Spring Breakin' It

So what have The Blakelys been up to? It is best to do this in picture form. They were recently seen for an ear "tune up". Brook is still on a once per year or as needed basis. Gage is still as needed but seems to be going every 9 weeks or so which is a huge jump from our monthly visits from previous years.

What else is new? We've spent the first three days of our Spring Break in either Dental or Orthodontic offices (no surprise there), trying to get some things taken care of while we are all out of school. No word on when they think Gage will (or if it is out of the plan) need his jaw distraction. We are still in the infant stages of Orthodontia.

I no longer work at the elementary school, I have moved over to the high school. Brooklyn will be over there next school year so it made sense for me to go ahead while the opportunity was there to make the transition. It wasn't easy but everyone has seemed to have adjusted well.

We still love being at home and wouldn't trade it for any place on earth. We love the sunrises and sunsets, we love to spend time in the woods with campfires, four wheeling, and just enjoying family and friends.

Brook still loves babies (but real ones now, not dolls) and will scoop one up anywhere she can find one. I see lots of babysitting in her future as she approaches the teenage years. Gage is obsessed with building things. He is always, everyday, in his shed working on furniture or handmade guitars.

We lost our beloved dog Marley in a tragic accident so the husband adopted two puppies (both Lab mixes) and they could not be more adorable. The kids really love them!

Next on our list...Brooklyn tries out for JV Volleyball in May. We wish her the best of luck. She already worries about how she will keep her implants on as she jumps around the court. We know there are many sport options that can render this, she just needs something to worry about (smile).

Have a Blessed Spring Break

Her "New Ears" Audiogram

Her last audiogram in 2013 w/her Freedoms

...and you can see her Speech Reception was at 20 db...meaning she can hear speech softer than that looking at the chart but not clearly enough to understand it until you reach 20 decibels.

Now with her new N6's...

 

 

She still hears very well with her CIs but can hear clearly at 5 db in the sound proof booth. That's a soft whisper!

 

We all know that in any type of noise that will dramatically decrease her ability to hear speech but we are very pleased with her new ears and the main thing is...she too is very pleased with them and that's the most important!!

 

She will be starting 5th grade on August 7th and as her team leaders, we have agreed that she can try the classroom(s) without her FM. She does NOT want it and this is the same grade Gage quit using his as well. We sought the advice from her Hearing Impaired Teacher and she agrees we could give it a try. If she needs it, we'll give it back to her no problem. I work at the school so I'm just a short walk away if she needs me.

She's Not Been Approved

We've waited (almost) a month now since we had our fundraiser, since we sent in our initial paperwork, and finally we have a response...she has not been approved (YET). We are just now getting to that approved/not approved point. I did receive a figure (a total) on the amount of out of pocket expenses for the processors and WE HAVE ENOUGH FOR TWO!!!! Hallelujah.

I quickly responded with "Move forward, move forward. We have it!" Several thousand dollars is a lot of money but Praise The Lord He's seen fit for her to get two new ears, not just one. Now they are sending the "okay" to my insurance company to proceed with paperwork and when they approve her..(yes, I'm claiming it, V-vi-ctory!)...we will place our order. I already have her an appointment AEA week in hopes we will have them in our hands by then, and ready to TURN THEM ON!

And what's even better? We have enough to buy two new "ears", the accessories she wants, extra batteries, the aqua-packs for swimming, and maybe even enough left over cover the clinic bill once she goes in for her MAPping session to have them turned on and in tip top working order! Covered-in-full. If, and that's a big IF, anything were to be left over after I get her all set up, I will buy a few extra parts for Gman's CIs so he will continue to be in excellent shape and we should be set for a while!

We could not have done all that on our own, so thanks to HIM, HE guided our little community and provided a way. Thanks to those who followed HIS lead! My two PTO friends who worked so hard, the two wonderful families for singing, and every last person who donated money or food for the event or even prayers! I had one lady hand me a check one day and with tears in her eyes she told me that after her daddy died (recently) she had a little bit left over and instead of buying herself the earrings she wanted....she wanted to give it to my B to help with new ears. She said she couldn't stand the thought of her needing new ears and knowing she was spending money on "bling" so she wanted to give. Warmed my heart!

Because of this wonderful community, this rural, small town big-country place...it looks like my baby girl will be hearing better in no time! Thank you all. B is smitten!

Not so Good

Well, we thought we were doing great.....however, after MAPping both children today, we popped them into the booth and obviously from the chart, they hear great with their cochlear implants...
(You need them to hear within or above the speech banana if at all possible which both of my kids do, thankfully)

...the bad news? They don't hear great in noise. In fact, you can see from the numbers over to the side, that they both drop to less than 1/2 of clear understood speech. Brook uses an FM in class and she does really well with it, however, little man has abandoned this as of fifth (really fourth) grade. So, he's trying a noise program right now (which he doesn't love) but he'll either adjust, use the FM again for class, or settle. I'm hoping the new program will help him out. I can't imagine only getting 46% of the information all day long.

On a lighter note, this is the difference in words they create outside the booth door while waiting on each other........

She innocently works away at Bat, Sunroof, and many other common words, while he is completely amused by his words Spaz, and turds...(boys)

Brooklyn is good for another year while Gman will go back in a month, see how the new program is working and we'll put him in the booth with this program and see if he can up his numbers any. Brooklyn doesn't seem to be that bothered in ordinary situations and since she has an FM at school, I'm not as worried about her numbers.

The joys of Goldenhar

According to the latest data (collected by me today) Brooklyn has 24 teeth, which is probably normal, she is now nine years old. Gage on the other hand has a total of 19. There are a couple of more that will likely come through but at this point I don't see past 21 teeth in his near future and the ones he does have, aren't actually full healthy teeth. They are called pegs. Despite his wishes to be able to go to the dentist and just walk out with a cleaning, that simply doesn't happen for him. There's always talks of other procedures, other appointments, other doctors, and future surgeries.

This is all a direct result of having been born with Goldenhar Syndrome. This is sometimes referred to as Oculo-Auriculo-Vertebral Spectrum. This spectrum covers several categories of people and those with Goldenhar Syndrome are some of the most severely affected of this particular group (read more here). There is no known cause of this syndrome at this time and it actually took us years to reach this final verdict, having floated between this and CHARGE syndrome and Branchial Arch Syndrome for his first years of life. I can't stress how much easier it is to walk into a doctor's office or E.R. for that matter and name a syndrome rather than say, "They don't know what syndrome he has yet." Even though it is a very rare syndrome, they can at least take a minute, google it if necessary and have an idea of what they are dealing with. Along with severe ear issues, ADHD, and dental problems, he has a dermoid in his eye, which is similar to the skin tags he was born with, only we haven't had this removed since it's unnoticeable at this point. It is much like a skin tag, only under his eyelid, unseen unless he pulls his lid back. (I completely freaked out and went into an all out panic when I discovered it when we were making faces at each other one day when he was a toddler.) He has his vestibular issues we've grown used to and his slow growth.

He hasn't had an easy road and never really will compared to many of his peers, but he does amazingly well. He has friends, he is bright, he is lazy, he speaks well, he listens when he wants to, he misbehaves, in other words, he is "normal". He will still have the jaw distraction surgery after puberty sets in, and we can only pray that nothing unexpected and more serious pops up to catch us off guard. He certainly isn't looking forward to having his jaw bone lengthened and wearing a metal contraption around his face, but we hope that it will help align his teeth better so they don't wear down as quickly. One day, he'll likely wear dental implants for the missing teeth and his mouth will likely look prettier than mine but until then, he'll just have to use what he has, eat softer foods that require less chewing (I'll take his steak!) and he'll continue to grow as big as The Lord meant for him to be.

Even though he awoke with 22 teeth and had three removed by the dentist today, he's in good spirits. I fixed him a large peanut butter/vanilla milkshake for lunch. He had his ears tuned up last week, and his next appointment will be in 6 weeks for another tune-up. Until then, he'll be hunting, playing, inventing, schooling, and being a boy....ahhh, the good life!

why match socks??

Lil Updates

I have become the terrible blogger. My kids have even updated their blogs and I have not! I'm telling you, between my two jobs (sub-teaching, accounting office), home, PTO, church, kids, husband...basically my busy and fun-filled life, I barely have time to sit at the computer anymore.

