Weeks 7 and 8 photos

A few photos from the past two weeks. Smiles are starting to surface...

**When you open the above link, click on "Slideshow" in the upper right, then click "Show info" in the upper right to see John's comments.

Homemaking & Smiles!

I took some pictures last week that I was all excited to post, then I came back to post the entry I'd written and found that John had stolen my thunder- most of the good ones were already up. So here's the boring stuff.

Now that I'm spending all day at home with the girls, I'm getting excited about all sorts of homemakey things.

I found the site that everyone uses to get these fancy scrapbookish layouts, then used the little html understanding I remembered from college classes forever ago to (mostly) fix the disaster I made when I applied the template.

I've been doing a bit of cooking- to justify the new mixer- starting with a full Thanksgiving dinner. We skipped a walk yesterday so I could make banana bread. John and I also made a cake and buttercream frosting. I've even cooked dinner a few nights and our icecream maker just made its third batch.

The girls started smiling this last Wednesday. This first-time-mom of course had a camera handy to catch a few of the smiles, which can be seen on John's entry.

I think the babies like each other, or are at least interested in observing each other. When one of the girls is screaming the other- if she isn't screaming herself- will reach for her sister. Yesterday I walked in to comfort Macy and caught Camy offering her thumb to Macy to calm her- and it worked. I thought I took a picture, but it turned out that I'd taken a video.

(I'll update with a photo or two when I get back to the other computer).

Pictures for Week 6 (by Edna)

Here are 3 representative photos for those who tire quickly...or who are also running on 4 hours of sleep. 1) Macy with the puppy dog eyes (one of her favs) 2) Camy content (also a common one for her) 3) Camy left, Macy right. Not identical, I'd say.

Pictures for Week 6 (by John)

Much could be said. There are charts and graphs to recount the fog of the past weeks, but people just want photos. There are more repeats; some pictures are grainy. We usually cull the photos by 90%, this time 1/3 made the quick cut. No names or captions so we hope you have brushed up on Macy/Camy discrimination. Here you go.

The rest of the first month

The Schedule

Every day of the last month for most of our family is summed up by the following repeating 3 to 4 hour cycle:

1.5 to 2 hours: Feed and diaper kids, try getting babies to sleep, prepare bottles for next feeding

1 to 2 hours: Try getting babies to sleep/Sleep. Give up on sleep. Eat. If it's late afternoon take babies for walk, maybe run errands, maybe shower (probably not).

Repeat.

Camy and I often skip the sleep parts.

Somedays, rather than sleeping, we went grocery shopping or to the pediatrician. We haven't taken many pictures. Our camera must have been over loaded from the first couple of weeks and died, so I bought a replacement this week.

The Budget

John and I each have accounting backgrounds, so we actually enjoy reviewing our Quicken records. This quarter's review brought out some sad stats. As noted above, I bought a camera. Over the last few weeks we've also brought home an ice cream maker, a mixer, a projector, speakers, cute sweaters for the girls..... anyway, we're going on a money diet.

John wants to cancel my cell phone ($850/yr.), but it is the only phone I have. Today I checked my phone records. In October I sent or received a total of 107 calls (including John), to or from 26 unique numbers (not including John). But this was a busy month with the twins birth and all. In September it was 70 calls and 14 numbers. August 63 calls and 16 numbers. These include doctor's offices confirming appointments, co-workers with work questions, and a few sales people. Sad, huh?

Names and the first week

Our daughters are more than a week old now, and are doing great! We totally love them.

We had a little trouble naming them because I've always disliked my name so I didn't want to give my girls weird names. We decided on Camille Katherine (fka Athena) and Macy Elizabeth (fka Xena). John's only serious suggestion was that we name our girls after his twin sisters Camille and Maryanne who were stillborn (though he was still suggesting "Moki" and "Mogli" as we were filling out papers). I like the name Macy, so we substituted that for Maryanne. We then realized that Camy and Macy are anagrams....then debated whether that was a good idea. We gave them middle names so that they would have nick name options and could sort of choose their own names in a few years. For now we are calling them Camy and Macy.

