20 toes 20 fingers

Cody and I went to THE appointment today. We saw our babies all snug inside me, wiggling and squirming. 20 tiny toes, 20 tiny fingers and luckily not all on one baby. They were perfect, strong and healthy. We asked the technician to put the genders of baby A and B in an envelope and seal them up (peak proof) so we could open them with our families. We got to my parents and anxiously awaited a few relatives coming home from work so we could make the calls. Cody synchronized phones and conference calls. We had seven phones lined up on an easy chair at my parents house. It was hilarious to hear 20+ peoples familiar voices chattering away with each other in the same chair, with an envelope above the phones with our babies genders inside. Cody made the last call to his older brother Tobby and I got the envelope ready in my hand with my finger under the seal. We were picturing two evelopes or pieces of paper, but there was only one.

I opened it "Get ready for"...




Then I unfolded the paper some more...




" Two little". Wow, they were the same whatever they were...





"Girls!"

We were so thankful our family could be a part of it instead of hearing in a cramped ultrasound room,"Oh, those are the legs, that's the head, those are the girl parts". This made it so much more special. Cody's comment about having two more girls was, "I'm in trouble". Bring on the pink, the girliness and twice the fun, the Harward women are taking over!

Turkeys

This was our first year hosting Thanksgiving. Retrieving the neck and giblets turned out be be less scary than I thought. I am so grateful for family and friends helping hands, otherwise I'd never have gotten dinner on the table at a reasonable hour. Timing is everything with Thanksgiving dinner.This girl:

always has her cute nose buried in a book, love it.

This girl...

13 weeks

18 weeks

has some seriously fast growing girth.

We go for our first ultrasound tomorrow since the news of the twins. Hopefully the kids will cooperate so I can get on with decorating their nursery and just know who we're dealing with. Boy, boy. Girl, girl. Boy, girl. Our anticipation is tangible at this point!

Bermuda

Our friend Jeff took these pictures on the beach. (I don't think it was very nice of him to widen my butt. Thanks Jeff, didn't know that was a feature on your WIDE angle lens.)

Cody had a business conference in Bermuda. We stayed for a few days after the conference and played in the sand and went exploring. Cody got bumped up to first class on both flights. He decided to give it up on the way there. When I asked the man next to me if he wanted to switch seats with my husband in first class you'd think I yelled "bomb"... He couldn't get the seat belt off fast enough. For some reason that appealed to him rather than sitting next to a rambunctious toddler... strange man. We stayed at a resort out in the country and took a ferry over to the capital, Hamilton.
One of the days we were on the beach, a man said to Cody, "I'm glad you're out in the sun man, it looks like it's been years". So, I apologize for our New England fall skin, some people are quite amazed by our brilliance.

I sat back and gobbled up these sweet daddy daughter moments. Cody is so patient and loving with Emmy. Sometimes I get so caught up in being the mom/bossy one/worrier, I need these images in my head to remind me to live in the moment more. I need bed times, dirty hands and planning to take a back seat to my real priorities. Emerson has become more attached to her daddy and asks for him all the time now. I think the little baggie of candy (bribes) in his underwear drawer help her love him a little bit more (just a theory).

There was a big soiree on Friday night called the "All White Calypso Party". Every one wore all white with a splash of color. It all felt a little blasphemous, like having a party in the temple. There were seriously treasure chests full of delicious food, lobster tales, crab and mountains of fresh shrimp. I was pretty thrilled that this was the kick-off of my nausea free days, so you know I was back for seconds.

Emerson was in love with this mini water slide. She grew gills on this trip.

My pregnant belly sticking out here
These nights were magical.

My thoughts have been pretty consumed with 'twinage' lately, trying to picture my life with 3 under 3 in a few short months. I grilled a few moms I met with twins and got some useful tips and some scary stats like going through 175 diaper a week (my heart sank a little adding my toddler diapers to that figure). I've got to get this girl on the fast track to potty training. But, all those worries aside, this trip was perfect for clearing my head and refocussing me on the joys of an eternal family.

Couldn't get this girl off the beach, or the sand from her crevasses.

We had some rain, but spirits were not dampened.

On the flight home, Cody got bumped again to first class. I told him to go enjoy the Emmy free zone. He so deserved it. The flight attendant pulled the curtain across... dividing the Bourgeoisie from us common folk, the Proletariat. Luckily Cody was kind enough to smuggle us back some Sun Chips and Twix instead of our Delta mini pretzels and biscoff cookies (dog biscuits). A two hour flight was a small price to pay for a slice of paradise.

