Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

The kids first visit to Santa!

The family got to visit daddy at the fire station Christmas Day

The kids with their loot. They really cleaned up for their first Christmas!

What an amazing year it has been in the Needham household! Filled with such an amazing mix of emotion and circumstance. A year with so much change, life disassembled and rearranged. Fatigue, stress, joy and elation all intertwined. What a wonderful way to experience life.

The year started with Amanda in an amount of physical discomfort I can't imagine, carrying two babies to week 36. I was unemployed, having been laid off from the airlines, and sleeping on the couch (because Amanda needed the whole bed). Then life became so much easier after we had the twins...HA! Mason with his acid reflux, and neither of them sleeping for more than a couple hours at a time. Amanda went back to work after a couple months and still breast fed through the night. Daddy was a full time nanny and full time student, along with the much needed help of the grandmas (We can't thank you guys enough).

Then in August, a HUGE break. I got a job with the Fire Department. This would turn out to be not without it's fair share of sacrifice though. The work days were long and exhausting and the weekends were filled with study groups. Amanda had to pick up the slack on the home front. Needless to say we were exhausted. But, along with this chaos came something amazing. And it came in the form of two smiling little faces in the morning. It came as screams of joy when daddy came home from work. It came as the sounds of giggles from the side by side cribs the babies were supposed to be going to sleep in. In one of the most trying times in our lives, the greatest things in our lives were born. We found ourselves torn between days of frustration and days of pure love and joy.

And now we've entered into a new reality. One that involves me being in a new job, with new challenges and experiences. One that involves a new schedule and new hoops to jump through. Amanda and I are having to redefine, once again, what we choose to define as normalcy. We couldn't be more happy venturing into our new life now. Setting it up as if decorating a new house.

It's been a wonderfully challenging year. I'd be lying if I said we were hoping to keep up the turmoil. We'd prefer a quiet 2010, but we'll take whatever life has to hand us.

God Bless everyone in the new year and remember to enjoy your everyday. Take the good and the bad for what it is, and remember that it's all part of a beautiful life.

The Needham Family

Oh, how things change!

These kids have changed so much since the last update (which was quite a while ago, sorry, life has been very busy) so I thought I would throw a few of our more recent pictures on here.

The kids are crawling all over the place now, and love to wrestle with each other.

Maddy enjoying time with mommy at Gymboree.



We had to little pumpkins for Halloween.

This is the smile Maddy flashes when she gets caught outside the baby gate.

Can't get mad at that!

Mason is such a happy little boy!

Bundled up for a walk.

We love her black tights. They make her legs look so small.

We are so happy watching these kids grow up day by day. There is nothing more enjoyable than watching them laugh at each other and play.

Amanda has done an AMAZING job watching the kids and taking care of all the household chores while I've been in the Fire Academy. She's worked her butt off!

My academy days are down to 2. I get my badge on Tuesday and start first thing Wednesday morning out at Station 62 in Aloha. I'll be there for 3 months and then be moved to another station.

Life keeps trucking along for us, and we're so thankful for our blessings. We hope that you and your family have a very Merry Christmas.

God Bless,

The Needham Family

6 month pictures!

Simple Pleasures

Don't you just wish you could get such pure enjoyment and

pleasure out of something as simple as eating peaches?


It's wonderful watching your kids grow and experience
everything in life for the first time. It reminds us to take joy
in the simple pleasures we take for granted every day.
Like the sweet taste of a peach :-)

Month 6

We're Lovin' our Peaches!

Gearin' up for football season...Go Ducks!!!

Mason is so full of smiles and giggles. The world is so funny to him!

Don't let the picture fool you, he HATES to sleep! This is a rare occasion.

Maddy, on the other hand, is a sleeping pro. And we sure love her for that!!!

She seems to have it all figured out.

Life keeps rolling on around here. The babies are growing and doing great. They both light up our entire world!

I start the Fire Academy in 2 weeks, and Amanda goes to working 2 days a week. We're both excited for the change. For me it's bitter sweet. I've been so blessed to be able to be home with the kids for the first months of their lives, and I know I'm going to miss being with them all the time. They're such a source of joy and I'll miss seeing their sweet smiles or hearing their little laughs all day. On the other hand, I'm excited to get my career rolling again, and to be a provider for our family. Most importantly, I'm excited for Amanda to get to be home with the kids more. I'm happy that she gets to be a full time mommy. I know how good that is for her and the kids.

So, for now, we're just enjoying the next couple weeks for what they are. We find ourselves more and more just living in the moment, and enjoying what we can in whatever situation we find ourselves in on any given day.

