B&L Shower Pics

So I promised pics from the Bausch & Lomb shower, so here they are...

Adorable decorations

I'm in awe of all the decorations, food, gifts, etc.

Opening gifts...

Handmade Cross Stitch Wall Art: I was blown away by the handmade items that were created just for our little boys. In addition to the wall art, we received 2 hand knit blankets that are too precious!

Our adorable cake and an insanely good chocolate ganache cake!

I am still overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity of Adam's co-workers. They went above and beyond and it was greatly appreciated!

Two Times a Week?!

Here's a quick update on my latest doctor's visit....

It looks like I am now having to go to the doctor 2 times a week. They are concerned that the boys are too small. Baby A weighed 2 lbs 1 oz on Wednesday and Baby B was 1 lb 13 oz. Apparently that's too small for the size they should be. The doctor mentioned restricted growth. They also are going to test me for preclampsia, which I'm still not real clear on what it is but it doesn't sound good. They said the chances are low but they want to rule it out. I also get to take a lovely 24 hour urine test on Sunday. I've never done one of these before but I am dreading it. So, I am toting my lovely pee bowl and big orange jug of fun to Knoxville this weekend to start on Sunday morning. Oh and did I mention I have to keep my pee cold? Yup, gonna have to keep that stuff on ice in a cooler on the way home, ha ha! You should have seen me carrying all this gear out of the doctor's office, fun! :P The doc also mentioned monitoring me frequently to see if she wants to keep me pregnant. That statement unnerved me a little to say the least. I am now 28 weeks, but definitely not ready to give birth yet. I hope this is just a precautionary thing and everything will be fine. I hope to carry for at least another 6-8 weeks but you never know. I have been in a tizzy trying to prepare in case I do have to deliver early. I am sooooo not even close to having everything ready. I am a worry wart and I stress easily because I want everything perfect. I need to relax and take it one day at a time. We are heading to Knoxville this afternoon for my shower tomorrow so I hope it will relax me a bit. This has been a crazy week again. Between that news AND my computer crapping out on me again. Yup, there were more viruses that were not gotten the first time around. So, I had to make another 5 trips to and from the computer place. Between wasting gas and shelling out more money, I'm not happy. I'm not going into the details because it makes me very angry! For now, it's back up and running (first time since Monday before it froze up with more viruses attacking it). We will see if it lasts this time.

On a positive note, Adam's work threw us a baby shower yesterday. I honestly didn't know what to expect, but let me tell you, it was amazing! They went all out with decorations, 2 cakes, tons of food, and so many gifts. I was blown away by their kindness and generosity. We got some really special gifts that mean a lot. We were both really touched by everything that was done for us. I wish I had pics to post but as usual I forgot my camera. I hope to get some from Adam's coworkers. If/when I do, I will definitely post.

It's Been Awhile

Hey ya'll! Sorry I've been MIA for the past couple of weeks. It has been a busy past couple of weeks. Two weekends ago we traveled to Knoxville for the big UT vs GA game. The outcome wasn't great but it was a gorgeous Fall weekend in TN and I got to spend some time with my family. My sis and her hubby even came in, so that was so nice! I really miss having my sister close. Here are some game-day pics...yep, I'm growing larger daily. I'm about 26 weeks here.

Part of the reason I didn't post last week was partly because my computer was in the shop. Yes I got a virus which ended up being 64 viruses. Apparently they have been on my computer for a long time. I got a virus a couple of years ago and took it to the Geek Squad at Best Buy...fyi, don't! That was my first mistake. After charging me an arm and a leg and keeping my computer for several weeks (not to mention they had to erase everything on my computer), I got it back but it has never been the same since. Come to find out they didn't get all the viruses. My advice to you...NEVER take your computer to the Geek Squad! It's a waste of time and money. Anyway, this time I found a guy that runs his own show and charges A LOT less. He really knows his stuff too (more so than the stupid Geek Squad). He was able to get rid of all my viruses (as far as I know), save all my documents, get it to me within the next day, AND only charged me $100. I would say that's better than almost $300 to Best Buy last time. Ok, so there's my rant. Even though he only had my computer for a little over a day, it still put me back a little on my internet work.

