Our life in approx 115 sq ft

I thought I might share some pics of the "nursery". As we are currently homeless, we feel very blessed to have a room to call our own, for now, with my parents. I have worked VERY hard to try and maximize the space, while trying to keep the clutter down. No easy task, but a rather fun creative challenge as I have to keep changing things to meet new needs. Our under 1,000 sq ft house is going to feel like a mansion after this.

I put a lot of thought into what kind of baby gear might work best for us, both now and when the house is done. I opt-ed for a pack-and-play that will work as a bassinet for both babies (and got it almost brand new at a yard sale for $25...it even has a little noise maker/light attachment). When the girls get bigger we have another pack-and-play that was generously given to us and plan to use one for each instead of cribs. (Note the convenient location of the TUMS bottle and the ipod in the attached storage basket at the end, lol.) While the pack-and-play is at the raised height I am storing all the baby blankets in the bottom of it. Don't ask me where they will go when we have to lower it, cause I just don't know :)

You can see the two wooden framed images on the wall behind the "crib". They are a project I finished a couple of weeks ago. I had been thinking about times I've babysat for screaming children, and when I wanted to sing something to sooth the child (and frankly myself) practically every song I knew just flew out of my head, except maybe sometime very un-soothing like Jingle Bells. So I thought of some good old hymns I like and then copied them down (I'm afraid you can't see it very well in this little pic, but I wrote in all down in free form bubble script and it took me forever, especially when I messed up half way through!) on heavy water color paper and framed them with some very cute vintage baby wrapping paper I picked up months and months ago. The song in this frame is "Can you count the stars?" and it's an old hymn my dad used to sing to me when I was little. You can read the lovely old words here. Just reading them lowers my blood pressure, and that has to be a good thing for a new mama, right?

And lastly we have the girl's dresser, given to use by a friend who didn't need it anymore more. It's just the right size for a changing pad which we screwed onto the back. All the diaper changing supplies and cloth diaper stuff is conveniently located in the top drawer. We are REALLY hoping to make good use out of these, especially after I saw the price of diapers combined with the fact that with twins we can expect to go through 12 a day. Yikes! I know washing diapers is work, but so is earning money...to spend on diapers...to fill with poo-poo...) The step peddle trash can is our cloth diaper pail, lined with a water proof bag that can be washed with diapers.

So for now, this is our little home. And I must say, that even though some people would feel panicked about the levels of unknown in our life right now I can only seem to feel blessed, content, and frankly happy. Especially in light of some stories I heard just in the last day. One was a young woman (friend of a friend sort of thing) pregnant with twins and about a foot shorter than I am-meaning not much room for two babies. She has just been hospitalized with pre-term labor and she's not due till April. But that's just the start. She's newly married, and got married because she was pregnant. They are in debt up to their eyeballs, and...yep there's more...the day after she was hospitalized her husband lost his job. Or even harder than that was the pod-cast I listened to today about the mom who found out she had breast cancer about the same time she found out she was pregnant with her second set of twins. She beat the cancer during the pregnancy and then four months later had massive heart failure, and now lives with a complicated heart pump. So. Suddenly the of idea of being a new mom to twins while living in this lovely little 9'x13' home doesn't seem like such a hard thing to do.
Blessings!c

Unless the Lord...

We're at 37 weeks! Do you know what a big deal this is? This means no prematurity. 37 weeks has been my goal for suuuch a long time. I almost can't believe I have made it. I have certainly had some big I-am-SO-over-being-pregnant "moments" (or meltdowns maybe is a better word). But even since then I've found if I can get enough sleep and I'm not made to go anywhere (and I really mean anywhere) then I can still stay in a fairly good mood and feel pretty decent too. But, that's said, I would very much prefer NOT to stay at this point for the rest of my life, lol. Everyone around here has started paying very close attention to me. If I stub my toe and say "ouch" mom will come hurrying over to the bedroom door and with big eyes ask if I'm okay. "*sigh* Yes mom. I'm not in labor. I'll tell you if I'm in labor. Promise. So stop it. You're driving me crazy." Lol Then the other night in one of my ten trips to the bathroom I blew my nose and The Man leaped the few steps to the bathroom out of a sound sleep with a gasping, "Are you alRIGHT?" So just in case you were wondering. I'm okay. I'm really really okay. Just waiting for the right time.
In other news the house has been on hold for about the last month, due to The Man being out of town and the weather, which has not been helpful at all. We've been very prayerful that we might be able to get everything dried in before the girls come. The framing was officially finished yesterday! Praise God! So now the last of the wall and roof sheathing is all that's needed to dry it in. But we are also praying that we won't worry about it, but accept and trust God's timing. He has really been so good to, bring everything together just when it is needed.
This passage below has been kind of theme for us, and our phase of life right now. The first time I remember really reading this Psalm and thinking about it, I couldn't makes sense of the abrupt change of topic. It seemed to be about two very different things. But after really thinking it over I came to a different conclusion. I think this Psalm is about where you invest your life. It seems to be contrasting the idea of giving your material life all your heart and worries with giving your life focus to family. It seems to me that God thinks investing your life in children is a far better use of your time and energy, if that is your calling, your heritage. Just thought I would share. Blessings!c

