Surprising Josh!

As I mentioned before Josh was on call the day I had my “for fun” ultrasound, on call meaning he doesn’t get home the next day until about 1. My ultrasound was at 11:45 and he started texting me about 12:45 wanting to know the sex of the baby. I didn’t want to tell him the big news over the phone, so I kept putting him off.

With my family in town we had already made plans to meet up at the Magic House in St. Louis that day after I was done. So we headed over there, my mom calling family and sharing the news the whole way. We had lots of fun until about 5 o’clock, and since it was rush hour we decided to just hang around and have dinner. Poor Josh had been sending me messages all day long! I was so mean, I wouldn’t tell him a thing, except for he would have to wait until I could see him in person. He kept guessing, being silly saying things like you’re going to be the next octomom.

After dinner we went to Babies R Us. I wanted to find two little outfits to wrap up and give to Josh when I saw him. I got the cutest little newborn size sets, one that said little sister & one that said little brother. I put them in a gift bag along with the pictures I had from the ultrasound. I was glad to have the pictures and DVD because I knew he would be skeptical without proof.

I got to the hospital about 9 that evening, and had to wait for him to get out of the emergency room. I handed him the gift bag trying to contain my excitement. He opened it and pulled out the little girl outfit, and was like it’s a girl!? I said keep looking, and then he pulled out the little boy outfit. He looked confused for a minute, and then started smiling REALLY BIG. I said yes, it’s two, TWINS!!! He was thrilled, probably a lot more than I was at first. He said I wondered if it was twins, you were being SO WEIRD. I was surprised he wasn’t questioning me more, so I told him to look at the pictures. He studied the pictures and was like yep that’s definitely two. Then I think it really hit him. He looked very serious and said, “This is going to be expensive!” I was like no kidding, I’ve been thinking about it all day! About then Josh was called back to work, and I went home to “try” to sleep.

Surprise, it’s Twins!!

At this point in my pregnancy my obsession was switching from worrying about miscarriage to finding out what the sex of the baby was going to be. I had family coming to visit during my 16th/17th week so I was determined to find out early before the typical 20 week ultrasound. I found a place in St. Louis called Expectations Ultrasounds that did a Monday special for $60. Josh of course thought it was ridiculous that I couldn’t wait until my insurance covered ultrasound, but I proceeded to book the appt. anyways. Since I was SO determined Josh decided that he would take a look himself and just see if we could tell what we were going to have.


So at 16 weeks I went back to the clinic on Josh’s lunch break for an ultrasound. Once again I had the girls with me and they were very excited to see how much the baby had grown. Josh however was not having any luck finding the gender of the baby. He kept saying things like, wow the baby is just all over the place. He had the ultrasound probe up way high looking at the baby, and then he would have it way low still looking at the baby. I even asked if it was normal for the baby to be up so high, because I thought it was weird for being so early on. Let me just say that Josh neither has nor wants a future as an obstetrician. The ultrasound went on for about 25 minutes. The girls were done, and I was too. Josh finally gave up, mentioning that he was no good at ultrasounds. In his defense, the machines they have in the clinic are SUPER OLD and the picture is TERRIBLE!

A few days later my family was in town and I went to my ultrasound at Expectations. Josh was working on-call at the hospital, so I brought my mom and the girls along. Expectations was really nice. There was a couch for the family and a big flat screen TV on the wall for viewing the baby. Right away the ultrasound owner started asking me lots of questions about my pregnancy. I was starting to get worried, and finally just asked exactly what she was trying to tell me. I just remember hearing the words, “There’s Two!” I thought, two what!?!? Then she started pointing out the two heads, and it just sort of hit me. I felt my heart beating up in my throat, and my eyes immediately filled with tears. I actually thought I might pass out! Very quickly my mom was by my side squeezing my hand bringing me back to reality. I looked over to the girls to make sure they knew was going on. I think they knew, but didn’t really start to get excited until after we were talking more about it later.

