Weekly Recap #5

This week definitely did not go according to plan for me. Little did I know that I was in for the SHOCK of a lifetime. Let me tell you how it all shook out.

On Monday, we were hit with a pretty bad snow and ice storm. The roads were SO BAD! My daughter had to work Monday night and ended up getting the car stuck in the middle of the street...TWICE...on her way home. Luckily she got stuck on our block and we had a neighbor that saw my daughter, my mom, and I (hugely pregnant) trying to get the car home (without having any luck) and was able to help us out. He was a Godsend. (And to my neighbor who lives directly across the street who decided to stand at her window THE WHOLE TIME just staring at us...SHAME ON YOU! You could have at least asked us if we were ok, instead of probably just wondering if we would get out from being stuck directly in from of your house. I was so, so mad at you.) Anyway, I planned to take pictures of the aftermath of the storm Monday or Tuesday but didn't get a chance. I'm just glad I didn't have to leave the house.

Then on Wednesday, everything changed for me.

Wanna know why???

I became the mom of TWINS on Wednesday!!!

Yep, you read that right. I went into labor on Wednesday and had my twins at 34 weeks and 6 days. Definitely early. Definitely unexpected. But ultimately, definitely awesome.

I will share their whole birth story soon - including my thoughts on their NICU stay. Unfortunately, it is still unclear as to when the twins will be discharged. Current estimate is the day my original c-section was scheduled, 1/21/16, but they are doing really well in the NICU so I'm hoping that day is moved WAY up.

So, as you can see, my husband and I spent our New Year's Eve in the NICU, celebrating the day with our babies.

Ain't no party like a NICU party...!

The NICU nurses were great and had some Welch's Sparkling Grape Juice for us as we rang in the new year with our newest family additions. The moment was bittersweet for me though because it marks the very first New Year's Eve that I did not spend with my other kids. For the last 16 years I have always been with my daughter on NYE and it was really sad to not be able to see her and my five-year-old that night. :(

I was scheduled to stay in the hospital until Sunday afternoon and, with the twins in the NICU, I spent my extra time in my hospital room eating, pumping, and watching TV. I was sad that the twins couldn't be with my in my post-op room, but I like to keep a positive attitude and look for the silver lining in things. I decided to look at my hospital stay as a solo vacation. Minus the beach. Minus the margaritas. Minus the fun.  But...I mean, when is the next time that I'll get to spend days all by myself without interruption (for the most part) from one of my kids? I figure it won't be for awhile, so I'm trying to enjoy the alone time as much as I can.

I was able to leave the hospital on Sunday, and my babies are still in the NICU. I will post the full story on that, but know that it was a really hard day.

So, with all the busyness that went on this week, was I able to stick to any of my goals? These were my goals from last week.

• Goal #1: Eliminate soda for 1 week. I was able to get myself back on track after the Christmas holiday. As much as I was tempted after the twins were born, I managed to stay away from the sweet, carbonated stuff this week. I hope it continues because I want to be as healthy for those babies as I possibly can.
• Goal #2: Purchase gifts. There was a lot going on this weekend with my nephew's (and my son's best buddy) birthday party and Christmas with my dad. Miraculously, I was able to get gifts for both events on Tuesday night. I'm super-thankful for my wonderful husband (who has been so awesome not only with me, but keeping things going on the home front.)
• Goal #3: Spend 30 minutes organizing the basement. For the second week in a row...NOPE. I really wanted to get started on this, again, but rushing to the hospital on Wednesday afternoon kinda put the kabosh on that.
• Goal #4: Purchase and install blackout blinds for the twins. Not yet. They are still in the NICU, but this is a priority for me before they come home.
• Goal #5: Spend NYE with my family in our jammies...and stay awake till midnight!  Well we spent the evening with the newest members of the family anyway - and I was wearing new jammies! Hope you had an awesome New Year's!

Three out of five again. I have got to get with it! These are the goals I hope to tackle this week.

Goal #1: Eliminate soda for 1 more week. I've actually been feeling pretty good since I gave up soda. I think I can make it another week.

Goal #2: Attend post-holiday party on Friday. I have been an emotional wreck the last few days and, if the babies are still in the hospital, I may need some time with girlfriends for a few hours. If one of my babies is able to come home, there's no way this will be met though.

Goal #3: Spend 30 minutes organizing the basement. Even though I can't lift much and have to take it easy, I have been wanting to get the basement organized for weeks. Even if I can just move a few things around, at least I can say that I got the project started.

