Adriana's 2nd Birthday!

Our little cutie is now 2! We can't believe it. We had a great time celebrating her and giving her all the attention we could as that will change in a few weeks. Her birthday was on Wednesday so we did some family celebrating then. She had a play date, went to the library, and even had her first kid's meal!

She loved the Tutu from us and wants to wear it all the time.

We did her friend party on Saturday at the park. (One of her favorite places to go.) Her music teacher came and did some songs with the kids.

Then we did an Elmo piñata that everyone loved!

And of course the cake and presents. She had a great time and loved being the center of attention.

We can't believe that 2 years have gone by so fast! She is learning so many things every day and talking so well now. It is always fun to watch her figure things out and try something new. She really is our little angel.

Trip to Seattle

A few weeks ago Mark had a seminar for his upcoming test, in Seattle. This sunset is off the coast in downtonw Seattle. He was going to see Sarah's sister and her family, who live there, before coming home and then Sarah's sister had this awesome idea... bring Adriana to spend a few days with them! This would be the first time Adriana would be away from us except for one night so it was hard to decide, but we thought it would be great for her and mom! My sister has 4 girls so we knew she would have a blast, which she did! It was SO nice of them to take on an active 1 year old to let her poor mom have a much needed rest.

Here are some shots from the trip.
Mark had a great 4 hour flight each way with Adriana and luckily she only had to be on his lap on the way home.

The whole gang, saying goodbye.

With Adriana and Mark gone, my parents decided to come down and give me some help with the house since I'm pretty limited. We moved Adriana to a new room and got the nursery all ready. It was amazing to see how much they could do in just a few days! They really did it all, including cleaning the whole house! My dad was the painter and my mom and I decorated and she cleaned and organized. It was great to do a few projects of my own and get some good rest in too.

Here is the office when we were moving in...

Then in the process of changing it into Adriana's new room...

And Adriana's new room, with her big bed! (She's only slept there once, but it will come)

What Adriana's room was before...

Then as we transform it into a double nursery...

Ready for our 2 little peas in a pod!

Snow in Dallas

A few weeks ago we got the most snow Dallas has had in 30 years! A few inches... in some parts of they got almost a foot. With no snow plows that creates a bit of a problem, but luckily it didn't get too icy. We had to take advantange of the snow like everyone else and build a snowman. Since it was Valentine's weekend we made a valentine snowman. Adriana added the ear on one side all by herself. We also tried to catch a few flakes in our mouth. It was a lot of fun and the snowman lasted about a week so that's pretty good. I have never seen so many snowmen in my life at one time. Everyone knew this was probably their only chance to make one for maybe the next 5 years so there were all types at almost every house. Here are a few pictures of ours.

I have to include a few of Adriana, of course. She has loved to help in the kitchen as well as sample a few of the makings.

She also likes to "sleep" in our bed and has tons of fun with the covers and pillows. Is she ready for a big bed?? She'll have to give up her crib soon enough.

Just a bit about the twins. We're all growing and they are each about 3 lbs. so it's looking good.

"You are HUGE"

The title is a direct quote from a stranger who will remain unnamed. There are many others, but I'll spare you. Many people wonder what is different between a single and multiple pregnancy. As far as more than 2 I have no idea, but I'll share a few thoughts about carrying two little GIRLS!

The biggest difference is that you grow a lot faster. We started telling people that I was pregnant around 3 months and a few weeks after that it was obvious to almost everyone. With twins the recommended weight gain is 30-56 pounds as opposed to 25-35 with a single birth. That is a lot to put on in 9 months!

Most women, including me with Adriana, will talk about the joys of the 2nd trimester where the morning sickness is gone, yet you don't have all the aches and pains of the last trimester. Well, I think that lasted about 2 weeks this time before my belly got so big I felt like I was in the last trimester! Luckily I still don't have it too bad. I can do most things by myself. Adriana has been my helper to get things off the floor.

Another difference is that you grow out of your own maternity clothes! Most of my shirts are already too short to cover the entire belly. Mark's shirts are really coming in handy... well those that still fit.

Another important thing is being more careful about what I do and not to push myself too hard. This can be very difficult when you have to get ready for 2 babies instead of one, and at the same time keeping the 1 year old out of trouble. (If you don't know what I mean check the last post) I've already told the twins they aren't allowed to come before 35 weeks, so hopefully they listened!

Some of the benefits include... eating and drinking all the time! I'm supposed to have about 3,000 calories each day to provide all the nutrients to the 3 of us so that can be fun. Of course it's all fruits and veggies wink, wink! I do need to make sure I am eating well so they get all the nutrients they need so they are nice and big when they are born. My goal is 5-6 lbs. At the beginning of January they were both about 1 pound which is in the 90th percentile so things are looking good. My sister-in-law recommended a great book called When You're Expecting Twins,Triplets, or Quads. It has a lot of information and has been very helpful. Another great thing is that the pregnancy and everything that goes with it is a double header. I only have morning sickness one time instead of two. I only have to go through labor once, but get 2 out of it! It really has been a great pregnancy and we are blessed that things have gone so well so far. I'm hoping it will last till the end.

I'm sure there are many more differences, but these are the only ones that come to mind right now. We know that something happens to a woman's memory when she is pregnant so if you double that I'm probably at similar levels to amnesia or something :) (I can't quite remember.) If you have any other questions I'd be happy to answer them. One interesting thing I learned is that since they each have a separate sac they will stay on the same side throughout the pregnancy. Now I can attribute some of the kicks to either Baby A or B. One other thing I'll add is that Mark has been great through this whole thing and is also very excited. You don't feel like a regular person while you waddle around with a big watermelon of a stomach, but somehow he is able to look past that and still see me as beautiful. That is a great help to my emotional health and I am very grateful for him. Well sorry this got so long, but hope it was enjoyable! We're on the count down now, less than 3 months left!

A 24 week picture.

This is another one at 24 weeks that we will compare the tummy to my last pregnancy.

Same shirt, but worn on Adriana's due date. Notice much difference between the two pictures? Neither did we.