The Smith's Stories

Do you have one of these yet?

2012-01-24T20:22:00.000-06:00

I was VERY reluctant to get a Kindle. I mean, I love getting a book and turning the pages and looking at them on my bookcases, blah, blah, blah. That was BEFORE I actually got one. I got one in May last year as a present from my Aunt Deborah who thought she was buying me an IPad :) She is not very technology savy but I still benefit, so who cares!

Let's just say, I am hooked. Millions of books at my disposal. I can finish a book and find another one immediately. No looking at the grocery store, book stores, drug stores, etc. when I am already pressed for time. And now that Borders closed, where was I really going to get any book that wasnt in the current top 20 sellers that Kroger had?

As much as I like reading, I also like the deal. I mean, I really had to be certain about the book before I spent $7.99 on a paperback that I can read in just a few hours. But now, holy moly, there are books for FREE!!! Nothing is better than that! I follow a few Facebook pages that alert you on books that are newly reduced or free-- "Kindle on the Cheap" "Kindled Hearts" and "Casting Pearls". I have set a limit if $2.99 unless it is a new release that I have been waiting for. Because of this new obsession, I currently have 192 books downloaded on my Kindle. Some I read a few pages into and I realize it is not for me--nothing lost, just move on to the next one. I have also found a few older authors that I would have never read before. I will probably never get to all of these books in this lifetime!! Anybody have any good sites that they use for cheaper books? Any good book suggestions?

But I do need to say, for Christmas I asked for one thing. I wanted a "real" book. I have every Nicholas Sparks book in hardback and there is something about crying through one of his books that just can't compare. Bear came through :) and "The Best of Me" sits on my bedside table awaiting me.

Meet our new house....

2012-01-22T15:09:00.001-06:00

I already gave you a brief synopsis of how we got into buying a new house but not to the extent of how extremely difficult it was to actually own the house. Being a short sale property, we not only had to deal with owners but the banks also. After going through this process I have learned, you either want to deal with one or the other!

After our offer was accepted and we did inspection, we had an appraisal done. A few days after the appraisal, the owners, who lived out of state, came back to the house to get the belongings and clean up. When they got to the home, the WHOLE bottom floor was flooded. We have no idea how long it had been that way, but fingers started getting pointed in every direction as to who was at fault. The source was a faulty pipe in the half bath downstairs that was noted on out inspection, however the owner's did not disclaim the leak but had the water cut off to the bathroom. Hmmmm, makes you wonder what else could be covered up! Thankfully, the bank had upkept the owner's home insurance policy and they agreed on a set payment to repair damages. You think we would have walked away by this point. Oh no, we wanted this house. You would think that the owners would have it repaied and we would just make sure it was acceptable and done deal...right?! Never that easy. Basically, our fabulous realtor took over, lined up the workers and added bonus was that we got to pick the floors! I decided to upgrade on the floors and blew the budget ;) but who really needs paint on the walls!?!

This is what a house looks like when it has been flooded completely. Did you know that you can just cut sheetrock up to a certain level and just have it replaced. I had no clue! The sheet rock in the whole bottom floor was cut 18in up from the floor except in the actual bathroom and adjoining closet which was closet to the water. It had to be cut 48in up from the floor.

We have lots of plans for every light fixture, every paint color, and even a few walls will be coming down. But right now we have beautiful distressed Hickory floors next to brand new two-colored painted sheet rock. Just homey if you ask me!

Seriously, I am overwhelmed at where to begin. Bear thought I would be in heaven getting to decorate a whole house, so did I. But right now, I am so commitment phobic. I have painted the kids rooms and our master bath (pics to come soon) just because these rooms are easy. All the other rooms require fabrics ,curtains, rugs, light fixtures, etc. I haven't quite gotten there yet, but soon it will come to me...........I hope!

Bedtime prayers...

2012-01-21T15:30:00.000-06:00

Kinson is really good getting in his bed and starting his prayers. But as any other kid that I know he can kind of get long winded. So I have started generalizing a few of his favorites--- he would name EVERY SINGLE kid in his class, so now we just say we are thankful for our friends, EVERY SINGLE toy that he owned, now we just say we are thankful for ALL of our toys to play with. You get my drift.
Well the other night he started veering a little after thanking God for food to keep him growing. He then goes into, and I am thankful for mama's brand new refrigerator to keep it all in! He really listens doesn't he! The first 3 weeks in our new house we did not have a refrigerator indoors. We had very shallow counters that required a special counterdepth refrigerator that no one kept in stock. So we had to use our garage refrigerator until our came in. Needless to say, we ate out alot and I think we all lost a few pounds because we were all too lazy to go outside or way too cold. So when the fridge finally got here I literally praised God that we could be normal again. Not only normal but it is soooo nice and I am in love with it!!

DROOL....

Birthday wishes...

2012-01-16T15:49:00.001-06:00

Kinson turns 5 in just 3 short weeks!! Can you believe it!?! Neither can I. As I came home early today and spent the afternoon with the kids, we addressed his party invites and talked about his ever growing list. Things included piggy banks, fireman walkie, talkies, and the never ending list of train tracks that he does not have yet. Later this afternoon he came to me and said he remembered one thing he wanted. And I asked why, only half listening to the answer. But then he mentioned "little brother." I asked him to repeat what he said and he replied "Momma, I want a little brother that can talk to me." It broke my heart.
I have always complained that my kids don't get along but lately things have gotten somewhat better. She will attempt to play with him and he doesn' kill her. They will chase each other around the house screaming at the top of their lungs and stop and laugh. He has even started telling her "good night" and "I love you, CoCo." As much as Cohen has progressed, it takes a lot of patience and training to understand when she talks to you. Yes, I said that she has started "saying" so much more, but only those closest to her actually know what she is saying. So in Kinson's mind she still isn't "talking." What do you say to a almost 5 year old when he asks repeatedly why can't she talk? or calls her a baby because in his mind only babies can't talk? He understands how people are different, heck he even knows why I am different and why Cohen wear's little ears. But those are all tangible. He just can't grasp why she can't talk to him. Any advice on this matter as to what to say or books to read to him would be greatly appreciated.

I stole this from a friend on FB but it really spoke to my heart.

Mark Kelly speaking about his wife Gabby Giffords..."Most of us have contemplated what it would be like to be blind or deaf. But until Gabby was injured, I had never once considered how disabling it is to be unable to speak."

No one truly understands disabilities until you are faced head on by one......

And to answer his question, he will probably be getting a piggy bank and a nerf gun, and a DS game, and a new train but NO he will not be getting a little brother :)

2011.......where did the year go??

2012-01-02T13:31:00.000-06:00

It has been awhile for me and I can give many excuses as to why I never blogged but really they are not excuses........it was just life. And our life has been a roller coaster over the last 6 months and I feel like until this day, we have not been able to take a deep breath. Things have settled down dramatically!! Hopefully I can just pick up from this time and keep it going.

However, I would like to recap a few highlights from 2011 for me to remember--the good and the bad.

A few days after the last post I wrote, I got a phone call from my mom that shook our world. Literally my world stopped and life shifted. 3 weeks later the news was confirmed-- my mom had ovarian cancer. She had a total hysterectomy and went through 6 rounds of chemo. She handled it better than the rest of us and is the strongest woman I have ever known. December 22 we learned that she is CANCER FREE!!!

I will use this post to let woman know to be proactive in their health. My mom's cancer was Stage 1C-a fairly early state. Ovarian cancer is a silent cancer with usually the only side effects being GI issues and because of this, when it is diagnosed the percentage of survival is very low <10%. My mom was persistent and her dr listened. Luckily it was found early. My eyes have also been opened and spoken to my drs about my family's history of breast and ovarian cancer.

Cohen started a new class in August that has she has flourished in. Cohen has been challenged in ways that have made her successful but has also pushed her. She is still severly delayed in her verbal communication but has demo great improvements. She has started to say "I want ___" and "Thank you, ___". She puts several words together but is a struggle for us at times to understand fully what she is saying. She has ALOT to say, it is just the pronuciation of it that she is struggling with. With this struggle comes a new wave of behaviors. Behaviors that we did not experience with Kinson--or we did but it was short lived. Cohen is acting out due to her frustration and has also learned that her acting out gets her things. So part of us has to realize that not all "fits" are frustration rather than typical toddler behaviors that require discipline.

Kinson will be 5 years old next month! Can't believe it..... He is truly the smartest kid ever and so inquisitive. I can not make up answers to his questions when he asks because he will always remember verbatim what I said. He played another season of soccer, this time at Brandon city league. We were worried because he was going to play with kids he did not know and we did not know but he did great. He ready for Spring soccer but we are playing NWRankin this time. He has also asked to play tball, tennis, karate, and piano. And if we can find time he wants to take swimming lessons all the time!! I am struggling with this because it all takes up so much time, time that we can spend together each night. But now when a child starts a sport or class at age 6-7, they are already behind everyone else! We are hoping to take karate this spring with hopes that it will build a since of self discipline and concentration in him.

Throughout all of this we decide that it would be a great time to move! yeah, really, what were we thinking right? It started the weekend before my mom has surgery and I was worried and stressed and Bear suggested we go our riding and look at houses-- I love to do this! We found a house that we liked and for the fun of it called our realtor friend, it had a contract on it already. While in the hospital, our realtor sent us a few houses to look at that fit our criteria. We quickly realized we couldnt afford what we wanted. So we found a home a few miles away and put in low ball offer and was rejected. Well once you start offering things just snowball. So then we decide maybe we should just put our house on the market and see where it goes. In the meantime, 1/2 mile down the street in our neighborhood, we found out a house was about to go into foreclosure and was listed as a short sale. Bear loved the house immediately, I knew it need a little TLC but could make it something that we could normally never dream of. Because of short sale, we had to deal with a bank and owners. So we offered them and put our house on the market. I have never been so stressed in my life. The bank accepted our offer, had a 38 page inspection list that we okayed, and 3 weeks before closing the whole bottom floor flooded due to a leaky bathroom faucet. What should have been a 4 week pocess took exactly 3 months. We had to have the whole bottom floor flooring and sheetrock replaced before we could close. While all this was being done our house had to stay spotless because we had tons of showings. How easy is that with 2 toddlers running around!?!

Finally it came time to close on our new house and by a miracle of God, we got an offer on our house as we were signing the papers. They wanted to close in 3 weeks!! A few back and forths and sleepless nights and the time finally came where we were a single house family again.

I have lots of construction pictures to post so anyone can fully understand the meaning of "gutted the whole bottom floor!"

So 2011 was a memorable year and i am sure that I left out so much over the last few months but we have been consumed with life and just doing what we do. Hopefully I can keep up with this now that we are out of boxes and Christmas decor is up!

Crazy Busy!!

2011-08-08T07:11:00.000-05:00

We are here, when you can catch us that is!! This summer has flown by and it has been SUPER busy. I haven't captured much of it on camera but I do have a few things to post about.
Cohen's school doesnt start until August 15, so we have one more week of goofing off and cramming as many appointments as we can in so we won't miss school. Hopefully, I can post this week!
Off to take the 2 to the dentist.........Kinson is promising that as long as Dr. Tiffany doesn't give him a shot that he will behave!! That is yet to be determined!!

Geaux Tigers!

2011-06-26T12:16:00.000-05:00

It was sports day at Magnolia and what other team would we support! I have no idea what she was telling us this morning but after looking at it, it seems like she was cheering to us :)

Maybe she has a future cheerleading career...........

Magnolia Sock Hop

2011-06-26T09:46:00.000-05:00

Magnolia always has fun things for the kids to participate in. Last week, they dressed up to a specific theme each day and ended the week with a Sock Hop!

The best picture she would pose for!

The boys in her class were sick that day, so the girls were in charge :) Her 2 best girl friends, Selasie and Hailey.

Mrs. Betty, Selasie, and Mrs. Hillary

Cohen dancing with her teacher, Mrs. Mary!

Cohen and Hailey "dancing"

Taking a break!

Mrs. Mary's daughter, Julie has been helping since her school got out. Cohen LOVES her!

This is Cohen's beloved Speech Therapist, Mrs Hillary. We have LOVED working with her this past year! We are so sad to be saying good bye to her as she is moving to Laurel for her husband's job. She has been such a tremendous part of Cohen's progress and we are going to miss her so much :(

Magnolia Sprint-- June 4

2011-06-26T09:34:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago, we got up EARLY to get ready for the Magnolia 5K. We had a great team that made up "Cohen's Crew", we had 27 people sign-up to run for our team!! We actually had 5 team mates that placed overall and in age groups. Even though it was hot and I had hurt my achilles a few weeks before, it was lots of fun.

I have the BEST. FRIENDS. EVER!! I am surrounded by people that not only love me, but love my children also. Just in this picture are my best friends from high school, college, and work.

In the blue is my niece Mackenzie starting the "fun run."

Kinson taking off....

Good form!!

Kellen running, he won 1st place for his age group!!

Mackenzie won 1st place for her age group!!

Poor Kinson had been "warming up" for his race since 7:00am for a race that didn't start until 9:00am. He was exhausted before it started!! He ran his first lap fantastic and things slowly went down hill from there!

We are going to have to work on pacing ourselves before the next race :)

Cooling off with sno cones!!

Kimberly got 3rd place in Women's Overall-- YAY!!

These are a few of the winners that were able to stay til the end to get their pictures made.

Thank you to all of our friends and family that supported Magnolia!!

Hypothyroidism, Hearing Impaired and Apraxia

2011-06-10T16:34:00.000-05:00

I saw this link up on Kelly's Korner Blog and I just felt compelled to give a brief synopsis of Cohen's story just to help connect with another mother/parent who might can relate or use any of Cohen's interventions in their own situations.

Cohen was born October 2008 after 7 weeks of on and off again bedrest due to preterm labor. She aspirated after delivery and was in NICU less than 24 hours but other than that was deemed to be a very healthy baby. We brought her home 2 days later and felt like we were the luckiest parents alive.......Cohen slept 7 hours straight from night 2 on. She very rarely woke up, and if she did it was because she was wet, not really hungry but we fed her because we knew we should. We were also lucky in the diapering area also, she never went!! At 2 weeks old, her big brother brought home a present from school, RSV!! It landed both of them in the hospital for almost 3 weeks. She bounced back well.
Like any parents, we took hundreds of pictures of our baby girl and after showing them to many friends and family, they always commented how cute it was that her tongue was sticking out in every picture. Hmmmm, should we be worried? At 4 months old, we also noticed that Cohen tilted her head a certain way. The dx: Torticollis, treated and resolved by a few months of Physical Therapy. Also at that time we noticed she still wasn't smiling. But baby #2 I tried not to worry and wish her to "grow up" any faster than she did. Finally, a few smiles came around after she was 5 months old. At her 6 month check up, it was noted that she was very small for her age, especially in length. The dr also inquired about her tongue, "Did it always stick out?"
After having a few tests ran, it was determined that Cohen had Hypothyroidism. No biggie, I have hypoT, right? Well, in kids it is completely different. It pretty much controls the whole cognitive development of the brain (this is why it became mandatory in the 1980's to test all babies at birth due to undiagnosed children often were labeled "mentally retarded"). Cohen was tested at birth........right? After months of trying to find out the answer, we think she was but the test results only state "Normal" with no actual numeric value. Anyway, we start her on Synthroid to regulate her thyroid and began seeing our beloved Endocrinologist. We read every article or journal we could to help explain our diagnosis and our prognosis. I will not lie, we were really devastated that she might not be "normal", not for our sake, but for hers. I did not want her to go through any turmoils from her delays. From what we read and were explained by many drs, it would take at least 6 months for her to regulate and then at that time we could determine how far behind she really was.