Goal #4: Organize one kitchen cabinet. One of my husband's pet peeves is walking into the kitchen and seeing that one (or more) of our cabinets can't close all the way because there's so much stuff in there. I would love to get at least one cabinet cleaned out.

Goal #5: Purchase and install blackout blinds for the twins. I didn't get to do this last week, but it must be done before the twins come home.

I'll let you know how it went next week!

10 Resolutions for 2016

I don't know about you, but I LOVE setting New Year's Resolutions every year. I like starting the year off with a set of goals I hope to follow for the year. Do they last all year long? Never. But just the process of writing them down and trying to remember to adhere to them help me keep them up for longer than I would have had I not taken the time to think about them.

So without further ado, here are my resolutions for 2016!

Read 20 minutes every day. In 2015, my Goodreads reading goal was 36 books for the year. I ended up reading 52! I'm hoping to take it to 55 books this year. I'm an avid reader so it shouldn't be too tough.

Join a gym. After these babies are born (and I'm given clearance to start exercising), I plan to join a local gym. I love taking classes like Zumba and spin classes, and my local gym offers a bunch of group fitness classes. Time to get my sweat on!

Run 5 races. Before I got pregnant, I had just gotten into a groove with running. It's a dream of mine, really, to be able to say "I'm a runner" and I'd love to eventually run 10k's, 1/2 marathons, and full marathons. I've only done 5k's so far, and I hope to be able to run at least 5 of them this year.

Drink 6 cups of water everyday. I fail on drinking water big time. I'd much rather have a big glass of juice or soda. I want to try and give up soda completely, but don't want to set myself up for failure. I love it too much. So I'll just settle on drinking 6 cups of water each day. If I can do that, I'm off to a good start.

Get the basement organized. I started cleaning up parts of the basement, but it's really in need of a thorough cleaning/organization session. We just have way too much stuff down there. I'd like to reduce the amount of stuff in the basement by half.

Save money for our next trips (cruise in 2106 and Disney World in 2017). I love traveling more than anything in the world. I know that it's only going to get more expensive and a lot more difficult to travel with twins, so I need to be more diligent about saving money from each paycheck.

Cook one new recipe every week. I already started picking out some new recipes I want to try in the new year, and I figure Sundays would be a great day to try them out. I'm used to being on the go all the time, but I want to start taking it easy on Sundays and spending more time at home. I'll have more time to clean up the house and cook some yummy new grub.

Take a little time each week for personal growth. This one is going to be so hard for me, but I need to take a little bit of time, even if it's just an hour a week, for just me. I could get my nails done, read up on a subject I enjoy, or take a class. I'm looking forward to this one.

Eat 2-3 servings of fruits/vegetables every day. I am the worst at eating fresh fruits and veggies. Doctors recommend high serving amounts every day, but just starting off with two or three would be good for me,

Take better photos. I always bring out my big camera, but hardly ever take any pictures on it. All pictures I use are usually taken on my cell phone. I need to put my phone down and pick up my nice camera from time to time.

I hope to provide an update once a month, so the first one should come at the end of January. Wish me luck!

Weekly Recap #4

This week was definitely spent on Christmas prep! I was so glad that I planned ahead and purchased everything I needed prior to this week, so I basically got to chill at home at the beginning of the week. Cookies were made on Tuesday and Wednesday, while appetizers and a few side dishes were made on Thursday. It was a crazy couple of days, but we made it through.

Christmas was amazing. Spent with people I love the most in the world. Christmas morning is just my immediate family, then my siblings and other in-laws come by for Christmas dinner. Perfection.

Santa arrived!

He is SO into Spongebob right now.

All the kiddos at my house on Christmas.

My husband got me the Garmin Vivoactive Smart Watch - which is exactly what I wanted. Obviously, I can't do much with it now, but I plan to get back on track with my health and fitness once these babies arrive. This watch is going to get a ton of use. It's great!

I spent the rest of the weekend with a little bit of stomach pain, so I rested and didn't leave the house at all. It was just what I needed. I'm thinking that the remainder of my time until the twins get here will be spent this way.

On to goal setting! These were my goals from last week.

