Baby Shower!

We had our baby shower and got lots of great stuff from our friends and family! THANKS to everyone who came and to those who couldn't but sent thoughtful gifts... We had a great time!


Our spread of food from Tavolo... we had pizzas in the oven, too.


This carrot cake from Greenhills Irish Bakery was the most ridiculously delicious - and HUGE - carrot cake (with real buttercream frosting!) of all time...


A few of our lovely attendees - thanks for coming!


The twins got lots of soft blankets and swaddles and clothes and toys...


IT IS JUST SO CUTE!!!!!


The twins got Cat in the Hat and other books to start their collection!


Future Dad helps out.

THANKS AGAIN!!!

27 Weeks - the Twins are Getting Big!

We're the size of eggplants! Probably around 2lb each, we now have a healthy pink glow thanks to the formation of tiny capillaries.

Really, the pic for us should look more like this:



Of course, Mommy is getting big, too! This month saw her get much bigger. So big, she can rest her (non-alcoholic) drink on her belly...



Everything is going great and we're getting ready for the home stretch - 3rd trimester!

Thanks for checking us out, more news soon...

Pregnant Craving - Extreme Banana Bread

My craving of the month was banana bread, which sounds normal enough however - I have never actually baked a loaf of banana bread before! This pregnant craving needed to be satisfied but the first time I screwed it up... The recipe I used was good (it included buttermilk – yum!), but apparently I overmixed which causes a tougher bread. It was fine microwaved with a pat or Promise on it, but I was aiming for an existential experience.

I came across this recipe for Banana Banana Bread and followed it to a T - with the addition of a few autumn spices. You can always add nuts, chocolate chips or maple syrup!

Just preheat oven to 350 and set rack so that the top of your bread will be in the exact middle of the oven. Grease a 9x5" loaf pan and set aside. In a bowl sift together 2 cups of AP flour, 1/4 tsp salt, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/8 tsp nutmeg. In a separate bowl, cream together (mash it all up with a fork) 1/2 cup (1 stick) of unsalted butter (softened) with 3/4 cup light brown sugar. Stir in 2 beaten eggs and 2 1/3 cup of mashed bananas. 2 1/3 cup took me 6 medium sized bananas – I allowed the peels to become 30% blackish, so I know they're starting to over-ripen and get sweet and mushy...

Stir banana mixture into the flour mixture, and literally ONLY stir 10-12 times around, that’s it. Avoid the temptation to fully incorporate all those lumps, just make sure there are no visible dry flour pockets. Pour into loaf pan and bake for 65 minutes. Insert a tootpick in to a couple of places to make sure it comes clean. I say to do a couple places b/c you may hit a pocket of yummy banana goodness and mistake it for not being done.

No need to nuke the slices or add butter to moisten b/c this bread is so moist and full of banana flavor. My only problem now is that it’s all gone!

Twins - in 3D

We had a cool 3-D Ultrasound done today, you can see our faces!


The boneyard that is mommy's womb.


The boy - cleft chin like daddy!


The girl - with her leg jacknifed straight back, she's very flexible!

Twins at 24 Weeks - Last Camping Trip

The twins are at 24 weeks now, about the size of a papaya! They are moving around quite a bit, pushing and kicking and punching and flipping and flopping around. Their faces are fully formed - I wonder what they look like? And they've developed taste buds! So they can share in Mommy's hot fudge sundaes...

We took the opportunity to take one last "camping" trip as a twosome to Northern New Hampshire to the Dartmouth Second College Grant.



An osprey nest greets you on the way in to the Grant, after the gate at the entrance.

We stayed in luxury this past weekend at the Management Center Cabin - one of the few that has an inside, flush toilet. We needed the comfort of using the bathroom inside - instead of out in the outhouse - as you can imagine.





The cabin was very well appointed with propane lights and fridge/freezer, books and other cool artifacts, a couple of deer heads, a nice kitchen, lots of chairs and tables, and a couple of big wood stoves for heat (that we didnt' need)...





The lands and networks of rivers up there are simply beautiful. We love going up there and exploring - and we can't wait to take the twins with us in a few years!





Of course, we took the opportunity to wet some flies. Caught a few Brook Trout - all released safely.






I had slipped and fallen in the river, note the wet tshirt. Had to dump out my waders...


Self portrait

21 Weeks...

21 weeks! (from thenestbaby.com)

We are gulping down "several ounces of amniotic fluid every day, both for hydration and nutrition and to practice swallowing and digesting."

And, these days, our taste buds actually work! "Studies show that after birth, babies are most interested in tastes they've already experienced through amniotic fluid." So we can taste Mommy's delicious chicken, and well-done steaks, and her beets, and her pasta sauce...

Also at 21 weeks...? The twins have decided to make their presence known.

Apparently the hunger, growing belly and aching back weren't clues enough that I was pregnant... now they have to go and kick me from the inside out. At least they aren't rude yet -- they either aren't doing it when I'm asleep or they just haven't mustered the strength yet to knock me from slumber.



To make matters worse, it seems they are on different schedules. While the dude is making his presence known, little princess is sleeping - and vice versa.

For those of you who are wondering what it feels like in the beginning, it's kind of hard to describe, but here goes. The first couple times, I mistook it for gas, because let's face it, these little shrimps are pushing my insides all over the place and are making me eat all these crazy foods... But it felt like gas with a flutter, and then it would happen in a different place. I felt the little pea first and then a few days later little man joined in the fun, so I knew that this could not be air build-up any longer.

Michael is taking pleasure from listening to my belly -- he swears he hears gurgling and swishing, but I'm sure that it was just my afternoon sandwich and banana.

Halfway There!

Singing... Whoa! We're half-way there! Whoa-OH! Livin' on a pray-er!

At just over 19 weeks, we're halfway home! We're the size of a mango (yum) at about 6 inches from head to rump (probably 10 inches if we stretched our legs out!) and weighing in at ~8.5 ounces each...


thenestbaby.com