my reader

Because I've added a lot of people to my blog list lately, I decided to put everyone on my google reader. A reader puts all the blogs you read in a list format that allows you to view new posts and eliminates having to click on each person's blog. I've saved a lot of time by doing this, but I recently realized that I haven't commented on anyone's blog for a long time, because the reader doesn't allow you to access that part. I love it when people comment on my blog, so I'm sorry that I haven't been commenting on yours. I'll be better.

it couldn't have been THAT easy

Three days ago I was putting Abby to bed and I couldn't find her pacifier anywhere. Brian and I combed the house looking for one (I mean, she has 3 or 4 of them) and we couldn't find a single one. So I took Abby into her room, read her a book, and then looked at her and said, "Abby, you're paci went bye-bye." I held my breath and braced myself for the worst. But instead of crying and insisting we find it, she looked at me, cocked her head to the side, scrunched her face up and nodded in sympathetic understanding. "Paci went bye-bye?" she said. "Yes, paci is gone," I replied. And with another nod she crawled into bed, rolled over into her "tuck me in" position, hugged Gigi, and closed her eyes as I kissed her goodnight.

She hasn't asked for it since.

Bye-Bye paci.

oreo time

Maybe we should have had oreos BEFORE baths.

Look at that nappy just-washed hair. Beautimus.

School Update

Abby is doing well in school, and she really likes it. The teacher's say she acts as though she's been in school for a long time, so I'm grateful that she's adjusted so easily. Her speech has actually noticably improved also. She attempts more three and four word phrases, but only when prompted, and she's gaining more speech sounds and adding a lot more endings to words. I can tell she's still not comprehending everything she hears though. However, with her recent hearing drop in her left ear, which Dr. Bauer called a "dropped like a rock" change, she's obviously not hearing very well right now. We are getting both Abby and Carter's hearing aids adjusted on Tuesday, so I'm excited to see how they respond.



The doc said that when one of Abby's ears reaches a 70 decible loss across all frequencies, that is when they want to look into cochlear implants. As you can see, she doesn't have much farther to go in her left ear, (represented by an 0 which should really be labeled X - my bad) and considering her ears have changed so drastically in a six month period, I have a feeling that CI's are in the not too distant future for Abby. We are okay with this, and actually look forward to the benefits that CIs can give our kids when the time is right.

I confess...

I am addicted to children's resale shops.

Yeah, and I'm proud of it too. It all started a few years ago when I was introduced to Divine Consign. It's a huge semi-annual consignment sale and you can get some really good stuff there. I missed the last one in the fall, and I was a little upset about it because around the same time I was noticing that Abby and Carter seemed to be wearing the SAME clothes as other kids their age, because we all shop at the same places. (ahem, a.k.a. Target) I mean, I don't mind my kids wearing the same clothes as everyone else, but it is nice to have a little individuality. So I checked out Once Upon a Child and Kid to Kid and now I'm hooked.

For example, The outfit that Abby wore on her first day of school is all from resale shops, except the shoes. Gymboree Shirt - $4, Genuine Kids Sweater - $6, JCrew Jeans - $8 (normally $50!)

I mean, how can you not be excited about cute cheap stuff like this?

today I love...

*Dr. Bauer, the very best pediatric ENT in the world. (holllaaah!)
*Scooby Doo Fruit Snacks - my favorite distraction tactic.
*Steamy hot homemade beef stew.
*That my kids actually wanted to eat stew this time.
*That Brian is coming home tonight from another week in New Jersey.
*That he wasn't on the plane that crashed into the Hudson.
*Facebook. I'm finding so many friends I haven't talked to in years.
*Ice cold water with crushed ice and a straw.
*Abby and Carter. They are being real troopers with this new school schedule, plus the ongoing doctor appointments, therapy, and hearing aid adjustments.
*24 hr fitness
*That Carter likes to take naps at 11am now. We had just gotten home from working out and I let Carter play for a while before putting him to bed. After I while I noticed that it had gotten awfully quiet, so I went into his room and found him asleep on Smashy, our stuffed gorilla. So sweet!