Our little cupcake

My interpretation of a cupcake turned out to bit avant-garde. So I made a headband to make it known that this little girl was indeed a cupcake. She wasn't thrilled about the costume the day before at a toddler Halloween party where it lasted about 4 minutes on her. When it came time for trick-or-treating, she was all business. She got suited up and dragged her Thomas bucket up and down the streets. Her other fist was full of candy that she didn't want to throw in the bucket.

Here she is unwinding from trick-or-treating.

Do you see that?

Emerson and I had such a great day together. She was making me smile every minute with her witty comments. She kept asking me, "What doin' momma?" just to check in with me and keep me in line. I really needed her to take an early nap because I had a doctors appointment later and needed to drop her off at my mom's. She went down at 12:30 and woke up two hours later just as we needed to leave, perfect. I marveled at what a smooth day it was, so easy, too effortless. I had my paper ready to turn in for class, the sun was shining, I didn't need a jacket and Emerson was just making my day by being a non-tantrum throwing toddler. What an easy day I thought to myself.

I waited at the doctors office and wiggled my foot impatiently waiting for the doctor to rattle on the door and greet me with a friendly "hi, sorry about the wait". I thumbed through some parenting magazines reading about feeding your picky toddler, the perfect cupcakes and homemade Halloween costumes. My OB came in, wheeling her cart, smiling and sweet. She squeezed the cool jelly on my stomach (are we not advanced enough in technology to get warmers for that suff?) I was excited to hear my baby's heart heat and see what's going on in my midsection. I was glad I'd forgotten today was ultrasound day, I like surprises.

"Do you see that?!" my doctor said, her eyes turned toward the monitor. Are you serious doctor, this may be my second one, but I could be looking at an octopus in my stomach and not recognize it from an arm and a leg on an ultrasound screen. I didn't say anything."It looks like two" she said. I don't think I said anything again, I was still a bit stunned from the cold jelly or was it the possibility of having twins, not sure. "Yep", she said "See, there is a membrane separating both of them". I started to cry and laugh, hearing my giggles in my belly when we were supposed to be hearing the babies heart beats. I widened my eyes to see through the tears and pull myself together to see my TWO babies for the first time! "There are definitely two in there" she said. She took two quick pictures which may or may not be two octopuses and handed them to me. I turned them around and around trying to remember which was an arm and which was a head so I could prove to Cody that we with be a family of FIVE. "Do you have any questions?" She asked. "Um, am I supposed to gain more weight than usual", I hopefully asked, plotting my drive to pick up for favorite snack. "Nope, pretty much the same as with one" she said. Shoot.

I called Cody and first asked if he was sitting down, my hysteria evident in my shaky voice. I told him the news and he declared it from his office door, "We are having twins," he yelled down the hall. I went to my parents house and walked in to see Emerson looking huge, not like my baby anymore. My mom held me and reassured me, bouncing off one another as we laughed. I needed that. We called the relatives and convinced them of the news.(Everyone thinks you're kidding when you tell them you're having twins!) I had to race off to class and pretend to listen to my boring professor lecture on and on about Qualitative Field Research Paradigms. With my elbow on my desk and my head in my hand, I smirked thinking of myself exhausted, rocking two babies in the middle of the night. I pictured them screaming, then Emerson, then me joining them for the chorus.

I feel honored to be carrying twins. I'm scared to death but so thrilled, more thrilled at this point. The scared part will come when they emerge. I have so many questions that being with "How will I..." or "How does one..." It will be an adventure!

*Those are two cumquats in the picture although THEY are now the size of limes.

Accurate family picture

This picture:plus this one: = Our new family picture!

That's right folks, we're having a kumquat.

Actually according to some fetal fruit scale, that's the size of our little baby right now. For anyone unfamiliar with the semantics of pregnancy and gauging the size of a fetus, there are all sorts of handy dandy fruit/inanimate objects comparable to it's size available on baby websites. FYI.

We're so excited about this new addition coming our way! I frankly am clinging to the promise of an easy breezy second trimester, because the nausea and ALL stinkin' day long sickness is loosing it's wonder. Emerson is pretty thrilled about the prospect of having someone her size to play with on a regular basis. She talks to the baby, "Hi baby, how doing". And blows raspberries on my belly, (I'm assuming) to make this baby sure it knows what it's getting him/herself into by being Emerson's sibling.

My funky lil'sleeper

Cody and I are a little obsessed with checking on Emerson. Almost every night one of us asks the other, "Should we go check on her?" Mostly we just want her to be warm and look at her sleeping like a baby since she rarely stops moving during the day. She's one of those kids that I might just find someday in the yard asleep while she's playing. I just wonder how she gets the pillows AND bean bag on top of her while she's on her belly.


