this weekend...

well, this weekend was pretty much a lazy one for us (which rarely ever happens)...

saturday we did nothing, until the evening at which time we went to church (what a great service!)... we then went to cracker barrel for a very late dinner afterwards...

sunday (today), we all slept in & when we did actually get moving, i made lunch & then put the girls down for naps... when ruby awoke, i gave her a bath & braided her hair... tomorrow it's braiding day for kiara & karleigh!!... i'll take pics of the girls when they're all finished as they love to show them off!!

today was better...

well, we went in this AM & had her tested again (now we'll not go back for 2 weeks)... they asked me how she did & i said, "although i'm usually a very positive person, we honestly didn't see much change (if any) at all"... they said they were very conservative yesterday & that they wanted to up her quite a bit today... she went through all the testing & in the end of the session she was responding to about 70%+/- of what they were testing her on... they deleted the programs 1 - 4 from yesterday & reset a new group of programs 1 - 4 (these are louder & more intense)... she's on the lowest setting right now (p1) & from now over the next 2 weeks, we're to get her up to p4 & have her there for several days prior to that visit... she's responding to some things, but not to others (that may even be louder)... i'm not fretting today as i do see improvement & know that this' all so new to her that she's totally overwhelmed with it all... she did have a great visit & loves to wear her CI & harness!... this AM we got up & i went to get the earmolds from her hearing aids to use as the CI/behind the ear piece would sometimes slip off... she saw me getting the hearing aid container down & kept signing 'NO' 'STOP!', etc. & was touching her ear & signing 'LISTEN' because she wanted her CI on!!... the main thing we're seeing & know this' a bit to be expected) is she's now ms. ATTITUDE (in a snotty way!)... she's now being very snippy & sassy & throwing fits (just yesterday & today) which we never see... i know it's a result of so much going on... she'll get through it & so will we *smile*... thanks for being here to share with & give opinions as they help so much!!

well, we're home...

just wanted to update you a bit (yes, i'll try & keep it short(er) for those of you who've heard my ramblings before!)

we went today to riley for ruby's activation... it took about 3 or so hours, but she did great... they hooked her up & then started her hearing testing... i thought they'd turn her on & she'd start pointing at everything, jumping up & down, touching her ear, signing like mad, etc.)... NOTHING!!... she just sat there!!... UGH... i was almost in tears... 1 audiologist played games with her while the other worked on the puter (entering data that'd make the beeps loud or soft)... the 'game' audi would be playing away keeping ruby busy/occupied & the 'puter' audi would make it beep... ruby would just continue on what she was doing... i wanted to stand up & say, "girl, can't you hear that!!!!!!" (but i didn't)... puter audi would 'up' it a bit & again, ruby would just play, play play... she wasn't signing much (which's NOT like her), she wasn't vocal (which's NOT like her), she was acting so NOT interested (which's NOT like her if someone's paying attention to her & her alone)... i was getting down, to say the least... i couldn't imagine how she could go through this radical surgery & hear nothing!!... i made a comment about 3/4 of the way through, asking, "do you ever see these kind of results" (meaning the lack thereof) & they said, "oh my goodness, she's doing better than most!"... i'm thinking, "awwwww, those poor other 'space cadet children' - ugh"... by the end of the session i was wore out as i'd been watching this whole session through the lens of a video camera & every beep i heard, i'd tense up thinking, "she's gotta hear this one!"... we brought her home on program 1 (P1), then an hour later we raised the level to program 2 (P2), then another hour went by & it was raised again to program 3 (P3) & then last, but not least raised an hour later to program 4 (P4)... each level it was raised caused her to hear more sound... she's not acted any different at all, except for her doing this 'newborn babble' in the back seat on the way home from riley (ba ba ba ba pa pa pa pa ta ta ta ta, ka ka ka ka, etc.)... we're thinking maybe??? she was hearing herself!?!?!?...

