Wicked Night Out!

 I love musicals. So, naturally when a friend of mine set out to organize a Girls Night Out to go and see Wicked - I was TOTALLY in. I absolutely love Wicked, so I was a little more than excited.

We started the evening at Maggiano's for dinner (yum!)

Then we made our way down to The Fabulous Fox Theatre, in Atlanta.

The seats were great, the company was lovely, and the music and show were spectacular! I saw Wicked 6 years ago with my favorite roommates in college, I totally wish they had been there with us! Since the show, I've been humming the music pretty much non-stop. I would totally go back and see it tonight if I had the option. I just love that show!

P.S. Look closely! Baby (plus just having eaten a large dinner) Belly showing!

Speech.

I share a lot of things on this blog. There is one area of our live that I haven’t shared too much about. That area? Apraxia. Andrew was diagnosed with Speech Apraxia last year when he turned two. Speech Apraxia is “Childhood Apraxia of Speech is a motor speech disorder. For reasons not yet fully understood, children with apraxia of speech have great difficulty planning and producing the precise, highly refined and specific series of movements of the tongue, lips, jaw and palate that are necessary for intelligible speech.”  So, in plain English – a severe speech delay. It is a neuro-pathway disorder. For some reason his brain isn’t firing away what it should when it comes to speech. When most kids learn a sound, they then apply it to every word with that sound. So… if they were to learn “bah” they then could apply it to ‘baby’,’ball’,’bath’. For Andrew – he’s having to learn each word as if “bah” was a new thing for that word. (I hope that makes sense!)

I knew pretty early on that Andrew had a speech delay (thank you to my degree in Child Development!). Even as a baby he wasn’t babbling or just screeching like other babies. By his first birthday I had started the conversation with my pediatrician about his speech delay and how I wanted him tested with a Speech-Language Pathologist. When Andrew’s birthday came around last year – it happened. We got him tested with an Audiologist (his hearing is perfect… but I knew that!) and with a Speech Pathologist. Diagnosis: Speech Apraxia. Basically – super quiet kid syndrome. 

Amazingly – We’ve taken it all in just fine. Morgan and I know Andrew is a smart kid, a really smart kid – and I knew right from the beginning that we were going to work through it. And honestly, there are SO many other things that some families are dealt, so something speech related – I could handle.

Sure, he’ll be in speech therapy for a long time. Sure, he’s going to have more trouble than some learning how to read. But we can handle that. 

When Andrew was tested last year his articulation was at the level of a 9 month old. Yes, a two-year old at the speech level of a 9 month old! BUT with the AMAZING therapy that he’s gotten (we have an AMAZING speech therapist – she is heaven sent) Andrew was just tested and is now articulating at the level of a 24 month old, amazing! So in 12 months, he’s advanced 15 months. Yeah! Every other area cognitively, physically, etc. he’s at or exceeding his age level. I know with more therapy, prayers, etc. Andrew will continue to progress as he is.

He’s a champ when it comes to therapy, at speech therapy (which we go to twice a week) and with all the therapy I perform at home. Man, am I grateful for his amazingly sweet disposition!  Anyways, I think I’ve written enough for now. But now that it’s out on the table – I will be writing more about it. We’re adding some more therapies that I’m excited about and will share soon. Here’s to speech, and man… don’t we take it for granted.

Happy Fall, Ya'll!

I always seem to have a dilemma when it comes to what I put on my front door. My mother is a queen of wreaths. She can take a grapevine wreath, some silk flowers, and some ribbon and turn it into a masterpiece. I, on the other hand, seem to always be fickle. I never know what I want and I refuse to buy a pre-made, over priced wreath... even at 50% off.

BUT today, I think I finally made something I love.... for under $10 and will be changed into a Christmas, then and "after Christmas" wreath.....

Tah-Dah! I love it. AND I made the bow! I have watched my mother MANY times make bows, but this was my first attempt, and I am proud. I took a grapevine wreath, stuck some berry sprays into it (with out glue, so I could easily take them out when fall is over), made a bow and added some ribbon to give the appearance of it being hung by it.

The fun this was, EVERY thing on was on sale and super cheap. When you live on a student budget, that's a nice thing. I was even able to get berries that will look nice for Christmas, and post-Christmas. Hooray!

P.S. If you wanted to replicate the wreath, this week would be the week to get over to Michael's. The berry sprays were .59/each, the wreath was 2.50, and the ribbon was 2.00. Sweet!

Murphy pays back.

So, around these parts Murphy has a bad rap. You know, Murphy's Law? Yeah, poor old Murphy is usually the one we blame random bad things on. That was until yesterday. Murphy paid us back.... big time.

Here's the story. At the beginning of August we were just flying back from a wonderful trip to Maine. We were taking the Marta train up to the station closest to my parents house. When we exited the train station - we realize that Morgan does not have his iPhone. (note, Morgan used his saved up birthday money to buy a used one off of Craigslist in May so he could use it without a data plan). He immediately ran back onto the train. It was gone. We had even checked our seats before we had left the train. So, we figured that Morgan got pick-pocketed.

So, fast forward 5 weeks. I was sitting at home yesterday morning and our home phone rings. Hardly anyone has that number. The caller ID said "Marta". I had a small glimmer of hope that something good was about to happen. I pick up and a sweet lady had told me that she had a phone and called the number assigned to 'home'.

She told me that the phone was found that morning on by a mechanic at the Marta garage... and to be grateful that he didn't immediately take it to  lost and found.... because we would have never gotten it back. She was really sweet and told me were I could meet her to pick up the phone. I was SO overjoyed!

So, I drive to Decatur to pick it up and tell her that we had lost it on the train in the beginning of August. She told me that it was found on a BUS. And she told us that we must be good people to have these circumstances.

So... who ever pick-pocketed Morgan's phone lost it him/herself! It was found on a bus that goes through the west side of Atlanta. And through the honestly of the sweet Marta workers, we got it back!!

The phone is a little scratched up, and the case is missing - but we could care less! Morgan is so happy to get it back. His face when he opened up the box was priceless. We still can't believe it!

So... Thanks Murphy! We'll try to be a little nicer to you around here.

Happy.

First, look at this adorable print that my sister made for my family.

Then, try to look really closely at what Andrew's shirt says.... (you may have to click to enlarge it)

Did you get it?? The Stinson family will soon be a family of FOUR! Yep! Baby Number 2 is on the way, and we couldn't be more happy.

We found out on Father's Day (how appropriate!) and had fun telling our family in July. It was really fun "showing" the news to Morgan's family. When we flew up to Maine we had Andrew wearing a Big Brother shirt - we pointed out the shirt to Morgan's parents when they picked us up from the airport, their reaction was priceless.

I'm feeling great (now!). The first trimester was good, but not as easy as Andrew's. I had a Kidney Stone (Pregnant people should NOT be allowed to have those!) and Zofran became my friend. But other than that - it's been great.

The baby has a VERY fun due date... February 29! Leap Day! In the rare occurrence that we actually have the baby on that day - I think it would be fun. We'll see. So, that puts me at 15 weeks along, starting to show a little, and one very happy momma. We find out in just 4 weeks what we'll be having. We feel so blessed to be having another sweet spirit join our family. Can't wait!!