This video was from earlier this summer. I'd tried the usual nap routine with her, but she was wired. I took her to the park and we played pretty hard. She still wouldn't go down for a nap, so it wasn't until she was strapped in her high chair eating cream cheese on toast that she finally caught some shut eye. I did pick her up and put her in her bed, but I had to watch her "bob's" for a minute. Okay, and two seconds.

Honeycrisp

I couldn't contain myself another minute. I absolutely needed to pick apples from tree's. I couldn't wait to stuff our tiny sack with them and be in apple sampling heaven. I salivate just thinking of them in their pure crispy state. I could sit in a comfy chair listening to myself chomping away on an apple for a few hours at least, just enjoying the experience that is eating freshly picked apples. It would be a sin to put them in a pie and diminish their crunch-ity snap.

Emerson was a little confused and started collecting rocks, but she caught on. I love her CHEESE, I could eat it with my apple and have a complete protein!

First day of school

I love that fall is creeping in and all the fun it brings with it. Today was Emerson's first day of 2 year old preschool/Joy school. It's just one day a week for an hour and a half, three friends and I alternate homes and playing the role as teacher. This is exactly what Emerson needs to detach a bit and become more socialized. She was very excited to go but not the leaving me part of it. She calls me mom now not mommy anymore. tear. She said, "Mom, I go school, you sit down, I pay toys". We did just that. I think I'll be riding the bus with her to Kindergarten.

Boston Excursion

We went for a ride on the swan boats this weekend, splashed in the frog pond and ate some yummy pizza.

Aqua Man

Cody has been wanting Lasik eye surgery since we got married, probably longer, but I've only been hearing about it for the past 6+ years. I actually love him in his glasses, especially when they slide down his nose and he has to push them back up, so cute to me . He happens to work with several ophthalmologists, one of whom offered him the friends and family discount. I don't think there's any other way I would have agreed to the surgery without that huge discount, what a blessing.

So, yesterday was the big day. Emerson and I drove him in for the surgery and by the time we left, got gas and dropped in the library for story time, he was done. I mean done too, on Valium and everything, I've never seen the man so at ease. We walked him back to the car where we rode home with his funky sunglasses on and his jacket over his head. Emerson kept asking "Where'd daddy go?". I had to keep telling her, "he's right in front of you, he's just hiding under his jacket". He was still super light sensitive and the pain was setting in, so I turned our house into the bat cave but I had to leave my poor patient because it was my first night of class back at Boston University! It felt good to be back despite being 15min. late for class and paying $15 for parking because a Red Sox game was going on and my parking pass was still in the mail. I got home a few hours later and Cody was feelin' good. Despite having to wear goggles to bed (I feel like I'm sleeping with aqua man beside me), he's seeing clearly and loving life without glasses or contacts.

Thinking trashy thoughts

Have you ever eyed a heap of trash on the curb of someones house? Yes you have, don't act like you've never done that long stare before. Something caught your eye. Cody hates this stare in my eyes. I swear he guns in when we see a yard sale or a bunch of stuff by the side of the road. He loathes other peoples "junk". Well, I have seen too many HGTV trash-to-treasure shows and always have that 'trashy eye' when it comes to trash. Isn't that gross? Yep, a little for those who don't own bleach, Lysol, goo-gone and Fantastic. But, seriously, I don't have much shame and I am willing to do the courtesy knock to verify that it is truly trash and not someone cleaning out their garage and me loading my car with their stuff. Again, little shame here, but I'd just die if they came running after me.

Here we are, Saturday, driving to the mall. Someone had a yard sale earlier and put the unsellables by the side of the road. I gave the trash heap the eye. I needed a better look. Cody gave me one of those "are you serious?" looks. So, I was patient enough to wait until the way back and hoped everyone else driving by had Cody's mind set and not mine. I'm at the mall, thinking 'trashy thoughts', wondering if there was really anything good in there. Wondering if someone was taking MY trashy treasures while we strolled the mall. We drove home. It was all there, yard sale stickers still on. I get out a little hesitantly. We pulled over and a nice man yells from his garage, "take it all". Cody hears him and says loud enough for me to hear, "leave it all, let's go!" as I'm flipping the trunk open to load up, yelling back at Cody, "Huh?" as if I didn't hear him. Another lady pulled over and started picking, so I picked up the pace. I had to go home and document my trashy find.

