Domain is back

FINALLY got my domain name back after a year hiatus! I was paying an arm and a leg through Yahoo but once they released the name I bought it through google! So now you can go just type in Megansgot47.com to get here! I hope to get back into blogging soon. Been really busy with no time to update. Not much going on here either and having a hard time coming up with things to talk about.

Happy 6th Birthday Megan

I cannot believe you are 6. It seems like such a big number for such a little girl.
You started Kindergarten this year and your 3rd year of dance.
You amaze me everyday and your spunk will get you through life with flying colors.
Everyone you meet, everyone whom you talk to, loves you forever.
You are contagious...in a good way.
You are so special that you had no issues what so ever letting everyone help you open your presents, who does that? All kids I see are very territorial but you...you smiled and invited all to join in the fun. I wish everyone had a soul like yours, the world would be a better place.
Happy Birthday my beautiful girl....you make my life enormously better!

Halloween

Thought I would share our Halloween pictures with you. Megan was sick in the pictures and we had a low key Halloween but at least we were all together. We put the camera on the tripod and got a family shot which is rare. Enjoy!

The Adoption Bug?

Is it contagious or what? LOL

I really tried NOT to look at Recee's Rainbow (I know that sounds terrible).
For me it was easier to ignore it cause when I paid attention I cried.
The more my friends started adopting the more I questioned in my head "why"...."how can they afford this"..."isn't it too stressful on their families"...so I started looking at the site wondering....reading blogs, looking at pictures.
I stared at faces wondering how each of my friends happened upon their chosen one. What drew them to a particular child? Did they decide on a child or a country, did they look domestically first? This all just seems like so much work.

I can not explain for me what changed in my head or what makes me go back to the same picture everyday wondering what this orphaned child is doing. If she is loved, kissed, played with, fed good food...if she is warm at night, if she longs for a family or if she is happy and content where she is (not knowing the looming fate that is ahead if she doesn't get adopted). So for now, we have pictures in all our rooms, we are praying hard, we are soul searching and working on things at home that need to be taken care of, I am working EXTRA hard on making my husband get to the same place I am....so for now we are just going to start raising money and getting people to pay attention. We can do that! I am hoping in the mean time God speaks to us and tells us his plan (cause sometimes I truly think that is what my husband is waiting for).
I know my thoughts are all over the place but I really wanted to get them out there, I wanted others to know it is on our hearts and minds too all of the time.
This will probably be shocking to some considering I haven't really said all this out loud to anyone yet, not even family.

Olivia asks me everyday, "Are we going on the airplane today to get my sister"....I know she already loves her! We have talked a lot about all the children who need a home and I know she would bring them all home if she could!

Haven't posted in a while

Thought I would post an update about school.
Megan is overall doing quite well in school. We had some days where the teacher didn't know how to respond to Megan's stubbornness but it seems as though we are getting less and less emails about Megan crossing her arms and refusing to follow. So that is good, she has either stopped or the teacher realized in the grand scheme it wasn't such a big deal.
Megan is doing great with writing. She still hates anything to do with crayons and writing but can really write her name well on her papers. The "M" "e" "g" are always visible.
Megan is doing GREAT with anything in math. She is so good with counting and patterns.
The "kid writing" is proving difficult but that has been modified a little bit to her level...although I still think Meg would benefit from sequencing or site words during this time frame.
The school and staff have just been so great in wanting this to be a successful year for Megan. I just need to stay on top of things and make my voice heard when I see things. Sometimes I don't speak up when I should and I am working on it. I need to advocate for my child all the time and so I am working on it....which reminds me, I need to go make a phone call.
I will try to update more.

HAPPY DOWN SYNDROME AWARENESS MONTH TO ALL MY FRIENDS, WE LOVE YOU!!!!!

M-E-G-A-N

Megan is FINALLY writing her name or approximating which is a good start!!!!!

She did this in school today and I am not even sure if the teachers noticed!

Here is Megan's homework that we worked on...you can see she even tried writing her name here too. She is soooo smart, but soooo stubborn! I love her to pieces and am SO STINKIN' PROUD!

4...but still Literal

Since Olivia is 4 now, it will change to the "Literal Mind of a 4 year old"

Olivia got new high heel sandals and LOVES to wear them wherever we go!
We went to Burger King the other night and played inside for a little bit because of rain.
Once it cleared up we decided to move to the outside playground and needed to get our shoes back on.
Joe sat Olivia down to help her with her shoes and said "Its gonna be hard to play with these shoes"....Olivia responded "Don't worry daddy, I am not going to play with them, I am going to wear them!"

Kindergarten changing for the better

After going over the day with the teacher, I decided I wanted to change to my 1st choice for Megan's day. Here in our district Kindy is only 1/2 day's so we were pushing to get her in both AM and PM.

So I decided since we only have the 1 on 1 1/2 day I would rather it be in the AM. So Meg will go in the AM fully included w/ a 1 on 1 with no pull outs. She will then stay for lunch to practice for 1st grade and then receive her Speech, OT and PT after lunch M-F. That way she goes from 9 to 1 and her day isn't as long and I still get my afternoons with her. That way she can still do dance class with Olivia too.

I was concerned mostly with safety. Meg would have been out on the playground with nobody watching just her and I worry that she may wonder or fall and get hurt trying to do what the other kids are doing and the last thing we want is daily runs to the nurse.

I know I could have fought for the 1 on 1 for the full day but I truly like the idea of just an extended 1/2 day for her. I don't want her getting tired and cranky and making the PM kids think she is always crabby. She will be on her "A" game in the AM since that is when she is happiest.

This was my ideal day for her and now we have it all squared away.

p.s. Meg was also approved for the Van, so she will get a car seat to go to school. We will do the bus next year when she is a little older and heavier.

AM and PM approved

Megan will be going to Full day Kindy in September. It is pretty much how I explained in my last post but opposite. Where the 1 on 1 will be there for PM....she will take her to lunch and recess and then into the PM.....She will have all her services in the AM.

I am so excited and so appreciative to her school for how much they are doing to make this all a success. We are going in Thursday to spend some time with her new teacher.

IEP for Kindergarten

Our new team has put my fears of Kindergarten to rest. I was nervous that somehow she wasn't wanted there and she was going to be a burden and I would have to fight for what I wanted but that is not the case. The principal, the special ed supervisor and our case worker have made our experience so far exceptional. They have been so positive about Megan being in the right place and it has made me relax. I can now enjoy my girl growing up and moving on knowing we made the right choice.

I mentioned today in the meeting that a friend "Marlene, Aleena's mom" (I know this is not the case now) was doing AM and PM. So I mentioned that Megan would not do any pull-outs during one of the sessions and she could experience the class like the other children and then in the PM she could receive her therapies...and they all loved the idea. They are now going to work on logistics and see how they can extend the one on one for a few more hours.

So this is exactly how the day would work. Megan would take the van to school and be met by the 1 on 1. The 1 on 1 would walk her to the class room and get her settled. Meg would do the entire AM with her class w/ the 1 on 1 present. The 1 on 1 would take her to lunch at dismissal and then to another short recess w/ 1st grade and then she would do PM and have her therapists in and out of the room.
This would give Megan the chance to finish her work she started in AM which may take her longer and also have a double presentation to help her retain it better.
I hope this all works out and gets put in place soon so we can prepare.

Very excited about this!