We have names!!!!

I had mixed feelings about sharing our names this early, but I feel like making their names known to all of our friends and family makes it feel even more real...plus I'm halfway there! :)

Baby A (boy) is Griffin Bradley 

Griffin is one of the few names that Jacob and I talked about and agreed on! Being in an elementary school setting, it's very difficult to not associate names with other children and I have never known a Griffin! After picking out his name, I found out that Griffin was also Jacob's great-grandfather's name, so that is really special! Bradley is Jacob's middle name and we also knew that we wanted to use it somehow!

Baby B (girl) is Bailey Jane 

Since we tried to start our family for quite some time, I had plenty of time to think of names that I liked! Bailey is one that stuck with me and I just love! Jane is my grandmothers name who passed away when I was 5 years old...we were the greatest of friends even at that age, and I knew it would be special to all of my family if we gave Bailey this middle name! I was extremely blessed with AMAZING grandparents and I'm excited for our children to have that same blessing! Jane is also my mom's middle name, so that is an added bonus for sure!

We had very strict rules for naming our children and I knew that I didn't want one syllable...and Jacob didn't want them to rhyme! After much debating, we got to use our favorite boy and girl names! :) Jacob's biggest criteria for names was that he had to be able to shorten the name (ex. yelling for our child at a sporting event) haha and he thought "Griff" would be a good name to be able to yell out at baseball games! Oh, the things we think of!

On a sweet note, a few clothing items were purchased the day that we found out what they were. :) When I was telling Jacob about them, I said "We got Griffin the cutest little plaid shorts and polo shirt..." and I noticed that he wasn't talking anymore. When I asked him if he was still there, he said that it made him cry hearing me call them by name! It's going to be amazing how fatherhood is going to soften him up! haha

Excited to share their names with you....let the planning begin!! :)

They are.......

Baby A is a........BOY!

Just looking at Jacob's face when the doctor told us that one was a boy was PRICELESS! While I know that he would have been happy with any outcome, I wanted him to have a little boy and I knew he really wanted one too!

Baby B is a........GIRL!

Our sweet little girl! I can't wait to have mommy/daughter dates with her...and I know that she will have Jacob wrapped around her little finger!

Their little heads next to each other!

We had a very exciting and emotional day today! To say that I was nervous this morning would be a huge understatement! I had faith that everything would be good with both babies, but just that little reassurance makes all of the difference in the world! This doctor was able to measure their head, their limbs, as well as check for certain disabilities. Both babies looked perfect and each weigh 9 ounces! He measured their feet and said that they are 1 inch each! So sweet! Jacob and I held hands throughout the whole appointment and as the doctor talked, I found myself being in awe and wiping away tears at different times! The sweetest thing was when he was looking at our little boy and then said "now, lets look at his sister!" Just hearing that made my heart melt and I can not wait to hold these sweet babies in our arms this summer!

I have learned that I will practically live at the doctor throughout this, but that is completely fine with me so that I can see them as they grow and develop! We do have names picked out, but we want to tell all of our family first, so check back soon to find out what they are!

I have been completely overwhelmed at the number of phone calls, texts, facebook messages, etc....and knowing we have such an amazing support system is wonderful...thank you!! :)

Appointment tomorrow!

This is not going to be a long post, but just wanted to share that we have an appointment tomorrow with a specialist at 10:00. We are so excited to see our babies again...and not to mention, we will find out what the sweet babies are! We are praying that they are healthy and everything looks good with both babies! Be looking for a post tomorrow to share the big news!!! I can't wait!! Hard to believe we're about halfway there!

The past week!

This time last week we were expecting snow and the weatherman was right!!! The joy of working in the school system is that we do get out when it snows. I used to love this and didn't mind 1-2 snow days a year...however, the past two years we have had more snow days than normal. This year we have had 5 and I hope that we are finished accumulating those! I have a little different outlook this year because I am really hoping to finish the school year...but if we keep adding days to our school year, that is going to be much harder! :)

This was only after about the 2nd hour of the 6-7 hours of snow!

Wednesday we were out of school and it started snowing around 9:00. Jacob went to work that morning and it continued to now like crazy! Jacob got to come home about 10:30 from work and informed me as soon as he got home that we had to go eat at Waffle House at some point that day! So....we called our trusty friends, who we love, and who have 4 wheel drive and off we went! After that, we headed across town to Greystone where my friend, Amanda's, parents live and did a little sledding...no worries, I just observed and took pictures! As much as I love snow, it was MISERABLE because the snow was coming down so hard and blowing right in our faces...it was as close as a blizzard as I feel like we can get in central Arkansas! :) After the sledding adventure, we went back to eat snacks, chili, and put on warm clothes!

My first friend I made when we moved here who I love very much, Amanda!!

I had as many layers on as I could fit to zip my coat!!

The sledding hill

Friday, I kept one of my best little buddies, Bronson! His daycare was open on Friday, but he told his mom and Dad "no school, I stay with Meme"...and of course I couldn't say no to that! He spent the night with us and we had a great time all day Friday playing, going to visit Jacob at work, going to visit his mom at work, and eating lunch with both of them!

Toy Story 3 with popcorn and Cooper!

chatting on the phone!

We surprised Jacob at work...Bronson LOVES Jacob!

visiting his Mom at work!

You would really think that my house would be spotless and all laundry would be done after being out of school for a few days...but it's not! Every time that I would get motivated, I would clean for 30-45 minutes, then get tired, which is a little bit frustrating! It's worth it though and I figure that I better rest now while I can! :)

I will have to do another post later about Valentines Day and how lucky I am to be married to such a wonderful guy!!

17 weeks!

