Loving my Little Mitch

His brother is right next to him crying, he's not sure why since all seems well to him

This is his worried look, when Charlie screams poor Mitch makes this face sometimes. Maybe he's worried about the stock market, his retirement fund, who knows

Note to self, cradle position not good with Mitch unless you're going to give him the goods - immediately

Can you say relaxed....

He loves when Ella just talks to him, it's really sweet

So like I was saying earlier, the boys are so different, from their skin tone right down to their, well, let's just say everything is different. It goes without saying that he is going to take after Todd in the looks department. Mitchy is definitely more laid back, just like his Daddy, but when it comes to food, he is anything but relaxed. He will wake up from a sound sleep and just let me have it when he's hungry. This is why there aren't any pictures of him like I have with Charlie when they were just a couple of weeks old. If I try to hold him and kiss his little face he just goes into the meal mode and there is no turning back. Every picture of him I took that day he had his mouth wide open and his head turned toward me, little stinker (see above picture:-)). He has a deep, raspy cry that has me just dying to hear his first words. His usual protest consists of blowing raspberries, which he's been doing since the day he was born, so I think it's safe to say he doesn't have much of a temper. But he seemed anything but calm in my tummy - Baby A found pleasure in kicking me endlessly in the ribs, the side and my all time favorite, ninja jabs to the cervix. So we decided that the baby on the left, the naughty one, would indeed be named after my Dad. Who knew he'd actually wind up being the mellow twin? Charlie is our talker, he coos and uses other less enjoyable forms of communication, but Mitch just doesn't feel the need to expend the energy on "words", again, just like his Daddy:-) But he is SO alert and spends more time awake and bright-eyed than his brother. He just looks as if he knows what's going on, like he has this figured out. We crack up because if Charlie starts crying while they are next to each other, he looks at him with this "relax kid, it's not that bad" face. I have to go and pick him up and love on him even when he's content because I don't want him to get the short end of the stick just because he isn't as high-maintenance as Charlie, or Dawson for that matter. He is easy to soothe and loves to have his hair stroked, and will fall asleep if I snuggle him in and rub his head (boy, he really is like his Dad). He is just a little lover and you can't help but love him right back. Mitchy, I can't get enough of you, my sweet little snuggle bug, I didn't know how much I needed you until you came.

Muchas Gracias!

Getting ready for my shower, the babies are 12 days old

Kelli, me and Diane. They threw me a beautiful shower. Lemon yellow and white decorations, sparkly drinks, yummy food and even yummier treats. They are so good to me

Cupcakes, my favorite! Siri made little "m's" and "c's" out of chocolate in honor of the boys

Mmmm, candy to goTodd's cousin Michelle, Mom Maryanne and our friend Rose (Aunt Suzanne must be hiding, she was sitting right there...)

Diane and her man

Frieda, Siri and Kat

My sister, me and Mommy

Courtney and Charlie

Kel and Charlie

Siri and Mitchy

My Sis

Kel, D and their fams brought us a delish Mexican dinner a few days after the twins were born and they also brought this cake, so sweet

My sister decorated our house with balloons so we came home to this...

We wanted to say thank you to everyone who visited us at the hospital, made us a meal, called to check in on us, brought us flowers, See's candy, bags o' candy, brownies, a delicious cake (and I thought it was top secret that I had a sweet tooth...), held a baby, hosted a shower, gave us gifts, gave extra love to Ella and Dawson, emailed us, facebooked us, prayed for us, loved us, and that has just been there for us through this whole process.... Thank you doesn't begin to express how grateful we are! We are so blessed to have such amazing friends and family.

Falling in Love with Charlie

Having twins has been an amazing and wild ride so far, but I don't want to lose sight of the fact that even though they are in fact twins, they really are just siblings born on the same day - they are different, unique, completely individual. I wanted to take a little time to reflect on how I see them now, at 3 weeks old, and what I've learned about them so far. I'm starting with Charlie, even though he's a whole 26 mintues younger, simply because I haven't downloaded the pictures of Mitch that I wanted to post.

My little Charlie is a piece of work. During the pregnancy he was the much quieter one and in fact had me worried that something was wrong a few times. More than once my OB ran a quick ultrasound to ease my mind because he was just so mellow compared to his brother. But after the boys were born and we were getting settled in for the night at the hospital, he started showing his true colors. I nursed them both, held them both and then put them in their bassinet together. Mitch fell asleep but... not Charlie. He fussed and fussed even in my arms so I stripped him down to his diaper, took my nightgown off and lay him on my chest all snuggled under the blankets and voila, he slept for 2 hours straight. He has the cutest cry, which is good since he does a lot of it. He is the sip and sleep nurser, which may be a little time consuming but doable (reminiscent of big brother Dawson) with one, but when you're dealing with 2 babies it is quite another story. He came equipped with a hair-do, a cowlick that parts his hair perfectly to the side. He already loves his bink, and Ella is thrilled that he calms down when she sings her "home made" songs, she loves having a captive audience. His feelings get hurt when you change his clothes, change his diaper, put lotion on his sweet little face, give him a bath... and heaven forbid when you have to put him down for a bit. He is just high-maintenance, needy, another Mama's boy in the making. Oh but I love him, I could just bite his little cheeks - my teeth hurt from gritting them every time I hold him because I just can't stand it. I have a feeling this one's going to give us a run for our money, luckily he'll be in good company with another little firecracker I know. My heart is yours Charlie, you had me at hello.

...cuz I eat me spinach

I just have to quickly say how glad I am that my kids, especially Ella, will eat just about anything. She just asked if she could have a snack and I said sure, I'm the last person to say no to a little snacky. She wanted licorice and I said no, so she asked "how 'bout a spinach salad?" You betcha, you can have a spinach salad anyday!

PS, I ate the licorice...

Wonder Twin Powers, Activate!!!

My beautiful twin nieces Rachel (left) and Bethanne holding the newest dynamic duo!

First Week Home!

Charlie It's so sweet - every time we lay them next to each other, they turn toward one another and usually wind up with their hands touching the other's face

Mitch, AKA Triple T or T3 (teeny tiny Todd)

See no evil, hear no evil

My parents, my sister's kids and the Rufflings

Dawson going potty like a big boy!

Off to the pediatrician, 3 days old

Mr. high maintenance

Snuggling with Dad Our beautiful baby girl

Ella did this:-)Dawson has been SO sweet to the babies and tells everyone "we have TWO babies!"

Mitch before bath