And then there were THREE.....

Nope...we aren't having triplets! BUT I am soooooooooooooo excited to announce that my sister and brother-in-law are having a BOY!!!!!!!!!!!! I have been waiting very impatiently to find out what they're having!

Guess what else??? We have the EXACT same due date!! Angie told me her due date was March 11th and I thought mine was the 9th...but then my doctor corrected me and said the 11th! Crazy!! We are excited to finally go shopping for the new babies and buy them gender appropriate things (remember when I thought my boys were girls?? Oops! Good thing Angie doesn't need to return all the boy clothes she has bought already:)

I am so excited to go through this experience with my big sister and for our babies to be the same age. Big cousin (and sister) Lauren may be overwhelmed with three new little ones around, but I am sure she will keep them all in check :) The Van Horn family get-togethers are going to get CRAZY soon (as if they weren't crazy already!) as Grandpa Brad and Grandma Tammy leap from four grandkids (two girls and two boys) to seven grandkids!! Yikes!!

First quilting project=success!!

I completed my first big sewing project--two quilts for the boys!! I am pretty proud of myself because I taught myself how to sew with a machine...and I think the quilts turned out pretty good :) The whole process was very bittersweet because it reminded me of two very important ladies who are no longer in my life.

Andrew's mom passed away almost 4 years ago (this December) after a courageous battle with breast cancer. I wanted her to see her first grandchild (and all of her grandchildren!) so badly, but after 3.5 years of infertility...we are finally bringing her first grandsons into the world. I just wish she was able to see and hold these babies in her arms! I know she is looking down on us with a huge smile and is so proud of the daddy that Andrew has become! These boys are so lucky to have Andrew as a daddy and we can give credit to Cynthia...because she was a great mom and raised Andrew to be such an incredible man! I want the boys to know that their Grandma was an amazing woman...with many, many talents!!!

After Cynthia passed away I inherited her big sewing machine with the intention of learning how to sew. My Aunt Jan was an amazing quilter so I asked her if she would teach me how to sew on Cynthia's machine. Unfortunately, time passed by and I never made it up to Wisconsin to get my sewing lesson and Aunt Jan passed away this past March from her battle with pancreatic cancer. I felt extremely guilty after she passed away because I never took the time to learn from her.....I should've made time....and now it's too late! Also, my Aunt Jan made quilts for each "first-born" child in each of her nieces and nephews families....and since I wasn't pregnant yet...we didn't have one :( I was the only niece or nephew without a quilt from her so I made it a mission to teach myself how to sew the quilts she made. I looked up directions online and made two "rag quilts" for the boys' crib bedding. I think Cynthia and Jan would be proud and I know that whenever I hold the babies in their blankets...I will be thinking of them!

I started the quilts a while ago and I am glad that I did because my bulging belly is making it harder and harder to do things. There were many days that I would cry (blame the hormones) because I couldn't figure out how to thread the machine (Andrew would save the day!) or I would be overtaken with emotion thinking about how much I wish Cynthia and Jan were here to help me. Eventually though....they were complete! And each quilt only took me about a week to do so it wasn't too bad at all.

I couldn't find any fabric that I liked so I ended up using 3 different packages of receiving blankets. Each quilt uses 7 different patterns of fabrics. Here are the final products! What do you think???

Quilt #1

Quilt #1 close-up view
Quilt #2
Quilt #2 close-up view

Both quilts in one of the cribs. I just randomly found these "breathable bumpers" at TJ-Maxx for $13 and they match the babies quilts perfectly!

I hope the boys like them and will cherish them for many years to come!

Ohhh...we're half way there!!!

Ohhh We're half way there

Woah Livin' on a prayer

Take my hand and we'll make it - I swear

Woah Livin' on a prayer

That is our theme song this week because we are half way there!!! We are 18 weeks along in the pregnancy today and 36 weeks is considered "full-term" for twins. Each week I am counting down to a new milestone...

20 weeks (Oct. 20th)--our next ultrasound and anatomy scan (just to make sure it's really two boys :)

24 weeks (Nov. 17th)--the babies are viable and "could" survive outside of the womb (with majors health concerns and a LONG NICU stay)

30 weeks (News Years)--I feel like if we make it to New Years everything will be "okay"!

36 weeks (Feb. 9th)--Perfect! Full-term babies!

-We graduated from our Twins class at the hospital. Bring on the babies! Okay...we might not be quite ready yet....but we are getting there! We've had classes every Wednesday from 6-8 for the past four weeks. The classes have been okay...haven't learned too much and they have actually raised my anxiety more than help! For instance, is it REALLY necessary for you to show me every instrument you are going to use on me while I am in the hospital? I could do without seeing the device you are going to break my water with...just do it! Or watch a video with step-by-step instructions on how the epidural works and what vertebrae the HUGE needle is going to go between...just give me the drugs! Is it REALLY necessary to watch a video of a C-section being done and to tell me that "we are just going to pull your stomach muscles to the side...like this" Hmm..nope! Didn't need to see that! And I really didn't need to know that there would be 12-14 people in the room during my labor...really??? Anyways....we are finally Twin Class Graduates! We celebrated our graduation with pie at Village Inn (Andrew's idea--I think he is having more cravings than me :)

-There is a Mothers of Multiples club here in Des Moines and about five moms came to our class last night to talk about their experiences and to answer our questions. It was great to hear their stories...but it didn't comfort me at all! None of the five women made it past 30 weeks gestation (yikes!). All of them had a C-section (most of them had an emergency C-section). All of their babies had to stay in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit). Most of them couldn't breastfeed their tiny babies, but most of them pumped. Most of them were on bed rest before having their babies. A few of their babies are developmentally behind or have health problems. WOW. GREAT. Thanks for making me feel better! But it was good to hear the "reality" of twin pregnancies and of course I had a handful of questions (no one else in the class did!)

Andrew is now calling our sons...Phineas and Ferb (named after the kids TV show). He even ran the names past our four year old nephew to get his approval. Andrew is convinced that the babies are plotting some awesome adventures in my womb (I HAVE been feeling them kick lately). Now we just need a pet platypus named Perry! Some of his other ideas are...William and Harry (so prestigious!), Harry and Lloyd (he even wants to find them matching mini tuxedos in powder blue and orange), Wayne and Garth, Keith and Keith (so we can have a pair-of-Keiths, get it??) He is so creative! I just hope he doesn't get to the birth certificates before I do.

-The nursery is coming together! We have the furniture put together and we just ordered our chair yesterday. The babies will be here before we know it! There are only 7 weeks until Thanksgiving and 11 weeks until Christmas! Yikes! My goal is to have everything done before 30 weeks because that is when people say you start to get really uncomfortable and who knows if I will have to go on bedrest or when I'll go into labor? That is not much time to squeeze in baby showers, family get-togethers, appointments, etc. but somehow we'll make it work!

Stay posted for nursery pictures, quilt pictures, and more updates! Take care!