Shower the people you love with love

A few weeks ago Chris and I spent a week in Ohio with our families.  We originally planed this trip so that both of us could participate in the Ohio MS ride. As it turns out, the twins and I did not end up riding but Chris did!

Cheryl's Crew, Day 1 (the biggest bunch to date, so impressive)

Cheryl and Tim, the hosts with the mosts!

My sister, also a first time rider this year!

Many of us were there to cheer the riders in at the end of day 1!

Day 2 of riding was done in torrential rain. Such great smiles at the end of a grueling day!

 In addition to the bike ride, Chris's parents came down from Michigan to spend 4 days with us and my Mom organized a surprise shower.  The shower was so nice.  My mom creatively strung all the baby gifts onto a clothes line and Chris and I were able to ohhhh and ahhhh over everything without having to unwrap gifts!  It was genius!

(this is genuine excitement from Chris after seeing these newborn University of Michigan onesies, not staged at all!)

And then we took some family photos afterwards.

Chris and I and the excited grandparents-to-be

We had a great time and were so sad to leave our families after such a nice visit.  Thank you to everyone for the wonderful gifts and the helpful advice shared by the great mothers in my family!  

Carrie Carrie Quite Contrary, How does your Garden Grow?

Well, the last 6 weeks have flown by!  I am just over 18 weeks along and feeling really good.  Despite the fact that I am starting to move slower and slower, things in our house have been moving at breakneck speed!   Chris sent me to NY to visit my family and painted the nursery (green) and put carpeting in the master bedroom and the nursery.  We have been cleaning and organizing closets, bedrooms and anything else that crosses our path.  It feels good to get ride of unused stuff, but I know we will soon have a house full of new items to take up the newly cleared space.


My belly is growing.  Some mornings I get up and I swear it is bigger than the night before.  Let's see, have I hit the door knob yet. . . .

Not yet!  We will keep checking in on that!


We had our 18 week sonogram today.  I was full of nerves before the appointment but I was quickly soothed by our great sonogram tech.  Everything looked great.  A and B and growing and seem to have all of their Lever 2000 parts.  They are positioned kind of on top of each other, like they are laying in little baby bunk beds inside my belly.  They were moving all about and seemed to be quite content inside.   Oh yes, I am leaving out an important detail. . . .we found of the sexes!  Ready. . .  A and B are both boys!  Watch out world!  Chris could not stop grinning and I am off the charts happy as well!  Though my predictions were wrong (I thought we would end up with one of each), this is a good reminder that even though these are our babies, we do not know everything.    :)


Chris continues to be an outstanding partner and the keeper of my sanity.  He is enjoying this time as much as I am despite working long hours and feeling responsible for getting the household ready to accept 2 more McLeans.  His positive energy has really made the last few weeks lots of fun and it helps that he is pretty darn funny!  He has had some one liners that have cracked me up for weeks.  Example 1: We were at the doctor for the 16 week appointment.  I was going on and on about all the things I needed to remember to ask.  He looked and me, shook his head and said "Ok, the first trimester is sick, the second is crazy, wonder what the third one is called?"  I guess he calls it like he sees it!  Example 2: Today after finding out that we are having 2 boys, he leaves me a voice mail.  Start evil laugh : "the tides have officially shifted in the McLean household.  All toilet seats will remain up forevermore!" 

Ode to a 'stang

I feel like this post would be more appropriate coming from a 50 + year old man who has been forced to part with his beloved sports car (for whatever reason), a car that he owned for X number of years, drove X00,000 miles, and was only getting ride of it because his wife was sick of it sitting in the garage taking up valuable space. Instead, this ode is coming from a 32 year old woman who only owned her car for 3 years and only drove it only about 18,000 miles and in the end, was willing, though sad, to part with her sports car.

When I graduated from college, my parents gave me brand new 2000 Hyundai Elentra for graduation.  It was my first new car and I loved it.  I drove it for 8 years while I lived in Massachusetts, put over 190,000 miles on it, and bought countless sets of tires for that car. My parents wanted to get me a car that would last me through graduate school, and it did, though at the end I was putting more and more money into it to keep it running.  In the spring of 2008, I was ready to defend my dissertation and planning to move across country in that car. The car itself was ok, but it had some quirks that made me nervous about driving it across county.  First, I had been driving that car for 4 years without a functioning drivers side window (which means that for the 2 years I commuted to Boston, I had to open my door to pay the 8 tolls that I encountered, yeah, toll people loved me).  In addition, during the previous summer, my car would mysteriously not start on really hot days, which means that I was a tad nervous about what was going to happen in the 110 degree desert. All this being said, the bottom line was that I did not have any money to put towards a new car, so driving my old car and praying a lot was really my only plan.  That plan held up well until I got rear ended 14 days before I was set to leave town.  This accident meant that in addition to finishing a Ph.D. and packing up my life to move across country, I had to buy a new car!  I had never bought a new car and I was a car salesman’s worst nightmare (ok, actually a car salesman’s worst nightmares is my husband, but that is another story).  I really did not want any of the cars they were showing me and I was very distracted when shopping.  When they would ask what kind of car I really wanted, I would say “I want a mustang convertible, but I cannot afford one, so I am looking for something more reasonable”.  They would then show me  nonconvertible mustangs and I would quickly tell them that I had no interest in a mustang if it was not a convertible.  I was a pain and I had no idea what I was going to buy. 

