Rowan and Evelyn in the morning

Rowan and Evelyn in the Morning from Leigh de la Reza on Vimeo.

Evelyn Skye

This is Evey this morning. She's 6 weeks old.

Rowan in the swing!

Evey Loves Elmo

My Aunt Robin sent the girls a package with lots of great gifts, including this tickle me Elmo.

Evelyn, who is almost the same size as Elmo, began to cry and I put the laughing (and vibrating) Elmo next to her and she quieted down immediately. It was very cute. Thanks Robin!

Newsflash: Papa's singing get approval from daughter

Now I never thought I had a great singing voice, but while I was chilling with Rowan this morning - singing a little ditty - I was on the receiving end of her first voluntary smile!

It was amazing! To watch her focusing on my face, and then crack into a little toothless grin

Melted my little heart...

Catching Up

Its been a while since I've posted. Time just flies when you're having fun (also when you're sleep deprived). So this post is mostly an update on what fun/ sleep deprivation we've been having.

Let me start off by saying that Rowan sleeps all the time (except at night). This is a rare photo of the girl actually awake, but she quickly fell back to sleep once the picture was taken. The obvious reason why she's sleeping so much is that she is growing so fast. She's noticeably bigger than her sister and is so strong. She can now hold her head up really well and enjoys sitting up (with help of course) She's also incredibly cute and its extremely difficult to resist pinching her chubby little legs.

This is actually a picture of Rowan and I at the Annual O'Henry Pun-off. Anyone who knows Andre knows he loves the O'Henry Pun-off, and is consequently, impossible to live with for about a week later as he attempts to pun nonstop. The pun-off was lots of fun though and quite crowded.

Here's a picture of Evey laughing at the pun-off. She must have her father's sense of humor.

Yesterday was our 2 year wedding anniversary. This year, we didn't go out of town or do anything fancy to celebrate. We took the girls to have their pictures made and then spent the evening with friends. Yet, it was still a great day, like so many of our days together are. Andre is an amazing person and I love sharing my life with him. I'm looking forward to the next year and many more to come.


Now for baby-toes...(Rowan)













And angry babies...(Evey)

















Babies yawning...(Evey)

















And babies dreaming...(Rowan)

More mother's day pics

1st Mother's Day

We celebrated my first Mother's Day this past Sunday. The girls gave me the best present --they slept for 5 hours straight the night before--woke up, ate, then fell asleep again. Thanks kids!

I always saw mother's day as a day of giving thanks back to your mother. However, as a new mother myself this year I feel so thankful to my girls for making me a parent. They have brought so much happiness to our lives and we both just love them so much. Last year at this time Andre and I were seeing fertility doctors. And at a time when we thought we may not be able to have children, Andre gave me the sweetest little booties with the note that they were for our future child. Now, a year later we're celebrating Mother's Day with our twins. How wonderful is that?

Andre and I took my mother and grandmother to the Driskill 1886 Cafe for brunch. We had four generations all together.

Slings and things--Real men wear babies

This is a really cute picture of our friend Tim and Andre playing chess, each with a baby in the sling.

The girls love to be in slings. They'll sleep for hours and never seem to mind being jostled around. Its been great for us too and its one of the easiest ways to carry both twins (one in the sling, one in your arms). Andre has been able to fit both twins in one sling, but its sort of a challenge.

Weekend Visit

My Aunt Ann and cousin (her daughter) Andrea drove down this past weekend to visit the girls. It was so great to see them and to introduce the girls to some of their family. Here's a picture of Andrea and Sydney holding the girls.



Those girls weren't set down for a moment the whole night, someone was continually waiting to hold them. Even the boys wanted to hold a baby. Here's a picture of my nephew, Forrest, and his friend Andrew each holding a twin.




And here's a picture of my grandmother, holding Evelyn. Rowan and Evelyn are her 7th and 8th great-grandchildren.

One Month Check-Up

The girls will be one month old this coming Thursday. So, today we went to the pediatrician for their one month check up. The doctor said, and I quote, "the girls are perfect." Which I completely agree.

Rowan weighs 7 lbs 14 oz and is 20 3/4 inches long. She's in the 25% for weight and 50% for height. Evelyn weighs 7 lbs 7 oz and is 20 inches long. She's in the 10% for both weight and height.

The girls are noticeably growing and changing. They are already growing out of some of their newborn onesies and they are beginning to focus more. Some nights they are even sleeping longer periods of time and they are having longer periods of time when they are awake and alert during the day as well. This past month has been so awesome and has gone by so fast.

This is a picture of the girls sleeping after coming home from the doctor's today. They were plum tuckered out. I love how they'll sleep with their arms up. That would be so uncomfortable for an adult. Every kid does it though. At what point do we stop sleeping like little children and start sleeping like adults? hmmm I can't recall.

Babies 1st Movie

The girls went to their first movie this afternoon. Thanks to Alamo Drafthouse's baby movie days we were able to take the girls to the movies without feeling bad if they cry or make noise. There were at least a dozen couples with babies, maybe more. We had nothing to worry about though as the girls slept the entire time. We each had one in a moby sling, so they slept soundly on our chests. Well, Evey snored throughout the movie, but they were relatively quiet.

So, what cinematic masterpiece marked the girls' first moviegoing experience you ask? None other than Iron Man. Yeah, Andre picked the movie and was quite proud that a comic book movie was his daughter's first. As if somehow he has done his job as a father in helping his daughters gain an appreciation for the finer things in life--comics. I must admit that I equally enjoyed the movie. Robert Downey Jr. was excellent, as always, and it was a fun afternoon film--made more entertaining by the fact that our afternoons generally consist of changing diapers and periodic feedings.

Iron Man Trailer


Truth be told, we've done quite well with getting out with the girls. Our pediatrician gave us the green light to take them places and so we try to do as much as possible. We are learning the art of timing (right after feeding/diaper change we have a good 3hr window), we are developing diaper bag packing skills (learning what to bring and how much), and we are acquiring the insight of strategic baby placement (sitting outside the cafe to listen to a favorite band instead of inside, etc.). All in all, its not so difficult and its fun to have them with us. They are our own little entourage.

My Role as PaPa Mono

So it might not be a huge surprise to many, but the role of father who has managed to swing a month at home with MaMa Mono and the two monitas is not always readily obvious.

Sure I have been trying to do my share of diaper changes, burping, and the accessory actions to the actual feedings, but other than the obvious things I feel like I am a bystander watching as my beautiful wife gives them sustenance and is the primary reason they are growing into such wonderful girls.

So with that floundering on my part, I have fallen back on perhaps the most time tested of husband/boyfriend/male suitor adages:

If Moma ain't happy, NOBODY happy.

Knowing that truer words are hard to come by, I have embraced my self-assigned job with a passion. I try and make sure Moma is well fed, relaxed, comfortable and entertained.

The last of those was fulfilled this morning by this piece of internet real estate that was right up her ally: