What's Been Happening

Why I haven’t blogged lately….

1. LL emailed us to tell us she is selling the house we live in.

2. Later that evening the washer flooded the laundry room and kitchen. Lots of fun. NOT!

3. Was supposed to have a mammogram but realized I was LATE and feeling gross.?.

4. Found out I am indeed expecting. Thought I was about 6 weeks along. Boy was I wrong. Turns out I was only 3.5 weeks along. In for the longest pregnancy EVER!!!

5. Realtors calling wanting to see the house. Later that day. What part of 48 hour notice do they not understand?

6. Looked for new house.

7. Decided where to move.

8. Kids and I get the flu…enough said.

9. The doctor thought I was going to have a miscarriage because my hormone levels were so low. It turns out I was off on my dates. Who knew you are supposed to keep track?

10. Cleaning so the house looks somewhat presentable for prospective buyers. Tons of fun when you are EXHAUSTED from gestating. Naptime is much more important.

11. Worked full time until the end of October.

12. Took the kids to a nearby corn maze, in the dark, pushing a double stroller. What a pain. 13. Found a new house to move into December

13. I love moving during the holidays...for the second year in a row.

14. Ward Trunk or Treat. Lots of fun. We were there for the set up and Caleb found the unattended cupcake table for the cake walk. HEAVEN!!!!

15. Halloween, Riley was Tow Mater from Cars and Caleb was a Pumpkin. Sorry pics aren't downloaded. She was more interested in playing with her friends than getting candy, which I did not mind.

16. Found a house we like near downtown Gilbert. Good location, more room, less rent, shorter commutes, no pool but I won't be teaching swim lessons next summer with due date June 5, not that I will go that long.

17. Packing, purging and procrastinating.

18. Collecting boxes for moving.

19. Wonderful Thanksgiving at Amanda's house. Dinner was great the kids and Andy went swimming after in their heated pool. I love AZ! We had a great time hanging out and enjoying the day with them.

20. We start moving tomorrow and should be all in on the 3rd. Wish us luck.

Skinny Jeans

I know that skinny jeans are all the rage right now. Apparently you can wear jeans in a smaller size to have them look even skinnier, if that is possible. However, if you are my daughter you can go down three sizes and they are still not skinny enough.

As you can see, the 12 month jeans she is sporting are plenty roomy. She and Dad will have to try harder next time.

Post Edit: Riley wore this outfit all day.

"Yo, Adrian...."

"Oh man, I could have been a contender""But he got me.."
"One blow was all it took." "And now look at me..."

"I look like Rocky Balboa, Jr."

"No more pictures please, I have a head ache."

Sloppy Joe's

Just how messy can Sloppy Joe's get?Not too bad, after all he is only 18 months old.Face is fairly presentable, surprisingly enough.

And then you see the top of his head. Which he used to wipe his plate clean. Isn't he helpful?

So I guess the answer would be REALLY Sloppy.

Riley fared so much better than her brother.

Answers and More Questions

On Monday, we took Riley to the hospital for her Auditory Brainstem Response Test. We were to find out if she had any hearing loss and to what extent she had. She got tubes in her ears in March after having chronic, monthly ear infections since October of last year. We hoped that after getting the tubes her speech would miraculously improve. This was not the case. Yes, she had great improvements but not to the extent that we had hoped for. At a recent followup with the ENT after several failed hearing tests in the sound booth, he decided to conduct the aforementioned test to find out what was happening.

Riley enjoying computer games at the library this summer.

The test only took an hour or so and we were able to get the results right away. While we expected by that point to hear that she had some hearing loss, we figured there was just some frequencies she could not hear, we were not prepared for what they told us. Riley has Unilatoral Sensorineural Hearing Loss in her left ear. See the technical description below. Basically she can not hear anything in that ear and has not for some time.

Luckily, her right ear functions just fine. She can not tell where sound is coming from but she can hear. The good thing with the right ear functioning is that it is tied to the left brain which has speech and language control.