• Goal #1: Eliminate soda for 1 more week. Negative on this one this week. I'll admit that I only cheated on Christmas Day with the holiday punch that I made (with ginger ale), and a few cups of Coke. I couldn't help myself!
• Goal #2: Take items for donation to Goodwill. We took 3 contractor's bags and 2 large trash bags full of stuff to Goodwill! Lots more to come in the coming weeks, I hope!
• Goal #3: Spend 30 minutes organizing the basement. Nope. I really wanted to get started on this, but with the stomach pains I was experiencing, it was best to just rest this week.
• Goal #4: Wash baby bouncers and swings. Got it all done. Just waitin' on the babies now.
• Goal #5: Have a Very Merry Christmas!  Of course we did - and I hope you did too!

Three out of five isn't too bad, right? These are the goals I hope to tackle this week.

Goal #1: Eliminate soda for 1 week. Back to square one. Let's see if I can make it through this week with no soda.

Goal #2: Purchase gifts. My nephew's birthday party is this weekend, as well as "Christmas" with my dad's family. I need gifts for BOTH occasions. Why oh why didn't I purchase these gifts earlier?!?!

Goal #3: Spend 30 minutes organizing the basement. I hope to try and start this project this week. It's long overdue! I started doing this a couple of weeks ago and made a lot of progress, then just stopped going down there. I'm sure I could get a lot more done in 30 minutes.

Goal #4: Purchase and install blackout blinds for the twins. I've been meaning to get these for awhile because they really helped my son stay asleep when he was a baby. I'm mad at myself that I waited this long to do it.

Goal #5: Spend NYE with my family in our jammies...and stay awake till midnight! I'm hoping to last all the way to 12:00am without sleeping. This one will be tough!

Have a great New Year!

Five Things I Believe

Christmas Day is in a couple of days, and my mom recently told me that some schools in New York were banning the image of Santa Claus because they deemed Santa a "religious figure". Um..say what? Santa Claus a religious figure? I don't know about that. Nowhere in the bible is a jolly man with a red suit mentioned...or maybe I just missed that part. The conversation got me thinking about my own belief system, because there are things that I firmly believe that others do not. Does that mean we can't be friends? I hope not. But it does mean that I operate my own brain, and don't necessarily hop on the bandwagon just because it's now universally, or legally, accepted.

Believe - to have confidence in the truth, the existence, or the reliability of something, although without absolute proof that one is right in doing so.

So here goes, 5 things that I believe:

1. Jesus is the reason for the season. I believe that Jesus Christ dies on the cross for my sins, and that he rose again on the third day. I don't need to see pictures, or other artifacts as "proof", it's just something I believe. He is the reason my family is celebrating Christmas on Friday.

2. Life really is what you make it. Maintaining a positive attitude will add years to your life, and greatly reduce your stress levels. I try to remain calm in any situation and look for the good, or the silver lining, in any difficult time. It doesn't always work (hey, I'm human and am entitled to a meltdown or two), but I find that I am generally happier when I make the conscious effort to be happy. It's very easy to get angry, so I just focus on the positive.

3. Traveling is good for the soul (and the best form of education). If I could travel year-round, I really believe that I would. Visiting new places and cities is my favorite thing in the world to do. It really doesn't matter to me how far I go, but visiting somewhere I've never been is definitely my happy place. And all the better if my family's with me.

4. People will forget what you said, but they'll never forget how you made them feel. I know this from experience. So many of my family members and friends think that I'm this tough girl with a no-nonsense exterior, but only few know how truly sensitive I am. It sucks, but I do remember how people have made me feel when they took a jab at me. I try to think about what I'm going to say before I say it, to prevent other people from feeling bad.

5. There is a "RIGHT" way to do things, and a "WRONG" way to do them. This one is totally subjective, of course, but I experience serious anxiety when someone is doing something differently than the way I would have done it. I know it sounds weird, but once I formulate a plan of action in my head, to me that's the way it has to be done. A point of contention in my marriage, for sure, but it's something that I don't think I can change at this point. Believe me, I've tried.

Have a Very Merry Christmas with your families, all!

Weekly Recap #3

This was another pretty busy week for me. (Aren't they all pretty much busy, though?!?!) For one thing, I sent out my Christmas cards this week - finally! Isn't my boy a cutie? He looks a little misplaced in a tank top and shorts with Santa. The picture was taken on our Labor Day weekend trip in Pigeon Forge, TN.

On Tuesday, my book club friends...well, that sounds cheap. They are definitely more than book club friends, they are simply, friends. We had our annual "fancy" year-end book club dinner at a restaurant. This year we went to Francesca's Campagna in West Dundee, and for a Tuesday night, this place was PACKED! We closed the place down, though, and were the very last table to leave. Typical.

