Audrey as a big sister

I want all the world to know that Audrey is a wonderful big sister. I also think they should know what an ordeal bringing her brother home was.

Audrey's first introduction to her new brother was scary. Dusty and I tried to prepare her and she was ready. We told her that her little brother was born a little early and he had wires and tubes measuring and feeding him.

This WONDERFUL girl (my Audrey) learned the ropes very quickly. She was such a darling that when she saw new parents come in to the NICU, she took it upon herself to put them at ease by telling them what every wire and tube was for. We really didn't want her to do that, but she felt it her new job to help parents just like she was helped to understand that her brother would be ok.

Now, as Brogan has grown older, and stronger and it's 18 months later... Brogan may fall, Audrey might be playing with him at the time (12-18 months). Brogan might get hurt and cry.

The hardest thing for us as parents is to hear our baby cry. But then to hear Audrey cry. She may have had nothing to do with Brogan getting upset (dirty diaper?), but she sure takes it seriously. I feel so bad for her because she saw her little brother clinging to life, wires taped to his body and tubes in his body that she still fears for him these days when he cries.

Lucky for all of us Brogan is a tough guy. But if he does happen to cry you can count on his sister crying alongside of him because she is so worried about him. She cares for and loves her little brother. There is no better gift to a parent... and I now know there is no better gift to a big sister than having a new wonderful being in your family to love.

I love Audrey for her wonderful caring spirit. She is exceptional in her love of others.

Living with an ADHD Child... more...

Anyone who knows Audrey understands how bright and intelligent and very articulate she is. She is wonderful and I've always been very proud of my girl. My co-workers are always very impressed when they meet her or get a chance to see her once again for a visit in the office. Audrey is very bright and very articulate in her speech which is quite an accomplishment for one so young.

We had an appointment with her doctor on Monday re: ADHD. I swear she decided to be the worst kid she could be that day. She was overexcited, hyped up out of control - you name it. I couldn't believe it. She's usually able to straighten up after some reminders when we are out in public. I know daddy packed apples for her snack, so I wasn't ready to blame it on sugar.

I wonder if she was being super ADHD on purpose? I felt that she was. I know her better than that, she doesn't seem that deviant, and she did do a word find with me, but she was just so wacky. What do you do. So the doctor finally came in after 30 minutes of us waiting and we discussed side effects, the fact that there was no change in behavior and we will need to double her dose from 5mg to 10mg. Still a small dose.

I am hoping that in the next 2 weeks we see some improvement. Audrey is bright, sunny, lovely, smart, caring and so wonderful. I don't know what else to say. I'm at my wits end with her ADHD, since she is failing in her schoolwork and in remedial reading all because she can't focus her talents. Her parents are working with her as much as possible to get through to her and explain the mysteries of math and reading. She is good at math, so I think it must make more sense to her than some of her other subjects.

Hi Mom, you're home! Weaning, ugh!

For months and months and months, the greeting I receive from my boy goes like this:

Hi Mom, you're home - where's the boob! No cuddle or hug or anything else. Just a fussy boy wrestling his way sideways and pulling at my shirt.

Of course I try not to let it hurt my feelings - or my self esteem. Am I just a cow for this boy, geez! Makes a mom feel extra tired after putting in a full day at work too and a little down.

I've already weaned him off of nursing at night, in the middle of the night all night. He doesn't nurse in the morning either, because I am getting ready for work. Usually in the mornings I make sure to spend a little extra time with diaper changing, getting him dressed and maybe a book if Brogan is in the mood.

So, since Brogan has teeth now, lately he's really been hurting me when he nurses. I'm feeling so done with this and then I can't take his fussing, so end up giving in nightly while trying to get him to go to sleep. Grin and Bear it eh?

I showed Dusty my injuries, and my husband, reading my mind last night, brought me a sippy cup with Milk in it when Brogan started his fit. I told him, wow I was just thinking of trying that! It worked too! Brogan and I sat in the rocking chair, he had his sippy cup with milk, then I read him a book and he didn't fuss or crab at me at all.

So tonight - what a relief it was, to get this from my son: Hi Mom, you're home! Let's play!

Makes my day.

Cool Dude

Here is Brogan - I am trying to get a picture of how cool he looks in his tennis shoes, jeans and sweatshirt! So here are a few shots - and he is just the sweetest most gorgeous boy ever!

Brogan is taking more and more steps for walking. This picture is awesome!

Not so happy to show off his outfit, but what a darling face! I can't help myself - I have to kiss his sweet soft cheeks.

I love my boy.

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...