Reflection

It is New Year's Eve and I am home with the kiddos while Ricky is working. As I sit here thinking back over the past year, reflecting over our accomplishments, I am amazed at how far we have come in such a short time. Let's break it down:

This past year, Laney: had her 1st birthday, started babbling and talking, started signing, started crawling, started walking, and is feeding herself, drinks from a straw, she has had 2 set of tubes in her ears, had her adenoids removed, had multiple hearing test (she finally passed the one under anesthesia), had multiple eye exams and has endured drops being put into her eyes to help strengthen the weak eye, became more of a mommy's girl, went to her first professional baseball game and first minor league hockey game, had the flu, and celebrated her 2nd Christmas....

In the coming year, Laney has to look forward to her 2nd birthday, beginning the transition from Early Intervention, hopefully she will begin to speak more words, get better at feeding herself, drink from an open cup, will start running and maybe jumping and do even more climbing. We have high hopes and expectations for our daughter and hope for nothing but the best for her in the coming year....

This past year, Logan: played soccer in the Spring, Tball in the summer, and Golf this fall, joined Cub Scouts, earned his Bobcat badge in Scouts, earned multiple other badges and awards in Scouts, was in the Christmas Parade, passed Kindergarten and started 1st grade, made the A honor roll for the first time ever (it was the first time he was able to earn letter grades, not just an "S" or "I" or whatever other letters the use for kinders), got his first loose tooth (although it has yet to come out), stayed in a hotel for the first time in his memory, went to his first professional baseball game and first minor league hockey game, learned to read so well he has now moved on to chapter books at age 6, became more independent...

In the coming year, hopefully, Logan will continue to read more and more, continue to want to play sports (golf is his love right now), continue to be an amazing big brother and help teach Laney the things she needs to learn. We high hopes and dreams for our son...he is an amazing child and so loving and caring. He is my baby and always will be.

I love both of my babies with all my heart and hope for the best for them and our family in the coming year...

Happy New Year everyone!!!!!!!

Gingerbread Lane

Last night, the hubby, kiddos, and I headed out to a local high school to make gingerbread houses. It was called Gingerbread Lane and was sponsored by the schools Early Childhood Education students. It was also completely free which made it even more awesome. The kiddos even got to see Santa while we were there. We had alot of fun....

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Winter

It is really feeling like winter here in the South although we have no snow (the kids are sad about that but not me because when we get snow, we loose power and that is no fun). The Christmas decor is up and the presents are wrapped and under the tree. Logan received a letter from Santa the other night and I am so glad because he has really improved with his behavior and listening.

Laney is walking everywhere now and still jabbering up a storm. She is signing more now and is getting better at it each day. She got the H1N1 vaccine last week when I went for my TB test and Tetanus shot (from which my arm is still sore and it has been a whole week now). I have to go back for more vaccines for the CNA program I was accepted into for next semester. I am super excited.

Logan is doing great in school...he was on the A honor roll and still is. He is super smart and loves reading; this makes me very happy. He loves to read books to Laney and is a superb big brother. He is really enjoying Cub Scouts and received his Bobcat badge a few weeks ago. We are so proud of him. Now they are working on their Pinewood Derby Cars...not my forte so Daddy has to handle that...lol.

I will try to post some pics throughout the holiday season but we will be a bit busy so I will just try my best.

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

The Farm and Other Photos

Today, we went to a farm not far from our house with the DSAC we are involved with. We had a blast playing with the other children and also doing the fun things on the farm. Below, I have posted some photos from over the past month or so...enjoy!!!

Logan on the big slide at the farm
Logan and Laney on the pony

Laney...drinking through a straw (learned today)

Logan riding the pony ( I was so surprised and proud)

and again...

Laney on the big slide

Logan again

Laney in the hay maze

riding the car thing...

Daddy and Laney ( i love this pic)

Logan at golf lessons

Laney prior to her 2nd set of tubes

Laney again before her surgery

Laney-bug

Sheriff Logan

Update...

Wow! It has been a month again and the time as flown by so quickly. I have so much to update it is hard to know where to begin. Let's start with Laney and then I will update on Logan. It is easier to remember if I think one at a time...lol.

Laney: did not have her eye surgery but goes back November 24th for a recheck; went to the ear doctor for a follow up hearing test, which was inconclusive again and one of her tubes had come out and the other was almost out. The decision was made at that moment to insert a second set of tubes and do an ABR (a hearing test done while Laney was under anesthesia). She had this done on November 3rd and she did great and she passed her hearing test!!! WooHoo!!! She has started all of her therapies at home now. We just felt safer because of all the flu germs having her home for therapy and I am so glad we made that decision. We have the best therapist! She had amazing therapist when she went to rehab for therapy but the therapist we have now have clicked with Laney. She is sailing right along. Laney is taking many steps now on her own. I am sure she will probably be walking alone by Christmas or soon after. We got her a new set of SureSteps (her braces) and those are helping so much. In speech, she is learning more signs and catching on so quickly. She loves the praise she gets when she does her signing. In OT, she is really working hard on sorting and stacking objects. She will do great as long as I am not in her room with them. I like to go in at the end to see what she has been working on and she will not perform for me...stubborn girl.

