Way back Wordless Wednesday!

Here are pics from today's date May 27th 2006. That would make them 7 weeks old.


All three ready for a walk...



This is how we rolled....


Cormac


Colin


Ciaran

A great day (Tuesday)

Today was just a great day. We didn't do anything special. Went to the gym and the kids just love it there. Did a little shopping and when we got home we played. Old school playing. We had a full out water gun battle on the front lawn. It went on for a very long time. I swear I thought at one point I broke me ankle running away from the tree maniacs who teamed up on me to triple attack me! It was made even better when Frank pulled up after work and they attacked him too.

We rode bikes and skooters. We played with worms and roll polly bugs. We wrote and drew with chalks. We had car races. We blew bubbles. We met a new neighbor who is 3 years old out for a walk with her grandmother. The boys invited her over again next week.

Considering how busy and crappy Monday was it was so nice to have a simple day. Monday the boys had school, Calleigh had an appointment with the orthopedic doctor, we had lots of errands to run and the amount of phone calls I had to make regarding insurance and doctors visits was frustrating to say the least. (Calleigh needs additional physical therapy, the orthopedic doctor also recommended UCBL's for her and I had to find some one else to see Ciaran for his hearing aids). I will post another post about Ciaran. I am so aggravated with Hackensack Audioligy I cannot even tell the story right now. Needless to say, Ciaran will have to wait another two weeks for hearing aid which is beyond annoying.

So, having a wondeful Tuesday sure made up for a frustrating Monday!

And I wanted to thank everyone who offered comments on our new journey. Your support and advice is so very helpful and appreciated. Whoever sent me the link the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's hearing aid guide for children a special thanks. You didn't leave your name but that sure is awesome information. Thanks so much.

Ten on Tuesday

Ten reasons I am upset about Kindergarten. (We graduate from Preschool on June 1st)

1. Well, the first is simple. I can't believe I will have three Kindergarteners. How on earth did it go so fast? Did I make the most of the very short five years I had to spend with the kids before school gets in the way?

2. Full day Kindergarten. Why? They have years to spend in school. I would prefer 1/2 day but it's not an option. Both the public school and private school have full day.

3. Homework is sure to start.

4. We will no longer be able to do stuff "while all the other kids are in school". We will have to squeeze stuff in on weekends and vacations. Hate that.

5. Our summer will be shorter next year. Preschool gets out much earlier and starts later. Just means less time with my boys.

6. Someone else having so much time with my kids. I know they will be in good hands but I rather they were my hands.

7. Packing lunches 5 days a week. UGH!

8. Sort of dreading the ironing of school uniforms.

9. Two IEP's instead of one now :(

10. See #1

Not sure why this is so upsetting to me but it is truly making me sick to think they will be gone so much. I really enjoy and relish the time with my kids. I am sure having some time on my hands but I would prefer to be with my kids.

A morning at the mill...

We spent some time Saturday morning on a hike at the mill. We went with a treasure map Colin recieved in the mail from a real life pirate! (Also known as my good and talented friend, Cristina) I of course had to hide some treasure along the way and then we had to "discover" the mini treasure chest filled with a few pieces of candy and some gold coins.









It was a fun and exciting way to spend the morning. Every day is an adventure with this family of mine!

The mystery continues

I got the genetic results back Monday for Ciaran and Calleigh. They are both carriers of connexin 26 and have one of the genes. It takes two genes to be affected. Cormac has both so he is deaf. I am having mixed emotions about the test results. It's awesome for Calleigh. She is not showing any hearing loss at this time so we are confident her talking will come in time. As for Ciaran, I don't know what to say. Why does he have hearing loss? Not knowing is difficult. I am hopeful whatever it is remains the same and it will not be progressive. With connexin 26 it could have been progressive loss. This is a positive but the not knowing why is what gets me.

