"Pretty School"

Well, after a couple of weeks of meetings and evaluations and many months of therapy, we now know our next step. Emily will be going into the public school system to receive group speech therapy two times a week for an hour and a half at a time. Basically, she's going to a speech-oriented preschool, or "pretty school" as Emily calls it.

Last Thursday, I took Emily for an evaluation to see if she would qualify for school-based services. I was pretty confident that she would, as Andrew and I can still barely understand her many times. The speech therapist for the school administered several tests to determine Emily's receptive and expressive verbal and language skills. The results were not surprising.

On the receptive language portion (language Emily understands), she was amazing. She had to miss so many questions in a row to stop the test. Last week she was 2 years, 11 months old. We were somewhere in the 5 year old category on the test and she still had not missed enough questions to stop testing, but the therapist said she thought she knew enough. Needless to say, her receptive language skills, far from being a hindrance, are a very strong strength.

On the other hand, Emily's expressive language skills are lacking. While she clearly understands far more than her age would indicate, she is quite difficult to understand due to poor articulation and letter substitutions. For example, spoon is "foon", sparkle is "fartle" (that one cracks us up) and Veggie Tales are pronounced "Wedgie Tales"...again, I kind of like that one! Still, all this adds up to about 50% intelligibility overall. Now, this might not be such a problem, but with such a high receptive language ability, the frustration level at not being understood when she understands so much is quite high. So we continue with therapy.

Normally, Emily would receive this either in a preschool that the public school services or in private therapy once a week, but she was recommended for the other class that is typically for older kids because she did score so well on what she understood, plus it was obvious to the therapist that Miss Emily could probably hold her own with the older kids. (No doubt about that!) Plus, factor in the fact that she is the height of most of the kindergarteners there....and she'll be just fine.

We got to check out her classroom and find out all the drop-off/pick-up info and so now we just have to wait until Emily is officially three years old. Emily seemed to like her classroom...there was talk of a sand and water table and that was all Emily needed to convince her that this was the place to be! She's excited and I'm excited because that gives me a whole 3 hours a week to myself....which, for the last 3 years has been unheard-of. Whatever will I do?.....

Moose Gas Bad for Environment

http://www.moosefoundation.org/moose-camp.jpg

Fox News is reporting that, according to Norwegian researchers, moose (ahem) "emissions" of methane are very harmful to the environment. Their belches and and, umm...toots, create methane in amounts equivalent to the amount of carbon dioxide emitted on a car trip of more than 8,000 miles. Factor in that there are more than 100,000 moose in Norway alone and that cows are also equally suspect, and we've got a pretty serious problem (if you're a Norwegian researcher who believes in this "Global Warming Crisis").

Now of course, we all know that America is the worst offender of causing global warming. I mean, we must be since we're the "great satan" and so technologically advanced and capitalists and rich and powerful. That obviously equates with "great satan" and "global polluter", right?

But I have to ask, if this article is correct and the moose and cows are so dangerous, why is America still the worst polluter? Wouldn't it stand to reason that India would be a pretty big contributer? After all, the cows roam free in the streets, worshipped as gods, while the people starve, but no one's blaming them for global destruction. Norway obviously has a disproportionately large number of Moose, probably second only to Canada, yet no one's blaming them either.

Huh...that doesn't seem fair.

Idiots!

Wild Wednesday Night

Well, it started out like any other day. Emily and I woke up, got ready for the day and then met with a couple of friends for lunch at McDonalds. Emily ate more than any of us (two adults and another child) and then we went grocery shopping at Walmart. Nothing too exciting there.

We had a hurried dinner around 7:00pm, but Em didn't eat much, claiming that her food would make her tummy hurt. I didn't press the issue, particularly since she was still willing to eat candy. At 7:30, I left for music rehearsal at church. Andrew had Emily duty and they watched videos together and then he put her in bed.

I got home around 10:00pm , said "Hi" to Andrew and then headed upstairs to change into my pjs with the hopes of going back downstairs, grabbing a cold drink and relaxing for a few minutes. It was not to be.

As I walked upstairs, I hear Emily crying a little, which really isn't all that unusual as she still fights bedtime. I changed into my pjs and got ready to go back downstairs, but something about the way she would cry for a minute, then stop, then start again...made me decide to check in on her. I'm glad I did. She was almost incoherent, rolling around, crying every minute or so and complaining that her tummy hurt. She was obviously not feeling good, plus she had a fever over 102. So I called Andrew up to sit with her while I called the Dr. to see whether we should get her checked out. After taking forever to get through, the on-call doc agreed that we should probably take her to the ER to rule out anything more than a tummy bug, especially since she was complaining that her tummy hurt to the touch in the middle and on one side.

So, Andrew and I took her in our bedroom, he held her while I changed back into my clothes and then I took my turn holding Em. Almost immediately, she vomited ALL over one side of me. Oh joy....but at least it didn't happen in her bed for once. So, we cleaned up as much as possible, I changed clothes again and we headed off to the hospital.

As we were turning into the ER parking area, an announcement came over the radio that we were under a tornado watch (did I mention that it was lightening and raining like crazy already) and that the counties around us were under a tornado warning (as in take shelter immediately). Oh Great!

