Second Parent Adoption

The boys are 9 months old tomorrow.  Time really does pass so quickly.  All is simply wonderful. 

The Dallas Voice published an article today that does a really nice job of telling our story.  I would like to thank Tammye Nash, Senior Editor, for being so thorough and for telling our story with such honesty.  http://www.dallasvoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/06-10-2011.pdf

Steve's adoption was final on June 1.  We went through the family court system in Dallas and it was really quite simple and the costs were minimal.  I will say that the quoted legal fees were vastly different from one attorney to the next.  The person we used had handled an adoption for some friends of ours (another same-sex, male couple) and he was efficient and his prices were very reasonable.  We went before the judge answered affirmatively to a series of questions and the judge issued the adoption decree - done!  We were in court for all of five minutes.

Here are some images from the courthouse on adoption day...

Much Love,
Terry, Steve, Jag and Ajay

Nana & PawPaw...and Jag's Bedhead

Quickie post.  The boys are 7 months old the day after tomorrow.  I had these pictures on my camera from last weekend and I knew my parents wanted to see them.  I am off to the airport in about two hours for an 8 day business trip to Europe.  I have been gone almost every week lately which is so tough on me - in terms of missing the family.  Really tough.  Gainfully, and happily employed so always smiling, but miss my family terribly.  The only consolation is that coming home is so special.  I returned yesterday from a two day trip and I have been with the boys non-stop for the past day.  They are so amazing...Jag is pretty much crawling...inching along, pulling his legs up and inching forward.  They are doing really well on solids and they are sleeping a full 11 hours a night without waking!  (insert big smile here)

Here are pics with my parents from their visit last weekend and a morning shot of Jag's bedhead!  I attempted to give him a haircut yesterday and he is looking a little like a punk rocker!

Hope everyone is well.  Maybe I will have some time on my flight to Barcelona today to catch up on blogs...that would be a treat.

Love,
Terry, Steve, Jag & Ajay

Ready For Our Close-Ups

So, now that the boys are eating some solids, I have resorted to feeding them in only a diaper.  It is such a mess with the pureed food - all over us, the table, the floor and their clothes.  So, feeding in a diaper is a beautiful thing!  By the way, they are getting quite good with the food - much more going down their throat and much less running down their chest...Ajay has learned a new trick which is to blow instead of suck...so he blows food all over everything...he has also found it is fun to do this with his bottle.  He sits and blows bubbles into his bottle rather than sucking.  Slightly annoying but look at these pics and tell me if you could honestly be too annoyed!

So, what are the odds that when I put them in their chairs for feeding that they both assume the exact same position - leaning to the right, attempting to climb out of their seats!  Had to grab some quick photos.  I did not pose them - they did this all on their own.

They are so much fun these days...need lots of entertaining (they bore quite easily), but they are pure joy to us. 

Hope everyone is well out there.  I have lots of 'blog catching up' to do - I just saw a couple of births and some positive pregnancy tests!  Congrats to all!!

20 Weeks

Whew.  Literally out of breath.  I have started nothing short of 10 times to write this, but the two little cuties in the pictures below would have nothing of it!  Steve is working outside because we finally have some warm weather (although we are back below freezing starting tomorrow according to weather.com).  So, with Steve outside, that means I am inside and that means I am POOPED!  Exhausted.  Honestly, hats off to all the full time mom and dads out there - it is (as many reading this know) the most emotionally rewarding and draining job on the planet.  All this said, I've had such a great time with the boys this weekend.  I have been with them non-stop...no work, no computer...just me and the boys. 

They are, as the title says, 20 weeks old.

Developments since my last posting - solid food (we love peaches, bananas, pears and really anything sweet), supported sitting (as you see in the photos below), rolling from tummy to back and vice versa (and across the room!).  Sleeping 6 hours between feeds :) and male pattern balding!  So all are cute developments except the idea that they want daddy's hairdo.  Hmmm.  Ajay went completely bald and now it is grown back like a military flat-top.  Jag is bald only on the back - we have somehow managed to keep those beautiful tresses in front - perfectly coiffed! They each sport a nice little round, bald spot right smack in the back of their heads where they lay all the time.  At their four month check up they each weighed around 15 1/2 lbs.  Ajay has pretty much caught up with Jag on all fronts - I suspect he will be the first to crawl based on his rolling expertise.  We left the room for a moment the other day and came back to find him all the way across the room!

All is well in Dallas.  Although winter is mild here, we've still had to get used to forced heat in the house (and the dry skin that comes with it).  My mom is coming next weekend so we are all excited about that!

Sorry for being so out of touch with everyone out there in blog land.  I miss the time to sit and read all the updates and miss the time to write myself.  I am shooting for at least one update a month...that seems totally reasonable.

We hope you enjoy viewing the photos as much as we enjoyed taking them!

Love,
Terry, Steve, Jag and Ajay

Merry Christmas!

 

Happiest of Holidays from Our Family to Yours!

Love,

Terry, Steve, Jag & Ajay

Twelve Weeks

On one hand it feels like we just celebrated the boys' birth yesterday...on the other hand I find myself asking ' has it really only been 3 months?'.  All is well...growing like weeds...grins are plentiful at the sound of our voices or eye contact.

As I type this, I am on an early, Saturday morning flight from Miami to NY.  This is a long trip - I am five days into a ten day business trip.  Today, day five, officially marks the longest period I have been away from the boys since their birth.  I am so sad but at the same time, I know it will just make my return home even that much more special.  Steve and I were able to Skype briefly last night and it is simply amazing how much they change in only five days.

All this said, we had the most beautiful Thanksgiving, purchased our Christmas tree and had it fully trimmed - along with the exterior lighting on the home - before I left on November 29th.  We love our new home in Dallas and we couldn't feel more blessed about our life.

The boys are now going as long as 5 - 5 1/2 hours between feedings which is a nice improvement from 3 hours!  We have had a bit of difficulty finding the right formula...both boys are 'guzzlers' which results in lots of spit up.  It is not unusual for them - when really hungry - to 'down' 7 ounces in 5 minutes.  Then we have 1/4 of that coming back up over the course of the next hour.  We have tried no lactose, low lactose, soy...you name it.  We put them on Gerber's Good Start last week and it seems to have made a nice difference.  The proteins are whey, and are broken down more fully than in other brands.  As a bonus, a close friend's mother works for the parent company of Gerber and we are able to buy the formula by the case at half price!  So, fingers crossed that some varietal of this brand will work.

We also had a nice surprise in November...friends in Dallas through a second shower.  These were all friends who were unable to attend the LA shower earlier this year.  Actually, my friends who hosted, called it a 'Sip and See'...essentially, a baby shower done after the birth where the adults stand around, drink, and fuss over the babies.  Pretty fun! My friend Carrie's mother knitted cardigans for both boys...we LOVE them!

Happy Holidays to everyone and best wishes for lots of healthy pregnancies and births in 2011!

Love,
Terry, Steve, Jag and Ajay

No Time to Type

I am officially the worst blogger on earth.  Two kids + spouse + work = zero downtime (literally zero) for Terry. 

I have been out of town every week since we returned.  This week I was in New York City and the three weeks prior in Los Angeles.  We have been lucky to have Steve's mom or my mom here consistently since we returned.  This gives Steve the opportunity to go to bed at around 7pm, with grandma doing the 10pm feed, and then Steve gets up at 2-3am when they wake for their night feed, and pretty much stays up...maybe a nap on the sofa, but up and about none the less.  This means I go on weekend duty.  As an example, I landed at the Dallas airport around 10pm on Friday night.  So, everything on my to do list for yesterday - including a fantasy trip to the gym, did not materialize.  All is good, no complaints, but for all of you on the 'twin pregnancy' count down...grab some shut eye boys and girls and wrap up any projects at work that you can...you will soon be in an all new time and space!  You soon have to reshuffle all priorities.  A close friend of mine yesterday said that she didn't know what she did before she had her kids (they are both teenagers now).  She said, 'I thought I was so busy, but now I realize how much time I wasted'.  It is so true.  I must confess that I have not even gone onto blogger in 2 weeks - not to read, not to write.  So, I am attempting a quickie catch up on everyone's lives in this brief moment of quiet.

Steve has started to do some planting before it gets too cold...this is a great time to plant in Texas because the spring seasons is followed so quickly by intense heat.  Everything gets much better rooted in the fall - provided you plant things that are cold hardy.  We lined the back fence with black bamboo and built a wall of star jasmine.  By next summer we should see some nice growth.  He's off to Home Depot now for some planting supplies and I am trying to finish the quick blog post before a child demands to be burped, changed, fed, held or otherwise entertained.

All this said - WE LOVE BEING DADS!!!

Steve's mom left this weekend and headed back to Atlanta.  My mom arrives back this Wednesday and will be here through Thanksgiving.  My dearest girlfired and her husband and 6 year old son arrive one week from today and will be here 10 days...so the rotating door of free child care continues...thank God for our friends and family!!! We love you!!

The boys had their 2 month check up last week and both weigh approximately 5kg (11 pounds)!  They are the biggest pigs I've ever seen.  They have so many fat rolls on their necks that it takes two adults at bath time to get at all the dried milk (which smells of dirty socks I might add).  Jag barely has a neck - he goes from chin to chest with five rolls between.  For some reason they both pee on me at most every diaper change - not on Steve, just on me.  Case in point...I just left my computer to tend to Ajay who was fussing.  Low and behold, he had a blow out in his diaper - this one was messy beyond messy - and just as I took off the diaper, the water fountain hit me right in the face.  Twice in the tub last night I had the same face wash.  Is it me?  LOL.

Boy oh boy are they cute though...newest development is that they smile at us when they see us and hear our voices...all the time!  It just melts your heart!

Here they are at 9 weeks - taken yesterday...

And, here we have Ajay whispering secrets to Jag...would love to know what they are saying to one another!