I am SUCH a bad blogger!

I totally meant to blog this entire pregnancy.  But I guess life happens and time goes too fast and all that jazz.

Anyway I am 26 weeks pregnant at this point.  Only 13 weeks to go!  I am scheduled to have the babies on 11/21 at 8:30am.  I really hope to make it that far.  The doctors watch multiple pregnancies very closely for any signs of pre term labor (PTL) and so far, so good.  I see the MFM (high risk doctor at the hospital) for the 3rd time today.  Baby boy has some extra fluid in his kidneys so she is keeping an eye on him.  I alternate between seeing my regular OB (who hopefully will be delivering the babies) and the MFM.  Lots of extra visits and also lots of extra peeks at the babies!  So far I have had 8 ultrasounds, with #9 scheduled for this afternoon.  I have been feeling really good for the most part.  I started acupuncture 3 weeks ago and that has been helping with the "aches and pains" and it also helps with some of the hormonal joys of pregnancy.  I look forward to it every week. 

Kinsley is doing great.  She is a really silly, funny, happy little girl.  She is learning new things everyday and always surprises Adam and I with a new word or saying that she didn't know yesterday.  I will do a picture post of her separately in the near future. 

I promise to post more going forward!  Cheers!

Twins!

Sorry for the lack of updates but life got crazy ---- quick!  We found out a few months ago that we were expecting and would be adding to our family this fall.  Imagine our surprise to learn that we are having twins!  Twice the blessing.  It has been a lot to wrap our heads around but we are also very excited.  We go back in 2 weeks to see the little turkeys again. 

I have been very tired and have had a lot of morning sickness.  Morning sickness for me = all day sickness.  Just part of the ride I know but no fun all the same.  I am starting to feel a little better every day. 

I will be sure to update through out  my pregnancy.  I am determined to capture every second of this since it will surely be my last time being pregnant!  :)

xoxo
Jen

Cookies!

Adam and I (and our fabulous little helper Kinsley) have been making TONS of cookies for the holidays.  I wanted to share some of the recipes since they came out really good.

Cookie #1
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/shortbread-cookies-recipe/index.html

These are really impressive.  The dough was easy to make and only needed a few ingredients.  We had fun dipping them in chocolate.  Yum!

Cookie #2
http://www.hersheys.com/recipes/8362/KISSES-Candy-Cane-Blossoms.aspx

These are visually appealing.  They smell and look like Christmas.  We didn't have red or green sprinkles so we had to improvise.  We seperated the dough in 2 and used food coloring to make the dough red and green.  They look great!

Cookie #3
http://tootsie.com/rec_pepcrunch.php

These cookies were fun to make.  I don't like coconut or pecans so we omitted those from the recipe.  They taste so yummy and I have had trouble keeping myself away from them. 

We also plan on making regular chocolate chip cookies and maybe some peanut butter cookies as well.  I hope our neighbors enjoy our tasty treats!

A family is in need...

Please read this and consider helping this poor family!

My Family Has Cancer: Update on Saoirse: Hi All. Saoirse has been very sick with a swollen liver for the past few weeks. Confirmed by an MIBG test today the neuroblastoma has attac...

Every weekend should be 4 days long!

I meant to write this yesterday but trying to escape work for blog time for more than 3 seconds after a long holiday weekend was a big, fat, not very funny joke. 

Anyway, last Thursday was Thanksgiving.  I was thankful for a lot this year and I was happy to have my family with me for the holiday.  We were all together at Nana's (aka Peter's) house and I felt like she was there with us. 

The rest of the weekend was totally great.  We decorated outside with Christmas lights and listened to a lot of holiday music.  Kinsley loves music and dances around the house anytime we play it.  Music Together class was apparently not scheduled for Sunday because of the holiday weekend so Kinsley and I showed up to an empty place bright and early that morning.  That is the 2nd time I have done that.  I am really glad she is not old enough to be disappointed yet.  We went shopping instead and bought more Christmas lights because apparently once I start decorating I just can't stop. 

Anyway, yesterday was back to reality and I already can't wait for Friday.  Hmph.

CPR class

What are the current recommendations for performing CPR?  How do you help a child or adult if they are choking?  I realized that I wasn't sure about either of those questions.  So last night I attended a American Heart Association CPR for Friends & Family course.  Adam and I learned infant cpr during our childbirth class but I wasn't sure what to do now that Kinsley is no longer an infant.  And clearly this is the kind of imformation you want to have before you need it.

The class was held at a friend's house in Bellingham.  There were 5 of us there attending and the class was taught by one of our other friends.  We spent 3 hours learning CPR for adults, children and infants as well as "Aid to the Choking Victim" for all 3 age groups.  The class was conducted by both a video and the instructor and we praticed our newly learned techniques on adult and infant manikins (or mannequins?  I had no idea it could be spelled both ways). 

Anyway the class was very helpful and I feel a bit more prepared in case of an emergency.  Though knowing how I tend to react in scary situations, I will proabbly just freeze and look helplessly to my husband for help.  :)

Cheers!

Love Jen

Just another manic Monday!

Mondays are the worst.  I don't dislike my job but I wish I could be a stay at home mom and spend the days with Kinsley.  But I can't so I'll stop whining about it. 

This past weekend was very low key, which is unusual for us.  We usually have a lot going on. 

Saturday I didn't feel so well so Kinsley and I spent the whole day in our pajamas.  It was a nice, lazy day.  Adam did some work outside... we still have a huge tree down in our yard from the freak October snowstorm.  He has gotten it off the shed and cut it down some.  We are in desperate need of a chainsaw as it is a lot of work to do this manually.  Maybe Santa will bring him one for Christmas.  :)  It was really nice outside and Kinsley got to play with her toys out there one last time before they got put away for the winter.  She is really good at going up and down her slides all by herself.  She could just go up and down a hundred times and she doesn't seem to get bored.  I always miss being outside when it gets dark so early but I will especially miss getting to play outside with her.

Sunday Kinsley and I had Music Together class in the morning.  She was really shy at the beginning of class because we had missed a couple of weeks.  By the middle of class she was dancing and clapping and having a lot of fun.  I really enjoy the class as well - it is fun getting to act like a kid!  I think we are about halfway through our semester there.  I am torn between taking it again or trying out something new next time.  I think she would really enjow a tumbling class so maybe we will check that out next time.  I made some baked potato soup (here is the recipe).  It came out pretty good.  I didn't have any chicken stock so I used water and I added extra bacon.  I have made this recipe before and it definitely tastes better with the stock. 

After Kinsley went to bed Adam and I caught up on the Steelers game we had dvr'd (yay for the NFL Sunday Ticket).  It was a good win!  The Patriots had a good win yesterday too and I am sure my family and friends who are Pats fans enjoyed watching that game.

The weekends go by too quick.  It was a good one even though I didn't feel my best.  The weather was beautiful and I spent it with my family, who could ask for more?!?

Cheers to the beginning of another week!

Love Jen