So we parked in the garage, got out and I stood at the check-in window while Andrew held Emily. About the time that I was trying to talk to the receptionist, Emily started puking all over Andrew and herself again. Poor guy and girl. They had to sit there, covered in yuck, until we could get a room.

We finally got to go back and get Miss Em checked out. This included a temperature reading that wasn't so pleasant (if you get my drift) during which Emily kept crying, "Just put my diaper back on", a blood draw (her first) while Andrew and I held her down, X-rays and a physical exam by the doctor. Then we had to wait for a urine analysis. They wanted to know if she would pee in a cup...Yeah Right! We tried, and failed, at that. There was more vomit, more crying, more fever and finally a special "U-bag" to help catch her urine. If that didn't work, we were going to have to do a catheter....not anyone's idea of fun.

To make a long story short, after some tylenol that we forced her to take and finally some phenergan to stop the vomiting, it was determined that she just had a bad tummy bug. The phenergan was GOOD stuff, though a VILE smelling and looking green. It completely stopped the vomiting and knocked the poor kid out cold.

So all in all, we spent five and a half hours in the ER (from 11:00 pm to 4:30 am), had tornados raging just south of us and got vomited on. But at least Emily is on the mend again, after spending all day yesterday on the couch.

I can only imagine the next time we will have so much fun...oh wait, that'll be the day the bill comes!

Finally, Something to Make Life Easier

These are the new shopping carts at Meijer. For the cost of $1.00, I can rent a few moments peace and quiet while grocery shopping. Okay, so maybe it's not quiet, but there generally isn't much fussing and that is peaceful.

The new carts feature tv's that play either The Wiggles, Bob the Builder or if you're really really desperate, Barney. Emily loves the Wiggles, so for about 45 minutes to an hour, she gets to watch them while I shop. The $1.00 rental fee might seem steep just for a cart, but the proceeds benefit Riley Children's Hospital in Indianapolis and mom, right here at home, so it's a win-win. At least until the only cart available is Barney....

Just for Bekah and Beth

I really don't like to post pictures of myself, but I thought I'd share my alternative hairstyle with Bekah so that she would recognize me as I look on a non-theme-park, roller-coaster-blown, curly-haired normal day.

It's not the best picture, but there I am....curls all over my head. I don't know if I love it or hate it, but it's the look I have for now. I have grown to like the color, though I haven't had it colored since the end of June and the roots are not growing in much lighter.

Sometimes I straighten my hair....mostly when I'm feeling lazy, but usually I style it with curls. It's quite a change from long and straight, huh!

Disney: The Supporting Cast (cont.)

Crazy Uncle Peter, Aunt Jenny, Aunt Katy and Aunt Jen-Ball, riding with Emily on the bus.

Daddy and Emily on Small World. Em looks very thoughtful, doesn't she?

Dad and Mom, aka Andrew and Christina. Ignore the hair....

Emily and Pa, "hand dancing" while in line for Pirates of the Carribean. She slept through the ride.

Aunt Jenny, Uncle Peter, Aunt Jen-Ball and Aunt Katy (l-r) being silly on and adults-only night at MGM. Emily stayed with Grandma and Grandpa so mom and dad could have a break!

Disney: The Supporting Cast

"Bama" aka Grandma holding Emily line, with Pa looking on.

Aunt Katy, "Aunt Jen-Ball" and Emily on the bus.

Emily and Grandma sharing a chip at the Rainforest Cafe.

Emily and Aunt Katy outside the Rainforest Cafe.

Pa, patiently waiting in line for Dumbo...again!

Disney: The Rides

Riding Dumbo with "Pa". We spent A LOT of time on Dumbo.

Emily enjoying the "horsies" on the carousel.

The view on the way up the Everest roller coaster. Yes, I took it while riding!

The view of the Animal Kingdom, from the top of Everest.

The dancing dolls from the Small World ride. "It's a small world after all..." This was also one of Emily's favorites. I lost count how many times we rode.

Disney: More Characters

Cinderella and our Princess-in-training!

One of Cinderella's mice, visiting during our dinner/show in the castle.

A kiss for Mickey, during a visit at our dinner at Epcot.

Posing with the Stars and Stripes Mickey statue in the lobby of our hotel, Shades of Green. (For military families)

Emily petting Pluto's nose.

Disney: The Characters

We weren't sure how Emily would react to the characters, but she LOVED them. Here she is with her favorite, Minnie Mouse.

Emily, with Donald and Daisy

Emily and Pluto

Ah...a hug for Mickey!

Emily met Cinderella before dining in her castle on our first evening in the Magic Kingdom. I think she was awestruck. Could this picture be any cuter?

Disney: The Scenery

Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse, in front of Cinderella's Castle

The view as you walk through the gates into the Magic Kingdom

The most recognized golf ball: Epcot

Still at Epcot, the rainbow after the rain.

Disney's newest attraction, Everest. Very Cool!

She's Alive!

No excuses, I just haven't felt like blogging and I've been busy with being a mom to a high-maintenance toddler and hosting my family for a week. So there you have it. Everything here is just fine, for those who have been worried (Bekah and Janice!).

And so, for your patience and viewing pleasure...I present many posts full of pictures from our Disney World trip and the month of June!