Leap Day

Everyone,

I guess it's only once every 4 years that I get to talk about today. So here I am, going to talk about today.

We all got to bed very late last night on account of the class. (More in another post about that.) Juice got up early and went to work as usual. Butterfly slept until about 9am, where she got up and brought me a 'flower' (her blanket) like she does every morning. She really is a very sunny girl in the morning, and loves to just start into playing. I think it's because I insist on her eating before we play that we have our little morning break downs. But this morning she was quite happy to sit and eat her cereal while I tested my blood and made myself a waffle. (Okay, I toasted a frozen one I made about a week ago.) Levels at 76, so I enjoyed my whole wheat waffle and syrup and a big glass of milk. Yum!

Butterfly did not want to watch a show after breakfast (huge, it's her normal routine so I can shower) and so we played with her airplane. And we played with her alphabet puzzle. I got too tired to do much else, and she played for awhile while I browsed on my lapple.

She decided that she wanted to go upstairs to change her diaper, and then she decided she wanted to stay upstairs and watch a show there. Okay, fine. She got dressed, she picked out Dumbo, she sat on my bed and watched it while I showered. Honestly she probably jumped on my bed the whole time but I don't really care. When I emerged from the bathroom, she was enjoying the movie and jumping right in the middle. So I laid down on the edge and watched the movie with her. And then I fell asleep.

Butterfly cried that she couldn't jump anymore (too tired) and so she laid down next to me and finished Dumbo up. Did you know that the Dumbo dvd is on a continuous loop? I didn't. Now I do because I fell asleep again and woke up about half way through the movie. Again. I dozed, answered Butterfly's questions, and painfully sat up. (Apparently too much walking yesterday, my hips hurt!)

Wait, it was 2pm! And she hadn't had lunch and was an hour late for a nap she desperately needed. So I sleepily go downstairs to make her lunch and Juice shows up from work because he is done with work. Juice takes over her lunch prep and she whines/cries all through lunch. She eats, she cries, she laughs, she bawls, she hangs on Juice and won't be consoled.

He takes her up for a nap, and she stalls and cries and won't be consoled. Finally, he leaves her crying in her room and comes down to crash on the couch. I go up because I hear her crying for 'mommy red bird' (which is her name for me right now, Juice is 'daddy blue bird' and she is 'baby red bird'. Very cute.) Anyway, she and I snuggle for a minute, I find her favorite blanket, she gets to listen to her favorite book on CD and she goes down. Both her and Juice sleep for a few hours.

Juice gets up, takes the dog out, and I am just now starting to hear Butterfly stirring in her bed. I've just taken my blood sugar after lunch (100) and had a snack. Now the boys are stretching and moving and letting me know they are okay. Thanks guys!

We will probably have hamburgers for dinner, stay in and do as little as possible. And bed early for everyone. What an exciting Leap Day.

Safire

Just A Quick Update

Everyone,

Butterfly is taking a champion nap today and I will have to go wake her up in about 20 minutes so she can go off to the babysitter's for the evening. We are off to a multiple birth class downtown. Butterfly will spend the evening with the family I used to babysit for. She knows the house, the girls, the routine, etc. We probably won't be home until 10:30pm or so and since it's a school night, I didn't want to ask our regular teenage babysitter. Still, it will be fun for her to have a chance to play with some kids and get out of the house.

I have been watching all those daytime baby shows on tv the past couple of days. Almost every single one of them say something like this: "Can you imagine 2 of them?" or "Twins, one is hard enough!" Having a baby is hard. I'm actually glad we're having twins the second time around because I know a little of what to expect. Although, having one already makes me know what to expect and oh boy...it's going to be...interesting. But that's another post I'm working on.

Gestational diabetes has been going really well actually. In 4 days, I've only had one reading over 120 2 hours after a meal. (That's the cut off my doc gave me.) And I was only at 130 so it wasn't terrible. I'm slowly getting used to sticking my fingers. I'm slowly getting used to eating every 2 hours or so. And I feel like I eat a little bit more than before. Sort of. Let's just say I feel fuller which is good. And I've found that my blood sugar is positively pathetic in the mornings (less than 60), and I can have waffles and syrup every day and it doesn't do anything to my levels the rest of the day. Yum!!!

