A long over do update.

The girls hit their 7 month mark on the second. I can't even believe it. It doesn't seem like it was that long since they were 4 pound babies, and now they are hitting the scale around 15 pounds. It blows my mind.

Since I last wrote a blog, we had baby dedication at church. We are so thankful for such a wonderful church and fabulous community. While none of our KC family was able to join us, our Chicago family (Parker and Jillian) were. We are hoping to get a video to share with you all soon.


Grace:
Grace is so goofy. She is our mover and grover, and she is crawling! Well, she crawled like 3 times so she is basically crawling. She has been rolling where ever she wants to go for a good two months now, and we knew this day would be coming soon. It's time to bring on the baby proofing. Both girls are sitting up great, and Grace loves to read books, go to the park and play with her crinkle books!

Kate:
Kate is so joyful. She is such a smiley baby. Recently (last 24 hours) she started saying da da. I have to say, this broke my heart a little, I have been working on ma ma with both girls form the time they were still in my belly! Eh, but Kate is a daddies girl through and through so it was to be expected and exciting all the same. I still have hope that Grace will say ma ma first :)

This last week, my type one diabetes kicked my butt. It landed me admitted to Northwestern for DKA. The night I was admitted our sweet friends Amy and Josh came and helped us with the girls, it was a huge blessing. The next day my mommy flew up.It was just so fabulous to see her and to have an extra set of hands while I recuperated. Having your mommy around is just good for the soul :) They had told me to expect to be in the hospital for at least for 48 hours but I won the super star award and was there about 24 hours before being discharged. The whole thing came down to the fact that I haven't been taking great care of myself, but this was a huge wake up call for both Austin and I on how things can escalate so fast! We have already made changes to make sure it doesn't happen again any time soon!

I hope to post the baby dedication video soon. Austin also took a video of Kate being so silly, I will try to put that up later as well!

Kansas City

In my last blog, I mentioned the girls and I spent a week in KC. It was such a fabulous time. We were able to catch up with some family and friends, attend a NICU reunion and I was even able to attend a wedding of one of my sweet friends from high school. 

On Saturday, the girl and I (and my mom!) went to the girls NICU reunion. We had such a great time and we were able to see so many people who are near and dear to our heart. Going through time in the NICU is full of emotional ups and downs (I'm tearing up as I write this). No one really knows what it's like unless you have gone through it with your children. But, one thing that really made it a little easier on us was that we had the most fabulous nurses. Seriously, it made all the difference. On the day I had to leave the hospital and my sweet girls had to stay, I was a wreck. Austin had already had to go back to work (it was about a week after the girls were born) so I went to say good bye to Kate and Grace and I lost it. Their nurse for the day came over and hugged me and told me that she promised that she wouldn't take them on their first pony ride or take them to the zoo. She said all she was going to  do was make sure they ate, slept and pooped. While it was so silly, it was just what I needed. After we were discharged, the girls got admitted to Children's and one of the nurse practioners found out about it and called me to see how the girls and I were doing. We weren't even at the same hospital. They were seriously the best. All of this to say, it was such a treat and joy to see these wonderful people again. 

These were some of our great nurses!

We got to see a lot of family in KC as well. The girls are really starting to go through seperation anxiety, so we had a little trouble with that while we were there. But, for the most part, they did excellent with the people coming in and out of their day. 

The girls with Austin's parents

The girls with their cousin Annalise. They LOVE her!

Finally, I was able to go to an old friends wedding. It was the first time since the girls were born that I have really just to go out with girl friends without them and it was a blast. I laughed so hard. It was good for the soul. 

The best part of KC? Hanging with my mom. She's the best, and I am so blessed to have such a wonderful relationship with her! I can only hope I have the same kind of relationship with my sweet girls!

Bed Time

I feel like every other post is about sleep, or lack there for. 

Never fear, this one is about sleep too. 

The girls and I spent the last week in KC. We had a fabulous time, but the girls got spoiled. They were rocked to sleep every night, they got to sleep in the living room, and if they didn't want to take a nap they didn't have to. They loved every moment of it, but we sure are paying for it now. 

Since we have been home, it has been exceptionally rough. Austin has been a trooper (He did have a week of sleeping through the night). The girls FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT sleep. As a result we have two crabby babies. I feel like Austin and I are zombies. We go through the motions of everyday life and drink a lot of coffee. LOTS AND LOTS OF COFFEE. 

The way Grace fights sleep is she rolls around in her crib and flails her arms and legs. She then gets into an incredibly awkward position and we will move her and she begins all over again. 

Case and Point. 

Kate on the other hands lays in her crib and blows raspberries. She then starts babbling until there is a excessive amount of noise coming from their nursery. 

I seriously think we might lose our minds soon. No joke. 

In other news, I took the girls to the park the other day and stepped in dog poop. Then Grace proceeded to kick my shoe and get it all over her. Awesome mom moment. But, I wouldn't want to have missed it for the world. I love my sweet girls, with dog poop on them and all. 

The Park

Day ???

I have no idea what day of the blog this is. I have to apologize. The last thing I have been thinking about when the girls finally go to bed is blogging. All I want to do is veg out on the couch or collapse into bed. Being a mom of twins is tough work. Austin works so hard so that I can stay home with the girls, and there are so many perks to being a stay at home mom. One of those things is the ability to take random trips to the park. Austin some times gets to join us after work. We got to try the swing for the first time this last week. They loved it! 

Here are some pictures from our park adventure. 

Kate swinging for the first time!

Grace swinging for the first time!

The girls love to be outside!

We are full of treats for you today. Here are some videos. We know you all need your Kate and Grace fix!

Video of Grace at the park!

Video of Kate at the park!



In other news, we had our 6 month check up today. It is so hard to believe that the girls are almost 6 months old. They got excellent reports. Both are weighing 14 pounds! Austin and I are so blessed to have such wonderful girls. 

Mommy and The Girls

Day 13ish.

15 hours. 11 hours down, 4 to go. 

15 hours managing the girls on my own. I woke up dreading this day (shoot, things just got real here.) Not that I don't love being with my sweet girls, but taking care of twins on your own is TOUGH. It is overwhelming, frustrating, and the best job ever all in one. But, much to my surprise this day has gone incredibly well. I feel like the girls are finally getting on a schedule (I know, they are almost 6 months old, it's about time.) Also, Austin will be home in 4 hours. We can totally do 4 hours. 

We received our first shipment of Cloth Diapers in the mail today! So excited, it seems like Christmas morning. While I am excited, I am also a little nervous about this endeavor. At least they are really cute! 

For any cloth diapering mommas out there I found a great deal on BumGenius on the Cotton Babies website. You can buy 5 and get 2 free. As you all probably know, I'm a sucker for a good deal so we have bought 14 of them! We will probably buy 7 more before the deal is up (at the end of the month). 

The girls went to the chiropractor with me today. They are always a hit, but they were not having any of it today. 

In other news, this is what play time looked like today. Grace can not stay still for the life of her. 

Three hours until Austin's home. Not like I'm counting down or anything! 

How Do We Do It?

Day 12.

When we are out and about there are a number of things that happen on any given trip. We are always stared at, someone always comes to close and tries to talk to us way too long, and we are always asked the question, "How do you manage two babies? I can barley keep my head on straight with one." Well, we by no means have this figured out, but we have found a few tricks that keep us sane. 

1. The girls whiteboard. 

This is how we keep track of who ate what, who pooped when ,and who is excessively sleep deprived. I made this when we couldn't remember who's turn it was to eat, and since it has been a life saver! We don't always keep track, but for the most part it is a must in our house. This also allows anyone else who may be over to know what is going on without us having to recount every moment of the girls day. 

2. The Mommy and Daddy Calender. 

We bought a big desk calender and we have everything that is going on in our life in it. We have the times that Austin has work stuff going on, we have Dr. appointments, and play dates. This gives us the ability to make sure the girls always have someone available to watch them and mommy and daddy on the same page. We try to sync up at least once a week. 

3. Crock Pot!

I love my Crock Pot. This is pretty much the only way we get a decent dinner on the table before 10pm. I think a good Crock Pot cook book may be part of my shower go to gift because it has given me the ability to keep some constancy in our ever changing lives! 

4. Date Night. 

Since Austin and I started dating we always made date night a priority. It has gotten a little more challenging since we have had the girls. I am a little protective of them to say the least and I had a really hard time (and still do)  letting someone else watch them. We have been so blessed to have found a GREAT sitter for the girls. She is getting ready to move, and she will be very missed by us! But, Austin and I are dedicated to keeping our friendship a top priority and we are able to do that by our weekly date! 

So, that's how we do it. But, when in doubt we wing it. 

Grace wanted to say Hi!

