Thanksgiving 2009

We have SO much to be thankful for this year.

And now added to the list is a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend!

We started off our Thanksgiving by going to our first Blazer game of the season Wednesday night.


It was the babies' first Blazers game, and I think they may have been confused as to why their Momma was yelling so much... but never fear, seeing as how climbing those stairs to the nosebleed section we always sit in may as well have been Mount Kilimanjaro, it was probably their last as well.

Yowzers. That's sooommmeee belly!!



After the game we headed down to Salem to make a late night arrival at Dave's parents.

Thursday more fun ensued...

We had our main Thanksgiving meal with David's family, although I managed not to take a single picture. I can't imagine why, and I am sure it had nothing to do with the fact that I ate my body weight in mashed potatoes that day.

Thursday evening we headed over to my Dad and step mom's to visit with them and 3 out of 4 of my sisters. We had a wonderful time over there, attempting to put together a puzzle, laughing, and eating dessert.


Thursday night we headed back to David's parents and played some games with the family. Always a hit!


Friday we headed to my Mom and step dad's for more Thanksgiving fun.
And more eating.
I am not at all excited about stepping on the scale at my appointment this Friday.

The grown ups at their table.

One of the two kid's tables (of note, every here is over 21, but it's still a "kid's table"...does anyone else's family still do that?)

Two of two.


There was a lot of YouTube watching...
And some card playing...

And some sister pic takin'...
And some arts and crafts...my sister Amanda sent these hand print cut outs of our sweet niece Cadence's hand for us to make wreaths out of...so cute!
Then it was back to my in-laws for another evening of family fun and games.
I did manage to remember to snag a few pictures of these cuties...


And of the newest member of the family, the new puppy Omar...

It was a busy but wonderful weekend, and it was so fun for Dave and I to go "home" and see all our family. We feel blessed beyond measure this holiday season, and I did my best to steal moments where I just sat back, rubbed my belly, and took it all in...

Thanks be to God.

20 weeks!

We hit the 20 week mark this weekend!!

We are getting so excited to meet these little ones... but at the same time, hoping and praying we don't meet them until at least mid-March~ as eager as we are, we want them to be full term and as healthy as possible!

Here are the latest belly pics:


I was laughing so hard that so many of you said I looked small when I posted my last belly pics, and when I was talking to Dave about he said I should post a real belly shot so you all can get the full effect...I can't believe I am posting these on the world wide web...but here goes nothing:


My belly, in all it's glory.

With TWO BABIES IN THERE!! =)


Is it weird that I can SEE these pictures of myself, and still barely believe this is all really happening?!? I think so.


Here is the babycenter.com pic of what the babies look like at this stage:

You will note that she (the babycenter.com drawing) finally put on some more weight, so she is allowed back on my blog. Her stomach finally looks like she's got some babies in there! Now, if only she would gain some weight in her backside, we could become friends.


Happy Sunday night all.

Three things that make me happy...

Number 1:

SUPER cute onesies from my sweet blogger friend Lauren!! Aren't those fun!? Thank you so much Lauren! (ok so my linky thing isn't working...but it's Lauren from "Walk with me on this journey called life)




Number 2:

NEW washer and dryer...HELLO LOVE!! Our last set we had bought used about 4 years ago, and our dryer was going out. It would only actually heat up about 1 out of every 3 times. SO frustrating! And since we for see a LOT of laundry in our future, we decided to invest in a brand new set. Yippee! I never thought new appliances would make me so thrilled but seriously...new washer and dryer, you complete me.




Number 3:


My disappearing toes = happiness =)

Redeemed

Three years ago today, Nov 13th, 2006, David and I learned at our 13 week doctors appointment that our baby did not have a heartbeat.

It was a devastating day.

I remember the holidays that year...vaguely. They are kind of a blur of me trying to put a smile on my face while feeling dark and empty inside.

Then followed a long season of waiting.

I would like to say I handled the waiting patiently, but that would not be true.

I remember thinking I would never smile again. I was sure my heart would never feel joy ever again...that I would feel empty for the rest of my life.

God began to lead us on a journey.

I would like to say I handled the journey with grace, but that would not be true.


Luckily, my God is both patient and graceful to His children. Thank you Lord.



Someday soon I do intend to write a post about how we got to where we are, so that those of you who are still waiting can hopefully find some Hope in our story, but it's an almost three year journey, and a very emotional one. And I feel I've done a decent job reigning in the roller-coaster of emotions that come with pregnancy thus far. (If David is reading this he just fell off his chair). But I do need to set aside a chunk of time and write it out, and hopefully properly put into words how faithful our God has been to us.

This post is all to say that three years ago today I felt so empty and alone, and I would have bet everything I had that I would never have joy in my heart again. And although I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge that God was gracious to me even in my faithlessness and He did bring plenty of true joy to my heart too many times to count over the last three years, I can not properly put into words the joy that I had in my heart when I woke up this morning.

The tears that are streaming down my face as I type this are tears of absolute Joy. Today I woke up thinking about our two beautiful children growing inside of me. I day dreamed about bringing them home from the hospital and just holding them close and kissing them and whispering to them how very, very much I love them.

My heartache has been more than redeemed.

My God has been more than faithful.

"My lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to you-I, whom you have redeemed".
Psalm 71:23

18 weeks!

Yup- there are two little babies growing in that belly!!

As to what's growing in my butt, I have no idea.



