Corpse Bride Makeup

Audrey is so beautiful.

Audrey after having her makeup done. Good job Dusty!

A Chuck E Cheese Birthday

15 kids and a great party at Chuck E Cheese - I highly recommend it if you want a stress free party. Those folks have a good system. The kids got to the table, then we set them loose to play the games. They had their pizza and a fun show and everything went well. It's a little expensive, but well worth it!

Brogan's first Haircut!

Business up front, party in the back! Heck, I couldn't cut off his pretty baby curls.

Before his haircut...

Girl Style

Audrey enjoying her Hat and Gloves. We went shopping - always a favorite for the girls! Not so much for the boys!

Happy Halloween!

Audrey as the Corpse Bride. She is getting ready for her big birthday party at Chuck E Cheese this weekend by having a practice run at a friend's house!

Will he ever sleep through the night?

Brogan WAS sleeping through the night, I swear - a few months ago. He's 17 1/2 month's now and he hasn't slept through the night for at least 7 months!

I know he's not hungry. The past 7 month's he wakes up, I lay down and nurse him and after 2 minutes he is asleep again - for an hour. So night after night, every hour on the hour it seems, this kid wakes up and nurses for 2 minutes and goes back to sleep.

Well this kid has teeth now! I'm tired. I want to sleep all night. I don't want teeth marks on my boobs anymore.

So here's the new approach - Brogan "wakes up"/stirs or sleep walks or thrashes or whatever it is that he does. I hold him in my arms and shush, rock, pat him back to sleep with no nursing. For a week we have done this. Guess what - after that first week, he is sleeping through the night!

Hooray!

Mighty Mini Avalanche?

"No..", Dusty says, "Corn dog Mayhem!". Oh do I ever know what he's talking about.

With a freezer full of kid food; Popsicles, Corn dogs, chicken nuggets and more, I can envision the freezer avalanche and everything sliding out all over the floor!

Dusty and I just laugh. Those are the consequences of having kids!

Sadly, the refrigerator is just as full - and there's hardly room for a coke or a beer. Grownups are reduced to snacking on string cheese and drinking capri sun. We love our kids.

Camp Corey Fall Festival

We went to a local pumpkin patch Saturday morning and had the pumpkin pancake breakfast, went on a hay ride and wandered through the corn maze.

Then Audrey and Dusty took a wheelbarrow out to pick pumpkins while Brogan and I stayed under cover (it was raining a bit). Brogan is hard enough to hold onto and hold an umbrella at the same time! He was done being in his stroller.

Saturday also happened to be a record breaking day for rain - but we were brave! Interestingly it stopped raining hard when we got there and didn't start up again till after we left!

Here’s where we went:

http://www.campkorey.org/FallFestival-Cornmaze.html it’s a cool place!

Audrey carving her pumpkin! Her first!

All of the pumpkins together... Spooky! Audrey's is the Kitty.

Trebuche

Commonly known as the Pumpkin Hurl! So much fun for a family and wow the weather couldn't be better either. Our little family really had a good time. It was just amazing!

The Tre Barbaric

The Gourdinator

This is a great time for families. There were food vendors so no one went hungry. There were also wonderful displays of wool weaving and yarn spinning. I think Audrey just liked seeing the dogs that accompanied the people - it was hard to keep her away from those dogs for sure. She has a kind heart and animals can sense it - whether mommy approves or not. Hmmm, it's tiresome. I am trying to teach her good manners - every day.

Audrey is in the first grade and she is having a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese. Her first offiical birthday party with invitations and classmates. I'm excited too, and I just hope I have the energy to get through it! Wow.

What ya doin' Brogan?

Looking at all my books mom!

Life is hard

Another one of my favorites from the '80s. Hey everyone knows you can't buy happiness no matter what you do... can't take a taxi cab to timbuk 2.

Sorry folks it's a full moon tonight:

Love you all... Eva

Good 'ol 80's

Halloween in India?

My dear friend Ritesh and his family (Sandhiya and Daksh) are on a plane to India as I write this.

Ritesh and Daksh

I've been trying to get Ritesh hired on at my company since about a month or two after I met him. He's such a talented developer. He also became one of my very closest friends.

Of course Ritesh is a fellow biker, so we seem to have the same attitude/soul/belief/forgiveness... whatever you want to call it. I sure do think the world of him.

So - I KNOW Ritesh loves halloween. A few of us were outside (smoking) and teasing Ritesh a bit about Halloween in India. One of his friends (Manish) said that he would be stoned in the street if he went trick or treating there (this is some kind of native saying ok?). I said maybe the people would be very confused about a beggar man dressed in weird clothes going from house to house asking for candy. Ritesh laughed.

It's really been a hard road for me since I found out that my company wouldn't be keeping Ritesh on. He is really awesome and we need more people like him. The economy, the times - it all sucks and we are all happy to just have jobs at the moment, right?

I will miss Ritesh, his beautiful wife and his son. They are such good friends. I hope to go visit India, and I know we will at least keep in touch.

