Mike and Kim Plus Four

One of my favorites on Valentine's Day

2012-02-14T17:51:00.000-08:00

I may just use this picture for every Valentine's for years to come. How can you resist these sweet faces? What a difference a year makes!

Happy Valentines Day!
xoxo

The picture says it all

2012-02-04T13:58:00.000-08:00

This week has been a tough one for my baby girl. 4 big molars coming in, a temperature and some sort of sickness has made her nights very restless and days very clingy and cranky. I'm hoping those teeth pop through soon so I can get my happy and independent girl back!

Holidays {a little late}

2012-01-18T13:35:00.000-08:00

Our Holiday season was a lot of fun but very busy this year. We were lucky to have all of the family in Seattle this year, which meant lots of activities and 4 Christmas celebrations!

Here is a quick recap:

Candy can treat after the traumatic Santa experience.
Christmas card 2011
Helping Mamma with the Christmas decorations.
Trip to the zoo. Emma was quite intrigued with the gorillas.
Learning body parts with your sis is much easier!
Learning to hug each other after a "disagreement".
Lots of book reading with Daddy.
Christmas carousel at the zoo.

Snowflake Lane in Bellevue. Next year we will be going weeks before Christmas. Do not go the week before!
Christmas with our cousins Grayson, Ella and Cole.

Chairs from Santa (Grammie)!
Christmas day all of the family came over to our house-20 adults and 7 kids under 6. It was a fun but tiring day.
Racing up and down the stairs.
Avery checking out the big packages.
Christmas with Great Grandma Millie.
Trying out the new scooters from Great Auntie Carol.
Big cousins Anna and Callie were good present helpers!

I hope everyone enjoyed their Holiday Season as much as we did. Christmas with kids is SO MUCH FUN!

Santa

2011-12-13T18:22:00.000-08:00

We took the girls to see Santa today. I was prepared for some crying but as you can see from the picture, we had a down right screamer! Emma started two seconds later so I hope the photographer got a picture of them both crying:) Poor Avery was shaking because she was so scared of Santa. Oh well, it will be fun to look back at this picture when they are older!

Enough said...

2011-12-05T20:23:00.000-08:00

Dear God, thank you for using my mothering to bring me closer to the woman you’ve created me to be. Thank you for small mercies like hot showers and time to take care of myself. Amen.

A Spooktacular Weekend!

2011-11-04T09:58:00.000-07:00

***This post is a bit delayed as the website kept crashing on me right before we left for vacation***

Last weekend we got to "sprinkle" DeLane and her newest little squish Taylor Rose. Since Halloween is DeLane's FAVORITE holiday, we made it a spooktacular event!

It was so much fun to take the girls out trick or treating for the first time. They especially enjoyed their first piece of candy!

Embracing Fall

2011-10-17T10:49:00.000-07:00

We took a trip out to the country and found an amazing pumpkin patch at The Farm in Snohomish. They have a huge pumpkin patch and lots of activities that the girls will be able to enjoy next year.

One!

2011-10-04T12:51:00.000-07:00

Happy 1st birthday to my sweet girls!

I cannot believe that this time last year they were just hours old. I will never forget the day the were born and the first time I got to hold and love them.

I know I say this every month but they just keep changing to so quickly. I am so lucky to be at home at watch every second of it!

I think Emma will be talking before she is walking. Her first "word" was officially dodie-doggie. She says Mamma and Dadda, but only says it when she is tired and needy. Which these days she is a little more of. She is turning into Mamma's little girl and loves to cuddle. She learned the sign for light on the airplane and does it all the time while saying la la.

Avery definitely takes after her Mamma and is Miss Independent. She loves exploring and is into everything while her sister follows her around. She is standing on her own when she's distracted and loves to push her toys around. Her babbles sound Germanish, but we know she is saying something!

The two of them are starting to play and laugh together which I could just watch all day long. They are so lucky to have each other as a sister and best friend.

Emma and Avery are honestly our little blessings from God and I cannot imagine life without them. I love you to pieces my little ones and even though it makes me sad to say you are officially toddlers now, you will always be my babies. xoxo

11 months and some cute pics

2011-09-12T08:50:00.000-07:00

Pictures courtesy of our good friend Erin Schedler.

Summer fun!

2011-08-27T20:33:00.001-07:00

As promised, here is what we have been up to this summer...

The Korfhage family reunion in Walla Walla.

My sweet Great Grandma Korfhage.

Skipping rocks with all the cousins.

Celebrating #3 with my nephew Cole.

Catching up with the Roth side of the family in Walla Walla. 4 sets of twins in the family!
Grammie with the twins!

Celebrating Krevin in Roche Harbour. It was such a beautiful wedding and fun weekend without kids!
While we missed the girls, it was great to have some quality time together.
Enjoying some good time with friends.
Pool time with Grammie while we were away.
Lots of fun up at Suncadia with our buddies!

Weekend up at Whidbey with Dad and Gran Nan.
Hmmm, not quite sure what they think of the sand...

Celebrating 1st birthdays with our PEPS twin group.

A&E are the last to turn 1 but they still got a little taste of icing a little early.

And fun pool parties with our BFF Charlotte.
Needless to say, we have enjoyed this summer to the FULLEST! I have enjoyed every second at home with my girls and can't wait to start some new activities with them this Fall.

10 Months!

2011-08-16T09:48:00.001-07:00

10 months? How can that be? That means only two months until they turn 1! YIKES! I know I say this every month, but A&E are just changing so fast. I always thought that the "baby stage" was my favorite, but if I could box them up and keep them at this stage forever I would! They are both crawling and pulling themselves onto everything. They have really finally figured out that the other one is there and they laugh and babble to each other all day. Their favorite thing to do these days is stand up in their cribs and throw their binkies out and laugh at each other. They have both learned to clap their hands to "If you are happy and you know it" and wave bye-bye. Avery has turned into a much happier little girl now that she is mobile and can explore new things. She is so cute when she laughs after each sneeze.

Needless to say I could just sit here all day and watch in awe as they learn new things. After much deliberation, I made the decision to "retire" from Nordstrom and start my new career as a stay at home mom. I was so sad to leave my co-workers of 9 years, but we just needed life to slow down. This may be my one chance with babies so I need to savor every moment of it. And savoring it I am with the million pictures I have been taking. More of those later!

9 months and a couple weeks

2011-07-21T20:12:00.000-07:00

Oh my, where has the time gone? I'm little late posting the 9 month picture but there just isn't enough time these days.
Here is what the girls have been up to:

Emma got two teeth at the same time right around 9 months and Avery just started to get two too. Crossing our fingers, but so far they haven't had any "teething" symptoms.
Avery learned to push herself into sitting position and then started crawling two days later. And she's off...everywhere, into everything.
Emma is just happy to sit up and clap her hands. If she really wants something she just rolls around and inches on her tummy. I'll be surprised if she crawls before she walks.

If you look closely you can see her teeth!

I'll post some more pictures soon. I will have much more time in a couple weeks!

8 Months

2011-06-09T21:12:00.001-07:00

Happy 8 months to my sweet girls! I cannot even believe how quickly they are changing and discovering new things these days. It is amazing to watch them learn new skills but at totally different paces. Emma can sit up on her own and play for long stretches at a time where Avery would rather fall over and wiggle her way to new toys, the dogs or whatever she can get her hands on. I am always so scared I am going to miss their "firsts" but we soak up every minute together in the mornings, after work and on the weekends. They both made me so proud tonight that I got a little weepy...Emma started to imitate me and play Patty Cake and Avery got up on all 4s and rocked back and forth.

Happy 8 months Emma and Avery. You fill my heart with such love and joy.

Twins Galore!

2011-05-30T21:09:00.001-07:00

Last week we had our 2nd reunion with our Swedish twins group. It's so fun to see how much all the babies have grown and SO crazy to think this time last year all of the mommies were prego sitting in the classroom trying to prepare for what was to come.

Even though our PEPS group officially ended a couple of months ago, we still get together twice a month. I cherish all of our twin time together. A&E are the youngest in the group so we have learned so many twin parenting tips from the big kids.

We waited a bit too late into the night to take the picture...almost everyone was in mid meltdown. And apparently Emma wasn't so happy about being squished on the coach!

7 months and Hawaii!

2011-05-15T09:43:00.001-07:00

We were lucky enough to celebrate Emma and Avery's 7 month birthday in Hawaii!!! We had tons of fun swimming, taking long walks and just spending a week of uninterrupted time with our babes.
Aloha!
We were lucky to have Grammy come along. It was great to spend the week with her and have an extra set of hands. She was even nice enough to let Mike and I have two nights out to dinner alone! We couldn't remember the last time that happened:)

Emma learned to hold her own bottle...they are just growing up too fast...
They both L-O-V-E-D swimming. And yes I did get a major sunburn.
Emma so stylish in Mamma's shades.
Avery can't sit still for a second these days, not even for a picture with Dad.
Posing with the pretty flowers.
Emma trying to smell the flower, but as with everything else, all she wanted to do was eat it.
The flight home and time change was a bit of a challenge but it was well worth it to have some quality time with our family and some SUN! The trip was the best 1st Mother's Day present.

PS-Both girls slept ALL night last night!!! Ahhh, hopefully this will become a trend.

6 years

2011-04-29T19:46:00.000-07:00

Happy Anniversary Mikey! These past 6 years have been so wonderful together. You have been such a loving and patient husband and I love everyday with you.

Where has the time gone?

2011-04-09T14:13:00.000-07:00

Has it really been over a month since I last blogged??? I thought time went by fast before, but now that I'm back at work it goes by at double speed and there is never enough time in the day. Speaking of work I really do like my new job and the people I work this. It's so nice to be able to finish my coffee, eat lunch and have some good adult conversation. But let's just say 2 or 3 days a week would be my absolute dream. I miss every minute I am away from the Emma and Avery and some days it's a real struggle to get out the door. Luckily, we are blessed with an amazing Nanny four days a week and Grandma and Grandpa Kocher on Fridays-they all make leaving a little easier. So until I can get my dream schedule, I spend every spare minute watching A&E grow, laugh, smile and learn new things everyday.

Here's what we've been up to:
-Laughing!!! Hearing their sweet giggles for the first time just melted my heart.
-Solid food! Well, okay pureed food. They L-O-V-E real food now. I really enjoy making their food-peas, sweet potatoes, apples, pears and yams.
-6 month check up. They are both still in the 20th percentile for weight but I think they are getting so big! Emma still has a pound and a half on her sister at 14.5 pounds. But Avery has passed her by an inch!
-The last couple months Miss Avery has had a bit of a rough patch sleeping which has made it real hard on me since I can't take a little nap with them anymore. The Dr told us to rip the bandaid off and we took away the swaddle and binky. It has a hard couple nights but she can now put herself to sleep with free arms and no binky. Emma is still in the swaddle with her binky-if it ain't broken, we're not fixin it!

They LOVE to grab and eat their toes:

We celebrated their 6 month birthday with some sweet potatoes!

They can almost sit up on their own.

New Discoveries

2011-02-27T20:44:00.000-08:00

Avery found her toes...
and Emma found her thumb...

Changes

2011-02-15T09:08:00.001-08:00

First of all happy late Valentine's Day to everyone! We had the perfect night at home last night with Chinese food, champagne, chocolate cake, playing with our little loves and The Bachelor.

Anyone who has children will agree that infants change so quickly (too quickly in my book) and anyone who knows me knows I don't do well with change, I like to have a routine and stick to it. I find myself trying to squish A&E into their newborn clothes and keeping the same schedule we had a month ago. Well their toes are about to poke holes in their PJ's and they are showing me that their schedule will change everyday. My good friend Courtney gave me the advice that instead of focusing on what they used to be embrace the present moment and be excited for the next stage.

So, my friends that is how I am coping with all of the changes about to come. A&E are officially moving into their own room and cribs tonight and...after almost 7 months I go back to work tomorrow. I am so going to miss my days with my little loves...staying in our PJ's till noon, long walks around Greenlake, watching them smile and discover things for the first time, and most of all holding and loving them whenever I want. I know the next couple of days are going to be hard, but I am just going to focus on the time we spend together and the memories we have to make in the future.

I love you my little Valentine's. Know that I will be missing you every second I am gone.