Unless the LORD builds the house,
its builders labor in vain.
Unless the LORD watches over the city,
the watchmen stand guard in vain.

In vain you rise early
and stay up late,
toiling for food to eat—
for he grants sleep to those he loves.

Sons are a heritage from the LORD,
children a reward from him.

Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
are sons born in one's youth.

Blessed is the man
whose quiver is full of them.
They will not be put to shame
when they contend with their enemies in the gate.

36 weeks

You know, I found out a little while back that 38 weeks is considered full term for twins. And that just tells you how close we are now. We had the ultrasound yesterday and I would say all things considered the results are good, and I still feel such a peace about it all. Thank you so much for the prayers! We have one head up and one head down, and that is a very workable situation. So right now I'm doing the best I can get to rest and prep at the same time. I've been washing all the baby clothes, organizing the room, starting to pack for the birth, finishing up thank you cards, buying those little odds and ends things that I still need, all that kind of stuff. If I have the time and energy I'll try to post some pics of some of my recent progress, but I'm not making any promises. Between all that there has been lots of sleeping late, naps, and reading (I'm already through two and half novels!). Generally speaking I'm still feeling very good and getting around just fin; God has been good! I'd say we are offically in the calm before the storm now. Blessings!c

35 weeks

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

I'm setting aside today as a special day of prayer for these little babies, with an additional special request that they both be head down by the next ultrasound, February 2nd. Blessings!c

Down shift

I've finished the curtains! Whoo-hoo. That was such a big weight off my shoulders, and I might be as far as half done on the thank you cards, which is a pretty big deal. I've decided I have definitely hit a "slow-down" period. Most of the projects are done, or close to, or they really don't matter that much, and I'm just plain tired. I had a good cry, pep-talk, and prayer session with The Man that helped me work through every thing I have been feeling about the girls being breech, and that was an even bigger weight off my shoulders. I don't have words for how thankful I am to have him in my life.
So in the vein of wanting slow down and just relaxing a bit, I've been dying to read something, ironic I know, considering ALL the baby prep reading I have done. But I am completely burnt out on baby books. I don't care how good the book is, I've been reading about it none stop for six months and I DO NOT want to read about it anymore. I have missed some of my favorite books that are in storage, the ones that feel like old dear friends I have read them so very many times. At the top of such a list would be a few things by Gene Stratton Porter and most anything by L.M. Montgomery.
We made a trek to the library yesterday to see what I could find, and low and behold, the very very small local library had a copy of my very most favoritest (you see how much I like it? I have to resort to bad grammar to even attempt to express my feelings, lol) book by Porter, Laddie- A True Blue Story, which can be hard to find in big libraries. It really did make my day.
On top of all of this, one of my dearest friends is flying in today for a weekend visit with the girls and I. The timing couldn't be better! Well, I'm off to write some more thank you cards! Please keep the prayers up. Your words of encouragement have meant so much to me. Blessings!c

These are a few of my favorite things...

Prego and baby prep things to be specific ...not saying this stuff is right for you, just saying that they were a blessing to me.
A note on the books and documentaries, though it should probably go without saying, there is nudity in some of them. Some how that just seems to happen when people are being born ;)

Books:

• The Happiest Baby on the Block- (didn't read the whole thing, just the how-to. The dvd really cuts to the chase, if you can get your hands on it.)
• Secrets of the Baby Whisperer
  
• To Train Up a Child
• Ina May's Guide to Childbirth
• Active Birth

Documentaries:

• The Business of Being Born
  
• Orgasmic Birth (I know, I know, sounds smutty, but it's not. I learned a LOT of interesting things from both these movies)
• Is an exercise video a documentary? I don't think so, but I'm listing it here anyway. Yoga for Your Pregnancy
  

Foods:

• Eggs: the perfect protein. I've eaten an average of three a day for the whole pregnancy (which is saying a lot since I'm not crazy about them), and have had them every way possible: omelets, french toast, egg drop soup, homemade egg nog, egg custard, hard boiled eggs (dipped in a mixture of salt pepper and dill, think of it as a quick deviled egg), in tuna salad, poached eggs on toast, and most common in my chocolate smoothie.
• Cottage cheese. 1/4 of a cup is a serving of protein or of dairy. That's hard to beat.

Maternity clothes:

• This shirt. Can't you tell? It's been in so many pics over the last few months, and it still fits and is comfortable. I think it's because of the gathering on the sides and how long it is.
• Prego stretch pants. Since it feels like I'm wearing tight clothes even when I have NOTHING on, it's been hard to find pants that I can stand to wear for very long. So I have graduated to the mu-mu...err I mean dress (it just looks like a mu-mu on me!) and stretch pants look.

Miscellaneous stuff:

• Netflix- perfect for getting those off beat documentaries and nice long chick flicks for all the rest time I need these days
  
• Our ipod- this has been great for when I can't sleep at 2am. Often a cd or pod cast will lull me right back to sleep, and if it doesn't then at least I'm entertained and not feeling all crabby about the lack of sleep
• Belly Balm- has kept me for feeling crazy itchy all through this winter, which is saying a lot as big as I am getting, and it looks like it will last for more that the pregnancy (if it lasts for this twin-mama-belly it should last for you!). The only draw back is that The Man doesn't like the smell of it- it's unscented. I also have hardly any stretch marks, though I can't say I know it was because of the Belly Balm.
  

And now for a quick belly update: Lord willing I will go this week for an additional ultrasound to check the babies positions. On Saturday the mid-wife thought Baby A was head down and Baby B was head up. I suspect they are both head down today, but there has been a LOT of moving around. I've had a few really bad nights, but overall I'm doing really well and feeling good. I just have less and less energy every couple of days; I'm probably gaining a pound of baby a week now. That's a lot to get used to. I've also started seeing the chiropractor once a week, and it helps SO much. We're getting really close to them being here. The count down has already started in my head...and thankfully I'm almost done with those curtains! LOL c

What a year!

It's pretty amazing to look back on this year. There have been SO many unknowns, changes, fears and joys in the past year, and God has navigated us safely through it all. One feat I am particularly proud of in this past year is that I have read the Bible all the way through. It would have been really easy goal to push by the wayside with a new marriage, three moves, the miscarriage, and pregnancy that this year have brought, but somehow I seemed to keep up with it. Now don't get me wrong there have been plenty of weeks of 'catch-up' here and there, but the point is I've made it. It doesn't really seem to matter how much Bible study you do, you still need to go through the whole thing pretty regularly, and it had been a while since I had accomplished that goal. (Just a little note, I read through in a different translation this past year. It's amazing the little things that will jump out at you when the wording is slightly different.) If it's been a while for you, I'd suggest you think about making it a New Years resolution. It's been a huge blessing to me!Is that not the cutest baby bump? They aren't even born and they are already cute!

I love the beginning of a new year, that fresh slate, the anticipation of new growth. It's the perfect time to sit down and take a look at who you have been and who you wish to be. Almost every year since adolescences I have made New Year's resolutions (and cajoled/forced my little sister to do the same when we were little). But this year I'm afraid of try and make any specific goals. I do hope to hold onto my habit of daily reading, and to deepen my prayer relationship, but most of my thoughts center on the challenge of motherhood right now. Do you realize that a reasonable guess puts the babies arrival in six to nine weeks!!? This is by far the most exciting and terrifying adventure I have ever embarked on. I believe God has given us the family to teach us, to help us prepare for heaven. If that's true I think one large part is a new understanding of the depth of love God has for us, and another large part of motherhood is about death to self. I'm in awe of both things. How do you prepare for such a calling, despite all the books one can manage to read, preparations made, and piles of baby gear? Frankly if I think about it too much it scares me to death. I've decided to do the best I can, pray a lot, try to take just one day at a time, and try not to have too many expectations. I feel sure that despite the lack of New Year's resolutions, 2010 will challenge and change me more than any of the past years. Despite my fears, I know that these babies are a blessing from God, and I know can trust him to provide what I need to be a good mother. God help me to remember it in my moments of fear!

