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. :-)