Let Freedom Ring!

What an awesome Holiday! Independence Day... The day we can celebrate our freedom! Despite if you are Republican, Democrat, Independent, etc, we ALL love our country and the freedoms we have here!

We had a really great weekend. Friday morning we went to a breakfast at my in-laws church. A very close friend of the family, who Seth grew up with, is a Marine and had 3 tours in Iraq, spoke for a few minutes after breakfast. How great it was to see someone who loved his country enough to put his life on the line day after day (this is a man who signed up after 9/11 and the beginning of the Iraq and Afghan wars).

We also went to a BBQ at my sisters house this weekend. The kids had a great time playing with all of their cousins, eating lots of food, playing in the sprinkle, and of course watching their uncle shoot off fireworks. We had to leave before dark (because my sister lives about an hour away and the kids were ready for bed) but they enjoyed watching the snakes and the whistlers.

This is going to be a great week! Abby's 'turn on' is Wednesday and Thursday this week. I am in a training class Monday and Tuesday, off Wednesday - Friday. It's always a great week when you don't have to work : )

I'm so excited about Abby's implant getting turned on. I've heard lots of stories of kids and their reactions to the turn on. It is a very strange sensation for them; they have electrical stimulus running into their inner ear, and sometimes, it's scary, sometimes it's exciting.....We are ready for any kind of reaction. The audiologists start out very conservatively so I'm not anticipating a very great reaction. I will definitely be taking pictures and will video tape it. As a matter of fact, I need to get into the habit of keeping the video camera running. I've seen video's of other kids with new implants, and hearing things for the first time that Abby has been hearing all along with her hearing aids. Abby has done so well with her hearing aids that she can hear the dog barking outside (from inside), she hears you call her from another room, she hears so much it is truly a miracle.

When she said "I wub oo" (I love you) last weekend, it brought tears to my eyes. I cannot wait to hear her say SETH. Right now Seth is just "E" She cannot hear the S or the TH in his name. I think the day she says Seth will also bring me to tears.

I will definitely be posting more often this week. I will let you all know how it goes with Abby!