The last couple weeks have been full of stress and not much fun for our family. We certainly need to schedule something fun to make up for all of this.
1. All of us had a stomach bug (each about a week apart).
2. Boeing laid off 10% of their IT department last Friday. The days leading up to that were very stressful, but thankfully I'm not affected by the layoffs. This is the first time I've been through the possibility of layoffs in my 11+ years at Boeing. It is very sad to see peers and friends who will be leaving in about 2 months.
3. Abby got sick yesterday. A few weeks ago when we all had the stomach bug, Abby didn't have a very big 'case' of it. I guess she made up for that yesterday when she couldn't keep anything down for about 10 hours.
Now for some fun!
This week is going to be beautiful and I plan to get outside and enjoy it! I think a trip to the Park would do us all some good : ) Tomorrow is my grandma's 92nd birthday. Can you imagine living 92 years! We will go to Waterloo tomorrow to celebrate with her. It will be fun for the kids to see all of their cousins from my side of the family.
I realize I haven't posted any pictures here in a while. Maybe I can work on that this weekend too!!
Friday, February 6, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Vacation For Mom!
Well, Kind Of. I'm in Seattle all week this week on business. I have joked with my friends that it's like being on vacation even though I have to work. It's kind of a nice break to have no one but myself to take care of for a whole week : ) It helps a TON to have such a great husband who is able to take care of everything with the kids so I don't have to worry while I'm gone.
I haven't gotten to do much while in Seattle, except for the nightly eating out. I'm traveling with my boss, and he has the car : ) I am perfectly fine it though as I've had lots time to read, watch TV, and other things I don't normally get to do.
Last week was quite the crazy week. Both of the kids had a stomach bug and Seth and I each had to miss a day of work to stay home with them. Friday night, I woke up around midnight with the same stomach bug. It's amazing how quick the kids bounce back from being sick, and how long we as adults are down. I think I stayed in bed a total of about 20 hours between Friday night and Saturday night. I was beginning to wonder if I was going to be able to make my flight on Sunday, but luckily woke up Sunday morning feeling great!
I'm looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend with the family when I get home.
I haven't gotten to do much while in Seattle, except for the nightly eating out. I'm traveling with my boss, and he has the car : ) I am perfectly fine it though as I've had lots time to read, watch TV, and other things I don't normally get to do.
Last week was quite the crazy week. Both of the kids had a stomach bug and Seth and I each had to miss a day of work to stay home with them. Friday night, I woke up around midnight with the same stomach bug. It's amazing how quick the kids bounce back from being sick, and how long we as adults are down. I think I stayed in bed a total of about 20 hours between Friday night and Saturday night. I was beginning to wonder if I was going to be able to make my flight on Sunday, but luckily woke up Sunday morning feeling great!
I'm looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend with the family when I get home.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
6 Months Post Implant!
This post is long overdue!
The kids and I were off the last two weeks of December and just returned to work and school on Jan 5. However, I somehow could not find the time to get a post in during that time : )
When I started this blog, the purpose was to keep everyone updated on Abby's surgery and follow up speech and language progress. I've been really bad about keeping updates about Abby's progress. I think sometimes I just take the things she is doing for granted because despite her hearing limitations, she is a very normal child. However, when I really think about what she is able to hear, understand, and speak compared to many other people in her situation, her progress just blows my mind!
So, let me see how much I can get everyone up to date on Abby. She has had her Cochlear Implant for 6 months now, and it has been turned on for 5 months (almost 6). Words cannot describe the progress she has made in the last 6 months. Her vocabulary contains (I'm guessing here) at least a couple hundred words, and most of those words are understandable not only to Seth and I, but to others as well. She is becoming much more clear in some of the words that she knew before the implant as those 'gaps' in the words that she was not hearing before her implant are now being filled in with her ability to hear so much more through the implant. For Example she has always called Seth "Brother" because in the word Seth all she could hear was 'e'. Brother started out as some 2 syllable word starting with a 'b' sound; something like 'bu-u'. Brother now sounds like 'bu-der'...much more like you would expect a 2 year old to say it. She also tries to say Seth now...it is more than just 'e' but I cannot really describe how she's saying it. What is so cool at it is that now she knows she is hearing something before and after the 'e' and she is trying to repeat that. We are still working on the 'th' sound because that one is also new to her, but she does have in in some words like 'toothbrush'.
