Dad's other "little buddy" - Hank Jr

Meet one of my good buddies, Paul Henry. Paul and I go way back to the college days in the mid 80's. Angela is reading this and saying to herself: " or the mid 80's when I was in Jr High.... She is so funny!

Anyway, Paul, or "Hank Jr" as he is more commonly called is a twin himself. His brother, Steve, or "Hank Sr" got the Senior status because, well, he budded in line on the exit just like our little Luke.

Here is a shot one afternoon in June when Paul made an impromptu visit to hold our Jr, Lil' Leo. Thanks for the visit and conversation Little Buddy!

D

Super Sitters

Last month (July) Angela and I were excited for Jean & Kelsy's offer to watch the boys...they kicked us out and sent us to the movies! We had a really nice time away for a few hours. The movie we saw was a crazy comedy that had us laughing for most of the show. Our return found the the house empty. No worries though, Super sitters and the 3 Amigos went for a nice stroll to the park.

Thanks again J & K for the offer, it was much needed!

D

Summer Concert

Our little John Marley enjoyed putting on a show on the deck for Aunt Jean, Luke, Leo and Kelsy.

Twin Smiles

Can you believe the twins are 6 months old already? They are really fun little guys. Both of them are getting their two bottom teeth. John can hardly comprehend that because he says "they're babies; they don't have teeth!" A couple weeks ago we started to let them cry it out at bedtime and during the night. They have been sleeping well for the last week (with the exception of last night because we woke them up and took them downstairs because we were in the direct line of a possible tornado - luckily, it was a false alarm, but as John noted this morning "we had a rough night.")

The twins have been eating food for the last month. I think Leo is trying to make up for lost time because he eats as much, if not more, than Luke. We continue to take Leo to physical therapy every other week for his torticollis (tilting of the head). We are hoping that the PT will take care of the problem, but there has been some mention of possible surgery. Hopefully, we can avoid that.

Overall, life is pretty crazy around the Brandt house, but its a good kind of crazy!

On the Move

Oh boy. On Friday, Luke started to crawl. As always, Leo is not far behind. Do you think anyone would call child protection if we got them a kennel?

John's Got Rythmn

Here's John on another trip to the drum store with Dad.

More Pics from the cavin

Pictures From June 27th weekend at the Cavin.

Grandpa John's "Cavin"

Here is a picture of Grandma T and the twins at Grandpa John's Cavin back at the end of June. Nope, not a spelling error. For some reason John likes to call the cabin "the cavin."

Our weekend was full of hanging around. With grandma, grandpa & Uncle Tom with us we had lots of help feeding and holding babies. The excitement for the weekend was dad got to take up Uncle Tom on his Christmas gift of going fishing, John got to drive the Pontoon boat, and Angela and I experienced our first "the boys slept through the night"! Pretty sweet indeed.

Pics from grandpa Johns B-day

First Swim

OK, even I can't tell with certainty which rascal this is, though I am guessing Luke. Luke has about 2 - 3 weeks of muscle development on Leo and has his head up quite a bit more. Looking at this shot, this little bandito appears to be checking out the action at Aunt Anne & Uncle Gary's pool.

This picture was taken at Grandpa John's birthday party that was hosted by the Anderson's. Great weather that June day and the grilled chops by master chef Gar were superb. I will post a few more shots from Grandpa J's wonderful day on the next post.

DB

Back at it

For those of you following this blog that aren't aware, I recently launched my own sign and business identity business. After 16 years with Budget Sign, I decided to take my 20+ years of sign and graphics experience and venture out on my own under the name of Big idea Signs. You can see the details here.

Over the last several Months I have been focusing tirelessly on my new business for what seems like 24/7. If I am not doing household chores or burping babies it has been Big Idea. Now, after looking over our blog, I realize how cool it was when we add stuff on a regular basis. Lately I am lucky to add anything. Well, that is going to change, this blog is just to much fun to look over and I decided to get back and make time. So get ready, I have a lot of catching up to do.

DB

Can you guess the year?

Here's a way to narrow it down: Joe wasn't born yet; Tom, Tim and James have yet to grow out their mullets; and neither John nor Barb have permed, highlighted or processed hair.

Warning: High Levels of Cuteness

Hey, I get that I am completely and utterly biased, but seriously - How adorable are these guys?

What a Difference a Few Months Makes

Check out these little peanuts. There is no way I could hold one in each hand now!

As you can probably tell by the absence of new posts, we have been really busy with all the boys. I am back in full swing at work and Davin is working hard to grow his new business. If you have not seen it already, you can check out his website here. Our Nanny, Ms. Liz, is wonderful and makes going to work and being away from the boys much easier. I purchased a newly released book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Twins." Ironically, I have been too tired at night to read it. I left it in the living room and Ms. Liz read it and started implementing the recommendations! Lately, we have been getting more sleep at night and even a little down time in the evenings after the boys go to bed. It is amazing to look back at the first 4 months and think about how we survived the chaos and exhaustion!

The babies continue to grow more interactive and fun each day. In the meantime, John is thriving in his role as a big brother. If you ask him he says, "those are my [John's] babies!" John surprised Davin and I the other day by saying "look, I wrote my name, J-O-H-N." Expecting to see some squiggly lines on the paper, I turned to tell him what a good job he had done and saw that he actually had written his name. Time flies when you having fun....we're having a blast!

Playing Favorites

Luke's New Trick

Here is Luke in action. Leo is not far behind.

Two-Timin'

The twins (and John) are lucky to have such wonderful cousins. Here are pictures of the twins with their Anderson cousins (Davin's sister Anne's girls). On the left is Jordan. She came up for a visit on a brief trip back home from college in NYC. She likes the Big Apple so much, she's staying there for the summer, too! On the right is Ryan who is fresh off her first year at Grandma Terrie's high school alma mater, Holy Angels. She will be a Junior there next year.

One for Each Collmann Cousin

I got Davin a new camcorder for his birthday, but I think I am more excited about it than he is. Here's a little clip of Luke and Leo with their cousins Grace and Bailey. They, along with their mom, Davin's sister Molly, came up for a Sunday afternoon BBQ.

Twice as Nice