October Challenge...the results are in

I'm posting my before picture as punishment. I did not meet my goal, nor did I even really try. I could have done so much better and I'm disappointed in myself...but I'll move on, lol. I only lost four pounds at my final weigh in, but at least I had not gained four pounds!

Leslie did better than I losing six pounds! She almost met her goal and she looks fabulous. Weigh Way to go Leslie!! She was very dedicated and it all paid off.

Penny did amazing losing 12 pounds!! Wow go girl! Another busy mom who inspires me!

Amy and I are alot alike, we end up putting everyone first and get sidetracked when it comes to "us"! She looks great as well and I can't keep up with her busy life! Good going Amy! If she did get brave and do a final weigh in, I'm sure she'd be pleased with her results.

Way to go ladies!!

Fall Festival

This "thing" was really a person walking on all fours on stilts! Sorry all I had was the camera phone, but I was a little freaked out by this.

poor quality sorry!

Here you see Gage going down one of those jumpy things. The gym was full of jumparoos.........great! Anyone w/kids who wear ci's know what that means. Processors off, give them to a responsible adult (you only hope and pray!) and then retape them. Not a huge deal but you then have to instruct the attendants that they hear nothing but at our school, they're already trained so we're good! The kids had a blast.

Gage did soooo good during mapping today (medication is still working) and we had both ears finished in 45 minutes and he don't have to go back til February! If I need to take him before I can but his audiologist is about to have her second child (in one year's time!) so we're gonna try to stretch it out. With his other ci he needed mapped monthly regardless! We are optimistic that he is gonna be able to go longer this go around.

EI Conference 2009

I need to quickly mention that I'll be presenting this year at Alabama's Early Intervention Conference at the BJCC. I'll take part in the 1:30 session: Social interaction, joint attention and behavior regulation: Encouraging social communication across routines which will be on Monday Nov 16, and after that on the same day I'll be presenting at the 3:30 session: Children with Cochlear Implants which we'll be going over lots of therapy on a budget type things along with a brief history of the Blakely family. 

For info on registering for this conference see your EI Coordinator or contact Shannon LaBudde at Shannon@ecaucp.org (256-237-8203) for information about registration.

...and he did it.

For anyone who has a child with ADHD, you can feel me on this one if they are now stable on medication(s). We didn't give Gage his meds over the weekend because he had the opportunity to spend the night w/my sister and niece (oh they fixed the toy tractor by the way as you can see) and besides he asked if he could be off of them just so he could eat more. He says he still feels hungry when on the meds but once he starts eating, it's just blah!

We could tell a big difference in behavior over the weekend (teacher workday on Mon. as well), very impulsive! He picked on his sister the whole time, very rebellious and overly active but first thing this morning he went right back on the meds. As I walked past his room I said, "Put your shoes on" and when I returned moments later to repeat the instructions (as usual) three or four more times, they were on his feet already. That's just crazy talk for around here, never happens! Later I told him to go brush his teeth, and he did it.

For those who have kids with hearing loss all this becomes even more troubling (deciding if they have ADD/ADHD). We usually assume most things are hearing related, do they need mapping? When your child doesn't do what is told, is he defiant or did he hear you...or is there more? This is what we've been dealing with for the last few years, and I've known for over a year that it was more than hearing loss. He could repeat what I wanted him to do verbally so I know he heard me, but he couldn't get where he was going in a timely manner because of distractions. If you are unsure your child is actually getting (hearing) the info, get them to repeat what they heard, or ask other related questions. "Where are your shoes?" When they answer you, follow up with "Put them on your feet." This way you know they've heard the command, and need to follow through. This will help you and your doctor rule out the hearing being an issue. It's even harder to help figure out if the issues are hearing related or more when they are in the classroom. Your child's teacher may let you observe a few minutes of class time to help you get a better understanding of whether it's hearing or more. Also you can get the TOD (Teacher of the Deaf) involved, with her background he/she should know if it's processing issues, hearing issues, or more. There may be some cases where the child just needs to visit the audiologist!

