December...What a Blur!

So in case Jeremy and I didn't see you or talk to you over the last couple of weeks, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We pray all is well with you and your families and that you are rejoicing in the birth of Jesus the Christ!

We have been very busy over the Christmas holiday celebrating with and enjoying family. I am EXTREMELY grateful that the Lord provided for me to be able to see and visit with all of our family, those here and in Colorado! We were a little unsure if I would be able to make the trip to see my family, but praise be to God everything worked out and we had a wonderful time! My sister, Dru, David, Jeremy and I were able to spend five days in Colorado with extended family and with my mom. We spent two days at a cabin outside of Ft. Collins (BRRRRRR!) and the rest of the time in Loveland with my momma. It was a bittersweet time because this is the last year that we will all for sure be able to make it for our Christmas celebration. As most of you know, Court and Dru are preparing to move to College Station, Texas and Dave ships out to Camp Pendelton this coming summer for the Marines. Who knows what next December will hold! Nevertheless, it was a great time filled with lots of laughing and even more food...man am I in trouble when I hit the scale at my next Dr.'s appointment!

Things are still going wonderfully with the pregnancy and the babies and I am still feeling great. We have another ultrasound this Wednesday and at twenty six weeks, the babies should be a lot of fun to see and watch move. I just can't believe how fast things are moving along! We are down to 11 weeks maximum before they are delivered and it just doesn't seem like it could be time already! Even though the nursery is set up and the final steps are coming together, it just feels like we haven't done enough to be able to become parents. Almost like there should be classes you should have to complete or something. It's strange...I just can't wrap my mind around it yet. Please continue to keep us in prayer, specifically that Jeremy and I would continue seek the Lord as we prepare to become parents, that I would remain healthy and on my feet (no bed rest)for the duration, and that the babies would continue to grow and thrive and not come out until they are good and ready to.

Other than that, life is pretty much the same for Jeremy and I. Work is going very well for Jer and I am enjoying my short time of "rest" before the ninos arrive. We are just so blessed and grateful for where the Lord has us and for what he has done in our lives. We deserve nothing and yet He provides so abundantly. All praise be to HIM!

A safe and happy New Year to all! Love from the Sloans!

We Got Elfed!

Thanks to the Bambergs, we got elfed! Check us out~Elf

The Nursery

Check out the nursery photos!!! They are under the tab "Les Bebes" just scroll to the right of the ultrasound pictures.

One Crazy Week

So, it's been about a week since I left my last blog...I know, I know...my computer comes tomorrow! Finally!!! But in all fairness, it's been a crazy week too. This last week was my cookie exchange, Jeremy's two Christmas parties, tree decorating at his parents and the worst part of the week, I got the flu. Boo! It's wild how fast December is already flying by! This weekend Jeremy and I were doing some Christmas shopping and one store had a sign hanging that said "10 days left until Christmas." Talk about panic! How is it that this time of year seems to sneak up on us every time?!?! Thankfully almost all of our Christmas shopping is done. So the next week before Christmas should be enjoyable and not filled with the chaos of last minute rushing.

The Cookie Exchange

Tomorrow's the cookie exchange! Yeah! Here's a few pictures from last year's for comparison...I will try to get this year's party pictures up on Wednesday! Nothing says Christmas quite like 2400 cookies!

The BIG kick!

So for a couple of weeks I have been desperately trying to get Jeremy to feel when the babies kick and/or punch. My efforts have been fruitless however, because every time I feel movement it conveniently goes away as soon as Jer puts his hand on my stomach. Of course! Well, yesterday he finally got to feel a thump! It was great! We were laying on the fat sack and then BAM! Large as life, someone socked it to me. It's strange to think that they are getting big enough to really be able to feel them from the outside. Let the games begin!

The babies have been moving SO much lately~it seems like especially at night. I'm not sure why this is but I hope it's not an indicator of how things will be when they are born. We have another doctors appointment this Thursday too. This is our last "monthly" appointment. After this one, we go to two a month until I hit 30 weeks. Then it's once a week. I can't believe how quickly things are moving! I truly thought things would drag by but we're just zipping along. I'm sure things will slow down after Christmas, but then we'll be down to 10 weeks until the birth! AGHHHHH!!