A few more months passed and I really began to get concerned about her eating and oral motor skills. Her tongue got in the way of everything! The drs said it might take 2 years for her tongue size to regulate. Still, she never babbled or laughed.........No sounds. We already saw an ENT for tubes but he said she was fine. After she was 16 months old our ped decided she needed to be tested by another dr. At 18months old, after ABR (hearing test done by brain activity under sedation) it was determined that Cohen was hearing impaired and would need hearing aids. That same month, we also found out that Cohen was Growth Hormone Deficient (she was 27" tall and weighed 17lbs). To say we were overwhelmed would be an understatement. Luckily, we were referred to a great school in Jackson, Magnolia Speech School. The staff explained everything to us and educated us and our family to a new situation. Cohen also began daily injections to help her grow. We felt we were given a new diagnosis every time we saw a dr. Things began to fall into a good routine when we began her new school and were given daily notes on her progress. After 4 months,(December 2010), Cohen was still struggling verbally. After meeting with her speech therapist and her neurologist, it was determined that Cohen also had Oral Motor Apraxia. Basically, when she voluntarily wanted to do things with her mouth she became very uncoordinated. The signal from her brain got jumbled up. Luckily, Magnolia specializes in this communication disorder and we were already in the best place. This semester she has had a few new strategies put in place to optimize her speech.

Cohen is a very energetic, unstoppable 2 year old! When you see her, besides her small size and cute "little ears", you would not know a thing was wrong with her. She is catching up quickly with her peers in cognitive levels and physical capabilities. Her only category that is behind is verbal communication and we are hoping with her curriculum and determination that will also be a goall that can be surpassed. We feel very blessed to be chosen to be parents to Cohen. We have been given so many opportunities to meet others and she has taught us so much. Like I said earlier, this is a very BRIEF synopsis of the last 2 1/2 years. You can read back to older posts that give great detail, symptoms and diagnosis as they unraveled.

Where, oh where is the Smith family?!!!

2011-05-28T20:11:00.000-05:00

We are alive and BUSY BUSY this time of the year. We have been playing baseball, field tripping, field daying, and enjoying every moment of good weather that we can. I will let you enjoy the pictures of the last month (not in any particular order;))

Easter egg hunt at church! We hunted ALOT of eggs this year...

Baseball ready :)

On the Mother's Day train ride...

He LOVED seeing Thomas and Friends

Yes, there was a real man in that suit and it was H-O-T there!!

As Kinson said, "We are in Sodor!!" We spent a day in Springhill, AL (don't recommend the city) to go to A Day with Thomas. We rode Thomas and they had multiple activities set up for the kids to do. Great kids activity just not the best city, plus it was HOT!!

BeBe's recital. Cohen was mesmerized by all the dancing. She will get her shot at it next year!

Magnolia's Field Day- Cohen's class was the "Busy Bugs"

Cohen was supposed to be doing the motion to a cheer, however she thought it was more fun to wave at everybody!!

Sweet Court!

Ring Toss

They made up their own rules ;)

Pool time at school. She definitely LOVES the water

Not really sure what to do with the pop ice

Her classmates do!!

Soccer season Recap

2011-04-23T22:59:00.000-05:00

We finished up soccer last weekend and I think Bear is most upset :( He loves watching Kinson play and this season we could see a big improvement in his concept and abilities with the game. He definitely still needs work on his attitude........

This was after his first goal and he was telling his teammates how the other team did not take the ball from him!

This is his friend who he tends to scuffle with quite often during soccer (but are good friends off the field), shaking hands after one of their spats!

Getting ready to kick off......

He still has his moments (yes, he is the one sitting on the ground when he should be listening to the coach!!)

Definitely better with "blocking" as he calls it

He gets so excited when he kicks the ball

Still working on the idea that we don't take it away from our own team ;)

Concentrating hard

Sweet, rambunctious little boys! He loves his Rockets!!

30 months........

2011-04-23T22:42:00.000-05:00

Can you believe she is 2 1/2?!? Some days it feels like an eternity ago that we were bringing her home from the hospital only to return 2 weeks later and stay for what seemed like an eternity withj RSV! And to think at that time, I thought it was the absolute worst thing that could ever happen to me as a parent-- having both my kids in the hospital...pitiful. Little did I know what the next few years had in store for us. This little girl has brought so much joy into our lives and has made us cherish the small milestones that tend to get over looked in the second child. We have learned not to take her or her capabilities for granted. Because of that, we are beyond thrilled at the progress she has made recently.
Stats according to the Endo visit: 32.5" tall (since October she has grown 1"), 25 lbs (the girl can eat anything in front of her!!), still in size 3 diapers, and she went clothes shopping this weekend and bought 18month shorts :). Her height still isn't on the growth chart but her weight was 3-5%. This is a first for her ;)

Recent vocabulary: yewow(yellow), pupa (purple), ruh (truck), eeee(ear)--imagine a very funny face exagerating a long E sound!, baball (baseball), and tuh(Chuck) he is the maintenance man at her school and the only name that she will say there!!
She is starting to put 2 words combinations together. Yellow hat, papa's truck, etc. But she floored me Saturday when she came in my bedroom with her pant leg soaking wet. I asked her how it got wet and she looked at me and said "Pan, dog, eeee, wawa." this translates into pants, dog, eat, water and meant she got her pants wet stepping in the dog's water bowl!! And sure enough, she had spilled Addy's water bowl all over the kitchen floor and we sure couldn't be mad at her after that!

Speaking of her discipline, I met with her teachers this week who expressed a little concern about Cohen starting to test the boundaries with different people. I told them that we were definitely lacking in the discipline department mainly because we felt guilty that she has been through so much and we tend to just let her be. So we are starting to have to add a few timeouts here and there to give her some boundaries!

We love our little Coco soo much and even Kinson is starting to like her a tiny bit :)

Fun weekend

2011-04-17T21:53:00.000-05:00

Today we took the kids to Kidfest in Ridgeland to ride a few rides and see Dora. We were very surprised that Cohen was so excited to see Dora because she is usually so shy around new people (this has began to change recently). Not only was she wanting to see them but she actually waved and attempted to say "Hey!". BIG DEAL!!

Kinson loves a good pony ride!

This is how Cohen sat during the carousel ride! HA! She wasn't the daredevil that she appears to be!

She loves the baby billy goat!

Making crowns

She LOVES Yellow!

Showing off his Batman tatoo. This caused a huge uproar at bathtime :)

On her big green tractor!

Overall it was great fun for the kids, but Kinson did have a few moments that required a few "coming to Jesus" chats and Bear is slowly realizing that Cohen still is not quite ready for Disney!!

Children's Museum

2011-04-14T20:01:00.000-05:00

Last week, Magnolia took a field trip to the new Children's Museum. We were so fortunate that we got the whole facility to ourselves for 2 hours!! Even with us being the only ones there (which is 77 kids and 77 adults!) it was still chaotic. But the kids had a blast and it really is a great facility.

Washing her saw...

Building her house

Court sawing the bricks!

She loved this house!

Petting the cow. She didn't really understand the milking part!

Yes, her shirt is tied up in the back, the smallest size they have is 2T and it swallows her! Good thing the 80's are making a come back!

Cohen, Court, and Selasie driving the tractor

Cohen and Court building their train

Isn't he the cutest thing?! I think Cohen has a little crush on him ;)

This is Cohen's class "cooking" in the kitchen. Can't find Cohen? She is climbing in through the window!!

Cohen and Selasie are worn out!!

She wouldn't sit by her name :(

But Court would!

Tomorrow, if the weather permits, we will be venturing out to the zoo with Magnolia! We are excited!!

Take me out to the ballgame!!

2011-04-13T20:17:00.000-05:00

Spring time is here and we are in full swing with soccer and tball. This is Kinson's first season to play tball. It started out a little rough--Kinson is not a fan of batting helmets (plus he has a HUGE head!!), he is not a fan of authority (i.e. coaches!), and he is not a fan of standing in one spot for longer than 30seconds!!And we still thought that this might be a good idea. The first game was DISASTER!! I forgot my memory card in my camera plus my other child was running around eating french fries that kids were dropping under the bleachers, so no pictures :( It ended in Kinson back talking the coach and being put in the dugout-- needless to say Bear said he wasn't coming back to another game. Well after having to call coaches and apologize and having his Wii taken away for the next few days, Kinson decided it was a better idea to at least try and listen. So this is game #2........

Kinson does great hitting and running the bases-- Not to mention he has a pretty cute coach :)

I was never a softball player but I might agree with Kinson that playing in the field can get kind of boring. Especially this age, the ball goes about 20ft from the plate. He got to play pitcher for an inning, he did much better being part of the action! Ha!

Coach Tye trying to get Kinson to be ready for the ball and pay attention.

Running home. Loving that he sticks his tongue out!!

These games are so cute to watch and it really brings tears to my eyes to watch them play. They are so excited to hit the ball and run the bases. This year the league allowed 3 year olds to play so Kinson is not actually the youngest or smallest. It is amazing how early they are starting kids in sports now. It seems if you wait until 5 or 6, then the kids are already behind. So we will see how the next few weeks go!

Endo, Neuro, ENT....Oh my!

2011-04-06T20:41:00.001-05:00

Thank you, thank you for all of those who were thinking about us today! I can tell that it definitely helped! We LOVED the dr we saw today and got a few explanations from Dr Carron about some other stuff.
From this point on the post is a bunch of medical jargon and can put you to sleep ;) Will update later with what you really come to see, pictures of my sweet babies. We went on a field trip to the Children's Museum and I need to ask you moms some discipline questions. I have a charming 4 year old little boy who has a problem with talking back and a potty mouth! Anyway.........

Let me back up 2 weeks to get you up to speed. Cohen went for her regularly scheduled hearing evaluation done at Magnolia in their sound booth. They were only able to test one ear (her right ear) because her left ear was already healed from the perferation and had filled with fluid. A little disappointment there, but it was expected but again we hoped it would have been later. Anyway, she did FANTASTIC in the booth. Her hearing loss in her right ear showed significant improvement. We knew this was a possibility due to the type of hearing loss associated with thyroid disorders can fluctuate. We never wanted to get our hopes up because there is also the possibility for it to deteriorate. So they adjusted her hearing aid to accomodate her new levels and Cohen did not like it! She thought the batteries were dead and kept taking them off. It took a few days to get adjusted but she is wearing them fine now.
Later that afternoon, we met with Cohen's new endocrinologist. I am not going to go on a long rant (that is part of the reason I have waited 2 weeks to update, I needed to think it through) but I will say that my first impression was not great. Every Dr is entitled to there views and opinions but it is the way it comes across that has the most impact. This Dr did not agree with the plan that Dr Bastian had laid out for us and because she is the dr writing the scripts, we had no choice but to concede. Cohen is taking a 4 month hiatus from her growth hormomes to see if they are necessary or if her levels drop. Her size has always been secondary to us, her development has been the priority. I was ok with this but the dr was too busy defending her opinion that i don't think she ever heard me say that we would give it a shot. After that she tried to wrap up the appt with never addressing her thyroid or developmental status. I attempted to bring it up and she kind of blew it off and never addressed her cognitive development. Needless to say, I left very discouraged. It was more due to the fact I have seen how far she has come in the 2 years that we have regulated her thyroid function so closely. This dr was not there to see her when she had no personality and would not respond to us. We drew a few labs and out the door we went only to return 4 MONTHS later. Yes, Cohen who has had labs drawn every 4-6 weeks since she was 6 months old, will not be checcked for 4 MONTHS! I. am. TERRIFIED.
Fast forward until today. I might have been crazy when I scheduled this but Cohen had 2 appts today-- Neuro and ENT. We met with Dr Evans in the Neuro department today. LOVED him!! He was very thorough and asked for all of my concerns. As he evaluated her he said his thought process outloud. He would tell me what he was checking for and then tell me why it was or was not indicative of anything. Final thoughts were that Cohen has oral motor apraxia complicated by her other diagnosis. Her enlarged tongue that she has had since birth should have demonstrated more control after this long of a timeframe. It is not as prominent as in the past but it does still protrude and until he demonstrated it for me, it does not move side to side as in needed to clean out her cheeks. Apraxia is a form of coordination. Technically it is a deficit in the ability to plan motor movements for speech and oral function. Children who have apraxia very in severity. Cohen's is complicated by her developmental delays as well as her hearing impairment. He was very upfront with me, stating that Cohen missed very important key years that are needed when developing language. Her prognosis is still unknown but he stated that there was nothing he could add to her current plan of care. Overall, it was a great appointment. It clarified her diagnosis and it just put my mind at ease that nothing else is indicated at this time.
Now on to ENT. Dr Carron is a close second when we talk about our favorite drs (Dr Flowers is our FAVORITE!!). We went in hand with our audiograms and were ready for his opinion. Another dr had question whether or not Cohen had Conductive hearing loss (associated with fluid) or Sensori-Neural (actual assiciated withthe structure of the ear). After reviewing her latest CT, he still is confident that Cohen has sensori-neural hearing loss. He did say that there can be fluctuations with this kind of hearing loss even if not associated with thyroid disorders. He did still see the fluid behing the left ear drum but it did not appear infected so we will wait to see her body can reabsorb the fluid. If not, another tube might be in the future. Her sinus surgery did fabulous until the last few days, so we are getting back on a Bactroban nasal spray to get us through the spring season to see if that will keep her clear. But it still soooo much better than before. Cohen always does so well for him. She is so grown up when she gets in the exam chair. She takes off her hearing aids, turn her head to each ear, and never fusses. I guess she gets her ears checked daily at school, so to her it is no big deal!

I know all of this is boring to most but it is my journal for when I can't remember how far Cohen has come. So after 3 appts, nothing has really changed. We are going to have her hearing tested every 2 months until it stabilizes again and Cohen get s to go 4 months with no shots!! I know she is happy about it :)

Quick request

2011-04-05T17:34:00.000-05:00

I have a lot about Cohen to update everyone on but wanted to wait until we saw all the drs before I did. Please say a quick prayer for Cohen's doctors tomorrow as we meet again with our beloved ENT and a new Neurologist (our old one left). All we hope for, is that they all get on the same page with her care. We had a very discouraging/conflicting visit 2 weeks ago that I am still trying to sort out how 2 doctors can think so differently. So any type of cohesiveness would be welcome right about now!!

Happy Birthday, Bear!!

2011-04-05T17:31:00.000-05:00

Papa's Birthday was last Monday and I am just now getting to it! That is about the way I feel right now, always having to play catch up.

The kids have so much going on right now and we had been at St. Paddy's Day parade the weekend before and we are going to the Golden Moon next weekend, that we decided to have a real low key birthday this year. Bear had his usual one request, a cookie cake. I even slacked with that. We bought it at Kroger and decorated it ourselves!! I could never arrange a time for me to go to the mall ALONE and pick up a cake :( He also had one other request. When we first met, he always talked about eating at Outback. Bleh!! I do not care for Outback. If I could choose, there are 50 restaraunts I would choose before I chose Outback. But because I was failing miserably all the way with his birthday, I agreed to have dinner there just the two of us. So we went Friday night, the food was okay but Bear was in heaven with his Alice Springs Chicken (I think there are about 15000 calories in that !!) I hope that satisfied him for the next 8 years!! We had soccer games that weekend and on Sunday we went to see Mickey's Magic Show at the coliseum. Bear is now in love with all things Disney and is constantly planning our next trip. Kinson loved the show and Cohen, well.......she loved the food!! She ate and ate and ate, it was the only way to keep her contained!! Bear seemed to enjoy his birthday weekend, we think ;)

But we do love our Papa Bear so much and hope he had a fantastic birthday!!

