Babies on the way...we covet ur prayers...will update ASAP

TRIPLETS!!

That's a funny word, isn't it...triplets. Anyways.

So, how was everyone's Christmas? Ours was fabulous! On Christmas Eve, David got off a half day and we spent the afternoon just chilling and watching the Muppet's Christmas Carol. I love that movie. (And have had all of the songs stuck in my head since.) During the movie, I hear a fire truck pretty close by and turn to David and say, "Gosh, I hope everybody's house is okay." The fire truck starts getting louder...and louder. I walk out the front door to see if I can see it. Sure enough...it's turning right down our street...headed directly to our house...lights flashing, siren wailing, horn blaring. I look around to see if I see smoke. Not our neighbors. I think, "Is OUR house on fire?" Then I see none other than SANTA CLAUS!! He's on the ladder...waving! So, I run back inside and tell David "It's Santa!" He, of course, thinks I've gone crazy(er) and is like..."Uh...okay." And I grab him and we go outside. Santa and his truck do a nice three-point turn in our cul-de-sac, wave to us, and head on their way...visiting the rest of the neighborhood. Seumas was ecstatic, because, as we all know, dogs love Santa. (Please excuse the mess in the house and the multitude of blankets laying around...it's "so cold" in the house that everybody but me just HAS to have a blanket...I think it feels fantastic. Oh, and, we don't have kids yet...so yes, we talk to our pets like children.)

Later that night, Sara and Jeremy came over and we had breakfast for dinner...my favorite...and watched Four Christmases. The three of them played Red Steel...which was quite amusing.

Christmas Day, David and I slept late. And we made a breakfast casserole and cinnamon rolls (tradition). Soooo good. Then, we opened our presents to each other! Yay! David did a fantastic job! He always knows exactly what I'll love. My favorite gift was this fancy pants make-up package he got me along with a makeover and spa day for after the girls are born. Ahhhh...cannot WAIT for that. To feel like a girl again...instead of a circus freak. And I think I did a pretty good job for him. He seemed happy. :) Later that afternoon, we went, along with the rest of the town, to see Sherlock Holmes with Jeremy and Sara. That was a GREAT movie...highly recommended. Since we're all about tradition, we ate supper at a Chinese restaurant and sang fa ra ra ra ra.

Saturday morning, we got up early and started preparations for Christmas lunch with my family. They drove up to spend Christmas weekend with us. We had a wonderful lunch, if I do say so myself, and then opened up gifts! We headed to see The Blind Side...another fabulous movie, had supper and sadly, the family headed to their hotel and left Sunday morning. But, we'll get to see them again soon enough!

Sunday, we undecorated the house and put everything back up in the attic. That's always sad. I hate doing that. But, my house is clean and the mantel and fireplace are normal again. Hoorah! Since we had already seen two movies that weekend, we decided to see one more, just for good measure and went and saw Avatar with Zack. That was a great movie, too. The music was incredible. And, of course, the animation was superb. And how pretty is Sam Worthington. Yessir. The girls thought so, too, because they kicked the ENTIRE TIME. It was either that or the gummy bears Zack brought for us. We met up with Malinda for supper and then headed on home.

Whew...busy, but awesome Christmas holiday. It was definitely different this year. First time since I was born that I haven't been home for Christmas. But I know we'll be there next year...plus two.

No Christmas babies. I'm fine with that. I didn't have time to have babies this year. Didn't fit with my schedule. I have an appointment on Thursday...New Year's Eve...so, we'll see what they say then. I still can't decide about the natural vs. c-section dealio. I change my mind about 73 times a day. No lie. I ask Dr. Mac every single time to just tell me what to do. And he always pulls the whole, "Well, I can't tell you what to do. That's a decision you have to make for yourself." And I'm like, "COME ON! Be a man! Just tell me!" It takes me 30 minutes to decide between two washes of blue jeans. And this is a tad bit bigger of a decision. I don't know. I think I might flip a coin. I'm kind of hoping that when I go in, it'll be something like, "Ruth, all of our medical instruments are in the dishwasher. You're going to have to do it naturally!" Decision made. OR, they'll be like, "Ruth, none of the doctors on call have ever delivered a baby naturally, we'll have to do a c-section." Decision made. No, wait...neither of those sound fun. Ah, nevermind. Just kidding, God. Just a joke...please...don't let either of those happen.

