Braving NYC with the bambinos

Seeing as we live so close to NYC, we figured we should take advantage of the distance and Brandon's day off.  Larry and Prairie were excellent tour guides and navigated a great day for us!  We drove to Stanton island (about 90 miles from our house), then took the ferry into Manhattan.  The ferry went right past the Statue of Liberty, it was our first time seeing it.  The babies did wonderfully, and it felt fabulous to get out and go somewhere new.

Above, Bailey, Larry holding Calvin, and Brandon  (Larry is a resident with Brandon)

Managing the stroller on the subway was a little tricky.

It was really crowded, Brandon did excellent at forcing our stroller through the masses.  We stopped by Macy's to see their window display...pretty impressive!  Above: Brandon and Prairie with the babymobile.

$30,000 worth of JellyBellies in this soldier at FAO Schwartz.  I couldn't think of a better way to spend $30,000, although it seems a bit of a shame to waste the JellyBellies....

Rockefeller plaza was the most massive throng of people I've ever been in!  This is where the  stroller got pretty tricky.  I can't begin to describe how crazy it was!  It was gorgeous though.

St. Patrick's cathedral

If you look really close, the Statue of Liberty's off to our left.

The New York library--a beautiful building, was almost more of a museum.  

Happy Birthday Brandon & Merry Christmas Eve!

Our wonderful friends, the Daugherty's, had us over for an amazing Christmas eve!  We're so grateful to have them as our family away from home!

This is Bailey as Mary with Tanzen as baby Jesus.  Brandon, the guitar playing Wiseman, is in the background.

Santa even made an appearance...the twins were super impressed, as you can tell.

Happy 31st birthday to Brandon!!

Tanzen above (he's well labeled), Makett below...

Our belated electronic Christmas card...

Merry Christmas to our dear family and friends!  We're being green this Christmas with electronic cards (of course, it has nothing to do with the fact that I've been a tad busy )  Next year I hope to do cards, as I love getting them from all of you!

Brandon is:

• Loving his residency in Radiation Oncology
• Studying more than Chaci would like him to
• Creating paintings and sculptures when he gets time
• Exploring bike trails and climbs in Philly
• Adoring Tanzen and Makett
• Working hard!

 Chaci is:

• Snuggling darling baby boys
• Enjoying all that Philly has to offer
  
• Wondering how to get around with two babies
• Yawning...a lot...
• Wishing there weren't quite so many steps to our front door
• Missing family and friends!!!

Makett & Tanzen are:

• Keeping us busy
  
• Sucking their pacifiers round-the-clock
• Nursing like little champs
• Changing every day
• Smiling, cooing and kicking
• Figuring out life!

We are so grateful for this Christmas season, for Christ's life, atonement and resurrection.  Thanks for your friendship...we think of you often, even if we don't get to see you as much as we'd like!

We love you and wish you the merriest of Christmases!  

Love,

Brandon, Chaci, Tanzen and Makett

For the grandparents...

Merry Christmas!

This is a painting I did which represents Christ's birth. The poem below, 'the star', goes along with the painting. 

Moving up in the world!

Ten weeks old and changing fast!  A few of our new advancements....

No more baths in the bathroom sink--we're big enough for a baby bathtub now!

No more preemie or newborn size clothes--yup, we wear 0-3 months!

Chaci's the happiest about this one--Size 1 diapers! (they're SOOO much cheaper!)

Working on holding our heads up...often wobbly, but getting stronger every day!

Our next goal?  Maybe we'll keep practicing sitting up!

Makett can drink from a cup!

We were having a hard time getting Makett's medicine down, as it's a powdered capsule that we dissolve in milk.  The powder gets really clumpy, so using a dropper wasn't working so well.  We decided to try having him drink it, and to my surprise, he does pretty well.  Some days he'll completely chug the entire thing without dripping or taking a break.  I find it  entertaining!

A few more pictures...

I'm sorry I've been so terrible at getting pictures up!  My Mom was here this last week, it was wonderful!  When she left on Thursday the laundry was washed, bathrooms clean, floors done, and freezer filled.  I'll try to keep it that way.  The help was great, but it was mainly just nice to be together.  It's going to be lonely without her!

Makett

Tanzen

Makett-Tanzen...so talented at standing!

My mom cooked us a belated Thanksgiving dinner...yum! 

If knowledge is power, why do I get so confused?!

So I figured that I could prepare myself by reading--it always worked in the past!  In addition to my private collection (pictured above) I've also checked out numerous books from the library.  All very informative! Scheduled feeding or demand feeding?  Put babies on a sleep schedule or never wake a sleeping baby?  Soothe to sleep? Feed twins together or separately?  

The answers to these questions are all here...too bad they contradict each other!  

If only I could find the book titled "Tanzen and Makett: Everything Chaci Needs to Know".  Let me know if you see it.

By the way, out of all these resources, my favorite is the B.B. Sleep Solutions DVD, done by a sleep specialist in SLC.  Wish we lived closer, she does private consults and sleep parties.  You can get the DVD off her website, http://www.bbsleepsolutions.com/

Chuck Norris can gargle peanut butter...and other important facts!

Driving on our way to Lake Mead with my family last year, Kenzi started texting ChaCha for Chuck Norris jokes.  I had no idea there were so many...so during my late night baby feeding sessions, I started texting ChaCha for entertainment, and then began compiling a list of my favorites for Chaz.  Well...it got a bit out of hand...but I thought I'd share some of my Chuck facts with you.

