Saturday, September 22, 2007

Care Pages

The twins were born on Wednesday, about 14 weeks early. They are in ICU at Cook Children's hospital right now. We are posting updates to their condition here. The group name is cumminstwins

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The boys were in the NICU for almost 3 months.  Scary times.  I'm thankful for all the prayers on my family's behalf during that time.

Fast forward 4 years.  Walt and John are both fine now.

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Joys of the library

Yesterday I went to the library in search of books about home decor and crochet. I thought it would be a quick trip because I had a lunch date with the teachers I worked with last year, but I got so engrossed in the books that I was almost late meeting them.

I got pulled into the baby section and found many books to enjoy. The one I'm most excited about from the baby section is entitled House of Testosterone. I was drawn to it immediately. I'll keep you posted if I learn anything interesting from it. I read in another book that baby boys cry more often than baby girls and due to this, are comforted more & receive more attention from their moms. Very interesting.

I didn't find any books about home decor, but that isn't too big of a deal. Our nursery plans are well under way. I did much better in the crafts section. I've decided to take up crochet. April tried to teach me knitting a few years ago and I did great with her sitting beside me, but when trying to figure it out on my own I got frustrated and gave up. Now I'm turning over a new leaf. I bought a wonderful book last weekend that had some wonderful designs that I really want to do.

My favorite is baby hats with sock monkey on them. I'm really wanting to crochet matching ones for all 3 of my boys: John, Walt and Aaron. I'm even thinking about crocheting an extra monkey, making it into a pin and putting it on our diaper backpack. How fun! Unfortunately, I need to do some baby step projects first before I jump into the monkey project. Luckily, the library had just the books to get me "hooking" away. Crocheting dishrags doesn't excite me like sock monkey hats do, but my plan is that by starting small and mastering the basics, those sock monkeys will be just around the corner.

The good thing is, I have some time before the boys arrive and crochet can be a neat way to make myself sit still. According to the book, it's a great way to relax. Knitting was actually the opposite of relaxing for me, but I like to think that crochet can be a soothing, new experience. I'll keep you posted.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Fun at our spa


Last weekend we opened our home to ladies from our Sunday School class for a spa night. Thankfully, Aaron helped me get the house ready because I'm trying to slow down my activity level a bit. Also, it's gotten tough to bend over and pick things up. I still can, but when I do, John's head pokes me hard in my ribs. I prefer not bending over, and John probably does, too. I was proud of how nice our home looked and appreciate Aaron's willingness to help me.

The evening was great! There were stations set up for pampering our lips, hands, faces with green masks (see the crazy picture above for those of us brave enough to be caught on film with our masks), feet, shoulders, back and even head massages!

We laughed and enjoyed our time together while Aaron and his dogs went upstairs and listened to his Aggies win their game. All in all, we all had a lovely evening.

Monday, September 17, 2007

Fall is here!

This weekend, I hosted a ladies spa night at my home and had the pleasure of bringing out my fall decorations. I love fall! The temperature is dropping and heat of summer is letting up. This summer was actually a very mild one for us with lots of rain, but I always welcome fall. I love the colors, the smells of pumpkin pie, the taste of caramel apples at the state fair and the changing colors of the leaves.

My freshman year of college I attended a school in Indiana before I attended Baylor. The leaves were such beautiful colors during the fall! Texas has some nice trees, but my beloved Lone Star state can't hold a candle to Indiana when it comes to the richness of colors during autumn.

Aaron had such a wonderful crop in his garden this spring. He went ahead and planted some pumpkins even though he knew they would harvest before fall. To the right you can see some of those wonderful pumpkins. He cooked and froze the part we can use to cook and we gave a few away. I have plans to bake pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie, make pumpkin soup and who knows what other pumpkin recipes we'll find with all of our bounty. If you have any suggestions, I would love to hear them!

Wild Walt it is

Thanks for all the nickname suggestions for baby Walt. However, since posting last week that he was calmer than John, he has decided to be my wild one.

He is in my right side, so much so that when I lay on my right side I feel him. He doesn't prefer that, so he kicks and I move onto my left. His head is down and his toes are up near my ribs. Sometimes when he moves his toes it feels like little bubbles in my side. That's sweet. It's not so sweet when he does other things. I think he is practicing for football by doing squats. From time to time, he will stick something large (I think his bottom) out my right side. It's not painful, but it's not what I would call comfortable. I think he has also started kicking my ribs which smarts a bit.

John is still moving around a lot, too, but I'm not noticing him quite as much. When I do, I feel his head coming out between my ribs. I guess he's getting ready for soccer so he can use his head to move the ball forward.

There are times when they'll both start moving a lot. That's very exciting, but it can be quite a bit to take at once.

