Onward & Upward

Yesterday, Caitlin graduated from Kindergarten in a very cute ceremony. She wore a cap & gown, shook the principal's hand, hugged her teacher and received her certificate. She sang the chorus of "We Are the World" in Spanish, with her classmates. She listened to both her mom and the principal talk about memories and achievements. She was so excited, yet so composed. She was such of a big girl, ready for 1st grade! Ben & I have been so very impressed with Caitlin this year. Never in our wildest dreams did we think that she would do so well academically and socially. We will have our hands full keeping her busy and helping her to both retain all that she's mastered this year (2nd grade math level & 3rd grade reading level) and learn new skills this summer.


Caitlin--walking off the stage after receiving her certificate. Please excuse the poor picture quality. The lighting was horrible in the gym. We will be receiving professional quality shots in another week or so.


Caitlin and her wonderfully sweet teacher, Ms. Brock. Caitlin just loved her and she was a great Kindergarten teacher, always caring, creative and challenging her students.

(Big) Girls Day Out

Caitlin & I just got back from a wonderful afternoon, just Mommy & Caitlin. It's been quite a while since she & I have spent some quality time and we decided, that with the beautiful weather, we should head downtown to hang out. We started with lunch @ Starbuck's (and yes, Caitlin chose to go there), where Caitlin had Greek yogurt w/ honey and granola & a blueberry muffin. I had one of Starbuck's English muffin sandwiches (they are SOOO good) & a green tea
Frappuccino. From there, we took a short jet down the interstate to the light rail station where we hopped the train to Union Station and walked the block and a half to Tattered Cover. A little birdie told Ben that I needed new reads, so he obliged with a gift card for me, for Mother's Day. I snatched up another Jodi Picoult book (yes, I believe I'm addicted) and Three Cups of Tea, the latest issues of Real Simple magazine and treated Caitlin to two new chapters books (my 5 1/2 year old is reading chapter books-*gasp*). Not quite ready to end our day out, we went further into LoDo in search of some ice cream. We happened upon Gellazzi, a local joint that serves up wonderfully homemade & fresh gelato. Caitlin had a mixture of soy chocolate and raspberry while I enjoyed a piccolo cup of wildberry. We sat alfresco, enjoying our treat and the wonderful sunshine & gentle breeze. With our bellies full, we began our very leisurely walk back to the light rail station. Caitlin stopped to pose with some buffaloes and dance among the squares. Once on the train, we read a chapter in one of her newest books and enjoyed the sights on the ride home. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and hope to have many more days out together. It is so fun to have someone to do "big girl" things with even though she's growing up too darn fast!


Caitlin dances on one of the "squares".


Enjoying her soy chocolate & fresh raspberry gelato.


On the light rail, heading downtown for an afternoon of fun with Mommy!


Sitting in a "grown up" chair at Starbuck's.

Cara Lou is a Preschool Girl

From toddler to preschooler in one fast motion. Cara had her 1st IEP facilitation meeting on Wednesday with Child Find through our local school district. We met previously to do the evaluation to asses Cara's needs.

At the facilitation, I learned that Cara qualifies for 4 1/2 day (about 3 hours/day) sessions of preschool at the child development center in our district. She will be in a classroom with 15 other students, half of whom are "typical" and the other half who are receiving some sort of special education. Cara will be receiving physical/occupational, speech and cognitive special education therapies, to the tune of about 3-4 hours a week. The therapists work with students in the classroom setting so that no child feels excluded or "different". In addition, vision therapist and assisted technology will consult with her teachers and therapist to make their recommendations regarding visual safety concerns and the possible need of a low-technology assistance device to help Cara communicate with her teachers & peers.

The program sounds like a perfect mix for Cara--both student & teacher led activities and a structured daily routine. The ratio is never more than 16:2 and is usually 16:3 or 16:4 due to various therapists, volunteers & parents being in the classroom.

