It’s 8pm on a Thursday – do you know where your ankles are?

I know, I know...it has been a while (long while), but I'm back! I’m 29 weeks as of Monday and am feeling really good! I’ve really lucked out so far, no morning sickness, no outrageous cravings or aversions (smell or food). But – my poor ankles! No matter how much water I drink, sodium I avoid and how often I elevate them…they swell horribly! They’ve disappeared, which makes for a lovely sight, especially during these summer months. By the way, July was the hottest summer on record in the DC area (so much for timing!). My ankles have become an entertaining topic at home and work, “Ooohhh, let’s see how big they got today”. Thank goodness for Birkenstocks!!

I’m back…and fully unpacked…from my visit back home to Washington State. My sis Sarah and my friend Lynette planned an amazing baby shower for me, which was a lot of fun. I was so thankful to be able to see so many of my friends in one place, even though it wasn’t long enough for me! The weather was gorgeous, sunny but not too hot.

Nursery is coming together. This means that the cribs and dresser are in the nursery but still in their original packaging. Luckily, I have some very generous and skilled friends that have expressed their desire to help me decorate their room (I’m so hopeless!). We plan on having them share a room for the first few years, I mean; they’ll have shared a very small place for practically 9 months so I think they’ll be fine.

We have names! Violet Elizabeth and Samuel Jacob. Violet comes from my great grandma and we just liked the name Samuel. Middle names were harder, I really like the name Samuel Adam, but wouldn’t want to give people the wrong impression by naming our son after a beer (a good one at least!). So, we decided to pass on our middle names.

Sleeping in a Laundry Basket

So now that we’ve found out the genders (a boy and a girl if you didn’t know), it’s the unofficial time to start The Registry. Who knew this process would be so daunting (we didn’t do it when we got married)?! I’ve already admitted to my indecisive nature – so you can imagine my stress level when having to pick out what type of bottle is best. It’s Analysis Paralysis again, too many options I just get frozen. The only thing that keeps me going is the fear that the kiddos will end up having to wear towels and sleep in laundry baskets (we have plenty) if I don’t make up my mind!

I work for a smallish software company that’s mostly men – which can make for some entertaining moments being one out of a handful of women here and pregnant. Although my tummy is well on its way to becoming its own zip code, I’m still a fully functional worker. You wouldn’t think that was the case observing some of my co-workers though. I was loading some paper into the copier yesterday when someone had come into the kitchen and proclaimed “you shouldn’t be doing that!” and promptly scooted me out of the way and took over the task. I held back my most snarky remark, after all, he was only trying to help. I can only imagine what they’ll do in a few months time, I’m sure they’ll take one look at me and with wide eyes insist that I shouldn’t be moving too much.

The Belly seems to be growing at an exponential rate. I’m hoping that the growth pattern is more like a bell curve in which it’ll slow down by the end – but I have a feeling that’s not going to be the case. Ben thinks it’s funny that I’m starting to run it into things (opening the fridge, closing the car door, you name it), have I mentioned that I’m also spatially challenged? For your reference, in case you were wondering, I can still see my toes!

Last Day of “Not Knowing”

I’ve read, and been told, multiple times that a wandering mind is very common during pregnancy. At home it’s no big deal, unless you’re Ben and you’re mid-conversation discussing something important. At work, however, it’s really embarrassing! Imagine being on a call interviewing a solid candidate and all of a sudden, you have no clue what you were going to say next! Or, you just cannot get that word off the tip of your tongue. Thankfully, I have a lot of experience in laughing at myself, so I’m able to shake it off with a smart-alecky remark.

I told Ben this morning that I was starving today. His response to me was that I should sing to myself, “Don’t Stop Eating” to the tune of “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey. He knows my love of this long (best feel good song of all time) and I’m not sure how I feel about it now being tied to making sure I eat enough for 3. Ben doesn’t like the thought that I get hungry and could potentially starve the kiddos…Irrational Parental Fear #1.

A lot of time, during my aforementioned wandering, I’ll daydream about what it’s going to be like to have twins. I’m sure most of the parenting for twins is the same as with a singleton, but there are also a lot of challenges that are unique to raising twins. My mom wouldn’t often dress my sister and I in identical outfits growing up. I think this was important in encouraging our unique personalities, rather than being known as one entity – “the twins”.

Tomorrow is our 20 week appointment and we’ll finally know if we’re having boys, girls or one of each! We’ve been asked quite a few times, “what’s your preference?”. It’d be fun to have two girls, can you say Hello Kitty explosion? Two boys would save us a lot of headache in the drama department down the road. One of each would be a good balance. So, I’ll stick with the very predictable but honest truth, “It doesn’t matter, we just pray that they’re healthy.”

Tone Deaf

The twins have made their first assertive move on my food choices. No more super spicy food! They made that abundantly clear yesterday after I had indulged in some (a lot) of my bacon jalapeño dip on Sunday. It’s an unfair advantage, 3 against 1! That’s right, the twins and Ben…all three of them reminding me that my food choices are not all about me. Well, Ben was the vocal one, but the twins made their point better by rejecting everything I tried to eat yesterday morning, “We’ll show you mom”.

At 19 weeks it’s said that they can now hear noises while in the womb. Ben suggested that we start signing to them. Two problems though:

1. I don’t know any good children’s songs (does Jack Johnson lullabies count?)




2. More importantly, I’ve never been told I have a good signing voice (for good reason). As a child, I always wished that I could sing, but the talent never manifested. Hopefully the kiddos’ acoustics in the womb make them tone deaf.

