The Last Month

Jonas-Haylen play-dates which are also like play-dates for me because I get to hang out with Dani!

Jonas is not the type to people-please by putting on a show for a crowd.

He decided after blowing out one candle at Grandma and Grandpa Low's house that the show was over.

Brushing his teeth is one of Jonas' favorite things to do.

He brings Matt and I our toothbrushes routinely to be sure we're keeping our teeth clean too!

Jonas has gone from sitting timidly in my lap at library-time to full out busting moves in the middle of the floor.

It helps that Eva and Aunt Karen are there too. They bring out the singer/dancer in him.

Jonas is so fast I can't wait to put him in a kids race this summer. 

He got his Daddy's muscular sprinting legs!

My fruit monster ate three big bananas in a row yesterday. True story.

Jonas has been talking a lot lately. Every night for a half hour or so he practices all his words in make-believe conversations in a happy little voice before he goes to sleep. It's so cute to listen to.

Jonas is also getting a lot more into independent play and imagination games lately. It seems like he is growing and learning so fast!

Diaper Shower, the cutest sweaters ever, and finally a belly picture...

These two AMAZING woman threw the babies and I a diaper shower yesterday!

It was a funny coincidence that within a day of finding out I was having twins Karen, Mom Harker and I started reading the same twin book. 

The author says one of the most important pieces of advice she can give is to throw a diaper party because twin babies go through a staggering $1600 worth of diapers a year. 

Karen and Mom Harker took that advice to heart and started planning!

So Karen and Mom Harker rounded up as many people as they could to celebrate the babies and put a dent in the diaper supply we would soon be needing! There were fun games, wonderful food and lots of visiting and present opening at my house.

Dad Harker did the math after the shower to find that we had amassed a whopping 2686 diapers! 

In addition to lots of beautiful homemade blankets, stacks of onesies/sleepers, and the two most adorable handknit sweaters- made of course by Mom Harker. 

As my Mom said those sweaters could not be any cuter!

It was so special to witness so much support and love yesterday from so many people! And many more people who weren't close enough to come have sent me wonderful messages of support and congratulations! This family is so blessed!

Truthfully I feel weird about belly pictures but I feel like I should have at least one from each pregnancy so this is it!

When I was pregnant with Jonas people teased me that I couldn't be pregnant because I didn't start to show until 5 months. And then people would marvel I was so small.

I told Karen I love when people tell me my belly looks way too tiny to be holding twins because people sure won't commenting on me looking tiny before when we all assumed it was one baby!

And maybe it is too gross to mention but there is an awful phrase one reads over and over on twin websites and in books- "twin skin" or the inability of skin to stretch for two babies without showing some less than pretty effects!

Well, I realize that the "stretch marks" I started to get when I was about to go overdue with Jonas (and cried over one day) were in fact cute little stretch dots. What I have now are legit stretch marks!

But somehow it hasn't really bothered me. I think I'm so determined those babies won't come out too early and need NICU care and that they'll reach a good 5 pounds or so each that superficial worries like smooth skin really don't matter in comparison!

Mom had an activity planned for her seniors on Saturday but she went through all the work of preparing ahead and finding other staff members to cover the event for her so she could be in Lethbridge with me. It was so nice to have my Mom come. She always takes such good care of me (I wouldn't have any clothes that fit anymore if it weren't for her!)

Baby Gear

Week two of baby preparations is complete. The nursery is painted and there is a place for the babies to sleep, get changed and for all their things. We kept the nursery very, very simple. The bird mobile and curtains were vetoed as too feminine and at some point that diamond drum light will have to go. 

People have been so generous with lending and giving us things we only need to buy another crib (though the babies will sleep in same one for the first few months), another $25 IKEA high chair, a few bottles and maybe an extra baby sling/carrier. Last night we sold our single stroller and bought a gently used double stroller. I racked up a ton of mileage on our Valco walking and running to lose weight after I had Jonas and this time I'll be relying on long daily walks again. I figure I can carry one twin in the carrier and put the other twin and Jonas in the stroller to get us all out at the same time this spring/summer. I'm hoping Jonas will be content enough to sit for the 5K+ walks like we did everyday for months after he was born but that's probably too optimistic. I might just have to learn to breastfeed two babies simultaneously to burn a whopping 1200 calories a day to supplement the shorter walks!

And speaking of the babies, I got to see those cute little guys again (and another hilarious stick drawing) at my ultrasound yesterday. They're turned so they are watching each other and they have all their cute little feet piled up next to each other on my left side. Harland's face was difficult to see but Rhett is sprouting hair and his mouth looks suspiciously like Jonas and I's!

Full Jeep

According to the twin pregnancy books I've read I should have packed a hospital bag and installed carseats by 30 weeks because twins come early, but seeing as I didn't find out until 29 weeks it hasn't been done until now. And I'm by no means ready for the babies to come anytime soon. I need another month to check off all the things I wanted to have done and organized before the babies come home.

As you can see Gary is at his max seating capacity and I see a van in our 2-3 year future.

Twin Delivery

Pro: They are going to stick an epidural needle in me as fast as they can when I go into labor (because they might have to go fishing for baby B and because apparently my first labor was quite fast for a first pregnancy so there might not be a wide window of time).

Con: The delivery is going to be a bit of a three-ring circus show with an audience of least 10 people outside of Matt and myself. Each of the babies and I get a couple of specialists and nurses a piece. It sounds intense but I guess that is just routine procedure for any twin delivery. Guess I'll have to put on a good show!

I wish I had a copy of the stick drawing the ultrasound technician drew of the babies' positioning on her report. Those cute funny little baby stick figures made my day. Baby A (Rhett we think) is sitting the lowest and his body is all stretched out. Baby B (Harland we think) has his head by Baby A's heart and his legs are curled up a little. Baby A is 3 pounds 6 ounces and Baby B is 4 pounds so I am already carrying more baby weight at 31 weeks than I did with Jonas full term. I'm getting an insane amount of movement from those boys. I could swear they are having play wrestling matches in there! Sometimes they both wind up with a solid simultaneous kick at my middle which makes me jump.

Birthday Boy is Turning 2

Instead of planning ahead and obsessing over decorating details we kept Jonas' birthday super low-key with our bestest Lethbridge buds Aunt Karen, Uncle Matt and Eva. I felt like having a simple party that was about what Jonas would truly enjoy (i.e. not a lot of people staring at him blowing out his candles). We went to the waterpark in the morning. We picked up an pre-made ice cream cake from DQ and then a few helium balloons in coordinating colors to make things a little more party festive. Then had hot dogs, chips, juice, and veggies for lunch. 

The waterpark was so much fun we're doing round two to tire the Jonas and his cousin Eva this evening after round two of birthday cake with Unkie Jordan and my Dad!