Happy Thanksgiving 2009

Getting stronger
Originally uploaded by Sunshine C.

This Thanksgiving we spent it in southern Minnesota with Clay's family. It was the first road-trip with the boys and they ended up being great travelers (better than Bea was at their age, I might add).

We left Thanksgiving day, and they made the 3+ hour drive mostly asleep. With about an hour left of the drive they woke up thinking they wanted to eat. But they are so easy going I was able to convince them they could wait and they ended up falling asleep for the last 20 minutes of the drive.

Once we arrived they were promptly whisked away by relatives and their diapers were changed (Thanks K & A!). The dinner was fabulous and we had a great time playing a home version of Jeopardy. Bea had a good time playing with everyone.

The boys slept OK (again, better than Bea did at her age on a road-trip) and we spent Friday hanging out, coming up with Christmas wish lists, eating, napping or hiking. My sister-in-law Kari and I realized we both loved to play a card game called Nertz and we had a great time trying to out-play each other.

During this time the boys both really started lifting their heads up during tummy time. What a sight to see!

Inspired by Food Librarian

I'm not the craftiest person in the world. I attempt very little in terms of decorating projects, art projects, making my own gifts, baking, etc. Last night, to make a boring meal of leftovers more exciting I decided to make cupcakes.

So using a boxed cake mix (gasp!) Bea and I made 24 dark chocolate cupcakes.

Before we started though, I investigated my options for frosting. My good friend, The Food Librarian, always writes in her blog about "then I whipped up an easy batch of powdered sugar frosting". So I looked in my Sunset Easy Basics for Good Cooking (1982; my mom gave it to me when I went away to college in 1992) and found a recipe for Fluffy Butter Frosting (p. 181).

I made a half recipe (mostly because I only had 1/2 a pound of powdered sugar) and then colored half the frosting orange and the other half purple. I had just enough Halloween themed M&M's to top each cupcake.

Bea got to frost two cupcakes all by herself. She kept proclaiming, "I love frosting."

The Remodel

Watch the progress of the remodel on our house:

Oh, the girl

Gosh I love this girl. Beatrice is growing up so fast. I took this picture of her the other day after I had painted her nails and she looked so big and grown-up to me in the photo. She's taken a big blow with the arrival of the twins. She's a typical three-year old, full of independence and neediness, and I wish I had more time to focus on just her. Oh well.

She loves to hug and kiss Simon & Oliver. She also loves to dance like a ballerina. She has a tu-tu which she quickly puts on anytime we have visitors. Here she is posing with Oliver.

She also moved into the preschool on campus, and so that's added another component of change to her life. Luckily she transitioned with her best friend and she also knows most of the kids in her classroom. Here she is sitting with her best friend on the merry-go-round. I laughed because I told them to hold on tight and they proceeded to hold onto each other as well. :)

This last photo is of her and my Uncle John (my father's brother) down at Canal Park when they visited in July. I just thought this was a cute photo of them talking and her holding onto his hand. The last time she saw him was two years ago, so to her it was like the first time.

Announcing......

Introducing our new arrivals on July 22, 2009:

Simon Francis
5 pounds, 3 ounces
18 inches
8:59 p.m.

&

Oliver Amos
7 pounds, 1 ounce
19.3 inches
9:10 p.m.

Now that I've had 7 hours of sleep since midnight, I have some energy to post.

The boys arrived on Wednesday July 22nd, 2009. From first contraction to Simon's delivery was 2 hours and 15 minutes. I don't recommend attempting such a quick labor alone! :) A more descriptive birth story will be coming soon.

All the stars aligned for having a natural twin deliver with minimal intervention (babies both head down, no epidural, no IV (until after deliver), no cesarean and my back-up doctor on call). St. Luke's Hospital delivers twins in the operating room, which tells you a little bit about the way most twin deliveries go.

Here are some photos:


Simon after he'd been cleaned up


Oliver after he'd been cleaned up


Proud mama with Oliver & Simon (all looking a little beat up)


Bea's first interaction with Oliver


Bea's first interaction with Simon


Proud Clay holding his two boys (Oliver & Simon)


Leaving the hospital on July 25, 2009


Simon nursing on Oliver's hand


Oliver & Simon nose to nose

The Belly & Bedrest

As you all probably know, we're expecting twin boys on August 21st.

