Book Review: Two Tickets to the Christmas Ball

Posted on December 17, 2010 by whitneyladams

As you may know I am part of Waterbrook Multunomah’s Blogging for Books program.  I absolutely love doing this since I am an avid reader of Christian fiction. They have recently revamped their program so it has been a while since I have had a chance to review a book. Since it was almost Christmas I decided to review Donita K. Paul’s Two Tickets to the Christmas Ball. I have never read one of Mrs. Paul’s books before and I am always looking for new authors.

This was a charming and entertaining story of two people who have been around each other for years but this holiday season they are brought together by unexpected encounter at a peculiar bookstore. After their encounter at the bookstore they each find themselves in possession of a ticket to a very special Christmas Ball thanks to some very unconventional matchmaking booksellers. This spurs on an interesting series of events that will leave Cora Crowder and Simon Derrick with a holiday season they will never forget. 
This was a very different book for me to read. Mrs. Paul intertwines faith and fantasy in a way I have never seen before and I quite enjoyed it. I would encourage you to give this book a try. It was very entertaining in it’s quirky narrative. Even better throughout the narrative Cora is able to truly catch the Christmas spirit reminding us all of the reason we celebrate this time of year. Grab a cup of hot chocolate and cozy on up in your favorite reading chair and dive in to this delightful book. 
Here is a link  for you to download the first chapter of “Two Tickets To The Christmas Ball”
You can also purchase this book at Waterbrook Multnomah ‘s Website in hardback or ebook format. 
“I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review”
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My Ultimate Christmas Wish List…

Posted on December 16, 2010 by whitneyladams

1. Cannon EOS Rebel T2i 18.0
2.Keurig Coffee Maker
3. The Nook Color
4. Cricut Expression
5. 2011 Honda Odyssey
6. Two Toned Hand Stamped Necklace by Etsy’s HannahDesign

(I said it is a WISH list)

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20 Weeks Ultrasound…

Posted on December 16, 2010 by whitneyladams
We had our biweekly ultrasound today at the high risk OB office. I guess we are kind of lucky we get to see our babies every two weeks. Why do we get ultrasounds every two weeks you may ask? Well our twins are identical which means they share one placenta. The key word is share. Biweekly we have an ultrasound to measure the amniotic fluid and size of each baby. The thing we are monitoring for is if the babies are sharing appropriately (the is a disorder called Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome). This basically is were one baby does not share very well gets really big leading to the other not growing along with a multitude of other problems.
 So far are babies are doing great and this week was no different. Both babies are growing appropriately and they have the appropriate amount of fluid. It is always a relief to see them. I am thanking God for such healthy babies! We got some new pictures today!
My favorites are of their sweet little profiles. 
They are so precious!

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Back to my OB…..

Posted on December 14, 2010 by whitneyladams

This is a week of doctor appointments. Today I went to my regular OB and Wednesday is our biweekly ultrasound. This morning I went to the see Dr. M. I have gained 3 pounds this past month but ironically still weigh less than my pre-pregnancy weight thanks to losing about 12 pounds during the first trimester. I still feel huge. Of course we took measurements and at 20 weeks I am measuring about 23-24 weeks. The boy heart rates were great although they would not stay still! During my exam my Dr. M mentioned that I would be needing to slow down even with the light duty I am on.  She said we needed to prepare ourselves for the dreaded “B” word. Not exactly what we were hoping to hear. She said nothing to change right now but to be prepared. We were hoping to avoid bedrest and still praying that it will not be anytime soon or at all. She also increased my visits from monthly to every  two weeks. So now we will be seeing the regular and high-risk doctors biweekly. Today has not been my favorite day because along with the “B” word, I am just not feeling so great. I am so exhausted from everything and nothing. I was hoping for the burst of energy you are supposed to get in your second trimester but that seems to not be happening.

Posted in doctors appt, pregnancy, twins | 1 Comment

19 weeks…

Posted on December 9, 2010 by whitneyladams
Pregnancy Stats:
How Far Along: 19 Weeks 
Size of our babies: Our twins are the size of mangos this week.
photocredit
Maternity Clothes: Mainly maternity and Bella Bands
Gender: Boys!!!
Movement: Honestly I am not sure, I felt something like butterflies but who knows that could be gas 🙂
Sleep: I take naps all the time it seems I can not get enough sleep
What I miss: Diet Coke, Sushi
Cravings: Mexican, Chinese
Symptoms: Fatigue, Heartburn, Stretching, and Headaches
Best Moment this week: Deciding on names for our boys!

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Willow Tree….

Posted on December 8, 2010 by whitneyladams
As an early Christmas gift my parents got us something very sweet.  You see I absolutely love Willow Tree. They are beautiful pieces. One of my most treasured pieces is the Willow Tree cake topper I found for our wedding. While my mom was here for a visit this weekend she gave us our new treasured Willow Tree pieces. It is called Two Together: Love in Abundance and it is a set of twin figurines. They are absolutely precious and even look like boys.  
They are precious don’t you think. Thanks Mom and Dad we love them!
On a Side Note:
How do you like our new design!  A special thank you to Amy at Designer Blogs, it looks wonderful! If you ever need any design work please go to their site they are  such a joy to work with!

