First Father-Daughter Dance

This past weekend Jason and Madi experienced a first - they attended a Father-Daughter Dance hosted by ISS! Madi had the perfect party dress for the event and loves dancing so we knew it would be a blast. (Plus this is her only chance to go and have Daddy all to herself before her sisters arrive - then Jason gets to try and juggle dancing with three daughters, hehe.)

She was super excited when we told her she was going dancing with Daddy. She clung to his leg while he was tying his tie and happily waved "bye bye" to me and practically ran out the door with Daddy.

I did get a few pictures beforehand, but only after bribing her with a marshmallow (she was ready to get partying!)

My friend Kelly was one of the organizers of the event and sent me this sweet picture of my two favs dancing. :-)

Jason was super sweet and made sure to take pictures of all the fun they were having. And I so did not cry looking at them or thinking about how much fun they had... ;-)

The fathers wrote a letter to their daughters, which the organizers printed on fancy paper and had waiting for the girls. (And of course I didn't cry again when Jason let me read Madi's!)

There was a craft table where Jason made the sweetest frame for Madison! I can't wait to put a picture of the two of them in it. We had it sitting on the table and the next morning Madi walked over to it and said "Daddy made". Heart. melted. 

Those two had a blast at the dance and I feel so blessed to have such an amazing husband who sets an example of a godly and loving father to Madi and her future sisters. :-)

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Twin Tuesday: 28 Weeks + Ultrasound Pics

How far along: 28 weeks (click here to see 28 weeks with Madi!)

Gender: Baby girls! Here is our gender reveal video.

Twins' Development: The babies' eyelashes have developed and they will now turn their head towards continuous , bright light from outside. Layers of fat are beginning to form as the babies get ready for life outside the womb and you can regularly feel their movements. (Source: Baby Center Twins)

Sleep: I've still been able to sleep incredibly well, but I've had a few nights lately where I've woken up quite a few times (besides to go to the bathroom). I've still been able to fall asleep relatively quickly so I can't complain!

Movement: Definitely! There have been a few times we have felt both babies kicking, but the baby on the left (in general) seems more active than her sister. 

Unglamorous body changes: I don't know if this counts, but I've had bacteria in my urine sample off and on since last November. After five rounds of antibiotics and still no improvement, the doctor has decided I will take a low dosage antibiotic the remainder of the pregnancy and she will continue testing and consulting with the hospital specialist on path forward. Fortunately, I don't have any symptoms of a UTI other than frequency so I don't have it too bad! The concern would be if a kidney infection developed it could cause pre-eclampsia and therefore pre-term labor. 

Maternity Clothes? Yep!

Showing: Yes! I'm still being told that I don't look like I am carrying two babies, but I'm definitely looking pregnant. :-)

Food cravings: Margarita. And Oh's cereal from the States (anyone want to send me a care package, hehe ;-) )

What I miss: A margarita. On the rocks, with salt, and top shelf tequila. Mmmmm. (This will probably remain on the list until the end of the pregnancy!)

Anything making you queasy: Nope.

Strange experiences: Crying. Can I just say the hormones with two baby girls is way worse than with one! I have had three totally irrational and uncontrollable crying fits this month! 

The first was Easter weekend when Madi got sick. I had a total meltdown in the car crying that I couldn't handle Madi being sick and how was I going to make it through the rest of the pregnancy and how in the world was I going to handle three little ones and why was this happening to us. It was bad. And ugly. Poor Jason. He just kept driving not knowing what to say because really, what do you say to a total meltdown like that?! 

The second was when I realized that I completely spaced a parent-teacher conference for Madi. I burst into tears at my desk, ran to the bathroom, and sat there crying and arguing with myself. The logical and rational side of me kept saying "They will re-schedule Darcy. It's not a big deal, just calm down." And yet the hormornal half of me just kept crying and crying. It was ugly. 

The last one was just this past Sunday. We bought tickets for Top Gear back in March for Jason's birthday and they finally announced new dates for the show. And of course it's on Madi's birthday, June 20. We discussed switching the tickets to Sunday afternoon and last week was the designated week to call. Jason innocently asked me on the way to church if I had taken care of it and I burst into tears because (once again) between work getting super busy and pregnancy brain, I had totally forgotten! I cried all my makeup off before church and barely pulled myself together. 

You can add prayers for Jason to handle my ridiculous-ness the remaining 10 weeks. (10 weeks?!?! How is that even possible???)

