Orange Beach 2012-- Isaac is Coming!!

 We made our annual trip to Orange Beach to celebrate the end of summer and most importantly--My Birthday!!  The trip has grown the last 2 years, we gained my Aunt Deborah last year and this year my Uncle Mitchell joined us also.  The more hands the better when it comes to keeping my kids entertained and happy!

When we left on Friday there was a Tropical Storm pounding the Florida Keys but we figured it wouldn't bother us any.......more about that later!

 We love all the amenities at the Caribe.  Especially the zero entry pool and the slides.  Kinson has mastered some swimming skills but is still a bit surprised at the end of the slide and wants someone there to catch him. 

Both kids absolutely LOVE the water and could stay all day.  And they did!

 We did venture to the beach Saturday afternoon but had to stay on the shore due to the very rough undertow.  Within 10minutes the undertow had taken Nana's sunglasses (after an attempt with the boogie board!), Cohen's bucket, and Kinson's goggles.  So we kept the trip short, but we needed to say we actually went to the "beach", right?!?

 Attempting to build a sandcastle together.  Kinson got quite frustrated with Cohen.  He was trying to give her directions and it was difficult for her to hear him so she just would bring water back and forth and dump it wherever-- he was quite mad!!

 Back to the pool where they could be free to roam and play!

 This is where the boys preferred to be!  Bear could indulge in adult beverages and Kinson could swim and let the current carry him.

 Taking a break and contemplating life with Uncle Mitchell :)

 Throwing the football with Papa

Surfing!!

We did end up having to cut the trip short a day.  The governor issued a mandatory evacuation Monday morning at 8:00am and it was so hard to leave.  It was a beautiful day but they had already closed the pools and put up double red flags at the beach.  We decided it was best to get on the road and try to beat the traffic.  In the end, we got a few days at home where the kids went to school and we were able to actually get a few things around the house accomplished!  Overall a good trip!

First Days......A little Late

A little late seems to be the story of my life right now!  Always playing catch up.  So here goes :)

Kinson started Kindergarten at Northshore at the beginning of August.  Although he was bummed to end summer camp, he was quite excited to start Big Kid School.

We went to Open House the night before where he got to meet his teacher, Mrs. Moore.  He fell in love with her and the classroom immediately. 

 He was determined that he was going to school all by himself.  The first day for Kindergartners started later than the other grades due to parking.  We had to explain to him that there was no car-rider line that morning and we had to take him to class.  He was not very happy with us!

 After getting him in the main door, he told us we could leave and we told him we were walking him to his class.  His response immediately was to tell us that we could stay "way back" from him!!  This is him entering his new Kindergarten world as a "Doodlebug!!"  Not to be confused with the Doo-Doo Bug that he kept calling himself the first few days :)

So far, "Kindergarten is the best thing EVER!!"  He has absolutely loved it and we couldn't feel more at ease with the transition.  He feels extra big bringing his lunch and then a few days we send money for him to buy treats-- ice cream, chocolate milk, and tattoos. Things have definitely changed since I was in school!  His favorite thing is to come home and let us know if he is on "Green Light" and the he has to inform us of everyone who had to move their clip onto yellow or red light!    

And we couldn't forget about Cohen.  She started another year at Magnolia 2 weeks ago.  We were unsure until the week before which class we were moving to or staying in.  It was decided that Cohen would change rooms, to Mrs. Roxanne's class.  We prepared her for  a new room and teacher and it definitely helped that a few of her friends moved with her.  She still asks me every morning if she can go to "Mrs. Ree's (Cheree's)" room but usually she wants to tell or show her something and then she is happy to go to her "new" classroom.  She is remaining on the hearing impaired side and they are still incorporating the association method into her curriculum to assist with the apraxia.  This is all still a learning process for her and her teachers, most students either have one issue or the other.  But we have a lot of guidance from support staff and directors of each department.

Another exciting person has re-entered our world-- Ms.Taneil. Taneil was Cohen's Early Intervention Therapist that came to our house and her preschool starting when she was 11 months old, before we even knew what was exactly going on with her.  She was one of the most vital people in our early detection of Cohen's hearing impairment.  And now she is the Speech Therapist at Magnolia!!  We were so excited to get the news early summer that she and Cohen would get to be a team again :)

Dance Recital 2012

Cohen did her first year of dance and had their performance last month (yes, I know it is late!)  As always, Cohen marches to her own drum :)

She wasn't really into looking at audience during her first performance.  But this is way better than dress rehearsal went.  She screamed because the stage lights were too bright!

Still not sure that she is into this!

She looks at her, "Are you really doing this!?!"

At least it is over!!

She loved the attention afterwards :)

This is one of the best family pics we have ever taken! 

My sweet Momma and her "new" hair!

Can you see her hair?  Bear really is the best daddy ever!  I can't do too many things with her hair but he is patient (most of the time) and fixes whatever I tell him too!  He braided her hair and then put it in a side-pony!!  She had the best hair there :)

Sweet Ms Courtney was soooo patient with Cohen this year.  Cohen thought of her as her "personal assistant" at times :)  Cohen loved hanging out with the older girls and being included in their fun stuff!  Can't wait for next year!!

