Just More Life

Constant. 

That's how I describe life right now. In this season with 3 kiddos 4 and under there is not much downtime. 

On Tuesday, Eli had some quiet time with me on the couch. We snuggled (which I love) and as soon as we both got comfortable, Hannah cried out so I slid Eli over and picked her up and she rested her head on me watching the movie. A few minutes later I heard Suzi, so I slid Hannah over next to Eli and went and got Suzi. I fed her, she fell back to sleep, I laid her back down, came back out and life was back into full gear. 

I love it when my children are sleepy.  They are so snuggly and super sweet. But it does seem sometimes I put one down just to pick up another. 

This morning I woke up early before everyone else...to shower. 

I know it should have been to spend time with Jesus. But, alas I showered. 

If I'm not giving a hug because someone got their feelings hurt, or helping one off the potty, I'm feeding or rocking to sleep. 

And that's only when we are at home. 

It really is priceless time and I'm basically writing this post so I don't forget these days, but at this moment I'm tired. 

 

It's hard to get everyone in the same picture. 😊

Lord,

Help me enjoy these days so I can remember them with fondness. Even though I love who my children are becoming and all they get to do my heart aches for the slow-paced days of baby snuggles. Thank you for entrusting me with these little loves. 

 

Real Life

As fall starts, we are getting into a rhythm, somewhat.

My littlest girl surprises me with how much she is changing every day.

Suzi has started smiling when she sees a familiar face or is just in an overall good mood, which is often.  She loves her brother and sister and is always busy watching them.  She has started batting at hanging toys on the playmat and oohing and ahhing.  The only thing that she seems to dislike is being strapped in her carseat, which can make for some long car rides, but we are trying to remedy this quickly.

Oh my!  She is really getting fun!

And has a brother who adores her.

 Eli is doing well in preschool.  He started the year only knowing 2 kids in his class, but now comes home most nights talking about other kids who we don't know.  His teacher is also really nice to send me pictures during the day so we can look at them later and he can tell me who his friends are and what they were doing.

Our second and most eventful child (79 medical claims for this child so far this year) also had a big week getting a cast on her arm.

"No, it is not broken, its therapy."  If I said that once I said it a hundred times this week.

That's the short answer.

The complete answer is we put Hannah's dominate arm in a cast to make her use her left hand.  Since she was born we have known that her left side is weaker, but it is very obvious in her hand.  Because of this weakness she can completely disregard this hand and only use her right for most things.  Putting a cast on her right makes her use the left and also does a lot for her brain.  The first day she was not happy at all.

Yes, this is real life.  

Thankfully Keith took off a few days to help me with the kiddos while Hannah adjusted to having her hand taken away.  

By day 2 she had started to eat by herself and was even reaching out for things with her left.  This just goes to show how powerful the brain is.  

She's becoming a little mama.

She can even pick up a baby doll and rock her to sleep.  Of course, this baby gets dropped a lot, but we are so proud of how much Hannah is learning.

The bubble wrap is for our protection.  Hannah's arm is very heavy and is very strong so we must wrap it so she doesn't hurt herself or others.  

It doesn't always help.

So, she will have the cast on for 4 weeks and then off until after her CI surgery.  We will repeat this process a few times to give her more practice using her left.  We are hopeful this will help her start using her hand more.  Of course, we do not expect her to ever use her left hand more than her right, but we do want her to recognize that hand and use it to assist her right.  Like climbing a ladder or holding a plate.  

Just taking life one step at a time.  

"No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.  Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it."

Hebrews 12:11

Celebrating

Hannah, 

Today you turned two!

It was fun to see how you got excited about this birthday. About the balloons and the people and the cake. 

How you waited in anticipation as we sang "Happy Birthday".

How, just like last year, we had to give you a bath after you finished your cake. 

How you wanted to play with and explore every gift you got, not just play with the paper. 

You are growing up my sweet girl. It is so fun to see your personality come out more and more but still know how much you need your mama. I pray you never lose the God given JOY you have for life. It sometimes scares me to think about you growing up in a hard world, but I know there is someone who will always help you even more than your Dad and I. The Lord will be your helper and your guide, may you know Him early in life and love Him with your whole heart. 

I love you Hannah Joy

You are sweet, special and so beautiful!

She's Two!

Our sweet Hannah is TWO!

It's hard to believe all she's been through in her 2 short years, but through God's grace, she has come through like a champ. 

I've never been one to put all my children's milestones out there for everyone to see, and since Hannah is delayed I had to fight hard not to compare her to other kiddos, but she's walking now and we are so excited. 

I just can't get enough of it!

Another awesome birthday present is her surgery was approved and is scheduled for November 7th!! 

I've been on the phone all day scheduling and rescheduling everything that comes with her cochlear implant surgery, but it will be worth it because my baby is going to hear!  

I'm sure as the date gets closer I will learn more about all the ins and outs of CIs and have more specific requests, but today, right now, would you pray that Hannah would be healthy on November 7th and able to have the surgery? If she even has a runny nose that could delay it and we really want it done before the holidays and the end of the year. 

Thanks so much for loving us and our little girl. It means more than you know that so many people pray for her and cheer her on. We are very blessed!

