Babies Update

Monday was a doctor appointment/ultrasound of the babies. These ultrasounds allow us to see our babies growing and allow the doctors to check that the little ones are growing at an appropriate pace according to baby averages and with each other. The last growth scan was a month ago and the little boy weighed in at 2lbs 9oz (79%) and the little girl was 2lbs(51%). The little guy was 2 weeks ahead of where a single baby at 24 weeks weighs in and the little girl a week ahead of schedule. The "weeks ahead" don't have anything to do with my delivery date or the development of the fetus(lung maturation,etc) but just give you an idea of where the babies fall on the growth chart. So on Monday our little boy weighed in at approximately 4lbs 3 oz(78%) and the little girl at 3lbs 7oz(53%), both growing at the appropriate rates. However, the sizes did confirm that momma's and daddy's suspicion that momma's belly is much larger then the first pregnancy are correct. Already the combined weight of the two babies is more then what Marin Dalby weighed at birth....and I still have at least 5 more weeks to go(hopefully). It is unbelievable and unreal that soon we will be blogging about TWO more babies on this site. We think that momma's belly size is a good thing and are hoping it grows larger....we are going for 5lb twins!

Like a Sponge.....

Some fun things heard around our house.....

- "Come on, Man...." when she is frustrated or disappointed she can't do something.....

- "Phone wingig"....especially nice to hear when we think she is asleep in her bed and the little shout comes from the bedroom

- "I or Mom made mess"....spoken when toys are out of the place where she wants them

- Dalby and I love to watch "Bones". Let me rephrase that, I love to watch "Bones". Reruns air on TNT and then it is on Fox on Thursday nights at 7pm. We would sit down and watch "Bones" together for sure on Thursdays and then sometimes, especially this fall when I was so sick, on TNT. However I realized in late November this show may not be appropriate for her when we had just watched an opening scene from "Bones" and at a commercial I asked her what she was doing peering over the arm of the couch and she turned to me and answered, "Ook or bodies momma."(Looking for bodies momma). Now I watch "Bones" on Hulu and will soon get to see it on TV when we get DVR in a few weeks. No more "Bones" for Dalby, even though she still gets excited when we see the previews for upcoming episodes on Fox.

- The power of branding. While watching a football game recently Dalby saw the orange first down marker that has the bullseye on top. She got very excited and said, "Target mommy?" Maybe we spend a little too much time at Target?

-"You betcha".....not sure who says that in our house.....

Snow Day

We had a few cold days in TN that resulted in maybe 1" of snow. Well school was canceled for 2 days and one newscaster said after the second day of snow flurries, "You may be starting to feel like this snow and cold are a way of life in TN." Ryan and I still get a chuckle out of these comments. However our blood is becoming much thinner because a few seconds in 9 degree weather makes me cold to the bone. Dalby and I went outside the first snow day and ran around the driveway. Why you ask the driveway? Because who would dare walk in the grass when there is snow? We spent the first few minutes outside inching our way out from under the car port. Once we were out there she had a great time making footprints in the snow. I think her favorite part of the snow day was the treat when we came inside. Up until now Dalby has not had pop(or soda/Coke depends on where you are from) or chocolate milk. I put a bit of chocolate syrup in some milk, warmed it up and put it in a sippy cup and served it with warm homemade banana bread. She was in HEAVEN!!!!! I have never seen her drink anything so fast....good thing it wasn't really HOT Chocolate. A fun time, just wish the snow had come on a weekend day so Daddy could have shared hot chocolate with us. You never know with this weather in TN....it is becoming a way of life for us to get all of the snow and cold another hot chocolate day maybe in our future! :)

Merry Christmas!

Christmas was wonderful! The Dalby family came in for a stay and we hosted everyone here in TN. This was my first Christmas EVER not being at my parent's house for the holidays. It was really an enjoyable holiday. We missed Damon, although we did get to chat with him via Skype on Christmas Day for about an hour. It is nice that he is in a location this time that allows for internet access and the family to communicate so well. Dalby enjoyed every aspect of Christmas. She especially liked watching all of the packages arrive. Because so many people were traveling from all over and our Michigan relatives sent fun packages Dalby assumed every box on the front porch was a "peasant for Dalby". We just got a box the other day and she got very excited because she assumed "Christmas coming and peasant for Dalby". The other idea she really got this year was a Christmas list. Each time she spotted an item in a toy catalog or a TV ad that she needed the conversation would go something like this, "Dalby need dat pease"......Momma/Daddy...."We will add it to the list." This comment seemed to be the only one that would work and stop her from begging for the item. She would hear that it would be added to her list and we would move on. The only idea she couldn't get on board with was Santa Claus. She is not a fan of the man...although she likes the gifts he brings. Christmas morning everyone was waiting in the living room for Dalby. Aunt Lyndsay had bunked with Dalby and was the designated escort. Aunt Lyndsay came out of the room and Dalby ran back in the room and slammed the door. So Daddy went in to fetch her and Dalby was none to sure she wanted to come out. After a bit of coaxing Daddy convinced her that it was ok to come out of her room and see the gifts because "Christmas had come". As Dalby came out of the room she said, "Santa gone?" And all of us convinced her that Santa had left the gifts and then gone to deliver more presents to other girls and boys. Then she started to appreciate her stash and LOVED opening all the gifts.

