Twins Tour – Part Deux (featuring the Bevevino’s)

Our trip to Wilkes-Barre, PA from Glen Hope, PA went fairly well with only a few flare ups from the twins. The trip was approx. 3 hours long. We were greeted by many members of our immediate family before we even got out of the car. We missed them all so much! This Bevevino Family reunion (the Joe and Jane descendants) was the first one for both me and the twins. All but two members of the whole gang arrived at Bernie and Chelle Cassetori’s home. If I’ve counted correctly, that’s about 86 people – whoa! This is the family tree as it stands today.

There was a lot to do; eat, drink, swim, sleep, sweat, play volleyball, play horseshoes, play corn hole, or just talk.

We took the boys inside a few times to cool off and change diapers otherwise, we played outside and passed the boys from person to person.


At the end of the day, I tried my best to get everyone gathered for a family picture. I didn’t get a good one with everyone looking in the same direction, but I at least got one with the immediate family looking ahead.

We also did another 4 generations picture.


Our next stop was to Philly and then to Bethany Beach, DE

Twins Tour 2008 – Part 1 (featuring the Hawkins’ and the McGonigal’s)

We’ll we’re back from our inaugural Twins Tour and I can’t wait to share all the wonderful pictures and stories about it with you. I’ve decided that it would be best to do this in installments since there’s just too much to cover in one post and I don’t want to forget anything. So here it goes.

Our journey began on Wednesday, July 9th at 8PM when we left Chicago and headed towards Glen Hope, PA. **Note: this was also Matt’s 31st birthday.** We gave the boys their bath and fed them their bed-time bottle before settling them in their car seats for the night. We picked up Grandma Jean and took off on our adventure (Uncle AJ and Grandpa drove separate). Matt was driving steady all night while Jean and I were “trying” to sleep in the back with the boys. I think we were just too scared to sleep thinking that Matt would fall asleep at the wheel. We only needed to stop once and that was to fill-up for gas and a potty break. Thankfully, we arrived at Nanny & Popu’s house early Thursday morning (around 7AM) with no one asleep at the wheel. Unfortunately we were all exhausted because of it. Matt and I caught a nap during the day while Grandma Jean, Nanny, and Popu watched the boys. Jean was a trooper and stayed awake the entire time! We went up to Uncle Jim’s house and checked out his garden. Our garden is a mole hill compared to his mountain of a garden. There were beautiful rows of produce just waiting to be picked. Hopefully someday we can grow crops like theirs. That night the boys and I turned in early. Nanny already had a crib set up in our room and we laid one of the boys in there while the other slept in the pack-n-play. They slept through the night – yay! Friday, July 11th, we took a quick trip up to Penn State to buy some t-shirts and to have breakfast with our friends Brian & Paula and their two sons, Zack and Dylan.

Dylan(on the left) is 10 months old while Zack is 4.

They were so well-behaved - Z and D that is. B & J were crazy that morning and didn’t want to be held. I can’t say I blame them, but it didn’t make eating breakfast too easy. We headed back to Glen Hope and greeted Uncle Shane and Aunt Amy (who is due with a girl in September - Yay!!). We went back to Uncle Jim’s and hung out by their pond.

We also met Cousin Mike that came back from Iraq a few months ago.

Here’s Jonathan with Uncle AJ…

We all had a great time catching up. Later that day all the ladies gathered and had a baby shower for Aunt Amy. We played games, watched Amy open presents and ate perogies and hogback chicken. It was a perfect day. I’m glad to note that Bryan and Jonathan weren’t present to see their Grandma Jean cheat with her sisters during the games. What a bad influence! :0) We were sad to leave! Here’s Nanny with Jonathan who fell fast asleep

And Here’s Popu with Bryan, not so sleepy.

Next stop, the Bevevino Family Reunion in Wilkes-Barre, PA.

Bryan's First Steps

That's right! Bryan took his first steps on the 24th of June and both Matt and I were there!! We couldn't have been happier. I was about three feet away from Matt when I was holding onto Bryan. We were doing our nightly "practice walk" and I let go. Bryan was particularly stable when I let go and he just went forward with two steps until he lost his balance and fell forward. We all cheered, including Jonathan who thought all the cheering was about him.

Last weekend, we went to the petting zoo. This is the same one we went to just a couple of months ago. This time, they had all the reptiles in their cages so we could see them; it was too cold last time. We can't get enough of that place, it's just a great place to take kids big and small. There's a playground right next to the zoo that we went to before hand. We decided to try out the swings and slide for the first time. Matt was a bit worried how the twins would do size-wise so we put them in the swing seats and pushed them ever-so-slightly and the boys had a great time.

Here's Jonathan. He LOVED the swings and I can't wait to swing with him again soon.

Here's Bryan. Don't let the picture throw you, he was checking out a bunch of kids that just arrived when I took out the camera. He also got a kick out of the swings.

By the way, see the little boy in the background of that last picture? He had a Penn State wrestling-type onesie on. It turns out that his parents (also PSU alumni) had just moved here from State College. It's a small world!

Here we are trying out the slide. I think I had more fun than them here. I did get a few giggles out of them after the first go around.


This weekend will be our first 4th of July as a family. We're not planning on anything, just for the boys to sleep through the fireworks - hopefully! I think next year they'll be old enough to care what those big sparks are up in the air. Have a great Holiday! And Happy Birthday to Aunt Steffani!!

We're 10 months old!!

Can you believe it!?! Time has flown by! I feel like I'm saying that all the time now. My thoughts now are how to celebrate the boys' first birthday. Any suggestions/ideas? I'd love to hear from you.

Here's Jonathan...


Here's Bryan...

And here they are together...

The boys are now celebrities! Well, I may be stretching a little bit. Our local news (NBC) was doing a bit on the Cubs vs. White Sox rivalry in town and they posted a picture of the twins in their Sox gear (see pic in the previous post). They were saying "fresh faces" when their picture was posted. I loved it!

Grandma Jean took us shopping and to get our pictures taken at Penny's on Sunday. Did you know it's pretty much impossible to find affordable beach sandals/crocs for the twins? They're size 3 1/2 right now and everything seems to start at a size 5/6. We looked at other shoes and they average at $40 right now. Somehow I couldn't justify spending $80 for shoes on babies that hate wearing anything on their feet. I wouldn't pay that for a pair of my own shoes. Maybe that's why my shoes aren't so great. Hmmm. Well, until the boys start walking, the whole shoe thing is going to have to wait. In other shopping news, the baby section of Penny's has a sale going on and there's a ton of clothing that's just $3 or $4! Check it out!

Week of June 15th, 2008

This was a fun week, we had Father's Day, a party for Matt's previous boss's wife and general hoopla. I'll start with the boring stuff, then move my way to the good stuff.
I'm sad to report that a very good friend of mine lost her job at work. Now it's boring, quiet, and I'm getting way too much work done. I miss her terribly. If you're reading this, give me a call and we'll chat about nothing.
Saturday, I started the morning off by pulling weeds and LOTS of grass in our garden. Here's a pic of the progress.

Ok, so you might be saying to yourself, "Um, you missed a spot". True, but I got a lot out of there. There was a lot of spots where I wasn't sure what was a weed/grass and what was a plant, so I just let it go. On the left there's beans, then a 1/2 row of lettuce and carrots, then something, then cucumbers, then the tomatoes. The sectioned off part has all sorts of herbs. I really don't know what's what in there.
Here's the corn. We didn't pull any of the grass from in there yet. That will be a fun day!

Later that day, we all went to a surprise birthday party for Matt's old boss's wife. It was in a part of Northern Illinois at Turtle Beach Marina. We had a great time. There were tons of other kids there - even another set of twins! I made sure we packed our favorite toys and a ton of sunscreen. Much of the grounds were under water due to flooding that week, but we made due with the grassy area that we had. There was even a band called The Dilfs! I got to meet Matt's new boss and his wife and we talked to them for practically the entire time. The twins were exhausted and fell asleep on the way home. It turns out that another storm the next day flooded the area where we were at even more. Good timing for the party, but that's unfortunate for the people that live there.
Here's Jonathan...

And here's Bryan...

I've been experimenting with my camera. It turns out it has the capability to take video, but I haven't figured out the sound yet. I took this at the party. It kind of shows a brief idea of how Bryan dangles a toy in front of Jonathan and Jonathan takes it from him. It's usually a bit more violent.

Ok, on to Father's Day. I had the option to go to try out a church that morning, but I decided to make Matt breakfast instead (more on that another day). Matt watched the boys while I was busy in the kitchen. The boys were especially lovey-dovey that morning and wanted to be held constantly. Here he is spending some quality time with the twins. He read "10 little kittens" and the "little toot"(about a tug boat). He had their undivided attention.

Here's Matt playing with Bryan. I think Matt lost a few hairs that morning with all the hair-pulling that took place.

Monday, the 16th, I had the boys dressed up in their White Sox outfits courtesy of Grandma "Nana" Jean. They were too cute not to take a picture of, so here they are. Jonathan's on the left.

In other updates, Bryan FINALLY said Mama, quite clearly on the 13th. I'm working hard on Jonathan to do the same. Right now, he says Nana.
We had the ok from the pediatrician to give the boys Gerber puff's. I bought every kind there was in the store; banana, sweet potato, strawberry, you name it, I have it. They hate them. I don't know if it's because they disolve as soon as they hit their mouths, or that they stick to their hands, or just the flavor, but they give me the same "ew" face every time. I tried them and they're pretty good. A lot better than what they're eating at least. Every morning, I put a few on their tray thinking they might accidentally try again. This morning (the 17th) Bryan did and he didn't spit it out but gave Matt a weird face. A good step forward.
Speaking of...No, they can't walk yet, but Jonathan will stand on his own for a few seconds. He thinks it's a game and he'll crack up when I catch him from falling. Bryan has the ability to do it, but not the confidence. We're working on it every day.