Body Attack launch was this past weekend as well, so that always keeps me busy too. I had barely even looked at it by Monday, so I had to learn it quickly. Our Body Attack team always practices several times before the launches so between teaching classes, practices at the gym, doctor's appointments, and trying to get some internet work done, I was pretty busy! Yes, I am still "Attacking". I stay low impact of course but I love it so much that I didn't want to miss out on this launch. If ya'll are curious what Body Attack is, here is a link to some clips from the latest release: http://youtu.be/XfRqWsAF3wY.

As long as I feel good, I'm gonna keep it up. Today is the first day I haven't had to be at the gym for class or practice in over a week. I had to teach 2 back to back yesterday which wiped me but I am very fortunate I can come home and put my feet up while working from home. Needless to say my body is ready for some rest, ha ha. Even doing low impact can wear one out, especially with all this extra weight in front. ;) Bear and I are going to get back to our walks today. I know he's excited. I can tell he missed them last week.

Coming up...
I go back to the high risk doc tomorrow. I am hoping I will see Van Earl and Eli's eyes open. I've read that they should be opening now. I am thinking they are weighing over 3 lbs combined if not 4. I feel very heavy in my belly. Just within the past day or so it feels heavier. The scale doesn't show it but I think they have grown. In other baby news, the nursery is just about complete. I promise I will post pics as soon as I have a few finishing touches added. We are getting there. I just want to make sure it's completely finished before I post. :) We have several baby showers coming up. The first one is Thursday at Adam's work. They are so sweet to throw us a shower and I am dying to meet a lot of the people Adam works with...finally put a name to a face, ya know? Then we are traveling again to Knoxville this weekend. This will be my last trip per doctor's orders. Starting in November I am home bound. I am having a family shower which I am very excited about! Everyone lives so far away so it's hard to get everyone together. I don't get to see them as often as I would like.

So there you have it...the past few weeks in a nutshell. As long as my computer holds up, I will try to keep posting more frequently.

My Attempt at Couponing

Hello all! Quick update on the Vicars. We had a nice relaxing weekend. I spent Friday working from home on The Pink Monogram Internet and was very pleased to get a lot done. I did take a quick break to meet the hubs for lunch at Chipotle. It was such a gorgeous day how could we not get out and have lunch outside? On Saturday morning, Adam did the Mud Run while I ran some errands. We were pretty low key Saturday afternoon. We watched football all day, and I did some major internet searching for the baby items we still have to purchase. We're trying to figure out how to get the most bang for our buck on the items we still need to purchase. Sunday morning was spent cutting out coupons and planning out our grocery list (I will explain this more in the next paragraph). Yes, we made it to church and after a quick lunch we were ready to save some money.

Now ya'll, I am new to this whole coupon thing. The few times I have attempted couponing I end up frustrated and feeling like I wasted my time. Most of the coupons are for stuff I don't even use or you have to buy like 10 of something to get a discount. After attending the monthly Moms of Multiples meeting this past week, I have a renewed interest in the world of couponing. Apparently there really is some money to be saved and we definitely need to save some money right now. These boys aren't cheap! Especially with my cutting back on my hours at work, we need to save as much as possible. I learned a few tricks which I was determined to try out on Sunday after finding some useful coupons in the paper. First tip for ya'll: the Crest White Strips coupons, Tide coupons, and Pampers coupons are all interchangeable. Yep, there was a $7.00 off Crest White Strips coupon in the paper Sunday and we attempted what we thought was a long shot at Target. We bought a box of diapers and guess what?! The coupon worked! We got $7.00 off a big box of Pampers. I was so excited because coupons never work for me the way I want. After our savings at Target, we went to Publix to do our weekly grocery shopping. I found out Publix doubles coupons up to $.50. We still managed to save about $10. I am very proud of my savings this week. If you just take the time to plan out your grocery list with coupons, it really is worth it. You have to stick to what's on the list though. No frivolous items which is very hard to do I know. I am the queen of frivolous items, ha ha!