Videos for Parents of the Newly Diagnosed

Unfortunately not all of these are captioned...I apologize as they may be from long ago. I thought they may help some parents of newly diagnosed children with hearing loss. I'm not reposting the video I have at the bottom of my blog but it's probably the most inspriational where Gage was spelling answers, totally auditory. Anyway, here are some more speech samples, therapy ideas, etc.

Brook almost 4- All I want for Christmas

Gage age 7- Listening

Teaching a deaf child- Brook age 4

deaf children swimming-no processors

Makin' Mama Sweat

Whew! Glad that is over! Taking this little beast  princess to the dentist always makes me sweat. As I've said before I do keep deodorant in the car so I can reapply after our dental visits (no joke, and I'm usually not a sweater!) This demon of a child precious child of mine has made it out of there twice since the whole biting ordeal (we won't go into that) and left nothing more than spit on their floor and tears on their chair. Luckily she has great teeth and they can get by with the minimal services on her. (At least it was only processors flying and not fists, I had them held tight or she may have taken a swing)

Gage however doesn't have great teeth and we've been aware now for years that he'll likely need a jaw distraction which is a pleasant way of saying they need to break his lower jaw and lengthen the bone. We will begin our lengthy journey to corrective oral surgery(ies) from braces, jaw distraction to dental implants. Our dentist used to work with children from the school for the deaf and he said he'd actually practiced some of his signing prepping for our arrival and soon found out that it wouldn't be necessary. (This is only the second time this new dentist has seen my kids) So hopefully there will be no rush to get Gage into the O.R. again, I'd like to have a year w/out surgery and since it's likely he'll be home-bound for a few weeks (months) during the jaw distraction ordeal unless we can pull it off in the summer (and complete ruin his whole summer break, ugh!) I'd like for him to be able to have a full year's break from hospitals. To be continued....

oh, and would you believe that both kids couldn't wait to get to school. They had the option of staying at home due to our appt. time and both had so much they DIDN'T want to miss at school they just passed on the idea and said "how fast can we get to school?" They made it minutes for the cut off time between tardy and absence even though they had excuses.

Pumpkin Patch

First an update on Gage. He's doing much better with the medicine. He slept very well last night, and he's not had any meltdowns like that first day. I also want to leave a comment from an adult w/ADHD: "Please do not let him forget that for every ADHD challenge, ADHD bring with it several equally powerful opportunities." Very true. Gage has always had the amazing ability to pack lots of fun into his days. Even though he's not as hyper on the meds, he's still able to do the things he loves. He's made many trucks and other vehicles out of Legos and added lights to them, big fun for an eight year old! His teacher has been out so I'm not sure what the low down at school is just yet. But I love it when I walk into a child's room, find a substitute unexpectedly and ask, "Um, do you know how to use the mic?" and then hear her say, "yes" and my child confirm that she does know! gotta love it. More later on Gage man....

Today was our Kindergarten field trip to the pumpkin patch. Woo hoo! I suggested that since I was going along, we would just leave the FM mic at school, she is bilateral and does well in those situations as long as I'm there, otherwise, I'd likely want them to wear it!! They all got to pick out a pumpkin to take home....

We locked them all up at The Corn County Jail...but they wouldn't keep them, we asked.....

We all went the corn maze, I tried to scare Brook reminding her of the movie Children of the Corn, but it didn't work....

Some little girl I know put MY name on the dog's head...but it's washable marker and we're expecting rain tonight *smile*

oh and by the way, a few more days left on the weight loss challenge, I've done terrible!!! I think I've only lost five pounds, it was supposed to be 15, just wasn't in the mood! I need to work on that...lol

chance of rain....?