Week of June 1, 2008

Since we're a little behind on the updates, I have to go back in time and let you know what's been going on.
I've started 1/2 day friday's at work, so when I get home I start my "weekend warrior" mode and I get working on the bazillion tasks that need to get done. One of these things is a garden. Matt and I have been talking about working on a garden ever since we moved into this house because the previous owner built a raised garden on the side of the house. Such great potential! Well, a few weeks ago, we dropped off the boys at Grandma's and went to work at pulling what felt like a million weeds and grass from the two 12'X 12' plots. We eventually gave up and rented a tiller. What a great invention. Matt started it first, then I gave it a shot. It was a lot of work, but I felt really strong when I was done. Grrrr! *That's me flexing my mommy muscles.* There was a ton of weird things in that garden that we pulled out like bottle caps, newspaper, cable wire. Yep, Matt(I'm blaming him) cut through our cable wire which also includes our phone line. This was Memorial Day weekend, so we thought for sure that we wouldn't get service back till Tuesday, but the cable people sent someone out the next day. Thank goodness! Right in the middle of the Hockey playoffs(Redwings vs. Pens) - could it be any worse of a time? I don't think so. Of course, I didn't get a before and after picture, but I can tell you that we already have lettuce and beans popping up. We just had terrential downpours this weekend, so it's all probably water-logged, but it's planted and that's the good thing.
The following weekend, I got to work on pulling out the hideous bushes that we have in our front flower beds (thanks to the inspiration from Brooke). This was all me - Matt went with the boys to Grandma's, so I had to dig them out myself. I ended up breaking a shovel in half. Grrr. Here's the before (sort of)and after. There's still a lot of work to be done, but it's as good as it's going to get for a few weeks. I've bought three "Endless Summer" Hydrangeas to plant in there, but they're just sitting on the soil till I find some time. Typical.


As far as last week, it was a typical week for us. I'll give you a rundown with a few pictures.
Instead of working outside on my 1/2 day Friday, I decided to spend some quality time with Bryan and Jonathan. Here they are playing around. I love those shirts. They say "Mr. Mischief". Perfect.

The next day, Matt and I decided to open up the kitchen and hallway area to the boys to crawl around in. We gated off the stairs and the laundry room and let them roam. We didn't think they would go further than the hallway, but as soon as they realized that they we weren't picking them up to drag them back into the living room, they dashed right into the front room. This room has a few pieces of furniture in it that we're going to be putting in the basement some day. The table that you see in the picture below is lovingly called "the death trap" because it's a glass top and iron legs with all sorts of pointy ends. We never intended to have the kids play in this room while this table was upstairs. The twins had different plans.

Jonathan was using the edge of the table to rub against his gums. He now has all four front teeth poking through. Bryan has his canine's and the two front bottom teeth poking through. They're both doing better with the teething, but they still drool like crazy. Matt wanted me take this next picture. It's proof that Bryan is his son. Jean and Mark know all too well about this sight because Matt would run around their house with socks/pj's that were half-way off his feet. Love it.

OK, here is the typical afternoon play time for us. I started to clean up when I realized that I should take a picture to remember the mess, so it's not as bad as it normally is. Matt's usually on the couch or on the floor and I'm doing the same. The boys clearly have reign over the house.

In other news, the boys are about 18lbs now and their health is great. Matt and I couldn't ask for two more well behaved babies with great personalities. They continue to surprise us with their new found talents and their endless love for everyone and pretty much everything. We're so very thankful for them and for the help/clothes/toys/food/advice/care that everyone has given us to keep this family running.
Next week, I'll update you on their eating habits, their growth, and the garden's progress.

Watching William John

I've been procrastinating these past couple of weeks, wanting to post a few updates, but not quite sure what to say. Then I found out last week that a friend that was pregnant with twins had delivered early..4 months early and the words that I wanted to say meant nothing. I'd like to share a website with you that explains the whole ordeal. It's www.willjohn.wordpress.com. In short, it describes the birth of the twins and (take a deep breath) the passing of one of them. His name was Warner. There is one still alive and fighting for his life. His name is William. Maybe it's that we've had twins ourselves, the pictures that remind me of the boys being in the hospital after they were born, or that Matt was the same weight as William when he was born, but Matt and I feel really emotional about this whole event. I really don't know how to feel, but everytime I think about it I cry. It's definitely a time to reflect and be so very, very thankful that our boys are as healthy as they are. My heart goes out to the entire Brenneisen family. We're thinking of you daily and sending all sorts of love your way.