Great-grandma!

Evie is at preschool, and the boys are taking an unexpected long nap in their swings, so I have a chance to do a little post. We have been extremely lucky to have my grandma here this past week. She rocked babies, played with Evie, and looked at wedding magazines with Kaitlin. She was here a whole week, and I wish she could have stayed a month more! I'll post more later about our adventures, but here are a few photos to start.

Great-grandma with Guthrie

Great-grandma with Zevon

2 peas in a pod?

In case you were wondering, the boys are not identical. If you need any proof, look at the picture below:

Zen Zevon on left, fussy Gus on right.

Clearly, these boys are fraternal twins. Even though they are both boys, share the same parents, and were womb-mates for almost 9 months, they are very different.

Busy busy family

Evie and her pumpkin

Two weekends ago, we made the most of a nice couple of days. On the first of the month, we took Guthrie and Zevon on their first hike at Tiger Mountain. We happen to get there at the same time as some kind of family pumpkin hunt, and Evie found her very own pumpkin. The boys seemed to love the fresh air and Evie loved running as fast as she could down the trail. They all took excellent naps that afternoon!

Zevon and Mom

Guthrie and Dad

After naps, we made an overdue appointment to get Evie's hair trimmed. Evie has never had her hair cut (besides an ill-fated trim to her baby mullet the day before her baptism). We love the curls, but it was getting hard to comb out after her bath. We took her to a kids haircut place, hoping that would make her more willing to sit still, and it did. She didn't get a lot cut off and you can hardly tell she had anything trimmed. But it was sad to see those little curls go. Evie now asks if she can have her hair trimmed just about every day.

Flying on to big girl hair!

The weekend was rounded out by a trip to Issaquah Salmon Days with the Barsness clan on Saturday and church on Sunday. Whew. No wonder it has taken me so long to post! It took us a week to recover.

Baby tattoos

Zevon showing his love for mom on his sleeve.

Guthrie wants everyone to know his dad is awesome

Before Evie was born, Will found a Fender onesie that he knew his first born needed to wear. Aunt Megan and Uncle Chris have followed Will in deciding our progeny needed to have rockin' onesies. These were sent before the boys were born and were chosen so that Baby A would keep mom at his right and Baby B would know his dad rocks. It is very fitting because Zevon was on my right side through the whole pregnancy and Guthrie and Will share the same middle name. Yesterday the boys did little other than scream at me, so I needed the ego boost. As you can see, they are in much better moods today. As a result, so am I!

Hello, my name is...

Guthrie in brown, Zevon in blue (duh).

The twins are very lucky to have received so many lovely gifts. (I have a huge backlog of thank yous to write, as a result!) One of the gifts they received recently was a set of onesies with their names embroidered on the front. There is no mixing them up now! I did think about playing a trick on Will and putting Zevon's shirt on Guthrie and vice versa just to mess with him, but I think he would have known quickly. We are pretty good at telling them apart without any question. Between differences in their faces, weights, and disposition, we have enough to help distinguish one from the other. And now we have shirts to help us through the day!

The 5 hour baby sweater

Here you see over 25 pounds of love!

In the last trimester of my pregnancy, I figured I had a limited amount of time to make baby sweaters for the boys. So, I looked up patterns on the web for a quick and easy pattern to knit. I found one titled "the 5 hour baby sweater". Ideal, right? It turned out to be the 5 hour...yeah right...baby sweater. Maybe it took so long because I modified the pattern as I went. Maybe it was my swollen wrists and fingers that slowed me up. In any case, these sweaters seemed to take forever (much like the last few weeks of my pregnancy!). I did finish them, and not a moment too soon. I put the buttons on just days before the boys were born.

This past week, the boys are finally fitting into their homemade sweaters. I'm pretty proud of them and how they turned out (the boys and the sweaters...the boys more so).

Zevon in blue and turtle buttons

Guthrie in green and elephant buttons

Smiles!