May God help us all to embrace the destiny of each day~ c

Merriest Christmas

Are you having a wonderful holiday? I pray you are! I can't help feeling so very blessed as I slow down for the holidays. God has been so generous with us (despite the fact we are technically homeless and without any regular income), and worked through so many different people to bless us in this strange season of our lives. I couldn't even begin to thank them all. I know there are some hard days ahead of us; I know it. But you know what? "Hard times" don't mean you aren't ridiculously blessed. I'm still so blown away at how God is providing for us. We had another appointment today for the babies, and everything is still wonderful with them. I'm almost as big as a nine month pregnant person, lol. Can you believe it? I still do feel pretty good though, praise God! Lots of growing and sleeping and eating going on. And Christmas is really the perfect time for these activities.

Meanwhile The Man and a couple of members of his family have been really working away on the house. This was the progress by the 20th:And we have this great foot bridge (our Christmas present from The Man's parents) installed over the stream to the barn- where all the house supplies are.

I was able to go out to the land myself and see our new walls in person for the first time today.
And The Man and I had our first meal in the house together!Below is the view from our dinning room/kitchen windows. We've got a lot of windows-lol. But we got almost all our windows from a building salvage place, and tried to work with what they had is stock.And this was the progress by the time I left this afternoon. When The Man (and "crew") left at the end of the day today all the walls, interior and exterior where up! How great is that? I'm so excited about it all I can hardly stand it. It was so amazing to actually stand in the house plan I have been looking at and working over on paper for the last few months. I know it's going to be small, very small, but standing in it and walking through the rooms I couldn't help but feel confident that we'll be able to make it very comfortable. A happy little nest.May God rain down blessings on you all too!
Merry Christmas
c

Six month check-up

Since I'm carrying twins, which is considered to be higher risk (btw- I read the other day that there is a 60% prematurity rate among twins, how horrible!) I have an ultra sound once a month. The visits are timed just right, because about a week before the appointment I start to really wonder and/or worry about how they are doing. Are they growing like they should? Are they putting on weight? Are they both okay? I've felt lots of moving, but are both of them moving? About two weeks before this past visit Baby A, which is highly complicated medical term for the baby positioned to birth first, turned completely sideways- which I must say wasn't the least uncomfortable or funny looking (joke). And then I couldn't tell what position she finally settled down into. The Man and I were prayerful that she was head down; we pray that God prepares them for a healthy natural pregnancy. If this little stinker (Baby A) isn't head down when it comes time to deliver then a c-section is necessary, so its pretty important to me.
But so far I leave every appointment with a sigh of relief and smiles on all my health care giver's faces. My blood pressure and sugar are both very good. I gained a little more weight than I thought I had which was comforting. And the babies? Just too darn cute! And both still girls, and BOTH head down! What a relief. Their measurements and weight and almost exactly match the averages, Baby A is even a few ounces bigger. I just love hearing that they are doing okay! So as of right now everything looks really good, and Lord willing things will stay that way. God has been very good to us. Blessings! c
P.S. As much as I have complained about it, I think much of the twins and my good health can be attributed to the Brewer's diet. If you're expecting I'd recommend you check it out, especially if you have multiples.
P.P.S. These pics were taken about a week ago, and it feels to me like I've grown even bigger since then!

My bag

I hope you all had a blessed Thanksgiving! Can you believe that it's the first day of December? You know what this means? The girls will be here in just a few more months! I can't believe it! I go back and forth between being so excited I can't stand it and and sheer panic. But I've been steadily working, trying to get as much done before they come as I can. Every morning I wake up and make a to-do list for the day, in an attempt to not waste any of this precious time. This project has been on my list for over three months. Since I'm going to be pretty attached to a diaper bag for the next few months/years of my life, I had decided I would just make my diaper bag my purse. Since I didn't like the idea of a purse with balloons and teddy bears on it, and all the stylish ones seemed to be out of my price range, I decided I would make my own.I found the perfect bag in Weekend Sewing, a book full of great sewing projects. My parents were out of town for a week, and The Man was spending his days out at the land working at the land. So with the house all to myself (and quite possibly the last solitary week of my life for a very very long time-what changes have come on my life!) I decided to start this project. I left everything out on the kitchen table, and left myself plenty of time to try and engineer everything jussst right.The directions called for just one pocket inside, but of course that was silly talk. I needed lots and lots of the perfect pockets: for pens, cell phone, keys, diapers, changes of cloths...you know, all the stuff. I also got two super duty magnets (found at the craft section at wal-mart) and sewed them into the binding at the top for an invisible closure.