Brook: We are still hoping to upgrade her "ears" around March or so. She needs *and deserves* an upgrade since she's had these processors for over six years...and if you have kids, you know how much wear/tear these things go through in six years no matter how well you take care of them! She is also about to have a birthday...the day after Christmas but we celebrated early and had a very small pizza party Saturday. She wanted to invited EVERYONE but unfortunately that wasn't allowed and the ones she did invite got struck by the nasty virus that is going around the school....she almost didn't make it herself but got well in time to go for pizza w/a few family and friends.

Gage: He is great. He's a boy (lol). He has not used an FM system all year long (at his request) and his grades are pretty average now of what we would expect from him. He enjoys school, and he's really enjoying church these days. He wakes up each morning with his ADHD in full swing but right when I'm about to pull him down from the cabinets, walls, rooftop *lol*, he'll brighten my day by belting a church hymn from his breath and my day totally changes. We work closely with our doctor to manage his ADHD and we seem to have it under control for the most part.

One of his batteries died yesterday in class and went for a few hours with one "ear" but made it fine. I was at work and he said he didn't want to bother me so he just "made-do" for the remainder of the day. He is due for MAPping just after Christmas while they are on break from school and Brook will go for her yearly in January!

That's it from the Blakelys. Have a very merry Christmas!!

Blakely Updates

I think my child blogs more than I do now. That's what happens when you have two jobs, two kids, a husband and a wonderfully fun place to live! I keep extremely busy these days between all of that and PTO and church so I have my excuses for not blogging.

We finally have Brook's FM working again on both ears. She's back on track. Even though she's only in third grade, I never have to tell her to do homework, she just does it. The other kid is a different story and his grades reflect that! He just got his ears MAPped again so he's hearing better for now and will go back next month as usual. His nose bleeds have picked up once again. We were supposed to get that cauterized before, during another surgery, but we never had it written down for the surgeon to do, just a verbal thing, so with Gman's complications it got overlooked. We may end up having to take him back one of these days for a little procedure to fix that. He hates nose bleeds.

We are excited about Thanksgiving this week, and look forward to family time. I've actually been put in charge of two casseroles for the first time ever so let's hope they are edible. I'll be gone ALL DAY LONG on Friday for my annual shopping trip and we plan to put up our Christmas tree this weekend! I have so much to be thankful for and everyday is kinda like Thanksgiving for me so say your prayers, and let HIM know what you are thankful for this year!

She needs new ears

Gman had his much needed MAPping session this past week. I was in survival mode and trying to get well from a wild form of crud that unleashed inside my head and lungs, so I'm just now feeling bloggy!

We had hoped this tax season (around March or so) that we would have been able to upgrade Brook's processors. She's had them for years and they've been out of warranty for quite some time. However, with all of Gman's surgeries, we have always had extra parts to make do if something broke. We just never got around to it and the cost of such an upgrade is very steep. Like just under three grand steep (that is just a guess-our insurance will cover 80% of an upgrade-they are just under 20 grand for two ears-but we would have a trade-in credit with two of her old processors from what I can tell...

The bottom line is that by this next tax season, we will have enough saved back to upgrade the child to new ears. That is going to be hard with Christmas around the corner but she needs them, she wants them, and she deserves them. I am very excited about it and will be praying that we accomplish this and get that baby some new ears!!

She goes in for her annual MAPping in January and we will know more about the finances, and possible upgrade at that time. Gman is still going every six weeks at this point and will be MAPped again before our Thanksgiving break. He needed lots of changes on both ears this time, and he did so well...he actually earned a prize!! Blakelys never earn prizes there (they just give up) so that was a real treat!

We are torn between going to the 300th cochlear implant celebration next Sunday with The HEAR Center to the ever-so-awesome McWane Center or the Pumpkin Patch with our church. We signed up for both and if it rains we have decided to attend the science center (my kids have been recently already) and if not...Pumpkin Patch here we come!

The Hungry Child

playing on the cabin's porch

So we are faced with our ADHD challenges as we begin this school year, along with his troubled hearing. He seems to be okay as far as hearing in the classroom, his teacher is male and has the perfect LOUD and STRONG voice. However, I did get a note about his staring off into space and looking around the room (which that one could be hearing related I know). He's given up on the FM system and relies on mapping alone, which is scheduled for the first week in October. I've had my concerns over the last month that his medication wasn't handling his ADHD as well as it used to so I'll have to keep a watchful eye on that situation.