To be honest, I'm to the point that I'd be okay with a toddler delivering the girls. I don't care who does it or how it happens, just get them out.

Christmas Eve Eve

My buddy Whitney blogged the other day about her experiences as a child during Christmas and it got me to reminiscing about mine. She mentioned how, one year, her mom dipped their dog's paws in ink and let him run up and down their tiled hallway...and she sprinkled hay down the hall...and to any kid, that's a reindeer in the house right there. So cute! We didn't have a dog growing up...well, we did have one at one time. But, thanks to Noah, we had to give her away to a farmer. Thanks, Noah.

So, we didn't have reindeer in the house. Although, the Easter bunny did leave paw prints up and down the hall when he would drop our baskets off at our doors (Mom cut out a bunny feet stencil, sprinkled flour over it...voila!) Who knew the Easter bunny was actually made of a magical white dust. We would always insist on leaving him carrots...because, duh, that's what rabbits eat...haven't you read the books. But for some reason, in our house, the Easter bunny really just liked cookies and chocolate. Very odd. Also, Santa's reindeer liked cookies and chocolate, too. We didn't believe our parents, because I mean...it's a rabbit...and reindeer...why wouldn't they like carrots? So, one year, they let us set out cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer. When we woke up, ALL of the cookies were gone, but the carrots were only nibbled here and there. Well, that answered our question. Who knew? From then on, it was just chocolate and cookies for the reindeer and Easter bunny. We also attempted to leave out milk. Santa never drank much of it. So weird...my parents hate drinking milk, too....that's odd.

Months in advance, we'd start preparing for Santa's arrival. Of course, we were on our best behavior, because Santa knows a lot. Christmas was, and still is, my favorite time of year. Just like Whitney said, it's completely magical. The second that Thanksgiving was over, it was like CHRISSTTTMAAAAAASSSSSSS. We would decorate the day after, Mom would put on Christmas music, we'd (help) decorate the tree...which took FOREVER, but we didn't care, cuz it was awesome. Sometime in December, Mom and Dad would take us to the mall to see Santa. We'd wait forever in line...the silly, snotty nosed, whiney kids in front of us. They'd cry and cry and cry...and then when their parents would say "Alright, nevermind then," they'd cry even more. You couldn't win with those kids. Sara and I would look at each other like, "Amateurs." We knew Santa. We knew he'd never hurt us and yeah, his beard was creepy and he smelled a little too much like peppermints, but he was a good guy. He'd always ask, "Have you been behaving this year?" "Of course." "Are those your parents?" "Yes, sir." "Have you been obeying them?" "Of course." "Have you been doing good in school?" "Always." "Well, sounds like you've been good this year. Let's have it...what do you want?" "Okay...here goes......" And we'd list off our needs for Christmas that year. We'd hug him. Then Mom and Dad would put baby Noah in his lap for a picture and that was it. The parents would always ask us on the way home what we asked Santa for. I never quite understood why we needed to tell them because Santa already knew, but out of respect, we would tell them exactly what we told Santa.

Our local newspaper and news channel would have Santa Sightings and we'd watch on the news as the weather radar would pick up an "unusual object" flying across the sky...RIGHT over our town. SAAAAANNNNNTTTTTAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

