The Model Models...photo shoot proofs

So we got the proofs back from the photo shoot last week, and oh my gosh are mommy and daddy excited. The photos turned out gorgeous! They were all posted on facebook and everyone commented on them. In fact, when we were at the pediatrician's office last week another mom was in the waiting room and when we walked in she said, "oh my gosh, is that Sophie and Stella?" I had never seen this woman in my life, but she recognized you from your photo shoot pictures on facebook. You two are little Internet Celebrities!!! Here is a snapshot of some of the pictures taken during the photo shoot with Picture Perfect Photography:

One of my favs...I love Stella's crooked grin!

The "Womb Mates"

Sophie

Stella

Stella my Princess!

Sophie the Princess

Stella - such a cute grin!

Sophie the Angel

3 Weeks Old - June 23, 2011

3 Weeks Old
Sophie - 5lbs 4oz
Stella - 5lbs 9oz

Sophie & Stella,
Congratulations! You are both finally back over 5 lbs!!! We went to the Pediatrician's office today for another weight check and we were so nervous because you both have been throwing up so much that we didn't think you had gained any weight. Stella got weighed first and she gained another 5 ounces. When they put Sophie on the scale, I held my breath thinking you had lost weight. To my surprise you gained 8 ounces in 8 days! Pretty good, kid. I could finally breath again. I'm glad to see that we are doing things right and you are getting enough to eat.

Here's a recap of what happened with you girls this week:

Photo Shoot with "Picture Perfect Photography"

We had the photo shoot with Val on Friday. Oh my gosh...it was so cute! You girls were so good and Val is so amazing with infants. We finished the photo shoot in a record 3 hours. Apparently, by the time we had Sophie's part shot, Val is still trying to get some infants to settle down enough to just start. We were totally ahead of the game and you girls are naturals, which is a good thing because I'm sure mommy will be putting you in plenty of photo shoots when you're a bit older!

On Saturday, Lisa G's had the annual "Dam Duck Race" where they drop 100's of rubber ducks into the Chubb River. The ducks are purchased by people as a fundraiser and the person who's duck goes over the dam and crosses the finish line first wins the raffle money. There are always a ton of people at this event and we decided to bring you girls and be social. We walked into Lisa G's and immediately people swarmed you two! People came to visit and see you both the entire 2 hours we were there. It was quite crazy, but everyone just loves you!

June 20, 2011
Your First "BathTub" Bath

Sunday was daddy's first father's day, and it was a great day but a very busy day! You girls gave daddy a really cute card that mommy picked out (and obviously filled out for you), daddy loved his card. We decided to go to Plattsburgh for the day, as we had a lot of little things that we needed to pick up to stock the nursery. This was your first trip to Plattsburgh and our first time taking you girls outside of Lake Placid. It took some careful planning: making sure we had the diaper bag packed, planning out when you needed to nurse so we could work around that, figuring out how to shop easily with two car seats. Daddy and I had to each push a cart so that your car seats could rest in the shopping carts. We also went to your first "Sunday Family Dinner" with daddy's family. Sunday dinner is a tradition in the Hoffman household, every Sunday the family gets together with Papa and Janer at Spruce Lodge for dinner. You girls were very good, sleeping through most of dinner. You also got passed around a lot, as everyone wants to hold you, especially Aunt Ashleah! After dinner, daddy took you girls for a drive in the car to Wilmington. Daddy and Uncle Tim had to get Uncle Tim's car down there, so daddy was nice enough to take you both with him so mommy could get in her first run. Mommy was sad to see you go in the car without me, but was very excited to take my first run since the half marathon I ran when I was 5 weeks pregnant with you. I ran from Spruce Lodge to home, so it wasn't very far but it felt so good. Mommy is training for two half marathons this year; one in September and one in November.

The best part of Sunday was that you slept through the night at only 2 1/2 weeks old! You girls tend to have "cranky time" just like your Aunt Leah, and it tends to be anywhere between 7-9pm. Daddy and I named Stella "Lady Fussy Pants" because she seems to be the fussier of the two most of the time. We call Sophie "Madame Pukes-a-Lot" because you've been spitting up so much. Hopefully these names won't stick with you, but I had to document them because they are kind of humorous. Anyway, on Sunday we had Cranky Time until about 11:00pm and mommy put you down in your cribs at 11:30pm. You girls did not wake up until 6:30 the next morning. I did have to get up in the middle of the night to feed you, because you're not supposed to go more than 4 hours without being fed, so I fed you both while you slept and then put you back to bed. I'm sure it was a fluke that you slept through the night, but it felt so great!!!

