Monday, July 28, 2008

Day 5: In Alabama

We had a joyous ride down to Alabama from Kentucky. Ella was about as thrilled to be in the car as my cat was the first time we took her for a ride. (Imagine, for a moment, a nineteen year old girl driving down the interstate with a cat digging its claws ever deeper into her head.) We did make it however. It took about 50 percent longer than it would without children, but we made it.

I'm really looking forward to taking DeLaynie to the beach. She really liked it when my parents took us, but once she saw the pool, the ocean lost its joy. I'm excited for my husband who will get to see her see the ocean.

I'm a little nervous about one thing. We'll all be in one motel-type room. We've never had that experience with children before. I'm praying that we get some sleep, and I'm hoping that the people staying in the surrounding rooms will be able to do the same.

Day 4: A little late, but close

It's almost 1:30 on Monday, but this will count as Sunday. The girls, Edwin, and I are heading to the beach tomorrow. Technically, we're going to his mom's tomorrow and the beach on Tuesday, but you get my drift.

I've spent the great majority of my weekend packing. I genuinely hate the entire packing ordeal. It kind of makes me want to stay at home, but I know that the girls need to experience life, or something like that.

The reason for the trip is that Edwin is teaching at a youth camp. One of his youth students from his first church is now a youth pastor. He married one of the students in the discipleship group I headed up. Edwin was pretty jazzed about the opportunity to teach at something like this. We're both happy to get away. DeLaynie loves to swim, and we're heading down early to enjoy some family time before the camp starts. Oh, and I'm going outlet shopping on the way down, but that doesn't excite me or anything.

I may not be able to write again for a while. I have no idea if the place we're staying has internet. I guess that I'll just get back to you as the opportunity comes.

Don't forget to dwell.

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Day 3: Sensory Integration Disorder

I mentioned in my first post that my oldest daughter has a developmental issue known as Sensory Integration Disorder, or SID. I decided to explain it as best I can.

DeLaynie does not have SID as badly as many children. I don't know the full spectrum of the effects possible, but for DeLaynie, it means that certain frequencies of sound are too powerful, and others are not powerful enough. She was very difficult to startle as an infant. We have a hard time remembering that Ella is going to be easy to startle since she hears normally. (We didn't learn how to control our volume well with DeLaynie.) Because of this discrepancy, she learned to ignore the more powerful frequencies, and she simply doesn't hear the less powerful ones. She isn't deaf. The blender, for instance, falls into a range that she can hear very well, so it scares the tar out of her. A car without a muffler has a similar effect. Before she started therapy, we had to yell her name three or four times, in a very stern voice, in order to get her attention. She had to consciously decide to listen to us.

All of this caused her to fall behind in language skills. Right now she's about four months behind in vocabulary, and a little more behind in other areas affected by language, like ability to follow commands.

It also changes the way things feel to her. She didn't like Play-dough, sand, or most food. She likes hard food, like almost burned chicken nuggets and chips. Most healthy foods aren't crispy. From the time she was born she hated anything on her feet. She liked being swaddled, but kicked the blanket off of her feet. She never has minded a dirty diaper, though. Her feet are more sensitive than normal, and her diaper area is less sensitive.

Why? No one's exactly sure, but many doctors think that's related to a part of the inner ear. The therapy is going to sound crazy, but she listens to cd's with specific frequencies. These frequencies "work out" the inner ear and improve her "reception". Well, that's what I'm told. I'm not totally sure that all of this information is completely scientific, but it's working. Since starting this therapy, DeLaynie is conversing better, hearing better, talking way more, parroting language like she never has, and even play with play-dough. The other day, she ate a brownie! (It was made with pumpkin, so that makes it a veggie, right?)

Small victories win the war. Most of our victories our very small, but we're going to get there.

Friday, July 25, 2008

An Early Day 2

It's barely today, but I have no idea what the day will bring, so I'm going to go ahead and knock this one out.

I had my first birthday party since getting married last night, actually it was a few hours ago. The guest list was a fairly intimate group of church women along with my best friend, her husband, and my husband. It was a pleasant evening for all involved. That is, until sex came up. You could almost see my husband trying to walk the fine line between inappropriate and leading people to believe that he thinks sex is bad.

At one point, he felt that he must have leaned toward the idea that sex is dirty, so he made the comment, "Married sex is a good thing, and it should be enjoyed."

He seemed a little too comfortable, as did Brian, my friend's husband, so I added, "And he really believes that!" Edwin really is cute with a red face.

The full truth is that my husband and I really do enjoy this aspect of married life more than anyone we know. Granted, most people don't talk about their active sex lives with their pastors. They probably should. It all goes back to the belief that there really is something dirty with sex.

Toward the time to go home, one of the women said that we were the most fun pastor and pastor's wife that she knew. I guess that's because we aren't embarassed (or at least I'm not) that we "do it". Further more, we think you ought to work at it. So... go to work, married people!!!

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Day 1: Intro

I'm 24 years old today! Happy birthday to me! I've been wanting to blog for a long time, and my dad seems to have his heart set on it too, so I'm going to give it a shot. My goal is to post six days a week (Sundays off).

I have two beautiful little girls. DeLaynie is two years old and a delight. She is struggling to learn to use language due to a very strange disorder that makes certain things feel and sound differently to her. She's doing very well at working past it. Ella is four months old. She's a chubby bunny. She takes joy in eating, like her mommy. My husband is the pastor at a small Baptist church in Kentucky. I was nineteen when we got married, and in spite of my youth, it was a great decision. We will celebrate our fifth anniversary two days after Christmas this year.

I received a fancy shmancy camera (SLR for you photography enthusiasts) for my birthday, so I plan to post a picture once a week to see how my abilities develop (yeah, so that was an intentional pun), assuming that they do. My husband sold some things in order to get it for me, and my best friend spent a lot (and I mean A LOT) of time scouring the internet for the best deal, so let's all hope that I do show some sort of talent in this area.

That's my background. I know it doesn't seem too exciting, but it's a good life. Let's just see where God takes us.