"What Makes a Mother?" (or Father)

 What Makes A Mother?

I thought of you all, I closed my eyes
and prayed to God today.
I asked what makes a Mother
and I know I heard him say,

"A Mother has a baby.
This we know is true."
But God can you be a Mother
when your baby's not with you?

"Yes you can!" He replied
with confidence in His voice,
"I give many women babies,
when they leave is not their choice."

"Some I send for a lifetime
and others for a day.
And some I send to feel your womb
but there's no need to stay."

"I just don't understand this God,
I want my baby here."
He took a deep breath and cleared His throat
and then I saw a tear.

"I wish I could show you
what your child is doing today.
If you could see your child smile
with other children and say.."

"We go to earth to learn our lessons
of love and life and fear.
My mommy loved me oh so much
I got to come straight here."

"I feel so lucky to have a Mom
who has so much love for me
I learned my lesson very quick
My Mommy set me free."

"I miss My Mommy oh so much
but I visit her each day.
When she goes to sleep
on her pillow's where I lay."

"I stroke her hair and kiss her cheek
and whisper in her ear,
Mommy don't be sad today
I'm your baby and I'm here."

"So you see my dear sweet one,
your children are OK.
Your babies are here in my home
and this is where they'll stay."

"They'll wait for you with me
until your lesson is through.
And on the day that you come home
they'll be at the gates for you."

"So now you see what makes a Mother.
It's the feeling in your heart.
It's the love you had so much of
right from the very start."

"Though some on earth may not realize
that you are a Mother until there time is done
They'll be up here with me one day
and know you're the best one."

Knowing what to Say.

Trae and I watched this today and felt very connected to this video.

http://youtu.be/a-Z0IrXDGVA

Remembering...

Sawyer Jameson Schultz and Tristan Milton Schultz

On Friday, February 1^st, two lovely boys were born to Trae and Cyndi Schultz:  Sawyer Jameson Schultz (at 6:43pm) and Tristan Milton Schultz (at 6:52pm).  Sawyer and Tristan were a blessing for Trae and Cyndi for almost six full days before their Heavenly Father called them home.  On Thursday, February 7^th Sawyer and Tristan entered the nearer presence of their Lord.  During this extraordinarily short time they were adored and loved by their parents and other family members gathered at St. David’s North Austin Medical Center.  All grieved their passing; they will be sorely missed.  Sawyer and Tristan are loved and survived by parents Cyndi and Trae Schultz; grandparents Mary and Philip Young, and Sharon and Milton Schultz; and a great grandmother Jeanne Marie Tacy.   In addition the following family members also closely followed the short lives of Sawyer and Tristan:  Mandy and Paul Young, David Young, Carrie and Todd Smith.  Many other family and close friends also sent their love and best wishes.  A celebration of the lives of Sawyer and Tristan was held at St. Martin’s Lutheran Church on Saturday, February 9, 2013.  The family request, in lieu of flowers, contributions are made to either Threads of Love (3503 Lovage Dr.  Austin TX, 78727), or the March of Dimes (www.marchofdimes.com/texas).  The family requests that all donations be in the name of Sawyer Jameson Schultz and Tristan Milton Schultz.  The family gives heartfelt thanks and appreciation to the staff of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, including all the nurses and doctors of St. David’s North Austin Medical Center. 

Week 22

Marination Time: 22 weeks 6 days

Baby Size:

The Bump says that this week the babies are as big as papayas! BabyCenter compares their size to that of a spaghetti squash.  Either way.. we have growing baby boys this week!  We have another scan next week where we will get more exact measurements of their size.

Baby Milestones:

Baby A and Baby B have more developed facial features and are really starting to look like little babies! They even have tiny tooth buds below their gums which brought me to tears yesterday when looking for a new family dentist. Their little eyes have formed, but the irises still have no pigment. They are consistently getting 12-14 hours of sleep a day and forming unique schedules of their own which will carry over to after birth.

Symptoms:

Sore back & right hip- I started seeing a new chiropractor this week after a walk with the dogs left me in bad pain. 

How I'm Changing:

My belly continues to grow but this week I can see & feel much more movement- even seeing changes in my belly shape throughout the day.

What I'm Eating:

Bananas, Oranges, Apples, Greek Yogurt, Luna Bars, Turkey sandwiches.  

Annoyances:

Back & Hip pain is the only annoying thing these days.

Sleep:

Sleep continues to be interrupted these days.  My lower back stiffness requires me to move sides frequently and I continue to have 3 or more potty breaks at night.

Missing:

I'm missing my walks and exercise without pain and deep sleep these days, but so grateful for the good health I've had throughout this pregnancy!

What I'm Most Excited About:

I'm most excited to see the nursery coming together!  Both cribs are set up, we have our new rug down and the nursery closet is set up and starting to fill up with little goodies we've received for the boys already.  I'm a planner at heart and love to have things come together early.  Our goal is to have the dresser and new ceiling fan installed by early March. It will be fun to see it all come together in the coming weeks.

Our Babymoon

On New Year's Eve, Trae surprised me with a trip to California for our final vacation before babies: our "babymoon".  With twins coming, our Doctor doesn't want us traveling after our 24th week, which is February 8th.  So, Trae took advantage of MLK day and booked us a long weekend trip January 19th-23rd to a resort called Terranea located about 30 minutes from downtown Los Angeles on a peninsula overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
We had an early flight that had us arriving in Los Angeles by 8AM, so we drove over to the popular shopping district and celebrity hot-spot, The Ivy to eat breakfast.  While we didn't spot any celebrities at that hour of day, we had a great time relaxing and discussing the days ahead of us.  From there we headed over to Warner Brothers Studio's. I was too sleepy to take the tour, but I wanted to see where The Ellen Degeneres Show was taped and so many of our favorite movies and TV shows were made!

 

After our stop to Warner Brothers we were ready to get to our resort and relax.  The drive up the Coast was beautiful.  We passed through Manhattan beach, Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach all before getting to the Resort.  Our room was beautiful and had a great view of the pacific ocean.

We started out every day with a morning hike on the trails around the resort. We would see dolphins every morning and look for whales which were migrating down to Mexico while getting some nice exercise. 

 We both indulged in massages at the spa before relaxing in the warm southern California sun making us completely forget about it being January.  Trae's choice of reading: The book of baby names.  It was fun going through ideas and meanings of the names in that special setting.

 Each night we ate our dinner outside overlooking an amazing sunset. The sun was warm and when it started to set the heaters and fire pits turned on around us, and blankets were passed out to those who wanted some extra warmth for dinner and drinks on the patio.

After dinner we snuggled up next to one of the several fire pits around the resort and cooked our own s'mores.  YUMMY!!

On our last full day in California we we decided to go exploring in some of the cute beach towns we passed through on the way to Terranea.  Our concierge recommended we rent bikes in Hermosa Beach and bike to Manhattan Beach to eat lunch and look around.  I was a little nervous to get on a bike with my poor equilibrium due to pregnancy, but after a little practice we felt comfortable and was so glad to be out doing something different and fun.  The weather was amazing and so were the homes we biked past on the strand right next to the ocean.

We were having such an amazing time with our exploring that we didn't realize we had missed Manhattan beach by several miles until we saw LAX right in front of us. Whoops!  We turned around and headed back to Manhattan Beach where we ate lunch right off the beach. 

Pounding my root beer at lunch.

We made our way back to the resort in time to take pictures with one last California sunset.

Our "babymoon" was absolutely amazing: relaxing, romantic, active and so happy in such a beautiful setting.   We left feeling happy, refreshed and ready to embark on all the adventures that await us!

Week 21

Baby Size:

Marination Time: 22weeks 0 days 

The Bump says that in Week 21 the babies grow to the size of a pomegranate.  We know our little boys are running larger than a typical 21 Week old baby, so we'll just call them LARGE pomegranates. 

Baby Milestones:

Week 21 was a week of movements for the babies!  They are working on their baby yoga movements working on their muscle tone throughout the day with 12-14 hours of sleep breaks throughout the day.   They are growing eyebrows and getting ready to open their eyes in the coming weeks.

Symptoms:

Sore back & hips- especially when going on longer walks.  Trouble bending over taking off boots or putting on shoes since my baby belly gets in the way!  Hungry OFTEN!

How I'm Changing:

I'm growing and I can tell Baby A and Baby B are too!  Lots of baby movement, especially when I'm hungry or have just eaten.  I'm in organization mode like crazy lately- lots of changes to our upstairs nursery, office and guest room to get ready for these boys!

What I'm Eating:

Lots of different things. I normally eat fruit 3 times a day: bananas, strawberries, blueberries and mandarin oranges are my favorites right now.  I am craving spicy foods so I tend to add Chalula to everything, including my morning eggs.  Lunch normally consists of a turkey sandwhich.

Annoyances:

The only annoying thing this week is my hip pain.  It's only on my right side which means I need to see  a chiropractor soon.  It wakes me up at night and makes even moderately long walks uncomfortable.

Sleep:

While gone on our California 'Babymoon' I slept horribly.  The soft bedding and lack of body pillow plus extra activities were tough on my back & hips.  Since being home, I'm sleeping better.

Missing:

I didn't miss anything this week.  It was a great week!

What I'm Most Excited About:

Week 21 was an exciting week!! The nursery was painted, our bottom stair was fixed to be safer, the ELFA nursery closet organization system was installed and we bought our nursery rug on sale!   All this got done before our amazing 'Babymoon' trip to California which gave us great alone time to soak in some sun, laughs, relaxation and talks about our future together as a family. 

We stayed at a resort named Terranea which was amazing and beautiful.  I would LOVE to go back some day with our little ones!

Biking along Hermosa and Manhattan beaches.

We took morning hikes along the Pacific in beatiful 78 degree weather.

Evening sunset dinners looking for dolphins and whales

Soaking up the Southern California sun looking over the pacific