What we've been up to the last couple of weeks

2011-02-08T14:55:00.001-08:00

Great Grandma Korfhage came for a visit and we helped her celebrate her 86th birthday.
We took a trip to Tucson with Grandpa Roth and Gran Nan. We went for some sun and warm weather. We got the sun but it was in the 30s the first couple of days. Trying to find warm hats was not easy!
Going for a walk out in the cold with Dad!
Taking some good long naps.
We finally got a picture of Avery smiling! Emma smiles a ton but gets a blank look on her face the second the big black camera comes out.
Emma does great during tummy time...
and Avery prefers to sit up.
And Emma and Avery turned 4 months old! They talk and smile a lot now and we even got a little giggle out of Emma. You can just see the wheels turning in their heads as they look around and grab things now.

One year ago today...

2011-01-26T09:41:00.000-08:00

...we got the first picture of our little beans.

Love you Baby A and Baby B!

3 Months!

2011-01-13T12:15:00.001-08:00

I can't believe A&E are already 3 months!!! It is so crazy how fast they change!
I've yet to capture it on camera, but they are both smiling and talking like crazy. Avery just discovered her hands and Emma has rolled over from her stomach to back a couple of times-she hates tummy time! Emma loves eating her hands and Avery is content kicking around for hours.

Emma started sleeping through the night last week! Avery is still up once a night but I don't complain...feeding one baby is a breeze!

As much as I want them to stay small little girls I can't wait till they start laughing and playing with toys. I wish I could bottle up each and every moment so I can remember it all...Happy three month birthday my little loves!

Holidays with the family

2011-01-13T09:58:00.000-08:00

This year Christmas was extra special with Emma and Avery, but we were BUSY!

They met their cousins Callie and Anna and Auntie Cindy for the first time. The girls loved A&E because they each had one to play with.

We took our first flight as a family to Denver to be with my sister and her family. We got to meet these precious babes Ella and Grayson for the first time. They are such sweet little babes and are both growing fast!
Cole was so excited to make cookies for Santa with Grammie. I can't wait till A&E are at this age. Two year olds say the funniest things...my favorite was "That's ridiculous!"
Cole loves all the babies. Maybe a little too much:)
Everyone in their Christmas PJs!
Avery taking a bath with cousin Cole.
All the twins together. I've already forgotten that Emma and Avery were that small. They look like giants compared to Ella and Grayson!
Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa Kocher's house. They girls weren't spoiled at all:)
Playing with some new toys.
Too tired to play anymore.
For New Year's Eve we headed up to my Dad's house on Whidbey Island with Michelle, Brad and the Juhl family. The first day we got up there the gas had been accidentally turned off and it was 40 degrees in the house! We all stayed bundled up!
I didn't get too many picks cause we were so busy and Mamma got a little sick over New Year's.
I hope everyone had a special holiday and New Year's with their family too! xoxo

Merry merry!!!

2010-12-25T14:15:00.000-08:00

We've been busy!

2010-12-09T09:41:00.000-08:00

The last couple of weeks have been BUSY for the Kocher family!

Getting bundled up to go check out the first snow of the year. Mom wasn't worried about them getting cold:)
First Thanksgiving snuggling with Great Auntie Carol.
We took our first road trip down to Teresa's for the girl's annual Bake Off. Luckily, Jamie rode down with me but I was on my own the way back. We only had to stop once!
Addie helped out a lot this year. I loved that she would just strip off her clothes and cook naked as soon as she spilled.
Avery and Emma finally got to meet their future boyfriend Easton and best friend Parker.

We got all dressed up to cheer the Cougs on. As soon as we got home Mike changed Emma into a Husky outfit. But I know she didn't like it very much as she pooped right after he put it on!

Putting up Christmas decorations was a bit of a challenge this year, but after three days we got it done. A&E love looking at all the pretty lights on the tree.

And A&E turned two months old! We decided they were gaining enough weight and could wake up on their own when hungry. We went from waking them every three hours to 5 and 6 hour stretches of sleep at night! I feel like a new woman!!!

Thankful

2010-11-25T09:00:00.000-08:00

This Thanksgiving I have a lot to be thankful for. I remember too vividly this time last year when Mike asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I started crying and told him there was nothing I wanted more than a baby. And now today I am lucky enough to be spending my first Thanksgiving with my two precious girls and starting our own family traditions.

