8 months + a lot of stuff!

okay, i keep saying i'm gonna update and i never do... till now! i'm just gonna give y'all a jist of what's been happening... but first... the babybears turned 8 MONTHS!!!

sooooo much has happened!
my family came to maryland to spend christmas and new years with us and the babybears. it was everything short of amazing. the babybears didn't quite make it to midnight, but we still snuck in to give them new year's kisses. here is one of my fave photos from the holidays of the twins with their cousins from texas.

after the chaos of the holidays died down, things got back to normal... sorta. reagan all of a sudden developed this awful stranger anxiety and wouldn't allow anyone but mark or myself hold her or even be near her. i read that it often happens in development, but i didn't think it would be so bad for her. in less than a week of seeing her grandmother (mark's mom) she decided all of a sudden that she was a stranger and wouldn't let her hold or even come within a foot of her! i felt so bad for mark's mom.

this new anxiety of hers did not bode well for what was to come... me getting carpal tunnel surgery. at the end of january, i had to undergo carpal tunnel surgery on my left hand. because of this we needed to have help from mark's aunt and his mom to take care of the twins while i healed. but with reagan having this anxiety, it wasn't easy. it took her a full week to allow mark's aunt and his mom to come near her.

during this time, the twins also started eating solids aaaaand SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT! here are videos of their first solids experiences.

so i never ever wanted to do the whole "cry it out" method of sleep training. i hated the idea of my babies crying themselves to sleep. it sounded so heartless and traumatizing. but the pediatrician insisted on it and assured me that it would be best for all of us. and she was right. the twins are now sleeping 10-12 hours each night and are awesome nappers on most days. there are still some restless times here and there, but i'll take what i can get.

in february, we celebrated mark's 36th birthday - brunch with family, dinner with just us 2 and a party with some friends. we spent our first valentine's day with the babybears quietly at home - just the 4 of us.

 

in mid-march, we took our first trip on a plane to houston with the babybears. it was interesting to say the very least. we learned a lot of do's and definite don'ts as well. it'll help us with our trip scheduled for october! i'll have to do a separate entry on that next time. we spent st. patty's day in houston too.

i also, recently, revived an old hobby of mine - calligraphy - and am slowly turning it into a potential side-business. i'll soon be creating a section on the blog dedicated especially to this! keep an eye out for it!

i think that's all for now. being a stay-at-home/work-from-home mom takes a lot of my time! so the updates will be few. hope y'all understand!

20 weeks + Easter

"oooooh we're halfway there!"

 

 so this past week was hectic. the weather got cold again and i had to stuff myself back into my winter coat... literally STUFF! i felt like the meaty part of the sausage getting shoved into a casing! what an ordeal! that, on top of my my sinuses going haywire cause of the change in temperature, made for an uncomfortable week. 

i finally got started with the acupuncture treatment for my carpal tunnel. it really helped a lot. i still have to go back for further treatments, but at least now i know what the real problem is. the doctor said that i'm retaining too much water and that my muscles in my upper back and arms are really tight and i need to massage them out in between treatments. just another thing to add to my long to-do list!

we celebrated Easter Sunday at my uncle edmund and aunt julie's house. our ninang (godmother) may and uncle eric joined us as well. we also got to meet aunt julie's mom, sandy, as she was in town for the weekend as well. it was nice and intimate with just us and we had a ton of bbq and food to go around. aunt julie and uncle edmund even gave the twins their first easter basket!

other than that, the past week was kind of uneventful really. i'll update tomorrow how this week has started and the things that have been happening. for now, have a great wednesday everyone!

18 weeks + "just like his mommy"

this was a pretty exciting week for us... i finally got to feel the babies move! unfortunately, it's still too early for mark to be able to feel them. the night before my sonogram, i didn't sleep well at all because i kept feeling this sharp stabbing pain near my belly button. it wouldn't go away unless i rubbed the spot. but as i would start to fall asleep and stopped rubbing, the pain came back. and then there was this little twitching feeling on the other side that didn't really bother me too much, it just felt weird. i can describe it as a feeling similar to when your eye twitches when it's tired. it was a rough night to say the least. i was worried the next morning as i was telling mark what happened all night. i attributed it to gas, but it stayed in that same spot, so i was more concerned. i was so glad to have our appointment that next morning.

we went to the sonogram and saw the babies on the screen. there they were, squirming around. thank God. i had told the doctor about the stabbing and constant pain. she placed the sonogram wand right where the pain was and told me to look at the screen. there he was, on the screen, bobbing his little head up and down and rubbing right at the spot where the pain was... out little lincoln jude. so it turned out it was just him... probably wanting some affection from mommy to help him sleep according to the doctor! mark said, "just like his mommy." apparently, according to mark, i've had a tendency to want lots of hugs and affection right before i fall asleep and want mark to rub my back to help me sleep better. and the little twitching feeling... our little reagan elizabeth. as usual, she was calm and only seemed to nudge her brother when he'd get into her space... calm, just like her daddy.

unfortunately, the carpal tunnel has gotten worse. i ordered some wrist supports that were supposed to help alleviate the pain and numbness, but they did nothing but make my hands all swollen. so i returned them and ordered another pair. i hope the new ones help. it's been difficult staying asleep because my hands just get completely numb, fall asleep and are just so painful! just this morning, i woke up with both hands numb, asleep and almost impossible to move; i couldn't even grip the blankets to get them off me! it took almost half a hour before i could ball my hand into a fist. even then, it was painful.it was a rough start to my morning to say the very least.

mark, the twins, and i also had brunch with one of their ninangs this week. ninang is the filipino word for Godmother. it had been a while since we had seen Sera cause we had all been so busy lately. we had a great time and brunch was delicious. we went to Maple Ave in Virginia. you definitely have to make reservations to dine there cause there are only 8-10 tables, but it's totally worth it!

mark's beer... it smelled delicious. wish i could've tasted a bit!

crème fraiche wings

steamed PEI mussels

shrimp & grits

seared scallops and risotto

pork belly sandwich

us with sera

again!

that seems to be all i can remember for now... if i think of anything else that was eventful, i'll do a few mini-updates. have a great week everyone!

mini update

sonogram went well and we got to find out which baby is the boy and which one is the girl. i predicted that baby A was the girl and baby B was the boy and mark thought the reverse. mark won.

 

Baby A: Mr. Lincoln Jude Yuen

 

Baby B: Miss Reagan Elizabeth Yuen

and yeah... it's carpal tunnel. but it should go away after the twins are born. also, i don't have to keep taking my metformin!