Continue praying for Ellie!

Just a quick update about my friend Andrea's sweet baby Ellie... (for details see post 2 below this one)

They are going in today (Wednesday) at 11 am pacific time, for a fetal echocardiogram to check out her little heart. Please continue to pray that there would be nothing wrong with her heart, and for God to do a complete miracle!!

I'll continue updating when I find out more...

Busy Days...

The last four days have been busy and full of fun with some good friends that I haven't seen in awhile!!

On Thursday, Dara, one of my closest friends from college, had a layover at DFW airport on her way from the east coast to her brother's wedding in Utah. I hadn't seen her since my brother's wedding week (in October 2008!) so it was so much fun having a couple of hours just to sit and catch up! I'm so lucky to have a handful of lifelong friends in my life, and Dara is definitely one of them! It doesn't matter how long it is between times we get to see each other...it is like no time has passed at all!

On Friday, I went back to the airport to pick up another good friend that just happened to be coming into town for business! Amy is such a great friend also, and I love every moment that I get to spend with her when she is in town! Saturday morning, Justin got to do part of his metabolic assessment with her (she is a personal trainer and has a company called FitLab in Atlanta). Amy and I always have so much fun when we get a few moments together, and I have to say, on Friday, we spent most of our couple hours together laughing!! So good to see you friend!!

Here is Justin all geared up for his testing!! I told him he kind of looked like Hannibal Lecter!

And last but not least of our days with old friends, on Saturday, our good friends Ronni and Lance, along with their kids Brady and Laney, came into town. We used to go to church with them until a year ago, when they moved further south in Texas for a great new teaching/coaching job for Lance. We sure miss them, but had such a great time the last couple of days catching up with them!

Laney is just three months old, and is such a doll! She has the most mellow, sweet little temperament, and was just an angel! She seemed to love being all wrapped up like a Laney-burrito!
Here was Brady in action. (I don't know how I didn't get a better picture, or a picture of Lance also, but oh well!) Brady is such a cutie pie, and we had fun playing with him! He LOVED throwing the ball and having the dogs chase it! Both Molly (my parents' dog) and Betsy are absolutely worn out from Brady's play time with them!!

I just loved getting this extra time with some special friends this past week! Since I'm pretty much not going anywhere outside of the Dallas metroplex until the babies are born, it is pretty fun when our friends come to us!!

Thanks everyone for spending your time with us! It was great to see you!

Pray for Ellie!

Would you send up a quick prayer for one of my dearest friends?? This is my friend Andrea (and her husband Josh and boys Micah and Noah). She is almost 24 weeks pregnant with her little girl, Ellie. Just today, Andrea was in a car accident, and thankfully, they both are okay! But after an ultrasound today, the doctor told her that Ellie has some fluid around her heart. They think this is totally unrelated to the accident, but they are going to a perinatologist early next week to get more information. Will you please lift sweet Ellie up in prayer? And also her parents, who I'm sure are a little bit worried to get news like this! I know God has a wonderful plan for this sweet baby girl's life, and I'm believing that God will heal whatever is causing this fluid--even before they get to the doctor next week! I love you, Josh and Andrea!!!

Thanks for your prayers!!

Twin update!!

Today I'm just one day shy of 19 weeks, and we had such a WONDERFUL appointment this morning with our maternal fetal medicine (high risk doctor), Dr. Z! The boys are doing so well, and were both moving around a whole bunch today! It is just so much fun seeing our boys!! It is still sometimes hard for me to believe there are two inside of me, and hard to imagine how in the world they are both going to have room as they continue to get bigger!!

They both are laying with their heads on my left side, with their legs towards my right. The doctor said they were looking bunk bed style, with Jack on the bottom bunk and Will on top. Just in the last few days, I have definitely been feeling little jabs, especially when I lay down at night. Still, because of the location of my placenta, I'm not feeling a ton, but I know the big movements are on the way soon! I think Will likes putting is little arms up into my left ribs--such a weird feeling. I feel him especially when I'm driving! I have a feeling they'll both be up in my ribs/lungs before too long!! =)

Their heartbeats were nice and strong--Jack (A) was 138, and Will (B) was 153. They are still not showing any signs of twin-to-twin transfusion, something that they monitor for very closely with mono-di twins. Praise Jesus!!! We even got some AMAZING 3D shots of their precious faces today as well, along with two cute profile shots.

