Baby Bliss

Here's another little taste of things to come in Karen and mine's upcoming store. (I promise it is coming...just waiting on our web designer at this point...it's a longer process than you would think!)

Toddler jammies...

Burp cloths for every taste...

Sweet, soft, plush baby blankets...

And of course, you've seen my purse...wait til you see some of the OTHER purses we're coming up with!!!

A Step Backwards for Early Intervention in California

This is where we started. On December 27, 2007, our twins were born, 6 weeks premature, in distress. Makayla, who was almost twice Mackenzie's size, was much sicker initially, but recovered quickly and only spent 12 days in the NICU. Mackenzie, however, was our tiny fighter. And fight she did. And has. She was only 2 lbs, 15 oz...off-the-charts-small for a 34-weeker. She never did need any breathing assistance, though. She never did have any infections in the month she spent in the NICU. She never got jaundiced. She surprised us with a cleft lip and cleft palate - yet, despite the odds, she showed a clear preference for breastfeeding versus taking a bottle. She had pulled her feeding tube out - twice - within the first hour of her life. She did have a mild brain bleed, and some mild apnea which required her to come home on an apnea monitor - but she came home after 28 days and at just 4 lbs, 4 oz, because she was otherwise doing so well. She's a fighter...did I mention that?

We applied for Early Intervention services (developmental services for ages 0-3) for her right away, knowing that due to her low birth weight and prematurity, she was at risk for developmental delays. We were denied services. I chose not to appeal at that time. However, several months later, I began to notice that Mackenzie wasn't responding to noises the same way Makayla was, and started to get concerned that she wasn't hearing. Around that time, she had her first appointment with the cleft palate team, and as a routine preparation for her lip repair, they scheduled her to see the Ear, Nose and Throat surgeon. At that appointment, they tested her hearing - she failed the test, but also was not very cooperative, and they wanted to repeat the test while she was under anesthesia for her surgery.

But I wasn't waiting - I again contacted Early Intervention (which is run by Inland Regional Center in our area) and requested an evaluation for services, based on the fact that I KNEW at this point she was not hearing. They agreed and came out to the house to assess her. Sure enough, she did not respond to any of their noise-makers except the loudest one - a very loud horn. They also found developmental delays in other areas as well, including gross motor. They agreed to start services right away, and an infant stimulation teacher, Susan, began coming to our home weekly to provide developmental services to Mackenzie. (Susan, by the way, has been a GODSEND!!!)

When Mackenzie had her surgery, they found fluid behind both eardrums, and ended up having to place tubes in her ears. Once that was accomplished, they re-checked her hearing, and she tested near-normal. Hooray!! But she was already behind...so the services were still much needed and continued. In the meantime, we also started learning and using sign language around the house, using Signing Time videos, so that Mackenzie would have a way to communicate with us and us with her. Susan also works with her on signing.

As the months have gone by, Mackenzie's needs have evolved and changed. Her strengths and weaknesses have changed too, somewhat, and while she can now hear, she continues to lag behind severely in her communication skills. Her gross motor skills aren't nearly as far behind, but she definitely has some delays there too.

So recently, she had her annual eval with her coordinator from Inland Regional Center...and this is where things get ugly for the state of California. Mackenzie's language skills are very poor - according to the IRC's assessment, her expressive skills are that of a 6-8 month old child, and her receptive skills are that of a 15-month old child. She is 20 months old. So we discussed the idea of some sort of speech therapy for her. The contracted agency who is providing us with Susan, (and recently began also providing a behavioral therapist for some other social behaviors we're having issues with) has a language class, which we discussed as a possibility, but there was some concern raised about them possibly not having an actual speech therapist or speech pathologist on board, and we all agreed (or at least I THOUGHT we did) that she needed that level of expertise. So we ended the discussion on the note that the coordinator would look into that.

A few days later, I received a call from the agency's director, informing me that Mackenzie had been authorized to participate in their "language class." I asked her who taught the class. She said, "Teachers." I asked what their qualifications were, and she said, "They are language teachers." I again asked, "But what are their qualifications? Are they speech therapists or speech pathologists?" She replied, "No, they are teachers." That's all I could get from her, no matter how many times I asked the question - she wouldn't even tell me if they had a Master's degree. I finally told her that simply wasn't acceptable to me; that given how severely delayed Mackenzie was, I felt she needed the expertise of an actual speech therapist or pathologist, at a minimum for the evaluation, and that I would call our IRC coordinator to speak with her. The agency director tried to bully me into accepting the language class, telling me, "I JUST spoke with her yesterday, and she authorized Mackenzie to participate in this class." I replied that I JUST spoke with the coordinator last week, and we agreed that she could participate in the class IF there was a speech therapist or pathologist on board. She finally backed down and said, "Fine, then I'll let you call her."

