I was going through my past posts and realized it has been almost a WHOLE year since I gave an update on Big Sister's Speech Therapy progress! I feel so horrible, I had wanted to document it on the blog, but have failed miserably. I guess I will give you the "quick" version. If you want to know where we left off, you can read the last post, here. Or you can read the complete series by going here.

We continued home visits with the Speech Therapist until Big Sister turned 3 years old, which was in June 2012. The program she was in only went until 3 years old and then they transferred her to the school system. I was thoroughly impressed with Big Sister's progress and her therapist was just AMAZING. I couldn't have ask for more from them and Big Sister learned more than I could even have imagined.

Big Sister's first day of "School"

There was a break from the end of her home Therapy sessions until the beginning of her sessions at our local Elementary School in September. The new Therapy is 30 minutes once a week instead of one hour once a week. The School would provide transportation, but I decided to opt out because I just don't think she is old enough to be riding on a bus. So, every week, once a week, I drive her to school and then take Little Sister to a store in town, while we wait for Big Sister's session to end. Her therapy is one on one with the Speech Therapist and not in a classroom full of kids, which I like.

One morning when we were pulling into the parking lot at the school, Big Sister blurted out "My friends! I get to play with my friends." My heart sank, she was looking out her window at all the children playing on the playground. It made me so sad to have to tell her "No, we are going to go see your teacher." It was at that point when I realized she knew what friends are and that she wanted to have friends. So, that night I searched the internet trying to find local places to take her where there would be kids her age. I found that our local library had a Toddler Story Time and that it has just started the previous week. I went in and asked about the Toddler Story Time and they allowed us to join in the next week. Big Sister, Little Sister, and I both thoroughly enjoy our time at the library and it has even given me an excuse to make time to read for me again. I would encourage all Moms to look into the programs at your local library, you never know what amazing FREE programs are available in your area!

Playing with the block table at the library.

 Between School and Toddler Story Time, Big Sister has made GREAT progress. She is now saying 5-7 word sentences that I can actually understand. She still has issues at times where she will drop the end of a word when she rushes, but her teacher is working on that. I am always amazed at what comes out of her mouth as well as relieved that I can understand her and communicate with her better. Her speech improvements have even helped Little Sister's speech as well. I am always amazed at how many words she picks up from her Big Sister. Little Sister will actually say 3-4 word sentences already.

Kids are just amazing! Which skill did you love to watch your little one achieve the most?

Have a wonderful day dear followers!

All of my birds are fully feathered now, and I decided I would highlight one every once and a while to teach my readers a little bit about the birds that I own and my experience with raising them.

The Embden Geese are by far my favorite bird that we bought this year, so I chose to highlight them first! I had gotten a new camera for Mother's Day, so I was able to document their growth pretty regularly with photos. In order to keep this post from getting too long, I've selected just a few for your viewing pleasure!

5/1 - Embden Goslings the day we brought them home!

5/2 - I had them outside in a pen enjoying the grass and nice weather.

5/3 - Into the water they go!

5/18 - Growing like a weed.

5/22 - Geese are natural grazers and boy do mine LOVE their grass!

6/5 - Feathers covering about 50% of their body   7/12 - Fully feathered!

Since the day we brought them home, I have been feeding all of my waterfowl Purina Flock Raiser. The geese and ducks also have access to pasture grass. Here and there I try feeding different veggies, they all seemed to enjoy head lettuce that I let them sample from the garden. On days where they aren't allowed to graze on grass, they require more grain, but when I let them out to graze they eat considerable less grain at night. When the geese were small I would keep grain in front of them 24/7, however, as they got larger I changed to twice a day, and now their main diet is pasture with grain only at night. The main reason why I chose to feed grain at night, was to entice them to stay close to home and go back into their pen at night. This method worked really well and at times they are waiting at the pen before I even get out to feed!

I personally LOVE the sound of all my birds, but I thoroughly enjoy my honking geese! When young, the geese made a cheeping noise, but now they are full on honkers. They are very smart and know me by sight as well as by my voice. I think they even know what I sound like when I come out of the house because they will start honking even before I open the porch door. For the most part they are only vocal when they see me with food, someone approaches them, or a car pulls in the drive, otherwise they are quiet around the farm.