Mommy & Great Grammie

Aunt Ashley and Stella

Great Grammie and Sophie

Monday we spent the day with Aunt Ashley. We walked around the lake in the morning because it was so beautiful and then we went to visit Great Grammie for the afternoon. Great Grammie cannot get enough of you girls. Every time we visit, her eyes light up, it is just so cute. I really hope that you are both blessed to know your Great Grammie like mommy does...she is such a special person to me and I hope you get the chance to have a great relationship with her. She loves you both so much!

Stella also found her thumb on Monday. Mommy was holding "Lady Fussy Pants" because she was surprisingly fussy (who would have thought!) when all of a sudden, you calmed yourself down by sticking your thumb in your mouth. It was so exciting to watch you do it, because at this point you both hadn't done too much other than sleep!

Mommy is really excited to see all the little progressions you girls make as you continue to get older. It is just such a blessing to watch you both grow everyday and learn new things. Mommy learns new things everyday, too and I can't wait to share them with you and teach you everything. I love you both so very much!

Love,
Mommy

2 Weeks Old - June 16, 2011

2 Weeks Old
Sophie - 4lbs 12oz
Stella - 5lbs 4oz

Sophie & Stella,
You are now two weeks old and are starting to get into somewhat of a routine. We've had a busy week with visitors and trips out of the house. On Friday we took you on your first walk in your new stroller. Mommy and daddy decided to take a walk down Sentinel Road and asked Uncle Tim to come along too. We walked from Uncle Tim's house down to Lisa G's and were going to order take-out but decided to eat at the restaurant instead. When we walked in, you two basically stopped service as all the waitresses came over to meet you and say hi. Lisa G's is one of mommy & daddy's favorite restaurants and we go there quite a bit, so the staff was all excited to meet you, as well as many of the patrons! You both were so good while we ate and you basically slept through the whole walk and dinner.

On Saturday, Grandma Leanne and Uncle Tony came over for the day. Grandma helped clean the house, take care of you girls and made us her yummy lasagna for dinner. It was so nice to not have to cook dinner for a change! Mommy & daddy took you for your first of many walks around the lake on Sunday. Mommy loves to walk around the lake when its nice out. You see lots of people, get to look at pretty houses, and enjoy the fresh air around the lake. Since we'll be doing a lot of walking, mommy is looking to purchase a Phil & Teds Explorer stroller. You girls are not big enough for the stroller yet, but once you are we'll be getting one and cruising everywhere. For the time being, we're using the double Snap 'n Go that holds your car seats. It's not the greatest if you do a lot of walking, but it's very convenient, easy to use, and we don't have to take you out of your car seats which is great at this stage. It's also great because it doesn't take up a lot of room in the trunk of the car and it sets up pretty quickly. We can usually be unloaded and walking within 3-4 minutes!

On Monday we were going to walk around the lake but it started raining. I read on a website that it is important to get out everyday whenever possible, even if it means walking in a mall. Since we don't have a mall here in town, I decided to take you girls to the Olympic Center and walk around the 1980 rink for some exercise. Aunt Juji met us and brought two of her friends to walk with us. When we got to the Olympic Center, it seemed that everyone mommy new there was walking through the halls and had to stop and see you girls. Auntie Tara arrived from NYC that day to coach her student Ruby, so she met up with us for a little while as well. Auntie Tara is the one who gave you the really soft blankies with the ribbons and buttons from Japan. Mommy loves using these blankies because they are so soft!

Your umbilical cords both fell off on Tuesday. It was quite funny how Stella's fell off. Mommy was sitting in the living room and Aunt Juji was changing your diaper. As she started changing your diaper, she started asking me when your umbilical cords fall off.

Aunt Juji:     "Hey Kari, when do their umbili...uh-oh."
Mommy:      "What's wrong?"
Aunt Juji:     "I swear I didn't do anything! It just fell off!"
Mommy:      "What, the umbilical cord? That's what it's supposed to do."
Aunt Juji:     "Oh."

It was really funny that she was literally asking me when the umbilical cords fall off when it just fell off! Sophie's fell off the same day in the afternoon. Grandma Leanne was unwrapping your swaddle when it came off. Mommy picked it up and threw it in the garbage and Grandma said, "you're not going to keep that? I kept Julianna's." I think I threw up in my mouth a little when she asked me that. Eww, it's just gross thinking about keeping the remnants of your umbilical cords. What do you do with them, keep them in a Ziploc bag and put it in your baby book? GROSS!

First Trip to Aki's

On Wednesday, you had a weight check with Dr. Monroe. You both seem to be doing okay; Stella put on 5 ounces but Sophie only gained 2. Dr. Monroe said we have one more week to get Sophie gaining substantial weight...seems like a pretty big challenge, especially since you girls tend to throw up a lot of the milk you drink. Hopefully next week will be better though! That night we met Auntie Tara and Ruby for dinner at Aki's. It was your first trip out for Sushi! Mommy was so excited because it was the first time in 9 months that I've been able to eat raw fish. When I was pregnant with you girls, I could only have sushi rolls that were vegetarian or used shrimp or crab. I couldn't have the smoked salmon, tuna or eel which are some of my favorites! I never thought I would miss a Philly Roll or Crazy Roll so much.

Sophie's cute little smile!

So tomorrow, mommy has hired a newborn photographer to come over and do a photo shoot with you girls. Val Laramee does such a great job with newborns and we wanted to have some really cute photos of you as infants to put up in your room and use for your announcements and such. I can't wait for tomorrow and I can't wait to see how the pictures turn out.

A Natural!

Snuggling with my fur

Obsessed with your little feet!

I am so excited for the shoot tomorrow, I decided to play around today with my Canon Rebel XSi and set up my own "mini photo shoot." I did it in between nursings and we ran out of time, so I only got to play with Sophie on this. It was getting pretty hot in the bedroom too, so we didn't do any more photos after nursing.

Can't wait to post the pictures of your photo shoot next week! You girls are so amazing and I see such little developments everyday. I love holding and kissing you all over!

Love,
Mommy

1 Week Old - June 9, 2011

1 Week Old
Sophie: 4lbs 10oz
Stella: 4lbs 15oz

Girls,
You are one week old today. We've been home for 2 days now and you seem to be adjusting okay. Our first night home was interesting and mommy was quite a basket case. All I could think about was SIDS and how I was going to get any sleep while worrying that you both could breathe okay and wouldn't suffocate at all. We bought a Pack 'n Play and put it in our bedroom. Our intention was that you would sleep in that until you grew out of it and then we would move you into your nursery into the cribs. That idea did not last very long. The bassinet for the Pack 'n Play is not extremely flat and you both are somewhat of "rollers" so I am just so worried that you will roll over onto your stomachs or that you will roll into the side of the bassinet and not have enough airflow and suffocate. It's absolutely amazing the false sense of security you have in a hospital. I never once thoughts about SIDS while I was in the hospital. I guess you just think "okay, the nurses know what they're doing, so I won't worry about anything." When you get home it is a totally different story. I'm not an anxious person by nature, but I had a lot of anxiety that first night. One, you girls would not stop crying and we couldn't get you to settle down. Two, I was so anxious I couldn't calm down. Daddy and I decided to put you in bed with us for the first night which worked out well. We all got a decent amount of sleep from what I recall...I'm slightly sleep deprived right now, so bare with me!

Hanging in your Swings, waiting to meet the dogs!

Your first full day at home was yesterday and mommy and daddy were so excited (and nervous) for you to meet Desmo and Ohlins. Sheila has been keeping them with her over the past week while we've been in the hospital. She always takes the dogs when we are away and they love spending time with her! Mommy and Daddy got up kind of early so that we could get everything cleaned up and put away before the dogs came. The dogs really hate the vacuum so we wanted to get that taken care of before they came also, because they like to bark a lot and we weren't sure how you both would react to them. Sheila arrived with the pups around 8:15am and we had you both up on the table in your swings so that the dogs couldn't smother you right away. Sure enough, as soon as they came in the door and greeted us, they were on the trail of you girls! We had sent some of your swaddle blankets from the hospital home with Sheila so the dogs would be used to your smells. The dogs figured out you were up on the table and that was all they could fixate on! Finally once they settled down, we introduced everyone to each other. We weren't so sure how the dogs would react to you, but they seem to be doing quite well. They follow us everywhere when we are holding you and they check on you when you're in your crib to make sure that you're both okay. It is really cute! Mommy was so excited that the weather was going to be nice once we got home, but it turned out that it was going to be too nice...and HOT. The first day you girls were home, we hit record highs in the 90s. It was so hot in our house that neither of you really wanted to eat. Daddy was frantically trying to get fans going so that we could feel some of the cool air from the basement.

