Trains, Trucks, Cars, and All Things Boy

My boys are all boy. No doubt. But what I love is seeing my identical twins grow into very different personalities. They are so much alike and yet so different at the same time.

Peter tends to be more obsessive compulsive. Case in point, this is his favorite activity:

Peter, proud of his work; Ethan just happy that he was allowed to help this time

Peter's favorite activity is to line up all the toys. Either in one long straight line or several lines that are lined up next to each other. Sometimes I'm not sure of his order, but he's very particular. And the concentration on his face is priceless. Unfortunately for Ethan, Peter doesn't like for any of the toys to go AWOL. Peter will throw a fit if Ethan tries to take any one of the toys for himself.

Another view of the train of toys

The nice thing is that Ethan is usually happy with just one toy. The problem is finding that one toy that he's happy with and that Peter doesn't want. It can turn into quite the battle at times. But then, after much crying and pleading from Peter, Ethan will turn around and give him the toy back.

Ethan's just too nice sometimes. Poor thing is always going to be bending to his brother's will.

One day the boys were pushing around some of the larger toys on wheels. Probably the school bus and the plane. They had gotten into a pattern of going around the furniture in the family room, into the hallway, around the kitchen, and back. I was sitting in the family room while Hubby was in the kitchen. At one point, Ethan decided to change his route. He turned his toy around and headed back to the kitchen. Peter noticed immediately! He stopped what he was doing and ran after Ethan, obviously upset.

Hubby didn't witness what had happened, all he saw was Peter trying to grab the toy out of Ethan's hands in the kitchen. He started trying to tell Peter to leave Ethan alone and not take toys away from him. I sat in the family room listening to the exchange and finally had to intervene. Peter didn't want Ethan's toy, he wanted Ethan to stay on the same track he was on. How dare Ethan diverge from the established route!

Peter likes everything a certain way. Everything. Every. Time.

The boys both love trucks. Big or small, doesn't matter. Really, anything big we see on the road: buses, trucks, vans of various sizes, firetrucks, and other emergency vehicles. When outside they recognize the sounds of airplanes or helicopters and start looking for them in the sky and often wave "bye-bye" to them as they fly over.

So we thought they would have a great time this past Sunday at an event in town called "Touch a Truck." And I think they did, but they wanted nothing to do with getting close to them and sitting inside any sort of truck was a definite no.

Watching the firefighter up on the ladder while having some ice cream

I think the boys would have preferred to just sit here and watch the trucks (particular the firefighter who was up on the end of a very long ladder). There was a Schwann's truck giving out free ice cream to children under 12, so we got two ice cream sandwiches. Turns out my kids weren't interested in the ice cream. Hubby managed to get Peter to take a couple small bites, but he wasn't really interested in eating much else. Ethan completely refused. As a result, Hubby and I enjoyed our free ice cream.

Firefighter up on the ladder

This was about as close as we could get the boys to an actual truck

Other kids enjoyed getting to sit in this trash truck and beep the horn. My kids wanted nothing to do with it.

Checking out a police helicopter

This truck was of interest to the boys, briefly.

The truck above held their attention briefly. We knew, by this time, that they wouldn't want to sit in it, but we thought maybe they would at least go up and touch it. But no!! You would have thought we were trying to put their hands into a burning fire.

Hot Air Balloon at Touch a Truck

This Hot Air Balloon was also on display. They had cold air being blown into it to keep it inflated and they allowed everyone to go inside to check it out. So we removed our shoes and carried two screaming boys inside. We didn't stay long.

Touch a Truck seemed a bit of a bust for our boys. But honestly, I think they did enjoy it, they just didn't want to get near anything. There was a city bus there that I took them into, with a bit of hesitation, of course. The event was held at Keeneland, the large local horse race track in town. Keeneland happens to be across the street from the airport and the runway points towards the Keene barn area where we were. So throughout our time there we also watched many small airplanes come in for a landing.

Airplane heading to the Lexington airport

Despite the boys not wanting to get near anything, we took a couple of pictures of things we found of interest.

Here's hubby inside slot 9 of the Keeneland start gate. This thing is HUGE!

Had to get a picture of the DeLorean. Back to the Future!

Me next to the tractor that pulls the Keeneland start gate. Yes, the wheel is taller than I am!

More on the boys:

They are still mostly just saying one word at a time. They have expanded their vocabulary quite a bit, but they stick to one word. I also now understand how a parent can understand what a child is saying when it sounds like complete nonsense to someone else. I get it now!! I can interpret a lot of their words that are missing syllables or certain sounds and I'm positive that most people (even Hubby) wouldn't know what they are saying. As an example: the word "red" sounds like "eh." Also, bread, bath, and several other "b" words all sound the same on the surface. There is a slight difference in inflection that I usually can catch. Plus context helps a lot.

We think one of the boys is left-handed and the other is right-handed. Makes me wonder if they might be mirror twins. But so far this is the only thing I've noticed that is a true opposite between them. And it's still too early to know if they are really left- or right-handed.

I think Ethan knows some of his primary colors. I knew they sort of knew the colors blue and yellow, but I hadn't seen them identify them consistently enough to be sure. The other day, Ethan was playing with the Mega Blocks (four total colors among all the blocks). I was sitting on a nearby chair but couldn't see the blocks on the floor. I asked him to show me a blue block and he reached down, pulled one out, and showed it to me. And it was blue! So I asked for a yellow one and got it. This was cool to see, but I knew he was more aware of those two colors. So I decided to test whether he knew the other two colors in the mix. So I asked for him to show me a red one and he did!! Finally a green one and again he pulled out the right one. I'm so impressed that he could do this. I tried it with Peter and he's not as consistent. But that's okay, they are only two.

One word they know is "pray." Peter especially likes to ask about praying when we sit down to eat and before bed and occasionally at other random times. Both boys are slowly getting the hang of the Sign of the Cross, which is cute to watch. They insist on using both hands. Two hands to their forehead, two to the chest, one each on their shoulders, and then hands together. Just this week Peter has been much more consistent in actually doing the Sign of the Cross and keeping his hands folded while Hubby and I pray. He also spends prayer time looking at Ethan and saying "pray" over and over again. Ethan completely ignores him which just frustrates Peter even more. I have to work hard to concentrate on praying and not laughing at the boys.

The boys love Elmo. I don't know how they learned about Elmo since we don't usually watch any TV with them except for Wheel of Fortune and occasional shows on Animal Planet on the weekend. At day care I've seen some Elmo stuffed animals, so I am guessing that's where they learned who Elmo is (no TV at daycare either). I think I need to get some DVDs of Elmo and a few books. I love the way they both say "Elmo" as well, kind of like "Me-mo." Very cute!

They also have two songs that they love. One is The Itsy Bitsy Spider. We figured this out about 4 or 5 months ago. They kept making the various hand signs that go with the song, but we didn't know what they were doing. One night at dinner it dawned on one of us and as soon as we started singing the song the boys got sooooooo excited.

More recently they started looking at us inquisitively and asking "ro, ro, ro?" This took us a little time to figure out as well, but not nearly as long as Itsy Bitsy Spider. We started singing Row, Row, Row Your Boat and got an interesting reaction. At the end of the song they put the palms of their hands up to their cheeks and opened up their mouths real wide and then started clapping and saying "Hooray." I could figure out why they were making the funny face with the hands up to the cheeks. Finally one morning, I remembered to ask their teacher and she explained the different lyrics she was using:

Row, row, row your boat,

gently down the stream.

