Wacky Wednesday

Today Kayla's class celebrated Wacky Wednesday. Her teacher told the children that they could come to school dressed "wacky" and this is what we came up with:

Please note the whiskers we painted on her cheeks with liquid eyeliner! In case you are wondering here is what she was wearing: blue jeans, pink turtleneck, white tank top with hearts, white boa, pink toulle belt, pink toulle skirt, one pink sock, one sock with chicks and a pom-pom on the back, one lace-up sneaker, one velcro sneaker, and bunny ears! It took all morning to come up with and she was so please with the end result that we took a ton of pictures!

James has been doing really well. We have recently made some major changes to his diet and have seen some good changes. Not even close to done but working our way through the muck! We have taken out the enzymes and added a homeopathic protocol... Nothing to report yet.

John is cuter than cute. He is talking so much and I noticed tonight that when he runs his legs move with more fluidity. He looks much less drunk when he walks, too, YAY! He loves to give kisses and hugs and may be the most compliant and obedient of the three! For example, when I ask the twins to get their shoes on and wait by the front door, I often find only John sitting at the door with his sneakers... James and Kayla, on the other hand, are often reading books, playing with Barbies, playing with a Leapster or running in circles in the living room.

We finally got enough snow this winter to actually sled. It was the first time the twins had EVER gone sledding. Needless to say they had a BLAST!

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Bed...

We were getting ready for bed last night. Things were going along as usual... until Dave went into John's room and found him sucking on the nozzle of a Purell pump bottle. Yup, you read that right. He snatched the bottle out of John's hand and proceeded to try to sweep any remnants out of his mouth. He then checked the back of the bottle and decided we needed to call Poison Control. I quickly realized we didn't know the number. (Bad parents, bad, bad parents!) So I called 911 figuring that had to be a close second. They proceed to tell me that they can connect me but first they want to confirm our address. (Ah, the wonders of modern technology... she already knew our address based on the number that I called from.) I was immediately on the line with PC explaining what had happened. Shirley (the very helpful employee from Poison Control) wanted to know how much we thought he may have ingested, what kinds of signs and symptoms John was exhibiting and then she explained that it was likely that he hadn't ingested all that much and that we should give him some juice and a snack. She did mention that we should watch him for the next half hour (yay, another late bedtime) to see if he starts to act "drunk". Like what I asked. She described drunk as swaggering walk, bumping into things and tripping over his own feet. Great! She just described what he does all day every day! So I promised to call back if we noticed anything funny and thanked her profusely at which point the 911 operator jumped to alert me to the fact that she had listened to the entire phone conversation and that she too would be available if I needed her. Woah, what service! I thanked her as well. We all went through the requisite info exchange: my name, John's name, address reconfirmation and another round of thank you's.

I got off the phone and poured John some juice and poured some cereal into a Snack Trap. We all went back to the "campfire" that Kayla had built where she was making everyone s'mores - of course James and John's had rice milk marshmallows she said. All of a sudden the door bell rings. Immediately I knew who was at the door. I open the door and standing on the stoop is a First Aid Squad member. He was responding to a call about a baby swallowing hand sanitizer. Ugh! He then informs us that dispatch thought the squad should follow up in person. He tells us that he lives about a hundred yards away and so he came over on foot but that a bus would be there shortly. Man, did I feel like a bad parent! He took a look at John and realized that he was really fine. He called dispatch and told them they didn't need to have an officer (yes, a police officer) dispatched. Double ugh! About a minute later lights start flashing and swirling up the street and an ambulance pulls up in front of the house. (The twins thought this was GREAT!) A second later an officer appears at the door! He too lives around the corner in the other direction and has a newborn so he felt he had to respond. Next came the Rescue member who had to take our official information and have us sign something saying that we refused medical attention.

So long, crazy story short... John is fine. We think he probably didn't eat much if any at all. On another note, it was a good feeling to know that our Emergency Responders have such a quick response time! Thank you to the Kendall Park First Aid Squad and Police Dept.

Light the Night

Lots of exciting pics to share from Halloween...

Here are some pics of Kayla's class:

Kayla as Super Girl!

Kayla with Super Man and Princess Presto.

Kayla being turned into a Mummy!

The finished product!
(Notice John waiting patiently in his stroller in the background.)

From here we raced over to James's school for his Halloween party:

James is Ultra Cool Buzz Lightyear!

Kayla and James enjoying some snacks.

