Count Down Until the Twins Arrive

I am 4 weeks and 1 day away from being FULL TERM with M&M!!  (Our goal is to make it 6 weeks and 1 day from today but 36 weeks is considered GREAT)

We are so excited to see what McKenzie and McKinley will look like.  Our last sonogram was with the high risk doctor, and the girls profiles looked just like Shiloh, so we are really curious to see if they will all three look similar or if the twins will look more like me?!?  Regardless of that, we are praying for two healthy baby girls!!

As far as everything else for the twins is concerned, I am now on modified bed rest, which means that I'm allowed to walk around a little bit but need to stay reclined as much as possible.  I've needed someone with me everyday to help with Shiloh.  Thankfully, friends and family have really been helping out and I am so grateful!! Thank you to everyone who has and is planning on coming over to hang out with me and help out with Shiloh! 

I am so pleased to say that Shiloh has handled this transition really well.  The first week was tough for her because she is not used to a mommy that does not run around and play with her all day, so she was pretty clingy and emotional for a few days.  Now, going into week 3 of bed rest, she is much more aware of Mommy and wants to make sure I'm okay but overall seems to be loving having visitors and more attention.

I'll be using a wheel chair in the coming weeks, so I am allowed to get out more!  I know if I had to stay on strict bed rest I could do it, but my doctor said it's fine if I go out as long as I'm in a wheel chair!  Thank goodness!  Those who have been helping me know that I've been getting a little stir crazy.  (Missy and Jackie- you girls are amazing for handling hospital bed rest so well!!  I'm praying that I won't have to be :))

In the Marc and Reci Smith Family, we've been spending lots of time with Shiloh and with each other before the craziness of newborns hits us! This summer we had Shiloh participate in gymnastics, which was a blast and a great learning experience for her.  She learned to hang from a bar, to somersault, to walk on a really low balance beam, and to follow directions from another adult. 

If you're just tuning into my blog, then I'll forewarn you.  I started this blog to keep track of the Smith Family happenings and to help me keep track of Shiloh's and future little Smith's Milestones.  This blog is sort of my family scrapbook and baby book all in one; I'm trying to share our lives with anyone who wants to read it but mostly keep a record of it for us!

Shiloh Physical Milestones at 21 months:
- all of the gymnastics things mentioned above :)
- running (very fast)
- jumping with both feet off the ground
- drawing circles
- walking backwards (she's been doing that for about 2 months now)

I'm also SO excited to say that behaviorally she has improved a ton lately!!  Starting about mid July she really began responding to our firm No's.  For about the previous 2 months, she was spending lots of time in various corners of our house for Time-Out, which made me really sad.  Thankfully lately, she has been responding well!!

Shiloh's Verbal Milestones:
- she attempts to sing many songs (ABCs, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Row Row Your Boat, Old McDonald Had a Farm)
- she has spoken a few five word sentences
- she uses please and thank you (typically with a gentle reminder but we're getting there :))
- she can count to 10 with a little bit of help

PICTURES!!

Playing with Mommy's old jewelry

 Sharing jewelry with Daddy

Happy 4th of July

Daddy and Shiloh "finning" or spinning which is one of her favorite things right now!

Here are some of our Maternity/Family Pictures

My aunts threw a baby shower for me, and here are some pictures from that!!

"Nino"got Shiloh a double stroller with twin babies!!  Shiloh couldn't have been more excited!!  She LOVES babies, which we're hoping will translate into being an excited big sister!!



Pictures to add to the last post!

Here are some more cute pictures from San Diego in May ! 

Here is a picture of Shiloh!!  I couldn't get her to be still and pose :-)

These lovely girls helped to host an amazing shower for us and McKenzie and McKinley!!!

(two hostesses were sadly not in this picture- Abby and Susan)

I was SO excited that Joanna was able to make it to the shower!!!



Our Energizer Bunny

Much has been going on in the Smith Family as we have been keeping our active toddler occupied and getting ready for the arrival of the twins!! 

I'll start with an update on Mavryk and McKinley! 

