Lots

Well, lots has happened since I last posted a bunch of pictures. We had Abbey and Caroline's birthday; my sister's family came for their first Memphis visit and got to meet the twins; there were many Christmas festivities; and we are still deicing from our big winter storm. But, there has been lots of other stuff going on to keep me from posting the pictures and stories from all of this fun stuff. The two main things are that Abbey and Caroline have learned to walk and that both my iphone and laptop computer have broken. So, now I only get snippets of time to come upstairs and do all of my computing.

In addition to all of that, we have had lots of appointments to schedule and attend. Jack's attention and anxiety problems may be serious enough to merit some sort of intervention. So, Ed and I are getting some help with making those decisions. Also, he has had several dental appointments with more to come. He is in the process of getting braces on six of his top front teeth and the first of two expanders. He will get the expander for the lower teeth first. Then he'll get the upper one, just like Molly had. Right now, he has spacers, and his appointment for the braces and lower expander is in the next few weeks.

Abbey has just entered the Tennessee Early Intervention Program. This morning I worked on creating a Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) with her care coordinator. (Thankfully, that professional comes to our home.) Abbey is delayed in four of the five areas they test: adaptive, speech, motor and cognition. Of course, speech is the main area of concern. In a month or so, she will have a early interventionist come to our house on a weekly basis to work with her, and she will probably also have a speech therapist coming, too.

Caroline still has a flat spot on the back of her head. If it is severe enough, then it could hurt her brain growth. The pediatrician thought it was borderline, so she referred Caroline to a specialist to be sure. We have an appointment with the neurosurgeon on Thursday. If the neurosurgeon feels like it is significant enough, then Caroline will probably have to wear a helmet to correct it. Hopefully it will be fine, and we will be done with this issue after the one appointment.

Thankfully, Molly isn't seeing any specialists. Nevertheless, her growth and development have been on my heart and mind and in our discussions lots recently. Ed and I have decided to put her in kindergarten instead of first grade next year. She is doing great with homeschool kindergarten, so that isn't the reason. We just feel like she will be at more of an advantage down the road if she is one of the oldest in her class, instead of one of the youngest. Also, we think it will be better for both her and Jack if they are two grades apart. She won't be immediately following behind him, which will be good for both of them. This has taken a lot of thought, but we have decided it will be best.

Finally, there is me. While I don't have appointments of my own, I have been in transition with my work. I was getting canceled over 50% of the time with my old speech job, so I have branched out. I will still be working some days for Baptist Rehab, but I will be putting in the majority of my time at HealthSouth Rehab. in downtown Memphis. So, I have had several meetings and orientations with them. Ironically, I was unable to make it to my first real day on the job at HealthSouth this past Saturday, because of the ice storm. They didn't cancel me , but the ice prevented me from getting there that day. I am wondering if the Lord is trying to tell me not to trust in my ability to make extra money for the family. :o)

Thankfully, Ed isn't taking on anything too new. He always has meetings and appointments that fluctuate, so we are used to his busy schedule.

So, sorry for the lack of posts and pictures. I haven't given up on blogging. I doubt I'll be able to get caught up on what I've missed and that makes me sad. But, hopefully, I'll be able to get back on track. As you can see, though, we have had lots going on.