Round Two...

As you can see we have been absent for some time. Chris and Martha went to New York City for a long weekend the 15th-18th. It was great and wonderful and we will post some pictures later. Here is where the drama, if you will, unfolds. The boys went to stay with Martha's parents in SC and I am pretty sure they are going to ask for a health certificate before we drop the boys off again....This is why we gracefully declined to post a picture with this post. Peyton started it all off on Thursday night, 3 hours after Martha left. By the time we picked them up on Tuesday: Grammy (Martha's mom), Papa Charles (Martha's dad), Aunt Mel (Martha's sister), and Pops and Betty (Martha's grandparents) had all been included on the not so well list. The Dr's assured us that yes it was highly contagious (really??) but that all would recover...it was JUST a stain of the Rotavirus. LOVELY. In New York Martha and Chris were having horrible flashbacks to this past February when Martha and the boys had the rotavirus for 10 days....yep 10 long days of barfing and the "other stuff". I hope none of you have met this lovely bug...it is much more than just a 24 hour thing. Some kids end up in the hospital b/c they get too sick and dehydrated. There is now a vaccine for it. If you have a baby....GET THE VACCINE! We did enjoy a well weekend in NY and counted our blessing too soon. We retrieved the boys on Tuesday and by Thursday Martha was sick:( Chris' parent's had come to visit the boys on Wed. night....yes they were officially warned:) By Thursday night Chris' mom was sick and by Friday morning Chris' dad was right there too! Did the Dr. mention contagious....the plague would have been more fitting than a strain of the rotavirus:) Lots of pedialyte and Gatorade later....we hope to have a Merry Christmas. This is our excuse for not posting....I am sure you did not want pictures....THANKFULLY Chris must be immune (he did not get it in February or this time!) and to the Rotavirus "gods" out there....LEAVE US ALONE, WE HAVE HAD OUR FAIR SHARE!

All this to say, Have a very Merry Christmas and we will post NY pictures soon:) We had a wonderful time and are very thankful Martha's family let us stay while they cared for the sick boys, while they were sick themselves.

A much needed first...

As many of you noticed in our previous post, the boys hair was out of control! It seemed to have grown overnight. The back was full of curls, which I loved, but a nightmare to keep untangled. You can see in this picture how long it had gotten on top and all the matted curls in the back. We were at the Chick-fil-A home office Christmas party, the boys are "sharing" their goldfish with Chris. On the way home we spur of the moment decided to take the boys to get their haircut....I couldn't take the mess any longer. This ended our week of many firsts. I was a bit apprehensive of how they would do. They are not known to stay in one spot long...not to mention it was after 5pm and the boys had not had supper or an afternoon nap. I think I was just asking for trouble. To my amazement, they were angels! They sat there nice and still and did not utter a peep. The lady was lightening fast and had both their hair cut in less then 15 minutes! What a relief and great experience...the only catch....now we really can't tell them apart! They look more alike now than before:( The next day I mixed them up and dressed them in the wrong colors. Thank goodness for Parker sucking his thumb and Peyton's painted toe! They also enjoyed their first sucker.

Peyton

Parker

Many First...

We have had many first this week at our home. I feel like the boys are growing so fast and are no longer babies anymore:( It's nice when we discover something new for them...it adds to our daily adventures. We just happened to capture a few on camera and I thought we would share them with you. This seems to be working somewhat better then snapfish, as I am only up to the month of June! Warning: not all of the following firsts were happy for all of us. Hope you enjoy!

First spaghetti supper


Parker











The famous Parker scowl face finally caught on camera. If he is not happy with something or someone...you will get the scowl. I guess he did not like the fact that I was exploiting his table manners.

Peyton giving up on the spork. They have recently insisted on feeding themselves with their own utensils....it's a great mess for all to enjoy!









First Double Date

Parker is not so excited about this photo op. We missed the scowl but caught his true feelings. We attended Caroline and Abby's first birthday party last weekend. What an answer to prayer they all are. God sure was busy answering prayers last year:) Our boys were born at 32 weeks, 3# 10 oz and 4# 3 oz. They spent just over 3 weeks in the NICU. The girls were born at 28 weeks, 2# 9 oz and 2# 14 oz and spent 8 weeks in the NICU. Both our families have many blessings to be thankful for this Christmas. All four are very happy and healthy! Praise the Lord for answered prayer and the joy of children.

