Christmas at Our House

In the words of Will Ferrell, "The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear!" We don't have much time for singing, but we have tried our best around here to spread some cheer by pulling out the Christmas decorations. Here's a tour of our home at Christmas!

Here's our tree! The fact that it is still standing is a Christmas miracle in itself considering the fact that we have two curious cats and a VERY curious 14-month-old. All 3 have heard "NO!" quite a lot concerning this tree.

Here are a few of my favorite ornaments! The two on the left have pictures of Laney from last year and this year. What a difference a year makes! The top right one is Laney's "First Christmas" ornament from last year. And the silver car was a wedding gift from my sweet Tri-Delta house mom, Mama Kaye.

Just some more decor...

These are my favorite little snow globes given to us by my mother-in-law. They have a switch that makes them "snow" all the time. The reindeer is missing some equipment, as you can see. So far, this is the only Christmas decor casualty that Laney has caused. Pretty good!

And last, but not least, our 2010 Christmas card and Christmas card tree full of cards from our friends! Christmas cards have always been a big part of my holidays. Since we moved a lot when I was young, my mother ALWAYS sent a Christmas card as a way of keeping up with old friends. I still absolutely LOVE getting cards from friends and family. I am so glad to have gotten so many this year! Please send me yours (that's the best way to get on my Christmas card list!).

Coffee Cake is my Favorite

Now that I'm in my second trimester and feeling so much better, I can't stay out of the kitchen. A few weeks ago, I decided to try out this new coffee cake recipe I found on another blog. I was so excited to find it because I absolutely LOVE coffee cake but don't have a recipe for it. Here it is:

sour cream coffee cake

2 sticks butter. cream.

2 C sugar

2 eggs

1 t vanilla

1 t baking powder

1/2 t salt

1 c sour cream

2 C flour

cream margarine or butter and mix in eggs and add all ingredients in order.

in separate bowl mix:

1 c chopped nuts (but i don't)

8 T brown sugar

2 t cinnamon

grease bundt pan well and put enough cake batter to cover bottom; add 1/3 of dry mixture. add layer of cake batter and then more dry mixture and rest of batter and the rest of the dry mixture. cook at 350 for 45-60 min.

Ok, I never claimed that it was healthy or low on calories! But it's absolutely delicious. This is what it looked like when I took it out of the oven:

Unfortunately, I forgot to grease the bundt pan. So this is what it looked like when I dumped it out on a plate:

My mom, dad, husband and I laughed and laughed. We stopped laughing once we tasted it, though, and ate the ENTIRE cake in one sitting! I can't wait to make it again. Hopefully this time I will remember to grease the pan so that it will look just as wonderful as it tastes.

This next holiday favorite is not new to me, but this was my first time to actually make it myself. It's great for parties or anytime you're having guests over. My grandmother makes these pretzels for a lot of occasions. I remember them most during Christmastime and in the summers when we all go to the beach together. It's really simple and tasty and not at all low fat or healthy. Noticing a trend in my cooking? Ha. This is the recipe:

holiday pretzels

1 cup Popping & Topping Oil (Orville Redenbacher's)

1 pouch Ranch salad dressing mix

1 bag tiny pretzels

mix oil and dressing mix in bowl. place pretzels in a sealable container. pour oil mix over pretzels, seal container, and roll around to even coat pretzels. let soak for a day before eating.

Laney found me in the kitchen during this little cooking spree of mine. She just walked over and sat her cute little bottom in my lap. So I fed her Mac 'n Cheese for dinner right there that night. Luckily Daddy snuck a picture. :)

Week 12

As promised, here is the next tummy picture! I swear that I FEEL about one million times bigger than this. And I will start taking these "tummy pics" against a solid background. I didn't think about the fact that the Christmas tree would be a little busy.

And what a week "week 12" was. I finished up teaching for the fall semester then we immediately headed to Houston on Friday after work for one of Marshall's best friends' wedding weekend. Laney stayed with Marshall's parents who were having a family Christmas, which was much more fun for her than riding over 12 hours total in the car. And it was a REALLY good thing we did not drag Laney along on our trip because we ended up spending a few hours in the hospital! We had quite a pregnancy scare at the wedding reception and ended up catching a cab to one of the nearest emergency rooms at Texas Woman's Hospital, which just so happens to be one of the best OBGYN hospitals in the state (lucky for us). After a little crying, a few sonograms, and some blood tests, we were told that I have a pretty big "bleed" in there somewhere that is threatening to my pregnancy. But, as of now, the babies look fine! The prescription? Bed rest. For at least a week.

