Our Journey To Norah & Our Exchange Student Annie From China.

Lazy Saturday

2012-02-11T18:11:00.001-08:00

Not really much going on today. We walked a couple blocks over to look at a house that has recently come up for sale. Then over to Starbucks to get some crack, also known as the Venti Chi Tea Latte with 2 pumps of pumpkin spice. Norah has been playing with her toys, Glen made fajitas for linner (lunch and dinner) and we both managed to get a short nap. Seems like it is turning out to be a pretty good day. Here are some random photos from recently around here.

"Fashion Disaster" day at school. Norah was not real sure about leaving the house dressed like this.

Norah showing off her outfit she picked out and that she did her own hair. I think she used a half a bottle of conditioner to slick it back.

Lori

Blue Skys

2012-02-07T20:44:00.000-08:00

The computer has been giving us fits lately. So instead of blogging we did what everyone else in Seattle did over the last week and spent a whole lot of time outside. We took some cheap kites and snacks and went down to the beach. I think every dog in Seattle was out with their owners. We also started an eight week Sign Exact English class and cleaned the carpets. Which reminded us both why we do not like carpet. Wood floors are high on our priority list when we start looking seriously for a house.
I found out that there are some words that I can not say at work because the southern accent does not translate well here. For example Fluoroscan (x-ray) sounds like fore skin when said with the accent to a bunch of northerners. You should have seen all the heads whip around when I said it and true to OR form I have been teased daily about it since the incident.
Norah got her first report card and I went to her first teacher conference. She is amazing ya'll! We just know that once she gets all the basics down that there will be no stopping her. In our signing class we met another deaf, adopted child/young man that was adopted at age 4 and is now 19. He went to the same school that Norah is at and is incredibly well spoken and articulate. Just one more thing to let us know that we have Norah in the right place.

Lori

Gung hay fat choy

2012-01-23T19:30:00.000-08:00

Happy Year of the Dragon!

We celebrated Chinese New Year with other families in the FCC (Families with Children from China). There were games, crafts, vendors, dancers, face painting and a lunch of noodles. Norah had a great time for over 3 hours at the celebration. We will definitely be going again next year.

The year of the dragon is supposed to be very lucky. We are hoping that some of that luck rubs off on us as we look for a house this year and keep our fingers crossed that Norah's speech and schooling continue to move forward at the same amazing pace. The only thing that could have made the day better is if the rest of our family had been here to celebrate with us.

Lori

SNOW!

2012-01-14T18:55:00.000-08:00

Well, there were rumors going around this past week that we would be getting some snow this weekend. About 10:00 this morning Norah came running to tell us that it was snowing outside. Really snowing! So we did what any other sane people in a tiny apartment would do. We suited up and went for a long walk to the grocery store in the snow. It was beautiful! The best part is that we were all home to enjoy it then it stopped after about 2 hours and started melting off. The grocery store was PACKED with people. Just like when it would snow back home. We picked up a fire starter log at the store because we thought that it would be fun to have a fire. This log was apparently dipped in somekind of stinky chemical. As it stands right now there is a smoking fire log laying in the snow out back and all the windows and doors are open and the fans are going. Do you think that the neighbors are wondering what is going on?

This is my first project on my new sewing machine that I got for Chirstmas. I am not a sewer so I picked something that I didn't need a pattern for or instructions. I think my next thing will be two big pillows for Norah's room.

Lori

Photo Friday: Disturbingly Funny

2012-01-06T13:37:00.000-08:00

Woke up to this in Norah's room.Wow!Glen says he didn't do it and I know that I didn't do it. That only leaves one more person.

Lori

More Zoo and New Year

2012-01-04T17:48:00.001-08:00

More pictures from the zoo and from New Year's Eve. We are not in any way big partiers. The only way that I was even awake to watch the fireworks being shot off the top of Space Needle was because Norah was crackin" out and would not settle down and go to sleep. Glen had a really bad day with his back and spent most of the day in bed or laying on the floor with his legs propped up. We did manage to get together with Mike, Melissa and Eli to let the kids play, the adults visit and to beat the snot out of a pinata with a rolling pin (cause we are flexible like that, no baseball bat, no problem just use the rolling pin.) On the New Year special from Seattle there was a deaf man that asked his girl friend to marry him. I know it sounds dorky but it totally made me start crying.

Norah isn't picking her nose (although she does plenty of that) she is thinking about how to put the puzzle together. She has gotten to where when she is "thinking" she taps her cheek with her finger.

Can't you just hear the theme from the Lion King?

When we couldn't get the pinata to crack open hanging in the tree we just put it on the ground and beat on it there.

Yeah! Candy!

After the beating of the pinata we all went out for mexican food. I think it may be a favorite for all of us. Then we had to say goodbye to our friends because they were leaving out the next morning and we were in no shape to keep going that night.
Glen and I did our best to try and talk them into moving here so that we can see each other much more and get to see Eli grow up. If not we are going to end up spending quite a bit of money on plane tickets over the years.

Happy New Year!

Lori

The Zoo

2012-01-03T16:07:00.001-08:00

We had a rare sunny (but cold) day, so we took the kids to the zoo. They ran all over for about 3 or 4 hours and we still didn't even scratch the surface on all the things and animals to see there. It was our 7th or 8th time to the zoo and we saw things that we had not seen before. We got there at a perfect time and were able to see the poison dart frogs and the gorillas get fed. Then we went to the penguins and the kids both got to feed them some fish.

We sure are missing Mike and Melissa and I think that Norah is actually going through Eli withdrawls.

Lori

Norah feeds the Penguins at Seattles Zoo.

2011-12-31T11:39:00.000-08:00

Seattle Aquarium

2011-12-30T21:48:00.000-08:00

We are having lots of fun running around with Mike, Melissa and Eli this week. Norah and Eli have really taken to each other and are enjoying having someone to play with each day. Having them all here has made our first Christmas in Seattle a special one.

Lori

Merry Christmas

2011-12-28T09:58:00.001-08:00

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! We had a great time and I was even able to catch a few pictures of Norah. The one with Roman sums up their relationship, Norah is really excited about having a kitty again while Roman is still very reluctant about the whole thing. Norah got some nice gifts this Christmas, including an actual mermaid tail! (Thank you Mike and Melissa) She has had to wear it in the tub every night since she got it.

We were also very lucky to have Mike, Melissa and Eli come to visit. Eli and Norah play very well together and seem to have developed a real fondness for each other. Eli told his Mom and Dad that Norah is family and Norah told me that she loves Eli. It is so sweet to watch them together.

We had to eat our Christmas dinner the day after Christmas because our power went out on Christmas day. We all ended up driving around till we could hunt down a Chinese food resturant on Christmas day to eat dinner at. The food was yummy and the company was even better. If we had had a lamp with a fishnet stocking on it would have been like scene out of A Christmas Story.

Lori

The December Catch-Up

2011-12-18T21:15:00.000-08:00

After 87 pictures I finally got two decent ones! Norah decorated the Christmas tree this year all by herself. She did a fabulous job and may from this point on be the holiday decorator in our house. Her school is out from now till after the New Year so we went out and stocked up on crafts and games for the first week off, THEN the second week we will get to spend with Mike, Melissa and Eli! Yeah!

We also have a new addition to our family this week. Introducing Roman. Roman is a 3 year old Bengal/Tabby mix. He is getting used to us and we are getting used to him right now. He seems to be a very sweet boy and has already let Norah pet him several times without incident. Which is saying A LOT. We were thinking about a kitten but they are so small and delicate. Roman can hold his own with Norah, so it was a purrfect (Ha!) fit. I am really glad to have a cat around the house again as I have really missed Kitty. Roman came to us from a very caring Mom and Dad that could not provide what he needed and found him a new home. Lucky for us.

The other night Norah and I were coming in from running an errand. I had both hands full so she was hanging on the string from my sweatshirt like usual. Normally we have Norah walk beside or in front of us but that night she was trailing behind me and distracted by trying to play on my phone and walk at the same time. Well, Norah also happens to be the perfect height to smack her forehead on the metal, yes metal, fire extinguisher box in the hallway, which is exactly what she did. This luckily just resulted in a small goose egg. The corner of the box is sharp and could have very easily cut the skin . After some, ice, ibuprofen and holding she was just fine. Now I have to find some sort of foam to hot glue to the corners so that it doesn't happen again.
The surgery center has been very busy lately. Everyone is trying to get their surgeries done before the end of the year since their deductibles are paid up. I am sure this coming week will be hectic but I am off the whole week of Christmas! Yeah! We are all going to use that week to play and hang out with our friends and have a good time. Have a good week everyone.

Lori

Dress Up

2011-12-08T20:04:00.000-08:00

Norah playing "Dress Up" with Glen's glasses.

WalMart Santa

2011-12-04T18:43:00.000-08:00

Norah is totally jazzed about Christmas this year. We bought a small five foot Christmas tree at WalMart and then let Norah do all the decorating. She had a blast and the tree turned out great. She keeps signing to us that Santa Claus is coming but we have to wait. We have another Advent calendar up to help her count down the days. It really seems to help her grasp how long the wait is and lets her build up the excitement for Santas arrival with presents. She even told me today that Santa is going to come down our chimney with presents. She was so excited to see Santa at WalMart that she literally leaped into his lap. Now if we could just find a Santa that knows SEE she could give him her list for Christmas.

Lori

Happy Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-24T13:04:00.001-08:00

This is our first Thanksgiving away from my family in 20 years. I have not had to actually cook for Thanksgiving dinner in 20 years. I make the deviled eggs and veggie platter, my Mom does everything else. Yeah MOM! So we are now in the situation where we have to man up so to speak and cook our own dinner. Sad, I know. I can feel the sympathy oozing off of all of you that have been hard at work in your kitchen for a week getting ready for this event. Our dinner is going to be simple this year due to the fact that the kitchen in this apartment is terrible and if you set the stove higher than 350 the fire alarm goes off. This kitchen was NOT made to cook in. There is also no prep space. Anyway, I called my parents house this afternoon and talked to my brother and Boo while everyone else worked on their dinner preperations. This is the text that I got while still talking to my brother on the phone.

