Family Photos

Two weeks ago we had family photos taken by a photographer friend of ours. Although it's pretty tough to get both boys to look at the camera at the same time, I was pretty pleased with them! Today the boys are 9 months old already! It's so crazy how fast the last 9 months have gone. I am so lucky and feel gratitude beyond words to K and her family! There are still days when I look at the boys and can't believe what an amazing life story they have to tell!

"Miracle Baby" Birthday Party

This past weekend we went to a birthday party hosted by our RE and his clinic. They do this every year to celebrate all the "miracle babies" they helped to conceive. The boys were able to meet their first babysitters, the embryologists, as well as some of the nurses and of course, Dr. S, our wonderful RE. The party was hosted at the Mall of America's aqaurium, Underwater Adventures, and the boys absolutely loved watching all the fish. While walking through the aqaurium tunnel Liam laid back to watch the sharks, rays, and large fish swim over our heads and also enjoyed standing up next to the sides with his hands on the plexiglass watching the fish swim by. Silas seemed to enjoy looking at the jellyfish in the small tanks, but seemed a little scared when J put him right next to the plexiglass of the tunnel. It was so much fun to watch them taking it all in. I love seeing life through their eyes where everything is new and so amazing!

A family photo at Underwater Adventures: (it's blurry but the only one we took)

The four of us with Dr. S (who's eyes are closed):

The boys with Dr. S:

Underwater Adventures Family Photo:

Candle burning at both ends

Right before Christmas we put our 3 bedroom historic cape cod house on the market and much to my surprise it sold in less than a month with a bidding war to boot. I had agreed to put in on the market thinking that it wouldn't sell for a few months and knew that we'd pull it off the market once the boys arrived. Both J and I agreed that showing a house with two newborns wouldn't be a good idea, particularly when the house needed to be perfectly staged which would be impossible with baby gear everywhere. Secretly I hoped it wouldn't sell because I didn't want the added stress of packing and moving with the babies, so when it sold so quickly I was quite nervous about what was to come.

Not only did we sell our house, but we were planning to build another one. With new construction comes all sorts of decisions and stresses. When we sold our house we already had the lot picked out, the foundation poured, and well dug, so all we had to do was have the house built. Fortunately we have a great general contractor who's made the process relatively easy. Additionally, we had spent time looking at flooring, counters, light fixtures, faucets, etc before our current house sold, so we were able to make all of those decisions relatively quickly and easily. Selecting the paint colors took me a little longer, but in the end I'm happy with what I chose.

I know it seems like a crazy idea for us to sell our house and build a new one right before twin boys were to arrive. We knew we would be insanely busy packing and moving with two newborns, but it seemed like a better time than when they would be toddlers on the go. Plus, the cost of building supplies are really low right now and the government is giving the $6500 tax credit for repeat home buyers. Our current home is on the small side, so we knew we'd need to move into something bigger once the boys came. Now that they are here with all of their gear it became even more apparent how nice it would be to have a larger home.

Our new house will be completely finished in one week and we'll be completely moved in at that point. Over the past three weeks we've been moving stuff into the basement and garage. Our families, especially my mom, have been an enormous help in packing and moving. By next Saturday all that will be left to move into the new house is furniture, clothing, and the baby gear we use daily. We've more or less packed everything else.

I'm excited to have more space and to have a huge yard for the boys to play in when they are older. The new house sits on an almost 2 acre lot, so they'll be plenty of space for the boys to run around in--I can already see Silas & Liam running and playing in the yard! Additionally, the new house has a large "bonus room" above the 2-car garage, which will be a playroom for the boys. We think it will be the perfect house for our boys to grow up in and can't wait to get settled in.

The outside of the house from two weeks ago:

The boy's playroom before the carpet went in:

My favorite room in the house: