Halloween Pics

I took the kids to a Halloween portrait session at one of my favorite stores. Ethan cooperated and was being so silly for the camera...it was awesome! And then I took them all trick-or-treating at all the stores. Here are the pics!

Slacker!!

I have been awful with the blog!! Mainly because I always want pictures to accompany my posts (but you will have to wait till tomorrow for pics). It has been a busy couple of months. Nothing can prepare you to handle 3 kids under 2!! But it does get easier each day, here are my updates on each baby:

Ethan - He is as handsome as can be (and he looks like his father) so he is a lucky boy!! I have mentioned before that he had a hard time adjusting to his sisters. But we have come to discover that he has a speech delay and possibly a sensory disorder. He knows how to tell us what he wants without words but can't communicate with words. It looks like he'll qualify for the state funded therapy program . Which mean he has to rank 33% below his developmental age. So it is heartbreaking news that he so behind but it is also a blessing that we caught it early and he will receive the help he needs!

Claire- She has been smiling for a few weeks now and she started to giggle last week. Now she will full laugh when I kiss her. She is such a cuddler and loves her mom! She has great head control but hates tummy time, we have to work on rolling over...she's gotta beat her sis and that will take lots of work!! As of today she weighed in at 11lbs 11oz.

Brooke- She is soooo social. If you even walk past her she will smile and "talk to you" she loves people and playing with anyone who will give her attention. She just laughed for the 1st time today! She is soooo close to rolling over, we just need to work on that neck strength. And she weighted in at 10lbs 14.5 oz

Ok pics of the pumpkin patch to come tomorrow....I promise!!

We're alive....

....but everything is a blur!! I couldn't tell you what happened yesterday! Okay well maybe I could since Jeff got sick (either food or salmonella poisoning) and Hot Grammy had to come to the rescue....but for the most part I don't know what day it is!

The girls are 2 months old. They are smiling at us and they are starting to "play" on their own. They are amazing sleepers (nothing like Ethan ever was). They go to bed around 8, then we wake them to eat when we go to bed around 11 and they sleep to 5 or 6 then get up again around 8. It works out well and gives us some alone time with Ethan before the girls get up.

Claire

Brooke
The Girls


Ethan is slooooowwwwllyyy.....very slowly adjusting to his sisters. For the 1st month they were here after each nap he would run downstairs so excited until he saw that the babies were still here and then he would have a complete meltdown. But those are in the past now, he realizes the girls are here to stay.

His age right is hard because he can't really talk to us yet but he is starting to understand us and will take our hand and pull us to what he wants. I can't wait for him to start talking and communicating with us (I know once he does start talking I will wonder if he'll ever stop). The funniest is when we have a baby and he wants to be held he'll pull us to the swing and grab the babies leg while yelling "down." We make sure to give him 1 on 1 time with us each day. I take him somewhere in the morning and Jeff does something with him in the afternoon. He definitely gets lots of love from us but we still feel beyond guilty when he's watching TV again cause were feeding the babies. I just keep imaging how awesome next summer will be when the the kids are all friends and can play together. I am living a dream here (not thinking of the fights and tantrums)...so don't burst my bubble here!!
And last but not least here is a picture of my handsome baby boy

Ethan

They're here!!

Our baby girls are here!!
They were both born June 28, 2010 at 7:48am

Claire Addison
6 pounds 7ounces
and

Brooke Riley
5 pounds 1 ounce

The girls beautiful and they are doing great. They are in the NICU and we are not sure when they will be coming home with us, but they are very healthy for twins and just need some help with eating and breathing.

Here are some pictures of the little ones
http://picasaweb.google.com/jeffstarkel/StarkelTwins

Baby Showers

We have been blessed with 2 wonderful baby showers!! The girls have been so spoiled by our family and friends.

The 1st one my parents and sister put together in the Bay Area. Ethan was still trying to get over his awful cold and we were so close to having to cancel but we pulled through. It was a little rough because Ethan just wasn't happy, but Jeff and I had a great time!!

