Playing Dress-up

We LOVE our flower hats!!! We feel pretty!

Baptism

The girls were baptized on Sunday, November 8th. We had a great time with the family and godparents! The girls were angels. Claire gazed inquisitively around the whole time. Lucy fell peacefully asleep, letting out only the smallest of cries when Father poured the water over her head. Then she fell right back to sleep. They looked beautiful in their Christening gowns that Laura's Aunt Mary Jo made; such a special gift. We rounded it out with a party at our house. It was a great day!

Pennsylvania and Halloween

The last week of October was a busy week for us! Since Mommy decided to stay home from work for good, we went on a big adventure! It was a girls' weekend with Aunt Julie and Grandma Duman. We drove all the way to Pennsylvania to meet our Great Grandmothers! It was a great trip and we got to meet many relatives. Complete with a trip to the Emergency Room to find out that it wasn't the Swine Flu, just the Croup, PHEW! Daddy had a bachelor weekend but he missed us very much! Then we came back the day before Mommy and Daddy's two-year anniversary. Two years a two babies, what will the next two years bring!? We rounded out the week with Halloween where we dressed up with our cousins Nora, Owen, Nick and Max. We had a great time and can't wait to eat candy next year! Click here for a slide show of our big week!

Our Little Pumpkins

Claire and Lucy, our Summer Babies, are having a tough time falling into Autumn! They weren't quite sure what to do with their jackets and hats.... in the end, they decided that chewing on them was a good option. They were both sick with colds this week which allowed them (and their parents) to play hookie from school and work. Thank goodness for Grandma who also came to help!

Since they were feeling better, we decided to take them on an adventure to the pumpkin patch, in search of an adorable Autumnal picture. While they didn't share our enthusiasm, they were ultimately good sports and allowed us to get the photo that we set out to achieve. Oh yeah, we bought some pumpkins too! Here is the result of our quest, along with some rather humorous efforts!

Luck of the Irish

Judd and I are living under the notion that our girls came into this world not only bringing us more happiness than we could ever imagine but also enough luck to bring ND a winning football season! We opened the season by taking the girls out for their first tailgate. Although they slept through the entire four hour tour of campus, we know that they had visions of leprechauns dancing in their heads! Daddy said that they needed new outfits for the occasion so we braved the Notre Dame bookstore on the night before the season opener (yes, they slept through that excursion as well!). Hopefully Claire and Lucy will keep the luck alive again tomorrow. Just in case, their Fighting Irish outfits are washed and ready to go. We can't tempt fate by wearing different game day apparel after a big win, now can we!?

A Very Busy August

The girls had a very big August, meeting lots of friends and spending time with family. We rounded out the month with their first smiles and first baths in the bathtub (not coming simultaneously, mind you, as they absolutely shrieked during bath time. You could actually probably document bath time as their first official temper-tantrums).

They are getting so big and developing such personalities. Lucy, while losing her red hair to a strange male-pattern baldness, is ironically gaining her feistiness. She wants what she wants, when she wants it….. Daddy and I typically have no problems giving it to her either J Claire, while also sporting a bald head as well, has developed a much calmer demeanor and has actually slept for five straight hours the last TWO nights! We don’t know if we are more proud or relieved, perhaps there is an end in sight!!

During all of these milestones and changes, we are also getting the girls out and about much more. They started the month by meeting their Uncle Jake, Aunt Leah and cousins Oscar and Raizel. They had a great time and can’t wait to see Raizel and Oscar again! The whole McNally clan was together for the weekend and had a wonderful time. Uncle Bernie, Aunt Jessie (AKA Muffy) and cousin Amy also made a trip out to visit.

On the Duman side, we celebrated both Grandma’s and Granddad’s birthdays and also made a trip up to Fernwood to enjoy the last few official days of summer (although it was a chilly 65 degrees and the paranoid parents had them bundled up like it was winter!).

