easter 2011

David's Easter was filled with several festivities this year! It is so exciting to see him start to understand holidays, their meanings and the fun traditions that accompany them. He participated in three easter egg hunts, dyed eggs with daddy, and enjoyed a Sunday filled with worship, food and friends. We hope that all of our friends and family out there had a blessed Easter as well!

After the Easter Egg Hunt we had with all of his friends. Look closely at his mouth....yep that would be chocolate, probably his favorite thing about finding Easter Eggs!

Our first attempt at dying real eggs! I think they were all broke by Easter morning, lol!



The Easter Bunny came!

Easter Sunday, 2011

Picking up scones from Starbucks

Enjoying Easter breakfast after a wonderful service at our church!

moving along...

Slowly but surely and everything is looking great. Guess I never thought I would make it this far without any problems! I don't want to speak too soon, but apparently my body is doing an excellent job of keeping these babies in! I cannot say that I am physically holding up 100%, but they are doing great which is what is most important. I could take this update and make it all about my daily complaints, but I have decided I will not put you all through that. Lets just say this is not easy! I have been measuring full term for over a month now and at our last growth scan the babies combined weight is already over 9 lbs (and that is not including fluid and placenta weight x 2)! We started weekly appointments this week where we will monitor the babies heartbeats and make sure they are not under any stress (NST); it is starting to get a little tight in there! We passed our first NST yesterday with flying colors and there are no signs of these little ones trying to enter this world within the next week! We are officially entering our final month with a csection scheduled for Thursday, May 26th. That will put me at 37.5 weeks, which is a great milestone for a multiple pregnancy! Obviously things can change very quickly, so we will make sure to keep you all updated! My OB says that I have a 50/50 chance of making it to our scheduled date.

Although physically this has been tough on me I would have to say the hardest part is how this is already effecting David's life. We do not leave the house often and even our activities at home are limited. I can not pick him up, which breaks my heart when he asks me to carrying him and I have to tell him that I can't and try to explain to him why. I have been advised to rest as much as possible, which I can say I am not following those instructions as much as I should be. Rest is not an activity that flows with a toddlers daily routine too well! Dave has been amazing and we are so blessed that his company has been flexible with his work schedule so that he can take on more of the day to day responsibilities around the house that I cannot and have not been able to do for some time now. I don't know what I would do without him; he has been very supportive and on top of working 8+ hours a day he has taken on grocery shopping, cooking, taking David to school, picking up the house, David's bedtime routine and working on my notorious "to do" list. We are making it work the best we can for now and taking it week by week.


Through all of this we have two precious babies who are perfect and already so different! She is my little mover and shaker, while he is the calm and collective one. Both babies are head down (which is amazing for twins, but unfortunately means nothing to us considering a csection is our only option-thank you David!) and she seems to be the one taking up most of the room and food! She now weighs 4 lbs 9 oz and he is exactly 4 lbs. They have typically only been a few ounces apart, but there seems to be a widening gap which we will be monitoring over the next few weeks. We were able to see both babies at our last ultrasound, but getting good pictures is a little tough due to their tight quarters. She is usually the most photogenic, but due to positioning we have probably seen the last of that. We did get a good 4D shot of him, which brought tears to my eyes. We think he looks a lot like David did; we will know for sure in 4 weeks!! Stay tuned and please continue to keep these little blessings in your thoughts and prayers.

Our Sweet Baby Boy

Office Shower

David and I went up to daddy's office a week ago to celebrate the upcoming arrival of his baby brother and baby sister! Dave's sweet co-workers threw us a baby shower and all chipped in to get us a gift certificate to Babies R Us. It was the perfect gift considering the list of items that we now have to buy again so that we are prepared for two babies! A big thanks to Brianna, the host who organized the party and took all of the following pictures for us! We are so thankful and blessed to have you all in our lives!

Ice Cream Party

Okay, for all technical purposes it was actually self serve frozen yogurt and it is his favorite! After debating on whether or not I could throw a big party at the house to celebrate his 3rd birthday we finally decided to keep it low key this year and have a small party at his favorite yogurt shop Orange Leaf (which ended up being the best decision considering I am only allowed to be on my feet for 30-45 minutes at a time; we'll save the big party for next year)! We kept it pretty simple, but with the help from my Mom and cousin Tracy we did add a little personal touch to the party. Each child got to to pick out and make their own bowl of "ice cream," toppings included. Orange Leaf has a cute kids area where they set up the party; it has some small toys and I provided a craft for the kids to decorate and take home. Overall I think we were able to keep the kids busy for a short period of time and send them home with their mommies and daddies nice and sugared up!

the birthday boy

party favors by sidewalk sensations

friends and family

Thank y'all for celebrating with us and making David's 3rd birthday extra special!

David's 3rd Birthday

We celebrated David's actual birthday with some fun family events this year. We were blessed to have daddy home from work and my Mom, Dad and cousin Tracy in town to celebrate! It was so nice having the additional help since my physical condition isn't top notch at the moment!