I could never sleep at all the night before Christmas. We'd have to go to bed at maybe 7:00 pm...way earlier than normal. Sara and I would usually sleep together and she slept just fine, so it was just me, apparently. I'd "wake up" at like 4:00 am and I'd wake her up and we'd try to listen for something, anything. Santa was quiet (or already in bed). We'd drift back off to sleep...and finally wake up for good around 6:30-7ish. We were given explicit instructions to not get out of bed until Dad came to get us. The hall door was shut, so we couldn't see anything. When Dad came and knocked on the door, we'd bolt up and wait, huddled by the hall door, while Dad went into the living room to set up the camera. Then, when we got the okay, we'd lunged our bodies through the doorway, without really waiting for the door to open all the way. I never realized this until much later in life, but Santa never wrapped our gifts. We always had our sections in the living room that he would put our presents. So, when we saw A Christmas Story for the first time, I always thought it was weird that their gifts were wrapped and under the tree. I always tried to picture how Santa set up our presents and how he always remembered which couch was mine and which was Sara's and when the boys got to experience Christmas, which place on the floor was theirs (they got the floor...ha). Santa was pretty smart. One year, he got us a trampoline. That booger set it up outside...so ingenious. You know, because he knew Mom and Dad wouldn't let us jump inside. It was so magical and special and I loved loved loved Santa. I loved the Easter bunny. I loved the Tooth Fairy. She had the prettiest handwriting. She always left us notes. Tooth Fairy, how did you put money under our pillows and not wake us up? You're really good at that.

Oddly enough, I'm horrified of all three now. The long Santa beards are CRAZY. I like the short, real ones. The idea of a GIANT bunny is terrifying (ever seen Donnie Darko?). And the Tooth Fairy is insane...don't watch Darkness Falls.

I don't remember how old I was when I asked Mom if Santa was real...she'll say I was 15 and that I cried for weeks. But mi madre es loco. Would you trust this person?

In truth, I was much younger (maybe 14) and I cried for about 10 minutes because then Mom explained that we would get to help Peter and Noah experience Santa and that seemed like a lot of fun to me. Santa was such an important part of my childhood and I cannot WAIT to share that joy and magic with the girls.

As special as Santa and all of the other mythical (real) characters were to me growing up, my parents never ever ever ever replaced the true meaning of those holidays with stories of St. Nick or Easterbunnyland. Every Christmas Eve, my Dad would sit us on the couch and we'd read the Christmas story...the real one. Every Easter, we'd read the Easter story. Santa and the bunny were just small, separate parts of very special holidays. My parents would even read verses to us about love during Valentine's Day. We never were confused by any of it. And we never put the myth above what was really important. And when Santa faded away from our childhoods, we knew it was just something that was fun and temporary and we looked forward to one day sharing that with our kids. But Christmas is still there. Santa's gone, but the reality that God Himself sent His only Son to be born among us in the lowliest of conditions...only to one day give His life for us, completely undeserving of it, without any hesitation...is still there and always will be. That beats out any chubby guy in a red suit that can fit down chimneys.

Have a wonderful Christmas Eve Eve! I'm going to go decide what type of cookies and chocolate the reindeer will like when the girls get older. I'm pretty sure they'd prefer those over vegetables.

A Typical Monday Night

Last week, my Bible study group decided we wanted to all get together one more time before Christmas because we won't start a new study until maybe February. Brandi and Tris suggested a new restaurant in town that had been open maybe right at a week. So, last night, Tris (bless her) came and picked me up and we met up with Cara and Brandi at this fabulous new joint. Tris, Brandi and I got there a little bit early. We're outside, walking up to the restaurant...the front was floor to ceiling windows...and I hear Tris say something about, "Hey, there's Richard Blais." But, apparently, my brain did not process this information. So, I look through the window and right by the hostess desk is a guy with some super spikey mohawk hair...and I think to myself, "Hey, that looks like the guy from Top Chef...the one that should have won." And then I stop Tris and Brandi and say, "Wait...that IS the guy from Top Chef." And they're like, "Yeah, that's him! This is his restaurant." So, of course, I become all flabbergasted like, "Did y'all know he was going to be here? What is going on? This is craziness!" (I LOVE LOVE LOVE Top Chef and that was my favorite season, btw.)

I'm already all fidgety. And if you know me, you know I don't deal well with celebrity encounters (almost getting hit by Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick's car for example.) I just kind of spaz out. Tris and Brandi, cool as cucumbers, walk into the restaurant straight up to the hostess desk and Richard just stands there smiling, welcoming us in. I'm right behind them...eyes wide, smiling buck-toothed like an idiot, just staring...and Richard just casually asks us, "How was the traffic coming in?" Well, Tris and Brandi explain to him the traffic situation outside and roll into a lovely conversation with Richard about parking and about how he had to park far away and walk and how Tris and I didn't really have a problem getting here, etc. All the while, I'm peering between their shoulders...just laughing and smiling like a goon. I'm also trying to figure out, "Is that really him?" He lost a LOT of weight...and looks great! Anyways. So, he was like, "I'll let you guys get some food and I'll see you in a little bit." Like...we were BFFs.

