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Counting....

Counting the days until this is our daily routine again....It will be here before you know it!

100th Day Of Kindergarten

This morning was the boys 100th day of Kindergarten celebration. They each did a project and had to go in front of the class to tell about it

 Cormac did "Hello" in 100 languages. He wrote all the words on the poster board. He also said "Hello" in five languages in front of the class. 


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Ciaran made snowflakes out of 100 lolliops in groups of 10.

Colin assembled two 50 piece lego cars..

I couldn't be prouder of the three of them if I tried.  I know I say it all the time but I still get overcome with emotion when I see the three of them together in school just doing their things.  Oh, and there is also that little thing that the one talking in FIVE languages is my deaf son.  Yep, my deaf son talking in front of his entire Kindergarten class!!!!

Here is what the projects looked like up close

House of Horrors

Last night we went to bed thinking everything was normal.  Just another Friday night.  Well, were we WRONG!  The stomach flu has hit this house HARD.  Calleigh was sick on Thursday and was vomiting but she wasn't to bad.  She seemed to be fine yesterday.

My night went something like this:

11:30 pm Ciaran runs downs stairs yelling Colin is throwing up in his bed.  Run upstairs get him to the bathroom too late.  Strip his bed and make it again in clean sheets.  Colin says he wants to lay with us.  OK. Give him bucket and he tries to sleep.  He eventually says he wants to go in his own bed.

12:30am We hear someone running from their room.  Cormac pukes in the hallway.  Get him cleaned up and he wants to sleep with us.  He did fall asleep but went on to puke 8 more times.

2:00am In between Colin and Cormac alternating puking Ciaran wakes up and it is now his turn.  The really strange thing?? None of the were ever up at the same time.  It was like as soon as I got one settled back down a different got sick again.  It was a losing battle.

So between 11:30pm and 5am I think it was 23 incidents of puking...yes you read that correctly.  23...

Oh, and then just when it couldn't get any worse....Frank starting throwing up this morning.

I don't believe there is enough Lysol on the planet at this point.  I have washed EVERYTHING from their room.  Not just the sheets and pillow cases but the special blankets and cuddly friends they sleep with.  I have sanitized every door knob and light switch and handle at least 50 times today.  I have practically given myself a Purell bath.  I have a terrible head cold for two days now and I really really can't get the stomach flu.  I sort of feel like it's inevitable but I girl can hope, right??? But you all know when I will get it, don't you?  It will be on Monday when Frank is back to work and I am left by myself and will have no choice but to do what I do everyday and not be able to be sick.  That is just how it goes.

I think this explains why Cormac passed out on the car ride home from the city yesterday.  He usually doesn't get so tired from a mapping.  I know lots of people who do get very tired after a map so I thought maybe but I now know he was getting sick.

We were supposed to go to a dinner at the school tonight.  That is not happening.  We also have our 100 day celebration projects to make and we have to get our Valentine's signed.  It's not looking good since the boys don't want to leave the couch!  Cormac did some of his project when he had a burst of energy.  Ciaran do a lot of his too.  Colin is putting 100 legos together so his is easy at least.

Did I mention now they all have fevers???  When I tell you we are never sick.  Last winter they were never sick.  This year we are getting slammed.  It hate when they are sick.  They hate being sick.  Right about now they are on Scooby Doo overload...

Here is the face of sickness...
Cormac sleeping with his Ipod.  Not even Angry Birds could keep him awake.

Colin said he felt better and had a drink...it was back in the toilet in under 5 minutes.

Ciaran trying to smile. 

Thank you

I just wanted to say Thank you to all of you who responded to my last post.  Your support, commiseration, understanding, compliments are so greatly appreciated.  We all have our days when somethings just don't seem fair but I know I am very blessed with my children.  Many families have it way harder than our family. 

I am friends with many of you on Facebook so I apologize for the duplicate in this post but I have a new favorite I had to write down.

Here is the conversation I overheard two days ago:

Cormac to Frank " Dad, I have decided me and Colin are optimists and you and Ciaran are pessimists. " Franks says "really, why?" Cormac replies "me and Colin see the good in everything and you and Ciaran focus on the bad..."

Frank thought I told him to say this to him.  I explained Cormac came up with it all on his own. 

Colin has also revealed that "Reese is in love with me and he is sure she wants to marry him"

We have a big week coming up.  We are celebrating the 100th day of Kindergarten on Monday.  We have yet to start our projects and are open to ANY ideas. So, please, leave a comment if you have an idea.  Keep in mind, I need three...  We will be having a Valentine's celebration at school on Tuesday.  I love being able to go to all their events. I am so grateful to be able to be home and participate so much at their school.

We just signed the boys up for T-ball for the first time.  In our old town they couldn't play until they were in Kindergarten.  In our new town the kids start at four years old.  The group is 4-6 year olds.  So, it will be our first time playing but they will be the older kids in the group. We will see how it goes.  I am hoping we can keep a batting helmet on Cormac without knocking off his implants.  He wears a bicycle helmet with no problem so I don't anticipate any issues.

Yesterday, we had a very small dusting of snow.  The first snow of the season and it's mid February!  The boys noticed it and were looking out the window.  I caught this shot of them.  By the way, Cormac is actually the tallest...not sure why he looks the shortest.  Maybe Ciaran and Colin were on their tippy toes.

Discouraged, pissed and I don't know what else...