We started the morning taking David to his favorite bounce playyard, Monkey Joes. He was so excited because Daddy was there to enjoy the fun! We then had an "ice cream" lunch at Jason's Deli and a birthday trip to Toys R Us. After nap he was surprised with grandma, grandpa and presents! That night we enjoyed a yummy dinner at one of our favorite mexican spots in Katy, El Jarrito; chips and queso, and a mariachi happy birthday serenade included! He has watched several of us have to wear the mexican sombrero during the serande and was excited that he got to wear it this time, plus the fact that there were real guitars made his evening! We finished the day off with a Disney Cars birthday cake with three candles to blow out....couldn't get any better than that could it!?!?!

Happy 3rd Birthday, David!!!

THREE...

photography by Amanda Green Photography

It is amazing to me how much you can grow up in one year. You have turned into a little boy right in front of our eyes, but you will always be mommy's baby. You have changed so much that I don't even know where to begin. The laughter that has filled this household, the memories of your accomplishments and milestones, and the love that we all share as a family of three over the past year are things that I do not ever want to forget. You are very special to your daddy and I and no matter how many changes lie ahead of us you will always remain and will be dear to our hearts as our one and only first born.

THREE...

• You can now tell people both your first and last name...you can actually spell both as well! If asked how old you are you will hold up 4 fingers and say "I'm three years old!" We are working on this, but I will admit three is probably the most challenging.


• You love to tell anyone and everybody that you are having a baby brother and a baby sister and that they are in mommy's belly. As much as we love seeing the excitement you have for your new siblings, we could some times do without the added attention! You are going to be the best big brother!


• One of your favorite past times is reenacting movies or your favorite shows that we watch on television. At the moment it is Disney Pixar's Cars, which we probably watch at least once a day. We have started a collection of the the die cast cars from the movie and you will sit there and act out your favorite parts with the actual car characters. You have shocked your daddy and I with how much of the script that you know and we just love when you sing the songs with your own words to them!


• We are currently deep in the trenches of potty training.......probably not the best thing to start when mommy is almost 8 months pregnant with twins, but you are doing great! We have actually ventured out of the house a few times recently in your big boy pants with no accidents; however you are not very thrilled about using public restrooms and I don't blame you but I do for see it being an issue. It's a work in progress!


• You love your mommy, but just adore your daddy. I think the highlight of your day is when he gets home from work and the two of you can go outside and play. You require so much more attention from him than you do from me, but I think that has something to do with you adapting to mommy's current physical condition and knowing that daddy can currently do more. (okay, and I will admit that daddy is just some times more fun than I am!)


• You always have had an incredible memory, but it still amazes us to this day. On your birthday you came downstairs from you nap and when you saw all of your presents you said "it's Christmas!" You have started realizing that it is getting warm outside and associate the change in weather with going to the pool. You remember every detail about our trips to the pool last summer, including the watermelon that we would bring and enjoy each time.


• It seems like you have just sprouted into a little boy over the past month. You are very tall and skinny, just like your daddy was growing up! I don't believe there is one ounce of chub left on you, which not like you ever had much but it is all about gone!


• Finally, after a whole semester of crying at mother's day out when dropped off you have adjusted to going to school two times a week. I am not sure that you are ecstatic about going, but you tolerate it and seem to make the best of the situation. Your teachers tell me that you are so sweet, and still enjoy everything academic and music related.


• Your social skills have started to blossom. I just enjoy watching you interact or attempt to interact with other children. You are extremely friendly and polite. You seem to adapt to different children's personalities well and enjoy the company.


• Although you share several traits with your daddy like your silly side; you are very much like your mommy. You are aware of others feelings and can be very sensitive to change, discipline, and confrontation. Most of the time you aim to please and are cooperative in unfamiliar settings, but I would be remissed if I did not mention that you do have a defiant side that can rattle your mommy and daddy's nerves from time to time (not wanting to hold hands in a parking lot!). You have an artistic side to you that shines through your love for music, imaginative play and creativity. You are not your typical wild, rough-housing little boy but occasionally that side will come out and I imagine over the next year we will probably see more of it.

Z is for Zoo

Having learned from our past mistakes, we decided to beat the Texas heat and take our annual trip to the Houston zoo a few weekends back. We figured it would also be one our last chances to have a family adventure just the three of us, which we were right. It about sent mommy into labor and we have officially been told "no more" from our OB! The weather was perfect and David was excited to see the "jungle" as he calls it. When we arrived he was already on a mission to find the lions. He showed little interest in most of the other animals with exception of the monkeys. He was actually scared of several exhibits, including the reptiles and bears. This was surprising to us, but we moved along with no questions. Luckily the lions were out sunbathing/sleeping in the lawn so we got a good view, which was better than catching them during lunch time like last year...eww! We made it through the new African Safari exhibit and then reached our limit. David was exhausted and showed little interest in seeing any of the animals, so we headed toward the exit hitting up the aquarium on the way out to see "nemo and dori". Overall we had a great short trip to the zoo. I figure one day we will last more than two hours, but until then will only attempt this trip once a year, haha!