He thought about it for awhile.......

Kinson is my "thinker."  He is always inquisitive and curious and it isn't uncommon for him to come back a few minutes, hours, or even days later after he has thought about something to ask more questions.  Well we all know that kids say the darndest things and mine are no exception.

Bear has been out of town for some training so I have been pulling double time keeping the kids where they need to be and my work squeezed in when I can!  So our mornings have been kind of rushed.  Well, Kinson was drinking his morning glass of chocolate milk and his straw bumped his tooth.  He got all excited and started yelling. "my tooth is loose!."  Sure enough, it wiggled the tiniest bit.  He asked me to go ahead and pull it right then.  I explained to him that it is just a little loose and over the next few weeks it will get looser and then we will pull it.  He was disappointed because he said he wanted the tooth fairy to come and bring him the gold coin (a kid at school told him everyone gets a gold coin-- this will be dealt with at a later time!).  About 30minutes later after getting dressed, brushing teeth, and packing lunches we finally load up in the car and he comes out of nowhere and says, "Momma, I want you get to your arm back."  I tell him that he really doesn't need to feel that way, the angels are taking care of it and Momma is doing fine without it.  I can see the wheels turning, so I ask him what made him think of that this morning. Finally he announced, "I don't want to lose my tooth.  You lost your arm it didn't come back, so I will just keep my teeth!!"  Poor baby, he was distraught over thinking he was going to be toothless!

Preschool Graduation

Sweet boy graduated from Hope Learning Center at the end of May!!  I can't believe he will be in "Big Kid" school in the fall........

 Kinson calls these boys his "Best Buddies!"  They have been together the last few years and are inseparable.

 He had a speaking part as Squire Square and I was soo proud that he remembered all of his lines!!

 The Best Buddies were definitely the highlight of the performance :)

 A few attempts to get 4 rowdy, rambunctious boys looking for a picture.........

A diploma makes it official!!

Sweet Mrs. Josie!!  Kinson really loved her and was sad for the year to end!

Kinson was in a class of 16 and none of which were going to be going to Northshore next year.  So after weighing our options, we enrolled Kinson inOakdale Baptist Church Summer Camp hoping to meet a few kids that might enter kindergarten with him.  He will also be going here after school next year so it also got him familiar with things before school started.  So far he has LOVED it!!

Magnolia Speech Sprint 2012

Cohen's Crew made an appearance again this year at the Magnolia Speech Sprint.  This is a great little fundraiser for the school that everybody can get involved in.  We have several friends who ran with us and some who just donated money to the great cause.

Bear and some other family and friends ran the race (I was planning on it but I was caught up helping at the registration table because we were so busy!!)

 

 Here Cohen is cheering on her crew!!  She HATES the sunshine so we had to bring the tailgating tent and multiple pairs of sunglasses to accommodate for her!

 I think the Kid's Fun Run was more serious than the big race!  Kinson, my nephew Graham, and my niece Mackenzie getting ready to start!

 A little out or order-- here they are waiting to see who placed!

 Here Kinson is cheering for Cohen to the finish!

 Barely broke a sweat!  The fun run was 1/2 mile that Kinson finished in 4 minutes!!  Well....Cohen decided after 1 lap that took 11 minutes, she would call it quits!!

 Graham finished in FIRST place overall!!  So proud of him!!

Kinson finished 3rd in the Boys and he is mad in this picture because Graham's trophy is bigger :)

This sweet lady here has been our Saving Grace this year!  Cheree is Cohen's teacher that has just brought out the sweetest voice that we thought we might never hear.  Cohen has blossomed with her help and we couldn't be more thankful for the hard work and faith she has put in her!

Another season in the books!!

Another baseball season has ended but as always it was eventful :)  We were excited to get to reunite with a sweet friend, Barron, who was in Kinson's class 2 years ago.  They are so much alike!!  They usually have so many ways to entertain themselves in the outfield and the dugout, and most do not involve actually playing baseball! 

 They look like they are paying so much attention!!

 End of the year party-- getting his trophy from Coach Todd!

Such a fun and rowdy group of kids-- we were missing a few and one left the party early because he fell off the monkey bars and broke his arm!!!  Next year the kids will get "evaluated" and then drafted by the coaches, so we don't know if we will be with many of our friends.  GO DRAGONS!!

Need to upload pics.......

Our computer has been acting crazy so downloading pictures haasn't been going well.  So I have been stealing some off Facebook from my greatest friends ;)

This is last week at the Firstation with 6 of the sweetest little people you will ever meet!!

What it is like as a parent to a special needs child......

