31 Weeks and Counting!

Here's the latest prego picture and update. I am 31 weeks and 4 days pregnant, but who's counting, right? Ha! I am!

I had another regular doctor's appointment today, and everything is still looking good. Both babies are head down and still vying for 1st position. Are these two going to be competitive or what? Their heads are so close together that it took the doctor a few minutes to figure out where the second head was. They are literally pushed right up against each other and my cervix. But for now, our little girl holds the position of Baby A (first to be born). After measuring my stomach, the doctor said that my body thinks it is 37 weeks pregnant now. Wahoo! But he still thinks I will make it to 36 weeks before these two are born. I'm really ok with that. If we can avoid a trip to the NICU this time, that would be wonderful!

Both babies are measuring well and looking good. They are moving a lot and trying to take over my rib cage. I heard my stomach growl a few days ago, but the noise came from the wrong location. It was just below where my heart should be. That was a strange experience! I guess these babies are rearranging the furniture for me.

Of course the doctor says I should try to stay off my feet and take it easy as much as I can. He's realistic about my having four-year-old twins too, though. I'm starting to feel more tired lately anyway, so I don't need much prodding from the doctor to take it easy. I've been taking a morning and an afternoon nap as of late. Tomorrow I start watching my friend's little girl again, so I'll probably have to cut down to one nap per day. But I can still lay on the couch and watch the kids play. My body certainly gives me cues for when it's time to lay down, and I can't really ignore them. I'm too much of a wimp to power through the pain anymore.

So that's it. I'm hoping we have just about 4 1/2 weeks to go now. My hospital bag is packed, the babies' room is pretty much ready, clothes are washed and folded and put away, diapers have been purchased (and many were received as gifts from fabulous friends!). I still need to pack a bag for Peyton and Maryam, just in case they should need it. But I feel like we are in pretty good shape.

I think we have decided on names too! We are thinking Hunter Anders for the boy and Natalie Catherine for the girl. We found Hunter (actually Hunting) in some Moon family names we did sealings for last Friday night. Anders is also a family name, from both sides. Natalie is a family name, but I can't remember if it came from the Moon or Walther side. And Catherine is my grandmother's name. I'm glad we found names with significance to us (though obviously I need to do a bit more research). I'm hoping these are the right ones. We'll see if they stick. Maryam is still quite attached to Anders as the boy's first name. And she says Hunter is a dog name, since we have some friends whose dog is named Hunter too. Oh well. I guess our boy will be familiar with his first and middle names. He can choose between them when he is older.

P.S. My youngest brother returns home from his mission tonight! He has spent the last two years serving in India. I think his plane landed just a little while ago. I'm tempted to call, but I know he has school tomorrow. Seriously! I hope he's not too jet lagged to start back to college right away. :) Congratulations, Ray! And welcome home!

Baby Names

I'm beginning to feel anxious that we have not yet selected names for the new babies. We have narrowed down a list of boy and girl names, but so far none of them seem like the right fit. Tobin and I have discussed them a little more this week, and I think we are getting closer to a decision now. I won't tell you which way we are leaning yet; I'll just give you the short list of boy and girl names. Feel free to offer your opinions and suggestions.

Boy Names
Anders
Braden
Craig
Dallin
Wolfgang

Girl Names
Emma
Natalie
Katrina
Clara
Hannah
Ella

A Riddle

Next to my night stand there is a stack of books about baby names and pregnancy. Tobin and I were talking about names the other night, so I grabbed the top book, which was a baby name book. The bottom 1/3 of the book was wet; not dripping, but noticeably wet. I checked the other books, but none of them were wet. The floor was not wet, and there was nothing on the night stand that could have spilled on this book. I'm stumped! How does the bottom of the top book get wet when nothing else around it is wet? I asked my kids and my husband if they know anything about it. They don't. Strange!

Where Did a Month Go?

I feel like I posted pretty recently, but looking at the date of my last post, it's been a month. I'm not really sure where the time went, but in some ways I'm glad the time is going quickly. I'm now 29 weeks pregnant. My personal goal is to make it to 36 weeks; that's just 7 more weeks! I'm feeling a serious urge to pack my hospital bag, but I'm making myself hold off until at least the end of this week (30 weeks pregnant). There are still plenty of other little projects around the house that are calling my name, too. The one that seems most pressing to me lately is to clean out my closet. I'm not really sure why this is the most urgent thing to me, but I'll probably make it happen this week--if I can fit it in between naps. I'm feeling pretty good lately. I'm getting more tired and hungry all the time, though.

I've been working feverishly on Peyton and Maryam's baby books for the last couple of weeks. They each probably have ten pages done now. This is another nesting thing. My idea was to finish scrapbooking their first year before the next set of babies is born. I don't know if it will happen, but I'm definitely giving it some effort.

Last night my sister-in-law and my friend threw us a Baby BBQ. We had a good time hanging out with friends and family. They were so generous to bring us gifts, even though this is not our first pregnancy. I wasn't looking for people to bring presents, we just wanted to celebrate this huge event in our lives. We really have sweet family and friends here. I forgot to bring my camera, so we have no pictures to document the event. We had a name suggestion bowl and got some pretty funny entries. We also got a few serious ones. But somehow, we don't seem to be any closer to naming these babies. I'm not sure how that will all pan out. I guess by the time we leave the hospital with them we will have to decide on something.

Maryam and Peyton are being great helpers for me. They let me nap almost every day (while they watch a movie). I know it's not great parenting, but growing babies is hard work! We started reading Charlotte's Web together a few nights ago. They watched the movie two days in a row last week, so I thought I would introduce them to the book. We have been reading a chapter a night, and it's going great! Peyton, especially, is excited to read it each night. I love it! Charlotte's Web was one of my favorites as a child, and I love sharing it with my children now.

I'll try to get Tobin to take a picture of my belly tonight so I can post a current photo. I'm having maternity pictures taken in a couple of weeks, so hopefully there will be some good ones from that to post here as well.