We're Two - Happy Birthday!

Twins only turn two once, and we celebrated with their favorite theme--Dr. Seuss! Our friend DeeDee Lewis (http://www.ddthecakelady.com/) made an amazing Fox in Socks cake, of which the children ate two pieces and I ate the rest (I was trying to save them from my sugar addiction). Altogether, this was a very fun day (except for the speeding ticket that I received that morning).

Balloons were hugely popular, second only to their new big red cars. Thank goodness John realized that this was a toy that we needed two of--he picked up an extra on his way home from work. Thanks Grandpa for the awesome gift!

We Love Birthday Cards

Zoe & JR received some fun birthday cards for their birthday. As you can see, they loved them!

Alex has now entered the hall of fame for easiest baby ever. He likes bath time too.

Little Panda Chunk

Can you believe Alex is one month old? He weighed in at 10 pounds 4 ounces at his doctor appointment a week and a half ago. Today, he weighs almost 12 pounds 8 ounces! This explains why Michelle never gets any sleep . . . someone is on an all-day all-night buffet.

Happy New Year 2009

New Ways to Find Trouble, Trouble, Trouble . . .


The new year has brought much joy and much creativity. For example, you could steal your baby brother's pacifier. You could paint your face blue so you look like a smurf.

You could give your brother a kiss and then bounce a hard plastic batman toy off his head, all the while grinning from ear to ear.

You could give your brother a kiss and then tiger claw his face, resulting in a poor little shocked baby!

Alternatively, you could hold him and cuddle him and give him lots of love. Many thanks go out to grandma, for surviving three weeks with three under two. A typical day would go something like this: after staying up all night, Michelle would sit nursing angel baby Alex in her cozy chair; meanwhile, she would say "grandma, Zoe is crawling out the dog door; grandma, JR is dancing on the dining room table; grandma, Zoe is climbing on top of the piano; grandma, JR is sitting in the fireplace . . . . " and so on and so on. Then, at the end of the day, grandma and Michelle would sit watching reruns of the TV series Alias. Could you imagine more fun than that? Thanks a million grandma.

Merry Christmas 2008!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas 2008 was incredible. With a two week old baby and twins (and four-legged kiddos) who love to unwrap presents, we had a wonderful day to celebrate the birth of Christ. My mom arrived shortly after Alex was born and stayed with us through the end of December. Zoe & JR loved their new personalized chairs from Grandma, their baby strollers, and their twin race car track. We were also able to celebrate with my sister, her fiance, and her future mother-in-law--it was a great day to celebrate with family and to reflect on our many blessings.

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!