Both girls are happy babies, fuss very little, and love to cuddle. Camy is most often awake and loves to interact, much like Athena. Macy sleeps more, loves using her hands, and likes to snuggle, like Xena. As I suspected, both girls sleep with their elbows sticking out, just like their Dad.

Monday we had our postpartum visit where our girls and I were assessed. John was prepared with a full report of how many diapers and bottles of what sorts and when, with daily averages and standard deviations. The nurse was quite impressed. The girls are maintaining their weights, and we have a plan to help them gain weight. I've lost 50 pounds in the last two weeks and am quickly recovering.

Wednesday had our first visit to the pediatrician. The girls are almost back up to their birth weights, and we are trying to decide what to do about our tongue tied little Camy. For John and me the strangest part of the visit was when the nurse asked to see the patients- Camille and Macy. It was odd to hear them referred to as separate individuals, no longer part of me.

Here are a few pictures from the first days at home.

Camy and Macy sleeping, and Camy's and Macy's Halloween costumes

John's response to above bunny suits "Hi. I'm John and I completely disapprove of this." He also asked that I include this video to point out the inappropriateness of bunny suits.

More Camy shots

For those of you who can't get enough pictures of these two, check out this link and this link. Because we are fanatical penny-pincher's and refuse to pay the subscription fee, these are only available for a limited time.

Here and home (by John)

I went to Norway in September for a conference. While there I had the chance to visit Vigeland Park - an 80 acre park displaying over 200 bronze and granite sculptures by Gustav Vigeland. His work bridged all ages and stages of life. Among the sculptures was one I identified with in particular.

I thought, "Hey that is going to be me in a few weeks." Well, the girls have arrived. Rather than the simplicity suggested by the statue, this is what it actually looks like today:

I used to leave the house with a wallet and keys - no longer. Here, upon exiting the hospital, are two diaper bags, a pump, a bag of dirty clothes, a twin boppy, and three bags on wheels. But let's be honest. These are not the pictures you came looking for. I will address some of the questions I have been asked in the last few days:

• Details: when, where, weights, lengths, etc.
• What do they look like?
• Are they identical?
• Who do they look like?

Details On October 13, Athena was born at 10:51AM weighing 7 pounds 3 ounces and measuring 20 inches. Xena was born at 10:52AM weighing 6 pounds 7 ounces and measuring 19 inches. They held out to a 37-week term, so they had a decent amount of time to develop. What do they look like? Are they identical? Athena is on the left. She has a relatively larger head, rounder ears, fuller eyelids, and a lower bridge on her nose. Both have hair, but fairly thin - no idea if it will stay. Xena's hair is slightly thicker and if not combed gets mad-scientist look.

Their eyes are blue for now. This can change. Here is one of the few glances I could catch from Xena on camera.

Pop quiz Who is this with one of her signature looks? (you have a 50/50 chance) And below is her sister.

Highlight here for the answer -->Athena is above, Xena below<--

Who do they look like? This game will play out over the years. Perhaps in future posts we can dig up pictures of Edna or me as infants and compare. Edna's eyes seem to influence Athena - nose too. My nose is more visible in Xena - eyes too.

36 Weeks

Estimates are that Athena is now 7 lbs. (70th percentile) and Xena is about 5.5 lbs. (30th percentile), both of which our doctors are happy about. Xena's been working out lately, so maybe she'll beef up.

Here we are this week, just before our 7 hour marathon of doctor visits on Thursday- very exhausting. I had to wake up at 7am, which doesn't happen much these days. I've run out of clothes that will cover my belly, so I wore a tank top with adjustable straps, loosened the straps so that the top of the tank top is at my belly, then covered the top of me with another HUGE black shirt.

Week 35- Woah!

Since I'm on partial bed-rest, there isn't much excitement for me lately. Lots of naps, lots of reading and watching stuff, and about four doctors visits a week. However, there were a few things that have left me smiling for the last few days (well, these things, and that our babies are doing great and will be born in a few weeks).

