Bring on more pink!

Yep, it's another girl. German is ecstatic! I think he likes the idea of being surrounded by worshipping girls and having no other male around to compete with his good looks (I think it's the macho Latino blood in him--haha). I was so happy to find out about our two girls, but I have to be honest--this time I really wanted a boy. Hopefully, this is common and of course I'll get over it soon. I've always said I'd much prefer all girls over all boys. But I was looking forward to a little momma's boy and I was hoping to not have to pick out another girl name, we promised German's grandpa we'd name a boy after him a long time ago. I guess this means we'll just have to try again. Any girl name suggestions? I am very anti-trendy names, meaning I don't want many others to have the same name.

Soooo, I know I really shouldn't feel this way and I am grateful for another healthy baby on the way. Especially after wanting and trying to have children for so long and being blessed with this pregnancy. I do feel a bit guilty, but hey this is my blog and I have to be honest. Am I the only one out there who has felt this way? (???Jenny A, Brittany F, Kim B, Lindsey P, Darlene R, Wendy F???) Maybe I am, but like I said I'll get over it. I adore our beautiful girls and PINK! I look forward to playing princesses and talking about boys and getting pedicures all together someday. I think I am already getting over it!

Tuesday twin tidbit

Today I met with my friend Erin at Murray Park. It was the first time going without German's help. And it was so great to see Erin, but I don't think I can do that again until the girls get older....I am exhausted. They were running everywhere and of course in opposite directions. I kept trying to keep an eye on them both and chase them around because they aren't quite big enough to go off and play on their own. Thankfully, Erin was able to help me out, but I wish we could have just sat down and chatted more.

They love going down the slides, but they can't climb up to them by themselves, so I'd lift them to the top of the slide and let them go down--after 5-6 times I was done. They also like trying to climb up the slides from the bottom. Poor Lucy was trying to climb up one and all of a sudden a big kid comes flying down. Erin and I grabbed her away just in time, but he still nicked her in the face a little with his foot and she screamed. It's scary to think about because it could've been a lot worse, it was a steep slide and he was coming fast--mean big kids!

Then we walked around with the kids in strollers, but the girls are pretty heavy and I was getting so out of breath, I'm a wimp! Lastly, we headed to the swings, but while Lucy was in the swing Audrey kept running away and I'd chase after her and have to carry her back. She definitely has no separation or stranger anxiety. She just wants to get away on her own--I bet she'll want to move out when she's twelve. Then when I took Lucy out of the swing, Audrey ran off again, so I went to chase her and Lucy just had to follow me. I tried to get them both to walk back, but nooooo, they both had to fall to the ground dragging their feet. I ended up picking them up (all 53 pounds) and carrying them back like footballs because they were both kicking and screaming and trying to get down. We were only there for about an hour, but it was enough for me--my back was killing me!!! Oh, and it was real fun trying to get them in their car seats while arching their backs and screaming. They did go right to sleep when we got home, but Audrey is cutting both her canine teeth and woke up crying after only 45 minutes. Oh well, no nap for me.

(happy Lu on the swing)

Thank you Erin for helping me out so much! It was great to see you and your beautiful girls. Next time we'll have to go somewhere that keeps my little animals corralled. I don't think I'll attempt that again by myself until they are older. It will be so nice when they can get out of the car by themselves because they are getting way too heavy for me to lift. (I actually went to the chiropractor when German got home from work today because something was out of whack and I couldn't breathe without pain.)

(Can you tell how much Audrey loves having to sit on my lap?)

(Audrey was running away, I love how Soraya says "Hey look--there she goes!")

Tuesday twin tidbit

The girls had their 15 month checkup yesterday and they are in the 90th percentile for weight and height. Lucy is 32.5 inches tall and weighs 26 lbs 12 oz and Audrey is 33 inches tall and 26 lbs 7 oz. Yesterday was actually warm and sunny, so we headed to the park. This was the first time the girls were able to climb around and go down the slides all by themselves. They loved it and took an awesome nap afterwards (so did mom). I seriously cannot wait for warmer weather, these girls love to go outside. All we have to say is afuera (outside) and they run to grab their shoes and get so giddy.

Audrey has been experimenting a lot lately. She loves throwing objects up into the air over and over and over again--blocks, blankies, toothpaste boxes, bathtub toys, etc. And Lucy loves coming to find us when we run and hide somewhere. The astonishing thing is that they NEVER seem to get tired of it. Oh, I also felt the baby fluttering this week and that is always fun. We are getting anxious to find out the sex of this baby...I want to give it a name already!

