I love Dr.Seuss!

I have always loved Dr.Seuss......the simplicity of it, his vivid imagination, his ability to be chronically silly and his bizarre, tongue twister rhymes have made a lasting impression on me over the years. When we found out we were expecting twins, I stumbled across the photo online of THING 1 and THING 2 and it soon became my Facebook profile picture and the cartoon I thought of every time I mumbled "Twins" to myself the first few weeks we found out! lol. I had a strong inclination we were having boys and now that I'm certain we are having identical twin boys, I want to get a bunch of matching Dr.Seuss stuff for them. I have attached some photo's of my favorite Dr.Seuss stuff for baby's!

19 weeks preggo with twins

Im 19 weeks preggers today....more than half way for twins! Time see's to be going by so quickly. Im feeling good compared to the first trimester (other than Im always tired, that seems to be a constant) and I cant get over how much slower I walk with an extra 20 lbs on me! (Im normally quite a speed walker). I am 19 weeks and up 20 lbs.....similar to what I was when I was pregnant with my daughter but Im expecting the crazy weight gain in the 3rd trimester along with water retention through the hot summer months. My skin is doing crazy things these days. I never did understand women that look so beautiful and youthful when they're pregnant. I look disheveled, pale and over tired constantly and I still have pretty vivid nightmares and poor sleep from the hormones and frequent trips to the bathroom in the middle of the night (and all day) but on the whole, I dont have much to complain about. In addition, my blood pressure has been great (I have pre-existing hypertension so this is the first time in 7 years I havn't been on any kind of medication to manage it and oddly, it has been perfect thus far). I can feel the boys kick almost daily for the last 3 or 4 days now so that makes me smile! I love that!! I have my next ultra sound on May.11th and Im really looking forward to seeing how much they have grown and developed in the last month and of course get to watch them battle for position on the monitor or kick each other in the head like baby "B" did at the last ultrasound. I have attached some belly pics.

19 weeks Pregnant.....

Cravings: Many...chocolate, Purdy's, eggo waffles with Roger's syrup, raw vegetables/ranch dip.

Weight Gain: 20 lbs

Baby Kicks: Daily for the last 3-4 days

Could do without: the dry, red, scaly patches of skin on my face, the frequent urination, the vivid nightmares and poor sleep, the hormonal mood swings, the husband stressing, lol.

Blood Pressure: Is great!

The NAME GAME!!!! Take our Poll on the far left sidebar!!

We posted a Name Poll on the far left of the Blog for anyone to place their vote.

The name game has gone something like this.....

Chris has loved the name "Cody" since childhood. He is an only child and had a dog growing up that apparently was his "best friend". He says that if he ever had a son, he would name it Cody. A little strange from my perspective....I had a dog growing up too (but also had siblings) but would never name my child "Gizmo" after a childhood pet (even if my pet's name was George). That being said, I have always liked the name Cody so I was in agreement when we had our daughter......now that we have twin boys on the way though, I want to scrap the name altogether for a few reasons.

Chris and I agreed on Cruz and Kingston for quite some time but I really wanted one syllable names and prefer that they both start with the same letter. Then he made it clear, he was still very attached to the name "Cody" and couldnt let it go. I also don't particularly want two names that start with "C" or "K" because Chris, Candice, Cody & Cruz could make it very difficult to spit out the right name...plus, Brooklyn would be the odd one out if the rest of us all have "C" names. This may seem silly to some but these are just my thoughts:)

I also felt that one twin would always rub it in the other one's face that he was the "chosen one" with the name "Cody" because that was daddy's buddy growing up (ie. the dog was named Cody). Chris said, "they will never know where the name came from"....I said, "yes they will because I will tell them"! ha ha...and so will their Nana & Papa. Chris has agreed to let go of the name Cody on the conditions that we name the boys Cruz and Ryder so as you can see, there is a lot of compromising going on. lol. Im still on the Rhys and Ryder combo. though but he simply doesnt care for Rhys and if I insist on Rhys as my first choice, then he will revert back to "Cody" thus making them "Cody & Rhys" *sigh*.....is that complicated enough for everyone!? ha ha.