Random Pics

So handsome!

The boys watching Jer set up the cribs

Our tree

Our tree

Thanksgiving snow

A Sneak Peak...

Here are some pictures of the finished paintings in the nursery...

We're still here!

If you're a regular follower of our website, you're probably wondering what in the world has been going on with us! It seems like it's been forever since I've left a blog and even though many of you have requested some, we still don't have any pictures up of our "in process" nursery. Well...all I can say is that life has been even busier (if you can believe it!) now that I am no longer working. I guess my mind knows I only have so much longer to finish all of my to-do lists before these little ones arrive. In addition to being busy, I have also not had a computer at home to use. We gave our desktop away since the office is now a nursery and I am ANXIOUSLY awaiting the arrival of my new lap top! Yeah! So please continue to bear with us...I promise we'll get back on track!

In the meantime...here's a quick update of what's been going on in Sloansburg...

The babies are doing great, just growing everday! If you're wondering how I know they are growing, it's because my stomach feels like my muscles are going to give out at any second any my skin is going to tear open. (Nice visual, huh?!?) I am still in absolute amazement at this growth! I'm averaging about an inch a week and some of my maternity clothes are starting to not fit anymore! Ha! I'm not going to lie, it's been a little frustrasting just because it's been so much to adjust to so quickly. There wasn't really time to ease into this belly...it just kind of popped up. I know, I know, there's two babies in there but still! An inch a week! Yikes! However, there's no question in anyones mind that I am indeed pregnant~I felt myself light up the other day when someone asked me when my baby was due. That's the first time a stranger has asked me about my pregnancy. I guess the way my belly looks, it puts me in the "safe zone" for conversations with strangers. They no longer have that questionable, fat or pregnant hesitation. I am now fair game.
Jer and I have been working round the clock on the nursery, as well as on a variety of other household tasks. Hopefully we can get some pictures up by the end of this week. It's really coming along nicely. We had the mural lady here this last week and she did a FABULOUS job! I can't wait to see it all together!

Work is going really well for Jeremy. This is normally a really slow time for him for some reason they are busy, busy! He loves it though, and he has a great group of guys that he works with!

I'm sure there are a million other things that I could write about but for lack of time and desire, this is where I will end~Until next time...

Appointment Update

So hopefully you all have had a chance to check out some of the newest ultrasounds pictures from our appointment last Thursday! If not, make sure you go to the home page and click on "Les Bebes." Anyway, our appointment went wonderfully and mother and babies checked out in tip top shape! Praise God! We started out with an hour long ultrsound that seemed to last five minutes. It was just so amazing to be able to see our babies! Our poor ultrasound tech, Darcy, kept trying to concentrate on their hearts and brains, and all Jeremy and I wanted to do was see them move and watch their hands, feet and faces! I'm sure she's used to it and was very patient with us and all of our questions. I also had my guesses confirmed that the baby that seems to do flip flops in my stomach all day is in fact baby B. (For the record~this is the baby that I believe to be a little boy too!) Because of their positioning, baby A is attached towards the back of my uterus and baby B is attached in front, I really am only feeling one move the majority of the time. This won't be the case for long though! Especially as they get bigger. Based on their size, Darcy told us that baby A is weighing in at 10 oz. and baby B is weighing in at 11 oz. Think about that the next time you open a can of coke! They're over 10 inches long each (head to foot) too. It is just so amazing how God created life! We start out no bigger than one cell and then nine months later! Boom! A full grown baby! It's just such an amazing thing!

