Week Five was full of many things, but as far as Brandt was concerned, the main goal was to try to get his tummy issues sorted out! The girls have gotten back into their little routines, and life is really full! The days pass by so quickly, and I'm already amazed at how quickly time has gone by!
Little Buddy loves his Daddy time! :)
He even likes to help go over the music for Sundays, or at least he enjoys the bright light on the I-pad! ;)
We got a visit from Aunt Tess, Uncle Tommy, Tawney and Chris that Saturday night! Brandt was so excited to meet them! :)
Tawney is such a natural!
Sunday morning snuggles before we turned on the LABC App to listen to Daddy and Pastor Eric!
This girl L-O-V-E-S her brother, and he loves her right back. He truly lights up when he sees or hears Avaree and Felicity!
In the early mornings after I feed him, Brandt sometimes likes to snooze on Mommy's pillow while I get breakfast for the big girls!
…and if his tummy is hurting him, he will just scream instead. :( Poor buddy.
But sometime during the day, I will always get this… :)
While Avaree was at school on Tuesday, little brother (still on zantac at this time) and I helped Felicity work on color sorting with the legos! This girl knows so much more than she lets on by her shy personality. (Of course, she's not shy at home--just when anyone else is around, or certainly if we are in a public place or several new people come into her safe place--her home!) She has gotten many new words since brother has been with us, and her little personality has come out even more. I can't believe she will be two next month. It feels like we just brought her home from the hospital too!
Girl time!!! My girls just love to cuddle with me! Even if brother is unhappy, I always try to put him down and snuggle with them! He's recently decided he likes the swing, so that helps!
That Friday morning, brother had an appointment with the Pediatric GI Specialist at the Cook's Speciality Clinic in Mansfield. It had just started snowing when he and I left, so we braved the "blowing snow" on the hwy and headed to Mansfield! By the time we got there, snow was covering the roads, and it was pretty slippery. I got us inside only to find out that our doctor was stuck in Fort Worth because of all the wrecks on the highway! So…45 minutes later, we were finally called back for our appointment. I loved the nurse and the GI. She sort of reminded me of Julie Andrews in her demeanor and voice. She just asked me to start at the beginning, and she listened intently as I told her of Brandt's short little history. She affirmed my mommy instincts and told me that clearly I wasn't overreacting and something was just not right. Thankfully, Brandt had a little episode in her office, so she was able to see some of what I was talking about. In her strong, soft voice she gave me a very specific game plan, and I left feeling thankful that we had a plan! She said that we were going to switch Brandt's reflux medicine to Prevacid, add a probiotic, and I was going to need to cut out soy in addition to gluten and dairy, in case he was experiencing some kind of protein intolerance to my milk. This last directive was more of a precaution as such an intolerance was unlikely in my third baby if it wasn't experienced by the other two. She said to give the meds and this plan a solid two weeks, and then if we wasn't better she had an additional medicine that we could use. After two more weeks, she said that she would need to re-evaluate him, and we might need to do a trial run off of breast milk (though I would still pump) and go to a deconstructed formula to figure out what is going on with him. As you can imagine, I was ready to get started and avoid that last option!
Upon walking out from the doctor, Brandt and I promptly walked back in! Even the parking lot was covered in snow and ice! One of the sweet nurses kept Brandt in his car seat for me while I went to get our car and pull it around! About that time (little did I know), Mansfield schools had just released all of their students due to "deteriorating weather conditions." It took me and hour and a half to get back home! Hwy 287 was dangerous, and no one knows how to drive in this mess. The visibility was low, the roads were slick, and people were all trying to get home! At one point, I was on blue tooth (hands free) with B when he called to check on me, and my car was literally sliding on the road. It was so scary!! Thankfully, we made it home safely, and I stopped in the middle of our neighborhood road to take this picture...
When I pulled in our garage, I turned around and took this picture. It was so unbelievable, and this was only a few hours into it.
Our backyard during the winter wonderland!
Avaree had been begging to go outside and play, so that afternoon (after naps) I got everyone bundled up, and we headed outside. Little brother even came out for a couple of minutes thanks to the insulated fleece onesie that Aunt Shannon's Mom got him!
His first snow!
Sister girl loved it!
Brandt wasn't too sure! ;)
Silly Daddy would not put a hat on, but the girls loved throwing snowballs at him!
She's so beautiful!
Her car would't move, and she thought it was so funny! ;)
Someone took her gloves off!
Daddy and Mommy! Look at the snow in Brandon's hair!
Little buddy warmed up inside while the girls and Daddy played outside!
When the girls came in, I had set them up a popcorn picnic on the floor, and we watched a movie together! :) I think it was Big Hero 6!
