The dynamic duo
November 19, 2009
We are just 3 days away from 6 months old!!! I am not sure why I am allowing Sam & Claire to grow up so quickly before our very eyes! They are becoming very aware of each other now. If one starts crying the other will join right in out of concern. This is stressful and so sweet at the same time! When they play together on the floor I often find them just staring at each other and my heart turns to mush! They reach out and grab each others nose, hand, or ear and poor Claire has been kicked in the face a time or two bringing her to tears.
I am over-joyed that Sam and Claire have each other. I spoke with a mom of 10-year-old twins last night and she reminded me of how special it is that they will always be together. They will always have someone to play with, someone to get on the bus with, someone to share a room with, someone to always depend on, a partner in crime. One of the boys asked her one day if they would ever be in different classrooms and she said only if they wanted that. The other son happened to stay home from school sick the next day and when his twin came home he told his mom he was lonely and didn’t want to ever be in a different classroom. I hope Samuel and Claire have that same relationship.
Enjoy these new pictures of our “Dynamic Duo”!
Stroller Ride'n
Just play'n
Pose'n
Eat'n
Sleep'n
Monster Mash
October 26, 2009
Trick or Treat?
October 22, 2009
The answer is both.
Sam & Claire are five months old now and I have no idea where that time went. They are both becoming so aware of their surroundings. There is nothing more pleasing than the smiles we get when we approach their cribs in the morning.
Sam is a very determined boy! For almost two months he has been standing up on our laps and looking back and forth non-stop. If we hold him up on the ground he marches right in place! I am sure that he will be walking well before his first birthday!
Claire isn’t very interested in standing. Her legs still collapse beneath her but she is getting stronger each day. Papa Hoekzema makes sure she gets her practice in every day and nobody can make her giggle like he can!
The cereal feedings were fun for a few days but we are pretty much sticking to bottles for now. Honestly, it is just way easier! Claire eats like a champ and Sam could take it or leave it. (He can’t seem to focus on eating. Any voice or sound is way more interesting to him. Is he too young for A.D.D?)
We took advantage of a lovely fall afternoon and snapped a few pictures of Sam & Claire in their Halloween costumes a bit early. Enjoy!
Raising twins is a TRICK, but what a TREAT!
Moving on…
October 13, 2009
September 21st we said good-bye to where our journey began at 3075 Vermont. We confidently passed the keys back to Mary Theodore the previous owner. She also has many memories at this address and when she noticed the for-sale sign she didn’t waste any time contacting our realtor.
We are settling in nicely at my parent’s condo. It has been a great transition for us, the babies and mom & dad. We are developing new routines and we are so thankful for the extra help with the twins. (Thanks mom & dad!) Sam and Claire have adjusted well to their new “room” and are sleeping around 10 hours at night.
Willie is really enjoying the extra attention by Grandma and Papa too! He refuses to sleep in our bedroom in the basement and has found his new favorite spots.
Sam & Claire had their 4 month check last Thursday. Claire weighed in at 13lbs. 6oz. and 24 1/2 inches. Sam weighed in at 12lbs. 5oz. and 24 inches. They are growing well!
Dr. Hoogsta gave us the O.K. to start cereal and some baby foods for 1 meal a day. We turned the kitchen into a small baby food making factory—how fun! Their palates have enjoyed rice cereal, butternut squash, and apples. We also pureed our left-over beef stew from dinner the other night and froze that for when we get the Dr’s permission for meats. Even though Richard enjoyed the meal he couldn’t hold back the gag when it became “baby consistancy”–funny!
Two are better than one….
September 17, 2009
Tomorrow we will be celebrating our fifth anniversary! It has been a very tough week and we are both physically and emotionally spent! As we pack up our house we are also packing up the memories made in it.
Please help us reminisce by posting a memory that you have of our wedding day or any special time that was spent with us these last five years.
Dog-gone Cute!
August 28, 2009
Many have been asking how little Willie has been fairing these days. His seasonal allergies aside, he is doing quite well. He doesn’t seem to mind Sam & Claire at all. We do catch him moping around occasionally (see photo below) but he does have a little something for the new additions. A couple days ago we came home from a walk and Claire was sleeping nice in her carseat by the back door so I thought I would let her get a few Z’s. Willie thought I forgot about her and he whined until I got her out! Although he may look sad once in a while I have to keep in mind that he will be getting more than enough attention in just a few short months.
Willie
Shortly after we found out there was a bun in the oven, I happened upon these outfits at Gymboree. I couldn’t pass them up! We weren’t sure on gender or that there were two, so I picked up a pink and blue just to be safe. I thought they would be great “coming home outfits”. Thankfully that didn’t pan out because they are just fitting in them now and weigh around 12 lbs each!
n00b Job
August 23, 2009
Ladies and Gentlemen, it is with great sadness that I relenquish my chair here as the blog-writer for the Brummelhouse. However, do not fret. Gretchen will be stepping in to keep you updated on the nuttiness that is the brummelhouse. She is a blog newbie, so give her some slack…but only at first. If she’s not keeping regular updates, call and remind her!
With out further adu, the mother of my children! (richard gets up and gives Gretchen the chair by the computer)
Don’t get too excited. I do not have a way with words like my husband! My updates will be short and sweet. (also like my husband)
Last week Sunday was a special day for us. The twins were baptized. All you mothers out there can relate to how I felt on this special day. I was a nervous wreck! I just wanted it all to be perfect and I was quickly reminded the night before by a mosquito that left his mark on my daughters face, that life isn’t perfect. Bath time followed our walk and then a stratigic feeding plan to avoid crankiness the following morning. I didn’t have to worry about what they would wear or if it was clean and pressed because the Grandmas took care of that. Sam wore Richard’s baptism outfit and Claire wore mine. It was special to feel all the same emotions our parents felt 27 years ago. The kids did great during the service and we only had a few peeps out of Claire as the water trickled down her head. I have to admit that I was in a daydream during the service, looking down at our two miracles sleeping peacefully wondering what the future holds.