I will be doing the actual registration in a couple of weeks, and I'm sure a few tears will be shed as I fully face the reality that my baby is growing up. I just know that she'll love preschool as she is a social child and loves doing activities. In fact, she often wants to stay with Caitlin at drop-off and join her big sister's Kindergarten class. It will be hard for me to trust others in caring for Cara as she has been darn-nearly glued to my side for almost 3 years. Adjustments, and a lot of them, are coming our way soon. I have a feeling that Cara will adapt very well and I will be the one having issues!

Taking a Deep Breath

***big sigh**

We can all breathe a bit easier now. Cara's primary care doctor called on Wednesday to tell us the results of Cara's echocardiogram. The results stated that, "Everything is completely normal. Cara has a very strong and healthy heart." Yay! Not that we *really* doubted that, but it was so wonderful to have professional medical clearance.

I'm curious to see what this means for genetics since Cara has tested negative for every test they've done so far. I think we may just have them halt the exploration process all together. We are very happy with Cara, just as she is, and now, we know that she does not have any major genetic conditions nor heart malformations. Other than her hydrocephalus (which is hardly even a factor given her well-performing shunt *knock on wood*) and some global delays, Cara is a happy, healthy and bubbly little girl. We feel so very lucky!

*deep breath**

Echocardiogram 5/4/09

Once again, we were at Children's Hospital this week as Cara had an echocardiogram scheduled for Monday morning. The reason for the ECG is two-fold:
-Her geneticist wanted it done as part of the genetic testing they are doing in an attempt to properly determine the case of Cara's hydrocephalus as well as the appearance of her cafe-au-lait spots. Apparently, many genetic conditions have cardiac issues attached to them. Ruling out cardiac concerns helps them to narrow down the list of possible conditions.
-Her pediatrician heard a slight heart murmur during Cara's annual exam last month and is anxiously awaiting the results of the ECG to see if it's anything more to be concerned about other than a murmur, which many people live with, unaffected.

We arrived and were quickly shown to a room outfitted with an ultrasound machine. The Disney Channel was playing on a TV, which provided a good initial distraction for Cara. However, once she realized that she was going to have to lay still for a long time, reinforcements were necessary, in the form of lollipops. After that, she laid very still while the technician took 80+ images of her heart from various angles. An hour later, we were done. I am really pleased with how well Cara did, without even an oral sedative.

Copies of the cardiologist's report will be sent to genetics and our pediatrician and we should receive a call or letter from genetics by next week. It only take 1-2 days for them to get the images and report but then for them to call us or notify us could take a few more days. The patient coordinator did say to call genetics next week if we haven't heard anything from them.

I do not think that there could be anything major going on or we would've either been kept after the ECG to speak with a cardiologist or genetics would have contacted us by now. So, I'm breathing a little bit easier than I did going in, but won't completely take a deep breath until we get the "all clear" from genetics. The ECG is the last step in the initial series of testing that the genetics clinic wanted to do...these tests ruling out the most significant conditions. So far, everything has come back normal (the Noonan's test, the NF1 test and the gene array). We will continue to thank our lucky stars and pray that the ECG also comes back normal.

One More Year

You might wonder what the heck Baskin Robbins has to do with getting older but...

I officially joined the ranks of the over 30's crowd last weekend (4/25), as I marked my 31st birthday. Somethings, like wine and cheese, are better the older they get, or so I keep telling myself. I also like to kid that I've had as much variety in my life as all of those 31 flavors! Truth be told, except for the gray hair I found earlier the same week, I feel the same age now as I did when I first had children, almost 6 years ago. What can I say, my girls are helping to keep me young or maybe it's the fact that I can still play with Barbies, paint with finger paints and dress up that keeps the wrinkles at bay. All I know is, time has been good to me.

