I promise I am going to do better than this on this whole blogging thing. I know I jsut need more practice and then it will be quick and easy to update. We have been super busy this spring wrapping things up. Awana ended and both Emily and Sarah completed their books and got awards. Test scores came back from end of grade testing and both girls did very well. They have a great teacher, you know. : ) For the most part we have finished school; we will do a bit throughout the summer. Sarah has her gymnastics show on Sunday and she is eagerly anticipating that. And swim team has started!! It is a short, but intense season with practice every day. The pool water is cold but the girls are doing well so far.
Lauren is doing great. She has 7 more days of school then she will get a 3 week break before summer school starts. Her therapies also go all summer so she doesn't get much of a break, but she is doing so incredibly well that we can't imagine stopping anything. She is running up and down the hall every day. And I do mean a serious run. Most of you cannot really appreciate how great that is so just trust me, it is GREAT! She is following commands better and seems ready to communicate more with us. We are currently researching local hospitals that have Augmentative Communication departments so we can get her an evaluation. We, along with her therapists, believe she will communicate more with a voice output device. She needs a voice in this house full of girls! Shawn and I went to Chicago over Memorial Day weekend to the annual Rett Syndrome conference. It was our first and it was fabulous! We heard great speakers, doctors, researchers, and therapists. Our favorite was Susan Norwell who is an educational specialist. We are actually taking Lauren to see her in July to get guidance on the best way to teach her. Girls with Rett Syndrome do not fall into any neat catagories. You can't say, "Put her in XYZ program and she will do great." So we will meet with Susan and develop a plan for her and then see where that plan can best be implemented. Lauren's teacher has already mentioned some ideas she has and we are so thankful we have her. She is wonderful! I'm going to try to put a few pictures of Lauren on the blog...we'll see how that goes. I took these this morning for an end of year teacher gift. So many came out cute that I have to share.
Adoption update: No news. Our paperwork was logged in with the Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs in April. We know God is in control and He will bring Anna into our family at the perfect time.
Hopefully I will be able to update again soon with pictures of Emily and Sarah. Have a good week! Thanks for remembering us in your prayers.