Candice's Top picks are; Cruz, Rhys (pronounced Reece), Ryder & Silas (pronounced sigh-less) but that being said Chris has "rejected Silas in a BIG way and says Rhys is a "girl's" name!!! Rhys has two different spellings for boys and girls too by the way. As for combinations...I like;

Rhys & Ryder

Cruz & Silas

Ryder & Cruz

Chris's Top Three picks are; Cody, Cruz & Ryder and his combinations are;

Cody & Cruz OR...

Cruz and Ryder

Middle names are chosen already (and are after family members).

*PLEASE VOTE IN THE POLL IN THE FAR LEFT SIDEBAR AND LET US KNOW YOUR PREFERENCE*

17 week ultrasound...TWIN BOYS for us!!!!!!

I had my 17 week ultrasound today and..........It's TWIN BOYS FOR US!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are so excited as hubby and I both had a preference for boys! We have our sweet baby girl and felt boys are what our family needed more so than two more chicklets! ha ha. To be honest, I prayed and prayed for boys but there was still a small sense of sadness afterwards knowing Brooklyn would never have a sister to bond with but I think this is an inevitable feeling because had they been twin girls, I would have felt sadness that she would never have had a brother and I would never know what it's like to love and raise a son. So it was a win-win here....but I do have to add that I thought these were boys ALL ALONG! ha ha.

Our ultra sound today went something like this..............

I laid down on the gurney and the technician started probing the buddha belly and we saw two big heads side by side. The Doctor always sits by the monitor to point things out and to provide information and commented that the twins were very close together and then he asked us, "If we happen to view certain regions or particular parts, are you wanting to know the baby's gender or would you prefer NOT to know?"............."we would love to know!"......a few minutes later after a cross section of Baby A's abdomen, Dr.Farq points at the monitor and says, "and that there is a little Willy!"....we could see it clear as day and burst out with excitement and cheer! A few seconds later Chris and I high fived each other and for a moment, neither of us could speak. We were both teary eyed and just so thrilled!! We just stared at his little Willy in disbelief, ha ha. Of course baby B also has a willy since they are identical! lol. We couldn't be happier! What a journey this has been. The Doctor also said the boys are measuring large but of course that is no surprise (Chris is 6'4" and I am 6"3") and Brooklyn is only 20 months old and she's already 3 feet tall (36")!!!!! The doctor said the boys looked great and were equal in size and the funniest part of the ultrasound was when Baby B bent his leg and then booted his brother in the head....they even printed a photo of it for us to keep, lol.

Due Date:

A little confusion about my due date as my obstetrician's receptionist appears to have screwed up a couple of things. The doctor was a bit confused as to why my ultrasound was booked at 17 weeks today? He said he normally does growth and measurement ultrasounds at 18-20 weeks gestation because the kidney's are more developed and he can get better pictures etc. I told him his receptionist phoned me to book it last month and I told her I would only be 17 weeks on April.13th but she insisted that he bumped my due date up a week since the baby's were measuring a week ahead. The doc assured me she was incorrect and so my original due date remains.....Sept.22nd.....that being said, he also told us that most identical twins will deliver BEFORE 35 weeks which puts us at August.18th. I just hope they don't come the week of Brooklyn's birthday (which is August.14th) because 3 birthday's in one month is a bummer but 3 in one week will suck!!

So Cheers to twin BOYS!!!!

Gender day tommorrow....

I am so excited to find out what these baby's are kicking inside of me! I can hardly contain my excitement....it doesnt matter what they are because it's a win-win situation but I am still convinced they are boys! ha ha. Our ulstrasound it at 12:30pm tommorrow so you will all know by tommorrow night when I find time to blog....after all the phone calls and texts are made to family etc.

preggo dreams/nightmares

I had my first case of "twinsomnia" last night.....the baby's were active all night long. I fell asleep giggling to their baby kicks but then woke up about half a dozen times due to horrific night mares (related to hormones obviously!) and baby kicks. I would have slept through the kicks but the darn night mares that go along with pregnancy are so vivid and disruptive.

