My Little Man....Growing Up

Today my little man, soon-to-be-BIG-brother, turns 3.
Gage Thomas.....

• You are a NUT. Every time you act goofy, I want to roll my eyes at you, but you are my little boy, and anyone who knows me will know that I wouldn't have produced anything different. You and I are definitely goofy together.
• You are such a Daddy's boy. You look just like your Daddy, and even though you act more like me....you would much prefer to hang out with your Daddy ....although you are getting better at giving me kisses and hugs "just because".
• You love to sing; you sing your ABC's, Twinkle Twinkle...and the "Bumble Bee" song from preschool. I have to learn that one, b/c I still can't quite figure out all the words.
• You love to be outdoors...and you currently enjoy being naked! You run through the yard and the house yelling "Nak-eeeeeee" and it's a chore to get you to put your swim trunks back on. Good thing we live in the country!
• Even though the constant "Why's" and "How Comes" and "Why did you just say that mommy?" get a little annoying....I LOVE that you are so inquisitive and want to know exactly what is going on around you at.all.times.
• I love that you kiss my belly each and every night to say goodnight to your baby brothers. The first couple of months are going to be challenging, Gage....for us all. But I promise you. PROMISE YOU.....

You will always be our "First" baby....
and you will forever hold a special place in our hearts. WE LOVE YOU!

(Yes, this is Gage in our new double stroller...and in an infant seat. He insisted that he be given a ride around the house in it......)

35 Week Update

I'm sure getting creative on these titles, aren't I?
Nothing new to report.

Stress test went fine...heartbeats both 140-150's. Baby on the left still the stinker of a lifetime; kicks at the monitor, knocks it off and is constantly moving to where I pretty much have to hold the monitor to keep it in place. Baby on the right just lays there for the entire time, nice and quiet. It will be SO interesting to see if these personalities pan out when they are in the outside world.
I've named them each, but will wait to share on this site, although most know the names anyhow....just my little bit of suspense I still have control over! Baby on left (naughty one) is going to be Gage's partner-in-crime and baby on my right is going to be my snuggly little mama's boy. A mom can only dream. Sigh.

Had a bit of a scare last night as I was really crampy and uncomfortable; more so than normal. But all seems to be going fine today. We are headed to spend some time with friends this afternoon for a short while, and Tim may take Gage to the neighbors for fireworks and a bonfire, but this super pregnant mom will be taking her place on the couch. There are imprints of my belly and rear end on this couch, no lie. Sad.

Tomorrow is my "baby's" 3rd birthday. A post of pictures and a look back at the past 3 years to follow...hopefully tomorrow or early Monday morning.

Happy and Safe 4th to all!

34 Week Update

These may be getting boring to some of you, but I know for my families' sake and those that I know read this religiously, it's nice to hear the updates each week...

Dr. appt. went fine. No measurements taken today, just the usual "stress test" which monitors heartbeats and contractions. All is going well with no concerns.

My back is really really hurting, no lie. I am on the couch or in a seated position more hours in the day than I'm not.

Dr. did say that July 20th will be our "discussion" date. If the babies are not here by then (37.5 weeks) we will discuss induction options, for the babies' safety. I really do not want to be induced, so I'm hoping they come out on their own time before then...
for more reasons than one!

Otherwise not much new to report on. Just laying low this week and being helped out by 2 of my wonderful friends, Lisa and Denise. They've taken Gage for me one day each this week for the entire day---I am very blessed. I feel less guilty knowing he's having fun playing rather than watching his mom lay on the couch all day....poor kid.

Updates as they are necessary to follow!

33 weeks and GETTING SO EXCITED!

My friend Mel emailed this picture to me today and it just gave me BUTTERFLIES. Of course it helps that these two little chubcakes are super cute, and the y look very similar to the kind of babies I'll probably produce.....but I just can't believe in 5 months I could be taking pictures like this and sharing with you all......AH! Thanks, Melsy--and thanks for reading!
33 week appointment went well today. I am still having ultrasounds every 4 weeks, so I won't get another one until week 36...
it's getting to the point where I can say, "If I even make it that long", but I'm hoping to, even if my feet are enormous right now and I sort of feel ready to go. I can do eeeet!

I did, however, get hooked up to the fetal monitors today for the first time and will be doing this "stress test" at each appointment from here on out. Baby "B" (currently on my left--my little stinker!) would not cooperate with us. The Dr. puts on a contraction monitor and then a heartbeat monitor for each. We are just making sure there are no rapid declines or inclines in the babies heartrates at this point and also checking for any contractions that may be happening. No contractions yet, except for Braxton-Hicks, which are pretty constant in the evening hours, and both heartrates were between 140-150 consistently.

