Live, Laugh, Love with The Hill's: December 2013

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Merry Christmas!

It is hard to believe that this was our first Christmas home in 3 years, it was our babies first "unofficial" Christmas, and we have our family here, in upstate NY, to its entirety. It is hard to believe we have been home for a week and a half already, and I will be sending Brayton back to St. Kitts, alone, in 9 days and most likely won't see him again until we are parents. It is also hard to believe that we come home and its been right around 0 degrees and we have an inch of ice covering everything!

The past two years for Christmas we were in the Caribbean, spending our days in the sun, and napping in preparation for J'Ouvert. This year, we spent the day wearing fleece pajama pants, burrowed under blankets in front of the pellet stove keeping warm, while opening gifts with our family. While it is a tough trade out, I am so thankful to be home!

The ice storm we were so blessed to receive last week is still lingering on all the trees and wires as the temperatures have not risen above 30 since we got home. Later this week it is expected to warm up, so maybe the ice will melt! It is beautiful out though! The dogs are adjusting well to the cold, lots of visitors and tons of attention and I am very happy with their behavior and adjustments as I was a bit nervous! They love their new winter coats and cuddling up on their new beds by the fire!

Life is good in Upstate NY and we are looking forward to our baby shower, visiting with more friends and another week of being together before the final semester of vet school, the last 3 months of pregnancy and anxiously awaiting the arrival of our baby girls!

Pictures tell the best stories.. Here it is!

Dec 21st Belly Bump! End of week 23

Ice Storm - Dec 2013!

Nevi was a happy dog when she finally got a nice fleece lined dog bed!

Since our dogs aren't allowed on the furniture, Mom has been lying on the floor with them! Spoiled <3

Christmas Eve - Representing the Matching Jammies (I am missing from this picture), sleeping/snoring Dad and Dogs and endless hours of games!

Brinley found Christmas Eve cuddling to be difficult... Mouth open, snoring away!

The hated selfie... Babies "first" Christmas Eve!
24 Weeks

Merry Christmas from the Puppies!

My favorite gift from Lyndi - Mama backing with girls charms and a turtle! <3

She didn't like my scarf

Prince Charming

Lyndi and Travis

Bitty and Dad

Christmas morning is exhausting!

The soon be to married couple! (also my sister and Brayton's brother.. keeping it in the family!)

Precious Puppies

Babies "first" Christmas Morning! <3 24 weeks, 3 days.

How far along? 24 weeks and 4 days
Maternity clothes? I might be in love with maternity clothes!
Stretch marks? So far, so good!
Sleep? I am sick of waking up so much, but I splurged and bought myself a Bump Nest Pillow and I cannot wait for it to arrive!
Miss Anything? Being allowed to lift/carry things on my own without getting reprimanded!
Anything making you queasy or sick? Not a thing!
Mood? Happy, but dreading sending Brayton back to St. Kitts
Weekly Wisdom? Rest and relax while you can.. or at least that's what I am doing!
Looking forward to? My body pillow arriving and my baby shower Sunday.
Total weight gain/loss? Still around 17-18 pounds
What’s new this week? We cleaned my parents basement where all of our stuff is stored and starting sorting out and organizing baby stuff. Hard to believe we will have two babies small enough to fit all the cute clothes!
Measurements? 45 1/2" at the belly button
Best moment this week? Celebrating Christmas at home for the first time in 3 years and being with family and friends
Movement? Lots of movement!
Food cravings? No
Gender? Still two girls
Labor Signs? No
Belly Button in or out? In for now!
What is the baby up to? According to Parents.com and WebMD Pregnancy and Baby Center, babies are almost a foot long but their bodies are filling out proportionally and they'll soon start to plump up. Their brains are also growing quickly now, and their taste buds are continuing to develop. Their lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help their air sacs inflate once they hit the outside world. Their skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon. Babies are about 10.5-to-11.8-inches, weighing about 12.7 to 20.8 ounces and every week they get closer and closer to being ready to survive (and thrive!) in the outside world. This week, babies have basic control over all of their senses: hearing, touch, taste, smell, and vision! If all goes as planned, approximately 3 months from today, we will be having babies!!!!

Thursday, December 19, 2013

100 degree temperate changes...what?!?!

We are officially back in America. We left St. Kitts on Saturday, Dec. 14th. Assuming the airport could be chaos trying to travel with Nevi and all our bags, we got there about 3 1/2 hours before our flight left. As we learned throughout the day, flying first class has many benefits. One of the benefits is not having to wait in line and getting to cut right to the front in the first class line! With that being said, we were checked-in, through security and waiting in the airport within about 45 minutes! We had no issues with getting Nevi (who was registered as a Service Dog - Emotional Support Animal) through and she was such a great dog! Our flight from SK to Charlotte was perfect - made it just in time and had no issues.. Another benefit of flying first class, comfort! Space! Meals consisting of shrimp cocktail, salad, beef, macaroni and cheese, ravioli and raspberry cheesecake for dessert make it so worth it! Nevi curled up on the floor with a blanket on her the entire flight and was perfect! She loved looking out the window and saying hi to everyone. We also get to be the first on and off the plane and our bags are marked with priority. Our layover in Charlotte was only an hour and a half, so making it through customs and immigration was a concern, as well as hoping our flight wasn't delayed or cancelled getting to Syracuse. Mother Nature was on our side and our flight to Syracuse was right on time. We made it through immigration and customs and to our gate with about 10 minutes to spare before boarding. The flight to Syracuse was quick and we were finally home! Mom and Dad were waiting for us in the airport, and Nevi was NOT excited about being asked to pee in the freezing cold, snowy world we brought her to! She pranced on the sidewalk and quickly leaped into the truck! Our ride home was snowy and blowy but we made it safe and sound, just as we had hoped!

Good Bye St. Kitts!!

Watching the sunset from the Sky.. Simply Beautiful!

Brayton's First class dinner

Leann's first class dinner (with a big bump bulging into the picture!)

First Class Dessert

Nevi - Sleeping on the plane, enjoying her first class blanket and floor space

It's a rough life being a service dog!

Checking out the snow as we landed in Syracuse

Sunday was our day of unpacking, visiting, relaxing and a few visitors. Mom made an amazing ham dinner and it felt so good to have a nice, home cooked, American meal!!!

Monday was the day we had been waiting for since we found out we were pregnant, finally seeing an American doctor! We had another full anatomy scan appointment with an ultrasound tech which was about an hour long. It was amazing to finally see them move and feel them move simultaneously. Post ultrasound we got to meet with Dr. Spadola, who is the ob/gyn we will hopefully be doing all of our delivery and q/a stuff. She spent at least an hour talking to us, explaining the practice, the delivery process, and answering all the questions we haven't had answered in the past 22 weeks of our pregnancy! So far, everything is perfect, the babies both look great and are weighing in at about 1 pound 4 ounces each. Dr. Spadola said with this type of twin pregnancy, if they are healthy and ready to go, we will schedule an induction at 37 weeks! That means only 14 more weeks until babies arrive! It was very reassuring to hear that bed rest is not something that is recommended or done unless absolutely needed and that there is no evidence showing that a c-section has more benefits than a natural birth. Hopefully all goes well, and we will have a natural birth around March 24-25th.

It has been snowing and below zero here since we got home and it is beautiful out - but truly COLD! The next few weeks will be extremely busy with us being home for the first time in 20 months, and Brayton only here till January 4th but I will do my best to try to keep up with the blog!

How far along? Mid-week 23
Maternity clothes? FINALLY!! It was so nice to come home, and have a bunch of maternity clothes that actually FIT! I am so much more comfortable!
Stretch marks? Not yet and in need of getting myself to Watertown to get some good belly cream!
Sleep? Our big king size bed and being home is making it much easier!
Miss Anything? Being Warm...
Anything making you queasy or sick? Nope
Mood? Overall, it's been good!
Weekly Wisdom? Count your blessings and be thankful all day, every day
Looking forward to? More American Doctor appointments
Total weight gain/loss? According to the doctors scale on Monday, +17
What’s new this week? We are finally back in America, enjoying the winter cold, snow and seeing American doctors.
Measurements? 44 1/2"at the belly button
Best moment this week? Being able to feel definite kicking and movement, and Brayton being able to feel the babies kick from the outside.
Movement? Lots, mainly when I am sitting or lying down. A lot of rotating and kicking/punching
Food cravings? Nope
Gender? America confirmed, 2 girls!
Labor Signs? No
Belly Button in or out? Still in.. but barely!
What is the baby up to? According to Parents.com and WebMD Pregnancy and Baby Center, their sense of movement is well developed and babies can feel you dance. Now that they are more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about the size of a large mango), you may be able to see them squirm underneath your clothes. Blood vessels in their lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that your baby's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing her for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as your dog barking - probably won't faze them when they hear them outside the womb. Babies are about 11-12 inches long and weigh about 1 lb 4 oz (weight is according to the doctors Monday)

A few pictures from the ultrasound- the girls weren't showing their faces!
and....
My pictures this week are awful.. Hopefully we will get some good winter ones in soon!

