Our Family

On Display

Sisters

Maleah Grace

Madelyn Rayne

All Tangled Up

Thanks, Danielle!

A friend from church, Danielle Davila, has her own photography business—Beanstalk Photography, and she was kind enough to come out to our house last Saturday and wow us with some amazing photos.

Maranda and I were so pleased with the pictures that we asked Danielle for some digital copies to show you all. I will post them individually so you can leave feedback on the ones that you like best. There were many, many more photos—some of which you will be able to see in Danielle’s portfolio shortly.

Please visit Danielle’s website at: http://www.beanstalkphotography.photosite.com/.

Thanks
~Alan

FYI: National Geographic Special Airs Sunday

In the Womb: Multiples will air on the National Geographic Channel on Sunday at 8 p.m. EST / 7 p.m. CST. You can visit http://www3.nationalgeographic.com/ channel/inthewombmultiples/index.html for more information.

This special will mimic the original special In the Womb that studied the birth of singletons with 4D technology. The first months for twins, this special shows, can be much different than the development and birth of a single baby.

The picture in this post is an example of the technology used in this special. Maranda and I will be watching on Sunday, and we encourage all of you who are interested in the development of multiples to watch as well. ~A

Mom's the Word

Ya-ya (Greek for grandmother and Kim's chosen name) went home last weekend to take care of some things back East, so Maranda is having her first week alone with the girls.

She's been doing great--exhausted, but great nonetheless. She really is wired for this whole motherhood thing. She seems to always know what to do. Maybe she doesn't know, but I could never tell it. There are just small things that the father of twin girls just doesn't feel comfortable doing at first. We might want to help, but nobody can do it like Mom.

We've been trying to feel out the girls a bit more. The pediatric nurse practitioner told us that babies don't manipulate until 4 months of age, but I think we're already seeing it at 3 weeks. They will fuss and cry, but as soon as you pick them up, fast to sleep they go. We thought it was gas, but holding them shouldn't keep them from crying, should it? Other babies I've held with gas pitch a fit and don't stop until the pain goes away.

But maybe I should stop now trying to figure out the female mind. I haven't been successful so far with my wife, so why should I think that I could figure out the female baby brain? (he he)

But I just had to brag on Maranda a little bit. I know she's tired. I know she's constantly going. But she's truly amazing to watch.

Thankfully, Pastor Fran and the ladies at Spirit of Life Church have been helping out a lot. They cook us meals every other day, and now they plan on helping Maranda around the house and with Madelyn and Maleah while our families are not able to stay with us.

Hopefully Nanny will be coming soon. We expect her to be fully healed soon, so thank you to all of you intercessors who prayed for her. Keep it up!

More baby pictures soon! ~A

Identical or Fraternal?

Everyone has been asking, "So are they identical?" And to our chagrin, we can only say that we have to wait and see. The placenta tests were inconclusive, but the girls do have the same blood type.

But that doesn't always mean that they are identical. They did have their own sacs while in the womb, but that still leaves a 40% chance of being identical.

So... now you tell us. I have taken two pictures tonight. Madelyn is in the purple. Maleah is in pink. By these photos, what are they--identical or fraternal?

We go back and forth, so we'd love to read your guesses... I mean your posts. hehe ~A

Have a Hand

We were able to have the girls sleeping in the same bassinett for the first few weeks of birth, but now the girls demand a little bit more room.

They now both sleep in a Pack-N-Play at night, but during the day, one takes the bassinett while the other occupies the cradle Maranda's great-grandfather made for her when she was just a baby.

They get rather fussy when they aren't near each other. You can see in this pic that Madelyn is helping tide Maleah over until their next feeding. hehe ~A

~2007~

2007 already! When 2006 ended, we couldn't predict that 2007 would look anything like being the parents of the best twins in the whole world.

But here we are, and it's certainly an adventure with each day that passes. Some days, the twins look identical, some days different. Sometimes I think they look like me, but almost always I think they look like Maranda.

If they are fraternal, Madelyn will probably look more like Maranda with Maleah looking more like my side of the family. It is fun watching them change. They look so different than when they were first born.

We have some new photos will be up on the website soon, we hope. But until then, please think about downloading Skype--a video/audio/textual messaging service (FREE!) from www.skype.com. The service is out of the UK, and we really like it. We started using it to talk with Pastor Dave and Crystal Anderson, the missionaries our church sent to Costa Rica.

It is very simple, and the quality is pretty good. We're still working out the minor kinks.

We hope to talk to you soon. Many of you have expressed wanting to call but being afraid to. If you wish to call, anytime in the afternoon is usually safe. If Maranda is sleeping, she will turn down the phone, so you won't be bothering her.

I should get back to my girls. Everyone, have a prosperous, safe, and joyful 2007.

~A