11 Days And Counting

Carrie kind of figured this summed up her pregnancy at this point. I would have to agree, mostly because she needs help off the couch, doesn't wear shoes that tie anymore, and socks are the ultimate challenge.

Right now she's at 35 weeks and 3 days. The big news this week is that we have an induction scheduled for Monday, January 28th! She could go before that of course, but it looks like that'll be their birthday if Carrie keeps hanging on. The babies are doing great, and one measures at about 5.5 lbs, and the other is at about 6 lbs. So the poor girl's carrying around almost 12 lbs of baby in there. At her latest doctor's visit on Tuesday, she was measuring at 44 weeks pregnant (which is technically not really possible). No wonder she can't tie her shoes...

She's feeling extra tired lately, but being home from work every day has helped that a little anyway. Carrie and Ellie get to sleep in every day now, (while poor daddy drags his butt out of bed at 2:30am, well, sometimes closer to 3:00...boo hoo hoo...) and they don't have to go anywhere, so they get to lounge around all morning until I get home. It's been great to have her home all day.

Carrie's blood pressure continues to be high lately, and has been going higher, so be praying that it stays at a reasonable level. If it doesn't, the babies might be here a few days earlier.

So we're plugging along, counting down the days, and measuring the circumference of Carrie's swollen ankles. We'll keep you posted on whatever happens in these next 11 days!!

Belly Watch 2008

It's really getting down to crunch time. These babies could realistically be here in two weeks, but we're hoping for three at least. Carrie's almost at 34 full weeks at this point. 37 is the ultimate goal (considered "full term" for twins), but anything over 36 would be fine. Carrie's feeling pretty worn out, so the doctor has ordered her to stay home from work until the babies are born. Her blood pressure continues to creep up, so the doctor wants her to stay off her feet more. She's not on complete bed rest, just "modified" bed rest. Whatever that means. Basically it just means I have to do the dishes from now on. At least that's what Carrie tells me.

Just continue to pray with us that everything goes well from here on out. The doctor says that the babies are doing great, and that they're growing at a steady rate. They've really gotten bigger in the past couple of weeks too, so that's very encouraging. The picture below could be disturbing to some, so viewer discretion is advised! I'm still surprised that Carrie's allowing this to be viewed on the net. She does know that it's the "world wide" web I hope. But she approved, so enjoy!

It's My Party, And I'll Cry If I Want To

I don't know if I've ever met someone who was so incredibly excited to get married. Carrie's little brother Nate, pictured here bawling his eyes out as the girl of his dreams walked down the aisle toward him, got married on Dec. 29th. Nate and his new bride Alissa started dating back in high school. Even then I remember Nate saying, "It would be a privilege to marry her, I hope I'm the lucky one." And as it turned out, he was. Of course I could call him a "Little Girl," or some sort of "Sissy Man," for sobbing so much. But I won't. I won't call him "Sally" or "Suzy" or "Girly Man." I just won't do it. All kidding aside, it really was a great moment, when she started down the aisle. Even I had a few tears flow when he first saw her. If you look close you'll see what my job during the wedding was! The camera probably shook a little as I wiped back a tear. But we're so very excited to have another member of the family, and wish the happy couple the very best in their new life together. I just hope Nate doesn't cry like that every day. What a wuss.











Here's Carrie's other brother Ben with wife Ryan and their little girl Lorna.

Did I Bring The Camera??

So we were busy getting ready for our big trip to the Great White North for Christmas last week, when I run down the virtual checklist in my head. "Clothes? Check. Underwear? Check. Shoes? Check. I think we're good. Wait, do we have the camera?" I decide we don't have it packed yet, so I head downstairs to grab it. While I'm down there, I decide to check the weather on the net before we embark on our trip.

I hop up from the chair, get a few last things upstairs, and we head out on the open road. About 45 minutes into the trip Carrie says, "You grabbed the camera right?" I think for a moment. "I know I went down to get it," I say to myself, "But the question is, did I actually grab it?" The answer's pretty obvious by now. It's still downstairs, sitting there all alone on the desk.

So we go on our big vacation without our camera. A trip that included Carrie's little brother's wedding, (of which Carrie sort of wanted pictures...can't imagine why) and a visit by Carrie's other brother, his wife and daughter who live in California. They make about 2 trips home per year. Carrie surprisingly wanted photos of that too. But alas, our camera lay dormant in the basement of our empty house.