Another sound that we are really working on is 'S'. She does not seem to be responding consistently to the S sound, however it's kind of strange because on occasion she will say the 'S' sound. Her speech therapist thinks she is hearing it, but just hasn't connected yet that it's a sound because it is such a soft sound ( I know that probably sounds crazy and all of this did to me when we started this journey, but I do understand what she means by that now : )
Over Christmas we were doing something and out of the blue Abby counted to 10! I had no idea she could count to 3 much less to 10 so of course ever since then I've been setting different objects out for her to count and she consistently counts to 10.
I will try to be more consistent in tracking Abby's progress on this blog. I also want to take some time to write Abby's Story from start to present. I think it would be helpful for other mom's ( and dad's) of newly identified hearing impaired babies to see the possibilities and normalcy their children can have with this disability!
The kids and I were off the last two weeks of December and just returned to work and school on Jan 5. However, I somehow could not find the time to get a post in during that time : )
When I started this blog, the purpose was to keep everyone updated on Abby's surgery and follow up speech and language progress. I've been really bad about keeping updates about Abby's progress. I think sometimes I just take the things she is doing for granted because despite her hearing limitations, she is a very normal child. However, when I really think about what she is able to hear, understand, and speak compared to many other people in her situation, her progress just blows my mind!
So, let me see how much I can get everyone up to date on Abby. She has had her Cochlear Implant for 6 months now, and it has been turned on for 5 months (almost 6). Words cannot describe the progress she has made in the last 6 months. Her vocabulary contains (I'm guessing here) at least a couple hundred words, and most of those words are understandable not only to Seth and I, but to others as well. She is becoming much more clear in some of the words that she knew before the implant as those 'gaps' in the words that she was not hearing before her implant are now being filled in with her ability to hear so much more through the implant. For Example she has always called Seth "Brother" because in the word Seth all she could hear was 'e'. Brother started out as some 2 syllable word starting with a 'b' sound; something like 'bu-u'. Brother now sounds like 'bu-der'...much more like you would expect a 2 year old to say it. She also tries to say Seth now...it is more than just 'e' but I cannot really describe how she's saying it. What is so cool at it is that now she knows she is hearing something before and after the 'e' and she is trying to repeat that. We are still working on the 'th' sound because that one is also new to her, but she does have in in some words like 'toothbrush'.
Another sound that we are really working on is 'S'. She does not seem to be responding consistently to the S sound, however it's kind of strange because on occasion she will say the 'S' sound. Her speech therapist thinks she is hearing it, but just hasn't connected yet that it's a sound because it is such a soft sound ( I know that probably sounds crazy and all of this did to me when we started this journey, but I do understand what she means by that now : )
Over Christmas we were doing something and out of the blue Abby counted to 10! I had no idea she could count to 3 much less to 10 so of course ever since then I've been setting different objects out for her to count and she consistently counts to 10.
I will try to be more consistent in tracking Abby's progress on this blog. I also want to take some time to write Abby's Story from start to present. I think it would be helpful for other mom's ( and dad's) of newly identified hearing impaired babies to see the possibilities and normalcy their children can have with this disability!
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Too Cute
Here is a cute, funny fact about Abby. When there is snow falling from the sky she points and says 'it's nowing,' and when there is snow on the ground she points and says 'Marshmallows.'
Monday, December 1, 2008
How DOES Santa do that??
Last night was the official opening of the Holestine fireplace this season and Seth and Seth Robert were going to build a nice fire. They were stacking the kindling wood into the fireplace (before lighting it) and I noticed Seth Robert kept leaning in and looking up the chimney.