we go back in the AM for them to check everything & get from our point of view what we noticed... that'll be easy - NOTHING!... i'm on a few yahoo groups for CI patients & posted my concern there & have gotten responses saying, "don't worry, because with children, it may take up to 5 weeks to see anything!!!" (boy, so different than MY plan!!)... anyway, i'm not down now & know that god sees the big picture & it's not always (almost never) in my timing, but it's always on time!... we'll post tomorrow when we get home... thanks for the prayers & keep 'em up!!

tomorrow - ruby's activation day!...

well, tomorrow's another big day in ruby's life... we've got to be at riley hospital in the AM as she's going to have her cochlear implant activated... we'll then be able to tell if it'll help her to hear or not... we're praying it works as they really think it will... we're very excited & have video camera ready to get a glimpse at her first sound... it's late so i need to run, but pray for us (& her) tomorrow... we'll post when we know more!

we got a new van!!...

here's a picture of what our new minivan looks like... it's a 2006 ford freestar that's spruce green with tan interior... it's got tons of stuff too!... i've now got tinted windows, cd player, cassette player, door that with a push of a button will open on their own, back hatch that will open on its own, etc. etc. etc.... there's so much room in it, even i've not filled it all!!... i'm just so excited!!!

this weekend...

saturday ~ spike & i took all 4 girls on a 'road trip' to a job site that he had to go check on... we then went to eat at our favorite place, Pepe's Mexican (YUM!)... we were on our way towards home & was planning on attending church (as we go on saturday nights), but stopped by a car dealership to check on vehicle prices... we've been in the market to trade my minivan in & purchase something else... before we left, we'd bought a van!!!... i'm soooooooo excited as it'll be in either tomorrow night or tuesday (we're hoping it'll be tomorrow as spike's leaving town on tuesday morning & won't be home until wednesday night!)... it's lighter green with tan interior & oh my goodness, i can't wait!!!

sunday ~ well, today we took all the girls to the movies to see 'The Wild'... we all had a great time & loved the movie... during the movie kiara started crying really loud & complaning that she had popcorn up her nose!... i had her to blow A LOT & nothing :(... well, i won't go into the details, but about 20 minutes later she said (really loud), "mommy, i got that popcorn out of my nose!" (& she did)... well, that's it for us this weekend & i'll write more tomorrow :)

my mom's got a blog!...

well, it finally happened - i talked my mom into blogging!!... she's so funny, thinking she couldn't do it & i'll bet now that she's done it, she'll be blogging all the time... it's not something dad will do AT ALL, EVER, but mom will sure have a good time at it... i can see her now trying to come up with more 'news' on her & dad just to be able to write about it... her blog's located at http://papawandnana.blogspot.com... i'm assuming i'll not be posting anything (or not much, anyway) over the weekend as we've got a busy one!... we've got haircuts in the AM, then it's off traveling around tomorrow from job site to job site with spike as he'll officially be 'working', but he's able to let us go along for the ride... we'll then be stopping at our favorite place to eat, 'Pepe's Mexican in Lafayette', yum!! & then back home in time for church at 6:15pm... not sure what we'll be doing on sunday, but i'm sure that in the end, it'll be a full day too!!

- THE ADOPTION AGENCY WE USED -

i've had some of you write & ask me where our girls were adopted from so i wanted to publically share... we adopted kiara (3/2003), ruby (7/2005) & karleigh (7/2004) all from haiti & used an agency that's called foyer de la nouvelle vie... anyone interested in adopting from haiti & wishing to use an EXCELLANT agency, contact me... anyway, for what it's worth, there ya go!!

about rubys surgery...