Well, the hostess told us she couldn't seat us until our entire party arrived, so she had us wait in this little area. All of a sudden, it seemed like the entire city arrived and decided to dine with us...it filled up fast. There were a ton of people around us. The three of us are just chatting about our fun adventure with Richard Blais and lo and behold, we see this spikey hair meandering through the crowd towards us. It's Richard, again. He said, "While you guys are waiting, I brought you an appetizer, on the house. It's tempura fried okra with a white truffle and Ranch dipping sauce. Kind of like a fancy redneck cousin dipping sauce." We all laughed and said "Wow, thank you!" and he started walking away, but came back and said, "Not that I was insinuating you guys have redneck cousins or anything." We laughed and said, "No, yeah, we do." We laughed again...it was a funny night...and he headed back toward the kitchen. Gosh...that okra...that dipping sauce...gracious alive...amazing.

Cara arrived shortly after and we told her about everything and how he was like our best friend now. She tried some of the okra and we stood around and talked some more. We were waiting for a booth because they were more comfortable and quiet than the family style table in the middle of the restaurant. And, it took a little while to be seated...but Richard kept coming back to the hostess desk asking why we hadn't been seated yet. Aw, he loved us. Finally, we were seated...we ordered our food and kept chatting. Well, I'll be...Richard comes back and asks how everything is. We asked him about what burger was his favorite...what side was his favorite...he said, "Well, it's all good. And my favorites change all the time." He gave us a few recommendations. Then, we asked him about the N2 milkshakes. The ones on the menu for that night were foie gras (blended duck liver), pistachio and white truffle, s'mores, and Krispy Kreme. Cara, I think, said she was "intrigued" by the foie gras milkshake and he really liked that. So, we asked him to explain it to us...like, did it really taste like duck liver. And it was like we were Padme, Tom Colicchio and what's her face (the slightly annoying one)...he told us allll about the tastes of the shake and that it was like almond and vanilla and milk...and the liver just added to the fat of the milkshake. So, we told him we would try it and he said if Cara didn't like it, he'd bring her something else. (Oh, and this whole time, I was like vomit gagging all over him...just staring and smiling. I interjected a few words and sentences, but most of them made no sense.)

We get our food...OH. MY. WORD. I ate my whole sandwich...I got a Po Boyger (tee hee)...it was...well, amazing. All of our food was incredible. These perfect little gourmet burgers and sides.

Also, during this time...the girls are explaining the whole how this restaurant came to town. Well, former football player Jay Barker and his new wife, country singer Sara Evans asked Richard to build one and they would finance it. Cara mentioned something like, "There are a few kids here..." jokingly adding, "I wonder if they're Jay and Sara's kids." Then, we notice that they're playing normal music, but on the big screens behind the bar, there was some CMT stuff going on. We thought that was odd, because it wasn't really a country kind of place. Then she goes, "Wait...I think they really are here." Sho nuff...seated right a little ways down from us sits Sara Evans and Jay Barker. And how about Sara had the cutest hot pink purse. And yes, those were their kids.

We get our milkshakes...I got s'mores, Tris got pistachio and white truffle, and Cara got foie gras. And we all shared. You know what...they were GOOD! I mean...REALLY GOOD. Of course the s'mores was good...graham crackers at the bottom, incredibly rich chocolate, toasted marshmallows...what's not to love. The pistachio was delicious. And the foie gras...who would have thunk? Very very yummy.

This is Cara trying the foie gras.

"Hey...it's not too bad, actually. Rarraraghagharrahg, it's delicious!"

