every mama (and dada) NEEDS one of these

abby and i were at a friends house about a month ago and discovered an israeli baby wrap. it was this long piece of stretchy cotton/spandex material that you wrapped around your body in a seemingly very complicated way that allowed you to insert your baby close to your body.

it looked cool, so we both tried it on, and even though it appeared to be extremely difficult to figure out, it wasnt so bad....and once having the babies inside the wrap up against our bodies (separately, of course), the babies loved it, and our backs were supported, and we had our hands free to do whatever we wanted.

So, we decided to go on an internet mission to figure out how to get one of these amazing israeli wraps. The one our friend had was direct from israel and they dont sell it here anywhere. the wrap is very similar to the moby, but the moby doesnt have spandex in it so it stretches out and the baby sags.

so, in the end after multiple emails back and forth and web sites checked and reviews read, we decided on "the sleepy wrap".
i ordered orange.
abby ordered grey.

and i know im speaking for both of us when i say "IT IS AMAZING, FABULOUS, AND WORTH EVERY PENNY!!! EVERY PARENT SHOULD HAVE ONE!!!".
we get questions and comments wherever we go and we only have good things to say.

I promise we'll post a picture of tali AND elliot enjoying their new "ride" at the same time....(abby, we need to take one of those pictures!).

It's about time......

I update this blog! Where to begin..............

Last Tuesday I went to OB for my monthly check up and everything was great. The baby's heart rate was in the 150s (I love that sound!), I was measuring at 25 weeks and all my labs were fantastic. My next appointment is in 3 weeks and that is for an ultrasound and BPP - this is when the extra testing starts since I'm high risk due to type 1 diabetes. The bad news is I will have appointments every 2 weeks then once a week then twice a week for the last few weeks but the good news is I get to see the baby at each of those appointments. I can't wait to see that little baby!

Oh, the soccer practice in my belly has begun. I always hear people mention feeling a little flutter or little kicks - there is nothing subtle about the kicking going on right now. It is the absolute coolest feeling ever and so amazing there is a baby in there! I love the kicks and can't wait to meet the little one who is doing them.

FINALLY we started registering and thinking about how to decorate the nursery. I have been avoiding this because I wanted to be sure everything was okay. I'm feeling excited and we have so much to do! There is a ton of stuff you need for a baby and its all really fun to pick out.

For now I will enjoy figuring out how to decorate the nursery and feeling good - I'm at the point where my belly is big but not big enough to be really uncomfortable.

Tali and Elliot: friends forever

yes- they are holding hands...

they are still holding hands...

they're both awake and happy...

she has her eye on him...

"im not letting you out of my sight"...

tali is "dressed to impress" her friend elliot on the day of his bris...

dating at a young age

tali and elliot officially had their first movie date today. and according to tali, it was a success. i think elliot would also agree!
good thing they were chaperoned- we wouldnt have wanted anything crazy to happen!

abby and i took a big risk today and went to see "ghosts of girlfriends past" at severance. we chose the earliest movie time (11:25am), and the theater least likely to care about screaming babies. when we pulled up, there were probably two cars in the parking lot (sigh of relief for both of us)....and there were only two other people in the movie with us and they made no rude comments or gestures about the fact that tali and elliot were present.

there were a few squeeks and grunts, and a couple of whimpers, but no all out crying or meltdowns....each baby was cuddled up against his/her respective mommy, cozy and happy as can be...

tali saw her first movie before levi!!!! and we're not stopping here. now that we know its possible, we're arranging for more dates in the near future. (and maybe, next time, we can do shaker square or cedar lee on a monday so we can have free popcorn too! or perhaps we should not mess with a good thing when we have it and stick with severance).

expression

how come i didnt buy one of these when i pumped breast milk for 1 year for levi? it would have made life a LOT easier...

so, this time, before tali was even born, i ordered one.
and it is the BEST invention ever!!!!
now, i can wear this absolutely gorgeous and sexy contraption to keep the pump attachments tight against me while i am feeling very much like a cow, so that as i am collecting the food source for my beautiful darling daughter, i can use my hands for much more entertaining things- such as blogging (no mental image needed), reading, and wasting time on the internet....and when im back at work (which im dreading and would love to stay home with my babies forever!), i can sit at my desk while im "milked" and play on my computer. PERFECT!!!!

they're not that expensive. every mommy who plans on pumping should definitely invest in one of these....

Half way!

Can you believe it?! I was officially 20 weeks yesterday and I have only posted once since finding out I was preg.....I'll work on that.

Last week we had the big ultrasound and much to the dismay of my mother we did not find out if we're having a boy or a girl. I think it will be such a fun surprise to see if we're having a daughter or son at the time s/he is born. We did find out that all looks great anatomy wise. As many of you know I worked in peds cardiology before and my big concern was seeing the heart had formed correctly - there were 4 chambers, a nice aortic arch, etc and the tech was very reassuring that everything looked great. Whew!

I have to tell you the best thing so far is seeing the baby at the ultrasound and hearing the heartbeat - it is the best sound I've ever heard! When Joey saw the ultrasound and what actually looked like a baby he was amazed and I think he really started to get excited at that point. I'm looking forward to feeling the kicks - remind me I said this when I'm complaining about elbows/feet in my ribs in a few months.

I'm feeling fantastic - a little tired but overall I feel really good now. The 24 hour a day hangover feeling subsided around 14 weeks and since then I've felt like a real person again. I'm trying to work out a little bit more, mostly walking but its something.

My biggest complaint is I'm having a hard time finding maternity clothes. I really didn't like the maternity store at the mall but maybe I just need someone to help me navigate through it. I've had a little luck at Gap and Old Navy online. Anyone that has any suggestions, it would be most appreciated. I'm also thinking about getting a pregnancy pillow to help me sleep - anyone use one of those that they loved?

A Sign From Who?

Matt and I know that we would someday like to have children, we are just not that sure when that someday may be. Apparently someone out there thinks that that someday should be now! I opened the front door yesterday to find a teething ring, neatly placed, in the center of my front porch. What the !?!? This certainly does not belong to us and after running through a brief list of our friends with children, I can not seem to think of who may have 'dropped' this on our front porch. None of our friends have children of teething age, not that I know when that age is anyway! So, who left the teething ring (TR) on our porch? I do not mean to excite anyone, the TR is not a message to all that I am pregnant. I do think the TR is a (funny and clever) message from someone who thinks that I should get pregnant...anyone want to claim it!?!