WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

Some "Sideways" Sledding video

Sorry about the sideways video.  Still getting use to doing video on my camera and didn't realize that by turning it vertically it would make my video sideways!!

There's No Fun Like Snow Fun!!

Taking a ride in the sled Grandpa Jack fixed up for Michael when he was little!

 Best buddies building a snow fort!

 Shoveling and hauling snow with the sleds!

 Cause we tend to be spur of the moment people after a little while being outside I decided to take the kids sledding.  We found a nice snow pile at the pool parking lot and the kids had a great time building runs and sledding down.  The paths weren't very long, but that was okay because it meant it wasn't a long walk back to the top!!

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!!

A couple Saturdays ago we got our first "measureable" amount of snow!!  The kids were so excited to get their snow gear on and get out in it to play. 

The "Art" of Making Kringla

Before the church program on Sunday my mother in law came over so that I could try to help her learn to make Kringla.  Needless to say it was an adventure.  Turned out none of us really knew how to make the shapes correctly.  It was all good though.  We got just enough presentable ones for Christmas!!  While we were working on that the kids werer making and frosting sugar cookies.  We had made some cutout cookies earlier in the week as well!  It took a minute to figure out why Carter kept needing more dough so fast.  He was cutting out a cookie in the middle of the dough and then eating the rest that was left!! 

Church Christmas Progam

Sunday night the kids had their very first program since we started going to the Methodist Church.  They did a really good job!!  We are excited to become members of the church on January 9th!  The kids enjoyment of the services and Sunday school has shown us that the decision to move churches was a good one for our family!

DARE graduation

Jason and I attended Michael's DARE graduation this afternoon!  He seemed to really enjoy DARE and the kids seemed to relate to the officer really well!!  Although at the end they had to write an essay about what they had learned in DARE.  Michael was having a hard time and then he said "How can I write an essay when I didn't learn anything?"  I asked him how he possibly couldn't have learned anything.  He said "Well I didn't learn anything new, you have been lecturing us about all this stuff FOREVER."  Okay, so maybe I do go a little overboard on the teaching of life lessons!!  

Carter's Christmas Program #2

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A song from Michael's 5th grade performace at the Firehouse!

Carter's Christmas Program #1

Sorry the quality isn't the best but this is my first time uploading anything!!  You can also watch the video on youtube.  Maybe it will look better there!?

Michael's 5th Grade Christmas Performance

Last night we had a great time going to watch the 5th grade band play at a local restaurant.  They played several Christmas songs and sounded great.  This was a great end to a rough day for Michael.  That morning when they were waiting for the bus and neighbor girl took Michael's trumpet when he wasn't looking.  He didn't realize it was missing until he got on the bus, when she proceeded to tell him she had buried it in the snow.  Well after Jason and I dug all over for over an hour, the principal and band director ended up bringing the girl to the bus stop to show us where she had buried it!!  What a day!  Glad it turn out ok.  Did I mention that the girl is a first grader and the susupension she got for this was NOT the first one this year.  Yikes.  Michael did a wonderful job playing, and his band director made a special point of coming up to Jason and I and telling us what a wonderful job Michael is doing and how much he really loves having him in band.  He said he is a great kid!!  Warms a mother's heart to hear things like that!!

Happy Halloween 2010

Here are a few picture from Halloween this year. We had a lot of fun trick or treating at the nursing homes. Then we walked around town for a short time and ended up at the New Providence Roundhouse Carnival. We came home from that event with 3 new goldfish. However we now are down to 2!  The little Batgirl is my neice Shannen!

Walk for Apraxia

We went this last weekend to Des Moines for the 2010 Walk for Apraxia. We had a good time and got to meet a few people. Carter and Mommy even got an award for raising the 3rd most money. I think our team raised around $1075 dollars!! We spent the night before in the Ramada with the waterpark and had a blast!!

A Journey We Will Share

I have decided to start blogging about our struggles and joys of living with a child with Apraxia. Who knows, I may be the only one to read it, but it will be an outlet to get some of what I am feeling out.

Carter is our amazing 3 year old who seemed to be developing completely normal up until the age of 2. At that point I noticed he wasn't progressing in his speech development. Call it a mother's instinct or just plain being a worry wart but I was sure there was something wrong. Convincing others was not so easy. Most people I shared my concerns with just simply said he was young and would talk when he wanted to. Something just told me this wasn't right.

I was fortunate that our family doctor was kind enough to listen to my concerns. He may have done it just to calm me down or out of real concern, but he set up an evaluation by our local Area Education - Birth to 3. At the time he was evaluated he just barely qualified for services because he was so young it was hard to really tell how far he was behind but they agreed to come. We received services for a 5 months or so before I got antsy again. He had made absolutely no progress in all that time. I went back to the doctor and asked for an evaluation at the University Hospital. He agreed and I June 2009 we got our eval. Again because he was so young it was hard to tell but they definitely agreed that he had a deficit in speech. They prescribed speech therapy. So we then enlisted the help of a wonderful private therapist 20 miles from our home.

In the last 6 months he has made some really good progress. He started the special ed preschool in October where he receives speech therapy and the 2x a week I take him to his private therapist. We still struggle with acceptance from family and friends that there really is a problem. We are also being introduced to the world of IEPs (Individualized Education Plans) and making sure that the school district does there part to ensure he is getting what he needs.

Most of all I want to make sure that he knows that we love him, and that he is happy. He is sooo amazing and bright. It is so frustrating when we cannot tell what he is trying to tell us. This truly is a family affair though. We have 3 other older children and this affects us all. They are wonderful with him and they know his brain isn't quite working right.

I know he is only three but I constantly worry. Is their something I did wrong to cause this? Will he ever learn to talk in a way he can have a conversation with others? Are all the choices we are making the best for him? Will he be able to have a fulfilling, successful life? What will happen when he realizes he is different?

For now all that is important is that we love him, and he seems happy and healthy and I cannot imagine our life without him!