It's starting to look like Christmas

How fast Christmas snuck up on me!! This year we decided to forgo our normal ornaments on the tree and let the kids make decorations. The twins are in such a chewy curious stage....chewy is an understatement. Oh my gosh I have NEVER had children who chew on everything in sight. The furniture, toys, their clothes, cabinet knobs, and even me a few times (their teeth hurt!!). I'm bringing up a set of beavers for sure. So we didn't want glass balls or our keepsake ornaments to end up looking like a puppy attacked them. When we went camping the kids collected pine cones to decorate the tree with. Then Riley and I had a date night and afterwards went to Michaels to grab a few fun items to make ornaments. On the Saturday after Thanksgiving we spent all day at the table crafting. The kids and I were in our true elements! Crafting with my kids is my happy place...besides shopping, lol! Riley told me later that he had so much fun! Brady helped me make 30 feet of dot garland. He punched out circles and I glued them onto jute ribbon. They colored wood ornaments and made bead bake ornaments with Riley. My favorite though are the pine cone people!

Britney drew this for me!

Ben's ornament

Brady's ornament

Our elf Milton Jingles was so good to bring the kids pajamas, a movie and a game!

When I look at the tree I think about that Saturday when the Christmas music was playing, my kids were crafting at the table, and how happy they were to decorate the tree!

After Christmas shopping we went to Red Robin. It wasn't to cold so we ate outside and enjoyed the night air and the Christmas lights!

Bundled up at the restaurant!

 

 

-kriss

Longtime no updates...

Time has just flown! We have been so busy at our house. Today I am at an all day appointment for Britney (she is in another room and I'm in the parent break room) and I'm so happy I brought my laptop. Perfect time for an update!!

I'll start with Britney. I'm so happy to report we are one week from finishing our first semester of homeschooling! This has been the most rewarding and hardest thing I have ever done for my children. It takes lots of commitment and planning! When we decided to home school I was so worried I would fail her.  Would I be able to effectively teach her? Would she be happy? The list went on and on and on. I knew though that it couldn't be any worse than what we were already experiencing. There were days I wanted to pull my hair out. There were days I wanted to cry. There were days I would see the light bulb go off and I would feel like doing a happy dance! There were times I had to remind her my teacher hat was on and my mom hat was off. Mostly there were days that were amazing seeing my child make gains! Fourteen weeks in and I have seen my child grow grow and grow! I can't begin to tell you how much it has made me grow too. I do have the ability to teach her and teach her well. She has also learned to use her voice and say, "Mom I am not getting this." When she says this we stop, break and I come up with another way to explain it or search for a video to teach it. I LOVE all the resources online! Every Sunday I spend making out her weekly schedule, printing worksheets/activities and updating the spelling website. I only do one week at a time because if she didn't grasp something we have the freedom to keep working on it! She has a weekly folder numbered with whatever week we are in. Everything she needs for the week is in that folder. I have her tablet set to ding at certain times so she knows when to start, take a break, start again and stop for the day. Right before Thanksgiving we finished up a six week book study on Anne of Green Gables. She LOVED that! I noticed in most of her writing that she only used the adjectives "nice" and "kind" to describe people. So we were able to expand on the characters and by the end of the six weeks we had some nice new descriptive words learned. We even made Raspberry Cordials (a drink in the book) together to serve at Thanksgiving. After Thanksgiving we moved on to the book The Sixty-Eight Rooms and should finish that next week. We have had a great time viewing the miniature rooms online at The Art Institute of Chicago. Once Christmas & New Years is over we will be starting Tuck Everlasting. I've been reading the book in my spare time so I can be ready to help her with writing or ideas. She is also loving her outside enrichment classes. She just finished her last day of Vocal Techniques for 2015 and yesterday in Karate she got her first stripe for belt testing. Talk about a happy girl! She came out of the gym with a smile a mile long! So yes homeschooling is going great!! Friday we have theater tickets to see Frosty at Casa Manana. This is our second field trip to Casa. Riley is off that day so after the theater we plan to go eat lunch and do some shopping while Dad has the twins. Oh and before I forget... She is becoming quite the artist!! She has finally found her passion..... DRAWING! She is so good at it!

