Proud Parents of....

It's official!  Martin and I are pleased to announce that our little babies are a

BOY 

and a 

GIRL!!!

The best of both worlds!

I can't stop smiling :) 

Some info from the ultrasound:

• Both babies look healthy and strong
• They are in my tummy as if they were laying in bunk beds
• Our little boy is on the bottom bunk with his head above my left leg and feet above my right leg
• Our little girl is on the top bunk with her head above my right leg and feet above my left leg - so basically they give each other little kicks and nudges in the face a lot
• They are (obviously) fraternal twins; they have separate gestational sacs but share a placenta
• They currently weigh about 12 oz and 13 oz
• This puts them to be about 20 weeks and 3 days along, but I'm only supposed to be 19 weeks and 3 days along.  Basically, they are either growing really well or my due date may change to earlier than April 23rd as the pregnancy progresses.

 I'm feeling great and Martin and I are SOOOO excited!!!  It is such a blessing to be able to see our babies moving around inside of me...and it's pretty surreal.  I'm so thankful to know that they are developing well and are strong.

Thank you to everyone who has been excited with us!  It sure is fun to share our joy :)

Thoughts on Pregnancy

I am currently 17 weeks along in my pregnancy.  Almost at the halfway mark and just 2 weeks away from finding out the genders of our sweet little babies.  Ahhhh I am SO excited for that day!

Here's a picture from when I was 16 weeks along

And a picture from my 17 week mark

 I just want to jot down some of my thoughts on and experiences with pregnancy/being a mom as these babies keep on growing.  In no way is this comprehensive and, please, have mercy on me and remember that I am a hormonal pregnant lady :)

• The fact that there are TWO babies inside of me blows my mind!!!  TWO.  Wow and woo hoo!
• My stomach just keeps growing, and growing, and growing, and growing...I'm 4 months along and a little nervous for how big I'm going to get!
• It is such a cool feeling to feel things moving around inside of me!
• Maternity pants are quite comfortable!
• There are lots of things that go unsaid about pregnancy...probably because they aren't terribly enjoyable.  I'll keep them unsaid and just say that I'm learning a lot about various bodily functions. Thank goodness for the internet and good friends who don't mind if something is TMI.
• I wonder what "normal" feels like and if I will recognize it when it comes back?  Meaning, for 9 months I'll have aches, pains, a belly, constantly be thinking about the babies, etc. and that makes me wonder what my new "normal" will be.
• Baby clothes are ridiculously adorable!
• 2nd trimester has been wonderful! I really don't think I've had a difficult pregnancy overall (HUGE blessing) but it has been fantastic to enjoy the tastes of food again, be able to open our fridge without gagging, and to have energy back!
• I quickly learned that EVERY single woman has a different experience with pregnancy. When you are pregnant, many people have insights and stories and suggestions on every aspect of pregnancy.  It can be overwhelming sometimes.  But I've come to realize that people share their stories because their stories mean so much to them and we care about helping each other out!  
• A good friend gave me great advice regarding being bombarded with different perspectives: 
• 1) Research as much is a reasonable amount about a topic
• 2) Pray for guidance in making a wise decision but don't expect angelic chorus' to give you answers
• 3) Make your decision on what to do
• 4) Pray that your decision will have the best possible outcome
• 5) Confidently learn and move forward.  There is SO much information and there are countless perspectives on every little aspect of having a child.  I know that I want what is best for my babies and so do millions of other women.  What is right for me may be wrong for someone else.  But I will always try my best to do what is right for me and my babies.
• I LOVE seeing Marty with little kids.  He is one AMAZING husband and he is going to be an AMAZING dad.  It is so sweet to see and hear his excitement for our babies.  I am beyond excited to see him holding them :)
• I cry much more easily than before being pregnant.  I was watching a commercial the other day and started crying because it was so sweet.  This is the commercial that got me good: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_gtD5U9Bck
• The more I think about being a mom the more I realize that my mom is Super Woman.
• I'm nervous to be a mom.  My confidence outweighs my nerves, but still, it's not an easy job!  As a nanny I get a taste of what it's like to be surrounded by boogers, poopy diapers, crying, messes, etc.  It's not always fun.
• I am really really excited to be a mom.  I believe that motherhood is truly a divine role.  Although there are many tough parts to motherhood that I've seen as a nanny, there are also incredibly tender moments.  Like when they snuggle up to you right after waking up, or when you see the kids playing with each other and teaching each other, or when they get uncontrollable giggles when you tickle them, or when they kiss you two times on the belly to make sure each twin gets loves.  These experiences melt my heart and I imagine motherhood being similar.

That's all for now.  I simply want to get my thoughts down so I can look back on this once the babies are here.  Here are a few more photos from 17 weeks.  Taking the usual "one hand on top and one hand beneath your belly" photo gets boring.

Feeling the power of the belly

The Carney Ninja pose for my dad :)

Practicing my balance...the belly certainly changes things

Thank Goodness for Kind People

There is SO much good in the world.  There truly is!  Last Friday, I was reminded of that over and over again.

Every Friday I go to a prenatal yoga class with one of my good friends, Cami.  

(Side note: Not only do I love having great friends, but I LOVE having great pregnant friends!)

After yoga we went to get some yummy hot chocolate at Caribou Coffee.  After ordering our yumminess we headed back to the car so we could go back to her place and chat, have lunch, and work on a craft.  Well...I went for my keys to unlock the door aaaand...my pockets were empty.  

No keys, no phone.

To make a LONG story short, we walked 2 miles back to Cami's house to get her car.  

THEN Cami drove me to Marty's work (about 25 min away) and, after lots of phone calls and using security to finally track down my husband, I was able to get our 2nd set of keys from Marty.  

THEN Cami drove me to work because I was supposed to be at my nanny job 15 min earlier.  

THEN Cami took our car keys because she and her husband are super nice and offered to drive our car down to us later that night so we could make a date night out of it.  

THEN, after I was done working, the family I nanny for drove me to pick up Marty from work and drove us home.  

THEN we went to dinner with Cami and James and a bunch of friends and I somehow managed to fling an A1 Steak Sauce cap across the restaurant and get steak sauce running down a woman's forehead as the cap barely missed her head and she simply laughed and shrugged the whole incident off!

Whew!!!  It was an eventful day.

Here's the Dinner Group

(Cami and James are the couple closest to the camera on the left)

And here is the lovely steak sauce cap that went on a little adventure

I felt SO incredibly thankful for all of the kindness that surrounded me that day.  Cami was so willing to help and spend at least 2 hours with me trying to work everything out.  She had a smile on her face the whole time too.  

And the family I nanny for was completely understanding and willing to help when I called and said I'd be late for work and that I wouldn't have a car.  They offered to help in anyway they could.

Then the woman at the restaurant decided to handle the situation of being nailed in the forehead with steak sauce in a very nice manner.  She could have flipped out but she just laughed and said, "Well, I gotta admit that's the first time that's happened while eating out!"

It pays to be nice.  You never know what someone is going through and you never know who needs a little bit of kindness.  I am so thankful for the kind people in my life and feel so blessed to know that I am surrounded by so many wonderful people.