The news that was the icing on the cake today is that my cervix is measuring long (5.15cm) and closed!! Hitting 19 weeks tomorrow brings us into the same time-frame in Jonathan's pregnancy when my cervix was starting to fail...but we just didn't know it at the time. So by hearing and seeing that everything looks perfect right now really puts our minds at ease. I can't begin to tell you how much it puts my mind at ease!! I'm so thankful that we got the TAC...it is making all the difference for our sweet boys!!

Here are some adorable pictures of our guys, if I do say so myself!! =)

Cute profiles, in 2D

Jackson

William (not sure why his picture is darker...hmm)

Now for the 3D pics...

The first two are of Jack, and the next three are Will. Can you see their noses, lips, and their cute little hands and arms??

And this last one was really neat because it got some of both of them in it!! You can see Jack's face, with Will's arm, body, and part of his head in front of him. It is just so cute to see them together...Jack kept kicking his leg over towards Will, and Will was stretching his arms towards Jack. So precious!!

We are just so incredibly excited to have gotten some amazing views of our boys today. God is so good, and we are just so thankful for these two precious miracle baby boys!! Thanks for your continued prayers!!

Happy Father's Day!!!

Happy Father's Day to the three amazing and wonderful fathers that are a part of my life!

First of all, to my Papa...

I love you so very much, and I don't think I can even begin to express how grateful I am that you are my dad. You have always been the solid rock in my life...providing for me, loving me, and being the best daddy a girl could ever ask for!! It amazes me how much I see you in me...thank you for being my Dad! I know that I like to bug you sometimes, but know I love you more than anything!! I love it that we are and have always been best buddies, and I love being your little girl--even though I'm not so little anymore!!

To my sweet husband, the father of all of our children...

It seems so unfair that you are a father, but all of our children are in Heaven and they don't get to experience what a wonderful Dad their Daddy truly is. But I am so incredibly grateful and thankful that God has blessed us with our two new sons...I can hardly wait to see you as their dad, finally a dad here on Earth! You are going to be the best Daddy, and our boys are going to have so much fun each and every day with you!! I love you so much, Justin, and I'm so glad that my children get you for their father!!!
And to my father-in-law Gene...

You are an amazing and loving father to your children!! Thank you so much for the example you have always been to Justin his whole life! I know that because of the man and father you have always been, I benefit, and so will our children! You are a shining example here on earth of loving us like God loves his children!!

Justin and I both miss our grandpas, who lived amazingly full lives, and instilled so much into our lives. But we are happy to know that they are up in Heaven, celebrating this Father's Day with their grandson Jonathan and their Heavenly Father!!

We are just so incredibly blessed to have such wonderful generations of men in our family. Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!!!

Our new toy!

Well, we did it!! We are now joining the ranks of Mac users!! I'm pretty excited and I've been having fun this afternoon playing with our new toy!! Still figuring out the new "Mac" ways of doing things...for the life of me I can't seem to keep from going to the upper right hand corner to shut a window!! =) Thanks for all your advice/recommendations! I can't wait to figure out all the cool new things that I'm going to be able to do with our new laptop!!

Anyone have any advice on Mobile Me? We got it, and it sounded awesome in the store, but now I'm having trouble getting my pictures from my iphone to the gallery, so I can have them on my new computer. Don't get me wrong--I still think it will be awesome--if I can get it to work right! Help! =)

18 weeks!

Yesterday I was 18 weeks...halfway through a full term twin pregnancy (36 weeks)!!! So exciting!!! I included the last 4 weeks of belly shots...definitely growing!! (Just ignore that I was wearing the same shirt the last few weeks--it is just comfy!!)




The babies are definitely moving more, but I'm still not feeling distinct kicks. The placenta is just in the way!! But it is sure nice to feel the rolling sensations. It gives me such an assuance that they are okay when I feel them!! I have my next ultrasound next Wednesday, and I'm really looking forward to seeing our precious boys again!!

Thanks for all your continued prayers!


