Alex at another Swim Meet

First Place!

Pigtails

Elena in front of the doors to Brian and David's nursery, in adorable pigtails.

Happy Birthday Jeff!

It has been a crazy year, and Jeff more than earned these three birthday cakes!

Seton Festival Fun

A Little Clowing Around

A Ride in the Spinny Tea Cups

Waving from the carousel 

Yummy Cotton Candy

 The Dragon Roller Coaster

Fireworks!

Each year, a nearby church has a three day canival, which includes fireworks.  The kids love to sit outside in their pajamas and watch the display.

So pretty!



Our Big Babies

The babies are getting big so fast!

Alex with Brian in his bouncy seat

Big Dave

The Rolly Polly Babies

Elena decided one of her twin babies should join David for his nap

Sleepy Brian

Our Abby

We met Abby through one of the kid's preschool teachers last year, and I don't know what we would do without her! She has basically moved in with us this summer, spending many nights and coming over to play many days to lend an extra set of hands with the big kids and our newest arrivals.  The kids LOVE her, and we feel so lucky to have her as a part of our lives.

Spiderman

Our biggest monkey has figured out how to climb the doorframe.  Nice.

A Little Bit of Chaos

Our living area has been taken over by baby gear! Swings, bouncy seats, walkers, car seats, and the baby bumpo consume much of the open square footage. Add that to the big kids' toys, and there isn't much extra space left.  It is a crazy scence for now, but won't last forever!

Elena is Turning Four!

We celebrated Elena's birthday a week early since she will be in Michigan for the big day next week.  We packed the day with fun activities of her choice.

Heading to see Toy Story 3 

David Wore Elena's 3-D Glasses After We Returned Home

The Birthday Girl with Her Presents

Photo By Alex of Elena with Mom and Dad

Alex Giving Elena Her Birthday Book, a Family Tradition

Elena's Ballerina "Julie" Box, aka Jewelry Box

 Twin Babies, David and Brian (although these baby dolls are apparently girls)

Little Mommy Elena

Baby David in the Baby Swing, Propped to Drink His Bottle...

...While Mommy Elena Feeds Baby Brian.  Amazing how imitative she is!

 Dinner at Bob Evans (Elena's restaurant choice- must be the curly straws!) with the Galvins

 The Amazing "Lion King" (Elena's favorite movie right now) Cupcakes Made By Aunt Melinda

Happy 4th Birthday, My Favorite Girl!

Little Republicans?

Jeff is an avid reader of on-line conservative media outlets, like Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh.  Here he is with both babies, indoctrinating them early on with the "right" way of thinking.

Oh the Wonderful Thing About Tiggers...

Alex was given this adorable Tigger outfit, which he wore at 9 months.  David is wearing it at 2 months. He is our mega baby!

Happy Father's Day Jeff!

Jeff has earned the title of "Super Dad" these last few month.  He has always been a hands-on, involved father, but his level of involvement in the lives of these four children recently has been awe inspiring.  With the twins, he gladly does the late night feedings, takes on the hard tasks involved in Brian's medical care, and never complains about being pooped or peed on.  

He still finds the energy to spend time with the older kids everyday- they are frequent visitors to their neighborhood pool in the evenings, go on neighborhood "adventures" on their bikes, and usually pick him for the reading of bedtime stories because of all his funny voices. Jeff coached Alex's soccer team this spring, has never missed a hockey practice or swim meet, and brings Alex along to go hit golf balls on the weekends.  He is teaching Elena to swim this summer, introduced her to her new favorite food- tacos- and even plays Barbies with her sometimes. 

I can not imagine a better father to these children, and feel very blessed to have him in our lives.

An Impromtu Tea Party

I had a rough morning in the cath lab, getting my fourth PICC line since October put in. So I decided to treat myself and Elena to some Starbucks.  Elena often gets the last few sips of my favorite drink (vanilla chai latte), but this was the first time she got to order one her own.  She was VERY excited about her treat, and this did wonders for helping to cheer me up.

Elena Taking a Sip of her Very Own Tea

A Little Girl Talk during our Tea Party

Big Dave felt left out, so so we found his bottle...

 And took our tea party into the foyer to join him

This little bit of fun provided my a good distraction from my grumpies. My kids are the best!

How Feeding Time with the Twins Works

The babies eat a 6 ounce bottle every 3 hours- Big Dave will let you know if you are even a minute off that schedule.  Often, we are able to space it out so that we can hold one baby for his entire feeding before turning our attention to the other. Sometimes however, they are both ready to eat at the same time and they want to be fed NOW, with no patience for taking turns.  Feedings like that require all kinds of tricks.  We purchased all the on-line gadgets we could find: a special pillow that looks like a tooth, bottles that have a long straw & pacifier, even a monkey that hangs above to hold the bottle.  But what seems to work best is simply putting them in their car seats and propping the bottles with blankets.

The boys tend to eat at different rates, so we can usually time the midway burp to hold each baby for the last part of the bottle.  This system seems to be working well, but it will be nice when they can hold their own bottle.