They have also had the first of many great times with new friends. The park is our new favorite place. We walk there quite a bit and have played with Ella and Henry Smoker, Sarah Noto and Sean and Violet Kinnucan. Violet also made a visit to the house. Playtime didn’t last long though, as Violet was very tired and had to take a nap in the girls’ crib!

We were also VERY lucky to meet Ava last week! Ava, Laura’s friend Katie’s little girl, was born the day before the girls. They live in Chicago but made the trip to South Bend. She is quite a beautiful girl and much like their mommies, the three musketeers are SURE to have many wonderful memories in the making!

With such a wonderful August, how will September ever top it? Have no fear, ND football is here!

The Lazy Days of Summer

Four Weeks Old ….. phew, I think that I need a nap! As you can see by the pictures, the girls celebrated their four week birthday in style…… This is the typical afternoon for the McNally twins; sleep, eat, cry, sleep, eat, cry.

They are getting bigger and cuter everyday! We go to the doctor tomorrow so we will see how much they have grown. Daddy is out taking the girls for a walk around the neighborhood so I thought that I would take the chance to create my inaugural blog.

Speaking of Daddy, it is time that he gets some applause! Having twins has made me realize two things;

1. I have married the most patient person on the earth and

2. He is not only an amazing husband but an even more amazing father.

Judd is a natural and I love him more each time I watch him with the girls. OK, I promised that I wouldn’t get all sappy but I just had to say a few words.

Claire and Lucy want to say hello to all our family and friends out there!! Thank you for all the warm wishes, calls, visits, dinners, presents, cards, etc. It is important times like these when we are reminded how lucky and blessed we are. These girls are surrounded by love. Thank you everyone, from the bottom of our hearts!

Almost 4 Weeks

It is hard to believe Claire and Lucy will be 4-weeks old tomorrow! The time is flying by.

There have been a lot jokes flying around about our blogging, or lack there of. We had better intentions when the blog began, but finding time to post pictures of the addition going up was a heck of a lot easier than finding time to post pictures of the girls has been. Don't get me wrong, Claire and Lucy are really very good girls, but when they eat every three hours, and then are awake for an hour or so after that- let's just say that the two hour stretches seem to fly by!

Despite spending almost all of her waking hours feeding, pumping, changing diapers or rocking - Laura is doing great. Grandma Duman comes over to help out during the day sometimes, but often it's just Laura. I'm not sure how she does it, but she does. On Thursday, she even took the girls on their first trip to the playground to meet up with their friends - Henry and Ella Smoker and the Sarah Noto.

Today, Lucy had her first big trip to the grocery store with daddy, while mommy and Claire spent a little quality time together. Right now they are both sound asleep, but that 3:00 pm feeding is getting close...

Happy Birthday Claire and Lucy

We are very happy to introduce Claire Elizabeth and Lucille (Lucy) Charlotte! Claire was born at 1:13 and weighed 6 lbs and 4 oz. Lucy was born at 1:15 and weighed 5 lbs 8 oz. Both of the girl are perfect and are beautiful. That is Claire on the left and Lucy on the right in the picture. They both have a good head of hair. Lucy's is lighter and we think may be a tad red while Claire's is very thick and very dark.

Laura, the reason the girls are so beautiful, is doing really well.

I couldn't be more proud!

Big Reveal

Click here to view these pictures larger

Any Day Now

Today the BOGOs are 34 weeks! That means the Drs won't due anything to stop labor if it starts. And we know they won't let us go past 37 weeks, so we'll have babies anytime now. Though nothing is imminent.

As of Monday, both of the girls weigh 4 lbs 12 oz - that is 9 and 1/2 lbs of baby! We keep hearing the bigger the better, so we hope to girls stay in there for a while. I've told 'em they are grounded for a couple of weeks. We'll see if they listen to me....

