Big boy....

The last couple of weeks have had us not only trying to prepare ourselves for babies but also trying to get Calum ready, too.

First step? Moving him into his "new"room AKA the smaller room next door to his "old room". I've been feeling bad about this but as we opted for a toddler bed instead of a twin/single, there is lots of extra room in there and so far he seems pretty happy. The transition to the bed from the crib/cot has been a lot easier then expected, thank God!

Second step? Potty training. We're going with Gina Ford's Potty Training in One Week http://www.contentedbaby.com/books-potty_training.htm and starting the first phase slowly, waiting to find a weekend we can devote to not going anywhere so Calum has two full days of training at home before going to nursery for them to pick up where we left off. The first phase has just had him sitting on the potty and getting used to it, we've had a few "successes" and he seems to have the attention span for it so fingers crossed we are successful when we go for it. One less kid in diapers would be a God send.

Third step? Calum spent his first night without either of us last Friday while Mark and I celebrated his birthday early with a night in London. Bliss. Stayed at The Sanderson http://www.sandersonlondon.com/en-us/#/home/, spent the day shopping and saw the Hangover 2 and then had dinner and a drink at the very Sex in the City-esq hotel restaurant and bar. Pat, Mark's Mum, stayed here at our house and we came home to a less then excited welcome from Calum who didn't miss us much apparently! I will probably be in the hospital for at least 2-3 nights and hope that Mark will be able to spend lots of time during the day with me (they don't allow for husbands to stay overnight in the maternity ward) so Pat will be spending lots of time with Calum to help is in those first few days and it's great to have peace of mind and know he will be happy and probably won't miss me much, although I will be missing him tons-already tearing up thinking about it!

Otherwise this coming weekend we will start with painting Calum's old room for the babies and spending time online trying to figure out how we're going to decorate it, I'm feeling very unprepared! Have a great week x

24 weeks

Scan photos from 17 weeks

Yep, as of tomorrow I will be 24 weeks pregnant so in months I think that's about 6?

Whilst initially this pregnancy seemed to drag on, all of the sudden the end is near although as each day passes I'm getting a little more nervous about how we're going to cope. I don't worry so much about the babies as I do about Calum, I have this overwhelming sense of guilt at what I'm about to put him through and am already feeling separation anxiety over the days I will spend away from him whilst in hospital

This time around the drs have pretty much said a csection is best for me and babies, with twins they won't let you go past 38 weeks so whilst our due date is officially Oct. 4, that means the babies will be here no later then Sept. 20th. 60% of twins are born before week 37 (so that would be Sept. 13th) and since Calum came at 37+3, I'm thinking we might be early. Pretty much they could be here anytime from late July onwards (my friend's sister had hers at 28 weeks which would put us at July 12th, eek!).

Our 20 week scan showed baby girl in the 50th percentile (they compare twins size with that of regular singleton pregnancies) and baby boy at 95%! Today I have my 24 week scan (I will be scanned every 4 weeks until they arrive to check for size and signs of early labor) so will be interested to see how big they are now, especially as I feel like I have doubled in size in the last month.

Otherwise I've felt pretty good, although it's catching up to me. I'm doing aqua natal aerobics twice a week, antenatal yoga once a week and haven't been visiting McDs nearly as often as last time around ;). I'm even weighing a bit less then I was at this stage when pregs with Calum and dug up my 24 week photo to compare bump size-notice any difference? x

24 wks with Calum
24 weeks with twins
Scary 3D of both babies but love how you can see how close they are in there

PS

Hard to believe it's been 3 weeks since we got home from our US vacation. On May 8th Mark, Calum and I left Spokane and flew to Palm Springs for a week of proper rest and relaxation (read: eating, sleeping and laying out by the pool). Mark and I try to do a week on our own after we head to Seattle so we can have a real vacation (whilst we love our Seattle trips they are go, go, go and for some much needed sun since neither place is blessed!). Initially I had thought we would do San Diego but with the weather in May being potentially gray (hence "May gray"), we decided on Palm Springs.

We stayed at the Westin Rancho Mirage Resort Villas, would highly recommend to anyone with kids. Not only was our room huge (with separate bedroom so Mark and I could have evenings together, kitchen with dishwasher, washer/dryer, etc. and a private patio with BBQ overlooking the golf course) but they also had an awesome kiddie pool, water slide and other things aimed at families like us. Loved watching Calum become a real fish, scary how confident he was in the pool! Mark unbelievably felt like he didn't get tan enough (umm, hello!) and I loved when my "shift" at the pool was over (Mark and I took Calum for one hour intervals so we could relax and at the end of the day would have some together time with him) and I could catch up on my magazines and just really chill out.

The highlight of our trip? Getting to see Dett, Tara, Justin and Jackson our last night. They all made the drive over and despite a semi-disasterous dinner with Tara and Justin, I loved every second with these girls and really appreciate them coming over to see us. Not only did it seem like it was last week rather than months ago that I saw the girls, but watching Jackson (2 in Aug) and Calum play together was priceless and a highlight for Calum, too.

Mark remarked on our second day how he could see himself living in PS, had to break it to him that it wasn't really for our generation but we're getting closer and closer to a US move I think (although he says it's still at least 5 years away!). At least he's saying I've got a chance ;).

Calum and Auntie Dett

Tara and the boys

Calum in his new pjs with his new "pet" from Auntie Tara

Remember what I said about Mark thinking he wasn't very tan?!

Calum and Dad before bed, hadn't put down this Richard Scarry book since my Gram gave it to him the week before and still demands it at least twice a day!

Ducks by the patio at our room

My two fish

WA

After a whirlwind 10 days with my Mom here, the Vergheses headed back to Seattle straight into another whirlwind. Last year I promised my cousin Jake that if he managed to graduate in 4 years, I would make the trip to see him walk at WSU. So making good on my promise, part of our visit was to see Jake graduate (even though he kind of cheated and is still attending WSU this summer for a few more credits he needs to graduate) but part was also a final visit as I can't imagine we will be back for at least a year or more with the twins coming.

Trying for a group shot with Calum on the 1st sunny day in over a month! Perfect for walking in the park in Mukilteo and the obligatory Ivar's afterwards.
Grandpa found a crab which Calum brazenly picked up and held!

We started our visit with 2 chilled out days with my Dad and then spent a day at Bellevue Square with my Mom doing some shopping for the babies and then a day at the Woodland Park Zoo, just the 3 of us. This was the first time we've ever taken time for just us to go out and do something whilst in Seattle and I loved it, although not as much as Calum who was truly in his element at the zoo. We met up with the girls and their husbands at El Toreador in Redmond (best Mexican ever) and we even got to go to our friends the Thuriks (http://jerameandkatiethurik.blogspot.com/) who had lots of advice to give about twins as they already have their own boy/girl twins plus another on the way due almost the same time as we are.

The girls (including Westyn!) at El Ts
Checking out Calum's favourite, bears, at the Woodland Park Zoo

After our short trip on the west side of the mountains we headed east to meet up with my Grandma McEvers who made the drive to meet up in Moses Lake from Missoula all on her own, she's 87! Was great to spend a day and night with her, a former nurse/midwife and Mom of 4, grandma of 7 and great grandma of even more; she has a true gift with children and Calum was entranced with her.

Great Grandma and Calum admiring the view-checking out the trucks on I-90
Reading our new Richard Scarry book from Gram-if you have a boy toddler and haven't got this book, run out and get it-kept him quiet the whole flight to CA and we now "read" AKA look for the hidden bug on each page a la Waldo every night

We then headed over to Pullman which was bittersweet. Had wanted to do the regular drive we always did in college but headed down a short cut from Moses Lake so Mark missed me pointing out a lot of the nostalgia. When we got to Pullman it was pouring rain, something I seem to have forgotten it ever does there-I had imagined a hot couple of days like it was when we graduated. And then we checked into the hotel my Aunt and Uncle had miraculously managed to secure, Nendles. Wow. Can't say I've ever stayed in a worse place. The 3 of us headed straight to Basilios which wasn't nearly as good as I remembered, bought a load more Coug gear (is it legal for Mark to have an alum sweatshirt?!) and met up with my family when they arrived for an awesome dinner at a new microbrewery/gastro pub type place called the River (yum!). Pullman has changed massively-there is a Walmart in Pullman, the Bookie is now a Barnes and Noble in the CUB which is pretty amazing in itself and Valhalla now has an upstairs with tvs to watch the games! Made me feel old but I loved seeing Jake graduate and had to laugh when we went to his house afterwards for a champagne toast-how did we live like that?! Congrats, Jake-can't wait to see where you go next.

Former WSU students, me, Jake and my Uncle Ken

Calum and my cousin Garrett who he decided is his idol, post graduation at Basilios (again!)