Tuesday twin tidbit

Some of you already know this, but German lost his job back in October. Thankfully, we had food storage, low rent and some savings, so we have been surviving just fine. Today, he was just offered a great job and will start next week. I know I should be happier (and I am glad), but I am going to miss him TERRIBLY! This time together as a family has been so sacred and so wonderful and probably will never happen again. It really has been such a blessing. He has been able to spend tons of time at home with the girls and has helped me out immensely. With me being sick, I seriously would not have survived without him. I think the girls and I will be in mourning for the first few days and then we'll just have to get used to it. We all love daddy so much.

Lucy got a double ear infection over the weekend, but she is now doing much better with antibiotics. It really is amazing how deeply I love my girls and how I would easily give my life for their well-being. It is more powerful than anything I have ever felt before. I am such a lucky mom to have them. I am feeling much better, but I still get waves of blahness now and again. I can't wait until that all goes away and I'm just big and uncomfortable. At this same point in my pregnancy with the twins, I was three inches bigger around my waist and had gained 11 more pounds than I have so far with this one. Sorry no pics of the girls today, unfortunately, German and I have not taken any new pictures for awhile, but I plan to get a video of Audrey's climbing skills and Lucy's speaking skills soon. I will post a couple of pics of the food I have been craving and wishing I could eat, lately.

(Bariloche, Argentina-- November 2006)

German and I visited Argentina back in 2006 and we stayed in beautiful Bariloche for four days of our month long vacation. We found this restaurant called El Boliche de Alberto and it was AMAZING! Luckily, we found it our first day there and we went back everyday because it was soooo dang good. It was homemade Italian/Argentine food. We got ravioli, gnocchis, lasagna and other yummy stuff. But the best part of all was this dessert called La Copa Alberto (Alberto's cup). It has a bottom layer of homemade amazing whip cream, then a layer of deliciously rich dulce de leche (milk caramel), then another layer of whip cream and topped with sweetened juicy raspberries. Oh man, I would do anything to be able to eat that dessert right now!

(lasagna and raviloi dishes)

(LA COPA ALBERTO in all its wondrous glory)

(and me in heaven)

Tuesday twin tidbit--Happiest 7 years!!!

The girls hair is getting so long, but they won't sit still very well, so I have a hard time doing anything with it. Most of the time it's just in their eyes because when I do try to do something they usually yank out what ever I put in--I love their hair though. The girls are also learning new words. Lucy has learned to say hot, dadee, bye, and no. Which must mean I say 'no' way too often. Audrey also likes to say hot, bye bye, and hi. They make a bunch of other crazy sounds, too, but I can't figure out what they are trying to say. They also are learning to give kisses and it is so cute.

Yesterday German and I celebrated our seven year anniversary! I sure love him a whole bunch. Last week my mom stayed with the girls while we went to get couple massages and it was AWESOME! I highly recommend it and it's def something we want to do again soon. Then last night we had a gift certificate to Macaroni Grill and enjoyed a dinner out alone. We talked about our plans to visit Italy and Greece someday, oh and also go on Mediterranean cruise. Who knows when that will be possible, but it sure is fun to talk about. I look forward to another 50+ years of marital bliss.

Tuesday twin tidbit

Well, since I've been sick the girls have been watching more TV than I'd like to admit. German found this show on PBS and the girls LOVE it. All we have to do when they are acting cranky is say 'SUPERWHY' and their faces light up and then they run to the TV. They love dancing to this theme song and are completely content and quiet for 30 whole minutes.

Tuesday twin tidbit

Last week I missed posting because I was throwing up everyday and feeling yuck all day long. I have not felt like doing anything, but I think I am finally starting to get over this. Yesterday I actually cleaned and cooked a little bit.

The girls are napping and I am sitting here now listening to President Obama's inaugural speech. I must admit, I can't help but be charmed by this man. I honestly look forward to seeing him prove himself in office and I have hope in his abilities and character. It may seem silly, but I tend to focus alot on the personal life of our political leaders--at least on what I read and how their personal lives appear. Most importantly, I tend to scrutinize the wife because we all know that every great man must have an even greater wife! My all time favorite first ladies are Nancy Reagan and Barbara Bush. I do really like Laura Bush, as well, and I am already in love with Michelle Obama. She seems to be a caring mother and devoted wife, not to mention her intelligence, strength and beauty. I look forward to witnessing what the future unfolds.

Anyway, the girls are really getting good at riding their zebra horsey Christmas present from my sister. Lucy really likes to do the "bucking bronco" style, while Audrey is still pretty mellow. She likes to give her giant stuffed animal friends a ride, although I think she just uses them as padding for when she falls off. Here they are in action.

