Christmas Tree Infestation

Jason and I came home from church today. It was like any other day... quick trip to Target, hit the grocery store and come home. While Jason was bringing in the groceries I decided to water the tree. As I bent down to pour the water in I noticed a spider-looking creature crawling up the base of the tree stand. I was afraid it was a tick so I called Jason over and then I noticed what looked like hundreds of little eggs and big mama bugs all over the tree skirt. Upon further inspection we realized there were hundreds of bugs crawling all over the tree. (See pics below) After researching online we discovered the bugs were probably aphids but without much debate at all the tree was thrown outside. Jason offered to buy a new one, or call Lowe's to get a refund, but we figured they'd just give us a new tree. I figure we're leaving in less than a week for Christmas festivities and the tree would die then anyway so we'll keep the rest of the decorations up and just go 'tree-less' for a few days. Definitely contemplating an artificial tree for next year. I'm not sure I can go down that road, but our next tree will be thoroughly inspected and shook out before it goes up!

today marks quite an accomplishment

19 weeks in and meg finally looks more pregnant than me!

Week 18

Your Baby: Week 18

Your fetus has become amazingly mobile (at least compared to you), passing the hours yawning, hiccuping, rolling, twisting, kicking, punching, sucking and swallowing. And, baby's finally big enough that you'll be able to feel those movements soon.

So, if you're like me you wondered what the heck this week's fruit/veggie is: a sweet potato :)

Our little ones are definitely moving a lot more. It seems that our girl moves more after I eat, though our boy kicks up a storm at times too, particularly at night. We get to see them again in less than 2 weeks and get to bring home actual photos so we're excited. What an amazing Christmas present this will be!!

We are nearing, if not at, the half-way point for this pregnancy. (I know it's only week 18, but with twins we're looking at delivering around week 36). It's been a really quick, spectacular journey this far. Though when you consider for the first 4 weeks we didn't know we were pregnant and for the next 4 we didn't believe we were it does go by fast.

Pregnancy symptoms have died off a little. I'm still tired at night, but not exhausted like I was. Definitely eating a lot and still enjoying chicken nuggets and gravy (though typically not together). Peanut butter, anything dairy, OJ and fruit are favorites. I have to force down the veggies :( My memory is also kinda shot so if I forget something you've told me please forgive me and just tell me again :)

I'm starting to organize a lot of the big things in my head. Our biggest struggle right now is coming up with a name for our little girl. Our son (crazy to say that) is taken care of, we think, but we're pretty stuck on a name for our daughter. I'll 'officially' reveal both of the names once we get them figured out, though many of you already know the boy's name. I just feel bad using his name when we don't have one for her. Any suggestions for a girl name are happily considered!

Week 17

Jason updated you all on our dr visit. It was amazing and so much fun! The even more exciting part is that we get to go back in 3 weeks for our official anatomy ultrasound so we'll be able to see them again!

This week I've been busy looking and trying to find baby bedding. I decided to buy instead of sew just due to the fact that it would take a long time to make and it would end up being much more expensive. After a LOT of searching we decided on mix and match from Carters. (It's on order so we'll see if we like it once it's in, but it was definitely the cheapest option and looks to be the comfiest). I didn't get the complete custom feel from ordering, but it's customized enough to appease me with the mix/match idea. I'll include pictures of it later if we end up liking it.

Jason's been busy as well and has begun the huge task of cleaning out the garage... partly to just have it cleaned so he can begin working on some new woodworking ideas, but mostly to let us park in there again. :)

Anyway, November absolutely flew by and I know December will too! I'm posting week 17 info, but really we're almost to week 18! You'll notice that the 'average' size of baby at this week is 5.9oz and we're already just past 7oz so I'm thinking even with twins we'll still be having larger babies. We'll see if the growth trend continues or levels off. :)

Your Baby: Week 17

Baby's skeleton is hardening, changing from rubbery cartilage to bone, and fat is finally accumulating around it. The umbilical cord is getting thicker and stronger, and those little fingers and toes are now topped by one-of-a-kind prints.

pardon the interruption

Jason here. I have to hijack the blog, because yesterday was the most fun I have ever had at a doctor's office.

It started typically enough: sitting in the waiting room, digging through the women's magazines to find the one, out-of-date Sports Illustrated, glancing around the room to figure out who's here for what. She's definitely pregnant. That guy looks as nervous as I was the first time I came here. She's old... annual or do you come back for menopause? Finally the ultrasound tech called our name and we got to go back.

Meg's belly gets all lubed up and she starts sliding across it. Wow they've grown! Last time we were here they were little peanut shaped blobs on the screen. Now they have faces and bones and fingers and...that one's bum is in the other's face! Poor kid.

She scanned around some more and we were able to see that one's a boy, and one's a girl! Wait, what's that one doing? The girl is kicking her brother in the face!

We watched the membrane separating them stretch and move like a balloon as Twin A (the girl) repeatedly kicked Twin B(the boy) right in the face for about 5 minutes. The tech measured their stomachs, heads, arm bones, leg bones, hearts -- everything looked great!

Finally, as our 30 minutes of visitation into their little world was ending, she zoomed out and our son was standing up for himself and kicking back. I can only imagine the looks on mine and Meg's faces as we watched in awe as our children swam around.

Our children both weigh about 7 oz. now, are close to identical in size, and had very similar, strong heartbeats. Everything looked great! We are so blessed!