Kendra and twins picture

Happy Friday everyone. at least i think it's Friday... Sleep is like oxygen: It's not important until you aren't getting any! :) Although with 3 of us adults helping Kendra it has worked out very well where if anyone needs to sleep or take a nap, everything can keep running smooth.

I'm taking the sunrise shift and everyone else is catching up on sleep. I have my headphones on listening to Jack Johnson and singing to my lovely Layla, who never criticizes my lack of enunciation, but instead looks at me with her eyes and mouth WIDE open like I'm the coolest thing since Elvis.

If you haven't seen the "Diaper Daddies" clip on YouTube, PLEASE turn up your volume and have a laugh. It shows in a humorous some of the choice moments of fatherhood. If you are expecting kids, you will experience this at some level: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeJPmSrHUQo

More confessions of a new dad: My perceptions of raising newborns was COMPLETELY wrong. I developed a few expectations for how situations could possibly go, but never in my wildest dreams planned for this. The lows are much lower and the highs are much higher. I think "Is this boy truly hungry AGAIN already without having a tape worm" and "Is it really necessary to pat a baby on the back for 50 minutes just for one little burp?"

Here's how I thought the situation would unfold:

1. Feed baby for 5 minutes
2. burp baby for 2 minutes
3. baby sleeps for 2+ hours.
4. Repeat steps 1-3 for second baby.
5. Then you hang out and watch TV for 2 hours
6. Repeat steps 1-5 ad infinitum.

WRONG! The only thing consistent is change, from what I can tell, and as my Pediatrician said today, "During the first few months you are in survival mode and there are no guidelines". Some people have said to me, "babies are not very interesting for the first few months because they sleep ALL the time". This is absolutely not true. There have been days where our two babies sleep only 6 hours and most of that was during the sunlight hours! I find myself bargaining with them sometimes and saying, "If you just go to sleep for a couple of hours, I'll buy you a Porsche 911 turbo when you turn 16". Neither one took me up on the offer so I won't have to get a second job for the next 16 years to pay for it, but the offer was worth a try.

Key Learnings of the day (somewhat sarcastic):

• Increasing the cadence of burping a baby does not yield faster results. In other words, don't pat the baby on the back any faster because he/she won't get all the bubbles out any faster.
• "The squeaky wheel gets the grease" applies to twin babies too! Whichever one is crying the loudest gets the attention. Sorry, that's just the way it is since there is only one of me.
• If you pick up a crying baby and he/she immediately stops crying, then one thing is certain: Putting the baby back down will produce more cries. You didn't magically fix whatever it was that made the baby cry in the first place just by changing their position from horizontal to vertical.

As I said earlier, the highs are much higher also. Easton and Layla are already providing endless hours of entertainment just being themselves and growing up. When exercising in a new way or in a new sport, you find muscles you never knew you had. Similarly, with babies you find feelings you never knew you had. Some of them have no words in the English language. Some of the words we have don't accurately portray how incredible the moments are so I won't even try.

Ever had a Krispy Kreme doughnut fresh off their conveyor belt? Well, if not, then it's hard to describe. I love Krispy Kreme and if you've never had one, then it doesn't make sense. You probably say, "It's just a doughnut! Why must you drive for 30 minutes and wait in line for a doughnut", but those of you who HAVE ate one of those delectable delights know exactly what I mean. Well, having a baby (or two in my case) is similar in that I felt the same way about babies even up to last week before mine arrived. "It's just a baby!", i thought. But there is something special about staring into their eyes as they stare back. Many of the negative aspects of babies are quantifiable or tangible things: no sleep, changing stinky diapers, loss of free time, etc. However, many of the positive aspects are completely intangible and so wonderful that it IS all worth it.

Here's the picture I've been trying to get for a few days. It seems every time these three are together, she is feeding one or both and it's hard to get a G-rated picture to post. :) Luckily with a little planning and help from Grandma and Grandpa Burgess they were able to get it done. Kendra looks so beautiful and is as photogenic as ever. Even more so when she's holding one or both of our babies.

I sense a disturbance in the force... Oh, that's just Easton waking up. Feeding time again. The next post will be more pictures and less words, I promise. See you soon!