Celebrating our "Golden Birthdays"

Joel & I had fun this weekend celebrating our "golden birthdays." I don't know if that is the right term, but I turned 29 on the 29th and Joel turned 30 on the 30th. Pretty cool, huh? And we both had them in the same year, one day apart! We went to dinner at Outback last night, and then over to Paul & Cathy's for a mini Thanksgiving meal. Both very yummy!
What a year it has been! Full of grace and blessings. We are so thankful. And we are about to welcome our daughters into the world any day now!!!
Here we are celebrating our birthdays ~

Does this shirt make me look pregnant!!!

Ha ha ha

Look at me from the side!

Joanna, 33 weeks pregnant & Laura, 22 weeks pregnant

Caroline had been patting my belly, saying hello to her little cousins

We tried to get a picture of it (it was too sweet!) but this is the best we got

32 weeks and counting!

Sorry, I've been a little behind on my belly shots and baby info. We went to the Doctor last week and now I will be going weekly. They will do an ultrasound to check the babies growth, and also check and see if I am progressing. As of last Wednesday, the girls weighed 3 lbs 3 oz and 3 lbs 4 oz. We had an ultrasound and got to see some great shots of their faces, but it is certainly crowded in there. Both girls are breach, and apparently, Kennedy is taking up a lot more room than Natalie. Lately, I've been feeling them both kicking each other :o) wink, wink. Also, I think it's sweet that they are head to head - I think they like looking at each other and telling secrets... If they don't flip, then I am certainly on my way to a c-section.

If I haven't delivered by 36 weeks (December 19) then my doctor will schedule a c-section for a day or two after Christmas. But more than 60% of twin mommies have them by 36 weeks. So, really, it could happen VERY soon! Their ideal weight would be at least 4 1/2 pounds, and that's what I am praying for, in addition to praying that they will not have to go to the Neonatal Unit.

Joel & I toured the NICU and hospital at Centennial. It honestly put my fears to rest, seeing the small babies and seeing them surviving. We even saw a baby that weighed what our girls weigh right now! That was pretty cool, and really helped us visualize what our girls might look like.
I am definitely getting bigger and finding that sleep is more restless each night. I probably wake up every 2 hours to go potty (sometimes more!) and even now sleeping on my side makes my back ache and finding a comfortable spot to sleep is getting difficult. But I know that just comes with pregnancy. I also have gotten carpal tunnel because of the pregnancy, and just typing this makes my fingertips are numb. I wear braces on both hands/wrists, and they do help. I am so behind on my thank-you notes, but writing even one makes my entire hand numb and tingly! The dr says it should go away once the babies are born.

Well, here are the pictures of my 32 week belly. I really think I grew over the weekend!

Me after church Sunday

My sweet sister Emily bought this dress for me!

Cora Howe Shower

The sweet ladies at Cora Howe Elementary (where I work as a social worker) put together a lovely shower for me last week. I got so many great things, including some bottles, which I didn't have any before! Also, one of the teachers had her kids write me cards for the shower - most of them were really cute, but some made Joel & I laugh out loud while reading them... one little boy wrote "I hope you don't scream when they come out" and another little girl wrote "They might be cute." I mean, hilarious! It was a special time and I am so grateful for everything.

Preparing the Nursery

With just a few weeks to go, I have been working on getting the girls' nursery ready. My sister came over the past two Saturdays to help me figure out how to arrange the furniture, and also just to help me organize everything. The babies have so much stuff!!! We are incredibly thankful for every single thing, so now we just have to find a place for it. Their room has a nice size closet with built in shelves as well. We've got a small, four drawer dresser and a changing table with two shelves underneath for storage.

A few weeks ago we found a really nice glider with an ottoman - it just had ugly faded blue jean material on it. Thankfully, I have a mother-in-law who loves to sew, and now it looks 100% better, and much more my style. Here's some photos - both Joel & I tried it out and it is super comfortable. I'm sure the girls will like it too!

So I've made pretty good progress in the nursery, and have washed almost everything and neatly folded it and put it away. I know everything won't stay so neat & tidy, but at least for now, it looks perfect. Still need to get the curtains up and hang things on the wall. My parents are bringing up another crib, but for a while I will put Natalie & Kennedy in the same bed anyway. Once the nursery is more put together, I will certainly post pictures!

More Baby Showers!

I was priveledged to have two more baby showers recently... one from our small group at church and one from Cathy's friends at church. They were both so sweet and Joel & I again are just filled to overflowing with gratitude for each person and their generosity. The girls got lots of great stuff too! Here are some pictures from both showers:

The lovely table and yummy food

See the pregnant mommy in the middle? So cool!

All the presents for Kennedy & Natalie

Monogrammed blankets with the girls full name on them



My diaper bag



Each girl got this sleepy time bunny with their name monogrammed on the ear... cute!

Me & the shower hostesses

Me & Cathy

Daddy & Mommy at our couples shower Put together by our wonderful friends at "The Mix"

My First Baby Shower

Well, I guess it wasn't really my shower (it was for Kennedy & Natalie) but I did get to open all the presents!!! And wow, are the girls gonna have all that they need! They got tons of great things, including a lot of bath stuff - guess people want to make sure that the girls are clean!!! :o) he he he

It was really a lot of fun and I enjoyed seeing all my friends and was blessed by the showering of love and gifts for our daughters. Here are some pictures from the shower:

The cute diaper cake, made by Claire

Jessica, Dianne, Claire, Meredith, & Lauren

Me & Claire... we are due just one day apart

There were 7 pregnant women there (we missed getting Lauren in the picture)

Laura (16 wks), Me (29 wks), Jessica (12 wks), Claire (29 wks), Laurel (23 wks), Jenny Beth (due any day!!!!)

The sweet bibs my mom cross-stitched with the girls names on them

Frog slippers

The Hungry Catepillar!

Me and long-time friend, Emily

Emily Reed, Jessica, Me, and Abbe

My godmother, me, my sister, and mom

The Hostesses - my sister Emily, mu sis-in-law Laura, and good friend Claire


Mimi & Nana making a heart on my belly

28 weeks & an update

Thanks to each of you who called, emailed, and wrote a message on our blog about last week. We really appreciate your thoughts & prayers! I had a good doctor appointment to follow-up after the accident on Friday, and everything is great, praise God! No concerns, no more contractions (at least I don't think so...) and mommy and babies are just fine. Daddy is good and relieved that all of his girls are okay. I will go to the doctor every two weeks now, so I'm gonna be well taken care of. I needed the two days off from work, to recover and rest.

I attended our church's Women's Retreat last weekend at this beautiful place called Deer Run out in the middle of beauty, peace, and quiet. It was a sweet time and I really needed it. We watched a Beth Moore video, "Living & Loving Well." It was excellent, I highly recommend it!

I am seven months pregnant now, which is truly hard to believe! My belly is definitely still growing, and I still feel pretty good most of the time... I really can't complain. Here are my 28 week belly shots and a picture of what I look like seven months preggo with twins. It's such a miracle!

P.S. Joel & I finally decided on full names for our girls - they are going to be Kennedy Faith and Natalie Joy. I'm sure you can imagine why we picked those middle names, as our journey has required a lot of faith and these girls will certainly bring us a lot of joy!!! Guess we will be meeting our daughters pretty soon! :o)