Nerds, Tex Mex, and Nephew Tales

 I suppose it's time for another update from our family. :)



A week and a half ago it was fun filling you in on everything we had going on, but if you noticed the complete lack of Byron's presence, it was due to him being in Texas.  He got to spend 2 days traveling, 3 days at a SciPy conference, which he thoroughly enjoyed, and 2 days with his brother's family in Austin, which I was only mildly jealous of.  Getting to spend time with family is one of my all time favorites.  Anyhow, he was gone for a week and we missed him terribly.  Thank goodness for facetime so we could still talk to him and Auntie Brie for coming to stay with us.  She took the boys out for fun adventures, helped me keep the house put together, and kept us all sane. Byron came home with 2 different t-shirts advertising his nerd side, and lots of good information to share with his co-workers.  At the end of each day they set aside an hour for "lightening talks" People attending the conference could get a (very strictly enforced) 5 minute slot to present any interesting project they were currently working on.  Byron tried to sign up, but was too far down in the queue to have a chance of getting to speak. He thinks if he gets to go again in the future he might sign up as an official presenter for the conference since he's now been to one and knows more about what to expect.  He promised me he would go out one night for dinner to get something Texan even though his hotel provided dinners every night.  I was so grateful Kitara could recommend a yummy TexMex place that was close to Byron's hotel.  He really enjoyed it.

Caleb and David are both excited to be starting soccer next week.  They're trying something new for the 5 year old's this year and Caleb will be playing a modified game with 5 players and a goalie on the field rather than just the 3 on 3 with no goalie he has played the past 2 years.  He's excited to have Granny as his coach, and Uncle Charlie on his team.  I'm hoping he learns his position and gets excited about these changes.  David is thrilled to get his jersey with his own name on it.  I'm nervous about how he'll do, I have no idea what to expect from him, but hopefully it will be super fun for him.

Ezekiel has taken up the habit of calling my name over and over and over and over. When I finally look at him and ask what, he either smiles and say "Hi!" or he mutters some unintelligible gibberish.  It's amusing sometimes, exasperating at others.  He's learned to sign "more" and "please" and calls everything on his face his nose.  It's pretty funny.  He also loves putting food on dishes, so every time he sees me get out a snack or start a meal he gets out a new plate, and every time he wants a drink, he gets out a new cup.  If I'm not careful he burns through our entire stash of kid cups all by himself before dinner time.

Last week we had a great time meeting up with 2 of my aunts, my cousin, and my parents at a YMCA close by with an outdoor pool.  The boys had an absolute blast swimming around and Caleb was even brave enough to take off his puddle jumper and start swimming to his Granny. He caught on quickly to pushing off the wall, moving his arms and legs to propel him through the water, and didn't freak out at all, but we do need to work on blowing bubbles and learning how to breathe.  The next day when we went to our regular indoor pool I asked him to grab his puddle jumper and he told me he didn't need his anymore because Granny was teaching him how to swim.  He did an awesome job too, until we got a little distracted and he tried swimming past us.  Fortunately granny caught him and all ended well, but my heart rate definitely went up for a couple of minutes and I asked him to put his puddle jumper on for the last 10 minutes we were in the pool.

Saturday we had a great time with some extended family on my mom's side during a welcome home party for my grandparents.  There was a nice barn to keep the food in with tables set up for eating, a great pond with a sandy bottom, not a ton of fish, and a pontoon that you could swim out to, and we brought a couple of small inflatable rafts to float around in.  It was such fantastic family time, and I was the only one in our family that got a little burnt.

Auntie Brie took the boys to Carriage Hill Farm today.  It's one of the many metro parks in the area and is run with all the same tools they would have used in the 1800's.  The boys favorite part, of course, was the penny candy store. :)

David made a hat with the very hungry catepillar on it when we went to the library last week

Byron got to go fishing with his nephews for their cub scout activity last Saturday. Cameron was crazy good at catching the fish and caught about 4 before his brothers had gotten even one!

Tyler caught a blue gill

Cameron enjoyed playing in boxes

Love my goofballs

Caleb thinks it's funny when he gets himself stuck in things.  He's like a cat trying to get into spaces he won't fit.

Byron practicing his baby holding skills with our newest niece, Marie.

31 weeks 4 days with these twins of mine!

Pregnancy Update: So we've started the end of pregnancy increase in doctors appointments and yesterday I had my first non stress test where they monitor the babies heartbeats, any contractions I might be having, and how frequently they move.  For 20 minutes I get to have goop on monitors strapped all over my belly and have to pay attention so I can push the button when they move.  I have two a week every week the rest of my pregnancy in addition to my monthly ultrasounds and bi-weekly OB-GYN appointments.  Unfortunately I scheduled my non-stress tests at naptime, so Hannah wasn't being very active and I had to suck down some ice water to get her moving.  The nurse said their heart rates were beautiful and once we got Hannah moving it was exactly what she wanted to see.
Everyone is being super nice, telling me I'm doing great, that they're surprised I'm still up and moving around, and that I look great for carrying twins.  I must admit carrying them feels way different than it did carrying just one.  They seem to be growing up and down instead of out, so there is one resting on my pelvis, and the other is pushing my ribs and lungs out of his way, and sometimes my belly looks weirdly flat and I can feel them in my back.  I'm at the point now where the babies are supposed to gain a half a pound each per week in order to gain the weight they need for their birth, which means I'm supposed to gain anywhere from 2-4 lbs a week (increased blood flow and amniotic fluid in addition to their growth) so the scale and I are taking a break from each other.
Thanks to all the help from my amazing family and the super sweet sister in my ward that has been bringing us a meal each week, this pregnancy has been incredibly uneventful.  While I initially thought I would be fighting to keep them in until 36 weeks, it now seems more likely that I'll be scheduling an induction or C-section around 37 or 38 weeks.  I feel pretty useless and am kind of ready to have my body back.  Pregnancy is a beautiful miracle, and I am so grateful that Heavenly Father trusts me with such an awe-inspiring task, but I'd like to be able to load the dishwasher or put a pan in the oven again without feeling like I'm going to pitch forward and break something. :P