The hearing aid is gone

Luckily this post is about returning the loaner hearing aid to the audiologist out at CHoP, not Youngest taking it apart, again, and hiding the pieces, again. (Youngest was diagnosed with a mild conductive hearing loss last winter.) There is no telling how long she has had it or if the loss will change. After talking extensively with the audiologist, Nadia, last week, the hearing aid is going to be tabled for a little while. We plan on continuing to monitor Youngest here at home and school and make some decisions next summer unless we see a decline before then. We want to make sure we have our ducks in a row before kindergarden.

It is amazing how much those little buggers cost. We have to apply for a special Pennsylvania insurance program that covers some or most of the cost since most health insurance policies don't cover aids. My dad just got two new ones this summer - each about $5000.

by violentstarr

The IU will conduct a few more screenings with Youngest to see what, if any, services they can supply. So far Youngest has been doing great at home and at preschool. I have talked with her teacher at length, and she feels Youngest is doing really well and the hearing loss doesn't seem to impacting her socially or academically. I am grateful for that.

It is official....

I am raising giants. Middle and Youngest went to the peds. yesterday for their yearly check-ups. Middle child is 7 and is slowing down a little - she is 92% for height @ 52.5 inches and in the 75% for weight @ 56 lbs. My stringbean. Youngest is holding strong at 102@ for height @ 46 inches and in the 98% for weight @ 56 lbs.
Yep, they weight the exact same, and they are 2.5 years apart. My goodness! Both of them will be taller than me by next year at this rate. Oldest passed me about two years ago @ 5'7 or 5'8. She gives me her hand me downs! I guess I will have to resign myself to being the shortest member of the family. Move over, Granny, there is a new Queen of Short, and you're looking at her. :-)

Youngest turned 5

My baby turned 5 last week. I find this so difficult to believe because that means I am five years older (40, here I come), it means I haven't been a classroom teacher for five years, it means that we have been in Pennsylvania for more than four years, it means my baby will never remember living in Virginia Beach.

Youngest had some major issues with turning five. She liked the number four. She thought that turning five meant that she automatically went to kindergarden, and she doesn't want to leave Mrs. B's class. She doesn't want to be the youngest - she says she wants to be before Middle and Oldest. HA! Don't know how to change that since Middle is 2.5 years older and Oldest is 9.5 years older.

So HAPPY BIRTHDAY sweetheart!!! Just embrace five - just as Mama will try to embrace 4-0 this winter. (UGH....)

West Lampeter Fair

We had a fantastic time as usual. Kids got out of school early. Middle and Youngest had field trips with their respective classes to the fair. We went as a family on Wednesday night. Watched the dog show 'cause the horse show wasn't until Friday night. We even watched the Cow Show. This is when trouble started....

When your kid asks for a cow and wants to keep it in the garage, maybe ya been there too long. Yep, Youngest wants a cow and not just any cow. She wants a steer. She wants to get a 1500+ lbs steer and keep it at home. She thinks Charlie will play with it. I don't think she gets that the little ole cow she wants could drop kick Charlie into next week at the blink of an eye.

Sadly there are no photos of said cow as I chose not to take my camera this year and instead just enjoy the time with the kids. Maybe next year.

I will just leave ya with an image...this is on the Christmas list for Middle and Youngest (and we live on .25 acres!!) Crack me up! But then again, it looks like it would be some kind of fun. :-)

What does a Four Year Old + Head Cold = ??

"I'm not gonna make it." According to Youngest, this is the worst ever. Had to work hard to stiffle a laugh.

Youngest goes back to preschool tomorrow

and I am just so excited to get her back to school. I think she has been lonesome by herself the past two weeks. She can be serious and contemplative one minute



and absolutely wacked out the next



Yeah...she definitely needs some serious playtime, but then where will I get my laughs from?

So let's play catch up...

or maybe not? The last five weeks or so are a blur, and I am not sure why. I don't think anything monumental occured. I think it was just the activity of three kids and summer.

July:
* I took Oldest out to Melissa's salon for haircuts. We had a good time - even though we could not find a place to eat dinner afterwards. California Kitchen was packed, Chili's had no room in the parking lot either, King of Prussia mall is overwhelming so we wound up at Ruby Tuesday's. Not what I had envisioned, but it was good and it was about Oldest and I spending time together - not about the food.