Grocery Shopping Made Fun My younger (but oldest) sister Katie came almost 2 weeks ago, so she has been baby-sitting me. Last week she and I took a quick trip to Costco. Normally, this is an exhausting activity, and especially so when carrying an extra 60 pounds. But.... I'd remembered that a few years ago after my knee surgeries I'd hobbled into a store and was offered a motorized cart. I thought I'd try the cart again. It is AWESOME. It's like go-cart racing while grocery shopping. The only drawback is that if you can't make a turn you have to reverse, which causes the cart to beep- just like a garbage truck. That's dorky. Sometimes even New Yorkers will get out of the way for the beeping, so maybe it's OK. John also likes that the motorized cart has a smaller basket than the normal cart, so I don't fall prey to the "Costco Effect".

The Tub Our tub is one of the many things in our apartment that broke a week after we moved in. It hasn't drained reasonably well in over a year, since neither of us were home during business hours to get it fixed. Now I am. The tub is fixed. Wahoo!

And here are the latest pics. At my last visit, we discovered that there had been a little confusion at the prior ultrasound, and Athena is still the bigger baby. Athena is on the left with her hand to her temple, and Xena is on the right with some membrane over her face.

Week 32.5

Today was the first of my weekly non-stress tests. In this test they monitor each of the babies’ hearts and reactivity to movement, and any contractions I have. The test showed that I have two hyperactive babies (I already knew that), and during the test I had my first contractions.

Afterward I had an ultrasound with my periantologist (a high risk fetal specialist). At 4 lbs. 6 oz. Xena is now bigger than Athena at 4 lbs. 2 oz. Though Athena has slowed quite a bit, both babies are right around average and the doctors are happy with their progress. They also say that I’m looking just fine, other than the crazy stretch marks that Athena was working on through out the appointment. We finally got a good look at Xena and have clearer pictures of both of them. I'll have to post those after John has a chance to scan them.

After all the tests and such, the doctors decided I don’t need medication to prevent labor yet, but because of the contractions I need to rest at home with my feet up until the babies are born. After trying it out for almost a day now, I’ve discovered that it is very hard to stay in one place very long. Luckily, my sister is coming this weekend to help me for a few months, so I'm hoping she can get me to stay down.

Week 32

Week 32

Once again, here is the requested self portrait. I’m huge. Six more weeks is the plan.

Sunday School: Riches

So today in church we had a discussion in Sunday School on the morality of wealth. John and I often discuss this topic as we are both passionate about personal financial planning, and know many wonderful people with different perspectives. Hypothetically, should we always live a middle-class life-style, even if we have excess money someday (John’s yo-yo career could really pick up any day now. Seriously, he has some amazing yo skills.)? What should we do with our excess when we have more than we need? How do we decide what we need? We still haven’t figured out much.

I have gathered a few ideas, and I wanted to make a comment in Sunday School but decided to cut it short when I couldn't breath well enough to talk- I think Xena sits where I once kept my lungs. What I wanted to say was that money is amoral- though lack of or a supply of money can limit or un-limit our ability to act.

Growing up I knew many families where the parent(s) worked long hours to provide for the physical needs of the family. I decided I wanted to increase my possibility of staying at home with my children so I pursued a career that pays well. If I ever needed to work I could work as little as possible and spend more time at home. I also started a savings account that could be my stay-at-home-mom fund. Sure, many women decide that I’ve waited to get married or to have kids so I could have a career, that I’m too concerned with money, or that I work so I can have nice stuff, but why listen to people who don’t understand what they’re talking about?

I also really like the perspective of Bob Gay in his April 2002 speech at the Marriott School Convocation. The phase “all the love in the world and a few hundred thousand dollars are going to build the next chapel” has stuck with me for a few years.

