An update...

My current stats on 8/23
Gestational age: 33 weeks, 5 days
Weight: 34 pounds
BP: 112/72
Fetal heart rate: forgot to ask
Measuring: 37+ weeks
Fetal movement: Baby has very consistent awake and asleep times (usually awake between 7-11 pm and 4-7 am). There is less spins and rolls, but more powerful kicks and nudges. 

I had a quick visit with my midwife today and everything looks good. Baby is measuring 4 weeks big. In fact, she measured me three times to make sure she was getting an accurate number. If this trend continues - meaning if baby is still looking that big at my next appointment - we will likely have another ultrasound to check baby's size. It won't really change much - I still cannot be induced (since I've had a c-section) but we don't want to go in to a delivery not knowing what to expect. 

They also rechecked my blood today and my anemia is getting better. I still need to be taking additional iron, but the levels are going up and my platelets are normal. I've been having middle of the night bloody noses (awesome!) which can be a sign of some blood disorder in pregnancy so they wanted to check to be cautious  Anyway, all looks good, so there is nothing to worry about. 

Other than than, all looks normal. 

As for the other stuff... 

• Still don't know the gender.
• Still don't have a name picked. We are toying with Goliath.
• Still feeling okay. I have my aches/paints/general complaints, but I'm trying to keep them to myself.
• I am feeling very "nesty" lately. I don't have much desire to be away from home. There is a huge list of things to do, but we are also in the middle of the back-to-school frenzy and trying to do as much and see as many people as we can before school starts in 12 days (yikes!). I'm sure the things will get done, and if not, oh well. 
• I'm not very patient, and sort of wish people would keep their opinions to themselves. 

Along those lines (and yes, this is a true story). We were at the park the other day and I was sitting and watching the girls playing in the fountain. The mom sitting near me said "When is your baby due?" I believe my response was "Beginning of October." (I wasn't in the mood to small-talk with strangers. She instantly responded, "Twins! That's fun." I sort of wanted to punch her. And then, as if that wasn't bad enough, Merrick walked over and we had a little discussion about something I wanted the girls to stop doing that he didn't think was a big deal. It wasn't a fight, or argument or anything other than just a private conversation about our children. When he walked away the same lady said, "Sometimes I am SO glad that I am a single mom."  I should have been quicker and responded something about what a great husband and daddy he is, and how I am SO glad to NOT be a single mom. Instead I just picked up my stuff and walked away. It wasn't long after that experience that I saw this quote on facebook...

"Sometimes you just have to close your eyes, count to ten, take a deep breath, remind yourself that you wouldn't look good in prison stripes and just smile at that [person] and walk away." 

Some people just need to never speak out loud. Ever. 

Here's a picture that Grace snapped this afternoon. If you think I look like a giant beast who is carrying twins, do yourself a favor and keep your opinion to yourself. =)

Snapshots of our summer...

**UPDATED: hopefully the pictures all show up this time around. =)

It seems as though my camera has gotten a little more use this summer than it did in the spring... though I'm pretty sure half of these pictures were taken with my phone and many came from Shannon and other friends we've been spending time with. That being said, however, I'm certainly glad we have these shots to remind us of what we've been up to and the memories we are making. 

This summer has been a bit wild. It seems like our calendar booked up in June and we haven't really slowed down. I've blogged about some of our activities, but it seemed easier to throw the rest in to one big post...

We started off the month of June with a fun run benefiting Grace's school. All four of us ran the 5k Soles to Souls race that was held down on the Springwater Trail (near Oaks Park). It was a really fun morning with lots of friends around... and a lot of fun to be running again!

This picture just makes me laugh. My friend Annie and I took the girls to Playdate PDX for the morning and while we were there, we cleaned out our purses. I have no pictures of Claire and Serena playing, but I did think this scene was funny enough to remember.

Grace's last day of school - fun to compare to her first day of school pictures. She looks so much older to me.

Fun summer hair cut! All Grace's idea, and she was adamant that it happen before Kindergarten graduation. We are so thankful for Katie and the great job she does on the girls hair.

Grace's graduation day was a little hectic, but we had a good time celebrating her success and the end of her first year of school. 

 

National doughnut day! We wouldn't miss a free Krispy Kreme!

 

Falling asleep and waking up in the sunlight. 

One Sunday in June we split up - Merrick and Grace headed in to Portland for a date while Claire and I opted to share chips and salsa at Chevy's. We don't do it much, but we really enjoy the time we get one-on-one with the girls.

 

The last-day-of-school BBQ. The kindergartners at Grace's school finish early, but we thought it would be fun to head back out for the end of the year party. I really should have checked the weather first... it was horribly cold and rainy and we didn't last very long.

A fun lunch date at New Seasons with just my Big Girl. 

Our semi-annual trip to the dentist. 

Her last sleep before turning 6 years old!

