Grace...

Grace is our 6th child, and our second daughter. She was born in Inuvik, NWT, Canada, very healthy and very loved! When she was 5 1/2 months old  (Dec. 2005) she was medi-vacked to the Stollery Childrens Hospital in Edmonton, she was having siezures and it was discovered that she had bacterial meningitis. Thus begun 3months in the hospital, she was in the picu for almost 2 weeks before she came out of a coma and was breathing on her own.
Fast forward to now, she is now 5 years old and fairly healthy. She did lose her hearing due to the meningitis, and she is behind in her language/speech skills. At 8 months she received bilateral Cochlear Implants which gives her the gift of hearing when she's wearing them, it's pretty amazing! We do sign, but as you can imagine having a language/speech issue can cause some major frustration when trying to communicate (on both parts).  Her receptive skills (what she understands) is pretty much at her age, but her expressive language (what she knows to speak) is what is behind. She just in this past year caught up in her receptive, and she's getting their with her expressive.  Her EXTREME attitudes and tempertantrums have gotten better, with much prayer, love and discipline. It has been a long, hard journey in this area of discipline. But God is good and He will get us through this time.

She is realitively healthy as I've said, I will attribute this to the Lord, nutrition, and probiotics (they are amazing!). I know that many of you have heard me talk about her "episodes" on facebook and have wondered exactly what I'm referring to. Grace has something called "Cyclic Vomitting Syndrome." It is also referred to as abdominal cramps, either way it's rough to have. Basically she has something like migraines that cause her to vomit throughout the day/night whenever it strikes. For Grace it seems to start in the morning and last throughout the day, usually ending after dinner sometime. It usually occurs once a week, sometimes once every two weeks, it just depends. It's not life threatening (unless you get severely dehydrated), it's just life altering. I absolutely cannot do much of anything when she has these episodes, she wants me right next to her. This is hard on me, but most importantly it's hard on the other children. They are handling it well, I think we have all learned how to "work with it." It has forced me to be very organized with our homeschool and to be better organized with my home (notice I didn't say "very");-D

Grace can be a very difficult child, she's never in the middle, she's either hot or cold. But I could not imagine life w/out her! She brings such joy and love to our home, even when she's having her extreme difficult times (at least once a day) I still couldn't imagine our family without her. 

1 Samuel 1:27-28a  For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of him: Therefore also I have lent him to the LORD; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the LORD.

Blessings,
Christine
Phil. 4:13

Babies...

It's been a long time since I've missed being pregnant, but today my sister in-law came over with her first set of maternity clothes on, she looked cute, made me miss being pregnant. I don't miss labor and delivery, but I loved being pregnant, almost every part of it! Some would say six is enough, with one that has already flown the coup, and one on his way out, we are down to 4, almost sounds like a lonely number.;-)  The house is a little quieter (I stress - little-), not as many people waiting to use the bathroom - nice thing about having more boys than girls, if you have plenty of trees in back the bathroom issue may not be all that bad!;-} lol 

The boys are on a "boys only" end of the homeschool year hike today. They left early and won't be back 'till late. The younger boys were so excited they could hardly sleep (but of course, being boys they did). Of course I had to promise the girls a "girls only" homeschool camp out, yes camp out - just a hike is for wimpy boys! :-D Good thing I like to camp, I'm not sure about the other homeschool moms...I guess we could borrow a camper from my in-laws and they can stay in there, I'll sleep in the tent w/the girls. ;^} jk 

While I'm on the subject of my girls, I would like to mention Graces language skills are really developing. She is starting to say a lot more sentences, of course they are the "bossy, I'm the queen" type of sentences, but hey, they're sentences!  COCHLEAR IMPLANTS RULE!!!

Christine
~Phil. 4:13~

Using her words...

Mommy, I did a good job... I want cereal... (Laura,Luke,Jacob,etc...)please move... Good morning beautiful... these may be ordinary phrases to many of you, but they are extra-ordinary phrases to this mommy!

You see, my daughter Grace is deaf, she lost her hearing when she was 5 months old due to bacterial meningits. When she was 8 1/2 months old she received Cochlear Implants. She is now 4 1/2 yrs. old and chattering up a storm. Language doesn't come easy for her, she has to work real hard to say her words correctly, there are many sounds she working on, a lot of them sound a like, an example if you tell her to fix her hair, she may try to fix her "ear" (what she calls her implants) or she may just touch her ears.

These last couple of weeks she has really turned a corner on her speach, she is articulating the sounds to the words she's saying much better and she's using words and phrases in the proper context. Modern Technology is so amazing to me. It's amazing how God would give us the knowledge to create such things. The fact that my totally deaf little girl can hear is a wonderful thing.

The first time she said "I love you" to me without any promps was one of the most incredible days of my (and my husbands) life. We were told she wouldn't live, and here she is telling me she loves me, God is so good! Now she says "Good morning beautiful" to me, she signs and says "I love you" all the time to me and everyone else!

I'm so blessed! I am not only her mommy, but I'm her teacher and her language therapist. That can be scary and nerve racking at times, but I know who's in control and who gives me the strength to make it through each day!

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Phil. 4:13