It's Spring!

We had a busy/fun weekend!

 

Friday night, the kids and I watched a movie in bed while Daddy watched basketball and I caught this little moment on camera...

Connor was petting my belly. They have both felt the baby move now, or at least they told me that have. I'm still not sure if they really understand.

 

Saturday morning, we got up and headed to the mall to see the Easter Bunny. I showed them their picture from last year with the Easter Bunny and Connor got excited but Chloe kept saying "No!". But of course we went anyway.

She was a little scared at first but surprisingly she let me set her down on his lap. The whole way there we kept telling them that if they got their picture taken with the Easter Bunny then he would bring them presents on Easter. So I think that helped motivate her a little.

  I'll post our Easter Bunny pictures another time.

And of course we had to ride the carousel.

And then we went to the Disney store where they FREAKED out about everything they saw. They loved it! The weren't grabbing and crying for things like I expected, but they would just shout out who they saw. We let them each get a small toy since they were so good with the Easter Bunny. She got a Minnie Mouse camera and he got a Jake camera.

  This is how Chloe takes pictures with it...

 

Sunday, we decided to go to David's soccer game since the weather was so nice. It was right at their nap time but we have pushed through it before and they love being outside so I thought it would work. This is what happened on the way...

We got to the game early and David went ahead and left us in the car and I let them sleep for about an hour total before we went to watch him.

Connor wasn't really feeling very well. His allergies are really bad right now, so it took him a little time to wake up and get ready to finally play with all the kids there. But Chloe took off right away and wanted to play. She kept saying "I play soccer now" and would run off and play with the other kids kicking a ball around.

 

When Connor finally warmed up, he started to have fun.

Connor playing soccer with his cousin Jagger.

 

When the game was over, the kids ran out to high five and hug daddy and they were ready to play too!

So needless to say, on our way home, Daddy stopped at the store and bought them their own soccer balls.

 

When we got home, we headed back outside. Not the best idea for their allergies, but we couldn't help it. It was so nice and they love it outside!

 

It just makes me that much more excited for summer!

It's windy but it's warm!

Yesterday was SO windy, but it was 81 degrees! So we headed outside when we got home from school.

 

The kids picked me some "flowers".

And we all paid for this when the kids allergies started acting up over night!

 

Then we moved on to the slide. They love to slide down on their bellies.

28 week appointment

We had our 28 week appointment with the doctor today. It was a long one...I had to do the glucose test, an ultrasound, and then meet with the doctor. The ultrasound went good. We still didn't find out gender...I'm staying strong!

This is the only picture we got, a profile. It looks like the baby is blowing bubbles!  I'm not sure what's going on there...

The doctor said it was a pretty normal ultrasound. But the baby is only in the 27th percentile, which just sounds small to me even though it weighs about 2 1/2 pounds (which is what the twins weighed at this time). He said that we are still in a normal range because the baby is growing up with a curve (on his chart) instead of growing down, if that makes any sense. But he said to ease my mind, we will do another ultrasound to check growth in 4 weeks.  He said that I can't compare it to my other two kids because this is a completely different baby.

 

I will find out the results of the glucose and iron test tomorrow.  Last time I turned out to be anemic so I was put on an iron supplement.  I have a feeling that's going to happen again this time.

 

I also got asked twice while I was there if this was my first baby.  And I replied back with "no, it's my third" and that just sounded so weird coming out of my mouth!  Three kids!  Three kids under the age of three!

The Terrible Twos (times 2!)

I once made the comment to David about how another couple's kids always look so happy and he said that mine do too in most of the pictures I post. And I guess that's true. I guess I only post and talk about the good, funny, happy, silly times. Who wants to hear about the screaming, crying, and fighting that occurs daily? I try to block it out myself.

 

Well, it's not reality. We are in deep inside the terrible twos and it's not fun! It's hard, frustrating, and exhausting. I feel like I'm on an emotional roller coaster every day. One second they do something so sweet and so funny and then I turn my back and one of them is screaming because the other one looked at them or touched their blanket.

