We're Running Out of Time!

Like Jack Bauer in 24, we are running out of time.  In less than 2 months, the tables will turn, the cycle of life flipped, and I will soon be promoted to Papa.   As the due date soon approaches, many have been asking, " Aren't you excited?  You must be, you're having twins!"  To be honest, not really.

Don't get me wrong, it will be the most exciting thing that has ever happened in my life but the months, weeks and days leading up to their birth, I feel nervous more than anything else.  "How can you not be excited?", people usually ask.  Probably because of the unexpected, the questions, will they be ok?.Only God knows.  Maybe I'm just saving it all for the first time I see them. That will be a kodak moment or maybe a Nikon one.

In the final 2 months, there seems to be a mountain of tasks to complete and the baby stuff just keeps on rolling in.  Last week we did a baby run to Buffalo and Pennsylvania.  We busted the bank.  We bought so much stuff even the border crossing officer gave us a "yeah right buddy" kind of look. "You bought how much stuff?  All baby clothes?  In 3 days?  Pull over to the side and show them this form to claim your tax."  Damn, 800 bucks of combined personal tax exemption wasn't even close to being enough.

Here are some final thoughts and images of a life being transformed....

clothes....clothes....clothes

...until they hit 16 yrs old

Toys from our cousin Kev.  Thanks.

  

Brix wondering what the hell this is. 

With a little help of friends....

...paws and feet ...

We need one more player...

      

Life Slowly Transforming

Nothing but images to paint a picture of a life that is slowly transforming. 

Who will be the “girly-girl” and who will be the “tomboy? - Ne's blog

Being the only daughter of my parents... i always knew that i would have no choice but to wear the dresses i was given from my mom and lola (not to mention the hand-me-downs i received from my ate donna).  When i was a kid... i didn’t have a problem wearing the dresses my mom chose for me b/c most of them i really liked (especially  my pink dress that had both stripes and polka dots... sigh... if i still had my most favourite dress i would definitely be giving it to the girls... sigh... if only).  But as i hit my double digits... i started to butt heads with my mom because i didn’t want to wear the black and red dress to church or i didn’t want to wear the flowered dress to the anniversary party.  So i can definitely say that btw the ages of 10 to 16 i hated to wear dresses... whether it was for church, a wedding or any kind of occasion.  My mom figured this was when i hit my tomboy phase. 

My tomboy phase was all about jeans, jordans and no dresses!  I was perfectly happy wearing jogging pants & my Jordan VI... and i was proud of it!  Most girls my age were playing “house” and learning ballet & jazz... instead i was “borrowing” my kuya’s GI Joes and WWF wrestlers and beating up boys in taekwondo school J.  Funny too b/c i was probably the only girl i knew from my elementary school that was doing martial arts... but i was so proud of that fact.  In fact i liked it!  I enjoyed doing kicking drills and sparring against the boys... it was fun!  But the “tomboy” phase only lasts for so long.

Soon... i started experimenting with makeup and i wanted to grow my hair out (i even permed it at the end of grade 6... that was a huge mistake that i will never do again).  I stopped wanting to just wear pants... i wanted to wear skirts and dresses again.  By this time... i became a “girl” again.

Now that i am an adult and about to become a first time mother... i’d like to think that my own experience will help me raise 2 girls in this world... but it is a different world out there now.  I worry about not only the clothing they wear but about the people they will become and the choices they make.  Hopefully, jay and i will be able to instil what our parents have instilled in us... i hope they will become good members of society... that they will be respectful towards their elders but respect themselves as well.  I wish them to be good people... but mainly jay and i want to instil in them that nothing in life comes easy... that you have to work extremely hard for what u want... and that even if you fail... you fail forward as opposed to failing back.  This is one of the most valuable lessons that i learned as a young adult and even today i am continuing to work hard so that i am able to give my girls what is important in life. 

So i don’t worry about which of my girls will be the “tomboy” or who will be the “girly-girl”... what’s most important to me is that they enjoy plainly “being a girl”.  Cause right now this mama-to-be is enjoying shopping a little too much for tons of “girly-girl” clothes... so much so i can’t stop... but i will blog about that during my next guest blog... hehehe! 

I Feel You Babies

Neilynne reached the 27 week mark last week.  where did the time go?  You would think, with a little less than 2 months left, I would be guns blazing at getting my place ready for two babies....but on the contrary, I've been lazier than ever.  The only things I'm been working hard at, is trying to feel the babies kicking and moving.  At 27 weeks the babies are now weighing in close to 2 lbs.  Still small but there are two in there.

The first time I felt the babies, I put my hand on my wife's tummy...and waited...and waited...until I felt a small tingle.  "Is that gas?  It felt like little bubbles touching my hand," I asked.  "No, I think that was them," she replied.  We had no clue.  The more I tried feeling the babies, the less they wanted to move.  It was if they knew someone was watching them  It was not around 24 weeks when again, I placed my hand over my wife's tummy and waited....and waited....feeling disappointed, and then finally BANG!  My hand jerked like it had touched a hot plate ...naw.... I'm just exaggerating, but I definitely felt a jolt from somebody and it was a cool feeling. 

Now at 27 weeks, I can sometimes visually see the babies protruding from Neilynne's tummy. Almost reminds me of the maltesers commercial where the pregnant lady puts one on her tummy, and just before her partner reaches for it, the baby kicks it and it rolls off her belly.  They are getting bigger and we now know when the babies move the most now.  It's usually after a sugar rush, like ice cream, cherries or after a meal.  From the ultrasound, we also know that the babies are head down and the legs are up.  They like kicking Ne's ribs like it's some kind of harp.  Neilynne often says, "It feels like I have gold fish moving around my belly."  I'll take her word for it.

Now that some time has past, and we know we are having girls for sure, we still need to name the babies.  We have finally come to two names after long debates and a lot of, "no that sounds dumb, do you want people to think she's a boy,  and that's so over used..."  We have come up with two names that we think are interesting, that were not chosen from a book....that happened spontaneously almost.  One name chosen by Neilynne, one by me...but everyone will just have to wait because everyone will have an opinion about the name...." God, that's an awful name, what were they thinking? That's not how you spell it."  We like the names and it will be revealed to the world when we are ready.  What?  You think I was really going to tell you in this blog?  That wouldn't be fun.  In the meantime the girls, will just be known as "the girls".