We do not know when the hearing loss occurred, how it occurred or if it is reversible. Over the next few months we will be meeting with a geneticist and she will have a lot of tests runso in a few months we may have some answers.. They will be monitoring her right ear every couple of months to make sure nothing happens to it. At this time we don’t know if a hearing aid will help her or not. The audiologist at the hospital mentioned a BAHA, bone anchored hearing aid that screws into the head, but the don’t do those until a child is older.

This diagnoses answers some major questions. We know now why she is not progressing as she should. It also explains her behavior issues. She does not like noisy settings as she can not localize where the sound is coming from. She also gets frustrated when we can not understand what she is trying to tell us. For now, we make sure she is paying attention to us when we are speaking to her, speak to her in her right ear and help her cope with chaotic, loud situations as best as we can.

We now know what path we are on but have a long way to go until we reach the end of the road. Once we know more we will keep you posted.

Sensorineural Hearing Loss
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sensorineural hearing loss is a type of hearing loss in which the root cause lies in the vestibulocochlear nerve (Cranial nerve VIII), the inner ear, or central processing centers of the brain. Sensorineural hearing loss can be mild, moderate, or severe, including total deafness. Riley’s is considered severe/profound.

The great majority of human sensorineural hearing loss is caused by abnormalities in the hair cells of the organ of Corti in the cochlea. There are also very unusual sensorineural hearing impairments that involve the VIIIth cranial nerve (the Vestibulocochlear nerve) or the auditory portions of the brain. In the rarest of these sorts of hearing loss, only the auditory centers of the brain are affected. In this situation, central hearing loss, sounds may be heard at normal thresholds, but the quality of the sound perceived is so poor that speech can not be understood.

Most sensory hearing loss is due to poor hair cell function. The hair cells may be abnormal at birth, or damaged during the lifetime of an individual. There are both external causes of damage, like noise trauma and infection, and intrinsic abnormalities, like deafness genes.

Sensory hearing loss (also called sensorineural hearing loss) may also result from abnormalities of the VIII cranial nerve.

Sensory hearing loss that results from abnormalities of the central auditory system in the brain is called Central Hearing Impairment. Since the auditory pathways cross back and forth on both sides of the brain, deafness from a central cause is unusual.

This type of hearing loss can also be caused by prolonged exposure to very loud noise. For example, wearing headphones on full blast for a few hours.

First Day of School Pics

A little belated but here they are. Taken with my phone's camera.

Her nice smile.Notice the paper in Riley's pocket. It is a picture she drew and she had to take it with her.Caleb thinks he is cool because he can climb up on the couch.

Epidemic

There is an epidemic in Miss Jana’s preschool class at San Tan Elementary School. No it is not the H1N1 Swine Flu. Fortunately. It is something else. We learned of it last week.

I walked Riley to her class after an early morning Doctor’s apt. last Friday. She was so excited to be at school. It is her most favorite thing. The greatest thing at school is …Jackson. Don’t know his last name, just that Riley loves him.

She talked about him all last year.

She talked about him all summer.

She has talked about him since school started.

She loves him.

In fact, the first week back to school she threw the biggest conniption on Tuesday since there was no school Wednesday. It took a good ten minutes for her to settle down. She thought there was going to be another long summer vacation and she wouldn’t get to see Jackson.

Anyway, when we got to her classroom, the aide, Miss Katrina, asked if Riley talks about Jackson. I replied that she did all the time. She and her teacher commented on her affection for him…and that she has been kissing him. I knew this because she had told me that she had kissed him at school. That kissing, evidently, has then splintered off among the other students, becoming an epidemic. Which has resulted in a kissing quarantine. They are all banned from kissing at preschool. Poor kids.

Riley and Jackson last May at the Water Day.

I don't know how he feels about her.

No, make that poor us…Riley at 16 is going to be loads of fun.

