Eli and Tavan's Baptism

Today we baptized Eli and Tavan! The baptism was at Atonement Lutheran Church in Fargo, and both Pastor Dale Wolf and grandfather Merlin Schlichting performed the ceremony. Sponsors were David and Jamie Swenson and auntie Kylene Ames (above)

Eli and the cake

After the baptism, everyone came back to our house for dinner and more pictures... The twins wore little baptismal 'suits', custome made by Oma (grandma) Schlichting. They were very adorable, and Miranda was able to get a lot of pictures with them. Here are just a few:

Tavan (left) and Eli (right) in their baptismal suits

Mommy and Eli share a smile

The 'Ames' side:

Toby Johnson, Kylene Ames, Jacob, Ken Ames (with Tavan), Ryan, Beck Ames (with Eli), Danika, Miranda, Kurt

Uncle Tim Schlichting holds Eli and Tavan

You can also see our new paint-job in the living room in these photos! Compare to our Thanksgiving pictures below to see the difference...

Merry Christmas!

We had a very busy day and a half! On Monday (Christmas Eve), we drove to Sheyenne ND to spend time with Miranda's family. Tavan (left) and Eli (right) were both smartly dressed for church! After church, we had supper at the Karlsbraaten's, and opened gifts. Danika had a great time, but we found out that she still doesn't trust dogs or Santa Claus. Miranda's cousin Tracy and her husband Jason brought their dog along with them from Colorado, and even though he's not very big, Danika would not go near him! It was actually a little comical... Jason also donned a Santa Claus outfit and 'delivered' presents to everyone, and posed for photos. Danika treated him about the same as she did the dog, and was not even remotely intersted in sitting on his lap!!


After a late night, we finally got everyone to bed and we managed a few hours of sleep before the Ames family arrived at Ken and Becky's house on Christmas for the anual "Farm Christmas". This includes Christmas supper, and a gift exchange which is usually pretty entertaining. This year, I walked away with a 40oz bottle of Hurricane malt liquor, some honey roasted peanuts and a pack of beef sausage snacks. I noticed later that the Hurricane born on date said Nov 2003!!! What a jip... oh well It looks like I've got my gift for next year already. :)


We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas holiday too! We'll head back home on Wednesday and attempt to prepare our house for my parents and brother, who will visit through the new year.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello Everyone, Happy Thanksgiving! We celebrated two occasions today. Tavan (left) and Eli (right) turned 1 month old, and Turkey Day. We had a big housefull of guests, including Oma Schlichting, Grandma and Grandpa Ames, Diane and David Karlsbraaten, Great-Grandpa Axel, Auntie Kylene and Toby Johnson. We enjoyed some great turkey, some mediocre football, and good company!

Tavan and Eli are really packing on the pounds, as both weigh 7+ pounds now and are becoming more alert and focusing on things and really moving their hands. Tavan even started cooing yesterday!!! YEAH! We are all very proud of him!!! They are still very sleepy little ones but continue eating every 3 hours. Let me tell you, they don’t miss that. Here are some more pictures taken yesterday...

Ryan 7, Eli, Danika, Jake 10, Tavan

Tavan (left), Danika (25 mos) and Eli (right)

Back Row: Toby Johnson, Miranda, Eli, Kurt, Danika, Ken Ames

Front Row: Kylene Ames, Ryan, Tavan, Jacob, Becky Ames

Proud Oma (that's German for Grandma) Schlichting gets her first chance to see the twins!

Great Grandapa Axel Nielsen holds Eli and Tavan

Halloween Trick or Treats!

Even with all the hubbub of the twins being born, we had another fun year of Halloween excitement. Danika really got into the swing of this this time! We borrowed a very cute little zebra costume from the Swensons, which she just loved. In fact she insisted on wearing it several times before trick or treating as well. When the day finally came, Miranda took Danika trick or treating in the morning with Jamie and Rylan Swenson at a retirement home. She wasn't so sure about this environment, so we were wondering how it would go in the evening. But when the time came, we loaded her up and drove to Glyndon to hit a few houses with the Swensons again.










The twins got into the Halloween fun too! Eli is on the left, Tavan is on the right. Even though they are pretty cute, they didn't get very much candy this year.

Jake and Ryan were with their mother this year, so they did not get to go with us. However, they did get a chance to run around Dilworth with Jake's friend William Shamp. They stopped by our hosue for a photo op as well. They all had scary costumes with lots of fake blood

The twins are home!

We're all home! After spending the weekend in the NICU, both of the boys were able to maintain their temperatures. That means they are also doing great at eating, and so on Monday we were able to bring them home. Big sister Danika was already missing them, so on Sunday we brought her in to visit the boys. She was very good, and was glad to be able to hold her brothers. Below are a few more pictures of the boys. The first two are both Eli, and the last two are both Tavan. As you can see, they are starting to keep their eyes open long enough to look around for a while. Hooray!

