Twins

So, as most of you know, I am 20 weeks pregnant with twin boys! Of course, this was quite a shock a few months ago when we found out but we are nothing but thrilled. We went to the "BIG" anatomic ultrasound yesterday, which lasts much longer when there are 2 babies to evaluate. So, we were there for almost 2 hours. By the end of it, we had seen all of Baby A and Baby B...and they are both doing wonderful and are perfectly healthy! My cervical length was also good, and I was very relieved to hear that. As you may remember, I was put on bed rest at 28 weeks with Calan because of my cervix shortening (thinning) prematurely. I do NOT want this to happen with these 2 fellas, so I am tackling this pregnancy very differently than the first. While pregnant with Calan, I still worked out 5 days a week, traveled vigourously for work and pretty much led my same ole normal life (with few modifications). This time around, I have not exercised since early in the 1st trimester...I was not feeling well until around 18 weeks and now that I'm feeling better, if I stand for too long I basically feel like I need to sit. Obviously, everything is much more accelerated, so I really feel like I'm 30 weeks pregnant, when I'm only 20 weeks along. I've not had much of an appetite still, and have only gained about 6 lbs at this point, but I feel confident that the babies are getting what they need after seeing them in there yesterday.

Too long...

It's been too long since I've updated our blog. Calan has been learning so many new things and keeping us on our toes. He has been walking for a few weeks now and is almost up to a full run! He's also saying so many words - Mama, Dada, Dog, Ball, More, Block, Nana (banana), duck, bus, and a few more that I can't quite remember at the moment. His first year has flown by and i can't believe he is already 13 months old. Still my baby though :) I've posted some pics from his 1st birthday party last month. It was a blast and he LOVED the cake (as you can see)....it took him some prodding to dig in, but once he did, it was ON!

Little Man

My baby is turning into a little man. Instead of just crying when he wants something, he now does a combo cry/talk/yell. It's very....interesting...and loud. He says mama, dada and dog and tries to repeat what we say. Yesterday, I swear he said button (after I said belly button).

Poor guy has been sick for the last week with an ear infection and a cold that settled into his chest, so he's having to take antibiotics AND steroids. I hate it. He doesn't seem to notice though, as he's been up to his regular antics. Yesterday he was doing laps around the patio table with his walker and when he would get to the edge of the grass, he would just pick up the walker and reposition it the way he wanted to go. I thought that was pretty good. I feel like he can walk on his own, but I think maybe he just doesn't have enough confidence yet. No rush. He falls more than I care for now, so I'm sure it will get worse when he's taking independent steps. He got a cut on his eyelid just yesterday while he was making his rounds outside.

His birthday is in 2 1/2 weeks and I'm excited but also sad. I cannot believe he's almost 1. He is still just as sweet as candy and my little baby doll.

11 Months

Calan is 11 months now. He is becoming more and more his own person. Just this morning he stood up all by himself and even stayed standing for 30 seconds. Previous to this, if he realized he was standing he would sit immediately. But not today - instead he was waving his arms in the air like he was so proud of himself! He also LOVES attention and other people...kids especially. If he sees a child that he wants to talk to he will try to get their attention by smiling and talking Calanese, but if that doesnt' work then he just starts giggling! Louder and louder until they look his way. He is our little social butterfly!

We got a new bike seat for Calan on Saturday, as he H.A.T.E.D the bike trailer. So I sold it and used the proceeds to buy a bike seat that mounts to the back of my bike seat. We took him on a 9 mile bike ride on Saturday and he didn't cry or scream like he would about a mile into any previous ride in his trailer. The farthest we ever got in his trailer was 2 miles (1 mile out and turn around b/c he's screaming his head off). So, needless to say I was thrilled we got to go further. Speaking of riding bikes, I just signed up for my first triathlon! I am so excited, as I have wanted to do one for such a long time. It's on October 9th and it's a 1/2 mile swim, 10 mile bike ride and 3 mile run. I started swimming last week and I had forgotten how much I love it. I am so excited to do the race and nervous too. Anyone done a tri before? Let me know if you have any tips!

