No more simple laundry for one

Bachelor laundry was different. After weeks of processing clothing from dresser to hamper until nothing was left clean except last year’s Halloween costume, two laundry piles would be created with whites washed in hot and the rest in cold. Afterwards, all was dried on the same standard setting.

Marriage required retirement of my simple system. New extra large capacity equipment was purchased right away with hope that our family would grow into it. We gained settings for whiter whites, delicates, hand wash, wrinkle control, and soil level. They have multiple temperature and speed settings way beyond my comprehension.

This was certainly excellent planning on Sandy’s part as now this equipment runs constantly. The boys generate a lot of laundry consisting of little outfits, underclothes, socks, bibs, caps, blankets, and burping clothes. Folding laundry has become an ever significant part of our daily routine. Nothing these days is as simple as before, but the joy of family merits the extra effort.

The Tortoise and the Hare

It’s interesting to observe the boys’ newborn behaviors and try to anticipate their adult personalities. Right now Benji looks like a tortoise. He’s smaller with a long skinny neck, an expressive wrinkled face and he lifts his chin like a turtle when he looks around. He isn’t easily excited and takes his bottle slowly, sipping deliberately over a long period of time. Even in Sandy’s belly Trey was always more active. He’s bigger, more volatile and does everything fast, fast, fast. When he’s hungry, sleepy or wants to be held he has no patience for delays. After eating fast and playing fast he goes fast to sleep. Time will tell if these natural behaviors are nurtured away and if Aesop’s Fable holds true.

Here's a Merry Kristin and Happy New Dear

Sandy's sister Kristin Price flew in from Heber, Utah Wednesday to see the two new little dears. She and Sandy's parents were kind enough to watch the boys Thursday evening so Dave and Sandy could get away for a fourth wedding anniversary dinner. Notice the wooden bear in the background waiting patiently for his turn to hold a baby.

Might as well get a paper route

We don't know why, but 4:00 am is the boys' favorite time of day. In later pregnancy Sandy would be awakened nightly at this time by the kicking of two active little boys. Birth has done nothing to interrupt their schedule, but now it's Daddy who is up with them. Maybe we should turn adversity into opportunity and get a paper route. After all, we're already up.

The Last Quiet Christmas Morning

At 20 days old the boys were unfazed by the Christmas morning festivities. Surrounded by presents, parents and both sets of grandparents, Trey and Benji slept through most of the day. Certainly no Christmas for the next two decades will unwrap so quietly. While Santa showered them with gifts, the most precious presence of the day was a loving family sharing together.

Christmas Traditions link us with the past

Another Edds tradition is attending Christmas eve services at First Baptist Church. This first Christmas, the boys were joined by their parents and both sets of grandparents. With Pastor Paul Strahan out of town, retired Pastor David Nelson delivered the message. Dr. Nelson was FBC's pastor from the mid-1960's until the mid-1990's. It struck me that we were holding these little boys listening to Dr. Nelson's strong familiar voice just as my parents had held me while listening to his Christmas message over 40 years ago. We sat just a few feet away from the seat that their great-grandmother Kittie Edds favored for Dr. Nelson's sermons every Sunday. Traditions make for rich inheritances.

I think she needs a longer shirt

During the Edds Family Christmas Eve party young Logan Edds surveyed this very blog. After seeing the photo of Sandy's belly taken just before leaving for the delivery room he turned to his grandfather, Gene Ray Edds, and said, "Hey Daddy-O I think she needs a longer shirt!" Logan is Marc's son, and Trey and Benji's second cousin.

Hey Dad, Are Second Cousins Called Kissing Cousins?

Each Christmas Eve the Edds Family gathers for festivities. The boys made their first trip to Great Uncle Richard Edds' home in Livermore, Kentucky and met many of Daddy's uncles, aunts, and cousins. Two of the boys' favorites are pictured here. Abby Edds, on the left, is Rodney's daughter, and Taylor Edds, on the right, is Marc's daughter. Brothers Rodney and Marc Edds are Daddy Dave's first cousins and Abby and Taylor are Benji and Trey's second cousins. Close enough for kissing I'd say.

