I’ll be away for a bit. Thank you for your understanding. There’s more information on my other blog.
Archive for twins!
finally, some stitching pictures!
Whew, if last week saw a good start on the babies-related chores, this week has no real accomplishments to brag of. I’ve been laid low for a couple of days with some of the worst sinus problems I’ve had in years, and today – for a change – my asthma has decided to make a reappearance. The medication for that makes me shake, so stitching is kind of a challenge. My hands are jerking around like a haywire seismograph. Usually it wears off in a few hours. Anyway – on to the good stuff!
(All pictures are clickable for a larger image.)
Cathy gave me the best laugh of the week when I opened a surprise packet from her – Niek and I are actually still chuckling over these gifts – and found these utterly adorable Minnesota Twins infant hats for the babies. Rowen kindly lent me one of her babies and Tigger for modeling duty. 
Cathy, you really did bring a bright spot to my week, and you can bet that these little hats will cause a big stir at the hospital when the time comes!
Dianne’s Pay-It-Forward gift finally arrived (I was beginning to worry) and she found this little Prairie Schooler snail (from Garden Beasties) as cute as everyone in our house did. As she points out, I’ll have to make one for Rowen to keep now. Rowen wants to construct a terrarium in the house to keep some snails. Ugh. Dianne, I had so much fun making this (once I could finally settle down on one design!) and I’m glad that you like it. 
Carol’s little gift for her birthday arrived, too, but I simply could not make up my mind what to stitch for her. I was torturing myself, starting one design and then another, convinced that none were “Carol” enough when Annemarie wisely advised me to simply send a gift of stitching goodies. Carol, I hope your birthday is fantastic!!
The one big accomplishment of this week was finishing Dianne’s NRR. I know, it was supposed to be done a month ago, but Rachael’s in the US and asked me to hold off on shipping the NRR until her return in August … so I set the project aside because I’d temporarily lost my mojo for it. I’d begun with a pattern, but made so many changes to it that I sort of got lost and needed to get some distance from it. It came out really good, when I picked it up and began stitching obsessively on it this week. Wish I could share pictures of the whole NRR, but Dianne has asked that hers remains a surprise till the end so I can just sneak in this tiny snippet.
I’ve also started my anniversary gift to my father and step-mother, Jim and Gaby (only 3 months late!). As I mentioned way-back-when, I wanted to stitch “At Home With Jane Austen” by The Sampler Girl (featured in March’s issue of TGOSM) for them. Jim is an avid reader (I had to come by that somewhere, right?!) and Gaby is the woman who managed to settle him down after years & years on the road, so this is the absolute perfect project to celebrate their first year of married life together. Here’s a progress picture. The verse will read “There’s nothing like staying home for real comfort.” Tanya, this design rocks! Sorry I had to make so many substitutions to the color scheme, but I don’t have a full range of Crescent Colours and can only get them via ONS (and of course I didn’t plan ahead and pre-order them!). I’m stitching this on the same banding I used for my mailart. I’m going to have to buy more!
Today is the last day of school for the boys. They get out at noon and then we’ll celebrate. I was going to take them to the beach – two days of sunny weather convinced me that summer had finally arrived, but we woke to rain today. I’ll check out what’s playing at the local cinema. Tomorrow, we are off to visit friends – some more of those long-lost friends who suddenly found us interesting when they heard we are expecting twins. Hmm. I’m not sure what to think, so I’ll take it as it comes. And tomorrow my pre-ordered Harry Potter will arrive in the mail (we aren’t going anywere till it does!). I’ve got a couple hundred pages left in my re-read of volume six, but I read pretty fast so it shouldn’t be a problem to be all caught up. Max is eagerly awaiting the DVD release of the current film (as am I). And speaking of good DVD watching, I rented “Two Thousand Acres of Sky” from the library. It’s a series from BBC, filmed in 2000, and Niek and I have been loving it! Anyone else seen it?