I've been on bedrest for the past 11 days, and only 10 days left to go. Then I can increase my activity and let nature takes its course.

Lots of you have been asking for belly shots, and so here they are. Don't worry, I'm fully clothed. ;) Also, if you want to see what we've been up to this summer, go here.

17 weeks (Seattle, WA)


24 weeks, 5 days (Richmond, VA)


30 weeks, 4 days (Last picture before we sold our Honda Civic)


32 weeks, 5 days (Relaxing)


34 weeks, 2 days (just a belly shot)

At last.....

Summer is here! It's beach time.

We had a great evening at the beach with great friends. Our five little girls swam and rolled in the sand.


Bea assessing the lake. First order of business when we got there was for her to put on her suit. She'd been looking forward to our beach evening all day. We got there around 4:30, 70 degrees.




Bea & Sam getting ready to swim....actually they were rolling around in the sand just after this picture was taken.



Sam's sister Izzy loves to take care of the littler kids. Here is Bea in what she called a bear. Bea had a blast.



Bea didn't even know this ladybug was on her forehead.


Here's the bigger picture. The little ones play on the shore while the "big" girls play out in the water. See how far they can go and still be standing.

Thanks to Kara & Jill for helping me out with Bea!

Two Peas in One Pod

In case you haven't heard, we found out that we weren't expecting one new arrival, but two (we only found out three weeks ago, so yes, it was a surprise for us too).

I'm a little over 26 weeks along and doing well. The goal now is to just gain 2 pounds a week and keep these babies in until at least 36 weeks (for those not in the know, 40 weeks is full term for one baby).

We had our second ultrasound today for the two boys. We need ultrasounds every three weeks because they could be identical (only one placenta was found, and both are boys; identical twins run the risk of having something called twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome).

And if you are wondering if twins run in the family, consider this:
If they are identical, it doesn't matter. There is no hereditary factor predisposing one to have identical twins. The rate for identical twins is the same worldwide no matter your age, race, geography, etc.
If they are fraternal, then it's good to know that my grandfather was a twin. Or because of my "advanced maternal age" ha ha.

Anyway, here is an awesome photo of Baby A. Its nose is squished because it is pressed up against the membrane.



This is the best photo they could get of Baby B. If you focus, you can see the baby's face in the middle of the photo, facing the left side of your monitor. There was a lot of interference for this photo.



More updates to come.

Poland, continued

More pictures of Poland, 2008:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sunshinec/sets/72157606952486958/

Christmas in town

Before we left town for Christmas in California, we had a great time celebrating at our house.

We decorated our tree. B was more interested in hauling the tree decorations from the table to a decorator. She really didn't want to put stuff on the tree herself.


Posing for pictures in front of the tree.


We had friends over for a Christmas-y dinner and despite the bad weather we had a great time. This is B and her friend giving a recital of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.


We had our own Christmas morning the day before we left for California. Here is B opening her last gift....a kitchen sent by her Grandma C. She loves it. She spent all morning playing with her new stove and sink.

A new arrival

Our new furniture finally arrived...minus one overstuffed chair which has a fabric delay. With extreme help from my friend Kate, I finally have a living room that has a unified look.

The overstuffed chair will go where the white folding IKEA chair is. Wall hangings and rugs are the next step, along with a table lamp for the black sofa table or the fern stand (not sure where to put it yet).

What a difference!

ABCDEFG

B loves to sing. Here she is singing the alphabet song in December.

Polar Express Take II

So this December, we again went on the Polar Express, with the same group of people we did last year. Bea was scared of Santa, but enjoyed the train ride and bell more.

2007:


2008:


Note: The two children in the middle are switched in the photos.

Posts coming

OK. You've been asking. Here come some more posts.

First, I'd like to show you a project we've been working on. Well, Twin Ports Flooring actually. We decided to have our maple floors refinished on the main floor. Sixty years is a long time to wait to refinish. I'm so glad we decided to do it. Here's a before and after of the living room & dining room. The bedrooms get started in a couple of weeks.

Before: You can see there used to be a bedroom in the living room. They had cut out the flooring and inserted 2x6's to help frame out the wall and closet, so a patch was necessary. This was a surprise when we pulled out the carpet.


After