Week 30

I'm huge (46 inch waist), so I don't do much other than work and try to sleep. Oh, and visit doctors. One doctor told us that at this stage a single baby should weigh almost 3 pounds. Our smaller one is 3 pounds and 5 ounces (62nd percentile) and the bigger one is 3 pounds and 11 ounces (83rd percentile) for a total of 7 pounds. The doctors also tell me that since we are all doing so well they will schedule us for a c-section at 38 weeks, just in case. If these kids keep this up, they'll be 7 3/4 and 8 1/2 pounds by then. Woah!

We also recently had some exciting firsts. Though we are both 30 something’s, neither of us has ever owned a TV.... until now, sort of. This week we bought a projector that we will use as a TV. Huge step!

Another big first was that, after spending about 5 years with John, this was the first time I've seen him in shorts other than his swimming suit. I didn't even know he owns shorts, but he's had these since high school. They are Bugle Boys. He said this is how dads dress, so I guess it was time to break them out. I shouldn't be surprised that it's taken this long for me to see him wearing shorts, since he didn't wear jeans around me until we'd dated more than a year. He really does live in a white dress shirt and khakis as much as possible.

One of my favorite highlights from the last few weeks was an argument we had. At the end John said that it was kind of fun to argue because we haven't had a real disagreement in a long time. I thought about it for a few seconds then busted up laughing because the last big tiff we had ended with John being brought home by the cops. That was funny.

Uneventful July and Tag Response

This month has just been normal stuff- we each worked 60 or so hour weeks for the first weeks of the month, John's work sent him to Houston(?) for a bit, and I gain a few pounds every week. I'm trying to rest more and am preparing to cut back at work. We had more furniture and carpet delivered and worked on little details around the house like caulking and reattaching light switch covers.

We had another ultrasound session, but the pictures were not as good as last time. Last time Xena did a Thinker pose, this time most of her pictures showed her portraying the Great Sphinx of Giza- no nose (she does have one....the pictures are just weird). Both babies are doing great. Xena has just about caught up with Athena in weight, so they are each about 2 lbs (double what they were last month). Though it doesn't show in the pictures, Xena has some chubby checks, and Athena loves covering her eyes with her fists.

After about an hour of fighting with the scanner, this is the best I can do with the ultrasound pictures. The black and white photos show that Athena became pretty photogenic near the end of the appointment, but once again Xena's picture (the purplish one) is especially rough since it was the middle of her afternoon play time.

Since it's been an uneventful month, I'll post the response to the blog tag I received from a friend from High School (I'm often a stick in the mud on those). This last month I expectantly heard from a few High School friends, from a few different sources. It's so great to hear from them! I still think Provo grows some of my favorite people.

So here is the tag response-

How long have you been together? How long did you date?

There’s no simple answer

First contact: 11.5 years ago

First time he was accused of being interested in me: 10.25 years ago

First time he noticed me/ knew who I was: a few minutes later

First conversation: 5.75 years ago

First date: 5.25 years ago

Mutually agreed exclusive “dating”: 4.25 years

Engaged: 3.75 years

Married: 3.25 years

How old is he? Older than I am

Who eats more? These days- me

Who said "I love you" first? John, probably 3 or 4 times before I did.

Who is taller? John. Though in his family we are the midgets, and in my family we are considered really tall.

Who is smarter? Depends on the topic.

Who does the laundry? John moves everything between the machines; I do most of the folding.

Who does the dishes? Both

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? John. Though John might say that I do and he sleeps on the FAR right of the bed

Who pays the bills? The automatic pay system

Who mows the lawn? The guys with the white caps. They do a great job

Who cooks dinner? Don’t know. But our employers pay for it. On the weekend I grocery shop, and we eat fruits, vegetables, and sandwiches

Who kissed who first? John used to say that he kissed me first, then I told him my side of the story, and he now adds “But I was tricked”….but it was after we’d casually dated about a year

Who asked who out? John asked me

Who proposed? John

Who is more sensitive? Who is more stubborn? Our scanner takes the title.

