Kelsey Update

It is hard to believe that our little Kelsey is almost 5 months old. She continues to grow and is now in the 75 percentile for nearly all of her growth categories of height, weight and head size. Thankfully she also continues to be a calm and happy baby. Since our last update she has been in twice to have new ear molds made as she continues to grow out of the previous mold. We also went in to have a second Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) test performed.

Love the look on her face...."um, something cold is in my ear." It is a little difficult to tell, but the new mold (pink) is quite a bit larger than her current mold (clear).

Primary Children's Hospital Visit for second ABR test.

The audiologist was very thorough in her testing and ultimately maxed out the capacity of their equipment without getting a response. This didn't really come as news to us as we do not feel like even the hearing aids (turned up to 80 decibels) are registering a response from her.

Getting fitted for her third set of ear molds. She doesn't even fuss during the process. In the coming weeks we will take her in for an MRI to take a look at the workings of her ear. It will be interesting to see if all looks normal inside, or if perhaps some things are either missing or out of place. We have also begun the process of having a specialist come to our home twice a month to teach all of us Sign Language. It will be nice for our kids to have instruction coming from someone other than Mom and Dad.

There is a Deaf Ward that meets close to our home here in Lehi. In the coming weeks we want to attend and get a feel for that as well. Mostly want to ensure that our older kids could feel comfortable. I doubt we would attend this Ward regularly until Kelsey is older, but we are interested in checking it out.

One fun development is Kelsey has begun to babble in Sign Language. We will have to post a short video soon. She will wave one hand quickly, and also make a fist and tap the side of her head. She also recognizes the sign for bottle and milk.

Thanks to all of our family and friends for their continued love and support.

No more Monkeys Jumping on the Bed...

Unless Dad is trying to take your picture.

In this quiet moment....

Cassidy and Mckay asleep in Mckay's room, having a sleepover. Kelsey asleep in my arms and my husband asleep on the couch has inspired me to take a moment and send out a big thank you. Thank you to all who have blessed our lives this past year. My heart is full of gratitude and love for all those who love and support us. Also, a thanks to my Father in Heaven, who is constantly blessing us. I see miracles happen every day. I am grateful to know that I am not alone in the challenges, or in the joys of life. I have seen many times his year when my prayers have been answered by other people. I am grateful for dear family and friends that have been my angels this year. I am grateful for my sweet kids, and wonderful husband whom I get to share every day with. I feel so blessed to have so much.

Blessing Day

December 11, 2011

Blessing Day

Today I am a proud Mama. We blessed Kelsey at church today. She looked beautiful and never even cried; even with 11 men standing around her. She was blessed to be an adventurous spirit, and to have much patience and love for those around her. Thank you to all the family members that traveled to be to our meeting at 9 am. For the family that wanted to be there, but could not, your spirit and love was felt. Thank you all for your love and support!

Kelsey is a little angel that has come to our family. She is such a happy, calm, peaceful baby. She absolutely adores people. If you make eye contact with her you are most likely going to get a smile from her that will melt your heart. I treasure the moments I get as her earthly mother. I love to snuggle with her. I love holding her and talking with her. It has been so fun having another baby in our home. She brought a piece of heaven with her to share with our family. I am grateful for my bright, smiley, blue eyed baby girl. She is a ray of sunshine and makes all those around her happy. I love you Kelsey girl!

Bedtime Story

Usually the kids will pretend to be asleep so I will carry them up to their beds.

This night they really were asleep.

As often as possible, I try to "tell" the kids a bedtime instead of "reading" the kids a bedtime story. This means, however, that I have to be creative at coming up with new stories all the time. When I just can't seem to bring my 'A' game in the creativity department... I usually end up ripping off the storyline to some movie the kids have never seen. Most of the time I can come up with stories that keep the kids entertained. Recently our stories have been lasting several nights before reaching their conclusion. Last night we finished up one of our multi-night stories, but I had a tough time finishing after Cassidy asked a funny question.

Brief synopsis of where we were in our story....

"The two children are attempting to find treasure in the dark cave. They are using the light from the boy's watch to explore the cave. Together they find shapes carved into the cave room floor. There were Squares, Circles, and Triangles. The kids began to follow the pattern of shapes..."

Cassidy loudly interrupts: "Dad, there were no rhombuses!?"

Sadly I had failed to include the wonderful rhombus shape in the cave floor carvings. I know...careless on my part. It is nice to know she is paying attention at school.

Kelsey Update

We have had a bit of a busy month as we continue to learn all that we can about Kelsey's hearing loss and the options that are available to us. The next logical step in our adventure with Kelsey is to determine IF or to what extent Hearing Aids may provide sound to her. To do this we visited with a very helpful Audiologist who created an ear mold for Kelsey. This is done by attaching a small piece of foam onto the end of a string. The foam is placed into the ear canal to ensure nothing gets past, and then the ear is filled with a pink silicone like substance. Once the plaster like material has dried it can safely be removed. The ear mold below was then shipped away where a company will make the actual piece that will fit inside her ear and attach to the hearing aid. Due to the Thanksgiving Holiday, we needed to wait two weeks to get her molds back. While waiting for her ear molds to be shipped back to us we visited an Opthamologist to ensure Kelsey's vision was free from any abnormalities; mainly Ushers Syndrome. We were less concerned about this appointment as she smiles whenever making eye contact with us.

Kelsey's exam room.

Waiting for the Eye Doctor. All of the results from her vision tests came back normal.

Before Kelsey could be fitted with her new Hearing Aids we once again visited with the Audiologists who performed an additional hearing test. The results of this test were then used to program her new Hearing Aids to the appropriate frequencies. The sticker on her shirt says, "I had a hearing test."

Finally her ear molds arrived in the mail and earlier today we once again traveled to meet with the Audiologist to have her fitting for her hearing aids. Unsure the extent in which these hearing aids may assist her, we are simply borrowing these aids "on-loan" for a three month trial period.

Mom and Dad taking turns putting her hearing aids on. After a little practice and some very patient cooperation from Kelsey we started to get the hang of it. Both Hearing Aids on for the first time.

We will continue to explore all avenues available to us. Kelsey is such a sweetheart of a baby. Other than choosing to have a very late bed time, she sleeps through the night and is very happy during the day. As we continue to learn more and explore other avenues we will continue to update this blog with her adventures. Thank you to all of our family and friends for their continued love and support.

Cassidy's REFLECTIONS

This year Cassidy entered the "Reflections" contest in two categories: Visual Arts, and Literature. We are proud of her and the lessons she learned while thinking about this years' theme- DIVERSITY MEANS...

"I am fine, because I am me!"
Accepting her ribbon

Showing off her Visual Art and Ribbons.

Happy Birthday Mckay!

Happy 5th Birthday to Mckay!

On his request, we went to Panda Express for lunch,

and Chuck 'E' Cheese for dinner as a family.

Opening Presents

He is such a great kid, and we are so glad to have him as a part of our family.

Visiting Grandma & Grandpa on a Mission

Alisa's parents are currently serving as President of the Washington, Tacoma Mission. When we felt Kelsey was old enough to travel we went up to visit and introduce them to their new granddaughter. They were so kind to take time to see us, and to show us the beauty of their mission.

Thankfully Kelsey slept for most of our outings.

"Come on Grandma - Race Me!"

The kids were even able to pick out the pumpkins for the mission home.

One of the highlights of the mission home is the rope swing in the front yard. Even when it was raining a bit, we went out front to swing on the swing. I wonder how many Elders have also taken a turn on the swing....I'll bet hundreds. Thank you to the Weavers and their Sacrifice of Service. We love you and are proud of all you are doing. Thanks for the fun visit.