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Twin Tuesday: Alayna and Livian

By Dawn Sailors In Featured Twins

Hey there! It’s Tuesday!! This picture cracks me up. What a great way to start the day. I’m so happy to introduce this week’s adorable twins, because they are the daughters of my long-time friend, Kevin and his wife, Allison. I’ve known Kevin since my first day of seventh grade and we’ve been friends ever since. I was so excited for him when they found out they were expecting twins, and his daughters, Alayna and Livian (aka Laney and Livi), are very close in age to Vera, so we compare notes from time to time on how strange it is that we’re parents now. Haha.. Anyway, I think this is the first time I’ve had these questions answered from a man’s perspective (although I’m sure he had some help from Allison), so let’s get to it! I’ll let Kev take it from here:

Are your girls identical or fraternal, and do twins run in your family?
Identical (We finally found out for sure by getting the twin zygosity test.) On my side my grandpa has fraternal brother and sister. On Allison’s side she has half sisters that are fraternal twins. We don’t have identical twins in our families.

When did you find out you were expecting twins and what was your reaction?
Allison and her mom found out at her 8 week ultrasound while I was at work. Their first reaction was “OMG!” when the doctor said there were two of them. Allison showed me the ultrasound when I got home from work that night. I took it better than I did when I first found out she was pregnant. That’s all I’ll say about that.

How did you go about picking names?
Allison was much more ambitious with this than I was. She did a lot of brainstorming while I put it off most of the time. We narrowed it down by wanting names that weren’t overly common, but also sounded good to us and good together (e.g. Dawn and Dania.) Eventually we settled on Alayna Marjorie and Livian Elizabeth (Laney and Livi). Marjorie is my Grandmother’s name, and Elizabeth is Allison’s late Grandmother’s name.

What is the hardest part about having twins?
Allison says “Doing simple things is harder. You can’t just take a trip to the grocery store by yourself without doing a lot of work. You can’t go to a Dr’s appointment alone without having to drag out the stroller. Also the public circus act you become. You can’t go anywhere without at least 2 or 3 people stopping to ask you the “20 twin questions.” I guess it is just part of the job!” And I would agree with what she says. All little things you try to get done now take a whole day to get done.

What is your favorite part about having twins?
Our favorite part is that they always have someone to play with and they keep each other entertained a lot of the time. I think we feel a little more special since not everyone gets to experience twins. Even though it is much more work, it’s a lot of fun. ( I hope you and Dania have thanked your parents.)

What advice would you give to other parents of twins?
Advice? I think we are on the receiving end of that more often than not, lol. Allison says “If they are brand new, or expecting parents of twins, I would just assure them that it does get easier! The first few months are pretty tough, especially if you have to go through any NICU time, but it DOES get easier! Ever since about 9 months, I have caught myself saying “This is my favorite age” every month…”

Thanks again to Kevin and Allison for letting me feature you guys today and for taking time to answer questions. Your girls are beautiful and I know they’re keeping you on your toes! Oh and Kevin, thanks for acting like Dania and I somehow inspired your name selection! Haha, clearly this kind of flattery is why we’re friends.  :)

I hope you all have a great Tuesday.

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