How COOL is THAT?!

 As you know, Mommy and Papa work for a non-profit ministry called Seasons of Life Ministries. Why does that matter? Many reasons. But, it's relevant to the twins because of these cool photos you're looking at right now.

Papa had to order a batch of Seasons of Life shirts and Miss Kim from Vintage Wearables did such a great job with the first run last year, we didn't hesitate to call her again. This time, all we ordered was a small batch of shirts. But, what she gave us were the shirts PLUS some uber-cool onesies and leggings for the babies! (Heck, Presleigh even got a super cute Seasons of Life t-shirt!!!)

So, I'm not just posting these as an update on the twins, I'm giving a SHAMELESS plug for Kim and Vintage Wearables - our t-shirt (and baby gear) vendor of choice!

Hey, if you've got a baby,  babies, or friends who have or are about to have a baby or babies, or you just love cute, little baby clothes, get on over to www.vintagewearables.com and check out some great baby gear, will ya?

Check it out!!!

Papa

Closing in on Six Months!!!

WHA?! Who messed with my calendar? Weren't they just FIVE months old?!

Uh, yeah, that's because time flies.

What's amazing to us is that only 8 weeks ago, we were looking at two babies who could barely lift their own heads and now, we've got twins who lay on their bellies for almost an hour with their head up, looking around at all the amazing things in their little worlds. Jovi has officially popped two teeth up past the gums to be seen with the naked eye... that's if you can get her to move her tongue out of the way while she's smiling like a gigglemonkey!

Teeth, scooting, what in the world?!

Jezreel has begun to do something really cool - while he's just a day or two away from a reliable, legitimate scoot, he's actually begun getting on hands and knees and getting his pelvis off the floor. He could go from a scoot to a crawl pretty quickly at that rate. He may have a little catching up to do in the cutting teeth department, though. Drool city, gumming toys to their demise, but no teeth yet.

Coming soon - the tooth fairy? Prom?

SLOW DOWN!!!

1 Week Away

Presleigh's surgery is officially scheduled for next week - Wednesday, about noon. We're eternally grateful for everyone's prayers for her and also grateful for Aunt Shanua making the trip down from Charlotte to help out with the twins while Mommy and Papa are in the hospital for Presleigh's recovery.

You'd never know there was anything going on with her from the outside - running, jumping, climbing, shouting, singing, counting, watching TV, playing with the twins, giving kisses to Mommy, Papa, and the babies... Wow. She's growing up so quickly.

As Mommy and I watched "old" videos from earlier this year, we were amazed at how much she's matured, from the walking to the talking to the facial gestures. Words, words, and more words "Thanks, Mommy!" "My try it!" "Jovi's crying"... Let's hear it for toddler language acquisition and development skills, right?

We threw Presleigh a last minute party and only invited a handful of folks - sorry if you were left out - we realized with all the kids we now know, the house would be overrun with toddlers very quickly. We were right! Cake everywhere, kids all over the place, but a great party nonetheless. And, now, we present to you, Presleigh Pina - 2 year old. We officially no longer have 3 under 2. It's 3 under 3, but thank God for the strength He has given us thus far!


AP

5 Months Ago, Today

We were delivering Jovi and Jezreel. Today, they coo, roll onto their bellies, and scoot from one end of a blanket to the other! Well, Jovi's a little ahead in that department because she's shaped a little differently. Jezreel mostly kicks his legs like he's swimming and tries to move ahead.

It's remarkable to see how much they've both grown. To think I was actually worried Jezreel wouldn't put on any weight on his bones. Now, he's got healthy, chubby, baby legs that he can stand on (assisted, of course) and bear weight.

Both of the twins love the "jumpa" - our term for the circular toy with springs that babies jump up and down in. Yeah, I know it's got an official name, but around these parts, we just call it the jumpa, 'cuz that's what they do in it!

Here are some shots of these two cuties on the floor, doing something that months ago seemed impossible: lifting their heads up and smiling about it!

3 Months Strong

Tonight, Mommy and Papa got to have "date night" for the first time in a couple of weeks. Woo-hoo!!!

It's sort of odd to think ordering Chinese take out from our favorite strip-mall Chinese food place (Jumbo Chinese) and eating it at our kitchen table with Presleigh in her booster seat and two babies beside us is actually a "date", but we really enjoyed it. It is, as Cristine reminds me, just a season. We've got romance, we'll have more soon enough. In the meantime, we have three under two and they are a delight to us.