Ramblings...........

2011-03-25T22:20:00.000-05:00

This week has been one of frustration and stress for us over at the Smith household. We met with new doctors that have conflicting views from other doctors, decisions need to be made that seem impossible, and trying to juggle time to fit in tball, soccer, therapy, work, etc. I have never asked "Why?" when we found out we had a child with special needs. I kne wfrom the beginning it was something we were chosen for. However, I have often wished to take it away from her and gladly suffer through it myself. One day, after all my stressing and gut feelings that something wasn't right, Bear told me how he knew that God gave us her because I would know something wasn't right and based on my personality, I would be so persistant and talk to any doctor that would listen until we figured it out. Well sometimes I get tired of being so persistant and worrying, and yesterday I felt like I was at my breaking point. But it is amazing who and what God can put in your life to put things in perspective. After meeting with Dr Flowers today, I feel tons better with waiting to make decisions that yesterday seemed nearly impossible to make and knowing that he will be there to talk about any decisions other doctors make in Cohen's care and be willing to step in when needed. And then God jumped out and slapped me today as I read through 5 CaringBridge pages that I follow. All of these pages that I follow are about children who vary in age and diagnosis told from a parent's perspective. These children have SOOO much going on that make my situation look like a sunny afternoon. I feel for these parent's and what they are going through. One of the mom's posted today an article given to her. I instantly connected to this story and wanted to share.

God Chooses Mom for Disabled Child Written by Erma Bombeck Published in the Today Newspaper Sept. 4th, 1993 Most women become mothers by accident, some by choice, a few by social pressures, and a couple by habit. This year, nearly 100,000 women will become mothers of handicapped children. Did you ever wonder how mothers of handicapped children are chosen? Somehow I visualize God hovering over Earth selecting his instruments forpropagation with great care and deliberation. As he observes, he instructs his angels to make notes in a giant ledger. "Armstrong, Beth; son; patron saint, Matthew. "Forrest, Marjorie; daughter; patron saint, Cecelia. "Rudledge, Carrie; twins; patron saint.... give her Gerard. He's used to profanity. " Finally, he passes a name to an angel and smiles, "Give her a handicapped child." The angel is curious. "Why this one, God? She's so happy." "Exactly," smiles God. "Could I give a handicapped child a mother who does not know laughter? That would be cruel." "But has she patience?" asks the angel. "I don't want her to have too much patience or she will drown in a sea of self-pity and despair. Once the shock and resentment wears off, she'll handle it." "I watched her today. She has that feeling of self and independence. She'll have to teach the child to live in her world and that's not going to be easy." "But, Lord, I don't think she even believes in you." God smiles. "No matter. I can fix that. This one is perfect. She has just enough selfishness." The angel gasps, "Selfishness? Is that a virtue?" God nods. "If she can't separate herself from the child occasionally, she'll never survive. Yes, there is a woman I will bless with a child less then perfect. She doesn't realize it yet, but she is to be envied. She will never take for granted a spoken word. She will never consider a step ordinary. When her child says "Momma" for the first time, she will be present at a miracle and know it! When she describes a tree or a sunset to her blind child, she will see it as few people ever see my creations." "I will permit her to see clearly the things I see---ignorance, cruelty, prejudice--- and allow her to rise above them. She will never be alone. I will be at her side every minute of every day of her life because she is doing my work as surely as she is here by my side." "And what about her patron saint?" asks the angel, his pen poised in midair. God smiles. "A mirror will suffice."

Love these girls!

2011-03-23T21:04:00.000-05:00

This weekend we honored one of my bestest friends, Aimee, on the upcoming arrival of her little boy, Reed Harrison Kelly. This baby has been prayed for, for so long now and we are just thrilled to know we will meet him in just a few weeks. Aimee and Shane will be fantastic parents!

It is getting to be that time of year again for these group of girls....our annual beach trip!! Although it will be a few members short this year,(we will miss you Aimee and Bo!!), it still can't get here soon enough!! It just amazes me how close we have stayed over the years, and this year has been one of the toughest one's for us. Individually, we have all had enormous trials that have had us worn down. But that is the good thing about us, we are a little group and we have been there for each other whenever we need each other. Can't wait til May!!

Back to my roots..

2011-03-20T20:55:00.000-05:00

If any of y'all knew me before, say, oh, 7th grade than you might find this hard to believe. I used to spend many days and nights out on my uncle's farm riding my horse and feeding all the animals when I was younger. My family had/has 2 farms that we would take our horses out to and ride for HOURS and fish in between. We LOVED it. And then as I got older, I just never had time for it, and then when I was in high school my horse (my uncle's that I called mine!) died and I never went back out there.

This past week for Spring Break, my 2 aunts and cousin, Nicole came and stayed with us. This is the first time that a lot of my family has been in town since my mamaw passed away in July. It was a very different trip because we would always spend their visits at my Mamaw's because she had been homebound for the last 5 years and we always wanted her to be included. My aunts stayed at my Mamaw's house, which was kind of weird going to visit, especially since their was no TV or phone! So Sunday afternoon, we decided to load the kids up and head to the farm.

Aunt Deborah, Nicole, and the kids riding the golf cart to round up the cows. My things have changed, we definitely didn't have a golf cart when we were little.

Even Bear got into it!

They had a bag of bread and the horses and cows came running.

We brought Kinson's gator for the kids to ride around the fields in. They loved all the wide open space!

This was the most recent calf that was born. Cohen loved all the animals and wanted to pet all of them!

We had so much fun with my family here and both the kids keep asking when they are coming back! Hope y'all come back soon and we promise not to give anyone strep throat again ;)

Fire truck, Fire truck,

2011-03-18T19:18:00.000-05:00

I want to ride on your fire truck!

Those are the lyrics to a song Cohen's school sang to the brave firemen at the Clinton FD. If you hear this song, you will never stop singing it. Ever. It never leaves your head.

STOP,

DROP

and ROLL!! (rolling was by far our favorite part)

Putting out the fire!

Attempting the group shot.....

Riding in the firetruck!

Still trying.....

This might be the best one.......

Ringing the bell!

I can hear it!!

The Clinton FD did such a great job with the kids and really taught them a lot! They got a real emergency call while we were there and that made even more exciting for the kids!

***The fieldtrip was a day before her surgery, sorry for them being out of order. Cohen has been a trooper after the surgery the last 2 weeks. She is just getting to where she is not as congested as before and it seems as though her nose has stopped bleeding. We are having to do an antibiotic nose spray until we go back to the dr in April and she is tolerating them well.

BIG NEWS in her vocabulary-- The other night she was carrying around her sippy cup. She usually shakes it and says "wa-wa" for water. The cup was empty and she looked at me and said "Mo wa-wa", which translates into "more water." This is a BIG deal!! She took 2 words and put them together on her own. I know she knows a few 2 word phrases, i.e. sit down, fire truck. But she learned those together. This she did this on her own :) I am so proud of her. After getting so much praise, she has attempted a few more phrases this week. Her favorite "papa ruk", translating into "Papa's truck." She runs around everywhere saying it. She is progressing so well and even though it is not at the speed we were anticipating, it is progress and that is all we have prayed for. Hope you are having a good spring break!!

I can dress myself

2011-03-10T19:42:00.000-06:00

The last few weeks at school, Kinson's teacher has been going over hygiene and dressing with them. Last week, Kinson had to dress himself and take a picture of the finished product to school. Well, I knew better than to let him do this before school because he would never let me "fix" it if he dressed himself incorrectly. So we decided to let him pick out his PJ's and dress himself..........

Not too bad!!

See, Momma, I can do it by myself :)

Well it looked good until he turned around!!

Seriously, he has the best teacher this year. Now every morning and night he dresses himself because "Mrs. Danuielle told him to do it by himself!" We might have to readjust his pants or put on his socks the right way, but for the most part, he does it Independently. Now if he can learn to do his laundry by himself.............

Were they actually playing..........

2011-03-07T19:43:00.000-06:00

TOGETHER?!?!?!

Caught y'all!!

"I better get away before they think we like each other :)"

"Maybe he isn't too mean to me!!"

My babies LOVE me some slumber parties. Kinson always has the TV on and right now he is going through the Thomas the Train phase (yes, again) so that is what is usually on. I LOATHE Thomas, I mean I can't stand watching him. Yes, he teaches Kinson great, innocent story lines but I draw the line when Kinson starts telling me he is "cross" at me! I usually find a good excuse to skip out on the Thomas features ;) But Kinson knows as sure fire way to get me to watch TV with him. He gets all cute and excited saying "Do you want to have a slumber party? And we can watch..............Beauty and the Beast!!" He is so dramatic and full of drama when he says this. I know, he is a boy, he likes Thomas, and McQueen, and Woody, and Buzz. But come on, I can't watch another minute of Sir Topem Hat being cross at Thomas. I won't make him watch it when he is like 12 or anything :)

Boring and kind of gross........

2011-03-07T15:47:00.000-06:00

This is a post solely for my medical journal, it is kind of boring and gross!!

Friday, Cohen had another surgery as a so called "last resort" to clear up her sinuses. Dr Carron felt like we had exhausted all other options and the next solution would be to add windows to assist with drainage. So off to Batson we went. I had been kind of nervous all day/morning about it, but I thought it was because we had to wait so long to start the surgery. But my mommy instincts were right. Prior to performing the actual surgery, Cohwn required a CT scan to kind of serve as a "map" to do the surgery. The portable CT was unavailable so she had to go to CT in UMC to have it done. While there, the drs put her to sleep and then did the CT and kept her asleep to transport her back to Batson to surgery. Bear and I got to go with her through all of this. Well, after the CT they brought her out and I was kind of worried when they were running with her in her little crib. One nurse was using one of those bags to perform her breathing for her. We made it to the elevators and all hell broke loose. Her monitors start dinging, nurses come from everywhere and just stand there while Cohen is turning purple and not breathing. The nurse who was with us could not get the bag to inflate!! Finally after screaming for a dr and what seemed like and eternity, she started breathing again. It took the next 10 minutes for me to realize that I had completely frozen, words could not come out of my mouth, my feet did not move, nothing. Finally, I looked at Bear and told him that it was the scariest moment of my whole life!
The surgery itself went well. The dr came out and had to change clothes because he said it was so bad in her sinuses and everybody smelled afterwards!! The only other glitch was that her Left ear tube was being pushed out of her ear drum from the pressure the last few weeks so they were going to replace it. When they removed it, it had a "plug" on the end that perforated the ear drum even more and the hole was too large to place a tube. (Doesn't that sound familiar?!?! That is the same problem we had in May last year!) So we will wait for it to heal itself and replace it if needed.
Overall she has recovered well. There has been LOTS of blood, blood that I was not expecting!! I had sinus surgery last year and I remember all the times I blew my nose. Now I realize that a 2 year old can't do that. Not a great time to have a white couch or white bedspreads!!

Sorry for not posting about her surgery prior to the actual event, I know we have many prayer warriors on our side and I like to keep everyone updated. Things just have gotten kind of hectic the last few days beforehand.

Cohen needs your help!!

2011-02-20T12:34:00.000-06:00

Magnolia will be hosting a "5K Sprint," on June 4, 2011. It will be around the Ridewood Rd/JA area and should be lots of fun!! It is February now, so this is plenty of notice to be ready to run or walk 3.2 miles by June :) Seriously, it is for a good cause and this is a way for those who don't have tons of money that they can donate to really help out. Plus, you get something in return, a goodie bag, a shirt, and a good workout. We already have had several friends and family wanting to do this with us and we can't express enough our gratitude. So we have decided to have a little team, "Cohen's Crew," out there to encourage others to help out in the cause. We are still planning all the details so that we can distinguish y'all from the crowd, but if you do sign-up, PLEASE, PLEASE let me know so we can add you to our "crew!"

http://www.magnoliaspeechschool.org/fundraisers.asp

THANK YOU!!!

What have I been doing?

2011-02-13T20:35:00.000-06:00

This little girl has been BUSY!! She has acquired a few new words:

nit nown (sit down)
bootball (football)
off/on
ot (hot)
and (hand)
ock (sock)

We started using the association method right after the Christmas Holidays. It is going very well! She has 3 sounds now (o,m,b). She still loves her homework and all of her therapy.

She has finally entered into the "Terrible Twos." We can't complain, Kinson hit them at 12 months and it was 18months of terror after that. So we are blessed that she has been so good for almost 2 and 1/2 years! And even her little fits are easily redirectable. Most involve leaving school (she loves that place!!), food, or a typical fight with Kinson. Speaking of that, I am pretty certain that my kids will never like each other :( When we returned from Disney and went and picked Cohen up from my mom's, we were expecting to see her running up to us all excited. Well she took one look at Kinson and ran away from us!! I think she enjoyed 5 days of non-stop, undivided attention.

She loves anything and everything involved with being outside. She is still very shy and will bury her head if she doesn't want to see you. She interacts very well with other children now and gives hugs to the kids in afterschool with her. She loves her Papa more than anybody in the world (something about girls and their daddys.) She is till very Independent and can play with her toys for a long time unless Kinson disturbs her. She really doesn't care for t.v. at all, not sure if it has to do with what she can hear or not. She LOVES to "shake her booty." Her B.B. couldn't be more proud :)

Maybe they do like each other sometimes!

Now for the boring stuff. We did get into to see a new Ped Endo at UMC. She was recruited about 6 months ago and has come very highly recommended. She doesn't meet her until March 24, but she has reviewed her case and has assisted our ped with medicine adjustments until then. We are seeing our favorite ENT on Wednesday to establish the need for sinus surgery. We have put it off for awhile now and we are not sure we can wait much longer. She had a terrible crud for about 4 weeks and now her nose is bleeding on a pretty regular basis. This past week she has been getting pretty irritated with her hearing aids and the Audiologist says there might be pressure building behind her tubes. She has always loved wearing her ears so we hate that she doesn't want them in. She has become very Independent with her "ears." She takes them off before bedtime/naptime and places them on her table and looks for them when it is time to get up. She will let us know if the batteries are dead by thumping on her ears!! We have no idea if she has grown by a measurement but some of her 12month pants are getting short on her!! Something is happening!!

I have a few questions for moms of girls out there:

When do you get their haircut? Cohen's hair goes to her rear end when wet and it is easier for us when it is longer as far as ponytails and such. I don't want her to have bangs and her hair is naturally wavy so it really doesn't have a shape. Can she go years without getting it cut?

Anybody else out there have a little (I mean size, not age) girl that they were potty training. Cohen is showing every sign and has been for awhile now. I have been scowering stores for panties small enough for her. The smallest I have seen is 2T in panties and pullups, so we are not sure what to do. I have some bloomers from outfits that are the appropriate size but they seem kind of thick to go under pants. Any suggestions?

Along with that, anybody ever potty trained a limited verbal child? I don't want her to point to a picture to indicate it (she will get lazy and NEVER say the word!!) but I need to figure out a way for her to communicate she needs to go. Right now she grabs her crotch and walks kind of weird and well, it's just not very lady like. And when she attempts to say "potty" it comes out ba-ba. Well 50% of what she says is "ba-ba" and the other 50% is "ma-ma." I can't really rely on that.............

Disney World Recap

2011-02-13T19:00:00.000-06:00

We really had a great time in Disney World. I came in when all kinds of expectations, some weren't met and some were exceeded by leaps and bounds. Like I said before, we know what we do next time in some areas and we learned what things we would skip over or wouldn't be disappointed if we missed in a time crunch. However, we are not sure when we will get to go back considering some of the bigger rides you have to be 40" tall, and well lets face it, Cohen might be 6 years old by then :) We have talked about making a big family trip there again with my brother and his family and grandparents to have more helping hands!!
I was always very apprehensive about going because I would hear and see my friends planning this trip for monthd. I will always be grateful that we had a wonderful travel agent who did EVERYTHING for us!! She made reservations, gave us tips, and answered every text we sent her while we were down there. If anybody wants her info let me know, she only does Disney and really made it so easy for us!!

If you are wondering why there is no pictures of Day 4 Afternoon............that leads me to tip #4
*** Be prepared for RAIN!!!***
It rained for about 30 minutes that afternoon and we were very prepared due to being given great advice by friends. Don't forget the stroller too!! The strollers sit in a big "parking lot" ouside each ride, so you might be dry undeer or in a ride but when you get out your children might have a wet bootie :) Luckily, I had remembered our rain cover, ours was the only one in the parking lot dry!!

Disney World Day 4 (Morning)

2011-02-12T12:16:00.000-06:00

Day 4: Kinson's Birthday!!

We went to 1900 Park Restaraunt at the Floridian Resort for breakfast. This was a last minute reservation for us because we had a dinner reservation that night but the more we thought about it, we knew he would like this better. Our travel agent suggested this one and this was by far our favorite place for food and characters. There were a few characters he didn't know but he LOVED Tigger and Pooh and they were so funny with him!

Can you tell how affectionate this child is?! He loved hugging them and would knock them over with his excitement!!

Tigger always playing tricks!!

Happy Birthday, sweet boy!

Kinson knows nothing about Mary Poppins, so he told me that she was getting married! Ha!

He also doesn't know Alice and Wonderland or the Mad Hatter, but because they weren't in the big costumes they could actually talk to him, and well if you know Kinson, he can talk with the best of them!!

Pooh came sniffing the "honey" (a.k.a. syrup) that was all over Kinson's hands. He was loving this and was laughing hysterically.

Yes Kinson is still laid out laughing!!

After that we went and spent the morning at Animal Kingdom.

The Safari ride was lots of fun for us. It was kind of educational, and well I am a nerd that loves that kind of stuff.

Then off to the Dino Land playground. My kid loves a playground :)

Papa does too :)

On the dinsaur flyers!

Waiting for the Nemo show to let us in!

I am glad that we did Animal Kingdom, but if we go again and get in a time crunch, this would be the park that I would forgo. Like I said it was fun, but the other stuff was a lot more things we couldn't do anywhere else.

Day 3 (Afternoon/Night)

2011-02-10T19:12:00.000-06:00

After our "Coming to Jesus" moment at lunch, things started to look up!! Kinson began interacting and having lots of fun. He gave a shot at hula-hooping.....

I reallllly likt the movie "The Beauty and the Beast." And when we have a slumber party, I always choose this party. Mamas don't tell me you haven't made your little boy watcha girl movie or two ;)

Kinson befriended the usher and he let him be VIP. We got to sit in the very front center of the theater. I loved it but Kinson said it was a little too loud!!

The bad guy, Gastoine

Don't the characters look incredible!!

The beast was huge up close!

Kinson really enjoyed sitting through the show. After that he was ready to go have some fun!!

Waiting on the Pixar parade. If you don't make it to any other parade, I highly recommend this one. It had all the characters from the current movies and the music was fantastic, plus they come right up to you.

Incredibles

A Bug's Life

Ratatootie as Kinson calls it :)

Monster's Inc.

Jessie and Bullseye

Buzz and Woody

After the parade, Kinson kept saying he wanted to ride Buzz, not the one at Hollywood Studios, the one at Magic Kingdom. So off we went! We rode Buzz 4 times in a row, gotta love no lines!!

He got brave and started to ride everything when we got over to Magic Kingdom!!

even the roller coasters!!

His favorite ride were those rockets flying high over everything!! Not a lot of pictures taken that night because we were enjoying every moment of happiness we could get out of him. One tip, after you have already seen the parade once, come back another night to ride because everyone will be waiting on the parade and the few rides that had longer rides, we were able to get right on!!

Disney World Day 3 (morning)

2011-02-09T19:12:00.000-06:00

Day3 Lesson Learned: Make sure your child eats more than grapes and fruit at each meal. He was up all night Wednesday night with a tummy ache which led to a looong day and night.

Hollywood Studios

Toy Story Mania: This was the one ride we knew we might have to wait for. Bear got an app on his phone that told you wait times for each ride and checked it for 2 weeks before our trip. This was the ride that ALWAYS had a 30+minute wait. So this morning we had no breakfast reserved so we were there at 9:00 when the gates opened and rushed to the ride. Bear ran to get a fast pass and we ran to get in line. Luckily it was a 15 min wait plus when we were through we could use our fast pass and ride again.

Not really into pictures this morning.

Loved the 3D glasses. By the way, did you know these rims are the new style?! Every Asian there had these kind of glasses on and some CRAZY outfit to go along with it..........

Throwing gangster signs ;)

He chose to ride this ride with me! I was sooo excited!!

He liked the ride okay, but he was having a rough morning. When we got off, Buzz and Woody were right across the streeet and he was more interested in them.

Mickey went to every park with us each day :)

"THE CLAW!!!"

He hurt Woody's feelings during this picture . He was only interested in Buzz and saying "Not today, Zurg!!"

We really knew he wasn't feeling very well when we got to see his favorite characters ever and he needed me to come along with him :(

Still recouperating from his rough night :(

He loved all the different playgrounds at each park. I think he liked the idea that he could run and be free after 3 days of holding hands and not letting him get more than 3 feet away from us. This is at Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.

Can you see the button he is wearing? The resort gave him 2 buttons to wear while he was there. One said "First Visit" and the other said "It's my Birthday." The cast members were trained to look for these at all the parks and recognized you accordingly. Kinson thought they were so much fun to wear them and he would not wear his birthday one early, he only wanted to wear it Saturday on his real birthday.

Next we traveled to Monster, Inc. We love some Sully and Mike!! Kinson looks so little next to these guys.

We had reservations for lunch at Hollywood and Vine with the Disney Playhouse crew. It was such a cute place to eat and there was no one there when we were there so we had one section all to ourselves. Good thing because Kinson decided at that would be a good time to act goofy. Well his goofiness ended up with him rolling off the booth and banging his head on the table stand under the table. Needless to say, screaming erupted and lasted 30 min. All the characters would come by and felt terrible for us. Well it got to where he was just plain ridiculous and again how much discipline can you do with 100 eyes watching. So I figured the best punishment was embarrassment. I paraded him by every table on our way to the restroom where there was a line of a few women and again pointed him out to all of them. We then had a coming to Jesus moment in the bathroom where he was told not to come out until he was ready to have fun. It took all of 30 seconds for the tears to dry up and he decided that chicken nuggets really weren't that bad!

Luckily, all the characters came back by our table because they could tell he was better. Who would have guessed this was the same child?! It really was a turning point in our vacation. Something clicked and he decided that he really might like this place!!

Disney World Day 2 (Afternoon/Night)

2011-02-09T17:16:00.000-06:00

After Kinson awoke from his nap, we did Mickey's Toontown and then went to Swiss Family Robinson. We loved it!! I watched that movie a 1000 times growing up and always dreamed of one day having a house like them. Kinson liked it to because it was just climbing a big tree and running across bridges.

Don't worry, the snake is fake!! But doesn't it look real?! This is on the Jungle Cruise. I highly recommend this ride too. The "Captain" really does a great job entertaining you through the jungle.

I don't know what I had imagined Disney to be like, but in my head it was way more magical :) It really didn't live up to my expectations as far as outward appearance, but at night it surpassed my expectations and was very "magical." I could have walked around all the parks again just to see them at night!

Can you tell how excited he is about the parade?!!

This was for Cohen, she LOVES Tinkerbell!!

Nothing is complete with Kinson unless a train is involved......

Sweet Minnie :)

Alice in Wonderland........Kinson does not know about her so he insisted she was Cinderella!!

The real Cinderella ;)

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE anything patriotric because of my work with the Veterans, so this would have made me all emotional if I didn't have a 4 year old acting like a FOOL beside me. This was probably his worst moment during the trip. He was exhausted and starving due to his pickiness. He did not quite understand that after the parade he had to stay in the stroller due to being trampled on. He was falling/throwing himself out, getting his legs stuck in th ewheels, and when we attempted walking he would go at a snail's pace just to prove a point. And you can only do so much discipline when there are 1000 people around you :) If the weather report would have been better for Jackson we would have rented a car and driven home that night!!

Disney World Day 2 (Morning)

2011-02-07T20:59:00.000-06:00

Day 2 Lesson learned: Plan naps accordingly, no matter if that means going back to the hotel

We started day2 at Chef Mickey. It was a really cute breakfast. We had purchased the dining plan with our vacation package and I know we are a little weird but we used all of our sit down meals on breakfast. Kinson is a VERY particular eater. Even at home, he really only eats breakfast foods, so we wanted to be sure that he got a good breakfast every morning.

He loves all fruit and of course a donut hole or 2!!

He informed us when we got there, that Goofy was his favorite character. He loved getting all of their autographs.

Not scared one bit, loved giving hugs!!

Another "Cick and Dale" sighting. They were at every park in theme appropriate attire. This is in Tommorowland.

This is Stitch before we got on the ride. We had been on a few rides that morning that didn't go over too well and we saw the Stich Great Escape ride and it had no wait. We said we might as well try it. BIG MISTAKE!! 75% of the ride is in complete darkness and you just here Stitch's voice as he "escapes." Kinson went CRAZY screaming he needed to get off. Normally I would suck it up and make him continue until the end but I was afraid he would have nightmares!! Luckily I was able to crawl out from under the harness and grabbed him and we got out during the middle of it. The workers didn't looked surprised so I am guessing we weren't t he first ones to do that. He now hates Stitch!!

Waiting on Tomorrowland Speedway.

Taking the turns like a pro!!

Can't forget my Lightening McQueen glasses :)

There were a lot of shows going on on Main Street and we got to see a few of them. This one was very cute!

We stood longer than we had to in any line to see these 2 but Kinson was not leaving without seeing them.

And this is what you look like after sitting down on the curb to wait for the 3:00 parade! He fell asleep laying on the sidewalk. I felt so bad for him. But he slept a good 2 hours laid out in his stroller!!

Can you see what woke us up....we are now in new clothes after we had an accident sleeping :(

We rode the Toy Story ride at least 6 times!! He loved it. We were so glad there were no lines!! My kid has no patience!!

Disney World Day1

2011-02-07T15:27:00.000-06:00

It might take me a month to go through all 500 pictures and narrow it down to show everyone our 4 days of vacation!! We decided this year to take Kinson to Disney (by himself) for his 4th Bday. If you know my child, you know he has a STRONG personality and boy did he demonstrate it. We have a few things we would change about the trip, but overall he ended up having a lot of fun and the "itch" is over and we are satisfied until Cohen will be big enough to go!! We made some great memories............

Day1:

First thing we would change: take a later flight and take your time getting there.

Our flight left a 6:00am, Wednesday morning. It is easier said than done that you will leave your kid in his PJs and let him sleep. That didn't happen. He has only flown as an infant so he didn't remember and he was soooo excited about it. That lasted until we started landing and he started screaming he had "bugs in his ears!!" They were hurting him and he cried until he fell asleep. That child slept the next 2 hours as we got off flights, got on the Magical express, and got to our room. We should have let him sleep, but Mama and Papa were too excited and didn't want to waste a minute :)

As soon as we walked in we saw these 2 guys, a.k.a. "Chick and Dale" according to Kinson. He loved meeting all the characters. And it was no lines longer than a few minutes to see anybody.

We then decided to start the day with Nemo ride. Again he loved the characters!! I should have known that something was wrong after we got on the ride and when we got in the dark park he started screaming. He is never scared!!

Waiting on Papa to come back with fast passes to Soarin'

The shark from Nemo!

We then went in a character spot where you stood in line a few minutes and got to meet everyone!! This was by far his favorite part. We had to go and meet everyone twice!!

Everyone at Disney has to have Mickey ears, right?! He chose Lightening McQueen ears!! This was right after we did Soarin' and Fast Track............he was pretty mad at us by this point!! He did not like either ride on ebit and it only went down hill after that. At this point we are beginning to realize that he is tired, very tired.

Don't forget that I had been up since 3:00 that morning ;)

Loves, loves all the charcters :)

Beer around the worlds!!

We loved Epcot at night. I am really glad we saw it then because it made it so much prettier and I could appreciate it. Too bad it was late and we had an early breakfast scheduled because we could have stayed much longer!!

Just be friends

2011-01-17T13:37:00.000-06:00

Kinson and my conversation this morning over breakfast:

K: "Mama, what day is it today?" (he asks us this every morning)

Me: "Today is Monday"

K: "Are we not going to school today?"

Me: "Not this Monday. We are staying home."

K: "Why?"

Me: " Today is Martin Luther King Day. Do you know who that is?"

K: "Yes. Dr. Luther King had a dream. He had a dream we would all be friends."

I couldn't have been more proud of that little boy. It amazes me what he learns and remember but it also reminds me of how moldable and plyable their young minds are. I hope he retains this virtue of acceptance towards everyone.

So sad.....

2011-01-17T13:32:00.000-06:00

I had asked you to pray for Cohen's sweet doctor, Dr. William Bastian, Saturday as I had found out he suffered a massive stroke on January 10. I am so devastated to say that he passed away yesterday. I am just heartbroken over this. He was such a great advocate for our community in his fight against childhood obesity and his care for his patients. My mom helped recruit him to Jackson a few years back never knowing that her granddaughter's care would be led by him. When we first found out about Cohen's diagnosis we weren't given many options of local doctors who specialized in childhood hypothyroidism. My mom just raved about him and after our first visit, we understood why. He was upfront but caring, thorough and aggressive. We waited hours to see him at times but after your visit with him we understood why. He spent whatever amount of time it took to answer any questions and offer any new advice. Cohen loved him and she always made him measure her and threw a fit if the nurses attempted to :) We will be forever grateful for his care with Cohen and give him so much credit for the strives she has made due to his early diagnosis. He will be truly missed by many of his patients and collegues.

New Year's Resolutions 2011

2011-01-15T20:04:00.000-06:00

How can I dwindle down my list of resolutions?? I have soooo many things that I would like to work on this year

1. We, as a family, would like to find a church that we truly like and can be a part of. This has been a struggle for us because of me being Catholic. I do not mind attending a church of a different denomination but when it comes to joining, I don't want to have to be baptized again. We also want to feel like we are part of a church family and meet new people. I am worried how the kids are going to do as we go to various churches. If you have a church you love that is reasonably close to us, let me know, we would love to visit!

2. Organize everything! You think I am kidding, but I am not! I have so many things stacked up in my room, car, kitchen, office, you name it I have a stack for it. It is getting out of control!! But most importantly, I have to get Cohen's medical info organized. We have spent lots of money on dr visits and prescriptions and I can't keep up with what we have paid, deductibles, and tax info! This is a priority so that hopefully soon we can finish refiling for Cohen's assistance program (which we were denied initially!!)

