Anna Banana

Just thought I'd take a quick minute to update what's been going on over the last week. Anna has a renal ultrasound on her kidneys on Tuesday and we received the results today that they are both perfect and there is no need for concern! PRAISE THE LORD! We met with our genetic counselor to go over all the VCFS entails, which is a lot, but we had been doing research so there wasn't anything too alarming. The blessing of having a late diagnosis is that we've already learned about her major issues like the heart and palate, and we know that she has an immune system, just don't know how great it is. Through my reading though it looks like her immune system will get better with every passing year and won't be of too much concern in the future.

Right now our major concern is Anna's speech delay. If she does have apraxia, it will be a long road of speech therapy with her. Our new therapist is so good and is already getting Anna to show improvement after only 2 visits. We have flash cards to do with her and drill her because kids with apraxia need repetition. Children with VCFS though are good at rote memory, so she's got that going for her! Pray that during this critical year of age 2, she will begin to show improvement in her expressive language. She has learned several new signs this week as we want her to have a way to communicate with us! The therapist told us the goal is to have kids with apraxia entering Kindergarten on track and into a normal classroom. I was very encouraged by that.

How's mama doing???? Well, for the most part pretty good. Some days are better than others and I have a more positive outlook. I do have days where I'm discouraged and down, mostly because I see Anna working so hard and feel like she's so smart, she just can't get it all out. She has been healthy for 2 weeks now, and she is so happy. Even though we've been careful to avoid certain germy situations, I haven't felt trapped or lonely. I guess the nice weather helps with that! I really am learning to take it one day at a time and treasure the time I have with her! A new song came out on K-Love this week by Kutless called What Faith Can Do! Both times I've heard it I just start crying, because I know what our Faith can do, and I can't wait to see it happen. One line says, "I've seen miracles just happen and dreams that can move mountains!" I'm claiming that for Anna, still asking for a miracle, but fully aware that it is all part of God's plan for her!