John, once again, being a complete angel - although dressed as a Fire Fighter!

Buzz loves his teacher Mrs. Fech!

From there it was home to rest and then off to Calvary Chapel's Annual Light the Night...

The Minis with the Richter kiddos... didn't know they would be there!

John with Daddy.

John with Uncle Chad.

Summer Musings

John has recently received his first cell phone. In true 21st-century-kid form he, um, mastered the use of the phone quite quickly. Now if he could just get his aim right!

In other news I have been trying to grow things. My mom ordered some bulbs online and I planted them late in the season thinking I wouldn't see any blooms until next summer but...

I also think that I failed to mention that we had a new driveway and front sidewalk put in. When they were digging to put in the new asphalt they moved a bunch of dirt. We used some of that dirt to fill in some empty spots. After a couple of weeks we found that we had something that resembled a pumpkin or squash plant growing in the front beds. Well, after a few more weeks we now have lots of these... But after much searching I can't figure out exactly what kind of squash these are. Anyone know??? We have already picked 5 and have at least another dozen that will need to be picked soon...

Walking on Sunshine

The summer could not be any hotter. (Well, they could but then I would be in a puddle in the corner and wouldn't be able to write to y'all.) I also can't believe that it is already the end of July. Whoever said that the summer was a time to relax didn't have kids. Since school got out at the end of June we have: driven to Nashville and back, started back to school (for James), [I] led worship for VBS, had two sick boys, taken K to Gymnastics camp, celebrated at least a half dozen birthdays (with at least a half dozen more to go this summer), had Thanksgiving dinner in July... I am sure that I am forgetting something...

But I have yet to tell you about some of the more exciting things that have happened. About 2 weeks ago Dave and I met with a Nutritionist who specializes in ASD kids. She gave us a "plan" and we have embarked upon a new adventure. On Sunday we started enzymes with James. It has been 2 full days and he seems to be doing well. So I think tomorrow or Thursday we will go from the 1/2 dose he is taking now to the full dose. There is always the chance that these treatments will at first cause James to go "backwards" but the end result is almost always improvement.

Also, James will be attending a full day autism program in the fall where...wait for it, wait for it... THEY are going to potty train him. I know I couldn't believe it either when they told me. It isn't that Dave and I don't want to (alright maybe we don't want to) but its just that we aren't really sure HOW to. So I will keep you all up to speed on that as it progresses.

The other great news is that John has started walking. I don't mean that he holds on to the couch and walks around the living room perimeter. I mean he stands up and puts one foot in front of the other and takes a couple of steps and then falls on his butt. We have tried to get it on film but of course as soon as you turn on the camera all he wants to do is eat it! So we will try sneak some footage when possible and share.

I will leave you with 2 great pics. One is Kayla climbing the dugout pole in Nashville. The other is one that my Mom took of the boys. Enjoy!

Some recent pictures

I realized that I haven't uploaded pics in awhile so here you go...

Philly Zoo (May 15)...

As I'm sure most of you can imagine our little "Mary Lou" climbed her way to the top of anything she could swing her feet up on top of!

James loved the otters!

It was possibly the only time he was actually engaged in observing the animals...

But for the most part this is what he did all day!

And this is beautiful Olivia! Our friends Nicki and Adam brought her home from Guatemala and she couldn't be any more perfect!

Oh, yeah and then there was John. Could he be a more perfect baby?

He was an absolute angel the entire day!

Memorial Day at the Shore...

The happy 4 year olds!

The happy 9 month old!

The happy grandparents with the grandkids!

Blessings Abound!

Once again I have managed to be so overwhelmed this last month that I have neglected to share with all of you some of the cooler things that have been happening here in NJ.

John has been growing in leaps and bounds. Gosh, I think that it has been 3 weeks since John started crawling! I know that it was a Thursday does that help??? Let me tell you, he is a speed demon. He can cross the room in seconds and not 30 I'm talking like 5! He cracks up over everything - namely his brother and sister. A few days later he pulled himself up to standing. And you can see when he stands, the way he moves his feet, that he will be walking any day now! (A little history lesson here: Kayla walked at 9 1/2 months and James at 10 months. So given that John has pretty much developed in the same ways that they have I am guessing any day now John will just stand up and walk across the room!) Oh, and again in true Gater fashion John has gotten two more teeth (yes, at the same time).

Kayla must have mountain goat or monkey blood or something. Why? you ask. Well, because that child likes to climb on or hang from any and everything. Her goal seems to be to freak me out at every turn. This past weekend we went to the Shore for Memorial Day. Monday morning we took the kids to the playground at Sunset Park where they have a 10 or 12 foot rock wall for kids. I saw it and thought Kayla would love it. Then Dave tells me that he watched her do it already. So he climbs up the other side after James and I encourage Kayla to climb up to the top where her Daddy was standing. Well, not only did she not need any encouragement, she didn't need any help. She flew up that wall like she had been up that wall a hundred times.

James, James, James... where to start. His move to the 4 year old class back in February has been great for him. Being home "by himself" (John naps almost the entire time Kayla is at school) has allowed him to have quieter time to work on fine motor skills and play computer learning games that have challenged him in other ways. But something else has happened that is amazing. (Well, this is less about James and more for James.) At the end of April I had a meeting with his current teacher and case manager. They had one opinion and Dave and I had another. They thought that for the Fall he should stay in the classroom that he is currently in. We felt very strongly that this would be a bad idea. First, it is a class that he has already been "doing" for the past 3 months. Plus, all the kids moving up into the class would still be significantly younger than him (part of the problem and why we moved him out of the 3 year old class). So I called SPAN (Statewide Parent Advocacy Network) and they sent me a packet of information written by the NJ Dept of Education called Autism Program Quality Indicators that gave me a lot of information regarding what a high-quality program should be offering to students with Autism. However, this is not the LAW. So we prayed that they would see how these points will benefit James and his development and that they wouldn't be completely focused on their budget and what the administration might think.

So the meeting wasn't great but it wasn't awful either. They were pretty set on him staying where he is. I did however say some things that made the case manager write in her notebook furiously! I noticed that when I quoted the law they both looked a bit surprised. I was careful to not get defensive. But at the same time I stood our ground. One of the things that left me with a glimmer of hope was that the case manager agreed that she needed to talk to the Home Programming Coordinator who had come out more than two months prior to evaluate James at home.

We saw James's Developmental Pediatrician the last week in April and she had only glowing things to say about James. I mentioned to her the document by the Dept of Ed that talked about the recommended program for preschoolers with Autism. She told me that just after our last visit (Nov '07) the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) published a document saying the exact same things! So that was definitely her recommendation. (Finally the AAP recommendations are paying off for us!) On May 6, James's case manager called to let me know that she had observed James for about 45 minutes the day before and "observed several atypical behaviors." (DUH!) Then she said that the programming coordinator was going to be observing James that day at 2 pm. In short they are revisiting the idea of having James go to the full day class for "High Functioning ASD." Initially they thought that this class would not be a good fit for him because most if not all of the ASD kids in it are lower functioning than James BUT the morning half is an integrated class with other typical 4 year olds. So although we have some reservations (and they are very slight) about him picking up the "bad" behaviors of some of the other ASD kids in the class, the afternoon is primarily 1-on-1 ABA and so James would be working with a teacher in a semi-secluded environment. They can also adjust the "teaching" more specifically to meet James's goals. Plus this means he would be in-district (not bussed to a school as much as 30 minutes away) and still a part of the local community. So after the coordinator observed him his classroom teacher, case manager and program coordinator sat down and discussed what they saw.

The very next day the Autism Programming Coordinator called. She observed James and then spoke with James's classroom teacher and case manager and they are recommending that James go to the full-day high functioning class. It is integrated with other typical 4 year olds in the am and then more intensive instruction with just the ASD kids and 2-3 teachers in the pm. This is good news!!! One of the major pluses of this class is the highly individualized nature of the instruction. So James will have someone always directing him and keeping him focused so that he is less likely to be idle. (Idle time for James leads to excessive mouthing of his hands and other objects, babbling and baby talk, or visual and verbal self-stimulating, to name a few.)

The following week the coordinator came over to discuss the goals to be included in James's IEP for the Fall. I was expecting her to talk about things like holding a pencil and cutting with scissors. Instead she showed up with a print out of the curriculum goals for the combined K/1st grade Autistic class. She said that it didn't make sense, given James's academic level, to confine him to age appropriate goals.

