So close yet sooo far away!

That is a picture of twins at 32 weeks. I feel excited and amazed to be 32 weeks. When I think back to first being pregnant it seems like 32 weeks have flown by but boy do I feel like a bloated elephant!!! I have got the baby bump the size of a small island. Being pregnant with twins takes everything out of you. It is a struggle daily to feel like I'm getting enough oxygen in. I jokingly told my doctor I needed an oxygen tank. While the reality is my oxygen levels are just fine it literally feels like I'm one of those bigger linemen that just ran 90 yards for a TD... Then I got some stressful news that put the cherry on top. I found out I have gestational diabetes. I got tested at the very beginning of my pregnancy and it was negative but now I have it. In my research I found out that it is common to get it when carrying multiples and even more common when carrying fraternal twins. This new development really shook things up. Now I have to test my blood sugar four times a day with my special diabetes kit and the best part... I have to be conscience of everything last thing I put in my mouth. For example eating a simple bowl of cheerios with skim milk (which I've eaten like every morning since forever) spikes my blood sugar. It's not the cheerios.. its the milk. Milk is apparently the devil when it comes to diabetes. I can't even look at white bread without my blood sugar spiking up and don't even think about something as simple as graham crackers. One single sheet of graham cracker totally spiked my blood sugar. Oh graham crackers how I miss you. You and I were best friends!! Turns out breaking up IS hard to do :( The good news is once I have the twins my diabetes will immediately go away but I think this experience will forever change the way I look at food. In the meantime I'm trying to deck the halls without a single ounce of chocolate... which Keri by the way is eating for the both us of. Thanks Keri! ;)

Onto the babies... things have been going really well with the twins. They are both finally "head down" and they kick basically all day. This is so different than with Cambree who never kicked. We would put rap music on my belly with Cambree and nothing. These twins are definitely making up for that. Day and night they are making their presence known!!

Now that I am 32 weeks I have to go twice a week to the doctors to have the twins monitored for about an hour each time. I have my growth ultrasound on the 28th and my next doctor appointment on Jan 2nd. It is definitely a busy time around here! At least I have Christmas to try and distract me! As much as I feel horrible and complain I definitely feel blessed to be having twins. We are in for a big adventure!!

Let is snow, let it snow, let is snoooooow!!

It was a christmas miracle!!! Keri had been telling me for about a week now that we were expected to get some snow. Now I've been in this country a while and have never seen more than a flake or two of snow so of course I was doubtful..... but..... we actually got snow!!! Cams kept peeking out at it!!

Big flakes of snow!!!!!!! Sooo excited!

Keri HAD to take Cams out in the snow for a minute!! Cambree kept putting her hand out to catch the snow flakes!!

View from inside... I was sooooooooooooooooooo excited!!

Our winter wonderland! I know its not much but I'll take what I can get! One thing I definitely miss about Utah is all the delicious snow! It doesn't feel like the Holiday's without it! This will definitely have to do until I get to visit Utah again!!

These twins are getting a spank'in!!

Since it's my blog what better place to whine than here right?! Since I'm certain you agree I'll proceed!

Reasons why Twin Pregnancy is kicking my butt vs my pregnancy with Cambree:

*At 23 weeks I can barely walk! We are wayyy past a waddle... I'm talking I barely move.. I'm thinking one foot in front of the other and ten minutes later it happens..

*Cracked ribs anyone? I literally have so much pain on my ribs that it feels cracked or broken. I'm not even 6 months yet which means I have to deal with this pain for quite a few more months! BOO!

*Heartburn city! Holy smokes I thought I knew what heartburn was but this... this is ridiculous. I drink water and I swear I get heartburn. Forget laying down at night. The acids slowly creep up my throat all night long.

*There is absolutely NO comfortable position. I know this is common with pregnancy but at 23 weeks I toss and turn all night where as with Cambree it was at least 30-32 weeks before I was completely uncomfortable at night

*Do I even have to mention the size of my baby bump? People have asked me when I was due THINKING it was any day now.... um nope I say... not til February!! I'm as big now as I was 8 months preggers with Cambree

*Hungry much? My stomach is growling all the time. I eat and my stomach growls... I eat again and ...wait... what was that? my stomach growling. I am always hungry!!

*You should not be getting WINDED walking up a set of stairs at 23 weeks but I've been winded walking up stairs since about 20 weeks. I'm talking heavy breathing by the top and having to lay down on the bed. That never happened with Cambree

*The devilish iron pills. On top of my prenatal vitamins I have to take extra folic acid and iron pills. As if taking extra iron wasn't a pain (on my stomach) enough... if I forget to take a dose or two... I am sooooooo exhausted. Literally I'll lay on the couch all day.

*At 8 months with Cambree I wandered all over London at Christmas time. Now I can barely make it down the street without pains. A trip to the commissary makes me feel completely spent.

*Tandem kicking!!!! Holy cow its like a symphony in my stomach all day long! Kick... two seconds later... kick from the left... one nano second later... kick from the right.. are we having a soccer match in my stomach?


Okay I guess that is enough whining for now. In conclusion: Calgone TAKE ME AWAY!!!!!

Round here...

I thought I'd post a few pictures from the past few months... This is how most days start off... Cambree hogging MY lazy boy! Upon waking up she immediate brings in shoes for me to put on her followed by a shoe change about a half hour later into rain boots!

Cambree in her little wings! How precious is she when she is asleep?

Cambree loves to be outside pushing her baby stroller around.. of course she has to be in her rain boots...

This is one of my favorite pictures.... when my sister was here we went to Warwich Castle... naturally we all had to use the bathroom! Well inside the bathrooms they have seats for babies to sit in while the mom's use the bathroom. (That is Kelly's knee you see) Cambree was telling a compelling story in the bathroom...

