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.

Happy Birthday!

January - February 2008

The twins started the new year as ferocious as ever (though with a mild detour thanks to some RSV). This wildlife photography was taken by nanny Analisa.


In February, we celebrated their first birthday. Thanks to a very busy work schedule and three consecutive bouts of the flu, the party was kept very simple. They enjoyed their first cupcake. Zoe put the whole cupcake in her mouth. JR, always the epicurean, dipped his finger in the frosting before diving in to the rest.

Merry First Christmas!

December 2007

My feeble attempts to dress Zoe & JR as Christmas icons (e.g., reindeer) were thwarted, as they kept removing the antlers.

They were cooperative in wearing some awesome pajama-like love and kisses outfits and their growth finally slowed down so taht they could wear an outfit more than once without outgrowing it!





We took a trip to Utah to visit family and you will note that there are no pictures of this trip on the blog. Traveling with twins is a real challenge (an understatement) and traveling with twins with double ear infections was even more challenging. Hence, no pictures.

Nevertheless, we were able to celebrate the birth of Christ at home in Texas. The twins were quite excited about their new red wagon. It was the highlight of the day (since the rest of us were sick with the stomach flu). The next day, I flew out to Harlingen, Texas to represent an immigrant from Mogadishu, Somalia who was seeking asylum--leave it to the U.S. government to do such convenient trial scheduling.

Mushies and Sleep Deprivation

November 2007

The twins continued to grow in November 2007 and became expert eaters. I'd say about 85% of the "mushies" ended up on their face, their high chair, or the floor.

We were finally able to get out of the house with increasing regularity and our trip to visit the dinosaurs was a big hit (really, they just skipped their nap and we had to get out or they were going to tear the house down).
Zoe modeled a stylish black velvet dress with leopard print tights and JR sported a zip up sweater with cords. We have come a long way from the all-day pajama party.

And yet, thanks for the illnesses, we continued the all night parties. This aspect of preemie twin parenting was not the highlight of happiness.

Trouble in the Making

September - October 2007

As Zoe & JR grew, so did their amazing ability to get into trouble. As you can see, Zoe also like the exersaucer (she especially liked jumping in it so it would make VERY loud noises while mommy was on conference calls).

They also liked to drink and drink and drink from their yummy bottles. Mommy and daddy were almost broke from their $300+/month formula bill.

In September, Zoe had to get a helmet to correct her plagiocephaly from being on the bottom of the twin pregnancy. She had the helmet on until January 2008. I took a trip to Hobby Lobby (a craft store) to buy stickers to decorate it with--that should tell you how much I love my kids. It was my first trip to a craft store and boy was it intimidating.

JR got his first teeth in September and Zoe's followed in October. They ran their first race (a 1K fun run) for the Susan G. Komen Foundation in October 2007. All in all, the fall was a fun and busy time (you will note that I have left out all sorts of details on illness since that was such a miserable time that I do not want to relive it--I've included a timeline with medical links in the panel next to the blog).

Exercise and Fashion

June - August 2007
Months four through six brought even more excitement. I finally discovered that I probably shouldn't leave them in pajamas 24-hours / day so Zoe became a fashionista and started showing off her beautiful dresses (and belly button).

JR discovered the exersaucer, which as you can see from his face is true wonderment.

JR also learned that sister's arm is pretty tasty and that the world looks very different upside down.

Zoe learned that she could short out the telephone if she splashed enough water outside of the baby tub on the counter. We switched to the big tub shortly thereafter.

After a diligent nanny search (and some serious divine intervention), our family was blessed with a wonderful nanny--Analisa--who agreed to take care of the children on Tuesdays and Thursdays. And with that fantastic part-time work arrangement, I returned to work at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP after six months of maternity leave.

Settling In at Home

March 2007

Zoe & JR had no trouble settling in at home. They lived in a pack n' play for about five months until my college roommate (Rachel) came to visit and in no uncertain terms told me they deserved a crib!

April 2007

After keeping the babies under lock and key from even the most well-meaning visitors, at the very end of April 2007 we finally took them to church to be blessed by their daddy. This picture of them sleeping was the sweetest. I left out the 50+ other pictures were they were beet red and screaming at the top of their lungs.

May 2007

The babies gave their first real smile on mother's day (I had given them an ultimatum and they obligatorily performed as I was putting them to sleep at 11:55 p.m. on mother's day). Their personalities were really shaping up--JR was the calm, steady type and Zoe was the passionate, unpredictable type. In this picture, JR is making his "cheerio" face, a face that he did all the time because he wasn't too crazy about eating his bottle at first because of his reflux. We then met the miracle of Simply Thick (a fibrous milk thickener) and he was eating the adult-equivalent of three gallons of milk a day!

Just like her daddy, Zoe quickly learned how to charm me right before I was about to kill her for being so difficult!