Labor Dabor

As these two pictures can show you, this summer has included the best of times... and, well, the best of times when our darling daughters might not have been having the best of times (as evidenced to the left with Hope being very hungry in her cute pink polo).

Labor Day Weekend has always been a bitter-sweet time for us as teachers. It marks the end of the summer and the beginning of the fall. While traditionally this weekend has come with its share of sadness, this year it proved a reason to rejoice. We were able to take our girls out to a couple of barbecues and show them off to our friends and family. Granted, we arrived, hand-sanitizer in hand, and kept our mantra of making sure no one who was even the least bit under-the-weather go near the girls. People, however, were most respectful and just grateful to see our girls.

Taking the girls out a bit really made us feel like a whole family. The girls keep growing, smiling, and giggling. With all this in mind, this year Labor Day doesn't feel so much like the end of the season, but rather the beginning of a multitude of experiences we're looking forward to.

• Maternity Leave: Jeni made arrangements to start her school year this forthcoming week for four days and then go on maternity leave afterwards. That will be great for her students, as well as for the girls. I am jealous that she will be able to be at home with them until the middle of November, but, at the same time, realize what a true blessing it is for the girls to get some quality time with their wonderful Mommy.
  
  
• Daddy Time: My school year started last Wednesday with my new class arriving, and I've found a dramatic change in my overall rapport since last year. I am running on a lot less sleep, but will trade hours of shut eye any day for the more relaxed attitude I have, knowing that Hope and Grace are healthy and ok. Come mid-November, Jeni and I will trade off, and I'll be able to be home for a month and a half with the girls. While part of me is nervous about this, most of me rejoices in the opportunity to help out and hopefully keep the girls healthy as they continue to grow.
  
  
• A Season of Firsts Awaits Us: Yes, the school year is starting, but yes, fall is coming, and that means all sorts of neat things. Our first family walk on a crisp, cool fall day... the girls watching Daddy rake the leaves... the girls first Halloween... the girls first Thanksgiving and Christmas... these are awesome events that are on the horizon
  
  
• Could a Brewers playoff season in October really happen? : For those of you who have been following this blog since its conception can attest, the Milwaukee Brewers are by far my favorite sports team. On top of that, it has been 26 years since the Brewers were last involved in post-season play (I was 4 years old at the time). I don't want to get my hopes up, as I've resigned myself that this baseball season will be the most memorable I've ever experienced for the sole reason that the games have helped me relax and keep sane during both dark and light-hearted times, but, just for a second, don't you think it would be absolutely poetic if this was the year?!?!
  
  
  
• Being a family rocks: Today was an awesome day for many different reasons. I got to visit with my cousin Erin, her husband Andy, and their newborn son Henry. Henry is a cutie, and this picture below marks the first (of what I hope will be a future series of pictures) with Hope, Grace and their second cousin. It was so nice to see Erin, Andy, Henry and Uncle Dennis and Aunt Teri today. With that same theme of family in mind, we went to our friends Chris and Amanda's Labor Day party this afternoon and enjoyed just hanging out as a family. Simply being able to be at one place with many of our close friends and our two daughters and dog was such a blessing for us all.
  

Jeni, Hope, Will, Grace, Erin & Henry 8-31-08












We had fun at Chris and Amanda's party. Will holds Hope and Jeni hold Gracie as they enjoy the beautiful Lake Michigan water on a glorious afternoon. Maggie also enjoys her time sun bathing in the sand.

Back to School Poem

It's been quite a summer as many of you know,
A most unique summer as we've watched our girls grow,
When school was last in session, both girls were in the NICU,
Now our girls are home, thanks to love and prayers from all of you,
They're growing so fast- some might say growing up to soon,
It's hard to believe Hope's doubled her size since June!
And as for our Grace, I do have to say,
That she is getting more and more expressive each day,
The girls are getting better at controlling their heads,
Now, if only we could get them to be better about going to bed,
They are feeding every three or four hours most times I'd say,
Except for those times they want snacks throughout the day,
As we prepare to go back to work,
We will miss our dear daughters with all of their quirks,
It's been quite a summer- except the problems with sump pumps, toilets and sewers,
But hey, HOW 'BOUT THOSE BREWERS!