Alright, time to go pack her bag and get all ready to go. As Butterfly says after she's done talking on the phone, "Okay, talk to you later! Bye!"

Safire

For Your Eating Pleasure

Everyone,

I've had several people ask me for the recipe I talked about last post. So here you go! I got it from my food "bible" or my absolute favorite cookbook, The One Armed Cook. (But the cover is red...I can't figure out why it keeps coming out at blue. Just know, the cover is red!) We eat out of this cookbook at least 2 times a week, sometimes more, sometimes less. We love the ease, the tastiness, the little tips that it's full of. I love it so much I've actually stocked my pantry with all of the staples she suggests so that I can just whip up something quick and easy. If you're looking for a great cookbook, this is it.

This recipe is for a flank steak, but I switched it to a London broil and added a few steps. Here is how I cooked it.

London Broil, adapted from Broiled Flank Steak from "The One Armed Cook"

1/2 cup soy sauce or tamari
1 teaspoon ground ginger (heaping because ginger is good!)
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon bottled chopped garlic (I add an extra teaspoon or 3 because we love garlic)
1 tablespoon sesame oil (we have dark sesame oil...so flavorful!)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 London Broil, about 1 lb-2lbs

1. In a large resealable plastic bag, combine all the ingredients except for the London broil, shaking well to mix.
2. Add the meat; turn to coat with marinade. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours, turning the bag occasionally. (If you're doing this with a flank steak, it needs to be marinated overnight. London broil is a little more tender and I put this together before church, cooked it when we got home and it was tender and juicy.)
3. When ready to prepare, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Snip a corner of the bag with scissors and drain the marinade into a small saucepan; set aside.
4. In a broiling pan, place the meat and bake for 10 minutes. Turn meat over, bake for another 10 minutes. Turn meat again, back for another 5 minutes until the meat is brown. (Omit this step for the flank steak.)
5. Turn off the oven, turn on the broiler to high and broil for 4 minutes on each side or to desired doneness, watching carefully for flare-ups. (The meat should be around 160 degrees. I actually turned the broiler down to low and did a few more flips just because I can.)
6. Remove pan from oven give it 5 minutes to rest. Slice meat diagonally against the grain. The middle should be pink.
7. Bring the marinade to a boil over medium-high heat; reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Serve with the steak.

You can double the recipe nicely for a bigger piece of meat. It says it serves 2, but it always is enough for us to eat it for 2 days. And it's really good the next day, or even cold. Let me know if anyone tries it.

Safire

PS- Day 2 with the blood glucose monitor. My levels have been hovering around 90 , which makes me wonder if me cutting out the cereal in my diet has really paid off because I really haven't changed much else. Wish I had known this fact before I failed the test...

Another Cute Butterfly Saying

Everyone,

Last night we had London Broil for dinner. When I was growing up, it was my favorite Sunday dinner. Juice asked me why, and I couldn't tell him. It was just so good. I found an awesome recipe for it (well, it's a recipe for flank steak and I just switched meats) and it was really tasty. Butterfly loved the vegetables and had a small nibble of the meat. When we were done, Juice asked her if she'd like a bite of his meat. She said yes!

She took the meat. I told her that was good! She looked at me with a face and said,

"Except it isn't."

She cracks me up!

Safire

Happy Birthday yesterday to my Dad! Hope you're getting over your jet lag from Japan.

Guess What This Means

Everyone,

So who knows what this is? And can anyone guess what news I got at my doctor's appointment yesterday?

Yeah, I have gestational diabetes. NOT COOL. Eating for me is so horrible during pregnancy anyway that this is a real blow. I hate the diet. It's stressing me out. I feel like it's just one more thing on top of not sleeping, feeling huge, and trying to deal with my wreck of a house and a very active 2.5 year old. So not only do I not sleep, I don't eat really either.

My doctor's office gave me a meal plan set at 2200 calories a day. I kept asking the girl (whom I thought was a diet person but now I think is just an RN) if this was okay for twins. I always heard I needed to eat more than a singleton pregnancy. I have only gained 27 lbs so far (which is great, I think) and she kept telling me they didn't want me to gain much more than that. Aren't I supposed to gain 40-50 lbs with twins? Or am I just getting my information from bad sources?

