Adoption Day 2016

I am so behind with blogging! So sorry to all those that check in to see if I've posted and then see nothing for weeks on end. Life just gets ahead of me and I don't think about blogging until it's way too late at night to start something. Anyway... we recently celebrated our 5th Adoption Day as a family!!

For those of you not sure of the story, Gus-Gus's adoption was finalized on April 15th, 2011. He was just shy of turning one when we made the trek to Michigan for his court date. It was a quick weekend deal, and we were there and gone in a matter of three days, but it was extraordinary because when we arrived back home, he was legally our son and the adoption process was FINALLY over.

 

Adoption Day 2011 (Age 11 months)

 

Gus's 1st Adoption Day with his birth mom and grammy

 

Adoption Day 2012 (Age 2)

In 2012, we matched with Hewy's birth mom and then he was born at the end of the year. When it came time to finalize his adoption, our attorney called us and said, April 15th, 2013 will be your court date. We couldn't believe it. How amazing to have the same day as our Adoption Day!! To celebrate our first Adoption Day as a family of four, we had family pictures taken by Jeff Roffman. Our session was a quick one, but the results were stunning.

 

Family of Four

 

Adoption Day 2013 (G: 2 years old & H: 3 months)

 

Adoption Day 2014 (G: 3 & H: 15 months)

 

Adoption Day 2015 (G: 4 & H: 2)

 

 

Adoption Day 2016  (G: 5 & H:3)

 

Hewy

 

Gus-Gus

Sometimes I can't believe that the boys are growing up so fast. I feel like it was just yesterday that we were starting the adoption process and had no idea where the journey would lead us!!

Hugh's Surgery

Hugh has never passed a hearing test. NEVER. Not even as a newborn. When he was born, he failed the first test and then they kept him an extra day to check again, and he didn't pass that one either. They recommended we come back in three weeks to have his hearing tested again, but we were going to be back in GA, so we said we'd follow up with our pediatrician here.

At the one-month check, his pediatrician asked if we were concerned, and we were not. She said it was a probably a good idea to schedule something just so we'd know that his hearing was okay. 

When I called CHOA (Children's Healthcare of Atlanta), they said that he'd need a non-sedated ABR. We went ahead and scheduled it and then we were informed that because he was under four-months, they had specific requirements for the day before/of surgery. 1) He was to be kept awake for as long as possible, and he would be over-tired. 2) We were to not feed him for 12 hours before the surgery. They said this would help with the test because he'd be so tired and hungry, that when he was finally able to eat, he'd go right to sleep and that'd help them do the test.

I was not comfortable with this level of distress that I honestly felt was unnecessary, so we opted to delay the test. Fast-forward to November 2015.

Hugh's transition meeting from Babies Can't Wait to Fulton County Schools. They asked if we had records of a positive hearing test and we didn't. They said they couldn't close his case without one, so we were told to go to Hembry Springs Elementary (same place we went with Gus when he was transitioning out of BCW and into FC). We weren't going to go, but they were adamant about him needing the positive test. So, I went ahead and scheduled it.

When I took him to the school in November (it was two weeks before Thanksgiving Break)... he failed that test. In fact, she gave two because she was surprised by the results. She said because he failed, he'd need to be seen by an ENT to check his ears more closely. OY.

Talk about being in shock. 

So I called the recommended ENT and made an appointment for that Friday (just two days later). When he went in, he saw the audiologist (not the ENT) and he failed their three tests. They said he had a lot of pressure and fluid and wanted him to see the ENT. We came back to see him the following week.

Because we had not had any issues prior to that point, we didn't have a starting point and Dr. Bauer wanted to have a starting place to look and see how it progressed over time. We scheduled an appointment for January and we were told that in the time between, if he had any ear infections, to keep track of them. (He had one)

When we went in January, they did another exam and found that everything was worse and they decided that surgery was needed. So we scheduled his surgery for this past Wednesday.

 

Hugh had a lot of fluid in his ear

 

 

This is what it looks like with the tube in

 

The tubes are tiny!

Hugh got tubes in both ears. The surgery was a success and now we wait for six weeks to go back and see how the hearing compares to before. 

