Well, it's official. I am unemployed. I just sent in my letter of resignation. I am a full time, stay at home mom. Gulp! We actually made the decision a couple of weeks ago, but now it's official. I have had so much support from family, friends and my school. Naturally everyone understands why it would be difficult to go back. It's scary to give up a steady income, but the cost of gas, childcare, etc. would pretty much cancel out most of my salary. Somehow it will work out, it always does. We have learned a lot about trust over the past year and we will keep learning about that I'm sure. As a matter of fact we made the decision one night before going to bed. The next morning I checked my email. I get an email devotional every day. When I opened it and read it I was in tears. It was about making tough choices and knowing that while it may not be easy, it's right. I couldn't believe it. Is that confirmation or what?!? I emailed to my dad who agreed and got chills when he read it. Sometimes you just have to have faith that the tough decisions have to be made without fear of the unknown.
On a completely unrelated note...Please stop and pray for a family that I know. When I was in college I worked with and went to school with a great guy. He married and had 2 kids. He was a police officer who was in fabulous shape. Saturday night he went for a run and had a heart attack while running. He died that night. I haven't talked to him in a very long time, but I am friends with his wife on facebook. I was in shock when I read this. I can't imagine what it would be like to lose your husband at such a young age. He was only 29. He has a 3 year old and a 3 month old. My heart breaks for his wife. Please stop and pray for her right now. He was a great guy who wouldn't want people to be sad for him. He is certainly much happier now. But I also know his wife must be devastated. Please continue to pray for them as they adjust to their life without him.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Thursday, February 23, 2012
I've decided to participate in the March for Babies on Sunday, May 6. Hopefully it will be a nice day and we can walk as a family. I am walking with someone I went to high school with. She and her husband experienced the loss of their baby girl just 3 years ago. Team Camryn was one of the top teams for fundraising last year. I want to help her reach and exceed that goal this year. Having spent so much time in the hospital with our boys I wanted to walk with her. They also spent some time at Comer, so when our boys were there she could totally relate. If you want to donate you can visit: http://www.marchforbabies.org/team/camrynscrew. Thanks for considering!!
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
So big!
The boys had their 6 month check-up with the pediatrician last Thursday. She could not believe how big they were. She also couldn't believe how loud and active they've become. :) They were pulling off her stethoscope, unplugging the instruments above them, pulling instruments off the walls and talking like crazy. She said they act much older than babies born on their due date (which they are measured against). They fit much more with babies born on their actual birthday of August 2. Here's what they weighed in at:
Aiden: 16lbs. 12oz., 27 1/2in. He's a at the 50th% for weight and above the 95th% for height on the preemie scale and the 28th for weight and 78th(!) for height on the normal growth scale. He's very tall!
Noah: Ready? He's 18lbs. 4oz! 27 1/4in. He's a big boy! On the preemie growth scale he was over the 95th% for weight and height (he's basically off the charts for a preemie). On the normal growth scale he's 58th% for weight and 69th% for height on the normal growth scale.
Reese: The peanut. 15lbs. 4oz., 26 1/4in. He is in the 8th% for weight and the 34th% for height on the normal growth chart. I missed his percentiles for the low birth weight chart. Either way, he's really just normal. He's small compared to his brothers, but average compared to a baby born at his size. He's must have a fast metabolism!
They are eating all kinds of different foods now. They have very clear likes and dislikes. They LOVE carrots, sweet potatoes and especially avadaco. They HATE squash. They will eat a mix of carrots, spinach and peas; only Noah likes peas given alone. I made them some spinach this weekend, so we'll see how they like it. I'm not overly disappointed they didn't like the butternut squash. It was a pain to make! I'm glad they like avacado, it's so easy to make for them! Every morning they have oatmeal with fruit. Today they enjoyed bananas, yesterday pears, one day peaches. We try to switch it up.
We're sure that the terrible "T" word has hit our house as well. Yes, teething. Aiden has been waking up crying at night. We had forgotten how nice it is to sleep through the night. I know, we're spoiled. Aiden and Reese have been refusing to eat bottles as well. Feeding has become quite a job. It's been nice having Nate around to help. The drool and chewing has been going on for a while too. No teeth or even bumps are showing yet. Of course we'll take pictures when a tooth makes it's debut!
Aiden: 16lbs. 12oz., 27 1/2in. He's a at the 50th% for weight and above the 95th% for height on the preemie scale and the 28th for weight and 78th(!) for height on the normal growth scale. He's very tall!
Noah: Ready? He's 18lbs. 4oz! 27 1/4in. He's a big boy! On the preemie growth scale he was over the 95th% for weight and height (he's basically off the charts for a preemie). On the normal growth scale he's 58th% for weight and 69th% for height on the normal growth scale.
Reese: The peanut. 15lbs. 4oz., 26 1/4in. He is in the 8th% for weight and the 34th% for height on the normal growth chart. I missed his percentiles for the low birth weight chart. Either way, he's really just normal. He's small compared to his brothers, but average compared to a baby born at his size. He's must have a fast metabolism!
They are eating all kinds of different foods now. They have very clear likes and dislikes. They LOVE carrots, sweet potatoes and especially avadaco. They HATE squash. They will eat a mix of carrots, spinach and peas; only Noah likes peas given alone. I made them some spinach this weekend, so we'll see how they like it. I'm not overly disappointed they didn't like the butternut squash. It was a pain to make! I'm glad they like avacado, it's so easy to make for them! Every morning they have oatmeal with fruit. Today they enjoyed bananas, yesterday pears, one day peaches. We try to switch it up.