The Great Hugh-dini

Harry Houdini was well known as the world’s greatest escape artist. Was he born with this talent or was it learned? Like all infants, young Hugh David, III loves to be swaddled, but he doesn’t like his arms pinned.
No sooner does his mother settle him down in the crib than the squirming and grunting begins as he works against his bindings. Usually within minutes, tah dah, he has worked his arms free. Hopefully he’ll out grow this escape talent before he learns to crawl and walk.

Merry Christmas from Benji and Davey

Sandy remembered Kansas City hospitals sending December babies home in Christmas stockings so we've been talking about staging this photo practically from the moment we found out we were expecting. Grandmother Karen found these perfectly themed stockings for the event. The boys arrived early and were ready to go, so all we had to do was slide them in the stockings and snap the picture right? Well, nobody told the babies. They squirmed and flopped around on the bed like freshly caught fish. Their arms flailed, their head tossed side to side, their legs stretched, knees bent, faces cried and eyes simply wouldn't open. Thank goodness for digital camera capacities because we snapped dozens of photos trying to capture a good pose from these two squirming fish. Finally Mama raised their heads, tucked their arms down and turned off the lights. Dad snapped this shot, but not before Benji could raise an arm of greeting.

Creatures of the Night: Our Daddy's become a Vampire

To paraphrase Bruce Springsteen "I get up in the evening with the babies who want to play. We stay up until morning, eat our breakfast, and then we hit the hay." Here father and sons are watching NBA games at 3:00 am. Whoever said newborns only eat and sleep all the time, didn't know these night owls.

Growing to be big men one day

After losing some weight after birth, both boys are growing again. Weighing in Friday at Dr. Neel's office, Davey's weight was up to 6 lbs 4 oz and he's grown 3/4 inches longer. Benji's weight was up to 5 lbs 4 oz, just under his birth weight, and he too has grown about an inch.
It's likely these will be very tall men. Sandy at 5'9" has two taller sisters, Kristin 5'10" and Susan at 6' tall. Dave is 6'1" and his brother Steve is 6' 6". All Dave's male cousins are taller than he is. Both grandfathers are 6' 2" and both grandmothers are 5' 8" tall. It's safe to say the odds are good that neither boy will ever be jockey material.

Turn your head and cough please

Dr. Don Neel has been treating Owensboro children since his arrival in 1970. He was Dave's pediatrician and saved his life from viral pneumonia in 1973. Don and his wife Fay attended Sandy and Dave's wedding four years ago, and Dr. Neel was the obvious choice for Trey and Benji's doctor. At Friday's appointment Dr. Neel carefully checked over Benji who has been suffering from some congestion. After a precautionary chest x-ray Benji was given a clean bill of health.

Lose a button, get a bath

The hospital said the boys could only have sponge baths until their belly buttons healed. By Thursday both boys had lost their buttons and were stinky, so mom and dad broke out the new tub and rubber ducks for our first real bath time. You would think this would be a happy time, but nooooo.

Grandmother Ondra agreed to lend a little experience to this event, as it was a brand new thing for mom, dad and the boys. She looks like she's enjoying herself in spite of the negative feedback being registered in mega-volume by first Benji then Trey. Afterwards they slept like....babies.

Our hearts are bursting with Joy

Clearly Ondra and David Edds love being grandparents. After waiting for so long, they suddenly added three grandsons to the family in just 16 months. Thursday December 20th marked a first for them as they actually held all three boys the same day. After spending a couple of days in Indianapolis with cousin Levi Edds, the grandparents made a v-line for Trey and Benji in Owensboro.

OK boys, who can do the best quarterback pose?

Based on this preliminary scientific experiment, Benji looks like he's got the look of a quarterback down, while Davey may be our middle linebacker.

First Family Photo

The family got all scrubbed and dressed Monday night only to find out their appointment had been canceled. Sandy thought this would be a good opportunity to take a family picture. Her dad grabbed a camera and captured this relaxed pose. Sandy holds Trey, who was very cooperative with the project, while Dave cradels Benji who was not. He refused to wake up even after having his faced washed with cold water and his daddy tickeling him.