So we started Gage on ADHD meds today, a time release option called Concerta. I basically had him take it, then dropped him off at school but I did go inside an warn alert them. This is so they can note any changes in behaviors or mood and help us get just the right dosage and give us the necessary feedback needed during the critical school hours. I was warned of mood change likely to happen after school and I was relieved to find him ever so chatty as he entered the car to go home today. He's always quite chatty but something was different...what was it? I couldn't put my finger on it but definitely something...then I notice he's moving his mouth differently. Why I don't know but as he spoke, I watched, he just moved his mouth differently. Like he only wanted to move his bottom lip for some reason...? Anyway, I was glad to find that he was still my Gage after the first dose of meds.

He exclaimed what a great day he'd had. He couldn't wait to go back tomorrow and the day after and the day after, he just did so much work, and he was so excited.......okay, that's definitely unusual.

We get home and he goes straight for the computer, not too unusual but generally he prefers to play outside first. He sat...at MY the family computer for over an hour when I decided ENOUGH, he had to get up. Wow, he's never sat there, um, anywhere for that long. He had a complete meltdown. Like no other I've ever seen in my entire life. Something's wrong. It took me like 15 minutes to calm him down which seemed like 75 but when it was over, it was over. He calmed down, ate a few bites of dinner and we talked about what and why this was all happening. He's now outside playing.

I figured out what was different about the after school conversation on the ride home. It lasted the whole 10 minutes home but after I had time to take it all in I realized...it was all one story. It was 10 minutes about what happened at P.E. Usually it's like 20, 30 sec. stories but this was all related, all one story, very detailed. Hmmmmmmm, to be continued!

Not sure if it's about to rain, or if the skies are just clearing.

Yea that's right, he's jumping "ramps"....my mother's gonna love this, lol

Tomorrow we go to the pediatrician to discuss possible meds for Gage's ADHD. Who knew that a deaf child's excessive talking (among many other symptoms) would lead us to seek medication! And really his excessive talking hasn't much to do with it, but his inability to complete the simplest tasks w/out having to be physically guided it a huge concern. He can find 20 distractions just on his way to the bathroom to brush his teeth before we walk out of the door for school so I find myself physically guiding him there because otherwise we end up shouting after the fourth reminder that he's on his way to brush his teeth.

And there's nothing to caption here, it's just Gage strumming the guitar. I begged him to sing and he said he could not risk his friends seeing it and declined, though he really wanted to. He loves hearing guitars! You may notice his music has calmed a bit since he became bilateral.

Good thing I'll always have THIS though, shhh! lol

...for new parents of hearing impaired kids

I'm getting ready in a few weeks to do another presentation for Alabama's Early Intervention. I decided to go back through my blog and read some older posts for inspiration. I pulled out several and have broke them down into categories, videos, new parents, funny stories, etc. Today I'm gonna post the ones for new parents. These stories may or may not help you new parents, with the emotions we go thru when our child is diagnosed with hearing loss. Hopefully they'll help and I'll put up more later. Some of these may have symbolism and if you don't get it now, you will later when you've climbed your first mountain!


The Black Out-Freak Out Dec. '08-When Brook woke up to blackness, no hearing, no vision!

The Carwash- Nov '08-When I learned what it must be like to be a deaf child going thru a car wash

The Sparrow-Nov '08- A fictional short story w/symbolism...when someone finally listens to what you've been saying

Tasting the Clouds-Nov'08-written a few days after The Sparrow w/related content

The 1 1/2 hr conversation-July '09 tells of fire safety w/deaf children

The Thrift Store-Aug '09tells of the non stop talking of my deaf child and the listening abilities of my other deaf child...also about good thrift store bargains for therapy

Advocating for Themselves- Sept '09- means just what the title says

Three Wishes-Oct '09 recent story of how a deaf child views himself

ADHD and hearing loss

Yes, that is my child upside down, a common sight around the Blakely home, after all he is a young boy and he has significant ADHD. I may post on this again after I finish reading all the information the ADHD psychologist gave me after his evaluation of Gage. I noticed several times it was noted that he was very talkative. That may have surprised him since Gage is deaf and didn't learn to speak well until after he received his first cochlear implant when he was three and a half. He noted that during much of the testing, Gage was constantly talking and telling little stories, some were true stories, others were fictional or fantasy type stories. So testing him was very difficult. I feel for the teacher! I was his teacher for most of the year last year, I know how hard it is!!!

