Christmas Recap

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas. We sure did. We started out the day seeing what Santa brought the boys. I'd say from the looks of things, Santa is a sucker for these two boys. Reed got the "horsey" that he'd been telling us Santa was bringing him. Santa was not planning to bring the "horsey" until the last minute because Reed is really too big for it but he caved two days before Christmas fearing that his parents' would hear, "What about my horsey?" if it wasn't here.

Quick side note, I just got interuppted from typing this because Reed TOLD me he needed to go potty and he did! That's big. He's been doing great with it but the hold back has been him telling us. He told Beau the other day at Publix that he needed to go too. Maybe we are on track to be 100% trained soon. Awesome way to start the day. I would have NEVER in a million years guessed I'd be so excited about this kind of stuff. If it means less diaper changing (and purchasing) I'm all for it.

Anyway, we had a great Christmas. After a super delicious breakfast (if I do say so myself) we read the Christmas story in Luke, opened presents from my parents and both boys got even more spoiled. Their aunt Abby (with no children) got Reed a scooter. Yes, you read that correctly. He's two with a red Radio Flyer scooter. In her defense it said ages two to five but I am really looking forward to Aunt Abby having children of her own one day.

Gaines wasn't super into it because he's still too little but I can't wait until next year...it will be twice the fun. He got some good stuff too. Santa brought him a jumperoo (that may or may not have been previously owned by his brother...is that tacky? I mean we had it, should we have bought a whole new one? Buying for second kids is hard because you already have so much stuff.) Anyway, he really seemed to like it but we are sticking with the exersaucer until his therapist approves him using it. She doesn't want us using anything that would have him on his tip toes so she wants to see him in it before he uses it much. We are sticking with the exersaucer for now and he is still doing awesome in it.

Speaking of awesome, the other day when my parents were bringing all of their presents in our house, Reed said, "Mama, this is awesome." I didn't know he knew the word awesome.

On another yet sort of related topic, I have been fighting a toy invasion with every thing I've got. I was never going to be one of those people with toys all over my house. My children were going to keep their toys in their room and we'd have decor friendly storage options for the few that I let them keep in the den. We hung a bulletin board in Reed's room for all of the artwork he did at school. I'd keep one particularly nice or seasonably appropriate piece on the fridge, but I was not going to one of those people with all kinds of junk all over their refridgerator. I surrendered yesterday when Reed's alphabet letters took up residence there. I just do not have the will to fight anymore. Guess that makes me a mother. I'd say its worth it.

Ok...Better run. Reed and I are headed to Andalusia today to visit with some of my extended family. Crazy, I haven't been home since March. Beau always tells me that Montgomery is my home now and yes it is, but Andalusia will always be my home too.

Thanks to all of the comments about the reflux. It is so helpful to know that we are not the only people dealing with this. It hasn't been a huge deal other than being super frustrating but he lost weight last week for the first time. I'm sure part of it is him being more active but the other part has got to be him eating less and spitting up more. Please keep this in your prayers.

If you have read in more than a week or so, there is a new-ish post below.

Love to all.

Brittany

Brothers

Hello world. I'm back. I've set aside time tonight to type up a good blog...we'll see how it goes. I started a post yesterday morning while Reed and Beau were getting ready for church (Beau's turn to go) and then life happened...Reed managed to have two accidents (potty training) and Gaines had a major spit up. Doesn't seem like much now that I type it but Gaines' reflux is back and as strong as it ever was so I was (and still am) super frustrated about that. Also, I had just taken Reed to the bathroom and he swore he didn't have to go...he lied. I tend to be a little over dramatic at times (which probably comes as a suprise to people who know me well) so in the midst of all this, I pick up Reed's plastic plate from his high chair and kind of toss (or threw) it into the kitchen sink. Of course I missed and the mandarin oranges that he chose not to eat that morning went every where and I had to scrape oranges off the backsplash for fifteen minutes.

Anyway, I scratched that blog because no one would have wanted to read what I would have had to say after all of that...and there is really no telling what I might have typed. Like I said, Gaines' reflux is back and I just get so frustrated over it...angry almost which I know is terrible because I know he can't help it. It's just that he was over it. I mean, he was good for a whole month. I have no idea what triggered it again or what to do to fix it. We've already upped his Prevacid another mL and its not helping. He's going to the doctor tomorrow to get checked for ear infections etc. I'm afraid if we don't get this cleared up soon we are going to end up in some specialist's office. I hope I'm over exaggerating.

The good news is that Gaines started baby food this weekend. He's had squash the last three nights and will have sweet potatoes tomorrow. I'm hoping that the move towards solid-ish foods will help things stay down. He's also doing really well in his exersaucer these days. He was in there last night while we were eating dinner and he was playing with some of the toys and standing up...putting weight on his legs. He actually looked like he was jumping a couple of times.

