We are tired

We are tired. Very tired. Too tired to post anything meaningful other than that we are tired. Maggie and Stella have taken turns not sleeping the last two nights.

Here's Patrick with the kids. He looks tired.

Here is our entire family. Two of us are already sleeping, one is drinking his milk before bed, and two of us are drinking coffee at 10 PM to stay awake for the next feeding...

Grandma Mary Ann's visit

Grandma Mary Ann visited the family for a long weekend. She got to spend some quality time visiting with Patrick, Patti and Will and she got to meet Maggie and Stella for the first time. It was great for us to have another set of hands in the house and Grandma got to hold the girls for as long as she wanted (which was a lot).

Here's Grandma with Maggie...

And Stella...

Here's the entire family in the minivan - thank goodness Grandma is skinny or things would have been interesting. We made the voyage down to the tidal basin to see the cherry blossoms.

Mary Ann, Patrick and Will paid a visit to the National Trolley Museum and Will LOVED it. Of course, he thought they were trains but that's besides the point. It is a cool little museum with a fantastic moving model, a number of old trolleys to be refurbished, and a 20-minute trolley ride through the woods. Very fun.

In addition to holding the girls a lot, Grandma Mary Ann played trains every day with Will. Now that Will is calling Maggie "Moo moo", he has a name for all of us, but he doesn't have a name yet for Grandma Mary Ann. He was quick to point her out and he remembered her from his birthday party but he refused to say her name or any gibberish variation of it the entire weekend. The closest we got was "hmmm..." We'll work on that leading up to his 3rd birthday.

Cherry Blossoms 2011

Grandma Mary Ann is visiting Will and meeting Maggie and Stella for the first time (more pictures tomorrow). In all of her visits here, she has never seen the cherry blossoms on the tidal basin so we all ventured into DC together yesterday. While it was a little uncomfortable in the Routan, we used every seat and made the trip into and out of DC without trauma.

Mary Ann got to see all of the memorials and the White House from a distance as we passed the Washington Monument. It was cold so we rushed to the tidal basin for pictures and then hastily retreated to the warmth of the minivan. We're not sure what the German word for "warmth" is, but it sure felt great.

The weather was unseasonably cold (43) so Stella and Maggie didn't make an appearance outside of the stroller. Patti, of course, outfitted them with a pink curtain...

Daddy and Will have the same haircut now (we'll see how long it lasts)...

To feel better about yourselves...

Be very grateful that you don't have a toddler and newborn twins. This could be the inside of YOUR car every day for the foreseeable future...



And this could be one of your TWO strollers...

Trucks, haircuts and ice cream

Will woke up to the sound of construction on our street this morning so he and Patrick investigated. Will got to watch two of his favorite things - digging and dumping - before he even had breakfast today. We watched them dig up and dump part of our street for a good 20 minutes today and Will kept signing for "more," "more," "more."

After breakfast, the entire clan was off to run errands (pictures to follow tomorrow). Will needed a haircut more than daddy so he very unwillingly got his hair cut today. We've been to this place twice before and Will was an angel - but not today. He fought tooth and nail NOT to be in the place today but the end result was good. All it took was daddy's lap, mama's hand, a sucker, some weird kids movie, and a meltdown.

As a reward, Patti and Will split some ice cream. Check out Will's big brother haircut.

Good news & third bath

Maggie and Stella had their 2-week pediatrician appointment yesterday and they passed with flying colors. Stella is within one ounce of her birth weight and Maggie is a few ounces over her's. Both girls are in the 6-pound club now! More importantly, both are at their original birth weight with only mama milk at the two-week mark, which is a benchmark.

To celebrate, Patti gave both girls another bath. They didn't like their rub-down any more than the first two times, but they both loved bobbing in the "tub" now that their cords have fallen off. Both are water rats, like their mama.

Here's Maggie...

And here's Stella...

Awww...Will!

Will hasn't been the most cooperative little guy the last two days, but here is proof that he can be darn cute with Maggie and Stella.

He loves hugging the girls, but he still won't say Maggie's name...

Spring children

Sorry for the long delay in posting, but we've been sidelined by lots of eating and sleeping (mostly by Stella and Maggie). Will has also been a little less than cooperative the last few days and that's not something we usually take pictures of...

We enjoyed the unseasonably warm temps this weekend to get the kids outside for short, covered jaunts. Here's some shots of the girls outside in clothes that Patrick's coworkers bought for them (thank you!!).

Bonnie joined us for a walk with the kids on Friday. We walked along Sligo Creek to the pond where Patrick and Will watch turtles, but they haven't surfaced yet. Will enjoyed trying to push the girls in the stroller (two in one for the time being).

Patrick and Will took a long walk in the woods so that Will could have some special time alone. He saw lots of ducks, animal tracks, and some birds. Plus, he loved crawling up some steep hills.

On Saturday, Patrick and Will dug up a holly tree seedling that was under our azalea plant. They transplanted it to a pot that's now proudly displayed on the kitchen table. Will is crazy about digging now, and this 15-minute project with digging bought us an entire evening without having to hear "dig" "dig" every minute.

First baths

The girls got their first "bath" on Thursday night. Like Will, they are way too small for their infant tub so they got their first washes in the kitchen sink. Neither of them cared for the sponge bath but they both liked getting their hair rinsed. Will reacted exactly the same way, if you remember: http://willcarey.blogspot.com/2006/11/nov-3-first-bath.html

Stella was the first victim, I mean twin, to get clean.

