Happy Halloween!

Seems like a boring title to signify what great fun we have had. I think we can safely say that Halloween is Owen's favorite holiday so far. The idea of wearing a costume on purpose is the perfect reason for a holiday. We picked Jesse and Woody for Olivia and Owen this year. They both loved dressing up in them I had to hide the costumes so they wouldn't get destroyed before trick or treat time.

The wagon was parked and ready to go. The sun finally set so Jesse and Woody were on their way. They did so great this year. And dad of the year Jason wheeled them around the neighborhood collecting candy. When they got home Owen was sooooo proud of his bag full of candy. He didn't want to put it down. I think we will be playing "trick or treat" for the next 365 days until it is time to do this all over again.

Happy Halloween everyone!

All in this together

There are times when we get wrapped up in the daily schedules of get there, do this, remember that, and try to make it through the day kind of days.

It is those kind of days that help make little moments stand out and make us remember how lucky we are, lucky to have each other.

Surgery Day...

On the way in to the hospital. Jason tried to carry her but she wanted her mommy. So that is why you get 2 photos of our sweetie from our walk in. (it is a long walk so we aren't that crazy)

 

If we didn't love our dr. I would say we need to find a new hospital to go to. The organization and issues we have had over the years have driven us a little bonkers on surgery day.
Today's adventure had us sitting in the non-kid friendly registration waiting room for over an hour and a half until we finally asked what was going on. Oops instead of calling Olivia 10 minutes into our wait they accidentally called a different kid and gave them our time slot!! Frustrated is an understatement.

But we finally made it to our room and got her all jammied up. By this time she had gone potty about a dozen times. (and not in her pants, woo hoo) Now the trick will be to teach her she doesn't need to be sitting on the potty to pass gas....

And then we sat in the room for 2 hours waiting for surgery. She was getting a bit impatient by this point. 

And then daddy got all dressed so he could escort her back. Where she fell asleep without a fight and the procedure took just 10 minutes.

She was happy until she woke up from the anesthesia. She cried for 20 minutes straight, poor thing just didn't feel good.

Dr. said her ears looked good right now. No fluid (shouldn't be we just finished a round of antibiotics!). But they could tell she has had lots of ear infections - not sure what that meant...We go back in 3 weeks for a hearing test for her again.

school

Can you tell it is blog catch up day? Sorry, it has been a busy few weeks!

Owen's regular preschool had their conferences a few weeks ago. They told me not to worry about going since I would be meeting with his full team in a few weeks. But I never miss a chance to check in with teachers when they give us the opportunity. So I went. But now thinking back, I probably shouldn't have!
It was a disaster to say the least. Jason was out of town so I attempted it on my own. The session before me just got there when my time slot started so I had to sit an listen to their conference first. The teacher went on and on about how great that student is and how ahead of everyone they were, etc. Then came my turn and she had very little to say. Told me that academically Owen was doing well and proceeded to show me the assessments she has done so far..colors, body parts, shapes. (warning #1 went off in my head) I asked her how he was doing socially and she couldn't really answer my questions (warning #2 went off). I could tell she really hasn't engaged with him. I also noticed Owen's booklet she was going over with me had "threes" on the front cover and there was a whole other table with "fours" booklets (warning #3 went off).
Then as we are talking she just stands up and comes around the table to stand next to me. I guess that was my cue to get out. So I left. Pretty disappointed. But I didn't want to bring it up there. I needed to cool down and process what just went on.

After talking it over with Jason he agreed with my suspicion. Owen was placed in a younger class. The things they are focusing on are things he learned 2 years ago. He aced his assessment because he learned those things the first year he was in the program. It is like he is starting pre-school where he was 2 years ago. Not the expectation I had going into this year. We would want him pushed harder right before kindergarten not a review of what was done before. Ugh.

Needless to say I called his school on Monday morning to have a chat about the situation. His Special Ed teacher is sort of like the team lead for this kind of stuff so she called me back after she learned I left a message with the director :) (turns out the director is her husband) She told me she completely understood why I would think that he was being held back. Thanks. But he wasn't really moved back a level, he just happens to be placed in a class with mostly 3 year olds. We went back and forth quite a bit here as I explained I don't want him learning the things he learned before. She made sure to let me know they will be focusing on the goals we have in place for his IEP. He was placed where he is mostly because of where the other ECSE kids are at. He has to be placed with them first because that group goes into the regular classroom together. And they happen to be younger but they are a good group based on behavior and social needs. But we will go over everything at his IEP meeting to make sure that we all agree that Owen is in the appropriate setting.

Yes. I am glad I went to the conference because I feel like I know more than I have been told in the past. I know to be more aware now of what is going on. I just wish they would have included us in the decisions about placement. I should know more after our big meeting on the 5th.

Just wish everything didn't have to be so challenging!

The pictures are IN!!!

I will have to keep the text of this one short since there were over 800 pictures to sort through, I had to just pick a few :)

The happy couple with their happy pooch!

 

 One big happy family! I see a christmas card in the making!!!

The siblings

The nieces and nephews.

 Had to include this one because of Owen, Look at him grabbing his coat like everyone else.

 The wedding party littles.

Priceless

His newest UNCLE!

And here they go...

Owen fell down in about 3 steps from here. There was in incline and I think the girls were walking a little faster than he could handle.

First dance.

The rocker

I love this one because you can see Matt crying ;)

Big girl!

The 3 day potty training manual was read about a month ago.

We started with Owen. We are still working on Owen.

But Olivia has been telling us she has to go potty. So we got ready last weekend. Spent all day Sunday following the manual's instructions. Let her wear underwear. Let her have accidents and rush her into the bathroom each time. Tell her to stay dry.

During the week she stayed in her diapers since we didn't get to finish the "training" at home. So we started back up again on Friday.  

By Saturday she was telling us she had to go potty. We'd bring her into the bathroom and she would go. Then it became consistent and guess what, she is potty trained! It was that easy. Hurray!

we did bribe her with candy, we did have lots of cheering. Thats my secret.

One down. One to go.

(We still have a few kinks to work out so things aren't perfect but like everything else around here, patience is the key!)

Nios micro

A new brand to get familiar with....Phonak Nios Micro.
That is the type of hearing aid we are getting for Owen. Today was the day we went for the fitting and consultation. It is a relief to know and feel like we are in good hands. I was a little concerned with this process. That there would be lots of research to do and lots of "shopping" around to find the best for Owen. But we have put our faith in the Univ of MN and they have been nothing but perfect in their service.
We have known the audiologists there forever. They work so well with Owen and I am thankful we are sticking with them; even if there is a bit of a hassle to get there. I called to set up our first appointment but they couldn't get us in until late November. It took one email to his audiologist and she "squeezed" us in within a week.

And here they are. They are tiny little things that sit on the back of his ear. We didn't opt for a boring beige color either. We went all out and got the zebra pattern. Why not make it fun, right? I hope I don't regret that decision since we can't get a new set for 3 years!

Another adventure that I was so worried about starting. But what makes it that much easier is to know and feel like we are not alone. Everyone that has been down this path has been willing to give us their best advice. And those that just didn't have experience with it took the time to look into it, to send encouraging words of support and to just let us know "everything will be ok".

And that is what gets us through each day. The love and support of our wonderful family and friends.

We should have the hearing aids made and ready for wear by October 29th. We cross our fingers that he tolerates them but they did warn us that he may go through a period of adjustment and will fight them a little bit. I guess we can handle a little fighting. We do that now anyway ;)

And what better to add with a post about hearing, is to now have music playing while you read our updates. Hope you like the song selections!