Christmas ears

We had a pretty epic technology fail at church today. Miss Kat uses an fm, which works great for talks but not for musical numbers. Since there were going to be a ton for the Christmas program, I thought I would try to do live voice captioning. Didn't work with my whisper!

It showed such classics as:
"X-box live" (Silent Night)
"Theme tickets" (Dream dream dream)
"Knights of deers having" (Night of our dear Saviors birth)

Also, we had THREE people with cochlear implants today! That was very interesting. Miss Kat was by far the youngest, but it was nice to see some oral deaf adults around the area. We haven't seen many CI users since we left St. Louis.

Coping with our "new life"

So, since I graduated from grad school a few months ago, there have been some big changes in our lives. I got a job teaching in an OPTION school. I have the youngest class and I absolutely love it!

We also moved three hours away from everything we have known over the last five years. We had originally hoped to stay in St. Louis, but it was not meant to be. Our next thought was that we should head west, maybe even back to Utah. We prayed a lot about what was right for my career, but more importantly, what was right for Miss Kat. We received confirmation that I should accept this job, but that we were supposed to buy a house in a different area. It is only about 20 minutes away, but the school is very small (less than 30 kids per grade) and K-8. This was risky, as they do not have a lot of experience with students with hearing loss, and obviously being in the city where I work would be more "logical" and closer to services. But we knew that this place was home.

So, we bought an amazing little house, got a puppy, and Miss Kat started her 7th grade year!

Full Circle

Our lives have truly come full circle. Years ago, I sat and listened to parents and teens on panels and wondered if Miss Kat would ever be doing as well as the children we heard from. Now Miss Kat and I talk to families of children with hearing loss and to classes of teachers of the deaf.

Even more amazing, 5 years ago, Miss Kat and I came across the country for a summer school program at CID. The teachers and program were so amazing that we decided to uproot ourselves and move all the way to St. Louis so that she could have access to these professionals. Well, this year, CID has asked me to be one of those professionals. They have asked me to teach summer school in the Primary department.

Our lives have completely come full circle. We are able to give back in ways that we were supported earlier in our journey. I am so happy and proud of everything that has happened in the last 5 years.

National Junior Honor Society

Miss Kat was inducted into her school's honor society today. She was extended an invitation to apply because of her grades during the first semester of 6th grade. She then had to fill out some forms about her service, leadership roles, and extra-curricular activities. She was also required to write a short essay about a time when she overcame a struggle as a leader. After reviewing all of that information, they decided to accept her! Today was the induction ceremony. We are so proud of her!

I remember when Miss Kat was younger, (at JTC and when we first moved here) being very frustrated whenever there was a parent panel. They always had families who reported that everything was going sooooo well! Their kids were always caught up, reading above grade level, getting amazing grades, involved in tons of extracurricular activities. I wanted to see what happened with the OTHER families! The families who had kids who started late. I wanted to see the kids who didn't have perfect access to sound starting at 6 months old. I wanted to know what happened to the kids who didn't get to never have a language delay, the ones who WEREN'T caught up by age 5. I thought that WE were never being represented...and I was wrong.

Now we are that obnoxious family that says that everything is going amazingly. We have a child who is all caught up! I get to say that the transition to public school has been nothing but a dream and that the school district is meeting all her needs. I have a child who advocates for herself in the classroom and has hearing friends and does sleep-away camp without struggles...

I never thought this day would come. I guess I should have never expected less of Miss Kat.

Nominated for...

Miss Kat received a letter today from her middle school nominating her for National Junior Honor Society. Her grades for the last two semesters plus her teachers' reports have made her eligible to apply! I couldn't be more proud of her!

I don't know what to say...

When we first started this journey, I noticed that a lot of CI blogs would start off strong and then after a period of time, the writing would slow down and then eventually just stop. The writer would no longer update about what was happening in their daily life. I was always disappointed when this happened and I wondered why. Now, I understand.

I have nothing left to say. Our life is so boring and typical. Miss Kat goes to school, comes home and does her homework. She reads voraciously. She goes to Girl Scouts and sewing class. We attend church and she hangs out with her friends. What exactly am I supposed to write about?

Sure, she is still getting services from a really great teacher of the deaf, so I could write about those goals. She sees an SLP about twice a month, so I could talk about what they are working on. And maybe I will, but really, our life is so common that it is often seems unnecessary to document things.