Pedicure, 38 Weeks, Valentine's Day Henry's Skin, Hair Cuts, New Toys & A Movie

February 12

After a busy day of catching up with Miss Kristen here and a sick little boy, I met up with some friends to have a pedicure done. It's harder and harder for me to bend down these days a pedicure was a welcome "pampering" for me. I decided to do cutesy colors on my toes for the twins. Henry was so impressed he ended up telling the teachers and anyone else who would listen the next day that Mommy had her toes painted for the twins. Please excuse my "fat feet" right now.

February 13

Officially 38 weeks today. I am measuring 46 weeks, gained 35 pounds to date, both kiddos are probably in the 6 pound range and their heartbeats continue to be strong. They're both running out of room to move so most movement is jerky jabs in my belly. It's not fun but I feel sorry for them!

February 14

Happy Valentine's Day! We didn't have any special plans for today. It's a "puff" holiday of course but it's till fun to celebrate. The boys bought the nannies chocolates and they got little chocolate hearts for a treat. Mike bought me beautiful flowers. I still love getting flowers and although I know they are a "waste" of money, but the thought means a lot to me =) Especially when I don't ask, which I didn't this year, and I get them!

Henry had an appointment at the doctors today. Last weekend when we were at Grandma Lois's house, she mentioned he had spots on his legs. I admit I hadn't looked at his legs closely lately (he dresses himself these days) and I was really surprised to see scaly red spots on his legs. I'd seen some faded red marks before but I always assumed it was a bump or bruise healing because he does have a lot of those too. Anyways, I had an appointment on Tuesday but then Henry got so sick we rescheduled to today.

The spots were much better than they were on Sunday/Monday. I started putting heavy cream and Aquaphor on them daily hoping that would help. It was helping but you could still see the spots. The doctor looked them over and said it's mild eczema. We've always wondered if Henry had eczema because he has very sensitive skin we've struggled with since birth and often has spots breaking out somewhere. We treat him all the time with Aquaphor to try and combat the problem. It's nothing serious, of course. The doctor said daily baths are great and it's important to lather Henry down with moisturizing cream (not lotion) and treat the spots with Aquaphor. At first Henry was not happy with the "lather down" part but he's getting used to it more and more every day. I can't imagine the spots felt good. Although Henry said he didn't feel them, the doctor felt the spots would be pretty itchy.

For "Valentine's Day" dinner we ended up at Noodles and Company. We wanted to do something slightly nicer but it was packed everywhere. Especially considering Valentine's Day was a Friday this year. I'm sure it was a popular date night everywhere. The kids didn't care though. They were happy with their noodles and they were excited to be out. Especially since they both have been housebound quite a bit lately. The weather is still snowy and cold but it has been warming up lately. It's been in the 20s which is quite a step up from the negative 10s we had forever =)

February 15

Today was a fairly laid back day. I ran some errands with the boys in the morning and after Gabe's nap in the afternoon, we had appointments to get the kids hair cuts and Mike's haircut. They were all overdue! It was slightly annoying because we had an appointment but still ended up waiting over a half hour for our haircuts. That's fine for most people but kids just don't have that attention span. Luckily the boys were good enough to get by but I don't think they would have gone much longer.

My boys are "cleaned up" now for the babies next week. I'm not sure how long it had been but I'm sure it was over 8 weeks. That's not the norm for us but it's been kind of busy around here!

February 16

Today was an electronics day. We've been putting off getting a new home storage system for our computer files because Mike's been too busy to set everything up. Unfortunately we hit a wall when our old storage system finally filled up and there was literally no where to put our files. That's a big reason why my blog is photoless or scarce on photos. I can't upload them! Anyways, Mike bit the bullet as they say and got some new system. I don't know what it is but he's excited about it.

As it usually happens when Mike starts shopping electronics, he goes overboard. Not to say they weren't needed and/or a nice perk to have, we now have a new laptop, printer, wireless internet system and storage system. I haven't used any of it yet but I'm sure it will be better than what we had. I'm looking forward to getting caught up on our photos. I think I'm all the way back to January with photos...

Mike's parents were nice enough to come down and watch the boys while we had our little shopping spree. Afterward we enjoyed a movie (Robocop) and had a nice dinner with them before they left. I had horrible back ache all night. I'm not sure if it's just early labor stuff or the seats from the theater. I think a bit of both. The babies didn't seem to get the memo that they don't need to do anything to come out on Wednesday. I've had prelabor symptoms for a few days now. Nothing to get excited about it. Just enough to keep me awake or uncomfortable. I'm so glad we're on the final countdown now!

