Where Does The Time Go?

So much has happened since the last time I updated. My summer was taken over by the incessent push of two online classes condensed into a shorter amount of time. I feel as if I've missed some of the most important moments of my babies' lives but at the same time, I know that in the end this will help us all to have a somewhat better life. And that's what makes our snuggles even more special and priceless than they already are. The twins are growing so fast and are now 8 months old! I remember yelling at my husband for picking out the wrong pants for me to wear to rush into the hospital on Christmas Eve morning and then hearing the tiny cries of the most precious babies. And now I look at them. Where 8 months ago, neither had hair, teeth or chubby legs, all that has changed; well for Seth anyway. He's rocking the blonde hair and two goober teeth. And those legs, oh his legs! Such little chunks haha. Lucia on the other hand is still looking like an old man with no hair or teeth. Poor little princess :-( But oh, when she smiles she lights up the world. They both do. No matter what's happening, when they smile and their eyes sparkle, you can't help but smile and hold them that much tighter. They're moving along the floor now so no more relaxing for Mommy and Daddy. Seth pulls himself along while Lucia has a motor in her butt that propels her faster than we could have ever imagined. Lucia is fairly quiet. Oh, she babbles and coos and laughs when you get lucky, but overall she is content with observing the world in which she now inhabits. This, however, cannot be said of the Man Child. No, Seth doesn't care to observe. Instead, he feels the need to be heard and be heard again and again. No longer does he have the quiet voice of the child I knew the first week of Christmas last year. No, now each scream tries to top the one before. And he shows no discrimination. Instead, he fills the world with noise, happy not upset screaming, at the house, at the grocery store, at church, especially during the prayers...makes no real difference to him. His blue eyes sparkle like ice on a lake and they remind me so much of my grandmother who passed away only two weeks before their birth. He also still has his Angel Kiss that I'm convinced she gave her little Gene. And when all is said and done, it's time for bed ~ one of my favorite and worst parts of the day. The worst, in some ways, is that while the babies love to play with Daddy during the day, it's Mommy's arms that they want to fall asleep in. Well, they haven't grasped the concept that Mommy can only snuggle one to sleep at a time. We've tried it all together, but they push each other too much for prime real estate, that it just doesn't happen. So while it's hard to hear the other one upset and the fact that from 8-10 I can do absolutely nothing else, I also love it. We rock in the chair, hum soft lullabies and watch as their eyes drift closed. With a tender kiss and an "I love you," I lay each one down in their cribs, say the "Now I lay me down" prayer, whipser my love again and leave their room for the night. And I know that someday they'll be too big for me to rock in my arms like that, but I never want that day to come. I love the fact that I'm so loved and needed by these miraculous blessings. That God loves me enough to entrust Justin and I with the caring of his children. My constant prayer is that we can show them the right way to live and how to bless His name in everything they do.

Watching them change

Our beautiful cousin demand that I share the happenings of this crazy life with you all this week so here it goes.
It’s been about 5 weeks since we were blessed with the arrival of our twins and I’m loving every minute of it. Well, ok. Maybe those times during the dead of night when only weirdos and ax-wielding maniacs are up, but yet I still set with my loves, does and they’re perfect and I know that even in those late nights/early mornings that I am indeed blessed and take joy in knowing that. Schoolwork has been harder because even though I am able to stay home all day and work on it, Seth and Lucia come first. Besides, I much rather gaze at my lil ones than rate the site based on ITERS or write running records. Justin has been helping out with all that though. We love having him home with us all day now! We enjoy just setting here looking at our little blessings.
Lucia is continuing to show her diva attitude. While neither believe they should ever be put down for more than a second, she makes her wishes known loud and clear. It’s fun to watch her start to get upset because her brows come together and her bottom lip slowly juts out before the crying begins. It’s during this time most people have commented that she looks like me. Huh, doesn’t sound like the nicest comment but sadly I can see it as well ;-) She sleeps with her mouth open like a little fly-catcher. Right now Lucia has dark slate colored eyes that take in the world around her. I wonder if she’ll have dark eyes like mine. She started to hold her head up before Seth and loves to rock out with Daddy. She is truly his angel.
Seth’s personality is revealing itself more. He is awake more now and just stares with his giant ice blue eyes. He’s going to need to grow into those suckers lol. When he cries he revs up from a couple little spurts to full-blown freak out. He has more hair than Lucia but it’s around the back of his head like Grandpa J Seth has gotten so much bigger than Lucia and you can feel it the most when rocking him. He makes me laugh more than anyone else by just looking at his faces. Oh my little man…
We love watching these two and seeing how their personalities are emerging. They’re just so different that you can’t help but be amazed. I’m really not wanting to return to work. I’m going to miss spending my days with two of the loves of my life. These days are going so quickly that I can’t imagine what the future holds.

