Springtime in Chicago!

2012-02-16 013
Originally uploaded by katieanddan

Apparently, there's no time like mid-February to make mudpies in the backyard.

Haircuts (and other news)

Long time, no blog!  The unfortunate side-effect of us starting to use Flickr is that we rarely (i.e. never) post to our blog anymore.  And given how many big changes (well, 2 small ones if we're being sticklers) are coming our way, it seems like a good time to take up a new hobby.  No seriously, we are just amazed by how fast time is passing by and how much of a blur the last 5 years already are, and figure that adding 2 more small children into the mix will pretty much completely annihilate our memories.  As such, it seems like a good idea to try to be somewhat more regular about documenting this time.

So, yeah, as alluded to in the previous paragraph, we are expecting again!  And oh, are we ever.  I (Katie) am 20 weeks pregnant with identical twin girls.  Twins do not run in either of our families (and identical twins are not hereditary -- just a random and rare fluke), and so you can imagine our shock when, at an early ultrasound back in mid-November, we found out that there were two little hearts beating in there!  We were both very surprised, but also quickly (I'd say within about 3 hours) became extremely excited about the whole thing.  That excitement pretty quickly turned to worry once we started googling "mono-di twins" and learned of all the potential complications that can befall twin pregnancies in general, and monochorionic twins (this means "sharing a placenta") in particular.

But, we are now nearly 21 weeks along, and after our "big" ultrasound today (the "Level 2 anatomy scan", which is is normally where you find out the sex, though we have been having bi-weekly ultrasounds due to some concerns specific to the one-placenta situation and already knew that we were having girls) with great results, we are feeling really positive and optimistic.  My due date is June 30th, though I have been told that they would probably like to induce around 36 weeks (which is June 2nd) if I haven't already gone in to labor.  I guess that the fact that 2 babies are sharing one placenta means that it won't reliably last as long as it would otherwise.  Another interesting factoid that we have learned is that twins' lungs actually mature a bit faster in the womb, and thus twins are considered full-term at 37 weeks (as compared to 40 weeks for singleton pregnancies.)  So 36 weeks is not as early as it would otherwise.

But anyway -- that is our big news.  In other equally earth-shattering news, we decided that Noah was starting to bear too close a resemblance to George Washington and got the two "big kids" haircuts this weekend. So here are some pictures of that:

BEFORE:

AFTER (during a Valentine's Day Dance Party):

And just for fun, here's a little video of said dance party:

More new pictures and videos on our flickr page...

Flickr

We just started experimenting with flickr, an online photo storage service. Here is a link to the pictures we have uploaded so far.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/katieanddan

You can view the pictures just by following that link, but if you want to order prints you'll have to create a flickr account (which is free) and then add us as a contact. Then we can add you as a contact, too, at which point you can order prints of our pictures. Flickr is part of yahoo, so if you have a yahoo ID you can use that. Flickr is partnered with snapfish and you can either have prints sent to you in the mail or developed at a local store (around here the closest is a Walgreens).

We currently are using the free version of flickr but are leaning towards paying for it, which would increase our photo storage and some other bells and whistles. It's much easier to use than our blog and other online photo sites we've tried, so we're hoping it will encourage us to put up more pictures more often.

Hope you like the pictures we've put up so far!

Winter!

It is hard to believe that Noah is now 7 weeks old! At his 1 month appointment two weeks ago, he was nearly 11 pounds, and we estimate that by now he must be at least 11.5 if not 12. He is a wonderful eater, sleeper (only one wake-up most nights--thanks Noah!), and a very sweet baby who loves to be held.

One thing that has really helped us recently is the Moby wrap -- it's basically a long, stretchy piece of fabric that you wrap around your body and slip the baby into. It is similar in purpose to the baby bjorn but much more comfy for Mom or Dad. Katie often wears it all morning, if she and Eliza are out and about, or during the fussy late afternoon period.

Here is a picture of Dan and Noah using said device:



















Chanukah was last week, and boy did Eliza have a great time. The candles, the dancing, and the presents--pretty much all right up her alley.















Her preschool had a big party on Thursday afternoon, and Eliza was the first kid to jump up on the dance floor, at which point the rest of the class followed. Here are pictures of her dancing with some preschool friends:














Uncle John was in town, and since he had never been to the Windy City before, we took him on a tour. Here is a picture of John with Eliza and Dad:
















And here is a picture of John and Eliza recreating the city of Chicago using the awesome blocks she received as a present from Nana:
















This past weekend, we had our good friends over to play in the snow. Here are some pictures of the kiddos in their snowsuits:

more pics!

Noah Stephen Galvin

Welcome, Noah!

Born 11/3/09 at 9:26pm. 8 lbs, 1 oz. 20.5". Mommy and Noah are doing great!

Some pics from October 2009

Wow, it's been a while! Eliza's baby brother is literally on the verge of being born. While we eagerly await his arrival, here are a few pictures from the last couple of weeks.

Follow link to photo album:

Fall '09