The McClain Family

Pre-Christmas Activities

2008-12-14T16:14:00.000-08:00

Our beautiful Gingerbread House

Finn

Playgroup Cookie Party

Thanksgiving

2008-12-09T13:09:00.000-08:00

Here are a few photos from our Thanksgiving with Nanny and Bounce. It was a busy couple of days....we made cookies, went to see our first movie "Madagascar" and ate a big turkey dinner.

Random Fall Photos

2008-12-06T13:40:00.001-08:00

McClain, Kring, Armstrong, Chitko Kids

Bounce and Ginger Visit

2008-12-06T13:33:00.000-08:00

San Diego Trip

2008-12-06T13:18:00.001-08:00

We Miss the Pacific Ocean!

Auntie Erin's Wedding Rehearsal

Bride Five

Congrats to Erin and Matt!!!

Grandpa Mac and Aunt Gayle Visit!

2008-09-16T12:42:00.000-07:00

Patrick and Grandpa

Ryan and Grandpa share a laugh

Big Hugs

Ryan and Aunt Gayle

Family shot...turned out better than expected :)

Grandpa and Gayle brought great gifts for the kids.

Here Grandpa reads Aidan's new favorite book "Gallop"

Thank you for a wonderful visit, we had such a great time!

What did we do this Summer?

2008-08-27T12:20:00.001-07:00

Finn at Taylor's birthday party at Dove Park

Aidan the Superhero

Ryan at the Manes 4th of July Party

Finn shows off all of his teeth

Ryan going to Dance Camp

Fruit picking with friends

Finn's First Haircut

Movie Night with Daddy

Stay tuned for photos from our visit from Aunt Gayle and Grandpa Mac.....

Cousin Peyton Visits

2008-08-27T12:04:00.000-07:00

Peyton came to spend time with us this summer. We kept very busy and she was a huge help with the kids. They miss her and still talk about all of the fun things we did.

Ryan and Peyton with Julie and Molly at the American Girl store

Trying to stay cool in the shade with Uncle Patrick

Peyton and her little Subo

More Birthday Photos

2008-08-27T11:56:00.000-07:00

Aidan and Ryan showing us how old they are. (no....not 4 and not 5) THREE!!

Thank you everyone for coming and helping us celebrate. We had a great time!

Overdue Spring Update

2008-06-27T12:22:00.000-07:00

Ryan's First Haircut

April-May Visitors

Our buddy Gabriel from San Diego

The Larsons from Jacksonville

It was a packed car!

The crew on the way to the park

Trying to get the perfect shot

The boys

Ryan, Mom and Julie at the American Girl Bistro

The twins share a milkshake

Casi and Finn

Family celebrating at the end of the year picnic

Grandma and Finn at the Dallas Aquarium

Auntie E & Ryan

Nanny and Bounce visit

Dallas Snow

2008-04-18T12:46:00.000-07:00

We took a quick trip to Florida to celebrate with the McShea-Souder clan (Happy 40th Suzi!!) Ginger stayed with the twins and we returned home to SNOW!!

Fun Finn Post

2008-04-18T12:43:00.000-07:00

It's been so long since we have posted that we forgot to make a big deal out of Finn's first steps (he runs now by the way) Here are a few photos showing what he has been up to....

Happy Birthday Grandma Jane

2008-04-18T12:13:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Janey's birthday with a trip to Colorado to visit Scott, Liesa and Caleigh. I think the pictures speak for themselves....we had a blast!

Scott & Ryan pull Caleigh & Aidan

Mom & Aidan

Caleigh & Ryan

Grandma & Finn

Family Shot

DAY TWO - SKIS!!!

DAY THREE - Sledding, Horse Rides, R&R

Late Christmas Post

2008-04-18T11:59:00.000-07:00

Here are a few photos from our first Christmas in Texas! We had a great time with Grandma Jane, Aunt Ginger and Aunt Anne.

The boys try to sneak a peak at the gifts on Christmas Eve

Finn reads his Christmas cards

Finn and his Dad before mass

Attempting a family photo

Ryan in Red

Aunt Bounce and Ryan

Finn on Christmas morning

Yes a lot of these are of Finn. Let's just say he is the most photogenic of the three kids at this stage....

November Update

2008-01-26T12:35:00.000-08:00

In November we had a visit from Aunt Gayle and Uncle David, who came for Finn's Baptism.

