On Winter and Puppies

I'm pretty sure I've written about this before BUT here it is again. There is something about this time of year and my puppy fever. It starts to get close to the holidays and I start thinking about puppies. This doesn't help: Photo: Corbis http://theweek.com/article/slideshow/209498/what-should-putin-name-his-puppy

Who wouldn't want a furry, cuddly, cute puppy to cuddle with? You know what else doesn't help puppy fever? The Eddie Bauer catalog. Don't worry... we won't be getting a new puppy because we will be getting two cute cuddly babies soon. And I have a furry, sometimes will cuddle dog already. But as I told Paul the other day, I just need a friend with a new puppy so I can come and hold it. So if you have one let me know!

Heard IN the classroom

It really is crazy the stuff kids (and some adults) say. In an attempt to remember these things I'm writing this post.

1. At my school we have a program for students who have limited abilities. One of these students who is a fifth grader, comes to wave hello and says, "Hi twins." every time he sees me. I told him that they couldn't say hello back yet and he asked why. :-) I then asked what I should name them and he promptly replied: Sponge Bob Square Pants and when I asked what to name the second one he said Josue and the girl, Morgan. (On a side note- Before it was really obvious and I could put on a jacket and my belly would "disappear" he would come and ask where the twins were.)

2. My class STRUGGLES with talking this year. Normally you have a couple of good talkers but this year I have at least 6. Well some well intentioned teacher at my school told my class that their noise was dangerous to the babies. After discussing the talking issue while working on team building with the counselor the kids brought up how the babies can hear them and how dangerous the noise was. I reassured them that the noise wasn't dangerous for the babies but they could hear them.

3. As we were reshuffling for math this morning my teaching partner was having one of his kids ask me what system of measurement we should use. He brought up that the babies should be learning the metric system. I said that they are learning it as I teach. One of my students replied, "The only thing they're learning is how to eat. Have you seen this woman eat?" Ha! I don't even eat in front of them. He also was the same students who asked one day, when I was starving, why I was eating 3 muffins. I bet his mom would die if she knew what he said.

4. A former student was in the building helping out with the book fair. His sister still goes to our school and his mom is very active in the building. I guess the sight of me pregnant weirded him out. (He is a freshman in high school.) I guess he kept telling his mom that it is just so weird.

That's it for now. I'm sure there will be more.

A Pregnant Woman's Shopping List

Yesterday I ran some errands. I "needed" a couple of things and the day I had at work warranted something new. Here is what was on my list:

- a fake wedding band. Mine no longer fits, or I might be able to get it on but I don't want it to get stuck. It feels weird to just wear my engagement ring and I'm not so sure how long that will still fit.
- more socks. Again, my favorite socks, the ones with patterns and colors (remember I teach elementary school so it is okay to wear crazy socks) seem to dig into my ankles when they are swollen at the end of the day. So for the next 4 months I'm stuck with plain, boring solid colors that are loose enough to not leave marks on my ankles, on most days.
- another new bra. This is pretty self explanatory I think.
- pants, preferably khaki and comfortable. I currently have 3 pairs of maternity "work" pants and I really would like one more so I can have one per day of the work week. (Fridays have been deemed jean days at school so I'm good there.) STILL looking for pants. Maternity really hasn't caught up with regular clothes in offering long lengths or even making them.
- purse. I'm long over due for a new one but I've had a hard time finding one I like.
- cheap Halloween costumes. Unfortunately I waited too long and they are all gone. I did, however, find many choices in dog costumes. I'll wait a little while longer and then Maddy can be a bee next year. :-) She'll love it!
- and then what I bought that wasn't one the list. Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cakes! I had the thought that with all the Christmas stuff they must be back and there were. I'm sad to say that I ate almost the whole box before I got home. I also found a few summer/fall clothes for Pip and Squeak that were pretty cheap. I'm finding that the clearance selection for boys is MUCH better than for girls. So we might have a well dressed little boy and a poor sister without much to choose from.

22 Weeks

How far along? 22 weeks

Babies' size and stats? According to the book our babies are now a whole pound and about 8 inches long! They have developing senses. They even say that the placenta changes taste based on what I eat.

Gain? I believe the doctor said 17 pounds yesterday. I asked her about my weight gain and she said I was gaining what I needed to. I should expect to gain a pound a week. I am measuring 29 weeks, which is expected for a twin pregnancy.

Maternity clothes? Pants and some tops.

