Month #3

Aw, the third month! Everyone said it would get better by this time, and it has! Both Keaton and Bronwyn have been sleeping from 10:30 pm all the way to around 6 am!!! We have exceptional children, and are very lucky that they are on the same schedule. That is the one thing that I have learned as a mommy of twins.... start them on a schedule from the very beginning with eating and sleeping. We are very blessed to have such good babies.
This month has included so many different memories and milestones, it has been so much fun to see how much they are growing and becoming their own little people with such awesome personalities. They talk and smile so much now. One of their favorite places to be is the changing table. We are always guaranteed lots of smiles and a great conversation whenever we go to this wonderful place in the nursery. They both have found their hands. It is so funny to watch them as they marvel at their own fist. The look on their faces is priceless when they see it. We noticed them also following us as we walk to another place in the room or will turn to us when they hear our voices. It is amazing just how much they are starting to change... before we know it they'll be all grown up. That is why we try to enjoy every second of the day.
Nate went back to work this month, which has been difficult for him and me. I send him tons of pictures and audio messages of them throughout the day. He says it always puts a smile on his face. Not too many dads get the chance to spend the first 2 1/2 months with their babies... we were so lucky that they came when they did.
Speaking of lucky, my wonderful mom retired the Friday before Nate had to report back to work... again, great timing! She has been staying the night and helping me during the day. Having twins is a two person job right now, and I cannot express my gratitude enough to my mom for being here basically 24 hours a day to help me. I don't know what I would do without her. I have the best mom in the world! Thanks Mom!
Well, that's all for now. We hope that you enjoy the slideshow of this month. Thanks to all of you for coming by to check up on us. We love you all. Until next month....


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Month #2

Ahhhhh...a sigh of relief from the parents that be. It's finally begun to slow down over here, with feedings continuing at every three hours during the day, but letting them go as long as they can during the night. We are finally starting to bank those bed time hours and even have enough time for a dream to creep in! This month has had many new memories, even if they are just little things.

First of all, we didn't do this on purpose, but they both cried their first tears (of joy?) early in the month. They also began to dance on mommy and daddy's laps by pumping their legs up and down; were introduced and grew quite fond of a game aptly named peek-a-boo; as well as listened intently as mommy read them a book after eating and being changed.

As I mentioned before, they have slowly lengthened their sleep time in the late night starting with a four hour stretch, to just last night reaching an all time high of almost 7 hours! We still need to kick their fussy time between the 7pm and 10pm feeding, and have been experimenting with tummy time, "binki's", and light music. The tummy time is hit and miss with soothing them, but is remarkable to see them scooting and pushing themselves all over their jungle gym. They are also lifting their heads a lot, both on their tummy as well as when they are held on a shoulder...many can attest to the severity of their head bobbing and throwing, so much so they almost throw themselves out of your arms sometimes!

Lastly, the twins have grown so much (how much we're not quite sure yet, as they have their 2 month check-up and shots tomorrow, so we'll give you an update after) and matured in to two little people! They have really got little personalities now and have started reacting to our talking and playing much more. They simply melt your heart from the inside out when they look you in the eye and give you a great big smile (or a little one, for that matter), it is the cutest thing ever!

Hope you enjoy a few of the photos we took over the course of the last month and look forward to hearing from you all. Thanks for checking in with our growing little family, until month #3...


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Month #1

Zzzzzz...oh, hello there. It must be a two hour window of time that we can get this update to you. Oh yes, we have still been feeding every three hours with no end in sight. It's been a great, but sleepless first month. Many thanks to our parents, namely Becky and Myrna for helping out with trying to get us an extra few hours of sleep by staying the night occasionally. Also, thank you to Laura Clutts for coming at 7am during the week with Grammy Becky to allow us more sleep. Lastly, thank you to Jennifer Dodd for putting a list of friends and family together to bring us dinner every other night for the entire month of June! We thank every one of you who contributed, they were all delicious meals and helped us out a lot! Now that I've got the appreciation speech out of the way, on to the updates...

Throughout this first month we have had many visitors, we thank you all for your support and friendship, and we tried to put up as many pictures as we could to represent everyone that came by to check out the twins. Unfortunately though Nate forgot to take some of a few of you, so our apologies.

This month has gone by very quickly and Keaton has now surpassed his sister in weight...we think. They are slowly evolving in to little people and their personalities and characteristics have begun to show...hopefully not too much with Bronwyn, she is a screamer, as some of you know! We hope to keep this updated at least once a month, we will try to do it towards the beginning of every month, so that you can all stay up to date and in the loop with everything that's going on. They are five weeks today and we look forward to the new experiences to come.

Thanks again to everyone for the gifts, food, and support. We appreciate it more than you know.

Please leave a comment to let us know that you stopped by, and frankly we aren't wasting our time with this blog...as you know, we don't have much time to spare! Feel free to share with anyone you think would be interested and we may have missed.

Until the next time...take care everyone!!

~Nate, Kara, Keaton, & Bronwyn


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Introducing.......