Best moment this month: Finding out today that the babies have changed into an ideal birth position! (See more below under 28 week appt)  :-)

Looking forward to: Finalizing the twins' nursery! All we have left is to finish making some of the decorations and then hanging stuff. My sweet friend Jenny brought me back some hangers from the US so I've been able to pull out and hang up all the newborn clothes and some of the three month clothes. We are close to ready for their arrival, but crossing our fingers they wait until July!!

28 Week Appt: Thank you for all the prayers after my 24 week appointment! We found out today that the babies have flipped oppositely - the one on the left is now head down and the one on the right is breech. I was slightly disappointed at first upon hearing that until the doctor explained that the baby on the left moved her way down completely in front of the birth canal so she's ready to be the eldest! It doesn't matter if the baby on the right flips to head down or stays breech - so long as the baby on the left stays head down, it will be an ideal twin position for vaginal delivery! There is still a chance that she could flip, but the odds are low since space is getting limited. :-)

Size-wise, both babies are still measuring within the normal range for a Norwegian singleton. The baby on the left is -5% and the baby on the right is measuring +4%. The doctor is happy with how they are measuring. She did notice that the baby on the left has slightly less fluid (both babies are in their own sac) so she's going to keep an eye on her, but she saw plenty of movement on the ultrasound (and hiccups!) so she's not concerned right now. 

During the ultrasound we got to see the baby on the left hiccuping! You could see it on her heart rate too!! So weird because I was just telling Jason that I haven't felt hiccups yet and I still wasn't able to feel her hiccuping today when we saw that she was! When we tried to get pictures of the baby on the right side we saw her stick out her tongue! Still amazed at their are babies growing inside me and that we can see them so well with technology. :-)

We hadn't gotten pictures since February so we asked if we could try to get a couple! It's much more difficult to get pics when there are two, but she was super patient and got a good one of the baby on the left and a decent one of the baby on the right. 

Baby on the left

Baby on the right

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Trollskogen

Last weekend we discovered a new favorite spot - Trollskogen. It's not too far from us on an island called Hundvag, just off of downtown Stavanger.

The weather that weekend was absolutely amazing! We brought stuff to grill, a soccer ball, and spent a couple hours hiking and running around. You are in the middle of the city, but it feels secluded and we love the forrest feel. It's a place we will definitely be visiting many more times this summer!

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Madi: 22 Months

- Woo boy! You are having real conversations with us! It's mind boggling how smart you are and what you are saying. Here was one cute conversation we had this month.

                Madi: I can't find kitty cat!
                Mommy: Well where did you have him last?
                Madi: Kitchen. I go find.

And just like that you are conversing with us. It's precious and priceless. :-)

- You have started to realize opposites and word associations. You were hanging out the window of your playhouse and said "Madi don't fit." I responded, "Yes, the window is too small for Madi." And you quickly said back "Madi too big." How in the world you knew that me saying the window was too small meant the same thing as Madi being too big is beyond me!

- We got our shipment of baby stuff for your sisters just before Easter and transitioned you into your new big girl room. It basically consisted of us moving you down there and bam, you were fine. No interruption in your 12 hours of sleep and no issues. In fact, you seem to love the room even more and have started letting us read a devotional to you and start reading your bedtime stories again! One time you even asked me to sing to you (gasp!). However, the next night when I sang you asked me to stop so that was apparently a one-time request. ;-)

- Speaking of your bedtime books... it's been months since we read them. I think last October probably. Yet you opened up Goodnight Teddy and began telling us what Teddy was doing on every page! You remembered the order of the story and the sound effects we would make with each activity (like nom nom nom for when Teddy eats his dinner). You also love flipping through the devotional book (which you call "devo-she-ann-ull" in the most adorable way). I caught you reading the "devo-she-ann-ull" the other day on the sofa (but really it was a customs bill, hehe)

- You are starting to realize opposites, but you don't always get them right. You will say "I like it" when you really mean you don't like (based on the look on your face and either handing us food back to spitting it out). You also will say Madi go in when we are talking about going outside. You haven't quite realized how to differentiate between them, but we love listening to you say "Daddy go out" when you are asking Daddy to come in. :-)

- You have started to become more independent. Over the last few days you have been climbing into your car seat all by yourself. There have been a few times we have discovered you in your booster seat at the table and we weren't there to help you. You are becoming better at going up and down stairs by yourself too.

Madi,

We love you so much and love being your parents! We've had some challenging times this month when it comes to you listening to us, but we couldn't be more happy about the precious little lady you are becoming. We got the most wonderful report from your school about how happy (they used the word sunshine!) you are and how kind you are to the other children. It melted our hearts to hear just how great you are doing at school and how much you love it!

