EDD

Three years ago today was technically my EDD (Estimated Due Date). In some ways, it's silly to even consider it as a date at all--who gives birth on their due date, especially with twins? But it's yet another milestone and one I can never forget. My girls were 11 weeks old on their EDD. Instead of newborn pictures on that day, I have this sweet scene.



That's obviously Katie on the left with the nasal cannula.

I seem to have a lot of pregnant friends right now. Not so many in "real" life, but a lot of good friends I know online, many of whom I have met in person, too. One announced her pregnancy today, via Facebook status, and I am thrilled for her. She has had an incredibly hard road following the birth of her first child, and there was a big question whether she'd even be able to have another. Her news put a huge smile on my face.

And then it got me crying. Such is life. I think I've written here before that I don't really want to have any more children. My family is absolutely complete with my two incredible daughters. I feel like we are completely in balance and have no real desire to throw that off.

But I still feel a little sad thinking about never being pregnant again. And somehow seeing so many people have second children brings that out more than those having their first. I really really loved being pregnant. I was sick for most of the first 15 weeks, and exhausted, but I really relished all those strange feelings. Part of that was probably because once we found out it was twins, I knew it was a one-shot deal. So I enjoyed my growing belly, the OB appointments, the ultrasounds, the planning--all of it. It was entirely novel and special and then it was cut short.

If you're only going to be pregnant once, you should at least manage a full 9 months.

Vacation and recovery

You have to love it when someone says she's going to post more often, then takes another month-long hiatus. It probably wasn't so bright to say that 3 days before leaving for a 10-day Florida/Disney vacation extravaganza. We had a great time, though!

Learned a few things about our kids. Lilly's petrified of fireworks and pretty much any dark ride, especially if it includes loud noises. That kid is really sensitive to noise. Even Mickey's "Philharmagic" 3D movie scared the crap out of her, as did "Winnie The Pooh's adventures," and pretty much every other indoor ride. Let's not even talk about "Pirates of the Caribbean." She did love "It's a Small World" enough that we rode it twice and if you ask, that's her favorite thing at Disney.

We also learned that both of them love shrimp. That took some of the sting out of paying something like 13 bucks apiece at a buffet meal. They probably almost ate enough shrimp each to break even.

All the conventional Disney wisdom says that the kids will be more intimidated by the animal characters, because they don't have a human face to look at, but we found the opposite. They were totally at ease with Tigger and Pooh, but got tongue-tied around their Princess idols. Well, not so tongue-tied that Lilly didn't ask Princess Ariel if she poops in the water. Yes, she did. She had asked about that a few days prior, so I said she could ask Ariel when she meets her. And then I reminded her about it that day, not thinking she'd have the temerity to do so. Apparently, I misjudged my daughter. Ariel was entirely flustered and I let her off the hook by suggesting that they have special mermaid toilets for that.

Prior to Disney we spent several days in Fort Lauderdale and Miami visiting with Ryan's father and his sister's family. It was a blast to see the girls playing with their cousin Conner again, and they all had such a great time together. We're talking about getting together somewhere down South the first week in August, maybe renting a house on the beach somewhere within a reasonable drive of Atlanta, where my mother-in-law lives. We'll see what we manage.

I took 600 pictures in Florida. It's really hard to just pick a representative few. But here they are, anyway.

Kate in white, Lilly in pink (not to be confused with Piglet in pink)



Kate on Daddy's lap, Lilly on mine, on the Jungle Cruise



Kate's dressed as Sleeping Beauty (in pink), Lilly as Cinderella (blue). Belle's dressed as Belle.



With Cinderella.



Lilly on the beach.



Kate on the beach.