Brooke's Ready for School! But, Is Mommy??

It's not official yet, but it looks like Brooke is going to school! She has been receiving Early Intervention services (her therapies) for two years, and will soon age out of the program. She will be three in March and because she is still receiving services, she is eligible for either the Pre-K or Early Childhood program at Rochester Elementary. Brooke has a play-based assessment scheduled for March 2nd and we have her IEP meeting the following week. We will discuss what services she will qualify for. My hope is that she qualifies for the Early Childhood class. I didn't always feel this way -- it's taken me a while to get here. Being a teacher, it's very different when you are on the parent side of these decisions. This is MY child I'm making decisions for now, not one of my students. Brooke will benefit from this class I am sure. From talking to different people, we have heard wonderful things about the teacher, and there are only 7 children currently in the class. The Pre-K class is much bigger with around 20 children. Brooke is already so excited to go to "her school" and she yells hi to her teacher every time we drive by. One day when we were talking about her going to school, I started crying and she looks at me and says "it's ok, Mommy. I not cry." I know this is the best thing for her, it's just scary for me!

Brooke weighs 30 pounds and is 36 inches tall. She is currently taking all naps unplugged and uses her vent at night. We let her fall asleep without it and plug her back in after a couple hours. I have noticed her sleep breathing getting better over the last couple months. We go to St. Louis next Wednesday for appointments with Pulmonary and Genetics, so I will update when I have any new news. I am anxious to hear what the doctors say, especially Genetics. They haven't seen her in over a year.

Brooke is a wonderful little sister and a great big sister too. She plays so well with both Hadley and Kami. They are her best friends, she tells us. She loves to read books and is really getting into coloring. She is drawing people now and her favorite color is purple. Brooke can say every letter of the alphabet and count to ten. Her /k/ sound is much stronger and we continue to work on f and g. With physical therapy we are really concentrating on breathing exercises. She can blow candles out with ease and she likes blowing cotton balls across the table to "win the race." Brooke's vocabulary has more than doubled in the last few months and we notice her using longer sentences when she talks. She loves to "read" to us at night and she is quite entertaining.

These pictures are a little old, but I thought they were worthy of being on Brooke's update blog. They definitely show her personality! Buddy the Elf was camped out on our ceiling fan and she was trying to throw her letter to Santa up to Buddy so he could take it to Santa for her.

We played with snow inside, because it was just too cold to go outside and Brooke was pretending to be a dog.

Hadley reading the Bible to Brooke while she goes to the bathroom.

Here is Brooke's normal smile -- eyes almost closed. We told her to give us a big smile but try to keep her eyes open... See next picture :)

Did This Girl Come With an Off Switch?!?!

It's 7:00 a.m. on a typical day, and Hadley Brianne Tweryon comes bounding out of her room, ready for the day. She's happy, she's energized and she's ON, ON, ON! This is how she remains for the rest of the day. Whether it's playing with her baby dolls or playing a game she's made up, she doesn't stop. Hadley is the kind of girl that likes having someone play with her at all times. Don't get me wrong, I love her creativity, imagination and personality. I also love playing with her. It's just hard when you have three girls that all seek your attention. What's harder, is trying to explain to your four year old that you can't play ALL the time. If laundry, dishes and cleaning didn't need to be done, a Mommy's life would be so much easier!

Thankfully, Hadley and Brooke play very well together and Brooke will still do almost anything Hadley tells her too. Just yesterday, I heard Hadley tell Brooke, "Let's be best friends forever!"

Here are a few examples of some of the things Hadley and Brooke like to play:

(I'm putting quotes around these, because these are the actual titles"

** "Going to a Justin Bieber concert" -- The girls turn on their disco ball and Justin Bieber CD and dance at his concert. This is probably Brian's favorite :)

** "Dunk the Duck" -- This involves Brooke or Hadley standing on a box. The other pretends to throw something at the person standing on the box. When they get "hit," they jump off the box and say splash!

** "Fashion Flurry" -- I've mentioned this before, but it's one of our favorites. We dress up in different outfits and have a fashion show.

