On parenting

I love being a Mom.  Actually, I love, love, LOVE it.  It's the most wonderful and hardest job I've ever had.  Among my goals as a Mom is to raise girls that have good self-esteem, are curious about the world around them, and leave the world a better place than they found it. 

Lots of times I don't really know if I'm doing this Mom job right or not, so my approach to motherhood is that I just go with my gut on hard situations and decisions.  I find my gut has never let me down even if it tells me to do something I think is a bit curious.

This week Julia had her school book fair.  She has become a voracious reader the past 18 months and I've been borrowing most of the books from the library.  However, there are certain books she likes to read over and over again and she wants her very own copy for her bookshelf so it's there whenever she wants to read it.  I completely understand this since I love little more than having my nose planted in a good book.  We talked about her class visit to the book fair and decided she would take some money from her piggy bank and buy her books.  This isn't because we didn't want to buy her books, it's more because we are teaching her about the value of money.  We put the money in an envelope and sealed it up.  There were several bills and a lot of change. 

Judy Blume is her current favorite author.  I loved Judy Blume as a child and find it enjoyable to revisit her books.  As expected, Julia came home from school the day of the book fair full of energy and talking a mile a minute.  She showed me the Judy Blume books she purchased and told me she also bought a book for Emma.  A book for Emma!  That she purchased with her own money. She made sure to tell me and Emma that it wasn't a Christmas present because she already bought and wrapped that at the school holiday fair.  No, this was just a book she wanted to buy Emma because she thought she would like it.  And Emma grinned from ear to ear when she showed it to her.  It's an early reader book and is about a girl that rides a horse and Julia just knew she had to get it for Emma.  She didn't bat an eyelash about spending her own money she took from her own piggy bank on the book.  For her sister.  Instead of buying the two books by Judy Blume that she wanted.

There was a bit of a wrinkle, though.  Julia was a few cents short for the two books mostly because she decided to bring coins instead of a bill for the last dollar and didn't bring quite enough coins to add up to a dollar.  So she put the books on hold and asked Chris at the end of the day if he could go with her to purchase the books and lend her the extra 10 cents or whatever it was and of course he did.  While there he decided he wanted to buy her a book and so she was able to get the second Judy Blume book.  It's not unusual for Chris to buy a book for the girls at the book fair but I don't think Julia thought of that because she was genuinely thrilled about it. 

My heart feels full in these moments.  The moments when I realize my little girl cares so very much about her sister that she decided on her own to buy her a book from the book fair just because she thought she would like it.  When she wasn't selfishly thinking of how many books she could get only for her and how she realized in the moment how much fuller life is if we share.  It's moments like these when I say a prayer of thanks to God for bringing my two special little girls into my life.  And it's these little moments that make me feel like Chris and I are doing a pretty decent job at this parenting gig. 

Halloween and some new gear

I'm behind on just about everything lately (including sending out thank you notes for Emma's birthday  so if you're wondering where they are know I'm working...or at least thinking of working on them), so it's no surprise that I'm behind in posting Halloween photos.

This year Julia decided she wanted to be an Angel and Emma was agreeable to wear the bunny rabbit costume Julia wore when she was in Kindergarten.  They looked so cute together - my Angel and Bunny.  I love how they are still into innocent costumes and I'm hoping they stay that way for another year or two.  

Julia brought her Trick or Treat for Unicef box again this year.  People must have remembered from last year because many people had some change ready to share.  She did much better this year than last year and was so proud that she could help other children by collecting spare change.

We used Emma's iPad to help her navigate Trick or Treating again.  I set up the Yes/No Answers app with two options for Emma:   Trick or Treat and Thank You.  She loved hitting the buttons and our neighbors all seemed thrilled to have her use it.  Julia helped Emma a lot by asking for her candy at the houses where steps were a barrier.  This year Emma kept good tabs on her Trick or Treat bag and was happy when she saw/heard the candy plop in it.

Speaking of candy - we have lots!  The chocolate was the first to go since we all pick at it.  Julia seems to love the lollipops, starburst and skittles the best and with the amount we have she currently has about a year supply so if you are in our neck of the woods and need  a sugar fix come on over!