At Cane Rosso after seeing June B Jones at Casa Manana. We tried the bacon marmalade, argula and fresh mozzarella cheese pizza. It was amazing! We sat near the oven and it was so nice because it was cold outside!

Making Raspberry Cordial

My little artist

She drew Megan Trainor and the Peanuts. She couldn't remember Woodstock's name so she called him Chicky. lol

 

One of weekly planning sheets

Casa Manana

Wonder Woman!

Now time for Brady!! Wow he is having a wonderful year at school. He has three of the best teachers which is an answered prayer! Yay!! He is being a little reader and loves to read parts of a new book to me and then say, "Did I persuade you to read it?" He is so outgoing and just the brightest light! His smile and blue eyes melt me! If there is a camera out he is has to strike a pose! How is he eleven?? We went camping (stayed in a cabin) for his and Ben's birthday. So FUN!! I can't wait for him to be home next year for school! He is really excited about it. He said, "Yay, no homework wasting my time after school." I am looking forward to that too. Homework is the worst after school! Buddy, I hate it too. When you come home I want to hear about your day and see you happy playing not doing three different subjects of busy work when we could be having fun. He is also in his school UIL Choir! We got to see him sing this last week at the cities Christmas event!

CAMPING!

Storybook Parade (I made their costumes)

Benny's turn!! He too is having a fabulous year! He has the sweetest teacher and she truly loves him! I couldn't be more proud! He is doing so wonderful! This year (with the help of his teacher) his personality has just come out! He is so funny and wants to be apart of everything which is a definite change! I can't remember if I mentioned it or not but over the summer he was finally diagnosed as having high functioning autism. It didn't really change anything other than we were able to get him some extra services at school. He is just an amazing little boy and teaches me something new everyday. His laugh is infectious!

A Honor Baby!

My favorite picture of Ben and Riley.

Benny got glasses! So handsome

How are you eight mister?

The twins turn! Oh my gosh those two are a hoot! They keep me so busy! One runs one direction and one runs the other. They are night and day. They are so beautiful and I can't believe how blessed I am to be their mom (to all the kids!). They are doing awesome with their hearing aids. They wear them about 6-8 hours a day. The biggest problem we have is when they pull them out they go straight in their mouth. It's been hard to let my guard down when they are wearing them and it makes for a long day (along with homeschooling) because they gave up naps but I'm trying to remember it's a season. They are only this little once and I will never get this time back. Plus I have a the reminder that they will be starting school for hearing/signing in the fall and I'm trying not to have a break down that my babies will be in school. If I think about it to long and hard I cry. I have our local ISD hearing dept plus Early childhood Intervention that come weekly each. They are teaching me sign to talk to the boys. So far Brennen is the one to pick it up the fastest. So much to learn. There are some nights between home school, sign language and just family routines that I can't believe all that's on my plate.

Costco!! A must with our big family!

We loved the swings camping!

Camping!

Bathtime

Christmas 2015

I know this is long so I will wrap it up and do another post after lunch. Britney is having some testing at the hospital today and we will be here until 4pm. So lots of time to write! :)
-Kriss