I had my first meeting with our school district to start transitioning Calleigh from Early Intervention to Preschool.  Yep, PRESCHOOL??  This time is going way too fast.  Currently, Calleigh receives Physical Therapy once a week, Developmental Intervention once a week and Speech Therapy once a week.  She gets an hour per week of each therapy.    She will qualify for district preschool because she is still testing 40% delayed in Gross Motor skills and over 30% in Speech.

The next step is to see what our district has to offer for Calleigh.  It is such a different experience from when Cormac aged out of Early Intervention.  I NEVER wanted him in a district preschool.  He was doing so well and was above his age level in speech.  I thought it was a waste for him to receive PT, OT and things he didnt.  He NEEDED to be around positive speech models in a mainstream school setting.  Plus our old district didn't have an integrated program.  They only had a self contained program.

Our new district offers a self contained class and an integrated class.  The self contpained class also mixes with the integrated class daily.  She would have access to one on one Physical Therapy and also one on on Speech Therapy. 

I absolutely HATE the idea of her starting school at three years old 5 days a week for 5 hours a day. (This is the program) I feel like a total failure as a parent.  I feel I should have been able to do something to catch her up.  I am not one for a pity party but today really just did me in.  Today I wish I wouldn't have three children with IEP's in school.  Today I wish Calleigh would be attending a typical preschool PK3 program for two days a week for a few hours.  I feel she is being robbed of such a special time in her life.  She is just at the age where we are starting storytime at the library, enrolling in gymboree classes, going to morning play group.  But what does Calleigh have to look forward to ?  Nothing.  Her Mom dropping he off at school for 5 hours when we could be doing things together.  It's seems unfair and today, just for today, I am going to let myself be really pissed off about it.

My Heart

My heart SWELLS with pride when I listen to Cormac read...

My heart SKIPS a beat when I see Calleigh run across the room...

My heart nearly BURSTS when I see how much my kids love each other....

My heart feels like it's BREAKING if any of my kids are in pain....

My heart BEATS a little faster when Ciaran tells me he just wants to cuddle with his Mommy.

My heart gets ALL A FLUTTER when Colin tells me how beautiful I am...even if it's 30 times a day.

My heart still gets CAUGHT in my throat when I think about how blessed I am to  have been chosen to be the Mom to these four amazing children.

But most of all because of them....

My heart if FILLED with LOVE every day. 

Ten on Tuesday

1.  It is Catholic Schools Week at school.  Lots of fun things to enjoy.  Tomorrow is red, white and denim day.  The kids don't have to wear their uniforms.  The boys will be wearing some red and white Valentine outfits.  It's also a half day!  I love half days.

2.  Tomorrow is also the Neptune seminar in NYC!  I am looking forward to seeing some familiar faces I love and meeting some new people.  It's a huge turnout from what I hear...80 people!!  Cormac is going along with me.  He is very excited and I know will be a great help to me with me duties.

3.  Yesterday, Ciaran and Cormac's teacher of the deaf took Colin with them for a little while.  To say he was excited in an understatement.  He thought it was so "cool".  She doesn't pull them out of class often but he always wants to go with them.  She called me after school to tell me she could not be more impressed with the three of them.  She said they are all very advanced for their age and are sweet loving boys....love.

4.  Today was GORGEOUS.  Over 60 degrees and sunny.  We hightailed it home from school to make sure we could spend optimal time at the beach playground.  The boys rode their skateboards or scooters.  We buildt some sand castles.  We made a few new friends.  A great, great afternoon.

5.  Calleigh is being evaluated for her transition out of early intervention.  When they met her in September when we moved she was at about 11 months across the board and her actual age was was close to 26 months.  In 5 short months I am thrilled to say she has made HUGE advances.  While she is still delayed in her gross motor skills she is now at about 18-24 months. She had just barely started walking when they met her and now she is running! Cognitively she is AHEAD of her actual age.  WOO HOO!  She is still speech delayed but I have not gotten the official report. 

6.  I am in a little denial my babies are approaching SIX years old in April.  I love the little people they are but am sad they are not the babies they were.  Each day I am amazed at how quickly they have grown.

7.  Fun.  I have been really trying to focus on having the most fun I can have with the kids.  The days fly by and I really want my boys to grow up with the memory of time we spent together as a family.  I have always told them "Family First".  They truly live this motto and it warms my heart.

8.  I know I have sung their praises before but I have to say not a day goes by I am not forever grateful for Summit Speech School.  They have changed our lives forever in ways I cannot even put into words.  One thing for parents is to find a great support system and Summit has been in integral part of our support.  Our new teacher of the deaf continues with this amazingness.

9.  Many things have fascinated me watching the boys and Calleigh grow up but watching Cormac fully reading just blows me away.  He can just read anything now.  I can honestly cry just listening to him.  I was told learning to read can be very difficult for deaf/hard of hearing children.  I am happy he does not struggle with his reading.  It has posed some problems...Frank and I can't spell in front of him any longer because he know what we are spelling!  And I have lots of activity books and I like to use them as a listening activity.  Color the biggest flower yellow, cirlce the smallest square...you get the idea.  Well, now that he can read the instructions it is no longer a listening activity!

