Nursery Update

Well after much debating and searching, we have finally decided on furniture for the nursery. Let me tell you, we had no idea how much trouble we would have deciding on the nursery furniture. To say it was a fiasco is an understatement. I'm not really sure why it was so hard. Maybe it's because we don't want to spend a fortune and have very particular taste, but thank goodness it's decided! We ended up ordering cheaper cribs from Target and cancelled the cribs we had on order at Baby Furniture Plus Kids. We feel a lot better about spending half as much on these which look fine if you ask me.

This past weekend was "Operation Nursery Furniture". We are traveling next weekend and really wanted to have the furniture squared away (decided and ordered) before we leave. While I have pretty good energy, I want to take advantage and get the nursery finished. I hope I don't have to go on bed rest, but you never know when things may change. After deciding against the Nadeau Banana Basket Buffet, we were back to square one. Adam and I decided to get up Saturday morning and head to the Gaffney Outlets where we were sure we would find something cool and inexpensive at the Pottery Barn Outlet...hahahaha!!! What a waste of time and gas. Needless to say, we didn't find a thing in our price range (actually I didn't see anything I loved). Still determined to get this done Saturday, we drove back to Greenville and loaded up on burgers and fries at 5 Guys. Hey, we needed energy to get this furniture shopping done, right?! ;) After stopping at several other places, we still had nothing. One of our last stops of the day was Buy Buy Baby. At this point we were ready to buy anything. We found a little chest of drawers and with changer on top that we liked, so we settled on that (didn't buy yet though). At least we had found something cheap that would serve its purpose. I was ready to collapse at this point (didn't know furniture shopping was so exhausting), but Adam insisted we get stop by Lowe's for some more paint samples for the nursery. Side note: I HATE Lowe's!! I don't know why. Maybe because I'm not a fix-it-upper kinda girl but wow! That's one store I do not like going in.

After a nice Saturday afternoon nap, I felt a little re-charged. We had a great Mexican dinner and came home to watch the Netflix movie we've had for over a month. BTW-Black Swan (wasn't sure if it was going to be good or not) was awesome! A lot better than I expected. A little dark, but definitely some great acting. We were good Sunday and got up and went to Sunday School. Our church is in a little bit of a transition period between ministers so we decided just to do Sunday School. Plus I had to teach Attack Sunday afternoon, so it's nice to have some downtime beforehand. I had enough energy after Attack to hit up the pool for a little bit. Still trying to have a little color.

Sunday evening we decided to check out Babies r Us' furniture (still wanting to see if there's anything else that we would like better) AND we got a 20% off coupon in the paper we could use on furniture. Well, guess what?! All of our searching is over (hopefully). I've said this before, haha. I mean it this time because I am so tired of looking at stupid furniture. I like the accessories part better. :) I posted a pic below of what we found. It's a lot nicer than the Buy Buy Baby one and we will get more use out of it. Plus with the coupon, it ended up being about the same price, which is key! :) The dresser is on order...thank goodness!!! I have another cubby-like shelf in mind and then we are finished with the nursery furniture decisions! Whew!

Football Time in TN

Yes guys! It's that time of year again...we have a little over a week until kickoff for another football season. Can't wait! The boys are very much looking forward to their first UT Football game. :) Even though they won't be able to see it, they will definitely be able to sense the awesomeness of Neyland Stadium on gameday. I have no doubt they will start kicking those little legs once Rocky Top starts playing. I have many memories in Neyland Stadium that go way back to being a little girl. I was probably 2 or 3 (not sure) when I went to my first UT game. Needless to say, I hope my boys will experience the same excitement I get when I enter the stadium. Got my orange maternity clothes ready to go. One more week and we're loading it up and heading up to Good Ole Rocky Top!! Go VOLS!

20 Week Update

I am officially 20 weeks today, over half way, yay!

