Introducing...

Leo and Sam had their bris on Thursday morning and we announced their names to a gathering of about 30 family members and friends. Our local friends were fiber artists and crafts people, academics, biologists and folks from the Jewish community--a mix of the wonderful community of friends we've made here in just under 2 years. Each of the boys' names, first and middle, English and Hebrew, has significance and meaning but I'll leave that for another time.

The bris is usually done 8 days after birth but was delayed until Sam came home from the hospital and was big enough for the procedure to be done. Both boys are gaining weight like champs and now these photos are already out of date. Leo has topped 7 lbs as of his last weight check and Sam has topped 5. We're eating like it's going out of style around here.

The family members who came included 3 grandparents and a significant other and 2 out of 3 of our brothers. One of our brothers even showed up as a surprise! Wednesday night, there were 8 people and two dogs sleeping in 4 different places in our house. It was a busy time.

On Saturday, the last of the relatives left and the new "normal" commenced. (Normal means our household of two grown ups, two newborns, and two dogs) We do have some local friends visiting most days and other help coming by but it is definitely challenging keeping up with everything right now. I am very tired out as I am still healing and trying to nurse some and of course, getting up every 2-3 hours at night for feedings. This has made posting to the blog a difficult endeavor...sorry for the delays.

To add to our complications, Canada Post and Air Canada were on strike this past week. Luckily, my brother managed to fly here and home again on Air Canada...and my parents were happy to bring thank you notes to the USA to mail them via USPS to US addresses. There has now been a sabbatical from thank you notes as we try to figure out who will fit in times to write them, when they will be written and--whether we're going to send them via email or wait for the mail service to start again...stay tuned!

Leo and Sam have gotten some truly amazing knitted presents as part of the baby gifts. I look forward to sharing that with you in the days to come, as soon as I can spare a few more moments to sort through the photos and think of what to say. As my mom, a lifelong knitter, said, "Most people get one handmade baby gift at their baby showers. You've gotten more than a dozen. Think of all the hours of work and love that went into all those stitches!"

She is right. I am truly honored by this labor of love and am struggling with what to say. I guess the short version would be: Thank you.