I’ve found the perfect man-ccessory for Ben, it can used while hunting or taking the twins out for errands! I will only see a problem if they come home with camo paint on their face.

We had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend celebrating with some great people! The BBQ has been officially broken in, as is the fire pit, lawn chairs and the AC. Thank goodness for the AC. While picking up supplies for the BBQ, Ben and I made a pass through the diaper aisle. We made the mistake of trying to calculate how many diapers we’d need to have on hand for the first month after they’re born. Better not share the calculation, it’s a bit scary. Not to worry though, Ben has committed to changing his fair share of diapers. Although, come to think of it, we did not define what he thought “his share” would be!

Embrace the Elastic…

I tried to hold out as long as I could – but I can no longer pass the Zip Test. The Zip Test is my self imposed indicator of when I am officially not allowed to wear pre-preggo pants any more. It’s frustrating since they fit everywhere but around the tummy (duh). The Belly Band has been my best friend. For those that don't know, and why would you unless you've already been pregnant, it's a elastic band that helps hide the fact that you're walking around with your pants unzipped!

In a moment of insanity I decided to measure my waist the other night…42.25”! That’s right; I’m slowly losing visibility to my toes. Goodness, and it's only been 17 weeks. So this weekend I will make the trek to the local Motherhood Maternity and try to find some pants that fit. Really though, how could they not fit, they’ve got 8” of elastic at the waist!

Today has been the first day that I’ve felt them moving around – which is so exciting! I’d really like to call Ben to tell him, but it may just give him a heart attack since my enthusiasm may be confused with panic after waking him from a dead sleep. So, to be prudent, I’ll wait until later this evening.


I didn’t realize this, but I’m very lucky to see the kiddos every appointment via ultrasound. My sis told me that they normally don’t do them every time. So Ben and I feel very lucky, we love to see them moving around on screen. And besides, I’m just now beginning to distinguish body parts. I was able to point out a leg and a butt this time. I love this ultrasound pic, it looks like one of them is either offering its thumb or trying to knock the other one out.

17 Weeks and Growing

Time is going by so quickly! I wish we were able to slow it down in order to really enjoy the process…and feel more prepared. I’m really looking forward to my doctor appointment tomorrow (I think one of the reasons Ben is happy I’m pregnant is because it forces me to go to the doctor). Ben hasn’t gotten a chance to see them move around on screen yet, so they’ll be making their performance debut tomorrow for him.

You’d be very surprised to learn that I have not started any craft projects for the babies yet. What?! Most of you would expect me to be knee deep in sewing patterns and knitting needles by now with at least 12 projects going. What’s causing this? I like to call it “Amanda’s Analysis Paralysis”, which is very similar to, but not the same as, Procrastination. The options are endless – so it becomes easier not to choose. You’ll see the symptoms of AAP in things like:

• Home décor (no, we still have not painted and please ignore the 4 unfurnished rooms)


• Baby Names (one of my nephews thought it was great that I was going to name them Thing 1 and Thing 2)


• Nursery theme (they won’t know that plain white walls are boring, right?)


• Baby stuff (do we want a side-by-side stroller, facing each other, traveling system…)


• Daycare options (someone told me that we should be visiting locations now, yikes!)

If you really want to see me stress, feel free to leave me a comment on the 1,000+ other decisions that I’ve forgotten to mention. Thank goodness Ben is so decisive. Maybe I should send him to do all of the registering? On second thought, maybe I shouldn’t…I don’t think they will need their own archery or fishing set from Cabella’s for a few years.

Chips, Pickles and Moving Boxes

Well, the last 4 weeks have flown by! Our family is going through so many changes, I need to remember to slow down and enjoy these moments. Here’s a recap of what has been going on in the last 4 weeks:

• We are officially “moved in” to our new house in Amissville. Now, I didn’t say “unpacked” – that’s entirely different and will take at least 6 months to complete.



• I’ve reached the 15 week mark and am now showing, I’ve got one pic at 12 weeks. I found my camera last night so will try to get some recent and somewhat decent pics this weekend.



• I can no longer wear pre-prego pants unless the waistband is made entirely out of elastic.


• One of my puppies (Chloe) has made it out to VA!

We’re now living in what Ben likes to call “suburban country”. Let me translate that for you, decent land, nice neighbors close by, hellish commute and HUGE spiders. Can you guess what I’m most concerned about?

I was in the garage last night rummaging through one of the boxes when something skittered by my foot. I squeaked and Ben hurried out to investigate. I insisted I just saw a mouse – a furry body, long tail, fast. I hightailed it out of the garage and let Ben take over. A few minutes later, I was called back to the garage and Ben asks me, “could it have been a spider?”.
“No way, the thing was way too big to be a spider.”
“Take a look in between those two boxes…”

Sure enough, it was a spider – more specifically a barn spider. Despite my paranoia, I had to Google “spider with yellow black stripes on leg”. I’d like to say that I’ll get over that fear so I don’t transmit that to my kiddos – but don’t hold your breath!

On to cravings, these have been very mild, except for last weekend. I got it in my head that I wanted potato chips and sliced dill pickles…together. Luckily we had both in the house and I was able to save Ben a trip to the store (which, is now 10 miles away). It’s odd though, because I now have no desire to eat either. Eh, I’m starting to learn to just roll with it!