Apraxia Walk…. its coming soon!

I am excited to announce that I will be assisting in co-coordinating our annual Apraxia Walk here in the Tampa Bay area this year. I am partnered up with some other pretty fabulous apraxia mommas to help pull together the best year yet.

In preparation for this walk which has grown every year since its beginning 4 years ago we have a lot of work cut out for us. I know I will forget about fundraising for our own personal team Ari’s Armada. So I am trying to get ahead of the game and raise some funds early! I am hosting a Pampered Chef party on June 1st in honor of my little peanut and to help get her team off on the right foot. I know many of you LOVE their products and probably have a secret wish list made out in your mind already. Here is your chance to pick up a few items to help out your kitchen and most importantly help our kids find their voices. If you are interested in helping our team here is how to do it:

Click on our consultant’s site here PamperedChef

Click “Shop Online” and type in Elizabeth for the host name.

Click my name and then you are in to begin shopping.

Its THAT easy. You don’t even have to leave your house and come to the party although you will miss out on some yummy food I guarantee! If you would like to come to the party and are local please just send me an email using the link on the sides and I can provide more information there.

Thank you all for your support of my little Angel Ari and all the other kiddos with Apraxia out there!

The Meeting

IEP meeting was today.

For some of you the dread that leads up to these “official” meetings is well known. However to me this is only my 2nd one. I was really grateful it was held at my daughters preschool in a comfortable environment *beyond the small chairs that don’t fit our adult bottoms at all* It was scheduled at a convenient time for me to attend even though I only had about 4 days notice. I read and prepared the best I could and went in ready to fight. Well, I didn’t really have to. Last year they were really adamant about not “labeling” A’s Apraxia and kept referring to it as simply an articulation issue. Yes she does have articulation problems as a result of her apraxia however Apraxia is its own beast. She will not progress in therapy that is not suited for an apraxic child. She won’t fit the “textbook speech therapy kid” in the school setting. This year I went in and the word Apraxia is ON HER IEP! What? That in itself is a small victory.

I brought up the thought of having an AAC evaluation for A. They listened and seemed to agree that it may be beneficial for her once she enters the public school system however they don’t do those evaluations until they enter the public school system (kindergarten/first grade). I can work with that however I will ask again next year *smile*

She is keeping the same amount of services 60min/week and I am working to have them split them up into two 30 min sessions vs 1 60 min session. I was able to get it scheduled on opposite day of her current private therapy which is a benefit for her as well. Its better for kids with apraxia to receive shorter sessions more often throughout the week.

I was also persistent in requesting them consider her for extended services in the summer. I was pleasantly surprised when the SLP represented there agreed to look into it and speak to her past SLP and new SLP who is taking over. She really was concerned with why she wasn’t yet considered due to her speech disorder. It was nice having someone who understood and took it much more seriously than it had been taken in the past from the transition team. I am a naturally trusting person so I am prepared to go into this new IEP year with hopes for more success and goals met. I just hope its enough for A to feel success in her classroom setting as she begins the VPK program in the fall.

April : Birthday, IEP time, and Awareness

April brings my littlest little’s birthday. This year she turns 4. I’m blown. Cannot believe she has been in my life for 4 years. 4 years is the length of a high school career, 4 years = a bachelor’s degree (for some people), 4 years = the term of the President of the United States. Funny to mention the President, cause A has learned his name and recognizes our President. Its pretty funny to be watching TV and during a news story she yells “Obama”. Always takes me aback a little but hey, its progress! 4 years ago as I was preparing to deliver a little baby girl into this world I had no clue what lay before me. All I knew was that I was over this whole pregnancy and ready to be on maternity leave for 6 weeks. I get a little sad around birthdays, I think it’s just nostalgia for the days when they were little and lovey and we could cuddle for hours. Ari still cuddles ALOT and I LOVE every minute of it.

This week A began a new game. She kept trying to feed me and would say, “You my baby”, “Mommy you my baby” and I would pretend to be her baby. It made me start thinking about how other little girls her age would probably play this game with their mommies. I am sure it would entail much more conversation then what ours does. I have to feed the words to her in order to keep the game flowing, I “cry” and ask for a bottle so then she gives me one, or I ask for food, or toys, or a story. The only spontaneous beginning from her is “you my baby”. We also have begun pretending to be a puppy. This is probably my favorite one because she “woop, woops” around the house until you give her a “teet”  *woof, woof / treat* Last night I thought my daughter might never reemerge from puppydom but she did. I don’t remember X playing the pretend games that she is starting to play however he’s not really that kind of kid. Much to analytical and realistic, so I don’t have an age range to compare her games to.