Ciaran had an MRI on Wednesday to check out the structure of his ears. This requires anesthesia. He did fine with the "sleeping potion" (his words, not mine). He just wanted to get a hot dog off the hot dog truck when it's over. A small price to pay for a scared 5 year olds happiness. He wasn't awake 5 seconds and he asked for a hot dog. I have to say when I went into recovery and saw him still out from anesthesia it made me cry. He looked like such a big boy all of a sudden. I just counted the minutes until he opened his eyes.

His hearing aids will be in next week. It's a new adventure for us. I have no clue about hearing aids. Hearing aids and Cochlear implants are totally different. I am pretty well versed on the implants but am clueless with hearing aids. I have lots of learning and lost of questions. Luckily, one of my blog followers (emmaverdona) wears Safaris and I know help is available (how do you listen to Ipod touch???) Cormac just uses regular ear buds or headphones but that's not possible with hearing aids. A friend of mine also has a child wearing safaris and she could not be more knowledgeable on hearing aids.

So, the mystery continues. Maybe the MRI will reveal something but I doubt it. We should have results on Friday. Further genetic studies could be ordered.

Ten on Tuesday

Ten things that have been said to me probably 10,000 times:

1. Are they natural? (I have never met a unnatural child but, ok)

3. You sure have you hands full.

4. God only gives you what you can handle.

5. Everything happens for a reason.

6. Don't worry he/she will be fine.

7. Are they all your kids?

8. Better you than me. (yep, if you feel that way I am glad it is me)

9. You had triplets and had another? You must be crazy.

10. Are you done having kids?

I could probably easily do Twenty on Tuesday with this topic. Pretty much all of them are pretty annoying but I have grown used to them and have plenty of witty combacks!

Mother's Day

This post never got posted for some reason


My Mother's Day went great today. It started off with breakfast in bed made by Frank and the boys. Scramled eggs, taylor ham and hole wheat toast! All my favorites. They had picked me out beautiful flowers and an awesome Super Hero card.











My Mom and Richie came for dinner which was cooked entirely by Frank. I enjoyed a few cold ones which really hit the spot.




For me, every day is Mother's Day. My children are the greatest blessings. Every day is not easy but every day is rewarding. Every day is a new adventure. The worst day at home with my kids is better than the best day in an office. I have my days of insanity and not so great parenting but we have way more good days than we do bad days. My life is full of love and laughter every day and I have my fabulous children to credit.

And talk about rewarding Mother's Day. Read below..... What more could I ask for?

I am giving Calleigh a bath and out the window in the yard I hear Cormac say "Dad, I hear the beautiful birds chirping. Do you hear them?" Brought a tear to my eye. Never gets old to hear your deaf child point out sounds he hears because of amazing cochlear implants!

Ten on Tuesday

1. It is ridiculous an insurance company can tell you they will pay $1,000 every two years for hearing aids. So, $500 an ear. Try and get a hearing aid for that price. We have amazing health insurance and I am shocked this is what I am being told. If he qualified they would cover bilateral implants at NO COST to us. I don't understand why his being able to hear with hearing aids should be treated any differently. I knew the coverage was different but this is really upsetting to me.

2. Calleigh has appointments with the lip surgeon, the ENT and audiology today. Yep, three in a row. They are all at Columbia so it's better for just one trip. We will see how she does. It will be tiring for her.

3. The new roof is complete and they finished in one day.

4. They are predicting beautiful weather all week. This makes me smile.

5. I am still waiting the genetic testing results on Ciaran and Calleigh. I really am hoping to hear something this week.

6. The boys delayed birthday party is on Saturday. I might be more excited but they are very thrilled.

7. Ciaran's appointment with audiology went well. Not sure if we will stick with the same audiologist. I don't think we will see eye to eye. We ordered him Oticon Safari's. He wanted green. We wound up with a neutral color because he can put green stickers on them and we go green ear molds. I didn't want him stuck with green for a few years.

8. My usual upbeat attitude about medical conditions has been hard to maintain the last few days. I hate that Ciaran now will need hearing aids. I hate not knowing what his futre holds. Oh, and I hate the amount of worrying that goes along with another kid who is responsible for THOUSANDS of DOLLARS worth of stuff. I am constantly checking Cormac now I will be checking Ciaran. Trust me, making sure I have all four kids is work enough.

9. Calleigh is standing more on her own and letting go. A step in the right direction but I don't think she will walk by her second birthday which was my goal. This saddens me. She is more frustrated lately. She wants to be out playing but she can't walk and I don't always want her crawling all over. It is heartbreaking to watch.

10. Our beautiful Robin's nest still holds two eggs and no babies. I can't wait until they arrive.

And It's only 12:15 pm

Today went something like this....

6:30 am wake up and take shower. Boys wake up and watch TV for little while.

7:30 am Feed boys and get dressed for school (at 9am)

8:30 am go to get Calleigh in her room since i try and let her sleep as long as possible. Calleigh and her crib covered in vomit and poop. Head to toe for Calleigh and top to bottom of crib.

8:35 am pop Calleigh in the bath and get her dressed.

8:45 am grab lunches and backpacks and load the Fab Four into truck

8:55 Arrive at school to drop off Colin and Cormac since Ciaran has to be at audiologist at 10:00am

8:57 am Cormac decides he does not want to go to school and starts to cry. Not his usual behavior. I think it had to do with Ciaran staying with me. I had to leave him crying and hysterical with the teacher assistant.

9:45am arrive at then ew audiologist for Ciaran.

11:15 am leave audiology and drive home.

11:30am Calleigh vomits in car all over car seat and herself.

12:00 arrive home and clean her and car seat as best I can since I have to pick the boys up in 30 minutes and cant wash and dry the seat in time.

12:15 pm TYpe this post!

So, what did you do before noon today??? LOL

Wordless Wedneday

Ten On Tuesday

1. The boys all got an Ipod touch. (Not from me but a combined effort of generous family and wonderful friends) I am thinking I am going to lose my mind trying to keep track of all of them! But I have downloaded only educational games and they are loving them. Cormac's TOD is getting me a list of good listening and speech games as well. They will be great for both Cormac and Ciaran. They are having fun the cameras as well.

2. Cormac saw his TOD for the first time in over 2 weeks today due to Spring Breaks and illness. He was excited to see her again. We chatted for a while and have decided for next year Cormac will only do 1 hour per week instead of two. He is doing awesome and doesn't need anything else. I like ( I mean LOVE) having her meet with him each week because I know he will stay on the amazing track he is already on. She did suggested we use his other hour for Ciaran. It didn't cross my mind he would need therapy but it can't hurt to track him and see if he is losing any of his sounds.

3. Calleigh will see the orthopedic doctor, the lip surgeon, the ENT and audiologist next week....do I need to say more?

4. It will be three weeks since we saw the genetic doctor and I am waiting patiently (NOT) for the bloodwork to come back on Ciaran and Calleigh. It can't predict their futures but for some reason I really want to know.

5. I think Spring might actually be here...I am almost afraid to type it for fear it will go away!

6. We are supposed to be starting the new roof on the house this week. Hoping it happens. Built in entertainment for the boys.

7. Colin, Calleigh and Cormac can't get enough Clementines. I mean you have to buy them by the crate and we are going through them like crazy. The love the "little oranges"

8. We are growing our own strawberries. Wish me luck. This is a first.

9. Our apple tree survived it's first winter. Doubt we will see apples this year but it would be nice.

10. The Robin Red Breast nest in our tree for the past 5 years was ruined this year with all the snow and rain. I am happy to report they built a new nest even better than the last one. We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of the babies. We have done this every year.

11. I had to add this...as I was typing about the nest a bird just flew into my window and killed itself! Luckily, it was not the mamma birdy!