The Christmas after the twins were born, Jon's parents gave us a gift voucher to take a cruise where ever we wanted. Well, basically where ever we wanted!! We've scheduled and rescheduled it twice since that Christmas due to work and the kids being to young. (Okay, the mom not wanting to leave the kids for that long!) I'm glad things worked out that way. After the last few months we've had around here, we need a vacation. A REAL vacation with turquoise blue waters, white sandy beaches, waves to surf, people at our beck and call to clean up after us for a change and all the food that we can possibly stuff our faces with!!!!
Jon and I are blessed to have such generous and loving parents. I don't think they will ever know how much we needed this and how thankful we are for it!! AND they are coming here to keep the kids so that's a load off my shoulders, not having to pack everything and the kitchen sink as well as all their stuff! Ha Ha!! After the kids go to bed tonight we are heading out for Miami and driving as far as our eyelids will allow us! Then we'll find some where to go to church (look out all you Primitive Baptist Floridians, u never know where we might show up!!) Sunday morning and then drive the rest of the way. Our ship leaves Monday afternoon.
We are gonna miss all those hugs and kisses and sweet little voices constantly jabbering at us. I'm sure I'll be going thru serious with drawls at first! But and however, everybody needs a break and all parents of young children deserve one! So for all of you hard working, deserving parents out there, we will think of you. At least, we will try!!!
Jon and I are blessed to have such generous and loving parents. I don't think they will ever know how much we needed this and how thankful we are for it!! AND they are coming here to keep the kids so that's a load off my shoulders, not having to pack everything and the kitchen sink as well as all their stuff! Ha Ha!! After the kids go to bed tonight we are heading out for Miami and driving as far as our eyelids will allow us! Then we'll find some where to go to church (look out all you Primitive Baptist Floridians, u never know where we might show up!!) Sunday morning and then drive the rest of the way. Our ship leaves Monday afternoon.We are gonna miss all those hugs and kisses and sweet little voices constantly jabbering at us. I'm sure I'll be going thru serious with drawls at first! But and however, everybody needs a break and all parents of young children deserve one! So for all of you hard working, deserving parents out there, we will think of you. At least, we will try!!!
Last Thursday me and the kids headed up to Macon to be at the hospital when our new baby was born. We hung out for about 6 hours, causing complete chaos in the waiting room and hospital halls, stuffing our kids with all the junk food we could find to keep them happy! (It totally back fired on me though, Audrey was up ALL night that night with a tummy ache. She literally would take my hand and put it on her tummy to rub it!) 
Like I said we hung out for 6 hours until I had finally had enough because it looked like the baby would NEVER come. So I loaded up my hooligans and hit the road for my sister's house. My mom was a few minutes behind me with Hannah and Matthew. Everyone got baths and just as we were getting their 
Mama and baby are doing GREAT!!! They got to come home on Saturday and for the most part he's been sleeping well at night. Samuel Bryant is the most alert newborn I have ever seen. The day after he was born he was awake for a long time, just checking everything and everyone out. He can hold his head up extremely well and he hardly cries, even when he's hungry. He has the most precious little features, including the Bryant ears(well they aren't so little!!!). He's just perfect and so beautiful. He never even looked like a new born, no wrinkly or red skin. It's those good genes showing off!!! The few times I got to just sit and hold him I soaked up his wonderful little baby smells and sounds. When he stretches he makes the cutest little squeaks, just like my babies did. Seeing him and holding him brought it all home, my babies aren't babies any more. James and Audrey looked like giants compared to Samuel. Where does it all go???
James and Audrey were very shy around the baby. They weren't exactly sure what to think about him. Audrey brought him a baby bottle a couple of times and when he was in his bouncy seat on the floor they would wander over and check him out. James would take his chubby little hand and very gently touch Sam's face (oops, I mean Samuel!) and say "baby, baby" while Audrey would just stare at him with this silly grin on her face. When I'd tell her to kiss the baby she would poke her bottom lip out like this 
but never would kiss him. But she talked about him a lot and still is this morning. Last night when they were in the tub I asked them to tell daddy what they saw at Aunt Betsy's and she quickly replied "It's a baby". She's too smart I tell ya, to smart!!!
Our time there went way to fast, even if it was crazy loud and hectic most of the time. Bed time took on a much sweeter meaning around there!! We are so blessed to have this new little life to love and watch grow. I can't wait to see what kind of personality he's gonna have and who he will look like when he gets older. I'm just sad that I wont be around to hold him while he's still little and likes to be held!!
I have eaten tons of boild shrimp in my day but I have never seen them this big! They were the best I've had in a long time. This would be Jon's cousin Mickey showing us how big they were!
