Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Valentine's Day
I told Troy not to bother buying me flowers this year (although he still did!), but he should get some for Sadie. I captured it on video. My two favorite people in the whole world. Love them!
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Sadie's First Joke
Sadie absolutely loves the movie Wreck it Ralph (which I must admit is pretty darn cute). She asked to watch it the other day and I said "Sadie, you always want to watch that movie!" And her response...she shrugs and says "Well, I like it." I guess I can't argue with that!
So this is a video of Sadie dancing to the music when it is over.
So this is a video of Sadie dancing to the music when it is over.
And then Sadie also picked up on a joke from the movie (thanks to her Daddy). Ignore the jibberish at the beginning of this clip (she gets nervous and starts making up her own language). I do find it funny, though, that her own language is to the tune of"Eeney, Meeney, Miney, Mo, Catch a Tiger by his Toe." Ha!
Christmas 2013
Well, better late than never!
Sadie had a GREAT Christmas this year. She is at an age where she is so much fun. She is starting to understand the meaning of Christmas and I loved seeing her expressions when she opened presents. This year all she really wanted was Disney Princess stuff. So she got a Disney Princess castle, as well as about every Disney Princess doll and clothes available!
We started off the holidays by doing Christmas Eve with my relatives at my grandpa's house.
Sadie had a GREAT Christmas this year. She is at an age where she is so much fun. She is starting to understand the meaning of Christmas and I loved seeing her expressions when she opened presents. This year all she really wanted was Disney Princess stuff. So she got a Disney Princess castle, as well as about every Disney Princess doll and clothes available!
We started off the holidays by doing Christmas Eve with my relatives at my grandpa's house.
Dress and ready to go!
The next morning we had my family over to our house and opened presents there. We really wanted Sadie to be able to walk down the stairs and see her Princess Dream House from Santa. It was hard to get her to open other presents after that!
This is all I wanted!
(Notice the raging party the Princesses had..looks like a frat party!)
I love this picture!
Finally, Christmas afternoon we went over to Troy's Parents house for more presents! This girl must have been REALLY good this year!
Notice my princesses next to me!
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Polar Express
Sadie has loved the movie/book Polar Express since we first read it to her (Great Aunt Chris got it for Sadie for her first Christmas). So in early December we took a road trip to Branson, MO where they have a "Polar Express" train ride. We planned the trip with 2 other families way back in August, so we were excited for the trip to finally come! It was horrible weather and we were lucky to make it down to Branson, but Sadie had such a great time that I was so thankful we were able to make it.
The train ride started off by reading the Polar Express book. Then they brought out unlimited hot chocolate and cookies! Next we passed by Santa, and next thing you knew, he was inside the train! He went right up to Sadie, patted her on the head, and said "Be Good!." Wow, I didn't even have to pay him to do that! :) Then he gave each of the kids a bell, which Sadie rang all night long. And if you have seen the movie, then you will know how cute it is when Sadie says "Mom, I still believe!" (see video below).
While we were in Branson, our elves made a visit. Meet Zippy, Little Red, and our elf, Ginger.
And finally, our last night in Branson we watched the MU SEC Championship against Auburn. Unfortunately, we lost, however, I got this uber cute picture of Troy, Stella, and Sadie :)
The train ride started off by reading the Polar Express book. Then they brought out unlimited hot chocolate and cookies! Next we passed by Santa, and next thing you knew, he was inside the train! He went right up to Sadie, patted her on the head, and said "Be Good!." Wow, I didn't even have to pay him to do that! :) Then he gave each of the kids a bell, which Sadie rang all night long. And if you have seen the movie, then you will know how cute it is when Sadie says "Mom, I still believe!" (see video below).
Polar Express Train
Ready to go with my book and everything!
One of the characters in the movie!
Enjoying hot chocolate with Hannah!
Santa waving outside!
Santa came inside!
While we were in Branson, our elves made a visit. Meet Zippy, Little Red, and our elf, Ginger.
I wonder who won?
And finally, our last night in Branson we watched the MU SEC Championship against Auburn. Unfortunately, we lost, however, I got this uber cute picture of Troy, Stella, and Sadie :)
Only time you will see Troy smile when MU loses!
Monday, November 18, 2013
Home on the Range
She might not be able to carry a tune, but she is still pretty cute!
PS-to give her a little credit, she did have a cold.
PS-to give her a little credit, she did have a cold.
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
New Ears, New Tears
As you may have read in previous posts, Sadie's hearing has progressively gotten worse over the past 2 years. It has decreased by about 10 db in various frequencies. As must as I didn't want to admit it, I knew it was probably time to get new hearing aids. I love, love, love (did I mention that I love) her current hearing aids (Widex Baby 440). However, they just don't have enough power to support Sadie's current hearing thresholds.
