Bath Time! a video by Nathan A on Flickr.
Both Siena and Névé have come to love post-dinner bath time. Here they are having a little fun in the tub.
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Sunday, September 2, 2012
Siena almost Crawls
Siena almost Crawls a video by Nathan A on Flickr.
As some may have seen on Facebook, Siena has gotten very close to crawling the last three days. She was all over the place in the living room this morning. Thankfully, Dawn just finished rearranging things to make the room more friendly for baby explorers. Now, to see how long until Névé follows after her little sister in the crawling department. Usually, it doesn't take her long at all. The next few days should be interesting!
Friday, August 31, 2012
Six Months Old!
It's hard to believe that a full six months have passed since the girls were born. Wait - seven months now - it's taken me a month to get to posting this.....
What to say? The girls are doing great. Both learn so much every day, their giggles and laughs and squeals and squeaks increasing along with their proficiency for picking up a chunk of steak or a piece of carrot. Watching them grow has been the most rewarding experience of my life thus far. Taking care of them while they grow - one of the toughest.
It seems I hear two things from parents of infants. In public, it's usually "my child is so great and did this and did that and they are so wonderful and I love being a parent!" (while said kid sits in a sandbox eating a cat turd). In private, the horror and war stories come out;
"the little shit screams non-stop for three hours during my favorite TV time of the day, and then proceeds to scream for four hours non-stop starting at 1am!"
"Little Johnny was like a park fountain, spraying liquid from both orifices, all over the bills and tax papers sitting on the table! Then he bit me!"
"Yep, kid just picked up the ninja throwing star and hucked it at me. Good aim for a six month old - just grazed my ear. Maybe I shouldn't have left that next to his high chair....."
"I think the twins are ganging up on me! Ahhhhhhhh!"
There definitely is a love / 'not liking so much at this time right now' relationship with infants. You never stop loving them, no matter what they do. It doesn't mean you have to smile through it all, though. The outside world generally only gets to see the good times through pictures and videos. Well, I guess I've included some of the bad stuff too (I find it funny at times). It's all part of the experience in my eyes. The good and the bad. And yes, any parent who says, "what bad?", is absolutely full of shit.
Now, here's the part where I get to sound like a proud parent: we have been blessed with some incredible little girls. Many of the issues and problems that we hear others complain about don't register with our little family. The girls are both so well-mannered, happy, and joyful babies. Except for the occasional hiccup, they really have no problems with sleeping or eating, are easy to cheer up when they get grumpy, and usually have a smile for you, even if you're a perfect stranger.
They also burp and fart and tend to slobber on themselves a lot. Don't tell anyone, but sometimes they still mess their diapers, too! Siena has been having some issues with her eyes, in the morning looking much like mine did in college upon waking after a previous full day of football and tailgating. Névé still has remnants of her cradle cap on the top of her head, reminding me of the friendly alien from "The Last Starfighter". Both girls can be a handful in the evening before bed, Névé refusing to finish her dinner while Siena whines about a bloated belly. So no, they aren't perfect, but we love them exactly how they are. The next six months with these girls is going to be a lot of fun!
What to say? The girls are doing great. Both learn so much every day, their giggles and laughs and squeals and squeaks increasing along with their proficiency for picking up a chunk of steak or a piece of carrot. Watching them grow has been the most rewarding experience of my life thus far. Taking care of them while they grow - one of the toughest.
It seems I hear two things from parents of infants. In public, it's usually "my child is so great and did this and did that and they are so wonderful and I love being a parent!" (while said kid sits in a sandbox eating a cat turd). In private, the horror and war stories come out;
"the little shit screams non-stop for three hours during my favorite TV time of the day, and then proceeds to scream for four hours non-stop starting at 1am!"
"Little Johnny was like a park fountain, spraying liquid from both orifices, all over the bills and tax papers sitting on the table! Then he bit me!"
"Yep, kid just picked up the ninja throwing star and hucked it at me. Good aim for a six month old - just grazed my ear. Maybe I shouldn't have left that next to his high chair....."
"I think the twins are ganging up on me! Ahhhhhhhh!"
There definitely is a love / 'not liking so much at this time right now' relationship with infants. You never stop loving them, no matter what they do. It doesn't mean you have to smile through it all, though. The outside world generally only gets to see the good times through pictures and videos. Well, I guess I've included some of the bad stuff too (I find it funny at times). It's all part of the experience in my eyes. The good and the bad. And yes, any parent who says, "what bad?", is absolutely full of shit.
