Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Too Much Turkey?!

I feel like my stomach has grown or popped out while I was home for Thanksgiving break.  Many teachers commented on how I looked bigger when we returned to school on Monday.  One of my students from last year (he's now in 4th grade) overheard a teacher make that comment to me and didn't skip a beat and said to me as serious as could be, "Or maybe Mrs. Willms is just eating too much food."  Got to love the minds of 9 year olds.

21 weeks - looking a little tired.  It was waaaay past my bedtime at this photo shoot.

Kevin and I had a great time back in Iowa over the holidays visiting our family and friends.  The babies enjoyed going to watch their aunt Jenny at the UNI volleyball game - they were moving like crazy while we were there!  One of my highlights was for Kevin to finally get to feel his little babies.  Such a cool experience to feel together and see the excitement on his face.  Kevin also got to experience shopping at the early hours on Black Friday.  He and my sister went to Walmart for their midnight sale.  He was a trooper because some of the items were ones that I really wanted.  And if you know Kevin, he does not like the shopping scene.  I am very excited about my new vacuum stick for our hardwood floors...thanks Hun!

Yesterday, November 29th, our friends Steve and Rachel had their twin girls - Julia and Fiona.  I ask you to add the little babies to your prayer list as they are in the NICU right now.  Hopefully mom, dad, and girls can all come home together soon.  I am so happy for Steve and Rachel and can't wait to meet their twin little blessings!

Monday, November 22, 2010

Half Way there "Sports Mom"

Today marks 20 weeks or half way into the pregnancy!  I guess you could say we were half way last week since the doctors won't let me go past 38 weeks.  I definitely feel like my stomach is starting to show now.  I have also been feeling their little movements.  They seem to really move around while I am in the car - maybe they enjoy the music or their mom's singing. :)




And back by popular demand...



In case you're wondering this awesome piece of apperal used to belong to another "Sports Mom", Joyce Willms.  Pretty hot huh!?  P.S...After the photo shoot Kevin kept the sweat shirt on and commented on how nicely it kept his neck warm. I love my husband!

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Level 2 Ultrasound

On Wednesday afternoon Kevin and I went into our doctor's for the level 2 growth ultrasound.  During this ultrasound they measure body parts, the brain, look at the kidneys, etc on the babies to check for their development so far.  Everything is looking great and developing as it should for our little ones.  Both babies are the same size right now at 11 oz.  We both felt so relived to hear all is well - thanks for all of your prayers!  Our ultrasound took an hour and 45 minutes total so we were able to see a lot of baby A and baby B.  It's amazing how the ultrasound tec is able to navigate her way and figure out what was what.  I felt very confused at times.  Right now the babies are sitting "bunk bed style".  The little girl sits down low closest to the cervix.  She was harder to get a view of because her brother was kicking right by her head.  He is already picking on her....but we saw her throw her arms up as if to fight back. :)  The way the little boy is position made it a lot easier for the ultrasound tec to see everyything on him right away.

We did get a chance to view the babies in a 4-D ultrasound.  It was very cool to see their little faces - or what we could see of them so far.

Our little boy - both of his hands are up by his face. 

Baby girl - she didn't quite really want to give it up for the pictures.  She has her chin lifted up - to the right is where her little bro is trying to kick through.

These pictures are so much fun.  I am in love with them already!

Monday, November 15, 2010

My Pregnancy

I thought I would update you on how my pregnancy has gone so far since I get the question of "how have you been feeling?"  Overall, I can not complain on how I have felt so far.  I never really experienced the true morning sickness which kind of surprised me since everyone kept telling me you must be double sick with two.  Nope not here...thank you babies!  I would say I haven't had any strong or crazy cravings, but I have really liked certain foods.  In the beginning when we first found out we were expecting I was in love with V8 juice, string cheese, and Rice Krispies cereal.  I remember on the day we were going to find out our pregnancy results waking up at 2 a.m. craving a glass of V8.  And so I had one. :) 

This is a list of things I have been eating a lot of now:
* Cereal - I do a rotation every morning of either Cheerios, Chex, Fruit Loops, or Honey Bunches of Oats
* Toasted bagel with peanut butter or strawberry cream cheese
* Pasta - especially mac n cheese
* Cheese
* Milk - can't seem to get enough of it throughout the day
* Grilled cheese and tomato soup - this has become one of my staple suppers

Teaching a class of 23 third graders while being pregnant has definitely been a challenge and is wearing me out.  When I get home from school I am very tired and find myself asleep on the couch on average around 8:00 p.m.  Sorry Kevin for being so lame.  My class of third graders have also been very generous in sharing their germs with me.  So far this school year (only 2 months) I have had 2 colds and the flu.  My students are very excited for the twins to arrive.  It was very fun to tell them my news.  The day I told them I showed them these three items telling them there is something about me that ties in with these things.  

 I did have some crazy guesses like, "You're going to the Twins game chewing gum and are going to make the class pasta."  A girl in my class finally caught onto my clues and she is also a twin.  I have a set of boy and girl twins in my class. 

This week I am at 19 weeks.  We go in on Wednesday for our big Level 2 ultrasound to make sure everything is growing and developing properly. 


