GIRLS!!!

So a few weeks ago we found out that our two babies are both girls. The doctors still believe that they are fraternal, but now that we know they are both girls, they can't be 100% sure they're not identical until the girls are born. It was a total shock to both of us that both babies are girls.... but what part of this whole process hasn't been a total shock?! Ha. We're getting excited. We started registering for girly stuff this last weekend and we'll let you know when we're done. We're at an 80% solution on the names of these two sweethearts and we'll let you know as soon as we're sure. :)

Here are some pictures from our most recent ultrasound at 22 weeks. Sorry we only have one picture of Baby A, but she was being camera shy. Meanwhile, Baby B had no problem smiling for the camera. (Both photos are profiles of their heads)

Baby A

Baby B

This is a 3D shot of Baby B's face... it's tucked up in there around all the static mess

They took a ton of pictures but these were the best since all the others were of more specific areas like the brain, kidneys, heart, etc. Both kiddos are doing great... all measurements were healthy. The doctor estimated Baby A to be about 1 lb 1 ounce and Baby B to be 15 ounces.

We have another ultrasound this coming Monday, so we'll let you know how everything is going and hopefully be much quicker to post pictures on the blog.

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Vermont Vacation

Since we weren't able to take our trip to Ireland like we had planned (since it's a little risky to be travelling internationally at this point in the pregnancy), we went up to Stowe, Vermont for a week of nothing... and it was great.

From D.C. we flew to Springfield, Mass. and drove up to Amherst (location of UMASS where Dan went to school). We tooled around downtown Amherst that day and had a great time in the beautiful weather. We stayed in an old B&B right across from Emily Dickinson's house, which was a fun touch to the trip. The next day we wandered around the UMASS campus for the first day of school. Dan caught a freshman sneaking a glance at a campus map while we were on the campus bus. Ha. Yay for the first day of college!

Downtown Amherst

UMASS

We then started our trip up to Stowe, but not until we stopped off at the Yankee Candle factory store. We smelled a lot of candles, but didn't buy anything. The two candles that we remember the most were the worst smelling ones ("Witches' Brew": smells like dirt; "Be Thankful": just be thankful nothing else smells like that!)

While we were up in Stowe we stayed at a pretty nice lodge called Topnotch Lodge. It was a very comfortable stay. Our intent of going up there was to do absolutely nothing and just to relax, and I think we accomplished that pretty well. :)

The original Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream factory was right near Stowe, so we went there one day to sample some ice cream and take a tour. From there we stopped at the Cabot Creamery to sample cheese (yumm!) and then at the Hollow Mill Cider factory to sample some cider and cider donuts (hot & fresh!).

Ben & Jerry's factory

Holly and a fake baby cow at the Ben & Jerry's factory

While up there we also went to the Trapp Family Lodge. This is the lodge that the Von Trapp family from the movie Sound of Music built when they moved from Austria to Vermont (it's real... if you don't believe me, you're not the only one... Dan thought I made the whole thing up when I told him about it. He's a believer now.) We had dinner there one night which was very fun. Dan had some Austrian cold vegetable soup... it reminded us a lot of salsa. Ha.

Dan at the Trapp Family Lodge

All 3 Hayden girls at the Trapp Family Lodge

The front of the Trapp Family Lodge

We also took a gondola up to the top of Mt. Mansfield, which is the highest point in Vermont (a whoppin' 4393 ft.... ha... Mike & Kallie, aren't you impressed!). It was a beautiful view, and even though it wasn't foliage season yet, you could tell that a lot of the trees had started to change or were on the verge of it.

Looking up the gondola path

Views from the top

The happy couple! :)

Holly with a real baby cow at the corn maze (we didn't go through the corn maze)

A walk down by the river

We ate a lot of great food. I think the white cheddar cheese was the most pleasant surprise, and the syrup was great as well. After 6 days of lots of relaxing we drove/flew back to D.C. It was a great trip, and we can't wait to take another vacation sometime... but next time it will be all 4 of us!