Life since the end of August

Well, clearly this will probably be a (very) long post. I hope that you can hang in there until the end :)

Before I get started, I wanted to share with you how twins are made, in case there were any qustions...Ha ha :) My mom sent that to me last night and I thought it was too cute.
Ok... so, let's see.... You may remember from a previous post that we went to the lake in August with our friends the Byingtons, Cowarts, and Schaefers. It was so much fun and we were excited b/c it was one of the last weekends before we started our new journey together as a couple :)
The next weekend, we had our Sunday School Social at the Nicholson house, where we played Battle of the Sexes with rousing games of Taboo and a trivia game. The boys won. We let them.... of course ;o)At this point, Josh and I had already given up alcohol and sushi (for him, it was just until I got pregnant)... and I'd already started eating like I was pregnant, just in case I got pregnant didn't know. Plus, I wanted to go ahead and get in the habit, since (hopefully) I'd be doing it for real very soon! This, of course, included milk fats in real ice cream ;) It was the least I could do for my future baby(ies)! Then, Joshy caught the Swine Flu... and apparently growing up at his house, when he was sick, they would bake.... so he made us biscuits from scratch! YUUUUM! Of course, he washed his hands a lot and stuff.
A few days later.... (Sept 2nd) we went to the Dollar General to pick up some pregnancy tests. Even though it was a little early (I hadn't missed anything yet, wink wink), and those tests were not designed to perform that early.... I got a little trigger happy and took one anyway. This is what I got.What? You don't see the line to the right of the dark line???

HA HA HA.... Well, it is there, but it is the FAINTEST line that you will ever see in your life! It was so faint that I called Josh in to look at it. I didn't know if I was just imagining one there because I wanted it to be there so much. He saw it, too. (Thank goodness, I wasn't losing my mind.) Little did we know that my ability to put a line on that test 5 days before my missed period meant that there were LOTS of hormones in there b/c there were 2 babies! I actually mentioned that little fact to Josh at the time, but then we both just chalked it up to the test just doing its job and detecting the pregnancy hormone. Either way, that line was not enough for us.... so we took my $5 off $20 purchase and $3 CVS coupons and bought some digital tests. No more guesswork! THIS is what we saw.... :)...and this is what we did. Josh was SO proud. I was so relieved and grateful! I still couldn't believe that I wasI'd waited for this my whole life!!!...and it was finally here :) So, that weekend, we went to the lake with my family and told them the good news. They were a little caught off guard b/c they did not even know we were trying, but excited nonetheless! Some of my extended family was down there (including baby Braegan -see pic) and it was really hard to not tell them yet! (We wanted to wait until we'd gone to the doctor and heard that everything was ok, first.) A week or so later, Josh's mom came to town and we told her. She was thrilled! (She bought some sparkling grape juice to celebrate.) Then, we called Josh's dad and he was so excited, and actually said he'd had a dream a few nights ago that I was pregnant. Crazy!A week or so later, Aunt Grace sent Baby G a package! What a great surprise! It was a pair of boy socks, a pair of girl socks, and a set of winnie the pooh pacies. She also wrote him/her a sweet note. Aunt Grace was calling Baby G "Gentilly" at that point because it was the size of a lentil.The next week, I took a belly pic or 2... at 7 weeks, for a comparison picture for future belly pics....(sorry, I was a little bloated!) haha...A week or so later... we found out there were 2 BABIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!That afternoon we called many friends and family, and the next Sunday, we told our Sunday School class and then posted it on Fbook/the blog! That Sunday afternoon, Joshy G had his first Cyclocross race.... in the mud! Everyone got nasty dirty. Some people even had to get off their bikes and pull mud out of their spokes b/c they couldn't go anymore!
The next weekend, we went to Vanderbilt Homecoming and my 5 year reunion! It was so much fun and the twins were the hot topic of the weekend! The week we got back from the reunion, my friend (from freshman hall!) Krista (far left in bottom pic) shared the news that she, too, is pregnant and due May 24th! They couldn't get an appointment before Homecoming and wanted to go to make sure everything was OK before spreading the word. I knew it was such a hard secret to keep at Homecoming! They did a great job.
Then, this past weekend, we went to Atlanta for a surprise party for my BFF Joy's husband, Luke! He had an awesome cake! Earlier in the week, Joy's long time friend, Cheryl, asked if we'd mind picking them up at the ATL airport on the way to the party. It worked out PERFECTLY and we really enjoyed the company and getting to hang out with them that night. She had her little boy, Griffin, with her....and boy is he precious! Cheryl is pregnant with her 2nd baby and is due around June 13th! Needless to say, we had PLENTY to talk about! :) Her husband, Dave, is seriously one of the nicest guys you will ever meet. The group "Fresh and Gentle" gave a special performance for us.... (It's Luke and Mike D, who happens to be lead singer for the Christian band, 10th Avenue North--they are awesome.) The raps they did were some they made up years ago when they were roomies and were so funny!
Sorry to disappoint.... Here I am at Joy's house Sunday AM right at 11 weeks.... Still no belly.... maybe a remoooote protrusion compared to the old pics. (Maybe). Although, when I lie down, I can definitely feel the one that is coming and Josh says he can see a tiny one when I hold my shirt up....and my pants are getting a little tight haha.... I've started unbuttoning them when I sit down... even in class. (gasp!) Don't worry... I'm not rushing a belly, because, with twins, there will be PLENTY of belly before we know it... more than enough! No belly, however, as you might see, my (bra) cup runneth OVER! I had to get a new bra by about oh... 6ish weeks.... going from a DD to a DDD. No lie. I fear for the boobs to come....and pray I won't suffocate my babies come Springtime. ;o)

I also wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your prayers, excitement, and well-wishes! We have been so so touched by all of your responses here, face-to-face, and on facebook. Thank you! Everything is still going really well, and I'm feeling well (with yucky moments here and there) and grateful for it b/c I've heard horror stories about how horrible it could be. Praise the Lord! We have our next appointment on Wednesday, Nov 4th (12.5 weeks) and have invited my Mama to join us. From what I understand, we should be getting another ultrasound at this appointment, so I'll definitely be posting those! I cannot wait to see the babies. They were the size of grapes the last time and this time they'll be limes! Hope y'all are doing well!

xoxo Mama Tay

PS. Other exciting news: Today, I booked a plane ticket for next weekend to go see my BFF, Eden, who is about to pop with Baby Reagan! I haven't see her since this Summer sometime and won't get to see her again for months, due to my very early travel restrictions b/c of the twins. The doctor and I had discussed a possible trip with my family after Christmas (Id be 20 weeks) and he said he wanted me no more than 4-6 hrs from B'ham.... so, I called last week to ask the nurse what their thoughts on travel before 20 weeks was, and she said that my trip to CA would need to be before 16 weeks! Goodness... All of that to say, I'm going next Thursday and just so excited :) Because of our living situations, I've never gotten to see Eden THIS pregnant, so I'm pumped for that mega belly. She claims she is bigger now than she was with Wyatt at this time. I love a good belly! Plus, I've just been missing her. It's hard to constantly keep up with each other on the computer and phone minutes run out quickly.... not to mention the 2 hr time differnce. Can't wait for some one-on-one! Woohoo!!! AND I'll get some Wyatt loving!!! Oh yeah.. I forgot the 2nd best part: I had enough miles to get my flight (which was $500+ expensive) completely FREE!!! Praise God from whom all blessings flow! He knew... He just knew :)