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So we finally got my laptop back, and pretty much, it is dead. The part that we thought was the problem wasn't, and pretty much, to fix it, it would need the mother board replaced for the second time. =-( So...we are shopping for a new laptop! I'm leaning towards getting a MacBook, but I was wondering if any of you had one. What do you think about it? I've been a PC girl forever, and am kind of nervous about switching over. It seems like a Mac will do everything I want it to do, including making working with pictures much easier. But how is it to blog from? Any perks of a Mac over a PC, or a PC over a Mac? Any advice you might have for me would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks!

2TWINS!!

My dad is such a sneaky and creative gift giver!! Yesterday around 4, he calls me and says he will be to my house in 5 minutes, so be ready. Since it was my mom's birthday, I immediately thought we were doing something/picking up something for her. He gets here, and we get into my car, and he says we're off on a secret mission. But first he wants to make sure I have my car insurance card. Now I'm really confused! And curious!! I'm not the most patient of people, and I definitely like to know 'the plan' for whatever I'm doing! But of course, he won't tell me! So we drive a little ways, and then I realize we are going to the tax assessors office, where you go for your car registration! I'm still in the dark, but after we get in there, he finally lets on the reason...he has ordered us personalized licence plates!!

How cute is this license plate???!!!

I can't wait to have our boys in my car, that has a special plate just for them!! Thanks Daddy, for coming up with such a thoughtful (and surprising) present! Love you!!

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And just because the blog has been a bit devoted to the twins lately, I just had to post a recent picture of our sweet furry child. Seems that she too likes my pregnancy pillow!!

Caveman Crawl...

On Saturday morning, Justin and I were up bright and early to drive about 1 1/2 hours away for his lastest "event"...the Caveman Crawl. Justin has been into triathlons for the last year or so, but he and a friend decided that they needed to participate in a crazy, fun, light-hearted activity---an off-road obstacle course!!! It is held in Bridgeport, TX, and is a 5K path through 22 different (crazy and muddy) obstacles!! I came along as their cheerleader and photographer, and got some pretty funny pictures and videos! I've attached some pictures of the guys (he did it with our friend Aaron from church) before and after--believe me, it will be easy to tell the after pictures by the new color of their clothing!

The crazy boys...they were encouraged to wear costumes if they wanted to, so these boys decided to be 70's basketball players, complete with headbands, wristbands, and tube socks!

Getting pumped up...they didn't know what they were in for!

There were other characters around too...Where's Waldo, Cavegirl, and The Incredible Hulk, ...and many more that I couldn't get a picture of!

Here was the starting line...right into a lake they had to cross! Other obstacles, they tell me, included 4 more lake events/mud pits, hill climbing (some muddy hills, some sandy hills), climbs up cargo nets, under cargo nets, balance beams, and the best of all, a large pond with a mud pit right at the end!

Here they are after they finished...

And the ending that I caught on video...what a day!

Is it crazy that this actually looked fun to me? I had flashbacks of the crazy, icky, fun days I had at camp every summer growing up, and I told Justin that I was in for next year!!! Come on, wives...who is in with me for next year??? =)

Happy Birthday Mom!!!

Today is my mom's ?? birthday!!! Happy birthday to the sweetest, most wonderful, thoughtful, caring, talented, beautiful, and encouraging woman I know! I'm so thankful thankful and proud to have you as my mom!! I just love it that you live close now, and we can enjoy moments just about every day together! You are truly my best friend! I love you, and I hope this year is better than the ones before!!

This isn't the best picture, but my mom and I had such fun last night. For her birthday, I took her to out to dinner and to the Broadway show Wicked. It was SOOOO great!! Our friend from work, Kary, recommended it to me a few months ago, and Kary, you were right!! It is the perfect show to see with your mom/daughter!! The music was amazing, and like so many broadway shows, the staging is just incredible!! Mom and I decided it is a must-see!!

Mom--I love you so very much. Have a wonderful day, and I can hardly wait until the fall when I get to see you in your role as Gigi--to more than just your grandpuppy! Our boys will be so lucky to have you as grandma!

17 weeks!!

It is so exciting to be at 17 weeks today!!! I think I'm just going to get more excited as each week goes by, so just humor me!!

No belly picture yet today--I'll take it later and post it sometime, but, in my opinion, I'm definitely growing!!

Here are a few pictures of the new cribs. I'm still just in awe of how God worked out the timing perfectly of Jonathan's crib leaving the same day that the new cribs for the twins came in. He really does care about the smallest details of our lives!!!