** Hide and Seek -- This is very entertaining to watch/listen to. Brian will hide. While hiding, he will whistle to give the girls a hint as to where he is. After they find him, they will hide in the exact same spot that he just was. They will also "whistle" (or just say woooo) so that he can find them.

** "Going to Florida for 35 days" -- I have to be the mommy who is crying because her girls are leaving for Florida for 35 days. Sometimes they fly, take a train, or drive, but it always involves packed bags and Uncle Stuart, Aunt Jackie and Brody waiting for them.

** Disney's Night Time Parade -- They get out their light up Minnie Mouses and turn off all the lights and pretend we are at the parade at Disney World.

I could probably share a lot more, but I can't think of any of the funnier ones right now. All I can say is that Hadley is very elaborate when she plays. She has a job for everyone and she even tells you what you are suppose to say. I can truly say that Hadley has helped Brooke come out of her shell. Our days are never boring and these girls definitely keep me on my toes.

Hadley is almost 4 1/2 and she doesn't let us forget it. We have already started talking about her "five" birthday party and she keeps asking what we are doing for her "4 1/2 birthday party." Hadley's current weight is 41 pounds and she is about 42 inches tall. She seems so tall to me when I look at her. Naps are long gone, but that's ok, because her bedtime is around 8:00 each night and it isn't such a struggle to get her to sleep.

Hadley is still a picky eater, but I have noticed her starting to broaden her horizons just a bit. Her favorite food group is still cheese, and she eats just about anything that has cheese in it. Her favorite breakfast food is cinnamon rolls, the Pillsbury can kind. She would probably eat the entire can if I would let her! Her vocabulary still amazes us. She uses words I didn't even know she knew. She also remembers EVERYTHING! She will talk about things we did last year, or ask us a question about something that happened months ago. Brooke and Kami are lucky to have such a good big sister.

Granny came up a couple weeks ago. She was the girls' patient at the doctor's office.

Hadley has really started enjoying putting puzzles together.

Here she is pulling Brooke around. I believe Brooke was a float in a parade.

Climbin' Kami!

Kami, Kami, Kami... I don't know where to begin when I talk about Miss Kami Lu. Kami is 16 months old this month. She weighs just over 20 pounds and is about 29 inches tall. She is becoming more and more independent each day. Currently, she thinks she can feed herself, so meals are getting a little difficult. She wants to do everything herself and will rarely let me feed her with her fork or spoon.

A few of Kami's favorite things to eat: waffles with syrup, yogurt, macaroni and cheese, meatballs in marinara sauce, cottage cheese, olives, scrambled eggs and pancakes.

Kami is a pretty content little girl (most of the time). If she had her choice, she would play in her room by herself, with NO ONE bothering her. Unfortunately, this doesn't happen very often. If it were up to me, I would let her play in her room by herself, because at least I know she is safe. Kami is our climber -- chairs, tables, beds, vanities, benches, you name it, she's trying to climb on it. I do not remember Hadley or Brooke ever climbing like this. I can't leave her alone in a room, because you never know where you will find her. Her favorite thing to climb is the kitchen table. She climbs right up there and sits right in the middle of the table. She's pretty proud of herself, too. She also likes to hide in closets. We've "lost" her several times because she's just sitting in the closet waiting for someone to find her.

Kami is beginning to talk more, saying more and more words. She didn't really pick up on the sign language like Hadley or Brooke did and you can definitely see her get frustrated when we don't understand what she wants.
A few of the words Kami is using now: Mama, Dada, dog, hi, no (she shakes her head too), bye, book, Brooke, Had (for Hadley), up, out

She climbed her way up to Hadley's chocolate milk.

Kami thinks the car is for her, not her dolls and gets stuck everytime! It's supposed to be for baby dolls and you push the cart, but she thinks it's like the car at Grandma and Grandpa's.

Kami is obsessed with our computer. If it's turned on, she is trying to Skype with Brody. Sometimes I have to set pictures of Brody to a slideshow, just to make her happy!

