11.30.2010

{twenty-eight}

 My birthday was November 18th and I am officially 28 now.
We had a lovely dinner with my parents & sister at my mom's house.
It was a great birthday and I am hoping 28 holds wonderful things for me.

 {Jack & Aunt Roxanne}

 {Logan & Aunt Roxanne}

 {Logan with mommy}

 {Jack with mommy}

 The boys were very excited to help me open presents.

 I got a new diaper bag, Tea Tree Shampoo (my favorite!), 
a purse, pj's, a silver colander, Lavender bubble bath (yum!)
and a collection of handsoaps from Bath & Body Works.

 I am particularly excited about the colander as the
old one I had was a plastic one from Dollar Tree
from when we got married seven and a half years ago!

 We had to keep one eye on Logan at all times...
He was ready to dig into that cake!

The boys watched anxiously for me to blow out my candles
and make a wish.

Bet you can guess what I wished for.

11.26.2010

a trip down memory lane...

 November 2008
{5 months}

 November 2009
{one & a half}

November 2010
{two & a half}

11.25.2010

I'm Grateful...

for these guys.

I am grateful that they arrived healthy in the world and have stayed that way.
I am grateful that they have each other.
I am grateful that they are so beautiful.
I am grateful that they bring me such joy.
And I am grateful that they force me to live in the moment.

I love you, boys.
I really do.

 

11.17.2010

It's a.....

SINGLETON!!!!

And we couldn't be more thrilled!

I had my first appointment today with my actual OB and she agreed to give us a quick ultrasound since we already got a two-for-one deal, as she put it, and were curious about this pregnancy. We snuck into the ultrasound room and she put that warm gel all over my belly. As soon as she put the wand on my abdomen we could see one little baby dancing around in there. She looked up, down and all around and we only came up with one little babe in there. I am so relieved. I guess I didn't realize how much I was on pins and needles waiting to find out if it was going to be multiples again.  The baby was kicking its little feet- piggies & all- and was holding its hand up by its forehead-- so adorable.  It was exciting to see the baby, watch its little heart flutter on the screen and confirm that he/she is a lonely only. The doctor also said, unofficially, that it's probably a girl. She said since I suffered little to no nausea with my twin pregnancy and am suffering all.the.time with this one, it's likely a girl. She said girl pregnancies cause more extreme nausea than boy pregnancies. At this point, I don't even care- I am just so happy it's ONE this time.

11.16.2010

boys update

 It's been a while since I really updated you all on the boys. So here is a hodge podge post of pictures from the last few weeks, depicting what adorable things they've been up to.
They've become firetruck repairmen.

Working together to get the job done.

Everyone knows you need a good shop to work on your cars, and apparently the scrapbook table is perfect. (No creeper necessary.)

-
This new phase of independent play, where they play either together or separately for some period of time with little to no adult intervention is so exciting! We recently got them play-doh and that has expanded their attention spans as well. They will play for up to a half an hour. The perfect amount of time for me to get dinner started! We are LOVING it!
-

Jack has become a le cordon bleu chef.

His baby has enjoyed many delectable meals such as this up in Jack's booster seat.
(Jack put him there all by himself. So cute!)

Logan has taught himself to read, starting small with his Thomas' Big Storybook (which is 6 books in 1.)

 He sits atop the scrapbook table (when the "auto repair shop" is closed) reading the day away.

 He enjoys not only reading, but also studying the pictures.

 He's quite the little professor.

The other day I found this monster truck Logan got from Nanny stuffed full of his snack. There were pieces in the driver and passenger seats and a few in the bed of the truck.  He is so funny with his cars.

Jack has been recently drafted by the Green Bay Packers.  They haven't sent his official gear yet, so he's been practicing with his grocery store basket helmet.
He holds the handle in his mouth like a mouth guard and throws the football to Josh.  It is so adorable!

This one I just had to share.
Look at that post-nap hair!!!

 Lately (like, for the last four weeks) the boys have been waking up at 5am. It is brutal. I mean, it would suck even if I wasn't ten weeks pregnant. But I am ten weeks pregnant. So it is especially painful.
They will knock and knock on their door (it's child proofed on the inside) until I get up and let them out, after which they say to me cheerfully, "I waked up, Mommy!" Like they want a gold star or something!

 One good thing about waking up early with them is that we spend a lot of time snuggling and watching "voovies" (movies) together. They love that.

 Last weekend Josh moved the basketball hoop back inside the house.

 It has provided endless hours of entertainment.

 They dribble, shoot hoops and will throw just about any toy into the net to see what happens. 

But the best basketball hoop adventure was when I went to sweep a few days after it was brought inside and found four slugs and one tiny snail tucked cozily into a little nook on the bottom of the stand.  They boys were enthralled! Me, not so much.