If you meet an alligator,

don't forget to scream!

It was the "scream" face they were making!! This version of the lyrics is much more enjoyable to the boys. I had never heard the song sung this way. But it's very cute. You can also make a big alligator motion with your arms during the third line of that stanza.

They are certainly growing fast and learning tons very quickly. I'm starting to see signs that they are ready to start putting some words together, but we're not there quite yet. Any day now. They are finally getting some teeth in to fill in the gaps that have been in their mouths forever (it seems). They are still little guys (at 27 months old they are still mostly in 18 or 18-24 month sizes). And they are just such sweet boys!! All their teachers love them.

Hope you enjoyed this somewhat lengthy update on them. I know it's been a while since I wrote about these two precious boys. Hope everyone has a great Labor Day weekend!!

Pregnancy Update: Week 25

I don't feel like there is a whole lot to update on this week since I haven't had any appointments (unusual in itself, it seems!). But here's a brief update anyway and maybe a little extra update on the boys.

How far along: 25 weeks, 0 days. Survival chances are around 60% this week.

How big is baby: According to babycenter.com, baby is about 13.5 inches long and 1.5 pounds, the size of an average rutabaga.

Cravings/Aversions: Nothing has changed here.

Belly Button: Flat and wide.

Movement: Lots of movement. I think a lot more than I ever had with the boys. This baby has a lot more room since his or her big brothers stretched everything out!!

Leg cramps: Ugh! Had another one this week. Doesn't matter what I do, I think I'm just more prone to them.

Sleep: I sleep okay, but I'm lacking a bit in sleep just because I'm a bit of a night owl. I'm not very good at making myself go to bed at a reasonable time. I'm also surprised that the progesterone isn't affecting my sleep. I seem to remember that it did last time, but I'm not noticing any difference this time around. Been on it a whole week now.

Weight gain: Not sure, but probably stable. Forgot to weigh myself on Monday.

Ultrasound: Next one is in a week. Hoping everything is stable!

Appointment: Also next week, same day as the ultrasound. Also have to do the glucose test that morning. What a fun day I have to look forward to. Oh, and then a dentist appointment that afternoon. So yeah ... I decided to take vacation time the hours of the day I wouldn't be sitting in doctors or dentists offices. Probably a good decision.

The To-Do List:

• Find a new pediatrician or family doctor
• Start looking at birthing classes and other possible classes of interest (breastfeeding, for one)
• Decide on a stroller (I did get to look at two the other day, which helped my decision making process)
• Sell my cloth diapers
• Investigate baby carriers/wraps (most likely a carrier, not sure I'm cut out for the wrap thing)
• Figure out how the boys will be handled whenever labor strikes! I have no idea how we are going to handle this, especially if the boys are at school at the time since my car is the only one with two car seats in it and I don't think we have any friends who could put two more car seats in their cars. This is going to be interesting!
• Ask potential Godparents if they want to be Godparents
• Eventually, schedule the baptism itself and make family all aware so they can make travel plans if necessary

Names: I'm holding out on my favorite boy name, but I am playing with some other possibilities. Hubby still hasn't given me any alternatives. I'm such a nice person that I am considering alternatives for him. Aren't I a good wife? 

The Boys: Before bed at night, they ask to give the baby a kiss. So sweet. It's been a while since I posted an updated picture of the boys. So here is one from about two months back or so:

Peter says cheese; Ethan's just confused. Ignore the half asleep woman in the background.

And another one of the boys hugging. Such sweet boys!

Brother's hugging, Peter has to keep his eye on the camera.

Peter especially loves the camera. He won't take his eyes off of it when we pull it out, which isn't even all that often. Haha!

I have more pictures of the boys from this past weekend. But I'm going to save them for another post. Yes, you heard me right, another post! Two in one week. Hope you didn't fall off your chair. 

Next week's update will likely be on Thursday since my appointments are all on Wednesday. Pray for good news!! Thanks!!

Pregnancy Update: Week 24

How far along: 24 weeks, 0 days. That means we've hit the official point of viability according to the medical community. Chances of survival at this point are about 50%.

How big is baby: Baby is approximately a foot long and a little over a pound.

Cravings: Nothing here. For a while I wasn't even really eating much due to recent "digestive issues." At least I'm eating more normally now.

Aversions: Nothing has really bothered me yet. Although, I was in the grocery store after work yesterday and there was a little free sample table set up near the meat department. A woman was there making what looked like sloppy joes and the smell really bothered me! I think that was the first time this pregnancy where I smelled something and felt nauseous immediately. Thankfully, sloppy joes are something we don't usually have around here.

Belly button: Still mostly flat, no popping yet.

Movement: so much movement! It still surprises me. No one else has felt baby yet, just me.

Leg cramps: Had one again a few nights ago. First one in a long time. The funny thing is, I had eaten two bananas that day!

Sleep: Doing okay here. Not terribly uncomfortable yet and, amazingly, I haven't even gotten the pregnancy pillow out yet.

Weight gain: Weighed myself on Monday and I think I lost about two pounds, bringing me to about 8 pounds of total weigh gain this pregnancy. I'm sure the recent loss had to do with the previously mentioned "digestive issues." I seem to be back on track now.

Maternity clothes: I finally broke down this week and bought a few more tops. I'm glad I did. I needed a bit more variety.

Ultrasound: Had another yesterday (Tuesday) to once again check my cervical length. Last week I was still in normal range at around 3.5 to 3.6 or 3.7. This time I was between 3.0 and 3.4, although one measurement was closer to 4 cm. So here's the thing with cervical length (as much as I understand it). They watch it for about 3 minutes or longer and measure it several times during that time frame. The cervix can change some, and they often even push on my belly a bit to see what that will do. So, after the ultrasound, Dr. O came in and we talked. At this point in pregnancy, 24 weeks, it doesn't make as much sense to do a cerclage. Plus I'm in normal range (technically) anyway. At this point, he told me, the cervix isn't as important as any pre-labor symptoms I might have (currently none). So the plan going forward is that I will be starting on progesterone and I go back for another cervical check on September 4. Dr. O said we'll start "weaning" me off of everyone staring at my cervix from that point forward. Oh, also, the placenta is still low, but the ultrasound tech said she would say it was more low lying rather than covering the cervix. So that's a positive move toward having a VBAC!

Appointment: Next appointment with Dr. M is September 4. It just occurred to me in typing this that I'm also supposed to do the glucose test just before my appointment but I just scheduled my next ultrasound for that morning as well, just before my appointment with Dr. M. So that will be an interesting morning!

The Big Brothers: They love patting my belly and saying "baby." They have also been kissing my belly too or waving "hi" to the baby. It's so, so cute!! I'm pretty certain that they don't understand at all, but I love that they love babies.

