An Urban Story

Xavier is walking! ...(standing...kinda)

2008-07-22T19:45:00.001-07:00

Whenever the camera is on, Xavier stops performing so it's tough getting a good shot of him to send to Gerber so he can be in a baby food commercial that will pay us millions. I'd take a trip to Charleston with that money, thanks for asking. At the end of the video he burps and doesn't say "excuse me". Stella is making sounds in the background.

Bebe Pod Video

2008-07-20T18:48:00.000-07:00

Here's Stella playing in her Bebe Pod. Ok, so she has a mouth full of breast milk and isn't making any sense but she's only 3.5 months old people...god. Just let kids be kids. Notice how she can turn the wheel herself....genius!

Stella and Xavier are certified

2008-07-14T19:23:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was very busy, just like people who work in middle management except this was real work.

We had a Catholic baptism on Sunday followed by a party at our house. We didn't have the multi-color light ball and techno music like at our other parties because we've grown up and the light ball broke. But, we did have about 70 people.

Lot's of family came in from Ohio and Anna's Aunt, Uncle and cousin Bart came in from Canada (the country where they play hockey). The baptism went well. Xavier slept through the entire thing and Stella didn't have a tantrum. As is the tradition, both kids were dressed in over the top white outfits which only exist for the amusement of adults. In the end, they got certificates authorizing them to enter heaven. Amen.

Anna's friend from college, Rachel, was Xavier's Godmother and my friend Rod was Xavier's godfather; called The Rodfather. Aunt Duda, Anna's sister, was Stella's godmother and cousin Bart, was the godfather.

Aunt Duda flew in early to help with the setup and watching the kids. We catered in a ton of Greek food and my mom and Anna's mom supplied the Greek and Polish deserts. Yummers! Greek food is the best food. I'm just kidding. No I'm not. Seriously...it’s the best. I read that somewhere.

I thought it would be a good idea to get Anna a birthday cake since her birthday is on Tuesday. So I asked my mom to bring a cake for Anna. But, Anna's mom also brought her a cake. Then, Stella and Xavier each got their own baptism (???) cake. We had four cakes. There should have been just one giant cake with a Catholic birthday clown jumping out of it.

On a side note, I'm a little suspicious that the kids traditionally each get a cake. Anna's family LOVES deserts. When I first met them I thought all Polish people buy cakes for everything. Nope. Just them. Hurray, you graduated from high school, let's get a cake. You lost a baby tooth, let's get a cake. The dog learned to poo outside, let's get a cake. One of them is getting buried with a cake I'm sure.

Entertaining can be so stressful and this event wore me out as well as Anna.

We are so grateful for our close family and freinds and were really touched by all the wonderful gifts everyone brought for the kids. They would thank you personally but they can't talk and they don't have email yet.

Let's look at some pictures!!

Bart the Godfather holding Stella. He lives in Canada and speaks English.

Mrs. Rodfather holding Stella. Anna claims Stella LOVED her dress. Who makes these things? Her legs are not 3 feet long.

Stella getting Baptized. I think she's enjoying it.

Xavier getting Baptized. I find this picture of him sleeping through the Baptism a little creepy looking. Poor guy. All the people messed up his nap time.

I love these group shots at the church. No one is looking in the same direction because like 10 people are taking pictures. Anna's aunt and uncle are on the right back and Anna's grandmother is to the far right. I need to wear heels. Xavier's Godmother Rachel is to the left of the priest and showing some leg.

Another "no one is looking in the same direction" picture. There is someone from the Mafia in the back row wearing sunglasses. The Rodfather is holding Xavier. He is tall. Anna's parents are between in the back row behind the priest. My sister is behind Stella and my mom's arm is all the way to the right. We really need to learn to line-up for a picture in the future.

Mommy and the little man in his suit thingy. So cute. Why do we do this to our kids with these outfits?

Godmother and Stella. My cousin Justin and his wife Angela gave us this cute dress. I'm going to guess Angela picked it out because there isn't a picture of a truck across the front.

Stella's Cake.

Xavier's Cake. I really need to learn more Polish because this cake could very well say "George is an idiot".

Aunt Duda took this shot of me and Xavier. This was after the party and he is so over it.

Video

2008-07-11T10:05:00.000-07:00

Dudes, I've been trying to get some video uploaded but after converting the HD video to mpeg II format and uploading, blogger is being an idiot and won't play the video.

I'll get it working so you people don't complain about no updates to the blog because this blog is so famous like Ellen Degeneres.

Overachiever

2008-06-29T17:37:00.000-07:00

So, Nanny started last week fulltime and Anna and I finally gave the reigns of parenting to someone else just like all working parents do. Here's some cash, now play with my kids and don't steal anything.

After the first day and for the next 4 days Nanny begged us for more work when the babies were sleeping because in her own words, "I'm bored and read all my books”. Nanny offered to do our laundry, make dinner and/or cut up vegetables. Normally when I'm bored of work I slap myself in the face harder and harder until either my hand hurts or my face hurts and I declare a winner. Face won last time.

Because we aren't accustomed to taking advantage of people that aren't our parents we told her, "no" you don't have to do any extra work.

Friday morning Anna called me at work and was all like "I caved and allowed her to do our laundry". I reluctantly agreed with Anna. The Nanny was bored…bored to tears and needed this.

I've never had anyone fold my underwear before so I thought this was all a little weird. But, I reminded myself that Nanny is a professional homemaker. She trained in male chauvinist Poland where for generations women never left the home. My t-shirts and underwear were folded into neat little squares...really tight, like my butt. Even Roxie's towels for her doggie bed were folded into nice little squares. Roxie was ironed!

What the hell has happened to us? Nanny is like two steps from making dinner and I don't know if we can stop her. Every time Nanny does something we totally forget how to do it ourselves. The only thing I keep asking myself is, “Can she cook tofu?”

We went up to Milwaukee last weekend for the wedding of our friends Jeremy and Kate. Here’s Jeremy holding Xavier. He's a semi-practicing Jew so he broke a glass at the wedding but didn't circumcise anyone.

Xavier and Stella....still cute but not talking yet.

Mommy holding Stella. Grow some hair or I'm going to make you lip sync to 'Nothing Compares 2 U".

Yaya sent Xavier and Stella some new outfits. They came with shoes and hats. Here's Xavier in the shoes and his eco-friendly cloth diaper!

Mr. and Dr.

2008-06-27T08:24:00.000-07:00

I’m taking a break from baby talk until this weekend, so just chill people. They're not that exciting to read about. :-)

So, I was reading this article about subtle sexism and it talked about how "high ranking" men get referred to by their last name, such as McCain or Obama, yet "high ranking" woman, Hillary Clinton for example, get referred to by their first name. Oprah and Madonna (new albums sucks) don’t count.

I've noticed something similar with us since we've been getting a lot of mail for the kids.

All of the letters get addressed to "Mr. and Mrs. Costakis" or "Mr. and Mrs. George Costakis" yet hardly ever (maybe a handful of times and usually its Anna's parents) does any letter get addressed to "Mr. and Dr. Costakis".

I’ve never seen this with our male doctor friends. Their mail is always "Dr. and Mrs. Jewish Name". So why does the same person who writes, "Dr. and Mrs.", doesn't write "Mr. and Dr."? That seems odd doesn't it? ...just curious and I feel bad for Hillary. Not. If I knew what the world sociology meant I’d say this has to do with sociology and neo-feminist paganism.

Special titles are like fried Twinkies, unnecessary...and when you squeeze them, cream comes out. But, if I could pick my own title it would be "Short Dancing Hairy Person with a Tight Butt".

Please discuss and then send me money. You can just send money.

GEORGE!

Father's Day, etc...

2008-06-19T18:56:00.000-07:00

It was my first father’s day last Sunday!

Stella and Xavier got me some vegan cookies and a cute picture of themselves. I think Anna put the gifts together but the card was signed by Stella and Xavier so who knows.

