July 27th "The Due Date"

I can honestly say that I barely remember not being a father, but believe it or not Ryan & Aidan were not supposed to arrive until today. They are 7 1/2 weeks old and have almost doubled in weight. The Ryan and Aidan show continues to sell out as Grandma Marty arrived from Jacksonville today. Her usual excitement to see her daughter has been completely replaced with the need to get her hands on her 1st Grandson and 5th Granddaughter.

Grandma Marty and Grandma Jane

This past week has been fun. We capitalized on our new zoo membership and met our friends Andrew, Robyn and Blake at the Wild Animal Park on Saturday. Getting out of the house has been great but there are a few downfalls. Basically Katie and I are beginning to get an idea of how it feels to be one of those animals in the zoo. Being the parents of twins is a great way to make a lot of interesting friends at the drop of a hat.

A few more pics / visitors from the past week:

Ryan's Godmother Erin

Linda & Addie

The Iversons

Week 6

Life has been exciting around the McClain House. Last Friday Katie's sister Suzi arrived from Jacksonville with the biggest bag of baby girl clothes I have ever seen (or carried for that matter) Suzi is the mother of 4 beautiful girls and offered to take leave in order to lend a hand. She walked in the door and picked up Aidan, she has not let go yet. Katie and Suzi have been busy buying every outfit and baby gadget that the various Target Stores have to offer. We may have to move to a bigger house to make room for everything.

Suzi with Ryan & Syd

On Saturday we went over to Grauntie Ginger's house for a pool party in honor of our Cousins visiting from Ireland. We had a fantastic time visiting, and learning the proper way to pour a Gunniess. We also toasted to our cousin's Mary and Galen for their 35th wedding anniversary.

The Irish Cousins

Aidan & Ryan were the life of the party

On Sunday, Katie Suzi and I took the kids to their first trip to the zoo. We saw the Pandas, Polar Bears, Gorillas, Monkeys (Aidan's Favorite) and a slew of other animals that the kids ignored. I lost 5lbs and Katie lost 10 years watching me push Ryan & Aidan up and down all those hills. I hear "Don't slip, don't trip, don't let go" in my sleep now.



Grandma Marty is scheduled to arrive next week. She is scheduled to stay for about 2 weeks so we continue to have plenty of help. Ryan & Aidan had a couple of follow up appointments this week. They had their eyes checked on Monday (all is well) and they saw the Cardiologist yesterday. They were very happy with the twins progress and said that they can come off the monitors while they are awake. Hopefully we can turn the monitors in for good in a month or so. Ryan weighed in at 7 pounds 1 ounce and Aidan was in at 6 pounds 8 ounces. More later.

Some of Our Favorite Photos (so far)

Aidan's Tummy Time

Ryan & Sydney

Katie & Ryan

Funny Babies

Fourth of July Weekend

We survived our first 4th of July weekend. Ryan & Aidan had a ton of visitors over the weekend and were kind enough to open one eye each to greet them.

The Five of us went to Grauntie (that's Great Aunt) Ginger's house on the 4th and Katie and I basically napped by the pool while my Mom and Ginger fussed over the twins. My only distraction was Sydney who would wake me up every minute or so with a wet tennis ball and nose to the lap. Being the good father / owner I am I would throw her ball back in the pool only to be awoken again when Sydney would shake off next to my lounge chair.


Katie was able to go to the spa on Saturday and got out for a shopping trip on Sunday. I managed to get a bike ride on the morning of the 4th. While Katie was away I spent a lot of time with my good friend Deric and his new son Gabriel. Deric and Serena are our next door neighbors and their son Gabriel was born 4 days after Ryan & Aidan.

A couple of weeks ago Deric and I would do very manly things like brew beer, go to the dump, make a trip to Home Depot, but now we spend most of our time talking about poop.

Here is a good picture of Ryan with her eyes open

Aidan on his way to Ginger's house

I tried to get a little creative with their feedings but it really did not work out too well.

Week 3

We are up to our elbows in diapers, spit up, dishes and laundry. Ryan & Aidan continue to do the whole sleep, eat, poop, sleep routine. I went back to work on Wed and Katie is braving the days alone. So far the twins are taking it fairly easy on her. I have to say (not just because she told me to) that Katie is doing an amazing job. When I come home the kids are fed, changed, and Katie still has a smile on her face. After she gets them both fed she only has about a hour and a half to either sleep or take care of the million other things. I have been going to work much earlier and trying to get home by the 5:00 feeding. After that feeding we may give them a bath or take a walk up to the park. A lot of people have been asking who they look like. It is hard to tell, they change every day, but if we had to guess at this point I would say that Aidan has been blessed with his mothers looks and Ryan is looking more like me. Here are a couple more pictures of the munchkins:

Ryan in her car seat on the way home from the hospital

First trip to the park in the stretch limo of strollers

Ryan in the tub

Aidan in his seat

Aidan

Me & the Monk

Family Shot