Most people think geese are mean tempered birds that will hiss and chase people. My Embden geese are complete opposite, unless you are a cat, they don't seem to like the barn cats too much. They are very curious and friendly birds, mine will nibble on my clothing while I fill their water buckets and I can stroke their necks and backs while they drink. They will also follow me around if I call and scatter back down to the barn if I scold them. I would have to say that the Embden geese by far have the most personality of the flock.

These geese love to jump in the water for a swim. I keep several containers of water around so that they have access to swimming water. They don't seem to want to stay in all day, they just like to jump in for a quick cool down and then back to grazing they go. They are also much less messy with their water than the ducks.

The Embden Geese seem to really hardy when it comes to hot weather as well. We have had temperatures 110*F+ and they seem to have no problems with it at all. They do pant and require more water, but are very good at finding shade and just lay around until temperature drop in the evenings. Since we just got them in May, I don't have any personal experience with them in cold conditions, but I imagine they will do just fine as well.

I hope you enjoyed my introduction to Embden Geese! These are great farm and family birds and I would encourage anyone interested in getting a goose, to choose an Embden!

Have a GREAT Day dear followers!

The Key of Kileyna is a captivating tale of a young man named Jacob and his journey through a different world to recover a magical key that was stolen by the evil Lorkon. But the Lorkon are not the only evil beings Jacob has to worry about. Along the journey, Jacob is faced with many trials both physically and mentally. With the help of new friends and his own bravery and determination , Jacob is able to press on through each trial and reach the Lorkon castle.

The Key of Kileyna is Book One of the Kilenya Series, which is targeted towards young adults, but as a grown woman I thoroughly enjoyed the book and can not wait to read more of the series. Readers will be on the edge of their seat wondering how Jacob and his comrades are ever going to get out of the messes they find themselves in. The author, Andrea Pearson, does a wonderful job helping the reader jump into the new world with Jacob, by including wonderful details and descriptions of each character, place, and situation. The Key of Kileyna was a very easy read, contained no fowl language, and included age appropriate interactions among characters. I highly recommend this book for young people interested in action filled science fiction adventures!

After reading The Key of Kileyna, I had a couple questions for the author, Andrea Pearson. I put together a short interview to help my readers learn a little more about Andrea and her book. Check out what she had to say:


You can connect with Andrea Pearson and learn more about the Kileyna Series by visiting the following sites online:
Facebook Fan Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Andrea-Pearson/307996157738
Blog: http://andreapearsonbooks.blogspot.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/andreapearson2
Andrea Pearson's Website: http://www.kilenyaseries.com

 Interested in reading The Key to Kilenya? You can purchase print version for $12.99 as well as the eBook version for $1.99, on Amazon!

Andrea Pearson would like to give 5 of my readers a FREE eBook of The Key of Kilenya, all you have to do is enter using the Rafflecopter form below!

Big Sister had another Speech Therapy session this week. I can not put into words how happy I am for Big Sister on her achievements thus far. I am so proud of her each time I hear a new word. This week she has just exploded with new words and phrases and even told Little Sister to "Take your bottle."

Each visit she seems to latch onto new words as well. My favorite word(s) during this weeks session was Beetle Bug! Now, I will admit she still does quiet a bit of gibber gabber, however in the midst of the gabber I can now make out her new words.

Big Sister tellin' me 'bout it! (And YES she LOVES cars!)

Have a wonderful day dear followers!

Last week we had to cancel Big Sister's Speech Therapy session because she wasn't feeling well. A flu bug went through the whole house. At first I thought that Little Sister and I wouldn't catch it, but the inevitable happened and I fell victim to the bug followed by Little Sister, who is now finally at the end of the "nose crustys." Although Big Sister was sick the previous week, she still threw some new words at me almost every day. It seems like finally she is making a connection with communicating and getting what she wants or getting attention. She has learned the word sandwich and the sign for sandwich, which she loves to use. I love watching her do it. I've tried to teach her Banana but she does a funny rolling hand gesture for Banana. The therapist says that its okay, if that is the sign she wants to use, then let her!

