Do You Hear It?

The angels singing? Believe it or not, I actually SPOKE TO SOMEONE ON THE PHONE!!! Yes, someone answered the phone when I called today! We have the go ahead to get a new CT scan done by the 2nd May 2008 doctor mentioned in our earlier post. So, I will hopefully be able to have our pediatrician begin that process and we will get that scheduled soon. Once again, we don't think there will be much difference as both doctors use the same rating scale. But, I do know that God is God and He has moved mountains when it comes to Ryan. I know. I know. I keep saying that, but it is true and we fully believe it. We are fully prepared that Ryan won't be a candidate now that the shock has worn off, but would not be surprised if there "happened" to be a change in the results.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Off to Kindergarten Registration We Go...

Today is a big day... Registering the Littles for kindergarten this morning and a parent orientation at the middle school this evening - talk about extremes. I took Rylee with me to registration as this is a big event for her! Her brothers have been at the school together for two years now. Although she is somewhat familiar with the school, she is so anxious to go and be a part of their world!! Many of the teachers know her as many witnessed her arrival home and she recognizes many of them from various events over the years. So, I think she will settle in just fine! When I told her we were going today, she said "It's already August?" I believe it will be a long summer for her as she awaits the 1st day of kindergarten. On our way out, we walked past Morgan's homeroom. His teacher stopped us and asked Rylee if she wanted to come in and see her big brother. She went right in and Morgan about died...He takes after his momma - blushed uncontrollably!! We made a quick exit so as not to cause him any more pain!! August 11th is the BIG day!!

Do Bees Sneeze?

Rylee and I sat and watched a bumblebee tonight. It was flitting from place-to-place collecting the pollen while I attempted to catch a picture. Rylee's question: Why isn't the bee sneezing? I told her he was collecting the pollen to take back as I was not following her train of thought. Her comment: Well, when people sniff the flowers they sneeze. I am thinking instead of a "playing gymnastics" occupation she could be a advertising executive...Perfect pitch for an allergy medication - Or, is there already a commercial out there like that? Seems to me there might be.

Another Lil' Graduate

Today was Rylee's big day!! She has been attending the learning center at our church two days a week and is officially a Learning Center Graduate of the Class of 2010. They sure put on a show!! They sang, shared what they wanted to be when they grew up, and walked across the stage for their diplomas. I cringed at first when I realized each little one was going to share what they wanted to be when they grew up. Rylee has said in the past that she wanted to be a "baby doctor", but I hadn't asked her lately... You never can anticipate what she is going to say. Just for the record, on May 23rd 2010 Rylee announced she wanted to be "playing gymnastics" - A gymnast, perhaps? Whew!!! She did a great job and was a cute little graduate in her cap and gown!! Kindergarten here she comes!!

Flip Flops!!

I love flip flops and would wear them all year round if I could... I saw these fun flip flops here and just had to make a pair for Miss Rylee. They turned out adorable! I still have a stash of water balloons so, I might just have to make some more!! Grab your water balloons and a pair of flip flops and get to tying!

Speechless...

Hmmm...

May 2008 Our ENT says that Ryan is a good candidate for surgery and even says that we might need to schedule it a month later so that he has a greater opportunity to develop language.

May 2008 A surgeon reads Ryan's CT scan and lists out everything in technical terms about what is present in Ryan's middle/inner ear structure, but requests that we send information once Ryan is closer to 5 or 6 years of age.

May 2010 (yesterday) A different surgeon tells us that Ryan scored a 3 on his right ear and a 5 on his left ear on a 10 point scale. 3 = 30% chance of restoring hearing 5 = 50% chance of restoring hearing. This surgeon does not recommend surgery for scores 0-5. His recommendation is a BAHA. Now, that is our interpretation of the results as we understand them via web information. We have yet to speak to anyone by phone and have just been communicating by email.

Based on all the previous doctor interactions, I never anticipated these results! I am puzzled and just merely shocked!! I was prepared for one ear not being a possible option, but never thought that both ears would be out of the question.