It took me a couple of days, for a couple of hours each day to get it done, but I think it came out pretty nice! I need to do a little re-enforcing stitching at the handles (with my contrasting kelly green thread-LOVE it!). I'm hopefull that it will be big enough, but a part of me knows that it doesn't really matter how big it is, I will always need more room!

So. One project down...I'm not sure how many more to go. I've already started the next one though, a nice easy one: homemade cloth baby wipes.

Prego me

We had another check-up at the end of last week, and both babies are still girls (sorry mum-in-law, I know you were still holding out for a boy and girl). Praise God, things look WONDERFUL! I've already gained 30 pounds (which is how much you supposed to gain with one baby by the end of your pregnancy incase you didn't know). It's one of the best things I can do for the twins- to make sure that they go full term. It's hard and strange to see the numbers on the scale go so high, but I'm trying to swallow down those feelings and focus on making sure that I do everything I can to get these babies here healthy. I was reading the other day, from one of the MANY books in that stack, that the two most important things you can do when prego with twins is get rest and eat lots. I know it sounds silly, but to do those two things the way I really should, it takes purpose and focus. I realized in thinking about it that even though the path God has been taking us down seemed all wrong to me at the time (moving back in with my parents was never a part of my plan) God has been unfolding his perfect plan for our lives every day. He's has put me in the ideal situation to see that I can achieve these things. I am so grateful that though our life changes so fast that I can't make plans from one month to another, I can trust in a God who can make plans for me.
We had two other exciting pieces of news from the exams! The girls weigh more that average for 24 weeks, just a few ounces more, but for twins that's wonderful news. And for the really big news: both of the girls are now head down, or in medical speak: vertex, vertex. This means that they are in the ideal position for a natural birth, and hopefully they stay that way! God is great! Blessings!c
P.S. I have had an inspired, yet not so very original, idea recently. You can see all the information I have been reading and gleaning from different sources. I was struggling to figure out how I would remember some of the things I have found useful in all my research. I could see myself thinking, "Yes I remember reading some good advice for how to deal with this," as two babies scream at the top of their little lungs, "yes, seems like it was in a book." And all this knowledge I'm trying to gather up would be scattered to the four winds with every head splitting scream. So. I decided to make a "Baby Binder". I'm photo copying key things I want to remember books, and printing things from the web, three hold punching them, writing notes one them if I need to, and organizing them in the binder. My own personal emergency baby reference :)

FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!

I think the twins had their first fight, lol! The both of them spent about a minute pummeling my internal organs, my stomach and as far as I could tell each other. It was quite an event! And The Man is back finally. We spent a long time in a seeming endless rotations "Ouu quick! Their kicking, feel now!" and then minutes of complete stillness, when he finally felt one of them kick! By that point he had kind of lost interest, and was sticking his hand on my stomach just to please me, when he kind of jumped and said, "Was that it?" He said it felt kind of like a heart beat. Sweet little babies. I must say, even with all the throwing up I have done, and other umcomfortable things, I still really enjoy being pregnant :)c

Guess what????

I saw the babies move today! It was amazing! Both of them moved too. Now I just have to guard my belly so that no one else gets to see them move before The Man gets home, lol.

Baby Research

(these are just pretty fall pics...eye candy...nothing to do with the topic.)
When I got pregnant the first time, before the miscarriage, I couldn't figure out how to pick a doctor, and so I started to do research (I completely get this habit of researching things from my father. I think it's genetic, lol.) to try and figure out my best options. About that same time I ran across this blog post, which gave me lots of food for thought, though I still disagree with some of it. And that led to more research and renting this documentary on NetFlix which I HIGHLY recommend it to ANYONE who is pregnant and making plans in this direction. After all of this, I became fairly sure that I didn't want a typical hospital birth, but rather a midwife, birth clinic, or home birth option (home birth is out since we don't have a home, and I'm a first time mom with twins). I'm really glad I was able to make an informed decision about what sort of birthing care I wanted and what was best for me and the babies, instead of just doing what other people do. Oh and btw just in case you care all of this does not mean I won't transfer to the hospital care if it's need, but only if it's needed.

