Name Twinspiration

So, we still haven't nailed down a name for our baby girl so I thought maybe we could scrap the whole game plan and look to the one place we knew we could go for inspiration: TV and Movies. Here is what I came up with:

1. Michael and Lindsay Bluth. Okay, so it turns out that they're not actually twins at the end... but they thought they were throughout their entire lives so that's close enough for me. And who wouldn't want their son to be responsible in the face of absurdity and their daughter to be... well, I do see the flaws in this pairing... despite the fact that Arrested Development is one of the funniest comedies of ALL TIME.




2. Sami and Eric Brady (from Days of our Lives, of course). I remember when they were born and I remember when they were aged about 15 years in a day... Ahhhh, ye-ah. Who could forget Sami trying to steal her older sister's boyfriend by drugging him and getting herself knocked up... only it turns out that the father was someone else... and all before she was out of her teens. Hmmmm, on second thought...

3. Lou and Louise, The Safety Patrol on the Disney Channel. This was obviously an addition Abby wanted included. Let's see, they have an older sister, they are always tattling on their friends and family for being unsafe (could you imagine what they'd do to my Dad? He'd have a life sentence without the possibility of parole.) This is a big NO- you can't name your kids the same name... it's not good when you need to chew them out for starters... or maybe it would save time. And I do wonder what car they are in... I have never in my life seen a backseat that spacious. I need one!

4. Brandon and Brenda Walsh. Oh yes... the 90210 early days before Shannen Dougherty was sacked for being such a horrible person (you can read the abridged version in "Stori Telling" by Tori Spelling) not to mention her crooked facial features. Carrie and I couldn't watch a single episode without commenting on that. On second thought, no. Plus, I don't want to have a picture in my head of my son driving down the street in a yellow, 1965 Mustang convertible with increasingly ridiculous side burns. Yeah, definitely OUT.

5. Luke and Leia Skywalker. These are, by far, the best options. Best movies ever, best hair ever, tough princess warrior and a country boy who saves the universe... it could work (actually "Leia" was on my short list when we were naming Abigail but Paul shot it down... what was he thinking?) Yes, there is much to inspire here. Plus, the names are nice visually and are symmetrical enough to satisfy the OCD parts of my nature.

Any other ideas?

Just Borned That Way

Today, after Church, Abby and Paul were helping put away chairs in a classroom as we are the last ward to meet for the day. Paul was taking care of the folding chairs while Abby went toward the 4 large stacking chairs as I thought, "Yeah right, Abby." So she picks up the first stacking chair and puts it against the wall. She picks up the second chair and easily stacks it on the first... I was in awe. She continues with the third and then the fourth! I could not believe what I was seeing. That stack got pretty tall and those chairs are pretty heavy and awkward for my tiny 4 year old whose height has always measured in the 5th percentile. Paul just said, "We do this every week while we wait for Relief Society to get out." I asked her how she got so strong and she shrugged and said, "I was just borned that way." WOW, she is doing all kinds of things I can't do these days... stack chairs, scrub the bathtub...

Tonight, Paul was watching a bit of football (yeah, I know that's not surprising news) and Abby was climbing all over him. I asked her at one point if she wanted ice cream and she said, "No." She climbed behind Paul and curled up on his back and wedged herself between his back and the couch. We just thought she was cuddling or trying to get warm as she insisted on wearing her favorite outfit... you know, the one she was "borned" with plus her soft underwear. About a minute after I had asked about the ice cream Paul asked me if she was asleep, and sure enough, she was out cold. It was so funny, we had to get some pictures. Even with the flash, she didn't stir. I guess stacking those chairs can really take it out of you.

Future Footballers

Another month, another doctor's appointment and growth scan. The babies both looked really good. They had both flipped so that Baby Girl is now vertex and Baby Boy is breech and with the way they've been moving, I was not surprised at all. Below is a scan of them together. Baby Boy is estimated to be 1.6 lbs and Baby Girl, 1.5 lbs which is perfect. (Baby Girl is labeled A and Baby Boy is labeled B in the scans.)My favourite part was when she got a close-up of BG's feet right next to BB's head and proceeded to kick him a few times... hey, it was round and there; she's just practicing early for her football career.As for me, I was hoping to have gained 4 lbs since my last appointment which was what all the books recommended for twins. So, I gained 12!!! YIKES! That's 3 lbs per week, just in the last month. That's a total of 32 lbs gained so far for a total weight of 144 lbs. The doctor said that was great (I did start a bit underweight). It inspired me to create a new poll on the sidebar... check it out.

Also, today I had my good friend, Georgina, help me out with organizing the house and we got A TON done which made me feel really good. And on the plus side, she's 14 and we were able to discuss "Breaking Dawn" which comes out tonight at midnight. And SO WHAT if I found and read some illegally downloaded chapters (1-7). I don't feel bad and I don't regret it one little bit. I will still be buying my own copy to finish it (well, technically, my hero , Paul, will be the one to brave the teeny-bopper crowd for me because he is the best husband in the whole wide world... oh, and he and Abby are going to the movies to see Wall-E tomorrow to give me some time alone reading... yeah, he's the best!).

My Little Helper

Abby was so excited to wear her new t-shirt that her grandma got for her. I made her wear it on a Sunday so we could keep it nice and unstained for a long time. She is so proud of her new title; Big Sister. She often talks about how she can help her brother and sister when they come out. Here is a partial list: help them open their Christmas presents, read them books, teach them to play with toys, kiss and hug them, put dummies in their mouths when they cry, hold them, sing songs and make them laugh. I have no doubt she'll do all of those things and more.

I cannot believe what a great help she is to me all the time (now that my physical abilities are becoming somewhat impaired). Just this morning, she picked up the milk cap when I dropped it, got her own snack out of the jar, helped me make the beds and made her own dot-to-dot to do (that was pretty funny actually). She helps me get things off the floor and out from under furniture. She helps me cook (if something needs stirring), she can fold her own clothes (but that doesn't usually last too long), she puts the clean silverware away and she puts rolls of toilet paper in the proper cupboard (it is too low for me to do anymore). She can get me glasses of water (and I need a ton of them), spread her own cream cheese on a bagel, get herself dressed and put on her own sandals- we're still working on which shoe goes on what foot. The part that makes Paul and I most proud is that she is so excited to do all of these things. What a wonderful blessing to our family she is.

Qian Farewell and Wyview Mini Reunion

For Pioneer Day, our family headed off to a BBQ in celebration of our friends, the Qian Family, who are moving to China next week. Best of luck! It was nice to see them and others who lived at Wyview before we were all kicked out to make room for BYU singles who apparently needed more choices for places to live (never mind the fact that ALL the singles housing around here NEVER fills up anyway... but I digress). It was fun to see the children playing around on the slip-n-slide while the grown-ups got all caught up.

Abby was obsessed with the Galaso family and their adorable twin girls who were born last November and wanted to "help" with whatever she could. She also helped German Galaso, who is Argentine, understand his football history (as if he didn't already know) by reminding him that Diego Maradona cheated in the 1986 World Cup Quarter Finals against England by scoring his famous "Hand of God" goal with his hand. Paul was beaming (until Abby was asked if she happened to see the next goal in that game...).



It was fun to see all the new babies and old friends. Thanks Shelleys for organizing a great day.