The Nelson Narrative

As I've mentioned in several previous posts, I was not yet blogging 5 years ago when I became pregnant with the girls.  I decided that in honor of the 5th anniversary of my pregnancy/their birth, I would document the highlights as their anniversary occurs. July 26th was the anniversary of my first ultrasound.  I was 7 weeks 1 day.  It was at the RE's office.  It was also the day we found out I was carrying twins. I suspected twins all along due to my high beta numbers but I was really hoping for a singleton.  When they told us it was twins I was really disappointed.  Now, don't get me wrong--I was THRILLED to be pregnant, and I would have taken twins or even octuplets over zero babies ANY day.  But I was sad that I would miss out on: Mother/baby yoga - I had looked forward to going to a mom/baby yoga class, but with TWO babies, that wouldn't be possible. A normal trip to the grocery store with the one baby in the front of the shopping cart...

Paul took 3 consecutive weeks off this summer and we're currently in the middle of it.  It's been busy but we've done so many fun things.  We just got back from a week in Leavenworth with a few days at Crescent Bar tacked on at the end.  Before that, we did a few day trips.  One was up to Mount Vernon/Burlington to see my mom and my dad and stepmom and while up North we decided to take a jaunt over to Deception Pass.  The girls had fun digging in the sand and walking on/exploring all the big logs on the beach. The next day we went to Northwest Trek Wildlife Park which was really fun.  The girls loved the tram ride. While in Leavenworth, we took a short side trip to Lake Wenatchee where the girls once again played in the water and dug in the sand.  One day we did an easy family-friendly rafting trip which the girls really enjoyed.  Then a friend and her son joined us half way through the week and all of ...

Pinterest and weight loss efforts are NOT a good mix.  I'm dying to try some of these recipes.  I think I'm going to make this first one for our upcoming trip. Sea Salt Carmel Brownies Salted Carmel Chocolate Shortcake Bars Salted Carmel Chococlate Cake Some yummy, gooey, carmel-y cupcake with bourbon in it Gluten-free Chocolate Cake with Coconut Icing Toffee Brittle with Chocolate and Sea Salt Drool...

Last weekend we went to Crescent Bar for the first time this year.  They always do their 4th of July parade and fireworks show the weekend after the 4th, so we were there for all of that.  The neighbors always go all out and let us tag along.  We decorated the girls' bikes and they rode while we walked with them and they did great. Olivia Patriotic girls Kayley The whole gang (Crescent Bar neighbors in/on golf cart, me, the girls and Paul in the background) And now that summer has finally come to Western Washington, we've been able to set up the pool, try out our new slip n' slide, and make our first trip to the spray park.  The slip n' slide was given to them by grandma and grandpa and they're not quite ready for it.  They don't get how to run and then go down on your tummy and slide.  It was pretty funny to watch. That's our new pool in the background.  I was having a hard time inflating it and gave up, but Paul f...

The home tours continue at Kelly's Korner and this week is mantles. My mantle is pretty simple.  A vase, a few candles, some smaller colored vases and some pictures. I'm tired of the cat picture and want to replace it with a big mirror or something.  I found that at a kiosk in the mall way back in the mid-90s and fell in love with it.  I needed something for my apartment mantle and it was perfect.  But, for some reason I didn't buy it then.  Awhile later I was in the mall again and decided I was going to buy it this time but it wasn't there anymore!  Awhile later still I walked by the same kiosk and decided to check again and this time it was there.  It was meant to be, so I snatched it up.  Now it's followed me to 3 more homes, but I'm ready for something new. I change my mantle decor for fall, and again for Christmas I'm always looking for new ideas so I'll be checking out everyone else's mantle...

Since I wasn't blogging yet when we went through IVF and got pregnant with the girls, I've decided to use the 5th anniversary to commemorate the event.  It was 5 years ago today that we found out I was pregnant. We had an appointment in the morning for my blood draw (beta).  I mentioned before how I didn't want to test any of the days leading up until the 5th because it was either too early or could potentially ruin the 4th of July holiday or make me unable to go to work, so I had to wait until the 5th to test (I took the day off from work, and if it would have been negative, I probably would've taken Friday, too).  I didn't want to test before my appointment, because if it had been negative I didn't want to have to put myself through the whole ordeal already knowing I'm not pregnant.  I definitely wanted to find out in the privacy of my own home, though, not over the phone from a nurse.  So I decided to finally test when we got home from the appoint...

We had a really fun 4th.  First of all, summer came to Western Washington a day early and we had gorgeous weather!  Our community has a little parade and festival with bouncy houses, pony rides, petting zoo, face painting, etc.  We've been at Crescent Bar for the last few 4ths but this year we were able to go and the girls really enjoyed it.  They're really into horses right now so they loved the pony rides.  We waited in line forever but they were really good and patient.  After the pony rides, we went to the petting zoo, then on to the bouncy houses.  While they waited in line, I went and got some free popcorn and cotton candy which was a big hit. Waiting for the parade to start old fire truck Olivia on a pony.  I was trying to walk with Kayley on her pony while taking this picture. Kayley on a pony petting a donkey cotton candy and popcorn We went home for lunch, then later went to our neighbors'...