I couldn't have gotten through this roller coaster of a year without all the support from my friends and family. Thank you all!

Today I am very thankful.

Two Peas...

2010-11-18T09:54:00.000-08:00

...in my pod...this is exactly how I pictured my sweet peas for nine months.

One Month

2010-11-03T09:23:00.000-07:00

Happy one month birthday to my precious girls!

I can't believe one month has already gone by and they are changing so much. I shed a couple tears when I had to box up all of the preemie clothes and switch over to the newborn sizes. Emma is now 7 1/2 pounds and Avery 6 1/2!

Their personalities have definitly started to show and Avery is the calm patient one and only cries when she needs something. Even though Emma looks a lot like her Daddy, I think she's going to be a little more like her mama...uh-oh!

I tried to take some cute pics yesterday but they really wern't in the mood for a photo shoot.

I had to take a break to go change Avery's diaper and this is what I came back to. Apparently the bright lights were too much for Emma.

Happy Halloween and Birth Day Grayson and Ella

2010-10-31T19:26:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween and welcome to the world Hunt twins!

My sister and Harold's little one's arrived early this morning. Grayson Eugene and Ella Ashlynne were delivered early at 32 weeks due to complications but both are doing well in the NICU.

Avery and Emma are so excited to have twin cousins so close in age and we cannot wait to meet them at Christmas! Love and prayers to Stacey, Harold, Cole, Grayson and Baby Girl!

A couple weeks of firsts

2010-10-20T09:24:00.000-07:00

First real bath!
Avery loved it so much she fell asleep!
First walk around Greenlake on a beautiful fall day. Why can't everyday is Seattle be like this?

First nap with Daddy.
First visit from their new BFF Charlotte. We can't wait till we are her size!

And my first time at home alone with the babes. I cried for about an hour after Mike left for work, but we made it through the day on our own with a trip to the doctor and another walk around Greenlake. I'm not going to lie, it is really hard, but seeing precious moments like this, makes it all worth it!

The past 10 days...

2010-10-12T17:46:00.000-07:00

...have been absolutely wonderful.

On Friday, October 1st we were admitted to the hospital to be induced. Things progressed very quickly and we were right on schedule to have the girls by midnight. But, Little Miss Emma had different plans for us. After three hours of pushing and being awake for almost 24 hours we finally made the decision to go to have a c-section. At 5:18 and 5:19AM on 10/2/10 Emma and Avery graced us with their presence.
Seeing my daughters for the first time was absolutely the most amazing experience. It is just so surreal that I am a mom. The doctors and nurses were great and I was able to hold and feed them 20 minutes later.
Mike and Grammie were troopers coaching me along the whole way. Grammie didn't want to leave the hospital and Mike was out a couple hours later.

The first night was a bit tough since I couldn't help out much, but Mike stepped into his Daddy shoes very quickly.

Grandpa and Grand Nan Roth and Grandpa and Grandma Kocher came to visit along with Auntie Courtney, Michelle and Jamie.

We spent two nights in the hospital and by then we were ready to bring Emma and Avery home and meet their brother and sister.
We've had lots of visitors since we have been home. Thank you all for the delicious meals!

We were so excited that Auntie Stacey, Uncle Harold and cousin Cole were able to come for a short visit over the weekend. Cole LOVES his cousins and kept saying "Me hold, me hold". He also loved to beep their noses:)
We were lucky enough to have Grammie stay with us all last week. She was such a help around the house and loving her two grandaugthers. We were very sad to see her leave, but I'm sure she will be back soon, who could stay away from these precious faces?
Our days are pretty much filled with feedings, diapers changes and cuddling with our little girls. Life couldn't be more perfect.

Our two little blessings...

2010-10-04T11:05:00.000-07:00

Emma Grace (5 pounds 11 ounces-right) and Avery Rose (4 pounds 15 ounces-left) made their grand entrance 10/2/10 at 5:18 and 5:19AM, respectively. More to details to come, but I can't tell you enough how AMAZING these first days of parenthood have been. We.Are.In.LOVE.