Halloween was also the day that we picked up Emma's brand new power wheelchair!!!!!!!!  If you've been following along with our story you know we have been in appeals with our insurance company over this chair for about a year.  It was a frustrating process but that's all behind us now because IT'S HERE!!!!  and it was SOOO WORTH THE FIGHT!!!!!  Emma has taken to it wonderfully and is now navigating about our driveway on her own.  We do have a kill switch to keep her from danger but we are using it less and less as she is learning the ropes of safe driving.  I can't believe how quickly she is learning.  She is also going to school in it most days and learning how to navigate it inside school.  She is still very much a beginner but I'm excited about the opportunity for independence this will give Emma.  Already she has found power in her new mobility - using it to follow after her friends and to drive in the wrong direction on purpose when I tell her it's time to go inside the house.

Her chair is an Invacare TDX Spree and the color she chose is Bubble Gum.  She controls it with her head array that is made by ASL.  I think her head array is the curved.  The team wanted to get her a smaller one but I wanted this one because I found it kept her CIs on her head the best.  Trust me, keeping the CI magnet on Emma's head is a full time job some days so when you find something that doesn't knock them off you stick with it!  There are proximity switches in the head array and it's set up to go forward when she leans her head back on the switch, go right when she leans her head on the right switch and left when she leans on the left switch.  There are areas in the headrest that don't have a switch, too, and Emma quickly figured out where she can rest her head when she wants to relax and not move.  It's so amazing and humbling to see how quickly she is learning to navigate in her new chair.

The TDX Spree has the ability to tilt back in space which is how Emma prefers to sit so she can better control the head array.  The seat can also be raised ~5" so she can reach sinks and other places that are at a higher height.  We call her new chair "THE BEAST" because it truly is a beast sitting at about 400 lbs.  It has 4 programs - one is slow for indoor use, and the other 3 are increasingly faster speeds.  Emma LOVES the faster speeds so I usually put her on program 3 which is set at 40% of maximum speed.  I think it equates to almost 3 mph which doesn't sound fast until you realize she isn't the best at controlling herself in it yet.  We are thankful that it has a kill switch for us to remotely stop her from getting into a bad situation (can you believe insurance gave us a lot of hassle over adding this????  I mean, she was 5 years old when we ordered it for crying out loud!!!).

Emma's favorite thing to do in the chair right now is to drive over to people to give them a "High 5".  She really is a very social girl!  I can't believe she has only had this chair for about 3 weeks considering how good she is with it now.  We have to work on her stamina to drive long distances and to stop being such a busybody and resting every-single-time she sees something (which is pretty much everything!) that interests her otherwise it will take us a week to walk around the block!!!  But, I believe that everything will come together in time.

I am so very, very thankful that Emma has her new wheels.  I'm also very thankful that she has already left her mark on it through scrapes, which means to me that she is starting to spread her wings because she is READY!  

Tears of joy

It's amazing how far Emma has come with her speech therapy.  It has always been her most hated therapy; not because of her therapists (nearly all who were very sweet and encouraging) but because it is so gosh darn H A R D for her.  So more often than not she refused to participate, instead finding fascination in the most minuscule of items.  All her therapists put her in the most bland room where there was nothing to look at in the hope that Emma would participate and not be distracted but she was always able to find fascination in a light switch that never moved or a light that stayed on.  I cried a lot in the early days after her speech and hearing sessions because I just wanted Emma to make some progress so so badly.

When we moved and Emma started at her new school a spark ignited and she started to participate better.  Her SLP is amazing to work with and Emma just clicked with her and let me tell you when a child clicks with her therapist amazing things happen!  Emma started letting her SLP in on all that she knows, first by switches and then through various higher technology talkers as we tried to find the right device to buy.  When Emma picked the Eco2 (her Evie) as her talker of choice we were happy to move forward with customizing Evie with her interests instead of the generic boards of the borrowed devices.

Emma was doing well with the initial word set we created so this week we added in a lot more new words and Emma rose to the challenge.  Many of the words (like please, in, feel, hug) were brand new to Evie and somehow Emma knew just how to use them.  I mentioned on Tuesday that Emma said a few things over the course of an hour that day and I was so thrilled with that because it was the most she used it in an outside the home setting.  Today I found out she has been holding back on us.

I had a meeting already scheduled for today with her SLP and before we got to the reason for our meeting she had to share what happened in her school speech session yesterday.  She had it all written down and was grinning ear to ear about it.  I was in shock at how much Emma said in her session and just have to share.

Below is what her SLP wrote down during the session.  So glad she was able to share all of it with me!  Note: All words selected by Emma via her eyegaze are in italics.  Each word in italics requires Emma to select it so if she says play doll, she needs to select play and then select doll, thus stringing the two words together.