10.  My reservations are made for the AG Bell Conference in Arizona in June!!!!  I am beyond excited.  Frank and I will be attending together.  We have not been away together I think since our honeymoon without any kids!!  We have our babysitting in place and are set to go and meet some people who I feel like I have known forever but will be meeting in person for the first time!!!  LOVE LOVE LOVE

You are who you are

I have talked to many parents about hearing loss and cochlear implants since we began our journey. I have talked to lots of people since Ciaran got his hearing aids. As a parent we only want what is best for our children. What we want most is for our children to just be children. To listen. To speak. To not be different from other kids. To fit in. One of the first concerns parents talk to me about is about how other people will treat their child. Will they be teased? Made fun of? Left out? I know I had ALL of these thoughts about Cormac's future. Would someone want to be his girlfriend? In the grand scheme of things and focusing on teaching our children to listen and speak these little questions are always in the back of my head.

 Kids can be mean. Kids can tease. Kids can say hurtful things when they don't even mean to and they also say them intentionally. As I parent I am trying to teach my children to be understanding of others differences. Not everyone is the same. It's what make us unique. Some people need glasses to see some need crutches to walk others need cochlear implants or hearing aids. I want my kids to be OK with who they are just like Frank and I are proud of the little people they are and the bigger people they are becoming. We think they are perfect just the way they are. Our hope is other parents are also teaching their children to embrace their differences. To think about how they would feel if they were the child who was different.

My experience so far has been nothing but positive. We have yet to experience any teasing. We get lots of questions and my kids are not afraid to answer any question about their hearing devices. Cormac has been explaining his implants for years at this point. He says it very matter of fact "I am deaf. When the magnets are on I can hear and when they are off I can't hear." Plain and simple and easy for people big and little to understand. I realize my kids are only five. It could get worse as they get older. My hope is they continue to be the awesome kids they already are and people will realize their hearing loss in no way defines who they are as a person. It will always be a part of who they are but not what they are.

All that said, yesterday we went to pick up Ciaran's new ear molds. He picked BRIGHT green and BRIGHT blue swirls. He LOVES them. Cormac got so excited while we were there he got himself measured for a set of ear molds. He picked blue and red. (He didn't want Colin to feel left out. Ciaran's favorite color is green, Cormac blue and Colin red. Cormac thought Colin needed to be represented in the mold colors) While we were there with the unbelievably AWESOME audiologist Colin told her he wanted "fake" hearing aids because he thought they were so cool. (See, it's all in perspective...it's all how they see themselves.) Well, Colin left the office wearing giraffe print dummy hearing aids with his own set of huggies to hold them on! Obviously, he can't have molds since he has no hearing issues.

Today, they were so excited to go to school. Ciaran had his hood up so he could "surprise" his friends. I walked them to the school line today because I figure I had to explain Colin's new hearing aids to the teacher. (she thought it was adorable and got a chuckle out of it). Ciaran walked up to his best friend, Ryan, and showed him the molds. Ryan's response "whoa, dude, those are TOTALLY cool". Colin was a little shy but couldn't wait for his friends to notice his hearing aids. Little Gabby was behind him in line and she said "Colin, are those FOR REAL?? Colin said " no, they are fake but I love them." She says "I like them too". Cormac was going on and on about how he ordered red and blue molds. It all seemed so....NORMAL.

A perfect afternoon

Last week, before the stomach bug wreaked havoc on the house, I had a wonderful afternoon. The boys got home from school, I put Calleigh in for her nap and I turned my attention to the boys. We were playing some games and doing some cuddling when Ciaran says" Mom, I think you look a little tired and you should go lay down in your bed" I am suspicious at this time and give him a questioning look. He then whispers something to his brothers and the other two get all excited and start telling me to go lay down. I figure, how bad could it be?? What could they be up to? Should I pry more into their little plot or should I just go with it? I decided I would just go with it. I go into my room and lie down. A few minutes later the three amigos come into my room carrying a Tupperware full of my favorite cereal and some diet coke (my all time favorite). It was so sweet and thoughtful. They said they just wanted to me to relax and have a nice snack. Then they told me they just wanted to cuddle for a while....I obliged for a while and eventually we all drifted off to sleep for a nap. We woke up when Frank got home from work and found us all snoozing in bed together.

I couldn't think of a more perfect afternoon (unless Calleigh was snuggled in the bed too!)

Nice to hear

I had to stop at school today even though they were all home sick to pick up Cormac's FM system. He is going to try and use it at basketball to see if it helps. The acoustics in the gymnasium are terrible. The coach said he would wear the FM if it would help. I'll let you know how it goes.

When I dropped into the classroom none of the kids were there because they were in art class. His teacher says to me " I have to tell you Mrs. Checkit (their new TOD) pulled me aside to say she is so impressed with Cormac. He is doing amazing and she is so happy to be working with both kids. She said she can't believe how ahead of the game his is! SHe is just getting to know Cormac and I am glad he is feeling comfortable around her.

Their classroom teacher commented on how his reading has taken off like crazy. She also said Ciaran is trying so hard. She can tell he does NOT like to get things wrong so he gets frustrated if he can't read a word but he trying super hard. I have noticed in the last week it seems to be clicking for him and he doing way better with his sight words.

So, other than the fact the kids are puking...a great way to start the weekend. LOL

Explosion

Calleigh has had a language explosion in the last week. I mean she just says everything all of a sudden. It's amazing to hear and makes me so happy. She used to never repeat words when you said them and now suddenly she repeats EVERYTHING. I am so thrilled I cannot tell you. In some weird way I am just as excited or more excited than I was when Cormac started talking. In my heart way down deep I knew Cormac was going to be fine. I knew he would talk. I knew from his first reaction to his implants it would take lots of hard work but he would succeed.

With Calleigh things have been so unpredictable. It seems every time we took a step forward we took two steps back. We never knew what to expect. We still do not know what to expect. A link was never established between the many health concerns she was born with. (Click on the link to Calleigh's story above) No syndrome could be found which is great but also because we don't know the cause you can't predict the future. The not knowing has been a struggle for me. I would much prefer to know what the problem is and come up with a solution.

Cognitively it has always been apparent she understands everything. She has never seemed any different in her comprehension than anyone her age. That said, she was so delayed in meeting her big milestones. (sitting, crawling, walking, running, talking). We waited for 18 months before she could crawl. It took until 26 months for her to walk. Now, I can officially say she is running. She might look like she had a few too many cocktails now and then but she is running.

Her personality might be the cutest I have ever witnessed. She is funny. She is silly. She gets mad quickly. She laughs from way down deep. She kisses me at least 500 times a day. I am NOT exaggerating. She walks up and kisses my legs, arms, hands..whatever..with a big kiss noise. She is loving. She has temper tantrums.. She loves to color. I cannot even say she loves music because it is more than that. Her reaction to music is too cute for words. She dances all day long. Her dimples are humongous. Just like Colin when she smiles her whole face changes. They both have something about them when they smile. I swear their eyes twinkle. There is no way on earth you could ever stay upset with her once she smiles.

She cannot say her own name without it being followed by a squeal of delight. I hope she always loves her name the way she loves it now. She loves her brothers but gets aggravated with Ciaran when he won't leave her alone. She bops him on the head when she has had enough. Yes, I know she shouldn't hit him but when she does it I crack up because I would bop him on the head if he was in y face as much as he is in her face.

While I can't predict the future I am feeling pretty confident Calleigh's future is going to be typical of other kids her age. We still have the heart issue lingering in the future but we will cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, I am going to rejoice in all the accomplishments she has made and continue to challenge her to keep moving forward.

Wordless Wednesday

Funny Boy

You see my smiling sweetheart? In this picture he was messing around saying to his brothers "I am not listening to you." Notice the fingers in his ears??? Well, I say, "hey, little dude, you can TOTALLY still hear them since you don't even hear out of your ears" To which he starts cracking up and says, "I know, I am messing with them" and he proceeds to pull his magnets off his head still cracking up.

A typical Mom

The last two weeks have been so different for me. Calleigh was on a break for two weeks from services. The boys were back in school. For the first time ever and I mean ever in 5 1/2 years I felt like just every other Mom. I was able to take Calleigh to Storytime at the library. We went to a play group. We did our shopping and we played and played and played. All of that without having to worry about a therapy schedule. Most of her therapies are scheduled in the mornings so it doesn't allow us the opportunity to do those things. In the afternoon she naps. It might have been one of the most relaxing weeks of my life.

Keep in mind, Cormac had therapy from birth and it continues BUT it is now done at school. Ciaran gets the same but his is done at school too. For some reason it just hit me this week. After the craziness of the holidays to have two weeks off of NOTHING. No commitments. Except to get the kids to school. Well, it was just plain wonderful.

I know we are back to the grind next week. I am not saying I mind and I know it's necessary. Calleigh also seems much happier the past two weeks. She is doing GREAT. SHe seems more and more like your typical 2 year old (except she is miniature). LOL SHe knows knows lots of letters and numbers. She know some of her colors. She is starting to talk more and more. She is a little chatterbox.

Who knows? Maybe she needed the break too!

Stable

That is a fantastic word to hear when you are the parent of a child with hearing loss like Ciaran. His late onset loss with NO EXPLANATION can really make you panic. I am not one to panic. If I did I would probably be dead by now with all the things we have dealt with in the last few years.

We switched Ciaran's audiologist to some one more local since we moved. I was very hesitant about switching because it was a huge deal to find someone capable of aiding him in the first place. We are VERY lucky and have a great pediatric audiologist only a few minutes from the house. I met with her first and discussed Ciaran's unusual hearing loss. I was very impressed. She came highly recommended and I was willing to give her a try after her taking time to meet wtih me (at no charge) to discuss his hearing.

We had our appointment on Tuesday and I am happy to report he has no change in his hearing since April. Yep, since April when they first found the loss. This is just fantastic news. It doesn't mean he won't have a change or drop but we are encouraged because it does not APPEAR to be a gradual loss that will continue to get worse! YEAH FOR CIARAN!!

We ordered new ear molds. He chose a swirl of bright green and bright blue. Trust me, you can't miss them. When we first ordered his aids I was not sure how he would feel about them so we ordered just clear earmolds and his hearing aids are skin tone. He now want his hearing aids to be blue but I explained we won't be buying new aids ANY time soon. I have to find really strong stickers to put on them. The stickers made for his hearing aids fall off too easily.

It was a great appointment. Calleigh was surprisingly cooperative even though we were there for 2 1/2 hours and I am so happy with the new audiologist.

On a side note, I often wonder if this blog serves any purpose. I continue to write it because I want to have it for the kids when they are older. But while sitting in the new audiologist office I was told Ciaran's records did not get faxed over by the old office. I was told they really just need his latest audiogram. Hmmm... I pulled up the blog on my smartphone, searched for audiogram and voila...up pops the picture I posted on my blog a while ago! If it serves no other purpose it avoided me having to reschedule my appointment. Gotta love modern technology.

An Spring Day in January!

We were blessed with Spring like weather in January. It was unbelievably beautiful. We started the day at basketball. I have to say the boys are coming along. This is their first attempt and they are enjoying it. Cormac played the whole time today and did really well.

After basketball, Frank took the boys on a hike while I stayed with Calleigh and did some housework.
They had a blast. They sent me this picture while they were hiking. Holding ice when it is nearly 60 degrees out.



The came home and rode their skateboards in the back yard. I went for a run and knew I had to go and get the boys and head up to the boardwalk/beach. It was too nice. They rode their scooters and I rode my bike. They were barefoot on the beach playground. We build some sandcastles.



My Mom and Richie came down for dinner. The kids were super excited to see them. Maggie made some delicious BBQ ribs and chicken.

The boys were so tired they were asleep in only a few minutes. All in all it could not have been a better day.

Oh, and I will end with the ultimate in cuteness. Calleigh learning early how to be a good shopper!

Flashback Friday

Well, not too far of a flashback but this is one of my favorite pictures of Calleigh. She was 6 months old. It was taken almost exactly 2 years ago.

A little look back.

I was going through Cormac's binder of information looking for a report to give to his TOD. I came across a report from this first TOD from 13 months post activation (he would have been 2 years 5 months old)
It had samples of his language. Here is what he was saying:

Mommy has a red pocket too.
I have a red triangle.
There is dog food.
I want two doggies.
That one's square
Circle...right there.
I hear mama
Where the other red sock? (he used to skip "IS")
Mommy, I want drink juice...big boy cup.

His receptive language includes nouns, many action verbs, attribute words, names of many people and some prepositions (on, in, under, behind, on top of, around). In addition to understanding many words, Cormac incorporates these words into his expressive vocabulary as well. Cormac consistently responds to simple questions, yes/no questions and "who what and where" questions. Cormac follows directions involving attribute words. He can discern two familiar attribute words IE he can find the small red triangle among many different shapes with varying colors and sizes. Cormac can identify all the letters of the alphabet and all the sounds they make!

It said lots of other things but this is just an excerpt. I love looking back to see where he was and how far he has come!

Now, on to a few funnies I have heard. Some are duplicates from Facebook but I want to make sure they make it into the blogbook so I apologize for the repeats.

We were driving home from a birthday party of the boys BFF from up North, Kennedy. Very seriously Colin says "Mom, I don't know what I am going do. Two girls want to marry me" I say "who Kennedy and Reese?" He says "yes. I know what I will do. I am going to close my eyes and dream about it". I say "Ok." A few minutes later he says " I think I know what to do. Wait? Can I marry both of them?' I said "No, well at least not in NJ". He says "Ok, I am going to have to thiMy more". Ciaran chimes in "Mom, I will marry you" At the exact same time Colin and Cormac say "she's already married"

Ciaran stayed home sick from school. After 5 hours alone with me and Calleigh he says "Mom, I really like being home with you but I am getting Yonley for my brothers". I knew he misses them. Colin and Cormac on the other hand were just fine at school.

My mother in law was ripping up the old mail. Colin says "why are you doing that?" She says "because I don't want anyone to be able to see my personal information" Colin says "what, you don't want everyone to know you are on a diet?" I nearly spit my drink out on that one!

Colin: Dad, I could really use an after dinner mint. That bread sure was garlicky.

Cormac: Mom, your skin is very dry like mine. We both need dry skin therapy. (apparently, Cormac read the lotion bottle!)

That's all for now. Hope you are enjoying your New Year. We started our New Year with an ear infection for Ciaran...Boo

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

I want to wish you all a Happy, healthy and peaceful New Year. 2011 brought many changes to our family. It had lots of ups and downs. Highs and lows. We moved to a new place. While we love living at the beach and our new school we miss lots of people and things from our old town.

Calleigh started walking in 2011 which is a huge milestone. She is now RUNNING! She continues to make huge steps in her development and we know she is going to be fine. I am praying we have no set backs in 2012. We still are waiting for the second hole in her heart to close but we are pretty sure it won't close on it's own at this point. I don't plan on fixing it until she is a little older but I don't have full control over the decision. I am hoping to avoid it until 2013.

Ciaran was diagnosed with hearing loss in 2011. To say it came out of left field is an understatement. We are still dealing with the diagnosis. Ciaran has done really well considering his age when he had to start with hearing aids. Some days he says he hates them. Some days he says nothing. We take it day by day. His hearing has been stable since his diagnosis so this is a positive. He is doing well in school and is a pretty well adjusted kid. Ciaran prefers math over reading and has a real knack for it. His reading is coming along just fine but he doesn't really enjoy it.

THE NEPTUNE was FDA approved in 2011. This is really life changing for Cormac. As the worlds first swimmable processor it will give Cormac access to sound he has never heard before. He will hear in the bath for the first time. He will hear in the pool for the first time. There will be a lot of firsts for Cormac once we are able to get our hands on the Neptunes. We are praying we can get them approved by our insurance. I plan on taking lots of video of him experiencing all these amazing "firsts" with his Neptunes. Cormac continues to amaze us with his speech and language. He loves school. He is fully reading. He has lots of friends. He plays soccer and basketball. He is just a typical kid. This makes me sooo happy.