Patience

2010-09-29T10:01:00.000-07:00

I've decided that patience will be the theme of this pregnancy. Nobody ever told me that pregnancy required so much patience...but maybe it is just me since as you know, I'm not a very patient person. My patience really has been tested from waiting two years to get pregnant, waiting till 12 weeks to share our exciting news, waiting in the doctors office, being on bed rest in the hospital for 5 weeks, learning to do things slower and accepting help (putting my shoes and pants on has become a real struggle) and now patiently waiting for these girls to make their appearance. But I must say, I believe everything happens for a reason and maybe God is just preparing me for what is to come because I am sure that A LOT of patience is required in parenting.

In the end, I know that holding my two little girls for the first time will be well worth the wait. I would not change a thing since we prayed for these girls for such a long time and now we are so lucky to begin the journey of parenthood in just a couple of days. In the meantime, I am patiently waiting till that moment comes. Thankfully, there is an end is sight and if the hospital has room for me I will be induced on Friday or Monday. Who would have thought after 7 weeks of bed rest to keep them cookin we would have to force them to come out?

37 weeks and still growing...

The girl's room

2010-09-21T09:07:00.000-07:00

This post is long overdue! The nursery has been finished for a while now, but our old computer finally pooped out and I couldn't download any pictures. I convinced Mike that we should buy a new laptop now so I have something to keep my busy while we are waiting. After many reccomendations from friends, we made the switch to the Apple MacBook. LOVE IT!

I still have some little things left to do (like fill the picture frames) but other than that everything is all ready for Emma and Avery!

Louie and Bella are ready for the girl's to arrive too!

34 Weeks...

2010-09-08T13:26:00.000-07:00

...and I am finally home! After 5 weeks and 1 day the doctors finally decided it was safe for me to come home on meds and bedrest. I cannot tell you how happy I was to be in my own bed, see my puppies and spend more time with Mike. He was a trooper through the whole hospital stay bringing me dinner after work, running errands and taking care of everything at home by himself. Luckily I only had one little meltdown the whole time-sorry honey!

My mom came over the day after I got home to help get the nursery together. After 7 hours and 5 loads of laundry we are pretty much ready. Pictures are coming soon! Mike has had a lot of fun putting things together and he is really looking forward to installing the carseats:)

Now the waiting really begins...it is crazy to think that after 2 years, the baby (times two!) that we prayed for could be here any day. We cannot wait to meet the little peanuts and hold them in our arms. Will they look alike? Will their personalities be totally different? Will we really be able to handle two at the same time?

As I'm waiting, my stomach continues to grow very quickly...I'm not sure if there is much more room for them in there!

Baby Shower in the Hospital?

2010-08-16T18:11:00.000-07:00

Since my doctor wasn't going to release me from the hospital anytime soon, my friends brought the Baby Shower to me in the hospital! Delane and Courtney did such an amazing job turning a waiting room into the cutest baby shower room. The sun even came out and the Blue Angels had a special show for us. Thank you to all my friends and family for making the trip to Swedish. Now you know where to come visit after the babies arrive:)

The Kocher/Roth Family

The girls!
In my good 'ole wheel chair and pretty hospital bracelet

30 weeks and 3 days...the girls are quickly growingDelane and Courtney-Thank you such much for the amazing baby shower. I can't tell you enough how special this day was for me. Love you!

Resting...

2010-08-11T11:38:00.000-07:00

In bed...in the hospital... That pretty much sums up the majority of the last two weeks. I've been putting off this post in hopes that each day my doctor will come in and tell me I can go home, but it's looking like I will be here for a while.

It all started three weeks ago (28 weeks) when I went in for my routine doctor appointment and ultrasound. The babies looked great, but my uterus had had enough and was thinking it was time for these girls to come out. I went home for a week on bed rest and went in for another check up. When the words "The situation has gotten a little worse" came out of my doctor's mouth, I was prepared for her to say I wasn't going back to work. Unfortunately, it was "I'm admitting you to the hospital." She was nice enough to let me go home for a couple of hours and pack up my stuff. It honestly felt like I was moving out of the house for an unknown amount of time. The hardest part was saying bye to Louie and Bella:( Let's just say it was a very emotional day.

So, two weeks later, I'm still here at Swedish, in my bed, resting. The good news is the girls weigh about 3.5 pounds each and we are only 10 days away from 32 weeks. Right now that is the magic number as there is much less of a chance of complications if they were born after that.