Finn with his Godparents

Finn with his family before his baptism

Finn and Jack over Thanksgiving in Arkansas

Enjoying the fall weather in Fayetteville

Finn turned ONE on December 18th.

Enjoying some cake....

...with big sister helping

Playing at the park

Nanny and Pop-Pop came in December. The weather was perfect and we played outside the entire time!

Finn's playdate with Jackson

San Diego Trip

2007-11-14T12:38:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween!

Aidan and Blake

The highlight of the trip was our visit to Aunt Nicki's house.

Ryan loved seeing her aunt and still talks about the horses.

Ry & Aunt Nicki

Playing in the Portofino alley - just like Daddy did many years ago

Playing games with Gramdma

Ryan and Dad at Grandma's house

Finn makes a move!

Finn loved the new swingset at the Carmel Mountain park

Aidan loved seeing his buddy Gabriel

Bye San Diego...hope to see you soon!

October Visitors

2007-11-14T12:20:00.000-08:00

October was busy with friends visiting from San Diego. First, Casi came for the weekend. We managed to shop, get pedicures, and even make it to a Cowboys-Patriots game.

Casi and the Twins

Casi & "Finn Cutie Pants"

Next the Vitek family came through on their way to Austin. We played at the park, made a visit to the Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch, and had a BBQ!

Finn

Ryan & Taylor at the Pumpkin Patch

Aidan hammin' it up with the girls

Taylor and the twins cruising with their dad

The future Mrs. McClain

A rare moment - All 4 kids playing quietly

Donuts for Dad

2007-10-10T13:49:00.000-07:00

The twins class celebrated the letter "D" at school this week and honored all the dads with a donut breakfast.

They also helped Patrick make pancakes over the weekend....

And Patrick put together their new tricycles. Wow...they are lucky kids to have such a great Dad!

Last weekend, we had a visit from Aunt Suzi. The babies love their aunt and she managed to spoil them quite a bit while she was here. The visit was quick but we packed a lot in.

Ryan and Aunt Su-Su at lunch

Aunt Suzi makes bathtime fun!

Playing with Mom at the gym

Handsome Finn

Lots of Photos

2007-09-17T19:38:00.000-07:00

In July we traveled to the Georgia Mountains to visit our grandparents Mac and Al and our Aunt Gayle and Uncle David. Gayle and Dave hosted us at their beautiful Bed & Breakfast, The Beechwood Inn, located in Clayton just outside of Atlanta. It was a very special weekend.

Shortly after our GA trip, Grandma Jiggy and Grauntie Ginger came out for a visit

Next vistitor was Aunt Bounce

....And then Godpop Derek from CA

Here are a few more photos from the rest of the summer.

Aidan plays outside

Dad & Finn

Finn is getting so big!

The boys goofing off

Ryan & Aidan looking serious

Bathtime....Finn's favorite!!

First day of school.....

They were excited!!!

Bye for now.....

June Fun

2007-07-16T06:46:00.001-07:00

The twins turned 2 last month. We had a quiet evening at home with some cupcakes.....

We also had some visitors from Arkansas and Florida. Below are a few photos.

Happy Birthday Ryan and Aidan!

Calvin and the twins having some fun in the backyard

Joanna and Ryan at the pool

Jack and Finn watching BOOM!

Finn tries some rice cereal

Finn gets to bathe with the "big kids"

Stay tuned for photos from our trip to Georgia.......

Florida Vacation

2007-07-04T18:32:00.001-07:00

We were able to get away last month and visit with friends and family in St. Augustine. Here are some photos from our trip.

My good friend and very talented photographer Heather Blanton took a few family photos. The above is one of our favorites. http://www.heatherblanton.com/

Some friends came out to celebrate the twins 2nd birthday

Grandma Marti and Finn

Cousin Emily makes Finn laugh

Aunt Bounce and Ryan

Ryan trying to decide if she likes the beach and the sand....

Playing Hide and Seek at the beach house

Uncle Kevin and Finn

Taylor and Jada

Aidan having some fun on the deck

Finn had the best seat in the house

Relaxing with Dad

Aidan's First Haircut

2007-06-13T12:40:00.000-07:00

Smile Aidan!

Ryan plays at the park

Finn at the beach

Photo Credit: http://www.heatherblanton.com/

More beach photos to follow.....

Arkansas Trip

2007-06-07T08:07:00.000-07:00

Last month I took a trip to Fayetteville, Arkansas to visit the Poppell Family. Megan and Jay came in from Jacksonville for our "girls weekend" and we had a blast. Here are a few photos.

Megan, Jay, Joanna, Katie

Baby Finn

Jenna, Katie, Jo and Jay

Jay doing his famous wave

The boys nap in the back seat

Awesome School Pics

2007-05-20T12:44:00.000-07:00

These are so bad I had to share. Enjoy!

Finn Meets his Great Grandfather

2007-05-14T07:05:00.000-07:00

Finn has been on tour lately; in the past month has met his Uncle David, Aunt Gayle and his Great Grandfather Mac! Even Aidan & Ryan have not had done that! Here are a few pics of the gathering.

Finn & Great Grandpa Mac

Grandpa, Aunt Gayle & the Finnster

Finn & Grauntie Gayle!

Great Grandpa still has the touch

Finn was impressed!

Gayle, Uncle Christopher, Grandpa, Aunt Nicki & Patrick

Grandpa, Finn & Patrick

Bath Time!!!

2007-04-10T13:30:00.000-07:00

Settling In....

2007-03-29T19:45:00.000-07:00

Here are a few photos, posted by Guest Blogger Katie

Bounce and Grandma Marti came for a visit

Ryan playing at Gymboree

Aidan

Now that we live in Dallas, we have raincoats.....

...never needed those in San Diego!!

Happy Easter!

Aidan's new favorite face

I much prefer this one!

Professor Finbarr Calamitous

Waiting for Dad to come home....

We made it!

2007-03-12T19:55:00.000-07:00

We have arrived in Dallas!! Things did not go quite according to plan, but we arrived in one piece and most of our stuff did as well. We were planning on all flying out with Grauntie Ginger on Saturday Feb 24th, but all the flights to and through Dallas were cancelled due to high winds. We quickly realized that the only way we were going to make it for our closing was to get in the rented minivan and drive to Dallas! Here are a few pics of our final day in San Diego and of the very cramped Town & Country.

Aidan Grandma & Ryan

Sydney inspecting the moving truck

Aunt Nicki with the Twins

Stephanie & Aidan

Casi Woman with Mr Finn

After our "see you laters"we loaded up the T&C and started East:

Let the good times roll!

After our first day on the road I was very excited to stretch out in our King Bed. Uh--Yeah!

Mr Finn stretching getting fresh air

36 Hours later we made it to Dallas:

Ryan helping move in

Aidan checking out his new room (is it me or does it look like he has six fingers?)
Ryan taking a quick break

Aidan brought in the essentials

More soon

So long San Diego

2007-02-20T16:58:00.000-08:00

I never thought this day would come, but as I type this we are packing up the house and getting ready for the big move to Flower Mound Texas. We have had a busy couple of weeks seeing friends. Here are a few pics:

Friday was my last day in the San Diego office. Katie brought the kids in to help pack my office. They were not a help!

Saturday we met at the park to have one last romp with all the neighborhood kids and dogs.

Cade, Ryan, Aidan, Lily

Liam, Gabriel & Blake

Aidan & Ginger

Ryan & Ryan

Ryan & Taylor

Here are a few recent pics of the kiddos without thier buddies:

Mr. Finn

Ryan, Finn & sloppy kisser Aidan

Miss Ry

The kids just got back from the bars.

See you all (not ya'll) in TX soon, go Mavs!

Quick Update

2007-02-05T14:09:00.000-08:00

All is well in the McClain house. We have been busy fighting colds, catching up with visitors, and getting ready for our move to Dallas. We wanted to send out a few pics of the kids:

Ryan

Finn and his buddy Grant

Aidan

Ryan & Aidan checking in on Finn

Finn hanging out with Auntie Bounce

Finn Gainer McClain

2007-01-02T21:51:00.000-08:00

Katie and I are happy to announce that Finn Gainer McClain arrived on December 18th. Baby Finn came into the world at 7 pounds even and 19 inches long. Both Katie and Finn had a check up today and I am happy to report that both are doing very well.

Finn Gainer McClain

Family Shot

Finn & Katie

Both Ryan and Aidan are awesome with little Finn. Ryan is about the best big sister you could ask for, all she wants to do is to give Finn kisses and attend to him whenever he cries. Aidan is also a great big brother but he is more into wrestling rather than loving on Finn.

Sleepy Finn (95% of the time)

Party Finn

Below is my first attempt at adding video to the blog. Hopefully this will work!