*Oh, and I also love those cheeks.

NPR makes my day

The other day I drove to a store that was 20 minutes away only to realize that I left my wallet at home. I was pretty ticked that I had done that and was not looking forward to a wasted drive home, so I turned on NPR, one of my favorite stations, hoping to find something interesting. They were doing a short story reading called "Babies Buying Babies" by this girl, an LDS New Yorker, and it was just what I needed to make my day. Oh, NPR... what would I do without you?

I know you'd like the story too! Click here to listen.

today's special

Did you know that PBS has a new version of The Electric Company airing this month? I can't wait to see what it's like! It brought back memories of some of the other shows that I used to watch as a kid. For some reason, I always remember a show about a manequin that came to life and a mouse and some other jumbled up memories, but when I ask people if they remember anything like that, they look at me like I'm crazy. So I did some research and found the show I was thinking about. It's called Today's Special. Anyone remember it, or did I just really date myself? Anyway, view the video below if you need a reminder. Children's television has come a loooooong way, huh?

what the heck?

Just found out that Abby's school is a "peanut free" school. No peanuts, no peanut butter, no snacks that "may contain peanuts," no nuthin. This is not going to be good.

the trains at northpark

first day of school

Well, my little girl started school today. For any of you new to my blog, Abby has hearing loss and has qualified to go to school full time at an early childhood school for the hearing impared for ages 3-6 in Plano ISD. She will be going five days a week, six hours a day, and will follow a normal school calendar.

We got up pretty early this morning, so she was a little out of it, but gave me a cheese to make me happy anyway.

It was a little anticlimactic when I dropped her off. We met the teacher, got some basic instructions, and Abby was off to play. She was a little confused at first, but when she found the toys she made herself right at home. I hardly got a goodbye out of her. But that's okay. I'd rather it be that way.

After we dropped her off, Carter and I headed to the gym, and after only being at home for 30 minutes, Carter decided to go to bed. So far everything has gone smoothly.

I hope Abby is having a good time.

My Favorite Songs of 2008
(in no particular order)

Single Ladies (Put a ring on it) - Beyonce
Love is Free -Sheryl Crow
Just Dance - Lady GaGa
One Step at a Time - Jordin Sparks
Womanizer - Britney Spears
Better in time - Leona Lewis
I'm Yours - Jason Mraz
That's What you Get - Paramore
Disturbia - Rihanna
Forever - Chris Brown
Shake It - Metro Station
Miss Independent - Ne-Yo
See You Again - Miley Cirus
Love Bug - Jonas Brothers
So Close (From Enchanted) - John McLaughlin

And the top 5 songs that made me want to gouge my ears out:
Fall For You - Second Hand Serenade
Bleeding Love - Leona Lewis
Viva La Vida - Coldplay
I Kissed a Girl - Katy Perry
And ANYTHING by Taylor Swift

What are yours?

cousin ben

Cousin Ben spent the weekend with us while my sister, Missy and her husband celebrated their 6-year anniversary. Ben is five months younger than Abby and he is such a trip! He talks non-stop, narrates everything everyone does, and then discusses in great detail what they just did, or what's going to happen, and always tells on himself when he toots.

Abby, Carter and Ben play very well together so we had a relatively painfree and uneventful weekend. Funny though, how jealousy kicks in when mom is suddenly giving attention to an outsider.

Anyway, we went to the park, played a lot outside, and went to the train exhibit at Northpark mall. Here are some pics from the weekend.

Oh, Abby. Why do you give me faces like that?

New neighbors moved in next door. They're a happy little family from a french speaking island somewhere. I can't remember where. Anyway, their little girl peeked her head over the fence to see what we were doing. So cute.

I have pics of our train trip, but I'm learning that the more massive photos I upload, the slower my computer gets, especially when I try to edit. I don't have the patience and its driving me insane. I've got to do something about it very soon or I might throw the computer out the window.

