Are They Identical or Fraternal?

The best answer is... maybe. From all that I have read and heard, it is almost impossible to tell in a situation like mine. There can be educated guesses, but I just can't know for sure until they are born. At that time, genetic testing can be done on the placenta, or if the blood types of the children don't match, then they are definitely fraternal. If there is a boy and a girl, then that is also a dead giveaway that they are fraternal (obviously).

If they were in the same amniotic sac, they would definitely be identical. They are not, so that could mean either.

Right now it looks like they have one placenta, which means that they are definitely identical... unless it is actually two placentas that have grown together, merging to look like one, which means they could be identical or fraternal. :)

So you see the difficulty? There are signs along the way, but nothing is certain, at least at this point. If they are identical, they split early enough to have their own sacs and maybe their own placentas, which make them look a lot like fraternal twins.

So the guess right now based on the thinness of the membrane and the (possible) shared placenta is that they are identical. But... that's just a guess and I won't know for sure for a while, probably not until after they are born.

I got quite an education last month on this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twins

For the record, Justin is hoping for fraternal boy and girl, to keep our family well balanced :)

Growing Babies

Wow, these little critters have really grown a lot in the last month! I saw wee little hands and everything today! I even watched them bounce off each other, which was amusing. Can you make out the babies? One head is on the top right and the other is on the bottom left, with the bodies lying on their backs across the screen, bulging little bellies in the air. Still too early for gender(s), but the doctor says they are growing perfectly and everything looks great! I've put on 8 pounds in 4 weeks, but whatever... aren't they just darling?? :)

Laziness is the Mother of Invention

Soooo... Tanner is 2 and a half and showing noooooo signs of being ready for potty training. That, and frankly, I just don't have it within me at the moment to face the drama of getting it done. So, I'm thinking that when the twins come, I'm going to have three bums in diapers and I know that I'm going to resent the biggest one.

This morning Tanner needed his diaper changed, so I said, "ask Kinley to change your diaper." I was mostly kidding, but they both looked so thrilled with the idea that I followed them to their room to supervise and direct a perfectly adequate diaper change by Miss Kinley. They loved it, for whatever reason. I won't complain. As far as I'm concerned, if it's not poopy, Kinley is welcome to keep his bum fresh! One less bum for me to worry about and it seems to be a grand adventure for both of them! Weird kids...

Problem solved :) And... potty training further delayed :)

Island Park

Last night we returned from our annual adventure in Island Park. We drove up Thursday morning and stayed with Justin's parents overnight. On Friday morning we dropped the kids off in Rexburg with Kayla's family and drove the rest of the way to Island Park to meet our good friends, the VanOrdens and Schwartzes. Good, kid-free fun!

On Friday night we went to West Yellowstone to see Hello Dolly at the Playmill Theater. Much better than the Footloose disaster of last year! We went to our "usual" dinner spot at the Canyon Street Grill (kind of a 50's diner) and spent the rest of the time relaxing, visiting, and playing board games in the cabin. I wasn't feeling well enough to take any pictures myself, so I swiped from Mandee these great ones of the boys doing the "side show" activity in the new Cranium game. A Cranium tournament is tradition, boys against girls. The boys always win (their heads are full of useless facts; the red cards always sink us). Except for last year's great upset! To view pictures of the losers jumping into the reservoir in the middle of the night, please see here!

Everyone was gracious while I took my morning naps... and afternoon naps... and went to bed early... and no one took it personally if I threw up the meal they had so generously prepared. :)

We look forward to this weekend all year long, for good reason! All the time in the car was a little hard on my system. I threw up several times on the way home, but fortunately I thought to bring a plastic barf bag along, just in case. Kind of gross, but sadly, my family is far too used to it. It doesn't even raise an eyebrow out of any of them anymore. We're home again and have no travel plans for the rest of the year! It's been a busy and wonderful July!

Coeur d'Alene Beach

We spent a day at the beach in Coeur d'Alene. Here are Tanner and Noah, ready to get started (in their matching Cars "swimming soups"!) Neither of my children have ever been to a beach in their lives. It didn't take them long to acclimatize. They were thrilled with the entire experience!
She's out quite a ways, so brave!
Amber and Josh, mosying.
"No really, can we have lunch yet?"
"Dirty!"
This little man loved the sand and water. Loved it!
Kinley graciously allowed us to bury her in the sand.



Amber taking Tanner out for another spin through deeper water.
Making mud creations.
Noah, checking things out...
"Cheese!"
Annabelle coming in!
Is this a beach or a catwalk?
Tanner and Julian making fine messes together.
I spent a good amount of time in the water, having a great time. This was my healthiest and most energetic day of the trip. I'll refrain from posting pictures of me taken out of the water, thanks. I need to preserve some dignity.
Ben, taking a moment.
Josh swimming in for a visit with Ben.

