I love surprises! LOTS of PIX!

Many of you most likely are my Facebook Friend and know the gist of this post :) Last week my mom offered me some of her frequent flyer miles so Addy and I could go to California to celebrate the amazing Zoey Grace's birthday! I wanted to surprise her mom, Heather, and it worked! I didn't tell anyone besides her daughters and husband that I was coming :) I didn't want anyone to spoil the surprise!

We arrived late on Friday night and came home late last night. I actually climbed into bed at 4 this morning! We had a 3 hour drive from the airport and I am beat! I went to work on two hours sleep and functioned extremely well! Now, not so much! Hoping I can make it through The Biggest Loser tonight before I hit the hay but that's doubtful! lol

I cannot express how much I enjoy hanging out with the Needham family. They are absolutely amazing. You know when you have a true friend, that you really connect with. Heather and I are like that, our girls are so similar :) they are extremely special little girls! Heather is phenomenol, she is constantly on the go and is an amazing mother. Her children are all rockstars in my opinion! Her older girls are so sweet and are fantastic with their little siblings! You can tell how much they all love each other :) I sat in LAX yesterday with tears streaming down my face because I didn't want to leave! Heather said she WILL come here! She better!! When she does, I expect as many of our Midwest friends to come and visit too, we'll have a blast!!!

The pictures are just a small recap of our whirlwind weekend, enjoy the amazing cuteness!

Charlie, Zoey and Addy playing with the Ipad :)
The girls had lots of hugs to give each other :)
Addy like Charlotte's Barbie guitar! How cute is that!
Addy loved Zoey's mirror so she could watch herself sing with Elmo's microphone!

Heather had errands to run on Saturday to prepare for the party but took time out to drive me down the coast so I could see the mountains and put my feet in the sand for a bit. I absolutely love the ocean!

How adorable is that Charlotte??? She played Ring Around the Rosie with Addy :) It cracks me up that Addy is five and Charlie is two and they are the same size!
How beautiful is Miss Zoey??? I LOVE LOVE LOVE her!!!

Carter kept asking if he could take Addy home :) He's super sweet!

Heather getting some Jax lovin! Addy calls him "Jacksey" :)

Extra Chromosomes only Please!


Addy and Taylor :)
Going in for a hug on Joe
Addy and Arina :) We called her the little Ukrainian tornado!!! That tiny little thing is a busy, busy girl!!! She tackled Addy three times! Full body slams, that girl is tough! Mine is quite the little weenie! lol

We also had the honor of meeting M.E. What an amazing young lady!

Talk Tools Evaluation

Addy and I went to St. Louis on Thursday for an evaluation with a Talk Tools specialist :) I am so thankful that we were able to do this!!!!

The evaluation took two hours and I was really afraid it was going to be a bust. Addy was not herself the entire ride up there! Fortunately she was completely herself once we were there! I only have video of the evaluation and for some reason when I try to upload it I only get sound!! Working on that!

Basically I wanted to go to have another opinion about Addy's feeding concerns. She has made progress but is still significantly behind where I think she could be. I love Addy's therapist and have no intention of leaving her. This was just so I knew what we should be working on at home.

Even though I am a speech pathologist, I am a complete novice when it comes to feeding. I have NEVER had a feeding class (wasn't required when I got my degree 16 years ago!) and I haven't worked with feeding issues. I have used the Talk Tools program multiple times at work, however, I have found that if there isn't carryover at home, it's pretty useless. I use it with my students that need a lot of oral motor work. I have seen great results with my kiddos with Apraxia.

In all honesty, I haven't thought much about Addy's oral motor skills because it's obvious she has low tone and has oral motor concerns. I just have done a few things here at home to help the sensory issues Addy has in her mouth. I feel like a failure as a mom and SLP for her right now!!!!

