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.

Ten on Tuesday

{1}

Its January 8th and our tree is still up.

Obviously I'm a little slow in taking the Christmas decor down this year.

However, as of 8:30 this morning my car no longer resembles a reindeer. One task at a time.

{2}

But hey! This is my 4th post in 8 days; consider that proof that I'm getting my mojo back.

{3}

Have you ever seen a purple ear?

Poor kiddo did an epic wipeout into a table top at McDonalds last Friday.

Fortunately for him, he can't see how nasty it (still) looks.

{4}

Apparently there is a helium shortage we knew nothing about.

Would you believe we drove to four different stores on Friday night looking for two "Its a Boy" helium balloons to complete our twin boy announcement? At the fourth and final store, we finally settled for a single non-helium mylar on a stick and then edited the photo of Kendry to make it appear that he was holding two balloons.

There is no helium to be found in this town. Who knew?!  (totally wish you could hear me say this with a squeaky helium-infused voice)

{5}

I'm headed to a baby shower this weekend for one of my girlfriends who is having...

wait for it...

TWINS!

{6}

Our once pretty guest room is vanishing bit by bit.

I'm busy sorting/storing/purging/selling this chaos:

And patting myself on the back for finding my paint color of choice in just two samples!

Sherwin Williams Passive (on the right)

My lighting was bad so it looks a little darker here than it really is.

{A shout out to my sis and Centsational Girl for the input on selecting gray paint as a neutral.}

{7}

Remember having your mouth washed out with soap when you used a bad word?

Tonight that tactic came full circle.

Thats all I'm going to say about that.

{8}

Cooking 101 with Daddy
1st lesson: homemade pizza!

{9}
Justin and I are finally in agreement that we need to start leaving Kendry's hair a little longer. Poor kiddo looks like a cue ball in the previous picture.

His fair skin only enhances the resemblance.


 

{10}

This Week's Blessing:

Reading through Kendry's Family book with him in anticipation of our Alaska visit. This is still one of my all time favorite projects completed:

BIG Boy Bed

You got the sneak peek back here when it occurred to me just how big this bed actually is. Now I'll treat you to the full reveal!

Ready, Freddy?

Sadly, I didn't get a great 'before' picture of this bed. We bought it as a package deal on craigslist - the bed and the mattress for $200. The seller had a decent picture of the fully assembled bed on the listing, but by the time I called for information, the bed was disassembled and in storage. Since it was solid wood and in great condition (i.e. the wood was completely unfinished, meaning it was essentially prepped for painting - yeah, baby!), we bought it on site without assembling it.

Don't get me wrong, I truly appreciate you as a reader, but you're crazy if you think I am Justin is going to assemble an entire captains bed for the sole purpose of taking a 'before' picture for you. We are full-time working parents, after all. Our time is precious.

Plus, I was impatient and ready to get painting!

So this will have to suffice as the 'before' pic:

 

 

There, now you see what the wood looked like.

After hemming and hawing over the paint color for a few weeks, I went with the Annie Sloan Aubusson Blue.

I love the look of dark wax on Aubusson Blue, but since I didn't have dark wax I just used my Valspar Antiquing Glaze.

My process went like this:

1. Paint (only 1 coat! See why I love this paint?)

2. Distress lightly

3. Glaze for a dirty/worn look

4. Top with clear wax

 

I love, love, love it!

 

The dark glaze adds so much character.

 

 

 

 

 

I found the Pottery Barn quilt in impeccable condition on Ebay for $42 shipped.

 

 

My favorite finishing touch is the little baseball knob, which I found on Amazon.

 

 

This cabinet at the foot of the bed opens for storage underneath and, as Kendry just discovered, also serves as a spectacular hiding place.

 

Now back to the topic of disassembling and re-assembling this bed...

as it turns out, we're moving Kendry into the guest bedroom in order to use his current bedroom as the twins' nursery.

 

The DIYer in me is excited to complete two room makeovers before May.

The preggers in me would rather nap.

 

Seeing Double on a Christmas Card

If you were on our Christmas card mailing list this year, you received this announcement:

 

 

I got this idea from Pinterest (where else?), and pondered it for several weeks before creating our own version. Why the hesitation, you ask?

 

Over-analyzer that I am, I actually wondered if some recipients might think we were finally getting a dog.

Go ahead.

This is a safe environment.

You can be honest.

Is that what you thought when you saw our Christmas card?

If so, rest assured you weren't the only one second guessing our message. I have received a few inquiring emails from friends over the last two weeks.

What can I say?  I love subtlety.  Especially when it pertains to a pregnancy resulting from an IVF cycle that almost everyone (and their mother) knew we were doing.

 

~ A little mystery now and then is good for the soul ~

 

With that in mind, I'll let you in on a little secret:
 

 

 

Its time to stock up on band-aids and denim jean knee patches.

Time to trade-in for a swagger wagon that can hold all three of our boys in carseats and later, all their teammates and sports gear.

Time to succumb to the fact that I will be behind on our laundry for the next eighteen years.

 

Its also time for this momma to have a monthly mani/pedi stipend so as to stay in touch with my girly side when my house is busting at the seams with testosterone.

As for next Christmas, don't stress too much about finding a hidden subtle message.

We won't have time to be that creative anymore.
 

 

What's that?

You say you didn't receive a Christmas card from us?

Well....this is awkward...

 

Ten on Tuesday

{1}

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

{2}

We were in bed by 9:30 last night.

{3}

I fell short on my reading goal for 2012, but for good reason. Sleep has ranked a little higher than reading these last three months.

I am, however, kicking off 2013 with a bang and reading some Dr. Dobson:
The New Strong-Willed Child.

Please don't ask why I've waited until my own strong-willed child reached the age of three and a half years before finally reading this book.

{4}
This morning we made a two cupcake recipe (courtesy of Pinterest) and delivered one to a special gal on her 92nd birthday. {Kendry ate the other one.}

Happy Birthday, Grandma Ellen!



{5}

Can you really blame a kiddo for refusing to go potty on a public toilet that auto-flushes no less than six times while he is still sitting on it?

Seriously, McDonalds, use some of your millions to design a more kiddo-friendly bathroom... with non-intimidating toilets.

{6}

Crazy hat night at Awana:

As the parent helper that night I figured I should be an active participant. My viking hat was the envy of many a 3-4 year old, including Kendry who swapped me hats midway through the evening.

{Can you see the baby bump?}

{7}

Speaking of the bump, the wonderful down jacket Justin bought me last winter just ain't gonna cut it for my Alaska trip in two weeks...

unless I want to bust apart the zipper.

 

{8}

We recently introduced Kendry to the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie {circa 1990}.

Kendry has subsequently added the word "bodacious" to his vocabulary.

{9}

January always inspires the organizational side of me. With our family growing in 2013, there is no time like the present to do a little purging while organizing.

Inspired by my friend Cassie who did this last year, I'm taking on a 31 Bags in 31 Days challenge this month, with a goal of purging one bag per day of unnecesssary clutter and/or garbage from our home.

I'm already ahead of the game, with three garbage bags destined for Goodwill in the back of my car.


 

{10}

This Week's Blessing:

90% certain I have felt baby flutters the last two evenings.

Sixteen weeks tomorrow!