Missing: My Ankles. Reward = a back scratch with my amazing nails

I've reached the 25 week mark and am starting to slow down again; and more so than the first trimester. Nate and I discussed just yesterday how to say "no" and I've been practicing... not very well. 

Bump progress - 25 weeks

The not so glamorous portion of pregnancy is in full force and I'm trying to become a little more humble and dependent on Nate - who I am sooooo thankful for. Here's the short list:

• I started losing my ankles in the afternoon this week. Awesome.
• I can't really reach things I drop without having to rest from the effort of picking them up. So stuff is either staying on the ground - or Nate's helping me.
• I can't paint my toe nails without passing out - my mom is better than the Vietnamese... but much slower. She's still working on her English. :)
• Acid-reflux is becoming more prevalent - especially after eating tomatoes. One TUM seems to handle it though and Nate has decided he likes to eat TUMS like candy.
• I really don't want to drink any more water but if I drink sugar it's like a dance party in my stomach. 
• I had to teach Nate how to shave my legs... hasn't happened yet, but I figured he should be prepared. It should be humorous. 

I will say though that I am super thankful that these are only minor things and I am EXTREMELY thankful to only have 13 more weeks to go until we meet Addi and Gavin!

So we're making progress on getting the necessities and researching the necessities x2. A little overwhelming, but it's getting done! My friend Kristen who has twins has been a tremendous help and resource of information and I love my online shopping dates/texts/e-mails with Melissa! :)

On another note the babies are moving like crazy!! It is amazing. Last week at our appointment we were able to take Kate (she was down from India for Nick & Shea's wedding) and she got to meet the babies during the ultra-sound. It was a treat for us too because they switched the machine back and forth between the 3-D!! We were able to see similarities of both Nate and I - check out the photos (sorry they aren't super clear, they were moving around a lot):

PHOTO of Addisyn:

PHOTO of Gavin:

Finally, we enjoyed celebrating another addition to our family in Savannah, GA! Shea and Nick's wedding was beautiful and perfect. It was a great reflection of them both and we all had so much fun. Here's a quick photo:

Officially Mr. and Mrs. Nick Brower

Photo with the newest "Brower"

Well... that's about it. I'll try and post something this weekend about the nursery. I think we'll be painting and doing trim work (or rather Nate will be)!

xoxo

Almost to SIX MONTHS!

I can't believe it. Time is flying - as it always seems to do. Next week we will be 24 weeks. I'm still feeling great (minus these stupid allergies that I can't seem to shake) and we are busy starting to get things planned for the babies.

We finalized their names, so you can officially refer to them as Addisyn Grace and Gavin Harwick. Gavin's middle name is in memory and honor of Nate's grandfather who was and is an amazing man. We plan to pass many funny stories on to the kids that came from Nate's grandfather - like using 409 to clean everything and the thousands of funny sayings he would use.

Last week I went to a jewelery party that my friend Julie is starting to sell and was just relaxing in a chair when my arm bumped up and moved without me doing it! It was so cool... since then Adie and Gavin have been bumping all over my tummy and it's been really cool to see when they are active. Nate and I have also been listening to "underwater" sounds through a stethescope on my belly at night. It is kind of funny.

Nate finally got to feel them bump me yesterday during church. It isn't very frequent in one place yet, so he kept missing it every time I felt them.

In other news, we bought the paint for the nursery and will begin that as our next project, so I will certainly keep everyone posted on the nursery progress... no theme, just things that we like.

Have a wonderful week!!

Baby Bump Progress- 20 Weeks

Here is a photo of the bump to date from our recent vacation to Charlevoix! More updates on our trip to come... including a photo of the "mother-ship" as Nate likes to call it. You can call it the truck. LOL!

Genders Reveal...

It's official!! We are having a:

BOY: (it took them all of two seconds to tell what he was, LOL)

and a...

GIRL: (she was a little more difficult to decipher, so we came back to her. The tech checked her twice though just to be 100% certain!)

!! We couldn't be happier. We are so blessed to be welcoming one of each to our family and we're both really excited to start the planning process.

Here is a group shot of everyone:

So at our ultrasound appointment we brought Grammie April and Beema Becky to share in the fun. My mom has never seen an ultrasound before so once they were on the "big screen" the waterworks began! :) It was really fun to share the time with the both of them and celebrate right away the genders. I think they both had a nice time too!

After that we visited Aunt Shea at Kate Spade. She had already hit up baby GAP too and gave the babies their first onesies:

Then mom, Nate and I hit up baby GAP ourselves and had a little fun:

Needless to say the babies will be clothed!

Now to start getting the necessities...

17 Weeks

I guess I'm not that great with this blogging concept yet! I forgot to update you all on the last appointment.

They wouldn't tell us the genders, so the suspense continues (doctor's policy, they don't tell until 20 weeks). We will now find out on July 7th at 3:40 p.m. We're really excited too because our moms will both be attending as well! It will be a little party in a very little room with hopefully a shopping trip afterward to celebrate! 

The other appointment went really well though. The babies' heartbeats were strong and the ultrasound tech couldn't believe I haven't felt them yet with all the moving they are doing. They both measured around 4.5"! Apparently their size won't be affected until later on in development when they begin to run out of room in my stomach. She was happy with my weight and stats too, so all is good. It would've been a very quick appointment if you took out all the waiting around time.

So far things are falling in to place well. We are so blessed to be purchasing a car to replace my Jeep from Nate's grandma, which has been a huge  relief! So everyone will fit and be safe.

My maternity leave has been filed with HR and approved and I have enough time to take the full six months off and come back with some leave left over! So I'll officially be at home November 7 - May 14 which is just still another awesome blessing!

We are both (Nate and I) so thankful for all the support and love for the babies that we've received from all our friends and family members. We can't wait for all that is to come.

Thanks again for your continued prayers. 

PS: The bridesmaid dress fits so all is well!! :)

(the girls are excited to meet their new siblings!)

Quick update

Sorry I haven't posted lately... I had a few minutes today - so I thought I'd get you caught up.

Nate did an awesome job and finished up the guest room! It looks great. All that is left is ordering in the closet doors and then it will be ready for anyone who wants to come volunteer to help with the babies. Or visit. Either or. I'll take a few photos and post them soon.

This week (Wednesday at 3 p.m.) is our 16 week appointment. We are really hoping to find out gender - so hopefully I'll have an exciting update for Wednesday night or Thursday. Otherwise, I'm feeling great and things are going really well. Nothing too drastic to share.

Apparently from now on I could feel the babies move. I don't think I've felt anything yet, but will let you know when I have.

To date we've done a lot of growing and according to BabyCenter.com we have fingerprints, they are peeing now (which I'm not sure how I feel about that) and they are the sizes of avocados this week. Since there are two they may be a little smaller than that - but that's what the site says about one. They can also sense light this week! Apparently if you hold a flashlight to my stomach they would move away from it. Not sure how I'm supposed to know that since I can't feel them? I told Nate I was going to bring a flashlight to the ultrasound and try it, but he wasn't sure that would be a good idea. I might still sneak it in my bag and see if I can weave it into conversation with the tech! :)

We'll, that's all I've got. I will share my bridesmaid dress saga and other melt-down stories at a later date when they are actually funny to me... and hope to have an exciting update on genders soon!!

Thanks for your continued prayers!

Baby Bump Progress- 13 Weeks

So these photos might not last depending on how big I get and whether I still want photos documenting the width of my stomach, this is my disclaimer... so enjoy it now. We finally took a few minutes to go out in the yard and take some photos so enjoy. Not too big yet... but definitely more comfortable in dresses.