It hasn't been as hard as I thought it was going to be. The nurses here at Swedish are so kind and it is very comforting to know that if anything happened I am in the best hands. My fabulous husband, family and friends have been AMAZING visiting and bringing me treats, books and games to keep me busy-THANK YOU!!!!

I've trying to stay as positie as possible and have come up with a list of the advantages of bed rest besides the obvious-growing babies!
1. Less sun=less wrinkles:)
2. Being off my feet=less varicose veins!
3. Time to finish knitting the baby blanket. I'm going to try and tackle hats next.
4. Time to really feel the babies move around. They have started getting hiccups like crazy!
5. I'm up to date on everyone through hours on blogs and Facebook.
6. Online shopping! Even though I can't be at home to organize the girls room, we pretty much have everything we need now.
7. Time to watch TV shows-I am addicted to Friday Night Lights!

On Sunday, Delane and Courtney threw me such a special baby shower in the hospital. More about that when I get my pictures downloaded.

Here are a couple pictures of my life in the hospital. Please excuse the no make up and lovely hair.

Outside during my 1/2 hour wheel chair rides around the hospital

You know you have a good friend when they give you a pedicure! Good way to pass the time while I'm being monitored for the third time of the day. Thanks James!

More favorites

2010-08-03T11:28:00.000-07:00

Thank goodness Erin was able to fit us into her busy summer schedule for some pictures because little did we know that I would be on strict bedrest in the hospital just a couple days later. I don't think they would have turned out as well at Swedish:) More to come on that subject later...

Here are some more of my favs that she captured:

28 Weeks...

2010-07-27T22:54:00.000-07:00

Here's a sneak peak of the maternity pictures my good friend Erin Rinabarger of Head Over Heels Photography took before I got too big:)

My sis...

2010-07-24T20:11:00.000-07:00

Is having a boy and a girl!!!

As I mentioned before, my sister is also pregnant with twins. In just under a year, my parents will go from 1 to 5 grandkids! I'm so excited that there will be another girl for my girls to play with and Cole won't be left out being the only boy. I cannot wait until we can all get together for vacations and holidays. Some of my favorite memories as a child were big family gatherings with all of my cousins and now our kids will get to experience that too.

Congratulations Stacey and Harold!!!

Happy Anniversary Sale!!!

2010-07-20T21:01:00.000-07:00

It's one of my favorite times of the year, the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale!!! While it does mean a lot more work for me, it's worth it to get some great fall product on sale. I was a little limited on my shopping this year as I have no clue what will fit after the babies will come. Which is probably a good thing since I can't stop shopping for the girls!

Here are some of my favorite things on the sale:

Zella Intercept Jacket-so cute for the gym or on the weekends with a pair of comfy pants or jeans.

Zella Live In Legging-Most of you have heard me rave about Zella bottoms before and all styles are on the sale! The legging is my favorite because you can wear it to the gym or every day with a pair of boots and a sweater. I honestly lived in these last winter.

I just ordered these Enzo Angiolini boots online. Super cute to wear with the leggings! We'll see how they actually fit.
And to help me get back in shape after the babies are born, a new pair of my favorite running shoes the Asics Gel Kayano.

Weekends of babies and projects...

2010-06-29T21:17:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, I've been a bad blogger lately. But honestly, I do have some good excuses.

1. Since we found out we're having girls much of my time has been spent decorating the nursery and shopping!

2. The arrival of my dear friend Courtney's beautiful baby girl Charlotte Grace. She is just the sweetest little baby. I can only hope my girls are as easy as she is! 3. I procrastinated at finishing the baby blanket for Charlotte and actually finished it at 5AM the morning she was born.
4. My sister and my nephew Cole came to Seattle for a weekend. Cole showed off his somersault skills and loved petting my Dad's dog Brinkley. We went down to Puyallup for my second cousin Lily's 1st birthday.

5. The Johnson family came to Seattle for the weekend! DeLane and Kevin went to a wedding one night so I got some practice in babysitting little Parker. She wasn't so sure about me at first but after I brought in the dogs she was the happiest girl! She is at such a fun stage right now laughing and crawling everywhere. She even snuck off and found her favorite treats and opened them by herself!