Warning: Wet Wipe Warmer Wakes Water Works

The boys tolerated diaper changing very well with minimum fuss, except for one area - the wet wipes. Hey, if someone suddenly stripped you out of your warm clothes and cleaned your bare butt and boys with a cold wet rag, you'd cry too I'm sure. The Roe grandparents allowed for one gift under the tree to be opened early; it was a wet wipe warmer. While this product relieved one problem, it carried with it a showering side effect.

All those years ago

Mom and Dad were quite attractive babies as well. While they were much older in these photos than the boys are now, you can see how the Edds and Roe features are blended in their newborns. Dave and Sandy were born exactly four weeks apart. Both were Tuesday's Children and their sons wanted to be, but it was actually Wednesday before they were delivered.

Dave, Jr. was born at 4:00 am on March 12, 1963 at Our Lady of Mercy Hospital in Owensboro. He weighed 8 lbs 7 oz.

Sandy was born at 10:03 pm on April 9, 1963 at Saint John's Hospital in Oxnard, California. She weighed 8 lbs 5 oz and was 21 inches long.

Mama wouldn't let Daddy name me Elvis

A wink and a sneer of the lip lets you know this boy could have handled the name Elvis. The twins' due date was January 8th, which not only is Grandma Karen's birthday, but also Elvis Presley's. When Daddy suggested, with his tongue firmly in cheek, that one boy be named after the King of Rock and Roll, Mama immediately and emphatically rejected the notion. Oh well, at least we gained a great country song title.

Grandma, you are SO wrapped around my finger

Grandma Karen Roe is unapologetically smitten with her two new grandsons. Here she is holding Benji. Her energy with the boys is abounding and she glories in her role of helping her own baby Sandy recover from her grandson's delivery. She and Granddaddy Jim have provided yeoman's service cooking, running errands and babysitting so Sandy and Dave can sleep.

This guy looks more like me than my twin brother

The boys made their first trip to the pediatrican's office on Thursday, December 13 and received a clean bill of health from Dr. Don Neel. The examination room had a mirror next to the changing table that fascinated the boys. Dr. Neel was also Daddy's pedatrician.

Benji and the Chocolate Factory

Psst, hey Davey, want to drive the old man crazy? Wait until about 4:00 am when he's drop-dead tired from staying up all night with us and then cry that you are wet. Wait until just after he slides the new diaper under your butt and then squeeze off a chocolate kiss to dirty the new diaper before he can close it. Not too much at first, then hold it. Dad will clean you up and wait impatiently for a few seconds to see if you are done, then he'll add a second clean diaper. OK, here's the fun part - again just as he gets the diaper in place slowly start the chocolate factory. He'll panic and begin cleaning you with wet wipes quickly trying to save the second clean diaper. Just continue to work the chocolate factory like a soft serve ice cream machine ,and he'll go through half a box of wet wipes trying to keep up. You should have seen the mess he made last night before I was changed. It was a SCREAM!!!

Baby Talk

Spa Treatment

Baby Davey, the Trey Man, was not happy with his bath even though Mama and Grandma washed his hair and scrubbed his back. His attitude adjustment came when Mama wrapped him in warm clothes fresh out of the dryer. Then he looked up at Grandmother Karen and smiled before going to sleep in her arms.

Happiness is a Full House

Our CPA, Annette Pogue, emailed her congratulations and complimented us on our superb tax planning. She said I married Sandy in December to double my deductions in 2003 from one to two allowances. Now in 2007, we've doubled our deductions again to four allowances by arranging the boys' birth in December.


I asked her if we could actually claim eight deductions this year, as both sets of grandparents have practically moved in with us since the boys were born. The bachelor pad is no more. Happiness is a full house.

Warning: Removing tags could void warrenty

While giving the boys their first bath, Grandmother Karen found Benji's temperature tag, a sticker placed under an infant's underarm allowing hospital nursery personel to quicky check the baby temperature. Nine out of ten babies agree this beats the traditional temperature measurement method pants down.

Belly Boys Best Buds

Sandy's Aunt Roberta Hand sent the boys a Baby Einstein activity mat. Dad put it together and decided to let Davey try it first. Laying on his belly for the first time was scary at first, but when Dad got down on his belly and showed him how fun it could be it got better.

