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When Lightning Strikes

We were excited about the storm that blew through earlier this week. Water is even more appreciated when you have a garden,
Z and his cousin with fresh picked zucchinis from our garden. 

 but things got a little scary when lightning struck the property and we heard  an extremely loud POP!!! We immediately lost all electricity. Everyone is okay, but the tv, furnace, and modem were all permanently fried. So, that has been no fun and it will be a while to have everything corrected/replaced. You can remember my parents in your prayers.

Everything else has been going well. I recently had blood work and a glucose test for this current pregnancy and the results showed me to be in perfect health! In the midst of all we have going on right now, I am grateful for this report.

My friend and I at Cornerstone. She is also due on October 10th.

Also, thanks to this baby we found a pediatrician. All the places I have called have shut me down saying that they are only open to newborns and are taking no new patients otherwise, but I am about to have a newborn which was the loop hole that this particular Doctor needed to sign up all three of my children. SJ and Z will have their first appointment next month. I was never satisfied with the first doctor we saw when we moved here and having someone that works well with our family will be a huge load off.

In other family news I found a preschool for Z. We didn’t feel ready to enroll him into Kindergarten even though in Kentucky he is the right age. He’ll start next month and will be going all day Tuesdays-Thursdays.

 Z signing I love You (this is the screen saver on my phone)
Honestly, I am still in disbelieve that my little guy is going to be starting school. Granted it is Preschool, but it is a private christian school, NOT day care. They will be working on all the things he needs to be prepared for elementary schools and from what I understand these days that includes a lot! I am actually REALLY excited about this next major milestone for our son. He’s excited too. He’s got his Diego back pack and a brand new Spiderman lunch box. We’ll see how he feels after his first week.  

By |2015-05-14T23:15:40+00:00July 22, 2012|Uncategorized|1 Comment
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Processing Deafness

Just to let everyone know right up front, we are doing just fine. SJ is great, we are still learning to sign and speech therapy is underway. I just wanted to be transparent about the reality of all the complicated aspects of this process.

The moment I knew there was potential hearing loss for SJ I started researching. I’ve tried to learn all about the deaf community through videos, websites, reading material, and talking to anyone I could find that was involved in the world of hearing loss. I learned that they have their own culture, defined as a group of people that share a language, values, rules for behavior, and traditions. I read a lot of fascinating and encouraging things that made me want to delve deeper into this culture, but some of the articles I read made me feel like, as a hearing person, I was an unwanted trespasser. I didn’t understand why some deaf communities seemed so exclusive and defensive. Then I learned about the oppression that started taking place in the 1800’s when deaf people were forced to learn ways of oral communication and they had to fight to preserve their language, which was almost completely wiped away by the idea that deafness was a burden that needed to be removed from society. At this time it was also believed that no deaf person should intermarry in order to try to eradicate the problem. I also learned how up until recently, including in my mothers generation, many deaf people have been misdiagnosed as mentally challenged and therefor isolated from the opportunity to communicate or become social. It’s no wonder some deaf people feel like they have to fight against the hearing world to preserve their identity.

When I was told that my daughter had severe to profound hearing loss, I didn’t know where that placed her on the hearing loss spectrum. I tried to look up information, but my results were inconclusive therefor I announced to the world that SJ was hard of hearing and not deaf. Since then her team of experts, doctors, therapists etc. have said otherwise. SJ is deaf and I just didn’t know what to call it.

I read one article that said;
 In hearing culture, the terms used to describe deaf people have to do with their hearing loss. The term “hard of hearing” is better than “deaf.” Hard of Hearing people are generally regarded as being easier to communicate with and fit in better with hearing people. In Deaf culture, though, the terms are quite the opposite. There is one label for people who are part of Deaf culture…Deaf. 

Not to be defensive, but I did not use the term hard of hearing because I thought it was better. I am not ashamed to have a deaf daughter, misinformed maybe, but the only reason I didn’t call SJ deaf is because no one told me! I was afraid to offend the deaf community. I feared that by labeling SJ deaf we could potentially get kicked out of a party that we were never actually invited to. When you learn about deaf culture you learn about deaf pride, which is a beautiful thing, but it can be intimidating when it’s new to you. 

As a mother of a deaf two year old I am responsible for the decisions in her life at this time. The more I have learned about this whole hearing loss process the more I feel like I am in-between two worlds. I am trying VERY hard to embrace ASL, but it never fails that I am breaking rules about sign names, and grammar, and the idea that maybe the cochlear implant is not from the devil. 

The ironic thing is, I’ve always wanted to adopt. For me personally my heart has ached for the many minority babies in America that need a home. I have always felt like we would some day be a biracial family, I have even referenced this in previous blog posts. I never imagined though that I would have a biological child that was a minority and who could identify with a culture and a history completely different than my own. It’s one thing to adopt a child of another ethnicity, but wouldn’t it be strange if you a birthed a baby and the Doctor said “It’s a boy… and he’s Hungarian! Now here is a book of rules on Hungarian culture and this is how you need to raise him.” That’s kind of what it feels like. Different, but I don’t know what else to compare it to.

Now I could write another 5 paragraphs of disclaimers because I worry that all of this could be taken the wrong way, but instead let me just end with the true nature of my heart. Community and culture are vital to our makeup, but so is individuality. God has given me the gift of motherhood, and as long as he continues to bless me with children whether they be biological, adopted, black, white, deaf, or Hungarian my husband and I will joyful take up the challenge to raise them to be men and women of honor and integrity. There are good days and bad days, but this truth is deeply rooted in my heart.

By |2023-06-12T06:31:28+00:00July 17, 2012|Hearing Loss, Our Hearing Loss Journey, Uncategorized|3 Comments
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The Cows Are Back

I wasn’t sure if we were going to be able to participate in Chic Fil A’s cow appreciation day this year because we just got back in town. For those who are not familiar with this holiday, it happens every July all over the nation. You dress like a cow, you get a free meal. No strings attached, whatever you want. For our family that’s $15.00 worth of food and so worth the chance to look foolish and be silly together. So in the end I decided to go for it and found a pack of craft foam paper for $4 and I made masks out of them. Granted the masks turned out looking a little creepy, but they were unique and the kids had fun. 
Other than that we just used a conglomeration of what we had gathered over the past 3 years. Z fit into his costume for the 3rd time! Next year it will have to be passed on to SJ and my mom can make Z a new one. We accessorized with items from various CFA kids meals,  and for the record I am patting myself on the back for finding all of this stuff.
 
I hope to be able to keep this tradition going for a while. Here is a little peek at all of the cow day fun that we’ve had past and present. 
2010
2011 
 2012

 Z signing “cow”

SJ showing her cow appreciation with a great big hug! 

By |2015-05-14T23:15:40+00:00July 16, 2012|Uncategorized|2 Comments
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Mommy’s Girl

No matter how big our family gets I know I will always have a special connection with each one of my children individually. With Z, he was my first born and he got two and a half years of undivided attention, and tons of photos to prove it. This next baby will be the third born just like me, so I already feel a camaraderie in that way, and then of course SJ is my only girl and you can’t compete with that. 

SJ and I got to spend a lot of one on one time together this past week and I really enjoyed it. While at Cornerstone we worked on a handful of art projects together including this sculpture and painting. 
I tried to get a snapshot of us hanging out,  
but I think it mainly showcases how hot and scuzzy we were.
J took this picture and I didn’t even know about it until yesterday. That’s us snuggling up sound asleep in the tent.
J took some more pictures of us at the train station including this one of us reading magazines on a bench
and here are a few more of us playing around on the bike racks. 
The truth is we’ve hit a few rough patches here lately involving SJ’s hearing loss. I’ll leave details for later, but for now let’s just say that having a special needs child takes a lot more than I ever expected. However, these challenges have done nothing but strengthen our relationship. I’m sure someday she won’t want to spend all of her time with her dear old mom and that’s a good thing, but for now I just want to soak it all in. Maybe someday when she’s 29 she’ll want to go to New York city with me. We’ll see.  

By |2015-05-14T23:15:40+00:00July 12, 2012|Uncategorized|1 Comment
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A Brief Photo Recap

Everything has been such a whirlwind of busyness since I returned from NYC. First of all, I mentioned that my best friend M surprised me by flying in from Texas and it was a one way ticket. Not because she is moving to Kentucky, although that would be cool. It worked out that she was able to ride with us to Illinois for the Cornerstone music festival and then rode back to Texas with the church that we were camping with (our Texas church). 
Z took the top photo of us in Louisville and below is a pic of M getting chauffeured around by SJ in the golf cart at Cornerstone.
Z didn’t come to Cornerstone with us because he had a fun filled week with his grandparents. It was bitter sweet not having him there, but I think SJ reveled in the opportunity to be the only child. 