Gus and his sideways grin

Zevon and his charming smile

I started making breakfast for Will and I this morning when I became totally distracted by two very smiley boys. Zevon and Guthrie were in great moods after their breakfast and had nothing but smiles on their faces! Zevon has been grinning for a few weeks now, while Gus is relatively new to this social state. Zevon has also starting cooing, especially before falling asleep (as if to say "hold me just a little longer"). Guthrie has started what can only be described as laughing. So sweet! Diaper changes are so much more fun now!

Two months old!

Becoming more of a handful for Dad
(Zevon in brown, Gus in blue)

Zevon and Guthrie turned 2 months old on Wednesday. Where does the time go? Today was their 2 month check up at the doctor's, and they are doing great! Here are the stats:
Zevon is 12 lbs 15 oz (75-90%) and 23 1/4" long (50-75%). Guthrie is 12 lbs 1 oz (75%) and 23" long (50%). Both have head circumferences that put them in the 50th percentile. Big boys! Their doctor told me I deserved some ice cream and chocolate cake since they must be sucking the life out of me. (I do feel like that!)

In other good baby news, they are sleeping better at night. Last night they slept from just after 11pm to 4am. They ate and then right back to sleep until 8am. Excellent!

Unfortunately Evie is still waking up in the middle of the night. We never thought that we would have to worry about our oldest not sleeping through the night! But she was a champ at the doctor's office today and didn't cry getting her flu shot, so we'll forgive her.

First day of preschool!

Look ma, no hands!

Evie has her first day of preschool today! She left with Will this morning carrying a Thomas the Tank Engine backpack and a big smile. I'm aware that I'm the mom of a preschooler, but this morning it was still a little hard to believe. She gave me a big hug and I waved good bye (standing in the doorway in my bathrobe...so cliche!). She's growing up so fast!

Two days ago, we had a practice run at preschool where all the students and parents got together to meet the teachers and each other. It surprised me how shy Evie was and how much I had to push her to join the other kids. But after a while, she got the hang of it and was playing with her classmates. Let's hope she remembers how much fun she had on Tuesday and that today is as much fun.

Playing with her new friends in the play school house.

Showing off her scissor skills with some play dough.

And since we can't have a post without pictures of Zevon and Guthrie, here you go! They are changing so much. Zevon is an excellent charmer with his smiles and coos. Guthrie continues to amaze us with his head-holding ability and pushing up so well. Now that I have a functioning computer to work with, I'll be better at posting updated photos. (Zevon is on the left, Gus on the right.)

"Guthrie, this is so hard!"
"Oh, Zevon, you are such a complainer."
"You were the one complaining at 5 am, Gus."
"I wanted to catch the early morning news, big Z!"

The Gym

This place is always crowded when I want to work out!


Zevon and Guthrie are surprising us daily with how they are hitting all the infant development marks. Belly time is a short burst of a lot of fun. Guthrie has changed his tune about it and we think he holds his head up better than his brother. At this point we're betting he crawls first. That is a terrifying thought.

Evie and Zevon

Evie loves holding her little brothers. Usually she asks to hold them when we've finally got them asleep, but when she does get to hold a brother she's very good.

Our First Week Without Grandmas

Evie and her next door friend Quinn


I am happy to report that we are finding our way as a family of five. As I've said many times we haven't made it this far alone. We've been surrounded by help. We've needed it too.

Hooray dinner!


Twice this week Evie Lu has been taken out for awesome playtime. Her Aunt Kaitlin and our friend Laura stole her for a day at the park and pizza. This was followed by a full day with our next door neighbors and their daughter Quinn.

A good looking trio


Kaia has noticed that parents of twins tend to look much younger as their children get farther away from infancy. I'm hoping this holds true for us.

Guthrie catches some z's

Just A Little Crazy

Say, did you hear the one about the twins who let their parents sleep?