New Nanny, Babies Coming???, Valentine's Day Party, Mom's Night Out, Catching Up

February 10

Maggie started this morning and she's great. The kids were complete monsters so I'm happy she's decided to stay despite that. It was a bit of a rush this morning because I had some signs my water might by leaking so I made an appointment at the doctors. I had to drop Henry off at preschool and take off right away. Poor Maggie was flying solo with a grumpy Gabe but she did well.

Sadly, no signs of labor. My "leaking" is just effacing or thinning out as they tell me. Gross. I'm kind of disappointment but kind of not. I'm not too far away from delivery and it will be best for the babies to be in there as long as possible.

The rest of the day was catching up from a lack of a nanny for a few weeks. Maggie was very helpful getting my house back in order and cleaning up. She did laundry and prepared meals and took care of the kids. She did great. I'm really hopeful she'll work out!

February 11

This morning we had a Valentine's Day party for the play group we're part of. The kids had a great time running around and chasing each other. The Valentine's exchange was a bit chaotic but I think they enjoyed it. They had cupcakes for a treat and by the time the party was over, both boys were tired. Gabe came home and wanted to sleep immediately. Henry "rested" but refused to actually nap. I was really hoping he would because I always feel like I need a nap!! =)

The rest of the day was pretty low key. Then I went to another Mom's house for dinner and drinks (for them - water for me). It was super fun. I have a great little group going and it's nice to have the support and also the opportunity for fun times as couples. All our husbands "get along" well too so it's not torture to do couple things together =) This will probably be the last time we get together before the babies arrive. Crazy to think it's that soon! We're also pretty excited because one of the girls in the group announced she's expecting too and they've been trying for awhile. SOO happy for her. Plus it will be nice to have some other kids in our little group who will be close in age to the twins.

February 12

Today Henry is under the weather again. Ugh. He was only at school one day! He's in good spirits but  he's caught something else going around. Miss Kristen is here today to help so I'm trying to get caught up on the blog and I need to run some errands later. One week from today the babies will be here!

Gabe's Speech Evaluation, Nanny Interviews, Henry's First Friend Birthday Party, More TV Installation

February 7

After Gabe's 2 year appointment, we discussed Gabe's delayed speech and asked if we should do more for him. The doctor suggested we could call this early intervention program through the schools to have him evaluated. We made the appointment and the evaluators came today. They were super nice ladies and they worked well with Gabe. He was in a good mood so that helped. They assessed he is a little behind but just barely. The constant ear infections are absolutely the blame since to him, he heard everything like it was under water for six months.

They're going to work with us and Gabe to help him catch up. We're a little overwhelmed by what we need to do at this point but I think it will get easier as we have more practice. They'll come every 3-4 weeks to follow up with us. A lot of the advice is backing up to about 6 months ago and trying to stop asking Gabe to "say" stuff but instead give him choices and then clearly annunciating whatever he picks. For example, at snack time I will show him an apple and an orange and ask him which he wants. Once he picks one, I will say clearly and overly annunciate whatever he picks. The ladies don't think it will take long for Gabe to catch up so we're excited to get started for him. I can tell he's very frustrated he's not communicating well with us when what he's mumbling is clear to him but foreign to us!

We also have a couple silly things to do that help him with his tongue strength. He gets to eat things off a beater =) So far that is a favorite of his and thank goodness he likes doing it!

Nanny update: My previous nanny didn't work out as expected. She was super nice and I didn't have a problem with her interaction with the kids. I had more issues with the amount of times she couldn't come. She has some health problems and needed to take off for either doctor appointments or she wasn't well. In the end it was getting clear this might not be the best situation for her at this time. I started looking on care.com again for a new nanny. Luckily I found a great potential and I met her this afternoon. Her name is Maggie and she's another student at Western studying Occupational Therapy. She has nanny and day care experience. The interview went well and she will be coming tomorrow evening to meet the boys. I'm crossing my fingers it all works out!