With babies so young, it’s really a lot harder to be the mother than the father. Nature curses mothers with these hormones that make them think at any minute their baby might explode. Dad's can relax, drink beer all day and let their babies crawl around in poo while they flick boogers on the wall. Men are awesome.

I don't know how or why people sleep with their babies in the bed. We did that for a week when the kids refused to sleep and it was awful. We started putting them in their own room for naps so we can transition them out of the cribs in our room.

When the dogs slept with us and got annoying we would just kick them out of bed...literally. I'd jab them in their little butts with my foot and they’d hop out. The kids are too small for that so I had to pick them up and toss them out. One time I totally missed their crib. Oops.

The nanny, Irena (say it the Polish way), started part-time this week so Anna could train her. She is fantastic. One day when I learn Polish or Irena learns English we'll have a conversation. Until then we communicate via an Etch-a-Sketch but it takes so long drawing pictures with those two stupid knobs. Another hiccup is she can't pronounce Xavier (that’s ‘Zavier’, with a 'Z' sound) to save her life. What she is going to call the little guy? I mean really, what is she going to call him.....The Boy Baby? Oh well, at least she can point at him.

Since Irena is a mother, grandmother and nanny she will totally be able to take over so Anna and I can play video games and go to our swinger parties. She even folded my work-out clothes 'cause I threw them in with the baby laundry! Next time I'm going to leave recipes around the house and see if she makes them. Is that wrong? Yes it is.

Anna had a photo shoot day, yesterday, and decided to put the kids in this thing call the "Bebe Pod". Our friends Christy and The Rodfather gave them to us.

Stella needs more head control. I can't even imagine what Xavier is thinking.

Xavier loves anything that moves or flashes lights. Stella is laughing at her mom taking the picture.

Stella, cute and smiling. Come on Xavier!!...look at mommy.

Something is just weird about this 'Bebe Pod' in my opinion. Come on Stella, sit up straight. You don't want bad posture.

Anna is saying 'Stella, Stella.." trying to get her to smile. But, Bella, our dog always thinks we are calling for her. So she came over and lied down. We did not predict this name rhyming problem. Our dog must not be too bright. crap.

I feel like he should be pooing.

Yes, Xavier is wearing a girl shirt. We don't have time to sift through a pile of outfits. Who cares anyway? He's so damn cute who's gonna look at his shirt? :-)

Tori Spelling

2008-06-11T11:30:00.000-07:00

So, my sister in law, Aunt Duda, sent us this quote for USweekly:

Tori Spelling, 35, gave birth to her second child, Stella Doreen McDermott, in L.A. Monday afternoon.

"Stella has been one of the hottest star baby names for over a decade now," said the coauthor of baby-naming guides Cool Names and The Baby Name Bible.

Other celebs, including Melanie Griffith, Elizabeth Shue and Dave Matthews, have named their daughters Stella, which means "star." Stella "carries that Old Hollywood glamour so stylish with the new generation of celebrities."

When I read this I couldn't breathe until I slapped myself in the face. I don't know which is more disturbing, Tori Spelling's breast implants or the fact that our kids have the same name. Our Stella was named after my grandmother that passed away last year. It was not to carry that Old Hollywood chic.

But, our little Stella would be so cute smoking a cigarette with one of those extension thingies.

GEORGE!

First Road Trip!!

2008-06-09T12:13:00.001-07:00

So we went to my *fake cousin's wedding this weekend in Cleveland. This was the first road trip for the kids and they did not once ask us if we were there yet.

The car was so full I thought we were a garage sale. Each kid is about size of a cantaloupe so why do they need so much stuff? Because they're spoiled, I figure. They cry when they don't have a clean diaper or a clean shirt or food. Sometimes my diaper isn't clean and I don't cry.

One of the "issues" about traveling in a car with young babies is how to feed them. Some "rule" says you can't have two babies in your lap while driving. Hence Anna can't nurse in a "moving" car. She could but it would be "illegal". I'm over using double quotes... I know that.

