I am not going to write a ton - I will let the pictures speak for themselves.  Hope you all enjoy the new Flickr Gallery of photos.  These were taken with my half-broken camera (thanks to a CERTAIN someone who dropped it…)

Ben is ready - calm, cool and collected…

And Natey?  HELL YEAH!

There were lots of "firsts" this weekend:

1. My first weekend in Newport, touring the various mansions and walking on Cliff Walk and seeing downtown Newport and getting a new pair of sunglasses
2. The boys’ first bathing suits
3. The boys’ first time in a pool (that floated like a lead balloon - the water was just too cold and they shivered nonstop. On the other hand - they love pools…)
4. Jerusha’s first….ummm….her first….wellll…ok, I got nothing

On that note, I will leave you with the below photo set from Flickr, with all the new pictures uploaded. As always, the slideshow is ‘clickable’ and will take you to Flickr website and all the photos.

On the way out, United baggage services worked the magic in the system so that our 5 bags (blame Jerusha) could all be checked for 3 seats. Well - United policies have changed and had it not been for a great and sympathetic employee, and my airline status, it would have cost $400 to check our bags (2 overweight, 2 extra). Then, the gate agents were good enough to help us out again further by ensuring that we had 1 free seat next to us. For your reference, we had middle, aisle, aisle seats. Why not aisle, middle, window? Well, turns out there are only 4 air masks per row on every airplane, so you cannot have 2 "Baby In Lap" in the same row on a sold, out flight. I thought that was interesting. Anyway, boys slept great, we got into town, got our bags, I rented a car, and everything went extremeley well, with only minor whining, but it wasn’t from the boys…

On the way back, United had booked 3 middle seats, and we found a passenger who gave up their window seat to take Jerusha’s middle so that Jerusha and Emma could sit together. Then, the person next to me gave up his aisle seat so that I could be there in case I needed to get up/down or just needed more room to stretch out. Very nice people. We gave them free drink coupons that I got for making 1K status.

The time in CA was great. Weather was perfectly WAY TOO HOT (yes, it reached 100 degrees for us there) on the first day, but settled down to the normal "85 and no clouds" weather we are used to. We got to go to the pool, attend a park festival, walk around a lot, ride bikes, and all the great outdoorsy stuff. We also got to sleep in our own beds - Emma in hers, the boys in their individual cribs, and Jerusha and I in what is now lovingly referred to as "Jerusha’s bed with a small sliver saved for Kevin". I posted pics, as everyone has been asking for quite a while. These are from the whole month of May, so there are some randoms, plus some pics from CA.

Nonetheless, the picture came, the boys look adorable, and it makes me smile to see them.  If only the expert photographer would take a picture of herself once in a while - I miss her like crazy, too. 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24729530@N04/sets/72157604696946715/

Sorry to all for the photo sizes, but grandma doesn’t know how to use a computer too well. 

That being said, and having now successfully sent more pictures….I would like to just tell everyone one important thing - when you have Jerusha and Emma and the boys waiting at home for you - traveling actually sucks!  This coming from the world traveler over the last 5 years…There is No Place Like Home.  Home is Where Your Heart Is.  Absence makes the heart grow fonder…and any other cliche that you can think of.  They are all applicable.

Fortunately, I have someone who cares about me so much that she is constantly sending me photos of the boys so that I don’t go through complete withdrawal.  Here are a few samples:

OK, now that I have sated everyone’s appetite for more pictures, I would like to just give some updates:

1) The boys are doing amazingly well.  They are growing, they are eating, and they are even sleeping…anywhere from 3.5 to 5 hrs at a time.  Once, we even got to 6 hours, but we woke up 2 times wondering why it was so quiet.

2) Emma is an amazing big sister….or, I guess Mom#2.  Just ask her how to take care of the babies, and she will tell you everything you need to know.

3) Jason, Tina, Ryan, and Kacie got to meet the boys last weekend.  It was quite the fun when Jay and I took Emma (6), Kacie (4), Ryan (2), and twin 1 month old boys to the park.  To use the word "chaos" would not be entirely wrong…but we did well.  Didn’t lose anyone.

4) Have I mentioned that traveling sucks?  I can’t wait to get back home and see everyone (Saturday).  I am honestly caught off-guard as to how hard leaving everyone is.

Also, I upgraded to a Flickr Pro account, and now have unlimited space and unlimited Sets.  For $25 a year, it seems worth it to me, but I sure wish everything on the web was free.

That’s it for everyone for this post.  Hope all is well with everyone reading.

The Good News:  I proposed and Jerusha said, "Of course."  I am starting to think she really loves me

The Bad News:  The time to celebrate was brief…as we were immediately re-immersed in crying, diaper changing, spitting up, and whining….oh, and the boys were awake, too.

In any event, she seems pretty happy.  And that’s all that matters to me.  I just want to give her the best life possible from this day forward, if she will learn to let me.

10.  Never ever ever ever serve him a cold bottle…that’s just asking for trouble.

9.    3oz is too little.  3.5oz is too much.  Get it right, guys.

8.    Bring your protractor.  Elevate his head to the exact right angle - 57.5 degrees.  Elevate over 57.5 degrees, and get some drool.  Elevate under 57.5 degrees, and get some reflux. 

7.    He likes to be burped when HE likes to be burped…not when you like to burp him or feel he should be burped.

6.    There is DEFINITELY crying involved…lots of it.  And whining.  And sneezing.  And flailing.  And even a bit more crying.

5.    Always pre-treat your clothing.  Apparently, formula and breast milk stain.  Lesson learned the hard way.

4.    He likes to spit up…and that’s ok (or so we are told). 

3.    Everything he eats comes back up as cottage cheese…might as well just accept it.

2.    It ain’t gonna change itself.

1.    He’s a "helper".  Get used to it.  From hands in your way, to head shaking back and forth, he is "helping" you feed him.  Politely thank him as you try to contort your body to move all limbs away from his face, from the bottle, from your hands, from your arms, as you try to get the bottle near his mouth.

And the babies finally make it home…the whole family is together, and we are experiencing and getting used to each other on a daily basis.  The babies are born, growing (quickly), eating (lots), and crying (just a bit too much)…but they are happy and healthy and ready to be teenagers at the first available moment.

 
We received a lot of great gifts from friends and family, all of which we could not live without.  We are working on getting birth announcements and thank you cards done, but as you can imagine, a good portion of our time is full. 

As of right now, everything we own in the way of clothing is a bit too big for them - but Nate definitely loves his big sweaters and sweatshirts…he just settles right into them and sleeps and sleeps and sleeps.  It’s adorable to watch.
Nate is the bigger of the two, and clearly the tough guy at times.  He cries the loudest, makes life the most difficult, and is always the one demanding the most attention.  Ben, the smaller peanut, is the one who always just wants to be held or nursed or cuddled with, cries in more of a whimper, and just looks so fragile that you can’t help but baby him…which Jerusha is doing every minute she gets.
Neither of the babies has settled into sleeping alone, so it’s the four of us (and sometimes the 5 of us, with Emma) sleeping in the same full-size bed.

Speaking of Emma - she is so over-eager you wouldn’t believe it.  She is always looking to hold or touch or feed or whatever with the babies, with the exception of changing diapers :-)  She just loves these kids so much and struggles to take it easy and relax.  I think she is starting to realize that the boys are not really much fun yet, and really don’t do anything.  They are nothing more than messier, louder, and tireder versions of her dolls.

Anyway, that’s about all.  We are taking advantage of some downtime to post some pictures and also get this update out…so enjoy!

Finally, here are some photos from the first week together.