Summer Is Over

It is the saddest happiest time of the year. It is sad that we have to go back to work, but we are happy to settle back into our own home. This summer has been more relaxing than usual. We have taken it a lot easier this time around and done much less running from one place to the other.

We have spent the majority of our time in Indiana and Ohio visiting family. It has been wonderful for the boys to have huge yards and pools to play in. The weather has been perfect for outside time during our entire visit.

We took a couple side trips also. Our first trip was to visit our long lost friends in Atlanta. We learned that in the south just about anything will fit into a bikini, and that too much fast food can put me in the hospital.

Douglas and I headed out to San Francisco for a few days. Cedric and Ezra got to hang out with my parents while we were gone. The twins love their Mimi and Papaw! SF was so much fun. We did some touristy things and then some relaxing things. It sure was nice to have a few adult meals where we could enjoy a bottle of wine with dinner instead of asking for the check after appetizers.

We had a little visa scare that anyone heading to India should be aware of. We needed to get "fresh" visas this year since we have been in India for more than five years. This can only be done in your home country so this summer we had to send our passports out for new visas. I don't know the background behind the switch, but the Indian Consulate has changed the company that processes Indian visas. My advice is to apply early since it took us four weeks to receive our passports back. Also I recommend using Travisa to walk your passport through the process. It costs a bit more but if there is a problem they handle it.

We head back to Delhi on Tuesday night. If anyone is passing through Newark keep an eye out for the circus!

Chad

Bounce Time

Doug and I made our last circle around Delhi today picking up some last minute items. We also stopped by the spa to treat ourselves to a massage, mani, and pedi! It is way too hot this time of year to be running around... but it was worth it.

We apologize in advance to anyone who forgets their headphones on the United flight to Newark tonight. Keep an eye out for a traveling circus... it will be us!

Both boys are having troubles with their teeth right now. Ezra and Cedric are sprouting teeth (6 and 4) respectively simultaneously. So it should be an interesting flight.

Looking forward to family time and cool temps!

Here we come America!

Chad

Countdown Season

We are in the home stretch. It is odd to say that since technically India is our home, but nevertheless we are about to bounce out of the hot box for the summer holiday. Our ayah asked this morning who was going to take care of the twins over the summer. I suppose she is concerned that we are not capable, but I think we will manage.

The temps are hitting 115 F or 46 C daily. It is so hot that when you go outside you can feel your skin retreating and your eyes start watering. Our daily routine includes air conditioned playtime and swimming.


It is 10am...

I noticed a few days ago that Jyoti (our labrador) was getting a little thick around the middle. The vet has been forever telling me that she was getting too heavy, but I was in denial considering some of the dogs I have seen. She always tacks on a few extra pounds when we leave for the summer, but she might drop a few pounds since she won't be cleaning up after the boys.

Time to starting making to-do lists...

12 days until we are in the states for 9 weeks!

Chad

Too Hot for Shoes

It is officially too hot for me. I am being a wimp this year (5 years in Delhi), and starting to complain earlier than usual. Thirty-five more days until we are up and out. The temps are reaching 105 daily now and will continue to increase until about 115 through the end of June. Yesterday I declared a moratorium on shoes and socks. It is sandal season in Delhi.

Twins twins twins!

Both boys are walking (Ezra running). They are growing very fast. Cedric is tall enough to grab things off the kitchen counters. The boys are tons of fun and full of energy. Play time has become much more fun as their skills are developing.

Our lives have changed so much. Our house is also changing. We have dismantled our guest room and created an entire room dedicated to play time. We painted all the walls blue and put down a padded floor of letters and numbers. We love it right now, but are quite aware it might turn into more work down the road when they figure out it comes apart in a million pieces. Our dvds and books have been removed from twin level. No matter what we tried they couldn't resist the temptation.

The boys also like dancing on the coffee table. We are working on getting them to stop table dancing, but this is going to be an ongoing battle. I won't say if either father has danced on a box before...