My To-Do List: I need to figure out what I need for this new baby. I am looking into strollers right now because I need a new one for snapping in a car seat carrier. I had a double one for the boys that I gave to a friend when she had twins. I'm looking into single versions of the same thing now and have one on my Amazon wish list, but I really need to see them in person if at all possible before I make a decision. I'm also looking into cloth diapers again, but I'm thinking of selling some (maybe all) of the cloth diapers I had bought the last time. I think I want to try a totally different kind. I also want to look more into baby carriers. I'm thinking of an Ergo, but haven't thoroughly researched this area yet. Also on the to-do list: find a new pediatrician or family doctor; ask our prospective Godparents if they would like to be Godparents to our child; maybe arrange a date for the Baptism (though that can probably sit on the to-do list for a while, a small part of me wants to arrange the Baptism for the same date that I was baptized which was in January sometime. I need to look it up). That's all I can think of for now.

Names: No progress. I'm settled and happy with what I've picked out. Hubby doesn't like one of my choices but hasn't yet given me something different. So we'll see.

I think that is all I have for this update. No appointments next week!! Prayers still very much welcome for things to stay as they are and nothing changes for a while. Thanks!!

Things I Contemplate Over

I have a new post up today over at Catholic Sistas in which I reveal a recent contemplation I had over a diaper change. The whole idea was what a privilege it is to do this often unrewarding task.

In writing the piece I mostly was thinking of my thoughts from that one particular day. However, it did briefly occur to me that I have this privilege where others do not. Where I almost thought I never would either. I didn't include that in the post, that wasn't my point, but it is definitely another way of looking at it.

When you suffer from multiple pregnancy losses or infertility, being able to change your own child's diaper is looked at much more as a privilege. It's something I don't take for granted, this ability to tend to my child's basic needs. I have three children who I was not able to do this (and many other things) for.

So you get some additional thought from me on this topic just from stopping by here. But don't just stop here, I sincerely hope you'll head over to Catholic Sistas and check out today's post, Contemplation Over A Diaper Change.

Look forward to seeing your comments there!

Pregnancy Update: Week 23

How far along: 23 weeks!! I've never gotten this far in pregnancy without either losing a baby or having some sort of intervention to keep the pregnancy going. This is all new territory. It feels like I'm experiencing pregnancy for the first time.

How big is baby: Baby is about 11 inches long and a little over a pound. According to babycenter.com, the baby is about the size of a large mango. I've never seen a mango anywhere near 11 inches, so I assume they are comparing the weight. Although that seems a stretch too.

Pregnancy Symptoms: Still about the same, practically none.

Food aversions/cravings: Again, not much here.

Weight gain: I forgot to weigh myself this week, but I'm guessing I'm still in the 10 pound area. Heck, due to the "stomach issues" I've been having for several days now, it wouldn't surprise me if I'm a little less now in the weight gain area.

Maternity clothes: No change. I'm just tired of wearing the same 6-7 shirts all the time. And the laundry that goes with only having 6-7 shirts that fit. I'd like to go find a few more just to give myself a bit of variety.

Belly Button: Pretty flat, but not "popped" yet.

Baby Movement: Love feeling baby moving. And he or she moves a lot! My ultrasounds the last three times have shown baby in completely different positions each time.

Ultrasound/Appointment: Tuesday (yesterday) was another cervical check ultrasound. Previous checks have shown my cervix to be over 4 cm in length, generally around 4.3 to 4.7 depending on the day. This time I measured at 3.5 to 3.6. Normal is between 3 and 4. So I'm in normal range, but it is a little concerning that it has changed this much in two weeks. For now, it's not a concern, but it's something that needs to be watched still. So, the plan is to go back in one week (just shy of 24 weeks) and check again. Generally they do not do cerclages after 24 weeks (viability). If I am still in the same place next week, we may just continue to watch. If I'm around 3 cm Dr. O wants me on progesterone suppositories again (I took them last pregnancy too). If I'm less than 3 cm, I think I may be sent right over to the hospital for a cerclage; though he did not specify.

So at this point, I'm a bit nervous about what the future holds and how early this baby could potentially come. But other than the cervix, we did take another peak at baby and he or she is doing well. Baby's butt was down on my cervix, hands and feet were over his/her head, and a little sliver of placenta is still over the cervical opening (still time for it to move).

Names: Still working on it. Hubby hasn't come up with an alternative boy name to the one I told him I liked. He still has some time. Otherwise ...

Other things of note: Since moving to our new home I haven't unpacked any of my books yet. I'm thinking I may need to find my pregnancy books and start looking over my copy of The Preemie Primer. Just in case. I also haven't yet asked for a blessing from a priest for this pregnancy. I need to rectify that ASAP!

As always, please keep baby and I in your prayers.

A Weekend Overview

We had a great weekend here in central KY. The weather cooperated for the most part.

The boys' school was closed on Friday for an in-service day, so we took the opportunity to use our Zoo Membership for the day. We don't have a zoo here, but the one in the larger city north of us is really nice. We managed to spend a few hours there and not get rained on, despite the almost constant rain during the hour long drive up. Luckily it was clear at the zoo and we enjoyed our time there. The boys loved the elephants and got angry when we tried to move on. But they soon realized that there was more to see. Bubbles especially!! Yes, I said bubbles. Any sort of water is considered bubbles and they LOVE bubbles. So all the waterways separating people from animals was thrilling.

We saw the new Africa exhibit where you can get pretty up close and personal to the lions. We missed the feeding of the giraffes, but got to watch all three of them out in their habitat and the baby giraffe was running laps. A running giraffe is very awkward looking. They just don't look like they know how to coordinate their legs. Maybe it was because it was a baby, I don't know. The two adults could have cared less. The manatees were the biggest hit for the boys, oh and the lizards in the reptile house!! Definitely the lizards.

The boys fell asleep in the car almost immediately after we left the zoo. A good indication of a successful day.

Saturday we kept things a bit slower. We did go out to visit a family friend at a nearby nursing home. We hadn't been there in a while. The boys loved Bosco, the facility's dog and the fish tanks were a big hit. The staff were so surprised to see how much the boys had grown since we were last there. It was a nice visit. Again, the boys nodded off briefly on the car ride home.

Finally on Sunday we started the day by attending Mass. Got a bit of a shock when we got to church and couldn't find parking and then no available seats once we got inside. This was just a normal Sunday and we had no idea why it looked like a Christmas or Easter Mass. Turns out it was the "Back to School Mass." No announcement or anything had been made, so we got stuck having to split up. Someone was nice enough to give up their seat for me (there was no way I was going to stand for an entire Mass and was so grateful someone finally let me have their seat!). Hubby ended up standing back in the narthex. So yeah, nice surprising way to start off your Sunday.

That afternoon I took the boys to our local Arboretum for the Tomato Festival. I didn't know what to expect, but had a good time. And the boys actually ate some tomatoes! Totally shocked me. Especially Peter. I think he liked the little paper cup for sampling. He wouldn't try the tomato when I handed it to him, but once I gave him the little cup he ate them all up and asked for more. We tried a ton of various heirloom tomatoes, the boys got tomatoes painted on their hands (I didn't think they'd stand for face painting), I picked up some information on gardening in KY, and tried some tomato appetizers from some local restaurants.

In addition to the Tomato Festival we also went and visited the Children's Garden where the boys enjoyed the misting area and got to make a tomato puppet. I had never been in before (it's only been open a year or so) and there was a lot to do. Had I known there was a water area to wade in I might have been more prepared (not that my boys will go into water right now). As the boys get a little older that will be a great place to visit again.

