VIDEO: Aiden & Austin (6 1/2 months old)

Well, our little babies are growing up. They are already rolling over on their own and getting ready to crawl. In this video, you will see them do just that. Aiden will roll over (a couple of times). Austin will kick and kick and kick while laying on his stomach as if he was ready to get some where quick! And the look at the end of the video is priceless!

VIDEO: Aiden & Austin (5 months old)

Well, here is our obligatory video of the boys in their diapers. Yes, they'll hate us for this when they are teenagers. But, it all makes sense now. They are just too cute NOT to post! We begin to see Aiden smile and laugh a little more and begin his arm swings (that we like to call his snow angel moves)! Austin is once again laughing. And they are both way too cute (not that we are biased in any way!)

VIDEO: Aiden & Austin (5 months old)

Here is Aiden & Austin in their walkers that Granddaddy Bob and Grandma Jeannine gave them for Christmas. They love them! At this point, we haven't put the wheels on them yet. But this video is priceless. Austin reinforces that laughter is a big personality trait of his. Aiden & Austin are facing each other as if they are talking, discussing, debating or meeting over something very important. Aiden quietly observes and takes it all in. Austin, well, he just finds something hysterical and laughs out loud. Very typical!

VIDEO: Aiden & Austin (2 1/2 months old)

Here is a video of Aiden (on the left) and Austin when they were only 2 1/2 months old. We can begin to see that Austin is the one who likes to laugh. This will be confirmed over and over in videos over time. We call Aiden our little observer. He has the biggest, roundest blue eyes and is always happy to just sit back and use them to take it all in. It's almost like he's studying everything. Then, if he decides to, he will laugh or smile or talk or maybe even cry (but that is rare...of course!)

More Aiden & Austin's Friends

Here's a short slideshow of some of the friends that came to visit in March:

March came in like a lion, and went...

Wow...it's already April 4th, 2009. The beginning of my posts are starting to sound like a broken record (much like the American Idol judges if you are watching that show at all). I had originally intended to post new updates every week. Ha! Then I thought it would be great to do it every month. Well, I did that pretty well...for the first 7 months. So I missed March. I hope to make up for that oversight or lack of attention by posting more than once this month! And here we go!

The boys are still growing so fast. Rich and I still look at each other every day and can't believe how lucky and blessed we are with such adorable, good, sweet, fun twin sons! I only wish this happiness on everyone (of course unless you only have one child...or one at a time...then just half of this happiness? Oh forget it, there's no putting limits on the amount of happiness children can bring into your life!)

Well, I'm going to get right to the pictures. Here are some of our favorites over the past couple of months. We hope you enjoy viewing them as we do...and as much fun as we had taking them...and viewing them again...oh forget it...you know what I mean!)

Aiden (left) & Austin

Aiden (left) & Austin

Austin (left) & Aiden

Aiden

Austin

Rich (upper left) & Tommy, Aiden (lower left) & Austin

Austin

Aiden

Austin

Aiden

Austin, Tommy & Aiden

Aiden (left) & Austin

Aiden

Austin

Austin

Aiden

New Slideshows of Aiden & Austin's Friends!

Well, this post has been sitting in the draft folder for over a month now. I don't know why I didn't post it already. I am terribly remiss in posting the pictures of our friends and visitors who came to hang out with the boys in the months of January and February. It was all ready to go. I don't know why I didn't hit "publish post". My bad. But we've already established that I'm not the most prompt when it comes to posting on this blog (well, again, if you know me, its not just when posting to this blog...sigh...).

Anyway, thanks to all who came to visit in the first 2 months of this year. I want to especially mention my college roommate, Dennis, who visited in January. It had been quite a while since we had seen each other, and it was great to catch up and for him to meet the boys.

In February, our friends Dave and Steve came down from San Francisco who have a son, Joshua. Dave and Steve were also blessed with their son through the process of surrogacy. Joshua is only a couple of months older than Aiden & Austin. The pictures of the 3 of them are adorable! Also, our friend Bruce, who lives in our nation's capital, Washington DC, also visited in February. He and his husband, Adam, our about to embark on this incredible journey as well.

