More Family Updates

A few more thoughts about life with these crazies...

 Right now Lili loves her Dallin. She says his name very clearly. Sometimes she says his name over and over again just to hear herself saying it. She loves Gavin too, but since they are closer in age, Gavin treats her like any other sibling his age. He sometimes shares and is kind and sometimes tackles her. Dallin though is that much older so he can recognize that Lili is a baby still. He will put her in the swing and push her, help her on the tramp, get her out of her crib when she wakes up etc. She brings out his tender side and she will follow him wherever he goes!

One of our family activities this last month was at the Elementary School carnival. Dallin got to practice his Karate skills again.

This is a bad picture, but both boys are holding their stuffed animals that they adopted at the carnival.

Lili had her first dentist visit. I thought the hygienist was just going to count her teeth, but Lili was doing so well that she cleaned them and everything. I actually laid on the chair and she was on top of me. Sitting on the big chair by herself was too scary. Lili is obsessed with her toothbrush, peppermint and mint flavors, and toothpaste so really this wasn't surprising that she did so well for the dentist. She likes to find other people's toothbrushes and suck on them. I found mine by the front door the other day. Super gross! It is best to keep all the bathroom doors closed with Lili around! She also likes to put toilet paper in the toilet and flush it. She has clogged the toilet before.

Lili and I are already having fights over her hair. She has not caught the vision of braids and beads. Lili thinks it is funny to pull out her hair while she is in her crib waiting to get out or before she falls asleep and suck on it. She likes the taste of her conditioner. I've tried changing her conditioner, but apparently they all taste good. She usually pulls from her left side of her head. In the below pictures you can see the difference between the left side and right side now. If anyone has ideas on how to stop her pulling out her hair, let me know!

Lili hurt her ankle a week and a half before Halloween jumping on the tramp. She stopped walking on her foot that evening and then struggled sleeping all night. By the next morning (at 5 a.m. because neither of us were sleeping anyways), I felt like I should take her in to get a x-ray just in case. This is our first time having to get x-rays for an accident. Pretty good for a family of very active kids. Luckily it was just a sprang though. Lili didn't walk for almost two weeks. It was so sad to see her back to crawling again!

I caught this picture the other day. The three youngest just decided to snuggle together.

Love these sweeties

Family Happenings: Update on Homeschooling

 I'm playing catch up again. It has been hard to keep up with the blog lately. If only I could hook up a computer to my head where I write blog posts all the time while I'm doing mundane tasks. Who knows what brilliant posts would be published? Instead my goal is to keep birth moms/families and extended families up to date and have some kind of journal of our family.

Update on homeschooling:
Dallin was so successful with schooling last year, that I really wanted to do it again this year. He made some great strides and Zane and I felt like he needed at least another year home. I was worried about teaching with two babies but it has gone fine. I wish we could do all our schooling in the morning and be done for the day, but we actually do more schooling in the afternoon when Lili and Talmage are taking a nap. I try to have friends over at least three times a week especially since we aren't doing a sport right now. On Fridays, the boys go to school at a Baptist church with about 300 other home schooled kids. First graders and under are divided in classes where they have science, art, PE, music, story time, Bible study, and recess. Second graders and older pick three electives so next year Dallin could start taking classes like fencing, karate, cooking, and tons of other electives. We love this group. It is a little far away, but it is worth it. Poor Lili and Talmage run errands with me while the boys are there so Fridays are probably their least favorite days.

Home school Field Trip

My favorite parts of home schooling:
I feel like with home schooling I have more time to teach the kids skills beyond just math and reading. The kids help out with a lot of the chores. Dallin is getting really good at doing dishes and vacuuming. Gavin is in charge of the dishwasher. When Dallin wants to earn extra money, he cleans the bathroom. I wish he wanted the extra money every week! I'm working on helping my boys become independent at their morning routine (making bed, getting dressed etc) with a chart system. With two boys who are distracted very easily, this can be difficult. It is hard to remember more than one instruction at a time! We also work on social skills. Right now we are doing What to Do When Your Temper Flares and it is a great resource!

Dallin is doing piano lessons as part of his curriculum. I tried him out at a piano teacher and it didn't work out. It is hard to get Dallin to sit on a piano bench. At home though, I can handle it and Dallin is doing awesome. He loves playing the piano and will play for everyone who comes to our house. Dallin thinks that schooling means Reading, Math, Science, Writing, and Piano. It is just another subject. We are still using Music Mind Games a lot and sometimes Gavin joins in for those.

I like that I could find a math curriculum that fits my boys. We play a lot of math games and do less worksheets. It has been very interesting to see Dallin come home from his Friday classes with the papers in his backpack. I ask him why something wasn't finished or why he wrote like he did, and he just says he told his teacher he would do it later. A lot of times people don't know how much to push Dallin or what you can really expect from him. I can push him and I do. I can do this because it is one on one.

Lastly, I love how close my kids are and how much they play together. Dallin and Gavin have time for jumping on the tramp, playing legos, imaginary games etc in their day.