3. Couponing- I even went to a class on this back in October. I learned so much, even bought the accordian file to organize them in. Then I went even further and got Sunday papers for 4 weeks in a row and stored them in my file. They are still there..never even pulled them out to look at them!! I am determined this time. I follow http://www.southernsavers.com/ to get my coupon match ups (you never have to cut them, just file them and pull them out when she matches them with a sale item).

4. Cooking-- We don't eat out a lot but I have began slacking in the cooking department. we were surviving off sandwiched and lean cuisines, ugh. It was mainly because I was going to the grocery store everyday because I never had everything I needed (reference back to New Year Res2010-- always have a list-- um, yeah, that didnt happen!). My mom got me a few 5 ingredient cookbooks that were also cooking light (even when I do cook, I make sure it is relatively healthy) for Christmas. So far, it has gone well. Now if I can just combine last years resolution to make a list and this year resolution to coupon, I will be hopefully be cooking cheaper too!

5. I know everyone says exercise, but not really exercising as my resolution but just being a more active family when we are together. It is so easy to put the kids in front of the TV to get a few minutes of quiet time or take them shopping to just get out of the house. But I am talking more trips to the park, museums, playing on the swingsets, riding bikes, etc. The kids always love it when we do it, momma and papa just gotta do it!!

6. Education- I love learning anything and everything (I mean really, who goes to a class on couponing!!) We have to get CEUs to keep our liscense and everytime i get a brochure my first instinct is "I am going to this one!" If it wasn't the cost and scheduling around work or missing family time on the weekend, I would go to everyone of them, even those that aren't for OT's. So I am going to definitely look into pursuing/furthering my education online or limited classes to make myself more knowledgeable and up to date to make me a better clinician.

7. Advocate- This kind of goes along with education but more specifically-- Hearing Impaired and Language Disorders. Before Cohen's diagnosis, I knew how to change batteries in my patient's big ole dinosaur aids and when they started whistling I would hit a few buttons and would pray the racket would stop. Now I can change batteries, know how to dry one out when you accidently leave them on in the bathtub, clean out more ear wax than I thought humanly possible, anyway you get the idea. But most importantly, these children deserve the best technology has to offer and the best education. We are fortunate that Magnolia is relatively close to us and that we are in a position that we can afford it. This is not the case for everybody. I know people will get tired of me asking or forwarding emails requesting donations, sponsorships, or participation with events, but I feel very strongly about this. I want only the best for Cohen and it breaks my heart that children just like her can't get the same care.

8. Be more acknowledging and express my gratitude. I have never been very good at giving compliments, it is probably because I am not real good at receiving them. I want to apply this in all aspects, work, friendships, marriage, and family. I love, love, love to write a Thank you note but sometimes things that are small and somewhat expected, I let get by with no acknowledgement. I want people to know how thankful I really am.

See, I told you I would have a hard time narrowing it down and these aren't all of them. A lot of them are more personal changes and smaller things but things I want to work on. I know I need a lot of motivation to keep up with these but i am determined!!

Prayer request

2011-01-15T16:52:00.000-06:00

Most of yall know the multitude of doctors that Cohen has seen over the last 2 years. We have adored each and every one and are so thankful for their care. Cohen's Pediatric Endocrinologist had a massive stroke last week and is at UMC right now. I am not sure of his prognosis at this time. Besides her pediatrician, the endocrinologidt is the "lead dr" in her care being that majority of her diagnosis are endocrine related. Needless to say we are DEVASTATED! He is from Peurto Rico and moved here a few years ago and has had a huge impact in our community with his outreach to childhood obesity. As far as I know, he had no family here and loved his patients so much that he continued to stay here. Please pray for him and his recovery during this time.
With that being said, we have no idea when/if he might return to his practice. There a very, very few board certified pediatric endocrinologist around this area. There is 1 at UMC and the possibility of another one that we know of. I hate to start over with someone new but we have no choice at this time. We are also cosidering a dr at UAB. If you have any feedback on the drs at UMC, please let me know. It would be great if we could have her care centralized there but we are very apprehensive. Also, we have no idea how long it will take us to get in to a new dr. Initially, it was 3 months for us to get in and now that his whole practice will be trying to get in... we have no idea what to do. We are at a loss at the moment, poor Dr Flowers...now I will be bugging him for everything until we get this figured out!!

Crazy hats, Christmas, and a rarity!

2011-01-15T16:36:00.000-06:00

Yes, we did celebrate Christmas at the Smith household this year! It was a very different year for us, since it was the first year without my Mamaw :( Her house was always the gathering spot every Sunday and for every holiday. So the tradition carried on at our house this year. We survived, but boy were we worn out!! I am not sure how she made sure every gift was bought, every meal was shopped for, planned, and cooked at the right time, and then enjoyed every moment that she had company. More than a few times did I want to go in my bedroom and shut the door so I could think for a second!!

Christmas Eve my mom brought hats for everyone to wear and we fed the reindeer and attempted the Christmas Story. Cohen loves hearing stories and was very content on listening but, um, well Kinson had Baby Jesus ramping off of the barn's roof top and had all the wise men playing with trains. Maybe next year he will get it!

Papa Elf!

Princess Claus!

This is typical right now. Bear is trying to get Cohen to put out her Reindeer food and she sat down and said "No!" Her favorite word at the moment..........

Cohen got a dollhouse from Santa. She loves the one in her therapy room and she knows if she participates well she gets to play with it at the end of each session. So we got her, her very own to play at her herat's content. She loves it!!

Kinson got Thomas the train stuff. That's all he asked for from Santa. If he opened a present and it wasn't a train, he would quickly tell you he didn't want it and he told Santa he wanted Thomas stuff!! We have to work on appreciation and gratitude.......

Please dont look at the vast number of presents, these were for our whole family, not just the kids!

Both kids in a picture together. Can you believe it!!

This was after the Christmas day festivities, they layed down together with new blankets and pillow pet to watch "Polar Express." We had to rest up to do it again the next day!!

Magnolia's Christmas Program

2010-12-21T21:01:00.000-06:00

Please forgive the clarity of these pictures, I am too short to be taking pictures behind all these parents but we had to sit far enough back that Cohen couldn't see us.

Cohen's class dressed as stars for their program and sang "Twinklw, twinkle, twink." It was such a cute performance from all the kids. Cohen got a little shy up on stage and scooted herself behind a little boy for some coverage.

She had her first solo!! They asked her, "Cohen, where are the stars at?" We practiced and practiced her little line. She was supposed to say "Up High!" At home she was about 50/50 if she would say it and the teacher said she did betterwith a food incentive (Imagine that!). But she put her mouth up to that microphone and in the sweetest little voice said "Hiiiigh!" She has such a souther drawl so it was sooo cute!

Needless, to say momma shed a few tears during her performance and for many of the other performances too. These kids have overcome so much and these teachers put soooo much into them and it really showed!

They came back out with the whole school and sang "Happy Birthday, Jesus!" Cohen had enough of the crowd so she did not let her teacher get far away from her. We love Mrs. Mary!!

This is the whole student and teacher body at Magnolia. We are so blessed to be surrounded by such a loving group of people!!

A small update on Cohen-- We have seen the Endo since the last post and she actually grew 0.33in over the last 6 weeks. They adjusted her medication again based on her labwork that has risen to 175 (the dr would like her at 240). She also has some bloodwork done for her immune system that indicated she was slightly deficient in subclass4. It only signifies that the drs will be a little more agressive with small things such as colds and sinus crud to ensure it can't progress due to her low immune system.

I have monthly meetings with her teachers and we met this past Thursday to discuss the last few weeks. Receptively, Cohen has excelled and surpassed most of their goals for her this year. They said she can match, scan, and identify pictures after being showed once in a group of 15-20. We are beyond thrilled to hear that cognitively she is understanding. However, expressively she is demonstrating small progress but not at the speed they would like. We started weekly Auditory Verbal therapy back in October and through that and some testing done by the speech therapist, They are suspecting that Cohen has oral apraxia. It is where the brain is understanding what it wants to say but somewhere in sending the message to the mouth the signal gets mixed up and the muscles that are used to talk seem uncoordinated. We have known that she isn't "talking" as quickly as we thought so this does help with identify some reasons why. Beginning in January, Cohen will begin being taught by the "Association Method." Half of the school, is hearing impaired and half of the school is language disorder. The "Association Method" is the method they use to teach the language disorder group. I am not very familiar with it so I don't want to risk explaining it wrong, but I do know that it has proven to help many, many children who have graduated from Magnolia and we are thrilled to be somewhere that they feel like they understand and can help Cohen. I will explain it further as istart to understand it more. If anyone has any experience or knowledge on it, I am a sponge right now-- just soaking up all the knowledge I can! My coworkers are so tired of me bugging them about speech stuff :)

Canton Lights

2010-12-21T20:20:00.000-06:00

We took our annual trip to Canton this year...I think we picked the coldest night of the year! We were FREEZING! We met Robert and his family there and the kids had the best time just running in the square. I am not sure if they really ever saw the lights :)

All the kids actually sitting and looking at the camera....this is a success in my book!

Of course, Bear would be the one who can't keep his eyes open..........

Take 2!

Cohen is really smitten by Graham and he was so sweet to chase after her and play games with her :)

I am so glad they came to meet us and entertain my kids ;)

Such a rarity, Bear and I in a picture together, just the 2 of us.....awwww, aren't we sooo cute!!

Christmas Card Final

2010-11-24T16:43:00.001-06:00

With Love Blue Christmas Card

Shop Shutterfly for elegant custom Christmas photo cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

Short Cohen update

2010-11-19T22:37:00.000-06:00

I thought this was so cute, how difficult it is to get 5 1-2 year olds ready for a picture!!

This is as good as it gets!!

I know I have been neglecting my blog, therefore some of our friends and prayer warriors have been out of the loop. Cohen had that surgery back in September and her sinuses never really got better. After the culture it was discovered that Cohen grew strep-pneumo and we started a new antibiotic for 21 days. Well about day 10, we knew it wasn't working so the next option was 1. another surgery to put the "windows" in her sinuses 2. pic line of Vancomycin 3. antibiotic saline wash. After much deliberation and a great ENT, we decided definitely no to the pic line. Dr. Carron told us our decision needed to be based on how much we think it interferes with her daily life. After the last set of tubes, we have seen a great difference in how much she hears so we are not as concerned about that aspect. We also decided to put off the surgery and attempt the sinus wash. I am just not excited about putting her under anesthesia for the 3rd time in less than 6 months just to clear up some snot. If it comes down to it, we will do the surgery. We hope to start the washes this weekend and will pray it works.

We also met with the Endo and she measured 30.5in (no change since July) and 22.5lbs (gained 1lb). Her medicine had been doubled in July and we were hoping for better results after being on the injections for 4months. Her hormone levels we retested and her IGF is 175 (which she was 29 in June, after 4 weeks of meds in July she was 125). This is in the normal range but on the low end and for the amount of medicine she is receiving, the dr feels it should be higher. Even though she isnt growing, her body has changed dramatically. She has very little fat to pinch to give her injections in her arms and belly. So we are seeing them meds work in that sense. We have been very fortunate with our insurance company and allowing us to try this for 1 year, however because of Bear's job change we will be having to change to a new insurance company in February. Of course we will have the help of the drug company and our Dr, but we can't help but be apprehensive in waiting to see how the process will fold out and see if we are approved and if we are what the out of pocket co-pay will be.

But on a positive note, her schooling is going GREAT!! We still can not believe in 6 months how dramatically different our lives have become and the doors that have opened for us. Magnolia has been such a blessing for us. Cohen loves her teachers, friends, and education. She is now receiving an extra therapy session each week, called Auditory Verbal Training. I am learning so much because I get to attend this 30min class each week. She has added a few more consistent words to her vocabulary: mo(re), up, ball, ba(th), "i" eye, no. Receptively she has exceeded her goals for the first semester and were upgraded. She is just doing so well and working so hard.

Casual Saturdays.....

2010-11-19T22:02:00.000-06:00

We are still not sure what to do with our weekends now that Bear does not work or study. Soccer filled the void for a few weeks but that ended last weekend. Kinson has been so upset that soccer ended. So this past Saturday after I finished working, I met Bear and the kids at the zoo to try and deter him from constantly saying on Saturday he plays soccer.

She wants to play with Kinson sooooo bad, but he will not have a thing to do with her :(

Bear had been kind of upset that we had decided to leave Cohen home during our Disney trip but 10minutes into the zoo after Cohen couldn't decided whether she wanted to be in the stroller, walk, or be held about 100 times, he quickly confirmed that we made the right decision. She was more interested in the wind blowing, airpplanes in the sky, and the leaves on the ground!!

What it looks like when......

2010-11-19T21:28:00.000-06:00

Halloween costumes are 50% off!! I couldn't pass this up nor could I save it until next Halloween. We have had hours of happiness dressing the Lightning McQueen pit crew!!

Christmas Cards....Check them out!

2010-11-19T21:21:00.000-06:00

Have you ever ordered from SHUTTERFLY?? I am so excited about our Christmas cards this year. Like I said in previous posts, I have been preparing since September to get our Christmas Cards prepared. We had our pictures made and I have been browsing all the sites to find the best designs and deals. Here are a few that I am having difficulty deciding between:

If my children liked each other enough to actually hug, I would LOVE this card.......CUTE CARD
This is more like what I have in mind, I like a collage of different poses.....COLLAGE CARD
And I can't forget about how much the grandparents love to look at their grandchildren all year long....PERSONALIZED CALENDARS you can put in everybody's birthday to be printed on it!!

We had out pictures made and I had them printed through Shutterfly and was very pleased with the end results, even the enlarged prints. I have also started to uload my pictures to their site because it is so easy and a backup to my external drive. But y'all know me, I want a good deal and this site has not disappointed. I am always receiving coupons and codes to receive discounts and free prints. And for Christmas they are offering multiple promotions (free shipping, 30% calendars, etc) but I am most excited about receiving 50 FREE Holiday Cards just for blogging about them. If you are interested in this deal go HERE!! I can't wait to put ours in the mail :)

MS State Fair 2010

2010-10-31T14:58:00.000-05:00

My kids had the very best time EVER at the fair this year. Cohen and Kinson always live a pony ride.

Kinson had ZERO fear of the rides this year. He rode everything that he was tall enought to ride, most of them by himself. Daddy got to ride a few too ;)

Because Kinson had sooo much fun at the fair, Bear came home and planned a trip to Disneyworld in February. I have always been very apprehensive about going, well really it is the planning part. Vacation to me usually means relaxation and do what you want, when you want. So planning each day and every meal has not been really something I was all into. However, Bear has really taken over and planned this whole thing out (with the help of some of his friends who have been---Thanks Tye and Brandy!). So if you have any great suggestions for us or advice, it would be greatly appreciated.
By the way, little girl is going to get to have the best 5 days with her, Nana, GDaddy, and BB while we are gone. Crowds really aren't her thing....

2010-10-27T08:13:00.000-05:00

So much to say, so little time!! We are headed to Cohen's 2 year check up this morning so I have a few extra minutes to get on the computer. We have had a BUSY October, so much to update. Maybe some time this week.......hopefully!!

New pictures

2010-09-26T20:39:00.002-05:00

I love this little boy sooo much! He is so the most passionate child ever. He makes you feel exactly what he is feeling whenever he talks. He is not a shy child AT ALL!! He loves to meet new people and can carry on a conversation with a rock. We weren't worried until teachers at his school, who have been teaching for years and have seen multilple children, began asking us questions regarding his nonstop conversational skills!!

He has the most genuine affectionate personality. However, he can not stand Cohen. I really hope he starts to like her soon. But I guess I never got along with my brothers until high school....let's hope it doesn't take that long!! He is NONSTOP at all times and leaves a lasing impression with everyone he meets! He loves school, soccer, helping me with everything, shopping, trains, and swimming.

I also cant begin to tell you how much we love this little girl! She is so inquisitive about everything, wantingt o learn it on her own. She is very independent and don't even think about touching her when you put her to bed. She is not a cuddler Her laughs are growing more frequent daily and her vocal skills are expanding. She can identify most of her body parts, 5 expression sounds, her classmates, and family by using her flashcards. She can vocalize "mama", "papa", "up", "ball", and "snot". The last one is due to her forever congestion problem she has :) The teachers say that she is capable of saying more whenever she likes the incentive. She definitely does things on her own time!

Cohen has surgery Thursday to repair and place another tube in the left ear (don't try and figure out what number this is!) and she had a sinus lavage (fancy word for a good cleaning out.) She has been congested since July and been on and off antibiotics to attempt to clear up her sinuses and ears. After the last resort in early September, surgery was decided. She did great, but we were unable to get some tests run that her genetisist asked for, so we might have another procedure in the near future. Her sinuses were cultured and we are waiting to hear the next step in making sure it does not get this bad again.

She is ready to head back to school tomorrow, I think she likes it.....ALOT!!! She loves her homework and screams each night when it is over.

This post is kind of random isn't it!? I couldn't wait to put our the pictures we had made a few weekends ago. Last year was the first time in 10 years that I did not send out Christmas cards and it was because I never got around to ordering pictures and having cards made. This year I vowed to get it done early. September seemed good enough for me!! Don't worry I didn't put the best ones up yet, you will have to check the mailbox for those :) If you are looking for a great photographer-- http://www.frickfrackfoto.blogspot.com/-- they are super nice and the best part is you get a CD with all your pictures and you do your own ordering.

One of my prouder moments as a Mom.....

2010-09-12T20:45:00.000-05:00

We all know that our house is a "divided house" when it comes to College Football. Bear graduated from MSU and USM, while I attended MC. Bear will pull for his Bulldogs and Eagles no matter what, and well when you go to MC there is not a lot of things to do to be involved as we have gotten older. But I will definitely cheer for my Choctaws while given the chance. So where does the LSU come in? As far as I could remember my dad and I have cheered for LSU and Saints. It has carried with me so I continue to cheer for our Tigers!! The kids have had their fair share of college gear but this was the first year that Kinson is really getting into cheering. He was soooo excited to watch "his tigers". Since there are so many games on, Bear rigs up the living room to have 2 TVas well as the kitchen TV is usually playing a third game. Kinson was in heaven having a TV that he could put his face within 2inches.

Don't be fooled, he really on sat through a few minutes of the actual game, but he kept coming back to cheer on his Tigers. GEAUX TIGERS!!

Labor Day Weekend

2010-09-11T20:30:00.000-05:00

I know I am always behind but it hasn't been but a few days since these pictures were taken, so that is pretty good for me. Labor Day weekend was very busy for us. On Saturday I worked to try and catch up some and on Sunday, Bear was given a few tickets to Blue Bayou in Baton Rouge so we decided we would try and fulfill Kinson's beach urge. I have no pictures from the water park because I had it locked up in the locker the whole time because we were constantly in the water. Needless to say Kinson LOVED it!! I had a few issues, the biggest was that they allowed smoking on the grounds and people were wearing waterproof pouches around their necks to keep their cigarettes dry!!! The rest were minor so maybe we will go back again next year.

Labor Day we went and spent the afternoon at Uncle Robert's house. My kids love, love seeing Uncle Robert and his family. Kinson especially loves the trampoline.

Robert thought that puting soap on the trampoline would add to the fun, this is the product.....Soapy eyes!!!

She would not be left out :)

Beach trip....sort of!

2010-08-30T20:11:00.000-05:00

This was the weekend that Kinson had been anxiously waiting for--we were going to the beach!! The problem was that the Rain Gods had other plans. Orange Beach received 4" of rain Friday and 5"of rain on Saturday. Needless to say we never got a grain of sand on our feet :( We did get to spend a few hours in the various pools and the kids loved it. After an unfortunate incident with our AC in the condo, we cut our stay a night short and came back home. Kinson keeps asking us when we are going to the beach!!

I am never on this side of the camera, however I felt the need to document the birthday celebration!!

This is my "best friend" as he calls me. He is really at the best age right now. He tells us stories from his day and he NEVER forgets anything you tell him-- this has started to backfire on us.

Isn't she adorable?!! She loved the water so much, especially the fact that she could be in the majority of the pool and still stand up.

I promise to post more pictures soon!!

This is how I feel most days....

2010-08-29T20:25:00.003-05:00

Like everything is backwards!!

Kinson still wants us to help him get dressed in the mornings, but he still strips down when he goes to potty and he then redresses himself. Usually something makes it back on backwards!!

Eat more chicken!!

2010-08-20T19:40:00.003-05:00

Before Cohen had hearing aids, she could only hear a certain range of pitches and in that range only 4 syllables can be heard-- M, B, D, and N sounds. After we found this out, we were taught how to do some audiometry games with her until we got our hearing aids to help identify what she was hearing. The first letter they told us to start with was "M" and make the "mmmm" sound. So they suggested that we use the cow sound to make the game fun.
Well you know me, we can't just have 1 cow---we have to have the whole farm!! We have cows everywhere. She can identify the cow out of all of animals when asked and if you ask her what the cow says, she presses her lips together and she goes"mmmm." This is a HUGE accomplishment. It is the first hard sound we have been consistent with when she is directly asked to identify.

Couldn't you just eat her up?!?!

We went back and saw the endo last week and her growth hormone levels are up--which is a sign that her body is able to absorb it--but not as high as they would like. Her baseline was 29, she is now at 120, but they would like her at 250. The dr doubled her dose of injection and we will retest in 2 months. We do measure her standing at home and mark her every 2 weeks and according to our measurements she has grown 1/4-1/2" in the last 6 weeks. There is a fine line as to what we want to happen. Insurance says that she must demonstrate adequate growth and increase in levels but can not "overachieve" and grow too much in 1 year because then she will not qualify for the medicine anymore. We have found out recently that it is not necessarily the actual growing part that is the most important but the medicine will help turn her "cherub" body into lean muscle (at this time her body does not make adequate muscle mass) and help mature her bone age (hers is at a 9month old age). We have seen a big difference in her body make up. We used to have all this fat to pinch and give her medicine in and that has gotten harder.

I just previewed this post and if you stayed awake during that last part, you have to be just as big of a nerd as I am because it was sooo boring!! But I know so many of yall ask and are concerned so I try and get all the facts out there and plus I use this as my "journal" to keep up with her progress. Next post I will try and leave all the medical mumbo-jumbo out and just put what yall really come to my blog for---pictures of my little angels!!

2010-08-19T20:15:00.002-05:00

Everybody takes pictures of their kids' first day of school so I decided that maybe I should document this importatnt milestone. Well, this is technically not her FIRST day of school pictures. I was little too emotional to capture the first day :) But these were from the second day. I was very nervous for her to start her new school Monday and I made Bear go with me to take her. I never understand why I get so worked up and I worry about how she will react to things because she ALWAYS adapts so well. This was no exception. She walked down the hall with her little backpack straight to her room, put it in her cubby, and then walked over to the toys and started playing. No looking back at us, no sad face, no tears (from her!!), nada. So we just turned around and left with mixed emotions. Part of me wanted her to need me, but part of me was relieved that she felt comfortable. Nevertheless, she has had a terrific few days. Her report card is great and momma and papa are having to stay on our toes to keep up with her homework!!

She is so busy and pictures are getting very hard to take!

"Mom, puh-lease get that camera out of my face, I have places to go!"

"Seriously, I HAVE to go..... NOW!!"

This backpack is Cohen's new best friend. She knows that it is her's and she loves to drag it around the house. As soon as I tell her it is time to go, she runs and gets her bag and trots to the door and off she goes.

We have Open House next week and I can not wait to hear what she has been doing. I met with her teacher, speech therapist, and audiologist last week to establish our goals for her over the next year. It very encouraging for all of us to be on the same page and working towards the same objective. We are so excited to see what is to come!!

More randoms

2010-08-15T20:18:00.002-05:00

Cohen is still small for her age, especially her feet. She is still wearing a size 3 and we can never find any to fit her. It doesn't really seem to bother her, because she only has 1 pair that she likes (these are not them) and all the rest she takes off all the time. Even at school, she won't wear her shoes.

After swim lessons one night, we packed a picnic and ate at the Reservoir. We also brought a kite along. Well, it never occurred to me that we might need a little bit of wind! Kinson and Bear took it as a challenge to get this kite up in the air. They ran all over and finally had lift off!!

Sorry for the long lapse between posts. Hopefully after this week and we get into our regular routine I will have a bit of time to myself. We are headed to the beach for an extended weekend to celebrate my birthday.....this one is really getting to me. The Big 3-0 doesn't sound all that appealing to me :)

Random Stuff...

2010-08-15T20:02:00.004-05:00

The last few weeks have been a smorgasbord of things going on and I have been fortunate enough to catch a few things on camera!

Cohen has gotten a little (more like ALOT) sassy lately. She thinks that she can just show off her cute dimples and get her way......it usually works!!

Kinson finished swim lessons 2 weeks ago, can he swim? No. Did he go to each and every lesson and sit and do what "Mr. Ton" (his name is really Tom) said? Not really. However, he managed to get his face wet a few days and that in itself is a huge accomplishment. He also has decided that he will not get in any pool that does not have a zero-entry side. This has caused a few meltdowns at the neighborhood pool and Uncle Mitchel's.

Look at my new ears!!

2010-08-07T19:22:00.003-05:00

Can you even see them?! Cohen got her hearing aids at the beginning of July and we had been prepared for a tough transition into learning to wear them consistently. I even took a week off work to assist with this. Well, we should have known that should would tolerate them just as well as she tolerates everything else that comes her way. She has done FABULOUS!!! At first, she squirmed and resisted us putting them in her ears but never pulled at them or tried to take them out. They even gave us "critter clips" to attach to them in case she pulls at them, they can fall out but still be attached to her clothes. We have only used them at school and the other kids noticed the clips and kept pulling them out, that was little frustrating but she endured it.

Now she wakes up in the morning and points at her ears before she gets out of the crib wanting us to put them in---immediately. She doesn't want to miss a thing. It has been truly amazing to watch her as she has learning a whole new side of her world. She is so responsive now and a few of the things that we were thought were "delays", were actually a lack of hearing (not all her delays are that easily explained...).

This is what she typically looks like throughout the day, she is always pointing at her ears letting us know she is hearing. She loves to show off he "new ears."

She has learned a few new tricks--she can point at her belly, hair, and of course her ears when asked. She also loves cows......so much that there will be a whole post about her new obsession :)

One fish, Two fish,

2010-07-25T17:27:00.005-05:00

We signed Kinson up for swim lessons at the Y this last week and this week. I like to sign him up for things just so maybe, just maybe he will start understanding that he has listen to what people say and behave around others not necessarily the skill! Surprisingly, he has done really well with swimming.

This is what it looks like every afternoon when Papa comes home! Cohen was sad that she had to stay home with me. She is becoming quite the handful and when it comes to water--she has ZERO fear!

Day#3-- he got more excited every day!

This is in the zero entry side--he loved swimming on that side before and after each lesson. He thought he was a bigshot with no floating device or parent!

By the 4th lesson, he let the teachers actually let go of him and go at it all alone!

Looks like we are going to have to move.....

2010-07-24T08:57:00.003-05:00

if they continue to want one of these! Mackenzie's bday part was a petting zoo and they brought a pony to ride. My kids loved it! Uncle Robert keeps encouraging us to get a pony for all the kids.......not gonna happen anytime soon!

Mmmmm.....is this on her diet?!

2010-07-20T16:58:00.003-05:00

That would be "NO!!" But this little girl can eat. I have said before that she is on a restricted diet, well the last few weeks since we began the growth hormones, she has eaten NONSTOP!! My cousins from Virginia came in town last week and they always have a few must have places that we must eat at when they are here. Their favorites are: Jerry's Catfish, Krystals, and Sonny's Bar-B-Que! The funny thing is that we only eat at these places when they come in town! We are trying to slow her down by giving her a piece of toast to gnaw on!

I know I need to give a big update on her but I need to get some cute pics to go with it, but I will say that she has gotten her hearing aids and we couldnt have asked for things to go more smoothly! More on that soon...........

Reston Zoo

2010-07-10T20:38:00.003-05:00

While up in Virginia we visited a small petting zoo/wildlife refuge. It had lots of goats, pigs, ducks, etc fot the kids to pets and feed. Kinson and Cohen loved it! We got to ride through a field where all the animals came up and let us pet them. This goat made us laugh so hard...you might not be able to tell that his eyes are going in all kind of crazy directions.

New beginnings....

2010-07-10T20:11:00.003-05:00

I know my posts lately have been a little blah and down lately but it really has been a rough few weeks at the Smith household. But one thing is looking up.....Bear got a new job!! Bear started Tuesday and he has been so excited to get up and go to work every morning. Where oh where we is he working??..........

He is working in the accounting department as an Accountant Supervisor. I am thrilled to see him in a job that he gets to use his skills and knowledge. Best part for me---NO TAX SEASON!!!!

Just checking in!

2010-06-21T16:40:00.002-05:00

Not sure why I feel the need to "check in", but yes we are still alive but as I said before "if it rains, it pours, well it still seems to be "sprinkling " at our house right now. The good news is the reason why we had been away, was because literally we went away-- to Virginia that is! My aunt and my 4 favorite cousins live there and the youngest, Stefani, was graduating high school so we traveled 15hours to see her and the family for 5 days. I think the storm cloud followed us because Bear and I caught a stomach bug on Friday, but at least we had a houseful of babysitters to watch the kids! We got in at 3:00am this morning so I am walking around like a zombie. More on the trip later with pictures...I know you can't wait :)

Short Cohen update: No hearing aids (hopefully this week), her left ear drum that was perforated, now healed up. Good right? Well now she is holding fluid behind the healed drum--- we are going to wait a bit before we decide if we want to do another surgery to put a tube in that ear--if it affects her hearing then we will do it sooner than later. Growth hormone shots started last week. It took a few days for me to get over the initial sticking her but each day it gets easier for me--she on the other hand screams the moment she sees the alcohol pads but it stops almost immediately after the shot. I think it is just the anticipation of it. Things are on track for her to start Magnolia in August, again we still don't know what we are going to do about school when the hearing aids actually get here. I keep ignoring this topic....think I am in denial about the actual transition part :)

Stay tuned-- lots to post about our trip and upcoming adventures!!

No Hearing Aids Yet.....

2010-06-06T20:44:00.003-05:00

Sorry for the lack of updates-- if you understand the saying "When it rains, it pours." Well, it feels like we are under a severe thunderstorm warning here all the time. Enough of that, now on to updating about little CoCo. We still have to wait about 2 more weeks on the hearing aids, there was a delay on our insurance's end. We are almost certain that we will start Magnolia Speech School in August, she has been accepted and we are participating in some observation hours so we can understand exactly what Cohen's education will be like. Her first shipment of Growth Hormones arrived Friday and we are waiting for a nurse to come this week and demonstrate how to administer the injections. We are both very apprehensive with giving Cohen shots, but we know it is nescessary. And we are staring the Medicaid process all over, we had filed for the wrong thing--the one we knew that we would be denied but had to file before disability-- of course no one at the office told us, so now we are filing for Disabled Child living at home. Hopefully this will help as a secondary insurance for her medication. We have a few appointments over the next 2 weeks with ENT and Endocrinology. Will keep yall updated!!

