will's 32nd birthday

yesterday was will's birthday....the evening before his day as we were out and about i noticed how he resembled the lion on his shirt so i made him pose.  

will took the day off work which was really nice.  we didn't make any major plans.  he talked about how he wanted to take ever to see how to train your dragon 2 so we did that.  ever didn't last the entire movie.  will kept getting up with her near the end and finally he took her out.  the couple other movies she has been to she did really well the entire time so i think it just depends on if it is something that keeps her attention.  

these were the cute moments before the movie started where she was either mesmerized or dancing to the music and telling will important things.

will being the selfless guy that he is decided he wanted to get ever a present on his birthday.  for the last week or so he's been checking out these strider bikes because he wanted to get one for ever.  we tested one out the other day and ever was crushed it didn't come home with us.  so will decided to make her dreams a reality yesterday.  they went and picked out the bike.  she looked at several different colors but went with the blue one which thrilled will because that was the one he liked most.  when i called my mom to tell her will got ever the bike ever shouted "i got my bike yaya!"  will said the best present he could have on his birthday was seeing ever smiling and laughing while learning to ride her tiny bike.  

the bike doesn't have peddles.  the whole point is to teach little ones balance while they push themselves with their feet.  then there are foot pegs for her to rest her feet on once she gets coasting.  eventually when she gets a real bike chances are she won't need training wheels after learning to steer and balance on this.  there is actually a track in town that kids as young as ever race on at competitions.  will plans on getting her involved in that.  she will be outfitted in full racing gear.  what i've seen of those competitions is super cute.....all these tiny kids pushing themselves around a track with little hills while wearing giant helmets and protective gear.  ever watched videos of these races and said she wants to do them.  

ever snuggled up to will after he set up her bike and practiced with her.

those two are so in love with each other and cute together.  ever usually wants me when she is tired or hungry or hurt but when it comes to fun stuff papa is the best.

although we didn't do anything extravagant i'd say will's 32nd year started out pretty great....even if he did spend a bunch of time hooking up our new dishwasher since the old one finally gave up the fight after sounding terrible for months.  he is the best.

cute messy face

i just found these pictures from a couple weeks ago of ever's messy pb&j face.  had to share because i think they are super cute.  she was admiring all of her crazy expressions in the mirror.  i am fairly certain ever paints with her food on purpose just to drive me crazy.   

lately when i ask her a question she says hmmm and puts her finger by her mouth in a pondering sort of way much like in this picture then she gives me her answer.  it is one of my most favorite new tricks of hers.  

25 weeks with twins

i tried to have will get a good picture of me and the belly last week but it just wasn't happening so this is what my 25 week pregnant with twins belly looks like when i'm looking down at it.  i'm actually 26 weeks now.  i had gone to the doctor this day and i was shocked to find out my weight gain for the month was only four pounds since i'm feeling so large.  in fact my overall weight gain for this pregnancy has been pretty minimal.  i attribute that to my stomach already being so squished which makes it hard to eat much and my body just burning up the calories that these girls demand.   recent food obsessions....a tofu and cous cous creation that i flavor with curry, cayenne, lime, coconut oil then i add lots of tomatoes and leafy greens to it.  probably had that for lunch or dinner several times the last few days.  cherries are my fruit of choice this week.  i recently had a craving for a specific ice cream bar and this type was the only one that would do.  will finally tracked it down at the third store he went to.  i also have had a recent thing for grilled cheese sandwiches cooked in coconut oil (using coconut oil instead of butter makes the sandwich ten times better) topped with a certain cheese, mustard, and lots of leafy greens.  i like to eat sugar snap peas with each bite of sandwich.  when i asked the doctor about all the aches and pains i was feeling he said "twin pregnancies suck".  i have fallen asleep at random times during the day lately.  twice on ever's bedroom floor while we were playing.  i woke up covered in my little pony stickers.  i miss the way i felt when pregnant with ever since this time is a whole new experience but it is certainly enjoyable feeling/seeing two babies move around inside me.  