After my niece was born, I was at the stage where I kind of gave up having a baby. I tried to find things to replace the baby I couldn't have. I decided to raise chickens and ducks. I got a puppy, our farm dog was old, we weren't sure how much longer he was going to live and we desperately needed to have a dog in place to follow his footsteps. I later bought a couple calves to raise for freezer beef. I got them as young as possible so that I could bottle feed them and take care of them like a mother. At the time I didn't realize I what I was doing, but now it seems to obvious. I was so proud of my "babies" and worked hard to make them the best they could be.

Late Spring, Early Summer of 2008 I was surprised when my period was a couple days late. I took another pregnancy test thinking "whats the point" but I got a faint positive line. Was I pregnant? We waited a couple more days and I took another one, negative.  I don't know whether or not I had been pregnant but the egg didn't "stick" or if I had bought a faulty test. I didn't really care, it gave me hope. Hope that a having a baby was still possible for me.

In the fall,  I got sick and had to go to the ER for fluids. I went through a couple rounds of medication and it seemed to fix me right up. I didn't jump back into my busy world like I usually did, but instead took it slow. 

Around mid October 2008 my period was late again. My husband I had ran to the grocery store and while out picked up a test. He couldn't even wait for the groceries to be brought in, he made me rush and take the test. I  took the test and set in on the counter. I looked away, hoping not to "jinx" it. I stood over the counter and looked at the test. It was a very strong positive! I was in shock, was it true? Was I pregnant? I went outside to help my husband, who had started bringing in the groceries. He stopped and looked at me. I smiled and said "I'm pregnant."  I think he almost passed out, and he sat on the ground against the tires of the truck to take it all in. When he got himself together he got up and we hugged. God had answered our prayers, we were going to parents.

Missed the beginning of the series?
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

Thanks for reading dear followers! Have a great night!

Big Sister had another visit from the speech therapist this week. She works really well with Big Sister and gets her to say new things so much easier than I do. Big Sister stayed on task the whole time and was just intrigued by everything the teacher was doing with her. She was repeating almost everything clearly and even said a new word I had never heard her say before, "turtle." I could easily understand it and she said it several times. She has even said it more times throughout the week when asked to say it on command. I am amazed!

Yesterday, Big Sister got angry with me because I made her sit at the table to finish her dinner, she wanted to take it to the coffee table to finish. She was crying as I put her back in her booster seat. I walked to the other side of the room to do something or other, with her still crying at the table. She looked dead at me and said "I want Daddy." WOW, a sentence! The she said it again, and again. I was so excited, but at the same time I didn't want to praise her for yelling at me because she was upset. 

Big Sister is quickly making progress and I am just SO happy for her. She is starting to communicate better and it has lifted some frustration she was having with me because I just can't understand her gibber gabber sometimes. I'm looking forwards to next weeks visit to see how she progresses further!

Have a wonderful day dear followers!

There were several events in our life that kind of put the whole "baby making" business on hold; however, once all the dust settled we picked up where we left off and moved to the next step. I was given the hormone shots once again and then scheduled for Intrauterine Insemination or IUI. This procedure was considerably less painful than I expected. I had expected the same pain as I endured with the previous procedure, but was pleasantly surprised when there was none. The waiting game was almost unbearable and yet again we were faced with more disappointment.

At this point my husband and I decided to take a step back and reevaluate our situation. We both decided to stop moving forward with treatments and tests. If God wanted us to have children we would. We left it at that and moved on. We both became busy and involved in our daily life. I was still depressed every month when it became very obvious that I wasn't pregnant. The reality that I would most likely not have a baby was becoming more and more intense, but I continued to keep busy and tried my hardest to put it out of my mind. 

As I look back and remember everything that was going on back then, I think that I tried to stay busy and convince myself that I wasn't upset about not being able to conceive (even though inside I was falling apart) because I didn't want to doubt God. I didn't want to be angry at Him for choosing a different path for me. I knew I needed to let go and put my faith in him, I just didn't know how to let go, nor did I want to. I wanted control over my life, I wanted, I wanted, I wanted, I wanted.

Looking back now, I can see clearly what was wrong with the whole situation, me. I wasn't doing anything except feeling sorry for myself. I wanted control, but at the same time I wanted God to help us. My faith was "supposed" to be in Him and yet I didn't pray. I pleaded but didn't truly pray nor did I thank Him for all that I did have in my life.

