Another Hydrocephalus Parent....

I enjoy reading blogs of other parents of children with hydrocephalus and hearing loss. These parents truly know how I feel, have felt, and will feel at certain points in Nola's journey. It also reminds me how lucky we are.

Sara is Owen's Mommy. I met her through a hydrocephalus support group online. Her latest blog post touched my heart. These are struggles that many parents of children with special needs go through. You can read it here.

American Idol

I don't watch American Idol anymore. The craze has worn off, but if I do watch - it is during all the auditions to see all the crazy people. Last week we got phone calls and texts that we needed to watch the girl who just auditioned. Her daugher has hydrocephalus and hearing loss- maybe this will raise alittle more awareness!
She was great!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=c9d_zMbEkVM

It Continues

Whew! Trying to get Nola back into her bed is like having a newborn all over again! Have I said that before? Nola is doing such a great job- now she just needs to learn to soothe herself back to sleep when she wakes up during the night.

Night #3: Nola woke up about every 3 hours. Yes, like a newborn. (insert tired Mommy face here.)

Night #4: Monday, January 24
8 pm: Alseep.
11 pm: Woke up, came to our room, and I put her back into her bed. She was asleep in 3 minutes flat.
6:30 am: Up again. Slept til 8 am.

Let's see how the rest of the week goes. If any of you have comments on how to get Nola to soothe herself to sleep, they would be greatly appreciated!

Our Big Girl

My last post stated we were going to start the transition out of Mommy & Daddy's bed and into Nola's bed in March. Well, we got a wild hair on Friday night and decided to give it a try. She cried and said "No sleep!" but not the sobbing, wailing fits I had tried to mentally prepare myself for! I sat in the rocking chair and put Toy Story 3 on while she sat in her bed.

Night #1: Friday, January 21
7:30 pm Nola finally lays down and falls asleep.
12:30 am She comes into our room. I take her back to her bed.
2 am Finally falls back asleep.
6:30 am She comes back into our room - We sleep until 8 am.

Night #2: Saturday, January 22
9:30 Asleep.
I wake up Sunday morning and find Nola in our bed! Evidently, she came into our room around 1:30 am according to Jonathan. He just let her sleep with us. Grr.

Night #3: Sunday, January 23
8:15pm: Asleep.

Let's see how tonight goes and the rest of the week! Fingers crossed!
Operation No M-Bop will begin March 21. I figure we will be in the big girl bed all the time by then. I don't want to traumatize her too much all at once. ( Or maybe it's Mommy that would be traumatized!)

Sleepless Nights Ahead...

There will be some sleepless nights ahead for the Bawcums. The countdown has began for Nola to no longer have m-bop (that's what she calls her pacifier) and sleeping in her own room. Yes, I can hear your gasps now and you cannot believe I would still let my child have her m-bop or sleep in the our bed. For my defense until this summer- Nola had a surgery about every 10 months. These were not easy surgeries like her eye these were BRAIN surgeries. When she would come home from the hospital she would sleep with us. It was easier for us knowing she was in the bed with us and wouldn't bump her fragile little head on the wood in her bed or if she got sick she wouldn't be alone. Same thing with the m-bop, but I will have to say she really only has it to sleep and in the car.
We will start this process during my Spring Break.
So send good thoughts our way - Operation No M-Bop and Sleep in Your Own Bed starts March 21!

First Snow in the New House!

Oh, Nola and I had such fun in the snow today! I might not make much- but one small perk of a teacher ....SNOW DAYS!! Jonathan even got to come home early and build a snowman with us! I will post those later. You might have to turn down the volume- It sounds like I am screaming- I'm not though. Maybe I do talk too loud like Jonathan says.....

Happy 1st Hearing Brithday!

Happy 1st Hearing Birthday!

Nola and all her friends in her class!

You've come so far in only 1 year!!

We sent treats for Nola to share with her classmates to celebrate her 1 year hearing anniversary. Her teacher, Ms. Stephanie, was sweet to have the class sing Happy 1st Birthday to her ears and had Nola blow out one candle! She was so excited to tell us about it!

