Weise: 'My kids are the greatest thing in my life'

MONTREAL - Dale Weise isn't getting much sleep right about now, but he's totally cool with it.

It was just last Wednesday that the 30-year-old forward and his wife, Lauren, welcomed fraternal twins in Winnipeg. Baby girl, Jersey Taylor Weise, checked in at 6.8 pounds, before baby boy, Hayes Randall Weise, arrived three minutes later weighing in at 6.7 pounds.
That upped the number of children in the Weise household to four. Jersey and Hayes joined five-year-old, Hunter, and three-year-old, Jordana.
"It was pretty crazy when we first found out we were having twins. Lauren is a twin and her grandma had twins, so it obviously runs in the family. To have another boy and girl, we're just so blessed," said Weise, regarding his brand new bundles of joy. "Having twins is a completely different experience. From the pregnancy to the first couple of days here, there's obviously a lot more work. I think we're sleeping about 20 minutes at a time. Lots of coffee and lots of energy drinks, but it's just so exciting."

Hunter and Jordana have been a huge help with Jersey and Hayes, according to the nine-year NHL veteran. They're eager to pitch in every chance they get.
"They can hold both babies, they can feed them. It's nice to have an extra set of hands taking diapers to the trash," said Weise with a laugh. "They both can't get enough of them. They just want to cuddle up and get so close to them. It's really cool to see their interaction."
Dale and Lauren actually prepared Hunter and Jordana for the twins' arrival with the help of the feature film, The Boss Baby.
"We kind of played that throughout the whole pregnancy. Kind of the gist of the movie is about a new baby brother joining the family," explained Weise. "It talks about where babies come from and everything like that, so they thought it was pretty cool and compared it to the movie. Since we've brought Jersey and Hayes home, they've always wanted to be with them."

As for as how the Weises came up with those baby names, the story is a rather good one.
"When Lauren and I first started dating, that's when country singer Hunter Hayes first came on the scene, so we named our first son Hunter. We didn't have the second name picked out. We weren't really planning on keeping them all H's or anything like that, but as we got further along in the pregnancy, it just kind of popped in my head. I heard one of his songs on the radio again, and I said 'What do you think about the name, Hayes?' Lauren loved it and it kind of went from there," recounted Weise. "With Jersey, we were playing in Philly and living in South Jersey before the trade to Montreal, so we thought Jersey was a cool name. I think both names are unique to us."
So what is Weise looking forward to about fatherhood the third and fourth time around?
"I can't wait to see their personalities. Being at the same age, they're going to go through everything at exactly the same time," mentioned Weise. "With Hunter and Jordana being a couple of years apart, it's been interesting seeing them grow up together. They're best friends, but they also fight like cats and dogs sometimes and they have completely different personalities. This will be different."

Playing the role of full-time dad at the moment suits Weise just fine. He hasn't begun his offseason workout routine yet, but plans on hitting the gym again in a couple of weeks.
In the meantime, spending quality time with his family is the lone task on his docket.
"This is kind of a nice cherry on top to kind of get my mind off the season and start the summer fresh. I'm not into training right now, which is good. I can be there for Lauren. I can do a lot more things," said Weise. "This just came at a really, really good time in my life. Everything I live for are my kids. To have one more of each is amazing. My kids are the greatest thing in my life. They're still so young and we have so much life left together. I'm just enjoying every minute of it."
A few months from now…
Jersey and Hayes' arrival also means that Weise's cheering section at the Bell Centre come September will have grown by two.
"I'm going to need to get a box," cracked Weise, when asked about the number of seats Lauren and his kids would require to watch the pre-game warmup before home games.
The couple will also further cement their ties to Montreal later on this year when they open a WowMoms World franchise in Brossard.
"It's perfect for our family. It's a little bit of everything," said Weise. "We've got classes like Pilates, yoga, TRX, everything is centered around family. You can bring your kids to these classes, you can work out. We have a café. We have a spa. We have everything."