I'll post more later on her birthday celebration. 🎂

Starting Playgroup & Preschool

This week Hannah started the 2s playgroup at the local hearing school. 

This playgroup allows kids to be around others who are their age and also have speech or hearing issues. 

We are excited to get our feet wet at this school for one day a week because in all likelihood Hannah will attend preschool here starting next year. 

While there are several deaf schools around the country there are very few hearing schools, the key to oral learning, so we are thankful to be in Louisville and that this resource is available to us!

This is not a "mommy and me"  playgroup but rather a time for the kids to be on their own with teachers who specialize in speech and hearing impaired kiddos. So, I got to watch from afar and from what I could tell and what I was told Hannah did well. 

I'm pretty sure she's the youngest in the group, but she didn't let that stop her. Of course she needs more practice paying attention and focusing on what the teacher asks her to do but that will come in time and her upcoming surgery should help greatly!

They do things like wash their hands, do a craft, sing lots of songs, free play inside and out and much more. Everything that they do is over-annunciated and signed which helps them learn better. It really is amazing to see Hannah pick up on signs and use them. Since the speaking part is taking longer than we want this really helps us to communicate!

Here's sweet Suzi hanging out with Mama during the playgroup. 

Hannah's not afraid to get in there and get her feet wet, which I am very thankful for so this group is a good thing!

She was, however, pooped by the end of the 2 hours. 

In other news Eli started preschool this week. He's going 3 days a week and yes, this is his last year before kindergarten, so hard to believe!

Eli's chosen way to stand for the picture

A little disclaimer: Keith was out of town the morning I took this so this Mama had to get 3 kids up and out by 7:45. So, that's why his shoes are on the wrong feet. 😉

Eli still doesn't tell me a whole bunch about his day, he talks and talks, don't get me wrong, but for some reason he doesn't want to share all the details. 

I do think his class is a little more structured and a little more work than last year but he's adjusting to it well. 

Even though it's hard at times to have 3 little ones at home this year I'm thankful for it. Next year with Eli in kindergarten and Hannah in preschool things will look a lot different around here!

"For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven."

Ecclesiastes 3:1

And it begins...

After a week of tests, evaluations and discussions the conclusion is to implant Hannah's left ear. This wasn't a huge shock to us and we are thankful everyone involved is basically on the same page, but the unknown is still scary. Especially having the surgery 1.5 hrs from home and everything that entails. 

We are taking everything one step at a time. First of all insurance has to approve the surgery, that can take 3-6 weeks. After it is approved we have to get on the surgery schedule. Best case scenario is 8 weeks, worst case is December. 😁

The reason we are starting with just one ear is because Hannah's left ear has always been her worst and since she has other issues, not just hearing loss, the doctor wants to make sure this is a mechanical issue and not a neurological one. So, doing one ear, then giving Hannah some time to show us what she can hear and do will give us information for a possible right ear implant in the future. 

So Keith and I have been reading up on manufacturers and think we have landed on one (it's a big decision choosing something that will go in your girl's head!)

Of course we want to commit this whole process to the Lord. We do think that He is leading us in this direction but would you pray for a few other things?

Please pray insurance approval would come quickly so that the appointment will be scheduled soon. 

Pray that the surgery would happen at just the right time for everyone involved. (Our family, family that may come in to help out, the doctor, etc). 

Please pray that this surgery will help Hannah hear better and begin to speak. 

There are many other specific requests that will come as the process unfolds and I'll share them with you then. 

Thanks for walking through this with us. It is a huge decision that can make a life-changing difference. 

Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.

Proverbs 16:3

4 weeks in

Suzi is already 4 weeks old. Actually, by this point she's almost 5. Life is flying by and she's fitting in pretty nicely. Of course there is less sleep and most days I'm spinning around from one need to the next, but I know this is a season and one day I won't be this busy with my kiddos. 

                     4 weeks old!

With the extreme heat that's covering the country we haven't been able to get outside like I'd hoped we would, but we are coping. The kids get bored and harass each other most days, but school starts in 2 weeks and I know Hannah (and I) will miss Eli when he's not here everyday. 

            

This week and next we are starting the cochlear implant process. Hannah and Keith went to Cincinnati for speech and aural evaluations on Wednesday and Thursday she had an MRI in Louisville. Next week we'll go back to Cincinnati and meet the surgeon and get his take on Hannah. From there we will know how to proceed. 

I'm hopeful that she needs CI's so that her speech and hearing will improve. Even though I'm not excited about the surgery and recovery, It should greatly improve her communication. At this point we still don't know exactly what she can hear and her speech is limited. Also, when we try to discipline her we wonder if she can't understand us or if she's just 2 and not listening because she doesn't want to. So many things to figure out with a girl like Hannah. ☺️

Keith was able to take off a few days this week to help with Hannah's appointments so we also threw in a little fun and headed to the Newport aquarium. It was so much fun. We saw sharks, walked under and above them and even found Dory-haha! (Eli was most excited about her). It was a fun-filled day and I think everyone had a good time. 

                         Dory!!!

                Can you find Suzi?

So, life as a family of 5 is constant and definitely busier, but I wouldn't change it. 

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."

James 1:17