Finally he says "Dad, that chimney sure is dirty. We will have to clean it or Santa will get dirty." Then he looks again, "Dad, how does Santa fit in there, and how does he not get burned?" The wheels continued turning, "Dad, we will have to make sure we clean the chimney AND not have a fire the night Santa is coming. I guess he will have to use magic to fit down the chimney."
I love the innocence of believing in Santa!
Finally he says "Dad, that chimney sure is dirty. We will have to clean it or Santa will get dirty." Then he looks again, "Dad, how does Santa fit in there, and how does he not get burned?" The wheels continued turning, "Dad, we will have to make sure we clean the chimney AND not have a fire the night Santa is coming. I guess he will have to use magic to fit down the chimney."
I love the innocence of believing in Santa!
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Still Here!
Yes, we are still here! I cannot believe it has been over a month since I last posted.
It's been a very busy month (but aren't they all). The kids are still doing great in school. Abby is consistently saying 's' (Sarah) and is working so hard on her speech and vocabulary growth. I had a progress review session with her therapist earlier this week. I was a little disappointed to see that her verbal communication is at that of about 18 - 21 months (she is now 30 months old), but at the same time she is continuing to grow and learn everyday. She has about 100 words that she can speak now, which is really great. One really cool thing I've noticed is the kid can really carry a tune. She can sing the itsy-bitsy spider, and although she doesn't know all of the words, you can recognize it by the tune. That is really amazing to me. She has really adjusted to her schedule at school and LOVES all of her friends and teachers. Every day on the way to school she tells me everyone who will be there.
I also had a parent teacher conference with Seth's teacher this week. He is doing great academically in school. He recognizes all of his letters, knows the sounds for most of them, and is learning to write his letters. I would say he can write at least half of them. He is at the age where he is asking me to spell everything so he can write it down. One area he is having a little problem with is being able to sit still (surprise surprise). They try to really break things up so there isn't too much sit down time all at once, but we need to work on that. This is a kid who can't even sit still thru dinner and has to be constantly reminded to keep his behind on the chair, feet in front of him, etc. I remember my area to work on when I was that age was 'talking'. I used to talk too much in class, so I guess (hope) he'll grow out of it. We are talking about getting him into Karate. We didn't want to start the kids in extra-curricular activities at too young of an age, but he is now 4 1/2 so I think it's time.
I have some good news this month as well. Many of you know I've been in a really crazy situation at work. I don't want to go into details, but we had a management change earlier this year, and it has not been a good change. There are several people in our work group trying to get out of the situation, and I was lucky enough to find a new position. I start this Friday, and will be working on a new system. This system will eventually support all of the Billing for both Boeing Commercial and Boeing Defense. It's excited because I've not been involved in the commercial side of the company before. I'm really looking forward to the change and to learning something new. I will also have a desk at the office for teh first time in about 5 years! I'm excited about this because 5 years of working virtually is a LONG time without daily face to face interaction with people. I will be going in 3 days a week and working from home 2 days a week. Like I said, I'm excited, but I'm a little scared about schedules. I'm sure it will all work out, but it will be yet another change to our schedule.
Guess I should update about big Seth too. This is November, so it is his time to go hunting with his dad. He was gone last weekend and will be gone this weekend too. Sounds terribly cold, and boring to me, but he loves it and looks forward to it every year. He didn't get a deer last weekend, but ironically he got one on his way home from work Monday. He was driving behind a lady who hit a deer, so he stopped and he and another guy drug it off of the highway, it was still alive. Seth still had all of his hunting stuff in his truck from the weekend and was going to kill it (I won't tell you how...OK, he was going to cut it's throat) when a cop stopped. So, the cop shot the deer and gave Seth some kind of conservation donation paper and told him to take it home. DISGUSTING!!!!!! So he cut up the deer and let Seth Robert watch him. OH, I sure lived a sheltered life as a child. I cannot imagine watching someone cut up and animal. I'm just thankful the kids and I don't eat deer meat. I prefer my meat packaged and processed thank you very much!
