Just the Six of Us

"We can make it if we try..."

A blog is only useful if it has readers. I tend to read blog posts only if I feel that the information will be useful or entertaining to me. Most of the time I like to feel a connection to the writer, which is much easier if I know a bit about them. Do they think/act the same way I do? Do they live an interesting life? What drives them to do what they do? These are the things I like to know. If you want to know more about my family and myself, this is the post for you.

For ease of reading, I will format this as I have laid out my signature:
Dad|Mom|The Twins|The Little One|The Boy.


Dad:
This would be me!! I was born in 1979 and had a bit of a normal upbringing(I'm assuming this because it is the only upbringing I have had). My parents didn't have much money but they made sure to provide for us kids. I grew up outdoors: the back yard, front yard, friend's house, the woods, moutains, desert; I was from the (last?) generation of "Go outside and come back when the sun sets." From as young as I can remember, they took us out tent camping a few times a year. I've always enjoyed being/working/playing outside.

We moved around quite a few times when I was younger (I always joke that my parents were running from something, I just never knew what): various places in California, Nevada, Arizona, Iowa, Illinois. They finally settled back in Tucson (AZ) when I was 9 and I spent the rest of my childhood there.

I met my wife in 1996 while I was still a junior in highschool. We fell for each other immediately(my wedding band is inscribed with:"I knew from the moment we met...") and spent (still spend) as much time together as possible. She asked me when I was 20: "What do you want to do when you grow up?" My reply..."I want to fly airplanes."

So, we set our aim towards that goal and in 2002 we left Tucson for the Phoenix area (I know... BIG move) for my flight training. Over the course of 14 months I became a commercial pilot and flight instructor. I have been teaching people how to fly since 2004.


Mom:
My Wife. She was born in 1979(a couple of months after me) in Tucson where she lived until I kidnapped her to move to Phoenix in 2002. Her grandparents moved to Tucson in the '70s with their kids and settled down to retire. They had a 5th wheel which they used to travel across the U.S. and Canada in the summer months. While my wife was a child, she got to travel with them on most of those trips(Lucky!!!). She saw 49 of the states on those trips(saved Hawaii for our honeymoon).

We went to the same junior high and lived 1/4 mile apart for 4 years without knowing it. Fate brought us together and we have been together since.

While still in our teens, we had a discussion about kids. We knew we wanted them and decided then that she would stay at home when we finally decided to make a family. She worked a few different jobs to help me through my flight training. When that was complete, we got married in May 2004 (her wedding band: "...that we were meant to be.") and she became a fulltime Stay-at-Home Mom/Homemaker in 2005.

She stays busy most of the time performing normal household duties (cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc.) but, if she has spare time, she likes to come up with stories. I believe (though she won't admit it) that she wishes she were a novelist or screenplay writer. Hopefully someday she will get her ideas together and complete a story/script from them.


The Twins:
My wife and I decided it was time to have children shortly after we got married in 2004 (on our honeymoon!). It didn't work but we kept trying. We found out she was pregnant 2 weeks before Christmas. A couple months later we found out it was with twin girls(Sonographer: "Oh, look... there's your baby. Oohh, and there's the other one!!" The look on my wifes face was priceless!).

The twins were born July 2005. They were healthy but (as with most twins) arrived a few weeks early. They spent their first week in the hospital (as did their mother and myself). At the end of that week I had determined that I could tell them apart but we left their wristbands on for a couple more weeks, just in case.

They have been close all of their lives. They tend to wear similar clothes and participate in similar activities. We have always encouraged them to try different things, but they seem drawn together(imagine that!).

They are different in some ways: We have an introvert and an extrovert: One's a bit more shy but opens up more than her sister once she befriends someone. One is more physical while the other is a bit of a 'thinker'. One seems to be a bit of a homebody and expresses more empathy while the other is more impulsive and rebellious, a bit self-absorbed. They both like to 'twirl' (their version of dancing) but one is exceptionally good at it while the other can't quite keep up.

They are in 1st grade this year. The school they go to has them in different classes which has allowed them to seperate a bit and develop their own personalities. At first I was reluctant, but it has shown to allow both of them to blossom and prosper. They have different friends and experience a greater diversity. They like it, and so do I.


The Little One:
We used to call the twins: The Girls. Then we had another one. This time we weren't 'trying', we just weren't 'trying not to'. She was born in October of 2008 and has been a bit of a firecracker ever since. Everthing she does has been faster and harder than the twins. She learned how to walk and talk earlier, fall and hit harder, act and speak stronger.

It's probably my fault since I have always treated her a bit more rough. Since we 'learned' on the twins, they were treated like porceline dolls for fear that we would break them. They proved to be resilient so we used that knowledge on the little one. If she fell down, she had to pick herself up. Since the house was busier, she had to speak up to get what she wanted. She is as active (and almost as strong) as the twins, at half their age! When the twins start to bring boys home, I'm hoping she will act as my 'muscle' to keep them at bay!


The Boy:
This time we were doing (almost) everything right to NOT have another baby but, the strong fight their way into being anyways! This little guy came by surprise and HOW!! He came a bit early and with a few minor complications, but all is well now.

He is actually the motivation behind this post. He was born 7 weeks early in October 2010. His 'official' birthday is in October but his 'gestational' birthday puts him at 1 year and 1 week old today. My wife has been commenting in the last few days that she thinks he might be behind, since he hasn't stood on his own or started walking. As if he could understand her, he stood on his own for the first time today! Then, as if he already knew the next logical step, he just started walking!! Not just a step or two: he took a few then stopped, looked around then took seven more!!! Without leaning on anything or falling. He spent the next 20 minutes going from one end of the TT to the other, occasionally leaning on the walls when needed, practicing this new learned skill. I know this is a normal milestone for a child of this age but, I must admit, I'm PROUD of my boy!!

He's been such a trooper in his short time with us, having lived half of his life in a TT. Even though he was unplanned and unexpected, I could not imagine life without him. He makes my family complete.


Some people will tell you that the human heart only has so much love in it and with each new child there is less love to go around. I will tell you that that is NOT true. My experience is that your heart finds MORE love to give with each new child. The decision of whether or not to have more children has not been fully made by my wife and I, but I'm sure if more come, I will be able to love them just as I do the others: WITH ALL MY HEART!!