My appointment went well too! To date, I've gained 17 lbs (which is right on with where I should be with twins). They say you should gain 24 lbs by 24 weeks. My blood pressure and heart rate were great and my Graves Disease is doing outstanding. I am not considered "high risk" either. Which is very, very good! I also found out that my Fundal Height is 28 cm!! That means, even though I am 19 weeks along, my belly is measuring as if I was 28 weeks along (7 months people!!)! Right now I am the size of what I would be with one baby at seven months! Good grief! When I asked Dr. Okun how big she thought I would get, she just smiled and said "Huge!!" Thanks for the reassurance doc...

All in all, things are going great! I absolutely LOVE being pregnant and consider it such a blessing from God even when things aren't as easy as they used to be. Please keep me in prayer that I would maintain a thankful attitude and treasure each moment as much as possible. Please keep our little family in prayer too! Although we are past the critical months of developement and such, we are getting ready to enter a time where my body could say "okay, let's have these babies." While we know God is sovereign and we trust in His Will for our lives, it is still our prayer that I could carry these babies to a place where they can be born healthy and without any time in the NICU. Only 16 more weeks to go!

Les Bebes

The babies are up on the site under a new page called Les Bebes. Please check here to see their ultrasound pictures, and check back for more in the future!

J$

The BIG Ultrasound!

Well folks, today is the big day~Okay, maybe not the "Big" day, as in labor, but I think it runs a close second! Jeremy and I are headed back to the doc for our 19 week ultrasound. Today is the day when they measure each baby's everything! Head, organs, bones and yes this is the appointment where if you were finding out the sexes they would tell you! Much to the dismay of our family and friends, we are still holding strong in not finding out. Sorry mom! But we think it will be that much sweeter when they finally do arrive! Be sure to check back tomorrow for my 19 week picture and hopefully the DVD recording of the babies ultasounds~Until then...love to you all!

5 Days and Counting...

It's hard to believe, but in five days I am done with work! I absolutely cannot believe it!

HOW TO LEAVE A COMMENT!!!

Okay, so several of you have mentioned to myself or Jeremy that you are not sure how to post a comment to our blogs. Rather than tell you all individually, I thought I would just post the directions.

1. Click on the blue "Comment" link located at the bottom of the blog that you would like to leave a comment for.
2. Press "ok" if a security alert box pops up.
3. Type your response in the "Leave a Comment" box.
4. Type in the letters that you see in the letter verification box.
5. Click "other" in the "Choose an identity" section.
6. Type in your name. Leave the web page blank.
7. Press "Publish your comment"
8. Done!

We look forward to hearing from you all!

The Beginning of the Nursery!

Finally, our catch all room has a purpose! It's going to be the nursery! This weekend my mom helped me paint our computer/spare bedroom in preparation for it's upcoming residents. For some reason, the brown color just didn't seem to scream nursery. The room now has a very soft green glow and even lighter blue ceiling. It's kind of hard to tell what the colors are from the pictures but hopefully I will get some better ones put up soon.

Before


Before


After


After

Deuce and Boomer

My handsome boy, Boomer, waiting for Jeremy to throw the stick.
So cute!

Deuce trying to go up the playground steps with Jer.

Going down the slide, his favorite thing to do at the park!

On our way home!

Why we love our street in the fall...

Grow Babies, Grow!

Every week Jeremy and I receive an email update on the pregnancy and how and where the babies are at in terms of growth. Well, it's become quite hilarious because the best way this website knows how to describe our precious cargo is by comparing them to produce. The following items are what they've described the twins as:

• Grapes-9 weeks
• Kumquats-10 weeks
• Figs-11 weeks
• Limes-12 weeks
• Jumbo shrimp-13 weeks
• Lemons-14 weeks
• Apples-15 weeks
• Avocados-16 weeks
• Turnips-17 weeks
• Bell peppers-18 weeks

All I can say is a trip to the produce isle at the store will never be the same...

It's a party in my stomach!