It is a picture of the turkey that they just took out of the oven. Do you think that they are rubbing it in? I think they are trying to lure us back with pictures of the bird. It might work if there was a decent school there for Norah. We are thankful that we have family that loves us enough to try and bribe us with turkey. I think I can smell it from here. Other things that we are thankful for:Boo and JessMom and DadEugene and BronwynAnli and her familyMike, Melissa, Eli and Maggieall of our extended familySeattleNorah's schoolThe teachers at Norah's schoolA roof over our headsEnough money to pay our billsMy jobNorah's cochlearsSign language (SEE and ASL)RainPleanty of food to eatOur healthThis list could go on forever and expand to include thing like the sun and the moon, ect. We are very fortunate in many ways. Happy Thanksgiving Lori

Wow! I haven't posted in a while.

2011-11-18T09:15:00.001-08:00

This is my favortie picture of Boo and Norah.

I have been BUSY my friends. The surgery center is hopping! After only NINE days of orientation I have been on my own all this week. YEAH! In some ways I like that and in some ways I am like "What the heck are you people thinking." So far it is moving right along. Glen found me a surgical instrument app so that when I come across something that I don't know I can look it up. It has been very helpful. I have to say, even though hearts are stressful I still miss knowing what is going on and where all of my supplies are and what the Dr. might need next. There is a lot of comfort in that. It will just take me a while to get to that point at the new place.

Norah has been doing well at school. She is starting to pronounce the words that she uses now more clearly. At school that is. When she is at school she talks more and clearer than when she is at home. We really have to keep on her because she will get lazy at home and just grunt and point because she knows that we know what she wants. She has even thrown out a few new signs that she learned at school but that we do not know yet.

Glen has been attempting to hold down the fort and deal with appointments and put the truck back into the shop. So he has been busy as well.

We have gotten down a routine where Glen and Norah drop me off at work in the mornings on most days and then pick me up after I call and tell them that I am done for the day. A huge bonus is that work is not to far away so if I have to I can walk home. I tried to convince Glen to just let me ride my bike in the mornings but it is very dark right now in the mornings and I guess he doesn't want his sugar mama getting hit by a bus. That's another thing, I am trying to figure out the bus routes here and I guess that I am just going to have to get on one and ride around to find the best ones in case I need to take the bus to work. In the summer though I am TOTALLY riding my bike.

We are going out today to look around at houses and see what is available in our price range. It should be fun. I will try to remember to take some pictures because I have been sorely lacking in that department.

Lori

Snapshot Saturday.

2011-11-05T11:34:00.002-07:00

I totally missed Photo Friday! There is way to much going on right now. So here is Snapshot Saturday! Ha! I guess if I miss I can just make up a new name. It works that way for adults right?

This picture was on Glen's phone from earlier in the summer. Norah went from not even wanting to get her feet wet to running around picking up anything and everything off the beach.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

2011-10-31T19:07:00.000-07:00

Norah went as a mermaid this year. Since we don't know where the good trick or treating neighborhoods are this year, we opted for a local mall where the different stores were handing out candy. The apple store was not participating. Apparently they did not make enough money off all the new iPhones to allow them to hand out some candy. Boo! There were so many cute costumes. It was a lot of fun.

P.S. I started a new job today. It is at a small ambulatory surgery center. I was very fortunate to find employment after looking for only a week. Now just 90 more days and we will actually have health insurance again. Yeah!

P.S.S. We really missed having Boo with us for Halloween. Love you Boo.

Lori

Testing uploading photos from my iPhone.

2011-10-30T08:11:00.001-07:00

I have been carrying this thing around for awhile and thought I would see how easy or hard it is to post some thing form my phone.

Photo Friday: Pink Pigs and Presents for Nana and Popi

2011-10-28T14:43:00.000-07:00

This is Norah's entry for the pumpkin decorating contest at school. She came up with the pig paint job. All I did was figure out the ears and curly tail. The kids were not supposed to carve into the pumpkins but of course somehow Norah's ended up with a suspicious pencil sized hole in it. Hmmmmm, I wonder how THAT happened.

Norah loves getting presents in the mail from Nana and Popi. Also look at her face in these pictures. Besides the fact that she is drop dead gorgeous her face is starting to change again. She is looking more like a young girl than a baby or toddler.

Thank you Nana and Popi.

Zoo Days

2011-10-27T21:18:00.000-07:00

I really needed a sticker that said $2.00 each on it to put underneath this. The lizard in the exhibit looked like he would have totally gone along with it.

Norah attempting to hatch the fake penguin eggs in the fake penguin nest.

Yep! Looks like a big cow bone to me too.

Norah and Glen in front of the big three dimensional crocodile picture in the reptile house.

This little gem was in the corner of the crocodile picture. Wasn't it nice of the one frog to give the other frog a piggy back ride. HAHAHAHA!

Lori

Truck Door Public Service Announcement

2011-10-23T11:22:00.001-07:00

This is what happens when you try to open the truck door in a hurry, without making sure your knee is out of the way.

Lori

Negotiations at the Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-21T08:58:00.000-07:00

Norah and Ariel talking about which one of them is going to pose for a picture.

We Have Found a Pumpkin Patch!

2011-10-15T23:04:00.000-07:00

Anyone that knows us, knows that we LOVE Halloween and fall. So of course along with having to find new doctors, dentists, beauticians, ect we are having to find new Halloween/Fall things to do and places to visit. Well, we will have to look no further for a pumpkin patch. Stocker Farms has it all! We were there for over three hours. It was amazing and Norah had a blast!

That's her in that big cage. This is the same kid that didn't know how to climb play equipment or walk without falling on uneven ground when we got her.

There was even a little trout fishing pond. Norah is an all out fisher woman. She even asked us if she could go fishing when we were visiting the Seattle Aquarium earlier this year.

Woohoo! She caught one.

The object of the game here is to get your little plastic duck down the trough by pumping the trough full of water.

What you don't see here is that Ariel the mermaid is buckled in next her in the cart.

Norah likes riding the little ponies. This year she told Glen to "go away". She didn't need anyone to walk next to her so that she wouldn't fall off.

Norah walked all over the pumpkin patch knocking on the pumpkins and then sticking her ear on them. I guess she was hoping one would ask her to take it home with her.

In the end Norah decided to go with little pumpkins this year. She actually negotiated us up from just three little pumpkins to five. She may be a lawyer in the making. You can also see how red my hair is here. YIKES! Oh well, it's just hair.....right?

Lori

Photo Friday: Little of this and that.

2011-10-14T16:03:00.000-07:00

I am late getting this up here today because I was shanghi'd and taken to the Apple store for 4 hours. Yeah!

Norah and Glen "driving" to school.

Norah with her two favorite toys: my iPhone and her Lite Brite.

Norah leading the way down the hallway in our apartment on a school morning.

HUGE carved pumpkin out in front of grocery store. I'm not quite sure what it's supposed to be but there appears to be a pilgrim holding a basket with a smaller pilgrim inside and they are both riding either a freaked out sad owl or one of the muppets.

Our fireplace in the apartment. It would burn us out to actually light a fire in it right now so we put candles in there so that it's pretty to look at.

Lori

I Have Officially Given In

2011-10-09T20:48:00.000-07:00

I had to finally do two things today.

1) Find my specs cause I seriously can't see anymore.

2) Dye my hair. Not cause I wanted something different or just for fun BUT to cover up my distinguished greying temples and other assorted wild grey hairs. (It is WAY to red right now by the way. I may have to go get some darker brown to tone it down some.)

If you need me I will be the one sitting in the corner rocking and mumbling about my lost youth.
That is all.

Lori

Photo Friday: A Girl and her Hippo

2011-10-07T11:52:00.000-07:00

I don't know what it is about this hippo. Norah LOVES it. She won't play with dolls for long at all but this hippo has been her constant companion for almost two years. It even gets dressed in her clothes.

Lori

SSHHHHHH!

2011-10-06T22:09:00.000-07:00

I am currently doing some refresher studying before launching myself back into the work place. So today I headed to the library. I was thinking that Norah is in school, Glen is otherwise occupied and going to the library would make it where I am not distracted by house stuff that needs to be done (like nap taking or watching Dance Moms, which I find horrifying but like a huge train wreck that I can not look away from). Materials and books were gathered and I set off. The library was reasonably quiet and the study section with the tables just had a spattering of fellow studiers hard at work. I choose a table that was unoccupied, spread out my stuff and pulled my hair back away from my face. Todays challenge was doing Body Surface Area dosage calculations for medications. You know.....something simple that I really don't need to concentrate on. Not five minutes after I sit down here comes a couple, I am assuming they were a couple because they kept talking to each other and saying how much the one loved the other one. The man finally got his laptop and earbuds in place and started playing some game that required him to click the buttons on his mouse no less than 3.67 billion times per minute. Now let me stop here to say that "clicking" stuff over and over again is a ...well let us say pet peeve of mine. It irritates me so bad that my friends that I used to work with would do it on purpose to me because they knew how much I hate it. So at this point I am already feeling stabby and wanting to wrap the mouse around his neck. Lets add to this the fact that he was snorting like a pug with a sinus infection, constantly. Every breath he took he actually snorted. It was, in a sick way, impressive to say the least. Then on top of that he would have to call over his significant other and talk loudly about his score on the game. Did I mention that I was seated in the STUDY section of the library. Added to this caccophany of noise was the occasional yet oddly repitious outbursts of swear words when I am guessing his game was not going his way. I won't even get into what the woman was doing because she was so overshadowed by snorky that it isn't even worth mentioning.
I realize that the library is a public place but seriously, if you don't know how to behave in there after years of seeing the stereotypical librarian telling everyone to SSSSHHHHH. Then stay home or go to a bar with wifi. Do not come in the library and bother the people studying because someday you could be in the hospital and need your nurse to know those dosage calculations down pat.
By the time I got fed up and started looking around for another table they were all full. Luckily Glen called me and I stepped outside to take his call. Turns out the quietest place that I found to study today was a sandwich shop with rock music blaring.
Did I mention the smell?

Lori

Photo Friday

2011-09-30T16:28:00.001-07:00

Glen (with a photo lobotomy) at he Space Needle. Their presentation of two scoops of chocolate ice cream is out of this world cool.

Lori

The cool thing that is art outside of the Space Needle

2011-09-27T07:41:00.001-07:00

This is the art instillation outside of the Space Needle (and a little to the right, if you are facing with your back to the Space Needle). It is MASSIVE! You can walk underneath it but then you get this feeling that the sharp bits could fall off and slice you in two so you move quickly. "Oh yes.....OOOOHHH art. Ok, Let's get out from under this thing."