Now, here's the part where I get to sound like a proud parent: we have been blessed with some incredible little girls. Many of the issues and problems that we hear others complain about don't register with our little family. The girls are both so well-mannered, happy, and joyful babies. Except for the occasional hiccup, they really have no problems with sleeping or eating, are easy to cheer up when they get grumpy, and usually have a smile for you, even if you're a perfect stranger.
They also burp and fart and tend to slobber on themselves a lot. Don't tell anyone, but sometimes they still mess their diapers, too! Siena has been having some issues with her eyes, in the morning looking much like mine did in college upon waking after a previous full day of football and tailgating. Névé still has remnants of her cradle cap on the top of her head, reminding me of the friendly alien from "The Last Starfighter". Both girls can be a handful in the evening before bed, Névé refusing to finish her dinner while Siena whines about a bloated belly. So no, they aren't perfect, but we love them exactly how they are. The next six months with these girls is going to be a lot of fun!
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| Many more pictures can be found on my Flickr Site and also on both Dawn and mine's Facebook pages |
Abendessen - Dinner with the Twins
Abendessen - Sm a video by Nathan A on Flickr.
The girls are doing great, and rest assured, they have gotten better at eating! I will try to do another video short of the twins soon!
Monday, June 25, 2012
Growing
It’s another sunny day in our neighborhood, following rain. The garden is doing well and the girls are growing just as fast.
We were in the doctor last about a week and a half ago for Nate, but weighted the girls while in the room. On June 15th, Névé weighted 15lbs and 1 oz, and Siena weighted 16lbs and 14oz. You can tell the difference when you pick each girl up, but it feels like a 5lbs difference.
They are both very active, Névé still kicking a lot, standing with help and now doing a winging thing with her arms. She also now hits her belly like an angry gorilla, just missing Naomi Watts. Siena likes to stand, bounce and blow bubbles. Plus, Siena is a rolling machine.
In other exciting news, we have started Infant Potty Training. They are now in week three and are doing really well. We started the girls at about 4.5 months and were impressed at how well it worked on the first day. Siena gives us several signals and even yells if we aren’t paying attention. She can even wait a little bit too, quite impressive. Névé, on the other hand, gives a sign occasionally. We have to watch when she eats to offer her times to go. She can be pretty good during the day. This has saved us many diapers, which is big pay back, plus they learn it’s good to go.
On Saturday, we also decided to offer the girls real food to taste and feel. We fed them a little sweet potato and let them explore. It was a messy good time and bathes were had by both girls. Siena is ready for some real food, but Névé isn’t quite ready. They both take some food and put into their mouths, mostly Siena. With a little more practice they’ll figure it out. For now, just practicing while we eat is good. They are learning the ASL signs for eating, so maybe one day they will tell us they are hungry instead of the hungry cry.
Well, I think that’s most of our recent updates. The girls go in for their six month check up at the end of July. And we are all looking forward to an exciting summer and mountains.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Afternoon Playtime
14 June - Afternoon Playtime a video by Nathan A on Flickr.
Monday, June 4, 2012
053112 - The Twins Talk 1
053112 - The Twins Talk 1 a video by Nathan A on Flickr.
Neve Rolls Over
Neve Rolls Over a video by Nathan A on Flickr.
02 June 12 - Neve Sneezes
02 June 12 - Neve Sneezes a video by Nathan A on Flickr.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Névé Having Fun in Her Bouncy Chair
Neve in bouncy chair a video by Nathan A on Flickr.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Home Alone with the Little Ones
I don't have much time here. It's just after 12:30PM and both girls have gone down for a nap, which I'm sure will be brief. Hopefully I can get to a couple of things on my 'to do' list while they are sleeping. I find that feeding infant twins is similar to being one of those guys who balances and spins plates on thin sticks. You are always hurrying back and forth in order to avoid imminent disaster. In the case of the twins, this entails trying to keep a bottle in each girls mouth, something they are absolutely no good at on their own at this point. One will be peacefully sucking down her milk, while the other is crying due to her uncontrollable kung fu arms violently bashing the bottle from her mouth. It's never ending. It's a very rare occasion when both are quietly drinking at the same time, the bottle of milk ever so close to falling from it's precariously balanced perch. I can't wait until our Podee's get here. I just wish we would have known sooner that these existed!
Here's are some clips of the girls I took this morning. They are getting a lot more vocal and enjoy "talking" when they are in a good, playful mood. I must say, it's quite adorable and a lot of fun to watch!
03 April 2012 - Baby Noises a video by Nathan A on Flickr.
With Dawn back at the office now, we've worked out a routine where she puts the girls in bed with me before she leaves. So far, this has worked quite well. We usually get up around 9 am or so, then the fun begins. This morning, however, I actually was able to sneak out of bed without waking them up and captured the below pictures.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Passport Day!
The girls are now just over three weeks old. I’m not sure where the time has gone. Each day goes by about the same right now, so aren’t even sure what day it is sometimes. Do we have an appointment today? Should we go to the store? Is the store closed today? What time is it?
Névé and Siena are doing fantastic. At their two week appointment the girls both gained about a half a pound and 1.5 cm in length. They both have two kidneys in perfect working order and their hips are growing just how they should be. These are all things the Germans check for in a first appointment, as we are going to the German doctors. We are also following the immunizations from the Germans, so the girls will get their first shots in two weeks.
I’m sure you can see in the pictures Nate posts, the girls are growing like crazy and have slightly different facial features. Their faces have filled out much more and they are getting more expressions and little personalities each day. They keep us pretty entertained. There isn’t a day we don’t laugh at something they do.
Today, we are going to get the girls their first legal US documents. Passports. It is funny to think that our kids will have passport pictures taken at 3 weeks to last them until they are 5. They must have passports before they can get US birth certificates or social security numbers. Funny, huh?
Passport time. Pictures in their pictures dresses to follow.
Névé's photo looks similar to this.
Siena was a bit more patient, or sleepy.
Névé and Siena are doing fantastic. At their two week appointment the girls both gained about a half a pound and 1.5 cm in length. They both have two kidneys in perfect working order and their hips are growing just how they should be. These are all things the Germans check for in a first appointment, as we are going to the German doctors. We are also following the immunizations from the Germans, so the girls will get their first shots in two weeks.
I’m sure you can see in the pictures Nate posts, the girls are growing like crazy and have slightly different facial features. Their faces have filled out much more and they are getting more expressions and little personalities each day. They keep us pretty entertained. There isn’t a day we don’t laugh at something they do.
Today, we are going to get the girls their first legal US documents. Passports. It is funny to think that our kids will have passport pictures taken at 3 weeks to last them until they are 5. They must have passports before they can get US birth certificates or social security numbers. Funny, huh?
Passport time. Pictures in their pictures dresses to follow.
Névé's photo looks similar to this.
Siena was a bit more patient, or sleepy.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Feed Break
Good morning! Er, it’s almost morning now. We’re now keeping a little bit of a different schedule now since the girls arrived. It’s now the time from the first ‘nap’ to the first pump/feeding, then we’ll go back to sleep around midnight and repeat in about 2 hours. Nate and I have been sleeping with the girls at night, each with one on the couch or chair. It works well to keep them sleeping for about 3 hours each time, and leaving me pretty functional, but it is early…
I am feeling really good after the arrival of the girls on Tuesday of last week. They are only 5 days old today, hard to believe, as it now feels to have been longer. I have more ‘time’ during the day that I’m home, more or less due to the fact that I’ve always worked, so being home just feels different. The time we do have goes by on a much different schedule, so it doesn’t feel like a long Sunday if we are just around the house.
We went to the doctor today to get Siena checked for her slight jaundice. The second child of twins seems to have this more as the bruising that can happen as she slides into place during birth. The midwives wait for the first to be born and then try to hold/guide to second into place from both sides of my belly so she didn’t turn and go breech, requiring a c-section. Siena did great and had gained 110gm in a day and the jaundice was almost gone. It wasn’t really noticeable in her color. She did almost poop on the doctor, which would have been great, she was not very nice and needed a good slap to the face.
Well, I suppose I should wake, change, and feed Névé so we can go back to sleep and repeat in about 3 hours. More pictures are always on the way, or you can check our Flickr sites at the right links. Nate is a little ahead of me in that, but I hope to get a few pictures up this week. As for now, I like to think of myself as a feeding machine, or a goat… sounds better than cow to me.