The $60 ultrasound special was only supposed to take 10-15 minutes with only 1-2 pictures of the baby, but the owner was so nice, she continued on for about an hour! I got about 10 pictures and a DVD of the whole thing. After I was convinced that it was really twins, we started looking for the genders. First we found a girl! I was happy but then I started thinking, “Poor Josh, it’s going to be twin girls!” Then we found the boy! Although I would have preferred two of the same gender, I’m very excited to get one more time to shop for the girly things, and so excited for Josh to finally get a boy.

Next up, breaking the news to Josh, and hopefully I'll figure out how to add some ultrasound pictures....

The Twins! First Trimester

Since the last time I updated my blog was in June, I think I’ll just start at the beginning…

We found out we were expecting baby #3 in April. It was a planned pregnancy but it still took awhile to really sink in that we were REALLY going to have another baby. I figured I would have at least a few months to get used to the idea before we actually got pregnant, but it seems that Josh and I are very fertile people.

At about 12 weeks I insisted that Josh squeeze me in on one of his clinic days to check on the baby because I still hadn’t been to a doctor. I went over lunch with both girls, and he quickly found one baby on ultrasound with a good heartbeat and that was that. The ultrasound lasted about 5 minutes. We were both happy and we went to lunch.

At 14 weeks I finally saw my doctor. It was a very uneventful appointment. I didn’t get a dating ultrasound, but I wasn’t too concerned because I was sure of my dates. I did get to hear the baby’s heartbeat, and was scheduled for another appointment at 17 weeks.

With that rapping up my 1st trimester let me say a little about how I was feeling and how it may have been different than my other pregnancies. I was really tired, I had food aversions, and I didn’t really feel like eating (I lost 15 lbs). My sense of smell was in overdrive often times making me nauseous. I felt a lot of bladder pressure, and starting have migraines about twice a week. Everything I felt was pretty much normal except for the “low” feeling causing the bladder pressure. I just attributed that to the fact that it was my 3rd pregnancy and things were stretched out. The migraines were also normal for me, but the frequency of them was much worse. With this pregnancy I would start to get a headache at night, then it would continue all the next day finally winding down late in the evening. With my other pregnancies I would get a migraine at worst once a week. All in all I felt it was a typical first trimester, and had no clue I was about to get a big surprise.

Strawberry Pickin

We’ve had so much fun going to Eckert’s this past year! Late spring we took the girls to pick strawberries. It was very warm that day, but we still had lots of fun. The girls dove right into picking berries: white ones, green ones, rotten ones, and occasionally a ripe red one. They sort of lost interest when they realized we didn’t want any of white, green, or rotten ones. We were there towards the end of the season so you actually had to look for the red ripe ones. That wasn’t a problem though because they then turned their attention to eating the strawberries. Allyson would at least pick the ones she was eating, but Anya was so lazy she just ate right out of the basket.

After we got our fill of picking, we headed back to cool off and get some free ice cream courtesy of Eckert’s. They had lots of carnival type rides out for the kids to do, but since we had Daddy along we just stuck to the free stuff. I had gotten free pony ride coupons for “liking” Eckert’s on facebook so we headed to that area. Anya hoped right on, but Ally refused. After a couple of tries with Ally, Anya ended up with two

pony rides. We quickly checked out the other animals and then headed home back to the air conditioning. It was a fun day, and I think we’ll be back to pick peaches soon.

The Ditch

We are renting our house here in IL and have been really pleased with it overall, but there is one big problem in the backyard. We have a sort of ditch that runs along the back fence. The ditch keeps getting deeper every time it rains when the water runs through carving it out. The ditch itself really doesn't bother me that much; it's the water that remains standing in it for weeks that does. Poor Josh really struggles with it when trying to mow, and practically has to weed eat the whole back section. The problem of the ditch continues down the whole line of houses on the street. It's quite the sight when it rains and the water floods down the line like a river. I've heard a couple of explanations from the neighbors about why we have this problem. One person said the drainage pipes underground have come apart causing the problem, and another person said it's because our houses were built on an old mining ground and the area is settling. I have no idea, but it starts with us and seems to be the worst here, the first house on the block is unaffected. Take a look at the last hard rain...