He still isn't gaining much weight and hasn't crossed over the 60 pound mark yet...and he's eleven. He does eat at least one breakfast (bagel w/Nutella or something hearty) before he gets a bowl of cereal and then he sort of snacks for lunch. He barely eats dinner but does another snacking meal instead and by bedtime he's famished. He stays up an hour or so after I do eating anything he can grab (after I've fed him several hearty things before I turn in for the night). I got up at ten last night after I saw his flashlight in the kitchen. He had found something to eat and when I woke this morning there was a note that said, "Val, fix me a bagel AND a bowl of cereal first thing in the morning! I am starving." I felt sorry for him so I'll have to make sure he starts eating the hour prior to me going to bed, because Mama just can't stay up late, I turn into a monster after 8 p.m.!!

Torn Apart

We are having a major issue here in Alabama with hearing impaired children and AVT services. In the past, Early Intervention (birth-three for those who have the potential to fall 25% below peers w/out disabilities or those with actual diagnosed disabilities-for the correct definition, click here) In the past, an EI coordinator had worked in the building of our local HEAR Center where many happy children and happy parents receive services for audiology and AVT (auditory verbal therapy). This is part of Children's Hospital and a preferred clinic for many parents and in the past EI has been very supportive of their services.

To give you an idea of how they work, a child is usually diagnosed with the hospital, seen by the ENTs who specialize in hearing loss in children, get proper advice from the professionals as to their many options from sign language, cued speech, Auditory Verbal therapy vs. Speech Therapy, etc. and other options such as hearing devices like Baha, Cochlear Implants from various companies, hearing aids, and other options. For those seeking the cochlear implant route, they usually require families who are eligible to use an AVT in their office who can not only provide the proper therapy, but help the in-house Audiologists getting proper MAPping for their implants or proper adjustments for hearing aids, etc. I've personally been there when one of my children were in therapy, the AVT determined they needed to boost a certain sound for them, and all we had to do is walk across the hall, take five minutes and get that adjustment, and then go back and finish therapy. I personally found this vital for the first year or so after my kids received their hearing devices.

The AVTs are in a clinic setting, but parents go back with the child and are trained how to continue therapy outside the clinic doors, with pretend play from everything from swimming, grocery shopping, bedtime routines, almost anything you can think of using the children, parents, therapists and pretend kitchens, dolls, toys and games of just about any subject you can imagine without having to actually take you through a store, or sit through a bed time routine or going shopping with the family...very similar to the way some EI Speech Pathologist would do inside the doors of a home however not all are not trained in the Auditory approach, they are simply Pathologists. Most therapists would use the pretend play to teach the children and parents no matter what room they are actually located in. The only difference is that in the clinic, they are certified in AVT whereas most used in EI are not. My opinion is the few that have some knowledge of the AV approach can't possibly take on the additional work load for these kids for weekly therapy.

As of late, EI has determined to pull AVT from select families and justify it by saying that using the HEAR Center clinic, is not a natural environment. I just have a problem with that IF THE PARENTS who are the team leaders prefer this setting. Afterall, aren't we, as parents the child's natural environment? Aren't we attending and learning from the therapists? Aren't we doing "homework" and returning week after week with progress? Even though my family graduated therapy years ago, my heart goes out to these families who use EI and the HEAR Center and now are faced with services being pulled. The HEAR Center itself are co-creators of the group PEEPs (Parents Educating and Encouraging Parents) a state-wide parent mentoring group which I also helped develop. They are really dedicated to these kids first and foremost and knowing that EI pulling kids away from this clinic because they can't offer in-home visits is absurd to me. I feel like it is EI who needs to read the clause in IDEA Part-C which states that some kids can't get the best results from therapy in a natural environment so if the TEAM decides that it is proper to visit a clinic, so be it. At least that's the way I understood it. I also feel like removing services without the full team (especially team leaders) is also non-compliant.

Parents are also finding out that their insurances will only cover a portion of the visits that are also in limited number and come to find out EI has been billing their insurance all this time and now they are down to half a year left with very few visits left that insurance will cover. So in my opinion, EI needs to use the Federal Funds they were given to cover these visits and not bill their insurance since many of them are going to be stuck using this vital insurance and paying out of pocket to continue their certified Auditory Verbal Therapy where they CHOOSE to have it.

The good news, is that parents know this isn't right. They are fighting, they have ADAP on their side, and are already making great progress in this EI debacle. I also feel like this is a great opportunity for these families to look at the Alabama School for Hearing. My hope is that this will be an opportunity for this great school to grow. I would be great for this preschool to be able to expand and help kids younger than preschool age should these services be removed from the clinic as EI wants. That would take lots of money they don't have so I don't see that as an option right now. I'm not sure how this will all work out for them, the families, but it breaks my heart that I have bragged on how lucky we were to have deaf children in Alabama and have such wonderful coordination from all groups and services, and now see how that is falling apart.

And in case anyone from EI or the HEAR center reads this, I am basing all my info from parents....unhappy parents...not from professional opinions. I see desperation in parents who have kids that were flourishing and it's scary to know that removing services, or even reducing or compromising them in anyway, will have a negative affect on the kids. Hoping to get this all resolved soon and wishing those families the best. Always lean toward trusted professionals who keep your CHILD(REN)'s best interest at heart. These are my opinions and I do imagine if EI had proper AVTs in place that COULD go into ALL of these homes WEEKLY as many children need, I may feel differently but they do not. And I also want to stress how important that first year is of MAPping and how easy it was for us having it all there in one office. I do want to say that there are some really really great professionals inside all of these services and clinics. I do not blame the therapists at all. They have tremendous work loads and doing what they can to help and most of them have the kids best interest at heart....my concern is those not working directly with the kids....to be continued, I'm sure.

Good Luck,
Val (PEEPs)

Hot Hot Hot

It is hot hot hot here in Alabama. Might be 104 or so today and the next few days as well. We need rain rain rain!!

The kids stayed in the pool for like 3 hours yesterday. No kidding, that's the only way they could play outside! They communicate just fine without their devices and quite frankly I think they enjoy the quiet.

We've been at revival all week at our church. They LOVED it. And they behaved so well! Brook went to work with me each day for about three hours during the mornings, then Gage had a dentist appointment on Monday. He has one tooth that is very loose but he agreed to pull it himself. Then he has two more in the back that his mouth just won't let go of, so he's scheduled for the 9th to have them pulled by the dentist....laughing gas here we come...lol

He also had mapping this week. We made it through that appointment and have NOTHING scheduled for next week but good ole family time (and one b'day party)!!

MAP Day

Whew. That's all I have left to say about the MAPping appointment. Besides, I've already blogged it all HERE.

But Summer Break has started here for the Blakely kids and aside from the little incidences with today appointment, we are enjoying our time away...from almost everything.

At our appointment, we met a cute little dude from The Bell Center who had just graduated but is attending the summer program AND we saw a little girl and her mom who attended one of our PEEPs in the Park events last year. We have been wondering about her all this time. She is a cochlear implant candidate but the family still isn't convinced or ready to make that type of commitment. Loved catching up with her. We had hoped to run into another family that blogs, but we missed them, darn.

Little man is hearing better and should be good til next month while Brook will probably get a quick tune-up before school starts but she only needs a once a year MAPping these days. Fantastic. We discussed going back to the Geneticist office who may or may not be able to determine a cause or link between the two kids' hearing loss now.

Ears, ears, ears

Yes, I will schedule an ear tune up an hour and a half away for child #1 and be back to school before 1 p.m. for child #2's IEP. Crazy I know but it worked.

We got the boy all fixed up. He sat drawing, rolling his eyes, making snide remarks, etc etc, as his wonderful Audiologist MAPped BOTH ears, fixed the MIX for his FM so he can possibly hear his classmates better when the mic is in use, returned Brook's FM system to me in less than an hour and a half. So the four and a half hour trip put us back at school 10 minutes early for Brook's IEP. Woop! Got her all squared away and ready for 3rd grade next year.

We have determined that Gman is still going to need MAPping monthly. We tried to stretch it to five or six weeks and he's reading lips by then. He's ALWAYS needed monthly MAPping so this is nothing new. He just "special" as he likes to say, when trying to one-up his sister, lol.

