Cheri Kay in Haiti....where my life became meaningful.

My goal today was to remain in my PJ's all day....I did it!  I was very productive around the house, but I was also a bit lazy at the same time!  The kids and I had a nice day hanging out, playing, doing laundry, watching movies, re-orgainizing a few things and just hanging out.  I am happy with this day!  What an amazing blessing to get to just hang out with my 2 little munchkins with no pressure to do anything specific. Ecrissa is doing well.  She is hearing lots of things and responding to them sometimes.  This is what we hope for.  We hope that she will begin to learn that sound is around her all the time and that it is something to pay attention to.  She doesn't respond to everything, but it's not expected that she would.  There is a change in her that I began noticing right away.  I noticed that her anxiety level has decreased.  Ecrissa has always had some issues with anxiety.  Many of her behavior issues stem from this...

As I sit here to type this, I can hear the deep calm breaths of my sleeping children.  They are nestled all cozy and sweetly in their beds, sleeping so peacefully.  I am filled with Joy.  The sound of their breath in this quiet apartment overwhelms me.  I've had one of those days.  One of those days where nothing really went wrong, but it seemed that around every corner there was some sad story.  Children in Los Angeles that aren't recieving medical care, or therapeutic intervention.  Thousands of children that don't have homes and are in the foster care system.  Millions of sad stories coming out of Haiti.  And here I sit.  Or so it feels.  I work daily with children with special needs, and I poor my heart out to them.  I love them.  I pray for them.  I take care of my munchkins that I was so lucky to be given the opportunity to be their mommy.  I love them.  I adore them.  I would gladly give my lif...

Ok, so I'm a few days late!  But, the kids and I did celebrate Valentines day with luvs and hugs and candy and church and dance and lunch with Mia and Ashley!!!!!!  YAY what a great day! Both kids are doing great!  Ecrissa is tolerating her Cochlear Implant so well!  I'm amazed.  She seems to be interested in the sounds around her, although, not necessarily interpreting the difference between the different sounds.  We go back to the audiologist on Friday and I'm sure we'll learn more then!!!!  It's been a great week so far and I'm such a lucky momma!!!! 

This is Ecrissa today!!! She is such a trooper!  Look at that smile!  This is a smile that I've never really seen on her before.  I don't know how to describe it, but this smile is different!  This is her "sound" smile!  She seems so delighted by these noises!!!  So, I'm sorry for the delay, but here is the basic run down of what happened yesterday! Ecrissa knows the audiologist and the office and was quite comfortable to get out all of the toys!  This picture shows her taking out her left hearing aid, preparing for the testing.  She's such a big girl, she knows how to take it out and shut it off!  She's learning so much. This is the device, at this point the wire that you see is hooking the device to a computer, allowing the audiologist to program the processor.  There are alot of technical terms and I'm not up on all of my Cochlear Implant terminology yet, so please bear with me!!! :) THEN......the BEEPS That was Ecrissa's face...

Ecrissa is 4 hours old.  That is how many hearing hours she has....roughly!  We spent 2.5 hours at UCLA today turning on her Cochlear Implant.  It was such an amazing thing to watch.  Right now, I'm exhausted and I can hardly keep my eyes open!  I'll blog tomorrow all the details of this amazing time that she and I had.  I'm just amazed at her!  We also celebrate 11 months home.  I am grateful everyday to the Lord for His blessings and today was FULL of reminders of His presence in our lives.  More tomorrow PROMISE!!!!  g'nite

So, today is another one of those days that I am remembering my life 1 year ago.  I'll actually never forget it!!!  The kids and I were still in Haiti, just a couple of short weeks after finally getting the signature that we had waited so long for.  I was having a good day, things were "normal" for us, but I was really hoping for a miracle.  I had kept my phone on me all day waiting to hear if their passports had been released from Haitian Immigration.  By early afternoon, still no call.  "Bummer" is what I was thinking.  I knew that this particular day was the earliest they would be released and that it was more likely to take a few more days, but I so wanted this miracle to happen!  I was driving through Petion-vile to go to do therapy with a little girl and had enough time to run a quick errand.  As I was driving, I looked at the clock, and realized that the government offices would be closing within minutes and since there was no call, th...