February 8

Henry had his first ever friend birthday party this afternoon. He was invited by a fellow preschooler to come to his party. I wasn't sure what to expect but in the end it all turned out well. The party was held at a local gym and they played games in the basketball court and had cake and ice cream. Henry recognized many kids from preschool and had no problems joining in on the fun. The parents of the birthday boy were very nice and we both had a good time. Henry was pretty wore out by the end of the day but he held it together to meet the new nanny that evening.

Maggie came over in the evening to meet the boys and it went pretty well. Henry was definitely not totally himself since he had a busy afternoon, but he liked Maggie and wanted her to stay and play longer than the interview. Gabe was also interested but he was more concerned Mike and I were going to leave at any minute and that was not okay with him =) Maggie seemed to like the kids well enough she accepted the position and she'll be starting on Monday. Fingers crossed this work out!

February 9

Today was another work day for Mike! =) We went back up to Grand Rapids to help put Rich and Lois's new TV on the wall. Well, "we" is really just Mike. The kids, Lois and myself were in the basement watching TV and playing with the kids. The guys did a good job working quickly and a few hours later the TV was installed nicely in Rich and Lois's living room.

Lois was overly generous with some Valentine's Day gifts for the kids and presents for the twins. Henry got "The Shredder" from turtles as well as a costume shell he's wanted for a long time. Gabe got stuffed TMNTs that make noises when they're dropped. He's always excited to have something Henry wants and Henry definitely wants those stuffed turtles as much as his new Shredder =) The twins got diapers, wipes, and a few outfits. The kids are definitely spoiled!

After the TV was installed, Rich and Lois kindly offered to watch the kids so we could go see "Monument Men" at the theater. The movie was really good and it was nice to get away for a bit. I know our "alone" time is numbered with two more almost here! The kids had a fun time playing with grandma and grandpa while we were gone. Lois took some cute photos of them playing "pool" in the basement.

February ?

Here are a few photos of the kids up to now =)

Plague, Gabe's Post Op, Broken Toe, 37 Weeks, Janell Visit

February 4

The norovirus plague has hit out home. It started with Gabe at Grandma's but now has extended to Henry and Mike. So far I've been lucky and avoided it all but having three boys sick at the same time has been stressful. Mike took off work today and slept the entire time. Gabe is starting to feel better so he's playing and acting fine but still having some intestinal problems. The doctor said it could last up to two weeks! Ugh. I hope not. Henry is just tired and wanting to cuddle on the couch. We're watching a lot of movies today. Sometimes I really hate preschool. I swear that's the only place they go that they catch every germ possible!

February 5

Gabe had his follow up appointment to his adenoid surgery this morning. The ENT seem to disagree with the allergist on the milk allergy but they didn't pressure us to have Gabe give up anything. Overall everything is looking great and Gabe seems to be doing better. We're crossing our fingers we're done with ear infections. If he gets anymore after this point, we're back to the allergist to see what may be causing the internal inflammation which ultimately causes the ear infections.

I'm pretty sure I broke my toe this evening. Slight back story, we moved our extra water bottles/Gatorade/pop boxes into the hallway from the garage because of the weather. It's been so cold the pop cans explode and the bottles swell up. I guess I'm not used to them there yet because when I was walking down the hall, I banged my third toe into one of the Gatorade cases. I thought I just stubbed it at first but then when I had difficulties walking after a half hour and it turned an ugly shade of purple/blue, I thought maybe it was more serious. I didn't go to the doctor since I'm pretty sure there's nothing they can do. It's sore but as long as I don't try to move it certain directions or squish it in tennis shoes, I'm pretty good. I had to buy shoes two sizes too big to fit my already fat foot and now broken toe into without pain =) It's working pretty well. Now if only I could keep the kids away from my foot too. They seem to sense the injury and I swear Gabe aims for it every time he runs by me. I wish I had taken a picture. I didn't think of it at the time.

February 6

Big milestone today - 37 weeks! Full term for twins and I'm still hanging in there. NST shows babies are still active and doing fine. I'm measuring 46 weeks now. Ugh. I asked the doctor if they had a cancellation list for c-sections but he just laughed and said I can wait. Jerk =P I'm just more and more uncomfortable but considering the kids keep growing, it's expected, right?

