April Videos

Here are some videos from the past month. They show what a day in the life of Torin is all about. We wouldn't miss a minute of it either.

Surprise Visit from Friends

I got a huge surprise this past Thursday when my wonderful friend Maria (and husband Marc) flew in to visit from Indiana for a couple of days.


They just had twins of their own 2 1/2 months ago. Don't they look absolutely amazing for having 4 kids (including infant twins)? You can't even tell they are sleep deprived!

Unfortunately it rained/snowed the majority of the time they were out so we weren't able to do much. We did enjoy a nice dinner out on Friday night though.

Thanks so much for visiting us Marc and Maria...and for leaving your kiddos for 2 days!

Changes...and Belly Pics 31 weeks

Soon this will be reality. We will be changing about 30 diapers a day. (Sorry, short pause. I just had to pick Paul up off the floor since he could only see dollar signs for a moment.) Soon the most adorable boy on the planet will be a big brother.

Soon we will be a family of five.

I wonder what they'll look like. Could they possibly turn out this cute?

I often think how can I possibly love two more kids as much as I love him. Where does all this love come from? Will he be upset that he has to share the spotlight? I hope he adjusts well to being the big boy in the house.

Because they are coming whether we are ready or not.

And yes, my shirts really are that tight and I now only fit into two pairs of pants.

Cocoa butter lotion is my friend as stretch marks have appeared.

But I will smile as I have made it 31 weeks, am measuring 43 weeks, have two healthy babies inside of me, and know the days of not seeing my feet are coming to an end in mearly 6 weeks. We see these two precious ones again one week from Friday. I can do this. My goal is to walk (okay be wheeled) out of that hospital with two new babies next to me on their first car ride home.

Nesting

We've been spending the past week doing a lot of 'nesting' things I guess one would say. I have washed lots and lots of clothes, blankets, bibs, burp cloths, etc.

Paul has been busy working outside getting things ready for Torin this spring and summer.

He has built and put up window well covers.

They turned out great!

Of course he had lots of help with the building process.

Up next on the list...Paul is putting new brakes in the car by himself. I am finishing getting 'two' of all the things we need and getting the kitchen ready with bottles, etc. We are in the home stretch now. Hopefully we will have things ready by the time these two join our family.

30 Weeks 1 Day Doctor's Appt.

Today I was able to spend three hours between the doctor's office and hospital again. It is starting to become a ritual for me these days. I started with my routine ultrasound this morning and both babies look wonderful.
Stats:
Baby Girl - 3lbs 11 oz and is measuring in the 50th percentile on the growth chart. She is measuring right at 30 weeks 4 days and is right on track with my due date since I'm 30 weeks 1 day today.
Baby Boy - 4 lbs 7 oz and is measuring in the 65th percentile on the growth chart. He is measuring about 32 weeks right now and is right on track with being big just like his older brother was.
The weights are getting a little further apart, but they aren't concerned at this point as long as baby girl keeps growing along with my due date. Concern would come in if baby boy continues growing rapidly and she would slow in her growth percentages. At this point, we are going to have a big baby boy coming out and a more petite little girl.
Mommy - tested negative again today for gestational diabetes and my iron counts have went up some!!!!!! What a miracle! I am still anemic so will remain on prescription iron for the duration of the pregnancy, but the thoughts of needing a blood transfusion at delivery are much less now if my counts can continue to stablize and even grow more. I have gained a couple more pounds...my total is now 28 lbs for the pregnancy and I am measuring a WHOPPING 42 WEEKS PREGNANT. I thought my shirts were getting snug! We have moved to weekly doctor's appointments for the duration of the pregnancy and ultrasound checks every two weeks.
Because I am measuring so big(full-term) and contractions have started on a fairly regular basis now, my OBGYN decided to play it safe and I'm getting the steroid shots to help with their lung development in case an early delivery is needed. I received one today and have to go to the hospital for the second one tomorrow. This doesn't mean I can't make it to 37 weeks, we are just being cautious since I'm starting to show some signs that I could go into labor early which is completely normal for a twin pregnancy. Our next appointment is in a week and I'll try to have Paul take some photos of me this weekend for a belly shot update.

March 2010 Videos

The first video is just a cute smile and him asking to get up on the couch. In the second video he is chasing Cooper like usual. The third video shows a typical 1 1/2 year old's listening skills.

New Toy

Mommy and Daddy bought me this new sand and water table for Easter this week. I LOVE IT! I can make a big mess and Mommy doesn't care at all since we are outside.
You can mix the sand and water together and it makes a mushy, muddy mess. I really like that.

I also like to dump the sand out on the driveway, so Mommy and Daddy also bought me my very own broom so I can sweep it up.

Okay, so Mommy does most of the sweeping up but I am still a big helper.

Easter

Our Easter was busy to say the least. Grandma Herding, Aunt Joan, Aunt Karen and Cousin Maggie took off for South Dakota early in the morning. The day started like how I began eating this delicious piece of French Silk Pie...with a spoon.
We then went to the Weiland's house and enjoyed a wonderful ham dinner.

Daddy and Kurt even took us to the park after lunch so we could work off all the food we ate. We were all really excited just like I was above smearing my pie-filled hands in my hair.

The day ended at Scott and Janna's house, our neighbors, where we enjoyed cake and ice cream for Scott's 30th birthday. And just like the picture above, I was full and exhausted by the time we returned home. I hope your Easter was as yummy as mine was.

Baby Shower

This past weekend my amazing friends Anne and Tracey threw me a baby shower. My mom, aunts, and cousin were even able to make the trip from Sioux Falls.
We received lots of diapers and wipes...just what we needed!

Thanks Tracey and Anne for making this last baby shower of mine EVER so amazing!

28 week doctor's appt

We were able to see baby girl and baby boy again this past Wednesday. They both look wonderful. Baby girl is weighing right at 3lbs even and baby boy is weighing 3 lbs 5 oz. I've gained 26 lbs now, but it is comforting to know that almost 7 lbs of that is already baby. The official c-section date is set...June 4th at 7:30 A.M. these two are set to be delivered. I will be 37 weeks 1 day pregnant if I can keep them in that long. That is my target goal. Two months from today I will be holding these two in my arms. I can't wait.

Our next appt is in two weeks and I get my bloodwork run again for anemia as well as diabetes. They check for diabetes twice instead of the standard once when you are pregnant with multiples.

Park Day

The snow came and went and by the next week we were back into the 70's so we had a park day. Daddy does most of the park things now as Mommy is too big to go down the slide.
Torin is ALL boy. He climbs on anything and everything possible these days. He even makes steps out of his blocks to stand on so he can climb higher on things in the house.

Snow Day

A week ago Wednesday we had our first snow day (schools closed) of the year. We ended up getting about a foot of really heavy snow. Luckily it only stayed around a couple of days.
Torin is very big into 'helping' Daddy these days. Anything that Paul is doing, Torin has to do. He is a big helper now.