Where have we been?

Day 11ish.

Where have we been? 

Sleeping. 

HA NOT. 

I typically blog every night as Austin is giving the girls baths. But the last few days it has been all I have been able to do to fall asleep in bed instead of on the couch. Grace and Kate have not been sleeping again. About every two hours they want to snuggle. We love snuggling, but at 2am it's a little challenging. Austin is such a champ with the girls. He wins daddy of the year award. The girls just LOVE their daddy, and I think he is just awesome as well. Kate, Grace and I are incredibly lucky girls!

Last night they slept 7 hours again. Austin and I were overjoyed to get a few solid hours of sleep. 

In other, more exciting news, Kate is full on giggling. She is so funny, and she thinks I'm funny (at least now, we will re evaluate this in about 15 years). Kate had giggled for me before, but yesterday Austin got to hear her sweet giggle for the first time. Such a sweet time to witness. 

While our hands are so full, you can only imagine how full our hearts are. We are so blessed with these sweet little girls. 

That's really all I have now, but hopefully this week will be filled with sleep for all of us. With sleep comes more blogs. 

This is what happens when we have two sleep deprived, teething babies.
Mommy and Daddy look about the same :) 

Kate.

Day 10.

I love my sweet girls so much. They are hysterical and both so different. Today, Kate and I made a video for you. She has been talking up a storm today. Without further ado, here is Mommy and Kate. 

Kate and Mommy!

Cloth Diapering Twins

Day 9. 

This is probably the first of many posts on this topic. So, prepare yourself for the saga/journey we are about to embark on. 

We ran out of diapers today. Well Sara, you do have two babies so it makes since that you would go through diapers like they are going out of style. We have been blessed. When I was pregnant there was a diaper shower thrown for us. Austin LOVED this because we have probably had to spend less then $50 on diapers since the girls were born. 

We are switching to cloth diapers. This was something I was TOTALLY against from the beginning, but after much research and number crunching we are making the plunge. We found that with cloth diapers we will save over $2000 a year. Seriously, that is a lot of cash money! This was what sent Austin over the edge on the cloth diapers. I just like how fashionable they are :) . 

We are going with the bumgenius 4.0. I love a lot of things about these diapers and I have only heard great reviews from everyone that has used them. One big thing I love about these diapers is the company. They have a program that they will send cloth diapers to missionaries to alleviate the cost of infant care!
Check it out here!

We are excited for this new adventure. And we are excited to share the journey with you !

Teething

Day 8.

Grace and Kate are very happy babies, and we are very blessed by this fact. But over the last week or so we have begun the teething phase. While I'm sure teething is horrible with one baby, with two going through it at the same time is just down right awful. It has turned my sweet little smiley babies into screaming babies, who don't want to sleep and only want to eat and be held. 

This last week we were very blessed that Austin had a light work load and was able to help out a lot, I would have lost my mind otherwise. We did give in and get Sophie the Giraffe.                                                    

Above is the bigger version, but we went with the one that doesn't squeak. We have enough noise in our lives :) 

I tried the baby Popsicles (made from formula) that I found on Pintrest and the girls didn't want anything to do with them. They just screamed bloody murder when I let them suck on them. I don't think they liked the fact that they were frozen. Last night, I was not sure what to do so I did what anyone would do and I called my mom. I mean she managed to get through teething with my brother, sister and I so I figured she had some good tips. She suggested that we wet a wash cloth and put it in the freezer and let them chew on that, I am planning on trying that as well. In addition, baby Tylenol  is our best friend right now :) ( In moderation, of course.)

So, here's to teething with twins :) 

We Love Sophie The Giraffe!

Daddy Daughter Night

Day 7.

Last night was the first night Sara was away from Grace and Kate overnight. She was a leader/chaperone for an student ministry girls event. So while Sara hung out JR HIGH and SR HIGH students, I had the pleasure and task of taking care of Kate and Grace all evening and night. It was a tough night for Sara as she missed the girls so much, but for me it was fun to have some alone time with just my daughters.

Overall the evening went very well. Both girls were very fussy all evening, so we all went on an hour long walk which seemed to calm them down. They both love being outdoors, especially when the temperature is in the 70s with a little breeze. By 8 o'clock we had returned home and the girls were hungry, so I fed them bottles, gave them baths and put them down in their cribs to sleep. After about 20 minutes of fighting sleep both girls were out.

