A Baby Doll for the Baby Doll

For Valentine's Day, I got Arden a baby doll. She saw some at a friend's house, and she got so excited about them. I knew I had to get her one. She is too cute with it!

No clue why she's sucking on the baby's head. The baby doll does smell like lemon, though, so maybe that has something to do with it!

Just being a silly goose!

Considering Valentine's Day was on a Sunday, we really didn't do much on that exact day. Monday night, we dropped Arden off at Adam's parents house and headed to PF Chang's for dinner. The food was delicious, and I ate way too much.

Anywho, I love you, babe!

Adam did arrive home from work with a single pink rose and a box of chocolates...nice! I gave him a bag of Reese's hearts and sweet & tangy twizzlers...yum!

I failed to take care of my rose right away. It didn't go in water until after church, and even then I forgot to trim the stem. These pics were taken a couple days later, and it was a little wilted. It was a beauty, though!

Arden looked super cute in her Valentine's Day Sunday attire.

Here she is in the kitchen holding the tv remote...haha!

I hope everyone had a lovely Valentine's Day!

SNOW!

And that's an understatement...at least for this part of NC! Back in January, we got like 8 inches of snow. I haven't seen that much snow here in years. I think school was cancelled everyday except for Thursday, and they went to school 2 hours late that day. I really enjoyed hearing the kids jumping around in the apartment above me...NOT!

Here's a view out our front door.

It had been awhile since I checked the mail, so I had this bright idea to make a sled using a plastic bin and a jump rope to tug Arden along for the ride.

I thought she would love it.

She HATED it and cried when I started pulling her! Everytime I stopped, she tried to climb out.

So, we barely got out the door, and I had to turn around. When we got back to the door, the bin tipped over, and Arden fell face-first into the snow. Poor thing screamed her head off!

She was much more content being in the "sled" when it was inside.

She even enjoyed wearing my gloves.

Adam took these gorgeous pics of the golf course across the street. It was right after he got home from work, so the sun was just starting to rise.

I hope everyone had some fun snow days. I'll be happy if I don't see snow for a long time!

Bubble Baby

Arden loves bubbles! It's even one of her favorite words to say. One evening, I turned on our bubble machine during her bath.

She wasn't too sure about it at first...maybe because it was so loud.

But she eventually got pretty excited!

My sweet girl. I just love her reflection in the fixture.

The Belly

So I figured I should post some pics of my twin belly. I went in for a doctor's appointment today, and the doctor measured my belly. Currently, my 22 week 3 day twin belly is equal to that of a 30-31 week singleton belly. Oy! This pregnancy is going to get rough real fast!

18 Weeks

19 Weeks

20 Weeks

21 Weeks

Big Girl Carseat

As part of Arden's Christmas presents, we ordered her a new carseat. She was definitely too tall for her infant seat. Unfortunately, she's a few pounds away from weighing 20 pounds, so she still has to be rear-facing. I thought for sure we were going to go with a Britax, but after a bit of research and recommendations from friends, we went with a Sunshine Kids seat. You can fit 3 seats side-by-side, and that is definitely not the case with Britax. This particular one is the Radian80. It'll hold a child up to 80 pounds in a 5-point harness. And, no, I am not planning on replacing this seat ever (you're supposed to after 5 years)...as long as it isn't involved in any accidents. Arden's going to be sitting in this thing until she's 8 years old...ha!

The Park: It's an Addiction

I know it's been forever since I've blogged anything. Once I found out I'm having twins, pretty much everything else fell by the wayside. I'll have to play catch-up...one post at a time.

In January, Arden discovered the joy of the park. Our apartment is right next to the playground. I was thinking this would be nice and convenient, but those dang kids can be noisy! Anywho, Arden loves climbing up the stairs, crawling across the bridge, and sliding down the slide (with assistance, of course.) She also loves the old-school duck and horse rockers. I've come to realize I don't like our apartment's playground, though. It's dirty, and there's no baby swing. Every time we come home, we pass that playground and she always wants to go play...even if it's cold and rainy. I haven't taken her there since she started walking because of the terrible weather we've been having. I hope it warms up soon. Of course when it does, I'll probably take her to a different park: Triad Park.

Triad Park is a fabulous park. It's about 7 minutes from where we live. The ground surrounding the playground is made of this soft material...it's not dirty, and your kid likely won't get hurt if he/she falls. There is a separate playground for toddlers, and it has two baby swings. No crazy big kids running around! I took Arden there once, and she loved it. She had just started walking, but was still doing the knee-walk thing most of the time. I think she'll love it even more now that she's walking. If the weather would just warm up, I'd take her again!

Below are pics and a video from our dirty playground. Not fun for me, but Arden loves it!

Below are pics and a video from Triad Park...so much fun!

Another Ultrasound...More Pics!

I know it's been forever since I posted anything. I have a ton of pics to post of Arden. But for now, here are some more pics of the boys!

These were taken today during my 3rd ultrasound. The 4D pics are so great! Right now, both babies are breech, but they're moving all over the place.

Great profile shot of Baby Boy B. His mouth is wide open, and he's about to insert his hand (see next pic.)

Mmm...that's a tasty hand. He's too cute!

Baby Boy A's body. Hope he doesn't mind having his knees shoved in his face! Oh, and isn't it such a sweet face?