Maggie was next.

Will, as always, wanted to be a part of the action. He was quick to give them hugs after they were dried off and dressed. He knew he was going to get a "big boy" tubby the next night.

The girls cried a fair amount while they were getting cleaned up. In his concern, Will lined up every vehicle in the house for a parade to show to Stella and Maggie when they were finished.

Our big helper

One week after having twins and four days after returning home, we are finally getting into the swing of things. The first two nights at home were pretty sleepless and full of some tears. We learned what our friends with twins had been telling us, but the hard way - keep them on the same schedule. They fed interchangeably until around 4:00 each morning and then slept until Will got up at 7:00...

Now they're feeding together and every 2-3 hours, with long naps afterwards. That means some sleep for Patti and Patrick, and a transition back to Will's normal schedule (which makes life better for EVERYONE).

Patrick has been taking Will out on mini-excursions to make him feel special. They ran errands at the mall on Wednesday and Will was rewarded with a train ride around the mall.

Will has been trying so hard to be helpful around the house. On Thursday, he quickly picked up his toys when the furniture delivery guys arrived. He also helped Grammy make cookies.

Will helped Patrick put the baby gates and hallway railings back up after the crib and glider chair were delivered. Will LOVES Daddy's power tools and tape measure...

Will tries helping change the babies' diapers but we only let him collect diapers and wipes and to throw out the dirty diapers. He is fascinated with the girls and he kisses their hands when he goes away for his naps and to sleep at night.

Here is the gratuitous Maggie and Stella shot. They're still sleeping best when together in the moses basket. They have a co-sleeper too but they seemed lost in it on Sunday and Monday night when they weren't sleeping at all. Their crib arrived today and it's bigger still so it might be a while before it sees some action.

Welcome Home Girls!

We left the good care of Patti's coworkers at Georgetown University Hospital yesterday morning and rejoined the comforts of home. Will was waving at us through the window when we pulled up - what a treat!

If you haven't seen a minivan with three car seats in it, you haven't lived...

Thankfully, Will was as happy to see Maggie and Stella at home as he was in the hospital. He enthusiastically let them in the house and then inspected them for a few minutes to show us that they were moving around, making noises, etc.

They settled in to Will's old digs...

Will has really been so curious and loving toward the twins. He watches them sleep and coo in his old moses basket. He wants to help us with them SO much so today we let him help us change their diapers. He ran off to get us diapers and he scampered off to the kitchen to throw away the dirty ones.

He says hi to them all the time and he talks about them constantly. The funny thing is that while he can identify and call Stella by her name perfectly, he refuses to say Maggie's name. For now, he's calling both of them Stella...

Dad's morning with Will

Patrick left Patti and the twins at the hospital today to take Will to his friends' (also twins) 2nd Birthday party at Glen Echo Park. Will LOVED the puppet show and the rest of the birthday party, and he loved the old trolley and bumpercar near the main building.

We realized yesterday that we'll need to do more special things like this with Will so that he doesn't feel left behind by all of the new changes at home. He was so snuggly with Patrick during the puppet show and he asked often about Patti and the babies. Patrick, for his part, did pretty well on a few hours sleep and three cups of coffee...

Here's a good comparison of the girls. Stella is on the left, with her blond hair and lighter skin. She also has a longer face than Maggie. Maggie, on the right, is smaller in general and she has darker skin and hair. Her face is rounder and smaller than Stella's.

We're taking advantage of the fact that they fit in the same bassinet at the hospital. Imagine the room the little beans will have in their co-sleeper at home.

The plan is that we'll be heading home tomorrow mid-day, assuming Patti and the girls continue to check out just fine. Hooray!

Twin close-ups

Today was day two of the rest of our lives as a five-some. The girls were up eatting pretty much all night. Patti had her IV, bandages and other remnants of the c-section removed. And we started today with high spirits.

Will, Grammy and Grampa visited again today to spend time with the girls (Patti included). Will was eager to see them again and he even "held" Stella - he needs to learn to be a little more gentle with them. All in all, Will's been hell on earth outside of the hospital for almost a week, but pretty delightful during visits.

Here is a close-up of Stella...



Here's a close-up of Maggie. Her eyes are nearly the same color as Stella's...



And here is Patti and the girls after a morning feeding. We forgot how fun it is to watch babies slip into the post-feeding coma.

Stella Felicity and Margaret Grace join the clan!

Stella Felicity Carey and Margaret Grace Carey were born this morning at 8:12 AM and 8:13 AM, respectively. Stella weighed 6 pounds 9 ounces and she has light hair (like Daddy). Maggie weighed 5 pounds 13 ounces and she has dark hair (like Mommy). Both girls are 18 and 3/4 inches long.

Patti delivered both girls by c-section because they were both breech at the point of full-term. While not the birth she had envisioned, it was nice not to be in labor all day.

Patti's parents brought big brother Will to the hospital this afternoon and he was great around the girls. He said "Hi" to them more than once, he gently touched their hair and patted their sides, and he kissed them good-bye at the end of his visit. THANK YOU to Bill and Bonnie for taking care of Will during today's new experiences.

Once we're home this weekend, we'll upload a lot of pictures. For now, we hope this works for you.