This week, the twins turned 3 months old. How the heck did that happen?

Today, they weigh in at almost 15 lbs each - two and a half times their birthweight. Jezreel is chunking UP!!! Jovi is trailing a dainty pound behind him and today chuckled for the first time. About two weeks ago, they both started gooing, cooing, and gurgling regularly. Jezreel is the more vocal of the pair, as we expected, but he laughs more than we had imagined. When doing certain activities, he'll throw his head back, open his mouth wiiiiide, and laugh a goofy, adorable laugh that cracks us all up.

Jovi chuckles a lot like her older sister, an infectious giggle you'd expect from a baby girl with a super cute smile.

While the count isn't exact, the math and empty boxes suggest we've just hit the 1,500 diaper mark - not that we're going for a record, just amazed that we've seen that many diapers go bye-bye at the whim of two teeny babes. At least now we're only using about 100 a week. That's great news when you consider the bigger the diapers get, the fewer come in a box for the same price, right?

God has provided marvelously. This week, Papa was asked to do an extra speaking gig and was paid enough to cover the diapers, his back X-ray at the chiropractor's, and buy some food for date night tonight. He supplies our needs, often before we know we need them.

These babies are amazing and we're still scratching our heads in wonder at the fact that they're here, they're ours, and they're so adorable. Thanks, to all of our wonderful visitors, by the way. We don't get out as much as we used to, but it's been great to fire up the grill for our friends and enjoy their company. We are so very blessed by the fellowship of such great people.

May God bless you and keep you.

Amen.

How DID we get this far?

It's really hard to believe that these two incredible blessings of ours are officially 8 weeks old!

After building up and building up, it looks like Jovi and Jezreel are now about 12 to 14 lbs. - that's twice their birth weight! In just 8 weeks? It just seems like this leap in size took so much longer with Presleigh. "Can't you just stay teeny for a couple more months?"

Nope. Time marches on!

Yet, if you interviewed either Cristine or I, you'd hear us tell a very different story: sleep... is... a... priceless... commodity!!! Sometimes, it seems like the feed-wake-change-sleep cycle never ends. Alright, it never really does end!

The count goes on - we're at roughly 950 diapers since birth. Yes, that's a LOT of diapers, right? With two, it's a totally different ballgame than with one. No, I don't just mean the diaper changing, but the feeding, waking, getting back to sleep, changing again ("didn't I just change your diaper?!")

Yet, it's far more than twice the blessing. I am amazed at the little nuances we both see in our twins. (Not to mention the ongoing advances that both Presleigh and Brianna continue to make.) Little changes to their faces, new coos and moves, bigger fingers than I think they had yesterday... Life unfolding - what an amazing witness to the glory of our sovereign God. "The heavens declare the glory of God..." yet, so do some of His smallest creations, no?

In no particular order, here are some recent photos of the babes, as promised. After getting Jezreel and Jovi a bit chunkier, we were able to really dig in to the Babywise techniques and I'm grateful to say, we're getting a bit more than 4 hours of sleep at a time, provided our bodies don't naturally wake us up at 3AM thinking we're about to miss a feeding.

Thank GOD we had a visit from an acquaintance turned new BFF - Lily. She and Cristine just got to know each other and it turns out they lived two towns apart back in New Jersey - how funny is THAT? Well, she and two of her 7 daughters (guh-WHAH?!) brought us an awesome Cuban dinner (Arroz y picadillo - NICE!) so, Papa got the night off from the cookin! Praise Christ, and thank you Lily & family!


Well, night-night for Mommy and Papa. Here's some pics, more to come.

Hey, if you're not already a supporter of Seasons of Life, would you consider it, even if only for a few bucks over the summer? As Papa begins to emerge from the fog, he'll be doing more fundraising. But, lately, we're back to praying, making the need known, and trusting God to provide. Actually, that's right where he's wanted us all along. Pray that we stay there and never move back into our own strength! So, you've read this - the need is now known. Click here to help out.

Peace & Go Celtics!

AP

Night-night, Jovi!

Night-night, Jezreel!

More Photos Coming

We've taken a little over a thousand photos of these two since they were born. Suffice it to say that with minimal sleep and lots of work, we've made little time to parse through all the snapshots.

Since the twins are sleeping a little longer at night, we're just about ready to barrage their blog with a TON of photos. So, sit tight, keep your eyes open, and click back here before the weekend's over and you'll get a look at what can happen to newborn twins in a mere 7 weeks!

Papa