Our Backyard

View of the Neighbors

It gets wider through their yards, but doesn't seem to remain standing for long.

Meet Clyde & Dale

One of the things the girls really enjoy is stopping to visit the Clydesdale family that lives close by our house. The horses live in a barn off the main road that we take to get to our house, so we drive by them nearly every day. It has been sort of a thrill for the girls to spot the horses each time and see if they are out & what they are up to. Last summer it was just Clyde & Dale as we called them, but this spring much to our excitement Clyde & Dalene had a baby! The baby is so cute, a little boy. Pablo the Donkey moved in this spring too, he’s a wannabe Clydesdale according to the owners. When we visit the horses, Anya likes to climb right up on the fence to pet them; Ally prefers to stand back, usually trying to crawl up my leg if they come close.

Water Fun

Bubby Bath

Ally loves her bubby baths!

The Y

We’ve been busy with the Y this spring/summer. We finished up Ballet class, Anya’s 2nd session & Ally’s 1st. They both make cute little ballerinas. Anya had a love/hate relationship this time with the class. She never wanted to go (just lazy/tired I think), but then always did well once we were there. It was a drag getting her there though . Ally was just the opposite, always excited to go, and then 10 minutes into the class she wanted to go home. I think for her is was just more of attention span thing, because this time the class was huge which made for a lot of waiting. Anya is ready for a more advanced class now, but I think we’ll wait until fall to discuss if she wants to continue.

In April we started swimming lessons. I enrolled both girls in pre-pike, the very beginner level, since we had never done any sort of formal lessons before. Anya was thrilled to be going to the pool every week! Allyson just went along. Although now that’s it’s all over Ally talks about swimming lessons all the time, so I think she was really having fun. During the lessons they wore floatation belts which I was glad for, especially for Allyson. She really has just started to be able to coordinate her movements while wearing a life jacket. Anya did quite well and is starting to swim on her own now without any sort of floaty help. She is still very apprehensive about going out on her own, which is probably my doing because I’ve always insisted that she wear a life jacket & preached to her about water safety. I’m pushing her & myself now to let go and see what she can do. They both passed, Ally to Pike & Anya jumped up to Eel, so I’m going to enroll them again in July at the outdoor pool.

Both girls are currently playing T-Ball through the Y. Allyson just turned 3 in March you know, so I’m not quite sure what I was thinking when I signed her up for an organized sport! I think it’s just that I don’t want her to be left out being the 2nd child and all that sometimes I overcompensate. This is Anya’s first time playing T-Ball too and she’s 5. Anya's been kind of hot or cold with the whole thing. Some days she’s excited to go to T-Ball, others she complains that I signed her up. I feel like I can’t win with her. Ally was really excited to start T-Ball, but once again she doesn’t really have the stamina to finish it through. I have to stay with her a lot of the time to make sure she’s doing what she’s supposed to be doing. They've had their first few games now and it's so cute watching all those little ones so proud to hit and ball & then just standing there forgetting to run. It's been crazy, but fun!

Bikes, Trikes, and Ouch-EEEs

It was a beautiful evening so we took the girls out for a bike ride after dinner tonight. Ally took off like a rocket, pedaling really fast. Usually she's much more timid, but I think she was trying to keep up with Anya. Anya was already headed down and around the cul-de-sac.

Anya is continuing to ride her smaller bike, the bike that I finally broke down and bought for her. She had a bike already, one that fit her just fine, but she was always too scared to ride it because she thought it was too big. She's doing well with her new smaller bike, and tonight said she was ready to try her bigger bike again. Maybe we're one step closer to riding without training wheels, although I don't think I'm ready for that drama yet.