• SLP asked Emma what she wanted to play with.  Emma said doll.
• Then Emma said want Erica and looked over at Erica, her aide, and gave her a big smile.
• SLP didn't have a doll in the room so she was hoping Emma might change her mind.  She selected the toys option and asked Emma to pick again and Emma selected play doll so the SLP went and got a doll :-)
• SLP asked Emma how the doll feels.  Emma said bad
• SLP was confused and so she said the doll feels bad?
• Emma said need
• SLP said need?
• Emma said need hug 
• Her doll needed a hug - oh my gosh how cute is that!!!  So the SLP gave Emma the doll to hug and she hugged her for a long time.
• Then Emma said in stander
• SLP and Erica didn't know if this meant Emma wanted the doll to stand or if Emma was used to being in the stander at that time of day.  So for now we don't know what she meant.
• SLP asked what Emma wanted to play with the doll
• Emma said ball, so they rolled the ball between Emma and the doll and Emma laughed the entire time.  
• Erica left to go to the bathroom
• Emma said want Erica
• Emma again said want Erica
• When Erica came back into the room, Emma said hi and then smiled at Erica
• Then Emma said toy drink smoothie
• They pretended the doll drank a smoothie and her SLP told her it was time for her to go back to the classroom.  The 30 minutes were up.  Seriously, all this happened in just under 30 minutes.  My mind is quite blown away by this.  
• Emma then said play please
• SLP and Erica could not refuse her that request - they were tearing up with all Emma had said and then she said please.  Oh, my!  How could they resist?  So they agreed to play a bit more with her and then said it was now time to go.  
• Emma said want friends meaning she was ready to go back to the classroom where her friends were.
• Then she said (and this is a button that has a phrase in it so it said it all at once rather than Emma having to string it all together) well, I must be going now

I just had to write this down here so I don't forget it.  Did I mention that I'm blown away by all that happened in that 30ish minutes?

Look out, Emma, the bar is set high for you to achieve.  I have no doubt about your abilities and your team doesn't, either.  2013 is going to be your year.  I can't wait to hear all you have to say!

And now I'm off to add Love to the feel words because I can't wait for you to say Mommy I Love You.

Lights and Lists

Some of our Fall favorite activities are having a bonfire, roasting marshmallows and drinking hot chocolate - preferably all at the same time!  We had a bonfire the other night and some of our neighbors were able to join in the fun.  One family brought fancy night glow sticks that the children loved and really created a festive mood so I tried to get a few photos.  It was really dark, so the photos are a bit blurry but I still love them.

The girls are excited about Christmas this year.  Julia already started to work on her letter to Santa.  She had to bring out her pamphlets from the Barbie DVDs to really decide what she wanted to include on her list.  This year she was all business on the list.  Please bring me: Lego friends, Barbie play set and iPod.  She wanted the Barbie vanity but I convinced her it is too small for her and better suited to littler children so she changed her choice to an iPod!!!!  When I asked her if she even knew what an iPod was she had to think about it and said it's what our neighbor has and she was right, only the neighbor is 4 years older than Julia.  She knows that Santa brings 3 presents for each of them and only asks for 3 regardless of how many times I suggest she adds a few more so Santa and his elves have choices in case the elves can't make enough of one of her items.  I love this time of year!

Emma hasn't made her list for Santa yet.  I'm going to program a page on Evie so she can self-select the items she wants for Christmas.  I'm excited to see if/what she will choose!

This week we are thankful for:

• Fun.  Plain old-fashioned fun.  And hot cocoa!
• A bit of time off to enjoy as a family
• The anticipation of the Christmas season
• The beautiful warmer weather we had

Today

Today I went into the office to work on the contract project I've been plodding along with for a couple of months now.  I was so excited to go in - to do some real work. It's been several weeks since I've checked in at the office and this week was a good time to venture there.

In an office setting I feel a sense of accomplishment that is different than the one I feel as a stay at home Mom.  I love staying at home - don't get me wrong - but sometimes it feels great to move things forward at a faster pace.  A faster pace than moving Emma along with her milestones because each and every inch of those milestones is lines with the Emma's and our family sweat.  A place where the work product is more appreciated than most of the food I cook from scratch (Ewwww is a word that is totally overused at meal times in my house!).  It's easy to go into work.  I find it harder and more challenging to stay at home.  For real, though, this is a misnomer because I am very rarely at home!.  I'm so very thankful that I have some contract work that fits my lifestyle.  That I can work around Emma's schedule and balance my work and home life.  It looks like there could be some opportunity to extend the contract after the first phase is over.  I think that would be lovely if it happens.  Having a bit of work to do seems to give me a bit more balance, a bit more happiness.  And a bit more breathing room in the budget ;-)  Shesh....have you checked out the cost of healthy groceries lately??? Yikes!