Let's see...what else? His therapist has us working on strengthening his arms to get him ready for sitting up and crawling. We also work with him on an exercise ball (which is a workout for me too...my arms are going to be so toned) to help strengthen his core muscles. Tonight I was able to get him to sit with his hands on the floor propping himself up for a few seconds. He couldn't have done that last week. It is so good to see him making good progress. He's getting stronger everyday. Hopefully he'll be sitting up on his own very soon.

We are hoping that Santa brings him a jumperoo for Christmas. I think he'd probably really enjoy it. I can really tell a difference in his hamstrings. They are really loosening up. The therapist thinks the exersaucer is really helping his legs. Yay! God is answering our prayers for Gaines and while I'd rather Gaines be a boring old baby that I didn't have to worry about, it's exciting to watch what He's doing.

Reed has been doing well too. Despite yesterday's accidents, he's doing really well with the potty training. I'd say he's about 85% there. He's also gotten big on manners lately. I push the please, thank you and yes mam type things but I asked him something the other day and got a "No thank you". I about fell out. I'm guessing they are pushing manners at school right now. I'll take it. "No thank you" is a lot nicer than the "No way!" I was getting.

Santa came to Reed's school last week and he got to wear his pajamas for Polar Express day last Friday. He really loves his school and all of his friends and teachers. He's into all things transportation these days...trucks, school bus, choo choo "rain". This morning on the way to school we passed an older man riding a motorized scooter type wheel chair. I noticed it because it was kind of weird. We just don't see that everyday and he wasn't really riding on a side walk...more like main road...on a Rascal type thing. The next thing I knew, Reed said, "Look mama, motorcycle. Motorcycle, mama". I about died. That boy cracks me up.

Oh, the best thing happened this afternoon. I was feeding Gaines his squash and Reed asked if he could help. He sat in my lap and after every couple of my scoops I got a "What about my turn mama?" So, I let Reed have a few turns. After a couple of spoon jabs to the back of the throat, he got the hang of it...sort of. I actually heard him say, "Open your mouth baby".

Gaines is into making the "Pththtthfff" sound with his mouth (which I think I did a decent job of spelling by the way) lately and he did it once with squash in his mouth. Reed thought it was hilarious and did it back...so then Gaines did it back...and then Reed and so on. They were both laughing at each other and I was loving it. I think I got my first taste of life with two boys. Brothers...I love it.

In other news, Gaines' sweet nanny will be leaving us in a month (which we knew when we hired her). We are so sad to see her go and I know that we'll have the toughest time finding someone to replace her but we are on the nanny hunt again. Keep us in your prayers. It's really important to us to find the right person to take care of our little Gaines.

I think that's about it for now. Please keep Gaines in your prayers. Please pray for his continued progress and for this stupid reflux to go away for good.

Love to all,

Brittany

A Good Report and a Visit with Santa

Brittany took Gaines to his appointment on Friday and came back with a good report. He had several physical and medical evaluations (many of which he has pretty often anyway). He did have a cognitive evaluation, which is something he has never had before. He tested as a 6-month old. This is right on track for his adjusted age of 5 1/2 months. Praise God for another test with positive results.

On a different note, we took Reed to see Santa this morning. After visiting Santa, Reed went to an "arts and crafts" area and made a snowman. Below is picture of the "example" snowman and then a picture of the snowman Reed made.

Two Good Reports

We've had two pieces of good news this week concerning Gaines. His physical therapist saw him Monday and while I wasn't able to be here, I spoke to her on the phone and she thinks that Gaines' hamstrings are not as tight! This is great news and I know that it is due to people praying for his little legs (and our constant stretching and massaging). We are still working on them just as hard but I feel like I can breathe a little easier this week.

Also, we had a follow-up appointment with the pediatric cardiologist this week. The report was that his heart is working great, and while his VSDs are still there (just two of them), the doctor fully expects them to be closed by the time he turns two. He doesn't need to go back to the cardiologist for a year. Great news.

Tomorrow we go to an appointment that the NICU doctors set up for us. Its kind of an assessment for high risk kids. From what I understand, he'll have several therapists looking at him and they will point us in the right direction of any other therapists or doctors that Gaines should be seeing. I really expect it to go well tomorrow (he's meeting all of his milestones right now), but I've mentioned before how having these therapists pick Gaines apart makes me nervous. Please pray that it goes well. I'll try and report back on this appointment soon.

We are looking forward to a weekend of Christmas activities around here. Beau's mom and dad are coming for the weekend so that we can take Reed to some things together. It should be really fun. He is just so much fun right now. The potty training is going very well and he is even wearing big boy underwear to school and around the house everyday.

I think that's about it for now. I'll try and updated some more later. I'm still kind of catching up around the house from being gone last weekend. Eventually I'm going to have to unpack and put away my suitcase.

Love to all,

Brittany

Good News!

Brittany has been out of town since Saturday morning and will not return until Tuesday afternoon. Fortunately, Brittany's parents took Reed for the weekend. The big news is that while Brittany and Reed have been gone, Gaines has figured out how to roll from his back to his tummy and how to stay upright in his exersaucer! These are two major milestones that are very good signs regarding his development. Just call me Super Dad.