I haven't recieved the report yet, which I was told will be very lengthy!, however, here is the gist of what I learned :) Addy has such signficant feeding issues because she is a difficult feeder for two reasons. The first being the obvious, low muscle tone. However, Whitney (the therapist) said that Addy's jaw is so low tone and weak that she absolutely does not have the skills to eat at this point. The second problem is that she is hypersensitive inside her mouth. So the plan is the stop oral feeding except when she is at feeding therapy. Addy does pretty well with liquids so we will be using her Honey Bear straw and work on drinking skills with thick liquids because she enjoys it and does not fight it as much as pureed foods. She wants us to continue because this will continue to help her, however, we must strengthen her jaw first and foremost along with desensitizing her oral cavity. I knew this but was NOT thinking of this when it came to Addy. I think in Mommy mode with her and not always SLP mode! ...

Why are we expecting Addy to eat scary food that goes down her throat that could make her gag and choke when she doesn't even like the spoon in her mouth???? Well, we are going to change that. We will be teaching Addy that having things in her mouth is okay! We will be doing a lot of exercises with the horns and straws, bubbles etc. to teach her that things inside her mouth is ok! We will be doing lots of exercises to strengthen her jaw so she will be able to control food once it is in her mouth :) Whitney also made note that Addy's max is 4. 4 blows of bubbles, 4 toots on a horn etc. After 4 her lips started turning blue. I don't think this has anything to do with being sick recently and neither did Whitney. It's just her low tone at this point. Addy does not use her mouth and head separately from her body. To blow it takes the movement of her whole body to do so. Little girl has LOTS of work to do!!!!

I cannot wait to get Addy's report with the detailed information about what we will be doing daily to help her! I am also on the lookout for a new seat for her to "eat" in, she's in a highchair right now and she isn't sitting at the right angles. I did know this and just told Scot the other day it was time to move her to a booster seat. At least I was thinking SLP mode for that!!!

She dances :)

Yesterday afternoon Addy's dance teacher called me to let me know that the girls were dancing during half-time at the JV basketball game tonight! Addy hasn't been to dance in over a month since she was in the hospital for two of the days, we traveled to St. Louis the next and we had a snow day this week! Jennifer is so sweet and wanted to make sure that Addy was included even though she had NEVER heard this music or seen the routine :) Jake was singing The National Anthem before the Varsity game so we had to be there anyway so I said she would be there :) I'm so glad I did! Addy's precious little friend, Halle, who is too cute and sweet for words was sooo excited to see Addy! They hugged and hugged :) I told Jennifer that we would have a better chance of Addy participating if we could leave her shoes on and she was totally fine with it :) I did at least put on her sparkly Chucks for the occasion :) Addy was too cute!! She waved her arms a little bit like the others but mainly just stood there and smiled and waved :) We were thrilled she was at least vertical this time!!! We are so blessed that Jennifer is in our lives and loves and accepts Addy for who she is and loves to work with her :) I can't wait to see what the Spring recital will bring!

Busy Girl!

Addy's been a busy girl! We didn't have school Monday or Tuesday due to snow but went back right into party day :) Addy had a blast at her Valentine's party :) It was a Hawaiian Luau theme :) She rocked her hula skirt!

A little cookie decorating :)

Addy toddled over to her friend's table the other day and proceeded to pick up her Capri Sun and start drinking away! Needless to say I immediately bought her some and she has been doing fantastic drinking them! When this girl sets her mind to something she goes to town! She doesn't drink much, but it's a HUGE milestone for her! These are tiny straws! One of the last we present when working on straw skills!
The kids also got some mini bananas. Look what she did! Looks great huh?!?! Well after getting a minuscule amount in her mouth she immediately threw that banana across the table!


Addy loved the knocking down the Red Solo Cups (which Addy kept singing during the party! lol) They had heart shaped marshmallows and were supposed to throw them at the cups. Addy put hers on top of the cup and started clapping :) You rock sister!

This was a toss the fish in the basket game. Addy changed it to, walk up to the basket and put the fish in it, then clap wildly game :) How I love this girl!

Bowling with coconuts :) Some of our boys were pretty powerful with their tosses! How we didn't have coconut milk all over I have no idea!

This is Ms. Debbie :) One of our most favoritest people ever!!!