Stretch marks? None

Sleep? Still not sleeping great which is so disappointing. I asked about my pain when I'm sleeping and my doctor recommended a back brace. I guess they are sold at Babies R'Us and I am planning on getting one this weekend. :-)

Foods I am loving? Well I've really been craving pumpkin scones at Starbucks, apples, and apple cider.

Foods I am hating? Still raw vegetables and spicy foods. I had a salad the other day and my stomach felt bad for a couple of hours after.

Best moment this week? Spending time with my siblings at my cousin's Vegas Wedding. Kevin even offered to carry me back to the hotel. :-)

Movement? Yep... They seem to wake up at about 4:30 or at least that is when I start to notice movement.

Symptoms? I'm tired this week...could have been the trip. I have also noticed that I'm moving a lot slower than I normally do. Takes me a while to get down the hallway. Also space is getting tighter so I've been having to go to the bathroom a lot more often. Luckily I have someone at work that comes to check on me a couple of times during the day.

Gender? One BOY and one GIRL!

What I'm looking forward to? Holidays.

Milestones: Hitting the halfway point!

Emotions: We have A LOT to do before the babies arrive and with basketball season just around the corner we are quickly running out of time.

Do you remember this song?

Well the advice is good. At least the wear suncreen part. Especially when you spend hours of your life outside by the pool. And for sure if you'd like to keep your skin scar free. I had my yearly skin cancer screening on Friday. I was hoping to make it two years in a row without have a mole removed, unfortunately it didn't happen. Suspicious mole number 5 has been sent to the lab. (Luckily they've just been abnormal cell growth or pre-cancerous cells but nothing dangerous.) I guess I should have listened to my mom more when I was younger. So don't forget to wear your suncreen... now that it is fall. :-)

Halfway There!

How far along? 20 Weeks and a few days

Baby's size and stats? About 12 0z. each

Gain? On a good day I've gained about 15 lbs. Being sick this last week hasn't helped much.

Maternity clothes? I still am wearing non-maternity tops but I've been in maternity pants for a couple of months. I'm not sure how much longer I'll be able to pull off "regular" shirts.

Stretch marks? None

Sleep? Sleep hasn't been great for about the last month. I keep adding pillows but it doesn't seem to make a difference. I think it is just going to be painful sleeping for the next 20 weeks. I have found that sometimes just getting up and walking downstairs then getting back into bed will help with the hip pain. I was considering buying one of those maternity pillows but they are so expensive. Is it worth it?

Foods I am loving? I'm loving pretty much anything. Well... except for spicy/Mexican food but I didn't really like those anyway. Since I'm fighting an awesome cold this week I've been eating a lot of soup, which has been very tasty.

Foods I am hating? Still raw vegetables and spicy foods.

Best moment this week? We had our 20 week ultrasound on Friday. Paul and I opted to have a perinatologist perform the anatomy scan just to double check that everything with Pip and Squeak was going well. They're both doing great and measuring about 2 days ahead. The doctor said that we're about a low risk as you can get with a twin pregnancy. Great news!

Paul and I had been trying to decide if we were going to find out what our frijolitos were. We were both leaning towards not finding out in the beginning but as time has gone by I was feeling like I wanted to know something. In the beginning, before we knew we were pregnant and before we knew it was twins, I told Paul that if we have twins I just wanted to know if they were the same sex or different sexes. I finally convinced my wonderful husband to let me find out. (He said they were growing in me so I could make the final decision. What a great guy.) The ultrasound tech/nurse seemed a little confused because if they were the same sex we didn't want to know what sex they were. But now we have some sort of answer.... which I will share later. :-)

Movement? I have been feeling flutters for about three weeks but in the last couple of weeks I've been feeling a little more than flutters. It normally is about dinner time and for some reason it is mostly right below my ribs... thank you Baby B. The best way I could describe it is it feels like being lightly flicked from the inside.

Symptoms? Just pain (back and hips) and swollen ankles. I have had to buy different socks to avoid cutting of the circulation in my feet. I've been doing my prenatal yoga video when I start to hurt too much but Maddy isn't the greatest yoga partner but it does seem to help stretch me out.

Gender? What do you think? Boys, Girls or one of each?

What I'm looking forward to? Setting up the nursery... I'm ready to be able to sit in it and think about holding two little babies.

Milestones: Hitting the halfway point!

Emotions: I'm so very excited to be able to do more planning now that I have an idea of who is going to arrive in late February/early March. I can't believe that we still have to wait 20 more weeks until they arrive. I also can't believe that they are only 12 oz. and that they, hopefully, will grow to 6 times that size. I'm not quite sure where they are going to fit. :-)

Update

Maddy insists on being in the picture.