I can hear the bells...

You know you remember it...that sound that you would wait for every day when you were a kid. The one where your ears perked up as soon as you heard that very first note. It started to play every weekend and on the nice evenings in the middle of April and then on June 1st it was ringing through the neighborhood every day! My parents waited for it, I waited for it, you probably did too. And now my daughter waits for it. The sound that is music to every child's ears... the ice cream truck! It is amazing how quickly something like that gets engrained in kids' heads. We have only been in Rockaway for 3 days and she listens for it like a pro! LOL
And the ice cream truck that has the Rockaway route is the best! He knows the kids, he talks to them and by the end of the summer, he knows what they want before they ask for it!! That is one of the things that makes Rockaway.... well, Rockaway. That and the beach, the breeze from the water, the smell of the ocean, the walks in the evening just as the sun is going down so it isn't too hot, the people saying hello whenever they see you whether they know you or not. Katie was out running in the sprinkler on the front lawn while Mike was napping the other day. It was great. There were people out sitting on their front stoop, on their porches, walking to the beach. Mike came out when he woke up and played too. There were people sitting outside and walking here and there & they all came over and stopped and said hi. None of that, people coming home, giving you a 1/2 a wave and closing their garage doors.
I am looking forward to seeing my friends so much!! :) We have a beach playdate this Thursday with a friend of mine and her son. J & J are coming down in the morning so we can spend some time on the sand and in the water. Friday my BFF, C (Mrs. B.H. I like to jokingly refer to her as now that she is a newlywed!!) will be here!! :) I can't wait to see her! I haven't seen her since her wedding day!! :) I am hoping to see my other BFF J and my FABF R soon too!! :) I would love to get time in to see all of my friends while I am up here!! I miss them all so much!!
I love being home. I love seeing all my family and friends!! :) Being home is like getting a big hug after a really long, tough day. And I have been needing one of those hugs in the worst way!!
So, I wish for all of you to get that hug that you need... I am off to get some straightening up done before my mom gets back to a 'grandchildren-destroyed house'!!

With love from,
Chrissie in Happy Valley

Mikey-Mike...

So, it's about time I started posting about this. After all, this is a spot for me to get it all out, right?!

Well, here goes nothing... Mike's speech therapist went on vacation the end of May. Since she was going to be gone for 6 weeks and the kids and I were going to be gone for 4 (2 of the weeks were overlapping so it would have been 8 weeks w/o therapy) I asked that another speech therapist be able to consult w/ me to give me strategies and exercises for our month w/o therapy. And am I ever so glad I did!! 45 minutes into our first session with A she says to me, 'Did E ever recommend that you take Mike to a child neurologist so that he can be tested for speech apraxia?' I talked to her but after about 10 minutes she had to go to her next appt.

I was so pissed... how come the speech therapist that has been working with him for over a f*cking year didn't pick this up?? I went right to the computer and this is the first page that I pulled up: http://www.asha.org/public/speech/disorders/ChildhoodApraxia.htm. The whole page was like reading about Mike! Here is what they said:

"What is childhood apraxia of speech?
Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) is a motor speech disorder. Children with CAS have problems saying sounds, syllables, and words. This is not because of muscle weakness or paralysis. The brain has problems planning to move the body parts (e.g., lips, jaw, tongue) needed for speech. The child knows what he or she wants to say, but his/her brain has difficulty coordinating the muscle movements necessary to say those words."

My poor little guy gets so frustrated trying to get things out! He gets one sound out and nothing else! He looks like he just wants to say things and has so much to say and when he tries it doesn't come out. And then I read the symptoms and that was it for me...

"What are some signs or symptoms of childhood apraxia of speech?
Not all children with CAS are the same. All of the signs and symptoms listed below may not be present in every child. It is important to have your child evaluated by a speech-language pathologist (SLP) who has knowledge of CAS to rule out other causes of speech problems. General things to look for include the following:
A Very Young Child
Does not coo or babble as an infant
First words are late, and they may be missing sounds
Only a few different consonant and vowel sounds
Problems combining sounds; may show long pauses between sounds
Simplifies words by replacing difficult sounds with easier ones or by deleting difficult sounds (although all children do this, the child with apraxia of speech does so more often)
May have problems eating "

Well, if that isn't Mike!! I was raging pissed and on the phone to E's boss in less than 2 minutes! How could she not have even brought this up, even if it was to rule it out!! What the hell kind of speech therapist can she be if EVERY symptom (including the eating one) fits Mike and she didn't say a f*cking word??!! She either sucks at her job or she is just an ass because anyone can see that this kid should be evaluated for this issue!

So, now I have one neuro appt. July 30 at 10 AM and the other Dr's office has no computer system for today so they will call me tomorrow to set up an appt. And needless to say, since this is the SECOND f*ck up with the early intervention in Lee County I have been in touch with them every other day and they have agreed to take E off Mike's case and we will now be seeing A as his speech therapist. It is a relief to me because I don't think I could even stomach seeing E anytime soon. Because of her, if this is what is going on w/ Mike he will have missed out on an absolutely necessary 3-4 more hours of speech therapy a week for the past 6 months!

Anyway, thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated! I will update more on this when I get the next appt and when we get back to Florida and I know more... Thanks!

With love from,
Chrissie in Happy Valley

Well, it's been a while...

...but I am still here. I am feeling better. I would have been getting ready to go for my 20 week ultrasound next week but instead I am filling my days with being grateful for my 2 kiddies that are here with me and doing all that I can do with them. It is hard to try not to think about where I would be in my pregnancy and the fact that I would have been feeling those flutters and in maternity clothes by now but God had other plans for me and my family and I am hoping that in time I can really be ok with that.
The kids and I are heading back to NY for a few weeks on Friday. This trip has been planned for a while but I have to admit, if I could shorten it, I would. The 3 of us will be up there for 3 weeks and then Matt will come up and meet us and stay for a week then all 4 of us will fly back to Florida. It is going to be a crazy 3 weeks. I will be happy to see my family and friends and to spend time with them but I am anxious about the kids and I being gone for so long. Katie will be going back to school shortly after we get back to Florida and I don't want her to go through all of the emotions of missing her family and friends in NYC all over again like she did when we moved down here. There are a lot of things I want to do up there and that I have planned. My little brother is graduating 8th grade so his party is this weekend, my dad is retiring on the 27th and we are celebrating with him (Yes, we will be on TV when he rings the closing bell!! :) Check us out on CNBC at 3:55 PM EST on 6/27!!), my Grandmother is celebrating her birthday on 7/5... and I really just miss my friends so I am thrilled that I will be able to see them and spend some time with them! But on the other hand, I am trying to accept that this is where I live. This is my life now. My life is in Florida and my family and friends are in NYC. It is hard for me to go back home and see them, just as they were when I left (well, not just as they were but close!! LOL) and spend time with them and know that I have to come back to Florida and not see them again for months. All of these changes that I have gone through and am continuing to go through. I just keep praying and trying to accept things as they are. Then Matt throws another curveball... just when I am accepting that I am here in Cape Coral, he tells me that he is putting in for a promotion. A program that would move us from here to another area of Florida for a year and then possibly move us again. Well, I guess we will cross that bridge if we need to, right??!! LOL
Anyway, we are leaving this Friday for the month and I haven't done any packing yet so I should probably start doing that... but first, to do some laundry and get these kiddies to bed!! LOL
Hope you are all doing well... Be strong, live well, love much and laugh often...

With love from,
Chrissie in Happy Valley ;)