* I enrolled Youngest at a new preschool for the coming year. They deal with the IU and that is good since the hearing aid will be in place. I am hoping she will find more friends living close by for more playtime. The big plus is it is only 2 minutes from the house - so much less driving and so much less gas.

August:
* I took the kids back to Virginia Beach to visit my parents. We had a blast. I think each day had a great highlight

1. We (Mom, the girls & I)went to Sandbridge for the day; I realized how much I truly miss living 7 minutes from the ocean - I have to find a way to get closer to the water. Living among the cornfields isn't working for me.



2. We (Mom, Dad, the girls & I) went to Doumar's for lunch. Oh, yum!!! I have loved this place since I was a little girl when Grammy took me. It has limeade that is to die for and BBQ with extra slaw that is scrumptious. We found out while we were there that Guy Fieri from Food Network's Diners, Drive-ins & Dives came to do a story on them. I remembered to watch it once I got back to lovely PA.
After Doumar's, Mom & I took the girls to the Virginia Zoo. We went quite a few times when we lived in VB and now try to go when we go back to visit. Love the zoo. Oh, the girls love the $$$ Pop-Pop gave them for webkinz. The best part of that day for them.






3. Dad, Middle, Youngest & I went shopping at Target. Luckily Dad did not give in and purchase anymore toys for them.

4. Mom took the girls back to school shopping. They came home with new outfits and shoes. Trying out the new yogurt place, The Skinny Dip was a great way to end our shopping excursion.

5. We went out to dinner for Mexican - yummy - and went swimming at my godmother's house.

* Oldest and I took a ride out to Hershey to go to the scrapbook store so that I could get supplies for the family history album I am going to do for Dad. We stopped at Red Robin for a quick bite. Again it was nice to have a little one on one time with my oldest since I don't get to do that as often. She is so busy.

* Aunt Melissa came out to visit and gave both Middle and Youngest a great back to school haircut. Thank you, Melissa. XO!

* Oldest had volleyball try-outs for high school. Nope, didn't make it this year. She is OK with that. She will still be there supporting her friends.

* Oldest went to the Paramore concert in Philly with Melissa then got to stay the night at Mel's.

* Ash picked up her schedule for high school! How the hell did that happen? I just dropped her off in kindergarden. I am sooo not ready for a high schooler. We took a tour of the school and scoped out her classes. She felt pretty ready for the first day.

* Abs had Open House at her new school. WOW!!! The $$ that went into building that school really shows. It is beautiful. Everything is so new and clean and colorful. We are very excited about her teacher, Mrs. M. I think she will be a perfect match for Abs.

* Aud got her hearing aid. A very emotional day for her. Abs did such a nice job of trying to sooth her. Not much worked though except for the promise of the new Webkinz goldfish. We found "Bubbles" after the appointment. It seemed to keep Aud calm for a little while.

* We went to the pool a few other times - but the weathter has been so mild which makes the spring fed pool even chillier.



* We hosted the neighborhood picnic. I think everyone had a fantastic time especially my husband. ;-) The food was fantastic, but the company was even better. We have plans to do neighborhood movie night next.

* Finally school started this past week. Structure is back in our lives. So is homework.

Coming up next...the first day of school

We are home, finally...

Made the trip in 5.5 hours with two stops. Not bad. Middle and Youngest are asleep in Middle's room - Middle facing one way, Youngest facing the other. They wanted to sleep together again. All of the clothing, toys, suitcases, etc... are put away. House is clean. Our wonderful neighbors cut our grass and brought over groceries. The dog is home and already put himself to bed. I am physically, mentally, and emotionally drained and am going to bed.

This week has got to be better. :-)

Gotta post some lighter news....

Just cause this has been a not so great week.

Oldest - got to go to the beach with Amanda today. She picked a lot of seashells and just relaxed. Now she is home busy painting her nails black. :-) What a teenager!

Youngest - spent the day in her pjs enjoying all of her grandparents' attention. They even got her a Happy Meal from McDs. Now she is watching a movie on the little portable DVD player that Dad owns. What a great day for a four year old.

Maybe tomorrow there will be even more great highlights. Need a good night's rest first.

The good part of the visit...

Friday:
Our drive down was fast and uneventful. We left our house at 1:45 PM and made it to Mom and Dad's by 7:00ish. That was the fastest we have ever made the trip. I think it really helped that we did not make the usual stop at Chick-Fil-A for an hour. We only stopped by Wawa for a few food items and drinks. The kids were fantastic and watched movies or listened to the iPod. Had a little dinner after arriving and then set up the bedrooms for the kids.