On the way out, Richard rushed to the front and shook our hands goodbye. Of course, the ONE TIME I don't bring my camera...I asked the hostess to take our picture with my phone. I asked, "Would you take a picture with us?" He said, "I would absolutely love that! But I get to be in the middle." He even held the door for us. So sweet. So, here we are...L to R...Tris, Cara, Richard, Brandi and GIANT MEGARUTH.
It was a great night! So much fun! When I got home, I just threw up everywhere...so much pent-up excitement. (jk) But yeah, if you are related to someone famous or just know someone famous...don't introduce me to them. I will literally lick them, steal something from them or do something ridiculous. I can't help it.

A Collection of Monday Random

So, thank you guys (girls) SO much for your help with my dilemma last week. Y'all are absolutely the best and I really really really appreciate it. Apparently, childbirth is not really like what it's like in the movies. Huh...you'd think I would have known that...seeing as how most everything else in movies is completely realistic and believable. Oh well. I have come to a decision as to what I'm going to do...that would be Option C. I firmly believe that in the next 2-3 weeks, someone will invent a way to actually teleport the babies out onto one of those rolly bed things...all squeaky and clean. And that's what I would like to do. So, I'm holding onto that.

We took Seumas to get his hair cut on Saturday. Petsmart really does a great job. Santa was there and you could pay $10 to have your dog's picture taken with him. I THOUGHT about it, just because it was hilarious, but $10 is a lot for one laugh. We've been calling him Tiger Dog...he's a black brindle, but when he's shaved, he looks like a reverse tiger. So cute. And he smells like a sugar cookie. I don't know if that's their Christmas scent or what, but it's a new smell for us. He smells good enough to eat. David and I discussed what our pets would taste like. We decided Seumas would taste like a shepherd's pie and Blue would taste like ash, because she has a withered and maleficent soul. No worries...we have no plans for eating them.......yet. Mwaah ha haaaa. jk.

David dropped me off at the shoe store so he could "run an errand." Wouldn't tell me what or where, but I didn't care...I got to go to the shoe store. I walk in all giddy...head straight for the purses. Meh. Disappointing winter selection. I head back to the clearance section...found three pairs of fabulous shoes. Thus begins my Angryfest. First of all, it took me FOREVER to take off my tennis shoes and try on a pair. I couldn't bend over...I couldn't lift up my leg. I was getting so hot and flustered...I had to take off my jacket. And all three pairs were too small...I'm assuming it had to do with my HOBBIT MEAT FEET. So, I put the shoes back and wobbled to their regular section...trying to find something similar. All they had were dumb shoes...so I left and went to the bookstore to wait for David. I got a vanilla Italian cream soda and I felt much happier. Stupid shoes.

So, I thought that our neighbor had bought out the entire Christmas decoration section with which to fill their front/side/back yard...I was wrong. Brandi and Shane's neighbor wins that award. You were right, Brandi. We drove by and I thought, "Gracious alive...it's a MASSACRE! All of those poor deflated inflatables....the slightly creepy figurines...the 9,391 lights...but really, it was the inflatables that made for a sad sad story. I counted about 79 of them. Their poor grass probably hasn't seen the light of day in weeks. I wanted to take a picture of it, but the Griswolds were out and about in their yard and that might have been a little obvious. Now, I'm fine with inflatables...2...maybe 3 tops...set up in some kind of organized fashion, but geez, save some for other people to buy. Christmas is a time of sharing...and not doing that to your yard.

Our new favorite Netflixes...flixis...flixeses...is the House TV series. How fabulous is that show? I love medical mysteries...and Hugh Laurie...mrreoww. Now, whenever David complains about being cold in the house (it's not like it's 62...well, okay, it is), I just turn to him and say, "Differential diagnosis, people." Tee hee. I guess it is a little chilly in the house. I'm sorry, people who have visited me during the winter months. It feels wonderful. I can't help it. I DO turn the heat up when people come over, though. I suppose I didn't realize how cold it was until the other night when we were watching a movie with Zack and Malinda and the two of them and David were snuggled under one blanket on the couch and I'm sprawled out, completely comfortable, in the recliner.