Bullet Updates

Sorry, I'm not a lazy blogger (maybe I am) but we've just been really really really busy. I can't wait until Summa time and we have less on our plates. Everyone seems to stay booked up when I work a lot (and I am) so we all have to pitch in and play catch-up when we get home which leaves little computer time for me.

• Brook's IEP is scheduled for Thursday-I see no problems with that, nor am I nervous or anything. Just a meeting with the teacher(s) and I see them around a lot anyway so I'm not scared.
• Gage is scheduled for MAPping before her IEP meeting. He needs it. Even his teacher says he's reading lips to get by. I will also get his mix adjusted on his processors so that he can use that again. He needs to hear the teacher and other students and right now he only hears her.

• We have our PEEPS in the Park event on Saturday. Yay. I get to meet up with a lot of other families from AL with kids with hearing loss.
• Can you believe my baby boy is about to be 11 ?? Just a couple of more weeks!! Say it ain't so!

Bullet Updates

We have been so busy around the Blakely home. The biggest news is that the husband will become "Mr. Mom" for a few weeks as he recovers from minor hand surgery that will actually prevent him from working his real job for a while. He has no idea what he is in for.....and that's right, he gets to have them for Spring Break which is a whole week off from school at the end of the month! Here are some quick updates on the Blakely kiddos.

• Gage finally has mapping this week, and yes, the husband gets to handle that. He'll do great! He's done it before by himself so they'll basically have a DUDE DAY afterwards until it's time to pick up little sis from school. I am going to ask that they change his mix on his processors so he can use the FM and still hear the students in the room speak as well as the teacher. Right now it's too low and he can't hear what's going on.
• Kids are doing great in school, no real concerns there, they have friends, make good grades, get in trouble (occasionally *wink*)...the basics.
• We are getting new neighbors. The children's grandparents are moving on and have sold their house and we look forward to getting to know our new "friends".

I had a Mama/Son day today and naturally, we spent it muddin', riding four wheelers, exploring, chopping, and anything else he wanted to do. I'm so glad I'm still healthy enough to get out and be a kid when it really counts!

Blakely Updates

Can you tell it's tax season? I am usually a substitute teacher so I'm used to having off days which I use to play blog catch up but those "off" days are filled at the accounting office this time of the year so I rarely see them anymore. I'm usually at one place or another. I have just a few quick bullets for the Blakely kids and more on the way later...

• Brook will be performing as a Chipette tonight singing "Single Ladies". Yes, my deaf child will dance with her two buddies from church to music that she has been gifted to hear, and sing with a voice that God chose to give her even though He didn't have to. I hope to capture it on video and post a small section of later!
• Brook's FM mic is still out. She needs it, I hope it comes in next week so she can hear better in the classroom. She is doing fine without it, her teacher is fantastic but she needs her mic.
• Gage doesn't use his mic. I'm gonna talk to his Audiologist and see about changing his mix when the mic is on. They do a lot of class participation. He can hear his teacher fine, and clarity is much better with the mic. However, during class discussions or when someone else answers or asks a question, he can't hear them due to the mix on his processors. We have always had it set where the teacher is prominent and background is highly reduced but we are at a point where we need a more even mix so that he gets equal parts teacher and peers.
• He goes in a couple of weeks for Mapping again. He's always went monthly but we didn't have a Feb. appointment set up so he goes in March. He's already starting to need it too. For some reason, maybe his ear malformations, he can't "hold" a good map for more than five weeks. He never has. He's always went in monthly for mapping since he was three. Brook is at a point where she can go practically yearly, and for the common ci user, this is probably average at this point. She's had her's for 5 years now.
• Otherwise, the kids are doing great. They are talking, screaming, fighting, loving, "going out" with people (lol), hanging with friends, singing, dancing, riding four wheelers, going to birthday parties....basically the average kids.

Bullet Updates

HAPPY NEW YEAR

So I'm a little late on that one. Our Christmas break has ended and we are all back to work and school (thank goodness!) I have so many blogs, I'm lucky to get this one updated each week but I'm doing my best. My busiest blog or the one I spend more time on these days is The Road.