Fast forward to today, the coordinator, Cindy, was here this morning to work with me and James. One of the first things that he did was begin reading to her. About half way through the story she said, "We will definitely have to include him in the K/1 class in the Fall." Huh? She repeated herself and I couldn't believe what I was hearing. So during the time of the day that makes me the most nervous (when the only students in his classroom will be the other ASD kids with potentially negative things fro James to pick up) occasionally James will be pulled out and included into the K/1 class!!! Can I get an AMEN?!?!

Basically our fears and stresses continue to be taken away. It's about time! There are other things to share like the potty training that Cindy wants to start soon and the sensory diet that she can't believe James doesn't already have. Ahhhh, I have actually felt the weight lifting off my shoulders recently and I have to admit that it feels good.

I will try to post some pics soon. Especially since Dave got some really great ones down the Shore.

So much has happened

AAAAHHHHH!

Where has the time gone? I turned around and it has been almost a month since I posted. So let's see what has happened in the last 4 weeks (in no particular order):

• John went from 2 teeth to 6 teeth in about 2 weeks;
• Dave and I went to the DAN! Conference and learned an awful lot of amazing info;
• James has almost completely stopped napping (let's pause for a moment of silence...);

I know, you're wondering what about Kayla??? What did she do this past month? Well, really there isn't much she isn't doing. She is our amazing blessing. She is so much more mature than her age. (Is that right? Dad, help me out with the grammar here.) She loves school and her teachers can't say enough about how wonderful she is. She wants very badly to read like her big brother and tries hard every day to read just a little more. She loves playing with John. She is so good at watching out for him and just the sight of her makes him light up like the Fourth of July fireworks.

In other news, John's first two teeth (on the bottom) came quite awhile ago. Like the twins they came pretty close together. The twins also got the rest of their teeth in pairs. This was great because they would teethe really bad for a few days and then have two more teeth. Well, John started getting really cranky and was drooling like a leaky faucet. Then they started coming. Now he has 4 teeth on the bottom and 2 on top and once again he is as happy as can be again!

A couple of weeks ago Dave and I spent 2 days straight up to our eyeballs in seminars and workshops about biomedical intervention designed to treat Autism. WOW is all I can say. We were completely unprepared for how much info it would be. But it really made an impression on both of us. We not only learned about the typical things you might expect (GFCF diets, vitamins and supplements) but also about toxins and other things that may have contaminated our possibly already compromised kiddos. We also learned about working to prevent harm to our next kiddos. Sooooo, we came home and threw out all of our Teflon coated pans, food storage containers, plastic plates and cups. In their place we purchased new Rubbermaid containers, started using our cast iron pots and pans more often and invested in Corelle plates and cups for the kiddos.

Yes, I know some of you don't completely understand the sadness I am feeling about James's abandonment of naps but I coveted that time when the twins (and sometimes John, too) would nap and the house would be quiet and the time would be mine. I am not trying to sound selfish but I REALLY need that time. It is time when I can make important phone calls without major interruptions or respond to an important email or (heaven-forbid) take a nap myself. So now we are trying something a bit different. Some days we go out and do something fun after James gets off the bus (go to the playground, go see Mr. RAY) then the next day I let the twins know that today will be a resting day and Voila! Kayla and James both take a nap! Granted Kayla would nap everyday for at least 2 hours if I would let her but I think that this is better for everybody (at least for now).

Autism Awareness and Zucchini

more on zucchini in a bit...

Today is World Autism Awareness Day. I am so pleased to see all the attention that is being paid to this worthy cause today (and almost everyday, it seems). Though there is still the part of me that is sad that we have to have a day like this at all. I must say that for all the difficulties we have on a daily basis I am blessed and grateful that we have a very mild case. Yes, I do mean we. Though this may seem to be James's affliction we are all affected. We have all had to adjust our way of life to adjust for him and I honestly wouldn't have it any other way.

People often say 'I give you so much credit' or 'I don't know how you do it'. The answer is simple: Jesus. It is only through His gift of grace and forgiveness that I am where I am today. And I truly believe that without this saving grace I could not be the Wife-Parent-Daughter-Sister-Friend that I am today. I also believe that it is through His amazing plan that I have been connected to and been touched by so many who have taught me (and subsequently us) all the things I didn't know that I would need to know.

And now for the zucchini... John tried zucchini for the first time tonight and the outcome was not favorable! This is the first time in 3 months that he has actually rejected food. He seemed happier to not eat than to eat pulverized zucchini mixed with applesauce, rice cereal and formula. (You know you want some!!!) Ahhh, the joys of parenthood... more to come.