Growing up, my mom would do the days of Christmas surprise goodies for us every morning. Before the brothers came along, she did this Santa and Mrs. Claus chimney...and every day, Sara and I would pull out a drawer on the chimney and there'd be a little fun prize in there. Then, when the 'rents ordered the boys, Mom started doing bags. Kind of like an advent calendar type of thing. We loved it! We'd run into the kitchen and grab the bag with the correct number of days left before Christmas. Sometimes there would be toys, sometimes candy, sometimes fun school supplies...all sorts of stuff. As we got older, Mom would put more "grown-up" stuff in there...like socks and bigger candy and movies, etc. She would even make us bags for us to open in college. This year is Noah's last year for bags since he's a Senior. It was a tough year for us, too, Noah. Sara and I had to transition to the "years without the bags." Peter's got a few more years, lucky thing. So, this year I was talking about how much I missed the bags and how much I couldn't wait to do that with the girls when they got old enough. And guess what sweet little Davey did for me this year...he made me my own set of bags to open every morning. I know it's sad, but I literally wake up and the first thing I think of is "BAG!" I run into the dining room, where he has them sitting...waiting for me...I find the right number and rip into it. I literally am a 5-year old. I would have been taking pictures for you, but they usually have candy and I've eaten that within 2 seconds of opening the bag. He's also thrown in some Lisa Frank goodies (which I LOVE). This morning, I got stickers, candy, and a sticky notepad that says "A is for apples, B is for baby, C is for cat"...three things that are awesome. It's just so much fun. Sigh. He's a sweetie.

OH, btw, World Market has all of their Christmas stuff on sale at 50% off. I got some cuuute stuff on Saturday. But don't come to the one here...there is an old lady who will EAT YOU ALIVE if you get in her way. I was looking at ornaments and she was on top of me the whole time. I gave her a few dirty looks, but they didn't seem to affect her. I'm like, "Back off, Old Lady Magoo." She shook her cane at me. I tripped her. I wasn't proud of it, but it had to be done.

Oh, thank you guys for your sweet comments about the nursery. I'm soooo glad you like it! It was a LOAD of fun to do. I'm kind of sad now that it's done. Except not, because it took forever. Thanks, friends!

Christmas is Friday!! Can you believe it?? Just yesterday it was July. Blast this time vortex...always throwing my sense of seasons off.

34 Weeks

Yesterday, the gals and I started our 34th week. Whew! The date Dr. Mac wanted us to make it to. Now, we're just going one week at a time to see how we do. I had an appointment yesterday. Sweet sistah came and picked me up and took me and David was able to meet us at the hospital. We had another growth measurement ultrasound thingy...took for.e.ver. The girls are all kinds of twisted and squished in there and she couldn't figure out who was who and what belonged to who...whom. So, she finally just did a guesstimated measurement. At this stage, one baby should weigh between 4.5 and 4.75 pounds. Well, my little chonkers weigh roughly 5 pounds and 5 pounds 15 oz. Of course, once again, I was like...what about the weight difference? She said it was perfectly normal and they had both gained weight proportionally since the last time and it was incredibly rare for twins, even identical, to weigh the same at birth. Relief.

Then, I met with the nurse, who weighed me...50 pounds total so far. I think she should have subtracted about a pound and a half, though, because I had on heavy shoes and jeans...but whatever.

Then, we met with Dr. Mac. He said he couldn't be happier with the girls' progress and that they were doing great, etc. And I'm like, well, yeah...they're super stars. I asked again about the weight difference and he reassured me everything was totally normal. He did say that if their weight difference increased by a good bit more, they might take them a little earlier than planned, but he didn't foresee that happening. So, I'm just praying they kind of start matching up a little bit. But, all in all, it was a great check-up and everybody's doing great! I have +1 edema, he determined after looking at my legs/ankles. I'm assuming that means I have semi-cankles. Awesome. But, my blood pressure is still really good. The range has been 110/70 to 120/80. I can totally control my BP. I can raise and lower it at will...like those airplane pilots. I'll teach you sometime how to do it.

GIRLS ONLY!!!!!!!!! If you're a guy and you read past this, you have been warned and you have no one to blame but yourself. Here, look at these pretty pictures to keep yourselves occupied, while the girls keep reading...

