Father and Son

In true G-family style, Eric and William showed up at church in matching outfits yesterday- on accident.

William's Class Party

One of William's classmates invited the whole class over to his house for a party to celebrate the year. They had all sorts of fun activities set up in the backyard, but the best was a giant inflatable water slide. Wow! What a blast! This was a great group of kids (and parents), and we're really going to miss them.

The Other Side of Disability

My personal experience with disability is at the front end. Almost all the special needs people I know personally are kids. It's their parents who are making decisions for them, and most of them have some sense of progress or hope for progress in the future.

There is another side to disability. My dear daddy has Parkinson's. For him, things are progressing in the opposite direction. It seems like all seniors, whether healthy or dealing with serious illness, face significant struggles or fears of struggles and disability as they age. For me, that's the distant future. But I want to learn from those who go before me so that I will have truth and example stored up in my heart when the time comes.

I follow a couple blogs, including Carolyn McCulley's Radical Womanhood blog. She just had a guest post from a lady who works in an Alzheimer's care unit. I thought it was worth passing on.

Lily's Last School Day

Graduation

Today was William's preschool graduation. It was a bit anticlimatic since we'll be going back there part time next year. That's nice in a way, because it made the day just fun and not sad for me. And it was still significant since this is really his class, with some dear friends.

The class sang a number of songs with motions. William tried his best. He didn't sing, but he did a lot of the motions. Sometimes he would get behind or space out, but then he would notice what his friends were doing and get on track again. This is a huge improvement from last year, when he needed a fidget toy and an adult sitting behind him to keep him quiet and in place.

William cried off and on, I think from nerves, but then he would wipe his eyes, regain his composure, and try again. I was so proud of him!

Getting his diploma
When Miss Bonnie said, "Congratulations, William," William replied, "Thank you!" loud and clear.

Enjoying cake at the reception

With our beloved Miss Bonnie
I'm so grateful we're going to benefit from her expertise one more year.

Little Picnic

William's First Sentence Strip

For over a month now William's teacher, tutor, and speech therapist have all been trying to get him to request things using the phrase, "I want..." They were having no success.

So last weekend I decided to go hard core and not let William have anything without requesting it with the sentence. We had two hours of frustration on Saturday morning and still no breakfast when I got a brain storm, grabbed an envelope off the counter, and drew William's first sentence strip. It was an instant success. He pointed to each word and said them clearly and emphatically, "I want juice!" We all cheered.

The rest of the weekend he kept trying out different endings, "I want cheerios," "I want milk," "I want cake." You could see his brain processing the possibilities.

It's been a fascinating picture of William's language disorder. After a full week of constant practice, he still cannot say the sentence without the paper. What is it about those two syllables that's so hard?

Up until now all William's phrases were rote ones he learned as single units: "Let's go," "Come on, guys," "What's going on?" "You ok?" His brain was not processing them as subject and verb that could be changed up or switched around.

But requiring him to put a changing object at the end of "I want..." forced his brain to think of the words separately as subject, verb, object. And for some reason his brain can't hold onto those separate units and string them together. But if he has a visual reminder that allows him to process one word at a time, he can do it.

The most amazing part is that William seems to know this. Later in the week when Eric tried to get him to say, "I want..." on his own, William went over, found the paper, pointed, and said it.

This is a significant milestone for William's language development. William's teacher wisely suggested that we wait awhile before introducing any other sentence strips. But we have opened the door to that whole world, which is very exciting.

Lily's First Braids

IEP Report

William's IEP meeting went ok today. It could have been better; it could have been worse. I was very aware of my lack of preparation compared to last year. We still got all the services- special ed, tutoring, speech, OT. No one gave me a hard time about our general plan. But I didn't get all the goals I wanted.

It may work out fine in the end. Since we're working with private providers through the scholarship, they may be willing to take my suggestions even though they are not written on the IEP. We just don't have any guarantee of that. I'm trusting in God's sovereignty.

