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Twin Tuesday: Julian and Isaiah

By Dawn Sailors In Featured Twins

Our twins for today are Julian and Isaiah, the adorable sons of Mandey and Chikezie. Mandey writes a blog called Mama and the Dudes that I think is pretty awesome. Also, she’s a midwest girl like myself, although she’s relocated to the OC these days. I’ll let Mandey give you the details on being a mama to her dudes:

Are your boys identical or fraternal? Do twins run in your family?
My boys are fraternal although they look a lot alike. We’ve had random strangers try to argue with us that they’re identical! There are twins in my family, distantly. However most people who have twins can “find” twins in their lineage somewhere. I wrote a whole post on where twins come from here. And based on genetics, the fact that my husband is a twin is purely coincidental!

When did you find out you were expecting twins and what was your reaction?
I found out I was pregnant with twins around 8 weeks at my first doctor’s check up. I was there to make sure everything was ok before I made the move to California. She told me I was measuring big and they’d do an ultrasound to better date the pregnancy. I was at the appointment by myself (because my husband, then fiancé, was living in California already) and scared out of my mind. I started crying and laughing hysterically when I found out it was twins. (You can read more about this here.)

How did you go about picking names?
Julian and Isaiah were just both names my husband and I liked. Julian was originally going to be Sidney (my husband’s middle name) but we switched it last minute. They both have two middle names, one Igbo (which is the Nigerian language his parent’s speak). Their 2nd middle name is passed down from our next in-line-siblings which both happen to be boys in our family. The boys’ full names are Julian Tochi James and Isaiah Chidi Hamilton…I love their names and am so glad we picked what we did.

What is the hardest part about having twins?
Not being able to help both boys at the same time. Sometimes one boy needs more from mama than the other and I feel guilty I’m not giving the other one as much attention. Sometimes I just don’t have enough hands!

What is your favorite part about having twins?
Watching the boys grow to be best friends. They have a built in buddy who is always there for them, and it’s so awesome to watch them bond. My husband and his twin brother are absolutely best friends and we love that we get to watch it happen with our boys.

What advice would you give to other parents of twins?
To laugh! Oh goodness there were nights we’d be up every two hours hovering over the boys’ bed squinting without our glasses on (and sleep deprived) laughing because we couldn’t tell which boy was which. Or hours of crying babies would be broken up by a really loud fart from one of them. We learned so quickly to stick together when things got harder and laugh at just how awesome it all is!

Isn’t that picture hilarious? I love it. Be sure to visit Mandey, Chikezie, Julian and Isaiah on her blog. Thanks again, Mandey, for taking some time out from these guys to answer questions for us! Happy Tuesday!

Are you a twin or multiple? Are you a mom (or dad) to twins or multiples? I want to feature you! Click here for more info.