P + B = 3

Parker and Brooks are 3! Their vocabularies are exploding by the day, they're potty trained (finally!), and their little personalities are becoming even more distinct and unique.

They've both stolen my heart in completely different ways. They are SUCH a joy to us (even if they do make me want to pull my hair out at times!). I cannot believe how blessed we are.

Since this was their 3rd birthday, they got to do their very first Birthday Questionnaire! It has been one of my very favorite things we've done with Laney, and I'm excited to do it with the boys, now, too. We made each of them answer the questions without the other one present to avoid copy-cat answers. Hysterically, though, many of their answers were still very similar. They've got crazy little twin ESP stuff going on, y'all!

Parker's 3rd Birthday Questionnaire!

What is your favorite color? black and green

What is your favorite toy? my trucks and Woody

What is your favorite food? I don't wanna talk about food

What is your favorite TV show? Paw Patrol

What is your favorite song? Lion King (the Circle of Life)

What is your favorite book? Go, dog, go

What is your favorite hobby? play-doh

Who is your best friend? Bowen and Daddy

What do you want to be when you grow up? fireman

What kind of car do you want to drive when you grow up? a fire truck

Brooks' 3rd Birthday Questionnaire!

What is your favorite color? blue

What is your favorite toy? my Giraffey

What is your favorite food? cheese

What is your favorite TV show? Paw Patrol

What is your favorite song? Frozen (Let it Go)

What is your favorite book? Go, dog, go

What is your favorite hobby? baseball

Who is your best friend? Daddy

What do you want to be when you grow up? I wanna work at the Cookie Shop

What kind of car do you want to drive when you grow up? a fire truck

Baby Talk

The boys' vocabulary has been exploding lately. And most of the words they say are adorably incorrect. I know I'll forget these precious little twin-isms if they aren't written down somewhere. The only Laney word I remember is "troke-a-mote" (remote control) and that era wasn't even that long ago. What a bad memory I have. What was I talking about, again? Just kiiiidding. I'm here all week, folks. But really, I'm here all week.

Twin to English Dictionary

Putter = Peanut Butter

Nee Nee = Banana

Wah-wee = Water

Bar = Granola Bar

Poppy = Papa D

Lonny = Laney

Parper = Parker

Books = Brooks

Too Too Wain = Choo Choo Train

Car Car = Cracker OR Golf Cart

Ownt moke = I want milk

Ba Ba Ba = Yo Gabba Gabba

Ah-wight = Alright

Gwink = Drink

Wing = Swing

Bee Wuck = Big Truck

Our 2 are TWO!

Happy 2nd birthday, Parker & Brooks!

We had some pictures taken to document the occasion. I'm planning on doing a long post about how proud I am of our little boys individually and how far they've come in that past 2 years. But let's be serious. That may never happen. So I've got to at least get these adorable photos up on the ole blog for you to see. Brooks cried nearly the whole time, so we have very few of him by himself. And he wouldn't even touch the cake. Oh, Brooks. Luckily, though, the photographer was one of my friends and had brought her daughter with her. So she stepped in and participated in Brooksie's place. We're going to try to force them to get married one day so we can have cute pictures of them feeding each other cake at age 2 in the wedding slide shows. Is there a better reason to wed?

Best Friends

How amazing would it be to get to grow up with your best friend right by your side every single day?

Surviving: Three Under 3

The birth of our twins left us marveling at the fact that we had three kids under the age of 2. Now, a short and long year later, they've turned into three under 3. By now, I thought we'd be thriving. The fact is, though, we're still surviving, at best. As each day draws to a close and I'm once again sitting in my bed and crying in my beer (sometimes metaphorically and sometimes quite literally), my surpressed thoughts surface. I didn't ask for this. I never would have picked to have twins when I already had a young child. I'm not one of those moms. I want a spotless house and a set routine and perfectly dressed kids. I should be there by now.

