Uncle Si/Duck Dynasty

Troy's parents were SUPER active in youth group when we were growing up. He has made a point to be involved with the youth at our local churches whenever we move. Here are a couple theme night pictures from other events.

Troy as Mr. Incredible with Jim as Batman:

And yes, I volunteered as well, but haven't since Avery was born. Here is Troy and me on Cowboys and Indians night.

As further proof, here is me as a Kangaroo (cause I'm preggo) and Jon as a Gorilla on animal night:

But really, this post is about Troy and is total commitment to a theme night.

So, Troy volunteers with the youth group at our church here in Las Vegas. He goes to their weekly house group meetings for bible study. Every grade has a house in the community that is offered up to the church for the youth. Troy goes to the house for 11th grade boys.

As part of their outreach, the house groups had a theme day during the sunday youth church service. The service is at 11am and is usually 100+ high school kids. It's a full service with their own praise band that is members of the youth group and a sermon and communion and everything. Most of the house groups have about 10-20 kids that go to each house for each gender. For example, Troy works with the 11th grade boys and they usually have about 10-12 kids there. They are trying to encourage more kids to attend house group, so they had a theme day on sunday for house groups.

Each house group picked their own theme and Troy's house picked "Duck Dynasty." Troy was VERY excited and went all out. He dressed up as Uncle Si and even brought the teal cup with a container of sweet tea.

I was dying. He was looking up Uncle Si quotes so that he could spit them out at youth group.

Troy went to Buffalo Wild Wings and picked up "duck wings" for their themed table. Troy was in charge of food for the house table and the 11th grade girls leader (they meet at the same house and so the whole grade had the same theme) was in charge of decorations for the table. I think they did awesome.

Those were all taken with an iphone, so sorry about the quality. But seriously, how funny is that?

And here is a video. Because you know, Troy is the best. I mean, Uncle Si.

I Got Stuck on the Floor in the Shower

I'm not allowed to take showers unsupervised. Just in case I need help. I have thought this was a stupid rule previously.

Troy promised me that if I could keep it together and keep the babies in until 30 weeks, I could go to the prenatal spa that is attached to my doctor's office for a massage. Last week, I finally went! YAY! It was awesome. But like any paranoid woman who gets a pedicure or massage, you don't want to be the wildabeast/sasquatch who shows up with hairy legs.

Now, any kind of lower body hygiene is becoming a challenge due to the size of this massive belly. I have never been someone who can prop their leg up on the side of tub and shave. I have ALWAYS sat down in the tub. Always. Even in my college dorm. Gross, right?

I hadn't shaved my legs in about 2-3 weeks and it was craaaaaazy gross. So I sit down in my shower. It looks like this:

I got shaved up, all proud of myself, even though it took 20 minutes and some yoga/pretzel positioning. I use conditioner to shave. It works just as well as shaving cream and is cheaper. And keeps the clutter down in my shower. Win-win, right? Except in this situation. When I attempted to stand up, the floor was SOOOO slippery and there was NO way I could stand without assistance. I got stuck here:

I was feeling pretty embarrassed. Like, beached whale embarrassed. So I sat in the bottom of the tub and washed my face and conditioned my hair. And then I sat there for another couple of minutes trying to figure out if there was a way for me to get up without calling out Troy, who was reading in our bed. After conditioning my hair, the tub was even more slippery and now my body felt a little slippery too. There was NO way.

So, I tentatively called out to Troy. He stuck his head in and saw me looking pathetic on the floor. I didn't even tell him what happened...he already knew. He just opened the shower door and said, "Honey, do you need help getting up?" "Yeah."

So he helped me up and stood there watching me dry off and get dressed...judging me.

The next day, he and Avery went to Walmart because he needed a Duck Dynasty beard for church. Seriously. I'll put up pictures tomorrow of THAT. For sure. He came home with his beard and a shower chair.

I still shower with supervision and now I am sitting for all my showers. Not just to shave. You'd think I'd be cool with using an adaptive device, seeing as how I'm an Occupational Therapist and that's kind of my job. Buuuuuuuuuuut, I just feel like an invalid. APPARENTLY, it's safer. And not going to lie, my shower last night with the chair with pretty relaxing. And my feet didn't turn into sausages. And my feet and legs don't feel like they're going to explode after standing for 10 minutes. Because a shower is the longest period of time I stand for all day. Yep.