Lori

Photo Friday: Anniversary lunch at the Space Needle

2011-09-23T10:03:00.001-07:00

Busy Weekend

2011-09-21T12:24:00.000-07:00

We were really movng this last weekend. First we were invited to go eat dinner at our friend Sammie's house. It was so much fun. We were able to meet one of her sons. He was hilarious! I love that he just sat down at the table and started playing play doh with us, that is until he saw my iPhone. Ha! Such a teenage boy. He really made me miss Boo even more than I already do. We also got to met Michael and Seven Star. An amazing couple that are adopting a boy from Guana (hope I spelled that right). These two really craked us up! What great people. We just love Sammie. She really understands us and Norah and she is so much fun to be around. We left there late Saturday night with a container of Lincoln Logs, Play doh, full bellies and a bag full of tomatoes from Sammie's garden. She better be careful if we get that kind of treatment to often we might just move in.

Sunday was the school picnic for NWSFHIC (Northwest School for Hearing Imparied Children), We all met at a local park for a cookout/potluck. They said it was a smaller turnout than usual but we still got to meet even more great people. There were kids and parents everywhere. The park had the usual play equipment and then the school brought things for a tug-o-war, hula hoops, and a burlap sack race. Glen and I had found some little kites on deep discount that week and picked up four or five of them that we just put out with the other stuff. I wish the store would have had more of them, they were a BIG hit. Norah's teacher was also there. I can not tell you how lucky and grateful we feel to have crossed paths with her. She will be a huge part of giving Norah the head start that she needs. Plus she is awesome and has a sense of humor that blows me away. We had so much fun and loved talking to the parents. The weekend went by so fast but we had a blast. Now I need to go do laundry and clean out the truck.

More to come. The fun bled over into Monday.

Lori

Photo Friday: Gangstas, Sweet Family and Boo

2011-09-16T14:24:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of Norah from when we went to China for her adoption. The little ganstas first IEP meeting was this morning and went GREAT! Better than we ever could have hoped. Everyone is in agreement with the path that Norah needs to take and the services that she needs to be provided and how they will be provided. Could not have gone any better.
I found a file with some older pictures in it of Annie and Boo and the family.

21Years

2011-09-15T18:54:00.000-07:00

Glen and I have been married for 21 years today. Let me just let that soak in......for me. Holy crapsicle Batman! I have now been married more years than I was alive and single. (Does it count to say that you were "single" in elementary school? )

I come from a long line of couples with very long marriages so I guess it's really kind of all I know, up close and personal. Don't get to flowery and romantic about that. My role models argue and disagree and have smart mouths and are as stubborn as a mule could only hope to be ( Grandma even threw dishes out the door. Lord I miss that woman! ). They do however tend to have a good sense of humor and let stuff roll off their backs (after they have their say of course). We try to laugh at most stuff, even though the majority of it is highly inappropriate and not take anything said in a huff to close to heart. Glen seems to buy right into this theory. I told him today that I am so glad that I allowed him to marry me. Don't feel to bad for him......he knew what he was getting into. When he really wants to tick me off he tells me to "keep sweet". Obviously he is not an innocent bystander around here and can hold his own with the best of them. I wouldn't have it any other way. Can't wait to see what kind of adventure we end up on.

Happy Anniversary Honey!

P.S. That is the only picture of a mule type animal that I had. Let me rephrase that, I HAD a picture of a mule type animal WooHoo!

Lori

"Delfin Joaquin Paris lll" Here you go photos!

2011-09-12T17:47:00.000-07:00

When Lori said you wanted to see photo of this guy inside I took it as a challenge so here he is hahahah. Glen

Photo Friday: Pho', Moon Cakes and the week in review.

2011-09-09T16:45:00.000-07:00

Glen made dinner the other night and modeled it after the pho' resturants that are all over the place here. Yes, it was as good as it looks.

Annie sent us a beautiful tin with moon cakes in it to celebrate the Chinese Moon Festival. She is so sweet. Thank you Annie. Hey, Boo Annie said to tell you hi. Hi from us to Boo. Love you.

Well this was Norah's first sort of full week at school. We were off Monday for Labor Day. Norah really likes the school but is having a hard time transitioning when we drop her off in the morning. The kids are expected to walk into the school and back to their classrooms without a parent. This morning I had some help. We walked in the front door and Norah refused to take her backpack, she was not going to go quietly. Luckily one of the great adults at the school took her hand and said bye bye and off they went. Whew! As soon as I was out the front door she was fine. We are so thankful for this new school and all the great people involved with it.

After we dropped Norah off at school Glen and I went to the grocery store. Glen is trying to work out how to do the whole extreme coupon thing and I do believe he is getting close. He was able to get about $320.00 worth of groceries that we need for about 116.00! He did manage to get a whole bunch of Gatorade for free but man can not live by Gatorade alone. While we were at the grocery store I called my Mom to ask her to please send me some of the big bags of plain cornmeal from home. Apparently here corn meal is sold in little bitty very expensive canisters. I mean seriously what do these people use to make a pan of cornbread or to coat their catfish in? When I got her on the phone she told me that Dad had an accident this morning. Somebody had hit another car and then slid into him. Luckily he had on his seatbelt. He did manage to hit his forehead on the visor though. I'm glad your ok Dad! So we all talked on the phone for about thirty minutes. It's always good to hear their voices. Then I begged for cornmeal.

Norah is going to start being tested for her IEP evaluation next week. We are really excited that things are moving right along. I will have to put her hair in pigtails so she is super cute on Monday. It never hurts your test score to charm the person giving the test. Just saying.
I guess most of this weekend will be spent reviewing my IEP book and typing up a parent letter to attach to her IEP. Except Saturday afternoon. I am going to volunteer at the warehouse for a group called One Brick. I will be helping repackage bulk donated food into more usable portions for a few hours. Hopefully I can meet some nice new people from our area.

Glen has taken it as a personal challenge to lure the squirrel into the apartment. Seriously! This could get ugly.

Lori

Washington Wildlife?

2011-09-07T14:19:00.000-07:00

There is a practically tame squirrel living in the tree outside of our apartment. We have started putting out food for him in the mornings so that Norah can "Eat breakfast with the squirrel". He/She (not going to try and raise the tail to find out) doesn't even run when we step out on the pourch in the mornings, just waits for us to drop the food and leave. I told Glen that he better make sure that he closes the screen door or else we could come out of the bathroom or bedroom and the squirrel could be up on the couch with the remote scratching him/her self.

Lori

Happy Labor Day

2011-09-05T17:38:00.000-07:00

Well we have been taking it easy this weekend. Glen and I have both been feeling a little under the weather. The cause most likely is Norah sharing her cold with us. So after lounging around the apartment we spent the rest of the day at a local park. The sun was out, with a slight breeze, it was gorgeous. Norah had a great time playing on all the equipment and then "helping" the hippo play on it as well. FYI: The hippo has on panties and a bikini top under her clothes. We also saw a cute Jack Russel with only three legs. This prompted a discussion between Glen and I on what the dogs name could be:
Tripod
Angle
Hoppy
Fity (Like Fifty Cent, the rapper. Because the dog walks with a limp)

Tomorrow Norah starts her first of many full days of school. We both really like her teacher and the teacher's assistant and can't wait for Norah to start suprising everyone with what she can do.

I am currently reading a book on IEP's (Individual Education Plans). It is called The Complete IEP Guide: How to Advocate for Your Special Ed Child. It is amazing all the information that is in this book. I am learning so much. Because the more that we know about the process and laws the more we can be a valuable part of the IEP team, which in turn provides Norah with more of what she requires to be successful. So far, I would highly recommend this book for any parent/guardian/teacher that has a child that needs or already has an IEP. I also picked up a book called From Emotions to Advocacy. I have not been able to start on this one yet but it looks like it could be really helpful as well. We should be signing paperwork sometime this week in order to get Norah's evaluations for her IEP started. YEAH!!! Everyone has been so supportive, I am really looking forward to going through the process this time with much more knowledge than when I had to go through it with Brandon. (Boo needed an IEP in 3rd grade when we moved from Pulaski school district to Cabot school district because he was behind. Only needed it for one year, Norah is going to be a whole different ball of wax.) Miss you Boo! A lot!

I am also reading The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs. The back cover says: Raised in a secular family but increasingly interested in the relevance of faith in our modern world, A.J. Jacobs decides to dive in headfirst and attempt to obey the bible as literally as possible for one full year. He vows to follow the ten comandments. To be fruitful and multiply. To love his neighbor. But also to obey the hundreds of less publicized rules: to avoid wearing clothes made of mixed fibers; to play a ten string harp; to stone adulterers.
I am to the part where he throws a pebble at an self proclaimed adulterer. The man apparently did not take kindly to his project and grabbed one of the small pebbles out of A.J.'s hand and threw it at his face. This prompted A.J. to throw a pebble back at the mans chest. Afterward he is suprised by how it made him feel and has some intraspective thoughts on the whole thing.
I also like the fact that his wife is giving him a hard time about him not being able to touch her during her cycle or even sit in a chair where she has sat because it is "unclean", so she goes around their apartment and sits in all the chairs. Sounds like something I would do.

Well, I am off to read more IEP information.

Lori

Photo Friday: I Got Nothing

2011-09-02T19:48:00.000-07:00

It has been all about school this week, so here are some pretty blue flowers and pink flamingos from one of our zoo trips to distract you.

Pretty blue flowers at the zoo.

Watching them sit like this just makes my knees hurt! Lori

First Day of Kindergarten

2011-08-31T10:24:00.000-07:00

We got the call yesterday at around 11 that the district had worked out all the necessary stuff for Norah to start school with her class today, along with all the other kids instead of having to wait on more evaluations. Yeah! Good thing we were already out and about buying school supplies and school clothes. School clothes shopping ( or any clothes shopping for that matter) with Norah is an......umm.....let us say adventure in and of itself. No, we are not trying to kidnap her or beat her into submission. We just need to see if this skirt will fit her. Anyway, last night we spread out all of the supplies and made sure we had everything on our list. We made Norah's lunch and layed out her clothes for in the morning. Then after bath and story time we turned off everything and I do mean everything in the house so that Norah would go to bed at a reasonable time. Glen said that according to the Mayo Clinic, kindergarten age kids need 10 to 11 hours of sleep each night. She finally managed to give up and go to sleep after about 35-45 minutes, so around 9:30. We didn't wake her up this morning until 7:05, so she ended up with 9 hours and 35 minutes of sleep. Not bad for Norah, at all. There have been some nights that she hasn't passed out till after 1 am and then is back up again at 7. Yikes! Our new strategy of total blackout in the apartment seems to be working so far.
We found lots of cute clothes for Norah but had a hard time finding hair bows that will stay in her hair. She needs the kind that are shaped like alligator teeth to grip onto her hair. Oh well guess I will just have to make some.
Once we saw that it wasn't raining this morning we loaded up the bike carriage with all of the supplies and headed out for school. Norah was very excited about school. She was jumping up and down and kept grabbing my face and turning my head (may be why my neck hurts now) to look at all the other kids arriving at school. The teachers and staff all come out to greet the kids every morning. Norah's kindergarten teacher, Ms. Fuson, was there too. She is the perfect teacher for Norah. High energy, super smart, fun, and not about to take any crap. We LOVE her! With Norah if you don't have those qualities as a teacher she will take you down like a hungry lion after a bunny rabbit (it is not pretty, we have seen her do it). Here's hoping for a productive and fun school year.

