Monday, November 2, 2009

A Spooktacular Time!!!

Happy Halloween from the Tummers! Brycen, Cameron and Mommy had a great time at a Halloween party at the library in Monkton.
We played a few halloween type games....Brycen's favourite was bobbing for apples.

On Saturday afternoon the boys, Geoff and our exchange student, Edith (sometime I'll post a picture of her...I promise) carved pumpkins. They had a great time until Brycen fell off the chair he was standing on and split his head open. We almost went to the hospital but decided it just wasn't how we wanted to spend Halloween night and thankfully it stopped bleeding quickly.


Here's the spooky end result!



Cameron dressed up as a tiger. We had planned to take him out for a little while but earlie that day he started running a fever and seemed to come down with the bug that Edith and I had had all week...could be H1N1...don't know and really aren't too concerned about it either. So instead he stayed home and watched all the spooks come to the door.




A pair of very excited trick or treaters headed out on Halloween night. They got TONS of candy and had a very good time. Geoff stayed home with Cameron and handed out treats for awhile and then we switched. We had about 75 kids come to our door this year.





Our very 'sharp' lion...sharp was Brycen's word choice because of the claws.






Zack chose his costume because he had the 'perfect' teeth for it...someday soon I hope he'll have some front teeth...it's only been almost 5 years since he knocked them out!!!








Just before we went out trick or treating to Cameron's one and only house...Cheryl, our babysitter.







Just had to add this 6th month picture of Cameron as it is so very adorable!!!
He continues to amaze us with his infectious smiles and laugh, his strength and his amazing personality. I am finding so much joy in being his mom lately. I find it remarkable as I post these Halloween pics that my blogging stopped with Halloween pictures last year at this time. In hindsight I wish I'd blogged all the way through the pregnancy and kept everyone updated as well as wrote I felt at the time. I can't change that but I will make sure that I keep a good account of our lives, the joy our children bring us and the zest we all have for life now.








Monday, October 26, 2009

Boys on the Go!!!

We are in the middle of a building project in our basement and the boys are having a hoot helping Daddy. We have a wonderful exchange student named Edith living with us. She is from Estonia and was only supposed to be living here for a few weeks so she had a place on our rec room pullout couch. We soon realized two things... the exchange program is having a really tough time getting host families this year and we love having her here. So we decided to build a bedroom in the basement. Tool man Zack
Brycen the builder

Watch those fingers buddy!!!





Doesn't he just crack you up!!!!
Cameron continues to be on the go....he loves his jolly jumper and bounces like crazy in it. He only lasts in it for a short time...I think he finds it harder on his legs and body than the exersaucer.




A few weeks ago Zack's school had a family skating night. He enjoyed going though he was pretty nervous and convinced he couldn't skate anymore.




Brycen had a tough time skating that night but has been skating a few times since and is doing well. He like to use the skating frames that we have at the arena...they work way better than the stroller!!!






Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Cameron's latest brag pics!

The roll....he needs a bit of help to go back to front...he mastered front to back a few months ago....


It's hard work



But I can do it


All done!




Not crawling at all but he LOVES to be on his feet and I'm sure it won't be long!





Sitting up like a big boy!








First Thanksgiving with Nana and Aunt Kim










He loves his exersaucer!!!







'

Fall Fun!

In late September our family went to the Stratford Fair. The klds loved holding the rabbits.


Zack chose to play a game that day and Brycen went on the rides!
While Cameron hung out and watched.


The merry go round with Daddy!




Later we wandered back to the barns to see the goats and sheep. At first Brycen was a bit nervous around them but that quickly changed when







He realized these kids were smaller than he was!!!




.









Cameron is getting HUGE!!! Well huge compared to where he started at 7.5 months ago. He is now 4 times his birth weight....at just over 16 pounds. That puts him at about the 25th percentile for his corrected age.







He loves to snuggle with his brothers...or anyone else, especially Mommy! He's eating fruits and veggies now, sitting unassisted and wants to stand ALL THE TIME!!! I'll post some photo updates of him in the next posting....the camera they are on isn't downloading right now.









My how time flies!!!

I am feeling tremendously guilty as I realize it's been over a month since I last posted on here. Life gets busy I guess and we've been up to lots of things but it's still hard to believe that I went this long without updates.
We hit a big first anniversary about 4 weeks ago....1 year since we learned that I was carrying twins. It was a bit of a tough time for me but for the most part I focused on the positive thoughts from that time. I also took some photos a week or so after that of Cameron that really help to put the twin image in my mind....it's been so hard for me to imagine what it would have been like to have both Cameron and Cole in our lives....so very hard to picture what Cole looks like despite being identical to Cameron. So here are some images for you to enjoy! I have also posted parts of a letter I wrote to my boys on that anniversary.





Dear Cameron and Cole;
There are so many things from that day that I’d change if I could but I can’t. So instead I am going to try to remember as many things about that day and the days that followed as I can.
I still remember the ultrasound tech saying ‘I have some news for you…there’s two babies in there’. I teared up as she showed me the two of you for the first time but it wasn’t tears of sadness or even of joy…just of disbelief at the amazing thing that was happening.
The world kind spun around me abit as I walked out of the clinic and I went to tell Daddy. He came around the corner of the van and asked me what I was so worked up about. I think his comment was ‘what is it…twins?’ When I told him yes he broke into a huge grin and started hugging me as I, admittedly, cried. He told me it was going to be fine, that we would make this work. I was becoming increasingly overwhelmed with the thoughts of two newborns, no room in the house, double daycare etc. Daddy kept assuring me it was going to be fine.
I had to leave to go and get your brothers from Cheryl’s as I was already an hour later than I had thought I would be. I called Grandma on the way there and got her while she was walking through the IPM grounds. I told her she needed to sit down. When she asked me why I told her I’d had my ultrasound today. AND was her response. When I said “it’s twins mom” she said “no shit, Jod!!!”.
And as I drove to Teeswater to attend the IPM the world began to spin and shift again and I cried again. How could I do this, how could I manage? How could we afford this? Why us?
But then my typical organizing self took over and began crunching the numbers…if I had this many Epicure parties a week, found a weekend shift doing this, got this much government money for ALL the kids I was going to have….yup we could do this.
That day in Teeswater was one of the best days of my whole pregnancy. I saw Grandma and Papa within a short while of reaching the IPM and they were both so excited. Papa even picked me up in a huge bear hug. They had told so many people already and we all continued to tell everyone all day. I showed the ultrasound to everyone I saw. I loved the attention that you were bringing me. Everyone was so very excited and although I was overwhelmed and scared I was pretty excited too.
I have so often wrote about the guilt I have felt about not being excited about having twins. but when I look back I realize I was excited but I was also realistic. By being realistic and worrying about the things that were going to be hard I was beginning, early, to solve the problems we might have before they arrived. It seemed to me like I wasn’t enjoying my twin pregnancy when I first looked back at it but the more I think about it the more I realize and remember how much I marveled at all things ‘twin’. It was the most special time of my life and for as much as I wasn’t jumping up and down and showing overt excitement I know that I was so very happy, so excited and so eager to meet you both.
Every time I had an ultrasound I asked for copies so I could show off my latest pics of my babies. I remember returning to work and showing them off each time and then rushing home and scanning them and posting them on Facebook. Now if that’s not an excited mommy, I don’t know what is!!! I also remember the joy I’d feel as I got to see you moving on the screen, the wonderment of it all!!!
It was pretty early in the pregnancy when I started feeling you moving…just flutters at first, but lots of it. It never got be a lot of distinct movements, never got to the stage where I felt like I was being kicked all over. I wonder now if that was so I wouldn’t miss as much being pregnant with two active babies after God took you home Cole. But you were both busy boys for a few weeks. And you sure made mommy grow bigger and bigger. I dreamed of matching outfits, matching Halloween costumes (that I wouldn’t put on you… I swore I wasn’t going to do that to my twins!!). I wondered all the time if you were boys or girls. I joined twin groups, searched hours for strollers and finally in early November ordered the ‘perfect’ one. I looked for cribs and equipment every place I could and spent hours planning and getting ready.
It was the most exciting time of my life and I loved every minute of it.
And since today is about the memories of the good times, of the coolest day of my life I am going to sign off now by telling you both that I love you both so very much!
Love Mommy

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Our beautiful garden for our beautiful angel

I've been meaning to post updated photos of Cole's garden for a few weeks. It's taken most of the summer for it to fill in and for plants to flower.
It's such a beautiful place....a place of peace for our family.

This absolutely perfect garden statue arrived last week and came as such a welcome surprise to us. It is a very touching and perfect gift from an unexpected and much appreciated person. We truly live in the most amazing community!!!




Please stop by anytime to check out our special place.


Bye Bye Summer, we will miss you!!!

Zack played t-ball this summer and somehow we managed to miss taking pictures of him at any t-ball practices or games. They had their wrap up banquet last week and he got a medal...which he is very proud of. Here he is with his team.
Zackary began school on Sept. 1st and now attends school everyday (wow is it quiet here!). He loves his new teacher and is so happy to go each day. His favourite subject seems to be science.


Last moments to annoy, I mean love each other before leaving for school.


The first day was a bit crazy around our house and the bus arrived about 5 minutes earlier than it ever came last year...and so Zack got a ride to school on his first day!!!


Since we didn't get the 'going on the bus on the first day' photo I thought I'd better get one of him getting off!!!




Brycen is LOVING being home with just mommy (and Cameron). We bake cookies, go for bike rides and to the library, visit friends and play, play, play!!!




Zack has been 'thinkin about' riding a two wheeler all summer. His bike is very large and hard for him to learn on. This week he took the training wheels off Brycen's bike himself and starting learning. He did well when Daddy helped...not so good for Mommy though.



And later we worked at riding his bike. I am sure by the end of the week he'll be speeding up Schade street with the rest of the local boys!





Brycen took a ride in Uncle Adams 'kadoda' on the weekend when we visited Grandma and Papa.


Our first adventures into food with Cameron. Our paeditrician has asked that we not really give him anything with the intention of nutritional value until he's 6 months corrected (Oct. 9th) but said we can start him 'playing' and practicing occaisionally now. And so here he is with some rice cereal and a spoon that he was VERY mad at mommy when she took it away!!!
Cameron is getting soooo very big. He weighed 13lbs 10 oz about a week ago and that had been a gain of almost a pound in one week. He's sitting almost on his own, playing with tons of toys, reaching, creeping abit on his tummy and an absolute JOY to be around!!!