Check out my ride...

It's official...I am now in a Mommymobile! We bought an Odyssey yesterday! I am excited about it and all the cool things it can do! My favorite thing about it is the backup camera that you see out of the rear view mirror! I just never thought I would ever be the owner of a minivan.

Pardon me looking like a wreck in the picture...it was a long day!

Claire Bear

Claire has just been amazing me with the things she is doing and saying now-a-days. Here are some examples of my 21 month old's uber intelligence.

1. My Mom brought us over pizza for lunch early this week. She also bought Claire a pinwheel. When she hands Claire the pinwheel, Claire runs in my purse gets out a dollar and hands it to my Mom while saying "Thank You." My Mom and I nearly fell on the floor laughing!!

2. Claire has a little magnadoodle that she likes to scribble on. She also likes to tell Scott and I what to draw on there for her. This morning she asks Scott to draw her a "circle." His circle wound up being a little wide and Claire points at it and says "Oval."

3. Driving to the park Wednesday, we were at the stoplight of Joppa/Honeygo. She points to the Left yelling "this way, this way...POOL." She was pointing the way to go to the White Marsh Pool which we had a party at last weekend!!

4. Whenever we go to a room full of people, she likes to yell "HI GUYS!"

5. My Mom got Claire a jelly bean bouncer (pic below)...every time we go down to the rec room she sees it and yells "WOW...NEAT" before hopping on. She also remembers that Grandma bought it for her!!





Okay...enough Mommy bragging...she is such at a fun age! It is really cool that she loves and knows her numbers, letters, shapes, and colors. It eases my mind that she already knows these things since is going to be the youngest in her class having an end of August birthday! Hopefully she doesn't become a bad ass once the twins arrive!!

SEXY!!!

I am going to have to keep Scott away with a stick when I wear this pair of "supportive lingerie"...

Another OB Appointment

Well nothing really to note at today's appointment. He had a hard time finding baby A's heartbeat, but finally found it right on my belly button. No internal this appointment, so hopefully I haven't dilated anymore. My OB will do one once a month, but says more than than can irritate the cervix. As for my varicose veins, apparently they will only get worse at this point. He told me to buy "supportive underwear." WTF IS SUPPORTIVE UNDERWEAR??? I have a full ultrasound that I need to schedule for early next week to check on the cervix and the boys growths/ developments as well.

As for other stuff, I am super emotional lately. On the way to the OB appointment, "Landslide" came on the radio and I started crying. I don't even really like that song, but when whiny Stevie Nicks sang "Well, Ive been afraid of changing cause I've built my life around you; But time makes you bolder; Children get older; I'm getting older too" I just lost it. Recently, a song they sing on the Playhouse Disney show "Bunnytown" has brought me to tears as well. Dang pregnancy emotions...

My list of pregnancy complaints...

Here is my new post. OB appointment tomorrow, will hopefully update with positive news tomorrow.

Here are my current complaint:
1) Vaginal Varicose Veins - Got some huge ones down there. They hurt so freaking bad...it is basically like having hemmorhoids on your labia. Apparently they occur in 50% of twin pregnancies. Lucky me.
2) Reflux - Everything I eat comes up/ goes down/ comes up/ goes down. Pain is very much involved.
3) Consitpation - Nuff said.
4) Backaches - Nothing seems to be helping, not even Scott's attempt to rub my back.
5) Acne - Dang Hormones.

And you requested a new post...

Boys!

Lately, I have been observing little boys (not in the perverted way) since I do not have any first hand experience with them (besides my daycare years which were many moons ago...in fact I thought the other day that one year olds I used to take care of in the daycare center that were so near and dear to my heart are now in high school...but I digress). All the boys I have observed are a lot more physical (climbing, running, jumping) than the little girls the same age. This scares the crap out of me since I will have two to chase. I also have to learn to like trucks, action figures, and sports. Scott tells me that I better learn how to play catch by the time the boys are one. Don't get me wrong, I am very excited about having boys...but to me they are still very mysterious creatures.

In other baby boy news, we are struggling with coming up with any names. If anyone wants to share any cute names they are willing to "give away" please do. We have to come up with two and it seems to be quite a challenge.

Also for those Moms that have had more than one child, did you go all out with the other kid's nursery? I can't really justify spending a lot of money on bedding sets when I will need two. All the really cute ones are at least $175 and multiply that by two. I guess if I just get plain crib sets and decorate the walls it will be just as cute! Honestly, who ever really sees the nursery anyway.

Pool Girl

Well it's official...Claire LOVES swimming (unlike her Mommy). We went to Maddie and Alex's 3rd birthday party on Saturday and Claire was a little fish. She really had fun!! I will share some of her pics!

Busy Day

Yesterday turned out to be quite a busy day. We started out at Snyder park with Debi and Jenni and some of thier kids (the others were in a summer 3 year old camp week). We didn't stay too long because it was quite hot. This particular park we like to go to is good because it is NEVER crowded and it is pretty big for the kids to run around and not get into too much trouble. We do sometimes run into the occasional 12 year old hanging out smoking cigarettes...but well no biggie as long as she doesn't offer one to my 1 year old. We have also found the remains of a dime bag once, probably the 12 year old's stash (we did throw it away btw...not enough to make a profit or get high...kidding). After the park, we went to the PH playgroup. It was fun seeing everyone! Claire had a good time following around Conner and stepping on babies. She also enjoyed running into Meg's living room trying to knock down her glass vase because she thought it contained "bubbles" (actually it was glass beads). The taco dip was really good except that I barely got to eat any because Val was being very possessive of the Mexican goodness. After we got home, Claire took a too short nap and then we spent the rest of the day in her pool (well she was in her pool, I was sitting in a chair with my feet in the water.)

In other news, my work called to tell me that they received my short term disability paperwork. The woman said to me "you know you don't have long term disability..." I said "Yes, I know." She then said "It would have been good if you signed up for it because you never know when you will need it." I was like "WTF lady...you don't think I haven't thought of this." What I actually said though was "is it too late to sign up now." She just laughed at me. I hate people sometimes.

Claire's new obsession is going on playhousedisney.com. She likes to play the Mickey Mouse games. It was cute at first, but now I can't get on the laptop without her yelling "Mickey Mouse. Mickey Mouse." Somehow, from her playing her Mickey games, she changed the layout of desktop and I do not know how to fix it...apparently having your kid hit random buttons on the computer changes the layout. I wish I was more computer savvy.

OB appointment

I saw my OB today. Everything is going okay, I haven't dilated anymore and everything seems to be right on track. This is good news because I have been getting myself all worked up this week thinking about the worst case scenarios! I asked about a high risk OB and he said that he will definitely refer me when I need one, but I seem to be doing pretty good so far. He also told me not to Google everything because I will always find the bad over the good. I am seeing him every two weeks now. I also have to get an ultrasound every month as well. I am off to rest now since Claire is currently napping!

Roseola and swingsets (nice combo)!

Well it definitely was roseola! Her rash is in full force, mostly on her back and neck. While the fever has diminished, the sleepiness and irritability persists. Yesterday nothing we did could make her happy. She was so irritable!!!! Everything we did produced whining, tears and temper tantrums. Even watching her main man Elmo on TV wasn't enough for her to chill out. Let's hope that today is better!

Those who have been around my kid recently need to know that incubation of the disease is 10-15 days...so you will probably find out next week if they are infected. The good news is that if your kid has already has roseola, it is very rare that they will get it again!

In other news...we are currently looking into swingsets for Claire. Does anyone have any recommendations of places to look? I know they sell them at Toys R Us, Lowes, BJs and online. Any difference in quality? I think after listening to horror stories that we might suck it up and hire someone to put it up for us. I can't imagine Scott trying to put it up even with the help of Ed. I would rather have piece of mind that the thing isn't going to topple over when kids are swinging.

It is funny to look at some of these things online. I guess gone are the days of kids playing on the aluminum swingsets that Mandy, myself and many of us spent out childhoods enjoying. Some of the new swingsets are out of control. For example:

Maybe if I had a crapload of money and acres of land this would be a possibility, but seriously? I guess some people actually do buy it since it was listed as a popular item.

Oh well, wish us luck on our swingset hunt!

Day 4 of Claire's fever!!

