Happy First Birthday Madeline and Eli!

Today is Madeline and Eli's first birthday. I can't believe it's already here! I can honestly say that the past year has been an absolute joy and looking back, it seemed pretty easy. Okay, I did shed quite a few tears along the way, but God has blessed us with two great-tempered children and for that reason, I really can't complain. Madeline and Eli have made our life so much more fun. Their interaction and contrasting personalities are a constant source of entertainment. We love them so much and are excited to watch them grow and change with many birthdays to come!

We had a little family birthday party for M&E on Sunday. I have to say I was a little disappointed with the lackluster cake smashing scene. Madeline shuddered at the first taste of icing and wanted nothing more to do with her cake. Eli did get a little messy, but only because Daddy shoved his hand in the cake. Julia suggested the lack of enthusiasm was rooted in the white cake and I have to agree - chocolate was the obvious way to go, dually noted (literally). Despite the embarrassing cake-eating show, M&E looked very cute in the bibs made by yours truly.

Our family was more than generous with their gifts and M&E now have a great new stash of toys and some of the cutest books I've ever read. To name a few favorites: a Radio Flyer double wagon from Grandma and Grandpa, Madeline's first My Little Pony from Mama Kaye, "That's Not My Monster" from Uncle Joe and Rena, and many, many more.




















Happy Birthday Madeline and Eli! We love you!

One Year Ago Today

One year ago at this time, I was a whale, a beached one to be precise...

The nurse had just come in to tell me not to eat breakfast because my 4:00 c-section had just been bumped up to noon - praise God! - and we were getting ready to meet Madeline and Eli and see these precious babies who had been making me so uncomfortable.

Happy Independence Day!

We had a relatively uneventful 4th of July this year. Last year, I had been in the hospital by this point for about a week and a half and Brandon, Mama Kaye and I snuck outside the hospital with popsicles in hand to watch the fireworks. Surprisingly, the labor and delivery entrance had a fabulous view of the Vulcan fireworks. This year, we saw no fireworks (past M&E's bedtime). However, we have two beautiful, healthy children who really put that grueling 2.5-week hospital stay in perspective.

We took Madeline and Eli to Wald Park, which only lasted about 5 minutes because it was very hot. I think that was about it for Independence Day 2008. God Bless America!

Twins Q&A

Pushing a double stroller attracts a lot of attention, and I can't seem to go anywhere with Madeline and Eli without all or some of the following question and answer session taking place...

Q: They look so close in age. How far apart are they?
A: One minute.

Q: Oh! Are they twins?
A: Yes. (Duh.)

Q: Oh, infertility? (With a pitying look.)
A: No, just the opposite actually!

Q: How cute! Two boys?
A: No, a boy and a girl. (I restrain myself from pointing out that Madeline has a big hot pink bow in her hair.)

Q: Are they identical?
A: No, it's a boy and a girl. (I restrain myself from the biology lesson that is in order.)

Q: What are their names?
A: Madeline and Eli.

Q: Oh, how cute. I love the name Eli. Who is older?
A: Madeline. (And, is Madeline not a good name, too?)

Q: By how much?
A: One minute. (I restrain myself from pointing out that I have already answered this question.)

Q: Oh, but he's bigger? I thought the boy was the oldest.
A: He's a boy. He's supposed to be bigger.

This is usually followed up by the questioners trying to get M&E to wave bye-bye to them, which my children do not do. Instead, they get a blank stare. Now, should I have the above Q&A made into some sort of pamphlet to hand out to everyone or would that be rude? Honestly, I don't mind this constant back and forth so much. When I have time for it, it's actually kind of amusing. And, I love the 80-year-old women who stop me in the grocery store to tell me about their boy-girl twins they had when they were 40, bless them. I'm glad God blessed us with our pair while we are still young and somewhat energetic!

Popsicle Man

Here is a video of Eli trying a popsicle for the first time. Madeline wasn't very impressed with it and crawled away. Eli enjoyed it...

Here is a picture of Eli after the popsicle was gone. I believe he wanted another.

Bathing Beauties

It has become an almost daily ritual (save for stormy days) for Madeline and Eli to play and/or bathe in the baby pool. They love it. That water gets quite warm out on our deck, so M&E like to go au natural for their daily dip. I've had to go pick up some new pool toys in the past few days because we've gotten bored with our old ones. Ahhh, the (not so) lazy days of summer!

We also have a little blow-up pool. However, it is impossible to contain my children in it, so it has been converted to a blow-up mattress, which provides loads of entertainment in our basement...

And, now he's off!

The Rooks family is now 100% mobile. Eli crawled for the first time yesterday!

(Commentary provided by Madeline.)