The BB List

Our home improvement list has recently changed into the Before Babies (BB) list!  We started working on it when my parents stopped by on their way back from Florida.  Matthew and I have been covering the walls of the tack room and with the extra help of Mom and Dad we were able to install the ceiling.  Once the ceiling was up Dad helped me put up some shelves and hang photos.

 

Now one half of the tack room is done!  The shelves made room for the horse trophies to move out of the purple room in the house (the future nursery) and the finished walls needed a few photos.  It might be another five years before we finish the other half, but I'm excited to have this part finished.

 

 

I've also been working on the garden and getting everything planted.  The snap peas, lettuce, carrots, potatoes, onions, broccoli, and popcorn are already planted and the tomatoes, herbs, eggplant, and peppers are growing inside.  The late freeze we had today has set back a few of my plants but the warm spring has most things ahead of schedule.  We will be adding two more raised beds soon and adding more carpet to cut down on the amount of weed eating needed this summer.

Check Up

The kids and I had two check-ups this week.  Monday we saw the specialist for some quick measurements and everything checked out just fine.  Today we saw my regular doctor for a few more measurements and lots of questions (from me).  Here's a photo of the top of both babies' heads.  All is going according to schedule!
 

Rabbits - Warning, slightly graphic

We recently dispatched several rabbits and have made some improvements in the process.  If you are squeamish or don't want to know more, please skip ahead to the next post!

 

First, we bought a new hanger to replace the old ropes we used to use.  The metal one is sturdy and very easy to use.  Plus, we mounted a bucket below to catch the scraps.

 

Next, I've been working on using more parts of the rabbit so that we have less waste.  I read about someone using the dehydrated ears as dog treats so I gave that a shot.  Of course, we don't have a dog so these will go to someone else's lucky pooch!

 

I also saved all of the fat from the 13 rabbits we butchered.  Some were fairly fatty so I ended up with a lot!   Here it is before starting to render.

 

After many hours and two days of watching over the cooking, the fat was finally all rendered.  The finished oil is on the left and the "cracklings" are on the right.  We technically could have eaten these, but we weren't feeling that adventurous.

 

I plan on using this for a new soap recipe I found online.  I'll take more photos when I get around to making it.  We can also use it as a replacement for butter in recipes although it does have a little different odor to it.

15 Weeks

The 15 week bump shot, officially in the second trimester for one week now.  It may not look too different from three weeks ago, but I can certainly tell a difference in my clothes.  I need to start shopping for maternity wear ASAP!  I'm gradually feeling better in the evenings and have mostly been able to eat dinner.  I'm sure Matthew is happy about this as well because it means I have been able to cook for him again!  We are keeping busy working on projects around the house (I'll post about those later) and crossing stuff off the endless lists.  I have two appointments next week, one with the specialist and one with my regular OB.  We are certainly keeping busy!

IDENTICAL TWINS!

Now that the cat(s) is out of the bag, I can post some exciting baby photos!  You may have noticed that our blog, and my facebook, have been a little sparse lately.  That's because I have not felt well since early January so we haven't been doing much!  Luckily I mostly get "evening sickness" so I'm still able to get some work done in the morning.  It's made dinners hard and socializing almost impossible though.  I hope to start feeling better soon!  On a happier note, here is the ultrasound photo from my nine week scan.  Baby A is upright and facing left while baby B is upside down and facing the camera.

The 12-week bump shot.  I found this dress at a clothing swap and I really hope that it will continue to fit during most of my bump shots.  It is very stretchy!

I went to a specialist for an ultrasound scan on Monday (just over 13 weeks) due to the high-risk nature of twins.  I had a wonderful experience there--everyone was so nice--and my mom got to tag along too!  The doctor even gave me a twin book.  I will continue to visit them every two weeks throughout my pregnancy to check for twin to twin transfusion syndrome, basically where one twin steals all the nutrients from the other since they share a placenta.  There's only about a 15% chance of that happening so I'm not worrying about it yet.  They also measured the thickness of the skin on the back of their necks to check for certain conditions and all was normal. We didn't get a shot of both babies together but here is a side view of baby A.  A and B may be different from the first A and B because they call the "bottom" baby A. Both babies were in a very similar placement this time, A's feet were just a little lower than B.  They said that by my next scan the babies should be sticking to one placement.

And here's baby B.  It is facing the camera and even doing a little wave.  It was so neat to watch them wiggling around and waving all of their limbs but it's hard to believe that all of that is going on in there!

In case you missed our announcement photo, here it is again.  As soon as I saw these onesies I knew that they were perfect for us!

Finally, a silly shot with the onesies that shows how we felt when we found out we were having twins!

Peanut

After losing Spice we leased our other miniature horse, Peanut, to a local therapeutic riding center called Horsin' Around.  They had a small pen for him but it did not have a shelter at the time.  Matthew and I spent a few weekends working on his pen and getting it ready for him to move in.  We used all scrap parts and here Matthew is assembling the posts for the shed.

Once we finally got the base (relatively) square we added the roof.

Here is a view of one end of his pen.

And here is the other end.  The white sand has been used to fill in some low spots that tend to flood.

We added one side to the shed and will eventually add a back as well.

Peanut saying Hello to his new neighbors, therapy horses Cloud and Zantana.

And checking out his new accommodations.  His hay and a salt lick are in the shed to keep them dry.

Peanut's job during therapy sessions is to greet the kids as they arrive and be a good introduction to horses for kids that are a little nervous around the big boys.  He will also drive his cart for events and some of the kids enjoy grooming him.  We still own Peanut and he may vacation at our house while the therapy center is between sessions but he seems to enjoy the attention.  Here Griffin checks out Peanut.

Peanut is the perfect size for wheel chair kids and his curious personality is a bonus!  I've now started volunteering at Horsin' Around one day a week as well.  I started so that I could visit Peanut but I'm really enjoying interacting with all of the wonderful kids and staff.

New Year's

Matthew and I spent New Year's in Florida with Matthew's family.  We took Rabi and Mow with us and stayed in our horse trailer.

 

Our camping spot.

 

All of Matthew's sisters and all of our nieces and nephews were also visiting.  This was the first time we've met Emily and Miran's son Henry!

 

The guys.

 

 

Matthew brought his drone to fly around Max and Janet's place.

 

We spent most of our time playing games, lots of games!  Here Matthew is entertaining the four older kids with a modified game of Pandemic.

 

We rang in 2017 a little early so that the kids could celebrate with us, then we all went to bed, haha.