We're Singing in the Rain!

Wow, what a wet few weeks we have been having. It just keeps coming and coming! It's been so nice to see everything so green and lush, but it will be nice to send the kids back outside again!

Jared has his hearing aids! We got them on Friday. He is actually doing extremely well with them! I am kind of amazed! He has been wearing them full time, whenever he is awake, since we got them! They don't seem to bother him much and I am starting to get the hang of putting the ear molds in. I wish that he could tell me how different it is for him with them in, but he can't quite tell me that yet. He looks so cute! It really is amazing at how he just adapts to whatever is thrown at him. Hopefully I can adapt as easily as he does as I add hearing aid stuff to his already long list of stuff. The first morning that he had them we were heading out early to a movie with HopeKids. I needed a check list to keep track of everything that I need to head out for the day, just for Jared!

Hearing aids tested, batteries tested, hearing aids placed, glasses on, diaper changed, clothes on, morning meds. drawn up, braces on feet, shoes on feet, feeding supplies packed and ready for the day, have hearing aid supplies in bag, have froggy and apple juice packed (Jared can't leave the house without these). OK, ready to go! Oh wait, the kids! Are Tyler and Alyssa ready to go? Wait, I need clothes on! I can't go in my pajamas!

Yep, its a little crazy but that's life! We'll get it all figured out and then we will set a record at getting out the door in the morning!

I keep looking at Jared in a new way. With his hearing aids, glasses, and AFO's (braces for his feet), and then his feeding tube, he looks handicapped. I know that he is, but these things have made everything more visual. His chronic health issues were invisible to most people, but these other issues are not. Right now everyone thinks that he looks so cute, but I know that it will get harder the older he gets. He is "different". And he always will be. My heart already aches, knowing that there will be times when it is so hard for him. I just love him so much and I don't want him to hurt. But, maybe I am worrying needlessly. He is one strong little spirit, and he will probably handle everything with grace and dignity. What would I do without my children who teach me so much?

I was able to meet with the school district and the director of the School for the Deaf and Blind this week. Jared qualifies and has been accepted to the special preschool that is for children with hearing loss. I have heard wonderful things about this program and I think that it is going to be wonderful for Jared! So, next fall, he will be off to preschool four days a week for 4 hours! A bus will pick him up at the door and bring him home. I think that he will love it, but I think that both of us are going to go through withdrawals for the first few weeks. It will be so strange to send him off each day, but I know that he needs this. Tyler and Alyssa only went to preschool for one year, right before starting kindergarten, because I didn't want them to be gone from me so soon. It is difficult to make this decision, but Jared needs more than I can give him at home. He will LOVE being with other kids. It will be good for both of us, but what am I going to do when he is gone? (Don't worry, I have a list) :)