And I also want to mention, though they are not pictured recently (they are back in August) that our friends Kevin & Francesco and Chris & Derek are starting the surrogacy process. We are so excited for them and the joy that is about to fill their lives as much as our lives are filled. And we will be right here to share our experiences and provide help and support as much as we can!

We are on the edge...

And I mean that we are on the edge in a good way...and a sentimental way. Our beautiful boys are 6 months old. They have grown up so much. They are reacting, laughing, trying to talk, standing up (with help), jumping (both on our laps while being held and in the baby einstein jumpers), sleeping through the night, eating solid food (cereal & mashed veggies), smiling when we walk into the room, following us with their eyes, kicking, grabbing, and on and on... They entertain us for hours. Our hearts swell up with love and joy more and more every day. But we also know what is about to happen. It won't be long and they will be moving around like crazy by either crawling and/or walking. We think Aiden may just go straight to walking! Our lives will continue to change even more. We will lose even more control of our lives! We will be spending our waking hours running after them. Will we ever catch up? Yes, our lives are about to become much more active around the house and with the boys. We know that as the boys grow, the rewards and love will grow as well. However, and here is where the sentimentality comes in, the lives that we now know with our boys will soon change forever. We've watched them grow the past 6 months into such beautiful, happy, little people. We can see them think, observe, learn and feel. But as of now, we have so much control over them. They are so dependent on us for everything...even to just hold a bottle or to be picked up and moved. But we also know that is all about to change. Very soon, they will be able to move about on their own...without our help. I don't know that we are ready for that yet. Can't they just stay little forever? Gosh, I can't believe we are already feeling this way at 6 months! The journey has begun...

Aiden

Aiden

Aiden & Austin

Austin

Austin

Christmas Photos

Well, the holiday season is behind us. Our first Christmas as a family of four. Wow! It was so fun, memorable, crazy, awesome, and even difficult at times. We had family visiting from Chicago (Rich's brother, sister-in-law, and niece). The boys were baptised on the Saturday before Christmas. 3 of the 4 of us caught the stomach virus the day after Christmas. Fortunately, Rich escaped being sick altogether. I was ill for only 24 hours. However, both boys were sick for a week! Austin was hit much worse than Aiden. This was the first time our little angels have been sick, and let me tell you, it was heartbreaking! You feel so helpless! But it is all behind us now, and we are all back to normal...well, as much as can be expected! Here are a few of our favorite pics from the holidays. I promise more to come!

Aiden & Austin in their Santa Suits

Austin celebrating his first LA Christmas

Aiden celebrating his first LA Christmas

Austin, one of our very special deliveries this year

Aiden, the other of our very special deliveries this year

More Christmas Photos

Austin & Aiden in their 1st Christmas shirts

Aiden & Austin in one of their many Christmas outfits

Aiden & Austin shopping for their 1st Christmas Tree

Austin & Aiden, the best Christmas presents ever!

Aiden & Austin in another Christmas outfit

Austin's Santa Suit


Aiden's Santa Suit

Aiden & Austin's Baptism

Aiden & Austin were baptised on Saturday, December 20, 2008, as members of All Saints Episcopal Church in Beverly Hills, CA. Rev. Maryetta Anschutz performed the ceremony. Rich's brother, Jeff, and Jeff's wife, Jeannette, are Austin & Aiden's godparents. Jeff & Jeannette's daughter and Austin & Aiden's cousin, Olivia, also attended. They live in Chicago, so we were very lucky to be able to have the baptism while they were here in LA for the holidays. We attended the Christmas Eve Pagaent at All Saints which consisted of the telling of the Christmas Story, children reading and acting out the parts, and everyone singing all of the classic Christmas songs we know and love. It was really a beautiful way to celebrate our 1st Christmas with the boys. Here are some pics from the baptism:

Aiden & Austin in their christening outfits

Aiden & Austin in their christening outfits

Jeannette, Aiden, Rich, Olivia, Tommy, Austin, Jeff

Austin

Aiden

New Slideshows!

