34 weeks

My friends put on a baby shower for me this past Tuesday. As you can see from above, we played some fun games. One game was to guess which kind of candy bar was in the diaper. They looked pretty disgusting all smashed in a diaper and looked even more funny to watch everyone smell them. I got some wonderful gifts and now I am in the process of washing baby clothes, blankets, and bedding and getting things organized in the babies' room. As you can also see from above, my stomach continues to enlarge. I had a doctor appointment yesterday and all is well. My doctor did a quick check and she laughed and said I am not even dilated to 1cm. I guess they're going to stay in there for awhile. She set me up for an induction date of Dec. 28th at 7am, if I do not go before then. I am feeling pretty good. My back gets sore quicker and sometimes it is hard to find a comfortable position to sit. I am still putting in 24 hours at work doing paperwork and other things on my unit. We'll just continue to take it week by week. We plan to get a Christmas tree today. It is pretty cold out, so I might stay in the car while Tim gets it (I haven't told him that yet).

Thanksgiving at the Hotel "Stuive"

Hotel "Stuive"

Grandpa Van Dyke with Andrew

Lori trying to keep warm against Beth!

Mom and Dad at the wedding

Here are the sisters boiling the beans!

The most current "Family" picture

The Van Dyke Girls minus Marilyn and Beth Ann


Well Thanksgiving was in Michigan this year and turned out to be a great time with family. We started the day at church with Tim's mom's side. We had the traditional turkey dinner with all the fixings. Around 7pm, my parents and grandparents rolled in from Minnesota. We again had another Thanksgiving meal. Tim's parents also joined us. My parents and many of my aunts and uncles drove up for the wedding of my cousin Richie. My aunts and uncles rolled in on Friday and we all went out to eat that night. Everyone stayed at our house. We had air mattresses everywhere and it was quite fun to hear the next morning on who snored or talked in their sleep. My aunt Iris was was making all the food and asked my mom and sisters to boil 70lbs of green beans on Saturday morning. We were a little worried on how well they would stay until we would actually eat them at 6pm, but they ended up tasting great! The wedding went good and it was so nice to catch up with family. Needless to say, I did not do a lot of dancing at the wedding! Tim and I did slow dance, but I had to stand sideways! I think I got as many looks at my swelling belly as the bride did in her wedding gown. The crew all left on Sunday morning. Although it was a short stay, I am so glad everyone came up, especially my parents. They were pretty surprised at my belly size and commented how it made everything more real. It is so exciting to think they will be back up here in December when the babies arrive. I hope everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving and are enjoying the upcoming Christmas season!

33 weeks

I noticed I haven't blogged in a little while, so I thought I better jot down some updates. We had an ultrasound this week and the babies seem to be doing great. They weighed in at 3.75 lbs and 4.4 lbs. They are both head down, even though the tech said there is a chance that Baby B could still turn. He or she is on my left side and is a little higher than Baby A. I was still glad to hear they were head down and that my chances of a vaginal delivery are a little higher. They still continue to move a lot and I my tummy is getting more firm and you can feel all the different parts when they kick and move. I had my last official day of floor nursing on Friday. I think God knew to give me some rough days so that I would be okay with being done with bedside nursing. My co-workers looked at me on Friday and said I looked exhausted. I just walk slower and cannot keep up the pace that the ICU requires. So on Monday, I will start doing paperwork for my manager. I am thankful I can still work and keep busy. We will just take it week by week. My doctor said that if I make it to 38 weeks (which is considered full term for twins) they will induce me. That brings me to the date of December 28th. So who knows, we could be having Christmas babies. We are excited to have my parents, grandparents, and aunts and uncles up this week for a wedding of my cousin Rich. Tim is going to paint the babies' room Monday and when we get things rearranged, we will post pictures. Otherwise things are pretty much the same. Tim is working on a windshield tool project with Eric. More updates to come soon.

My first baby shower

Jen and my due dates are on the same day. Guess who is having twins!!!!!!!!!!

One of the handmade quilts I got!

My first shower was this past Wednesday night. It was given by my co-workers and it was just a great time. I got wonderful gifts. some of my favorites include 5 handmade blankets. I have some very talented and gracious co-workers. I got a tons of things and the poor little Pruis didn't have room for it all. Luckily, one of the girls lives 3 minutes away and took a couple things home for me. We finally have some clothes to put on the babies to take them home and we definitely have enough blankets to go around too. Tim couldn't believe all the gifts we received as he was taking it all out of the car. "Do babies really need this much stuff," was his reply. Well as much as I believe they don't, it is amazing all the little things they do need to make our lives easier! I really am blessed to have such wonderful co-workers. They are like family to me!

I had an appointment with my doctor on Tuesday and all is well. They are always such short visits, but I guess that means the babies are doing good and do not need the doctor's assistance! The heart rates were good and I have an ultrasound next week. We talked about work and I decided to do one more week working on the floor as staff nurse and then I am going to change gears and do paperwork and tasks for my manager. I was having quite a few Braxton Hick's contraction last week and I felt I needed to slow down. My doctor is impressed anyways that I have worked in the ICU till 32 weeks with twins. I want to keep these babies inside as long as possible, so that means their mama has to learn to take it easy!

