Gramma and Grampa Visit: Indoor Play Place!

We found an amazing indoor play place while Gramma and Grampa was here.  It is just for kids five and under.  It is safe for babies and Ben is in the sweet spot where he loved almost everything there!  There were a ton of toys, a bounce house, little play structures, and even a ride on Thomas the train!  All three kids loved getting a chance to get down and really play!

Grampa was kept pretty busy on this outing.  He helped Ben drive!

In a castle!

Ben loves steering wheels

Sammy and Ali loved getting to get out and play too!

Ben can't resist a car

Toddler roller coaster!

So much to play with

Both girls got to play with Grampa!

Mommy snuck in for a picture too!

All three.  The girls love seeing what Ben is up to

Watch out!  Babies on the track!

Ben adored driving around Thomas.  What a great toy!

We let the girls ride too!  So fun!

Ali and Grampa

Daddy and Sammy

The girls got tired and needed some snuggles towards the end.  They are usually in their seats when we go out places, so this was a real treat that we found a safe place for them to crawl around play!  We can't wait to go and play some more!

-Kim

Gramma and Grampa Visit: Christmas Fun!

We celebrated an early Christmas with Gramma and Grampa while they were here.  We don't normally decorate before Thanksgiving, but we wanted to have the full experience.  And now that Ben is three he is so excited about all things Christmas.  We do have to barricade the tree to keep the girls from messing with it, but Ben is pretty good with it!

Pre-barrier.  Dagger was super happy we put up a nice tree for her. 

The night before we had first Christmas, we headed to Bass Pro Shop to see Santa.  We had never done the Santa experience there, and let me tell you it was great!!  They had all sorts of places for the kids to play while they waited.  They had crafts to do and a big ball pit for the kids.  Plus Bass Pro Shop is just huge and full of interesting things to look at.  I'm not a super outdoorsy person and I really enjoy it.  I also really liked that you could get a ticket for a specific time frame to see Santa in.  With little kids less time in line is better.

Ben adored the ball pit.  Christmas themed of course!

The men checking out the fish.

Grampa and Ali waiting in line

Sammy and me, almost time to see Santa!

I wasn't sure how Ben would be with Santa.  He was excited before we went, but you know with toddlers that could all change once we were actually there.  Let me tell you, he was so excited.  He played and had a great time while we waited for our turn, and when we were the next ones in line he could barely contain himself.  He was jumping around, smiling, and he literally threw himself on the floor he had so much excitement he didn't know what to do with himself.  Not a tantrum, a full on so excited he just couldn't keep it in.  It was so sweet!  When it was finally our turn he raced down the carpet to greet Santa.  He was so good with Santa!  He told Santa his name and thanked him for seeing us.  The girls were great too!  They looked a little confused, but they sat on Santa's lap without fussing.  Santa was a pro and had no trouble holding two babies with Ben standing in front of him.  I was so pleased with how the whole thing went.

Crazy face, but this is the most excited little guy in the world!  He's going to see Santa!!!

Ben raced to give Santa a great big hug. 

A bit blurry, but quite the happy guy!  And non-crying babies!  Win!!!

Gramma put a call in to Santa to bring a few presents early ;), so the next morning while they were here the kids woke up to Christmas morning!  The big gift for the kids was a play kitchen.  It was all setup when Ben came out of his room and he adored it from the start.  The girls love it too.  We have been eating some wonderful Ben creations ever since.

Pat and Grampa got to put together the kitchen

We girls were very helpful watching. ;)

The kids were very excited to wake up and find early presents.  Ben loved his gifts and the girls had a ton of fun with all the excitement.  Thank you Gramma, Grampa, Aunt Lindsay, and Uncle Chris for all the gifts!

Happy boy!

The girls had fun ripping all the paper.

All three loved the kitchen!

There were a couple of presents that had extra tape on them, and Ben needed help getting into it.  Pat grabbed the big knife from the toy kitchen and used it.  You can bet what happened after that, Ben wanted to use the big knife just like Daddy.  It turned into Ben kind of sort of stabbing presents.  While I probably shouldn't say so, it was hilarious.

