Adventures in Vacuuming!

Just seeing Gwen's reaction to the vacuum gives me motivation some days.  She won't go in another room while I'm vacuuming but she's obviously not sure that its something I should be doing.  The entire time its running she runs up towards it, but not too close, then turns and runs aways.  All of this is done with lots of shrieks and squeaks.  Last time, as soon as I was done and had turned the vacuum off, she went up and started yelling at it.  She had her hands going and everything.

Gwen has really taken off with the walking.  I was all prepared after her first steps that it would be a while before she tried again, but that next day she was working hard at it.  Even when she stumbled, she'd get right back up and keep trying.  She was very determined to walk.  Now, only about 6wks later she walks everywhere.  The only time she reverts to crawling is when going over rough terrain.

This picture was taken right after she got up on the morning of her birthday.  I love her goofy, cheesy grin... especially with all that wild, curly hair.

Gwen was fascinated by the flame on the candle so Mama had to jump in and help blow it out.

My neat and tidy child who refused to make a mess.  Before she would eat the cake, I had to cut it into bite size pieces and even then she wasn't sure she was supposed to eat it until I fed her the first bite.  She only got in a few bites before she decided she was done with it and that her toys looked like more fun.  The cake was delicious though.  My aunt made it... chocolate with cream cheese frosting... mmmm.

This is me with my cousin, but I had to throw it in here too since it was a good belly shot.  In this one I'm at about 21wks.

I can't believe how fast this pregnancy is going.  It just dawned on me yesterday that at the outside I've only got about 3 months left before I go from 1 baby to 3.  I guess its a good thing I finally got my baby registry done.  Not much longer before my life gets really crazy!

Just in the past week I've gone from barely being able to feel the twins from the outside to being able to sit and watch my belly hop around.  They are amazingly active.  I have doctor's appointments every week at this point and all the doctors and sonographers have commented on how much they move around.  The poor sonographers really have to work when I come in.  I usually end up taking the full appointment time, sometimes more, just because they're having a hard time taking all the measurements they need due to the twins being so active.  I love getting to watch them move around on the screen.  Its neat to be able to feel them kicking and see it at the same time.  I love being able to feel them all the time.  Its very reassuring not to need to do kick counts or worry about them so much.

I think I've started hitting that whole nesting thing too.  The past week has been spent organizing closets and getting baby clothes washed and folded and ready.  Baby stuff has been a lot less stressful this time.  Last time I just kept looking at what all was out there without really knowing which was stuff I needed and which was stuff I would be fine without.  I had a much better idea in my head of what was needed this time which has made things easier.  This time too I've had much better resources available to me.  Out in California I didn't really have anywhere other than a Babies R Us to go to.  This time, even though I did my registry through them, I was able to collect most of the bigger items elsewhere.  There's a new baby resale shop that opened a couple months ago that has been absolutely wonderful.  I've gotten some great deals there on stuff for the twins as well as stuff for Gwen.  Also, there's an organization called Just Between Friends that sponsors giant baby garage sale type things nation wide.  I've been able to get stuff from the sales in Austin and Houston and my mom has been able to hit the sales in the Kansas City area (she's finishing up a temporary assignment there).  I just feel so much more prepared this time.  The only thing that would make it better is if Kurt were here too.

Anyhow, the critter is down for her nap so I think I'll go catch me one too while there's still time!