Janell came today to do my hair and let the kids play. She brought Gabe's birthday gift and he loves it. She got him a superman toy and a superman shirt/sweatshirt. He was so excited to have his own superhero toy that Henry couldn't take away. He spent the rest of the afternoon playing with it. Once again, all the kids enjoyed having Jayla and Jayden over to play. They really do play well together. I'll have to post pictures of his presents later. I put it on the big camera and Mike recently uploaded all those photos to his computer while he's working on fixing our home storage (it's full). Unfortunately I can't access photos on his computer yet :P

I do have some photos from my camera phone of the kids opening Grandma M's Valentine's Day gifts. They really loved the candy and treats!

Poor Grandpa didn't come with Grandma today (who also has her hair done by Janell) because he caught what the kids had last week. I feel bad. The stupid virus is so contagious =( Luckily it sounds like he's not too serious.

Pre-Op, 36 Weeks, Game Night

January 29

I met with my doctor today to go over the pre-op stuff. Since I've already gone through this, it was pretty standard only a little less rushed. My c-section is Wednesday, February 19 at noon. I have to be there at 10 a.m. for prep. A friend pointed out to me that there's a chance I could get bumped if someone (like me with Henry and Gabe) needs the room sooner and I'm not in labor. I'll cross my fingers that won't happen! I'm looking forward to meeting these little wiggle worms =)

January 30

Today I hit the 36 week mark. I'm still feeling pretty good. My girl is still very quiet and my boy is crazy. I have weekly non stress tests now so they monitor the babies. My girl is always a struggle to get readings on and my boy is quite jealous we're also concerned about the girl. He will make waves on my belly trying to get the monitor off or get the nurses attention. I'm not really sure which. Still no signs of labor. Only three weeks to go!

Henry and Miss Kristen spent some time working on Valentine's yesterday to send to the Grandmas. I put the Valentine's in their envelopes and asked Henry to help me decorate the outsides of the envelopes. I guess I wasn't specific enough because he took an entire sheet of valentine's day stickers and put them on ONE envelope =) It was a mess but he was so proud. Hopefully it will still go through the mail!

February 1

Henry was in a silly mood this morning. He dresses himself but today was a little different than usual. He got "dressed" and then wanted me to take a picture to send to the Grandmas. He was concerned they may not know he was joking so I also had to send a follow up photo of him dressed "correctly."

We took the kids to Grandma Marilyn's today to spend the night so we could go to a couple's game night at a friends. Henry was so excited to go to Grandmas. Gabe always loves it too but he doesn't really get the anticipation like Henry does. I.E. If we tell Henry Monday we're going on Saturday, he will ask every day if it's Saturday yet. Anyways, the boys had a great time at moms and we had a lot of fun at game night. Games aren't really Mike's thing but I think even he had fun. We were out pretty late but it was nice to sleep in a bit the next day.

February 2-3

Poor Henry and Gabe's stay at Grandma's was cut short by Gabe having some intestinal bug. I picked them up around noon and the poor kid had problems all afternoon. It's so tough when one of my kids are sick. I wish I could do more for them but in the end I just have to let things run their course!

35 Weeks & Final U/S, More and More Snow

January 23

Today I'm 35 weeks and still hanging in there. We had our final growth u/s today. Both babies are doing well and continuing to grow strong. Baby A is very wedged in my pelvis but we were lucky she came out long enough to get some measurements. She's about 5 lbs 5 oz. She's still pretty quiet and I struggle to feel her more a lot. Baby B is still very active and doesn't like to be measured. He came in smaller than A at about 5 pounds. I question that a bit only becuase they've been the same as far as weight since the beginning but maybe she's beat him. There's a 12 oz varience possible so who knows until they're born! Either way, they're measuring fine for where they are and are continuing to grow as they should. I'm three weeks away from delivery!

January 25 & 26

Another snow storm has blown into Michigan. I think everyone is tired of the snow and ice. We couldn't do anything Saturday because the weather was too bad. But Sunday we were able to venture out to Grand Rapids to help Rich and Lois purchase and install their new HD TV. They ended up with the exact same model that we have in our bedroom now. It looks very nice but they need a new cable box that's compatiable with the TV before they can really enjoy the new features! It's always something.

Heading home was a bit of a mess. Another snow storm came raging through unexpectedly. It usually takes us 45 minutes to get home from GR but it took over two hours that day. It was just blinding conditions on top of icy roads. Everyone was going slow. We considered a hotel once or twice but by the time we located the nearest hotel by phone, it was faster to go home! =) Overall it wasn't a huge deal. It was just slow going. I'm very grateful for our car with four wheel drive. We hardly notice really bad weather when we're in it.