Halloween 2015

Special Ears Part Two

Today marks one week since we found out our little twinnies need hearing aids.  I'm happy to say lots of progress has been made in getting their hearing aids and appropiate therapy to help them talk. I'm going to be brutally honest though with typing up this post.  Maybe it will help someone else. One thing I discovered in this journey to new ears is that it's an expensive indevor. There were a murad of emotions this last week but all of that was clouded by the cost factor.  I've also discovered that either insurance doesn't cover it at all or they pay very little. Unfortunately living in Texas didn't let us use TEFRA because it isn't available. All we have is TEDHI which is our states resource to help facility's record when children do have hearing loss OR identify risks so children can be tested sooner or monitored for hearing loss. Through TEDHI I discovered that our twins had some risks the hospital never informed us of. If we had known we would have had them tested sooner and they could have had the aids this whole time.  The good news is the director of TEDHI was able to contact our delivering hospital and give them proper information so maybe another family can have their child tested sooner and know that risks that are possible. I have to give a huge thanks to Doug Dittfurth because he was caring and very imformative  TEDHI also made a suggestion to call ECI and the school district. We have been working with ECI since the beginning of August and they have made contact with the school districts audiology department to get additional audiology help. After discovering all that information we needed to start the process of getting the aids. Thankfully our insurance covers a little but do you have any idea what ONE hearing aid cost (and this is for one without a ton of bells and whistles)? It's $1500 an EAR and in our case times FOUR! Friends that is $6000. We were so shocked!!! I share this so if you are reading this and your child needs an aid you aren't shell shocked when the doctors office tells you this. To top it all off our Audiologist doesn't file with insurance. We discussed going with an in network audiologist but we trust this team because they put in my MIL's cochlear implant and they work with top products. My MIL bought an aid one time from another facility that gave her fits. She moved to this facility and they couldn't even find the aid she was sold. It was a $7000 piece of junk! In this case it's so critical for the twins to talk and not have any further delays. So we decided you get what you pay for sometimes so we are staying and will file ourselves. Thankfully we were able to order their aids and they should be ready by their October post opt visit. Their aids will be by Phonak and are the sky Q. We were able to order them in colors (to identify easily with twins) as well as the ear insert mold will be specific colors. I'm just ready for all the logistics to be done so we can focus on the true matter at heart... My twins being able to hear clearly and hear our voices. 

This last week we tried to find the silver linings and focus on those...

They CAN hear it's just muffled 

They are here and we get to love on them every moment of every day.. I read a Facebook wall with a mother who delivered a still born baby and that puts everything into prospective. 

We have the resources to help them hear and learn

We have an amazing God who will take care of our needs as long as we have faith 

Well that is an update. If you have time say a little prayer as Brennen has thumb surgery on Oct 2nd. 

-kriss 

Here are their aids. 

Special Ears

I know I haven't posted the party pictures yet. I simply haven't had a chance. I will though soon!!

It's a Friday night and oh how I've looked forward to a down evening with no homework, next day preparations or rushing. This week was a doozy and kind of rocked our world. Wednesday the world kind of stopped for a bit and since then has been a whirl wind of emotions, googling, phone calls, stress, and if I'm honest a few tears. I need to back up to go forward. So back in May at the twins well visit their speech was a hot topic. Having two others in past speech we tried to apply everything we learned with the twins. Still they just babbled and no "simple" words like mama or dada. We noticed they didn't flinch with loud sounds or even turn their heads when you called them. When you talked to them they really liked making eye contact and would follow your motions with their eyes with slight hesitancy. Looking back I realize so much. We just knew they were on the cusp of talking. My pediatrian said, "Kriss if they aren't talking in a month you need to call ECI." Knowing how ECI works and taking some advice from a friend (whose son is in ECI and speech too) she encouraged us not to wait. That's advice I'm now so greatful for. We set up an evaluation but it was a month wait. While we waited I was able to schedule a hearing test in Dallas which the specialist who put in my mil's cochlear. I knew they prob wouldn't handle a hearing booth but we had to try that first. Sure enough the specialist recommended we do a sedated hearing test (ABR). She didn't see any fluid in their ears during the visit and their tempanagram was fine (ear drum was functioning as normal). So we scheduled the hearing test and it was Wednesday. The procedure is two hours long with a two hour recovery. They took Barrett back first and when he came out we learned he had high pitch nerve damage hearing loss. I was not expecting that and it was heart breaking to learn your child has a hearing problem. He will need hearing aids. Then they took Brennen back and after two hours the specialist comes in to check on Barrett and then starts saying "they" this and "they" that. I said, "They both have it don't they?" She said, "Yes they both have the exact same thing and the frequencies are almost exact." I said, "Wow they take being identical seriously." So Brennen will need hearing aids too, on one hand I'm happy they will be able to go through this together and on the other hand I'm so sad they have to endure hearing loss at all. While they were under anesthesia they took molds of their ears and prob sometime around October 12th they will be fitted for the aids. Once I had a few hours to digest this news I felt better knowing they weren't deaf (their paternal great great grandparents were deaf) and they can hear it's just very muffled like being underwater. I can't wait for them to be able to hear our true voices in a few weeks. Hearing aids sound simple enough until you find out the cost. Then the stress sets in because they average $1500-3000 PER EAR! So that's roughly $6,000-12,000. Thankfully our insurance will pay 85% up to a $1500 max but the office doesn't file the claims. You have to pay upfront and submit for reimbursement. Fun fun! So we have three weeks to figure out how this is all going to financially play out. I know though that the lord will provide but talk about stressful!! 