Sunday evening we had our wonderful friends the Griggs over for a chili dinner. Since the weather has turned a bit chilly and Fall has arrived, we decided to cook up the first batch of chili this Fall. It was so good to see them and their precious little girl Alexandra. She and Bear hit it off. :)

I go back to the high risk doctor on Wednesday, so I will keep you posted on that. We also attended our first "baby" class at the hospital last night...Breastfeeding. Yes, my plan is to breastfeed. It was definitely informative. I learned a lot. I also got a little nervous about having twin boys. I guess it just hit me last night. This is really going to happen. I couldn't sleep at all last night because I kept thinking about all the things that could go wrong. I'm allowed a little freak out, right? I do feel better about things now and am ready to take on this challenge!

25 Week Update

Here are some pregnancy highlights:

How Far Along: 25 weeks

Size of Babies: Baby A is 1 lb 4 oz and Baby B is 15 oz (as of last Tuesday, so I'm sure they've already grown)

Maternity Clothes: I have started wearing some maternity (tops, denim skirt, dresses). Finally got my maternity jeans hemmed, so I am ready to go for the cooler weather this weekend. Still able to wear some of my bigger jeans if I ride them low or do the rubber band trick and some looser fitting tops. I have just been buying bigger sizes in tops though.

Gender: BOYS! Van Earl and Elijah Willis

Movement: Definitely moving! Feel them kick harder and harder especially at night when I'm laying on the couch.

Sleep: Hit or miss. Sleep great some nights and others not. Harder and harder to get comfy.

What I Miss: Red wine (this one is never gonna fall off the list, ha), sleeping without waking up several times a night, my "skinny" jeans, running, lifting heavy weights (my strength is pathetic right now), and high impact aerobics!

Cravings: Not really anything in particular right now.

Aversions: Nothing in particular.

Symptoms: Feeling heavy!, nesting, starting to wear down a little more easily than the past few weeks.

Best Moment of the Week: Seeing my boys last week and I get to see them again this coming week. Getting the nursery almost complete is another one. Just a few finishing touches are needed.

Babies Update and More

I have had 2 doctor's appointments in the past week. I had my bi-weekly visit at the high risk last week, and I just got back from my monthly visit at my regular OB group. I got an ultrasound at the high risk last week. The boys look precious. Baby A is 1 lb 4oz and Baby B (a little smaller) is 15oz but that is perfectly normal. They made sure the membrane separating them looked OK, checked the blood flow to the brain, and took a lot of measurements. Overall, everything looks good! Baby A was not cooperating for the camera, so I just have a clear pic of Baby B at a little over 23 Weeks. Precious!

Today I had to go in for my glucose test to check for gestational diabetes. I couldn't eat or drink anything this morning and had to drink this sugary orange drink beforehand. I thought it was going to be some terrible, long drawn out thing, but it was so easy. They just drew blood and that was that besides my growling stomach and extreme thirst. I drink water constantly so it was hard to not have any for a while this morning. The actual doctor's visit didn't take long at all, so I hope everything is fine with my blood work. I REALLY don't want to go back in for more testing which takes 4 hours! I will know in 3-4 days whether or not I have to do that. Everything seems to be going fine, which is wonderful news! Here are some baby bump pics of me at 24 weeks. I know I am terrible about taking them much less posting them. Sorry for the poor quality too. I took them with my phone. For those of ya'll who are grossed out by this, skip over these.

~24 Weeks~

I started this past weekend team teaching Attack Saturday morning. Whew! I hadn't taught a high impact class (of course I stay low but you still have to have a certain amount of energy for a high impact class) in awhile, so it kicked my booty! I may have pushed a little too hard because after I felt a little woozy. I just have to constantly remind myself, "I am pregnant, take it easy!!" After running errands and straightening up a bit, we had a nice visit from the Vicars. It was a quick trip to them but it was so good to visit a bit and have a nice Italian meal out together. By Sunday, I was wiped! All I wanted to do was lay on the couch, which I did, ha ha! Hey, I'm pregnant! I can do that all day if I want, right? I was ready to go again on Monday. I taught my Active class Monday morning, worked from home in the afternoon, and went back to the gym for another Attack class. I typically don't do 2 classes in a day, so needless to say it took a lot out of me. I do take it easy though. I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing at the gym as long as the doctors say it's ok and I feel fine doing it. So far, so good! I sure hope it stays that way.

