Never Presidents

The process of getting our daughters' citizenship straightened out has been a serious undertaking.  Step one is getting birth certificates.  Until we have official certificates from Kenya, the US can't start considering them to be citizens.  It all started with a pink piece of carbon paper about 1/8th the size of the standard 8.5/11 which was the official report of birth from the hospital.  Once we dropped that off with an application downtown we needed to make two more trips (each after 2 weeks) to downtown Nairobi, first paying for the application and finally picking up the birth certificates 2 months after they were born. 
Step two  is even more grueling.  For the US we need to apply for a passport, a social security number, sign an affidavit attesting to every day we've been physically present in the US, and apply for a formal report of an American birth overseas.  Of course, all the paperwork is doubled for our twins.  Once all that, plus passport pictures (with eyes open on a white background please) of each daughter are together, I must send that to the US embassy for them to pre-screen the applications.  Of course, you can't just go to the embassy.  First of all, you can't park there (security) so you need to either park nearby and walk or take a taxi.  Then, the applications can only be turned in on a Monday or Wednesday between 9am and 11am.  Once we do that, they'll contact us to get an appointment to go to the embassy with the girls to sign the various forms in front of a notarized official. 
Only after all this will we get passports so that we can...you know....go home with our daughters.  And even with all this work, it seems like if our daughters ever want to be president, they'll be dogged with a whole posse of "birther" fanatics.....So much for their White House dreams!

Give Me One!

In Kenya, carrying babies is a magnet for the attention of every passer-by.  During our regular family outings we feel like the center of attention, every head is turned our way.  When we went to the nearby zoo, many children seemed to find our babies more amusing than the animals, "look at the hyena....LOOK AT THE BABIES!"

So in honor of the Kenyan fascination with babies, a top 10 list of the best (or worst) responses we've gotten from people seeing our twins:
10. Twins are a double-blessing
9.  Hello Mama! (joining the sorority of motherhood is a big deal)
8. Those are yours, you don't look very tired?  (sorry to disappoint)
7. Are they natural? (referring to the babies...)
6. One boy and one girl? (clearly we're not following the baby color code)
5. Those babies look cold! (only wearing three layers in the sun)
4.  Can I have a picture with them? (imagine this person showing off these pictures at a dinner party)
3. You're not going out with them are you? (fresh air is apparently toxic to babies)
2. Are you actually breastfeeding? (Nestle has brainwashed many with their formula propaganda)
1. Give me one!

Mother-Daughter Time

As many of you know, my mom came to Kenya to help us out for about five weeks. Before her coming, I was nervous how it would work out, having two new babies plus my mom as Matt and I try to figure out our roles as parents. But my concerns turned out to be unnecessary. Mom had come to help us out, and help she did! She was great at soothing the babies and always willing to take them so I could catch up on sleep. She also kept me company on nights when Matt was away at Najile. But I think the best part of her visit was the shared time together. There were so many beautiful moments where I got to share with my mom, the joys of being a mom.
We reveled in picking out pretty little outfits and studying their faces and bodies to figure out who they look like. It was a joy to watch together as the girls learned new things each new day and celebrate the small victories when they feel asleep on their own for a nap or held up their head during tummy time, or singing the same lullabies that were sung to me as a child. What a blessing to share motherhood with my mom, truly a time filled with God's presence.

