18 weeks 0 days - January 30, 2011

To the two little ones growing in mommy's belly:

Preparing for our big "18 week" doctor's appointment on February 1. We are leaving Lake Placid tomorrow and staying overnight in Burlington, VT, as our appointments start at 7:45 am at Fletcher Allen Hospital. We are really excited about this appointment because there is a possibility we'll find out what we are having, especially since our ultrasound is supposed to be 2 hours long; one hour per baby. We hope you both cooperate so we can start planning the nursery and picking out names for you! Daddy and I have been discussing names for a very long time. The first names we both liked were Addison and Hayden. These names are not top choices for us anymore, though as daddy's cousin named her daughter Addison and Hayden is the #1 name in 2010. We want both of you to have unique names that are a little less common.

Mommy and daddy decided to take a vacation and relax a little before our lives get really busy once you both come into this world. We spent a week in Maui, Hawaii at the Sheraton in Ka'anapali on the west shore of Maui. We were really excited to take our little belly bump with us. Our trip took 17 hours to get to Maui from Albany. We booked our flights, hotel, and rental car solely on miles. You babies did very well in mommy's tummy during the flight. I got a little sick when we got to the hotel, but I think it was because I was really tired and hungry. I'm sure you both were hungry too! Mommy and daddy went whale watching and climbed up a 10,000 foot volcano named Haleakala. Well, we drove up it and then hiked a little bit to find a nice place to watch the sunrise. Daddy was very nervous about mommy walking around at such a high altitude, but everything was okay.

Another day we went on a road trip called "Road to Hana." Mommy loves to research the places she travels to, and found some really fun places to see during the trip. We visited "Jaws" beach, which is very famous among pro-surfers. We had to hike 2.5 miles through pineapple fields before we got to the coast. We caught a ride with some surfers on our way back out. Mommy loves photography and brought her good camera on the trip so she could take pretty pictures all along the Road to Hana stops, the ocean and secret waterfalls.

On the last day of vacation, we decided that our family should continue traveling after you both are born. We really want you both to experience lots of different cultures, play many sports and be exposed to the beauty of the arts. One way that we hope to do this is by taking vacations. We really hope to visit Hawaii again, Europe, Norway, Japan, and maybe Australia. We also want to travel around our great country and visit Yellowstone Park, California, go skiing in Utah, and obviously bring you on a cruise and to Disney World! Mommy also really hopes to take you on lots of trips to New York City, as that is one of her favorite places in the whole world!

We started feeling you move on January 6th which seems pretty early but maybe not since there are two of you and only so much room in my belly. On January 6th, mommy was at work and felt little butterfly movements on the left side of her belly. It was so exciting to feel! Two days later, I took Aunt Juli to the opera "La Fanciulla del West." Every time the tenors started singing loudly, both of you babes started moving a lot. The next night, mommy and daddy went out to Lisa G's for dinner. It was quite loud and busy and you both started kicking enough for daddy to feel you for the first time. After that week, we started feeling you all the time, until we went to Hawaii on January 15th. I think you both were on a completely different schedule than me, especially since we were 5 hours behind and off our normal eating schedule. I started getting worried about you both as I didn't really feel you moving for about a week, but I did gain almost 4 lbs while in Hawaii, so that gives me hope that everything is alright.

Last night we were at Aunt Ashley & Uncle Dawson's house for dinner. We had chicken & dumplings (daddy's favorite) and chocolate-walnut brownies. I think you liked the brownies because you finally started moving and squirming around and Aunt Ashley finally got to feel you through mommy's belly! Whichever one of you is hanging out on the left side seems to be the more active one. We call that one "Taylor" and the one on the lower right "Kari."

We cannot wait to find out if you're boys or girls and can't wait to meet you!!

Love,

Mommy