34

I've hit the 34 weeks mark! That is considered a milestone because the babies could come and be relatively safe after this. I had an appointment last week and all is well. They plan on taking out my stitches at 36 weeks-it is weird to see that appointment on my calendar because it means babies will likely come relatively soon after! I have watched other twin pregnancies through blogs and it seems that week 34 is the week when most women feel like they want to be done. I hit that point about two days ago:) I'm lucky that I've had no heartburn, no varicose veins, no serious swelling (yet), but I am officially ready to not be pregnant anymore. I have to grunt and groan to stand from a seated position (laying is even worse), if I move I am instantly out of breath, when I sit I have to cradle my tummy just to take some of the weight off my sides, I can't cross my legs or I cut off all blood circulation, I can't sleep with Danny anymore because our little double bed has officially outgrown the two (or four:) of us, and I have just gotten my first serious stretch marks(and no I'm not the type to post a tummy pic).  It will only get worse:)

More then all that, however,  I am just excited to see these babies! We have been toying with names since we found out they were girls and are almost set. Picking names has been way hard for us this time around-I just don't like many girl names. I could name triplet boys on the spot-but girls are hard!  We'll see if the names stick when we see their cute faces.

I have set a deadline of April 4 to get my to do list finished. I'm trying to finish editing and burning our family videos, finish the babies' room, pack my hospital bag and other assorted chores. I really want to take it easy in April (meaning-lay around and read my book, watch the masterpiece shows on my dvr, play pretty princess with Lucy) in hopes that the babies will stay put as long as possible. My goal is to deliver the week of the 17th. Do I actually have any control over that? No. But positive visualization has to help right? By that time I'll be 37 weeks and the girls should be pretty big (I will also be pretty big I expect:)

Well, that was a random jumble of thoughts. I tried to take a tummy pic yesterday-unfortunately I was not very talented at it.  In most of them I cut off either my head or my tummy-kind of defeats the purpose:)

My favorite number

Friday was Danny's birthday! He turned 28, one of my favorite numbers (it makes this age feel special). Danny treats his birthday pretty casually, but we still managed to have an exciting day.  He started it by letting me sleep in and going to work-wonderful man. Lucy and I met him for lunch at Tomatina.  We love celebrating things there-even though it is a pretty casual dining spot.

We had a great lunch then headed over to the Borders by our house which is going out of business. Everything was up to 40% off-so it was like heaven. Danny picked a book for himself and somehow we ended up getting Lucy several things-I'll have to save them for her birthday:) After a leisurely afternoon we met our parents in Walnut Creek for dinner and opened gifts there. We had Naia (we gave you a mental shout out Kate) for dessert and sang only the Happy Birthday song-it was pretty cold and the Anderson tradition of three songs just wasn't going to happen.
Unfortunately I was persuaded to rely on the iphone for birthday pics this year-which means we have no good pics and hardly any of the birthday boy himself.

I'm grateful for fish

The above title was the message Lucy brought home from Sunbeams this week.  Lucy LOVES Sunbeams and her teacher. She always comes home with a little paper bag filled with coloring pages and cute projects they do in class. This week she came home with a fishing game she was very excited to play with us. Each time you catch a magnetic fish you say something you're grateful for.  I have been consistently fishing since she brought this game home, and I am grateful I can hear all the things Lucy is grateful for. It has also been a fun to try and think of new things to be grateful for myself.  It's way harder then a gratitude journal:)

Real

So, I'm going to have twins, and soon.  I know everyone knows that, and that technically I've been pregnant for about eight months, but every once in awhile it actually hits me and I'm always surprised.   I really can't believe it, maybe because it has been along time since I had a baby, maybe because there are two of them, maybe because having a baby always feels like this.

I know Danny is in for a shock when it actually happens. Sometimes just looking at me he looks surprised to see my tummy-I'm sure he will be shocked when the time actually comes and they put two little babies in his arms. Anyway, just wanted you to know that this is actually going to happen and that according to the calendar it will happen pretty soon. This month is FLYING by and I don't doubt April will fly by too.

This is what made me embrace the reality today

I bought this today. I can't believe it.

PS: Does anyone have a camcorder they really like? I hate researching these things-there will be ten reviews saying the product is awesome and then five that give really good reasons why it stinks. We're looking for an HD one and don't want to spend a ton of cash. We have been using the one my parents in law gave us for our wedding. It still uses little tapes! Unfortunately it won't work without being plugged in and has officially stopped downloading to my computer (there goes Christmas morning! Oh well). Anyway, I want to be able to film these girls in all there glory-so any suggestions are appreciated:)

Beach Trip

We have been spoiled with awesome weather, so the week of rain we've just had was rather depressing. Next week is supposed to rain too, so when we noticed that Thursday was the one clear day for a while, we hopped in the car and drove to Santa Cruz. Lately I haven't accompanied Danny on his surfing trips, but this time I realized that I may not get the chance again! Danny surfed, Lucy played in the sand and I sat on my beach chair with my tummy propped up by towels and my special back pillow in place:) It was a beautiful day and so fun to have a little holiday mid-week. (Unfortunately my camera ran out of battery within two minutes)

Lucy got some new shades from Gma L and sported them the whole trip.

Welcome babies!

I expect that title freaked you out when you read it on your google reader-but today we are only announcing the birth of Lucy's twin girls.  Lucy went to her great-grandma Leininger's house yesterday and GG gave her two baby dolls. She instantly looked at her dad and said "Wow! Twins are so hard to hold!"  She carried them around and took care of them the rest of the day. Their names are Lucy and Katy.  That is her preference for our babies as well, but I've explained that  having two daughters named Lucy could be kind of confusing. She still disagrees.  Here she is doing outdoor chores with her babies:

Big girl

 There are lots of awesome things about having a big girl who is almost four:
*She can get in and out of the car by herself
*She can entertain herself for long periods of time reading, coloring or doing other quiet activities
*She is a big helper-she gets me things when I don't want to stand up (which is pretty often these days!),  sets the table, sorts the socks, waters the plants and is an awesome weed puller
*She is an awesome shopper and always tells me her opinions
*She sings to me, tells me stories and puts on ballet shows for me
*She is in all ways SUPER FUN

But one of my favorite things about having a big girl, is sharing my favorite things with her. 

Today we watched Anne of Avonlea together. I had some projects to do while we watched and I thought she'd get bored and just play around me. Nope. She sat next to me and watched every minute (yes, I know that is a lot of tv for one day!) Every once and a while she'd turn to me and say very seriously, "Mom, I don't know who she is going to marry. Who does she love?"
I know Lucy, that always tortures me to. Thank heavens she marries Gil, who is second only to Danny in my heart.

 

"I just want you." Sigh.