Norah's kindergarten supplies.

Norah in the bike carriage with a death grip on my iphone.

Glen trying to remove Norah's helmet without messing up her hair.

You have no idea how hard it was to get her to hold this sign up and smile at the same time. She LOVES messing with me when she knows I really want her to do something.

Made it into the classroom with all of her supplies, no problem. She had no issues at all with us leaving her there for school. I guess those two weeks of summer school REALLY paid off in the security department.

Lori

Phones, Beads, Books and Hippos in Drag OR Another Typical Sunday

2011-08-29T11:13:00.001-07:00

Norah multitasking. Reading a book in the little rocking chair Popi made for her AND watching Tom and Jerry on her "phone" on You Tube.

Reading to the hippo.

"I said pay attention. How are you going to know what is going on in the story if you don't pay attention to what I am reading you!"

Hippo in drag! This is one of the 7, that's right 7, outfits the hippo wore yesterday.

Norah sitting quietly stringing beads. I know I couldn't believe it either, that's why I took a picture. Lori

Photo Friday: With a whole lot of words

2011-08-26T11:25:00.002-07:00

We are in the process of setting up our bikes to be used for fun and business. We sold our second vehicle in order to make the move out here easier and make our bills much lower. I think we figured out that by the time we cut out the car payment, insurance, upkeep, gas, and licensing fees we ended up saving around 400.00 a month. So now all we have is the truck. We are also trying not to use it unless we have to, so we are riding our bikes for short trips to the store, bank, park, school, ect. We have a trailor for Norah but don't yet feel comfortable taking her in it to some places. Amazingly the most dangerous place to ride out of is Central Market (like an upscale Whole Foods). You would think these people would be watching for bicycles but oh no. Anyway, I needed a basket for my bicycle in order to carry purchases in and "viola" (I know it's not spelled right. That's how I say it.) Glen found me one online. YEAH! He also found an electric bike kit for his bike. He has some trouble with his back and all and he needed some extra ummph to get up all the steep hills around here hauling Norah back and forth to school.

My bike is a close replica to the bikes that are sold in Holland and I love it. It rides great!

Glen and Norah checking out the electric bike stuff. That is not a sweat band on Norah's arm it is a huge piece of gauze and tape to cover the tiny scratch that she found on her arm the other day.

Norah wanted her picture taken with my bike. She loves wearing these little spandex shorts because they look similar to Glen's underwear and she is all about being the same.

Glen's bike before the electric kit was installed.

Glen's bike after the kit was installed.

Our apartment here does not have airconditioning in it and it has been HOT lately. Well for us anyway. We are air condition babies and make no excuses for it. Since we can also be cheapskates and don't want to go buy a window air conditioner right when it is going to start getting cooler again. We came up with the retro style air. A giant bowl of ice with a fan. We like to keep our house cool enough to hang meat in in the summer and the last few weeks have been a far cry from that. There has also been a lot of hanging out in front of the fridge. I have started trying to walk/bike a few miles every morning to get ready to go back to work AND cause I am old and totally out of shape. I always go on the trail behind our apartment and I see interesting things each time. So I thought that I would share. Today I saw: a woman getting on a city bus with no pants on (just a shirt and panties), about 10 different people picking blackberries, found some blue berry bushes, a drug deal, and 1 very badly dressed hooker. I also met a nice woman who was picking blackberries. I told her where we found all of ours the other day. She took off to go fill up her buckets. It is always interesting. Lori

Sybil....Is that you?

2011-08-22T18:36:00.000-07:00

These pictures were all taken in a three minute time period. No joke! All we were trying to do was get Norah to smile so she could show off some of the blackberries and flowers we picked today.

She has her leg up on the table to show off the mortal wound she received while picking berries today. In reality it is three little scratches but you would never know it from the amount of hobbling around here she is doing or from the size of the band aid she picked out to cover the above mentioned three miniscule scratches.
The trail behind our apartment is COVERED in blackberry bushes for miles. I saw several families and individuals out picking them this morning when I went for a walk. I told Glen when I got home and he was dressed with a bag thrown over his shoulder before I even knew what happened. We walked down a little ways and found the mother load. I would guess that we ended up with about 3 gallons of blackberries. WooHoo! Free fruit!

Glen even made a blackberry cobbler for dessert. It looks really good! I will have him take a picture of it to post later.

We have been meeting here and there with school district officials and special ed coordinators trying to get Norah's IEP started.

Norah has had the sniffles for the last few days. She doesn't seem any worse for wear, just a snotty nose and slight fever. I am really not surprised that she caught a cold. We have let her play at any and every playground we have come across, the five second rule has been indefinetly extended, and we are even encouraging her to go up and shake hands with everybody. Oh well. Her immune system should be strong enough to take down the seagulls at the beach by next year.

Lori

Photo Friday: Fun at the Zoo

2011-08-19T11:36:00.000-07:00

Little of this, little of that.

2011-08-14T20:11:00.002-07:00

This stuff makes the best iced tea! Found it at a sandwich shop where we stopped for lunch and they were out of regular iced tea so the person behind the counter made me this. Heaven!

Norah is still obssesed with mermaids. She made this all by herself. Very creative.

We met up with Sammie (very nice Mom of two adopted boys) at the park the other day. She is a wealth of information and a great person as well. We have been very fortunate to cross the paths of amazing people here and Sammie sure does fit into that category.

Lori

Photo Friday

2011-08-12T08:21:00.000-07:00

Apparently the time to put your "I'm a princess" sleep mask on around here is midnight!

Lori

The Burke Museum

2011-08-11T15:32:00.005-07:00

We went to the Burke Museum on last Thursday. It was FREE DAY, our favorite two words. Apparently a large portion of the museums around here are free on the first Thursday of the month. So you can pretty much bet that we will be trying to attend them one at a time each first Thursday. We were also very fortunate to have one of the teachers from the school go with us. Hi Barbara! It was really fun and we were able to see so many interesting things. They had a big exhibit on wolves. Ever since our trip Norah has been howling like a wolf several times each day. It's really funny when she does it out in public because she totally expects Glen and I to join in, which we do. If you see the three of us out howling at the moon don't think we are crazy. Norah has just learned a new sign and sound that she can make with her voice. Join in! Some of the notes that the kids at the museum left on the "Your Thoughts About Wolves" board are hilarious!

The downstairs of the museum had great displays from different places. Japan, China, Taiwan, and many more. Norah was fascinated with the Korean wedding display. In particular the well dressed chickens.

We are still setteling in. Going from a 1200 square foot house to a 600 square foot apartment has not been easy. Not everything has found it's permanent home yet. I think a couple more days and we should have it as good as it is going to get. We still have to get a insurance policy for Norah's CI's but other than that I think everything has been registered and licensed. We have our library cards (big deal to us, we LOVE the library). I am still trying to find a grocery store that I like. I did find several really good Asian markets in the area. We are still looking for a place to get our hair cut, auto mechanic, towing company, and clothing stores but I am sure that will all come with time. Now I just have to work on brushing up on medications and Washington State Nurse Practice Act so I can find a job that suits me. I think I might be interested in OB/GYN. (Hi Melissa!) That is about as far from heart surgery as I think I can get. Plus I am getting old and kind of mushy about babies now (Thank you Eli!).

Lori

Photo Friday (Trying something new)

2011-08-05T12:23:00.000-07:00

I am going to try and start posting just a photo with maybe a small caption under it every Friday. Nothing major just something from our week that made us smile. Since I am about as consistent and motivated as a dead snail right now we will see how this goes.

Here we go!

Lori

Beautiful weather and fun at the park.

2011-08-01T08:34:00.000-07:00

I am pretty sure that it has not gotten above 80 here. When we left Arkansas it was 104 with 80% humidity. Everyone here is complaining that they are not getting a summer but we are LOVING it! There are so many things to do here and festivals in the local parks that you could very easily find free or really cheap stuff to do all the time. There is also such a diverse community here. Everywhere we look are people of different ethnicity, religion and orientation it is fabulous! We were in Target yesterday and I heard 4 different languages being spoken in the first 10 minutes. We also see people signing everywhere! Bonus!

Catching up!

2011-07-31T16:48:00.001-07:00

We FINALLY have our internet/e-mail capabilities back up! Here are some pictures of the trip out here from Arkansas. I will be trying to get caught up on all the email I was supposed to be doing at some point at the beginning of this week. You would think with being unemployed at the moment, that I would have just gobs of free time floating around just begging for something to do....HA! I think that I need to find a job just to get a break from this craziness!

Kansas... Good job Kansas for using your mondo supply of wind for energy.

We stopped by Norah's adoption agency in Colorado to have a look around and meet some of the wonderful people that made the whole thing possible.

The Directors of the Adoption agency, Lily and Josh were both there and very excited to meet Norah.

We were very fortunate to meet Xia, the Director of China Charitable Projects. She actually knew Norah in the orphanage, before her adoption. She presented us with this beautiful scroll that was from the director of Norah's orphanage. Xia will be able to let everyone at Norah's orphange know that she is doing well and growing up fast. We are also sending her some pictures that we took of Norah with the scroll and some other pictures so they can see her.

Wyoming.....what can I say.........the majority of the part that we went through was desolate and depressing. I certainly hope it's not all like that.

These cool rock formations were the only redeeming quality that we saw in Wyoming. So we pulled over and let Norah pee on the side of the road by them because there was literally ...NOTHING...... forever and ever and ever. Not a road runner, dog, cat, cow, deer, moving tumbleweed, flaming meth lab......NOTHING.