This week brings her IEP meeting, I found out yesterday that it will be held on Wednesday. Nothing like time to plan for it right? I think I have one chance to connect with her private SLP to get some help with some goals and then I get to go in fighting for more therapy time from the school system, of which I have had a less than stellar experience with. We are getting a new therapist this week as well at school. #3 in less than a year. I am so thankful for the opportunity to use private therapy because without it I know that we would not have the progress we are seeing in her. I hope 4 is good to my girl. I have lots of hope for more words, longer sentences, more attempts and self-confidence to grow in her. I pray she thrives this year and as we begin VPK in the fall that she is able to keep up. I recently read an article on AAC usage for apraxia and while I won a really great AAC app last year through Tobii SonoFlex, it was too big for my girl at the time. She didn’t have the vocabulary base to understand the pictures, words, ect at that time. After reading the article this week I pulled out the app again and began to customize some of the easier buttons and began working with A to learn how to use those basic words. Today she told us “I want doughnuts” with it first thing in the morning. She loves the “My name is Arianna Lopez” and “I am 4 years old” buttons, oh and can’t forget “I have 2 cats”.

While she can tell us her name “Aweeana Yope” most people wouldn’t quite get it. She can’t tell us her address or her birthday because it’s so “much” information to recall in clear speech. This app will open many opportunities for her to use those longer sentences and share more with us as she gets more familiar with it and how it works. In other news CASANA announced that this year we will finally have our own Apraxia Awareness Day as recognized by the government on May 14th! SOOOO Exciting. Progress Baby! Bring some awareness to a lesser known speech disorder that affects way more kiddos than you can imagine. You can check out the facebook page for some more information and share with everyone you know! Apraxia Awareness Day

Easter Fun

So Easter is definitely one of my favorite holidays that our family celebrates. I love this time of year spiritually and all the fun of the holiday, especially coloring eggs. The kids decorated eggs yesterday and today I took them to Epcot with my mom for a little family time. Right now Epcot is celebrating their annual Flower and Garden Festival and this year have added in food. So fun. During spring break my husband and I went alone for a few hours and sampled something from each country. Today I just hit up the faves from that day! I thought it would be fun to share the pictures from both times with you to enjoy! Some are flowers, some are food, and some are just fun! Enjoy!

France : rattatouille

Morroco

Morrocco : Lamb/Couscous

Japan: Frushi

Italy: Lobster & Asparagus

Germany: Potato Pancake and applesauce

China: Candied Strawberries

Florida: Watermelon Salad

holding up God’s golfball

Egg Hunt ticket ready

Eggs!!

my favorite find

“Take my pika mommy”

Orchids

? but its pretty

Mexico

and … we’re out!

Days 20/21/22/23/24/25/26/27/28 and 29 – Blog Challenge Quick Catch Up

ok so now I am WAY behind on this challenge BUT I refuse to skip a day. REFUSE! So I shall lump them all up in ONE BIG maybe longish post. Here Goes:

Day 20: What do you collect?

I am not a collector of much. I am pretty good at tossing stuff I don’t use often however I do collect Starbucks City Mugs. I have some from various spots around the globe now, thanks to various friends, and family who travel much more than this momma. I am thankful to those who are so kind to save some suitcase space for my little mug boxes Thanks especially to Grandma who brought some back from Japan and China *my most treasured ones by far* I also collect Starbucks Holiday ornaments since I began working for the company which is pretty cool to have. I actually had to buy them their own little tree to display them on this year!

Day 21: Biggest Fear:

By far my biggest fear is anything creepy, crawly or pretty much anything that flies. You name it and I will squirm. I absolutely HATE spiders and REFUSE absolutely REFUSE to go into one of those bird aviaries. Those terrify me which in turn makes my son laugh at me. Little stinker.

Day 22: Home Alone …what to do?

Well upon the rare chance I am home all by my lonesome, I generally use this time to catch up on all my dvr’d “trash” tv and all the shows my husband makes fun of me for watching. RHOBH and Project Runway typically. It’s not often that I do get time alone but it is treasured when it happens! Also this season of P.R. I miss Michael Kors and his snappy comebacks. I also think they need to send Layana to pack up her work space. She is driving me batty!

Day 23: Do I have a hobby?

No I do not have a hobby, I have some things I enjoy but for the most part the closest thing to a hobby for me is playing a video game. I am not very crafty and I hate to bake *I do like to cook but hate baking*. I enjoy photography and that could sort of be a hobby but I haven’t been very good about remembering to take my camera along with me when I am out and about. I should try to do that more often…:)

Day 24: Most embarrassing Moment:

I have a quite a few embarrassing moments. The top ones that come to mind are …. tripping over a curb at Disney and landing flat on my face in flowers and dirt in front of the “cool kids” of our church youth group during a Night of Joy event when I was about 14. MORTIFYING. Tripping over a tree root on my way to 6th period my sophomore year of High School and ripping my tights, scraping my knee and getting dirty, all right in front of the Jr boy I had a crush on. He laughed at me for the next year. Jerk. Borrowing my brother in laws car to run to the store and forgetting to take the emergency brake off, I reversed into the air. He still doesn’t let me live that down 8 years later. :/ falling on my butt into dirty grease trap water at work when one of our pumps broke and I slipped. (it’s not the worst thing in the world however I was in khakis and thus had a brownish, blackish bottom until I got home to change. I often say things that come out wrong and in turn the customers laugh at me while my face is turning varying shades of pink to red. Its my life. I’m sort of used to being a little mortified at least once a month

….. Well this is moving along nicely.

