Baby Shower & A Great Weekend!

24 weeks

We had an awesome weekend! My sister headed up from Arizona on Thursday! I was so excited to see her and Lincoln again! Really, it will be the last time we see each other before we both have new additions to our families! CRAZY! My sister is 33 weeks and I'm 24... so we're about 9 weeks apart! I can't wait to find out what she's having! It's still a surprise!

So we spent all weekend preparing for a big shower that my sister and mom planned. They did an amazing job and I'm so grateful for all the work, time and money that they put into it! It turned out great!! It was nice to visit with the family and friends from my moms ward! And we got spoiled. Thank you to everyone who came and supported us! We love you guys!

Here are some pictures from this weekend (a little out of order):

Sunday:

Reading bedtime stories

Lincoln asked Uncle Kyle to lay with him until he fell asleep. So cute!

Our last picture together before they had to head home on Monday.

Saturday at the shower:

The food! Doesn't it look awesome?

The chocolate fountain... MMM!

Opening gifts

I have a ton more gift pictures, but didn't want to overwhelm you with them!

Then we had to get the pregnant sister pictures!

32 weeks & 23 weeks

I had the silly picture that mom wanted to take on here, but for my sisters sake I took it off. She'll thank me for it later :)

The diaper cake my sister made me! My sister totally spoiled me! She made me this diaper cake, a hand made nursing cover, and two hand made blankets! They are sooo cute! She spent so much time on all of it. I love everything. Thank you Sis!

A diaper cake my Aunt Roberta made me! Look at all the fun toys! It had handmade burp cloths & bibs on it too!

We got a ton of other things! We have tons of bath time items, like shampoo, lotion, towels, washcloths and more, along with lots of diapers an wipes. I'm sure we dont have enough diapers and wipes, but it sure seems like it! We got some cute outfits, books, toys, feeding items & lots of really cute blankets!

Again, I'm so grateful to everyone that came! We really appreciate your support!

I've been battling a cold this week. I thank my little nephew for that. Not fun! But I'm starting to feel a little bit better. I'm really glad it is Friday so I can rest up this weekend and have this cold gone by Monday. It is crazy to think that I'm 24 weeks. My goal is 12 more weeks!!! Only 12... now that's a reality check. I don't even feel close to being ready. There is SO much that still has to be done. There aren't even sheets or bedding in their cribs! I feel like I need to start thinking about what I will need to put in our hospital bag too, just in case, so it's ready. If you know me, I'm a TOTAL plan ahead person. So if things are ready early, then I feel MUCH better. It's going by much quicker now, and my belly is growing by the day! I can now actually watch my belly and see them move! Not just feel them. Justin saw them move last night too. He always thought I was lying cause I'd tell him that I could watch them move and they would never do it at night when he wanted to see it! They're both pretty crazy. I always thought Baby A was the crazy one, but lately I've been seeing Baby B move just as much!

Oh, and it's pretty much official:

Cade & Cole Ballantyne

We just started telling everyone that those were the names at the top of our list, and they stuck. Everyone is calling them that anyway, and we really like them! They just sound right! We're not sure on middle names, but I'm leaning towards giving them both their dads middle name. David. It works for both of them, then it is just as special for one, as it is the other. Not sure on that yet though!

I call Baby A, Cade and Baby B ,Cole. But Justin says whichever one comes out first is Cade. We'll see though :)

I can't wait to meet them!

I can't wait for...

19 weeks 4 days

This.

Isn't that the cutest picture?!

I just want to meet them. I love seeing their little faces on the ultrasounds! They have the cutest little noses ever! I can wait, cause the longer they bake, the better! But the anticipation of knowing what they'll look like is killing me!

On Saturday night I was laying in bed and the babies were awake. I told Justin to come feel them. he said "You're lying" cause in the past when I've told them they're awake and he tries to feel them, he can't. So we laid there for a minute. He was patiently waiting and all the sudden, all 4 of their little legs started moving everywhere! He felt them moving!! YAY! He said it feels like a heart beat to him. Which is exactly what it should feel like. I could feel it a lot more, but it was exciting to share that with him finally!

We went to the Ultrasound Dr. last Wednesday. I really like the ultrasound tech. She's so nice and super funny! While we were doing the ultrasound she noticed that Baby B had flipped. So they are now both face to face with their feet down. I can definitely tell that their feet are down. They stomp on my bladder a lot! Silly little boys. While she was looking at the legs, she said "Look at all those legs! I can't tell which goes to which!" It was just a cluster of feet an legs everywhere! It was pretty cute. Then when she was measuring one of their feet, she wrote Fot instead of Foot. I don't know why it was so funny, but we were laughing SO hard! I think it was the way she said it or something. So on the video recording you can see my stomach bouncing from laughing! We had a good time.

Every 4 weeks they take measurements, and then every 2 weeks they do anatomy. So the measurement check-up was at the first of January, and the anatomy check-up was the one we had on Wednesday. It was really cool, they checked their little lips to see if they had any sign of cleft lips, they checked their aortic arch, they look at everything! They still look at anatomy when they do measurements, but I guess it's a rule that they only take measurements every 4 weeks. The Dr. said that there was no sign of Twin-to-Twin. Which means they are both getting equal share of blood and food supplies. Sometimes one can take more than the other, but it looks like they're already sharing with each other :) We're glad about that!

So everything looks great! These little boys get bigger every day! Our next appointment with Dr. L and with the Ultrasound Dr. is on February 9th! I have a lot of questions for Dr. L so I'm looking forward to seeing her.

Another thing I can't wait for...

I'm going to say it again, I have the best big sister ever. She has done such a great job planning my baby shower! I can't wait for it! The theme is SO cute! I got to see the invitations this weekend. But it's still a secret. We're getting the invitations mailed out this week. I can't wait to see my sister. She's so great for being willing to drive 11 hour up here by herself with my 3 year old nephew, while being 7 months pregnant! She's been so good about helping me along with things I'll need, questions I have and stuff since I don't know what I'm doing! She's the best! I love her!

I'm still here!

Hey everyone!

I know, it's been FOREVER. I'm sorry. Life just gets so busy sometimes! Here's an update of the last month!

First, I started a new job! I now work for Prime Alliance Bank in Bountiful. It's so great because I am 5 minutes away from home. Instead of driving 15 minutes and filling up on gas every week and a half, I drive 5 minutes and fill up ever two and a half weeks. I love the people I work with. They are all so great and easy to get along with. They've been so welcoming. I work in the Credit Administration department doing the payoffs & reconveyances, appraisals, and loan bookings. I love working in that department. I'm learning so many new things, which I love. I think it will be great having more knowledge of what goes on in different departments at the bank.

Next, I've been busy making some cakes! I have made 3 in the last few weeks! I'll post them on my cake blog, so go see them!

Then, my sister just came into town! She got here on Saturday and will be here till next Sunday! It's so great having them here, I've missed them SO much. My nephew has grown up so much, it's unbelievable! He knows his letters, numbers, colors and is even potty trained! My sister is such a good mom, I know who to turn to when we have our own little munchkins(No, not yet)!

On Sunday we celebrated my mom and brother-in-laws birthdays! My mom's was on the 10th and Cody's is on the 18th. We had a yummy steak dinner, and then the grandparents came over and we had cake and ice cream!

A tote for my mom to put her jewelry making supplies in!

Pictures of our family pictures that we had done in AZ!

Lincoln blew out the candles for his dad!

I colored the inside of the cake green, it's my moms favorite color.

Then we just hung out! My little nephew is so outgoing, he runs around the house calling out anyones name that will play with them "Emily, Kyle, Justin, Papa!" It's so fun! My nephew has become obsessed with a game on my dads iPod. I don't know what it's even called, but we call it "Go Fast" Its a traffic car game where you try to get as many cars through the intersection without them crashing. Lincoln will sit and play it for HOURS! He sits and goes "Go fast, Go fast, Oh no, watch out!" then he'll crash and be like "OOOHHH, Crash the blue." That means that the blue car crashed, or whatever! Here's a video of him and kyle playing with the iPods. My brother taught him the pound it and blow it up! I love it! And he's catching on to "I love you"

And now...

PRESENTING!


MY SISTER!!

(I turned on my camera to upload these photos and this is the surprise I found from her )

HAHAHA! This last one is classic! I couldn't help but Laugh Out Loud when I saw these!! I love my sis!