Ben & Ella's 1st Birthday & Weekend

I meant to write about Ben & Ella’s first birthday before now, but things get busy when you have family in town and a party to throw!

Their first birthday was this past Thursday on June 12. We celebrated it by giving them some ice cream. They liked it, but they weren’t too impressed by it (we gave them vanilla). Perhaps they’d like it more if we gave them chocolate! We also took some photos that recreated ones we took last year right after Ben & Ella were born. That was fun - they really didn't stick with the positions they were in last year. They are a bit more squirmy these days. :-D


Then on Friday, we spent time cleaning and hanging out at home waiting for my family to arrive. That night, we just spent some hanging out and watching most of a dumb movie (Walk Hard).

Saturday was the day of the party. We had a bit of fun when our toilet decided to overflow shortly before everyone was set to arrive, but thankfully Jon took care of that while I took Ben & Ella out with my sister and her kids to shop for Ben & Ella’s birthday present. The party was a lot of fun. We had a BBQ and they enjoyed their first ever cupcake (it’s really a mini-cake since it’s from Cos&tco). Here is a video of that fun.


Ben got it all over his face and into his ear. Ella used the frosting as a hair conditioner. There are some pictures on flickr if you’d like to see. They also enjoyed opening their presents (with the assistance of their parents). They got some great presents!

On Sunday, since it was finally nice day in my part of the world, we decided to go for a picnic at Hamlin Park. After the picnic, my sister and her kids wanted to go see the Fremont Troll, so we drove over there to see it. Jon walked Ben & Ella back home from the park (his idea). After the troll, we went to Magnuson Park to enjoy the weather by Lake Washington. Then we came back home for another BBQ (we had a lot of leftovers), then a few of us went to go see a friend host and sing at an open mic at Wayward.

Monday, the kids wanted to go to Archie McPhee so we headed over there for a bit, then had some lunch and then my sister and her kids and my parents and brother were off back to Spokane. Jon and I later took Ben & Ella out on a walk after their nap. Ella got a bit fussy on our way there – I think she wanted to get out and walk, but she was happy when Jon put her on his shoulders until we got to a nearby park. They both really happy to walk around in the grass.

Fun in the Sun & Baby Update

Well, Friday night I went off to the library book sale and got myself a few books – a lot of them were on my amazon wish list and I got them for $1.00 each!

Saturday morning, I went to the sale the Eastside multiples group has every 6 months and got my children some summer clothes – and Benjamin some 18 month (yes, 18 months) shirts that will go over his head. Some 12 month stuff works o.k. if it has a lot of buttons – like the button down shirts – but even the onesies or other shirts are getting a little too snug to get on him in that size. That afternoon, we took advantage of the nice weather (supposedly, it got up to around 78 degrees or so) and had a picnic at Magnuson Park and wandered around there for a bit. Here are some pictures that a friend of mine took while were there. I have to point out this one with all four of us though. :-D



Ella had fun climbing all over Kaylee, another friend’s German shepherd, but she did not think the grass was all that fun. It was almost like there was an invisible barrier where the blanket ended and the grass begun. She went on the grass for a little bit, but soon made it clear that she did not like the grass. She did, however, enjoy eating a daisy. I thought she was chewing on a puff, but no, it was a daisy. I should have known it was something besides a puff when she had this disgusted look on her face.

Benjamin had a fun time in the grass - he kicked his legs, pulled up on the grass and stared at the daisies. He enjoyed walking around too. There was a time there he was upset because he was hungry, but I think he had a good time. He even took a little nap (he hadn’t taken a good nap all day, so he was due anyway).

Sunday morning, we took a walk to a park nearby our house - both babies enjoyed swinging in the infant swings, but it started to get too cold so we headed back home. Later that day, Ella went to a few different places with Jon while Benjamin and I hung out at home. We started this plan of on even days, if one of us has to go somewhere, we take the same sex baby, but if it is an odd day, then we take the opposite sex baby. It seems to be working out o.k. Though I didn’t take them to the book sale (near bedtime for them) or to the sale on Saturday (way too crowded to take a baby – though some people did).

In other news – Ella is so funny. I don’t think she likes her knees on the hardwoods so much or she really wants to walk already, but her new way of transportation is to crawl on her hands and feet. I took a few pictures, so hopefully, I’ll upload soon.

Benjamin is also developing a new skill. He’s starting to get up on his hands and knees! He’s pushing that butt up to get up there, so maybe soon, we’ll have two mobile babies! That’ll be interesting times, I’m sure.