Bruisers

Riley had a run in a little while back and this was the result:

What caused this little shiner you ask?

Her brother???

Nope.

His injury was caused by him doing a header down the stairs at the old house last year. He decided to follow his sister. He was a lot faster than I realized. After spending hours at the ER they determined this was his only injury, a carpet burn on his cheek.

It was gone in less than a week.

Riley's bruise was the result of a head butt.

from Bubba, the 15 lb attack Shih Tzu.

Bubba never said if he was injured, he did not act like it.

Bad Blogging

I have not posted in a LONG TIME. I have been very BUSY and this has made me very TIRED. As a result I have spent my down time doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING except hang with the kiddos. Sad to say that it shows (don't come to visit without calling first so I have time to straighten the living room.) Swim lessons all morning, then off to work after dropping the kids of at the sitter two days a week) and then back home for dinner and more swim lessons. Thank heavens for crock pots and husbands who can cook. Andy's days off are Thursday and Friday so I did not have to fix dinner, take care of the kids and get ready for work too. I have a little bit more breathing room those days. Andy tries to reclaim the house those days and then it is the weekend for me and my turn to reclaim what I can. The kids are beginning to return to school and my schedule may change some as I would like to keep teaching swim lessons for as long as possible. It had been much slower than I expected to fill the classes. Oh well, most everyone is suffering with the economy and we are no exception.

I do have some fun pictures to share when I finally get around to downloading them. Maybe I can get Andy to do that for me tomorrow... Then I can catch up on my posts. However there are some funny things I can share in the meantime.

RILEY has learned that if you are going to get sick it is handy to have a bowl nearby. One evening during dinner Caleb started coughing. Riley thought that he was going to be sick so she got up, ran to the cupboard and came back with a Tupperware bowl...just in case he needed it. She is so thoughtful.

Caleb's favorite activity is...unloading the dishwasher. Crazy kid, I know. He gets so excited when he helps, grabbing one item at a time and handing it up to you with a "HAH," like it is the greatest thing ever. He then claps for himself because he has accomplished something major. It is extremely helpful for Andy when he unloads, not so much for me when I reload as he does not discriminate between clean and dirty.

Caleb is also talking up a storm. After signing for milk when we get him out of the crib each morning, he wakes up thirsty, he says "I want show." This kid likes his early morning cartoons, just like his dad did when he was younger. I know he doesn't get this from me as I grew up without TV.

Speaking of TV, Riley has mastered most of the electronics in the house. No make that the electronics in the family room, i.e. the TV and the computer. She can now choose whatever channel she wants, no longer needing us to get it on Noggin, Sprout or PBS. I think she could compete with the boys on flipping channels between shows. It drives me nuts and we have cut back on TV time considerably. She has also mastered the computer. She can get on the Internet, find her web pages, play games and color pictures and then go to the family blog and check out her friends and cousins from those links. Crazy skills that four year old has. It makes for summer fun!!!

Transitions

It is the end of school, start of summer. Riley finished the school year and her preschool class put on a small performance for the parents. Afterwards there were refreshments and visiting with friends one last time before school let out. They wore shirts they tie-died themselves.

Riley and her teacher, Ms. Jana.

With Ms. Kelli, her speech therapist.

I thought I would share one of the two songs they performed. This is strictly for the grandparents. Others may watch if they wish. It is the Bear Hunt. Sorry it is in two parts.




Notice her "Thank you very much" bow at the end.

Afterwards, most of the kids, scratch that. All of the kids then went home from school with their parents...except Riley.

She refused to come home with us and demanded to go on the bus. So she did. And was the only kid on the bus. We were amused and hopefully the bus driver and aide were too. They could have had a REALLY long lunch if they did not have to take five minutes and drive her home.

What a kid.

Caleb also had a major transition.