Another perfect well-child check up with our pediatrician. I believe she was a little less than 43 pounds (25th %) and a little more than 46 inches (65th %).

Some early summer rains sort of ruined our plans one afternoon. Poor Claire sat by the front door saying, "Mama, where is our not rain?"

A new scooter, and a fun ride around the park by the library.

One can never be too careful when eating lunch... especially Claire.

Growing belly.

One of the many reasons we love our church - Sunday night BBQs on the property. Food, friends, worship & communion, water fights, sunsets, giant slip-n-slide.

Grace and Sophia signed up to take an art class at Michaels. It was a Japanese theme so they made puzzles with Koi fish on them and painted Japanese cherry blossom pictures.

A fun night out for Claire and Merrick (while Grace and I were at Benihana). 

The fourth of July on the river with friends - couldn't be better!

 

 

The Burch family stayed with us for a weekend... the girls loved having Maren and Owen around to play with. 

 

I already posted about soccer camp, but found a few other pictures on my phone. I loved that she was very insistent on getting ready all by herself. 

 

We've spent lots of time in the water - sprinklers, splash pads, pools, rivers and lakes. My kids love it 

all!

 

We discovered a new-to-us fountain in Beaverton and had a lot of fun playing with friends all morning!

 

 

I think this picture just sums up summer as a kid!

 

Berry picking this year involved mostly eating berries off the bushes rather than filling our buckets. I think I was tired, and my heart wasn't really in it, AND I got stung by a bee. It wasn't my best morning ever. We did come home with enough to share with daddy though. 

 

 

 

I love this picture that Shannon took of Claire entertaining Lincoln while the big girls were picking Dahlias. 

 

And I love that there is a beautiful little u-pick dahlia farm not too far from our house. 

Twilight track meets are must-do every July. It is so much fun to watch the kids smile through each of their events. We only made it to one meet this year. Claire won first place in the 50 meter dash and second place in the 100 meter dash. She was quite the competitor. 

 

 

 

Grace really wanted to have a movie-themed birthday party this year. It was scheduled back in June, but we had a few weeks of a nasty stomach bug spread through our family. After canceling and rescheduling two times, we were finally able to find a night to have her classmates over for treats and a movie. It was a crazy evening, but I think it was exactly what she wanted. 

 

The day after Grace's party, we loaded up the car and headed to Burch Lake to celebrate Owen's birthday. We swam, ate, and visited with friends, stayed up way too late, enjoyed too many s'mores (after eating cupcakes), watched fireworks, and all slept like rocks in our cozy tent. 

 

Friday night picnic and romp in the fountain. 

Because Tilikum and our county fair fell on the same week I wasn't sure we would make it to the fair this year. It also happened to be the same weekend as the airshow (which seemed like really poor planning). Anyway, Saturday was a very quiet day around our house - just picking up the house, catching up on laundry, and resting after a week of camp. We decided half way through the afternoon to pack up and head out to the fair for a little while. I'm glad we did. We haven't missed a year since we moved to Hillsboro. Plus, we showed up right in time to watch the Patriot Jets performing across the street at the airshow. 

 

Our month of July ended with Bethany and Seth arriving from Wyoming. They made really good time on their drive, so we left the fair, picked up a giant plate of sushi, and headed home to greet them. The girls spent the rest of the afternoon and evening playing with cousins while we got caught up with the Tippins. When bed time rolled around, we got a little creative with our sleeping arrangements - as you must do with a house full of people. Claire happily crawled in to a little nest we had made for her in our closet... and slept there for the next five nights! 

More silly Claire stories...

Claire still cracks us up on a regular basis. There are so many that I have to write them down so I don't forget each silly story.

When we were camping at the lake, Merrick took the girls out for an afternoon boat ride. When they came around the bend we could see Claire standing up on the back of the boat holding a salamander by the tail (I only wish my camera battery hadn't died earlier in the day). Later she was telling Justin about her capture...
Claire: "Justin Burch, did you know that we caught a salamander?"
JB: "You did? How big was it."
Claire: "Oh, as big as a salamander."

One night as Merrick and Claire were sprawled out on the floor playing Pop-a-matic Trouble (a board game), every time she had a turn she was saying, "Please, Lord, let me get a six!"

Merrick likes to play rough with the girls - and they usually think it is a lot of fun. The other night when he got home from work Claire was doing something that (to her at least) was very important. Merrick hollered up at her that he was going to come tackle her and she said, "No daddy. I'm already tackled." (She was sitting down).

A new park...

Last fall a new splash pad opened in Hillsboro (we have the BEST parks out here!) but it took us until last week to check it out. The park was fine - nothing super exciting, but the girls had fun playing - but we all thought the splash pad was a lot of fun. 

 

 

 

The girls were especially impressed with water umbrella. 

 

 

Grace spent the whole time filling...

 

...and then dumping the bucket on her sister.