Well, having the original slideshow of pictures of Austin & Aiden and all their friends and family at the beginning of this blog and having all the pictures in the same slideshow was not proving to be an efficient way to view all the pictures. So, we have divided them into groups and posted them again here:

Aiden & Austin's Family


Aiden & Austin's Friends - December


Aiden & Austin's Friends - November


Aiden & Austin's Friends - October


Aiden & Austin's Friends - September


Aiden & Austin's Friends - August


Aiden, Austin & The Gang at NFLC & A Perfect Match

A baby's laugh...

Well, once again I am reminded how little time I have to sit in front of the computer and post thoughts, pictures and videos. Believe me, we have thousands of pictures on our computer. Have we printed out any hard copies? No. Does that make us bad dads? I hope not. We have pictures loaded in our cell phones to show people when we are away from the boys. So I guess we aren't horrible. If you know us, then you know we are proud!

So much has happened since our last post. The boys are almost 4 months old now (they will be 4 months old on December 9th!) Halloween has come and gone. I really wanted them to be pumpkins. However, I was a bad dad and was unable to get them just the right costumes that I wanted in time (thanks a lot Pottery Barn Kids!), so they were baseball players. But rest assured that we already have Santa suits for them for Christmas! We went a little overboard on Christmas outfits, but they are so cute! We even got them Thanksgiving bibs! I'm sure we'll post pictures of them in all of their cute holiday attire!

As for how the boys are doing, well we think they are doing great! They have been smiling for a few weeks now, but they are now laughing and cooing. They are too cute! Austin laughs with such gusto. Aiden melts our hearts with his many coy smiles. I can't help but think that he knows exactly what he is doing and that he is intentionally winning us over every time. I know that each parent probably says this about their own kids, but I really think our boys are very good boys. Yes, they have their moments and cry. As they are getting older, they are crying louder and stronger! However, it is almost always just because they are hungry. We feed them and they are fine. They are also beginning to cry more when they are fighting going to sleep. I hope they are not night owls like me! We also play with them, talk to them, sing to them (if you know me, that could be considered cruel), hold them, walk them, take them out of the house on errands and even to some dinners! For the most part, they enjoy it all. And they smile like crazy when we sing to them...yes, even when I do!

As much as our boys smile and laugh, I can't help but think we are doing something right. And the way the boys make us fall in love with them more and more every day, we definitely know that we did something right. We may get frustrated on the occasion the boys cry loudly or when we don't get to complete our list of things to do for that day, but all it takes is that smile, that gurgle, that coo, that laugh, the closing of the eyes as they nod off to sleep after fighting it for so long, that all of that is forgotten. We do fall in love with them more and more. They melt our hearts. We watch them for hours. We watch them instead of the TV (our tivo is getting full!) Yes, our lives have changed. Sure, we miss some of the friends we don't see as much and some of the things we used to do. But these two boys fill our lives so much that there is hardly any time or room to be sad about it.

I wish this life on anyone who loves children, who longs for children of their own, who craves a family, because God knows that just a few years ago, I didn't think I would ever be where I am today. Our boys are only less than 4 months old, and already we can't imagine life without them. Our lives have a new center. Our lives are filled with rewards. Our sons are truly angels from heaven. We most definitely thank heaven for our little boys. We thank God for blessing us with Aiden and Austin. I challenge anyone who dare says that we are not entitled to this type of family. I am so disappointed in everyone who does not accept our lives as we choose to live it. Our new family fills our lives with joy. We are grateful. We are lucky. Our lives are filled with love. We are truly blessed.

Aiden & Austin making their first political statement:


Aiden & Austin looking very much alike!:


Aiden & Austin sporting their pumpkin shirts from Aunt Maggie:


Aiden's first Texas A&M outfit. Gig 'em Aggies!:


Austin's first Texas A&M outfit. Gig 'em Aggies!

Aiden & Austin looking "hip & trendy" in their hoodies:


Austin & Aiden looking "cool" in their sunglasses:


Austin & Aiden asleep in their hoody jackets (it's hard being so cool all the time!):


Austin smiling:


Aiden smiling:

Rich, Aiden, Tommy & Austin on their first flight!:


Austin (sleeping) & Aiden (smiling) enjoying their first flight!:


Austin & Aiden showing off their traveling skills:


Rich, Aiden, Tommy & Austin seeing fall colors in Chicago:


Rich, Aiden, Tommy & Austin in their first pumpkin patch: