Snow Day!

After years of waiting for the BIG ONE...we finally got it. Erin and Anna were the perfect ages to enjoy this huge snowfall (huge for Virginia Beach that is!) We were so excited to see Anna's reaction to the white stuff because she's never really encountered it. Erin just wanted to have a snowball fight like Buddy in Elf! Daddy was pretty excited to get to use the sled he bought 4 years ago at Sam's club for $4 that mommy had wanted to sell in a yard sale! I was just happy to have everyone home so I could have a few breaks from the mundane! So it worked for all of us and now that it's finally melting away, I don't think any of us wish it back. It can wait again until next year when the newness of it will once again excite everyone, even Megan!

NO APRAXIA HERE!

I have wonderful news and a huge praise - Anna does not have Speech Apraxia!!!!! If you recall in former posts I mentioned that this was one of the main concerns with her new diagnosis of VCFS. The therapist at CHKD, who met her once, thought Anna had Speech Apraxia which is a very severe language disorder and would require years of tough speech therapy. Our therapist from Early Intervention is an expert in Apraxia and always gave me hope that Anna may not have it.

Two weeks ago Anna met her 5th goal in Speech Therapy that had been set back in October. Because she came so far so fast, her therapist feels comfortable saying that she does not have Apraxia! She feels Anna's speech issues stem from some deficits in phonological processing, setbacks from the palate issues, and low muscle tone around the mouth. We will still need to continue therapy for awhile, but we are so pleased that the road doesn't seem to be quite as long. Praise the Lord!

Life with Megan

Hey there little buddy!

What a good little mommy Anna is!

We are slowly transitioning to life with another child. Anna is definitely more interested in Megan than Erin is. She is constantly bringing me her passy when she cries and often tries to stick it in Megan's mouth by herself. She loves to be in the center of the baby action. Anna also enjoys treating her bunny like a baby and offering it a passy and buckling it into the carseat.

These first 5 weeks have been challenging. We are working through some reflux issues with Megan and trying our best to remind ourselves that this time will pass and we will fall into a rhythm one day soon. Please pray for little Megan, her reflux is making her very uncomfortable and irritable. We are in contact with her doctor though and hope to have the issues resolved very soon! She is still has cute as a button just like 2 other little girls I know!

A published Artist

A few weeks ago Erin sent in a drawing to the Virginian-Pilot for their holiday gallery to be displayed on Christmas Day. That morning we hurriedly flipped through the insert with all of the children's art only to be disappointed that Erin's hadn't made the cut. She was sad that they didn't like her art. We took the opportunity to use it as a teaching experience that there will be disappointments in life as we were disappointed too. It wasn't until the next morning when Joe received an email from his boss congratulating Erin on her drawing in the paper that we realized we had completely missed it. It wasn't in the insert with all the other art - IT WAS ON THE FRONT PAGE of the paper. We all got super excited and started calling friends to save yesterday's paper! Erin was elated and was even more excited that her picture was above Barack Obama's in the paper - don't know where she comes up with stuff like that! We are so proud of our little artist and know this is the first of many illustrations to be printed by Erin!

Turning the Page...

I love turning the calendar to a fresh new page. Nothing but a few scribbles on the new page of January. It is such a nice feeling to start not only a new month, but a new year. It's almost overwhelming to flip through last year's calendar and wonder if this year's will fill up just as quickly and go by just as fast. But for now, I'm basking in the fact that we're only 2 days into January and so far, nothing major adorns our calendar. It's fun to start talking about vacations we want to take this year and people we want to be sure and see, but it's also a reminder of all the failed attempts we made at the same things last year. How can we not let life "get in the way" of all those things our hearts really desire to do this year?

We had dinner with some very dear friends before Christmas and they asked us, "what can we do for you in this new year to best help you?" It's a loaded question and one you would think you could rattle off multiple answers to. But my mind and heart were quickly reminded about how "unplanned" life is. If the same question had been posed to me last year, I wouldn't have answered it appropriately because nothing could have prepared us for what our lives were going to hold last year. So I hesitated to answer it this year knowing that we just can't know how we're going to need help this year.

Our biggest story of the year was definitely Anna. Last January began with a bang. After all being sick over Christmas, Anna found herself facing another illness in late January which hospitalized her for 4 days. The pattern seemed to continue with a new illness every 3 weeks. Just as Spring set in and we thought the illnesses were behind us we noticed that she had some nasal regurgitation when drinking liquid. An appointment in August confirmed a submucous cleft palate and quickly led to a startling diagnosis for Anna. In September Anna was diagnosed with Velo Cardio Facial Syndrome which occurs when there is a deletion on the 22nd chromosome. From September to December we must have visited the doctor's office at least twice a week. That liitle girl has been poked more times than I have my whole life and she hardly ever cries about it. She has no idea all that she has gone through this year, I do believe mommy has carried most of the burden.

Over the last 4 months Anna and I have bonded in a very special way. She became my best friend because we went everywhere together, did therapy together 3 times a week, stayed home an awful lot together, and I poured my heart into her. She has opened up a new part of my heart. She has taught me how to completely and selflessly love someone. I had to give up a lot of things I once found to be so important, to protect her and do what was best for her, and I got so much in return. As a mom I have grown this year, as a woman I have changed and reprioritized, and as a child of God I have gone deeper into an understanding of God's love for me. My faith has been tested once again and I'd like to think it's been strengthened.

So as we turn the page to a new month and year, I rejoice that the only doctor's appt. on the calendar is for Megan. I don't know if this will be a "quiet" year, I'd like to think we're due one, or if it will be another trying year. But I do know the Lord is teaching me to take every day one day at a time. He hasn't forgotten us, He knows what He's doing and at the end of 2010, I'll hopefully be able to see a glimpse of His bigger picture, just as I can now looking back at 2009!

Christmas 2009 in Pictures

W
Christmas was very Merry and Bright this year. We thoroughly enjoyed the day and the entire season. The best part of all was having our Megan with us to celebrate. What a wonderful way to spend Christmas, with a newborn baby!

Christmas Eve

We made it to service on Christmas Eve and then had the whole crew over to our home for our annual get together with yummy holiday food. Anna found a new friend in Mr. Nieter and enjoyed some quality time with him. Of course, Erin entertained the crew and Anna and Blake filled the house with lots of cheer and laughter. It was a fun time of being together!