I said I would share some of the things I have been reading in all this research. I've tried to be REALLY picky about what books I read because I know there are only so many things you can learn from a book and if you read too much then you just end up freaked out and overwhelmed. So I did lots of research and took recommendations on books before actually spending the time to read anything. Here is the list I have gathered so far:

Ina May's Guide to Childbirth- This books was incredibly help full to me. I learned so much about how your body handles birth. The first half of the book is all first person birth stories, but not the scary screaming it was so awful kind, though they don't pull in punches either, just a nice balanced look at how a health birth goes. Until this book I was pretty afraid of giving birth, but now I'm not.
The Christian Childbirth Handbook- I've only read though part of this book so far. Of all the information I've gleaned out of it so far (which isn't much, because I haven't read far) I think I like the idea of memorizing scriptures for the birth the best. I mean when would you need the power of God more that giving birth?
Secrets of the Baby Whisperer- This one was recommended to me, or else I probably never would have picked it up, with a goofy title like that. But I wanted to find something about get your baby on a schedule, and this book fit the bill just perfectly. One other thing I really liked about it is that it talks about the different types of babies, personality styles if you will, and how to "read" your baby.
The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding- A classic from the La Leche League. The idea of breastfeeding was a little intimidating, and the idea of doing it for twins is much more so. But it seems like one of those things that you mainly need to do and not read about so much. We'll see. My best friend loved this book, but I've been kind of struggling to get there. So much of the info on breastfeeding is mixed up with the info on parenting, because the two issues are closely related. But I don't want to practice some of their parenting advice, like co-sleeping for exsample. So it feels a little labor intensive to read through.
To Train Up a Child- This book was given to us by my in-laws when we married, and it's very good. Some of it is a little too hard core for me, but generally speaking I really like it. The main idea is that you take the time to train your child in private and not just wait till things go wrong in public and then try to hold it all together (something I know I would be VERY bad at) and train and discipline all at the same time. There stance is that there is a difference between training and discipline and if you train right you need to discipline very little in the longer run (and they have the kids and grandkids to prove that it works) . I've read though it once, not long after we married, I hope to read through it a few more times before the babies come, so my life won't look like this, lol. This book has given me so much hope and encouragement for parenting.
I hope to find a good book on baby sign language and to do some more reading on elimination communication or EC. You can read more about that here if you care to.
Blessings!c

Date night

The Man, being the very thoughtful, nice, and lovable man that he is, took me to the symphony this past weekend (and it's worth noting that he really doesn't care for classical music, unless Bugs Bunny is involved, but he knows I like it). The babies kicked all over the place during the performance, though I'm not sure if that was due to the music or the tight panty hose. I think the symbols may have startled or excited one of them at one point, cause I got a strong kick right after. I think I may have been the only mom to bring my very young children out that night. *smile* c

Lots of building projects

I have been spending most of my days and m&d's (mom and dad's). But yesterday I needed I break, and The Man asked me to come out to the land with for the day with him, which turned out to be just the change of scenery that I needed. I had the most wonderful day.

It was all misty and lovely in the morning when we got there, and I just sat on a pile of contrete blocks, knitting (I also dropped one of my needles down one of the holes in the large stack of cement blocks and The Man had to stop and fish it out for me), reading, and watch The Man work. The birds out there are amazing, singing and warbling all over the place. It makes me so happy to think we're going to be living on this lovely place.The Man has made wonderful progress. In this pic you can see that the footings are all dug, mainly through the aid of a neighbors tractor. Later in the day I was even able to help tie up the re-bar for the footings, which made me happy, because I wanted to be able to say that I helped build the house too-lol.Here's a pic of how the re-bar is tied up to little stakes, in case you aren't familiar with the process. This way when the concrete is poured the re-bar is perfectly in the middle of the footing. The county inspector came out and said it was best work he had seen in a while (yahh! for The Man!) and we were all clear to pour the footings. One inspection down, three more to go! Our county inspects new construction in four phases: footing, foundation, framing and FINISHED. The concrete is schedule to be delivered today. We are also supposed to get some rain today, but it hasn't come yet, and hopefully it will hold off till they get everything set. God was so good in giving us just enough sunny days to get this work done before the rain comes back.
Our neighbours have been an incrediable blessing to us during the building process, helping The Man with all kinds of little things. You should have seen them as they helped him put up the bracing for our temporary electric pole, lol. It was like The Three Stooges! God bless our crazy neighbors! It's so nice to be getting to know them well, and say things like, "Oh yes, those are Old Joe's cows. You wouldn't believe how much he paid for them!"and you really wouldn't.