I have been fortunate enough to be able to work from home a few days a week recently. I am not planning on going back to The Pink Monogram after I have my boys, so this is perfect! Since the majority of TPM's business comes from the Internet, there is always plenty of work to do on the web. Perfect for me, right?! I have been training my replacement for the past couple of weeks, so I will slowly transition into working completely from home. Plus we don't know if I will have to go on bed rest so if I do, I am ready to keep working. I am so thankful for this set-up. I will leave you with a pic from the hardest working member of our family...

Fall is in the Air

My weekend started off fabulously! After work I decided to stop by the mall just to browse (yeah right) the new Fall styles and look for a new handbag.

Disclaimer: I tend to ramble on about shopping and fashion, so if this doesn't interest you, please skip ahead.

Even though I can't wear a lot of the styles this year, I still want to keep up with the trends, so I decided to do a little "trend" shopping Friday evening. It ended up being a very successful trip. I have found that when you go in looking for something specific you will find nothing. When it's just a "browsing" trip, you will want everything! Let me just tell you...for me there is nothing like a little retail therapy to cheer one up and brighten the day. :) I found a gorgeous handbag at Dillards. It's just what I was looking for...black patent with gold hardware and it's the perfect size. I have a hard time finding the "perfect" bag at the right price point, so I was super excited to find this one. I love the gold chain handle (very Chanel-like).

I also had some luck in Juniors. The best thing about Juniors is you can usually find (if you hit it at the right time) trendy pieces at a much cheaper price than in Contemporary or high end boutiques. I was thrilled about finding some trendy Fall items (with lots of belly room of course) at good prices. I am having a really hard time with the "maternity" clothing thing. A) they are super expensive. What a rip off! B) It's hard (for me) to find styles I like. This is why I was so happy to find some items that will work perfect for me (Big Mama) this Fall. I am really excited about my cape jacket. Although I'm not sure the hubs gets it. He called me a "flying squirrel" when I put it on. Oh well, too bad. I love it and it's the perfect preggo belly Fall piece. I will pair it with some skinny jeans or leggings and tall boots and it will be perfect. :)
After my shopping outing, Adam and I got Carrabba's take out which was the perfect ending to a great evening.

Saturday was busy. We worked hard again. I got up and taught pump, ran errands, and cleaned the house (it was in dire need) all before the TN/FL game, which we lost. :( It has been so long since we beat FL. I was so hoping we would pull it off this past weekend. Oh well, there's always next year, right? They better get it together by next year because I want my boys' first football season to see a Vol win against FL. On a the other hand, Adam's homemade spinach dip made the game a little more bearable to watch. It's soooo yummy! And yes, we ate it all! My hubby is quite the cook, thank goodness. I don't like to cook so this works out well. :) After the game we (Adam) put together the bookshelf in the nursery, so all the big furniture pieces are done!

Here's another TN Maternity Tee I'm loving. Thanks to my sweet friend Ashley!

Sunday morning we woke up and were pooped from everything we did on Saturday, so we were bad and didn't make it to church. We had a wonderfully lazy Sunday morning instead, which was very much needed.

Babies Update:
Of course I have to put in a baby update...The boys are kicking harder and harder. I feel them more and you can see them kicking through my belly. It really is quite hilarious. Just not sure how much stronger their kicks will get, hope not too much haha. I put a bowl of popcorn on my belly the other night, and they almost kicked it off. It seems they are most active in the evening when I'm laying on the couch or maybe it's because I am still and can feel them more. I go back to the high risk Dr. Wednesday, so I will update ya'll then. Hope everything is still going ok. Please keep your prayers coming that they are healthy and both growing equally. I greatly appreciate them all. I am a firm believer in prayer, so knowing I have peeps praying for my boys is very comforting. I am 23 weeks and will be 24 this Thursday. Can't wait to meet my little kickers. :)