3.25.2011

A Happy Announcement




These pictures were taken about two minutes after Max's birth, which was about eleven minutes after my life changed in the most amazing, miraculous way. Christian and I couldn't be any happier to be parents; our babies are perfect. I kind of thought it would never happen, like the human beings people kept telling me were in my belly actually only existed in my imagination. After a few days of seeing their tiny faces, getting to smell their wonderful downy little heads, and feeling their fingers wrap around mine, it's starting to sink in. I love them so much I can hardly stand it.

P.S. We call the boy-face child "Max."

3.09.2011

This Is My Life Right Now

I've been talking to a lot of people recently about being on bed rest. People are interested in hearing about bed rest, and I'm interested in interacting with real-life humans, or basically something other than my laptop. {Even though I love my laptop -- it's a huge lifesaver. And not like a huge candy Life Saver, although that sounds kind of good right now.} So I thought I'd try to explain what life is like for me, 32 weeks pregnant with twins and on modified bed rest.

Point 1: I don't sleep well at night. I get up between six and ten times every night to use the bathroom -- remember how the nurses in the hospital told me to keep hydrated, but also empty my bladder right away? At least it's easier than trying to sleep through contractions. Add in the fact that I'm generally uncomfortable, meaning that I switch my sleeping position a lot. This constant up-and-down-and-roll-over routine isn't very much fun, but it is {I rationalize} readying me for nights with new babies. I'm also grateful that I get to sleep in my own bed, next to my very own husband.

Point 2: Bed rest can be boring and frustrating. People say, "Do you watch a lot of TV? That sounds like fun. I wish I could watch TV all day." While watching TV might indeed be fun for a whole day if you were on vacation, it's not enjoyable as a lifestyle. I try to instead spend my time on activities that are more productive -- crafts I can do from the couch, correspondence, working with blog designs, reading, and cultivating my taste on Pinterest {my new favorite site}. I make to-do lists of things that need to be completed before the babies come, and figure out who could help me with each task. The more active my mind, the fewer emotional breakdowns I experience. I try to remember that if I'm not getting anything else done, at least I'm always gestating, which is the most important thing I can do.

Point 3: I like to get out more than ever. I think you'll understand that staring at the same four walls all day can start to feel a little stale, and I enjoy getting out of the house when I can. My sweet mother-in-law took me to get my hair cut yesterday and then out to lunch, and {even though it turns out I locked myself out of the house in the process} it absolutely made my day. Christian has been very considerate about staying extra-late at family dinner, which we now attend every week, because I want to be around people; I'm trying to convince him to drive me to a friend's house 40 minutes west of Raleigh so I can attend our monthly game night.

Point 4: People are awesome. Christian and I are surrounded by wonderful friends, family, and members of our ward who have been just so kind and supportive. We have dinner brought over at least twice a week, we have family members who regularly come over to visit with me and make sure I'm not going crazy, and friends who offer their help in whatever way is needed. My dad didn't mind the other day when I called to ask a question and ended up keeping him on the phone for 15 extra minutes, because I needed to talk to someone.

I only have a few more weeks to go, and I'm doing it for two of my very most favorite people in the world. Really, it hasn't been so bad, especially when this is my view:

3.04.2011

Book of Mormon Goals & Neon Crayons



Christian is doing an excellent job helping me reach our New Year's goal of reading the entire Book of Mormon again before the babies come. He created and printed out a calendar to track how many pages we should have read by the end of each day, and is even letting me color in the days with crayons. You can't tell from the pictures I took {I went more for interesting than informative}, but we haven't missed a day so far!

There's a good chance the babies will end up coming before our scheduled finish, which is set for April 15th. I told Christian he could read me the last chapters as I'm in labor in the hospital, but I think we all know that I don't know what I'm talking about when it comes to labor. I might end up throwing things at him if he tries to read to me. And really, as long as we do our best, I'm going to consider this endeavor a success. {Mostly to the credit of my awes-credible husband. I don't brag on him often, but I wanted to take this opportunity.}

One final thing I've realized while coloring in the calendar: I seriously hate neon crayons. I try to pick out the colors I use randomly, while still not using the same ones too often, but I feel like 50 percent of the time I come up with a neon color. And I hate neon crayons. They don't look nice with other crayon colors. Mostly they don't look nice at all. Why does Crayola even make them? I think next time I go to color in a few calendar squares, I'm going to pick out all of our neon crayons and throw them away. And then I'll bias our children against neon crayons.