After you look at this, watch the video below it

Hey guys! Want to hear about a couple of fetuses? Okay! Here is an artist's rendering of what my twins look like inside of me right now.


Like most artist's renderings, it's not very accurate. At yesterday's quick scan, the one giant double-baby-placenta was still sitting right on top of them pushing them towards the bottom. And during the quick ultrasound (really quick, like 5 minutes) both of their heads were over to the right, and all 4 little feet were over to the left. No measurements were taken, but they looked like they were still the same size, and had plenty of fluid, and they were visibly bigger than last time.

Yesterday's check up was super quick. It was just to check that nothing drastic had happened before we leave for CALIFORNIA and then WASHINGTON! Hooray! After the ultrasound I said to the nurse "So I don't have another appointment for 4 weeks, right?" "No, we need to do your big half-way ultrasound within a certain time period, so we'd better see you right after you get back, in 2 weeks." So... two weeks. Again. But maybe after that it'll be every 4 weeks.

Okay, really, even though it's tiring to have a scan every 2 weeks, it's been fun to see them grow, and not just my belly. Baby A has been in the same position every appointment since the beginning, but Baby B flips back and forth. I have a feeling that when they start getting stronger, Baby A will start shoving back to get more room.

Also, just like always, the ultrasound tech tried to get a look at the gender, but there just isn't enough space! The exact words she said this time were "Well, if I had to decide I would say Girls for lack of any evidence otherwise" :/ And it doesn't help that they get really squirmy when they're being poked. The next ultrasound is the Big Long One, and if we don't find out then, I'm giving up. I'll just start buying gender neutral things.

Giggle.

I Scream, You Scream...

I present to you: Atticus and the Ice Cream

A picture novella.

"Food?"

"This isn't milk. Nor is it rice, nor applesauce"

"I LIKE IT."

"More please?"

Yes, his face eventually came clean.

A Story of Two Boys

The weather is really nice today, so Atticus and I took Blake out into the yard to play catch for a while. We did, and when Blakes tongue got to be a foot long from panting, we put him in the back yard and went to just sit in the sunshine.

We have this thing. It's called a "Hyper-Ball-E". It's a retractable stick with a cup on the end that throws the ball really far. You might even say it throws the ball exaggeratedly far... get it? Anyway, I like it because it means I don't have to touch the gross slobbery ball with my hand. Atticus likes it because he only gets to play with it when we're outside.

We sat on a blanket and I basked in the 70 degree sunshine while Atticus played with the stick. I kept messing with him, trying to get him to play games with me, so after a minute or two he took the stick and crawled about 4 feet away onto the grass. Receiving the so clearly stated message, I lay down and settled in to watch The Kid.

Atticus flung the stick around. He flipped it this way and that, felt every inch, held it up to his face, and touched it to the ground. He started to put it in his mouth a few times before I could get the word "NONONO" out of my mouth. He whacked himself on the head with it. He grabbed onto it as hard as he could. He poked it.

After about 15 minutes of this, I could see he was getting frustrated. I guessed that he was trying to make it retract into a smaller stick, as he had seen me do with it. Eventually, he threw it on the ground, started crying, and crawled over to me.

He sat in my lap for 5 seconds, and then crawled back over to the stick.

He picked it up again, started the whole process over again, but quicker. After maybe 3 minutes, he once again threw it on the ground and started crying. Then he picked it up, crawled back over to me, and sat in my lap again, this time with the stick in hand. He worked at it and finally managed to retract the stick and make it small again. He spent a few minutes making the stick big and small and big and small and big. Then we went inside and ate some yogurt.

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A few months ago, my sewing machine broke. I couldn't figure out what on earth was wrong with it, and after a few minutes I gave up and moved onto something else.

When Trevor came home, I told him it was broken. "Okay, I'll look at it."
"Don't you want to eat dinner first?"
"No, it's probably an easy fix, I'll just look at it now."
"Or we could watch TV for a little bit or something."
"No, I'll just fix it now."

