Our First Trip to the Zoo of Acadiana

Today we ventured to the Zoo of Acadiana, with friends of course! Meka, Margaret, Jamie, Amalie and Angelle all had plans to go to the zoo and the girls wanted the twins to come too! Knowing I would have helping hands if necessary I thought it would be nice to get out of the house and enjoy the nice weather. (It will be way too hot before we know it!)

Unfortunately the only picture we got was with Meka's cell phone...my camera battery was dead :(!



Avery and Riggs with the Giraffe

The twins enjoyed strolling through the grounds. I felt a little nervous near the alligator pit and I am pretty sure the tiger was eying both babies thinking they would be a great appetizer!

On our way home we stopped to visit Nanny and Tucker. He's such a good baby and we can't wait to spend more time with them this summer.

Do babies really need teeth?

I promised my babies I would get them an expensive set of dentures if they promised not to teethe. Unfortunately they decided to start teething! They are four and a half months old and can't roll over (mainly this is my fault because I don't spend a lot of time doing tummy time!) but they are starting to get their teeth.

Last week Riggs was diagnosed with tonselitis and we have been treating him and Avery with an antibiotic (twins typically get whatever the other one has). Riggs has, for the most part, been pretty good about the whole thing. He didn't even really fuss when he had the really bad sore throat - he just didn't eat very much. He continued to sleep through the night and be his very happy self. Mothers Day weekend he had a little rash around his face, and continued to have a low grade fever. I decided it was related to our time out by the pool and his reaction to the medicine. But then towards the end of the week when my in laws arrived for the Baptism he was just not himself. Extremely fussy, not eating and not sleeping well. And again a rash. I called the doctor but we agreed to give it some time because he was still getting enough nourishment. Well yesterday was just too out of the ordinary. He would scream uncontrollably, wasn't eating, and wouldn't nap. He was miserable.

Tim and I broke out the What to Expect the First Year...symptoms of teething. Wouldn't you know he had them ALL. I had already scheduled an appointment with the doctor. I decided this morning to go in to make sure he didn't have an ear infection, or anything else. Sure enough he is perfectly healthy! So I am the first time mother that brings their kids in to find out they are teething!

I am pretty confidant that Avery is right on track with Riggs. This morning she screamed uncontrollably from 5:30 to 6:00 am.

It's been too long...

Tonight I needed to get out of the house to begin the tedious task of dealing with the 2100 plus photos on our camera's. (If you are a regular follower of the blog you will want to set aside a couple of hours, sit down with a good bottle of wine, and dig in.)

In order for me to get into the zone I need a place with some background noise and minimal distraction. Normally I would choose a coffee house, but what fun is a coffee house on my night off from the kiddos. I decided I needed a little alone time to enjoy some wine and look through all of the photos of the most beautiful children in the world.

Do you know how hard it is to find a place that serves wine and also has free wi-fi?? I haven't found that place...but I did come to the wine loft and discover that there is plenty of unsecured wireless networks available! Exactly what I was looking for. So scroll through the posts below. I still have many more to add but that will have to happen next time. By the time they are one I hope to be fully up to date!

Moments with Dearie

First Kiss

I think they should get married!

Best First Mother's Day gift EVER!

I'm not sure how many of you know it, but I have an extremely thoughtful husband. He always amazes me with his "first" gifts. I wear my first Christmas present almost everyday. Our first anniversary gift was the most sincere and genuine gift I have ever received in my life. It put me to tears instantly. Well he has done it again...

Mother's Day started off right. I slept on the sofa completely away from the babies. He handled all things baby through the night. I helped with the morning feeding then got to lounge on the sofa and relax. Then he handed me a card. No gift. Just a card. The front of the card had this picture on it:



I had no idea why he would get me a card with bench in the rain, until I read the inside. This is the bench that is outside of the doctor's office where we called our family to let them know that we would be having twins. He took the picture while on a business trip back to Baltimore and had Dearie make it into a card. I had tears and thought that was the best gift he could have gotten me. He left the room and returned with a small gift bag (the best gifts come in small packages!). The box was from Neiman's and inside I found:



I absolutely adore the ring. So Tim, thank you for the best Mother's Day Gift. I love you with all my heart and I am so lucky to have the most wonderful husband ever.

P.S. I forgot to mention there was one more gift! He took time Saturday night (while me and the babies were sleeping) and ironed our sheets...if you have ever had the luxury of sleeping on ironed sheets you can understand that this was such a treat! I'm pretty sure he'll never do it again ;)

Happy Mom's Day

Happy first mother's day, Mom. We got together and put some thoughts together, and have asked Dad to publish this post for us. A few comments on how you've done to-date, and what lies ahead for you (and us):

1. It's clear that you and Dad don't really know what you're doing. We've talked with a few other kids around town whose parents have been at this a little longer, and there seems to be a lot less stress in their lives. But, we can tell you're working at it - and you're definitely getting better. Most of all, we appreciate your effort and remarkable perseverence. We know we can test you sometimes, but you and Dad always seem to roll with the punches and bounce back. Especially you, Mom; when things really get tough, we can tell that Dad is looking to you for the answers. We won't forget this. And you're SO organized! Kudos!

2. We don't really like soy very much. Riggs is NOT happy with Avery, because her reflux made Mommy decide that it was easier to put us both on the soy formula. It's a constant source of discord among us, but hopefully one we'll forget about before we learn how to talk. Just an FYI in case you think you should keep rolling forward with the soy milk later in life; you should not.

3. Sometimes we cry in the middle of the night just to see Daddy, in his underwear with his hair up like a bird's nest, run into the room. It is hysetical. You HAVE to see it from our perspective.

4. We didn't like it either when we saw the triplets at the festival the other day. We had our thunder stolen and, frankly, that's no fun for anybody. Please survey any crowds before introducing us around to make sure that no higher-number multiples are present.

5. I, Riggs, am a gazelle in waiting. Very fast. It's hard for you to tell this now because I haven't figured out how to get off my back yet, but you'll see soon enough. Once I start crawling, walking, then running, you will see just how fast I am. I'm basically like a Ferrari on the assembly line, waiting for the final pieces to come together before I put my wheels in motion. I get this from Uncle Scott, Aunt Eryn, and Aunt Beth...not from either of you two turtles.

6. I, Avery, will be a lethal combination of beauty and brains once my hair comes in and the baby fat subsides. I've already got a date to senior prom (he'll be the quarterback...not very bright, but - hey - it's not like I'm going to marry the guy), and I have submitted my college pre-applications to three Ivy League schools. LSU and Kentucky are my safety schools, but that's basically just because I don't want to offend you and Dad.

7. ENOUGH with the Baby Einstein. Let's move on, shall we? Riggs likes action movies (nothing with Bruce Willis) and, like Daddy, is the occasional sucker for a romantic comedy when nobody is looking. Avery likes British comedies and The Office.

That's about it. We're tired, Riggs can't find his nu-nu, and Avery has a dirty diaper. Plus, it is WAY past our bedtime, and you'll be home any minute. We love you. Keep up the good work, don't be too hard on Daddy when he's an idiot, and we'll see you in the morning. Happy Mother's Day.

Love,
Riggs and Avery

Evening Activity Mat Fun

I am so lucky that these babies LOVE the activity mat. They are starting to figure out that they can make it light up and sing all on their own. You should see the joy on their face when the star lights up! It is so cute!!

The only exercise I get...

Happy (4 month) Birthday to my little angels....

You wouldn't know it by these pictures but the babies have been sick the last couple of days. They are such troopers and haven't been too fussy.



Riggs wasn't interested in taking the picture but I finally got a good one of him.




Avery on the other hand was ready for the picture as soon as she saw the camera!

Mooooove on over....

Baby Brain

For some reason I can't shake the baby brain. Let me back track just a little for you...We moved into our house after the babies were born. Then we decided to do some minor remodeling which turned into two bathrooms being completely remodeled. I can promise you this is extremely difficult to do with two newborns even with the family help we were getting. On top of taking care of our babies I had a pretty long personal to do list including writing thank you notes from the baby showers (since I was on bed rest and extremely uncomfortable I decided to hold off on writing them - BAD IDEA), thank you notes from other baby gifts, and unpacking our house (finding clothes that would fit post pregnancy!).

Well 4 months later I am still writing thank you notes and unpacking our house. Here is where the baby brain takes over - I recently found a stack of thank you notes that had been written in February. Baby Brain is the reason I didn't remember to mail them. So I made the decision to go ahead and stamp them and get them in the mail ASAP even though I knew many referenced my newborn twins. I figured if I tried to rewrite them that it might not ever get done. So for all of you receiving very late thank you notes, please accept our belated but heartfelt thanks!!!

Afternoon Stroll...to the grocery store

After a long morning in the house I decided we needed some fresh air, we also needed groceries. We decided to walk to our neighborhood grocery store and lay in some supplies.

The Essence of Cool

Floppy Hat, Check
Sunglasses, Check
SPF 125, Check
All we need is a bartender with a blender and some size 2 diapers, and we're set.

Nuclear Fuel

Riggs and Aunt Paris

Diaper Genie Disaster

Since Rhythms on the River started up this Spring Tim and I have really been looking forward to taking the kids and getting out of the house. Its every Thursday evening from 5:30 to 8:00. We figured it would be nice to get out there, relax, feed the kids their dinner bottle, have a glass of wine with friends then go home. It seemed like such a simple thing considering how many people do it every Thursday. Well we had tried a few times and never actually got out of the house. Finally tonight we got the kids packed up (which is a feat in itself) and loaded into the car. We had one stop before heading to Rhythms...Women's and Children's to drop off diaper to be tested (that's another story in itself). The doctors office said it would take five minutes to drop it off. Well an hour and a half later the admissions people had not found the doctor's faxed paper work and had to call the doctor on call to rewrite the order. By the time I got the diaper in the right hands it was time to head home. Tim had been in the car with cranky babies the whole time. We drove straight home after laughing about us missing Rhythms yet another time.

Well...this is what we came home to:


This is exactly what you think it is...a diaper genie bag full of dirty diapers torn into a million pieces all over the hall floor, kitchen floor, and the back yard. We had pooped smeared all over the tile floors. Thank God Abi didn't take the diapers into the living room. Did I mention the second we walked in we had two screaming babies and a dog scared to death of us.

Tim had emptied the diaper genie before we left and put it with the other trash bags by the back door to put out later. Well Abi was obviously not happy that we didn't take her with us.

Oh the fun we have!

Me and My Nanny

Nanny (and baby Tucker) visiting Avery in the Nicu

Hi Nanny!

Sweet Kisses

It's amazing what can be done in one day when your in-laws are in town!!

Mrs. Wanda is a doer! She likes to get things done when she is in town. I used to be a doer, but now I am a sleep deprived mom! When we moved in a avoided all boxes filled with unnecessary items - ie. China and Crystal!

Well all of the boxes marked dining room had made their way into Tim's office. It was time to get them out but I just haven't had the time. In one day we were able to knock it out. Thank goodness for Mrs. Wanda.

This is what a china cabinet from your grandmother is supposed to look like:

Happy St. Patricks Day

Scouting Office Space

Today Avery and Riggs made their first, and most definitely not last, visit to Grandpa's office. They figured they needed to see what the family business was all about. They loved meeting everyone!! No decisions were made on where they would like their office to be ;) I think they will have to talk to Grandpa about that later.

Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures. I promise to take some when they get a tour from Grandpa!

Our First Dearie Stroll

Today the weather was just beautiful - Dearie packed us up in our car seats and took us on a stroll. We love the double snap and go our Aunts gave us!!