His hair has gotten rather long. The back has not be cut, ever. It looked cute and more importantly in my mind he was still a baby with all that hair. I know the time for his first real haircut was coming but I was not ready to take that step and change my baby into a boy. There is nothing wrong with boys, or girls for that matter. I just like my babies staying that way for as long a possible. It may be because it takes so long to get them I don't want to rush on to the next phase like toddler hood. (Which for all actuality we have been in for several months now.) Hence, my reluctance to cut his hair, even with Andy prodding me to get it done.Unfortunately, he has a tendency, a habit rather, of twirling his hair on the back of his head and sucking his thumb. He does this to sooth himself when he is tired and after eating, every meal. So bath time is an important daily event to clean the goo out of the hair. Except now the hair is a bit longer and gets tangled easier. I woke up yesterday and while trying to brush Caleb's hair out a realized he was starting to sport a dread lock. Just one. Now I think the hair twirling is cute but the mono-dread is not. So I got his cereal to distract him and the squirt bottle, brush and scissors and went to work.

First, I cut off the offending dread lock. All one inch of it. Then I starting hacking away bit by bit until I ended up with .... a boy.

Happy Mother's Day

Our family has a traditional Mother's Day poem, a favorite of my father's, he may have composed it. I thought I would share it.

MOTHER

M is for the many things she gave me.

O is for the other things she gave me.

T is for the tiny things she gave me.

H is for the humongous things she gave me.

E is for the extra things she gave me.

R is for the rest of the things she gave me.
Put it all together you get MOTHER

and all the things she gave me!

The nice thing about this poem is that it is easily adaptable for Father's Day.

Both Andy and I were blessed with great mothers. It is very safe to say we would not be who or where we are today without them. Not only have they given us so much, they have taught us, comforted us, helped us, taken care of use when we were sick, encouraged us, motivated us, threatened us and helped us become the people we are today. Best of all they are the greatest grandmothers and they love our kids. That feeling is reciprocated as you can see and we love them for it. Thanks MOM and MOM. We only wish they were closer so that we could enjoy their company more often.

Happy Mother's Day

I hope you have a great one!!!

My Mother's Day was nice and low key as Andy had to work. Good food and fun times with the kids. We got naps. Hurray!!! I got cute cards and coupons from Riley and Caleb snuggled me after his bath... until he peed on me. That is what I get for snuggling a naked baby. Oh well. Motherhood, you got to love it.

Water Day

Riley's preschool class is going to be having their water day in a couple of weeks. Caleb must have intuitively known and did not want to miss out. I found him the other day, having his own water day...

In the dogs' water dish. It serves as a seat and creates puddles on the floor for splashing.

What a great invention.Life is good.

Relishing Riley

Here she is...Riley.

With her boyfriend Spencer checking out the Christmas lights at the Mesa Temple.Self portrait.
Pony races.
Snacking Christmas morning.

Typical Riley.

Mugging for the camera with her bro.Her bus boyfriend at San Marcos. They had to sit by each other.
Falling asleep on the bathroom floor instead of going potty.

Enjoying fake snow in Chandler.

Giddy-up.

Tired eyes.

Rock star.

Blue eyes, pointy tongue.

With Miss Betty on the bus. This was her last day of school at San Marcos.

Surveying her kingdom, the pool

She is loads of fun, has the most tender heart, is a great helper and we love her!

Capturing Caleb

It has been a crazy month and I don't feel like blogging now. However, my sweet hubby fixed things so I was able to download 200+ pictures taken since November 2008. So here are some of the pics of Caleb we have captured...

Checking out the fish at the Fillmore Fish Hatchery in CA.

Dinner Sequence Shot #1 Dinner Sequence Shot #2 Dinner Sequence Shot #3
Dinner Sequence Shot #4

Mr. Cool

Thanksgiving...enjoying the drumstick. Good Hair. Enjoying Riley's apple. Inappropriate chew toy

More of the good hair. I love it. Chillin' in car.

DINNER!!!!

Riding in the moving box train with Dad and Riley.

Tomorrow,

Reflections on Riley.