Everyone in our house has been sick. The twins and I recovered within two days, but Douglas has been out of commission for the last two weeks. We all hope he is better soon since single parenting is no fun. It is easy to forget how much you depend on your spouse when everything is normal, but when one of you is missing you quickly realize how much help you need.

Chad

Vacation Packing List for Baby

We're back from Goa! Good times were had by all travelers, and we have much to say about our experiences. It seems like every travel experience is a learning experience for all parties. So, expect some upcoming blogs as we have time. But first, an updated packing list for those of you who are interested.

The context: we took a four-day trip with a three hour plane ride with twin 16-month-old kids. I think that this list could probably make it for a week-long trip, or a multiple-week trip if you have access to laundry facilities. Our hotel where we stayed had cribs for the kids, so we didn't need to take our pack and play. The green items are things that we took and used. Orange ones are things we took and didn't use. Red ones are things we've taken on previous trips and decided, for one reason or another, to leave home.

We've kept a packing list since the boys were born on google drive. It is a shared document between us, so that both of us can update the list when we're at home or work (and we think of something we might forget, etc.). I highly recommend keeping your list on google drive so that you can access it wherever you are.

I know it seems like a TON of stuff, but we fit all of the boys things in one large suitcase and all of our things in one medium suitcase. So, in total, we had two suitcases, two diaper bags, two umbrella strollers, two dads and two boys (plus one grandma... but that's a different story for a different day!).

Clothes (total for both children)

• 12 short sleeved
• 6 long sleeved
• 4 pants
• 12 shorts
• 4 swim suits/shirts
• 8 pajamas
• 2 sun hats

Toiletries

• Towels(used the hotels)
• Wash cloths (used the hotels)
• Lotion (in a big ziplock bag)
• Bath mat

• Small toiletry bag
• Baby Shampoo
• Baby Soap/Body Wash
• Baby Bug Repellant (mosquitos weren't bad this time!)
• Anti-Mosquito wipes
• Thermometer
• Dirty diaper bags
• Baby powder
• Pepto pills
• Diaper rash cream
• Neosporin
• Small toiletry bag
• Baby sunblock
• Adult Sunblock
• Bug Spray

Toys

• Toys for bath
• Toys for beach (including flotation devices for swimming)
• Toys for indoors
• 2 stuffed animals
• White noise machine (sleep dog)

Blankets

• 2 Gumdrop blankets (light linen)
• 2 Fleece blankets

Travel Stuff

• Baby bjorn (probably won't take it next time as our kids are getting too big)
• Beach tent (we didn’t use this on our last trip, so we left it behind this trip and didn't miss it)
• Sarongs (used as light beach towels)
• Umbrella strollers
• Monitor
• Umbrella

Eating Paraphernalia

• Bottles and accessories
• Burp cloths
• Sippy cups
• Spoons
• Bowls and plates
• Oatmeal
• Cheerios
• Granola bars
• Teddy Grahams
• Goldfish
• Larabars (new to us, via suggestion from my sister: LOVED them!)

Diapers

• Size 3
• Dirty diaper bags
• Extra Wipes
• Swim diapers

Diaper Bag (we ALWAYS travel with two diaper bags on flights, as we have been split up into different sections of the plane multiple times! With the exception of medicine, everything on this list can be found in both of our diaper bags.)

• Two Large Bottles with accessories (on long trips where I will have to clean bottles enroute, I take a ziplock bag with a small amount of dish soap and a bottle brush: otherwise, this goes in checked luggage)
• Burp cloth (not for burping anymore, but good for wiping up messes)
• Wipes
• Pacifier wipes (no longer using pacifier, but good for wiping faces)
• Changing pad
• Dirty diaper bags
• Diaper rash cream
• Dirty clothes bag
• Hand sanitizer
• Granola bars
• Food
• Cherios
• Granola Bar
• Baby food
• Spoons
• Thermos for milk
• Thermos for hot water for heating bottle
• Toys
• Medicine
  • Orajel
  • Fever reducer
  • Sweet oil (for ears)
  • Rubbing alcohol (for cleaning dirty surfaces - not sure this is legal to carry on a plane, but it's the best for sanitizing, and so far no one has searched through all the vials in my bag)
  • Gas drops
  • Oral syringe
  • Benedryl allergy syrup
  • Hand sanitizer
  • Nail clippers
  • Band aids