Several months passed and I got the call that my niece was born. I was SO excited and couldn't wait to meet her. The instant I met my sweet little niece I couldn't believe how tiny and perfect she was, I loved her instantly! My thoughts then went to the day my sister called me to tell me she was pregnant, I was so upset at myself for feeling so upset and jealous. My niece was such a blessing to my sister and to our family, but I had not even seen it that way at first. Where did this selfish person come from? I didn't like that person very much and decided that if I couldn't have a baby of my own, I sure could be the best Aunt ever!

If you missed the previous parts of this series, you can read them by clicking here:
Part 1 -- Part 2 -- Part 3

Then, Move on to Part 5!

Have a wonderful night dear followers!

The first round of hormone shots was disappointing, but still the doctor reassured us that this was normal and to try another round. Well, we ended up doing two more rounds of the hormone shots. Each time I had TONS of eggs show up on the ultrasound and each time my result was a negative pregnancy test. After the third try the doctor was finally ready to start running tests. They scheduled me for a Hysterosalpingogram (Uterotubogram) or HSG, which in short is an x-ray of the uterus and fallopian tubes. They injected this dye in and then took the x-ray. Simple yes, but painful beyond belief! I screamed and was doubled over for about an hour. Some women have no problems, some have mild cramps afterwards, but me, I had serious intense pain unlike anything I'd ever felt before. They had suggested taking some pain medication before we arrived and I did, but it didn't even touch this pain!

I got over the pain, it went away after another hour. The point of the whole test was to see if there was something abnormal with my uterus or to see if I had an abnormality or blockage in the fallopian tubes. Sometimes, though the injection of the dye will actually unblock the fallopian tubes. When the results came back they were encouraging but disappointing as well. I was perfectly normal in there, nothing blocked or abnormal. So, once again, why wasn't I able to conceive?

I know what your thinking by now, what about your husband? Well, that was the next step. He went in to get his "stuff" checked out as well. Same results, encouraging but disappointing. There was nothing wrong with his baby making material and yet we still weren't able to conceive a baby. This just wasn't making ANY sense!

Around the time we found out there was nothing physically hindering us from having a baby, my sister called to tell me she was pregnant. As happy as I was to become an Aunt, I was equally as upset about my own inability to have a baby. I tried so hard to be cheerful with her on the phone and choked back the tears that began fill my eyes as I talked to her. Through the whole conversation all I wanted to do was hang up and crawl in a hole. Maybe this was a sign, maybe I wasn't meant to have babies, maybe my internal turmoil would be worth it, maybe I was meant for even bigger things. At least, I hoped there was a reason.

Did you miss the previous Parts to the story? Follow the links below to catch up:
Click here for Part 1!
Click here for Part 2!

Continue reading Becoming a Mother Part 4! Then on to Part 5!

Have a great day dear followers!

I had introduced Big Sister's New Chapter a month or so ago. I had had concerns about her speech. I was referred to an agency that worked with children under three and a schedule was set up for them to come once a week to work with Big Sister.

Well, Big Sister finally had her first speech therapy session today. She did very well and stayed on task the whole time. I talked to her teacher about my concerns as well as Big Sister's strengths and things she likes. I loved watching her work with Big Sister, it really helped me understand what kind of activities to do to help build her vocabulary. She didn't do anything but play with her and all the while she taught her so many things in just the first session, I was impressed. They looked at books and picture cards, she introduced her to some sign language, played with puzzles, and Mr. Potato Head. She put two words together "more cats" while they were doing a puzzle, which was very cool and her teacher was very excited.

There was one thing that has really stuck with me. The teacher asked me about when Big Sister started walking. It wasn't until 13 months old that she even tried to start walking, before then she was just content hanging out where she was set down or did her tripod scoot to get around. The teacher said that that may be a contributing factor to why her speech has been delayed. Evidently, around one is when the verbal skill start to want to kick in but because Big Sister was trying to walk, her motor skills put her verbal skills on the back burner. So, instead of focusing on talking, she was focused on walking. This made TOTAL sense and such a relief to me!

I'm very encouraged about the speech therapy and can't wait until next week's session! I'll keep you all posted as her therapy continues!

