The Best Christmas Present Ever!

A Christmas Surprise

Although Alex was due on December 25, 2008, he made an early appearance on December 11, 2008 at 4:15 p.m. He weighed 7 pounds 11 ounces, was 19 inches, and (as our ultrasounds showed) had lots of hair and chubby cheeks. Just as with the twins, my liver decided it could take no more pregnancy so it stopped working (called cholestasis of pregnancy) and we had an early c-section. It's a good thing too, since I was beginning to look like a "before" picture for a contestant on "The Biggest Loser" (see attached photographic evidence; my waist was 47 inches). The c-section was unpleasant because my anesthesiologist decided to exclude the most potent pain killer from the epidural--I'm now a big fan of general anesthesia. Although Alex was born with transient tachypnia (a breathing disorder), two blood tests and a chest xray in the first 24 hours convinced the doctors that he wouldn't have to go to the NICU. So, the contrast of premie v. full term was stark: they left Alex in my room for as long as I wanted; they didn't seem to care how much I fed him or how long I held him, and they even let us take him home from the hospital when I was discharged on December 15. Frankly, it seemed almost reckless the way they trusted us with our newborn (compared to the constant vigilence of the NICU). That said, I'll take a full termer any day. Alex is our angel baby and we are so blessed!

Baby #3 - Arrival

So. We decided to wrap up the pregnancy thing and move ahead with the baby thing. I think it's a wise step, as it will certainly ensure that daddy gets that last little nudge to push him over the cliff. :-)

Mommy with #3: Alexander

Twins meet their little brother . . . who weighs nearly as much as they did combined.

Hi baby. We're rascals . . . and we're really good at it (lots of practice). We can teach you to be rascally too. It'll be a lot of fun for us. Maybe less so for mommy and daddy.

Can I borrow your hat?

I think this hat would like nice on big brother too.

Let the fun begin!

Diapers are fun. Boxes too.

Childhood isn't so bad. It can be a lot of fun actually. At least that's what the twins tell me.

Diapers are also very helpful and diaper boxes have so many uses too.

Looks like fun. The Zilla gives it a shot next.

Definitely fun. But the JRex wants his box back. Please.

Easygoing

In the days leading up to the arrival of baby #3, we're just amazed at how easygoing the twins are . . . almost as easygoing as their father. Who is of course, known for his easygoingness.

Right?

We'll let the picture guide you in your own assessment.

Not yet convinced? I understand. Really. I do. Mommy doesn't look too easygoing, but she can't help it . . . it has something to do with redheads. Or so I've observed.

Haircuts and Kisses

November 2008

JR had his first haircut at the beginning of November. Although it pained me to have his beautiful curls shortened, after several people commented on my beautiful twin girls when I was waiting in line to vote, I decided it was time. JR was a little terrified when I sat him in the race car chair at the salon and he clung to my neck crying. After a few minutes of me kneeling next to the chair while Zoe removed every hair product that was for sale on the display, he finally relaxed and watched the Barney video that they had put in front of him. Zoe did not get her hair cut, so she just looked on quizzically. When we got home, she ran to our bathroom, pulled out my hairbrush, and started brushing her hair.

In protest to the election, John has been brushing up on his Second Amendment rights. JR is starting slow, with the gentle Nerf gun. He has, however, found another interesting hobby--reorganizing daddy's shoes.

Finally, the twins have become amazingly verbal and understand just about everything. Aside from the standards (daddy, mommy, Heidi (aunt Heidi), nana (grandma), Anna (nanny Analisa)), they have added to their vocabulary Sasha, Wally (pronounced Wa-We), airplane, shoulder, and every animal sound imaginable (quack quack, neigh, moo (pronouned mmmm), baa baa, being the favorites), among many others. They even understand when we tell them to give each other a kiss--as you can see from the picture above, JR's kisses are a little wet! Gratefully, nanny Analisa has been improving on Zoe & JR's creative side--teaching them to fingerpaint, color, and make crafts. They always look forward to Tuesdays and Thursdays (they noted that mommy is somewhat artistically impaired).

Pumpkins, Longhorns, & Llamas

October 2008

October was full of Halloween and pumpkin delight. In Dallas, Halloween and petting farms are synonymous. Zoe & JR were able to meet longhorns, llamas, and goats. We went to the state fair with Grandpa Brown and Grandma Linda--and there we met even more delightful animals (the potbellied pig was a big hit). We hosted a reunion party with the families from our multiples childbirth class that we took in January 2007--the twins had all really grown up!