ever the last couple weeks

there have been moments lately where i have wanted to document something funny ever has done but i just haven't been in a mood to blog or do much of anything for that matter (exhausting twin pregnancy).  so here are some cute pictures from the last couple weeks and whatever stories worth mentioning that may or may not relate to the pictures.

when the car is parked ever loves to pretend to drive or roam around in it.  she sure is going to be bummed when her sisters arrive and we are all packed in our vehicle like sardines because she will not have that option anymore.  recently ever has figured out how to put together the buckle that goes across her chest in her carseat.  she loves to say "i do it" when i go to buckle her in and then she and i both congratulate her accomplishment when done.

on this particular morning i told ever i was going to go get ready.  she said "okay mama i watch mermaid, okay?"

i thought it was the cutest scene when i came out of the bathroom and noticed how she pulled her little chair up to the tv and just peacefully sat eating breakfast and watching a movie.  usually when i'm getting ready she is doing something sneaky or destructive.  

investigating the house uncle brandon is buying.  i love her shadow on the cabinet. 

there are boxes in the garage that contain toys from my childhood and recently ever has enjoyed pulling things out of there.  on this day she discovered my rainbow brite doll and every day since this discovery she runs around the house playing with her and yelling out rainbow.  i really love that i still have so many things from my childhood which she now enjoys.

ever had been watching maleficent previews with me which she was really interested in.  when angelina would show up on screen in her maleficent costume ever would shout "mama!" which of course i completely loved.  sure ever.....i'll take that compliment that you think i look like angelina jolie.  then ever started calling the movie "mama corn" for mama unicorn because of the horns on maleficent's costume.  will and i tried to take her to the movie one day even if it seemed a bit dark or scary for a two year old we were sure she would enjoy it.  after all one of her most favorite movies is nightmare before christmas.  my mom saw maleficent before us and she said she thought ever would be fascinated by it.  my mom knows ever well.  ever was so fascinated with the movie that will had to leave with her because she would not stop shouting "oh wow!" over and over.  i didn't want to be one of those annoying people that ruined the movie going experience for everyone else.  i stayed to watch it by myself.  i loved it! sleeping beauty was always my favorite disney movie growing up but this was so different from what i expected it to be in a good way.  the day these pictures were taken my mom came over to watch ever so will could see the movie for the first time and i could see it again.  he loved the movie too.  ever is still asking to watch mama corn but for now she's settled on the animated sleeping beauty.  now ever is always trying to sing like aurora does in the forest.  if i ask her to sing like sleeping beauty she almost always does it and it is the best! 

this is a very brief glimpse of her singing.

determined to lift up her water table....look at that expression.

ever's imagination has really taken off lately.  often i find her dressing up in ridiculous outfits made up of every random article of clothing or accessory she can find.....like when she recently tried to wear a blowdryer as a necklace.  she uses regular household items as props.  just yesterday she had flipped her art easel over and was sitting on it like a chair she took a phone charger cord and pretended to buckle herself in with it.  will and i secretly watch her and listen to her little conversations all the time and we are always amazed by her.  in the picture above she put the washcloth on her head and told me she was a pirate then she was singing 5 little monkeys jumping on the bed and she told me that her sand shovel was her guitar.  

yesterday i noticed she was being super quiet and i wasn't sure where she was.  i walk into the kitchen and see one of her little chairs pushed up to the counter.  she was sitting on the chair with a container of cherry tomatoes devouring them like they were cookies.  she had a sort of guilty look which made me laugh.....sneaking healthy food.

this is just a glimpse of life lately with ever.  i adore the funny imaginative little person she is becoming.  

a wonderful guy

i had plans to make will's father's day special but they didn't quite work out.  i was going to make him dinner and his favorite cake and give him all the free time he wanted to work in the garage or relax while i made sure the house was tidy and ever was entertained (some of the same things he did for me on mother's day).  first i planned to go to church since my mom was giving a talk and i wanted to be there for that.  although part of me was afraid to go because i didn't want to cry the entire time in front of everyone.  she had asked me for input about my dad to include in her talk and any time i thought of what i wanted her to share during the week i cried but i did manage to hold it together at church.  as we got ready i wasn't feeling so great but i powered through and luckily will joined ever and i at church.  my plan was to get home and do all the nice things for will.  i think i'm getting to that point in pregnancy that the doctor warned me about where i wouldn't feel so great.  i'm officially becoming that annoying patient that has tons of questions and concerns.  i made two surprise visits to the office last week to ask questions and share my concerns.  it doesn't help that i'm a worrier.  i did get explanations and reassurance and was told the way i feel is normal for a twin pregnancy.  i barely had any questions when pregnant with ever because it all went so smooth.  after we got home from church i took a two hour nap which is really rare since i've never been much of a nap taker.  then the rest of the day was spent doing as little as possible because when i stood up or tried to do much i didn't feel well.  i know one thing will was looking forward to the most was his cake and i didn't even get that made.  he kept telling me how i had a more important job of cooking these babies and assured me i shouldn't feel bad.  so the point of my long story is to say what a wonderful guy will really is, although most people already know.  he picked up the house yesterday and helped out a bunch with ever while i whined and relaxed.  then this morning he got up extra early to load the dishwasher and tidy up the house a little more before going to work.  he also left me a sweet note and left a bunch of tear inducing old videos of ever that he found up on the computer for me to watch.  he has really gone above and beyond so many times during the last few months and i look forward to the day that i feel well enough to do lots of sweet things for him.

here are pictures from yesterday....

my latest most favorite picture of will and ever.  

when i posted this on instagram i said that i learned what a wonderful man is from my dad and it makes me so happy that ever and her baby sisters are going to learn the same thing from their dad.

such a true statement.

then i took a few random pictures as ever and her favorite person in the world played in her room.

time to go make a cake.

the real emotional me

(picture not related to the post but it is incredibly cute and you know how i dislike a post without pictures)

crying is my go to emotional response these days.  sad things send me into a waterfall of tears, happy things do the same, sometimes it is nothing that even warrants an emotion.  it is foreign to me since i am not much of a tearful person in general, especially publicly.  i guess all that changes with pregnancy and i'm actually more glad about it than anything because i've noticed that i never feel more connected with myself and others than when pregnant.  it is hard to explain but maybe some of you moms get what i'm saying.

here are three recent examples of my emotionally connected moments:

*at the grocery store a few weeks ago the three of us ran into one of will's former coworkers that worked with him when we were dating/first married.  she had with her a grown girl with down syndrome.  i still am not sure if it was her child or someone she cares for.  anyway this girl was so sweet.  i have a soft spot in my heart (always have) for anyone who is mentally/physically challenged.  i feel like i am drawn to those people and they are drawn to me, like my dear friend {matthew}.  i have noticed the same to be true with will.  after a moment of speaking with will's former coworker about our twin news the sweet girl with her shook both mine and will's hand and told us it was nice to meet us (unfortunately i never did get her name).  will had a cute brief conversation with her.  she seemed so peaceful and happy and when we went to finish our shopping she told us again how great it was to meet us then i heard her say she loved us as we walked away.  i couldn't control myself.  i cried while walking through the store because of that sweet encounter.  after a couple minutes i regained control of my emotions long enough to finish grocery shopping then i lost it again in the car on the way home.  luckily will considers my emotional outbursts incredibly endearing.  

