Tracy All Smiles

See what I mean? The smile just keeps on going. 

Nursery in Progress

Here's a look at the nursery in progress. Six months ago it was filled with tools and scrap materials from our bedroom remodeling project. It has come a long way.

Tracy's dad and her uncle helped me paint the room. The valance and one of the bed skirts were made by her mother. The cradle was made years ago by her neighbor George. One of the two dressers was donated by my dad. And they were both painted by a friend's father. It has really been a community project. 

Special Purpose

With this photo we got visual confirmation that Baby A was a boy. The cursor is pointing to his "special purpose".

Prior to this we had to rely on the recollection of the ultrasound technician. Originally, we were not going to find out the sexes.

Finding out the sexes of your children for the first time when they are born seemed to me to be one of those great surprises worth waiting for. My wife (and her mother, and my mother, and everyone else in the family) had the opinion that it was better to know beforehand, so the proper planning could take place, especially since it was twins. So I gave in.

Tracy called the technician, and asked her to write the sexes on a piece of paper and put it in an envelope. I picked up the envelope and we went out to dinner and opened it up. It was still a nice surprise.

Relaxin' with the Dog: Part II

Another option for relaxing is to just stay in bed. You run the risk, however, of your husband harrassing you with the camera. 

Relaxin' with the Dog

At times it becomes necessary to put your feet up and air out the belly. 

More Progress

And the weeks go on...and the belly grows. Tracy's smile has not diminished one bit, although I have noticed more groans when she gets up and moves around. The doctor told her that January would be her last good month. It is becoming quite a load to carry around. 

Farley Baxter

This is our dog Farley. We've had him since our first year of marriage five years ago.

I think he senses that something is afoot. He is a very needy dog. By that I mean he needs attention. So, while we prepare the nursery and receive gifts, Farley gets less and less attention. I think that's why he chewed up Tracy's cell phone. He's a good dog, though (so my wife would say).

He is very good with children. We'll just have to remember to pay attention to him when the babies arrive. 

Uncle Jimmy?

My dad and my grandma both think this ultrasound looks like my uncle Jimmy. It's Baby A, the boy, so I guess it's possible. 

Gene & Tracy

Here we are at a farewell party for our friend Dave who was heading to Iraq. I found it hard to keep my hands off of Tracy's stomach. I guess I just like to show off my pregnant wife. 

Ultrasounds

Most of the ultrasounds before this one didn't show us much. Here we really got to see what looked like babies. I got a feeling during this appointment that Baby A was a boy. I think it was the next appointment where we found out for sure...one boy, one girl.

Tracy's dad was probably the most excited to find out. Tracy is the oldest of 3 girls. When they were growing up even the dog was a girl. So, he was happy to know there was a boy. Besides, camouflage onesies from the Cabela's catalog are made for boys and girls. The girl's has a frill around the behind, so he had to know. 

Tracking the Progress

I began trying to photo-document everything. We'd been trying to conceive for a long time, so we were pretty excited when it happened. I wanted to get profile shots to show Tracy's progress.

"You know this is going to last around 36 weeks," she said after the fifth photo in the first week.

I cut down the picture taking to about once a week. 

Susan & Gavin's Wedding

That's Tracy in front of me on the top step. Susan and Gavin had their wedding over Labor Day weekend. We found out about a week or so before that we were expecting twins. We tried to keep it hush-hush, but you know how family get-togethers are. 

Twins?

When we got home from the beach we found these two mushrooms in the yard. They were the only two. Not a single other mushroom grew in the yard. I guess it was a sign. 

Summer Vacation

Here's where it all began. This is Tracy and me. It's August 2004, and we're on our summer vacation in Delaware. We were spending a week at Dad's shack at the beach with our friends, the Wilsons.

They had their twin, eight month old daughters with them. Our whole day revolved around these two little girls. Little did we know that this was actually training for things to come...