Kicks and punches

The flutters are gone and I'm officially feeling kicks and punches. Last night, my belly was the most odd shape I have ever seen and one of the babies was kicking or punching quite hard. It was very visible from the outside and made Noel and I laugh really hard.
This was taken a few days ago. Noel and I are still wondering how I'm going to make it another 15-19 weeks with the rate I'm growing, but we know people do it! I may stop posting pictures when the belly starts to look "freakish". :)
Overall, I'm feeling good and am getting really excited to meet these babies!

Michigan fun

We recently spent a week in Michigan visiting family and friends and remembering what "fall" felt like! The weather was wonderfully crisp and we really enjoyed our time.

Our dear friends, John and Amanda, came to visit us all the way from Toronto! We met them in Pasadena, but they have since moved away. It was so great to connect with great friends again. We were able to take them to Holland where we went to Hope, the beach, Captain Sundae, and New Holland Brewery! Then we introduced them to our homemade apple cider.

Grampie, Dad Dykema, and Dad Snyder making cider. Yum!

The two preggos.

Another highlight of the trip was meeting our new nephew, Beckett! I think he slept and ate the entire week we were there. It was a joy to be able to see him while he is still so young and get a little baby holding practice in at the same time. I still can't quite imagine holding 2!

We also really enjoyed spending time with Jett and getting to know him better. He is such a fun kid and we wish we could see him more! He wasn't nearly as scared of us this visit, which was nice!

Josh, Heather, Kevin, Hillary, Noel, and me. We had a nice family night one night having an early birthday celebration for Noel and me since we'll both be turning 30 in the coming weeks. YIKES!

We were so blessed to have a baby shower as well while we were in Michigan! We received so many generous gifts and enjoyed spending time with lots of family. Heather and Josh gave us this "Ugly Doll" (which is VERY cute) and one of the Baby Bjorn bouncers we registered for (to be shipped later). So exciting!

Hillary made us some of her incredibly cute "Hipbaby" stuff. Our kids will be burping and eating in style. We love it!

I just love this picture of Noel and Jett chilling on the couch watching Thomas the train. Jett is quite into Thomas, which is pretty amusing.

I can't believe we didn't take pictures at some of our other outings. I spent a really fun night with some Hope friends, who surprised us with a gift. They gave us 2 moby wraps so we can each carry around a baby! We dined at 84 East and had a delicious dessert afterwards at Brooke's house. I LOVED that night. We also had a really fun birthday dinner with mom and dad Snyder, Heidi and Brian, and Grandma and Grandpa. We were disappointed that we were not able to see our niece, Madelyn, Jason, or much of Emily due to illness. :( Overall, it was a great trip and we're glad we were able to go since we won't be back for awhile. While we were traveling, I kept trying to imagine traveling with 2 children. I still can't picture it, but I'm sure we'll figure it out.

And the gender is...

With our 2 appointments this week we had 2 chances to find out the gender, but we're not telling if we found out or not. You may have to wait a few weeks until we have another appointment. Or a few months until the babies are born. :) Cast your vote on the side and let us know what you think!

Half way to the goal!

This past Wednesday marked the half way point to my 36 week goal! Hopefully I can carry the babies longer than that, but if not, they'd be full term at 36 weeks. We had an appointment with both the perinatalogist and the OB this week and things look really great! Both babies are growing at the same rate and are right on track. They are each a 1/2 lb. One is a thumb sucker and they both seem to like to kick each other. Hopefully it's all in good fun! :) At this point, I am not at risk of pre-term labor and the C-section date has been set for 39 weeks. My OB said she's never had anyone make it that long and we'll adjust the date as needed as the time gets closer, but I'd like to be her first to make it that long!
We're excited to be heading to Michigan tomorrow and look forward to friends, family, and cider!