Best Christmas present ever

We have been working pretty hard on breastfeeding to every 3 hours and the kids have been troopers. We aren't militaristic about the schedule - but we know it is super-important to keep them on a schedule in the daytime so that they would sleep longer at night. So, in the daytime we wake them up for their feedings. At night, we wake up when they do, and don't feed them until the 2 1/2 hour mark. Well, last night - they slept through one of their feeding times - just completely blew through it - and woke up in time for their next feeding at 7am. Merry Christmas to all!!

It still remains to be seen if they will do that again - but it sure was nice of them to do that for Mommy and Daddy.

Happy Jesus' birthday to all!
Marie Armitage

Our first Dr. Appointment

**warning - this is a rambling blog, I'm really tired. :-) **
On Monday, The babies got to meet their new pediatrician, Dr. Frank McGehee. He is part of the Cook's Children's hospital pediatric group. Great News. Noah is up to 5 lbs 14 oz - gaining on his sister who has gained back her birthweight plus one ounce - 6lbs 9oz.

Both babies are very healthy - I was worried about some yellow crusties in their right eyes - but Dr. McGehee encouraged me that they were just blocked tear ducts. Easily fixable by providing simple acupressure below their eye - close to their nose - at each feeding time.

The babies went home and slept while I went to a second dr. appointment. I went to get the carpel tunnel checked out. The hand doctor gave me some steroid shots to help me regain the use of my fingers and be able to take care of the munchkins. The extent of the pain/numbness on my right hand are all of my fingers except my pinky - and on my left hand my middle and ring finger are tingly/numb. The pain was keeping me awake - even when I was using braces on my wrists when I slept. THIS is why I haven't been able to type blogs or text since getting out of the hospital. The pain is still there, but I've noticed small successes each day as a result of the steroid shots.

Chad has been awesome - changing diapers and swaddling the kids - and of course, taking care of me. I am so blessed.

Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement!
Love
M

Our Labor Day

I went into the OB for a regular check-up on December 11 and was diagnosed with preclampsia - so I was admitted into Harris Downtown and had a C-section that afternoon.
Naomi Debre was born at 4:19pm - 6lbs7oz 17.8in long
Noah Dawitt (Dah-wheat) was born at 4:20 - 5lbs8oz - 17.1in long.
Little Naomi swallowed some miconium during delivery so she was taken to the NICU and stayed there until 12/15. Noah was put in the room with me. I lost a lot of blood, so I did end up having a transfusion of a couple units of blood and was not released from the hospital until 12/16. I've also had increased pain from my pregnancy Carpel Tunnel in my right hand. My husband stayed in the hospital room with me and took care of visiting and feeding Naomi since I was stuck in bed for most of our hospital visit.

In Him - Marie Armitage (Chad, Naomi, and Noah)
P.S. the middle names are Ethiopian translations of Deborah and David. My Mom is from Ethiopia, so these are a connection to their Ethiopian heritage.

Update from Marie

I'm back - Thank you Corinne for updating the blog since the babies got here. I am home - on good drugs for the c-section and the carpel tunnel in my right hand. Both of those should clear up in the next few weeks.
Baby Noah is doing well. He is such a sweet little guy. He has his eyes opened most of the time - curiously looking around and almost always making some sweet baby noises that make his mommy and daddy's heart melt. He eats in smaller portions, but is already back at his original birth weight.
Baby Naomi is also doing really well. She is a little bigger then Noah - growing at a slower pace as if she is waiting for him to catch up. She is very strong for a baby - when she was in NICU she kept pulling her tubes out and tried bending a splint they put on her arm for an IV. Daddy said she had a white knuckle fist while trying to bend the splint.

They are up to sleeping 4 hours or so between feedings. They are sharing a crib in our bedroom - which has helped them immensely. This is way better then separated sleeping at the hospital.
love y'all. thanks for the prayers!

Marie

~another very quick note~

While I am pretty much out of the loop right now (due to how much I am currently at work) I will update as much as I know of the family. :-)

Marie and the babies (BOTH OF THEM) were able to come home on Tuesday night. They are VERY MUCH enjoying their own beds.
Chads mom and dad are going to be in town for the rest of the month, and our two nieces Semira and Nieema came up from houston and college station this weekend.
Joes parents are going to be in town for a few days, and then Chads sister and family will be here on Christmas day for a week.

They have much love and plenty of hands in the house for these initial few weeks!

~just a quick note~

Hey guys!

I did not get a chance to get a lot of info bout marie and the babies yesterday, but I did find out that little naomi is officially out of the NICU and with her brother and mom!!

YAY!!!

They are still in the hospital as of this morning. The Doctor is keeping marie and again I apologize im not entirely sure why. Joe has said it is continued effects of the pre-eclampsia that caused her to have to have the babies early in the first place. Again we could be mistaken but I will find out more today.

~Corinne

~The official WORD of Aunt Corinne~ :-)

HELLO EVERYONE!!

I finally got the info for marie's "baby" blog so that I can stop the daily text fest ;-). Joe and I got home not too long ago from visiting the family Armitage at the hospital. Marie is doing well! She is resting as she can, and working VERY hard with nursing both Noah and Naomi. Her spirits are high as Marie tends to be, I am encouraged by Marie each time I see her! (On a completely personal note....I MISS MY FRIEND! I will be SOOO HAPPY when they come home :-) ).


Noah is amazing! He was born and dubbed "baby B" but has been quite the little trooper. Officially he was born at 4:20 pm on Dec 11th weighing in at 5lbs 8ozs and measuring 17in. long. He is with mommie, nursing and sleeping well, and letting EVERYONE know if he is the least bit uncomfortable. We are all catering to his needs sufficiently I think!


Precious Naomi is quite the strong little lady! She was born and dubbed "baby A" and is showing the world she means it! :-) Officially she was born at 4:19pm on Dec 11th weighing in at a whopping 6lbs 7oz and measuring 19in (they originally thought she was only 17 but that was corrected once they got her to the NICU). Naomi did have some fluid in her lungs so shortly after being taken from mom and dad the first time on the 11th she was brought to the NICU and put on a CPAP to help build her lungs. She HAS BEEN taken off of all of the machines as of today and the IV as well. She is nursing with marie (when we can get her to wake up :-) ) and we are hopeful she will get out of her "baby prison" and join her brother with Marie and Chad tomorrow.


Chad has been the foundation of the family. He has been completely tireless in taking care of Marie, Noah and Naomi. There isn't a second when he can be down with Naomi that he has missed, and at the same time he is shouldering Marie and Noahs needs as well. Chad is a fantastic poppa and I am SO PROUD of him.

Marie wanted to make sure that I tell everyone THANK YOU for all of your prayers and well wishes. Please continue to pray for Naomi as she is getting stronger so that she will be able to come out of the NICU and home with the rest of the family.
We are all hoping they can be home tomorrow, but at the same time want to make sure they are all healthy and strong enough to make the trip.

~Corinne

Mom and Dad Armitage made it

They came in Sunday night - we had a great weekend. I rested all day Friday then went to see Bolt with Paul and Alberta's family and Joe and Joe and Corinne's family. We were sure to find a reclining seat in the Theater. It was great to see it as a family - I was in a some pain - I pushed it a little but didn't have any regular contractions. Chad was sure to get to take care of me that night.

I slept most of the day on Saturday with similar intentions. We drove over to Anamia's Mexican Restaurant in Southlake and had a triple date with Kerry and Amy, Joe and Corinne. We only get to see them about 2 or 3x a year. I took this night way slower then Friday - I'm glad I slept most of the day. We had such a great time with them. I miss my friends. but it won't take long for me to be burried in baby stuff. I hope to get to see them and the rest of you who are reading this blog in '09.

