Brandich, Party of Five!: October 2015

It's fall Y'all!!!

At Pickering Farm for a hayride and pumpkin picking

Fall has come early it appears this year, there was not too many summery days in the month of September so I bought my mums, pumpkins and gourds early and we embraced it and opened the windows and turned off the air. Have to admit that we have already had the heat on too! We have been getting out much more as a family on the weekends now that the babies have a predictable window between naps. Those weekends afternoons have been filled with visiting family and friends homes watching the Buckeyes or Browns, shopping for a new fridge because our freezer went on the fritz, taking a hayride to the pumpkin patch, attending fall festivals, riding a scenic train on the Cuyahoga Valley railway and taking our annual family photo among the fall leaves.

Annual Fall Family Photo

The twins enjoying the view on the train

Austin and Grammy on the train

The babies have been showing us their very different personalities each and every day. Kelsey is smart as a whip and continues to be eager to talk. She studies our mouths as we speak and tries to mimic what we are saying. She is very keen on using her hands and attempts to sign and can do many actions to "the wheels on the bus." We have been singing it a lot more as Austin has been asking to many times a day. They sing it at school and he is excited that he can say many of the sounds/verses now. Kelsey has also become quite the climber to our dismay! She finds ways to knock things over to stack and climb onto chairs, tables and couches. We had to remove our coffee table as both kids were climbing up onto it every couple minutes. Kelsey is also a HUGE fan of Daddy! She is fascinated with him and wants to know where he is and what he's doing when he's home. She immediately makes her way to him and says, "hi dada" in the evening. I often have to let her watch him drive away in the morning so that she is not crying and longing for him, it's quite cute her love for him! Austin favors Kelsey so Logan usually is searching out my attention. Logan is smart in his own right. He is less verbal than Kelsey but can say "uh oh" for instance when something falls and can sign more and milk. He also stands at the gate by our staircase when he's tired and wants to go up for a nap or bed. He is officially walking EVERYWHERE! He is quite amused by his new found trick and often giggles as he walks along, so proud of himself. He rarely crawls and he is very quick on his feet. Kelsey has also taken her first steps but is not yet walking or balancing well enough to walk independently.

Austin and his favorite person Kelsey (in boy pajamas) poor girl!

Both babies comprehend what I am saying and listen when I prompt them to come eat. They both head over to their high chairs and wait to be lifted into their seats, usually whining along the way :/ Meal time has become a little nuts! How dare you eat anything without giving them some too! They eat when we eat or there's hell to pay! They often eat 2 dinners because they are hungry at 5/5:30 and we usually eat ours at 6:30/7. We have to cut up food for them or they are clinging to our chairs begging for food like they haven't eaten ALL day. Speaking of foods we have introduced only a few items as they have had most things by now. The babies are both using soy milk until Kelsey can tolerate cows milk and we are rid of the bottles and they use only sippy and straw cups, THANK YOU GOODNESS, washing a million bottle parts every single day for a year is really ANNOYING! Kelsey is not allergic to strawberries so we have also tried blueberries and raspberries with no issues. They also had tofu which isn't their favorite food and we have introduced herbs/seasonings like basil, nutmeg, parsley and garlic.

CUPS!!!!

On the health front, Kelsey's hemangioma continues to shrink as we have finished 4 months of treatment now. We adjusted her dosage for her recent weight gain and moved up to 3 times a day to see if it will help her restless sleep. Kelsey weighs 18.5 pounds and is 29.25 inches. She is not on the growth chart for weight so we have to go back in a couple weeks to make sure she is gaining. Logan had to go in for a hearing test and follow-up consultation about the lingering fluid in his ears. He passed his test and we see no reason for tubes at this time but he did come down with his 4th case of croup and another ear infection. Logan now weighs 22.4 pounds and is 30 inches. The babies have been getting one tooth after another and taking turns doing so. I check their mouths so frequently now, that when they see the flashlight they both say 'AHHH' in anticipation of me looking inside hahaha! Logan has 8 teeth and Kelsey is up to 7. Something semi-new to report is the babies "fits" both babies have started passing out often. It usually is when they are very tired and something doesn't go their way or they accidentally bump their head, they cry so hard and so long that they start to turn blue and sometimes pass out. I have found that the best way to handle this is by laying them flat on the ground and to blow in their face and keep nudging them if they do pass out. When they come to, they are usually very glassy eyed and delirious, luckily we have had no real emergencies with this but it's really scary when it happens. The doctor said it is fairly common and as long as they aren't having a seizure, we are handling it well.

