Jonathan & Jenelle » Pacific NW Fun

Stop Toying with Me

jonathan — Sun, 30 May 2010 17:00:13 +0000

Three Kids Two and Under: A Year in Review in Numbers

jenelle — Tue, 25 May 2010 22:21:46 +0000

Those who know me well, are very aware that I’m a numbers nerd. What better way to sum up the one-year birthday of Clara and Nicolyn than with a few solid numbers for posterity. Next post: a year in review in pictures (probably a little more interesting for the rest of you, but I had a great time putting this together).

Weight of twins at birth: 14 lbs. 7 oz. ( 7 lbs. 4 oz. and 7 lbs. 3 oz.)

Length of twins at birth: 42.25 inches (21.25 inches and 21 inches)

Weeks gestation at twins’ birth: 38 weeks

Number of months Jenelle was on nausea medication: 8.5 (including two weeks post-delivery)

Days of live-in help after twins were born: 40 (Jonathan’s mom, my mom, and my sister – I know blessings will be showered on you dear souls)

Number of days Jonathan worked from home for only four hours a day (to help transition me to full-time): 1 month

Contributions to landfills. Diapers purchased and used in 12 months for three children: approximately 5,438

Number of Costco formula cans used in 12 months: approximately 116 (about 1 can every 3 days; not including all the free sample cans people gave us or two months of pumping)

Number of bottles washed on average per day before the babies were 6 months old: 17

Number of bottles washed on average per day after the twins were 6 months old: 11

Number of Rick Steves travel videos watched while feeding twins: 80+

Number of DiGiorno’s pizzas eaten (Vance family equivalent of fast food): 36

Number of DiGiorno’s pizzas left in freezer yet to be eaten: 9

Age difference between Clara and Nicolyn: 18 minutes (Clara is older)

Age difference between Annika and twins: 22 months, 1 day

Number of months our family had three children ages 1 and younger: 2

Average number of hours of sleep Jenelle got during night hours the first couple of weeks: 1

Average number of hours of sleep Jenelle got after waking both babies up at the same time during the night: 4

Number of days twins slept in parents’ room: 0

Age Nicolyn and Clara moved to separate cribs: 4 months

Age Clara and Nicolyn crawled: 7.5 months

Age Clara and Nicolyn walked: 10.5 months

Number of car seats that fit in a Toyota Corolla: 3

Number of times Jenelle has gone out with all three kids by herself (you know something is an event if you can list numbers like this)–

Park: 5

Joann’s: 3

Costco: 1

Grocery store: 0

Doctor: 4

Library: 3

Number of times Jonathan has taken all three kids out by himself: 1

Number of times Jonathan watched all three kids by himself: many, many (ie. all the German classes, gym workouts, breakdown-need-time-to-myself evenings, etc.) I don’t want you to think there hasn’t been some equally yoked-ness going on around here.

Number of plane rides Jenelle, Annika, Clara, and Nicolyn have traveled on during the last 12 months: 4

Number of plane rides Jonathan has traveled on during the last 12 months: 17

Number of days Jonathan traveled away from home during last 12 months: 28

Number of doctor visits during last 12 months: 63

Number of adult evening German language classes Jenelle has attended: 23

Number of times Jenelle has said “Isn’t (insert cute kid action) so cute?”: Who knows? A lot. Then times that by three very cute kids.

Number of breakdowns Jenelle has had: Not as many as the “cute” number. But a fair number.

Amount spent on chocolate “therapy”: classified

Number of attempted sewing machine repairs (for sewing therapy): 5

Happy birthday Nicolyn and Clara! It has been a whirlwind of a year, but we hope that somewhere in there you’ve felt often how much we love you and are so happy you are part of our family!

You Think Sew?

jonathan — Sat, 22 May 2010 19:29:39 +0000

Avid Jonathan & Jenelle blog readers will easily recall that Jenelle has showed her sewing talents on a number of occasions. But they may not realize that Jenelle doesn’t limit herself to Halloween costumes — in fact, she recently turned out a hip new ironing board cover (well, as hip as an ironing board cover can be) and a cute blouse.