Great Grammie LaBrake holding "Sparkle"

Great Grammie and Gramps LaBrake came over yesterday also. They have been dying to meet you both. Great Grammie has been talking about you girls for months saying how excited she is for your arrival and she can't wait to hold you both. Yesterday she got the chance! I can't wait for you girls to be old enough to really "know" your Great Grammie. She is one of the most amazing people I know, and is like a mother to me. I spent so much time with her when I was growing up and she taught me so much about everything. I really hope that you have the opportunity to get to know her well because she is THE BEST! She also gave you nicknames yesterday. When I was a little girl, I used to get off the bus at Grammie's house and skip down the driveway to the house. Grandma always used to say, "Here comes Little Miss Tinkle Toes." So, since I'm Little Miss Twinkle Toes, you girls have been named Sparkle and Twinkle; Stella is Sparkle and Sophie is Twinkle.

Today we had our first pediatrician visit with Dr. Monroe. She is an amazing pediatrician and we are so glad that we are with her practice! We weighed you both and you both lost weight again since we left the hospital, but Dr. Monroe was not too concerned with that; she said all newborns tend to lose a little more weight after they leave the hospital, especially late Pre-termers like yourselves. Our goal over the next week is to plump you both up a bit, so we'll be focusing a lot on feeding and sleeping as much as possible so that you are taking in lots of calories and not burning them up with unnecessary "handling" and such. After our pediatrician visit, mommy & daddy took you to visit mommy's work, Adworkshop. All the girls there came out of their offices to meet you both. It was a lot of fun to see everyone and for them to see our two precious little girls!

Well, that's pretty much it for week 1. Mommy plans on writing to you weekly so that we can keep up on all your "firsts" and document our lives as you both grow up to be happy, healthy babies and eventually toddlers. I look forward to what lies ahead and can't wait to accept all the challenges that will be coming our way.

I love you both so much!

Love,
Mommy

We're Going Home! 5 days old - June 7, 2011

Going Home from Fletcher Allen

Sophie & Stella,

We have finally been cleared by the doctors and nurses at Fletcher Allen to be released from the hospital! We've been here since you were born 5 days ago. Everything went really well with the delivery and we got settled into our room Thursday night. We had a great nurse, Christina from Romania who helped us through the night. She gave me lots of tips on how to feed you both as best I could to get my milk to come in. She also took care of you girls while mommy got a little sleep to recover from giving birth. Daddy was able to stay with us in our room as we had a double room to ourselves which was a good thing because we had so much stuff between you both and mommy and daddy!

On Friday, we had a few visitors come. Grandma Leanne, Uncle Tony, Aunt Juji, and Aunt Ashley all came to visit throughout the day. We basically kept you in your pram beds unless you had to be fed or changed so that you'd burn the least amount of calories possible so you could continue to gain weight while in the hospital. Daddy learned how to swaddle you properly like a burrito, successfully change diapers, and how to burp you girls when mommy was done nursing. Daddy took care of almost everything while mommy tried to sleep and nurse and get her energy level up to take care of you at night. We worked with a lactation consultant, Kristen for the entire day learning how to nurse and pump. She was so helpful with lots of tips for us to bring home with us. 

Our Little "Glow Worms"

On Saturday, the pediatrician came in and decided that you both should undergo phototherapy to battle jaundice. The nurses brought in these "glow worm" type machines that fit in your pram beds. Basically, you both had to stay under the lights as much as possible, so you lived in your BiliBeds for the next few days except for when it was time to nurse. Even then, Stella had to be under lights during nursing so we had a little gadget called a "wallaby" that slipped underneath Stella's back and lit up so her phototherapy could continue non-stop.

Saturday, mommy was discharged from the hospital. Fletcher Allen has a great policy that allows parents  to "board" at the hospital while their children are still admitted. Mommy and daddy were basically "guests" of the hospital and could come and go as we pleased. Of course, we basically stayed in our room for the next 4 days other than to get a bite to eat here and there. We did go down to Church Street Saturday night for an hour for Jazz Festival and to have a long awaited Guiness!

