The eagles have landed . . .

So here's what all the ruckus was about.

Mary Poole Landers Smith (6lb 11oz) and Perritt Rollins Smith (5lb 10oz) came into the world on May 22 at 1:15 and 1:16 in the afternoon.

As with most major events in life, this one wasn't without a little drama. LeeAnn had a tough time with the surgery and ended up losing about 2 liters of blood - or about half of her body's supply. So after a little bit of a touch and go situation she got put back together, spent some time in the CCU and finally came down to the postpartum area where she spent the first 48 hours in an anemic stupor. Who says childbirth in 2007 is straightforward?

After the blood transfusion on the third day, she came back to life and began to participate in the three ring circus I had been operating in since we walked into the hospital. But what a ride! The children are such a joy to be around and have such unique and different personalities already. LA and I are trying not to be Hector Projector and impose our perceptions of their personalities on them but it's really very apparent that despite being twins these two are very different people. And that's pretty cool.

In fact right when they came into the world, they exhibited the personalities that we're seeing now. Before my first words to either of them, Mary Poole was sprawled out, yawning in the transitional nursery like she was on a beach in Cancun while the nurse cleaned her off. As if to say - "Meh. Call me when it's time for nachos and margaritas - I'll just be chilling here getting a bath and having some antibiotic smeared all over my pupils. It's cool. But could you step out of the way of the heating lamp? Thanks."

Meanwhile, Perritt was one bed over screaming all bloody murder as if trying to verbalize any number of four letter words and abominations to express his utter dissatisfaction with the proceedings underway. I wouldn't call him fussy, but I would say that he has a very specific idea for how things should be operating and when things aren't measuring up, he lets you know about it toot sweet. Don't know where he could have gotten that from . . .

How these personalities could be hardwired already is beyond me - but it will be great to see what types of people they become. No matter what, we love them for the unique people they are.

Anyway, we're back at the house now and getting adjusted to the home life with twins. We are trying to get as much sleep as we can but man, it sure would be nice to have the hospital nursery available again so we could get more than two and a half hours of uninterrupted sleep which is currently the record. Such is the joy of being a parent.

It gets easier right?

We're drawing straws to see who's gonna break it to him . . .

Here are some of our guesses as to what's going on in Rhett's head:

a) OMG, finally the respect I deserve. Two beds for me in a room just for me. These hairless mammals finally figured it out after seven and half years. How did they ever get to the top of the food chain anyway? It's amazing I've tolerated them this long.

b)Could you just be a lamb and turn the lights back out? Thanks. I mean really, can't you see I was sleeping in my nice new gray bed. Huh? Wait, what did you say? What do you mean it's pink? Curses! Blast my color blindness!

c) This is really thoughtful and all but haven't you noticed my penchant for napping in shoe boxes? I appreciate the nod to lavishness at my expense, I really do. But truthfully I really enjoy the challenge of bending the laws of physics in an attempt to squeeze my healthy frame into as small a space as possible. In fact, the smaller the better. So let's try a little harder next time, ok? Great, thanks. Oh yea, and did I tell you to turn the lights back off? You're killing me, here.

d) All of the above.

Anyway, Rhett does appear to be in a little bit of denial about this situation. We're pretty sure that he seriously thinks this is his new room as we've discovered some errant fur in both beds.

Yea, we know. Eww. Not exactly hygenic, we know, we know. And while we can't bleach the sheets, we can wash them a lot. Which we've done. And now the nursery door is closed so prevent feline napping.

But you have to admit this is still pretty cute. Come on. You know it is.

Postcards from bed rest

So here's a shot of LeeAnn at about 34 weeks. While she's sporting a nice smile, it's safe to say there's a healthy dose of discomfort being masked by those pearly whites. Since she's been placed on strict bed rest, this little outing to the nursery to examine the twins' wares could be considered a rules violation by the warden. Good thing he's in a good mood today.

And one more comment, In the background you can see a portion of the twins' nursery. Interesting fact about this room - the amount of money LeeAnn has dropped in this space is now enough to register Team Smith on the country GDP list at #180 - just ahead of Kiribati.

While impressive, this dubious distinction is now making me a little vaklempt. Talk amongst yourselves. Topic of discussion: Rhode Island is neither a road, nor an island. Discuss.