 We had lots of great mommy daughter time while we were in Illinois. I will never forget this bonding experience and look forward to many more with my precious daughter.

 On the way home we spent a day in Chicago because we had never seen America’s 3rd largest city. Here is a photo of J and SJ in Union Terminal.

When we did finally arrive back in Kentucky we found that our garden had taken over and we had lots of beautiful fresh veggies to harvest. Time to get cooking!

 

By |2015-05-14T23:15:40+00:00July 10, 2012|Uncategorized|1 Comment
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New York New Yooooork

In New York you do not hesitate. New Yorkers are always on the move and if you don’t move with them you just might get run over. So no dilly dallying here I am all ready to share my NYC photos and stories!
Once we got off the plane we got on a taxi and headed straight to the Greyline bus station. Most of the sites we saw during our visit were from the top of one of these double decker road whales. 
We saw time square, the Macy’s that covers a whole city block, and the empire state building. We also spent a little time at Rockefeller plaza, and strolled around seeing sites like central park, Radio City, and the “30 rock” building. 
One of the highlights of my visit was for sure the Apple store on 5th avenue 
 and right behind it is FAO Schwartz, a 150 year old toy store and home of the piano from the famous scene in the movie Big. Despite the fact that I was a little big myself I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to play it. 
I had a list of 11 things I wanted to do in NY and surprisingly I did almost all of them, but there were a few hiccups. My mother and I walked our little legs off trying to find a restaurant called Serendipity so that I could try some of their frozen hot chocolate, but the wait was too long and we had to keep moving because I was meeting a friend for dinner. 
I used to live extremely close to this friend before their son graduated and she and her husband decided to leave the small town life and relocate to the city that never sleeps. My friend had dreamed that one day when they were empty nesters (which was at a very young age) they would see the country and try living in different locations spread out from east to west and then pick where to settle down from there. Yes, they are that wild, and driven, and absolutely cool! Anyway, she’s been living in Manhattan for 10 months now and we met up at a pub in time square then walked to Junior’s to try some authentic New York cheesecake. It was such a great visit.
Afterwards we got back on the double decker for a night tour of the city including a trip over the Brooklyn bridge. By this time we had seen nearly all of NYC and any landmarks we missed we caught the next day on another guided tour.
I know this is lengthy, but are you ready for the grand finale? Back at Time Square we sat at a cafe and had coffee and waffles while waiting for midnight when it would officially become my 30th birthday. We went to where they do the annual new years eve ball drop, and right after getting to be on the jumbotron along with a bunch of other tourists. the countdown began from 10 down to 1. I guess they do it every night leading up to midnight and that was the moment I turned 30. 

New York City was a blast! I really thought that it couldn’t get any better, but then when I arrived back in Kentucky and was reunited with my amazing husband and kiddos I heard another voice that I know so well. This was the voice of someone that I have laughed with, cried with, and shared some of the most memorable moments of my life with. I looked up to find my best friend had flown in from Texas to surprise me on my birthday! My husband set it all up and it’s a one way ticket, no she isn’t moving up here, although that would be cool, but we are all going to Illinois together next week. So it’s been a wild ride and without a doubt the BEST birthday ever!

By |2015-05-14T23:15:40+00:00June 29, 2012|Uncategorized|2 Comments
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Pinning for New York

I signed up for Pinterest 5 months ago and it didn’t take too long for me to be hooked. Granted I haven’t had all the time in the world to focus on crafts and cooking lately, but for a while there I was implementing Pinterest ideas left and right.

I often use it to create ideas that I have repinned, like that one valentine’s craft I did. 
Or the time Z and I made this angry birds game.

I’ve also made about a dozen recipes that I’ve repinned and eventually I want to do a little mini series on this, but for starters here is a really simple recipe I discovered on Pinterest that is now a reoccurring part of many of our meals. J loves them!

I also love using Pinterest boards to keep all of my ideas in one place. This is what I did for SJ’s birthday party and it turned out to be such a success!

 My latest Pinterest board has been all about my upcoming trip to New York City.