Saturday:
The girls spent the morning in the IT center (otherwise known as the dining room.) We went to MacArthur Center for a little family time. Dad could get his walk in and the rest of us got out of the house. Mom wound up doing a little shopping at Ann Taylor and J. Jill. I found her a great jean skirt and cute shirt and was totally thrilled when she bought them. Middle and Youngest got new Webkinz - a Chihuahua for Middle and a Bulldog for Youngest. They loved them. Oldest and J hit up the Apple store.
Saturday night we cooked out since we didn't get to on July 4th. Dinner was great and easy clean-up.













Sunday:
Since we spent most of the day at the Urgent Care and the ER, dinner was great. Neither J or I had any lunch and nothing at the ER so we were famished. Mom had ordered an entire turkey, dressing and gravy from the club since we couldn't go there to eat. Eric and T came up and brought Ben for us to meet. He is a cutie. Dinner was soooo good. Thanksgiving in July.

Monday:
Ash spent the day hanging out with Amanda and Sam. They went to see Hancock at the movies and then hung out for a while. Ash then spent the night at Amanda's which was fantastic cause it gave her a break out of the sick house. Audrey hung out with J and Pop-Pop since I had to take Abs back to CHKD for a check-up. Abs got a new Webkinz (again) since we promised her with all of the tests and shots she got from her ER visit. The great part was that the Webkinz of the Month was free with the purchase of Abs horse so Aud got a new one too - a Cheeky Monkey.

Tuesday:
Ash spent the day with Amanda hanging out and watching movies. J took Audrey to the Virginia Aquarium (that name sounds so unfamiliar as it was always the Virginia Marine and Science Museum.) They had a blast and even took a boat ride in the inlet. That made me nervous as another storm was rolling thru. J said he also rode by the old house and neighborhood. Our old house is 8 years old now; apparently the landscaping has really grown and looks great. We ate turkey dinner again - always good.

Wednesday:
J. left this morning to go to Nashville. Mom was great and took him to the airport so I didn't have to get up early since I had been up half of the night again with Abs. Aunt T came up with Ben again and spent the day with us. She made the girls spaghetti for lunch and Abs ate some - which was fantastic. Mom was able to come home early since Dad went into work for a while. Aud performed another piano concerto for everyone. Ash went to the mall with Sam and then over to his house to hang out. Eric came over, so we all had dinner together. We cooked out again which was another quick easy meal. YUM!

I love my kids at the beach

Never had a chance to post these from our March trip to the g-parents. Kids had a blast - I realized how much I miss living seven minutes from the ocean. I miss the smell. I miss the wind and the warmth.

The ears that just won't heal

Youngest finished the antibiotic on Monday. Tuesday she said her left ear hurt. Wednesday it was both ears. Pediatrician visit today - antibiotic ear drops w/ pain reliever and steroids built in. Ears are healing - just not healed all the way. Oy.

Youngest-isms : The Coooool Car

In the car leaving preschool...
"Hey, Mom. Look at the coooool car! We should get that coooool car."
"Which one, honey?"
"The one with Katie's teacher in it."
"Oh, yeah. (looking at the Toyota Sequoia - one of Mommy's dream cars) That is a cool car. If you have an extra $35,000 in your piggy bank, then we can go get one right now."
"No, but we can go to the bank, and you can get your monies out."
"I wish, Audy, I wish...."

Saturday's Happenings....

Youngest woke up at 2 AM crying - her head hurt - but she is pointing to her jaw area under her ear. Oh, NO!!! Not her ear, please anything but an ear infection. She stayed awake until 5 AM crying in pain. Threw up from all of the drainage (and maybe from the fever?)

Took her in to see the Dr. again (between Middle and Youngest this was visit number five to the peds in three weeks and dr. visit number seven between the peds and the ENT.) Temp is 101.5. Great.

Dr. took one look in her left ear (the good ear)and said, "She's got a really bad ear infection - it is about ready to burst."

Youngest then so eloquently announced, "I gotta throw up." There she blows.

The Dr. said the vomitting was more from the fever than the drainage. He prescribed a strong antibiotic and Motrin. If she cannot keep the Motrin down, then call him.