Oh, then Sunday Mom and Dad Armitage came. I slept most of the day, they came in late so I was resting when they got here around 9. Monday - today - Chad was at work and they spent a majority of the day helping me organize and sleep. Now we are watching Hoodwinked before we head to bed.

Love y'all,
Marie A.

Big-er babies

Yesterday, my parents, Chad and I went to see Dr. Tabor for our 36 week checkup. The doctor wouldn't let me schedule a C-section on December 12 because the babies will only be 37 weeks along at that point. He recommended we wait one more week before any sort of planned labor. Of course, if I go into labor, they won't stop it.

I'm still shooting for Dec 12.
My oldest sister has dibs on Dec 8.
Chad thinks Dec 18 (since that is when the doc would induce labor).

The doc also measured the babies.
Noah gained almost an entire pound (+15 oz) now weighing in at 5lbs 9oz.
Naomi gained a little less (+13oz) but still much larger then her brother at 6lb 14oz.
Total? 12lbs 7oz of baby.

Yes. it hurts. No. I can't walk around much - I am utterly dependant on others to take care of me if I expect to make it till the 12.

Marie

Glazed Donuts and Strawberry Milk

This has been my latest craving. My parents are at the store getting some for me now. The babies seem to like - no LOVE - my mom's Ethiopian food. That's held me together for the past few months. I've literally eaten her homemade Ethiopian nightly.

I am almost always in pain. I figure they are big enough that they are running out of room in there.

Thanks for the prayers,
Please keep them coming -
Marie A.

In Labor? Not so much

I've been having contractions since about 8pm.
Its been over an hour of very painful contractions - 4-6 minutes apart
My parents are took me to the hospital around 10:30 pm. Chad and I were both hoping for a false alarm, but were assured that 36 weeks is fine for twins (Thanks Tiffany).

We did get what we hoped for - no more dilation, fewer contractions once I was put on the monitor and a really nice nurse.

Thanks for your prayers.

Blessings,
Marie (& Fam)

Oh, Chad came from work and made it to the hospital before we got there - he is the most wonderful husband ever. He is doing a great job caring for me.

Made it to December!

I am thrilled we make it do December. Now we are on baby watch. God willing, 12 more days. I spent yesterday sleeping. I think I was only awake for about 7 hours. The babies are so active. Its awesome.

My parents got here last night and its nice to have them around while Chad concentrates on work. He woke up a couple of times last night talking about VOIP. That's what happens when you are becoming a Unified Messaging expert and you approach new things they way my DH does. He is throwing himself in and learning so much every day that he is at work. I am really thankful that he doesn't have to worry about me or the babies. He was a little worried when I was at home alone. Now that I have Mom and Dad here, he can concentrate more fully at work.

I was awake today at 11 am. Now, I am ready for another nap. I can only assume they are sucking all my energy and growing. I'm glad - the more weight they gain now, the better their chances are of being healthy and sleeping through the night earlier.

naptime.
Please keep up those prayers. God bless y'all -
Marie

Still Preggers

Monday will be the beginning of week 36 - Thank you for all of your encouragement and prayers during this time. I am still shooting for December 12 - that will be halfway through week 37 - completely full term for the twins. The Doctors won't let me go past December 18 - 38 weeks is as far as they will let twins go.

I am thrilled that they haven't dropped yet, so all of this bedrest and listening to my body has made a huge difference, too. For the last couple of weeks, my mom and dad have been here making me rest on the days that Chad is working. Chad is definately making sure I am resting while he is home.

Chad's parents (also referred to as Mom and Dad) will be here December 6 - My parents will tag off with them and they will take over on keeping me on bedrest as possible. I am so blessed to have so many family members that are going to help us early on.

My apologies to all of you who have been calling me and I've not called you back. I am sleeping 14+ hours each day if I am resting when I am tired. I'm useful for about 1 1/2 - 2 hours before I'm groggy and pushing through to stay awake. Its not an excuse, but it is the reason why my days are blending together. Before I realize it, days and weeks have gone by since I've spoken with anyone outside of my narrow little world. I am not forgetting about you or avoiding you - I miss y'all a lot. I can't guarantee the phone calls will start being made anytime soon - but I will work on blogging more, so y'all know what's going on.

Ongoing prayer requests -
Chad's Dad (health)
My Mom (health)
Noah and Naomi
Chad - crazy busy in new position @ work + becoming a new daddy

I pray for God's blessings on you and yours - I am thankful for all of you and your prayers and encouragement.

Trying to stay comfortable -
Marie A.

full bedrest

Ok, this looks just like modified bedrest, except I only get up to go to the bathroom. Chad, my parents, or my sisters come over and warm up food for me and make sure I eat and keep consuming water. Consequently, I am eating more than when I was on modified bedrest.

My mom and Chad's dad definately are in need of prayer. Both are on heavy pain meds and trying to figure out what to do to get themselves well enough to cuddle their new grandbabies.

Chad and I went to MOBS on Sunday afternoon after about 14 hours of off and on contractions. We just wanted to make sure I hadn't dialated or gone into preterm labor. Good news - no preterm labor. Bad news - I'm now on full bedrest. There is no guarantee that they will stop labor if I go into it now that I am past the 32 week mark. Plus the babies are big for twins, so their chances are really good now.

I am still shooting for the second week of December though. God willing.

I'll keep you all posted.
Marie

What does modified bedrest look like?

Horizontal. I am mostly horizontal - and Chad has to take care of me when he is home. My schedule usually entails sleeping until 10-ish, then getting any thin done that I can during the following 2 hours or so. I eat, check email or blog, walk to the mailbox and sort bills, make sure I drink lots of water until my body tells me it is time to stop moving. Then I watch a little TV or read until 1 or so, and take a nap from somewhere between 2 or 3 until 5 or 6. Then I eat first, watch TV or read while resting, and wait for Chad to come home. Sometimes Alberta comes over and I get to give/get hugs and kisses from her sweet children - which is awesome. Chad comes home between 8-10, I eat with him, then take my Ambien and go to bed.

I can't sleep very large meals (because of the size of the babies), so I try to eat 5 small meals - very healthy food with lots of water.

When Chad is not here, my parents have been coming down from Abilene to keep me in bed.

Each time I stand, I have contractions (which is normal). Naomi is 4 lbs 14 oz, and Noah is 4 lbs 8 oz right now. I can only walk around for about 2-3 minutes without getting cramps, so I generally waddle from one area of the house to another whenever I am trying to get something done.

Thank you so much for your prayers - please pray for the health of Chad and my parents. His father and my mother are both in a lot of pain and have some major health issues they are dealing with. Prayers are appreciated.

M

woo hoo! 32 weeks

during the last few days I have been so darn uncomfortable. My belly hasn't changed size, although both the babies are moving a lot, so they are ronning out of room to play. Noah's favorite toy is my ribcage - Omi's is my bladder. I can feel their little hands - oy, it hurts. I can't walk around for more than a few minutes without contractions. so praise God that I can stay home and pretty much stay horizontal most of the day. My dr. offered me some vicadin, but I don"t want to be that knocked out. I'm doing 1/2 am ambien instead.

thanks for your prayers!!
In Him,
Marie

a good day

I only take 1/2 of the Ambien my dr. prescribed and it works wonders for me. It gives me 8 or 9 hours of sleep (minus potty breaks). When I was taking a full pill, I was sleeping more like 12 or 15 hours.