This year I've made an effort to get back in better touch with some dear friends.  Some I haven't talked to in a while and others that I talk to more regularly but don't see nearly often enough.  It's a bit of effort since life is just so busy - for all of us!  I'm so happy I'm making the effort, though.  I have an amazing group of friends that I've been through so many different phases of life with. Tonight I went out for a drink with a friend I haven't seen in more than a couple of years.  We picked up as if no time at all went by.  It was so nice.  Good friends.  Tonight I'm thankful to be blessed with so many good friends.

Thankful ramblings

Some days can be long and stressful and I feel like I'm swimming against the tide.  I've had a couple of those days recently but I'm thankful today was not one of those days!  

I'm thankful for:

• Last night Chris went out with a friend and we had a girls night at the house.  Easy dinner followed by girl time in the kitchen when Julia decided to color at the table while I cleaned up the mess.  Emma had her talker sitting on the table and she said she wanted to color.  It was great to hear because I was at the sink when she said color several times.  I taped a page of paper to the table, gave her a crayon and she scribbled a bit before dropping the crayon.  To this minute I still have NO idea where that crayon is....funny how Emma has a way of hiding things on me.  Then she asked to read a book so Julia read one to us.  It was a fun and easy night.  And Emma initiated all the talking on Evie on her own without any prompting!  That is a big accomplishment.  She then went on to cry for about 2 hours at bedtime which brought me back to Earth.....she keeps us on our toes like that!
• Julia is coming along really well with her reading.  She is reading longer books and learning more and more words.  I'm so proud of all the effort she is putting into learning to read at school and then coming home and looking to read 2 or more books again at bedtime.  I love listening to her read in her little girl voice.  I wish I could bottle that little voice because it sure is music to my soul.  And the cuddling that occurs with the book reading makes my heart hum!
• Julia continues to excel at imaginative play.  I was cleaning the play room today and looking for things she doesn't need anymore but I quickly realized she plays with pretty much everything we have.  She is so creative on pulling things from various places - like animals from the farm, her Barbies, and her play food to create a picnic lunch for the barbies in the woods - and using them together.  I love listening to her play with her friends and learning how they are really put a lot of thought and effort into their play time.  
• Emma's been blinking a lot on one of her CI programs lately so we needed to go in for a "tune up."  Since she doesn't talk yet her school hearing team worked with us on Friday to show her how hitting a button on her iPad that I programmed to say "I hear you" would let us know she hears the sound presented in the sound booth.  She is a quick study and figured it out very quickly.  She also giggled the entire 45 minutes.  You would have thought we were on a roller coaster or the tilt a whirl with all the giggles she had!  I'm glad she didn't consider it work and she was able to give us a pretty good read for an audiogram.  Today she had her real mapping session at the hospital and we brought in her iPad.  She did really well again and used the iPad for a good portion of the testing until she decided she was done and laid her head down on it.  Game over ;-)  We got a really good map for both her right and left sides, which is wonderful since she usually needs two different appointments - one for her right hear then another appointment another week for her left ear - due to her fatigue in the booth.  Her audiogram was similar to the one we got on Friday so I feel very confident that it's a good one.  We kept her same map because she is hearing really well but changed the sensitivity of the programs to see what will work best for her without causing the eye blink.  The program we left on (P3) worked well for the rest of today so we'll continue to monitor her reaction.  I'm constantly in awe of how far Emma is coming in her hearing and cooperation in the sound booth.  I remember the early days when I wanted to cry after each mapping session and now they are going really well.  So proud of my girl!