I'll let you see my growing belly. :)
Kevin says since I seem to always say "my pregnancy" instead of "our pregnancy" I need to change the name of the blog to "The Willm" because it's not really plural.  I think I do a good job though.  He just likes to give me grief.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Morning View

This is the "November Winter Wonderland" I awoke to this morning.  Ready or not, I guess winter is here.  I am NOT ready for this weather.  We have been spoiled this fall with beautiful, warmer than usual weather.  I am not looking forward to the winter driving (adding time onto my commute) or trying to find a winter coat for my growing belly this winter.  Dear Snow, I think if you come back in December I will be more willing to welcome your presence. :)






Sunday, November 7, 2010

Soup Sunday!

Lately, I have been making supper in the crock pot on Sunday nights.  I feel Sundays are perfect for me for having more time to get the ingredients put together and then letting it simmer all day.  Today I made  homemade Hamburger Barley Soup for Kevin and me.  Here's the recipe in case any of you would want a supper idea.  It was given to me by a parent at my school.

Hamburger Barley Soup

1 1/2 lbs ground beef or turkey
1 lrg can kidney beans
6 c water
3 beef bouillon cubes
2 c sliced carrots
1 1/2 c coarsely chopped onions
1 1/2 c coarsely chopped celery
1/2 c coarsely chopped green pepper
1/3 c barley
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
2 bay leaves
1/4 c ketchup
1 (28 oz) can whole tomatoes, cut up
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce

Brown meat and drain.  In a 5-qt pot or crock pot add meat and stir in remaining ingredients.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat; cover and simmer one hour or until vegetables and barley are tender.  Remove bay leaves (I only added a little amount of bay leave flakes).  Makes 10 (1 1/2 cup) servings.  Freezes well.

When you make it in the crock pot it needs longer to sit and cook the vegetables.  I hope you enjoy!!  It's always a success for me when Kevin likes it! :)

Thursday, November 4, 2010

And the babies are......

Today we went in for an ultrasound to find out the sex of our twins.  We were so excited to find out we were having one of each!  The ultrasound tec saw right away that Baby B was a boy.  As she was searching for Baby A's parts I was saying to myself, "Please let it be a girl!"  When she annouced "girl" I don't think either one of us could have been happier.  Kevin was hoping for a boy and myself a girl...but we would have been happy with either outcome.  Of course my husband was excited that his prediction was correct.
Baby B is definitely a boy - Kev's a proud father! :)

Baby B's side profile


Baby A - We couldn't get  a picture of her girl parts.  She was more modest for the ultrasound and didn't want to show off.

Seeing her arm and little hand was very neat.  Some much more has developed since our last ultrasound.

At this point from what the ultrasound tec could see everything looks to be going well.  This week the babies are around 5 inches or so.  We will go back in on the 17th of this month to do the big ultrasound where they measure the growth of the organs and body parts.  Keep praying everything develops normally for our little babies.


17 weeks 3 days

Have a Happy Weekend!!!

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Starting A Blog!

I have been waiting to start a blog for awhile now but didn't have anything too interesting to "blog" about.  Now that we are expecting twins this spring, I think this will be a great way to help our families stay in touch with our soon-to-be growing family.  I will try my best to make it as interesting as possible. :)

First, a little background knowledge on what has happened to change our lives this past summer.  On August 2nd, Kevin and I found out we were going to be parents!  I went into the doctors and had blood drawn to determin a positive pregnancy.  Then our biggest joy came on August 26th (Kevin's aunt Mary's birthday) when we went in for our first ultrasound and saw our two little babies!  We were having TWINS!  My 40 week due date is April 11th (Kevin's Grandma Willms' birthday), but the doctors are looking more at mid/late March considering twins usually come early.  We would love to make it to the 11th Great-Grandma W, but I don't know if we'll make it!  I can't even express the joy we both felt seeing those two little babies.  Hearing those little heartbeats at only 7 1/2 weeks was such a miracle. Something I was afraid we would never get to experience, but our many prayers had finally been answered!  God is awesome and only He knows the plans he has for us.  It was a day we will both always remember.  We spent the rest of the day calling our parents and the rest of our families. 

Our first picture of our babies - Baby A and Baby B at 7 1/2 weeks on August 26, 2010.

Each week I thought it would be a fun to take a picture of my growing belly to compare how much it has grown.  Kevin has been a great photographer so far.  This last picture at 4 months along Kevin thought it would be fun to also document his "growing belly".  Leave this only to my husband! :) 



16 weeks - October 25, 2010
 

I don't think he has given me any sympathy weight so far. :)
 
This Thursday we go into the doctors for our big Level 2 ultrasound.  I am so excited not only to find out what sex they are, but also to see both of them again.  The last time we were in for an ultrasound was at 9 1/2 weeks.  I am sure they have changed so much and will look more like babies.  Stay tuned to find out what sex Baby A and Baby B are!  Kevin is sticking to the math odds of a boy and a girl (I guess thats what you can expect being married to an accountant).  I am feeling maybe two girls or one of each as well....but I could be completely wrong!  
Something I am looking forward to: feeling them move in these next upcoming weeks!