{twin} Pregnancy thus Far

I haven't been very good at keeping track of how pregnancy is going in writing. So instead, I'll write one long post with pretty much all the bump pictures I've taken (which actually isn't as many as I wanted) ... so I remember. Journey with me back to last August... back to the beginning. :)

August 11, 2013 - we found out we were 5 weeks pregnant!

We kept it hush hush for awhile as we slowly let people in on our secret.

Within about four days of finding out we were pregnant, all the way to almost week 16, I was so sick. Nausea and vomiting all the way. So not many pictures were taken during that time, since my time was spent making it through work, and then resting until I had to go back to work. Which was extra challenging, since my work didn't know I was pregnant!

Cravings? Nothing too crazy... Just a Wendy's junior bacon cheeseburger and chocolate Frosty. :) So thankful to my mom, sis, and J who brought me this meal countless times when nothing else would work. 

Besides that? String cheese. And crackers until I couldn't stand saltines anymore.

What did I hate? apples.

We did have excitement around week 13 when we went in for our first ultrasound and our baby got her first picture taken. At this point, we only knew about one baby. And we have the picture to prove it. Where baby B was hiding, we still don't know. We were so excited to hear and see her heartbeat (we also didn't know she was a she at this point... in fact, John was set on the fact that it was definitely a boy. And I was pretty sure too).

Week 14 (October 2013) - thinking I was over being sick by this point, I planned a trip up to Seattle and Oregon for the two of us. Turns out, I was still sick. But we managed some special memories and laughs in the midst of it. :)

Week 16 - beginning of November. Starting to have a tiny bump. Now everyone (minus facebook) knew we were pregnant and I was happy since I finally had a couple days of no nausea. We had a doctor's appointment this week and baby is doing fine! (still just one...) We also moved this week from our sweet first owned condo into a house we are renting. Thank goodness I had slightly more energy for that. Although, we hired movers... I will always hire movers when moving! Worth every penny!

19 weeks - in our new home. So thankful to be feeling better still! Minus being tired. Still waiting for the official 'first movement' from baby.

Almost 20 weeks (half way!) - first bump picture I posted. This week was Thanksgiving, and I had a one-of-a-kind perfect spa day with Mom and Carly (Mom's treat!) complete with my first pregnancy massage and a mani-pedi, and yummy snacks/drinks/food. Our big ultrasound is next week!!!

We had a few Christmas/maternity photos taken by my college friend, the lovely Desiree Fortin of Shutter and Spice Photography two days before our ultrasound. We even snapped a couple photos for a gender reveal. ha! That didn't really work!

And then, we found out for sure we were having a GIRL... but not just one... TWO!

That was sure fun to tell our families!!! And friends, and work girls, and and and!

21+4 weeks - Grandma's birthday tea time with the ladies (I'm attempting to show the bump, which you couldn't see in the pic with Grandma :)) ... and lots of 'oh my goodness TWIN GIRLS!' talk! And I finally felt one of them move this week! J helped me by feeling what was like a twitch at the same time I felt it. SO exciting. I had been waiting to feel them!

24 weeks - Christmas Day with my beautiful sister (she is ecstatic to be an auntie!)

25 weeks - between Christmas and New Year's

26 weeks - January 7, 2014

We had a follow-up ultrasound last week and the girls are looking great! Fun thing about twins is because they are considered 'high-risk', we get more ultrasounds to check on them/watch them! 

(ps: Brinkley is the sweetest funniest dog!)

and today... 27+3 weeks (did they just pop out or what?!)

Other than getting really sick this week with some crazy flu/cold/bronchitis combo, I've been feeling pretty great this trimester. They are both moving more and more each day. Little A is on the right and Little B is on the left. I've been praying for them lots and trying to keep a little journal (although two journals is hard!). 

I'm SO thankful for these two precious gifts God is blessing us with. J and I (and our fams) can't be more excited to meet them and hold them and love them! Our babies!

So...yeah

So much going on and so much to talk about! But some things will have to wait just a little longer for the blog...

I stillllll haven't finished documenting our Italy trip. I'm sure my sister thinks I forgot. I didn't. 