I then notice myself accelerating down that very slippery slope of negativity and quickly dig my heels into the surface of my mind (yes, even THAT surface is covered in granola bar crumbs). I have to catch myself there and make my way back up to the cliff where I started, because even I know that teetering on the edge of my sanity is better than wallowing in a valley of self pity and depression. I remind myself that we've only made it this far unscathed because of the affirmation we've been fed by all the wonderful people around us and the positivity we've exuded (sometimes forced...fake it 'til ya make it). I must get back to there.

I put down my knife beer and grab my phone to start Googling phrases like "How to survive twin toddlers" and "When do twins get easier?" And what I found was comforting. Sure, there were those freak mothers posting about how they have one set of triplets and two sets of twins and swear they were born to have children and never want to be out of baby phase. But, mostly, there were mothers of multiples like me, struggling through each day and feeling like a failure most of the time. They love their children with all their hearts and fear that they aren't being able to provide what they need as individuals because...there's more than one of them. It was those mothers I needed to hear from. And what they said was this:

LOWER YOUR EXPECTATIONS.

I needed to hear this. I have always had high expectations for everything. Mainly myself. I'm the girl who never took a single home-ec class because I filled my schedule up with extra AP science classes to boost my GPA. I mean, what a dork, right? If I could go back, I'd lighten up. And that's just what I need to do now. This is not a phase that we'll be in forever. Perfection is not something we can do right now. I have to learn to be OK with that.

The mothers of multiples who were the happiest when their kids were babies were the ones who said they expected NOTHING. They just made it through the weeks one day at a time. This made me really take a look at my daily frustrations and examine what causes them. When I'm stressed out most is when I'm just doing too much. It's when I'm trying to juggle the kids while crocheting a Halloween costume, painting a wall, and preparing a Pinterest dinner. It's too much. And nobody expects me to do any of these things except for ME. Sometimes I just need somebody to grab me by the shoulders and tell me to cancel my Pinterest account and throw a Stouffer's frozen dinner in the microwave. I need somebody to throw my arts and crafts supplies in the trash and tell me to go sit on the play room floor and watch Barney with the twins for the next year. There will be a time when the kids are in school and I can decorate my house and cook fancy meals and craft until my little heart desires. But now I just need to expect to do NOTHING but make it through the day and make those kids smile.

And I have to forget those unrealistic, almost nostalgic notions I have about how certain things should go. I set myself up for disappointment when there's no reason to. Let's be serious, when was the last time Christmas went perfectly with a family full of adults who all dress themselves and use the potty unassisted? So, it's moronic for me to "expect" any situation to go as planned when I have three very needy, unpredictable babies.

I'm done. Done with expectations. From now on, I'm just going to enjoy the chaos. I know this is easier said than done (especially for a perfection-oriented person), but I'm going to work on it. And when I do have expectations for a situation, I'm going to work on making them realistic. Examples:

My expectations of a family zoo trip:

Realistic Expectations: Make it through the zoo without any child being eaten by a lion.

My expectations of nightly dinners:

Realistic Expectations: If nobody cries until they pass out, call it a win.

You get the idea. Ah...I love a fresh start. We get one each day, if we're lucky. So, I'm going to publish this post without even proof reading it (watch out. living on the edge.) and go do NOTHING but play with babies today. I'm so glad I have this blog. It's much cheaper than therapy. I hope you all have a great day full of realistic expectations!

Look...TWINS!

I love when I'm out in public with the boys and random people point at us and say to their shopping buddy, "Look! Twins!" It always catches me off guard. You think I'd get used to it, but this is just my every day life. I don't go around being overly aware of the fact that I have two babies instead of one. It feels normal to me because...it's my life. Ha. I'm sure I would do the same exact thing, though, if I ran across triplets or quadruplets.

Don't get me wrong. It doesn't make me mad or hurt my feelings or anything like that. The people who do it are always smiling and sometimes even look like they might just come right on over to eat my little duo up. Or snatch them up (yikes). It's just awkward. I mean, how am I supposed to respond to that? Should I wave? Should I say something to them even though they aren't speaking to me? Should I keep walking?

Maybe I'll just start charging admission so everybody can "STEP RIGHT UP and SEE THE TWIN BABIES!" :)

Tummy Picture Collection!

Here is the entire collection of tummy pictures! Even though I'm less than pleased with the way I look in several of these pictures, I'm so glad I did this. I think my family will enjoy looking back at these (and probably laughing) in years to come. Hopefully I'll be back to my skinny self by that time and able to laugh at them, too. Ha. The last picture I have is when I was 35 weeks. I meant to take one in the hospital when I went in to have the boys at 37 weeks, but we got checked in so fast and started before I had the chance.

Week 22 - Not Pictured

From beginning to end...

Week 35

Oh my gosh, guys, it's been far too long since I've given an update. My mother informed me today that I needed to post a picture because she was sure that EVERYBODY was dying to see it. I don't know if she knows how to see how many (few) followers I have...haha. I love that she really thinks that EVERYBODY is as concerned about my life as she is. Moms are so great. I love her.

I've just been feeling sorry for myself (my huge, uncomfortable self) and letting myself get away with not doing the things I know I need to be doing. The lap top barely fits on my lap anymore (true story), so I have been avoiding it altogether. It's amazing how much you can do on an iPhone. Blogging, though, is unfortunately not one of those things.

I missed taking a picture of week 34 (tisk tisk), so here's the week 35 tummy picture:

To me, it looks just like the week 30 picture. And I KNOW I've gotten a lot bigger since then! Maybe it just feels that way. Or maybe it means that these baby boys have been growing "in" to my ribs and organs rather than "out." No wonder I'm grouchy and horrible to be around. Poor Marshall.

But there's good news! I went to the doctor yesterday and he scheduled me to be induced this coming Monday at 6:00 in the morning. Only 3 more days of pregnancy! I will be exactly 37 weeks along on that day. I know there are different schools of thought on the appropriateness of inducing labor, especially with twins, but I'm very on-board with this decision and am very excited to meet these boys!

Please keep us in your prayers through the weekend and especially on Monday. We pray for a short, successful, healthy delivery. We also pray that the babies' lungs are fully developed at this point and that they will be healthy and able to come home with us immediately. How blessed are we that we have gotten far enough along to be able to hope for those kinds of results with a twin pregnancy?!

I also pray that we have some clothes that will fit them. Ha. At the last ultrasound, they were measuring 7 lbs. 2 ounces and 6 lbs. 13 ounces. If they get much bigger than that, we can forget all those preemie clothes we bought with expectations of tiny babies!

Week 32

Week 32 Tummy Picture:

I also thought it would be fun to do a comparison of how I look right now in this pregnancy with how I looked at the very end of my pregnancy with Laney. I found a picture of the day I checked into the hospital to have Laney when I was exactly 39 weeks pregnant with her (the picture on the left). Then I took a picture in the exact same shirt at 32 weeks pregnant with the boys (the picture on the right). Pretty crazy how close they are! My face isn't nearly as swollen yet as it was with Laney, but my belly is getting pretty close to the same size. Can you imagine how big I would get if they let me go all the way to 39 weeks with the twins?! Luckily, I think 37 weeks will the the max. But still, that's 5 MORE WEEKS! It will be quite interesting to see just how big I get before I.....pop?

Week 30

It's the week 30 tummy pic. And I went all out on this one. I've been taking the easy way out and wearing my regular clothes in my tummy pictures for the past few months. This week, though, I wanted you to get the full (and I do mean FULL) effect, so I wore my tightest black maternity cami. I guess what I'm saying is I don't actually go out in public wearing this. Don't worry. And check out that face. Don't I look happy? What is this, a prison mug shot? I'm giving myself a pass on looking like an inmate, though, because I'm 30 weeks pregnant with twins. I'm giving myself a lot of "passes" these days. Just ask Marshall. I pretty much do what I want. I kind of feel like I have the same "do what I want" leisure as a really old person. I mean, who's gonna say anything about it? Not to me at least. Ha.