well, as some of you know, ruby's deaf & has been for as long as we've known her... she received her cochlear implant (CI) in march & has healed up quite nicely... she's to have her CI activated this coming thursday (27th) & we can hardly wait!... right now she's profoundly deaf in both ears, but the dr. seems to think that after her CI's activated, although she'll still be deaf, she'll hear conversations from across the room!!... we began learning american sign language (ASL) awhile back & are progressing right along... she's doing very well & has picked it up so quick!... we'll still be using ASL even if the CI works as she'll still have reason to need ASL sometimes & without using it daily, we'll all loose it & we don't want that... i'll be posting updates after she's activated & letting everyone know how she's doing... for those of you that pray, please pray this works as we know God's the healer & although we don't look at her deafness as something that 'needs to be fixed', how cool will it be if/when she begins to hear things like music (we're a very musical family), her sisters fighting (wow, who wouldn't want to hear that!), dogs barking (read a couple posts down & you'll understand), etc., etc... thanks & i'll post more when i know more *smile*

our girls on easter AM...

here's a pic of our girls easter morning... what a wonderful, beautiful day it was & loads of fun taking their pics!... it worked out great as the 2 younger ones are wearing dresses that kiara used to wear & kiara's wearing a dress that brit used to wear!!... aren't they all adorable!

i want a D.O.G.!!!...

well, i've been talking to spike about getting a dog & he said to wait until 1) we got home from our cruise (we did) 2) through spring break (we did) 3) through ruby's surgery (we did), so now i'm ready to get one!... not that my life's not 'full enough' already, but the girls & i are home all the time & i think they'd benefit from helping to care for a dog & with us being home a lot, the dog wouldn't need to be crated a lot... i also think with ruby being deaf, that a dog would help her with various things (ie: alerting her of a fire, alerting her of an intruder, etc.)... i've been thinking of the beagle breed as they're SO adorable & spike's had them before, growing up & said they were good family pets... the main 'problem' with getting a beagle's that we've no fenced in yard, but we could always get the invisible fencing so, in my mind - problem solved!... i did get him to say that, "absolutely NO males!", so that means females are alright, right??... we also were talking about names & we've both decided on riley *smile*... so for now, it's a female named riley & that's all i know... i've been looking online for adoptable dogs in the area (indiana), but need to get a commitment from him first!

our daughter - karleigh 2y...

last but not least, it's karleigh!... don't let her innocent look fool ya, she's as hot tempered as they come!... she's a good little girl that tries to act 'big' like her older sisters (who're only a year or so older than she is!), but still likes to be the 'baby' (& we like that too!)... she's a cuddly, loveable little girl with tons of spunk... you're our sweetie pie & we love you most'est'!

our daughter - ruby 3y...

our daughter ruby's, a 'jewel' in every sense of the word... she's a blessing to our family & is loved by everyone... out of all of our little ones, she's the most bullheaded of the 3, but she can be turned pretty easily too (thank the Lord!)... being she's deaf in both ears, she's working hard on learning ASL & just had her cochlear implant surgery about 3 weeks ago... she'll be activated on the 27th of april & we're looking for fabulous results... we love you more than you know!

our daughter - kiara 3y...

well, kiara's the clown of the family & loves making people laugh... she's got a heart of gold & loves to 'mother' her younger sisters... she's the 1st on to give hugs when you need it (& even when you don't)... she doesn't want anyone to become angry with her & goes to any extreme to make sure that doesn't happen... she loves to keep peace in the family (you go girl!) & loves Jesus with all her heart... we love you sis & you're our princess!

our daughter - brit 14y...

brit's a great teenager with tons of potential... she'll be starting HS next year & can't wait... we're seeing her grow in so many ways & are so proud of her... we can't wait to see what's in store for brit in the next couple years... she's a great helper with her 3 younger sisters & loves doing it... we love you brit!

our son - dustin 20y...

here's our son dustin & he now lives on his own (probably to get away from the zoo around here!)... he's currently working 2 jobs & just got a new car... we're so proud to be his parents & desperately want him to know that as long as he follows the Lord, that he'll not end up on bottom... God will bring him through whatever comes up & he'll come out on top, in the end... we love you bub!