Baby Liam in Black and White

My friend just had her first little boy and me and Carrie went to visit her yesterday. Of course I had to take pictures. He has the cutest, roundest little boy face!

FLIP-Flop

Abby had an ABR (auditory brain response hearing test) done last week and we got some interesting results. Her previous ABR indicated that she had a mild to severe/profound loss in her RIGHT ear and a mild to moderate loss in her LEFT ear. Well, the new test shows that her right ear has actually improved and it is mild to moderate, and her left ear had dropped dramatically and is now moderate to severe - bordering profound.

We knew that their condition (enlarged vestibular aqueduct) can cause fluctuations in hearing, but I never imagined it could do this! I talked to the audiolgist about it, suggesting that maybe there was a mistake and they accidently flipped the ears and labeled it wrong, but she said in the more indepth testing results (not shown here) there is a way to tell which ear is which, and she said everything was done correctly. Sooo, we'll get her aids adjusted and just keep testing her on a regular basis and try and keep up with the craziness.

For any of you interested in learing how to read an ABR, it's actually pretty easy. The numbers across the top represent frequencies, or the highs and lows of sound. In the 500 hz range are deep sounds like a lawn mower, a big dog, a truck and low sounds like that, and also speech sounds like 'm', 'd', and 'b'. At 1000hz you can hear a baby cry, a piano, mid range music, and speech sounds such as 'l', 'a', 'o', and 'r'. Higher pitched sounds fall into the 2000hz range, like a clock ticking, a telephone ringing and speech sounds like 'sh' and 'k'. and in the 4000hz range are birds, whispers, and speech sounds 'f', 's', and 'th'.

The numbers up and down represent sound levels from loud to soft or "decibles." 0-10db you can hear the leaves rustling. 20-30 you can hear whispering or birds singing. 40-60 is normal speaking range. 60-and up you can hear sounds such as a chainsaw, loud music, a bullhorn, and loud percussive sounds.

Looking at Abby's most recent ABR (the one at left - the one above is from 6 months ago so you can see the flip-flop), you can see at 500hz (or lower sounds) she can hear any noise that register at 40-50 decibles in loudness. Then her right ear stays between 40-60db in the higher frequencies, and her left ear drops down into the 70's and 80's.

You can see how difficult it must be for Abby and Carter to learn language when half of the speech sounds are lost in their ears. I am SO grateful for hearing aids!

happy birthday abby!

Hey...!

Give me my hat back!

Need a good laugh?

Take a look at the pics of Abby with Santa last year. I don't think we're going to have the chance to see Santa this year, but these are memorable enough to last us until next year.

Mandie Loves Christmas

Random Fact #3

I'm a Dickens Caroler

For five years now, I've been a singer for a group called The Living Christmas Card. We dress up in fabulous traditional dickens style formal wear and sing in quartets for private parties, restaurants, etc. We have a repertiore of over 50 Christmas carols, many arranged specifically for our group. Of all the things about the holiday season, this is the one thing that puts me in the Christmas spirit the most. I am a hopeless lover of Christmas carols, and I feel very honored that I get to spread christmas cheer to others through singing.

wickedly entertaining and entertainingly wicked

We bought tickets for Wicked a few weeks before our trip to guarantee that we could see it. Its one of the hottest shows on Broadway and so tickets are pricey and hard to come by...but for good reason. The show is amazing! We saw it in Dallas a few years ago and it was awesome then, but there's just something about seeing a show on BROADWAY. Elphaba was incredible, and Ga-linda was hilarious! So we weren't supposed to take pictures in the theatre, (no flash photography) but I didn't use a flash. :)

Saturday we decided to try and get last minute tickets to see Spamalot. We stood in the TKTS line for almost two hours in hopes of getting cheap tickets. (That small angular building shown below is the TKTS place that sells tickets at a discounted price.) It was soooo cold. Anyway, Spamalot was a riot! Very inappropriate at times, but wickedly entertaining.