Merry Christmas

It was another wonderful Christmas! We all got together at Julie and Trey's house on Christmas Eve and for Christmas morning. It was fun watching the girls open all their presents and imagining what next Christmas will be like with 3 more additions to the Tapson clan.

32 week appointment

I had my 32 week doctor visit yesterday. We had an ultrasound, and I wanted to share the update. Addison is still head down, weighing 3 pounds, 12 ounces and measuring at 32 w & 6 d. Maddox is still tranverse (with his head now on my right side), weighing 4 pounds, 4 ounces and measuring at 33 w & 1 d. I can't believe I have 8 pounds of baby in my belly right now! I was so happy to hear that they are getting big, and Dr. Breniman said he couldn't be happier with the way things have progressed. He said it is unusual for twins to be measuring ahead at this point (that usually they begin to fall behind a woman pregnant with a singleton), and that is a really good thing. He said if I can make it two more weeks then we would let my labor progress naturally (if I were to go into labor on my own.) I think the babies are pretty cozy right now, so I'm hoping/thinking I will make it beyond 2 weeks for sure. I couldn't be happier!

We have been involved in a small group in Conway for the past 2 1/2 years. These six amazing girls have prayed for me and been there for me through everything. I could go on and on about them. Anyways...they had a little get together for me to celebrate the upcoming arrival of Maddox and Addison. We ate dinner and then came back to Carrie's house. I had been telling them since I first found out I was pregnant that I wanted to have a monogramming party where we could make little onesies and stuff. (I don't know if that makes any sense, but they have made some pretty cute stuff for their little ones in the past.) So, they surprised me and had bought all the stuff to help me make some cute little things. We monogrammed 4 onesies and them embossed some thank you cards. It was a lot of fun. It has motivated me to be more creative!

My students threw me a baby shower at school a couple of weeks ago. I totally did not expect them to do that for me. It was very sweet. A few of my students got it all together and it was a lot of fun. Brent was able to come up and celebrate with us.

We had a doctor's appointment last week. Here are the pictures. Baby A (top pic) is Addison and Baby B is Maddox. Addison weighed 1 pound 14 ounces and is head down. Maddox weighed 2 pounds 3 ounces and is tranverse (lying sideways with his head on my left side). Both of their feet end up on the right side which would explain why I feel so much kicking over there! Everything looked great. We can't wait to meet our two little miracles! I go to the doctor again next week, and then we start going every week. I can't believe how close we are getting. On another note, we may have finally decided on middle names: Addison Blakely and Maddox Brayden. Of course I may change my mind next week, but we'll see...

27 weeks and counting...

Here is a picture of me on Thanksgiving. I keep growing and growing...

Birthday Party #3

Chloe is 6!!! I cannot believe how fast times flies. I can still vividly remember her being a baby. She has been such a huge part of our lives. It makes you realize how fast times goes by and to enjoy each moment. This was Chloe's birthday party at The Purple Cow with the family. She is having a princess tea party with friends this weekend. Her favorite gift was a Fur Berry. She did not let go of it for the entire night. I love being such a huge part of my family's life.

Baby Shower at Trio's

Allison, Aimee, Julie, and Leslie threw me a wonderful baby shower at Trio's. It was a fun and beautiful place to have a shower. It was great to have my friends come and celebrate this pregnancy and these babies with me. I got all kinds of practical and fun stuff. I just have a small list of things I still need. Everyone has been so kind. I am getting so excited about the babies getting here.

First Baby Shower

Lauren, Erin, and Brooke hosted a baby shower for me this weekend. These are my best friends and roommates/suitemates from OBU. Several girls from my pledge class were able to come, and of course my sisters, mom, grandmother, and mother-in-law. It was a beautiful shower with lots of great food. I feel so blessed to have such wonderful friends. Maddox and Addison could be born tomorrow, and I feel like I have the essentials now. I got my swings, bouncy seats, car seats & double stroller, bottles, pacifiers, diapers,...the list goes on and on...It was a great day!

Birthday Party #2

Emma Kate turned 4 on Saturday. She is growing up so fast. She is really funny and sweet. She had a blast at her party. It was at Sunshine Academy in Conway. All of her friends came and ran around the gym jumping on trampolines and doing fun obstacle courses.

Halloween Party

We normally have small group on Wednesday nights in Conway, and since it was Halloween, we decided to have a Halloween party. Everyone brought their kids, and they all looked adorable. We had a great time! Next year there will be two more additions on the couch!

Birthday Party #1

First of all, let me apologize for my poor layout of the pictures. I am still trying to figure out how to make that work. Avery had her 2-year old birthday party on October 27th at Nana and Papa's house. It ended up being just family because Avery came down with some kind of virus the previous week, and Leslie didn't want to expose other children to it. Of course her cousin Emma Kate was there and her sister Chloe. Avery was fascinated by the candle she got to blow out on her cupcake. Papa probably lit the candle at least 50 times and she would blow it out. She loved it, and it was very entertaining. I can't believe she's 2! She is so sweet, and I just adore her. The funny picture of Jason and Emma Kate is of them eating a dried up larvae. Trey bought them in Orlando and thought it would be funny to act like he was eating one he just picked up off the ground. Then he talked Jason and Pops into eating one. Emma Kate had already eaten some the night before and wanted some more. Apparantly they taste like cheetos. I'll just take their word on it.

Branson

We went to Branson with our small group from Conway. We got there late Friday night and just played some games. Then Saturday was a shopping day for the girls and the guys played golf and hung out in the room. Saturday night we went out to eat and then stopped for dessert. Then we played more games. Brent and I finally won the Newlywed Game. We have played it many times and this is the first time we won. Sunday we went to Silver Dollar City. It was a lot of fun. We stayed at a 3 bedroom condo-style place in Thousand Hills. It was really nice. Dave and Krista brought Wesley. He was an angel. I love my friends!

Viva Las Vegas

We just got back from our trip to Vegas yesterday. I am exhausted!!! It was a fun trip, but a very tiring one. Brent and I went with Julie and Trey. It was Brent and my first time to go. There was a lot to see and do. Julie and I went to see Celine Dion's concert at Caesar's Palace on Friday night. It was amazing! She was flawless. This is her last year at Caesar's, and I have been saying for the past 4 years that I was going to see her, so I finally did. We also saw the Cirque show Ka. It was really cool. We stayed at the MGM Grand. It was a good experience. I would stay there again. I have posted a few pics.

18 week ultrasound pictures

Brent scanned these pictures today so we could post them on the blog. Baby A is Addison (the first two pics) and Baby B is Maddox. I would post the pictures where you can tell it's a boy and a girl, but I don't want to start embarassing them already before they are even born! :)

I'm growing...

Brent has been taking pictures of me every week since week 9 of the pregnancy. This picture is from last week (week 19). I have about gone beyond the capacity to wear my normal pants. They are being held together by a safety pin at this point. I wore my first pair of maternity pants to work this week. But I love knowing that the babies are growing and that it's getting closer to their delivery. I can't wait to see their little faces!