Colin continues to make us smile with his sweet little personality. He is never without a compliment for me and anyone else. He thinks many things are "beautiful" and gorgeous". He still gets upset because according to him "there is nothing wrong with his cochleas" and that makes him different from his brothers. He doesn't like they get to get special services from the Teacher of the Deaf at school and he doesn't get to go. He is a smart little bugger. He surprises me with how much he actually knows.

Much love to all of you in 2012!

What did you get for Christmas?

We got bronchitis! Well, not actually on Christmas day but all four are coughing and miserable. It stinks to spend their vacation sick. I guess it's better than them missing school. Calleigh had to go to urgent care on Tuesday night. She was running a high fever, coughing like crazy and just plain miserable. Our pediatrician is closed on Wednesdays so we couldn't the next day and I could tell she was getting worse. With her history, I didn't want to mess around. The last thing I needed was another was for her to have a seizure or something

The boys luckily aren't running fevers. They just have coughs and congestion. You can tell by their eyes they are not themselves. Tonight I gave them some cough medicine before bed to give them some relief. Last night, I could hear them coughing all night long and they got no rest. I am hoping with a good night's rest they are feeling better in the morning. Calleigh is on day three of antibiotics so she should feel better too.

We did have a marvelous Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Our family is blessed in many ways but most of all we are blessed by the people in our lives. We could not have better family and friends who love us and support us and do things that leave us speechless. I will write another post about that when I have some more time.

I will leave you with these two videos. If you are my friend on Facebook I apologize for the duplicate posts of the videos but these are too darn cute not to put on my blog!

Cormac singing Joy to the World. He still amazes me.



Colin playing piano like he actually knows how to play! Watch Cormac's foot in the very beginning. Colin is hilarious.


Santa brought soccer poppers.....

Ten on Tuesday

We went to see Santa at Macy's in NYC and to Rockefellar Center to see the tree. Here are ten pictures from Friday. My Mom and mother in law went with us. Four adults to four kids. Excellent ratio. The boys were amazed from beginning to end. The train ride into "Cormac's city". The pedicab (or death mobile), the lights, the window displays at Macy's and Lord and Taylor. And we saw Santa. He was awesome. And don't you know, an hour later we were walking down 5th Avenue and Santa (yes, the same Santa from Macy's) was outside and he said to the boys "Hi boys, remember you. I took a picture with you about an hour ago. AND he remembered what they wanted!!! It might have been one of my favorite days ever....

Here are TEN pictures for Ten on Tuesday.

Church Play

We took part in the church play on Sunday. Kindergartners were either angels or shepherds. We were three shepherds.



I made the costumes myself and I was pretty thrilled with how they turned out. It was very simple and thanks to my Aunt Lee (who gave me the pattern) I was able to make them. Cormac did the braiding of some of the twine. The kid loves to braid for some reason.

Here is a clip of them singing. Can't tell you how cute it was. They are not smiling while they sing but between songs they were smiling. It still never gets old I have triplets up there singing away and even more one of them is deaf! Years later I am still amazed at how lucky we are to have the technology that exists today!



They only had three days to learn all the songs. We didn't quite learn all the words to every song but they were pretty close. They weren't you most popular songs.

We only have a day and half of school and then we are off until after the new year!! I am so excited. We are going to have a lot of fun. We are planning on trying ice skating for the first time. We are having a play date with our favorite girl, Kennedy, who we have not seen in way too long.

An Inspirational couple of days

I was blessed to head out to Advanced Bionics on Wednesday. I am a volunteer mentor for them and we were going to get some training. I am also the co-chapter leader for the Bionic Ear Association for the New York/New Jersey Chapter. We are still ironing out the kinks to get our chapter up and running but I have lots of faith it will be very successful.

I cannot say how thrilled I am with our decison to choose Advanced Bionics. I have never looked back after our decision. We have had nothing but success. We get such support from them. When you go to a training session it is so inspiring. To see so many recipients or parents of recipients leaves me in awe. It also gives me time to meet with other parents. We can bounce ideas off each other. We can talk about the future. We can talk to those with older children and learn from them. I can talk to parents of younger children and hopefully encourage them along this new journey.

I truly feel we are just one big family. I know it sounds hard to believe but unless you have experienced it you could not understand. When I call customer service I usually speak to the same person. Well, that person works upstairs in the building and we get to meet and chat with them. I can't think of many companies who make themselves so available. From the audiologists to customer service right down to the CTO/CFO. Yep, that is him below in the pictures. He made himself available and had dinner and spent several hours after dinner just sitting with us and talking about anything and everything. It was so amazing to be so close to someone who makes decision that literally change Cormac's life and all of our lives.




I loved getting to see some old friends from all around the US and Canada and loved meeting some new folks. We have so much in common. We have all travelled a road we never thought we would travel. My life is richer for knowing all of these people.

The real show stopper of the training was The Neptune. This is the worlds FIRST SWIMMABLE PROCESSOR!!! To say this is life changing is an understatement. Cormac will be able to hear in water for the first time......EVER. He can swim, he can bathe (he is dying to know what it sounds like when the water runs over his head. He told me he KNOWS it makes a noise but he just can't hear it). He can play in the snow without worrying of it falls in the snow. He can do anything around water, moisture, dust. You name it and it's covered. On top of that it runs on a triple A battery. We will never be anywhere where we wont have a battery. I mean, you can always find a battery.


Check out the video below.