So the babies are really moving around a lot. It's become quite comical and yet a it's still a little erie. I still haven't been able to quite grasp that there's one, let alone two babies in there but the more I feel them moving...the more I'm becoming a believer. Throughout the day they send me little reminders that they're hanging out. Sometimes it's when I'm lying on the couch and other times it's when I'm eating or just talking to someone. The best has to be when I first wake up though. They are both usually right out in front and as soon as I wake up I know exactly where they are at. It looks and feels almost as if I swallowed two softballs. It's pretty funny when they are both on the same side too. My belly looks so lopsided! I still haven't been able to tell who's "A" and who's "B" but the doc said that will come with time and as they get bigger and there's less space to move around. Nothing on earth can quite explain what it feels like to have two babies moving around though. Well...except maybe a round of Knock Em Sock Em Boppers inside your stomach.

Talk about a whole new ballpark!!

So Jeremy and I had the amazing opportunity to attend game 5 of the World Series in Denver next Monday with my mom and Mark provided that we could cough up the dough for the tickets. Normally, we would have jumped at the opportunity given Jeremy's relentless love for the Red Sox. HOWEVER, this time was different...this time we had "other" things to consider. First of all, we had to consider the $230.00 per person ticket price. Second, we would have to arrange some sort of transportation requiring more $$. Third, we would have both had to take two days from work unpaid (thanks to our Euro trip earlier this year). All other things aside though, we had to consider that we could go to Denver or buy all of the furniture for the babies room! Does that not put some things in perspective?!?! It seems so surreal that we are at the point where we had to ask ourselves "World Series or baby furniture?" Our answer and decision are with joy and thankfulness though. The Lord has blessed us abundantly and I wouldn't trade our situation for a lifetime of World Series games.

Dion's today!

Yeah for Tuesday lunch! Chef salad, garlic bread and lunch with the girls. Dion's...yum!

Update

So we had our appointment on Thursday, unfortunatly I haven't felt much like updating you all because of a bad headache that I have had. Thankfully, I am feeling MUCH better now. Anyway, last Thursday was a very exciting day...we didn't have an ultrasound but we did get to hear the babies heartbeats at least. It was the first time we've actually gotten to hear them! It was kind of funny because it sounded very little like a beating heart and more like a distorted version of a dog barking. While the nurse was listening to the first (144 beats per minute) Jeremy asked if we would be able to hear both babies at the same time, she just laughed like we were joking! After we informed her we were not, she tried looking for the second but had a hard time because baby B just kept moving. Finally, success, and we heard the second baby's heart (138 beats per minute). It was a glorious sound~

At this appointment, the doctor also set us up for our big ultasound on November 15th. It's the one where they measure the heads, legs, organs and whatever else they do. We are very excited but a little nervouse that the ultrasound tech might spill the beans on the sexes of the babies! There's just so many body parts floating around in there, who knows what might pop up on the screen! I will be 19 weeks at that appointment. Yikes! Where is the time going!!

I am also very excited to report that I've been feeling movement! At first I just thought I was a weird muscle spasm or something but after feeling it for the last week I'm pretty convinced that it's the babies boxing for space :)

Doctor's Appointment today!

Today we have another doctor's appointment. I am so anxious and excited to see these little guys or gals again. It's been five weeks since our last appointment and the babies have grown significantly. They are approximately five inches, crown to rump, and are looking more like babies and less like bobble head dolls. I just can't believe that there are two little lives growing inside of me. It's weird, I thought I would feel differently once I found out I was pregnant. It just hasn't happened though. I feel exactly the same, just with a bigger belly. Everyone keeps telling me, "just wait until they start moving." I'm sure that will change a lot. To be honest, that is the part I am looking forward to the most. It's something unique that only a mother and a baby can share. I pray the time comes soon.

Hopefully, we will have some ultrasound pictures to put up this afternoon but for sure, my fifteen week photo will be up tonight. I will let you all know how the appointment goes too. Until then...

Congratulations Brent and Lorena!

So recently I learned that one of my best friends, Lorena, is going to have a baby! She is about 7 1/2 weeks along and absolutely ecstatic! Brent and Lorena live in Italy and are the friends that we had the awesome opportunity of visiting earlier this year. Anyway, we are very happy for them and unlike everybody else, hope they don't move back (at least not yet!) We need another reason to visit them~Ha! Somehow, I don't think Florence and Venice would be quite the same with three bambinos!