But Carrie's mom managed to take, oh I don't know, about 75,000 pictures, so I think we captured the moments that needed capturing. When both grandbabies are home, the camera is a constant fixure. So here are a few photos of our big trip. We don't have any pictures of Nate's wedding yet. We'll post those soon though.

We found some time to hit the sledding hill a few times, and got a chance to make some snow angels. Ellie had a great time with her cousin Lorna, and got to show her what winter in the midwest is all about. Ellie was so good with Lorna all weekend, and even gave her a few kisses. If you know Ellie, those are golden. They also had time for a quick dip in the bathtub together.

There's a picture here of Great-Grandpa Eiesland with Ellie as they sat down for a "Tea Party" in the basement. They sat in the basement for quite awhile just chatting and "drinking" some tea. It was fun to see.

And this is a toy Great-Grandpa Eiesland made for both of the girls. They're little wooden pull-toy ducks. They're so cute, and extra special because of the man that put them together. Thanks again Grandpa!!

Doubly Prepared

In our quest to be prepared for the impending arrival of the babies, we made a big, and I mean BIG purchase. A brand new massive, 17-foot long stroller. 17's maybe a bit much I suppose, but it's definitely a bruiser. It fits the two car seats perfectly, and when they're older it'll be perfect for the two of them. Poor Ellie's going to have some sore legs when we go to the mall, but she'll have to live. A triple stroller just wasn't in the budget. Plus, I don't know if we could fit one in the mini. Ellie had a good time climbing in her old car seat too. It's hard to believe she used to fit in that thing.

We had our little Christmas celebration today, and Ellie loved her little gifts. She has her own little digital camera now (Dora The Explorer themed of course), a couple of new movies, and a new Princess Piggy Bank. She made out pretty well.

Carrie continues to feel well, even into the 32nd week of pregnancy. Her blood pressure was a little high this last visit to the doctor, but it wasn't too worrisome. She just needs to take it a bit easier. Does that mean I have to start doing laundry?

Anyway, we wish all who read these words a very Merry Christmas, and wish you the best in the coming year!

Puke Is Gross

Sunday morning started like any other week in our house. We get up and lounge around for awhile before we get ready for church. That morning though, Ellie REALLY wanted to wear her new Christmas dress to church. But we bought it for her to wear in the Kid's Christmas Program that night, and didn't really want her to get it dirty. Ellie insists, and Carrie and I agree. It turned out to be a big, and stinky mistake.

Ellie's been battling a pretty nasty cough lately, and when she has a bad cough, she can tend to have a weak gag reflex. You've probably guessed what happened next. We're on our way home from church when a cough starts, then worsens, and then...comes the vomit. Piles of it. It was...well...disgusting, of course. We're about 5 hours away from the performance, so we work quickly to get everything cleaned up, the dress in the wash, and we're good to go. We're just thankful it didn't happen 5 minutes before the program.

So wearing a sparkling clean dress, Ellie and her friend Mariana performed with a bunch of other little ones at the program that night. They sang "Away In A Manger" and "Who's That Baby" (We didn't know what that one was either). The two girls concentrated more on the crowd (and their ridiculous fathers in the front row with their video cameras) than they did on singing and doing the actions. But they looked beautiful, and that's what matters, right??

A little bored before the show.

Just loungin' around before... Showtime!!!

They're actually singing!!

Winter Wonderland

Growing up I never really liked the snow. As I age though, it seems my feelings for it haven't changed one bit, I just can't stand it! It might be that I don't own a snowblower. The only way the snow gets off the driveway is a bundled up balding man pushing it away. But this last weekend I had a bit of help. A "bit" being the operative word. It was a little person with a shovel.

Anyway, we received a decent amount of snow last weekend, and these are a few snapshots of Ellie and me out clearing off the driveway.

She has her own little shovel and was more than willing to help me out. But for the most part she just shoveled the snow from the lawn back onto the sidewalk. Then she yells, "Daddy, I'm helping!" To which I reply, "Yeah, thanks, you're REALLY helping Ellie!" Without any sarcastic tone in my voice either...

After awhile though the snowflakes turned into objects more resembling little BB's that were pelting us in the face. The freezing rain poured down, and we didn't last long after that. Ellie said, "Ouch! The snow is hurting me!!" So we went inside and warmed up. More like Ellie went in and warmed up, and the balding man shoveled what the little "bit" had put back on the sidewalk...