Summer 2005

Brand new people. Fresh dollops of love straight from heaven, delivered right into our lives. These are photos of the twinkies meeting everyone important and dear to us - all for the very first time!

Summer 2006

Yearling twinkies. (o: :o)



Kacia in her director's chair (right)










Anakai's Playbaby centerfold shot (below).















the twinkies... 2-in-a-pack!

First 3 Months (7-9/2005)

Not much different from baby dinosaurs, I say. This clip captures that innate reflex when these twin baby dinosaurs are about to feed the moment they hear the sweet sound of mama dinosaur's voice.



Below is probably my favorite clip, and its of Kacia about 2 months old. Christopher just happened to catch a sneeze fit, complete with one aborted sneeze...

Say "Bye-Bye" To Mama's Sanity

Just so you know, in just 3 months time the above video blossoms into the below video. This will explain why gates were unnecessary in our home. Watch as the same mischievous monkey figures out how to balance on the banister. "Look Mom, no hands!"

Valentines Day 2007

Christopher came home with a dozen heart shaped balloons, and boy did Kacia and Anakai enjoy them!!

Birth Day

These twinkies were born in my 36th week of pregnancy (at 8 months, so 1 month premature, but not surprising considering there's two! :) after a routine sonogram with Dr. Morgano at St. Vincents. By this stage, I (we!) were going in for sonograms every other day. I felt like there was now an octopus where my stomach used to be, and it wanted nothing more than to get out! I gained more than 50% of my body weight and waddled around like an old mother duck-hen (which Christopher so fondly mimicked). The TTTS (Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome, more on that later) complicated matters and elevated risk factors. So when Dr. Morgano, an expert in monitoring precisely these situations, rang Dr. Mattheson (our reputable expert obstetrician - who looked much like Denzel Washington's older brother - and specifically requested, in slight jest, that I avoid "calling" him at the tail end of the work week, after hours, or on weekends...) at five o'clock pm of the friday that precedes the three day long 4th of July weekend...we knew 'the time has come!' These video clips are all taken within their first 2 weeks of their life in the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit).

**A Shout-Out to the NICU staff: hats off to the team of unbelievable nurses and doctors! Our twins were 1 of 4 sets of twins in the NICU.

Anakai with hiccups in her incubator. About 3 days old here... I remember feeling her hiccups when she was still inside!! What bothered me most was when they BOTH had hiccups - at the same time AND unsynchronized! Talk about uncomfortable...


Anakai stretching her brand new 2 day old earth legs.


Here I am, a brand spankin' new mom-o-twins, with 3 day old Kacia-roo. "Boop, boop, boop!"


Kacia + Anakai re-unite for the first time on the outside of mama!!

2-6 Months Old (8-12/2005)

We were all still living in the quaint and tiny garret apartment, way on top of the village of Cold Spring, with the magnificent view of the rounded Storm King mountains and mighty Hudson River. Ahh... and we lived happily ever after... for four blissful years... until (drum roll please) them! We quickly realized that we needed much, much more space for our new little family.

Above is 2 month old Anakai enjoying a lovely August picnic with Uncle James.

Below: Kacia feeds herself for the very first time!! (Now all she needs is a decent job, and she's good to go! :) 9/2005


First Halloween! (Papa's favorite holiday) Twin baby polar bears!! 10/2005


Here they are in their crib cooing away at the under-the-sea mobile. 11/2005


Kacia turns herself over for the first time!! 12/2005


This is Anakai complete with hiccups and smiles :)



They look like life size wiggly gummy bears.



After an unbearably hot succession of heat waves and protracted summer of 2005, novice parents that we are, trying to keep not 1 but 2 babies, teeny tiny ones too, alive and somewhat happy, tandem nursing (yikes!!), 2 air-conditioners running full on all day and night with it hardly ever getting cold, the three floor walk up apartment became seriously inconvenient.

...Did I mention the problem with the bees? After some weeks of noticing bees (?!) in the apartment, Christopher and I decided to search for their source. We found their hive, and small gap in the picture window sill serving as their porthole to our newborns. We opted for the quick poisonous remedy to blast them away with some ill spray. This resulted in (and I kid you not) about two hundred bees fleeing from the poison by rushing into the safety of our home within the next 60 seconds. It was disgusting! I dropped to the floor WITH Kacia and Anakai and covered them under blankets in horror! Christopher took care of the problem with mighty kung-fu action packed fly swatter techniques, and saved the day!! Not a single sting! Incredible!

Below is a Frankie sliding Kacia down his legs. He, along with Matthew and Christopher are about to start working on getting our new house all ready for the twins!!