I'm typically a night owl, but since the girls have been getting up in the middle of the night more often, I have become more and more sleep deprived. I only made it to 10 o clock before I, too, crashed. For those who know me, this is extremely early.

I love daddy/daughter time. I love getting to take care of the girls, getting to play with them, getting to give them baths and getting to just admire the beauty and innocence of my daughters. I am truly a blessed man and I thank God for entrusting me with the care and love of my gorgeous wife and two daughters.

Girls, I'm looking forward to more daddy/daughter dates and I can't wait to treat you as the princesses God made you to be.

"Stand Back 500 Feet"

Day 6.

While driving today Sara and I saw the following sign on the back of a vehicle: 'Stand Back 500 Feet." My first thought was, "We should have a sign like that on the stroller." It seems like if you have one baby, people give you a smile and a nod, but if you have twins, apparently a miracle that matches the virgin birth has occurred and people want to get as close as possible to take it all in.

People lose all sense of boundaries with twins. They ask personal questions, they reach in to touch their feet, and they give advice on how we should raise them. Then you have the people who just ask stupid questions, questions like "Are they twins?" or "Are they both girls?" Perhaps they are just being polite, but any thoughtful person could easily tell that two lookalike babies wearing pink and purple with bows in their hair are definitely twin girls. There are also the 'storyteller' encounters where people proceed to tell us of how they know someone with twins, yet it always seems to be a very complicated family situation and it leads to an awkward moment where we're not sure how to respond.

Each of these occurrences could easily be avoided if people followed the simple rule "Stand Back 500 Feet." And this rule not only applies now when Grace and Kate are babies but also will apply when boys start to have the desire to date my daughters. That's a different blog post for a different day.

So here's my plea: the next time you see a mom or dad with a double stroller, just smile. Don't get too close and don't overstep the boundaries listed above. Don't mention that your second cousin's sister-in-law also has twins. Don't give any advice because unless you have twins, you don't really know what it's like to raise them. Be respectful of their space and don't touch their feet! Don't ask dumb questions; just give a simple smile and let them go about their day. It will literally make their day!

Daddy with his two beautiful girls!

Grace likes to wear hats like daddy!

Pink and Purple

Day 5. 

I LOVE the colors pink and purple. Seriously, anyone who knows me would be able to tell you that pink is my all time favorite color. So much in fact, I almost peed my pants when I found out I was having TWO girls,  everything would be pink and purple. This is seen very clearly in their nursery. 

Our nursery in KC, it still looks almost identical

Gutter book shelf Austin made for the girls.

So, while pink and purple are on the top of my favorite color list, there is one place I don't want to see it, on my sweet girls arms and legs. When I first noticed this happen, I FREAKED out. It went away in about 15 minutes, but then about a week later it happened again. Luckily, we had our 4 month check up right after. I had snapped a few pictures of what happened and showed it to our pediatrician. She asked if she could show the pictures to a few other pediatricians in the practice, I thought shoot my girls are going to be famous for their pink and purple legs. When she came back she told us she had never seen anything like that ever before and none of the other pediatricians had either. Excellent. She then sent it to a few other specialists at Children's which eventually got us an appointment with the pediatric cardiologist. These are hard appointments to come by and we got in super fast, rock star status. All of this to say we had our appointment yesterday and we got the all clear. The doctor said what they had was rare, but it wasn't causing them any pain and that they should out grow it in the next year or so. Praise the Lord! He also said that they were incredibly pale children, they got that from their mother :) My sweet girls have had such a rough start at life that I couldn't stand it if they had to go through anything else. 

In other news, the girls are up to 13 pounds. Dang. I'm almost lifting 50 pounds if I carry them in their car seats at the same time. Don't be surprised if you see me in the Olympics in four years for weight lifting. 

Here are the pictures of their arms and legs, I promise they have been checked out and they are okay. 

     

Matthew 6:25-34 : We have needed this reminder :) 

²⁵  “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? ²⁶  Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? ²⁷ And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?^[a] 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, ²⁹ yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ³⁰ But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? ³¹ Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. ³³ Butseek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

³⁴  “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Play Time

Day Four.

Play time has changed a lot in the last 5 months. When the girls were first born play time was the same as sleep time. As they got a little older, I would walk into the NICU and hear screaming down the hall. I knew it was my girls. It wasn't time for them to eat and they wanted to be entertained, so the nurses had to break out the swing for Kate and Grace. Play time then morphed into forced tummy time. This was considered cruel and unusual punishment until the girls figured out how to flip over. Grace began flipping about two weeks before Kate and we haven't been able to keep her still since. 