A great weekend, through and through. Only regret is that I have no pictures. Sorry. I checked the camera on Saturday and the battery was dying and I didn't bother changing it. I know, I'm lazy.

Pregnancy Update: Week 22

It's been a busy two weeks since my last pregnancy update. We've moved into a new house during these last two weeks and everything with the pregnancy seems to be going well. It's weird to be in this place where everything is going well. Nothing has ever been going well at this point in any previous pregnancy. So yeah, weird.

How far along: 22 weeks!! When I was pregnant with the boys I was home on bedrest at this point after just having had a cerclage put in because I had already dilated 2 cm. And when I was pregnant with Zachary my water broke at 22 weeks and he passed about 24 hours later. So I'm both excited to be this far along with no major issues and nervous at the same time. Like I said above, just feels weird.

Pregnancy Symptoms: Not much of any. I am careful about getting enough potassium and drinking plenty of water, which seems (knock on wood) to be staving off any leg cramps. I still have some restless legs at times. Trying to find sources of magnesium for that, but that's a bit more difficult. Otherwise, this is probably the easiest pregnancy I've ever had!

Food aversions/cravings: Still nothing. I can't count chocolate, that's just a perpetual craving. :)

Weight gain: I think I'm just barely hitting the 10 pound mark. Not quite 10 yet, but close. Not too bad being a little over half way into the pregnancy now.

Maternity clothes: I complained last time about the stretchy band on the top of maternity pants. Well, I retired those pants and am now wearing the ones with the huge front that comes up over the belly. I'm still not quite big enough for them yet, so they slide down some, but it's better than having that low-ride band cutting into my tummy.

Belly Button: almost completely flat. The turkey timer hasn't popped yet, though.

Baby Movement: I'm finally feeling something!! So great to actually feel baby move. Actually, on Tuesday I was in an informational session at work. I was sitting in the last row of an auditorium filled with about 100 or so people from all across campus. I could feel the baby moving and even spent some time watching my belly to see if I could actually see movement. I think I did, but it was very slight. No meeting can hold my attention over feeling or seeing my baby move.

Ultrasound/Appointment: I had an ultrasound last week to check my cervix. My mother went with me since she was here helping us move. We took a break to go to my appointment and got to see the baby moving around and sucking on his or her fingers. It was very cool. I was hoping that everything was going to be fine. I kept imaging being sent over to the hospital in the midst of our move. Luckily, that didn't happen and my cervix is still over 4 cm in length. It feels like a miracle!! I also had a regular appointment early this week and everything is still good on that front. Those are the easy appointments: chat with doctor, listen to heartbeat, leave. Even so, always nice to hear that heartbeat! The plan from here: one more cervical check at 23 weeks and then they'll probably stop checking. I will probably get one more ultrasound around 32 weeks to check the placenta position (it's currently slightly covering the cervix). I have my next regular appointment in early September along with the glucose thing and then my appointments start getting closer together. No one has mentioned NSTs yet, but I am guessing they'll want to do some, maybe not as many as I had the last time, but given that I'm considered high risk for my age (not just all my other previous issues) I'm guessing there will be some to look forward to down the road.

Names: Sorry, we're not sharing. We have a girl name picked out. Actually, we've had a girl name picked out for five years, maybe longer. Boy names have always been much harder for us to agree on. But a boy name came to me this week and as I turned it over in my head I liked it more and more. It felt right. I knew sharing it with Hubby was probably going to get a negative reaction. And it did. But I really like this one. So now it's his job to come up with something different. If not, I think we'll be going with this name! You'll have to wait until baby comes to hear the name we've chosen. Yes, I'm a tease. ;)

Other things of note: I'm still in disbelief that we are this far along and my cervix is at normal length. It's totally unexpected. At least to me. I'm starting to seriously consider the future with this baby, something I didn't do with the boys until I was well past 32 weeks. On my list: find my breastfeeding books (remember we just moved) and pray that it works this time, look into baby carriers (something I never bothered to do with the twins), talk to someone I know who teaches NFP about the post-partum class CCL now offers, start investigating cloth diapers yet again (much to Hubby's dismay, I haven't given up on this possibility!!), and check into labor and birth classes offered by my hospital (something else I never bothered with when pregnant with the twins).

I'll do another update next week after the next ultrasound. Thanks to all those who are keeping us in their prayers! 

Is There a Disconnect Between NFP and Children at Mass?

There was a great article on Catholic Sistas this week that you must go read. Seriously, go and read it now and then come back here for my thoughts: NFP - Long Term Promises.

Did you read the article? Go ahead, I can wait.

When I first read this article I was blown away by the basic premise of this post. Basically that there is a disconnect in the Church between those who practice NFP and are open to life and those who think the Mass should be quiet and child-free. This is the main idea I took away from this article The article was not primarily about the people in Mass who give a young family the "stink eye" when a small toddler makes a noise or a baby whimpers for a moment or some small child lets out an unexpected scream. The author of the article wasn't even complaining about anyone commenting directly to her or her family about anything her kids were doing.

What was interesting to me though was that the majority of the comments focused on things like "ignore those people who give you the stink eye" or something similar. Not all the comments, but quite a few.

It seems to me that the actually point of the article was missed by many readers.

I agree with this post and I'm going share with you why. First, there is what the Church teaches. We teach an openness to life, we teach against contraception, and we teach that couples who have discerned that they need to postpone or avoid pregnancy can use Natural Family Planning (NFP). That's what we teach, plain and simple.

What the Church teaches and what the people actually do are two different thing. It's no surprise to anyone that a great majority of our fellow Catholics do not follow the teachings of our Church. It's incredibly sad and disappointing.

Another problem we encounter is the culture of death right in our own pews. The "culture of death" is so pervasive in our society that even among faithful Catholics the idea of having more than two children is crazy talk. I'm not saying that every couples needs half a dozen children or more. Only that we should be open to God's plan for us and not listen to the culture around us. Many couples who are open to God's plan will only have one or two children, others will have more. It's not the number of children that matters, it's being open to God's will and not our own. But because of the "culture of death" that has made it's way into our collective subconscious, people in general have developed an impatience with the normal chatter of children, even when it's quiet chatter.

Finally, and this is where I believe the article above really hits the nail on the head, we need more support for those couples who are following the Church's teaching and who are open to God's will for their family in terms of family size (whether they are practicing NFP or leaving their family size up to God's providence).

In my particular Catholic community (not just my parish, but the Catholic community I am in my city which has about 7 or 8 parishes), I see a lot of promotion of NFP. It's a diocesan requirement now in marriage prep to take an NFP course. It's often in the bulletin, it's talked about on our local Catholic radio stations, and there are many people I know personally who practice some form of NFP. We have a pretty large pro-life support in the community as well. All of these are great things. What I don't really see is ongoing support for couples who practice what the Church actually teaches.

We need more ongoing support for couples who humble themselves to follow Christ's teaching in His Holy Church. Jesus said "Let the children come to me." I hope we can grow as a Church to include children at all levels. They should be in Mass with their cries and whimpers and constant whispering because Jesus wants them there (and yes, there are also valid reasons for using the nursery/cry room, I'm not saying you can't take advantage of that option if you have it and need it).