My kids got their first Christmas gifts delivered in the mail from my Aunt & Uncle. They were both excited to get to open something before Christmas. My son got some cool new BOOKS! (We absolutely love books in this house.)

On Friday I had my last specialist appointment (for high risk pregnancy), and another NST. Both appointments went GREAT! I learned that my babies are getting huge! Baby girl is almost 6 pounds, and baby boy is 5.5 pounds...at just 33 weeks! These are going to be some massive twins!

Saturday was another fun day. There was a kids' Christmas party hosted by one of the twin clubs I'm a member of. We did crafts, had a nice lunch, and got a visit from Santa! Brayden loved it! I had to buy him a gift so I bought the Eye Found It Journey Through Time Edition game (since he has the Disney Edition and plays it often), and he was so excited. He said, "I forgot to put this on my list but I really wanted it! How did Santa know?!?!" That Santa is super-intuitive, isn't he? Lol. Here are the kids posing with Santa.

Then, later that day I accompanied my husband to see the new Star Wars movie. Full disclosure: I have never watched any Star Wars anything prior to that day. I'm just really not into that stuff. My husband, on the other hand, is a huge fan and I would've felt really bad if he went to the movies by himself to watch it. So, I saw it with him...and it wasn't completely horrible. I got through the whole movie and it was pretty good.

Sunday was pretty low-key. I got the remainder of my grocery shopping done. My fridge is full but it's going to be so hard to tell the kids they can't eat any of it because it's mostly ingredients we need for Christmas dinner! I also got a much-needed mani/pedi with one of my very good friends, Kristin! It was a really good week.

On to goal setting! These were my goals from last week.

• Goal #1: Eliminate soda for 1 week. This week I really did it. Not one drop of soda. Woo hoo!
• Goal #2: Pack hospital bag. For the most part, YES! The only things I'm missing are the things I use everyday and can't pack up anyway.
• Goal #3: Finalize Christmas menu. Done! As a bonus, I even purchased all the ingredients this week.
• Goal #4: Purchase items needed for twin club kids Christmas party. Yep. I had to buy a gift for my son that costs less then $15 (the Eye Found It game), plus bring along a garden salad to share. Done - and the party was really fun!
• Goal #5: Make it into the office 1 day this week. I made it in on Wednesday for a meeting - yay! There were a few gifts waiting for me at my desk so I'm really glad I went. :)

Pretty good, huh? These are the goals I hope to tackle this week.

Goal #1: Eliminate soda for 1 more week. Can I do it two weeks in a row - with this being Christmas week? I'm making a raspberry punch with ginger ale so I don't know about that, but we'll see!

Goal #2: Take items for donation to Goodwill. I'm trying to clear out some stuff in my house and I have a ton of things already in bags that need to be donated - including sheets and blankets.

Goal #3: Spend 30 minutes organizing the basement. I started doing this a couple of weeks ago and made a lot of progress, then just stopped going down there. I'm sure I could get a lot more done in 30 minutes.

Goal #4: Wash baby bouncers and swings. One of the final prep items for before these babies arrive. I have swings, bouncers, and bassinets but they are either Brayden's old ones, or hand me downs. I just have to wash the material and we'll be good.

Goal #5: Have a Very Merry Christmas! This one should be a piece of cake!

Have a great week!

Don't Look at Me

Entering these last few weeks of pregnancy, it's getting harder and harder for me to get around. My husband always says, "You're pregnant, not handicapped.", but the problem with that is, I certainly feel handicapped most of the time. I am so uncomfortable most of the time, and my body does not respond to my mental commands as it should.

Remember that phrase: "I've fallen and I can't get up!"? Well, that's how I feel if ever I need to get close to the floor to pick something up, or wipe something off the floor. My mind is telling my body to GET UP!, but my body looks like I'm playing a game of Twister as I slowly contort and writhe around, just trying to get my footing.

The worst thing about all this is the way people look and stare as I'm walking around the store, or picking up my son from preschool.

All I have to say to you gawkers is, look:

I realize that I'm breathing heavy.

I realize that I'm waddling.

I realize that I'm walking very slow.

I realize that I'm probably in your way.

I get it, you wish I would just move out of the way. And believe me, I wish I could quickly do that too. Problem is, I can't.

If I move faster, I can't breathe.

If I move faster, I'll get sharp pains in my lower abdomen.

If I move faster, I'm afraid I'll trip and fall, causing catastrophic consequences.