I was lucky to be able to spend my birthday with my adorable family & my wonderful parents who made the journey over from the other side of the state. We started the day off with a leisurely ride on the Light Rail to downtown Denver (LoDo) and a trip to one of my favorite eating establishments--BD's Mongolian BBQ. I even got to hit the gong a few times and watch the grillers do acrobatic feats with their metal chopsticks. From there, we walked around LoDo, taking in the sights and admiring the architecture (such a varied mix). We were right around the corner from my favorite bookstore of all time, Tattered Cover, so we just had to go in and browse. I walked out with this book, though I could've easily purchased several more. I'd love to curl up in a chair, by a window, with a cup of tea and watch the hours fly by.

A little bit of a side note: When I was in college and searching for some obscure and "crunchy" social theory texts, Tattered Cover was one of the only bookstores this side of the Mississippi who carried the books I desired. I had a very pleasant experience chatting with several employees and received recommendations for other books that might help with my research. The books arrived, wrapped in brown paper & twine, with a personal note from one of the employees who invited me to visit. I had never stepped foot in the bookstore but tried to envision it. Floors, upon floors of books on every topic, comfy leather chairs, an air of intellectual freedom. I'm happy to say that the "real thing" lived up to my visions, and more. Tattered Cover has an environment that makes you just want to sit down & stay awhile, a relaxed atmosphere that "big box" stores struggle to re-create. It is so effortless here.

Getting back on track, we left Tattered Cover, rode the Light Rail back to our Park 'n Ride station, said good-bye to my parents (as they had a 5 hour drive back to the Western Slope) and drove home.

On Sunday, after teaching my group of rowdy toddlers at church, our little clan headed out to a post-birthday lunch at TGI Friday's and then to a local shopping mall. Ben sent me off to get my hair done while he & the girls roamed the mall. Hours later, with my hair was shorter and full of wild curls, they returned armed with birthday cards and a sampling of my favorite lotions from Bath & Body Works. I was very spoiled indeed (thank you Bath & Body Works for having a great sale that weekend)!

As you get older, it's less about opening presents and more about spending time with family & friends. That said, it certainly was nice to be remembered & pampered. I got the best of both worlds that weekend and consider myself extremely lucky.

I Spy...

Can you see what's missing? Caitlin's bottom two front teeth! After her dental appointment x-rays, we saw that her permanent teeth were coming in & that the primary teeth should be coming out soon. Barely two weeks later and both little pearly whites were wiggling. Caitlin went off to school on Friday with two very loose teeth that were stubbornly hanging on to their territory in her mouth. When I came to pick Caitlin up from school that day, she came running at me with a cute little pink treasure chest and a smile that looked slightly different than the one that she left with 3 hours earlier. So, I learned, that while in class, she had been wiggling one tooth with her tongue and then, was surprised to feel something on her tongue. The second tooth came out after a journey to the bathroom mirror to get something out of her teeth, only to realize that this "something" was the other tooth!

That night, after tucking the little pink treasure chest under her pillow, the tooth fairy proudly rewarded Caitlin with two gold dollars!

Caitlin was so proud of herself and to join the ranks of her classmates who have all previously lost their first teeth. It was a bittersweet moment for Ben & I however, because, no matter how much we try to deny it, Caitlin is growing up.

"New Patient" Neurosurgery Visit

After our initial visit was canceled due to a bad spring blizzard, we were anticipating our rescheduled visit with Cara's new neurosurgeon today. The doctor that consulted with us and put in her shunt back in 2007 has pretty much retired from operating and has switched to another hospital. When we were up in neurosurgery last year to have Cara's shunt reset after a CT scan, we got to talking to our Physician's Assistant about finding another neurosurgeon to take over Cara's care. Knowing that we like to be able to ask questions and openly converse with our doctor, she recommended Dr. McNatt for Cara. I have to say that we immediately felt at ease with him--both Ben & I got a great vibe. He shook our hands and then Cara walked right up to him to shake his hand too! We had a great talk about Cara's progress as well as some concerns that we have. He pretty much reassured us that Cara is doing very well, all things considered. Her head circumference (51.3 cm) has stabilized and obviously, her shunt continues to do it's job. Unless something comes up in the meantime, we do not need to see him until a year from now! *knocks on wood* I have a feeling that this is the start of a great professional relationship.

