Summertime

For a month I've felt bad that my current post was "The Scream." It turns out the boys had terrible sore throats which turned into terrible colds. Teething, on the other hand, isn't so bad. Between the two of them they now boast 10 teeth.

On a more positive note, after we recovered from the 2 week cold and restocked all of the boxes of kleenex in the house, we've had a lot of fun. Here are some of the highlights.


Sam likes to ride around the house in his backpack and do chores with me instead of taking his late afternoon nap. He loves to pull my hair and steal the phone from me but he is a very good listener! In this picture he's saying "Giddyup, Mom!"
Here are some pictures our our first family picnic. Mom and Dad didn't have time to eat anything and the babies' menu was oatmeal, applesauce and sweet potatoes.



Here my friend and I are still alive after kayaking on the Potomac. Supposedly downstream was going to be easier than up, but the current was so strong it pulled us in all the wrong directions. We finally figured out how to go in a straight line and made it back to the dock!

Life is good. The boys are sweet. I love my husband and summertime!

Teething Times Two

Need I say more? Both babies are screaming and I'm getting close to joining them. Orajel doesn't work. Motrin takes forever to kick in. Which baby with tears streaming down their cheeks and imploring looks in their eyes do I pick up to comfort? The one who's so hysterical they're choking - until the other one becomes that way, then we switch. Good times.

"Semo," I mean Sammy

Who can believe this boy is sitting up? Wasn't he just a newborn, almost unable to keep his eyes open, with the highest pitched cry I've ever heard? Now he's grown into such a big kid. He loves books and really looks at them and takes time to play with and turn the pages. His favorite toy is my pony tail and the poor guy got both of his bottom teeth on the same day last week. He is a giggle factory when his dad comes home from work and looks at him as if to say, "Come on! Do Something funny! What funny thing are you going to do next?" He is the most adorable little baby and it's absolute magic when his eyes light up.



We've started calling him "Nemo" because one of his eyes looks like it's lazy. Can you see what I mean when compared to M's eyes in this picture? His eyes never seem to be looking at the same thing. It's now known as his "lucky eye" and we're waiting for an appointment at Children's Hospital with a good ophthalmologist. Wanna know how many attempts before I spelled that correctly? It makes him even more precious to us and we hope he can fully see this beautiful world around him.



I've had the car this week (I guess it's still only Tuesday) and we went out for 1 hour yesterday. It was enough to delay the afternoon nap one hour and throw the babies into utter exhaustion. They went down for the night around 10pm and so we ate hamburgers and corn on the cob for dinner at about 10:15.
My friend with 3 year old twins says the first year is pretty much spent at home, and then the whole potty training phase is pretty much at home too. I guess that gives us a one year window to paint the town red! Good thing I have two energetic helpers! We'll do a lot more exploring and they will eventually learn to nap out of their cribs.

Dancing Cheek to Cheek

Heaven, I'm in heaven . . . dancing cheek to cheek with my baby! M. loves to dance with me and he doesn't even step on my feet. I don't have a picture of us dancing as I haven't mastered the one-handed self-portrait, but I had to write about my sweet boy.

Our first dance was when he was a couple of weeks old and he would not stop crying. I took him out on our patio to look at the snow on the pine trees and feel the fresh air. I sang Anne Murray's "Can I Have This Dance For the Rest of My Life" and he calmed right down. Ever since then, he has loved dancing. He can do the box step ("Stars Fell on Alabama"), foxtrot (Love Was Meant for You and Me"), and the cha cha.

He has the softest cheeks in the entire world and, if I had the time, we would spend all day dancing cheek to cheek! Here's to my cuddly baby boy! Thank you loving to dance with me!

Meet Me in St. Louis

Last week we had quite the adventure -and a lot of fun flying to St. Louis for a family reunion. With a baby on each lap, Josh and I hoped they wouldn't cry for the entire flight, and surprise, they were angels! The flight home was a little more rocky, but they were seriously sleep deprived. They napped in the car and drank bottles while I sat between their car seats, but we did it.

Some reunion highlights were Sam's first time swimming and Michael's entertaining the entire family with his jabber and smiles. We took a historic family history tour of St. Louis, narrated by Mom and Dad, stopped at Ted Drew's, went to the zoo, and saw fireworks. Every family member was there and it was so fun to be all together! We love you family!

Now we're recovering at home. Michael has 2 new teeth and Sam is working on his first. More pictures to come once they flash those pearly whites!

Catch Up

I won't even attempt to describe the last 6 months. The birth of Michael and Samuel was the most amazing experience followed by the most demanding time of my life. Trying to nurse and take care of two newborns while healing from a c-section and the general drain of a twin pregnancy was more than I thought I could handle, but it has been full of beautiful and joyful moments.

Six months after their birth I feel like we are getting into a groove and it is awesome! The boys are rolling over and turning pages of books. They laugh when we tickle them and they get excited when their dad gets home from work each night, anxious to play. They're already starting solid foods and are teething.

Their blessing was February 25 and church was canceled due to a snow storm. We didn't find out it was canceled until we were already on our way there. Because our parents were already in town and almost to the church, we went ahead with the blessing. There were only about 50 people in the chapel and we were able to choose our own opening hymn, "I Believe in Christ," and have our close friends and family participate in the blessings. We were so full of joy and couldn't believe this day had finally arrived.


Mother's Day and Father's Day were incredible and we feel so blessed. The pangs of loneliness we'd experienced previously on those days were replaced with tears of joy and gratitude. We are having so much fun now and are so thankful for our little family. The boys are so sweet and so fun. They wake us up each morning with their squeals and laughter and burst into smiles when they see us. We are all in one bedroom right now: one queen size bed and two cribs, and it will be a sweet sweet memory when it ends.

Here are the latest and greatest pictures of the boys.


















For the record, here's the last picture we took of how huge I was before they were born.

The Background Info

Here is my first blog. We thought we'd better set this up to be able to share all of our upcoming pictures of the most beautiful twins ever born. The big day is next Tuesday, December 12, if not before. Here are some pictures of the pregnancy to get you warmed up! The picture to the left was all the way back in October when I was "huge!" Then there's our crib that was surprisingly delivered 3 weeks early and Dad got it all set up and ready to go in a couple of hours! There's a daddy sock and a baby sock, and me trying to eat my chili last night. Every shirt I own has stains on the belly!

Tomorrow is what we hope will be the last doctor's appointment before the c-section next Tuesday. Unless the breech baby turns around in his very crowded home, the c-section will be inevitable. The 7-day countdown has begun! After waiting 7 years, this week seems to be going incredibly slowly!

We thank you all for your excitment and prayers for us. This has been a miracle year. We'll keep you updated!