Logan: golf lessons just ended this past Saturday and he had a blast and learned so much. He is also in Cub Scouts and will be receiving his Bobcat badge next Monday night. We are super excited. He won 2 games of simon says tonight and earned the honor to lead the Pledge next week at our Pack meeting. He just got his first report card last Wednesday and he was on the straight A honor roll, received an award for perfect attendence, and got a Kid with Character award. He is growing so much right now and it is amazing watching him transition into a young man.

Lastly, this past Friday afternoon, we had the honor of having our portraits taken by a professional photographer, for free as part of The Littlest Heroes Project. It was amazing! She was awesome and if the preview photos are any indication, I am not going to be able to choose between all the pictures taken. She is so talented and Laney was "in the photo mood" and took wonderful pictures. I will share the link to the proofs as soon as I get it. I can't wait to see them. If anyone is interested in applying for The Littlest Heroes Project, go to www.littlestheroesproject.org. This project is available to families with children that have chronic illnesses and diseases. It is a wonderful opportunity and we are so grateful to have been a part of it.

Where did the time go?

Wow! I can't believe it has been so long since I have posted on here. Lots of things have been happening and we have been pretty busy with no end in sight it seems. So what have we been up to you might ask...

Laney did not have her eye surgery. Dr. Eyeballs determined that when he took the last measurements, when she looks across the room, she doesn't have the problem of her eye turning inward, that only happens when she looks at something up close. We go back in November to check her again. We may not have to do the surgery at all but still not sure. We may be able to try bifocal glasses to try to correct the problem since she is getting a little older now. It is just a game of wait and see.

Laney has started her therapy at home now. We decided this might be the best for her because of all the flu and H1N1 going around, we want to limit her exposure to those germs. We had our first visit with the OT yesterday and she was great. I think she is really going to work well with Laney. Our first visit with the new PT is tomorrow morning. I hope that goes well also. Laney has started saying more words now...she can say: mama, dada, pawpaw, bite (or bak bak we arent sure but it does mean food), bubba, bye-bye, oh, uh-oh, and she has said something that sounds like thank you once. She is also using her signs more effectively now. She only signs "more", "drink", and "bye-bye" but we are still working on it. Our next sign to implement is "eat". She is really starting to take off walking as well. She can still only take a few steps with no assistance but if you are holding her hands, she wants to run. She is cruising a good bit as well and climbing into the recliner. She is just really making great strides in her fine and gross motor skills here lately.

Logan is still not liking first grade. He says he doesn't like his teacher. I am not sure if it is because he is bored or what is going on there. We have our first teacher conference next week and I plan to discuss this with her at that time. She has booked her conferences for every 15 minutes but I will discuss everything I want with her at that time and not feel rushed so she can hurry home. He is doing really well on his grades and things like that but the reading is boring to him I know because his reading level is well beyond what they are working on now. He was reading things like they are working on when he was in preschool. He is an awesome reader and he loves to read. I am so glad of that. I hated reading when I was little but I love it now. Hopefully because he sees Ricky and I reading he will continue to enjoy it. My parents never read books or magazines so I didn't have that influence.

Also, my husband's grandfather passed away last week from cancer so we were not able to participate in the Buddy Walk this year. I was very sad about that but we needed to be with the family and that is what is most important. We will have a big blast next year though. I am already looking forward to it. We have been busy with Logan playing golf and being in Cub Scouts as well. We are having the big fish fry we put on every year with my in-laws next weekend and that will be awesome and so much fun. I have also been staying pretty busy with school as well for myself.

As for now, that is all I have to share but I will try not to let it be as long between post next time. Laney has a hearing test tomorrow so I will try to post tomorrow evening how that goes. I think she can hear me just fine but whether she listens or not, well that is another story...

There was a little Princess...

There once was a little princess whose name was Laney and now she has turned into a monkey...she has started climbing today. She cruised over to Ricky's recliner and climbed right in and sat down. It was so cute. Of course when I was recording it, she fell out so we have that and my scream on the video...as soon as I have a chance, I will upload those to share with everyone but just wanted to give the update that we now have a monkey in the house.

Yes, We are still here...