The meeting was a lot less stressful than last year's- everyone was congenial. Still, it's amazing how much it takes out of me. I came home feeling unnerved and emotionally spent. I'm glad I don't have to do another one for a whole year.

Lily used to always ask me if I missed her while I'm gone. It's often a bit of a tricky question for me since, as much as I love my kids, I often enjoy little breaks when they come. Lately, however, she's started asking me if I had a good time while I'm gone. That is usually an easier question to answer.

This afternoon Lily asked, "How did your meeting go, Mommy?" I wasn't sure what to say. "It went ok," I replied. And then I realized something positive I could add, "I missed you."

Walking Bingley

Now that it's finally getting warm, the kids and I have started walking Bingley again. William does a great job gently pushing the stroller. Sometimes if he goes over a bump, he'll stop and pat Abigail's head and ask, "You ok?" And Lily's getting good at holding the leash, so I actually have my hands free. Wow!

The Plan for Kindergarten

The IEP meeting is this Friday, and I just realized I haven't yet posted our decision for William's kindergarten next year.

We are going to do the combination of services that our tutor suggested: three mornings with her working on academics, two afternoons at the preschool (none of the kindergartens worked out so the preschool said we could come back one more year) for socialization, speech, and OT.

The new Scholarship Provider speech therapist is a good 45 minutes away. But she has some PROMPT training, and also runs a social language group that will benefit William, especially in the years ahead.

I am looking forward to being home more next year, doing some of our own schooling and hopefully spending more time serving others.

Thanks so much for your prayers!

Cariboo

God gave us a couple great deals at the resale shop yesterday. The kids' favorite was a game by Cranium called Cariboo (for $1!).

You match colors, numbers, shapes, and the letters A, B, and C on your card to trap doors. Then, you take the key and unlock the door. Some of the doors have bouncy balls beneath them. If you find a bouncy ball, you get to put it in the tidal wave tunnel. When the last ball gets put in the tidal wave tunnel, the treasure chest "magically" opens to reveal a sparkling jewel.

Wow! Whoever made this game sure understands preschoolers! It's a rainy day treasure for this mommy.

Happy Birthday, Ma!

Today is Eric’s mom’s birthday, lovingly referred to as Ma or Grandma B in this house.

Grandma B is a home maker extraordinaire. She can cook, bake, sew, crochet, quilt, remodel, paint, wallpaper, decorate, and garden with excellence and an eye for detail. She and Grandpa B came out for two weeks to help us paint and fix up our house before we moved in. And they have continued to joyfully serve us on a regular basis now that they live close. The kids have enjoyed having regular time with Grandma and Grandpa this year, and it is a huge blessing to have such eager babysitters nearby.

But most of all, we are grateful for Ma’s example of faith in God and love for His Word. She was the first one saved in their family, and I’m sure her prayers had a lot to do with Eric, his siblings, and his dad eventually all being born again. She has dived into church life here, not at all bothered by the fact that she and Sonny were older than everyone else. And now I know they are going to be a big blessing as our church welcomes a number of seniors as part of this transition.

Last Saturday another heart incident landed Ma in the hospital. We were all relieved that she was released after just one night. But it wasn’t soon enough for Ma. She told the nurse to try to hurry so she could get to the Sunday morning church service. “There’s new people there, and I want to be able to greet them,” she explained. Talk about not retiring from Kingdom work!

Ma, we love you and thank God for you today. Happy Birthday!

"Mommy, can you move my baby sister's chair over by me?"

"I think she wants to talk to me, and that way I can keep an eye on her."

Bubbie's Bar-B-Q

Hop on Pop

Praying For William

A couple weeks ago, my sister in law Jenn challenged me to pray for William's healing. Other people have mentioned that to me before, but I've always dismissed it. This time, though, Jenn was graciously persistent. It made me stop and really think through my reasons for not praying.

I pray for William all the time of course. I pray for him to make improvements. I pray for him to understand the gospel and come to faith. I pray for wisdom for us as we parent him and make educational decisions. But up until now, I haven't prayed for his complete healing.