At this point Gage is considered of average intelligence. He said he didn't believe these to be his true scores because it was obvious that his ADHD affected his testing, which is why we were there, not necessarily to measure his intelligence at this point...but we can come back for that or have our school do it (the IQ tests). Does he feel Gage's scores will change dramatically, not necessarily, but he does believe that Gage should be tested AFTER his ADHD is stable for around four weeks. We are going Tues. to discuss meds with our pediatrician. The psychologist says that Gage scored average to high average range on basic academic skills like reading, spelling, math. And get this, he also scored high average range for word pronunciation, yeah, the deaf kid!!

I wish you could've seen that video of Gage, when the doc left the room for 15 min. and had him do some "school work". He did good (just fidgety and out of his seat, but he tried to really do the work at first) until the eight minute mark, then it all went haywire! He was making faces at the camera, out of his seat, not on task at all, left the room....but he does feel like Gage will respond well to the meds and he assured me that the meds should not affect his personality, just his ability to concentrate and stay on task...more on this later!

that's just great!

When Gage was born deaf, we found out that our supposedly fantastic BCBS insurance that the company I worked for provided us with, had NO HEARING BENEFITS! That's just great I thought, but we made it, we struggled, we survived, we're good now.



Now I find out that our BCBS insurance that my husband's work provides us with, doesn't cover ADHD, that's just great! Again, we'll make it, we'll struggle, but we'll survive.



But I have to say with ALL this child has had done medically in his past, we've been lucky. We now get his ci audiology taken care of courtesy of our insurance and they've helped us out tremendously with all his surgeries, therapies, MRIs, CTs, medications, etc. So I can't complain too much.



Today we got report cards...Gage's lowest grade was a 75 and he had mostly As and Bs, and Brook did well (surprisingly) also and had all S's(satisfactory) other than one N(eeds to improve). Now without the sarcasm, that's just great! woohoo!

Update on the Patient

The patient is fine, just a quick update for ya. I have neosporin on the surgery sites here but maybe you can kinda tell. It looks great, healing well, he'll be back in school tomorrow...and since I'll be subbing there (special ed again, yeah!) I'm gonna let him come in there w/me during P.E. Not necessary but just to keep him from getting bumped tomorrow, he can come in my room and do his homework, he was out 2 days and I'm sure they won't mind him doing some make up work w/me instead of P.E. for the one day. He only needed a little ibuprofen last night, he said he didn't need it but I could tell he was trying to keep his cheek still, and he said, "as long as it don't move it's fine." (so I gave him some anyway) And I'm so glad he has a sense of humor about the whole thing, he already told his friend "L" who called to check on him that he had a third ear removed and joked with her about it. I'll have to tell his surgeon (and pal) that he didn't even remember talking to him yesterday. When we left there yesterday Gage said, "Hey, where's Dr. Woolley?" I guess he wanted to chat but I did inform him that Dr. W was there, and did come check on him in recovery and gave him the thumbs up, but sorry Extreme ENT, he doesn't remember!

The boy with three "ears"

...and not one of them work! Just when you think you've heard it all, we find out that the thing removed from our child's face was where an ear actually tried to form as he was growing in my belly! The doc did a fabulous job (as usual) and removed this "ear" off of his jaw line and he had to dig down about two inches to get it all, it had grown inside his cheek. Gage was a trooper and said "That didn't take long, I feel like I've visited Mandy (his audiologist) and left with a band aid." The doctor removed the hump in front of Gage's ear also which was extra skin left over from when they tied the pre-auricular tags off with strings at birth (those tags simply fell off after a couple of weeks). Oh, and I know he's too big for the toddler toys but no one cared if he rode in that, it occupied him during the 30 min wait pre-surgery.

On the way down there he was getting a little nervous and said, "So what kind of surgery do I have when I turn 9?" I informed him that hopefully he could go a year or two without any surgery and take a break for a while. All his dental work and jaw distraction stuff will fall next in line I suppose.

the tags removed are just below the print

He should just have a couple of small scars where he had surgery today, we already discussed this with him...his dad told him that chicks dig scars.

I told him this morning that when people see others with scars, it lets them know they have a history, a past, an interesting story to tell about how they earned those scars...scars are cool. Today when Brook got off the bus, I heard him tell B, "Scars are cool, it means they've had something interesting happen."

Speaking of Brook, apparently her batteries ran down right before school got out, she couldn't get her processors to turn back on so they sent an older kid to ride with her and help her out since she rode home in silence. We fixed them when she got home, I think she changed battery cages, and not the batteries. They work now. And I know, I know, I didn't want to send her on the bus but had too, I wasn't sure I'd get home in time to do car pick up.

Three Wishes

Today I took Gage to the ADHD Psychologist. This was his first meeting with Gage to observe the ADHD issues we've previously talked to him about. His IQ testing is at a later date. Anyway, today's appointment is just one day before he has yet another medical intervention to remove a skin tag (extra skin growth) from his face. I kinda knew what was going to take place today, a lot of talking, a lot of observing Gage doing various tasks, including math and other school work.

My husband and I had been afraid to even begin all this with Gage because we "knew" we'd be picked apart as parents, open ourselves up for major criticism, finding our faults and having them displayed right in front of us, and then actually paying (a lot!!) to have all this information. Did we really want to hear this? But we decided this was something we needed help on (ADHD) and we felt it was important enough to invest our money in our own child's health and happiness and do what was best for him, since we were sure he would certainly benefit from the visit(s).

After Gage had been back there with the doctor for almost an hour, the doctor came in to get me, so we could speak in private. This always concerns me for good reason and if you know our history and our complete story, you'll know why! So he takes me back into this area, telling me to keep my voice down, he didn't want Gage to accidentally hear me and have an excuse to come out of the room (where he was left to do some "work" to see if he could complete it unsupervised). With a confused and concerned look he says, "Gage told me something and I have to ask...did he have to call the cops before?" If you know this story, you're probably already smiling, if not, click here. He tells me a very interesting story (I won't go into details 'cause it's not even important) but it ended with Gage being a hero for the day when he saved us all. Anyway, I told him the real story and he got a good chuckle out of it.

Then he tells me this...He says that he was talking to Gage and he asked him if he were magic and could grant Gage three wishes, what would he wish for. For some reason my usual plump face full of dimples fell flat right at that moment. I began watching the doctor because I could no longer hear him. I knew this was it. This is what it all came down to. It appeared the doctor was trying to get Gage to talk about his deafness or his cochlear implants or his syndrome, some of the things that make him unique. I could feel my neck get warm as my blood pressure rose, afraid I was about to hear the news a mother never wanted to hear. My hands shook as my glances shifted around the room trying to occupy my brain with anything other than what my head was telling me. Was he gonna tell me that Gage didn't like being the only deaf kid in his class? Was he gonna say something even worse that would break my heart in two, like maybe he wanted to behave better so his teachers and his mama and daddy didn't get so upset with him? Was he gonna say that he felt Gage might be mistreated by his peers or feel out-of-place somewhere or even worse, feel out-of-place everywhere?

"Just say it!" I wanted to scream as he closed his "forewarning", so I thought...
My mind entered back into the conversation as I could see he was trying to politely tell me he assumed Gage would mention his deafness in his three wish request....
...but instead he tells me, "His three wishes were...he wants a dune buggy, he wants a new four wheeler, and he wants to be a better swimmer." The doctor gives Gage another opportunity to express any concerns he has about being different and tells Gage "suppose you already had all three of those, what would you wish for then?" and again got very normal-age appropriate answers! He said after a while of "other stuff" he asked Gage about his processors, what they were for, and if they hurt? really anything that might spark any concern in that area, and he told me that he (the doc) felt like Gage was like...yea, I have implants, I don't hear without them, I can hear with them, and that's that. It's just part of who he is, not a huge deal.