I was able to call our ECI person and get a referral for the school district to get their audiology team to work with them as well. I also spoke with TEDHI and they are getting us some resources. I won't lie this is so overwhelming. Yet at the same time there is so much to be thankful for!! Now I just need a money tree!! :)

Brennen and Barrett with their granny. She help keep them calm while I filled out paperwork & talked to doctors/nurses. 

Brennen waiting him turn! It's hard to keep a two year old entertained for two hours in a small curtained room! 

Sorry about the hand but I love this picture. He was coming out of anesthesia and was comfy so I didn't mess with him. Live his little face here (Barrett). 

Major catchup

Summer flew!! We were so incredibly busy that we blinked and summer was over! I'll try to bullet point some things to catch up:

~ Britney and Brady took a karate homeschool summer class and loved it!! Britney gets to continue this fall and spring. I feel bad because Brady had to go back to school and won't be continuing until next summer. He is finishing his last elementary year and will transition into homeschool next year. Ben tried to do karate but there was just to much for him to handle sensory wise and he opted to not do it after he went to the first class. Brit also did a social art class with 10 other girls for 8 weeks. 

~ this summer we also tackled a very hard emotional diagnosis. We finally have it confirmed Ben has high functioning autism. On one hand it makes us sad but on the other we have always known he was on the spectrum somewhere so it's a relief to know. Now we can make sure he has services at school/privately to help him be his best. He is the most amazing child and he has probably taught me more than I've taught him. 

~ I spent some of the summer planning my inlaws 50th wedding anniversary! They didn't want anything to big do we opted to host a luncheon with their best friends. It was so fun to plan! I'll put up pictures of that in a seperate post. 

~ I also spent the summer planning Brit's seventh grade homeschool year, attending some homeschooled leadership meetings, and a workshop. 

~ Riley and I took the older kids to Great Wolf Lodge for a mini vacation. The twins stayed with granny and papa so we could focus on the older kids. We had so much fun!! 

~ Brady and Ben started school. Brady is in fifth and Ben is in second! Britney started seventh at home. 

~ The twins started speech. They aren't talking and have to go for a sedated hearing test next Friday. I took them to a hearing specialist in Dallas that put in my mil's cochlear implant. Since she has an implant and their great great paternal grandparents were both deaf we decided it was worth making sure they can hear fully. We tried the booth but they were just to little to coorporate. Barrett does not turn his head when you call his name or respond to loud noise or any noises really so I'm worried. 

~ Brennen saw an orthopedic hand surgeon and will have surgery in Oct. He developed a trigger thumb right before his 2nd birthday and it did not fix itself. I'm so sad he will have to be put under again for this. 

~ homeschool is going amazing! She is doing math, grammar, reading, Latin into to Spanish, art history, choir at a fine arts academy, karate & typing. We start at 8 and finish core subjects around 11. She gets a big break plus lunch and then works 1-3 except for Monday's since choir doesn't get out until 2:30. We don't homeschool on Fridays. I think she has learned more in the two weeks we've been schooling than all last year and the biggest thing.... She is smiling and happy! Which means I'm smiling and happy!!! 

Now for some pictures!  

Happy Adoption Day

Ten years ago Riley and I stood before a judge and promised to give two precious children our last name, our heart, and every ounce of unconditional love we could pour out. After seven long years of infertility we could not believe we had two children that were ours!! Then three years later on the very same date we got to make the same promise again to Ben. We feel so blessed and honored to have been chosen to be their parents. We are thankful! So today we celebrate being a Forever Family! I can not wait until Brennen and Barrett are old enough to understand how awesome this day is! Riley got them donuts (kids request) for breakfast and later we went out to lunch. They also spent their summer money at Toys R Us. Lord thank you for all your many blessings and the many people you placed in our path to lead us to the kids. It's really neat to look back and see how everything fell into place!