Tummy Time Flies When Your Having Fun

Go Cardinals!

7/21/12

Must have been a good one

Today we were invited over to our friend Yago’s place for a cookout and a little Cards vs. Cubs baseball.  This was the first party I’ve been to in a while where the adults nearly outnumbered the kids.  It was 6 on 6!  They definitely kept us entertained.  Yago has a daughter that’s a year and a half and a son that’s 5 months and the other couple had a 2 and 5 year old.  Between all of the baby items and Yago’s Halloween masks, it was a sight to see.  Yago designs Halloween masks and I got the opportunity to see what was left of his collection… pretty cool stuff.  We weren’t able to watch much of the game, but the Cards scored 12 runs in one inning and that’s the way it ended, 12 – 0.  It was nice to get out of the house for an evening!  Can’t wait to do it again soon.

7/22/12

Corrie and Adam stopped by with Brian Enders today.  He got to meet the babies for the first time and we all hung out for a couple hours.  Uncle Adam and Aunt Coco stuck around for dinner on the grill and we watched our favorite show Breaking Bad.  My guess is this is going to be a regular occurrence on Sunday evenings and that’s fine by me.  Aunt Coco is absolutely beside herself ever time she comes over to see the babies and Adam has really warmed up as well.

Checkin out his biggest (ceiling) fan

Sock monkey

7/25/12 – 7/29/12

It was another successful trip home this week.  Toni was asked to sing at a wedding on Saturday and somehow I ended up playing the guitar.  It will probably be our last trip south until our wedding run begins in September. (we have 5)  We spent 2 ½ days in Newton and 2 ½ days in Teutopolis. As always grandmas, grandpas, aunts and uncles were all so excited to see the twins.  Everyone thought Brenden and Jackson have grown so much.  I guess we haven’t really noticed, being around them every second of every day.  I did the scale trick at Grandma and Grandpas this weekend.  Brenden checked in at 9.6 and Jackson at 8.8.  I think we’re going to need to go through some of our clothes this week because newborn is starting to look a little tight.  They grow up so fast.

Story time with Mommy

Rockin out with Daddy

Take Me Out To The Ball Game

7/18/12

Mom and Dad have been looking forward to this one all week.  Today was the day we took Brenden and Jackson to their first baseball game!!!  With Milwaukee only about an hour and a half away and the Cardinals in town, this made for a perfect afternoon.  A special thanks goes out to Adam for letting Baxter out while we were away.

We made the decision to get tickets earlier this week, so Dad decided to call cousin Paul and his family for lunch.  His wife Alicia brought all their little ones over to meet at La Perla in Milwaukee.  Luella and Monroe are getting so old and even Elsie looked big next to Brenden and Jackson.  We definitely ran the restaurant out of high chairs between all of our additions.  It was nice to spend some time catching up before the game!

That peppers got nothing on Monroe's fire!

Lue and the Boys! She's a Fearday.

La Perla was only a couple of miles from the stadium so it didn’t take long to arrive.  We packed the baby carriers so we wouldn’t have to worry about car seats or the stroller.  I was a little nervous about how Brenden and Jackson would do, but they more than exceeded expectations.  These two kids absolutely LOVE being outside.  They didn’t make a peep on the long walk to the stadium and were all smiles the majority of the game.  We found a nice spot in the shade and there was a breeze in the upper level.

 

Kathy, Dave, Holly and Alex Wall happened to be going to the same game.  Their seats were right in the sun so they decided to come join us in the upper deck.  I’m sure it also didn’t hurt that we had Brenden and Jackson with us.

The Brewers scored 4 runs in the first off of a couple errors, and that is all it would take.  Solo shots by Freeze and Craig put us on the board and that’s the way it ended, 2 - 4.  We had the bases loaded in the top of the ninth, but like the Cardinals have done lately, we couldn’t drive them in.  Ugh!  It was a real bummer that the Cards couldn’t get a win, but all things considered it was a really fun trip!

Mom and the boys

Taking it all in...

Thanks for the hat, Grandma!

Just Another Day in Paradise

Go Cards!