• We ran into a few of Emma's fans while at the hospital.  It was great catching up with them!  If you have to take a child to the hospital the one she goes to is so personal that it takes a bit of the sting out of it.  How lucky we are to have people go out of their way to come over and get caught up on Emma and give her hugs and ask her questions directly.  Today she used her iPad with the My First AAC app while at the hospital (there is no way I was brining her iPad and Evie!!!!) and said Hello and Goodbye and Nice to Meet You to so many people.  It's the first time she has used that so frequently and intentionally.  I liked it.  Maybe all our work with her is paying off.
• Tonight Emma said Mommy (twice!) on Evie for the first time ever!  She says Daddy, Julia and Finnegan all the time.  Never Mommy.  Tonight at dinner she decided she wanted Mommy to feed her.  And she got just what she wanted since she asked!!!!!!  She said a lot tonight and I took a photo of the screen to capture it because it made me so thankful that she is starting to communicate with us.  There is along road ahead of her/us, but at least we are on that road and making our way down it.  Slow and steady wins the race - I just have to keep reminding myself of that.

Thankful

I continue to count our blessings.  I'm thankful for:

• The warm sun that lets us take long walks without getting too cold
• Potty training going well resulting in a bit of excess supply of diapers
• Friday night family movie nights
• Free books to borrow from the library
• The chatter and laughs of little girls playing outside the window
• Support we receive from our family and friends

Thankful Day 13

Here are a few things that have happened to me in my neighborhood recently.  All true.  All reinforce my belief that there are so many good people in the world.

• Emma and I were waiting for Julia's bus and I was asking her questions and holding up my hands with the Yes/No response we use.  A woman turned onto the side street, parked and came over to us to introduce herself.  She told me she is a SpecEd teacher and that one of her four children has special needs and asked if I have a symbol communication mode to use with Emma.  She told me she owns the symbol software - which is a really expensive program - and would be happy to provide me with sheets of symbols if I needed them.  I told her we did use some symbols but are moving to the EyeGaze system.  I was - and still am - touched that she went out of her way to reach out to us in case we needed her help. 
• Emma and I were waiting for Julia's bus another day.  Yes, I know, lots goes on with us at this bus stop since it is a busy street ;-)  Anyway, it was nice out and Emma was looking for Julia's bus so I decided to sit on the grass and read her communication notebook to see what she did that day that I could ask her questions about.  Someone pulled onto the side street and stopped and asked me if we were ok.  Did we need anything?  I told them we were just waiting for the school bus but it was so nice of them to ask.
• I was taking a walk with Emma and Finnegan about a week ago and a car stopped at the stop sign, rolled down the window, and shouted out to Emma how she loved her fancy wheels and said a few other things to her.  Emma was tickled with all the extra attention.  And she knew it was all for her - the woman didn't talk to me at all and talked directly to Emma.  I love when people do that!
• Today I was on a walk with Emma and Finnegan.  A lady yelled at me to keep my dog off her grass.  Ok, will do.  Only problem was she was cleaning up leaves from a house that wasn't hers.  How was I to know her house was a couple over?  And that is the exact house Finnegan decided to do her business!  Hmmm.....poor Finnegan didn't know what happened when I told her to stop and started pulling on her leash to get her to move on ;-)  Luckily, the walk got better.  A lovely woman and her daughter were walking with their little dog.  I stopped and put Finnegan in a sit position to let them pass - seriously, I don't need a dog fight while pushing a wheelchair and dodging the helium balloon attached to it along with the talker! - and she started a conversation with us.  She knew who we were since her children swim with my neighbor an she has seen us at church.  Everyone around here seems to know us from Church!  Emma really makes an impression there and it would appear that it is her most favorite place to visit each week.  We had a bit of a chat and she told me she knows I must be busy and if I ever need any help with the girls her children would be available to help me out then told me which house was hers so I knew where to go for the help.  Wow.  Such a lovely offer from a virtual stranger.  

Once again I'm thankful for a sense of community.

Thankful and Hopeful Parents

I missed a day on the Thankful posts so I'm doing a couple here:

• I met a group of ladies at the hospital when our oldest children were only weeks old and we have been friends ever since.  I'm thankful for these and all my friends.
• Backyard bonfires
• The excitement our children have when offered a glass of hot chocolate
• Our sewer backed up over the weekend.  We had water coming out of the pipe and quite a bit on the floor.  This happened on a Saturday and it was fixed by Sunday morning.  I'm thankful for the skilled tradesmen in this area that had us up and running so quickly.

My Hopeful Parents post is up now so head on over here to read it.  

Making a Difference

I know the best way to make a difference in things is to change your actions.  Some examples are:

• If you want more manufacturing jobs in the USA, then buy more products manufacture in the USA
• If you are concerned about human rights and the goods you buy, consider buying free trade items
• If you want small businesses in your community to stay, then buy from small businesses
• If you want more options on organic fruits and vegetables, buy what is available and more will follow

Basically, change begins with us.  The actions we take each day can add up significantly when spread over many people.

