The chair...



          Brit and Daniel got Bricen a lawn chair. Marty calls it his "fishing chair." Bricen don't care what we call it, he loves it! Have I mentioned how rotten he is getting? He shows frustration and gets pretty worked up at times. Marty and I have started what I like to call the "He get that from you" game. He raises his arms for you to pick up and I'm convinced it hurts his little feelings if you pass him on up when he wants some snuggle time! hahahaha. And he can go backwards in the walker. We got the blog printed up to 6mo and while I could sit and pick myself apart, my grammar, etc I love having the memories in a pretty book. Again, the crazy kid has my heart, and I'll never ask for it back.

BABIES, BABIES, BABIES!!!
          That's right, that's three babies. Crystal, Kim and DERECK AND TIFF!! I would just like to make it public, claim it here in writing and say, I SO CALLED IT!! lol I'm only kidding, kinda. I have been harassing these poor souls since July 4th when my sneaky suspicion started. But these WEIRDOS made us all wait...and wait...and wait. It was killing me. Sprout is due around the end of February. (Kim and Crystal don't have due dates yet.) Please note, Weirdos Dereck and Tiff, Crystal and Kim seemed to have told right away. Please make note for next time. In their defense sprout was a surprise to say the least.  Haha I am just so excited to see both sides of our little families growing. Kids bring such laughter, joy (screams and cries lol). Our family gatherings are going to get crazy (er) on both sides, and we look forward to it!  :0) As a side note, Jenny is also expecting baby number two! Such a blessing this is, an answered prayer I am sure. p.s. There seems to be something in the water around here with all these babies and pregnancies, therefor I am sticking to cherry coke for now. Haha.
          We went shopping with Tiff yesterday. Tried to help ease her into the world of having to buy maternity clothes. I love that in the middle of trying on clothes, in the dressing room she whips out a fruit bar as if it's no big deal. Then she sees a manikin that's a pregnant manikin and says "aww" and rubs the manikins belly. It's going to be a long nine (give or take for each) waiting on these babies to arrive!
Now for some Random pictures...

While the other is at work Marty and I send pictures to each other of Bricen. I got this picture last weekend. He is getting so big!

I haven't seen him actually get out of the bumbo yet, but we are not giving him any chances after seeing this.We use the tray from now on. He is just itching and curious to get into anything and everything!

He just looked like such a big boy sitting here playing with his toys, I had to take a picture.

He is starting to handle falling over better! He usually just falls if he is distracted or excited. This time he had fallen and with that left hand he was still trying to reach back and play.

 This was also a picture Marty sent to me at work that said "I love you Mommy." <3

I don't know if you've notice the mohawk that seems to be presenting itself on top of Bricen's head? This picture shows it well. He had just gotten out of the pool. It's getting really thick on top but not growing as fast on the sides. Haha

Random rainbow one day after it rained. I love being home with Bricen and Marty during the week.

Bricen and Chris. Chelsi (and Chris) and Brilynn, Brett, and Britt have all been able to visit more often over the summer. But they all start school soon. Kind of makes us sad. Haha. We will have to cope. lol

Did I mention he was curious and into everything? He is now able to pull up while in the pack and play bassinet.

And I think I've fed him so much banana flavored foods he is turning into a monkey because he wants to  use his feet to play with his toys as much as his hands! Yes, that's his toes up there on that keyboard. Crazy, most adorable, stole my heart from day one, crazy kid.

         

Fair...
          Johnson Co. Fair came and went. We took the opportunity to visit with some very important people we  hold close to our hearts. I really enjoyed spending time with Nancy. For a long time, and even sometimes still, since mom died being around Nancy and the fair made me miss mom more. But this time it was just nice to spend time with her.



Trace and Bricen met for the first time. This picture makes me laugh! :0)

Last time Nancy and the girls saw Bricen he was in the NICU and Heather was pregnant with her Little Mister. My oh my how far we have come. 