Cormac will have lots of fun picking out his color choices. He already asked if it come in pink. LOL He wants blue for sure he said. He literally wakes up every morning asking for the Neptune. I so wish we had one now for swimming lessons. It would be so much easier. We are counting the days until January until it is available. We are also praying insurance will cover it....

I just want to Thank everyone at Advanced Bionics for all they do. They asked questions, the recipients answered and they produced it. Most people said they wanted a waterproof processor but they didn't want to sacrafice sound. Well, now we don't have to!

Ten on Tuesday

1. I am leaving for California next week! Very excited to see some awesome people I haven't seen in a while. I will miss the kiddies but I am sure they will survive without me. Frank will be home for the days I am gone.

2. I am in serious need of a haircut/style or something. I am just sick of my hair. It is always horrible. That said, I don't know where to go down here so I have to figure it out.

3. I have the final IEP meeting on Wednesday at school. I am pretty sure we are not going to get approved for the services I requested. I think it's disgusting children get penalized because they are enrolled in private school. The town you pay taxes in still gets money for your child. We are saving them money by NOT sending our kids to their public school but the funds are not available for them in private school. I could go on and on but it's pointless. I guess we will see on Wednesday.

4. I cannot get over the unbelievable weather we are experiencing in the Northeast. We have been outside riding bikes and playing at the beach almost every day. It is so amazing. The kids don't even need winter coats at this point. We are taking advantage of every minute.

5. Frank is off on Friday. I am so looking forward to him having some free time. We have a ton or organization to work on in the house. Having a few hours with him home and only the baby with us will be very productive.

6. The tree lighting in town is on Friday. This is our first year in the new town. It sounds very fun. They have a choir, activities for the kids, Santa arrives on the firetruck and it all ends in the gym with hot chocolate and desserts.

7. The boys started basketball two weeks ago. The gymnasium acoustics are horrible. Not to mention 26 other kids and their parents all in the gym. It is the first time really ever Cormac has said he couldn't hear and got upset. I could tell right away he couldnt hear the coach. He was following along for the warm up but was about a second behind because he was doing what the other kids were doing and not hearing the instructions. It made me very upset. He then got upset and said he didn't want to play. Frank went on the court and helped him (there were other dads helping coach so he didn't feel singled out) and he was much happier. One of the girl coaches came over and gave him lots of one on one attention and he was quite happy! I am planning on bringing home his FM system for the weekend and letting the coach wear it so it doesn't happen again.

8. Cormac was evaluated by the SLP for the county. We finally got the report. I found one statement so amazing "Cormac's speech clarity was so clear after talking with him an articulation test was not necessary" I love this statement.

9. Ciaran needed the articulation test which did not surprise me. He has good speech but some of his sounds are not perfect. All the sounds he struggles on fall directly in his range of hearing loss.

10. My new favorite picture:

Santa Landing and things that still amaze me....

Yesterday, we went to see Santa arrive by helicopter at the oval. We weren't sure if he would come in the helicopter or a firetruck and much to the delight of hundreds of children he arrived on a helicopter. The looks on the my kids faces was PRICELESS. Santa was waving from the helicopter. To see such pure joy is such an awesome experience. The only drawback was it took him almost two hours to walk around and see all the kids. The kids just ran around and played but it was tiring. I had to send Calleigh home with my Mom for her nap. I was left with my niece and nephew and the boys. My niece, Cailan, told me she is pretty sure I have magical powers or am a miracle worker to be able to get all the boys to listen! She is only 9 years old and is so funny.

When the Big Man FINALLY got to say hello to us. They boys along with my niece and nephew.


The boys and the elves.


Cormac and the elves. He was the first to ask if he could take a picture with them.


The smooch


Me and the Smooch.


Waiting....


The next few are when they first say the helicopter with Santa. Priceless





A few more while waiting!




On a CI note, I am still amazed after all these years. Here are two moments from yesterday. My niece asked Cormac to play the alphabet game with her. (She is nine) asked "How do you play it?" She said "I will say a letter and you need to say a word that start with that letter". He says "Ok. Let's play". She went on to name all 26 letters. She could not stump him. He said a work for every letter. She never had to repeat herself. Not once. My niece is the sweetest girl and she couldn't believe he couldn't be stumped! So then Cormac says "now it's my turn to say letters and you say the words"

Calleigh was sitting in her high chair drinking out of a sippy cup. It was making a strange whistle noise when she was drinking. It was so quiet. Cormac was sitting at the table and says "what is that quiet squeaking noise I hear?" AND he only had one implant on at the time! LOL.

Let the Christmas Season begin!!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE it!

Ten on Tuesday

1. I am so happy it's getting close to Christmas. I LOVE Christmas time. It is probably my favorite time of year.

2. I am enjoying our unseasonably warm weather. We have been so lucky to be getting so much time to play outside at the beach and playground.

3. Calleigh is a chatterbox. Literally, overnight she has become a parrot. She repeats everything We just need to work on her using her words to get things now. She is totally into naming everyone at this point. She can say her name which melts my heart when she says it.

4. The boys are so much fun at this age. They want to just learn and learn. As I type this they are all on their Ipod touches. They are all playing educational games. Not because they have to but they want to. It makes me so happy.

6. Frank had a birthday. The boys made him a crown to wear. He wore it all day. He watched footbal wearing it. It made the boys day. He is a great Dad and puts the kids happiness before anything. We are lucky to have him.