We went to Nottingham a few months ago... this is Cambree poising as Robin Hood!

Classic Cambree!

I'll update the blog more soon! I'm finally 22 weeks and have a doctors appointment tomorrow followed by a ultrasound on the 27th!!! Things are definately crazy around here being pregnant with twins and chasing after a 21 month old!!

Luck, Kelly, and glorious Feltwell..

I thought I should update my blog as to the recent events going on! I'm officially 19 weeks pregnant who looks at least 30 weeks pregnant ;) My sister Kelly was here for two weeks! We had the best time! I don't think I've laughed that hard in a looong time. The day before she left me I was plotting a way to go home with her as I knew I would be terribly depressed when she left. My sister Kelly and I have always been super close. Most of my best memories include her but some of my saddest too.... she was the person I followed around constantly, she was the person who taught me how to tie my shoe... not so much out of kindness but more so she wouldn't have to constantly have to stop and tie it for me lol. One of my saddest memories was my first year at Girls Camp. Kelly was a 4th year which meant she would be on the 4th year hike and not at Camp with me. Back in those days I was TERRIBLY SHY. Painfully shy almost. A girl like me needed her big sis. We had survived Girls Scout Camp in Korea together for petes sake. So I was at camp having fun when I saw from the distance my sister walking down the path earlier than the rest of the 4th years. I was sooooo happy to see her. I can still picture her walking down the dusty path. I couldn't believe my good luck until she told me the worst news ever... she was SICK AND LEAVING EARLY! It was quite possibly one of the hardest things ever for a 12 year old girl. Being left alone without her sister.... in the wilderness. I survived naturally and I knew I would survive her leaving me again in England but it was a HORRIBLE few days after she left me.

Then all the bad luck happened. We tried to get a King bed from the furniture store in Feltwell and they said it would take 6-8 weeks to arrive.... then we tried to buy this lazy boy.. and lets be honest its the lazy boy of my DREAMS .... to which they tell us its out of stock and can't be ordered. We ended up buying the model on the floor and asked how much much to deliver it to our house literally a few blocks away.... would you believe she had the nerve to say $100!!!!!! It was just one thing after another like that.... then I stopped to realize I had some good luck... and it is our house in Feltwell.

Oh Feltwell... GLORIOUS Feltwell. It's a place I never wanted to live but now feel incredibly lucky to live there. Our new house is three bedrooms and a whole of space! I call it living in the lap of Military Luxury! This house has actually SCREENS (its rare to find a house in England with screens) and to top it off.... we are spoiled with actual water pressure. Our last house on Lakenheath was horrible. You would literally catch a cold being in the shower because the pressure was so horrible. The best part of the house is the backyard..... you walk outside and its this huge lawn bigger than a football field of just grass. Cambree could run forever back there. She has already made a few friends too. She was running hand in hand with a lil girl 2 houses down. I am sooooo grateful for this house. I think my luck is turning!!!!

Eating for three!!

You know the first thing a pregnant lady says when she sits down to a big meal is... "well I'm eating for two"... Well ladies try eating for three! I never thought I'd say this in a million years but eating for three is WORK! They say someone pregnant with twins (or more) need to eat something... a sandwich...a snack... every two hours. Now before I was pregnant I would have thought that would be my biggest dream come true! This girl loves her some food! (Mostly Olive Garden lol) But now when I have to eat all the time.... its really not that fun. I mean how many peanut butter sandwiches can you have in a day? I don't even like peanut butter that much! Not to mention there aren't any fun places to eat here in England. I'm sure eating wouldn't be quite a chore if I had my Training Table around! :) The worst part is at night... I'll literally have eaten dinner like an hour ago and my stomach will be growling..... growling like I'm on Survivor and haven't eaten in days! It's hard to find things that sound good to eat all the time. This being said there are a few things I cannot get enough of!

Cravings at 14 weeks:
*Spaghetti -- I've eaten it for breakfast quite a few times!
*Ketchup -- Forget diamonds... Ketchup is this girls best friend!
*Nerds -- It's the tangiest tiniest candy of my dreams! I love it!
*Sour patch kids--The sour the better!
*Apple Juice-- Cambree and I could live on Apple Juice alone!

Addenbrookes take two...

So when we first got to England in 2008 I was almost 5 months pregnant with Cambree. The Lakenheath Hospital on Base referred me to Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge for an ultrasound to take a look at the babies heart chambers. It was my first real taste of what it would be like to be British. You have to pay to park at the hospital for appointments. The nurses wear very old fashion looking uniforms... the whole place kinda makes you think you've entered 1946 or something. Anyway it felt totally weird but cool to be wandering the halls of Addenbrookes hospital today with Cambree on our way to get an ultrasound of our twins. Almost like we had come full circle again!

I waited patiently in the waiting room surrounded by British pregnant women. It's funny how a simply accent can make you feel so out of place. Let's be honest England might as well be Germany or Sweden because half the time you have no idea what they are saying to you. The accents are pretty thick and most of the time I end up saying "what?" at least three times before I understand.

Anyway they called us back to the very same room we were in 2 years ago when I was pregnant with Cambree. The doctor started the ultrasound and suddenly I was watching my amazing twins on the big screen. One was even waving to me. Seriously.... either that or just moving his hand around lol! The doctor said I was measuring at 13 weeks and 2 days instead of the 12 weeks I thought I was at! I was pretty excited about that! My new due date is February 16th which is crazy because Cambree's original due date was February 12th which is two days before Valentines Day.... and the twins are due 2 days after Valentines Day.

So the doctor said everything looked good so I was pretty relieved. It is super exciting to see my babies moving around and kicking... now if we could only find out the sex of the babies we will be set! Well that's my report from Cambridge, UK! :)