How Fast the Time Goes

So it seems that John is already seven months old. Um,... how did that happen? The twins are going to be 4? Is Dave really going to be 33? YIKES!!!

Well John is officially sitting up on his own. On Thursday (3/27) we spent a lot of time playing on the floor and then that evening he did! He spent about 15 minutes sitting up nice and tall before beginning to teeter from exhaustion. Man did he sleep well that night!

It is spring break right now and the Gaters are a little off kilter right now. Hopefully life will even out a bit once school is back in session.

Happy Leap Day, Happy 6 Months, Happy Magic Nuudles

Just a quick note. Today is Leap Day. Is that what they call it? I know that this is a Leap Year but what is the official name for February 29th?... According to Wikipedia I am right! I actually have a friend whose birthday is today... Happy Birthday Jane N!!! What are you now? Like 10!

Today is also John's 6 month marker... WOW that has gone by fast. So let's see what does he do??? He has had 2 teeth for about a month and a half, he can pick up just about anything and stick it in his mouth, he LOVES his Exersaucer and I think I forgot to mention that he started rolling over last week. (It's not like I haven't had about a hundred other things happening too.) He is also eating like crazy. He has been eating solids for 2 months and LOVES his bananas. And through it all he is always laughing and smiling. I will let you all know what his stats are after his doctors appt next week. So stay tuned...

Magic Nuudles, what are those you ask? And didn't you spell it wrong? NO! They are this really cool product that look kind of like packing peanuts but are biodegradable and stick together when they get a little wet. Well Kayla and I had some fun creating with them today and this is her final creation:

Transitions Part 2

For all of you who were wondering how James has faired after a week of the "new plan" I thought that I would send out a followup post. Tuesday and Wednesday were extremely difficult. I don't think that we could have ever been prepared for the struggle that James had. Yes, he had many transition "inspired" meltdowns in the past but those are almost completely gone and when he does have difficulty with a transition or change now he can usually navigate through it with much more ease. I reread my post about Tuesday and I don't think that I was able to capture the extreme level of difficulty that he had and I am still not sure that I could. The frustration and meltdowns continued on Wednesday. His exhaustion worsened and on Thursday he was soooo exhausted that after returning from picking Kayla up from school he just lost it. He burst into tears and couldn't even stand up. I asked him if he wanted to eat lunch (our new normal time) and he just sobbed "No!" So now I am panicking because it is 11:15 and his bus comes some time between 11:50 and noon. What does he want? What do I need to do to make this easier? So I asked him if he wanted to take a nap or eat lunch and go to school. He screamed nap. So I reminded him that if he took a nap that he wouldn't go to school and he just pointed to his room. So I put him to bed without lunch and called the bus company and his school to let them know that he was not coming to school. He took a somewhat short nap but it definitely helped. The of course there was no school Friday because we got about 6 inches of snow!

So Friday night Dave and I went into crisis recovery mode and decided on a new schedule. (I should also mention that Kayla was soooo much less than pleased with this new schedule. She didn't like the idea that she was napping by herself and I think that she was jealous that James was getting one-on-one time with me while she was at school and while he was at school she was having to nap.) Now James gets special Mommy Time in the morning while Kayla is at school. Then after we pick her up we have lunch and hang out until the bus comes. Once he comes home we unpack and read a story and then everyone gets a nap - including John. Kayla loves this new nap time. She is always tired by then (3 pm). James doesn't always nap but he has to rest in his darkened quiet room. And Mommy gets a much needed respite from the crazies!

It means an adjustment on my part and rethinking the way that we used to do certain things. It is also going to require us (Dave and me) to think about when and how we participate in certain events. But I think that this will be the best thing that we can do for everyone in our family.

John is Teething so We Have to Change His Socks Like 3x a Day

This is what I said to a friend yesterday and it totally cracked her up. So I thought that I would post a little proof. John has been teething (#3) and also has his first ear infection. We started the first round of amoxycillin today. So sad... 5 months old and already needing antibiotics. : (

Crazy, Crazier and Craziest

Dave's Grandpop has been really sick - he has been in and out of the hospital a bunch of times over the past couple of months. (PLEASE PRAY!) So he and his dad decided to take a trip to FL to visit him (perhaps for the last time). (= a little crazy) Dave flew out at the ***-crack of dawn on Friday morning. Thankfully Kathy (Dave's mom) was able to come Friday morning to help get the twins ready for school. And God love her she did a ton of laundry! Oh, but I forgot to mention that I didn't get to bed until about 2 am Thursday night and was up at 6 am with James. (I'll help with the math. I got 4 hours of sleep.) Then while the twins are at school John broke through his first tooth. (Yea, the screaming should subside for awhile.)

