Visit from the NY family and a twins update

First, a huge congrats to our friends Jen and Chip who welcomed Adrian Brady (affectionately called Brady) into their family on the 25th. Brady is a big healthy boy at 9lbs 2oz. We are so excited for Jen and Chip and we can't wait to meet Brady!

Last Saturday, we were lucky enough to have our NY family come for a visit! They have been trying to get here since before Christmas, but the weather has been extremely uncooperative. Finally, it was a snow-free Saturday so they came to spend the day.


Mairead loved seeing everyone, and she especially loved playing with her cousin, Rachael. They even played hide and seek, which was very cute. We also went out to lunch where Mairead was well behaved for a toddler, even if numerous Cheerios and fries did end up on the floor.

We were finally able to share our Christmas gifts with the family, too. Mairead's favorite was the Little People town- there are so many buttons to press and it comes with two 'kids' who can visit each of the little buildings. It is really cute.

Grandma and Grandpa also gave Mairead this cool little horse. It connects to the TV, so that when she rides it or rocks on it, different things appear on the screen, so it is very interactive. Right now, she is mostly interested in getting on and off of it- many times over. We have even put her baby doll on it so that she might get the idea of sharing her toys. Last I checked, she had tossed the baby onto the floor, which does not bode well for Ben and Jack!

Thanks to Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Ryane, Uncle David, and Rachael for making the trip to see us!

I will say that Mairead smiles and says, "Baby" whenever she sees one, and she does seem to like babies. At my mom's house, there is a baby doll that we sit in a doll high chair, and Mairead gives it a bottle and some Cheerios. She is very good at feeding the doll... this may backfire when she tries to give our newborns some Cheerios, though! We are very hopeful that she will like being a big sister, but I still feel sad that she won't get to be the baby anymore... at the ripe old age of 18 months! Since she is our only daughter, though, she will always be our special little girl.

As for her brothers, they seem to be behaving themselves. At the ultrasound yesterday, Jack was 3lbs and Ben was 3lbs 7oz. They are both getting big and they are moving around really well. At my non-stress test today, both heartbeats were strong. It was very cute- Ben had the hiccups and you could hear them echo on the monitors. How cool that they are doing 'real people' stuff already?

Jack (Baby A) is breech and Ben is transverse, with Ben under my ribs and Jack under him. When Baby A is breech, they automatically do a c-section. I know have a while to go (let's hope), but they have been this way for a while now, and combined with other factors, I am pretty much guaranteed to have a section. I'm not thrilled about it, but we will do whatever it takes to have healthy babies.

We will keep you posted!