I read this article a few days a go and it has been on my mind non-stop. (I am trying to do this linky stuff again!!)  Here is the article:  Special Needs Parenting

I felt as though she took the words right out of my head.  The first point, I AM TIRED!!  I can't recall a time where I wasn't tired and she was exactly right when she says it is not only the physical part but the emotional and worrying part that takes such a big toll on my energy.  There is very few moments in our day when we are not making it a learning activity or vocabulary lesson.  I recall going to a conference last year on Auditory Verbal Training and the speaker talked about how you can point out an "AV momma" in the grocery store-- she is the one holding up every box saying "momma is getting bananas!  Bananas!  Can you say bananas?  Bananas are YELLOW!  What color are bananas?" This is my shopping trip x's the 899 items I have to get!!
Second point, am I jealous?  That is hard for me right now to answer.  I feel jealous in the since that I have to think about things such as not only saving for my future and retirement but also for the potential that I will have a child that might grow into an adult and doesn't have the ability to have a typical job or that I will have to always have "therapy and special education" funds.  But jealous as far as accomplishments of other children, I am not.  Maybe it is because Cohen is not nearly as involved as the writer's child or as involved as many other special needs children.  I feel almost privileged in the sense that I get to thoroughly enjoy EVERY single milestone because not only do they happen later but they also happen more slowly.  There are a few things that Kinson flew through and with Cohen it might be a month that she takes to completely master a milestone. 
Point number three, do I feel lonely?  Only in those doctor appointments where I am attempting to understand prognosis and explain concerns.  Only then do I feel like I am alone in advocating for her.  I am very blessed to be surrounded by a very supportive and inquisitive family and friends as well as an abundance of fellow parents that I have become close with at Magnolia. 
Fourth point, am I scared?  HELL YES!!!  I think this is in every parent's mind.  Because Lord knows I am terrified that Kinson will be breaking the law before his teenage years based on his behaviors now!!  But I understand very well what she is meaning in this.  I am terrified that I have overlooked something or am wasting times on approaches that might not be successful.  I am terrified that she will bullied her whole life and can't tell me about it.  And again, I am terrified that there might be a point where we be supporting her for her whole life.
Point 5, do certain words bother me?  This has been an issue before I had children.  After my accident, everyone quickly learned that I had a "little arm", I DID NOT have a "stump" or "nub."  Those words make me sick to my stomach and even at work I refer to my patients the same way, the have a "little leg" or "little hand" etc.  I also grew up with my cousin living next door that is "mentally retarded" as it was called.  Even then I didn't take use of those words referred out of context lightly. 
Number 6, I am human.  Yes, I am human.  I agree that I "grew up" quickly as a parent.  Some things that I wish I could just let it go and see what would happen, I can't.  That would mean valuable time is wasted and I can't get it back.  Because of that I feel like I am always moving a million miles per hour.  So then bitterness, crankiness, and frustrations get the better of me.  Those nights where I can steal a few hours with Bear or go out to dinner with friends are cherished times because only during those times do I feel "human."  I can usually push things to the corner and relax the best that I can (if you know me, then you know that I never really relax!!)
Last point, I Love to talk about Cohen/I don't want to talk about Cohen.  Oh my goodness can I relate to this!!  I completely understand the overwhelming feeling that comes when a friend asks "How's Cohen?"  Are you asking just to be nice? do you really want to know? Where do I start?  And then I also appreciate the questions that are directed towards a specific task because I can then narrow down my thoughts into a 1 minute response!  But do I want to talk about her?  YES!  I want to cheer for her and brag on her, and show every cute little video or picture that I can, .......but doesn't every parent?  But we have been in situations where we can't speak of her.  We can't talk about her procedures and appointments because we don't want people to think it interferes with certain aspects of life such as work and friendships and their are times where we don't want it to "label" us.  There is more to us than just being parents.  Bear and I talk about her non-stop or just look at her and smile because we feel so privileged to be her parents.  We are proud of her and we do like to tell people.

Yes, I do feel like I could relate to the writer but I think any parent would.  All parents are scared, all parents are tired at times and feel like they are at their limit, any parent can feel alone at times, and God knows we all like to talk about our kids.  Those are the ups and downs of parenting any we wouldn't change a thing!

Cohen can say her name!!

Cohen has been working overtime this semester!  She has exploded with sounds and has TONS to say to us.  She continues to amaze us daily with both her determination and progress.  We are beyond thrilled!!

Because I am not so tech savy, this is my poor attempt to add a video.  Maybe I can do better next time!!

Watch her talk Cohen's Name

Is it time for that already?!?

Last week was registration for Kindergarten!!!  I can't believe that it is already time for this.  Believe me, I am definitely ready for some FREE education right about now, but looking down those BIG hallways just made me so sad.  I can't believe my little boy will be walking those hall in just a few short months :(
However, he is soooo excited.  Since we live right across the street from the school, he has asked frequently when he could go there.  We told him over and over again that he could go there when he turned 5.  Well low and behold, February 5 rolled around and he thought that his days at Hope Learning Center were over and he should immediately begin Northshore 5K!!  He kind of understands that we have to wait until August but he has definitely not understood that many of his friends will be going to different schools.  So for the summer we have decided to do something fun and enroll in Summer Camp at Oakdale Baptist Church.  Hopefully this will be a fun filled summer that he will enjoy before the rigorous Kindergarten curriculum :)  Seriously, we hope that this will give him the chance to meet a few kids that will also go to Northshore and we will be sending him to Oakdale's afterschool care program.  So at least come August he should be familiar with riding the bus from Northshore to Oakdale each afternoon.
For the moment we are all smiles and can't wait............we will see how happy we really are come August :)