Names & Nurseries

So, we are not sold on the name "Landon". I like it, but neither of us love it. So, we've been throwing around some other names and I have a bad feeling we won't be making a decision anytime soon. & although I'm pretty sure we will, there's a slight chance that we may not go with the name "Carter" either. I have had that name picked out for 9 years! I fell in love with the name when Greg and I started watching ER in our first apartment in Tucson. Noah Wyle's character is named John Carter, but everybody called him "Carter" and I loved it. I decided then and there that would be the name of our first born son. There has never been a question in my mind, it was perfect. It's cute, it's simple, it wasn't common but not too weird. Well, the other night while searching for nursery ideas on HGTV's Rate My Space, it seemed like every other nursery had the name Carter on the wall. I'm really disappointed about this, I love this name and part of the appeal was that it wasn't super common. I can't imagine not using the name now, but I'm going to sit down with some name books and consider all our options before we decide on the names for sure.

The runner up right now for the 2nd name is Anderson. Greg also likes the name Justin, which I like, but don't love. Greg also likes Parker. On my list of names to consider are: Brantely, Brayden (or Braeden), Brandon, Bradley, James, Dylan, Jackson, Harrison, and Sawyer. I guess I'll be spending most of my free time reading name books and going to name websites until we find a few more that Greg and I can agree on.

So, I've been searching for nursery ideas. We're painting the nursery blue and chocolate brown, but I'm not sure how I want to do it. Below are some pictures I found on the internet that will hopefully inspire me.







I only downloaded this one because I liked the black and white pictures in the nursery.








I know I'd like the nursery to be simple and not too "themey" I think it'll be much easier to buy things for the nursery if I'm just looking to match the colors instead of match an entire theme. I also have a tendency to change my mind a lot, so it'll make it cheaper and easier to change out a few things (blankets, mobiles, frames) when I get bored. I know that I want their names in letters over the cribs. I also know that I want to get two black and white canvas pictures, one of each of them and hang them in the room. That's about as far as I've got on the nursery planning. I know I need to step it up, August will be here before we know it.

One last thing. Here's a picture of what my belly looks like now. We've been so lazy about taking pictures and this one is awful. Awful location, awful lighting. But, I wanted to post something, so this will do for now, but it's very motivating for me to take some better ones soon.

We're having.....

Today we found out that we are having TWO BOYS!! I can't believe it. Greg thought it was two boys all along, but I was convinced it was a boy and a girl. But, I am so happy. It didn't matter to me what we were having, I just wanted to know so we could pick out names, start planning on how to decorate the nursery, register, and start buying things. We didn't take many pictures at the visit today. We were both so exhausted. We were up late to watch the season premiere of Glee and neither of us could sleep last night, (me because I was so excited for today's appointment). But, here's the pictures we did take from today's visit.





After I got off work, I went to Target because I just had to buy a few things now that I know that I'm having boys. I picked up a few inexpensive things to hold me over until Greg and I make our big shopping trip this Saturday.



I didn't want to get to many outfits that were exactly the same. I'm going to try and get coordinating outfits, but these were so cute and they didn't have them in any other colors, so Greg convinced me to get two of these shirts. They were only $3.00!



I've decided on blue and chocolate brown for the nursery. I originally looked up green and brown nursery ideas, since I was convinved I was having a boy and a girl. I like the painting in the nursery picture below and I might do something like that in our nursery. Or I might put up chair railing & paint the bottom half chocolate brown and paint blue strips on the top half. It's nice to know what color scheme we're going with now so I can start making some decisions.


**I have no idea who this is, I google imaged "green and brown" nurseries and this came up and I loved it, so I copied and pasted it into my "nursery ideas" folder.**

As far as names go, we have decided on Carter & Landon. Carter is set in stone, but we're going to try using the name Landon for the next couple of weeks and see how we feel. I have a list a mile long of boys names that I love, but Greg is very picky and this is the first one that we've both liked besides Carter. The middle names are going to be Lewis and George after both of our dads.

I'm so excited to start my planning & shopping. I think the next 4 months are going to fly by and I hope I can get everything I want done and still have time to enjoy being pregnant before it's over.

Favorite Things

Some of my favorite things this week:

Warm, sunny weather. I can't get enough! I love having the windows open, spending time on our deck, grilling out, the smell of fresh cut grass, etc.


Southern Living Magazine


The return of Glee. I love this show! Season 2 starts on Tuesday.


"What Southern Women Know (that every woman should)". The first book I've read in 4 months that doesn't deal with pregnancy or babies.