Stabbing presents.  I don't think this is going to become a new tradition.

We had so much fun!  I'm glad we got to have some Christmas fun.  The kids have been loving the new toys and now Ben is even more excited for Santa to visit!  I love that we are really enjoying a full holiday season.

Chef Ben!

-Kim

BFBN: Honey are you sitting down? We're having TWINS!- Guest Post

It's a BFBN trade day!  I'm over at Mama's Organized Chaos giving my bath time confessions.  Here today I have Cole from Twinning Babywise.  She is telling us her twin story!  I love hearing about how people found out they were having twins.  Really I love the story of finding out about any baby, but twins often take us by surprise.  Cole's story is great!  And be sure to check in with all the BFBN ladies to read some great posts today!

-Kim

I called my husband on the way home from the appointment:

Eddie, are you sitting down? There are TWO. We’re having TWINS.

Seriously?! Are they conjoined?

What? Conjoined? No. They are separate. There are just two of them.

It’s still hilarious to me that my husband’s first thought when I told him we were having twins was that we were having conjoined twins. Obviously, right?

But really, the fact that that’s where his mind went just goes to show how unprepared we were for this news. It wasn’t like we’d always hoped for twins. We had a one year old and a two year old at the time; twins was our worst nightmare!

That’s not to say being pregnant with twins hadn’t crossed MY mind. This pregnancy was different from the very beginning and I just knew it. I felt pregnancy symptoms almost immediately and they were much stronger than my prior two pregnancies. In fact, at one point I was talking to my mom about how different the third pregnancy was and jokingly said “Is this how all 3rd pregnancies are or am I having twins?!”

But of course, I didn’t actually think I was having twins. That would be crazy!

The First Appointment

I made my 8 week appointment and counted down the days to see that little heartbeat, just like I had with my other two pregnancies. On the day of the appointment I was nervous. I am always nervous before appointments for the first 12 weeks.

I watched the screen as she moved the ultrasound around…

No baby.

I don’t mean “no heartbeat.” There was literally no baby. No sack, nothing. Just black on the screen.

According to my last period date, I should have been eight and a half weeks. There should clearly have been a baby there. I’d tested positive on a pregnancy test almost 3 weeks prior. Plus, I felt pregnant!

My midwife told me to make an appointment for the week following. I spent the next week completely convinced and utterly horrified that I was having a phantom pregnancy. Have you heard about those? It’s when someone wants to be pregnant so badly that they convince themselves they are. Women experiencing a phantom pregnancy commonly show all the pregnancy symptoms despite the fact that they are NOT pregnant. This was me! I felt sopregnant.

So that’s the mental state I was in when I laid down on the bed and stared at the ultrasound screen where there were now not one but TWO babies with little tiny hearts beating away.

I’m having twins.

How It Happened

In retrospect it all makes sense. My cycle had not regulated yet because it was only the second one I’d had – prior to that I was nursing my son and had no cycle. I must have ovulated very late – somewhere around day 25 or 30. When I tested positive on the pregnancy test, I was only 3 weeks pregnant. Normally you would not test positive this early, but since I was having twins, my HCG was doubled. At my first appointment, I was only 5 weeks pregnant or so, which is why there was nothing to see.

Having twins had never seriously occurred to me. They do not run in my family. I have never had fertility treatments. I do not have any of the main “risk factors” for twins – like being over 30, overweight, or African American (although I am on the taller side, which can slightly increase your chances). Identical twins are thought to occur completely by chance, but my twins are fraternal. HOW DID THIS HAPPEN TO ME?

However it happened, it’s been the most amazing thing. It’s uniquely special to not only fall in love each day with your baby but to watch your babies fall in love with each other. My twins are only seven months old and I can already see an incredible bond forming.