Where do we go from here? We will go back to the other surgeon that was requesting information and have another CT scan just as a second opinion. If he scores the scans differently (which does not appear very promising) then we will take it from there as far as decision making goes. If not, we will continue to look into the outer ear reconstruction and putting the post in for his BAHA. At this point, the combined surgery (outer and inner ear) is not an option for Ryan.

Although we are shocked, we are thankful that God is guiding us and closing the doors for us along the way.

Our Lil' Graduate

Today was Ryan's preschool graduation and spring program. It was a camping themed program complete will songs and a bear hunt! They were all so cute and these teachers have such patience to even attempt a program with 19 three and four year olds!! All of the preschoolers except 3 are heading to kindergarten next year. Unfortunately, one of the three (blue caps) is Ryan's best buddy. Those that will be continuing on "walked the bridge over to kindergarten." Sniff, sniff!! Kindergarten, here he comes!!

MagnaDoodle Message That Melts The Heart!

Ryan wrote this in the car on the way to school this morning... A vertical writer, I guess.
Translation: I LOVE MOM

Pa3

On top of all our usual May activities, we have been preparing for the arrival of my grandfather -a.k.a PaPaPa to the kids. At the age of 94, he made the move from California to KY. I can not imagine how difficult this move must have been (and still is) for him. Not only leaving his home of 35+ years or so, but the physical and emotional toll of settling into a new place and traveling such a long distance. He and Dad arrived Saturday evening just moments before his belongings arrived via the moving truck. He is in an assisted living facility and seems to be settling in. He is not 100% satisfied, but we knew that he would be a bit critical. It is new and it will take time for him to get into the rhythm of the place and the other residents. He is a bit outspoken and has had to have a couple of "talks" from my dad - Hmmm... That could be a new blog segment - Out of the Mouths of the Elderly. Now that I think about it, I think I will pass! ;o) We are thrilled that he is here and the kids love going over to his place and checking out his "wheels" (motorized wheelchairs - he has 3 right now). I am so thankful that he has had the opportunity to finally meet Rylee and Ryan. He seems to be happy to be here and we continue to pray that he will soon feel like this is home!

Tomorrow?

Hmmm... Hopefully, my phone will ring tomorrow and it will be a phone call from the west coast!!! I was told the doctor was in the office on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. We certainly don't want to hurry the process as this lag in time has allowed us to think through some things. It has also brought to light an option I hadn't considered. A "potential" financial door that we had never considered was suggested to us during Ryan's IEP/ARC meeting. We highly doubt that we are eligible, but the door presented itself and we are walking through it. What could it hurt and if we don't another opportunity might be missed. It is amazing how God orchestrates the timing of everything and who He places in our path. No, we still have no answers, but we are waiting and watching as we know God is slowing moving the mountain for us even if it is pebble by pebble or boulder by boulder!!

Reading List

** Note to self: Omit from printed blog book.

A month or so ago, I purchased a book that I kept hearing about entitled Silent Tears. It is based upon the author's diary of her four years at a Chine*e orphanage. Since I have had several holds on books at the library, I have set it aside. On Sunday, I finished another book that was centered around adoptions from China entitled The Red Thread (As a side note, there are a few sexual elements in the book). Although this book was fiction, I was taken back. This book followed families in the United States as they pursued adoption from China as well as the birth moms/fathers in China. Wow! Okay, if you know anything about adoptions from China, you know that these children are typically abandoned. With the number of children abandoned each and every day, I do not believe I let my heart go to the situations surrounding the abandonment of the child. I knew in my heart that it must have been very emotional on the birth mother's part and that she was truly giving us a treasured gift, but I just didn't factor in the heart wrenching stories that might be surrounding the story of each child. Yes, these were fictional characters and stories, but I can't help but believe there was some element of truth to them. I was putting the abandonment issue in one little box assuming that although it was difficult at first that it was so common place that it was just something that they did. I did not factor in the pressure from the husband, the possible loss of a spouse, shame brought on to the family, hatred from the extended family, and that the mothers had absolutely NO choice. Call me naive, call me ignorant, or whatever. I think that my heart just was not ready to go there... So, since I am still waiting for the other books on my hold list at the library, I am starting Silent Tears. I believe that this is going to be another shocking realization for me and I don't know why these books have come together in this time (not read any adoption books since we had to read for adoption hours). But, I hope to gain a clearer understanding of my children's past, an even greater heart for the plight of the orphans in China, and that God will use me!!

Answers. Today. NOT!!

No phone call today either... Double ERRRR!!!

Answers. Today. Hopefully!

The 9:54 pm update: Nada. Zip. Zero. No phone call today! Errrr!!! This feeling is eerily familiar. Off to bed!!

Well, I received an email this morning saying that Ryan's records are in the doctor's inbox for review. She indicated that we might hear something later this afternoon!! Hopefully, he will be able to read the scan and that we won't have to go for another one. Hopefully, we will have some answers as to whether he is a candidate for atresia repair. By knowing this information, we can begin to process the whole kaboodle, begin to map out a plan, and begin to research if there will be any insurance coverage or not. It is a step-by-step process at this point for us. Stay tuned - Hope to post some news tonight!

Peace vs. Piece

Our dear little Rylee has struck again!! You just never know what is going to come out of her precious little mouth! Today, we put on an adorable shirt that I had picked out for her preschool class pictures. I asked her if she knew what the symbol was. She said "No." So, I told her it was the peace sign. She paused for a second and then said "Kinda like...'You want a piece of me!?!' ". Ummm...No sweetheart, peace like in the Bible. Ugh! The influence of boys in her life!! Peace Out!

Ahhh! The sun!!

It has rained and rained and rained since Friday!! The storms were pretty bad on Saturday night. The storm on Saturday night woke Miss Rylee around 3 am. So, she joined me in bed. Scooter was barricaded in my room for the night as well as I knew the storms were coming. So, he spent his time whining and attempting to scale the bar stool that is in our room due to the renovations. I have no idea what he was trying to do, but it was absolutely hilarious to watch!

According to the KY Mesonet, our county received over 8 inches of rain in the last 3 days. Roads are still closed, a few lives have been lost, and there are many flooded basements! During the course of the storm, we discovered two leaks in our basement. As aggravating as that is, we feel so fortunate that we have discovered them now while we can fix them before the dry wall goes up!

Schools are closed today, but the skies have cleared and the air is crisp and clean! Aaah... The sunshine feels wonderful!!

Overwhelmed!

That is me... Really trying not to be, but am nonetheless. After a week and a half of waiting, we spoke to the doctor's office in CA regarding Ryan's surgeries. I was half crazy (okay, maybe more than half crazy) waiting for them to return my calls last week and began questioning whether or not we should even be walking down this path. It was merely my lack of patience and anxiousness to get the ball rolling in MY time! Thankfully, God's timing is perfect and the woman called while Mike was home. She was so nice and even though our hearts are heavy over how we are going to make this happen, we know that God already knows the plan. Earlier that day, I was frustrated beyond belief and decided that I was just going to go ahead and send in the CT scan and audiogram to them. I knew the doctor would need these to review in order to assess whether or not Ryan was a candidate for aural repair (canalplasty - creating the ear canal, ear drum, etc) and figured someone would have to call me then. Yep, me trying to gain some sense of control. Well, those should arrive in CA tomorrow and the doctor will be in on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. Hopefully, he will have time to review them this week and then we will know what our options are for Ryan. I know without a doubt that God is going to teach me some valuable lessons through this whole experience. Whether we are able to go through this entire journey or not he is going to teach me the lessons that He wants me to learn! Just knowing some of our "road blocks" I know that we are going to have to lean and trust Him more than we may ever have before...

Derby Day, Baby!!

That's right Kentucky Derby Day!! It is going to be a small celebration this year due to weather and the fact that Mike is gone. Just the kids and I!! We just had our annual "picking of the horses". Here are our picks for 2010:

Morgan: Devil May Care - Why? She's a "philly", of course.
Rylee: Dean's Kitten - Why? The jockey has an 'R' on his silks.
Ryan: American Lion - Why? He liked the picture.
Darcy: Discreetly Mine - Why? The romantic in me!!

Now, we will just hope that they can run the race today as we are looking forward to it!

6:09 This just in from Colorado... Mike's pick: Mission Impazible

And, their off... Almost.