19 Weeks!!

Whoa...am I actually posting a blog post two days in a row?!?! Craziness!! Haha! I really have great intentions and lots of ideas about all the baby and family related thins that I want to post about. Unfortunately, I just seem to lack energy and motivation these days. We could blame it on the boys...but I think that would be pretty unfair. So, let's just say that I will do my best with this  blog and whatever comes out of it is great. I would love to be able to document my little guys growing up, but there's the time and energy issue along with the privacy issue. I suppose I will have to come up with a watermark of some sort if I intend to post a bunch of pictures of the twins (which I hope to) so that the photos don't get stolen. Anyways, these are all questions for a different day since today is about week 19!

Week 19 has been pretty great to be honest! We did the gender reveal with my mom and sister on Friday evening over Skype and it turned out great! They each opened up one of the eggs at the same time and announced what "their baby" was. It was so exciting to see their reactions in real time rather than trying to gauge their responses on the phone. They were both excited to finally know what genders the babies were and have already started talking about going shopping! It was a little bit of a relief to know that they were still excited since they both had hopes of girls. There have always been mostly girls in my family, so I think that's just what everyone expects. However, once they found out we had boys, they were just as excited which made me really happy!

Nathan and I also enjoyed the lovely weather on Friday. It was 50 degrees outside and sunny! Nathan came home from work early and we spent several hours outside throwing Thor's ball and had a little fire in the backyard. It is so nice not living in the city anymore so that we can sit around a fire whenever we want. I feel obligated to post a couple pictures of my "first baby," Thor. He was thrilled to have us outside playing fetch with him and he ran for hours!

We spent Easter Sunday with Nathan's extended family. We had lunch up at his grandparents' place with his parents, aunts and uncles, and cousins. It is the first time that we have been around most of them since we've been pregnant and it was actually kind of nice to be the center of attention. I don't have a fantastic relationship with my in-laws. It's not terrible, but we have had our ups and downs...so it was a relief to see everyone so excited about the twins. We got to surprise them by telling them that we knew the genders of the twins and that they would get to find out that day! 

I had originally made two yummy "strawberry shortcake cakes" as my gender reveal plan. We used food coloring to dye the cakes blue and planned to have his mom and grandma cut into them at the same time to announce the genders. Unfortunately, about 5 minutes after leaving our house, we went around a sharp corner and a large box fell on the cakes and they were smashed. Oh my goodness did I cry! It was an ugly cry too, with sobbing and wailing. The cakes were still edible since they had been covered in foil, but there was no hiding the fact that they were blue. In a last ditch effort we ran to Meijer (a local super store) and bought a basket, two yellow eggs, and some candy. The Easter section was very bare at this point in time, but we made do. I made up the eggs in the car on the way there and we went with an egg reveal like we did with my family. 

Our cakes before they were ruined. They had blue cake with strawberry filling, whipped cream frosting, and fruit on top. I don't have a picture of the cakes after the disaster, but I promise that they still tasted good.

Haha...Nathan handing the basket to his mom and grandma.

The reactions to seeing blue candy in the eggs!

Our egg reveal went well and everyone was really happy. Nathan's dad kept telling us that he KNEW it was twin boys. He had predicted it from the very beginning! 

We spent most of the day with his family eating, talking, and playing cards. Nathan's mom is giving us a great rocking recliner that they don't need anymore to put in the babies' room since a traditional glider won't work very well for breastfeeding two babies at once. There was also some talk of a family get together/baby shower to celebrate the babies in early July!! After the drive home (a little over an hour), Nathan and I sat down to enjoy the season finale of The Walking Dead followed by the season premiere of A Game of Thrones. 

WEEK 19

Weight: 145 (+9 lbs overall)
Due Date: August 22, 2013
Baby is the size of: A Large Heirloom Tomato (note: all sizes are comparing the length of baby to a fruit)

Maternity Clothes?: Definitely wearing maternity pants all the time and I have been wearing some maternity shirts as well this past week! I can still fit into some of my pre-pregnancy shirts, but it won't be long before they are too short. 
Symptoms: Doing good for the most part, but definitely suffering from some soreness and general abdominal pain. I think it's from all the muscles stretching. My back is also quite sore by the end of the day. 
Emotions: Happy!
Notable News or Events: Telling everyone that we are having BOYS!!

Movement?: I think so!!! I'm still not 100% sure, but I have been feeling little popcorn popping feelings and some nudges that make me think I'm really feeling them. I guess it could still technically be gas, but I'm starting to feel pretty confident that what I'm feeling is babies!

Stretch Marks?: Just the one on my breasts so far. Not sure how long my tummy will hold out, but it's looking ok as of right now.

Upcoming Appointments: Anatomy Scan and follow up appointment on April 10th. 

What People are Saying: We got lots of congratulations and excitement from everyone when we told them that we were having boys!! We were also told "You're going to have your hands full!" about 50 times. I am sure  that this is true, but I think we'd have our hands just as full no matter what genders the babies were. My sister was thrilled to call the babies her nephews and there was lots of talk about dinosaurs and camo by some of our friends.