A new favorite in the Cunningham household is Toy Story Three, which the boys indicate by holding up FIVE fingers emphatically.  They love Woody & Buzz the most, of course, and have their little action figures. Logan likes to have his go night-night in the bathtub in his washcloth. It's so cute to watch him bundle them up and tell them "No jumping!"

Jack's new funny thing that I tell everyone is that he doesn't know the word "mine". So when I give something (like a snack) to Logan, he asks, "Where's me's, Mommy?" 
Or when Logan takes a truck that Jack was playing with, he screams, "LOGAN! THAT'S ME'S! THAT'S ME'S!" We have been trying to teach him "That's mine", but to no avail.

{ Logan }

 You can just tell he's cracking up in this one.
I love it!

A new favorite book at our house is "The New Baby" by Mercer Mayer for obvious reasons.  The boys particularly like this page.

 Jack's "funniest face ever",

& Logan's "funniest face ever".

I have had a rough go of it the last few weeks, worrying about money, a job for Josh, my health, the boys' health, the baby's health, Josh's health (shoot- we've all been sick!) the holidays, my disgusting mess of a house... not to mention the 24/7 nausea that Cunningham #3 is bestowing upon me. I have been a wreck. 
But I do find moments amid the chaos to stop; enjoy the boys; and be grateful for what I do have. Which is a loving husband (who is also a fantastic father) and two beautiful (albeit exhausting!) sons.

11.14.2010

Our First Stroller Free Zoo Trip!!!

 Josh decided we should take advantage of having Thursday off for Veterans Day and we headed to the zoo with the boys. Only this was no regular zoo trip. This was our first stroller-free zoo trip. Josh suggested we try it, and I was game. 
The first animal we came across was this brown bear. It was so close to us on the 'Pacific Northwest' Bridge, I couldn't believe it! The boys were mesmerized.

The boys so enjoyed the freedom of walking and checking out the exhibits up close.  I was so proud of them. They were such good listeners, stayed close and held our hands when asked.  We only had one mini-meltdown when Jack wanted to leave the monkeys without waiting for Logan. He pulled it together before I had to give him a timeout. 

Daddy & Logan

Mommy & Jack

 Logan & Jack

This zebra was the other animal we got to see super close up. We were up on a balcony looking down and he was right there! He was chomping away on the grass, looking so beautiful!

~

On the drive home I was telling Josh how glad I was that we tried a trip without the stroller, and how proud I was of the boys. "They did so good. I feel like if we have another baby, it's going to be okay!" Josh looked at me and said slowly, "Honey... We're kind of past the "if" part."
Guess that shows where I'm at in terms of accepting that this baby is on its way!

11.10.2010

Juli's Right

So I have a friend, Juli, who is a fellow twin mama.  When it comes to understanding what it's like loving two babies, caring for two babies and feeling torn between working to provide for them and leaving them in the care of someone else... 
She gets it

Example?
Today she called just to tell me that she had gone through the stages of "Pregnancy Acceptance" for my recent pregnancy with me. First, disbelief. Then fear. Then acceptance. And finally excitement.  I think she's ahead of me, as "excitement" has yet to take hold. I am working more on acceptance right now. Well, that and I am sending up LOADS of prayers for a singleton this time. Which, she also gets.
In her message she said, "And I bet a ton of people are saying cute things about how it'll probably be twins again. Well, they're just stupid!" 

OMG.
Juli, I love you.
You are so right.

11.07.2010

9 weeks...

It seems that we are on this journey yet again...
Expecting Cunningham Baby #3 June 12, 2011.
Surprise!!!

11.06.2010

Fall Festivities

I am a bit behind in my blogging, so here is a recap of our fall festivities: 

HALLOWEEN PARTY 2010
 My boys and I watching Carl make ice cream at Aunt Christine's
Annual Halloween Party.
 Trick-or-treating at the Halloween Party.
 Jack's turn to hit the pinata.
 He talked about it for days afterward.
 Logan's turn to hit the pinata.
 Once the pinata broke open, the kids went nuts.
 Logan started stuffing his pockets
and Jack soon followed suit.
 They were so excited about all the candy!
 Candy, Mommy!
 Wow!
 Cheeks full of chocolate!
 Mommy & Jack
 Mommy & Logan
My happy bubs!

THE PUMPKIN PATCH 2010
Every year we go to the pumpkin patch with the Cunningham's and this year was no exception. Three of Josh's cousins even drove up from Moses Lake to attend with us, and it was a beautiful day!
 Logan & Jack
{The Hay Pyramid}
 Testing out the tractors
 Logan
Logan helped me pick out my pumpkin.
He walked with me, hand in hand,
through the patch saying,
"How 'bout that one?
How 'bout that one?
How 'bout that one?"
So cute!