Daniel, Brett, Bricen and Craig dreaming of owning all these...whatever they are. lol

We ran into Aunt Crystal, Uncle Seth and Kim along with the very grown up and getting handsome-er as the days go by, Mr. Mason. Aunt Crystal says Bricen is asking Uncle Seth why Mason gets to drive but he can't?

See? Didn't I tell ya? Handsome and so grown up!!! BIG NEWS...Mr Mason is going to be a BIG BROTHER!  And, he's adding another cousin. Crystal and Kim are prego. We've got babies popping up everywhere! Crystal was a friend to me before Marty and I started dating and I couldn't be happier for her, Seth and Mason!

 

I know, I'm a dork. :0) Marty tucked Bricen's hat in his back pocket and I thought it was cute, so I took a picture. ;0)

       

Catch up...
          Well, we have been busy bees around here. Where to start? We've kept at the three day trials each week. I almost feel like his progress is at a standstill. I guess I can't be ...idk what word I'm looking for but I should be grateful for the progress he has made and know that it's in God's hands and when he and Bricen are ready we will see some more progress. It just makes me question myself. I'm sure this is normal...at least that's what Sara says. (Sarah vs Sara, I should really find out which it is so I quit using both.)
           Bricen stayed at Aunt Bri's last weekend so Marty and I could have a date night, the first in nine months. I didn't cry like I did the first time. It was fun but I'll admit when we got back from dinner I wanted to put Bricen's toys up because it made me sad to look at them. Hey, I'm a work in progress here.  I'm certain Aunt Bri picks and chooses what to tell me is going down at her house. She thinks she's smooth, but I know. :0) My momma didn't raise a fool. lol

When he's about two and Bri finds him trying to walk on the piano, they are going to regret this. Ha

This is what I packed for Bricen to take to her house. Yes, I do over pack. (Just ask Ali, she has scolded me a time or two for it.) But it really does take this much to keep this kid!

PKS...

   We went to Pizza King Station with Brett one night. It was Bricen's second time out in a restaurant. He did a pretty good job!        

I love this picture! I don't know if it's possible but sometimes Bricen has a shy side. I always thought maybe shyness was a learned behavior but it seems like it might be a nature vs nurture thing with him being this young. It's pretty adorable. Sometimes, if you are smiling or talking to him he will break into a grin and look away or hide his face in the shirt of whoever is holding him.

In case you were wondering, his Dad was sitting across from him. He can get quite animated when it comes to his Daddy.

I don't think he's old enough to enjoy the train yet.

                   

Happy July!
          We did our two three day trials, a week apart. During these trials we gave Bricen less tube feeds in an attempt to get him to take more by mouth. When speech therapy was talking to me about these trials I was a little irritated because she kept acting as if I was going to have a hard time with it. I was thinking, what is wrong with these people? What's the big deal? If he does well, great. If he doesn't, we are back where we started. Welll, my tough girl act ended on day two of the first week, after the first attempt to feed by mouth. Bricen was just gagging with every bite or if he did get something down he'd gag later and it would all come back up. So, day two and I am a bawling hot mess. I just wanted Bricen to eat. That's the only way to put it. I pulled myself together and we kept at it. I am happy to say that by day three of the second week Bricen had finished a whole container of baby food in one day. He might turn into a monkey. I'm having a hard time getting anything down him besides banana flavored things but it's a start! I am very encouraged and so excited about his progress. :0)
                                                           

He is trying cinnamon apple straws here. He loves them. :-)



          Well, Bricen waaas saying mama. Then, my husband worked on him one weekend while I was at work and for two weeks I heard nothing but dada. I was less than happy about this. Finally, two weeks later mama has returned. It stills warms my heart each time I hear it.
          We had a busy few days for the 4th of July. The third Dennis came and had dinner with us. (Tried a new recipe from Pinterest and it was yummy!) That evening Grandma, Karen, Dereck, Tiff and Chelsi came to our  house to watch fireworks. Bricen didn't really care about the fireworks and it has been hot hot hot so we came back in early. The 4th we had a swim party with the same people at Brianna's house. We swam, cooked out and swam again that evening. The fifth Brianna and the kids were back in town so we went over and went swimming with them again. Bricen is starting to really enjoy the pool. He kicks his legs in the water and much like the bathtub, likes splashing in the pool.