I'll be 32 weeks on monday! YAY!

I'm Not Ready. Physically or Emotionally.

Whenever I talk to someone, they always ask, "So how are you feeling?"

Such a loaded question. And I NEVER know what to say. Like, am I in pain? How am I handling bed rest? How am I feeling as a mom? As a wife? How are the babies? Are you ready for the babies to come?

The short answers are: sometimes, it's okay, like crap, like crap, they're great and growing, and no.

Several things are going on here.

1. I feel like the worst mom. Ever. My Avery is LOVING dress up right now. And she puts on her princess dress and walks up to me and says "dance with me!" And I'm like, "sorry baby, dance with Daddy." Or she wants me to take her to the potty or help her wash her hands. And I'm like, "sorry baby, do it with ______," which is any number of people who have graciously agreed to help us. I'm not making her breakfast, putting her down for naps, taking her to the park, or chasing her naked butt up the stairs. Because if she's not playing dress up, she's going through a naked phase. The only thing I've been doing is taking a bath with her. Which is amazing! We play in the tub for about 30 minutes every other night. With supervision.

Me at 30 weeks with Avery:

2. I am the worst wife. I haven't cooked a meal in about 6 weeks. Or grocery shopped. Or done a load of laundry. I'm folding laundry, but that's it. I feel like such a nag. One of our friends is visiting from California right now for a week to help and she asked me, "so, what do you want for dinner tonight?" Um...well I haven't been to the grocery store in 2 months OR opened the refrigerator or pantry so I'm not sure what's in the house. I would LOVE to help DECIDE on a meal, but ultimately, I have NO clue what is actually in the house available to make a semi-put-together meal. I don't know where my cleaning supplies are. Don't get me wrong, I am SO grateful for all the help we've had, but my control issues are kicking into high gear. We ran out of toilet paper last week. That has NEVER happened. This whole "bed rest" thing is just a test on my need to control everything and know where everything is.

3. How is bed rest? Eh, it's okay. Honestly. It's a little boring and the days drag sometimes. I'm doing a lot of reading. My mom gave me her amazon passwords so that I could raid her kindle library and that has been awesome. I downloaded Candy Crush to my phone and that's addicting. Until I run out of lives and have to wait for more to load. Troy and I are watching Breaking Bad on Netflix. WOAH, it's amazing. I've been watching Ellen everyday. LOVE HER. I'm knitting some. Doing some word finds.

Me at ALMOST 30 weeks with the twins:

4. In GOOD news, I was complaining about being bored to my doctor and he was like, "well what do you want to do that you feel like would improve your quality of life at home?" I said, "Go out to eat, or go to a movie, or go to church or something." And he said, "YES, YES, and YES." WHAT!?!??! His rule is, get dropped off at the door, sit the WHOLE time, and get picked up at the door. Only one outing per day. If I have a doctor's appointment, that counts as my outing. Which is twice a week. DONE! I went to our small group bible study one day, got a pedicure one day, and went to Target and rode in the riding cart one day. That was about two weeks ago and I've been on 3 field trips. It makes me feel better and not so trapped.

5. I am NOT ready for these babies. At all. In reality, the babies could come ANY time. We are out of the huge danger zone with neurological and respiratory issues for the girls. About a month before Avery's due date, I felt SO ready, mentally and physically, for her to be born. This time, I'm in COMPLETE denial. Troy keeps asking me to pack a bag for the hospital and I'm like, NOPE! Like, if I do, I'm accepting that they could come and if I don't, I can hold them off. Pffft. Like me NOT packing a bag is going to hold them in. We have bought NOTHING except cribs. The nursery is mostly set up. But we have NO diapers, no pacifiers, no wipes, no stroller. I had that stuff unpacked, ready, and had read the manuals a month before Avery was born. I don't know where my breast pump is. It's in the house somewhere and I know I'm going to need it immediately because I'm expecting the girls to be in the hospital a few days to weeks before they come home. And probably not able to feed directly from me, so I am going to be attached to that pump until we all get the green light to breastfeed. I know intellectually that I'm pregnant, but it's like in my mind, I'm in total denial. I haven't accepted that I'm about to do the infant thing. X2. With a toddler this time. I need a reality check. A big one. I'm waiting for the enormity of this to hit me. I've always been a pretty relaxed mom and a lot of things don't get under my skin, so I can't decide if I just feel confident that I know what I'm doing this time (which is CRAZY) or if I'm just actually crazy. I feel excited though. Like really excited. I just keep thinking I should be more scared or feel more like I need to get organized. Maybe this whole, "not having control" of my house is helping me go with the flow a little more this time. Who knows?

