I Have a Dream

I have a dream.......to be less busy or live in a 30 hour day. Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and though many people are volunteering their time elsewhere today, I can't help but wish I had more hours in a day to do what I need for my family. Kudos to those who can give their time and energy. The weeks continue to be busy, but I don't think it could be as busy as it was last week. Between 2 basketball practices, both over 2 hours long, a rescheduled holiday program, an eye doctor appointment, a checkup doctor appointment, meeting with another twin mom getting rid of things, twice, and a basketball game in Washington, (not all on my schedule, of course) I am still trying to regain my sanity for another week of business. Luckily, there is only one practice this week, one doctor appointment and one game - And all of this is to take place with kids out of school today and Friday. Corey will be headed off to Wenatchee tomorrow for another business trip. He will be home late Wednesday so the only task I have to take on by myself is the basketball practice....That's not so bad! Besides, I haven't been to one yet and it might be good for me to see Katie practicing before another game.

My OB appointment this week will include the glucose testing to check if gestational diabetes has developed. I seriously doubt it has, and if I didn't have to do the test, I'd probably say no to it - I never had it with either one of my other pregnancies, and though I'm chubberific, I don't have any other risks for developing it. One sign is abnormal weight gain in both the fetus and the mother. Well, now that I know how far along I really am, the girls are not big for their age. And since I've only put on 14 pounds in nearly 28 weeks, I don't think that qualifies as a risk factor. I weighed myself on Friday and I'd actually lost a pound since my appointment on January 8. That was a little hard for me to believe as it seems as though my appetite has increased over the past few weeks and my activity has decreased....But I got back on the scale twice to double and triple check it. Same each time.

I mentioned earlier that I met with a twin mom to check out some stuff she had. She and her husband placed an ad looking to get rid of all their twin girl stuff from birth to 12 months. Her twin girls are 20 months old (4 days younger than Cooper) and since they had 2 of just about everything, they wanted to liquidate. Corey and I went to check it out - He actually took Cooper to play with the twins while I did the looking. Though they had lots of stuff, I only ended up buying up all the clothes, a twin nursing pillow, wraps and blankets , and a baby carrier and baby sling. I went through everything that afternoon at home and almost all of the clothes were very well cared for. So, now we have a head start on some clothes for the girls for all stages from preemie (we hope not that one) through 18 months. My doctor recommended the double nursing pillow, as I do plan to nurse them both. I looked online for this pillow and they were pretty spendy - $100-$200, depending on the company. This lady sold me hers for $30 and it looks nearly new. I decided against the infant carriers - They were, of course, pretty used, and I remembered Maija's boss Joella telling me that it's not advisable to "buy" car seats from other people, as we truly don't know the exact condition, or whether they've been in an accident of any sort. And, since we never met these folks before, I can't just take their word for it. So, we'll be getting a couple of new ones. Thanks to my bunco girls for the heads up on that ad! We've had several people ask us what we want and what we need, so we set up registries at Wal-mart and Target for the girls. I am so excited to be thinking pink!

The babies are kicking up a storm - I can now completely distinguish one from the other, and for the most part can tell whether it's a punch or a kick. They are still transverse so it's not so hard to tell. It's been such an experience feeling this double dose of alien-like movement in my belly and it's one of those things I just love about being pregnant. For the past few weeks I have these babies flailing about and will continue to do so for several more weeks. But, when they're born, that feeling goes with them. I can't speak for others, but the loss of that feeling somewhat saddens me and so, for now at least, I am enjoying laying back and feeling these little girls duke it out in their little warm home.

Cooper seems more and more aware that we have babies on the way. We include him daily in our belly pats and talks with the girls. When I sing to Cooper I make sure he knows that I'm singing to his baby sisters, too. I can see his curiosity increasing as he stands below me, looks up, and can't see my face anymore. He is learning that the only way for me to see him is if he stands at my side, or in front of me, away from my belly. Last week he was sitting next to me and we were watching something on TV - He was on my left side. The babies were kicking a lot, and at one point he got a little kick in his side. He looked to see where my hands were, but they weren't on him, so he went back to watching his show. A few moments later baby B kicked again, this time drawing Coopers attention to my belly. I pulled my shirt up for Cooper to see the show. The baby kicked and squirmed and little Coopers eyes got so big. He poked at me a few times, frowned, and looked at me like there was something seriously wrong with me. I just laughed and laughed.

At this very moment I have my feet up and am listening to Thomas the Tank engine music, while Cooper sings along, and at the same time is attempting to ride his stuffed Tigger like a horse. He doesn't neigh, or whinnie, but rather tries to imitate that other sound a horse makes. You know, the one that sounds like you're clearing your throat...Give it a try! It's pretty cute when a 1 year old does it!

I was watching the news early this morning, and most of the coverage is on tomorrow's inauguration of Barack Obama. It's pretty overwhelming, all the events that go with his inauguration, and it's amazing at how many officers in every enforcement field - Police, FBI, army, Marines, etc... have to be at this event. The government has somewhere upward of 14,000 law enforcement officers involved in this, and are preparing for over 1 million people to attend Washington DC's events tomorrow. Though I would have loved to be a part of this historical event, I can't even imagine something so big and so dramatic. The government has donned this inauguration the biggest event ever to occur in political history. Snipers will be on surrounding buildings, the streets will be lined with thousands of enforcement officers, the rivers and air traffic are shut down, except for the military, and several miles of roads are off limits except for pedestrian traffic. I get chills just thinking about it - And one of the biggest parts of the event - Our new president will be sworn in using Abraham Lincoln's bible. Lincoln was a president who was a leader and brought our country great changes...........I voted for Obama. I believe that if anyone can make a real difference in this country, he's the man to do it. I'm no political guru, but I am proud to be bringing these babies into the world with Obama at the White House. Mr. president, don't let me down!