• Nylon strap (for all of those places where the high chairs don't have straps... maybe this isn't necessary in the US or Europe, but in Asia it's a must!)
• Change of clothes (baby/adult)
• Light blanket (we didn't bring any pillows for the kids for the plane, but I may try to find a small pillow that fits into a carryon for our next flight).

Books (we left both of these home this time and survived, but if you're going somewhere new, I'd definitely take both!)

• Baby 411
• Lonely Planet

Peace and Happy Holi to you!
Douglas

Spring Break

The temperature is rising in India, but it is still in the manageable nineties. That can only mean one thing. It is time for our last trip out of Delhi for the school year. Doug's mother is enroute to Delhi. She was due in last night, but as usual Newark was a cluster $%#@ and she had to reschedule for one day later. Thankfully United also let her change her return date by one day so she didn't cut any time off her trip.

Climbing is the newest event in our house. The higher the boys get the happier they are... chuckle chuckle. I am considering removing the couch from the nursery as I am afraid one of them will either jump or get pushed off which will lead to another trip to the hospital.

Dinner time continues to stress us out. It seems we can't make the boys happy. They refuse to eat things they loved five minutes before, they throw all the food off their trays in protest, and scream for more. We have tried so many things, but it seems nothing will suffice. This phase needs to pass.

Cedric is very clingy, and he wants to be held most of the time. I think this problem was created by having two ayahs at his beck and call. We are working on strategies to calm him down, but he gets so worked up we have to let him cry it out. This phase needs to pass.

Ezra is basically running around now. He is a busy boy and usually has on a big smile. Cedric has started taking a few steps here and there, but only when he wants to. He is a very effective crawler so he is content with his mobility. Plus every time he stands Ezra makes it his mission to push him over.

We are all looking forward to Goa. Our family does beach vacations well.

Chad

Up and Out: Thailand

We are leaving for the airport in thirty minutes. Douglas did a great job at the last minute packing, and I managed to doubt him only once. We are close to being professionals... I think.

This should be a quick, easy, and painless trip. The only bad thing is the overnight flight being four hours and we land at sunrise. So it looks like a short night and a long day ahead. It will all be worth it after spending two weeks on a private beach with each other and our boys.

Happy Holidays!

Chad, Douglas, Cedric & Ezra

Playing Catch Up: First Birthday Party

Our last day in Istanbul was Cedric & Ezra's first birthday. We enjoyed carpet shopping, apple tea drinking, purchasing a great painting, and of course hopping on a plane. I sat down today and calculated how many flights the boys have been on in their first year and here is what I came up with.

Delhi-Newark-Indianapolis
Indianapolis-Houston-Frankfurt-Delhi
Delhi-Goa
Goa-Delhi
Delhi-Istanbul-Paris
Paris-Chicago-Indianapolis
Indianapolis-Newark-Delhi
Delhi-Hong Kong
Hong Kong-Delhi
Delhi-Istanbul
Istanbul-Delhi

So there you have it 17 take offs and landings and 46,530 miles in their first year of life. Not many babies can say they have been in six different countries (seven if you count Texas) before the age of one.

My mother came back to Delhi with us and we had a great two weeks hanging out around the house and exploring Delhi-lite. While she was here we had a proper celebration with our overseas family. Thankfully the boys are not all that into sugar and messes... yet.

We are off to Koh Chang Thailand next week for winter break. We get to spend almost three weeks with our asses in the sand and beers in our hands!

Here are a few pictures from the party.

 Chad

Playing Catch Up: Turkey Trip

Hello blog readers! I'm not sorry for the long pause in blogging. Life is as busy as hell and the blog gets put on the back burner.

