New background

As you can tell, I'm trying out a new background that's a little more festive for the holidays. Hope you like it... I'm still working out everything (colors, pic, etc.) to what I like.

UPDATE:
Ok... not to sound horrible, but I'm loving the new layout...and esp the new pic. It fit perfectly under the blog title and JBG's hat matches the color scheme :) YAY! I might leave it up for quite a while.

I love this time of year :)

Gender Dinner, pajamas, and a belly pic!

So, I'm heading to bed, but wanted to do a post...

The way we told my parents:

We had a "Gender Dinner" at our house...grilled burgers and chicken... the family offered to bring sides, and we made a very special dessert! The layers of the cake were blue/blue, blue/pink, or pink/pink, depending on whether the babies were boys or girls ...or one of each! (Clearly, ours were both BLUE!) Here is a pic of our family that came... like I said before, I had to keep the guest list very short, b/c we were cooking (and I have very limited seating for dinner guests), otherwise I would've invited more people, for sure. It turned out to be my aunt/uncle, God-parents, my parents, cousin Rachel +fiance' Chris and cousin Laura, and sister Paige and boyfriend Brent. Oddly enough, the "adult" women (mom, aunt, God-mother) happened to also be our "babysitters".... for when I go back to school in the Fall after the babies are born. They have all generously offered to keep the boys to help out! (Answered prayer!) Really, the people I cared most about being there were my parents. The dinner was planned for them, so we could tell them the gender(s) in a special way. We were so glad everyone was able to come (esp with such last minute notice). I always love having people over! (It certainly doesn't hurt that now my house is so clean! Ha Ha) There is also a before and after pic of the cake that Josh made! It was, by the way, more delicious than our usual cakes. Apparently he only used egg whites, so maybe that was it! Or....maybe I'm pregnant and things taste better. Ha Ha.... maybe both :)BLUE INSIDES!

The way we told Josh's parents:
They came to town on Saturday afternoon. Josh instructed them to go ahead and put their stuff in their room. When they got in there, they found pajamas that said "Thank Heaven for Little Boys" on each of their beds. Josh's mom was particularly excited that we're having two boys. Apparently she'd sat on Santa's knee in Marshall, TX (visiting family) the night before and specifically asked him for 2 boys! :) Guess her Christmas wish came early. Glad we could help. Ha Ha... They are really excited to meet the boys this Spring, and Regenia has offered to come stay with us for a week sometime after they are born to help out. She is always very generous with Josh and me.

Here is this week's belly pic. We took it right after church... I've decided that none of these are flattering, but that's the nature of the sideways belly pic I suppose lol... At least I'm not in pajamas this time! Ha Ha.(That's not my belly button, it's my pants that are undone and being held up with my belly band! I've yet to buy maternity pants... mostly b/c I dread the shopping/trying on of pants. Think I'm going to have to bite the bullet soon since these wouldn't even zip!)

Hope you all had a very blessed Thanksgiving, regardless of where or with whom you spent it. We are all so fortunate for the wonderful lives that God has given us and I am extremely grateful. . . particularly this year, for my savior, family, friends, and definitely my incredible husband Josh, and my baby boys baking in my oven :)

and the babies are....

I will post more later, but wanted to thank you all for participating in letting us know which way you voted!

Josh and I are thrilled to announce that we'll be welcoming
TWO BABY BOYS
this coming Spring!
It's going to be wild around here, but we are soooo excited :)

boys/boy+girl/girls

Sooooo the BIG news is that we FOUND OUT THE SEX of the babies on Wednesday! It wasn't scheduled, but b/c they were big enough, we were able to look with the ultrasound tech to find out! :o) She checked multiple times on each baby and is certain on both of them!

Josh and I are curious and would like to know who voted for what on the poll, so we can see who guessed right!

Will you please take the time to tell us?

Either way, we're having a family dinner at my house tonight to tell my parents, and a few other family members (I had to limit the # of guests b/c we're cooking) and the dessert will be what reveals the gender! Then, Josh's parents will be here tomorrow, where we've got another way to reveal it to them!

Please don't bother asking me... or Josh... b/c we're lock boxes :) AND we'll be telling shortly after telling Josh's parents on Saturday! We just want our parents to know before we spread the word to anyone else. (I haven't even told my best friends!!!) We are so excited to finally know who is in my belly and be able to talk more seriously about names... which will be a post in the future, b/c we've yet to really sit down and decide. Plus, there is still plenty of time :)

Hope you all had a very HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
We sure did
and are so thankful
for our boys/boy+girl/girls! ;o)

Those precious Gamble twins...

Here is Baby A's leg... and 1/2 of its body.... loves that belly time!

Here is precious Baby B... seems to be sucking its thumb!

Here is Baby A again... Again on the tummy... love it.