Anna got this handy dandy car adapter for the breast pump. She just puts on her hands free pumping bra, plugs the breast pump into the cigarette lighter and fills up two bottles with wholesome mom milk while I drive. Some truck driver might have a picture so keep a lookout on the internet. Anna then jumped in the backseat and fed the kids via bottle.

If you're asking, "Why not give them formula or pre-pumped milk?" Well smarty pants, when nursing you have to empty full breasts every few hours or they will pop....so I'm told.

The wedding was our first outing without the kids. Anna's sister Aunt Duda watched them. I don't know how she did it. When I'm alone with them for more than an hour I get drunk and pass out so I don't have to do anything. She did a really great job. They came back unharmed. She even took these pictures to prove that they were well taken care of.

Aunt Duda puts Stella and Xavier to sleep. We are the parents so of course we think they are cute but come on? Aren't they the cutest babies ever? :-)

We always have a hard time capturing a good picture of Xavier, but these do it. He is such a silly,silly little man.

Stella and Xavier, peanut butter and jelly.

Stella laughing while Yaya holds her.

GEORGE!

* Greek person, parents are friends = cousins.

Stella likes Fancy Shoes

2008-06-02T08:10:00.001-07:00

Anna took these pictures and posted them on her blog at annasfreudianslip.blogspot.com a few days ago. I wanted to repost them here because they are so cute. Our Aunt and Uncle in New York bought these outfits for the kids and Anna especially loved the shoes.

So here are our kids in diapers with fancy shoes. Our kids don’t wear pants. It’s too much work. Hell, I don’t even know why I wear pants; especially with how nice my butt is.

In utero, Xavier was up all night and kicking non-stop. Anna was so worried he would be such a royal pain in the ass. But, once they were cut out of her uterus everything changed.

Look at Stella’s face. That is a trouble maker.

Oh no, it’s coming.

Move over Xavier. This is my moment to shine.

Unsolicited Advice

2008-05-27T16:05:00.001-07:00

Anna has told me stories about "crazy" people coming up to her in public and commenting on the kids and giving unsolicited advice. I didn't believe it was true because what kind of person would give unsolicited advice to a stranger about their kids?

So, at the super market Sunday, Stella was crying like usual because she's totally nuts. Low and behold, within minutes of being there some woman walked up and was all like "Why is she crying?"

Anna snipped, "because she's crazy". Anna's timing was on par as was the delivery but the woman's english wasn't so good so she totally missed the sarcasm.

Crazy woman would not go away. She just stood there and kept saying, "Why is she crying? I think she's hungry."

Jesuschristgodalmighty, she's only 7 weeks old!?!? Should we ask her? Maybe that would help. "Stella, why are you crying? If you just tell mommy and daddy what's wrong we won't go insane." No luck. I guess our kid is stupid.

I took the high road and told crazy woman to talk to my elbow because the hand just don't understand.

In the meantime Xavier started crying and this scenario repeated itself in the parking lot like three hundred million more times. "Your babies are hungry", "I think your babies need to eat.", "Feed your babies."

OUR BABIES ARE! NOT! HUNGRY!
THEY ARE NEGLECTED BECAUSE WE ARE HORRIBLE PARENTS!!
...OK?

Here's Xavier Crying.

...stick a pacifier in his mouth and he is all good.

Stella is learning to be cute so she can get by in life without using her brain.

Comments are open! No need to register.

2008-05-24T15:48:00.000-07:00

Holy crap blog universe....

So, I've been bitchin' like a spoiled private school girl for like ever that no one comments on my blog, even though I can see people reading it from all over the world.

Well, a friend informed me that I had comments blocked to all unregistered users. Sorry internet , I didn't mean to do that.

Comments are now unblocked even if you are anonymous or ugly.
Send me some hate mail.

GEORGE!

Buddha's Birthday, Nanny #2

2008-05-21T05:55:00.000-07:00

We had a very busy weekend!

On Saturday we took the kids to my Zen Buddhist Temple (http://www.zenbuddhisttemple.org/) for Buddha’s birthday celebration and "The Peace and Happiness Parade"...is there a better name for a parade then that? I think not. The parade is pretty small but fun and colorful like a box of crayons. We go around the neighborhood playing drums, chanting and yelling "happy birthday" to the onlookers. The community always seems to love the parade and so far no one has egged us.