So...Dr. Mac sprung a surprise exam on me...one of THOSE exams...and wanted to check for dilation. I am dilated 1/2 a centimeter...which is like pansy dilation, but still...a start. He did the whole check-up...it was ugh...and then tells us that he thinks we can make it to 37.5 weeks...January 11. He also said he thought I was an excellent candidate for a natural birth. (Just to clarify...when I say "natural", I mean the normal way a baby comes out WITH an epidural. I just say "natural" instead of using the "v" word in case some dumb boy read past the warning.) After a good little talk about how you have to be 100% interested in doing a natural birth with twins because "it's an adventure" and you can't go into with the thought of "well, I'll give it a try and see if I can do it"...like, you have to be hard-core into it...he kind of looked at my face and said, "I'm just not seeing that you reaaaaaaally want to do that." And I said, "Well, I know that natural births are easier on the babies and of course a much quicker recovery for me, but I'm afraid I'll get in there, have one naturally and then still have to have a C-section to get the other one out and I really don't want to hurt in two places." And he said, "I've done over 100 twins births here and never once have I ever had to section the second baby. I always get them out the same way." So, that was really comforting to hear.

But, he said..."Let's tentatively schedule a C-section and if you go into labor before then, alrighty!" So, he looked at his calendar and asked what a good day would be and we picked January 8!! Elvis Presley's birthday. Not that I care about Elvis...it was just ironic because that's David's nickname in my family. January 8 is also a Friday and I wanted either a Thursday or Friday so it'd be easier for my family and his family to both come. He said if I changed my mind about the C-section, we could still keep the date for an induction and just let me see if I went into labor naturally or they'd induce then.

So, that's my dilemma...I don't know what to do. Sure, I would love to do it naturally. But I've watched a lot of Baby Stories on TLC and those women with the epidurals suuuuure seem to be hating it and not much better off. Is it really still that bad, even with the drugs? What would you do? I feel like I'm pretty tough...I'm just afraid of not having the endurance to get through it. And also, if I go into labor on my own, what if I get a doctor who's not Dr. Mac and he gets one out naturally, but can't get the other out and has to do a C-section anyway? Is the natural way really bad? If you were in my place, what would you do? Less pain now with a longer recovery or more pain now but shorter recovery? Agh...it's a huge decision. I have no idea and it's bothering me. I don't care about a C-section scar...you can take them out through my face if you want...it's really just the pain that scares me. And stitches/staples...aaaaaaaaaah...it's worse than the dentist. I can't even look at stitches. I'm pretty sure I won't be able to see them anyway, what with the flap o skin left over, but still. I'll know they're there. But, then, what if I have to have an episiotomy? Ouch much. So, my lady friends (that sounded sketchy), you guys have to tell me what to do. I would appreciate it if you'd make the decision for me. Thanks in advance.

Le Babies Room

And here is the girls' room. They should be very excited about it...they have no choice, really. They'll be stuck in there for a loooooong time (given the time it took us to get it painted...15-foot ceilings is not fun...what am I complaining for? I didn't have to paint it. Thanks again, Sara, Jeremy, Noah and Davey.)

Is it sad that I just got a little bit chilly and I turned down the volume on my computer to lessen the breeze? Wow.

Anyways.

Here is what the room used to look like...our office/exercise room/random sitting area/recording room/whatever room.

And here is the room in transition. I found a picture in a magazine that had this plantation-ish beaded board and I fell in love with it. Well, your local home improvement store sells it for $1 million per square foot, so I figured...shoot, let's do a faux beaded board. We painted the wall white and got a whole bunch of 1 x 2" wood...sticks of wood...long pieces of it..."one by twos"...whatever you call it and cut them and painted them white and nailed them into the wall. Ta daaaaaa - $150 plantation beaded board. They did such a great job. I DID sand and paint the wood, though, and I ordered everybody around...so I DID help.

Jeremy and David did such a good job of sawing...a month before David got his power saw. Oh well. It was good for them.

Sara and her face helped us get through the day.

Noah and his hair o' wonder assisted David.

David, you looking for a stud? Silly, there's one holding onto the stud finder!

And here it is...finally finished. (The green is showing up different in every picture...it's basically an avocado green.)