It's funny, b/c that's what our kids will be known as... The Gamble Twins. Too cute :o)
Here are some pics from the appointment today! The Dr. is very pleased with their development so far. Both babies are weighing in at approx 5 oz and Babycenter says typical for this week's weight is 2.5 oz (for a singleton)... so we've got big babies so far! Such a blessing and perfect, b/c it is ideal for twins to gain more weight on the front end b/c their weight gain/growth rate slows down and even eventually declines a little compared to singletons. They are also both still measuring about 1/2 week ahead of schedule. Their heart beats were both strong and in the 130s and 140s. Grace and Paige (my twin sisters) were both 7 lbs a piece at 38 weeks and I was 9.9 lbs born past my due date. We Brannons make big babies apparently :) Josh was also about 8 lbs... so these babies have got that going for them, too!

Navel oranges....in my womb.

Well, I was politely reminded by Katie B. at Whitney's baby shower that I need to take a belly pic today. "Do I need to take your belly picture right now so you'll remember???" Ha ha ha I loved it... and the fact that she and so many people are so into our babies. :o) So, here's this week's babies belly! I've gotten into a habit of taking them on Sundays, which is technically "X weeks and 6 days"... or 14 weeks and 6 days today... but I just round them off... so this is my 15 week belly pic. I kind of wish I'd gotten Josh to take it when I got home from the baby shower b/c I definitely looked cuter than I do here, but he was taking a nap and I thought it'd be a bit insensitive to make him get up just for that. I probably should've put my hand on the bottom to show the belly better... but, well... I'm still learning how to take the perfect belly pic :) We've got a good bit more on which to practice though. Ha ha. My goal is to take the pics every Sunday in this doorway. BTW... we have our next Dr. appointment on Wednesday and Aunt Grace and Aunt Paige will be joining us! The babies are the sizes of navel oranges this week....about 4 inches long and weigh about 2.5 oz.
My loves wrestling/loving in the hallway post belly pic.
Joshy G. the other night... on his trainer... playing football on Wii... lol
Miley fave spot as of late... which is nice and wonderful, except she's gotten that red cover thing all hairy and dirty... so I might be washing it and putting down an approved Miley blanket to help stop the dirt and hair. It'd be easiest just to not allow her up there... but that'd involve her not being a spoiled little pup... which she is, clearly.

A few belly pics...

Sorry I didn't post any belly pics on the last update. I don't do it very often b/c, for some reason, it feels daunting, but once I do it, I remember how easy and quick it actually is... so, here are some belly pics for the masses. Don't expect much lol... like I said... a "little" babies belly... I'll do better at taking/posting them more regularly.
These 1st 2 were back at 7.5 weeks
This was 10 weeks
I think that this was tues or thurs this past week... 13 weeks Kind of awkward pic b/c of my vest... should've taken it off. This was yesterday, right at turning 14 weeks. It's not a very flattering picture (please ignore that!), but you can def see the belly because of the more fitted dress. I'm also a little full from lunch. :) Don't want to overstate the belly size.It is very hard work gestating twins.... or at least taking care of someone who is :)
He's so precious to me and doing a fabulous job taking care of me. Josh can't wait for the babies to be here so he can finally meet them :)We can't forget Miss Miley, my best girl and fur-baby.

Trip to CA, maternity clothes, and a little baby(ies) belly....

So, last weekend, I had the pleasure of going to see my BFF, Eden, and her hubby Josh and son, Wyatt. They are so precious and I had a fab time visiting with them! I haven't gotten to see them since July, when they made the drive out to California when they moved there. She and I had talked about me or Josh+me coming out to visit, and one potential trip before didn't work out. I knew that my Dr. was going to restrict my travel early (no more than 4-6 hrs from B'ham as of 20 weeks---that's the last week of December!) and that my opportunities to go see Eden were passing quickly! I called Dr. Banks' office and asked the nurse when I should go out there (I feel like I might have already posted about this--sorry if I have!) and she said before 16 weeks... so I went ahead and booked ASAP! I do know that I told y'all that I got to use all miles so I paid $0.00 for the plane trip! YAY! PRAISE THE LORD! I made it out there at 12.5 weeks, save and sound. Bless Eden's heart. She came to get me at the airport at 10:45pm (CA time---12:45am AL time!) in all of her tired, preggo glory. We got back to the house, she gave me a quick tour, and we hit the sack. The next AM, I woke up around 5:30am CA time and decided that was a BIT early to head downstairs, and forced myself to just lay there and snooze for a while. An hour or two later, I headed downstairs and saw that face I'd missed kissing for months...Wyatt!!! He's SUCH a doll and has grown up a lot since I last saw his sweet face! Aunt Taylor looooves Wyatt sugar and made sure to get plenty of it that weekend. The first morning, he introduced me to "Buh"(Buck, the dog) and some of his toys. Such a ham. The rest of the day/weekend was spent relaxing, eating, catching up, playing with Wyatt, watching football, and talking babies! For those of you who may not remember, Eden is preggo with #2, Reagan June, who is due Dec. 25th, but will arrive via c-section Dec. 18th. Needless to say, we had a lot to chat about! Eden has done a FAB job decorating their place in CA and is such the Susie Homemaker. She's got it down to an art and manages to keep her house straight, cook almost every meal, have a happy husband, gestate a baby, and care for her 16 month old.... while not losing her mind! She made us some wonderful meals while I was there! (which totally spoiled me) It was a wonderful weekend and I'm so grateful they let me come out to visit! Oh! I also got to try Inn-N-Out for the first time and YUUU--UUUUM! Eden was right! I highly recommend it. Very fresh and cheap!

