Remembering

I was just reminiscing about summer's past when I happened upon this post, exactly one year ago.  How does time move so quickly?  And it seems that the words I wrote 12 months ago could have come from my fingers moving across the keyboard today.  So much different, so much the same.

My sweet baby moved into a big girl bed today.  This mommy fully expected failure.  But, my darling just woke from a 2 hour nap and never even attempted to get down.  In fact, she called for me to come get her.  Tear.  She's not my baby anymore (although I think any mother knows your babies are always babies).

Could it be possible that I'm nesting early?  Even with the worst nausea I've ever experienced, I still managed to clean out the basement last week, rearrange the girls' room and am hoping to tackle to the office soon-to-be nursery to two swaddled babes in the coming weeks.

My next appointment and ultrasound is on July 20th.  I'll be 14 weeks.  We're hoping to determine at that time whether we'll have identical or fraternal twins.  I'm also hoping we could get a sneak-peek at gender...is 14 weeks too early?

Anyhoo, my children would like for me to push them on the swing and that's exactly what I intend to do. 

Blessings...times 2!

An hour ago, we had this ultrasound photo taken.

Oh.my.word.  Do you see those two babies in there?

Yes, I'm still in shock.  Over the moon excited, but shocked.

My mom was my exact age when she found out she was pregnant with twins.  She had two kids at home too.  Its eery how similar our stories have been.

She told me a few weeks ago that I was having twins.  "I could just tell...your symptoms were the same as mine."

She was right.  Isn't mom always right?  My mom is.  It makes me mad sometimes.

So, here's to two of everything.  Car seats, cribs, outfits, bottles...and now I'm going to stop.  Before I freak out.

Taking it one day at a time.  Thank you Lord for double blessings...especially the most unexpected!

I got nothing.

I'm lacking in creativity these days.  I swear growing a baby equals a shrinking brain.  Anyone else with me?

In between lots of morning sickness, we've tried our best to celebrate our anniversary, my birthday and father's day.  Oh, and we did all of it this weekend.

I was feeling good on Saturday, so Matt surprised me with a lunch reservation at the Melting Pot.  Love that place!  It's probably the last time we'll go there for a while, but it was worth every penny.  I love the long, drawn out fondue cooking process, which gives us time to chat and savor every bite.  Where else can you get a two hour lunch with your spouse, uninterrupted.  You pay for the experience and its totally worth it.  And after lunch, we did something very foreign to parents of young children.  We went to a movie...at the IMAX.  It was glorious.

So, kudos go to my husband for a wonderful day, full of all the things I'd wish for (well, minus a pedicure...) on my birthday.

To top the weekend off, the four of us celebrated Father's Day lunch at Red Robin for only $5.  Yup!  With my free birthday burger and the girls splitting a meal, we were all full and happy...on a budget.  It was a rush!

After celebrating some more with afternoon naps (what?  I think naps are something worth celebrating!) we headed over to my parents for dinner and fun in the sprinklers.  Well, the kids did anyways.

Our Wilderness Adventure

Ok, so we just went camping.  But I'd say with two kids under the age of three - who have never even seen a camping tent before - it was an adventure. Its always nice to experience a new adventure with a family who has done it before.

This picture cracks me up.  That would be Annelise taking a picture of Elli, while they are supposed to be sleeping.  Stinkers!  Caught in the act...

And this is what Annelise looks like today...tired much?  We're laying low, cleaning and doing lots of school on the computer.

I couldn't resist posting this one.  In the midst of the camping mess (we literally dropped our bags in a pile and crashed when we got home) I found Mr. Piggy, sound asleep under Elli's blanket.  I wonder who is responsible for that?

Our Latest Project

 

My very generous parents bought this swingset for our girls last weekend.  We had been looking to buy one for a while, but wanted to make the right purchase and hadn't found anything that seemed to be long-lasting.  Well, grandpa surprised us with this gift!

It only took us 12 hours to put together (seriously) but it was well worth it.  The kids have been on it every day.  Thanks Mom and Dad...we love it!

Oh and don't mind the teeter totter.  We have since fixed it.  It was put together upside down. Ha!

Its true.

Another Neal baby is on the way!  We're very excited (and I wouldn't be completely honest if I didn't also say a little nervous) about a third little one joining our family.  I'm still very early in my pregnancy and experiencing lots of morning (ha! all-day) sickness and exhaustion.  Man, there is just nothing like pregnancy exhaustion, is there?

So, we'll be welcoming another baby during the same week that we celebrate our eldest daughter's 4th birthday.  Wow.

Camera Fail

Man, we spent a whole weekend in Kentucky visiting family and I didn't take one picture.

Fail.

I can't imagine how anyone with more than two kids manages to get pictures regularly.  How do you do it?

So, you'll have to imagine with me.  It was a beautiful weekend, full of sun and humidity.  We spent lots of time enjoying family, celebrating birthdays, eating favorite local food and shopping at the Gap outlet.  Man, I miss that place up north.  No good deals like that in Michigan.

We worshiped with our friends at Grace Fellowship Church and were so refreshed by the parenting series Brad is doing.  It was a great sermon for us to hear and apply.

The drive home was especially nice with no air conditioning.  (The sarcasm is just bleeding from that sentence.)  For those of you oldies like me, you remember the days of long road trips in the back seat - no seat belt, no car seat, no air conditioning.  That's pretty much how this trip felt...although the kids were safely strapped in their seats...most of the time.  Driving 70 mph with the windows down for six hours is enough to make your head explode.

When we arrived to our newly air conditioned home, we were ecstatic.  The temperature was 90 degrees.  Our house was 75.  Woo hoo!

So, we're back to the grind.  The final weeks of school are upon us.  We're itching for summer to arrive in full force.  And to help that along, I'm heading off to the farmer's market to see what kind of deals I can snag on some fresh food for us.