Easter Frenzy

Christ is Risen! This Easter we had the new challenge of doing the normal Easter activities with our two daughters in tow. After an 8am service at church we planned to make ham, green-bean casserole, fried potatoes and fruit salad for lunch. The morning started early, around 6:15 when the girls woke up hungry. We decided it was fruitless to try and get more sleep so we started our morning routine. This includes, washing (the babies and ourselves), giving vitamins (the girls especially dislike the iron supplement), changing diapers, and changing clothes. After scarfing down some oatmeal for ourselves we were out the door by 745 and at church by 8 sharp.
The girls did a great job despite it being their first time at church. We sat near the back and at one point after worship ended Lizzie seemed to be hungry. Steph took her to the nursery in the back and stayed with her for the rest of the service. Otherwise, there were no embarrassing incidents and we were able to enjoy Easter service.
Once the service ended, our friends from our bible study asked if they could come by to see the girls. We agreed, drove home with our friends and enjoyed an hour of time together. Kenyans are so hospitable, whenever they come over to visit the girls, they bring something. These friends went over the top and brought two outfits, and a whole shopping trip worth of groceries for us. What a blessing!
As soon as they left, we started lunch since we were both getting hungry. The girls didn't make things any easier, they were both up and demanding attention. Matt went into hyper-multitask mode and started preparing everything simultaneously. Steph dealt with the girls, set the table, and made the fruit salad. In about 45 minutes we were ready with a delicious Easter meal. After the rush of the morning, we slept the afternoon away before heading over to the guest house for a stroll on the grounds.
All in all, it was a busy but worshipful Easter. We were blessed to celebrate with our daughters and look forward to many more Easters to come

Christ is my Righteousness

Recently, Steph and I have been studying Oswald Chambers' "My Utmost for his Highest". The small devotions are just the right size for the 10-minutes of co-sleeping the girls have in the morning. One of the recent devotions emphasized how Christ is our righteousness. It is His presence and His work in our life that bears the fruit of righteousness, not our own efforts.
While this was not a particularly new concept, it struck me. I started to apply that concept to the various times when I feel pride or feel like "man, I'm such a great person." These situations have plagued me since I'm not really sure how to respond when people compliment me or I recognize that I did something praise-worthy. The devotion spurred me to recognize that in those moments, Christ is at work in me, and present in a very real way. By taking the focus off of me and putting it back on Christ, I'm free from pride and free to celebrate the small victories of everyday life.
So the next time you see good in yourself, remember that Christ is at work in you and active at that moment. Hallelujah!

Girls Day Out

Last Friday, all three generations of Kistler/Kleinert women took an outing to a local mall.  We weren't exactly how we would carry the girls around for hours. We went armed with car seats, and fabric for baby slings.  Upon our arrival, a better idea came to mind...the girls love their car seats, but the seats are a hassle to carry.  So, why not put the girls in their car seats....in a shopping cart!  So that's what we did, and it worked out well.  We went to the book store and found various baby books.  Then we went to Woolworth's and found some new cute outfits for the girls.  We ate our first lunch out at the food court, and even did some grocery shopping.  One challenge was feeding the girls in public.  I worried they would both start screaming for food and I'd have limited options of where to discretely meet their needs.  Thankfully, the girls were quite content and did not get hungry at the same time.  It was a little hair-raising when Lizzie got hungry in the grocery store, (read: no quiet corners in sight) but overall all went on without a hitch. 

The Baby Whisperer

As the babies grow, we've both had to develop our child-calming skills.  At any time a baby may start screaming and we have to be ready to calm them back to normal functionality.  Matt has learned this skill well, and we've decided to call him the "Baby Whisperer".  When one of the babies is inconsolable, we call in Matt to do the dirty work.  He says that his skill comes from detaching his ears from his heart.  "You can't think that you're daughter is in terrible pain..."  I'm not sure I'm ready to detach my ears from my heart, but am glad to have a loving dad around to hold my screaming babies. 

Thank God for Help

Last Saturday marked the one-month birthday for our girls and we wanted to take some time to thank the people who have made it possible. Of course, our drs and the nurses at Aga Khan hospital really did an excellent job and made the first two weeks bearable. Now, we have two women helping us survive as we transition to life with a family of four. Steph's mom is here with us caring for the kids. She has been willing to stay with us when we need her and give us space when we need space. She has been so helpful in carrying a baby when we are out of arms or making a meal when we are out of energy.
The second thank-you goes to our house help, Tabitha. She cleans everything for us, particularly the multiple outfits Sophie manages to soil daily. She has been a joyful presence in our midst and done a lot to make this month manageable.

So thank you to everybody who has worked to make the first month of Lizzie and Sophie a joy.