Baby #3 Week 33

This has been an interesting week. We learned that Shep may have an issue with his kidney. We have a doctor's appointment this afternoon to learn more. We continue to pray for this little guy and that the problem resolves itself. I'm anxious to learn more at our appointment today.

I'm feeling a little frazzled about delivery. I really wanted to try to go into labor on my own but have feeling they will try to schedule something early. I'm trying to hold out as long as Shep wants.

We made some major nursery progress last week and I'm excited that the crib is in place. I spoke with a lady that will be making his bumper pads yesterday and am excited to get the ball rolling on those! We're taking a break this weekend but will hit the nursery hard next weekend and hope to have it complete within the next four weeks.

I've ordered a bunch of personalized things for Shep this week and am so excited for the packages to start arriving!

I'm really finally feeling pregnant. I have to sit back in my chair to give Shep room to move. If I sit up straight he moves around a ton. I feel like he's trying to stretch out :) It is taking me a little more effort to roll over and bend over. After a long day I'm ready to hop into bed for some rest. I get a little out of breath when I lay on my back.

Again, it is crazy to compare this pregnancy to last time. At 33 weeks with the twins I was 2cm dilated and 60% effaced. I was sent to labor and delivery because my blood pressure was high, I was having pre-term labor and they thought that I might have preclampsia. The twins also got steroid shots at this point to mature their lungs for delivery. I am so thankful that this pregnancy continues to be uneventful, that I am able to continue caring for the twins, and able to be at work.

33 weeks with Shep

33 weeks with twins

Pregnancy Highlights:

Today's Date: Friday, February 28th, 2014

How Far Along: 33 weeks

Pregnancy Countdown: 49 days or less

Size of babies: A Durian (what is that?) The babiy weighs between 4.2 to 5.8lbs (Measuring in at 5lbs as of Tuesday afternoon) and should be between 17.2 and 18.7 inches long. 

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Still at 20lbs (I was up 44lbs at this time with the twins)

Maternity Clothes: Yes, the tops are getting tiny! I had a little belly hanging out incident at lowe's this past weekend. My poor mother was so embarrassed. I need to get a few new pieces to get me through!

Gender: Boy- Arthur Shepherd Carroll

Movement: A TON! Shepherd has become crazy! Especially during 9-11am. I have to sit far away from my desk or he'll kick it and it hurts! He flips and rolls and I can see body parts sticking out of my stomach.

Sleep: Sleeping pretty well. I woke up last night in the middle of the night and it took me awhile to get back to sleep because Shep was so active. I am still staying up until 11 and waking up around 6:15.

What I miss: sushi... I cannot wait to have some!

Cravings: salads. It is so weird. I totally hate salad normally but that's all I've wanted recently (well that plus dessert). I've definitely not been eating as much because I get full really easy. I can eat a pretty big lunch and then just a small snack for dinner.

Symptoms: I am getting more frequent braxton hicks. the acid reflux let up for a little bit but comes back if I eat anything with tomatoes. I just start getting incredibly hot in the evenings and I had to dry my hair with the window open (it was 32 outside) this morning. I've been having some round ligament pain on my lower left side for the past two days.

Best Moment this week: all of the sweet prayers, comments, texts, and phone calls we've received from friends this week. Shep is one very loved little boy and everyone's concern for him has been heartwarming.

A look at the week

A look at our week

Our Monday started off crazy! My mom was walking the kids to her car to head to preschool and lost her keys in the process of putting Emma Cate in the car. Luckily I was running late for school so I was able to help her look. We searched and searched and couldn't find them anywhere (and still can't). She ended up driving my car to work and dropping me off in carpool line. She had a doctor appointment after school so she picked me up and we dropped her at the doctor and the babies and I killed some time at target while we waited.

This girl is loving accessories lately. She kept these ears on the whole time we were at target.

We got home and the babies discovered Shep's room. They both ran to the crib and begged for me to put them in. They were having a ball in there. They bounced like crazy. We went for a different mattress this time around and it is soo much bouncier. I was afraid the kids would fly out of the crib. We will definitely be lowering this one earlier than last time. 

I told them to take a nap and this is what they did.

The week has been crazy with Jay being at baseball every night until 7. This leaves me with getting dinner cooked and feeding and bathing the kids all with a healing arm and shoulder. Holden found our scrub brush under the sink and went to town. This is their new favorite activity. It kept them busy for 45 minutes. I need to buy another scrub brush. Jay laughed at me for turning out children into housekeepers. 