And others in the pews around those young families need to remember that those children are our future. They are the future of the Church. Without them, there will be no Church. We need our children in Mass. We need them to start learning about the Mass from a young age so they will become more engaged as they get older.

For those in the pews around these young families, give them a smile when their kids acts up. Try to remember those days when your own children did the same. Give them encouragement after Mass to keep bringing their children. Don't tell them to take their kid out or to go to the cry room, most parents know when they need to do that, they don't need someone else telling them.

Most importantly, we need to encourage parents to bring their kids to Mass. If they get the "stink eye" one too many times or have some stranger near them in the pews tell them they should leave their kids in the nursery or take them to the cry room, the message they are getting is that children aren't welcome. That they need to limit the number of children they have or not bring them to Mass. Imagine if that young couple was coming back to the Church for the first time in years. Do you think they are likely to come back?

Would Jesus like that? I don't think so. If we want to encourage a culture of life throughout the entire Church, we need to be open and welcoming of children at Mass. And we need to provide support for those parents who are in the throws of those early childhood years.

I know, I have two toddlers, both two years old. In five months (God willing!) I will have three kids under three. But we'll be taking them to Mass with us and sitting in one of the first few pews every Sunday. Don't give me the stink eye, because I'll just send it back at you!

Let's close the disconnect between teaching NFP/encouraging couples to use NFP and the attitude of completely quiet, well-behaved children or no children at Mass. We need ongoing NFP support for couples who want to be encouraged to keep on keeping on. Until we combat the culture of death infringing its way into our Church, we are going to have a tough time overcoming the poor attitudes toward children that many parents run into on a regular basis.

Does your parish offer some sort of support for young parents? How does it encourage an openness to the culture of life?

A Saturday Post

I've learned that posting daily is not in my temperament. But here it is, day 6 and I'm posting something. Probably a quick one, please ignore any grammatical infractions and misspellings. Thanks!

I actually just spent the boys' naptime working on a post, but I think I'm going to get it set up for tomorrow. Needs some proofing and maybe a few cuts. Maybe not.

In the meantime, I'm posting today just to post and say I did it.

We went to a birthday party this morning. It was a pool party. You'd think at the end of July it'd be warm with the sun shining. But no. It was a nice cloudy day with temps in the upper 70s. It even rained earlier this morning and I think we had a few drops of rain during the party.

Most of the kids there were not deterred by the cloudy cool day. They jumped right in and had a great time in the pool. My two wouldn't even put a toe in. I tried to get Ethan to put his feet in and learned that he's capable of a mid-air split.

Next summer we'll be in neighborhood with a pool and I hope to get the boys in some sort of introductory swimming lessons. How can a child of mine be so afraid of the water??

And speaking of the new neighborhood, Hubby did not come with us to this morning's pool party and instead working on packing non-essentials around the house. This coming week is our big move. Carpet goes in on Monday, granite people come out Monday afternoon, my parents come up on Tuesday, I'll be doing a lot of cleaning on Tuesday, and then we'll be moving what we can on Wednesday and the movers move everything else on Thursday.

Busy week ahead. I guess in a way, these 7 posts in 7 days gives you a chance to "see" me again in the blogging world for a little bit before I'm on a brief hiatus. One more post for tomorrow!!

7 Quick Takes Friday, v. 53

~1~

I hadn't realized that I had been neglecting 7 Quick Takes. My last one was in March. This is July!! I've been doing some on Catholic Sistas once a month, but not here. Oh well, my brain only stretches so far.

~2~

We had a retreat at work on Thursday. As part of the day we had "lightning talks." Basically a series of talks by different presenters, each presentation being 5 minutes or less. When you hit your 5 minutes, you get gonged and your presentation is over. Whether you were done or not. I was one of the lucky ones to do a presentation. I was asked by my supervisor to organize one for the team I manage, which meant I was going to be doing the presenting. So I collected the info, made a PowerPoint, practiced, edited it down A LOT, and timed myself some more. I got it down to 4:30 or 4:45. But during the actual presentation, I must have slowed my speech down a little. I got gonged. Luckily I was only one slide from the end anyway, so I got most of my info in. 5 minutes goes by FAST!!

~3~

My boys are so cute! I love seeing their personalities coming out more and more. Peter has this thing with lining things up. And he's so proud of himself when he finishes. All the cars in the toy basket and anything else that he can get to work, all end up in a straight line across the floor or on the couch or wherever he finds a spot. He has even started lining up his food, plate, and cup when we're at the table. The funniest part is watching Ethan's reaction to all this. He either completely ignores it and does his own thing, which is nice, no arguments. Or he steals one item from Peter's line and Peter goes ballistic. I swear Ethan is purposely antagonizing his brother. Yet, on some occasions Ethan starts helping Peter out. At those times, Peter is good about it and lets him. I love watching them when Ethan helps Peter line up all the toys. It's so cute to watch them working together so well.

~4~

House update: The basement carpets have been cleaned and it looks like the second floor carpets will be replaced early next week. Yay!! I'm looking forward to a clean look. Now I just have to go over their sometime and clean the rest of the floors. There is so much dog hair and other crap all over those floors. Ugh, I hate it. 

~5~

It's been on my mind for a while now to write a post about the phases of our lives and how that impacts our ability to be more or less active in our parishes. This has been swirling around in my brain for a while after having conversations with two different friends at two different times. I've been thinking about it more tonight because Hubby and I recently started discussing whether or not we want to get more involved in something at our parish. The timing seems all wrong, but at the same time a lot of other things seem to be lining up in favor of this. So I'm not too sure yet. But it is getting me thinking again about that post idea. Maybe I'll try to make that my Saturday post. [Don't hold your breath.]

~6~

Can you believe I have posted 5 days in a row?? I haven't posted this much all year! It's been fun, not too stressful, but still a challenge to do. I don't think I'm a post-a-day kind of girl. The weekend is going to be my biggest challenge (maybe I can get two posts written on Friday night). So I've learned so far that I can post a little more frequently and it doesn't seem overly stressful to do so, but daily is not going to ever be my strong suit.I think 2-3 times a week is probably my max. But this has been fun as an experiment.

~7~

And speaking of the weekend, I hope everyone has a good one! We will be going to a birthday party on Saturday and then spending the rest of the day packing as much as we can and taking things over to the new house. Although Hubby may be ripping out carpet, so I may just be home with the boys and packing what I can. Next week is going to be the big push!

For more Quick Takes, check out Conversion Diary!

Free Will, Pride, and Humility

Last Friday I wrote a post for Catholic Sistas called "Come Holy Spirit, Give us Humility." It is the eighth post in a monthly series we have been doing since December on the Fruits of the Holy Spirit.

I have known that I was going to write this post since last November. I have had lots of different thoughts about it since that time. I prayed about it, I looked for anything I could find on humility during those many months, I looked for examples of humility around me (lots of that to go around between both Pope Emeritus Benedict and Pope Francis), and I tried to let the Holy Spirit lead me to the right words.

There was one thing on my mind a lot that I thought tied into the virtue of humility quite well. But when all was said and done, it didn't make it into the post at all, which was probably for the best. But it's continued to be on my mind so I'm going with it here in this space.