Anyway, that’s about all it for now!

Long Post About Many Different Things

Thankfully, the progesterone arrived today. It was supposed to come yesterday, but apparently, FedEx was closed here yesterday. I told a guy in the mail room to call me as soon as he received it, and he did. So happy it came today. I called the nurse just in case to find out what to do, and she just said to take as much as I could and take the rest when the drugs arrived. Thankfully, I don't have to do that.

I guess not a lot of people were in the office yesterday - not that surprising. The roads around my office are just awful - just as bad, if not worse, than the roads around my house. This is including the main roads too and I-90 near Issaquah. I met my vanpool people this morning and things were actually going smoothly once we got onto the freeway until we got close to Issaquah, then people were sliding a bit and coming almost to a complete stop. The road that we turn on to get to my office - just completely covered in ice. It was bad. We're expecting more snow tonight too - hopefully, not a recreation of what happened Monday night when some friends took somewhere between 4-6 hours to get home (and they weren't going too far either).

Oh, and on a sweet note. A coworker of mine who used to hold the position I also used to hold (that probably is confusing) before we both were promoted apparently came by yesterday when I wasn't here to tell me congratulations. I'm not sure who he heard the news from - I only thought maybe 3 people up on the 3rd floor (the legal department is all split up) knew the news - but he heard that we are pregnant and expecting twins. Anyway, the sweet thing is that I e-mailed him this morning when I found out he was down here yesterday and he said he wanted to congratulate us on the great news and to give me a big hug. He said that he is very excited for us. I kinda hinted a while back with him that we were having problems and seeking medical help - that was maybe 2 years ago - I haven't talked to him about it since. Anyway, it was sweet.

As for pregnancy symptoms, I'm feeling some serious nausea lately. Yesterday morning, I was just innocently brushing my teeth when I started to gag and well, that gagging led to vomiting. Yuck. I hate to brush my teeth these days. I really hate to floss them. And the nausea stays with me all day long. It is a weird feeling to feel hungry and nauseous all at the same time - just like I feel extremely tired, then wake up in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep.

That's all for today.

Stupid weather

Because of the icy conditions in the area, I stayed home from work per the state patrol's suggestion. After seeing the news, it looked like a good idea. However, they showed the news later, and I think I could have made it to work, but it really wasn't worth the risk. However, I HAVE to go in tomorrow. I wish I would have known that I was going to be at home all day, I would have had the pharmacy ship the PIO and needles to my home instead of my work. And I NEED the drug and the needles for Thursday, so I have to make the trek into work tomorrow. Would it be bad if I missed a day of the progesterone?

One of the ladies in my vanpool said that they are going to go into work from 7 to 3:30, so I have to be at the transit center by 6:15 if I would like to join them. Yuck! This means doing the PIO shot even earlier than we normally do. Hopefully, that won't be an issue. I told her that since I have no desire to drive myself to work tomorrow especially since they say more icky weather is on its way. I really don't like this type of weather - I really think I need to move somewhere where it never snows and never gets icy.

My husband braved the elements today and went into work via the bus. He got in quite a bit later than normal and well, he's not home yet and usually, he's home by now. Luckily, the college he's taking classes at cancelled classes for tonight, so he's coming home. He didn't go to classes last night either, of which I was grateful for - I really didn't want him driving in the mess I had just come home from.

I'm sure that people in other parts of the world are laughing at people in Seattle not being able to drive in this mess. We're just not used to snow and icy conditions. It's actually more the ice that I'm nervous about than the snow.

Things are better now

Thanks everyone for your concern - it's nice to know that there are people out there who care about you.

No spotting has happened since the spotting yesterday morning. I hope and pray that the spotting stays away. I've had a bit of cramping, but not as much as yesterday morning. We have our ultrasound tomorrow afternoon at 2 - I'm not sure how much work I'll be doing tomorrow as I'll be anxiously awaiting the time to go pick up Jon and head to the clinic. I want it to be tomorrow already. I don't care about wishing away my weekend anymore (maybe because it is almost over anyway).

This afternoon, Jon's parents are coming up to take us to a late lunch/early dinner. I think we are going to Buca di Beppo's up in Lynnwood. That will be nice. I haven't had too much morning sickness - not since Friday anyway - so maybe I'll actually be able to eat the food that we order today.

Oh, we actually got some snow in Seattle. It's gone now and just raining, but it was very pretty this morning when Jon and I got up at 7 to do the shot and we saw those big snowflakes coming down and blanketing our deck.