I had awesome/steamy/romantic dreams in my first trimester, hee hee. They were wonderful! I remember one where I WON "The Bachelor!", ha ha. I didn't even like the bachelor this season but dreamt he chose me, despite my being married and pregnant with twins, he didn't care..... the bachelor-Brad Womack, chose ME over the Angelic Emily and vivacious Chantel! ha ha. What a joke! lol. I also dreamnt that Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson (my celebrity crush) swept me away on a romantic getaway, hee hee.

By the way, my hubby knows all about these dreams and thought they were pretty funny! lol. Although he does HATE it when I see Dwayne Johnson on the TV time to time and I "ssshhhh-shush" him to be quiet! lol. I think it's hilarious though! lol. Maybe it's because I have met/talked to Dwayne Johnson before and have pictures with him that make hubby jealous...whatever the case may be, I think Dwayne Johnson is the sexiest man alive! ha ha, there I said it!

(I tell Chris all the time he is equally as sexy as Dwayne (I think he is) and that he is the white version of "The Rock" but this doesnt seem to help because he simply doesnt believe me....but I really do see simmilarities....Chris is a dirty blonde with blue-green eyes but has the same sort of lean, chiselled face, nice teeth, long dimples etc.). Anyways, moving on..........ha ha.

4 months pregnant!

So I had a huge weight gain last week and put on a solid 5 lbs in one week which brings me to grand total of around 14 lbs and Im 16 weeks on Thursday. Im not much bigger carrying twins than I was with my daughter a few years ago but Im sure one of these days I will wake up and wonder where my feet went when I look down, ha ha. It certainly helps being tall....more space and easier to hide it for sure.

I had my monthly appointment with my obstetrician today and got to hear both their heartbeats briefly which was nice since the doppler I have at home has failed to pick up even one of the two heart beats.

Im most excited about my 18 week ultra sound next Wednesday though (on April.13th).....I pray the Doctor will reveal the twin's genders to us so I can start planning and purchasing things for these babes! We will finally be able to start the nursery once we know but Im certain I will lose my mind if I leave there not knowing genders. Chris is gung-ho about a hockey themed nursery if they are boys and plans to install wainscoting to look close to traditional NHL boards and plans to paint the base boards yellow and the chair rail at the top of the wainscotting blue to look like a real hockey arena.....with some hockey decals or murals on the upper half of the walls, lol. He is obsessed with hockey but I think it will make for a super cute twin boys room. If they are girls.... well, we have no plans for a theme as of yet! ha ha. I personally think the twins are boys but Chris is certain they are girls because genetically, there is a definite deficit of the XY chromosome in his family (he is an only child too). He has plenty of Aunty's and female cousins but just one uncle. He is surrounded by women and so he expects two more!!!

I have been feeling alright lately and have had some improvement with the exhaustion and fatigue. I havnt had to go to bed at 6 or 7 pm for over a week now, so that has gotten a bit better. I have had chronic headaches this pregnancy though that last for days on end so that has been a pain in the butt. When they get really bad I have to take two regular strength tylenol but usually end up toughing it out as much as I can.

We bought a great glider and ottoman off craigslist yesterday (I'm addicted to Craigslist, ha ha) for the twins nursery and the gal was so sweet and offered to deliver it to my house all the way from Bellingham, Washington. Poor girl got very lost on the way as her GPS took her all over the place and by the time she got to our house, she was almost 2 hours late and then never had time to drive to Vancouver to take her 2 year old to the aquarium (which was the purpose of her trip). I felt so bad for her and her little guy that was stuck in the car for almost 3 hours!!!

1. Photo on the left is 10 weeks pregnant with twins

2. Photo on the right is just shy of 16 weeks pregnant with twins