March Madness 2009

It is hard to believe that it was just a year ago when Jeni and I sat in our basement watching college basketball games as a distraction to her going into the hospital. Fast forward to now, and we have so much to be thankful for.

Our girls have been battling a couple of colds and an ear infection (for Hope). It has been a series of several long days and nights over the past six weeks, but, the girls seems to be rebounding as best as they can, and developmentally seem on track for their adjusted age. Grace and Hope love to try to crawl. Truth be told, they are maybe able to make two or three steps forward in a row these days, but our positive enouragement eggs them on and they continue to amaze us with their cheerful demmeanor and silly banter. Hope, in particular, seems to be the talkative one, babbling to me, Jeni, and anyone else she happens to encounter throughtout the day. Enjoy the pictures of the girls getting older.


Hope begins to pull up!

We love practicing crawling!

Remembering a Year Ago...

Hope and Grace on New Year's Eve in their "party dresses."

The girls LOVE their Taggie Blankets .


"Smile, Laugh, & Dream All Day"

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you probably have noticed that the writing/content posting has fallen off a bit... ok, A LOT! To be completely honest, as the girls have gotten older, we spend more time with them, and often times after they go down to sleep at night, our collective creative energy is sapped out of us, or is devoted to other areas like school. I also will admit, (I'm blushing as I write this) that I fell victim to another Web 2.0 tool called "Facebook" and have been caught up in the web of reconnecting with former high school and college friends and laughing at silly stuff on there (at times to my wife's chagrin).

Today, however, made me really think about a lot of things, as it was exactly one year ago today that the brilliant perinatologist with the personality of a two-year-old-stale Twinkie, said to Jeni, in his monotone voice, "there is a 50/50 chance that you'll deliver these babies." That image in my mind is contrasted with the images from this evening of Hope and Grace emitting huge belly laughs as Jeni engaged them in "tickle time," Hope sitting on her own for about a minute (granted she doesn't pull herself up quite yet, but is close) and me, here, writing this blog with my dress shirt covered with remnants of bananas, pears, sweet potatoes and rice cereal that were flung at me as the girls tried to grab their own spoons during their evening feeding of solids. So much happens in a year!

The girls also weathered their first cold this week. Both of them were congested and had drippy noses, but smiled and laughed their way through it anyway. Granted, they gave their beloved mommy their cold in the process, but the good news is that they have immune systems that work and that a little cold does not necessarily translate to a plethora of doctor visits and a return to the hospital.

All on all, it's been a roller coaster of a year... a year that I will never forget and a year that has left certain scars in its wake. There are certain things I still haven't been able to do... like read the story, "Goodnight Moon" or finish writing the girls' birth story (although I hope to accomplish this task by April). But there are other worries that I've had that have gone away, almost completely. The girls are currently in Daycare at my school and I get to visit them during my prep period every day. Their caregivers are wonderful and the girls are doing great. A little sniffle and a need to get out the bulb syringe (aka "The Booger Snatcher") is not a cause of great concern. The girls went back to St. Joe's for their "Stepping Stones" follow up appointment and we were told they are right on target given their adjusted birth age. They are small in size, but as my favorite Star Wars character, Yoda, taught us, "size matters not." The good news is they are growing at a good rate and are acting like healthy babies.

All and all, this past year has taught me an invaluable lesson, that Love triumphs over Fear and that we all need Hope and Grace in our lives. Our girls are certainly living up to their names!

Our First Christmas with Grace and Hope

Merry Christmas 2008

For those of you that read this blog often, I tried to do a whole 12 Days of Christmas thing sharing life lessons I've learned from being home with the girls. If I've learned one lesson being on "Daddy Leave," it is probably this- taking care of twins is a lot of fun and a lot of work and the girls come first. Unfortunately, my fun idea quickly went the way of the dodo.

However, I couldn't help but posting some pictures of family fun from our first Christmas. I think the joy and love in the pics and videos speaks for itself and showcases how blessed we are, as a family, to have one another this holiday season.

Mommy and Hope open up a a gift from Uncle Steve and Aunt Cindy on Christmas morning.

Gracie thought the wrapping paper was tasty.

Gracie enjoys her new turtle toy.

Hope enjoys being tickled by Mommy.


Gracie Unwraps a Gift

Deck the Halls...

Gracie enjoys her hat with Mommy.
Hope and Daddy hang an ornament.














More holiday fun is on its way...

Hope and Grace's First Thanksgiving!

The girls are all dressed for dinner

Grandpa Bob enjoys playing with Hope


Needless to say, we have so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving!