Well-Child check ups

Both of the girls went in to see our faithful family practice doctor on Friday 4/10 for their well-child check-ups and immunizations. I'm proud to report that the girls are fine & dandy. Their doctor is very pleased with their health & growth. I asked, and received some advice on Cara's thumb-sucking and biting and about Caitlin's snoring. Cara received two shots and took them like a champ. She is now done for several years. Caitlin received one shot, cried slightly, and is, most likely (unless they change the current immunization recommendations), done until she is 11.

Here are their stats--
Caitlin (5 1/2)
Height: 3 ft 5 in (65th percentile)
Weight: 48lbs (50th percentile)

Cara (3 1/2)
Height: 36 in (70th percentile)
Weight: 29 lbs (50th percentile)
Head circumference: 20 in (95th percentile--while this seems bad, we are actually pleased because her head has pretty much stabilized!)

The girls do not need to return for a year, unless they come down with something.

IEP Evaluation 4/10

Cara had her first, of what will be occurring annually (at minimum), IEP evaluation at our school district's Child Find office on Thursday. We met with her Developmental Pathways service coordinator, a school psychologist, physical therapist (PT) and speech & language pathologist (SLP) to evaluate where Cara was in all areas of her development and come up with a plan for services that she will need this fall, when she starts preschool. All of the therapists worked with Cara on various tasks and she did very well, and, at times, shocked me with what she was able to do! For the first time, she was able to make a very tall tower, for example. The therapists also asked me questions about skills, tasks and overall development. We are to meet again, in May, to go over their recommendations, formulate a plan and decide on services as well as preschool options available to us. Cara also has to undergo a hearing screening as part of the evaluation process. I have no doubt that she'll pass with flying colors.

I am very anxious to hear what the therapists recommend and how these recommendations would be carried out in a school setting as I have become so accustomed to the clinic or home settings over the past year.

Vision Therapy Playdate

Vision therapy was just one of our "activities" last week. Here is a run-down:

**Vision therapy @ the Anchor Center on Wednesday 4/8. This was our first visit and I think it went pretty well. Unfortunately, we arrived about halfway into the session due to the conflict of the starting time with dropping Caitlin off at school. The sessions start @ 11:45 and go until 1-1:15. They start off with a snack in the cafeteria, move on to the motor/open play gym, then to a small group discussion time and, finally, wraps up with the light room. We got there just as the small group discussion was started. The topics were--1. What do you know know that you wished you'd known then? 2. How do others in your life (spouse, siblings, parents, grandparents, strangers, etc) deal with your child's disability. There were 4 other families in the group and despite being the only native English speaker, we had a very good chat. Turns out that 3 out of 4 kids also have shunts and one has hydrocephalus. Due to the language barrier, I wasn't able to openly talk with the parents, but we did share the challenges of having children with a condition that the mainstream public hasn't heard of. It was so comforting to know that I am not alone in dealing with Cara's multitude of "delays". I have met very few people, locally, who understand what life is like with Cara. Next, we rotated to the light room and this was, by far, Cara's favorite part of the playdate. The light room is moderately dark and filled with black lights, holiday lights, mirrors and objects of different shapes, colors and textures. They were doing a "color of the day" while we were there and it was blue. Out on the mats were tons of things all having blue in common. Cara loved the beads and these plastic "rocks". She did very well with moving objects back & forth between cups and dishes as well as manipulation several "stations" in the room. At the conclusion of the play date, Cara was given the Teller Test of Acuity by one of the teachers. We learned that her vision is about 20/90 assisted with her glasses. This means that what someone with "normal" vision would see at 90, Cara would need to be at 20 feet to see clearly. The test also confirmed Cathy's findings during the home visit.
**We had vision therapy again today (4/13) and while we started in the Light Room, we also got to go to the motor gym. It was just open play today due to a "Parent Pull Out". They have these once a month for parents. It's a chance for the caregivers to get together and discuss issues and ask questions. I chose to opt out this time as we were very new and I knew that Cara would not cooperate if I were to leave. I am hoping to participate next month, once Cara is more familiar with her surroundings and therapists there. I should mention, that during the sessions, there are PTs, OTs and SPTs on hand to work with the kids.

