Inside The Pages Of Hola: Exclusive Pictures Of Ricky Martin's Twins

We recently told you that singer Ricky Martin, being the good Latino celebrity that he is, decided to introduce his four-month-old twin boys to the world through a photo spread in Hola magazine. We now have the exclusive pictures from that spread and, being the good non-famous Latinos that we are, decided to share them all with you. After the jump, meet little Matteo and Valentino Martin, see how exhausted new dad Ricky looks despite his immaculate highlights and wonder (perhaps aloud) whether Matteo and Valentino would beat Jennifer Lopez's twins in a brawl. (They would not.) You'll also get a peek inside Ricky's home, where he's currently raising his twins without the aid of a nanny but with the aid of a personal assistant, whom we'd like to think of as being very limber: The singer tells Hola that, if he'd had a single son via surrogate, he would have named him after himself. After finding out he was going to be a father to twins, however, Ricky decided that it would be "unfair" to name just one kid Ricky and chose to come up with two different names altogether. He selected Valentino, "the valiant," and Matteo, "a gift from God." Ricky, who comes from a large family, says he always knew he wanted to be a dad:

"I always knew a wanted to be a father. I have such happy childhood memories of my own dad, and I thought it was important to share that kind of love with children of my own. I didn't know exactly when I'd go about starting a family, but, obviously, the moment arrived. I remember sitting in front of the computer and just being amazed at all the scientific advancements we have at our disposal, and I thought, 'This is what I've decided and I'm going to go after it.'"

Ricky had an airplane-themed nursery built for Matteo and Valentino, complete with one of the most wondrous and amazing lights we've ever seen. The babies, however, still sleep in their father's room. Which is nice, because we still sleep in an apartment the size of these babies' unused bedroom. Recalling the first moment he saw his sons, Ricky, who had been preparing for their birth by reading countless parenting books, says:

"I was trembling, I was so nervous. My family and friends were all there, but all I could see were my sons. They had wrapped them in blankets and I remember saying, 'I want to see their little fingers, their bellies! I want to touch their hands! Unwrap 'em!' I wanted us to be skin to skin and for my children to know my scent; it's so important. It was such a special moment."

On his decision to have biological children, the singer (perhaps in anticipation of the backlash he might receive from his more conservative, Catholic fans) explains:

"I felt a real need to see myself reflecting in my children's eyes, that's why I decided to go with a surrogate. It was the best option for me at this point in my life. There are people who think that science and medicine don’t go with God, but I see art and God’s hand in each and every one of my sons’ movements, in each smile and every cry. This whole process has been a spiritual one for me. Becoming a parent has been a blessing."

But, he adds, he isn't opposed to adopting more children to be named Ricky in the future:

"Adoption is still an option. I've just started building my family and have always imagined having lots of kids. I don't see any reason why I wouldn't pursue adoption at some point in the future. We'll see what happens."

On the stresses of fatherhood:

"I have help raising them, but that doesn't mean I get to do things like rest or sleep... I bathe them, I give them their bottles, I change their diapers. I don't want to miss a single moment with them."

On getting help raising his little blobbits:

"I'm the one in charge of everything. I'm the one who gets up at night. I can't say I do it all on my own, because I have someone around who helps me out. You realize, with twins, how hard this all is. Sometimes they'll both start crying at once and there's nothing I can do but take them in my arms and laugh while thinking, 'This is what everyone warned me about.'"

Starting your own version of Menudo is, after all, not an easy task. On family resemblance:

"I'd say they looked like me even if they didn't. I would continue thinking we all looked alike even if the only things they had resembling mine would were their little toes."

And their plunging V-neck t-shirts? Someday, babies. Ricky, as you might have guessed, also sings to his children, who are too small and blob-like to quickly race away:

"I sing everything to them. From Rock 'n Roll to songs in Spanish to lullabies, although I'm not the best at singing those. They love music and I tell them, 'Prepare yourselves, babies. [Ed. note: Pause for a moment and please imagine Ricky Martin cooing, "Prepare yourselves, babies." It is a delight.] Your lives are going to be full of music.' In my house there's music going 24 hours a day, so my children still don't know what silence is."

When asked how he planned to deal with accusations that it was selfish of him to bring children into this world without a mother, Ricky got philosophical:

"I'm going to concentrate on becoming a better, stronger, more complete person. All throughout my career -- a career I've pursued since I was twelve -- I have had to make sure to please people and ensure that people were happy with the things I was doing. At this moment, though, I'm focusing on what makes me happy. My sons are happy and they're going to grow up being sure of themselves. When they ask a question, they will always receive an answer given with the utmost honesty and sincerity. They're not going to feel 'different,' because there are hundreds -- thousands -- of children all over the world who are raised solely by their mothers or only by their fathers. I'm choosing to focus on the light, not the dark."

When asked how he planned to keep his sons from being spoiled, Ricky slapped the plebeian reporter. And then said:

"At 12 years old, I joined Menudo and we became ambassadors for UNICEF. We traveled all around the world, meeting with the globe's most disadvantaged children. But, at the same time, we traveled in private planes, had this whole world set up for us inside our hotels with our own playroom and people to cater to our every whim. We worked hard, but we were also catered to. UNICEF taught me the importance of having good roots. I intend to do the same for my children. I'm not going to stop fulfilling my charitable obligations; my children will travel everywhere with me, be it to Cambodia, Vietnam, Peru, Bolivia... and they will experience sitting, on the floor, playing with children who are happy with so little. It will provide a good jumping-off point for them to make their own conclusions about life."

[Ricky Martin presenta, orgulloso, a Valentino y Matteo] Hola (print)