#esp since we were also doing a BUNCH of house cleaning and getting rid of a load of things

[theheroheart]

As an adult who celebrates (heavily secularised) Christmas, including now actually inviting people over for dinner and stuff, I now understand the reason behind going overboard making the house look nice.

It's not about appearances or upholding tradition or anything like that. We're only inviting people who don't really care, and I only care about traditions that make me happy.

HOWEVER

A) It's fun to decorate and do something a lil fancy once in a while!

B) It's a good fucking excuse to actually make yourself clean the house properly, after putting it off all year.

[emilywrecker]

bb twins update--34 weeks

how far along: 34 weeks

weight gain: 29lbs

what i’m wearing: my ingrid & isabel boyfriend jeans (see photo below) have been a lifesaver. i wear them almost every day, and rotate their leggings into the mix as well.

long, flowy tunics and tops—i have very few ‘maternity’ tops. most of my regular tops have been working for me, since i wear mostly over-sized, flowy stuff anyway. some of my favorites are from free people, joah brown, and thrifted oversized sweaters.

sleep: i’ve finally gotten rid of the cold/allergies issue! woo! i’ve been diffusing essential oils every night though—it’s become part of my bedtime routine. lavender, Breathe, and OnGuard by doTERRA are a few of my favorites.

recent highs:

FAMILY // my mom moved in last weekend (she’ll be working part-time and living with us short-term to help with all the boys), and my sweet sister came in town for the week to visit. they were both a HUGE help in making sure things are ready for the twins to come. my sister did so many different things around the house for us—trimmed our plants, cleaned out our garage, watered and re-arranged all my plants (this is no easy task), helped me get stuff listed to craigslist, took judah cash on playdates, cooked meals, cleaned the kitchen, etc. she basically kept me off my feet and resting. it was an amazing blessing to us!

my mom helped me clean out my closet, organize the area where the twins will sleep, washed and organized all their clothes, and helped me pack a hospital bag. we are so thankful she’ll be around to help us with JC and the twins. 

my mom and sister were also able to come to my dr. visit and see the boys via ultrasound!

DR. VISIT // i had my 34week appointment yesterday, and was delighted to hear that both babies are doing great! they’re already 4lbs14oz & 4lbs15oz—which is great for 34wks! they’re both still positioned head down, & they did all the tricks the ultrasound technician asked them to—moved limbs, moved torso, practiced breathing, etc.

i also found out the wonderful news that my doula can be present for the twins’ entire birth (as long as there’s no emergency c-section). at the hospital in our county, when you deliver twins, you are allowed to labor in a regular room until you are dilated to 10cm, then you are moved to an Operating Room for the actual birth of the babies--so that it’s quick and easy to do a c-sec if necessary.

i had been told my doula wouldn’t be allowed into the OR, but yesterday, my dr confirmed that she COULD be there! it was the best news—she provided so much comfort and relief for me during judah cash’s birth, that i can’t imagine doing it again (esp with twins) without her by my side!

recent lows: this week has definitely been more intense for me physically. i’ve noticed quite a few contractions, and am dealing with almost-constant pelvic pain and pressure. one night this week, i woke up to a moderate contractions (the low, crampy kind) at 2am, and spent the next 2.5 hours laboring on the yoga ball, chowing down dry cereal, and watching netflix. i was almost convinced they were coming that evening, but eventually contractions settled down, and i was able to get back to sleep around 4:30am.

i took it easy, really easy (especially because my sister and mom insisted), the next few days, and the contractions settled down, but the pelvic pain & pressure is still present.

at the ultrasound, we saw that baby A’s head is positioned SO LOW that it’s causing quite a bit of discomfort. it’s so deep into my pelvic bone, that the ultrasound tech couldn’t get a read on the size of his head unless she did a vaginal ultrasound. when she showed me how low it was, my eyes grew wide—no wonder i’ve been waddling around in constant pain!

truthfully though, i'm just so happy and relieved that they are healthy, nearly 5lbs each, and positioned head-down, that it’s totally worth the discomfort. since i found out i was pregnant with twins, i’ve prayed almost daily for their little heads to stay down so i can delivery them naturally.

bebe movement: it’s pretty much a non-stop party in there. they definitely know how to party. it was cool letting my sister and mom experience their movements. one evening, they both had hiccups at the same time, but at different speeds. it was cute.