On Sunday we took Stella and Xavier to the children’s blessing to get blessed by Sunim, the head priest. When older kids are blessed they usually get asked things like “What is peace?” or “What is love?” and it’s a littler more interactive.

Little kids that can’t talk yet get blessed for protection and to live a life of peace, love and happiness for all beings. We tried to get them blessed so that they stop acting psycho.

On the nanny front....
It appears we found a great nanny. We got two referrals from two different friends and we interviewed both. One nanny was the "backup" nanny for a couple we know in the city and the other was a nanny of a friend of a friend whose employer of 12 years is moving back to Ireland (where the band U2 is from).

Both nannies were qualified but we ended up hiring the nanny with the employer that is going back to Ireland. When we told her she got the job it was like a rainbow appeared showing her the way to a pot of gold.

New Nanny's current employer wrote her a two page referral about how much they loved her and wanted to bring her to Ireland but they were concerned she would spend all day drinking Guinness and singing Celtic folk songs and/or doing that line dance kicking crap like in Lord of the Dance.

New Nanny apparently, cooked, cleaned, did laundry, stayed over night on many occasions, drove two kids around between music lessons, dance lessons, soccer practice , gender identity therapy and who knows what else for 12 years...all without cocaine. I won't say what they paid her but it was greater than 499 dollars but less than 501 dollars a week; which I consider really low.

Hopefully, New Nanny works out so I don't have to fire another person. Although, I am past my fear of firing people and could do it all day. Is there a job where you just fire people?

GEORGE!

The sign at the front of the parade. You better spread peace and happiness or else.

Stella and Xavier getting blessed.

All the little Buddha’s that got blessed. Stella and Xavier could sit up by themselves so we had to hold them. I hope they're developmentally on track.

Mommy and the kids.

Dad and the kids. My left eye is swollen from a fight or my contact. I can't remember which it was on this day.

Stella says, "feed me woman!"

Xavier. I forgot to comb his hair for this picture.

Xavier and Stella. Too cute!

Nanny #1

2008-05-15T09:26:00.000-07:00

So, our nanny called in sick on her second day.

We get this phone call at 7:00am Tuesday and she's all like," I have a 100...a 100 a...I don't know how to say it in English but it’s over 100 fever and I don't think I should be around the kids. I'll work Friday to make up for it.”

Argh..if we are going to pay someone to raise our children so we don't have to, they need to be reliable.

This was on top of her not being able to make our first meeting because her car broke down on the highway. The car breaking down excuse was a red flag but we let it slide. How often do cars just "break down" nowadays?...especially in the summer. Why aren't people more creative,"Hey, like I'm getting an abortion this morning so I'll have to come a few hours late. Do you have plastic covers for the furniture?"

She was supposed to work Thursday but I left "bad nanny" a message that we were reconsidering using her and not to come. We actually already decided to kick her to the curb but I didn't want to leave that in a vmail.

The way I see this playing out is I'll call her to come over. I'll sit behind my desk and lodge questions and insults at her one after another until she sees the situation as hopeless. Then, I'll pronounce, "YOU'RE FIRED". ..and do this snake thing with my hand like Donald Trump does. The meeting will finish off with me shouting "Now get out of here!"

Anna says that would be mean but I need to yell,"You're Fired!" at one person in my life and this might be the only opportunity I get.

The other option is to pull a lever and have her fall through a trap door but I'd have to build a trap door and what would I do with the body?

We do have some options.

Our cleaning person is interested so we may hire our cleaning person to be the nanny and then ask the current nanny to be the cleaning person. If you are not from a big city that last sentence sounds totally retarded.

George

Mother's Day!

2008-05-12T11:21:00.001-07:00

It was Anna's first mother’s day Sunday and she should win the national mother's day award for best mother that ever existed.