I felt my chest rise and fall again as I once again started to breathe, not realizing I'd been holding my breath this whole time. I had no idea he was going to ask that question, and I had no idea how Gage would respond to such. So I'm very proud of my little guy! And happy for him, that he's very secure, very open with us. We've never tried to hide much of anything from him and we've tried to teach him to advocate for himself, but unsure if we were doing the right thing. It's nice to have a doctor look at me, and assure me he seems very happy and mentally healthy, when I was afraid he might tell me differently.

All that work over the last few years, of not just preparing my child for the world but preparing the world for my child, has paid off. Patiently changing those hard stares, pointed fingers, and other non verbal and verbal forms of ignorance...to raised eyebrows, smiles and conversations and I now have one of my three wishes....to have healthy and happy children!

Today I went to "work"...

...and I loved it. I hate to even call it work, I want to say the special ed teacher had to stay home and she let me come talk to her students while she was out. I really enjoyed them all and I enjoyed helping them with their work. Gage got to come in and do a math sheet with me and I got to eat lunch with him too. A little boy in his class said to me, "Do y'all really have a pet alligator?" I tried to not laugh out loud, but I said, "Did Gage say we had one? Do you believe we have one?" He told me that Gage says we have one in the pond down the road. Interesting.

Brook must have had a rough day, she was a little croupy (the story of our life) and I had to give her some benedryl this morning but she's fine. She came in from school and got frustrated when Gage wouldn't play fair and let her have a turn with the kite. She exclaimed, "I hate my job!!"

She also had a bad day because she came home in the batteries I had sent her to school in (rechargeables). She was supposed to change them out with the microlinks when she got to school so her FM would work, guess she went all day without it.

If you haven't checked out Jessica Chaikof's article in Teen Ink, click here! I know mom Melissa is very proud as is older sister Rachel. I've had the pleasure of meeting that family and it's no surprise to me that Jessica had her article selected.

Friday is Gage's day for his surgery on his face...hope it's as quick and easy as we all imagine it will be. Thursday we go to the ADHD psychologist.

And for your viewing pleasure.......

the hay ride.......

Laugh all you want, he's a spider, and I'm NO ARTIST!! My husband ended up dropping him off at his friend's birthday party yesterday 'cause I was on the couch, freezing, sneezing, and sore throat...not feeling great. I decided to go pick him up myself, along with Brook, after I rested and had my hot chocolate because I wanted Brook to see all the fun costumes. I felt much better after a shower, and we go over to the little boy's house and it's 8 pm, and it's dark, and scary, and their yard is covered in orange glowing lights...

We were just in time to go down the haunted trail. Brook latched onto Gage and there was about 15 people between me and my kids as we entered the haunted woods! Very creepy...I could see strobe lights, I could see monsters lurking w/frightening masks, I then hear a chainsaw up ahead and people screaming...a black flash darts through the crowd and it's Gage going backwards to find his best friend...trouble is, he left his sister...with the chainsaw man! The lady ahead of me, bends down, and all I can hear above the roar of the massive power tool, is "well, we'll find him. She's looking for Gage." A strobe light flashes and reflect on a tiny pair of spectacles, and I know those tears when I see them...they belong to my Brooklyn. I say "Oh, she's mine" and take her hand and luckily we are at the end of the trial so we exit to find a truck with a trailer parked there...the hayride is next.