Week 28

So, I know I'm already 30 weeks along now, but here's the tummy pic from week 28:

I'm so big now that I constantly have the "old man pants" thing going on. In order for them to be big enough to go over my tummy, they are baggy in the hips, rear and legs. Now that I'm taking a good look at this picture, it's actually quite embarrassing. Ha! But I guess since I walked around like this all day (I tend to avoid mirrors), I shouldn't be shy about plastering it on my blog. Bless my heart.

And I feel just as big as I look. With Parker already measuring 3 pounds 12 ounces and Brooks measuring 3 pounds 7 ounces, I'm waddling around with over 7 pounds of "baby" in there. And the scary thing is that they will probably DOUBLE in size if we're lucky. My poor tummy will never look the same, I'm afraid! I can't deny that I'm counting down the days. When I went to the doctor most recently, he scheduled a c-section for June 6th (if I go that long). Brooks is currently breech (not head down), so it doesn't look like I'll be traditionally delivering them unless he flips around in the next few weeks. If he does flip, then we'll be able to decide which way to deliver.

The third trimester symptoms that have already been around for a while are still there - rib pain, back pain, shortness of breath, leg cramps and sleeplessness. Some new symptoms are also adding themselves to the list - heartburn, headaches, groin pains and swollen ankles. I bet I'm pretty miserable to be around. Ha. Well, I take that back. I actually hold it together most of the day, but then I'm REALLY miserable for Marshall to be around, for sure! He told me the other day that he thinks he's just as ready for this pregnancy to be over as I am. And I bet he's right.

I'm just ready. Ready to not be pregnant anymore. Ready to sleep on my stomach again. Ready to hold Laney on my hip like a normal mom. Ready to enjoy an adult beverage...or two...or six (I'm gonna have 3 kids, ya know!). It seems like I've been pregnant forever. It's bad. Marshall knows more about pregnancy than most of my female friends. I heard him explaining something to one of his guy friends the other day and he used the words "placental detachment." HAHA! His friend made this extremely grossed out face that Marshall didn't even notice. Poor Marsh is so up to his head in pregnancy and babies that he can barely have a normal conversation. Somebody save him.

Even though I'm really ready, I know these baby boys aren't, yet. So...7 more weeks it is. But I can't say I'll complain if it only ends up being 5 or 6 more weeks. :)

Week 30 tummy pic coming in a few days. Have a blessed week!

Week 26

Here's the week 26 tummy pic:

Though I look about "done," I've still got a ways to go! Hopefully we'll have at least 9 more weeks before the big day. But I'm wondering if I can take that many more weeks of these leg cramps, back pain and fatigue. I didn't think about the fact that being this big this early on would make me FEEL like I'm in my third trimester way before I should. I just keep reminding myself that every week more I can go is that much better for Parker & Brooks. It's amazing how much development takes place in even a few short days by this point in the pregnancy. I think I can....I think I can!

Even though I've hopefully got several more weeks, we've been going crazy around here trying to prepare for the boys' arrival in case it comes really early. I've put blogging on the back-burner lately because we've been in Spring Clean mode for about 3 weeks now. We're cleaning out closets, making trips to Goodwill, and trying to make room in our precious little house for these two new babies. I can't wait to post pictures of what we've been doing! Laney has a brand new big girl room, the boys' nursery is in the works, and we finally got our yard and back porch ready for spring/summer! Many posts to come.