Preparation for parenthood...

Preparation for parenthood...

It's not just a matter of reading books and decorating the nursery. Here are 12 simple tests for expectant parents to take to prepare themselves for the real-life experience of being a mother or father.
1. Women: To prepare for maternity, put on a dressing gown and stick a pillowcase filled with beans down the front. Leave it there for 9 months. After 9 months, take out 10% of the beans. Men: To prepare for paternity, go to the local drug store, tip the contents of your wallet on the counter, and tell the pharmacist to help himself. Then go to the supermarket. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office. Go home. Pick up the paper. Read it for the last time.

2. Before you finally go ahead and have children, find a couple who are already parents and berate them about their methods of discipline, lack of patience, appallingly low tolerance levels, and how they have allowed their children to run wild. Suggest ways in which they might improve their child's sleeping habits, toilet training, table manners, and overall behavior. Enjoy it -- it'll be the last time in your life that you will have all the answers.

3. To discover how the nights will feel, walk around the living room from 5 pm to 10 pm carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 8-12 pounds, with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious noise) playing loudly. At 10 pm, put the bag down, set the alarm for midnight, and go to sleep. Get up at 12 and walk around the living room again, with the bag, until 1 am. Put the alarm on for 3 am. As you can't get back to sleep, get up at 2 am and make a drink. Go to bed at 2:45 am. Get up again at 3 am when the alarm goes off. Sing songs in the dark until 4 am. Put the alarm on for 5 am. Get up. Make breakfast. Keep this up for 5 years. Look cheerful.

4. Can you stand the mess children make? To find out, first smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains. Hide a piece of raw chicken behind the stereo and leave it there all summer. Stick your fingers in the flower beds, then rub them on the clean walls. Cover the stains with crayons. How does that look?

5. Dressing small children is not as easy as it seems: first buy an octopus and a bag made out of loose mesh. Attempt to put the octopus into the bag so that none of the arms hang out. Time allowed for this: all morning.

6. Take an egg carton, using a pair of scissors and a pot of paint, turn it into an alligator. Now take the tube from a roll of toilet paper. Using only Scotch tape and a piece of foil, turn it into an attractive Christmas candle. Last, take a milk carton, a ping pong ball, and an empty packet of Cocoa Pops and make an exact replica of the Eiffel Tower. Congratulations! You have just qualified for a place on the play group committee.

7. Forget the BMW and buy a mini-van. And don't think that you can leave it out in the driveway spotless and shining. Family cars don't look like that. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment. Leave it there. Get a dime. Stick it in the cd player. Take a family-size package of chocolate cookies. Mash them into the back seats. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car. There. Perfect.

8. Get ready to go out. Wait outside the bathroom for half an hour. Go out the front door. Come in again. Go out. Come back in. Go out again. Walk down the front path. Walk back up it. Walk down it again. Walk very slowly down the road for 5 minutes. Stop to inspect minutely every piece of used chewing gum, dirty tissue, and dead insect along the way. Retrace your steps. Scream that you've had as much as you can stand until the neighbors come out and stare at you. Give up and go back into the house. You are now just about ready to try taking a small child for a walk.

9. Always repeat everything you say at least five times.

10. Go to your local supermarket. Take with you the nearest thing you can find to a preschool child -- a fully-grown goat is excellent. If you intend to have more than one child, take more than one goat. Buy your week's groceries without letting the goats out of your sight. Pay for everything the goats eat or destroy. Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.

11. Hollow out a melon. Make a small hole in the side. Suspend it from the ceiling and swing it from side to side. Now get a bowl of soggy Cheerios and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon by pretending to be an airplane. Continue until half the Cheerios are gone. Tip the rest into your lap, making sure a lot of it falls on the floor. You are now ready to feed a 12-month-old baby.

12. Learn the names of every character from Thomas the Train, Dora the Explorer, and Wonder Pets. When you find yourself singing "Wonder Pets, Wonder Pets, We're on our way" at work, you finally qualify as a parent.