I am going to go a few more times and then evaluate on whether or not I think the sessions are helping Cara. Hopefully, the therapists will work with her more in the coming weeks, once they get a feel for her abilities and difficulties.

Happy Easter!

Wishing all of our friends & family a wonderful Easter!
(I will post pictures of our Eggventure in a bit.)

Whoop! Whoop!

I forgot to mention that due to some crazy mixed blessing, Ben was able to be home with us for a very long, luxurious extended weekend. (Which, due to the blizzard, was another blessing in and of itself. I'm glad that I didn't have to worry about him commuting home from work in near white-out conditions, going at a snail's pace and arriving home 5 hours after leaving the office.) On the afternoon of March 25th, Ben got a lovely email from the higher-ups at his job downtown that a co-worker had tested positive for whooping cough. When I first heard, I wasn't all that alarmed since it's a big bank, lots of floors, lots of people. But when Ben came home and told me that he had worked on this lady's computer and noticed that she was "hacking up a storm" and that he suggested that she go home, I knew we were in for some potential trouble. Not to mention that Ben wasn't feeling all that well and was starting to cough--not good signs. He immediately called our D.O. and got an appointment for the following afternoon. Our faithful doctor noticed that Ben was presenting classic whooping cough symptoms and decided to be proactive, not waiting for the test results--which can take up to a week--and started Ben on a antibiotic regime as well as giving him the Dtap vaccine. Of course, being that he was probably contagious, Ben was told not to report to work until Monday. Thankfully, other than a few bouts of coughing and a low-grade fever, Ben has been his normal self and has been able to enjoy having this lazy weekend with the family. It's been a long time since we've had him home for this long of a stretch and it's been really nice. I'm sure that he has appreciated the 8 hours of sleep a night too, a drastic improvement from the *maybe* 3 1/2 hours that he tries to survive on (Did I mention that my husband is my hero?). We spent lots of quality time together, doing nothing specific, just enjoying each other. I can't put it into words, how nice it was. We felt like a normal family for a few, rare & VERY special days.
That all ends tonight as Ben prepares to start his work-week again and we return to the normal routine around here albeit no school for Caitlin due to Spring Break. I am always bittersweet come Sunday nights, but today, I am even more so. I'm going to really miss my husband. Okay, I think I'd better go grab some tissues and cop a hug from the big guy.

**Edited to add: The girls & I are symptom free so far. I'm praying that we're good to go!**

Blizzard? I'll just call it a storm.

**That is a 12" ruler stuck in the snow. I could've pushed it down more but didn't want to get wet feet as I just went out in shoes, not boots.**


**This is the wind whipping up a mini tornado on the roof. At times, we had wind gusts of over 40 MPH!**

We got hit with a pretty powerful spring storm on Thursday. In 24 hours we went from 50+ degrees and sunny to high temperatures in the teens and some wicked wind. Much of the Front Range (and in Wyoming & the Dakotas) was under a blizzard warning as visibility slipped to less than a mile. Pile-ups were a common occurrence on both interstates and surface streets alike while the Department of Transportation set up shelters and closed roads. We had snow days (a rarity here, we had school when the HIGH temperature was -35!) Thursdays & Friday and didn't step from the house except to take out the trash and dig out Ben's car from a drift. After all was said and done, we had over a foot of snow! The girls braved the wind, briefly, to go out and play--throwing snow balls and making angels. Otherwise, we stay inside, snuggled under blankets, played board games, watched movies and just enjoyed being a family.


Spatula Baseball--didn't you know it's all the rage?!

Today, the remnants of this storm are few...dirty piles moved by snow plows, fresh snow sheltered from the sun under trees or in the shade, and the river formerly known as our parking lot. Our high today, a typical 64 degrees.
What can I say except that, that's Colorado for you!