This will be my last pregnancy. As uncomfortable as I am, I wish it wouldn't be ending so soon. In a way, I wish I could be uncomfortable for a little while longer. This is it for me.

So as you see me pass you by, please withhold the snickering, the whispers, and the looks of pity. Please, stop looking at me like that. It is, after all, my last time. It'll be over before you, or I, know it.

Weekly Recap #2

This week was not as busy as last week, but I found myself trying to get more things done for the twins' arrival. I finished up my Christmas shopping and stopped at Babies R Us and Buy Buy Baby to pick up some much-needed items off my registry. I'm getting closer to being ready for them to make their grand entrance!

I had to miss a holiday party on Thursday because I was stuck late at work. Bummer. I was pretty tired though, and probably wouldn't have been as much fun. So, instead of attending a party, I wrapped Christmas presents late into the night. This was all in a days work.

I had a doctor's appointment on Friday for a NST - non-stress test - and it totally stressed me out! It took 3 nurses and more than 15 minutes to find the heartbeat of one of the babies. I was freaking out!

See - I gave you a belly shot after all!

When they finally found the heartbeat, I had to hold the device in place for more than 20 minutes. So frustrating. So while the test might not have caused any stress to the babies, I can't say the same for me. After that whole ordeal, I treated myself to a solo Thai lunch. Mmm...beef pad woon sen from Mai Thai Cafe in Wheaton. The best!

On Saturday, my husband and I attended a Managing Multiples class at the hospital where we will deliver the twins. It was a really long class, but we both learned a few things - like delayed cord clamping, expectations of delivering multiples, and even some new nutritional goals. I still can't believe that the day they arrive will be here soon. I am really going to miss being pregnant (which is something I never thought I'd say), but knowing this is the last time puts me into a sad emotional state.

On Sunday my husband was busy with car stuff, so my mom and I took Brayden to a LEGO Train Show exhibit in Wheaton. I had never been to Cantigny Park, and I just wished the day wasn't so rainy because the grounds were beautiful. The exhibit was SO CROWDED, but it was cool to see some of the built figures. Don't know that I would return to this next year though because I'm not really crazy about the crazy crowds...it was only $5 to get in though so I can't complain too much.

After that it was a stop at my son's favorite place to eat...Portillo's! He would eat here every day if he could.



We were supposed to attend another holiday event on Sunday night, Winter Wonderland at Porter's Pub in Elgin, but we were having so much fun at home playing video games (plus it was raining) that we just made it a pizza night. It was so nice for all of us to chill at home. It was a great weekend!

These were my goals from last week.

• Goal #1: Wrap at least 7 Christmas presents. I knocked this one out of the park! I'm almost done wrapping the gifts I already purchased. Now if I could just finish shopping...
• Goal #2: Start reading Book Club book. I finally finished the other book I was reading and read Winter Stroll by Elin Hilderbrand in TWO DAYS. Book club is on Tuesday! Can't wait.
• Goal #3: Attend Multiples class at hospital where the twins will be born. Super-informative, but also super-long (5-hour) class. CHECK!
• Goal #4: Eliminate soda for 1 week. Almost! I realized Monday night that I had Coke with my dinner. DOH! Then my husband and I went to dinner on Saturday night and I ordered a Coke. Total FAIL! I made it the rest of the week, so only having soda for 2 days isn't bad. I can totally do better though!
• Goal #5: Make a Christmas list. Done and Done! Making that list helped me realize what was missing and I promptly went out to purchase them. I only have a handful of things left to buy. YESSSSSS!

Pretty good, huh? These are the goals I hope to tackle this week.

Goal #1: Eliminate soda for 1 week. Since I flaked out the very first day last week, I hope to make it all 7 days without a drop of soda.

Goal #2: Pack hospital bag. I'm headed into my 33rd week of pregnancy with twins so I need to be prepared. Twins are known for being very early so the sooner I knock off this task, the better!

Goal #3: Finalize Christmas menu. I always host Christmas and I tend to leave the menu prep till the last minute. If I can get it done this week I'll be a little ahead of the game.

Goal #4: Purchase items needed for twin club kids Christmas party. The party is Saturday and I'm supposed to bring a salad and dressing, plus a $15 gift for my kid from "Santa". Should be a fun party.

Goal #5: Make it into the office 1 day this week. This might be my last time in the office until after the twins are born. Yikes! It's getting real now.

Check back next week to see how I fared with this week's goals (and if I drank any soda!), and see what we did throughout the week. It's almost Christmas!!!