Hello!! We've had a busy week!

Last week was the start of Girl Scout cookies! We went in our neighborhood and sold some cookies. For the most part, people were gracious and nice, whether they bought them or not. We have a few more streets to go down. Kalynn did well for the most part. She was a little shy at first, but I think she's getting the hang of it..

Yesterday we met my friend Naomi, Chad and their clan at Grapevine Mills Mall. It was nice seeing them again! I wish we could get together more often than we do, but I know it's hard. The more kids you have, it seems like it's harder to get out, or at least with us it is..


Tomorrow, the kids are off. I need to run an errand for Girl Scouts.

Before I go, I wanted to add to my Twin Myths blog entry.
Apparently, the father's side CAN influence twins if a female member of his family had fraternal twins. For example (and this is purely hypothetical), if Bill's mom had fraternal twins. Bill could pass the hyper-ovulation gene down to Kalynn and Kalynn could get pregnant with twins. But, this has no bearing on whether Bill would have twins or not

http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/4910.html

Twin Myths

I decided to do a post about twin myths. Seems like everyday, I see something about someone wondering if they're pregnant with twins because their husband has twins on his side, it skips a generation, or that if twins are in separate sacs, that they are automatically fraternal

Myth: Twins skip a generation
Fact: Dizygotic or two-egg twinning passes down the female line from generation to generation
http://parenting.ivillage.com/baby/bmultiples/0,,43wt,00.html

Myth: You can't possibly nurse twins:
Fact: I'm living proof that you can absolutely nurse twins. Yes, it can be challenging (we dealt with nipple confusion, refusal to latch) but with support, you can do it!
Books to read: "Mothering Multiples" by Karen Gromada

Myth: Since husband has twins on his family, you're more likely to have twins:
Fact: Identical twins are just a "fluke" and fraternals happen when the mother releases two eggs, which the father has no bearing on
http://www.thetech.org/genetics/ask.php?id=86

Myth: If babies are in separate sacs and have separate placentas, they are fraternal:
Fact: About 30% of babies that are in their own sacs and placentas are identical. Only way to tell for certain is a DNA test:
http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/ateaf/1027002?open

I hope that clears up some up of the common twin myths, which, before I had twins, I bought into as well.

Speaking of twins, mine are awake!

It's been awhile since I've been on here! I've been so busy!!

Overall, things have been going well. New Years Eve was great. We went to our neighbor's house and hung out.

I mentioned my brother in my previous post. He had surgery NYE and all went well. In fact, the news was great! There is no other cancer anywhere else. I am just so grateful that it was caught so early. I had heard on the news that more than half don't catch it early and by then, it's too late. It just makes you think about things. Stephan had no risk factors. He didn't drink, smoke or chew. Yet, he still got oral cancer. It just doesn't make any sense. But it just hit so close to home that it makes me realize that I need to take charge of my own health.

The past few weeks, I have been very very busy. I have been planning a surprise birthday party. He turned 40 on 1/8. I wanted to make it special so I thought a surprise party would be fun. I rented a room at the Midlothian Conference center. I saved up my $$ and some of my family were generous to help out as well, which I very much appreciated.

It was very difficult because I had to do everything behind Bill's back. It's hard to do that since I live with him! I had to pay everything in cash because I didn't want Bill to see our account and say "What's this check for??"

I am very grateful to my friends and family who helped me pull it off!! I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to do it, but we did!

Bill's expression was priceless! He really had no idea! A friend of his that he hasn't seen in about 2 1/2 years was there. Lots of family and friends were there.

My friend Kim did a slideshow of his life. It was so good! The end was hilarious!

I'm just glad it's over! That was a lot of work! I don't think I realized how much work it was going to be!