Jackson Hole

2006-10-02T16:11:00.000-07:00

We just got back from an extended weekend in Jackson Hole. We had a great time and got to spend time with my Aunt Gayle and Uncle David, our Cousins Susie and Peter and of course our wonderful host Grauntie Ginger. I am still sorting through the 1000 + pictures we all took, but so far these two of the kids are standouts.

Miss Ryan looking far more serious than she is

Mr Aidan hunting for the resident Moose

This was taken shortly after we got back home. The kids decided to have a wrestling match on Sydney's bed just before their bath. Don't worry, Ryan got a couple of good licks in on Aidan.

Overdue Update

2006-08-13T11:03:00.000-07:00

Hi all. First our apolgies for the lack of updates. We have actually attempted to update this a couple of times but we have been having trouble uploading pictures. Anyway this is what Ryan and Aidan have been up to:

Our friends Penny and Chris came to vist from New York. We had a lot of fun with them as we always do.

We have also introduced the twins to water this summer. They are more fond of the shallow pools but we can ocassionly lure them into Ginger's pool.

Here are a few more shots from the summer:

Ryan & Aidan's First Birthday

2006-06-09T21:49:00.000-07:00

We made it! Ryan & Aidan officially celebrated their first birthday last Sunday. We had a great time with family and a few friends. On Saturday the twins had their friends over to play in their new sand box and ball pit, have some cake and formula, and watch the adults chase their friends around. It was a little on the warm side but I am happy to report that everyone had a great time and stayed happy!

Family shot to prove we attended the festivities.

Miss Ryan Elizabeth, 1 Year

Mr. Aidan Patrick, 1 Year

This was by far my favorite part of the day, as soon as they figured

out what they had they both had a guilty look on their face.

Official shot of the cake

The twins had a great time with their friends; Aidan

Carly and Blake spend some quality time in the sandboat

Aidan and his buddy Gabriel in the ball pit

Ryan & Aidan in their new Sandboat

Digging into the gifts! Please note that this is

Aidan's 3rd shirt of the day. The kid likes to drool.

Now, I am not sure what was going on a year ago, but

there sure were a lot of 8-14 month old kids around.

If you think all of this looks crazy, listen to this: Katie and I are happy to announce that we will be blessed with baby number three this Christmas. If anyone has any friends at Pampers or Gerber let us know.

Here is a picture of the new little bugger

Bye for now. Hopefully next post will have some good action shots of the twins walking!

Quick Update

2006-05-30T15:10:00.000-07:00

Nothing major to report. Ryan and Aidan are getting ready to celebrate their first birthdays next weekend. I can't believe they are going to be one already, time flies! They are babbling like crazy, trying to walk (not quite there yet) and praying for hair. We will post pictures of the festivities but we wanted to pass on two recent pictures that Katie and I love.

Mr. Aidan at the park

Ryan with my leftover Starbucks

March & April

2006-04-23T09:14:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone. The McClain Bed & Breakfast has been busy. Kate is attempting to compete with my Aunt Gayle and Uncle David (www.beechwoodinn.ws) for the busiest inn in America. We have had many visitors and a lot to report. Before we get to our visitors here are a couple of recent pictures of Ryan and Aidan. They are getting into everything, crawling in every direction but never in the same direction.

Mr. Aidan 10 Months

Miss Ryan Elizabeth

We also missed a couple of holidays. Above is the family at our traditional Mexican feast (Old Town Mexican Cafe) for St. Patrick's Day.

Here is Ryan working to understand the concept of the Easter Egg Hunt and the Easter Bunny.

Now to our company. Our most recent visitor was Aunt Anne (aka Bounce) Anne was here for about a week and spent the bulk of her time cooking and planting Spring Flowers. Bounce is awesome!!!

Before Bounce arrived we had the entire Souder clan come to visit from Jacksonville. That is Suzi, Terry, Megan, Emily, Peyton and Taylor. We had a great time visiting the aquarium, going to the beach and even a trip to Disneyland.

Half way through the day we decided to feed the kids to the shark at the aquarium.

Aidan and Taylor

Before the Souders arrived we had a visit from Grandpa Terry and Grandma Nancy. On the days that we have vacancies Ryan & Aidan spend a lot of time playing with their friends.

Last weekend we took a wagon ride with our friend Gabriel.

We also took a trip to the Wild Animal Park with our friend Taylor.