On Tuesday we headed to the doctor for our ultrasound. I know it's silly but I asked Jay to take a selfie before we went. We don't have a lot of pictures of us during this pregnancy. This is also the day we learned that Shep has an issue with his kidney. We are off the specialist today to learn more. 

Back at home we played outside while dinner cooked away in the crockpot. It was a little chilly but I'm so glad we are able to start getting outside to play.

The lawnmower is a twin favorite and might be one of those items that I purchase two of!

This guy was such an explorer. He loves everything around him. He was into leaves, sticks, grass, you name it. He is a great listener and always stayed close to me (unlike his sister). We practiced throwing and kicking the ball. Both babies got a huge kick out of mommy passing them the ball. Maybe we've got some future soccer players :) 

I look crazy in the pictures below but I'm trying to get in more pictures with the babies. We have an old wooden bench swing and the babies love to climb in my lap and swing. I took advantage of the closeness to take a few pictures.

Wednesday was another crazy day! I didn't get home from work until 5:15 and Jay had baseball until 7. We scrapped dinner plans and went to Flying Biscuit with my mom instead. Wednesday nights are 1.99 kids meals and the restaurant was not busy at all. The servers were soooo accommodating and brought my hungry kids biscuits to munch on while they waited for their food. 

Jay met us at Flying Biscuit and took the kids home to do naps and bedtime. My mom and I met my sister for dessert at Nan and Byron's (the most yummiest brownie ever) and then went back to her house to sew for a bit! I got home just in time to watch the State vs. UNC game. It was a nail bitter! I was sooo sad we lost. Watching State games can take years off your lives. Jay is so adorable and found these sweet babies in their state pjs when I went in to check on them. 

Thursday was another LONG day. I got home just in time to make dinner for the twins and had to run to pick up some clothing from the alteration placed before they closed. I got a call from my husband who had just went to his class and found that class was cancelled. We decided to go on an impromtu date to Good Food on Montford. Seriously, their mushrooms were amazing and my soup was pretty yummy. I love going for small plates because it spreads out the meal and lets you have a pretty good conversation. It was so nice to connect for just a bit after the hectic week we've had!

We came home to find this one all cuddled up to her bumper pads!

This guy was given this doggie lovey from one of my mom's friends. He has 3 other loveys so this one has just sat in his closet. He found it the other day and has been obsessed with it. It was so sweet to find him sleeping all curled up with his puppy lovey.

Scenes from the Weekend

I can't believe it is Thursday afternoon and I'm just getting around to updating pictures from our weekend. Better late than never. 

This girl woke up on Friday with some curls going on! We're having a bit of a hair dilemma. Her hair can be totally crazy because it is getting longer in the back but the front is still really short and she is just now starting to grow a little hair where her hairline was receding. The humidity is bringing out her curls and I'm thinking that keeping it longer will be better for this summer and her little ringlets.

We went out to eat at Brixx on Friday night with my mom, my friend Sara, and my sister Bo. This one was hamming it up at the table like usual.

Not to be outdone by his little sis, Holden was running around and giving us goofy grins. He notices the attention that EC gets when she falls or makes a funny face or coughs (or anything really) and he imitates her to get the same reaction from mom. His fake cough (followed by a devilish grin) is pretty much my favorite.

not the most flattering picture but a few of my best college girlfriends got together on Friday night. I was so tired but made it until 12:30 chatting with these girls over drinks at Nan and Byrons. I had the BEST time.  I have missed my friends sooooo much lately. I'm working on being more intentional with my friendships. It's so easy to let friendships slide, especially because none of my very best friends are in the same stage of life as me (i.e. have children). I have some good "mom" friends but nothing like this group of my college besties. Because of work, I spend most of my free time at home with my family but I have got to start making an effort to get together with friends old and new!

We headed to gymnastics bright and early on Saturday morning. I was sooo exhausted after being out late on Saturday night. I was so pumped that we got this parking spot. Anyone that works out at Harris Y knows the spots around the circle are coveted. I've tried for 5 weeks to land an expectant mother spot and we finally did. Parking here makes it SOOO much easier to wrangle the kids into class rather than walking a mile from the back lot while carrying a toddler. There is no room for the stroller in the gymnastics space so carrying them is the only way to go.

these babies were obsessed with the beam this week.