This morning, I woke up, paid some bills, went through some mail then out to breakfast for a brunch-date. It was nice, and unexpected. Thursday is usually our date night, but we are expecting my parents to sleep over tonight and help with chores around the house. They are such a blessing. I'm 33, and mom is driving 3 hours to come and do my laundry. How blessed am I?

After brunch, I finished going through mail some old mail and discarded quite a bit of old ads and CC offers that were filling our office. Had a great conversation with Heather about life in general, and keeping the babies in. :) I think Chad and I kept her on the phone for 2 hours. She's an awesome big sister. Very good at giving perspective when I get discombobulated.

I spent some time cooking, so we have a couple of meals that I can break up and freeze for Chad to take to work. This helps me to feel like I'm doing something to be a good wife. :-)

So glad that Justice is doing better, gaining weight, and already knows how to hold a pacifier in his mouth. Its hard to imagine that our babies are about the same size as he is. His birthdate was originally scheduled for 2 days before Noah and Naomi's.

Tomorrow is my Brother, Paul's, birthday. He was Captain Hammer for halloween, so I think we are going to have a Dr. Horrible/Captain Hammer themed party for him. Mom and Dad have offered to stay an extra day and watch the kids so we can all go out for dinner together! A rare occasion this will be. Please pray for Paul if he comes to your mind. He's going through a lot right now, hopefully this party will help.

Marie

Up for air

I'm still congested with the crud. Its been over 2 weeks now, but I am getting used to it. Sorry for not blogging. Thanks Blakey's for sending me a laptop to use from home. ;-)

On October 31 we did end up going to the MObs (Maternal Observation) because of contractions consistantly 5 minutes apart. They gave me a shot to slow down the contractions, when I left I was down to 3 an hour. Praise God.

Yesterday we ordered the kid's cribs at a substantial discount (30%off)! God went ahead of us on that one. Thank you Mom and Dad for buying the cribs and changing table/dresser.

My parents may come over to visit tomorrow for a couple of days - just to help out around the house and make sure I stay in bed. I am limiting my TV consumption because it keeps me awake way longer than I need to be. Also, when I wake up, I used to have a solid 2 hours of energy to eat, do a chore or two around the house, then go to sleep. That time is shortening. Today, I have only been awake a little over 1 1/2 hours and I'm ready for another nap. The kids are eating everything - must - stay-- awake.....

Thanks for the prayers,
Love y'all,
Marie A.

Recovering nicely

It was so nice to spend a few days with A&J's family. Joe and Corinne came over and their little boy had a blast with his new 5 year old buddy from GA. I found that I have very little energy for company - but as an extrovert, I crave the interaction. It is a no-win situation for me. If I have people over to visit, they miss out because I sleep 16+ hours a day in unpredictable 4 hour chunks. If I nap when I should, that is.

A&J pretty much had to fend for themselves for breakfast and lunch (I was sleeping). I was awake for dinner, but my energy level was so low that when I finally did have the energy to put something together for dinner, it only required thawing Mom's homemade lasagna and getting it on the table. I think all I did was sit on an office chair in the kitchen and give direction on where stuff was and next steps to get things together for the meal.

Thank God for good friends though. They were so sweet through the whole weekend, and went home today. Chad took them to the airport on his way to work.

The babies are doing well - growing leaps and bounds - I grew over an inch around since last Thursday. (up to 45 inches around my waist). I would imagine they are over 8 lbs total right now.

I have to sleep sitting up because of congestion and cough. I seem to be getting better though.

Off to nap..
love you all! M

lots of stuff

Monday - One of my best friends had her baby - 7lb 1oz, 20 1/2 inches long - named Maia Elizabeth.
Tuesday - Mom and Dad came from Abilene to help take care of me. I have been trying to get over a stomach virus. They stayed overnight. They did a few weeks of laundry and kept up with our dishes. What a blessing.
Wednesday - Got confirmation that A&J and their little boy were coming on Thursday from GA. woo hoo! Babies got measured today! 3lbs 3oz and 3lbs 9oz each. YeeHa!
Thursday - Chad's birthday! we went to see Fireproof again. woo hoo! A&J came in! woo hoo! Chad finished patching up the wall and we readied the house for company. A&J stayed in a hotel for the first night. We had a party for Chad at Peter Piper Pizza (think mini chuck-e-cheeze). more on that later
Friday - Couldn't sleep much last night. I'm very much run down from a cold or the sheetrock dust in the house or something. Cursed runny nose!!! J&C are having a tough day too, so we have IJ over playing with A&J's little boy.

Love y'all. Thanks for the prayers.

Hopefully will have better news about my health in next post.

Updates

What the heck is going on with me. I am sorry for not writing in so long. Yes, the babies and I are fine. This was my first week off of work from FT. I found my regularly recurring sleep schedule is difficult to pin down. I can't necessarily sleep when I'm tired, because that happens around 8 pm I get some sort of acid reflux (even though I'm on both protonix and pepcid AC). So I have lots of Tums between 8 and 12, then usually fall asleep propped up around 12 to 1am. I do get to sleep until 10 or 11 though. that definately helps. Sometimes I take a nap in the afternoon but usually don't wake up before I've slept 4 hours or so.

Now my DH (dear husband) doesn't get home until 9 or so, so staying up has helped me to see him. I don't try to prop myself up in bed until he is ready to go to bed too.

This past weekend was fun with DH. We went and saw a mindless movie (Eagle Eye) on Thursday, and went to the Pumpkin Patch on Saturday with all of the neices and nephews. Adorable little muchkins running around a farm, jumping off hay bales and running through mazes. Every kid should have that type of opportunity. We went to MainStay Farms. It was lots of fun.

Today I caught up on the Sarah Conner Chronicles and Heroes because I had to rest in bed for most of the afternoon. Laying on my infamous left side.

Oh yeah - and I'm addicted to Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog. So is Chad. He actually dyed his hair for Halloween so he can be Dr. Horrible. Its fun to see him with a different do.

love y'all
Marie

Post-pity-party-post and pictures

The baby shower was fantastic - It really reminded me of how many people are going to love these babies and currently care are about our family. Sorry about the pity party in my last post.

Thank you to all of my mommy friends that have given me useful advice to survive this season of my life. Here some of the tips I've recieved:

• This next season could potentially be very lonely - and that's okay. It is just a season. Try to enjoy each day.


• Find a coffee buddy. Make a deal with Chad for him (or whoever can) to watch the kids for the same hour each week, and use it to meet up with a girlfriend for coffee. - away from the babies or with them if necessary.


• Use this time before the babies get here to get closer to God, get in habits with devotions, and rest - because I may not have the energy to be consistant during the early days home with the kids.


• Write names of my friends on my calendar - one each day - and set aside that day to pray for that person. Use that day to contact them.

Any other suggestions? or nuggets of advice?

Thank you loves,

Marie A.

OH yes - and we had some 3-D pictures taken care of the babies at 28 weeks - http://albums.phanfare.com/armitagebabies is the website to see the baby pictures. You have to be invited to see the pictures, so please let me know by email or phone call if you need an invite.

Last day at FT before the kids get here

I couldn't go to work in Friday for our All hands meeting because of the bedrest thing. Oy. So I went yesterday to meet with my boss and the DM that's taking over my cases. They were both really great about what I was able to accomplish and not accomplish before passing leftovers onto them.

I also got to speak to one of my newer, dear friends and realized how much I miss her and the ladies in the office. I have been extremely self centered during the past few months - mostly because that's the only way I've been able to take care of myself. I miss my friends. The baby shower couldn't come at a better time. I look forward to seeing everyone, and giving hugs and catching up a little.

I am really hard on myself, sometimes. I think that my problem is that I am noticing how self centered I am right now - but I do not want to become stuck in this "focus on myself/take care of myself first" mentality. I know that is the "right' way to think while I am pregnant with twins, so that they can stay in the oven longer. I still don't like it.

I guess I also sorta fear how baby focused I'll become after the kids get here, and consequently still choosing self over my friends and family. I guess the root is that I think they will not be there when i want to get back together with them. Is that normal?

In Him,
M

Bedrest stinks.

Bedrest absolutely stinks - there is only so much that can be done while I am horizontal (insert joke of your choice here). The laptop can't rest on my belly for long before the babies start kicking it around. Since I couldn't stand for long without contractions on Friday, I missed my last day at work. This made me pretty bummed - but I have to take care of myself

Last night's trip to Maternal Obs (pregnant lady ER)

I was having contractions all day yesterday - mostly painful - so I rested a majority of the day while taking care of my appointments with customers by phone.

My sweet sister Corinne invited us to dinner, so Dave (Chad's dad) and I went to meet them for dinner at Babes. After spending some time talking with Cori, she convinced me to call my Dr. to get advice on the pain. I was brushing it aside as pain from growing babies. The doctor said come in, just to be safe.

I did. they kept me for about 4 hours before I got sent home with orders to reduce my stress level and keep my feet up. I explained that this is my last week in the office before maternity leave. They seemed unsympathetic to all I have to get done. Praise God I have supportive bosses.

(Dave) Dad's working on getting the beadboard up in the babies room. I am working on calls with customers. God is so good. Praise Him for good healthcare. :)

M

Short and sweet

Here's a preview of our baby shower invitations. Dad is fantastic, he took a picture of one of the invitations to be sure I had it for posterity.

Alberta mailed out all of the invites.

Corinne got the Evite setup so folks can RSVP that way.

Heather is getting all the catering done.

Saba's got the prayer angle covered.

I am so blessed to have such great bio-sisters. I blurred out the parts with Alberta's home address and phone number. I have a hunch I may be as big as the mom on the invite by October 11. I'm already over 42 inches around. whew.

M

Busy weekend

The babies are moving almost constantly. It is so cool. Last week I met with my boss and so far everything is going well - so thanks for the prayers for me to finish strong.

Dad Dave got to put up ceiling fans, systematically rewiring the each bedroom and carefully hanging fans with lights and dimmer switches. This is so much easier said then done. He is such a blessing.

Here's what we got done:
Sweet Danelle and Paul Wisden helped me paint the kids room,
Chad and I purchased beadboard and got it cut for the kids room
Dad and I got the house straightened up for an Arbonne open house.
I finally completed a database that Alberta could use for the baby shower on October 11.
I know we did more but I can't remember what else we did. whew.

Now I am so sleepy. The babies are keeping me that way. I am blessed that they are healthy. I am exhausted because I am constantly uncomfortable. The only reason why I am happy about maternity leave is because I can concentrate on remaining comfortable for the remainder of the pregnancy instead of pushing myself to do things that my body obviously doesn't want to do.

Blessings,
Marie A.

Big Babies

We just got measured yesterday. Gone are my days of not gaining weight - I've gained 6 1/2 lbs since last time, taking me to 168 lbs. Both babies are healthy weights - Noah is 2 lbs. Naomi is 2 lbs. 2 oz. The average size for a single baby at this point would be 1 2/3 lbs. I've been told not to worry about my weight.

Praise God for healthy babies. :)

We picked out the themes /colors for Noah and Naomi's Room. Noah's little crib will be decked out with Helicopters and stars, Naomi's will have little animals and the ABC's. We'll have more blonde-ish wood for their cribs then in these pictures.

We are working on the Baby registry, slowly but surely. Alberta just recieved the baby shower invitations for October 11. They are cute. Heather is taking care of with the food, Corinne is trying to help with last minute loose ends. Lots to do, but I am not allowed to help with it. Pray for my sisters as they are working together on this.

Little Justice is doing well, thanks for the prayers. Tiffany posted a blog with lots of pictures of the little guy. He is one week old now. yay!

Two more weeks of work at Fellowship Tech, then the feet go up and I drink lots of water and try to keep these babies in the oven. Please keep praying for me to finish strong. FT is going through a lot of changes - very good growing pain type changes - and I will miss being there.

Thank you for all your prayers for Noah and Naomi and this little fledgling family.

God be with you,

Marie A.

More projects down, plus rehydrating

I came home last night just before the Cowboys started playing Green Bay and fell asleep at 7pm, then didn't wake up until 11am today. wow. The anti-nausea medication they put in my IV really did a number on me.

The babies are still doing great. Dad's getting projects done, what a blessing. He just finished the hanging all of the blinds around the house, and this morning he was helping Chad fix the seatbelt on the Geo. Now he is working on hanging a ceiling fan in our bedroom. I feel so blessed.

I've purchased www.dfw.myarbonne.com for the arbonne business I am going to work on during maternity leave. If you order anything this month, all proceeds are going to the Campos family from my Mothers of Multiples club. Their eldest son was killed in a car crash, and all profits will go to their funeral expenses this month.

Love you all,
feeling much better - but still groggy,
Marie

Yay! Papa is here!

Yahoo - Chad's wonderful handyman/acts-of-service/blessing of a father is here for 3 weeks. He arrived on Friday and is helping us with all of the projects we need to get done before the babies get here. Today, he is hanging all of the blinds around our house. Yesterday, he and Chad unpacked over 1/2 of the Garage. Holy Stinking Cow. What a blessing. It was like Christmas, only we knew we we've wanted these things (like the remote control) since our move in May. It was Christmas in August.

I am dehydrated, got some sorta stomach thingie that has been stopping me from absorbing all of the nutrients and water that I've been eating for O - um 4-6 days now. I let my doctor know on Friday - Today he is sending me to Maternal Observation so I can get an IV drip. I promise I have been drinking water.

And the babies are fine. :)

love you all,
Marie A.

Pray for Justice Wayne

Tiffany is in labor, they should be performing the C-Section now. For updates go to her blog: http://blakeybabies.blogspot.com .

As far as praises are concerned - Praise the Lord my parents no longer live and work at the American Embassy in Yemen! There was a bombing there yesterday, no one my parents were close to were either hurt or killed. As always, please pray for peace.

Babies are doing well. My tummy measures 40 inches around so far - Except when Naomi stretches. Then I measure about 40.5. :-)

Dad Armitage is coming to town for the next few weeks. We are ecstatic about it. The day before he leaves, my sister-in-law Heather will come in for my one and only baby shower on October 11.

Now, I have to get back to work. Please keep praying for me to finish strong.

Marie

Hi from St. Francis Hospital in Colorado Springs!

Ok, these babies are getting to travel quite a bit at the end of this second trimester. I am here visiting one of my dear friends who has put on complete hospital bedrest for the past 5 weeks. She is 27 weeks pregnant now - you can follow Tiffany's story on her blog. Her birthday is today (Sept. 14), my birthday was Sept 12. My sweet husband bought me a plane ticket to come and see Tiffany as my one big birthday present.

It has been so fun seeing her beautiful toddler girl twins - I haven't seen them except on their blog. Last time I saw her husband, Jake, was at their wedding - the last time I saw Tiffany and her mom was at my wedding over 4 years ago. It is great to get a chance to catch up. : )

Noah and Naomi are doing great I went to the Doctor last week and they are moving and rolling around and having kicking matches regularly. About half the time I can see them moving through my shirt. My love for them keeps growing. I can hardly wait to meet them.

I am playing Beethoven for them to listen to on the Zune. Chad's going to load his voice in a .wmv for me to play for him too.

Please keep praying for me to finish strong at work.

I've just started two baby registries for Noah and Naomi - One at Target and one at Babies R Us. Please email me and let me know if you want me to send you a birth announcement. I've routed that link to my spam account - If I see an email from you, I'll send respond to let you know that I got it.

In Him,
Marie

Sorry for the length of this!

In the past two weeks I have been travellin'. I had the privilege of staying with Mom and Dad for a few days during Chad's workweek - Sunday-Wednesday. It was nice to be able to relax with Mom and Dad - learn how to cook a yellow Shiro (an Ethiopian dish). Mom is doing okay - please keep her in your prayers as she does her best to exercise and get healthier to help when the babies get here.

Then I spent a Wednesday night-Saturday morning with Chad - We spent his days off getting the house ready for a house cleaner on Friday. The TV is hung, the clutter is mostly put away or in the garage, and a lot of our boxes of stuff are unpacked. Praise God! I can hear Niecy from Clean House, "Who wants a clean house?" yay. Now we are thinking we may have enough for a really cool yard sale.

Saturday morning, I flew out to Baltimore Washington International Airport to meet with some of my favorite people on the planet - The O'Neill family. For those of you who were at my wedding, Dr. Jim O'Neill was the one who officiated our wedding. His whole family was there with us at the wedding, and it was nice to catch up and have a little bit of a retreat for a few days. I also went because I was supposed to be there for Kelli's wedding on November 11. Once I found out my due date - I knew I couldn't go - so we all prayed for an opportunity to see each other before the babies were born. Kelli's fiance Anthony is awesome. I was blessed to help with some of the wedding planning before I left.

The best part of that trip was all of the one on one time I had with each of the family members. I can't believe I've known them for 12 years. I am so blessed.

Again, I came home at the end of Chad's workweek - to a pristine home. and our BlindsGalore.com order (yay for clearance sales!). Boy, absence does make the heart grow fonder. I missed him a lot - and it didn't really hit me until I saw him at the airport. :)

Babies Update - I can feel them moving now - Mom, Sterling O'Neill, and Chad have all felt both Noah and Naomi moving around. I can tell when they are playing with each other - its rather distracting. :) My next Dr. appointment is on Monday.

Prayer request: please pray for me as I catch up on work - these are my last 4 weeks before maternity leave, and I want to leave strong. Please pray for the churches that are in my span of care, and for my boss - Jeff.

Love y'all.
Marie

Baby bump

3 requests. Thats how many people have been asking me for a baby bump picture - so here you are. :)

I can finally feel the little ones moving around or having kicking matches. It is really amazing. For the past couple of days I have been working out of my Mom and Dad's house in Abilene. Everything is great with Chad - this is just an easy way for me to catch up with them while I can still travel and Chad is working.

I'm excited about travelling to see the O'Neills next weekend. Then I'll be back working from home instead of out of other people's offices.

Sorry its been so long

OK, the coffee definately helps. I've been able to work more full days as opposed to half days. (yay!). Last Tuesday I was able to attend the Fort Worth Mother of Multiples meeting. It was so cool - at the time I was at 20 weeks - There are 4 other people in the group that are pregnant, one was 19 weeks, another 21 and another 22 weeks. The other lady was only 10 weeks. The babies are definately getting larger, and feel heavier - even though I'm still not gaining weight. My doctor has been awesome - he's not concerned about my weight at all. The babies are doing great.

We've finally decided on a date for the baby shower - Alberta's going to host one for me on October 11. I am so excited - Heather is coming down from Seattle that weekend too. I've got to go with Chad and start registering for things for the babies. I really have no idea what I need/want. I'm thinking there may not be many things on the list. No worries.

Sidenote: Mom Armitage is getting the babies quilted blankets - so sweet - I am so excited. One of them was actually the blanket Chad used to carry around that was handstiched by his great-aunt. That one will be little Noah's. I am so blessed and excited.

Next weekend I get to go to Pennsylvania to visit the O'Neills since I can't go in November for Kelly's wedding. I'm glad I am going to have a chance to see them before Kelly gets married - I haven't had a chance to meet her fiance, Anthony, yet. They are so like my family, I am bummed I can't be at the wedding.

I am going to be uploading ultrasound pictures and requested baby bump pictures on a secure website called "Phanfare" - hopefully that will happen this week. If not, I will get them up but it will probably be after Oct 3.

Finally, I am feeling fine - more energy then I've had. But more uncomfortable each day. My body doesn't like me sitting at a 90 degree angle to work. When I get up there is always some shifting around and pain while they find their new positions. I've been getting dizzy spells - which is normal.

Just keep swimming,
Marie A.

I can have 1 (one) cup

The babies are growing and active. The Dr. seemed pleased and we got new pictures of the babies. They were both head down facing eachother and kicking/playing. 'Twas adorable.

It looks like we are going to have the babies shower the second weekend of October. I am very excited. Now I have the task of getting everyone's mailing address. If you want baby announcements and such, PLEASE email me your mailing address so I can get it onto my database. Thank you!

Last but not least - I asked my doctor point blank about caffiene. He seemed pleased that I haven't had any since I found out I was pregnant but told me we are out of the scary miscarriage stage so I can have 1 (one) cup each day. I've done this for 3 days now, and am still trying to find out what is the perfect amount and time of day to savor it. :)

Love to you all,
Marie A.

Seattle and beyond

Had a good long weekend in Seattle. Amazing, I'm back to sleeping 14 hours a day. Everyone was super-understanding while we were there. It was 10 hours at night plus naps which made for a a pretty relaxing 1 year birthday party for my beautiful niece Brooke. I do "get" to see the doctor Friday late afternoon again for a checkup on the babies. Other than that - no real developments.

I am slowly understanding that my job is 100% to take care of these babies and myself during this pregnancy. I have so many people that love me - Thank you for all of your prayers and encouragement. Chad's been great. Mom and Dad dropped off food for us while we were in Seattle (mmm...) Heather gave me enough clothes to keep my baby girl chic for her first 9-12 months. I am so blessed.

Love y'all
M

Slowly learning

Ok, I have good days and bad days. I had an epiphany yesterday during an arguement with Chad. (very short arguement, I lost keys - he didn't think we were going to be able to get home - I found them pretty quickly - end of arguement). I said something to Chad that I should heed myself. I said "You choose what you focus on" implying that he was focusing on the negative instead of the positive. That's my choice too. and I know it.

I have everyday decisions on focusing on the negative or positive, I AM becoming negative, because my focus has been changing. Please pray for my focus. That is where I am pointing my prayers now. To be able to focus on "... whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things" Phil. 4:8.

I've always wanted to memorize that verse. Maybe now's the time. ")

OH - and the important part. The babies appear to be a boy/girl combo. :) and my new dr. is fantastic. I have to go back in two weeks for him to measure my cervix again. He also took me off of the Lovenox (the shots) woo hoo! That was Thursday.

Friday I went to work for all day meetings. My team now knows what my final day is going to be, and they have hired another delivery manager. When/if I go back, they would like for me to work in the education department. I am not sure how I feel about that - except I know that I love my job and the people I work with. If I work in eduaction, I will probably have to commute in everyday. I just need to remember that this is not a decision I need to make today. One day at a time.

Thank you to my friends and family that have been praying for me. Please keep it up. I love you all very much.

In His Grip,
Marie Armitage

Jury duty and headaches

Seriously. I just recieved a summons to go to Jury Duty the day after I get back from visiting Chad's family in Seattle. Aargh.

Also, I had my second opportunity to meet with the Fort Worth Mothers of Multiples group. I couldn't go. Today was an installation meeting, but I had a horrible headache, so I couldn't go. Last week, I was feeling fine until the evening when I was going to go meet up with the ladies at Super Suppers to make some homemade meals.

Don't I sound negative??? I am so frustrated with being negative. I'm working from home, most of the time in a horizontal position on the bed with papers on the nightstand to work through.


God is
I am
Therefore, I trust Him.

M

Post-breakdown post

Ok, now that the dust has settled I have words to express what I was going through last week. I was exhausted, and I felt like I was failing at everything. On Thursday - I finally broke down in tears with Chad and told him my account of my current failures: work, school, unpacking, being a good wife, and generally sleeping a lot.

Chad is amazing. He sat and prayed with me, let me cry and encouraged me by doing quite a few things around the house that I had claimed were my responsability. He told me in all honesty - his job has changed if he wants to be a daddy. He has to take up more slack at home and he wants me to rest. I want so badly to be content with that. Since Thursday, that is what I have tried to do - be content with his help, and be more open with my needs.

It helped to talk to my Mom a little that night too. She was just home from getting shots (maybe a laser treatment?) on her legs at the hospital. She has bad vericose veins, so this is an ongoing treatment she has to do. She felt awful too. We got a chance to pray together - that helped.

My mantra recently has been:
God is who He says He is
I can do what God says I can do*
I am who God says I am
Therefore, I trust Him.

something like that. The last line is always the same. Sometimes I say God can do what He says He can do, or God is going ahead of me or something like that. Regardless, it has helped me to relax a little more and take some of the burden off of myself.

Today (Monday) I am feeling better. I was in the office today, and it was nice to see everyone. They are very encouraging.

Thursday we find out if they are boys, girls. or a combo pack. The other night I had a dream that I gave birth to 4 girls. The doctors said, "oops".

dreams are a funny thing.

Love y'all.
Marie A.

Happy 4th of July!

The babies are definately eating my brain. I love them, each tiem I see the picture of the ultrasound, my heart leaps a little. I am starting to understand what all my mommy friends have told me about loving these little parasites. I truly do.



Chad has called them parasite, aliens, the babies - but result is the same, they are eating everything except the hormones. And the hormones are not helping my brain do FT job. But that's okay. :) The babies are doing well though.



I was able to get an appt with my new doctor. He is taking me on as my one and only doctor now. So I have transferred doctors - to Dr. Bannie Tabor - He's rated as one of the top 10 obgyn's in the DFW area. I'll meet in on the 17th at my 17 week appointment. We couldn't coordinate before then. Hopefully we will be able to see what sex the babies are then.

Please keep up the prayers for Chad and me. Specifically:

Peace. (I’ve had some weird test results, so I need to relax about the appt on the 17th)
Peace. (Chad and I’ve been in survival mode for over a month)
Grace. (My body has been making me sleep for over 10 hours a day. Usually 8 hrs at night and a 2+hour nap. I need to let it do its thing without feeling guilty)

Sorry for posting this later then Friday - I forgot it in my drafts!

In Him,
Marie A.

Blessed (trying to not be stressed)

So I've talked with my HR director (she's also a mentor and friend) and she gave me some very sound advice that was in line with what God has been telling me and Chad. I am very happy with the direction God is taking us, although I am continually surprised with how he gets us from one stage to the next.

I heard the babies heartbeat today. My doctor's nurse called me today, and asked me to come in if I could. I did, I have been prescribed a blood thinner to take with my daily baby asperin. I get to give myself a shot every day during the pregnancy to prevent clotting. One of my labs came back showing a hightened risk of clotting. Praise God I live in a country with healthcare that lets me prevent bad things for happening to our babies.

I am resting a lot, but was able to keep up full time hours this week. It felt good to be able to do that.

Thank you for your prayers. I can see God's hand.

Chad is doing pretty well too. He is finishing his work up this weekend on that class. I am so proud of him. It was great, Ardean (Chad's Mom) let me know that she is not worried about Chad because I am taking care of him. Almaz (my Mom) told me that she is not worried about me because she knows Chad is taking good care of me - that was this afternoon.

Enough for today,
Marie (and the babies)

Serenity Now!

I'm back to work full time after being too exhausted to work consistantly for the past few weeks. Please pray for me to run forward with what I love to do at work. I have so much to catch up on, and I am trying my best to give myself grace.

Will write more later.

Thank you for your prayers and encouragement.
13 weeks down -
many more to go. :)

M

illness update

Chad officially has something like strep, with sores in his throat - and a sinus infection. I have some form of the stomach flu. We both feel like crud.

Thank God for Danelle, who graciously drove 2 hours round-trip from Denton to help me unpack the kitchen for two hours today. After her visit, I promptly went to bed.

Heather - thanks to you too! I'm already wearing your pregnancy shorts. Thanks so much for the clothes that you sent home with me at Christmas.

Chad got to leave work early after his prognosis (did I use that word correctly?). I am despirately trying to stay up past 8:30. Looks like I made it. Hopefully I won't sleep 13 hours again. Must work...

Prayers coveted - prayers appreciated.

Learning to Lean -
on Jesus,

Marie (n Chad and the babies)

Nausea and a sore throat

I guess pushing my body is not as much of an option anymore. Chad has spent his time trying to pick up slack so I don't have to work so hard because he is worried about me. On the other hand, I see how hard he is working, and try to pick up some slack for him so he can take breaks and take care of himself. If only I got a quarter for each time I told him he is more important than these babies or this move - we'd be able to afford their college educations. :)

Anyhoo - we have been able to keep eachother in check, which is good. Once we moved into the new house, we both began not feeling very well. Yesterday I ended up calling my doctor's office for advice because I had some sort of stomach flu bug - I was loosing everything I ate - and I was worried about the babies getting nutrients. Chad took me to Walgreens to grab some prescription meds. I fell asleep once we got home (around 5:30pm) and woke up this morning (7:30am). I am now sipping water and eating little bits at a time. I hope this blows over soon.

Chad has had a little bit of a sore throat for the past three days. I was going to take him to one of those Care Now clinics yesterday - but couldn't for obvious reasons. He was more worried about me then him, so he didn't go yesterday. When we woke up this morning, he said he knew he was ready to go to Care Now. I am going to take him as we head over to his work this morning.

I am pretty sure we are going to move to a hotel for a week sometime soon. We have a one week gift certificate that we can use for any Marriott in the city. Not sure when we are going to check-in though. We have tentative plans to go to the Las Colinas Marriott starting tonight, but the internet will be about $10 a day (We both need that) and breakfast would not be included in the price of the room. So we are thinking it'd be better to stay at a Springhill Suites or something like that, so save money.

We will be fine - We just need to take care of ourselves - we are doing a pretty good job of taking care of eachother. Please keep us in your prayers. Thank you so much!

Chad and Marie (and babies)

Nausea and Naps

I am doing fine. I just can't understand why I was not nauseated at all during my first trimester, no suddenly - I am. Lots of nausea, some vomiting, no real appetite. hmph. Wierd thing is that my comfort foods (mac n cheeze, anything with alfredo) have caused the worst nausea. Spicy food has been comforting (???).

However, I work at the best place for working mothers in the world. My company has been kind enough to allow me to only work the hours that I can - with no guilt. My paycheck will reflect the hours that I work. Chad and I are so blessed.

I am working from home, most of the time from my bed, legs up, laptop on my lap. Who gets to do that? Also, Chad got his videos completed, he did a great job. I reviewed a few of them, he really did a good job.

I've done what I can, without guilt. I am still taking naps though. 3 hours or so in the afternoon is what the kids have needed.

Mom sent food to me via Alberta. Which was very yummy.

Marie

God has the reins - I'm just hanging onto my seat for the ride

God is amazing - as always.