• Chuck Norris doesn’t read books, he just stares them down until he gets the information he wants
  
• If Chuck Norris is late, time slows down
  
• Someone once challenged Chuck Norris to a duel.  That person in now known as Captain Hook
  
• The grass is greener on the other side.  But if Chuck Norris has been there the grass is soaked in blood and tears
  
• There are no steroids in baseball, just players Chuck Norris has breathed on
  
• Chuck Norris puts the laughter in manslaughter
  
• There is no ‘ctrl’ button on Chuck Norris’s computer.  Chuck Norris is always in control
  
•  If you have five dollars, and Chuck Norris has five dollars...Chuck Norris has more money than you.
  
• Chuck Norris can drown a fish.
  
• Chuck Norris CAN find the end of a circle.
  
• Chuck Norris can gargle peanut butter
  
• Chuck Norris can eat just one Lays potato chip
  
• Chuck Norris can sneeze with his eyes open
  
• Chuck Norris stared evil in the face, and it backed down
  
• Chuck Norris’s tears can cure cancer.  Too bad Chuck Norris has never cried
  
• Chuck Norris once wore glasses.  The result was him seeing around the world and looking at the back of his own head
  
• There is no theory of evolution, just a list of creatures Chuck Norris allows to live
  
• A blind man bumped into Chuck Norris.  Touching him cured the blindness, but he didn’t see the roundhouse coming
  
• Chuck Norris invented the beard
  
• Chuck Norris writes these jokes, he likes his fans to be informed
  
• Chuck Norris has never won an Academy Award for acting, because he’s not acting
  
• Chuck Norris can get Blackjack with just one card
  
• Chuck Norris got a perfect score on his SAT's, simply by writing Chuck Norris for every answer
  
• Chuck Norris can split the atom. With his bare hands
  
• The bible used to be called Chuck Norris and friends
  
• There is no such thing as tornadoes. Chuck Norris just hates trailer parks
  
• Chuck Norris has already been to Mars; that’s why there are no signs of life there
  
• Chuck Norris is Luke Skywalker’s real father
  
• Chuck Norris ordered a Big Mac at Burger King, and got one
  
• There is no such thing as a lesbian, just a woman who never met Chuck Norris
  
• Not common knowledge: there are actually 3 sides to the Force.  The light side, the dark side, and the Chuck side
  
• God said “Let there be light” and Chuck Norris said “Say please”.
  
• Chuck Norris does not use a spell checker.  If he misspells a word, Oxford changes the approved spelling
  
• Chuck Norris doesn’t wear a watch, he decides what time it is
  
• Aliens do exist.  They’re just waiting for Chuck Norris to die before they attack
  
• When Chuck Norris had surgery, the anesthesia was applied to the doctors
  
• Chuck Norris destroys whole continents.  Ever heard of Atlantis? ‘nuff said.
  
• Apple pays Chuck Norris 99 cents every time he listens to a song
  
• AIDS was specifically designed to kill Chuck Norris.  It failed miserably
  
• When Chuck Norris does push ups he doesn’t push himself up he pushes the world down
  

Makett's Hospital Adventure...

On Thanksgiving we started noticing that Makett was breathing with a loud stridor --sounding very high pitched and squeaky when he breathed in.  We watched it for a day, then decided on Saturday night to take him to CHOP--Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, where we remained into Sunday morning.  It was pretty traumatic having to hold him down for x-rays and a nasal scope...I must admit, I was bawling!  Turns out he has Laryngomalacia along with GERD, which means that his larynx is floppy because the cartilage hasn't hardened, so he has a narrower breathing passage which is why he breathes so loudly.  There's nothing they can do about the Laryngomalacia, he'll just have to grow and get tougher cartilage.  Obviously we can do something about the reflux, so we're working on that and are praying his larynx will get stronger quickly! 

Giving Thanks!

We definitely have much to be grateful for this year!  

Brandon's brother Brett and his wife Shelby came up for Thanksgiving, we loved having them and are grateful they'll make the three hour drive to hang out with us and sleep on an airmattress in our entryway!  I wasn't up for cooking this year, so we headed to Old Country Buffet.  It had all the traditional Thanksgiving foods, with the added bonus of a taco bar and ice cream machine!  And because I didn't have to cook it or clean it up, it tasted extra delicious!

As you can see, Tanzen and Makett enjoyed their Thanksgiving very much, you could tell by the look on their faces as they slept that they knew it was a special day :)  We have very advanced infants!

Brett holding Tanzen, Shelby holding Makett

Sunday afternoon...

Makett & Tanzen

I got these outfits used...one from a garage sale and another from a friend.  I thought it was pretty great that they were the same outfit, in different colors...so now we have a set!

Sorry folks...too tired to come up with a creative post!

Fall in Philly!

We finally got out of the house and took the babies for a walk along the river, it was fabulous!!!  Amazing how refreshing it is to be out of the house!  Tanzen and Makett didn't realize they were out of the house, but I'm sure they'll appreciate it eventually.

Brandon's parent's visit...

Kathy came out for a couple of weeks and was a great help, we'll miss her! Ray came and split a weekend between Philadelphia and DC. It was good to see them.

Elections 2008

I constructed this statue after visiting Philadelphia for the first time; a man with a triumphant fist in the air, representing the freedom we fought so hard to gain.  Now with a new President we move forward in support and hold true to our values.  The freedom statue has tattooed down his arm the following poem, which was influenced and taken from some of my favorite lyrics.

"Last night, we sat and watched the tele as the new caster began to cry when she read about the people who died, and Mr. Stevens was crying for freedom, but as for freedom it doesn't cry it yells: 

Freedom is not domination!

Freedom is not competition!

Freedom is the ability to feel love for everyone.

And Dr. King, I think often of you and the love that you learned from Jesus, you cried:

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania. 

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Utah. 

Let freedom ring from the sun kissed sahuaros of Arizona.  Free at last! Free at last! Thank God almighty, we are free at last!"