Spring around here + BIG NEWS!

I don't know about you guys, but around here the grass is turning green and I think I may have even heard a lawn mower today. Summer is COMING!!!

This Spring is very welcomed around here. Being a stay-at-home mom makes free outings very welcome, and there's always a lot more options for that in the warmer months. I can't wait for time at the zoo (we have a membership to the awesome zoo nearby), parks, hikes, picnics.... oh it all sounds so lovely.

I am one of those people that rarely gets sick (don't hate me), and luckily my daughter is the same way. At 21 months old, she has only had a fever once, and it was this year when a lovely illness swept through our house. I knew something was off when Miss Victoria wouldn't eat her breakfast (this kid can EAT). Well, soon we had a fever of 102-103, coughing, and lots of demands for snuggles. Thank God for my toddler carrier, which allowed me to essentially carry her around like this for 5 days straight. She was content to just be close to mama (well, as content as she can be with an expression like this).

Makeup doesn't happen with sick babies :)

Victoria is usually such a happy, spunky, sweet little thing. She is always very helpful and very mindful of others. She heard me saying sorry and has started saying it herself anytime she does anything that may have caused the smallest inconvenience to anyone else. It is very sweet to see her so mindful for others at such a young age.

More than anything, though, she just likes being held. On any given day, she would be happiest sitting in my lap or hanging out in her toddler carrier while I clean. Or snuggling with daddy post-nap

Yep, at almost 2 years old she still wears her Halo sleepsacks to bed!

She also LOVES to talk and shocks me almost daily with how much she knows. She carries on conversations with anyone who will listen.

One of the sweetest things to see is how sweet she is with her babies. She is so nurturing

She cares for her babies all day, pushing them around in the stroller or carrying them around with her. I'm planning to make her a doll carrier so she can babywear them.

Babies get wrapped up in "bankies" and tucked under her cheek while she speaks softly to them, pats them, and sings Amazing Grace. It is seriously heart-melting

And of course, Ginny can't miss out on some snuggles too.

March is always a big month around here, as we celebrate both our wedding anniversary and my birthday. This year was our 5 year anniversary (Can you believe that? I started this blog only 4 months after getting married!). We decided to do something big this year, so we flew my mom in to watch Victoria and Ginny, and we went to a resort about an hour away in a state park. The place was so amazing! We got to stay in this beautiful cottage with gorgeous cliffs behind it.

That on top of top-notch meals and service, I felt truly spoiled. It was nicer than our honeymoon! We stayed there for just 2 nights and it was SO nice to recharge and be "just us". You know, not have housework to do or babies to listen for, and being able to carry on a conversation for hours without being interrupted. Oh and did I mention not having anyone wake me up 2 mornings in a row? (There's an hallelujah chorus singing in my head right now)

But of course after 2 nights I was ready to get home to my little one. Nana (my mom) made sure to send me some adorable photos while we were gone

**It is almost impossible to get a photo of Ginny that isn't blurry. She is a perpetual motion machine (Aka 7 month old puppy)!

Mid March we celebrated my 29th birthday, and my sweet husband surprised me with a Fitbit Charge HR. I have been wanting one for a while, but the price tag just made it a dream. I have a good friend who got one for Christmas and loves it. She makes it her mission every day to get her 10,000+ steps in and said nothing is more motivating than something attached to your wrist telling you to stop being lazy!

So my husband got me a Fitbit and I am absolutely loving it. It helps me to track my workouts too, which has been very helpful. I wore it to Body Combat class yesterday and it said I did 54 minutes of activity and burned 438 calories! That was pretty motivating! I highly recommend it.

My birthday was also a huge day for us for another reason. In February we found out we are expecting again! We were so excited and decided to wait to tell anyone until after we saw a heartbeat at an 8 week ultrasound. We lost 2 babies before, and one of them we found out we lost because we didn't see a heartbeat at 8 weeks. So we decided that was a good milestone for us.

Fortunately, I was 7 weeks and 6 days pregnant on my birthday, so we decided it would be a great birthday present to go get an ultrasound that day. We made an appointment at a free-standing ultrasound place and waited anxiously for the day to arrive. I was feeling pretty good about this pregnancy because I was feeling some nausea, which is a good sign for me (I never felt nausea with the babies I lost).

Then on my birthday everything seemed different. I was really really sick. Like REALLY SICK. My husband surprised me by arranging for a friend to watch Victoria most of the day and he took the day off of work to spend with me. We were going to go out for breakfast and then he wanted to take me to the store to pick out my fitbit. Well, I was so nauseous I could barely make it through breakfast (which was heartbreaking, as going out for breakfast is one of my favorite things). Then I actually lost what little I ate in the car after we left. I begged Andrew to take me home and let me take a nap (Happy Birthday to me!). The day was not turning out at all how we had hoped/planned.

So that evening we picked up Victoria and went to the ultrasound place before going out for my birthday dinner. I got situated on the table while Andrew sat with Victoria on the couch next to us. The tech put the wand on my belly and the image flickered on the giant tv screen in front of us. And my husband said:

"Is that two babies?"

TWINS! You guys! TWINS! With healthy, beautiful heartbeats.

My husband started laughing, I got teary eyed. It was overwhelming news, especially after losing 2 babies and wondering if we would ever have children at all. Victoria seemed like a miracle, so the fact that we were now going to have TWINS..... it was so overwhelming!

So that is my big news! I am pregnant with twins, due in late October. I have been very very sick (apparently twin pregnancies have twice the hormones, so twice the sickness). Luckily, motion sickness bands, ginger anti-nausea gum, and attempting to eat protein every 2 hours has really helped keep me functioning. Some days are better than others (hence the Body Combat class yesterday), but I know from my previous experiences that sickness is good reassurance that everything is working.

I am 9.5 weeks right now, and my belly is starting to look like I may have eaten a few too many donuts. Still no definitive bump yet though, but I'm imagining I'll be the size of a house in no time :)

Looks like I've got you all caught up! Now tell me, what would your honest first thought be if you found out you were having twins???? In all honesty, my first thought was absolute terror. TWO NEWBORNS!