food cravings: red peppers & dairy queen royal blizzards. yah, that’s right—but i won’t tell you guys how many i’ve had of each over the past few weeks.

bump progress: i can’t believe i’m carrying around 10lbs (well, 3oz short of 10lbs), of baby around with me already! gah! JC was only 7lbs2oz. i honestly don’t feel like i look too crazy big yet though—i’m still convinced the twin ’torpedo belly’ thing will happen to me before this is all said and done (if you don’t know what i mean by “torpedo belly," just google image twin pregnancy—you’ll see).

labor signs: they’ve been on and off—i can definitely sense that my uterus is preparing for birth because of all the uterus action. it’s definitely been much more noticeable than it was at this point in my JC pregnancy, but my dr said that’s completely normal during both second pregnancies and twin pregnancies, as the uterus stretches out to prepare for birth.

overall mood: although i’ve been a bit discouraged about spending so much time on the couch with my feet up, i still feel happy, blessed, and have a weird energy to get things done (i.e. cleaned out my closet and sold a bunch of stuff on instagram, wrote out a ton of thank-you notes, sold a few things on FB marketplace, etc).

i’m also truly savoring this sweet time as a family of three. we’ve made so many beautiful memories together, and i love talking to judah cash about his baby brothers. he seems to have a pretty impressive understanding of what’s going to happen, and he practices what he’s going to say to the babies. he also loves to point out things that “the babies” would like, and he tells me what he’s going to teach them. it’s so sweet.

looking forward to: MEETING OUR TINY BOYS!

[haeroniel-doliet]

i need more money to buy little art

honestly tho feeling like for that ideal goal existence i’ll try get to someday, i’ll needa be making proper money comfortable and good so i can spend all i like on society 6 and other to buy shirts and bags and just everything to a house all in different art prints (mostly florals) bc just those pictures are  like everything i want but just so expensive. i’m trying to sum down like 10 to stickers, bc i wanna do up my laptop, but dedicating to a single decal (thats like 25 ON SALE) is too much esp since i love so much. so ive kinda decided to get a hard cover for the laptop just in case i break it, and just in case i do break my laptop that i can keep the stickers on the hard case and dont lose them to replaced parts. idk seems smart. ill probs buy a kinda shady cover off of ebay for 5 or 6 pound and then spend 20 on stickers for it :] since theyre on sale till 8 am today and its 3 am im probs just gonna settle and order them. might order cover tomorrow w my dad bc i need trust assurance. hes not all on board on the stickers so im just gonna go for it. theyre gonna be like my post cards. i buy so many every place. and no. not trashy postcards. i want art. i have so many postcards of paintings in galleries and so many from comic con art valleys (guess who wants to get so much more and 100% will) i love original art the most when its pretty to me and like everyone who sees it. simples okay but i prefer soft and detailed. excited now i can go to con and also be looking for stickers bc maybe ill get a few cool ones that wont cost me as much as the society 6 ones do. and then my laptop can replicate my walls, displaying all the art ive loved that ive been able to take with me (bc theres so much i obviously dont have on my walls) anyway im looking at these and making some small bc i suddenly realise this laptops got realestate. and the saddest thing w stickers (literally why i had one of those waxy paged sticker books as a child) is that i cant dedicate stickers to a single spot. its so much dedication. what if i buy a bigger sticker and it wont fit? what if i get the perfect sticker for that spot and it wont fit? (over lap i guess) how can i be sure i put them in the right spots to start with? augh i dont really wanna cover just half of it and obviously leave space bc that puts pressure on finding stickers and i might get ones i dont love. i cant get sick of any one bc itll be there  (joy of having multiple mean theres less getting sick of anything). anyway i think im happy w the sizes of these 10 stickers and can work w them (also for now i think im just gonna be going around the edges and leaving the apple logo as it is, esp bc it glows and theres already this shitty old smiley face sticker from my old psych teacher and i kinda dont wanna get rid of it, i just wanna add things around it so it doesnt look so: clean (actually dirty) laptop that a child marked as their own) 