I also have some Laney videos that I need to format and put on here! So...don't give up on me. I'll start posting more frequently again as soon as I can get the TAKS test behind me and feel a little more prepared for our boys' pending arrival. :)

Week 24

I'm back on track! Here are the week 24 tummy pics:

These pictures were taken on March 12th, my birthday. I turned 24. And I feel old. Probably not because 24 is that old, but more because I'll have THREE CHILDREN before I turn 25! Birthdays have become so lack-lustrous now that I'm older than 21, but it was a great day nonetheless. After I slept in, we went and picked up breakfast at McDonald's (one of my favorite things to do), then ran errands all day (another one of my favorite things to do). We finished the night off with dinner at at new restaurant in Clyde, TX, called Bonterra Blu. We'd heard a lot about this restaurant and it definitely lived up to the hype. It had a very neat, eclectic, Austin-y feel and great southwest/cajun food.

Marshall's birthday is the day before mine (I know, we're meant to be), so we've gotten to where we kind of lump the two occasions into one. I really like it because not everyone gets to share their birthday with someone special. It also gives us an excuse to "birthday" for an entire weekend. We can really stretch it out.

Now I have to give an update on Laney. She got tubes put in her ears by the ENT this past Monday. We were really nervous about the procedure, but it only ended up taking about 15 minutes in all. She was very unhappy right when she came out of the procedure room, but they swear it was only because of the groggy, disoriented feeling that she had due to the anesthesia wearing off. She's been doing great since then, though! We hope this will clear up her ears for good!

Missing Tummy Pic Apologies

Well hello, there! It looks like I've been slacking off on the blogging lately. I not only did not post a "week 22" tummy picture, but didn't even take one! I looked up yesterday to realize that I was already over 23 weeks along and had missed the opportunity. So here's a stand-in week 22 pic:

photo credit

JUST KIDDING! That's Kate Gosselin during her sextuplet pregnancy. Thank you, Kate Gosselin, for making me feel infinitely better about my pregnant body and less sorry for myself. I can always think, at least I'm not as big as you were. You go, girl.

The good news is, I'm nearly 24 weeks along already, so there's an actual tummy picture coming in just a few short days. And though I'm not Kate Gosselin big, I'm pretty darn big. People at work are already asking me, "How much longer do you have?!" You can tell they're expecting me to say a few weeks. They're shocked when I tell them that I still have 3 more months to go! And I promise I'll be sure to make all my scheduled tummy pic posts from here on out. Hopefully there will be about 7 more pictures before I'm done.

Here are the reasons why this week was too busy to even think about tummy pictures:

-Laney has double ear infections and the doctor has finally decided to put tubes in her ears on March 14th. I have mixed feelings about this.

-Laney came down with pink eye in BOTH eyes and had to be sent home from school. Poor baby.

-We've finally begun re-doing the guest bedroom into Laney's "big girl" room.

-Cheerleading tryouts began at school and stunting evaluations took up the whole night on Wednesday. The rest of the tryouts will take place next week.

-Marshall is burning the candle at both ends more than ever trying to balance work, grad school, and fatherhood. What a guy. So lucky to have him.

Boy oh Boy

We went to the doctor today and had the BIG gender-finding-out ultrasound. So I'm posting to announce that the twins are...drumroll, please...

TWO BABY BOYS!

We are so happy! At the beginning of this pregnancy, Marshall and I both said we didn't have a preference on if they were boys or girls because there would be wonderful things about either. But now that we're sure, here are some of the reasons why we can get really excited about boys:

-Laney will always be "baby girl."

-Marshall will continue to be sane and not be outnumbered 4 to 1.

-We won't be putting on THREE weddings in the future.

-We can finally take a break from some of that pink stuff.

-Boats, fish, cars, trucks, & dinosaurs.

AND we've almost nailed down the names. I'll post them as soon as we're sure! :) Have a wonderful night!

