11 weeks!

The last two weeks have been very busy- my mom came in town last Sunday and my sister and dad joined us for the weekend. It was so fun getting to spend some time with my family. Mom and I planned out two nurseries and she helped me buy my first maternity clothes. We shopped all day on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday... I have never felt so exhausted in my life by the end of it. It's amazing how much energy it takes to grow two babies. 

I missed week 10, but here is my 11 week update. I will start taking belly pictures very soon!!!

How far along: 11 weeks

Babies are the size of a: Brussel sprouts

Total Weight Gain/Loss: haven't checked lately, but I don't know that I am still in the negatives...

Maternity clothes: not exclusively but I bought a couple of pairs of jeans and leggings last week and they are sooooo comfortable. Regular jeans are definitely out though... Stretch everything!

Stretch marks: Nope... fingers crossed!

Sleep: all the time. If I am not sleeping I am wishing I could be. I went to sleep at 9:30 on my birthday...

Best moment last week: getting to see my family! 

Movement: Not yet.

Food cravings: corn dogs. Seriously.  I cannot explain it. Last week at the mall, the only thing that sounded good was hot dog on a stick. 

Gender: Don't know, but the anatomy scan is scheduled for Oct. 22! 

Labor signs: not for awhile I hope!

Belly button - in or out? In, and I hope it stays that way, for awhile anyway!

What I miss: going more than 2 hours without needing a nap. 

What I am looking forward to: Our Facebook announcement- next week! 

Milestones: Buying maternity clothes!

9 weeks!

Tomorrow I am officially 9 weeks! We had an appointment on Thursday where we got to meet the Doctor and do another ultrasound. It was quick, but we saw two little heartbeats!

I don't know when I am ever going to get over the shock of the doctor showing two heartbeats during an ultrasound. While of course I expected to see them both, I was still somehow genuinely surprised when they were both there, just beating away! My next appointment is Sept. 9, and he said we will do a  quick ultrasound at each appointment because twins can be very difficult to hear on a doppler. I am also going to go to a specialist for high-risk pregnancies starting around week 16. So between the two we should get lots of pictures!!!

Kind of hard to see, but the two little blurs are the babies at 8 weeks 4 days. 

I figure I should go ahead and start doing the pregnancy survey that everyone does on their blog... But it will be fun to look back and see how quickly things change. I haven't started belly pics yet, although I guess I should pretty soon. With two of them in there it probably won't be long before there's a bump!

How far along: 9 weeks

Baby is the size of a: Raspberry! or Grape. Depending on who you ask. 

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I have lost 2 lbs in the last couple of weeks. That's what happens with you survive on saltines and peanut butter toast!

Maternity clothes: No, but it won't be long. I am unashamed to admit that this weekend I bought a couple of pairs of jeggings from Kohls and they are amazing. I am hoping to put of real maternity pants as long as I can. 

Stretch marks: Nope... fingers crossed!

Sleep: Eh. Sometimes I sleep well, other nights not great. Naps are my BFF though- I never knew I could be SO. TIRED.

Best moment last week: Seeing two little heartbeats- again!

Movement: Not yet.

Food cravings: Ugh. I have a love/hate relationship with food right now. I get SO HUNGRY, but then nothing sounds good at all. Yesterday I really wanted baked potato casserole (random), and I can go through an entire jar of pickles or a whole cantaloupe in a day.

Gender: Won't know for a couple of months- Ryan says boys, I say girls. We will see!

Labor signs: not for awhile I hope!

Belly button - in or out? In, and I hope it stays that way, for awhile anyway!

What I miss: Being able to eat normal meals.

What I am looking forward to: Being able to announce it to everyone! It's such a big secret to have to keep for so long! Ahhhhh!

Milestones: Putting away my skinny jeans... I may still wear some of the stretchier ones a bit longer, but they have gotten sooo uncomfortable. Jeggings it is! #Style

I am going to try to blog throughout this pregnancy, as much as I can. School starts back next week and my family is also coming in town, so I will get busier. Please keep praying for Ryan and I and our two little Raspberries- We have quite the adventure ahead!

The shock of our lives

There are a lot of things that have happened in my life that I never saw coming. I never thought I would go to Auburn, marry a man in the military, or move to California. However, I can honestly say that God threw me the biggest curveball of my life his week.

My first doctor visit was scheduled for August 15 (about 9 weeks.) However, this week I was having a couple of issues so they told me to go ahead and come in on Wednesday to check it out. My doctor was out of town, so I saw a Nurse Practitioner. After getting some blood drawn she did an ultrasound. Right of the bat, she was confused by what she saw. She couldn't locate my uterus at first (???) and then she saw a gestational sac but thought it might be outside the uterus (very bad). Also, she could see no fetal pole or embryo inside the gestational sac. According to her wheel of dates I was 7-8 weeks (even though I told her that wasn't right). She consulted with a doctor that I never saw and said I needed to go get an ultrasound done at a digital imaging center with better technology, but that it was likely that I had miscarried and could have a possible ectopic as well. 

Of course this was very upsetting. I hardly slept that night and was prepared for the worst when we went to the imaging center the next morning.

When she started the ultrasound she told me immediately that they sac was in the uterus- very good news. Within a minute or so she was able to see that there was an embryo- and that it had a heartbeat! This was the best news, I immediately started crying I was so relieved. She continued the ultrasound, taking measurements of everything. She started to smile and looked over at Ryan and said "Do you see what I see there?" He started smiling and she said "I do have a bit of news for you... You have two heartbeats" 

IDENTICAL TWINS. 

Babies A & B at about 6 weeks 4 days!

I cannot explain to you the shock of the moment when someone tells you that you are having identical twins. She showed me each embryo and their little heartbeats (126 & 119). Baby A was measuring 6w5d and baby B was measuring 6w3d. 

I kept waiting for the April Fools- I am not the kind of person that has twins. People like Becca Piedra Kelley have twins- not me! 

The rest of the appointment was kind of a blur as I tried to process this information. TWO BABIES AT ONCE? 

That afternoon we FaceTime'd  both of our families and told them the news- I think they thought it was a joke at first. We also decided since we had seen heartbeats we would tell a couple of close friends, so I called my BFFs in Texas and spent the rest of the afternoon googling how to have twins.

While I am still in shock about this, I am also starting to get excited about the journey ahead of us. The best things in my life haven't been in my plans, and I know these sweet babies will be a miracle and a blessing. I will try to keep this updated during my pregnancy- especially once we announce it officially. 

Big news!

 It's been almost 2 years since I have updated this blog- I am here now because I want to use it as a forum to record all of the exciting things that have been happening in our lives recently. A quick timeline of the last month or so:

Week of July 7

JThis is going to sound cryptic, but I could tell something just wasn't right. I was a little emotional I started getting random nausea in the afternoon- I even canceled an all you can eat Korean BBQ Dinner. (Like I said, something wasn't right.) On Tuesday, I bought some pregnancy tests and took one- Negative. By my calculations it should have definitely been positive if I was preg, so I tried to put it out of my mind. 

Thursay morning, I was feeling even more weird, so I took another test- Negative. OK. I decided I was done testing for awhile and would wait until Monday. But, I impatience got the the best of me and Thursday night I gave it one more shot. Within about a minute there was a faint but definitely there line--  I AM PREGNANT! 

After taking a few minutes to collect myself I went into the closet and pulled out this Auburn onesie I bought on clearance years ago. I put it in a gift bag with the test and gave it to Ryan. It was exciting and emotional- but mostly just really hard to believe!

Aunt Alyce after she heard the news!

In the next few days we FaceTime'd both of our families and told them the news. By my calculations I was about 4 weeks with a due date around March 21. I also got to meet up with my sister and tell her in person. I gave her a wine glass that said "Aunt Alyce." She mayyyy have caused a small scene in an Applebees in Camarillo...

During the last 3 weeks i have been pendulating between excitement and panic as we prepare for this exciting addition!!! 

Random Friday Thoughts

Where we spent most of the week... folding all 700 programs!!!

Wow! Where did the last few weeks go? I feel like I say that every blog, but really. My trip to Texas was awesome. It's really amazing how you can get back together with certain people even after a few years, and laugh harder than you ever have in your life. We worked hard, tied a lot of bows, and didn't sleep much, but it was SO worth it! The wedding was beautiful and the reception was a blast. I was so honored to be a part of Amy and Scott's wedding, but I am sad it went by so fast! After the wedding, Scott whisked Amy off to a (surprise!) honeymoon in the Dominican Republic, and I took about a week to catch up on the sleep lost!

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The other exciting news is that I am officially finished with classes for my teaching credential! I will begin student teaching in the next couple of weeks! I am nervous, but very excited to get started!

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So, when I was in college I worked at a store called Plato's Closet. It's a consignment shop geared toward teens & college-age kids. I bought so. many. clothes. A lot of them have been in storage for a little bit, but I pulled them all out this week to have a garage sale! It's funny how memories are attached to clothes. I have the skirt I wore on my 1st day of classes at Auburn, and another skirt that I was wearing on the day I met Ryan. Certain tops remind me sorority socials or fun nights out. I have been in a little bit of nostalgic funk lately... I mean, I left Auburn 2 years ago!? How did this happen? Anyway, now all these fun (and stylish) memories are going to contribute to the "Katie's 25th Birthday Trip Fund," so come shop! 