Anyway, I now have to test my blood sugar 4 times a day (before breakfast, 2 hours after each meal). The box for the meter says, "Now with less pain!" Fills me with a great desire to use it, let me tell you. (I got a bad meter from the pharmacy...the company is sending me a new one hopefully tomorrow so I can start testing. Luckily my insurance covers it.)

Other than this stupid life changing news, everything else is great. My blood pressure is very low (110 over 60) and I am measuring around 32 weeks (they must have a better tape measure than mine at home because I thought I was measuring around 40 weeks). I only gained 2 lbs these 3 weeks. Both babies look fabulous and Baby B has flipped around so he is no longer breech. I go back and see them in 2 weeks, or if my blood sugar is consistently high. I feel like calling the office and begging them just to put me on insulin because I really don't think I can handle this diet.

Because no ice cream, no pancakes (well, no syrup and honestly, who wants a pancake plain?), no guac, so no Mexican food like I like it...it's just so depressing.

29 weeks and the weeks can't fly by fast enough.

Safire

PS- Thanks for all the input about the slowness of the blog. I took away some things and hopefully that will continue to help. :) And it's nice to know that I have readers! :)

Slowly...slowly

Everyone,

Is anyone else having a really hard time loading this page? My mom is complaining about it to me, and it does take a lot longer than it used to to load up the content. I've checked blogger, but it doesn't seem to be a known issue (that I can find). Maybe it will go away on it's own. Maybe.

Sleep is bad again. Feeling drained and droopy. Only want to eat Mexican food and pancakes. Yes, at the same time.

Butterfly just got a sandwich out of the fridge I had made for her earlier and she said, "How amazing! A sandwich!" So cute.

Safire

Half a Day

Everyone,

Since I am down to one thing a day, I thought I’d tell you about my one thing today: my 3 hour gestational diabetes test. Typically with twins, they test you early in your pregnancy for gestational diabetes. I think they tested me first around 18 weeks. And I failed the one hour one. So I went back for the three hour test. Passed! Yay! Sadly, at my last appointment, I was told that I have to take it again when everyone gets tested, between 26-28 weeks in pregnancy. So since I am 28 weeks today, I am here in the lab being tested. Here’s a run down.

8 am- Leave the house with plenty of time to get to my 8:30am appointment. Drive leisurly the 10 minutes it takes to get to the hospital lab (which is the only lab open on Saturdays) and remark to myself that it took less time to get here than to get to my perinatologist appointment on Thursday. (Their office is also by the hospital.)

8:10 am- Arrive at lab. Decide to hang out in car until my appointment time because it’s a lot more comfortable than the chairs in the lab. Rock out to a few songs I have not heard in a long time. Think back on my 14th birthday when my friends and I watched Bennie and Joon and listened to the song during the credits at least 10 times. Wonder where Melissa is right now.

8:20am- Almost slip and fall on the ice/oil in the parking lot. Be very thankful that I am right next to my car and was able to catch myself.

8:22am- Open door to lab and be very thankful that I made an appointment a week before. Every single seat is taken in the waiting room. I sign in, let the ladies at the front desk know I am here for the 3 hour test and I have an appointment. They have me sit down for a few minutes. A nice guy gets up and gives me his seat. There is one good thing about being visably pregnant.

8:33am- Called up to the front. They take my doctor’s orders, send me back with a phlebotomist (vampire) and she direct me to the chair. I try to shut the little arm on the chair to rest my arms on but find out my belly is too big. Sigh…

8:35am- She draws my blood. We have some small talk about kids, and she is amazed I am having twins. She takes 4 viles of blood and gives me a plastic bottle full of bright orange glucose. Yum. At least it’s cold and since I have to do this fasting, I chug it down. I am thirsty!

8:41am- I let the gal at the front know I have drunk my juice and she marks the time. In an hour, I will go back and get another draw.

8:42am- I realize the book I brought is the 5th book in the series, not the 6th. I finished the 5th days ago. Oops. I pull out my other book I am reading (Darcy’s Story by Janet Aylmer, it’s okay) and read it for a few minutes.

8:51am- A small boy with a shock of brown hair comes in with his parents. He announces to the room, “My mommy’s going to get a new baby!” Everyone chuckles and the lady next to me says, “If only he knew what that meant!” Everyone chuckles again. I am entranced with this little boy and start to imagine me with 2 of them. It’s a nice thought.