JANUARY 6

January 6 is an important day in our family's life! One year ago tomorrow, Nola entered the hearing world when her cochlear implants were activated!! What an amazing year this has been. She has come so far. There are not enough adjectives to describe the pride and love I feel for this little girl! She is talking in complete sentences. She tells you what she thinks, what she feels, and what she hears and sees. What a miracle this is!!
Thank you Dr. MacDonald for performing the surgery, thank you MOSD for your priceless work with Nola, thank you to all our family and friends who have been there to support not only Nola, but also Jonathan and me through this process. Who would have thought we would be where we are now?! Getting a diagnosis of profound hearing loss is not the end of the world (the exact feeling I felt when I heard those words) this was the beginning of a whole new chapter in our journey.

Thank you Nola for all your hard work! You are my light and your Daddy and I love you to pieces.

Christmas and Birthday Bash

December 26 we went to have Christmas with Jonathan's grandparents. It is also Dad's birthday. We have breakfast and do Christmas. Then we played games and puzzles until later that afternoon and celebrated Dad's birthday!

Christmas with Nanny, Honey, Pop-Pop, & Na-Na

Nola got a Barbie Jeep!! I think I was more excited about it then she was! :)

Nola and Pop-Pop

I love their faces in these two pictures. You can just read the happiness all over!

Nola and Honey at Nanny's House

After Santa, we went to Selmer to have Christmas with Pop-Pop's side of the family. Then we went to Henderson to have Christmas with Honey, Pop-Pop, and Na-Na.

Santa Came!

Look at that face! How can that not just melt your heart?! She was so excited about her bike Santa brought!

Trying it out.

Clothes!

Toy Story 3 and Ice Age

Stocking Stuffers

Even Whiskers the Terrible, Duke, and Luckie got gifts from Santa.

This was such a special Christmas for our family. Nola could hear! Last Christmas she had just had her surgery and could not hear anything because her implants had not been activated. What a difference a year makes!

Christmas with Maw-Maw,Mimi, & Big Dad

We celebrated Christmas on Chrismtas Eve with Jonathan's family. We had a hearty breakfast and then opened presents. Nola got some new kicks, a sit and spin, and more zhu-zhu pet acessories just to name a few. As usual, we had a great time.

MOSD Christmas

Yes, this is the man that strikes fear in the heart of my child! She sees Santa and suddenly she has to pee pee really badly! Maybe next year......

After Santa left the building, we were able to take a picture by the tree.

Looking at one of her gifts with Daddy.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree!

Our little helper.

Whose child is this? What a HAM!

Hmmm....which ornament should I choose?

Jonathan working so diligently to get the tree together.

Yes, I'm behind! We enjoyed putting the Christmas tree up this year because Nola could help us! She had fun putting the ornaments on the tree herself- As Nola said, "No, Nola do it"

Circus Time!!

Another great idea from Jonathan- We took Nola to the Circus. She loved it! She just sat there in awe the entire time! The only thing she was leery about was the elephant when she saw it for the first time. They were huge and frightened her a bit, but we reassured her the elephants were nice and would not get any closer. She was OK after that! She danced along with the music and we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!

I never thought about how much money my parents forked out when we went to things like this! I can remember going to Disney on Ice and getting a light up toy. Who knows how much that thing was! We looked at the light up toys at the Circus and those things started at $20! WHAT?! It is a glorified flashlight! Nola is not one throw a fit if she doesn't get a toy. She was content with her cotton candy and popcorn. (Umm...the cotton candy was $10 and so was the popcorn) Once again, thankful for an easy going child.

SNOW! in Nashville

All Bundles Up!

I'm not sure I like this picture- she looks like a big girl! Where is my baby?!

Tristan, Addison, Billy, & Nola

Our Little Family

Such an AMAZING DADDY!

December 5: Mimi and Big Dad took us to see SNOW and ICE in Nashville. Of the two, I think Snow was the overall favorite! There was lots of snow to build snowmen and throw snowballs. It was actually snowing the day we went! Nola had such a good time! She is such an easy going child. I know we are lucky! She has reason to be ornery if she wanted to!