A Family Changing Shape

Kendry is nearly four and still doesn't realize his own strength. One of his favorite things to do is sprint toward Justin or myself and literally bowl us over with a hug. Justin can scoop that rocket of energy up into a bear hug. Me?  Not so much. My center of balance is a little off kilter these days.

Truth be told, I had to stop lifting my 'baby' several months ago, for obvious reasons. If I had heeded my chiropractor's advice I would have stopped lifting Kendry at his second birthday; but really, how realistic is that for any mom?

These days when Kendry sprints to bowl me over with a hug our first point of contact is his head with my tummy. His little brothers may be familiar with headbutting before they even leave my womb.

Just before the point of impact Kendry (usually) remembers the babies and softens his approach. Lately he enjoys planting a big kiss on my tummy.

Sometimes I wonder if the little boys will recognize Kendry's voice before my own. Kendry does have some advantage with his leverage.

Ten on Tuesday

{1}

Its Red Velvet Cake time!!

{2}

Hip hip hooray for a free babysitter on Valentine's Day! Justin and I are going out for a V-day dinner for the first time in years.

Our babysitter's name is Cubbies.

{3}

Parenthood does funny stuff to you.

Back in 2008, Justin and I vacationed for a week with my brother and his brood. While riding all together in the rented mini-van, my brother turned on Moose Tunes for his toddler boys' listening pleasure. I distinctly remember Justin and I giving each other funny looks as we listened to a grown man trying to sing like a moose. Later, back in the privacy of our own home, we confided to one another that we would probably go insane playing songs like that over and over for our children.

Fast forward almost five years and here I am, driving my kiddo to daycare while singing:

"There's a chocolate moose...on the loose...dancing all around in a red caboose..."

I do, however, refuse to make myself sound like a moose while singing.

A mom must have some boundaries.

{4}

Our 2012 tax return is the mail. Booyah!

And we are soooo looking forward to our two additional deductions for 2013.

{5}

There is nothing like cleaning a bathroom drain to convince you its time to go with a short hairstyle again.

I am seriously going to hack off a few inches before these babies arrive.

{6}

Kendry loves to talk. He gets it from his momma.

After talking for five minutes straight during breakfast the other day he finally paused, took a deep breath, and commanded: "Okay, Mom, its your turn to talk now."

Between the kiddo and myself I'm not sure how Justin ever gets a word in edgewise.

{7}

I got to spend a few hours scrapping with some girlfriends on Saturday. The race is on to get the highlights of Kendry's first few years into his book. I got two pages done, which was my goal.

{8}

Its funny how things come full circle.

Or maybe not so funny.

I was a nail biter all through my childhood. It was bad enough that my parents even started paying me a monthly stipend if I could show them long nails at the end of each month.

Guess who the nail biter is in our house these days?

It is driving me crazy!

A little shout out to my Mom and Dad: now I understand.

{9}

Here are our little boys at 20 weeks:

Baby A's photo was a little harder to snap because Baby B kept photo-bombing the shot. Baby B is going to be a handful - I can see that already.

Fortunately, his photo-bombing move of pushing his face back onto the screen left us with this cool shot of his facial features:

{10}

This Week's Blessing:

My boys (the ones not presently residing in my womb) getting to feel the babies kicking my belly for the first time on Sunday evening. The look on Kendry's face when he felt it was priceless.

The Joke is On Me...Literally {20 Weeks}

Thanks to Facebook and Pinterest, we've all seen those cute pregnancy progression shots taken by super creative parents.

I especially love this one:

PIN

Early in this pregnancy Justin gave me a present. When I opened it I wasn't sure whether to laugh or mumble a semi-genuine 'thank you' before wearing it once in his presence (and his presence only) and then secretly giving it to Goodwill.

The gift?

You may have seen these crinkle shirts; if not, I'm pretty sure your nearest drug store carries them. They come in an assortment of colors and travel wonderfully because, try as you might, you can't wrinkle a shirt made merely of fabric dimples. 

Justin's grandmother is a big fan of these crinkle shirts.

She just turned 92.

The oddest funniest feature about these shirts is that they are 'one size fits all'.

Don't believe me?

Are you catching on to my husband's wacky sense of humor yet?

Justin thought it would be funny to document my growing belly in this 'one size fits all' crinkle shirt...in the lovely shade of seafoam green, no less. 

