What is in a Name?

The twins have names!!!! We have had a girl's name in mind since before conception just no middle name until recently. The boy has been harder to come by. The only rules we had are as follows
1) The 1st and middle names have to sound good together.
2) The two first names have to sound good together as well, this rule was Milina's. I guess it is so when they are in trouble the names roll of your tongue easier while you are yelling at both of them.
3) They can not be named after anyone we didn't like or the kid that sits in front of you at church or in primary and can't sit down and shut up for longer than 30sec.
4) The boy's middle name had to be Jonathan. For those of you that don't know, the Stoddard males have made the Father's first name become the first born son's middle name for several generations, at least 4-5 generations that I am aware of, maybe longer.
5) The boy's first name could not start with a J or be longer than 2 syllables, both of which would sound funny with Jonathan as a middle name.

It is amazing that the boy has a name at all with all those rules!
The boy name short list consisted of Caden, Matthew, Adam, and Ethan. Below are the final names and their meanings. We did not pick the names based on meanings or origin but it is always fun to know what the name means and if you are curious as to what your own name means follow the link http://www.babynamer.com/
We looked forward to everyone meeting Adam and Mia as they enter the world Mid-February and appreciate eveyone's thought and prayers for us and them.

Boy - Adam Jonathan Stoddard.
Adam: Ruddy Earth (Hebrew), or Man (Phonecian) based on Adam being the first man and made from the earth
Jonathan: Gift of God (I have always been fond of that)

Girl -Mia Nicole Stoddard
Mia: Wished for Child (Hebrew) Sea of Bitterness (Scandanavian). We both like the first meaning as opposed to the latter for obvious reasons.
Nicole: Victorious People (Greek)

Baby Update

Milina had her follow-up appointment this morning and everything is fine. The whole family will be happy to know that it appears the twins have apparently inherited Milina's cheeks! For those of you that don't know Milina's cheeks were HUGE as a baby. She looked like a chipmunk that was storing food for the entire winter. And when the Doctor mentions the size of their cheeks on an ultrasound you know they are big. The twins are about 3lb-31/4lb each which is very good. He also told us that since the twins are gaining weight at a good rate he will probably not allow then to go past the middle of February. More baby updates to follow. I have also posted the latest ultrasound video and will be posting nursery room pics as well per several requests.

Everybody Must Get Stoned

Milina had her 3rd of 4 or 5 baby showers today that was for family mainly. I have been working on a very special present for her for about 1 1/2 months now and today was the unveiling. I have a co-worker that has been stone carving for several years now, so I decided to try my hand at it. I bought a 30-40# limestone rock and went to work. After appx 30-40 hours of carving, filing, sanding and polishing I finished a few days ago. I have never considered myself a very artistic person, in fact I am far from it. I have however discovered with a little mentoring I am a decent stone carver. There is something a little nostalgic about taking a plain piece of rock and creating something beautiful and inspiring. It turned out better than I ever thought it would. I will be posting pics very soon but the basic concept is a bowl, or womb to be more specific, carved into the face of the stone. In the center of the bowl are the twins emerging from the stone, facing one another and coming together at their knees and arms forming a heart in the center. Milina loved it!!

Are You Ready to Rumble

This is a little late but Patrick, Kati and I ran in the annual Rockledge Rumble. A yearly trail race honoring American Veterans. This was my 4th year to run and a bit of a redemption from the previous 2 years. I finished 10 minutes faster than last years time and this was the first race in a long time that I felt really good while I was racing. I even finished with Kati which is unheard of for me.