Now this is a EARLY picture of the nursery, and I debated whether to even put it on here until it was cute and finished. But, I thought, my life is an open book...so here you go! As you can tell, we are sticking with a simple decor--blues and greens, and I don't really have a 'theme'. I didn't want patterns or pictures, just because the room is so small and there will be two of most everything! So simple and boyish is what we're going for! Justin is going to start painting this weekend, and he and my dad are going to put up chair rail. I just can hardly wait to see what the final product will look like! And it is so nice to have my parents here to help! I call my mom my decorator, because she is so good at it and has so many great ideas! So I know Will and Jack's nursery will be adorable!!!

We had one mattress already, and when the people came to pick up the furniture, our neighbor gave us another mattress--her son is 3, and they don't need it anymore!! Thanks, Soprina!! How nice of you!

Yesterday was also my first visit to my Maternal Fetal Medicine doctor, Dr. Zaretsky. He and his whole staff were just amazing!!! Both Justin's parents and my parents came along with us yesterday to get to see the ultrasound, and I think they were all in awe! So were we! The ultrasound was about 45 minutes long, and we got a ton of pictures and a DVD of the whole thing! They tried a couple of times to switch over to the 3D/4D views, but since my placenta is on the front, it made it kind of hard to get clear shots. =( Maybe as they get a little bit bigger it will be easier.

They measured just about everything you could think of on each of the boys...all the parts of the brain, their hearts, kidneys, bone lengths, upper lip (for cleft palates), nuchal fold (for Down's syndrome), and they even counted each and every one of their 40 fingers and toes!! I couldn't believe how much we were able to see inside of them! Absolutely incredible!!! They look super healthy, everything is just perfect, and they are both measuring between 17 1/2 and 18 1/2 weeks on everything--so about 2 weeks ahead, size-wise! Which is AWESOME for twins! They are ahead of the game, with only a 2% difference in size between them. This is important because with mono-di twins (where they are in separate sacs but share a placenta) they watch baby size and amniotic fluid levels very closely to make sure there is no evidence of twin-to-twin transfusion (blood flow not going to each baby equally = very dangerous). If the number gets around 20%, they start to worry, so our babies were perfect!! They will monitor me every two weeks for this, and he said by 26 weeks, you're pretty much out of the woods for this if it hasn't shown up. So we're on the right track! Their heartbeats were still strong--146 for Jack and 158 for Will. The last three ultrasounds, this has been the norm--Will just seems to still be our wiggle worm and his hearbeat reflects that!

They were laying almost like a plus sign, Jack with his head on my lower right with his legs going up towards my left ribs, and Will straight across with his head on my left. They are just so cute, all cuddled up to each other in there! He says it is fun to watch as they get bigger, how they fit in there--he says you start seeing a lot of punching later! Ahh...boys. I guess it begins even earlier than I thought! =) Right now it is estimated that they are both about 5 inches long, from crown to rump, and are about 7 oz. each. From what I read, the next month or so, they are going to have huge growth spurts! I'm 17 weeks, but measuring around 21 weeks. He says by 27 weeks, I'll be the size of a full-term pregnancy. W. O. W. I'm a little behind on the weight gain part though...I've only gain about 4 lbs, and by now, I should have gained around 20! YIKES! Thankfully, the boys aren't reflecting that, and seem to be getting the nutrients they need to be growing bigger (or maybe just their Daddy's tall genes). But Justin is now my nutrition-master. He is determined to get some more weight on me! =) The more I can gain now, the better chance for them to be bigger (and healthier) babies when their born. So I'll do it! Dr. Z says that his goal for me would be to get to 37-38 weeks, but my uterus determines when they will come. The uterus can only stretch so much, so once labor begins after a certain point, it will be c-section time. Sounds good to me, but my goal is to make it to at least 36 weeks and have at least 7 lb babies!!

Okay--I think that is all of the important details! Now enjoy a few pictures!! (For some reason, these pictures are a little darker than normal--hope you can see them!)

Here is another head shot of the boys...

Here is Will's profile...look at his little nose and lips!

Jack didn't give as good of a profle, but you can make out his forehead, his nose (kind-of), and his lips/chin.


