The blessings!

We blessed our sweet baby girls on Sunday, June 7. We have about 50 family and friends join us for the festivities! (It sounds like a lot, but my family is almost 50 alone.... so really we have three family and friends and my family.... =) They are now just about 4 months old. They are doing wonderfully. They've doubled their birth weight! Samantha rolls all over the place (even when I'm trying to change diapers), and she wiggles around until she can use Sydney's shoulder as a step to push off of. It's quite comical. Sydney talks and talks and talks and when she gets mad she yells rather than cries. They both have smiles that light up their faces. And big brother Bryce just loves them -- "Hi Nini! Hi Manta!" he loves to say when he sees them in their bouncey chairs. Then he pats them on the head or tries to shove binkis in their mouths. So sweet! Here are some pix! Sydney is on the left and Samantha is on the right in the blessing photo and vice versa in the other one.

At long last - Our baby girls!

After 10 long weeks on full bed rest and several moments of hysteria generated by the staff of the University Hospital, we are more than pleased to announce the safe and healthy arrival of our twin baby girls! Here are the details:

Sydney Ann Thomson (in the pink) and Samantha Jane Thomson (in the purple), born Friday, February 27, 2009. Sydney was 6 lbs even and Samantha was 5 lbs 14 oz. And mom was bigger than a house before they were born..... ;) They were born almost one month early, to the day (they were due on March 28), but they both have been extremely healthy. Samantha had to spend two days in a special care nursery for lung problems but was able to join mom and sister in the room for the last two days of our hospital stay. Sydney stayed with me the whole time, and both girls came home together. And to answer the burning question: they are most definitely NOT identical. They are as fraternal as the day is long -- in genetics and personality.

A few details you might like to know:

Sydney

Has dark hair and golden brown skin
Has a cry that says, "Where's my food, dang it?!"
Likes to wiggle her arms and legs as much as possible
Prefers to be awake at 12 midnight every night
Has little patience if she's given you "the cry" and you haven't fed her in the following two seconds.
Is alert and inquisitive and so darn cute.

Samantha

Has dark hair, but not as dark as her sister's, and reddish brown skin
Has a cry that says, "I've been so patient, what am I doing wrong? Why haven't you fed me? I'm so sad now."
Likes to be straight as a board
Prefers to be awake at 5:00 a.m. every morning
Has a great deal of patience when her sister is demanding food for them
Is our sleeping beauty, but when she's awake, her little eyes just dart around the room trying to take it all in.
And yes, she's also so darn cute.

Thank you for all of your prayers, support, service, and love during this crazy pregnancy. It has been a profound experience for me on many levels. And please oh please, don't stop the prayers, support, service, and love now! We've got two babies and a big brother to take care of!!

Things just got more expensive....

Those were Dan's first words when the ultrasound technician told us her findings: Two girls.

Double Trouble

Well, it's quite public knowledge now, so I suppose I can post it on our family blog: We are expecting TWINS! They are officially due on March 28, my birthday. But twins do not go quite that long, so we hope to have them healthy and strong sometime in early March. 

We are thrilled and terrified at the same time. It's a great blessing to have two babies join our family, and I'm sure they will be cute as buttons. But I ask myself every day: "How do you bathe  two infants?" "How do you nurse to infants?" "How do you rock and cuddle two infants?"

And then if I'm being honest with myself, we're really talking three babies. Bryce will be just 21 months when the twins are born, so that means we'll have three children under the age of two. How do you take care of three babies?!

But I'm sure we'll figure it out, and just have three times the fun. =) Bryce will be an excellent big brother. We can already see the gleam in his eyes as he thinks about all the trouble he can get his baby siblings into. 

And that's the big news of the Thomson family. We're tripling our child count in one go. Whew!

The Day He Became a Boy

Pinocchio had it all wrong. While it's nice to "prove yourself worthy" to become a real boy, all he really needed to do was get a haircut. That is the moment all baby boys turn into little boys. And on July 7th, my Baby Bryce became Big Boy Bryce with one clip of the scizzors at Great Clips.

We walked down to a nearby neighborhood shopping area at 9th & 9th and signed ourselves up for the haircut. When it was our turn, we tried to have Bryce sit on the chair by himself, but he was not willing to go under the clippers on his own. So they put a cape over me too (mine was black and had no fishies), and Bryce sat on my lap for his first real hair cut. Safely on my lap, he sat with great patience while the stylist worked her magic very quickly. He even let her run clippers across the back of his neck and his barely visable sideburns.

When it was finished, as the photo indicates, Bryce took a look, gave it a good comb, and called it good.

And when I tried to get a few more photos, he let me know what he thought of that idea.

Bryce's Birthday!

Nothing snappy this week, just fun pictures from Bryce's 1st Birthday! The year has gone too fast, but we were delighted to celebrate Bryce's 1st birthday with our family. A few highlights to note: Bryce was not at all interested in opening presents or even tearing the paper. He wasn't interested in getting his hands dirty in the cake. But he was very interested in the kiddie pool and all the cousins! He loves his cousins!! Here are some highlights.

He's a Genius!

Is it me or is my kid brilliant? Just today we sat at a little bag of toys and I asked him, one by one, to find a toy for me. 

"Bryce, where is the basketball?"

"Seriously mom. Too easy. It's right here." He starts pounding his little basketball. I take it out and try again.

"Where is the shoe?" I don't think he'll get it, but it's worth a try. One second later, he has reached out and grabbed his tennis shoe (that sadly was only a toy because we could never get his fat feet into them). I'm impressed.

"Where is the telephone?" It's a trick question. He has a toy phone, but it doesn't really look like a phone and I've certainly never called it a phone. I don't know if I've ever called anything a phone yet.

And he goes right for it. "Mom, give me something hard. You're boring me," his look says. It also says a little bit of "I'm seriously good."

"Where is the book?"

"Right here. Don't insult me."

"Where is Mr. Piggly Wiggly?"

"Done. What else you got?"

"Where is the rooster."

"Had it ten minutes ago."

"Mr. Moo Cow?"

"If that's all you've got, I'm outtie...."

The child is a genius! (And cheeky.)

Of course I know all kids are geniuses. It's just amazing to see how much they learn at the tender age of 11 months and three weeks. He is giving us signs left and right. He spontaneously waves at strangers and takes up peek-a-boo games with anyone who will join. He pulls himself to standing and can cruise a room in five minutes flat. He puts his own arms in the sleeves of his shirts with just a simple "Arm, please" command. He can even do "Itsy Bitsy Spider"!

I realize I'm having the experience all parents have had, are having, and will have. But it's the first time this parent is having these experiences. So you'll forgive me if I think my child is too smart for words and you'll forgive me if I savor every moment of my child's progress and brilliance. It has been delightful at the least and soul-changing at the most.