Last night I went out with the ladies in our neighborhood to the Ladies Night of shopping at our church.  There were a lot of vendors around the room with really great products - many homemade.  I met some new neighbors and even found out that one - we call her the apple cider lady since she always gives out apple cider to the trick or treaters - self publishes comic books.  They are really great comics!  I think her new name will be the comic lady instead of apple cider lady ;-)  I bought something from the Pampered Chef consultant who is donating all the proceeds she made to the American Red Cross for the Hurricane Sandy support.  I bought a Christmas headband from a 10 year old girl who has her own business of making headbands and Julia is sooooooo excited to wear it over the holidays.  I bought a couple of other items, too, and enjoyed chatting with the vendors.

I feel like my purchases made a difference in my community rather than a multi-national corporation.  It felt great and I had a lot of fun with the night out.  After shopping we headed out for a drink at the local watering hole and had some great conversations.  

If your church or community is putting on a holiday shopping night I recommend attending.  This was the first I've gone to and I'm wondering why it took me so long!

So, today I am thankful for our community.  I'm thankful that we are a part of it and am happy that we can say we know more people around our new neighborhood after only a year than we did at our old house after 11 years!

Community is good.

Bigger girl food

Emma still keeps us on our toes when it comes to eating.  She can go for a couple of days when she doesn't want to eat and will only drink smoothies followed by a few days of wanting to eat everything in the house.  I've learned not to get too worried if we are on day 3 of her not wanting to eat anything and that's when I stock up on some of her favorite foods in anticipation of the feasts she will want again soon.

But frequency of eating isn't the only thing Emma's changing these days.  She wants to eat more and more table food even though she isn't really ready for more solids without choking.  She wants to sit in her Childrite chair instead of her Special Tomato seat.  She wants to feed herself even though she needs lots of hand-over-hand help.  And if any dessert or sweet item is brought out before she is done her meal she promptly refuses to take another bite of her meal and demands to move on to dessert.

And so we are once again following her lead.

We stopped pureeing her food and are either chopping it up finely with the Pampered Chef chopper (that's been hanging our in our kitchen for ages looking for a reason to be used) or using the container that came with the immersion blender we purchased for her birthday.  The container is nice because it is an in-between texture of chopped and pureed and results in a bit of a chunky consistency.  The blender is the Cuisinart cordless rechargeable immersion blender with a couple of attachments.  We thought it would make travel easier if we didn't always have to preplan meals and bring them along - especially for when we are going someplace for a few nights - and would make eating out easier as we could just blend the restaurant food up in the cordless contraption.  We've found that it is very handy at the house, too, and it is often used several times a day.  (Note:  In case you are looking at purchasing one of these blenders, we purchased this item at Bed Bath and Beyond.  Emma and I went to the store to see it in person but it's an online only item.  However, if you order it at the store you can use the 20% off coupon that always comes in the mail.  Emma gave the cashier big smiles and turned on the charm so they also shipped it to our house for free making it a pretty good deal.)

For dinner tonight we had tacos.  Everyone in our house agrees that tacos are great so it was an easy Friday night meal eaten without complaint.  Since tacos would be hard to "chop" and then feed to Emma I just used the container attachment for the Cuisinart and it did a great job of turning the food into a form that Emma could enjoy.  Emma loves tacos and today was one of her eating days (horray!) so we even had to mix up another batch because she wanted seconds.  That made this Mommy quite happy!

For the last few weeks Emma has been putting up a fight when it's time to go into he Special Tomato chair to eat.  I'm not really sure why since she actually likes this chair.  Maybe it's a phase?  Anyway, we've been using her Childrite chair at the table on days when she won't use the Special Tomato.  It's not our preferred chair for meals since she sometimes tosses her head back and bonks it on the hard wood chair.  Also, it's not really secure and we don't want her to tip over and fall out of it so we make sure someone is right next to Emma at all times.  She seems to love this set-up even if we are less than thrilled about it.  I'm sure that, as with all things Emma, she will shake up where she wants to sit yet again and go back to her Special Tomato for eating.

So today I'm thankful that Emma continues to make progress with her eating.  That she is undaunted by the challenges she faces with her oral motor skills and her fine motor skills and is determined to one day eat table food independently.  That makes me very thankful, indeed!

