Week 1

We're here! Still settling in...still things that need a home, still getting adapted to apartment living (no screaming and yelling, no stomping through the house, etc). We met our neighbors under us and she, being the southern gal that she is, apologized for the way she looked while stepping out to get the mail and I apologized for the screaming, yelling, and stomping. She was sweet and seemed understanding. I'm not so sure about her elderly father (poor guy)!

We found a wonderful preschool for Abby where her creativity will be stimulated and her need to connect with other kids will be fulfilled. She is having a hard time so far. We are having to do alot with Hannah and are trying to include her when we can but she is acting out. Next week she will have a full week of what life is going to look like for the next 2 months and that should help. She had her first violin lesson Wednesday night and she is really excited. Carriage Lane Presby has an art academy and we found this teacher through them. Steven thought we could all go to Abby's first lesson together (I didnt agree but was trying to be agreeable (haha)). Hannah had a tantrum in the waiting area because she couldn't roam throughout the house. Mrs. Kay is a dear lady with lots of grandmotherly wisdom and gentleness. She was asking about Peyton and I said, "she's our angel". Kay said, "You needed an angel, don't you." Little Peyton gave her a big smile and I held my breath in order not to break down during Abby's lesson.

Peyton is adjusting wonderfully by sleeping 12 hours for 5 nights in a row. What a gift! She is always smiling and happy and sucking her thumb for comfort. God always knows what we need!

Steven is trying to work and sell real estate as always, but having to help me with exercises and general taking care of the girls as well. We have our spats, but we are drawing closer together through this struggle and not having cable or Netflix, our comfort at times we admit. I have my glass of wine every night and we talk about the day, the future, and by God's grace we even talk about how blessed we are. It truly is amazing how through stressful times, we truly feel the prayers of our brothers and sisters in Christ. God gave us special grace to get through the first week of BB.

The week started with a group of guys from Carriage Lane and my dad moving us in. Steven likes the church. I have not attended yet, but plan to get plugged in as much as I can next week. I am a little hesitant to get "plugged in" because I want to remain focused on what we came here to do and BB is a 7 day a week program. I want to get the job done and get back to our life in Colorado.

The BB program is very difficult....no surprise there. I can't go into the details of the BB program because it is just too much to type, but in summary, Hannah went to BB Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for one hour. In that hour, she was in the sensory-motor room where they did multiple activities that stimulate her brain, specifically strengthening her right hemisphere. We heard some screaming during the second half of the session and they said that is when they are doing tactile stimulation. Our part at home is difficult to say the least. We start out in the morning doing her primitive reflex exercises and then several times throughout the day we have to do a plethera of other activities to stimulate her right hemisphere and block the left. We have not seen any changes yet, but then we didn't expect it so soon either. They want us to do the blood/urine test again because the last one was almost a year ago. We pushed back on the blood and they accepted blood from her finger rather than our having to take her to a hospital again. We did that this morning and are expecting a knock on our door from child protective services any minute! Fortunately, we were able to get her urine the old fashion way which was such a blessing! We will get the results back soon which will expose vitamin/mineral-deficiencies, amino acids, etc. Friday night I had to go to BB nutrition class and they gave us some supplements to give Hannah. I just laughed to myself and prayed that the Lord would work this out. 9 capsules twice/day plus powder in juice, bla bla bla. Hannah has never taken a supplement in her life. She won't even keep cold medicine in her mouth. No high fructose corn syrup, no french fries, no msg, yada yada. I'm thinking there is just no way but God is bigger than all of that so we'll see what kind of parting-of-the-Red-Sea kind of moment he will give us there. Ha! We are speaking with the director of BB to brainstorm on ways we can help her work toward getting the supplements in her system among other issues with the program.

Overall, the week was exhausting but good. We were able to get many of the activities done with Hannah as well as our other responsibilities and have a little fun as well. We're looking forward to this week as it will provide a little more structure for the whole family and Hannah will be that much closer to her improved state!