Week 20

I'm finally 20 weeks along! Half way there! Well, actually, I better be more than half way there considering that I shouldn't go the full 40 weeks. My doc promises he won't let me go past week 37 (if I make it that long). So this is more like the "20 weeks down, 17 weeks to go" point of my pregnancy. Still exciting. :)

And can you say "OH MY GOSH LOOK AT THAT TUMMY!?" I'm feeling SO pregnant. I wasn't feeling this pregnant with Laney until about month 6. Wow. I just can't even believe my eyes when I look at this picture. Since I don't get this wonderful side view of myself many times during the day, it's even a shock to me. The good news is that everything is looking great, the blood clot is getting smaller, and I didn't even have to go in to see my doctor this week. Our next appointment is with the maternal medicine specialist next Tuesday. And that's when we get to find out the gender of the twins for sure! FINALLY!! Soooo excited. We have a sneaking suspicion that they are two little identical boys. We shall see!

Now here are all the previous tummy pics for comparison's sake:

This next one is a very special picture. I'm pretty positive that it is the first one taken of just Marshall and me since Laney was born. Ha. BC (before children), you take pics of just you and your hubby all the time! Once those babies start coming along, though, it just doesn't happen. We had a little surprise date night this past Saturday and went to Perini's Steakhouse. I really need to wear this shirt more. It's way more flattering than the red one that I wore the next day to take the "week 20" picture in. :)

Week 18

Here's the week 18 tummy pic! A little shadowy, but you get the idea.

I'm going to the doctor tomorrow (I've been going weekly for about 5 weeks, now). This will be the first time I can say that the bleeding has lessened quite a bit. I hope that's great news! I would think that it would be. Things got really scary because of the "complications" in December, but with each passing week since, my doctor seems to feel better and better about things. Maybe tomorrow the blood clot will be gone (or much smaller) and this pregnancy will be more back to normal! Keep the prayers coming, please.

Now for the fun news: they're kicking! Or punching or rolling around. I'm not sure which, but I can for sure feel them moving! Marshall even got to feel them move the other day. This is way earlier than I felt Laney moving. I don't know if that's because this is my second pregnancy or because there's less room in there with twins. Probably a combination of both. I just can't wait to meet them! I can barely stand it that I have to wait 2 more weeks before we find out their gender for sure. I'm so ready to name them. That's when they become SO real!!

Well I'm signing off for the night. My goal was to get the playroom decorating finished this weekend. That didn't happen. I'm gonna go finish painting one of the canvases right now. Be back with pictures SOON!

Week 16

Here's the week 16 tummy picture. I edited this picture on Picnik and used the effect called "Holga-ish" because I definitely look...well...Holga-ish. Ha. I keep telling myself, "I'm so glad that I'm gaining weight and the babies are gaining weight!" Ya right. I guess I'll just laugh it off and use lots of Palmer's Stretch Mark Lotion.

On a more lovely note, Marshall and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary on January 10th! I still can't believe that this is my life - being married to my very best friend and living together and doing life together. Can you believe it's already been two years? Or can you not believe it hasn't been more? I can't decide which way I feel. It just seems like SO much has happened in 2 years. Because it has!

We got engaged:

Got married:

Found out we were pregnant:

Went through an entire pregnancy:

Had baby Laney:

Laney turned a year old:

And we were pregnant again by the time this picture was taken:

WOW!

It's a good thing mine and Marshall's love story began a lot further back than 2 years ago. It began 8 years ago. When I was 15. And I'd like to go back and tell that 15-year-old Melanie, "Nice choice! This turns out really wonderfully. You are so so lucky." I probably could have used that at that time. :)

Week 14

Here's the week 14 tummy picture! I posted the previous ones, too. I'm definitely getting a belly now. I heard two of my male students at school talking about how big my tummy got over Christmas- ha! I love freshmen. They'll say anything. I just appreciate that they didn't mention any other parts of my body expanding.

Other news in pregnancy: I got 2 new pairs of "A Pea in the Pod" maternity pants! Very excited about these. Heidi Klum endorses them and raves about them. And I'm absolutely sure this means that if I wear them, I'll be ready to strut the Victoria Secret runway 6-weeks after delivery, too. Just like Heidi! Thanks for your secret, girl.