-New fat pink toy box (we were about to go buy one) this one's perfect.

-two kiddie suit cases.

-three cute boyish pictures.

-a few pillowcases still in their packaging

-dress up clothes (an M&M suit, karate costume,cowboy vest, jail outfit, 2 Ninja outfits and a cape)

- an old western scene with lots of cowboys and horses (Emmy's boy buds will be thrilled)

-3 trucks

-two leather purses and another nice one with the plastic still on the handles.

- an MP3 messaging player still in the box...useless, but free.

So, maybe some of this stuff will enter the trash cycle again, but the toy box alone was worth the stop for me. Have you ever thought a trashy thought?Confess.

Summer spots

Our town has this sandy spot that they pump water into and chlorinate each summer. It has docks and life guards, but you don't leave with that sinky pond smell. You have to wait until 11:00 to get in the water. This is us at 10:30 testing the water with the piggies.

Reunion oh niner

We had a mini family reunion today and yesterday. My family came down from Northern Mass and Vermont to spend some time together. I love having most of my extended family on my side within the New England loop. Before the family comes together, the food must. This was just the tip of the iceberg.

Luke was a tasty morsel of sweetness too, maybe that's why Emmy calls him Baby Ruth.

Movies on Nani's bed.

My favorite aunt Donna and cousin Kelly. They came down from Vermont. We missed you Dillon and David. I can't tell you how cool these people are. I mean they're from Vermont and don't have cable... on purpose. Don't you love them already?

I grew up on this pond. When we decide to get all the kayaks and canoes out, we call it "launching the fleet". There's a patch of land in the middle of the pond we've creatively named The Island. That's where we head after the launch is complete.

Joe, getting a little friendly with his BIG catch.

The Island survivors.

Cody, Emmy, Madison and myself were in a canoe. Cody and I get competitive, even when there's no competition. We had to be the first ones there and the first ones back. Smoked em'.

24 hours was not long enough, but I suppose fish and family stink after three days.

My 200th post, dedicated to my 2 year old

Emerson Lily turned 2 Years Old today! This is a cah-razy realization for me to wrap my head around. She's been excited about her big day for weeks now. She called me from her bed this morning and I burst her door open and said 'happy birthday', She said "it's a party!" and knew this day had Finally come! I proceeded to kiss her to pieces. She looked like this when she woke up:

We went to cash in on her free birthday ice cream, but I wanted to make sure she ate something semi-real first. She's always asking for an 'egg and cheese whap", here she is inhaling it. Oh, and she's turning 4 by the way. I thought it was 2. Woops.

We had a little carnival theme for Emmy's birthday. Unfortunately the festivities had to be held indoors and relocated to our basement because despite our singing at it, the rain just wouldn't go away. I made some fried dough, ate chicken on sticks, hot dogs and cotton candy of course.Our guest even coordiated outfits somehow.The kids played some games, but the adults got pretty into it too.My friend Jeannie made this precious apron for Emmy and of course we couldn't get her new boots off either. We've sort of embraced that we're basicly raising a little boy and give in to her 'no hair clips-loving trucks-Thomas the tank' stage.

We had to sing twice, this girl loves 'nusic'. She sits in her room and listens to "CE's" and changes them like the next greatest toddler DJ. Love her so much and the cute husband I have who cleaned my house from top to bottom post-party.

My girl

I feel so blessed to be raising this little ray of sunshine.

It blows my mind that our little sweetie will be 2 this month. Emmy has been nothing but sweet lately, ( okay,maybe a little sour). But, she's started to say,"Oh tay mommy" to just about everything I say, it melts me every time. We went to Target today. The toy isle is a regular stop on our list of fun places to play. We must look so utterly destitute as Emmy sits on the dusty floor and I shield my wagon behind her so she can play with toys in boxes. In our defense, it was almost too hot for the playground today. She played for a good 1/2 hour. She's got this thing with being chased. She starts running away from me and begins calling her own name...because that's what I do, but she thinks it's a game. She started doing this through the isles today, galloping through the store, calling her name in a desperate tone while she giggles at her own mischievous brilliance. I cornered her in the sheets/comforter isle. I bent my knees a little and stuck my jazz hands out acting like I was playing too. I had to restrain her at that point because she was on the move again. She threw her arms over her head, kicked and screamed, cried and proceeded to do the worm, mid air. It took me a minute to get her squirmy legs in the cart, but after I belted her in and she cooled down she said, "Sawee mommy". Ugh, gets me every time. I wish I could bottle her sweetness and save it for her teen years.