We were able to stop in Utah (Very pretty by the way) to see our friends. Melissa, Eli, Glen, Norah and I all got to go to the Kennewick (I sure hope I spelled that right) Copper Mines. Poor Mike had to work! ): It was awsome! The place is just amazing. You can actually see the mines from space.

This is one of the tires that they use on the big trucks that work in the mine. Once you get past the propaganda movie at the beginning of the tour, which Norah and Eli gave all the respect that it deserved, the rest of it is very entertaining.

Then we went to the Mormon Temple because duh, we were in Salt Lake City Utah. Isn't that what it's known for. Plus I see it on TV and in movies all the time so I thought it would be cool. Melissa told me that if I got drug off to be converted she was leaving me there. So funny! Eli ran around the temple grounds like his little butt was on fire! He was having such a good time. Norah kept trying to mother hen him but he would just blow her off. Then she totally gave up and raided all and I do mean all the snacks out of Melissa's bag. She wasn't even really hungry just wanted to open everything and then refuse to eat or drink it. Mike, Melissa and Eli were all super great about letting us invade their house for 2 days. We REALLY needed a break at that point and they were an oasis. Thanks guys!

We finally made it to our destination. We did a quick run by the school and then it was off to the apartment.

The blue thing on top is Norah's princess jeep.

Oh yeah! Looks like something off of Hoarders. I didn't even get a good shot of the TV that Glen tied to the center console so that Norah would have a big screen to watch movies on the whole way.
The trip was pretty uneventful and we are glad to be done with it. I did lie to one badged authority figure but it was a white lie and he didn't really want to hear the truth anyway, it involved urine. This trip involved A LOT of urine! Mostly Norah and Glen. It was like traveling with two pregnant women. Hopefully by this time next year we will have deceided where we want to buy a house and be looking because, Man this apartment is small AND we are so looking forward to having people come and visit us!

More tomorrow.

Lori

We Made It!

2011-07-16T08:09:00.000-07:00

We finally made it to our apartment in Washington yesterday afternoon. The trailer is unloaded and most of the stuff is unpacked. Today we have to put everything back together ( beds,chairs,ect) and make an epic shopping trip to restock the pantry and fridge and for cleaning supplies. apparently the last residents idea of clean and mine are nowhere near the same thing. Once i can clean out drawers and cabinets i can get everything put in its place. We made a point of driving by the school before we came to the apartment so that Norah could get a visual of what we have been telling her we were driving to. She did so good on the whole trip. We could not have asked for any better. There were LOTS of potty breaks and Norah may or may not have peed outside in all of the states where there were long stretches of nothingness. ( I'm not telling. ) A whole lot of our trip was spent in areas where there was either no service at all or the service was on the "edge" network which might as well be no service at all. We were VERY lucky to get to stop in Utah and see Mike, Melissa and Eli. They really made the trip fun. We even got to see the Kennicott Copper mine that is one of the few man made things you can see from space. Home cooked food instead of greasy road food was also very appealing but let's face it the main thing was that Eli was there! That kid cracks me up! He has gotten so big and is talking up a storm. It is so sweet to see him interact with Mike and Melissa. You can really tell that they all love each other.

Yesterday was also Boo's 20th birthday. We all went out early and celebrated before we had to leave but it was still hard not being there for his actual birthday. We love you Boo! More later. Hopefully it won't be to long till I can get the computer up and running and some pictures of the trip up here.

Lori

The Mile High City

2011-07-10T16:16:00.000-07:00

We have made it to Denver, Colorado! There was quite a bit of rain when we first got here which made pulling the trailer kind of dicey. Norah did well again today, however she has figured out that if she says she has to use the bathroom that we will pull over and go into a place with candy, food and potential prizes for Norah. This discovery of hers means that we had to stop for possible potty breaks about once every 50 minutes. Tomorrow we are going to stop by Norah's adoption agency that is here in town then we will head out for Utah. These first two days were our longest, from now till we get to our new home we will only drive around 6 hours each day to make it easier on everyone.

First Day of Travel

2011-07-10T10:01:00.000-07:00

Well the first of our travel days was uneventful, other than Glen running over his iphone that he dropped. Amazingly it still works....sort of. Norah has done really well. She has been coloring, watching movies, and playing with the big basket of goodies that are set up right by her car seat. We all went swimming last night at the hotel, being cooped up for so long it felt good to stretch out and swim a little. There were some kids That came itno the pool after we had been in there for awhile. Norah was dying to play with them but they were actually kind of cold towards her since they didn't sign or even try to interact with Norah. Norah gave it her best though. We finally concluded that it wasnt just the communication part that was the problem and maybe they werent the brightest or friendliest people around. It made Glen and I both sad to see her struggling so hard to make a connection with these kids and them backing away and looking at her like she was covered in dog poo. All the encounter did was cement for us that we are doing the right thing for Norah. She will be among her peers that "speak" her language in 9 days at summer school.
We are traveling through Kansas right now. It is a whole lot of flat prarie. The weather has cooperated so far. We will try to make it to Denver today. So far so good.

Wagons HO!

2011-07-08T19:09:00.000-07:00

We are heading out first thing in the morning. The trailer and truck are packed to within an inch of their lives. We literally could not get one more thing in either of them. Norah is kind of clingy and emotional today because we are packing and she wants to make sure that she is coming along with us. Boo is here at my parents tonight so that he and Jess, his girlfriend, can see us off in the morning. We were able to catch up with Norah's speech therapist today at her friends horse barn (more pictures of this later when the computer is all set up again.) the place was amazing. If I was a horse I would want to be there. We have been getting all kinds of traveling goodies from everyone, a very nice surprise indeed. We will be traveling in style. The purple princess jeep is tied to the top of the truck. Dad said that we should have left the tarp off of it and put a mannequin in it just to mess with people as we drive down the freeway. If we got stopped we could tell them that the kid was giving us lip so we put him up there for punishment. (; Wish us luck! It is going to be a LONG drive.

Lori

Packing and Getting Ready to Travel

2011-07-04T08:53:00.000-07:00

Well. I am now officially a bum! I don't know how we would have gotten everything packed and to this point with me working the way that I was. There is not a muscle on my body that does not ache. Advil is my new friend. The entire trailer was packed up on Saturday. Working now on getting the house all cleaned up, getting rid of everything that would not fit or did not absolutely have to go with us. We will be driving across country with Norah's princess jeep tied to the top of the truck bed. All we need is Grandma Clampett (sp?) sitting on top in her rocking chair. We have been trying to pack, clean and do yard work in heat that is well over 100 degrees with the heat index (heat index is a very dirty word around here), and humidity that makes it hard to breath. Everyday we check the weather in Seattle and are so looking forward to temperatures that have been at least 30 degrees lower than they are here. Glen and I were just saying this morning that when we go to look for a house we will need to make sure that it has at least one guest bedroom because all the people that we know from Arkansas may very well want to spend their summers up north with us. People in Utah can come too! (Hint! Hint! Mike, Melissa and Eli. That was subtle wasn't it.)
This week besides trying to get the house in shape for the new owner we are trying to tie up loose ends here. Norah has seen everyone from her Audiologist to her Dentist and Pediatrician in order to get her ready for the move. If anyone in the Seattle area knows of a good: Pediatrician, Dentist, Pediatric Cardiologist, Audiologist or Speech Therapist please let us know.
I am also trying to figure out how to take pictures with my iPhone and be able to post them to the blog from my iPhone.
Norah still has her two loose teeth. She is hanging onto them for dear life and keeps telling us (signing) that her teeth are "staying in". She went ballistic at the dentist because she was sure that they were going to pull her teeth while she was there. Once she realized that they were done (all they were able to do was look at her teeth and paint on some fluoride and we even had to hold her down for that part. ) then she was fine and followed the assistant right into the prize closet like nothing ever happened.
We should be leaving the state between the 9th and the 11th in order to make it to Washington for the last two weeks of summer school for Norah.
It will be hard to leave all of the family behind but we really think that this move will make a big difference in Norah's future.

Lori

Tired!

2011-06-25T04:04:00.002-07:00

No we have not fallen off the edge of the Earth. Here is the short list: House on the market. ShowingShowingShowing(Which means constant cleaning)WorkWorkWork(14 to 16 hour days plus at least one weekend day sine April. Insert frowny face here.)Norah has two loose teeth with her two big teeth pushing in right under them.Lots of repair and necessary work at my parents house.Got to see Boo's new apartment in Little Rock.More showing.Much more work.HOUSE SOLD!!!!! (Yeah!) No more cleaning. We refuse. PackingMore workMore packingThat's right MORE work! I am seeing a pattern here. Will post pictures this weekend.That is all. Lori

Happy Mothers Day

2011-05-08T19:28:00.000-07:00

Hope everyone had a great day today. We had lunch with everyone at Outback. Some of us may have had a little to much to drink. (; My Mom took Norah home with her so that I could have a nap (best Mom Day present ever!). It was a pretty sweet day.

Lori

House for Sale

2011-05-08T05:05:00.000-07:00

Well, we finally have the house on the market. I think it looks really good (may be slightly biased). The only things not pictures here are the office (used to be Boos bedroom) and the front and back yards. We like the real estate agent that we chose. Rita French with Crye Lyke Reality, she seems very competative and has a good sense of humor. Two traits that we both love in people. So here is to a quick sale for us and a great house for whoever buys it. I just hope they will be as happy with it as we were.

Lori

HAPPY SIXTH BIRTHDAY

2011-05-05T18:56:00.000-07:00

MAY 1, 2011

It seems like every year on Norah's birthday there is severe weather. This year it was flooding that had followed a string of REALLY bad storms for our area and further south. We all met up at Nana and Popi's house, which was iffy at best becuase they had closed the roads leading that way for a while because they were under water. Luckily the roads by us were reopened just in time for us to make it to the party. Brandon was unable to get from his new apartment in Little Rock because the main highway and most side roads were closed. Some of Norah's little friends were stuck at home too, but we did have Nana and Popi, my Brother and his Wife and my Brothers Mother in Law. We had a good lunch and then cake and presents for Norah. She obviously was to sad about the weather to enjoy herself as you can tell by the pictures. My brother and his wife got Norah a mechanical dog that walks and barks. She loves that thing and goes around trying to pretend that the dog is biting everyone. She also got some beautifull new clothes to wear to school and a pink purse and flower for her hair. We saved her jeep till we got home and it finally quit raining. Glen said that yesterday Norah came out to the backyard with her pink purse, towel and her bathing suit on to let him know that she was going to drive up to the pool. Ha! Someone has gotten a little big for their britches. So we are now 6, going on 30. Lord help us all! Lori

Bunnies, Candy, and Motorcyles

2011-04-24T09:17:00.001-07:00

Happy Easter! Sorry this picture of Norah's Easter basket is so fuzzy but it was early this morning that I finally got to put it all together and my head was fuzzier than this picture implies.