          .

While Bri and Craig were out of town Daniel was nice enough to take care of a few things for us the day we were to go swimming. He is such a hard worker. We had to take this picture and send it to Brit who was at work at the time. We do have a mean side at times. :0)

He still loves to cuddle with a baby washcloth, or a burp rag. I will admit there has been times that a clean sock was in reach so that's what he snuggled with. Don't tell anyone.

Often, the key to keeping Bricen's feeds down is distraction when he starts to act like he wants to throw up. The full length mirror is our latest distraction. I can't blame him for enjoying staring at himself, I love looking at that handsome face, too. :0)

Brilynn is a huge help to me and Bricen. Bricen absolutely lights up when she comes around. But, hanging the Johnny jumper back up is not Brilynn's cup of tea. hahaha I had to capture the moment.

Daniel, crazy cat that he is, purchased this motorized, rideable cooler on the Internet. Brilynn was giving Bricen a ride around the house on it. I'm pretty sure if he could have Brett would have jumped on the back.

           I started this post a few days ago. It is now Tuesday evening (early Wed am). We had two appointments at Riley today. One appointment was with Development Peds and the other with Speech Therapy. These are my two favorite providers!! I can not express how much it means to have providers that I can trust and feel comfortable with. I think it makes a huuuge difference that these two providers have been in similar shoes as myself with their own children. This is a picture of our "outpatient discharge instructions".

#1. "He is gorgeous." Do we really have to wonder why Dr. K is one of my favorite?? Haha.

          Dr K is happy with where Bricen is right now. He is 8 months 24 days, corrected age 7 months 17 days. His weight was 6.15kg (roughly 13lb 9 oz), 25 1/4 in long, and head size was 43 1/2cm. She is happy with his development for his corrected age and the health problems he has had. His upper body strength, big muscle skills need some work and we are going to get PT involved to work on that. She was even okay with the weight gain. Big news of my day was that we are going to 6 feeds a day, every four hours. We still have to feed during the night but I'm hoping with going to every four hours feeds (vs. every three hour feeds that take a hr to give) he will puke less. In order to do this we have to add sugar to his formula to make it higher calorie. I always hold my breath when we make changes and pray it doesn't set up back in weight gain and puking (or diarrhea in this case).

          Sara, speech therapy...still love her. Since our three day trials went so well we are going to do another couple three day trials with even less tube feeds. In a perfect world (correction, perfect Bricen world) Bricen will do well with those and our three day trials will turn into six day trials and then become our new feeding schedule. Just the possibility of this makes me tear up. I'm hopeful and prayerful. During these trial days...wait for it...we will do our last feed at midnight and the first feed of the day at 8am. Holy Canoli!! After almost nine months of every 3hr feeds, this sounds heavenly to me! Also, the more he eats by mouth, the less he will puke and maybe, just maybe before long we can go places without having to be driven by someone else and me riding in the back of the car with him. I can see a light at the end of the tunnel but more than anything I am so proud of my pumpkin. He still has a ways to go but has come so far. It's a little mentally exhausting as a parent. It's constantly questioning yourself. Is he gagging because he is aspirating or is he gagging because of my technique or is the thickness too thick or not thick enough or is it simply a behavioral gag that needs retrained at this point? My worries are nothing compared to what Bricen has been through. Stay tuned...he will be a chunker eating Doritos with Daddy before we know it.

His new favorite sleeping position. Makes me want to scoop him up!

          Quick side note...Dereck and Tiff are looking for houses near Franklin. Woowhoo! Praying and super excited for them and where God will lead their lives in the next year. Faith called Dereck to pastor the church. This will be his first. I am moved to tears when I think of how proud my Grandpa and my mom would have been of Dereck. My mom would have been the "super fan" of the Dereck "fan club." :0)