Bringing Home Bryant: Time

Time has not been on my side lately. I needs more of it. Since school has been out we have had an action packed summer. I just realized how incredibly late I am on my post. I can't find the time to sit and write. We have simply had so much going on in our lives recently.

The first week of June the kids and I spent the week at the beach with my Aunt Anne, who they love to pieces. We had an awesome time swimming, shopping and going out to eat. The kids would have been perfectly happy staying all summer. They loved the pool and the beach. Amelia and Bryant became much more comfortable in the water and both learned how to go underwater by themselves. Bryant spent the week shooting everyone with the water gun. All in all the week went very smooth, only a few breakdowns and one jellyfish sting on Macie. Jeff had some bachelor time which he enjoyed but was begging for us to come back by the end of the week. Guess he really does love us. Once we returned home we celebrated his birthday and father's day. Oh how blessed we are to have the sweetest most loving husband and father. The girls cooked breakfast for him all by themselves and Amelia gave him a hat she made with "Worlds Greatest Dad" on it. We all agreed he should wear it proudly.

Macie kicked it in to high gear on the local swim team this summer. This is her first year swimming and we have had meets twice a week. Last two meets Macie has come in third on freestyle swim and qualified for her first relay. She was the closer. A true competitor at heart. At the end of the school year, she won second place in the district art contest for her drawing. She was recognized in front of her school and received an award for her achievement in the arts. She is one creative girl.

Sara Kathryn made her school talent show along with her gymnastics teammates. As usual they did an amazing job by wowing the crowd with all their flipping around. This summer she is in the gym training 18 hours a week. She finally got her kip on the bars. She also landed her back walkover on the high beam and her layout. She is getting so strong and is learning hard work pays off.

My sweet princess Amelia turned 4 this past week. I don't know where the time has gone. For her birthday we had a tea party for her and her sweet friend Kate. The girls are two days apart and were in the hospital together when they were born. Amelia and Kate along with their special friends wore their best dresses and came ready to accessorize with hats, purses gloves and of course pearl necklaces. Ten precious little girls were in my dining room dressed to he hilt, sipping tea out of fine china cups and giggling nonstop. It couldn't have been sweeter. It was a perfect day that I will always cherish. When I turned four my mother threw a tea party for me. I remember dressing up and feeling so special. I glad Amelia got the same memorable experience. I love my sweet princess with all my heart and it makes me incredibly happy to see her smile.

As for the little man, he is going great. He is loving having all of his sisters home this summer. He has become a pool junkie and is there every day either swimming or watching swim team practice. He has met lots of friends too. Very positive news - He recently has met all his speech goals and is actually exceeding some speech milestones at the level of a 36 month old. Yeah. The kid is talking in paragraphs now. He is describing things, using lots of -ing words, can spell his name and hold a conversation. Being discharged from speech is bittersweet because he and I love his speech therapist. We will miss her. He was also evaluated on all aspects of his development and found to have no delays. Go Bryant. In addition, we recently had a visit with the endocrinologist who was very very pleased with his growth. She said he is small but growing and maintaining his growth curve. She said the best thing we ever did for him was put in the feeding tube. On that note, we have made significant progress this month with eating. We took Bryant off of the nighttime IV feeds and are now supplementing one feed at night before bedtime to ensure he meets his caloric requirement and gets all his vitamins. He is back to eating three meals a day .For that we are so thankful. God answered our many prayers. Our pediatric GI doctor put Bryant on Erythromyicin for delayed gastric emptying. This medication has been awesome. It helps his stomach empty quicker and his bowels work faster. It has made him feel so much better. He is not constipated and hungrier. Tonight for dinner he ate half of a pepperoni hot pocket and some broccoli and cheese. Now that is incredible progress being that less than two months ago he was eating almost nothing. I feel like we are finally on the right track. Bryant is a happy, funny two and a half year old boy who loves spider man, baby 1st TV and digging in the dirt for bugs. Don't get me wrong he will fight for a barbie doll and the girls don't have to pull his leg to play dress up. Guess that is what happens when you have three older sisters. Tonight he was lying in the bed between us and he said out of the blue " Mommy's my best friend." My special boy gave me the best compliment I have had in a while.

At the end of May, Jeff made good on his promise to Sara Kathryn and found a beagle puppy for us to adopt. Our little lady is named "Georgia" and she has become the apple of the kids eye. She is a rescue dog who was adopted by another family and returned two days later. Jeff and I heard about her return and put in an application to adopt her. There were quite a few applications so we weren't expecting to be picked. Low and behold our awesome friend Yvonne made it her mission to see that this puppy was ours. A week later she arrived to four super excited kids. Little did we know she almost died at birth because she was so small and malnourished. Her caretaker bottle fed her and miraculously she survived. She was considered failure to thrive like someone else in our house but just like Bryant she is a fighter and never gave up. Today she is super healthy and a welcomed addition to our family. It doesn't hurt that she is really really cute. Her and Bryant have way to many similarities. I think they were made for each other.

Lots to write about due to our busy month. Looking forward to spending the next few weekends at the lake with family and friends who I love dearly and celebrating the great country we live in.

Cherishing this special time with my husband and children as we make lasting memories.