Look at those cute little pigtails :)

Helen, GA

2010-06-06T20:33:00.002-05:00

Oh my, has anybody ever been here?! It was like we went out of the country and just drove 6 hours! We laughed the entire trip there as we passed through various towns and we felt as we were traveling back in time. We went with our friends, the Wards, so that Bear, Jeremy, and Hunter could race in the Warrior Dash. This was a just a fun (and very MESSY) race. We stayed in this cute town that was made as a replica of a German town. All their restaraunts served German cuisine and there were plenty of Taverns to enjoy German beer. It was a cute little town to stay the night (I don't recommend any longer than that). It was very family, walking friendly and the kids loved it.

Ignore these people, I have no idea who they are :)

Warrior Dash 2010!

2010-06-06T20:21:00.002-05:00

Sorry for the pictures being out of order...not sure what is going on with bogger! As you can see they really had lots of fun!

Yes, that was real fire that they had to jump over!!

Things are moving sooo fast

2010-05-18T20:43:00.002-05:00

so i am trying to document it so I can keep track of everything! Cohen went today to have impressions for her ear-molds. All children hearing aids are the type that go behind the ear and have a "earmold" in the ear canal to transmit the sound through. These hearing aids are used because it is easy to remake just the earmolds every few months as she continues to grow.
She did so great! They had to put a small cotton ball on a string down in her ear canal and then took a syrings and filled her ear full of putty.wax stuff. She had to wait 5 minutes and then they removed them. I was in total shock as she sat there and just ate her crackers acting like nothing was going on! Let's pray that she continues this cooperation.
The hearing aids will be here in 3 days but the earmolds take about 2-3 weeks. In the meantime, we are meeting with the Parent/Infant program mentor who will show us some activities to do with her and our Speech Therapist is going to also meet with us and the School to learn a few things that we can do with her this summer until she is enrolled at Magnolia.
We have learned so much over the last 5 days and when I look back to a week ago I would have never guessed that this is what we would be preparing for. We are so thankful for all the resources that we have found and been given.

Annual Girl's Beach Trip

2010-05-18T20:28:00.002-05:00

That time of year again and boy did it come and go too fast. My high school besties and I spent Mother's Day holiday together again. I hope and pray that everyone has friends like these girls. They have been there for me through so many things over the years and I have grown in so many ways through their friendships. I couldn't ask for better friends to be surrounded by. As always, we just get together and the time flies as we laugh until we cry, ask our "deep" questions, and just enjoy time together.

This year had a special meaning behind it....we all turn the BIG 3-0 this year!! As the baby of the group, I still have a few months to live up my 20's :)

It was such a great vacation that just went by so fast. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and God knew I needed that time for rejuvenation and rest before my tough week that laid ahead.

more pics

2010-05-18T20:25:00.001-05:00

I love these girls!! Can't wait til next year......

Many faces of Kinson....

2010-05-16T19:46:00.002-05:00

I guess I need to learn that "Boys will be boys!" He decided instead of a bath after his soccer game, that he would just play outside in the rain! My mom keeps reminding me to pick my battles-----I didn't object to this idea:)

Couldn't you just eat this little boy up! He has really become so entertaining and we just smile with anticipation as we wait to hear what will come out his mouth next! He really is so much fun at this age!!

I just wanted to clear up a few questions that have been asked about Cohen. These new findings will not change any of the other things that we have already set up. Her injections should begin sometime in June and she will continue her current medicine. We also still have no etiology to any of the conditions. When the drs looked at each condition alone they had a theory based un my unmanaged hypo-T while pregnant, however now with multiple conditions there is a chance that it is more chromosomal. We still haven't started the genetic testing yet and are unsure when/if we start that. Thanks again for all the continued support, it means so much that she is loved by so many!!

Have you ever seen anything more precious......

2010-05-15T19:06:00.002-05:00

Than this?!?!

This little girl has captivated our hearts and we just think she is the most perfect, cutest, fabulous little girl in the whole wide world. She is so busy that I can only get my hand on a camera when it gets close to bedtime!

Thanks to all of our friends and family that have been checking in with us. It really means so much to us that we have such a wonderful support group. Sorry to those who called/texted Thursday and got no reply. It took us some time to absorb and process the news, but things moved QUICKLY and we haven't looked back.

Cohen's surgery revealed that Cohen had an unrepairable perforation in her left eardrum that will serve as a "tube" for drainage and the right ear tube was replaced without difficulty. Her adenoids were removed also with no problems. While she was still asleep, we had opted for an Auditory Brain Response test to detect hearing deficits. With her speech delays, we were ruling out a hearing impairment. The test revealed that she had mild/mod hearing loss in her right ear and mod/severe loss in her left ear. This was so shocking to us. We were prepared to hear that it was fluid causing what might be a hearing impairment. He left ear might improve a small amount if her eardrum repairs itself, if not a patch will be performed.

The only option for her at this time will be hearing aids. It is amazing how things began to fall into place. On my way home from the hospital, I stopped by CVS to fill her prescriptions and in walked Dr Flowers, Cohen's ped. He had already received a message from me and asked me to go ahead and explain it all to him right then. 5 minutes later he had a planned laid out and rolling! Friday morning, We met with Magnolia Speech School's hearing impaired department and toured what will be her classroom hopefully in August and met with an audiologist that will be our mentor through this process. Jennifer was wonderful and answered our 1,000,000 questions and gave us a simulation so we could hear exactly what Cohen hears. It was very eye-opening yet encouraging at the same time. We quickly realized how much she had to concentrate to hear, but we also realized that she CAN hear.

We spoke to our insurance company and are very grateful that at least part of her hearing aids will be covered and that UMC and Magnolia indicated that we could receive these within the next few weeks-- they are out the month of July, so they want her to have them before then. So needless to say, we have received more education, spoke to more people about things we are cluless about, and in the meantime pampered to a recovering 18month old! We do have a few reservations over the next few weeks. We are definitely unsure as to what childcare will be throughout the summer after she gets her hearing aids. I do not think that a classroom full of 12 18month olds are the right place to transition to hearing aids :) We are also just plain scared. We do not know the etiology of her hearing loss, we do not know if it has gotten better or worse since birth, and we do not know yet if it will improve or get worse. We do know that God gave us the baby girl as ours and we are unbelievably grateful that she is ours and that He has given us the means to provide for her everything that she will need.

David Beckham potential?!

2010-05-15T18:50:00.003-05:00

Kinson's first soccer season ended this morning. Bear is sooo sad. We loved every minute of watching Kinson play. By the end of the season, Kinson played hard and made great friends. He scored his first and only goal last weekend and was quick to let everyone know that he got a cupcake when he scored!! He at least gained the concept of the game:)

We are here....sometimes :)

2010-04-30T11:10:00.002-05:00

I thought as April 15 slowly arrived, I would have more time...WRONG!! Life has been hectic as normal justnow there are 2 of us to deal with it! Havent uploaded pics in awhile but I will get to them in due time :) What have the Smith's been up to?

** Who knew thats soccer could take up so much time?? One practice a week and a game every Saturday really adds up, but Kinson LOVES it and we cry to we have tears running down our faces at every game because they are so darn cute!

**Bear had his CPA ceremony, got his license, and a raise (that being the biggest in my book ;)) so it is definitely official and can not be taken back!!

**I went on a girls weekend trip for my bestest friend, Priscilla's Bachelorette Party. It has been a long time since I have ben in New Orleans on a fun weekend....good thing we have all grown up a bit :)

** Speaking of Priscilla, her big day is tomorrow and we couldn't be more excited for her and Joey. I am off today preparing and performing all of my Bridesmaid duties.

**As always we have had multiple drs visits and I will try and sum it up in as few words as possible. Cohen will have surgery May 13 to remove her adenoids, sinus wash, new tubes, and a series of sedated hearing tests. This became a last resort as we have attempted 3 hearing tests and the results have either been inconclusive or she hasnt participated. So we got a GREAT new ENT and he felt like she was holding fluid behind her ears and until we cleared that up we were always going to be questioning her hearing. We saw the endo yesterday and through all of her recent testing, it is now a definitive diagnosis that she is partially growth hormone deficient. Once the drug company and insurance work things out, she will begin daily injections. She is also undergoing a diet overhaul, as it is shown that kids who have this diagnosis have a tendency to have metabolic issues with fat and inability to break down and discard of it. Recently she has been eating to the point of vomiting and her stomach has been protruding and hard. So she will have some new restrictions and limitations on quantity until she gets older and activity can be encouraged and the meds begin to take effect. However, this little girl is so busy!!! She never stops until she literally crashes at 7:00 every night and sleeps rock solid til we wake her up at 6:30.

** Cohen learned 2 syllables recently. "buh" and "na". We were thrilled to her little voice, except when we hear the "na" sound. She only uses this when she is mad or scared. Especially when she hears the vacuum cleaner!!

Hopefully after this weekend I will get some great new pictures this weekend!!

Warning! Don't leave a cookie cake in the oven,

2010-04-04T20:31:00.002-05:00

and then turn on the oven to cook supper.....this is what it will look like!

Last Sunday was Bear's birthday. He is pretty easy to please when it comes to his birthday. He always asks for 2 things--Outback and a cookie cake. Well, considering how hectic life has been since January his birthday got overlooked the same way Kinson's birthday, Valentines Day, passing the CPA test, and our Anniversary will. So we haven't gotten a "date night" for Outback but I thought the least I could do was get a cookie cake. I got the thing ordered and was thinking about picking it up while he was at work on Saturday and then it occurred to me. How in the world was I going to get Kinson, Cohen in her stroller, and this cake out of the mall? Luckily, my mom came to the rescue. The cake got here safe and sound however Kinson decided that we could not wait til Sunday to eat it-- he was ready as soon as Bear got home Saturday. So after devouring half the cake we had to hide it from Kinson so the oven was the only place it would fit. Too bad I didn't remember that when supper called for me to preheat the oven to 425 degrees! Don't feel too bad for me-- Bear and Kinson still managed to eat every morsel of that cake by Monday!!

My dreams have come true...sort of

2010-04-01T21:04:00.003-05:00

As far back as I could remember, I always wanted children-- 3boys, 1 girl--and I wanted them involved in everything and I would be the mom that toted everyone to and from games, parties, and organized carnivals and dances, etc. Well, that time is arriving--I am officially a SOCCER MOM!! Kinson is playing Blastball at the YMCA and his first game was this past Saturday. Did i mention in my fantasies my child was also the Star Athlete? Hmmm, I will let you judge for yourselves....

Yes, he is laying down while the game is going on!

I don't think you are supposed to use your hands!!

This is pretty much what he looked like the entire time. We really didn't know what to expect but we knew there would be problems regarding only one ball. Not only did he not understand there was only 1 ball during the game but he did not like the game ball, he wanted to play with a different ball. He never cried or screamed, he just was not that into it. He finally warmed up to during the second half but by the time he would get to the ball, the whistle would blow and he sure didn't understand stopping!! They get this weekend off but I will be sure to update after the next game!

My Cindy-loo

2010-03-25T21:37:00.004-05:00

Before I start, do you see that ponytail?! This girl's hair grows like weeds and poor Bear-- he is trying to learn ponytail holders and barrettes. Thankfully the ladies at school LOVE to play with her hair and according to the director they fix and refix it all day long!
Anyway, back to the point, I don't know who watches Grey's Anatomy, but I have been a diligent follower from day 1! Usually it is just an hour that I get to myself each week, sometimes I watch it in the bathtub, or in my bed, or like tonight while on my spin bike. It is my time, my hour each week to just escape and stop thinking. This week has been especially hard, we got tests back that weren't the most ideal outcome, work has been hectic, and do I have to mention that we are the home stretch of tax season. So I was ready to burn a few calories and indulge in 1 whole hour of mindlessness. Well it didn't quite work out that way. Yes I did ride for an hour and I did watch it, but one scene has stuck in my head and I can't get it out of my mind.
Meredith is upset at Derrick for stealing her surgery and another Dr tells her to remember Whoville. Remember when the Grinch stole all the presents in Whoville and on Christmas morning the Who's all came out of their houses singing-- they didn't dwell on it or let it get them down.
That little 30sec scene is in my head and all I can picture is my little "Cindy-Loo"-- she always comes out "singing", she hasn't let it get her down. She always has the biggest smile and we know she is just taking everything in and it will all come on its own time.

Rare moment....

2010-03-11T19:32:00.003-06:00

for many reasons. 1. They never sit still long enough for a picture 2. Kinson usually never wants to have anything to do with Cohen 3. They would never dream of touching one another without pushing, shoving, hitting.....You get the idea.

This was such a sweet moment because Cohen decided this past Saturday morning that she would mimic Kinson as we were blowing kisses to each other. I have been practicing waving, kissing, pointing at body parts, etc. with no success. But as soon as Kinson started blowing her kisses she would blow them back. It brought tears to my eyes. It is just the small things right now that make my day. It was just that small little glimmer that let me know that Cohen has the capabilities, it is just how we go about it!

One test down..

2010-03-03T21:13:00.002-06:00

It only took 3 hours and 14 sticks, but overall it went way better than expected. Little girl was a fighter and her little veins never cooperate but we had a great staff that took great care of her---they even gave her her own room on the ped unit so she could do as she wanted in between blood draws. Not sure when we will know the results because we have to another test in 4 weeks-- different med, same procedure. Our endo appt isn't scheduled until after that test, so it might be difficult to get the overall results without both sets of results.
Thanks for all those who were thinking about Cohen today, it meant so much and like I said it went waaaay better than anticipated!

Is it really that difficult to wear pants?!

2010-03-01T21:00:00.004-06:00

Kinson immediately takes off his pants, shoes, and socks when he gets home!

This day we just HAD to have on our fireman boots.....

and don't miss his homemade tatoo on his right thigh! That took about 3 days before he agrees to let us wash it off!

My counter keeps going up and up and up.....

2010-03-01T20:22:00.003-06:00

I never started this blog with the intention of having many (if any) readers, it was really to help keep my family up to date. It also saves me a lot of time so I am not sending multiple emails of pictures of my children that may or may not be opened! But as time has passed, I have really began to like it. I know I tend to talk about my kids and various illnesses (probably not the most interesting topics), but guess what, that is my life at this time!
With all this rambling, I really am just trying to figure out who actually reads this. My little counter keeps going up and up, and who knows it might just be the grandparents hitting refresh over and over again anticipating the new post ;) So I added a little "gadget" that you can become a follower, heck I really don't know what it means or what happens when you become a follower, so if you are as computer illiterate as me--just leave a comment instead!

I am married to a.........

2010-02-28T20:26:00.002-06:00

Bear PASSED his test!!! We found out Wednesday afternoon ,the same day that we were trying to absorb all the news about Cohen and process our thoughts. God knows how much we can handle and just as we felt like we couldn't take anymore added to us, He takes a HUGE weight off of us.
In August 2004, Bear decided to take a big risk and quit his job and go back to school to pursue an Accounting degree. He never knew that over the next 6 years he would get married, sell his bachelor pad, buy a new house, have 2 kids, change jobs, and have to study for a test that through all this seemed impossible. I can not begin to say how proud I am of Bear. There were many times that it was difficult and balancing life at home and work was not easy. There were many oppurtunities for him to quit and accept jobs that did not require a CPA license. But he persevered and all of his hard work has paid off. Too bad it is tax season and we don't get to thoroughly enjoy and celebrate this accomplishment. Come the first weekend following April 15 we will not know what to with ourselves and all of our extra time!!

