Friday, December 22, 2006

Snap happy

We've all gotten a little snap happy around here, taking even more pictures of our favorite subjects (and an occasional one of the rest of us in the family). New pictures start on page 11 of the Nov-Dec 2006 Family album. And to think we haven't even gotten to Christmas yet. :lol: (The link is correct now, if you tried this before)

Vegas, baby, Vegas!

Joe and I just got back from a little weekend get-away to Vegas, and we had a fantastic time. We traveled with Mark Kantor, a poker buddy and former co-worker of Joe's, and his wife, Yvonne, and Rich Kanter (no relation to Mark), a long-time friend of Mark's, and his wife, Yukimi; we stayed at the beautiful Bellagio on the Strip. In addition to the obvious poker and slot machines, we saw the Blue Man Group (very unique show), toured the Strip, checked out the Ansel Adams show at the Bellagio's fine art gallery, and took advantage of the fabulous salon and spa (I had two massages, talk about being spoiled!). We didn't do too well at the casino, but hey, we had a great time!

Check out the pics we took in the Vegas '06 album in the Vacation gallery .

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Crash!

Joe got into an accident today The car was annihilated on the passenger side. I was driving in the left lane of 169 going north just past of Co Rd 21 in Jordan when a Ford pickup smashes into me. The collision forced me into the median and into oncoming traffic. Fortunately the truck stopped in the median so I was able to swerve back into the median before another car could finish me off. See the pictures here. Joe's feeling ok, just a little sore.

Monday, December 11, 2006

Alex in motion

Well, I can't quite call it "crawling" yet, but Alex has finally figured out how to mobilize.  :cool:  He's been working very hard to stretch and reach at things that he has figured out the Army crawl. He's quite proud of himself for it too, although he is still trying to figure out how to get up and crawl like Zach.

Monday, December 4, 2006

Sick and teething - a bad combination

The poor little guys are dealing with a nasty bug as well as the next round of teeth, so they haven't wanted to eat much and fight going to sleep (although they do sleep good once they finally give in). Mom and Dad are a bit on the frazzled side, but things are getting better. The fevers are gone, they're starting to eat a little better, and the Orajel is helping with the teething. Alex had a new tooth break the surface yesterday, and hopefully Zach will soon follow suit.

Lots of cute new pics have been added to the Nov-Dec 2006 album. We've got the boys' first taste of ham and "real" food (veggie puffs), pics from Thanksgiving and holiday decorating, our family pics for this year's Christmas card, the boys' first visit with Santa during a trip to the mall with Debbie, a father-son trip to the Vikes game, and some just plain cute photos. Enjoy!

Sunday, November 5, 2006

Nine fast months

It's hard to believe, but these boys have been with us for nine amazing months. Both have learned how to sit up really well and are babbling constantly (we think Alex will learn to speak first). Zach is crawling all over the place, and Alex appears to be on the verge of figuring that out. Zach has even figured out how to pull himself to a stand!

Their 9-month checkup went well. Alex is 19 lb 4.8 oz and 28 in long. Zach is 17 lb 14.6 oz and 27.5 in long, although the length measurement isn't real exact.

The boys looked awfully cute in their Halloween costumes, little sweatsuits that Grandma Pat bought for them. Zach was a cow, complete with ears on his hood and a tail on his butt, and Alex was a smiling pumpkin with a stem on his head. Joe, with Debbie's help, brought them to his office and to Karen's office. They, of course, charmed everyone they met.

Lots of new pictures have been added to both the Sept-Oct album and the new Nov-Dec album. Also, Cole's baseball portraits finally got scanned and added to the May-June album (better late then never, right?).

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Big day for Zach

Yesterday was a big day for Zach.  For the first time, he crawled a couple steps while waiting for Daddy to give him a bath - not a flop, but an actual crawl!  His first tooth has also finally broken through the surface! (no wonder why he's been so cranky lately!) :cool:

Friday, September 15, 2006

On the Verge of Crawling

Zach is "thisclose" to learning how to crawl! As the picture recently added to the site indicates, he has figured out how to scoot/flop backwards - even though he's really trying to move forward. He was so proud of himself, though, as he is obviously really excited to be able to move. Today he's been hanging out on his hands and knees, rocking back and forth. He may not have his first tooth yet (although that will likely come soon too), he'll be crawling around before we know it. Time to hurry up and babyproof the house! :lol:

New Pics

We've added new pictures to the Family July-August 2006 album of the boys' first taste of veggies, fun new exersaucers from Grandma Pat, and other cute photos. The Sept-Oct 2006 album has been created (how is it that late in the year already??) with Zach's exciting first attempts at crawling. And we took some cool pictures from the "Space Tower" at the Minnesota State Fair while hanging out with Bobby and Kwo Ue.

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Tooth sighting!

Alex's first tooth is starting to appear! :lol: Amazingly, it doesn't seem to phase him much, so it must not hurt too bad.

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

July-August album

The May-July album was getting long since we've been going crazy with pictures, so I've created a new July-August album to keep both albums smaller.

New pics include a little wrestling match between the boys in mid-July (it had been hiding on Joe's camera), a visit from Grandpa Dan and Grandma Marilyn, the 2nd cereal feeding (the first was videotaped) and bath time - plus some just plain cute ones.