Here are some pregnancy highlights:

How Far Along: 20 weeks

Size of Babies: Baby A is 10 oz and Baby B is 9 oz (as of Tuesday)

Maternity Clothes: Still wearing non-maternity clothes (lots of flowy tops and dresses, have to wear shorts/pants low and have gone to the rubber band trick on some of my jeans)

Gender: BOYS! Van Earl and Elijah Willis (good thing we already had the boy names decided)

Movement: Yes, have finally started feeling them (more than a flutter every once in a while). The past couple of days I have really been feeling them. They are busy boys.

Sleep: Hit or miss. Sleep great some nights and others not. Think it has to do with hormones more than getting comfortable. I got a Boppy full body pillow which helps too. I also have 2 fans on me because I get so hot.

What I Miss: Still missing my red wine, not being able to buy cute fall clothes without stretchy or elastic or a big roomy belly (have to buy big girl clothes, ha ha), sleeping like a baby (I used to be the world's greatest sleeper), raw sushi.

Cravings: Not really anything in particular right now. I still have more salty cravings than sweet (very weird for me). I eat a lot of carbs.

Aversions: Nothing in particular, maybe fruit. I don't hate it but just don't really want it.

Symptoms: Finally am having more energy (for now). Uh a growing belly?! Really sensitive to the sun as I found out at the beach last weekend, lower back ache (dull), HUGE boobies! (having a hard time finding a bra that fits, and breaking out here and there (it's worse than when I was a teen).

Best Moment of the Week: Seeing my 2 precious baby boys on Tuesday in ultrasound at the high risk doctor. They are growing equally for the most part and are doing great thus far. We keep praying it will stay that way!


Ya'll stay tuned for more updates...

Baby Moon

Adam and I had a wonderful time in Charleston this past weekend. We decided to take one last beach trip together since it will be a long time before we will be able to get away by ourselves again. I guess this is what some call a "Baby Moon". We had a fabulous time and the weather was great! I am so glad we were able to do this. We took off work on Friday so we headed down early Friday morning. I have been having great energy so that made the weekend that much more enjoyable. So thankful for that! Last time we were at the beach I was in my first trimester, so I wasn't feeling wonderful. We got some good sun... apparently my skin is suddenly really susceptible to the sun (a pregnancy thing I'm sure), and I got burned pretty badly which is not like me. I normally tan pretty well. It felt good to get some color though. I haven't been loving the hot weather we've been having so haven't gotten my normal summertime tan. We also did some good eating while we were there. If you know Adam and I, you know we like to eat good food, so we definitely took full advantage of all the great food in Ctown. We kicked off the weekend at our favorite place on Sullivan's Island...POE'S! Ya'll know what I'm talking about if you are familiar. Poe's has the best burgers anywhere, hands down! We were able to have an awesome date night downtown at Basil (a great Thai place) Friday night. We've decided we need to hit up all the not kid friendly places while we can, ha ha. The rest of the weekend was just as nice and filled with some wonderful memories for us. Here's a preggo pic of me on the beach at 19 weeks. Yes, getting bigger and bigger...

On a side note, we have been going back and forth about the nursery furniture, so this was the big topic of our weekend, ha ha. See things have already started changing quite a bit. Instead of what bar do we want to hit up tonight, it's what cribs, dresser, etc should we do in the nursery? Hilarious! We are definitely ready for the next chapter in our lives and are excited for the challenge ahead. And Yes! We have no idea what we are in for. Anyway, we have had the hardest time trying to decide exactly what we want to do about the furniture. I went ahead and pulled the trigger and ordered the Serena and Lily bedding. It went on sale, so I took that as a sign plus my wonderful mother found an awesome coupon code to use that gave us $66.00 off. After looking extensively at other options (trying to find cheaper), it ended up this was the best deal for what I wanted. Here's the kicker! We have decided to cancel the cribs we ordered. (We only put a refundable deposit down.) They are so nice, but let's be realistic. The boys will only be in them for about 2 years, so what's the point in spending a lot? Yes, we have found some cheaper (waaaaayyyy cheaper) cribs at Target that will work just as nice. We are having 2 babies, so we need to save where we can. We figured with the nice bedding and other furniture you won't even be able to tell the difference. That brings me to my next topic...furniture! After looking at tons of different types of "baby" furniture and getting very frustrated I might add, we have decided to go a different direction. Of course there is some beautiful baby furniture out there but we are trying to be economical (most of it is so expensive). Plus we want something that is different that will be used forever (whether it be in the boys room or somewhere else in our house). We found an awesome store in Mt. Pleasant called Nadeau Furniture with Soul. The furniture has a distressed look and comes in all different colors, which we love. They have 2 stores in ATL so we will probably end up taking a day trip to get the dresser/changing table and maybe a bookshelf that we have our eye on. Plus the prices aren't terrible. Here are some pics of the dresser (it's really a buffet) that we're thinking about.