What a long week and another long week ahead........

2010-02-27T12:17:00.002-06:00

This week we had a few important appointments that we had been anticipating. On Wednesday, Cohen went and saw the ped endocrinologist to review some labwork we had done 2 weeks ago. At Kinson's 3 year check up, Dr Flowers had gone over her results with me so I would be prepared when we got there. We had her IGF-1 retested (her first test was at 12months old and we wereunable to get an exact number-we just knew it was low) and this time we were able to get the exact number read which was 29. Normal is 99-599. So this just confirmed what we were already preparing ourselves for, that Cohen is growth hormone deficient. The endo went into a little more details about the exact meaning and the further tests required to get more exact deficits and what the future might hold. These specialists do not beat around the bush--they tell you the good, bad, and the ugly upfront. Which at times can lead me to a lot of wasted time worrying, but it also gives me time to prepare for what is ahead. We do know that we are about to fight with insurance companies regarding the high cost of growth hormone treatment and also we have found out recently how screwed up the state and federal assistance programs are. As we speak we are in the 60 day waiting period just to be denied (which we knew from the beginning we would be denied but you HAVE to be denied to move to the next step) only to then file for children at home with disability and wait 5-7 MONTHS before we can have our interview to see if she would qualify. Hmmmm, wonder how many other children could be helped if we didn't have to pay people to do all these unneccessary steps when it is clearly outlined what will qualify?!

Next day, Thursday, we met with the great team at Magnolia Speech School. Yes, I am an OT and yes they taught us about all these great techniques and theories about teaching and environments for children but then I graduated and stepped into the real therapy world where patients aren't as textbook and the necessary equipment is not always available. But this place did not dissappoint. It was like walking into the Therapy Oz!! Everyone was so nice and all the mothers knew each other and the classrooms were decorated wonderfully and there was every imaginable device and learning tool ever needed in those rooms. If it is determined that Cohen will have to attend scholl here in the future, I will NOT be upset one bit!
But Cohen had different agenda that day, she was not there to impress anybody! We were there to meet with the audiologist and ST. They put us in this little soundproof room, where Cohen would have to look in the direction she would hear sound coming from. She cooperated for about 2-3 minutes and then she had enough. Then they decided to test each individual ear using earbuds---not going to happen! Cohen's ear canals are micro size so the ear buds didnt fit and she wasnt going to leave them in anyway. They suggested that we have a more definitive test at UMC where she can be sedated. Then we met with the ST who just performed a few standardized tests to be put in her file and Cohen's current speech therapist will do these periodically to see if she continues to fall further from her age group, maintains, or improves. This will help them as she ages to determine if she will be a candidate for enrollment as a student at Magnolia. They dont accept children until close to their 3rd birthday unless you are deaf and they take children as soon as they are walking. We know Cohen is not deaf, but they still are not sure exactly what and how clearly she hears.

But if you have a small moment Wednesday morning say a little prayer for Cohen. We are going to the hospital to have another test performed that requires her to fast 12 hours prior, have a medicine administered through an IV, and then have her blood drawn every 30 minutes for the next 2-4 hours depending the results---all in this time period she can not eat. This test will help to determine the function of her pituitary gland and what the next step will be in achieving the eact diagnosis and regimine needed. I will update as soon as we get results.

What do all of these have in common?

2010-02-22T19:41:00.002-06:00

This is what I gave up for Lent! All fast FOODS!! I emphasize food because I still have to stop frequently and get my unsweet tea from Sonic! I really was a big fast food eater in college when me and my roomates were poor and lived off the Wendy's $0.99 menu or the late night run to Krystal's on our way home from the Dock. Things changed after my accident and I really got back into working out and living a more healthy lifestyle. Then kids came into my life---fast food really does make life a little more easier when I pick them up from school at 5:30 and I would like them in bed by 7:00! And it even got worse over the last few months as I drive between a few jobs and some days on the road at lunchtime and then again at dinnertime (I could never have a job that required me to drive everyday--I would be big as a house!!)
So over the next 40 days I will attempt to refrain from this now too frequent habit. I mean, how hard can this really be?.......... What have I gotten myself into?!!

After previweing this post, I feel like I need to give a disclaimer--don't think that I feed my kids bad--Kinson still has a limited diet and as far as fast food goes only contains Wendy's chicken nuggets. And on a really grumpy day, he only wants the round shaped nuggets--not that odd looking one!

So 5 days down, only 35 to go!!

Future occupation???

2010-02-21T15:50:00.002-06:00

The Maurers gave this present to Kinson for his birthday and he loves it! His Papaw will be so proud to see him being a handyman! Maybe one day, Kinson can help his momma out and do my list of chores so I can quit calling Papaw to do them!

Everyone else did it, so I guess I should too....

2010-02-21T15:17:00.002-06:00

Only I am about a week late!!

I can't believe that my 3 year old has seen as much snow already as I did in 22 years! I don't think I knew snow existed until I went to work at a Young Life ski camp my Freshman year in college! Too bad that I had to work that day, I heard that he had tons of fun. These are a few pictures I took at 7:00 before I left....yes Kinson was up at 6:00 ready to go outside!!

No so respectable snowman is complete without his Cowboy hat!

I think that Bear had more fun that Kinson did!

Poor Addy, the snow buried his legs but he had the best time too! He ran circles in the snow over and over!

Where has the time gone?

2010-02-11T20:30:00.003-06:00

My baby boy is 3 years old! Friday, February 5, Kinson turned 3!!! Isn't he just the most mischievous looking thing?! These last few weeks have been the most fun times, EVER!

I really think this has been my favorite age so far. We can have "real" conversations, he can reason, we can negotiate (he usually wins), and we just laugh at each other!

After last year's terrible 2nd birthday I learned 2 things: 1. Don't schedule 3 year old check-up on his birthday 2. Don't have another party at the house

So we had a great birthday party at Pump It Up Saturday. He loved every part of it, except when they sang Happy Birthday to him. But he acted great and had the best time! (more pictures of that to come...)

As far as the check up goes, we went on Wednesday and unlike last year everything checked out great. But parents beware of the 3 year old check-up! It entails peeing in a cup, weight, height, blood pressure, and a finger stick. I was prepared for peeing in a cup, he did good with the peeing part but was screaming at me to "pour it out!" He did not want me to give it to Ms Sandra in the lab! He has never done well getting weighed or height, but we got close to assuming he weighs 34# and 38" tall. That is a HUGE growth spurt this year. He is now in the 50% weight and 75% height. next came blood pressure check, by this point Kinson had had enough! We never got a reading. Then to top it off they come in and prick his finger--- Kinson gets real queasy at the sight of blood and starts screaming! By the time Dr Flowers comes in I am worn out!

What can Kinson do at 3?:

he is 90% potty trained-- we still wear a pull up to sleep, but (knock on wood) has done great throughout the day
sleeps in a big boy bed all night
talks NON-STOP about anything
can say all his ABC's and recognizes and identifies all the letters
can count to 20
LOVES, LOVES, LOVES Lightening McQueen and anything related to Cars
Toy Story is coming in as a close second
can recite every line to the movies Cars, Toy Story1, Toy Story 2, Kung Fu Panda, and the Jungle Book (not sure what that says about us as parents!)
has his own personal sound track of songs from those movies above that Bear has to play every morning on their way to school
has a very limited diet-- Wendy's chicken nuggets, yogurt, any fruit, and pancakes
still hates to change clothes but at least he doesn't have to sleep in the next day's school clothes
HATES to brush his hair or get a haircut-- his lovely haircut is compliments of his one handed momma attempting to cut his hair and not disturb him as he SLEEPS!!!

With all this said, it has been the most wonderful and best 3 years ever and I couldn't imagine loving him anymore!!!

15 months

2010-01-31T22:37:00.002-06:00

Yeah, yeah, I know it is the end of January and I am posting a Christmas picture. Well if you read my previous post then you will understand!

CoCo turned 15 months on the 19th and she is doing so good! We can see how much she is really understanding now. She still isn't verbalizing anything other that vowels and "duh" but she has started pointing at things (not on command but if she wants something) and she will walk over to us and raise her hands at us when she wants to be picked up. These are HUGE steps for her! She had an appt last week and she was 28" and 19lbs. She has started picking up in the weight category but still lagging in the height. Our dr knows that we understand her deficits but he always shows us exactly where she is even if it is hard to hear. It is hard for us to remember that although she is progressing in our eyes, time is still passing and she is still getting older. She is not progressing as fast as she ages, therefore she is further behind in all areas. She was referred to Magnolia Speech School for a hearing evaluation and another speech evaluation just for us to look at our options. This will take place Feb 25. I do not believe that anything is wrong with her hearing and the ENT doesnt either but we want to cover every base.

Now back to her size, we are starting her growth hormone testing on Wednesday, Feb3. She still isnt on the growth chart but catching up a little in the weight category. We are having all the bloodwork done at our Peds office and then sent to the Endocrinologist for interpretation and planning. We have found out the hard way to make sure that we have at least 1 dr knowing what every other dr is doing. This is so hard because all of our drs are associated with their own private practice and then 2 drs are at UMC. There is no system that they can just type in her name and all of her info come up, so I now have all bloodtests at one place where they will fax me all results and I get them to the right dr.

I know I always say this, but she is really such a fighter. She is just so happy and sweet, we can't help but be so thankful at how far she has come!

January's Over....

2010-01-31T22:07:00.002-06:00

and it has been CRAZY here! I have wanted to sit and post so many things but I have barely had time to sit down! The good thing about January being over is that there are only 75 days left in tax season :)
January is always so stressful for me and this year we decided to make it a little more tense. We started out the year the same way we ended-- Bear doing lots of studying, which means lots of time home alone with the kids. He took his test Jan 12 (we wont know the results until sometime around the 20th of Feb), this was also right after I had spent a whole week at work with NO WATER! Can you imagine what it is like when 150 men cant flush the toilet for a week?! TERRIBLE is an understatement....
Tax season is up and running, dont expect to see me without at least one of my kids until after April 16th!
We never go a month without sickness in this house, but Kinson has been doing so good lately so I was not surprised when he woke up from a nap on MLK Day with 103 fever. Motrin and 2 hours later it was gone. Went to bed that night, 102 degrees, motrin, woke up, it was gone. This was the same cycle for the next 5 days. This was our first time to experience a fever virus-- it was so frustrating because I kept expecting something more to happen and just when I thought we were done with it , it came back!
Cohen had her 15month check up-- lots to say about that in another post....
Then to end the month, I thought it would be great timing to have surgery that would help fix a breathing problem that I have had since I was pregnant 3 years ago! I had turbinate reduction surgery Thursday and so far so good. A few things that I wasnt expecting but overall pretty smooth recovery.
During all of this, I always seem to forget that my little boy has a birthday approaching. So then I am scrambling to put something together. This year I decided that we were having a party away from home (where my son will not hoard himself in his room to "protect" his toys like last year) and where it required me to do minimal! Pump It Up it is! So far I only had to order a cake and party favors. I also brought handwritten invites back in style (I was late in trying to order printed ones :))
This is just a few excuses for me to give my diligent readers as to why I have been so tardy (aka LAZY) in keeping up with my blog!!! I cant promise that over the next few months I will have a lot of spare time on my hands (well of course if Congress can't get their act together and pass a bill addressing Therapy caps then I might have too much time on my hands...again that is for another post/rant!)

New Years Resolutions....

2010-01-10T18:10:00.002-06:00

I always have about a gazillion resolutions each year and they last about....oh, maybe til the end of January and if I am real good maybe even til March! This year one of my resolutions needs to be to at least try and keep them the first half of the year! I am hoping this year that if I post them publicly (and by that I mean to the 6 people who follow this blog ;) ) I might be geared to keep them. So here it goes:

I am going to diligently try to stop buying things because I get a great deal on them. This is going to be so hard for me because I literally get a high from getting a great bargain anywhere!
Which leads me into my next resolution....I am going to start making a grocery list. This to is difficult for me. If you have ever been to Walmart with me then you know how I am. I have a certain way I walk through the store to ensure meat is the last thing I get and produce and bread is safely on top saving it from damage. I walk up and down every aisle, every time I go. And don't even get me started on how I unload groceries when it is time to checkout....boxes first, then can goods, frozen items, etc. I know there are a few checkout people who have stared at Bear and wonders why he cant help his one-handed wife unload groceries out of the buggy, but he has learned to just stand at the end and put the bags in the buggy.
Start and enjoy working out with my husband again. Those who didn't know us before we were married, don't know that this was the center of our relationship before we started dating up until we had kids. We met at the gym, rode to the gym together, and worked out together. With our crazy schedule lately, it has been tough to find time for anything. But Bear is sooo disciplined when it comes to this. I will be joining him now bright and early in the am as I try and catch up with him!
Try and keep a clean car. If you have ever been in my car, most people have not because I always say I cant drive because there is no room (I drive a freaking Yukon!!!), or if you have parked in the vicinity of my car and just looked at my dash board then there is no explanation need to this resolution. My car is getting a fresh new start (cleaning and detail) this Wednesday, so I should have no excuses.

I know these sound a little easy to some of you, but baby steps, baby steps, PEOPLE!!

Answered Prayers....

2010-01-05T19:41:00.002-06:00

Cohen's therapy started!!! I have kept saying how frustrated we have been with the First STeps process, but after 4 months and LOTS of phone calls, Cohen started 1 hour a week Special Instruction, which is kind of a "play skills" therapy and they reinforce her socialization skills, and 1 hour a week Speech Therapy. Over the Christmas vacation, Cohen exploded with sounds. She is still just making vowel sounds but they are definitely more frequent and louder. Although we would like her to get to a more age appropriate verbal skill level, one of the main focuses of ST will be to strengthen her oral motor skills and tongue control. We have been diligently working on our "homework" of beeping/locating her nose and clapping our hands. We are getting closer everyday to reaching our goals!!
So what else is Miss Coco doing? She is now 14 months old and LOVES to get into everything!

she is finally fitting into 9 month clothes pretty well, except for dresses she is still in 3-6 month
she LOVES her sleep, she sleeps 7-7 and takes a great nap, sometimes 2!
she stated walking right after Thanksgiving, still a little wobbly but manages to go everywhere
she loves to eat and eats anything
her favorite activity is pulling things out and putting things back
she is starting to stand her ground against Kinson and the kids in her class-- she likes to push them down
we have 100 single mismatched socks because Cohen takes her socks off and hides them everywhere-- she took a pair off in my office and we still have yet to find them
she HATES socks or footed PJ's-- she acts paralyzed!

Who killed Jolly Jo-Jo?

2009-12-28T21:21:00.005-06:00

The Crawfords hosted our annual Christmas Bunko this year and as always they are the most creative host/hostesses. This year instead of the traditional Christmas party, we had a Murder Mystery party with all the props including our "tacky" attire! Sorry to disappoint, but this is not our usual attire! If you are stumped for an idea to add some fun to a usual get together, I highly recommend it. We had the BEST time!

Anna, Brandy, Priscilla, and Helen

All the ladies with our most favorite Christmas sweaters!

All of the guys, we had a few good sports that joined in on the tackiness, including the winner--Stanton (farthest to the right)!!

This is me and one of my bestest friends Lyndi! I can't wait to show my Mamaw this picture because we are both in sweaters that she let me borrow. i can already hear her asking me, "Did everyone like your outfits, darling?" She gladly let me borrow them, I don't think she quite understood why!!