And we go to the park with our friend Lily.

That is all for now. We will see you soon!

Feb Fun

2006-02-26T09:37:00.000-08:00

Not too much to report. Ryan & Aidan are doing well as we constantly check for new teeth and more hair. We are getting ready for a slew of visitors in March. I hope you are all ready to work!!! The twins are learning to feed themselves. So far they are doing well with the cheerios type puffs but as you can see the bottles are not working out so well for them.

Again not working out too well, but for some reason I think this picture is really funny.

This is Aidan during his first trip to a Mexican restaurant.

Ryan on a stroll around the hood with Grandma Jane

Mr. Aidan

Ryan says bye for now. We should have lots of fun pics of all our visitors in March!!

Jackson Hole

2006-02-01T21:16:00.000-08:00

We took quick trip to Jackson Hole in January. We did not get any time on the mountain but we had a fantastic time playing in the snow and relaxing in the condo. Here are a few pictures from the trip:

Merry Christmas / Happy New Year

2005-12-28T19:58:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays!! The McClain Family had a wonderful holiday. As was expected Ryan and Aidan were spoiled beyond belief, they received every noisy toy that Fisher Price and Leap Frog have to offer. My ears ring every night after we get them down to bed. The UPS man earned his overtime this year. We even received a full set of packed stockings from Great Grandma & Grandpa McClain. Katie and I had my Mom and Aunt Ginger over for a Christmas morning brunch and gift bonanza. We are heading to Borrego Springs for New Years with our friends Perry and Matt and their daughter Carly. The last time I spent New Years Eve in the desert I woke up in the back of my truck with a beer box on my head (unfortunately that is not a joke- see below.) I have a feeling that this New Years will be a tad more mellow.

The picture above is one of my favorites. I LOVE these ladies. This was taken as we were getting ready for our Christmas card shoot. We seriously took 500 pictures in order to create the perfect Christmas card. Between Ryan, Aidan, Sydney and me 499 of them had some trace of drool.

Ryan opening her first gift - a tummy time mat

Aidan received a pot and pan set to bang on! This was sent by Katie's sister Suzi (yeah the one with 4 daughters) I am guessing it is some form of sick revenge.

This was the biggest hit. Ryan loved her barnyard ball, it kept her attention for at least 10 min.

Grandma Jiggy and Ry Ry

Grauntie Ginger and Aidan

Poor Sydney got the shaft this year. Just a couple of rawhides.

Later that day I gave Aidan a little pep talk encouraging him to grow some hair

The following are just a couple more of our favorite recent pictures - i.e.. no more lame jokes.

Ryan testing the limits of the Bumbo seat

Aidan in the best baby toy ever (the Jumperoo)

Ry Bear

Aidan says bye for now, more soon.

Happy Thanksgiving

2005-11-20T08:39:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone. We would like to dedicate this posting to Katie's Grandmother Mary Malloy Stanley. "Nan" as she was affectionately known by all who loved her peacefully passed last week. Katie and Nan were very close and while she lived a wonderful and long life she will be missed. We had the good fortune of having the time to take Ryan & Aidan to meet Nan a couple of weeks ago. We will always treasure the time and pictures we were able to take with Nan. All four of us were able to make it back to Jacksonville last week to celebrate Nan's life. Here are a few of our favorite pictures of Nan.

Nan & Katie

Ryan, Nan & Aidan

Nan & Grampy

October 26, 1940

Babies Christening

The babies were Christened on November 6th at St. Brigid Catholic Church. Katie's sister Suzi and her husband Terry were able to make it out from Florida and are Aidan's Godparents. My good friend Derek and Erin are Ryan's Godparents and Derek was able to make it down from San Jose to be with us. We want to thank Jane & Ginger for all their help with plannig the reception. It was a great day.

Ryan & Aidan shortly after being cleansed of "original sin"

Jane, Alice, Patrick, Aidan, Ryan, Katie and Ginger

Ryan & Aidan

Patrick, Terry Suzi, Aidan & Katie

Patrick, Derek, Ryan, Erin & Katie

We also introduced Ryan & Aidan to solid foods last week. They really do not like Rice Cereal, and after trying a little for myself I can understand why. It is like drinking sake with out the added benefits. They do like their carrots much better than the cereal.

Aidan wearing 89% of the food we offered him

Ryan

Other than all the excitement life continues to go on at the McClain House. Here are a few more random pictures from the past few weeks.

