Last Hurrah

First let's start with a 37 week update.......

Ryan and I went to In-N-Out on Thursday. ALL eyes where on me.......REALLY! Ryan went to go fill up drinks and a man stopped him and said "I couldn't help but noticed that your wife is great with child....or should I say children?" Ryan said "Yes, we are expecting twins in three weeks." "Oh, that's wonderful! Congratulations!!!" was the man's reply. This is the first time anyone has ever asked if there was more then one baby.

I HATE this picture of me!!!!!!

My face looks super fat at this angle. I promise I really don't look this bad in real life!

We are all healthy!

Estimated wights are 5lbs for our little boy and 5.8lbs for our little girl. Just finishing up the lung development and putting on a little fat before they make their debut. The good news is at this point they don't really worry about me going into labor. The babies would no longer be considered premature! We would like to see them say in a little bit longer to make sure they are fully developed and healthy!!! Mommy has gained 43lbs and is measuring in at 50 centimeters. Usually women don't go much past 50 centimeters.It's about where the uterus tops out, even though you (I) will still get bigger. I am so thankful we are healthy.........even if we aren't so comfortable right now!!!! I can make it! What's another week, two, three or four when I know my babies are getting stronger. It is worth EVERY painful minute!

Ezra enjoying a strawberry!

Ezra has been giving the babies lots of kisses and he tells them he loves them. During my last appointment when we were listening to the babies heartbeats Ezra got very upset. I told him it was ok but he still looked very concerned. He is already a protective big brother.

He is really enjoying baths right now. If he hears any water running in the bathroom or if anyone goes into the bathroom he says, "Bath?" He is learning more and more everyday! He sings more of the words in his favorite songs, has picked up a lot of new words and climbs up to the table by himself (this is a big deal because we have a really high table and he has a BIG fear of falling since he fell out of his crib a couple of months ago). He is LOVING all the fresh fruit of summer! He begs for watermelon, honeydew, grapes, peaches, nectarines, plums, apricots, cherries (he eats the pits most of the time) and as seen in the picture above strawberries. He would eat fruit all day if we let him. He still likes to make animal sounds and his new favorite sound is for the dinosaur....Roar! We are enjoying spending as much time as we can with our sweet boy before our little family grows and our lives get very hectic!

I titled this post last hurrah because last night Ryan and I went on our last date for awhile. We went to Maggiano's for dinner. As we were sitting there I was joking saying that I knew how to get a free meal. If I were to just spill my water on my lap it would look like my water broke. We laughed and Ryan said you better not joke about it or your water will really break. Well about fifteen minutes later I picked up my water glass to take a drink, it slipped from my hand and water, ice and lemons went everywhere.....everywhere except for my lap! Everyone was staring at the pregnant lady who spilt her water (lovely) I said "Well at least it's that water." I had I really hard time sitting through dinner! It is EXTREMELY painful for me to sit right now (on the car ride there and back I had to lay with the seat reclined) Ryan kept asking me if I was ok. Man.....it will be nice to be able to just do simple things again like sitting! After dinner we went to the Wendy's drive through and got a frosty. It was nice for just the two of us to get out as we will soon have three little ones pulling us in different directions. Ryan is a wonderful husband and father and I look forward to continuing our journey together!!!

OH, one more thing......... Ryan painted my toe nails for me. YES, he is that sweet!!! Now the poor guy has been given A LOT of grief about this from people who will remain nameless. I really can NOT do this myself and my nails NEEDED help!!! I didn't want to get a pedicure because one I can't sit that long and two I didn't want them to accidentally put me in labor! My sweet husband carefully trimmed and painted my nails for me. I felt pretty again ( it's the little things when you are pregnant)! My husband is amazing! We have had TONS of things breaking around our house lately and he has just been Mr. fix it! He does all that, goes to work and then is still willing (willing not wanting...he is not girl) to paint my nails......I call that amazing!!!!

I LOVE you Ryan!!!!

"Babies" Shower

June 26, 2010

I had an amazing "Babies" Shower (I say babies shower because there are two babies) given by my sisters and my mom. Thank you so much, you did a beautiful job!!!

I know this post is late but I just got the pictures.

I'm sad that I didn't get more pictures of the yummy food and the cute decorations! We had brunch....Belgium waffles with every topping you can think of, quiche and fruit. Everything was decorated in pink, blue and brown.

The invitation

This is just the face you make when your sister takes a picture of you!

In this picture I was getting my belly measured for the "Guess how big the mom's belly is game" Amber won....She was eight months pregnant at the time.
After a couple more games it was...

PRESENT TIME!

Before

During

After

I wonder how fast two babies will go through those diapers? My guess.....

FAST!

This is what Ezra thought of the presents

Until he got some of his own!

So creative!

My Mom's friend Cindy made hooded bath towels for the twins and Ezra. She took onesies and made them look like flowers and used the towels to make a basket. So cute

These little booties came all the way from Australia.

A lady my parents go to church with made them for me. I just couldn't get over all that lace!