Who has more siblings? Me, by one brother

What were you doing 10 years ago? We were both getting ready to start the accounting program at BYU. I was in school and working

Five things on my To Do list 1. Clean the guest room 2. Finish buying baby stuff 3. Work stuff 4. File our 2007 taxes 5. Get a haircut

Things I would do if I was suddenly made a billionaire 1. I’d like to think I wouldn’t change anything, but I’d probably celebrate by taking the day off work and have a plumber come fix my tub. 2. Try to give away the money- I don’t want that sort of responsibility!

Three of my bad habits 1. Eating too much sugar. 2. Returning half the stuff I buy at TJ Maxx. 3. Saying “Oh! Big belly!” (about my self) whenever I move

Five places I have lived (in order of length) 1. Utah 2. Massachusetts 3. New York 4. California 5. Greenwich, CT (for a week)

Five jobs I have had 1. Teaching assistant 2. Custodian 3. Auditor, accountant, stuff like that 4. Machinist 5. Receptionist

Things people don't know about me I bit all the way through my lip when I was two. I have a cool scar on both sides. I’ve been to Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Vietnam, Thailand, France, Mexico, Canada (three times), Israel, the Bahamas, and Trinidad and Tobago.

Home Alone

John spent the July 4th weekend with his family in San Francisco so he could participate in the blessing of our newest niece Ellie-Jane (and meet our next newest niece 4-month-old Molly). We decided that it would be a rough trip for the other three of us, so I stayed home alone. When John and I are both home we don't get much done. I think it's just that we do the old "what you want to do?" "I don't know. What do you want to do" "I don't know" (etc.). So with John gone...

Day 1 I searched for, bought, and assembled a clothes sorter, over-the-door ironing board, and shelving unit for the closet; cleaned the living room, bathrooms, master bed room, and dining room (including scraping the paint speckles off the window). I also emptied and organized the big closet and started cleaning the guest room. My wonderful "old lady cart" really helped out throughout the day. After 12 hours of hard work, I decided I that my day job is a lot less work than a day off. I also stopped by our church party for a few hours. My brain was gone and I was worn out, but it was fun.

Day 2 I Decided to take it easy(er). I started the day with yoga and cleaned the fridge, emptied the guest closet (so I can put in new shelves), then turned the newly cleaned dining room into a sewing room. While on the phone with my sisters, I made a canvas bag for John's "Grandpa Golf" game, some shoe covers for John's shoes, and a hooded towel for the babies.

I also found a great furntiture store that we had missed, and bought a buffet at another store (this was a violation of our "no purchases over $50 w/o approval from the other spouse," but I will totally return it if I need to).

Day 3 Church and a nap. Getting dressed was the great challenge of the day. I have no dresses or skirts that fit, so I tried to be creative. I was not completely successful.

I'm getting huge! (the picture is a week old- I can't get in that dress now) Only 3 1/2 more months!

John's new theme song and 21 week ultrasound

John and I don't do much of interest very often, but here are a few highlights from the last few weeks.

John's new theme song

John loves YouTube. I'll leave it at that, but every so often I'll ask if he's found anything interesting. A few days ago I walked in our room and noticed he was watching this

John would love to live like cookie monster. Last night I dragged him out to help me grocery shop, so of course we came home with a box of sugar cookies, which he had for breakfast with some cookie juice on the side.

21 Week Ultrasound

We had another ultrasound where the doctor took some "4-D" pictures (whatever that means). Everyone seems to talk about baby A first so I want to start with baby B .

Baby B (or, "Xena: Warrior Princess", as we call her) looks like she has my pug nose, and I think she sort of looks like my family from the picture. She is further back and so a bit fuzzier on all the ultrasounds. She's roughly 12 oz., which is about average for someone her age.

This is the pug nose I'm talking about- that's me at about 3 1/2. This picture comes from the compilation of pictures of me as a kid I made to help prepare my mother-in-law for the great likelihood that she will have chubby, unattractive grand-babies.

And Baby A (or "Athena: Goddess of War", as we call her) is pictured here. I think she looks like her daddy, though the doctor pointed out that she has quite the healthy pot belly. Nuts. That comes from me. My belly was so big when I was little that I refused to wear pants until I was maybe 6 or so. She is about 15 oz., which is about average for a someone a week older than she.

