Baby Shower #1

A couple of weeks ago Brian's Mom and cousin hosted our first baby shower. It was really exciting to celebrate the babies who will be here before we know it! Everything was so nice and just how I would have wanted it. All of Brian's family were very generous and these babies are spoiled already. One of the highlights of the showers was having my sister there who flew in the night before. She helped Pat with all the final details. Thank you for such a wonderful shower.

Look at how cute these motorcycles are that Pat made out of diapers, receiving blankets, sippy cups, and bibs. She even crocheted the hats and booties on the bear and bunny. 

Abbe was our helper for the tray game

I had a helper to open my gifts :)

23 Weeks

How far along: 23 weeks

Total Weight Gain: 13 lbs

Maternity Clothes: Yes but why are maternity tops so big at the top I really prefer regular shirts in just a size bigger

Stretch Marks: no

Sleep: I wake up once a night to go potty

Best Moment of the week: Celebrating Thanksgiving with my family! We have so much to be thankful for especially the two little miracles inside my belly.

Movement: Lots of little kicks usually when I am relaxing on the couch after dinner or in bed at night

Food Cravings: None

Symptoms: Really bad sciatica to the point where I can’t even walk also horrible leg cramps in the early mornings

Wedding Rings on or off: on

Looking Forward to: My Ultrasound on Friday so I can see my little peanuts

Happy or Moody: Happy :) but I have a cold and can’t take most of the cold medicines :(

Alexandra's Playground

We would like to thank all of our family and friends who donated to Alexandra's Playground in Brian's name for the NYC Marathon. Unfortunately the marathon was cancelled due to Sandy's destruction but the money Brian raised still went to a really great foundation that builds playgrounds, creates programming that encourages activity and prevents injuries during play; and, raises awareness about the importance of active play. We were able to be a part of one of the new playground builds on Saturday in an East Brooklyn housing project. After hearing the news that the marathon was canceled the night before we were really grateful for this opportunity to help boost the spirits of Brian's running group. The playground was not as easy to build as you may think. There were several parts and very confusing directions; I think Brian would tell you scoping a shoulder is much easier. The playground looked great when were done and the community was so grateful. As for the marathon hopefully it will be rescheduled and we have heard rumors for an April date but nothing is confirmed. I am proud of Brian for making it through his marathon training and now he is determined to keep it up in case of a postponement. At least if there is an April date he will have two more people to cheer him on at the finish line. 

 We were "team dozer" because we mainly built the bulldozer slide structure. 

All the blue shirts were Brian's co-residents who were going to run the marathon together. 

20 Weeks

How far along: 20 weeks

Total Weight Gain: 11 lbs, back on track after my 18 week weighin the Dr. said I hadn’t gained enough weight so I indulged a little onvacation 

Maternity Clothes: Pants all maternity because they are so muchmore comfortable, tops I can wear both

Stretch Marks: no

Sleep: Sound

Best Moment of the week: Wow this was some week: Our ultrasound onFriday was the best! Both babies looked healthy. Hudson is 11oz and Hadley is10oz. In the 3D images we both thought Hudson looked just like Brian and hadhis profile. We also volunteered to build a playground this week and that was agreat highlight.

Worst Moment of the week: Brianasked me to add this category because of Hurricane Sandy; trying to get aroundthe city after Sandy was not fun and then the low of the week was having themarathon cancelled.

Movement: None, they move a lot on the ultrasoundmonitor but still cannot feel them.

Food Cravings: Apple Cider, Pumpkin Spice Lattes, &Soups; I love fall! 

Symptoms: Nauseous every once and a while and I havebeen waking up with terrible Charlie horses in my legs

Wedding Rings on or off: on

Looking Forward to: My shower on Brian’s side this weekend andseeing my sister!

Happy or Moody: Happy :) but grumpy in the mornings

What's in a Name...

Naming your children is kind of like planning your wedding. It's something that you always think about and plan from when you are a little girl. The part that you don't plan on is your partner not liking half of the names you pick out or any of the names for that matter. Girl names were never challenging for us but boy names were another story. Girl name all sound so pretty but boy names are tough; I think because you want it to be masculine, not too trendy, and to fit with your last name. These are the names we have decided on for our twins, although it was a hard decision to choose between Caroline and Hadley. 

Hudson Michael & Hadley Rose 

Hudson has a few meanings: 'Son of the Hooded Man' or 'One who is from the River' or 'Hugh's Son' and is of English origin, but we chose it because it reminds us of NYC. Michael is after my Dad and is also Brian's middle name.

Hadley means: 'Field of Heather' and is of English origin, but we chose it because it reminds us of KY. Rose is from my side of the family and has become a tradition that most of the 1st born girls have Rose in their name and it is also my middle name.

NYC & Louisville are both our homes and wherever 

we end up both cities will always be a big part of our life together. 

Vacation Pictures #2

High School Best Girlfriends Spring Break Reunion 

Megan's beautiful family. They are all so photogenic

At the rehearsal dinner/bonfire the night before the wedding

Sunset

18 week baby-bump on the beach

Dance Team Girls

a nice grown-up dinner out, 

Jude is really good but can be a handful for mommy and daddy at dinner time

Beach Vacation

This past week Brian and I headed down to Santa Rosa Beach, right outside of Destin, for a wonderful week filled with family, friends, beach time, delicious food, and a wedding. I think this was our last real vacation without babies for a long time. My friend, Tiffany, that I have known since middle school got married on Friday down there. We made a week vacation out of the event and stayed in a condo with my parents, Megan's family, and our friend Debbie. We were blessed with gorgeous weather the entire week. One of the highlights was a cute little boy named Jude. I haven't been able to spend this much time getting to know him because we live so far away. He is the funniest, sweetest, handsome little guy who taught us the best new saying, "Oh Yeah Bootie." We took several pictures so I'm just going to do long picture posts for a few days. 

Two Pregnant Ladies or better known as the DDs for the week. Megan and I are only one week apart which is really cool considering we have known each other since 6th grade and lived together for almost 6 years so it's only fitting we do this together too.  

 Love the sky when the sun sets

 My "bootie" man

 Beach Pics

 Crazy Singing Ladies

 I rocked with my bump out all week because I didn't want to spend money on a maternity suit 

 We brought Jude a "white" doughnut back from breakfast one day and he loved it

The beach was so calm two of the days almost like a lake 

 Our Pools were beautiful too but they were freezing cold like taking an ice bath