Belly Comparison ...

By Cyndi (who else!)
August 25, 2010

Per the request of one of my readers, here's a new picture, along with a comparison from a month ago.

20 Weeks

16 Weeks

PS.  Saw the Dr. today and everything looks fine.  Dr said for belly size reference, 20 weeks with twins = 34 weeks with a singleton.

Week 20

By Cyndi
August 24, 2010

Well, I promise this one is short and sweet.  While Matt's in Vegas hopefully winning diaper money, I am staring at HUGE boxes that have now arrived in our basement with all of the nursery furniture (2 cribs & 2 dressers).  Thanks in advance to Uncle Michael, who is visiting over Labor Day for his help in moving the dressers up two floors.  We also purchased a freezer chest so I can prepare meals in advance so we don't go hungry!

Here's the view of everything arriving and the view of our basement in its current state:

PS.  Look to the top for a new poll!  Please only vote once!

Answers to Ask The Aldersons!

By Matt
August 22, 2010


Thank you to those who submitted questions!


Q: I saw this story on facebook about a guy who got his sister to name her child Megatron after he got 1,000,000 fans to support the idea. How do you feel about that? (Uncle Dave)
A: Well the challenge here is that we won't know the sexes until the day of their birth. Is Beavis and/or Butthead unisex?

Q: I saw a stand-up comedian today who marveled at his 8-month old daughter's acrobatic abilities when she managed to dump while inverted and get poo in her hair. If you paid me, I'm not sure I - a grown adult - could contort myself in such a way to get poo in my hair. Would you be impressed or disgusted if your child got poo in their hair? (Uncle Dave)

A: Very impressed. And being that these kids will be Aldersons, it will not be all that surprising if something like this happened.

Q: I would like to know about some of the things you will be doing during pregnancy and birth, and early life that are different because of your religion. (Cortney, DC friend)

A: The big event will be the bris, 8 days after the birth, provided at least one of the two is a boy. It is a circumcision but done under the supervision and direction of a mohel. Also at the time of the bris, or baby-naming if at least one is a girl, the babies will be given Hebrew names, which are typically chosen to pay respect to deceased family members. The Hebrew name does not have to coincide with its English equivalent.

Q: I recently watched the youtube phenomenon "Charlie bit me." As soon to be parents, I think it's a good lesson to learn early on that many times, your best option is to exploit your children for the sake of popularity. In any event, I then watched an autotuned remix, here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMM0R19IisI. Not that it has anything to do with your pregnancy, but we really want to know: do you think auto-tune is ruining real music? (Uncle Dave)

A: Auto-tuning is not ruining music. Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga are ruining music.

Q: Do you have a pet-name you are calling the twins? If not, can your faithful blog readers submit nominations? (Todd & Stacie)
A: Submit away!

Q: I've recently noticed that there are a very many varying names for grandma and grandpa. These included pop-pop, pappoo, poppy, umpah, jaju, papaw and opa. I don't think this is fair to uncles, who in my estimation, have one choice: uncle. Would you be willing to negotiate separate titles with myself and Matt's brothers, such that we aren't pigeonholed into some silly pre-determined societal role? I'm already working on a title for myself that, upon hearing it, will give the impression that I have the strength of a lion, the grace of a weeping willow, and the peace in my heart of smoldering cannabis. So where do you stand on the issue of titles? (Uncle Dave)

A: Sounds good, as long as you can get it by Cyndi. And don't worry Dave, whatever impression your title sets forth, these kids will know the real you in due time. J/K!

Week 19

By Cyndi

August 17, 2010

I'll keep this short and sweet, since the week was fairly uneventful.  Our house guest for the past two weeks, Jill has moved out to her new place in Georgetown.  Daniel will be here at the end of the month and we're super excited to have some family close to us!

By the end of this week, we should have all of the nursery furniture in the house, waiting for us to paint the room (color still under debate).  The guest room / office is almost ready for viewing.  When we finish, I'll post a picture.  Meigs has been hanging out in there, but we haven't moved his kennel in yet.  We'll wait until after Uncle Michael visits over Labor Day weekend.