The womb names above come from John. He says the babies are wagging war on my belly, so they have war- themed names. Every afternoon and any time I lay down they move and kick like crazy. It's like popcorn popping in my belly. I'm told that mom's can feel twins sooner and more intensely than singletons, so I've been able to feel A since about 9 weeks, and B since about 14 (she's further back and higher). B was the first to give a good kick and she just happened to do this for her daddy.

Weekend Entertainment

Last weekend John and I went into the city to meet with two of his former classmates Sergy and Yu-Im and their spouses Jen and Yao for lunch. Yu-Im and Yao's son Sean also made a cameo appearance. After lunch John and I dropped off Sergy and Jen at the Brooklyn Bridge, then went to the Cloisters museum. I'd given up trying to find maternity clothes to wear, so I borrowed one of John's shirts and we went through the day matchy-matchy with khakis and blue plaid shirts. John only has three different shirts, though he owns about 20 shirts. Dude, why don't they make women's clothes that comfortable?

Yesterday John's coworker Mike took us out on his sailboat for the afternoon. We'd gone with sailing with him last fall, and somehow both days were perfect. When we lived in Boston we had free access to the boat house and sailboats, so John learned to sail a dingy and could help sail the bigger sailboat. My main job was to stay out of the way.

Economics

This past weekend, John and I were in Boston for John's one-year MBA reunion. We've been wanting to visit a few friends up there, so we tried to pack everything into the weekend. I brought the camera, but never took it out of the suit case.

I did, however, steal a picture from the Charles' website of us with Sammy, Ben, William, and Cristie (Steven took the picture). Cristie and I go way back- we went to high school together, both moved to Boston after college, ran into each other on a flight back to Boston after Christmas break, and eventually lived in the same building in Boston for two years while our husbands went to the same school. Ben and Sammy used to come over to play and get John to do magic tricks (I'm surprised by the number of kids who invite John to birthday parties). We taught Ben about why you don't want to put too much salt or pepper on your dinner, no matter how cool the shaker. We really miss them!

We enjoyed spending time with the Bryants (including 6 month-old Layla on the right), who put John through Daddy try-outs, and he passed! Though you can see from his face that it was hard work. We also learned that John rocks at Guitar Hero, but not as much as Bryant. Mona is an amazing resource for baby prep.

My favorite reunion event was the economics lecture on the world recession and the price of food by Roberto Rigobon. I love that John takes me on dates to economics lectures- seriously. Two years ago John took me to Israel where our 30ish person group met with Stanley Fischer for about an hour- that was AWESOME. We discussed Israel's unique economic challenges, with a history of mass immigrations, constant war, political chaos, etc. Bernanke was interesting as well, though I'm still trying to decide what I think about the sub-prime mortgage bailout. It's just cool to hear super smart people talk about stuff I find interesting.

I have always been much more interested in finance and economics than in accounting, but accounting seemed like the right degree to get a job (though I later learned a job is not the same thing as a fun job where you work hard, are treated well, and are paid well. After we were married, I noticed the contrast between the job John had and the job I had, though we each had a BS in accounting from BYU). I'd considered going back to school to study econ for a while, but until I met John, it was pretty tough to find any one who was very supportive of any "non-mom" plans (once I met John, I decided his prospective tuition payments were enough for the both of us). I love that I have a great husband who supports and encourages my crazy ideas and interests- and that our daughters will have him for a daddy.

Week 18

I'm becoming indoctrinated into the mommy world. My life completely revolves around my kids, so that I now even count my time in their age. No big news lately- but we've been getting prepared for the days when I will be gigantic and less mobile. I've bought a few essentials, including a double snap-and-go that we are totally excited about. John noted that the pajamas I found would accommodate even his head- which is great considering that our little ones are each likely inherit genes for a large head from at least one parent. They've recently started another growth spurt (meaning I have too), after staying about the same size for about a month. This is me at 18 weeks and more than that many new pounds, along with some of the mess I need to get cleared away. I hear that 18 weeks is about the time that most single pregancies start to "show."