This was recently sent to us by a friend of ours. I thought I would post it for all of you who already have kiddos. By the way, does anyone know where we can get a couple of goats?!?!

We're still here...

So I looked at the calendar today and couldn't believe it's already October 8th!!! Almost two two weeks since our last blog or update to the site! The time has truly flown by. Here's an update on what's been going on in the Sloan household that's kept us so busy.

• I recently celebrated my 25th birthday (September 25th). Yes folks, half a century, as I've been reminded over and over by my loved ones. It's okay though. 25 is a good solid age. It was a good week all in all. We ended up having dinner with my dad, Vicky, Court, Drew, David and his girlfriend, Laura, at the Melting Pot on my actual birthday. Aside from David's contempt for food that does not begin with Taco or end in Bell, it was a nice night. Jeremy and I went out later in the week for dinner just the two of us. I searched all over town for Mussels and linguine only to find that there is not one restaurant in town that serves what I was looking for besides Luigi's on fourth street. It looked a little...uh....questionable and so I opted out considering that this would not be the most convienient time for food poisioning. So we went to Bravo and I managed to talk our waiter into having the chef whip up my birthday meal. After he found out I was pregnant, he was willing to do whatever! He said his pregnant wife had him at Wal-Mart at 8:30 the night before searching for Hebrew National Hot Dogs. He totally understood.
• Jeremy's sister, Staci, and her fiance August tied the knot! (September 29th) It was a fun week cooking and decorating and gearing up for the big day. This was the fourth, and final, wedding that I was a bridesmaid in. Jeremy did the music for the ceremony. We are happy that all these lovely couples are wed, but man are we more happy that this season of family weddings has come to a close. Let's just hope that they space their babies out a bit more.
• We've decided to finally redo our laundry room. It was a nightmare of a space beforehand with these itty bitty shelves that were installed like 30 years ago. Totally non-usable unless your storing baby food jars of nuts and bolts (Dad~You would love it!). Anyway, everytime I try to dig out some kitchen item that is infrequently used, I swear I am going to get this project done so I can have a better way of organizing things. Well Jeremy finally took me up on it. We demoed, spackeled, textured, painted and BAM! It's a new room! Our new washer and dryer are stackable too so with a little help from our friend Brandon (the dryer was WAY over my ten pound limit) we have an appliance high rise! It's really coming along. Our last step is just figuring out our shelving units. Lowe's has four isles of all kinds of organizing magic that was just way too huge for this hungry lady to shop through after church yesterday. We'll probably try our luck tonight or tomorrow.
• We have also been spending our nights shopping for cribs and bedding. It's a tough decision. We are challenged between what we want versus what is practical and affordable considering there are two of everything to buy. It's funny how you can get wrapped up in the tiny details of how you want the room to look and the babies won't know a bit of difference!! Nevertheless, we are going to have to come to a conclusion real soon because our window of opportunity is slowing closing. :)

Life is great! We are so blessed and thankful to God who is the giver of all things good. I apologize for not being as good at keeping you all updated but please know that we haven't forgotten you. We love each of you and hope that you are well. Keep checking back as I have been told that the master of the pictures will be adding my last two belly shots tonight.

The Coke Plant

So this is my "Coke" plant. It sits in my office and has for almost two years. I don't like to take it all the way downstairs to water it, so for the past year and nine months, I've simply poured the remanants of whatever soda I'm drinking into it. Back in my Diet Dr. Pepper Big Gulp days (yum!) it would even sometimes get the leftover ice. Others have doubted my methods, but my plant has flourised and even flowers regularily. However, since I am now what Aunt Debbie likes to refer to as "Two-in-Tow" and am no longer drinking caffeine, I have just been giving my plant what plants around the globe have been surviving on for years...plain ol' H2O. Well, the plant doesn't like it. In fact, I think it's given up it's will to live (or it's just in severe caffeine withdrawl). Regardless, if I have to start buying coke to keep this plant alive, I think it will go in the trash. I'm sure somewhere, in some book, there's someone advising someone like me not to have children...