Trevor sat down in front of the sewing machine and turned it on. He took apart pieces, he cleaned it, he put the pieces back together. He tried to sew, he took apart more pieces, he put them back together. He almost hit the machine a few times before I could get the word "NONONO" out of my mouth. He poked his finger on the needle. He looked at everything as hard as he could.

After about an hour of this, I could see he was getting frustrated. I guessed that he was angry that he couldn't figure what should have been a simple problem. Eventually he said "I give up!!" and came and sat next to me on the couch.

He sat there for about 5 minutes before going back and sitting in front of the sewing machine again.

He turned it on again, and started the whole thing over. I came in and asked it I could help.
"No, thanks."
"Do you want a cookie?"
"Sure."

I got him a cookie, and he went back to work. A few minutes later: "AH-HA! I FIXED IT! You're using the wrong bobbin size, and it's messed a bunch of stuff up!" I added bobbins to my shopping list, we ate some more cookies, and then we went to bed.

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I love my boys.

Maybe Babies

Just a quick update to let you know how the twins are doing! We just had an ultrasound, and everything looked SO good that we're back down to ultrasounds every 4 weeks! The babies are the same size again, and still above the growth curve (70th percentile, which apparently is a miracle for twins, but makes me a little nervous for this September...) They're still squished together in there. Apparently the placenta is kind of pushing them down on top of each other. Ah, well. Maybe it's just preparing them for life in a tiny house with 5 people and two animals.


Also, even though it was squished in there, the ultrasound tech tried to get a peek between the legs... and even though she said she wasn't 100% sure, she thinks they might be GIRLS. I'm only 17 weeks, and like I said before it was pretty squished in there, so I'm not going to run out and buy pink dresses yet, but we should know for sure in 4 weeks!

Bloggy Sunday

I realize that this is the 3rd picture blog I've posted today, but I've been promising people I would post this, and now is when I have time.

The babies. I'm trying to look enthusiastic about morning sickness, heartburn, incessant sneezing, and being this big at 16 weeks. I think I'm failing.

I've already lost sight of my feet.

Oh! There they are! They make an appearance when I lean forward.

And there you go. Three for one.

Easter Morning

Happy Easter!

We woke up early, I think Atticus was excited for General Conference again.

All dolled up for Easter Morning! ... Or maybe we rolled out of bed and took pictures.

We dyed eggs yesterday! I made one for Baby A, Baby B, and two for Atticus, because I accidentally cracked the first one and it was ugly anyway. I don't think I need to tell you who dyed the camouflage eggs.

Okay, on a scale of 1 to 10, how unhealthy do you think it is for a 10 and a half month old to have a peep for breakfast? I mean, he had a bottle too...

The Easter Bunny had a little mommy-guilt, so she left Atticus a carrot too. He even looks more enthusiastic about it, doesn't he?

I love having General Conference on Easter weekend! I wish it could be this way every year. It's a bit of a struggle to catch everything with Atticus running around, so I'm extra looking forward to the conference edition of the Ensign. I did hear most of the former Primary President's talk though. I don't think Atticus can say "Jesus" yet, but I know that he knows who He is. Being so fresh from His presence, maybe he still remembers. I hope he understands that our family revolves around Christ. Honestly, he seems to understand the Hymns better than anything else. He certainly listens to them more closely than he listens to me, even when I'm saying "Stop pulling on the cat's tail, she's going to swat you." General Conference always fills me up, I hope he learns to get the same out of it.

What Atticus Has Been Up To

The weather was really nice for about 10 days, before we got hit by a snowstorm this weekend. We've been going to the park, where Atticus's favorite things to do are swing, spin on the merry-go-round, pick up handfuls of dirt and eat rocks.

Pretty cute, right?

This picture cracks me up! He really loves the swing, I have no idea why he looks like he wants to murder me.

Of course, it's still pretty cold outside, so we spend a lot of time digging through the Box-O-Wonders.

"Cause I am downright amazed at what I can destroy with just a hammer!"

He also learned how to undo zippers. I discovered this when I came in to get him up from his nap one day, and he was sitting in just his diaper.