Life with the Pipers would like to wish all the moms, dads, kids, teachers, and family who read our blog the best for a great school year. And now, the countdown is on to Jeni's maternity leave in a little over a week. Best of luck to our parents who will be pinch hitting for us throughout the next seven days. For whatever it's worth to the teachers who read this blog, putting together the baby sitting plans for the grandparents makes sub plans for a week-long-absence look like a total breeze!

Constructive Summer

First off, I just want to let our loyal readers know that we are doing wonderfully as a family, but are super busy. Therefore, the blog updates are likely to be less frequent in the weeks ahead as Jeni and I prepare to start our seventh and eighth years of school respectively. Thinking about this fact alone makes me scratch my head... weren't we just School of Ed students at UW-Madison where we met? It is hard to believe that our undergrad training ended so many years ago. It is harder to believe that we are finished with our Master's degrees, and are now considered "veterans" on our teaching staffs even though we have been told that physically we still look like rookies. Speaking of rookies, how can you not smile looking at one of our "true rookies," smiley Gracie (see photo above)?

This whole idea of time passing too quickly relates well to our thoughts dealing with our girls and reflecting upon this summer. Where has the time gone? This is the summer where I've been outside the least, played the least amount of golf, attended the least amount of social events, gone to the gym the least, and yet, feel like I've been the most busy and the most happy. Children change lives for the better, and I am sure that the summer of 2008 will go down in the Piper family annals as the summer where we stopped worrying every time the phone rang and started being parents (who continue to worry, but are blessed not to have to worry quite so much).

We went to the doctor yesterday for our girls' wellness check up, and I left almost crying tears of joy. Hope is now 9 pounds 4 ounces, and Gracie is 7 pounds 2 ounces. Our pediatrician described our girls as "looking excellent" and "ahead of where other preemies often are." Gracie and The Hopester are alert, tracking movements, rolling on their sides, and most importantly growing like weeds! They are acting like term 6 week olds, and spend most of their day sleeping, eating, or, enjoying their favorite activity, being held by Mom or Dad. We are hoping that the girls can even be off their apnea monitors in a week or two!

As Jeni and I scramble to get our classrooms back in order and to prepare for the upcoming school year we are spending increasingly more time away from home, which means that we're taking longer shifts with the girls. I had the blessing of being "Mr. Mom" yesterday and got to hang out with the girls all day while Jeni worked on her classroom. It was a lot of fun (although, I can see how being a stay-at-home-mom is a full-time job). Gracie and Hope went through three outfits each in the time Jeni was gone. We did, however, have a grand time playing airplane and watching the Brewers defeat the Astros. It was nice that we had visitors today who came and helped out and provided us with lots of laughs and smiles. Our good friend Sue and her family visited this morning and our friends Chris and Ros this evening. Everyone who comes over comments on how big the girls are, which is a stark contrast from early comments from people about how tiny they looked in the NICU.

In closing, as our summer of newborns comes to a close, I reflect upon the many lessons I've learned. Here are a few of them.

• Schedules are relative: I love being organized and living my life on a schedule. Hope and Grace do not share their father's same need for structure. Eating dinner at 9:30 at night and breakfast at 10:30 in the morning is ok sometimes. Even on days when we do have things planned, those plans often fly straight out the window!
  
• Live in the moment: When the girls want to play, play with them. When they want to sleep take a nap. Normally I live by the motto, "make a plan and see it though." Hope and Grace have taught me that it's ok to have a plan, but that seeing that plan through in stages is just fine. I've learned to live with piles of laundry in the living room and a plethora of bottles and dishes daily in the sink. We do our best to pick the place up in the morning, but the girls come first.
  
• You are only a baby once: As the girls continue to grow so fast, it dawns on me that they are going through their infant stage for the first and only time in their lives. I've been told to enjoy the girls being babies and cherish the lack of sleep, take lots of pictures, sing plenty of silly songs, and rejoice in the filled diapers and screams in the middle of the night. Our babies are acting like... well, babies :)

Enjoy some photos!









Mom and Dad enjoy a moment with sleepy Hope. Most of the time these days she looks ready to party!





Gracie looks alert as she checks out her Mommy and Daddy.

4 Months Old and Summer Musings

There are some things for all of us that signal the end of summer. For some it might be the first sign of leaves turning. For others, the coming of Labor Day might be summer's symbolic end. Still for others, perhaps it is the start of the NFL football season and pre-season games. For Jeni and me, as teachers, it is always THE "back-to-school" letter our principal/division head. Jeni got hers a week ago and mine arrived in the mail today. This time of year, as a teacher, phone calls and emails begin to pick up... colleagues are eager to share their summer experiences and thoughts on how to improve for the upcoming year... kids begin making their way back to school and the parking lots of places like Target and Office Max resemble a Sunday game at Miller Park.