Otherwise life is pretty normal around here. Tim has been working with Eric on a project and he got a call from a company who is interested in talking with him about doing some projects for them. Yeah!!!!!!! We are excited that some of my extended family and my parents might be coming out for a wedding on the weekend of Thanksgiving. It has been hard for me not to be able to go home to Minnesota for the holidays and so I am so excited that some of them might be coming out. We plan to have a huge slumber party at our house.

Family picture

Not much new to post, but we took a picture on Friday night before going to a surprise birthday party of a friend, so I thought I would at least put that on. We had a beautiful fall Sunday today. It was cool but no wind and in the 60's. We took a walk and it is amazing to me how a mile and a half can seem like a marathon. I wonder if I"ll ever be able to run a mile after these two little ones are done incubating.

Updates on the Twins

I just got back from my doctor appointment and ultrasound! I talked to my doctor about having some Braxton hicks contractions and she decided to do a quick check and all is good and closed. I feel better about that and she said you will have them, but to keep her informed if they get worse or increase in number. The ultrasound went good. They are definitely getting bigger. Baby A was 3.4lbs and Baby B was 3.3lbs. The tech could not get length measurements because they were too curled up. So far Baby A is head down and closer to my pelvis and Baby B is lying sideways, more on the upper part of my stomach. She said it was still to early to talk about C-section vs. vaginal delivery. They are still active and we thank God so much that they are gaining good weight and growing appropriately. My favorite part of the ultrasound is seeing each of their beating hearts. It just is a miracle to believe there are too precious babies beating inside of me. More updates to come soon. Thanks for all your prayers and continued prayers!

Saturday, we went to the Frederick Meijers Gardens for my upcoming Birthday. It was a beautiful day and you could really enjoy the fall colors and different sculptures and displays. The "Thinker" was on loan to the Gardens so we made sure to get some "serious" pictures with it. We could appreciate most of the artwork, but did agree that some people should not quit their day job to make sculptures of headless people and call that "art". But I know Tim and I may not appreciate some of the abstract art like others. We stopped by a apple orchard afterwards and had some hot cider and donuts. It was a great Birthday day. Today, Tim's parents had us over for a Birthday lunch and so I am enjoying not cooking. It is another beautiful day and we are going to take a walk later and enjoy it.

29 week and counting!

29 Weeks.....were getting there! This week started out busy with work. I kind of shoved all my shifts in at the beginning of the week and I think I paid for it on Thursday when my allergies decided to flare big and bad. It has been so windy and warm so I am guessing all the allergens flew to our house and attacked me. Thursday night we went out with Tim's parents and siblings for Tim's parents' 45th Wedding Anniversary. It was a very nice time to catch up with everyone, since we don't see them very often. That night I was up all night with my allergies. I could not lay down and every 2 hours I would sneeze 5 times in a row and my eyes would water so bad that I think I could have watered my plants! Not knowing exactly what medication I could take being pregnant, I suffered through it. In the morning, I had a small amount of relief, but was exhausted. (I told Tim it was prepping me for the twins being up all night!) I called my doctor and she gave me the list of meds I could use and so I took some meds and then took a 2 hour nap in the afternoon. I am feeling a lot better although still a little stuffy (Tim reminded me that I snored last night when I first fell asleep!) Otherwise I am feeling good. I have an ultrasound and appointment next Wednesday and cannot wait to see how big the babies are. We are still sound on not finding out the sex. The babies are very active and it is fun to try and guess all the different parts that kick me. I have been working on the nursery and I will get some pictures of that out as soon as Tim gets the curtains up. Probably like all of you, we have been enduring some high winds and rain here in Holland. Weather that makes you just want to stay inside. Today looks more promising!

Here is our small group from church

Eventful Weekend

Yesterday I had another appointment with my doctor and the babies continue to be doing good. She commented that the babies were in the 60% for growth from the last ultrasound. Baby B is a little bigger than Baby A, but still all within normal limits. She said to tell Baby B to work on turning around so that he will eventually be head down because right now he/she is lying sideways and that would not be optimal for a vaginal delivery. She said it is still to early to tell if I will have to have a C-section or not. I feel good, but have more moments of being uncomfortable. I love my 8 hour shifts at work. Definitely less stress on my feet. My next ultrasound and doctor visit is Oct. 24.

We had a nice weekend even amidst the scorching heat in October. Saturday morning I met my friends for coffee. We try do this once a week and I feel blessed to have such great friends. Sunday, we had our couple's group over after church. We spent the whole afternoon together. The girls took a nice long walk and the boys watched way too much football. We ended by going to the beach to watch the sunset.