Aunt Lyndsey

Fun with Aunt Lyndsey

Picnic in the Park

After touring the gardens, we had a picnic in a nearby park. Don't you love our awesome parking spot? So strange that it was just wide open, ready for the taking.

Looooooong day.

Phew, Catching Up!

Well, I am FINALLY caught up in googlereader! Never again will I let it pile up 2 weeks worth of posts! Now, I still have to post the rest of the reunion pictures.... oh, come on, you KNOW you love the endless travelogue. Hey, just remember, it's better than me making endless posts that say "Waaaah, I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired! I feel gross, I feel nasty." You want that instead?? I didn't think so. So just sit back and enjoy the happy pictures of my kids having fun, k?

AND.... The Reunion Recap Continues :)

There sure were a lot of adventures for my kids to enjoy in Washington. I did a lot of "supervising". I did my hair a total of three times on the trip, once for church, once for this visit to the gardens, and once for the trip home. :) Thanks to everyone who was so sweet to my kids, herding them along so they could have fun while Mommy, for the most part, sat on the sidelines.

For one adventure, we spent the day at some beautiful flower gardens.
My little poser, what can I say?
I really can't believe how well the cousins got along with each other. 11 days and nary a single skirmish. How does that happen? Much more than I could have even hoped for. Well... we probably need to count Noah being done with visitors after 7 days. My kids have found friends for life; I just wish we could get together more often!

I love that age didn't matter to anyone. While Kinley was joined some days at the hip with cousin Annabelle, she could just as often be found in the back yard sword fighting with Julian or Josh, and sometimes Ben. And one of my favorite sights (wish I had gotten my camera) was Annabelle and Tanner laughing hysterically over some private joke between them, chasing each other up and down the stairs.

Taking a break between gardens.
Climbing around Grandma at the rose garden.

And, hopping across rocks at the Japanese garden.

Grandma and Aunt Lyndsey, who for a few days was sick and miserable with a head cold, as evidenced in this grumpy pic :)
Managed to get one picture of my sister Heather with wee little Logan!

The Pregnancy Update

Ah.... today marks the beginning of the 2nd trimester. I have a nasty metallic taste in my mouth that I haven't been able to fully get rid of. I'm changing my prenatal vitamins, hoping that will improve it. I'm definitely not as nauseas as I have been in the past, and I'm teary with gratitude for that blessing. I avoid milk/yogurt at all costs, though I have been craving a tall, cold glass of milk for the last several days. It's just not worth the 12-hour nausea price tag that comes along with it. I have to do everything in the mornings, including making dinner, because I am completely wasted by 2pm, and don't perk up much the rest of the day, even after a good nap. I'm in full throttle melt-down status by 8pm, which seems to be the least fun for Justin! Sorry, babe! I don't mean any of it! It's the little critters within that make me c-r-a-z-y in the head and maybe a little mean :)! I throw up far less often, which is much appreciated. Now that I'm not in bed all day, I'm free to notice my fatigue. Wow, I'm really a whiner, aren't I? Well, it's getting on to evening, when grumpiness and negativity have been the norm of late... I have good days and bad days, always directly related to my nausea and energy level. But hey, at least I have good days sometimes now!! That's a dramatic improvement!

Favorite Comment To Justin

I received this comment as a gift from my Aunt Martha to use when necessary. I have used it a few times:

"Excuse me, Justin, but you know, I DO have like HALF our family nesting in my womb."

No Dignity

In case you are one of the 3 people on the planet that Kinley has not ratted me out to: YES, I pee every time I throw up, and YES, we go through a lot of laundry because of it. What of it????

Wildfire Evacuation

The wildfire evacuation was the same day as the YMCA. We skipped naps, taking the kids to swim in the afternoon, planning to put them down early to bed. THAT didn't work out exactly as we had planned, of course! My kids crashed as soon as I was able to get them into their hotel beds around 10 pm. Kinley slept on a small mattress on the floor. I shared a bed with the horizontal sleeper.
These are Heather's kids watching the news updates, praying for the best.

Y-M-C-A!!

We spent a great afternoon swimming at the YMCA. Aside from Tanner being stung by a wasp, it was a great success. My handsome devil
Such a little princess
Tanner being taken down the big slide by cousin Amber. I was only able to take him down 5 or 6 times before I couldn't face it again. Fortunately, Amber and Aunt Lyndsey were tireless in their slide efforts. Tanner loved it and was never satisfied, but Kinley wouldn't even go all the way up the stairs to try it.
Annabelle, Amber, Ben, and Kinley

Cousin Josh in his bug swimming spectacles
Aunt Lyndsey keeping Kinley and Ben safe.
Kinley being a little fishy. I'm so proud.
Grandma serving as a napping spot for cousin Noah.