Meanwhile "back at the ranch", as my dad likes to say, I keep chipping away at my own building project...or should I say projects...
Blessings! c

Girls!

Even thought both The Man and I wanted a boy and a girl, I’ve found myself very excited over the idea of girls. For whatever reason twin girls seem less intimidating to me than just the idea of twins did. I feel like I know what to do with girls, which makes the idea of The Man’s next deployment more bearable. I know all about tea parties, and baby dolls, and that Anne is spelled with an “e”. And ohh the cute things to do for two little girls. One of my dear friends told me about this pattern available on Ravelry (a great website for knitters and crocheters, with lots of free patterns and other neat stuff). (copyright Kate Davies-she is the designer of this pattern called "owlet" http://needled.wordpress.com/designs/ for more info)

Couldn’t you just EAT two sweet little girls with sweaters like that on??? So I’m ordering the pattern today, cause I just can’t stand it. There is a free grown up girls pattern of this sweater too. And I love the idea of having one for myself also, but even with all the time I have right now to sit still and do something like knit, I’m pretty sure that won’t happen.

Despite all the incessant cloudy, rainy, drizzly, depressing weather I have been getting all kinds of things done these day. I must be in a nesting phase, though I have never really understood what exactly that means, lol. With Mom’s help, I have been canning apple sauce, and pear sauce, getting ready to make pear-apple jelly, we even made a large batch of burritos, tortillas and all, from scratch. A lot of work, but they are so good, cheep, healthy, and filling. The Man has been getting a lot done for the house too, even though he’s out of town right now. We finally have all the permits, the driveway is in, and the foundation is all laid out. I hope to have time for a more detailed update on all this stuff soon. Have a blessed weekend! c

Drum roll please....

It's been a good day. With all sorts of nice things happening, but we're almost late for church, and The Man is going to kill me-lol. So I'll get to the point.
We have two very healthy baby.....
girls!
Can you believe it?!

What do you think?

Many of you know that I did not want to find out the sex of the baby before it was born. It was rather funny. Since the time I realized you could find something like that out before the baby was born (when my old sister was first pregnant) I knew I would want to know. Till I got pregnant, and then all of the sudden I realized that I did not want to know before the birth; I wanted it to all be a part of the experience of birth. Plus everyone is so shocked and persistant about 'you just haaave to find out!' and I am ornery enough to enjoy not doing what everyone else says I must, lol.
But.
Since we don't know where we will be living, or where our income will be coming from, and it is twins, I have changed my mind. I have decided there is so little I can make plans about- I can't even get a nursery ready, and so many plans that need to be made that I am going to find out the sex of the babies.
From the moment I found out it might be twins, I knew it was twins and felt sure that it was a boy and a girl. This also happens to be what The Man and I would most like to have, though that's not really the important part. I have an ultra sound scheduled for tomorrow afternoon, and Lord willing we will find out then. Any bets on the sex of the babies?

5 months and 1 year

This past Saturday was our one year anniversary. I can't believe it's been that long already. He planned a trip, a surprise, to Savannah, where I have said several times I have wanted to go. It was a record hot day in Savannah, and we mainly walked (which can be a little taxing on a five month pregnant person, but a long afternoon siesta helped fix that) around town looking in shops and eating good food. We ate breakfast at The Express Cafe in downtown before we left town. Supper yummy food. You should try it out some time. That's an egg, cheese, and sausage breakfast bagel on my plate. Simple and wonderful. The Man came up with the, bar none, perfect first year anniversary present (which is paper)...a letter about our first year, which practically reduced me to snotty sobs. It hasn't all been easy, which you know if you're a part of my life, or read this blog. I counted it up and about 4 months of this first year we have spent apart from each other (if that doesn't sound like much to you, you should try it some time), and I know the years to come hold more of the same. But my dream of so many years, a marriage with my best friend, has come true. He thinks he's gotten the better end of the deal in this marriage, and I know that I actually have.
You can't ask for much more that that. I am more thankful for this wonderful, frustrating, loving man of my heart and for these children of his I carry than I can ever express.