Little buddy has to change several times during the day because of all the spit up, and sometimes he just likes to be naked! ;)
The next morning, little sis was still sleepy! Anytime she wants me to not do something, she puts her little hand in front of her and signs, "Stop." She is always very adamant about it!
Avaree got herself dressed and declared that she was ready to go somewhere! Sorry kiddo! ;) Instead, she and Felicity ran around the room like "blurs!" She wanted me to take a picture of her blur!
My handsome boy!
That afternoon, Avaree begged Brandon to let her play the baseball game on his x box! She thought that she was doing all the movements and playing the game by her movements (like one other game he has), but in reality...
…he was playing with the controls! She was SO excited, and she made lots of home runs! So, we never actually told her. (Brandon enjoyed that!)
That night, we had reading time in Avaree's bed!
Sometimes these girls are so, so sweet with one another. Night time is usually one of those times. :)
They were begging to sleep together, so I let them have a five minute "trial" sleep. I'm sure you can tell that they are pretending. ;) I left the room for a few minutes, and when I came back, Felicity was up dumping Avaree's diffuser on the floor, and Avaree was reading again! ha! We're not quite ready!
The next morning, Brandt went to church for the first time! I hadn't really planned on going because it was still cold and rainy, but Avaree really wanted to go, and I knew that we had to start somewhere. So, I got everyone dressed and fed, and we made it to church about 20 minutes late. By the time I got the girls dropped off, and I got into the service with Brandt, we were about 25 minutes late, but we made it! ;) For his church debut, he wore his sweet onesie that Aunt Jamie made him, and he looked like a little stud!
The girls weren't dressed yet, but I had to document his outfit! ;)
Someome sent this to Brandon after church! He was SO happy that we were there! :) He had been waiting six weeks to show his boy off!
That afternoon, my reward for the marathon morning was a nap with this guy! In fact, everyone was so tired from that morning, that we all five took a nap, and our naps all overlapped by THIRTY whole minutes!! That means every member of my family was asleep at the same time for thirty whole minutes! It was glorious, and it only happened this one time! ;) I'll take it!
I just can't stop staring at this sweet face!
Isn't he such a doll??!!
Mornings are his favorite!
What a pumpkin!
"Good morning, mama! This is your reward for staying up all night with me!" ;)
Little sis loves to nurse her babies! She takes all of her clothes off to do so! ;)
She has also been "wanting to be the baby" more lately! She will get in brother's bed, or she'll come lay down in my lap and want me to feed her her sippy cup like a bottle. This always reminds me that she is still in transition, and that I need to give her lots of extra love and attention during this time.
Then we got ANOTHER snow. This one was SO beautiful. I just had to take a picture of the forecast on my phone, as it was REALLY heavy snow. Brandt still hadn't gone to sleep for the night yet, but everyone else was snoozing, so he and I opened the blinds in our bedroom and watched the blowing snow. It was so peaceful and quiet!
…and this is what we woke up to! There was a think layer of ice with about 4 inches of snow on top of it! It was so gorgeous!
Our littlest love!
What a stud!
Brandon Junior!
I dressed Brandt in his little Aggie onesie that Aunt Jamie made, and his pants were baby Avaree's! :)
The girls wanted in the picture too! Clearly, Brandt didn't mind! ;)
That night, everyone was asleep, and I was just overcome with thanksgiving for my little family. So, I walked around praying for everyone and watching them sleep. I took this little picture of my sleeping 22.5 month old.
…and my 5.5 year old!
…and my littlest, who still has to sleep propped up in his car seat (inside the cradle) for more elevation.
She sleeps with her blankie, Gingie, Dolly (La La to her), and Elmo (Melmo to her)! She cuddles them close, and she HAS to have all of them to go to sleep. Isn't that just the most precious sight?!
The next morning, the girls wanted me to take pictures of them cuddling in their palet on the floor!
We're blessed beyond belief.
We loved our snow days and weeks 5 and 6 with brother. Due to the ice and an insurance issue, we didn't get his new meds until the following Tuesday, and by Friday, we had to take him off of the medicine. He had gotten some terrible side effects, and the GI suggested taking him off of everything for 48 hours to let his tummy rest and see if the side effects went away. Well, the side effects went away, but the reflux went crazy. We didn't even make it 48 hours before putting him back on zantac. This one did not hurt his tummy at all, but it didn't help his reflux either, so less than 48 hours later, we had to put him back on the prevacid and just deal with the side effects. Poor buddy has had such a rough time. I just want him to feel good. I've been praying for discernment for me and for peace in his little tummy. Hopefully, he will only get better from here!
So thankful for our family of five! :)
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