All the children pile onto the bed of hay, so pumped from horror they experienced in the forrest behind them. I place both my children on the loose hay and I can't help but tell them both..."are your processors on good?" They both say "yes" and the parents must go backwards thru the trail to get back to the house. Three other moms ask if I want to ride in the surburban and follow the kids on their hay ride. "Yes," I say and away we go. This was a lengthy hay ride that went miles over the deserted country roads. The glowing light from the moon and our flashing lights lit our path between the hay riders and this giant SUV. Only the occasional glowing eyes from a nocturnal creature could be assured, the rest was left up to the moon, and the dirt roads named after people who lived on them. We could hear the children chanting, "we're not scared" with the faux confidence in their voices, surely to be replaced by screams as soon as participating teens dressed in costumes came out from the thick woods that seemingly swallowed the dirt roads, with a throat of blackness we entered at will.

I couldn't help but imagine my kids, having the time of their lives up ahead of me, probably more scared than anyone else, due to the lack of hearing in all that chatter of 20 kids talking at once. The two supervising adults were keeping everyone seated and safe, but my eyes watched the pavement for any fallen processors, and I sat ready to exit and retrieve should I see anything. This was one time I felt comfort in knowing we'd selected black for Gage and pink for Brook as processor color, no flesh colored equipement to hunt for in shreded hay or on the dusty dirt we traveled on. I also took comfort in them both being bilateral so they got to enjoy this even more, with the ghosts and monsters coming at them from all sides, they could better tell which way run!

We all had fun, and the kids will be talking about this for weeks to come, so glad we were invited, so glad we attended. Great party Noah, and happy birthday!!

"She can't hear that's why!"

We had the kids' little cousin Kendall spend the night with us last night. What a hoot, this kid is. She's hearing so I did find myself telling even my coffee pot to be quiet this morning when it began percolating. I let them watch an inappropriate movie (Pirates of the Caribbean) after all, I wouldn't be the cool aunt if I didn't! These two passed out last night at 9:30 at were back up ready to play at 5:45!! Woohoo, party at the Blakely's, lol. She needed a story last night before she fell asleep and this lass don't want to hear about fairy tales, she wants to hear ghost stories, or stories about all the "i-coties" (coyotes) around here. She normally cries when she's away from her mama like this but she only said once, "Val, I want my mama," and I quickly said "oh, she's asleep and if you hurry and go to sleep too, we can go back home in the morning," and she never shed a tear! She asked me if we might hear some "i-coties" in the night and I told her I had the sleep machine on that sounded like rain so maybe they wouldn't wake us up. She said, "They won't wake Brook up, she can't hear that's why!" Gotta love her, she's so advanced to be a four year old. We'll see how everyone is getting along in about five hours when the sleep deprivation is bound to set in.

I did hear Kendall when they were playing dolls say, "Go get this baby's implants." Gage has a Halloween themed birthday party tonight so look for those pics later!

I'm Not Giving In

Ugh! So I'm telling myself that I'm not giving in. I've stuck it out this long for the sole purpose of advocating that my children have every right to ride the bus home! However, every...single...day... they get off the bus angry and in pure misery. The noise level alone is enough to set a hearing impaired child over the edge from time to time. However, yesterday, Gage came came home wearing one processor. He says an older kid ripped it off his head (they are taped on!). Almost everyday they complain of kids getting in their face and screaming....(are we making fun of the deaf kids perhaps?) Well, I decided that since I'm home for now anyway, I'll just go pick them up. Should I actually work from time to time and not be able to pick them up, I'll send a note for them to ride the bus then....but for now, I don't think they are ready (the bus drivers, my children, nor me either!) I've tried to get the kids to handle the smaller issues themselves and I've already called the very first week they rode and it's no better, but technically there is no reason for them to ride right now anyway.

In other news, my sister in law gets a big woop woop today! I get a text that says, "There is a bilateral boy here at the doc's office, know him?" and come to find out it was the little boy I've been blogging about at Bama Ears, click here to read their latest entry! But my sister in law gets big props for even knowing and correctly using the term bilateral!!! Go Christie!

We are down to one week (next Friday) and Gage will have his little surgery...getting the extra skin removed from his jaw line, not very noticeable but a nuisance. And the day before on Thur. we go to the psychologist about ADHD.