New School, Loads of New Progress!

Emarie has been attending preschool for the last 3 years in Provo district where I worked. But as of November when sweet little Ryker was born, I have quit working there. It got really hard to take her and pick her up each day, especially considering she was only there about 3 hours a day. So we talked seriously about placing her in Apline district where we are now living. This was an extremely hard decision to come to because I know everyone at the school and in the kindergarten class she would have gone to in Provo, including the children, who were the same she'd been going to school for the last 3 years. I know how they do their IEP's, they have all known my girls since before she was born, they love her..... It was really, really hard to even think about her going anywhere else.... But we decided we'd just check things out and found out she could go to one of 3 schools:

Dan Peterson- an all inclusive school in American Fork, meaning it is a school just for special needs children and all the way up to 22 year olds. 

Hillcrest- a typical elementary school that has self contained classrooms.

Orem Elementary- same as above ^

We have had a few incidents that have persuaded us to think about placing Emarie in an all inclusive school. She never had any bad experiences at her preschool even though she was around typical children there. But that is part of something I have always known, children will see disabled children no differently if they grow up and are around them regularly. So that is one strong point to keeping her in a regular ed school.... but does that always benefit her? 

We went school shopping well before we decided anything

 Her backpack was her favorite thing we got at Target that day, and she hugged it all through the store and all the way home! And she still hugs it on the way to and from school everyday! Though she had a bit of a tough time deciding between this one and Minnie Mouse, I'm pretty sure she's confident in her decision with Rapunzel ;) 

And here she is will all of her school stuff.... she actually picked out her first day outfit when we were in Park City at the end of July (don't hold your breath, but still hoping to do a post about that!)

So we decided to make an appointment to just go look at Dan Peterson, and after that we were completely sold! They have a sensory room that Em absolutely loved! They also had an all adaptive playground that is all wheelchair accessible and she loved that too. 

 My two cute kids enjoying their swings! FYI it was another 100 degree day when we went, so we stayed out there as long as we could stand.... but it wasn't very long (Utah has had the hottest summer in history, with over 20 days of record breaking heat, and July held more days over 100 degrees than under :P)

The principal there was someone I could see myself being friends with and she had taken the time to find out about Emarie from the preschool before we came that day, which I don't know many principals that would do that with their busy schedules! They also have 3 full-time nurses there everyday, which put me at a lot more ease knowing I wouldn't have to worry so much about her allergies and asthma, nor her feedings. 

So it was a snap decision.... our tour was Wednesday, we did her IEP and special healthcare plan on Monday, and she started for the first day of school on Tuesday (the 20th of August). Here are some pictures of her first day :)

The traditional front porch shot, she was eager to get going, so wasn't very cooperative for these

But thanks for the subtle smile Em :) 

This is once we got there, and again she was eager to go inside, so she wasn't having it! I love this outfit she picked out at the Carter's outlet in Park City

This is once we got in her classroom, she was a little nervous, but that really didn't last long!

This was her teacher trying to ease her nerves by asking her to help her set up their next activity.

So they want her to be there all day and she will be in full-swing with her services, did I mention they have a pool for PT??! But since she was only use to being at school 3 hours a time and 4 days a week, I thought it best to try and ease her into it.... So the first week she started at 12:30, which sadly was only one day because she woke up the next day with the stomach flu and her little brother got hit hard with strep and hand, foot and mouth disease! We still aren't sure how or where he got so sick, but there'll be more on that later.... 

So the next week was when she finally had her second day and she started going at 11:30. And next week she'll be starting at 10:30, and the week after that will be full days and hopefully she will be on the bus both ways by then. I am still having to take her and pick her up at this point because we didn't get her info in enough time for her to be on the bus right away, but I'm told they're working on it, so hopefully after labor day sometime that week she might start going home on the bus. 

Her second day (which was the next Monday), her teacher told me that she used verbal communication and said the phrase "red star" during a shape game they played. This was not a repeat of something she'd heard, this was her telling them which one she wanted..... So this was not only saying clear words (that all the adults in the room understood mind you!), but it was knowing what color red is, and what shape a star is! I know my girl is smart, but unfortunately not many are privy to see that..... it took her until year 3 to say a single word in preschool! She signed, pointed and communicated in other ways before that, but 3 years before she spoke a real word in school..... day 2 at this new school and she said something I've never even heard her say! More solidarity that we made the right decision.... but hold on until you see what day 3 brought....

This is something her teacher showed me on her third day of school. She handed it to me and said, "Obviously she has been worked with and taught how to write her name, but we never saw any info on that in her IEP....." I was blown away as I said, "You mean..... she did this by herself??" And then there was shock on her face..... I told her she has written her name with lots and lots of help (hand over hand type help), and then we both had tears in our eyes. This is proudly being displayed on the fridge! 

So I'm sure you will be seeing much more amazing things from this girl, I am really excited about this year! 

Emarie's Preschool Graduation

After 3 years of preschool, my sweet girl finally graduated. It was a bittersweet day and I was flooded with emotions, not just because my little girl is growing up, but also I was thinking a lot about all the things she would be facing this summer.... I couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy as I heard other parents talk of plans of vacations, trips to the water and amusement parks, camping and other fun summer activities. And thanks to this missing DNA of Em's we are facing a lot of horrors this summer. I will probably finally get into all that in a coming post. 