Our Perfect Christmas Presents

I really let this blog go :-( Well, now I have a different incentive to keep it up. Instead of keeping everybody up to date on what's going on inside my growing tummy I can regale you all of the miracles that are currently sleeping in my livingroom. So while my last post was at 20 weeks, I am now a week and a half past being pregnant and it's taking a bit of time to adjust. I look at my body and can't believe that what once was a large stomach has shrunk back to smaller than before I even got pregnant. I find myself running my hands over my stomach and feeling a small ache that there are no longer little feet inside my womb kicking and moving about. But then I look at the bassinets and realize that those subtle movements have been replaced by something so much better.

Now, we had set up a c-section for the 31st, which would've been 37 weeks (though the dr. insisted it was really 38). We were told no eating after midnight...13 hrs. of no eating or drinking for me?! Crazy! Other than that, however, things seemed good. Justin went to work that night (the 23rd) and when he came home brought me some fries. I absently questioned what would happen if someone had to get a c-sec. but had eaten beforehand. I soon found out...That night, at a quarter til midnight, I was awoken when my water broke. Rushing to the hospital, we were told that I was 4cms. and could not travel the hour to the hospital we wanted to deliver at so we were stuck here. Almost 2 hours, very little pain and a c-section later, we welcomed our daughter (Lucia) and son (Seth) on Christmas Eve morning. Both sets of parents were there to welcome our new arrivals as well. At 36 weeks I was nervous about what their health would be. That was our main reason for wanting to deliver at a different hospital because there was a NICU there. However, each baby looked completely healthy. The only problem was that they were small; 4.8 and 4.11. Other than that, God had blessed us with beautiful, healthy babies.

And now we're home. We did have to stay a week in the hospital to get them to gain some weight since they lost the customary 10% of their weight just like singleton babies. But on the 31st, the day of our schedule surgery, the entire family was discharged to spend New Year's Eve at home. People ask if it is easy or challenging for us. Well, without ever having known what it's been like with one I can't answer either way. I know that there are times that it's difficult and definately will be when Justin goes back to work next week but for now I can at least say that we're both still going strong and are feeling emotions we've never felt before. The love we have for these little ones is amazing. I just want to set and hold them. I want to see them grow because I know that as they get older they're a lot of fun, their personalities come out more and I will be able to be the friend of my chidren. However, there's a part of me that wishes they will stay this small forever; just so I can hold them in my arms, snuggle them and kiss their little noses.

And now this entry comes to a close. While the little ones are still sleeping, I need to find my own supper and get theirs ready. I'm excited to see where this blog is going to go and grow with my children. I hope that you're as excited as I am.

Halfway Baby!

So, we are officially halfway through this pregnancy and I can't beleive it! It seems like just yesterday I was telling Justin that he was going to be a father, but then I realize that was really 16 weeks ago. So far I've lost about 19 or 20 lbs. and began to put it on again around week 16. I've gone up about 5 overall but you can really start to see my bump.

Justin and I are really excited because on Wednesday we get to do our first ultrasound. We finally get to find out if we're having a Lulu or Mich. (Or as I tell Justin, twins! lol) And you know what? Even as much as I want to find out on Wed (and believe me I do!) I'm excited because we should at least be able to finally have a pic of our Lil One.

I went to my appointment two weeks ago. I was suppose to have one the week before but the dr. ended up having to deliver 5 babies in 36 hrs. so yeah, that wasn't happening lol. So I went to see Jodie again. This time my mom was able to go with me and you could see her face light up when she was able to hear the sound of the baby heartbeat. I was told that at 19 weeks I was measuring at more of 21 or 22 weeks. After that we were able to set up the u/s for Wed (the 8th) and we have another for the 21st of Sept with Dr. Roberts.

Justin has been such a wonderful husband/father so far. Everyone asks if he's excited and I say yeah but it's also weird for him because I had lost weight and wasn't looking any different. Now though I can see him changing. He loves the new bump I'm sporting and rubs my belly everynight before we fall asleep. The other day he even had his ear to my belly just talking to the baby. I'm blessed to have him as the father of our jellybean.

