Not Lost!

I know, I know. It has been a long time. I have every intention of one day catching the blog up. I want to do that not for me but for the kids. Anywho... I wanted to do a quick blog on our weekend before I forgot everything.
Thursday morning Bailey went to the feeding clinic. This would be the clinic that everyone asks if we are seeing when I mention Bailey doesn't eat and the lack of help we have received. The clinic that sees Bailey every 6 months. Yeah right! They can really help us when we only see them 2x a year. Last time they recommended we feed her oatmeal and transition her to a "sippy" type cup. Well it didn't take but a few days and I knew the oatmeal was a no go. In order to drink out of a cup you have to have the strength and the desire to do this. They knew I was frustrated from the last visit so this time they listened to what we needed. I didn't need false hope and bull crap. I haven't met one person that knows what to really do for Bailey. She doesn't understand how to chew and swallow, and I believe she is not cognitively at the level where you can teach her. I wanted them to give me ideas on something different to feed her. She also hasn't gained any weight. I lay that one at their feet. They are the ones that said to stop adding duocal to her food and milk. Now they want her to gain weight. Sigh....
So after discussing our options we will start blending table food. This will help with calories also. Currently she only gets about 850-900 calories a day. They want her to get 1300. You probably wonder why we didn't do this before. Well, we did try a few things before (spinach, sweet potato, and chicken), and she hated it. Now I haven't done it because.... well frankly it makes me feel like we are giving up on her....  giving up on her ever eating solid food. I really don't know why I feel like this. I am trying to get over this feeling. Baby food isn't enough calories so we must go to the next step. So Bailey has had a weekend packed full of firsts. She has been a real trooper. She is hesitant with new things, but she hasn't totally refused  anything. Here is a list of things she ate this weekend:
Friday: shrimp al a creme from the Cajun restaurant
Saturday: pancakes with syrup, brownie bites, and macaroni and cheese with chicken fingers
Sunday: glazed donut, bean chowder, and beef stew with potatoes and carrots

I pray that one day this will all just feel like a horrible dream. I pray she will learn to eat and that we are making the right choices.

Mother's Day Weekend

Mother's Day weekend started off with a little cleaning. I had an epiphany that weekend. I decided that I needed help around the house, and I would start bribing paying the big kids for doing extra chores around the house. I am only going to pay them if they do what I ask without having an attitude and they can't make the "I don't want to do that" face. I don't like that face. Wyatt and Bailey like to help "dust" with Brianne. Excuse our white t shirts. They are in their sick attire. We have learned that all illnesses end in vomit with them. 

Wyatt helping cook. He is responsible for taking out all the ingredients from the refrigerator.

Sunday afternoon Lee and Brianne cooked breakfast for dinner as my Mother's Day meal. Brianne invited Wyatt and Bailey to help her.

They were very serious "stirring" cooks. Poor Tyler had a bunch of homework so we were busy at the table doing it.

Sometimes you just have to dress up as a princess on Mother's Day. She is my sweet, sweet angel.

Biting Update

Did I mention the biting is going much better? They rarely bite each other or the big kids. Now where do you think the bite mark in this picture came from? Wyatt bit himself. Why would he do this? Craziness!! He has not done it again.

Last Soccer Game, May 7

Brianne had her last soccer game. I am very surprised how smoothly it all went for us. She didn't miss one game! I did have to get Mr. Mary to help a few afternoons with the babies. I was very doubtful that we would manage to pull it off.

Prayer before the game
I am so very thankful we can take our children to a Christian school. I pray that Bailey will catch up so she can go also.  

She received her metal. She was so proud of it. How many athletes do you know that could pull off the "bow look" on the field?

I swear I am gonna put a book on her head to slow down how tall she is getting. Look at her height compared to the others!!

April's End

Wyatt likes to "read" Tyler's book. He has his own, but he thinks he is as big as Tyler. Bailey loves to tear out all the pages for us.

Tyler's end of the year music program was April 13. I stayed at home with the twins so I don't have any videos. Lee took the pictures.

Oh the days of Bob the Builder!! I remember my little Tyler and his love of Bob the Builder. What a sweet age. Little man needs a new pair of these glasses. It is suppose to be held on with elastic but I had to tie it in the back. Poor fellow has a hard time keeping them on.

April 15
Why is our room the magnet for the kids? I move their toys out, and I look around and they are back.

I had to match Brianne's shirt to her bow. Whoever heard of picking out your clothes based on the bow you want to wear that day? Ask Brianne because she can tell you how this works. I think she has been in bow withdrawals. She lost all her bows, and I waited a LONG time to replace them.

K5 Open House

Brianne's class had an open house on April 10. She is typical Brianne on the stage. Bored and antsy....

Just a small part of the program. I am not good at taking videos. They are always shaky and blurry.

 

Easter Morning, 2012

On Easter morning the kids and I tried very hard to be very quiet because Lee had been at work late the night before. We finally gave up the fight and looked to see if the Easter bunny came. You can imagine that with 4 excited kids Lee got very little sleep after they saw the baskets.

Brianne was so excited about her straws! Who would have thought?! They all got new toothbrushes and toothpaste.

 After we managed to wake up Lee we all got ready and went to see the Easter bunny at Bass Pro Shop. I told Wyatt it was a big ole stuffed animal. He bought it! He jumped right up beside it and started petting it on its arm. Bailey didn't buy it at all. She is also scared of dolls and stuffed animals so that may have also been the problem.

 
Later that afternoon the kids hunted eggs in the backyard.

It didn't take long before Bailey and Wyatt were done with the eggs. They much preferred the swing set.

I have never seen two kids fight over eggs like Brianne and Tyler did. After they were done fighting finding the eggs, I told them a story about the real meaning of Easter. By the time we were done it was getting dark, and the mosquitoes were horrible. We are in for one "buggy" summer.

P.S. Yes the Easter bunny comes to our house. If he doesn't come to your house I feel very sorry for you. Is there really anything wrong with allowing children to have an imagination?