• We got report cards, Brook made A-B Honor Roll and is doing fabulous. Gage's grades have picked up, he wasn't doing ANY homework, but has gotten better. He had a couple of C's but the rest were A's and B's and he is doing really good also. In his elder state (grade 5) he's more into the social aspect of school rather than studying and concentrating on grades.
• Both kids had a good MAPping session on Tuesday. We managed to get all four ears "tuned up" and we put them in the booth. Gage drops about 25% in his ability to recognize the (adult) vocab list when background noise is added in. Brook has about a 20% drop when background noise is added with her. The Audiologist states this just confirms they still need their FMs in school. B's is out for repairs right now but she'll get it back really soon.
• Brook goes for her 8 year check up next week....whew. Who wants to help hold her down for shots (should she need any)? She is way stronger than most people and it usually takes several of us but we get the job done.
• The kids are at "that age" now. With Gage turning 11 soon and Brook being 8 year old girl, they don't really play together like they used to. This can make for some major drama at times and quite frankly I just keep them as far away from each other as possible. We cherish those days or moments when they do get along, and know that this too shall pass.
• We were filmed in attempts to help with the new video for our local HEAR Center. I assumed it would be all about the kids, and it was, but they wanted ME to talk. I was sweaty, I cried (and kept talking with tears streaming in an extremely high pitch voice! lol) But oh well, I haven't lost any sleep over it. Hopefully, it will be of some help to new families beginning their journey with children with hearing loss.

Bullet Updates

Just a few quickies from the Blakelys. We have been swamped with gatherings, fun stuff, church stuff, school trips, and who knows what else. I'm subbing less now and back at the accounting office part-time during tax season as I do often to help them out so they don't get behind during their busiest time of the year.

• Went on field trip with Brook's class. We had ordered reserved seating front and center but upon arrival, the teacher asked for our "special seats" and they were taken. Her teacher in the most fabulous advocating fashion got us our seats...because we needed them and she had pre-requested them way in advance! Thank you and the theater was more than happy to accommodate. Love it.
• B's FM system has a low static sound over the teacher's mic. I will address this at our next audiologist visit which is soon. Both kids will be MAPped over the Christmas-break holidays...whew, that will be a long day!
• Kids are doing well in school, socially and academically as far as I can tell. They have friends, they are treated well, and as equals, they have great teachers. We get two weeks off soon and are looking forward to it.
• I can't believe my baby is about to be EIGHT years old...for real! Although we've already celebrated it, she will turn eight the day after Christmas.
• She did well in the church Christmas play. She read her line perfectly and sang right along with the other children. Never would have guessed that eight years ago!!!

What is that clicking

Gage: "Mama, I keep hearing a clicking sound in my room. I don't know what it is."

Me: "Hmm, is it the dishwasher?" (His room is adjacent to the kitchen and the dishwasher was on)

Gage: "No, it's not that." He goes back in to listen some more. "Oh, I think it's you typing on the computer." He goes back to his room and he keeps going in and out to listen. "Nope, that's not it either. What is that sound?"

Me: I enter his room and close the door, so I can listen. When I realize what it is, I look at my child, hug him and smile at my baby boy who will kill me for calling him that. I walk over to the window, raise the blinds, and open the window. He smiled from ear to ear when he realized he could hear the gentle rain falling on the dry leaves outside. Brook came in his room and he said excitedly, "Brook!! I heard the rain!!"

Now that's a sound he hasn't heard in quite a while. He must have got a real good map last week!

HEAR Center Zoo Trip

We had a great time last Sunday at the Zoo with our HEAR Center family. The zoo hasn't changed a whole lot since I was a kid, and somehow I always forget HOW BAD IT SMELLS!! But we had big fun and we can't wait til our next PEEPs event on Nov 6.

Gage had his MAPping last week also, so he's still looking good! He's glad to have /L/ back, which he was missing on both ears. He was repeating /m/ or /n/ for /l/ but we got it all worked out!

We hope our audiologist comes back soon, not that we have any problems with the 'stand-in' one, but we miss our girl!! She's been busy having like her 14th child in 3 years....or something like that...but we look forward to seeing her again!!

Cheerleading is now over for the season...all but the final end of the year party. I'm gonna miss those practices but glad to have gained our Saturdays back so we'll be 4-wheeling all the time now.

Our school's Fall Festival is Friday, so I'll be volunteering for that ALL DAY, followed by more volunteering at a 1/2 night lock-in for the kids followed by our church Fall Festival the next day! Whew, busy but FUN weekend ahead!