The streak has been broken.

We went almost 11 years without stitches( well, ok we had stitches from many, many surgeries) but those Mommy did not have to watch being put in.
On Monday, I had just finished preschool with Jordan when the dreaded phone call from the school nurse came....."hello, Mrs. Krull, this is Mrs Lombardo the nurse at school, Allison fell off the monkey bars and cut her head open, it looks pretty deep, like maybe needing stitches deep." 
I sprung into action, called my MIL to find out if she was available to watch Jordan, called my hubby to fill him in, checked to see what time Children's Urgent Care opened, it opened at 3:00, it was 11:30, called hubby back to find out where I should go, headed over to my in-laws to drop Jordan off and then to school to pick up Allison.
There is an Urgent Care close to our house so we went there.  We walked in and I saw all the people waiting and I thought, "oh great we are going to be waiting forever".  The person behind the window asked what was wrong, I told her and she looked like she was going to have a stroke, she grabbed my ID, and insurance card and ushered us right back, yelling to the nurse that Allison had split her head open. The nurse came in and looked at it and declared it to be "not too bad, probably would not need stitches( yeah, what does she know?)  My husband and I were a little concerned about Allison's implants, that maybe she had damaged them when she fell, Allison assured me that she was hearing fine.  I asked the nurse about it and the only thing they could do was take x-rays.  Everything on the x-ray looked fine and she is still hearing fine.  The doctor finally came in and took a look at the hole in Allison's head and declared that he could probably close it with staples, this is not what Allison wanted to hear.  After closer examination, the doc decided that staples would not do, stitches was the only way to close this.  I had to prepare Allison for the worse part of all.....the numbing medicine.  What started out as "not so bad" ended with 3 internal and 4 external stitches.  At least they didn't have to shave her head, be happy for the little things.

Decisions, Decisions

I remember wondering if Jared and Allison would be ready for K because of their hearing loss.  Would they be ready for a typical K class, should we look into our local Hard of Hearing program? Bill and I felt very strongly at the start that they would be raised oral, they would be mainstreamed and they would succeed.  We decided to home school Jared for K because of the fact that Allison was still in the auditory oral preschool, I just could not figure out how to be in two places at the same time, I'm good, but not that good.  Once Allison finished with preschool, we sent them both to the Hearing Impaired program in our county.  They were mainstreamed into typical classrooms with support from their SLP and HI teacher.  They have done great!  We just got their report cards and they are both reading at or above grade level( pretty good for a of HI boy and deaf girl). 

Now we are faced with the decision on what to do with Jordan.  He is not HI or deaf, in fact he has such good hearing that he can hear his father opening a Little Debbie wrapper from upstairs!
Jordan turns 5 on Sept 12th, in Ohio he is able to go to K because he turns 5 before Sept 30th, but does that mean that just because he can go, he should?  I have been doing preschool with him here at home and he is doing great.  He knows all his letters, can count to 100, knows all his shapes and colors.  All those things that the checklists say he should know before K.  I am just not sure if we should send him to school and have him be one of the youngest kids in his class.  I guess we can take care of this problem by homeschooling, he would be still be the youngest in his class, but when it is a class of one, I guess it would be OK.  Then there is the issue of his size, he is really small for a 4 year old.  If we gave him another year, he would not be the youngest and he might even have a growth spurt.  I guess I also have to face the fact that I may not be ready to let my baby go, he is our last.  So comes the decision that needs to be made, send him or don't send him, home school or traditional school?  If we send him to school we have to deal with his schedule not jelling with his brother and sisters, different start dates, different winter, spring breaks, different end dates.  If I home school, I can put him on the same schedule and we might be able to get a family vacation in.   I let you know what we decide, I guess we need to made a choice soon, it is about time to register for K.


I am so thankful that God have us this precious little boy.  He fills our lives with such joy.  Whatever the decisions is, we know that he will jump in with both feet.  No fear that is the motto that Jordan lives by.

