This post requires a back story...
Long ago, before Shannon and I got married, we agreed on a few things:
1. We would invest more in our house than we would on any vehicles.
2. We did not believe in celebrating Valentine's Day.
3. We definitely wanted to have more than one child, and we didn't want them to be too far apart.
Regarding rule number 3, we had a slight difference of opinions. Shannon wanted to have two children, while I was thinking that I probably wanted three. So we decided that we'd discuss the option when we got there. "Let's have two," we said, "and then decide where to go from there."
Fast Forward 2 years:
After Adam was born, we were surprised about just how much energy and mischief could be contained within one baby. We frequently mused in exhaustion, "I just don't know how people do it with twins." It was a once a week kind of statement.
Fast Forward another year:
In July of last year, I was told that it would probably be difficult for me to get pregnant due to suspected endometriosis. I was, of course, discouraged by the suggestion, and planned to seek treatment before the end of 2011. In fact, they scheduled a surgery for me in October, but I cancelled it, feeling like it wasn't quite the time to panic and resolved to wait a few more months and see what happens. I had never been so quick to evaluate my life plans, mourn the loss of them, and then rearrange them to fit with the reality in front of me. Rebounding, I believe people call it.
That is, I had never before evaluated so quickly until November 28.
This brings me to the present. And as you have probably surmised from the introduction, I have some big news.
On November 9, while on a work trip to Orlando, I discovered I am pregnant.
On November 28, at my first ultrasound, I discovered I am pregnant with twins.
On December 7, I found a new doctor.
On February 1, we may be able to find out whether Adam is getting 2 younger brothers, 2 younger sisters, or a younger brother and a younger sister. We know that they are fraternal, which helps to reduce a lot of the possible complications (some, not all) that can happen with twin pregnancies. If all goes well and the pregnancy goes to full term, Adam will be about 2 years, 2 months older than they are. We will have THREE babies. How exciting and terrifying all at the same time.
I am a few days away from being 14 weeks along, and already starting to show. For the last 9 weeks I have had a 24 hour dose of every single pregnancy symptom that exists, the most confusing of all being extremely nauseated and starving at the same time, all the time. For about a month, besides barely functioning at work, I would lie in bed in misery while Shannon took care of everything at home. I'm finally starting to be a more productive member of the family again, in spurts.
We spent at least a month in total shock, barely even talking about it. Mostly, I was nervous - not only am I concerned about another life tagging along with me, I'm concerned about TWO lives. Then we got to see them again at the 11 week appointment, and it sealed the reality and happiness for us. Now we are evaluating our budget, our childcare options, our vehicles, our jobs, our storage space, our parenting style, and we are seeking out gently used baby things that we can buy from our friends, because apparently when you decide "the second one won't be as expensive because we already have all the stuff...", that doesn't always hold true!
The two questions I get the most are:
Does it run in your family? No, it doesn't. With fraternal twins it can be passed down on the mother's side, but there is no trend in my family... until now.
Were you taking anything, like fertility drugs? Nope, no drugs.
I'm due July 18, but for twins the hope is to carry them as long as possible, and I'm crossing my fingers that we make it to July 1st or later. The doctors think that might be no problem considering how my pregnancy went with Adam, so we will see.
So the moral of the story is that doctors are not always right, that God made our "2-or-3-Kids?" decision for us, and that if you ask often enough "how people do it with twins," you might just get to find out first hand. All in all, we are thrilled, albeit nervous, and are happy that we are moving into the second trimester and where every doctor's appointment so far has shown healthy babies with strong heartbeats, lots of movement ("whoa, they are active" has been said more than once), and no abnormalities so far.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
My Little Handyman (20 months old)
It seems that with every new day Adam is more and more fun. He has been bursting with personality since birth, but something about being 20 months old has him exploding with opinions, personality and his own little jokes. This morning I decided it would be a good day for a McDonald's breakfast, and got Adam some hotcakes. I let Adam try my orange juice when he asked for a sip (and got a resounding, "YUCK!" afterwards), and halfway through the meal I had apparently earned myself a "Mama! Hi Buddy," and a kiss to express how pleased he was with the breakfast.
His preferences are developing and his individuality is addictive to be around. I simply like being with my kid, who is all boy and all energy, and is rough and fast but sweet and charming. This morning he went for a few laps in the front yard on his four wheeler with Dad, because he just couldn't fall asleep during nap time (he took one later).
While he still only has half of his two top teeth (both are in, but only halfway down), three bottom front teeth, and one or two random incisors halfway back, this guy doesn't believe in doing things on other people's timelines and is already getting his two year old molars. Ouch.
