My boys are already learning the art of subterfuge. And in case that’s overstating, let’s just call them a couple of little stinkers. To demonstrate, here’s a photo of what I thought they were doing in bed this morning–napping:
But strip away the blanket, and who do we find? A little Houdini.
Yes, that’s Stephen’s sleeper at his feet.
And like a good mommy, I re-dressed him with an undershirt this time.
BUT I WANTED TO BE HOUDINI!!! This dress is embarrassing, Mommy. Honestly.
I wish I had a photo of it, because it was absolutely precious, but I had my hands full of “bread or bagels” at the time. We went to the Baptist Union Mission Saturday at noon and served the homeless people a Thanksgiving-type dinner. Some friends watched the twins for us, but we brought Anna Kathryn along. She pitched right in, helping us push out the serving carts to the dining room, and bouncing between me and John in excitement. To keep her busy, John set her to the task of handing out dinner trays at the front of the line. Picture a little curly-headed two and a half year old handing out trays to a line of grizzled, scruffy, unbathed, hungry men, and you’ve seen something beyond adorable. Most of them couldn’t help but crack a smile at her. They would say, “Thank you,” and she would reply “You’re welcome!” Precious, I’m telling you.
It’s been a busy first month in the lives of my little boys. I have several pictures to show, but I thought first I’d show a couple pictures of William and Stephen’s first Harvest Festival. Well, actually, they stayed in the stroller the whole time, so I’ll show a couple pictures of AK, and just let you see what our two little peas looked like.
Note that we have two peas in a pod, but they are not identical peas. 
Anna Kathryn was Lumpy the Heffalump . . . this Heffalump was very concerned that she not lose her very important bag of candy.
And here are a couple other pictures from this past month. First, the twins…whose favorite thing is to be as close to each other as possible. (William even likes to suck on Stephen’s ear–we did not, unfortunately, get a picture of that!) In all three of these pictures, William is on the left, Stephen on the right–we try to make things easy! And just in case there’s a question, poor William has blue nail polish on his big toe… 
My mom was able to stay with me for four weeks when the babies came, and we are SO grateful for the sacrifice she and my dad and sisters gave to make that possible. Dad even came for a few days around Mom’s birthday, so we took the boys out for their first Sunday lunch to celebrate at Abuelo’s.
While my folks were here, John’s parents came over and helped them babysit babies while John and I went on our first date in a while. They appeared to have a good time without us.
The nice thing about twins is, you don’t have to worry about sharing–there’s one for everybody!
Another event this month was my neice Elaine’s birthday–she just turned two. Here’re John and William, getting in on the festivities.
William David Underwood, 6 lbs., 13 oz., 19.5 inches, born 9:29 AM,
and
Stephen John Underwood, 6 lbs., 8 oz., 18.5 inches, born 9:30 AM,
Birthdate: September 27, 2006
My friend Sarah suggested that I take notes during the birthday, to give something of a timeline of events, so I did keep track throughout the day as best I could:
We set our alarm for 5:30 AM to get out the door by 6:30 AM. We took this photo just before leaving. It was those little fellas’ last morning in my very uncomfortable tummy!
We arrived at the hospital at 7:00, and they put me in a prep room before moving me to the OR. It was very uncomfortable lying on my back on that bed getting prepped, and I was getting more and more impatient and nervous for the nine o’clock hour–operation time!
They moved me to the OR shortly after nine–delayed slightly by the asthma attack I had due to nerves. John got all scrubbed up and sat by my head, camera in hand. The anesthesiologist team was like my best friend–they spoke in soothing voices, kept me informed of what was happening, joked lightly among themselves, and kept me warm. John tried to stay our of their way, backed into a sink, and jumped when its automatic faucet turned on! Within minutes of getting the spinal, I heard little William cry! Moments later, I heard Stephen–I could hardly wait to see them! John got to bring William over after he was cleaned up. I couldn’t stop smiling.