Turkey was a great trip despite me declaring a moratorium on all future travel on the flight to Istanbul. It all started around 2a. We packed the boys up and headed to the airport where they slept through check-in, immigration, security, and boarding. We took our seats and life as we knew it changed. The boys kicked it into high gear, and since it was morning time it was play time. Under normal circumstances this would be fine, but Douglas and I had been up since 2a and were approaching exhaustion. Just an FYI holding two almost one year olds still for six hours on three hours of sleep isn't pretty. So we learned that timing is everything, and in the future we will be taking overnight flights when we travel.

Although it started out a bit rough our trip to Istanbul was great. My mother flew in from Indianapolis the day after we arrived, and we had a great time eating street food and touring the city. The streets are clean, the people were nice, and the buildings are beautiful. Istanbul is now on my list of top cities.

Here are some pictures from our trip.

Chad

Up and Out: Turkey

We did not forget about the blog. The twins are definitely keeping us busy around the house. We have both been working hard and traveling hard so our house has been in constant motion.

The boys are on a fairly decent schedule now. We were spoiled way to early with sleeping through the night. We have been dealing with middle of the night feedings since the last post. We think in that beginning the boys were going through a growth spurt and were in fact hungry, but now we have determined they have developed a dependence to the middle of the night bottle. Last night the boys self soothed and everyone woke up happy.

They both love to sing and dance. Anytime we put on the music (except Mary's music) they start to boogie. Bath time at our house is so much fun. They both love to splash. They eat mostly cut up things now, and we only still puree a few things. Ezra only likes spicy chicken. If it doesn't have enough flavor he will spit it out. Cedric still eats everything. Jyoti loves the boys and sits waiting for them to drop food from their high-chairs.

We leave for Istanbul tonight, and have not even taken the suitcases out of the closet. Douglas has decided that we are last minute packers and that stresses me out. If I were in charge of the bags I probably would have done it last week. That being said he always does a great job, and we have never left anything or anyone behind.

Cedric and Ezra will be one year old next week. My mother is meeting us in Istanbul and we are bringing her back to India for two weeks. We are shocked that a whole year has gone by already. The days are busy and a little bit crazy, but I can't imagine it any different.

Chad

Up and Out: Hong Kong

The bags are not packed, we are not ready to go, work awaits us tomorrow, and off to the airport at 8p. I think I just decided to toss the clothes on the bed and let our wonderful household help stuff the bags.

Chad

Nine Months

Man oh man we have come a long way. It is down right shocking to think our babies are nine months old already. Here are some updates... and some color pictures from our summer photo shoot!

Ezra is fearless and can't sit still. He is always on the move. He loves to be up on his feet, and every time we put him down he is pulling himself up with the biggest smile on his face. A few days ago he escaped from the Bumbo seat and used it as a walker to move across the floor. While in the crib he is walking around the sides by holding on, and starting to let go with one hand. We are expecting him to take off running really soon.

Cedric is gaining speed across the floor. He prefers to use his arms to pull himself around though. He doesn't really use his knees to crawl traditionally. He is really happy to be on the move and turns around to make sure people are watching. He is also pulling himself up, but isn't all that excited about it just yet.

Both boys really like to float around in the pool. We had a nice swim session yesterday to escape the Delhi heat. We also made a trip out to Saket to one of the fourteen Mothercare stores and finally found high-chairs that are not plastic. The boys loved people watching at the mall and really enjoyed the day out and about.

We are busy working on travel plans. Douglas and I both have work trips planned. I am going to Singapore next month and he is going to Munich in mid-October. I have also just finalized our trip to Hong Kong for Doug's 30th birthday! Then in November we are escaping Delhi for a few days to avoid Diwali (loosely translates to chaos and noise). My mother is going to meet us in Istanbul and then come back to India with us for two weeks over Thanksgiving. Then lastly we are working on winter break travel plans to a beach in South East Asia that we have not yet visited. I will let you know if we find one!

