2020 Family Halloween Theme

This year's family costume brought to you by Pokemon! 

In last year's post I wrote "It's no surprise that I am a planner. Do I have next year's theme figured out? You bet I do. It's one that the whole family is looking forward to. Even Danny. If you have even a five minute conversation with either Addie or Hudson you'd see that next year's theme is a no brainer. But before I get too much into that let's get back into the present." The obsession with Pokemon was really strong last year and it didn't slow down for this year either so it was pretty cute to see all of them run and play in their costumes.

What I did not plan for though was to be pregnant so my original costume did not fit. I was supposed to be Misty and of course I bought everything for it months ago. I had everyone's costumes purchased by the end of February and when I found out I was pregnant in July I still had hope that my costume would fit. I soon realized with this pregnancy that it would not. I tried sizing up a couple of times but it just didn't come together right so I did the best next thing. I got a costume of the biggest roundest Pokemon I know of - Snorlax. It's the first time in six years that I actually bought a Halloween costume during the season of Halloween haha. Changing my costume was the best decision though because that costume was so comfy! And these days comfort is a must with how big I'm already feeling. 

I do know what we're being next year but I think I might actually hold off a few months before buying them. Crazy right? :)

Two Of A Kind!

We decided to find out the genders early! Well actually I should say I convinced Danny into finding out early; I was always hoping we would. I didn't want to wait until twenty weeks to find out for a few reasons. One is honestly because I'm impatient. Two is because I thought this would be the safest way to continue our secret. Normally for a singleton pregnancy the anatomy ultrasound that's done at twenty weeks typically take about an hour to get all the measurements needed. For multiples you can expect it to last two to three hours. I really didn't want to try and find a sitter for that long without explaining why it would take that long. I thought about disguising it as a date night and I would have gone that route if I wasn't able to convince Danny to find out early. It turns out that the thing that helped was him knowing it could potentially last over two hours and he didn't want to be at an appointment for that long 😊. This works out perfectly because we get to find out early and we don't have to worry about finding anyone for that long because Danny will stay home with our three. 

We went into this gender appointment today not expecting to be completely shocked. We had a pretty good idea of what at least one of the babies were and that's because of something that happened last week. Last Tuesday at my 16 week checkup Danny was able to come with me for the first time. So far he has virtually joined each of the other appointments through technology but it was so nice to have him physically with me. Jaina and Jackson watched our kids for us so we were able to go. I told them we wouldn't be finding out the gender but deep inside I was really hopeful we would that day. When we got to the appointment we found out that the doctor on schedule was running really behind. Although I was there at my time scheduled I would still have to wait over an hour with three people still waiting to be seen ahead of me. I was definitely discouraged. I was trying not to show how upset I was so I guess I have these mandatory mask rules to thank for because I was able to hide a little bit of my emotions. I still don't think I did a very good job. Anyway Danny and I went and sat down and only twenty minutes later my name was called. I was told that I could be seen by a nurse practitioner instead of the doctor if I would like. I didn't even hesitate. I didn't care who was the one providing the care I just really wanted Danny and I to get into a room so we could get a glimpse of our babies. The nurse practitioner was so super nice. She answered the questions we had and was overall amazing. She took out a little handheld ultrasound to get the heartbeats and so we could take a look at our little babes. She asked if we wanted to be surprised or if we wanted to find out. We wanted to find out. The little handheld ultrasound screen was really small and didn't have the clearest picture but all three of us focused on that little screen. One baby looked like it was sitting on top of the other baby and there was no way we would find out that one's gender due to it's position. We focused on the other baby who was most likely to show us anything. While the nurse practitioner was looking around Danny and I both saw something we have seen twice before on an ultrasound. We saw a little penis and we were 99.9% sure of it. Although we were completely confident in what we saw the nurse didn't seem to see it. She kept looking around and then finally said "I'm so sorry we weren't able to find out today". We figured that maybe since the screen was so small she really didn't see what we saw. It was that or maybe she did see but wasn't in a position to tell us what she saw because she wasn't our doctor and was just filling in for the afternoon. It wasn't until we were walking out of that room that Danny and I both told each other what we saw. We were pretty excited and wanted to officially know and that's when Danny told me to go ahead and schedule a gender appointment for the following week. One thing that was interesting was that this nurse voiced that she believed I was actually carrying identical twins but wasn't too sure. She's the second medical person to tell me that now. At another appointment I had a second doctor also say that and he wasn't too sure he agreed with the very first statement made at my initial prenatal appointment that these babies were fraternal. Although I left that appointment hearing that I was still hoping for fraternal because I really wanted a second girl but deep down felt like these must be two boys. 

Waiting for the days to pass this last week seemed like forever even though it wasn't. One night I had a hard time sleeping and when I finally did I had the best dream. We were having an ultrasound to find out the genders in this dream and right away Baby A quickly revealed she was a girl. I was so excited that we were clapping and rejoicing and the whole thing felt like twenty seconds because then I woke up to me sitting up in bed with my heart racing. It was like the clapping woke me right up and we never even got to see Baby B. It was again harder to go back to sleep because I couldn't stop thinking about this dream. I figured I only had it because it must have been the last thing I was thinking about before going to bed.

