Finding Routine

It is the morning routine, the alarm goes off at 6:30 just as the boys begin to stir, Ginny and I both wish for a few more hours sleep particularly if the night feed was a tough one, but the boys quickly remind us that more sleep is not an option and cry until fed.  At some point Mimi will wake up and ask for milk.  We all get on with out jobs, I make tea and toast while Gin feeds the boys, Mimi watches Waybaloos.  After the boys have been fed they get put back to sleep and we get on with our day.

I now work for a company called Explorer Graphics Limited (EGL), a well regarded GIS Consultancy firm who are based in Whitby, about 15 miles up the coast from Wellington at the base of the North Island. Whitby is a bit of a one horse town, although I think the horse may have left in search of adventure.  It has a small supermarket, a pub, a fish and chip shop, a cafe, a post office, a pharmacy and of course the head office of EGL.  It is pretty though, with rolling hills in the background and from higher ground you can just about see the South Island.  


Although EGL are based in Whitby we'll still live in Auckland, indeed I will be the Auckland office.  I spent the first weeks in Whitby getting up to speed. This was really hard as I had to leave Ginny to look after the boys and Mimi.  Fortunately the family stepped up to the mark and provided a lot of support although Ginny did point out once I got back that I had spend half the boys life away from them.  Now that I'm back in Auckland I'm working out of the garage while we wait for the office in Auckland to be sorted.  Its really hard sitting in the garage knowing that Gin is occasionally struggling with the boys and I'm sure Ginny finds it hard that I am not there.  Work does take me away from home quite frequently at the moment, I've been down to Wellington quite a few times and also a night in New Plymouth which is famous for Mount Taranaki, a dormant volcano which looks remarkably like Mount Fuji.

Mount Taranaki

The boys are doing well, putting on weight and taking more of an interest in the world.  Unfortunately they both have reflux which for those who don't know mean they throw up a lot after feeding.  Fortunately however they are 'happy spitters' which means that although they throw up a lot they aren't distressed by it.  In reality it just means that a damp shoulder is pretty much a constant possibility.  They do both have colds at the moment which makes everything doubly hard and we have to be constantly watching that the cold doesn't turn into something worse.

Alex and William or Willem as Mimi likes to call him still look remarkably similar and it still takes a second look to tell them apart, and even then it might take a third and forth. If all else fails a glance at Alex's toes which are painted with nail varnish provides the definitive answer. I think Ginny is far better at me at telling them apart than me but then she tends to spend more time with them than I do.


Last week we went on a family outing to a picnic organised by the Multiple Birth Association of New Zealand (Auckland Branch), there were about 100 families, each with twins or triplets.  It was pretty cool to see so many people each in a similar situation to us, and also how many of them had actually survived the first 3 or 4 years to now have toddlers running about.  I'm still not quite sure how they manage it.  

If everything is running smoothly then we can manage, we have little or no down time, but we cope, however it only takes one thing to push things over the edge and then things become manic.  They boys having colds is really tough because they don't feed as well, throw up more, and everything generally takes twice as long.  To help out we are now fortunate in that we now have extra help in the form of Stacy.  Stacy is currently training to be a nurse, but comes round from about 4:30 to 7:30 each week day evening to help us out.  She is great with the boys, she used to look after twins in a previous job and so knows what she is doing, and also helps us with things like washing and cleaning and other little jobs that easily get lost in general attempt to look after the boys.

We have finally managed to sort out thank you cards so for all those wonderful people who so generously gave the boys gifts you should be getting something in the post next week.  They would have come a month earlier had we not (in our sleep deprived state, of course) noticed after having 50 thank you cards printed that it had two photos of Alex on it and not one of William.  We have now played it safe and put a photo of them both on it! And then Ginny just had to find the time to write them.....!


Love to all,