Nine years ago today Stephen and I tied the knot. Back then, we were liberal agnostics, living a carefree life in a college town. Now, we’re libertarian-leaning Christians, living the high-stress, but utterly rewarding life of proud parents to three boys. My how times have changed!

Gone are the days when all the boys will stay still long enough to snap a photo.

Speaking of change, all these photos come from a play date Houston (then 19 months old) had with our good friends’ kid, Matthew (then 10 months old), last January. Having recently rediscovered the pics in an e-mail that Matthew’s mom, Beth, sent me long ago, I perused the shots and decided they were too cute not to post on the blog. Click the above photo to view pics from that fun-filled day, as well as a few shots of another play date from early last year.

And change seems to be such a constant when raising so many young hoodlums. Just when we celebrate a new milestone, contend with a new transition and handle a new growth or development, it’s as if we have barely enough time to adjust to the physical transformation or mental maturation before change sets in again.

It’s amazing, yes, but also quite exhausting at times. At the end of most days, I am still astonished that the kids, Daddy and I survived fairly unscathed and are all a bit stronger, wiser and no worse for the wear.

Even back then, Houston enjoys flaunting his physical power by sitting on babies.

Now that an increasingly mobile Gabriel and Zeke aren’t puking so much, we’re beginning to let them crawl and cruise around the living room. This is proving to be a difficult transition since they’re used to having the run of the hallway and two baby-proofed bedrooms, where they can virtually explore to their hearts’ content, tearing down, throwing, banging and chewing on anything in their path.

Obviously, our living room doesn’t fit that description, with electronics, books, cords and lots of other adult gear everywhere within their reach, thus, the attending adult must be extremely alert and hands-on when monitoring the kids. Plus, the twins are not that accustomed to hearing “No!” during their explorations, so the household change is even that much more daunting.

Zeke (left) & Gabriel around 3 months old … can’t believe how big and loud they are now!

Some other stuff:

• Gabriel will mimic an adult saying, “Uh oh.” Gramsey and Papa discovered this during their time baby sitting the kids last weekend.
• Both Gabriel and Zeke have natural talent at throwing the football and basketball. (Sharing the balls, however, is another story.) Saying, “Yay!” after Zeke’s throw elicits a boisterous response in him.
• Houston can now slam-dunk the basketball in his net and is getting much better at catching balls, thanks to much practice with Daddy.
• Gabriel held up his arm when gesturing “bye” to Miss Heather today, and Zeke actually waved to her. Smart boys!

Houston dons a fancy “drool scarf” — a wardrobe staple during his time teething.

• Gabe’s teething is in full swing. His lot of newly revealed teeth is causing him to whine and drool up a storm. Zeke’s teeth are still hiding below the surface, just waiting to wreak havoc. I’ll have to dress those boys in drool scarves sooner rather than later.
• Houston likes to “fwy” (fly) off his changing table like “Soo-pare man.” He also enjoys “numping” (jumping) off of anything and insists on taking off his socks as to attain proper grip on the landing.
• Houston has taken to saying “cool;” telling Mommy “careful” when he thinks I’m being clumsy when handling him; repeating a phrase that Mommy or Daddy say and adding “too” to the end of it; and adding “self” to the end of a phrase about himself.

I have finally gotten into a little bit of a mothering groove here recently. One major change is that I’ve stopped trying to breast-feed the twins at the same time. Not only was it getting increasingly difficult due to their ever-increasing size, but the feeding was just becoming such an event: putting on a clean diaper while the other hungry baby screams (times 2), placing baby onto the twin feeding pillow and walking to my chair without harming the baby (times 2), getting settled and comfortable into the chair, and latching the baby on (times 2), trying to burp (and usually clean up the puke of) one baby while the other is still feeding … all while attempting to be as hands-on as possible with Houston. 

Ashley & Ingrid visit “the zoo” to hang out and help out.

The frequent task had simply become too high-maintenance. Therefore, I have gotten the twins on a staggered feeding schedule and have been feeding them one at a time for about a week now, and I couldn’t be happier. It’s much more relaxing for everyone involved. 

The thinking with twins is that if you feed them at the same time, you cut feedings in half. In theory, that’s a great plan. But being that I also have a near 19 month old running around, it’s as if I have triplets, not twins. So, doing single feedings frees up one hand and doesn’t confine me to a chair for a half hour. In fact, I began this blog while breast-feeding Gabriel — too cool! It’s so much easier to keep an eye out on Houston this way and sometimes even get a few light household tasks accomplished in the process.  

Gabriel has fun during tummy time.

This is not to say that things are EVER simple around here, but I must say that I have come a long, long way since the twins came home from the NICU in early November. 

Also helping things to run as smoothly as possible is the help offered up by friends and family. My pal, Meredith, usually comes over for a few hours every Tuesday and Friday. She does whatever it takes to get things on track, from feeding to playing to changing diapers to bringing over delicious food for an always-hungry Mommy to eat.

Two of my best friends, Ingrid and Ashley, came to visit from Virginia for a couple of days in early January to lend a hand, meet the twins and play a little Rock Band 2.

“See, we do have red hair, Daddy,” says Zeke.

My buddy, Beth, who lives about 45 minutes from here, brought her 10-month-old son, Matthew, over this week to do about the same thing. It’s so wonderful to have an extra set of hands for Mommy and a fun play date for Houston.

We also hired a wonderful young woman named Heather to assist with childcare for about 4 hours a week. Again, she’s an extra set of hands, which helps keep things a tad more sane.

Of course, grandparents are invaluable, and luckily, our kids have two loving and giving sets of grandparents. 

Houston builds stuff with his new blocks.

Another wonderfully gracious and charitable item worth mentioning is that Stephen’s colleague made a sizable donation to our family to help out with the immense medical expenses we’ve incurred since July in dealing with the TTTS and the subsequent NICU charges.

Stephen and I are constantly bewildered by the fact that we are so tremendously blessed with the goodwill of our family and friends. Thanks so much for the love and support, y’all! 

Click the top photo to see the pics from Ashley and Ingrid’s visit, and click the above photo of Houston to see all the December – Part 3 photos. Also, don’t forget to check out the new additions to the December – Part 2 gallery.