Day 25: My location is pretty nice. We don’t live in an actual neighborhood, its more of a suburban rural typish area? We have a really large yard for the kids to play in and the weather is pretty fabulous most of the year besides May-August. Those months tend to be pretty dreadful. HOT and HUMID. However its pretty and we are right between the beach and Disney World so 45 minutes to two of the best places in Florida

Day 26: Favorite Food

My all time favorite food that I can eat any time is sushi. I LOVE sushi. I credit this love to my friend Christy and her then boyfriend who introduced it to us at a little tiny sushi spot near our downtown area. Yoko’s. We loved it and for a while that was the only spot we would hit for a night out. *all pre children of course cause its a little pricy* Now its like every two months or so that we splurge and go out for sushi. I can’t wait for my kids to get a little older and introduce them to this love of ours. I also really love cheesecake and that is also something I don’t eat often but that’s because it is ridiculously high in calories and sugar. BUT its tasty!!!!!

Day 27: Top 3 Online Friends who I want to meet in real life.

I don’t really have any “friends” per se online that I don’t know in real life. I suppose I could say I would like to meet some of my favorite bloggers in real life. I would like to meet several of the apraxia moms that I follow simply because of our link with apraxia. I would love to hear their kids and see where mine may be in a few years! I would also love to meet Jess from Diary of a Mom and Jeneil from Rhema’s Hope.

Day 28: Guilty Pleasure:

I guess one of my favorite guilty pleasures is thrift store shopping. I love it. I have fun not only getting deals but also people watching. Some of those people are INTENSE! I also like to hide my Reese’s from the family and sneak them every once in a while and they don’t know where they are coming from. However this generally incites an intense seeking game for X to find my hiding spot so then I’m off to get a new one.

Day 29: Favorite Time of the year:

I used to really enjoy fall (LOVE the weather, the decor and the smells of fall – well the “fake” smells cause florida doesnt’ really offer any new smells beyond dead fish every once in a while. However fall now means the dreadful Holiday season is just around the corner and work becomes ridiculously busy and no matter how well you plan and hire for it, it’s still busier than last year so, now I don’t enjoy fall as much. I really enjoy spring though. Its warm enough to enjoy the beaches and water parks but not as hot as summer gets so you can still really have a good time and not sweat to death on the trek to water. I love spring colors and decorations too. Easter egg dying is one of my favorite things to do with the kids and this year I introduced them to those little plastic sleeves that you put around the eggs and dip in the boiling water to seal them to the egg. Those are my absolute favorite since I was a kid. I thought they were so cool and so does my son now. I shall be on the lookout for some more after easter to just “do for the fun of it”

Day19 – 5 Blogs I read on a Regular Basis

This is one I have been looking forward to. I love to share my favorite other blogs with people and here is an EGGcellent opportunity to just that. *sorry had to, its almost Easter*

My very first blog that I ever found and followed is completely INSPIRING to those in the special needs community. Her name is Jess and she shares her life with her two daughters, Brooke and Katie and her hubby Luau. She shares the happy moments and the heart breaking moments, the ones that make you laugh out loud and the ones that make you cringe. She is REAL and such a fantastic writer. Please check out Jess over at Diary of A Mom and btw thats the post that lured me in and made me cry BUCKETS for days when we were so in the dark as to what monsters were lurking in our closet.

Not long after discovering Jess I was introduced to an absolutely beautiful woman both inside and out who inspires me also! Not only in the spiritual realm but also the specials needs world as well. Her posts are often simple and short but so beautiful. I always feel such a beautiful peace of mind when reading her words. Please take a few moments and visit Jeneil, Hope and Rhema over at Rhema’s Hope

Well 2 down….who next ? Recently I have discovered Ann Voskamp’s Amazing Blog which is also completely fabulous and has great music too She shares her life not only in words but in fantastic pictures which depict gorgeous scenery, beautiful families, and just the simple things in life! Check out her life over at A Holy Experience

4. For some real life parenting and laughs, inspirational stories and warrior-like tendencies you cannot go wrong with Glennon Melton at Momastery. She is a really amazing woman with a huge heart for doing good for others.Through her words I am reaffirmed that “We can do hard things”.  I have met this fabulous woman in real life through one of my other favorite writers Melissa Wolfe who happens to share her gifts over at He Hung the Moon. Melissa is one of my closest friends who consistently inspires me to be a better person and who keeps me blogging by sharing her inspirational words with the world.