Babies are doing great. I had my 12 week sonogram yesterday. Chad and I got to see them tumbling around. Becca, I completely understand what you mean about your baby not staying still for a sonogram picture. Two were even harder to get coordinated for a photo op.

They are each about 2 inches long from head to hind-parts. They both have their head on my right side, and sort of look like they are spooning, until one moves - they are adorable tumblers. I am a little biased.

We are going to change doctors - mainly b/c I have a "high risk" pregnancy - So I am get a high-risk doctor. Not just because we are dealing with twins, but also because of that ANA titer test that I took a few months back was irregular. There was another marker, my IGG something or other was abnormal. This is fine, should not effect the babies, but I do need to take a baby asperin every day to reduce my chances of blood clots. They also repeated the test that had the high ANA and IGG anymore. God's got it. I'm not worried.

Last - We were supposed to be moved and the Euless house was supposed to be closed on Thursday at 3pm. Didn't happen. Our buyers had some issues with their mortgage firm getting the formal paperwork to the Title company. Without getting into the mundane-frustrating-details, the Title company has all of the papers, and we are going to sign the house over in about 1/2 an hour, @ 5:30 pm Friday.

We stayed in a hotel for the past 2 nights (Praise God for Hotwire). Tonight I need to get the Burleson house ready for us to live in. Much to do, much to do. I have basically packed, checked my work email, packed some more, then crashed for sleep every night this week.

God is SOOO in control. He has gone ahead of us and been our rearguard with our jobs, our customers, our realtor, everyone. We are amazed by Him helping us out every minute of everyday. He has helped us to have more peace in this storm.

Thanks for your prayers.
Please keep them coming!
Serving Him with you,
Marie and Chad (and babies)

news from nurse

The nurse told me the doctor said to push through my extreme fatigue. She (the dr.) told my nurse she would give me a note for missing so much work the last couple of weeks. I am a little frustrated with this "push through it" verdict. I am exhausted when I get sleepy - I'm staying awake today - so far, I've got a headachea and very little energy. It helps that I am working while sitting with my legs up on the sofa.

I have a dr. appt on Thursday - so hopefully she will help clear up my questions then.

My brother Joe called, he is going to help me with packing the garage. All that's left are our junk drawers and the garage. Corinne is still buried with schoolwork - she just started taking classes towards getting her associates degree. Alberta's taking care of our Burleson house today and tomorrow - our contractor working on the baseboards needs to finish up about 60 linear feet of baseboards left. Alberta will make sure it looks right.

36ish hours left until we move.

Thanks for your prayers!
Marie

Update June 16

God is so amazing - Chad has been asked to put together training materials on one of the hot new products at work. One of his managers pulled some strings to get him 6 full days to focus on writing curriculum while being out of the phone queue. What a blessing. This is something Chad is passionate about, and he is getting a chance to make sure it is done "right". I am ecstatic for him.

I am playing phone tag with my doctor's nurse. I've had some wierd symptoms - numbness in my legs/feet, extreme fatigue (16 hrs of sleep a day for the past two weeks), and some cramping. This morning, the nurse said to take some gas-x for the cramping and see if it subsides. There's no spotting, and my belly is definately growing - so it is probably just the babies stretching out my uterus. She called me again, now we are playing phone tag.

OH - and the house is ready for us to move in! It has been professionally cleaned from top to bottom. We move in on Wednesday.

My next customer call is at 1pm. I am going to take a nap.

In Him,
Marie (n Chad n babies)

Empathizing with the babies

First, Ear Infections stink. I've never missed work with a single ear infection, but this Monday and Tuesday I did. God is giving me empathy for the babies. When they get sick, I'm going to need to "baby" them because they area going to desperately need my help.
Second, when I am hungry - I need to eat NOW. I feel fine, then **BAM** musthaveFOOD! I have hunch that is how they will feel when they are here too. Same thing with sleep. I feel fine, then **WHAP** I've hit a wall and I am ready for a nappie.

Thank you God for helping me to understand the babies you are sending to be in our family.

One more thing happened to impact Chad and me - Our closing date has been moved to next Thursday. So we have more time before we change homes, which is nice - especially since we are both getting worn down.

Now, I must get back to work. Prayers are still coveted and appreciated.

Trying to REST in Him,
Marie A

Good news

Great news!
*Painters are done with our Burleson house (and they put back on all of the faceplates and lights to boot!)
*Final inspection is done on our Euless house with the buyers and their inspector.
*Our gas co. verified there are no leaks and turned our gas back on in Euless.
*We FINALLY got a chance to wish Carrie (my 6 year old neice) belated Happy Birthday
*We found someone to deep clean our burleson house so it is smoke free, even with air ducts.
*My ear does not feel like it has an ice-pick stuck in it anymore. I am on antibiotics.

We still have lots to do in both homes, and at work.
Thank you for your prayers and encouragement.

Resting in the LORD,
Marie

Moving Drama

Today is June 9. One of my beautiful neices is graduating from John Jay High School in San Antonio, TX today. For the last 5 months, I have been planning on being there for her graduation. I am not going. "You don't know what you don't know" is what my CEO has been known to say. Now that applies to my personal life.

At the time I was making these plans,
I didn't know -
I'd be at the end of my first trimester - exhausted
I didn't know -
We would be moving and selling our house this Thursday
I didn't know -
The people buying the house would give us 24 hours notice that they were coming for a second inspection TODAY
I didn't know -
I would have an ear infection, and be on antibiotics
I didn't know -
My sweet husband would be working like a dog to get our new home ready, so he would need my support.

That's a quick summary. Now here's what I do know.

I know -
I can trust God to help us get all that we need to get done completed - I can rest in that
I know -
I must take care of myself/the babies - and stress is bad
I know -
Doing my best will have to be good enough
I know -
Chad and I are stronger together then apart. I respect him and love him. I will be here to support him.

Please pray for my husband's continued health, for his job, and for me to support him in the ways he needs support. Also, as always - pray for the babies health, and mine.

Humbly resting in His arms-
M

Political humor. More baby stuff to come.

No big baby news. I told my CEO today, he was very congratulatory. We may be hiring some new Delivery Managers so I can get someone trained to help out in our department.

These made me laugh very hard

McCain is on SNL now. Watch this one first:

This one was more recent.

Monday

Not much to report on today. Chad and I have split up responsibilities on the move - I'm in charge of packing the Euless house, he's in charge of getting the Burleson house ready for our move. Today, I've packed zilch. But that's okay. I've been exhausted, so I'm taking 2 naps a day. I am getting more and more excited about having these babies. I know its really early - and I should beware of getting my hopes up - but the closer I get to the end of the first trimester, the easier it is for me to relax those fears.

Amazingly, Chad did get accepted into an elite 3 day class at M'soft that will keep him there from 9-5 Wednesday - Friday. Good news is, he is able to work on painting for 1/2 day at a time this week.

I have at least one person who said they'd help me pack this weekend. Now I have to get boxes and such. We have until the 11th to be moved out.

God is so good - it is all working out. and the babies are keeping me nauseated (which everyone tells me is very good).

Oh, and I got all my data updated for work, so tomorrow when I meet with my boss - it should be pretty painless. Prayer request: for God to help me have the right words to explain how much I can realistically accomplish during the pregnancy, and wisdom for him as he leads the department and brings on more delivery managers.

Off to bed. I'm done. :)

Resting in Him,
Marie

Misc Thursday thru Saturday update

I joined a mommies of multiples group (www.fwmoms.org). They are fantastic. Extremely encouraging and real. I look forward to getting to know them through this pregancy and raising the munchkins. (Thanks for the tip Tiffany and Heather!)

