Oh where to start. First an update on the kids I guess.
Emma
Em is doing well mostly. She is having some struggles with being clingy but that's about it. She started soccer in September and well that hasn't gone well. Turns out she REALLY doesn't like organized activities. She is totally fine kicking the ball around and playing until the coach blows the whistle to start drills. Then she puts her thumb in her mouth and that is that. I think she gets overwhelmed. Who knows.
Other good news is Emma is back in her own bed! For months she slept on a cot in our room. At first it was sweet and totally okay-better than sleeping in our bed. Then slowly her dolls, books and toys started moving in too. She was relocating and that was bad. So, I read her stories in her own big girl bed and snuggle with her until she falls asleep. Now I'm working on shortening the snuggle time so she can fall asleep on her own. Progress.
Em has also made friends in the cul-de-sac which is so cute. She's so little next to all the other kids. She gets so excited in the afternoon when we make the turn into the cul-de-sac and sees friends outside. She grabs her bike, a bunch of popscicles and drinks and rushes to meet her friends. I'm hoping her friends aren't using her for popscicles!
Aaron
Aaron is about 20 lbs and so sweet. He is the more reserved twin, preferring to hang back from strangers and chaos while Ben is in the thick of it. He can say Dada and All Done (kind of). He waves bye bye and loves to wrestle with his brother. His eyes light up when he sees his Daddy or his sister. He is cruising and just about to walk I think. If you hold his little hands, he takes off walking. He is finally sleeping through the night most nights. He's do to get tubes in his ears in the next few weeks. Little man has had bronchitis for a few weeks and couldn't get his tubes because of it. His favorite toy of all time is a little yellow, blue and red broom that was Emma's. He will drag that thing around the house with him. He has 8 teeth and loves fruit, veggies and gold fish. He is a bit more picky than Ben and doesn't like to try new foods. He does love frozen blueberries though!
Ben
Ben is hilarious. He is the happiest baby, always quick with a smile. He loves his sister so much. He and Aaron are inseparable which is so sweet. I love it when they "talk" to each other. Ben loves hockey sticks. We have a bunch of mini ones and he will make a beeline to them every time. He sleeps really well through the night and always is the first to wake up and start babbling. He is also cruising and though slightly less ready to walk than Aaron. He can wave bye bye and says Dada and Mama. Ben is cutting his 7th and 8th teeth right now and loves to eat. He will eat just about anything. He's also a huge fan of frozen blueberries.
Unfortunately, Ben is facing a very serious surgery in December. He has been diagnosed with moderate craniosystonosis, Essentially the suture that runs from his nose up his forehead and to his soft spot fused too early and so he has a pointy forehead. At first, we thought nothing of it and his pediatrician just said he'd have a pointy head. Thanks to a friend's blog, I realized this was more serious than a pointy head and so we switched pediatricians back to Dr. Tull and started seeing a craniofacial surgeon. The first visit both surgeons that we saw thought he was more mild and maybe we wouldn't need to do anything but wait and see. Two months later we went back and he was diagnosed with moderate and needs surgery. I'm very nervous for him. Essentially the surgeons will go in and cut his skull in a zig zag from ear to ear and then reconstruct his forehead and bridge of his nose. The surgery lasts about 5 hours. There is a chance he could need a blood transfusion so he will be getting shots of something called Procrit to help him produce extra red blood cells before surgery. They will also use something called a recirculator so any blood he uses will be put right back into his body. Hopefully this prevents the need for a transfusion. Then, once the surgery is done, little man spends two days in the hospital during which time his body and head will swell. His eyes will swell shut. This is the part that scares me the most. I can't even imagine how awful this is going to be for Ben. Mike and I are both planning on being at the hospital for him and having a grandparent stay with Emma and Aaron. We will need to explain things to Emma at some point. Finally, once Ben can open his eyes, he gets to come home where he has to take it easy for 3 weeks.
The entire reason that the surgery is absolutely necessary is because having the misshapen head can result in Ben's brain not being able to grow the proper way and may result in developmental delays later on. He will also start to look more "weird" as time goes on. The surgery fixes all that and he will not remember thank goodness. So as surgery gets closer, we'll appreciate any prayers you want to send our way!
Big Decision
A few weeks ago my mom was in ICU, intubated for 5 days and we weren't sure if she was going to live to be honest. Ben's surgery weighs on my mind every day. Combine those two things with taking care of everyone, going to a full time career every day and coming home to rush around and do it all again the next day and well it was a recipe for disaster. Last week the bubble burst so to speak. My boss pointed out to me during our monthly supervision that my stress level was starting to impact my work. Long story short, I burst into tears and sobbed like a baby. At first I was mad. How dare he when I work so hard. Then as Mike and I soul searched we really started talking about if it made sense for me to work anymore. The numbers say no. My heart said no. Finally, Mike left it up to me to make the decision. On Tuesday, I resigned from my job. My last day isn't for a while-mid-November- but it feels good.
Immediately, I felt a weight lift off of my shoulders and a sense of peace wash over me. It just makes so much sense. The boys are going to stay with me and Emma will go to preschool every morning from 8:30 to 12:30 and then spend the rest of the day with Mommy. I am beyond excited to be able to do this. Bonus-I get to cook again, no rushing around in the morning or at night and some of the burden of handling sick kids is lifted off of Mike. And I can concentrate on Ben come December. There may still be opportunities for me to do some freelance stuff but for now I'm looking forward to story time at the library and play dates.
Last but not least, here are some recent pics of the kids!