James and Audrey did not partake in the boil, too spicy for little ones, but they didn't seem to mind. Especially when SuSu brought out caaaaake!!
James has always loved to play with keys and at SuSu and PawPaw's he got totally obssessed with them. Their key hole was just low enough for him to reach(barely)so he thought he was putting the key in! He did this the whole time we were there!
James had his first therapy session this morning and it went great!! Even though we don't know what's gonna happen with the insurance we know James needs as much PT as he can get right now so we told April to come on any way. If need be we'll pay her outta pocket till he gets in with TMH. She told me this morning that they won't bill us even close to what they would the insurance company so maybe I wont have to sell my kidney after all!!
Wednesday I started thinking that perhaps James wasn't as far up on his toes as he was last week. I thought it could be just wishful thinking but after April worked with him a few minutes this morning she said his muscle was a lot looser. I told her what I had been thinking and she said I was right! That he's definitely come down some and I am the one that's made it happen. I could have got up and danced a little jig when she said that. I'm not crazy and I am a good mother!! 
James is doing very well these days. While we were at my dad's he started taking a lot more steps and would do it with out me having to remind him to stand up. Once we got home he started doing it more and more and by the end of the first week he was able to stand up for at least a minute without holding on to anything! Then by the middle of the second week he was WALKING every where on his own, without falling down!! I was going to put a video up but decided to wait and let him surprise everyone in New Orleans. And surprise them he did! They were so excited and it was so wonderful to see him keep up with the other kids!! As soon as I get my camera going I'll post a video of him walking. It'll make ya cry for sure!!
Even with all this good progress he is making on his own we're still anxious to get his therapy started. The neuro told us even though it's a mild form of CP he wants us to be as aggressive with it as if it were an extreme form of it. In a direct quote from the doctor "He needs therapy NOW, not later." Even though he has no delays right now, we have no idea what it's gonna be like 6 months or a year from now. If any of you out there have had any experience with insurance you'll be able to relate to our frustrations. Unfortunately our state program doesn't have any PT's or OT's on staff so we have had to go to outside resources for these. I found the only pediatric PT in our immediate area who actually makes home visits even though she does not work for a home health agency. She's wonderful, I love her, the kids love her and I want her to be his PT. But and however she is out of network. She filed for a GAP extension(don't ask, can't explain!) since there is no one else in our coverage area and was hopeful that would do the trick but they are having a problem with letting her treat him in our home since technically she is not home health. She works in the school systems and doesn't have an office to treat patients because she's never had enough patients outside the school to be able to rent office space.
I talked to her on Tuesday and she said now they are saying they don't have enough info on James and his diagnosis but they wont tell her exactly what they need. So when I was in Tallahassee Tuesday I decided to stop by the pediatrician's office and ask for any clinical notes they may have on James. I didn't leave with any records in hand but I left with a promise that they would call our therapist the next day and find out exactly what she needs for the insurance and that they will do what ever they can to help. But she told me not to expect immediate results because fighting with insurance is an uphill battle. Gee thanks for the encouragement sista!
Rewinding a few weeks on the frustrations:Our pediatrician made a referral for him to get OT, PT, and S&L at TMH Pediatric Rehab. I called to make appointments a few days before Easter and was told for him to be evaluated for all 3 on the same day it would be the middle of June before they could work him in. Just for OT would be 3 weeks out and PT would 5. I told her that I couldn't wait that long and she told me I was lucky to get those slots for PT and OT because most 1st appointments are at least 2 months out. Ridiculous. I went ahead and made the two appointments anyway. Thankfully right after that the PT I want called and said she could see him in 2 weeks. Well that was better than 5 so I told her to come on and if insurance wouldn't pay we'd pay outta pocket. I just want my baby evaluated. I called TMH back and canceled the PT. What a nerd. Sometimes you can't see the forest for the trees.
To make a long story longer we are still waiting on referrals for an ear, nose and throat doctor and an orthopedist. I try to be curteous and wait at least a week before I call and start hounding poeple after I've been told refferals will be made and I haven't heard anything. I know how busy and hectic doctor's offices can be and I certainly don't want to get pushed to the back of the pile of papers. So I waited and then I called the pediatricians office to see what was up. I had to talk to the girl who calls everybody "hun" and sounds like she doesn't know which way is up. Of course she didn't know what I was talking about. Arrghh. The next day the good nurse Becky called me back and told me she was sorry for the mix up, they are way backed up on referrals and before the end of the day she'd make them both. Well, that's been a week and a half ago and we still have no ENT or Ortho appointment. Tick, tick, tick..............