Seven Years

Could it be really that long?  Seven years ago we were preparing for the unknown.....Allison's 1st CI surgery.  Were we making the right choice for her?  Would it work?  Would she hear well enough to talk?    
It has been a long hard road that we have traveled.  The trips to the hospital, the weekly,the daily therapy sessions were all worth it.  I will never forget the moment when Allison heard for the 1st time, she didn't cry like we had been warned she might, she just looked at us, buried her head in my shoulder and smiled.  Or the moment when the 1st wonderful word escaped from her lips....."help"  She wanted me to help her put her shoe on so she could go outside.
Life does not get any better than watching your deaf daughter reading to her little brother or listening to her talk to her grandparents on the phone. 
Life is so normal now, so common that I sometimes forget that she is deaf, that is until she takes off her CI's for the night. 

Oh, Allison, it was right choice for you, it really did work and you can hear well enough to talk.  Mommy and Daddy are so proud of all your hard work, you are an inspiration to us all.  You are a strong willed little girl who is growing into a determined young lady, nothing can stop you.  Who knows what you will accomplished in your life, but know this, we will be there to cheer you on

Christmas 2011

Although we did not have a white Christmas this year, we still made memories.  It has been nice to have the kids off school and to be able to enjoy some relaxing days.  I am getting use to this sleeping in and am really not looking forward to the 6:00 am mornings that will come next week.  We enjoyed going to the Columbus zoo to see the lights, my Dad and step-mom spending time with us, Christmas Eve service at our church, Christmas day with Bill's family and a family Christmas party last night with Bill's extended family.
We are looking forward to finally taking a family vacation in 2012, we are still working on the details, but needless to say, we are all pretty excited about it.
We wish you and yours a very blessed New Year!

                                                                      Christmas Before

                                                          Christmas After

                                                             Our best gifts of all!

So much to be thankful for.

At this time of year, I like to reflect on what I am thankful for.  This year, I think I will just make a list.

1.  My wonderful husband, Bill-  We were married 12 years on Nov 20th.  You are my rock and my best friend.  I can always count on you.  I love you, babe

2.  Jared William-  My wonderful 1st born.  You are creative, funny and so loving.  Even at 10 years of age, I can count on you to give me a hug goodnight.  I hope you never get too old to hug your mom.

3.  Allison Elizabeth- My precious little girl, although you are not so little anymore.  You are a fighter in every sense of the word.  You have overcome so much in your life, from being born 10 weeks early, spending 9 weeks in the hospital and 6 surgeries in your 9 years.  Through it all you never lost your sweet spirit.

4.  Jordan Matthew- My surprise child.  Even though you were not planned by mommy and daddy, you were most defiantly planned by God.  You are independent and oh so smart.  You amaze me everyday with how your mind works.  I look forward to watching you grow.

5.  Technology-  Hearing aid and Cochlear implants are a vital part of our lives.  I enjoy watching Jared and Allison blossom because of their hearing aids and CI's.  I took Allison to get her new Nucleus 5's this week, she did a booth test and is now hearing at 20 dcB in BOTH ears!  AMAZING!!!!!!  Both Jared and Allison will be singing in our church's Christmas program.  They may never be professional singers and win a Grammy, but they can enjoy the sounds of the seasons because of modern technology

How Ironic

How ironic is it that the child that we got cochlear implants for because we didn't want her to use sign language( we wanted her to be oral)  is now wanting to learn sign language and in fact is already learning some sign language.
That is the wonder of cochlear implants.........Allison can learn sign language not because she has to, but because she wants to.

Fall 2011

I apologize for my lack of blog entries, but this is the wonderful time in a CI family when there is nothing new to report. Life is so normal that you sometimes forget that your child has a hearing loss, although I am reminded every night when I see the hearing aides and CI's on the TV stand waiting for the next day.

The kids are doing great in school, just finished the 1st nine weeks and we are looking forward to getting their report cards.

Allison is anxiously waiting for her new Nucleus 5's to come in. We finally got the insurance issues taken care of, so she should be getting them soon. Her new FM is waiting for her at school, for once it is there before she needs it.

Jared is once again playing basketball for Upwards. We love the program, it is wonderful to allow him to play and have a positive spin on things. It is not all about winning and who can be a superstar, it is more about building character and sportsmanship while learning the game of basketball.

Jordan loves preschool and I love the fact that I am his teacher. We do about 15-20 min 3x's a week. which is enough to get him through the letter of the week, his numbers and a simple math page. I am going to do some theme weeks especially with the holidays coming up. We also do story time at the local library, I love the fact that they also do a craft, which allows him to get his art time in as well. He gets to get messy and I don't have to clean up-the best of both worlds. :-)