 I never really shared how or why I am going to be in NYC for my birthday. It’s kind of silly, but I think it’s worth sharing. A couple weeks ago mom asked me what I wanted for my birthday and I nearly cried. Okay, maybe I did start crying a little bit. I am about to be 30 years old and that doesn’t bother me, but I’ve seen so many of my friends in Texas celebrate this milestone in fun and extraordinary ways. When I left Texas I knew I would not get to be a part of this tradition with them. I started not only missing my friends, but in a way missing my identity. Let’s face it, despite my attempts to live “life in the slow lane“, all year long I’ve been consumed with moving, pregnancy, hearing loss and motherhood in general. My mom did what mother’s do best and listened sympathetically to my little pity party and her wheels started turning. Thanks to working at the airport she knew we could get a great rate on airfare so she asked me where I wanted to go. I could pick anywhere in the US! The idea took me by surprise and I couldn’t think of anything, so she suggested New York city. Suddenly the thought of spending the last day of my twenties in the big apple was like a dream that I never knew I had. Since then I’ve been pinning, planning, and pining for New York city and early tomorrow morning we leave… or bust!

By |2015-05-14T23:15:40+00:00June 25, 2012|Uncategorized|1 Comment
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Blog Catch Up

In the past week I have thought about all the many topics that I needed to blog about. So since I flopped at blogging on any of them I’ll just get the ball rolling with a rapid update on each family member.

SJ got her new hearing aid molds which fit great and solved the feedback problem. What a relief!
SJ’s favorite summer time activity is chalk art, but for the record she did not create the love design.
I tried to enroll Z in preschool, but they said he wasn’t eligible because anyone turning 5 before October is considered kindergarten age. Ahhhh! Time to figure out a plan B I guess.
Z with his brand new glasses. I can’t believe how much he has grown. What a big boy. 
 J has temp job that is keeping him busy right now and all the gardening he did in the spring is starting to pay off.  
J have snuggle time at the park with his favorite little girl. 
Garden time with Z. 
Aside from a terrible cough that I ended up needing a prescription for, I have been feeling great with lots of kicks and Braxton Hicks. Oh, and our baby boy has a name!

I’m 24 weeks and almost into the 3rd trimester.
Let’s just say details to follow, although I am not sure when I will get to elaborate on all the details when I am busy getting ready for my trip to New York City where I will turn (get ready)… 30! Seriously though, details will be coming.  
By |2015-05-14T23:15:40+00:00June 22, 2012|Uncategorized|1 Comment
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SJ’s Signs Part 1

We leave for Illinois in about 2 weeks and we will be meeting up with old friends that haven’t seen SJ in a while. This video is to prepare them and other loved ones to see first hand what signs she knows. Knowing just a few simple signs will help bridge the communication gap, but she is also in the middle of getting the kinks worked out with her hearing aids and starting speech therapy so it’s also important to clearly verbalize the word with the sign so that we can continue to encourage both ASL and english. This isn’t something I want to push on everybody, but I want to make sure SJ’s friends and family have a fair chance to know what she is signing or how to get a point across to her, although truth be told she is 2 and won’t even look at what you are signing half the time!  

It was hard for me to narrow it down because there are so many other signs that she can say, but I don’t think you will need to know cat, bath, or ice-cream while we are camping. Here are some personal notes about the 10 signs I decided on for the video

1. More- This is the one she uses the most and it usually just means she wants something even if she hasn’t had any to have any more of.

2. Eat- She understands and produces this sign.

3. Help- She uses this one usually if she is trying to get something open although it is a little hard to recognize so I show her variation in the video.

4. Please- She doesn’t do this one often, but she has known it since before she was diagnosed hearing impaired, so I try to encourage manners and remind her to sign PLEASE when she wants something.

5. Toilet- Sometimes she signs toilet sometimes she just grabs herself, ha ha.

6. Thank You- Same as please and sorry. We are working on our manners.

7. Careful- SJ does use this sign, but she understands it. Since it is a command that comes up often with her I thought it might come in handy.

8. Sorry- She does not produce this sign either, but much like please it is something we are working on to show respect. If you sign it make sure to be expressive! Facial expressions are an important part of sign language.

9. No- She sees this one a lot and uses it a lot, but it’s usually because she is being a stinker.

10. All done- This was one of her first signs. She also sometimes uses it as a way to express when she doesn’t want something. Similar to wanting more of something she hasn’t had sometimes she is all done with something she hasn’t begun.