Ryan in my favorite sweater

They LOVE baby Einstein.

Happy Halloween

2005-11-01T20:23:00.000-08:00

Katie and Aid-Monk

Happy Halloween everyone. We had a eventful 15 minutes of Halloween. That is how long Ryan & Aidan lasted in their costumes as it was about 85 degrees when we dressed them up. Ryan & Aidan are doing very well. We had a check up last week and Aidan is 15 1/2 pounds and Ryan is 12 1/2 pounds. We have the go ahead to start them on rice cereal and orange vegetables. Why they have to be orange I have no idea.

Ry-Bear

Our Perfect Pair

Busy Busy!

2005-10-20T08:41:00.000-07:00

Nan with Ryan & Aidan

We have been BUSY this past month! We made a last minuite trip out to Florida a couple of weeks ago to see Katie's Grandmother, the rest of the family and a few friends. It was a quick trip but well worth the effort. Once again we were blessed with very cooprative babies. Both Aidan & Ryan were very good on the plane. We had a great visit with Nan and she loved meeting the twins. Here are a few more pictures of our visit.

Nan & Aidan

4 Generations of Stanley Ladies

Grandma Marty was also very happy to have all her Grandbabies in one place

Me & Peyton

Katie & Tina with Aidan, Ryan, Jake & Riley

Taylor

Tahoe greets Ryan

Jenna & Megan feeding Ryan

Joey & Aidan

Katie & Bounce with Aidan, Ryan & Syd

After we got home Katie's Aune Anne (aka Bounce) came to spend the week with us. Bounce spoiled us with her amazing cooking. Katie & Bounce spent the few hours that they were not in the kitchen re-arranging our house. I am still trying to find my socks.

Happy Birthday Penny!!!

2005-09-28T13:44:00.000-07:00

We love you and can’t wait to meet you, Aidan & Ryan

Go Boilers

2005-09-24T15:16:00.000-07:00

I know they are just shy of Four Months but I honestly can't tell you how many weeks they are today. I can however tell you that they are the best pair of kids you have ever seen and are more fun every day. I was an hour late to work on Thursday because as I was saying good bye to Ryan and encouraging her to be a good girl for her mother she started flirting and smiling at me like you can't imagine. Needless to say I spent the next 45 minutes encouraging more smiles from her and telling her that I was the only man she was ever allowed to smile at.

Aidan & Ryan in Purdue gear

This morning was a rough one in the McClain house. I was excited to get the kids geared up in their Purdue outfits in preparation for Purdue's first conference win against the unranked Golden Gophers. Unfortunately after 4 quarters and two overtimes I learned the hard way that Minnesota has a really good Running Back in Laurence Maroney. I am not a fan of his.

My new favorite picture of Aidan

Ryan at 'My Gym'

Super Aidan

Katie took Ryan & Aidan to 'My Gym' last week. They met their friends Betsy& Lily and Robyn & Blake. They were able to play in the balls, go down slides and swing from a trapeze! If they turn out to be Carnies I blame Kate

Aunt Nicki & Ryan

Two weekends ago my sister Nicki and her boyfriend Kevin came over to spend the afternoon with us. We had a great time and Nicki got a lot of good bonding time in.

Aidan & Ryan

Family Shot from a coupe of months ago

Three Months

2005-09-11T16:46:00.000-07:00

Ryan & Aidan have hit the three month mark. I can't believe how fast they are growing, I also can't believe how much they eat, so I guess it makes sense. We continue to be very busy with the twins. We took Ryan & Aidan to a recent family gathering where they were able to meet some family they had not met yet. Here are a few pictures of the past few weeks.

Ryan meets her Cousin Ryan

Aidan meets his Cousin Susie

Ryan & Taylor - Best Friends!

Aidan & Mom

Beautiful Ryan

Grauntie Ginger

2005-08-25T20:02:00.000-07:00

Grauntie Ginger

My Aunt - Ryan & Aidan's Grauntie Ginger was over today to give Katie a hand. We realized that she has not had her picture on the blog so I had to remedy that immediately. We can’t say enough about how much help Ginger and my Mom have been. They are always willing to lend a hand whenever we need a little break.

Aidan & Blake

Last weekend we had a quick visit from our friends Robyn & Andrew. More importantly Aidan got to hang out with his buddy Blake.

Good Times!