A new playlist for my ipod that includes Adam Lambert's new song "Whatcha Want From Me" Usher's "OMG" Carrie Underwood "Temporaray Home" Taylor Swift "Today Was a Fairytale" Miley Cyrus "When I Look at You" Rihanna "Rude Boy" etc.


We have our next appointment & ultrasound on Wednesday and we'll find out the sexes! I cannot wait. I can't wait to know what we're having and I can't wait to start planning the nursery, shopping for baby stuff, deciding on baby names, etc. Will it be two boys, a boy & a girl, or two girls? The suspense is driving me crazy. Wednesday cannot get here fast enough.

Spring

Spring is finally here and I could not be happier. Although it's still chilly and we're having some rainy days, the nice sunny days seem to fall on the weekends, which works out great. Last weekend I planted all my herbs and tomatoes in little starter pots in the house and they've already started to come up. I can't wait to move them outside when it gets warm. I also planted some pretty flowers in our deck pots and put mulch in the front yard. My hyacinths and tulips are really starting to come up. I can't wait until it's warm enough to have our windows open.

We're in the process of finishing out basement and Greg has done such a great job. He's been working really hard to make sure it's completed by the time the babies arrive. We're so lucky to have great friends that have come over time and time again to help him complete it. Thanks Bill, Dave, Chris, & James. He couldn't have got this far without your help. All he has left to do is finish painting, lay the carpet & tile, hang the doors, and do the molding. I can't wait to have it done because as soon as he's finished with that, we can start on the nursery!

We had our 16 week check up on March 17 and everything was fine. We have our next appointment on April 14 which is when we will find out the sexes! I cannot wait. I want to start buying things, but I want to wait until we know. 2 1/2 more weeks!

Today Greg and I, along with some friends of ours, went to get on the list to be a Bone Marrow donor. There are two, sweet, 8 month old twins in our town that desperately need this transplant, so a local church set up a testing station at their annual Spring Fling where people could go and have their cheek swabbed to see if they're a match. It normally costs $50.00 but the fee was picked up by the church for each person who would go get tested. Once you're tested, you get on the list to become a donor for anybody in need and you stay on the list until your 61. I'm very excited about the possibilty to be able to help somebody else out in this way and I really hope that somebody that was swabbed today ends up being a match for these twins. For more information on how you can become a match, go to http://www.marrow.org/ .

Sweet Friends

What a great week. Thanks to my sweet friends, Emily and Elena, I have already started my collection of baby stuff. I'm so excited.

I work with another pregnant girl, Elena, who is about 2.5 months ahead of me. She is pregnant with a little girl and already has a 2 year old boy. Over the weekend, she went through all of her boy stuff that her son has outgrown, bagged it up for me, and brought it to me at work on Monday. I could not believe how much stuff she brought me! Her entire trunk was packed full of clothes. She has such great tastes in clothes, so I could not wait to go through it when I got home. We had to take a picture, there are clothes all over the couch, floor, etc. and the biggest bag of them all isn't even unpacked yet. I thought that was so sweet of her and am so thankful for all the cute little clothes, shoes, blankets, etc. that she gave me. She also gave me a baby farm animals lamp, since that's the theme I'm considering for the nursery. So sweet!

Please excuse my outfit, I'm so tired after working all day that I just come home, pull my hair back and put on the most comfortable, warmest outfit I can find. That sweater is 15 years old! No joke, it's from the 1995 World Series! But, it's so comfy, I can't part with it.


My friend Emily told me as soon as she found out that I was pregnant that she wanted to get me something that she loved when she had her son, Aiden. I wanted to wait until I was 3 months along before I bought anything, so she waited too. When I texted her from the doctor's office about my ultrasound and that I was having twins, she wrote back that she is now sending my present. I expected it to be an item that she found extremely helpful, maybe a book, a boppy, a certain brand of pacifer that she liked. So, imagine my surprise when I open my package and find this:


A VERA BRADLEY DIAPER BAG AND BOTTLE CARRIER!! I am so excited. I love Vera Bradley but I don't own a single Vera Bradley item. *I've always hoped my sister who has tons of Vera Bradley items would think of me when she gets tired of a pattern and gets new ones, that she could pass her old ones on to me. I know you're reading this Caroline. ;)* I cannot believe she got me this! I can't wait to use it. Thanks so much, Emily.