There are people in our world, some of whom are very well-known public figures, who claim to be Catholic even when they hold viewpoints that are contradictory to the Church. In some cases, these people are just poorly catechized. But in more notable cases, it's obvious that poor catechesis is not to blame.

For those who were educated in the faith at some point with the Church's correct teachings on an issue, I've often seen that a person will still hold onto erroneous beliefs simply because they think they have the "free will" to do so. I'm thinking of one person in particular and her very public stand on her supposed faith and the issue of abortion. However, I believe this applies to a lot of people. She is not an anomaly, just one of many very lost and confused souls.

There are many problems here. First a misunderstanding of Free Will. Second, pride. And third, an unwillingness to humble oneself before the Church.

Free Will
I hate when people throw around the idea of free will as meaning that they can do whatever they want. That's not free will. To properly exercise free will, one has to have a well-formed conscience. Without that, you really are just doing whatever you want.

The God-given gift of Free Will is so that we will love God because we want to. He didn't want a bunch of robots on Earth who would love Him for no other reason than He made them that way. No, He wanted us to freely choose to love Him. The problem is that we can also abuse this gift of Free Will. Adam and Eve did and pretty much every human being since then has at one point or another.

Choosing to use Free Will to take a stand contrary to the Church is nothing more than an attack against the Church. When a person claims to be a faithful Catholic and loves the Church, but then claims to hold beliefs contrary to Catholicism based on nothing more than Free Will, there is no love there. This is a downright rejection of God's Church and God Himself.

Pride
I look at this abuse of Free Will and I can't help but think that it is rooted in pride. Pride is not a virtue. It's a vice. It's one thing to be proud of your husband for completing a big project at work or proud of your kid for getting an A in a really difficult class. In those cases and similar ones, we are showing pride in someone else's hard work and dedication. But the kind of pride that we should not be delving into is the kind in which we are looking inward to ourselves only with the belief that we know better than God.

I was one of those who was poorly catechized. Before I was dragged brought more fully into the Church I held contrary beliefs to Holy Mother Church. But I don't think these were rooted in any sort of pride on my part. I was just ill-educated. However, when you know the Truth and specifically go against it, I can't help but wonder what is going on deep down in that person.

They say Free Will gives them the ability to believe what they want. But at the same time they say they are faithful to Catholicism. You can't have it both ways! The only explanation I can come up with is pride. A sense of knowing better than God knows and therefore, thinking that holding contrary beliefs is somehow justified.

Humility
The opposite of pride is humility. To be humble, you often have to put your own desires aside in favor of others. A prideful person can't do that. Pride is focus on self while humility is focus on the other. Let's go a step further.

When I was learning my way back to the Church I had to reconsider some of my viewpoints that were contrary to the faith. There were things I believed that I didn't even realized were against Church teaching. Some of those beliefs were pretty easy to reverse myself on once I understood the Church's position more. Others took me more time. Contraception was one that I really had a hard time understanding. I read a lot and still couldn't quite "get it." Eventually, I had to make a choice. Set aside my objections and accept what the Church taught whether I understood or not *or* walk away from the Church entirely.

I chose the route that kept me in the Church. Essentially, I willingly humbled myself to the Church. I decided that the Church was much older and wiser than I was and the best path was to trust in Her. This took a great deal of humility on my part. The best part is that by doing this I also opened myself to fully embrace the Church's teachings. If I had not been willing to humble myself I'd still be struggling with this teaching and may not be Catholic today because of it.

When a person is unwilling to humble themselves before the rich history and long-standing beliefs of a 2000 year old faith because of their own pride, they will never experience the richness and beauty that is the Catholic faith.

Overall, I feel sorry for those who can't see beyond the pride and error that has put them on a path contrary to the teachings of the faith they claim to profess. To get them to the point where they can be humble before the Church will take a lot of work. They have many hurdles to get through before that is even possible.

Let us pray for all those who are misguided in their understanding of the faith and who are too prideful to see the error of their ways. Let's pray that they will one day be brought to a point where they are willing to be humble before Holy Mother Church. St. Augustine, pray for us. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us.

[This post is my fourth in a row as part of the "7 post in 7 days" challenge.]

Random Updates for a Wednesday

Random Picture for a Random Post

I have a post in my head that I still need to flesh out a bit more. My goal is to get it down for a Thursday post.

Let's call that update number one.

More fun update: I'm 20 weeks today!!! Half way into the pregnancy! Does that mean my baby is half-baked? Just kidding!! I'm anxious to find out how things are going but I have another week to wait before the next ultrasound. Otherwise, still feeling good, no major issues.

We successfully closed on our new house on Monday. Yay! Before we can move in though we are having a few things done. Monday afternoon I met someone from a carpet place at the house so he could measure our whole second floor. We should have new carpet installed on the stairway and throughout the second story by early next week. I also got hold of a friend who owns a carpet cleaning company with her husband and he's coming over this afternoon to clean the carpet in the basement.

Hubby also contacted a granite person who is coming out next Monday to check out our interesting sink situation and see if he can match up the granite. The current sink is massive (and ugly) so we know the hole cut in the granite is too big to do anything to it. We have pretty much decided that the whole section of granite there needs to be replaced. We'll see what the guy says on Monday. When we talked to him last week he agreed with us just based on how we described it. I think our experience in remodeling a kitchen in our previous house has come in handy with talking to a professional about this situation. We actually know what we're talking about.

The moving has also begun. Hubby took a load of stuff over to the house tonight. Once we get the basement carpets cleaned I'm ready to start bringing anything and everything we can over. The basement will be the best place to stack things for now and we have tons of storage space down there.

My parents are coming up next week to help out. I'm looking forward to it! They'll be here for my ultrasound as well which will be fun. Er mostly fun. It's not really a "fun" ultrasound, but usually they take some time to take a quick look at the baby before we do the "not-so-fun" ultrasound.

The boys have no clue what is going on. Everything we have done so far has been while they are sleeping or at school. We took them to the house on Sunday for the final walk through, but for them it was just a big empty house to run around in. Next week we'll pick them up from school and take them to the new house and they'll be rather confused. I'm curious how they are going to react. They were only 8 or 9 months old the last time we did this.

Final bit of randomness, I have a presentation to do on Thursday at an employee retreat for the entire library system I work for. Not sure how many people that is, but I'm guessing it's around 200?? Anyway, my talk is one of ten "lightening" talks. We get five minutes and no more. They will actually have someone timing the talks and they have a gong they'll hit when your time is up. I thought it would be easy since mine was going to be mostly pictures with just a few words from me. But I started practicing it today. Not easy! I set a timer on my iPod Touch and during the first run through the timer went off with 4-5 slides still to go. I had to cut it down more than I thought. I think I have it down now to around 4:30 to 4:45. In order to do that I have to stick to my script and not get distracted. I'm used to presenting, but not in such a short span of time. I always write out a script or a semblance of a script but I always practice with the idea that I can go off script at times or as needed. Can't do that this time, at all!!

Thursday should be interesting!

I really need to take more pictures. I really need a new iPod that comes with a camera. My current one is old ... no camera. If you don't mind, leave me a comment explaining to Hubby all the benefits of having an iPod with a camera feature on it. (Neither of us have smartphones nor do we have plans to get them; also remember there will be a new baby arriving in December, you don't want to have to wait until we get out of the hospital for pictures, do you?)

