Settling In

November has been a fun month - I hate to see it end! For Emma it has been a month full of school, sleep overs with Cassie, reading her first book, 100% on a her first spelling test, learning how to say "Mama" and "Da", and settling in. Oh, and most important of all, hair long enough to put in pigtails! This had her dancing around the room excited!

Emma seems more relaxed with each passing day - always full of hugs and ready for the next adventure. Shopping is by far one of her favorite things. She loves to write things down on the grocery list, head off to town, and get ice cream cones from McDonalds.

She also likes to take care of people Feeding and putting band-aids on her family members are important to Emma. No matter how small her brother's injuries are, she drags them to me for inspection and treatment. Her Dad has also become the apple of her eye these days (and vice versa). She gets so excited when I say we are taking dinner to her dad, signing "My daddy is hungry!" She wants to put it all together and present it by herself. The other night she trudged across the field so she could hand deliver food to Vernon in the combine, refusing any help from me. I was sure she's spill it, but she didn't. And she was beeming proud when she handed it to him and then climbed up in the cab for a ride.

This Thanksgiving I am just so very thankful that this little girl is a part of our lives.

Cochlear Implant Update

I'm a little late posting this - but all the testing is done and the verdict is in: The Cochlear Implant team at Boy's Town National Research Hospital has accepted Emma as a cochlear implant candidate! We are waiting on some paperwork right now and then they will schedule a surgery date. We are SO excited for Emma. In the meantime they started her out with a hearing aid. She doesn't seem to notice sound much just yet, but they said this is normal and it will take time for her brain to start interpretting sounds. But, every now and then, she gets a funny look on her face, signs to me that she just heard something, and then nods thoughtfully. Too cute!

Today she is being evaluated by a nearby school that has a deaf/hard of hearing program that she may be able to go to. We are keeping our fingers crossed, as we think this will be a great place for Emma to learn more sign language and have access to all the resources that will help her catch up. Hopefully we'll get some Thanksgiving pictures soon. Emma's hair is getting longer and she's been SO excited about this! She put it in tiny pony tails and danced around her room!

October 2008

Lots of wonderful things happening for us in October. Brooke and Kyle are engaged and planning to get married next July in Jamaica. We are so excited and thankful that these two great kids are together and planning a future. It wasn't so long ago that they were in school together, playing saxophones in band and Kyle was circling our house on his bike. Now Brooke is an RN and Kyle is a computer programmer. They have more together at 23 than I did at 30. It is easy to be proud of them!

Blake is a Senior now, so he is busy looking at colleges and trying to get a game plan. He's only home a little bit these days, as he's juggling work, school, and spending time with his girlfriend. Again, very proud of this wonderful boy. He's looking at Nuclear Medicine and I'm so glad to see this. He's so thoughtful and kind, I know he will do well.

Daniel & Matthew are preparing to head off on a cruise to the Bahamas with their cousin next week. I'm missing them already. I know they will have fun and are in good hands with their aunt. I also know that this week will be a great memory maker for them. So, why is it that all I can think about is how much I will miss them!?!

Emma is making lots of memories too - school, pumpkin carving, sleep-overs, hay rides, and getting to know her extended family. All I have to do is sign DJ or Brooke and she is ready to get in the van and go see them! This week we will be spending 3 days in Omaha with the Cochlear Implant team from Boys Town National Research Hospital. If the testing shows it's okay to procede, it's very possible that Emma will have her cochlear implant activated just in time for Christmas.

I can't help but wonder how she will react - whether she'll like hearing or if the noise will bother her after so many years of silence! I guess all we can do is take it day by day. So many changes for Emma in such a short time. I have to hand it to her, she's always smiling and ready for the next adventure!

Talking to Jesus

Last night Emma and I were reading/signing a story together when my son Matt asked me something from the other room. Because Emma couldn't hear Matthew, she looked at me funny and signed "You're talking" and I pointed beyond the door and signed "I'm talking to Matthew." She nodded, we finished story time, and I turned down the lights. Emma grabbed her blankent and sat on my lap, Cradled in my arms, she signed "I'm you're baby." and I nodded "Yes," and smiled.

I picked up my Rosary and began to pray, Emma in my arms. She tapped me and signed "You talk to Matt?" and I signed "No, I'm talking to Jesus." She spelled out Jesus and pointed to the cross on my Rosary. I nodded and went back to praying.

Emma is unable to talk right now, but she laid in my arms and began to move her lips, quietly murmuring. I looked down at her and smiled again. She signed "I'm talking to Jesus."

I'm sure she was. And I know that He heard her too.

First Month Home

I'm way behind here! We've been home for a little over a month now and I haven't gotten a thing on this blog. The main reason is - busy, busy, busy! Busy helping Emma adjust, busy adjusting to Emma, busy trying to catch up, busy with harvest...

We are finally getting into a routine and things are calming down a little. Emma started attending school - very part time - about a week ago. She's only going a couple of afternoons a week, but so far it's gone very well for her. So well, in fact, that she will start going more pretty soon. I think she will enjoy this a lot - she watches the calendar and is so excited about the days that are marked as school days.

Our next few days are filled with hearing tests and consulatations regarding Emma's hearing. Her initial doctor visits resulted in her being referred to a cochlear implant team. She's doing great with sign right now - learning faster than the rest of us - but we are going to look at the cochlear implant option as well.

Wish us luck and send prayers! Here are a couple of new pictures of our little girl. One that was taken her first day of school and another taken this week-end after she finally got a scooter of her own. On nice afternoon's we go to the skate park and she really likes riding her brother's scooter when she's there. So, was VERY excited about getting a scooter of her very own!

Home!

Home! The saying is right, there is no place like it! After 3 planes and 18 hours in the air, we were sure happy to see Kansas City Airport and our oldest children, Brooke, Blake, and Matthew. Emma sat with the older kids in the backseat and seemed to have a lot of fun getting acquainted. She signed her opinions on a multitude of things - Blake's shoe choice (thumbs down), cows (thumbs down), planes (thumbs down), the new dolls Brooke brought her (definite thumbs up!), etc.

It was a long trip and she was so tired. Sleeping on the plane did not work well for her, so she had about 4 hours of sleep in 24 hours. By the time we reached Kansas City she was signing continuously that she wanted to brush her teeth and get to bed. The 3 hour drive from the airport was a long one for her, but she held up pretty well. It's funny, she acted like she thought we were lost and that was the reason it was taking so long to get home. She kept pointing for us to go in various directions, thinking this would help her get to her house. Thank goodness her siblings were there to take her mind off of how tired she was.

By the time we made it home, she was having so much fun with her brothers and sister that she decided bedtime could wait. Blake and Matt gave piggy back rides and Brooke helped her get her room in order. She learned their name signs almost instantly. After an hour or so of playing, she put on her pj's and plopped into her bed, sleeping almost 11 hours!

Today is going well too, playing and getting to know the animals. We were a little worried about how she would feel about our pets, but this is going well too. While the Victory is a nice hotel, it's so nice to be back to the farm and not feel so confined anymore. There is so much more for the kids to do here!

White Swan Pictures