The teeth tally is Ezra 3 and Cedric 2.

Family Photo Time

"Take my picture!"

"Look what I can do!"

"Are we done yet?"... "I'm out of here!"

Chad

The Witching Hour

Time to check in from Delhi. It is 4:30am and the boys are finally down again. Unbeknownst to me they have been having a party since about mid-night. Douglas finally threw in the towel at 3:00a for some assistance by my PTFO position in bed. With that said I feel great and just had a big breakfast. With this schedule lunch shall commence around 9:30a.

Our trip back couldn't have been more uneventful. We had our typical delay out of Indianapolis, but we  had plenty of time to make the connection so everything worked out. We missed out on our business/first class upgrade. We were number five and six on the list, but they only had four seats available. There will always be a next time.

The boys did great the entire time. Cedric slept in two hour intervals which allowed me to get some good naps in.  He is a comfort eater, and a pacifier addict so it was easy to keep him happy. He was quite the social butterfly with the man sitting next to us. I actually had to tell the man to ignore him so he would go to sleep. Ezra slept for the first ten hours of the flight, and then woke up ready to run a marathon. Douglas had his work cut out for him the last few hours of the flight. I can count on one hand how many minutes the boys cried in the 24 hours it took to get from Indy to India. We are so thankful that our boys are such great travelers.

The final tally of things making the journey: eight checked bags (50-60 lbs each), five carry-on bags (includes two diaper bags and two baby carriers, and a rolling suitcase with relief everything), two babies, two adults, and four bottles from duty free. Our driver that met us at the airport had a look of terror on his face when he saw us heading in his direction. Everything fit... including the twins and the top shelf vodka.

The twins are changing so fast. They are both mobile so it is game on. We quickly learned that our house is not yet child proofed. I love getting Cedric to laugh. He is majorly ticklish and his laugh is contagious. Erza might be a gymnast in a few years. He can contort and bend in ways I can't imagine.

Some of our friends are already here, and the rest will trickle in over the next few days. We met the new faculty and they are a great bunch of people. As anticipated the newbies are shocked when we tell them this is year five for us.

It feels great to be back in Delhi.

Chad

Back to Delhi: Packed & Ready

Once again our bags are packed. We are scheduled to leave Indianapolis tomorrow afternoon, and we should be in New Delhi Thursday night. We are looking forward to getting back into our home and settled down again for the new year. I have to start working again on Friday morning. There is nothing like hitting the ground running.

You should expect tomorrow's parade to the airport to have all the makings of a circus coming to a tent near you. While we were filling our bags today we quickly realized that we had officially shopped too much this summer. We had to run up to our storage unit and retrieve an additional suitcase. Our checked bag count is up to eight, and carry-ons are at five. Thankfully my parents are going to help us get to check-in, and we won't have to look at the most of it until we get to the other side of the world.

Chad

Happy Holidays!

This time last year we were lounging on the beaches of Bali thinking about starting the process of having children. I can't believe how much has changed since then. Thank you Bali for clearing our minds and sending us in this direction.

We have had a little something under our sleeves for about a month now. We couldn't discuss this on the blog or Facebook which has been really hard... until now. We are in America! We booked tickets right after the boys were born in hopes that we would have everything squared away in time. We went down to the wire, but we were able to fly home to surprise our families for the holidays. Everyone is totally shocked and happy that we came.

It turns out that Cedric and Ezra are made for travel. They were perfect little angels for the 15 hr flight, 2 hr layover, and another 2 hr flight. It was nice to have several of our friends/colleagues on our long flight and we were able to pass the boys around a little. The flight crew on Continental was amazing and made sure that we had everything we needed. They even washed our bottles mid-flight!

We are both really excited to be home for the holidays. It has been five years since we have been with family for Christmas. We will be splitting our time between my family in Indiana and Doug's family in Ohio. We also have plans to meet up with our friends for New Years.

Happy Holidays from our family to yours!

Chad