That's all the randomness for today. You can thank Jen's "7 posts in 7 days" challenge for bringing on this randomness.

The Appeal of Organic and Natural

Organic! Natural! No preservatives! Buy local!

It's everywhere we look today. It's in the grocery stores, on TV, all over Facebook. Everyone wants to live a natural life as much as possible. Hormone-free meats and diary, less processed junk, no GMOs, etc., etc. The list can get pretty long.

But there is one area of people's lives in which they seem okay with adding hormones to their bodies or using unnatural devises in their bodies. It's rather mind boggling really. How can you be so picky about your food and other chemicals you and your family come in contact with, but be okay with these other things?

I am, of course, talking about the pill, IUDs, and any other devise that is used as birth control by millions of people every day. 

Courtesy of iusenfp.com

I find it confusing when I see friends of mine post things on Facebook about GMOs in food or any other unnatural, food additives that are illegal in other countries but okay with our FDA here in the US. I'm confused because often these are the same people I happen to know also use some form of unnatural contraceptives in their bodies.

I'm not saying that we shouldn't be concerned about the food that we eat and serve our families. We should, absolutely!! I want my family to eat healthy foods, to not be ingesting hormones they don't need or chemicals that are bad for them. I share those same concerns.

And it is because of those same concerns, among other reasons, that I don't take the pill or use some unnatural devise to prevent pregnancy. Yes, one of my main reasons is the teachings of the Catholic Church, but this other stuff plays into it as well.

Here's the thing. The pill contains hormones your body doesn't need. You are adding more hormones into your body with regular consumption of the pill than you would ever get from a steak that came from a cow who was given extra hormones. So if you're so concerned about your food, you really should be more concerned about the pill.

I saw some recent discussions in which friends of mine shared that they had seen the copper IUD held up as a "natural" form of birth control. Seriously? Inserting a devise made of copper into your ... is "natural." I'm no science expert, never took anatomy in school, but I'm pretty sure copper is not a natural part of our bodies. Anyone??

All those devises that can be inserted for long periods of time, they also have hormones in them. How do you think they work?? Again, it's not natural for our bodies to be getting more hormones than we need. And long term, they can cause all sorts of problems, from infertility to cancer to who knows what else. Why take that risk??

Okay, so you see the point, maybe? Or at least you have something to think about? Do some research yourself and read a bit more if you think I'm crazy or smoking something. Regardless, maybe you're thinking that this is something to be rethought. Maybe you'll just use condoms or something in the meantime. No hormones there, right?

True, no hormones there. But condoms are one of the most unreliable forms of birth control there is. Take your chances if you want. But remember this, when you give yourself to your spouse you should be doing it totally and completely, giving him ALL of you, holding nothing back. It is about you and him (and God) and no one, or nothing, else. How does a piece of rubber fit into that equation?

Courtesy of the Couple to Couple League

While you chew on that for a bit, let me introduce a new concept to you: Natural Family Planning, or NFP for short. 

Whoa, whoa, whoa!!! you say!! STOP! Don't close up this window. Hear me out and keep reading.

Natural Family Planning is NOT the Rhythm Method. It does not assume that every woman has cycles the same length or that individual women have the same cycle time after time. NFP is a series of different methods that work WITH your body's natural processes. You learn to observe the fertility signs your body naturally goes through, chart those, and then identify your fertile and infertile times. It's really very simple once you learn it.

I won't go into the various methods here. But I do want to leave you with a list of resources. Keep an open mind and check them out. Remember, this is all natural. You like it when your food says "All Natural, No Preservatives" on it. Shouldn't other aspects of your life also be "All Natural?"

I Use NFP

Live-The-Love

One More Soul (resource with medical information, articles, and ability to find an NFP doctor in your area)

Taking Charge of Your Fertility (a non-religious site on fertility awareness)

NFP and More 

Various NFP methods include:

Symto-Thermal Method, taught by the Couple to Couple League: http://www.ccli.org/

Creighton Model: http://www.creightonmodel.com/ and Creighton Fertility Care: http://www.fertilitycare.org/

Marquette Method: http://nfpstudy.marquette.edu/

Billings Method: http://www.woomb.org/

Serena: http://www.serena.ca/ (based in Canada)

This post was written and inspired by this week's NFP Awareness Week (many more resources available at this website). This post is also part of the "7 posts in 7 days" challenge.
I've also linked this post up to an NFP Week Linkup at NFPandMe.blogspot.com. 

7 Posts in 7 Days Challenge and Some News

I saw Jen. F. of Conversion Diary post about doing a 7 posts in 7 days challenge. My first reaction was to dismiss it. I've barely had time to do much posting on this blog all year and I didn't feel like I wanted to get bogged down in trying to post for 7 straight days.

But then Sunday afternoon, I'm sitting at my desk catching up on blogs and email, Hubby is at the grocery store and the boys are napping. It's quiet and peaceful and I'm feeling relaxed and I see Jen's post and I think, "okay, what the heck! I have time!"

Ah, the deception of quiet!!

So I'm in! I'll try to post 7 posts in 7 days. "Try" being the operative word here. It is time for me to pick up the slack some, so this comes at an opportune time. I figure even if I don't get all 7 in, even doing half is more than I've done in a long time.

For my first post, I thought I'd share some exciting news. Today (this morning, in fact) we are closing on a new house. Surprise!!! Those that know us in real life got the news just a couple weeks back. We were pretty quiet about this change considering that we only moved to our current home about 16 months ago. Honestly, it comes as a bit of surprise to us too.

Although we had been talking about selling again, and buying again and moving AGAIN, we figured we'd wait until at least next year, maybe even a year after that. But the market started really hopping around here and especially in our neighborhood. So we listed, had an offer by day three, and worked out all the negotiations by day four. We went looking at homes ourselves on day two of our house being on the market and so we were able to put in an offer the day after we worked out the deal on our house.

As of this past Friday we closed on our current home. We are still here under a post occupancy agreement and are basically renters for the next two weeks. Later today, after our closing, we are getting the new house measured for new carpet on the second floor. We hope to have the installed before we do any major moving. Then we need to get a granite person in the house this week sometime to see what their recommendation is for replacing a section of granite so we can get a better, more functional sink. A lot is happening over the next two weeks!!

This move helps us out in some ways. We are moving into a house that is comparable in size but set up very differently. All the bedrooms will be on the second floor again!! Yay!! We'll also have a backyard that isn't so shady that we can't plant a garden. Actually, there is already a garden area at this house (neglected, but there) so we plan on using that starting next spring. The house is also cheaper than the house we are currently in. We are saving some money there which will be nice.

For my posts this week you may get many more updates and hopefully some pictures as we start the journey of moving to a new home with two toddlers and a 20 week high risk, pregnant momma. Lots of fun to come!!

Pregnancy Update: Week 19

Here we are again, another pregnancy update. I have to admit, this pregnancy is so different so far than any of my previous ones. I feel great and can't help but wonder if something is wrong because I feel so good. But so far, everything is going really well.

How far along: 19 weeks and 1 day.

Pregnancy symptoms: Like I said, so far so good. And being this far along, I doubt anything is going to suddenly turn in this area. Here's hoping!

Food Aversions/Cravings: Other than feeling like I need some sort of chocolate every day, not much else.

Weight Gain: About 6 pounds.

Maternity Clothes: What is the deal with the band at the top of maternity pants that is supposed to be supportive?? Instead it rolls down and then cuts into my stomach area. It's so not comfortable. I need to go through all my stuff and see if there is anything more comfortable. It's so not cool. My most comfortable clothes at this point are PJs and two pairs of capris that aren't appropriate for work.

Belly Button: I always add this in for fun, never thought I'd actually have something to report in this area. But late last week I suddenly had major pain right in my belly button area. It lasted all day, although it eventually became more of a dull ache. Still, it was uncomfortable trying to sit and stand or lean forward when I was sitting. I was worried that maybe I had an umbilical hernia and talked briefly about it to a friend who does have one. As painful as it was, it actually went away by the next day and I've been fine ever since. I was able to talk to a doctor yesterday and she couldn't find anything, so hopefully it was just a temporary thing. My other theory is that the baby was right there all day pushing on that area.

Oh, and it hasn't popped yet, but definitely closer (especially after that painful day).

Baby movement: When I'm lying in bed at night I sometimes think I feel something that might be the baby moving. But I'm never sure. Yesterday I think I finally felt something during the day. I'm never sure if what I'm feeling is the baby or something else. I'm amazed when I hear other women say they can feel baby movement as early as 12 weeks.

Ultrasound/Appointment: No regular appointment this week, but I did have an ultrasound yesterday. Baby looks good, but we didn't spend a lot of time looking at the baby. The main point of this ultrasound was to check cervical length. Good news there!! We got a measurement of 4.4 cm. Normal range is around 3-4 cm. So this is great news!!! The doctor actually wanted me to wait three weeks to come back for the next check, but I felt more comfortable coming back in two. So that's what we decided on.

Other things of note: We have such a hard time coming up with names. We have a girl name all set. But boy names are hard. We won't share the name we've chosen until the baby is born, but I'd love to hear what your favorite boy names are. Especially good Catholic names. Share with me in the comments!

Almost 18 Weeks of Pregnancy

I did a pretty good job of writing weekly updates when I was pregnant with the boys over two years ago. I enjoyed doing it and I think our family, who all live at various distances from us, all enjoyed those weekly updates as well. This time, I've been a little slack on updates. I'm not going to promise to start now, but I'd like to do a few updates here and there. So let's start now!!

I just went back and looked through my updates from my last pregnancy and I was surprised to see that I'm right on track. 18 weeks was exactly when I started doing weekly updates. How fortuitous!

On Wednesday I'll be 18 weeks along. Hard to believe that we are nearing the midway point already!! Here's what we know so far:

Size of baby: At my ultrasound last week (right at 17 weeks, 0 days) baby was estimated to be about 7 ounces. Right on track.

Pregnancy Symptoms: Overall, I've had a relatively easy time. I've been taking a vitamin B6 and vitamin D3 each morning and a prenatal with dinner. If I remember I also take a calcium supplement that has some extra D3 in it around lunch time. But more often than not, I forget that one. The B6 and the D3, I believe, have helped stave off the fatigue and nauseousness I've had in previous pregnancies. So overall, I feel good!

Food aversions/cravings: Nothing in particular. My husband likes that, so far, I haven't completely gagged at any food he's made (unlike the time when I couldn't do red beans and rice AT ALL during a pregnancy). As far as cravings, again nothing in particular. I'm just wanting to eat more and more, but I'm trying to make healthy choices and keep the unhealthy things to a minimum. Because you know, you can't be pregnant and avoid chocolate. That just wouldn't be natural! Which leads me to ...

Weight gain: Unfortunately, I started this pregnancy about 20 pounds heavier than where I started out with the boys. So I am trying to keep things under control and not overdue it. I don't need to be left with 50 extra pounds after the baby is born. So far, by my calculations on my scale at home, I have gained roughly 5 pounds. I feel like that is pretty good. I just keep hoping the baby will feed off those extra 20 pounds for a while and maybe I won't gain much more weight. Hahaha! One can still hope, right?

Maternity clothes: Yep. Started wearing them about two weeks ago. My sister gave me all of hers, most of which are too small for me. Her old maternity pants mostly work so I can wear those, but her tops were almost all too small. Between her stuff and my own stuff I am pretty set for winter. Since it's July I figured that wouldn't work. What summer tops I did have were mostly casual and not good for work. So I went out and bought a couple tops to add to the mix and so far I'm making do.

Belly-button: I'm surprised at how much it is already stretched out! Combo of baby and the extra weight I'm still carrying, I'm sure. I give it 2 maybe 3 more weeks.

Baby movement: None yet. At least nothing I have distinguished as the baby.

Singleton vs. Twins: I keep thinking I haven't grown much and it feels weird. I have to remind myself that I grew a lot faster last time because there were two babies in there. Only one this time so, of course, I haven't ballooned out yet. It feels very strange to see how small my pooch is. I think the maternity clothes are mostly for those extra 20 pounds that have all been pushed up to make room for my growing uterus. Seriously.

Other symptoms:  It just wouldn't be pregnancy without a few fun things thrown in, right? So leg cramps are back. Yay! I'm adding coconut water to my OJ in the morning and trying to eat a banana every few days. After talking to Dr. M today (my regular OB) I realized I need to start chugging more water (and those that know me know that all I drink it water) and paying attention to my calcium intake. We think I get enough calcium, but since I haven't paid attention to that specifically, I need to start. In the end, some people are just more prone to leg cramps, so there may not be anything I can do. But I'll be trying anyway. Sleeping has been fine so far, no issues there yet. That's actually another difference between this pregnancy and the last one. By this time last time I think I already had the pregnancy pillow out. Lastly, restless leg (and arm) syndrome. I hate this one so much!! The potassium in the bananas and coconut water for leg cramps also helps in this case too. I need to start getting more magnesium. I found this article to help me in my food choices in this respect. A friend also recommended a magnesium lotion. I haven't searched one out yet, but I'm very tempted to!

Ultrasound: Ultrasound was last week. No, we are not finding out gender. The baby looks really good. Hands, feet, head, organs all there, umbilical cord was normal, etc. It was kind of weird to me how quick it was considering in my last pregnancy there were two babies to look at, plus blood flow between them and their shared placenta and always checking the membranes between them and the fluid levels in each sac. So yeah, this ultrasound was so much more straightforward and shorter. But, as important as anatomy is, the biggest thing for me at this ultrasound was the cervical length check.

Cervix: My cervical length measured at 4.3 cm. This is REALLY good! Anything between 3 and 4 is considered normal. So 4.3 ... let's throw a party! Dr. O (the MFM doctor) was pleased and didn't think a cerclage was necessary at this time. Plus, he explained, the uterus has already expanded to a pretty high degree (twins to 36w, 5d), so the pressure on my cervix is a lot less this time around than the last time. Overall, my conversation with Dr. O was encouraging and made me feel better. I go back in a little over a week for another look.

I think that about does it for this update. This is plenty long as it is anyway and one of my keyboard keys just broke, again! It slows down my typing and is just plain annoying. So good night for now!