On Sunday, we had more visitors come to the hospital. Uncle Tim and Lance came over for a little bit and then Janer, Poppa, Aunt Ashleah, and Nan all came to visit! We took you out of your BiliBeds while Janer and Poppa were in the room so that everyone could hold you and take some pictures. The nurse came in to take your temperatures and you both were pretty cool. Mommy and daddy got in a little trouble for keeping you out of your beds and had to put you back in right away. I guess we learn things as we go. At that point, we realized that little things to "please others" can really harm our goals of getting rid of your jaundice and getting some weight on you. From that point forward, we didn't take you out of your beds for any reason other than to be fed or changed. We really wanted you to both succeed with your phototherapy so we could get over the jaundice fast.

Originally the doctors thought that maybe you'd both be discharged on Monday, but the jaundice was still lingering and was not going down yet so we were guaranteed to stay another day. Our only hope was that we would be discharged on Tuesday. We so wanted to get home and start our lives as a family. We did have one visitor on Monday and it was a complete surprise. Mark Demers stopped by to say hello; he married mommy and daddy 6 years ago. He said that he found out on Facebook that we had delivered you girls at Fletcher Allen and he thought he'd stop by to say hello and say a prayer for you both. It was so nice and mommy was a complete ball of tears when he left. It was so nice and unexpected and I'll never forget that he came to visit! It meant a lot to me and daddy.

Our little "Brut" Sophie

Sophie giving Stella a little "punch"

Mommy and daddy have had a fun time taking pictures of you girls in the hospital. It seems that everyday you look a little different than the day before. I think when you were born you looked totally different and now every day you seem to look more and more alike. It seems that every time we go to take a picture of you, Sophie is trying to "beat up" her big sister! We get such a kick out of it.

Stella's Car Seat Challenge

Early Tuesday morning at 2am, the nurses turned the BiliBeds off and started doing tests. The idea was that a test would be done at 2am when the lights went off and then again at 8am after 6 hours without light. If the tests showed that the jaundice was not increasing, you both would be in the clear and could stay out of the BiliBeds for good. To be able to go home, your jaundice tests had to come back clear and your weight had to be up. We got the good news mid-morning that all the tests came back and you'd both be going home today. The only thing left was to pass "The Car Seat Challenge." Before you can be discharged from the hospital, you have to go through a car seat challenge if you weigh under a certain amount or are born too early. Each of you had to sit in your car seat for 1.5 hours while your vitals were being monitored. Stella went first and was a little fussy at the end, so the nurse gave her a Nuk. Sophie did very well and both of you barely fit in your car seats you were so small! It was really cute. Our day nurse, Lexi showed us how to properly use the car seats and get you all strapped in, etc. Mommy and daddy finished packing everything and got you in your stroller and we made our way out of the hospital. You both did such a great job in the car on the 2 hour drive home. Mommy squeezed her way into the middle of the back seat so I could keep my eyes on you in case you started getting uncomfortable or anything.

When we finally got home, there were flowers and cards on the table and Uncle Tim and Jonathan both came over to make dinner for us. Uncle Tim brought you both a VT Teddy Bear wearing a bib with your name and birthday embroidered on it. They are really cute! Emily Reynolds Stringer also came over to visit and brought us Villa Vespa dinner. 

Mommy is exhausted now that we are home and I'm nervous about what our first night home is going to be like. Hopefully we can adjust somewhat easily...stay tuned!

Love,

Mommy

Welcome to the World - June 2, 2011: 35 weeks, 3 days

Our Instant Family!

My two beautiful girls, Sophie & Stella:

You have finally made your presence known in this world! Today is the day you were born and you both could not have made mommy and daddy more proud or happy.

The day started out pretty normal, daddy got up and left for work and mommy stayed in bed with Ohlins and Desmo trying to catch up on my sleep. I was watching Regis & Kelly and had just finished reading James Patterson's "The 6th Target." All of a sudden, mommy felt something a little wet and wasn't sure what was going on. See, in the last week or so, I started feeling some pretty substantial changes in my body and to my surprise, had peed my pants a few times. So, I wasn't sure if I was peeing or if my water had broke or what. I got up to go to the bathroom and it was literally like a scene out of a movie. Water was pooling on the bathroom floor. I frantically got a towel to start wiping it up...I didn't want the dogs to get involved cause that is just gross! I got things under control and called daddy to tell him the good news...we were definitely in labor and we'd be meeting you two very soon!