This is my favorite first:) First visit with Santa



As you can see this went very well:) This was the boys first trip to see Santa. Yep, should have gone last year when they would have been just fine. I was way too nervous to take them last year. They had been so small and fragile and I just couldn't bring myself to take them out. I just knew little RSV bugs would be hiding in Santa's beard, ready to jump down on them. Needless to say, my Nazi germ days are long gone. I can't keep up with their toys and plundering....how could I think I would be able to keep up with all the germs. Yes, having twins has relaxed me and is now working on my perfectionism...we have a long way to go. God blessing us with twins is a great way to see His sense of humor. What in the world is a control freak, have it my way, self centered person like me doing with twins? Surviving and learning to enjoy what life brings! Funny how God works in growing your character and grace....I am very blessed and thankful He choose to do it through twins. I love my boys!

We had a busy week of many first things. We have a couple more but I will add them to another post as this one is already a novel.

Toddlerproofing Christmas...

So, one may ask: "how do you toddler proof Christmas?". Well, in our house, with two little scurrying mice, that would require everything in site. Seeing that the tree falls into the "everything in site" category.... well, take a look for yourself:)

This my friends is what a toddler proof Christmas tree looks like. It requires no extra gadgets from Babies R Us, nothing to assemble and no broken record repeating "No Touch". You simply take a 9ft. tree and leave the bottom 3ft. empty. No lights, no ornaments....Nothing. As for the presents, well we have not crossed that bridge yet. I'll let you know how that goes. They may not appear until the boys are in bed Christmas Eve.


Parker presenting our Christmas tree. It's so funny to watch the two of them develop at the same time, yet in different ways. In the past month they have finally started pointing at things. Peyton uses the typical pointer finger, while Parker uses his whole hand as if presenting something. It is quite funny to watch. We are so thankful the boys are happy and healthy. It's hard to believe this time last year they were barely breaking 11lbs! They have doubled their weight and grown a few inches too. Peyton is 22# 11 oz and Parker is 22# 3oz. Both are just over 30 inches and we have hit the 10th percentile! It is hard to imagine life with only 1 of them.

The perfect toddler proof tree. As you can see by our model (Parker), everything is just out of reach:) It sure beats my parents way when my sister and I were little....instead of the baby in the playpen, the tree went in the playpen! Clearly this should have been the cover tree for Southern Living and Martha Stewart!

Bringing sexy back

In his own words:"This is bringing sexy back". Justin has nothing on this! I snapped this picture of Chris right before his double hernia repair surgery. I guess double the fun (twins) brings with it double the strains! Needless to say this is why we have been absent from our blog. Chris had the surgery the day before Thanksgiving....Martha has been on 24/7 duty since then. All is well and everyone is healthy again. The surgery went well and he even got to eat his Pa Pa's fried turkey on Thanksgiving. I thought I would include a few other fun photos of his "big" day. If only I had had the video camera. There are times that make you laugh and there are times that make you really laugh. You know, the kind that makes your sides hurt and brings tears to your eyes. Well, the nurses and I were entertained in recovery. We laughed so hard we cried. It's amazing how sharing a good laugh can make strangers feel as if they have known each other for years. As a nurse myself, it's always fun to care for a patient that has as we call it a "virgin system", meaning no familiarity to drugs. He put on quite the show...of course not remembering any of it. Thought I would share a bit with you all.

As with any guy I have cared for....they just don't get the Foley thing when they are supper sleepy. He repeatedly kept telling the nurse he needed to "pee". She repeatedly told him he had a tube in his bladder and could go anytime he wished. Back and forth, back and forth they went....she finally relented and pulled the Foley catheter out...but to no avail...he kept at it. Enter the laughter with tears here. I think she grew tired of telling him over and over and over that he could now go....so she wrote a note. This is what I found standing on his belly when I walked in to see him. Wish I had thought of this one with my guy patients.....but I guess this is just one more reason I do peds!

Ah, and this brings us to our last picture. This is my favorite of course. I thought the deliberation between him and his nurse about having to pee was funny....well, I was brought to tears of laughter again a bit later. The nurses were playing the radio and we could here it...yep, you guessed it. This is Chris singing along to the radio and any nurse who would come over to check his blood pressure. I only remember that it was a slow serious song...notice his eyes closed and serious look on his face. He was not sleeping! Oh, if only I had the video camera.