Thankful Day 8

I'm going to be brief.  Today I'm thankful for:

• Getting in a good workout 
• Children who love to ride the school bus
• The support and people I've met since going "online" with my blog!
• Having enough money for the necessities and a little left over to share this holiday season.  As usual we have a few charitable things we are doing for the holidays with the girls.  Julia's school is hosting a food drive for the local food bank and we went through our cabinets for food to donate.  I love showing my children how to live a Christian life.  And Julia seems to be very service oriented and enjoys contributing to our community.  

Life is so good!

Thankful Day 7

Did you hear?  I wore my blue striped shirt to vote.  And my candidate won!  Our family is thankful for another 4 years with President Obama.  And we really, truly hope that we see some major changes in our government.  More collaboration, more working for the American people, less doing nothing!  The American people deserve representatives who get things accomplished while in office.  That means you Senate and House.  Let's start with the fiscal cliff, shall we?

Julia treated us to a show tonight.  It was 3 songs long and incredible.  I just love her shows!  This is something I will definitely miss as she gets older.  Here is a clip:



After the show she signed autographs and posed for photos with her fans.  Luck me!

She autographed napkins just like a real star would ;-)

Posing with one of her biggest fans!

Yesterday Emma sat on the couch like she has been able to sit forever.  I took a photo of her so I'd remember it.  She didn't fall over, either, like she usually does if not surrounded by pillows.  What a cool thing to see!

Today I'm thankful for:

• Obama winning the Presidency
• Living room shows put on by my sweet girl
• Emma's improving sitting skills
• A warm house on a cold, rainy night

Life is good!

Thankful Day 6

A bit of a mish most today.

First up, the election.

• Today I'm thankful for the right to vote.

I'll share a badly-kept secret.  I voted OBAMA.  I also voted for local representatives who will likely have much more impact in our lives.  I've been very heated this campaign cycle.  I care who wins.  I'm no longer disinterested in politics like I was when I was a child.  I am now fully engaged in the political process.  I contact my representatives often to tell them how I want them to vote.  I follow-up with them  so they know I noticed if they listened to me.  I care.  The main reason I care is that I continue to experience the direct impact the government has on our life.

Here are a few reasons I chose Obama.

1. Obamacare.  I like it.  It prevents insurances from excluding customers due to pre-existing conditions.  It removes the lifetime cap on how much they will pay per patient.  Both of these clauses directly effects our family and we are better off for having them.  I also think that in the USA everyone should have health insurance.  We give so much money to other nations why in the heck can't we take care of our own people????!!!  I was talking with a friend from England earlier this year and he asked me what is the deal with the Americans and why are so many people against health care coverage for our fellow citizens.  I had no answer for him because I wonder the exact same thing.  I also find it ironic the the Republicans who want to rollback health care reform are the first to say they are Pro Life.  I don't understand how you can be pro life and then not want to take care of those very same people when they are alive.  How you want to take away coverage for children and adults with disabilities - oh, you wouldn't say that's what you want to do.  Around here all we hear about are illegal immigrants and lazy people getting the benefits while it is left out that the majority of people that receive services are the elderly poor and the disabled.  News flash to everyone who is not walking our path in life - private insurance will do you little good if you have a child like Emma.  You will find out quickly that all insurances are not created equal and that although they say they cover X, Y, and Z...it is often not covered if you have a chronic condition.  And your plan could exclude certain classes of coverage as not medically necessary.  For example, our insurance doesn't think hearing is medically necessary and does not cover any hearing services for Emma.  You will spend thousands dollars each year for insurance that denies your child some of the services she needs.  You will thank heaven that your child has state health care because after paying all the money you do for primary insurance (that doesn't meet all your child's needs) you don't have another blessed cent left in your budget for health care.  And you will feel like your representatives have abandoned your child when they tell you that it's not enough that you pay thousands and thousands of dollars in health care to your primary insurance company and that you now have to pay thousands of dollars more for the state health care coverage (our state did just that and then decided to reconsider and are in the process of deciding how to proceed) your child needs to have an acceptable quality of life.  I consider this a tax on the disabled and the families of those with disabled children.  And I want no part of it.  
2. Women's rights.  Come on it's 2012 and employers can pay men higher wages than women for the same job?  Seriously?  Obama signed the Lilly Ledbedder Act.  Romney opposed this act before it was signed.  Also, I like having Planned Parenthood so ladies can have easy access to mammograms, birth control and other services.     
3. His outlook.  I like that he wants to grow the middle class from the middle out.  I don't want to go back to the financial situation and collapse we had during the Bush years.  Obama signed the Financial Regulation Bill and I'm all for the tighter regulations based on my first-hand experience in business.  