6. I traveled for my last time before the babes arrive to Denver for Cole's 2nd birthday. I had so much fun spending time with Cole, Stacey and Harold and enjoying a real summer with temperatures in the high 80s. I wish they lived closer so we had more time together! I just can't get enough of Cole's hugs and kisses and hearing him say "Auntie, Auntie, Auntie" whenever I would leave the room.

His favorite thing right now is tractors and he got about 10 of them for his birthday!

My sister bought us cute tee shirts that say "There's Two Peas In My Pod". Can you guess who is further along? I am so excited for us to go through the twin journey together!

Cole really hasn't hit the "Terrible Two's" yet, but he did get sent to time out and I couldn't resist taking a picture:)

5. I'm really starting to feel pregnant. Sleeping has become much more uncomfortable and all I want to do at the end of the day is put my feet up, zone out to bad TV and feel my little peanuts wiggle around. That being said, I'm off to bed!!!

Think Pink...

2010-05-25T19:21:00.000-07:00

...we're having two girls!!!!

I had a feeling that Baby A was a girl, but I never really thought that there would be two! My mom has said all along that it was two girls and it was pay back time since I was such an angel*wink wink* growing up.

Knowing the genders and feeling them move around makes this feel so much more real. We are both so excited. I'm ready to start shopping and decorating the nursery and Mike is ready to start on his honey-do list.

Sorry-the pictures are a little blurry.

Baby A was facing head down with her face against my back so it was hard to get a good picture

Baby B was much more cooperative and was waving her hand like crazy!

Half Way There...

2010-05-23T14:36:00.000-07:00

19 Weeks...

I can't believe that I'm already half way through the pregnancy! My doctor considers twins "overdue" at 38 weeks and on average twins arrive around 35 weeks, so it may be even closer.

I'm definitely feeling and looking much more preggers. Working out, bending over, sleeping and being on my feet all day are becoming a little harder.

I had a little scare last week while working in Oregon...none of the twin pregnancy books tell you that round ligament (growing pains) pains hurt so bad that they make you double over in pain and cry...I seriously thought I was having contractions. Luckily, I was traveling with my co-worker and after a trip to the ER, everything checked out perfect. While it was very scary, I was excited to get another quick peak of the babes. I tried to look between the legs, but it was really hard to tell, I did see a lot of Baby B and I'm thinking it may be a girl??? Needless to say, after two scares in Oregon, I think the state has cursed me and my traveling days may be over.

As long as the babes cooperate tomorrow, we'll find out the sexes! As you all know, I am NOT a very patient person and have been waiting and waiting for this day to come so I can get start decorating the nursery. Stay tuned...

DeLane's 30th!

2010-05-21T12:39:00.000-07:00

Happy 30th birthday to my dear friend DeLane!

Nine of us girls got to spend last weekend in Chelan celebrating DeLane's birthday. It was so much fun to have a girls weekend eating, catching up, and enjoying the sun.

I hope you have a wonderful day friend! I feel so fortunate to have you a part of my life!

What to do if preggers on Cinco de Mayo?

2010-05-05T20:49:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to enjoy one of my favorite cocktails this year, but I did find a new favorite activity-Prenatal Yoga! Even though I am not much of a yogi, I heart the studio Courtney introduced me to a couple of weeks ago. Lots of good stretching and relaxing poses. Thanks for talking me into it Court!

http://www.seattleholisticcenter.com/

I finally did it...

2010-05-02T21:58:00.000-07:00

After years of following my friends and families blogs, I decided they may want to follow mine too...especially now that Mike and I have more to share!

Sooo, here goes! Friday marked the 16th week into my pregnancy. I can't even tell you how great it is to be out of the 1st trimester. Even though I'm experiencing more symptoms now (tired, cranky, tired, bloated, tired, hungry and more that I won't share:)) I finally feel and look pregnant and can breathe a sigh of relief that we are out of the "danger zone".

All weekend I thought I was feeling gas bubbles in my tummy, but as I'm writting this, I'm beginning to think my babies have started to give me love taps.

Here's a picture of them at 12 weeks:
BABY A-Not the best picture. There really is arms and legs!

BABY B-Waving hello!

Mike wants to document my growing belly each month. As long as I don't get too huge I'll keep sharing! This was my first day of officially wearing prego pants!