Things here at the house are still in full swing as we try to meet our May 1st deadline for putting the house on the market. There is stuff EVERYWHERE still! Carpet should go in Monday. It was supposed to go in on Thursday or Friday of last week but Home Depot sucks. So Monday it is. We are off to our friends house for Easter. My parents have gone further south this weekend to celebrate my Aunt Janet and Uncle Wendell's anniversay. Congratulations guys! Boo and Jess are off on their own so we are going to hang out with friends.

My friend William, that I work with, came by yesterday to show off his new motorcycle. He sure is proud of it. Congrats to you to William.....be careful.

As soon as the house is ready and staged I will post pictures on here. You know in case any of you want to buy it.

Lori

We're Moving!

2011-04-12T17:04:00.001-07:00

Can anyone guess where to? (No fair Melissa, you guys already know.)

Lori

Norah vs. iPhone

2011-03-24T06:54:00.000-07:00

Norah has become addicted to watching movies and playing games on our iPhones. It has gotten to the point that we are having to limit her time with the phone otherwise she would be on it day and night. She has even start speaking the word "phone", ok right now it sounds more like "thone" but she is VERY close. The problem we are running into is that Norah knows that if she verbalizes the sentence, "I want phone." that she will almost always get it because we are trying to encourage her language use. She has us right where she wants us!

Lori

Two Year Milestone

2011-03-22T19:18:00.002-07:00

On March 9th Norah had been with us for two whole years! In just two short years she has: * Had to leave behind EVERYTHING she knew. * Go through the culture shock of a new place. * Get a whole new family for at least the 3rd time in her short life. * Learn a new language. (Sign). * Get two cochlear implants. * Start learning to speak. * See enough specialists to choke a horse. and so on and so on...... Through all of this she has been, for the most part a REALLY happy little girl.Amazing! She still does not stop. She goes from dawn till she face plants late at night. She is starting to speak some of her limited oral vocabulary very clearly. Her signing has surpassed mine. She is slowly becoming a Daddy's girl. She loves her brother, Nana and Popi. Her favorite food is anything sweet, mashed potatoes run a close second followed by vanilla yogurt. She has also developed a wicked sense of humor and loves to tease us and make jokes and tell us that we are "funny". I really can't remember what life without her was like anymore. Don't think I want to either. We also want to remember that our good fortune of having Norah in our family is only possible because someone had to give her up. Norah also had to go through some very traumatic years pretty much on her own. We have so many questions that we want to ask her about her life before us. I only hope that when and if she is willing to share that with us that she will find some comfort in having landed in our little circus of a family. Lori

Flower girl Norah

2011-02-28T15:14:00.004-08:00

Once again Norah cracks me up with the things she does and why she dose them. I just knew that she wanted to be walked down from the top step by her escort. She did not disappoint. After all it is just not the same to be walked down the isle from the bottom step.

Norah gets a birth certificate.

2011-02-28T14:28:00.001-08:00

We won a top blog cochlear Implant award

2011-02-28T14:10:00.002-08:00

LicensedPracticeNurse.com

Thank you to whoever recommended us for this.

Zoo Trip

2011-02-17T07:22:00.010-08:00

After going to the Nature Center we all went to the zoo. By the look of that line to get in we were not the only people happy to see a sunny day.

He is LOVIN' the sun too.

I don't know wether to think this is cute or sad. He looked kind of sad to me, dragging his blankets across the ground all depressed like.

The gorilla would stand in the corner by the observation glass and wait quietly till he was ready then he would run by the window and smack at whoevers face was closest. All in good fun but I'm sure if he could have gotten out someone would have gotten the beat down for disturbing his privacy. Probably the kid that kept taunting him. I was on this side of the glass and wanted to smack him.

Norah's favorite animal in the whole world. Well, that and penguins.

Two of Norah's favorite animals.

The first time we brought Norah to the bird enclosure she was beside herself and would not get down and could not get out of there fast enough. This time it took me and Boo both to keep her corraled.

New penguin exhibit was not open yet so Norah had to settle for a picture of her as a penguin.

Anyone seen Dr. Blowhole? (10 points if you know who that is).

No.....I do not think we will be coming back again. We were not impressed. Yes, we go about once a year but it always leaves us kind of sad. There have been improvements made to the habitats but there is still much lacking. This time there were also other concerns: over flowing bathrooms, no water fountains that worked, areas roped off that made the children's area look like a crime scene. Even the vending machines to get a drink at were turned off and almost all of the concession stands closed. It seems as though the city of Little Rock would rather spend it's money on making more golf courses and updating it's sports facilities than put some time and money into the zoo. This also goes for our libraries but that's another post all together. This has seemed to be the case for a while. Our zoo here even lost it's accreditation for a time. Makes me want to hide under my blanket in shame.......kind of like the orangutan.

Nature Center

2011-02-17T05:58:00.010-08:00

Glen, Norah, Bebe (baby doll), and Boo

Norah showing off the sign for deer.

There was an entire display of artwork at the nature center. All of it was beautiful, this one particularly caught my eye because of the strong orange/brown colors on the front duck. Gorgeous!

This poor guy looks like he has had a ROUGH night!

These huge ugly turtles actually live in the waters around here! Glen used to catch them every once in a while when he would go catfishing. They would go after his bait. Needless to say he would just cut his line because you do not want to go into this things mouth after a hook. You would loose a finger, possibly an entire hand. They are MEAN too and they hiss!

Nasty! I really do not like snakes.

Who is that handsome young man?

Beaver! Hahahahahah! (Sorry, my sense of humor is the same as a 13 year old boy).

The nature center is free, my favorite word. Well ok, not "free" because I did pay for it with my taxes I guess but they did a good job on it so it was well worth it.

Great Wall, Rockets, Cheese, and Belly Buttons.

2011-01-26T14:15:00.014-08:00

Glen found this "Great Wall of China" cardboard coloring contraption on sale at Hobby Lobby (craft store). It took both of us to put the thing together. Norah thought it was neat though and had her Princess and the Frog doll playing on it for a few days.

We recently got a decent snow storm. Norah was not real big on snow last year but this year she actually went outside for a little while and even rode around on a sled for about 20 minutes, then she was done and ready to go back inside.

Notice the hands on the hips posture. Notice the disapproving look on her face. Hahahaha! Glen had no idea what he was in for. To funny! This is her new stance and facial expression. She uses it often and she IS NOT joking.

It has been quite cold here lately so we have been having to find things to do inside. See above about how Norah is not real big on cold weather. We made a rocket from one of her many craft books and then tied up fishing line from the top of the front door to the table leg in the kitchen. The rocket is attached to the fishing line by pipe cleaners. Norah tied an extra long piece of fishing line to the bottom of the rocket so that she could pull it all the way back up to the top part of the string on the front door. When she would let go of her end of the string the rocket would zoom back down the line to the kitchen. She played with that for a while and then went and got a whole lot of ribbon out of the craft bin and began tying it everywhere. It made it almost impossible to get through the living room BUT entertained her for almost 4 hours so it was well worth it. We just went throught the next morning and cut it all down.

Yet another thing to do inside on a cold day. We tried or hand at making cheese. Glen and I saw a little blurb in the How To section of the Google home page and thought hmmmm I wonder if it will work. It was really easy, didn't take long, and Norah even liked the cheese. I think we will most likely do it again and maybe even try and expand on the types of cheese. I tried making orange marmalade too but it tastes really bad. I will have to try it again sometime with a different receipe

We were going to suspend the dish towel from the hanger over night to let the remainder of the whey drip out but we are very impatient around here so I just squeezed it out.

Cheese burgers for lunch! Yum!

Norah's outfit for Tuesday. I hope she never loses her quirky fashion sense.

On a side note: I realize that if you come in to the hospital with an emergency you might be dirty from working or whatever. Totally expected and acceptable. No problem I will wash you down before surgery without a word. However, for the love of pete people wash out your belly button once in a while. I can not tell you the number of times I have had to dig out with tweezers something that looks like a small, stinky mouse out of someones belly button. Your bathing anyway right? (Hopefully) Just stick your finger in there and twirl it around. Who knows you might like it. Just saying. This ends my public service announcement for today. (Disclaimer: Obviously I am not talking about anyone in particular. It is just an overall observation.) Cut your toenails too!

January 15

2011-01-18T17:20:00.003-08:00

Happy Birthday Dr. King!

"I have decided to stick with love. Hate is to great a burden to bear."

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

2010 - Don't let the door hit you on the way out!

2011-01-09T08:16:00.003-08:00

Lori's year (2010)....illustrated with the help of Norah and Ariel.

My year started out like this. (See above picture.) Then during the last half of the year went from that to what can only be best described by Ariel's perdicament in the bottom picture. There were bright spots here and there yet on the whole 2010 was a big sack load of to much stress, zero alone time, many many trips to way to many medical establishments, minimal sleep and even less .....ummmm...... adult alone time (see post about how Norah doesn't ever sleep or like it when Glen hugs me). We are sooooo ready for 2011.

No mermaids were harmed during the making of this post. At least she didn't say she was being harmed. (insert evil laugh here)

Here's to an easy, less stressed new year with much more sleep and lovins' for Mama and Daddy.

Christmas for Norah 2010

2011-01-01T19:11:00.006-08:00

When Norah first wakes up she is this loveable, cuddly little girl. Just look at that sweet face! I usually miss out on this part of the day with Norah because I am already gone to work before she wakes up. She has an attitude that takes about 45 minutes to kick in after she wakes up, then hold on to your hat! This is only Norah's second Christmas with us so we broke the cardinal parenting rule and woke her up. I think we were more excited than she was at first.

You can see it start to dawn on her. Glen and Norah have been glueing cottonballs on a picture of Santa Claus, each day they glued on 1 cottonball for that day and signed and talked about Christmas. So on Christmas morning we had Norah glue on that last precious cottonball before she could open her gifts.