Nana and Grandpa Dell in Oregon

jonathan — Sat, 22 May 2010 18:51:45 +0000

In late April the Vance family was fortunate enough to have as their guests Nana and Grandpa Dell — or, as Annika sometimes calls them, “Jonathan’s parents.” Grandpa Dell did all of the home repair projects that Jonathan had left undone. Nana brought wonderful birthday presents for the girls. Together, everyone went to the zoo on a beautiful Saturday.

Merry Christmas from the Vances

jonathan — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 22:47:37 +0000

Vance Family Christmas Card 2009 (pdf)

Christmas Around the Clock

jonathan — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 06:45:33 +0000

Building on a long tradition, everyone in the Vance family receives a new Christmas ornament each year. Here’s a picture of Jenelle’s new ornament.

As the mother of three kids under three, Jenelle thinks it’s the perfect ornament for her life right now. To better understand why, we should explain that the ornament winds up. Below is a video of it in action.

Smoothly Roughing It

jonathan — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 05:46:25 +0000

Jenelle and Jonathan, reluctant to let their three-kids-under-three status keep them from enjoying the Great Outdoors, decided to take their family camping. Since this would be the first camping trip with newborn twins, they were reluctant to go certain places. For example, they were reluctant to go anywhere that would require spending the night in a tent.

Fortunately, in Oregon there are many ways to go camping without a tent and without sleeping under the stars. (Some purists will assert that this is merely “camping” and not camping, but one should note that most of those purists do not have a young gaggle of girls to travel with.) So, the Vance family made a September reservation for a cabin at Stewart State Park, which is only a 35-minute drive from their house.

The cabin had a lovely view of the coast mountains. It also had some simple furniture, electricity and heat. It proved to be about the right level of camping for the Vance family right now.

Although Annika was already an experience camper, she enjoyed new experiences like roasting marshmallows and helping Daddy with breakfast. She thought her sleeping bag was pretty exciting, too, since it was Mommy’s and it was pink.

After managing to get some sleep during the night, everyone went for a nice stroller-friendly walk on a trail in the park.

More pictures are here.

They Were Good Little Monkeys, and Always Very Curious

jonathan — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 05:18:41 +0000

In November 2008, Jenelle found two infant monkey costumes on clearance at Target. By this time, she and Jonathan knew that they were expecting twins, and they hatched their costume plans for 2009: the little girls would all be monkeys (i.e., Curious Georgias), Jonathan would be the man in the yellow hat, and Jenelle would be the Woman in the Yellow Hat. (Literary purists will point out that there is no “Woman in the Yellow Hat” — but don’t you think that the Man gets a little lonely with just a monkey for company?)

So, Jenelle pulled out her sewing skills and made costumes for Annika, Jonathan and herself.

Annika’s costume was Jenelle’s crowning achievement this year. Fortunately, she eventually agreed to put it on.

After a photo session, the family set off for a ’round-the-cul-de-sac trick-or-treat walk. Annika declined to say “trick-or-treat” at any house, but maybe she can do that next year.

After returning home, Annika sat down on the living room floor to sample each piece of her modest-sized loot. They next morning, she asked her parents where her “snacks” were — but by that time, they had mysteriously disappeared.

Jenelle’s sewing projects were particularly impressive this year due to repeated problems with her Swedish sewing machine, which she inherited from her grandmother (the machine, not the problems). (The machine’s name is unprintable here because it contains too many consecutive consonants.) After repeated trips to the repair shop failed to remedy the problems, Jenelle bought a pdf of the machine’s manual on eBay and then fixed the machine herself. Since then, MIT has offered to confer an honorary doctorate on her, but Jenelle is too tired and too busy to bother with such fluff.

More Halloween pictures are here.

The New Arrivals

jonathan — Sat, 02 May 2009 18:36:08 +0000

This week the Vance family welcomed into the world Clara (formerly known as “Baby A”) and Nicolyn (formerly known as “Baby B”). The labor was easier than expected, and the babies are larger than expected (both over seven pounds).

Everyone is healthy (but we should note that “healthy” is different from “well rested”).

Pregnancy Progression

jonathan — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 05:42:22 +0000

Here are some pictures of Jenelle from the beginning of February to mid-March.