Coming home
Big brother Osu and 'My newborn clothes are WAY too big'
I am feeling really good after the arrival of the girls on Tuesday of last week. They are only 5 days old today, hard to believe, as it now feels to have been longer. I have more ‘time’ during the day that I’m home, more or less due to the fact that I’ve always worked, so being home just feels different. The time we do have goes by on a much different schedule, so it doesn’t feel like a long Sunday if we are just around the house.
We went to the doctor today to get Siena checked for her slight jaundice. The second child of twins seems to have this more as the bruising that can happen as she slides into place during birth. The midwives wait for the first to be born and then try to hold/guide to second into place from both sides of my belly so she didn’t turn and go breech, requiring a c-section. Siena did great and had gained 110gm in a day and the jaundice was almost gone. It wasn’t really noticeable in her color. She did almost poop on the doctor, which would have been great, she was not very nice and needed a good slap to the face.
Well, I suppose I should wake, change, and feed Névé so we can go back to sleep and repeat in about 3 hours. More pictures are always on the way, or you can check our Flickr sites at the right links. Nate is a little ahead of me in that, but I hope to get a few pictures up this week. As for now, I like to think of myself as a feeding machine, or a goat… sounds better than cow to me.
Coming home
Big brother Osu and 'My newborn clothes are WAY too big'
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
They're Here!
Dawn and I will write up the absolutely amazing experience that was yesterday, 31 January 2012, in the coming days. Right now, I just wanted to provide a brief update for those that may not be able to see all of the updates on Facebook. Be assured, all three girls are doing excellent! Tomorrow, they should be allowed to leave the hospital around 11 am. However, I also have to find someone to pull the stitches out of my back from last weeks surgery tomorrow, and I'm told it could be a long wait. Once that is done and the girls are released, however, we'll finally all get to be together in our own house. I can't wait. My short visits to the hospital just haven't been enough and I really miss all of the girls. It's hard not having them here, but going through and processing the pictures I've taken so far puts a huge smile on my face. Here are a few of those pictures, along with a link to all that I have finished up to this point. I actually still have quite a few pictures to go through from yesterday, and some that I took today too. I'll share those as soon as I can!
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| Dawn with the girls minutes after giving birth |
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| Siena says, "hello" |
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| Névé (L) and Siena (R) at their four hour check-up |
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
The Final Countdown- Week 38
We are now counting down the DAYS until our little girls arrive. Monday, January 30th is the day they will be induced if they do not come sooner. I hope they wait, just to give us a few more days to get ready. One more vacuum of the house, a little more laundry, maybe another small project as well.
There isn't much new news as of today. I have another appointment for the girls tomorrow, so we'll see what the doctor says then.
As for now, I need to go to bed, and hopefully we have a new weekly picture of me to upload soon. We will post a before and after I'm sure.
Keeping my balance...
Last situps
Last workout before the babies
There isn't much new news as of today. I have another appointment for the girls tomorrow, so we'll see what the doctor says then.
As for now, I need to go to bed, and hopefully we have a new weekly picture of me to upload soon. We will post a before and after I'm sure.
Keeping my balance...
Last situps
Last workout before the babies
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Week 37- It's still okay to work out
The German winter is continuing to disappoint this year. It’s raining today and melting our almost dusting of snow. So much for having winter babies. I was all set to have them wrapped up in fuzzy winter snowsuits, but it seems more like they will need ponchos and rain boots.
We’re halfway through week 37 now and everything still seems pretty normal. I am no longer working, but still doing a bit of my workout routine. I feel stopping that part will really throw my body off, and he girls seem to really enjoy the bouncing around.
We had our doctor visit today and the girls are doing great. They are weighing in around 5.5 and 6 pounds as calculated by the ultrasound machine. Siena was licking Névé’s foot in the ultrasound, so that show how close they really are. My doctor even laughed when I said I was still going to the gym.
And in other news, it looks like they will be here in the next week and a half, as my doctor doesn’t want them to hang out past 38 completed weeks. So, on January 30th I will be induced if the girls have not made an appearance yet.
Hanging out in the nursery
Osu saying hello
See the foot lick
We’re halfway through week 37 now and everything still seems pretty normal. I am no longer working, but still doing a bit of my workout routine. I feel stopping that part will really throw my body off, and he girls seem to really enjoy the bouncing around.
We had our doctor visit today and the girls are doing great. They are weighing in around 5.5 and 6 pounds as calculated by the ultrasound machine. Siena was licking Névé’s foot in the ultrasound, so that show how close they really are. My doctor even laughed when I said I was still going to the gym.