This bookshelf is filled mostly with sentimental stuff. I plan on expanding their library, but we've been reading them sci-fi books for now.

Here are those pictures I showed y'all last week. Along with two empty frames I found...one at an antique store and one at the beach made out of recycled metals.

That's my naked little self when I was born.

The piggy banks and Ireland bears my grandparents gave the girls. The little flip thing is a Bible verse-a-day calendar that I've had since I was a little girl. The Uncle Sam saying "howdy" in the back was David's piggy bank when he was a little boy. It reminds me of the Voltar machine in Big.

My mom gave me this antique fan and I love it! Totally works. But, as Sara found out (even though I said, "Don't put your fingers in the blades", it really really really hurts if you put your fingers in the blades. Doesn't it, Sara?

This was David's dad teething ring when he was a little boy...passed on to David.

David's dad first cup...passed on to little Davey. So sweet.

David's first pair of shoes...look how tiny!

My grandmother (on my mom's side) can literally be in a desert and find a four-leaf clover. No lie. She ALWAYS finds them. And she's given me these over the years...and I pressed them and dried them out and I thought the girls would like to have them one day. And that precious Two Peas in a Pod frame is from sweet Brandi.

A few of their books...Skippy jon Jones was given to us by Billy and Beth several years ago...because it's about a Siamese cat, like Blue. And the book behind that "Two is for Twins" is from Eric and Tris...the book I kept calling "Two is for Things" and never quite understood why. The wicker box is filled with games from when I was a kid...like Tiddlywinks.

This is the only stuff on their level. I think I'm going to move the "F". All soft and sweet play things in the big basket and blocks (from my childhood) in the small one.

We wanted to decorate with letters...so, I found whatever I could.

The changing table. An antique table I found for $150 at the antique mall and talked them down to $50...what what! And the shelves underneath that David built for me. Tris and I had a conversation about this earlier this week...I don't have to strap them down on the changing pad, right? I mean, it's not like it's Test Track at Disney World. I mean, it's big enough to change an adult on there.

I know it won't always be this neat...but I can enjoy it for now.

Some more letters.

Some of our pictures from Charleston and Bermuda...where it allllll started. All frames from yard sales and on sale at stores...painted. And the DTR...for David and Ruth Tannenhumbisherobertsonisham...good luck whitepage.com-ing that, creepos.

This is a chaise lounge/couch thing we got at World Market (does anybody else call it Whole Foods sometimes? No? Just me? You're all liars) a few years ago and it was in the room before and I didn't want to get rid of it, so we managed to make it work. And it provides a sleeping place for the first few weeks of no sleeping and up all nighting with the babies.

My sweet friend Audry made the girls the green and orange square blankets on the sides. The white and yellow blanket was David's when he was a baby.

My wall of random stuff.

This tin jar belonged to my great-grandmother...it used to contain talcum powder (I think). The silver piggy bank was mine when I was little.

My grandmother made me this doll when I was a baby. She used to smile, but the stitching came out...now, she's always just kind of indifferent.

Little figurines I've collected over the years. My sister gave me the glass horse when I turned 13. Malinda brought me the little black dog back from Italy.

The girls' first fingernail polish...oooh, I need to pack that in my hospital bag. We're going to paint Piper Lee's toenails orange and Harper's green at the hospital, so we'll know who is who.

Yay for diapers!!

Some more letters...and because I adore the movie "Up." That really wasn't the reason...I just ordered a bunch and I got a "U" and "P".

The girls' hair salon...created by the very talented Jenny.

I adore their crib. We're putting them together for the first few months...they said we could probably make it about 6-8 months before needing another crib.

For their pear hats that Senia made them...already packed in my bag to bring them home in.

Miz Di gave me this several years ago...I thought it was perfect in their room.

My diaper bag. David refuses to carry it (I wouldn't have made him), but thankfully, Tris and Eric gave us a more manly diaper bag for him to use. It's gray...with skulls and guns and dirt and stuff.

Our fabulous (faux) sheep skin rug....thanks again, Mom!!

Oh...so very soft.

They already have more clothes than I do.

Look at the tiny shoes!!!

And the rest of the diapers in the garage.