She's Earned It

At this time sweet Ashley is resting quietly in her nursery and watching Finding Nemo. After all the hard work she's put in this morning I'd say she's earned it. She has been signing and asking for that silly fish since 7:30 this morning and all I could say is "when your finished". So she just kept plugging away and just kept asking and finally now that school is finished, therapy is over, and dad's lunch has ended she is enjoying it for the first time today. If I left it up to her she'd wake to it, watch it all day, and retire with it at bedtime. Silly fish loving girl! I just don't get it, but they sure make her smile.

We made video clips of the aquariums at sea world and put them all together on a loop so that she can enjoy the tropical fish every day. She LOVES it! Dave added some fun music and its quickly become her favorite choice. Only problem being that anytime she sees one of us working on our computers she automatically thinks we've gotten them out for her to watch the fish. Its been a battle.



I'm super proud of this little girl. She's working so hard and she's learned to love her new teacher and her therapists. Its taken 4 years for her relationship with Ms. Sue to develop, but she does love her and hates to have her leave. As soon as she walks in she signs "stand up" and is ready to get to work. Some of the sweetest pictures ever of her and Sue were snapped last week and it made my heart so happy to see them together. Sue has stuck with us longer than anyone and has encouraged our hearts when we were down, were struggling, and when we were wondering if things would ever change. Ash has such a long way to go and our hope is that we will see the day that she is walking and talking come to pass, but until it does it helps a mommy and daddy's hurting hearts to know that the professional working toward that goal with you loves your kid. Anyway, I just wanted to share with you that our little girl is growing up. She's forming new relationships and learning to trust new people. She spent time loving on her new home bound teacher( whom I LOVE too. She's really great with Ash) this morning as well as her OT and sign teacher. You already know how much we appreciate our private OT who is working in sign with Ash. We have another one of those lovely evaluations approaching next week, and I don't love those. It never gets easy to have to go through each and every delay and development. I don't care how many times I have to do it, it still breaks my heart. After that meeting we will be adding feeding, another PT, another OT and speech therapists to Ash's weekly schedule. When our little one is well we work hard to help her grow and learn as much as possible. You already know how much ground we lose each time she gets sick. Our prayer is to keep her well and strong and allow her to do as much as she safely can this fall.

So I've got about an hour window while Ash is napping before I have to pick up Al from school and I think I'll fill it with putting away laundry. Sounds like fun, I know, but trust me I count it a privilege to be here in our home hanging up my kiddos clothes. Its funny the things you learn to miss when your forced to spend so much time away. I hesitate to mention how long Ash has been home from Omaha for fear of it slipping away, but don't think for one moment that we haven't noticed that we are working on setting a record this year. Her daddy and I are so thankful! Just wanted to spend a moment on here saying "hi" and checking in with all of you who continue to show us such love and faithfulness. Thanks guys. We love ya more than you will ever know. Take care. Trish