Here is a video of Kami "getting mad." This started out as a joke (her crossing her arms like she does), but now we see her "getting mad" for real. If one of her sisters is doing something she doesn't like, she crosses her arms and makes sure you know she isn't happy. Here she is mad that she can't open the M&M container. I tried to get her to show off her "get happy," but she wasn't having it.

And, In Other News...

We are going to use this blog to share all the extra information that didn't make it into the girls' update blogs.

Some of you already know this, but I don't know if I've shared it here or not. Brian is currently taking classes to finish his bachelor's degree. He is majoring in History and minoring in Secondary Education. His goal is to teach high school and coach baseball. If all goes well, he will be ready for student teaching when I head back to work (2013, the year Hadley starts Kindergarten). I am looking forward to both of us being teachers and being able to have the entire summer to do whatever we want. I'm sure the girls will love having both of their parents home when they are teenagers. :)

My brother has started looking for jobs in Illinois!! They are trying to move back home, but he needs to find a job first. He's busy trying to get all of his credentials etc... together so he can start applying. Please keep their family in your prayers as they begin this process. We want them home!! Seeing Brody just a few times a year isn't gonna work, especially with the girls! They are always wanting to Skype and don't understand why we can't just go see them.

Our very good friends, Mark and Jessi are expecting a baby this summer. They were quite surprised, but of course excited! That makes four friends that are pregnant right now. Jessi and Courtney (another good friend) are both pregnant with their third, so we will have lots in common as Mommy's of three. Having three kids is WAY more difficult than I anticipated, but we won't be the only one's anymore! Please keep their growing family in your prayers while you're praying.

So, I posted the behind picture of this predicament, but here is the front view. She is not a happy camper.

Don't you just love Brooke's outfit? This is how you will find her most days.

We went to DiCarlo's in Virden last week for Granny's birthday dinner. Uncle Bill and Aunt Kathy, Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Brad, Aunt Devin and Ellie came too, and we enjoyed a yummy pizza buffet. Happy Birthday, Granny! We love you!

We also celebrated my Mom and Dad's 33rd wedding anniversary last week. They were going to be out of town on their actual anniversary so we celebrated with a little dinner at their house. Congratulations on 33 years! Thanks for all you do for our family. We love you!

Nana and Papa (finishing) opening their cards. I set the cards down on the chair and told the girls to grab them. Hadley excitedly started opening it, thinking it was hers. I guess she forgot signing the card and addressing the envelope!

We took a bowling field trip with Hadley's class last week. My Mom had the day off so she kept Kami for me, but Brookie wanted to go bowling. While waiting at the school, the kids were able to play for a few minutes. Brooke played right along side the other kids and even sat right down on the rug when the teacher asked. She didn't even look over at me before she sat down -- so independent she is! She sat so nicely and looked like she belonged. I guess she is ready for school. Hadley's teachers were so nice and let Brooke bowl on the same lane as Hadley and her friends (I had planned on paying for her to bowl, but didn't think she would be on the same lane). Brooke was in heaven!

I am now done updating our blog. It only took 18 blogs for January, but I am DONE! I have got to get on a schedule or this will drive me crazy! Have a great rest of the week.

A Wicked Weekend

Last weekend, Brian and I went to Chicago for our little get-away weekend. For Christmas this year, Brian ordered me tickets to see Wicked. We left on Friday afternoon and headed to St. Charles (Illinois). We had planned to stay at my Aunt and Uncle's on Friday night so we didn't have to pay for a hotel for both nights. When we got to their house, my Uncle Bruce, Aunt Mary, cousin Rob and his girlfriend Suzee were all there so we spent some time chatting and catching up. Brian and my cousin Rob have gotten really close over the last year and it really is fun hanging out with him now that he's not just my annoying little sister :) Hehe Rob!

My Uncle Bruce and Aunt Mary treated us to a nice dinner and then dropped us kids off so we could hang out for a bit. Thanks for a fun night!

