Our first week alone got off to a wild start yesterday with Dave going back to work after being off on paternity leave for 3 weeks.  Along with that, I decided to start taking Audrey and Andrew to day care a couple of times this week for a few hours.  This will get them used to being there, and more importantly, get us used to the daily day care preparation routine.

Audrey woke us up at 3AM with a robust cry to let us know she was ready for some breakfast.  We fed both twins and finished up about 3:45AM.  Dave decided he would go back to bed until 5AM and then get up to prepare for his first day back to teaching.  This was a great plan, except that it didn’t work.  At 6:45 AM,  after oversleeping, we were awakened by both kids, who were starting to stir in anticipation of their next meal.  Dave leapt out of bed, realizing he had overslept and would barely make it to school in time.  He sprinted towards the bathroom to begin getting ready.  I leapt out of bed, hopping to put my pants on while simultaneously heading towards the kitchen to start heating up bottles for the kids.  By the time I hit the kitchen, both kids were screaming at full throttle, the dogs were barking, Dave was rooting around in the dresser frantically locating work clothing, and the cat was persistently requesting his breakfast.

It is moments like this were I am very thankful for modern appliances!  I kept my cool, and in under 5 minutes I had prepared 4 baby bottles, cooked Dave an egg and toasted English muffin sandwich and prepared him to-go coffee.  This is all thanks to our super-duper egg toaster, which will cook an egg while toasting bread, our one-cup coffee maker, and our trusty bottle warmer, which can warm multiple baby bottles back to back.

I then sprinted for the nursery where I gathered both screamers up and began feeding them at the same time while shouting at Dave, “don’t forget your lunch!” followed by “don’t forget mayonnaise!!” followed by “get your coffee!!!”

About an hour later, I had managed to get both kids fed, changed, and dressed, the cats and dogs fed, and myself showered, dressed and ready for the day.  I packed up the kids and we drove over to the day care to get them settled.   Right away the women in their infant classroom grabbed them up and began loving them while another teacher helped me unpack the diapers, clothes, blankets, etc.  They got happily settled, I grabbed my purse, and headed out the door.

As I walked across the parking lot towards my car, I barely restrained my urge to charge towards the car while pumping my arm in the air and yelling, “FREEDOM!” Braveheart style.  I absolutely love being with and caring for Audrey and Andrew.  And I absolutely love a few hours of downtime.   I wish I could say that I went home and slept, but unfortunately, I ran errands and then did household chores.  As my mother likes to say, “a woman’s work is never done.”  I always cringe a little bit when she says this and then I decide that she is absolutely right.

In the end, their first day of day care was a smooth success for all involved and we will return most days this week.

Here is our first family picture together that Dave’s parents took late last week:

First family picture

Today the twins are six weeks old.  I spent some time today reflecting on the past six weeks, how much Andrew and Audrey have changed, and how much we’ve learned together as a family.  One of the most touching things about this time in our lives has been the incredible love, support, and true kindness that we’ve received from our family, our friends, our church, and our community.  I have been blown away by the amount of care that we’ve been blessed to receive.

In the days immediately following the birth, we received many visitors at the hospital.  Members of our church came to pray with us, our family and closest friends came to meet the twins and to assist me in getting around after surgery.  When I went back to the hospital with an infection 10 days later, our dear friends pampered Dave with home cooked meals, cleaned our house, and stocked our cabinets and freezer with food.

My mom arrived two weeks after the birth and she was able to stay with us for about 3 weeks.  She was an incredible help with baby care and with knocking out a lot of the tasks that I was unable to do during pregnancy.  She scrubbed our shower, weeded our flower beds, cleaned out our refrigerator, scrubbed the floors, and organized our closets and cabinets, did the laundry, dishes, etc.  She also helped with almost all of the twins’ feedings and diaper changes, except for during the middle of the night.  Because of her help, Dave was able to teach during the first week of school, which was a goal of ours.   My dad was also visiting for the last week or so of her stay.  He decided that diaper changes were not his thing, but he was very helpful with running errands, holding and comforting crying babies, and preparing meals.   My parents had an adorable porcelain plate customized for the birth of the twins and my dad brought it when he arrived.  It shows their names and birth weights and is now proudly on display in our nursery.

Porcelain plate that my parents customized for Andrew and Audrey

Dave’s parents arrived a day after my parents left and are with us for a week.  Their help has also been wonderful, as they assist with feedings and diaper changes as well.  Dave’s father has been knocking himself out with all kinds of outdoor help such as weeding, trimming, repairing gates, and installing a diaper sprayer for us.  It would have taken us months to get these things done on our own due to lack of time.  Dave’s mother provided us with two handmade blankets that she spent a few months making for the twins.  Although I’m not very artsy-craftsy myself, I truly appreciate handmade gifts, and these blankets are beautiful.

Beautiful blankets made by Dave’s mother

Our church has been absolutely wonderful.  In addition to throwing us a shower and praying for us before and during the birth, and visiting us afterwards in the hospital, they provided 6 WEEKS of meals to us 3 times a week so that we did not have to think about cooking.  When I say meals, I do not mean simply a casserole.  They provided bread, salad, casseroles, fruit, dessert, and sometimes even breakfast for the next day!  It was beyond wonderful.