Maternity Clothes?

Hello Blog Friends! A quick update on my baby boys and preggo. We had a fabulous weekend in Knoxville! Wish we could have stayed longer, but looking forward to being there for several days over Labor Day. The boys and I ate well to say the least. I'm not sure if I mentioned this before or not, but red meat has been one of my big cravings, which is strange because I didn't really eat that much of it before pregnancy (more of a chicken and fish girl). Nothing against it, just wanted other stuff instead. That has changed now, so of course when I go to K-Town I have to hit up the best steak place in America...Ye Olde Steakhouse! I'm telling you, no one can come close to this steak. It's phenomenal! Mom and I found time to fit in some shopping too. Really miss having my mom and sissy to shop with, especially now. We took full advantage while I was in town. Mom and I both were worn out after.

This week has been pretty easy as far as teaching classes. I just have 2 Pumps to teach, which is fine with me. Really trying to take the Dr.'s advice and take it easy on the workouts. The weather has finally started cooling down a bit in the mornings, so I have been able to get out and walk (yes, walk NOT run). I would honestly rather run, but I'll take walking for now. Better than bed rest, right?! Plus the beautiful weather helps. :) My belly has definitely popped out a bit. Finding it harder and harder to fit into my clothes. Hanging onto those non-maternity clothes as long as I can though. I have not crossed the line into maternity clothing world yet. Believe me, I'm trying my hardest not to. I am using the rubber band trick with some jeans/shorts that still fit. Since it's summer, I have a lot of sundresses that have a lot of room in the belly, which is very nice. I also bought some shorts in a bigger size and wear them low on my hips. I am finding it difficult to find cute maternity clothes, so if ya'll have any suggestions or cute boutiques you like, let me know! I know it's going to be any day now when I need those maternity pants, etc. I have gotten a couple of pairs of maternity jeans...a pair of True Religion flairs with the secret fit belly (got on sale thank you very much) and a straight leg J Brand pair (which my sweet sissy was so nice to give me). A girl's gotta have some cute jeans no matter what! ;) I hope these will get me through my whole pregnancy and after when I'm still not back to my normal size. The good thing about the styles right now are that they are very forgiving in the belly area. Ok, so that's my rant about clothing. Oh, and another thing I wasn't prepared for with the clothing situation is that EVERYTHING is starting to fit too tight or small. That means pj's, bras, lounge clothes, workout clothes, etc. So basically if you are preggo or planning on it, not only do you have to worry about the cost of baby stuff, but the cost of a whole new wardrobe as well. Keep in mind you will need in between clothes (when you're not huge yet but still have a little belly) and "Big Mamma" (full blown preggo) clothes as I like to call them. :) This I was not prepared for. I promise I am finished talking about the clothes. Those of ya'll that know me know that I love clothes, so can't help it.

Looking forward to the upcoming weekend. Adam and I are taking our last little trip together to Charleston. I guess you could call it a Babymoon. It will be a long time before it will be just the two of us at the beach again, so we are going to enjoy! Needless to say I am looking forward to some beach duty and some good food! Poe's, Hank's...maybe some Basil...ya know...Hey, maybe I will even come back with a tan. Goodness knows that this year I have not been the sun lover I normally am. Too hot for this preggo and the pool feels like bath water.

