Update on Owen

For the last 3 months Owen has been participating in play therapy to help him increase his vocabulary and speech. Once a week a therapist would come to our house and play with Owen trying to get him to say words. In my opinion, I didn't really see that it was helping a whole lot. The therapist was doing the same activities I was already doing with him, like puzzles, naming pictures, singing songs, etc. For the most part, Owen liked the extra attention but he didn't like being told what to play with and for how long. For the first time in his life, temper tantrums started and he would refuse to sit for her or participate. June 30th was our last session in Rocky Mount because of the move.

This week we have been in contact with the Charlotte CDSA about starting up his services here. After consulting with the new service coordinator, we decided to have his hearing checked again. During his hearing check back in April, the audiologist found fluid in his ears, which was causing a hearing loss. Once the fluid cleared his hearing was never checked again. Call it mother's instinct, but I still believe he is not hearing us correctly.

This morning we went over to the CDSA to have their audiologist test his hearing and vision. Once again, the audiologist found fluid in both ears. Luckily they weren't red or infected but the clear fluid was still bubbling behind his ears. Even though the fluid was there, she did the test and of course it showed a hearing loss again. He is not hearing high frequencies and the audiologist said this is definitely affecting his speech. She thought that the next step should be a visit with his pediatrician to see if they can clear up the fluid.

Of course, we didn't have a pediatrician yet because we have only been here for a week. As soon as we got home, I called upon all my mommy friends here to get a recommendation. I called the one that I kept hearing and luckily they were able to fit me in right away. I must say that I LOVE this new doctor; she was so personable but also very knowledgeable. She confirmed the fluid was not infected but definitely present. She also said that Owen's tonsils very big and his nasal cavity tissue was swollen. While he didn't show really any signs of being sick, she said that the enlarged tonsils could be preventing fluid from draining properly. Her recommendation was to follow up with an ENT to see if tubes are needed or if something needs to be done about his tonsils. I'll call tomorrow to set up the appointment after the doctor sends over the referral. The pediatrician also prescribed a steroid nasal spray to help strengthen his naval cavity hopefully helping the fluid to drain. She said it could or could not wok but it was worth a shot until we could see the ENT.

I also met with his service coordinator today we agreed to have his speech specifically tested. We want to see if he's made any progress and to see if speech therapy is needed instead of play therapy.

So a lot is going on..hopefully we'll get some clear answers within the month. I worry about the little guy and his speech and I'm hoping that this will help him to communicate with us better. I'll keep you updated!

Celebrating Independence

This year to celebrate the birth of our awesome nation, we celebrated with the Fergusons on Lake Norman. While my brother works for them, he will also be joining their family in October when he marries their only daughter. The Fergusons have an awesome house on the lake complete with 2 boats and 2 jet skis. We were thankful to be asked to join in their annual celebration, especially since we are new around here.

Luckily the heat decided to subside a little and we enjoyed a nice afternoon/evening playing yard games, riding the boats, and eating lots of delicious food. Sadly Owen got really tired and we didn't make it to dark so we couldn't enjoy the sparklers and fireworks. I only took a few pictures because most of the time I was running after a toddler. He evidently doesn't know a stranger and would go up to anyone and steal blueberries off their plate. :P

Owen wanted to play ping pong with Uncle BP. (Mom, please notice his outfit. The boys told me all day that he looked too fru-fru. I guess they didn't like your outfit.)
He then switched to Aunt Lauren's team.Riding the boat with Daddy. This is the first time the child would actually wear sunglasses for more than 2 secs.
Owen's new girlfriend Taylor, Lauren's cousin who is only 4 months older.
He loved riding the boat, even if it meant he had to wear that life jacket. :)

Happy 4th everyone!