Kayla has had this cough for a few days but what Preschooler doesn't have a cough from November through March??? So when she had trouble sleeping we weren't surprised. (= a little crazier) But then Sunday night she got up at about midnight complaining that her ears hurt and upon further investigation we found that her throat was swollen to almost twice its size. (= even crazier) She wouldn't go to sleep without my sitting by her side so at 2 am when she was still awake and I was practically falling asleep sitting up I took some cushions off the couch and slept on her floor. I got about 4-5 hours of sleep.

While all of this is going on in her room... I can hear John wailing in my room with David. I want to go help but then I would have a second crying kid. The next morning I found out that John had cut his second tooth! (The twins got most of their teeth early and in pairs, too.)

I took Kayla to the Doctor yesterday morning and the rapid strep test came back negative the Dr said he thinks that it is a viral infection which will probably get worse before it gets better and will probably take 4-5 days to clear up. She showed a little bit of fluid in her right ear but no infection. We are waiting to hear back from the throat culture (on Wed) whether or not it really is strep throat (which is very uncommon at this age). So Kayla will be home probably all week from school trying to get better. (=craziest)

Though it may sound strange please pray that she might have strep because then it can be treated with antibiotics and can be healed faster.

4-Month Old

I took John to the doctor this morning for his 4 month check up. As usual he was his regular charming self. He had the nurse and the doctor cracking up. The great part is that John is now 13.5 lbs and 25 inches. This coupled with the fact that he has excellent neck control and can put things in his mouth on his own means that he is a good candidate for solids. So we will probably start this weekend. I am excited because that means he is growing up. I know that most people say, "Oh if they would only stay this small..." but I really enjoy watching them grow and develop.

On another development note John is teething... big time. He is an absolute drool factory and loves to jam his entire fist into his mouth. Can't wait... I'll try to take pictures of it when it comes in.

Oh, and I almost forgot, John is almost completely rolling over from back to belly. Most of the time he gets to his side and decides to stay and play but sometimes he will go over completely. Crawling here we come!

Dedication

On Saturday my dad and step mom came into town (from St Charles, IL) to visit. We hadn't seen them since July 2006. The kids were excited and so was I! Because this was such a special time - hadn't seen my dad in awhile, first time they were seeing John - we decided that this was a perfect opportunity to have John dedicated.

What does that mean???? Some churches do infant baptism but ours dedicates their babies. All of us stand before the congregation and present John. Our pastor asks us some important questions: Do we promise to raise him to know and love the Lord? Do we dedicate him back to the Lord knowing that he is a gift from God? Then he asks the congregation if they commit to coming alongside us in bringing him up to know and love the Lord?

My favorite part was being able to give testimony about John. I wanted to share with all of you what I shared (to the best of my recollection).

Many of you know that we had difficulty getting pregnant with the twins and were told by the doctors that we would not be able to have more children without medical assistance. So last winter when we found out we were pregnant we were surprised to say the least. We decided to name him John which means God has been gracious. This was a very fitting name. During my pregnancy we went through a few months of difficult transitioning James from Early Intervention to public preschool. Through it all I was feeling good and remained healthy. No morning sickness really and a decent amount of energy. Having a boy also meant that we could pass on the name David. Along with being my husband's name it is also the name of David's dad's brother who passed away as a teenager. It is a special family name and we were glad to be able to pass it on. It is also a tradition in our family to give our children two middle names. So we decided to give John the name Charles after a very dear friend. He has been like a brother to both me and David. He is a special man of God who has been there with us both on our walk with the Lord.

The last thing that our pastor does during a dedication is present the child with a verse. Our pastor chose John 3:30 "He must increase, but I must decrease." Fitting for a life lived to glorify the Lord.

