Valentine Photos

Here are some of the photos from our little Valentine's photo shoot.  How can they be this big already?!!!  The next time I have a photoshoot with these two, they will be big sisters!  We definitely got some good ones!  Happy Valentines Day!

Sky Zone

We needed to burn off some energy from being trapped in doors from the cold.  Here's how we did it.

They had a great time!

1st Hair Cuts

It was time for the girls to get a little bit of a trim/shape to their hair.   Our friend did a home visit to cut their hair because I thought they'd do better in their own space. Their hair definitely has curl and is growing in, in stages and was just kind of a mess.  Here is a picture of their hair pretty much every morning.  Yikes!!!

Ella wanted to go first (after Dad) and did great!  She was a Little unsure and didn't smile, but was thinking of the cookie she was going to get after!  

Getting a little evened out and a trim!  What a pretty girl! :)

Next up was Josie. Here is her before.

When it came time to actual cut time she got a bit nervous.

But don't let her fool you, she was smiles soon after!

They both did great and look so pretty.  Also, look at the pictures and notice that Ella's natural hair falls to the left and Josie's falls to the right.  MIRROR TWINS! I've been questioning this as Josie seems to favoring the left hand, but does use her right for things and Ella pretty much uses her right all the time. The opposite hair is a traight of mirror twins. 

3 years old....on Steroids

This is what I think I am living in currently.  As I write this post, I know exactly how lucky and blessed I am and I am thankful for that, but that doesn't mean I can't have real emotions and stress.  I also know that this isn't anything that any other moms haven't gone thru. 

I was just asked today, "Are you excited about having another a baby?  A boy?"
My honest answer was "Not really." 
The girls are in the terrible 3's and it is a daily struggle to remain patient, calm and basically not lose my shit on them.  Sure they do cute things and say the cutest darn stuff but the in between and daily routine that they continually shake up is wearing me down.  This is by far, worse than infancy. They are just as needy and but now have a voice. Is my pregnancy to blame?  I don't know.  I am at a point I can't do the things I would normally do and the girls keep pushing and pressing on everything on me and it's painful and uncomfortable, but I don't think that's it. 
It really is age 3 and I have 2 at the same age.  I know they are testing limits and figuring out life and all that is normal development, but having 2 in the same stage makes me feel like this is the terrible 3's...on steroids.  I feel like I am in a constant battle and they can tag team each other and feed off each other.  When one is testing, crying, whining, the other isn't and then that switches.  They also feed off each other.  Last night at dinner, Ella was up at the table eating and Josie REFUSED to get up to the table to eat, which then triggers Ella to get up and say she's done eating.  The end result is Josie is up in her bedroom crying, Ella is in time out crying and Joey and I are the table eating and in a sarcastic way I say "So how was your day?"  I won't even get into how bedtime went or how the morning went today.  All not great and probably with tears.  It is constant.  And right smack in the middle of our days is potty training Ella.  I can't think of anything more FRUSTRATING to throw into the daily mix that is already a struggle.  I am supposed to remain calm and not be negative when she has an accident for the 4th time because she won't poop on the potty even though we just asked her if she needed to potty and tried to get her to go.  Just what I want to clean up with while trying to cook the dinner the girls already said they didn't want to eat.  And when Joey loses it, I smile.  Not because I am happy he is frustrated, but because when his cool, calm and collected attitude he usually has, is gone, it validates my feelings.  I know it's not just me and my lack of patience.  

This is a hard stage.  I am struggling daily and all I can think about is in 63 days I will be throwing a newborn into this mix and wondering how on earth I am going to manage.  I know that when he gets here and he is placed in my arms my feelings will change.  I also now realize why people have their kids 2 years apart as they haven't hit the terrible 3's yet :)

Speaking of the guy let me do some updates
-He does not have a name yet
-Heart rate today was 138
-I am measuring 2 weeks behind.  I am 30 weeks measuring 28 weeks.  Nothing to be concerned with.  Opposite of the girls-I was measuring roughly 3 weeks ahead with them.
-I feel movement but it's obviously less than with the girls.
-My weight will, hopefully, not reach what I did with the girls, but it is on track to match :(  I will probably be heavier than I was with the girls.
-I am currently scheduled for March 10th, 2016 for a repeat C-section.  Hopefully nothing happens in the next 9 weeks.
-We have pulled all the baby stuff out of attic when we put the Christmas stuff away and I am working on going thru it all. 

I am hoping that this post is a stress reliever for me.  It is real and honest.  And if this doesn't work, in 64 days I will be able to have wine, that'll help! :)

L-30 weeks pregnant with one  R-31 weeks with twins

Christmas 2015

Christmas this year was fun!  The girls are at a great age for Santa and presents, but not at a great age for church....

We started off the celebrating Christmas by going to see Santa, at the country clubs Christmas celebration.  We had a delicious brunch with many kid friendly activities and of course Santa. 

Josie showing off her delicious food

And Ella's candy cane reindeer she decorated.  They also had cookie decorating and reindeer food you could makes do more

Then, we met Santa and Josie wasn't scared of Santa and she even told him she wanted a bed for her baby.  Ella didn't like him this year, but didn't cry.  She just wanted down off his lap. 

After, Josie stated "Santa's not scary, monsters are."

Later that night Santa came.  The girls must have been really good this year by all the presents they received.

The morning of, Josie got up first and was pretty darn cute  She checked santa's cookies (which were gone) and started sorting the presents.  We had to tell her to wait for her sister and eventually, she went and woke her up because it was torture.

As you can see they got their doll baby beds! 

After opening presents and playing with all the fun stuff.  Those suitcases were a big hit!

Mom and Dad got them the teepee and here they were "camping" with their suitcases.  It was cute.

Santa brought the girls chapstick and lip gloss.  Clearly it was a good idea...

A few days after Santa came we headed to Ohio to celebrate Christmas with our families.  They traveled very well and we only had to stop once.

The girls enjoyed opening gifts again and were totally spoiled by everyone.

This drum set was quite the hit!  Ella my little drummer girl.  They also got a guitar and a keyboard with mic.

While in Ohio I had talked about taking the girls ice skating.  It was about exposure to new things and trying it out.  I knew they wouldn't be skating by the end.  Grandma E helped me with them on the ice.  It went how you would expect with 3 year olds, but I'm glad we did it.

And while in Ohio, this happened.  We bought a minivan.  We needed to buy a new vehicle that fit 5 of us and it needed to be sooner rather than later as we are running out of time.  We looked at trucks and SUV's but quickly realized this was the more practical vehicle.  As much as I don't want to drive a minivan, it was obvious this is what was needed.  Added bonus, we had free babysitting while we were car shopping.