twins

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Henry Joseph Rettew and his name sake! #twinslife

His name is Joe Bridwell. He is my mom’s dad, who past away in March 2011. I called him Pop. I am the oldest grandchild on my mom’s side with my mom being the oldest living child of my grandfather’s. As I was thinking about Pop and Henry, I remembered what I said during his memorial service. I had to take the funeral home’s audio CD and have it transcribed so I could pull the exact words from that day. What I found is what I said straight from the heart and matches all the reason Henry Joseph Rettew was named partly for my Pop. I took those words and edited some to bring context to path down memory lane.

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Our little alarm clocks. #twinslife

What is your alarm clock? How do you wake up in the morning? When Sarah and I were married, she brought an alarm clock that has the most un-godly sound. When it goes off, it can wake someone from the deepest of sleeps.

Sarah has always set this clock ten minutes ahead, it is an attempt not to be late…yet ten minutes ahead. I think it is a comfort zone, giving us the sense of control that we can stay on time…even though we know that we are ten minutes ahead. I think it is our false sense of security…ssshhhsss…she might get think I am being snarky! 🙂

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Coming up for air! #twinslife

I sit here this morning so scared to type what I am about to type. I am so superstitious…I worry these little moments of celebration are followed by more sheer madness

We are finding a rhythm and slowly finding sync in the twins life. For those that do know my family, we have a huge village of helpers…people that just have jumped in and given of their time, energy, efforts, resources…everything to help us learn how to take care of the twins. Once a week, my mom and nana come to our house, let us go to bed and sleep all night while they take care of the twins. In our world, we look forward to that night…it is like gold to us. Sleep is gold to us.

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6 Sticks, 2 Pricks, and 1 BIG MELTDOWN! #2MonthShots #TwinsLife

One of my favorite pictures from today is Dr. Hart holding George. George and Henry are two months old today, how appropriate for them to have their two month appointment the same day, August 10, 2017.

First of all, I can’t believe they are two months old. Second, if their were born on their original due date (July 31st), they would not even be two weeks old today. Here we are getting their two month shots.

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Mad Respect for the Mommas, Single Mommas, Twin Mommas…especially Sarah! #twinslife

Tonight was all hands on deck. Yes…it was time for the game face. I pulled out the face paint, got in three point stance, and was ready to roll.

Game time was 5pm…quitting time at work…game time at home. Sarah was already two steps out the door when I rolled up into the Rettew Ponderosa. Four nights in a row of non-stop feeding and late night shenanigans was the catalyst for the much needed escape.

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7 weeks is the new 40 weeks! #twinslife #preemies

Here we are, the twins are now full term. Yes, today is the day of their 40th week in gestational development. If this were Rosebud, we would have just come home two days prior after being born. The twins are now seven weeks and two days old but more importantly now full term babies. Reminder…28 days in the NICU was a long time for the #Rettew5.

What does this mean, now we can join the development cycle of the full term baby world…at seven weeks old!

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Have you cried…an ugly, nasty cry? Seeking healthy manhood!

Have you really cried…I mean ugly cry. The cry that you want no one to see, yet it feels so much better after it is all over.

I only witnessed my father cry one time, and I will never forget it. I was so confused, did not understand…but watched mhim never talk about that day ever again. 

Joseph Gelfer writes in his latest exploration titled “We Need to ‘Undefine’ Masculinity” and exploration of gender roles and how we define this idea of what it means to be a man.

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Learning to raise a 5 year-old with twins in the #NICU.

Each time I see this picture…it breaks my heart.

It is late in the evening on June 13th, Sarah had just been released from the hospital. George and Henry had just been born four days earlier on June 10th. They were still in the hospital in the Level One NICU at GHS. Rosebud had been spending the night at her cousins for the past few days and life was just completely out-of-whack.

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