There are complexities of having your daddy baptize you...

...like you feel completely comfortable sticking your fingers up his nose in public. :) I think she is actually going for the microphone in his ear in this picture, but doesn't it look like she has her fingers up his nose?

Daddy got to baptize them himself

Lily Gabrielle Fuxin, child of the covenant (above)
Kate Isabella Fujing, child of the covenant (below)

Our covenant children are baptized

As early as in Genesis, God established a covenant between His people and their children. How amazing to know that Kate (right) and Lily are His covenant children through adoption! It was great to share this experience with all of our church family who have prayed for Lily and Kate and journeyed with us through our dating, marriage and now, the baptism of our children. It was a day we will always remember and refer Lily and Kate back to as they see others baptized in the future.

Desperate times call for desperate measures

We had our first household illness this week. Everyone had fever but mom, so I had to take care of 2 very fussy babies and a very sick husband. Poor Phil didn't get much attention except he did get to sleep in his real bed for 2 nights (we are still alternating sleeping with the girls) and we didn't see much of him. Lily and Kate both wanted to be held all day long and didn't want me to hold the other one at the same time - hhhmmm. What's a sleep deprived mother to do? Ah-ha!... THIS is why Baby Einstein videos are so popular! Wow. It was like hypnotism (as you can see above). (Lily on right). 30 minutes of shear maternal bliss. It distracted them enough so that I could take their temperature, get their medicine down them and look up the phone number to the nearest psychiatric hospital for mothers of young children who need to "check out" for a while. Really... to prevent this last step from happening, I just hit the restart button on the DVD a couple of times, and I was a new woman.
P.S. Did you know that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends children not watch videos until 2 years of age? Yeowzah! That's a long time away from now for me!

Exploring the backyard

Lily (left), Kate and I ventured into the backyard to learn about leaves and grass some more, so we would be ready for our next park adventure. Kate looks so much bigger than Lily in this picture, but she is actually 3.5 ounces smaller. Both of them develop and change so rapidly right in front of my eyes. I feel like I am study two textbooks about international adoption except it is the equivalent to something like an IMAX textbook - in multidimension. The transitions they are experiencing (most fun, and some hard) are complex and amazing. I feel so privileged to get to be at home and watch this unfold in front of my eyes in two totally different ways with each daughter. Honestly, I feel torn in that I can't imagine spending a day away from them, but I am now even more passionate about helping others go through the adoption process and advocating for other children to be adopted, that I think I will always work in this field as long as God desires.

Ok, so I should definitely move nap time farther away from lunch

So I was feeding them while talking to their Aunt Lily on the phone...they both took a bite and were babbling to each other, I turned to refill the spoon and when I looked back...there they were...both falling fast asleep at the same time. Cold turkey, out!

What's everybody smiling about?!

Kate (top) and Lily (bottom) are finally reunited again at night! Both girls slept in their own cribs in the nursery last night. They did great...well that depends on who you ask. I was in the other room sleeping with Tylenol PM and a loud fan and thought everything went great! Phil, who graciously volunteered to pull the first night in the nursery, got some sleep between 12 -5 am. They definitely can't sleep through the other's cries at this point. I hope they will be able to soon!

Do you think I should move lunch a little farther from nap time?

Even our favorite foods, sweet potatoes and bananas, weren't keeping Katie awake!

We experienced a lot of firsts at the park.

Kate (top) stayed close by me on the blanket, but ventured to the edge to pick up crinkly leaves. Lily ventured out onto the grass for the first time. It is so much fun to see the novelty through their eyes in things that are so common place for me.

...we decided to brave the park!

On our one month anniversary of our Gotta Day (the day we got the girls), I took the girls all the way to the park one mile down the road. It only took two other adults to help me get the girls there. :) I still haven't figured out how to get them out of the house by myself with all of the equipment. One thing I have learned is that twins = equipment. We had a wonderful time with our playmates Gracie, Cole and Sam. And Mommy's playmates, Karen E. and Beth B.

After 3 weeks of strolling just up and down our street...

So how are Ben and Zack handling the transition...

They are either too bold with the girls (top with Kate) or too bashful. They are emotionally pretty traumatized right now. We have to give them lovin' after the girls go down at night and during naps.

Our first complete family photo

We were so excited to get this photo. As you can see, Lily and Kate are our second set of twins. Just kidding. Ben and Zack were adopted 13 and 12 years ago, respectively, and are not biological siblings. This has been a huge adjustment for them as they have been happily and completely spoiled rotten all these years. They are second fiddle around here nowadays which is hard for me to see, but I know it must be that way.

Desperate meal times

Kate now yells, "MA-MA, MA-MA" at the top of her voice to get me to feed her faster. Lily just looks at her like she is crazy and babbles something to her. It think she is saying, "What's your deal? The food's not that great." It cracks me up every time. They started babbling last week and starting babbling to each other in baby conversation yesterday. I think Kate is actually calling ME "Mama"now (as opposed to calling the doors and curtains "Mama"). It is really fun to be called "Mama". It is such an amazing gift to me to be the mother of these precious girls. I am treasuring even the hard times (not exactly at the moment the hard time is occuring...but later). I want so desperately to help them through this time of adjustment and give them everything I physically and emotionally have to offer. This has meant keeping them at home and a bit shielded during this transition, which has been hard, since I just want to show them off! It is a challenge to get two children securely attached and comfortable with their new home since I can't always meet their needs both at the same time. Everyone has been so understanding. This is primarily why I am still doing the Blog, so that all of our friends and family who haven't seen them yet, will get to know them. This transition won't last forever and we will be out on the town soon!

Don't let the innocent face fool you

Lily was the one that was described as "gentle." Now that she has come out more, I can see that I do not have a gentle daughter amongst the two of them. She will happily mow down her sister and can get any toy she wants from her.

Splish, splash, we were takin' a bath...

The electrical umbilical cords

This is how Phil and I spend our evenings after the girls go to bed...staring at the monitors. Lily and Kate both have one since we haven't moved them back into the same room quite yet. We alternate babies each night so when the lights flash red and a cry is heard, one of us says,"It's your baby" the other is off to check on her. We are so excited that both of them are sleeping in their cribs through the night. We are hoping to move them back together next week!

We had a visit from Little Tan Riding Hood today!

Phil is a great play Daddy and the girls just eat it up. It is hard for him to have to go to work. He missed them and we miss him!

Twin tricks

Kate: Oh, no! Mom caught us playing with the electrical cords!
Lily: Just smile really big. She is such a sucker, we won't get in trouble. Besides, she is into that attachment-style parenting and so we probably won't get spankings.
















Kate: You were right! Look at that smile on her face. She IS a sucker.

Each day brings new smiles

The best part about this newly home time to to me is seeing our children relax more each day with us, opening up to show us who they really are. If they were birth children, we would be looking for parts of ourselves in them. Are they laid back like Phil? Are they obsessive- compulsive like their mother? Instead, we get to be completely surprised by new discoveries and they get to be their unique selves. Each day, they smile a little more. Lily (bottom) has a ready, "let me entertain you" kind of smile that is so beautiful, as if she is posing for the camera. You have to work a little harder to get smiles out of Kate (top), but when you do, they are such joyous ones. Her smiles are so big that her eyes squeeze into little slits so you can barely see them. It just makes me want to sop her with a biscuit and gobble her up!