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A Snowy Weekend…

Posted on December 7, 2010 by whitneyladams
My mom came up to visit this weekend, well actually she came to pick up Nana who has been staying with us. I think I forgot to mention that on the blog. You see the week before Thanksgiving my mom, Nana, and Bob’s mom came for a visit. They were coming for my ultrasound. Sadly it was rescheduled but they decided to come anyway. We had a fabulous weekend and on Monday while they were getting ready to leave Nana fell. We took her to the ER where I work and she had multiple fractures to the ball of her humerus and dislocated her shoulder. Needless to say she was not going home. In fact she had surgery the next day. She has been recovering at our house the past few weeks. She is now doing much better.
Now that you are all caught up back to this weekend. Friday after I got off work I picked up dinner for mom, Nana, and I. We put up the Christmas tree, hung new bows( my wonderful dad made) on the wreaths and our tree. All this was done while of course watching Christmas movies.
(Our almost finished tree we just need to add our finishing touches)
 Overall a wonderful night. 
On Saturday we had a slight chance for snow flurries/ mix that night but there was to be no accumulation. Mom and I set out Saturday early afternoon and lo and behold the snow flurries started. It was not much of anything but it began to pick up as the first hour went on. We stopped to eat at Mexican restaurant and came out to see it sticking to cars, ground, trees, and was really coming down. As we continued to shop it continued to pick up, so much for no accumulation. It snowed for almost 5 hours. It was beautiful and I am glad my mom was able to see it. 
This is the beginning of the snow flurries
This is before we went into the restaurant
 This is when we came out
 It had come down alot in 45 minutes and just kept coming
 It made a beautiful winter wonderland
We did lots of fun shopping on Saturday at Carolina Pottery and Lowe’s for Christmas decor and then we went shopping for the boys. Babies”R”us was our first stop were mom got some really cute outfits on clearance. We also looked a bedding and such, it was a blast! Next we went to Pottery Barn Kids, I LOVE that store. I actually bought a sweet hippo which plays sounds for for the boy’s nursery. It play nature sounds, waterfalls, and womb sounds.  
I also took my mom to the Apple store, she had never been so she could play on an Ipad needless to say she made my dad a little jealous! Saturday night Bob was off so we all went to Olive Garden for a wonderful dinner to top off a great weekend. 
Outside our apartment after the Saturday snowfall
 Mom and Nana left Sunday and boy was the house quiet. It was very strange after having Nana stay with is these past few weeks. Izzy has been really sad she misses her buddy. She was the ultimate lap dog while Nana was here and even woke up today looking for her. We had a great snowy weekend and I really wish our family lived closer to us. 
Posted in Family, snow, visit, weekend | 2 Comments

Sweet Baby Names…

Posted on December 7, 2010 by whitneyladams
We have looked at thousands of baby names. Honestly if we were having girls we would have names all set but from the beginning we have always struggled with boy names. After much, much debate we have finally settled on names. I think it was even harder having to come up with two different names. 
This was a difficult task you have to really think about the names. These babies will grow up so you don’t want to give them a cute name now that when they get older it looks ridiculous on a job application. We both really wanted to use family names. We also wanted something unique for each of the boys. 
So without further ado here are the names we have decided on:
James Sidney Adams
and
Jackson Esker Adams
Each name represents each our families.
James Sidney: James is is Bob’s first name and Sidney is Bob’s dad’s middle names.
Jackson Esker: Jackson is my great-grandfather’s middle name on my mom’s side, and Esker is my great grandfather’s middle name on my Dad’s side.
I am beyond excited now I can start embroidering and put names to each of the cute profile shots we have from the ultrasound! I also love that we are able to specifically pray for each baby by name.
Posted in names, twins | 2 Comments

18 Weeks…

Posted on December 3, 2010 by whitneyladams
Pregnancy Stats:

How Far Along: 18 Weeks 
Size of our babies: Our twins are the size of sweet potatoes this week.
photocredit
Maternity Clothes: A mix, more and more maternity clothing is showing up in my daily outfits. I actually got Bella Bands this week and love them!!!
Gender: Boys!!!
Movement: Honestly I am not sure, I felt something like butterflies but who knows that could be gas 🙂
Sleep: I take naps all the time it seems I can not get enough sleep
What I miss: Diet Coke, Sushi
Cravings: Mexican
Symptoms: Fatigue, Heartburn, Stretching, and Headaches
Best Moment this week: Seeing our little boys during our ultrasound this week.  They are all over each other, hitting and kicking. We are going to have our hands full but not as full as our hearts are!


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Oh Boy..

Posted on December 1, 2010 by whitneyladams

In case you missed our update on our pregnancy blog we are having identical twin BOYS!!
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