They said before surgery, he was probably hearing like you would underwater. He *COULD* hear, but the quality of his hearing was not good. Hopefully when we go back, we'll learn that his hearing is on-par and all is well!!

Big Stuff

 

We're Potty Training!

Prior to yesterday, Hugh had been completely uninterested in the potty. He would sit on it (clothes on) every now and then, but wouldn't sit with clothes off, and if you asked him if he wanted to go potty, he'd say no.

I'm not sure what happened to cause the readiness, but out of nowhere, when we got home from the splash pad yesterday, I asked him if he wanted to go pee pee on the potty, as I was taking his wet swim clothes off him. He said yes, and sat right on the potty. He didn't go right away, so I left him sitting there while I gathered up wet clothes and towels. 

All of a sudden, Gus started shouting, "He's going pee pee!" and when I came to look, sure enough, there was pee pee in the little potty! I was SO EXCITED!!! Of course, Gus and I made a HUGE deal out of it and we were screaming, clapping, hooting, and hollerin' and Hugh was just beaming with pride.

To make it even sweeter, before he went to bed last night, he went pee pee on the potty so Steve could see it. He went again tonight before bed and I am so proud of him. 

I know it's not a guarantee that he's ready for full-on training, it's definitely good stuff. He'll be going to Tu/Th preschool starting in September and we've got pullups for him to wear to school. I know when he sees other kids going, he'll just be even more interested and willing to go. 

It's bittersweet. Don't get me wrong, I'm ready to be done with diapers... but it makes me a little sad to know he's growing up and already starting to do big stuff like this. 

Say Ahhhhhh

On January 19th, Gus was off for the day to celebrate MLK Jr's birthday. We started our morning by heading to Children's Dental Zone for dentist appointments for both Gus and Hugh. Gus went back in July for his first visit. It was a nightmare-- he was screaming and refused to let them do anything more than count his teeth (he even had to be moved to a private room).

This time, we went to a brand new location (they have a building that just opened that they designed specifically for their practice). I think it was a combination of a new building, more than enough time between the last visit and this one, and some time to mature, and it was a smashing success.

The boys were excited before we even entered the building. They have a tunnel for kids and they can crawl through the tunnel in the foyer to get into the office.

 

There's a foyer to enter before you enter the practice-- this is where the tunnel is

Once we were inside and checked in, the boys explored. They found the movie room, the game area, and their favorite of all, the slide.

 

Movie Room

 

For real. Their dentists' office has a slide!!

After too short of time playing, it was time to head back. The hygentist showed us around and then took us to the open bay area. Because Gus flipped out last time, we weren't sure how he'd do this visit, so they had a private room ready if he needed it. Thankfully, he did not. He was hooked as soon as he saw the tv in the ceiling and they turned on Paw Patrol for him. :-)

 

The wall of prizes

 

"Paw Patrol? On the ceiling?!?!"

Gus put the headphones on, watched his show, and the hygentist went to work. It was so quick and so easy!! As soon as Gus was done, it was Hugh's turn. He had been watching Gus, so he just did what Gus did. They took Gus back for x-rays and then he came back and wanted to hold Hugh's hand to comfort him during his cleaning.

 

Hugh wanted the headphones too and was excited to watch Paw Patrol :-)

 

One of the x-rays of Gus's teeth

After the hygentist finished cleaning Hugh's teeth, the dentist came over and she checked his mouth, counted his teeth, and then applied some flouride to their teeth.

They each got their coin for the machine of their choice and then earned Bravery Certificates that had a coupon for a free kids meal from Chick-fil-A! So awesome!

Because it was a gorgeous morning, we decided to head to the park for some fun. Our friends were supposed to meet us, but their mom had some unexpected car issues, so we played by ourselves. The boys had a great time together!

They were getting hungry, so we headed to what Gus calls "His City" (Burger King) for lunch. We came home in time for Hugh to nap and Gus and I talked about Dr. King and why he was so important to changing the course of history for our country. He's a bit too young to understand, but I figure we could start small and each year, get more and more detailed. :-)

We are looking forward to the next day off school, President's Day, because Steve will be off that day too and we'll get to do something fun as a family!!