30 weeks

Hello third trimester! Everything is going well with this pregnancy and baby #3 so far. I was measuring a couple weeks ahead last month, but now am right on schedule again. We shall see how long that lasts. I ended up failing the standard one hour glucose screening so had to do the whole three hour glucose tolerance test ordeal. I was so annoyed and dreading it, but I made it through it fine and do not have gestational diabetes so that is great news.

Big Girls Room

Its been a few months in the making, but the girls "big girl room" is finally done. Lexi and Zara moved in about a month ago, but it took us the last month to finally get the decor up on their walls. This was an empty room with gross ivory walls that we used for storage. Now with baby #3 arriving soon, we are going to continue using Lexi and Zara's old room as the nursery so they were lucky enough to get a new room with new furniture, bedding and decor.

M and I spent at least a few nights debating different beds and measured that long wall several times to see what beds would actually fit. These twin daybeds were some of the shortest and only ones that would fit on that wall so it was meant to be.

This was so much fun, but my nesting brain is ready to dive into finishing up the nursery and the guest room that I painted last summer.

Contrasting Art

The differences in identical twins still fascinate me, even as I observe Lexi and Zara daily. The difference in their personalities somehow shows up in almost every art project they do. Painting, drawing, cutting, even cookie decorating are all approached totally differently. Lexi tends to spend a lot of time putting each piece in a precise place. Zara usually piles it on without much attention to placement and much more interest in high quantity.

Snowbound

We are in the midst of the biggest snowstorm Portland has seen since 2008. For three days straight the snow keeps piling up. We have about eight inches of powder at our house now with a nice icy top layer of sleet falling outside now. We will likely be snowbound for at least another couple days until it all warms up. We are having a great time playing in the snow, baking, watching movies and playing lots of board games.

Thankfully we had some warning so I stocked up at Costco and we are well prepared with sleds and snow gear from all of our time in Yakima (where snow is normal).

Day 1 snow

Lexi

Hot chocolate is requested for cold bellies after playing in the snow. Good thing I received lots of fancy hot cocoa for Christmas!

Zara

Lexi

Zara - day 3

Zara

Not happy about face planting in the snow

I actually stayed inside baking and cooking the first two days while Marcus and the girls played outside. At 27 weeks pregnant, I don't really have a warm winter coat that fits. Today I barely zipped my rain coat up over my belly and went out to help the girls sled. So much fun! 

MVI 4281 from Natalie on Vimeo.

Tomorrow we might have to break out some toys I have stashed away for birthday presents and call the grandparents on Skype. I can only play Zingo or watch Frozen so many times. Yesterday we made Valentine cutout cookies and made a huge mess with dough and flour. The girls play really well together up in the playroom for an hour or two, but after that we end up breaking out the busy bags, board games and movies.

Flying with Small Children

We have flown on two longer trips with our girls now. The first time was a cross-country trip to Florida (with connecting flights) when we had twin 18-month olds sitting on our laps and the second time was last summer at almost 3 years old to Hawaii (connecting flights again).

Let's just start out being honest and say that a long flight with one year olds on your lap is going to be a challenge and you just have to get thru it. I have no idea about traveling with an infant because we didn't do it, but I think that would actually be easier than a young toddler. They are just so busy. Flying with kids over the age of two is much better! On our trip to Hawaii I was able to actually watch a movie AND read a book! It still pays to be prepared though. Here are the things that made the time during the flight easier.

1. Snacks! Pick things that are not messy and take some time to eat. We try to bring some old favorites plus a few new snacks for fun. Our favorites: raisins, dry cereal, kids Z bars or granola bars, fruit snacks, mixed nuts, string cheese, small suckers (for take-off and landing), goldfish or cheddar bunnies, sliced fruit and squeeze applesauce pouches.

2. Clean Art Fun. Sticker books (Amazon has the DK Ultimate Sticker Books in every imaginable character, animal and sport), Mini coloring books with triangle crayons (we stored these in a little zipper pencil pouch) and Wiki Stix.

3. TV and Movies. Depending on the airline and flight, most have tv screens in the headrests to watch for free or for a small fee. The fee is worth it! When we flew to Hawaii we paid for the Alaska Air DigiPlayer that they rent on the flight and the girls watched the cartoons and kid movies that were available. Now we have a tablet so would probably bring that instead. You will needto bring headphones. We love these ones from Kidz Gear. They are still going strong after countless road trips out of town to visit family.

4. Trinket Toys. Pack a small zipper bag with little trinket toys - the birthday party goodie bag/ fast food kids meal/ dollar store variety. I actually have a bag of this stuff in a cabinet that I save just for travel. Toddlers will spend a long time entertaining themselves taking all the little toys out of the bag and piling them in their lap (or lining up on the tray table), playing little games with them and then putting them all back in. The best part is that you don't care if you lose a few along the way.

A&Z loved carrying their snacks, water bottle, a few small books and toys mentioned above in their little backpacks and it was nice to keep it all organized.