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I am going to try to keep up with the blogging as much as possible, I have completed a couple of crafty projects (inspired by Pinterest, duh) that I will probably blog about in the next few weeks... Have a wonderful weekend!
-Katie

Texas On My Mind

Holy Cow, how did it get to be the end of July??? I am seriously baffled at where the last few months went.
In March, I flew to Texas for my friend Amy's engagement. I met Amy and her sister Jenifer when I was just a few months old when my family moved to Granbury, Texas. Although my family moved to Alabama when I was just 3, our families (who, while we lived there expanded to include another Duncan sister, Melanie, and my sister, Alyce) remained close, usually making an effort to see each other once a year or so, taking occasional vacations together and such. When I went to Baylor my freshman year of college, Amy was my roommate. Amy and I are about as different as two people can be. She is a morning person, organized and clean. I am.. none of those things. But somehow, we made it work, and ever since then she solidified her spot as my lifelong best friend.

The Noland/ Duncan girls in about 1993 in the traditional lineup.

Again in 2009... the height lineup has changed a little bit over the years...

When I got a tip that her boyfriend, Scott, was planning on proposing to Amy last March and that he was hoping her best friends could be there to surprise her, I jumped at the chance. It had been almost 2 years since I had seem the Duncan family. The trip was short, but surprising Amy and being there with her for this special time is one of my best memories. I will spare you the details of the proposal, but it was epic. (You can read about it HERE... it's a great story.) Anyway, here we are, just 4 months later, and I am days away from flying back to Georgetown... for the wedding! I can't believe it got her so fast, but I couldn't be more excited. Not only do I get to spend a week with Amy and her amazing family, but my entire family will be there as well! When the Nolands and Duncans get together, it's always filled with laughing fits, Sonic runs and Mexican food... I. CAN. NOT. WAIT. I probably will be too excited to sleep Monday night. Eeek!!!

On another note, I am officially obsessed with Pinterest. I got invited to it awhile back, but I was avoiding it because I just don't need another "thing" right now. Well, it's awesome. I used to use a website called I <3 It, which essentially did the same thing, but Pinterest does it so much better. I now want to ignore all of my responsibilities and DIY anything I can get my hands on. I mean, really, I don't know how I have lived without lanterns made from doilies and wallpaper glue! If you are on there, find me! If you want an invite, let me know and I can send you one!

Finally, I am in my final class before student teaching, and we have to design a 4-week unit. My unit is on To Kill a Mockingbird. I hadn't read the book since high school, so I decided to tackle it this weekend. I knew the story, and I remembered enjoying it back then, but I had no appreciation for what a good book it is. I really hope I get to teach it to actual students someday... I would love to give some California students a lesson on Alabama :-D.

So sorry this post got a little long and rambling, but I guess it's my blog so I can write what I want, right? I hope everyone has a wonderful Friday and a great weekend!
-Katie

Blessings & a Prayer

In front of the Neptune Pool at Hearst Castle!

So, I haven't quite kept up with my twice-a-week blogging, so this week I am going to try and make up for it! The rest of our visit with Ryan's family was nice! I ate more than I possibly ever have in my life, including Hitching Post, Jocko's, and Flatbread. On Wednesday we went to Hearst Castle, which is just about 2 hours north of here. We had all been before, so we took a tour of the upstairs rooms of the castle. Then, we were able to wander around the gardens, which were amazing! I wish I could get these people to landscape my yard! We then drove over to Paso Robles and stopped at Jocko's on the way home... YUM!
This week I am busy trying to get a ton of stuff done before going to Texas for the wedding of the year! I am working on my English teaching credential, and I have a lot to do before I can register for student teaching this fall, most of which needs to be finished before August 1. However, it's difficult to focus when I have all kinds of much more fun things I could be doing.

Finally, I wanted to mention something that has been weighing on my heart this week. Keith Martin, a family friend, lost his battle with cancer last week. "Brother Keith," as I knew him, was the music minister at my church while I was growing up. His son, Joshua, and I were very good friends growing up, and daughter Bethany was Alyce's roommate in college. The Martin family is an incredible family, and it breaks my heart that they have to go through this. Keith was one of the most Godly, joyful people I have ever known. There were thousands of people across the country praying for him, and sometimes it's hard to understand why things work out this way. However, please join me in praying for the Martin family in the coming weeks. It is my prayer that they experience an outpouring of love from those who were touched by Keith's life.

- Katie