7/14/12

Today we got all geared up for the central division showdown against the Reds.  The Cardinals are on Fox today and ESPN tomorrow.  What a treat!  Too bad the birds couldn’t pull off a victory.  Guess we’ll have to cheer them on up in Milwaukee this week.  Look for us on Wednesday!

Dressed for dinner... Check out the sweet kicks for the ladies.

7/15/12

Mohawk-ish

This evening we had dinner with the Hendrickson’s!  They have wanted to meet the boys for quite some time now.  Ken, Deb, Adam and Corrie all met up with us at 100 South.  Good times were had by all.  Later that evening, Corrie and Adam came over to hang out.  Corrie didn’t think twice when she heard it was bath night for Brenden and Jackson.

Brenden: "Check out this new trick I learned!"
Jackson: "Duuuuuude"

Eat, Sleep, Poop... Repeat

7/12/13

Eat, sleep, poop… repeat.  It’s been a pretty uneventful week, but we welcomed it with open arms after all we had going on last week.  We finally had a chance to kick back and relax.  It’s crazy how quickly the days pass without a thing on our schedule, but Brenden and Jackson provide plenty of entertainment.  It’s also funny how even a walk or trip to the grocery store turns into an adventure when these guys are with.  Take for example our trip today.  We started off at REI to look for a newborn attachment for our bike trailer.  Then we headed to Buy Buy Baby and Babies R Us for some returns, hit up Wal-Mart for a few things, and stopped by the bank to set up savings accounts for the Brenden and Jackson.  This seems like an average day of running errands.  Simply add two babies to the mix and you now have the challenge of packing the diaper bag and car seats and stroller and transitions between car and stroller and playing the pacifier game where each baby thinks its hilarious to spit out their pacifier at any chance they get and diaper changes in public restrooms without a changing table and attempting to comfort a small person you can’t reason with during a total meltdown… All of this times two.  Have no fear; Super Mom and Super Dad are here.  Sometimes I feel like I’m doing the job of a superhero.  I definitely walk around with my chest puffed out a bit more during a trip like this one. Haha!  Obvious both of there smiling faces make it all worth it in the end.

7/13/12

Today Mom had her first audition since Brenden and Jackson were born.  She was definitely a little nervous this time, but well prepared as always.  I could tell she was really excited to be singing again.  We all packed it in the SUV for the long hall down I-290 during rush hour on a Friday… destination, the Lyric Opera House.  After I dropped off the future star, I parked the car and played the proud father who pushes his new twin boys around in the stroller.  Once she nailed the audition, we headed over to the Flach’s place for some dinner and drinks.  Did someone say Deep Dish Gino’s East?  We got to meet their new addition, Eloise Marie. She was so precious!  The boys were on their best behavior.  I’m convinced they were trying to show off for their new lady friend.  Haha!  Scott and Laura also stopped by to hang out.  It was an all around great trip… good food, good conversation, and awesome company!  We can’t wait to do it again.

Maximum Twinsanity

7/5/12

We had intensions of heading back today, but after further discussion it just made sense for us to stick around… what’s one more day.  With the temperatures the way they are and not knowing for sure if we had power, made the decision pretty easy.  The Beavers were also in support of our decision being that it meant more baby time.  Haha.  With our extra day, we decided to go visit the new addition to the Caraway family, Easton Lee.  We got the tour of their awesome new house and let the babies mix it up for a bit.  It was pretty crazy to see all the little guys together.  The scene was a bit different from the old college days.

Easton, Brenden, and Jackson 

7/6/12

This morning we confirmed that our power was back on and pealed out around 9:00 am (This is Toni Time so it was actually around 9:50).  We were loaded down with fresh veggies from the Beaver garden and plenty of venison from Caraway’s hunting stash.  We took a break around half way to feed the babies and fuel up.  Again, it was a pretty smooth trip.  The rest of the afternoon was not so smooth.  When we arrived, we were greeted by a yard full of branches and pinecones.  The tree that had been resting on the power line pole next to our house had snapped in half and was just wait for a breeze to finish it off and knock the power out again. 

