Wow...what a great weekend. I am a huge UC fan, admittedly more of a basketball fan than football until Dantonio arrived and it has strenghtened with the arrival of Kelly.  I Listened to the overtime Xavier B-ball win Friday, watched football on the tube early Saturday as well as the surprising UC Bball team, then left around 5pm to go watch a game filled with historical implications.  I ended up going with a buddy after getting clearance from the wife to buy tickets (my twins boys came home last month...tight budget). We arrived and found a nice space in the library garage, we chatted with some bearcat tailgaters, then walked into Nippert around 5:40. The stadium was scarcely filled with early arrivals. Most of the fans were buzzing around outside fueling up for the game. We were sitting at about the 35 yard line in a Ucats section, absolutely amazing seats.  The fans started filing in creating an exciting aura of anticipation and pride. You could actually feel the city rallying around this dynamic, high energy team of amazing kids. In our section there was alumni of all different ages cheering and coming together. As kickoff approached a last minute rush of fans migrated toward the remaining empty seats to complete the ring of red. Then the Bearcats emerged from the tunnel and all the pent up energy could no longer be contained as an explosive roar greeted the Cats.

After Pitt's first posession up 7-0 and having the ball back off of Mardy's fumble a silence fell over the crowd.  The UC defense then punched Pitt in the mouth and forced a punt that drove us to the one yard line. After a brief debate whether it should have been a touchback or not - 30, 000 felt it should have been. I turned to my gameday family and loudly concluded, "It does matter we are driving the ball 99 yards and shoving the ball right down their throats!" and we actually did.  What other local team shows that kind of moxy, to face early adversity in a game and immediately retaliate by ripping out the souls from their opponents. What a pleasure and privilege it was to watch a talented bunch of kids who posess as much heart as the Bearcats.  You could see the determination on their faces and in how they played the game, you could see in the coaches demeanor on the sideline. (Did you see the sleeveless Coach Coombs jumping around over there...love that) Doesn't feel good to support a team like this? Can you feel the difference in watching them rather then the so called professional team in Cincy? The red sea surrounding Nippert Stadium was like blood pumping into a pulsating heart on that field Saturday.  Doesn't it feel awesome to go to work on Monday riding an emotional high, listening to sports talk radio and hearing excitement and pride in others voices. Not having to talk about the cancer that played on Thursday, what a great time for them to play as to not cast a dark shadow on a fantastic weekend.

GO CATS!!! THANK YOU!!! LETS CONTRIBUTE HOWEVER WE CAN TO PUSH THIS TEAM TO PROMINENCE AND KEEP THEM THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My boys are finally coming home on Tuesday. They have been at Good Sam since August 28th, there original due date was November 24th (a little early). It has been an exhausting, emotional roller coaster with everyones emotions at the brink of exploding. They have been doing great, their weights are now Jacob- 4.9 and Jordan- 4.3, almost double the weight they were born at. They have been steadily gaining weight and continued to suprise everyone how tough they are. Kristin and I are ready for them to come home, we are really excited and a little scared.  The nurses in the NICU at Good Sam did a phenomenal job taking care of our boys and getting us prepared to take them home. I appreciate everyones support and prayers during the tough days we endured, our only worries now is the unpaid FMLA Kristin has to take. Through the support of our friends and families I'm sure we will get through these next couple months.

Thanks- please see attached photos of my little fighters....Jacob and Jordan

Well my twin boys arrived a little over two months early on Thursday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jordan Michael  - 2lbs 3oz at 1:53 pm

Jacob Taylor  - 2lbs 8oz at 2:23 pm

**********************JACOB TAYLOR*******

*********************JORDAN MICHAEL*******

My wife Kristin was experiencing some pains at 1:00, arrived at the hospital around 1:20, and by 2:23 both boys were here.  She called me a little after 1:00 to tell me her doctor told her to go to the Emergency Room at Good Sam, I told her I would meet her there.  Well I work in Mason so it was not a quick trip to get there, I got another call at 1:45 from a nurse to tell me she was in the operating room in the process of delivering our first son. WHAT A SHOCK that was!!!!! I said I was almost there and I arrived right after my first son Jordan was born. I then had to wait in a room while she was given an epideral, twenty minutes later I was able to join my wife and witness the birth of my second son...Jacob.  

I then had the option to stay with my wife or go with them to NICU at Good Sam to make sure everyhting was ok. I chose the latter of course....then returned to let my wife know they were doing fine. My wife did amazing - they are our first children, we had not taken a tour of the hospital yet, any classes, had no idea what to expect - we have not even had a baby shower yet!

At this time I went to go let the family members who have arrived everything was ok , there were tears of joy and fear shared by all. 

The boys are doing fantastic, they are tough little guys. They are breathing on their own, they have upped the amount they eat everyday. They just couldn't wait to experience the world and anxious to see the kickoff of the football season.....or at least Jordan was and dragged Jacob out with him.

My wife got to hold both boys yesterday for the first time, she was absolutely ecstatic. I appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers to ensure my boys get stronger each day and can come home to us as soon as possible.

(Below: My wife Kristin holding baby Jacob for the first time) more pics to follow..

I haven't blogged in awhile, my wife and I recently found out we were having twin boys! They are our first children and we are extremely excited. We are in the process of decorating our sports themed room and I have matching Bengal Jerseys on order. We are naming them Jordan Michael and Jacob Taylor.

Hopefully our local sports teams can get their organizations on winning tracks and my boys can grow up in a new, exciting, winning, professional sports town!!!!!!

P.S. - I can't wait for FOOTBALL to get started (UC and Bengals)

Thanks for being my lifeline C. Trent