This is how I feel most days....

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!!

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!!

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

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...

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!!

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,

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.....

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?!

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

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....

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!

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.....

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

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!

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

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

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

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

Many faces of Kinson....

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......

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.