The arrival of my "back to school letter" today made me a little reflective about how fast this summer has gone. I know that many teachers complain about the summer flying, but for me, I have never experienced time going so fast. As of today, Hope weighs in at 8 pounds, 3 ounces, and Gracie, 6 pounds, 11 ounces. Both girls are 19 inches long. Putting this in perspective, Hope was close to 5 pounds when she left the NICU and Gracie was about 4 and 1/2 pounds. In the short time from June until now, both girls have grown tremendously. The home nurse today said she couldn't be more pleased! And to think, starting this summer, both girls were in the NICU.



Whose socks are whose? Hope and Grace sleep in pretty much the same position.







Daddy and Gracie enjoy some much needed shut eye.









Gracie is happy (for the moment) in her bouncy seat.











What's the Hopester looking at???





Here are some things I've learned in my first summer as a dad.

• Sleep is a valuable commodity and something to be cherished.
• Take joy in simple things... watching my daughters smile and look at me wide-eyed is about the coolest thing I've ever experienced.
• Nothing makes me feel more joyful than seeing Hope and Grace happy... likewise, nothing makes me more confused, and at times sad, than seeing them upset and not knowing what the problem is or how I can fix it.
• Twins are a lot of work... twins also bring a lot of joy. It is cool seeing a friendship develop between grunts and squawks in the Pack 'N Play or watching them scoot close to each other when enjoying their "tummy time".
• Having the girls on monitors is not nearly as scary as it seems.
• A peaceful, uninterrupted meal is a thing of the past... for some reason both girls like to squeal, squawk and cry whenever we're eating.
• I never knew how much I could do one handed.
• Staying up to watch the Brewers night games when they're playing the west coast teams is easy... the "graveyard shift feeding" after you've been asleep for 4 hours is hard.
• My buddies have become "uncles" and where their visits year ago involved grabbing my golf club and trekking out to a course for the day, their visits now include taking lots of pictures of the girls and in some cases swapping stories about each others' kids.
  
• Miracles work. For a long time I didn't think the day would come that these girls would be home, let alone growing and doing well. I cannot begin to express how grateful I am to God for this blessing and for the hundreds (and maybe even thousands) of people who have held our little family in their thoughts and prayers.
  

The Boxing of the Preemie Clothes

When Hope and Grace were born weighing 2 pounds 5 ounces for Hope and 2 pounds even for Grace, the last thing I ever thought was that they would ever outgrow their clothes. Yesterday, I got hit with a beautiful reality... Jeni began boxing up the girls preemie clothes. Both Hope and Grace have outgrown their first set of outfits! As Hope inches up on the 8 pound mark, and Grace is now over 6 pounds, the preemie outfits which are good through 5 pounds are no longer useful, and have hence been replaced by the newborn outfits (and in some cases the smaller 0-3 month attire).

While watching Jeni box the clothes made me grin from ear to ear at first, upon further reflection, I realized this is somewhat of a bittersweet experience. Our babies, slowly but surely, are growing up. Reading our loyal readers from Cleveland, Laurie and Jeff's blogs about their son Joey turning 5 and looking at their chronology of photos and experiences made me realize the fact that our family is never going to be any younger than it is right now, right here, today. As people of all ages, we are constantly growing older.

Scrolling back through our own blog (something that frankly I rarely do), I located the picture and post about Gracie wearing her first outfit... a purple preemie suit that was too big for her. Nowadays, Gracie is styling in her newborn clothes and Hope may make the transition into 3-6 month old attire before we know it. One thing's for certain... watching Hope and Gracie grow is such a blessing for their mom and dad to watch!


Jeni places some of our preemie outfits into a shoe box (this will give you a scope of how small these clothes actually are). We plan on donating them to the St. Joseph's Family Care NICU in an effort to help "pay it forward" to families of premature children who will delight in seeing their girls dressed for the first time, just as we delighted in seeing our girls in outfits.



(Pictures below:)

To the left , Gracie in her first outfit.


To the right, Gracie in the last preemie outfit that fits her comfortably, her "Vitamins" outfit (that Hope wore for our birth announcement).