Whoa, we're halfway there

Halfway.
Wait, when did that happen?
A moment this big calls for one of the greatest songs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDK9QqIzhwk

"Whoa, we're halfway there
Whoa, livin' on a prayer
Take my hand and we'll make it I swear"

Oh, how true that is.  We are so very excited that in 19 weeks or less, we'll meet our little girls!  And oh boy, we have so much left to do.  Just in the past few weeks we have made some serious moves.  The biggest move of all - we finally named Baby B!  We had a short list of four names - Olivia, Madeline, Madison, and Sydney.  We thought about it for a few days and finally settled on... drumroll please... Sydney!  We both love that name, it doesn't seem too trendy, it sounds good with Ella but isn't too matchy matchy, and it goes perfectly with her middle name - Ann.  Ella's middle name is Grace, which her Daddy decided on because he just loved it.  I agree.  The night after we decided, look who sent me flowers at work - our girls!

Sydney and Ella.  Love, love, love

Daniel is just the greatest.  Amazing husband, and best dad ever.

In preparation for the VT vs UVA game, we decided to snap a picture of all of the Hokie gear the twins have accumulated... I have a feeling their closet will be FILLED with maroon and orange, and I'm okay with that :)

Thanks to a glitch at Target.com, we purchased two carseats for the price of one!  Cha ching

 

 



I love monster stuff for kids SO much, and even though we aren't having a boy, we are incorporating monsters into our house.  I just had to find the right way.... [insert lots of brainstorming here].  I decided that monsters would be super cute in their bathroom.  After lots of searching and pinteresting, I found some super cute monster fabric and my mom is going to help make my monster bathroom dream a reality!  I finally decided on a rug for the playroom, and purchased it on a good black friday deal!  We went to Babies 'R Us last night to return a few things and browse around, and we found a white dresser on major clearance.  Another big purchase - check.  Let's hope the to-do list keeps getting shorter :)

 

And, to top it all off, we have another date with our girls on Friday <3

Fall happenings

We've had an awesome and relatively laid back fall season!  Our weekends weren't too crazy with lots of baby planning and football thrown in.  I dressed up as a "mummy" with two monsters peeking out for the Martin Halloween party



with the most awesome Orange is the New Black crew

And a few days later, Abby came to the Martin Fall Festival :)

Abby LOVES stamps and stickers!  Here she is getting tatted up

We celebrated October birthdays at work.  I found the cutest ideas on Pinterest... a caramel apple bar and monster trail mix bar.

cute apples all ready for dipping and toppings

monster trail mix bar with so many cute ingredients

including some spider legs

and pumpkin seeds... and so many more!

10.24.14 - We were beyond excited when Annabeth and Jarrett facetimed us to share their good news - J asked and Annabeth said yes!  Finally, after over five years of dating, J decided it was the perfect time to ask Annabeth to spend the rest of her life with him.  We love Jarrett as a friend, a boyfriend/now fiance to Annabeth, and a soon-to-be brother-in-law.  We are so happy that Annabeth has found her happily ever after, and look forward to celebrating them in the year to come!

a complete fall-themed proposal!

Annabeth's pretty ring that looks perfect on her!

We spent a Saturday getting up the bajillions of acorns that have been peltering our house this fall.  We've had a bad acorn year in the past, but this far exceeded any bad year we've had in the past. 

acorns for days

And later that night we had the privelage of watching Jacob, while his momma went out for a little bit

 

Uncle Daniel feeding Jacob dinner... complete with Star Wars burp cloth :)

testing out our Double Snap 'N Go... insert additional carseat :)

 

TMA did an awesome commercial for Geico that featured NFL retired player, Ickey Woods, and his famous celebratory dance, the Ickey Shuffle.  He came and hung out for a little bit at the Agency... teaching everyone the Ickey Shuffle and taking pictures

the Ickey Shuffle

he rubbed my belly and asked me when I was due!  cool experience :)



 

A few days ago we celebrated Thanskgiving with our families.  It was a day filled with family, laughter, amazing food, and love.  At one point between Grandma Stella's and my sister's, Daniel stopped and said "remember this moment - because this time next year we will have two girls in the backseat!".  We have so very much to be thankful for.

On Friday, my sister, mom, and I shopped for our two Angels, and we watched the VT vs UVA game at Kelly's. 

 

hanging out with my girl... she was much more interested in Frozen than the Hokies



After the MISERABLE season we've had, we beat UVA in an exciting game :)  Beating UVA makes the sting of a horrible season just a little bit easier.

 

We are looking forward to this holiday season.  We are in the middle of decorating, planning out gifts, and preparing for our two beautiful girls :)

 

 

Falling in Love

A little over a month ago, Daniel and I celebrated five amazing years of being married.  He surprised me with a gorgeous necklace, a front porch filled with mums and pumpkins, and a night out at The Melting Pot.  We really, really enjoyed it :)

We have been together for 10 years and married for 5.  Every day is a new adventure - we do lots of bickering and even more loving.  I can't say that there is much I would change.  I love our life together.  We have been there for each other through so many ups and downs.  Last year when we celebrated four years, we had just found out we were pregnant.  We were filled with so much joy and the anticipation of the beautiful life we were going to bring into this world.  A few short weeks later, we lived through the bad part of "through the good times and the bad" when we found out that baby we wanted so badly was very, very sick.  Fast forward to celebrating five years to the good, and we are unbelievably grateful that two precious (and healthy) babies have chosen us to be their parents.  I can't wait to see how chaotic and amazing our lives will be when we celebrate six years. 

Sweet 16 (and 17 and 18)

In our sweet 16th week, we were finally able to find out what these cute twins are!  I've mentioned before that we are commonly asked "What do you want to have?  What do you think you're having?"  We've said it over and over, we want two healthy babies.  We would be happy with two boys, two girls, or one of each, and we want them to be healthy.  My only gut feeling has been that we aren't having two boys.  Deep down, if I had to guess... I would have guessed two girls.  Well the time came to finally find out what our future looked like. 

First things first: the anatomy scan.  All was looking good!  Their tiny parts were there and functioning properly.  Baby A - a little girl!  Baby B - another little girl!  We were overjoyed.  The doctor came in and told us the only potential issue: their femur bone measurement in ratio to their head measurement was a little bit off.  It's a soft marker for down syndrome.  Cue nerves and lots of discussions.  The good news?  That's the only soft marker.  Their necks, hearts, and nasal bones looked great.  The conclusion?  We are probably going to have petite little ladies.  We felt much better at the end of the appointment, and are certain they have inherited my short genes.

look at those beautiful profiles!  Baby B is on the top and Baby A is on the bottom

Confirmation that they have lady parts (A is on the top, B is on the bottom)

and how could I forget those beautiful round heads??

We had to hold in the good news for a few short days until we had a big huge gender reveal celebration!  Gender Reveals are so trendy right now, but I don't really care - any good reason to celebrate these two miracles and I'm all over it.  We had a Sunday afternoon shindig - complete with chili, football, beer, and all sorts of tailgate food.  We were surrounded by so many friends and family who love our twins - regardless of their genders.  For those who were unable to join us in person, we were able to live-stream the reveal, which (I think) worked out nicely.  We had an awesome afternoon catching up, indulging in good food, and celebrating our girls!


Ties or tutus??  So in love with the invitation

We worked for HOURS to make 80 confetti poppers.  What an awesome problem to have - making so many because we have lots of friends and family to celebrate PLUS double the amount because there are two babies!

Two ties, two tutus, or one of each?

The finished product :)

And it's two ladies!  Lots of tutus, tea parties, and pink in our future <3

Baby A is going to be named Ella Grace.  Ella is after Daniel's grandma, Stella, who we adore.  Daniel picked out Grace :)  Baby B is still unnamed.  We know her middle name will be Ann, since that is mine and my mom's middle name.  Our short list includes: Sydney, Madison, Madeline, and Olivia.  We need to decide soon so I can order some monogrammed goodies!

I've been feeling about so-so lately.  Every few days, I wake up and throw up.. which kind of stinks.  Daniel is in the background reminding me of the awesome two reasons why I'm puking :)  This week I'm getting over a sinus infection.  My most recent symptom has been some nasty bloody noses - gross.  All in all, I feel pretty good.  If I'm too active my back hurts.  I've stopped taking the stairs, which makes me feel lazy, but taking the stairs makes me too tired. 

In much more important news - I couldn't sleep last Friday night and around 4:30 am, I felt Baby A move for the first time!  I felt her punch my hand, and after I pushed harder I felt her move around a little.  So awesome, and made my insomnia totally worth it.  Since then, I've felt them moving just a little tiny bit.  I have two anterior placentas, which only means I won't feel them until later than most.  I can't wait until I can feel them all the time, but I"m not looking forward to their limbs hanging out in places that they shouldn't be, such as my ribs or bladder :)

We started our registry on Saturday at Babies R Us.  We indulged in some Starbucks and began with the big ticket items - strollers, car seats, cribs, etc.  We passed by some clearance items near the cribs and I found a bedding set I had loved and pinned!  We were able to find a second set plus get the multiples discount - cha ching. 

 

here's a sneek peak!

We've decided to paint the walls aqua and accent everything in pink.  I can't wait to see how it turns out!

We have an appointment today, where we will hopefully hear their two sweet hearts beating.  We are so very lucky, and are trying to treasure every second.  Time is flying by so fast - Tuesday is our half-way mark.  So hard to believe.

 

Sweet 16

17 weeks

18 weeks.. I've kind of hit a plateau, that I'm totally fine with

Until next time, xoxo

End of summer/Beginning of fall update

We've had lots going on since the last update in August.  So let's just cut to the chase...

We got to hang out with Jacob a little bit more

Daniel & Matthew casually hanging out in the hospital

Aunt Kim and Jacob

Uncle Daniel & Jacob

We finally planned a trip for my whole family to visit The Bay for the first time.  It was so much fun!  Despite one very rainy day, they were able to feel the magic & relaxation The Bay fills up your soul with.

me and my momma floatin'

Abby playing with her ducks... this was after she played for a few hours outside in the rain in her baby pool

Daniel & Derek were playing poker... betting peanuts

rainy day games :)

we took advantage of a break in the rain to take a golf cart ride

this is how you change a non-stop toddler's diaper

Bear hunting on the pier

Abby playing in her baby pool

Floatin' and wavin'

Floatin' and reading with Abby in tow

I was tired!

And so was Abby

Kelly has been working hard on getting Abby potty-trained.  Kelly has found that when Abby is at home, if she has nothing on her tush, it's most effective.  We stopped by and found the sweetest little girl like this...

Cracks me up.

Abby has had several seizures, and to rule out epilepsy, Abby's neurologist wanted her to be admitted ot the hospital for the few days to monitor her brain activity.  Fortunately, she was at MCV, which is close enough for me to visit during my lunch hour.  After work each day, Daniel and I would visit... how could we resist?  She looked so pathetic, but don't be fooled - she was in the BEST spirits. 

 

look at that sweet thing... she was happy as a clam!  she loved the toy stethescope

all of the wires hooked to her were housed in the backpack... she was amazing and wore that backpack for two days straight

melts my heart... Guncle and Abby playing

so cute

Of course, Abby, I'll wear your sunglasses as you brush my hair :)

The good news is they weren't able to find any evidence of epilepsy, and the doctors believe they are all fever-related, which she'll outgrow.  Woo hoo!

Daniel & I spent a weekend at Buggs Island with some of Bobby's groomsmen.  We had a blast!  The weather was gorgeous, Ann-Latane cooked delicous food, and we were so relaxed.

 

my view from the hammock

the gorgeous house/land we stayed at

we spent lots of time floating.. so much fun!

We've had lots of fun things happening at work.  We celebrated August birthdays with an ice-cream sundae party

cute ice cream bowls, cones, and Blue Bell ice cream :)

and lots of fun toppings!

We had an extra special visitor at bunco one night

 

Basil Duke rolled a big bunco

TMA got involved in the viral sensation, the "ice bucket challenge" to benefit ALS

And we had a pretty awesome happy hour out on the patio sponsored by one of our clients, Stoli vodka

lady friends



We hung out with Abby at the pool on one of the last days of summer

I had my own personal water girl

Can it get much cuter than that?

Daniel & I took Kelly & Derek to a Squirrels game on a gorgeous night.  We don't care much for baseball, but we had lots of fun!

sisters going nutz

Kelly had mentioned she was going to Blacksburg to recruit some Engineering students.  Lightbulb!  Why don't I take off a few days from work, stay in the hotel room her company is paying for, and just hang out in one of my most favorite places on earth?  So I did just that.  Best decision ever.  It was so relaxing to walk around campus, visit with my Hokie mommas (and tell them about our twins!), and eat campus food.  It was a trip that was really good for the soul, and I tried to instill in the twins early that Blacksburg is one of the best places to be :)

 

Strolling around the Duck Pond

view from Burruss

I even drove by my old apartment... my room was the middle one on the left

Finally!  After five years... london broil and mashed potatoes from West End <3

Just a few short days later, Daniel & I headed back to the mountains to celebrate Rachael and Joe.  We stayed in Roanoke, and they were married on Joe's family's beautiful property in Bedford.  The view was breathtaking, and we had a fabulous night!

 

selfie on the way to SW VA

Daniel, myself, and our growing twins!

stunning

<3

the happy couple dancing the night away

Fast forward one week and we were back in God's country.  This time, we were cheering on our Hokies.  Every now and then luck is on our side.  This time, we were fortunate enough to score a Lot 1 parking pass and box seats.  It was a gorgeous day and we tailgated with our awesome neighbors + friends.  We had a blast and enjoyed a weekend away in Blacksburg :)

hanging out in Lot 1 in front of Lane Stadium

there are TWO in there!

Kim & Kim

tailgating twins

getting ready to watch the game from our awesome seats

Enter Sandman with a view

That's all for now.  I promise not to wait so long before our next update :)