Here's both boys. I know the pic looks a bit jumbled-up...you'll just have to look closely. Baby Boy B's face is on top and looking down. Baby Boy A's body is on the bottom. You can see the bridge of his nose, but most of his face is being hidden by his arm.

I'm definitely feeling pretty pregnant these days. It's already difficult to get comfortable while sleeping, and the acid reflux is just terrible. I'm almost 21 weeks along, so I know the boys will be here before I know it. I have a feeling I will NOT be ready. Ha!

Ultrasound Tech Say What?!

I had my quad test bloodwork done last Wednesday to check for birth defects. If you get something in the mail, all is well, but if you get a phone call, that means there were abnormal results. I received the dreaded phonecall on Tuesday around 4:30 p.m. I wasn't by my phone, so I got a voicemail telling me to give them a call. Unfortunately, it was too late to call, so I was freaking out all night wondering what it was about. Wednesday morning I returned the call. The nurse said my AFP levels were all normal except for spina bifida. Those levels were elevated. An ultrasound was scheduled for the next morning to make sure my due date was correct, because that could throw off the results. I kept thinking about it all day long, and I'd cry everytime. I knew this didn't mean my baby had spina bifida, but I couldn't help but worry.

The next morning after Adam got home from work, we headed to the doctor's office. I was hoping for the best but planning for the worst. The ultrasound tech said that if the baby measured correctly with my due date, then I'd have to go to Duke and have more ultrasounds and tests. After putting the doppler on my belly for a brief second, she took it off and said those tests wouldn't be necessary. I saw what she saw and said, "Oh my, you're kidding!" She said, "Nope, there are two in there!" Then she asked if we wanted to know the sex, and after saying yes, she said they're both boys! So, that's why my AFP for spina bifida was elevated. I'm so grateful that nothing's wrong. Both boys are measuring the same size, which is awesome. Not sure if they're fraternal or identical, but we might find that out next week during my 1.5 hour ultrasound.

Yes, we're still in shock. I don't think it'll hit us until they're actually born. I can't imagine having 3 kids under 2 years old...oh the diapers! Our families think it's pretty awesome. I'll let you know if it's awesome once I'm as large as a barge...ha!

This is what we initially saw...two heads!

Baby Boy A with Baby Boy B's foot in his face...haha!

Baby Boy B...looks like he got the short straw in terms of accomodations!

My mom's reaction

Adam's parents and Jonathan's reaction....love it!

My Walking Baby Gi!

Arden started standing on her own a little over a week ago. We were at my mom's house, and Chris was holding Arden's hands. He let her go, and she just stood there for like 10-15 seconds! No one grabbed a camera, because we figured she wouldn't stand that long. I finally did get a pic of her, and she's been standing ever since! I thought it would take her a few weeks before she decided to walk. All this past week, she would take one step and then go down to the floor. Well, today she was standing with her back to her crib, and I was sitting in the rocker. I just said "walk," and she smiled at me and took four steps...just like that! I kept trying to get her to walk some more, but she would just stand and then go down to the floor to crawl. I tried again after her nap...this time with a camera handy...and she walked some more! She's done it many times today, and she's even figured out how to stand without pulling up on something. Funny how I'm surprised, especially since it's one day shy of her 15-month birthday. She's such a little munchkin!

Standing at my mom's house last Sunday.

Walking today!

Four Christmases: The Lewis Version

I've never actually seen the movie "Four Christmases." It's on our Netflix list. However, I'm pretty sure we can totally relate. Christmas Day is always jam-packed with family and travelling in between them. Still a great day, though!

Part I: Early Christmas Morning at our apartment.

Arden was so excited to have access to the tree and the presents!

We stuffed all of Arden's gifts into her stocking. She had fun pulling stuff out of it. She'll also be getting a new carseat, but it's on backorder. :oP

Yay, Weeble-Wobbles!

I got these PJs on clearance at Old Navy about 6 months back. They're size 12 months. As Christmas approached, I thought there was no way they'd fit her. I put them on her Christmas morning, and they fit great!

Please excuse the blur of the Christmas tree lights...Arden got her fingerprints on the camera lens!

Part II: My Dad's House

After we all got dressed and ready, we headed over to my dad's house for breakfast and more Christmas fun.

Um, yes, I will take all of these presents, thank you very much.

We drew names this year, and Marielou picked Arden's name. She got her this musical seahorse, and Arden absolutely loves it!

Please ignore the big red blob Arden is sitting on.

Part III: My Mom's House

We headed over to mom's house to celebrate with her. We watched the third Ice Age movie and munched on goodies!

Arden is stunned by the flash of my new camera...thanks mom!

Part IV: The Lewis Clan

We finally headed over to Adam's parents' house. Amy, Mark, and the boys were there, too. We had fun hanging out with them!

Arden absolutely loved playing with her cousins!

We had a lovely Christmas and hope you did, too! We are so thankful for Jesus Christ, and that Heavenly Father allowed him to come to this earth to atone for our sins.

Merry Christmas!

p.s. Jon Heder (aka Napoleon Dynamite) was at our Ward's Christmas party and at church for the two Sundays after that. Random!!! Or maybe not so random since he's a son-in-law of one of our ward members. :)