We're Here (Updated)

We've made it to Charlotte! It was a long and hot move but everything made it here in one piece. Thanks to my parents, Jeremy's parents, my brother, future sis in law, and Eric Gunter for their help. I would also like to thank our new GPS (Jeremy's father's day present) for helping me navigate this crazy city. Without you, I would be lost. :)

While there are many boxes left to unpack, we are getting settled into life here. I have finally changed our address with everyone under the sun so we should be official now. Owen is having the hard time adjusting to sleep here. We set up his room first in hopes of giving him some sense of normalacy but it doesn't seem to have helped. He is going to bed way late each evening which makes us all tired. He napped at regular time today so I'm hoping we are on the right track.

Also yesterday I went to another OB appointment. Everything went great and the heartbeat was 160 bpm (does that mean a girl?). I am now 15 weeks and we will find out at our next appointment on July 28th the gender of this new little one. We can't wait! Take the little survey on the side and let us know what you think it is.

Well that's about it for now. Thanks for checking in on us..I promise to have some fun picture posts soon. :)

Checklist Almost Complete

I'm happy to report:

• our renters have signed the lease
• we were approved for our new townhome
• my swagbucks arrived..very late
• I ordered Jeremy's Father's day present and was able to get super fast shipping for free! He may actually get it on Father's day

I still need a tall helper to get the stuff out of the cabinet and the stupid insurance company to call me back. The big things (and most important) are out of the way though so I'm happy.

Only 1 week until we move!

In Case You Didn't Know...

I am an impatient person. (My mom is laughing right now I'm sure!) In today's world when you get everything you want immediately, I have a hard time being patient when things take a little longer. Here are the things I'm currently waiting on:

• The couple who is renting our house to go sign the official lease therefore allowing our agent to fax it over to our new leasing agent.
• The leasing agent for our town home in Charlotte to approve us.
• Swagbucks to award my Amazon gift cards so I can order Jeremy's father's day present.
• More boxes that are currently awaiting me in my brother's car
• Someone tall to help me get the stuff out of the top of the cabinets so I can pack it up.
• Stupid insurance companies to call me back

Ok thanks for letting me rant. I'll do a better update of what's going on when I get a few moment. :)

One Step Closer

We have renters!! After only a week and half on the market, our house has been rented! Not only has it been rented, but they are renting over what we originally needed!!! Thanks to our awesome realtor we will be receiving enough money to cover our mortgage and the property management fee. Praise the Lord!!

Really we have to praise God for just how He has worked through out this whole process. First, He provided a new job very soon into the process. When at first it didn't seem like a reasonable offer, He made it possible by having the owner offer Jeremy more money. He used a realtor friend to give us good advice and help us decide to rent to save us money. We then got a great realtor that helped promote our rental, allowing it to rent in just 1.5 weeks. While we have one more step (finding a new place to live) we know that the Lord will provide there as well.

Now the packing process begins! If anyone would like to come help, it would be greatly appreciated. :) I believe we will pull out of here the last weekend in June so if you would be willing to help us pack it all up, we would love that as well. :)

Jesse and Emily's Wedding

This past weekend we celebrated another family wedding. This time it was Jeremy's oldest brother, Jesse, wedding in the beautiful mountains of NC. The wedding took place on the side of a hill over looking a huge pond with Grandfather Mountain as the backdrop. It was so picturesque!

Rehearsal
Cousin love
Jeremy's mom made them matching outfits for the rehearsal
Ready for the wedding to start
Family shot (I hate this picture of me..haing a horrible hair day and I have a farmer's tan)
More cousin love.
Mother of the Bride, Jesse, and Emily after the ceremony
Wedding party. There are lots of boys because her 2 brothers and Jesse's 2 brothers were just ushers.
Madison, our niece, the flower girl and her daddy, Nathan at the reception
Owen had a bird's eye view
Beautiful table arrangements
Our menu for the evening
First dance as a married couple
I've learned that it's very hard to try and get good pictures when you are balancing a toddler and a camera. Owen suffered from a case of constipation that day, so we spent a lot of our time going back and forth to the bathroom. It was a beautiful wedding and we wish the new Mr. and Mrs. Cox all the best!

(Emma, I'm sorry there no pictures of you; I had some great ones, but since Morris was in the picture too I didn't want to post them.)