And John wanted to document my over-sugared breakfast. The berries were a bit tart, but not enough to need the 1/2 cup that exploded everywhere. Still, it was really good!

On the right is my favorite picture from our Bernanke dinner. After dinner we missed the train that John wanted to catch, so we hung out in the Roosevelt Hotel. We also missed the next train. John is starting to realize that a pregnant woman in heels doesn't move too fast through NYC (dude, NYC has more grates than anywhere!).

Everything is funnier these days

So today I was listening to a podcast mentioning that the second largest purchaser of Pampers (after Walmart) is Amazon. I decided to look into it, and sure enough, you can indeed buy Pampers at Amazon- and just as like many other items on the site you can save a buck or two if you buy them "used". If anyone is interested in buying our double batch of used Pampers next year, please let us know. We are willing to beat the above offered $39.99 for 140.

Mother's day (by John)

During the year that we shopped for furniture (yes you read that right, it was not just a weekend or two), we went back and forth over fabrics, design, and color. When I found a piece or a swatch of fabric that I thought was classy, Edna would suggest, "yes, that looks really nice, but the first time a little kid with chocolate pudding gets to it, we'll wish we had something else." And I never understood, why Edna would be arming little tykes with pudding-loaded mouths and hands to go on a rampage in my living room. So for mother's day I made breakfast and a card. On the card are three chocolate-pudding hand prints: mine, baby A's, and baby B's. For breakfast we had tater-tots, poached eggs, croissants, and chocolate pudding. I hope the babies use the chocolate pudding to leave little hand prints all over the inside of Edna's belly.

Then when we were coming back from church this afternoon, we found some of our neighbors standing outside in the courtyard with a box. At night we sometimes see a rabbit hopping around on the grass. Our neighbors found the nest and were waiting for someone to come pick them up. That's right, for mother's day they were shipping the four babies away from their mom. So before they left, Edna wanted to hold one: She loved that little bunny. Afterwards I mentioned to Edna, "I don't think I have ever seen you look at ME like that." To which she replied, "Well, I've never seen you that small."

Like prom, but pregnant (by John)

What could be more New Yorky than a black-tie event at the Waldorf Astoria hotel? To be fair it was just a dinner. People have dinner all the time - even us. So here are a few things that made it extraordinary for us:

1) dress. The event was a fund raiser for Columbia Business School. My work sponsored a table, and some of the alumni were busy that night, so I volunteered to go. There were about 1,000 people, all tuxed and gowned out. We took this picture towards the end of the evening. 2) speakers. Henry Kravis introduced the two award recipients: Ben Bernanke and Russel Carson. Ben spoke about the housing situation in the US and Russel spoke about how much the private equity industry has changed over the years and how his family helped foster his success. 3) venue. Ok so you dressed like a penguin and listened to an economist... *YAWN*. So this is the hotel where Serendipity, Coming to America, Maid in Manhattan, and the like were filmed. AND! AND! it is one of the two NYC hotels after which the two old Muppets Statler and Waldorf are named after. In fact, all around the main ballroom are velvet lined balconies - just like the ones they sit in. So in summary: it was just like prom, except it didn't cost hundreds of dollars, we went in a train, not a limo, my date was pregnant, we didn't dance, but we did listen to the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the United States Federal Reserve.

14 week tummy

After a number of requests from far away friends and family, I feel compelled to post this picture. That there is a 37 inch waist. John casually mentioned this weekend that I will soon be a "hippopotamus ballerina". I'd hoped for a better piciture, but John was done playing "take a picture of me for the blog".

13 weeks

Long ago, I told myself that if I ever had ultrasounds I wouldn't make everyone look at them. I've never been able to see whatever you are supposed to see and it's always just awkward. But mine is SO cute! It's cool to see them together. Some of the pictures were more clear (baby B doesn't really look like an alien), but this is the only one with both of them. I love baby A's little feet. I cried for the first 10 minutes of the ultrasound- it was amazing to watch each of them rub their face and belly, kick, and flip around. They look like babies now!