 

This is the face I get almost every morning...

He was crying because I gave him French toast for breakfast. He loves French toast, so I'm not sure if I didn't hand it to him properly, if I didn't put it in the right spot on his tray, or if I put it on the wrong plate. Who knows?!?!

You see that blanket behind him? They insist on having their blankets behind them while they eat. They bring me the blankets on their way to the high chair and scream "behind you!" every time they eat. Why do they do this?!

Also, it's not just about having their blankets behind them, Connor needs his blanket a certain way and only Mommy knows how to do it. It took me a while, but I figured it out. We also have to have the blankets laying on our stools the right way in the bathroom while we are brushing our teeth. That one took me a long time to figure out what he was wanting, but I got it now. I still don't understand it, but I got it.

 

We also have screaming fits if I don't pick out the right shirt for them to wear in the mornings, and don't even get me started on how they HATE wearing jeans. And then Connor will throw himself on the floor if his socks are not on the exact right way he wants.

 

And then there's the binky. They scream if they want a binky, I give them a binky after making them ask nicely and they start screaming because it's not the right color.

Also, they feed off of each other. If one throws a fit, more than likely the other one will start crying for some random made up reason like they fell down 5 hours ago and suddenly realized they have a boo boo that needs my attention more than the other kid needs my attention.

 

Is this normal? Or did I make them like this by attending to their every need so I don't hear screaming all the time?  I'm tired, I'm pregnant, and I just want peace and happiness in our house! So yes, I did this and now I don't know how to undo it. Will they grow out of it soon? Who knows, I don't. I'm just learning as I go.

 

I do realize that it won't be like this forever and when it's all over I probably won't even remember any of these temper tantrums. I even forget about most of them the second they curl up in my lap or grab my face and kiss me or say "I love you momma". See! It's so emotional!

27 weeks!

OK, so I ran out of time forgot to do a post for 26 weeks.

So here is my informal 27 week post picture from the bathroom at work.

I have gained 26 pounds so far and my back is really starting to hurt. I'm sure that's due to the extra weight upfront and picking up and carrying 2 toddlers around.

I feel really large this time around.  Last time I remember feeling still kind of small for carrying two babies, but this time I feel really big for carrying just one baby.

 I'm on my feet more with this pregnancy because of the twins too, so I feel really tired all the time. I'm not sure if I'm more tired than last time or if I just forgot how tired I actually was.

This baby moves ALOT. It even keeps me up at night which I never had a problem with the twins.  Chloe has felt the baby move and kick a few times when she is sitting on my lap or laying on me and she just giggles. 

 

So far, I haven't really done anything in preparation for this baby except get a new breast pump (that insurance pays for now!) and a new changing pad and it's starting to make me anxious! I'm starting to feel like I'm going to run out of time or not be prepared. But then I calm down and realize that's not true. I might not remember all of the little things I need for a baby but I do know that I will be able to run to the store if I do need something. Last time, it was like I was preparing for the world to end and I would never be able to leave the house again. I was fully stocked on everything and even a lot of stuff I never even used or needed. So I'm trying not to be that way this time.

 

  We are mainly still focusing on getting Connor's new room finished so we can move him up there in a few weeks and then I will be able to get some things set back up into the nursery again. I took all the baby stuff down in there when we moved Chloe out to try to make it more of a little boys room for Connor instead of a nursery and I just need to turn it back into a baby room.

I also need to get some baby clothes out of tubs and wash some of each gender. Speaking of...not knowing the gender is getting a little bit harder for me. Mainly because I want to pick a name and be confident in it and I don't feel like I can do that without knowing if it's a boy or a girl. It's a weird feeling that I can't really explain. And maybe that's why I'm not preparing and going baby crazy as much as I did the first time. I for sure know that I haven't spent any money on clothes since I don't know what it is. That has probably been the best thing for me so far. This way I won't buy a lot of stuff that I don't need or that won't really fit and it will never wear.