With only 10 or so days left to go before I needed to leave town, my mom and my cousin Leslie (more like an Uncle) got involved.  They started looking for cars and Leslie found a mustang convertible in NY that was perfect.  Everything about this car was perfect: the price, the color, the car payments, everything.  He wheeled and dealed, annoyed the salespeople until he got the price he wanted for me, he test drove it, picked it over and decided this was the car for me.  The day I turned in my dissertation to my committee members, I drove down to NY to buy that car.  The whole thing was relatively painless.  I had amassed some money from insurance payments and graduation gifts and was able to drive away in a car that was so far beyond what I had been driving, it blew my mind.  When people would ask if I liked that the top went down I would say “The top, I am just happy the windows go down!”.  The car had leather interior, a 6 CD changer, was super powerful, . . . and did I mention it was a convertible??!  The only reason I was able to get that car was because of the leg work Leslie did.  He wanted me to have that car; he wanted me to drive across country with the top down and cruise into the Wild West in a vehicle that was fun and made the driver carefree. 

Anyone who has attained a graduate degree knows how much sacrifice it takes.  You sacrifice time and money, not to mention other intangible things that are hard to put into words, all for a degree that you put your heart and soul into.  I bought that car on the day that I had effectively finished my Ph.D., a real and figurative turning point in my life.  A day that I felt turned me from a perennial student into a real live person.  

I drove that car across the country with my friend Kirsten.  I packed only what would fit in the trunk, the back seat, and loaded 2 bikes on the trunk.  We drove with the top down everyday (except for the last leg through New Mexico and AZ) and I showed up in AZ red like a lobster, with seat belt tan lines, but I did not care.  I had just driven across country with one of my best friends -with all of my worldly possessions- in a mustang convertible.  I was breezy!

Once I got to AZ, the use of my car went down a bit, but its sentimental value continued to grow.  Leslie passed away soon after I moved to AZ and that car was the biggest piece of him I had. I thought AZ would be the ideal place for a convertible but honestly, it is too hot most of the time to have the top down!  After moving here, I started riding my bike to work and my car would sit for long periods of time in the driveway, unused, but I would smile every time I saw it out my window. I would get immense pleasure from picking up people at the airport in the convertible and the dogs loved the convertible!  It was like having one giant window!

Yesterday we sold the mustang.  As you know, our pack is growing and it is time to get a vehicle that can fit more than me and my purse.  Though I was ready to move onto a bigger vehicle, parting with my car was still bittersweet.  After yesterday, it is so easy to see how good that car has been to me.  It got me across country safely, I have not had to take the car in for a single repair in 3 years, and yesterday the dealership made me an outstanding/unreal trade in offer on my 'stang.  In my mind, this is all still Leslie working his magic and I am forever grateful.  

Bye bye mustang.  I will miss driving you and knowing you are waiting for me outside for our next adventure!

Will she or won't she????

We have officially hit week 12.  Although I do not feel any different physically, I am still jubilant that we have hit this milestone!  To celebrate, we took some belly pictures!  These are the first of the lot, and I am already in maternity clothes.  Oiy!

In light of this, I thought we could play a game called 'Will she or won't she????'. 

Will she or won't she what you ask?  Will she or won't she reach the doorknob (my belly that is). 

 It is hard to imagine how big you are going to get when you are pregnant with one baby let alone with twins.  I have only gained 1 lb so far and the doctor was fine with that.  In her words "don't worry, the weight will come" and she followed this by saying I should expect to gain 40-45lbs.  Oiy.  It is so hard to conceptualize gaining this much weight and doing it over just 6 months or so.   In keeping with our moto, go big or go home, I figured I might as well have a benchmark (errr closetmark) to measure myself against.  So cast your votes as to whether or not you think I will be big enough for my belly to hit the door knob.    

In other news, I am getting ready to go to San Diego for the American Diabetes meeting at the end of the week.  I am a little nervous to travel for so may days but I think it will be fine.  I will miss Chris, the pups, the kitties, my bathroom and kitchen. . .  you get the picture.  

Chris and I had a long conversation about all the things I needed to remember to pack.  This is an part of the conversation.  