Our friends have also delivered meals on the days that the church did not.  They have showered us with clothes, books, handmade toys, food, and have made a point to check on us every couple of days to see if they can pick up anything for us at the store, or just come over and sit so that we can take a shower or a nap.

Toys crocheted by our niece for Andrew and Audrey

We have received well wishes and gifts from all over the country, from our more distant relatives, friends of our parents, and coworkers from my company’s St. Louis office location.   Much of it has been unexpected and so touching.

I know that having a baby is a life-changing event, but I truly did not expect such an outpouring of love from all facets of our life.  I don’t even know how to adequately express thanks, except to say that we are amazed and so appreciative of each and every bit of it.

Thank you, all!

We get all kinds of interesting questions and comments from others related to having twins.  One of the most common questions we get is “how are your pets handling having two babies in the house?”

To give some background, Dave and I have 2 dogs, Abby and Trinity, and 2 cats, Vince and Lilac.  Abby is a large golden retriever and Trinity is a small mixed breed dog from the pound.  Vince is a gray Persian cat that I rescued as a stray, and Lilac is a black and white tuxedo kitty that was adopted from the pound.  We are big animal lovers and our pets are very important to us.  We interact with them constantly throughout the day and consider them an important, fun, and loving part of the family.

Abby loves mud baths!

Trinity – couch potato

Lilac – Tuxedo cat

Vince, the spoiled rotten Persian

When we first brought the babies home from the hospital, we set the car seats down on the floor and let the dogs go ahead and get a whiff of those little creatures that were invading their peaceful home.  They took a good long sniff, looked up at Dave and I with confusion, and wagged their tails.  The cats were also invited to this introduction, but hung back with purposeful indifference, as only a cat can.

In the days to follow, we have had many amusing and touching moments with the pets and babies.  On our second night at home, at about 3 AM, Andrew broke out into an ear-piercing shriek for the first time.  Abby began to bark at him in her full 85 pound dog loud voice as if she wanted to join in on the noisemaking.  Another time, she abandoned a full bowl of food to go check on Audrey when she was alone in a room and crying.  The look of concern on Abby’s face as she peered in at Audrey was sweet.

Abby checking on Audrey

Trinity and Lilac have taken the approach of ignoring the babies.  They go about their daily lives the same as always.  I believe that in Trinity’s case this will change when the babies begin throwing food on the floor!

Vince, who is perhaps the most adored and spoiled pet, has had quite an adjustment period.  He is a very laid back and friendly cat who takes to lounging about the house twisted on his back with his legs spread open.  He is very affectionate and loves attention.  In the first day or two home from the hospital, we did not do a good job of giving Vince our undivided attention.

While I was in the hospital, we received two absolutely gorgeous bouquets of flowers from my company.  We brought them home from the hospital and put them on display on our bar that is at the center of our house.  They were huge multicolored bouquets in beautiful glass vases.  Vince has always loved to snack on plants, but he is usually pretty good about leaving flowers alone.  On our first night at home alone with the babies, we were up in the middle of the night, each feeding a baby.  Vince, wanting some attention, climbed onto the bar, took a bite out of the flowers, and knocked the glass vase off the bar onto the tile floor, shattering it.  The glass flew all over the house and the water and flowers were everywhere.  The crash was unbelievable!  We finished up feeding the children and then spent the next hour cleaning up the glass, water, and flowers.  While this sounds like it should have been stressful, the only thing I remember thinking about was whether Vince was traumatized or had glass in his feet.  We cleaned up the mess, I found my cat and gave him a hug, and we went back to bed.  Now he is much happier and has adjusted to life with the babies.  We laugh about his late night snack!

This past week we have had my parents’ border collie, Daisy, visiting us as well.  It has been a lot of fun having her around, as she and Abby take turns chasing toys in the swimming pool for exercise.

Abby’s crazy cousin Daisy

This past week has been a very exciting week in the life of the twins. My dad arrived on Monday afternoon and got to meet the twins for the first time. He was very excited to meet them! Here are some pictures:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thedaveparticle/9665757607/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thedaveparticle/9668999308/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thedaveparticle/9669000132/

Then, on Tuesday, we celebrated their 4 week old birthday with a photo snapping session that required us to do multiple baby handoffs between the four of us, which is quite challenging when trying to capture awake and alert moments, support two little necks, as well as corral 3 dogs and 2 cats, catch just the right lighting, and look like you are having a good time doing it! Here are a few of those pictures:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thedaveparticle/9669046662/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thedaveparticle/9668980286/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thedaveparticle/9665761879/

Mom and I took an afternoon off this week and went to get pedicures:

We were so relaxed afterwards that we wandered about in a daze for the rest of the afternoon. It was very nice!

Both twins are beginning to spend a lot more time awake and alert, which is fun. We are eagerly looking forward to next week.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thedaveparticle/9669933992/