We can't believe that in just a couple months you are going to be two!! How in the world did that happen?!?

Love,
Daddy and Mommy

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Twin Tuesday: Second Trimester Recap

Wow! I can't believe that I am already 26 weeks pregnant and starting the third trimester... At times, I feel like it's been a snail's pace to get here, but mostly I think it's gone by really fast. It's crazy to think that I only have 12 weeks left before I will meet these litte girls!

So, how has the second trimester been overall? It's been really good! Honestly, the pregnancy still feels almost identical to Madi's (are you tired of me saying that yet??) and things went really well with her. I have noticed a few differences though in my overall tiredness level (so the doctor increased my iron intake) and a bit more discomfort overall when it comes to moving around and getting up. Both pretty typical things though and nothing I should be complaining about!

We squeezed in a trip to the US in March and did a lot of baby shopping while we were there for our extra shipment from the company. Everything was delivered before Easter and we spent the break playing with Madi and getting things put away. We don't have the twins' room setup yet, but that's up next! I am excited to get things prepared for them, but still in disbelief that we are going to be having two more babies this summer!

I don't have any good ultrasound pictures to share right now either. (We go back at the end of the month for my 28 week appointment and at my 24 week appointment she didn't take any snapshots - but I have a feeling good pictures are going to be harder and harder to get as these little girls continue to grow!). You'll have to make do with some growing bump pictures of me instead as a consolation prize. ;-)

Here's to hoping for a smooth-sailing third trimester!

If you're curious, here is my Second Trimester Recap with Madi. Definitely a lot smaller, haha!

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Future Miner: E-days Celebration

Some of our favorite memories from college were from Engineering Days, which we affectionately called E-days. The school would go all out for the event - it would kick off Thursday night with a comedian, followed by a Friday with an ore cart pull to the capital, activities, and a concert. Then Saturday would have more activities and a huge fireworks show featuring fireworks made by the students in a Demolitions class for Mining Engineering. Those weekends hold so many favorite memories for us!

Since becoming alumni we've attended some E-days 'Round the World celebrations by coordinating events in Houston where alumni would meet at a bar or ballgame Thursday night and share memories. I was asked to coordinate an event in Stavanger this year and while we don't have too many alumni in the area, the Stingerie family brought two and a future Miner. ;-)

One of our good friends here in Stavanger is a fellow Miner so we met him and his family for an afternoon coffee after the rainy weather cancelled our picnic. We forgot to take any pictures at our actual event, but we took some family ones beforehand. [Madi was even featured in the Mines magazine as Class of 2035!]

Mines Magazine

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Easter 2015

Happy Easter! He is risen! He is risen indeed. :-) We got to enjoy the blossoming spring flowers and sunny weather most of our long Easter break (we had Wednesday - Monday off!). We spent our time unpacking the baby shipment that arrived just prior to Easter and the rest enjoying the weather outside as much as possible. 

We went for a walk to Stokka lake to feed the ducks. Well, mostly the swans. Madi has gotten great at tearing apart bread and dropping it to the swans that hover just below. She also insisted on bringing her stroller and pushing Kitty and Hans. :-)

Madi also played fetch... just kidding. But she did discover sticks and the fun that they hold.

We caught these two cuddling one another... after each had a go of cat nip. ;-)

I had fun making Madi's Easter basket in the US. I kept it low-key using items all from the dollar store and choosing a basket that can be used again this summer for outdoor play. 

She was a bit grumpy waking up Easter morning, but once we told her there was chocolate in the blue egg she perked up quite a bit. We also gave her a few things that the grandparents had bought her like books and some play food for her kitchen. Both were a big hit!

And of course the grumpiness continued to just before church when we told her she couldn't have any more chocolate or marshmallows. 

But Lily, the pastor's daughter, shared one of her Easter basket toys with Madi and she had a ball!

Obligatory family photo. :-)

Jason made a delicious beef roast for dinner and we enjoyed the leftovers in sandwiches and salads the rest of the weekend. 

And what would Easter be without an egg hunt?! We did a small one for Madi at our house and another at a friend's house on actual Easter Sunday. I'm glad we did ours earlier in the week because the weather was much better!

Our Easter egg hunt on Friday. We planned to have some friends over that afternoon, but Madi got sick that morning and we didn't want to risk her getting anyone else sick. :-/

Happy Easter 2015 from our family to yours! :-)

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