 

We are getting very excited though. We can't imagine how this baby is going to change the whole dynamic in our family since we don't know if it's a boy or a girl and that just makes the whole thing even more exciting. We also have no idea how the twins are going to react. We talk about the baby with them all the time and they talk about how big momma's belly is but I know they really have no clue what's about to happen to their lives.

  Connor tells the baby "night night" and says "see you soon" and he goes back and forth on if it's a baby brother or baby sister. One time when he told me it was a baby brother, I asked him if he was going to share his toys with him and he told me that he was going to share his Jake and his sword with him.

Chloe says she is going to help feed and change the baby's diapers. I'm going to hold her to that one! They both do like to "help", so I'm hoping I will be able to include them in everything as much as possible and make them feel important and not pushed aside.

 

Along with being excited, I'm also very nervous. We have become so used to our little routine and the twins are getting easier to get out and do things without packing up the whole car. We can communicate with them now and even just sit back and watch them play instead of having to help them with everything. Starting all over again makes me nervous, but I know everything will come back to me as soon as it happens and hopefully I will be a little more relaxed about it all and just enjoy it and enjoy the twins at the same time.

 

I'm also very nervous because even though the twins are easier, they are also a little harder. We are officially deep in the terrible twos and we have meltdowns, fights, and temper tantrums over every little thing. They have their own opinions now and get very frustrated if things don't go exactly their way. So this is a whole new learning experience for us on how to handle each situation. You don't want to give in every time but it's also a lot to take to listen to the screaming crying fits (sometimes times 2 because they do feed off of each other). The only thing that gets me through each tantrum is knowing that it won't always be like this. They will grow out of it...and then I get to do it all over again with this baby! No... I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this baby will be my easiest one!

Fun at the Zoo!

The kids school was closed on Friday so David and I both decided to take the day off of work to go do something fun with them. We decided to head to the zoo!

Each time we go, they are more and more in to it. They had the most fun this time and we didn't worry about leaving in time for a nap. We just pushed through and took our time. It wasn't super crowded either since it was a week day.

 

This was the first time they were actually allowed to ride the camel since they are 2 now! David got to ride with them this time since I'm pregnant.

Connor loved it and he even remembers the camel's name if you ask him about it.

 

We even went all out and bought the pass for unlimited carousel and train rides since these are their favorites anyway.

We even found a dinosaur! Connor loved this! Chloe wasn't so sure.

I told them to stick their heads in his mouth and Connor thought this was so funny. Chloe didn't want any part of that!

I told them I wanted to take their picture with the turtle and Chloe said she wanted her picture taken on the bench instead.

But Connor wanted on the turtle.

 

When we told them that we were going to the zoo and we started talking about what animals we all wanted to see, they both would say they wanted to see the giraffes, so they were pretty excited when we actually did see them up close!

 

After this, we asked them what they wanted to see next and Chloe said "See zebras!". Well, our zoo doesn't have any zebras, yet, but of course she isn't going to understand that. So all day long she would randomly say "See zebras!" and I would just tell her that we were looking for them. But there was a zebra on the carousel ride, so I think she was happy with that.

 

I still can't believe they are big enough to just run around a play ground and play on their own without me right there. I still can't just sit back and relax yet though. The playground was pretty big and there were a bunch of kids and of course mine took off in different directions. David went to get us something to eat so I was watching them alone and I felt like I was going to break my neck looking side to side at the different places they ran. But then Connor found this truck and didn't want to get off of it, so I at least had one that was stationary!

This girl loves slides.

 

 

Next up was the petting zoo.

Chloe has been a little scared of animals up close so she was a little shy unless I was right there with her. And she was not going near this big goat. She said "it's too big!". But Connor was all about it.

I think Connor could survive without a nap on a regular basis, but not Chloe. She was starting to go downhill at this point and just wanted to cuddle.

So we rode the train.

The kids think "taco" is a funny word, so when we want them to smile or laugh we tell them to "Say Taco!" instead of saying cheese. David caught them saying "taco" in this picture.

 

After a few more rides on the carousel, it was time to head home. We had spent 4 1/2 hours there and this momma was tired!