J got a new job! Da, da DA! He is now my rockstar Network Analyst at San Diego State University. So we are becoming Aztec fans by default. He is so happy to work for great people and a larger university and I am so happy he is happy!

J and I just got back (last week) from a little trip to Seattle, Portland and Roseburg, Oregon to see our besties. We always love Oregon, the Ritters are our faves, and Pike Place Market is sure a fun place to explore.

Every time we visit Oregon, we say we want to move there tomorrow. It's so stinking beautiful up there! But this time, along with the 'it's so amazing here' thoughts, we also felt a new sense of peace and contentment with our lives in San Diego, and are incredibly thankful for where we are at. We don't have plans to move to Oregon for quite awhile, if ever. We've decided will love our home city we are blessed to live in, give thanks that our family is so close (S and V, move here darn it), and make Oregon the family vacation spot.

Fall is here, which might be my favorite season. Well, I love winter, and Spring is pretty nice. Just not summer in El Cajon. Ugh. the heat is not my friend. But there's something about the anticipation of the upcoming holidays and change of seasons (even though it's still 86 degrees outside here) that makes my heart happy. I've failed at bringing out my fall decor this year, which I'm bummed about. But we did get two little pumpkins and I have a harvest sign that are happily sitting on our mantle and my desk. I also have yet to make anything pumpkin related, while last year I had pumpkin bread and cupcakes and muffins and cookies and pancakes going by now. Some years it just doesn't work out. But that's ok with me.

We did make a trip to Target and visited the fall Halloween section, which is not our favorite section by any means. (seriously, when did October turn into skulls and goblins month? what happened to harvest time and preparing for a heart of thankfulness?) But we did get quite a kick out of the gigantic skull heads larger than J. It was his idea to document it. 

I love my husband.

I'm sick as a dog (where in the world did that phrase come from?? It doesn't even make sense, my dogs aren't sick...) with most symptoms you can imagine, including crazy allergies, which is making looking at this computer screen a tad tricky. When I feel better, I'll upload my pics from our trip and also the rest of Italy (it was only 6 months ago...). 

Life feels crazy...doesn't it always?...but good. I'm feeling extra thankful this morning and that's a good thing. 

Lord, make my heart thankful every morning.

3-Day for the Cure: Day One

For months we prepared. 

Mentally. Physically. Monetarily. Emotionally. Spiritually. Relationally.

And finally, the day was here. 

Friday, November 18, 2011.

How best to explain the 3-day?

In pictures... 

with a few words scattered throughout [because, really, you have to hear a few stories!]

[disclaimer: most of these pictures were taken while we were actively walking... 

therefore, these are not my best work. 

and yet, i feel they still capture the essence of the experience :)]

Checking in and dropping off our bags at 5:30am Friday. Thank you Steve for taking us so early in the morning!! They were so organized and we had a letter-number combo on our little tags that told us where to put our luggage and where our tent would be later that day.

 We're here!

 Our motto.

 My buddy and me at the opening ceremony. We're really gonna do this!!

 Part of the opening ceremony... the survivor circle.

The flag in the middle has the names of those who have passed that are close to the 2011 walkers.

Both Mom and I wrote names on there.

 And we're off.... AHHHHHH!!!!

 3 miles in... pit stop one in Del Mar. That wasn't so bad!

 Around mile 5... our first official police friend. The police ROCKED.

 Leaving pit stop 2 and headed up Torrey Pines... about mile 6.

 Mom's best friend Saranne tracked us down around mile 10 and was our first personal cheerleader! 

It was so encouraging to see a familiar face and meant so much to have her there.

 Mile 12... lunch at La Jolla Shores! Lunch was fun. :)

Although, Mom and I had this thing where we would get to the stops and there would be tons of people... and by the time we were ready to go everyone had already left. This was the case at lunch. The rest of day one was a bit of playing catch-the-group and so 

 La Jolla in the afternoon. God continually reminded me of His faithfulness.

 From La Jolla to Bird Rock to Pacific Beach...

Just a few of the vehicles from the incredible team of police, fire rescue, bikers, and others who volunteered their time throughout the entire walk. From here, it was just a walking path to camp.

 Heading all the way down Mission Bay to Crown Point - the last miles of the day.

What a truly beautiful city to walk through.

[notice how few walkers there are compared to earlier? we sorta ended up close to the end... unintentionally...]

 We made it to camp! 

Day one [officially 21.5 miles]: complete!

 We got to camp right as the route was about to close (5:15pm), so it was dark. 

[most others had been at camp for a couple hours and were all settled in already]

We still had to get our tent, find our tent site, set up our tent, shower, eat dinner, change/unpack and get set up, and get to the evening entertainment... in one hour.

Therefore we didn't take many pictures.

However, praise God for the YMCA kids who volunteered to set up our tent for us!!!

 Finally showered, fed, and a bit more settled for the evening.

My twin/best pal/mom and me in our matching jammies.

[btw... we totally didn't need the scarves... but we brought them, so we wanted to wear them]

After the mishap of the air mattress [aka Jordanna pumped it up, pump died, Jordanna plugged air plug while we charged pump, came back to find the plug had come off and Jordanna had deflated the whole thing by laying across it before realizing such. battery lasted 5 min more... we needed 25 minutes. therefore: night one -- deflated air mattress]

[to take it further... this is happening at about 9-9:30pm... everyone around us is sound asleep. We quickly learned we could be playing catch up for a bit ... so is life for us! this is not complaining though... just to try to give you a glimpse of the day in our eyes. We had a great day!]

And then it was off to sleep for a sound solid 8 hours...

did I say that?

I meant,

an hour on the rough ground... tossing... turning... an hour here... what time is it, not time yet...

Nevertheless, it was a night to remember. In the best way possible. :-)

Only 40 miles to go...

Weekend Recap

Although my J had to work much of the weekend,

there were still many joys to come out of these last couple days.

trip to the gym
yummy steak dinner and puppy play time at my parents' house

late night starbucks run

a little blogging {no more trip blogging, i promise... until next time ;)}

staying up late and sleeping in

meeting sweet new neighbors

celebrating kristina's twins in her tummy with the ladies in my condo complex

two eight-month-old girls playing

sunshine, sunshine, and more sunshine

sweet texts from friends

italian on the town with my baby

redbox movie night complete with popcorn, red licorice, and sno caps

hugs from good friends i haven't seen in awhile

conversations about marriage

cleaning off a few countertops

michaels shopping trip with J

puppy cuddling

hubby-wife cuddling
instagram fun

spontaneous target run with mom

visiting my special friend's brothers

women's world cup... always proud of you USA girls. you did great.

watching snippets of aristoula's wedding - 1200 people there! for her!!

a little reading

a few ice cold glasses of water
grocery shopping at a few stores... wheelin' and dealin' ;)

So very thankful for the short two days that provide a bit of mental and physical rejuvenation.

Recap: birthdays, friends, and vacation

It has been a whirlwind of a week/weekend! In a good way :)

More details {and pictures!} to come, but for now,

the recap:

Monday: date night 

Tuesday: fuddruckers birthday dinner for J with my family

Wednesday: claim jumper reunion with one of J's best friends and the groupies

Thursday: J's 26th birthday extravaganza - shooting maternity pictures of Katie and Mark, 

Coronado lunch at Miguels, some shopping, a couple meetings, and a lot of packing.

Friday: San Francisco for the day! Pier 39, Ghiradelli square, Union square, 

and an amazing city view from our hotel.

Saturday: San Jose to see J's bro and sis-in-law and family! Visited their church and had a yummy Greek dinner, which made me miss my Greek bestie Aristoula. late {late late} night laughing and chatting with j, s and v.

Sunday: my father-in-law's birthday celebration lunch, Sam and V's first anniversary, 

shopping on the cutest little strip, chill time with all the fam, and a black angus dinner.

Monday (today): breakfast with the McGoverns, shopping, shipping, and flying home to our puppies and Luigi.

Now: unpacking, laundry, and mentally/physically preparing for the week. 

June has been non-stop action!

I'm thankful for a relaxing trip and fun times with Sam and Valinda and family. I love those two. 

And I'm thankful for my sweet husband who truly made this trip so awesome. Love that he's my travel buddy.

And I'm thankful for my amazing sister who took such great care of my little ones while we were away, 

complete with baths, fun outings, and house cleaning. love her.