9:15am- I get bored with my book. I pull out my laptop (or my lapple as I like to call it) and check to see that there are no internet connections in the area. Sigh. Open word and start this document.

9:31am- Listen to the family across the waiting room and the 3 year old is whining to get her dad to go get a drink of water with her. Dad is sitting there with his eyes closed trying his hardest to ignore her. Mom snaps, “What is the problem?” and 3 year old goes to whine at her. She asks older sister (about 7) to take her to the water cooler to get a drink. Older sister does not want to go, she is doing her math. Mom starts to whine at older sister to help her out and just take her to get water. Older sister flatly refuses. Dad finally relents and takes whiny 3 year old to water cooler. Mom says, “Dad of the year.” I wonder why mom couldn’t have gotten up to get her water.

9:34am- Getting very uncomfortable sitting in these chairs. Baby B’s head is right in my ribs and it is so uncomfortable. He will not move away and I am starting to get queasy from the glucose orange drink.

9:40am- Blood draw #2. Listen to now screaming 3 year old in the next room. Feel sorry for her. Butterfly would not like to have her blood drawn. This draw for me hurts a little more than the last one. My skin must be getting sensitive. Next draw is at 10:40am. I decide to watch Pride and Prejudice to pass the time.

10:45am- Blood draw #3. A new vampire this time, and a different arm. Doesn’t hurt as much. Back to the movie! Poor Mr. Collins is just proposing to Elizabeth. He’s so odious!

11:40am- Blood draw #4 and the end. Finally! Another new vampire. She uses the arm that hurts, though. Lucky it’s just a small vile. I gathered up my things a few minutes before this.

11:43am- Done with blood draws! I sit down next to the water cooler and drink at least 6 very tiny cones of water. I am so thirsty! I told Juice I would be home around 1pm so I decide to go and get some lunch and the local sandwich place.

12:35pm- I am done with my soup in a bread bowl and my 2 water bottles full of water. I have also finished the movie. It makes me smile every time I think about it. And now the battery on my lapple is dying so I will go.

Safire

Another Doctor Visit, Another Update

Everyone,

Today was my regular visit with my perinatologist. Dr. SA was out of town today so I saw another doctor in the practice. Dr. Other we'll call him. He was nice, but I missed Dr. SA. I sat for almost an hour in the waiting room waiting for my appointment. I don't like that. I think that if I'm going to do my best to be on time, they should as well. Maybe they had an emergency or something. Either way, by the time I got back in the exam room, I was tired and ready to go home.

But, first things first. They checked my cervix and all is well. No signs of preterm labor there! Yay! It's always my biggest fear that things are changing and I don't know it. Not to worry, I'm doing "exceptionally well".

Baby A is breech with his little feet tucked under his cute tushie. It's called complete breech. No wonder I feel his kicks all over my lower abdomen. He is on my left side, facing his brother today. Baby B is also breech. But he is in position called frank breech because he is folded in half. It's really interesting to see the ultrasound of his head, and then his feet like rabbit ears on top of his skull.

Dr. Other said at this point, if I were to go into labor it would be a c-section. However, I still have time and I guess babies tend to turn on their own (or so I've been reading while trying to find pictures of breech positions. You can google it as well as I can.) and sometimes turn as late as 36 weeks. Now, it's a little different with twins, but we shall see.

The heart arrhythmia is gone, so that is good. Baby A is 2 lbs, 7 oz and Baby B is 2 lbs 12 oz. That's a big difference. An 18% difference. Now, he's not too worried about it, but it's worth watching. He said that typically he does see Baby B being bigger because there is more room at the top of the uterus than there is below. Baby A is growing fine. The only time they would be worried about it is if Baby A stops growing or there's a bigger than 25% difference. He said he really only sees Baby B being smaller if Baby B is a girl. And since we are having boys, Baby B gets to be a tank (his word, not mine).

Fluid looks good, hearts are steady and healthy, and Baby A had the hiccups again. They both kept putting their hands in front of their faces when we tried to look at them. But they were hard to see anyway since they are facing each other. I can just see them plotting to do something mischievous.

Having boys is going to be so much fun! Right? Right?!

Safire

PS- I won a print from Illustrator Mommy! It's an 8x10 of the Mayflower. And since we are doing the boys' nursery in sail boats, this will be perfect!! I'm so excited!