Anchor Center Evaluation

Today was Cara's much-anticipated vision evaluation by a therapist from the Anchor Center. The assessment included engaging Cara in some close-range visual activities, a quick vision test and then asking me some questions. Cathy, the therapist, wanted to do an acuteness test on Cara but because Cara's matching and recognition skills are not refined, this would not be possible, at least not in the home setting.

Cathy concluded based upon observation (there were specific things that she was watching for) that Cara most likely will qualify for the services offered at the Anchor Center. Cara has (ny)stagmus, a neurological condition in which her vision is impaired--this could have been caused by Cara's hydrocephalus when pressure in her brain was compressing the optic nerves. The therapist used a great analogy to explain this condition to me--imagine that your eye is like an old-school 35mm camera, where you have to adjust the focus for every picture. Every time a subject moves, you have to readjust the focus and everything. This is what Cara's eye is doing. One of the things that Cathy observed in Cara is that she seems to favor her left eye, the eye without the (ny)stagmus. Cara will place toys on her left side or she will tilt her head which slows the (ny)stagmus. Because of the existence of this condition, her left eye has to work very hard to focus, leading to the strabismus, which we've known about for awhile, and also explains why Cara goes cross-eyed a lot.

Cathy also said that sometimes, children with these conditions tend to have eyes that tire easily from all of the strain. This explains why Cara takes off her glasses and rubs her eyes after she's been playing intensely. To say the least, this visit was very informative.

Since Cathy believes that Cara qualifies for vision services, she recommended that we come to the Anchor Center in April to try out their toddler group therapy. The group meets twice a week for a little over an hour. Various teachers are on hand to work with the children. They have circle time, a snack and fun activities like an obstacle course--all designed to help children with various vision issues. I am so excited to take Cara and see if this is something she could benefit from. Being in a group setting will also allow the therapists to get a better idea of her vision impairment since she will be in unfamiliar surroundings and will not be able to anticipate or predict things like she can here at home.

Cathy is also recommending that a vision teacher be present at Cara's IEP evaluation with the school district in April. If the vision teacher also agrees that Cara has an impairment, she will qualify for continuing vision therapy as part of her IEP. If that is the case, Anchor Center has a preschool program that may be an option for Cara. We will have to wait and see what the outcome of this IEP evaluation is. As you can guess, this is going to be a very big day for Cara!

For right now, I am just excited to try out the toddler program. I'm hoping that Cara will love it and also benefit from it. It sounds like a great program!

Speech/Vision Therapy Update

A few things have happened in the therapy realm lately, so I thought an update was due.

**Per a suggestion from Cara's physical therapist at her IFSP review, contact has been made with the Anchor Center for Blind Children. They offer vision therapy, free of charge (usually), for qualifying children. I have asked for Cara's ophthalamology records to be sent to the intake coordinator for Anchor. If Cara meets their qualifications, a home visit will be scheduled to discuss Cara's needs. We are concerned with Cara's lack of visual perception and body awareness (where she is in relation to other things). These are both areas that the Anchor Center's therapies would address, should she qualify. I am waiting to hear back from the intake coordinator that she has received the records, so that we can schedule the home visit and go from there. I really believe that Cara could benefit greatly from this type of therapy, so am keeping my fingers crossed and saying extra prayers that she will be excepted.
**Today, during Cara's routine speech therapy session, her therapist brought to my attention that she believes that Cara has a muscle weakness in her jaw, which is making it difficult for her to move her jaw in accordance with performing various mouth movements needed to form words. She also believes that Cara may not understand the need to breath for speech versus breathing for living. This may explain why Cara's "noises" come out abbreviated. For her jaw weakness (called jaw rehabilitation) and mouth movements, we are going to try some oral/motor exercises and also use some tools such as a Nuk brush and tubes. For her breathing, her therapist is going to try some abdominal grading or practiced breathing for speech exercises with Cara. Hopefully, these new techniques and exercises will help Cara move forward in her progress with speech. We will know in a few months' time.