We're sure that the terrible "T" word has hit our house as well. Yes, teething. Aiden has been waking up crying at night. We had forgotten how nice it is to sleep through the night. I know, we're spoiled. Aiden and Reese have been refusing to eat bottles as well. Feeding has become quite a job. It's been nice having Nate around to help. The drool and chewing has been going on for a while too. No teeth or even bumps are showing yet. Of course we'll take pictures when a tooth makes it's debut!
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday!! That's what we're saying to Nate today. Yes, he is a Valentine's Day baby. (I can hear all the "Aww's" from the ladies out there). :) 27. 26 sure was a crazy year. I don't think anything can top 26. After all, in how many years of your life do you welcome 3 babies into your family? Hopefully only once. We aren't doing anything crazy exciting. I let him sleep in and fed all the boys. That's a pretty great gift if I do say so myself. I'm also making him a ham, which I do not care for, for dinner. The boys and I also worked on a little project with some help of a friend and here's what we gave him:
So, a very "Happy Birthday!" to Nate.
I was going to post pictures of the visitors we had this weekend, but Noah was having a major meltdown. Our visitors were another set of triplets and their brother who is 13 months younger than them! They are in 1st grade and the younger brother is in Kindergarten. It was so fun to see what our life will be like down the road. They were so funny. We got such a kick out of them. Here is the crazy part. The mom is 10 years older than me, but we both we to the same high school. Her name is Melissa (Eriks) Vis. Yes, it's true. My maiden name is also Eriks. We have the same name, went to the same school, grew up in the same area and both have triplets. What are the odds?? Too crazy. We were playing a little "Dutch bingo" (for those of you who aren't Dutch-we ask a series of "Who's your grandparents, parents, etc. questions and eventually figure out that we are related or they are related to someone we know). We think our grandpa's are cousins. I'll confirm this with my parents sometime. What a small world! I'm thinking we should write a sell a book. Who wants to buy our first copy? Ha! Just kidding.
Thursday we see our pediatrician for the 6 month check-up and shots. We'll post the weigh-in (that makes it sound like Biggest Loser, doesn't it?) and the update sometime after the visit. Until then...Happy Valentine's Day!!
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Not much is new at the Brouwer house these days. Nate and I are actually still enjoying being home together. It's nice to have constant help around. We were laughing about the days we were home together before. When I was pregnant and we would have a day home together he would do things like paint my toenails, because after a while it was too much work to try to reach my toes for that long. :) Anyways, here are a few things that are somewhat new:
-Aiden has decided that each and every time he eats he must stop halfway through to poop. He then refuses to eat another bite until he is freshly diapered. High maintenance? I think so.
-The boys are really enjoying each other and Lue (our dog, for those who don't have the pleasure of knowing him-Nancy I know you do-you're his favorite person of all time!). They look at each other and Lue and just laugh. Big, loud belly laughs. They also laugh like this when they play with Nate. He must be much more fun than me. I get laughs, but nothing like he does.
-They are learning to use a sippy cup. It makes me sad because that means they are really getting to be big boys. They are still learning though. They get a little carried away and nearly drown themselves in water sometimes.
-They are almost too big for their swings. Okay, Noah probably is, but we're pretending he isn't. The swings has a pretty big job to do in order to keep Noah in motion. They also try to sit up when in their swings. So, when the batteries start to die out the swings will lose their place in our living room. Another sign that they are growing up quickly.
-They are definitely very different in their food choices. Noah loves the green veggies like peas and beans. The other 2, not so much. They all do like the oranges like sweet potatoes and carrots. They were somewhat interested in avacado. They HATED butternut squash. It was an ugly battle. We were defeated in the end. I won't be making that again. It was not work the effort!
-I have not made a decision on whether or not to go back to work.
That's about all for now. Next week will come a new post complete with pictures of some visitors coming this weekend (their identity is a surprise! You'll have to wait for pictures!) and about the next visit to the pediatrician.
-Aiden has decided that each and every time he eats he must stop halfway through to poop. He then refuses to eat another bite until he is freshly diapered. High maintenance? I think so.
-The boys are really enjoying each other and Lue (our dog, for those who don't have the pleasure of knowing him-Nancy I know you do-you're his favorite person of all time!). They look at each other and Lue and just laugh. Big, loud belly laughs. They also laugh like this when they play with Nate. He must be much more fun than me. I get laughs, but nothing like he does.
-They are learning to use a sippy cup. It makes me sad because that means they are really getting to be big boys. They are still learning though. They get a little carried away and nearly drown themselves in water sometimes.
-They are almost too big for their swings. Okay, Noah probably is, but we're pretending he isn't. The swings has a pretty big job to do in order to keep Noah in motion. They also try to sit up when in their swings. So, when the batteries start to die out the swings will lose their place in our living room. Another sign that they are growing up quickly.
-They are definitely very different in their food choices. Noah loves the green veggies like peas and beans. The other 2, not so much. They all do like the oranges like sweet potatoes and carrots. They were somewhat interested in avacado. They HATED butternut squash. It was an ugly battle. We were defeated in the end. I won't be making that again. It was not work the effort!
-I have not made a decision on whether or not to go back to work.
That's about all for now. Next week will come a new post complete with pictures of some visitors coming this weekend (their identity is a surprise! You'll have to wait for pictures!) and about the next visit to the pediatrician.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
6 months old!
Can you believe the boys are 6 months old?!? Neither can we. How did half of a year fly by so quickly? We took some pictures today since they are exactly 6 months. As much as we would love to take them somewhere to get their pictures taken there are just too many germs. So, we take them ourselves. Here are a few:
Aiden
Noah
Reese
A few "brothers" shots:
The tangle of feet that kicked me for so many weeks :)
Happy 1/2 birthday!
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