The Big Reveal

Well, I have spent the last hour working on scanning our ultrasound pictures, cropping, and zooming in, and cannot get them on my blog!!! I feel so bad... we have some really great photos! But I had to do all this on my mother-in-laws computer and now it's late and we are so, so tired, but I knew I just had to put something on my blog, since you may be wondering just what these little babies are... so, without further ado, we'd like to announce that we will be parents to two GIRLS!!! Yes, daughters. We were surprised, thrilled, and ultimately grateful for these two gifts. Everything with each one looked perfect, they both were active little girls, and had strong heartbeats (155 & 157) and overall just the cutest things! We already had two girl names picked out, so we can tell you that they will be Kennedy (my mom's maiden name) and Natalie (just cause we like it) No middle names yet, but they'll come to us. We are so excited that God has graciously given us two daughters, and although they may not cut the grass for us (ha ha) they will surely bring much joy to our home, and we can't wait to meet them!

Again, I apologize for no pictures, I will try and sort it out and get some up by tomorrow. Thanks for all your well wishes and prayers for all FOUR of us! Lots of love...

Lake Weekend

Last weekend, Joel & I headed off to Center Hill lake with his sister, Laura, and her husband, Justin. Mimi kept Caroline, so it was just us grown-ups :o) Justin's parents have a lake house, so we enjoyed hanging out there, taking it easy, spending most of the day out on the lake, getting sun, cooling off in the water, and the boys did some fishing. It was wonderful and so relaxing and just a nice weekend getaway. Here's a picture of us out on the deck Sunday morning...

A Letter

Most of you know that I work at an elementary school out in East Nashville. I have been there for six years now (whoa!) and I truly enjoy what I do, mostly because of the children and families I get to work with. I've got one little girl that I always refer to as "my baby" and it's been that way since she was in Kindergarten, and now she is in third grade. Her name is Lazyreia, and she is the second oldest of 8 children (big family!) and just as sweet as she can be. Well, today she comes into my room and hands me this letter she wrote. This is what she said:
Dear Mrs. Joanna,
Thank you for the school supplies. I can't believe you're having twins. Is it hard to name them? I hope it is a boy and a girl so you won't get them mixed up. I can't wait til they come. I bet they are going to be nice and sweet just like you. Were you the first, second, or third or an only child? Sincerely, Lazyreia
P.S. Write me back.

Isn't that just the sweetest??? Those are totally the reasons I do what I do, and I just love little Lazyreia to pieces! Oh, and I am planning on writing her back :o)

18 week belly shot

Sorry for the lack in posting, school started back last Monday, so I've been busy and getting back into the groove again with having the kids there. It's gone really well and I always love seeing many of the same faces and getting all the hugs! Some of the kids are taking notice of my growing belly, but no one has really said anything about it yet. I did have a 2nd grade girl come up to me at dismissal and give me a hug, then she said, "You're skinny." I thought, wow, really?!? I need to see her everyday! So then I pointed to my belly, and said, "Well, what do you think this is?!?" And she said, "A baby." Then I told her it was actually two babies, and her eyes got really wide. Then she went off to tell the other kids that Ms. Joanna is going to have two babies!!! Cute!
But work is good, it does get tiring at times working all day, and I find myself wishing I could put my feet up for ten minutes. I usually don't do a lot of walking around school, but lately I feel like I have been on the move. Speaking of moving, I am pretty sure I have started to feel the babies (especially Baby B) moving around in there. It feels like a gas bubble moving in slow motion. It's really cool, since I know they probably move a lot more than I can even feel! Some days I feel like my belly grows over night, it's pretty incredible. I guess the best way to describe what it feels like is to say that I fell full much of the time. It feels so tight across my stomach! We find out the babies genders a week from today, and are counting down the hours... so exciting! Sons? Daughters? One of each??? Ooooh, we just can't wait!

Two Peas in a Pod

I have this shirt, and I think it's quite cute... it's one way to let people know I've got two babies in my belly.


Here's the other peas in a pod: Me & Joel

We have a LOT of FUN together!

16 week belly shot

This is my belly four months pregnant with twins. I really can't "hide" it anymore, unless I wear a really loose top. But I embrace my belly bump, and am reassured that the twins are doing well if the belly is growing. I pretty much am wearing only maternity pants, but can still wear some of my shirts, as long as they're not too short. Thanks to friends who have stock-piled me with lots of cute maternity clothes, I have a complete wardrobe, at least for the summer!

New Set of Wheels

No I didn't get a new car, BUT I did get a stoller! Maybe not as exciting to most people, but now that we're entering parenthood, it's pretty great. Thanks to Mimi, we got a Peg Perego (supposed to be a very nice brand in baby world) side-by-side double stroller in excellent condition for only $80. A new one runs somewhere around $330, so we got a steal - YAHOO!!! Plus it's lightweight and easy to fold up. If you live in the area, check out Kid to Kid in Cool Springs, it's a great consignment store. We go there like once a week sometimes! :o) ha ha.
So here's the twins new ride and mama behind the wheel!