I can't believe we are at 18 weeks already. It's so exciting! And what's crazy to think about is if our goal is to make it to 36 weeks, we are HALF WAY THERE!! Whoa. Now that I can hardly believe. We hope to at least make it to 36 weeks, and anything after that is just icing on the cake for us. Prayers for icing appreciated. =)

I have felt both the babies move and wow....it's indescribable. The ultrasound tech said I would feel Abbey much sooner and more often because of where her placenta is. Luke's is between him and I so there is more "padding" to soften his movements. I felt Abbey a ton today and I just could not stop smiling!

"You turned my mourning into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever".

Psalms 30:10-12

The name game

So now that we know our babies genders, we can share the names we have picked out for them! We LOVE the names we have picked out, and we are not the type of people to keep them to ourselves and save them as a surprise at delivery. We are too excited for that!

So if you don't like either or both names, please keep it to yourself =).

Without further ado....

Lucas Christian

and

Abigail Mae

Ta da!! Luke and Abbey have been our favorite boy and girl names since we started trying to get pregnant in the summer of 2006. We just love them both. Strong Biblical names, yet still contemporary. Christian is David's middle name, and Mae has no family ties, but we just love the way "Abbey Mae" sounds =). When we found out we were expecting twins, we found it surprisingly easy to pick another boy and girl name as well. If we would have had two boys, the other boy would be Benjamin Michael. And if two girls, the other girl would have been Leah Joy.
But, God saw it fit to give us a Luke and an Abbey, and we couldn't be more thrilled about it!!!


And yesterday I got pink and blue gifts!! My sweet co-worker and friend Kris came into work with these...


I almost died at the adorableness of it all!! Those blankets are sooo soft that I just wanted to turn out my office light and curl up with them and take a nap! I can't wait until I get to see my little Luke and Abbey-girl all wrapped up in these!

Well, actually yes I can wait...please babies stay put for at least another 18 weeks!!!! =)

Happy Friday all!

If His Grace is an ocean, we're all sinking

That's a line from The David Crowder Band's song "Oh How He Loves Us", and it is the current theme in my head and heart today.

God's Grace is by far the most incredible thing I have ever experienced. His Grace is boundless...never ceasing...undeserving.

Today we had our ultrasound. Our babies our measuring right on track to the exact day that they should be, and we were blessed enough to see the miracle of their functioning bladders, kidneys, stomachs, all 4 chambers on both babies hearts, their brains, their spines, 20 fingers and 20 toes.

Thanks be to God.

On Baby A we also saw...











BOY parts!!!!




And on Baby B, we saw....













GIRL parts!!!


We are expecting one of each!! We are simply overjoyed!!!

Our son was not at all shy about showing us what he was. It was undeniable right away! Our daughter on the other hand, was quite modest. It took the tech several attempts and even then she kept leaving to go check other areas and would come back down to try and catch a peak time and time again. Finally we got the shot we were looking for, and confirmation that we have both a son and a daughter miraculously growing inside of me.



My coworker made me this little post it and stuck it on my desk, so I promptly stuck it on my belly and wore it around the office for the afternoon so my belly could make the announcement for me...


Here is a picture of our son, all stretched out:

Doesn't he have the cutest little booty you've ever seen!?!


And here is a picture of his precious little feet:


Here is a picture of our daughter's perfect little hand:

Isn't' that amazing!?!

Here is her picture, looking directly at us, and waving hi:
(her little hand is up next to her face)


And our favorite picture of the day...here is our boy's profile, with his hands up next to his chest, looking like he is praying:
Be still my heart.


We are having a son and a daughter.



The only news that surprised us today was it appears our son's feet are turned in slightly. Because we declined all genetic testing in the first trimester, they were unable to confirm 100% that this is not due to a chromosomal abnormality. BUT, the tech took many more measurements of his spine, the back of his neck, his head, etc. and then we met with a perinatologist to discuss this. She said she is 98-99% SURE that this is NOT indicative of any other diagnosis. THANK GOD. It just appears he has a slight clubbing in both his little feet. The doctor was so confident of this that she said she would not even recommend an amniocentesis. (which we would have declined, but we were happy to hear this news anyways)

David and I had several questions as to what this meant for our little boy. We learned that it means we will meet with an orthopedic surgeon during pregnancy, just for a meet and greet. About a week after the babies are born, we will take him to meet the orthopedic surgeon and he will do xrays to see how turned the bones are. Most likely at that point they will make little braces/casts for him to wear in an attempt to correct his feet. This will not be painful for him, as babies bones are quite malleable. If the doctors are not able to correct it this way, he might need a minor surgery. Usually they do the surgery between 6-12 months old if it is needed. I asked how long he would need to be in the hospital, and the doctor said not even overnight. It's a day surgery.

So, it appears this is 100% treatable.

Do I love the idea of my newborn son needing to wear casts on his feet? No. It wasn't my favorite news of the day. Does the idea of my 6-12 month old baby needing a surgery make me nervous? Slightly. But the bottom line is there is no need to start worrying about a possible surgery now, when it's far into the future, and there is a great chance we will be able to correct this without surgery.

Also, we know that we serve a Mighty God. We know that nothing is too difficult for Him. Our prayer is that God would choose to correct this in utero.

But, if He chooses not to, that's ok with us. Honestly.

Once both David and I heard that they are very, very confident that this is NOT related to anything more serious, and that it's 100% treatable, and that our son will jump and run and chase his sister like any other little boy, we were fine. Really.

Better than fine actually. Totally and completely head-over-heels in love is more like it. We simply adore these precious children of ours. And we adore our God who is blessing us with these miracles.

With a FULL and GRATEFUL heart,