Babies, Babies, Babies

I am officially in my third trimester now and it shows! 

24 weeks

28 Weeks.  The belly grew a lot!

Baby B is high and breech and is bruising my ribs constantly.  Heartburn is no joke right now.  I see my OB regularly, a maternal fetal medicine specialist at least once every four weeks, and have also visited a pediatric cardiologist for the babies.  I've had several sonograms, several of which lasted over half an hour.  Between all the appointments, I've had lots of time to marvel at the two life forms growing inside of me.  It is really cool to see how they are positioned next to each other, with a bright white line separating their sacs of amniotic fluid.  

The babies are moving a lot now.  The early, sudden jabs have transformed into massage like movements that I can see externally.  Staring at my stomach and watching little feet and hands move under my skin is equally strange and wonderful.   

My friend Sylvia recently hosted a Fiesta themed baby shower for me, an appropriate theme since the twins are souvenirs of our summer vacation to Mexico.  It was so fun to celebrate the twins with girl friends.  

At the airport in Denver, I sat next to an elderly lady who asked about my due date.  Like everyone else, she was surprised to hear that I was carrying twins.  Unlike most people, however, she genuinely exclaimed, "You are so lucky!"  I am lucky.  Carrying twins is hard work, and it will only get harder once they are tiny newborns .  Not many women, however, have the unique privilege of seeing two of their babies nestled inside their tummy together.

Packing Panties

Katy was so excited to pack for our recent trip to Denver.  Her regular play frequently involves packing boxes and bags with various items that sometimes only make sense to her.  So it was no surprise that she was more than excited to pack her clothes for her trip.  One thing she did to help pack was lay out all of her panties and count them to make sure she had enough for the trip.  

When Chris arrived home later in the evening, Katy was excited to help him pack too.  After carefully stuffing one of his dress shirts into a small zippered pocket in his suitcase, she laid out his underwear and told him she was "counting all of his panties" to ensure he had enough.  

A Last-Minute (Surprise!) Trip to Denver

In the spring, we made tentative plans with my parents to spend Christmas in the Denver area, where my brothers live.  Then we found out I was pregnant with twins and decided a Christmas trip was a bit too close to my due date.  My parents and I tried to make a Thanksgiving trip work, but Chris and I were unable to find tickets at an affordable price.  My parents made plans to go anyways and we made plans to stay home.  Then, a couple weeks before Thanksgiving, Frontier Airlines opened a new route flying directly to Denver from our hometown.  Better yet, the tickets were more than affordable.  So we booked tickets, told my brothers, and made plans to surprise my parents with our arrival.    

It was so much fun to surprise my parents when we arrived at Casey and Amanda's house on Thanksgiving day.  My dad looked so confused at first and my mom was just saying, "No!?!?! No!?!?! What are you doing here?!?!"  

The next few days were a much needed break from all the activity back home.  Chris, who has been working long hours, spent much needed time with his family.  Katy finally opened up to her uncles, cousins, and aunts and had so much fun playing with all of them.  We visited a few sights and even saw our friend Jackson.  It was a perfect Thanksgiving and my second favorite Thanksgiving only to one we spent in Hondo with Mimi several years ago.  

My mom didn't understand why she was setting such a big table...until we arrived!

Enjoying the deck and fire pit after over eating. 

It was SOOOO windy!

At Red Rocks Amphitheater

Before the candy factory tour.  Nothing but blue skies.

After the candy factory tour.  The snow is coming!

We worked a puzzle after playing the newly wed game.  So much fun!

This girl LOVED walking in the snow!

We visited the Air Force Academy Chapel

The goats at Casey and Amanda's house. 

Dinner at Casa Bonita

The flight home from Denver was celebrated as the inaugural flight on the new Frontier route and therefore we were greeted with water sprays on the plane and balloons and treats at the gate.  It was a fun way to wrap up a fun trip.

Moving On

For several pesky little reasons, almost a month passed after we moved out of the house in McAllen before we were able to list it for sale.  Praise God, however, that we had a contract for sale within days of listing it.  Praise God again because the contract didn't fall through, and we closed a few days before Thanksgiving.  

