Twinners

I think that everyone knows by now but I just thought I would throw it out to the blog world that we are having twinners. I am still in twin shock but it is feeling more and more real and I am getting really excited. I had my appointment yesterday and since I have to have an ultrasound every visit (to detect the separate heartbeats) I thought they would be able to see the gender but unfortunately the ultrasound machine at the clinic was too much of a clunker so we couldn't tell. But in less then 2 weeks (I will be 19/20 weeks by then) we will hopefully be able to tell with the hospitals machine. I am amazed that there are two little peeps in there just hanging out. They were doing all sorts of fun flips yesterday on the ultrasound screen and at one point they were facing each other and doing some hand motions and Dave said that it looked like they were playing a game of cards! It totally looked like they were. I am sure that they are just trying to pass the time until they are born.

Right now I feel like a new woman. More energy, that blasted summer heat is over, no more barfing and I can actually get off of the couch and be human again. I hate to complain because I know that pregnancy is such a huge blessing but this summer was ROUGH (in all caps)! But bad times are behind us and we are are trying to enjoy the calm before the storm. Newborn twins are going to be crazy. Someone save me! I am open to all and any advice. Feedings scare me the most, then the nights, leaving the house, billions of diapers etc. etc. I keep trying to focus on how cute those little guys will be and how fun it will be to see them grow up together with that special twin bond.

One thing that has been driving me crazy are the not so nice responses. Most people are really nice and positive about the twins but it is all of the random people that need to just pipe down. My favorite response was "oh, twins are the biggest curse in the world. I am so sorry!" Punch. All I can say is I know it is going to be soooooooo hard believe me I struggled with only one newborn, I know it will be pricey, I know delivery won't be fun and feeding them and all that jazz but seriously no turning back and I am looking forward to having two for the price of one! Can you tell that I am trying to think only good thoughts?

Well, I am absolutely sure that no one reads this neglected little blog anymore but it is nice just to write. In Luke news he think we are having a boy and a girl and he is dead set on naming them Hiccup and Astrid (from that dragon movie). I asked him awhile back what is the first thing that he wanted to do when the babies come out and all he said was "punch them in the face." Aw, pure precious. I don't blame him though. He spent all summer bringing me barf bags and fending for himself. His world is about to be rocked!!!

So in honor of the twinsters in my belly here is a twin montage...



























Celine and I are so excited and just really trying to prepare for both of our twins. I am sure that she is pretty much doing the same things as me like searching for cheap cribs on craigslist, saving diaper coupons and other things like that.





Again, the pic of Kate. I can't get over this shot. I am hoping that since I am delivering at the same place (also Dave's work) that a twins delivery will be a cinch after sextuplets.




P.S. Wouldn't you hate to be Gisele's twin. You would always be the ugly one.


Stay tuned for some glamorous belly shots. I am getting huge!

My first posts. By Dave.

Father Sons outing, always a success. Luke with his friend Max.
Luke and "little buddy."

We finally found a new place to live. We will be moving in a couple of weeks. Our good friends the Jurgensmeier's found it for us and the best part is that we will be back yard neighbors with them.

Oh the Amish...so naive. We all know that Luke just loves pretzels so we had to visit the factory.
Some random Amish house that was selling homemade root beer. It is too bad that the Amish don't let you take pictures of them.

I searched the entire state to find some type of sport for 3 yr olds. Thank you soccer tots.

Luke and I practicing his first talk in church. He was way excited.

New York

Niagara Falls.
We took a trip to New York last month. Loved the Maid of the Mist.
Stan would not approve.


We stayed by Lake Ontario, thanks be to Creighton. Still not sure how he gets those hotel deals.
I finally got Danielle to skip a rock, she looks psyched.
Palmyra. Joseph Smith's log cabin.

Pondering the meaning of life in the Sacred Grove.
Luke decided he had to roll down the Hill Cumorah.The Sacred Grove.

question

It is that time of year again that we are faced with the task of trying to find another place to rent. Ugh. Pickins are slim in these parts. Our landlord is bumping up the rent that we already think is too high for us therefore a new place is in order. So here is the question...

1-"luxury" condo
or
2- charming Pennsylvania farmhouse

**edited-Dave came home and asked why I am calling the condo "luxury." For the record I am definitely not calling it luxury, anything but. The listing for it called it luxury hence the quotations.







#1-pros:
2 minutes away from the hospital (Dave's work not b/c I feel a need to live by a hospital just for fun).
open feel, fireplace, screened in patio, 2 bathrooms, laundry room, good neighborhood, good view, in the woods, garage, dishwasher, disposal, jetted '80's tub (wait would this be a pro or con?), big closets, lots of windows, plenty of storage, a walking trail to our favorite duck pond.