A Thanksgiving blessing

What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?

We want to share with you an amazing family with an amazing story. Two years of praying, planning and seeking guidance, their dream is coming true thanksgiving day! I am going to ask that you link to Heather's blog and click on "our adoption blog and our adoption story", hearing it from her first hand is much better than from me. Carlos and Heather are dear friends to us and a huge part of our California family. Carlos is the worship pastor at Sandals Church, our home church in California. Heather is his beautiful wife whom we are greatly indebted to. They surrounded us with love and support (along with many others) when the boys were born. Our boys grew to know and love them over the past year and a half. The Whittakers came to our rescue with child care more times than I can count. Our sanity is greatly due to them:) I have shared their story with many of you and am excited to tell you they are currently in Korea and will pick up their son, Losiah, on Wednesday our time, Thursday their time. What am amazing Thanksgiving blessing. They received "The Call" last Friday and left this past Saturday to travel to Korea. Praise and Thanksgiving to the Lord for answered prayer and financial support raised. It was inspiring to see their family, friends, and church gather around them during this journey. Gathering goods for a rummage sale, hosting and attending a silent auction, donating their time, love and money all to bring Losiah home. He has an amazing community to welcome him home. Thank you for your prayers, they have been answered. They are due to arrive back in LA on the 27th. Their two beautiful girls and many family and friends will be waiting. Sure wish we could be there. Visit Heather's blog for an amazing story on God's goodness, grace and perfect timing and most importantly a family that obediently followed His calling. We have our own time line, isn't His better? Thanks Carlos and Heather for being a family to obediently follow His calling and His timing. We love you and are praying for you. Can't wait to meet him.

Carlos and Sohaila

Heather and Seanna

Baby Losiah, isn't he just perfect!

Carlos and Heather are amazing bloggers...Their sites are really cool. They are posting daily reports and pictures from Korea. Carlos is even making daily videos.....Yeah, we are still in the preschool phase of blogging. Sorry you have to come back to ours after seeing theirs:) We love you all. Happy Thanksgiving. We will be celebrating at our house this year:) Chris is having a double hernia repair on Wed.....Twins anyone? Michael you better watch yourself! It is outpatient and should be fairly easy... I am looking at an interesting 6 weeks....The amount of time Chris can't lift anything over 20 lbs.....Insert Peyton and Parker. God Bless, The Darley's

Getting ready to leave California

The Van was loaded, wow...Packed tight!

The boys checking out the big TRUCK!

All loaded up and ready to go.

Our small group threw us a fabulous going away party!

It seemed like 3 years flew by in a flash. How can we say goodbye so fast? Interview in July, house hunting in August, sold our home in September, packing up to move in October. It's not goodbye, it's see you later! Words come nowhere close to expressing our gratitude and the love we have for you all. We are not just leaving a church, friends and jobs behind; we are leaving family. Living in GA and missing you guys is going to be like living in CA and missing our "biological" families. Y'all have filled our lives with lots of warmth and love. You have invited us into your families and helped us raise ours. You are greatly missed and greatly loved.

Love, Us

Home for good

Hi all! I think we may have finally figured out this blog stuff....Its been a year in the making....Oh life with a new restaurant and twins. It's like having 3 children under the age of 2! We are still trying to figure out adding pictures....Maybe we will have more time now. As many of you know, we are home for good! Just when I (Martha) was getting used to calling CA home.... We took another leap of faith and headed home. We have moved to Georgia. Yes, a big change from Southern California. It is good to be back in the South. Chris is working for Chick-fil-A corporate now...Huge gasp, yes he gave up his restaurant....Remember, I said leap of faith. Scary, relieved, excited, sad...Many emotions these days. We do know that God has always guided us and we are thankful for His presence in our lives. We miss our family in California....Yes they became our family in the 3 years we were there. God blessed us richly with many friends and a wonderful church. These friends quickly become family within our first year there. We would not have survived "twinhood" without many of them. It really does take a village to raise a family. However, it is nice to be back near our family here. The grandparents and great grandparents are overjoyed at having the boys nearby....And us to:) We can't wait to catch up with many of you that we have not seen very much these past 3 years. We can't wait to make it back out to Cali! Hopefully we have this blog thing figured out and can get some pictures up soon! The boys are awful cute:) Happy Thanksgiving.

Love, The Darley Clan