CHAMPAIGN – Jill Kjorlien and Lee Alexander figure they change at least 20 diapers a day.

They're experts at mixing baby formula.

They do a lot of laundry – on average, about two loads a day.

They've rearranged furniture to fit the cribs and baby paraphernalia into their home.

They juggle feeding, changing, and putting to sleep two infant daughters, while still trying to give their 2 1/2-year-old son the attention and play time he needs.

They get through it with a lot of coffee.

And they wouldn't have it any other way.

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Kjorlien, an art teacher at Kenwood Elementary School in Champaign, and Alexander, who does computer support for Litania Sports Group (parent company of Gill Athletics) and is also a Parkland College student, married in 2003.

They knew they wanted children, but they weren't able to get pregnant. They tried several years' worth of treatments for infertility. Kjorlien underwent in vitro fertilization three times, but it didn't work.

So they decided to adopt. They chose a Chicago adoption agency, one in which the birth parents choose the couple they'd like to raise their child. Kjorlien put together a scrapbook of their lives with photos of their home, their families, the things they like to do.

They were chosen by a couple, and they met their son's birth parents.

"It's kind of like an audition," Alexander said.

The birth parents agreed to have Kjorlien and Alexander adopt their child, and they brought Owen home when he was 4 weeks old.

"I just got this gift. We got this gift," Kjorlien said.

They were thrilled to be parents. And they knew they wanted more children eventually.

But adoption is expensive and time-consuming. So two years after they brought Owen home, the couple tried to get pregnant again.

"The first time, you're at the end of your rope," Alexander said. "You're trying everything you can to get something you want, and it if doesn't work, it's devastating.

"After having Owen, if it didn't work, it still would hurt but it wouldn't hurt so much."

This time it worked, though.

* * *

And then, in mid-December, when Kjorlien was eight months pregnant, the couple got a call from the adoption agency in Chicago. Owen's birth parents had just had another child, a girl, and they wanted to know if Kjorlien and Alexander were interested in adopting her.

"Right away, we were like, we want to do it," Kjorlien said. "It was just sitting and talking about how can we make this work. Lee's comment was, 'We're going to have to draw straws to see which ones are going to go to college.'"

"We knew we wanted another child," Alexander said. "Even after Owen and (their newborn daughter) Robin, we knew we wanted to add to the family. We just didn't think we'd do it simultaneously."

They had to wait a couple of weeks before bringing Owen's little sister, Vivian, home. They needed to renew their foster care license – a necessity because it takes about six months before the adoption is finalized.

They already had a van and two infant car seats, one for each vehicle. Kjorlien's brothers gave them a couple of cribs to use.

Alexander's mother came from Chicago to help out after they brought Vivian home. Kjorlien was still teaching, up until three days before Robin was born Jan. 29.

About a week after giving birth, Kjorlien was back at the hospital, in the emergency room, with chest pains. She had fluid around her lungs and a spot of pneumonia, related to the delivery, and she came home with prescriptions for antibiotics and painkillers.

Fortunately, her parents had come from Minnesota to help after Robin was born.

Even though both girls were tiny babies, the six-week age difference between them was readily apparent.

While Robin was still the helpless newborn, Vivian was starting to hold her head up. After a while, Vivian could sleep five hours at a time; Robin still woke up after three.

"After they're a couple months old, you get a nice routine," Alexander said. "It's just the first few weeks. They're hungry every two hours. With Jill not feeling well, it was harder to get into a groove, which is why it's great to have family around."

The babies also have different personalities.

"Vivian is very loud. She lets you know she needs something, and Robin is very quiet," Kjorlien said. "Vivian's smiling and mimicking whatever you do with your face. I think that Robin is going to be more laid back."

"Is that just wishful thinking, that at least one of the kids will be quiet and play nicely?" Alexander asked.

* * *

It's been an adjustment for Owen, too.

"There are times when he acts out," Alexander said.

"And then there are times when he grabs his blanket and wants to give it to the baby," Kjorlien added.

He's at the age where he's climbing a lot and getting into things. And he's missing the lap space that used to be exclusively his.

Alexander is thrilled to be a dad to him and his two little sisters – playing in the backyard with Owen, or walking the dog in the park and looking for flowers and bugs.

"I like being a dad," he said. "I wasn't sure if I would. Nobody knows how they're going to be. But I think I'm doing a good job.

"My favorite part of day is when I come home. Owen is like, 'Daddy!' Even though I'm tired, I still need to get down and play with him."

"We know the road is not going to be an easy one, but we're sure glad we're able to have those two siblings together and keep them together," Kjorlien said. "That's why we wanted to do it.

"It's going to be wild, but it's a good trip."