Enjoy and please share some of your faves here or over at the blog challenge!

Day18 – Where I feel the Happiest:

Where I feel the happiest? Uhm…I’m a woman and this changes almost as frequently as traffic lights. Not really but sort of.

I am sometimes happiest at home enjoying family time or “mommy alone” time when kids and hubby are all in bed and I get the TV to myself!

Sometimes I am happiest at Disney with family and friends

Often I am happiest in my car driving to my destination with music of my choice and windows down enjoying Florida’s sometimes beautiful weather!

Currently my happiest places are probably wherever I am when my little A spits out a new word or phrase or simply when I understand her completely the first time around. That makes me extremely happy! … oh Apraxia. My favorite 7 letter word.

 

Where are your Happiest places?

 

 

Day17 – When/Why I started “Blogging”

“blog”. I think this is quite a weird sounding word. I don’t really like it. However I love reading other blogs and eventually decided I would make one of my own. I began our journey in October of 2011. My “Why” was to share our story about Speech Apraxia and how it lives in our family. For those who are newer to reading my/our story, Speech Apraxia is a neurological condition that affects the motor movements needed for speech production. In short we discovered that our little angel, A had some delays and began the process to find out the WHYs behind them. What we learned in the process was way more than we ever thought but we have gained so much over the past year and a half since diagnosis that I am eternally grateful for all the pediatricians, neurologist, and therapists who have played a part in helping us help our daughter. This blog is to share our story and perhaps help others or just teach them a little more about the wonders of parenting a differently-abled child *my preferred term for “special needs”*

I hope you take few moments and look through some of the posts and let me know what you think. Here is the beginning and few of my favorite posts from over the past year and a half.

Pretty much all of November’s posts

2 Words & Officially Ours

Happy Anniversary to My Parents

Journey to a Miracle are a few of my favorites. Hope you all enjoy and please share why you started your blogs if you have one!

Day16- Biggest Accomplishment

Many have shared their biggest accomplishments and while I definitely consider my husband and family MAJOR milestones in my life I don’t quite feel they are accomplishments as they are all still works in progress.

I have thought on this for a while now and I have come to decide that my biggest accomplishment so far has been completing the Disney Princess Half Marathon in 2010. I plan to run in the 2014 Half as well and perhaps one later this year as well.

I am not an athlete AT ALL. I am the girl who broke the same foot three times before I was 16. 3 times. Same foot. Different spots in the foot though I am clumsy, fall alot, trip, stumble, crash. I really should not compete in sports for the safety of others. I also tore ligaments in my other foot during middle school by tripping on a tennis ball. Yeah. Real agile one my parents bred.

I began running after I had my daughter because a friend was doing some 5ks and convinced me that they are fun and its a fun thing to do. I don’t really find running “Fun” per se however I enjoy the feeling of accomplishment once I am DONE running. I am not sure what possessed me (besides my friend Christy possibly inhabiting my body for 30 minutes or so) to enter the Princess Half Marathon. We had to be there SOOOOO early, like 4/5am – it was COLD and DARK and there were about 70,000 women (some men) milling around getting into their start positions for the beginning of the race.

It definitely heated up quickly as the sun came out and probably around mile 10 I began to think I had lost my marbles to do this thing. I was determined to finish and finish I did.

My fabulous husband and kids and my mother in law, and mom were all there cheering me on! My mom went on to Epcot later that day with her sister for some real fun while I laid around nourishing my poor body and feet. My husband and his mom even made a sign to greet me at the finish line. It was really awesome and I am super duper proud of myself for accomplishing something that I never thought I would.

For those of you who do run often and like races, let me tell you Disney does them RIGHT. So organized and planned out. Great medals and goody bags! and fun characters around the race cheering you on (note army men above) It is worth the money to splurge on a Disney race for those who can!

What is your biggest Accomplishment?

Day15 – Awesomesauce

Awesomesauce…or “What Makes me Awesome” : Kind of a strange prompt (IMO) but I will concede and follow through on this day 15 of the blog challenge.

10 things that make me Awesome:

 

1- My Husband (his love, support, and understanding help make me a better person)

2- My Parents : They created this Awesomesauce Monster! Thanks Mom & Dad

3- My kids : X & A bring out the best and sometimes maybe the worst in me – Love you kids!!!!

4- My easy going attitude

5- My super fast texting ability

6- I am dependable

7- I am loyal

8- I am friendly and will talk to almost anyone

9- I know random facts about leprechauns (and lots of other stuff)

10- I play video games!

What makes you awesome??? Please do tell!