So Em and her cute little class performed a couple of songs, and then they were each presented with a graduation cap and certificate. Mommy bought her a special graduation balloon and lei that I surprised her with when I came. Daddy was able to come too and Em was over the moon about that!

Here's some pictures of the day

 Singing songs

 Walking back after songs and then walking back after getting her "diploma" and cap

 All her family that was there that day

Her teachers, top L, Miss Molly, Top R, Miss Kelly and Bottom, Miss Brenda

She had a great year and accomplished more in her last year of preschool than the entire 2 years before that! 

Here's just a fun little picture I put together to show her first year of preschool at 3 years old, to her last year of preschool at 5 years.

Sadly this is the day Em started to head south with her health and got sicker than I believe she has ever been in her life (which is really saying something!), which caused her to miss the very last day of school, and put her in the ER later that week where we would find out she had croup, which also made it so we had to reschedule her two vital procedures (part of the horror of the summer we are looking at).  It took her quite awhile, but she is finally getting back to herself and we now have the procedures rescheduled for the middle of July. 

Good things to report!

I need to thrive and hang on to that thought, because right now, I'm more than slightly worried about one beautiful little girl that just doesn't deserve anymore (insert dramatic, maybe four letter word of your choice here). As I am hulled up in a tiny cabin next to my sweet girl waiting with baited breath to make sure she doesn't throw up that precious, much needed antibiotic that was just placed in her system. 

On to the good things though, which would be

growing!!

Yes, that's right, my little sprout that everyone's first comment on her use to be "She's tiny!" or, "She's so small!" or something else to that effect.

Well, she still might not be where she's supposed to be for her age, but she's the closest she's ever been!!

That's right, this little girl, who a mere 6-8 months ago was still sporting 3-6 month clothes, is now in a healthy 24 month and 2T size (mostly)! Which is freakin amazing if I do say so!!

The only draw back (because yes, there has to be one!), is the fact that she has needed all new clothes. Not so bad, you say, right? Well it's just new for me, for a mom who's little girl could wear clothes 2 or 3 years in a row. And don't even get me started on shoes. So yes, she needed a whole new wardrobe, and thankfully we have had many nice people step in to help (since money has been a bit tight for awhile).

So here ya go, some recent pictures of my little girl that now actually resembles an almost 3 year old, in some of her new clothes that our wonderful family has supplied!

Hair is growing too! and gotta love the Halloween representation, ghost clips! 

And as I mentioned, those feet have grown as well, for the first time since she was born. At the beginning of this year, she was still fitting into newborn shoes, but now, she is mostly a size 2, sometimes even a 3! Still very disproportionate though to her size, so I mentioned this when she was getting fitted for her new daphos (orthotics), so they made them formed to her feet but sized so that she could have bigger shoes. So, that meant that overnight (when she got her orthotics), she went from a size 2 to a size 6!! So, no, she's not really a size 6, but that's what size shoe we had to get to fit over the new orthotics. 

So we spent around $80 buying an all new wardrobe of shoes as well.

And yes there's pants in there too, but who can pass up darling corduroys for $1.99 each at Kid to Kid?!

 Here are the ones we got dirt cheap at Kid to Kid! The ones on the left are barely used, but the ones on the right, I'm %100 certain were never worn, and Gymboree normally $40 shoes, we got for a fraction of the price!! They also had an adorable purple pair as well that were never worn, someone should snatch up fast at the Provo Kid to Kid!!

 The boots were the most expensive at $30 from Payless, but they were practical because she can wear them with anything from pants to dresses and skirts! The other two were from Shoe Carnival and we got for a good deal of $15 a piece, but one ended up being $7.50 because of "Buy One Get One 1/2 Off"!

But the most expensive of the bunch would be these babies!! At $1,000 (our bit was about $200) she better wear them!!

In other good news, I think you may have all figured it out, but just in case you haven't- Steve and I have decided to give things another try! We're not sure at this point how everything is going to work, but is anyone ever really?! We're just happy to report we're doing our best to work through our problems and we never did have a problem with loving each other, which is most important!

Also, one more thing.... Steve was a little worried about giving me this trip since I love Halloween so much and will be missing it at home. But, I was actually a bit relieved we wouldn't be home. And I thought I would relay back my post from last year's Halloween. You can read the whole thing here if you want, but here's the point I wanted to emphasize:

Last Year's Halloween Afterthoughts

-Spray-on glitter (aka: Fairy Dust) does not easily come off the couch, the tile floor, the car, the carpet and clothes, well pretty much anything!

-No matter how much you love to dress up, your husband might not feel the same way!

-Trying to paint a two year old's face with eyeliner, is definitely not an easy task (that's why she just has the nose at this point!)

-No matter what I do to prevent it, we will continue to be the only ones on our street that get our pumpkins smashed before Halloween.

-If you get home after 8 pm, you probably won't have more than 4 or 5 trick-or-treaters!

-No matter how much you want to tell the big teenage Tongan girls with no costumes, that they don't get candy since they didn't dress up, it's probably not a good idea (they probably would have easily beat me up)!

-Last of all, watching a scary movie on Halloween, is not always a good idea, when it was as disturbing as this one was (which I won't mention!)

And since Utah celebrates Halloween on Saturday when it falls on a Sunday, I would like to wish those of you that will be doing Halloween type activities tonight, a safe and happy Halloween, or Happy Haunting!!