*there is someone i always knew of in my years working at the hospital but it wasn't until around the time will and i got engaged that i actually began talking to him and found him to be a sweet genuine guy that clearly loved his wife and kids.  i remember him being so thrilled to hear the news of will and i planning to get married.  he and his wife gave us a sweet wedding gift and i always think fondly of them when i see it hanging in our house.  not long after will and i were married his wife was suddenly diagnosed with cancer and she quickly lost the battle.  although i wasn't really close to her i remember feeling so heartbroken for the man i had grown to admire losing his wife and for their children losing their mother at a young age.  dealing with the loss of my dad has made me extra sensitive to anyone experiencing that kind of grief.  

a week or so ago we picked up will for lunch and went to the starbucks drive thru.  the son of the couple mentioned above was working at the drive thru window that day.  i've seen him there before but for some reason that day i was overwhelmed with emotion when i saw him.  luckily will was driving because i as we sat at the window waiting for our order i began crying as i told will how sad i was for that boy not having his mom here on earth.  that boy had no idea who i was or that i was crying for the loss of his mom in that moment.  in fact i turned away so he didn't even see me crying.  what made the moment even more connected is that when we went to take will back to work we parked on a different side of the hospital than usual to meet up with my mom.  my mom was playing with ever outside of the car and up walks our 

friend (the father of that boy).  i haven't seen him in ages.  he didn't know we were expecting twins.  we hugged and briefly caught up.  as he walked away i remarked to my mom and will how interesting it was that i was just crying after seeing his son and thinking of all that family has been through then i run into him.  my mom ended up sharing the little story later on that day in an email to our friend.  he wrote back the sweetest response about how he felt it was a fortunate encounter to see me earlier that day and how he's always felt a connection with will and i.  he mentioned our tender hearts and what a special couple we are.  i cried again after seeing his email and i felt a real sense that the events of that day were not an accident.  it was actually a a moment that i found joy in being able to connect with someone based on what i had been through myself.  sure i'd rather my dad was still alive but i have moments where i can find the positive side (if i dig really deep) of him no longer being here and that was one of those times.      

*last week will ran into chipotle to get us dinner.  ever was "driving the car" as we listened to music.  there was a little screwdriver in the cup holder of the car that will had used earlier in the day for something he was doing at work.  i picked it up and started using it like a microphone as i was singing along with the song.  ever looked at my with the most amazed loving look and you guessed it.....i started crying.  she wanted to copy me so i gave her the "microphone" and she pretended to sing along.  then she passed it back to me and asked me to do it again.  she was obviously very impressed.  i was so lost in my performance for her which now included tears that i didn't even notice will standing at the door watching and waiting for me to unlock it.  i quickly noticed him and he got in the car saying that was the cutest thing he could have witnessed which turned my emotion into a mixture of tears and hysterical laughter.  eventually i calmed down enough to explain why i was crying and will told me how i was the coolest person in the world.   

so there you have it....the pregnant me....or the real me. 

"going to the dishwasher"

on friday ever kept asking to "go to the dishwasher" any time we were in the car.  i finally figured out that she wanted to go to the drive thru car wash, something she had experienced twice before.  so once will got home we decided to make it part of our friday night festivities because she wouldn't stop begging.  ever seemed so excited about going there until the machine actually went to work.  her eyes got huge and she had a worried look on her face but she kept saying "it's okay, it doesn't matter mama" as she clutched what she calls the "mama debit card (my drivers license) and ever debit card (our debit card which features a picture of her beautiful face)"  will and i couldn't help but look at her with amazement and giggle as she was bravely saying cute things in the "dishwasher".  the next day she went back and forth telling us that she wanted to go back to the dishwasher and then there was the occasional "no i not!".

impromptu play date

when marcy called and said she was on her way over i warned her that the house was a mess and so was i.  to which she replied that she didn't care and she hadn't done anything fancy with herself yet either.  she is one of the handful of people that i guess are lucky enough to see me in a disheveled state.  it is a rare treat to see her so i welcomed the visit even if i wasn't expecting it or ready for it.  besides it's been so long since her little dude zadyn and ever have seen each other and it is fun to watch them play together.  