I'm kind of tired, so I'm going to try to make this short and to the point, but Friday, my mama and I started nursery shopping and found our perfect overstuffed (Josh-approved) nursery chair (or for our money and the amount of room we have haha) at Storkland. My parents are going to buy it for us for Christmas! (Thank you, Mimi and Big Daddy!!!) We've also been talking fabrics, colors, etc... so I'll keep y'all posted as we make progress on that! It was amazing getting to spend such great one-on-one time with my mom. She and I can see each other basically whenever we want b/c we are fortunately in the same city and less than a mile from each other, but life has its demands on our time and that isnt always as often as we'd like. Thank goodness for mother-daughter dates :)

My Aunt Sharon and I went shopping yesterday and got me started on some cute maternity clothes from GAP. Heeding my mother's advice, I'm trying to keep it to a minimum, since I'll apparently be so sick of them at the end of the pregnancy that I never want to see them again. lol...I'm also trying to keep the costs to a minimum and used a 30% off coupon for the 2 items I did purchase and am going to try to shop Old Navy and Target for my other pieces in the future. Aunt Sharon was SO sweet and generous to buy me 2 cute tops that I'm really excited about :) I always enjoy hanging out with her and yesterday was no exception.

So... Over the past few days.. or maybe week, I've started to get a belly! Like I've said before, I am trying not to wish for much of a belly yet b/c I know that the twin belly I'll be growing will be ridiculous and large, but it is nice to finally see some growth going! Josh has been very curious why I haven't gotten one yet b/c he thinks it shouldve already started since there are two in there haha. It's cute. He is still being SUCH a fabulous caretaker and husband through this. I'm very blessed to have him. He's also vvveery understanding (so far) with my buying maternity clothes (he even went back to GAP with me to look for leggings tonight and was very helpful!) and a few gender neutral outfits (on sale) (really pajamas) from Janie and Jack (so cute!!!)... In my defense, those and the onesies I bought in CA that say "Womb Mates" on them are the only thing that I've bought yet, so I think I'm doing ok. Everyone (definitely including me) is getting very anxious to know the sex of the babies. I can't wait to know WHO is in my belly and call them by name! It won't be toooo long... about a month. We're planning to do a dinner with some family at which Josh and I will reveal the babies' sexes in a cute way.... so, stay tuned for that one.

I'll be 14 weeks tomorrow. In the beginning, the pregnancy was going by slowly, but basically ever since we found out it was twins at 8.5 weeks, it has been going by a lot faster. I'll be 14 weeks tomorrow and we'll have 1.5 weeks until our next appointment! Grace and Paige are going with us and I'm excited :) The next day will be one of my favorite holidays, Thanksgiving. Between the blessing of twins and his new job at Verizon that he'll be starting soon, Josh and I have SO much for which to be thankful. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

I hope that you are all well and blessed. I'm off to relax on the couch and watch Brothers and Sisters in a bit. TTFN! (Ta-Ta For Now!)

Baby Update 12 weeks 2 days

both of the babies... Baby B is chillin' and Baby A is doing flips... will be interesting to see if this is a bit of foreshadowing :) haha
Baby B
Baby A flipped on his/her tummy.... and I think fell asleep lol.

I just got back from my 2nd prenatal (12 weeks 2 days pregnant) appointment with my doctor, Dr. Banks, at Brookwood. Because we're having twins, which is considered a high-risk pregnancy, we have a LOT of ultrasounds and got another one today, which was VERY exciting!

They are growing like weeds and I love it! Baby A is measuring 12 weeks 6 days big and Baby B is measuring 13 weeks big (so both essentially 1/2 week ahead) I was so glad to hear that. I'd rather them be on the big side b/c I associate that with healthy and getting plenty of nutrients! They both have strong heart rates of 158.

I am due May 17th, 2010, but with twins, the goal is to get them past 36 weeks, which is considered full-term and will be April 19th. My personal goal, assuming all is healthy and well, is to get them to May...May 3rd will be 38 weeks. It could happen! Sweet Grace and Paige (my sisters) were born at 38 weeks at very a healthy 7 lbs a piece! whew! Dr. Banks is very hopeful, too.

Both of my parents got to come with Josh and me this time, so that was very special! My next appointment is the day before Thanksgiving, and boy, do Josh and I have MUCH for which to be thankful this year! Josh has also recently had some job interviews and a few offers. What a beautifully answered prayer. God is so so good to us. It humbles me.

Oh yeah! It's looking like our gender appointment will be approx DEC 16th! Can't wait!

Hope you're all well and blessed.

Cast your vote!

If you haven't noticed yet, I have posted a poll to the right where you can cast your vote on what you think the sexes of Babies A and B are going to be when we get to find out in December. We are getting so excited to find out! Only about 8 more weeks! YAY!



HOW DID YOU VOTE???