I know everyone was wondering where we were since there have been no blog posts lately but boy have we been busy. Here is the recap:

We took Laney back to the eye doctor for her follow up week before last. Dr. Eyeballs decided that we should go ahead and schedule her eye surgery for whenever was convenient for us. Unfortunately, he only does surgery on Mondays and I am in school on Mondays and Wednesdays. So, we scheduled the surgery for Monday, October 5th, the only Monday I am out of school until mid December. I didn't want to wait until December because I didn't want to do her surgery around the holidays. We did her ear tube and adenoidectomy a couple weeks before her birthday this year and I didn't like that so in a few weeks my little princess will have the operation on her right eye to correct the exotropia strabismus. She has to go back to see Dr. Eyeballs one more time before surgery on the 24th for one last measurement. We have also discontinued the eye drops we were using to "patch" her left eye to strengthen the right eye.

Also, Laney has taken a few steps here and there but nothing too major and nothing to get excited about...until yesterday. Last night, we were playing around with Laney and she took several steps. The most she took unassisted was 5! Yes, that is correct, she took 5 whole steps before falling into my arms. We were so excited. She is getting more and more confident and gets so excited when we get her to walk to us. I can't wait but then again, she is going to be into everything. She is a bit destructive ya know. Ricky and I were talking tonight that her PT will be so excited to see her Monday and see what she has now learned how to do. I am just super thrilled I was home to see her first steps. I was scared she would take them at therapy and I wouldn't be there (since I have started back to school, Ricky now takes her to PT/OT). She is also signing "more" regularly now and we have started working on adding a few more signs. She knows how to do them but is too stubborn to use them when we want her to. Oh well, it will happen, sometime.

Another reason we have been MIA is that my mom had surgery and had some complications from that and ended up in the ICU and eventually on a ventilator. She was very ill for over a week and then we started seeing improvements and she is lots better now. She was finally sent to a regular room and still doesn't remember everything that went on. She did say that it scared her to know she "missed" a week of life and can't remember anything from then. She is on the road to recovery now so we are very happy. It was very hard to see her so sick and to know that she could die from the complications. It scared us and her as well. Thankfully, she improved and is healing nicely now.

Still, we have another family member that is terminally ill and we have been dealing with that as well. It is my husband's grandfather (his stepdad's dad). He has cancer and they have now called hospice in for him. He is having a rough time and his children are alternating spending the night with him and grandmother. It is very difficult to watch him suffer but we know that he will be in a better place when it is his time. It is so nice to be able to spend this time with him and we do cherish it. We are so thankful we are allowed this time because we know that is not always the case. Please keep the family in your thoughts and prayers.

On to Logan now. He has started Cub Scouts and is very excited. We have bought his book and will start working on earning his first badge this week. This will be something that Ricky and Logan do together (I will fill in as needed but I think it best that Dad deals with all this out doors stuff...we all know I am an inside kinda girl). He also starts his golf lessons this week. He is super excited about that as well. He doesn't understand why we haven't bought him his own set of clubs yet. We have decided to wait to make sure he likes golf and if so I think that will be a great gift to ask Santa for.

So, I have lots of pictures and videos to load and share with you but just haven't had the time to do that yet. I will soon though...I hope...

Slacker

I know I have been a slacker but I do have a good excuse...we have been super busy here. I started school and then Logan started school. My mom is sick and has had to have surgery and is currently in the ICU and probably will be until sometime next week. Laney has had therapy as usual but Ricky has been handling this on Mondays while I am in class. Busy busy busy!

Laney has her follow up eye exam this coming Thursday. We will see how her eye has changed and I guess talk some more about the surgery. Rick's mom is going with me and Rick's dad and step mom are coming to our house to get Logan off the bus in case we aren't back in time since the appt. is in Charlotte. She is doing so great though. She is getting really brave and bold and has taken a step or two here and there. She is finally signing!!! She has had the ability to do it for a while now but she just wouldn't do it for us. I would see her do it randomly but not in context but now she is doing it...she is signing "more". I have a video of her doing it that I will upload soon. Now hopefully she won't be stubborn and will keep up the momentum and pick up the other signs we want her to begin using. She really likes the praise I give her when she signs for me so I think it will be smooth sailing now. I am super excited.

Logan had his first week of 1st grade last week. He does NOT like it. He has homework every night and they don't play everyday like they did last year in Kindergarten. He has reading every night and unfortunately, the books they send home for him to read are way below his reading level and are very boring to him so that causes some conflict. Logan is a great reader and has been reading level 2 books since early Spring. We don't want to move him up to level 3 until I am sure he gets the comprehension part of it first but I think he is pretty much ready now. I can let him read me a book and then ask him questions about it and he can answer them correctly so I think he is retaining the information he is reading. This is very important because they have AR test on library books that he earns points for. He is also already watching "toy reviews" on youtube and telling me things he wants for Christmas. Boy he is prepared huh...

I have some photos of Logan's first day of school but I have yet to upload them to the computer so as soon as I do, I will post those along with the little video of signing Laney.

Until next time...

Wordless Wednesday