On Saturday morning, I woke up at 5:30 in the morning! Will I ever be able to sleep in when I DON'T have my girls with me?? We caught the 8:30 train to the city and arrived downtown Chicago around 10:00. Our hotel wasn't far from the train station, so we walked. I will admit that I was pretty nervous walking downtown Chicago. For those of you that know me well, know that I am a nervous nellie! I like my little bubble that is Rochester :) It didn't help that we were wheeling our luggage and looking at Brian's phone GPS thingy -- which basically put a big tourist target on us!! We got to the hotel and they let us check in even though it was still early. After dropping off our stuff, we headed to Water Tower Place --home of the famous American Girl Place. We decided to take a taxi because it was about 20 blocks away from our hotel. We didn't really have an agenda for the day, other than going to the American Girl Place. Hadley got the Bitty Twins for her birthday last year and we thought we would look for a couple new outfits for "Jimmy and Molly." When we walked in the door, I'm pretty sure our eyes were huge. This place was CRAZY!! Brian wasn't the only father in the store and he described it as "a deer in headlights look" for all of the men in the store and that was no exaggeration! We saw little girls dressed up just like their dolls, including hair. They had a hula show going on in the center of the store to celebrate the new Hawaiian doll. They have a restaurant where you can eat lunch with your American Girl Doll. They even have a photo studio where you can have professional pictures taken with your doll. Very fun and exciting for little girls, but not fun for a Mommy and Daddy's wallet!! Yikes! What do we do with three girls?? We are thinking about taking each of them to the store when they turn five (by themselves) for a fun birthday weekend. Do you think they charge for the dolls to eat? And, when they are all old enough to appreciate it, I hope we can have a fun weekend with Grandma and Nana. And, by old enough, I mean the girls :)

After walking through that madness, we decided to find something for lunch. We ended up at the Cheesecake Factory. Check out the picture below... we saw these signs everywhere! I guess it's pretty serious stuff. Luckily, we didn't see any falling ice.

After lunch we headed back to the hotel so we could relax a little bit before getting ready for dinner and the show. We made reservations at a place called Wildfire. Not knowing how long it would take to get there, we left our hotel at 4:45 for our 5:15 reservation. We got there at 4:55 and they seated us right away. We were done eating before 6:00! And, the show didn't start until 8:00. I did, however, have the BEST steak of my life. They put this parmesan crust on it, and it was delicious. After dinner, we went back to the hotel and waited for the show. The theater was actually within walking distance from the hotel.

For those of you that haven't seen Wicked, I would definitely recommend it! I really, really enjoyed myself. It was funny, upbeat and the music was great. Even Brian really liked it (his words). He's already said he will need to get use to more things like this with his girls.

We caught the early train again on Sunday and headed back to my Aunt and Uncle's so we could get our car and head home. It was a great weekend, but we were ready to get back to our girls! Thanks, Brian :)

Ringing in the New Year!

Hadley, Brooke and cousin Ellie continued their New Year's Eve tradition with Grandma and Grandpa Tweryon. Kamdyn stayed with my Mom and Dad and went downtown to the fireworks. I like that they are doing them earlier so that more kids can go. Maybe next year, we will take all of them so they can see the fireworks too. This year they started at 6:00 instead of the usual midnight (I think??), which is so much better for families. Once again, a big thanks to our parents for keeping the girls so we can have time with our friends. Here are a few pictures from Hadley and Brooke's night.

I can't give you an explanation for this one, other than that we have some crazy girls!

Loving on each other :)

Princess Hadley

Princess Ellie

Princess Brooke -- This is one of my new favorite pictures of Brooke!

Uncle Bill and Aunt Kathy came up for the festivities! Here they are having a dance party.

Decorating cupcakes

Celebrating with silly string

Here we are at our New Year's Eve party at our friends Mark and Jessi's house. It's always fun when we get together with our friends! Tim and Bethany (to my left) moved to California in October and were home for the holidays. Will and Courtney (far left) were spending time with family in Pennsylvania and weren't suppose to be at the party, but they left that morning and drove all the way home so they could be there. The guys were really happy to have their picture taken :)

And now, just the girls... I love having such great friends and am so lucky to have them in my life.