We have furniture!

Our long-anticipated couch arrived this morning, along with our front room table and end tables. We are starting to feel like adults- a grown-up apartment, grown- up furniture, grown-up jobs, having kids, and all sorts of new responsibilities. I also realized today that I've posted more house pictures than I'd realized. We are pretty house-absorbed lately. I'll try to cut back.

John took advantage of our new sitting area to try to complete his portion of the taxes. His responsibility is schedule D (investments), because he does most of the investing, then I do the rest. Our taxes are much less fun then those of everyone else I've helped- there is never a pleasant surprise.

Here is our new front room table. On the left of the picture is the ficus that John and I repotted today. Repotting was surprisingly a very fun family activity.

Little ones

Now that it is pretty obvious to anyone seeing me in person, I've decided I ought to announce that we are excitedly expecting our first two babies in October. One of the biggest surprises for me has been how worried I am already about my children. I wish I could get my own ultrasound machine so I could check up on them more often, maybe make sure baby A isn't teasing baby B.... My cousin Aliza had twins a year and a half ago (both almost 8 lbs. at birth) and I was fascinated by how big she got- all this is a bit more concerning now. I'd outgrown all of my clothes at 10 weeks, so John and I went on an emergency maternity clothes shopping spree today. To celebrate our new additions, my Aunt Susan (grandmother of the twins) gave me a set of harnesses as a gift.

The doctor won't be able to tell the genders of our little ones for a few more weeks, but we are anxious to find out, so while we were at Toys 'R Us John consulted the magic 8 ball, and it turns out that we are expecting two girls! "It is certain." I suppose this should answer the question of whether this will be John V and/or John VI.

Visiting Family

I am again behind on the blog! I spent the past two weekends visiting my family in Utah. John stayed home to work, and also made great progress on our apartment. UTAH Many years ago I decided I wanted to learn how to do taxes, and even went so far as to earn a Master's degree in Taxation. However, I rarely use this knowledge anymore, but love to do so every chance I get. After trying to answer questions from family members over the phone, I decided I should go out to offer help in person- thus the trip. Sadly, I forgot to take pictures of our tax sessions. Many smiles, many large refund checks. One evening, as part of family bonding, the girls all watched our brothers ride four-wheelers and the go-cart. I didn't take any pictures of Rob, because I was too scared- I thought one of those wheelies would be the end of him. I am still trying to forgot seeing those. All of the go-cart pictures were blurry (should have guessed, huh?). Here is one of Dave's stunts gone wrong. He had landed on his backside just moments earlier. Hailey was worried, but Katie kept a strong composure. Afterward, we played some pool in our parents' garage that the brothers have converted to a game house. Here we have team "Younger Kids" (the younger four siblings, less Ali) Rob, Liz, & Emily. Rob cleared the table. On the right are the Uncles Dave and Rob with Hailey. There is no picture of team "Old Foggies"(the oldest four, less Ned). We (Dave, Katie, and I) lost miserably to our junior siblings. We all hid in shame. Since I was home, we decided to throw a baby shower for my sister Alice. Ali and Liz are both expecting babies, both due June 29. Here is Hailey, arriving in style. She is very interested in accessories. In the group photo: l-r are two of Alice's friends, our Mom, cousin Rebekah, Aunt Susan, Grandma Price, Shelby's Mom, and Grandma Williams. And on the other side of me were cousins Beth and Libbey. RENOVATIONS The latest major accomplishments on our place are that we had our floors refinished, John put up our dining room chandelier, and John and our friends Spencer Y. and John P. continued to put up mouldings. Our furniture will arrive on Saturday, and soon we will have all of our rugs. Maybe tomorrow we will finally catch up on laundry. To the right is one of the many changes to our home that I LOVE. My closet is so organized! This is so unlike our student housing closets. I love how easy it is to put things away (especially when all my clothes are on the floor in the front room). Below are current pictures of the dining room and living room. I probably should have replaced the radiator covers, it makes a huge difference. So close!