Will They Ever Get Here?

Appointment Update (36 Weeks):

We had our last appointment this morning - It seems strange to be writing that! If these two little stinkers don't decide to come on their own, we will be going in on Tuesday, January 6th at 7:30am to be induced. This will put me at exactly 37 weeks. Since we haven't been seeing the specialist, I am unsure of how much they are estimated to weigh, but I know that my final weigh-in showed a whopping 50 lb gain!

We are having beautiful weather (upper 50's and sunny) so we went to the park this morning with Kate and will be doing a lot of walking over the next few days to see if we can get the ball rolling. I will be glad to have them both here and we are praying that we will have two healthy girls shortly!

Just Released - Kate The Great: LIVE

For your easy listening enjoyment - Kate's first collection of hits:

-Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee

-Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

-Holy, Holy, Holy

-Itsy Bitsy Spider

Family Pictures

We were able to take our family pictures in front of the tree - Finally. I had forgotten how much "fun" it is to try to get a good group picture with a wiggly almost two year old. Thanks for being so patient Grammy (aka - the expert photographer). We had to resort to using strawberry fruit snacks as a bribe for good behavior - Something I would normally NEVER do!

Hope you enjoy the photos below!

Merry Christmas!

Hope everyone had a wonderful day with family and friends! We are so blessed with all that God has given us - especially the birth of His Son! Merry Christmas!

Kate had such fun opening all her presents this morning. She also enjoyed helping everyone rip the paper off their presents too! A few of her presents were a new kitchen, Duplos (which were promptly dumped all over the floor), a new softball (her favorite present which now goes everywhere with her), and a softball glove.
She tried to claim my favorite present - a super soft blanket - but we decided it was big enough for us to share instead.

Christmas Eve

Tonight we went and looked at Christmas lights around our neighborhood. Both Steve and I thought Kate would get bored, but she thought it was great fun to try to find them and see all the neat little displays. This will definitely be a yearly tradition. Kate also got to open one present - a brand new puzzle!
Appointment Update (35 Weeks):
We had our weekly appointment this morning and everything is looking good. Our next appointment is this coming Monday (12/29) and if the babies aren't here by then we will probably be picking a date on the calendar to schedule their arrival!

O Tannenbaum!

Our tree this year turned out beautiful. Yes, last year's tree was pretty hard to compete with, but Steve did a great job picking out a tree and decorating it.

Kate enjoyed watching it come home on top of the van and wanted to kiss it alot when it first got set up. She also has her own little tree with two ornaments on it. Hopefully next year we will get around to making some homemade ornaments to fill it up.

We're Almost Here!

Appointment Update (32 & 34 Weeks):

32 Weeks - (Top Photo)
Baby A weighs 4 lb. 3 oz. & Baby B weighs 4 lb. 5 oz.

34 Weeks -
Baby A weighs 5 lb. & Baby B weighs 4 lb. 11 oz.

Great news - The babies are both doing so well that I no longer have to visit the perinatologist. We will only have my regular weekly OB appointments until they decide to make their appearance. I have gained 45 lbs. so far and am measuring 41-42 weeks pregnant.

We have our next appointment Christmas Eve (35 weeks) and are hoping that the babies will come before the end of the year. We are definitely in the home stretch now - Literally and Figuratively!

My Friend Samuel

Kate loves going to church on Sunday and visiting with all her little friends. We usually discuss it on Saturday at dinner and she goes through who she might see the next day.

She is good friends with Samuel and is always happy to see him!

Kate doesn't usually let me put anything in her hair for very long, but by some miracle the little tam managed to stay on all day!

Daddy Dates

Last week Steve took Kate on her first Daddy Date - Christmas shopping and lunch at McDonald's. Kate's very first Happy Meal and Chicken McNuggets. I am not sure who enjoyed it more!