Ok....maybe I believe you now and this stuff looks pretty neat! And when you ask what Santa brought: a dollhouse, a toothbrush and Handy Manny.....not sure why the toothbrush gets included but she is quite happy with her new Cat in the Hat toothbrush:)

Our gifts

Ryan and I always feel very lucky for a lot of things...however in the last 6 months we feel extra blessed and a little wowed by some news we received back in the fall. We are expecting twins! We were just as surprised/thrilled/overwhelmed as the rest of our family by the news! Life for us is about to change drastically! The news has settled in more and it feels more real as the countdown begins. Our due date is April 19 but more then likely our two packages will arrive in mid-March. This past fall was physically rough for me. I did not(and at times still) feel well. I was down and out for a long while and it was all I could do to function for Dalby. She was SOOOOOO good and adjusted quite well to graham cracker snacks on the couch, lots of time spent in the bathroom and more TV then she or I had ever watched. Dalby did a great job of just playing and entertaining herself as I lay on the couch. Below is a picture of her in the bathroom. I took this actually when I was feeling better and was cleaning out the bathroom cabinets but this picture shows perfectly what she would do as we both sat in the bathroom. Dalby would just make several trips to the toy room, bring the toys she wanted to play with and then sit down and play in the bathroom :) Everything is going better now, although I have slowed down considerably because I am the size of a full term pregnant woman. Ryan has been home for the past few weeks and he is wonderful at coming home and taking over. I have had a doctor's appointment every Monday since the New Year and all is looking great. The baby boy is 2lbs 9oz and the baby girl is 2lbs. :)

The first ultrasound where we and the doctor were stunned to see two babies growing in my belly!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We ventured up north for Thanksgiving in Grand Rapids. Our journey started the week before with a stop on our drive up at Ryan's college roommates house. We hung out for the evening had a great dinner and played cards. In Grand Rapids we got to spend a lot of quality time with the family and more friends. One evening we went to see the Grand Rapids Griffins play with some dear friends who happened to be back visiting their family also. We hadn't seen them since we moved and it was great to hang out for the evening. Dalby enjoyed the hockey game, except for when we had to peel her off the ceiling when the buzzer would go off. Below are pictures of Dalby playing outside at Bumpa and Mary's. Unfortunately picture taking was not my strength this trip...but she did have fun outside, especially on the big wheel!

Happy Halloween!

We had a great Halloween! It was nice to have Halloween on Saturday. Dad got to spend the whole day with us on his favorite holiday. We started the day with Krispy Kreme pumpkin donuts for dad and Dalby. Dalby enjoyed her donut...although she is her mother's daughter really going after the icing versus the donut. Next we worked on our spider cake. We brought the cake to our neighborhood block party and it got rave reviews. Daddy used his skills decorating the cake with the help of a template and 2 year old hands. Next we attempted to take a rest...which was unsuccessful. Later in the afternoon we got dressed....our little duck got to dress up twice this year, once for school and once for trick or treating. Getting the Halloween costume on was a bit of a chore and the little duck was none to happy to be in her costume(first picture) until she saw herself in the mirror(second picture) and was ready to pose for the next photo op. We went to the first neighborhood party and played with a lot of the neighbor kids and enjoyed all the sweets. Next we headed down the street to warm up inside with hot cider and chili. Trick or treating started off a little hairy....Dalby slowly started to catch on to the idea but she seemed to prefer the houses where no one was home and you could pick the candy out of the bowl on the front porch. Ryan carried her the whole way up and down the street and overall the evening was great fun! There was one catch to the whole evening and we have now realized to what extent Dalby does NOT like masks or face paint. One of the neighbor girls(Ella)was Elphaba(the Wicked Witch of the East from the Wizard of Oz and Wicked) and her face was painted all green. After trick or treating we had headed back to Ella and her families house to regroup and hang out for a bit. Ella's face was WAY to much for Dalby. She started screaming and holding onto Ryan for dear life. She wouldn't let go, even after Ella washed her face, peace was finally made when we went back to Ella's room to see her and Ella played quietly with Dalby for a few minutes, reminding Dalby of how much she really liked Ella.

Our "pink" duck...when asked what color her costume was Dalby always answered, "pink"