Babies!

And I thought I had my hands full!!!

The babies first gifts!

We received these onesies a couple weeks ago from cousins, Chris, Rachel and Reilly, who live in Florida. When Chris and Rachel found out they were going to have a baby, Jeremy and I couldn't resist sending a Lobo's onesie in honor of dad, the alumni. What we found out later is that we were the first one's to buy them a gift! We had even beaten the grandparents! So, while in town for Jessica and Nolan's wedding, they returned the gesture. They too are now the first one's to buy us a gift. What can be more perfect than an outfit from Dr. Suessland?!?! I can't wait to see our little one's in them. Thanks again Chris and Rachel!

Testing...Testing....

Just trying to see if I could get a picture to post...

Colorado, here we come!

This weekend Jeremy and I are headed up to the great state of Colorado to visit my mom and also so I can attend my counsin Ashley's Bachelorette Party. It's always nice to be able to visit my family but it seems like we don't get to do it as often as we would like. The drive isn't too bad, about seven hours from my house to my mom's. It's just finding a weekend where Jer isn't playing worship, I don't have a luncheon for the church, or some other function isn't going on. Our lives are so busy! I guess it just makes it that much more wonderful when a weekend does come available and we can hop in the car and take off.

We have our third ultrasound scheduled for this Friday too! My mom has the hook up at the hospital that she works for and scheduled us for an ultrasound with one of her co-workers who is an ultrasound technician. The lengths that a grandma will go to.

Dichorinoic-Diamniotic twins?!? Wait..what?!?!

I had my first appointment with the doctor yesterday and it went wonderfully! The practice that I'm going to is the Women's Specialists of new Mexico and is an entirely female based practice. Everyone, from receptionist to doctor is female. I was ecstatic, Jeremy was a bit out of his element. Poor guy. On a good note though, the lady at the front desk told him she would try to order some ESPN magazines before our next visit. I guess she noticed his disdain for the editions of Family Circle and Kidology that seemed to saturate the place.

We also had our second ultrasound yesterday. This is the second of many and I just feel so spoiled to be able to have all these "sneak peeks." Other than a rapidly expanding waistline, I don't have much to go off of that they are still in there. I guess the maternal worry gene has already kicked in. Dr. Okun took mercy on us though and scheduled an in office ultrasound to help ease some of the concern. It was even more amazing than the last time because they are so much bigger! Plus, they actually have arms and legs now so they are starting to look less like peanuts and more like babies. Always a good thing. We also found out from the ultrasound that the babies are dichorionic-diamniotic twins. If you're like us, you're probably thinking "Wait...what?!?" Well, here's the lowdown. DD twins may be identical or fraternal. ALL fraternal twins are dd but not all dd twins are fraternal. Confused yet? Yeah us too. Let's try it again though. All fraternal twins have their own amniotic sac (hence diamniotic-two sacs) and also have two chorions, or the outside lining to the amniotic sac, (hence dichoronic-two chorions). So, if you have frats, they must be DD. However, identical are tricky. Since it's one egg that splits, the babies can be monoamniotic-monochoronic (one sac and one chorion), or they can be dd. Make sense now? So, a long story short, we still don't know if they are fraternal or identical. Since our intent is to not find out the sexes either, we will probably have to wait until their good ole' B-Day to know the truth. Here's our odds if the babies are fraternal though, 50% Boy/Girl, 25% Boy/Boy, 25% Girl/Girl.

Jeremy gets back from hunting on Sunday and hopefully he will get the ultrasound pictures up as well as my week ten picture. Until then...

The First Lady

Check this out...

In trying to gain some knowledge of what the future holds , I did a little searching on the internet for belly shots of full term twins. The best I could do was pictures at 36 weeks. The photos of the first lady actually rendered Jeremy speechless. If you're brave enough, check out these shots. Those poor, poor women!!

The first bet!