The 2nd baby shower a few of my friends put together. It was just the girls and my Mom and sister came up to hang out with us too!! It was nice to have a morning away from kids and just chat with my friends!!

We are so lucky to have such wonderful family and friends!! Thank you all!!

3 Car Seats

The car seats are installed and there is no room for anyone but the babies!!

31 Week Belly Pics

We had a doctor appointment at 30 weeks and the doctor said I was measuring the size of someone 40 weeks pregnant with 1 baby!! Wow...no wonder it is impossible to do anything and its only going to get worse.
But I have still been able to take Ethan to the park and doing all our normal errands. We get lots of stares, some questions and plenty of comments. And I love when someone makes a rude comment like "you sure didn't want long to have another...when are you due?" and I will say July and keep walking. I keep the twin information to a minimum as it brings on another set of questions and comments. Today Ethan dropped one of the groceries he was playing with while I was loading the car and I went to get it but this guy said "let me get that for you, I'm affraid you would topple over if you tried!" And its almost true, I am a little front heavy.

Belly Pictures

Here are the belly pictures from 27 weeks. I am bigger than I ever was with Ethan...enjoy!

This picture makes me laugh...I can't believe how my belly sticks straight out!Here is a full bare belly pic and here is my pic to prove I am bigger than I was when I delivered Ethan. This picture was taken as we were walking out the door for my c-section

1 year pictures

We finally had Ethan's 1 year old pictures taken...we were just 4 months late...but they turned out so cute! I love them!! My friend is starting a photography business and she is so good, you can check her out at www.michelesunseriphotography.com.
Here are a few of our favorites

Okay so I know you all want an updated belly picture, I will take one tomorrow. I am huge (don't be fooled by the pictures above)!! At my last doctor appointment I was 25 weeks but my belly measured 35 weeks (This means my body thinks I am 35 weeks pregnant not 25 weeks). I am now 27 weeks and I will most likely be measuring 40 weeks at my 29 week doctor appointment. So consider yourself warned when you see the insanely large belly picture.

Happy St Patty's Day!

We are loving this beautiful weather and Ethan has been able to play outside every afternoon the past couple days. We got him a bubble machine and he loves trying to catch the bubbles, it is hilarious to watch him run around in circles trying to get the bubbles. Here are some pics of him playing today.

After bubbles we went to the park to play and run around. I tried putting him in the swing first and he was not happy about it. He wanted to be where the big kids are and climb on all the play structures, which gives me a heart attack because I am afraid he will fall off the top where there are large openings in the play structure.

And I had to take a pic of his butt...he definitely has the coolest jeans!! Yes, he's spoiled!!

And finally here is a belly pic from today. I am 23 weeks going on 29 weeks. The 29 weeks is what my belly is measuring...I am afraid for myself once I hit 30 weeks and start measuring 40+ weeks! Yikes!!

Girls or Boys.....

We had an ultrasound to determine the babies genders and they are both.......


Girls


Here are some pics of the babies

Baby B laying on top of Baby A and kicking the baby in the head
(the fighting has already started!)

Baby A
Both the babies together

And just for fun here is my 18 week belly picture.....I am measuring 5 weeks ahead.

And here is a picture from the same point in the pregnancy with Ethan.....

now thats a huge difference!!!

Our new ride....

The quad stroller

Belly Pictures!!

Am I really having two more babies in June? Ethan keeps me so busy I tend to forget they are coming! When I was pregnant with E I had all the appointments scheduled ahead of time, counted down the days to know his gender, planned the nursery, looked at names, day dreamed about having him. Now I have barely even thought about the triple stroller or the 2 more cribs we will need and these babies are lucky if we remember a belly pic or even mention them on the blog. So to make up for my slacking here are a couple belly pics and a pic of the babies.


4 weeks

This is actually major IVF bloat, technically known as ovarian hyper stimulation syndrome, and it sucks. It is super painful (it caused partial ovarian torsion which was the most painful thing ever), it makes breathing hard and overall just sucks!! But I got through it and according to the doctors only had a mild case. I cannot imagine a severe case.

10 weeks


15 weeks

The babies at 12 weeks