I received many handmade gifts. It is amazing to see the talents of others. I KNOW how much work it takes!

The favor....Double mint gum.

Thank you to everyone who came and or sent gifts. We need so many things for two babies!!!! We are SO grateful for all the help!

Still going and growing!

July 15, 2010 35 weeks

As you can tell I'm still growing and the good news is the babies are too!

At our ultrasound the guessed weights are 4lbs 11oz for baby A (our little boy) and 5lbs for baby B (our little girl). They are growing so healthy and strong. For that we are very thankful!!! We got to see that our little girl has some chubby cheeks, so cute. It's harder to get a good look at our little boy but we did get to see a good profile where it looked like he was pouting his lips....That or he just has some very kissable lips! His profile looks like he has more of Ryan's features. Ezra has mine. It will be so fun to see how they both look and if any of our kids will look like each other.

By the way....I'm measuring in at 48 centimeters! Yes, I have a uterus the size of a women at 8 week overdue!!!

I L.O.V.E. them!

Ezra got a new hair style. I call it messy military. His hair won't do a real flat top because he has cowlicks that still want to make his hair Mohawk.

Our little family

I wanted to make sure I got a picture of us before we go from our little family of three to a family of FIVE.

How can you help?
Many have asked "How can I help?" We would ask that you please pray for us! Pray that these babies stay in and keep growing healthy and strong until they are full term (NO....I do NOT want them to come early. I want them to stay in and finish cooking). We are also praying for my body to keep strong and healthy, as this pregnancy is very hard on me physically and mentally. We are praying for a safe and healthy labor and birth. We are doing everything in our power to make these things happen!
We believe in the power of prayer!!! If you also believe, please join us.

Friends

Two of my close friends have three year old children who have been learning all about Ezra's new brother and sister that are coming. They get the whole lady with big belly = baby in her belly but more then one.....now that's just CRAZY!!!!

Scarlet (Kacey's daughter) has been asking to see Ezra's TWO babies......Ezra is going to have TWO babies. Their family is now referring to the babies as "Babies Petersen" so Scarlet is now asking when she gets to go see babies Petersen. She's got the idea of two babies but just doesn't know why she can't see them yet.

Blaze (Ashley's son) mouth open STARING at me......

Me: Blaze is my belly big because there are babies inside?

Blaze: No answer still staring at me....well my belly.

Ashely: Blaze how many babies is Brittany going to have?

Blaze: Five.

Sorry Blaze....I'm only having two!

I use these cute little stories to introduce some of my friends......

Ryan and I moved into our ward in mid November of 2008. Between the me being pregnant and not always feeling great, the holidays and Ezra being born we really didn't get to meet many people at church let alone make friends. Well sometime in February or March (I think) Ashley and Kacey started to invite me/us to things.....Park, library, bbqs etc. Every time they invited us to something we couldn't go. I had doctors appointments, previous engagements and many family activities (at the time both mine and Ryan's families lived in town so there was always something going on). I felt bad that I always had to say no whenever they extended a invite. I didn't want them to think that I was just some snob that didn't want to be around them because I REALLY wanted to hang out with them! Thankfully they never gave up on me and we finally started doing stuff together. We see each other at church every Sunday, getting at least a wave in as we are taking miss behaving children out of the meeting, we have our sewing club every Thursday (something I have not been really able to be apart of right now as I'm in bed a lot) and we get together for some "friend family dinners" as well. Of course there are more friends in the group that I LOVE, I just had to tell you about Kacey and Ashley because they were the first friends I made and they were the persistent ones! Another good friend is Stacie. I met her when we started working together with the Young Women at church. So, why am I telling you about these friends? Because they L.O.V.E. me! They have been doing a lot for me as of late. They are constantly asking me how they can help. Before my Mom got here Ashely came over and cleaned my floors twice, Kacey made us dinner a few times and shopped Costco for me and they were still all asking what they could do to help. My answer was always I don't know. First of all I don't like to be a burden on people and second it is hard for me to think of what I could have someone do for me. I figured once my Mom got here they would let up on this helping me business. I was wrong!!! There they were/are asking "How can I help?" One day Stacie cornered me. Several times she asked me to let them bring in dinners, until I caved. I said, "Stacie, I'm to tired to say no so do whatever you want." "YAY" was Stacie's answer as she quickly grabbed a paper to make notes of food allergies/food dislikes. She then called Kacey and Ashley to set it up. They each bring us a dinner once a week. They know that we eat healthy and that I need a LOT of protein so the meals are made accordingly. I've got to say......It's been WONDERFUL!!!!! I have My mom is here and will make or do ANYTHING I ask! But the poor women is being run ragged!!! She takes care of me and Ezra ALL day, she watches my niece Ivy several days a week, teaches a childbirth classes (she has to teach a series of classes each year to keep up her accreditation) and she's been doing whatever she can for her father who recently had TWO surgeries, not to mention she has three other children in town and a husband and her three youngest children in Australia to think of and take care of as well. I guess you could say she's busy ha ha ha!!! Ryan works long hours and is totally and completely drained physically and mentally by the time he gets home. Not having to worry about those meals has been such a blessing!!! They just drop it off and go. PERFECT!!! Ryan's parents have also offered to bring in meals as well. We are truly blessed to have so many people who love us!
To my wonderful friends.....
Thank you for your friendship, thank you for the meals and most of all thank you for never giving up on me!!!!