Kate had her second Daddy Date today - A visit to the Denver Aquarium! She couldn't stop talking about all the fun things she had seen and done. I think the highlight was touching the Sting Ray. Although in Kate's words she touched a shark and gave him a back scratch.
If you look carefully, you will notice she is carrying two cotton balls with her everywhere. Kate has decided these make excellent toys as they are very soft and portable. I don't think it is wise to let her see our annual holiday movie tradition "Elf" until she understands that cotton balls aren't edible!

Ugly Christmas Sweater Contest

Our small group at church had an Ugly Christmas Sweater Contest.  The grand prize was that the winner had to wear their sweater to church that Sunday - I was really hoping Steve wouldn't win.  The victor was Cale (blond hair w/ light up sweater) who plays the drums for worship.  I must admit it was kind-of festive seeing the lights up front on Sunday morning.

Snow Fun!

We had a big snowfall right after Thanksgiving and Kate and Daddy took advantage of the good packing snow!  Check out the two making snow angels and Kate's very first snowman.  It warmed up over the next few days so Frosty melted rather quickly.  I was surprised that Kate wasn't more upset since every morning she would get up and say "Hi" to him.

Thanksgiving Weekend

We had so much fun with Sara's family here over Thanksgiving weekend - Thanks everyone for making the trip to CO. I think we may have set a record for the number of games of Settlers played in a 3 day span. (Note: Uncle Bernie finally won at the Derdowski residence)

Kate thoroughly enjoyed the zoo on Wednesday and of course the day wouldn't be complete without a few rides on the carousel.

Turkey Day was celebrated with the 2nd Annual Touch Football Game and wouldn't have been played properly without a few injuries to its participants. Hope your finger (Aunt Leona) and big toe (Uncle Bernie) feel better soon!

Kate "ate" her traditional turkey leg for Thanksgiving dinner - Look at the difference a year makes!

Let It Snow!

We woke up this morning to a pleasant surprise - it was snowing! We ended up with about three inches by the time it stopped, but most of it melted by the afternoon.

Kate got all decked out in her snow gear to enjoy a good romp. She had a little bit of a hard time walking since she was so bundled, but she managed not to fall over. She was actually unsure about the snow at first, but eventually warmed up to it! We heard all afternoon about walking in the snow & how she made a snowball and caught it.

We are hoping for a big snow over Thanksgiving so she can go sledding with Uncle Bernie, Aunt Leona, Zio Brian, Zia Rita, and Grammy. Only 10 more days according to Kate's official countdown calendar.

We're Here In 3D ....

Appointment Update (28 Weeks):

Abigail and Eveline cooperated (sort-of) for 3D pictures. It is amazing what you can see with technology. Baby A kept putting her hand over her face and Baby B frowned if the perinatologist would jiggle her too much.

I have gained 35 lbs. so far and am measuring 35 weeks pregnant. Baby A now weighs 2 lbs. 12 oz. and Baby B weighs 2lb. 11 oz. The perinatologist was really pleased that Baby B had gained so much weight and had caught up with her sister. No wonder I have been getting more uncomfortable - there is a lot of baby in there. The Dr. said the only room for them to grow now is out! I have resigned myself to the fact that I will be quite a sight to behold by the time they get here.

We are so thankful that all of us are doing so well and that it is only a few more days until the reinforcements arrive (Yeah Grammy!)

Our Little Fairy - Happy Halloween!

Kate made a great fairy tonight - Thanks Grammy for helping with the costume! She loved knocking on the doors and saying "Trick-or-Treat". We went to the seminary to visit our friends and also stopped by to see our neighbors.

A Day at the Zoo!

It was a beautiful fall day today so we took Kate to the zoo this morning. We saw a lion eating a pumpkin about 1 foot away from us, three baby snow leopards, a polar bear pushing a big ball with his nose, and rode the carousel two times. The carousel was definitely the favorite! Hopefully, we will be able to squeeze in one more visit before it gets too cold.

Kate's Pumpkins

Kate enjoyed her weekend with Grandma Lois and Aunt Stephanie. We had fun carving her pumpkin & lit it tonight for a trial run. She had to check out what exactly was inside her pumpkin making it glow so nicely!
Good thing Kate didn't see Dad doing this...Great Carving Dad!