Zoo trip! Happy birthday to me!

We had a great time on Saturday! We went to the zoo and our friends Ritesh, Sandhiya and their baby Daksh joined us. It was the nicest birthday!

Awesome 1st Grader

1st Grade and Piano lessons here we are!

First grade started last week. Audrey's been doing well and having pretty good days. The days are a lot longer than they were for her in Kindergarten, but she seems to be enjoying school.

We found a piano, now that we have time to think, we'll be setting up lessons for Audrey! I hope that after her 2nd counseling session with the pediatrician and help from some medication, she'll actually be able to focus on lessons. ADHD is nothing to laugh about.

People always remark about the terrible two's. Audrey was just an awesome 2 year old. When she turned 3, that's really when the terrible two's began and I think she's still there. Kindergarten was hard. When I talked to her first grade teacher about it, she told me that if Kindergarten was hard the 1st grade will be even tougher.

I'll have more observations and rants about ADHD as time and her pediatrician continue on with their assessment. I love my girl though. She is bright, smart and funny. She cares about people and shows a lot of compassion. It would sure be nice not to repeat myself 20 (200) times in a row to be heard.

Cognitive deterioration associated with Down syndrome.

Brogan is sweet and happy and showing a lot of promise for a baby that got some REAL bad news and has had a very tough time since birth. I'm proud of our guy! He is strong and he is

making milestones! He charms his parents every day.

Here is the down side of Down Syndrome. What I was worrying about, I finally got more info about. Well let's fight this too, but how oh how? Guess when you put deterioration into your search query it makes a difference, hu. Why can't they say this stuff up front instead of trying to placate the worried parents?

They tell you that your child will learn and will be able to do stuff like any other child, but may just be slower about it. REALLY? Did I buy into that? Yes I did. I think the hospital didn't want to break my heart more or take the fight/love out of me for this boy. But I'm not a delicate flower and the facts are what I need. They don't have time to get all the facts though so that is just what they tell mothers who have found out about their DS baby.

I have a fierce love for my son. Doctors want you to have amniocentisis to be sure your child doesn't have defects. Morally wrong, the doctors are giving women a choice to abort their baby based on test results. I could never have aborted my son, I was too bonded to him at 12 weeks when they offer the tests, so I declined. For me, it wouldn't have made any difference.

I don't think I've ever looked at Brogan with limited expectations. His dad doesn't and his sister wouldn't dream of it. He really is exceptional and surprises his doctors everytime they see him.

Gimme more Lasagne!!!! (please)

Can't we have a little hope that our guy who is so bright and muscular and charming and sweet will be able to retain his brain function as he goes along in life? It's my worry that he will lose the gifts that he has now. I'm ready to intervene with nutrition. I only hope that it is enough.

http://www.journals.elsevierhealth.com/periodicals/ymehy/article/PIIS0306987704004979/abstract

Check out those muscles!

Still no ear infections. Muscle tone of a little wrestler... this guy is strong. He does have nystagmus and we are going to learn more about that. I see it more when he is tired.

I do swear by the targeted nutirional intervention program on this website though. He's been doing so great, and we've had him on this since early infancy.

I guess the real message is - I KNOW what doctors are going to tell you. I know you're going to be heartbroken and you are going to need to see your little baby as just fine. I cried for what I thought my son was going to lose until I figured out that my son won't lose a thing because he has parents that will make sure he has the best. This boy will be more special to us, and I am hoping that he never wants to move out. Geez, how selfish is that mom? Wanting to keep your babies forever with you?

Whatever they tell you, just give your best to your baby - give him the best and then watch the doctors exclaim in amazement because your intervention has made a real difference. Never give up on your child. Don't let a worrisome thing like a diagnosis change your attitude or love as a parent. I have so much love for our son, and I am very proud of him. I do have a worried underlying sadness when I look at my bright, beautiful sweet son and think of his brain deteriorating.

I'm ready to fight against this worry. Let's go.

Grrrrr...

We've created a monster!

Here is Brogan enjoying his popscicle.

Here is Brogan after he realized Daddy is taking pictures!

Little camera ham already! Oh wow, just like his sister. Now we have two kids to try to sneak up on to get real shots of! He's only 15 months' old, but he KNOWS he's getting his picture taken!

Popsicle Pirate

Brogan was so MAD when he saw his sister eating a popsicle! We gave him his own and here is the result!

Popscicle Pirate!

So Beautiful

Ah, this is our son. We "tease" him when he gets tired that he's got his bags packed (dark circles and tired eyes), oh but he is just so pretty here.

Such a lovely person, a sweet baby. Brogan is a very determined person. He is also very sweet and loving and happy as a general rule. Dusty and I are both so happy he was born to bless us. Audrey is the super lucky one - the sun rises and sets for Brogan's sister. He adores her!

7/17/2009

Pretty Girl in the Pool

Not only does Dusty take wonderful photographs, Audrey is exceptionally photogenic.

We've been having some wonderful weather - 80's and 90's! This summertime is shaping up very nicely!