The thermostat read 95 degrees when we got in the house so we flipped on the air and headed to run some errands.  First stop… Wok’n Fire!  We ordered some sushi and fed the babies.  Once everyone had their fill, it was off to the library.  Brenden and Jackson did not do a very good job of following the rules.  I guess they must have missed the QUIET signs on the way in.  The house still wasn’t quite there so we decided to push it and try a trip to the grocery store… bad decision.  They were absolutely out of their minds by this point.  I can’t help but wonder what some of the people in the grocery store thought.  The babies were much better when we got home.

Once mom got the babies settled down, I started the long process of cleaning out and replacing the entire refrigerator full of bad food from the power outage.  Later that night we visited Chuck and Jan Anderson.  Thankfully, Jan had saved Toni’s breast milk that was in the freezer from the heat.  It really sucked to throw out all that food but we definitely saved the important stuff.

7/7/12

It’s my birthday! Toni has to work all day so I have the babies all to myself.  I foresee lots of tummy time and guitar riffs in the future!!!

Brenden and Jackson's Big Weekend

6/30/12

We began our first of two trips home this week.  Mom had to work all morning so the responsibility of packing and getting all the boys ready fell into Dad’s hands.  I started the day with a nice 3 mile walk/run with Brenden, Jackson and Baxter.  It’s always a good idea to get as much energy as possible out before we spend 3 and a half hours in the SUV.  Brenden and Jackson didn’t do quite as good as last time but we had no major problems.  Mom got off work at 1:00 and we were on the road by 2:00.  We stopped at a rest area just south of Champaign to feed the boys and let Baxter out.  Luckily, the heat wasn’t too bad.  We found a shaded bench outside.  Mom, Dad, Baxter and the twins were all happy to be out of the car!  That evening we were greeted by open arms and another excellent home cooked meal.  Mom and Dad both tried out Brenden and Jackson’s new wheels, a bike trailer.  They recommend waiting until the babies are 1 year, but it’s going to be pretty tough to let that thing sit in the garage for another 10 months.

7/1/12

The next morning, we woke up and started prepping for Brenden and Jackson’s big day.  Most of the work had already been taken care of due to our wonderful families.  A special thanks to Grandma Esker and Nana for all of their help!  As I dressed the boys in their brand new white outfits I couldn’t help but think, “please don’t have a blowout.”  Brenden and Jackson both did really well in church.  Both their behavior and diapers were easy to manage.  The ceremony also went really well.  Father Vernon delivered a very meaningful baptism while keeping the mood light.  When he poured the water over their heads he said, “these boys take to the water like fish.” Haha!  He even managed to embarrass Aunt Michelle a little during his serman.  A big THANKS YOU to all the godparents.  Uncle Brent and Aunt Lynn were there to support Brenden and Uncle Scott and Aunt Kaleigh were there for Jackson.  All of your future guidance and prayers mean so much to the boys and us.

After Church we head back to Grandma and Grandpa’s house for lunch.  I’m sure Brenden and Jackson got their workout for the day because they jumped from hand to hand like a couple of hot potatoes.  I took advantage of the time off and ate until I was completely miserable.  We got to bed early that evening, little did we know, we were going to need at.

7/2/12

When we woke up, I loaded mom up with the boys for a quick feeding and packed the SUV so we could get an early start.  Mom had to work at 1:00, so we wanted to be able to get back and eats some lunch before she went off to teach.  We were about 3 hours in when the babies got a little fussy so we stopped to feed, fuel up and get some food for ourselves.  This is the point at which mom and dad’s stress level reached an all time high.  Mom received a call from one of our neighbors that the power was out due to severe thunderstorms and high winds.  She also said that it might not be back on for another 5 days.  A few phone calls later, we made the decision to turn around and head to Newton for a few days...  nothing like a 6 and a half hour drive from T-town to Newton.  We’ll just tell people we took the scenic route.  That evening were joined by Aunt Lynn and Cousin Eli for food, drinks and plenty of B-ball.  The stress level was quickly restored back to its normal state.