Have a wonderful day dear followers!
Kelsey

I was very excited to start Trying To Conceive (TTC). Yes, I admit it was fun and I was giddy at the thought that one day I would have a precious baby in my arms. I starting tracking my temperature in the mornings and figuring out my optimal ovulation time. I even bought those sticks they make now that you pee on and they are supposed to tell you when you are ovulating.

Months passed, nothing. Every pregnancy test came back negative. I was disappointed, but understood that I was at a very busy point in my life and perhaps all the activity and stress was just preventing it. Well, months turned into a couple years of nothing. I had no idea that it would be so hard for me to have a baby. After the first year, it started getting to me a little. By the second year it was getting to me a lot.

My husband and I decided we needed help. We went to a doctor that specialized in reproduction and fertility. I was young, healthy, fit, the doctor was very positive that I would get pregnant, no problem. The first stage was hormone shots to help me produce eggs and ovulate. A couple days before I was supposed to ovulate they scheduled me for an ultrasound. I about fell off the table when they said I had about 9 follicles with eggs ready to burst. In my head I was thinking, With that many eggs I will definitely get pregnant and maybe even have TWINS! I was beyond happy... Until the day I took the pregnancy test, it was negative again. I was crushed, I felt like someone took a two by four to my heart. I just didn't understand why it didn't work, why wasn't I getting pregnant?

Missed Becoming A Mother Part 1? Click here to read it!
Click Here to Read Part 3!
Click Here to Read Part 4!
Click Here to Read Part 5! 

Have a wonderful day dear followers!
Kelsey

Deciding to become a mother and bringing a new life into this world should take a lot of thought and consideration. This is serious stuff, once you are a mother YOU are responsible for another person, a person that YOU created (with the help of a man and of course God). One would think that it would be easy to have a baby, especially when there are television shows called "16 and Pregnant" or "I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant". I'm not going to lie, I thought it would be easy: Think about it, discuss it, make the decision, have a romantic night with the husband, and out pops the joy of your lives in 9 months. Right? WRONG! Well, maybe that is how it happens for some people, but not me.

There was a time when I feared that I would never be able to get pregnant. I was so sad, depressed, and anxiety ridden. I can admit that now, but I didn't dare talk about it then. I am a woman, I was built to have babies, women have been having babies since, well, FOREVER! Why was it so hard to conceive? Didn't God love me? Didn't He want me to be happy? Didn't He know that I could raise a baby to be a good person? Was God punishing me for the choices I had made in my life? All these thoughts and more bombarded my head every time I the results of a pregnancy test read negative.

I've put together this little blog series, Becoming A Mother, to encourage other women and to tell my story.

Click here for Part 2!
Click here for Part 3!
Click here for Part 4! 
Click here for Part 5!

Have a Wonderful night dear Followers!

Tweet

I've had some concern about Big Sister's speech for a while now. She is about 2 1/2 years old and I couldn't help but notice that kids her age and even ones considerably younger, talk much better than she does. She only has a handful of words that sound like actual words, the rest are partial words that only we know what she means because we're around her all the time. I know that normally you shouldn't compare kids with other kids because each one develops differently, but Big Sister's speech just kept bothering me and bothering me.

I was referred to a program that evaluates kids for a variety of developmental skills and then recommends certain therapies to help them. Today Big Sister had her evaluation and although I was concerned about her speech, the lady did a full evaluation of all her skills. I was very impressed with the whole evaluation. The lady brought several toys and activities to gauge her development as well as asked me several questions and asked Big Sister to do a variety of activities. At the end of her evaluation, the lady said that Big Sister had excellent Problem Solving Skills and that she was slow in her Social and Speech Skills. In the next couple of weeks I will be talking to a Speech Therapist and setting up a program for Big Sister. The Speech Therapist will be seeing Big Sister once a week, but for how long I am not yet sure. I am relieved to know where she stands in her development and I am excited to start the process of getting her help. I can't wait to see her progress and to be able to communicate with her even better!

A mother's intuition is almost always right, and I would like to encourage other Moms to seek help from doctor's and professionals if you have any concerns about your child's development.

Thanks for reading Dear Followers and I hope you stick around for future updates on Big Sister's progress!
Kelsey

CLICK HERE to read more about Big Sister's Progress with her Speech!