Snuggles after shots

Hemangioma month 4 (insert day 1)

Austin is blossoming in school as we suspected. He is forced to say the sounds of things he wants at school which in turn causes him to use more words at home. The biggest improvement has been with the multiple word phrases, "me pee-pee, me eat, I hold baby? I love you!" He is quite fascinated with babies and wants to hold baby Leo when he gets home from school and can feed him his bottle. He also likes to try to carry Kelsey around the house which can be a little nerve wracking!!! He randomly goes up to moms in public and wants to see and kiss their babies. He most definitely gets this trait from me and I just love his loving personality!! He continues to spell words around the house which keeps surprising us on a daily basis. Some favorites are BINGO- from the song, chair(because I label objects in the house), snow and cow. He even shocked us more last week when he spelled the phrase "coming up" as he sees on Disney Jr. and PBS!!!When he's not spelling words, he is sorting letters and blocks into different color groups. He is definitely a disciplined child and likes his things structured! Another development has been his identification with people and objects. He is eager to label people and things in books we read and lines up his toys saying that they are Mama, Dada and baby, TOO CUTE!!! It really has been fantastic to see him finally begin to thrive and catch up to his peers in speech. He will be having his last OT for the year soon. We are allotted 20 covered visits to the therapist with a copay. We have discussed things with his teacher and we feel he will no longer need OT services once the new coverage years comes around and will likely not return. He is getting a lot motor skill work at school and he is advancing on his own with his core and I can continue on with the techniques and exercises they have taught me. We are looking into beginning a home program called Therapeutic listening that involves him listening to specific music cd's with special headphones to promote more sounds and speech. He has only just started to throw tantrum so we enacted the brushing technique again and I made him a weighted blanket. It is used mostly with sensory children but it helps both Austin and the babies calm down. Paul got me a sewing machine for Christmas last year so this was my first time using my machine. I did take home economics in High School so I am familiar with sewing in general.

Austin on the school van coming home with his friend Zuhoor (Pronounced Zoohor) he is Muslim

Snuggling watching Baby Babble (speech development video) with the weighted blanket!

Reading and playing together after school

At a play date at Fairview Library with friends

As for Paul and I, we celebrated our 5th wedding Anniversary in September with a steak and seafood dinner out at Don's Lighthouse while my mom watched the kids. We used Uber once again! I LOVE UBER!! Our city is so large that once you select an Uber ride, there is usually someone at your location within 2 minutes. We took an Uber to dinner, an Uber to the wine bar for extra drinks alone after and an Uber home, SO GREAT! I have been doing much better coping with the hard work of raising 3 kids now that I have made it a point to get out with my friends at least every other week if not every week! I am working full time now which is usually 4 full day a week from 7:30-4:45. Some weeks this varies and I work later in the day depending on the shift she is given at the hospital. My one day off each week varies but it almost always falls on a Tuesday or Thursday. The breaks I get are especially needed now that I have my hands extra full. I do love my job though, it has been nice to snuggle another baby knowing we won't be having more, ahhhhh! Don't get me wrong I love kids and babies but I'm fairly excited to not be pregnant again or deal with GOBS of bottles!

Anniversary dinner out!

I have been continuing on with photography as well. I recently was a second shooter and assistant to my professional friend at a wedding. I learned that wedding photography is very fast pace and can be stressful. I really enjoyed the experience and I am set to photograph another wedding with her in November. In a couple weeks I have a full weekend of portraits with 8 appointments scheduled so far mostly for mini sessions for family photos for Christmas cards. It's exciting to think that maybe once the kids are in school that I could be a full time photographer and nanny on the side if I need my fix :) We also hired a babysitter. We interviewed a couple girls and one declined our offer, I think she may have found our dynamic too challenging. Chelsea who is turning 21 in December

will be helping me on my days off so that I can get groceries, run errands or do things around the house and also watching the kids sometimes in the evening so we can get out to dinner or whatever else we desire!! I am looking forward to having someone near by that can help especially until my mom is able to help out again in late November for the winter time!!!

Rare moment with all 3 kids sleeping

Kelsey covering her ears to sleep during all the yelling and cussing of the Browns game

I asked Daddy to put her tights on, Uhm honey, UNDER her onesie jersey next time :)

This year for Halloween, we went with the Monsters Inc. theme. Austin as Sulley, Kelsey as Boo in her disguise and Logan as Mike Wazowski.When Austin was born I decided until he and future kids cared what they are going to be that I would pick a theme, have a friend crochet a hat for the costume so they can use the hat all winter and I would carve a pumpkin to match the theme.This year in addition I actually sewed parts of the costumes. We hosted the Mother's & More family Halloween party at our house this year. It was a success besides that our kids weren't big fans of wearing their costumes. The party was a perfect size and I was able to snap a picture of the kids who attended! For Halloween we were invited to our friends Jim and Susan's house to trick-or-treat. This was Austin's first year participating. The previous 3 years he sat on my lap and passed out candy. Jim and Paul took the boys (Austin and Hugh) and Susan and I stayed with Claire, Kelsey and Logan to pass out candy. Paul said that Austin did very well and that Hugh would lead Austin up to the doors to ask for candy! I am so glad he was able to do this with a friend that he is very close with. I don't think he would have cooperated nearly as well if we did it alone in our neighborhood.