Behold your little ones

I read this article a few weeks ago about beholding our little ones, and it has really stuck with me. Here are a few of my favorite parts from that article:

“Beholding” is not giving a casual, distracted glance. It is the act of attending to another with the heart and mind. It is giving the kind of focused attention that says, “I see you. You are important to me.”  -Jan Pinborough

For today’s parents, this kind of beholding often requires the discipline to unplug, a conscious choice to turn away from our screens and turn off our digital devices. It may mean resisting the temptation to scroll through social media posts. It may involve thoughtfully establishing personal and family media rules, setting boundaries that will protect the sacred time that we give to one another in our families daily.(source)

I love this! Especially the idea of turning away from our screens in order to give kind, focused attention to our little ones.  A few minutes here and there of scrolling down social media screens throughout the day really does add up! Don't get me wrong, I don't think social media is bad (or obviously I wouldn't have a personal blog and wouldn't be writing this). Social media is a great way to keep in touch with family who lives far away, and old friends. I just feel like time is so precious, and I love the reminder that article gave me about what matters most in life!

...they grow up so fast!

Anaphylactic shock

So... those cute little gender announcement photos in the previous post? There is quite a story behind them. The day before those pictures were taken, I went out and bought special pink and blue glasses/cups and straws for our gender reveal photo. I was just going to take a timer picture of us holding them. I got the idea from this picture:

source

I liked this idea, because it was nothing over the top, was cheap, and would be a simple way to get the message out to the world about the wonderful news of our boy/girl twins. I took the ice-cream picture the day before not thinking I would use it as a gender reveal photo (same shirt two days in a row don't judge haha) but I ended up using it anyways because, we didn't get an opportunity to take a picture of those cups like I had planned....

Jared was mowing the lawn right before we were going to take the pictures. To kill time, I took a few pictures of Kyler and some blue/pink baby bottles outside just for fun. While I was taking pictures of Kyler, Jared ran over a hornet's nest with the lawnmower, and he got stung three times in his calf/shin.

The first thing he did was run inside for a can of Raid. I thought he was crazy for going back near the hornets nest, but thankfully he didn't get stung again. After the nest was demolished, he said he was starting to itch on his back, and went inside to rinse off in the shower.

After a few minutes I got a panicky feeling and I thought "It can't be normal for his back to feel that itchy from a bee sting on his leg... so itchy that he had to stop mowing the lawn and take a shower? Is he okay....?" I dropped the bottles, grabbed Kyler's hand and ran inside to make sure Jared was okay.

"Char?" He yelled down the stairs as soon as he heard the door open.

"Are you okay?" I hollered back up.

"Go put Kyler in the car, my whole body is itching now and my throat is starting to tighten."

I caught a glimpse of him as he was trying to walk down the stairs, and no joke, his face was so puffy he looked like the guy from Hitch and his food allergy:

So of course I went into panic mode thinking he was going to die. I told him I was going to call 911, but he refused, and said we could get to urgent care faster than an ambulance would make it to the house anyways.

Jared's entire body was covered in hives by the time we arrived at urgent care, the front desk got him right in with a doctor, who within minutes was giving him injections of -who-knows-what- before we had time to fill out any paperwork.  We had to stay at urgent care for a good 1.5 hrs to be monitored, and then the doctor wrote him a few prescriptions, and we were on our way.

Not so photogenic for a gender reveal photo right? hah

The doctor told us that the severity of allergies like this strengthens with each exposer, so next time he gets stung, he very well may need an EpiPen.  So our house is now stocked with EpiPens.

... but let's hope we never have to use them!

A journey (part 16)-- Gender Reveal!

Our ultrasound last week proved that our twins are definitely fraternal...

 It's a boy AND a girl!!!

We are so thrilled!!!

Now we can start shopping, nursery planning, and name picking! Ahhhh I'm so excited! I love them!

I really do believe that boy/girl twins are the perfect combo for our little family. I'm feeling beyond blessed right now and am so incredibly happy!

A Journey (part 15)--- Weeks 13-16 with twins

I'm going to copy and paste a few entries from the past several weeks of my pregnancy. If you'd like to read more about our journey towards expanding our family, you can do so here.

***
Today is June 23, 2014. 

I can't wait to find out if we are having two girls or two boys or one of each...but that is still several weeks away. In the mean time, I have been doing a few of the gender (myth) tests just for fun! Here are my results:
Both babies have high heart rates: Girls
Supposedly complexion looks worse with girls and better with boys...but mine stayed the same: Boy/Girl
Craving both sweet and salty: Boy/Girl
Increase in hair growth: Boys
Baby's dad lost weight: Girls
Chest size grows significantly bigger: Boys
Wedding ring on a string swings in circles: Girls
Chinese calendar: Boy/Girl Which I find CRAZY! Here is a screenshot for proof:

http://whatwillihave.com

The Nub theory: According to this theory baby B is a girl, and we couldn't tell on baby A.
This is probably the most accurate of all of the tests. Supposedly between weeks 11-13 the gender of both boys and girls looks very similar (like a nub) but the difference is a boy's nub is angled up by more than 30 degrees and a girls nub is more flat and often times forked at the end. You can read more about that theory here. So our ultrasound technician says that Baby B looks like a girl, but she couldn't get a good picture of baby A's nub to tell.

Baby A's nub is not pictured. Baby B's nub is pretty flat and slightly forked at the end

So as you can see, I had mixed results which means boy/girl twins according to the myths....which is what I've personally been thinking all along! However, Jared is leaning towards thinking it is two girls, and that is making me sway a little. If it's not a boy and a girl, I think it will be two girls as well. For whatever reason, I really don't think it will be two boys, but of course I will love whatever we get! I can't wait to find out so I can start planning!!

****

Today is June 29, 2014:
How far along? 15 weeks
How big are each of the babies? About 4 inches or the size of an orange.

Maternity clothes: All of my pants are maternity. My shirts are a mix between normal and maternity.

Genders: We find out near the end of July...I'm dying to know!

Symptoms: For the most part, I've been feeling good! I'm starting to feel some little movement flutters (not kicks yet). Both of the placentas are posterior so I wonder if that is why I'm feeling movement earlier... or I guess the fact that this is my third pregnancy and there are two babies in there. I've also started having some minor ligament pain (SPD).

Cravings/aversions: I'm not a huge fan of bananas or meat this pregnancy. However, I LOVE peanut butter, and fruit.

Best moment of the week: A complete stranger had the guts to ask me if I'm having a girl or boy!

***

July 6, 2014. 16 weeks with twins.

***

Today is July 8, 2014. Today, I had my routine 16 week appointment. A nurse walked into the room with a doppler to hear the babies' heartbeats. I was excited, because this was our first time hearing the heartbeats with regular doppler (the previous times we heard their hearts beating was via ultrasound combo)

She put the doppler on my stomach. We heard nothing. She tried again. Nothing. I was starting to panic at this point. There are supposed to be TWO babies in there, and she can't find a single heartbeat? I began to fear the worst. She tried a third time to find a heartbeat. Silence. After several minutes of trying she said: "Let me go see if I can get you in for a quick ultrasound. I can't see what's going on in there." and left the room.

At this point I was bawling my eyes out and nearly hyperventilating. Jared held my hand and told me that it was going to be okay, and we both said a million silent prayers that it would be.

The lady that did our ultrasound was the same one that did our 12 week NT scan. She said "I remember you... you're the one with twins! They're probably just hiding in there, let's find those heartbeats."

Still a nervous wreck at this point, she spent an ENTIRE minute trying to figure out which one was baby A and which one was baby B. Meanwhile, I'm a crying emotional mess and I yelled in my head "Who cares which is baby A or B.... just tell me if they are alive for goodness sakes!"

She finally decided which baby was which and showed me that they both had heartbeats. I cautiously allowed myself to feel better, but wanted to actually hear their heartbeats to believe it. First we heard baby A's heartbeat. 143. Music to my ears! Then we heard baby B's heartbeat. 152. Excellent! I had heard their heartbeats, and could see them moving around, alive and well. I was more than satisfied and beyond grateful for healthy babies.

Then she said: "Would you like to know the genders?"

Jared and I simultaneously replied: "YES we do!!"

...to be continued...

***

What do you think?!

What do you think the genders are?

Boy and Boy

Girl and Girl

Boy and Girl

Poll Maker

July 4th, 2014

This is going to be mostly a picture post, but we had a great 4th of July weekend! Some renters cancelled last minute at the Lucky Leaf beach house, so we packed our bags, and went with some friends!