Within twenty minutes of being born, the babies and I were all ready to head to the recovery room. I’d been afraid I wouldn’t get to hold them for hours after the birth, so I was absolutely crazy happy when the anesthesiologists put one baby in each arm while they wheeled my numb little self upstairs.
We were in our room by 10:00 AM, and I immediately fed them both at the same time. Yes, it’s true. I’m Supermom. Or they’re superbabies, one of the two. 
They’re not identical, but they often do the same things at the same time, including finger sucking. Note their hats–Baby A is William, Baby B is Stephen.
My mom brought Anna Kathryn up after noon, and her baby brothers gave her a “birthday present”. She now has two matching dolls, and carries them everywhere.
She’s very impressed with her baby brothers, and merely requests equal time with Mommy and Daddy. We’re doing our best to comply. 
This was taken when the babies were a few hours old.
And here they are with their very brave Daddy, who stuck by Mommy every second!
After three nights in the hospital, we packed up our two healthy baby boys, and took them home. We’re so grateful to God for seeing to our health and wellbeing, and to our friends and family who contributed greatly to our comfort, and took care of Anna Kathryn throughout.
Praise God through Whom all blessings flow!
Sometimes two at a time.
Tomorrow’s the big day! The c-section is scheduled for 9:00 AM, since Baby B is still stubbornly transverse-breach. Photos and names will be posted once we get back from the hospital–possibly after the weekend. We appreciate your prayers, specifically that the babies will both be healthy, and that I’ll respond well to the anesthesia, without any of those icky side effects. And for dear John, who has to sit through the surgery with me, as much as he would rather not. On the other hand, he wouldn’t miss that first sight of his baby boys for anything in the world!
My next update was supposed to include baby pictures, but since I’m at 38 weeks and those boys are still stubbornly gaining baby fat in there, I just thought I’d let you all know what’s going on. I saw my OB last Monday, and finally weighed in at 200 pounds! It’s a place on the scale I’ve never seen before, and within a few weeks may never see again, so I actually looked forward to it! This past Monday, I weighed in at 201, so I’ve gained a total of 35 pounds with this pregnancy. Not much for twins, actually; I’d hoped for at least 50 for healthy babies, but they seem to be doing well in spite of me. My arms and legs are getting stick thin on their behalf, so they must be gaining something!
We did take another sideways photo last week, but I suppose we should go ahead and take another one this week, since the differences are that huge. It blows me away when I see myself sideways. No wonder I feel like I’m walking around with a ton of bricks on my pelvis!
We get our last ultrasound this coming Monday, and the c-section is scheduled for the following Wednesday. (Or the induction, if “B” cooperates and moves head down next to “A”.) That’s eight days from now. Eight long days. My OB is going to come back from vacation on Monday shocked to find me still preggo–he was sure I’d go long before now. As annoyed as I am to still be pregnant, though, I know I’ll be glad in the long run that they stayed in there this long–there is much less chance they’ll need NICU care this way.
I think Anna Kathryn is as ready as she’s going to be. She’s telling people about her baby brothers. She seems to have accepted their imminent arrival. My mom will be flying down from MN for several weeks, arriving this Friday. We’re grateful she’ll be here, as she’ll be a nice distraction for AK, along with a help to us with the babies. And we’re being well-cared for on other fronts: our Bible Fellowship Class sent over 30 (yes, I said 30!) freezer meals last night that they put together for us. That’s in addition to the three or four hot meals a week that have already been arriving from class members. We’re overwhelmed with support. Now for those babies to get here!
I have a photo I thought I’d share of AK and her Underwood cousins. They spent the day a few weeks ago at Uncle Matt and Aunt Jen’s new farm getting dusty and dirty outside, so we threw them all into the tub at once and cleaned them off as best we could. Take a look at the color of that water!
From L-R: Lauren and Brayden Underwood (Matt’s kids), Anna Kathryn, and Elaine and Austin (Sarah’s two). They have a great time together!
