Red nose reindeer

Avery is very creative. One night she made a red nose and tail, taped them on herself, and decided she would be a reindeer. She asked me to make her some antlers to wear. She was a reindeer for days. It was so much fun that Evan decided to do it too. He isn't as into pretending as her but she must have been convincing.

Cute kids

We went this past week to get A&E hair cuts. We hadn't been since before Andy left and Evan was complaining that his hair was long (ummm he's brainwashed into thinking he needs a military cut). It did need cleaned up around the edges so I agreed. I left it longer than Andy does though. Avery needed a trim too. They love to get their hair cut. Evan requested spikes when she was done. These were my cute dates for lunch afterward.

Center time

A&E were out of school the entire week of Thanksgiving. Nine days (including weekends), is a long time when they are used to being busy at school all day. It was nice not setting the alarm and not packing lunches. I think we'll all be glad when Monday gets here though. Since I'm not feeling well, I had to get creative to keep them busy. We decided to do centers every day. I would set up 4 activities each morning and they would rotate through them. It served 3 purposes: learning, it kept them away from each other so they weren't fighting, and it kept them busy.
Reindeer Avery (I'll do a post about this but it is her own creative idea) playing play doh

Avery finished a Kindergarten workbook

Evan working on his workbook

Evan finished his workbook too!

We also had puzzles, blocks, tangrams, computer, painting, and word building/phonics centers. They acted surprised that I could set up centers. Apparently they don't remember life being at home with me all day.

23 weeks

Yay! 23 weeks pregnant. At this point with A&E, I was in the hospital on bedrest. No cravings this week except soda (although the carrot cake we had at Thanksgiving dinner was awesome). That has been my #1 craving this time around but I don't drink it anymore. I haven't had a soda in a year. I do drink sweet tea and occasionally a sprite but I don't count those as soda.
Evan felt sprout kick the other night. It was so sweet. Avery won't hold still long enough to feel. I'm sure she'll feel it soon because this baby is definitely growing and getting stronger.

I had acupuncture again this week. It did NOT go well to say the least. I tried sitting up this time and could see the needles hanging out of my arm and wrists. I had a panic attack and had to get the chiro to put the table down so I could lay down. They are embarrassing and panic attacks make me feel awful for the entire day. Thankfully A&E were staying with my friend and she kept them a couple extra hours so I could come home and rest. I also had the chiropractor put tacks in my wrist to leave in. It is a small band-aid square that has a tiny wire attached. They are stuck to my wrists and I have to massage them to prevent nausea.

They look like this

So I'm walking around with those stuck to my wrists. The results actually lasted longer this time. I didn't feel nauseous enough to take medicine until today. It was so nice to feel like eating and we were able to put up the tree! I have another appointment next week. I'm nervous but I will do it again just for the relief.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We had a lazy morning at home working on our thankful turkeys while we watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Avery's thankful list: family, friends, my teachers, my toys, my pets, food, & my playset

Evan's thankful list: Murphy, Mom, Daddy, Joey, & Avery

My thankful list: Andy, Avery, Evan, Murphy & Joey, family & friends



This afternoon we went to a friend's house and had a potluck style Thanksgiving. There were more kids than adults (7 kids under the age of 7) so it was pretty loud and crazy. We made it home to watch the last half of the Cowboys vs Redskins game and chat with Andy. Even the daddy dolls got in the mood for Thanksgiving.

Letters to Santa

A&E wrote their letters to Santa last week because Santa's elves would like to finish making the toys early. ;) Thankfully there were only 2 things that Santa didn't expect.



Avery asked for a lalaloopsy doll, Jasmine squinkies, and a guitar (which she still calls a ducar). Evan asked for a wrestling ring, a wwe wrestler, and a Batman Wii game.
I think Santa can handle that. :)

School pics

I like how their school pics turned out. I didn't have my hopes up and expected to need retakes for Evan because he had little red bumps on his nose from picking at it and I wasn't going to pay for retouching. Apparently they retouch the photos even if you don't pay. I will remember that in the future.

22 weeks

Woo hoo! 22 weeks pregnant (well a bit more now since I think I hit that mark on Friday). Still nauseous, still growing, and still tiiiired.