Thanks for checking in on us, and God bless

The Needham Family

July update

I guess I’m a little overdue updating everyone on our lives. A lot has happened since the last update.
First, and most important, are the twins. They are doing great! They just turned 5 months old on the 4th of July. They’re rolling over, grabbing toys, laughing, and starting to entertain each other. They can almost hold their bottles now, and they’re just starting to grab their own pacifiers. For the most part they are still immobile, but we’re not far away from chasing these little ones around the house. As far as sleep goes, they’re doing better. Maddy is our star performer, she sleeps all the way through the night now in her crib. Thank God! Mason usually sleeps in his crib until 2 am. Then he wakes up hungry and sleeps with us for the remainder of the night. He always wakes up at 5:30 am and is done sleeping, and daddy gets to get up and make a big pot of coffee!!! We can’t complain though, we’re getting a lot more sleep than a few months ago.
Some good news; I accepted a position with Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue for a Firefighter/EMT. I start my training September 1st and I’ll be in training for 16 weeks. We feel so incredibly blessed to get this position, considering the economy, and it couldn’t come at a better time, we’re looking forward to the paychecks. Plus, I’m really excited to do the job itself, it’s going to be a lot of fun.
This job also means that Amanda gets to go down to 2 days a week at work starting in September, which is the ideal schedule for her. She’s excited to be home with the kids five days a week and still be able to work a couple days.
In other news, our condo is on the market. We made a contingent offer on a home in Keizer, and we’re hoping to sell soon. We know how slow the market is, however, so we have no illusions of moving anytime soon. We might get this house in Keizer, or we might not be able to sell, and therefore lose it. We’re leaving it up to God. Maybe we’ll be here another year and then buy a home in the Portland area. I’ve learned that the easiest way to make God laugh is to tell him all of your plans.
Well, I think I covered all of the big things. Babies, job, moving, etc. I hope everyone is having a great summer. Don’t wait to enjoy it…it goes by too quickly! Thanks for checking in with the Needhams.
God Bless.

It's all smiles at the Needham House

This Picture was taken at 6 days old

This one was taken at 4 months... quite a difference!

The kids at their 4 month check up. Clean bill of health! (except for Mason's acid reflux)


For a kid who spits up as much as he does, you can't get him to stop smiling!

A new swimsuit for our little girl, she's ready to hit the pool!

They like to watch us make dinner in the kitchen.

As you can see, they just keep getting bigger! They really are a lot of fun now, giggling and smiling at everything. They talk to each other and smile at one another. Mommy and Daddy are so proud of how well they're doing.

Life continues to roll on by around here. Amanda is working four days a week, and missing the kids every second that she's gone. She's getting ready to turn 28 years old on June 26th. I'm starting to remind her that thirty is just around the corner :-) She, of course, is so happy being a mommy. And it's no surprise that she's very good at it!

I had my interview at Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue and passed. I moved on to the background check along with 22 other candidates. We're competing for 16 positions in the September class, so I stand a pretty good shot. I'll know if I made it on July 8th.

That's the news around here. Thanks for checking in with us!

God bless,

Chris

What's new with us

We actually have both of the babies down at the moment and I have a second to write. I thought I would give everyone an update on what's going on with the two of us for a change.

First up... Amanda. She's just about to finish up her first month back at work. Things are going pretty well on that front, she enjoys being back at work and seeing all of her clients and co-workers. She desperately misses being home with the babies though. Her first two days of work during the week are tolerable, but by day three she just wants to be with the kids.

She's looking forward to being a bridesmaid in her good friend Julie's wedding in August, and enjoying being part of the planning process with her. She's also getting ready to have a birthday here soon. A month from tomorrow in fact, June 26th!

I've become a full time Mr. Mom, watching the kids through the week with the help of Grandma's and Nana's. I'm also wrapping up a full load of classes I'm taking as pre-reqs to the paramedic program I'm preparing for. This past week I passed the Physical Agility Test for both Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue and the Port of Portland Fire Rescue. I already have a Chiefs interview next week for the Port of Portland, and I'll hear from TVFR this week. They (TVFR) are not going to interview all of those who have passed the PAT, so I'm crossing my fingers and praying I'm selected to continue with the hiring process. The goal is to be hired by a fire department as soon as possible, and, in the mean time, continue working on the Paramedic Certification.

Well, that's the news from us. Everything else is all about the kids. They are growing up so unbelievably fast! We just acquired a camcorder, and I've been recording them non-stop. I'm still working out the kinks, but I hope to have some small video clips on our blog soon. Until then, here's a few more pictures!

Maddy drinking and driving (notice the bottle)

Here she's making sure daddy stays right where she wants me.

Big enough for the bumbo chairs!

These pictures don't even do justice to how cute these kids are in these chairs!!!

They wobble around smiling in these chairs, and they look sooo funny!

More Cute Pics!

This is the Mason we know at 6am after being fed. He's such a morning boy!

This is the Maddy we know at 6am after being fed. She looks like such a big girl!

I love Mason's face here! He's watching TV!!! We do everything we can to keep them from watching the TV but they'll crane their neck and contort their body to watch it. In this case, he was being a pill until Grandma gave him a couple minutes of TV time!

More Pictures

Hey everyone! Here are some of our pictures of the past few weeks of our lives. Things are going pretty good, we're getting decent sleep most nights, and the babies just keep on growing!

The Babies at the tulip festival in Woodburn.

That's Maddy hangin' out with Auntie at George Rogers park on a warm sunny day in April!

Quincy has learned to deal with the fact that he now has to share mommy.



The little man hangin' out on daddy's lap, check out his cute little toes!

Our little cupcake showing off her beautiful eyes to mommy!

Mason loves the bouncy chairs! We think it's because he can sit up and see what's going on.

These kids make us laugh everyday!