We ate one last family meal in the McAllen house a couple days before the closing and as expected, I cried as we prepared to walk out one last time.  The house in McAllen was our first house together.  The first place we stayed long enough to put down real roots.  The house we remodeled and thereby stamped with a small part of ourselves.  The house to which we brought Katy home from the hospital.  The house where we hosted countless gatherings, potlucks, and parties.   The house surrounded by familiar places and dear friends.  I cried for the loss of all these wonderful things that the house represented.

I was so excited to finally move our furniture out of the McAllen house the week before the scheduled closing.  I anticipated that finally moving the bulk of our large, tangible objects would suddenly make the new house feel like the home I had in McAllen.  But of course, the house in McAllen was so much more than just tangible objects; it was all the sentimental things that made me cry when we finally said good-bye.  And so the new house is currently a messy house.  Some of our furniture is in pieces because it didn't fit, a lot of furniture is waiting to be moved into place, there is still nothing hanging on the bare walls, and most of the sentimental attachments that make a house a home are yet to be formed.

Our last trip to the McAllen house.

I sure loved the light fixture in the dining room.  Sigh. 

One Last (Eventful) Road Trip

Over the last two years, Katy and I have taken several road trips just the two of us to visit family.  In October, we took what I knew would be the last of these road trips.  I had grand ideas about making it extra special by making pit stops to visit family and landmarks along the way.  All of these grand ideas, however, didn't quite work out due to illnesses, bad weather, and a very unfortunate incident involving a failed luggage rack.  

The actual visit with family, however, was awesome.  For two nights, we stayed with my grandma, my cousin Rachel, and her daughter Isabella.  It was the first time Katy and I met Isabella, and the first time my grandma had both of her granddaughters in her home at the same time.  Katy and Isabella had a lot of fun playing hide and seek, holding hands, and getting to know each other.  

Katy went to her first move with Isabella!

We went to church with Grandma Dorothy.

Potluck with family in the area. 

During our visit, my aunts and cousins hosted a baby shower for me.  It was a lovely baby shower with family, a few friends, and a whole crew of kids running around.  My sister-in-law made a beautiful cake for the party, and everyone gave such generous gifts.  I went home with so many helpful baby items that I had to pack several things in the luggage rack.

It was a cold, wet and windy day when we left for home.  Soon after entering the freeway, I saw something blue fly down the freeway behind me.  I thought this odd because I didn't recall passing anything blue in front of me.  Then I saw a box of diapers fly down the freeway behind me and instantly knew the luggage rack had opened.  I pulled over on the shoulder of the freeway and spent close to 20 unsuccessful minutes standing in the cold wind and rain trying to close the roof rack.  At some point Katy, began crying hysterically and a box on the freeway began exploding diapers everywhere, making the scene all the more dramatic.  

We finally pulled off the freeway very slowly, found an awning at a nearby business to park, and waited for my father-in-law to come help us.  It was during this time I discovered why Katy, who was still crying, was so upset.  One of the items we lost on the freeway was her pool floatie.  The only thing that finally calmed Katy was ordering a new floatie on Amazon.  Two months later, Katy still talks about how her floatie went flying out of the car onto the road. 

Thankfully, the floatie and a couple boxes of diapers were the only thing we lost, other than about half a day of our time and lots of calm nerves.  The boxes containing handmade blankets and a stack of giftcards were safe inside the car all along.  

Halloween 2018

Katy wanted to be a butterfly for Halloween this year.  I had plans to make her large, beautiful butterfly wings to wear with one of her ballet leotards.  But then we went to Dollar Tree one day and found perfectly adequate wings for $1.  One-dollar wings are very tempting when you are in the middle of selling a house, settling into a new home, and carrying two babies. 

Katy eagerly picked a set of wings, which were actually ladybug wings.  I enthusiastically showed Katy a matching ladybug skirt hanging next to the wings.  Within seconds, Katy decided a lady bug costume was just as good as a butterfly.  Phew!  Katy isn't always so easily swayed once she's set her mind on something.