Life the First Week with Twins

Well...what's life been like this first week? BUSY :). God's been so good - we've had lots of help with packing, taking care of Josh, the girls, etc. Matt and I are SO glad we're moving. We knew the living area in our house was small, but it's taken on a whole new meaning with little girls and all their paraphernalia out with Josh. Poor thing, he can't hardly walk especially now with boxes taking up almost every square inch of our house as well.

I've been so proud of my little man. With all the hoopla, visitors, new sisters, packing, etc. he's been doing GREAT. Now he definitely has his moments where he just looks at Matt and me like, please, make it all stop - I want my old life back, but in general - he loves his sisters. He wakes up asking for them, and has even called them by name (which is better than I do half the time when I get handed a baby and have to check and see what color they're wearing to be sure I address them correctly).

And...we have the coolest OB doctor - he got curious to know whether the girls were identical or fraternal, so he decided to check and give us the results for free :). Kathleen and Karissa are not identical...they are fraternal, but I swear, the one time I dressed them alike, I sat there looking at them going - wait - no, that's Kathleen, no, it's Karissa. So, it will be interesting to see how their features change as they get older. They are definitely sisters though.

We've been to the doctor constantly for weight checks, etc., but we are now off of supplementing with formula - yippee!!! Just one kind of milk for my babies - don't make me do two :). Neither one of them did well with formula, and Kathleen has a hard time with the bottle because she's just so little - so, it's a good thing that I'm nursing them, or I don't think Kathleen would be doing well at all.

Okay - let's see - what other random updates from this stream of consciousness post - I love my kids...they are all three precious, and I wouldn't trade them for the world. I wish I had some pictures of Josh with the girls, but they all came out blurry - and as much as we would love to have taken tons and tons of pictures this week...let's face it - life is a little hectic right now...so, you'll have to be satisfied with a cute pic of the girls sleeping together in a bouncy seat last night :).

Meet the Girls - Part 2 (from Karen)

Hey guys!

Just wanted to add a couple of things - their stats:

Kathleen (Baby "A" according to the hospital) was born at 2:26 PM. She was 18 inches long and weighed in at 4 lbs 14 oz. Her head was 33 cm around.
Karissa Joy (Baby "B") was born at 2:29 PM. She was 18 1/2 inches weighing in at 5 lbs 12 oz. And her head was 32.5 cm around.

Things are great! Like Matt said, we have been immensely blessed. Now we just need to make it through the next several weeks of no sleep - please pray that we can get the girls on the same schedule as soon as possible. And pray for Josh as he adjusts to new sisters, sleep deprived parents, and a new house.

Love you all!

Karissa getting a bath...













Kathleen looking adorable in the nursery getting tests run...













Looking adorable sleeping together

Meet the Girls

Well, the moment you have all been waiting for has arrived. Yesterday Karen and I finally got to meet our twin girls, Kathleen and Karissa. God has been so good to us--the pregnancy was great; the delivery was great, and the postpartum has been great so far.

Karen is great. She's up and around like she never gave birth. All the hospital staff are shocked at how well she has done, especially with twins. What they don't know is that I am married to Wonder Woman. This will not come as a surprise to many of you, but Karen has the next few weeks mapped out in great detail. My next few weeks are pretty cut-and-dry--all I have to do is pack up all our stuff and move it. Oh, and there's something in there about graduation.

Kathleen and Karissa are doing very well for such small children. Both are fairly good at eating and are naturals at getting rid of waste products. They are, of course, beautiful, once you consider the source, this is no great surprise (the source being, Karen, not me. I don't think I'd make a particularly attractive woman). Well, enough of me prattling on, let me get to what you all really care about most anyway, some pictures.

Here we are before delivery



















Kathleen













Karissa













Karen with the girls













Matt with the girls













The girls sleeping in the same crib

Tons of News - Graduation, Babies, Moving, Josh, etc.

Hey everybody!

I know, I know - it's been forever since I've posted, which means I have a TON of things to catch you guys up on.

1. Matt defended his dissertation, passed with flying colors, and will graduate May 23...yippee!!!!
2. The girls will be here at the latest on Wednesday, May 7! I go in to be induced Tuesday night May 6 - so pray that all goes well!
3. We're MOVING! We close on our new house May 16. We are so excited. It's going to be crazy, but hey, there's never a good time to move :).

So, that's the nuts and bolts of it. Here's a few pics for what's been going on:

Here's Josh with his new riding toy:

But his favorite push toy is still the hand truck:


Josh's first time eating corn on the cob...


The bumper pads my mom made for the girls:

And here's the quilts I made for the girls:

Kathleen's:

And...Karissa's:
Like Father, like son (walking in our new neighborhood):
And last, but definitely NOT least...It's a bird, it's a plane, no...it's SUPER JOSH!



Well, the next post should be of the girls! We're thrilled and excited and can't wait to meet them!