I am slowly learning about how to give myself more grace at work. I am going to keep doing the best I can with the energy I have. I have always been a very thankful person. I thank God for the chance to live through this and to be able to carry these children. I am learning how to enjoy my pregnancy.

I am even slower at giving myself more grace at home. We have so much to do, and Chad is so tired. He is more important to me than any renovation or move ever was. I am trying to find other ways to encourage him. He is extremely hard on himself. Please pray for him, his health, and his ability to juggle all the new responsibilities he is undertaking. Please pray for me to not feel guilty when I can't be all that I was before pregnancy. Contentedness is just out of reach.

Drew came down and spent the night last night before going home for the weekend. Drew is Becca Jones' nephew. He is stationed at the army base in Abilene. Whenever he goes home, we are happy to keep a hold of his car and give him a ride to the airport. It also gives us a chance to get updates on how he is doing. He is going to head out for another tour overseas - this time for only 2 months. I am very proud of him, and grateful for the opportunity to help him in what little ways we can.

Today is painting day at the house. Chad is resting before we head down there - Amanda and Alberta are going to help as much as they can. I will be watching the kids while the work is going on. God is good. The floors look awesome, next week we move in (theoretically).

Thank you all for the encouragement calls/emails. I appreciate them. I am not as depressed as these make me sound. I really am happy about the babies. It is just taking a while to get used to the idea. :-)

In His grip,
Marie A.

Baby Bump

I have a baby bump. honest. It is wierd to have one at 9 weeks, but from everything I've read so far, if I had one baby my uterus would be the size of a grapefruit. I didn't think that would effect my ability to squeeze into my jeans, but it has. Right now I am wearing a pair of Chad's old khakis. They have a little bit of elastic on both sides. I am hopeful they will last through the first trimester.

We have been calling the babies Baby A and Baby B - as they were labeled in the ultrasound. Corinne, Chad, and I decided on calling them Baby Ashley and Baby Bailey since those are unisex names. This will only be what we refer to them while they are in the womb -- probably not their permanent names.

Baby Ashley is on the bottom right, near my hip bone. I've been told this baby will be sitting right on my bladder as he gets bigger. Baby Bailey is planted right in the center just below the center of my ribcage. I've been promised she will probably cause me to feel short of breath. In all honesty, if that's all that happens, I am ecstatic. I am focusing on the positive, and looking forward to this pregnancy. (Even though I am still scared half to death.)

Oh, and Alberta is going to help Chad this weekend with the house painting! I'll go over too, but just to watch her kids at her house while she is painting at mine. We may have another person help, too. Amanda was the valedictorian at Alberta's school, and Chad and I have spent quite a bit of time with her family over the past few months. She graduated last weekend, so she is available to help too.

Chad's work is going well - he just got accepted to take an elite Microsoft class next Wed-Fri. Unfortunatly, since so many strings were pulled to get him in to the class, he is unable to take any of his regularly scheduled days (Sun-Wed) off. He did get out of his phone time on Wednesday, though. Again, we are going to be depending on friends and family to help us get moved next weekend. This weekend we are working on the painting, next weekend was supposed to be the moving. We have to be moved out of this house by June 11.

ok, now I am off to bed.

God is good, all the time.
Marie (and Baby Ashley and Baby Bailey).

House Drama

Ok, so we picked out tile and really nice laminate for all of the flooring in the new house in Euless. With our allergies, and munchkins on the way, we thought that was the best bet. Unfortunately, when they started laying down the laminate flooring today, we found out the entire shipment was defective. Our flooring guy (Pruitt Flooring) was very good to call us before hacking it all together.

So, Chad and I spent half the day driving from our respective workplaces in Irving, to the house in Burleson (to check out the severity of the issue), then to the flooring place in North Richland Hills (to get a refund/return) before we had picked out different laminate flooring that worked for us. Now the dust has settled. Looks like there is a delay in completing the flooring. They won't be able to re-engage until Thursday.

Chad dropped me off at home before heading back to work. I fell asleep from 5-8 after eating some mac n cheese. mmm. comfort food and naps.

Now I'm awake again, and going to work from home until Chad gets here.

in Him,
Marie A.

Met with my boss this morning

Meeting with him this morning was fantastic. I just spoke with him to be sure he was in the loop about the twins. This whole thing is so surreal. Speaking with him was more confirmation that God is in control of this whole thing. Since he has been through this before, he reminded me that this is an assignment from God, and I should treat it that way. He is praying for me, and I asked him to tell his wife so she can pray for us too. He will support me whichever way I decide to go - if I decide P/T or whatever.

I recieved some great advice from my sweet mom in law (Ardean) about how to control completing my time each day. I will need to stop working 30 minutes before I go home, and that way I will spend that last 30 minutes putting in time, etc. I'll keep y'all posted on how well this works for me.

I am so scatterbrained. ok, off to work. Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement.

M

Giving myself grace

Ok, if I truly believe that God will take care of this - I need to give myself some more slack. At least, that is what Alberta tells me. I am grateful for Corinne's advice too. and Saba, and Heather, and my mom. Tiffany has been especially great - I guess there is nothing that can replace experience. (blakeybabies.blogspot.com).

I am exhausted, and just put in my time for last week. I had to put in 1 1/2 days of vacation to make up my full week last week. To be honest, I did take 1 1/2 days off. Monday, I was especially tired and went home to sleep. Friday, we found out there were two... and that pretty much blew the rest of the weekend for doing any sort of work.

My boss helps. He has told me to put in my billable time each day. I should do this. I guess that's another prayer request. I have loose ends, even though I am great at most of my job, I fail to tie the loose ends by the time I go home. (this is bad). I would blame the babies for my lack of follow-thru, but I can't. I've always been like this. I need heavenly intervention to be better at the 20% of my job that is administrative -

k - maybe more ranting tomorrow.

There are two of them

We found out Friday via vaginal ultrasound that there are two of them. Two babies. We are pregnant for the first time, and there are two of them.

The odds were 1 in 200 for spontaneous twins.
I (the mommy) have no history of twins in my family of origin.
The love of my life (the daddy) is the son of a twin.

The Armitage clan is ecstatic. The Barrington/Wisden/Moore family is happy too - just stunned.

Two of them.

They are probably fraternal, Although according to the doctor we won't know for sure until much later in the pregnancy. Right now we are at 9 weeks. Due December 28th, although we will probably have a planned c-section between Dec 1-14.

I've been exhausted, which is affecting my career, and ability to help at home. Both of these are bad. I trust God will help me through all of this.
I am fighting my instincts. My husband and my boss are both people I am driven to impress - and I seem to be failing both of them right now.

God is my fortress and God is my strength a very present help in trouble. Therefore I will not fear tho the earth be removed and tho the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea.

I need to be getting my hours in at work, and am blessed to be living in a flex schedule where I can work from home. I LOVE my job. But right now, I just feel I am average at it.*

*pregancy note: I know, the babies are eating everything but my hormones. I am definately more emotional then I used to be!

I need to be helping my husband with our move from one house to the other. We closed on a home last month, and need to be moved out of our current house by the time we close on selling it, June 12th.

Problem: Because of my baby-induced-exhaustion, I can't really help with any manual labor at the new house. It needs to be primed - painted - then moved in to. My husband feels like he is having to do it all by himself. Our local family can't help (seriously, each of them have very good reasons for being unavailable). My dear sweet husband has been ill with allergies the last couple of weekends.

Prayers are coveted and appreciated as we do our best to make a wonderful home for these two new lives, and maintain our sanity at the same time.

Serving HIM with you,
M