Double Digit Girls!

At our doctor's appointment this week we found that Hope is now 12 pounds, 6 ounces and Gracie is a whopping 10 pounds 7 ounces. The girls are growing, and also beginning to teeth.

Enjoy some photos and videos!


Hope tries squash for the first time (top left), Daddy feeds Hope (top right), Gracie has squash on her chin (bottom left)

Daddy Leave- Week #1

I have been blessed with the opportunity to take paternity leave and stay at home with the girlies to help them continue to get big and stay healthy before they go to daycare in January. To say this has been an eye-opening experience for me is an understatement. First off, to anyone who is a stay-at-home parent reading this, you have my utmost admiration and respect- dealing with young children all day is a challenge. That being said, I don't think I've ever done something where I've felt more of a sense of fulfillment at the end of the day or something where I've been able to literally see growth each day. Here are a few fun and humorous observations I've made.

Will's "Daddy Leave" Observations (Week 1):

-Daytime TV is not for me: I'm not a tv guy to begin with, and let's face it, The Price is Right with Drew Carey just isn't the same. Jeni seems to be more of a tv person than me and would tape shows like Friends and Law and Order and watch them while feeding the twins. I have tried Paris Hilton is My New BFF and I think I lasted through about 10 minutes of that dribble. I am not without my guilty pleasure, however, and did tape WWE Monday Night Raw to watch while feeding the girls (I used to be a huge wrestling fan in middle school and college), so I guess I shouldn't criticize those who enjoy the Paris Hilton show or soaps, as wrestling is probably on the same level if not worse than those (and psst, I do like The Office and Seinfeld and, as ashamed as I am to admit it, kinda like The Hills too- although Jeni hates that show).

In an effort to pass time while feeding, I decided to watch The Godfather this week with the girls. I guess that + the wrestling seem sorta manly when feeding babies in boppies. Why aren't there baseball games on or March Madness college hoops???


-Despite Your Best Intentions, Your To-Do List Piles Up:
Monday I awoke with positive ambition. Jeni and I made a "honey-do" list Sunday evening and Jeni just smiled and said, "Good luck" when we wrapped it up. "I'll show her," I thought to myself, "I am Mr. Organized at school, I can take down a to-do list with the best of 'em."

Of the items on the "To-do" list, what has actually been accomplished is the following: write thank you notes for baptism gifts, call Eric, our contractor buddy, to check out the insulation in the attic, bring up my sweaters from the basement, and wash the car. Let's just say that the list is two pages long... needless to say, not much gets done. The reality is the girls need my attention first and foremost. They are up more than they sleep (although they are sleeping about 8+ hours a night now which is AWESOME). Feeding time, story time, tummy time, playroom time (see Gracie above enjoying her time in the "Exersaucer") and settle down time take up most of the day. The simple fact of how quickly the time flies taking care of them is amazing to me. My mom, who lives a mile away, and Jeni have been very supportive of me getting out of the house a bit. An hour and a half of "Daddy time" at the gym is much needed!

Getting the Girls Out is a Challenge:
Jeni got very good at this, but I'll admit, after four days, I'm a rookie. Today I made plans to take the girls to my mom's house for lunch. They were fussy, and it took me nearly an hour to get them settled, into their warm clothes and in their car seats, ready to go. I have been told that this gets easier. Tomorrow we have shots at the pediatrician's office at 10:00, so perhaps I should start the "getting ready to go" around 8:45 if it is anything like today. Daycare in January will be a big challenge, especially since neither Jeni nor I are "morning people" and prefer to stay up later getting stuff done rather than rising and shining before the sun comes up.

The Girls Grow A Bit Each Day:
Out of everything I've witnessed over the past four days, this is by far the best part of "Daddy Leave" and the biggest blessing. Each day Hope is getting a bit better at sitting up. Gracie is enjoying the "Exersaucer" more and more as well. The little things you notice about how the girls are growing and developing make this whole experience one that I will never forget and something I will truly cherish.

Enjoy some more photos from the week!
Daddy gives Gracie a "fauxhawk" hairdo.
Hopester enjoys her "Jumparoo."
While we enjoy our time with Daddy, we all miss Mommy at home. Here Mommy and Hope play with her toy.
Grace is less than 10 pounds currently and is displaying signs of wanting to stand. She's one strong little girl!
Daddy is learning how to dress his daughters in cute, coordinating or matching outfits. It was only after our trip to Granny's house that I was informed that I put Hope's skirt on backwards!