18 months of Ezra

That's right this sweet little guy has been on this earth for a whole 18 months!

I know I already posted this picture but it is Ezra's most recent photo so I thought I'd post it again.

Ezra is growing up SO fast! He talks all day long. I'm not saying we understand what he is saying all the time but he sure does have a lot to say! He does say quite a few real words.... now if only I could remember them..... For example he was coloring a picture and I had two makers I asked him "What color is that?" And he said "Purple"......What? I had NO idea he could one say the word purple and two that he recognized it. I asked him the same question about the other marker and he once again surprised me by saying it was green. Singing: He love to sing! Once again he doesn't know all the words but he can keep the tune. Some of his favorite songs are ABC's, the clean up song, twinkle twinkle little star, and any song from the Signing time series. Speaking of Signing time, Ezra is still learning lots of new signs. It is so amazing to listen and watch (through signing) his vocabulary grow! He loves to help: He likes to put things away and throw things in the trash..... we just have to make sure he doesn't trow away non trash items. Dancing man: When we are in the car he sways back and forth, sometimes with quite a bit of force! At home he likes to stomp his feet and march. "NO!" & "STOP!": These are the bad words he has learned :( Of course those are words he hears us say to him so he is just repeating them back. Oh how frustrating it can be to hear these words come out with such force from someone so small!!!! Outside: is Ezra's favorite place to be! He will walk to the door point and say "Outside!?!" I wish it wasn't so hot so we could be outside a little more. Water: Ezra loves water! He will go into the bathroom and say "Bath" He also is a BIG fan of dumping water everywhere. No water bottle or cup is safe with him! Animals: Ezra now says and or signs and makes the sounds for horse, pig, chicken, duck, cat, dog, bird, bear, fish, frog, and ROO (kangaroo) and he also says and signs bug. Food: We still aren't giving Ezra sugar. Even when we do start we will keep it VERY limited. He enjoys the natural sweetness of fruit. Strawberries have been a BIG hit lately. He still has his fresh spinach and carrot juice every morning. He loves peanut butter sandwiches (just peanut butter and bread), cheese, chicken, lasagna, any kind of fruit and he is always trying new things. He is a healthy boy for sure.

We feel so grateful that he is doing well!

*Missing my baby*

My sweet Ezra is 18 months old! Wasn't it just yesterday I was holding him in my arms as a newborn? I have felt very attached to him from the start, before he was born. There was a point in my pregnancy that I injured myself and I was TERRIFIED that I had somehow hurt (killed) him too! I sat awake that night talking to him telling him I love him and saying......asking.....begging him really, to kick so I would know he was ok (I had never felt him move before). Then I felt something.....am I just imagining this because I want it so bad?.....I thought to myself. So I asked if that was him to please kick again. I received three very strong and distinct kicks. He had heard his mother's plea and answered. That was only the beginning, since then I have had many other special experiences with him. He is my first baby, the child I had longed and prayed for.

This has been such a hard time for me because my baby is turning into a big boy! This is ok, in fact it's more then ok it's wonderful that he is not only growing but thriving! The reason why it is so hard on me is because I feel like I am missing his last moments of babyhood. I have not been able to pick him up for a couple of months now. It sounds simple but I miss it tremendously! I can't put him to bed or get him up in the morning, I can't pick him up when he falls, and I can't pick him up when he runs to me. It's been such a long time since I've been able to picked him up that he no longer runs to me. This is good because he understands but it is heartbreaking at the same time. I am glad he has so many other people to love and hold him but it pains me at the same time because it should be ME! I don't have much of a lap for him to sit on and even if I did he is too rough on my belly so I really can't hold him at all anymore. I look forward to the day when I can chase after my little boy again, pick him up and swing him around. Another hard thing is all I hear all day is Mom, Mom, MOM, but hes not taking to me. He is talking to my mom, my sister or Ryan. Sometimes I feel like screaming "I'M YOUR MOM!!!" I have to just lay around while others "mother" my baby. I want so badly to just be mom to him again. Of course I am and will always be his mom but I miss taking care of him! I cherish the small moments of grace. I couple of times he has come into my bed and rested his his head on my shoulder. This only lasted for a minute or so but it made my day! Something else I look forward to is my nighttime kiss. Ryan brings him in and he gives me a kiss and whispers "I you" meaning I love you. I look forward to this all day! I you too Ezra!!!

So next time you want to scream because your child is clinging to your legs or is following you around the house saying "Mom, Mom, MOM!" Take a moment a give them a cuddle or read them a book and remember how lucky you are to have them!