Sand, Sun, & Fun!



Lorelai and her mommy by the sea


This past Saturday we went on our annual friends beach trip. It was a beautiful day and despite fears that I was insane for trying to take three month old twins to the beach, it was relaxing.

Here are some pictures from our day:



Beach babes hanging out in the shade.



Mike and Paul playing the appropriately named game Abalone.



'Nise drying her little surfer guy's hair.



Kellen and I tested the water temperature... can we just say Brrrr



Lorelai hanging out with her God Daddy.



Although a book and sun hat are close at hand Lorelai decides a nap would be perfect!



Our handsome beach boy is content just hanging out.



The wind picked up as the sun went down which was our signal to head home with our sleepy beach babes.

Kellen & Lorelai are 3 months old today!

Picture, picture show me some pictures!
The daddy requests some new pictures for the journal so here they are!


Grinning Girl



All tucked in and bear at hand



What?? The Easter Beagle doesn't come in August?



Our sweeties

Random Ramblings

Last Saturday 'Nise bravely offered to watch the kids alone, so that we could go see The Village with Mike. I really liked it, but after reading some of the reviews out there it makes me wonder if my good movie o'meter is working. There have certainly been some critically panned movies that I have still secretly enjoyed, but I usually know in the back of my mind that they really are not very good. Don't we all have those? Movies that you secretly like, but don't want anyone to know. Like the guy that is a huge action adventure movie fan, but also secretly enjoys a good Streisand flick now and again. Ok maybe not that extreme!
Honestly, I don't understand why so many dislike The Village except that maybe expectations of what a M. Night movie should be weren't met somehow in their minds. Ah well... we had a great time. Thank you Denise and Mike!

Speaking of Mr. Shyamalan, he is making a movie based on the book Life of Pi. Very curious am I! It will be his first adaptation of a novel and his first non-Disney movie as well. I have not read the book yet, but have been curious about it for a while now. I finally picked it up to read (in all my free time of course heh). The annual friends beach trip is coming up, maybe I will get a chance to sneak in a page here and there then!

In keeping with our family motto "Better Late than Never" *note to self find out how to say this in Latin, everything sounds better in Latin* I got Kellen and Lorelai's birth annoucements out in the mail. We absolutely love them, they are really cute. A big, huge gigantic thank you goes out to Adrienne for creating them for us. You are awesome woman!!

Cute pics of the week!



Hanging out on Cloud 9




Sleeping Cutie Pie


Even the kids aren't safe from my self-photography obsession as seen in these pictures...


Lorelai slept right through it.


This woman is nuts...Save me please!!

Welcome to the world, Aiden Richard Beranek!!


Congratulations Rick & Christy = )

Before you were conceived I wanted you
Before you were born I loved you
Before you were here an hour I would die for you
This is the miracle of life

Kellen and Lorelai are two months old today!!

An update at long last!!
 

 
An update is long overdue I would say! Being a twin mommy is definitely hard work and keeps me quite busy to say the least.
 
Our little ones are 8 weeks old now and are getting noticeably bigger. They are now newborn sized!
They are becoming aware of the world around them, which is so neat to witness. Watching your kids grow and develop has got to be one of the coolest parts of being a parent. 
 
I am a parent! That still sounds so strange to me. Someone's mommy? *boggle*. = )
I really love my new job and wouldn't trade it for anything. Kellen and Lorelai make it easy! The work isn't easy mind you, but they are just soooo wonderful that it makes it all very worthwhile.
 
Ok, I have gushed long enough!! Without further adieu here are some of my favorite pictures from the last month.

 
 

Kellen and his daddy having a very Lion King moment!

Lorelai and her mommy = )

Kellen makes the mistake of not staying on his side! *thwack*

Smile? Halfway there! = )

Got milk?

 

The twins react to the thought of four more years of Bush & Cheney.

Matriculation Articulation



Earlier this year I completed a very important personal goal by finishing my degree in Biology! This past Friday was what would have been my commencement ceremony. At the very moment I would have been lining up to walk I was at the pediatrician's office for the kids check-up. It is amazing to me how fast my life has changed this year. From student to Mommy in a flash! So although, questions about caloric intake and elimination sound a lot like Biochemistry they are vastly different too! ; )

These are a few of my favorite things




The new daddy and his babies







Sir Kellen




Lady Lorelai




Please no flash photography!




