We end January with Aunt Joy

It's kind of nice to live so near an airport, especially since the fares are so cheap from here to Florida and back. Joy spent the night with us lastnight and we took her to the airport today. It was a nice way to end our first month of the new year.

Maria to the doctors

Maria has been upset about her ears, but we assumed it was due to her hearing devices. She did not seem any more upset than before, but she continued to pull at her ears. The doctors in our area are being extremely picky about who they see in the office. Due to so many flu like symptoms and other common colds they insist a fever must be present in order to be seen. Since Maria cannot explain what is bothering her and her ears have been smelling bad they decided to let me take her in.

She ended up having a middle ear infection (swimmer's ear). The poor girl most likely had that infection since last Friday. I noticed the smell at the audiologist's office and they had me clean her ear molds. We just figured it was ear wax on her ear molds. Most likely what happened was that water was trapped inside her ear when we put her ear molds on after a bath. A middle ear infection never even crossed our minds. Now she no longer uses the ear molds which means that her devices are constantly falling off her head.

We're thankful for a wonderful "speech person" who suggested that I take her to the doctor's right away. Wow, speech pathologists are great!

Visit with grandma & grandpa at Cortland hospital

Today we were planning to visit my grandma in the rehab unit at Cortland hosptial and we were told that my grandpa was in the hospital as well. He had trouble breathing, so they admitted him. We took the short trip and visited with them both.

Grandma's unit has birds and cat. The girls also enjoyed a big ball, puzzles, and toys. Maria especially enjoyed her great grandma's walker!
Enjoy some pictures below:

1st trip to NYC in 2010

Today our friends made sure that Macella & Kirstie made it to school and we left for NYC at 6:30am. We parked in NJ and took the train into the city and a cab to the Audiologist. Today Maria's devices were turned up and more frequencies were added. It was quite amazing to watch her react to the sound of "sh". It completely scared her. She did not like the "s" sound either. It made us feel horrible that the way you would normally calm a child by saying "SHHH" did not work with Maria, but bothered her even more.

Again we were given four different programs to take Maria through with an increase of approximately one program per week. This time Maria appears to be displaying even more upsetting behaviors with her anxiety.

A few pictures below:

Changes in the New Year

We start January with continued changes in our lives. The girls did special music in church on Sunday morning Jan. 3. It's nice to see them get involved and serving the Lord.

Then Maria started going to Sharri's house during the day. Sharri has a real heart for Maria and is willing to have numerous therapists in her home. She is truly a Godsend.

Then my mom spent the weekend of Jan. 9th with us and we took her to the airport on the 10th to fly to Florida to be with Dale. I know she is very excited to get to be with him.

Gary went to an informational meeting about the high school this morning and tonight I went to a ladies dinner at church. It is unbelievable to think that Macella will be going to 9th grade in the fall.

The year is only a couple of weeks in and we're already witnessing so many changes. What will the rest of the year hold?

Our last hurrah before going to work and school again

Today we went to the Carousel Mall in Syracuse to enjoy the last of our Christmas vacation. We enjoyed visiting all the toy stores. Maria played in a little jungle gym. We all had a good time riding on the Carousel too.
Enjoy some pictures below:

The 1st day of 2010!

We had a nice time with our friends Aaron & Bev and their daughter Cari. We celebrated our Christmas together today. We enjoyed some time playing games while the girls played outside. They are always so good at getting us family games, so we can play with them and then use them for our family game nights. It was a nice way to bring in the New Year.
January 1, 2010 pictures below: