Getting Ready for the Girls

I have definitely been having fun getting ready for these two little girls. I love ruffles and tulle and pink and polka dots. It is also very satisfying to see their tiny matching dresses hanging up in the closet. So cute!!

One thing that I knew I wanted to do was make them some blessing dresses. I thought about making them from scratch, but decided that would probably end up being too frustrating. So I ended up just taking cute onesies, attaching a gathered skirt of pre-ruffled fabric, and adding a flower. I love how they turned out and they were pretty quick too.

I also used that same pre-ruffled fabric to make a quick crib skirt. Their room is also currently our office (and we don't plan on staying in this apartment too much longer), so I am not going crazy with decorations yet, but I thought it could at least use a cheerful fabric bunting.

Will has been joining in on the fun too. He has gotten used to getting lots of packages in the mail (we have very generous family and friends) and "helping out" with the extra packing materials.

He was lucky enough to get a few packages of his own - a Steelers football from Papa Larsen and a bunch of animal from Grandma Tracy and Papa Pete. He loves to "Throw play catch!" with the football and even sleep with it sometimes. He loves to line up all his animals (and then tells me to take a picture - "Take picture of you!") and they spend lots of time talking and eating food.

He has also been testing out the baby equipment and claiming lots of the new things for himself.

He also likes to get in on those belly shots. Here I am at almost 33 weeks. I am definitely bigger than when I delivered Will. At the last ultrasound, the babies were measuring at 5.5 pounds each - that is ELEVEN pounds of baby so far. They are measuring in the 96th and 98th percentile. I thought with them being girls and being twins, we would end up with some smaller babies than Will was. Not so far! We just grow big babies. I really cannot imagine what I will look like by the end...

Thankfully, I am still feeling pretty good and don't have much to complain about (except that not many of my maternity clothes fit anymore). I am really hoping to make it to 38 weeks, when my mom will be here and they will just induce me. Four weeks to go!

I was lucky enough to have a darling baby shower hosted by a very crafty and talented woman from church, Becky. It was so cute! She did an amazing job with the food, games, and decorations. My pictures definitely don't do it justice.

Also, as you can see from the pictures, we have decided on the names Kate and Emily. Hooray! I am excited to start personalizing everything.

Summer Adventures

We LOVE summer in Seattle. The weather is so beautiful and we get to be outside all the time. Especially before these babies come, I was determined to pack in the fun this summer with our little family of three.

Going back to the 4th of July... We started off with lunch with a new family from our ward. The lunch was great and we found a new babysitter! They have a 19 year old son who loves playing with kids. He let Will follow him around and played catch with him (with way more energy and enthusiasm than I do). We have had him babysit a few times since then. Will often asks me, "Where Train go?" or "What Train doing?" or tells me, "I see Train!!!" Any guesses what the real name of "Train" is? Thomas! Ha ha ha. I guess he has watched a bit too much Thomas the Train. It makes me laugh every time.

Next we had dinner and fireworks with two other families from our ward. Sadly, they have both moved since then, but we had a great time with them that night. In true Seattle fashion, it started raining while we were doing fireworks. Good thing I keep several umbrellas in my car.

We were totally lame and didn't buy any fireworks. We thought Will would be scared (because he doesn't like many loud noises like the vacuum or the sound of landscapers), and we figured we would put him to bed well before dark anyway. It turned out that he loved them!! He kept asking for more.

During the summer here, it gets late REALLY late (I think because of how far north we are...?). We have plenty of time to go to parks and on walks after Daniel gets home from work. We spent lots of nice days outside with lots of friends.

Another fun outing was the Bite of Seattle. It is a big food festival at the Seattle Center. We love food and we love Seattle, so it is perfect for us.

Another place we visited was Jetty Island. It is a beach off the coast of Everett that requires a two minute ferry ride to get to. Will and I had been there several times, but never with Daniel. I was determined we would make it there as a family. Will loves getting to ride the boat and he likes playing in the sand. He does not really like the water or being cold or sandy. So we didn't stay very long that day. Still, we did it.

In August, Daniel and I celebrated our 6th Anniversary! We started the day by going to the zoo with Will. We take photo booth pictures each year, and I remembered seeing one there. Sadly, it was the kind that only gave you one picture - not what I wanted. Will had fun playing there, and then we made it home in time for nap time. Later, we had "Train" (Thomas) babysit and we went out to dinner and a movie. Going out to dinner and a movie were some of the things I missed most when I was nursing Will and couldn't be away from him for very long. I am trying to prepare myself for that this time around by doing a lot of that now. It was a great anniversary. We did end up getting our photo booth pictures later. It will certainly be fun to try to squeeze all five(!) of us into the picture next year. We barely fit with just the three of us. Here are the last 3 years, so you can see cute Will.

2012

2013 

2014