A couple months ago my friend posted this status update on Facebook

*Madison didn't get invited to a classmates sleep over tonight. The ones who did all left after school so it was a big deal. She's in tears. Trying to explain to her that it has nothing to do with her.

 

I never in my life thought an ABC Family teen drama would have such an impact on my life. I don't even want to admit it, but the show has been truly instrumental in my ability to sign. Sometimes I dismiss the role sign language has in my life because SJ is in such a grey area when it comes to language, but the fact is even though we aren't fluent we sign out of necessity every single day. It's been interesting to watch her learn to talk. She understands and can identify all the parts of her face now. She says (or tries to say) up, down, where, open, outside, no, shoes, I want, and today for the first time I got to hear say bye-bye as she waved to her teacher! She has said it before, but this time was on her own. She initiated the goodbyes!

The other cool thing is that because the concept of vocabulary is starting to click more than ever, she is  starting to use ASL more too. It's not what I expected, but She has started having a new sign explosion. She has signed sit, swing, swim, wrong, yes, asleep, bed, trash and a few others without any encouragement. It's strange to see her doing a sign for the first time that we haven't used since last year. Like I said, my theory is that as she learns orally all the pieces are starting to come together and make more sense, plus she is maturing in other ways of course. I am glad to have Switched at Birth back on so that I can  brush up on the signs that have gotten rusty.

Another area of my life that Switched at Birth has shed some light on is my ear problem. I couldn't believe when I read a comment on my blog post about Meniere's disease that the lead character Daphne has it too! I knew she had some kind of mild fluctuating hearing loss, but I had no idea we had the same thing. And in case you've seen the show, her deaf accent is acting, she doesn't sound anything like that in real life.  When I first read about this condition I knew there was somewhere I had heard of this before, and it turns out they implemented it on the show. The character Noah is supposed to have Meniere's. They talk about it in this clip, but they make it sound more severe than what is typical with this disease.



The Switched at Birth season premiere came at just right time for me. I usually only keep up with one show (if that) and Call the Midwife just had their season finale. My entertainment choices say a lot about my interest; home birth and hearing loss. Okay maybe they just say a lot about how weird I am, or unique. Let's call it unique.

If I am somewhere with cable I usually find my way to HGTV. That has to be one of my favorite channels. I have always had a love hate relationship with House Hunters. For those unfamiliar with the reality show, each episode has a prospective buyer and their realtor looking at 3 different homes. They talk about what they do and don't like and at the end of each episode they announce which house they are buying.  I enjoy getting a peak inside the homes for sale and J and I like to compete to see who can guess the chosen homes with the most accuracy. 

When I told some of the ladies that work at SJ's school about the places we had toured they told me I had a sparkle in my eye when I talked about the first place. It's true, I can't help it. Apartment one is our first pick and after compiling lists of pros an cons for each place it took the cake with all the benefits. We turned in our application and are just on the edge of our seats to hear if we are accepted. The only reason we wouldn't be is because of our fluctuating income. If we can't get in at that place we will probably go with apartment #2. The 3rd one is not an option at all. We'll see what happens. We are already behind schedule when it comes to moving before school starts so we'll know something for sure this week and the final verdict can't come soon enough. 

Hello to June. Hello to Monday. Hello to more tr-tr-tran-traaaansition.

That last word (transition, in case you couldn't see through my stutter) is a word that almost makes me wince these days, even though I should have become quite accustomed to it by now.  I am tightening my life jacket as I board the ship of change because this could be one of the biggest transitional voyages we've faced so far.



To put it bluntly we are preparing to move. Again. I knew when we moved to Northern Kentucky that it was only a stepping stone to get to Ohio, but it hasn't been easy to set sail. For those that don't know, we found out a year ago that our daughter is deaf. We learned that there is a deaf school in Ohio that benefit her greatly. So we moved in with my brother who is an hour away from the school and we've made it work for the past 4 months. The biggest problem is that cost of tuition is literally the same as going to a respectable college, and we weren't prepared to send SJ to college at 3 years old. If we live closer to the school we will qualify for the local funding opportunities.

Tomorrow SJ starts summer school thanks to the donations of friends and family. Then in the next few weeks we will be narrowing down our apartment options and hopefully relocate so that SJ can continue to receive all the services she needs, and Z can start school too.

In looking at our plans we recognize that there is potential for us to land flat on our faces, but we are stepping out in faith. So there you have it. Our latest giant prayer need. Please stayed tuned for the next installment as my dramatic life continues. Whew, I am trying to make light of things because it's too overwhelming not to, but in all seriousness we absolutely do appreciate all the prayers and support of our community. Even the virtual one. Thank you.




This post is linked up with Lisa Leonard for Hello Monday. 

I was hoping the repeated injuries were going to be isolated to my boy, but as of last Friday NOPE. SJ and Z were playing tag when little miss priss tripped onto a drainage pipe splitting her head open right down the middle. Sigh.


She cried briefly, but bounced right back in no time.

Our first stop was the minute clinic, but it was bad enough that they referred us to the children's hospital. It was actually a really pleasant experience all things considered.

Each time a different Nurse or Doctor came in they asked about how to communicate with her. The answer is a little complicated, but I appreciate the fact that they cared enough to inquire. They took her CI's off for the proceedure, but I told them I could do some basic signing with her. They have a specialist that comes in before they give stitches in order to help alleviate any fear or confusion and she was awesome. She showed SJ everything by using a baby doll and allowing SJ to play and become familiar with all the tools they were using.


At the ER putting stitches on the baby. The staff said she was future doctor for sure.

When it came to the 6 stitches the Doctor was so thorough and precice wanting to do everything possible to minimalism the scaring. 


They used an ipad to distract her during the procedure. Her head was numb so she couldn't feel it. The Doctor and nurses were amazed at how cooperative she was. 

It's hard to say what the scar will look like in the long run. I hope for her sake that it isn't noticeable, it's not like there is even an exciting story to go with it. 


My instagram chronicling the week of the stitches from the ER to the day they were out.

Ezie will be 8 months old tomorrow, but I technically never did a 7 month update. So let's just pretend that I posted this about a month ago.

Besides having his first meal at 7 months old



he also began rolling over