Friday, August 4, 2006

Six Month Checkups

The boys had their six month checkups this week, and they are doing great! Zach is now 16 lbs even and 26.75 inches long, and Alex is 16 lbs 14 oz and 26.5 inches long. They've both been tracking along the 50th percentile for most measurements, except for Zach's weight, which is usually around the 25th percentile. They're both doing really well developmentally. Both of them figured out how to roll over in the last few weeks; this is now one of Zach's favorite tricks. They are also learning how to babble and recognize each other and the kitties (Alex LOVES the kitties!).

Friday, June 23, 2006

Congrats Unca Led and Susan!

Congrats to my Uncle Ed and Susan, who just got engaged! We're excited to officially welcome Susan and her daughter Madeline to the family, although we've considered them family for a long time.

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Photos and more photos

Lots of new photos have been added to the Family album - 95 since May 1! The 2006 Family album has been reorganized a bit too, with new folders for Feb-Apr and May-July, since we've been adding so many pictures.

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

A Minivan??

We have finally succumbed and traded in my cute little Lexus SUV for - gasp! - a Toyota Sienna minivan. After watching poor Cole climb in and out around two sets of carseats and plenty of struggles trying to get the carseat carriers around open doors, we decided that it was time to bite the bullet and get a minivan with sliding doors and an easy-to-access third row for Cole. I hate to admit it, but I actually enjoy it. It's so much more practical and convenient with the boys, and it still has all the bells and whistles that my Lexus had - plus a DVD player! It'll be great for our trips to Chicago!

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Four months!

Zach and Alex turned four months old this week. Hard to believe how fast the time has gone! They had their checkup this morning and are doing very well. Zach is 13 lbs 10 oz and 24 inches long, and Alex is 14 lbs 8 oz and is also 24 inches long.  Check out the latest pictures of our little cuties (this page sorts the photos in reverse order).

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Congrats to Robert and Kwo Ue!

Congratulations to our dear friends Robert and Kwo Ue, who got engaged on Saturday at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden! Pictures of our wonderful evening out with them are in the 2006 Friends and Coworkers album.

Update to "Latest Photos"

Joe has added new functionality to the Latest Photos page that shows ALL the photos that have been added to the site, sorted by date added, rather than just the 12 most recent ones.

There's also a new option in the dropdown menu for each album to "View Latest Updates," which also sorts by date added, making it much easier to see the latest and greatest.

Thursday, May 4, 2006

Zach and Alex are baptized

The boys were baptized on Sunday after attending their first Mass.  They handled both very well. They slept through most of the Mass, only waking when the bells rang. During the baptism, they only cried a little when the cold water hit their heads. And of course, they looked adorable in their little white christening suits. :D Check out the pictures in the Baptism album .

Friday, April 14, 2006

Baby photos moved

FYI, I've reorganized the baby photos so that they are all inside the 2006 Family album, as these really our our family pictures for this year. Be sure to check this album in the future for new photos of Zach and Alex, as well as Cole, Mom and Dad!

Thursday, March 30, 2006

Two months old!

Zach and Alex had their two-month checkup yesterday, and they are doing very well. Zach now weighs 9 lbs 1.8 oz and is 21 inches long. Alex is 9 lbs 9.6 oz and is also 21 inches long. :D They are gettting more and more alert each day and are starting to show signs of cooing and smiling. They still eat every 3-4 hours, so, unfortunately, Mom and Dad aren't getting much sleep yet. They are really good babies though, as they are pretty content most of the time.

Saturday, March 25, 2006

New Photos in the Photo Gallery

Lots of new pictures have been added, including:

Baby Vandermark x 2 - more from their first day to current
Albums of the baby showers
Our honeymoon in Kauai, Hawaii and other vacations
Lots of pictures in the Family album and the Friends album from the past few years
Additional pictures from our wedding

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Boys are home now!

Not much time to post this, but thought I would let everyone now Zach and Alex are now home. 16 1/2 days in the level two nursery and all is well now. Both boys gained weight and are eating well. We found out from their doctor that they are identical twins :cool:! Lots of fun ahead of us now...

Sunday, January 29, 2006

The Vandermark twins have arrived!

Both boys arrived safely at St. Francis hospital in Shakopee on January 29, 2006.

Zach was first, at 8:06AM, and let everyone know that he was there... He weighed in at 4 lbs, 13oz. and his length was 17.5 inches. His "bigger" brother followed him two minutes later, at 8:08AM, weighing 5lbs., 6oz. and was 18 inches long.

Both boys and mom are doing great, just need some time to recover from the trauma. Hopefully mom can be released Wednesday and the boys sometime after that (could be a week or so).

We took pictures, but unfortunately had a problem retrieveing them off the digital camera. I may have walked by an x-ray machine or some other device that destroyed the data, but I managed to hack the XD filesystem and recover some of it.

Here are some more pictures.





























Daddy In Scrubs

Alex

Zach

Mommy and Alex

Mommy and both boys

Daddy and Zach


Happy Grandparents!

Saturday, January 14, 2006

Baby update - 32 weeks

I had another ultrasound this week, and the boys are doing well. Baby A is still breech, unfortunately, so I will likely have a c-section unless he flips by then. He has grown to about 3 lb 10 oz, and Baby B has grown to 4 lb 1 oz. I now go in every week for a checkup and non-stress test. Ideally, I'll make it to at least 36 weeks, so we're getting close! Grandpa Bob will be painting the nursery for us this weekend, and the furniture is in and ready to be assembled. Pictures from the ultrasound are in the Baby x 2 album.