Tonight was the first of several kindergarten transition activities for the class of 2025 :) We went to Taste of Hubble for our first event. Addy had a paper with a bus on it to collect stickers on at all of the places she visited. Since Addy already attends Pre-K at school she was very comfortable! She had to walk a REALLY LONG WAY though and it definitely tired her out. That's going to be an issue next year. Hopefully by then she will have more stamina but those hallways are super long for those tiny little legs!! We are beginning Addy's evaluation for kindergarten as well. I'm not too worked up about numbers, I get it. I'm pretty sure we won't have a completely accurate picture of Addy's abilities but you never know. It just depends on the day! I know there are several things that we want for Addy's kindergarten year. I'm not going to get into them now, that's for another post after her eval.
Addy and Abby :) She's our Computer Lab teacher :)

Walking and walking and walking down those long hallways!

Addy and Nurse Vicki :) She's going to get to see her everyday! Tube Feedings ;)

Awful pic, but Addy riding the big bus with Daddy :)

My girl is going to kindergarten :) Bring it on!

Getting Dressed

We have really been working on Addy's independence lately. She always wants to do things herself, however, her size and lack of motor skills impede her progress. Since she will be going to kindergarten in the fall, independence is super important. So... she is responsible for hanging up her coat and backpack and putting her snack away at school. We had to give her extra hooks in her cubby, she was too short to reach the other ones :) She has a difficult time using both hands together and tries so hard to hang her things up one handed. Once we get her to use both hands she can usually do it.

At home we are working on her dressing skills. She can take her clothes off pretty well but putting them on is more difficult for her. The other day I put her in the family room and tossed her clothes to her to see what she would do. She always tries to dress herself but I usually have to intervene :) Check her out :)
Whoops, this is my shirt, not my pants!










Ta Dah!!

You go girl!

Don't forget! I am trying to get free 31 Gifts products so I can do a give away for Reece's Rainbow :) Check my previous post or click HERE to order away! Items will be shipped directly to you! Things are able to be personalized and they have so many cute patterns! I love their stuff! If you order $31 worth of products you get 31% off another item so think ahead for adorable gifts!

31 Gifts :) Updated :)

If you haven't heard of 31 Gifts you are missing out! A very good friend of mine, Amy Pena, is a consultant for this wonderful company! They are a Christian based company too which I love! Amy and I share a classroom and it's quite dangerous for me! I love their stuff! I finally broke down and scheduled to have a party on the 21st of this month. I never have parties because no one usually comes! However, I am throwing this out to my blog world community to order online :) I am hoping to earn a lot of free products so I can host a give away for Reece's Rainbow :) THIS MONTH'S SPECIAL IS SPEND $31 GET 31% OFF OF ANOTHER ITEM! THE MORE YOU SPEND THE MORE YOU SAVE! $62, 62% ETC!!!

I'm attaching pix of all of my products (and my new favorite, my new lunch tote!) that I have and some others that I think are great! I would LOVE to have an organized pantry like this:

My new insulated lunch tote :)



Addy's lunch tote that holds her big shaker of formula and all of her feeding supplies, including a can of formula if we need it.

Addy's "diaper" bag :)



I use this bag everyday, I LOVE it!

This is my big treat! It's a rolling tote, it has been very handy for all of my little trips!

Unfortunately this pattern is discontinued, but it looks oh so cute in Addy's playroom. I have two of these that hold play doh, markers, chalk, sensory stuff etc.

LOVE these to hold toys!

My Large Utility Tote! I love this thing too! It holds sooo much stuff! It is perfect when we go to the pool or lake, holds towels, sunscreen, snacks etc :)

Addy's dance bag :) It could easily be her backpack but we keep it all for dance stuff right now :)

So click HERE and order away! Things will be shipped directly to you! Think ahead and order gifts! You won't be disappointed, these products are wonderful! The more you order the more the more will be in my Give Away!!!

Here are just some pictures of other items just to give you an idea :) The complete catalog is available on the website :)