Anyway, I know I'm a lil behind on posting on here but I wanted to write and explain what's going on with the halfway point of my pregnancy. And you can believe that I'm going to write and post pics after our appointment on Wed.

Week 14

"Your adorable little fetus is busy with thumb sucking, toe wiggling and (not so cute but equally amazing) making urine and breathing amniotic fluid as the liver, kindneys and spleen continue to develop. Lanugo (thin, downy hair) is growing all over the body for warmth." ~ thebump.com

So it's week 14. I've put on a pound from the original 18 I have already lost since the beginning. Anyway, just giving an update. I hope to update this every Thurs. since that's when my weeks change. Even if I don't really say anything much I want to let you know what's going on with the baby.

Our New Edition

As I'm sure all of you know by now, Justin and I have a brand new edition. In about the middle of May I found out that I was pregnant. I was so excited and couldn't wait to inform Justin but he was working until about 11 that night. So I spent the rest of the day talking to my tummy and praying that Justin would come home soon. I ended up taking a picture of the test and put it as his background on his computer. Well that night when he came home, I had him turn it on and he saw it. His response? "So, you're pregnant? Well, come give me a hug." Not quite the romantic tear-filled reaction I had throught it would be. In retrospect, I really shouldn't have told him that late at night, but he's really excited about it. He's going to make a great daddy and I can't wait for him to get that chance.

I went to the dr. to get it confirmed and he told me I was 4 weeks and 5 days so we waited until that weekend to tell our parents. We told his parents by getting a onesie and writing "Aunt Hannah" on the back and putting it on Hannah. Robin seemed to really like that. Then it was close to my dad's birthday so in the card we wrote "love, Karen, Justin and Baby E." Everyone was really excited because it's the first grandbaby for each side. I think they're all going to make wonderful grandparents. And I know that the baby will be spoiled with love by everyone.

As far as what's happening in my tummy (cause I know ya'll want to know lol) I'm not really sure. We've had a couple appointments. At the last one, that Justin was lucky enough to go to, we got to hear the heartbeat for a little bit. That was really exciting because it made it feel real. Besides that, I'm 13 weeks now (I change every Thurs) and have gotten past "morning sickness." It was about once a day that I got to enjoy all that the name entailed. So far I've lost about 18 pounds. We had issues with insurance so we finally got that settled and now I'm going to Laurel and seeing the midwife, Jodie McCraken. Tomorrow we have our first appointment with her so hopefully we'll get to hear the heartbeat again and maybe get the first ultrasound set up. I can't wait to see it so I know Lulu is really in there.

This blog is going to change. Before it was just about the two of us going through life and now it's about us as a family. I'm so happy that the Lord has blessed us with this little one and I'm honored that He would give us the chance to be parents. It is my constant prayer that the baby will be normal and healthy, as far as any child is, and more importantly that we will be good Christian parents and can raise him or her in the path of the Lord. I hope you all enjoy keeping updated as we go through this journey to parenthood.

What I've Learned...

Today is my 25th birthday. As a child, the mere thought of this "old" age sent my head spinning, as I see it does with my own kids at work. Yet now that I've hit this magic age I just don't feel it. In an instant I went from a little girl in pigtails to a grown woman with a family. It's as if I went to sleep and woke up in someone elses' body.

I was telling my friend that I feel at this age I should have learned something by now; a little insight into this world in which I live. Honestly though? I wasn't hit with a lightning bolt today which suddenly explained the world so instead I made a list ~ a list of 25 things that I have learned in these very few years upon this Earth.

~Faith will always help see you through no matter what the situation.
~Spend as much time with loved ones as you can
~Drinking and darts are pretty much a bad combination no matter the circumstance
~Bad things happen. It's life. Hold your head up and keep on moving.
~When hunting for a good looking guy at the Ren Faire, you will inevitably get lost and drive around York and Southern PA the REST of the day.
~Always go all in for love. Don't be afraid of what will happen. Otherwise nothing ever will.
~The Laurel Festival monkey has always had, and will always have, the ebola virus.
~Enjoy good food and drinks. Don't worry about those few extra pounds. You look great!
~Free furniture creates some of the best memories
~Always tell people how much you love them. You may never get the chance to say it again.
~Never trust a tattoo place which sets up shop at the county fair.
~Cherish the past. It's where you came from. Look towards the future. It's where you're going.
~Having your body covered in liquid detergent is not cool the next day.
~Dance in the rain.
~Enjoy growing older but always keep the child in you.
~Always try to travel. There's so much of the world to see. But when you do, don't forget the small town and raised you. It's always better at home.
~Don't worry about your weight, gray hair or wrinkles on your face. Each of these "problem" areas has a story story to tell of romantic dinners out, excitement and adventure and deep laughs shared by friends.
~Hobos are scarier than most people give them credit for.
~Never get too old to laugh until you cry.
~College days and nights make for some of the best memories you'll ever have
~Taking pics are some of the best ways to remember special events and to be used for blackmail later.
~Celebrate every day because you never know when it may be your last.
~Don't always focus on just the big events. It's the small, everyday things that create life.
~Always eat the whole fortune cookie to make the fortune count
~Friends and loves come and go. They can either break your heart or lift you to the heavens, but each relationship makes you the person you are today.