Next up Emma's care.

• I'm thankful that we have easy access to world-class hospitals, doctors and service providers in the area where we live.  There are 3 different hospitals with great reputations within a 45 minute drive from our house.  

With such easy access to health care it is sometimes difficult to determine which place we should go for her care.  I feel that other than us, there isn't one go-to person looking at Emma as a whole girl.  People see her for specific areas - hips, eyes, ears, brain, etc.  Her new pediatrician doesn't seem to have a lot of experience with children similar to Emma and so she doesn't seem to be coordinating most of her care.  Perhaps we need to consider changing pediatricians or adding a Physiatrist or Developmental Pediatrician to her doctor list.  Not I'm looking for more doctor appointments but I sometimes feel like she would do well to have someone looking at her as a whole who can make suggestions.  

Thankful Day 4

Today I'm thankful for:

• My very supportive husband
• An extra hour
• Warm baths
• Shopping with gift cards
• Warm drinks
• Our dog 

Thankful Day 3

This will be a short post.  Today I'm thankful for:

• Our family
• Shrinkwrap for windows in the winter
• Little children in footie, cuddly pajamas
• Cars that run
• Neighborhood get-togethers - no driving required
• Electric power

Thankful Day 2

Today both girls were off from school and we had such a fun day together.  Today, I'm thankful for:

• Waking up without alarm clocks
• Hot drinks.  Especially the Pumpkin Coffee from Dunkin Donuts I purchased today with my gift card
• Grilled cheese sandwiches with soup dinners.  Everyone eats without complaints so we are able to have conversations that don't include "how many more bites do I have to eat????????" and "can I be done now?  how about now?  what if I eat a banana instead??"
• Family movie nights - and inviting a neighbor over to join in the fun
• Fun afternoons with friends.  Today we met friends at Chuck E Cheese for lunch and games.  Julia is always such a trooper tagging along to all Emma's therapy appointments on her days off from school that this was just the special treat she deserved! 

• Giggly girls during physical therapy and a PT that is so great with both my children - not just the one getting therapy!

Thankful Day 1

Last year during the month of November I shared things I was thankful for and I'm going to do it again this year.  I believe thankfulness is a muscle that we need to exercise - the more we stop and allow ourselves to really think about all we have to be thankful for, the more blessed and happy we feel.

Today I feel overwhelmed with how many wonderful things happened to us today.  I am especially thankful for:

• A package received in the mail from a stranger.  It's a part we use to troubleshoot and control Emma's CI and somehow I had lost hers and a replacement unit is very expensive and not at all in our budget.  I've been looking around the house for this part everyday for weeks because I feel something is "up" with the CIs and I wanted to use the part to do a bit of troubleshooting before the CI warranty is up next month!  Last week someone posted on an internet CI group that they had this part and were offering to give it away for free to anyone that needed it.  Someone else had requested the part before me, but they were going to use it as a spare and the person wanted Emma to have it since it would be her primary (not spare) unit.  The part arrived today in the mail along with a lovely note.  Tonight I feel so thankful that a stranger took the time to help make our life a bit easier.  Once again I'm reminded of how amazing it feels to be blessed by the kindness of strangers!
• Caring teachers and finding a school that is the perfect environment for my child to learn.  We attended the parent teacher conference for Julia today and I really appreciated all the time and energy her teachers put into communicating with us and helping our daughter learn in such a warm, nurturing environment.  Julia's school fits her personality to a T and we are so blessed to have the opportunity to send her there.  
• Spontaneous comments.  Emma's teachers told me today that Emma used her talker 4 times during craft time without being prompted.  She asked for glue, scissors twice (my girl LOVES using the one-handed scissors), and crayons.  Emma has never used her talker spontaneously at school and only used spontaneously a couple of times at home.  This is a major goal we are working on with her IEP and it's wonderful to see that Emma is starting to connect well with Evie and to use it appropriately without prompting.  
• A beautiful card and note in the mail today for our anniversary.  Along with a generous gift.  Thanks so much to the person who sent it (you know who you are - I don't want to call you out here because I'm not sure if it would embarrass you!).  

Wishing everyone days filled with much to be thankful for.