Emerging from the fog.

The last flower?, originally uploaded by lydurs.

I think it's finally over. This time for real. I'm out of the morning sickness and complete exhaustion phase. I really am this time and I'm so very happy to feel like myself again!

I can actually accomplish a daily to do list now without a huge struggle. My house is starting to look relatively clean and orderly again. I venture out of the house to do things like the grocery shopping and errand running. Those trips were few and far between for many weeks and only when necessary. Thankfully, my husband picked up the slack.

And the best part of this timing? Spring is hopefully just around the corner. Hopefully....

Blog Award

My friend and talented artist, Som, awarded me with this blog award several weeks ago and due to my laziness (or lets call it the first trimester induced haze), I never got around to posting it. Sorry, my friend!!

So, as an award recipient, my duties are to list five things that I'm currently addicted to and then pass the award onto five other people. So, here goes:

Five things I'm currently addicted to:

1) My kids
2) My new camera and learning how to use it
3) Design blogs
4) Planning for baby #3
5) My morning coffee (only half of a cup now due to #4)

Five people I'm passing this award to:

1) Therese
2) Angela
3) Aimee
4) Alli
5) Brooke

V-Day Weekend

We've had a wonderfully lazy weekend. The kids spent the night at my parents on Friday, which meant Gene and I could go out for an early Valentine's Day dinner. We were home by 8 pm and I think Gene was in bed by 9 pm. What exciting lives we lead these days. Although, I guess partying the night away with your pregnant wife is just not in the cards.

Speaking of pregnant, I'm fourteen weeks now. Seems that the first ten weeks went by so slowly and now they're flying by so fast I'm having a hard time keeping track. I am certainly noticing the expanding waistline, however. I had a ton of "after twins" pants packed away that were two sizes too big. Fortunately, I had not gotten around to getting rid of them because they've recently come in very handy. They should last another few weeks, hopefully, and at that point I'll have to dig out the maternity clothes, I guess.

After posting that oh so cute matchbox idea earlier this week, I just had to give it a try. EJ and Olivia had their V-Day party at school on Friday so in additional to their cards, I made up little candy boxes. They were really easy and I love how they turned out. I think I'll use this idea for other occasions in the future. B-day favors, anyone?

I've been having a lot of fun with the new camera and couldn't be happier with my choice. I still have a very steep learning curve but am loving the end result. Here are a few photos from the weekend. Olivia is sporting her new Valentine jewelry from Grandma and Grandpa. EJ's sporting no jewelry but I had to throw a couple shots of him in here, too.





I'm off to run some errands before the rest of the weekend gets away from me. I wish it was warmer but that's a whole other post for another day.

Valentines

LOVE this idea



Hmmmmm, we already have our Valentines done but they're definitely not as cool as these. Party is Friday. Is there enough time?

False Alarm

...or false relief. It's still here. The morning sickness, that is. Although I really shouldn't call it morning sickness because it's all day sickness. All day sickness that intensifies and is worse at night. So, I guess I should be thankful that I had a day off. Maybe my body is moving in that direction, anyway. Here's hoping.

I did, however, buy a new lens, a bag and memory card for my camera. So, I guess that outweighs the return of my evening sickness and all in all, it was a good day.

Is it over??

Is it over? Is it over? Just like that? A flick of a switch?

I woke up this morning and to my amazement?? I felt good. Maybe not pre-pregnancy good, but really good. I wasn't still exhausted, even though I had slept 9 hours. And, I wasn't sick. Wow. So, I spent the day waiting for it to hit. And.... I'm happy to report that I'm still waiting.

I cleaned the house (at least somewhat). Made french toast (the good kind with cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla). Did the dishes. Dressed the kids. Made lunch. We went outside and I shoveled (yes shoveled) the driveway and the walks. Wow. Put the kids down for a nap and I will admit that I took one too. But, after the shoveling, I needed it, I guess.

Got us up from our naps, made jambalaya for dinner and after? I made oatmeal chocolate chip (w/ peanut butter) cookies. I told Gene it was a treat for the kids but in all honesty, while it was indeed a treat for them, it was for me as well and I was craving them.

Speaking of cravings, I don't really remember having any with the twins. This time, however, I've been suffering from one steady craving. Tomato and swiss sandwiches. They came about as an accident one day as I was trying to make a tuna sandwich and while in the middle of preparing, I discovered that Gene had finished off the tuna salad. So, I ate the sandwich minus the tuna - which turned out to be swiss, mayo, and lots of tomatoes on wheat bread. It was heavenly. Ever since then, I've been known to have a couple in one day. I'll eat them at night, in the morning, anytime. And, I pile the tomatoes so high I can barely bite into the sandwich. I guess I should be thankful this is my one steady craving. It could have been chocolate milkshakes.

Thoughts of Baby

I think it's really starting to sink in. Now that the initial shock is over, the idea that I'm having a baby is finally real and I'm now feeling myself switching into high gear organization mode. You'd think with having twins I would be all set, but things like a single stroller are a must have item. Guess I can sell the two doubles that I have now.

My to do lists and to buy lists are starting to, at least mentally, be created. Thoughts of the design of the nursery, paint colors and bedding are popping into my head. Names? Haven't even started thinking about names and honestly, I don't want to. I think picking names is the hardest part of it all and I'm not looking forward to it. Everything else? Thankfully, with already having a boy and a girl, and having two of most everything, I *should* have most of what I need.

I'm nearing the end of the first trimester and I think that I'm starting to feel a bit better. I seem to be less tired and a little less sick... although that could just be wishful thinking. I go next Friday for an ultrasound. It's part of the list of tests that they recommend I have now that I'm the ripe old age of 35 and considered to be "advanced maternal age". Yippee. To be honest, I would have skipped the test but I really enjoy having ultrasounds and the more times I can see my baby and know that all is ok, the happier I am. So, of course, I agreed.

Given that I'll only be 12 weeks at the time of the ultrasound, any gender predictions will not be guaranteed. But, it still will be nice to take a peek. I'm convinced that I'm having a girl and can't wait to know for sure. Given that I have a boy and girl now, however, I have no preference.

I finally got around to creating a page last night. I'm vowing to do this baby's book as it comes so that I'm not overwhelmed with a huge project after the fact. Which could be why the twins books are not completed yet, and they're going to be four in two months. Oops! Here's the first page:



We had an ultrasound done Christmas Eve day and this was it. I was only six weeks and three days at the time which is why you can barely make out the little blur that is a baby. But, we saw the heartbeat, which was the best Christmas present we could have been given. Now I'm just looking forward to next week's scan and the reassurance that all is going well.