One thing that I really appreciate about her therapists is how they are on the ball, always looking for ways to help Cara succeed, seeing problems and figuring old how to deal with them. We have been very blessed to have such attentive therapists for Cara.

Luxurious Weekend

Ben, the girls & I were very lucky to be able to escape to my parents' house on Colorado's Western Slope for the 4 day weekend (Ben & Caitlin both had Monday off). With the weather man predicting snow after midnight on Friday, we decided to leave after Ben got home from work on Friday night, hoping to beat the storm. I ran around like a madwoman packing up 4 people in a record (for me, anyway) 20 minutes. Ben got home at 6pm and we were out the door at 6:15! We started up and were faced with almost gridlock traffic and snow. At one point, we were going a whole 30-35MPH. Mind you, the snow wasn't even really sticking to the ground at this point. I looked at Ben and said, "If it's going to be like this all the way, I don't think I want to do it". With all of the traffic combined with snow, a pile-up accident was waiting to happen. Thankfully, we decided to stop in a town about 45 minutes away from Denver to pick up some dinner (and a mint tea latte for me). By the time we got back on the road, the traffic had mostly cleared. The rest of the drive was very uneventful, minus a couple of bathroom breaks and a family sing-along. At one point, I was the only one awake in the car and got away with playing some Kenny G! We arrived at my parents' house just after midnight. I'm proud to say that this trip cured my fear of driving through the mountains in the dark.

We had a wonderful visit, as always. It's hard to leave. We were able to visit with my aunt & uncle who live in Colorado part of the year and in Michigan the other half. We realized it had been quite some time since we'd seen them.
The girls woke up on Valentine's Day to see bags of candy, cards and cute Valentine's Day outfits from Grandma & Grandpa. They are two very spoiled little girls!
My parents also treated us to a soak in the Ouray Hot Springs. Nothing like a good soak to melt away the stress and worries as well as cure a sinus cold!

We headed home, regretfully, on Monday afternoon. I'm sure we could've stayed another few days, but I was glad to be home, even if it did mean that I had to do laundry and go grocery shopping. Ahh, the return to the daily grind.

I cannnot wait until this spring/summer. I have a lot of little weekend getaways planned for our family. Just to places within a day's drive of our house that we have yet to visit. My goal is to "explore our backyard" this year.

**By the way, just had to add that we didn't get any snow at my parents' or here in Denver out of this predicted storm. Oh well, I know the girls enjoyed the extra time of being spoiled by the grandparents.**

You have good taste!

Who doesn't like free food? You don't have to tell me twice, that's for sure. So, when I came across this BOGO coupon, I had to spread the word. If you've got a TGI Friday's around, click here for a coupon good for BOGO entrees. It won't work on Valentine's Day and expires on March 1st, so scramble on it and enjoy!

Been there, want to do that but never in a million years!