So, off to the Audiologist we went. We spoke a lot about the various options that we had, however, I knew that I wanted to stay with the Widex brand if at all possible. They are the Cadillac of hearing aids, and they are worth every penny. After previous experiences with different brands, there was no way I could go backwards. Our audiologist called up the pediatric rep for Widex and said "Do you remember Sadie Lovins?" and her response was "Do I remember her? I have her all over my marketing collateral." Sadie was the first child at MEI fit with the Widex Baby hearing aids, so the sales reps used her as a case study for a conference. Anyways, after discussing the various options for Sadie, the rep decided to let us borrow her loaner aids. She said that she thought Widex might be coming out with something new, but she didn't know what it was or when. So instead of us buying something now (and potentially outdated soon), she was gracious enough to let us borrow this set of aids until we find out what is in store for the future. Thank you Widex!!! Her new aids are the Clear Fusion 440.
The hard part with these new aids, however, was that Sadie would have to transition to a more typical ear mold. The Widex Baby's have been great because they have the receive in the canal. They are super easy to put in and they hardly show! But with that type of receiver comes less power. So we had an ear mold created while we were visiting the audiologist. We hadn't had one created in over 2 years!
A couple of weeks later when we were at MEI for speech therapy, her audiologist let us know that her aids came in. She had a few minutes to spare, so she was able to fit Sadie in to her schedule (nice not to have to make another trip down to MEI!) I had been talking to Sadie about how she was going to get "big girl hearing aids" and she had been excited, so I figured this transition would be a piece of cake. Oh how I was wrong.
The first thing Sadie said was "They aren't pink." Uh oh, here we go. Next when I tried to put them in her ears she FREAKED out. She started sobbing and asking for her old hearing aids back. The audiologist immediately turned the aids down, thinking that maybe they were too loud. I knew, however, that it was just Sadie not liking the new ear molds. Talk about breaking my heart. She cried and cried for about 20 minutes. The whole time I am trying to calm her down without breaking down myself. I just kept thinking, this is SO not fair that she has to go through this. But, I finally got my head straighted out and realized that it could be so much worse. So, after lots of hugs (and a bribe of a new toy), I was able to get the new aids in her ears. She still did not like them, but she kept them in. I didn't feel comfortable leaving her all day with these new aids for fear of another melt down, so I ended up taking the day off work. And off to the toy store we went.
All day I asked Sadie if I could put jewels or glitter on her new aids, but she would not let me (odd for her). At nap time she asked to keep them in. I was in no mood for an argument, so I let her. That night she asked to keep them in all night (odd again), so I told her that we had to let her ears breathe. I tried AGAIN to let her allow me to jazz up her aids, and she finally let me! So we blinged out her aids, and now she LOVES them. She went to school the next day and was showing off her aids to all the teachers and her friends. At nap time she said to her teacher "you can take my aids out, but try not to break them, they are new." Man I love that kid!
So, off to the Audiologist we went. We spoke a lot about the various options that we had, however, I knew that I wanted to stay with the Widex brand if at all possible. They are the Cadillac of hearing aids, and they are worth every penny. After previous experiences with different brands, there was no way I could go backwards. Our audiologist called up the pediatric rep for Widex and said "Do you remember Sadie Lovins?" and her response was "Do I remember her? I have her all over my marketing collateral." Sadie was the first child at MEI fit with the Widex Baby hearing aids, so the sales reps used her as a case study for a conference. Anyways, after discussing the various options for Sadie, the rep decided to let us borrow her loaner aids. She said that she thought Widex might be coming out with something new, but she didn't know what it was or when. So instead of us buying something now (and potentially outdated soon), she was gracious enough to let us borrow this set of aids until we find out what is in store for the future. Thank you Widex!!! Her new aids are the Clear Fusion 440.
The hard part with these new aids, however, was that Sadie would have to transition to a more typical ear mold. The Widex Baby's have been great because they have the receive in the canal. They are super easy to put in and they hardly show! But with that type of receiver comes less power. So we had an ear mold created while we were visiting the audiologist. We hadn't had one created in over 2 years!
A couple of weeks later when we were at MEI for speech therapy, her audiologist let us know that her aids came in. She had a few minutes to spare, so she was able to fit Sadie in to her schedule (nice not to have to make another trip down to MEI!) I had been talking to Sadie about how she was going to get "big girl hearing aids" and she had been excited, so I figured this transition would be a piece of cake. Oh how I was wrong.