Homeschooling can be super hard on me. I never have enough time to teach them everything I want to, and change 12 diapers a day, and stay on top of dishes, and make dinner, and clean etc. If you want to visit, warn me ahead of time so I can at least wipe down the bathrooms! You will also find toys and messes all over the house and laundry all over my room. We have four kids here full time playing hard.

About a month before school started, a few friends started talking about a Joy School for Gavin's age. I debated joining, but then I realized I would be frustrated. I like to be in charge of what and how subjects are being taught. I also have a whole room full of great school supplies so it is just as easy for me to teach in my home. I was also feeling guilty because since I started home schooling, I didn't teach preschool in my home for Gavin and his friends. He sat on the sidelines through all of Dallin's years and was now missing out. After much discussion with Zane, I decided to start teaching preschool again but only once a week. Every Monday three of Gavin's friends come over for school and Lili joins in on the fun. I'm constantly telling Zane how amazing Lili is at school. She can sit on a carpet square for longer than a minute...this is so unusual for my family. It blows my mind! Dallin gets paid to be my helper at preschool. He does a great job and for the most part, takes his job very seriously. Sometimes he is the teacher's helper and sometimes he is helping with the babies. He is always in charge of our recess/PE time and gets those kids moving!  Gavin loves having his friends over every week. During the rest of the week, I teach him his preschool lessons while I'm teaching Dallin. I will teach one boy a subject while the other is playing in the toy room and then they switch. Sometimes during their break, they play educational games on the I Pad. 

My Super Hero

This kid wears a lot of costumes during the day!

Best Buddies

 When Lili was around 9 months old, we got a call from my friend asking us if we would consider adopting another baby. The phone call shocked me for many reasons. I was surprised because a baby has never fell into our laps but mostly because we weren't even thinking about another adoption yet. We knew we would try for one more eventually, but the three kids were keeping me plenty busy at the moment. Zane and I would joke all the time that if this adoption really happened, my mom would need to move in across the street so that I had tons of help. We worried that Lili would be jealous and angry and I think Zane worried about my sanity.

We have learned this lesson over and over in our lives, but God really does have the best plans. When Talmage first came home, it was really hard and we were exhausted but Lili handled everything just fine. There were times when both of them were crying because they both needed something and I got use to carrying two babies (thank goodness they are both so light), but each month gets easier as they both get older.

Their friendship is also growing as they get older. I love watching these two together. When Lili sees Talmage she starts saying Boo to him like Peek a Boo. Talmage just has to look at her and starts giggling. If Talmage is sad, I just need to put him by Lili and all is good again. Their relationship is so fun to watch and I imagine it is just going to get even better.

Lili loves to climb into Talmage's bed. She really likes his mobile and if Talmage is crying, she is happy to give him his paci thinking he must like it as much as she likes hers.

Lili is super patient with Talmage even when he rolls on her. He will also pull on her hair at times and she just moves his hand away.

There is something special between these two.

Talmage at 7 and 8 Months

 Talmage is growing and thriving. I can't believe how much he has changed.  His favorite activity is to hang out in the toy room watching his siblings play and moving around the room finding toys. If he is cranky during that dinner preparation hour, I send everyone upstairs with Talmage, and he is as happy as can be. Right after he turned 7 months old, he started sitting. He can also get on his hands and knees and rocks back and forth but isn't crawling yet. He can move all over though with army crawling and scooting. Everyone loves to make him smile and get him to giggle. It is the cutest sound ever.

Taking a wagon ride before he was sitting on his own.

 I'm a sitter!

 Talmage is happier sitting and playing now. He used to fight me with tummy time but now he will go from a sitting position to his tummy so that he can move around and get toys.

 7 Month Pictures

 Talmage and Lili are best buds. He lights up when she is around.

 Gavin in particular loves to make Talmage giggle.

Ready for Halloween

I have another post about Halloween, but Talmage was happy to sit in the wagon and watch all the kids going by.

All the kids can make Talmage giggle, but here is Gavin doing his best to get the best giggles.

Doctor Visits for October:
Neurology- Talmage's Neurologist was really impressed with how well he is doing with his physical development. She still hasn't seen the MRI done in Miami (I'm a little confused why it is taking so long to get the records) but she says his behavior now is more telling then the MRI would be and he is doing great. When we saw her 4 months ago, she wanted Talmage evaluated for Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and Speech. I had him evaluated by a PT and a OT and both said he is right on schedule or close enough to it that they didn't feel he needed therapy. They both gave me exercises to do at home with him which we have been doing. They paid off!