This week will hopefully fly by so we can get to Friday quickly and head off for Tahoe. I can't wait to go! I was put on bedrest last year so we didn't get to make our annual trip, so we're spending 6 days there this year opposed to our normal 3 day trip.

Update on my 10 MONTH OLD!

Calan is now 10 months old. I have no time to post...clearly. Lots has happened lately. My sister Erin got married last weekend in SF and it was a gorgeous day for a wedding....ESPECIALLY since it was outside in San Francisco where the high is usually 60ish in June...It was nearly 80 degrees that day. A very RARE day, but God must have been watching out for them.

Calan has been doing so many things. He says Dada and occasionaly if he tries very hard he can say Mama! He walks around by holding onto furniture and is even getting more confident and standing on his own for a few seconds before he realizes it and then sits. He is a crawling machine....too fast for us. He claps and waves and does high fives. He loves attention and hates getting his face wiped. :) He eats with his hands and is grabbing at the spoon. At his last Dr. appt about 2 1/2 weeks ago he weighed 24 1/2 lbs. I think he's above 30 or 31 inches now. Big boy! Wearing 12 - 18 month clothes. He is eating our money away w/all the clothes I have to buy him :) I will take some pics this weekend and post later.

Never Before....

Never before would I have thought that the incidence of having a boy come towards me with a slobbery kiss, then put his finger up my nose while pulling my hair followed by a grand finale of throwing up on my face and hair, would have produced a 2 minute long laugh...until my son did it! OMG...so gross, but hilarious and he thought so too!

My sweet Calan is 9 months old now and still full of smiles and giggles (most of the time). He is a crawling machine and also loves to cruise (walking while holding furniture, etc.) along the couch, coffe table, ottoman, etc. This bundle of joy just keeps growing and I'm sure we'll find out on Tuesday at his 9 month check up that he's in the 85% or higher on the growth chart.

He still loves almost all the food we feed him and eats mostly veggies, fruit, cereal and chicken. He LOVES peas, squash and hates tofu....also melon did not go over well yesterday. The boy also loves, L.O.V.E.S other children....mostly older kids....and dogs. Uh-oh....might be time to think about getting a new pooch (Snickers, my 18 year old pup passed away last year before Calan arrived). I love dogs but the thought of caring for a dog and a baby is a little daunting. We'll see what happens...stay tuned!

Pics

Movin' and Shakin'

This boy has been busy!!! Calan has been fully crawling for about 3 weeks now, but he much rather cruise. You would think since he can crawl that he would be all over the place via hands and knees, but he would much rather walk (God help us)! He has been pulling himself up for 2 or 3 weeks and as of a couple of days ago, he will pull up on something and then transfer himself by walking a step or two to something else. This boy wants to walk and I don't know that I want him to just yet! He's not even 9 months old yet and he's already trying to be a toddler. No sir Calan...not yet...I still want my baby to be a baby for a while.

Calan has also been getting over his first bout of illness. He got a little cold about 3 weeks ago and that turned into an ear infection. He has been on an antibiotic for a week now, but he woke up again last night crying inconsobably. I hope it's going away.

We have been really busy too! Neils and a contractor friend put in bamboo floors a couple of weeks ago and we LOVE them! Soooo much better than the worn carpet that was here when we moved in. Calan, on the other hand, was a little scared of them at first. He would crawl to the edge of the rug and then stop when he got to the wood. So funny! He's better with it now, but it was so cute to see him examining this new floor.

This past weekend my dad flew in and a group of us (Erin, Jason, me, Neils, Calan, my dad, Justin, Ryan and Neils parents) went to Eureka to run the Ave of the Giants 1/2 Marathon. There were 5 of us that did the race and I can safely say that it was my WORST half marathon. It was not my slowest, but it was my most painful. I have decided that I need to downgrade to 5k's and 10k's until I regain my core strength. But, the scenery was BEAUTIFUL! We ran along the Ave of the Giants, so all around us were giant redwood trees. Calan was a trooper too. He had to endure a 4 1/2 car ride 2 days in a row. The first day was fine, as we played DVD's for him on the portable DVD player. But we forgot to charge it and it died on us on the way home! So, we had to listen to some fussing for a bit of the ride home. We learned our lesson(s) - 1) Don't drive almost 5 hours in the car 2 days in a row with a baby and 2) ALWAYS charge the DVD player/electronics.

