PHHEWWW!

We survived the last 8 weeks.


17 weeks and counting down.  That's not too bad, really.  I mean, honestly, it could be much worse, and much longer.  Throughout this whole process, I knew that this was going to be much harder on Ellie than it would be me.  She is very much a Daddy's Girl, and absolutely adores Neil.  As I sit here typing, she's sitting in her room trying to fight back tears as she listens (over and over again) to the recordable book I had Neil make for her the night before he left.  I anticipated it being hard on her, but I didn't realize it would be hard on me to watch her go through this.  I guess you never really understand the full range of emotions that  a 3 year old can experience, and I just didn't expect her to be so completely heartbroken.   

Shortly after we found out our life was going to be in an upheaval, I was stewing and stewing on ideas that would help her mark the weeks down.  Obviously, time is still pretty irrelevant to her.  Like most little kids, Ellie loves getting mail.  So I decided to create a special "Mail Day" for her once a week.  I typed up a bunch of love notes ahead of time, and had Neil do 8 or 9 himself.  So on her special mail day she'll get a little love note and surprise in her very own mailbox.  Neil will be so busy in AK, that he just wouldn't have the time to do all this, so I figured it was the easy route to go.  Here's to hoping it works.

Surprisingly, I'm not doing too bad.....right now.  I always tell Neil that its because I had a meltdown/breakdown every week leading up to this point, so I've gotten most of it out of my system already.  I expect completely different feelings once these girls get here.:)

Speaking of girls....they're doing so great.  I can't see it as anything BUT a blessing that things have gone so well, in all aspects of our lives.  As challenging as its been to have those fears, its been a blessing to be able to see how we've already been prepared beforehand for all of these changes.  I'd go into detail about the epiphany I had this morning, but I don't want to bore you.:)

Back to the twins...at my ultrasound 2 weeks ago they were measuring at 3 1/2 lbs and 4 lbs.  :)  Good healthy girls.  Excited to finally meet them.  Can't wait.  The Dr. is supposed to set up a date for a c-section, hopefully, next week.  I'll keep you posted.

I'd attach a picture of my ginormous belly....but with all the busy-ness of the last 3 weeks, and the fact that Neil isn't here to take a picture for me, its not likely to happen.  Though, the last time I measured, the good 'ol belly was at 45.5 inches.  That should be a good enough visual for you.