It's really hard for me to believe that this pregnancy is going by so fast! When we found out and in the first couple of weeks, it was creeping along! Now I am almost halfway there and can't believe it! When I looked at the picture from today, I was shocked to see how big I looked! haha. I don't feel like I look this big in person, but if I do, good grief! It seems like in the past week, I have grown quite a bit...however, according to my doctor, I have only gained 4 pounds in the past month (which I thought wasn't too much haha). Luckily, we decided to get out tonight after our snow days to go each mexican with some good friends, so this picture is not in sweat pants and a t-shirt! Okay...here's the weekly picture...

According to my weekly email, the babies are now around 5-6 inches long and weigh about as much as a turnip! Their cartilage is turning into bone and their umbilical cords are growing to be stronger. They can also move their joints now. Today I have felt like I could feel both of them (I think) because the feelings were coming from both sides and that is what their position is right now! 

I did some cleaning today but I find it a little aggravating to get tired so much quicker than I normally do! Who knows how big I will be by next week! I have for sure enjoyed these snow days to rest! Tomorrow I will try do do a post about our snow day adventures! :)

Appointment

Jacob and I went to our appointment today and it went great! Unfortunately, we weren't able to tell what we're having yet, so that was a little disappointing, but it made up for it to see those two healthy heartbeats! Baby A had a heartbeat of 150 and Baby B had a heartbeat of 148! They are now laying "transverse" as my doctor called it, and their heads are laying on top of each others with Baby A's body going to the right and Baby B going to the left. I love to think that they are cuddling already next to each other! Baby B is for sure the active one...Jacob was gone playing basketball the other night and I had to call him because it felt like the one on the left was flipping constantly! It was a neat feeling! We go two weeks from today to a specialist who will do an in depth ultrasound to check literally everything...my prayers have already begun for that appointment and I just pray that they will both be happy, healthy little babies! We would appreciate any prayers that you want to send our little one's way! That will also be an exciting day because we have pretty much been guaranteed that we will find out their genders that day! The main difference that I'm feeling lately is that I am not sleeping good...at all! I wake up at least once an hour and just worry about rolling over too quickly or anything like that! This has been a HUGE adjustment because I am a stomach sleeper and I typically can only fall asleep if I'm in one specific position, so I'm trying to train myself to sleep differently! It is totally worth it, just taking a little time to get used to!!

To end this post, I thought I would give you a funny picture from my appointment today! As we were waiting, I look over to see Jacob reading this magazine...needless to say, there were no Sports Illustrated to be found!

Haha!!

Grocery Store

I would say that one of the most interesting parts of this pregnancy so far are my trips to the grocery store. Jacob has NO idea what I will come home with and honestly, neither do I! I went yesterday, which was a BIG mistake. I think the combination of Saturday, Super Bowl weekend, and the chance of more snow made every person in town go to Wal-Mart...let's just say that the person in front of me had a total of $698.00!!! I was trying to figure out how they even did that. Anyway....normally I would get similar things each time that I went grocery shopping...NOT ANYMORE! I will go down one aisle thinking I need to be healthy, so I will get string cheese, carrots, grapes, etc. Then, I will go down others and end of with Captain Crunch, ice cream, shells and cheese, etc. Then, I will just decide to make random things...like spinach dip! When I got home this time, Jacob laughed as he helped me get the groceries out, then said "no bread of sandwich meat???" Oops, gotta think about the priorities! haha Luckily, he is able to laugh at me and forgive me!

I have been craving this AMAZING punch that my mom makes, so I bought those ingredients on my trip....I knew I would love it, but Jacob is IN LOVE with it! He drinks it constantly, so I may have to make another gallon this week! I can put the recipe on here sometime if anyone is interested..it's really easy and yummy!

We have our appointment tomorrow if we don't get snow...so I am REALLY hoping for no snow tonight or tomorrow! I always do pretty good after my appointments about not worrying, but a couple of days before each one I start getting anxious and am ready to go see our sweet babies again! It feels like forever since we've been (it's only been 3 weeks), but I think that after the one tomorrow I will start going every two weeks! Good thing that I LOVE my doctor, especially since we will be seeing so much of each other! I will try to post tomorrow night to update about the little ones! It's hard to believe that in two weeks I will be halfway there...considering that 37 weeks is full term with two! :) Can't wait to see them and hear those heartbeats!

Snow Day and 16 weeks!

We got an unexpected snow day today after going to school this morning! Around 9:30, we got the message that we were closing at 10:15. Needless to say, it was a little crazy, but overall went smoothly! Normally, I am all for a few snow days! However, this year I am REALLY trying to make it until the end of the year, so I need this to be our last one! :) After a nice, long nap, I am feeling great...and I woke up to find it snowing again! We're supposed to get snow next week too, so we will see what happens!

I was officially 16 weeks along with our little ones yesterday and am very excited to be able to say that I'm 4 months pregnant! I have been getting numerous emails, texts, facebook messages, etc., requesting a picture (not to mention that my sister, Hannah, calls everyday!), so here it is....it's an AWFUL picture because it was at about 9:00 last night and it's just not the best! Oh well, it will have to do!

16 weeks!

According to my weekly emails, my babies are now the size of avocados! I feel like I have felt them moving around this week, but it's so hard to tell right now! I would have to say that my biggest "pregnancy symptom" right now is EMOTIONAL! Jacob has been great and so supportive, and it's not every day, but when it rains, it pours! :) Doctors appointment next week, and it's possible that we might find out what they are...keeping our fingers crossed! I asked Jacob if he was going with me to this one and he said "You bet I am!" If not next week, we should find out in two weeks! Yayyy...that will make it seem even more real! :) Hope everyone around here is having a great snow day!! Happy Friday!