I will post some pics soon!

Robert Joseph Acord

My dear friends, Marion and Jason Acord, welcomed their little boy into this world yesterday with much love and excitement. Words cannot describe how excited I am for them! My only regret is that I couldn't be there for the birth, like I was for Addison. Check him out!

http://acordfamilyhappenings.blogspot.com/

Just a cute pic

Close up!

Easter

Calan had a blast at the Petaluma Mother's Club Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday...even though he only got 1 egg....and it may or may not have been picked up by one of his parents. He was way more interested in the other kids, bubbles, balloons and (surprisingly) the Easter Bunny!

On the Move

This little boy is working so hard to crawl! He has been creeping or army style crawling for a few weeks now, and yesterday our nanny reported that he got up on all fours and went a couple of steps! I have seen him get up on his hands and knees, but not move yet. He is also babbling a lot more and giggling ALOT! His giggle is the best sound I have ever heard in my life. He is growing way too fast for my taste and I know I say this every time, but I wish he would just stay a baby for a while. I know the next stage will be great too, but I just love my cuddly little guy.

Pictures to come soon!

7 Months Old!

The time is definitely passing too quickly now....I can't believe he's 7 months old!! Calan is definitely become more active. Check him out in the video!

Six Months Old

Oh my, how time does fly. I can't believe that just 6 months ago, my little baby boy came into this world. The time has gone so fast....too fast. Calan had a slow start with his weight, but he has definitely caught up now! We'll find out next week what his stats are. He has one tooth and another one is trying to poke through. He is also eating a few other foods now....bananas, applesauce, pumpkin and the old tried and true rice cereal. And the best news is that he is sleeping unswaddled now!! For the last few nights he has just been in a sleep sack and he's doing very well. We've had to let him cry a couple of times, but he doesn't ever cry more than a few minutes (at this point), so that's good. Here are some pics of our last month and today!

Solid Food (okay, so it's really semi-solid)

We started Calan on rice cereal tonight and he did much better than expected! His first reaction is priceless, but after he got the hang of it, he actually wanted to keep eating it! I feel like he's growing WAY too fast now!!!! I really don't want to leave tomorrow for my first business trip.

Five Months Old

Calan turned 5 months old today!!! Here is his "official" 5 month picture and stats.

Weight: 17 lbs 11 oz
Height: 28 inches

We are going to start feeding him rice cereal tonight I think, as he is showing more and more interest in our food. We'll see how it goes!

Little Sitter

We had a wonderful trip to Texas and I will upload some pics from our trip shortly. We got to see my Nana and Papa and that was so fun! Papa really loves babies, so he had a good time holding Calan and telling him stories. Nana made a BIG Texas sized lunch for us and it was delicious. I miss them so much. :( We also drove down to Austin to see Shannon, Matt and little Miss Abby. They are doing a great job as parents and Abby is so cute and squirmy....she may be even a squirmier worm that Calan! The rest of our trip was spent hanging out w/my dad and Dale and it was very nice.

Since we have been back, things have gotten pretty busy. I have a lot of work to do, so our nanny, Cora, came over 3 days this week while I worked from home. Erin also came over for a couple of hours on Thursday. I left the house for 1 hour and Calan really put her to the test. First he had a major poop diaper and when she was changing it he put his feet in the poop and spread it all around! Then while she was trying to get him cleaned off, he peed all over both of them. She decided he was due for a bath and after he was done, she changed him and then he spit up all over her!! Afterwards he took a nap and slept for a full 2 hours (long for him)...he must have been pooped out! (pun intended) :)

He has been learning and doing so many new things now. The coolest of which is how he can sit without support for a few minutes at a time!! He's growing too fast!! I tell him every day "stay a baby", but clearly he wants to grow up quickly.

Marion's Dad

Please say a prayer for my friend Marion's dad, Kinney Swain. He went in for a heart check up yesterday and they found that they needed to do an emergency triple bypass today. He is in surgery until 5 pm EST, so please say a prayer for him and their family.