The James Gang

Sandy's parents in Florida were packed and ready to roll as soon as we went to the hospital. Arriving Sunday as we left the hospital, they have been a God send watching the boys during the day and allowing us to sleep. Judging by Grand daddy Jim's smile, this is a labor of love. He is holding his namesake, Benjamin James.

He ain't heavy, he's my brother

Babies typically lose 10% of their birth weight the first week, and ours are no different. As they were five weeks premature this means they didn't have all that much body weight to loose. In order to get them up to their playing weight, they need to eat, eat, eat.

We returned to the hospital on Tuesday to check our weight gain progress. Here they are on the scales with Benji weighing in at 4 lb 13 oz down 11 ounces and Davey weighting 5 lbs 7 oz down 9 ounces.

Busted! - Sleeping on the third shift

When your stomach is only the size of a marble, you can't eat much in one setting. Consequently you must eat more frequently around the clock. Fortunately for all, Santa delivered a new recliner for nursery duty. Here Mama captures Daddy feeding Davey at 3:30 am. Both apparently have nodded off on the job.

Coming Home from the Hospital

We brought Sandy, Davey and Benji home Sunday evening. The light teatment healed the boys' jaundice, and the rest greatly returned Mama's strength. Dave's parents took the luggage and Sandy's parents helped Daddy load his family in the car. As a mother in a wheel chair can only hold one child in one car seat, Grandmother Karen was only too willing to take the other baby.

It's a celebration!

While in the hospital we were very blessed with many visitors, gifts and flowers. A very fun example is this flower arrangement in a fire truck sent by Aunt Kristin and Uncle Wesley Price in Utah.

Yellow Livered Varmets

Davey developed a case of jaundice on Friday and Benji measured marginal as well. With Sandy exhausted we decided to stay an extra day in the hospital to allow the boys 24 hours under the light to treat their jaundice. This would also give Mama an extra day to rest, cared for by the hospital nurses. The peace and quiet was excellent for rest, but with the nursery staff feeding and changing the boys, they weren't coming to the room anymore. Even though we had just met the little munchkins two days earlier, by afternoon we really began to miss them. By evening Mama padded down the hall for a visit with her boys in the nursery.

Hey Dad, lose the camera already

Each child has a cart, but the nursery places them in one for visits to mama's room. Here they have their eyes open and are ready for breakfast. They are definitely twin brothers, but not identical. Benji is on the left. He has his daddy's fair complexion, pug nose and prominent chin, while at the same time he has many of the Roe family features. Trey on the right has his mother's darker complexion, strong nose and sweet expressions. The boys' hair colors mimic their namesakes. Under the caps Benji's hair is fine and light, which we think will be like his Granddaddy Roe's was in his younger days. Trey's hair is dark and thick, more similar to Granddaddy Edds'.

Mama and her sons

Glowing is the word for Sandy today as she spends time with her new sons. Nursing is new enough for all of them and two babies require even more time. It seems that by the time she has completed feeding the second one, its time to begin another cycle.

Diaper Rapper....Cool D-3

Young David III can lay down the truth, even in his sleep. The rhyming Simon emphasizes his points with hand gestures and delivers his hip-hop-spit-up. Look in undies for dad's opinion of Rap Music.

Small Group Visits

Our Bible study small group has been praying with us for more than 3 years as we endeavere to have children. With that much investment, our friends understandably have an ownership in these children. Here Kelly Brown holds Davey.

Better than ESPN

Granddaddy David holds Benji as he sleeps the afternoon away. "I could watch the boys sleep all day and never tire of seeing their various expressions" he said. "This is even better than watching ESPN".

Grandma's Joy

While Sandy recovers in the hospital, Dave's folks have been helping the new parents bond with the boys. Here Grandma Ondra feeds little Davey as he watches her every move.

Boy, O' Boy, this is fun!!!

By the time Trey and Benji reached their 8th hour birthday, both were healthy, fed and sleeping soundly. Daddy Dave is all smiles as he holds his sons in his arms. Already the boys are developing individual looks and personalities. Trey is a little bigger and more active than Benji, who appears alert but quieter.

