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

Things have been pretty busy around here. The end of the school year is coming up and I think we are sorta in the middle of another transition phase and so we've all been pretty cranky! The kids are having tough days at school and I'm having a tough time knowing how to support them. I think being a parent is tough. I remind myself daily that God gave me these two kids because we were meant to be a family. None of us are perfect, but we are all 3 perfect for each other. I need to remind myself that God knew this bump in the road would be there. I am turning to Him, begging him to show me how to be the best momma I can be to these two amazing children. I often feel that they are short changed. But, again, I remind myself, God doesn't make mistakes. Please don't get me wrong, we are OK. It's just a small valley that we are going through, another phase of life, and each transition is just another step that we take as we mature and grow. I am thankful for all ...

I don't have really anything to say since we've done NOTHING this whole weekend! Jaryse has an ear infection and was having a really hard time Friday and Saturday so we have just stayed in the house (for the most part, except for the quick run to the grocery store----gotta feed the munchkins!). I don't feel guilty for "wasting" 2 whole days. Nope. I. Don't. The three of us have lounged around the house, messed it up, watched movies, tickled each other, taken naps, eaten junk, and all and all just been a family. This is priceless to me. Sometimes I feel like I should do more. I should have a cleaner house, I should work out more, I should read more to the kids, I should do more speech therapy with Ecrissa, we should ride bikes more, we should...we should...we should. But the truth is there are really only so many hours in a day. And it's weekends like this one that remind me that the only real thing we SHOULD do, is be a family that loves each othe...

Whew! I finally got that to work! I was having issues getting this very short video on the blog! But, I did it! I would apologize for the video not having any sound, but it doesn't matter, because there was not really any sound in the room anyway! Everyone was signing Happy Birthday and it's so cute! I will apologize for only getting the last part of the song, as they started so quick and I wasn't quite ready with my camera, but it's cute anyway! Enjoy!

Ecrissa woke up this morning like no other morning in the past few months!!! She woke up with a huge smile on her face and knew with no uncertainty that today was her day!!!! I always decorate the kitchen table after the kids go to bed for special days, so she knew that the table would be something special.  This is what she found!  A table full of presents for her!!!  She smiled and put both hands on her heart!  After school she opened all of the presents! And at school we had a small party for her at the end of the day.  It was so cute!  All of the kids are so close and they take such good care of each other!  I had such a fun time being in the classroom and watching her communicate so fluidly with her classmates!  She was so happy to be the center of attention and the other kids were glad to give her the attention.  Such a wonderful thing to see! We ended our day with a family dinner at Chuck E Cheese's and the kids had a BLAST!!!!...

When I have the energy to blog.   There is something about Thursdays that are hard for me.  Nothing to do with what is scheduled for the day, it's just the day!  I think that it's not quite Friday (so I don't have that pre-weekend adrenaline--mainly my weekly goal of PJ Saturdays!) and I'm already exhausted from all that is shoved into Sunday - Wednesday.  I've always had a hard time with Thursdays, as far back as I remember, through high school, college, grad school, doctoral program, Haiti years, and even now that I'm back in the States.  Thursdays should be banned!  However, God strengthened me today!  I don't know why, but today was a great day, I had tons of energy, the kids were great, I got a ton done and now I even have the energy to blog!  Hopefully I don't crash tomorrow!!! Anyway, this has been a great week for us.  Monday and Tuesday were my later nights working and the kids stay with babysitters.  They had a blast w...

A couple of weeks ago, Ecrissa had a really rough time.  The new hearing, the new input, the sounds, the demands on her had just pushed her to her limit.  I felt so bad for her, but during her 45 minute tantrums, I still got a headache!  The past two weeks have been really good.  She is handling things better and has made some wonderful progress over the past couple of weeks.  She is now 11 weeks after hearing her first sounds, that is just about 3 months.  It is expected that she will respond and develop in her hearing and language at the same rate as an infant would do so.  So, she is expected to be functioning like a 3 month old baby in terms of her listening, hearing and language skills.  She is doing that.  She seems to be developing nicely.  I am so thrilled.  I know that we have a long road ahead of us, but each step of the way she continues to amaze me. Jaryse continues to crack me up!  He is always doing somethi...