Eli sleeping in the NICU

Now I'm back home with my family!

Surprise! Tavan is all warm and awake!

Tavan may have his eyes open here, but he still likes being horizontal.

More Twins news

On Thursday, Miranda and the twins were allowed to come home. We were excited to have everyone back at the house! However, as Thursday turned into Friday, feeding was a struggle, and both the boys had difficulty maintaining their body temperatures. After a long night, we called the hospital and made an appointment for the twins to see the nurses.

The continued to have a tough time all day, and when they got to the hospital it was decided that they should be admitted to the NICU. Both of the boys are now in warming beds so that they can stay warm, and are getting fed regularly. As soon as they show that they can maintain their body temps for 24 hours, they will be allowed to return home. Although we would love to have them home now, we know that this will be the best way to make sure they are getting what they need! They were born at 36 weeks, which is still a little early so this is not that uncommon.

Tavan John (above) ------------- Eli Robert (below)

Happy 2nd Birthday Danika!

Today Danika turns 2! Our special little girl is certainly getting big. As she would say, "Holy cow!" Or maybe she got that from her dad?
Danika's had an eventful year. She's found a wide vocabulary and is very good with please and thank you's. She loves to listen to music, and always knows what song she wants (and will let you know when you need to change the track).
When she's not near the radio to dance to her favorite songs, she just sings them herself. Her favorites include the ABC's, Wheels on the Bus, and Jingle Bells.

She also has become very good at counting, and has been known to count up to 12! A couple of weeks ago, she also decided (after memorizing her potty books) that she likes to go potty on the toilet better than in diapers. Although we still have a ways to go with that, she's well on her way to being a real big girl!

Danika hasn't really had a birthday party yet unfortunately. Our day was extremely busy! Her twin brothers came home from the hospital the day before, so it was their first morning at home. Unfortunately, they were not eating well and their body temp would not stay constant so they had to go back into the hospital today (see more next post). We also had to go get the van from the autobody shop after getting hail damage repaired, and between all that the day was super busy!

Thankfully, Danika's firend Rylan (below) stopped over to give her a preasent and some cupcakes, and she got phone calls from lots of family members with happy birthday wishes.

We are now a family of seven.... holy cow!!!

Well the day has finally come, and sooner than we even expected. On Monday, October 22nd we welcomed our two newest additions to the family! Tavan John Schlichitng was born at 5:57 PM, and weighed 5 lbs, 10 oz. He was 19 inches tall. Not to be outdone, his brother Eli Robert Schlichting was born at 5:58 PM, weighing 5 lbs, 15 oz. He was 20 inches tall. The picture above was taken just a few hours later, when big brothers Jake (10) and Ryan (7), along with big sister Danika (2), came to visit.

On Monday, Miranda went to see Dr. Mary Holm for her scheduled visit at 2:00 PM . Things had been going very well up to this point, but she was starting to get pretty uncomfortable. We had been joking around the last couple of days that maybe she could just stay at the hospital and they could just take the twins! The babies were not cooperating inside, and both were in breach position. So the plan, as we had been told previously, was that they would be born on November 1st, if they had not come before then. However at this visit, Dr. Holm found that her blood pressure was elevated, and her legs were starting to swell up pretty badly, so she said that there was no reason to wait any longer! She went ahead and scheduled the c-section for 5:30 PM. I was at the hospital but had to leave and go get the boys off the school bus, scramble to pack a suitcase with a few necessities, and get someone to watch the kids. Our friend Jamie was on standby, and she quickly came over to take care of them for us. Then I left and went back to the hospital to find Miranda all ready to go! A few words of encouragement, and discussion with the nurses about how the operation would proceed, and then we were off. A short time later, the twins were born!!

Proud Grandparents hold the new twins a few hours after they are born. Grandma Becky has Eli, and Grandpa Kenny holds Tavan. Tavan's name was decided on after both of us liked the name 'Tava' for a girl. Since we didn't have any girls, Kurt changed it to 'Tavan' (the first A is pronounced with the long A sound, the second is short). His middle name, John, comes from his Uncle Tim's middle name.

Eli's name came from Miranda, who heard the name and thought it was a cute one. Both of us struggled to find names we liked so once we found one that both of us thought was at least "not bad" we figured we were on to something... by the time they were born we knew the name was perfect! His middle name, Robert, is shared by his father.

Eli Robert Schlichting - - - - Tavan John Schlichting

10/22/07

Back to school!

It's back to school day! Jake is starting the 4th grade, and his teacher is Mrs. Cole. Ryan is a big 1st grader this year, and his teacher is Mrs. Shaskey. They are both ready to be back in school after a long summer (or maybe that's just the parents speaking?)