I calmly called our nurse at Fletcher Allen and told her what was going on. She said to get dressed and head over immediately and go right to Labor and Delivery. I wasn't having any contractions when I spoke to her, but as soon as daddy and I loaded up into the car, the contractions started. We had 2 hours until we reached Burlington and had a ferry ride to deal with which gave us plenty of time to call everyone I knew to tell them what was going on. The contractions started at about 10:15 and were 8-9 minutes apart. By the time we got to Fletcher Allen, they were closer to 5 minutes apart. We got up to Labor and Delivery and got situated. Aunt Ashley was only about an hour or two behind us and the rest of the family about an hour behind Aunt Ashley. I labored for a while with no drugs and then they checked my cervix and said I was 5 cm dilated. We started talking about drug options. Because of the risk of the second baby flipping during labor, I would have to deliver in an operating room and would need to have an epidural put in just in case the doctor's had to do an emergency C-section for Baby 2. The decision was made that if we were to put an epidural in, this would be the time to do it. So, the epidural went in, but not before they hit 2 nerves and sent my left leg into a crazy tingle similar to hitting your funny bone. The administered the weakest epidural they give so that I could still feel all my contractions and would be able to feel myself pushing, etc. I didn't not want to feel numb through this experience!

At about 5:00 or 6:00pm, my cervix was checked again and I was fully dilated 10cm and it was now time to start "practice" pushing. Now, when the doctors told me to start pushing, I wasn't really sure what that meant. Push from where? How do I center all my energy into the proper place so I don't get too tired? I did a couple good pushes and then realized that I should pretend I need to poop. Apparently, pushing out a child is a lot like "dropping the kids off at the pool." I don't know why the doctors don't just say, "okay, pretend you have to poop now and start pushing." It would make their lives a lot easier and the mother-to-be would not struggle so much to figure out if she's doing it right!

Prepped for the OR

I started progressing very fast and was getting the hang of everything when they finally said, okay...baby is about to crown, let's get to the O.R. It was absolute chaos in the O.R. and they had warned us that it would be. I was so focused on only what our 2 doctors were telling me to do that I didn't notice there were over 15 people in the operating room just waiting for the babies to be delivered so they could do their jobs.

Stella - 5lbs 10oz, 18.5" long

After what felt like only a few minutes of pushing, I could feel Stella pushing through into this world. Stella, at 7:14 pm you finally made your entrance and the doctors showed you to me. You honestly looked like a liver pate-colored alien! That is the best way to explain it. Newborns do not look like "beautiful, cherub-looking" babies like you see in the movies. Nonetheless, I was overwhelmed with emotions when I saw you; to me you were beautiful! You started crying only a milli-second after that and they whisked you away to be cleaned and checked. Daddy went over to your side and took some pictures so that I could see them later. I still had a job to do...delivering Sophie next!

Sophie - 5lbs 3oz, 17.75" long

After all that pushing to get Stella out, Mommy was all gung-ho and ready to deliver Sophie. I looked at the doctors and said, "okay, what do we do now?" "We wait" was all they said. There is no telling how long you wait between delivering twins. A woman earlier today delivered twins 5 1/2 hours apart! I would have gone crazy. After about 10-15 minutes Sophie made it known that she was not going to wait and be outshined by Stella. It was time for her to make her entrance. 33 minutes after Stella was born, at 7:47 pm we welcomed Sophie into the world!

Both you girls are perfect. 10 fingers and 10 toes (I forgot to ask), both crying (music to my ears...for now), and a healthy weight.

I can't begin to explain how amazingly lucky I feel. This pregnancy went so incredibly smooth overall. The pre-term labor was just your way of saying, "mommy, it's time to slow down a bit!" Through the entire pregnancy, I always wanted to give birth vaginally. I was lucky to be able to do that with both of you girls, and only be in labor for 10.5 hours. You can't ask for a better scenario in my opinion. To give birth to two such beautiful, healthy girls is icing on the cake!

Mommy with babies for first time!

Daddy holding both his babies!

 I'm so glad that you're both here finally and mommy & daddy can start bonding with you, holding you, taking care of you, and teaching you everything we can about the world. Right now, I can't imagine my life without you girls and I know it's only going to get better!

Sophie on Right, Stella on Left

Welcome to the World!

Love,

Mommy