So I called our coordinator and made my request, at which time she sort of hemmed and hawed..."Well, I'm not sure they'll authorize it..." (I'm not sure who the theoretical "they" is...) "Well, I'm not sure they'll let her stay in the infant program if she receives speech therapy..." (Are you threatening to take away her existing services if she receives speech therapy???)

And then the real kicker..."Does she have coverage for speech therapy through your private insurance? Because I'm going to need you to try that first, before Early Intervention will cover it." WHAT? I vaguely recalled some piece of paper I had been given when we first joined Early Intervention about private insurance, and I went and pulled out the binder I kept all Mackenzie's paperwork in...and sure enough, this piece of paper said, "Inland Regional Center may NOT require a family to access their private insurance for services which can be provided by Early Intervention." So I asked her if something had changed. "Well, yes," she replied, "we've been told not to give out that paper anymore, because it no longer applies." "Well, did the law change?" I asked. "Um, yeah, I, um, yeah, effective October 1, I believe...," but they're starting to implement it now to get everyone ready for it. "Can you provide me a copy of the new law?" "Um, no, I don't even have a copy of it yet...I guess I should do some research on it." Yeah, I guess...I guess you're not used to having parents question you like I am.

So in the meantime, I went online to the California Department of Developmental Services website...and boy, was I in for a surprise!!! Not only did the law change - it changed BIG. The insurance is only one small piece. As far as insurance goes - for any service that is considered medical - physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, etc. - families will be REQUIRED to attempt to obtain the service through their private insurance BEFORE Early Intervention will provide the service. Early Intervention will only provide the service if they have an actual letter of refusal to provide service from the family's private insurance on file. If the private insurance WILL provide the service, the family will be completely responsible on their own for paying any deductibles or co-pays they may incur - there is no reimbursement program and no way to appeal based on financial hardship...which means many children, I could foresee, will NOT receive the services they need, because their families will not be able to afford to pay for the services.

But that's not all. The eligibility requirements have changed as well...and this is HUGE. There used to be an entire category of items that qualified a child as "at risk," so that they could receive Early Intervention services...things like being born before 32 weeks gestation, or having a birth weight under 1500 grams, or having seizures in the first 3 years of life, or having a positive drug screen at birth (i.e. mom used drugs during the pregnancy)...all things that put baby at high risk for developmental delays. And research shows that the earlier intervention is begun, the better the chances of NOT having long term delays and problems - THUS the whole basis of the Early Intervention program in the first place. This category? GONE. Completely gone. These things no longer qualify a child for Early Intervention services in the state of California, effective October 1.

Finally, the amount of delay to be qualified has changed. Previously it was simply defined as a "significant difference" between the child's current level of functioning and expected level of development. Now, it is very specific. A child age 0-24 months must have at least a 33% delay in one of the 5 categories of development - cognitive, physical, communication, social/emotional, or adaptive. A child age 25-36 months must have at least a 33% delay in 2 of the 5 categories or a 50% delay in at least one of the categories. Many children who are "delayed," but who may not quite make this cut-off will no longer be able to start receiving Early Intervention services. (These new qualifications apply to NEW eligibility applications only - not to existing participants for continuing eligibility.) This is only going to result in more problems in the school districts further down the road when these children enter kindergarten farther behind than necessary, because they haven't received the services they could have at an earlier age.

As for us, I am grateful that we DO have private insurance which provides coverage for speech therapy for Mackenzie. And when I emailed her doctor explaining the problem with IRC, she immediately put through a referral for a speech evaluation, and within 3 days, we had one set up. Last Friday, I took her in to see an actual speech pathologist. Her assessment was even more grim than the IRC coordinator's. Mackenzie tested at 4 months for expressive language skills and 10 months for receptive language skills. And because they are attributing her delay to her cleft lip and palate, which is a medical problem, our insurance WILL provide her with speech therapy - with a qualified speech pathologist. "But only as long as she makes progress," they qualified. She is a fighter - so I am sure she will make progress. (I don't know WHERE she got all that fight from.)

Blueberry-Peach Cobbler

Yummo! That's all I can say about this warm, juicy, scrumptious dessert!!! (Or breakfast the next day, whatever the case may be....!) When blueberries were on sale for crazy low prices a few weeks ago, I was buying them up like mad - both because all three kids LOVE them and because I can't get enough. And the rest of the year? I refuse to pay, um, like $.25 per berry, or whatever the crazy-ridiculously high price is.

This was super easy to make. Start out with a 9x9 (or 8x8) baking dish. Spray lightly with nonstick spray. Pour 4 C. fresh blueberries and 2 oz. canned, diced peaches (drained) in the dish. Mix in 2 T. lemon juice, then sprinkle with 1/2 C. sugar and 1 tsp. flour. Stir in 1 T. melted butter, til the fruit is all mixed well, then set aside.

In another bowl, mix 1 3/4 C. flour, 4 tsp. baking powder, and 6 T. sugar. Cut in 5 T. cold butter with a pastry blender until the mixture is crumbly. Make a well in the center, and add 1 C. milk and 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract. Stir quickly, mixing just until moistened - do not over-mix. It will be a very thick batter or wet dough. Cover the bowl and let the batter rest for 10 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Spoon the batter over the fruit, leaving just a few small holes for the fruit to peek through. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until it is golden brown on top and a knife inserted into the batter comes out clean (blueberries notwithstanding!). Let cool until warm before serving.

I highly recommend some vanilla soft-serve over it!! Enjoy!

(Recipe adapted from Very Best Blueberry Cobbler by FriendlyFood @ AllRecipes.com.)

Oodley-Noodley Baby Playdate

There was great anticipation...they knew SOMETHING was up, but weren't quite sure just what. They saw me putting something into their little inflatable swimming pool - in the playroom! But they couldn't get to it.


So, then, what do you get when you mix 5 toddlers and 20 pounds of cooked spaghetti noodles? A whole lot of fun, and a great sensory experience! I asked each mom to bring 5 lbs. of cooked noodles, and then I added some plastic utensils, plastic cups, plastic containers, etc., to let the kiddos play in the noodles.



Mackenzie was not willing to sit in the noodles, but preferred to take the noodles OUT of the pool and play with them on the table - which is actually sort of what I figured she would do, given all of her issues.




Makayla got in the pool for a while, and scooped some noodles with the spoon into a cup and a plastic container. But she didn't stay for long, and spent most of the time reaching in with her hands to grab a fistful of noodles.




Layla and Phoebe, two of our little friends, were, by far, the bravest, and spent the most time in the noodles, though even they didn't spend nearly as much time as we all thought would happen. We all laughed at how much time we spent sitting around the big pool of noodles with no kids in it!


There was plenty of eating involved, of course. Yum, noodles!



Noodles between your toes, however, can be a problem.


And while I personally thought it would be a GREAT idea to re-purpose the noodles (you know how I'm always re-purposing items, right?) for dinners for the next month or so, the other moms insisted on taking the noodles out to the trash before they left, for fear that I actually WOULD serve them to my kids.


All in all, we had a great time, and I would highly recommend this to all of you mamas of crawlers and toddlers out there!!

(Though I have to warn you that my husband did give me a rather sideways glance last night at midnight when I was setting up the kiddie pool in the playroom and asked me what on earth I was doing. I said, "Tomorrow's our spaghetti playdate." "Your huh?" He's sort of gotten used to my crazy ideas and all, but I think he was secretly relieved to come home and not find noodles plastered to the walls and ceiling!)

My new purse

Well, I'm a bit frustrated with Blogger today. I have emailed all the photos of today's spaghetti playdate to my Blogger Dashboard, so all I should have to do is add the text and post them...but as luck would have it, Blogger seems to be having issues, and my pictures have not come through. I've tried again and again...which means when they finally DO come through, I'll have several "drafts" of the same post...oh well.

In the meantime, enjoy these pics of my new purse which I made this past weekend. I am totally, 100%, head-over-heels in love with this red fabric - it's from the Flight of Fancy line by Paula Prass (who once upon a time actually left a comment here, on my blog - imagine - l'il old me!). She just came out with a gorgeous new line, and many shops are no longer carrying the old line - and I'm so upset about it. I'm going to have to buy an entire bolt of this gorgeous fabric once my sister and I get our wholesale license before it's all gone!! The turquoise fabric is from Lila Tueller's Soiree line - also beautiful. I just LOVE these colors together - something about them just makes me so happy!!

And the buttons - oh, the buttons - can I just tell you how thrilled I was to be able to use them??? They are from a plentiful stash of buttons my grandmother gifted me with when we visited her farm in Illinois on our roadtrip in June. She had oh-so-casually inquired of me, "Would you have any interest in having some buttons?" WOULD I????? Um, let me stop jumping up and down, and say thank you.

Oh, and the flower - it was SO easy to make! (I know - it looks hard - but really, I promise, it wasn't!) My sister found THIS tutorial, which is on an adorable blog, by the way - I need to add her to my blog list for creative inspiration. Super easy and super cute. I actually just safety-pinned the button to the purse, so that I can remove it in case I want to need to wash it.

And...remember how I mentioned that my sister and I will be opening a business? Watch for MORE of these purses...perhaps there will be one in YOUR favorite colors popping up soon!

Self-feeding with twins - do you dare?

So...a few weeks ago, Mackenzie's Early Intervention teacher did her quarterly (or was it annual? I lose track...) evaluation, and one of her questions was whether or not Mackenzie is feeding herself with a spoon. My response? "Um...well...I haven't exactly let them try yet."

It's not that I'm intentionally holding them back, or trying to delay their feeding development, you see...it's just that, well...it seems like we're always in a hurry in the mornings to get to a playdate or a bible study or a doctor's appointment or some other activity, and the idea of cleaning up not one, but TWO messy girls, after a first trial of self-spoon-feeding...it just seems a bit overwhelming.

Alas, a week later, we had no where to go one morning, they were still in their jammies, the kitchen floors already needed to be cleaned anyway, and so I decided to take the leap. A while back, with the best of intentions, I had picked up these little scooper things that act like spoons, but make it a bit easier for little hands to hold and scoop with. So I gave each girl a bowl of oatmeal - made extra thick that morning - and a little scooper. Mackenzie was, remarkably, much more amenable to allowing me to assist her in placing her hand properly and moving the scooper from the bowl to her mouth. Makayla was all about doing it herself and would not let me help her AT ALL, and thus got very little in her mouth...which just ended up making her very mad.

In the end, Mackenzie thought the whole process was pretty cool - and as you can see - actually seemed to enjoy playing with the abundance of oatmeal which ended up on her. Makayla, on the other hand - not so much.

I am somewhat ashamed to admit, with my head hung low, that I have not repeated this adventure yet.

HOWEVER, we are hosting a "messy" baby playdate tomorrow. Really. I'm putting painter's plastic down in the playroom, then a big comforter, and then I'm bringing our kiddie pool inside (empty, of course). And then we're filling it with about 40 lbs of cooked spaghetti noodles. And 6 little ones, between the ages of 6 months and 2 years, will get to go at it. I'm looking forward to it - we'll see how the girls do with it!! I'll be sure to post pictures!

Pardon the dust...

I'm doing a bit of work on my blog this weekend, so please pardon the dust! If you find a different background, or a wonky header, or something that looks different every time you click - please just know that I'm playing around and trying to figure out how I want it to look. So please be patient - and if you see something you LOVE (or hate) - please feel free to leave me a comment on this post and make sure you let me know exactly which thing it was! Thanks!!

Quiet Time notebook...my first finished quilting project

My moms group is doing a bible study this summer called "Six Secrets to a Powerful Quiet Time," by Catherine Martin. I will admit that, though I've been a Christian since the age of 19, I have never been successful at having a regular, consistent quiet time - a time of bible study, prayer, resting with our Lord. I do spend a LOT of time in prayer, and I almost always have a worship song on my tongue...but I just never could get in the habit of having that regular time with God. I've participated in group bible studies here and there, but I always found myself waiting until the last minute to get my lessons completed, and once the study was over, my bible mostly sat alone aside from church services or the occasions when I needed to look up specific verses for something.

Anyway, this book and study has been really powerful and convicting for me, and has helped me realize the importance of having a regular quiet time - and that spending quality time in the Word has really been the missing link in my relationship with the Lord over the past few years. Catherine Martin developed the Quiet Time Notebook to help herself (and then others) organize their quiet time, and while I did not feel the need to purchase the entire notebook, I did purchase a few of the refill packs of pages and put them in a binder notebook I already owned.

But it was a plain, ugly notebook...and well, that just wouldn't do. So...I was inspired. I haven't had time to work on any more scrappy quilt squares, but am still determined to learn to quilt. I love love love this talented mom's blog, so I took some inspiration from her, and modified a tutorial I found in quilting magazine I had picked up last year for creating a cover for a composition notebook (that just happens to be up on their website right now!).

Anyway...as I said in the title...this is my very first quilting project ever, so I'm sure there are lots of mistakes, but I'm very happy with how it turned out. I LOVE these colors together...they are so bright and happy. I will also say that piecing the blocks took me FOREVER and I would never have the patience to do a large quilt with small blocks like this! After I got the top all sewn together, I was kind of like, "Um, okay, now what?" I wasn't quite sure HOW to quilt it, so I just started quilting in sort of a boxy pattern (well, not really a pattern!). Anyway, I think it looks alright. I decided not to quilt it all as a whole - I quilted the front separately from the spine and the back.

These are close-ups of the outside of the cover before I finished the project.

And then below, here is the front of it, finished.

Here it is, open - the orange flaps are what holds it onto the binder.

This is the back of it.

This is the inside lining, which you never really see, and I didn't really think about that when I was making it, or I would have just used white fabric rather than wasting my pretty Sugar Snap fabric...oh well...

So there you have it...my gorgeous new quiet time notebook. And you may ask - have I been using my notebook? YES! I have actually been setting my alarm and getting up before the kids (or at least attempting to - some days they get up early and it doesn't work out, and then I have to wait for their nap time), and I have really been enjoying my time with God first thing in the morning. I actually look forward to it! Even when I'm tired, I always come away feeling refreshed and ready to face my day with renewed strength and purpose. He is so faithful!!