Well, as Porky Pig said so well, ‘That’s all folks!’. I’m going to try to get that needle through the right holes as I continue on with my Jane Austen sampler till it’s time to pick the boys up. Have a great weekend!!
secret stitching, napping, waiting for summer to arrive
These rainy Dutch days have seen me doing little more than looking out the window and wishing for sunshine, dropping off for the occassional nap, and stitching gifts that I can’t share till they arrive. I would love some true summer weather – a chance to get outside on the bikes, have a family picnic on the edge of a meadow, watch my freckles spread … LOL! But it doesn’t seem to be in the cards.
I have either been very busy stitching, or not even touching a needle. It’s been very hit-or-miss. I have finished and mailed all of my Pay It Forward gifts, thanks to Jenna’s good example. Actually, Jenna’s gifts were the first to arrive, so I can show them now. 
Brightneedle’s “Humble Daiseys” was finished as a floral sachet and Heart in Hand’s “Look Both Ways” was finished as a (mock) key chain. Jenna assures me she likes them both, and I got a great deal of enjoyment out of stitching them for her. (Pictures are clickable.)
The wee twins are growing well. Taking up lots of their mama’s energy, though! Tonight at bedtime Rowen got up by my belly and said “good night!”. I said good night back to her, and she said, “Mama! I’m talking to the babies!” How sweet is that? I finally had my ‘big talk’ with my manager today, too, but he got all twitchy when he thought he had to make a decision right away and said he had to talk it over with Human Resources. Basically, I gave him the choice of either accepting my resignation or accepting a 9 month leave of absence to start in October. I’ve had a hard time accepting the concept of being unemployed, which is totally ridiculous. Like motherhood isn’t employment! But as Virginia Woolf so deftly said, “Money dignifies that what is frivolous if unpaid for.”
Speaking of authors leads me to books, and boy am I reading a good one right now! I had to choose quickly at the library the other day – the kids only give me about 10 minutes in the adult section – but I grabbed “Fingersmith” by Sarah Waters and I have had a very hard time putting it down. For those who love the historical novels, such as written by the Bronte sisters, this is a must-read. But be warned – the bad guys are really bad! I still have a couple hundred pages to go, though.
it’s huge!
Dear friends, please meet the newest (to-be) members of our happy family!! Estimated date of arrival: 14 December 2007. (Clickable pics.)
What a thrilling adventure this has been so far … words fail me in the face of such an emotional event. We suspected we were pregnant pretty early on, which is always a good thing in term of prenatal care. But I felt so different this time that I worried constantly that the pregnancy had gone awry again … by the time I had my first appointment and ultrasound (at 9 weeks), I’d reached the point where I could hardly sleep due to worrying.
In that first scan, a baby showed up immediately on the monitor, very healthy and active, so I asked the doctor to look for another one … explaining there had to be some reason why I felt so different this time around. She was still laughing at how silly I was when the second baby came into view, and she had the good humor to laugh at herself. Of course there were concerns about the babies’ health and issues associated with my age, so our elation was tempered with a fair amount of caution. We were referred to a very large hospital for further tests, the last of which was today, and I’m finally able to shout our happy tidings from the rooftops!
(The test we had done today is described in detail here. Normally it is combined with the blood test (described at the end of the end of the linked article) for an accuracy of 90% but the blood testing can’t be done with twins so we are relying on the ultrasound scan measurements alone. The test results (with an accuracy of over 70%) put us in the risk category of a 29 year old woman – which is to say, very low.)
I must admit that a twin pregnancy is a bit (LOL!) more demanding on these old bones, but other than conking out in the afternoon, I’m doing well. I have cut back on my obligations quite a lot, and will be talking to my boss on Friday about future career plans. The kids are thrilled – Max is especially delighted that he finally has the green light to tell everyone about his twin siblings and is impatient for them to reach the point where he can feel them kicking. Nicky and Rowen find it all very exciting, too, and we are involving them as much as possible in the doctor’s visits and other aspects of the pregnancy so they’ll feel like these are their babies, too. My parents are all thrilled and excited by the big news.
I’m in the process of setting up a blog specifically devoted to the pregnancy (and our kids in general) so I won’t go on & on (and on!) here. Feel free to drop by Where Children Gather anytime you want more details.
Before I sign off (for another nap?), I want to thank the dear friends who supported me and encouraged me so much and so selflessly after we lost the baby last year. It has been a difficult and often very sad journey going from there to here, but thanks to you, it was not a lonely one.