Norah was able to tell which packages were hers. She has become very good at recognizing her written name since the presents started appearing under the tree. She would go from package to package looking for her name and then get all excited when she found it.

This was the biggest hit! It goes up really quick and comes down really quick. Norah has bounced off a lot of energy in this thing just over the past few days.

There were also many dress up outfits. My Mom also found Norah some awesome hats that she embelished (one of the hats has my Grandmothers Abby's pin on it) and she found her some gloves. Norah loves playing dressup! This sequin number was the first one she had to try on.

After we finished opening presents at our house we loaded up and headed over to my Mom and Dad's house. Boo is staying over there right now and we wanted to make sure that we got to see him and give him his vegan treats in his stocking. He has been trying really hard to be healthier and mentioned something about possibly going vegan so Glen and I took a trip to Whole Foods and filled his stocking up with whatever we could find. We also picked up some Kiss My Face products for Jessica (Boo's girlfriend) and got her some vegan treats as well.

Norah cleaned up and got a new DVD player. She has been without her own since around May of 2010 because she broke it to the point that you couldn't see the screen. Tile, portable DVD players and five year olds do not mix. You can only drop them so many times. The DVD player that is.
She got 5 different little cats this year. Her own litter to play with. They were all lined up watching Toy Story 3.

There was lots of good food and company. We all sat around and talked and really enjoyed ourselves. Boo took to my Dad's Jazzy scooter like a duck to water. In fact he buzzed all over the house in it. I told Dad that he may have to fight Boo just to ride in his own scooter. Norah thought the scooter was for her when we went to pick it up and started crying when we told her it was for Popi (Grandpa). She has managed to scam many rides from Popi though, so she is satisfied to share .... for now.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas....Channukkah......Solstice (Yule) or just a plain good December. May the New Year be kind to all of us.

Changes

2010-12-28T18:16:00.002-08:00

I am working on making some changes to the website.....obviously. Since I now exactly zilch about doing this it may take a while and look kind of funky once in a while during the learning process. Norah has been home with us now for almost two years and it is time for some changes in several areas. Glen has a hard time sitting in the office chair to update the blog so it has become my job. I will try to keep it clean since this is really a record for Norah about her life however....she does live with me and will be able to smell the BS from a mile away if I lay it on to thick.

Norah and Eli

2010-12-06T02:32:00.004-08:00

Ariel, Just hanging around?

2010-12-06T02:31:00.004-08:00

I just don't ask anymore.

Discovery Museum

2010-12-06T02:23:00.007-08:00

We were vey excited to get to spend some time recently with our good friends Mike and Melissa and of course Eli. It was our first time to meet Eli and I have to say I do believe we are all hooked. Norah loves to talk about him and look at his pictures on the refrigerator. When ever I would tell her Eli was here she would go running for the door with this huge grin on her face.

We all took a field trip to the Discovery Museum in Little Rock. I had not been since Boo was little. They have really expanded the place. It was great and the kids had a blast. Norah was wound up for hours afterward.

I love bugs! Not really. We tried to get her to pet the hissing Madagascar cockroach. It was no go.

He just learned how to walk! Look at him go. They all dressed in Arkansas Razorback attire. It was to cute.

(Raising hand and jumping up and down in seat) " Oh! We know!"

Eli and Norah giving some big choppers a good cleaning.

Discovery Museum....cont.

2010-12-06T02:02:00.013-08:00

There was a little red button on the floor that you pushed to make a fan come on that would blow the orange balls up into the air. Norah was gettting frustrated trying to keep the air going until she figured out she could stand on the button and make the fan stay on all the time. Smart girl.

"Dad, I've totally got this. I can climb in this boat NO PROBLEM. "

Eli did too. It was so amazing watching him just climb everywhere.

Hey, you got any milk? How about some ice cream?

Graduation! Watch out that first step is a lulu!

2010-11-30T18:56:00.006-08:00

Norah had her "Graduation" at preschool on Wednesday. I took off work to get her there while Glen took Annie for a doctors appointment. She was so funny. They called her name and she strutted across the floor like she had won an Emmy. Everyone in the room cracked up.

They have graduations at the end of every semester mostly for the adult college students that teach the classes. Many of then will not be back next semester but they still want to see their student graduate. The kids love it and it is a good incentive for the teachers.

This was Norahs teacher (name withheld cause I don't know if she wants me to put it up here) this semester. She was fabulous. Really interested, kept changing things up to keep Norah excited about learning and listening. She even bought Norah some workbooks for over Christmas break.

This is a sink hole! It was in the parking lot of Carinos. They had it all roped off with yellow tape, you know like a crime scene. It was super deep and oddly fascinating to me. Now that I think about it maybe I need to get out more often.

Pears and Pirate Ships

2010-11-18T13:54:00.004-08:00

Norah found this pear in the backyard and told me that it looked like a "sleepy face". So we brought it inside and drew on some eyes and a chin. I'm not sure where he ended up after that, may end up finding him all dried up under a bed someday.

Glen and Norah made a pirate ship the other day. Glen said that it was all Norahs idea. That she would tell him what she wanted on it and then Glen had to figure out how to make it happen. That sure does sound like she is trying to take over my role around here. (;

AAArrrggguh! Matey! Where be your bananas?

New study shows pigtails decrease time outs

2010-11-08T03:50:00.002-08:00

She gets in SO much less trouble when she has her hair fixed like this. It just amazes me that pigtails can do that.

Last Saturday

2010-11-07T05:47:00.008-08:00

Last Saturday consisted of crafts (as usual), sand art.....

The little card says, "Turkay and scarecrow".

The Home Depot craft day. Norah made a spice rack for Nana and Popi.

Our friend Aidens 3rd birthday party. Happy Birthday!

Norah was still going, even after all of that. I wish I had that much energy.

More Halloween 2010

2010-11-04T04:59:00.001-07:00

Halloween 2010

2010-11-01T14:55:00.011-07:00

Since Halloween fell on a Sunday this year some of the towns had Trick or Treating on Saturday and some on Sunday. We took Norah over by my brothers house Saturday night and then stayed around our house Sunday night. On Saturday Norah dressed up as Tinker Bell. Complete with large doses of "fairy dust". She had to be chauffered between stops in her stroller, even to the point of us having to make her get out and walk up to some of the front doors. (She wanted to be pushed up to the door)

Norah in her usual state of "I've got this now. Back off!"

She sure did love the glitter duster.

Sunday we carved our pumpkins and made cinnamon/sugar pumpkin seeds. Because you always need MORE sugar around Halloween time.

High tech pumpkin carving. Avoids little fingers getting cut.

Sunday night it was back to her costume from last year with glitter of course.

My brother and his wife dressed up like bumble bees. She made those costumes herself! Ah! Love......

Boo had to try on the one of the bee costumes and then do a little dance in the front yard to show us where the honey was located. I got some of it on video but can't figure out how to get it on here.

Norah checking out her stash.

The whole motley crew. Minus our friends Mike, Melissa and Eli who were unable to make it out. We sure did miss them and hope they had a great Halloween.

Norah's pumpkin, cut out exactly as she drew it.

The end of the night. The witch hat has changed places and the iphone has been brought out to entertain Norah. We really had a good time and can't wait for next Halloween.

So Far Behind

2010-10-24T19:22:00.007-07:00

We put together this scrap wood dollhouse just as a way to keep Norah occupied while I completed some repairs around the house. Who knew that we would still be playing with it 2 weeks later. Norah has painted, we have added furniture made from popsicle sticks and toilet paper rolls, felt and ribbon.

The craft tornado! Don't worry there were no casualties. Except for the floor that is.

Boo brought over his new "toy". A juicer that he has been wanting for a while and now that he's a working man he can afford it. He made us and Jess all kinds of juice to try and even juiced up a bunch of pears from the trees in the backyard. It was really good to see them both. We love it when they get to come visit.

Back to the dollhouse. This is what Norah and I did late Saturday night. We put a popsicle shingle roof on the little house. It took forever but was made a little easier since I got to watch Caddyshack and Stripes while I worked. Don't worry Norah was to busy cracking the whip on me to even notice the movies on tv. A lot of the "shingles" are crooked because I was laughing so hard I couldn't see straight! ("Cinderella story.....Ha!)

We even added some artwork from a little book that was laying around.

And of course every house needs a landscaped yard. There is a white pickett fence in the works too. If you ask me this makes a Barbie dreamhouse look cheap. I would much rather have my dolls live here and Norah agrees.

When Norah is supposed to be in bed but is instead sneaking down the hallway to see what I am doing she likes to put her pillow over her head. Because if she can't see me then she can't see me sign "Go to bed." It really is cute. That cute little smile makes it hard to send her back to bed.

Here I am getting scolded for not coming to bed. She is totally serious. "It is time for bed! Go!"

So far behind....Part 2

2010-10-24T18:43:00.006-07:00

Our good friend Eli's Daddy (Sorry Mike but that is your name from now on) came by the house bearing gifts for Norah and us. He brought Norah a super cool bell for her bike and a plate for the back that says "princess" on it. You know, in case she forgets. The adults were given the makings for a very nice Margarita Monday. Thanks again Eli's Daddy. You know us all to well. We can't wait to see more of you and the whole family for Halloween!

Norah asked for the bag that has her clothes that she was wearing on her adoption day. We keep the clear bags in plain view in her closet so that she can see them whenever she wants to. This is the first time that she wanted to actually try on her coat and wear it around the house for while. She didn't seem upset or sad. We looked at pictures from her adoption day and photos of her foster mother. She kept the coat on for about 2 hours then took it off. I think it may finally be sinking in that she is here to stay.

The craftiness continues around here. This would be the "Count".

Here is a pinball game made out of a box that was going to thrown in the trash at work, popsicle sticks, bottle caps, nails, marbles, a rubber band and clothespin. Yes, it really does work!

Have a good week!

Mr. Boo

2010-10-21T13:58:00.006-07:00

Boo came over to the house this week to help me stain the fence. He will also get his first paycheck from his first "grownup" job today! He has landed himself a position with the state health department. We are so proud we could just scream!

Good job Boo!

I am just waiting for the phone call from him where he asks just who the heck are all of these places and people and why do they get so much of my money?

Bye, Bye Kitty

2010-10-12T18:27:00.003-07:00

Kitty

May 1994-October 2010

The best cat I ever had. Made it through Boo "loving" on him when he was little and still had the patience to not scratch or bite Norah when she "loved" on him. He did have the annoyed and disgusted look down to an art by the time Norah got here. Today he just climbed up in his favorite nap spot, went to sleep and moved on off to some other adventure. We will all miss him.