Today finally came and I was really excited, nervous and truthfully a little sad. I had been saying this whole time that if they were the same gender to give me boys because I thought they'd be easier (in our experience they're a lot more chill and easy going) but the thought of this being my last chance of getting another girl and it not happening was a little saddening. Addie has also been praying for two little sisters and as much as I wanted another little girl for myself I also wanted one for her too. Danny and I sat her down and explained that there's a possibility of her getting two brothers instead. She said she'd still love them but would be sad. We didn't tell her that we for sure thought one was a boy. I couldn't sleep at all last night and had to wait all day because our appointment wasn't until after five o'clock. Jaina and Jackson agreed to come over again to watch our kids so we could go to this appointment. Thankfully there wasn't a holdup and we were able to be seen right away. I don't think my emotions would have handled it if I had to wait even longer. The sonographer was amazing and when she found out that we were keeping the twin news a surprise she absolutely loved it. She even printed us pictures of the babies individually to make it look like there was just one in there. She asked if I knew if they were fraternal or identical and I told her that we weren't too sure. Then she said "I'm seeing one placenta, they must be identical then". Soon after that we saw one baby reveal that she was a girl! I was so happy. Danny and I were both so excited. I'm pretty sure I cheered out loud. It almost felt like the scenario from my dream earlier this week except it was real and unlike the dream we were going to see Baby B this time. Even though the person doing the ultrasound had just said they were identical at that point I knew she was wrong because the other baby was for sure a boy. You can imagine my shock when she looked at the next baby who also revealed that she was indeed a girl. I didn't believe it at first and asked "is there anything between there?". I was waiting for a little boy part to pop up. My next question was almost 'where's the penis?' but she said "nope she's also a girl. You're carrying identical twin girls". I couldn't believe it. What we saw last week must have been the umbilical cord. It's crazy how confident Danny and I both were that one was definitely a boy. After the shock settled we realized we couldn't be more thrilled. Even at the thought of them being identical, although now a lot more complications can arise from them sharing the same placenta. We are really happy to be completing our family this way.

We knew there would be at least one more person who would be just as excited as we were feeling and we couldn't wait to tell her. That little person was Addie. The only problem was that we didn't want to tell her in front of Jaina and Jackson. When we got home I said something to the effect of promising Addie she could be the first person to know so we were able to take her to her room for a little privacy. Hudson joined of course but Grant doesn't really know what's happening quite yet and was content playing with his toys. We told the kids that they were the same gender and then Danny pulled out some hair bows that we were given to us at the doctor's office. Addie was pretty excited and wanted to tell Jaina and Jackson right away that she was getting a little sister. Hudson looked like he was still processing it and didn't really say much. This whole time he's been saying one girl and one boy. He started saying that even before we knew they were twins. Later that night he made a comment about how there was a boy but he went away which made me a little sad for him because I'm not quite sure what he's thinking, but then other times he will say I have six babies so he might be a little confused. Addie did amazing at sharing the news and has honestly been amazing this whole time with keeping the twins a surprise. We'll see if she can keep it up for the next five months.

We later told everyone else in our families that our last pregnancy is team pink and now the hard part will be coming up with two girl names since we've been mostly focusing on boy names this whole time.

Baby A's head and Baby B's spine

Baby A is a Girl!

Baby B is a Girl!

Both profiles and a sucking thumb.

Baby A with no label so we can show people.

Baby A

Baby B with no label. Baby A's feet are peeking through near A's head though.

Baby B

Baby B

Baby B

Mini Halloween Series

For 21 days I came up with super easy to put together Halloween costume ideas from classic pop culture shows/movies using clothes and things we already had at home and then posted it to my online social media accounts. Grant is so awesome and is in a phase where he is asking me for pictures so I took full advantage! He's even letting me dress him up and then he'll gladly get into character. The idea started with Grant and it led to Addie and Hudson also wanting in on some of the pictures. So I was able to incorporate all of them here and there. It was a dream come true for this Halloween loving mama. Here's all 21 of the costumes I came up with only using things we had at home.

Day 1: Squints and Wendy Peffercorn from Sandlot ⚾

 

Day 2: Little Rascal's Alfalfa ⧓

 

Day 3: Ace Ventura Pet Detective 🐕🔍

Day 4: Clark Kent 🦸

 

 

Day 5: Tiger King 🐯

It's 2020 and I had to. We already had the tiger costume from our family Aladdin theme and Grant is already sporting the mullet haha.

 

Day 6: Linus Van Pelt from Charlie Brown's The Peanuts 🥜

 

Day 7: Tom Cruise in Risky Business 🎤

I haven't actually watched this movie but this one was by far Grant's favorite because he got to wear big boy underwear AND sing and dance. My regret is not getting a video.

 

 

Day 8: Newsies' Paper Boy 🗞

 

 

Day 9: A Hobbit 🌋

 

 

Day 10: Top Gun 🛩

Day 11: Elliot and Gertie from E.T. 👽

That E.T. face is just a picture I printed off the internet and then taped on Addie's teddybear.

 

Day 12: Steve Irwin 🐊

Day 13: Brand (the big brother) from the Goonies 💪

 

 

Day 14: Dr. Alan Grant and Dennis Nedry from Jurassic Park 🤠

I would have been crazy not to do this one since we already had props from a past family Halloween costume theme.

 

Day 15: Rocky Balboa 🥊

  

Day 16: Grease ♪♩♪♩

If I could do this one over I probably would have tried a white shirt on Grant to see how that would have turned out.

Day 17: Shaggy and Fred from Scooby Doo 🔍

 

Day 18: Tool Time with Tim, Al and Heidi 🛠

The real Al Borland even liked this picture on my Instagram!

Day 19: Wayne's World 📺

This was requested by three different people so it had to be done. :)

Day 20: Georgie from IT

Full disclosure I'm the biggest wimp when it comes to scary movies. I love true crime podcasts and true crime documentaries. I love haunted houses and haunted corn mazes, but sit me down in front of a fictional movie and I can't do it. Also I did have to buy a 99 cent balloon for this picture.

 

Day 21 Finale: Marty McFly from Back to the Future 🎸