18 Weeks Preggo

So, I had my first visit with the High Risk Dr. yesterday. It started with a really long ultrasound. I think it may have been over an hour. The Tech was very thorough, which made me feel very good. She really examined each baby (measuring and looking at bones, organs, etc). However, Baby A was not very cooperative. That may have been why it took a little longer. Apparently he was on his head with his chin tucked into his chest. Doesn't sound comfortable to me, but must have been for him because we could not get him to move (and believe me we tried). The poor nurse kept shaking my belly and even turned the table on a huge decline so he would move, but Baby A is proving to be a little stubborn, ha ha. Both weigh 6 oz. which is great! Baby B is 1 day smaller than Baby A but that is not a big deal. We just keep praying that they will continue to grow equally and be strong and healthy. I was glad I really questioned the Dr. about my working out/class schedule too. My OB told me it was fine to keep running, teaching aerobics (just stay low), and lifting semi-heavy weight in Body Pump, but the high risk Dr. had some different advice. I was advised not to run anymore :( and to lighten up the weight load for Pump. Oh yeah, and stay very low impact on aerobics, which has been hard for me since I teach a high impact class, which may have to go by the wayside for now. Again...:( Oh well, I will be back before I know it I'm sure. It's worth it! I am already looking forward to jogging with my babies in my jogging stroller. For now, I'm gonna take it easy and listen to the doc. It sure isn't worth pre-term labor or bed rest. We want those babies to stay in as long as possible.

I have to go back to high risk doc every 2 weeks until 26 weeks so they can keep an eye on my boys. They are really watching out for twin to twin transfusion syndrome, which we definitely don't want to happen. I don't want to even think about it, so I am praying all will be fine. If I hit the 26 week mark, then my chance decreases tremendously. I would greatly appreciate your prayers for my babies to be healthy.

So enough about that...I am looking forward to going home to Knoxville this weekend to visit my parents. I think they will be surprised by the bump I have now. I definitely look preggo at 18 weeks. Plus I need to see some TN Orange. Speaking of, football season is right around the corner. Can't wait! I am planning on going into K-town for several games, so I hope I will be feeling up to it. :)

Nursery Basics

Hello all! Adam and I had a very productive weekend, which I am paying for now. These days I can only do a few tasks at a time. Not quite the same as I used to be. Plus I had to teach Body Attack Friday, Sunday, and Monday, so that wears me out as well.

We did have a fabulous weekend though. It started off Friday afternoon with a trip to the salon. I always feel better after I get my hair did. :) Saturday I had a lot of energy for some reason, so I took full advantage. I have been dying to get the cribs squared away (or at least ordered). I am so ready to start working on the nursery and that's one of the first steps besides painting. We found the cribs we wanted several weeks ago. It's hard to find a crib that's not the trend right now of the convertible bed (crib to toddler to full) with the huge headboard on the back. The cribs we chose do convert into a toddler bed, so that's perfect. We will worry about "big boy" beds later. Plus, they may not even want to sleep in their "crib" anymore even if it is converted. Since we have to buy 2 and our space is limited, we decided on a traditional crib but it's very classy. We also feel we got a good price for 2. Ya'll would not believe how ridiculously expensive some of these cribs are. We (I) have to keep in mind they won't be in them forever. So, here is a pic of the cribs we selected. The color we chose is Espresso, which is a lot darker wood than what is shown below. They are on order and expect them to be in this week. :)

After we got the cribs squared away, I dove right into figuring out exactly what I want for the crib bedding. The store we purchased the cribs from has the option to design your own custom bedding, which really appeals to me since I am having a terrible time finding exactly what I want. Plus I love doing stuff like that! Everything is so busy with these horrible tacky prints. I want something very simple without a print especially since there will be 2. I don't want the small room to look too cluttered but light and airy. The custom bedding is ridiculously expensive, so I'm not sure I'm going to be able to do that. I have a few options, which I will list below. Any ideas, comments, suggestions would be great! Ideally I would like for the main color of one set to be light green and the other to be blue. I want them to be different but still similar. So here's what I'm thinking...