Just a Small Note About Worry

At each stage, I’ve worried about having twins. I worried about miscarriage. I worried about pre-term labor. I worried about needing a c-section. I worried about not being able to breastfeed twins. I worried about keeping sane with four kids three and under. It’s not that these worries weren’t legitimate – lots of twin moms do go into pre-term labor and lots of twin moms do have a c-section – but what can be gained by worrying? Getting pregnant with twins was completely out of my control – it just happened to me – and having them (and the two others!) is teaching me every day to just roll with the punches. It’s been a huge lesson in learning to SHUT OFF THE WORRY. I was given these twins and I have both the strength and the capacity to mother them – no matter what life brings. If all babies are a blessing, then twins are just a double helping. Sure, it can be chaotic and at times feel like A LOT, but what a special addition they’ve been to our family!

I think Kimberly would agree, TWINS ARE THE BEST.

**If you’d like to read our twin birth stories, you can find Kimberly’s here and mine here. Then hop around our blogs for more and more twin stuff!

Gramma and Grampa Visit: Parks!

Gramma and Grampa came to visit for Thanksgiving!!!  We were so happy to have them come see us, and so thankful they made the long drive!  We were fortunate that Pat had the whole week of their visit off for Thanksgiving break, giving us a great chance to really soak up time together.

A big favorite for us is of course parks.  The kids love them and they are free!  I loved that we had so many adults to help out with the kids.  The girls of course need an adult per girl if they are going to get out of the stroller and play.  I prefer Ben to have someone focused on him too.  He's getting older and can play on his own, but I am a bit of a nervous nelly and like to make sure he is safe and sound.

We went to the duck pond to feed the ducks.  Then we got to play on the fun parks there.  This was actually Pat's first time at this park too.  It was a great choice, there is a ton to do there!  Not a ton of story to share here, but we got some really cute pictures of the kids and the kids with Gramma and Grampa.

Time to feed some ducks!!

Ben loved getting quality time with Gramma and Grampa.

Daddy's first time at the duck pond.  The ducks were sure happy to see Ben!

A little duet on the percussion instruments.

Pat and I had a blast bouncing on the giant teeter totter.  I think Ben was just trying to hold on! 

Ben loved it!

The girls got to get out and swing!  I love that it was November but those sweet baby feet are out in the breeze!

Always the good big brother, Ben gave the girls a little push!

Ali loved the swings!

Sammy loved them too!

 Beautiful weather, fun parks, and Gramma and Grampa visiting?  Oh yeah, the kids were living the good life.

-Kim

Cousin birthday fun

Alright, I am a little behind in my blogging, but almost a month ago we got to celebrate Benson's birthday!!

Benson turned the big 2 at the beginning of the month.  We were invited to celebrate with everyone over at Evan and Jessee's place.  It was the perfect family party- pizza, cake, presents, and a ton of fun.  Ben loves running around with his cousins.  They were adorable chasing each other around.  Ali and Sammy try so hard to get in on the action too!  They crawled about and ate up all the attention they could.

We spent most of the time enjoying the company (and chasing kids, let's be real) but I got a few fun pictures!

Nothing says Happy Birthday like smashing your hand into the birthday boy's face. (Sammy and Benson)

Don't worry, Ali did it too.  Fortunately all three found it to be hilarious.  I love baby and toddler giggles!

The girls adore Peyton!  She was great about bringing toys to the girls.

Sigh, these two boys are non stop action.  I thought for sure they would wreck.

Benson was a gracious host and let Ben take the wheel. Although I'm not sure any of us felt much safer with the three year old behind the wheel, even if he is a year older. ;)

Peyton loved helping Benson grab his presents.  

Peyton, Benson, and Jessee!  Jessee throws a great party!

Not the best picture, but Ali was so into hanging out with Evan.  He got huge smiles out of her!

All of us watching the birthday boy!

Pat, Ben, and Peyton had some good conversation going over cake.  And in the background the littler ones are on the move!

The three youngest.  Little, but full of personality and fun.

Cake!  I love that these two are becoming such good friends.

Jessee and Evan got some fun baby cuddles.  

It was a fun filled night to celebrate Benson.  We of course miss the sweet cousins that are far away, but I am very happy that we now live closer to these family members!  I am so happy this group is getting a chance to grow up together a bit.

Happy Birthday, Benson!

-Kim