And in other news, it looks like they will be here in the next week and a half, as my doctor doesn’t want them to hang out past 38 completed weeks. So, on January 30th I will be induced if the girls have not made an appearance yet.
Hanging out in the nursery
Osu saying hello
See the foot lick
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Some Fun Pictures From Last Weekend
What's more fun than wet snow, a pregnant woman, and a dog? That's right, not much! Especially when it's a woman pregnant with twins racing a dog down a long driveway while wet snow falls from the gray, dreary, miserable German sky! A few pictures that we had fun taking this past weekend. So, I just stood there pushing a button while Dawn and Osu did all the work - and it was fun to watch :) .....
Looking out from the office balcony
Heading down the driveway
Racing Osu
Monday, January 9, 2012
Woche Sechs und Dreissig (Wk. 36)
Well, 35 weeks have now come and gone. My doctor still expects the girls by the end of the month, and they are full-term twins after this week and full-term (singles) after next. They are still putting on weight, about a ½ lb a week each, and having a merry time dancing and kicking in the evening.
I was given a doctor note last week to stop working, as he thinks I could go into labor anytime now, which I guess is partly true. I had planned to work through this week, but an extra few days would be good to finish up some things around the house, just in case they do come any day now. I still hope to sneak off to the gym this week, as I had a few really nice workouts last week. If not, I have our home gym too. That is right; I haven’t quit working out yet. The girls seem to like it and I continue to be impressed with what I can still do. Anyone else know a woman doing pull-ups at 36 weeks? I’m only a minute or two behind the guys in my class and beat some women.
On a not as fun note, I am now rocking some really tight compression socks. Tight as in put-me –into- labor as I try to pull them on tight. I would like to not wear them, but the twins have decided to give me cankles. I really shouldn’t complain, as these are just about the only pregnancy type symptoms I’ve had. I’m still quite mobile and full of energy. I hope with my time off now I can finish up the projects I didn’t want to do at night after work. Look out blanket and pile of diaper packages, here I come!
"I'm a giant" pose.
Story time
More Belly Shots can be found --------->>>>> HERE <<<<<<------------
I was given a doctor note last week to stop working, as he thinks I could go into labor anytime now, which I guess is partly true. I had planned to work through this week, but an extra few days would be good to finish up some things around the house, just in case they do come any day now. I still hope to sneak off to the gym this week, as I had a few really nice workouts last week. If not, I have our home gym too. That is right; I haven’t quit working out yet. The girls seem to like it and I continue to be impressed with what I can still do. Anyone else know a woman doing pull-ups at 36 weeks? I’m only a minute or two behind the guys in my class and beat some women.
On a not as fun note, I am now rocking some really tight compression socks. Tight as in put-me –into- labor as I try to pull them on tight. I would like to not wear them, but the twins have decided to give me cankles. I really shouldn’t complain, as these are just about the only pregnancy type symptoms I’ve had. I’m still quite mobile and full of energy. I hope with my time off now I can finish up the projects I didn’t want to do at night after work. Look out blanket and pile of diaper packages, here I come!
"I'm a giant" pose.
Story time
More Belly Shots can be found --------->>>>> HERE <<<<<<------------
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Week 35
Happy New Year! We somehow made to midnight, all 5 of us, and now into week 35. The girls are feeling more cramped these days, as they are moving quite a bit and stretching. They should be the size of honeydews and somewhere around 5 pounds. Plus, both girls have had the hiccups now, although Névé gets them almost every day.
As for me, I have a little less energy, but am still doing pretty well. My feet have finally, and unfortunately, become puffy. Oh, and I waddle. But, the fun part is that I can still workout and almost have no trouble putting my socks and shoes on.
I am down to having two weeks left of work and then will be off until April. We can hardly wait for the girls to get here and get no sleep. The good news is that all their stuff is put together, we know how to use the car seats and strollers and my bag is half packed. Couple more weeks to go…
As for me, I have a little less energy, but am still doing pretty well. My feet have finally, and unfortunately, become puffy. Oh, and I waddle. But, the fun part is that I can still workout and almost have no trouble putting my socks and shoes on.
I am down to having two weeks left of work and then will be off until April. We can hardly wait for the girls to get here and get no sleep. The good news is that all their stuff is put together, we know how to use the car seats and strollers and my bag is half packed. Couple more weeks to go…
The entire Belly Photo Collection can be found here:
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