GI- Because Talmage was a failure to thrive baby and had reflux, we have seen a GI doctor. When he saw Talmage in October, he was so impressed with how much Talmage has grown. He is on the verge of getting some chunky baby rolls. When Talmage was 4 months old we saw a change in his eating and behavior. He stopped crying non stop in the evening and was a happier baby. At his last appointment (around 6 1/2 months) I still felt like there was something wrong. Talmage would have a bowel movement 8 times a day which made it very hard for him to sleep. I would fight to get him down for a nap just to have him wake up 30 minutes later for another diaper change. He was a very tired baby. I was also worried his tummy hurt. Talmage was drinking concentrated (24 calorie) Nutramigen formula, but I didn't feel like it was helping just making more bowel movements. Another GI doctor had put him on it and our GI doctor we are seeing now wasn't quite sure why he was put on it. At this last appointment, he switched Talmage to a normal formula although it is still concentrated. Talmage has done much better on this normal formula and has regular BM's now.

I was frustrated one day with how little I get done and how every task I do takes so long, and then it hit me that between Talmage and Lili, I was changing 12 diapers a day. No wonder everything took so long. I was always interrupted!

Swallow Testing by the Speech Pathologist- I talked to the GI doctor about how Talmage really struggled with eating his baby food. With Talmage, it seems like the doctors like to be very proactive and get us into another appointment instead of being patient and waiting things out. The doctor recommended Talmage have a swallow test done to make sure the food was going down the right tube. Talmage sat in a chair connected to the Xray while I tried to feed him his baby food mixed with something to make it show up on the Xray. He was super angry with the taste, so it was really hard. I then had to feed him a bottle mixed with the same stuff. By then, Talmage was furious. After it was all down, I tried to feed him a normal bottle because I knew he had to be starving, but he refused. He didn't trust me that I was feeding him the good milk now. The swallow test came out fine. Talmage is still not a great eater. I may take him into an OT to watch him eat. Right now I'm trying to be patient though and hopefully he starts to like his food.

At 7 months, Talmage weighed 13 pounds 4.5 oz. He is still in the negative percentile and is in 3-6 month clothes. At 8 months, he is getting ready to move into 6-9 month clothes so he is catching up. Talmage and Lili will start wearing the same size diaper soon too!

Within 10 days we had 4 doctors appointments. It was crazy. Three of them took us downtown to the Children's Hospital. I kept coming out of those appointments though with doctors telling me how amazing Talmage is doing. Being at the Children's Hospital though, you see many kids with a wide variety of disabilities. Talmage could have had a severe disability. He probably should have. I am so grateful for my healthy son and the miracle that he is. I am left amazed and humbled at God's goodness.

8 Month picture

A Happy Halloween

 Holidays are so much more fun with kids, and this year didn't disappoint. The boys were super excited to pick out their costumes. Dallin wanted to be something really scary and at first picked out a very gruesome mask. I convinced him in another direction although I really tried to convince him to be a super hero like Gavin. He was really stuck on a scary Halloween costume. Gavin is easy to find a costume for. Anything to do with super heroes wins.  The month of October was filled with studying pumpkins at school, a preschool party, a friend Halloween party, the church's Trunk or Treat, carving pumpkins and finally Trick or Treating.

 This is at the Trunk or Treat. I found Lili's wings at the dollar store and she had the cute skirt, so I decided to go simple with her this year and she was a fairy princess.

Cutest little pumpkin

Preschool party where we made mummy hotdogs.

Gavin's preschool class with Dallin (Dallin is my helper)

Getting ready to go trick or treating.

Zane and I trick or treated with the three youngest. Dallin ran ahead to join the neighborhood boys. We then let him stay up late and pass out candy. I think he enjoyed that the most!

Talmage at 6 Months (Finalization Month!)

 Adoption finalization, first vacation, rolling over, and playing with his siblings...Talmage had a pretty great month!

Finalization was easy. We went to Zane's office and met with a notary. Our lawyer called in with the judge and after a few questions, pronounced Talmage ours!

Talmage spent a lot of time in the sun this month.  Here he is snuggled up for a nap at the pool.

Talmage's personality started coming out. Lots more smiles and giggles.

Of all the sibling relationships, I love watching Lili and Talmage together. They are 15 months apart. Lili has been awesome with Talmage and didn't show signs of jealousy. Every month that passes, she also shows more signs of awareness of him. Lili likes all the baby toys coming back out too.  It is a good thing they are both so light because there are times when they both just need to be held.

 Trying out the baby swing.

Talmage is also becoming more fun for the older boys as he interacts with them. Gavin and Dallin love to make Talmage laugh.

Talmage is rolling around now. He isn't quite ready to wrestle the kids in the background, but I'm sure it will happen way too quickly for me.

Great/gross picture to catch!

We waited until 6 months to try baby food. Talmage has become a happier baby and I didn't want to mess anything up by adding food. Formula also has more calories than baby food, so his GI doctor wanted us to wait. Eating isn't going that well. Talmage doesn't have any desire to eat from a spoon.

At 6 months Talmage weighs around 12 pounds, is starting to go into 3 to 6 months clothes and still on Nutramigen formula concentrated to 24 ounces. He has seen a physical therapist a couple of times but she feels that Talmage is really doing well and just gives me suggestions of exercises to try on our own. He keeps amazing us all! Don't you love those dimples!!!