He is lucky I'm such a good sport.

In theory, it should fit me from start to finish, right?

10 weeks:

This is my "Are you kidding me?!" face - lest you think I would actually wear a shirt like this in public.

20 weeks:

Surprisingly, it still fits over the belly, which I'm coming to realize is a good thing in this house.

The other night I slept in an old comfy t-shirt that is quickly becoming too small/short. While brushing my teeth the following morning Kendry spoke up:

"Mooom, your shirt!"

In no time he was at my side, gently pulling my shirt down to cover my exposed midriff. So sweet, right?

A short time later we were all in the kitchen preparing breakfast and I heard it again.

"Mooom!"

This time I swear I heard a hint of exasperation in his voice, as if my three year old were somehow embarrassed by such a blatant act of immodesty coming from his mother.

Call me crazy but I'm pretty sure he rolled his eyes when he said it.

As he once again tugged the hem of my shirt down over the mere two inches of exposed skin he inquired:

"Who keeps doing this to your shirt?"

Justin and I enjoyed a little chuckle as his expense before explaining that our babies are simply making my belly too big for my regular clothes.

Fast forward two days, when I was once again (solely within the confines of my own home) wearing a comfy pre-pregnancy shirt that was slowly inching upward. I turned away from Kendry for a moment and heard him say:

"Mom, I like your tattoo."

Okie dokie.

I went to my bedroom and changed my shirt.

Not that I'm embarrassed by the tattoo on my back; on the contrary, I still love that I had it done. I just don't see a need to encourage my preschooler's intrigue with tattoos at this point.

For the record, these are my official progression photos.

10 weeks:

20 weeks:

Ten on Tuesday

{1}

Flowers from my boys on an average day.

They must really love me!

{2}
I miss running.


{3}

Confession: I only took two photos on our Alaska trip.

Sad but true.

The first was morning coffee with some lifelong friends:

The second was on our flight home, with Kendry modeling his big boy headphones.

Right about now I'm wondering why I lugged my camera along at all.

But if you know my family you know I mean it when I say we were too busy having fun to stop and take photos.

{4}

If only I could get my voice back from the cough I caught while up north.

Justin might argue that it wasn't the cough that took my voice, rather it was all the gabbing with my mom and sisters.

He knows us too well.

{5}

My wonderfully talented sis, Jaimee - not to be confused with my other wonderfully talented sisters - has taken her furniture and decor blog to a new level. Check it out here!

{6}

I get weekly pregnancy emails from Babycenter.com.

The title of today's email: What Will Your Belly Look Like After Pregnancy?

Really?

REALLY?!

{email deleted}

{7}

20 weeks tomorrow!

{8}

Rub-a-dub-dub, two cuzzies in the tub!

{9}

Did I tell you the hubs cleaned up the basement while we were gone?

I love that man!

{10}

This Week's Blessing:

An amazing employer.

I am so blessed to work where I work...and enjoy it.

Show Me Your Best Pose, Baby!

One advantage of IVF:

by 16 weeks gestation we had already had three separate photo ops with our little boys.

See how photogenic they are already?

On transfer day:

At 7 weeks:

At 16 weeks:

Baby A (bottom 16 week pic) was a bit of a sleepyhead for his photo shoot, except for willingly showing us his sex.

Baby B (top two 16 week pics) on the other hand seemed to have absorbed every ounce of the chai latte I drank on the way to the ultrasound (don't judge). He would not. sit. still. No wonder I've been feeling him since just before the 16 week mark. He did, however, stop moving long enough to give us a thoughtful pose with his hand at his chin.

See?  Photogenic!

 

At the 16 week mark both boys measured/averaged at 16 weeks 5 days.

I, on the other hand, measured at 19 weeks...and am feeling pretty darn good about it, thank you very much.

A little twin info for you, which we just learned at the ultrasound: the assignment of Baby A is given to the baby whose sac is closest to the cervix, meaning he will deliver first. Throughout the pregnancy they will be consistently referenced as A and B so as to respectively track each one's growth from now until their arrival.

Incidentally, even we will be calling them Baby A and Baby B until their arrival because:

a) we don't have names picked out yet; and
b) even once we select the names we intend to keep them a surprise until the boys are born.

Sorry, folks.