Van Dam Girl Night

Tonight was our annual girls night at Mom Van Dam's. I love our girls night! It gives us a chance to catch up on with on another with no interruptions. Mom spoils us with a fancy spread of food. This year we had fruit salsa, chicken quesadilla, crab cheese dip, Texas cheese sticks, & a fruit truffle for dessert.

Mom surprises us with a fun gift bag! Our gift bags this year had fun recipe books, fuzzy socks, decorative soap, cute charm necklace, note pad, crotchet hangers, chocolate candy, and a few other fun items. (I missed the dress code for the evening - bright shirt & white pants)

We also surprised Mom with a gift bag of her own this year. Her gift bag included a wire hair massager, western candle holder, horse memo pad, Grandma's Prayers journal, bird candles, hamburger stir stick, and some other fun items.

We ended the evening with waxing our hands. My hands feel so nice and smooth.

THANKS Mom for the wonderful, relaxing evening!!!

2nd Ultrasound

Today Scot and I had our 19 week check up, which meant our 2nd ultra sound. Our ultra sound started at 9:30 and took till 10:50. The ultra sound tech, Laurie, said this would be our longest ultra sound during the pregnancy. She had to take a lot of pictures and measurements for the doctor. Thankfully, we heard two healthy heart beats & the twins are measuring exactly where they need to be. It was amazing to see their heart beats, hands, feet, & noses. We were given lots of pictures and a DVD of our visit.

Scot and I are not going to find out the sex of the twins and we are looking forward to the surprise in 4+ months. After the ultra sound I had a visit with the doctor and everything looks good there as well. I did gain double digits this time around & I was worried about that, but Dr. Zimmerman told me that I actually did some catching up & my weight gain is exactly where it should be.

My next appointment is in four weeks & I will have another ultra sound. I can't wait to see the progress!

Hoekstra Family Pictures

Thankfully the rain stopped in time for us to have our Hoekstra Family pictures. It was a little iffy if we were going to be able to pull it off, but thankfully pictures turned out just fine. There was a nice breeze and the sun wasn't shinning so no one was squinting. I can't wait to see the professional pics. Below are some of the shots we were able to get.

Maternity Clothes

This past Thursday, I finally decided it was time to go shopping for maternity clothes. You can only do the rubber band trick for so long. My Dad & Mom give each of us $$ for our first maternity clothes. Thankfully, they were able to go with me to Rivertown mall Thursday night to do some shopping. We found great deals at JC Penny and I got a couple things at Motherhood Maternity. Hopefully, I will have enough to get through the rest of the summer months. I have been very thankfully it hasn't been a very hot summer. THANKS, Dad & Mom for the wonderful gift! I am MUCH more comfortable!!!!

2nd Doctor's Appointment

This afternoon I had my second doctor's appointment. GOOD NEWS.....I heard two heart beats and everything is going well. Both heart beats are around 145. Thankfully my blood pressure is good and no trouble signs in my urine! Nurse Cathy and Dr. Siegers are wonderful! Everyone is so positive and very helpful. Dr. Siegers just told me a few things to be prepared for. Our goal is to reach 34 weeks and anything beyond that would be AWESOME! There is a chance I could go on bed rest at 28 weeks but that is only if my blood pressure is high and there seems to be complications. My goal is to work till my water breaks. There is also a chance I will have to have a c-section. I am a bit nervous about that, but I will do whatever is best for the babies. I have gained 4 pounds and Cathy was super excited about that. My next appointment will be August 18 and that is when we will have our second ultra sound. I will have an ultra sound once a month. It will be fun to see the twins grow through the ultra sounds. Thanks for your prayers!!!

13 Weeks

This past Tuesday marked our 13th week into our pregnancy! We are hoping and praying the twins are doing great and growing strong and healthy.

This afternoon we had excellent lunch by Mom & Dad Van Dam. I love it when I don't have to cook Sunday dinner! After dessert we got our first gift from them for the twins. What a wonderful surprise! Our gift included baby paper and 3-d stickers for their creative memory books, two cups, two plates, two swaddlers, two teething rings, and an Baby Einstein CD. It is so fun to get gifts for the twins already. There is no doubt in my mind they will be super spoiled.

Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July! The Van Dam Family is currently in Leamington, Ontario. I am sure you are thinking, what an interesting way to celebrate the United State's Independence....

This is our 2nd time to Leamington over the Fourth of July holiday. We all arrived Wednesday night and we leave Sunday, July 5. Scot and I & Wayne & Jill are staying in a hotel and the Gruppen family is down the road at a campground.

So far, the weather has been so-so. Thursday it was jeans and sweatshirt weather. We ran to Wal-Mart in the morning to get a few more items and then hung around the campground for the majority of the day. The boys had a good time riding their bikes, playing tether ball, and playing catch. Thursday night we made Pizza Hobo Pies over the fire, my favorite!! Friday the weather was a bit warmer but still windy. Scot, Dad, Eric, & Tristan all got up at 6:00 AM to go fishing. The water was a bit rough they said & they only caught bass. Tristan & I rode our bikes for 4 miles that day around the campground.

This morning the boys went fishing again at 6:00 AM. The weather is starting to look up and the sun is shinning. Heidi, Braden, Jayce, Mom, and myself found a beach and were able to relax while the boys played in the sand. When the boys got back from fishing we had lunch and then planned on all going back out on the lake for more fishing. Scot and I were going to take the smaller boat and when we got to the unloading dock Scot found out that the boat was dead. So Scot and took the boat back to the hotel to charge and the rest of the crew went out to fish. Scot and I went back to the campground to get our bikes and we rode our bikes back to the marina and checked out the craftshow. On the way back we got ice cream. We ended our afternoon with chilling at the campground. I was able to read my book and Scot took a nap.

For dinner Saturday night we had fresh walleye that was caught by the boys that morning. And of course, for dessert we had smores!

Tomorrow we have to head back home and go back to reality.