January 27 & 28

Nothing exciting to report. Mike had to take my car to get out of the drive and to work so the boys and I are stuck home. The nanny was also snowed in so it was just me and the boys yesterday. Today I usually don't have anyone so it's just us again. They don't seem to mind too much but I know they're starting to get bored. Their toys are only exciting for so long. We've done quite a few movies to pass the time. The really frustrating part is how cold it is. I would take them outside if it were warmer but with -20 wind chill and -11 degree weather, it's just too dangerous! I'm looking forward to spring already. Even 30 degrees would be a heat wave at this point!

Here are a few random photos of the boys playing while we've been snowed in. Thank goodness they play well together 80% of the time...

Doctor Appointments for Gabe, 34 weeks, Weekend of Projects

January 17

We had GREAT news yesterday. Gabe had an appointment with the allergist and with his regular doctor for his 2 year appt. The allergist looked at the results from the blood test that showed he was positive to milk and dog. He completely dismissed the milk allergy as within a normal range. He asked a lot of follow up questions and when we said no to all of them, he said it was unlikely Gabe is allergic to milk at all. 

He agreed the dog allergy is real but he again asked a lot of questions and in the end, it sounds like Gabe is allergic, but not very. He also said not to take the "high" number so seriously on this particular test because it's prone to a lot of false positives. Plus, he said some one with the same number could break out into hives every time they're near a dog and that would be the "norm" for them. We've been around dogs several times in the family and for days on end sometimes and never noticed Gabe suffering with stuffiness or immediate ear infections after family functions. 

He tested poor Gabe for a few other things and basically everything came back normal. His opinion at this point is allergies are not the cause of Gabe's past ear infections and hopefully the adenoid removal will solve our problem now.

It was nice to have the pediatrician appointment right after because the pediatrician completely agreed with the allergist and said we don't have to cut out milk at all. What a relief. In other health news, Gabe had a great 2 year check up.  He's 35" tall (65%) and 33 pounds (93%). At this point they say he'll be about 5'10" when he's older. My short genes brought him down! Henry is supposed to be 6'1" like his dad.   

Yesterday I also passed the 34 week mark. I'm more and more uncomfortable as the days go on. My belly has a mind of it's own and I'm getting so large. Babies and I are healthy though and doing well. My weekly check up shows I'm still measuring 44 weeks along and the babies continue to have strong heart beats. I am starting to have more contractions at random times but that doesn't mean anything as long as they don't become consistent. They're just annoying. Only 4 weeks left now!

January 19 & 20

The weekend went by pretty fast. Mike's parents came down to help with some house projects and the kids. I've been asking for a long time to get my giant sky light window in our bedroom covered up. It's beautiful but it is so bright it's hard to sleep when I want to nap or even if it's my turn to sleep in on the weekends. I was going to use cardboard but luckily Mike and his dad had a better idea and were able to get some material from Home Depot that was opaque and looked decent in the window. I'm super excited. I also purchased some curtains and curtain rods for the lower window so Mike got those installed the next day.

They also got Henry's old bed converted back into a crib and put in our bedroom. It was a little messed up after Henry had it. A lot of screw holes were stripped so they had to buy new longer screws to fix them. It's all set up now and ready for babies! I hope =)

Finally, Mike and his dad worked on getting our new TV installed properly in the room. We had it on the wall before but the cords were showing. They bought all the stuff to get the cords hidden. It took a long time, but it looks great! I also managed to talk Mike into getting headsets for the new TV. With Gabe I was only able to stay awake the every two hours he was up to feed by watching TV shows on Netflix in his room. My plan now is to use the new TV to do the same but with the headset I can watch TV without waking up Mike or the kids. We decided to get two headsets so we can also start watching TV later in the evening when the boys are in bed. The wall isn't very thick between our rooms and the TV was pretty loud in the boys room. Henry sleeps deeply but Gabe does not!

Speaking of Gabe, he has thrown us for another loop in his new bedroom. We have to keep his old bed as a toddler bed because he keeps getting banished there to sleep. He's into everything and will not stay in bed. His recent antics involved pulling down one of the dressers. He pulled all the drawers out making it top heavy and then pulled it and everything on top of it down. Now we have to get brackets or something to secure the dressers to the wall before he can sleep in there again. What a stinker!