You Ready for Christmas?

You bet.

Thanksgiving '08

Things 1&2

Things 1 &2

Half a Year Old

Order above, top to bottom: J, L, J, L. The boys are now half a year old - man that arrived quickly. We couldn't be happier and don't think the guys could be any cooler.

These days John continues to amaze with his vocal repertoire. And while for much of the early days, John seemed less interested in people than did Luke, John is now quite the happy charmer. John actually looks for opportunities to laugh - he loves it and has a dang cute chuckle. Oh, and two bottom teeth have broken through. Julie's reeeally thrilled about that. And John's a major binky-raider - takes the bink right out of Luke's mouth whenever he can.

As he has from the beginning, Luke continues to have an unshaken belief that if he just pushes/pulls/squeezes hard enough, be it a swaddling blanket, piece of furniture, or big person, whatever he's trying to break out of or bring closer to him will indeed cede to his will. This kid is all about brute force and he is incredibly STRONG. We've had to adjust the way we handle him because of it. He's turning into a squirmer. We fear for the safety of all untethered objects and small animals once he's mobile.

Halloween Monsters Captured

These little creatures have disarmed us thus far with cuteness factor^2 but we're still watching those dragon claws and jack-o-lantern teeth carefully.

(Dragon-John | Pumpkin-Luke)

Autumn in Utah

We got to spend a great weekend with the whole clan, including John & Luke's cousins Ben and Parker - and make it up to the cabin briefly. The fall colors were amazing.

Fighter Pilot Progress

4.5 DAYS...

4.5 MONTHS

(Good work, Mom!)

Color Codes

Luke left, John right

Some people have asked how we identify who's who, which clothes belong to whom, etc. Julie does a great job keeping them looking sharp, but we don't have a system like Mom's clever solution for Pete and Dave. No assigned colors, car seats, or blankets; only recently have we kept track of which binky goes with which kid (gasp!). It's dang cute when they're in similar or matching clothes, though.

Getting smiles and laughter on up close on film is tough - the second we pull a camera out, they zero in on the lense and just stare. I've even tried camouflage. Maybe we'll install a one-way mirror somewhere.

John

Luke and John get along well. This week, Julie entered their room to soothe Luke and found John with his hand on Luke's shoulder, steadily looking him in the eyes.

Luke, John

Luke caught a sore throat and completely lost his voice. Talk about heart-breaking. He'd be wailing, tears bursting and limbs flailing, with no sound. Every now and then, little squeaks would come out so pitifully, we'd rend our clothes. But he's getting better now, good nature intact.

Luke

While they're still little and not at all tough to handle, they're beginning to grab things, put everything in the mouth, climb up people and pull chunks of Mom's hair out. They even started eating some rice cereal yesterday.

And who turned on the drool switch?

4 Month Laugh

Captured at Uncle Roy/Aunt Julie's beach house Labor Day weekend (that's Aunt Julie cheering them on). First time I've seen them laugh together like this. It gets funner by the day!

Twins @ Tahoe

Well, it's been too long since we've posted here. In July we had a fantastic trip back to Utah to meet the fam and bless the boys at the same time as their cousin Ben. Hopefully we'll get some photos up. More recently, we spent a nice weekend at Lake Tahoe - for the intrepid J&L duo, it was the first long road trip, first hike, and first day at the beach.

Julie & John

Pete & Luke

John defines Cool

If we could all be as good natured as Luke...

Luke ain't scared

Neither is John

On the Move

Shots from the weekend, in blue jumpsuits from Grandma Taffy:

John

Luke

Which One is Which?

Mom/Taff asked if we'd identify the boys in the photos - hopefully this won't be needed after we visit SLC in a couple of weeks!

Luke's the one with chubbier cheeks and a rounder face, eyes that are a little squintier, and big nostrils like his dad. John has 'bigger' eyes, a higher forehead, and a skinnier nose. Both have blue eyes for now, but John's are a lighter shade.

We'll start indicating who's who in photos with their initials: "L - J" means Luke's on the left and John's on the right. While we think they look very different, we still mix them up sometimes when we're shuffling/schlepping/changing/feeding them and don't get a good look.

It's likely that the number one way we tell them apart is the way they sound. Completely different.

Luke is turning out to be a real people person - he'll seek you out in the room, looking to make eye contact with you, and then beguile you with a shy grin. He loooves his Grandma Miriam. John's primary interest is still shapes and contrasts, but he's snookered with his mom and gives us gummy smiles especially after he's slept well.

John's super-arching backward since the womb is really paying off now when he's on his stomach - he can bench-press and lift his head high. Luke's into standing and jumping big time - the thunder thighs are serving him well. With all the nutrition Julie is packing into the boys, she is wasting away - we gotta get her more calories. Mais da comida.

Happy 4th

Dad, Mom, and Squirmers headed out to our first 4th of July picnic.

L - J

Recognize this? Grandma Taffy found these baby blessing outfits worn by Pete and Dave. Luke and John will use these little suits in a couple of weeks - if they still fit.

J

J - L

We're pleased with our sons' progress in Tai-Chi.

L - J

L

Smiles

Mom, here's a rare smiley photo - I remember you'd asked for one in which at least one of them is not howling or crying. The grins haven't been easy to catch on film just yet because we rarely have hands free or I get blubbery happy and forget. But the odds are improving dramatically...John's starting to be interested in people. And Luke's already a charmer.

Having your kid beam at you has got to be one of the sweetest moments a human being can experience.

It's Rough Out Here

Day 2 outside the womb for John. The sigh at the end says it all.

My Sweetheart

Recently reclaimed photo of Julie at 4-5 yrs. If our guys are as handsome as their mom was cute at that age, watch out..

The Big Guys

We had our two month appointment a couple of weeks early - the boys got immunization shots and boy were they brave.

Here are the latest measurements - basically they're both 20.5 inches long and weigh exactly 8 lbs 12 oz.

Smiles are starting to appear and man are we happy fools when they come.

ChunkyMunx

At five weeks, the guys are doing exactly what they're supposed to be doing...24/7 eat/sleep/poop/pee/eat/sleep/eat/eat/eat.


Yesterday Luke (above) weighed in at 8.4 lbs and John (below) at 8 lbs. Without even counting the typical weight loss/regain of the first week, these guys have added another 60% of their original body weight in one month! Double chins and massive muscles, as the photos plainly show.


John's vocal chords continue to, as Amber described it, make us "move faster." Luke's cry is more of a volcano that slowly crescendos. Luke's a little more social - he'll look at you soulfully, right in the eyes, while John's still too busy taking everything in to rest his gaze much on us mere mortals.


John continues to arch and move about with such force that we think he'll be rolling over next week and hurdling the crib in mid July.


Both of them have cool male-pattern baldness hair...John's is darker and we wonder if it will get curly. He's got his maternal grandpa's forehead. Luke's hair is basically golden - we've decided it will become the light gold-brown hair that his paternal granddad (used to have).


We're completely exhausted and I (Pete) continue to wonder at how Julie stays so mellow, sweet and patient with the boys and me. Above is a sight familiar to Julie - swarthy husband (with double chin to match the boys') bearing hungry little monsters.

Grandma Miriam is a godsend who blesses our little family every day with her acts of service.


Thanks to each of you aunts, uncles, cousins and friends who've come by to visit and help...WE LOVE YOU GUYS. We feel so very blessed.

New Family Photo Shoot

Here are photos we just got from a friend - taken a couple of weeks ago.

New Family - May '08

Happy 2 Weeks, Boys

Not only a congratulations, but also a felicitous description of their time here with us. We're happy, tired, and we're feeling blessed. These tiny dynamos get funner and funnier to hang out with each day.

In case the photos don't show it, we've seen a phenomenon that fascinates us at least - both Julie and I each have a mini-Me!

Serious. Little John has many physical features similar to his mom, from the set of his eyes and nose to his curved pinkie finger to his feet to his glass-shattering soprano voice. He doesn't just cry - he belts out protests that have us plugging our ears and begging for forgiveness ("I'm so sorry, I'll cinch the diaper looser next time!"). And he's a voracious eater - he came out smaller than his brother but has since passed him in weight.

Luke's not so lucky, on the other hand...he's a spitting image of his dad. Just kidding about the first part - this is one beautiful baby whose trembly infant mews are heart-melting. Luke has the face of a future linebacker, funny long fingers, and feet just like Pete's. He's not about to let his brother get bigger or louder than him so he's working hard these days.

So amidst the every-2-hour haze we're enjoying the gas smiles that have just broken out. Our heartfelt thanks again to everyone for your love and prayers, meals and messages, and for rooting for the little guys.

Firsts

First real-live baths at home

First walk around the block!

They're Home

To see more photos of Luke and John, visit our Picasa web album.

DAD'S LOG 5/8/08

It's 2 am and we've just wrapped up a feeding. It's our second night at home after five nights at the hospital. John is insatiable and will eat 24/7 till he spits up if we let him. Luke is more mellow on the eating, but boy he's had some blowouts (other end) tonight. It's a circus and we just want to eat these little biscuits up.

So I thought I'd try to get some thoughts down. This first log will cover the events of May Day.

We had scheduled the C-section to be on Monday 5/5. But on Thursday 5/1, a routine fetal heartbeat test showed some erratic results for Baby A (John), so the OB told Julie she needed to go to the hospital for more tests ASAP, and oh by the way, you might want to pack your bags. So Julie called me away from work and off we went, glad we'd pre-packed the getaway car the prior night.

Upon seeing the test results at the hospital, the doctors informed us the C-section was to happen that very night. Ok then! Not a big problem since Julie had mostly, thankfully gotten over her cold and the kids were considered full-term by then at 38 weeks. Although there were as always more little things we could do to prepare the nest at home, we were pretty much ready to go for it.

So at about 7:30pm Julie was rolled (on a gurney, that is) into the delivery room. The doctors put up a curtain between her abdomen and head and gave me a chair next to her, so I could hold her hand as she endured the nausea and shakes from the anesthesia. She was so incredibly tough and poised. Instead of staying seated (on Julie's side of the curtain) I stood up a few times to watch the procedure - which worried the doctors ("It's fine if you watch, but most husbands sit down...are you okay?") more than it did me. Pretty soon, out came Baby A - a funny looking little man with a scrunched up face. Baby B glided out right after and immediately the doctor held him over the curtain, peek-a-boo style, for an exhausted/relieved Julie to see. I thought it was hilarious.

I kissed Julie and gasped my congratulations-they're-beautiful-you're-beautiful-I-love-you-I'm-going-to-check-on-the boys and jumped over to the baby tables. Baby A was blue and two nurses hovered over him with concerned glances backward - and I must say that was one of the most dramatic moments of my life. I'm not sure of the details but I think I burst in on the trio and grabbed my boy. I was terrified. The nurse put an oxygen mask on his face and I held him close, looking into his open eyes and praying, come on kid/please Heavenly Father let him live...his body was blue but his eyes were alert and seemed to lock onto mine. Finally he began to breathe and his entire body became a healthy rose color.

I know this may well be a common occurrence in the delivery room, but I will never ever forget it. The hugeness of my love for this little soul, the desperation of my pleadings for his life, and the depth of my gratitude to God for this miracle are still overwhelming to me.

And if that weren't enough, I then looked over to see another babe, this one a perfect little cherub, gazing peacefully at the nurse who was swaddling him.

My cup overfloweth.

The Miracle Men Arrive!

Baby A = John | Baby B = Luke

Born Thursday, May 1, 2008

John Christian
5 lbs, 4.5 oz / 17 in

Luke Christian
5 lbs, 6.8 oz / 17.5 in

~~~

Going in for a simple check-up...


These guys had a different idea!


Recovery room team


They're getting cuter by the minute.