22 Weeks - Update on Me!

22 Weeks!! This is absolutely incredible how fast this is all going. But, also, I cannot wait to meet these little things! As you know, in the past two weeks we have worked on the nursery. Which I love. I love,love to decorate, so to get to do it from a blank canvas is just fabulous. And I FINALLY finalized the bedding details - yay! I just need to buy a couple more things, then I can take it to get all sewn. Its still a work in progress though. I actually found some really neat ideas for the dresser and nightstand from Art for Kids (beautiful and soooooo expensive, but I can copycat, right?) I can't wait to see it when it's finished. I know I'm crazy for obsessing this much, but I can't help it. I also cleaned out every kitchen drawer last week too. Hmm, wonder if that nesting instinct is kicking in?

Jake and I bit the bullet and registered at our very first store last night - Target. I thought it best to start small, since they only have a few aisles of baby things, then tackle the big stores. Even with all the advice I have received about what things are "must-haves", "can't live withouts", and "don't-bother-withs", I can honestly say I left there in near tears. I was FREAKING OUT. What are we going to do? I didn't know what half that stuff was. All it did was make my stomach turn in knots. I have been all excited and thought how much fun this is going to be, but we are having BABIES - not BABY. Seriously...pray for us! Help us get to Babies R Us in one piece!!

How far along? 22 weeks, 3 days
Total weight gain/loss: I haven't weighed myself in a while. I'm kind of scared to. I still look ok (at least in my mind, I do). But I am kind of worried. My doctor's appt in next week, and I am supposed be close to the 24 pound mark...we shall see...
Maternity clothes? I used my Pea in the Pod gift certificate this weekend, and used it on some very expensive Citizens of Humanity jeans. I know, really stupid, right? But everyone keeps telling me how fat and ugly you're going to feel and to get something that you think makes you feel pretty. So, thats what I did. Is it bad that these jeans cost way more than any other jeans in my closet? Probably. And to make it worse, they have them sized like normal jeans, by WAIST SIZE! So, I'm like, "Um, I am assuming this is your pre-pregnancy waist size?" I mean, how cruel!
Best moment this week: Jake got to feel the little girl kick last night. Finally. He is usually asleep by the time they start, and he usually misses it. It was awesome.
Movement: As from the earlier post, they are kicking now! And really, only at night when I am lying on my side really to go to sleep. So, I end up just lying there awake just feeling them move around. So cool.
Waist Diameter: 40.5 inches. Seriously. And I still have a long way to go.
Food cravings: Nothing new this week.
Gender: Still a boy and a girl!
Labor Signs: Nope
Belly Button in or out? Its still halfway, so its not so bad. I think it just popped so early, and looked HUGE, and finally my belly has caught up. However, I still have to wear my Bella Band over it if I wear anything slinky or cotton. That belly button sure does like to pop out and say hello to everyone.
What I miss: Summer! It has turned to fall here really quickly. So, its freezing in the morning and at night, but mid to upper 70's in the day. Crazy! I am really going to miss my flowy dresses. I may have to start actually buying maternity clothes!
What I am looking forward to: My doctor's appointment on Wednesday, Oct 7th. I miss seeing them. And getting the nursery near finished! It's going to be beautiful. I guess I should also say that I'm looking forward to registering at the next two places, but that would be a bald faced lie.
Milestones: They are kicking! And that is the most surreal thing ever. And I love, love, that Jake can feel it too.
Realization of the week: We need to seriously learn what a baby is and how to take care of it :)

22 Weeks- Spaghetti Squash!

Squash casserole anyone?

Baby Stribs - 22 Weeks

How your baby's growing: How your baby's growing:At 11 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound, your baby is starting to look like a miniature newborn. (YAY!!!! - no more alien face!) His lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and he's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath his gums. His eyes have formed, but his irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment. If you could see inside your womb, you'd be able to spot the fine hair (lanugo) that covers his body and the deep wrinkles on his skin, which he'll sport until he adds a padding of fat to fill them in. Inside his belly, his pancreas — essential for the production of some important hormones — is developing steadily.

How your life's changing: At this point, you may find your belly becoming a hand magnet. It's perfectly okay to tell folks who touch your tummy that you'd rather they didn't. (Yeah, everyone has been doing that since about 14 weeks. It really doesn't bother me all that much. I have wanted this for so long, who cares!) And if people are telling you that you look smaller or bigger than you should at this point, remember that each woman grows — and shows — at her own rate. ( Um, does that mean when people tell me I'm ready to pop any day I should tell them to MYOB? Although, it IS funny when I tell them I'm only half-way there!) What's important is that you see your practitioner for regular visits so she can make sure your baby's growth is on track.You may start to notice stretch marks on your abdomen as it expands to accommodate your growing baby. (Woohoo! None yet. I have been slathering on Mustela since 12 weeks now - ppllleeeaase stay away stretch marks!)At least half of all pregnant women will develop stretch marks by the time they give birth. These small streaks of differently textured skin can range from pink to dark brown (depending on your skin color). Although they most commonly appear on your tummy, stretch marks may also show up on your buttocks, thighs, hips, and breasts. There's no proof that lotion helps prevent stretch marks, but keeping your skin moisturized may help with any itching.

Update on the Baby Name Poll

Hmmm, so far there are about 33 votes, and it looks like Jackson is ranking #1 for the boys, and its a tie between Jillian and Julia for the girls. (and poor old Jilena hasn't gotten a single one. That one was a family name, so I'm not completely sold on it, but was wondering what people thought...apparently not very high on the list for some of you)

What about Jocelyn? Why isn't anyone voting for that one? Its my favorite so far, so I am perplexed. Although, I know my sister reads this one alot, so she may be padding the numbers each time she comes on here. Hmmm...

Also, another thought was calling the boy Joshua. What do you think of that? My MIL, Vicki, had a dream the other night about the twins, and they were named Jocelyn and Joshua in her dream :)

Rug for the nursery

This is the rug I am looking at for the nursery. It is from my favorite store, Ballard Designs. I soooo wish they would make nursery furniture, because I would probably buy everything they sold. And, ahem, MOM, I'm sure it would be either glazed or distressed (LOL). Anyway, I am going for a French-type look in the nursery - lots of ivorys and taupes - very light and airy. So, this rug I found at Ballard Designs is really cute.

From Ballard Designs: The elegant poem rug design was created with words from famed 17th century French fabulist, Jean de La Fontaine. La Cigale et La Fourmi tells the story of an industrious ant, a carefree cricket and the end of summer. Inspired by the fables of Aesop, La Fontaine wrote volumes of simple poems using animals to teach real-life lessons.

I like it because 1. its in French, and 2. Its a children's fable - perfect for the nursery! And, its funny, because I really know this story too. It was done in Disney and I have watched it a thousand time. Except Disney's version had a grasshopper instead of a cricket.

Disney's version (the Grasshopper was voiced by Goofy)

Here is the rug translated:

La Cigale et La Fourmi(The Cricket and The Ant)
The cricket, having sung all summer long,

found her foods too few when the north wind blew

Nowhere could she spy a single morsel - worm or fly.

She thought her neighbor, the ant, might help;
and begged her for a bit of grain till summer came back again.

"By next harvest, I'll repay interest and principal both,"

she swore on the animal's oath.

Now, the ant may admit to a fault or two,
But lending is not something she will ever do.

So she asked, "What did you do when the weather was warm?"

"By night and day, to all who came, I sang at every chance."

"You sang, did you? How very nice. Now go and dance."

So, what do you think? Do you like it/hate it? It is too themey? Just I just go with a solid color? I am up in the air about it. Right now I love it, but I wonder if I would hate it over time. Jake's on the fence too.

Baby Steps on the Nursery

No, not from babies, of course. But we did make "some" headway on the nursery. My mom came in town for the weekend and we got to work.

The nursery was formerly an office for an at-home business I once did. It was stationery and invitations, so the office/nursery was full of all kinds of stuff: computer, two printers, fax machine, two desks, tall file cabinet, and boxes of misc things like envelopes, old invitations, bags, shipping materials, etc. Needless to say it was a mess. And worse than that was that I cleaned out ALOT of it before I even became pregnant!

So, after we got it all cleaned out, we worked on the furniture. Mom took to the garage and proceeded to paint the chest of drawers and nightstand. She painted it antique white to match the cribs. We debated and debated on whether or not to buy new nursery furniture, or take the furniture from a guest bedroom and paint it (By the way, the furniture was a beautiful ivory and glzed withchocolate accents. Perfect, right? Except it was ivory, not antique white, so we had to paint it). I decided I would rather take the old furniture and paint it, then get nicer furniture for the guest bedroom. After all, we probably would use the nursery for THAT long, ya know?

So, while mom was painting, Jake and I tackled putting together the cribs. Really, husbands and wives should not at temp this chore together. It just isn't good, LOL. And, we also came to the realization that its not fair that we have to put TWO together. One is bad enough. I am still not understanding why they have to make the thing so dang difficult to put together! Not that I am complaining of the twins, mind you!!

So, here is the nursery with some stuff in it, then empty and then with the cribs put together. We need to bring the furniture upstairs, but I am deciding if I want to glaze it or not. My mom is VERY much against it, but I just love the look - I can't help it. So, I am still making that decision. But, we do have the cribs in place. Now, all we need is the bedding to be made, paint to be on the walls, rug to buy, changing table to buy, and glider to buy. Now, the REALLY fun part is going to see how all of this will fit in this room. See why I said baby steps???

Office/Nursery (we have already cleaned some of it out by this point)

Cleaned out! (Also, the nursery really isn't THAT small, its just that it has weird angles and its hard to get a complete picture of the whole room, and I have a crappy camera that won't zoom out much - I tried...)

The cribs put together! We may decide to put them both against the wall instead of on each side of the window depending on space, but I hope we get to keep them like this.

One of the cribs close up

Fatty at the wedding

Well, I survived the wedding weekend. I didn't have to lift anything, which was super-duper. I did do all the boutonnieres and helped with the bouquets, and other things here and there. And the clean-up afterwards - yikes. The babies had a fab time.

I did not wear the "tent" dress. Whole separate story there. Went to my oh so fabulous seamstress to pick it up on Friday and she started crying and told me it wasn't done. THE DAY BEFORE THE WEDDING. I could have killed her. My friend Larissa's mom did the best she could, but it was just an ugly dress. Everyone thought instead I should wear my back-up from JC Penney's, which I did - and it was knit - even better :)

Here are some pics of Fatty at the Wedding: (its easier to do a slide show when there are so many pictures)

Poll

I added a baby name poll on the right. Be sure to vote!!