Riggs - T is for Truck

Avery in her new outfit from Dearie

We are ready to go!

Dearie - get this baby train moving!

He said YES!!!

Avery and her Godfather

Happy Mardi Gras

Daddy's First Mardi Gras!
The train is ready to leave the station...off to the parades we go.

These beads are normal size...this is just to show you how small I am

Riggs playing hide and seek with the Mardi Gras beads

Riggs: Hit by the Mardi Gras Bus

Riggs v. Huggies of America, Inc.

Dear Ronald T. Huggs, CEO of Huggies of America, Inc.,

I would like to inform you personally that my counsel will be filing a complaint against your company, Huggies of America, Inc., following my use of one of your defective diapers. While wearing your product, I wrongly assumed that it would work as designed, keeping my pee and poo safely confined. Instead, my pee went around my body to my butt, met the funnel-like shape that your diaper seems to have formed, and flowed with force to the middle of my back, where it promptly leaked over the top of your diaper, through my outfit, onto my daddy's arm, over his watch, and onto his shoes. I am sure you are as shocked as I was.

My damages are the cost of one diaper, the cost to clean Daddy's watch, and pain and suffering from the embarrasment this has caused me.

Sincerely,

Riggs T. Ryan

Happy Valentine's Day

Shopping and Dinner

Today Aunt Kel and I ventured out with the twins. We took them to Marshall's, Tuesday Morning, and Lowe's! This was my first time using the snap and go...thank goodness Daddy happened to be in the same shopping center getting lunch. Otherwise we might have decided to just put the kids back in the car and head home.

After shopping we met Daddy and Justin at Coyote Blue. We really enjoyed our first double date. We can't wait until Aunt Kel has Baby Reeves...Riggs needs a buddy on these shopping trips!

Daddy, Mommy, Riggs and Avery enjoying a little Mexican dinner

First Family Photo

The Ryan Family - Anne, Avery, Tim and Riggs

First KICK!!!

On Saturday October 4th I felt my first real baby kick. It was the most amazing feeling ever. I didn't know whether to cry or to laugh...it was just so exciting. I called Tim immediately (he was in Louisville for our Baby Showers). When I called him he was watching the UK game!

Surgery went well...

Surgery went well. They gave Anne her epidural around 11:15 and rolled her into surgery around noon.



Having never seen an epidural administered, it was pretty intense, at least relative to the kind of things I see on a daily basis being a real estate lawyer. They sat her up on the hospital bed, leaned her forward to me, and then started poking things into her spine. I say it was intense, but I could really only tell that by the brief flashes of pain I saw come across Anne's face. Anyway, the epidural process happened pretty fast, and she survived...which is good because now she knows that she can survive an epidural if/when they do one when the babies arrive.



She was back out of surgery at around 1:00, but she was pretty drugged up...they had to give her a second hit of the epidural and some additional pain mediciation when she was in the OR. According to her OBGYN and perinatologist, the cerclage was a total success. Cervix is all secure, and they say it is completely reasonable to assume she will go the full 38 weeks (which would be late January/early February).



So, now we are back home, just woke up from a nap. I have to sit down and make Anne a 2800 calorie per day menu, and I also have to pick up some new vitamins for her. Her mom and Renee are going to be helpful in terms of keeping her fed with the high calorie stuff, and I'm going to need to spend every waking hour on the treadmill to maintain my girlish figure.



The doctor's orders are for pretty strict bed rest for another few days or couple of weeks...basically until Anne feels ok to move around the house. Even after that, she's confined to "house rest" (or house "arrest" - not sure which), which means she can move from large furniture piece to large furniture piece every so often, can get up every now and then to make herself a glass of milk, but needs to stay on her butt other than that. Fun fun. Again, all about the babies, and any sacrifice we have to make, we make.



Co-MVP awards of the day go to Mrs. Leslie and Herbie and Renee, who were good soldiers with us at the hospital. And, of course, my Anne, who was a total trooper and has been through this whole process.