Cons- kitchen is outdated and screams '80's, no yard just the screened in patio, only 2 bedrooms (but bigger ones).

#2-pros:
Um, I am in love with this place, a little garden in the backyard, was built in the 1800's so it has all sorts of character and original door knobs, excellent view of the big rolling hills and a farm, 3 mins from the hospital, cha cha cha cheap rent, huge windowsills (is that really making my list?), cool attic, a tree that would be great for a swing.

Cons: no dishwasher or disposal, backyard opens up to an open field full of creepy stray cats, no garage, gravel driveway (how do you shovel snow off of that?), yard maintenance, no storage, the cool attic seems like birds live up there, Hershey Trust Company split the home in half like a duplex so the neighbs could be an annoyance, oil heating and other ridiculously high utility payments that come with old houses, 2 very small bedrooms, 1 bathroom, and the best of all is the dungeon basement. It is a full on cave. It is a carved out rock with old doors nailed all over and it feels like a weird person or animal would be living down there and that is where the laundry hook ups are and I am making sound way less scary than it really is. House overall has elements of creepiness involved.

Other option is to do neither and wait to see if anything else will pop up before June. My mom told me no to the farmhouse b/c I "couldn't survive a week without a dishwasher." Probably true. So if anyone has advice or cares about the matter let me know.

One more question- is 2 bedrooms do-able with multiple kids? No fun announcements or anything but we do want more during the remaining 3 years here. Is it miserable? Luke was the worst sleeper ever but do kids just manage especially b/c he will be older by the time we ever have another one? Hopefully someone is still reading my petty post and can offer some opinions. Thanks!

P.S. Mr. "luxury" (or not) condo said that he will hold the place for us until June which is extremely nice but he needs to know asap.

Funny things that I say lately

When Dave and Luke were cleaning their ears with q-tips Dave looked over at Luke and said "whoa, you have a lot of earwax" Luke said "I know, I am sooo lucky."

I saw Luke looking out the window the other night and asked him what he was doing. He said he was "just wishin' on a star" saying "I wish oh wish that we can get Hershey Park passes this year" and he also wished for summer and told me that his wish worked because he could see a patch of grass peeking out from the snow.

Luke will randomly ask me things like "Mommy what does de nada mean" or "what does Mi abuela mean?"
Pretty sure that it is all thanks to Diego.

He really wanted a second Rice Krispy treat even though I told him no, so he went and found the Rice Krispy box and dragged his finger along the words and said "see it says, you need to eat one more of these. Sorry mommy that is what it says."

While driving past McDonalds one day he saw an Amish family walking in and said "look, there's one, two, three cowboys over there. They are the ones that drive buggies." I guess he thought that their straw hats were cowboy hats! And if we are going to get technical they are probably Mennonite and not Amish. Only in central PA do you get to dine at McDonalds, shop at Costco with the "cowboys" and park next to horse and buggies!

One thing that I am loving lately is when he sings A Whole New World from Aladdin in the highest pitched voice. "I can show you the wowld. I can open your eye. A whole new wowld..."

One last fun thing that he said today that was completely out of the blue was "I really think that Amy is so excited to see me when we go to Utah." Ha.

*I am sure that Dave and I are the only ones that find these things funny but I wanted to document what sort of things he is saying at this age. I just love the random things that kids say.

Woody Owen

Luke is loving his new Woody pajamas. He even had me tie a string on back just like Woody's pull string.

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Do you like our matching pedis. I know that Dave sure does!

white out

The weather has been a little crazy around here, breaking records dating as far back as the 1800's (can you tell the news has been on all day?). Everything has been closed down-except the hospital of course and I have been in full mode hibernation and loving it! They gave up snowplowing our street early this morning and we have been wondering if the snow is ever going to stop. Pennsylvanians are a little extreme with the tiniest bit of inclement weather so you can imagine what an ordeal this storm has been! Last Friday there were lines out of the grocery store and they were totally out of the one thing we needed...milk. Crazy. Maybe we will be able to get out of our cave sometime this spring. Hopefully:)





This one snuck in somehow. It is from last Saturday morning-the start of the snowstorm.


Mailing out our Valentines. Sorry everyone, I'm sure they won't get there in time.

all tuckered out

These guys have been sneaking in naps left and right around here. Luke recovering from being sick and Dave recovering from the typical resident schedule of working more hours than anyone ever should in a week.
I love the last pic of Luke the duke sleeping. I am always amazed at his lips for some reason. Where did they come from? They are big and soft and squishy. I just love them. When we saw his 3-d ultrasound picture we were startled at how big his lips looked! They were huge and pouty. We were wondering what they would look like in person. And sure enough when he was born they were still big and juicy. They look normal and just right on him but when he sleeps they look extra fun and large!