As far as Mavryk and McKinley go, things are looking really well!!  They've been measuring big, which the doctors say is a good thing!!  Every sonogram we've had up to this point shows the girls growing and looking healthy!  The high risk doctor said he didn't think it was necessary for me to continue going to him, so I will only be seeing my doctor from here on out, unless she sees something abnormal.  I found that to be really encouraging! :-)

We don't have cribs yet, but other than that their room is ready- it's painted, we've got the dresser/changing table set up and the clothes are organized..  A few times a week, I will take Shiloh into their room and tell her that her sisters will be living in there.  She doesn't really get it, but she can say their names and the word "sisters," so that makes it fun!

Here is a video of Shiloh saying Mavryk, McKinley, sisters and a few other things.

Pictures!!  Shiloh is ACTIVE ACTIVE ACTIVE!!  In my attempts to burn her energy and make some special memories, we've been doing lots of fun things!!  We've been to the Arboretum quite a few times, gone to the zoo, joined gymnastics, visited the library for toddler story time, swim frequently and go to the park lots.  Here are some pictures of all of these things:

Shiloh at her first gymnastics class

At the Dallas Zoo with Nino (Shiloh rode a horse for the first time and LOVED it)

Playing with Daddy and stickers

Shiloh at Story time for Toddlers

Swinging at the Park

At the Arboretum

Here is a short video at the Splash Park with Levi and Abby

Pictures from the Splash Park

I love keeping track of Shiloh's milestones (after all that is why I started this blog), so here are some of the things she can do and say:
She can count to 5
She can identify a line, a circle, a square and sometimes a triangle
She can ask for certain foods (which is great because she will sometimes tell me what she wants)
She can identify a bird, a possum, a tiger, a cat, a dog, a duck, a chick, a sheep, a goat, a cow, an alligator/crocodile, a bear, a giraffe, a monkey and many more

We used to have to prompt her to say I love you, but now on her own she will look at Marc or me and say "I love you mommy" or "I love you daddy"  This is one of our favorite things!!!

Another of my favorite Shiloh characteristics is her sensitivity to other babies.  When another baby cries or is upset, she usually gets very concerned for them and wants to pat them on the back and tell them it's okay.  I love that she is sympathetic and think this will come in handy when the twins are born.

I'm so excited for her to start Mother's Day Out in the Fall because I think it will help her interact with other kids!!  She is learning how to share, but also struggles with it quite a bit. I know that this will be a challenge for years to come, but why not try to start early.  When we have kids over, I've noticed that she likes to tell them what they can and cannot do- I guess she is just getting ready to be a big sister. :-)

I also love that lately she recognizes many people!!  Among my friends kids, she often asks for Wuke (Luke), Evie Girl, Drew and Aya (Eliana)!  I hope to continue to play with these kiddos because Shiloh loves it and it helps her to get better at self entertaining, which I would not include in her list of strengths.

Lately, we've been working on getting Shiloh to eat more (she is a VERY picky eater), to self entertain, to not throw fits at the word "no," to follow basic instructions (bring the shoe to mommy etc.) and to identify colors.

Update on Shiloh's asthma. Great news here, Shiloh has not had any more severe attacks! We do a preventative treatment once a day that helps tremendously and only TWICE have we had to do a breathing treatment because of some minor wheezing. The doctor has said that since things have been going well, we will be stopping the preventative treatments the second week of July. My prayer is that nothing will happen, but we will have to wait and see. They also believe that Shiloh's attacks are allergy induced and around July the amount of allergens in the air is reduced quite a bit.

Marc and I have been up to some fun things lately as well!  In the beginning of May, we celebrated Marc's birthday, and in mid-May, we went to San Diego with his parents for a fun get a way weekend!  We stayed at the Torrey Pines Lodge and had a wonderful time!!  We ate at LOTS of yummy restaurants, visited the San Diego Zoo (which is something I can now check off my bucket-list), hiked in a beautiful state park and went to the beach! 

Celebrating Marc's Birthday (We had a joint birthday party for Marc and Jon)

In San Diego

Memorial Day Weekend my Baylor friends and I had a reunion in Chicago!!  It was so wonderful to see Katie, Brittany, Jenny, Jo and Sarah!!  We had a great time hanging out and catching up!  Thanks Britt for hosting and showing us a great time around Chicago!!  I miss everyone already but am so thankful for times we get to catch up!!