All is good! I am even smiling today......
I'm really impressing myself with what a good sport I am being. Tim would beg to differ, and my mom and Katie have had a few tearful phonecalls, but I think I've only cried a handful of times this time around as compared w/ my pregnancy with Gage, which was almost daily toward the end. I'm just an emotional puddle, and like most women when pregnant, you just get to a point where you want your body back. But I feel that my body was most definitely made for this; I've been so blessed since Day 1 in carrying these twins. I could be a surrogate!

I haven't ruled that out....
but Tim would have to move out for those 9 months though!!!!!!!

Comparison

First of all, does anyone know how to put photos side-by-side in a post? Can it even be done?

Anyhow, I was hoping to put these side-by-side to get a better effect, but I can't figure it out.
I have been flipping through my files going back to look at myself pregnant with Gage, just out of curiosity, and just had to share...

This is me at 39 weeks pregnant with Gage, the last week of June 2006. This is the last belly shot I have of myself pregnant with Gage.


Now THIS is me at 33 weeks pregnant with twins....I think I've officially "passed" my largest size! I thought it was about the same, but in looking at these, I'm thinking that I just may be bigger right now than I was a FULL TERM last time. This is CRAZY. I still cannot believe this is me...carrying TWO CHILDREN at the same time. Unreal. Unbelievable. Amazing. I am blessed.

I will post more as the weeks go on. And I'm sure we will all continue to be amazed.

FUN Weekend

Wow. We had an amazing family weekend. Gage has been a little challenging the past couple of weeks, and this entire weekend we had our "old" little boy back...
just proves that toddler-hood is a stage, and that you have to take the good days with the bad. He was in such an amazing mood all weekend long, and all three of us went to bed with huge smiles on our faces!

On Friday night, Tim needed to go and pick up his ATV from the shop after a little "water" incident the weekend prior. We drove to pick it up only to find that the shop closed 30 minutes earlier. Tim was disappointed of course, but I said, "Let's go out for dinner!" So we picked a family-friendly Mexican restaurant that has a large fish tank that Gage loves, and had a nice dinner out together--which is rare. Gage is not the best sit-down-and-eat kind of person at home, much less while in public. He's getting better.

Saturday, my friend Beth and her kids Cam and Addie came to play. I've been VERY bad with the camera lately, as my friend Stacy and daughter Annika came to stay last week Monday-Tuesday AND I have weekly playdates that could turn up some cute pictures, but I've been neglectful of taking photos at all these moments. Anyhow, the kids played all Saturday morning while Beth and visited and then we had lunch and they headed out for errands and Gage went down for his nap. After nap, we went to the neighbor's daughters' graduation party for a short while, and then out to dinner with friends! We had Japanese food at a fabulous restaurant, with good company, and ice cream for dessert.

Finally on Sunday, we took Gage to a local Trout Farm. This place is perfect for kids' Gage's age, as you are guaranteed a bite almost at every cast--there are tons of fish, and they fight over the worm. Therefore it is great for little one's with short attention spans and little patience!
We spent a good 2 hours there, catching 6 fish and enjoying a picnic lunch. Gage had a BLAST, as you can see by the pictures!

We then went to our friends' cabin which was only another 15 miles away (they are SO LUCKY!) and Gage and Tim got to swim, play in the sand, while I sat on the pontoon until we took it for a ride! It couldn't have been a better weekend in relation to the weather, OR in relation to good friendships and family time.

I'm really glad we got this weekend in, as I don't know how many more weekends the 3 of us will have together...before the boys arrive!

Summer Preschool

I enrolled Gage in a summer pre-school program that started last week and goes through the second week of July. Too bad it didn't start in July and go through August, as this may have worked better for him to get out of here a couple of days for some "big boy" time once the twins arrive, however this has been giving me some time to get some appointments covered and errands ran.

I tried very hard to get a good picture of him before we left on his very first morning last week, however he was not cooperating. Here are a few pictures that my friend Denise took, as her son Nathan is on the right. Trent is the little boy in the middle and another one of Gage's good buddies.

He has really been enjoying it. They have "free play" time when they first arrive, then circle time, with songs and stories, a craft, and then snack. Yesterday Gage was so excited that I knew a song he had learned, and after the song was over he would say, "Okay, now go to the table and sit down for your snack". We sang the song 3 times, and he said the directions 3 times. I guess structure is a good thing!

I have him enrolled in the same program beginning in September and going through the entire school year. I still can't believe my "Baby" is no longer my baby, and that he is growing up so fast.