Arkansas State Fair 2010

2010-10-10T15:44:00.009-07:00

We went to the fair on Sunday so that Norah could see all of the animals. This was a cute little setup where the ducks waddled up this side then ate some food from the little trough at the top before sliding down the other side, then swimming back around to do it all again.

As soon as Norah saw the cow she started doing the sign and making moooooing noises. She was really excited to see them eating.

PIGLETS! Wilbur......Babe........Piglet.......what other famous pigs are there?

These sheep were so pretty. Their coats looked like a smokey grey velvet. The black pantyhose aren't bad either.

This must be one of those rare long distance bike riding sheep. He has on his Lance Armstrong approved aerodynamic lycra riding suit.

You lookin' at me?......You lookin' at ME! ? Why, yes we are. You have such cute little ears Mr. Bunny.

Norah hamming it up for the camera.

Crocheted yellow roses. WOW! I consider it a success if I can cut paper in a straight line. Someone has some serious talent.

Ok, I know what this is. Still I find it a little creepy. Just my opinion.

Norah doing her best Vanna White to show off the quilts hanging from the ceiling.

Your Welcome and yes we will drive safely.

(Few little side notes: It was really hot Sunday. None of us do well with hot, super bright weather. One of the parking staff in our area was wigged out of his gourd. I believe the warning Glen gave me was ..."Crackhead at 3 o'clock." Nice! We think we saw Snookie! Even though we wouldn't be caught dead watching Jersey Shore you can't help but know who she is. If you have managed not to know who she is then I envy you. We ran into 3 or 4 people that signed to Norah .... LOVE IT! If you are out in public and know how to sign PLEASE do it. Even if you only know a few words. It means so much to Norah and us and others that sign. )

Sorry PETA!

2010-10-10T15:38:00.004-07:00

Found this in the living room. The first thing that ran through my mind was...."That giraffe must have been askin' for it." Norah REALLY likes to tie things up. Like it's an obsession.

NAPTIME!

2010-10-10T15:27:00.003-07:00

Norah DOES NOT sleep! She goes from before dawn till around 11 at night on a normal day. She does not sit quietly, she does not snooze on the couch. She goes full tilt until she face plants in the bed. Sometimes we are able to stay up that long, most times not. The photots above show what happens if you try and take a nap at our house. Luckily it wasn't fingernail polish or markers this time. We have gotten wise to her and removed all of that from our bedroom. But STICKERS! Really? I thought that Boo didn't sleep. HA! He had nothing on Norah.

New bike and more

2010-10-05T13:04:00.005-07:00

I am very lucky to work closely with some great people. Marlon (one of the scrub nurses on our team) gave Norah his daughters bike with training wheels that she had outgrown and even threw in a helmet. We cut away some of the foam on the inside so that Norah could wear the helmet over her cochlears and headed for the park. She has riden the bike a couple of times at the house but she REALLY enjoyed being at the park and having all that room. There was alot of swerving off the path and a whole lot of hitting the breaks but she did very well and had a blast.

Fun with pipe cleaners and boxes.

Norah all dressed up for gymnastics. Norah's Grandma and Grandpa pay for her to attend gymnastics. We thought for a while that we were going to have to get Norah some physical therapy. She was wobbly and delayed in her ability to balance, kick, ect. Gymnastics has been just the ticket. She loves going. Has a couple of little friends that she gets to see every week and her coordination and balance have improved to the point that she is almost caught up with her age group. Her Grandparents have given her a gift that will last her whole life.

There is also some BIG news about BOO coming soon!

To Stinkin' Cute

2010-09-28T13:32:00.002-07:00

This is the same girl who would have absolutely NOTHING to do with books a year and a half ago.

Norah's new do

2010-09-25T18:16:00.003-07:00

Glen took Norah to get her haircut. There were still areas of her hair growing out from having to have parts of her head shaved from her CI surgeries and she has been really giving us a run for our money when we wash or try to fix her hair. So it was off to see Shelia, our long time friend and beautician.

This haircut just makes Norah even more cute! The only problem is I think it may have made her even sassier.

Preschool then and now and a milestone

2010-09-15T20:30:00.002-07:00

Last years first day of school picture.

This years first day of preschool picture. You will notice that she is all bundled up nice and warm EXCEPT for her beloved flip flops. We will actually have to hide them before she will even consider wearing closed toed shoes, let alone socks.
It looks like no lips will be required for this first day back to preschool. Good thing Norah left hers in the house.

Today is also our 20th wedding anniversary.

I can honestly say that I do not know what I would do without Glen. He has been my best friend, keeper of my secrets, lover, sounding board, voice of reason, and biggest cheerleader for 2 decades now. He knows what I'm thinking alot of times just by the look on my face. As long as I have him with me any hurdles thrown our way can be dealt with, usually with sarcasm and laughter. He is an excellent Daddy! He loves my family. He reminds me alot of my Grandfathers (both of them...Henry and Willard) and my Dad (Michael). I have been very fortunate to have a lot of good men in my life to model how a husband should act. Glen is just that....a good man... and I am very fortunate to be married to him. Happy Anniversary Honey.

(Norah ate all his truffles that I bought him for today.) Ha!

(See, that right there. Above. Me finding it hilarious that Norah ate all his truffles. I realize that it's kind of mean. Glen said that he dosen't love me in spite of that stuff but because of it. It's like we were made for each other!)

Big Question

2010-09-13T18:08:00.003-07:00

Okay. Obviously if you are here you have some idea of what Norah's background is and what we are trying to do as far as giving her a chance to learn to speak. So.....If location inside the U.S. was not an issue where would the absolute BEST oral/deaf school be? Where would give Norah her best chance of speaking?

A is for Apple, B is for Boo, J is for Jess

2010-09-11T07:07:00.006-07:00

"A is for Apple."

This has to be the universally recognized face for homework.

Norah is hard at work tracing her A's. We are trying to introduce letter recognition and showing her that it means the same as the sign for A.
"A is also for Alligator."

There have been more crafts going on around the house. I have been looking up some new ones online recently. The weather will turn cold on a dime here. We usually go from having the air conditioner on to having the heat on within a week or two of each other. Plus Fall just seems to be a good time to do crafts.

The owl is another project from a Halloween craft book that I found at a garage sale.

Jess and Boo stopped by last night to borrow the carpet cleaner and weed eater. Norah LOVES to play with Jess.

Boo is working on putting up a blog of his own and apparently cleaning carpets and weedeating at my brother's house.

Halloween in September

2010-09-08T18:00:00.002-07:00

We have started the Halloween crafts early around here. This is supposed to be a skeleton taking his skeleton cat for a walk. They are made out of q-tips and some foam.
The pumpkin is one that Norah HAD to have! It started out with some eyes and a mouth and then the allure of the magic marker just over took Norah and she went wild.

School starts on the 15th for Norah. She will be attending the preschool program at UALR that is run by the speech pathology department at the college. This is the same program that she was in for a while last school year. We are so glad that she is able to attend again this year. We know that she will make big strides in her language development in this program.

Sunday evening

2010-08-29T18:45:00.007-07:00

It was finally decent outside this evening so we headed out to the backyard (ok, we really were dragged out there by Norah. If it had been up to Glen and I we would have become one with the couch). Norah likes to trim on the trees and shrubs in the backyard. All you have to do is give her a pair of safety scissors and she's off. She is also a good weeder. I sure do hope she likes to help this much when she gets older.

I LOVE the way her hair looks in the sunshine and her skin is such a beautiful gold/brown.
No, I am not biased at all......she seriously is gorgeous....it's a fact!

There was a breeze blowing and the sun was going down. Only thing missing was a frozen margarita.

She hates these exoskeletons that are all over the backyard. You can always tell when she finds one because the yelling gets really loud. I have tried to show her that they are empty but its hard to catch her and get her to calm down enough to explain. I guess they are kind of creepy.

Best swingset we ever bought. She plays on the trampolin part and twirls around the bar more than she plays on the swings or slide.

The many faces of Norah. (While making cinnamon rolls)

2010-08-19T13:33:00.005-07:00

If your squemish you may want to pass this post up.

2010-08-12T18:56:00.004-07:00

Seriously. Another title for this one could be Arkansas Post-op. Ok, I warned you. Scroll down.

Glen had a spinal cord stimulator put in on Tuesday for a trial run to see if it would help with his ever present back pain. We go Monday to have the temporary leads removed. So far the trial is a bust. It doesn't relieve pain where he needs it and he says it feels like he's holding his leg up against an electrified cattle fence. It also likes to shock the snot out of him if he steps down with his heel to hard, coughs, sneezes, farts, or even talks loud. Needless to say he has been a little cranky. The doctor and the rep for the device could not get the leads fed up to where they needed to be because of some sort of blockage or scar tissue in his back. They also had trouble "dialing in" the device to give him relief from his pain without shocking him to the point his legs would draw up on their own. We were really hoping that this would work and that Glen would be able to go back to work or at least have a better quality of life with less pain. For now though it appears we are going back to the drawing board.

This is Norah, trying desperately to see the tv around me trying to take her picture and get her to smile. She is VERY glad that none of the doctor stuff has had anything to do with her this week.

My Mom had her knee replaced last week. She got to go home on Saturday and we spent Saturday night and Sunday at her house. She is doing very well. Norah wanted absolutely nothing to do with my Mom while she was in the hospital bed, with everything Norah has gone through I can't blame her.

Hopefully everything slows down a little for a while because it has been non stop around here lately. I've left alot of things out but at this point the highlights are more than enough.

Lazy days of summer......HA! Fat chance!

2010-07-31T13:16:00.008-07:00

It is actually hotter than the face of the sun today with the heat index putting it well into the 110's. So we are spending the day indoors. We went out early this morning and got movies. Came home and did a little face painting and tent building in the living room. Norah is having a ball! Even after all that and playing with some homemade playdoh she was still looking for stuff to do. Everyone keeps telling me she will keep me young, but I'm starting to wonder if she just keeps me running so much that I don't have time to think about anything else.
The next activity was to paint some eggs. That's right people it's not just for Easter anymore. I should have some pictures of that later. Then we may build a castle out of paper towel rolls. After that .......holy cow! After that we may just have to take her to Nana and Popie's house to swim or see what they have up their sleeves. I will be so glad when it cools off enough to play outside again.