Back to the bike ride...We had only been out for a few minutes when poor Ally turned too sharp & crashed. We cleaned her up, and to our surprise she wanted to go back out again. This was the face she made the whole time though, and she barely pedaled enough to go anywhere. It ended up being a pretty short ride.

The last few weeks

I noticed this morning when I was on blogger that my last post was two + weeks ago! I can't believe it's been that long already. We've had a couple of "Major" things happen in the last few weeks. The most major is that Josh is now Major Hartman! I just love the Major rank, because it's so fun to say. He had a short ceremony at work, followed by some major cake eating with his colleagues. Ok, I'll stop now with the major stuff now.

Not quite so major (just one more), but still big, Ally got her ears pierced when we were in Kansas City! She was so excited! She picked out her favorite color blue for the earrings, then got very serious when they started to prepare her ears. They pierced both ears at once and then she screamed, tears streaming, for about 5 minutes. It was bad, a MUCH bigger reaction than when Anya had hers done (also at age 3). She finally got calmed down when she got outside, and then she was all happy again. She loves to look at her new earrings in the mirror, and says they're BEAUTIFUL!

Happy Easter!

Conversations About Easter

I was asking the girls if they knew what Hosanna meant after church yesterday. I was expecting Anya to answer, but instead Ally answered, "Jesus loves me." I thought that was a pretty good answer for a 3 year old.

Then today I was discussing Easter with Anya and she said,"I believe in Jesus, & the Easter Bunny too. The Easter Bunny comes in the night and fills my basket." Then Ally chimed in, "Yah, Jesus loves me and so does the Easter Bunny." Then Anya proceeded to say, "If I don't sin & I listen to God, I'll get LOTS of candy in my Easter basket."

I guess they are sort of getting the message about Easter. I think I'll keep working on it though.

Great Wolf Lodge

Over the weekend we went to The Great Wolf Lodge in Kansas City. When we left home the sun was shining and it was 68 degrees. When we got to Kansas City, well that was another story...brrr cold! Kansas City ended up with about 6 inches of snow!

We met my brother & his family at the lodge. Here's the girls, Emilia, Anya, Ally, & Ella. They had such a good time together. Ally loved loved loved Emilia, maybe a little too much a times.

This is the clock tower in the lobby where they have story time. Ryan took Emilia while we did some more swimming in the evening. I guess the moose talked.

Check out these really huge antler chandeliers!

The lodge had a great snack shop with lots of yummy treats.

We stayed in a room called the kid cabin suite. The girls loved their private cabin and bunk beds. The guys loved that they had their own TV since the big KU game was on.



Ally brought a couple of her favorite books to read.

Cuddle time with Daddy!



Anya & Ella being silly at dinner. The restaurant at the lodge was decent, but the waitress was just "swamped" so we didn't get great service. She wasn't really swamped, she was just bad.




Emilia enjoyed the restaurant too.

The water park was pretty big, even bigger when the outside part is open. There were 3 huge tube slides, 3 or 4 other slides off the club house structure, and 3 kiddie slides. The big girls spent most of their time either on the slides or swimming in the big pool. I spent most of my time with Ally in the "hot pool". She loved bobbing around in the hot tub. The only thing the water park was missing was a wave pool. It would have been perfect then.

Anya warming up on the kiddie slides

Ally was timid at first on the slides, but when Emilia showed up she told me, "don't catch me so I can show the baby." Show Off!


Miss Mia (as Ally would say)

There were snakes in the pool! I guess that's better than snakes on a plane, right?


We had a great weekend. We went to the T-Rex restaurant when we first got to KC on Friday, but no one had a camera with them! It's a pretty cool place to eat, and with all the roaring going on the kids can be as loud as they want. The T-Rex is in an awesome outdoors outlet mall called Legends. It wasn't the greatest weekend for shopping with the snow and all, but I was still able to squeeze a few stores in on Sunday while Josh entertained the girls at Cabela's. The girls were so exhausted from all our fun that Ally fell asleep in the shopping cart there. I can't even remember the last time that happened. It was the perfect mini vacation!