As I've thought and prayed about it, I think there are a number of reasons:
-No biblical examples of people praying for or being healed of cognitive disabilities
-No present day examples I'm aware of of someone being healed of a cognitive disability
-Fear that I would be praying for something that's not God's will, that I would be asking for what is not best
-My tendency to associate people who pray for healing for developmental disabilities with people who haven't accepted them and are still fighting God in their heart
-Fear that in asking for healing, I'll start imagining what it would be like if he was healed and bring up my own desires and then be freshly saddened by our situation if God says no.

But as I've prayed about it and studied passages like James 5, I've come to the conclusion that God wants us to ask. If it's not His will, He'll say no. He knows my heart to desire His will and He won't give me second best. It's good for me to regularly say, "If You are willing, You can heal him," and to actively leave it in His hands.

And so this past Sunday when they had a time for prayer for healing at church, I raised William's hand. As people prayed, I was struck with how it is good to ask others to pray too. It strengthens our faith and reminds us of God's sovereign rule over all things. It is an act of worship.

Shutters

A couple weeks ago, Grandpa B and Eric put shutters on our house. Nothing dramatic unless you've seen what it looked like without them. The shutters were Eric's Christmas present to me, so when they got them up, I said, "Merry Christmas to me!" The kids got a kick out of that and repeated, "Merry Christmas!" at random times for the next few days.

And yes, I have a lot of weeding to do in my flower garden.

Stats

Here are the stats from Abigail's doctor appointment today:

11lbs 9 oz, putting her up to 75th %ile in weight
22.5" putting her up to 50th %ile in height

The doctor said the red marks on the back of her head are "stork bites" (birth marks) that will probably stay there. I'm not too concerned since they shouldn't be noticeable when her hair grows in.

Abigail took her shots like a pro- calmed down as soon as they handed her to me, and so far hasn't slept more than normal.

Daring

...and success!

Trend Setter

Lily's gotten so much attention for her pigtails, her friend Dana decided to try them.

"Happy Birthday!"

Of course she meant Happy Mother's Day, but the wrong word came out. So like me!

Two Months Old

At two months old, Abigail is a generally contented, snuggley, smiley, sleepy little girl. She is the most expressive of our babies to date. She loves motion, tolerates music, and hates water. She coos and wiggles a lot now (when she's awake which is still pretty rare). She prefers being on her stomach, and seems to enjoy studying her bouncy seat toys and mobile. She seems to tolerate all the love she gets from her brother, sister, and dog extremely well. I'm looking forward to her two month doctor's appointment on Monday to find out how much she weighs.

Story Time

Another Educational Experience Foiled

I bought this bird house at Lily's request. It's made with a plastic back so that when you attach it to a window, you can see inside. We put it on the garage window, and were excited to watch a pair of chickadees (That's what that bird is, right?) build a nest inside. But they made the nest so tall and deep that you can not see to the bottom. So we don't know if there are any eggs in there, and we won't be able to see them hatch if there are. Bummer! I'm wondering if we can take the top off and make it into more of a lid so we can look in from the top next year. Any suggestions?

Column

In an effort to make more of my communication about God, I am going to start a side column on this blog where I tell about what I'm learning in my Bible reading. I don't do anything fancy for my devotions, just read straight through the Bible. But I'm always amazed at how different things stand out each time through. So that's what I'm going to tell you all about. Nothing long or drawn out, just the main points that struck me this time around. I'm currently in Job, but I read slowly enough, I figure it's worth taking the time to catch you all up from Genesis.

Harold Helicopter's Newest Hanger

Attentive Sister

Thanking God

William's always been interested in prayer. Tonight Eric was late for caregroup, so he prayed quickly at dinner. William wasn't satisfied and took Eric and Lily's hands to pray again, so Eric suggested he offer the prayer. William prayed, "Thank you food, thank you food, thank you food, dkdkdkdka, aahh-men." After a couple repetitions, Lily wanted a turn. "I'll have to tell Brian [our caregroup leader] I was late because we were having a prayer meeting at home," Eric joked.