I've had a great pregnancy (besides being exhausted) but something I'm definitely having is cravings! All I want is homecooked, southern meals. Anything that my mom or dad made when I was growing up, anything Paula Deen, etc. So, I'm trying some new recipes and I'll post the ones that turn out good on here.

Finally.

So, we can finally announce that I'm pregnant and due on September 1st. I didn't do a great job at keeping it a secret, but I didn't want to officially announce it on my blog until I was 12 weeks along and after my first ultrasound, which was Wednesday February 17. I've been looking forward to this post since I found out I was pregnant.

I'll give you a little background on the first 3 months of my pregnancy first. I found out on December 27th that I was pregnant. I had been having dreams a few nights before that I would take a test and it was positive, so I finally took one and it was. We immediately went to Target to get a test that said "Pregnant" or "Not Pregnant" because I was paranoid that I was reading the first test wrong, that maybe there wasn't a line there. And all the tests said positive. The next day I went to Tennessee to my grandpa's funeral. I was so torn on whether to tell my mom or not. I thought it'd be so nice to be able to tell her and my sister (My dad was in Afghanistan) in person, but I was afraid that it wouldn't be appropriate to tell her considering the reason we were down there. But, Greg convinced me (it didn't take much) to tell her when I saw her. So, when I got a chance to get my mom and sister alone, I told them the news. When I got home, I e-mailed me dad, and then we seemed to spill the beans to most of our friends and family. Before I got pregnant, I swore I would not tell anybody until I was out of my first trimester, but I should have known that I could not keep it a secret.

I was exhausted the entire month of January and the beginning of February. If I was not at work, I was on the couch. I did not go on the internet, go shopping, go out to eat, etc. I just laid on the couch and watched tv or slept. I just didn't have any energy. I experienced a little nausea, but not too bad. Some days were worse than others, but overall I did pretty good the first 3 months. Now I only get sick to my stomach when I'm hungry, and all I have to do is eat something and I'm find and I'm starting to get my energy back, which is nice.

Anybody who knows me knows that I will worry myself to death about everything. And the pregnancy was no different. I was worried I'd be having twins, they run on my dad's side of the family, I was worried, that I wasn't actually pregnant and it was all in my head, that I'd miscarry in the first trimester after telling so many people, etc. So, at my first appointment I expected some of my worries to be alleviated, but it was kind of a disappointing appointment. The doctor did not walk in and say "You are officially pregnant" which I was hoping to hear. It was a very non-eventful appointment. He told me my due date, which I already knew, I work in a doctor's office and that was the first thing they did when I told them I was pregnant. He did an exam. I asked him if I felt 8 weeks pregnant, because I knew if I was pregnant with twins I'd feel like I was further along. He said that it was hard to tell, but everything felt about right, which was not very reasurring.

So, I've been looking forward to my 12 week appoinment and first ultrasound so much that I could hardly sleep. The ultrasound tech that we were scheduled with has been doing it for over 20 years and is very, very good. Although we don't find out the sex officially until April, she can predict the sex very accurately. She's only been wrong a few times, so when we went that was what we were expecting- to see that there was in fact a baby in there, that there was only one, and what the sex would likely be. Greg was hoping for a boy, so that's all he was thinking about.

Before my ultrasound


I bought a new outfit for the appointment and brought our good camera because we knew we'd blog about this and we wanted pictures to remember all of it. So, the day finally arrived and I was laying on the exam table with everything brought up on two big screens, the ultrasound tech pulled up the picture and before she said anything I gasped, she said "Do you see what I see" and Greg screams "A penis?" (because he was obsessed with finding out if it was a boy" and she said "No, it's twins". AHHH!!! I started crying and Greg just sat there in shock. After about a minute, I got myself together and looked at the picture again. They were so cute. It's was so scary and I was in quite a panic but it's impossible not to be calmed by the sight of our two little babies. She told us that "Baby A" was most likely a boy, she didn't have any doubts and then that "Baby B" looked like a girl, but "Baby B" was not cooperating very well, and when she'd reposition the ultrasound tech was like "Well, maybe she's not a girl". She was never able to get "Baby B" to cooperate and pose like "Baby A", so it looks like one will most likely be a boy and we're not sure abou the other one. We'll find out offically at 20 weeks, which is around April 14th. I cannot wait to find out. A girl and a boy would be great, but of course we'd be happy no matter what.

After we found out it was twins.