Next week brings Matt's second (and last) mancation to Las Vegas with Todd to celebrate their 30th birthdays.  Due to the timing of the twins, Stacie and I won't be able to take one, but don't worry, we'll be celebrating sometime and the boys will have Daddy Daycare for our vacay in 2011.  Anyone else up for a fall trip in a year to somewhere warm??!!

We have our 20 week appointment with the doctor next week where we will get the final all-clear to travel to Chicago in Sept (even though we've already bought tickets).  Here's a picture for your viewing pleasure & the latest stats on the twins size ....

Baby's now the size of a mango!

Your baby weighs about 8 1/2 ounces, and measures 6 inches, head to bottom — about the size of a large heirloom tomato. The hair on his/her scalp is sprouting. This is a crucial time for sensory development: Your baby's brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. Some research suggests that s/he may be able to hear your voice now, so don't be shy about reading aloud, taking to him/her, or singing a happy tune if the mood strikes you.

 

Week 18 Ultrasound

As promised ... here are a few pictures!  (Thank you Stacie for scanning this before you leave for vacation!!)

Week 18

August 10, 2010
By Cyndi

This has been an exciting week in the Alderson household.  It began with Daniel (Matt's brother) & Jill's (his girlfriend) arrival.  Jill is starting medical school in DC and Daniel was here to look for a place to live.  The four of us plus Todd, Stacie, & Lincoln had a fabulous dinner at Wildfire.  Matt and I had been waiting (okay, okay, really just me) to go there with at least 6 people so we could have their family style dinner.  It was great!

Daniel also held up his end of the deal to help move some furniture around the house to start emptying out the future nursery.  Cleaning & painting still remain, but the process has begun.  Nursery furniture (two cribs and one of the two dressers) have been ordered and ready for pickup in one week.  Once the other dresser is available, we will order that too.  Thank goodness we had some 20% off coupons, because we saved a lot!!

Last, but not least, the big 20 week ultrasound.  We got settled and the ultrasound technician started to go at it.  We knew that the measurements and pictures would take at least one hour and that wasn't a lie.  After 20 weeks, you aren't supposed to lay on your back, but that is the only position for an ultrasound.  Due to a combination of factors of the tech pushing on my belly, the warm room, and needing to pee (they require a full bladder to start for certain measurements), I started feeling bad ... and got very close to passing out.  We paused for a few minutes and started again.  Here's the medical reason: your growing uterus can slow the circulation in your legs by compressing the inferior vena cava (the large vein that returns blood from the lower half of the body to the heart) and the pelvic veins.  Everything on both babies looks good ... weighing about 0.5 pounds each.  Enjoy one picture for now and ultrasound pictures later this week!

And ... to give Matt a good laugh on his birthday, after he stood up from the kitchen table, Meigs quickly got up from laying on the air conditioning vent (his favorite spot in the summer), and he brought something along with!   His tags were stuck in the grates ... Matt snapped a few quick pictures and relieved Meigs.

 

We love our Meigs!

PS.  We are still accepting questions for "Ask the Aldersons"!  Please submit.

Happy Birthday Matthew & Michael!

It's a big one .... Happy 30th Birthday!!

Week 17

By Cyndi
August 3, 2010

This week has been fairly uneventful. The room rearrangement project has begun with cleaning, reorganizing, steam cleaning carpets and furniture moves. We are working on deciding on a new paint color, but knowing me and decisions, it may take a while!

We scored an awesome deal on a glider this week. FAO Schwarz was having a sale and we bought a glider & ottoman that retails for $380 reduced to $180 (less than 50% of the original price)!! It has arrived and is already assembled. Matt is practicing his assembly skillz for the cribs.





















In hopes of keeping this blog interesting, we are going to do a segment called "Ask the Aldersons" where we encourage you to submit questions as comments and we will answer them with our expertise on life!
This week is as uneventful as last week but soon is Matt & Michael's big 30th birthdays & our 20 week ultrasound.