Week 33

Tomorrow, the Bogos pass the 33 week mark. At the Doctor appointment last week, Dr. Shaw made a big deal about getting past 32 weeks. Essentially saying that babies born at 32 weeks do really well. The way we see it, getting to 33, 34 or 35 weeks is just that much better. The Dr. also told us that he won't let us go past 38 weeks. One way or another, the McNally Clan will double in the next 5 weeks. Yikes!

We will be going to the Doctor every week now and have an ultrasound on Monday. We are hoping to find that Bo, aka Baby B, has flipped and is back to head down. Keep your fingers crossed...

The addition has moved past the 6th week and with any luck should be done within the next two weeks!!! Today they started painting. Friday the hardwood floor goes in. Monday the kitchen cabinets go in. Then, really should just be the finishing touches. The pictures don't do it justice, but here are a couple so you can see how it looks....

Week 4

Today completed the 4th week of construction and much of the inside work began today. For a while it looked like progress was slow. Once the walls and roof were complete, it looked like everything stopped. It didn't though and the crew worked diligently installing insulation in the walls, ceiling and on the foundation and installing the electrical.

The first inside work is installing the new can lights in the kitchen. That meant tearing into the ceiling and, well, it seems that we will be without a kitchen from now until the project is done. We could still use it, but it is going to be a mess. Most everything is covered in a thin layer of dust. Just enough so that you know you should clean everything off before you use it. They have also begun putting up the drywall.

In the next few days, we expect they will begin tearing out the wall between the kitchen and the breakfast nook. We have been held up by our new door, which has not been delivered.

The contractors found old newspaper in the walls and ceiling. Not sure why it was there, insulation perhaps. It is very brittle but I was able to find a date on one page - 1933! - which is right around the time the house was built!

BoGo Update

Tomorrow is 31 weeks! It has been a while since the last post on the BoGos. So here goes.

Here are the ultrasound pictures from the doctors visit on the 18th. The top one is Baby A (a.k.a Go) and the bottom one is Baby B (a.k.a. Bo). Mother and babies are doing really well. Bo measured in at 3 lbs and Go measured in at 3 lbs 4 oz.

Both girls seem to be very active and we often spend the evening watching Laura's belly as the duke it out. Laura is sure that Bo flipped over the other night, which would be a good thing because at the last ultrasound we found out that she is now breach.

Laura is holding up like a real trooper. She is a little worried about summer and being to hot. I have assured her that extra air conditioning is in the budget.

We head back the the doctor on Monday June 2nd.

Progress!

Week 2

We are now well into our second week of construction (really only 8 working days) and the contractors have already started framing the addition. As you can see from the picture they have about half of the floor done. Our contractor, Mike Foster really seems to be keeping the project moving.

Good thing because Laura is due in just over 12 weeks or only 9 weeks since full term with twins is considered 37 weeks.

We are really excited about prospect of having our new kitchen and family room done. Washing dishes by hand is getting a little old.

Additions

So, with just a little under 3 months until the new additions arrive, we have decided to put on another new addition. These pictures show the progression over the last week. Wednesday we came home and the porch was gone. Thursday found a big hole in our back yard. No turning back now....

The Name Game

Now that everyone knows the BOGOs (Buy One Get One Free, for those that didn't know what BOGO meant and we will not use the term again for fear that one day one of the girls (or boys, in case Dr. Stiver made a mistake) asks us which one of them was free) are apparently two girls. We can have some fun with names.

Feel free to suggest names for our baby girls. Of course, we reserve the right to make the final decision- sorry Nick and Max, Nicolette and Maxine are probably not going to make the top 5.

One Tie Broken / Another Tie Created

We are having two girls!

For Grammy Tami that means 4 granddaughters and 2 grandsons, breaking the 2-2 tie.

For Grandma and Granddad Duman, its all tied up at 2 apiece!

Laura and I are both very excited!

Hear It Here First!

Tomorrow is a BIG day.

Tomorrow we find out whether the famous BOGOs are two boys, two girls or one of each.

Check the McNally Clan Blog tomorrow for the exclusive announcement.