Poor little Bear. Her fever started on Monday morning and it hasn't gone down without the help of motrin/tylenol yet. Other than some mild crankiness and not finishing all meals she appears to be fine. I took her to her pediatrician yesterday and he couldn't find anything wrong with her. He thinks the fever is going to turn into Roseola. I guess we will just have to wait and see if a rash appears. We are both bored out of our minds here on house arrest.

On Tuesday evening, I was able to go to a baby shower for my neighbor. It was nice to get out. One of my friends used to be an OB nurse for GBMC so she gave me the juice on all the OBs. She told me that the high risk OB that I was thinking about asking to be referred to is a major bitch. She says that the OB knows her stuff and is excellent but is rather mean/condescending to her patients which often results in tears. She said she has seen her make fathers cry. I guess it gives me something to think about...I don't like arrogant doctors, but if she can deliver the twins as close to term as possible I guess it is worth it. I haven't made a decision quite yet, but I will talk to my current OB about it at my Wednesday appointment.

20 weeks tomorrow...

SUV -vs- Minivan Follow-up questions...

Thanks everyone for your comments to my last post. I think on our quest for a new car, I will test drive the Odyssey. I do have a few questions though...

1. Is it easier to drive a minivan -vs- an SUV? I always have driven small cars so I am kinda freaked out by the larger vehicle.

2. How much better is gas mileage on an SUV -vs- minivan? Forced into being a one-income family at this point money is a hot topic.

3. Which is generally safer? AN SUV or minivan? I always thought a minivan would be safer, but my MIL told me never to get a minivan because they are dangerous. She got this info from her brother-in-law who owns a body shop and says the minivans look awful when they come into him.

4. What is stow and go?

5. What features do you get with a minivan that make it a much better deal?

6. If you drive a minivan, does your husband willingly drive it as well or do you have to force him?

I guess I could Google all of this, but it is more fun to get answers from actual drivers!!!

I have a case of the Mon-days...

Now that I am home everyday and can't really do much, I really miss the weekend when Scott is home to help. Today is especially bad because Claire has a fever of 102.3 and is just cranky. I called her pediatrician who just recommended keeping the fever down with motrin/tylenol and call him if it persists. Luckily she is eating and drinking just fine. We will be watching a lot of TV today!!

In pregnancy news, I really need to stop googling because I constantly freak myself out. Every time I feel an ache "downtown" I assume that my cervix is continuing to shorten. I also have been on message boards where girls are on full bedrest who have a longer cervix than me with just one baby. I really don't want to be on full bedrest!!! I would be miserable not seeing Claire.

We obviously need to get a bigger car since I am pretty sure three carseats are not going to fit in a Jetta. We are looking into the Highlander and the Pilot. Anyone else know of any SUVs with a possible third row? We have discussed the Odyssey...although I never wanted to have a minivan (however I never thought I would have three kids), it might be our best bet. For now though, we will search more SUVs.

Weddings

Yesterday Scott and I went to a friend's wedding. He was a groomsman and I was one of the readers. The reception was in the bride's parents backyard. Luckily the rain stopped before the reception began.

I just have to say that weddings are not as much fun when you are pregnant. When I was pregnant with Claire, I attended two weddings where the alcohol flowed freely and I was stuck sipping on water. This time, not only could I not drink like everyone else, but I was also on dance restrictions from my OB. So while everyone drank heavily and danced the night away, I was a little wall flower. Scott doesn't seem to mind since he can drink as much as he wants since I am the automatic designated driver.

After 5 hours of basically sitting at the reception, I became very sore. I basically felt like my uterus was going to fall out. I hope it was just gravity, but if the soreness is still there Monday morning I am going to call my OB to make sure I am not dilating anymore.

On a hopeful note, I was talking to a wife of one of Scott's friends and she has a short cervix as well. She said they put a stitch in her at 19 weeks and put her on "house arrest" when she was 2cm dilated and she was able to make it to 39 weeks. Granted she just had one baby, but still it was hopeful to hear. She also gave me the name of her high risk OB that works out of GBMC. I may request a referral from my OB.

Not much going on today besides a potential visit from a friend and a birthday party for Claire's buddy Lexi this evening.