If you have any questions just let me know!

By |2023-06-12T06:31:41+00:00June 15, 2012|ASL, Uncategorized|2 Comments
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Tips and Links for Learning to Sign

Since finding out my daughter SJ has severe hearing loss my sign language vocabulary has gone from barely a handful to a pool full of words and information on ASL and deaf culture. I am still a beginner, but I’ve come a long way and I wanted to share some of the tools I’ve been using.

1. Baby Sign
When SJ failed her first hearing test I pulled out the baby signing curriculum that I haven’t glanced at in years. The DVD includes 145 ASL signs which I kept practicing until I knew them all. I also started watching Signing Time videos which are a great way for both children and adults to learn on a number of levels.

2. Talking With People
One of the best tools for me has been talking with some of my friends that are interpreters for the deaf. I have gone up to complete strangers that have hearing aids and talked to them. I have sought out council from friends of friends that are deaf or hard of hearing. I want to hear from anyone and everyone that can help me on this journey.

3. Phone Apps
There are a few free phone apps that I downloaded to help me learn on the go. There is one called Wierman’s family ASL which includes 50 signs and you can take quizzes. All the free apps are very limited, but every little bit helps when you are starting out and you can always delete them if they are taking up too much space.

4. ASL University
This website is really in depth and I’ve only completed 3 of the units, but it’s been informative and it was recommended to me by someone who teaches ASL full time.

5. Online Dictionaries
I have three websites that are my go-tos for looking up signs they were all recommended by some of my professional interpreter friends.

www.signingsavvy.com

www.aslpro.com

www.lifeprint.com 

My biggest advice as someone learning to sign is CROSS REFERENCE! It’s hard to learn when there is so much conflicting information on which sign is the right one. Many times there are a few different signs used depending on a persons age or region. It’s a bit of a headache, but I always check 3 sources and pick whichever is most common or up to date.

6. TV

Once I started learning ASL I noticed that signing was happening all around me already. For example programs my kid’s watch like, Blue’s Clues, Sprout Good Night Show , and PBS kids all use some sign language. Then I came across this Sia music video, which I had seen several years ago, but it didn’t occur to me at the time that the entire video was in ASL! Now I can watch it and recognize most of what they are signing. src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/t1x8DMfbYN4?fs=1″ width=”480″>

7. Switched at Birth

I had a signing teacher recommend this show to me (featured on ABC family, ABCfamily.com, and netflix) and I was skeptical at first because I am just not a fan of teenage drama. Watching the entire first season  has confirmed that this show would probably be my last choice in entertainment OTHER THAN the sign language. Many of the main characters all communicate with ASL. Seeing the usage in conversation and modern language was SO helpful. I think this program is what really taught me to be more comfortable implementing what I know into every day speech. I would often rewind pause or try to interpret without reading the subtitles. I fully intend to watch the entire show again eventually just to see how much more I understand the second time around.

8. ASL dictionary


At this time in my journey I invested in a heavy duty hard back ASL dictionary for about $30 at half price books. I use it all the time, but I do wish it was even more current than 1998 edition because some of the words are outdated already.

9. Documentaries

The Sound of Fury
Through Deaf Eyes
Touch the Sound

The first two documentaries are on Netflix and they teach you a lot about deaf culture, cochlear implants, and the history of sign language. The last one is a film I saw several years ago about a deaf percussionist.

10. Practice

I think one of the reasons I have been more successful with ASL than any other language I have tried to learn is because it’s applied to my everyday life. I needed a language to speak to my daughter that is still in-between the world of the deaf and the hearing. I use sign language everyday and I keep an ongoing log of words I want to learn. My 4 year old keeps me on my toes anytime he asks me a sign that I don’t know I just say lets write it in the notebook and later we look them up. We usually do this practice once or twice a week. I will learn one song or story at a time and this helps a lot too. Every time I learn a new song or children’s book I realize there is a little less that I have to look up because my vocabulary is expanding.

I’m linking this up with Top Ten Tuesday at Many Little Blessings. I know it’s a lot of info, but I’ve wanted to share these tips with my friends and family for a while and I always love to network and learn new things myself (see #2). For those interested in my daughters story feel free to browse through the blog or read this post for details.

By |2023-06-12T06:27:12+00:00June 12, 2012|ASL, Uncategorized|287 Comments
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