A Dream

Everyone,

With Butterfly, I had horrific vivid nightmares at least once a week. Mostly they involved Juice dying. At the beginning of this pregnancy, I had some vivid dreams, but not as many as I had with Butterfly. And most were not of Juice dying.

Last night, I had a very vivid dream. I was on a jungle safari and hearing the animals growl and howl and do all the animal sounds that I imagine would happen at night in the jungle. They were getting closer and I was getting increasingly worried. I was in a tent and every time I would hear a growl, I would sit up in my sleeping bag. The last one was so loud and right beside my head that I sat up shaking.

Literally, I sat myself up in bed shaking because the noise was so real. It was morning in my own bedroom and Juice and Butterfly were still sleeping. I was not in the jungle. But the sound happened again. It was my stomach! It had been growling because I can't ever fill it enough. It was nice to have breakfast on my own today, but I wish my body would not wake me up so early to eat.

Speaking of eating, Juice and I talk a lot about Butterfly and her inheritance of Jeff's 'third leg'. That girl can put away some food! Last night we went to the pancake place for free pancakes and she ate 2 whole ones. I ate 2 and was full. She was still going strong on the third but we ran out of juice and she declared herself done.

Anyway, back to the leg. She has started saying things like, "My leg is hungry. My leg is empty. My leg needs to be fulled up. My leg wants to eat an elephant. (It's a line from a book.)" Too cute!

Safire

89 Days Till Due Date

Everyone,

It seems weird to me that I am now in the 80's with my days until my due date. That means I only have about 9 weeks left (or so). It still doesn't seem real to me that we will have babies in the near future. I am starting to think about all the things we have to do to prepare for these guys, but thinking is as far as I'm going. Want to hear? No? Too bad. :)

Clean out dresser. I have a nice big dresser I bought for Butterfly that I could fill with all of her stuff when she was tiny. Now, I only use about 4 of the 6 drawers. I think if I clean out one more drawer I can have 3 drawers for Butterfly, and 3 for the twins.

Clean out beside my bed. There's a fan, a bunch of Butterfly books, and other assorted junk right next to my bed. I'd like to clean it out so we can actually fit the bassinet there for when they are little.

Wash clothes. I have been getting a few clothes for these guys from my mom, friends, and people at church. I'd like to just wash them all and put them away so when they come, they actually have something to wear. My mom's of multiples group has a premie loaner closet so if I need some tiny tiny clothes, I can just borrow them. I will probably wait to wash everything until after my shower. That way, things can just be washed all at once. I'm going to need another mesh laundry bag for all the tiny baby socks since the one I have is totally thrashed.

Talk to Juice's family about help. Juice has 2 nieces who are 15 and 17 years old. We want one of them to come and help us over the summer and live with us. Either girl would be fine, it's just a matter of who really wants to give up her entire summer and friends for us and our tiny house and 2 screaming babies and a 3 year old. Since my SIL is also having twins, the other can go get 2 screaming baby experience at her house. But like she said, it's not as glamorous as coming here. We've talked to their parents, both of the girls, and have created quite a stir in their family. Turns out each one is giving reasons why they other should stay behind. Hopefully we'll be able to decide that sometime this week.

That's all that really buzzing around in my head today. That and the fact that I pulled a muscle in my back last night sleeping (how, I have no idea!) and now my back all the way down to my calves is cramping. Good times, good times. Looks like I need to start up my yoga again.

Safire

Take Some Time

Everyone,

Juice and I have been staying up late the past couple of nights laughing so hard we are crying. And why is that? We've been reading through the comments of Pioneer Woman's latest give away. She have everyone post their most embarrassing moments and randomly picked a person to win a Wii.

Go here to get a good laugh. Juice's favorite is the guy with the glue and the toilet seat...mine is the lady who knocked out her GYN. Enjoy!

Safire

Preparing for Twins, medically

Everyone,

Remember when I posted this? Well, I had an idea about doing a whole series about preparing for twins from my prospective. Each pregnancy is different, and my pregnancy will be different than my sil's. She is having mo/mo twins (one amniotic sack, one placenta) and I am having di/di twins (2 amniotic sacks, 2 placentas). Her babies will be born at 32 weeks, and mine could technically go till 38 weeks. (Ugh, can you imagine how big I am going to be?!) And her doctors have different ideas of what to do than mine do. But I thought it would be fun to give an overview of what I am doing medically right now.

When we first got pregnant, we were still working with our RE (reproductive endocrinologist) but after the first ultrasound when we found out we were having twins at 7 weeks, they graduated us to my regular OB. I had my first OB appointment around 10 weeks so my mom could be there and see the ultrasound of the little guys. The OB put me on a regular pregnancy schedule for the first little bit, with me going every month.

I did not got every month. I went pretty much every 2 weeks. I don't think that going every month is a good idea with twins but that is just me. I had 'emergency' appointments for things like Ed (remember that horrible cough that would not go away?!), some spotting, and follow up visits to the ER. Yes, I went to the ER one night for spotting. Things worked themselves out and here we are. :)

Going every 2 weeks was a big help for me emotionally and helped me to relax. Especially after I had that very late miscarriage, I was always nervous that something would happen to the babies. Having the doctor's check them and seeing them grow every 2 weeks really helped me to not stress as much. I think things also calmed down for me once I started feeling them move.

At 19 weeks, my OB referred me to a specialist for an ultrasound. This is where we discovered they were boys and we met Dr. SA. I really like their office. I was surprised that I would be seeing them as well as my OB but now I am so glad I am. I started off every 3 weeks with them, and now I'm down to every 2 weeks. At these visits, we do a growth scan of the boys and make sure they are growing how they should and one is not getting bigger than the other. They also check their hearts, kidneys, stomachs, etc. It's an hour visit every time I go. They also check my cervical length and have started doing a fetal fibronectin test to see if I am going to go into preterm labor in 2 weeks. I like to think of my peri as the boys' doctor, and my OB as my doctor. Dr. SA does not deliver babies or I would move all of my care to him.

Now that I am 27 weeks (can you believe it! Only about 10 weeks left!) my OB has got me on an every 2 week visit for a month or so, and then weekly as we get closer to delivery. (Pretty standard for a regular pregnancy.) Honestly the only difference I see at the OB this time is that I get a quick ultrasound every time I go in.

My insurance has a nurse that calls me once a month to check up on my progress. They also approved an in home nurse that came to talk to me about pre-term labor. She showed me a little video about the signs and symptoms, and showed me how to feel my belly for contractions. These are all things I already knew, but knowledge is power so it's always good to be reminded. This company that sent the nurse also has assigned me a nurse to call me every Tuesday morning. We spend a few minutes on the phone just talking about my progress and how I'm feeling. They also report back to my doctors and my insurance. It's like a delicate dance between all these parties and me and the boys.

Talking to some of the moms in my online twin group, they also have this phone nurse service but are using more of their services. They have at home contraction monitors that they use for 2 hours a day, medication pumps, and bed rest resources. I hope to not have to use them, but it's nice to know that they are there for my use if I need it.

So at least once I week, I talk to someone medically. In ways, I am glad that I have so much help from my insurance and my doctors. We are all focused on having 2 healthy boys in about 10 weeks and it's nice to work towards a common goal. They all agree that I am doing exceptionally well for twins, which can only further me towards having the boys be born healthy and full term and come home with me from the hospital.

Next up, preparing for twins- emotionally.

Phew, this is a long entry. If you've gotten this far, I'll share a tip with you. IHOP is having national pancake day next Tuesday the 12th. They are giving out free pancakes all day! Will you be there? We will!

Safire

Feeling Miserable

Everyone,

I have learned my limit. Yesterday, we went to the mall with Vinny and his mom and let the kids run around the little play area like banshees. Butterfly had so much fun. She would run run run, lay down panting, and then get up and run again when she was rested. She so needed a chance to get out and just be a kid. We also had lunch and traveled to the fabric store to pick up some fabric we need for a service project our church is doing.

Boy did I underestimate how long it would take the sweet old women at the fabric store to cut 4 yards of fabric for us. Vinny and Butterfly were running in circles laughing loudly, and Lala (Vinny's mom) is about a month away from having her baby and I am feeling crampy and snappish. There were about 3 other women in line behind us and I could see them watching our kids with disapproving looks on their faces. Look all you want people. They weren't tearing things off the shelves, they weren't running into things, they were just running in a very small circle laughing.