Holden was flirting MAJOR with these two sweet gymnasts. He would run on the trampoline by where they were sitting and bat his eyelashes at them and give them little smirks. They asked if they could help the twins during class and of course I agreed. I had to take pictures of them walking the beam with their "big girl" helpers.

we ran some errands and had our weekly chick-fil-a lunch before heading home for naps. We bought EC some sunnies at target because she ALWAYS wants to wear mine. She will leave them on until they fall off or we take them off of her. We tried to get Holden a pair but he wanted nothing to do with them. She will put them on whenever she can! 

My mom and Bo came over for Chinese on Saturday night and we bathed the babies and put them to bed before dinner. Emma Cate was petting Holden in this pic.

And by the way- the kids are pretty much taking all of their baths in the bath tub (finally). We still stick them in the sink when we need to do it super quick!

She loved putting her feet in when he was bathing!

i know i know... this will totally embarrass him later but this pic was too cute of his little tush and his outgrown robe.

She isn't potty trained yet but loves to sit on the potty. 

We barely made it to church on Sunday morning. Jay dropped me off with the kids and I checked them into Sunday school while he went to park the car. I headed back to the lobby to wait on him. There was another family that did the same thing and after I saw her husband walk in I assumed Jay would be there shortly after. I waited another 5 minutes and by this time we were so late that I figured we'd just go try a Sunday school class because there was going to be no way we'd get a seat in the sanctuary. I continued to wait. I finally went to the twins' Sunday school classroom and checked to see if Jay had been by there. Of course, he had (about 5 minutes ago). I had no clue where he would be so I headed to the sanctuary and found him sitting in the last pew. UGH! I was so frustrated and didn't know how we had missed each other. I settled down during the service and enjoyed worshiping. 

We met Gigi for breakfast at Eddie's Place after church.

We got home from brunch and Jay and I dove into Operation Nursery. I really wanted a grey Jenny Lind style crib and couldn't find any for sale so we decided to buy a white one and paint it. I went with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Paris Grey and Graphite. I mixed 1 cup of Paris Grey with 4 tablespoons of Graphite for the perfect mid-grey color. 

mixology

we bought a paint sprayer and OMG I LOVED it! We tried hanging the pieces at first but decided it was better if I held them and Jay sprayed. We mixed the paint with 10% water to thin it before spraying.

I sprayed one little bit and it came out chunky so I gave up.

excuse my adorable painting outfit.

It took us around 2.5 hours to paint the crib. We did one coat and then touched up the spots that we missed. The paint covered soooo well! I want to give a HUGE shout out to my mom who came over to help me get started (Jay was working on refinishing the dresser behind him above) and then once we had it under control she left. Around 4:45 the kids started to wake up from nap and she came rushing over to babysit so we could finish up. SOOO thankful for her. We would have never gotten it done without her help!

Daddy assembling the crib!

Crib and mattress! Can't wait for all the bedding and the baby to put in it! I'm also planning on sealing it with Annie Sloan clear wax! I'll update when I get some new pictures.

We totally crashed Sunday night after an exhausting but fun weekend!

Outdoor Fun

We had a fun little Thursday and enjoyed the beautiful weather! I'm am so ready to box up all of the twins' corduroy in favor of springy gingham. 

I've been trying to take the twins out to play when they get up from their nap. Our problem is that they don't wake up until 4:30 or 5 and then it gets too close to dinner time. I'm working on prepping dinner ahead so that we can play until 6 and come in and have dinner. In the pic above we were playing with the new bubbles the twins got for valentine's day. They LOVE bubbles and the way they say it is so cute. They chased the bubbles and laughed the whole time. It was so hard to blow bubbles and take pictures/film at the same time. Hopefully we'll have some good weekend weather and we can play bubbles again when Daddy is home.

They are also obsessed with running up and down the hill. Our yard still looks like fall because we haven't done yard work in forever.  

I went to dinner with our neighborhood group (and stayed out way too late) and came home to find my husband wandering up our street. He was out wrangling deer. There were like 15 deer in our front yard and my animal loving hubby was afraid they were going to wander onto the main road so we went outside to heard them towards the back of the neighborhood. He has a very sweet heart but I still laugh out loud thinking about him chasing the deer through the neighbors yard.