Here's a picture of us at Tea at the Drake Hotel

It was also great to get back and hear that Shiloh and Marc had a wonderful weekend!  Marc said it was his favorite weekend alone with Shiloh!  She and Marc were so active while I was gone that she slept much more than normal for about three days!!  Thanks Marc for being such a great Daddy and so much fun for Shiloh!!

Marc and I have really been enjoying the calm of life lately! I am so grateful for the rhythm that we are in right now!  Shiloh's schedule is very set and it allows us to get good quality time as a family, good sleep (finally starting 17 months later) and good quality Marc and me time!  Thank you Lord for this season of blessing!! 

Breathing Issues and Some Fun

Today started like any normal day!!  This morning Shiloh and I were running around and I was trying to wear her out right before nap time. When I went to give her a bottle to put her down, I noticed that her breathing didn't sound right and sounded very labored. It concerned me quite a bit so I called the doctor and they got us in for an appointment today. Her wheezing started at noon and by 2:30 when I saw the doctor, he said her body was in distress and her lungs were shutting down. We did a breathing treatment, which helped immediately- thank God! While doing the breathing treatment I asked the doctor what would've happened if I hadn't taken her to him. He replied that she would have stopped breathing and we would've been in the ER. Praise the Lord that didn't happen!!
The doctor said they don't typically diagnose asthma until the age of four, so this is called a breathing problem. If she ends up having asthma, this would be considered her first attack... Hmmm. We got some medicine and will be doing breathing treatments every 4-6 hours for the next four days and then 3 a day for the following few days. All that to say, she's okay and we're all fine here.  We just had a scare!  We will be watching her carefully over these next few days to make sure this doesn't happen again! :)

Being the photo crazy mom that I am, I took a picture of her first breathing treatment.  (This will be the first of many she is about to experience)

I'd love prayer requests for Shiloh's health to improve and for the Lord to help Marc and I to be very aware of Shiloh and when intervention is necessary if it is. I would like to praise the Lord for the motherly instinct he instilled in all of us women! I had a gut feeling something was wrong before it got really bad and I'm so grateful for that!!
 
On a HAPPIER NOTE!!  I've got some fun Shiloh updates and videos!! 
 
Her vocabulary has been growing daily, and her toddling around has actually turned into walking!!  Some of my favorite things she has said lately are
"Mommy, I love you" 
"Daddy, I love you"
She looked at the nurse today and said "you're a mess."  That brought some great laughs!
 
She has started to identify some of our friends.  She recognized Jon and Becca this past week!  She can also say Evie's name, which comes out like "E B" 
 
Here's Shiloh being a big girl and going down the slide by herself!!
 

 
Here are some cute pictures from lately:
 

I thought she looked adorable sleeping the other day, so I couldn't help it- I took a picture!

 

She was holding a wand while sitting on her potty



Playing with Eliana

Watching videos on Daddy's iPhone and cuddling with Daddy

TWINS!!!

When I went to the doctor for our first sonogram of pregnancy #2, I had a feeling that it might be twins.  I told Marc not to be surprised if there were two heart beats because I had been praying for twinnies!!  We went in, found out that I was 6 weeks pregnant and saw only one heart beat.  I concluded that my twin inkling was really just wishful thinking...

We went in for another sonogram at 8 weeks because the doctor wanted to see a sonogram then too.  The sonogram technician told Marc and I that she needed to grab the doctor for something.  I got a little nervous at that point thinking that something had gone wrong.  The doctor came into the room and almost jumped for joy.  She asked Marc and I if we saw "both of the babies" on the screen!!  I started crying of excitement and Marc looked at me and said "you called it!"  We were both extremely shocked and super excited!! Shiloh's little world is about to be rocked!!

Now I am almost 14 weeks and the doctors are about 95% sure they are girls.  The benefit of being a high risk pregnancy, which all twins are considered, is getting lots of sonograms and lots of doctors visits!!  I have already gotten a high definition 3D sonogram of the little LADIES and I get atleast 1 sonogram every two weeks to check on them!!  Here are some pictures of the babies!

This is Baby Girl "A" with her hand on her head. 

 (The little lump things on her are just random little things the sonogram picked up)

This is Baby Girl "B"

(I know she looks kind of alien like :))

Here is a profile picture of Baby Girl "A"

Here is a profile picture of Baby Girl "B"