S-L-E-E-P

That's right... sleep! We have been getting it and it feels great. For the last 3 nights John has slept for 7 hours or more each night. I think that maybe we found the answer in the right formula. Nestle Good Start. We had been giving him Similac because we had gotten tons of free samples from the hospital but we noticed that he was spitting up a lot and kind of fussy. Then I did some investigating and found out that Similac formula is mostly corn syrup solids. That's right, can you believe it??? So then I looked into all the brands and found that Nestle is mostly whey from milk. That makes more sense to me. So we had some samples of that and switched to that exclusively. (We had been using whatever samples we grabbed first therefore mixing and matching since we thought that they were all pretty much the same.) He is now not fussy AT ALL unless he needs one of three things: food, sleep or a clean diaper. He is sleeping better during the day too. It is true what they say: The better a child sleeps the better a child sleeps.

2 Months!

John had his 2 month checkup today. You would never know that this was a kid who had difficulty gaining weight those first few weeks. John tipped the scales today at 10.5 lbs and 22.5 inches! (At Birth: 7.5 lbs and 20 inches)

He was so funny at the doctor's office too. He was definitely showing off his mad skills. He showed the doctor how he can hold his own head up and how close he is to rolling over. Then when she tried to look in his eyes, ears, etc he started whacking her in the face!

In general he is a great baby. He is starting to get into a good sleeping rhythm. He eats a lot (evident in his extreme weight gain) and loves life. He smiles all the time and is cooing a lot. He recognizes the voices of me and Dad and Kayla. (James doesn't pay him enough attention for John to recognize his voice.)

Welcome John David

John David was born today at 11:03 am. He was 7.5 lbs. and 20 inches. But let me back up a bit...

We have had a particularly easy pregnancy. I had very little "morning sickness" which consisted mainly of a bit of nausea in month 2. (This by the way is what prompted the pregnancy test in the first place!) He was a very active little bugger. It was at about 8 1/2 months that we had an ultrasound and discovered that he was no longer head down. This prompted us to schedule a c-section for Monday, August 20. (This date would have been great since our anniversary is November 20 and the twins b-day is May 20.) We had talked with the doctor who was going to do the surgery and she said that before we do the surgery she wanted to just do a quick scan to make sure that he was still head up. So we go to the hospital that morning and they get me all prepped for surgery - and I mean all prepped! I had the IV started, the catheter in and had been shaved! (Was that TMI?) The anesthesiologist had come in to talk with us and we were told we were heading into surgery in about 5 minutes. I reminded the nurse that the doc had wanted to do a scan before the surgery so the doc came in with the US machine and wouldn't you know that he had completely turned and was now head down again.

So we decided since we were already there and only 4 days from our due date that we would try to induce labor. The put me on a pitocin drip and I laid in that hospital room for approximately 7 hours. After all that time had passed and I still wasn't having any real labor we decided to go home. That was an interesting arrival home. We had told the twins that we were going to have the baby that day and then we came hoe with nothing! So we tried to explain to them that the baby wasn't ready to come out of mommy yet.

I went back to the doctor for a check up a couple of days alter and he was still head down and so we waited for labor to begin naturally. By the Monday after his due date (8/27) he was still not here and I wasn't anywhere near labor so we decided (for a bunch of other reasons that I won't get into) to have the c-section. Cause lets face it when you are that pregnant and it is that hot all you want is for that baby to be out of you!

So we scheduled the surgery for Wednesday morning and this time I wasn't coming home without my boy! So we headed to the hospital that morning and a couple of hours later we had our sweet, sweet boy in our arms. Let me just say that this time the surgery and recovery were SOOOOO much easier than last time. With the twins I couldn't get out of bed for 2 days this time I was out of bed by dinner time the same day. With the twins I stayed in the hospital as long as possible 4 days. With John I was home in just over 48 hours. I had a shorter recovery time in the recovery room, a better response to the anesthesia and this time I actually had some success breastfeeding.

My mom stayed with me in the hospital the first night so that Dave could be home to put the twins to bed - we wanted to try to maintain some normalcy for them. Then Dave came to the hospital Thursday morning for a few hours and then went to work! (We had so few vacation days left and wanted to use them wisely.) My friends Mary and Amy and my mother in law Kathy came at various points that day to keep me company and then Dave returned to the hospital that night after putting the twins to bed. He stayed with me that night and then left the next morning pretty early so that he could be home when the twins got up. Dave stayed home to play with the twins and my step dad and sister Kat came to the hospital to help me pack up - I was going home whether the doctors liked it or not. Then around 5pm Dave and the twins came to the hospital. This was the first time that the twins were meeting the baby. We got some great pictures and video. Then we ALL went back to our house where my other sisters and my mom all came over for dinner. It was a nice home coming!