Play time now involves a play mat, a musical pig and our babies ( check out the 5 month post). While the girls are awake longer and longer I sometimes struggle to find activities that I can do with both of them in very limited space. Many times Grace and Kate get to spend play time together, which presents its own set of challenges. Specifically, they can't keep their hands to themselves. Play time typically goes something like this. Grace sticks her hand in Kate's face, then Kate opens her mouth and Grace's hand goes in her mouth, finally they both start screaming. The other part of this is the fact that the girls will roll over on top of each other.I constantly flip them back over, but it is to no avail.  They are seriously a hoot, but they sure do keep me on my toes. 

Play time today. Kate was loving on Baby.

Talking

Day Three.

When we found out we were having two girls Austin knew he would be in trouble. Three girls in the house would mean three times the clothes, three times the shoes, three times the emotions, pretty much three times everything. One thing that has already become apparent is that with twin girls is that there is three times the talking in the house. 

While Grace and Kate sure do look similar, they are VERY different people. Kate has always hit the verbal milestones before Grace, she was the first to smile, babble and laugh. Since Kate started "talking" there hasn't been much quite in our house (who are we kidding, there has never been much quite in our house since they were born.) While it took Grace a little longer to start "talking" she has sure made up for the time that Kate was "talking" and she wasn't.

One of my new favorite things is the fact that the girls will talk to each other. I don't know if they are really communicating with each other, but it sure is hysterical. I do know that Austin and I are in trouble because I'm pretty confident that they are talking about us in a language that we can't understand and I'm sure it's only going to get worse from here. Tonight, the girls and I were on our way to pick up Austin from Bible Study and they just talked and talked to each other for over ten minutes. Kate started babbling and the second she stopped, Grace started. They match tone and emotion when they have their conversations. They are so  funny. They are such a joy in my life. Just a glimpse into the little things in our lives. 

Two Weeks

Guest Post: Aunt Kristen

Day Two.

Two Weeks.

These last two weeks have been quite the experience. I have learned how to successfully sleep through the sound of crying babies, how to successfully catch excessive amounts of spit up, and the best possible way to put a onesie on a squirming baby. I am a huge sucker for family time and my favorite role in life is being an aunt. I was so excited to spend two weeks with Sara, Austin, and the girls, and although I knew it would be an exhausting two weeks, it was completely worth it. And as hard as it may be to go home, I am extremely excited to plop down in my bed. 

The first time I saw the girls, I could not believe how big they had gotten. It had been about six weeks since my last visit, and they had gained about two pounds each. Also, since I had seen the girls last, they had started babbling, flipping over, holding their babies, and "helping" us hold their bottles. It's amazing to see the girls grow and develop and I am so proud to be their aunt. 

Chicago has also been an experience in itself. Kansas City is not quite the same as Chicago..and so it was a bit of an adjustment coming to the city for two weeks. There are certain things that I am not quite used to (like walking instead of driving or going 30 mph on the freeway) but I have become as accustomed to as possible. 

Another adjustment that I have made is helping out with two babi/es. One baby is a handful...two babies are two handfuls. So, the fact that I have two hands and two arms has been quite a great thing for the Hey family. It's so different going out in public with the girls. I understand that the girls are cute and I understand that people think that twins are rare (which is really not true...these days, twins are a 1 to 33 ratio to just one kiddo) and I understand that they are fun to look at...but what I don't understand is people stopping us while we are out and about, trying to live our lives and marveling at the fact that there are two children in the stroller instead of one. Yes. It is awesome that there are two babies, but you do not need to tickle their feet and ask about them. This could be more tolerable if it only happened once a day, but this is not the case. Every time we go out, at least one person stops us every five minutes. It is not only obnoxious but is also extremely uncomfortable. 

Despite the awkward conversations with strangers, the excessive amounts of spit up, and the dirty diapers, I have had a blast these last two weeks. I have loved every minute here and wouldn't trade these two weeks for anything.

Aunt Kristen and Grace (NICU days)

Aunt Kristen and Kate (NICU days)

60 blogs in 60 days.

I'm going to attempt the impossible. I'm going to try to blog 60 times in 60 days. The purpose of this is to give you a real glimpse of what life is like with twins in many different situations. 

Day One.

Sleep.