Things you’ve already done: bold

Things you want to do: italicize

Things you haven’t done and don’t want to - leave in plain font


1. started your own blog
2. slept under the stars
3. played in a band (if junior high counts)
4. visited Hawaii
5. watched a meteor shower
6. given more than you can afford to charity
7. been to Disneyworld
8. climbed a mountain
9. held a praying mantis
10. sang a solo
11. bungee jumped
12. visited Paris
13. watched a lightning storm at sea
14. taught yourself an art from scratch
15. adopted a child
16. had food poisoning
17. walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. grown your own vegetables
19. seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. slept on an overnight train
21. had a pillow fight
22. hitch hiked
23. taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. built a snow fort
25. held a lamb
26. gone skinny dipping
27. run a marathon
28. ridden a gondola in Venice
29. seen a total eclipse
30. watched a sunrise or sunset
31. hit a home run
32. been on a cruise
33. seen Niagara Falls in person
34. visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. seen an Amish community
36. taught yourself a language
37. had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. seen the leaning tower of Pisa in person
39. gone rock climbing
40. seen Michelangelo’s David in person
41. sung karaoke
42. seen Old Faithful (geyser) erupt
43. bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant
44. visited Africa
45. walked on a beach by moonlight
46. been transported in an ambulance
47. had your portrait painted
48. gone deep sea fishing
49. seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. been to the top of the Eiffel tower in Paris
51. gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. kissed in the rain
53. played in the mud
54. gone to a drive-in theater
55. been in a movie (public access count?)
56. visited the Great Wall of China
57. started a business
58. taken a martial arts class
59. visited Russia
60. served at a soup kitchen
61. sold Girl Scout cookies
62. gone whale watching
63. gotten flowers for no reason
64. donated blood
65. gone sky diving
66. visited a Nazi concentration camp
67. bounced a check
68. flown in a helicopter
69. saved a favorite childhood toy
70. visited the Lincoln memorial
71. eaten caviar
72. pieced a quilt
73. stood in Times Square
74. toured the Everglades
75. been fired from a job
76. seen the changing of the guard in London
77. broken a bone
78. been on a speeding motorcycle
79. seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. published a book
81. visited the Vatican
82. bought a brand new car
83. walked in Jerusalem
84. had your picture in the newspaper
85. read the entire Bible
86. visited the White House
87. killed and prepared an animal for eating (summer camp, it was a frog)
88. had chickenpox
89. saved someone’s life
90. sat on a jury
91. met someone famous
92. joined a book club
93. lost a loved one
94. had a baby
95. seen the Alamo in person
96. taken a road trip
97. been involved in a law suit
98. owned a cell phone
99. been stung by a bee
100. met the love of your life

Cara's Annual IFSP Review

Today, Cara had her annual IFSP (Individualized Family Service Plan). This is the plan that outlines goals, strengths and weaknesses of each child and family receiving services through the state. Cara receives her physical and speech therapy through Developmental Pathways which is an agency that is contracted by the state to carry-out it's Early Intervention services.

At this review, we set some new goals for Cara in areas of fine and gross motor skills--things that we would like to see Cara doing by the time she turns 3. We listed skills such as independently and consistently feeding herself using a fork or spoon; learning to hold a pencil or crayon correctly; learning to gallop and to ride a tricycle; and for her to have a better sense of self perception and awareness. In addition to identifying these goals, I worked with Cara's service coordinator and physical therapist to think of ways to help Cara meet these goals. We have a lot of hard work on our hands but as long as Cara continues to progress as she has in the past year, we should be able to add these skills to her list! We will be doing the speech and communication part of the review with Cara's speech therapist on Monday.

The other part of the review was the transition plan. When Cara turns 3 in July, she will transition out of Part C of Early Intervention services and into Part B. Services will go from being provided in the home to being provided in a school setting. That being said, we have to start transitioning Cara into preschool and/or Head Start, if she qualifies. We are to schedule a comprehensive evaluation with the school district's early intervention program to see if she'll qualify for their FREE preschool program. Basically, Cara will be thoroughly evaluated by a speech/language pathologist, physical and occupational therapist as well as an development/behavioral specialist. Based upon their findings, we will know whether Cara qualifies. There doesn't seem to be any doubt that she will qualify given that she is behind on several benchmarks for her age. If we qualify, Cara will be eligible to go to preschool 2 days a week for a few hours a day. Therapy will, most likely, also be included in her school time. Whatever therapy she is determined to need, the therapists will provide at the preschool.

In addition, if this evaluation deems that Cara will indeed need supportive therapies in the school setting, an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) will be written for her and a meeting held to develop this plan and inform our family as to how it will be carried out.

I am also to call Creative Options, another service provider, to see about their qualifications for the Head Start program. If Cara meets their qualifications, she may also be able to attend Head Start a few days a week and further benefit from that instruction and socialization.

It seems that time in flying. In 6 months, Cara will be 3 and we'll be sending her to preschool! Where has the time gone? When I look back over the past year and all that Cara has accomplished, I am simply amazed! She has overcome so much and just blossomed. I cannot wait to see what these next 6 months bring!