It's been a very busy month (but aren't they all). The kids are still doing great in school. Abby is consistently saying 's' (Sarah) and is working so hard on her speech and vocabulary growth. I had a progress review session with her therapist earlier this week. I was a little disappointed to see that her verbal communication is at that of about 18 - 21 months (she is now 30 months old), but at the same time she is continuing to grow and learn everyday. She has about 100 words that she can speak now, which is really great. One really cool thing I've noticed is the kid can really carry a tune. She can sing the itsy-bitsy spider, and although she doesn't know all of the words, you can recognize it by the tune. That is really amazing to me. She has really adjusted to her schedule at school and LOVES all of her friends and teachers. Every day on the way to school she tells me everyone who will be there.
I also had a parent teacher conference with Seth's teacher this week. He is doing great academically in school. He recognizes all of his letters, knows the sounds for most of them, and is learning to write his letters. I would say he can write at least half of them. He is at the age where he is asking me to spell everything so he can write it down. One area he is having a little problem with is being able to sit still (surprise surprise). They try to really break things up so there isn't too much sit down time all at once, but we need to work on that. This is a kid who can't even sit still thru dinner and has to be constantly reminded to keep his behind on the chair, feet in front of him, etc. I remember my area to work on when I was that age was 'talking'. I used to talk too much in class, so I guess (hope) he'll grow out of it. We are talking about getting him into Karate. We didn't want to start the kids in extra-curricular activities at too young of an age, but he is now 4 1/2 so I think it's time.
I have some good news this month as well. Many of you know I've been in a really crazy situation at work. I don't want to go into details, but we had a management change earlier this year, and it has not been a good change. There are several people in our work group trying to get out of the situation, and I was lucky enough to find a new position. I start this Friday, and will be working on a new system. This system will eventually support all of the Billing for both Boeing Commercial and Boeing Defense. It's excited because I've not been involved in the commercial side of the company before. I'm really looking forward to the change and to learning something new. I will also have a desk at the office for teh first time in about 5 years! I'm excited about this because 5 years of working virtually is a LONG time without daily face to face interaction with people. I will be going in 3 days a week and working from home 2 days a week. Like I said, I'm excited, but I'm a little scared about schedules. I'm sure it will all work out, but it will be yet another change to our schedule.
Guess I should update about big Seth too. This is November, so it is his time to go hunting with his dad. He was gone last weekend and will be gone this weekend too. Sounds terribly cold, and boring to me, but he loves it and looks forward to it every year. He didn't get a deer last weekend, but ironically he got one on his way home from work Monday. He was driving behind a lady who hit a deer, so he stopped and he and another guy drug it off of the highway, it was still alive. Seth still had all of his hunting stuff in his truck from the weekend and was going to kill it (I won't tell you how...OK, he was going to cut it's throat) when a cop stopped. So, the cop shot the deer and gave Seth some kind of conservation donation paper and told him to take it home. DISGUSTING!!!!!! So he cut up the deer and let Seth Robert watch him. OH, I sure lived a sheltered life as a child. I cannot imagine watching someone cut up and animal. I'm just thankful the kids and I don't eat deer meat. I prefer my meat packaged and processed thank you very much!
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Beautiful Days!
I love Fall. I love waking up to cool mornings, leaving the windows open all day, and listening to the bugs in the trees while falling asleep at night. The weather the last several days has been absolutely perfect.
We are having a bonfire tomorrow night and have several families coming over. I'm really looking forward to it, and the cool evening weather will be perfect! I cannot wait! Other than the bonfire tomorrow, we don't have a lot of plans for the weekend. I'm hoping we can take the kids to a Pumpkin Patch this weekend and take advantage of being outside in this beautiful weather.
We are having a bonfire tomorrow night and have several families coming over. I'm really looking forward to it, and the cool evening weather will be perfect! I cannot wait! Other than the bonfire tomorrow, we don't have a lot of plans for the weekend. I'm hoping we can take the kids to a Pumpkin Patch this weekend and take advantage of being outside in this beautiful weather.
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