So yeah, I have learned these few insights but was it a spark that suddenly gave me all the answers? Of course not. But maybe I'm not suppose to figure it out. Maybe no one is. After all, life is a mystery that may never be uncovered. That's why we all need to make our own list and just live life to the fullest.

Here's to many more birthdays for us all!
xoxo

A New Year

So this is the new year. I understand now what people mean as they talk of the years going by faster and faster. I can't believe that it's 2010 and I'm almost 25! How crazy haha.

Justin and I are both doing good which we thank God for everyday. We've been married for 2 years and 4 months. And after all of this time we've decided it's time to start thinking about children. (I figure I can put this in since I'm doubting the number of people who actually read my blog lol). I've gone off the pill and now we start our journey. Justin and his mom believe that it won't take long, but I'm not so sure. I've always been a very superstitious person in the fact that I'm worried if I want something bad enough God isn't going to give it to me purely to have to me learn to trust His Way. He did bless me with a wonderful husband which I am forever grateful. So anyway, we are going to try and see what happens. I hear that as long as it's before a year we will not have to see anyone until then.

So we will see. Whether it takes us a few weeks to a couple years, I am going to be happy in my husband and my faith. I hope that God decides to bless us with a child, but if that's not in His plans for us I pray that we will be given the patience and understanding which we will need.

I hope you all have a wonderful 2010!

Back to the Writing World

Wow, I can't believe how long I've been away from this blog. I know that my cousin will be happy that I finally wrote since she already commented on my absence already.

So what's been going on in my life? Not too much I suppose. Justin and I have celebrated our second anniversary which was amazing :-). We went down to Washington DC and got to spend time with my cousins that we never see. It was so much fun down there. And it wasn't as nerve-wracking as I thought. Like I figured me coming from up here in the boondocks I would be flipping out in our nation's capital but I was really surprised that the number of people really weren't overwhelming. Then we went up to Philadelphia for the rest of the week and spent time with Justin's cousins. That was a lot of fun since we don't really get to see them either. We went to the city once but otherwise we just hung around their area. Probably the nicest part was going to Longwood Gardens. It was so different than everything we have up here <3.> Well, this was short but at least it was a post so I'm feeling good haha. I PROMISE I will write more though. xoxo

Our New Family

So, Justin told me that, for our second anniversary, we would get a puppy. This made me extremely happy! I was looking into small breeds of dogs thinking of a maltese or something like that. Well, plans quickly changed when a guy who works with Justin was surprised to find that his dog had given birth to a litter of four puppies. So with the agreement of a free puppy we took a dog. We wanted a little black one but they were all boys so the only little girl was a white one. Yesterday, as I relaxed on a couch, Justin called and said we were going to get the newest member of our family!

As I write this I have a little white lump laying on my foot. Our bundle of joy is named Poundcake. Her dad was a BIG lab and her mom was part huskey, part border collie and part something else. That mystery part kept her and her sister fairly small though so Poundcake could go to either extremes. Of course, everyone I've talked to thinks it would be adorable for a mini-lab and I kind of agree haha. She's not very curious as of yet. Instead she likes to sleep and pee in people's houses and places of work. We're learning that this is not appropriate behavior. And for this reason, mommy has to watch her like a hawk lol. Her days mostly consist of sleeping with 10 min. bursts of energy here and there. I love watching her sleep though and it's fun to just be around here.

As for the rest of the dogs in the family? Dakota could not care less about this new puppy taking over her pillow. Teddy investigated her a bit more but didn't really know what to think. (My grandma wanted to keep her haha.)

Potty break! Sorry, but if I don't get her out RIGHT after waking up we have issues lol.

So anyway, we are now a family of three. I know she's not a real baby but dogs become so much more than pets. And until I get a real baby, Poundcake more than enough makes up for things she gets into. And believe me...that's enough haha.