Hello to June. Hello to Monday. Hello to more tr-tr-tran-traaaansition.

That last word (transition, in case you couldn’t see through my stutter) is a word that almost makes me wince these days, even though I should have become quite accustomed to it by now.  I am tightening my life jacket as I board the ship of change because this could be one of the biggest transitional voyages we’ve faced so far.

To put it bluntly we are preparing to move. Again. I knew when we moved to Northern Kentucky that it was only a stepping stone to get to Ohio, but it hasn’t been easy to set sail. For those that don’t know, we found out a year ago that our daughter is deaf. We learned that there is a deaf school in Ohio that benefit her greatly. So we moved in with my brother who is an hour away from the school and we’ve made it work for the past 4 months. The biggest problem is that cost of tuition is literally the same as going to a respectable college, and we weren’t prepared to send SJ to college at 3 years old. If we live closer to the school we will qualify for the local funding opportunities.

Tomorrow SJ starts summer school thanks to the donations of friends and family. Then in the next few weeks we will be narrowing down our apartment options and hopefully relocate so that SJ can continue to receive all the services she needs, and Z can start school too.

In looking at our plans we recognize that there is potential for us to land flat on our faces, but we are stepping out in faith. So there you have it. Our latest giant prayer need. Please stayed tuned for the next installment as my dramatic life continues. Whew, I am trying to make light of things because it’s too overwhelming not to, but in all seriousness we absolutely do appreciate all the prayers and support of our community. Even the virtual one. Thank you.

This post is linked up with Lisa Leonard for Hello Monday. 

I was hoping the repeated injuries were going to be isolated to my boy, but as of last Friday NOPE. SJ and Z were playing tag when little miss priss tripped onto a drainage pipe splitting her head open right down the middle. Sigh.

She cried briefly, but bounced right back in no time.

Our first stop was the minute clinic, but it was bad enough that they referred us to the children’s hospital. It was actually a really pleasant experience all things considered.

Each time a different Nurse or Doctor came in they asked about how to communicate with her. The answer is a little complicated, but I appreciate the fact that they cared enough to inquire. They took her CI’s off for the proceedure, but I told them I could do some basic signing with her. They have a specialist that comes in before they give stitches in order to help alleviate any fear or confusion and she was awesome. She showed SJ everything by using a baby doll and allowing SJ to play and become familiar with all the tools they were using.

At the ER putting stitches on the baby. The staff said she was future doctor for sure.

When it came to the 6 stitches the Doctor was so thorough and precice wanting to do everything possible to minimalism the scaring. 

They used an ipad to distract her during the procedure. Her head was numb so she couldn’t feel it. The Doctor and nurses were amazed at how cooperative she was. 

It’s hard to say what the scar will look like in the long run. I hope for her sake that it isn’t noticeable, it’s not like there is even an exciting story to go with it. 

My instagram chronicling the week of the stitches from the ER to the day they were out.

I don’t know how much more of this stitches business I can take.

A glimpse of 13 years from now. Oh dear.

 I have managed to go 30 years without needing stitches. Between Z and SJ they have had an estimated 33 stitches between them in less than two years. I say estimated because I don’t  have a clue how many stitches SJ had after her CI surgeries, but Z had them on the chin and ear, then add to those SJ forehead. I am starting to think I might need to invest in a DIY kit. Not really. In fact I could barely mend their pants if they ripped. Hopefully the worst is behind us. 

Ezie will be 8 months old tomorrow, but I technically never did a 7 month update. So let’s just pretend that I posted this about a month ago.

Besides having his first meal at 7 months old

he also began rolling over

As of today we have all of the money for SJ’s summer school tuition. This school year wraps up on Friday with an ice cream party and she starts “preschool” on Tuesday. So far all of her time at Ohio Valley Voices has been spent in the toddler program. This should make for a smooth transition because she will begin with half days in 3-5 year old preschool program and in the fall she’ll start full days.

SJ is now 6 months old as far as hearing and she continues to make great strides every day. There are times I am still in disbelief that she can hear. If we are looking at a book I can say “choo choo” and she will point to the train and do her own version of a train sound. One day she was pointing up at the drinks and I said “juice?” Her eyes got really big and she pointed to her feet. I laughed and said “not shoes. Juice.” I was ecstatic. Just the fact that she can mishear me is a miracle. We weren’t doing anything with shoes, but she was listening  and thought she heard a word that she knew. YAY!

This month she has started saying down, shoes, I want, outside, and where all on her own. They still sound pretty rough, but she has vocabulary and that’s huge. We’ll work on articulation later. I get notes from her teachers all the time and they are so encouraging. Here is just one example from May 14

“I think today was the best day I’ve ever had with SJ! She was so engaged, happy, and willing to attempt new words. She gave me a great approximation for “I want pink” and “help me.” I am so excited for her and the entire family”

I do not take for granted how blessed we are to have such a great school, and loved ones that care so much that they are committed to pray for SJ and sponsor her this summer. If you donated I will be sending out formal thank you notes and updates. Even though I know we have so much work ahead of us I really believe that this is going to be the fun part.

When Z was getting ready for his trip to NYC I looked at it as a learning opportunity. We went to the library and checked out everything we could find pertaining to New York City. One of the books we looked through reminded me of my old encyclopedia days. There I was sitting with my little 5 year old, eyes full of wonder imaging all the adventures to be had in his dream city. Then I read this sentence accompanied by photographs.

“Three of Manhattans most famous skyscrapers are the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, and the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center.” 

I sat there speechless. He looked at me anticipating my next words and I looked down at him in his innocence, in his ignorance. I felt my heart sink and my stomach turn. I told him that the Twin Towers weren’t there any more. He looked confused and asked why. I explained how some bad people attacked America and the destroyed the towers. His eyes were sincerely concerned and I talked him through some of the pain felt over the tragedy that happened 6 years before he was even born.

9/11 impacted all of us, but I felt a new layer of sorrow the day I had to explain the evil of those events to my child. But just like Mr. Roger’s says

It’s no secret that we’ve been through a lot the past year (and then some). All the while the Lord has been faithful and we’ve been carried through it all thanks to our faith, family, friendships, and community. When I signed SJ up for summer school, (which would be imperative for her at this stage) I inquired about grants and scholarship. I even asked if we would just continue our monthly payments. Then on Friday I found out that there is no outside funding available for Kentucky residents and the flat rate of $775 is all due at once.

I am not freaking out nor am I in a state of emergency. I just thought it would be helpful per the request of loved ones, if we started up a sponsorship page for SJ (Sedona or Sedona Jean is her name outside of blogland in case that is confusing). We’ve been extremely blessed to have all of her medical care covered at this time and we haven’t always been able to say that, so I am grateful for God’s provision. I know that HE will meet all of our needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus (Phillipians 4:19). 

May looks like it will be a season of closure in some ways. SJ will be graduating from the toddler program at her school, J will have his last day where he is currently holding a temp job, and Ezie will no longer be exclusively breastfed. However when I look back at the past month I see that along with some of the bittersweet springtime goodbyes this season also gives us plenty to look forward to.