Where to begin??!

I never like it when I take a long time to update our 'chronicles' as I never know where to begin!
Let's see...I left off on May 18th...we'll separate these according to family members! (I am hoping this makes it easier!)

Me: After much stress and contemplation I have decided that I am taking a break from school until Bree is big enough to have someone else watch her for 3.5 months when I have to do my observation hours and student teaching. Whether this is by going into daycare or for us to hire a nanny I do not know right now, but time will tell. For now I am on a break until August and then I have to finish up my credits for the academic year. This is because of financial aid 'stuff' (I am not the expert on this, that's why I have a financial aid counselor!). After I finish up my credits I am taking at 6 to 9 month break, which I will have to work out with my loan companies.

Nothing much more exciting for me, I just had a cavity filled and an onlay mold taken (It's a cross between a crown and a filling). Right now I have a temporary filling in my tooth and it HURTS! I think I am going to go back into the dentist tomorrow and have them re-do it because I do not think it should be hurting this much. It is suppose to stay in for two weeks while they wait for the onlay to come in...I can't do this for two weeks.

Adam: He is back on the mid shift for his job, which sucks. His hours are as follows: 11pm to 8am he is at work. He come home anywhere from 8-9, and pretty much eats and goes to sleep until 4pm. He gets up, helps entertain the girls during dinner, we put them to bed and then have a few hours until I am ready for bed. This shift is hard on him, as he feels like he doesn't get to help out very much (and I agree!). Besides that he seems to be doing well, and is trying helping me out with his hours. (he is doing dishes as I blog!)

Riley: She is definitely into the terrible two's! What fun, what fun...So this has resulted in many time outs, over many things. I don't know if I had posted about this but we now do timeouts on in the living room. Yup! No more timeouts in the crib like a baby! She sits on the rug now for two minutes and we do the Super Nanny method, which is working great (I reccomend it to everyone!)!

She loves coloring and seems to be mastering some control over her hand with it. She likes to try to color within the lines in some form (more like color something instead of just scribbling). She LOVES the pool, and will request to go in it multiple times a day. That is not possible here as it is already 105 in the afternoons. So, morning pool time is best for us.

We enjoy having play dates with our friends as they help to pass the time, and the kids love the interaction with one another. Riley's usual playdates are (in Riley talk): "Aida" (Aidan) "Ivvy" (Ivy) and "Etheeee" (Ethan). Whenever Bree's therapists knock on the door Riley runs to the door and asks repeatedly "Aida? Ivvy? Ethee???" until I open the door, and then she is baffled by who it is. It is very cute!

And last but not least is.....

Bree: Woo eee, have we had fun with Bree lately. We have changed up many things with her, and have tried out some things we hadn't before. We tried to leave Bree's tube out to see how she would do. We learned many great things from it:

1. She talks a lot more when the tube is out!
2. She pushes herself a lot more with developmental therapy with the tube out!
3. She drinks a little better from a bottle with it out.
4. She eats a lot better with it out... but...
5. She still does not eat or drink enough to meet minimal calorie counts with it out for us to leave it out.

She lasted five days with it out until we had to put it back in due to dehydration. Let's all say it together: "Oh man!" However, at least we gave her the chance and we can never say "Well what if we had tried her with it out?" Now we know.

After this trial period of no tube, Adam and I decided to seek out another dietitian's opinion on Bree. (of course it is not covered by insurance, but we are trying to get them to cover it) We see a nutritionist at PCH that coincides with the GI doctor we see (which we have switched doctors) and I always felt like they never took the time that was needed. I was correct! We went and saw Amy at AM nutrition and her recommendations and calculations amazed me! Here's the rundown:

PCH's plan: (they last saw her when she was 12.5 pounds)
21 ounces of formula a day
710 calories
19 grams of protein!!!!
35 grams of fat

Amy's plan (This is calculated on her weight of 14 pounds)
18 ounces of formula a day
5 ounces of water a day
2 tbsp of pureed fruit a day
2 tbsp of pureed veggie a day
1 tbsp of canola oil a day

this all equals
623 calories
10 grams of protein
33 grams of fat

PCH was pushing her body too hard and too fast with all the calories and the protein they were giving her. I am excited about the changes and how they will affect her.

Here is the not so good news: we are going to look at getting a g tube. Seeing how well she did with that tube out of her nose and throat made us sad knowing that we had to put it back in. Also, after consulting with her speech therapist and Amy the dietitian we have come to the conclusion that if she needs a suction to drink out of a bottle (which she can't coordinate), she is going to need one to drink out of a sippy cup. So, we are going to need to get a g tube for fluid purposes until she can drink out of an open cup. Riley cannot even do that and she is 21 months old. So, we believe this is the best choice for Bree and it will allow her to develop as normally as she can.

Developmentally speaking she is making great strides and I even caught her today trying to roll onto her stomach (from her back), but her arm that she was laying on was stopping her. So I helped her a little (sneaky smile) by fixing her arm. She is talking up a storm at times, and her giggle is very contagious once she gets going. She takes after her sister and has a smile that lights up the room and sticks with you the rest of the day.

All in all, I think our family is doing well. We all have our ups and downs, but we are sticking together! Thanks for reading my monster post (I think this is a record breaker for me!) and I PROMISE to update more often. :)