucy Mama Pacific Rim Ginger chicken.  I had won the Saucy Mama sauce and wanted to make something with it.  I also had a craving for chicken, so this was the perfect dish.  I was a little worried as to how it would taste...but it was soooo good.  The hubs and I both felt as if we were in a Thai restaurant eating this.  We had leftovers last night and they were to die for.  So good!  The main thing I loved about this recipe was that it only had 5 ingredients...my kind of dish.  If you don't have this sauce on hand, you can make some type of Asian sauce in place of it.  I'm sure it would work just as well.

Yesterday I got back from a wonderful weekend with my Mom and my matron of honor and her Mom.  We went down to Chapel Hill for a mother/daughter weekend to see the Clemson/UNC basketball game.  Sadly, Clemson lost, but I still have a place in my heart for UNC bball, so it was still a lot of fun.

We had a great time at the game and then had an amazing dinner at Acme Food and Beverage.  It was SUCH a fun weekend!

I have the day off today for President's day and I am loving it.  I just made the hubs and I waffles and now I'm enjoying lounging around in my pj's.  Have a wonderful week!