Tim spent a lot of Saturday, emptying out the spare bedroom and we temporarily set up the cribs to see how everything looks. Not a lot of room left after we got two cribs, a rocker, and changing table up. It was another reality shock that this is really happening. We are trying to decide if we are going to paint or just leave it tan and put accent colors in the room.

Today is gloomy and chilly, but more like fall I guess. We are tentatively thinking of going up to Traverse City for my Birthday in 2 weeks. It will kind of depend on the weather.

Doesn't feel like fall here

I had my ultrasound last Monday and the babies are growing good. They weigh about 1.77 lbs and are pretty equal in all their measurements. Their heart rates are around 140's. No....... we did not find out the sexes. Were getting too close now to not have it be a surprise. I am in my 26th week and you can tell by the picture, I am getting bigger. I still feel good thus far. This week I am going down to 8 hour shifts at work. This will be a big change for me, but I know it is best for the babies. It will be different to have a night life and be able to plan more things in the evening. We have been blessed by friends who have offered us many of their baby items to have that they are done with. We now have 2 cribs, changing table, and a side by side stroller. Tim especially is intrigued by the breast pump! We found a used rocker glider and so now I am excited to get the nursery started.

Last week Friday, I canned applesauce and apple butter with Jessica. We just have apple pie filling to go and then our canning is done for this year. Tim needs to make more shelves because I am running out of room. From the other pictures you see, Tim has been busy doing some fall cleaning in the garage and also putting our new lawn in. We put underground sprinkling in and we are praying that 3 times is a charm for putting in a lawn!!!!! So far it does look really good and since we have been having such nice weather, it have been coming up fast. Were actually excited to hopefully have lots of lawn to mow next summer!

Canning and Tooling

Saturday was the first time I canned all by myself. The canning food....Grapejuice! As you can see by the photos it was a process, but they all turned out and all of them sealed. Yeah!!!! My sister-in-law Jessica and I have been canning a lot of things this year such as tomatoes, pickles, pickle relish, jams, and soon applesuace. It is actually fun to do with someone and there is some sense of accomplishment when you look at the variety of canned goods, with all their different colors, sitting on the shelves. Canning does come with its woes. Tim had placed the grapes on the deck the night before. When I got home from work, it was just starting to rain and so I thought I should take the grapes in. Tim was downstairs for the moment and when he got back up, he said it would not be a good idea to have the grapes inside due to the fruit flies. Well too late. We now are the proud parents of many fruit flies and Tim like to take a dish towel and see how many he can kill at a time. They are getting less, but still like to annoy us with their presence.
Tim and Eric are staying very busy working on tooling to make acrylic windshields for boats. It involves a lot of sanding and laminating. They have a big project to finish by Tuesday so yesterday Tim went over and worked all day yesterday and Monday will be a big day too. Good thing they enjoy it.

Today is just a relaxing Sunday. We are having a friendly debate over which football team is going to win today..Vikings or Lions. I still remain a Minnesota Vikings fan and Tim is loyal to his Lions. I might have to borrow some of Dan and Laura's Viking wear to put on the twins (when Tim isn't looking of course)!

Were having Twins

Hi everyone....I am trying to get our blog back up and running. Our biggest update is that we are having twins in December. We are 23 weeks right now (the fartherest picture on the left) and I am feeling great. I will post some picutres of my tummy so you can see the progress and I will write more soon. This is my trial run.

It's been a while since our last post. Christmas and new years have passed by and it looks a little depressing outside. It's mid January and there is still no snow! Alissa and I don't do many winter sports but it is still brightens things up with a good thick blanket of the white stuff. Other than that not too much is happening here... Alissa is working about three days a week nursing and I am splitting my time up between finishing the last room in the basement and trying to drum up some business for FLUID Design, the business my brother and I started. My office will be downstairs so I am very motivated to finish it. We also started talking about getting in a late spring vacation. We might as well do it while we can since we do not have kids yet... I am told it is harder to just get away when you have a few of them.

May be the next post will be about religeon or politics... something interesting like that.

Here is a picture of our small group from Mars Hill

Hi everyone. I am again trying to check this whole blogging thing out. I am trying to download more pictures but it keeps telling me I have some errors. I guess I am not very savy with computer stuff. It is a terrible windy day today. Tim is up North doing some hunting (or sitting in a trailer waiting for the rain to quit so he can go hunting). I have the weekend off and am going to get some house cleaning done and tonight I am going to babysit Sam and Malachai so Eric and Jessica can go to a school sale. Oct 23 was the year anniversary of Malachai being diagnosed with Leukemia. It is amazing to see how God has worked in this last year. He now is a normal busy toddler, who has overcome Leukemia, has undergone a bone marrow and prayerfully will be void of any further Leukemia. Sunday we will get together with the Stuive's to celebrate all the October birthdays. We have not seen Todd and Kathy for awhile so it will be nice to get together with everyone. Take care. Love and miss you all.

Our First Blog Post

Alissa thought it would be a good idea to have a blog so here we are blogging and hoping someone will read it. We'll write more later but right now we just want to post some pictures.