We have been very blessed. Kate and Grace have been great sleepers. Ever since about 3 months they have slept through the night (6-8 hours), but recently things have since changed. The girls just will not sleep through the night. Nothing in our routine has changed. We still do baths, lotion, mobiles and prayers but we can't seem to make it through the night. 

The other aspect of this is that the girls don't wake up at the same time and refuse to go back to sleep unless they are rocked for a good while (some nights up to an hour). At the time that one falls asleep the other just happens to wake up. This leaves two very tired babies and a very tired mommy and daddy. 

Have any of you experienced this with your little ones ? I'd love to hear advise! 

5 Months ?!?!

Yesterday Grace and Kate turned 5 months old. I can't even wrap my mind around that they have been in our lives for 5 whole months. 

The last two weeks, Kristen has been here. It has been such a huge help to have her around. Life with two babies is crazy to say the least, and anytime you have an extra set of hands it is a huge blessing. 

Life with 5 months old twins has been exciting to say the least. The girls are getting more and more mobile everyday. Grace has become so mobile that she has gained the nickname Spider-baby due to the fact we never know how she ends up in her crazy positions. 

Here, they are rocking some new outfits from MeMaw!

Here is a picture of my sweet Kate that Aunt Kristen took.

Here is my beautiful Grace :) 

We have found some products that make our lives so much easier!

Baby Jogger City Mini Double

We love our stroller, we are always out and about and this stroller is a life saver. It fits through doorways (this is a big deal for double strollers) and it is so lightweight I can fold it up and lift it with no problem! 

Babi Corolle

We were given these babies as a gift before the girls were born. They have easily become the girls favorite toy. These babies are so soft, smell great, and have a small rattle in them. The girls can not get enough of these.

The Mommy Hook

The Mommy Hook has been a life saver for my back.  Our diaper bag is excessively heavy and this allows me to just clip our bag onto our stroller. Love This! 

I have a sister?!?

Tonight Grace and Kate to a startling realization and we just happened to catch it on video.

This would have to be in the top five parenting moments so far. They realized there was another baby!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awYattjBW3M&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Check out the link. I can't post the video from my phone.

Video Blog!

Hello everyone,

I have come to the decision to make this blog more into a video blog of the girls. I have found that I consider it a successful day if I can get the dishwasher loaded and unloaded, so needless to say there isn't much time for blogging. So, here it is for your enjoyment. The Grace and Kate show :)

Our Biggest Adventure Yet.

Hello everyone.

Man, do we have a lot to catch you up on. I'm going to see if I can write this blog before the girls wake up to eat (we have roughly 15 minutes). As I type Kate is lounging in my arms and her butt keeps hitting the mouse on my computer, so this will make the blog just a little more interesting :)

Well, first things first. We moved back to Chicago last week. What?!?  Are you crazy? You have two little babies. Move to Chicago, when all your family is in KC?  I know that is probably what you are thinking. But this is a God sized moved and He has made his presence known in every step of the way. We had to keep this low key the last few months.The reason we moved back to Chicago was because Austin got his dream youth pastor job at our old Church , Park Community Church. We are friends with a lot of the students in the youth ministry and it wasn't announced to them until this past week, and we didn't want to be the spoilers of the surprise. Nobody likes the surprise spoilers :)

This adventure started before the girls were even born. Austin was working full time at Applebee's corporate headquarters and part time as a youth pastor and putting in over 90 hours a week.We knew that this wasn't something that could be continued with the girls on the way. We made a big decision that Austin would pursue a full time ministry position. We didn't know how it was all going to work, but in the end it did! We ended up back in Chicago with Austin working at Park.

The girls have been fabulous with all of the changes. We are finally trying to get them on a schedule. As you can imagine, we went back and forth to Chicago to look for apartments and interviews and there was no such thing as a schedule for the girls. While we miss our sweet family in Kansas City we know this is where God has placed us and we are excited to be back in the city!

Are they Identical?

Sorry that we haven't been posting much the last few weeks. We have been very busy with both our sweet girls, and haven't had much time to blog. But I (Austin) wanted to take a few minutes to let you know how Grace and Kate were doing.

Overall both Grace and Kate are doing great! They are nearly double their birth weight (around 8 pounds now)! They are very good eaters! They don't always sleep through the night, but we are getting on a better schedule with them. Typically they eat around every 3 hours and generally sleep in between.

Car rides have definitely been the best trick we have found to get the girls to sleep when they are fussy. But we can't just drive down the street; they need a good 15-20 minute ride to really get them to sleep.

One of the most common questions we get when new people meet them is "Are they identical?" The answer we give is that while we aren't sure, neither Sara or I can tell them apart. Both girls look so similar that the only real way we can tell them apart is that Grace has her toes painted red. In addition to this, however, we have started to notice some differences in their personalities. Grace is becoming more of the drama queen and fusses with the slightest little thing. Kate prides herself is always giving Sara and myself goofy facial expressions. We are trying to capture some of these expression with a camera, and will soon post pictures to give you a glimpse of her funny faces.

We will be back later this week with some more updates. Thanks for your continued prayer and support of our beautiful girls!

Kate and Grace Meet Annalise!

It's quite in our house right now (knock on wood) so I actually have time to blog :)

My bother got married last July. Not only did I get an amazing sister in law but I got a fabulous niece as well. This is blog is about how Annalise finally got to meet her cousins :)

When I first found out I was pregnant, Annalise told me that there were two babies in my belly. I said no way girl, but low and behold there were two babies in my belly. When I had my first ultrasound and found out that we were in fact expecting twins Vanessa (my sister in law) told Annalise and she simply replied with "I already knew". Seriously, she is the baby whisper. We told Annalise she could meet the babies after Christmas, not thinking much about it due to the fact that March was in fact after Christmas. As Christmas approached Annalise became more and more excited. Unfortunately, she thought she would get to meet the babies the day after Christmas. After the girls were born Annalise didn't get to meet the babies due to the fact they were in the NICU and they couldn't have visitors under 16.

With confidence we told Annalise she could meet the babies on Easter. Unfortunately, Kate was admitted at Children's Mercy and we were not able to get to introduce Annalise to her cousins.

Annalise was finally able to meet Kate and Grace on Tuesday. She was so excited to meet them. Before, she wanted to hold them she wanted to check out the car seats and rock and plays to make sure they were safe for the babies.

Annalise and Grace

Annalise and Kate

We are so blessed to have Vanessa and Annalise as part of our family and it was such a joy to see Annalise finally meet her cousins!

We're Home!

We are finally all home from the hospital!

For those of you who don't know, Kate and Grace were born premature and spent the first 4 weeks of life in the NICU at Centerpoint Hospital. (This is standard procedure for preemie babies.) Fortunately there were no major health issues with either Grace or Kate, so after they both had gained enough weight, maintained their body temperatures, and were eating well, they were allowed to come home (Grace on March 27 and Kate on March 29.)

After the girls came home we spent about 36 hours together at home, just the four of us, before we discovered that Grace had developed a fever of over 100. On Saturday (March 31) around 5 AM we took Grace up to the ER and they quickly transferred her to Children's Mercy South where she was admitted for the weekend. All the tests came back negative and on Monday morning Grace was discharged; we thought we were in the clear.

Then Monday afternoon came around, and the same thing happened to Kate. She had a high fever and was also admitted to Children's Mercy. It took her a little longer to fight off whatever bug had made her sick, but we were finally able to discharge her from the hospital yesterday.

Everyone is home again; all four of us under one roof! Both girls are really healthy and doing great. They are over 7 pounds now! Thank you to everyone who was praying for them; we can't tell you how much we appreciate your love and support!

Being A Daddy

This post took about 4 hours to write.

As I was writing I (Austin) was feeding Grace. Every time I thought she was finished eating, I'd burp her, snuggle a bit, and then go back to writing. Of course, no more than a few minutes of writing, she would wake up and we'd do the routine over again. As soon as I finally got her to sleep, Kate woke up and we went through the same thing. Now all my girls (Sara included) are sleeping soundly and I can finish writing.

I have been a daddy for just over a month now! To say it simply, it has been the most nerve-racking, fun, sleepless, invigorating, stressful, and enjoyable month of my entire life.

For this post I thought I would share with you a few thoughts I've had over the past month and what I've been learning from my new role of a daddy. Then I'd like to close with a brief letter to my two beautiful girls.

1. Being a daddy reminds me of the important things in life.

2. Being a daddy has helped me understand better the character of God as my Heavenly Father.

3. Being a daddy has been one of the greatest joys in my life

4. Being a daddy has given me a greater appreciation for my parents.

5. Being a good daddy is a legacy I hope to leave to my daughters, that one day they would also marry Godly men who are also good husbands and daddies.

6. Being a daddy has been one of the greatest responsibilities God has entrusted to me, but is also one of the greatest blessings He's given to me.

I absolutely love being a daddy. I love my daughters; getting to hold their hand, getting to cuddle with them, and getting to see them learn and grow even over this short amount of time. I'm excited to take them on daddy/daughter dates, to see them walk for the first time, and to hear them say their first words (which will be 'daddy,' of course). I can't wait for them to grow up, yet I absolutely treasure the moments we have right now.



Grace and Kate, your daddy loves you, and I hope you always know that to be true. But even more importantly, I want you to know that you have a daddy in Heaven who loves you more than I ever could, enough to send Jesus to save you so that you could be with Him forever. As your daddy here on Earth, my prayer for you both is that you love God, your heavenly daddy more than anything else. He's entrusted me with the job of caring for you, spoiling you, and teaching you about Him, and I'm going to do my best. I'll always love you; I'll always cherish you; and I'll always be your daddy.

Love,
Dad

The Olympics of Medical Professionals

I have seen a lot of Doctors in my life due to my type 1 diabetes. But, I never really realized how medical professionals should be ranked until I had Kate and Grace.

Bronze Medal:

These are the medical professionals who know their stuff, but just want to get you in and out of their office. I have experienced a few bronze medal medical professionals but in my experience they are few and far between. They are more concerned about their pay check then they are about making sure you have your questions answered.

Silver Medal:

These are Medical professionals who are great. They listen to your concerns and don't look at you like you are an idiot and don't know what you are talking about. This would be your most common medical professional.

Gold Medal:

These are the star medical professionals and the point of all of this rambling that you have been so patient in reading. We have been blessed to have mainly type of individuals these during my pregnancy and this last month since the girls have been here. (Shout out to all of our NICU nurses... seriously, you guys are the best.)

One person in my mind who needs a gold medal is the girls pediatrician. We went to Dr. Powell's office based on the recommendation of the NICU team and they have been wonderful. After Kate was admitted to the hospital the Dr actually called me just to see how I was holding up and if there was anything they could do for us. Then yesterday after what we will call one of Kate's blueberry spells (she holds her breath and turns blue, it can be pretty traumatic) there was a knock on our door and the nurse walked in holding balloons and a teddy bear. The girls pediatrician sent it over just to let us know the office was still thinking about us. Gold medal Dr. Powell's office, Gold medal.

The Adventures Begin..

On March 2nd Austin and I (Sara) began one of the biggest adventures of our lives... we became parents to the two most beautiful girls in the word (we may be a little biased). Over the past month we have had a lot of struggles as well as a lot of wonderful moments. In the next months we will have a lot of big changes coming, and we want to share the good and bad moments with all of you no matter how near or far we are from you.

I had a challenging pregnancy to say the least. I think I probably solely funded my high risk doctors salary for the year with my co-pays (man, did this pregnancy make us thankful for health insurance!). But my pregnancy came to a culmination the last week of February. I was a hot mess to say the least. I was sleeping on the couch due to the fact I got stuck if I slept in our bed. If I would have been on fire, I wouldn't have been able to stop, drop and roll due to the fact that I had a speed bump for a belly. Through the latter part of my pregnancy I had developed pre-eclampsia. The last week of my pregnancy, my blood pressure shot up and began to wreak havoc on me. Once I was admitted to the hospital I went into preterm labor and shortly after we got to meet Grace Emery and Kate Sophia.

I was able to meet them briefly before they were whisked away to the NICU, where they spent the first 3 weeks of their lives. They spent time learning how to eat and remembering to breathe. Grace came home from the NICU on March 27th. We were so excited to have her home, but we missed Kate. It only took her two additional days to get to join us at home. Unfortunately, due to a bug and high fever Grace ended up being admitted to Children's Mercy hospital. The day she was discharged Kate was admitted for the same bug. Kate is still in the hospital due to the fact that since she is sick she keeps forgetting to breathe.

Austin and I have learned a lot about the difference between surviving and thriving in challenging circumstances over the last month. We have come to the realization that to thrive in hard times you have to just deal with what is in front of you at the moment and not get overwhelmed about everything else. We are called to be faithful with what God has set before us in that moment and not get overwhelmed with the 50 other things on our to do list.

We are so thankful for all the love and support we have received from all of those around us! Please continue to pray for our sweet girls as they are still growing and developing.