Corner chair

My mom and I are so close. We talk every morning at 9AM and there's never a lull in our conversations. We are part of each other. We see each other at least twice a week and she's always sharing some piece of advice that changes my day and out look. A few weeks ago she picked up this great chair for me from our neighbor. I had heard about it a few times before I saw it. It took a few long stares at it with my arms folded to let it growon me. It had this nasty red and black seat on it that I was having trouble seeing past.I threw a trash bag around it and determined to tackle it while Emmy was napping. I started to peel back the layers...then I dicovered the birds nest! I could have sworn a savvy little bird fashioned it with his tiny wings and beak. I could feel history and stories oozing from it, as well as nasty old fart smell. Yum.

I took off this:

and this: and tacked this material to the bottom of it

then put some foam under it and this material over it. *Obviously not professionally done, but it works.

End result. Come test your rump on it.

Birdies and buttons

My poor little tom-boy is bruised and battered. She's got a bump on her noggin from a fall down the hardwood stairs, a bruised cheek from a collision with another toddler and polka-dot bruised legs. Seriously thinking about making her wear her bike helmet around. As long as I can remember there has been this old tin of antique buttons at my moms house. They've always been in this rusty old tea tin box that I am in love with. I played with them as a little girl and loved sorting them by color and finding the pretty glass ones. Emmy loves them too. She closes her eyes as they rush out of the tin and spill all over the table and floor. I am excited to make cute things with them. Any ideas?


This dinner tasted good this week, probably because meatless corn dogs and broccoli-mashed potatoes was what we had for dinner the night before. Oops, sorry sweetie.
I would love it if anyone reading this with a blog would post a picture of a yummy dinner you make this week? I need ideas, I'm always running out of protein, carb and veggie rotations! Know what I mean ladies? (This was teriyaki marinated chicken with grilled pineapple, shish-kabobs and rice pilaf.)

Our little girl has graduated to the toddler bed (wiping my streaming tears away*). She climbed out of her crib a few weeks ago and that next night she was sleeping rail free. This one even grows with her into a twin bed. It's taken a bit of adjusting, but can I just tell you...she sleeps an hour longer each morning! Hallelujah. thrilled. I found this preciouis birdie bedding. I even checked for a queen size for mine, no luck. Birdies have become the theme and her room is in birdie deco mode. She had to show off her big girl bed to her buddy on a play date.

dink yow wa-wa pants

Don't get me wrong, I love gardening. But I've planted these fiery little red celosia flowers lining the walk way to our house. They are the biggest brats. If I don't water the little devils everyday, they either wither up and die or get all dramatic and droop over like they haven't been watered in weeks. It's been a day plants, get over it. They're the neediest little flowers, thank goodness they're annuals. They're not welcome in my bed next year. Emerson and I have become slaves to them. She gets out her watering can and squats down, trying to revive the dead ones and makes lip smacking noises telling the plants to, "dink yow wa-wa pants", as I hose em' down. Today was one of those h,h & h (hazy hot and humid) days so we were on the front steps, doing our thang.

evidence:

I started rolling up the hose after feeding my big fat baby plants when Emmy grabbed it and went to town, big gulps and all! Love my little tough chick! My dad always says, "She's not a sissy girl". She's not, that water was frigid.
Tonight Cody and I got Chinese food and sat on a park bench as we watched Emerson in action. She is the most social creature. There were these two boys. One had a red cape on and Emmy had a thing for him. Hopefully this trend (loving guys in capes is something she grows out of). She followed him everywhere and laughed whenever he did. She picked up a stick and started chasing him with it. The caped boy must have been 4 or 5, but there was real fear in his eyes as he tried to escape this little wild blonde half his size. Then, his red Croc fell off and she grabbed it and ran in the other direction laughing so he'd chase her. Brilliant little flirt. She is constant stress relief for Cody and my daily dose of entertainment. Feisty!

The 4th

We went to a parade on the fourth and yes, I cried. They always throw lots of candy at this particular one. My brother came prepared and brought a halloween pumpkin for Logan to fill with candy and I think it was brimming when they left. We all can get pretty competative. See those little sets of elementary school legs behind us in the picture? They were our competitors. We'd all yell and cheer really loud when the floats came by and try to get more candy than them, they were quicker and could scramble faster, but we were taller and out numbered them. What mean old bullies we are! It was all in good fun until the tallest family we know, the Larsen's appeared across the street, then we had a candy fight with the gross candy no one wanted to eat flying back a fourth as the parade went on. We had a yummy BBQ at my sisters house, tradition.

And a water balloon toss...

which Cody won.