Chris: “So we have to come up with some snacks you can take with you that are highly appealing, easily eatable, and won’t give you heart burn”

Me: “Yes”

Chris: “Wow, what team of scientists is working on this solution?”

I am still laughing.  :)

CH-CH-CH-CHANGES

It felt so good to be able to share our happy news with friends and family!  We are so blessed in so many ways!

As any veteran parent can tell you, having a baby(ies) initiates a cascade of changes, some you are prepared for, some you are not.  For us, being pregnant meant that starting at week 5, I could not stand to look at the kitchen, let alone cook in it.  Any smell, be it cooking meat, the refrigerator, dog food, cat food, or the garbage would send me running to the bathroom.  Chris took over all of the cooking, all of the dishes and all of the food shopping (while I would wait in the car, occasionally opening the car door to throw up).  He has taken over all of these responsibilities- all the while- still managing to work 12 hour days and pay attention to all the animals and his wife.  What can I say, I am a lucky woman.

Chris is not the only one who has has to roll with some changes.  The dogs were getting regular morning runs 4-5 times a week.  Those outings quickly turned into hikes as running became uncomfortable for me very quickly and the outing number decreased to just a couple of times per week (though it hopefully it will pick up again now that I am feeling better).  Our 100lb black lab Rocco has had to roll with some new behaviors too.  Mostly, I think he wonders why his mom is in the bathroom looking in the toilet ALL- THE-TIME.  Whenever I am standing over the toilet, he comes in, looks at me, looks at the toilet, looks back at me, gives a little whimper, and backs out of the bathroom.  Well, the other day, I think he figured out what to do in there.  I was hitting tennis balls to the dogs in the yard.  Once the Rocco had had enough, he picked up as many tennis balls as he can fit in his mouth (2 or 3 depending) and ran toward the front door.  He was done, the balls were in his mouth, and he ran into the house. . . . . straight to the hall bathroom, straight to the toilet and tossed his tennises right on in.  Rocco figured it out!!! This is where Mom keeps stuff now!  It was utterly hysterical!  He is one smart boy!

A heart filed with love.

There are many titles I could have used for this blog post but this one perfectly describes the way I feel (as well as give tribute to my favorite musical!).  Why am I so filled with love?  Chris and I are excited to announce that we are expecting our first child. . . errrrr children, in January.  Yes, you read that right, we are having twins!  Let the words wash over you, I have had many weeks to let it sink in and to stop laughing nervously every time I make the statement. . . twins - 2 babies, dos bambinos. 

Really, this should not have surprised us as much as it did.  We have 2 dogs, 2 cats, and sometime at the end of 2011, 2 babies.  All is right and still in balance in our world.  In fact, when we first found out I was pregnant, we kept joking that the baby was going to throw off the balance in our household and the universe answered back by having there be 2 babies for us to love.  Touche universe, touche. 

Now the details!  Being pregnant was not a surprise, but the twins were!  There are some twins on Chris’s side, but none on mine.  They do not know for sure if they are fraternal or identical, only time will tell. I am just over 11 weeks along, due on January 4^th, but expecting to see our little ones before the new year (not too much before though please!).  We do not know the sexes yet, but we will find out when we can.  The first trimester has been rough!  I have been sick, perpetually nauseous, had major food aversions, and all around not myself for many weeks.  Things seem to be getting better though.  I can think again and I am not huddled over the toilet all the time anymore.  I take that as a good sign.  I have not gained any weight yet but my clothes are all too tight and I am starting to wear maternity clothes.  

We are super excited and could not wait to share our news with all of our friends and loved ones.  The only sad part for me if that I did not get to tell many of you in person.  If I had, you would have been privy to quite a nervous giggle, it was unique!   In all seriousness though, Chris and I are fully ready for what lies ahead.  I mentioned in a previous post that we have lots of love to give, and we both feel that is true now more than ever!  We can’t wait to expand our clan from 6 to 8 in one fowl swoop!  The only question left is, do you think we will all fit in the mustang?  Perhaps with the top down.

Here is a picture from the 8 wk sonogram.  I have new ones from this week that I will post later but this one really says it all. 

More posts and pictures to come now that the silence has been broken!

<3

We are family!

My mom and sister came for a weeks visit!  We had a GREAT time!

We started off the week with a hike up Camelback.

(everyone uses camelbacks on Camelback, even the dogs!)

This hike is not for the faint of heart, but both my mom and Rachel are super strong and were able to conquer the camel!

The views were awesome!

At some points  you are literally siting right on the camel's back.

We made it to the top and took lots of pictures.

And then we headed back down.  I love how Rocco is looking back at everyone to make sure we make making it down the difficult parts ok!

The rest of the week was filled with shopping (lots of shopping!).

Eating!

And relaxing by the pool/hot tub.  

We hiked around the red rocks and enjoyed the desert landscape.  

All in all it was a fantastic visit, I did not want them to go!