For a while he would voice his displeasure with a growl - which typically meant he needed his paci, and NOW. But in the last few days he's come to realize that the growl isn't quite as effective as the cute little head tilt, signing and saying "pwease??" Yesterday he asked for a sip of my mom's watered down Diet Coke, and managed after a few back and forths to say "pwease??" and get the cup away, then tell her it was "All gone," (It wasn't), and then wave "bye," where he took the cup with him and returned to the floor to continue to play Legos with Uncle Chris. Sneaky.
He has started to voluntarily point out who people are without any prompting, but the person who has gotten this special treatment the most lately (other than Shannon, who gets it just by being in the same room) is my dad, who gets a point and a "Grandpa!" when ever Adam sees him. Everyone also gets a "hi" and a "bye," when he leaves the room, especially Eli and now Caley (or Cay-ee.)
Baths are one of his favorite times of the day, and he could stay in the bath for hours. 80% of the time (whether because of bad timing or just bad luck), he (ah-hem) poos in the tub. When he does, he FREAKS and scrambles to get out as quickly as he can. This weekend I realized just how often Shannon does the cleaning as opposed to me, because after a long bath the unmentionable happened, and Adam scrambled out of the tub, and while I wrapped him in his towel and told him we'd get dressed and come back to clean the tub in a minute, Adam called, "DADDY!".... "DADDY!"
Well, Dad was at a work event all day and wasn't there to help, but apparently he's the optimal choice for those situations. I'm okay with that.
As a treat today, Adam got to take a bath in Mom and Dad's bathroom with the spa bubbles and everything.
Adam moved up to the next classroom at school this week, and it is a couple of months late (class size was limited, and now Ms. Tiffany is going to move up with him!). The adjustment is still difficult, but he seems to really like being with the older kids. I can already see that he is getting the right type of stimulation and has already moved from two word phrases to three words at a time or more. Top of the list this week were "I need a pa (paci)!" and "Where'd he go??" (which was not Gus is favorite game this morning as we chased him from bedroom to bedroom). Beyond stringing phrases together, yesterday he told me with words that he did not want to eat lunch, and then grabbed his blanket and told me it was time for "nap."
Speaking of pacis, we are on our way back to eliminating them. Two weeks ago we had another rough go-around with that nasty RSV and a couple of persistent ear infections, which meant a paci almost 24-7 and a LOT of Toy Story in Mom and Dad's bed. He's gotten so adjusted to breathing treatments that he hardly notices the machine is on (well, as long as Woody and Buzz are on TV), and whenever he sees a tissue, he takes matters into his own hands and wipes his own nose.When he sneezes, he'll point to his face and say "Nose!" which means, "help!" and in an episode that really made me laugh, he wiped his nose with his jacket sleeve accidentally, just after I had put it on him. He saw the mess on his jacket and immediately burst out an "OH NO!" He was truly concerned, and held out his arm until I could get a tissue to clean him up.
He's a little handy man and loves to help Dad fix things or put things together. Adam's new wagon that he got for Christmas needed some adjustments, and he couldn't let Dad just do it all on his own! Below are some videos and pictures of him helping out.
His preferences are developing and his individuality is addictive to be around. I simply like being with my kid, who is all boy and all energy, and is rough and fast but sweet and charming. This morning he went for a few laps in the front yard on his four wheeler with Dad, because he just couldn't fall asleep during nap time (he took one later).
While he still only has half of his two top teeth (both are in, but only halfway down), three bottom front teeth, and one or two random incisors halfway back, this guy doesn't believe in doing things on other people's timelines and is already getting his two year old molars. Ouch.
For a while he would voice his displeasure with a growl - which typically meant he needed his paci, and NOW. But in the last few days he's come to realize that the growl isn't quite as effective as the cute little head tilt, signing and saying "pwease??" Yesterday he asked for a sip of my mom's watered down Diet Coke, and managed after a few back and forths to say "pwease??" and get the cup away, then tell her it was "All gone," (It wasn't), and then wave "bye," where he took the cup with him and returned to the floor to continue to play Legos with Uncle Chris. Sneaky.
He has started to voluntarily point out who people are without any prompting, but the person who has gotten this special treatment the most lately (other than Shannon, who gets it just by being in the same room) is my dad, who gets a point and a "Grandpa!" when ever Adam sees him. Everyone also gets a "hi" and a "bye," when he leaves the room, especially Eli and now Caley (or Cay-ee.)
Baths are one of his favorite times of the day, and he could stay in the bath for hours. 80% of the time (whether because of bad timing or just bad luck), he (ah-hem) poos in the tub. When he does, he FREAKS and scrambles to get out as quickly as he can. This weekend I realized just how often Shannon does the cleaning as opposed to me, because after a long bath the unmentionable happened, and Adam scrambled out of the tub, and while I wrapped him in his towel and told him we'd get dressed and come back to clean the tub in a minute, Adam called, "DADDY!".... "DADDY!"
