The Third Act

I've officially entered my third trimester! The first trimester brought extreme exhaustion, the second trimester brought terrible heartburn, I'm thinking the third trimester will bring hugeness......
I'm finding all my preconceived notions of what kind of pregnancy and birth I would have are false. First, I never dreamed I'd be pregnant with twins. Second, I thought I'd have a fabulous, natural, water birth. Third, I'd planned to keep up my running through the entire pregnancy. Fourth, I thought I'd work full time up until the day I went into labor. Well, these babies have plans of their own!
We had out latest ultrasound on Tuesday and were excited to see two healthy big girls. One of the babies is in the 90th percentile for growth and the other is not far behind! I'm not kidding when I say hugeness is just around the corner for me. The only bad news is the naughty monkeys have flipped and neither is head down. They still have time to get in the right position, but they'll be running out of space pretty quickly. It seems more likely we will end up having a c-section. In the beginning I was 100% against a c-section but I've found my chi and accepted that it may happen and it won't be the end of the world. Those of you that have had c-sections, any thoughts or advice based on your experience?
As for the running, I said goodbye to that one months ago. I have taken up swimming though, and I have to say it is fabulous! All day long, I feel like a beached whale, but when I'm swimming, I'm just a whale happy to be back in the water. Not only do I feel weightless, but all the strain is taken off of my back and hips and there is no pain or discomfort. Of course, the second I get out of the water, that glorious feeling subsides and I waddle back over to my towel. But for 30 minutes, I feel awesome!
On the work front, I'm still working full time but I've let my employer know I won't be returning after maternity leave. I plan to work through the end of August and wait out the last few weeks at home doing last minute preparations and taking lots of naps :)
Life as we know it is going to change very drastically, very quickly. But I say bring it on!

Here we have the lovely profile of Baby B. What you can't see in this picture is that Baby A keeps kicking her in the face; hence, she has to raise her little fist to protect herself!

Here's Baby A's foot. She didn't pose very well for a face shot, but  a foot picture is cool too. 

Maternity Photos

This whole pregnancy, I've debated whether I was going to get maternity pictures taken. On the one hand, I wanted to document the experience of pregnancy, but on the other hand, I wasn't sure I wanted an entire photo shoot dedicated to highlighting my ginormous belly. I had just about decided to skip it when Nate's cousins, Jeff and Carly, moved to Bentonville. Carly took our wedding photos and they were beautiful, so I knew she would do a great job with maternity photos too. She did not disappoint! We absolutely love the pictures. Thanks Carly!!! Here are a few of our favorites.

3 Years!

Once upon a time Laurel and Nathan were sitting on the couch in Laurel's apartment. Laurel was jabbering on in her usual fashion and was annoyed to notice that Nate seemed to not be listening! Suddenly, he interrupted her and said, "Laurel, I think........I might........possibly love you." Well that was good enough for Laurel and pretty soon they were married and lived happily ever after for these last three years. Fortunately, Nate is much more sure of his love at this point :)
We celebrated our three year anniversary on June 26th. In the grand scheme of things, I know three years is not very long, but on the other hand, so much has happened in those three years and life before marriage seems to be a lifetime ago. It's been the most amazing three years, and it's hard to believe by the time our four year anniversary rolls around, we will be a family of four!

Relaxing in the hammock

To celebrate, we went to a quaint, tourist town about an hour away, Eureka Springs. We stayed at the cutest bed and breakfast. Anyone who knows me, knows I adore porch swings so naturally I was in love with this house!

Eureka hosts an eclectic group of visitors from hippies to bikers to honeymooners so half the fun of our trip was people watching. We wandered around the little shops, ate some delicious food, and survived a haunted hotel! It was a quick, relaxing getaway and a fun way to celebrate our anniversary.

Haunted Crescent Inn

Delicious Italian food at Ermilio's: "2nd best chicken parmesan of my life!"- Nate

Thorncrown Chapel- Glass chapel in the middle of the woods