7. We have a half day on Tuesday and off for the rest of the week. So looking forward to all the days with the boys. We are heading to Insectropolis on Wednesday. I get creeped out from bugs but the kids will love it.

8. The day after Thanksgiving we will be heading to see Santa for the first (of many) times. He flies in by helicopter and it should be fun.

9. With Thanksgiving on Thursday I am thankful for so many things. I am hoping to write a post for Thankful Thanksgiving with all the things we are thankful for in our lives (including the kids. Should be interesting what they say)

10. I have a question for all my CI moms. I will blog it soon. Just looking for your thoughts on something.

What makes you different or special?

This question was asked of the boys as part of their homework. We had to read a poem and then we were supposed to ask them what makes the special or different. I was very curious to see what reponses I would receive.

Somehow I figured Cormac and Ciaran would answer with something related to their cochlear implants and hearing aids. I was wrong. Neither one of them mentioned it as making them different than others. Interesting, surprising and wonderful at the same time.

Colin was the only one who mentioned them and said he was different "because I don't have anything wrong with my cochleas and dont wear anything on my ears."

Cormac said he was different because he had blonde, curly hair.

Ciaran said he was different because he had different colored blue eyes.

I think they were talking about being different from each other as triplets not as different from their peers.

Why am I deaf?

Yesterday, at my Mom's Cormac asked me "why am I the only deaf person in our family?" He has never asked before and I could tell he wasn't upset. Just curious.. So, I told him "Daddy and I both have a very special gene (I told him about genes and he seemed to get we are made up of them. )and when we both gave them to him and he was born deaf." He said, "oh, ok" and smiled. Then I explained we gave him cochlear implants because we wanted him to be able to hear all the people who love him talk to him and so he could talk with us. He said "I love having my implants. If I didn't have them it would sound like it does when my magnets are off all the time". (For those that don't know, without his magnets he hears NOTHING. ZERO) I said "Yes, it would. What is your favorite thing to hear?" He said "the ocean waves crashing to the shore and the sound of you and Daddy's voices"

Just in case I had any doubt about our decision (which I did not) he reassured me he is a happy hearing kid!

Not so Wordless Wednesday

An unseasonably warm week. We have been taking full advantage of the last few days when it will be so warm/


Here are a few memorable statements from the terrific trio.

A few weeks ago Frank and I were going out to meet some family to see a band at a local bar. The boys were asking where we were going. I told them where and they asked "what is a bar?" I told them it was where they make adult beverages. Probably not the conversation I should be having but I was kidding around with them telling them we were going to dance. Anyway, this weekend I was going to a gift auction at a country club to raise money for the school. Ciaran looks at me dressed and ready to go and looks at Colin and Cormac and says "I can't believe Mom is going to Barber AGAIN. I wonder how many times she will go to the Barber" After a huge chuckle I was thinking if he starts telling other people Mom and Dad go to barber alot they won't think much of it. LOL

I posted this on Facebook so if it's a duplicate sorry.
Colin: what's a f*ckaneer? Me: what did you say??? Colin: I said what's a f*uckaneer? Me: do you mean bucaneer? Colin:yes..you know they wear those hats. What are they? I think I nearly died from laughter when I walked out of the room.
I am still laughing about this one. If you could hear his voice it was priceless.

Ten on Tuesday

Ten words I currently love...

1. Tank you (not spelled wrong)

2. Ciar Ciar (Short for Ciaran)

3. Purple

4. Lobster

5. One Two Three

6. Blue

7. Eight

8. milk pease

9. Baby

10. Did it

It's been a long time coming but Calleigh is finally adding new words every day! It's so exciting. It seems like it's all clicking. She has amazing receptive language and now the expressive language is coming along. Not sure why it's taking so long but I will take it!

Great way to start the weekend

Yesterday, when I went to pick up the boys from school another Mom (who I don't know at all maybe have said hello once or twice)came up to me and says "I saw this picture and thought "Are you also a model as well as a Mom to four kids?"



After the shock wore off I kindly said Thank you and no, that is definitely not me!! It was probably the nicest compliment I have received in years (except for yesterday when someone gave me a compliment about Cormac...you know who you are ) I guess I don't really look as bad as I think I do when I go get the kids. LOL

Manasquan Water Taxi

This weekend we went rode the Manasquan Water Taxi. They usually are open for business in the summer and you can ride the taxi between several bars/restaurants on the water. I had done it years ago and it was a lot of fun. This year they tried a Pirate Cruise. (nothing like the Pirate cruise we went on for the boys birthday) You ride the boat (adult beverages are served if wanted)to Treasure Island. Once on the Island you go on a nature hike/treasure hunt. You "find" a treasure chest as well as a pumpkin patch. Such a cute idea. It was a little cold on Sunday but still worth it. The kids had a blast and Frank enjoyed the adult beverages :)

The Island we went to brought back lots of memories because when I was in my twenties we used to go to the same island by boat for the day and enjoy way too many cocktails with lots of good friends.

Something I also noticed and was even surprised by. We were sitting on the back of the boat. We were going pretty fast and it was very windy. There was also music playing. I was able to have a normal conversation with Cormac who was sitting two people away from me. I didn't need to yell. I could just talk to him. Even with all that background noise he was able to have a conversation. Pretty darn amamzing.

We will be back again next year for sure. If nothing else, we go so wonderful pictures!