Prescription filled and in her along with the Motrin by 12:30. By 2:00 she is like a new kid. Thank goodness. Still stiffling and draining, but no more crying. Man, we have been so lucky with the three girls - never many ear infections at all. I cannot tell you the last time any of them were even on an antibiotic. We have been blessed with that part.

So here we are. Staying home again all weekend to get these children well. Maybe if the planets align and the Gods are kind, I can, shhhhh!, not too loudly, maybe I can scrapbook. Please don't say it aloud - they will hear you and someone will be ill.

My new books from Amazon came in:

• Pieces of My Sister's Life
• Me & Emma
• Scrap Simple

Care to guess which one I dove into first? Oh, the highlight of the day? I snuck off to Paperoni when J got home from basketball to hit up their closing sale. Picked up some more foam stamps and paint since it was all 50% off. Plus some scalloped cardstock, a little paper, some ABC letters, and rub-ons. Not much inventory left - good for them, sad for me.

And the results of the CT Scan are....

nothing. There is nothing anatomically wrong with Youngest's ears. So now we have an unknown cause as to the hearing loss. Dr. Tom said follow-up in four months. Preferential seating in the classroom. I still don't know if this is a stable or progressive loss. Keep your fingers crossed that it is stable. I guess this is good news, right?

Youngest's CT Scan

The scan was yesterday morning, and she did rather well. She moved a little during some of the pictures (she was being such a brave girl trying not to cry), so at this point she may have to go back, be sedated, and have the CT Scan all over again. I am praying hard that that doesn't happen.

So far, no phone call or info from the doctor. I don't know where we go from here as far as her hearing. One day at a time, I guess.

After her scan yesterday, we hit up Toys R Us for another set of Littlest Pet Shops - that was the bribe for the scan. Youngest had a blast talking about all of the choices and picking out a new set of five. Then I took her out to lunch. Since we were in King of Prussia we went to Bahama Breeze. It was OK - she got mac n cheese; I tried the Coconut Shrimp. Not great, but not horrid either.

Updates on the hearing issues when I get them.

Youngest is sick

Ugh...started @ 3AM on Sunday with puking right on my bedroom carpet. Poor thing. She seems to have just a random virus (vomiting, diarrhea) but also had a high fever of 102.7 taken under her arm and a headache. We had her checked out yesterday at the pediatrician with the caution to come back if the fever, vomiting or headache continued. Poor thing.

Thought she was better but she threw up again this morning @8 (just clear liquid.) Ugh.. that makes over 29 hours. The worst part is the randomness of it. She started at 3 AM, then went on to 5:30, 6:30, 7:30 AM then nothing all day Sunday. Sunday night it was 7:30, 9:00 and 9:30. Monday morning @ 4:15. Nothing all day on Monday. I am really glad we took her to the peds since they checked her for strep, flu, and meningitis.

She doesn't have a fever today but still has the occasional headache (probably dehydration) and no energy (not a surprise though.) She did allow me to give her a bath and has eaten a couple of soda crackers. We bought four flavors of Gatorade so that seems to be getting liquids in her - thank goodness.

This is sooooo not fun. All of my plans for the last three days are out the window - parent visitation at Oldest's school, preschool for Youngest, goodie bag items for the Black Rock Retreat, working last night, etc...

Keep your fingers crossed that this is it. My poor little baby.

Youngest-isms

Just to get these down:

Lucy = You See

Making a mess eating = Bad Eat Day

Dark skies due to storm = Great! Night Night time. (said not too happily - actually very sarcastically for a three year old)

Just some others:

Wiping kisses off her lips

Mommy, I miss you (don't know why she says this when I am usually sitting with her)

Me-Me is your mommy, and Pop-Pop is your daddy.

Treat, boy?

I want a little girl to play with me. Not you (Mom).

Awww, honey. It's OK.

Today with her:

Holy cannoli. She was a lovey all day. Don't know what got into the child. She was even up when J. was getting ready for work. Totally content to just sit in my lap or sit behind Abs in the computer chair and watch. Went to the bathroom and did all that it entails on her own. Maybe the bathroom laziness is over. School starts in two weeks for her, and I am tired of wiping tushies.

Definitely tired at dinner - refused to eat - after battling her for an hour, I just gave her a Red Velvet cupcake and said, "Go, eat." Then what happened?? Dang, it all. She wanted another one. Can't blame her 'cause we made some good ones with pounds and pounds of sprinkles.

Totally pissed when she looked out the window and saw it was dark and rainy. "Great! It's Night-Night time." So not a happy girl.