By the time I got what I needed, stood at the cashier behind a super old lady who bought a ton of scraps and had to get the price on every single one, I was done. I paid, walked about 2 steps and sat down on the floor to wait for Lala and Vinny, who were 2 people behind me in line. Butterfly thought sitting on the floor was lots of fun and I managed to keep her down there with me until they were ready to go.

Luckily, Butterfly went strait to sleep for a nap, and I was able to get about 20 minutes myself. But today, I am feeling very sore and still very snappish. Apparently 2 stores is too much. (No contractions, thank goodness, and the babies are moving a lot.) I am down to doing one thing every other day, or even every 2 days because it takes me awhile to recover from doing anything but sitting on the couch. I am feeling huge and uncomfortable. I am measuring around full term, and still have about 10 weeks to go.

All I want to do is curl up on the couch, not have Butterfly climb all over me (haha) and eat ice cream from this place. It really is a shame they don't deliver.

Safire

Poor Daddy

Everyone,

Juice is sitting here reading over my shoulder and I asked him what I should post about today. He said I should post about how he had to stay at work. Poor Daddy. All day at work with adults and the chance to eat all of his own food.

He laughs and says he was locked in a dark room, had too much conversation with other people, and had too many meetings. He did get to eat all of his lunch though. (He says with a smirk.) (And he's laughing at me for my lack of proper punctuation. I ask, who is the English major here?!)

I had to wake Butterfly up from a nap today to actually go and pick him up from work. When I asked her if she wanted to go pick up Daddy, she said, "No! I don't want Daddy! He has to stay at work ALL NIGHT LONG!" and flung herself back on her bed. I had to call him up and tell him that we would not be picking him up for a while. I had to convince Butterfly that we liked having Daddy home in the evenings. Especially Mommy. Because then Mommy can sit on the couch with her lap top and watch them play. It's very nice for Mommy. :)

(But I'm not letting him read over my shoulder anymore. He keeps picking on my word usage, spelling and grammar!)

Oh, and we did finally go get him. Thanks to some dried apricots that made Butterfly stop crying in a pinch. Gotta love those things.

Safire

Butterfly

Everyone,

Butterfly was exceptionally cute today. (Well, the time I saw her since I spent half the day at the store helping my friend finish her registry.) She came up to me today and said, "We're friends, right?"

"Right!"

"And I like you."

"I like you too, sweetheart."

"And Daddy. He is the bestest Daddy ever."

"Yes, he is your bestest Daddy. We love Daddy, don't we?"

"I do. But you make him do things."

"So true, Baby Girl. So true."

Apparently doing things is not high on her list of fun things. I don't know why because Juice includes her in pretty much everything he does and makes it fun for her. Including measuring the upstairs so he can continue to build our house on auto CAD. Let me tell you, not something that I imagined a 2 year old enjoying doing.

For nights now she has been begging to have her pillow and blanket situated just like "the girl." We could not figure out who "the girl" was. We let her arrange it how she wanted to because she would sleep. And I have to admit we are more interested in getting her to sleep than figuring out who "the girl" was. And then, it dawned on us this morning. She has fallen in love with a book about Monsters Inc. and there's a picture in there about Boo sleeping with her pillow just so. Ahhh...insights into a 2 year old's mind.

She is one of the cutest, sweetest little girls I have ever met. Yesterday she wanted to play doctor and had to look in my ears and eyes and count my teeth and measure my belly. It was just so sweet to see her pretending to be something that she has seen a lot of.

Safire

Twins, oh twins!

Everyone,

My sister in law is pregnant and due about 10 weeks behind me. I was excited that she was expecting again, because we were due within a week of each other with Butterfly and her son Strong Bear. (Don't you just love internet names? :) ) They are 8 days apart and it's so much fun to hear what he's doing and what Butterfly is doing and all that jazz. Grandpa loved to say that these were his twin grandchildren born 3000 miles apart.

Well, then, we are having twins. So Grandpa got his twin grandchildren after all. And then some! Turns out my sister in law is ALSO having twins, identical twins.

I am really excited that Butterfly has a few cousins her age to play with when we visit family. And now I am excited that my twins will have twin cousins to play with that will be the same age. And probably the same year in school and everything.

Check out her brand new blog. It's just so cool!

Safire