The old wives tale says that if the mother has heartburn during pregnancy, the baby will have hair. Well, Sandy had lots of heartburn and both boys have heads full of hair. Benji's is light brown and fine while Davey's is dark brown, thick and so long he almost needs a barber.

Meet the parents

With so much medication in such a short period of time, and major surgery, Sandy was understandable groggy Wednesday afternoon, but once the nurse placed Benji in her arms her joy cleared her mind and relieved her discomfort.

Trey developed breathing problems around noon raising our concerns, but Dr. Don Neel, who had been my pediatrian, took special care of him and all was better by 6 pm.

Back Stage View

While Sandy was in recovery, the boys and I went over to the nursey to check out the other new arrivals and show off for the girls. A crowd gathered outside the window to catch a glipse of the new boys in town. And who should be on the front row, but the proud Edds grandparents seeking their first peak at their grandsons.

Leaving the boys in the nursury to flirt with the nurses, I joined the folks in the waiting room to make happy announcement phone calls to family and friends. The Roe grandparents were surprised by the delivery and delighted with the joyous news. They plan to leave for Owensboro on Saturday arriving around the time we leave the hospital.

You say it's your birthday, well it's my birthday too yeah!

By the time I entered the OR the place was hopping, full of activity and people. At 10:12 am Hugh David Edds, III (Trey) entered the world with a cry of victory. Seconds later at 10:13 am Benjamin James Edds appeared to cry in harmony with his brother. Trey measured 19-3/4 inches and weighed 6 lbs while Benji streched 18-3/4 inches and tipped the scales at 5 lbs 5 ozs.

Not to be denied

So we arrived at the hospital around 10:30 pm and Dr. Ottman wanted to delay their delivery until December 20th to better their lung development. This is only the babies' 35th week and our goal was at least 37 weeks. They put Sandy and the babies on various monitors and gave her strong drugs to stop the contractions. At midnight they gave her steroids to accelerate the boy's lung development. At 1 am they gave her stronger meds to stop the contractions. The boys kept moving and the monitors had to be readjusted by the nurses constantly. By 3 am the goal was to make it 48 hours for the steroids to take full effect. At 5 am they were giving Sandy mega-doses of anti-contraction drugs and morphine for the pain. Things looked to be stabilizing by morning and Dr. Ottman told us that it looked like delivery wouldn't be for a few days. After staying up all night, I called my parents at 7 am and asked my dad to stay with Sandy so I could go home and catch a few hours of much needed sleep.

He arrived at 8 am and after eating a bowl of cereal I was just settling in for much-needed sleep when my phone rang at 9:30 am. Dad said "as soon as you can get here, you'll be a father". Apparently, Sandy's contractions had returned with avengence and the doctor decided that these boys were not going to denied an early birthday.

Any fireman would have been proud of the speed at which I engaged from a dead sleep to dressed, across town and reporting for daddy duty at the hospital. I then redressed and reported to surgery at 10 am.

On the way to the hospital

Sandy's feeling that the time was close was on target. By 9 pm Tuesday night December 4, she felt the need to go to the hospital. Before we left, we shot one last belly photo.

We are getting close!

During our November 30th appointment at 35 weeks the nurse scheduled our c-section...for December 20th at 6:00 am (!), which is after we hit week 37 - full term for twins. (We would need to be at the hospital by 4:00 am - yuck!) However she said she doubts we will make it that long, and I have to agree. I'm having more lower back pain, cramps, and my contractions have changed, although the medications they have given me still seem to be keeping all of that under control. I would not be surprised if I were to deliver yet this week or early next week though.

We have another appointment this Friday to again check everyone's progress. The boys are still doing great with strong heart beats. We estimate the boys are each about six pounds by now, although the only way they measure them in utero is with an ultrasound. The last one we had was November 16th, and we are not currently scheduled for another.

We have selected names for both boys now. One will be named after his Dad and paternal grandfather, Hugh David Edds, III. We will likely call him Davey to begin with and then Trey as he gets older. The second baby will be Benjamin James Edds, Benji for now, with the James coming from his maternal grandfather.