**Meet The Mama! Pittmane**

Let's welcome Erin as this week's Meet the Mama. :Clap: It's time to put her in the spotlight and ask her those questions we've all been wondering about. Here is a little about her:


I was born and raised in Colorado and always had a love for horses (I distinctly remember wanting to be a vet when I was about 5). I grew up next to but never owned any horses - at least until I was in college going for a second bachelor's degree in Equine Science. I am now blissfully married (1 year as of August 2nd!) to a wonderful man who is also a professional horse trainer and breeder. I moved to Maryland in 2001 to start a career teaching courses about horses at the University of Maryland - a job I really really love. I really feel like I fell into a vat of butter! I live on a 550-acre family farm along with two sisters-in-law and their families as well as my mother and father-in-law. My husband uses the majority of the cleared land for hay-making and horse pasture, though about 30 acres will soon be a vineyard to be started by my sister-in-law and her husband. We knew we wanted kids - my DH has a 19-year old daughter from a previous marriage and she is also getting excited - but were completely and totally surprised by the news that we were having not one but TWO....AT ONCE!! ACK!!!! DH was thrilled from the get-go, but it took me awhile longer to get used to the idea. Our identical boys will be the first grandsons for in-laws - they've got 13 granddaughters. I had a very uneventful first trimester and most of the second until I took a trip back to Colorado for a conference. That's when I had to go to L&D because of pressure in my pelvic area. I discovered then that I was also having contractions and actually had to cut my trip short, meaning I missed a shower planned by my mother and sister. Since then, I've been fine, but am so attuned to my body that I notice every single little thing that's different. I'm scheduled to have a C-section on August 13th (36 weeks), unless my boys decide to make an earlier appearance.

 

:wavey: Erin!!

I loved reading about you! Sounds like you really enjoy your job and family and life in general. :good:

Have you guys picked out names?

Is the boys room ready?

 

I do love my job and my family...though I have to admit that if the farm made enough profit, I'd quit in a heartbeat :hush:

Yes, we've got names picked out: Andrew Tyler and Samuel Steuart. Andrew for my brother-in-law who has never been married and will likely never have any kids. My brother's name is Tyler Andrew, so we thought we'd go for Tyler for a middle name for Andrew. Ty has two step-kids but none of his own. He's thrilled that one of the babies will have his name in reverse! We both just liked the name Samuel - no connection to anybody in the family there. But because we were worried he'd feel like he was left out of family names, he gets his dad's and grandad's first name as his middle name.

Nursery is finally mostly done. All that's left is to put up the valances and crib skirts/bumpers that my mother is making. I actually picked the color from a Lowes commercial - anyone seen it? It's the one of two parents painting a room while their kids are running amok - when the room is done, the kids are sitting quietly reading books. I loved the color so much that I waited for the commercial to come up again so I could write down the name of the paint color! I don't expect it to be calming necessarily, but I really do like it.

 

:laughing: That commercial is funny! Good luck, I hope that color works on your boys like it does on those kids.

I like the names and why you've picked them. I'm sure your brother/BIL are very honored. :wub:

Next question:

If you could live in any time period, which would it be and why?

 

:wavey: Erin and congratulations on your twin pregnancy!! :good:

WOW your farm/family/ranch sounds amazing!!

Have you had any strange food cravings/aversions during your pregnancy?

 

Hi Erin!!
Wow you are getting close to your c/s date!! :woo: Your ranch sounds Amazing!!

What are you most excited for with Twins? Scared of?

 

Hmmmmm....that's a tough one. I think this is a pretty darn good time period (in general - all serious economic issues aside) - we have opportunities that women have never had before. BUT, I love a good Jane Austen novel and am fascinated by history in general. I would love it if time traveling were available because then I could go and see what life was like but then come back. :spy:

No. And, y'know, that's kind of a bummer! I was looking forward to making DH run to the local Wendy's for a frosty or something. In fact, it's a bit more the opposite - while food doesn't make me feel sick or anything, NOTHING sounds good; I can go to a restaurant and spend 15 minutes looking at the menu and not see a thing that looks appetizing. :unknw:

Another tough one - I guess I'm most scared of having two babies to take care of at once while at the same time excited about having two babies of my own to love forever. Does that make any sense whatsoever? I'm sure I'll manage with the help of family and my loving DH. Another thing I guess I'm afraid of is having two terror-boys (I have a nephew who gives my sister no end of grief, though he *can* be very good). I am getting excited to see what they look like and want to know what they'll be like as they grow up - what they'll choose as their careers, friends they'll have, sports they'll play, etc. I'm basically very impatient. :ibiggrin:

 

What do you guys like to do for fun?

Do you guys travel alot? Where have you all been?

Do you plan on breastfeeding?

 

For fun - we like to be with friends and family. There's a place norht of Baltimore that has live concerts on Sundays. Haven't been this summer, but went a few times last year. We also both ride horses, though since my DH does it for a living, he probably doesn't see it as as much fun as I do. We do like to go for hacks (trail rides) on occasion, though not since I found out about being pregnant. I like going for walks in the woods when it's not deerfly season - Steuart keeps me from getting lost.

Yes, we travel, but I wouldn't say a lot. We have visited my family back in Colorado for the past two Christmases. For our honeymoon, we went to Ireland and Norway (awesome). Now that we'll have twins, I don't forsee any travel in the near future....

Yes, I plan to give breast feeding a serious serious try. I have heard many good stories of people that've been able to, so I'm hopeful. At the same time, we will probably also start using formula along with breast feeding so that my DH can help with the feedings (recommended by a twin mom friend of ours).