Zoe & JR particularly liked the hayride at the Big Orange Pumpkin farm. They enjoyed it so much that they ran across an entire field of pumpkins so they could do a repeat ride.

We also enjoyed the fabulous fall weather. One day we decided to take a trip to Chick Fil A to visit their play area for lunch. We walked in and Zoe dashed across the restaurant to a table with another family. She pulled up a chair, sat down, and started eating the unsuspecting patron's waffle fries. After apologizing profusely, I carried Zoe away kicking and screaming to order our food. Once we ate our food, we visited the play area, which was a kid-sized maze of tubes and mini-gym equipment. All was well until JR became terrified of the bigger kids and started sobbing in the middle of one of the tubes. I tried to coax him down to no avail--I ended up having to crawl with my gigantic belly through the series of miniature tubes to rescue him.

Finally, we celebrated Halloween. JR was a dragon and Zoe was a cowgirl. I attempted to buy Zoe cowboy boots to make the outfit, but she refused--Cavendar's Boot City was resonating with Zoe's hysterical screaming as I tried to put boots on her little feet (we opted for her regular shoes instead). And as you will see from the pictures, JR has continued his household chore specialization (this time with a broom and mop, rather than vacuum), even in costume.

September 2008
JR discovered the most incredible toy in the universe--the vacuum. This all began in August, when JR would see his Daddy vacuuming the house. Then one day I was searching the house high and low trying to find escapee JR and ultimately found him in the back of the coat closet--hugging the vacuum. The next day I was downstairs and suddenly heard the vacuum turn on upstairs: JR was vacuuming the house (with the big vacuum). We decided the big vacuum was a little unwieldy, so Toys 'R Us saved us with this toy vacuum. JR loves it and won't part with it (he even carried it home on his car seat from the toy store). Zoe has stolen the vacuum on a few occasions, once even jumping out of the tub early and vacuuming in the nude while I dried off a screaming and hysterical JR. Needless to say, the vacuum has its ups and downs, but it's here to stay.

Meanwhile, Zoe has been busy practicing the piano. She is starting with the primary songbook.


Grandma came to visit in September and we had a fantastic time visiting the Arboretum and running through the frog fountains, riding on the teacup ride at the Grapevine Festival, and dancing to our favorite musical, "Wicked."

Eighteen Months & Counting

August 2008

In August, the twins celebrated their 18 month birthday. Zoe said the cupcake was quite delicious.

They sported their swimming gear (goggles in particular) outside of the pool. Nanny Analisa helped JR practice his superhero skills. They also like to wear their goggles at church. As you can imagine, that's startling to many.

Summer was also an important time to practice computer skills and getting-into-trouble skills. Zoe found the pantry to be a ripe source of trouble.

JR thought Daddy's granola was delicious.

Little Swimmers

June - July 2008
The Texas summer was HOT and we took advantage of it by spending lots of time at the pool. I would hold one twin on each hip together in the pool but frequently Zoe would escape and then do a kamikaze dive into the deep end. Once she did this, I had JR in one arm, caught Zoe in the other arm, then we all sunk to the bottom of the pool (60 pounds of toddler and undisclosed weight of me and baby#3 did not lead to great flotation). We quickly resurfaced while I frantically kicked--both of my arms were full of baby--to the shallow end. The twins thought this was very funny and giggled forever, while I tried to recover from shock. As always, JR strikes a GQ pose with the garden hose.

Zoe & Daddy objected to getting their picture taken here. Zoe is holding her favorite stuffed animal toy--Dr. Seuss's Fox in Socks.

Zoe spent most of her summer reading books.

And they both selectively got into lots and lots of trouble. See the fruits of JR's labors below.

Bluebonnets and Meningitis

March - May 2008

Texas springtimes are fantastic and the good weather brought a great deal of happiness. In March, the twins learned how to walk. They also learned how to turn on the water at the bathtub, a very important skill.

In April, we were able to enjoy the Texas Bluebonnets. We also discovered (at the very end of April) that we were expecting a surprise baby #3.

In May, JR got meningitis to celebrate mother's day. This was the picture of the morning after his worst night. At the time, we didn't know JR had meningitis. We discovered this a week later when John was hospitalized after a spinal tap revealed he had viral meningitis. After everyone healed up, they spent lots of time climbing in and out of the doggie door.