The first thing Sadie said was "They aren't pink." Uh oh, here we go. Next when I tried to put them in her ears she FREAKED out. She started sobbing and asking for her old hearing aids back. The audiologist immediately turned the aids down, thinking that maybe they were too loud. I knew, however, that it was just Sadie not liking the new ear molds. Talk about breaking my heart. She cried and cried for about 20 minutes. The whole time I am trying to calm her down without breaking down myself. I just kept thinking, this is SO not fair that she has to go through this. But, I finally got my head straighted out and realized that it could be so much worse. So, after lots of hugs (and a bribe of a new toy), I was able to get the new aids in her ears. She still did not like them, but she kept them in. I didn't feel comfortable leaving her all day with these new aids for fear of another melt down, so I ended up taking the day off work. And off to the toy store we went.
All day I asked Sadie if I could put jewels or glitter on her new aids, but she would not let me (odd for her). At nap time she asked to keep them in. I was in no mood for an argument, so I let her. That night she asked to keep them in all night (odd again), so I told her that we had to let her ears breathe. I tried AGAIN to let her allow me to jazz up her aids, and she finally let me! So we blinged out her aids, and now she LOVES them. She went to school the next day and was showing off her aids to all the teachers and her friends. At nap time she said to her teacher "you can take my aids out, but try not to break them, they are new." Man I love that kid!
Her old aids and new aids side by side (check out that bling).
How her old aids used to look in her ear
How her new aids look in her ear. You can see the mold is very different and how it could feel funny to her.
3 Year Old Speech & Language Evaluation
Now that Sadie is 3 years old she no longer qualifies for speech therapy services through First Steps. Nor does she qualify for services through our school district. Therefore, in order for Sadie to continue to stay ahead of the game, we decided to start speech therapy with an SLP from MEI. Her name is Miss Megan, and she is fantastic! Before we started therapy services with her, Sadie had to be re-evaluated for speech and language since her last evaluation was 6 months ago. I always like for Sadie to be evaluated so I monitor her progress and ensure she is staying ahead of the curve.
The test they gave Sadie was called the CELF-Preschool-2. It is a standardized test of receptive and expressive language, normalized on hearing children ranging from ages 3 to 7 years old. It is the hardest test they are able to give someone Sadie's age. Before Sadie was given any part of the test, her SLP gave her trial questions to ensure she understood the task.
Sadie's Core Language score (which is made up of Sentence Structure, Word Structure, and Expressive Vocabulary) was 121. The average range for same-aged hearing students is 85-115.
Sadie's Language Content Index score (which s made up of Expressive Vocabulary, Concepts and Following Directions, and Basic Concepts) was 126. The average range for same-aged hearing students is 85-115.
Sadie's Language Sentence Index Score (made up of Sentence Structure, Word Structure, and Recalling Sentences) was 123. The average range for same-aged hearing students is 85-115.
When we met with Miss Megan to review the results she said "I have good news and bad news. The good news is Sadie is doing amazing. The bad news is I can't find much to work on her with that is age appropriate." Talk about making this momma's day! So we agreed that we would meet every 6 weeks to work on some articulation, as well as a few areas that are above Sadie's age range.
Let me just say--I am not sharing this news just to brag on Sadie. I am sharing it because I am so darn proud of how far she has come with this hearing loss. It proves that hearing loss does not have to be a limitation. For anyone reading this that has a child with hearing loss, or knows someone that does, please believe that anything is possible!
The test they gave Sadie was called the CELF-Preschool-2. It is a standardized test of receptive and expressive language, normalized on hearing children ranging from ages 3 to 7 years old. It is the hardest test they are able to give someone Sadie's age. Before Sadie was given any part of the test, her SLP gave her trial questions to ensure she understood the task.
Sadie's Core Language score (which is made up of Sentence Structure, Word Structure, and Expressive Vocabulary) was 121. The average range for same-aged hearing students is 85-115.
Sadie's Language Content Index score (which s made up of Expressive Vocabulary, Concepts and Following Directions, and Basic Concepts) was 126. The average range for same-aged hearing students is 85-115.
Sadie's Language Sentence Index Score (made up of Sentence Structure, Word Structure, and Recalling Sentences) was 123. The average range for same-aged hearing students is 85-115.
When we met with Miss Megan to review the results she said "I have good news and bad news. The good news is Sadie is doing amazing. The bad news is I can't find much to work on her with that is age appropriate." Talk about making this momma's day! So we agreed that we would meet every 6 weeks to work on some articulation, as well as a few areas that are above Sadie's age range.
Let me just say--I am not sharing this news just to brag on Sadie. I am sharing it because I am so darn proud of how far she has come with this hearing loss. It proves that hearing loss does not have to be a limitation. For anyone reading this that has a child with hearing loss, or knows someone that does, please believe that anything is possible!
Studious Sadie
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