Monday, December 9, 2013

Time Flies When You're Having Fun!!

It has been two weeks since my last update, so my goal of staying on top of things, quickly slipped through the cracks, but I swear I have a great excuse! Last week on Wednesday Joedy arrived, so we have been busy exploring the island! It was really great to get one more visitor to the island before heading back to America! Before we moved here, everyone claimed they wanted to visit, and what a great excuse to come to the Caribbean... Well, aside from my family, my mom a second time, and Joedy - we haven't had any visitors! It was nice to show her a piece of our life here, as this has been a huge part of the people we have become and will be!

Joedy arrived Wednesday, the evening prior to Thanksgiving. Due to the insanity of flying to St. Kitts from Northern America, she had been in the airport and not slept for a day and a half, and we were all ready to crash! Thursday was Thanksgiving, our third on the island, and it was really great to have family here to celebrate it with us! Brayton of course had school all day, but we managed to have breakfast at the Marriott (because of COURSE the power was out the entire first night), spend some time at the beach and cook up a great Thanksgiving meal! A wonderful holiday celebration!

Since it was the week before finals and Brayton still had classes, he spent a lot of his time going to classes, studying, studying and studying! I am also in my final two weeks of my two grad classes, so I had to spend some time doing school work. Luckily, we were still able to get plenty of beach and sun time!

Our week consisted of eating at many of the local restaurants, snorkeling, swimming, beaching, pooling, site seeing, island touring, cooking great meals, and relaxing. It was great to have a distraction from the lack of existence of my husband that happens during finals week and gave me a great reason to spend my days by the pool!

Saturday marked my one week mark left on this island... as much as I am ready and excited to move home, this place has been home for two years and I feel that it has made Brayton and I a stronger couple and better people, and I will forever be grateful for the experiences we have had here - good and bad! I am starting to get a bit sad about leaving (never thought I'd say that!) but as I told my sister just the other day, "One thing living here has REALLY reminded me is that we often bitch and complain about so much, and everything comes to an end and as we look back and recollect, we wish we would have just enjoyed the ride a bit more... CERTAINLY one lesson I have learned and will do better at in the future!" I think leaving may be a bit less emotional, if Brayton was staying home with me but we have to do what is best for our family right now!

It is hard to believe, this pregnancy is more than half over already! We will be moving into 22 weeks on Monday, meaning we have anywhere from 14-18 weeks remaining if all continues to go well (hoping about 16 weeks!).

How far along? End of week 21(today begins Week 22)
Maternity clothes? Certainly looking forward to them as many of my shirts no longer cover my belly and my wardrobe is quite limited! Luckily I've been living in a bikini the past week and a half!
Stretch marks? Not yet, and hoping the loads of sunscreen i've been using help to give the bump some extra moisture!
Sleep? Cannot complain too much - looking forward to a KING size bed!
Miss Anything? Having more than 2-3 clothing options!
Anything making you queasy or sick? Notta thing!
Mood? Been pretty good! Feeling a bit emotional about leaving SK, my dogs flying and sending Brayton back here... but those would be there, pregnancy or not!
Weekly Wisdom? Lately, everything I have been doing, I think about what it will be like to do with two babies... So, I guess my wisdom would be enjoy leaving the house with just you!
Looking forward to? Winter weather
Total weight gain/loss? My scale at home, after a BIG dinner, says +14 lbs.. um, YIKES!
What’s new this week? Pregnancy wise - just getting bigger! Life wise - enjoying the island and taking in the sights that I often overlook as I show Joedy around and prepare to leave.
Measurements? 42 1/2"at the belly button
Best moment this week? Starting to feel what I think is more distinct kicking, and enjoying the island!
Movement? I keep feeling little 'bam-bams' that I assume are little kicks or punches, and can definitely tell they are moving around! Hard spots all over the belly from the outside, that soon go soft! So cool! <3
Food cravings? Nope
Gender? Two, already spoiled, baby girls!
Labor Signs? No
Belly Button in or out? It is almost flat already.. still in, but not for long!
What is the baby up to? According to Parents.com and WebMD Pregnancy and Baby Center, the babies are about 3/4 of a pound and 10 1/2 inches long. This week, babies are developing body fat to help keep them warm (they don't need that now, but they sure will in a week ;-) ) Babies may start practicing martial arts, so movements may become more distinct and you may be able to start to put together their schedule! Babies eyebrows and lids are now present as well and their female parts are starting to form.

I have a lot of pictures from the past couple weeks - some of the island, some of Nevis, some dogs, some random and some of the ever-growing bump - all in no particular order!