Back home

Wow! We’re all finally home from Kansas City! The boys and I have been there since Dec 22. We unfortunately forgot the computer attachment that lets us download pictures from our camera, so I put updating the blog on the backburner. Plus, we were with most of the blog readers. Our apologies to everyone else.

The twins are HUGE! I could almost feel them growing daily. They look like normal little babies now so it’s hard for me to remember that they were premature and could get very sick very easily. They’ve already had their first colds – over Christmas they had stuffy noses and coughing some. Nothing too serious, fortunately. They are done with their heart monitors, also. It’s nice not to have to hook them up all of the time, plus it makes traveling a lot easier. We realized on the way to KC in December that this was the twins’ first outing for something other than a doctor visit.

Patrick and Luke were baptized on December 27, with aunts and uncles Katie and Chris and Brian and Kelli as their Godparents, respectively.

They are smiling all of the time now, especially in the evenings. It’s like their little way of apologizing for the weeks of screaming non-stop in the evenings. :) It’s wonderful to hear their cooings and watch their little faces light up when we talk to them.

Joe had a grand time in Kansas City. On dad’s side, he got to play with his Grammie and Granddad and aunts and uncles. He loved their dog, Jake, and taking trips to the neighborhood lake to feed the ducks. Actually, they were geese and the feeding went more like this: One chunk of bread for the ducks, one for Joe. One chunk for the ducks, one for Joe. He’s mommy’s good little eater! I have to brag a little bit – our child is exhibiting some advanced behaviors. He is really learning the terrible-two temper tantrum. We’re so proud. He surprised his adoring grandparents with a doozie when they tried to go back home from the goose lake. He also learned a new phrase: When asked a question he doesn’t know the answer to, he will say, “Um, I don’t know” kind of mumbly. It’s cute. He also got his first barbershop haircut.

Not a happy camper

Worth all of the trouble for this lollipop!

On mom’s side, he enjoyed tearing up Grandma and Grandpa’s house with cousin Kolbe. He continues to think Libby is his girlfriend. He loves to give Libby kisses, and he picked up another delightful activity – shoving. We suspect Kolbe taught him. Kolbe certainly got his punishment, though, since Kolbe was the only one he really tried out his new skill on.

Shannon and I had a chance to take the three older kids to the park to feed the ducks (again, the same type of feeding as before, with the same tantrum at the end) We also took the older boys to an indoor playground at a local gym. They got to run around like crazy with other kids their size, jump in moon walks and ride little plastic cars. It was a chore just to keep a visual on both of them. We even ventured out to eat FOUR times with all of the kids. Once was to an Italian place where Joe surprised everyone but his mother when he finished off an entire plate of spaghetti and meatballs. When he was done with his plate, he continued to eat from what fell into his bib! Yum yum!

I made a trip to Topeka to see my good friend Anna and her kids with other friends from KC, Emily and Carrie – her son is Devin on the right. We had a great time playing together. They’re all such great kids!

Fr. Joe came to visit the twins, too. They were both very comfortable with him (that’s Luke yawning – not screaming!)

I seem to have misplaced my Christmas pictures. I will have to post them later! Thanks for understanding :)