I Yam What I Yam

For those of you unfamiliar with Milina's roots, she is from a little community (not big enough to be a town) in East Texas named Kelsey. Now Kelsey has population of o' say 150, and that is when the neighbors are throwing a big party. She actually tells people she is from Gilmer which in it own right is not a big town but it is the biggest town for 20 miles and it does have a Walmart. Gilmer just happens to be the Yam capital of Texas, yes yams, you know a sweet potato.
Every 3rd weekend in October Gilmer worships the yams by throwing the yearly Yamboree, cute huh. It is a spectale to see including a parade that features none other than the Yam Queen (see pics) in all her royalty. There are lesser celebrities from every little town within a 30-50 mile radius including princesses, dutchesses, homecoming sweethearts, mother's of the year, and lest we forget Yambo, Ree and Tater the clowns (see pics).
Some of my personal favorite events are the Saturday night street dance in the town square, the yam decorating contest (see pics they are hilarious), and the livestock auction where everything you thought you knew about the price of a rabbit, chicken, goat, pig, steer and cow will be challenged. Apparently the going rate for three bunnies is $2300, a goat $800, a chicken $1000, pig $600-900, a steer and or milk cow $1800-3000. It is of course for a good cause, so that an FFA student can go to A&M and study to be a vet.
The most memorable moments in Yamboree history are as follows. When Bobby, aka Billy Bob Joe Frank (as we like to call him) informed us he just aint' been the same since he got' blowed up. I would hate to see what he was like before. Every time we stop by the shoot the star out and the mini billiard table to see another person shell out who knows how much money only to be outsmarted by the Carnies, dang those carnies they'll get you every time.
So if you are ever in the area of Gilmer the 3rd weekend in October stop on by the bandstand and you will see Milina and I two-steppin' to the local country band. It truly is a nice weekend to go for a change of pace, to relax, enjoy the beautiful countryside, and of course eat some fine fair food.

Saga of the Coffee Table

The coffee table saga has come to a close. We have been using the same particle board coffee table for 8 1/2 years now. Over that time frame it has been subjected to every inhumanity possible. I told Milina instead of buying one I would take 1-2 months and build one. I think that last real wood project I undertook was the birdhouse in cub scouts when you build that little birdhouse out of the precut sections. Then 60 min and several bruised digits later you had a birdhouse only a mother could love and if there was a housing authority to protect birds you would be considered a slum lord and the place would be condemed. It is now at least 7-8 months later and the coffee table is complete. It often became the subject of discussion at church and even the focus of one of my talks in church as the "Parable of the Coffee Table", ask me about it sometime. I must say considering there were no plans other than in my head it looks better than I ever imagined. The only screws are to hold several pieces of trim onto the main body other than that it is only joints and glue. The real test will be when we move it upstairs and start using it to see if it falls apart when you put anything on it. I will be posting pics soon.

Toyota US Open Triathlon

This weekend is the Toyota US Open Triathlon. It is an Olympic Distance Triathlon (1.5K swim, 40K bike and 10K run) and the culmination of the Lifetime Triathlon Series which includes race in Minneapolis, New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles and finally Dallas. Patrick, Kati, Fred and I have been training for months including Sprint to Olympic distance races from the DFW metroplex to Boerne, Tx (NW San Antonio). This is the first Olympic Distance Triathlon we competed in last year and we all hope to better our previous year's times. I finished last year with a time of 3:08 and hope to finish this year in 3:00 even or under.

Some of the most notable pro level athletes include:

Greg Bennett - current leader who stands to make over 100K if he finishes in the top 3 and wins the series as a whole and last year's triathlete of the year.

Hunter Kemper - 2008 Bejing Olympic USA Team member who finished with his and the USA's best Olympic placing of 9th.

Aaron Scheidies - First blind triathlete to break the 2:00hr mark in an Olympic Distance Triathlon (which occurred at last year's Toyota US Open Triathlon in Dallas). He is considered the best visually impaired triathlete in the world finishing only minutes behind the other pro athletes.

COMING THIS SPRING!!!!!!

Finally we know the gender of the Min Twins (what I have been calling them since they are miniature twins and were yet unnamed)!!
For those of you that want a bit of a challenge you can watch the ultrasound video below and try to guess that they are. You will have to watch toward the end and try to catch it before the Dr adds the text into the screen. For those of you who do not trust your baby anatomy detective skills you can skip below and read below what they are.
The doctor told us they are healthy, growing at an appropriate and comparable rate, all parts are where they should be and all is completely normal. Milina is feeling great with minimal discomfort and is excited about starting to get a preggo pudge. She is also very excited about being able to continue with decorating the baby room and picking out baby things.
We are as always grateful for everybody's thought and prayers for us and the twins and have not been happier over the past 4-5 months.

We are expecting 1 beautiful girl and 1 handsome boy (a little presumptuous but what do you expect).

New Sonogram Pics

Here are the latest Sono pics from last week. They are not as clear as the first but still fun to look at. We are still about 6wks from knowing the gender.

TWINS!!!

Milina and I found out this last Tue that we are having twins. We do not know the gender yet and won't find out for 2 more months. Here are the sonogram pics for your viewing pleasure.