Sprout's Big U/S

I had an ultrasound last Monday for the halfway through pregnancy anatomy scan. I kind of came up with that title on my own. I didn't peek. I looked while the doc was measuring the head and showed me the heartbeat but I looked away when he went lower. He wrote down the gender and put it in an envelope. It is now locked in the safe so it isn't as tempting.

The doc measured sprout's head and made sure the arms and legs were there and showed me the heartbeat. That was the extent of my ultrasound. This visit was hopefully my last with my current ob and I will be seeing someone new starting in December. I'm just not happy with how laid back (and lazy, IMO) he is and I expect more. I am hoping my new ob will be much more thorough.

Stick a fork (or needle) in me

Desperate times call for desperate measures.... After a few rough days last week I decided I couldn't take the nausea any longer. I made an appointment for acupuncture with my chiropractor (I had already discussed it with my current ob (that is a different post) and my chiro). To say I was scared is putting it mildly. I am terrified of needles. I can't look while getting a shot or blood drawn. I couldn't even research info online for long because it started to make me panic. I kept giving myself pep talks and the chance of relief was enough to make me go through with it.
I went in and she had me lay on the adjustment table so I could lay face down with a big gap for my baby bump to hang. It felt strange when she tapped them in but once I calmed down, I couldn't feel them. I did move and shift one that I felt but it was annoying more than painful. She put a needle in the side of my forearm, my wrist, between my thumb & finger, and some in the back of my neck. Then I had to lay there forever. I'm not sure how long it actually was but the entire time my body just felt heavier and heavier. My face was pressing in the table so hard that it hurt so I had to ask for a pillow. My body was so uncomfortable by the time I was done. (I looked this up later and many people either feel very heavy or feel light like they are floating) She suggested next time I just sit up for it since I can't lay on my back right now. It stung a bit when she took them out and I felt kind of lightheaded afterward and very tired. I came home and laid around the rest of the day.
Miraculously it worked. I wasn't nauseous the entire day. I kept waiting for the feeling to hit and it never did. I was even more tired than usual (which is normal for the first few sessions). I go back next Wednesday for another session. Maybe I can relax more this time.
Sadly the relief only lasted a day. I am nauseous again today. It was great while it lasted. I hope with each session, the relief lasts longer. I realized yesterday that I have been nauseous every single day for the pat 18+ weeks. No wonder I am so exhausted (on top of normal pregnancy exhaustion). That is over 125 days that at some point (or really most of the day), I felt sick. That really wears a person down. I need acupuncture to relieve that! Here's hoping!!!

If it fits, it ships

I'm not sure I could actually ship Evan all the way to Andy but there are moments when it crosses my mind. ;)

These boxes kept A&E busy for a weekend. They let me sleep in Saturday morning while they decorated the boxes. Sunday they were Target practice. I think I may just get them boxes for Christmas.

Lucky girl

I think Avery inherited Andy's good luck. We went to Cici's pizza for lunch the other day and A&E each got $1 to spend on games. I tried to talk Avery out of playing this claw game and told her that people rarely win anything. She made the choice to play anyway and won. First time ever playing the claw game.

21 weeks

I actually set up my real camera and took some pics of the baby bump. It's a small miracle considering I have had a rough few days feeling sick (again). I am 21+weeks pregnant! Woo hoo! I've survived this long. :) I was having cramping a few days ago and went to my doc to get checked. He said all was well and diagnosed it as growing pains. I feel the baby more now, especially when I am relaxing. A&E haven't been able to feel him/her kick yet. They talk to my belly sometimes and love to talk about names.

Avery helped me focus the camera and set it up with her own belly pic lol


It looks bigger from this angle

Happy birthday, Andy

It's tough when we can't be together for birthdays and holidays. We made this for Andy to wish him a happy birthday!

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

Twin power gets the goal

Evan assists his own goal

Avery scoring a goal

End of season Fall 2012

A&E had their last soccer game on Saturday. I'm not going to lie. I'm so glad this season is over. We were at the field 3 days a week and I was burnt out.

The moms decided to try our hand at individual and team pics. I haven't seen the others but here is what I took of A&E.

Here they are the morning before their last game

We had their party at a local frozen yogurt place after the game. The kids each got a trophy and coach Nick gave them each an individual certificate.
Avery had the sweetest disposition award for her good attitude

Evan had the hard charger award for always giving 100%