The great news is, the babies are growing and looking great. I've been going to my appointments and the doctor, ultrasound techs, and nurses are thrilled with how things are going right now. My butt has little bruises all over it from my shots. But the amniotic fluid looks good, they are practicing breathing in there, they have increased heart rates during monitoring, and have great movement. My hips are stretching beyond anything natural, so OUCH. But otherwise, things are looking up.

I mean, all the pregnancy horrors that I hear about, I have avoided. Being pregnant, it is expected to have a certain amount of discomfort and weight gain, etc. So far, no swelling feet, no skin tags, no stretch marks, no crazy weight gain (although I now weigh more than Troy which is depressing), no morning sickness, and no problems breathing. All in all, I feel really really lucky. I mean other than the whole cerclage and bed rest thing. But hey, it's all small potatoes for healthy, fatter babies :)

Thank you for all your prayers and thoughts. We feel them all and know that you are helping make a difference.

Avery's First Trip to the Dentist

HOLY MOLY long hiatus from blogging. I'm back. Promise. I have time to blog. Seriously. But life is pretty boring. Which is a good thing. We are now back to regularly scheduled blogging.

When I took Avery to her 2 year well baby check, they asked all kinds of questions. I took her almost 3 months late (oops). Many of the questions were about her dental care. Apparently I was being too passive and not forward enough regarding her teeth. The pediatrician told me that by the age of 2, your kids should have a trip to the dentist scheduled. From asking around now, the age that kids go to the dentist varies pediatrician to pediatrician. But either way, Troy called the next day and had Avery added to our dental plan so that we could start hunting around for a dentist.

We asked around and got a recommendation from a family in our bible study group. I hemmed and hawed and procrastinated. My mom came to visit almost 2 months AFTER we got Avery added to our dental plan and she made me call the dentist. Luckily, I was able to get an appointment 2 days after my call so my mom could take her. See, I'm still on bedrest (boooooooring) and Troy is working full time so options for adult supervision at the dentist were limited. We took full advantage of my mom's visit and she took Avery to the dentist.

Avery did great. I keep wondering if it would have gone worse if I was there. She might've been all "moooommmy, mooooommmmmy, nooooo." Either way, she did awesome and my mom documented the whole thing for your viewing pleasure.

Avery in the waiting room. Seriously, how cute is the decor? I asked my mom if it was painted on or wall paper, and it was painted. There was a television inside a tooth shaped frame too. ADORABLE.

Apparently, Avery jumped right up into the chair and laid down. Shocking, I know. This is Dr. Amy. She showed Avery everything and let Avery touch everything before it went into her mouth.

Using the scrubber on Avery's fingers so she would know what it felt like.

They had a flat screen mounted to the ceiling playing Ice Age. Which helped. Avery pretty much fixated on the TV the whole time and was fine. This was Avery's view from the chair.

The first thing Dr. Amy did was floss Avery's bottom teeth. Apparently, Avery's teeth are a little crowded on the bottom, which is indicative of crowding when adult teeth come in. DARN! Braces are in our future. But her top teeth were great. No flossing required.

Next it was time for cleaning. She let Avery touch the brush again and gave her a dinosaur to hold.

That's the water squirty thing and the sucky thing. Yes, those are technical terms and you all know which thingys I'm talking about. She cleaned Avery's teeth and then told her to kiss the sucky thing. Which she did. Unaffected. While watching the movie.

I LOVE this picture. She looks like such a big girl with all that stuff in her mouth. Haha.

Getting her back teeth cleaned.

And she got flouride too. It was really tacky and Avery wasn't allowed to brush her teeth until the next day. Which was very sad for her because she got presents from the dentist. Including a new ELECTRIC toothbrush with all the Disney princesses on it. She was very disappointed. Like scream and throw the sealed package because we wouldn't open it disappointed. Anyway.....she got a balloon (one of her favorite things EVER), the electric toothbrush, a tooth shaped fan, and a squeaker frog (so annoying and was immediately confiscated by mom). But overall, she was GREAT at the dentist and I'm not worried about taking her again.