Freshly Baked




You talkin' to me??




Sweet little dreamers




I see by the bumps on your head that you will live a long and happy life!


Ok, ok, so as you can see I am a very proud mommy. I just had to share some more of my favorite pictures of the past three weeks. It is hard to believe that it has already been that long, time seems to have flown by. It is an easy phenomenon when every three hours you are feeding someone. The hours and consequently the days all seem to blend and merge together. Again I have to say that we wouldn't trade it for the World! We can't wait to get to know these little beings that are a part of our lives now. = )

and the Hollah Award goes to...



To borrow a phrase from Ellen Degeneres, I would like to present the Guads with this weeks Hollah Award! In other words a BIG shout out to our wonderful friends who very kindly took care of our new little ones while we stole away for a quick movie for my birthday.

Thank you both!! = )

Sixteen Years Ago...Sixteen Days Ago



It is amazing to me that sixteen years ago today I met the man who would become my best friend, eventually my husband, and also as of sixteen days ago the father of my children!





I feel fortunate and blessed right now! Two beautiful children and a wonderful husband by my side. What did I do to deserve this? Don't tell me! Let me bask in the magic of it all!

Cute Baby Pic of the Day



Kellen holding hands with his big sis

Soooo...how are we doing?

Well, if this picture is any indication:



We have one delirious Daddy (pictured above), and a Mommy that has twice tried to breastfeed the baby (pictured below) in the middle of the night:



Someone recently asked us if we are getting any sleep.
D's response was "Sleep? New parents don't get to sleep, we just pass out every now and again!" Soooo... true!

Over the past few days we have had several special moments with our little ones.

We gave the babies their first baths!

Kellen was definitely not pleased!



Lorelai didn't seem to mind as much. She must be part mermaid like her Mommy! Oh wait! She IS a Siren after all. = )





Daddy got his chest hair pulled for the very first time!
*picture removed to protect the guilty*


Today we had our first pediatrician appointment. The babies are doing great *breathes a big sigh of relief*. We do need to work on getting them to gain more weight <--- read even less sleep for Mommy and Daddy (Is that possible??), as we now need to supplement after every meal. We also learned just how long it takes to visit the doctor with twins. It was a half day affair at least. Lessons learned and notes taken!


But for these sweet peas it is all worth it!



They love to sleep close to one another.




Our sleeping angels!

Note: this picture is NOT representative of the hours between three and seven a.m.!!

Introducing our beautiful son and daughter!




On Sunday May 23 our daughter, Lorelai Amelia, was born at 9:34 p.m. and at 9:35 p.m. her brother, Kellen Philip arrived! Both weighed in at 4lbs 9oz.




Kellen already loves his Daddy very much!




Our Angels!


It wasn't an easy labor and delivery, but the end result couldn't be better if I don't say so myself! = )
Let the lack of sleep begin!

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly


Where oh where to begin? Time for an update at long last!

We have reached 34 weeks! This is amazing since the doctor has been saying it could be any day now for a while. It truly has been a tough last few weeks, but I am finally starting to adjust to the pains and insomnia associated with late stage pregnancy. However, I am also ready to meet these little ones. In fact this weekend would be good! ; )

Doesn't anyone update this thing? Oh wait that would need to be me. Ok, soon I must come out of my slumber and write again!

The Meridiani Planum landscape where Opportunity finally came to rest Saturday night. *

Last night was extremely cool!! It was such an amazing experience to see all the people involved, who had so much invested in the spacecraft, hold their collective breath... and then upon getting the news of a near perfect landing celebrate by cheering and hugging in a great outpouring of emotion. It was such a positive and moving event to witness, and I feel honored to have been able to. D and I also watched the live Nasa feed during the Sojourner landing and left feeling much the same way. Congratulations to everyone who worked so hard on the Opportunity and Spirit missions!



Last, but certainly not least I want to say happy birthday to my guy... I love you! = )


*Photo from Reuters