Well, Dad was at a work event all day and wasn't there to help, but apparently he's the optimal choice for those situations. I'm okay with that.
As a treat today, Adam got to take a bath in Mom and Dad's bathroom with the spa bubbles and everything.
Adam moved up to the next classroom at school this week, and it is a couple of months late (class size was limited, and now Ms. Tiffany is going to move up with him!). The adjustment is still difficult, but he seems to really like being with the older kids. I can already see that he is getting the right type of stimulation and has already moved from two word phrases to three words at a time or more. Top of the list this week were "I need a pa (paci)!" and "Where'd he go??" (which was not Gus is favorite game this morning as we chased him from bedroom to bedroom). Beyond stringing phrases together, yesterday he told me with words that he did not want to eat lunch, and then grabbed his blanket and told me it was time for "nap."
Speaking of pacis, we are on our way back to eliminating them. Two weeks ago we had another rough go-around with that nasty RSV and a couple of persistent ear infections, which meant a paci almost 24-7 and a LOT of Toy Story in Mom and Dad's bed. He's gotten so adjusted to breathing treatments that he hardly notices the machine is on (well, as long as Woody and Buzz are on TV), and whenever he sees a tissue, he takes matters into his own hands and wipes his own nose.When he sneezes, he'll point to his face and say "Nose!" which means, "help!" and in an episode that really made me laugh, he wiped his nose with his jacket sleeve accidentally, just after I had put it on him. He saw the mess on his jacket and immediately burst out an "OH NO!" He was truly concerned, and held out his arm until I could get a tissue to clean him up.
He's a little handy man and loves to help Dad fix things or put things together. Adam's new wagon that he got for Christmas needed some adjustments, and he couldn't let Dad just do it all on his own! Below are some videos and pictures of him helping out.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Christmas 2011
Our Christmas came and went, almost so quickly that if you blinked you might have missed it. We put up the tree around the time that all the "normal" people do, but the lights weren't fixed and the ornaments didn't go on it until two days before Christmas (Adam really liked the "balls!" and was actually better behaved about how many he took off at one time than we expected), and then the whole tree came down New Year's Eve (Adam's favorite part was un-decorating the tree).
But just because it was fast and there wasn't a big to-do, doesn't mean it wasn't fun. Adam picked up the concept of presenting opening quickly and tore right through his gifts with style. He had some practice after meeting up with Shannon's side of the family in Mena, Arkansas the week before Christmas for an early celebration, where he got some cars, some trucks, and a basketball hoop, all of which he loves.
Then on Christmas day, Santa gave him . . . well, let's just see:
After opening presents and having a pancake breakfast, we dressed Adam in his nice Christmas clothes before going to my parent's house. We tried to grab a picture but that didn't turn out so well. He looked great but for once in his life wasn't in the mood for pictures.
At my parent's house Adam opened what turned out to be his favorite gift of all... a huge, red, deluxe wagon complete with cup holders and a cooler seat. He spent the day letting Chris wheel him around the house and up and down the street, flirting with Robin at the dinner table and showing off his growl to Mamie and Grandpa. There are pictures, but I'll have to steal them from my mom in order to share.
All in all, it was a good day and a fun second Christmas for Adam.
But just because it was fast and there wasn't a big to-do, doesn't mean it wasn't fun. Adam picked up the concept of presenting opening quickly and tore right through his gifts with style. He had some practice after meeting up with Shannon's side of the family in Mena, Arkansas the week before Christmas for an early celebration, where he got some cars, some trucks, and a basketball hoop, all of which he loves.
Then on Christmas day, Santa gave him . . . well, let's just see:
 |
| The loot under the tree. |
 |
| His new lawn mower. |
 |
| Filling it up with gas. |
 |
| Starting it up. |
 |
| After the lawn mower we needed to remind him of the gifts still under the tree, so he opened this one next. |
 |
| A Weed Trimmer to go with the lawn mower! |
 |
| It's just what I wanted! |
 |
| For a while the best part about the weed trimmer was the matching goggles.... |
 |
| The phone from Toy Story 3 |
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| On Christmas Eve, Adam got a huge box of Lego Duplos from the Racklers... little did he know, Santa brought him a small box of Duplos too. They are incredibly fun to spill on the floor, and he's gotten pretty good at stacking them too. |
At my parent's house Adam opened what turned out to be his favorite gift of all... a huge, red, deluxe wagon complete with cup holders and a cooler seat. He spent the day letting Chris wheel him around the house and up and down the street, flirting with Robin at the dinner table and showing off his growl to Mamie and Grandpa. There are pictures, but I'll have to steal them from my mom in order to share.
All in all, it was a good day and a fun second Christmas for Adam.
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