Our first bet is in:
Courtney said...
Fraternal! Seeing as to how I knew you were having twins before the fact of the matter, I reserve the right to guess that you will be having a bouncing baby boy and a beautiful baby girl :) However, I would be happy if they were identical sloan clones.

To her credit Courtney did in fact call that we were having twins the morning that we found out. However, she and Drew also have commented that we might have one average size child and one little person, like on Jeremy's "FAVORITE" show Little People, Big World. HA!

Three down...one to go!

Well, our third wedding went down this last weekend. We are still breathing...but barely. I should know by now that I don't function well with stress and lack of sleep (isn't this going to make for fun parenting) however, I just assumed that being pregnant with twins gave me superpowers or something and so I could totally handle it. Totally WRONG! Needless to say, I ended up with a migraine and in the emergency room at 3:30am on Sunday morning (perfect practice for Jer). It's a little strange this thing called pregnancy...you see it's no longer safe to eat yummy cheeses like Gouda or Bre' and it's definitely not safe to drink any vino or take ibuprofen, but the doc's don't even blink twice at morphine!!!!! They shot me up so quick it would make a junkie's head spin! Who would have thought! Yummy cheese=bad, Morphine=good. Strange. I guess I'll take it how I can get it. Lord just help us through these next three weeks.

On a more exciting note, we get our second ultrasound in two weeks. Hopefully this time, the doc will print some pictures so we have something to show everyone. The babies are about the size of grapes right now :) but in two weeks they will be about the size of a strawberry (2-2 1/2 inches) long. Exciting!! We should know then if the babies are identical or fraternal. Any friendly bets?

The lowest valleys join to the highest mountains

It's hard to believe, but in a few short months I won't be working anymore! It wasn't too long ago that I was applying to go back to school to get my teaching certificate and now we're shopping for cribs : ) Talk about a 180 degree turn!

This afternoon while I was thinking of all the changes that have and will take place, I was reminded of Ecclesiastes 3:1 "There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven. "

We live in a world of changes and it's easy to see that there is a constant ebb and flow from one extreme to the other. I can't think of one person that wouldn't argue that our lives aren't constantly being altered, and not always seemingly for the good. However, I am reassured by the one thing that is always good and always remains the same...God. All of the changes and events in our lives are determined by God. As difficult as a situation may or may not be, we are to simply take things as they come. It is not in our power to change what is appointed for us. Rather, we are called only to humbly depend upon God and His providence.

Over the last 16 months, I have had a practical lesson on what true reliance on God and His will really means . It was only when I reached the hard conclusion that nothing I could do or say would change our ability to have children that I truly realized what a incredibly tough principle this is to apply in my life and how I was lacking in it. At that valley, I FINALLY understood that the only thing I could do was to continue to hope and rely on God and serve Him as I am called to do. So I prayed. I prayed and prayed and prayed. While I didn't know how my prayers would be answered, I did know that they would be answered. Now, here I am. Preparing for the arrival of two babies, overjoyed, overwhelmed, but incredibly thankful to God and incredibly humbled by these blessings in my and Jeremy's life. God is just as good even if we were never able to conceive and His gift of eternal life is more than any of us deserve. However, just as there will always be times of sorrow, there will also be times of prosperity. May we never place our security in these times though because who can say that tomorrow will be as this day? Instead, may we all trust in the Lord and continue to hope in the promises that He gives. And who knows, sometimes the lowest valleys that the Lord leads us through join to the highest mountains.

The First Lady

We're having a baby...or two!

Well folks,

As you all well know, my wife Sarah and I have been trying to conceive a child for what seems like an eternity. After many months of "temping", stressing, and praying, God has decided in all his wisdom and grace to bless us with not only one, but two children! We are a little intimidated; a little scared, but very grateful.

Thanks to everyone who has contributed to our cause through prayer, cards, kind words, etc. We are endeared to each one of you and really do appreciate your support.

Please be sure to check the site for updated pics of Sarah's progress!

Thanks again and God Bless!
Jeremy aka J-Money
Mayor of Sloansburg