Kaia and I are exhausted. It reminds me of when I was 25 and I asked my dad why my hair hadn't started to turn gray like his did at the same age. He responded, "Son by the time I was 25, you and your sister were giving me gray hair." As wonderful as Guthrie and Zevon are, they aren't all that great in the sleep department. They take turns on who will sleep through the night and who wants to party. (It works great for them.) The last few days with no Grandma help have really been a test of our sanity.
To compound the getting rest issue we are going with cloth diapers. They are more work, but worth it when you figure our boys go through nearly 170 diapers a week. I really like them. Between our cloth diapers hanging on a line and our neighbor's chickens, the street almost feels like we're in the country.

The latest in backyard decorating

One Month Check-up

That's a whole lot of cute


Zevon and Guthrie had their one month check-up today and we were thrilled with what we heard. Zevon now weighs 9lbs 15oz which puts him in the 50-75th percentile and he is 21 3/4 inches long, also placing him in the 50-75th percentile. Guthrie is now 9lbs 3oz and 21 1/4 inches long which puts him on the 25-50th percentile. Our new doc is amazed with how they are growing and we are too.

Yep, We Think We're Cute

Twins holding our twins


There have been several parents of multiples who have helped us greatly. Karen my co-worker is one of those. She has been an amazing resource (and sanity saver) for Kaia and I as we prepared for the arrival of Gus and Z. So it was a special treat when she dropped by with a meal for us and her family of an older son and younger twin girls came to see our family. The fact that Karen's twins have survived to age six gives me hope for survival!

Grandma Rhonda!

Guthrie gets his turn in Grandma's arms


My mom came into town on Saturday and she got right down to getting some serious love from her West Coast grandchildren. We've been anxiously awaiting her arrival and we didn't even let record breaking heat diminish our good times. It is so good to have her here!

One Month Old!

Wait, what were we looking at?


Guthrie and Zevon are a month old today! I can't believe how fast it has gone. (It doesn't help that Kaia and I can't remember most of the last month.) We will have their one month check up on Friday the 20th and it will be good to see what their updated stats are now.
The picture below is a recreation of how I held them on their birthday. I'm hoping they'll let me do this for a while.

Deja vu all over again

Thank You!

On June 24th Evie's Grandma Bev pulled into our driveway to be our helping hands as we prepared for the arrival of Zevon and Guthrie and this morning she drove away to head home. We would not have survived if not for all of her help.
Your grandchildren can't wait to see you again, Grandma Bev! We all love you!

Four Weeks Old

They don't do much yet, but hey Gus and Z are only four weeks old. Here is a little video peek at the Gents.

What's In A Name

"Hey Zevon, there's a Grandma up there!"
"I know man, she's awesome."


Their Uncle Jody admitted that he thought I was kidding when I first told him their names, but Kaia and I hope that Zevon Thomas and Guthrie Clayton live up to their big names.
Zevon Thomas was a name that we had considered before we knew Evangeline was a girl. Warren Zevon is one of my favorite songwriters and once while discussing names Kaia said Zevon had a nice ring to it. In Hebrew the name means "light of God" and he has definitely been a light for us so far.
His middle name is in honor of his Grandfather Wayne Thomas and his Great Grandfather Thomas.

"Guthrie, the sister has us again!"
"Stay real still man. Sudden moves spook her."


Guthrie's name came as we were considering names that would fit with a brother named Zevon. Woody Guthrie was one of the most influential songwriters and political activists in history. (In my opinion, without Woody Guthrie's influence you wouldn't have Bob Dylan and without Dylan we would all be poorer.) Guthrie means, "a windy place" and from birth Guthrie has been the more vocal of our boys.
Guthrie's middle name is my middle name and my middle name is also my father's. I like to say that Guthrie and Zevon are named for three of my favorite songwriters, Warren Zevon, Woody Guthrie, and Ralph Clayton Sappington. Zevon also is named for one of the nicest and most honorable men you'll ever meet, Wayne Thomas Torgerson.

My hope for my boys is that they are as fiercely independent, fearless, honest, creative, and compassionate as their namesakes.

Dad, in the family band I get to sing lead and take all the solos.