Greg has been very calm since we found out, for the most part. He did panic a little when were were in Babies R Us this weekend and he was realizing that we are going to have to get two of everything, but overall he's been very calm. If I start to panic, he calms me down. I think that I've been doing pretty good as well. I'm so excited, we wanted two kids anyways, now it's just happening a little different than we originally planned. Because of our initial shock, we did not take pictures like we wanted to on Wednesday. I did get one before we found out and then two after, but we were just in a daze after the ultrasound we didn't do much of anything besides call everybody we knew. Our doctor is great, he's a perfect match for me. He's calming and soft spoken. He could tell we were a bit panicked and just went over a few things and assured us everything is going to be okay. Each baby has their own placenta and own umbilical cord, so as far as twin pregnancies go, I'm the lowest risk, which was very reasurring.

My next appointment is March 17th and my next ultrasound will be around April 14th. I realize that this post was very long, but not only did I want to let everybody who I haven't talked to know what was going on, I wanted to document the last 3 months for myself so I don't forget all these details. I won't have 3 months worth of info to post anymore, so my next posts will not be this long.

WW Recipe 2 for 1

I bought this great Weight Watcher cookbook called "Now and Later" which gives you recipes that can be used in two different meals. You use the leftovers from the first night to make a seperate recipe the next night. I love this time-saving idea. The first recipe that I tried is an Italian-Style Pot Roast and the leftover are used for "Philly cheese Steak Sandwiches" The pot roast smelled so good all day, and I couldn't wait to try it, but when we finally did, we were disappointed. It was very, very bland. I'm not sure what it needed, but it definitely needed something, but the Cheese Steaks were delicious. I have another recipe "Mexican Rice & Chicken" which you use for "Sante Fe Wraps" which I will be trying another night this week.

Italian Style Pot Roast
Points: 7
Serving: 2 slices of beef with about 1 cup sauce & vegetables

Ingredients
* 1 (2 1/2 pound) bottom round roast, trimmed
* 3/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
* 4 red potatoes, quartered
* 2 onions, halved and sliced
* 1/2 cup dry red wine or low-sodium chicken broth (I used chicken broth)
* 5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
* 1 (14.5oz) can Italian-style stewed tomatoes
* 1 1/2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning
* 1 (8oz) package sliced fresh mushrooms
* 1 (9oz) box frozen, Italian green beans, thawed


1. Sprinkle the beef with 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and the pepper. Spray a large nonstick skillet with nonstick spray and set over medium-high heat. Add the beef & cook, turning occasionally, until browned, 6 minutes. Transfer the beef to a 5 or 6 quart slow cooker. Place the potatoes around the beef.
2. Add the onions to the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Add the wine/broth and garlic; bring to a boil. Boil 1 minute. Stir in the tomatoes and Italian seasoning. Pour the mixture over the beef and potatoes. Top with the mushrooms in an even layer. Cover and cook until the beef is fork tender, 4-5 hours on high or 8-10 hours on low.
3. Transfer one-third of the beef to a container; transfer 1/2 cup of the mushrooms and 1/2 cup of the sauce to a seperate container and let cook. Cover and refrigerate up to 3 days for later use in Philly Cheese Steak Sandwiches (see recipe below) Cover the remaining two-thirds of the beef loosely with foil, reserve and keep warm. Transfer the potatoes to a bowl and reserve.
4. Add the beans and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt to the slow cooker. Cover and cook on high until the beans are crisp tender, 15 minutes. Add the potatoes. Cover and cook on high until heated through, 5 minutes. Cut the beef across the grain into 12 slices. Serve with the sauce and vegetables.


Philly Cheese Steak Sandwhiches
Points: 8
Serving Size: 1 sandwhich

Ingredients
* 3/4 pound reserved cooked beef, 1/2 cup cooked mushrooms, and 1/2 cup sauce from Italian-Style Pot Roast
* 1 green bell pepper, thinly sliced
* 1 onion, thinly sliced
* 4 french rolls, split
* 4 slices fat-free cheddar cheese

1. Preheat the broiler
2. Thinly slice the beef. Spray a large nonstick skillet with nonstick spray and set over medium-high heat. Add the bell pepper and onion; cook, stirring frequently, until crisp-tender, 6 minutes. Stir in the beef, mushrooms, and sauce. Reduce the heat and cook until heated through, 2 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, place the rolls, cut side up, on a baking sheet. Broil 5 inches from the heat until lightly toasted, about 30 seconds.
4. Spoon 3/4 cup of the filling onto the bottom half of each roll. Top the filling evenly with the cheese. Broil until the cheese melts, 1 minute. Top with the top halves of the rolls.