here you can see these two together when they were younger. 

zadyn was all about being a rough and tumble boy.  ever was more interested in holding his hand or hugging him.  their interactions kept us laughing.  

in this picture she has a look of disgust (which is so funny) but i think she was just preparing herself for a toy that might come flying her way.  she really loved playing with zadyn.

ever tried to get z to dance with her but he wasn't interested.

so she had an owl dance with her instead.

then they cozied up on her little couch looking like they were on a date or something.

it was nice to have some chit chat time with marcy while watching our offspring enjoy each others company.   

friday-sunday

friday we went to visit papa at work and ended up spending a bunch of time with yaya too.  

ever enjoyed covering her face in lipgloss as you can see.  she looked like the joker by the time she was done applying several different shades of goo all over her mouth and cheeks.  ever and naughty yaya covered my belly in drawings.  it all started with my mom making a smiley face around my weirdly shaped belly button then before i knew it i had tons of ever scribbles and things ever requested my mom to draw like dogs and ghosts covering my belly.  i'll spare you the picture and video which also displays my new stretch marks.  only a few were lucky enough to see them.

we finally made it home for a late nap and ever was not at all impressed (see photos below) when she woke up and realized the piggy bank which she had been playing with at yaya's work did not make it home with her.

i think it's sweet how she is clutching her baby and crying.  

she got over it fast while watching despicable me 2.

there is a "scary part" at the beginning of the movie that she usually has me fast forward but on friday she decided to watch it and she said to her baby "it's okay baby, it doesn't matter" while watching it.  the way she says matter is extra cute.  it sounds more like "matteler".  yet another little phrase she just started saying one day.

obviously an exciting part of the movie.

we got out ever's water table saturday and the remainder of the weekend was spent playing with it as much as possible.  she kept dunking her face in the water and climbing in there.  i guess we need to get her a little pool.

the babies and i supervised ever's play time and will doing yard work.

i have been feeling the nesting vibe big time lately.  knowing that the end of this pregnancy may not be so pleasant has me in a bit of a panic because if the babies stay as long as they should (and they better) we have roughly 15 weeks before they are delivered.  who knows how many of those weeks i'll be able to actually get things done.  i've had will helping me check items of our big lists and doing chores that involving lots of bending over since it isn't easy for me.  yesterday i got in a major throw away mood as we went through all of ever's toys, then the existing items were organized into bins by what type of toy they are.  i'm getting sort of crazy, mostly in a good way.  can't complain about things being clean and organized.  we were supposed to spend some time with family in vegas saturday but we decided to be responsible and stay home instead.  will took the pager to make us some extra money instead of spending money to drive to vegas.  i still don't see how everything is going to end up working out but we are doing our best to see that it does so i guess that is all we can do.  

when not playing in the water ever was going through items in the office and decorating the house with stickers.  any surface in our house at ever's height is covered in stickers, markers, or pen.

saturday night the babies were the most active they've been yet.  will had one hand on each baby and was amazed at all the strong kicks he could feel.  it was like they were having some sort of dance party in there.  they would not stop moving but we weren't complaining.  it was wonderful late night entertainment.  my food obsession the last few days has been peaches.  i think between ever and i (mostly me) we've gone through 9 peaches in the last few days and late last night will so graciously made a run to the store for another bag of peaches because i was upset about not having any.

this was ever right before church yesterday.  

so happy to be eating smarties.

checking on her baby sisters

doing some table dancing

and talking to will about the spider that was on the ceiling in the dining room months ago.  she always points to where it was and talks about it.  i guess that spider made quite the impression on her.

i always get sad when the weekend is over because it means will isn't home with us all day.  i am really happy that we had a nice productive weekend though.  my mom said the ladies at church went on and on about ever and how smart she is in nursery.  they said they love how much she talks (apparently she is the most talkative one) and how sweet she is.  we love those things about her too.