You might think you have the best mother but you don't.
Can your mother double breastfeed? The only mother that could beat that would be a mother of triplets that could triple breastfeed. That mother would have three breasts and would be a freak of nature and it sickens me just to think about it.

Anna is managing three days home alone with two newborns. She has help from our nanny part time on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Three days a week alone is just crazy and she's able to do it. Unfortunately, Stella and Xavier are still going through their colic/psycho phase. If there's a TV show that needs two babies to play the part of newborns that are possessed by aliens from another universe that communicate by screaming at each other, well these are your kids.

Taking long walks in the stroller is the only thing that calms them down so Anna has been going on a lot of long walks lately. The other day she walked to Ohio.

Our nanny, Kasia, will start full time in June. Anna and Kasia gossip in Polish a lot so I don't know what they are saying. Sometimes they giggle like little school girls. I think they're talking about me. They could make fun of me in English. That's what everyone else does.

Happy Mother's Day to the #1 Mom!

George

1 Month!

2008-05-05T12:32:00.000-07:00

Wow, another week as gone by. Stella and Xavier were one month old last Thursday May 1st! That makes them over 4 weeks old.

The kids have started this new thing where they scream and cry like crazy between 6:00pm and 12:00pm. Apparently this is normal and everyone and their mom (har har) has some opinion about what will shut them up. Nothing really works. You're not supposed to leave them in a room and close the door. That is what Anna's says. Its child abuse or something.

I was desperate and bought this $200 newborn soother from Graco at Target. It's a big contraption that has a "womb" sound and rocks the baby back and forth and goes up to 7 speeds. You can also hookup your ipod and play death metal.

Stella hated it but when we put Xavier in he shut-up in like 2 seconds. That lasted one day. After that he caught on that a real person wasn't rocking him. Oh, he's smart. We went from the 1st speed, to the second...he cried a little more, so we raised it to 3, then 4, 5, 6 and all the way to 7. If it went any faster I would have just put him in a mixing bowl and turned it on. Are you making cookies?...no, it's our baby...he's crying.

We did learn that carrying them for 6 hours works. They get strapped into a harness or sash thingy and are permanently attached to us. Anna peed once while wearing Stella. You develop special skills.

Eating is difficult with a baby strapped on because you can't push yourself up to the table. I never would have thought it would be so hard to put food on a fork and carry it two feet to my mouth. I keep dropping food on Xavier's head. By the time I'm done eating he's a casserole with a side of peas.

-George

Xavier just chillin' in the robot mommy before he figured out it wasn't a real person.

Xavier hangin' out in a cute outfit.

Anna holding Stella.

Stella...pretty in pink.

The Second Bath!

2008-04-24T17:25:00.000-07:00

Clearly I’ve lost any ability come up with interesting topics since I’m choosing the second bath as some grand affair to write about.

The kids loved their second bath just as much as they liked the first; not at all. Maybe if they learn to stop puking up every two minutes we wouldn’t have to bath them….ever.

Cousin Alexis /Aunt Keebs bought some really cute baby bathrobes. I think they are supposed to be turtles. Hell, I really don’t know what they are but the kids look so cute in them!

Xavier...Splish!

Stella!

I’d like to point out that Xavier wearing the blue bathrobe and Stella wearing the pink one has nothing to do with their gender. Whatever piece of clothing is closest gets put on.

Xavier has had the unfortunate luck of wearing a bib that says, “Daddy’s little Girl” or another one with a pink flower that says, “Pretty” many times. He pulls it off well so no one is complaining. And no, this will not give him gender identity issues in the future. Even if it does, surgery is always an option

-George.

Tummy Time!

2008-04-21T17:29:00.000-07:00

So Xavier and Stella have started to get a little tummy time each day. They've each put on some weight so they need more exercise.

Anna's friend who is a pediatrician resident got us a cool tummy time toy. The baby gets laid down on his/her tummy and tries to lift there head and crawl.

Let's review what happened.

Stella, did well. You can see her lifting her and and squirming along.

Way to go Stella. Truly a natural.

Now we have Xavier. Oh boy. What's going on here?

Did you fall asleep?