I WILL be making my way off the couch today, though, to go see our OBGYN here in Abilene. Hopefully he can give us some good news, as I've had no more problems or cramping since that night. Please keep us in your prayers during this scary time. We know that God has His hand on this situation and we trust His will. Obviously, though, our hope is that two healthy babies carried full-term are part of that will.

The good news is....bed rest gives me LOTS of time for blogging! So expect some pictures and videos soon. Love to all during the Christmas season!

Twice the Tummy Picture Project

I wasn't going to do this. But since I'm having twins, it's a must. Right now, I feel like I could just skip over the whole huge pregnant lady part and be fine. Years down the road, though, the kids will be glad to have pictures to look back on that show just how big Mom got. So here's the first picture:

I'll be posting a new tummy picture every 2 weeks. I'm already showing a little here in this first one. I didn't take any pictures before this, though, because I didn't think I was going to be doing this. But here we go. We all remember how big I got with Laney, so this should be an interesting project to say the least now that I have TWO babies in there! (P.S. I reserve the right to stop the Twice the Tummy Picture Project at any time). Ha!

2, Please!

I've known about my pregnancy for about 6 weeks, now, and I have been DYING to write about it on my blog. I decided, though, to postpone my "We're pregnant again!" post until after our first appointment and sonogram. I just wanted to make sure that I really was pregnant and that the doctor thought everything looked good.

So, I've been planning this surprise announcement blog post in my head for weeks, now. None of what I planned to say will probably be said in this post, though, because Marshall and I had our own big surprise at our first appointment yesterday. WE'RE HAVING TWINS!

It's been over 24 hours since the appointment and I am still in shock! I'd never thought about wanting twins before or honestly ever even thought about it as a possibility for myself. Ever since I was a child, I have pictured myself having 2 children total (and from separate pregnancies). Marshall says that the possibility of having twins never crossed his mind, either. So you can imagine our surprise and laughter when those two sweet babies (or fetuses, should I more properly say) popped up on our sonogram!

I think this was God's way of saying, "Melanie, you will not plan out your life. I will. So stop trying to!" And I'm so thankful that He reminded me of this. I have been thinking of our family plan, counting months, and deciding on the right time to have our second child for a while now. I had already picked out a boy name and girl name so that I would be ready for when we found out the gender of our second child. I had thought way into the future about many things and how I could control those things. Not that thinking ahead is bad, but this definitely reminds me to not get too caught up in the way I picture my life going because I don't have a whole lot to do with how it actually turns out!

Now for the facts and information from the appointment:

-Doc says he is almost certain that they are identical twins from the way they are positioned in utero. I have an idea of what he is talking about, but am not sure of the correct terminology, so I'll just leave it at that.

-If they are identical, this will mean that they are either both boys or both girls. So we're not expecting one of each.

-Identical twins do not run in families. They are random happenings. From what I've read on the internet, nobody is quite sure what causes identical twinning. This was surprising to us. Marshall's grandmother Gaye is a twin, but obviously not the cause of our twins.

-Our little ones are both currently measuring the size that they should for me being 10 weeks 3 days along in my pregnancy. Doc also said that he is very happy and relieved that they are the SAME size (though it doesn't look like it in this particular sonogram picture). I guess one of these bambinos is closer to the sonogram wand than the other one, causing a distorted view of size. So, as of now, they look like promising sharers. :)

-This is a "high risk pregnancy" simply because there are multiples. Doc says he is always worried about a momma needing bed rest and going into pre-term labor with twins.

-I will most likely be induced into labor at 37 weeks if they have not arrived by then. (Side Note: Laney was induced at 39 weeks. That's only 1 week before due date.). My actual 40-week "due date" that most likely will not be reached is June 27th.

-My next appointment is December 27th. The appointment after that is February 15th. At the February appointment, we will find out if we're having baby boys or baby girls!

Well, there's our stunning news for the century! We have gotten so very excited about these babies and cannot wait for them to arrive. We've already been telling Laney about them and assuring her what a GREAT big sister she will be! Please keep us in your prayers. We are begging for a healthly, full-term pregnancy and guidance in our great new journey. How special to be picked for this incredible, overwhelming, wonderful, yet terrifying adventure. We are blessed. And quite thankful.