I have found that if I put my hand on where I feel them and talk to them, they calm down a bit. It makes me feel happy. I like to think that they're minding me already. :)

Friday, September 14, 2007

1st MOPS meeting

Mothers of Preschoolers, or MOPS, is an international faith-based organization that has local chapters in which moms get together. Today I went to my first MOPS meeting. I was a bit nervous because as far as I knew I didn't have any friends going and it seemed kind of weird to me to go before the twins made their grand appearance, but I have made it a priority to build a network of other moms so that I won't get too isolated or lonely as I wait for Walt and John to keep me company.

As is typically the case, the worry was a waste of energy. The ladies at the meeting were all very welcoming and friendly. We were assigned to small groups at tables. This year's theme is "The Home" so all the names had to do with homes. Mine is the Ladies of the manor. How fun!

Just in my small group of 6 other moms, 2 of them have twins, at least 2 others have Aggie husbands and one is a Baylor bear. How wonderful! Needless to say, we all had quite a bit to chat about.

It was a fun group of ladies and I'm looking forward to our next time to all get together.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Nickname for Walt poll

Aaron came up with a great nickname for the very active John: "Jumpin' John." Now we need help to come up with one for Walt. He is calm, relaxed and seems to be just happy with life. We've kicked around Wacky Walt, Wild Walt and Aaron's "Welaxed" Walt, but none seem to fit him quite the way John's nickname does.

Any suggestions?

Best twin pregnancy ever!

Aaron and I just got back from our doctor visit. This was the first time we met with the Physician's Assistant. She told us that my pregnancy is the best twin pregnancy she has ever seen. Wow! What music to my ears--even though I know I'm doing all I can to make sure to take care of myself and our babies by eating well, resting, etc. it was such a relief to hear that we are all doing so well.

Sorry--no sonogram pictures to share this time, but we got to hear the heartbeats and both are very strong. In 2 weeks we will have the 4D sonogram, which means a 3D picture but in motion. Our sonogram nurse told us that oftentimes multiples don't show very clearly in those because the babies tend to be a bit squished together to see much detail, but we're looking forward to seeing our little guys again soon.

We now know that both are in position for birth. Walt is on my right side with his head down. His heartbeat, 145, was consistent with what I've felt from him--he moves gently and slowly. Aaron is convinced that he will take after him--relaxed, easy-going and calm. Walt also tends to move more when I'm listening to music.

And then there's John. John is head up and his head is right up under my ribs on my left side. My ribs are actually flaring out thanks to John putting pressure on them. He is really active and when he pushes up with his feet, he sticks his head high into me. This produces a moderate discomfort and he's only about 2 pounds and 12 inches now. I'm getting myself mentally ready for when he does this as he gets bigger! His heartbeat 161 which follows Aaron's theory that he is like me--fiesty, ready to attack life and never still.

Monday, September 10, 2007

Our trip to Aggieland

The time in which I'm allowed to travel is coming to a close in the next few weeks. Happily, we were able to hop down to College Station this past weekend to visit DC & Judy.

While Aaron and DC went to the Aggie game, Judy and I shopped and had a fun day. I needed to buy a baby shower gift for a friend and we had a wonderful time just looking at all the fun things out there for babies! The photo above is a precious combination that we found that we fell in love with! I'm excited about putting John and Walt in those cute hawaiian tops with sunglasses. And, what Texas boy can live without overalls? I can already envision Aaron putting on his overalls to work outside, visit his chickens, weed the garden, mow the lawn, etc and his boys wanting to be just like their daddy.

I don't know if everyone caught the Aggie game last weekend against Fresno State, but it was a doozie! The Ags won in the third overtime. Judy and I listened to the last part on the radio, and when the Ags would score, the boys would move around! I think they enjoyed the game a lot--probably more than those of us listening on the radio, watching on TV or out in the heat at the game itself. I have a feeling this is just the first Aggie game my boys will enjoy. Also, my Baylor bears beat Rice! A good football weekend is one in which my team and Aaron's team both win. What a great way to start the season!

Thursday, September 6, 2007

Bigger kicks

Wow--I love the response from the tractor poll! We're excited about decorating the boys' room with all sorts of fun tractors and farm things.

Last night during church choir, an exciting thing happened: I started to really feel kicks! From over in the orchestra, Aaron could even see my shirt moving where I was being kicked.

Up to this point, we have felt them kick, but it's been very subtle and unless we really felt for it, I wouldn't feel it. I thought it would be this really sweet, comforting feeling when my boys started saying hello this way. The word for it would not be sweet--it would probably be "ouch!" I'm pretty sure he was getting the bottom of my rib and it hurt a bit. Maybe they were both kicking together to say a joint hello. I've even felt a few kicks in that same spot this morning. I guess I'm grateful for the kicks because at least I know that now I'm receiving at least a few of the kicks, instead of them only kicking each other. I'm just glad they're growing and getting stronger.

Monday, September 3, 2007

Tractor Poll

We will put a tractor mural in the boys' room before they are born. I know that some of you have strong connections to a particular brand, so tell me what kind of tractor should be in the mural, and why.