Hey Valen-twins! We're ready when you are!

We just put the finishing touches on our preparations for # and Epic.
First, they have a super cute, Pinterest-inspired, appropriate-for-both genders nursery. It was inspired by a salt marsh we visited in Curacao. I know... salt marshes probably don't sound very pretty.
This is Curacao's salt marsh:

See? Not as ugly as the name suggests.

And why did I love this place so much? It's home to these guys:

Yes, those are actual wild flamingos, hanging out in the salt marsh.  

And even though I was just beside myself at the site of wild flamingos, we followed the rules and did not molest them.

Onto the nursery. Full disclosure: I did very very little to help with this room's transformation. I took on more of a project management role, and Andy did the heavy work. Plus, he recruited Chad to help.

FYI, painting began the night the Sox won the World Series.

And here's the finished project.

Besides flamingos, we included frogs and dragonflies in the room. I can't actually recall if there were dragonflies buzzing around the salt marsh or not, bur I wanted a third animal, and mosquitoes didn't seem to be baby-friendly decorations.

Twins like to share cribs for the first few months, but eventually, this will belong to #. Andy decided that # got the new crib and mattress, since Epic is getting new girl stuff, and # will inherit all of Chad's old stuff.

And this is Epic's crib. Colleen made the blankets hanging on the cribs, and they feel so cozy! Babci made the dragonfly crib skirts, and blankets to match Chad's, but those blankets are packed up to take to the hospital, so the babies can be warm on their ride home. # got a blanket from me, but Epic's is still very much a work in progress. It's more of a baby-sized pashmina at this point. I'll get around to finishing it at some point, I promise.

The little flamingo bank on the top shelf came all the way from England. There's not a huge demand for flamingo piggy banks, so we had to import it.

More flamingo and frog decorations. Thank you, Amazon, both for having everything we needed to decorate, and also for not instituting the NC sales tax until after we had completed our decorating.

Each baby gets a NYC Marathon puppy.

A closet full of clothes, diapers and wipes! Epic is lucky that her future friends Keira, Evie and Ava are all so stylish and were willing to share their wardrobes.  # has mostly Chad's old clothes, but don't worry, there are some new things in there for him too.

Andy added up all the wipes we bought, and found we have 3,960. And I did the math to see how long that would last us. If we assume that each baby needs to be changed every two hours (hopefully that's an overestimate, because at some point they will sleep longer than 2 hours at a time...) and that each diaper change will require one wipe (likely an underestimation, because we're sure to have some really good poop-plosions...), then we'll need 24 wipes a day, and those 3,960 wipes will last about 23 weeks. Less than 6 months!

We have almost 50 tubs of formula. Take that , La Leche League! Some for sensitive tummies, just in case one baby can't handle the hard stuff. I did the math on how long this will last us, and it isn't pretty. Let's just say that even if they both have appetites as small as Chad's was in the beginning, the formula won't even last as long as the wipes. Fortunately, there are special formula programs for twins, and we may be able to score some free stuff.

Two Boppys, one regular and one "lounger" style.

Two vibrating bouncer chairs. This was the only way to keep Chad calm during his early weeks, so I hope the 2014 model (on the right) is as big a hit as the 2010 model we saved from Chad's babyhood.

The cradle I used as a baby, ready for it's 21st and 22nd occupants. And after this, I am DONE producing cradle occupants, so this can go back up to New York for other offspring.

A giant double stroller, with two car seat carriers. Even without the car seats attached, the stroller weight exceeds what I've gained growing the twins. Each car seat carrier weighs an additional 9 pounds. And then we'll throw in two hopefully-at-least 6 pound babies, just to start. Add it all up, and I'll be pushing over 60 pounds around everywhere I go. This is scaring me a bit.

So now, we have everything but the babes!

Dear Twins,

Please come soon. You've surpassed the average gestation for twins, so all this extra cooking is just for bragging rights, which I'm not terribly interested in. We all want to meet you, and we want to avoid Pitocin. Plus, I miss my normal clothes. And #, whatever you're sitting on is hurting my back.