anyway society 6 has random discounts all the time which is p rad and maybe the day im ready to invest in my own living space and dont feel obliged to check w my parents about just about any purchase, i’ll then subscribe to something thatll tell me what discount is on. that in mind, i think i’ll only get the 9 now, that hopefully wont cost too much, and leave a bunch in my wishlist, bc there’ll be another discount (this is 20% off everything)  and maybe that’ll be like 50% off stickers and boy then when my collection is underway you bet ill go for it. and like maxx sticks on their sketch book, if i dedicate to a new book maybe ill get more for that and have a pretty thing to keep and reminisce over (tho knowing me, ill not use it much bc i have a need for pretty things to stay perfect and presentable, and i have a need for everything that i might show to others to be like near perfect otherwise its sucks and ill feel bad bc i dont wanna show it off to people. like my art book, sure i couldve made it all experimental and crap and then edited the real pages together on the computer. but no. i needed everypage to be presentable and pretty and handwritten and creative. and they must go page after page, its so awkward showing someone something and then going “oh wait now these few are empty sorry yeah heres the next page” so i baasically have  a book with mhmmm 20-26 pages of beautiful spreads that im quite proud of inside beautiful covers ( i knew id want to be presenting it for years to come) and the back pages are just...empty. and theyll probably stay that way bc i no longer have projects to be doing to fill them with. maybe one day ill grow into myself and grow out the fear of ruining what ive achieved and fill some with new projects to please myself and be an indepenednt artist not just a teacher pleaser. you know its like that with my work too, like it has to have a direction and a plan that will be achieved, and its terribly frustrating when that vision doesnt happen. but i think thats the same with everyone. 

anyway on a side note, dont you guys think its so fun and cool how ive not done my post labs that were due last friday? how every night ends up being 3-4 am until i go... mhmmmm yeah i guess nothing is happening. like i hope id bloom and do work at that 11pm-3am window and then i get here, suddenly having lost all track and sense of time and just sigh. its wasted, its basically tuesday already. have to keep telling myself dates bc it moves so weird. i planned on getting shit done two days ago. here we are regardless. and the most ill get done is get those stickers ordered bc that is i guess what ive been half focused on for mhmmm5 hrs. then ill save my 7 dollars or whatever, have stickers on the way, tomorrow order the case and thats one insignificant thing done. then the question will be have i looked at summer jobs? no of course not ive looked at ballet courses. shush. i havent showered for days bc theyve just slipped by too laying in bed, maybe tomorrow ill take a shower and pick up all the trash and tissues on the ground. maybe i will. i know i wont get real work done tonight, and already ill be sleepy till 1 pm and by then mom will be again on me abt sleeping to latesoo... yeah no point. and here i thought id make a quick totes relatable short post about how i need more money to buy stickers and maybe a brief my ideal life is to have enough money to spend on art being in every part of my life and all this  being unique so people love coming to my house and go wow its so original and cool. and that turned into a word vent thats so far taken me over half an hour. hi my batterys dying. 

lng story short, i’ll order the stickers currently in my basket after so much though, suck it up and do it and know that i have a bunch over in my wishlist for that next maybe even better sale when it happens. the only thing is im taking all the rest as transparent which for sure dulls them down (yeah white background looks sick but for some its just more classy w transparent, then theres this one bear i’m 100% naming wojtek thats in white bc i feel it’ll be best for him, and i guess having him in white will set that theres no clear rules to follow and worst case if it doesnt fit he can come chill on the keyboard side next to my mouse pad thing) honestly i cant tell if i should be getting them all in white and just hope that theyll look gorgeous no matter what. yikes 3 dollar shipping for stickers, ok itll actually be 19.62 pound and using euro card 22.50 in  euros.... am i dumb? maybe. and tho im supposed to be saving money up so i have some, i also did get birthday money sorta recently soo... birthday gift from them. first set of stickers. deep breaths ok. my parents told me when i bugged them that i just have to make a decision and not ask them all the time, and he said to get 3 stickers i told him id pick 12 so i think getting 9 is reasonable. also oh shit realising that the delivery time is 1-3 weeks and im staying here only 1 and a half more so i should really order it to scotland even tho it might get ther ebefore i do bc my parents might not rly want to send them up to me. idk ok order to scotland, thank f at least one of my flat mates is staying and tbh i should really bring her some chocolate... shes done me faavours.