And for this weekend's recap...

my weekend... in a nutshell 

{there's another one of those phrases that is somewhat confusing to me...}

lots of time with mom prepping for our yard sale

puppy play time with sammy

celebrating paige's 34th birthday with a surprise mexican fiesta

a super successful 3-day yard sale with mom

fundraising excitement

marghee and candice hunting around at the sale... i love my friends

j and steve helping us clean up [i love my family]

visiting my favorite place in san diego... point loma

adalbertos #22 breakfast burrito

starbucks on the harbor with j's bestie brandon and his beautiful sarah and fam

starbucks planning sesh with my handsome hubby

ymc convo about love and the importance of praise
tropicana no pulp orange juice

celebrating fathers

a little shopping and some learning too

father's day dinner/j's first of many birthday bashes ;)

puppy play time at grandma k and grandpa j's house

i'm looking forward to a three-day work week,

j's 26th birthday,

and visiting sam and valinda!

Celebrate the weekends

Well, I'm a week behind, but last weekend was awesome, so I wanted to share a few highlights.

 the marriage conference at shadow

spending {late night super quality} time with our good friends j&j... and yogurt mill :)

celebrating katie and her baby-girl-elle-in-her-tummy with friends jen and jessi

{p.s. i adore these girls}

a much needed and perfect 3-hour nap with j

aunt linda's 50th birthday bash with c... aunt lin adds so much life to my italian side :)

and the beginning of a new marriage series at ymc.

[since i'm writing a week later and {unofficially} suffer from short-term memory loss,

this is all i remember at this time. 

but i remember it was awesome. i remember we were tired but had time to be home,

and spend quality time with each other and with special friends and family.]

Week past and weekend to come

Monday: Homemade Mexican fiesta... successful at that!

Tuesday: Free Coffee Bean summer ice blended drinks

can i just say... cookies and cream ice blended? A-MA-ZING. my new favorite fo-sho!

Wednesday: Meeting a nice new doctor, 

having mrs. dr smile and say "i should have known" when i said i'm an RN, 

and entering into the Sharp healthcare system [as a patient]

thank you, work health insurance. this is a first for me.

Thursday: Haircut and catch up with my friend Kelli visiting from Sac-town

it... is... too... short! this happens everytime. a picture will come soon.

Friday: Super sale at Kohls...
$10 free coupon + shirt with no tag + guy at register quitting his job = free for me.

Followed by a night with no plans! 

And here's how this weekend is looking:

a little organizing this and that

a little cleaning here and there

a fun car trip with mom and Carly to north county 

celebrating my friend Casey at her bridal shower with my mom

a trip to paper source {!!!!}

church, church, and more church (in a good way)

some Bible reading

some bill paying... call me crazy but I actually like paying bills

some time with my hubby

our Hispanic pastor/friend's birthday party!

some blog catch up - reading and writing

american idol watching

and possibly some card making

Happy Saturday!

Easter Weekend Recap

Easter weekend turned out to be a pretty crazy weekend. 

What did we do?

We had dinner Friday night with sweet YMC friends at their super cool downtown penthouse.

I spent Saturday morning with Jesus, my favorite Easter chocolates, 

and coffee in my super cute new Easter mug from my mom.

The pups and I went for a nature walk/drive.

We took a trip to Costco and I found my next pet.

We said goodbye to Casey.

We set up, photographed, and celebrated Jason and Cecilia's engagement.

We went to the 8am service at church. [Easter morning church is my favorite]

We had a yummy and beautiful brunch with my family. 

J headed to church to set up for the Hispanic Easter service,
while I stayed at brunch a bit longer and took some fun photos with the fam. 

We opened sweet Easter baskets from both our parents. 

I failed to take pictures... but they were cute and everything was yummy :)

I took my puppies over to visit Sammy.

And we helped out at the Hispanic Easter service. J ran lights and I took pictures.
[J's job was more important and much more time-consuming, but I pretended to be as busy as him :)]

honey, way to pull off the coolest lights show ever! so proud of you.

It was a rather overwhelming, but neat weekend of celebrating the resurrection of Jesus.

Next year, maybe not so many big events in a 50 hour period ... :)