Almost 24 whole hours!

Last weekend we spent almost 24 hours apart from the boys! We took the boys to Decatur to spend the day with Grandma and Grandpa while Adam and I gamed with some friends. I met mom half way between Decatur and Bloomington for the switch off. Again, we had the van packed very full with any toy combination the boys might want/need. It seems I over-pack as a habit! The boys had a good time in Decatur. My aunt Barb was there to help out since mom was technically on-call for work. They also had visits from Vickie and Chloe and Grandpa Brandy and Ruth. The video of Alex and the Giraffe (from the previous post) was from their time in Decatur.

The plan was for the boys to eat at 5:00 as usual and then pack up and head back home. Unfortunately, when I called to confirm the drop-off time, mom had just got a call from the hospital and had to go in. Plans changed to pick them up after the 8:30 feeding. Of course, the whole time, mom kept hinting that if the boys were to stay down there, we could get a whole night of sleep without listening for babies - or the morning feeding. At first we were resistant to her temptations. But, we finally gave in to the dark side and agreed to let the boys stay overnight.

Of course, they did fine. We weren't too bad either. (We actually got sleep - straight-through-the-night sleep without pacifier checks!) It was just like life before kids... Adam fell asleep and I stayed up late catching up on TV. But, we missed the boys. The plan was to meet mom again half way after their 9 am feeding (then she got me to agree to let them go to church with her). I surprised them and showed up at church. I got there after mass had started and had a hard time finding them. Didn't figure it should be that hard. We take up a whole row with the three car seats. Plus, Brandon went with her to help and he's usually tall enough to see in a crowd. I never thought to look in the very first pew! Seems it was all that was available when they got there. The boys were very good through church, so it was all fine.

When I finally got them home, both Adam and I were very happy to have them back. The universe seemed to be back to normal again. All was well. It was nice to have a night "away", but it's nice to have the boys back too.

Here's a picture from last week and a picture from when they were first born (their first picture together). Nick is along the top and Alex and Logan are on bottom (from left to right)...

Alex and the Giraffe

Okay, I've been trying to blog for the last few nights but haven't had a chance. Here is something to tide you over for another day (or so)!

Alex loves a new Giraffe rattle we have. Take a look at the video!

Random Stories: Frustration

At about five months old, the boys are reaching for items. As is common for babies, they are exploring their world and one of the ways they do that is to pop everything in their mouths. Logan is especially fond of this method of exploration.

We have a plastic, mesh ball that is easy for the boys to grasp. It’s brightly colored and they love it. But Logan is bound and determined to push that ball in his mouth. He licks it and twists it. He scrunches it up against his face. But it just won’t go in. So he grunts for a while and those grunts gradually increase in intensity and volume as he continues to find some method of getting the ball in his mouth. Finally he just bursts into tears and screams out of frustration. It’s amazingly cute that he gets so frustrated with this… until he starts screaming.

Random Stories: Take the F***ing Pacifier!

This is the first in a series of random stories that don’t really fit anywhere else, but that we think are cute to tell and that we might want to record for the boys as they get older.

It was an evening feeding a month or two after we brought the boys home; probably around 9 pm after a full day for both Tiffany and I. We were both still pretty sleep deprived. One of the boys was crying and Tiff asked me to fetch a pacifier. I grabbed it and started waving it in her face. She cocks her head gives me a kind of confused look. So I more emphatically gesture with the pacifier towards her mouth. “What are you doing,” she asks. By this time I’m getting really mad because Tiffany hasn’t put the pacifier in her mouth.

Then it dawns on me that I’m trying to give Tiffany the pacifier instead of the crying baby.

Easter Weekend

Hey there! Hope everyone had a great Easter weekend. We spent the weekend traveling (which has become a feat in itself) and visiting with family. Saturday I took the boys down to Decatur. We got to play with Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Brandon. Vickie and Chloe also came over to see the boys. We left shortly after dinner so Grandma and Grandpa could get ready for church. They are in the bell choir and were scheduled to play at the Easter vigil mass. I didn't figure the boys were up for 2+ hours of church quite yet!
Sunday, we took the boys up to Minonk for dinner and played with the Benningtons. We got our first chance to play with Cody (the dog). I think Cody was a little jealous. He's used to getting all the attention! The boys just thought he was funny... or ignored him altogether. It'll be a different story once they start walking and chasing him around! It was very tiring, but we all had a nice weekend.

More Firsts!

Nick - I know I'm awesome!

Nick rolled over for the first time tonight from his tummy to his back! He did it twice in a row while I was watching. He did get a little shy once Adam came down. We still haven't seen him roll from his back to tummy since we posted about him and Alex a week or so ago. Dawn hasn't seen Nick do it again either, but Alex loves to roll over and does it all the time. He hasn't quite figured out how to get back, but he's getting close.

Logan - chillin' but not rollin'

Alex - falling asleep playing with the bear

Activity Centers

We finally got out all 3 activity centers for the boys to play with. (Thanks Dawn and Brandon for help building them!) I tried to get a picture of all 3 last night, but as you can guess from the tone of our last post, pictures didn't turn out well either. Tonight was much better. Adam helped me get their attention and I got some good pics of them all looking and smiling. That, however, is not the picture I'm posting. I thought this one was even better. You can only imagine what Adam was doing to get their attention!!!

What is that sound dad is making?!