Well, I saw my OB on Tuesday, and the weight loss has turned back to weight gain–I weighed in at 199. The 200 lb. mark has been just as elusive as the Scarlett Pimpernel. Maybe I’ll catch it on the scale Monday when I have my next ultrasound. I like the ultrasounds; I get to see my babies move. This time might find me grabbing the little black and white moniter and screaming at them to come out already–but that’s only because I’ve gone stark raving mad. I really do think I’ll be pregnant forever. I told John this morning while he was still waking up that I’m going to be pregnant until I’m 70. He said into his pillow (thus having to repeat himself three times) that such a comment wasn’t worthy of a response.
Anna Kathryn’s Aunt Stephie came to visit last week, and helped us get the house ready for the babies. She really made a big difference, just by mopping and vacuuming my floors and thoroughly cleaning my kitchen. Honestly, those boys won’t be licking floors or scrounging in the kitchen for a good while yet, but it’s hard to set up baby beds when the rest of the place looks like a hurricane hit it. She did good. Plus, she brough her Jag, which John proudly drove to work a couple times while she was here.
Steph took a couple pictures of me and AK while she was here, trying to capture the beauty of motherhood. She ended up capturing some grass, a whale, and a very pretty toddler, but it wasn’t her fault.
And in a stroke of pure coolness, Eric came through town one night, and the four of us (including Leif) went downtown together for a game of Jillian’s pool and a bite to eat. It’s so rare these days to get as many as four of us siblings together in the same place–we had a great time.
Well, I’ve dropped a pound in the last two weeks. After my OB appointment today, I went without guilt to Chik-fil-A for one of their homespun strawberry milkshakes. Hey, if I can’t gain weight, I might as well enjoy it, right? 
The boys are doing great, though. Their heartrates were good. I am not dilating, but I do believe I’ve dropped some.
Oh, and since my surprising run-in with the woman at the FedEx Forum who knew I was having twins by looking at me, I’ve had two other women make the same prediction. One girl was behind the counter at the theater–she said she’d “guessed it” after I told her it was twins. And the girl who made my BLT at Subway at the mall today nodded knowingly and said, “Twins, right?” The next time that happens to me, I’m going to ask them to tell me if it’s boys or girls, and then jump up and down pointing and yelling, “Voodoo lady! Voodoo lady!!” On second thought, it hurts too much to jump right now. I’d just as soon take a nap.
Anna Kathryn is learning her numbers, and in so doing, has added a third baby to the mix. We were counting the twins in Mommy’s tummy the other day, and I pointed to my stomach, “Look Anna Kathryn, Mommy has TWO babies in her tummy, see? One, two…” “…and three!!” AK interrupted, pointing to her own tummy. Okay, so she wants one, too. Maybe her baby brothers will be nice enough to bring home a new baby doll from the hospital for her.
I may have given up a little too soon on potty training. It’s just that I’ve had so many people (and potty training books!) tell me that training your child right before or after a big event like a new baby in the family would cause her to revert right back to diapers. So, I backed off from my “train in a week” idea, and thought I’d wait and do the deed in December. She’ll be 2 1/2 by then, and surely plenty ready. I do keep the chair out, and we practice together from time to time. Well, like I said–I may have given up a little too soon.
Yesterday, Anna Kathryn potty trained her panda bear. I had thought this was a male bear, but when she accidentally left her baby doll at school this week and asked me to put the baby’s red dress on “Bee” I obliged. Later, she told me quite urgently that Bee was poopy, and needed to sit on the potty chair. I agreed that it would be a good idea, so she set him on it, rescuing him several times from the hole, since he was too small to hold himself up. I sat down at my computer while Anna Kathryn read books to Bee, and a few minutes later I heard the toilet flush in the bathroom. AK was “dumping” the potty bowl, and excitedly praising her bear for successfully pottying. Then she solemnly came over to me and asked, “Mommy, we got candy?” “Oh,” I said, “Does Bear get candy for going in the potty chair?” She nodded. So, Bee got two tootsie rolls, which Anna Kathryn taught him how to eat. Maybe next time, he’ll get to try one himself.
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