Katie and I are very lucky, Ryan & Aidan continue to be very calm children, but there are those rare moments where we have to alter the game plan. This picture was taken about 30 seconds after we left for a walk. We got two houses down the street before we had to turn around and begin a “early” feeding.

Megan & Joanna's Visit

2005-08-21T09:48:00.000-07:00

Megan & Joanna, two of Katie’s best friends came to visit this weekend. The ladies had a great visit and were a huge help. The only problem is I am getting used to all the help around the house. There are no other scheduled visitors, so now I have to get back to work. Here are a few pictures from the visit.

Megan, Aidan, Katie, Ryan & Joanna

Ryan & Joey Meet

Ryan, Megan & Aidan

Ryan & Aidan

Professional Photos

2005-08-16T08:15:00.000-07:00

I received some threatening Blog mail this morning as I have not updated it in a while. We have been pretty much home bound since Grandma Marty left but we should have some good action shots this weekend. Two of Katie's best friends, Megan & Joanna will be spending the weekend, and we have big plans with the kids. My big plan is to sleep while Megan & Joanna get to work! Anyway we had a professional photographer come over a couple of weekends ago and we wanted to share a couple of our favorites.

Ryan w/ Mom

Aidan w/ Mom

Two Months Old

2005-08-06T16:38:00.000-07:00

Ryan & Aidan are officially 2 months old. Katie keeps telling me we have to go by weeks so for all the week counters it is 9. We took them on their first trip to the beach last night. They seemed to have a great time until Aidan got sand in his diaper.

Lounging on the beach

Ryan (foreground) and Aidan taking a nap

Sydney checking in on Ryan

Aidan in the back yard

Our Firstborn

July 27th "The Due Date"

2005-07-27T21:32:00.000-07:00

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

2005-07-20T18:42:00.000-07:00

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)

2005-07-08T09:10:00.000-07:00

Aidan's Tummy Time

Ryan & Sydney

Katie & Ryan

Funny Babies

Fourth of July Weekend

2005-07-06T09:49:00.000-07:00

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

2005-07-01T12:36:00.000-07:00

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

Ryan & Aidan Are Home

2005-06-29T15:58:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone. Ryan & Aidan are home and it looks like Aidan is already a little too loud for Ryan. Ryan Elizabeth and Aidan Patrick were born on June 4th at 11:20am and 11:21am respectively. Ryan (on the right) weighed in at 4 lbs 3 ounces and Aidan was 4 lbs 1 ounce. After a quick evaluation at Scripps they were taken to the Children's Hospital NICU. They were at Children's for a week and then transferred back to the Scripps NICU as soon as space opened up. Both Ryan and Aidan progressed better than expected and were able to come home on June 22nd, about 2 weeks earlier than we had even hoped for.

The twins continue to grow and get stronger everyday. It has been great to have them home and despite a marked lack of sleep Katie and I thrilled. So far they both have been sticking to a three hour feeding schedule and are relatively quiet between feedings. We have had a lot of luck soothing them by a tight swaddle. They also seem to take a lot of comfort from each other. As soon as we put Ryan down next to Aidan, (or vice versa) they calm down quickly.

My Mom, and Ginger have been a huge help. They are available for feedings, even at 2:00am! They have also helped out quite a bit by running errands, checking on our well being and generally being available. We have also been blessed with a ton of meals, diapers, clothes, well wishes and phone calls from everyone eager to meet the little ones.

At three weeks old we are starting to get a glimpse of their personalities. Ryan is very patient; she is content to wait up to 1/2 an hour after her scheduled feeding time as we take care of Aidan. 99% of the time she is very calm and inquisitive. She will consistently look into your eyes, and check everything out as she is feeding. After that she is back to sleep.

Aidan is also relatively calm but certainly more vocal than his sister. We have nicknamed him "The Monkey" not only for the monkey noises he makes but also for the hilarious faces he makes. He is usually the first to wake up and "ask" for food. I am sure this will all evolve fairly quickly and our perceptions of their personalities will as well. For now we are trying to get some sleep and enjoy every moment they are awake enough to interact with.

They had yet another appointment with their pediatrician yesterday and they continue to well. Ryan is up to 5 lbs 5 ounces and Aidan is 5 lbs 6 ounces. They will be on their heart and respiration monitor for another couple of weeks but their apnea episodes seem to be subsiding.

We thank you all for your thoughts, prayers, diapers, food, encouragement, support and friendship. We appreciate it.