Claire Grace
Samuel Richard
Celebrating with Costco cake
Check back soon for a video of their baptism.
Barriers: Language and Leakage Protection
June 6, 2009
Here we are! Two weeks and 247 diapers later. I’m just going to start by throwing this out there: being a dad is the coolest thing ever. Before this, riding my bike down the dormant volcano in Maui was the coolest thing ever (we had cruising speeds of 30 mph!). I would have to say that if it came down to riding my bike down the volcano every day, or feeding, changing diapers, not sleeping and getting peed on every day, I would chose the later. So far, the only thing that I would change is it would be really cool if they came with an age adjustment. Don’t get me wrong, they’re fun at the young age of 2 weeks old. But, for example, yesterday was gorgeous outside! I would have loved to have been able to turn a knob and have my kids magically turn 7 or 8 years old so we could have gone for a bike ride to the park where we could play on the swings and I could show them where trout hide in the stream. And then when we got home, I could turn the knob back and have them be 2 weeks old again so they would sleep for a while. Now I’m sure I’m opening a can of worms here where all the moms will chime in with comments like this: “Don’t wish for them to grow up too fast”, or “they’ll grow up too fast, don’t wish it to go faster”, or something like that. But every new day that you spend with your kids presents a new adventure (I’ve been on 14 new adventures so far). I have to say that I’m 100% looking foward to every stage in their life, and I can wait to get started on this journey with them (you can probably tell that I’m a new parent, I’m sure I’ll change my mind in a year or so). How boring would it be if they stayed 2 weeks old their entire life? I mean, you can only play Baby Charades for so long before it gets boring.
Yes, Baby Charades. Since my attempts thus far to teach the wonder twins the english language have been pretty much wasted by their lack of interest in learning (and has nothing to do with their age), we’ve invented Baby Charades: they cry, and I guess why. If I get it right on the first attempt, then I get a point. If it takes me two or three tries to get it right, then they get a point. This game is the result of a lack of sleep, 2:30 feedings, and early morning fidgety babies. Because I’m a new dad, the score is not something that I’m ready to share (I’ll wait till the playing field is a little more even). And before I get jumped for being a bad father, let me just also give this piece of information: we change and feed our children on a regular schedule, we don’t just wait for them to scream before we pay attention to them. This game is played in between feeding and changings…usually between 1:00 and 2:30 in the morning. And ironically…right now. Please excuse me while I go try and figure out why Claire is peeping…
Babies!
May 24, 2009
- Samuel Richard Brummel
- Claire Grace Brummel
- The Wonder Twins!
- Claire
- Samuel
- Sam and Mommy
- Nap time with mommy
- Nap time with daddy
- Nap time with each other
…we’ve been doing a lot of napping
Thanks to everyone for your prayers and words of encouragement. It’s been a crazy couple of weeks, but it’s all worth it. They look forward to meeting all of you!
Signed, Sealed and Delivered.
May 23, 2009
Finally! Here they are: Samuel Richard and Claire Grace!
The Wonder Twins!
The first baby out was Samuel. He joined the party (read on, you’ll know what I mean) at 8:25 PM on Friday, May 22nd. He was followed 3 minutes later by Claire at 8:28 PM. Sam is 5 lbs 1 oz and is 18.75 inches long. Claire is 4 lbs 12 oz and is 19 inches long. But I’m getting ahead of myself; let’s look back at the very beginning of events <<insert wavy flash-back lines and “shimmery” music>>.
It all starts where Deja Voodoo ends. Absolutely nothing else happened after the blog post. Contractions disappeared, the opening shrunk down to a 4 or a 5, and after a lengthy episode and discussions with multiple doctors (that I really don’t feel like getting into), we went home…again. Wednesday night, we decided to throw bed-rest to the wind and hit the town. We went to Q-doba dinner, and then over to Dale and Karla’s house to hang out for a while. Thursday, Gretchen cleaned out some cupboards to make room for bottles, and hit some garage sales with her mom. Friday morning, I woke up to the sound of a panicky wife and flowing water…yes, I could hear it. Wierd. By the time Gretchen got to the other side of the bed, I was dressed and ready. I guess that’s the benefit of leaving last night’s clothes on a heap next to the bed. Gretchen woke me up at 6:40, and we were on the road before 6:50. We got to the hospital at 7:02, which I was a little upset about. I was sureI could make it in 8 minutes, but I got stuck behind some old grandpa on Market. We got up to the 9th floor and they put us right in a delivery room (probably because the triage nurses were sick of seeing us). There we sat waiting for the contractions to get worse. She was dilated to 6 or 7, and early afternoon saw a dosage of Oxytocin to start contractions and an epidural. 
Finally at 6:30, our doctor came into our room to get us started while they finished prepping the operating room. With twins, they work in the OR just in case they need to do an emergency procedure…and to give everyone more room. At about 7:00, they brought us into the OR and got us settled in. Joining us in the OR was our doctor, the resident doctor, Gretchens nurses, 2 labor & delivery nurses, the delivery tech., two nursery nurses, an anesthesiologist and a half, and about 3 other doctors/nurses who popped their heads in to check and see how things were going with the twin delivery. Everyone kept coming in and then leaving again to get something else done, and then coming back in and then leaving again… It was like an open house; I felt like I should have had ham buns and Costco cake! At about 7:20, the contractions started to ramp up and “get real”. About an hour of pushing later, Samuel popped out followed shortly by Claire.
