We have a doctor in the house!

We have very exciting news to report. Yesterday Mark filed his thesis, thus ending 21+ years of formal education. (I'm not sure if kindergarten counts or not). He has now fufilled all the requirements for his PhD in Geophysics. The degree will become official in Dec, the department ceremony is in the Spring, but today he starts his postdoc. He also gets paid as a postdoc. So, for all intents and purposes, HE IS DONE! I am so proud of him. Finishing the degree with the added pressure of expecting twins was not easy. But, he followed through with his usual grace and hard work. Yeah Mark! For all you local readers, we are having a celebratory BBQ at our house on Sunday at 3pm.

In other news, we have also made it through our first week on our own with the twins...and we all survived. I've even had several 5-6 hour stretches on my own. Thankfully, Elsa and Lily are good babies overall. Nights and mornings are good. By the grace of God, they are on the same schedule at night. Plus in the mornings, they usually even give their parents at least an hour or two nap where they are both sleeping at the same time. Afternoons seem to be the fussy time. The trick is anticipating feedings before they get to the crying stage. One crying baby I can handle, the difficulty is when they both start crying at the same time. We've been trying to outsmart the fussy time by taking long afternoon walks. It seems to help.

They are growing very quickly. They seem to very aware of the world around them. I am also noticing their very distinct personalities. It makes telling them apart very easy. They are very unique individuals.

And now the fun part pictures!




Elsa and her dad.


Lily testing out her bouncy seat. This is actually a picture from a couple weeks ago. She's much bigger now.


The girls and I at the end of a long day. Notice Elsa's socks knitted by the fabulous Karrie.



Sleeping angel babies. (Lily left, Elsa right)