Keaton James (bottom picture) and Bronwyn Dawn (top picture), born June 1, 2010. Keaton was our baby A born at 7:39 pm weighing 4 lbs 15 oz. Bronwyn, baby B, was born at 7:40 pm weighing 5 lbs 3 oz. Keaton is the "quiet one". He loves to be kissed on the cheek and smiles all the time. He is gaining weight and catching up to his sister! Watch out Bronwyn, cause Keaton is going to pass you up! Bronwyn was definitely the baby who was always moving in my tummy. She stretches and grunts all the time. Her personality keeps us laughing all day.

I will be updating the blog every month with news on our new family! Please feel free to leave comments, we would love to hear from you! I will be posting some pictures as soon as I can. Thanks to all for your thoughts and prayers! We love you all. Stay tuned....... pictures and updates to come!

N8oween 2009

Well, this year N8oween was another big hit! Once again the costumes were awesome and everyone went all out. Below is a slide show of the night dedicated to Popculture Icons. The winners of this year's awards went to:
Best Female: Jacqui Seibert as Amy Weinhouse
Best Male: Ryan Jones as Prince
Most Creative: Johnny Allen as Where's Waldo (be sure to pay attention to the background in most of the pictures, Waldo is sure to be hiding somewhere!)
Thanks to everyone who was able to make it, we had a spectacular time... and to those of you who didn't we hope to see you next year. Until then... here are some pictures of the night. Enjoy!


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Two???

Our time has finally come, times 2!!!! On the morning of October 25th I took a pregnancy test, and it came back positive!!!! After a year of trying we could hardly believe that our little miracle was finally on the way. On November 9th, we went in for our first ultrasound. Here is how the appointment went:
Doctor says: "So how many are we hoping for?"
Kara's reply: "Uh, ONE!?!"
The doctor proceeds with the ultrasound, where she then says: "Yup there's two!"
Nate and I look at each other in total shock! Nothing could be said. The doctor left the room and still we sat there staring at each other, with absolutely nothing to say. As we left, the doctor's response to us was: "Well, you got the deal this month... Two for the price of one!"
I don't even remember what was going through my head except, oh my God! Two?
After a few days passed and the shock wore off, we became very excited. Not many people will get to experience raising twins. So we are so happy that we are among that bunch. God gives you what you can handle, so I guess that is twins for us. All I can say is that we are VERY blessed!

Here is our entire summer, in one post!

So, I have been a very busy girl this summer, but I wanted to keep all of you updated on what has been going on in our lives. So I'll start with our trip to San Diego. We took this trip with Nate's parents for his cousin, Lindsay's, wedding. The wedding was beautiful and it was great to see Lindsay and her new hubby so happy. While we were there we also spent a day at the San Diego Zoo. Nate and I have been there before, but it was a first for his parents and brother.


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As summer began and June passed, we decided to go to Yosemite with two of our closest friends, Troy and Jenna. We all wanted to hike some waterfalls, so our first fall was virtually small, but still gorgeous. We made our way to Yosemite Valley and had a picnic lunch. As we sat and ate we enjoyed the scenery and fed a sweet little squirrel. Little did we know that feeding them is against the law, and if caught doing it, you must pay a $1,000 fine. Oops! We ended our day with hiking Vernal Falls. If you haven't had the chance to do this, it is absolutely AMAZING! Nate and I had already hiked this waterfall, but we did it again for Troy and Jenna. This hike is tough and long, but it was totally worth it. At the top is a huge "pool" of water that is made from snow run off. Cold right? Well, not for Troy. Even though it is clearly stated not to swim here, Troy did anyway. We had a great time, and made some great memories. Dirty buggers and all!


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Mid July came and we went on our trip to Santa Cruz with Nate's parents. We spent alot of time at the beach, went shopping, watched movies, went to the Boardwalk, and relaxed. The Boardwalk was a lot of fun. We got wristbands that got us on to any ride we wanted. I even got Nate and Becky on the Ferris wheel! We rode Nate's favorite ride a few times... the bumper cars. It was like we were kids again. The weather was beautiful there, and we lived it up considering it was averaging 106 in Fresno that week!


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While in Santa Cruz, our last night there, my best friend Marnie went in to labor! She was in labor for 27 hours! I was texting her husband and mom all night, and finally around 5:55 am the next morning I got the text letting us know that Bryson had arrived. All 9 pounds 21 inches of him. We got home that afternoon and went right over to the hospital to meet the little guy. He is amazing and beautiful. I just can't get enough of him. Welcome to the world baby Bryson. Auntie Kara and Uncle Nate love you bud!


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Once the last week of July hit we were off on our last trip of the summer to our favorite true vacation spot... Cayucos. We went with my family and stayed in the usual little yellow beach house as always. We went to the beach every day, Nate golfed and actually had a good time, played polbie (a new game that consists of 2 polls, a frisbee, and two bottles), and boggie boarded for hours and hours. Yes, not only do we young peeps boogie, but so do my parents and aunt and uncle. Awesome!


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Summer is truly my favorite time of year. With Nate and I both being teachers and having the summers off together it is something I look forward to every year. Our school year is always so busy, but summer allows us to just hang out and be together. There is no one I would rather spend a life time of summers with than my hubby. We are very lucky!