I'm going to try to figure out how to post a little bit of the DVD, but I'm not sure how. If my laptop ever comes back, I think I can do it on there!

****And Happy Birthday to my "sister" Diane! I've known Diane since I was 2 and she was 4, and she has always been more like a sister to me than just a friend! She even was the one to teach me how to tie my shoelaces!! I hope you have a wonderful birthday today, Di!!!! Love you!****

An end...no...a new beginning...

Today is a day that had the makings of being a sad day for me. My first thought was that it is the end of Jonathan's presence here in our house, and I should be sad. Today is the day that a lady is coming to buy Jonathan's old (but brand new) furniture for her soon-to-be new grandson. It makes me a bit teary that this furniture set that I searched long and hard for, for my sweet boy, never got to be used by him. Justin and I lovingly put every piece together, placed it just right in his room, and ever stood over the crib, just imagining what he would look like in it. But...God had a different plan for our boy. And this furniture sat unused for two years, just a reminder of what we had lost.

But it's time...with our new sons coming, I'm happy to pass this on to another family, and I will pray that they will get to enjoy standing at the crib, and looking down at their son fast asleep in it.

And...as I was thinking about all this--putting into perspective how I should really feel about letting it all go, I checked the delivery tracking of the two new cribs we purchased, and it said they were on the truck for delivery! And right this very second as I type this...UPS just drove up with our new cribs!!! I know we are decorating kind of early, but with the chance of bedrest for me towards the end, I want to have everything ready and actually get to be a part of the decorating!

So...today isn't an end after all...it is a new beginning!!! God is so good!!!

(And I can hardly wait for Justin to get home and put the cribs together!!! More pictures will come soon!)

16 Weeks!!

I am officially at 16 weeks! Praise Jesus!!!



Today I had my OB appointment and was lucky to get another ultrasound! So another wonderful peek in at our boys and some cute pictures! I have my first appointment with my maternal fetal medicine doctor next week, and I'm really looking forward to the detailed ultrasound we will get there. And hopefully, many more wonderful pictures of our boys!



Today, Baby A's heartbeat was 143 and Baby B's was 154. We think A is the lowest down, so we're thinking he's Jack, and Baby B is Will. Will was, again, wiggle worm, but Jack was moving around quite a bit as well!! They both look so good, and they both even gave us a high 5 on the screen! We didn't get a picture of that, but it sure was cute! =) I'm measuring at 21 weeks--5 weeks ahead--which is typical for twins. My placenta is anterior (in the front) so even though I've been feeling some movements, I've yet to feel any real kicks. She said that is normal with the placenta in the front, cushioning their blows, but not to worry, because I WILL definitely be feeling their kicks soon!



As I get closer to the time frame where things started going downhill (without us knowing it) with Jonathan, I have honestly gotten more and more nervous. I worry over every little pain, ache, symptom, etc. I try to give it to God, be patient, trust that their okay, but I know the next 8 weeks or so (when we hit the 24 week mark) are going to be full of anxiety for me. I'm pretty much the same size as I was when we lost Jonathan, so I just don't know what is normal to feel, especially with twins! I definitely don't want to be like this, and I'm so happy to have so many ultrasounds. Seeing them moving, kicking, their hearts beating is an instant relief to me! My blood pressure even dropped significantly by the end of the appointment after I knew that they are still okay! So please continue sending up prayers our babies, for me, and for Justin too. We are just both on edge, wanting this pregnancy to continue on to full term and not to have any complications! We just want our little boys to be here in our arms!! Thanks for your prayers!!



And now for some pictures...

The growing belly!

Baby A (Jack)--chillin with a face/tummy shotJack in motion--can you see his hands up by his face and his legs down lower? So cute!

Baby B (Will)--just a quick peek--he was too busy to hold still!

This one is kind of hard to tell, but she was trying to show us how they were laying. Jack (head on the right) was lying across my belly low with his head on my left side, and Will (head on the left with body going up) was laying on top of his brother with his head on the right side of my body. Okay--I think I just might have confused you more with my description...any ways...it was just fun to get a shot of them together that wasn't just the tops of their heads! =)

So it ended up being a great day getting to see my boys again. Gigi (my mom) was along today and got to enjoy seeing her grandsons again! Thanks for all your continued prayers!