These are from Serena & Lily. I would have the bumper pads monogrammed with the boys initials (blue and green to match)

Here is the Pottery Barn Pique option. The only drawback is that both sets would have to be in blue since they don't offer it in a green. So, I would have to make it look different with different colored sheets and monograms I guess. Like I said, any suggestions are welcome! :)

In addition to narrowing down the bedding choices, we also went to Lowe's to pick up some paint samples for the room. Seeing that the twins are boys, we have decided to paint the room a light blue shade. We have yet to paint the samples on the wall but will get to that soon.

I had so much energy on Saturday I knew I would pay for it later. After looking for cribs and bedding all day, I was even able to go on a date with the hubs downtown. We had a fabulous sushi dinner at Koji and the weather was so nice we were able to walk around and get ice cream. It's been so hot lately that it's unbearable to be outside. I honestly felt a little like myself Saturday night. :) And yes, I did pay for all my productivity. Sunday I was wiped! It didn't help I had to teach a high impact Body Attack class either. Adam and I tried to go to church, but I just couldn't make it. My body was screaming for rest.

I have my first appointment with the high risk doctor tomorrow morning, so hopefully everything is ok. Crossing my fingers I will get to see my babies again. :)

Oh BOY...

(No, I am not this preggo yet. When my sis was in town, we went maternity clothes shopping. Apparently they have this Velcro belly thing you can put on to see how clothes will fit once you're huge. I thought it was hilarious, and we had fun playing around. BTW, I think this is a dress, but Katie thinks it's too short, ha ha. I miss having my sissy close by.)

Are ya'll shocked that I have posted 2 times in the past week? I am trying my hardest to be better about blogging. I have to post our latest news...

So my 16 weeks doctor's appointment was yesterday. I went in thinking I would get an ultrasound because I am carrying mono/di twins, which could be considered high risk. At first the nurse told me I wasn't scheduled for an ultrasound, but I quickly had them change that. I think there was definitely a lack of communication. They way I understood it was that I am to get an ultrasound at every visit to make sure both babies are growing equally and one is not being a hog basically. However, they quickly got me back into the ultrasound room, which I was very happy about. I honestly wanted to find out the sexes too. They told me I would find out at 20 weeks but was keeping my fingers crossed they would be able to tell at 16 weeks. Well, lo and behold, the first question the nurse asked was, "Do you want to know what they are?" Adam stalled a minute because we had initially discussed we were going to have the nurse write it down for us, and we would find out later on our own. Guess what I said? "Yes, yes!" Those of you who know me well know that I am not a very patient person, so of course I couldn't wait another minute! Plus, I wanted to know what I was looking at on the screen if you know what I mean. So....having said all that, our babies are...BOYS! And for the record, I knew they were boys before we even went in there. I had been feeling like they were boys for several weeks now. I also have to give credit to my dad because he called it from the beginning. He thought they were boys all along. We are very excited about our 2 little boys! My family is mainly girls, so this will definitely be a new experience. I know Adam is happy too. Since he is an only child, there will now be 2 more men to carry on the Vicars name. Our little boys are growing just fine right now. Baby A is 3 days bigger than Baby B (not sure how they can tell that), but that's perfectly normal. We got some awesome 3D pics too. Now, I have to start going to the high risk doctor as well. My first appointment with the high risk is next week, so hoping all goes well. Now, let the shopping begin! I am such a dork but I have already picked out every combo of bedding (depending on genders), so I know exactly what I want now. I am dying to get the cribs and dresser ordered and start painting, etc. I guess that's all for today. I am going to post some pics of our baby boys...

Baby A