Tuesday twin tidbit

Sorry I missed last Tuesday, but I have not been feeling well and figured Monday's post was good enough. Poor Audrey has been sick this past week, but today she is feeling much better demonstrated by her playfulness. It started with a low fever on New Year's Eve, but on Friday her temperature got up to 102, so we took her to the pediatrician's office. The nurse practitioner found nothing wrong with her and after way too much poking and prodding told us she "thought that maybe" it was an ear infection just starting, but she wasn't sure. She ended up prescribing amoxicillin and we left the office quite frustrated not knowing exactly what was wrong. Finally, her fever went away on Sunday and we thought she was all better, but then yesterday afternoon she broke out in a rash/hives all over her neck, chest and back. German took her to the Urgent Care last night and told the doctor everything that had happened. He checked her ears and said they were fine and to stop the amoxicillin, he diagnosed it as roseola. It was comforting to finally know what she had and today she seems completely better. We're so glad she is no longer sick, but I am going to miss how lovey and cuddly she was with German and me. She constantly wanted to be held (mostly by dad) and would snuggle up on our lap or she'd just walk up and hug our legs. And it was soo cute to see Lucy's concerned face when her little sister cried. She is such a great big sister and is always bringing Audrey her blankie or sharing toys with her. Audrey does not share as well and really doesn't seem to give Lucy the time of day.

(sick girls love to cuddle)

Another cute tidbit about Lucy this week was I had to run into the bathroom to empty the contents of my stomach and I didn't have time to close the bathroom door all the way. Poor Lucy pushed the door open and saw her sick mommy on her knees. I looked over quickly and saw the fear and shock in her eyes, she looked so worried. It was cute and sad at the same time. In between heaves I tried to reassure her by telling her I was ok and to go play (and to stay away from me). Hopefully, she wasn't too traumatized--I've got to make sure I close the door all the way next time.

Earlier last week we got to see our awesome friends the Shelleys who are home visiting family for the holidays and I got to snug on their cute little almost 6 month old Porter. He is just too cute (and so is Liz)! Babies are so much fun...

Christmas and the day after

On Christmas Eve we went to my sister's house for a delicious Christmas dinner with my family. I love ham!

The girls danced the night away to Christmas music with cousins Dayton & Ellie and my mom was loving every minute. I think their favorite toy is the bounce & spin zebra from my sister. It's always nice to relax and enjoy time with family--if only I wasn't feeling so nauseous.















The day after Christmas was eventful. In the afternoon my whole left arm started tingling and feeling a bit numb. I waited about 30 minutes and started getting worried when it wasn't going away. It got really stiff and started turning a purplish tint. I called my OB's office and they recommended I go to the emergency room. They did an ultrasound of my arm and after four hours I was diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis (i.e. blood clot) in my upper arm. They gave me shots of Lovenox in my belly, which is a fast acting anti-coagulator and told me to come back Saturday and Sunday for more shots. My arm is still a little stiff, but it feels much better. Today I talked to my OB's office and was prescribed more Lovenox shots that I have to give to myself twice a day for the rest of this pregnancy. They don't know what caused it, but apparently blood clots are fairly common during pregnancy. Thanks once again to all those lovely hormones. My sister had a pulmonary embolism caused by the birth control patch a few years ago, which is much more serious, and she almost died. She also has to do Lovenox shots because she is pregnant right now. I haven't talked to my doctor directly yet, but I may have to do these shots during future pregnancies as well. Anyone out there ever had this or know someone it's happened to and can give me some advice? The strangest thing to me is that I had a twin pregnancy with zero complications. Oh well...I guess all these things shall give us experience.

Fun in the snow

We thought you would enjoy these fun pics of the girls in their new winter coats. We've had storm after storm and more to come Enjoy...and Merry Christmas!

Happy Birthday Amy!

Today is my sister's birthday. She bought the girls these cute Christmas outfits and the girls loved them. They wanted to say thanks and we hope you are having a fantastic day! We love you...

One cute little peanut...

I got to see the cute little peanut today. That's right, just one--thank goodness! Seeing the little heartbeat fluttering away is seriously the most amazing thing. It def made things much more real and of course I cried.
~tangent~
I cannot fathom how anyone can consider terminating a pregnancy after seeing a heartbeat. It blows my mind that abortion is legal in this country before 12 weeks. In some European countries it's legal up to 22 weeks--crazy! Just because it may not be viable, does not mean it isn't a living and valuable being. What is wrong with people??? I will never understand the whole women have the right to choose argument--they made a choice to conceive. That's it. That was their choice and sometimes there are consequences. I know I am ranting here, but I am sooo pro-life. Here's my bit of controversy, I would even go so far to always advocate adoption over abortion. Though I understand the whole thing about when women didn't have the choice (i.e. rape/incest), but choosing to terminate a life is serious stuff. Having the child and giving it up for adoption could turn a very terrible event into something beautiful and could bless so many lives for good.
~tangent~
Anyway, sorry about my tangent, it's just my opinion and well this is my blog! :) I already love our little peanut and I can't wait to reunite him/her with the girls.