Come on little buddy, lift up your head!

Geez, that was hard.

Hmm, Xavier didn't do so well. Can we upgrade him to a different model?

-George

All Night Feedings

2008-04-14T05:08:00.001-07:00

Conversation between Anna and I at 5:00am this morning

George: Are you feeding Xavier

Anna: Yeah

George: When did he get up? I didn’t hear you get him.

Anna: I don’t know.

George: Wait, Xavier is still in his bed. Are you feeding Stella?

Anna: Yeah, Stella

George: Wait, Stella is still in her bed. Who are you feeding?

Anna: Oh, I guess no one. My breasts hurt so much I feel like I’m always feeding.

One Week Old

2008-04-12T11:16:00.000-07:00

The kids were a week old on Thursday! No one died and Anna and I did not go insane.

I know this blog is lacking in it's witty banter that I'm so good at but I'm a little busy people. So for now, you'll have to be satisfied with pictures. Please don't sell these pictures to a child modeling agency. Only Anna and I are allowed to profit off our children.

Xavier after his first bath. He loves baths. Doesn't it show on his face?

Stella and Mommy

Stella posing for the camera.

The second day.

2008-04-09T16:50:00.001-07:00

Ok, well the second day home was so much easier than the first day.

We got a game plan together and got a lot more sleep. Here is a picture to hold you over. Xavier and Stella this morning. They are so cute!!

The first night home.

2008-04-08T13:48:00.001-07:00

Well, their first night at home is what we expected it to be. They didn't sleep at the same time so Anna and I barely slept. Maybe I slept a little more because I could sleep during breast feeding.

I do most changings and the supplement feedings via bottle.

Anna is still in pain and is not allowed to lift more than 10 pounds for another week. It is tough on her since she can't go up and down stairs quickly nor get out off a chair or bed fast.

Either way, we are happy parents.

We had our first pediatrician appointment today at 11:30am. It was a real choir just to get ready to leave by that time. The funniest thing was Anna and me trying to figure out how to use a strap-n-go stroller in the parking garage of the doctor's office. It just broadcast "NEW PARENTS" to everyone parking their cars.

Here's some more pics.

Anna holding Xavier before leaving the hospital.

Anna's parents meeting there new grand kids!

One more thing. Xavier is pronounced "Zavier" NOT "X-Zavier" we've encountered about a 50/50 split of people calling him one or the other. This is not something we predicted. :-)

George

p.s.

People who read Anna's blog. She said she is too tired to update it for now.

We're back home. April 7, 2008

2008-04-07T14:51:00.000-07:00

They finally let us out of the hospital. Our room was really nice with wrap-around windows and a view of downtown and a small view of the lake. But, we both wanted to get home.

We got home about 1:30pm and got all the things unpacked. We had tons of gifts from family and friends to greet us. The dogs, Bella and Roxie were really curious. Roxie wouldn't stop licking the top of Stella's head.

Here's a few pictures for you'll.

Stella sleeping on her hand.

Xavier sleeping with his hands in the air.

Take Care,
George

All Going Well

2008-04-05T08:41:00.000-07:00

Hey there loyal readers.
We're still at the hospital and should be here until Monday.
Anna's family has left and my parents are still in town.

The kids were pretty active during the night. Stella is a good eater. She latches on, sucks, finishes, poos and goes to bed.

Xavier kinda latches on, falls asleep, wakes up crying, sucks a few times then looks around the room and then won't go to sleep unless he's held. He is such a baby!

Hopefully they'll be talking soon. That happens on the third day right? I didn't read any of those parenting books.

George

Welcome (Thursday April 3rd, 2008)

2008-04-04T06:42:00.000-07:00

Please welcome Stella Izabel Costakis weighing 5 lbs 13 oz born Thursday April 3rd, 2008 at 9:01pm and Xavier Stanislaw Costakis wieghing 6 lbs 5 oz born a few minutes later.

Xavier left and Stella right after they were born.

Dad right after delivery. I'm still in my surgery scrubs.

A very tired but happy new mom. She looks great!