Tuesday twin tidbit

German and I have celebrated seven Christmases together and have never had a tree. We've actually never decorated for any holiday, really. We're lame. But this year, thanks to my sister who let us borrow some extra lights and decorations, we decided to buy a real tree. We all went to pick it out and it smells wonderful--we love it! Thanks Amy!

The girls wearing Christmas outfits from Nona Betty to church. Of course, we already lost one of the berets, so Audrey wore a bow.

Lucy loves to show off her cute belly!

Christmas music dancing...we love our girls, they are so much fun!

Tuesday twin tidbit

Our girls are getting so big...
I've been trying to teach the girls to point out parts of their face and make animal sounds. And German is teaching them Spanish words with actions like lengua (stick tongue out), manitos (wave hands) & ojitos (blink eyes). We're worried their first language will be very Spanglishy. I speak mostly English to them with a little bit of Spanish and German speaks mostly Spanish with some English. Poor little things are probably so confused. It's a good thing kids are smart enough to figure it out eventually on their own.

Moab 10K (aka 6.2 miles)

We did it! We survived the roadtrip with the girls and the race. The scenery was beautiful and the weather was perfect. German did awesome...his time was 44:26 and he finished 66th out of 481 people! This was his first race and he loved it. He wants to train and do the half marathon in March. I thought I would have to walk the whole time, but luckily I felt great and even shaved almost two minutes off my 10K time I ran in September. I finished in 76:05 and well, only 38 people finished after me, but hey I am almost 8 weeks prego. The girls had fun playing with Nana Gail and Grandpa Jim at the hotel, thanks again for chasing them around and taking care of them for us!

So, these pics were taken just after I finished the race (FYI-I was trying to make a heart over the baby in my belly in case you were wondering). I look exhausted and poor German had already been done for over 30 minutes. He eventually ran back to find me and see if I was ok. He's so sweet and helped me push my last mile. Have I mentioned before that I love him alot? We both want to do more races together in the future, maybe we'll do this same race again next December.

Tuesday twin tidbit

On Saturday our good friends, the Christensen's stopped by to visit us with their two cutey little boys. I wanted to get a picture of her boys with our girls, but of course I forgot to take one before the girls went down for their nap. Aren't Jackson & Blake so cute? It was great to see them, thanks for coming over! I loved seeing the little baby...can't believe we're going to have another one of those.

Here are some random pics we took today of the girls playing on the couch.

Dad is sooo much fun!

Audrey all worn out...

Friday I'm in love...

I'm in love with being pregnant. I still can't believe it. That is until a wave of nausea hits me and oh yeah. I am, as I write this, munching on my beloved wint-o-green Lifesavers to take the edge off this evening blahness. I discovered them one night back in May 2007.

I was about 10 weeks along with the girls and German had been gone for two weeks of training. I drove to the airport to pick him up and while waiting in the car outside I prayed he'd hurry up and land and that I wouldn't barf in the car. He finally called and said he had landed--I begged him to buy me a water and some mints to chomp on and bring them to me as fast as he could. He bought a bag of these sweet treats and I made it home without incident, barely. I ate ALOT of them throughout the pregnancy. So, when the nausea kicked in earlier this week, I asked German to go buy me the biggest bag he could find. And he did not disappoint, he found me a 3 pound bag! I sure love that guy.

I've been contemplating this week and decided to do a journal post of sorts. Even though nauseousness feels pretty lousy, I have to remind myself, 'Hey, I'm going to have another beautiful baby in a eight months...wowEE! Lucky me!'

I have to remind myself of the many months of disappointment. The many prayers I offered begging God to please send us a baby. And finally he sent us two.

Though I wasn't praying for another baby so soon, I have to be honest...I was secretly hoping. I mean of the 80+ years I will live on this earth, I have less than ten left to have babies. And since I am NOT planning on being pregnant at forty, I really only have about six or seven years left to experience pregnancy. Bring on the blahness...the painful boobs...the barfing (if necessary)...the bigger belly and even bigger butt...the heartburn...the aching back...the swollen ankles...the everything. I want to savor it all while I can.

How miraculous and exhilarating it is to know that there is a little body growing inside of me right now. I get to fall in love with another human being and cherish them just as much as I already do these three. Again, wowEE! Lucky me!

Tuesday twin tidbit

Puppy love...

Our family of four...

Thanks Jules for taking some great pictures for us!

Tuesday twin tidbit

After four years of negative pregnancy tests, unsuccessful artificial inseminations, months of clomid and other treatments, invitro fertilization was the only procedure that worked for us. During almost seven years of marriage we have NEVER had to worry about birth control, so yesterday you can imagine how we were both shocked and happy to see this. I guess we are being reminded once again that the Lord has his own plan and timetable for us. My due date is July 20th. I know it's way early to announce, but this is news we can't keep to ourselves and we want to enjoy it as long as possible. German says I may need to start calling these posts the "Tuesday triplet tidbit." CRAZY!